#why she built like Christopher Judge huh

[horsyunicorn]

the Dream Visitor, nicknamed "Ametrine"

@haeluin

[erikismybitch]

Waiting In Vain: Chapter 18

Protection

“Would you like to Meet my dad ?”

Erik never thought he would hear that question come from Marley’s mouth but it did . And he was thrown off , knowing exactly what he put her through . Why in the hell would she want to go Down this path .

“He and his wife reached out. My Therapist said I should go...Meet with him maybe unveil some hidden wounds or some shit like that”

“Its whatever you want to do” He told her.

“Then I can decide if I want to explore a relationship with him or let him go completely “

Erik , who was very protective over this girl , didn’t want her to get into this situation. Marley had a pattern of forgiving and being too nice to people who hurt her . He hated that trait , he only wanted her to be that way when it came to him. Erik was confident that he had her best interest . Her knew that if he told her not to go, she might do the opposite. And just in case her father decided to hurt her again, he’d be there to back her up. Or fuck him up.

“Yeah I wanna meet that nigga”

So there they were . In Erik’s car driving through mountains of redwood trees and narrow peaks that made it hard to maneuver through . The altitude was so high that the XM radio only spit a static sound . Just to reach her dads property . This definitely wasn’t where he lived when she was younger . Erik asked her if he was rich “or something” Judging by the private driveways hidden with gates and greenery , this new living situation was a total upgrade .

“This is it” he squinted at the tiny lit up address on the side of the steel gate . It was already open so they didn’t have to buzz the intercom that was door level .

Erik drove down the long brick passage, until he got to the circular driveway . Each brick perfectly placed in between healthy green grass . A slight waterfall in the middle , and surrounding it was a Tesla and a Mercedes . Both license plates saying his & hers. Marley grew sick to her stomach when she read them.

“This man , and his wife living an an estate in the mountains with matching license plates” she said in utter disbelief, but she mumbled . The two of them both met outside of Erik’s car and began to walk up to the huge doors. She took a breath and Erik held the small of her back.

“I swear you just say word and we can leave, I’ll get a hotel and everything” Erik could tell she was becoming upset already . He’d sacrifice though , even if the drive was roughly five hours from where they stayed .

“It’s okay . I can do this”

After Erik knocked obnoxiously hard , what Marley thought to be her Step brother opened the door . He had gotten big since the last time she saw him .

“Hi” He said , he had gaming headphones on his ears, and he walked away in true teenage fashion . Uninterested, and trying to get back to the technology. They both walked in, his sister , Marley’s stepsister was walking past . She smiled , waved and went about her business elsewhere . She was nearly a toddler the last time Marley seen her . Her birthday was the day before Marley’s . She remembered because they were always better than hers.

The lady of the house came into view . She wasn’t as dashing as she used to be. It amazed Marley that her father was clearly still smitten by this woman. Marley didn’t know if she just aged badly because she had no melanin or if it was karma for her ruining her life . Karen was her fucking name .

Marley hated Karen more than she hated her father . Her therapist told her not to blame Karen for the actions of her father . Marley would argue that if Karen never had come around , her father wouldn’t have left . To her therapists rebuttal, he explained that her father is who he is, no matter who he married . But Marley didn’t care . Karen did it for her .

Erik held her hand still. Karens eyes bright with surprise. Marley didn’t tell them that she would be bringing her boyfriend , but she wouldn’t have came alone ... they should have known that .

“Hi , how have you been ?” Karen asked her. Marley was fake , she smiled and told her that she was doing well. “You look great , you’ve grown into a very pretty girl”

Karen touched her arm and attempted to be chummy . Marley tensed . She felt so ugly growing up in that old house.

“This is Erik” Marley snapped back and introduced him. Karen looked him up and down. Seemingly pleased.

“Cutie” she said in a tone as if he was a toddler. All that was missing was a cheek pinch. Erik nodded and raised his brows when he looked at Marley.

