( CHAPTER EIGHT! )

( VIOLINS AND GUITARS)

•

"Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment."

That was painfully true and Colin couldn't remember who actually had said this iconic sentence that had been associated with Murphy's Law, if he could, he would like to punch the guy.

Surely the ongoing exam week had a huge part in his sour mood but it was also the fact that he had been sitting inside Peter Parker's living room with his brother while drinking tea with an adult he just met.

Scratch wanting to punch the guy, he wanted to tackle Peter to the ground at this point. At the same time, a part of him was eternally grateful that Peter had agreed to help Colin with his extra project.

It was the exam week and in Midtown High, which meant that you have to put your life on hold. Sam was nowhere to be seen (and Colin didn't blame him, he couldn't imagine being the pressure of having a scholarship, he had to keep his grades up.) It was surprising that Flash was also drowning in work, he couldn't quite get why the boy was trying so hard. Gwen was sweet and had lent him her math notes that also had a little drawing on the side which made it easier to have fun while he went over stuff.

So, yes, he was grateful that Peter was taking the time of the help Colin despite the fact that the boy also had a lot on his plate. However, that didn't mean that it was okay to leave Colin with a parental figure for more than five minutes. His migraine was starting to show itself.

They had agreed to meet up at Peter's place an hour after school because Colin had to wait for Cory's baseball practice. Peter had texted the address and Colin just assumed that he would be here when he arrived.

He wasn't and he wasn't picking up the phone either. Colin was torn between telling Aunt May and making the woman worried or waiting for a little more and trusting Peter that he would eventually find his way back home. What if something bad had happened? But what if lying to Aunt May that Peter was on his way was the right thing and Peter had an actual explanation?

You see, there was a reason why he got a headache.

Thankfully despite having parent-phobia (adults usually liked silent kids, but a teenager that scowled most of the time with an attitude didn't sit well with the most.) May Parker was sweet and actually cool that Colin found himself smiling bashfully at times, sharing a bit more about himself.

Right around the time Colin was convinced Peter was in great danger the boy chimed in with a red face and heavy breathing. A smile appeared on his face as he closed the door behind him an stepped in, it just seemed that he had run his way here. "Sorry for being late!"

Colin didn't have much to react when Peter made his way towards Cory, grinning at him for no apparent reason. "Hi, I'm Peter," he said and offered a hand.

That made Cory smile proudly because Peter was treating him like they were of the same age. "Cory. I heard a lot about you."

Colin almost choked on air and coughed simultaneously, face going red in the progress. "Ugh, thank you May," he interrupted Cory from oversharing the second he was good to speak. "Is it okay if he watched TV while we work?"

The woman smiled brightly and nodded while Colin left his place on the couch. Grabbing his bag he gestured Peter that they should move to Peter's room, glaring at the boy once he had his back turned against Aunt May. "It was a lovely chat, Colin. And please, I do want to hear you play the violin someday!"

Colin smiled sheepishly at the woman but made no promises, following Peter into his room with quick movements.

"You play the violin? I had mistaken you for a bass guitar kinda guy, with your leather jacket and I don't care vibe-"

"What the hell Parker?" Colin cut him off the second the door was closed behind them. "I texted you a billion times! I had to act like I knew you were going to be late because I didn't want May to know. I- I was..." his voice trailed off because he wanted to say I was worried about you, but couldn't find the courage the say it. So he shut his eyes closed and tried to ignore a nagging headache, breathing from the nose. It was odd how quickly he lost his cool when he was worried and it was odd that he was worried about Peter Parker.

The curly headed boy seemed taken back from the little outburst and he had this guilty expression on his face and a little pout that made Colin sigh and relax a bit. "I'm really sorry. I just- I had to pick up something on my way here and my battery had died out."

Colin took note that Peter didn't seem to be carrying anything but also he could've bought anything. Regardless, the fact that Peter wasn't able to meet his eyes created an unsettling feeling inside his stomach. He was lying, Colin guessed but it was not his place to pry so he shrugged. "Its whatever. Let's get to work, yeah?"

