While she hadn't actually been in the lift in the Washington Monument, the events of the day had still scared Michelle beyond belief. She had just started to accept that maybe these people were her friends and she had very nearly just lost them all, just like that.
The whole team was back on the bus. They had planned to stay an extra night, but the whole nearly dying thing made the team make the unanimous decision to get home to their families as quickly as possible. Michelle had this tactic where she'd find a double empty seat on the bus, then sit in the aisle seat. Yes, it meant that she was closer to the people she was ultimately trying to avoid, but it meant nearly no one ever asked her to move out the way so they can get to the spare seat, therefore leaving her effectively alone to her own thoughts. That is until Peter comes along smiling, awkwardly gesturing to the empty seat beside her. Her glare doesn't work so she reluctantly got up to let him in.
The highs of winning Decathlon, followed by the lows of the following events had truly worn the team out, causing them all to be asleep within fifteen minutes, all bar Michelle and Peter that is.
"You okay?" He interrupts her whirring thoughts.
"I wasn't even in the lift, I'm fine." The wall she always puts up to protect herself is high.
"Neither was I but, y'know, you watched it, you can let that affect you." She doesn't know if he's trying to help, but whatever he's trying to achieve it isn't working. All she's wanting to do it get home so she can be alone. Not getting a response out of her, Peter continues to speak. "It must have been scary at least. Knowing everyone was up there and you could do nothing."
The only reason he is asking all this now is because he recognised the fear and panic in her voice when she told him, as Spider-Man, that her friends were up there. This wasn't something he'd ever heard from her before, he just wanted a snippet inside Michelle's brain and this was as good a time as any. Not in all the years he had known her had they ever had a moment alone together; there had always been other people, most of the time Ned, and while there were technically people around, they were all asleep. There was no way Michelle was going to let Peter in if lots of people were listening in, therefore now seemed like the best time.
Michelle had only just fully accepted that these people were actually her friends. She reckoned, by that logic, that Peter and Ned were probably her closest friends, considering she hung out with them the most, but right now Peter was really pushing this friendship boundary. He wasn't even there, why was he questioning her inner feelings so fucking much.
"It's none of your business how I feel, its over now anyway. You flaked out of Decathlon again, you weren't even there, you don't need to worry about my safety." Was her definitive answer, hoping that would end the conversation there and then. Peter knew this was her self-preservation tactics kicking in. He reached over to put his hand on her lower thigh causing her to flinch away harshly. Michelle sucked in a sharp breathe. It wasn't that she hadn't wanted Peter's hand on her, in fact in the past she had found it quite comforting, but now his hand had brushed against a dark bruise that had formed on her skin, causing pain to go shooting through her leg, hence her jolting it away.
"I'm just trying to help." Was his lame response. She could tell she had upset his feelings. Good, she didn't need his help, why was he suddenly so interested in her anyway?
"I don't need your help." Her response came through her gritted teeth, not even daring to look over at him.
"You need someone's help. You can't shut yourself inside these walls forever." His voice was raising, causing her to quickly shut him up with a glare, looking around to make sure none of the team had woken up. This wasn't the way either of them had intended this conversation to go.
"Fuck off Peter, I don't need to deal with your shit right now." Again defensive. With all the shit happening at home, as well as the idea of watching her friends die, she really didn't want to deal with anyone at the moment, especially not Peter accusing her of shit he knew nothing about. She didn't need help.
"You know you'd be able to deal with more things if you just opened up a bit. You just shut people out then get angry when people try to help you, why can't you just accept my help? Whatever is going on with you must be shit, but sort it out before you end up with no one."
"I can't fucking believe you sometimes Parker." Michelle whispers harshly. She's seriously pissed off but the desire to scream in his face is overridden by the need to make sure the rest of the team stays asleep as to not witness the ongoing argument. Quickly she unbuckles and stands from her seat, grabbing her bag, and storming to a spare seat. It may be next to some weird kid who subs in for the decathlon team, but at least he's not Peter. Anything is better than Peter right now. She knows its her irrational, defensive side making her react this way, but honestly, she couldn't give less of a shit right now.