“Hubby’s on a call, he will be out in a second”

Marley fumed At Karen’s Botox filled expression . Her hubby ?

Marley looked around at how nice the inside of the house was . The high ceilings with two crystal chandeliers that towered over the dining room table and the living room center . The table itself was something out of Game of Thrones , large and royal looking . Heavy and expensive. The hardwood floors sparkled like they had just been polished, so clean you probably could eat from it. And It smelled good in there , Karen was preparing dinner . That was something Marley forgot about Karen , she could cook. Whenever Marley was in the mood to come out of her room and eat , it was good.

“I seen pics of your mom , she look way better than her” Erik was able to whisper without anyone hearing , but even if they did . He wouldn’t care .

Marley laughed , but it was shortchanged . She didn’t even want to bring her mom up . In fear that her spirit would be upset that she would even entertain these people . She wondered what kind of haunting her mother had done to her father. She hoped he had nightmares .

Her father had walked into the room with a smile. Erik could literally see that dark cloud of fear hanging over her . She wasn’t ready for this , and he knew it . He wanted to grab her and take her out of there. Marley felt twelve again . Like a shell who couldn’t move . Erik spoke up for her, he introduced himself .

“Christopher” he spoke and shook Eriks hand firmly , he grip wasn’t as tight as Eriks . Which sent him into alert right away . Her dad was light skinned , with a bald head and beady eyes. Much taller than Erik but not a threat at all. He eyed this guy who was with his daughter . Up and down . His fashionable outfit and those stupid expensive shoes that his step son recently begged him for . He thought his hair style was comedy , the kind that dumb young punks get . Back in his day , they would never fly .

“You some kind of artist or something?” Christopher guessed .

“Engineer”

“So you got you a man with some money, huh?”he joked . Before Erik could respond , Marley had built enough confidence to speak to him . Especially before he offended Erik too much. Christopher nudged Marley in her shoulder like they were old friends .

“H-hi dad” she spoke softly . She didn’t even think he heard her, until he gave her an uneasy side hug .

“Hun, the phone!” Karen came from another room holding his cell phone, Christopher excused himself and took the call.

“Marley, how about a tour?” Karen suggested , as if that would make her feel more at “home” . “I guess” slipped from her lips as she drifted away from Erik . She felt cold now , but he grabbed her arm before she walked away . Pulling her against him, he kissed her quickly . Then she was off to trail along side Karen. Who already seemed to be chatting enough for his liking .

“Aye dude , you play FIFA?”

Marley’s step brother asked from the living room . He was sitting on the plush couch , facing the Tv that was so big , it could be a projector . Nobody else was there but the two of them. “I do”

Erik ended up playing a game with the boy, getting his ass kicked by the teenager who had nothing better to do. Every game system was at hand , he had everything . “Erik right ?” He asked , right before blocking the op team from scoring .

“Yeah , didn’t catch your name though”

“It’s Simon”

“Aight Simon, you too good at this shit... you got 2K?”

Simon nearly rejoiced at Erik’s question . Within seconds he ended the game and switched it to 2K. “Glad I can play this with someone because my dad is trash” he admitted . Erik was taken back

“Yo’ dad ?” He screwed up his face.

“Only dad I ever knew”

-

Heather took Marley on a tour of the house . The outside did no justice . It was even bigger behind the doors . She toured the guest rooms, the chefs kitchen , their family rec room, their home gym and now Karen’s daughters room .

It almost brought tears to Marley’s eyes . It was everything she would have wanted as a young girl . The walls were covered in pink sparkly wall paper . She had a small white vanity filled with jewelry and makeup . In the center of the room was a huge gold canopy bed with white tulle draped over the top . A room fit for a princess . “Oh my god” Marley mouthed to herself .

“ If it’s worth anything” Karen started to speak , her skinny hand touching Marley back made her feel awkward. “I didn’t want to to go stay with your aunt”

Marley let go of a loud breath , almost like a cough. She didn’t expect this to be a topic . “That lady... is your friend” Her words cut through Karen

“I-.” She stuttered “I really didn’t want to send you . But it was out of my hands” Karen blamed her father.

