Chapter 15: Somebody That I Used To Know
"They say love hurts, but the truth is that not knowing if someone is real or not is what hurts"

Who is Ember Snow?

That's the question that has been hunting his mind ever since her eyes turned white. Peter didn't know what to think, he saw how her green eyes turned white and he knew.

Ember Snow is Ice Sorceres.

Ember Snow, the girl he always saw as shy and amazing was the cold hearted heroine that has been protecting New York City for over four years.

But really, who is Ember Snow?

That was something Peter couldn't answer. Perhaps he didn't know her at all. Peter Parker had a crush on Ember Snow for years, but now he wasn't so sure. Did he like Ember Snow or just the mask she seemed to put on? Which side was the mask?

Ember Snow. Even her name seemed to be a mockery of his dilema. On one hand you had the warm spark, the loving girl that he couldn't help but like. And on the other hand you had the cold, the heroine he was still learning how to get along with. He liked Ember, he had known Ember for years. Ice Sorceress was a stranger, someone he just seemed to clash with.

How could he like Ember and not Ice Sorceress, they were the same person and yet he couldn't bring himself to look at them as one and the same. Right now, everything felt like a lie, he wasn't even sure if the girl he liked was real or just a cover up for the ice mutant beneath. He felt like a hypocrite, he was also hiding Spider-Man from Ember and if the roles were reversed he wouldn't want her to doubt who he was.

But it wasn't the same, was it?

His thoughts were a mess, he was still trying to process everything. Just two days ago he was happy and smitten with a girl, two days ago he felt like he had a chance with that girl. Just twenty four hours ago he decided he was ready to tell her how much he liked her, just like Michelle told him to.

'If you care about her, just tell her'

That's what Michelle said and after a night of thinking about the risks he was ready to do it, he was ready to come clean and possibly even tell Ember his secret. Now, he was staring at his phone, his finger hovering over her name in his contacts, wondering if he should ask her out and tell Ember he liked her. He couldn't do it, no matter how much a part of him wanted to move past what he saw at the elevator and just go for the girl, he just couldn't.

'If you care about her, just tell her, but only if you mean it, if you don't then just let her go'

That's what Michelle said and right now, that's what made him want to tell her he liked her. But now, he couldn't tell her, because now, he wasn't even sure if he meant it. And if he didn't mean it, there was only one thing left to do.

❅

It was a day after the Washington incident and since then her parents had been watching her like hawks. She loved them and she understood their worry but sometimes it could be a little overbearing. Just when they picked her up from the monument they refused to let go of her hand, and at night they even checked on her every couple hours. Which was why sneaking out to see Spider-Man turned out to be a bit more complicated than usual. When Ember arrived to their spot, she found the young hero already pacing nervously by the dumpster.

"Hey Itsy Bitsy" she called out, making her presence known to Peter.

It was weird for him to see her in her Ice Sorceress form when he knew who she was, and now as he looked at her he felt stupid for not putting the puzzle together sooner. It wasn't obvious but there were small things that he couldn't believe he missed. From the way she always drummed her fingers against her legs, the way her knuckles would tighten around her sleeve whenever she was stressed, both habits he knew Ember had. And then to the more obvious things, their meeting spot was just next to her house and even the fact that she knew Captain America. The truth had been right in front of him and he never even thought about the possibility of Ember being Ice Sorceress.

"I heard you saved the day in Washington D.C" Ember said, never noticing the troubled thoughts running around Peter's head. "I must say I'm very impre-"

"This isn't going to work" Peter cut her off, avoiding looking directly at her eyes.

"What won't work?" she asked, not understanding where he was getting at.

"This" Peter sighed, pointing at the space between the two. He couldn't work with her anymore. What if something happened to her and he couldn't stop it? He knew she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, it was just that now she wasn't just his acquaintance. She was Ember, the girl he knew since he was three years old, the girl he liked and couldn't get out of his head.

