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princessbellecerise · 4 months

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Picture Perfect, II

──── ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧ ────

summary | Your sister Natasha is in trouble. You know it in your gut, and even moreso — you know it’s because of her so called ‘family’ the Avengers. It’s up to you to save your sister and yourself — before it becomes too late.

warnings | dark!peter parker, dark!avengers, non-con, kidnapping, dubcon, violence, loss of virginity (m. and f), manipulation, overall mature themes, stalking, delusional!peter, 18+ ONLY

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“I’m telling you guys, something isn’t right.”

Natasha had texted you early the following morning. Natasha never texted you.

Nat: Hey, I’m so sorry about last night. I guess I just got worked up over the most recent mission and I sort of had some flashbacks. Nothing too serious so I don’t want you to worry but I just want you to know that everything is fine and I love you.

You had stared at the text, analyzed it, read it forward and backwards and yet despite everyone else telling you that it was nothing, despite your own parents believing that text message over you when you told them something was wrong, terribly wrong - despite all that, you knew what you heard last night was anything but fine.

You knew. And you were going to get to the bottom of it.

You didn’t know exactly what happened, but you weren’t dumb enough to believe that it was because of a mission. You weren’t dumb enough to drop the way you felt after reading that text message, noticing several things wrong with it.

First, you noticed how robotic it sounded and extremely impersonal. The word’s definitely didn’t sound like anything Natasha would say and that worried you.

But, perhaps the most alarming thing was the nickname ‘she’ had sent in the text, or rather the lack of.

For as long as you could remember, Natasha never went a day without calling you голубка, which meant little dove in her native language Russian.

Ever since you were a child she’d call you that almost every time she addressed you, and now as you replayed the text in your mind, your gut was screaming at you that if it was Natasha that had texted you, then surely your given nickname would be thrown in there somewhere.

But no, it wasn’t. Which made you worry even more as you went to class that day, only expressing your concerns when you finally met up with your two best friends, Ned and MJ.

The three of you had been friends ever since your first year at MIT. You had roomed with Michelle—or MJ as she like to be called—and met Ned through a mutual friend you no longer talked to. The first time you guys had hung out, you automatically clicked, dubbing you guys the nickname The Three Musketeers. And making them the people you ranted to about Natasha when your parents wouldn’t listen.

“I’m telling you guys, the text she sent was superrr sus. And after what happened last night…guys I really don’t think it’s her,” You told them, and you knew from the moment that you opened your mouth, they thought you were crazy.

Ned and MJ shared a look, and though they would never say it to your face, you know that’s what they were thinking.

Everybody thought that, which was why this whole situation was so frustrating for you. Nobody believed you or your very valid concerns, not even your own friends.

“Y/N, are you sure that you’re not just spiraling again?” Ned asked, gently laying a hand on your shoulder. You hated how condescending he sounded. Like you were a child that lost their mind or something.

“Yeah I mean, I know you’re under a lot of stress because of Bernstein, you don’t think maybe this has anything to do with you being more paranoid than usual?” MJ offered.

You threw her an annoyed glance, at least expecting your conspiracy theorist friend to agree with you.

“No,” You let out a huff, shaking your head. “This has nothing to do with Bernstein, I promise. I just…”

You just what?

You stared at the sympathetic faces of both Ned and MJ and it was enough to have you pursing your lips, stopping your sentence in its tracks.

It was clear enough that anything you had to say wasn’t going to be taken seriously. Whenever you talked about this, most people would turn their noses up and tune you out because they just thought that you were crazy.

Something being off about the Avengers? Not a chance. They were America’s Heroes. Scratch that, they were the world’s heroes. Who would ever believe that something sketchy was going on with them? Certainly not anybody in your life.

You had to admit, it hurt a lot that not even your friends believed you. If anything, you expected Michelle Jones, the conspiracy theorist, to have your back, but there was nothing as she stared at you and you knew that you were alone.

You sighed, dropping your gaze before shaking your head.

“You know what,” You picked at your fingers as embarrassment creeped through your veins. “Just forget I even said anything, okay? You guys are probably right anyways. It’s probably just…stress.”

You cringed even saying it but what choice did you have? Expressing your concerns would be like talking to brick walls.

Ned smiled a little and gave you an encouraging look. “It’s alright. Trust me, we understand.”

“Maybe what you need is to just loosen up a little,” MJ shrugged as she picked her own nails. The chipped black nail polish nearly matched the pattern of your own. “Maybe you just need to…go to a party with me Friday night?”