“You have no idea , at all about what happened to me there” Marley turned to her quickly , her eyes were watering. Before she knew it , a tear fell down her cheek . She was pissed that she even gave Karen the satisfaction of seeing her upset . In her eyes, she was just as guilty as her father . Marley walked away , not exactly knowing where to go . She just wanted to be away from all of them .

-

“So how was it around here, when Marley lived with y’all?” Erik decided to dig, since Simon took to him quickly. He knew he could get the kid to talk .

“We didn’t live her , we moved here after she left”

“You were young , you probably don’t remember much , huh?” Erik kept going .

“Not as young as my sister . I remember her being really quiet . We stayed out of her way, dad told us too . Then one day she was gone . I thought she was dead until my dad needed a kidney”

Erik stopped himself from tossing the game controller . He didn’t want Simon to sense anger , in fear that he would stop spilling the beans. So he pretended not to be bothered . “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah ,they have the same blood type or something , that’s why they asked her here . To ask her”

Erik spotted Marley outside in the backyard . He excused himself from the game . He walked to the French doors and opened them . As he was about to tell her the real reason her father invited her, Erik noticed her face . She had been crying . He knew she shouldn’t have come . Before he could get a word in, Marley began to speak . Telling him about thought fake apology from Karen. And how she tried to blame everything on her father , like she didn’t play a key role in her outcome.

“Erik they have a pool , look at how these kids grew up . They aren’t even his kids” her voice cracked , Erik grew angrier by the minute .

“I slept in a basement , a fucking basement . Like, why didn’t everybody hate me? I was just a kid”

Erik saw her dad inside now . He told her to hold tight and get some air , he would be back for her .

Erik went inside and made sure to shut the door. He caught Christopher in the living room, mid sentence when talking to his son. “So you abandon your daughter , steal from her and then bring her here to save you, my nigga ?”

“Excuse me ?” Christopher glared at Erik, then back at Simon.

“You tryna’ Get her kidney right , that’s why she here?” Erik was jumpy , he slammed his closed fist into his open hand . He lunged toward Chris .

Simon paused his game and rushed to his room . Christopher would deal with him later .

“This ain’t got shit to do with you”

“Nah, Marley is my business”. He pointed to her sitting beside the pool , she didn’t have a clue about what was goin on between the two of them

“You may not care , but that’s what you missed out on . She’s special , she’s smart , she’s funny, and she matters to me . And everyday I see this fucking sadness in her and I couldn’t figure out why . But now I know it’s because of you . You fucked her up , but I’m here now, and I’m changing that”

Christopher stood up , he was taller than Erik but he had knocked down bigger and younger . Erik would kill him, without thinking or feeling remorse . He looked him dead in the eye, Christopher looked to the French doors and softened . Marley had come in.

“Don’t call her no’ more” he said in this tone, that only the two of them could understand .

“What’s going on?” She came towards the duo .

“Marley lets go” Erik didn’t shout but he didn’t have to. He couldn’t hit him, or beat his ass like he wanted to . He would have to tell Marley the reason and he wanted to spare her.

She didn’t argue, Erik was her man and meant more to her than anyone in that house . She grabbed her purse off the table and took his hand . They left , leaning the door open behind them. Erik drove off as soon as they fastened their seatbelts . Marley cried , she just sat in her seat and cried on the journey home . About twenty minutes in, Erik reached over and grabbed her chin. He leaned her over and kissed her a few times to calm her down . “Chill out, try to stop crying aight ?”

Marley took a deep breath and nodded her head . Erik decided that he would never tell her about the Kidney. That was something he’d take to the grave .

[name-me-regret]

Till I Touch The Sky - 1/9

Till I Touch The Sky Chapter One: A Bit Of Fairy Dust

Summary: Peter is having weird dreams, and on top of that, May has a new boyfriend that Peter just does not like, and then adding on his ever increasing health problems... Well, Peter’s life seems pretty shitty right now.

