Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

81. Nerves

Peter half freezes and presses his lips together.
"Concussion?" He tries to sound stupid but fails miserably.
"Did you have anything to do with that?" She cocks an eyebrow at him. The way she enunciates the sentence says enough about which version of Peter she's talking about. Peter immediately shakes his head.
"No!" He pulls a face. "Not directly." Madame Touha's eyebrows raise.
"Not directly?"
"I can't really... Say what happened..." Peter purses his lips as he bites the inside of his cheek. He hates how unconvincing he sounds. "I was there, but I wasn't the cause."
"Then what was?" Peter simply shakes his head. He senses Daphne in the hallway and looks at the door.

Before Madame Touha can continue questioning Peter, Daphne walks back in. She stops in her tracks when she sees their contorted faces.
"Is everything alright?" she asks carefully.
"Yeah, I just asked Peter about your concussion." Daphne's eyes immediately shoot to her boyfriend.
"It's not bothering me anymore, if that's what you mean." Madame Touha smiles.
"I don't like it when people keep secrets from me, Daphne." Madame Touha walks up to Daphne and cups her face. "You've been so tired since you met Peter." Before Daphne can counter, Madame Touha continues. "But you've also improved at a pace I can barely believe." Daphne looks down at the two water bottles in her hands.
"Madame, I-"
"During classes you push each other to your limits." Madame Touha stifles a soft laugh as she brings a stray hair behind Daphne's ear. "Constantly trying to impress each other with your abilities." Madame Touha lets go of Daphne's face and lets her hands fall to Daphne's shoulders. "But your mind is clouded with worry." Madame Touha glances at Peter, who fiddles with his fingers. "As is his." She sighs slowly. "You know. Don't you?"

Daphne stands frozen in place, not daring to look at the woman whom she would call her mother if she could.
"I'm sorry," she whispers. Madame Touha chuckles.
"Why are you sorry?"
"I should've told you." Daphne's voice cracks as she speaks.
"And I shouldn't have told you?" Madame Touha bends down a little to meet Daphne's gaze. "I knew how dangerous Peter is, yet I allowed him to stay. Do you know why?" Daphne looks up slightly, trying to hold back her tears. She shakes her head slightly. "Okay, so maybe it was partially because I had more younger boys join when word came out that Spider-Man knows ballet," Madame Touha says nonchalantly as she waves one hand. "But they don't know that Spider-Man goes here. I would've sent Peter away to another school if it weren't for you."

Daphne's barely breathing at this point, listening to what Madame Touha is telling her.
"Me...?"
"I see how happy he makes you, Daph." Madame Touha gives her an encouraging smile. "And after everything you've been through... The crap with David... You deserve someone as kind as him." Madame Touha looks at Peter, who's staring at the scene unfolding in front of him. He has no clue what to do, so he just stands there, breath hitched in his throat. Madame Touha winks at him and smiles. When she looks back at Daphne, she nods. "Someone who can protect you. Take care of you." Daphne finally manages to smile back at the teacher she's known for half her life. "And with him being Spider-Man... One little ballet performance is honestly the least of your worries." She finally lets go of Daphne's shoulders and they all feel like they can breathe again.

Sure, Madame Touha doesn't know about the Zephyr stuff, but she is actually hitting the nail right on its head. With everything going on, the performance really is the last thing they should worry about. It puts it all in perspective, shutting down everything that's troubling them. Daphne puts up a half smile and slightly shakes her head.
"You're right," she mumbles. Daphne turns to Peter who suddenly has a determined look on his face. The corners of Daphne's mouth curl up into a grin. This facial expression suits him more than she expected it to. She straightens her back, matching her determination with Peter's. She cocks her head. "Wanna go again?" Peter smiles at her and nods once.
"Let's do this."

...

A stranger walks into the dance hall, just when Daphne got changed into her Swanilda outfit. Peter, who already changed back into the outfit he wore to school today, eyes her warily. Daphne, however, perks up.
"Alice?"
"Hey, Daph!" She brings her hand up into a small wave and then pushes it through her half-long black hair. "Was hoping I'd find you here!" Alice nods to Madame Touha. "Madame," she says with a cheeky smile. Peter decides to assess the situation by staying quiet, but he doesn't take his eyes off the teen. Daphne glances at Peter and shakes her head quickly, realizing that Peter doesn't know this girl and therefore sees her as a possible threat.
"Peter, this is Alice. We used to be classmates when I was still in art school," she says quickly. She raises her eyebrows when Peter doesn't unclench his jaw. "She played violin at the Halloween party...?"
"Right," he mumbles. "Alice."

Peter finally relaxes slightly when Alice addresses him.
"Heard you started ballet this year and you're already performing with Daphne this Sunday? Quite the feat." She crosses arms. "Respect..."
"Peter," Peter says quickly.
"Ah, yeah! Parker!" Alice smiles and Daphne's eyebrows raise.
"How'd you-"
"You know Sarah and Tyrone, man. They talk." Daphne laughs and nods.
"They sure do." There's a short silence before Daphne breaks it. "Whatcha doing here?"
"Ah, yeah, I uh..." Alice scratches her head again. "We're not actually allowed to ask people who aren't from art school to help us..." Daphne's shoulders droop slightly, realizing that that was why she didn't get any texts or calls from her previous classmates to help with the group performances. Alice raises one finger. "But...!" He pauses for dramatic effect. "Avery injured herself yesterday and I decided to officially pull a 'fuck it' and ask the best ballerina we ever had in our class."

Daphne snorts.
"You're overselling me," she laughs. Alice turns her head slightly.
"You're underselling yourself."
"Is Avery okay, though?" Daphne asks worried. Alice waves her hands.
"Yeah, yeah, she'll be fine. Just needs some rest, so she can't actually join the performance. But my act isn't complete without a ballerina."
"And Avery was your first pick."
"I wasn't allowed to ask you, Daph," she whines. "You were always my first pick for acts, remember?" Daphne laughs as she brings up her hands in defense.
"Right, right." She cocks her head at her. "Is it a difficult piece?"
"It's one we've done together before, I figured I'd change my line-up to suit you, since this is so last minute."
"Gee, Alice, you gotta play what you want, not what I can dance to."
"Oh, no but I want to play this," he smirks. "And if you're dancing for me, I want to see your firebird again!"
"Oh, nooo." Daphne glances playfully at Alice, knowing which choreography she did with Alice that involves a Firebird. "Fairy tale?" Alice grins.
"I'm back on my Eurovision bullshit, sorry, Daph," she laughs. "I even got Malcolm for the vocals again, though, so it's gonna be lit!" Daphne walks up to her and starts pushing her out the door.
"Fine, I'll help you. Got time to go through it tomorrow?" Alice lets herself get pushed out the door as she nods.
"Yeah, I'll text you."
"Great," she says with a smile as she lets go of Alice.
"Now, I gotta practice my solo, so if you don't mind..." She uses her head to gesture at the door.
"Aight, aight, I'm leaving!" Alice turns around one more time and jumps giddily. "Eee! I can't believe we're performing together agaiiiin!" Daphne smiles brightly. Fuck, she's excited for this performance.