xxxviii. thinking about you
chapter thirty-eight
thinking about you
A HOT CHOCOLATE was always a good answer to a stressful day. Though Nina barely drank any of it, the feeling of the warm around her fingers calmed her down as she thought over the near tragedy that could have befallen New York just a day before. If Spider-Man hadn't stopped him, the city would have been wiped out━caved into itself as the sun swallowed metal, and then bricks, and earth, dragging it all into its own gravity until there would be nothing else. The city had been saved, but Spider-Man didn't save Harry's investment. Nina hasn't heard from him since, and she was sure she wouldn't hear from him for a while━even if she tried to call and text, even visit, Harry wouldn't venture out of his study, or even his mind where a brewing vengeance and obsession was growing into something dangerous━something neither Nina, MJ or Peter knew how to settle.
Doctor Octavius had been admitted to hospital, his mechanical arms fused into his body━a prime reason Nina stayed with biochem ...
It had been a disaster she was unlikely to forget. It shook her━it seemed Nina always found herself into trouble. It followed her around like a shadow: the possibility of death, of falling ... her own life flashing right before her eyes. It reminded her of the moment she thought she was going to die, falling from the Manhattan Bridge, and felt like she's been through this all before━and it wasn't comforting, it wasn't something to tell her she'd make it out the other end; it was almost like a reminder: to tell her that one day, she wouldn't.
It plagued her at night, and during the day━every reminder, just like yesterday. And she couldn't get rid of it no matter how hard she tried.
She stared at her phone sat there beside her, feeling the sudden urge to call Peter━the automatic response she held whenever she was upset was to find him. He used to seem so wise; he knew exactly what to say to make her feel better, appreciated and even loved. And now, he was barely around━disappearing off into the wind and coming back, always when she seemed to need him the most. Now, whenever she searched for him, he was gone. Like a ghost of the friend he used to be to her, and it made her wonder, these days, whether she took that friendship for granted.
She had fallen for somebody who had already let her go. She didn't know why that hurt so much, but it did.
Nina frowned when she heard something rapt against the glass of her apartment window. She looked up from her hot chocolate that had turned cold to peer through her blinds to the fire escape outside━her eyes widened. A small smile of disbelief scoffed its way onto her lips.
Getting onto her feet, Nina made her way to the window and pushed it upwards, poking her head outside to grin at the masked vigilante casually sitting in the corner of her fire escape. "What are you doing here?" she asked him, biting back her want to chuckle.
His mask had been pushed up just to his nose, so he could eat away at the small meal he had wrapped in a MacDonalds takeaway bag. He wiped his lips and for a moment, Nina remembered how it felt to kiss them. "Having dinner."
"Outside my window?" she asked, quite dubious he picked this fire escape out of every other ceiling in the city to enjoy his late night━very unhealthy━dinner.
Spider-Man glanced at her, and even if she couldn't see the rest of his face, she could tell he was sarcastic when he said, "Is this your window, Miss Nina?"
Nina didn't hide her chuckles this time. She could see him smile at it, and there was something strikingly familiar to that smile━it caught her off-guard. "Yes," she said softly, frowning to herself for a moment as she watched the way his grin seemed to just light up the night, just like someone else she knew ... "This is my window."
"It's a pretty nice window."
She chuckled yet again, shaking her head at his funny ways━his jokes weren't even that good, and yet they were so cheesy and stupid she couldn't stop herself from wanting to laugh. They were just so bad, like a 1960s comic book, and they just lifted any weight off her shoulders.
Nina propped her chin on the palm of her hands, leaning outside her window from her elbows. "What are you doing here?" she asked him again.
He finished his burger, scrunching up the wrapping into a ball and chucking it down into the dumpster below. It landed perfectly. Spider-Man crept up closer to her so he could lean back against the brick facade of the building to gaze up at her smile. "I came to check on you."
Her brows lifted, pleasantly taken aback, "Really?" she asked him softly.
"Yeah," said the vigilantly gently. "I wanted to see whether you were okay."
"You wanted to see whether I'm okay?"
"Yeah."