Then he meets Tony Stark and he gets offered an internship, and things start looking better. However, he soon realizes that his dreams are more real than he could have imagined.

Chapter Summary: Peter starts having some weird dreams after a fall...

Read on AO3.

FANFICTION MASTER POST

Author’s Note: I wasn’t planning on posting this until it was finished, (because it’s taken over my life and I can’t work on anything till I finish this) but wanted to post it for Tom Holland’s birthday. Also, it’s the start of Pride Month! I want to work on finally finishing Saving Grace and get started on the sequel of Martin Child.

Here’s some art of Harley and Peter meeting in my He Makes Him Happy fanfiction, so check that out. I’m thinking of six chapters for this, and I hope I can stick to that this time. Hope y’all like this story. Leave me a comment and let me know.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

 ”Free spirits, free spirits Can you hear me calling? Oh, it's all or nothing When you're free spirits, free spirits Can you hear it calling? 'Cause I don't wanna live no normal life, let go

 Is this Heaven or Armageddon? Are we gettin' high, we could've watched the ending We were trodding down our memories A cemetery full of bottles that are incomplete When you're loving more, caring less It's the highs and lows with no clears And we wanted it all then But we're never runnin' out, we'll be

 Free spirits, free spirits...“

~Free Spirit - Khalid

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

April 02, 2015   Peter and May Parker were a small family unit, just two of them. It had been them against the world ever since Ben had died. However, he knew that May struggled to make ends meet, Peter wasn't stupid. In fact, Peter Parker was quite the genius. Although, that could be debated since he didn't see this coming, not even a little bit.   May Parker started dating.   He supposed he couldn't blame her, because everyone needed a companion and she was perhaps lonely. Also, ever since Ben had died, the burden of the bills and mortgage on the house had fallen on her. She’d been unable to make the payments, which is why they was now living at this apartment, since they’d lost Ben’s parents house.

So, he could understand that she needed help, and the worst part was that Christopher seemed like a real upstanding guy. He had a doctorate and after working for a big corporation was starting up his own medical tech company. He also knew how to cook and was able to get Peter's breathing machine for a cheaper price they could afford.   Peter hated having asthma the most, especially since it was hard on him when the elevator broke in their building and he was forced to walk up the stairs. That's what he was doing now, climbing up the stairs as he huffed and puffed, and by the time he made it to their floor, he'd ran out of breath.   The teenager leaned against the wall by the door for a few moments, feeling his face heat up as the twin brother and sister from down the hall passed by and eyed him with disgust. Peter knew he was grossly out of shape when a few flights of steps had him winded, but when his lungs were weak, he couldn't really exercise.   Peter straightened when the two had passed him, having dropped his head as soon as Riley and Hailey (the twins) had spotted him, having felt his face heat up in embarrassment when they’d seen him struggling to breathe. He'd already recovered after a few moments, but had waited until they had entered the stairwell. Now, he shifted his backpack back onto his shoulders, taking out his house keys and entering his apartment. When he got there, he saw that the usual clutter around the house had been cleaned up, his few LEGO sculptures they’d been able to afford (cheap ones with less than a hundred pieces) had been moved to a small work table in the corner, out of the way.

He tried not to let it bug him, since it had been on the floor before and anyone could step on a loose piece of his latest project. It was not fun to step on a LEGO, and Peter should know from personal experience. So, he supposed it was a good thing that Christopher had moved his structures onto a small table and off the floor.

The teenager huffed as he kicked his tennis shoes off at the door, not in the best of moods due to the elevator being out, and then the twins (who were both so pretty) giving him those looks. He hated his asthma, so much and wished to just be rid of it, or his stupid weak lungs, and his stupid allergies. Peter Parker just wanted to leave his whole stupid, weak body behind.

