Recluse → Peter Parker

we're built to take a hit

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Andi rolled over in bed, a grunt escaping her mouth at the amount of pain shooting through her body. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it tightly to her body, stopping only when she remembered she wasn't supposed to be in bed. The last thing she remembered was being on the plane with Peter, fighting off the Vulture. She wasn't supposed to be in bed. She had a mission to complete and a boy to protect.

With a heavy breath, Andi shot up in bed. It was clear that she was unstable, clear that she was not in the right mind, but Peter had been expecting it. She fought with little to no bodily protection, so her injuries had been much worse than his. It was expected of her to act the way she was acting.

"Andi," Peter was trying his best to calm her down. "You're okay, I promise."

Andi calmed down just enough to look at Peter. He had a few lacerations on his face, and he looked absolutely exhausted. The sight of it made her feel even worse than she already did. She raised a hand to his face, moving her thumb gently over his wounds. "Peter...are you–are you okay?"

Peter nodded his head and grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm okay, don't worry about me. I'm worried about you. How do you feel?"

Andi moved around a little bit to get a sense of what she could feel, and immediately she regretted it. Every inch of her body was sore, but she knew it wouldn't last long at all. Her abilities provided her with a regenerative healing factor, and while she was in a considerable amount of pain, she would be out of it before the weekend was over. "I'm in pain, of course, but I'm gonna be fine."

"You fought in your homecoming dress, Andi," Peter said with a quiet chuckle. "I admire what you're able to do with little to no protection, but the no-protection thing kinda freaked me out, y'know?"

Andi couldn't help but smile at him. "I know, but you and I? We were built to take a hit or two."

Peter laughed and hugged her tightly to his chest, though he was careful not to bring her anymore pain than she was already in. He let out a breath of relief, thankful that the two of them made it through the night in one piece, and very thankful that Andi made it out in one piece. He wasn't sure what he would've done if he lost her or if she ended up in a worse state. She'd spent so much time and effort looking after him and protecting him, not only because Tony asked her to, but because she cared so much about him she couldn't bear to leave him fending for himself.

Of course, Peter believed he could take care of himself, which was one of the reasons Tony sent Andi to look after him in the first place, but with Andi by his side, Peter knew there was nothing he couldn't do. They were a team, a packaged deal. They shared a bond with each other that couldn't be broken.

"Is now the time to tell you how glad I am to have found you?" Peter asked quietly.

"I believe it was I who found you, Mr. Parker."

Peter looked down at Andi with a grin on his face. Even in the dark he could see the glistening brown of the eyes he loved so very much. "Regardless of the fact, I just—I'm so happy to have you. The day I found out about you and what you were really doing here in Queens, I was so mad at you, but when I got home, I just laid in bed thinking about how scared I would be if you just disappeared from my life. I thought after our fight you would disappear, and that scared me, so when I saw you in school, I was so happy you decided to stay. I know I didn't act like it that day, but I was so happy to see you. I'd never been so happy to see you before."

"Tony picked me up that night," Andi started, her voice strained with emotion as she recalled the incidence. "I'm not one who's very big on feelings, and I haven't been since I lost my family, but that changed, I guess, when I met you, so you telling me you didn't need me anymore hurt me so much, because I needed you. I haven't really needed anyone until you, Peter Parker."

Andi pulled away from him, her eyes shining with tears that threatened to fall. She hated that he was the only one capable of eliciting such emotion within her. She hated that he was her weak spot. She hated that he was her source of vulnerability when she thought she was invulnerable. She didn't hate that she loved him, though. She didn't hate that he was the reason she felt so alive. She didn't hate that he was her reason to keep fighting.

"I have never truly loved anyone until you."

Peter's mouth fell open slightly, but he could not find the right words to respond, so Andi just continued speaking.

"I know we're young," she continued. "We are so young, but we're also old enough to know that without each other we would be lost. I'm old enough to know that you're the one person I can't go a day without, the one person I don't want to go a day without. Your mission might be over, but my mission, my mission to always love and protect you, is only beginning."

Peter could do nothing but kiss her. He grabbed her face gently with his hands and pressed his lips to her own, nothing else on his mind but her, his feelings for her, and the words she just said.

It was all true, everything she said. They were young, but they were old enough to know that they needed each other. Peter knew he would be lost without her, he knew she was the one person he could not go a day without, and the one person he did not want to go a day without. Andi meant so much to Peter, so much more than either one of them knew. What he felt for her was so strong it consumed him. He didn't think he'd ever be able to feel for someone that way again, and he didn't want to. All he wanted was Andi. All he needed was Andi.

"I can feel it," Andi said quietly as the two pulled away from each other. "You love me."

Peter nodded. "I do, I really do."

"I'm scared, because this is all so new to me, and I've never committed myself to someone the way I have to you, so I need you to promise me this will work, that we'll do whatever we can to make this work, okay?" Andi forced out. "I don't want to be without you."

"Then you won't be," Peter assured her.

"You mean that?"

"Of course." He smiled. "We're partners."

"Partners..."

Andi smiled at the sound of it and hugged him tightly. She was happy, truly happy for the first time in years, and it was all because of Peter. There were no words for her to use to describe the way she felt about him, and until she found them, she would settle for showing him.