It was unavoidable. Peter Parker was everywhere. From getting the mail, to classes in school.
Peter Parker was a part of Ezra's solar system, and she hated it. School hadn't been any better either, kids were relentless.
Ezra was now an artifact that people liked to gawk over. Even teachers participated in such childish behavior.
It was on a plain Tuesday, when Ezra realized something was wrong. Though she had the comfort of math equations and formulas filling her brain, everything seemed off. She had gone the day without seeing Peter, and with the company of Ned and Michelle, defending her to their best ability, she didn't give it much notice.
That was until lunch. Peter sat down quietly, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Michelle, Ned and even Ezra stared at him.
"What?" He questioned quietly, peeling an orange peel.
"Where have you been?" Michelle stated, not allowing it to even become a question.
Peter shrugged, "around."
"Peter Parker, I hope just because you got detention, doesn't mean you're skipping classes. You're better than that."
"I'm just . . . Laying low."
"Laying low?" Ezra blurted, sounding very judgmental, which was appropriate.
Peter glared at the sorceress, feeling an odd sense of resentment. Ezra mimicked his actions, until Peter looked away.
In the corner of Ezra's eye, she felt the slightest feeling of someone watching her. Allowing herself to take a peek, the slightest gasp erupted from her mouth.
"Ezra?" Michelle shook her shoulder, reverting her gaze back to her slender friend.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
No. Ezra could've sworn she caught a slight glimpse of her father standing in the hallway. Her dead father. But that was impossible, he was six feet underground, in a coffin. It was probably the lack of sleep she'd been getting.
"Yeah, I-I thought I just saw someone from my old school. It was nothing."
"Okay . . ."
Ezra collected her things quickly, now uncomfortable with the thought of her dead father roaming her brain. "I should go, I've got AP Chem review."
"What? There's no AP Chem review today." Michelle questioned, and just as fast as she questioned, Ezra was half way through the cafeteria.
***
Entering her apartment, Ezra got a phone call.
Unknown number
Confused, Ezra answered the phone call, "hello?"
"Go to the ferry, now!"
"Excuse me?"
"This is Tony Stark, Peter messed up. I'm getting there as quick as possible, but you need to go now."
"Tony? What are you talking about?"
"Go!" The phone call ended and Ezra stood still up. Not sure how to respond to the call she had received, she thought of every ferry port in the city. Only one came to mind, and she took her gut instinct.
Because of the slightly chilly temperatures, Ezra grabbed her new jacket and ran towards the street.
Not entirely sure of what she was getting herself into, Ezra's mouth dropped to the ground.
Her eyes were watching in terror as a large ferry boat was literally cut in half. Dozens of screaming ferry goers were heard from far and wide. Hanging in the middle of it all, was a struggling Peter Parker.
Looking closer, it seemed as though he was holding everything together by his webs. Ezra held her breath, that was never going to work.
She now realized why Tony Stark called her. Sighing loudly, which caused terrified by passers to stare, she lifted her hands, feeling the familiar sting of energy race through her body.
Emanating emerald from her fingertips, the boat was beginning to place itself back together.
A confused Peter Parker, spotted the cause of this, knowing right away that Tony had sent for her.
People on the boat seemed to realize where this magical action was coming from, and most people began to cheer.
Ezra on the other hand was struggling. Weight this heavy was still painful for her, especially since she didn't know how long she'd be keeping it up for.
It all seemed to go by in a flash, because Iron Man was suddenly piecing and mending the boat back together.
Letting herself fall to the ground in exhaustion, Ezra noticed unmasked Spider-Man sitting by himself.
Watching his expression drop, as the sounds of Iron Man's suit flew over, she almost felt bad.
She knew this wasn't going to end well.
"Previously on, Peter Screws the Pooch. I tell you to stay away from this, instead you hacked a multi million dollar suit, so you could sneak behind my back, doing the one thing I told you not to do." Ezra's eyes widened, she had no idea what Peter had done to his suit.
"Is everyone okay?" Peter questioned, staring out at the water.
"No thanks to you." The tension in the air was almost unbearable, when all the anger had finally built up within Peter.
"No thanks to me? Those weapons are out there, and I tried to tell you about it, but you didn't listen." Ezra had no clue as to what weapons he was talking about. "None of this would've happened if you jut listened to me!" Her short body backed away from the two, as she silently watched everything unfold. "If you even cared you'd actually be here."