Peter fumbled for his inhaler as he started to get worked up, taking an inhale and feeling as his airways opened up. He waited a moment before he straightened and tossed his bag against the work table, cursing when one of the structures was knocked on its side. The teen moved over to fix it, hoping none of the pieces had been knocked off. It was the car he’d built from the Bricks On A Roll bucket, which had many wheels and the ability to make different structures. He’d done the red car on the front, a motorcycle, and the ice cream cart as well. He wasn’t sure if his was missing pieces, but it didn’t have the big ice cream cone piece as shown on the pack. Well, judging by how shitty his luck was, it was likely that his was the only one without it.

As he moved away, he failed to realize one of the wheels was missing from the red car, and hissed as he stepped on it. He stumbled back, tripped on his backpack and fell, hitting his head on the work table.

‘Whoa!’ Peter exclaimed as he moved his hands over himself, trying to see if he’d broken something. His head felt fine, in fact, he felt great! The constant pressure he always felt on his airway wasn’t present, and wondered if the fall had somehow miraculously cured him. Maybe, it was possible.

He turned around and froze. Peter should’ve known that his shitty Parker Luck would kick in. Because miracles didn’t happen to Peter Parker.

There in front of him, was his body on the floor with blood on his forehead where it’d struck the work table. He was looking at his body from the outside, so... did this meant he was dead?

‘Aww, come on!’ Peter cried out.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Peter hummed as he tried to figure this out, because as far as he could tell, he wasn’t dead. It didn’t help that he was currently floating over his body like a damn ghost. However, he could tell that his body was still breathing, if the way his chest was moving up and down was any indication.

So, not dead.

If that was true, then what was happening right now?

His thought process was cut off as he heard the key in the lock, and glanced at it. His eyes widened as he saw his aunt come through the door and glanced back at his body, and knew this was going to be bad. Peter winced as she screamed and rushed to his side.

“Peter?! Oh baby, wake up!” May sobbed, hands going to his forehead and flinching away from the blood there. She fumbled for her cell phone, her hands shaking so badly that she was barely able to dial 911.

‘May, I’m right here. I’m alright,’ Peter tried to tell her, floating over to her, but when he tried to touch her, his hand passed though her. He gasped and flinched back as if burned, looking at his hand and then at his body as May caressed his face ever so gently. If he could cry, he would, but as he was now, he only felt panic and terror, and a sorrow so profound that he curled up from how intense it felt.

He didn’t understand what was happening to him. Peter just wanted to be wrapped in his aunt’s warm embrace. He wanted all this to be over. Then, without knowing how, he slept and then he felt like he was falling; falling so very fast.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Peter’s eyes snapped open and he gasped in a breath, hand going to his throat and he couldn’t breathe! He heard a scraping sound and then a hand on his and he flinched away.

“Peter, you’re fine! Look at me, baby. It’s May,” a familiar voice said. His eyes snapped toward her, and immediately slumped down in relief when he realized it was his Aunt May. She pulled his hand gently away from his throat, fingers soothing away the scratch marks he’d made on himself in his frantic struggle.

“Wha-?” Peter tried to speak, felt a catch in his throat and coughed harshly. The mask over his face fogged up, but he had enough experience with his asthma to know he needed it so didn’t remove it. Peter dreaded to think of how many hours she was missing of work, since his Medicaid would pay for his hospital bills. It was just that it didn’t always pay for all his medicines, and May ended up paying some of it out of pocket. “M’sorry,” he whimpered, hating to be such a burden to her.

May smiled wanly, brushing back a few curls from his face. “It’s alright, baby. We’ll make it somehow. Besides, Chris will help us, you’ll see.”

Peter tried not to let his mood sour at the mention of the man, and instead gave a nod, glad the mask covered most of his face. He might not like the man, but he helped the burden on May. Besides, she was happy with him, and that’s all that mattered.

As he settled back on the bed, feeling his eyes grow heavy, a memory of floating over his body came to him.

‘Huh, that was some dream’, Peter thought.