Getting off the bus everyone rushed to their loved ones. Betty to her parents, Ned to his, Liz to her mum and Peter to his Aunt. Even Flash quickly runs to who she assumes are his parents. Naively she looks for her parents. They're nowhere to be seen. As soon as they had got on the bus she had text both her mum and dad to let them know the change of plans and asking to be picked up, getting an affirmative response.
While it wasn't normal for parents to pick their children up, Mr Harrington had advised doing so due to today's events. All had been sent an email explaining just what had happened and rightfully so, all were worried, fretting over the children's safety. All except Michelle's. May had Peter embraced in a tight hug, both of them whispering things she couldn't quite hear. She wanted to hate Peter for the exchange they shared on the bus, but she couldn't. Right now, looking at May and Peter's interactions just left her feeling jealous and deflated.
Leaning against the bus she kept faith in her parents. Yeah things weren't exactly great at home at the moment, her dad had recently flew off the handle resulting in the bruises that currently littered her body, but things were going to get better, her parents were probably just a little late. They'll be here.
"Your parents nearly here sweetie?" May's soft voice broke her from her thoughts drawing Michelle's attention to her. She glanced down at her phone briefly before nodding. Peter was now looking her way too.
"Yeah, they said they'd be here."
"We'll wait around a bit just to make sure." The lack of faith May blatantly displayed towards her parents upset her. They said they'd be here. Having no effort left to fight, she nodded, briefly looking at Peter before looking away. The tension high between the two as he looks almost longingly at her. May quickly gets drawn away by Mr Harrington, the two looking like they're in an intense conversation, looking at Michelle every so often. Michelle tries to convince herself they're talking about Peter's disappearence while in DC, but with the two making no gestures towards Peter, and all the gestures towards her, it was hard to believe.
May comes back to the pair, not saying a word about whatever conversation she was having with Mr Harrington. The trio stand there for another fifteen minutes, not really exchanging a word, its clear none of them know what to say. The tension between her and Peter has become unbearable causing Michelle to fake getting a text.
"They'll be here in five minutes." She says to May.
"If it's only five more minutes we can wait. Peter why don't you get in the car." Peter nods obediently, grabbing his bag and giving Michelle an awkward smile before retreating to the car.
"Seriously May, it's okay, you can go now." If she waits the next five minutes it will be obvious Michelle lied when her parents still haven't shown up.
May quickly gathers Michelle into a hug, shocking Michelle slightly before she returns it.
"You're going to be okay?" She whispers in Michelle's hair. Why is everyone now suddenly worried about her. She should be the least of everyone's concerns. She didn't almost die today. Regardless of this Michelle nods. "Whatever is going on between you and Peter, I hope you sort it out." She had hoped May hadn't noticed the tension between her and Peter, but she guesses it was kind of inevitable that his Aunt would notice that something was wrong.
"Thank you for staying this long." Even though they didn't speak much during the wait, Michelle is still eternally grateful. It made the wait less stressful. While she had faith that her parents would come, the faith wasn't unwavering, making her anxious the entire time.
--
Mr Harrington was the last to leave. The two had been awkwardly stood in silence, Mr Harrington leaning against his car, while Michelle still hadn't moved from her spot against the bus.
"And you're sure they said they would come and collect you?" He checked for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Yes."
"You know, I could get you a taxi, or drive you home or something." They had been back at school for a whole hour. It was no surprise Mr Harrington was doubting that her parents would arrive, but she had faith.
"They said they would be here." She said defiantly.
"Okay, well I shouldn't really leave you alone but I have to be getting home, and I have to lock the main gates, so..." He awkwardly trailed off gesturing for Michelle to move from her spot to outside school grounds.
Dejectedly she was left leaning against the now locked gate, alone, watching Mr Harrington quickly drive away.
They didn't come.
The team had arrived back at the school at quarter past seven, everyone else had gone by quarter to eight. Mr Harrington had been the last to leave at eight fifteen. Her faith had been naively kept. It was now two minutes past nine and her parents still weren't here. They'd let her down again.
