Hang In There// P.P.

Chapter 22: Scars To Your Beautiful.

The Decathlon team arrived in the check-in area. The interior of the hotel was filled with preparations for the Decathlon. We looked on in awe as we walk in. Liz was at our front, leading everyone.

"Everyone stick together."

"Yeah."

"You kidding me? This place is huge." Charles said in awe.

"I've seen bigger." Flash boasted.

"Hey, you brought your laptop, right?"

"Why?" Ned questioned.

The door to Peter and Ned's hotel room closed. The do not disturb sign was hanging on its handle. I walked up to the door and knocked in a rhythm only the three of us used. Ned opened the door to show himself and Peter unpacking, shaking various belongings like wires, the purple weapon core, toothpaste, and braces out of their backpacks. Peter looked up at me as he connected a wire to the suit. Ned was using his laptop, complicated lines of codes flashing through the screen. Peter held a flashlight with his mouth, working on his suit.

"Peter, why are we removing the tracker from your suit?"

I knew exactly why.

"Because we gotta follow these guys to their boss before they move again and we don't really want Mr. Stark to know about it."

"So you're lying to Iron Man now?" Ned questioned.

"No, I'm not lying. He just doesn't really get what I can do yet."

Ned warily eyed his friend. Peter removed the tracking device from the suit.

" Ah... Gotcha."

He took the flashlight out of his mouth.

"All right, Happy. Enjoy tracking this lamp."

Peter stook the device on a lamp, then got back to the suit. Ned was still working on the laptop.

"There's a ton of other subsystems in here..."

"Hmm?"

We looked at him quizzically. He smirked

" ...but they're all disabled by the Training Wheels Protocol."

"What?"

Peter hopped up next to Ned and looked at the screen. The words "Training Wheels Protocol" were written in red. The codes declared that the protocol is currently active and that "Stark Industry Key Identifier" should be entered to disable it.

" "Training Wheels Protocol?" "

Ned and I chuckled.

" Turn it off."

" I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, they're probably blocked for a reason."

"Sorry, Peter. But Ned's right."

"Come on, man. I don't need training wheels."

Peter stepped onto his bed and jumped up and down.

"I'm sick of him treating me like a kid all the time. It's not cool."

I raised my brow at him, arms folded.

"You say that as you jump on a bed."

"But you are a kid." Ned agreed.

"Yeah, a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands."

"Right, guys, I'm gonna go get changed. See ye later."

"Get changed for what?"

Peter questioned as I got up to leave.

"We're gonna spend some time in the pool, some sort of team bonding."

And with that I left.
_______________________________

The next time I saw Peter he was peeking out the door and looked around. The corridors were quiet and empty apart from me as I walked down towards the teen, dressed in a blue bikini. Peter activated the tracker as I got closer, he hurriedly walked out of the room. As Peter tried to walk down the hall unnoticed, I approached, half naked as I went to join the others in the pool. At the indoor swimming pool, the Decathlon teammates swam. Liz sat on a wall between the pool and a spa. I ignored the hero as I walked by, arms wrapped around my torso, I kept walking until Peter called my name, sighing as he did so.

"Sof"

I turned around slowly, walking back to where he stood. I kept my eyes focused on the ground. I felt uncomfortable under his stare, my body slightly shivering.

"Are you cold?"

He questioned while pointing to my arms that wrapped around me. I shook my head slightly as I looked up to meet his gaze.

"Em, I.... Forgot that I.... Can't exactly show off my..... stomach, anymore."

I looked down at my feet again, ashamed. I knew that Peter knew what I was talking about.

"Every other girl down there, is flawless. They have these perfect bodies that have no imperfections, they're.... beautiful-"

I paused.

"-And then there's me; this scarred girl who will never be loved by anyone because her flaws. People will stare and all they're gonna think is that I'm some sort of deformed monster."

I felt Peter come closer to me, gently pulling my arms away from where they lay. I looked up at him as he held my hands by my side.

" Not every other girl down there risked their life to save someone that they didn't even know. Those girls don't go out every night, not knowing if they'd be going home, but take the risk anyways. Those other girls aren't survivors of the shit that's been thrown at you, and I'm not just talking about being a hero. "

I looked up at him with blurry eyes as I vigorously wiped away the stray tear sliding down my cheek. I shivered under his touch as he drew his thumb over the lumped skin.

"Nobody knows that, Peter. All they're gonna see when they look at me is the girl with the ugly scars."

"Just 'cause they're ugly to you doesn't mean that they are-"

He paused.

"-And so what if they were. They're part of you, they're proof that you're a fighter; a survivor. Be proud of them, Sof. Those scars are the reason I'm still alive. You're selfless, you take the hit for the team and it's always you that bears the consequences for it but it doesn't stop you from going out there every night and doing what you know is right. "

I pulled away from the brunet, backing up slowly.

" Just.... Don't die tonight. "

I walked away from Peter Parker, leaving him to go out and take the risk, neither of us knowing what was going to happen next.