.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

[WORD COUNT: 2780!]

'One day you will understand why I pushed you away, I'm doing you a favour'
— Granson; Despicable

After the manifesto of your breakdown, you had done as Peter asked; taken the spare key from the kitchen and left, slotting it under the doormat before you hugged yourself tight with your cold arms and tried to keep your tears at bay as you headed to meet your brother. There was nothing keeping you there accept from what you would come to forget. Before the door closed you made sure to imprint the smell of the boy you had mistakenly fallen for in your mind, the way he organised his room... As creepy as it sounded. You'd thought about leaving a note, but decided against it when the crushing pain become too much and you fled the scene with a heavy heart.

Your hood hung low over your damp forehead, trying to keep your rosy cheeks out of view of the people passing you on the streets of Queens. Your legs were almost numb, so weak from all your energy being focused on heaving out your emotions to put one foot in front of the other. You cradled yourself the whole time you walked, steps thundering against the pavement as you trod heavily. Subconsciously you could have sworn you heard the all too familiar 'thwip' pass over you a handful of times, but every time you looked up you just saw the grey clouds shielded by the tall buildings and rooftops.

The smell of coffee almost brought your stomach into your throat as you entered the cafe, lifting your head from your feet and grazing over the empty seats until you found the person you were looking for. Ned was sitting on the window seat crammed into the very back corner of the small building, surrounded by the booths. Your mind began to falter at the sight of him, memory flicking back to the night you had last seen him. A lot had been submerged into that moment, both boys admitting their up-most emotions; your brothers being that he wasn't pleased about your relationship with his best friend, and Peter's being that he actually wanted a relationship.

Wanted.

And now here you were, blood boiling as you looked over at him, his eyes catching yours and it's like the blame flew to his shoulders. It was on the tip of your tongue yet you had no solid reason, if there was no more room to pin the blame on yourself then it would have to be your other half. Before you could comprehend your words, your feet were moving, storming through the cafe towards his table and you watched his eyes shift.

"Are you happy now?" you spat, pulling back the chair keeping your eyes on your brother as you crammed your hands into your pockets and took a seat, the hood still over your head, loose strands of hair clinging to your bruised neck where Peter had left his final mark. You were a mess.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, so new's doesn't travel as fast as I thought it did" you scoffed, leaning forward. You were coming across stronger than you had intended for the birth of the afternoon, but something about finally being tipped over the edge brought out all the words you had been searching for, "guess you got what you wanted, hm?"

"Y/N, you're really confusing me, what are you talking about?" Ned leaned in, hands bracing themselves on the metal table as he scanned your face for a pinpoint emotion.

"So you going to see May wasn't your first drop into getting me and Peter apart? I mean c' mon Ned, there's low but that's just ridiculous" you shook your head, jaw clenching. You were furious, and if Ned knew from experience he better sit back and keep his distance. You watched his face drop as the realisation hit him, the anger only building as you had only just gotten started.

"As far as I'm concerned Peter doesn't want anything to do with me. May is worried sick because I'm that much of a bad influence she doesn't want her nephew anywhere near me, so instead of me sitting here, I thought I'd tell you everything you so desperately want to know, just in case you want to run along back to May and fill her in on anything you might have missed. Me and Peter had sex. Alright? We got drunk, made a stupid deal and had. Sex. More than once actually. He opened up to me and I was stupid enough to push him away, and when your jealous ass came in claiming you wanted to protect me like the great brother you are, new's flash, you made him push me away too" a sigh left your lips as you finished, nose flared. Ned sat there rather embarrassed, looking around to check no one was looking. It was rather shocking to him that you were being so broad, and you saying it so strongly... Was rather-

"What, you're uncomfortable?" you asked rather sarcastically, watching your brother's speechless expression only grow, "now I guess you know how I felt when you blew up in my face"

"Will you quieten down?" Ned ushered, leaning in so you could hear his lower tone a little better.