Although, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it had felt so real.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

 April 04, 2015

Peter sighed as he came into the apartment, his whole body feeling lethargic and heavy. He wanted to just get in bed and sleep, but he had been sleeping for two days already and he was tired of it. The teenager had thought they could spend some time together; just his aunt and himself.

“Get the door, May,” Christopher called, and the woman pulled open the door as the man entered carrying Peter’s bag and several bags of groceries in the other. They’d stopped to buy them on the way home, where Peter had been forced to stay in the car since he was still on oxygen and it would have been a hassle to carry the small tank inside the supermarket. So, Peter had stayed in the car and tried not to feel too bitter about it.

Now, it seemed like they wouldn’t have some time alone either, seeing as Chris started to help May unpack the groceries. Peter pulled off the mask, sick and tired of having to cart around the small oxygen tank. Besides, he needed to make sure not to use it all up before the end of the month, which still had two weeks left. “I can... help,” Peter said, wanting to feel useful.

“I got it, bud,” Christopher said as he grabbed up the bags Peter tried to get to help with. “Why don’t you go take a shower and I’ll come set up your nighttime treatment.”

Peter grimaced at that, since he didn’t want to have his nighttime treatment when it was barely 7:30 pm. He was not going to bed that early, no matter what anyone said. “It’s early still,” he argued, coughing a moment later.

God, he hated having these weak lungs.

“That decides it,” Chris said, motioning toward the bathroom. Peter might have been acting childish or immature, but he hated that the man acted like he had any right to order him around, like he was his uncle or his dad. He wasn’t.

“Alright, how about we watch a movie?” May said, stepping between the sullen teenager and her boyfriend. “Peter, you go take a shower while I make the popcorn and Chris sets up the movie. It can be a cheesy horror movie, like Sharknado.”

Peter nodded with a grin, his bad mood quickly vanishing. “You know, Sharknado isn’t too bad, as long as you don’t take it too seriously,” he said, rushing off. He wanted to hurry in taking his shower so he could get back and maybe sit next to May on the loveseat, their usual spot when watching movies before.

He considered it a win when he was able to plop onto the loveseat when coming back from his shower. May pulled him closer for a cuddle instead of telling him to let Chris have his seat. The teenager settled to watch the bad movie, sharing a bowl of popcorn with his aunt.

The movie was bad but entertaining, and he snuggled against his aunt as they watched. This was nice.

He didn’t even realize he’d fallen asleep, until he was suddenly looking down at himself. It seemed May hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep either, until Chris pointed it out.

“Should I put him to bed?” the man asked May. Peter didn’t like the idea of being carried like a child by the man, and hoped May let him stay right there.

“Yes, that’s probably best,” she told him. Peter frowned as he watched the man lift him up like he weighed nothing, and since he couldn’t do sports to gain any muscle, he probably did weigh nothing.

Peter grumbled as he floated out of the man’s way, starting to get the hang of moving around. He wasn’t paying attention and realized too late that he was going to hit the wall, and his arms lifted to protect his head. Peter cried out instinctively, but he didn’t hit it... he went through the wall.

 ‘Holy shit!’

He flapped his arms around as he was suddenly in the hallway, and then passed through so he was in the apartment next door, where a young couple and their one year old daughter lived. They were gathered around the table, playing some board game as the little girl giggled. “Ally won!” the little girl cried. The man and woman cheered, lifting her up as she squealed happily.

“And now it’s time to get ready for bed,”  the woman declared.

Peter moved on when he was able to get the hang of moving through the air, glancing back a moment and thought he saw the little girl waving at him, but then he’d gone through the wall of the apartment next to them. He realized too late that it was the twin’s apartment, and he was suddenly in a bedroom.

There were posters of One Direction and other bands he wasn’t familiar with. He turned around as he heard a rustling and he squeaked when he saw that it was Hailey, the girl of the duo, and she was starting to change after having clearly taken a shower judging by the towel she started to pull off.

‘I’m so sorry!’ he cried even if she couldn’t seem to see or hear Peter, one hand lifting up to cover his eyes as he used that other to rush through the wall. He was in the hallway a moment before he passed through the opposite wall into the room there. That room turned out to be the bathroom, which was being used.

