Walking the Wire | PETER PARKER [1]

| 34 |

Everything is dark. It must be at least midnight. All traces of Ned are gone; his backpack, his comic, his candy, and himself. The movie must've ended already because the TV screen is black.

"Hey."

Eloise turns her head and spots Peter sitting in the same spot he was when she dozed off. He's sitting with his legs resting on the edge of the coffee table and his phone in his hands, illuminating his face and messy hair. He clicks the power button on the phone and it shuts off. The noise sounds so loud in the dead silence of the night.

"I hope you don't mind I didn't wake you up," he says softly, removing his legs from the coffee table and sitting up. He runs a hand through his brown locks. "I didn't want to disturb you. I didn't know how much sleep you've gotten in these past few days."

Sleeping at the Avengers' headquarters came mostly from sleeping pills and utter exhaustion from being treated and tested. Although Eloise slept more than she was awake while at HQ, something about medically being put under and the stress sleep doesn't make you feel refreshed.

Thankful for Peter's thoughtfulness, Eloise says, "Thanks." Her voice is raspy from just waking up. "What time is it?" she yawns.

Peter checks his phone. "1:12." He looks up at Eloise. "You can go home if you'd like, now. I can carry your backpack—"

"No," she whispers, and Peter catches it. He stops and his bright brown eyes dart to hers. "I mean, I don't ... I don't really want to go home and be alone in my room all by myself." She bites her lip anxiously and hopes Peter isn't weirded out by this.

When he doesn't reply after a second, Eloise adds hastily, "But I can go if—"

"No, no it's fine," Peter says quickly, cutting her off. "You can stay the night. No problem."

Eloise looks at him sheepishly. "Are you sure? I don't want to intrude." Being more of a burden is the last thing she wants right now.

"Yes, I'm sure," Peter says, standing. He slips his phone into his back pocket and offers Eloise a hand. She takes it, and he lifts her up to her feet gently with his other hand on her elbow to steady her. He doesn't let go of Eloise's hand as he leads her down to his bedroom, and she's okay with that. His hand is warm and comforts her.

He leaves his bedroom door open a few inches and then lets go of Eloise's hand. The warmth leaves immediately.

"You can take the top if you want."

Eloise glances down at her jeans. She's slept with jeans before, but it isn't exactly the most comfortable thing in the world.

She's about to climb up when Peter stops her.

"Wait, do you—do you want to borrow some clothes to sleep in?" His asks. His voice is slightly shaky with what Eloise guesses is nervousness.

She doesn't want to take anything from Peter, but skinny jeans suck, so she nods gratefully. "If you don't mind."

"Of course not." Peter opens a drawer and picks out a pair of sweatpants. He hands them to Eloise. "Sweatpants okay?"

"Yes," She says, taking them. Without being asked, Peter turns and covers his eyes. Eloise hurriedly changes out of the tight skinny jeans and into the loose sweatpants. She instantly feels ten times better.

When she tosses her pants into her backpack, Peter uncovers his eyes and turns. He looks at Eloise in his sweatpants.

"They're a bit baggy," he says, but she shakes her head.

"They're great," She tells him. "Thank you, for everything. You didn't have to."

"But I wanted to." Peter's eyes scan her face. He licks his lips and looks away. "Do you want a shirt, too?"

"No thanks," Eloise says, knowing that she's already taken too much. "I think I'm good." Her shirt's just a normal t-shirt with Park East's mascot on it, so it's fine to wear as pajamas.

Eloise climbs up to the top bunk and curls up in the blankets, facing the wall. She hears Peter undress and dress behind her, then the sound of him climbing into the bed beneath her. He rustles for a few seconds before lying still.

Eloise moves to lie on her back and stares at the cracked ceiling. It looks just like her ceiling, except the cracks and random small stains are in different places.

Night is probably the worst time right now. With the darkness, the darker thoughts creep in and are harder to throw out. They swarm like moths to a lantern and won't die, even when they touch the light. They cover the light and horde closer.

Images of Eloise's hands wrapped around Peter's neck flash behind her eyes. Her pulse quickens as another flash of Eloise tackling Bucky to the ground and scratching the living hell out of his face appears.

She squeezes her eyes shut, but it only makes the images more powerful.

Trying to calm her breaths, Eloise breaks the silence that hangs in Peter's bedroom.

"Peter."

Almost immediately, he replies. "What? What's wrong?"

She bites he lip as she sees herself stabbing Bruce. Did she really do that to him? He's been so nice to her and showed nothing short of kindness.

"Eloise?" The sound of Peter sitting up from his mattress comes from below Eloise's bunk.

"Don't be afraid to do whatever it takes to get me under control if I go crazy again."

There's a pause, then a shuffle. "What?"

"Even if it hurts me, or kills me," Eloise continues, clenching her fists. Her breathing is still irregular, but it starts to slow as she forces herself to calm down.

"What? No, Eloise—"

"Promise me," Eloise cuts him off.

"No."

"Please," She practically begs. Then, her voice breaking, she whispers, "I don't want to take anyone else's life away."

There's a pregnant pause. A tear escapes Eloise's eye and drops down the side of her face. She quickly wipes it away, even though Peter can't see her.

Finally, his voice speaks up. "I promise."

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Attached Song: Ghost of You by 5sos

So it just occurred to be that I forgot to update yesterday. So I'm updating today, a day late, and tomorrow. Not that any of you care. Just letting y'all know in case you were wondering.

That's it!

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