chapter twenty-one!
quiet moments

SPIDER-MAN no longer showed up at her window at night. That didn't stop Nina from staying up, waiting for him to show each time, hoping that maybe, Peter would land on her fire escape to crawl inside. She had gotten used to him being there still━even if such an inconvenient way━and now that she no longer saw him swinging by in the streets, or tapping against her window pane, Nina sort of missed it.

But there was a change. Nina now saw him at school; he talked to her, and they walked the school halls like they used to. He went to his detentions, retook his Spanish Exam and excelled, came back to decathlon and took his old place at Nina's side. Peter Parker was now Peter Parker, and a long time ago, that would have been all Nina would have wanted. But these days she heard sirens outside the window in the distance and knew that Spider-Man wasn't there to stop the crimes. He was Peter Parker, but now, he was also Spider-Man; they were the same person, and Nina didn't think Peter realised that.

Yet, it was refreshing to see him back. She couldn't help but admit that. Nina was smiling to herself at lunch, glancing over to Ned and Peter, wondering whether she should drag Michelle and Cia over to sit with them. She chuckled at MJ's drawings of Peter in detention, taking Snapchats of them to save and send over to him, awaiting his reaction across the cafeteria. He'd look up, meet her gaze and she and MJ would snicker at the expression upon his face.

Peter and Ned would join Nina and MJ before Decathlon in the afternoons. While MJ would read in the back, the three old friends would work together to build Lego again━Ned bought this huge Lego Star Wars Death Star, and Nina had a light heart the whole time. She missed this. She had missed this so much. She clapped her hands in delight when they placed Darth Vader at the top and MJ spoke up behind them:

"You guys are still losers."

Ned had glanced back at her, incredulous, "Then why are you sitting here with us?"

MJ had met his gaze evenly to say, "Because Nina isn't."

Nina smiled to herself, happy to hear Michelle say that after spending so long too scared to admit she wanted friends. And here she was, saying that with so much confidence like it was a fact; an actual fact, and Nina was proud of her━it was the closest Nina has gotten so far to MJ saying that she was her friend.

But she was also tired, staying up at late night with her gaze fixed on her open bedroom window.

It was left unsaid that Nina figured out Peter's secret. But they knew. It hung in the air whenever Nina came to sit down with Peter and Ned in the library under Homecoming banners and the boys didn't hunch up and hesitate in what they would talk about next. Not that they ever had a Spider-Man conversation recently, but Nina felt welcomed back into their small little group like nothing had even happened. They were freshmen again, bright-eyed and excited, meeting Ned and meeting Felicia, destroying each other's light sabers on Decathlon excursions and playing video games while Nina practiced her skateboard tricks or did her homework.

Peter was trying to make everything seem normal again, but it wasn't. And while it was great to be ignorant, and believe that everything was okay again, Nina knew it wasn't. She knew there was a sadness to him. When there was a siren during class, he'd glance out at the window━not longingly, but filled with guilt. But he didn't ask for a toilet pass and then never return to class. He stayed, he answered the equation and Flash went purple with fury over it, and he continued his day with a solemn acceptance.

It wasn't just that that made the days before the Homecoming Dance feeling like they were on the brink of falling off some daunting cliff. Nina could see it in Felicia. Her best friend was distant, not talking as much━tired and placing less of an effort in her cat-wing eyeliner; something she prided herself on. She didn't even answered with emoticons, leaving her messages blank with her signiature answers.

Nina was worried. She had been like this since Washington and she figured out about the Vulture. She tried to hide it, but Nina knew her better than she knew herself. It was like the weeks and months after her father went to prison: Nina had seen her change, seen her drop down to some of the lowest part of her life, and could barely do anything about it. Felicia barely spoke about it, she pushed it down, and she acted out━more like her father than she'd ever admit. Nina knew she wouldn't tell her. She knew that even if she asked, and asked, and pressured her, Felicia would shut her off and climb up that fire escape like she used to when she was a kid. She'd run away and hide, never wanting those she cared about to see her hurt and not fall back onto her feet.

