Real Superhero [PETER PARKER AU]

fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
not knowing

WAITING WASN'T EVEN THE WORST PART. Not knowing if he was going to make it or not. Carter hadn't even spoken to the cops yet, he didn't want too but knew he had too. It was only a matter of time. Rosie held tightly onto Carter's hand, tears streaming down her face.

Carter hadn't seen Rosie cry in a while, he had seen get close when frustrated but she was breaking down. He didn't blame her, he was sure once the shock wore off he'd be non-stop crying. He couldn't get the image out of his head. He had bumped into the two men that had shot his brother. He blamed himself. If he hadn't stopped to talk with Spider-Man, he would have been there earlier and he could have stopped them.

Spider-Man could have stopped them. Spider-Man was distracted talking with Carter. It was all his fault. He couldn't even describe the men, they had masks on. The shop had cameras, so maybe that could help. Carter had no idea what to expect.

Carter looked over at his Dad, sitting silently in a chair across the room from his two children. He was emotionless. Blank face. He was also in shock. Carter couldn't imagine what was going through his head. The family had already lost one person, they couldn't lose another. Not so soon after.

Carter looked back at his own hands, one covered by Rosie but the other one shaking. He hadn't even realized how badly he was shaking. Everything felt so numb. He didn't know what to feel or do. When he found out about his mom he had shut down. They all had shut down.

He remembered the excitement of knowing his mom was coming home in the next two weeks. He remembered him, Rosie, and Marcus planning a welcome home party for her. Just the family. Something small, nothing to overwhelm her. Instead, they had to plan a funeral. Something none of them had ever thought of having to do until later in life.

He remembered locking himself into his room, not opening for anyone. Weeks after the funeral. He went to school but didn't talk to his friends, fell behind in classes.

Quinn. She helped him through it. She went through his window to get into his room. She forced herself into his room and brought him to the roof. They spoke, he cried a lot. And although Carter and she were close then, he had really used her as his rock. She helped him through a lot. He couldn't call her, not right now. He still needed time to process but he knew she would be at the hospital as soon as possible.

He wondered if he should tell Peter and Ned, would they care? He knew they would, Ned and Peter weren't heartless. He wondered if Rosie had told Tia or Flash. He wondered what Marcus was thinking when the guys arrived. He wondered how long he had been laying there before the men grabbed all the money and ran out. Were they spooked by Carter? Why didn't they shoot him as well? He wondered why the picked Louis' ice cream shop, it wasn't like they had mad cash on them.