Nina's smile turned shy and she hid her face amongst her hair. She couldn't meet his gaze, holding a wonderful feeling in her chest to think that out of every person in New York, Spider-Man sought her out to check whether she was okay. Like her own personal superhero, he showed up whenever she was in trouble, ready to catch her before she fell too far. She wondered what she had done to deserve someone like him.
"I'm okay," she then told him. And she meant it, she did. "I will be okay."
He nodded at that, "Well," he said in a gruff, low voice, "my role as Spider-Cop has officially been fulfilled."
She broke out into giggles at the stupid voice, "What? What is that voice?"
"Spider-Cop," he said again in that gruff tone; Nina's incredulous smile grew, "protector of New York, die-hart Beatles fan and not afraid to get his knuckles bloody fighting for what is right!"
Nina shook her head, unable to believe how much better she already felt. "You're dumb," she told Spider-Man. Though, she couldn't help but feel, that night, like she has many times before with someone else━and while Spider-Man was great, the entire time, she couldn't help but wish she was sitting here with Peter Parker. Because in a way, there was something so alike about them, all it did was just make her miss him more.
*ೃ༄
HAVING freedom of St. Mark's Square was something Nina looked forward to after dumping her luggage on a bed that she was sure creaked so much under such little weight it might just break if she slept in it that night. It was a bright day, and each student left the gloom of their hotel to rush towards the square that was alive with vessels in the canals, vendors attracting tourists to their shop windows, laughter and chatter━there was a place to feed the pigeons and have them sit on your shoulders, women dressed up in old-fashioned silks and umbrellas, a cartoonist and many individuals busking under the sunlight.
The students all split up, exploring every inch they could. Flash had his phone extended out on his stick, grinning as he recorded every moment live from his TikTok━even the exact moment Abe Brown rushed in to sock him in the balls. Nina was sure he actually got followers after that. Brad, Zoha and Jason got stuck with Mr. Dell in a tour of the square, and all three followed him with groans as he asked more questions than listened. Ned and Betty went off by themselves, holding hands and chuckling amongst each other as they searched for the most romantic places. Betty took photos in front of the vast St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace, dragging Ned along wherever she went. Nina found them by the cartoonist at one point, grinning as he drew them with ridiculous features inside a gondola.
Surrounded by bustling crowds, Nina thought she'd be overwhelmed. The fear of somehow getting lost in them wasn't an irrational one━considering she got herself and Ned lost in Macy's when they were supposed to find and help Peter get out of mall jail. (Don't even ask...). But being surrounded by such laughter and MJ's secret love for photography made her not even focus on any of it. Instead, she grinned as she gazed upwards at the pointed spires and steeples of St. Mark, in awe at the intricate designs wrapping around it that glinted like gold in the sunlight. She laughed as she got dragged into a dare by Flash to balance on the edge of the canal and she did so, chuckling at him as he couldn't dare look at her as she even held one leg out towards the water. MJ videoed her climbing up even further onto the top of the wooden barriers, quite daring as she placed both of her sneakers on two logs, jeering at Flash who couldn't even follow his end of the dare and join her.
Until Mr. Harrington saw her and she jumped off like a fleeing bird, tugging MJ along as they ran to disappear back within the crowd before he could even call them out.
Brad had managed to sneak away from his dreadful tour with Mr. Dell and egged the girls on to get birdseed scattered over their shoulders and arms for pigeons to then land down. MJ reluctantly agreed━though Nina knew she was excited as she pushed her camera into Brad's hands, threatening that if he didn't take pictures, she'd shove him into the canals so he could get the diseases from the water.
Despite it being a science trip, Nina felt like she was just another tourist travelling through the crowd; laughing and enjoying herself as one pigeon landed on her head. She had until three to live her life in St. Mark's Square, and she wasn't going to waste a second of her teenage life━she had learnt just how precious life had become, and Nina was prepared to enjoy it.
And so within it, she searched for the other person she wanted to enjoy it with. They only had two hours, and Nina knew she wanted to spend the rest of them with him. But she couldn't see him amongst the sea of people. It made her smile falter━Peter Parker had disappeared off, and Nina felt a drop of disappointment in her chest.
She didn't find him when she went looking through the open vendors, she didn't find him as she wandered out towards the canal for ice cream, and she didn't find him after she stepped back out.
