Chapter thirteen: Where She Breaks

" I'm scared of falling in love. I know what people are. I know what they can do. Being in love means being hurt beyond repair. And I'm already broken enough"

The group of teenagers finally arrived at their huge hotel in Washington D.C, all of them looking around impressed by the amount of teams and the beauty of their home for the weekend.

Peter got down the bus and offered his hand to Ember, neither of them letting go as they walked down the lobby. They felt comfortable around each other, acting like it was nothing new. Even if they were holding hands and to the outside world they seemed like any other couple Ember's insecurities still wouldn't let her be. In her mind there was still a little voice telling her he didn't feel the same way, that Flash was right and he was only using her to make Liz jealous, or worse he knew she had a crush on him and he was only acting like this because of pity.

Peter was thinking something different, something Ember hadn't even considered. In his mind he worried about how the girl would react if she were to find out about his secret identity, what if she liked Peter but not Spider-Man or worse what if she realized she prefered Spider-Man and not Peter? He wasn't even sure if he was going to tell her the truth anytime soon, they weren't dating, he still wasn't even sure if she felt the same way.

For now, none of that mattered, for now they would just hold hands and enjoy the moment, both avoiding those nagging insecurities in their heads and just enjoy the way the other made them feel.

"Everyone stick together." Liz ordered to the group of teenagers, acting like the adult in charge because let's face it Mr. Harrington had no idea what he was doing.

"This place is amazing" the blonde exclaimed out loud, amazed with everything around her. Her family has never been rich, like Liz or Flash, they weren't poor either but after Margo left she remembered the dark times they went through. The only other time she had ever been in such a big hotel was when Steve took her to Disney Land for her twelfth  birthday, she remembered how he went on all the rides with her, even if he always got sick after each ride.

"Ive seen better" Flash bragged, earning a couple eye rolls but in the end no one cared about what he was saying.

Peter smiled as he saw Ember staring at a bird Abraham pointed out, snapping out his daydream as he remembered he didn't come to Washington to spend time with a girl, he came to stop the bad guys and for now the girl would have to wait. "Em" Peter called out, gently tugging at Ember's hand to get her attention, she smiled at him brightly looking at him expectantly. " I need to talk to Ned, but I'll see you around okay?"

She took a quick glance to where Ned was awkwardly standing, and she felt a little bad for stealing his best friend for so long "Sure, see you later Pete" she smiled gently taking her hand away from his grasp, waving goodbye as she walked towards Michelle, who was sitting against the wall sketching something in her notebook.

With one last look at her, Peter smiled goofily one last time before making his way to stand next to Ned "Hey, you brought your laptop, right?" He asked, once he reached him.

"Why?" Ned asked a bit startled by Peter's sudden arrival.

❅

Ember dropped to her bed as soon as she walked through her hotel room door, Michelle following right on her toes. Ember was still smiling from ear to ear at the thought of Peter Parker, trying to get him out of her mind she grabbed Michelle's book and began reading it  ignoring the questioning glance her best friend was giving her.

Michelle sighed, annoyed by the blonde's  silence "Alright, just so you know how much I love you, for just this one time I'll act all girly and listen as you rant about your boyfriend"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Ember shrugged, never looking up from the book as Michelle rolled her eyes knowing Ember was going to make her beg for the information.

"Come on E, don't make me say it" Michelle groaned, rolling on her back to glare at Ember.

"Say what MJ?" She asked in an innocent voice, smirking as she finally turned to look at her best friend.

"Fine!" Michelle caved in after a couple of minutes of their staring contest. "I wanna have a girl talk" she mumbled, glaring daggers at her giggling friend.

"Come again?" Ember asked, placing a hand next to her ear pretending she didn't hear what Michelle said.

"I wont say it again"

"Fine, fine" Ember said, putting away the book and jumping into a sitting position "Whats up?"

"Seriously?" Michelle exploded throwing her arms out in exasperation, while her blonde friend acted all innocent "You and Peter?"