It wasn't their fault she told herself. The tensions were high at home, her parents' drinking had gotten worse, her father's violence became stronger, aimed more at her in the recent months. But it wasn't their fault. Something must have come up. That's the reason they hadn't come to collect her yet.
Each time she thought about leaving, a small part of her brain kept her in her place. If she left now, they'd arrive in just five minutes, they'd completely miss each other and leave each other confused. She had to stay so that when her parents came they would know where to find her.
This was the mindset that got her left at the supermarket when she got lost when she was six. The mindset that got her caught in the beginning of a blizzard after school was cancelled when she was eleven. The mindset that meant she wasn't able to be discharged from the hospital when she was fourteen. She had this undying faith in her parents that they would come and get her, yet she was always let down. Always left alone.
It was her mother who lost her at the supermarket, they had both neglected to pick her up that day at school, even though both said they would be there to pick her up, and it was her father who put her in the hospital in the first place; he said he would be there, but he never came to have her discharged after her arm had been put in a cast and the cut on her head was stitched up.
A tear slipped out of her eye as she finally accepted the fact that they weren't coming. Quickly brushing it away she lifted her bag onto her shoulder. The bag was heavy and awkward causing it to quickly fall back to the ground. Huffing, more tears slipped out of her eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them away this time. There was no point. No one was around anyway. No one was ever around.
She didn't feel like taking the subway this time of night so she elected to walk. Walking would take a hell of a long time, especially with the damn bag she had to lug with her, but after the revelation that her parents weren't coming to get her, she honestly didn't feel like being at home anyway.
Given that is was early October, it was already dark, and cold, and knowing Queens weather and her luck, it was probably going to rain anytime soon. Picking up her bag again she started the long walk home.
It was depressing to get lost in her thoughts, she discovered. This is why she much preferred a book. Getting lost in someone else's world, escaping form reality for even just five minutes was relieving; unfortunately, you can't walk and read in the dark, she'd tried years before and failed.
Michelle couldn't help but feel abandoned. It was now half nine and she hadn't heard a single thing from her parents. Were they not worried about her in the slightest? It's not their fault they hadn't come to get her. She had probably inconvenienced their plans and they had simply forgot. Or they had both misread the text she had sent, and they were going to get her then. Or maybe, they'd got in another argument, and they were simply saving her the pain of having to listen to them argue, so really they're doing her a favour. No matter what her parents' reasons were for not being there to collect her she still felt abandoned and disappointed. She shouldn't have gotten her hopes up really, they'd only ever have been let down eventually anyway.
People wondered why she was so distant in school, it was simple really, keep away from others so they can't disappoint you. So they can't leave you waiting for them when they'll never really show up.
A half hour into her walk home, her shoulder was already aching badly. She should have taken a more practical bag to DC. Then again, she didn't imagine she'd have to be carrying it across Queens, and she definitely shouldn't have packed all the books that she did.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Queens' favourite web-slinger perched on the roof of a block of apartments. She knew he had been following her for the last few blocks, but honestly it didn't bother her as much as if probably should have. It was kind of nice knowing that if someone tried to attack her Spider-Man would see and be down to help nearly straight away. It was the first time in ages she had felt somewhat protected. The job of a parent was to love and protect their child, but hers were clearly no good at either of those things, and while Spider-Man may not give her the love of a parent, he definitely offered her the protected feeling she was lacking.
She's feeling weak and vulnerable, two things that were not common for her to admit. The knowledge that when she gets home her parents would have forgotten they were supposed to get her, then be apologetic if she told them, before things would turn sour again nearly killed her. She begs to whatever God there is that it could all change. She loves her parents beyond belief, they raised her, they pay for her to go to a good school, they buy her whatever she needs. Without them she wouldn't be the woman she is today, and she has to thank them for that. Yeah she can be distant and hostile, and not know how to deal with people very well, but she likes to think she has some positive qualities too.