"Boh!"
Nina jumped━almost dropping her ice creams━when MJ came out of nowhere. She must've gotten impatient waiting for her to grab their sweets and had made her way over. She looked very proud of her scare.
"What?" Nina frowned at her.
"Boh," she said again, taking the vanilla ice cream from Nina's fingers. "It's the most perfect word. Italians created it and I just discovered it!" she said this all very fast, grinning smugly to herself as the two friends travelled back towards the square.
"Boh?"
"It can mean a million things," went on Michelle. "I can mean I don't know, get out of my face ... I don't know and get out of my face. It's the best thing Italy created━well, except for maybe espresso. It's the anti Aloha━I was born to say this word."
Nina's brows rose high. She let out a long, "Oh ... espresso ... so that's where you've been?"
MJ shrugged, not denying it as she started to devour her ice cream. Nina chuckled at her, shaking her head━quite bemused by her dear friend. "So," she then said, "have you spoken to Peter yet? Did he give you something?"
Nina sighed, "No━" her eyes then perked up, "━wait, have you seen him? Where is he?" Then, her brows furrowed. "Hang on━give me something? What do you mean?"
Michelle eyed her out of the corner of her gaze. She looked as though she had said something she wasn't supposed to. "Uh ..." MJ pushed on past, "Boh."
Nina was back to frowning, incredulous and confused. "Wait ..." she called after her. "Which one was that━is that I don't know? Or is it get out of my face━wait━" she rushed after her friend, "━wait, did you mean both?!"
The next chuckle brought away all of her confusion and replaced it with a glowing smile as she spun on her feet, seeing Peter there in his blue flannel and tan jeans, brows furrowed. "What was that about?"
"Pete!" greeted Nina happily. She went to hug him, only to stop as she remembered she had an ice cream in her hands. She blushed, stepping back and quickly focusing her attention on it━as if she hadn't just been prepared to rush over to him. Nina cleared her throat, "Where've you been?" she gestured her chocolate cone to him. "You missed out on ice cream."
Peter━a little taken aback━chuckled nervously, but he quickly recovered, pointing to the cone himself. "That's okay, I'll just have yours━"
"No!" Nina held it close to her protectively. She quickly took off a large proportion of it from the top and into her mouth, proud of herself. "It's mine." She then wiped the chocolate off her nose and lips. Peter chuckled at her, bewildered. "What?" she asked him, finding it hard not to smile at the way he watched her.
"You still got..." he nudged his own nose, amused.
She copied him, but Peter just shook his head, laughing. "No━other side━Nina━" she chuckled with him, continuing to try and wipe the excess chocolate off her nose until she gave up and just brushed her hand all over it. Peter rolled his eyes, "Yeah, okay━that━that's one way to do it."
"What?" she defended her logic. "It━I'm covering every possible area. If━if I wipe all of it ... then I have to get it somehow, right?" When he was still smiling at her, amused, Nina closed her eyes and let out: "It works! It worked━come on!"
Nina let him have the rest of her ice cream anyway━he didn't care she had eaten from it. The group of them always shared drink bottles and food at lunch━MJ was a fan of eating the chips Nina never finished. But Nina and Peter have known each other for even longer, that sort of thing stopped bothering them years ago.
Together, the two teenagers wandered through the crowds and the pathways in a comforting silence. They travelled past the canal they had gone down when they first arrived, and it was different seeing all of the buildings and the attractions on foot than from water. They were emerged within it, feeling the experience and the awe first-hand at all the gushing families, smiling couples and excited friends. Nina pointed out an artist painting the view of the bridge in the distance; she didn't notice that Peter just smiled at her the whole time.
"Where were you anyway?" Nina decided to ask him as she skipped up the set of stairs to the small bridge that passed over a turn in the canal. Peter hummed, not expecting the question. "I mean━I was looking for you the square, but I couldn't find you."
"Oh," Peter let out, catching up with her. "I was━uh━" he shrugged, suddenly looking very nervous, "━you know ... sight ... seeing ...?" he frowned to himself, questioning his choices.
Nina's eyes lit up with mischief. She nudged him, teasing, "Don't tell me you were off seeing a girl, Tiger?"