She did that thinking she was taking care of Nina. She always put Nina first over herself, but never let Nina take care of her in return. She never let Nina put her friend first instead. And so she started to act like she had the first time━Nina started to bring her food from home that her mother made, invited her to go last minute shopping for accessories for their Homecoming dresses, kept an eye on her incase she decided to steal more than the average pair of sunglasses here and there━make sure she didn't end up at a police station and realise she was stepping down into the waters her father treaded.

Nina wondered whether this had anything to do with Felicia's father to begin with.

But whenever she asked, Felicia turned it away and focused the conversation on something else━always something else.

Yet in the quiet moments, Nina knew. Always the quiet moments.

And Nina guessed that with her forigiving Peter with no context to Felicia didn't help. Her best friend was still suspicious━protective. She didn't hold back as they ate fries at the food court at the mall. Felicia was trying to steal MJ's fries when she wasn't looking, but the tall girl━even with her face buried in the newspaper she picked up at the last store━always managed to smack her hands away with a swift flick.

Failing yet again to steal Michelle's food, Felicia gave up momentarily to sip at her coke, "I don't see it."

Nina frowned at her, startled, "See what?" She held a hot chocolate in her fingers. It had marshmallows at first, but Nina could never sit and wait for them to melt into foam and ate them immediately.

Felicia sent her a look that said, seriously? "Peter," she stated and Nina pursed her lips, understanding. "What did he do to make you suddenly his friend again? Nina, he hurt you━it was dark, remember? This was not the plan at all."

"It's different now," Nina told her, careful not to say anything that would let out Peter's secret━and that was something she realised was harder than she realised. Not telling Felicia something? Having to hear her words without her truly understanding? It hurt, and now Nina knew how Peter felt whenever she went off at him without knowing the truth. "He's ... he's different, now."

Felicia scoffed, shaking her head. She pointed a sharp black nail at her, and then at MJ who rose a thick brow over the edge of the newspaper, letting them know she was listening, "Watch him turn his back and leave you all over again. It's what they do. They promise you something, and then they throw back on that promise━every single time."

Nina's brows knitted, feeling as if though Felicia was talking about something else. "He won't do that again, Cia."

"How do you know that?"

"I━I just do."

MJ narrowed her eyes, suspicious. She folded her paper and set it down on the table. She grabbed a handful of her fries then passed some over to Felicia who blinked, surprised, but took them anyway. Nina stared back at Michelle, feeling very much like she was in some interrogation. "Did you hear that Spider-Man is missing?" She said suddenly. "I bet the Government stole him."

Felicia's annoyance wiped away from Nina and onto MJ. "All right, that is ridiculous." MJ didn't look deterred nor offended by Cia's objection. "On what factual ground did you recieve that from? The pigeons that spy on us?"

Michelle's lips quirked up into an slight amused smile━knowing in the way as if she was looking at Felicia from a distance and saying, I'm going to watch you die in the zombie apocalypse from the bunker I fixed years before. "You agreed with me about Peter Quill's disappearance on Buzzfeed Unsolved."

"Okay," let out Felicia, "that's different. Aliens make sense━we know aliens are real, okay? Living organisms that we can disect and used to be bred to send mail in the eighteen-hundreds that have now gotten so dumb even Howard the Pigeon Dude in my apartment block can't even train them to come back when he accidentally lets them out every other day being camera's manufacted at the Pentagon? Not real."

"What about S.H.I.E.L.D. still being around but living in the shadows?"

Even Nina scoffed at that one, "No," she said, shaking her head. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone." She thought about it, and suddenly wasn't so sure. "R━right? It died when HYDRA showed itself again within it."

"Blue aliens in South Wyoming," muttered Michelle matter-of-factly. She listed them off on her fingers. "What ever happened to all those 'Inhumans' during that outbreak last year? What about Quake? Remember that weird woman in the news that apparently escaped the psychiatric ward by putting all those guards in a coma and then was never seen again? S.H.I.E.L.D."

