Lonely Hearts ▷ Peter Parker | ✓

26 - FAMILIAL TENSION

She sighed. "It's alright. I heard Harry's dating Johnny Storm, how's that going?"

Gwen snorted softly. "Check Johnny's Insta and add on him Snap, it's been taken over with selfies and pictures of Harry, it's really sweet, actually. Harry, cars, and other famous hero stuff. But mostly Harry."

Diana laughed. "That's really cute." She was then reminded of the camera she had bought for Peter and the pictures of her he had taken and sent which were still on her phone. She thought about deleting them, but decided against it.

"Yeah," Gwen said, "Well, I need to go eat dinner, but this was fun, we should hang out some time before school starts."

"Yeah..." Diana said softly, "Sure. Bye." She hung up the call and winced as the music switched back and screamed in her ears.

She reached her spot three songs later and hopped off along with some of the few people, following them out into the dark evening of the city; she had stayed too long at Nicky's which meant she had missed going home when the sun was still out.

She made her way towards her apartment, listening to music the way most teenagers her age did, Peter included. She groaned as she remembered the boy, trying to push him out of her mind. She reached her apartment and stepped into the lobby, going up the elevator, pulling the key out of her pocket as she rose up the floors.

She walked down the hall and steeled her nerves, standing in front of the door for a few minutes, not wanting to step inside. It wasn't until a voice called out that she realized she had just been standing and made a move to go in.

"You just gonna stand there all night or are you gonna let us eat?"

She jumped, looking around briefly before realizing that the voice had come from inside her apartment; it was Flash. She reached for her key, only to stop when the door opened to reveal the boy who barely spared her a glance, letting her in as he walked towards his seat at the table.

"Where have you been, honey?" Rosie asked from her position at the table. She still sat at the head, Harrison sitting next to her, across from Flash where Jesse used to sit.

"I was at Nicky's," she replied, "We had a lot to talk about and we worked on some stuff." It wasn't all therapy, but they didn't need to know that.

"That shrink?" Harrison snorted, "Rosie, didn't I tell you he was a waste of time."

"It's my decision," Diana interjected, raising an eyebrow; so this was why Flash had to drop Nicky. He had said Nicky wasn't good for the family, she just didn't think Harrison counted as family. Maybe he didn't to Flash, but Rosie was a completely different story.

"Waste of time," he repeated, clicking his tongue before turning back to his plate.

She felt a surge of anger rise up and she bit her tongue to keep from snapping at him. She glanced over at Flash who was sitting across from his father, gripping his fork tightly in his hand. He caught her look and his eyes darted away quickly as he shook his head minutely.

She moved to sit next to him, looking across at Jesse who already looked ready to leave. Diana felt the same; no one could blame her if she did, she had been for the most part of her time living with them, but she wasn't about to just up and leave, not after how tense everything was.

They began to eat and conversation was confined to the 'please's and 'thank you's of passing around food, no one speaking more than they had to. But of course, Rosie had to go and ask Harrison how his day was.

"It was awful," the man ranted, "We got these people working here, they don't even speak our language. These damn immigrants are ruining this country—"