Ember giggled, trying to dodge the question but all she got was a cushion thrown at her face "First of all, ouch! " she began before throwing the cushion back "And second of all, there's no Peter and I. He's just a friend" Ember finished as she began unpacking her things, trying to avoid looking at Michelle so she wouldn't notice her red face.

"So you try to kiss all your friends during a bus ride?" Michelle questioned sarcastically, amused by how fast Ember turned to face her.

"You saw that?!"  Ember asked a bit too loud, her cheeks getting redder by the minute.

"I'm surprised no one else did" Michelle shrugged it off, not understanding why the blonde couldn't accept the fact Peter was almost her boyfriend "Ember you like Peter and he likes you. Why can't you just admit it and them we can go downstairs for some pizza?"

"Cause I don't know if he likes me!" Ember let out an exasperated sigh, dropping into her bed dramatically as Michelle gave her an 'are you kidding me?' look. "Don't look at me like that, I'm being serious!" Ember snapped, grabbing another cushion and throwing it at Michelle's face.

" That boy looks at you like you're a freaking angel, you two act like a freaking couple, he invited you to Homecoming and you almost sucked each other's faces less than two hour ago! How can you not see that he likes you?!" For someone so smart Ember was way to clueless in Michelle's eyes. Michelle rambled as she paced in front of the blonde, until realization hit her and she quickly stopped pacing to look at her frowning friend "Is this about what Flash said?"

"Maybe" Ember sighed in defeat. What Flash said got her thinking but it was more than that, no matter how hard she faked it the truth was Ember Snow was a bit broken and she had been ever since her mother left.

"I know listening to Flash is dumb," Ember continued after giving into her friend's curious stare "but what if his right, I mean how can Peter like me when he doesn't really know all about me?" Now it was Ember who was pacing back and forth while Michelle looked at her sadly "How can he like me if I'm not normal?" Her voice broke down at then end, her green eyes watering a little. It was silent for a second Michelle was sitting at her bed, insure of what to say. It didn't matter because before she even opened her mouth Ember continued talking "My mom said she loved me, but as soon as she saw I was different she left" Ember sat down, with her back against the wall, avoiding the brown eyes that kept staring at her. "Why would a boy stay? How can I let him in, when he's just going to leave when the truth comes out?"

That's when the tears came, Ember didn't cry often, she was always the girl who refused to cry over simple stuff, like a boy. But this wasn't about the boy. This was about the little girl whose  life turned upside down when she was just a little kid playing at a park. It was about the girl that was hurt beyond repair by the person who was supposed to love her the most. That girl  died with Margo Lewis, now, only the broken pieces of the girl remain.

Like any good friend, Michelle decided not to go protesting and instead she ordered room service and her and Ember ended up watching Netflix. The brunette wanted her friend to forget about the mess of before and just enjoy a normal afternoon, that was her way of cheering Ember up. Michelle Jones wasn't that good with emotions or girl talk, for now she would just be the friend that holds her tight as she lets it all out.

Ember Snow was broken, too broken and afraid to love and let a boy in. Even if that boy was as nice as Peter Parker.

❅

After a hours of eating and watching movies, a knock in the door brought the two friends back to reality. Ember groaned as Michelle pushed her out of the bed so she could open the door, the blonde dragged her feet through the floor taking her precious time as the knocking grew more impatient.

"I'm coming!" She shouted, finally hurrying  to open the door, surprised to find Liz at the other side, wearing a swimsuit. "Hi?" She greeted, weirded out by the sudden appearance of the senior and noticing most of the decathlon team behind her, everyone wearing swimming suits.

"Hey!" Liz greeted her excitedly before noticing the blonde was already wearing pajamas "Oh, sorry. Did we wake you?"

"Uh, no don't worry about it" Ember assured the senior, feeling little self conscious about the fact that most of her team was there and she was wearing shirt pajamas and her hair was an absolute mess, at least she was glad her eyes were no longer red and puffy "Did you, uh, need anything?" She asked, subtly starting to close the door.