"What, so the people who are around us won't hear about how you stuck your nose in my business, yet again? Ned, I'm months away from nineteen, I'm an adult! I can love who I want to love, I never came barging in when you and Betty got together? Why couldn't you have been like this with Kyle, huh? Or Darren? Or Jake? Or any other mother fucker who kicked me in the gut and called it a night? Why Peter? He's the first guy who's treated me right and probably will be the last"

Before Ned could answer, a hand braced your shoulder, making your head twitch to the side quicker than you intended. In your frustrated state, you would have punched the male square in the face, if it wasn't Harry.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" the brunette smiled, completely oblivious to the ongoing feud between siblings.

"No, I was just leaving actually" you groaned, moving his hand from your shoulder and pushing the chair back with your legs. The bars screeched against the floor as you turned, but Harry stayed put, blocking your exit way.

"Excuse me-" you mumbled, brushing his shoulder gently as you passed him. You weren't even a step away before the same hand grabbed your upper arm, pulling you back just enough to be within earshot of Harry's whisper.

"You might want to stay for a while if I were you" you could hear the smirk in his voice, eyes keeping forward as the gentle bell of the doorway rung, two suited men walking in through the doorway and taking a glance around before drawing their attention to the small scene at the back of the cafe.

"What the fuck are you doing?" you turned back slightly, vision momentarily blocked by the hood of your jacket, Harry's hand still tight on your arm.

"You have something that we want, Y/N/N, so why don't you take a seat, would hate for that pretty skin of your's to get even more bruised" his voice was low and raspy, his fingers annoyingly soft as they brushed the underside of your neck, eyes coming into view of your hickey littered skin. To much dismay you took a seat, seeing the glare in your once best friends eyes. You looked over to your brother who had lost the sudden tension in his seat, becoming more relaxed as chairs were pulled across the cafe for Harry and the two men to join you at the table.

This was Harry Osborn you were dealing with. Things like this never ended well.

The door to the salon closed gently as Peter entered May's working place. It was a small hair salon down the road from central Queens, not too far from the apartment where he had left you just moments before. His mind was blurry and fuzzy as he made his way up the steps to the top floor where he presumed his aunt would be on her break.

His legs were heavy as he trudged up the steps, tired from the lack of sleep and body aching in general from crying. He'd made several attempts to redeem himself before entering, not wanting his already damaged aunt to see him upset too.

May was standing by the window as he came into the small break room. The building was a little run down, being so old, and spider-webs littered the corners and the beams that held the ceiling up. The white paint was chipped along the walls and the windows were dirty, the frames rusting so much they couldn't be opened, and the smell of damp wood filled the room.

Her head finally turned at the sound of Peter's coat being thrown on the old red-velvet armchair, her glasses a little steamed from clearly being upset. She wasn't the only one. She rushed over for a hug but came to find that her nephew wasn't in the mood, as he held an arm out to stop her.

"Peter-"

"No, let me talk, please" he murmured, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. To much dismay, admittedly May had taken over a little recently, and the teenager deserved a word in the unspoken, yet clear tension that fueled the feud occurring between them.

"May... Why? Okay, why or better, what is going on with you? Look I get it things have been pretty difficult lately with Ben's anniversary and all but why do you have to take the one thing that's important to me away from me? May, I'm almost nineteen, I can make my own decisions" Peter rubbed his lips harshly with the bottom of his shirt, "I feel like you and Ned are practically teaming up on the two of us, did you not think this was gonna happen at some point? I can't be your little lap dog for the rest of my life May, I have to go out and find someone at some point, and Y/N might have been my old shot at that. I don't know what Ned told you, but me and Y/N... We might have messed around but it wasn't a joke, whatever we did we did it for a reason and-"

"Peter," May stopped the teen, bringing her hands to his shoulders as tears slipped down his cheeks. She sighed, running her hand over his forehead gently. "I understand, I do, and hearing it like that I know how much she means to you. It was wrong of me, but please understand me when I say I just... I got scared. You're all I've had these past few years and the thought of you leaving me was... It unnerved me. Ned told me that you and Y/N were fooling around and I didn't want you to get you're heartbroken"

"But we weren't, May"

"And I understand that now. As bad as the timing is, I do and I had no right. I underestimated that girl, she really does something for you and seeing you the other day... It was the brightest I've seen you in a while" she rubbed his shoulder gently, taking the opportunity to full her nephew in for a much-needed hug as he broke. Yet, he was still hesitant to return the favour. If she'd seen his change in behaviour then why did she carry out the action?