Against her will another tear slipped out of her eyes, they hadn't really stopped from before, but her stubborn will was keeping them at bay. Reaching up she wiped it away quickly, looking down in case Spider-Man was watching, not wanting him to see her weakness.
The next thing she knew she was being tapped on her shoulder. On reflex she kicked her leg back, swinging, hoping her bag would knock the suspected attacker out. Turning fully she looked at the person on the floor. Peter?
"Shit, I'm so sorry." She may still not be over what happened on the bus but she's not a monster, she reaches out a hand helping him out.
"No, its okay, I shouldn't have scared you like that, especially not this time of night, who knows whats out there." The sentence reminds her of Spider-Man causing her to quickly look up, searching for the mysterious web slinger, but he was no where to be seen. Strange. Peter's hand slowly reaches out to brush her cheek, wiping the remaining tears away. Shit, she hadn't even remembered she was crying. "I, uh, noticed you were walking alone and thought I'd join you."
"What are you even doing out this time of night, you went home ages ago." Something was off and she couldn't quite place why. What threw her even more was that they weren't even near his apartment at the moment.
"Shopping." His response was too quick. This boy couldn't lie convincingly to save his life. Quirking her eyebrow in response, she dared him to explain more. "Well, uh, May needed, uh eggs."
"And you had to walk half an hour out of your way instead of the corner shop across the street from your apartment?" Messing with him might just save her night from being a complete disaster. Stuttering again he begins to reply,
"Yeah they, uh, closed early tonight, and I wanted fresh air?" His explanation is more of a question but she decides to give him a break. She's still wanting to be pissed at him from earlier but can't, frankly she's just glad she has company to keep herself out of her own mind. "And what about you? You said your parents were five minutes away when we left." He says it almost jokingly but she can tell he wants a real answer.
"Would it be believable if I said I wanted fresh air?" She lamely jokes, offering him the same excuse he had used seconds ago and a small smile, trying to ignore the gnawing pain in her chest. She can feel her throat closing up, the overwhelming urge to just cry taking over. She can't, not now.
Thankfully he doesn't reply with words, just takes the bag of her shoulder, returning her earlier smile before starting to walk.
"Um, where are we going?"
"My place." Before she has the chance to argue he starts speaking again. "I'm sorry about how I acted earlier. It was shitty of me, and I don't want you to hate me, and I shouldn't have pressed when you clearly didn't want anyone intruding your boundaries. I'm sorry." He's rambling, its almost heartwarming.
"I don't hate you." Was her simple response, she didn't have it in her to explain all her inner feelings right now.
"Good, good. That's good." Peter laughs out a sigh of relief. "I know I shouldn't pry after I just apologised for exactly that, but why are you walking alone this late at night." That question broke the barrier keeping the floods at bay. Before either could fully take into account what was happening, Michelle was full on sobbing. Peter reached to her, embracing her in a hug, similar to the one Aunt May had given her before. The comforting act caused more tears to be released; in all her recent memory she couldn't remember being hugged this much in one day.
"They never came."
Peter squeezes her harder, as if trying to somehow squeeze her pain away. He presses on her bruises but at this very moment, she doesn't care.
"They were supposed to come. They said they'd be here." Her crying has turned into full on sobbing. Peter obviously doesn't know the full back story behind her cries, but he can figure enough out.
Eventually Michelle manages to calm down enough to start walking. There's nothing Peter could have said to make any of this situation better. No matter what he said, he wouldn't have been able to change how shitty her parents are. She's leaning heavily on him now, one of his arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders.
She notices the corner shop still has the flashing open sign at the entrance, but decides to bring it up at a later date, one that will make Peter unravel his constant excuses all on his self.
Upon arriving at Peter's apartment, May is waiting for them, a hot chocolate in both hands. Handing them both to Peter she quickly takes Michelle into her arms.
"It's okay, you're okay." She whispers gently into Michelle's hair. It's always seemed like May knew more than she was letting on but right now that suspicion seemed non-debatable. She didn't know how much May knew, but she knew for sure she loved the feeling of being embraced in motherly arms.
"You're staying here tonight, until you're ready to go home."