A head popped out of the shower, hair wet with water and Peter was dismayed to realize it was Riley, the male twin. And he was in the shower, naked and wet! “Hailey! You finished all the hot water, you asshole!”

“Deal with it!” Hailey’s muffled voice yelled back.

Riley grumbled about annoying sisters and his head disappeared back inside the shower. Peter figured it was a good idea to leave now, before he invaded Riley’s privacy like some pervert. Maybe it was time to go back to his own apartment. Besides, he felt a bit... sick? Which was strange, since he usually didn’t feel anything besides emotions. Then again, this was just a dream. Wasn’t it?

He found his body in the bed, mask for his nighttime treatment strapped to his face and he felt even sicker now. It was probably that he hated the feel of the medicine and that’s why he felt sick? Maybe next time he went exploring he’d leave the building, even if it felt scary. There was a fuzzy quality to everything, like everything was being seen through a filter, or perhaps a cloud. Also, everything not in his immediate area faded away into darkness. Almost like it ceased to exist.

For now, he floated over to his body as he closed his eyes. After feeling a sensation like falling and falling, everything went dark.    

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Peter moaned as he woke up, the taste of the medicine in his mouth, coating his throat and it was in his nose. He yanked the mask off his face, wincing since his face felt tender from where the straps had been digging into his skin. Peter felt shaky when he stood, feeling like gravity was weighing even heavier than usual on his body. He barely made it to the bathroom before he was heaving, throwing up the popcorn he’d had earlier. The teenager wasn’t even sure what time it was, but since his aunt didn’t come running to see what the matter was, she must have gone to work.

“Peter, is that you, bud?” he heard Christopher ask, realizing that May must have left him watching over him while she left for her shift. There was a light knock on the bathroom door. “Do you need help?”

He was feeling like crap and even if he knew it wasn’t the man’s fault, he didn’t want his help. “No, go away,” he croaked, his body heaving again but he’d already thrown up the little bit he’d eaten, so it was mostly stomach bile.

The door opened as he was washing out his mouth, and he would have scoffed at the man not listening to him if he’d had any strength left. His medicine had never caused him to get sick like this before, so he wasn’t in the best of moods.

“Come on, let’s get you back to bed,” Chris said, voice almost gentle. He didn’t know why he didn’t like the man, but he... just couldn’t like him. There was something about him that Peter couldn’t put his finger on that made him dislike him. Maybe he was being unfair or childish, but he couldn’t help it.

“I’m fine,” he grumbled, shrugging off his hand as he shuffled back to bed. He climbed back into his twin bed, the mattress already old and a bit too small. Peter just refused to ask for another, since it wasn’t a necessity. He was fine with this for now, and didn’t want to burden May asking for another, bigger bed.

“Maybe I should give you another treatment,” Chris said, glancing at the nighttime machine.

Peter grimaced at the thought of feeling the medicine coating his throat, mouth and inside his nose again and his stomach protested it. “No,” he said as he shook his head, “I’m fine.” Peter knew he wouldn’t get away with not having the treatment again tomorrow night, but at least for tonight, he wanted to be free of it.

Chris hesitated, before he nodded. “Until tomorrow then,” he said, that smile on his face he hated so much. Peter didn’t understand why he hated it, hated Christopher. Maybe he should give him a chance? After all, he’s the reason they had gotten this newer machine practically for free.

“Yeah... thanks, Chris,” he muttered, pulling his blankets up to his chin.

The man paused as he’d been about to leave and after a moment he turned with a smile. “It’s no problem. I want to help you and your aunt.” He pulled the door closed. “Sweet dreams, Peter.”

Peter’s room was plunged into darkness and he curled up under the blanket. He closed his eyes and hoped he was able to fly away again in his dreams. It was nice being able to get away from his weak body and the problems that brought him and his aunt.

So, he flew away in his dreams, that felt more real than they should be.-