Confrontation
The two boys are sitting on Peter’s grimy old couch two days later, just enjoying one another’s presence and watching reruns of New Girl. Peter sits curled up with his head resting on the couch’s arm and his toes tucked under Flash’s thighs. Flash is slumped on the other side of the couch, his legs spread in a comfortable position with one arm draped over the top of the couch and the other tucked against his torso, holding his phone against his chest as he mindlessly scrolls through it. They both know that the other boy will have to go back home before May returns, since May has no idea that Flash is on Peter’s “good side,” but neither one of them wants him to leave. Instead, they both wordlessly agreed that Flash should stay as long as possible, allowing Flash to stay out of his lonely house and Peter to have a bit of company before May returns from work that night. It’s not that Peter is embarrassed of Flash, or vice versa. The boys discussed it a few days ago after Flash came for Christmas, deciding that Flash’s issues with parental figures and Peter’s overall awkwardness would make him seeing May far more uncomfortable than either teen was able to accept.
The credits roll on yet another episode and Peter watches Flash lean forward to grab the remote. Instead of hitting play on the next episode, though, Flash pauses the show altogether.
“Hey, Peter?” Flash asks, his voice soft. Peter looks up, cocking his head to one side in a silent question. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” Peter says, shifting into a sitting position and facing the other boy. His heart races, though, cycling frantically through endless unexplainable situations.
“You, uh, you have to promise not to be mad at me. Please,” Flash whispers, looking vulnerable. Peter nods, but Flash just gives him a pleading look, refusing to say anything else.
“Ok, yeah, I promise,” Peter replies.
Flash nods a bit, taking a breath. “Are you, um, is May… Is May hurting you, Peter?” Flash rushes out, refusing to look Peter in the eye as the words flow anxiously from his mouth.
Peter freezes. What the fuck?
“No! Oh my God, Flash, no. Why would you even ask that?” Peter shrieks, confused and mildly offended on behalf of his sweet aunt. Sure, she hasn’t exactly been present for a while, but she would never hurt him.
“Sorry, sorry, I just… I just had to ask, okay? It’s just, you flinch every time I move too suddenly and you had those bruises around your wrists for a while and you always say this shit, this self-depricating bullshit, and you were bleeding really badly that day in the beginning of the semester. Plus, you never let me come over when May is gonna be home, and she's barely ever home. If you're trying to protect me, Peter, please don't. I'd rather know what's going on than let you keep suffering, I... Peter, I’ve never met anyone as good as you. It would kill me to know that anyone has been using that part of you, and you promised not to be mad. P-please don’t be mad,” Flash rambles, fading off into a whisper at the last part. He hasn’t looked up from his lap since he first asked Peter the question, staring at his hands as they twirl around one another anxiously.
Peter is thrown for a loop by basically everything Flash said. First, accusing his aunt of hurting him the way Flash’s parents used to hurt him. Then, calling Peter good, as if Peter doesn’t know that’s a flat-out lie. Flash literally used to bully him, he can’t actually think Peter is good for anything other than company and an easy friend. Then, Flash begging Peter not to get mad. He knows that Flash’s childhood was pretty shitty, but to think that Peter would ever get that mad at him makes Peter want to saw his own arm off with a rusty spoon.
Peter takes a deep breath, reaching out with shaking fingers to rest his hand on Flash’s fiddling ones. The other boy looks up, tears glistening in his eyes. Peter is so confused, so utterly lost as to how they ended up here. Flash is the one with an abusive past, not him. Flash is the one who is kind and gentle and perfect, not him.
“Flash, I’m not mad. I promise I’m not mad, I was just caught by surprise. Thank you for caring about me, but I swear, I’m ok. May and I are fine,” Peter asserts. At Flash's unsure look, Peter decides to elaborate. "May and I are fine, but she works a lot. Money, uh, it doesn't come really easily to us? She just works a lot, and I never want to worry her. I swear, if there was an issue, I'd tell you," Peter ignores the way his throat tightens around the last sentence, like his whole body is trying to prevent another lie from escaping his body. Sure, the issue isn't with May, not really, but there are issues that Peter isn't telling Flash. Flash doesn't need to hear about them, though, they aren't his responsibility. Peter isn't anyone's responsibility, other than his own.
“Ok, Peter. Ok. But, then, why were you bleeding so badly that day at school and in the park? Please don’t lie to me. Even if it isn’t May, someone hurt you,” Flash says. Peter’s heart stops. He can’t just tell Flash about Spidey, but his mind is blank of any feasible excuse.
“It was just a stupid New York mugger, Flash. I swear,” Peter lies. His stomach churns at the second blatant lie, but he doesn’t see another realistic option.
“If you’re sure,” Flash whispers, absently rubbing his thumb against Peter’s hand. Peter nods, and Flash takes his explanation. “Sorry for saying that, about May. I just had to be sure, you know, especially with… my parents,” Flash says quietly.
“Don’t be sorry, Flash. I know,” Peter whispers, lying back down on the couch. They settle back into silence, Flash turning New Girl back on glancing at Peter with an unreadable expression every so often. Peter doesn't understand how accusing his own aunt can be so endearing, but Flash always has had a way of confusing him.