Peter's shoulders relax in an instant at Colin's dismissal. The two started to pull out the necessary notes and books on Peter's fairly small desk and as they got into their work, all the questions were set aside for the time being.

•

Every time two teens decided to work together they somehow ended up doing something completely unrelated to the work they were supposed to do.

In their case, they had finished Colin's extra assignment and was suppose to go over the last few chapters of their physics class (Peter was taking advanced while Colin was taking regular. That meant, Peter was explaining things to Colin while he probably had to work for his exam later on.) Sometime down the road, they had started talking about the fact that Colin (used to) played the violin and the conversation had branched out to their hobbies and all.

Peter had never played an instrument because he seemed to be tone deaf and since people tend to be impressed by the things they weren't capable of he was very curious about the whole situation. When did Colin start to play? (I was six and an in a dire need of free time activity) Why did he stop? (Parker, you ask too much.) Did he play any other instrument? (Yes guitar, haha, not bass guitar though, and a little bit of cello). Did he miss it?

He did, he missed it a lot. however lately every time he picked it up he was hit with nostalgia that he didn't appreciate.

Their books were open on the table but it been a while since they had put their pens down, currently, Peter was resting his head on the table with his arm tucked underneath it while Coin leaned against the table with his elbow on it, it was a rather cozy position for both of them.

"Do you do sports? You look like you do but I don't think you're on the team," Peter spoke with a soft voice, his eyes were a bit hodded with the need of sleep.

"What gives you the impression?"

"You have a lanky frame but very firm arms and I think you've abs-" Peter was muttering his words but stopped in midsentence as he saw the way Colin was raising an eyebrow at the boys rambling. "Ugh, gym class. You're very fast and all. I thought you did sports."

Claiming that Colin was not a team player would be underestimating the concept, to say the very least.

In order to paint to picture clearer, the wisest choice of words would be something along the lines of 'Colin Archer was the worst possible person to pick for a team member'. Not that he was obsessively competitive, not exactly. He liked to prove his case and became the best version of himself as much as the next boy did, however, he did not threw a tantrum when he wasn't the best, most cases he either set his mind to become the best or he accepted to reality.

His lack of ability to play for the behalf of the group was the lack of will to bow down to another person, take orders, especially if he knew the person who was giving the person was not superior to Colin in any sense. Thus, he had never taken place in an organization where he had to be a part of the team, his fondness with sports went as far as watching football occasionally. He liked to go for long runs, without any authority watching over him, he tried boxing because it could actually benefit him in reality. (Running after a ball with a bunch of guys wouldn't come handy later in life.)

Also, he didn't like taking the responsibility of someone else on him. When they lost, they lost together and Colin had decided a while ago that he would make an exception for Cory, and for only him.

For the several listed reasons, Colin was not a team member, did not like playing on someone else's behalf because life didn't work like that, you were out there by yourself. At that time his beliefs towards this concept were firm, had been built upon solid arguments. Sadly if life was consistent with one thing, that was the fact that it liked messing with people's promises. In that time didn't know he would be wandering around in the dark streets on behalf of one significant boy in a very near future.

"I don't like team sports. Running is nice," he gave a short answer and then decided that he could share a bit more. "I did boxing in primary school, I got that little bit of arm muscle from there. By the way, I definitely don't have a six-pack, I guess I'm too scrawny for that now."

He shrugged and made Peter smile a bit. "Boxing? I bet I can take you down without breaking a sweat."

Peter wiggled his eyebrows which made Colin roll his eyes in a very amusing way. Sizing the boy up and down, once more he thought how strong he felt for a fairly tiny boy. Colin didn't show his hesitation and instead, he smirked. "Oh, really Parker? I don't fight with boys that are a head shorter than me."

Peter jolted on his seat and leaned back with his hands on his heart with an exaggerated pained expression on his face. "You wound me. First of all, you're not that tall, secondly, you are on. Just, don't run away crying after I kick your ass."

"You're all talk and no action," Colin started with a taunting tone. "Why don't you make me believe those words-"

A knock on the door disturbed his speech and the two almost simultaneously sat straight on their chairs and picked up their pens as if they were caught doing something forbidden.

