Roommates and sleepovers (Peter, then Annie eventually)

[st_x5_494]

Alec liked Sunny. Not in a like-like sort of way, but she had fire in her he could definitely appreciate and she ever wanted to take him to bed to sort out any further aggression, he would totally be willing to do that. But after that and a run - he hated arrival day - he ended up back down the hall to his room. He pushed over the door and saw Peter lying face down on his bed. Alec was almost tempted to just back out of the room.

He didn't.

"Well, that's not a good sign." He sighed. "What happened? Did you fall and hurt your face again? Maybe you farted in front of Liz?"

Comments

[st_ayedhidden]

Sometimes in her dreams there was fire. There was fire tonight. Before she could look into the fire, she heard Peter's voice. The spell of the nightmare vanished and Annie opened her eyes. She looked around quickly and then saw Peter.

Annie swallowed hard and tried to look calm.

"I'm... on the ceiling again," She said, frowning. "Sorry."

[st_arkintern]

"Don't apologize," Peter says, still positioned in a crawl on the ceiling. "Were you having a nightmare?"

[st_ayedhidden]

Annie was a little different. Her whole body seemed to be able to stick to the ceiling. She nodded quietly.

"I always have the same one," She replied. "A big shadow thing. It comes and takes me away most of the time. And laughs a lot."

[st_arkintern]

"I have nightmares like that," Peter says. "Nothing about shadow things, but other ones."

He wants to tell her that no shadow monster would ever come here, and if it did, everybody would protect her, but... Peter knows that nightmares aren't logical, and no amount of reassurance was likely to make a difference.

"It's okay that you have nightmares," he says. "They're never fun, but they're nothing to be ashamed about."

[st_ayedhidden]

Annie nodded. Hearing him say such a thing seemed to calmed her down. If I was home right now, dad would scoop me up and carrying me back down.

She shifted on the ceiling. After a brief pause, Annie started to climb to the wall and then down.

[st_arkintern]

Peter crawls down beside her. Normally he'd just jump down, but he wouldn't risk Annie following suit.

[st_ayedhidden]

Annie climbed back into bed and reached for her plushie.

"It doesn't happen all the time, I promise." She said quietly.

[st_arkintern]

"It's still okay if it does," he says, sitting down on the bed next to her.

He pauses, watching her clutch the plush Spider-Man.

"Do you want a hug?"

[st_ayedhidden]

Annie looked at Peter while a beat passed and she then nodded. She wanted a hug really bad.

[st_arkintern]

Peter gives her a hug. A tight one, but not one so tight that he'll hurt her. One that's just the right amount of firmness so she knows that he's there and that everything's going to be okay. The kind of hug his parents gave him when he was little, and the kind of hugs that Ben and May gave him later.

[st_ayedhidden]

Peter's arms around her made Annie feel safe and she smiled groggily. If Peter was a little bigger, she was sure he would feel just like her dad back home.

Annie didn't make a move to leave his arms. She enjoyed the warmth they provided.

"I love you," She murmured sleepily.

She wasn't aware it slipped out. She felt so tired.

[st_arkintern]

Peter doesn't say anything to that because he's not exactly sure what he can say to it except I love you back, and he doesn't want to make it any more confusing for her than it is already.

So instead, Peter just holds her as long as she needs to be held.

[st_ayedhidden]

The comfort of Peter's arms are enough for her to drift back to sleep. Her body relaxed completely in just few short minutes.

[st_arkintern]

Peter gently rests Annie down, tucks the plush Spider-Man near her, then pulls the covers over her.

Peter dampens his lips and looks down at Annie. He has no idea what he's doing, but he's doing the best he knows. He really hopes that it's enough.

Peter crawls back onto the couch and pulls his own blanket over him and soon enough, like Annie, falls asleep.