"Woah, hold on" Ember held her hand to shush him, "why does this sound like a break up? I mean we're not even dating"

"I can't work with you anymore"

The blonde heroine let out a laugh of disbelief as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Ember was confused, she thought things were starting to work between them, she thought that they made a good team. Apparently, she was the only one who believed that. It was weird she left for a couple of days and everything was fine, she got back and Spider-Man wants nothing to do with her.

"I don't get it." She said, a frown on her face, trying to figure out what exactly happened with the boy who wanted to work with her less than a week ago "I thought we were going to work on this little alliance"

"We were, but it's just not working for me" Peter said, there was no way he could explain to her his reasons without telling her he knew her secret. That was something he wanted to keep to himself, at least until he sorted his thoughts out.

Ember raised an eyebrow at his lack of explanation, she was very close to losing her cool with him, she was still a bit freaked out about the monument incident and the whole Peter mess to even try to put up with Spider-Man's problems.

"Look, it's not you it's-"

"Oh don't give me that crap" Ember protested,throwing her arms out in frustration and her hair glowing more intensely for a second "Seriously, if I wanted to hear that kind of bullshit I would get myself a boyfriend" Now she was mad, he acted all mighty, like she was the one who begged for his help in the first place. As if. "You want out? Fine by me, stay out of my way and i'll stay out of yours"

❅

The following day, Ember managed to convince Carter to let her go to school. The whole decathlon team was given a couple of days to recover from their near death experience but today they all agreed to return to school. Anyway, Carter finally agreed she wasn't going to die for going to school, but he was still taking her there.

"Well this is my stop" Ember said, reaching for the handle only for Carter to lock the car in the last second "Dad!"

"Maybe you should stay home one more day" Carter suggested sheepishly watching his daughter groan, throwing back her head as the people behind them began honking at them. "I'm sorry, but maybe we should reconsider homeschool again"

Her head snapped to look at him, a look of disbelief taking over her face "Carter Snow I swear to god if you dont open this door right now I will tell Angie exactly what happened to her mother's christmas gift"

"Who gives a christmas ornament with their picture on it?!" Carter complained, remembering the time Angela 'lost' the dreadful christmas ornament, what actually happened was Carter placed the ornament in the charity box instead of the christmas decorations one. "It was like she was staring down at me while I happily drank my eggnog, why would anyone want to ruin eggnog time? And don't get me started on-" Carter's complains got cut off mid sentence once he saw his daughter trying to send an S.O.S text "Ember Anne Snow are you trying to get Michelle to rescue you?" Carter snatched the phone out of her hands before she could press sent.

"Pfft, no" Ember answered sheepishly, avoiding his eyes. But she knew it was useless. She was a terrible liar "Okay, I was. But dad, you cant keep me locked up at home over a random freaky accident!"

Carter opened was about to answer but another car honked at them, making the tall man groan and open the window to yell at the person behind them "Go around lady, I'm trying to get some parenting done over here!"

Of course with her luck it just happened to be Aunt May, trying to drop off Peter probably because she was also still freaked out over the accident even if her nephew wasn't a part of it. "Dad" the blonde complained once more, as May glared at Carter an went around him.

"It's not just about the monument accident Ember, it's about you keeping things from me" Carter argued, turning to look at her once again, ignoring how embarassed she looked.

"I'm no-"

"You think I didn't notice your hurt hand a couple of weeks ago? Or how you sneaked out last night? How about two months ago when you called from Germany to tell us that you were going on a mission with Steve?" Carter interrupted her, staring at her as she adverted her eyes to her hands "Angie told me to let it slide, but I can't. When you and your grandmother insisted on this whole hero thing, we agreed that you would be honest with us. You promised that you would tell me what you were doing so I wouldn't worry"

Ember sighed, knowing he was right. It wasn't like she did all of this on purpose, the last thing she wanted was to upset him. For the first time, in the last couple weeks, she really looked at him. She noticed the wrinkles on his forehead and the white hairs that sticked out from his stubble, and if he had hair she imagined it would also be covered with white hairs. After everything he did for her, raising her and sticking with her even when he found out about her powers, and even when her mother left. He supported her with her decision of being a hero, even if he was worried sick about what could happened, he still supported her because it was what she wanted. Carter Snow was an amazing father, and Ember felt awful for how she was thanking him.