"That wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D.," Felicia rolled her eyes. "That's a normal day in California."

Nina laughed at that. "Let me remind you where we live and what happens here."

"Very, very true." Cia ate all of the fries MJ gave her before finally focusing on the ones she bought herself. "Are we all still going to Homecoming as single queens?"

She eyed Nina, expecting her to say 'no'. Nina had to remind herself that Felicia was not in a good place in her life, and she wasn't trying to be mean. "Yes," She told her, determined. "That's the plan."

"I can't believe you forced me to come to Homecoming," added Michelle.

Felicia was back to staring at her, incredulous, "You already had a ticket when we asked you!"

Michelle put the rest of her fries into her empty hotdog bun she bought. "Did I?" She asked before taking a lasting bite.

"Yes," said Cia. "Yes, you did."

"Where's the proof?" offered Nina.

MJ nodded at her, satisifed. Cia glanced at them, and then pointed at both of them, shaking her head. "No. No, don't do that to me━" both girls arched quizzical brows, "━don't gang up on me. Don't make her weird. Stop it!"

*ೃ༄

THERE WAS only one day left before Homecoming. Before now, Peter didn't have time to care about the dance━he wouldn't have ever been able to go. But now that he was stuck back at school, living the life of a normal kid with his suit far away, it was all Peter could think about. The banners were everywhere━it was sort of obnoxious. He bought his ticket to go with Ned a while back, expecting it to gather dust on his desk. Yet now he'll be using it, and Ned's continuous whining about not having a date was getting to him.

Peter didn't care about having date━not anymore, which confused him. A while back, he wouldn't loved the idea of someone wanting to go with him to Homecoming even if he'd never make it was amazing. Ever since he lost the suit, though, that changed. Peter wasn't gazing after Liz the same way he used to, and he wasn't doubling with his feelings still for Nina. He stepped away from all of that, just trying to get back into an old routine. He had assignments to catch up on, detentions to go to, decathlon to study for and old friendships to fix. He realised it was best to stop juggling Nina and Liz like he had been juggling two lives. Peter just needed a break ...

And ignore that siren blaring outside his window.

His feet itched to run, his fingers tapped against his desk━bare without his webshooters. His body was coaxing him to go, thinking of all the things that was happening. What if they needed Spider-Man?

What good would you be? Peter scoffed at himself. You don't have the suit.

"If you're nothing without this suit," Mr. Stark had told him, "then you shouldn't have it."

What did Mr. Stark expect him to be? That suit had everything! It had so many web-shooters, protective gear, scanners and Karen. And who was he to tell him that in his suit of armour with fake suits following that tracker in the suit? His life revolved around those suits, and yet he was so ready to take away Peter's? Without that suit, he was just Peter Parker, and that was great right now, but Peter Parker can't make up quips and confidentally fight bad guys dressed up as the Avengers. That suit? It made Peter better. It made him feel competent.

And now, without it, he felt lost━even though he did his best to hide it.

Soon, the sirens got too much. Peter threw his hand up, wincing at how eager it was to stretch so high to ask for a bathroom break. Some kids chuckled, but he ignored them, taking the sign and marching out of the classroom, desperate to get away from that siren so he could ignore it.

Though, his troubles seem to follow him. Heading his way just as he stepped out into the hallway was Liz. He froze up, fingers itching to the string of his hall pass to twist it around. Liz noticed him and gave him a gentle smile in her jeans, shirt and loose flannel. "Hey," she greeted.

"H━hey," said Peter back, "I━uh━" he cleared his throat, "━I thought you had Calculus fifth period?"

Liz shrugged, continuing to walk up to him. Peter awkwardly met up with her, feeling as though his tongue had grown twice its size. "Yeah," She chuckled, "I was just doing some Homecoming stuff."

