ILLUSIONS ― p. parker

prologue

"Hey, Aunt May. Is Peter home?" You asked she stood in the doorway before you.

She scoffed. "Hardly. Always busy with something. You're lucky he is now, though."

May welcomed you in to the humble apartment. You thanked her, walking over to Peter's room and knocking on the door.

"Come in!" was the muffled reply.

You opened the door to see both your best friends Peter and Ned sprawled out on the floor, preparing for a movie. They grinned at you in greeting and made space for you in the mini fort they had made.

"So, you guys still sad about the whole blip thing?" Ned asked, popping some popcorn into his mouth.

You sighed, inserting the Star Wars DVD into Peter's computer. "Honestly? Yeah. It still gets me down to know that the Avengers aren't made up of the iconic people we know anymore."

"True, but there are going to be new superheroes that'll appear." Peter said. He brought up the movie and fullscreened it.

"I guess, but all the original Avengers are gone. Hulk has retired, Captain America's and Thor's whereabouts aren't known--" You listed.

"--and Black Widow and Tony Stark sacrificed themselves to defeat Thanos once and for all." Ned finished off for you, handing you some popcorn. You nodded.

"I'm almost 100% positive the new heroes will take their places." Peter said softly, obviously deep in thought. It was a face you'd gotten used to over the years.

You and Ned exchanged glances when Peter got uncharacteristically quiet during the opening of the movie. 

You've known Peter Parker almost your whole life. Your guardians were close friends and living in the same apartment complex made socializing easier. But only recently, in your high school years, had you seen un-Peter-like behavior beginning to surface. He would ditch school, come home late, even miss a couple of assignments. You would be lying if you said you weren't suspicious...

And in addition to that, whenever you would bring it up (like, 'hey, didn't see you in chemistry today.') he'd dismiss it, saying he mixed up his schedule. Well, that'd be a lot of times to mix up your schedule in a row. Ned wasn't much help either, agreeing and believing.

Don't get yourself wrong-- you loved the two of them. They had your back no matter what and proved it many times. But after all they'd been through together, if they had a secret you expected them to tell you. It's how it's been forever, and you weren't looking to stop now. 

You'd had half a mind to just tell them if they wanted to break ties with you, tell it straight to your face. It's how they've been acting. And their attempts to throw you off their scent haven't been successful either. Like this movie night.

You sighed. You were being superstitious. They didn't want to break ties with you-- you were just being paranoid. They weren't hiding anything from you.

Peter's phone dinged. He looked down at it. "Oh, sorry guys. Gonna have to call this a night."

You started. "Already? We've barely gotten fifteen minutes into the movie!"

"I know, I know, I promise we'll finish it tomorrow. It'll be Saturday then, after all." Peter got up and grabbed a old, raggy backpack from his closet.

You narrowed your eyes and were about to say something until Ned said, "Alright. By the way, is that turkey I smell?"

Peter looked at him pointedly. "Nope, it's beef."

Ned nodded in understanding. Some kind of code between the two?

Your eyes darted between the two and you gulped in a breath. All you smelt was sweaty boy clothes. You narrowed your eyes in thought as Peter showed you and Ned out of the apartment.

"C'mon, Pete, is this really important? I told you, I'm busy this weekend." You said as you stood in the doorframe.

"Sorry, N/n, it is. And we can do it next week, even Monday if you want." he said.

You looked at him weirdly. "Monday is the start of the European trip, remember?"

He was confused until realization found his features. "Oh! Right. Maybe some other time then."

You nodded but couldn't stop the sadness creeping and squeezing your heart. This was not the Peter Parker you grew up with, and you hoped it wouldn't be the one you'd have to put up with. If whatever was occupying his time more important than his friends, free time, and academics, stuff he had never put anything above, it had to be something big.

You were concerned and determined to do everything to help him. First step-- figure out what he was up to.