"I'm sorry, dad. I never meant to hide things from you," Ember answered in a small voice, still looking at her hands.

"I know princess" Carter said, pulling her into a hug. "We'll just have to work on it, okay?" He gently placed a kiss on top of her head, trying to comfort her. It wasn't easy for any parent to let their children free on the world, especially when they went out to fight crime, but he and Ember made it work. They always had and they always will "Go to class, we can work on it at home"

The blonde nodded, pulling herself from the embarace and giving her father a kiss in the cheek before heading out of the car. Carter waved her goodbye and gave her an encouraging smile, waiting until she walked through the doors to drive away.

❅

"I was afraid you were going to be late again" Michelle said, as Ember hurried inside the classroom barely a few minutes before the bell rang.

"I know, my dad's still freaking out about the accident" Ember said, dropping to her seat next to the tall brunette.

"As is everyone else, apparently" Michelle commented, glaring at a couple of kids that kept staring at them.

Ember frowned, turning to look at the kids confused as to why they kept staring and pointing at them "What do you mean?"

Before Michelle could answer, the intro of the school news began. Betty and Jason appeared on the screen, both awkwardly looking directly at the camera, catching everyones attention

"This past weekend, Midtown's Academic Decathlon team defeated the country's best to win the national championship." Jason began as some pictures of the team appeared on the screen "Later that day, they also defeated death"

A clip of Abe suddenly took over the screen. He was talking loudly and trashing his arms in the air as he tried to explained the events that took place in the monument. This was followed by another clip, this time of Charles, where he compared the accident to a Bon Jovi concert, and then, a clip where Mr. Harrington ended up looking like a total creep.

"Thankfully, no one was seriously injured thanks to the Spider-Man." Jason finished as he and Betty appeared back on the screen and showed a picture of Spider-Man climbing the monument.

"Thank you, Spider-Man." They both added, Betty sounding like it actually pained her to speak those words and Ember understood her attitude.

"Up next: the Spider-Man mania is sweeping the school. How can you show your spider spirit?"

"Seriously, Spider spirit?" Ember groaned, dropping her head onto her desk. Just when she wants nothing to do with the web swinger the whole school starts worshiping like a freaking god.

"He did save your life" Michelle said, crossing her arms over her chest and giving her a questioning look.

"Yeah, yeah, thank you Spider-Man" she said with a mocking high pitched voice.

Michelle gave her a confused look, leaning closer to her friend "Alright, what happened? I thought you and Spidey were friends again"

"We were never friends!" Ember snapped a bit to loud, catching the attention of a couple students.

"Nothing to see here losers!" the brunette hollered to the prying students, all of the scoffing at her before going back to their own things. "So?" Michelle asked, leaning close to her friend once again, waiting for an explanation.

"The jerk met with me yesterday to tell me that he couldn't work with me anymore" Ember explained, annoyed by thinking about her talk with the hero "He was the one who asked for my help eight months ago. He was the one who stood me up for two months and I still gave him another chance. Now, he suddenly decides he can't work with me anymore, acting like he's doing me a favor? I don't think so" Ember ranted, trying very hard to keep her voice down.

Michelle nodded absentmindedly, thinking about what could possibly make Spider-Man change his mind all of a sudden "What do you think changed his mind?"

"I don't know and I don't care. I won't put up with his mood swings anymore. I managed fairly well by myself before he arrived and I can do it again" Ember stated, still fuming at the thought of the hero in red tights.

Their conversation got cut off by the last bell ringing and all the students scrambled to their seats, just as Mr. Reyes walked through the door. While the teacher, took out his material, the blonde quickly noticed that there was one kid missing right in from of her.