Peter pursed his lips. An apology wanted to rise up his throat, and he let it, blurting out a, "Hey━look, I, uh ..." he scratched the back of his neck, finding it hard to meet her gaze. Liz frowned, curious. "I just ... I wanted to apologise about the whole Decathlon thing━"

They stood by the tropheys. Liz shook her head, immediately cutting him off, "It's fine━don't worry. I mean ... last week, Decathlon was the most important thing, but ..." she gave him a sad shrug. Peter's shoulders slumped a little, "... then I almost died, so..."

"No, I'm━" Peter didn't know what he was saying. He shook his head, too, clenching his eyes shut and hoping his words will make a full sentence for once in his life. "I just mean that━I mean━well━it wasn't ... It was not cool, especially, because━" he stopped himself, words going completely dry. He knew what he was going to say: because I used to like you, and he was glad he stopped himself, because that would have been the most embarassing thing in his life━

"You liked me?" prompted Liz and his eyes widened, shooting to hers.

Oh, great, thought Peter. I'm screwed. "W━what?"

At his reaction, Liz chuckled. Giving him a small, coy smile, she told him, "You're terrible at keeping secrets."

He couldn't help but chuckle bitterly, "Yeah," he muttered, "you'd be suprised ..."

"You're terrible at keeping the secret that you miss Nina, too," Liz arched a brow and Peter flushed, not wanting admit it, but it was true. Seeing his blush, Liz nudged him playfully, "Loosen up," she chuckled. "It's okay, I understand."

"It doesn't matter, anyway," Peter found himself telling her at a mutter. "She thinks we should stay friends, and she's probably right."

"Don't give up," Liz said kindly. "There's still something there."

Peter sent her a brief, thankful smile. Liz didn't seem so intimidating talking like this with her. "I like you," Liz then said. Peter frowned, his heart jolting with surprise. He suddenly felt the need to apologise, but as if knowing, Liz shook her head. "Don't say sorry. I told you I understand, Peter, it's all right." She shrugged yet again, all of the sudden quite shy, "Just maybe ... you know ... if you ever want to hang out just to give it a chance, I'm here."

"I'm sorry," he said despite it. "I did like you━I do like you ... I'm just ... I've been so confused ..."

Liz smiled, expecting it.

Peter watched her, curious. He pursed his lips, brows knitting together as he looked away, his nerves coming up again as he thought of an idea. "I ... I━uh━" He tugged at the hall-pass string. Liz tilted her head, listening. "I'd say we should hang out, but━um━I'm going to be in detention for like━" she hummed, eyes a little wide, as if just as nervous, "━ever, but, um ..."

His heart raced. His shoes squeaked on the tiles as he shuffled them. "I don't━I don't want to ... um ..." Peter hunched up, wary of the way Liz kept watching him, breath hitched.

Peter didn't want to juggle anymore. Nina wanted to be friends, and he wanted that, too. Liz liked him━she liked him, but he didn't want to hurt her. Liz deserved better than that. So, he was going to finally make a choice. "I guess you already have a date to Homecoming?"

Liz blinked. Then, she blushed━blushed━and tucked a strand of hair behind her hair, conscious, "Actually━um━I was so busy planning it, I never really got around to that part, so..."

Peter lurched. He wasn't expecting her to actually not have a date. His voice came out very small as he awkwardly gestured between them. "Do you━uh━would you want ... maybe we could go together? I ... I want to━um━you know━" he chuckled again━stop chuckling, Parker! "━as friends, but ... see how it goes?"

A gentle smile spread onto her face. Her eyes brightened. "Yeah," nodded Liz. "Sure."

A part of him seemed to completely drop down to the floor with relief. He could breathe better. "Really?" Peter blushed to hear himself sound so excited. "I━I mean, uh━great. Cool."

She nodded at him, voice small, "Cool."

"I'm━uh━" he gestured towards her, "━actually going that way ... um ..." he cleared his throat and brushed past her. Slowly, everything started to dawn on him, and Peter felt a surprised smile grow onto his face that turned excited. He skipped around the corner, heart light with wings.