She blurted it out so fast that you barely caught onto what she was saying, but when you did, you shook your head and quickly protested.

“MJ, you know that’s not really my thing,” You frowned slightly. “And with this paper due for Bernstein, I really gotta…”

“Oh come on!” MJ cut you off, sitting up on the bench you guys were currently sitting on. Ned had the idea that you all should wait outside of your chemistry class in order to get the best seats. Closer to the front was always a must, since your teacher had an accent that was sort of hard to understand. She was brilliant; but when trying to understand complex concepts it was sort of hard. So, you and MJ agreed. And now she was pouting at you. “We haven’t been to a party since…well, never.” MJ frowned. “But I wanna go cause Stacy invited me and I sort of…promised that I’d go.”

“So that’s why you wanna go,” You suddenly realized, a small smirk forming on your face. MJ blushed. “So you can see Stacy?”

“No, not just so I can see Stacy,” She interjected, but both you and Ned knew better. You exchanged looks and MJ scowled. “I also wanna go cause I wanna hang with you guys,” She explained, throwing her arms around you and Ned. Silence came over you both, and when MJ realized you weren’t buying it, she sighed. “Okay and maybe…I do want to see a little bit of Stacy.”

“Oh, I knew it!” Ned clapped his hands together and laughed. “You’ve been obsessed since like, first semester.”

“Have not,” MJ said, lightly pushing Ned’s shoulder. But you all knew she was lying. “I just…like seeing my study buddy. Is that so bad?”

“We all know you that likeeee her. You don’t have to hide it,” You teased, reaching out to squeeze her cheeks. Immediately, she scowled as she swatted your hand away.

“Shut uppp,” MJ replied, but the smile on her face told you that she wasn’t mad. You chuckled at your friend, shaking your head before Ned spoke again.

“Well, if you don’t want to go to the party, you can always help me build the new Lego set I got,” He offered, his eyes lighting up. “My Lola says there’s over twelve thousand pieces on this one. Sounds fun, right?”

“Right…” You hesitantly smiled at Ned and bless him, but you were not building another Lego set with him. Not after the last one that took forever and had you both pulling an all-nighter, which then caused you to fall asleep during your mid-terms. You still passed, but you vowed you’d never do it again which had you turning to MJ. With Bernstein’s paper due, you couldn’t risk anything. So, throwing an a apologetic look to Ned, you said, “On second thought, maybe I will go to that party.”

“Really?” MJ’s dark brown eyebrows shot up, but you could tell that she was presently surprised as a smile formed on her face.

You nodded. “Yeah. What time?”

“Ten,” She told you automatically. You thought you saw Ned pouting a little out of the corner of your eye.

But you didn’t say anything as you slowly nodded your head. “Great. I’ll be there,” You told MJ, smiling a little. “And I’ll be the best damn wingman ever!”

“Gee, thanks. You’re so supportive,” MJ said sarcastically, and though you all laughed at her words, deep down you felt a little sadness that you didn’t get that treatment in return.

You were willing to go to this party to help MJ with no questions asked, but she nor Ned would listen to you about your very valid concerns. The situation with Natasha was a legitimate worry that you had, but like always, you had to push it down cause no one would listen.

You thought it was a little unfair but you kept quiet. After all, that was what you were used to doing, and even if did bring it up again—who would ever believe you over the Avengers?

You chewed at the pencil in your hand, sighing and catching the attention of Peter.

He sat across from you in Marjorie’s — May’s — cafe, brown eyes looking up at the sound of your exhale and eyebrows quirking up shortly after.

It was obvious there were something on your mind, something that was clearly distracting you from paying attention to the advice he was giving you on how to go about Bernstein’s project.

But you didn’t even realize Peter had caught on until he spoke, surprising you.

“Is something the matter?” He asked, causing your gaze to finally flick from your paper to him. “Am I…God, I’m confusing you, aren’t I? I..I’m sorry, I-I know I’m not the best teacher but I—”

“Peter,” You cut him off with a small laugh, forcing a smile on your face as the thoughts from your head momentarily vanished. Honestly, you thought it was quite adorable how he worried he looked, afraid he wasn’t doing a good job.

But he was.

“It’s not you, it’s me,” You reassured him, causing him to relax a little. “My mind… I guess I’m just a million miles away today. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” Peter said, quickly straightening up a little. “I-I-I get it. I’m like that too. Always something on my mind.”

“You have no idea,” You let out a breath, and Peter cocked his head curiously as you shut your eyes and rubbed your temples. It was obvious to anyone that you were stressed, but even more so to him due to his…senses.