He spun to her, horrified. She laughed at the look on his face, "W━what? No! No━I'm not━I wasn't━"
"I'm joking!" she nudged him again, leaning into his shoulder as she laughed. "I know you were off looking for spoons to collect like a grandmother."
Peter rolled his eyes, "I am not collecting spoons like a grandmother."
"So what's in the bag, then?"
He glanced down at the small, little golden back he clutched in his fingers. Nina tried to glance inside it, but he quickly hid it behind his back. She arched a brow, curious. "Uh━nothing," he said hurriedly. At the queried glance she sent him, he added. "It's something for May..." Peter quickly thought of a way to change the conversation when an idea struck. "Hey━" he scrambled for his phone, "━do you━uh━you want me to take a picture?"
It worked, Nina's attention snapped away from the bag to him, brows rising upwards in surprise. He gestured his phone towards where there was a nice break in front of the canal with a great reflection of the buildings opposite. "You wanna take a picture?"
She realised, and a blush made its way across her cheeks. Nina smiled shyly, "O━okay, sure... uh━" she shuffled on her feet towards the edge of the canal, "━where do you want me? Here?" she fixed herself in an awkward position, hiding her face a little in her hair. She played with it, making sure to stand a little to the left. Peter held up his phone, and smiled through the lens━seeing her turn around a little to try and get in the best position. She was still in travel clothes━flared jeans, her scuffed sneakers and a long-sleeve sweet-heart neckline shirt. But she looked gorgeous despite it.
Sheepish, Nina called out to him, "Don't make me look ugly!"
He chuckled, muttering a soft, "That's impossible."
Peter took a few photos, catching her in many poses she didn't even realise she was doing━in between her awkward shrugs and scrunches of her nose, capturing the Nina he knew amongst all of that: gentle, beautiful and someone that was effortlessly lovely in a way she didn't even realise. He grinned at the few he caught of her being stupid, starting to not care about everyone else around her━and they were very special, too.
Perhaps it was because when he looked into her eyes, and she looked back into his, he felt like━no matter the day, whether it was good or bad, her eyes made it not matter; because in that moment she lit up everything in the world.
But in that exact, same moment, everything started to change.
Peter's grip on his phone started to fall. He lowered his arms as he noticed something in the water. Before━at least, he could swear━it had been calm and normal; breaking apart gently behind gondolas and other vessels, brushing up against the edge of the pathways━now, there was something very wrong. Peter could feel it━it stood up on the back of his neck, made his arms tingle like he suddenly had pins and needles. He watched the water churn at the edge, he noticed the birds leave their perches, startled and squawking. Crabs had crawled up from the depths and scuttled along the wooden posts━something which caught the delight of Nina who hadn't even noticed. She glanced back to smile at Peter before crouching down to watch them. Peter's stomach seemed to twist.
There was a strange sound. Peter's eyes followed it, and his frown deepened. There was a drain standing not far from him. It wasn't doing much to aid in the water that often created puddles in the stone, but right before his eyes, Peter watched as the water bubbled━it boiled against the surface before slowly, it disappeared back between the grates ... as if something was drawing it within.
Peter felt so on edge, his limbs buzzed with the need to jump far and away, "Nina..." he began, voice grave.
The churning water grew worse━the foam it made started to move ... it took sharp turns, coming together from far away into the centre of the canal━
There was a terrible shudder.
The chatter faded to confused silence. The gondolas started to slow to stops, hovering over the water that started to lap━small waves rode across the surface; it looked as though something was underneath ... something large ... very large ...
"Nina━!" Peter rushed forward. She spun back around, confused from the canal edge. He knew she was going to say something about the water, but he cut her off, snagging an arm tight around her waist.
He pulled her away just in time.
For merely moments later, the entire canal exploded.
*ೃ༄
a/n: lol I'm sorry for the bad chapter.
anyway peter in ffh soloed in a way that was just different. hoo peter was a cute badass, nwh peter was *desceased*, but ffh peter just hits ... I dunno, maybe its just the looks tom gives I DON'T KNOW-
whatever it is I don't know but nina is fukin lucky like-
(not edited)
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