Us Against The World ｡ Peter Parker [2]

43 - No Secrets Club

Clayton frowned deeply, words piling out of his mouth. "I am not interested in her. She's so tiny and speaks in gibberish, who even listens to Bohemian Rhapsody on repeat? Mind you, she's always trying to show me pictures of her cat and...damnit, she's gotten under my skin. How did we let that happen?"

"I think it's great," I laughed. "Clayton Cole might have a soft spot after all."

He continued to glare across at me. "You tell anybody--"

I just smiled like a fool. "Your secret is safe with me." 

***

Ned Leeds's bedroom was full with odd knickknacks and posters from old movies plastered to the walls. A pile of Lego had been pushed to the side where he had forgotten about his little project. His bedsheets were Star Wars themed and his desk was over flowing with paper and drawings from Michelle Jones. He had attempted to make us cheese and ham sandwiches, but had done a horrible job at cutting triangles, but Peter Parker did not mind one little bit. 

"These are really tasty, Ned." he said around a bite. 

I stared down at the plate, my stomach rolling. "Thanks for making the effort, Ned. But honestly, if I eat anything right now it might all come back up." Both boys turned their attention to me, mouths full and questions flashing in their eyes. "Sorry, poor timing."

Ned shallowed his bite. "It's fine. What's up anyway? Not that I don't love super secrets meeting at my place, my mum was thrilled since she's always saying how nobody even visits from school, but why did we need a meeting? Is this about New Goblin? Did you figure out a way to stop him without actually hurting Harry?"

Peter glanced back towards me. "Yeah, why the urgent meeting, Flo?"

Before the words could even tumble from my mouth, the door was flinging open and Ned's mother was sticking her head through the crack. "Hiya, do you guys need some lemonade? Or anything? I could whip up some eggs? Scrambled or boiled?" We stayed completely silent. "Oh, sweetie Ned, you've got some more friends here too. Girls, do you want something to eat?"

Mary Jane Watson shook her head. "I'm quite fine, thank you, Mrs. Leeds."

Behind our pretty redhead stood Gwen Stacy, her face pinched with confusion. My heart was already slamming against my ribcage, my eyes snapping across at Peter who had dropped his half eaten sandwich to his lap. None of us had expected Gwen to be here for our secret meeting. "I'll take a coffee, please." Gwen smiled through the strange silence. "Four sugars please. I've got a massive sweet tooth." 

Mrs. Leeds nodded kindly before leaving us alone. When the door was firmly shut behind her, our questions were answered. "I am so sorry guys," Mary Jane blurted out. "I accidentally told Gwen about the Spider-Man thing. It just came out and well, it was super unfair having all of us knowing but Gwen was left out? You know? God, I'm sorry. I'm a total mess."

Peter sighed, "Woah, I gotta' get a handle on this secret identity thing."

Gwen dropped down beside me, grabbing a pillow from Ned's bed and getting comfortable. "Alright. I've got so many questions, but firstly, Ned why did your mum just offer to make us breakfast? Like what a champ."

Ned shrugged, "Dunno', she just really likes eggs."

"Oh," Gwen nodded. 

Peter joined in. "Seems reasonable."

I raised my hand awkwardly, "Uh, are we going to even talk about the fact that half of the student body knows that Peter is Spider-Man now? Like please can we just keep this between us." My eyes strayed to Mary Jane who ducked her head, red curls falling into her eyes. 

Gwen just smiled brightly. "Chill, I won't tell a soul. Mind you, we've got this whole no secrets club thing going on and I am just living for it. Anybody else hiding super cool powers and wanna' dress up in a costume and save the world? Florence, are you secretly Black Knight hitting the streets and stopping the bad guys?"

"No," I shook my head. "We'll get back to that actually because Black Knight would be a great addition to the team. Are you up for a new sidekick, Pete?" 

Peter paused, "Um, maybe? Is that a good idea?" 

Whispering about hero business in the comfort of my friends almost felt like a happy memory, but that sweet moment was slipping away when I remembered why we were all gathered around today. When the laughter and suggestions died down, all eyes turned back to me and my stomach almost touched my throat. "Well, since we're apparently the no secrets club now, there's something you guys have to know."

Mary Jane wiggled towards me. "Is this about Harry?"

"Actually, I think so." I started slowly, my eyes pinned to her. There was an ache in my heart knowing the truth would crush her but sometimes it was better to know the truth, at least with it out of my mind we could try and stop it from happening. "I had a vision at Homecoming when Harry grabbed my arm. I saw a headstone and there was a name on it."

The entire room was deadly silent. 

"Well, don't leave us hanging." Gwen jumped in, eyes wide. "Who's grave was it?"

I cleared my throat, tears pricking my eyes. "It's still a little unclear and things can change, but the name was Mary Jane's." Mary Jane blinked once, her mind lagging for a second. It felt like a knife was being pushing through my skin with her reaction. "It said, Mary Jane Watson." 

- author's ramblings -

Whoops, a bit of a cliffhanger. 

A huge thank you to luciangemini for the stunning graphic!! love you gal 

We're getting really close to the end and I've got something planned for the true ending which might throw some wild thoughts around but no regrets, right?? Moving on, to be honest having Gwen a part of the group was something I was very hesitant about but it had to be done, so there it is and no going back now. I actually love the group, like can you imagine all the crazy talk that goes on between them? Amazing. 

This was lowkey a backdoor chapter for Atomic Blonde, my new story featuring Clayton Cole. I did introduce Indie Monroe in the pervious chapter, but now we've got how that old plots links up with Clayton Cole. So, if you love Clayton as much as I do, please check out the story. It's going to be really wild and it indeed links up with my series and my Midtown Kids gang. So don't forget to check it out!!

Anyway, please leave your thoughts and remember I don't want any Infinity War talk in my comments. Your comments will be deleted and you'll be noticed by me in a bad way because you've done the complete opposite to what I asked. Cheers. 

- tinkertaydust