"Well, we're about to go swimming and we thought you and Michelle would like to join us?" She asked with a kind smile, Liz was a very nice girl and maybe in another life, one were Ember wasn't so untrusting and antisocial, the two girls could have been great friends.

Ember turned to look at Michelle who was still laying on her bed but listening to what was happening at the door. Michelle just shrugged her shoulders at the blonde's unspoken question "Isn't it against the rules to go swimming this late?"

"Stop being such a goody two shoes Ember, grab your stuff and lets go!" Flash intervened before he began running away followed by the rest of the team.

Liz stayed put, glancing anxiously as the team turned around the corner, if she didn't follow them soon they were bound to get into trouble. The senior turned to Ember, who wasn't very convinced about their late night plan "I promise it'll be fun" Liz begged looking at the two friends, the while point of this little getaway was integrating the team and both Ember and Michelle could try and connect more with the team.

Ember was about two turn down the invitation, it wasn't Michelle's kind of thing and after her little break down the blonde didn't feel like going out of the room.

"We'll go" Michelle suddenly joined the conversation, standing behind Ember and ignoring the what the hell look the short girl was giving her. Michelle's ideal plan never involved socializing with other people, she would always choose staying inside watching a good film or reading a book with Ember, but today it wasn't about her or what she wanted. Today it was about her best friend who really needed to have some fun and to feel comfortable among others, maybe splashing around with the decathlon team would be a good place to start.

"Fine" Ember finally agreed after she noticed Michelle's glare. She was confused about brunette's sudden decision but she was going to be a good friend, keep quiet and just go along with it.

"Great! We're going to grab some snacks and we'll meet you downstairs" Liz said before she left to catch up with the others.

❅

"Peter" After they arrived at the hotel Peter dragged Ned to their room avoiding the subject of Ember Snow completely. No matter how many times Ned tried to ask, he was always shut down by Peter saying there were more urgent matters and that there was nothing to talk about. And now, Ned was hacking into the system of the Spider-Man suit watching as Peter tried to remove the tracker. "why are we removing the tracker from your suit?" Ned asked, not entirely sure about what was going on.

"I gotta follow these guys to their boss
before they move again and I don't really want Mr. Stark to know about it" Peter answered, not even turning to look at Ned's reaction.

"So you're lying to Iron Man now?" Ned asked again, surprised Peter was capable of lying to someone like Iron Man.

"No, I'm not lying" Peter quickly defended himself, it wasn't like he was telling a lie he was just withholding the truth at least until he could prove Spider-Man was capable of handling it. "He just doesn't really get what I can do yet."

Ned didn't think what Peter was doing was the best, he was his best friend and he wanted to support him but this was something dangerous and if Tony Stark didn't want Peter involved it may be for a good reason.

"What about Ice Sorceress?" Ned asked, remembering how Peter told him the two heroes were trying to improve their relationship "Aren't you supposed to call her or something?"

"There's no point on calling her"  Peter shut down the idea, he had thought about telling the heroine about what he found out,  but he decided he would wait until he knew more about what was going on "She won't be able to help from New York" he added once Ned sent him an offended look.

"All right, Happy, enjoy tracking this lamp." Peter exclaimed, finally taking the tracker from his suit and leaving it on the  bedside lamp.

"There's a ton of other subsystems in here" Ned said, deciding it was better to stop nagging Peter about lying "but they're all disabled by the Training Wheels Protocol." he finished, laughing at the name.

"What? Training Wheels Protocol? Turn it off." Peter said, after checking that Ned was being honest.

"I don't think that's a good idea. They're blocked for a reason." Ned refused, he still wasn't a fan of going behind not only Iron Mans back but also Ice Sorceress.

"Come on, man, I don't need training wheels. I'm sick of him treating me
like a kid all the time. It's not cool." Peter complained, feeling a bit insulted by Stark's insinuation. Peter was pouting and jumping on his bed which didn't help his case at all, in fact while doing this he looked even more like a kid throwing a tantrum

"But you are a kid" Ned argued, still not on board with his friends plan.