*ೃ༄

"MJ, STOP goofing around."

"Harry, relax!" Nina chuckled, pulling the stew away from her friend as she took a long sniff and let out a pleasant hum. "It's going to be okay!"

Harry glanced over at her from where he struggled to handle the mess of newspapers he had dropped in his hurry to clean up the apartment for his father's arrival. Mary Jane was a little incredulous at his stumble, almost dropping the paper yet again as he threw the pages into the bin. Everything was fine. The apartment was clean, the table was set, the food was ready━Harry had nothing to worry about, but Nina rushed over to set down her stew just to make him feel better. She didn't know whether it was good or not, but if MJ loved the smell, she hoped that meant it tasted just as well.

Nina barely got it cooked anyway, she was so swamped in inductions and opening semester works at college━college, she was in college! But she had been determined to have Thanksgiving with the people she cared about most to celebrate and be thankful for everything that has happened this year. And (finally) meet her boyfriend's father after almost a year of dating.

She glanced briefly at Harry as he ushered MJ along who rolled her eyes and passed him the glass jug of water. He balanced it like everything━almost as if it was china before placing it down on the table. He hovered behind Nina, checking it all.

Feeling his breath behind her, Nina couldn't help but tense up. She pursed her lips. She still hasn't told him about Spider-Man. Not that it meant anything━it was nothing more than some celebrity crush. But that was the thing: it hadn't been. It had meant something very strange, but something very, very real, and it scared her, because she was supposed to feel that with Harry. And Nina didn't; not anymore.

Stepping back, she shook it off, pushing it down and behind her. She had no time of it━she shouldn't indulge it. She was finally meeting Harry's father, and she should be focusing on that. She took off the apron and folded it up, brushing the black dress she wore just incase any food had somehow gotten onto it. Nina fixed her hair and stood beside him, hearing the elevator door open down the hall. Aunt May closed the overn and wiped her hands, letting out a breath just as the buzzer called.

"He's here," announced Harry, as if some grave thing just happened.

"Are you ready?" asked Aunt May, and Nina nodded, smiling at her. MJ gave a thumbs up, a little flushed from moving around so quickly and Harry stiffened like a board. He searched as if to fix a long black coat, but he only wore a jumper and jeans.

"Yes, May," said Nina, nudging Harry lightly to say, it's okay.

She smiled and opened the door, revealing Harry's father. Nina clasped her hands in front of her, smiling warmly at the sight of one of the richest men in New York. Dressed up in a expensive black suit and red tie, he carried a wrapped gift for the table. He held himself in a similar way to Harry━in a way that he tried not to seem rich, but just couldn't help it.

"Hi, Aunt May," greeted Norman Osborn apologetically as he stepped inside, "I'm sorry I'm late. Work was murder." He smiled, passing over the box. "I picked up a fruit cake."

Harry was rushing to put on his blazer and Nina quickly helped him, flattening out the creases. "Here," she said, but her eyes wouldn't meet his━she felt ashamed, but Nina didn't let herself focus on it. Pleasing Harry's father would make him happy, and Nina wanted to do that for him.

"You look great," Harry quickly told her, setting a hand gently on her back. Nina smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes as she wrapped her arm around him. Her eyes met MJ's across the room, who watched her, concerned. Nina had to look away from her, too, for she would be able to read her emotions like an open-paged book.

Harry's father saw Nina, and smiled, confused but pleasant as he took off his coat. He did love black, it would seem. It was all he wore aside from that blue shirt and red tie. "And who's this lovely young lady?"

He walked up towards them and Harry pulled his hand away to awkwardly gesture out, "Um, Nina this is━uh━I'd like you to meet my father, Norman Osborn. Dad, this is Nina Hart."

Nina took Norman's outstretched hand to give it a quick shake, "Hi, it's really nice to finally meet you."

