Eloise has to take the bus to school now. It isn't just because of Ned and Peter's concerns since all of this sudden robbery business, but because Eloise was almost late to school again and she can't receive any more tardies. She'll never hear the end of it from her parents if she gets another detention.
Since Eloise takes the bus, she arrives to Park East ten minutes earlier than usual. She uses this spare time to actually walk down the halls to her locker instead of sprinting the whole way.
Eloise organizes her things and puts away some under folders before shutting her locker. As soon as she turns around, she almost runs right into Lucy.
Eloise takes a step back and smiles at her, but it falters as soon as she sees the expression on Lucy's face.
"What the hell, Eloise!" She exclaims. "I texted you last night, and when you didn't answer I got worried, but now I see that you're perfectly fine."
"I'm sorry," Eloise apologizes. "I was seeing a movie with Ned and we ended up grabbing McDonald's afterwards."
She crosses her arms. "So seeing a movie with Ned is more important than helping me, your actual friend, study for finals?" She asks, hurt.
Eloise's heart sinks. "I-I thought that you'd be fine without me and study by yourself-"
"I don't know how to study by myself," Lucy says, cutting Eloise off. "I don't even have my own text book or a computer to look stuff up on or anything."
Eloise deflates. If Lucy fails her next final, it's going to be all her fault.
She knew she shouldn't have stayed for the movie. She should've told Ned that she had to go help her friend, but no, Eloise just had to be selfish and watch the stupid movie and treat herself to McDonald's while Lucy needed her help.
What kind of friend is she?
"I am so sorry," Eloise says, close to tears. She hasn't let down any of her friends like this before. "We can study tonight if you're free."
Lucy's frown deepens. "I have work tonight. You know that."
And she does; Eloise has Lucy's work schedule memorized. She just forgot, which makes her an even worse friend.
Eloise goes to talk again, but Lucy turns on her heel. "Don't bother." She storms away, leaving Eloise to stand alone in the hall, stunned and guilty.
🕸
"And in this video from the security cameras, you can see that he's left handed because of how he opens the door with his left hand, but the fingerprints that the detectives extracted from the crime scene that were on the vaults are from a right hand."
Peter flips—literally—to the other side of his room and types rapidly on his laptop. His eyes move from left to right across the screen.
"And if we cut to the clips from the other crime scenes, we see that the same guy is also typing on his phone with his left hand while he's holding his bag in his right hand. But why are there right-handed finger prints on the vault and door?" He bites his lip, then starts talking again. "I looked into some of the police reports and watched a few interviews with the police commissioner, and they said that they can't trace the prints to any citizens of New York or anyone with a criminal background in surrounding areas, which means the criminal could've been using something to trick them into following false prints."
He moves to his dresser and takes a stack of papers off, shuffling through them.
"But there's something I still don't understand about this. On the footage from the security camera that's set up in the lobby of the bank, the suspect is seen opening the door with his left hand, but-" Peter suddenly stops mid-sentence when he looks up from his papers at Eloise. He frowns and, setting the papers down, jumps onto his bed next to her. The mattress bounces and dips under his weight.
Eloise turns her head to look at Peter. He studies her thoughtfully, the same concentrated expression on his face from when he was trying to crack the case of the robberies.
"What's wrong?" He asks, brow pulled forward.
Eloise looks away. "I'm fine. Keep talking to me about ..." She picks up a manilla folder off the floor and read the label. "Your theories about the suspects."
Peter takes the folder from her hands. "Just suspect, not suspects." He sets it down on the floor again and pushes it away with his socked foot before turning his attention back to his neighbor. "But seriously, something's obviously bothering you."
She shakes her head. "It's nothing, Peter."
"It's not nothing," he says, nudging Eloise's shoulder with his. "Come on. You can tell me."
Eloise sighs. "I made a mistake," She says, her eyes trailing to meet Peter's. "Now Lucy's mad at me and I feel awful."
He cocks his head to the side. "What'd you do?"
"I blew off helping her study and watched a movie instead. To make it worse, she didn't do so good on her final and it's all because of me." Eloise scratches the back of her neck. "I just feel so guilty and I can't stop thinking about how bad of a friend I've been."
Peter frowns. "What? You haven't been a bad friend."
"Uh, yes I have," She says like it's obvious, because it is. "I made Lucy fail her final and watched a movie instead of helping her study."
He looks at Eloise oddly. "She didn't fail because of you. She's responsible for her grades, not you."
"But we're friends," Eloise breathes out. "Friends help each other, and when she needed help, I did nothing."
He shakes his head. "That doesn't make you a bad friend, Eloise. In fact, you're a really good friend. You always drop whatever you're doing for anybody."
