( CHAPTER NINE! )

( THEORIES AND FRIENDSHIPS )

•

Out of all things he could've been, Colin Archer had become paranoid merely in a span of a month.

He was positive that Peter Parker was hiding something and he had narrowed his option down to two. The first option was based on the theory that, Peter was in love with his old best friend, Harry Osborn, who had been living abroad for the time being but was planning to return to the Queens. And for some reason, he didn't want Colin to find out about his crush or secret relationship. (Maybe he had thought Colin wouldn't be okay with his sexuality, if he only knew Colin realized that he only fancied boys for a while now.) This theory would explain why Peter always turned off his computer, hid stuff when Colin was in the room, looked extremely suspicious when he was asked why he looked sleepless. (He had used words like 'I was just chillin, you know the basics' and the word 'chillin' was cringe-worthy by itself.)

If he was talking to this boy called Harry, due to timetables he had to talk to him at night and maybe he was hiding pictures and messages away from Colin. However, that wouldn't explain the occasional bruises on his body, constant checking his behind as if they were being followed and being on alert all the time. Also, Gwen had confirmed that she and Harry had been something, exclusively, in the past and Peter had been okay with it.

(Yes, there was a story about how Gwen and Colin become close friends again, it was not an exaggeration to say that a lot had happened in this past month.)

It all started after the exam week when Colin realized that friendship was something delicate, it needed attention care and effort. Colin had been trying his best to not make friends at his old schools because his father tend to move around a lot and he couldn't bring himself to care enough to try.

After establishing that this method was impractical here since he had people from his past (and people he just couldn't help but befriend.) That being said, Colin was rusty on the friendship department. And it was a struggle to balance the relationship with his friends since not all of them got along.

Sure, Gwen sometimes hung out with Flash and Sam but it wasn't as often. He had to make time for her to have a chat properly and occasionally they had been picking up coffee at a small coffee shop. Their conversation had an easy flow and Colin had been smiling more and more while he was with her and it had been quite educational since she seemed to know almost everyone and had a lot of intel about what was going on.

However, like everything that had been happening around for the past few months, Gwen and Colin didn't become close until something with Peter came up.

It was after the exams and yes, Colin was trying his best to be a nice person. A genuinely nice person that laughs and doesn't fake his laughs just to fit in. A person who doesn't bring others down or lash out on them when he is scared or upset. It was a hard task because, for example, his first instinct when Flash started to bug him about the fact that he seemed to not sleep very well was to break Flash's heart. Colin didn't want to think about it, okay, he had been feeling tired since he moved to this town but he was also feeling more than alright, he was feeling good so he wanted to ignore that problem for the time being.

And usually, in order to do that he would've pushed Flash away, maybe humiliate him in front of some friends for him to not to speak with him again. Colin didn't do that yet it was hard to come clean or open up, whatever you wanted to call it. He just didn't object when Flash implied that he wasn't sleeping well and he didn't get angry with him when one day he got an email from Flash that had a lot of useful links to articles on insomnia and sleeping disorders.

(His first instinct was to delete the mail. His second one was to run to Flash's house and hug him but that wasn't even an option. He settled for promising himself that he would read them if it got worse and he shared his cake with Flash the next day at lunch. It was a progress.)

Almost everything was going great, besides Peter Parker and it seemed that the tables had turned for the two.

Now, it was Peter who ditched Colin a lot or forgot that they had promised to meet for a study session or it was Peter who made lame excuses for his constant tiredness.

He wasn't that suspicious until he found out that Peter had forgotten about an important assignment for literature class. Surely he was sure that the boy was hiding something but for a boy like Peter forgetting that much of an important homework was out of character.

It was a tipping point for Colin that one morning when he found Peter asleep on his desk in the morning, even Colin didn't do that.

"What's going on with you?" There it was, a sentence that showed how much Colin cared, on his standard of showing affection, of course.

"What do you mean?" Ugh, this boy. With his stupid messy soft looking hair and sleepy eyes and the cute wrinkle on his nose because he was confused.

No, Colin was going to get answers this time. For almost two weeks, from the day Peter was late to their study session at his house, Coln had been worried and curious. He was done with trying to find out without letting Peter know he was kinda freaking out. That they he was hell-bent on getting an answer. "You're tired all the time and you keep forgetting things..." his voice trailed off, he wanted to add: you keep forgetting about me. Is it me, you finally realized that I'm not fun to be around?

"No, I'm good. Just school work and-"

"You keep forgetting homeworks and important assignments as well," he exclaimed and almost stumped his feet in frustration, some students close by were giving him odd looks now, fantastic. "I just... I want to help if I can, Peter."