He picked up on the dark circles under your eyes, and the way your face just looked…tired. Gently, he decided to reach out and grab your hand, squeezing it which caused your stomach to flip a little.

“Hey,” He gave you a small smile, relaxing you. “I get it. And if you don’t feel like doing this right now, we could gladly talk about some thing else,” He offered

You rose an eyebrow as he gently close his laptop, tucking it away in his case.

“Yeah, like what?” You questioned, biting your lip.

“Anything,” Peter shrugged, still smiling. “If you want to talk about whatever it is that has your head in the clouds, then feel free too. I cleared my schedule so I’d be more than happy to listen,” He told you.

Suddenly, you felt something twist in your stomach. “You didn’t have to do that,” You told him softly, knowing that he still had an internship with Tony Stark. “I’m sure you’re busy and well…you didn’t exactly volunteer to listen to my problems, so if you have somewhere else to be, we can pick up on this tomorrow—”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Peter squeezed your hand, causing your breath to hitch. “I’d much rather be here than doing errands for Mr. Stark,” He laughed quietly, his brown eyes gazing into yours. “If you can believe it.”

“I can’t,” You confessed, “But I mean if you want…”

Peter settled back against the booth and you rubbed your hands together as he watched you intensely. He didn’t push, rather he stayed quiet as you gathered your thoughts and tried to think of what you wanted to say.

“It’s just,” You started hesitantly, knowing full well he could call you crazy for what you were about to say. After all, Peter wouldn’t be the first person you expressed these thoughts to, but he would be new. You hoped that he’d at least hear you out instead of dismissing you like people usually did. And for some reason, you got the vibe that he wouldn’t. “It’s just well, I’m really worried, Peter.”

“Worried?” Peter reiterated, you nodded your head.

“Yeah. I had a phone call with my sister last night and while she texted me this morning saying that everything was fine, I just—I don’t know. I feel it in my gut that she’s lying.”

“Lying?” Peter rose an eyebrow, and you imagined your words sound quite strange without all the context. “Why…why would your sister be lying to you?” He asked.

You shrugged. “That’s just the thing. I don’t know,” You said. “That’s why I’m so worried. She wouldn’t have anything to lie about if everything was truly fine.”

Peter shifted a little as you went on and also told him about Natasha’s other strange behaviors. You didn’t tell him much, just enough for him the grasp the situation and certainly not every detail.

You didn’t want to give away too much seeing as well, no matter how comfortable you felt with him — Peter was still a stranger. You didn’t know him as well you knew your other friends Ned and MJ. In fact you barely knew him at all, but already he was listening more than other people ever did.

It made you feel warm inside that he seemed to genuinely take your words seriously.

“Wow that’s—” When you finished, Peter had a slightly disturbed look on his face. He scrunched his nose up and you nodded, agreeing with his expression. “That’s a lot…and honestly kind of freaky.”

“Right?” Your voice went up several octaves. From her not so secret spot behind the counter, May looked over at you. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell other people for quite some time now but nobody seems to believe me. They all think that just because she’s tough she can look out for herself, but even the toughest people still need looking out for sometimes, you know?” You asked Peter. “And I mean, Natasha is an Avenger, she can take care of herself but—”

“Natasha,” Peter stopped you mid-sentence, his mouth slightly open as you let the name and occupation of your sister slip out. He reeled back a little bit as if the realization just hit him like a ton of bricks, and you paused as you covered your mouth, obviously not meaning to let that slip out. “Your sister…is an Avenger?”

“Oh God, I wasn’t supposed to let that part slip out,” You said sheepishly, mortified by your own stupidity. “I’m so sorry,” But you weren’t exactly sure who you were apologizing to—Peter, or Natasha. As you got older, she had kindly asked you to limit the amount of people you told about her. As her missions got more and more dangerous, it was completely understandable but now you had failed.

Natasha had made sure that it would take some serious digging to even find you, which was why you felt guilty for letting it slip to Peter.

You weren’t supposed to say a word, but honestly though, he didn’t seem to mind much.

“Really?” There was excitement on his face, his eyes extra wide and his lips open in shock. “I had no clue that you were her sister. I-I mean, I’ve heard her talk about you before but I never…wow. You must be the girl she talks about all the time, then. The one that’s obsessed with thrifting old CD’s and stuff?”

Now, it was your turn to stop and pause, your jaw dropping at Peter’s words. Despite the topic, a strange feeling of giddiness rose in you, and a smile played its way onto your lips. “She…she talks about me?” You whispered quietly, and Peter nodded as he answered.

