By an absolute stroke of magic, we get the car back and the key in Mr. Cobbwell's jacket before he notices. Mr. Cobbwell's always been emotional, and my brother put on a good show of being an emotional vacuum for the thirty minutes it took for Sergio to get me and get us back. I still cannot walk when we return. Dantae and Sergio have to team up to get me on a bus and back home. It takes ten minutes of convincing them not to take me to the hospital, but it would take two minutes if Sergio wasn't there and I could just explain to Dantae what exactly is going on.

Anthony comes with us, but we send Ned on his merry way. To avoid Mama and Papa's eyes, we head up to Dantae's room via the fire escape. It takes the better part of twenty minutes to climb up, with me in this condition.

"We need to get her to the hospital," Sergio mumbles.

"Shut up," Dantae says. I'm sure he's trying to form a lie to get us out of this mess.

Eventually, we get up to my room. We have the misfortune of discovering that Mama and Papa took out Damien for ice cream since he was bitching about being left out of fun. They left a note on the counter. So, the four of us set up in Dantae's room, throwing blankets on the ground. Anthony and Dantae are going to share Dantae's bed while I take Anthony's, and Sergio is resigned to the floor. I find out that we cannot call Peter because he left his phone in the Vulture's car. Turns out, the Vulture is Liz Allen's Dad. It's an incredibly small world. Instead, Anthony emails Peter, hoping that something will possess Peter to check his email when he finally gets home.

I've got no idea if he's even safe yet.

"What are we telling your mama?" Anthony asks.

Anything but the truth, I think.

Dantae helps examine me. I've got a gash on my head, my palms and knees are skinned, and my dress and shoes are torn, but there isn't much else. We end up going with the story that I was hurt in the parking lot when the bus flipped. Dantae is sure he can keep Mama from going feral, without admitting out loud that his plan is to calm her down until she decides not to call the school to complain, where she will discover that I was seen by a teacher after the school bus flipped, and he didn't notice any wounds on me.

Before curfew, they stage having Anthony come home. Dantae manages to successfully gaslight Mama into thinking she approved me staying out. I would try to help, but planting the idea would certainly push me over the edge.

"You're good, right?" Sergio asks when it is just us in the room.

I nod my head, "yeah."

"Dantae isn't going to like that you're stealing his spot as resident trouble-maker," he smiles.

I smile back, but it makes me wince.

Shortly after midnight, Peter replies to Anthony's email. He's coming over. I want to be asleep but Sergio's been tasked with keeping me awake. I know that I don't have a concussion, but neither Dantae nor I can tell him that. Anthony is panicking a bit too.

Soon enough, Peter climbs in the window. He sees me. He looks just as rough as I do, with his split lip and his dirty face. Anthony made me change and he ran a wash cloth over my face, arms, and legs before he would let me in his bed. I wonder how bruised he is underneath his sweater and track pants.

"Are you okay?" he says.

"Yeah," I scan him. "Are you?"

He nods.

We end up explaining to Sergio that Peter is Spider-man to keep him from asking any more questions. We manage to keep my powers as well as Dantae's out of the discussion. Nobody asks any questions about anybody else, which is nice.

"Do you want to stay for a bit?" Dantae offers. He clears his throat a bit. "I mean... our mother is a nurse. We can have her check you out just so no one at your home asks questions."

Peter nods, "yeah?"

"How long until you call her and let her know what happened?" I ask.

Dantae sighs, "you and Peter should probably stumble in now. Give me your phone."

I sigh, digging it out of my purse. I don't have to read minds to know what is coming next.

Dantae goes into his closet and gets out a can of spray paint. He puts it on the floor and smashes it. Hopefully, the sound doesn't wake up Mama. Then, he hands it back to me.

After that, Peter and I sneak into my bedroom, since it is the only one connected to the fire escape. He guides me out of the window. I feel dizzy. Together, we sit down on the fire escape.

"How will we explain my clothes?" he asks.

"You had a spare set in your locker," I tell him. "I didn't."

My body starts convulsing. Am I more hurt than I thought? Is it a seizure coming?

"Here," Peter takes off his sweater.

Underneath is a white t-shirt. He helps put the fabric over my dress. The shaking subsides. I'm cold. I'm cold and I hadn't even noticed.

"Thanks," I mumble.