"A kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands" Peter argued, looking at his friend pleadingly.

"Peter, I just don't think this is a great idea.
I mean, what if this is illegal?" Ned argued, not giving into Peter's pleas, he didn't want to even think about all the things that could go wrong  "And why do you need all this stuff? Black Widow doesn't need any of this, neither does Captain America. I mean Ice Sorceress doesn't even have a suit, she just wears a cloak and it works just fine!"

"Look, please.This is my chance to prove myself." Peter begged dropping to his knees besides his friend "I can handle it. Ned, come on."

After Ned finally agreed to unlock the restrictions, Peter went to out his suit on, grabbing his things and zipping up his hoodie ready to leave. He checked to see if anyone was in the hallway before turning to look at Ned once more "The glowy thing, it's evidence. Keep it safe.All right?"

"Okay. Okay." Ned agreed, grabbing the object his friend was talking about.

"They're moving." Peter announced looking at the tracker,  getting out of their room as Ned wished him farewell.

Peter heard footsteps behind him, he quickly hid the tracker and turned to see whoever was there. It was Ember and Michelle, they were talking about something and they yet to notice him. Peter's palms git sweaty by just looking at Ember, he wanted to run towards the bad guys before the blonde noticed him but it seemed like his feet were refusing to cooperate, he just stood there nervously until they finally noticed him.

"Hey, guys" he greeted awkwardly, keeping his eyes on Ember, it was weird no matter how much time he spent with her she always managed to make him nervous but in a good way.

"Peter" Michelle said after realizing Ember wasn't going to say anything.

The blonde just looked at Peter, cheeks flushing red, unsure on how to act. Ember liked him, she really did but she was still unsure. Part of her wanted to just go with it, forget her break down and for once she wanted to just take chance and see were it went.

But it wasn't that easy.

"I have to go" the blonde finally spoke, avoiding Peter's curious eyes and walked down the hall.

Peter followed her with his eyes until she turned a corner, very confused about her reaction "Is she alright?" He asked, turning to Michelle for help.

Michelle didn't know how to answer that, she knew Ember wasn't at her best, the realization of the kind of power Peter had over her brought all her traumas back to light, Michelle wanted her to be alright but she couldn't tell Peter what was going on.

"She's just nervous about tomorrow" Michelle lied, stepping forward to follow her friend's path, before making up her mind and turning to look at Peter "Can you do me a favor?"

Peter looked at her still unsure of what was going on before nodding at her, waiting to hear what she needed. "If you care about her, just tell her." Michelle didn't need to say her name, they both knew who she was talking about. "But only if you mean it, if you don't then just let her go"

And with that she followed her friend, leaving Peter deep in his thoughts, unsure if he should follow then and talk to Ember.
A beep came from the tracker, reminding him what he was supposed to do and for now Ember Snow would have to wait.

Peter made a quick stop in the hotel roof, looking through the window, his eyes traveled from his classmates to the laughing blonde sitting next Liz by the side of the pool as Cindy and Flash splashed them both. He did care and he cared a lot, but he didn't know how to tell her. Peter Parker always had a crush on Ember Snow, but he never acted upon it, he was afraid of being rejected and humiliated like any other teenager would be. He tried to get over his crush and for a while it worked, Peter began looking at other girls like Liz Allen. Yet, he still went to the bakery every afternoon, it was his way of being a part of Ember's life in the only way he knew, as an outsider. It seemed to be working, he was moving on, but then the two began talking again working on a project together made him realize the feelings he tried to bury were still there, but for the first time it seemed like there was a chance. Now, the problem was he wasn't just Peter Parker anymore, he was Spider-Man and he wasn't sure if he wanted to let her see that part of his life.

❅

[word count: 3404]

A/n: Guess who finally updated!
So, I wanted to write the whole Washington  part in this chapter but I think it was too long, so i'll do it in two. School is finally over and I plan to update once a week during the summer, I promise the next chapter won't take so long!

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