“Yeah, all the time,” He said, and then as if he said something wrong, he quickly backtracked. “Well, at least when I talk to her, which isn’t often. I’m mainly around Mr. Stark but sometimes I see the other Avengers and your sister seems pretty nice.”

“Wow,” You were in shock that your sister even mentioned you while she was at work, knowing how much of private person she was. Natasha barely talked about anything with anyone, seeing as her trust was limited, but the fact that she seemed to love you enough to even mention you made you beyond ecstatic.

“I…I had no idea,” You told Peter, now with a wide smile on your face. Now that that door was open, you couldn’t stop yourself from questioning him even more. “What did she say about me? How often do you talk?”

“Oh, not too often,” He told you, “And nothing but the good things,” Peter reassured you. “She mostly talks about how proud of you she is for getting into MIT early and things like that.”

“And anything else?”

“Well,” Peter rubbed the back of his head, somewhat avoiding your eyes. “Yeah, I guess. She sometimes mentions the things that you like, like roses being your favorite flower and how you’d kill someone just to eat the last blueberry muffin,” You both chuckled at this. “But mostly…she just brags about you and how smart you are,” Peter smiled. “She even mentioned some of your accomplishments, like being valedictorian. Which, by the way, is extremely impressive. Just thought you should know that.”

“Oh.” You couldn’t stop the blush that spread on your cheeks, and you were grateful that Peter wasn’t able to see it because you didn’t want him to know just how much his words flattered you. You pretended like you weren’t embarrassed by his praise, and instead sent him a short nine. “Well, thank you Peter. You’re quite impressive yourself.”

This caused his face to light up. “Really?” He asked, and you nodded.

“Of course. You got into MIT sooner than I did and well, you do work under Tony Stark,” You told him. “I can’t imagine he recruits just anyone.”

“Well,” The blush on Peter’s cheeks was enough to having you giggling. You watched as he humbly waved you off, but you knew that your words are true. You don’t think even you had it in you to snag an internship with one of the most renowned scientists in the world, and that was with your sister being an Avenger. By definition, you could’ve been a Nepo baby but you’re weren’t. Peter managed to do it all on his own. That really was impressive. He was really impressive, you realized with a slight glow in your chest.

Impressive enough to make you forget about what you previously were talking about.

You didn’t realize how quick the topic changed from Natasha, until suddenly Peter brought it up again, smacking you back to reality and snapping you out of your giddy phase as you tore your eyes away from his.

“So now that I know who you’re talking about,” He said, “Is there any reason in particular that you’re so alarmed about her?”

He studied your face. Analyzed the way your eyes slightly darted away, and he held his breath, wondering what the next few words that escaped your mouth would be.

Where did you even begin? At the beginning, you supposed, but even though you felt comfortable around Peter, you didn’t think you were that comfortable to tell him about all of it. It was almost like that day, and those feelings were a private part of you, and you weren’t ready to share them just yet, so you opted to tell him something else. “I just…I just think it’s strange,” You began, “How she sometimes interacts with the other Avengers. I mean, I know that they’re her coworkers, and probably her really close friends, but sometimes I just can’t help but think they seem a little bit too close, you know?”

No, he didn’t know. It was obvious that Peter had absolutely no clue what you were talking about, his face pulled into one of confusion. You knew that your response had shocked him, and bless his heart, he seemed to realize that you were studying his face and quickly got rid of that expression.

“Um…”

“It’s okay, you can say that I’m weird for thinking that,”You said, knowing that he was just going to be like everybody else. “I just…I just worry about her, you know? I worry about the way she interacts with them, and that she might not be as happy as she leads on. Ever since that day…well she’s barely called. She’s barely texted. I hardly ever see her anymore or hear from her unless it’s once a week, and I know it sounds weird but—”

Peter was quick to jump in to dismiss your concerns.

“No, no I don’t think it’s weird at all,” He said quickly, “But it’s just shocking to hear you say that. Kind of sad, if you know what I mean.”

“I do know what you mean,” You told him quickly, “More than you’ll ever know. It seems like I’m the only one that sees through the happy façade, but I mean, if you were to tell me it’s nothing as well then I suppose I will just sound crazy. But I just don’t think—I just can’t shake the fact that if they really were as close as they tried to portray, if they really were that picture perfect, I can’t help but think Nat would invite me over to the tower more. I can’t help but think that I would’ve met the Avengers more. I can’t help but think something strange is going on when Nat barely calls me, and when she does she just always seems so out of it.”

