She sat in the corner, knees tucked up to her chest. Refusing to acknowledge anybody else's existence, she sobbed silently. Peter knew it was best to leave her alone and let her grieve. He'd even warned May to do so as well. But the aunt, being the caring person she was, checked up on her and asked if she needed anything out of worry. She got wails in response.
Some might've said her reaction was a tad bit dramatic, but her actions were completely appropriate when taking in the full situation. See, the girl had never been away from her home— her brother for so long.
For the college her brother attended, it was a requirement the freshman stayed on campus. But, after explaining their not-so-complicated complicated situation, the directors gave special permission that allowed him to go to school while still not living on campus. And they were so very grateful for that.
Who knows what she would've done by herself as a fourteen year old. She probably wouldn't even know what groceries were deemed appropriate to buy. Or how to save money. She probably would've been living off of fast food.
Regardless of wether or not she'd love a healthy lifestyle without her brother there, she had never been away from him. Call it pathetic. The fact she'd never been to a sleep over, or how she was so dependent on another human when she should be starting to learn how to live on her own, or that she was crying over it.
She was full of anxiety, and crying was the only way she could manage to cope with.
"Sweetie, would you like to have dinner with us?" May asked cautiously. She was hoping she wouldn't get louder cries in response. And her prayers were answered.
The girl peeked her head out of her arms. The redness in her eyes were obvious as well as her sniffling while she tried to stable herself enough to talk. May was patient with her though. She didn't care how long it took; May was just happy to be getting an answer from the girl that she could actually understand.
She rubbed her nose, "Yes, please."
"Woah!" Peter gasped from atop the couch's armrest in which he sat. He caught the attention of Aunt May as well as his partner. She was waiting for something snappy about her crying. But that was the last thing on Peter's mind. "She has manners?"
The girl barred her teeth and scowled on return. Peter stuck out his tongue and flashed a peace sign before walking off into the kitchen.
Aunt May wasn't going to let her nephew go without a scolding though, "Hey! Peter, don't pick on her. I'm sure she's stressed." She was fully on y/n's side. The girl had the right to cry if she felt like it. Especially when taking into account she was stranded at another persons house all of a sudden. May offered a kind smile and held her hands out to the girl, "Now, would you like to help me start preparing dinner?"
Accepting the woman's kind gesture, y/n nodded. She placed her hands in May's and was pulled up. The older of the two led them into the kitchen and headed straight for the refrigerator.
Peter sat on the counter, legs swinging back and forwards as he watched his partner with tentative eyes. He was munching away on an apple; a little pre-dinner snack. His irises moved from the nervous twitches in her hand to the way her brows were slightly furrowed and her jaw somewhat clenched. Peter couldn't seem to look away from her. Never in his life had he seen the firecracker so nervous over something.
And she spoke in front of the class... SEVERAL TIMES.
"You're a mystery to me," Peter whispered to the girl as she subconsciously moved so she was closest to the person she trusted most. That happened to be Peter at the moment. He lighted squinted his eyes at the girl who played with the hem of her shirt, "I should know everything about you; I've known you for years. And I have this whole Spidey Sense thing. So why can't I read you?"
She shrugged, still seeming just the slightest bit more timid than usual. But she was starting to get her snappiness back, "Because every superhero has a weakness, and I'm yours."
"Maybe so," Peter hummed, tilting his head back slightly in amusement.
Then, ever so suddenly and out of nowhere, Peter could feel something was off. Like how he wanted them to sense something was wrong with y/n. But it wasn't about y/n this time. His eyes scanned the room, making his partner worry. She'd witnessed him have his Spider Sense go off, and each time he'd reacted the same way he was now.
Her eyes started to scan around the room in panic as well, "What? Is your Peter Tingle going off?"
His aunt was still bending down and picking stuff from the fridge. He could just feel it had something to do with her phone; which, luckily for him, was in her back pocket. He used a web to bring the mobile device towards him. Surprisingly, May didn't seem to feel her phone being taken from her back pocket. Unsurprisingly, Peter wasn't amused with the name his power was given.
"It's Spidey Sense," Peter glared at the girl from the side of his eyes when she just shrugged in response. Rolling his eyes, he turned on the phone. They narrowed when he saw a notification saying that one of May's apps was recording. "What the—"
He glanced at May who had moved from the fridge to a cabinet where the pots and pans were kept. He quickly unlocked her phone with his fingerprint which he'd added a while back. Peter then went to whatever app icon he saw on her lock screen and deleted the app. He was no genius— well, actually he was. Besides the point! Peter knew May never intentionally kept things running, so something was messing up.
Peter didn't think too hard about it though, for as soon as he deleted the app, his Spidey Sense stopped going off. He'd fixed whatever problem he was feeling. It must've been a good thing to delete the app.
May started to hum something under her breath as she set a pan down on the stove, turning on the burner underneath it. She was clueless to the whole thing. So while she was distracted, Peter slipped off the counter and silently walked over to her. He slipped the phone back in her pocket and retreated to the counter once again.
"Seriously, how can she not feel that?" Peter gazed curiously at his aunt who just continued on with preparing dinner.
Y/n shrugged, "Maybe you're just stealthier than you think." She paused when she saw a smirk slowly start to form on Peter's face. Damn it. She'd accidentally complimented him. "Er— I mean. Maybe you just go lucky. You have numerous times. Especially when doing something hero-y."
"You just complimented me," Peter disregarded everything after the first sentence.
"Shut up," she groaned, slamming her palm to her forehead in frustration. "No I didn't."
Peter just laughed, tilting his head skywards and shaking his head, "Me? Lying? I would never!" He placed a hand over his heart and pretend to be offended, "But you did compliment me. Don't you start lying."
She glared, "Parker."
"Aye—!" he held his hand up in the air.
May watched the two with crossed arms and a raised brow. The smirk she wore was smug. It was a bit painful to think about, sure. But right in that moment, Peter and y/n reminded her heavily of her and Ben when she was their age. It made her happy to see such a bond being formed again. If ghosts existed, then she hoped Ben was watching this too.
Aunt May coughed into her fist, gaining the two bickering teens' attention. Well actually, the argument was more one-sided. Peter was just deflecting any insult thrown at him with a smug comment. "You gonna continue flirting, or are you gonna help me with dinner?"
They both looked over at May without moving their heads. Peter was sitting on the counter with a small smirk on his lips. He had his head turned to the side and leaned more towards y/n. The girl had her back against the counter, leaning back on her elbows which were placed on said counter for support. Her head was turned towards Peter. She had her brows furrowed, but her lips were turned just the slightest bit upwards; almost to the point it was unnoticeable.
"Are you asking me?" Peter was the first to speak. He used one hand to point a thumb at himself. "Because if so, I personally prefer to continue flirting— Ow!" He pouted and rubbed his arm at the spot she'd hit him.
"Yes, Mrs. Parker," y/n smiled and turned to Peter's aunt.
"Oh, May is just fine. Aunt May if that makes you more comfortable," she offered with a kind smile. May started to pile her hair atop her head and tie it into a bun. She'd forgotten to put her hair up quite a few times which resulted in both her and Peter finding it at least once in their food. It was like a little surprise.
"Oh, sorry. Um— Aunt... May."
"Oh my God, that was so painful to listen to. Just say May and call it a day."
"Shut up, Parker!"