His palm was sweaty. "How do you do?" said Norman. He didn't let go of her hand. Nina's smile faltered slightly as he kept shaking it ... and shaking it ... "I've been looking forward to meeting you." MJ frowned across the room, noticing the look upon Harry's father's face as he watched her best friend.

"H━Happy Thanksgiving, Sir," managed Nina, trying not to let this strange encounter ruin this meeting.

He finally let go, and Nina subtly wiped the sweat off onto her skirt dress. She glanced briefly at Norman, wary of the smile on his face━what was he doing? Examining her like a scientific product in a glass cabinent? Was he making sure she was okay for Harry? Why was he smiling like that? Why are his eyes so ...?

"Now," Aunt May interrupted her thoughts, and Nina was thankful it caused for Norman to look away from her, "where is Peter?" MJ was still frowning, arms crossed at the exchange between father and son. Harry awkwardly shuffled as his father kept that smile on his face, as if to tell him, good job. "He better have remembered that cranberry sauce."

"Oh, yes!" Nina was eager for the change of subject. "He said he'll be here soon━I━" she scrambled around for her phone, fingers fumbling at the feeling of Norman's gaze still on her back. She felt chills, like she was alone walking that night to the store all over again. "I got a message ..." she checked the screen and faltered, "... almost an hour ago ..."

There was a thud above. Everyone frowned, glancing upwards. Nina looked away from her phone, her brows knitting together at this suspicious feeling in her gut.

"That's ... weird," said Harry, gazing thoughtfully at the stairs towards Peter's room. "I didn't know he was here?"

Nina drifted towards the window━not that Harry noticied. She frowned, glancing out through the open pane and upwards, not exactly sure what she expected to see, something just told her she needed to look. There wasn't anything, and part of her felt stupid, but she stayed there for a second, eyeing the window towards Peter's room, waiting for something━whatever her gut was thinking would appear.

She didn't realise MJ had walked up to her until she was at her side and quickly whispered, "Harry's father is a creep."

Nina jumped. Meeting her gaze, she frowned, but glanced back at Norman and suddenly felt sick. He smiled at her again, amused with a gaze in his eye that made her uncomfortable. She stiffened and turned to Mary Jane, subtly grabbing her hand, "Stay with me?"

Mary Jane nodded immediately, squeezing her hand. "I got you, hon."

There was a shuffle upstairs that caused for Aunt May to step towards the stairs and call up, "Peter?" There was no reply. At this, she started to ascend the wooden flight. Harry glanced at Nina, but quickly followed her, his curiosity growing with his father at his heels. Nina let out a long breath to watch him leave.

"Peter?" called Aunt May again. "Is that you?"

They disappeared upstairs and Nina turned back to MJ. Her friend rubbed her back, "I know," she whispered. "There's something off about him."

Nina nodded, agreeing. "But ... he's Harry's dad, I can't say anything. Maybe he's just ... friendly."

Mary Jane pursed her lips. She didn't say anything, but at the way she stood protectively at her side as the others travelled back down with no Peter, she knew she wasn't leaving her side at all today.

They took a seat in the lounge waiting for Peter to return. Nina awkwardly sat upon the arm chair MJ had habited, trying not to meet Norman's eyes as he initiated some small talk. His eyes were so ... strange━like there was hidden doors behind them to a place she doesn't like. It was tense, and Harry was stressing in the chair beside him while Aunt May stood by the windows, eyeing the street below to spot her nephew.

But then the door opened again, and Peter was there. Nina's shoulders lifted, sitting up immediately with a smile on her face. "Hey, everyone!" he greeted, holding a single can of cranberry juice.

"Oh!" gushed Aunt May in surprise, "Peter!"

Nina stood up and away from Norman instantly, "Pete, you're back!"

"Sorry I'm late," he said, passing the can over to his aunt as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, "it's a jungle out there, I had to beat an old lady with a stick to get these cranberries."

Nina chuckled, bemused at his choice of words. He glanced at her and she waved hello, he waved back, stepping over as Aunt May turned to the turkey still fresh out of the oven on the counter, "Thank you," she told her nephew. "Now, then, everybody sit down and we can say grace."

