Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

97. Truly And Undeniably

David growls and moves to Daphne's neck. His arm curls up higher, letting go of her breast. His hand grips her shoulder to press her against him even tighter. Daphne whimpers in discomfort.
"And I love her." Daphne's eyes shoot open as she looks at Peter. Her breath hitches in her throat at his unexpected confession. Daphne's mind halts. He... Doesn't hate her...? "I'm not obsessed with her the way you are. I'm not addicted." He pauses and smiles breathlessly. "I truly and undeniably love her."

That did it. David jolts and pushes Daphne forward as he growls like a beast. When they reach Peter, David pushes Daphne to his side, but he doesn't let go of her arm. He squares up and invades Peter's space. Their foreheads nearly touch.
"She is mine, orphan."
"She's not," Peter laughs as he throws his head back, ignoring the personal attack. "And she isn't mine either." Daphne tries to speak, but she has no idea what to say to diffuse this testosterone match.
"Cut the crap, Parker."
"What crap? I'm not lying." Peter's face betrays his anxiety, but he keeps going strong. "She's not a property you can own."
"She's a Zephyr," David forces out. "And I have claimed her. She's mine!" He yanks at her arm when he says the last word of that sentence. Daphne wishes she could just disappear.

"Keep telling yourself that. Loki's already on his way here and he's got over a thousand years of experience with magic over you. He's going to rip you to shreds," Peter bluffs. Daphne knows. The charm Loki gave her is in the pocket of her jacket, which David stole, and as far as Daphne knows, Peter doesn't have anything trackable on him either. Heck, David took Peter's jacket off before restraining him. Everyone might be looking for them. But there's nothing that could trace them to wherever they are.
"What do you mean with that?!"
"You've seen them together," Peter smirks. "At her childhood home, right?"
"That was nothing!"
"Was it?" Peter cocks an eyebrow. "Was it really nothing?"
"You're making things up!"
"Okay, how about that sorceress a few weeks ago? That was Loki too."
"Liar!"

"He's right!" Daphne squeaks suddenly. Both guys turn their heads to the subject of their argument. Daphne's voice is shaky. "Loki's involved in all of this," she mutters. "He's the one who made me a Zephyr." David would tighten his jaw further if it were possible. "We're connected. He knows when I'm in distress. He'll be here soon." Daphne plays along. They're connected, yes, but not like that.
"I'll kill him," David hisses. "I'll kill him and make you mine!"
"He's a god," Peter sucks at his teeth. "If you challenge him, you're done for."
"I'll turn him to silver, just like I will turn you!" Without warning, David releases Peter from his restraints and he lets go of Daphne.

Everything seems to happen in slow motion. David goes in to punch Peter's face with the hand he just held Daphne with and Peter brings up his arms to protect himself. However, David's strategy is to swing his silver arm as well, aiming for Peter to accidentally deflect the silver arm. Daphne doesn't think twice and jumps forward. Everything halts as quickly as it started. Daphne stares wide eyed at her hands, clutching David's silver arm. No one moves. No one breathes. Daphne touched the silver. They're all frozen in place, waiting for the silver to spread over Daphne's hands.

...

Nothing happens. Daphne's hands remain the way they are, even though she's still holding onto David. Daphne blinks a few times and appears to be the first one to collect herself. She twitches a little and slightly turns her face to Peter, not taking her eyes off her hands.
"Knock him out," she whispers. Her command seems to snap both guys out of it and David tries to pull back his arm. However, Daphne takes another step forward and wraps herself around his arm, completely covering the silver parts of his body. Peter doesn't hesitate and swings his fist, punching David straight in the nose. Daphne lets go of David as his body is thrown back because of the force of Peter's punch.

Daphne and Peter stare at David's motionless body on the floor. He's still breathing, but he's definitely unconscious. Peter rubs his fist gently and looks at it for a second before shifting his attention to Daphne.
"You okay?" Daphne keeps staring at David and doesn't move. "Daph?" Peter takes a few steps towards her.
"How are we gonna get back home?" Her voice cracks and Peter can't help but frown.
"I don't know." Peter glances outside. The cabin seems fairly snowed in and it's likely that they're in the middle of nowhere. It's light outside, though, which confuses him. It was quite late when Peter confronted Daphne at the zoo disco, but not that late. Peter's confidence sinks when he realizes they must be at the other side of the world. How did David even get them here?!