"Can I come in?"

It was Cory and his politeness had put a smile on Peter's face.

"You should look up to your brother. He is much nicer," Peter said with a low voice before letting Cory know he was good to come in.

"I finished my movie, when will we go home?"

Colin blinked a few times before looking at his phone, his eyes widening at the sight that it was way past the time he had anticipated going home. Mumbling a few cuss words he basically stuffed all of his belongşes into the back and got up, not even giving an explanation to a very confused Peter.

"Get your stuff brother bear," he gave a nod to Cory and tried not to show that he was starting to freak out. The minute he was out of Peter's room he sighed and gripped tight on the stripes of his bag. "We're running late. My father, ugh, a bit strict about being home for dinner."

"'s alright," Peter smiled lightly and it wavered a bit when Colin didn't smile back, his scowl was back intact.

Saying their goodbye's to Aunt May, Archer brother's were out of the building with fast-paced steps, to the point where Cory was struggling to keep up even though his brother was holding his hand.

"Will dad get mad at us?"

Colin exhaled sharply and bit his lip, he tried to relax for the behalf of his brother. "No, I don't think so. But... you know father, we don't wanna get on his bad side."

Cory nodded despite clearly having more questions on the matter but he had started to keep calm when Colin was being like this, on alert an anxious.

The ride to home was short on his motorcycle but it felt ten times longer than it was since he was itching to get home.

The second their house was visible around the corner Colin almost smiled with joy because there were no signs of his father since his car wasn't around.

The brothers made their ways inside walking calmer this time and Colin relaxed and dumped his bag somewhere on the hall as he was sure that Casey Archer was nowhere to be seen.

Cory smiled brightly at his brother's relaxed state. "I'm hungry," he stated firmly, with a pout appearing the next moment.

"I'll make pasta and tomato sauce, yeah? We can put lots of cheese on it as well."

He started cooking and then set the table and when his father was home he was cleaning up while he was waiting for the pasta to be ready.

His father followed the sound of his cleaning into the kitchen and Colin took a deep breath before facing the man. A relief ran through his body when he saw a smile on the man's face, it was a good day then.

"Isn't it a bit late for dinner?"

"I was studying," Colin replied as he returned his attention to the tomato saıce he was making.

"Right, exam week?" The man muttered and clapped a hand on Colin's shoulder. "Don't disappoint me, son."

Colin stilled under his touch but kept on stirring the sauce on the pan with a blank expression on his face. "I won't. It's going alright for now."

Casey nodded and gave one last squeeze before he turned around to leave. "And I'm not hungry," he added before leaving the kitchen. "Your last sauce needed some improvements anyway."

With that, he was gone and despite the fact that he was relieved the touch of his lingered on Colin's shoulder. Touches like that irked him because they were supposed to be affectionate but always felt controlling. His father's hands were harsh and strong and it always felt like they weren't meant to offer tender touches. Colin had been waiting for those hands to do what they do best, break and damage. Its what they did to their future or their plates on a nice dinner when the man was angry.

They had never touched Colin something other than his father's controlling grip on the shoulder or a suppose to be encouraging slap on the back but Colin was waiting. Always on alert that someday a broken vase wouldn't be enough to blow of his steam, someday those hands might want to damage someone instead of something.

He turned off the oven and leaned against the counter with thoughts lingering in his head, he wouldn't let his guard down to let anything happen to Cory. It would be okay as long as he wasn't distracted.

(Distracted by boys with sweet sweet smiles and sweeter eyes with kind hearts. It was a bit hard to resist though, its been getting harder to resist.)

•

( AUTHOR'S NOTE )

edited.

abuse doesn't necessarily have to be physical. im not saying their father is an evil heartless guy but he definitely messed up big time raising his kids on his own.

i hope this sheds more light on colin's defensive attitude and his issue with touching. he doesn't hate it, he is not repulsed by it but after associating his fathers touch that he deems menacing its hard to disassociate.

i didn't mean for this to be this long oof

anyways, let me know what you think!!