"Do you want help, Aunt May?" Nina quickly offered, not wanting to sit down yet and be eyed by Norman Osborn again.

"Oh, no, darling!" said Aunt May, rubbing her back and ushering her towards the table. "I'm perfectly fine, have a seat."

Nina fiddled with her fingers, but nodded. Turning around, she shuffled towards the table, carefully glancing at Norman who sat at the head. They all watched her, but for different reasons. Mary Jane held a wariness, ready to be at her side as she took the seat next to Peter. Harry smiled as her fingers grazed the back of her's adjacent to him, wishing she could take the one he held instead of having to sit diagonal from his father who continued to eye her. And finally, Peter, who held concern━he knew something was up and yet he didn't need to ask, nor did she need to tell him anything. She met his eyes across the table as she sat down, not noticing Harry shuffle his chair closer.

She felt like she was sharing some exchange with Peter, but she didn't know what. Like there was something she should know, and deep down, part of her seemed to, but the rest of was clueless. Nina sent him a small smile and he returned it sadly before looking away, leaving her confused and yet enamoured.

The turkey was set down onto the table with a smile from May, "There we are," she breathed, proud. There was a simoultaneous gush of thanks and awe of her meal, the smell wafting down and making their stomachs rumble. Norman tried to take a piece of the bake MJ had brought but Aunt May smacked his hand away, "Norman." She scolded and Harry chuckled lightly at his father's antiques.

But Nina didn't like the scowl upon his face. It made her blood run cold.

Aunt May didn't seem to notice. "Will you do the honours?" she asked him. Nina found herself shuffing as far away as she could on her chair without making it seem obvious when he slowly brought his fingers to his mouth and ate the tip of the bake off. Mary Jane arched a brow, very confused. Norman Osborn grabbed the knife and prongs, scraping them in anticipation, but Nina felt like she was awaiting some death sentence.

She glanced around, hoping anyone else was feeling the way she was. Until she settled her eyes upon Peter again. He was tense━stiff with his hands clenched upon the table. Her brows furrowed, finding the stare he sent Norman not suspicious, but rather as if he was ready to stand up and fight him if he dared to do anything━do what?

Suddenly, Aunt May gasped, "Peter!" his gaze shot up, startled. "You're bleeding."

He was. Nina's eyes widened, shocked she didn't see it. The sleeve of his dull green shirt was starting to stain with a deep red━a deep gash. "Oh, no," she breathed, pushing her chair back. "Let me get something━Harry where's your first aid?"

"What did you do?" asked Mary Jane, horrified at how quickly his sleeve stained.

He glanced down, taken aback. "Oh ... uh━um━" Aunt May appeared at his side to try and take a look as Nina left the table to search the cupboards, "━uh, yeah, I━I stepped off a curb and got clipped by one of those bike messengers."

"You just got clipped?" repeated Nina, dubious by how nochalant he said it. She picked out what she needed, recognising a few things from her father's kit back home. Returning with them in her hands, she set them down despite Peter's reassurance that he was fine. "Let me have a look, come on."

Peter couldn't stop her unbuttoning the edge of his sleeeve and rolling it up, and her eyes widened at the gash. May gasped again, shocked. "Oh, my goodness," she said. "Oh, that looks awful!"

"You're such a boy," muttered Nina to Peter. "You got clipped."

"What does that mean? Look, Nina, he's probably fine, come on," demanded Harry and she rolled her eyes, not in the mood to deal with him right now.

"Let her help," said Aunt May, "and then we'll say grace━this is the boys first Thanksgiving in this apartment. We are going to do things properly."

Nina dabbed at the edge of the cut, since when she told Peter to do it, he just kept staring at Norman who met it with his own. Nina felt like she was standing between a suffocating cloud of tension and she had no idea what about. Norman tilted the edge of the knife down to Peter's cut with a trembling grip, "H ... How did that happen?"