“Out of it,” Peter repeated your words, and you nodded. “How does she seem out of it?” He fiddled with his hands and began to tap the side of the table.

“If I’m being honest, I don’t really know,” You confessed to him, “I just know that the way she behaves just isn’t normal. Some of the things she says, some of the things she does…all of it put together it just seems strange.”

“Oh,” Peter was silent for a while as you stared at him, trying to gauge some kind of reaction from his face. You could tell that he was confused, and it was absolutely understandable, but he also look doubtful as well. You expected that, but the one thing you didn’t expect, was for the layer of understanding that washed over his face, his brown eyes glinting as he looked into yours once again.

“Actually,” He stated, shrugging a little bit, “I don’t think it’s as strange as you’re putting it.”

If you were expecting him to say anything, it definitely wasn’t that. You looked at him in shock, as his eyes slightly flickered behind his shoulder, over the counter to Marjorie, who had began wiping down the coffee bar.

“No, I don’t think it’s strange at all,” He said, “And in fact, I think it’s normal to worry about someone you love like that. Even if she is an Avenger, Natasha is still your sister, and I can definitely see where all this is stemming from. You’re probably super worried about her and the toll her job takes on her, and I guess it can seem drastic when you don’t see her as often. In fact, I kind of…I think May feels the same way about me these past few couple of years, so I wouldn’t feel too bad or really stress about it as much if I were you. It’s just part of our job, but that doesn’t mean we’re not okay.”

The words on your tongue seemed to falter a little bit, but luckily, you recovered yourself and managed to let out a small sound that almost sounded like like relief.

“Wow,” You couldn’t stop the smile that creeped on your face as you stared at him. “I…I mean as far as it goes, that’s kind of exactly how I feel. People always tell me I’m crazy to constantly worry, but I can’t help it you know. I love Nat, and it would kill me if something was wrong and I didn’t know until it was too late.”

“I get that too,” Peter said, once again glancing at Marjorie. “You want to know everything about the people that you love and it sucks when you feel like they’re hiding something for you. But maybe…” He bit his lip and that was when he looked back at you. “Have you maybe consider that if Natasha was hiding something from you for any reason, that it might be a good thing? That it might be because she doesn’t want to have you shoulder the burden as well, that maybe it’s her protecting you from the truth? I mean the things that she deals will are incredibly dangerous. We all saw those files she leaked a few years ago. Things like that…it puts you on the radar of some pretty dangerous people and maybe she doesn’t tell you to protect you.”

Well, you most certainly did not think about that. Ever since that day, you had the feeling in your gut that you had to protect Natasha from whatever it was that was going on with her that caused her to change so drastically, but you never considered that maybe she changed or maybe she never said anything because it was you that she had to protect.

“That…makes a lot of sense when you put it that way,” You admitted to Peter, “I guess…I guess I was so focused on protecting her I didn’t really stop to think if she was doing the same. I know that if the roles were reversed, and Natasha wouldn’t stop until she found something she was satisfied with.”

“And are you?” Peter asked, elaborating when he noticed that you looked confused. “Satisfied that is,” He added, causing your eyebrows to shoot up.

“Honestly,” You looked at him and you found that you could only tell him the truth. “No, no I’m not satisfied,” You confessed, picking at the polish on your finger nails. “I haven’t been satisfied with her excuses in a while. And I think it’s because I can never just shake the gut feeling I have that she’s not being quite truthful with me.”

When you finished, you noticed that there was an unfamiliar glint in his eye as Peter looked thoughtfully the table. It seemed like his own brain was coming up with a response to what you just said. It looked like he was trying to use his words carefully, and it took a while to respond. But when he did, you knew it was only when he picked the perfect words to say to you.

“Can I tell you something?” He suddenly asked, and against your better judgment, you were quick to nod.

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” You told him, and Peter sighed like what he was about to tell you something you might not like.

“I think…I think that over these last couple of years, both you and Natasha have been under a great deal of stress. I mean you said it yourself—she’s an Avenger, and as much as you might not believe her, she does go on missions. I’ve seen it myself,” He admitted, “and truth be told I think that if you knew any of the Avngers then you’d see that they’re all in the same boat. It’s a lot of pressure even just being around them, and I can’t imagine actually having the responsibility to save the world on your shoulders, every single day. So I understand why it might be so hard for you to believe her, but I think it’s true. I think Natasha is telling you the truth, and from everything I’ve observed about the Avengers, she is. I’ve never seen anything that would indicate something is wrong, and if I did, I would never lie to you about it. I just think your sister is under a great deal of stress and like I said earlier, going weeks or months without talking to her tricks your brain, and makes you think it’s a lot worse than it really is. But if you were actually around her more frequently like I am, I think you’d see that it’s just an everyday thing and you really don’t have anything to worry about. I know it may be hard, but I’ve been working for Mr. Stark for years and I can honestly say that what you see is what you get. The Avengers for the most part are picture perfect. And I think, that no matter how hard of a time you have accepting that, it’ll be a lot better if you do. Because if you don’t, I think you might end up like May here and eventually run yourself to death carrying all that stress.”