She wants to argue because it's not true, she literally ignored Lucy yesterday when she clearly needed help. Peter makes her sound like some kind of saint and she doesn't like it.
When Eloise doesn't respond, Peter sighs. He stands and scratches the back of his head. "Look," He says. "Good people make mistakes sometimes, but it doesn't mean you're any less of a good person."
She doesn't move, not completely believing his words. Part of her knows that Peter's smart and wouldn't lie to her, but another part thinks that he's just trying to make her feel better about herself so she stops complaining.
Peter takes Eloise's hand and lifts her to her feet. She stares at him.
"Don't be so hard on yourself." Peter lets go of her hand and it falls to her side. His lips are turned down in a slight pout as he stares at her.
Finally, a small smile creeps its way onto Eloise's lips. Peter's eyes trail over it and his face breaks out into a grin.
"There we go," he says, leaning against his bed frame. "I like happy Eloise better than sad Eloise."
She pushes his surprisingly muscular chest lightly. "Sorry for being such a wet blanket to your conspiracy rant."
He laughs. "Conspiracy? I have some real facts and evidence. I'd like to think of it more as collective research on my suspicions."
"Obsessive research," Eloise corrects, earning a playful glare from Peter.
"We all have our hobbies."
She laughs, but it's cut short when Peter's demeanor shifts and makes a complete 180. His smile is set straight and his head snaps in the direction of the window.
"Peter?" Eloise asks cautiously. "What-"
"I have to go," he rushes out, spinning on his heel and attaching his web-shooter onto his wrist. In one fluid motion he shoots his closet door and it opens, attaching his web to his red and blue suit and pulling it to him.
Without a second thought, Peter strips out of his jeans and shirt. Eloise looks away politely as he slips on the suit and turns back when he's pulling on his mask.
When Peter's slipping out the window, Eloise rushes forward. "Wait! Where are you going?"
He turns and looks at her for a split second. "Someone needs help."
And then he's gone, swinging away in the streets.
🕸
Peter returns in an hour. Eloise is waiting, pacing the floor in his room, when the window opens and he pulls himself through. His figure is slumped as he closes the glass behind him, and for a second, she's worried that he's hurt again.
But then he turns and Eloise sees the cat in his arms. It's a fluffy cat, full of brown and white puffs of fur, with a pink nose. Peter rips his mask off his head and tosses it aside.
That's when Eloise notices the wet streaks on his cheeks.
"What happened?" She asks, rushing to his side. She takes his face in her gentle hands. He just stares at Eloise sadly, his eyes glossy. "What's wrong?"
He lets out a shaky breath and sets the cat down on the ground. It immediately jumps up on his chair and licks its paw.
"You know that Deli place we pass on the way home from school, Delmar's?"
Eloise nods.
"It was robbed, but when I got there, it was too late. I-I came in and webbed the bad guy, but he was holding a gun, and he fired and it ..." He takes another shallow breath. "And it hit Mr. Delmar. He didn't make it and I got distracted and when I turned around the bad guy was gone and I didn't know what to do."
"Oh, Peter," Eloise sighs. "I'm so sorry." She doesn't bring up the cat, her heart hurting too much to really question it.
Without another word, Eloise steps forward and wraps her arms around Peter. His suit is silky to the touch.
Peter doesn't hesitate to hug her back, his strong arms wrapping around Eloise for comfort. She doesn't know how many people he's seen die, but she does know that it's too much. She doesn't know what happened to make him live with only his aunt, or who he's seen die in battle, but it can't be good for him to experience so much at such a young age. It makes her eyes teary just holding him.
Eloise hears him take a shaky breath before he lets go of her. He wipes his eyes sheepishly.
"Sorry," He says quietly and looks away.
Eloise shakes her head. "It's okay." He shouldn't have to feel like he needs to apologize for crying in front of her, or for needing comfort. She's not sure if he's so broken because of grief or because he feels like it's his fault Mr. Delmar was shot and killed. She doesn't ask him.
It isn't until Eloise glances at the clock by his bed that she realizes how late it is.
Eloise starts to pick up her backpack, but Peter's eyes trail to his clock and his hand encloses mine. She looks up.
"Do you have to leave?" He asks nervously. "I mean, I just ... I don't want to be alone." He looks down sheepishly.
Eloise squeezes his hand. "I'll stay."
Peter smiles warmly and, ten minutes later, he's sound asleep in his bed in sweatpants and a cotton t-shirt. Eloise lying down in the top bunk bed, staring at the ceiling, praying Peter doesn't break. He may be a bit stubborn, but his heart is too kind for the weight it holds.
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Attached Song: I Have Made Mistakes by The Oh Hellos
It's Labor Day, so I have seized the opportunity to eat a bunch of crap by pretending it's a legit holiday and a good excuse to get fat over the weekend.
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