FIVE BEST SANDWICHES IN QUEENS

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"You've been different lately," Mel commented as the three of them were walking towards the bus stop after school. It was a cold day, which was nice because it meant that Lyra had an excuse to keep on her sweater. None of her friends had to know it was hiding more than just goosebumps. So far, the curse hadn't spread since that night with Peter, but she had no idea how much longer she had. She was too young to realize when it took over her mom, which meant she had no idea what her actual lifespan was. It could be a year or it could be tomorrow and there was no telling how many people she could hurt on her way down. She wished Peter had just let her kill herself but no, he had to be a gentleman.

"I have not," Lyra shrugged, "Sorry I had to cancel our going out, by the way, if I had known I would spend my birthday weekend with the stomach flu I wouldn't have planned anything in the first place."

Archie laughed at this, "It's fine, Ly, that just means we'll have to go extra crazy for your seventeenth. Besides, seventeen is better because that's when you get to be the dancing queen. We can have a full ABBA disco night."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Lyra forced herself to say. It was painful to not be able to tell her friends that she wouldn't be making it to her seventeenth birthday. She could let herself pretend, though, acting like just talking about turning seventeen didn't tear her heart to shreds.

Mel was about to say something, but someone calling Lyra's name got her attention. She heard Peter's voice behind her, saying, "Ly, Lyra, hey!"

Her friends stopped and Lyra turned around to see the boy jogging up to her, looking out of breath. She chuckled to herself wondering how a vigilante could have so little stamina. She smiled, forgetting about the pain of the birthday talk, saying, "Hey, Peter, what's up?"

As she smiled at him, she could practically hear Mel's internal screaming considering she was utterly convinced that she and Peter had crushes on each other. She couldn't be more wrong, of course, but something about having horrible secrets between each other brought two people closer together. Could she really be blamed for that? He knew she was cursed to become a monster and die and she knew that by night, he was a suited vigilante. It worked.

"Didn't we have plans today?" He asked. They didn't. He knew that. So what was he getting at, "We were, uh, gonna, uh, grab coffee? Remember?"

She furrowed her brow at him but did her best to act like she knew what he was talking about. So, she feigned realization, "Oh, yeah! How could I forget? So glad you caught me, I would have felt so bad. Mel, Archie, you guys good to go without me?"

If Mel nodded any faster, she would have broken her neck. "Yeah, yeah, go ahead, girl, I'll text you later."

"Yeah, see ya," Archie contributed, a shit-eating grin on his face. The two walked away and Lyra watched as Mel flashed her a thumbs-up to which Lyra responded with the middle finger.

"What the hell was that?" Lyra asked with a small laugh as soon as her friends were gone, "Please don't tell me you're actually taking me out for coffee, I'll be buzzing all night."

Peter shrugged, "So get decaf. No, I'm totally kidding, but uh, first, I'm hungry so we're going to my favorite bodega because they finally finished rebuilding it, and then we're going somewhere."

"Where?" Lyra asked as the boy grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the subway entrance. It was nice if she was being honest. Peter's hands were warm, but not clammy, and he was tugging her along at a comfortable pace. She was beginning to enjoy Peter's company more and more, but she didn't mind that at all. It was nice to have a friend who understood what she was going through and could actually talk to her -- unlike her dad who barely even muttered a good morning and goodnight to her anymore. It was something she would have to live with for now, unfortunately. Right now, though, she was going to let herself focus on Peter.

Once they reached the subway platform, Peter dropped their hands to his side but didn't quite let go. She didn't make any move to let go, either, but Peter seemed to notice this. He let go of her hand and she pretended not to notice the light pink blush that crawled into his cheeks. However, she looked at the yellow line in front of them, doing her best to hide her small smile. When the subway came, Peter grabbed her hand once again to help her over the gap even though she had hopped on the subway probably hundreds of times in her life. Still, she didn't mind. As the doors came to a close, Peter plugged his headphones into his phone, offering her one of the earbuds. She smiled and took it, letting the soft sounds of The Neighbourhood fill her ears.

"I love this band," she whispered to Peter, keeping her grip on the pole next to her, her hand just below Peter's.

"Me too," he responded, but that was the most conversation they had in the packed car for the rest of the journey. It wasn't an awkward silence, though, things with Peter were just... comfortable.

She supposed they got to their destination when Peter paused his music and took the earbud out of his ear. Lyra did the same and they stepped onto the platform and walked up the stairs together. As they entered the bustling city once again, Peter nodded in a certain direction and she followed with ease.

"This place burnt down like a year ago and I think it was kinda my fault, but I made Tony donate a bunch of money to help them rebuild it because Delmar would have ended up on the streets trying to put that place together again," Peter explained as they walked, "Also, they have really good sandwiches and I love to come here after school. So, selfish reasons, really."

Lyra chuckled at this, shaking her head lightly, "You're ridiculous, Peter."

The boy shrugged as he turned abruptly and pulled her through a door and into the deli where a kind-looking man with a gruff beard lit up at the sight of Peter.

"Peter!" the man called. This must be Delmar, Lyra assumed. There was also a large tabby cat lying on the counter that the girl reached out to pet. Delmar placed a sandwich on the counter before asking, "Does your young lady want anything?"

"Yeah, Lyra, what do you want? It's on me," Peter asked, turning to face the girl who was currently enthralled with the cat.

She blinked to attention, scanning the menu before saying, "Uh, BLT, please. Thanks, Peter."

Peter nodded and handed Delmar some cash while he got the other sandwich ready. She watched as Peter made conversation, "New place looks great. Thanks, Del."

"Don't worry about it, kid, it's on the house," Delmar shrugged, handing Peter the cash back, "Consider it a welcome back gift. Tell May I say hi."

"Will do," Peter took the cash and the two sandwiches, handing Lyra hers before giving Delmar a mock salute and pushing through the door with Lyra close behind. "Get ready because these are the best sandwiches in Queens, trust."

Lyra laughed as she took her first bite and it felt like heaven in her mouth, "Mm, I knew I could trust you. Will you tell me where we're going?"

"It's kind of a mood dampener, but I feel like it could help," Peter sighed as she looked at him skeptically, "We're going to the library. I wanna see if we can find anything about this curse or your family."

Lyra sighed. He really wasn't kidding when he said it was a mood dampener. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded, "All right. Let's do it."

ahh hello I know it's been a while since I updated this but your payment for waiting is some soft Lyra and Peter moments so enjoy it while it lasts because I'll probably try and start picking things up soon in terms of the curse so ha