As soon as you got home, tiredness seeped into your veins as you threw your bag down before plopping on your bed.

Peter had helped you finish up the rest of your proposal, and it was with great relief that you managed to submit your new draft after praying to every God there was that Professor Bernstein would accept this one.

You saw no reason that he wouldn’t, seeing as Peter pretty much gave you the outline he used for his paper, and he had gotten an A+ on it. You were sure that there was no way Bernstein would refuse you again, and the thought made you smile, grateful that Peter was there to help you.

Now that you thought about it, it really did seem like he came just in time to save you from repeating this class. Now that you had his pointers, the only thing left to do was put all of the data you had gathered from Marjorie together and submit it—along with a few of her family heirlooms you promised to return.

Admittedly, it kind of made you sad that the worst was now over because it meant you didn’t really need Peter anymore. You liked hanging out with him; he was fun and easy-going, and just all around sweet compared to most of the males that you interacted with. Except for Ned, Peter was the only other boy that you could envision actually wanting to hang around long-term.

You thought about this, and what it meant as you picked your nails, still laying down on your bed.

Dinner was supposed to be ready in a few, and your mom was cooking a traditional Russian dish that Natasha used to request all the time. It used to be her favorite, so you decided to clear your mind before you at, going to the shower to wash up.

Once you had everything you needed, you stepped into the warm water and let it relax your body, letting out a sigh.

You were finally able to wash away some of the stress that you had been feeling from the past few days. Not only from Bernstein’s class, but also about your feelings from Natasha, which Peter had sort of put to rest.

With his reassurance and advice, you felt a little lighter, like you could relax now and finally see that maybe you were exaggerating a little. After all, Natasha was fully capable of handling herself if something truly was wrong, right?

She’d fought aliens before. She didn’t exactly need her baby sister trying to protect her.

It was because of these thoughts that you were finally able to let loose and enjoy your shower. When you were done, you stepped back into your room, towel tightly wrapped around your body as you rummaged through your drawers for some clothes. You opened the top one, looking for your night clothes, and as you did you noticed that it seemed just a little bit cooler in your room than it usually did.

You didn’t remember leaving the window open, but when you turned around, it was slightly ajar, which lead you to stare it for a couple of seconds.

Maybe mom came in to clean and accidentally left it open, you thought.

It seemed like such a small coincidence that you didn’t really worry about it much, simply walking over and reaching over your desk to close it.

Your hands were just about to yank the glass panel down when something else caught your attention, though, making you freeze in your tracks.

A familiar ringtone erupted from your phone; a ringtone you had specifically set for one person. That way you would never miss her calls or mistakingly decline thinking she was someone else.

It was a ringtone you had saved only for your sister, and before you knew it you were abandoning the window and darting towards your phone and picking it up.

You felt like you were about to stop breathing as Natasha finally came into view, sporting a weak smile and staring at you with those same sad eyes that she wore yesterday.

Yesterday when she called you. Yesterday when all those weird things went on. Yesterday was only a day ago, not a week. So why exactly was Natasha calling you?

“Hey,” She was the first to speak, her voice hoarse as if she had used it tremendously in the past few hours. Not only that, it sounded…strained. Like she was sick or something. But Natasha showed no signs of being ill the previous day, so it lead you to wonder what it was really about.

“Hi.”

Your voice shocked you. So small and quiet, almost like you were afraid to raise your voice after yesterday. Like you were afraid to say the wrong thing in the wrong tone and have your sister freak out like she did yesterday.

You hated it.

You hated yourself for treating Natasha like a child, or holding back like she would break at any moment. Like she wasn’t the strongest woman you knew. You hated it, but yet, it’s all you could do as you stared at your tired, sad sister.

“How are you?” Natasha’s voice remained in the same tone as yours, and you took the phone and set it on your desk so that you would have a better angle. You now had your back to the window and shivered a little as the cold breeze traveled across your freshly scrubbed skin.

