𝐝𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐯𝐮, peter parker

xxviii. promises he can't keep

chapter twenty-eight
promises he can't keep

    NINA HEARD PETER come into her room. She had tried to sneak back inside, tried to step away from her parents' worried words and stern talkings to talk to him, to see him. She heard the news, she heard what happened to Gwen's father. Nina heard and saw all of that, watching with tears in her eyes and her best friend's heart with her own. But when the fire escape creaked, she couldn't do anything when her father stood up to check it. When he told her to stay put and walked into her room, and she knew then and there that he had figured it out. He had known all along. Nina had cried, turning to her mother to do something, but she just held her close, shushing her gently with her hand running down her hair, keeping her at her side while her father was in Nina's room with Peter━and she tried to hear what they talked about, but she couldn't. It was an aching, terrible experience that gnawed at her stomach and chest.

    And when he walked out, Nina rushed forwards. No one stopped her this time, and she surged into her bedroom, heart racing. Peter was there, in the chair, slumped, bruised, bloody and tearful. He looked like a mess, but Nina was just glad he was okay.

    He managed to stand up, leaning almost completely on the arm of the chair to keep his bad leg rested. Nina hurried forward, gently hugging him in his Spider-Man suit, not wanting to think what her father said, just to breathe in this moment that he was okay. And he was alive. And they were okay.

    "Thank god," she whispered, choking back a sob.

    Peter raised his fingers and tenderly tucked her hair off her face, but Nina felt like something was off. There was a sadness to it, a hesitance━one that made her pull back and frown at him, confused.

    "What is it?" asked Nina, her voice small.

    Peter Parker swallowed back something in his throat. He set his jaw and looked down, not meeting her gaze. Nina's eyes followed his movements, confused. "What?" she asked again, throat beginning to close up━as if it knew what was going to happen before she did.

    Her boyfriend took a sharp breath through his nose. He winced, gripping the edge of the chair. Nina rested a hand on his chest, worried. "Maybe you should sit down," she told him. "You ... I'm sorry about my Dad, I━I promise I didn't tell him. He just━he just walked in and I tried to stop him but I couldn't and━"

    Peter brushed more of her hair out of her face as she spoke, watching her ramble with something that looked more than just pain in his eyes. He blinked back tears, but she barely noticed.

    "━and I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, and I hope he wasn't hard on you, and you must be in so much pain━"

    "I can't do this."

    His whisper caught her off guard.

    Nina stopped mid sentence, eyes shooting back towards his in surprise. For a second, she thought she hadn't heard him. Her heart seemed to drop. "What?" she let out in a breathless murmur.

    Peter's brows knitted together. He wasn't looking at her. He sniffled. Nina's own brows furrowed, something starting to settle in her. He couldn't meet her gaze━or maybe he refused to, she didn't know. She just stood there, staring as he shook his head and pursed his lips, taking a step back so that his hand fell away from her shoulder.

    "I━I can't do this," he said again, soft but surer this time. "I━I'm sorry. I━I can't ... uh ..."

    Nina felt her stomach twisting. It was dawning on her. She felt a lump forming in her throat. "What━" She was starting to find it hard to speak. "What are you saying?"