Ember surveyed the room one last time before leaning in to whisper to the filipino boy sitting in front of the empty sit "Ned," she whispered shouted, trying to catch his attention "where's Peter?" She asked once he turned to look at her.

"Todos en sus lugares, listos para el examen" Mr. Reyes called out before Ned had a chance to answer.

Half way through the quiz there was knock on the door "Sorry to interrupt Mr. Reyes, I was having a conversation with Mr. Parker" Principal Morita said, catching Ember's attention. Peter Parker was standing next to him, nervously bouncing on his feet as the two adults talked.

"Tome asiento Sr. Parker" Mr. Reyes ordered, handing Peter his quiz as Principal Morita exited the classroom.

Peter didn't look too happy as he waled towards his seat in front of Ember, she assumed the boy got in trouble for skipping decathlon, so, she sent him a comforting smile once he reached his desk. Her smile turned upside down as she watched the boy barely sparing her a glance as he sat down and began with his quiz.

Ember was confused, she quickly looked at Mr. Reyes who was sitting on his desk eating a sandwich, not even bothering to look at his students.

"Are you alright?" Ember muttered leaning closer to Peter so he could hear her. And he did, she could tell by the way his shoulders tensed , but he said nothing. He didn't even acknowledged her, he just leaned farther away from her and kept writing.

❅

As soon as the bell rang, Peter stood up handing his quiz to Mr. Reyes before bolting out the door. He didn't want to talk to Ember, he didn't want to look at Ember, all he wanted was to get as far away from her as possible and fast.

"Peter, wait!" Luck was definitely not on his side he thought as he heard her shout at him. Just keep walking, Peter, keep walking he mentally encouraged himself, but it didn't matter because she had already reached him and grabbed his arm to get his attention.

"Hi" Ember greeted him when he finally turned to look at her. She was smiling which made him feel even worse. She just had to look so pretty in her jeans and her oversized Midtown sweatshirt. "I've been trying to talk to you. Didn't you get my messages?"

He had. Ember texted him a couple times after the trip but he never answered her, she kept asking him how he was and if they could talk soon. Peter of course ignored all her texts, everything was way too overwhelming. The whole Ember is Ice Sorceress thing was taking a toll on his investigation on the vulture and that was something he couldn't allow. Right now, catching the vulture had to be his priority, he couldn't deal with the whole alter ego thing too.

"I have" Peter said, watching her face fall making him feel bad for the way he was treating her. He looked at her eyes and all he could think was how they turned white.

"Oh" was all Ember managed to say, he didn't even try to deny it or at least apologize. All Peter did was stand there, hands shoved in his pockets looking at anything but her. In class she assumed he was just annoyed because he got into trouble, but now she began thinking maybe he wasn't very happy with her either. "Well, I wanted to talk to you because I owe you an apology"

"You do?" Peter asked, confused.

"Yeah, the other night in Washington. I totally blew you off and I'm really sorry. I was having a bad day and I pinned it all on you and I shouldn't have." Ember smiled, fidgeting with her sleeves, nervously "Truth is I'm a little messed up and-"

"Look Ember, I have detention and I really can't talk right now" Peter cut her off a bit too harshly. It was wrong he was being awful and he felt bad, but he wasn't ready to deal with her yet.

"Right, I just, uh, never mind" Ember feeling embarrassed that she practically ambushed him to pour out her problems. "But we are fine right?"

For a second Peter looked at her, he saw how nervous she was and she was just giving him pleading eyes, she looked so innocent. Peter was being an asshole and she had no idea why, but he had other things to do. He couldn't debate about the whole Ember situation while he was trying to solve his mission. And maybe it was for the best, catch the vulture, impress Mr. Stark, become an Avenger, and move on. Perhaps it was time for him to open his eyes and move on from this long time crush.

"I really have to go"

And just like that he turned around and left without sparing her a second glance. Peter just left Ember standing in the middle of the hall, and for a moment she felt completely crushed.

❅

[word count: 3532]
Not edited