“Good,” The word came out with a slight nod. “I’ve been pretty much the same as I was yesterday when you called. Just busy with my paper and such.”

Natasha’s throat bobbed up and down as you mentioned this, but her face remained clear of any emotion like the truth she was. she asked that Is Peter Parker still helping you with that?” She asked, and Do you know a small smile coming to your face as you thought of him.

“Yeah,“ You said a bit more shyly than you wanted. “Peter’s been a great help. He helped me finish my proposal and I submit it this afternoon. I’m waiting to see how that goes.”

“Yeah,” Natasha let out an uncomfortable chuckle, her eyes flickering with an emotion that you seemed to miss. down in a small side, escaping her lips. “Well I’m glad you finished it at least. I know how much you said that class was a pain in your ass.”

“You have no idea,” You blew out a breath, “Bernstein’s been making my semester hell. But like I said, Peter’s helped me a lot. I’m really thankful that I met him when I did.”

Natasha said nothing. Which was odd, because your sister always had something to say whether it be bad or good.

You waited for her to give you her two cents on Peter, as surely she had picked up on the way you talked about him. But…you waited, and it seemed like the only thing Natasha was trying to do was not say anything.

After a few minutes of silence, you finally asked, “Is…everything okay?”

“That’s good,” Nat avoided your question, causing you to worry but you remembered what Peter said and decided for once, to just let it go. “I just hope you aren’t ditching any of your other friends just to hang out with him.”

It was supposed to be a joke, but her tone very much lacked the humor that was supposed to go with it.

“Don’t worry,” You reassured her, “Ned and MJ are very much still in my life. I saw them today. MJ invited me to a party and Ned was trying to convince me to build another 12,000 piece Lego set with him. This time though, I put my foot down and said hellll no.”

You left out the other parts of your conversation. Nat’s ‘shadow’ was still behind her. You didn’t want to say anything to alert him or set her off again.

Your words caused Nat to chuckle a little. You didn’t realize how much you had missed the sound, or rather, the genuineness of it.

“Good, good. And Mom and Dad?”

“Still as busy as ever,” You slightly rolled you eyes which only Natasha would understand. “Dad just got back from a conference and Mom is in a good mood so she’s cooking Okroshka tonight to celebrate. Your favorite,” You added, as if you both didn’t already know it.

“Hm. Sounds good.” Natasha nodded in approval, and you could see the way she licked her lips which caused you to smile.

At least that hasn’t changed, you thought.

“And anything else? I know I haven’t exactly been that involved, I want you to tell me everything cause I’m sure there’s a lot. Even the things that you might think are small, I’m still interested.”

Her green eyes bore into yours, and you furrowed your eyebrow as you could tell there was a deeper meaning to her words. Natasha was searching your face, or quite possibly everything about you, trying to use her spy training to uncover anything that she might have missed.

But you were confused. What exactly was she looking for?

“I think I tell you pretty much everything there is know when you call, Nat,” You say, beginning to get a little uncomfortable. “And besides there’s not very much that goes on my life, sooo…the only really new thing is Peter helping me with my paper.”

“Right,” she chuckled humorously at this. “And is that all?” She pressed, causing your attention to snap towards her. “Is there something more between you two, or…”

“No, no nothing like that,” You reassured her, suddenly wishing you had some water. All of a sudden it got hot, despite your window being open. “Peter and I are just…we’re just…we’re friends. He’s just helping me with this project and I doubt we’ll really even hang out after this, unless he comes by Marjorie’s to say hey or something.”

“Okay. Good,” Dare you say that Natasha looked relieved as the words awkwardly flew out of your mouth, and the shadow behind her twitched a little. You saw him turn his head towards her slightly, and if you weren’t mistaken, a small grunt left his lips open high immediately caused Nat to backtrack. “I mean, I’m sure there’s anything wrong with the kid, but I just…I just think you should catch up on your studies before getting involved with something, more you know? I mean get that you’re growing up, but are you really ready for the stuff that comes with a relationship, like sex and—”

“Oh come on Nat! Ew!” You groaned, not really wanting to talk about this with your big sister. “Don’t do this. It’s almost embarrassing as getting ‘the talk’ from mom and dad,” You told her.

Natasha chuckled once again.

“Please, just don’t even.”

“Okay, okay,” She finally agreed, holding her hands up as a small smirk played on the side of her lips. For just a split second, she looked like the old Nat and she blew out a breath, laughing at your clear embarrassment. “I’m just trying to make sure you know that there are other things out there than boys. I don’t want you getting caught up too soon cause you never know, right?”