The expression on Peter's face softened and a sheepish smile appeared on his face, it lit up his whole face and made his eyes shine brighter. Up until that point, Colin wouldn't guess that calling him Peter would matter this much to him. "There is nothing to be helped with," Peter started and Colin almost grimaced because Peter was going to dodge again. His disappointment must have been evident on his face that Peter sighed and continued. "I promise I'm good. I've been caught up with... ugh. I've been talking to an old friend who lives overseas right now so in order to speak one of us needs to stay up. Timetables."

This wasn't an answer that Colin expected. Honestly he wasn't sure what to expect anyway but definitely not that. "You talk to this person that much that it disturbs your daily life?" It was supposed to be cynical with the way Colin rolled his eyes and glared with his eyebrows raised but he sounded borderline petty, for some odd reason.

"He was, still is, of course, a close friend of mine. His name is Harry, you'd liked him actually."

With that, Colin was stuck with listening to Peter's stories about this Harry, that was apparently the golden perfect boy. To say the very least, Colin wasn't a fan.

The only upside to whole this mess was the fact that it got him closer to Gwen. Yes, they had been talking more but until the moment the topic of Peter came up, they were mostly chatting about casual stuff. It was the fact that Gwen had sensed something was occupying Colin's mind and that something was Peter Parker. An observant girl, she was.

That was the story of how he stepped the line of casual friendship and ride or die type of dynamic with Gwen Stacy. It was also a lot easy to open up to Gwen about his thoughts on Peter because she wasn't biased like Flash or Sam. The fact that she was a good listener helped too, and in a week, he learned all about this infamous Harry Osborn and began to connected everything Peter did to this mysterious boy.

•

The second theory, the theory that made him feel sick to his stomach, Colin didn't want to see those signs. It got harder and harder to ignore the signs that someone was hurting Peter. It was a tipping point when one day Colin grabbed Peter by the wrist rather gently, gentler than he would be to almost anyone else and Peter hissed in pain. A fading bruise was there.

Harry Osborn explained a lot of things but it failed to do so with that one.

•

"Hi."

Which boy was more shocked by the greeting, that was a mystery. Was it Colin who had an unsure smile on his face because he was talking to the person that he almost punched once and felt worse afterward because the boy had been so cool about it? Or was it Aamir that had been startled by the fact that a boy who seemed to be set on ignoring him was acknowledging him?

That mystery remained unsolved for the two as Aamir greeted back with a faint hello. His expression filled with surprise shifted quiet fast as he cocked his head to the side with a frown on his face as he gestured for Colin to sit down as well. "You... you look worried. What's wrong?"

This time, it was definitely Colin's turn to be shocked by Aamir's blunt question and he was taken aback by the fact that the boy was spot on. Colin always felt a sense of pride by the fact that he was good at hiding his feelings, trying to bury the fact that he admired the people who wore their hearts on their sleeves. But here he was with a person he barely knew and he was obviously being open as a book.

"It's that noticeable?"

Aamir chuckled softly. "No. I'm good at reading people, I guess. Your signature I don't care scowl is intact. Don't worry."

A roll of eyes and a blink it and you miss it smile was Colin's response to Aamir's teasing. Ib return, the boy ran his fingers through his hair and smiled brightly. "Is this about Peter?"

"Dude, I came here to ask some stuff and you're doing it for me," Colin bickered but his words didn't have to get behind them.

"Sorry, he is the only obvious thing we've in common and I just guessed. I won't get ahead of myself, please go on."

He blew some air into his cheeks and looked away for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Have you noticed any... weird behavior? About Peter, I mean."

"I did actually," Aamir started, with an expression that is unusually serious on his features. "He told me it was because of Harry and I don't know, I see them speaking a lot."

"But you don't believe it. Not entirely."

"Well, yes," he started and Colin noted that he was carefully choosing his words. "Whatever it is, I don't think Peter is unhappy. I'm sure he will come clean-"

"You don't know that," Colin cut about. "Its not easy to see from outside when someone is..." He didn't finish the sentence but Aamir seemed to understand him, in fact, the boy looked like he was about to give a comforting hug.

"I know, sorry. I just think that we should let him know where are here for him? And he'll come clean to us, we can't force him, not unless we know he is in danger for sure."

Maybe Aamir was right. Maybe it wasn't anything big, a misunderstanding, another simple thing mixed with the Harry Osborn situation.

For a little while, Colin tried his best to let it go but it was hard when Peter Parker played a crucial role in his life.

•

( AUTHOR'S NOTE! )

edited! the last one! the next one is a brand new chapter!!

ps; i have been listening to dodie 25/8 and aah im obsessed, as always. (i go through this dodie phases every other month lmao im in love) can't feel my superbass is the best mash up ever and thats the tea. also party tattoos and burned out had been on repeat.

whats your favorite song from dodie? (+ if you are not listening to her go check out dodie clark on youtube and thank me later bye)