Curtly, Peter replied, "Bike messager. Knocked me down."

Abruptly, Norman stood up. Nina pulled the wipe away, very confused. "Er━uh━" There was sweat forming on his brow. "If you'll excuse me. I━uh━" he set down his napkin and began at a frantic march to the door, "━I got to get going."

Harry stood up after him, startled, "What? Why?"

His father reached for his cloak, throwing it on, "Something has come to my attention."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, just fine, just━" Norman stopped by the door, glancing back at them all. Harry started towards him, but he was ignored. His father fixed his gaze on May, "Thank you, Mrs. Parker, everyone ... enjoy the fruit cake."

And then he pulled open the door and let.

Harry seemed unsure on whether to be concerned or hurt. "Dad? Dad!" He followed him out of the door, leaving it unjar for the others inside to hear by accident. They all shared a worried glance. "What━what are you doing?" His voice travelled down to the elevator.

Nina didn't hear much. She heard Harry object, and the father and son share a hushed moment before Norman started to raise his voice. She wished he didn't.

"Harry, please," she heard him say, "look at her! You think a woman like that's sniffing around because she likes your personality?!"

Nina froze. Slowly, her hands dropped to the table, Peter's cut forgotten. Nina set her eyes on the door, wishing she'd look away━that she'd leave and not hear what he had to say. But she was stuck, hepless even to herself as her shoulders fell, and her gut twisted at each thing Norman had to say.

"Your mother was beautiful, too━they're all beautiful until they're snarling after your trust fund like a pack of ravetting wolves!"

She felt tears brewing. Nina forced them back, taking a deep breath and looking down. It was silent in the apartment━no one knew exactly what to say. Nina didn't know what to say. She felt embarassed. She felt vulnerable━like she was standing on stage with no clothes.

Then, fingers itched towards hers that had slipped off the table. Peter subtly grasped them and gave them a squeeze. She found herself clinging on, especially when Norman Osborn finished with a:

"A word to the not so wise about your little girlfriend," he snarled at his son down the hall so loud the entire complex might as well hear it. "Do what you need to with her then broom her fast!"

The elevator door slammed closed, and Norman Osborn was gone. Nina bit her tongue, holding onto Peter's fingers so tight she was scared she was turning them purple. She heard Harry slowly walk back to the room, without having said a word, without defending her whatsoever.

Nina's gaze hardened. She let go of Peter's hands and stormed over to grab her jacket and purse. He, Mary Jane and Aunt May watched her, silent but with no move to stop her. She had been unsure for a long time now━Nina was done with being unsure. She knew what choice she wanted to make.

As soon as Harry returned, he noticed her packing up her things to leave. His face dropped. "You━you heard?"

"Everyone heard," she snapped, tugging her sleeves and pulling the strap of her handbag onto her shoulder. "And no one heard you stick up for me against that creep!"

Harry's eyes flared, "That creep," he snapped, "is my father, all right? If I'm lucky, I'll become half of what he is so just keep your mouth shut about what you don't understand!"

"Harry Osborn!" let out May, shocked.

"I don't care!" said Nina as she stormed past. "We're done! It's over!" Reaching the door, she stopped to say, "I'm sorry Aunt May, this was all lovely."

And she slammed the door closed, taking the stairs on her way home before anyone could see her cry.

*ೃ༄

a/n: longer chapter this time guys!!!

also, i needed peter to go with liz to homecoming because of the movie's plot, but i wanted it to be him making a choice and sticking with it, and not juggling either nina or liz. so, i hope y'all see that, maybe u don't, i don't know. i tried.

also, not peter taking nina's hand to be there for her during all of that--

     and yes I connected my agents of shield fic. If you've read it, cool Easter egg!! If u havent, srsly don't worry about it they won't link up i just wanted to add a bit of multiverse fun

mEmEs:

     me when green goblin in this scene:

    Norman realising Peter is spider-man like:

    shield still existing and saving the world but the mcu completely ignoring it like