“Rightttt,” You drew out the words slightly, rolling your eyes at your big sister. “Thanks, but no thanks Nat. This thing you seem to have imagined between Peter and I is not happening. He’s just a friend, and even then I don’t think he’s even interested in me. So really, you have nothing to worry about.” You said. “Capeesh?”

“Capeesh,” Nat seemed satisfied with the answer, but you couldn’t help the slightly nagging feeling in your chest as you played with the hem of your towel.

“But if there was something between us…”

“Y/N!” Natasha scolded you as you laughed, playing with a random figurine on your desk. She shook her head at you, but you weren’t done wondering what it is she seemed to have against your new…erm, friend.

“What?” You took in her expression, which was clearly disapproving. “Would it really be so bad? I mean, this is Peter we’re talking about,” You gave her an obvious look. But judging by the expression on her face, it was that bad.

“I already told you I want you to focus on school, not boys.”

But Ian! you defend yourself, shrinking back into your chair, but I mean, like you always say, I’m supposed to have fun too, right? And I know you tell me which ones to stay away from but I mean are boys so bad when they’re nice, and funny and—”

“Not Peter,” Natasha cut you off quickly, causing you to huff again. She sat up straight, suddenly becoming extremely serious. “голубка, please. Послушай меня, когда я скажу тебе, что тебе не обязательно сейчас встречаться с такими парнями, как Питер. (Listen to me when I tell you that you don’t need to be dating boys like Peter right now,” She begged you in Russian. You knew enough to understand her.

You furrrowed your eyebrows as Natasha seemed to suddenly flinch at something behind the camera.

“Boys like Peter? Nat what does that mean?” You asked, appalled.

“дерьмо…”

“Nat?” You sat up straight so that you could look into the camera. You could tell she muted you because all background noise ceased to exist, and she was saying something but you couldn’t tell what cause she moved her face from the frame.

Dammit. Sneaky spy.

You had to wait until Natasha got done talking with whoever it was she was conversing with, and while you waited an uncomfortable twinge pooled in your stomach. You stared anxiously at the camera until suddenly, the volume was back on and Nat’s nervous face came into view again.

“Sorry about that. Bucky was just telling me something about a mission,” She told you quickly, before you could even ask. “I’m fine.”

“…Okay,” you decided to just believe her and shrugged your shoulders, but you weren’t done with the topic you guys were discussing. “But just tell me this — why not Peter, Nat? I mean he seems like a really nice guy. Is there something he’s said or done while at the tower that makes you say that? I mean I know you guys have talked a couple of times but if he had any red flags why’d you tell him all about me? You don’t just go around telling everyone how much I like thrifting and blueberry muffins, do you?” You joked, but instead, Natasha just went white.

You knew the minute those words left your mouth that you had said something wrong. You weren’t sure what, but the unmistakable terror that gathered on Natasha’s face let you know everything you needed to know.

It triggered that feeling in your gut that you had felt so many times before, when you knew something was off, and it was pounding at you, gnawing as Natasha suddenly stood up and yelled something at you.

“Y/N—never—met—he—”

She was breaking up.

You groaned in frustration as the phone began to glitch out, the older device no doubt overheating after such a long conversation on FaceTime.

You grabbed your phone from where it was propped up on the desk and it was indeed hot, so you stuck it out the window in hopes of it cooling a down a little.

“Hang on Nat, I think my phone is glitching. Sorry, is it okay if I call you back when it cools down?”

“Y/N—please—I—”

“I love you too, Nat,” You told her, assuming that what she going to say. Your smiling face was still in the camera but hers had turned into a blank caution screen. Not soon after that, the phone hung up itself instead of reconnecting so you only assumed Nat heard you and had agreed.

You sighed, a little bummed that your call had gotten cut short but it quickly went away when you heard your mother calling you for dinner.

It was time to eat, and you noticed that you were still in your towel so you changed and made yourself presentable.

You chose some simple sweatpants and a tank top before booking it across your three bedroom apartment to where your mom and dad were sitting down, the smell of Okroshka filling your nose.

You inhaled, and when you sat down you thought of Natasha the entire time you ate and aimlessly chatted with your parents about your day.

When you finished, you cleaned your plate, bid good night to your parents, and rushed back to your room to see if your phone had cooled down any.

It had, but still, the one thing that stuck out to you was that there were no missed calls or texts from Natasha.

You sighed.

Oh well.

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #dark!peter parker x reader #dark!peter x reader #dark!peter parker #dark!avengers #picture perfect

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