"I guess we're not in Kansas anymore," Daphne mumbles, trying to make light of the situation. She sniffs once and walks towards David. She squats next to him and starts searching his pockets, not really minding his silver arm anymore. "No phone."
"Great," Peter sighs sarcastically. He bites his lip when he realizes Daphne is staring at David. He walks towards her and sits down on his knees next to her. He doesn't touch her, though.
"You look cold." Daphne glances at the goose bumps on her bare arms. Neither of them are clothed for snowy weather and with David no longer being a threat, the adrenaline subsides and the temperature starts affecting them.

"That's cause I am," she sneers. She hugs herself and turns away from Peter, who takes a step back.
"Are... Are you angry with me?" He asks quietly. Daphne scoffs and gets up.
"Angry?!" She throws her hands in the air, before quickly bringing them back to hug herself again to keep warm. "There are about a hundred ways that shit you just pulled could've gone wrong!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Peter exclaims. "You were going to have sex with him! I'd say this was the most ideal outcome!"
"Ideal?! What if I turned to silver?!"
"You weren't supposed to touch him!" Daphne shakes her head.
"You're un-fucking-believable, Peter!"
"Wha- you're the one who's been avoiding me!"
"You're the one who broke up with me!"
"No, you gave me back the pin! You broke up with- why are we even having this argument?!"

Daphne stomps around the room and harshly kicks one of the small, crooked, wooden tables. It immediately collapses, but neither Peter nor Daphne are fazed by it.
"Why didn't you say anything?!" Daphne's voice breaks and new tears start streaming down her face. "You let me go, Peter! You just stood there and made me do all the work!"
"I didn't know what I was feeling, okay?! It was... It was different! I needed time!"
"Why didn't you just tell me that?!" Daphne paces up and down the room.
"I don't know! I- I don't know!"

Peter pulls at his hair, absolutely frustrated with the situation. Fighting won't improve anything, but it's apparently what they need right now.
"Smart, by the way," Daphne scoffs. "To lie to David to get him to attack you."
"I didn't lie! I mean- only about the Loki part!" Daphne freezes in place and slowly turns to face Peter.
"You weren't lying?" she asks softly.
"Shit!" Peter yells, startling both of them. "No, dove-" the nickname makes Daphne's heart scrunch. "- I wasn't lying, I swear. Everything I said-" Peter bridges the distance between them until he has to look down to look her in the eye. "-about what I feel for you is true. I still love you, so, so much." Peter's lip trembles and his hand slowly comes up to wipe a tear off Daphne's cheek with his thumb. Their condensed breaths mix in front of them. "I just didn't want you to hurt yourself for me anymore. Loki told us what you went through to make the potion. And... And you went to see Ravir, who preached practicing being mind controlled, which is messed up."

Peter looks away for a second, trying to collect himself. He shakes his head in a half smile-half scoff.
"I'm the one with super healing, Daph. I get hurt. I get up. I'm not worth grabbing a silver arm for. I'm not worth cutting your hands for. You shouldn't have to take the bullet for me." He grabs her hand and holds it against his fast-beating heart. His thumb rubs over the hard, golden scar in her palm. Daphne can't look away from his crying eyes, but she doesn't know what to say. "I love you so much, you have no idea. The addiction was just heightening what I already feel for you. But now that it's gone, everything is so much clearer than it ever was- than I ever thought it could be. I could tell you a hundred times how I feel and I wouldn't lie once. I love you, Daphne, I love-"

Daphne interrupts Peter by pressing her cold lips against his. She can taste his tears and she cries with him as they embrace, tighter than they have ever done before. They never want to let go of each other again. Her hands find his hair and tug it. His fingers twirl a strand of her hair and his other hand holds her against him. They sob through their kiss and when they finally pull back, they are an absolute mess. Daphne's shoulders shock as she hugs him.
"I love you too, Peter, fuck, fuck, fuck, I love you too." She shuts her eyes when his hand softly pets her head. "Please, don't ever scare me like that again," she whispers. Peter presses a peck on top of her hair.
"Only if you promise to do the same."
"Promise."
"Promise."