"It's too late now anyways" he snivelled, "I told her we needed to take a break because I seriously thought you were going to lose it. Fuck, I keep putting people before other people and it's messed up. You both mean a lot to me but now she thinks I hate her and I don't but fuck! I crossed a line, oh god no... I told her-... Fuck..." Peter groaned, head falling into his hands as he sat down on the velvet chair. May's hand fell to his hair as she brought his head into her stomach, slowly shushing him as his hands raked over his face, trying to stop his emotions from overflowing but it was too late. He was practically drowning.

It was all too late.

"Why don't I talk to her?" May suggested, her voice perking slightly in an attempt to comfort Peter, but there was a little anyone could do at this point in time to soothe the growing hole in his heart.

"It doesn't matter May, it's over"

"No, c'mon Pete you can't think like that"

"May, she's gone alright. I said some things that no man should ever say, especially not to someone they love" Peter sighed, pushing his aunt out of his bubble so he could stand again, "I'm gonna go, I'll see you later" he mumbled, picking up his jacket and heading for the door. There wasn't much that May could say to comfort Peter as she'd seen him frustrated to this degree only once before, so instead of protesting she let him go.

There wasn't a path that Peter was willing to follow, he just went wherever his feet decided to take him. That being back to the apartment where he changed into his suit and decided to go out on patrol.

He'd missed it. More than he could come to admit. The air rushing past him as the weight shifted as he flung himself into the air, feet running along side buildings and rooftops and gliding past windows bringing smiles to some people's faces. He'd missed talking to KAREN who seemed to be the only normal voice in his mind right now, remaining completely oblivious to the world crashing down around him.

Eventually, Peter grew tired, arms beginning to ache as he perched himself on a building top, non-resembeling anything, in particular, it just had a nice view of the sunset. There he sat and listened to the traffic below him, the noises of some ongoing conversations and the occasional flutter of the bird's winds passing over his head. It was peaceful, cold yet warm and still.

"H-Hey KAREN?" Peter stuttered, pushing his gloved fingers together as he waited for the AI's response.

"Yes, Peter?"

"Can you uh, can you pull up my photo documents please?"

"Sure thing" upon command Peter's files were displayed on the screen, each and every photo he'd ever taken right in front of him.

"The third row, the second one in, can I see that one please?" Peter asked, and without response, the picture was brought up. Peter didn't know whether he was just blatantly torturing himself at this point because seeing you in the photo twisted his heart in a circle. It was the only photo you and Peter had together that he had saved in his suit documents. It wasn't much, but it meant a lot. It was back on the park when you were just friends, you leaning against Peter's shoulder as you had fallen asleep on the grass after watching the stars. He'd caught you on the night after patrol and wanted to show you so desperately the constellations from the hills on the park of Queens, and needless to say, it was a night to remember. 

"Is everything alright, Peter?" KAREN asked upon noticing his change in heart beat, adrenaline rushing to his head as he only came to notice the tears spilling down his cheeks when the material of his mask began to stick to his skin. Peter snivelled, his eyes only focused on your sleeping posture, wishing you were there with him now, his arms wrapped around you as you slept on his skin.

He'd made a decision to protect you by hurting you to keep you away and now he wanted nothing more than to take it back. He missed you already and you'd been apart less than a day. He wanted to cradle you in his arms and just kiss you; to feel your lips on his again as you gave him your full attention for the night and vice versa. Already he was missing sitting with you in the bath-tub, his head in the crook of your neck, kissing your damp skin and he wondered if you were thinking the same.

"No. Everything is not alright."

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Finally managed to upload a chapter longer than 1,000 words lol. I'm really sorry they've been short lately! 💞