Rollercoaster - Peter Parker

12. Hugs

The school part of Friday passed very quickly for both Caden and Peter, the two walking out of school and heading to the subway station together as soon as the bell rang. They loosely held each other's hand in the semi-crowded train car, smiling gently at their entwined fingers.

Once at the stop closest to Caden's apartment building, they got off, Caden pulling his hand away from Peter's. The action left him questioning, but he didn't push anything, brushing it off as he followed Caden's lead.

Walking a few blocks away from the station, Peter finally spoke up, his soft voice just loud enough for Caden to hear over the crowds of people walking around. "Hey, where exactly are we going?"

The taller boy chuckled, his bangs falling just over the frames of his glasses as he turned to look at Peter. "Lion, we are going to this little park I found out about the other day. If you're still not sold, there are lots of dogs always walking around."

"I'm going somewhere with you, so I'm already sold," Peter told him, watching Caden smile before he even finished speaking. "Besides, dogs are pretty great, too."

"Ha, very funny," he deadpanned, lips curling into a contradictory grin at Peter's joke. He purposefully bumped into Peter's shoulder as they walked side by side, the smaller boy shooting him a look, a suppressed smile threatening to grow.

Entering the gated park, the older boy cleared his throat, sliding his hands into his jean pockets. The playful mood suddenly shifted as if the sight of the park's bare branches greatly depressed the conversation. "So... no one in my neighborhood, um... knows I'm gay," he said quietly, ashamed in more than one way.

Peter's head snapped up as Caden began speaking, swallowing harshly as he took in the boy's words. Nerves began to bubble up in his stomach. Not regular nerves, like fearing humiliation, but the anxiety that came with being like Caden and Peter: the fear of people. More importantly, their snide comments that made Peter always duck his head as he walked into school with Caden by his side. Fresh off of the crowded subway where no one knew them, and thrown into an environment where everyone knew them had more things in common than not. The comments, the looks of disgust, the nose wrinkles, the whispers, rapidly separating their laced fingers and quickening their pace to either one of their lockers in fear of what someone like Flash would say.

Despite the prods from Flash, Peter had never gotten used to the insults that he had received almost daily for most of his teenage years. He tried to ignore it, like the gust speakers that preached anti-bullying would advise them to do in elementary school, but nothing worked. Some days were worse than others, the internalization of the comments making him hate his body more and more as he examined it closer. His heart lurched at the question always in the back of his head: Why couldn't I have just been born happy and comfortable in my own body?

To fill the silence that fell over them and to distract himself from Peter not responding, Caden spoke up. "That's why I pulled my hand away. I didn't want you to be offended, so I wanted to let you know now since I want to hang out with you around my house, too." Taking a second to breathe and to quit his rambling, Caden glanced over at Peter who, unbeknownst to the boy, was in deep thought.

"Hey," he softly breathed, moving a hand to grab Peter's shoulder in concern. He watched with knitted brows as Peter blinked rapidly, shaking his head which forced his thoughts to the back of his mind. "Are you okay?"

He met Caden's blue eyes, forcing a smile onto his lips after letting out a sigh. He nodded, not maintaining eye contact as he lied. "Yeah, everything's fine. Just thinking." Caden clearly doubted that, slightly raising his eyebrows but eventually deciding to let it slide.