video. un: p.parker | the morning of september 20th (aka an epilogue to bad choices)

[madeupnames]

[There's a muffled and pained groan, one of a boy who has made terrible mistakes and is suffering horribly for it.

... And also a clear sound of someone sliding out of a bed and thumping on the floor — blankets and all, legs barely hanging onto the lip of the mattress.]


I am so, so sorry.

Comments

Private.

[11calls]

Are you going to make it to the store? Because I can drop it off.

[Cool big sisters bring you drugs and water for a hangover. But they also talk really loudly and quickly because you fell off a fucking roof at them.]

Private.

[madeupnames]

You don't gotta — I, I can...

[He tapers off, sounding wretched as he tries to manage his unruly, churning stomach.]

It's my own fault, I should handle it.

Private.

[11calls]

Peter, don't be dumb. You're sick, let someone else help you for once, okay?

[It probably would have been phrased more nicely if he was the only one in the conversation that was nursing a hangover, but he wasn't so yeah.]

Gimme your address, I can be there soon, I'm on my way to work anyway.

Private.

[madeupnames]

[He makes a face—

But ultimately, coordinates to his apartment appear in a text message.]

[11calls]

[Peter Parker do you think faces bother her? She’s dating Richard Strand. So when she shows up, it’s wearing a pair of sunglasses and carrying two brown bags. One emitted the smell of bacon and the other had drugs in it. ]

[madeupnames]

[He just calls out for her to come in — left the door unlocked after the second time he had to run to the bathroom to barf. Now he's in a perfectly round ball, swaddled in his comforter on the bed with nothing of the boy actually poking out.

His face appears from under the bottom of the clustered blanket after a moment, though.]

Hi, Alex.

[11calls]

Hey Peter.

[The words come with a smile, and she opens the food-smelling bag to remove a bottle of cold water. Handing it to him in an unceremonial fashion, she then shifts to open the bottle of advil and offer him two out of it, because Alex isn't an asshole and hangovers aren't any fun at all.]

Here.

[madeupnames]

[A hand slithers out of the blankets to retrieve the advil.

It seems even the littlest sliver of light filtering into the dark cave makes him eager to hide, and the crinkle of the bag makes him hiss miserably under his breath. His voice is quiet as he mumbles a little-]

... Thanks...

My head's killing me.

[11calls]

Yeah. That's what happens when you drink a lot and fall off a god damn building.

[Look, that really can't be like good for your brain, even if you don't feel it the night before. Shoving a bit of a blanket out of the way, Alex just dropped herself onto a corner of the bed. But she's got sympathy for him, so she plucked the sunglasses from in front of her other glasses and offered them to him.]

Try this.

[madeupnames]

[He carefully reaches out, taking the offered glasses.

When he slips them on, he looks sheepish.]

... Do I look super cool?

[Haaaaaaa. He's not avoiding that first comment, no ma'am!]

[11calls]

No. I look super cool in them. [She doesn't. She looks like a hipster.]

You look like you've got a hangover.

[She settled the second bag on the bed, the one with the food, opening it and taking out one of the coffees.]

I brought bacon sandwiches for when your stomach stops attempting to murder you.

[She hasn't reached that point. So coffee.]

[madeupnames]

If the shoe fits... Oh — hey, thanks.

[He takes the coffee, but just sort of holds it for now.]

U-umm.

I'm —

I'm sorry that I scared you.

[11calls]

It's okay. I went home and talked to Richard and drank a bit myself.

[Which is why she's just digging that second coffee out of the bag to drink it, of course. She watched him for a moment, before she added:]

I told him. It kind of slipped out, but if there's anyone in the world that's good at keeping secrets, it's Richard Strand.

[madeupnames]

[His eyebrows raise.]

... He said you did more than drink 'a bit'.

[It made him feel like shit, but he supposes he deserved that.]

It's — there are people around who know, I just try to keep it quiet. I wouldn't have been up on the roof if it wasn't safe though. I mean, to me it felt safe. But I know it didn't look that way for some people. S-so...

[11calls]

[Alex is just going to frown and quietly mutter:]

Traitor. He shouldn't have done that. You just scared the hell out of me. I know you didn't mean to, but you did. I sort of have... a fear about people I care about getting hurt.

