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"Hey, nice to see you again."
Peter Parker stood before her, a warm smile resting on his lips. He was leaning against the wall, only pushing himself off when Luna didn't bother stepping towards him. She was stuck to her spot when he stepped towards her, his hands going to cup her cheeks, raising her head until their eyes met.
"What are you doing?" she asked quietly, voice hoarse like she'd just finished screaming. It made her lips tug into a frown, hand automatically going to hold her throat in shock.
Peter smirked, "Sore throat?" She didn't respond, making an attempt to step back from his hold, only to find she was unable to. "See, you can't hear it, but sleeping you is yelling." Her eyes widened as darkness took over Peter's eyes like last time, proving that she was in fact dreaming of their encounter. "I don't know why I always show up in your nightmares, since you're not scared of me. You're scared of what could happen to me, big difference." Luna swallowed harshly as his thumb caressed her cheek, the tender touch not making a blush rise to her cheeks like her Peter's would. "You're scared of him though."
As he spoke, Peter's hands turned Luna's head to the right, her heart stopping as Ernie Lakewood appeared, that same sinister smile residing on his lips. Luna let out a whimper when he stepped forward, unable to look away as Peter still held her face. She tensed up when hot breathe fanned against her neck. "He's going to keep coming closer if you don't do something, Luna," Peter whispered into her ear, her eyes squeezing shut when Ernie took another step forward. "Do something."
Just as a hand made contact with her hip, her eyes shot open, a scream leaving her lips. Then she was back in her bedroom, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks as she pushed away the hands of the person on her bed. She wasn't able to comprehend that it was Andrew and Diana standing over her, watching in pain as she curled into a ball, cries leaving her lips.
Her eyes screwed shut as everything came rushing back to her. The hours she spent awake, too afraid of what the dark had in store for her. The disgust she felt as she stared at the bruises of where his fingers dug into her hips. The discomfort as she sat in the same courtroom as him, his keen eyes trailing over her, not a ounce of guilt residing in the man for what he did. He'd taken so much from her. He stripped her of her confidence. He rid her of her sleep filled nights. And now, he took away the last shred of her sanity.
"Luna..."
The soft tone instantly reminded her of Peter, or rather, the fake Peter she encountered in her dream world. His first appearance, he'd revealed himself as what she was afraid of. Bloody and bruised Peter. But this time, he was just normal Peter. It didn't make any sense to her, she wasn't afraid of normal Peter, not in the slightest. In fact, she felt safe with normal Peter, the complete opposite of how she felt around Ernie.
Ignoring the stares of her siblings, she reached a shaky hand over to her phone, frowning as the phone lit up to reveal the time. 6:34. Diana and Andrew watched in confusion as the girl casually tapped on her phone, using the other hand to wipe away her tears. Then, she lifted the phone to her ear, still not addressing the two adults in the room.
"Hello?"
"Are you okay?" she asked immediately.
"Uh, yeah, I'm okay. Are you okay?"
"No," she deadpanned, hearing the way his breathe hitched at her honest response. "Can we go to school together? I want to talk to you about it."
"Okay, yeah, I can do that."
"Cool," she swallowed harshly, before releasing a shaky breathe. She hesitated as her eyes darted over to her siblings, all too aware of their watchful eyes. "Bye, I love you."
"Love you too," he breathed out.
A few seconds passed before Luna decided to end the call, letting out a breathe of relief as she dropped the phone beside her. He was okay. Turning to her siblings, she didn't get a chance to speak before Andrew was asking, "Who the hell was that?"
"Peter," Luna mumbled, pushing her covers off and getting out of bed. She began digging into her dresser, hoping to appear as nonchalant as ever to her siblings, not entirely ready to explain the circumstances of her nightmares just yet.
"Excuse me? You said I love you to him? Is that a thing now because I swear you two were broken up."
Luna didn't have to look up to know that when Andrew let out a huff, it was because Diana elbowed him harshly. "Are we forgetting that we came in here because Luna was screaming in her sleep? Who gives a shit about her boyfriend?"
"She seems fine now, so I figured I could ask," Andrew defended, extending an arm out to point to the girl who was holding a shirt up to her body. "She was probably screaming in her dream, right, Little?"
Luna turned as she was addressed, forcing a smile for the two. "Yeah, dinosaur chasing me kinda dream. Sorry for the scare."
"See," Andrew dramatically threw his hands up, Diana glaring at him. "Now, I'm going back to sleep. Have fun at school, Little!"
Luna waved bye to her brother, fake smile faltering as her eyes trailed over to Diana. Her arms were crossed over her chest, eyes narrowed at her younger sister. "You may not want to talk about it now," Diana whispered, Luna's facade slowly crumbling, "but I know something's going on with you, and when you are ready to talk to us about it, we'll be here to listen."
Talk to them about it. She's barely come to terms with all that's happened to her. She doesn't even know how she's going to tell Peter what's happening to her. How is she supposed to tell her family what was going on when they couldn't even be aware of the whole story? Was she just supposed to leave out that Danielle is on a revenge mission against her and could possibly ruin Peter's life if she attempts to do anything about it? What was left to the story if she left that out?
When Peter arrived at her doorstep, she was already ready, stepping out of her house before he even got the chance to notify her of his arrival. He wore a frown when she stepped out, eyebrows knitted together. "What's going on?" His hand immediately reached out to hold hers, giving it a squeeze upon realizing how clammy it was. "You said you weren't okay..."
"I'm not," she shook her head, eyes remaining forward as they walked, despite being aware that his eyes were focused on her. "I'm having nightmares again, and they aren't just normal nightmares either. They're my worst fears and–and they feel so real. Like I'm actually standing there and feeling the people around me, and I wake up and... it just doesn't feel right." She let out a shaky sigh, head dropping as tears threatened to spill over. "I called you right after one because I was scared. I–I woke up screaming and crying from a dream, one involving Danielle's dad and... you."
"I'm one of your fears?" His voice cracked, his tone a mix of hurt and concern.
"Not you," she clarified, lifting her head to meet his eyes. "It's this... other version of you. I don't know how to explain it, but it's not you. He even told me I'm not afraid of you, I'm afraid of what could happen to you, and he said it doesn't make sense that you always show up. Which he was right about, considering I can't come up with an explanation as to why you and Danielle's dad showed up."
"Well, what happened in the dream?" He came to a stop, grabbing Luna's other hand making her completely turn to him. "Only if you're comfortable telling me," he quickly added.
She nodded her head, letting out a breathe. "Well... it was just you at first. And you looked... like you. Then I tried talking but my voice came out weird and you told me I was screaming outside of my dream, but your eyes were.. dark. Not dark, like they turned black or something, just... sinister looking. Then you told me all that stuff about not being afraid of you, then you said I was afraid of him. And you forced me to look at Danielle's dad, and told me... if I didn't do something then he was going to come closer. But I–I couldn't move my feet, like, at all. I was stuck there, while he just... came towards me. I woke up just as he touched me."
"Facing your fears," he breathed out.
Luna's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What?"
"Dream me was literally making you face your fears," he explained, his hands dropping hers to grab onto her shoulders. "Nightmares are your dreams of what you find scariest, right? From what you said, what you're afraid of is facing your fear, Danielle's dad. Having me, but not really me, there forcing you to face your fears is just your biggest fears all mushed into one."
"Well, how do I stop the dreams then?" Peter's features softened as a fragile look took over Luna.
"Luna, I don't think-"
"I need to get rid of them," she begged. "I want to make sure everyone is okay, but I can't even make sure I'm okay. Please, Peter, help me get rid of them. I'll do anything."
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hello I love luna I am so sorry I am making her suffer like this