Tony Stark stepped out of his iconic red suit, causing Peter to gulp hard. "I did listen, kid. Who do you think called the FBI?"
Peter didn't respond.
"Did you know I was the only one that believed in you? Everyone else said I was crazy for recruiting a fourteen year old kid."
"I'm fifteen." He mumbled, backing slowly away from Tony. Ezra cringed at his words, knowing that he should've kept his mouth shut.
"No! This is where you zip it! The adult is talking. What if someone died tonight, huh? Different story, right?
Cause that's on you." Tony poked at Peter's suit. "And if you died, I feel like that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience."
Peter began to plead, apologizing rapidly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"Sorry doesn't cut it, this time."
"I just wanted to be like you." Peter admitted.
"And I wanted you to be better." At this point, Ezra realized this was becoming more than just a slap on the arm. She immediately felt out of place. "Okay, it's not working out, I need the suit back."
"For how long?" Peter questioned.
"Forever."
"No, no, no. Please, I'll do better. Please, Mr. Stark. This is all I have, I'm nothing without this suit."
"If you're nothing without this suit, you shouldn't have it, okay?"
Shocked at the scene playing out in front of her eyes, Ezra knew that everything would change.
Peter Parker was almost in tears, as his eyes met Ezra's. He was no longer Spider-Man, and it tore him apart.
"I-I don't have any clothes." He whispered quietly.
"We can work something out."
***
Ezra got home shortly after, to be welcomed to an empty apartment. Simon had been snuggled up on the couch, and the TV was playing quietly in the background. Carla must've forgot to turn it off.
Nothing from the afternoon had truly settled in. And once it did, waves of unwanted emotion hit her like a tidal wave.
Peter Parker wasn't Spider-Man anymore.
A knock on the wooden door caused the distracted teen to gasp. Ezra didn't bother to check the peep hole, as she opened the door.
"Oh my . . ." In front of her, Peter Parker stood. He had clothes on, but they weren't exactly ideal.
Hello Kitty pajama bottoms and an, "I survived my trip to NYC," shirt didn't exactly match his muscular personnel.
"Can I come in?" His voice was broken.
Feeling guilty, and being too nice of a person, she nodded, giving him space to enter.
He sat down on the kitchen bench, letting a few tears slip down his cheeks. "Why did I let this happen?"
Awkwardly, Ezra stood still by the door. "You were trying to help."
"Yeah. And I should've just listened to you. I'm no hero, not anymore. And I'll never be any better than . . . This." His hands motioned up and down his ridiculous outfit. "Penis Parker, that's all I'll ever be."
Ezra walked closer to him, "no, it's not. Don't ever say that." She placed a hand on his shoulder, allowing his tense muscles to relax. "You made a mistake, but Spider-Man doesn't define you." He looked up at the girl that was so very confusing to him. Her eyes dark and concerned, while her thin lips were slightly parted.
He allowed a tear to seep through his eye. Ezra's soft thumb wiped it away, he sniffled in.
Bending his head over, Ezra held her breath. His head rested on the center of her stomach, and slowly she brought a hand up to his hair.
Her fingers raked through the mop of hair, "what is the deal with us?" Peter questioned.
Ezra didn't speak.
"I don't want to stay away from you, Ezra. It's like you're unavoidable, everywhere I go, you're there."
"I don't want to stay away from you, either." Ezra whispered, still raking her fingers through his hair.
Slowly, Peter stood up, much taller than Ezra. His eyes searched for any emotion he could find, until they landed on her lips.
Suddenly it felt as it the room had gotten a lot hotter. His heartbeat was rapid, along with the sudden feeling of queasiness. He wanted to kiss the girl in front of him, and there was no denying that.
As he inched closer, surprisingly Ezra followed. With both their lips grazing each other's when finally, Ezra came to.
Lucas.
She couldn't do that to him.
Her head backed away, causing Peter to stop abruptly. "I'm sorry, but I can't, Peter."
"What?"
"I have . . . This isn't fair to Lucas." Peter without another word, nodded and stepped back. "Peter."
"I think I'm just gonna go home." His voice was weak.
"I'm sorry." But before she could finish her sentence, the front door was shut closed.
***
OooOOo sappy scenes make me anxious