[Which probably isn't a surprise considering Alex is who she is.]

And I mean even if I had known you were Spiderman before, I still would have worried because it doesn't matter who you are, doing stupid things while drunk is never a smart idea, Pete. Even if it sounds like it at the time. Trust your elders on this, okay?

[madeupnames]

[He pushes up on his glasses, brows pinched. The light hurts a lot, but it feels kinda' assholish, looking at someone being so honest while he's in shades like some weird jerk you'd see walking with them on at night.]

... I know...

I'm not used to having so many people to worry. I usually just have May.

[Ned worries sometimes, too, but May's the one who frets most.]

[11calls]

Peter, you a great kid. You're a great kid who's dealing with a hell of a lot. And I don't just mean the responsibilities of being Spiderman or being a kid away from home, or everything that we talked about before. There's a lot just being a teenager. I don't care that you cut loose. Hell, I would have done it too if I was your age.

[Alex, you do it too. Shut up.]

But what if you had fallen in front of someone else who wasn't me, and who wouldn't just spill your secret to their partner? Which I realize I probably shouldn't have done, honestly, and I'm sorry for that. He doesn't know about the rest of it.

Next time you want to get wasted or do something stupid, come over. Or do it somewhere else safe with someone you know, okay? No one wants you to get hurt, and I don't want you to do something that hurts the second chance.

[madeupnames]

[He squirms uncomfortably, because he's a dweeb who can't handle praise of any kind without being obvious about it. That turns into him feeling terrible, of course, and he hates to envision accidentally spilling the beans to one of the people he deals with as Spider-Man or something. It wasn't very responsible.

He knew that upon waking up, too. But. Ugh.

She says second chance, and his gaze whips up to her, ache in his expression.]

... I — I know. I just, I just wanted to... Everything's been so much, and I thought if I drank last night, I'd be able to have a good time with the people there, and... I won't do it like that again, I swear.

[11calls]

[Alex just frowns, and she puts a hand on his arm at that, her eyes meeting his own.]

I'm not saying it's not okay to go out and do stupid things and just to cut loose. God, if any kid has ever deserved that, it's you, Pete. And I know Richard is going to tell you to come over, and you're welcome but I also know that I mean, parents ages and all of that.

[There's no way that she ever would have done that shit, man. Richard may not remember being a kid, but Alex does.]

We, all of us, we just want you to be safe. Safe in more than just the physical way too, safe in the ways that are important to you, like with Spiderman and having a secret identity and all of that.

[There's a beat, and a little laugh.]

God, I'd never thought I'd ever have to say that. But anyway, next time, a friend's house, or throw a wild kegger here or whatever. But no more roof tops, okay? At least when you're that drunk.

[madeupnames]

[He smiles, and though he still looks like warmed-up crap, he seems to appreciate the pep talk she's administered. It reminds him of Aunt May — and lord knows she'd tell him all about her wild times as a youth, before she ran into Ben.]

... Honestly, I'm not much of a party guy.

The last one I went to was because I had a crush on the girl having it.

[11calls]

Hey you don’t have to be one. Sometimes it’s better not to be.

[Alex herself normally lands somewhere in the middle between partying and not. At least now a days. But she’s not talking about her past here.]

You can just drink quietly but always try and drink with someone. Drinking alone isn’t all that great for you. And if you need to I know there’s a lot of us who are all ears for you.

[madeupnames]

Yeaaaah... Drinking alone is more... uh. Like what sad detectives do in old movies.

[He laughs a bit, rather painfully, like the effort hurts his head.

(It totally does.)]

[11calls]

Yeah.

[Sad detectives, sad rational skeptics, still the same thing, right? But she does give him a little bit of a sympathetic frown when he laughs.]

Water next time. It actually does help.

[madeupnames]

Yeah... I'll drink a lot before my night-shift.

[Oh. Um. Right.

... Spider-Man.]

I swear I'm way better on my feet at work. Sober.

[11calls]

[Alex just laughs softly at that.]

You don't need to convince me, Peter. I mean, I'm a reporter, if you didn't do your job and stay on your feet better at work, then I would have heard about it a long time before now.

[At least there's no J. Jonah Jameson here in Riverview, right?]