My heart aches, but it's not from an injury. It takes more courage than it took tonight to lean up against him. He wraps his arms around me, resting his head on mine. All of this is tolerable. It's manageable, at the very least.

"I usually sneak around, but this is a lot," he says.

All I can do is nod, "my Mama is going to be so mad."

He pulls me in closer.

"I still have the money and the walkie," I tell him.

"Keep the money," he murmurs against me. "I want the walkies though."

"I can keep one," I offer.

He exhales, almost a laugh, "yeah, I think I'd rather you didn't do that again."

I smile too. Then, I look up at him. I use the fabric of my sleeve to wipe the dirt off us his face. He scrunches his nose and laughs, so I keep going.

"That's enough," he playfully pushes my hand away. He is strong enough that he could whip me around, but he is so careful. "Darce, come on."

I stop, but my hand stays rested on his face, "can't have my Mama see you covered in dirt while I'm clean as a whistle."

"Yeah, I got that," he is grinning so wide.

"You read my mind this time, then," I cannot stop the red flush in my cheeks. "Not the other way around, I guess."

He looks down at me. I don't know why, but I feel more nervous than any other time I've been this close to him. I kissed him the first time, and that made me so anxious. The second time, the only other time ever, was earlier tonight. I'm not even sure why he did it. I was too distracted by injuries to stop and think. Did he forgive me? If so, why? Are we doomed just to repeat all of this over and over again until we die?

"You, uhh, what exactly happened in there?" he says. "When you found me?"

I sigh. Here it comes.

"I had to read some thoughts," I admit. "Like, Ned's. I needed to know if he knew you were Spider-man. I also read Liz Allen's thoughts too, to see if she knew what as going on. Anthony's too. And... yours. I was trying to find you in the rubble. I needed to know if you were alive. I pushed too hard though, so I messed up my head. All of the scratches are from me falling while trying to get to you."

He doesn't answer. I know I've fucked up. He never wanted me in his head, but I went in it anyway. I go to pull away, but he tugs me back in closer.

"I felt you tell me about the gas leak," he answers. His eyes peer into mine. "I'm... glad you did."

"You don't like when I read thoughts," I feel the words quietly in my mouth. They are nothing but air.

"No," he admits. He adjusts himself, and our noses are nearly touching, "I don't like when you read thoughts for bad reasons. You... you were trying to save me and do good."

I bite my lip, "well, I can't promise I'm going to put on a cape."

He smiles. God, he is so handsome. Even all bruised and beaten, he looks so lovely. I cannot believe I ever thought he looked fragile.

"I don't want you in a costume," he pauses. "I hadn't realized how much it would scare me to put you in danger. All I want is to keep people safe, including you. Especially you."

I swallow, trying to breathe.

"Well, I'm safe," I tell him.

"Did you really mean it when you said you still had feelings for me?" he asks.

All I can do is nod.

"I thought you hated me," he says. "You were so angry when you left, and you ignored my texts for months. I was kind of mad you didn't want to talk. Then, you almost kissed that guy at the party, and you yelled at me when I saw your brother and his friend fighting. I was already mad, but it got worse when I found out about the bribe, and..."

"I thought you hated me," I can feel my jaw slack. "You... I thought you were avoiding me when I came back, and you were so angry at me whenever we talked."

He looks at me, jaw agape, "I don't hate you, Darce. I couldn't ever. You do make me mad sometimes, but... things only make you angry when they really matter."

I scan his face, looking from his eyes, to his bruised cheekbone, and then I finally settle on his split lip. Would it hurt to kiss him?

"What are you thinking?" I ask, not taking my eyes off his lip.

"You're allowed to read my mind for a good reason, you know," he answers.

"What reason is that?" I ask.

I can hear him swallow, "well... if that reason is... if you want to find out if I want to kiss you, and then once you know, you decide to kiss me, then that's a good reason."

My heart is racing. I'm too tired to play mind games. Then, I kiss him, and he kisses me back, and even if I'm sure pressing up against his split lip hurts, just as him taking my hand in his causes my scrapes to ache, I feel so very happy. For the first time in a long time, it feels like I've done something right.

THE END

~~~~~

That's it! It's taken me far too long to get this done, but for those of you that do care, I hope you've liked it. Thanks for all the time you've put in!