st_hotflashes | Be Careful What You Ask For (Closed to Peter)

Liz walked numbly through the Inn after having spoken with Emma. It was as if her body were on autopilot as her mind couldn't really focus or process anything directly. What it all meant, how she felt, if she was around to see it happen - these questions were like vague fog in her mind that she couldn't quite grasp.

She thought, ever so briefly, that she might find herself in front of Kitty or Piotr's door, but it was Peter's door she came to a stop at. Liz swayed a little as she stood there, staring blankly at the door. She did that for a good five minutes before she was able to will herself to lift her hand and knock. It was a quiet two rap knock.

When the door opened, when she lay eyes on Peter, the numbness seemed to ebb a little. She stared at him silently, then slowly her face began to twist and contort as anguish spread through her features. She didn't move an inch except for her face. Everything suddenly felt intense and Liz stood there, stiff, and started to cry unabashedly. Cried with every fiber of her being.

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"No, you don't have to," Peter quickly interests. "I should probably get the sock off the door, though."

Peter stands, looks at Liz, dampens his lips, and heads for the door.

Peter briefly opens the door, retrieves his sock, and stuffs it into his pocket.

He wordlessly sits down, picks up his juice, and looks over at Liz, trying hard to keep his smile contained.

She watched him quietly. Somehow he looked different now than before, but she wasn't sure why. It was a good thing, though. Whatever it was, Liz liked it.

When he sat down, she said what she had been thinking every time she thought about the sock. "Do you think, um, that people think we..."

"I don't know, maybe," Peter says. They might also think it's Alec's."

A beat.

"Are you worried?"

"Um," she had enough time to think about this. "No.. no I'm okay." Though she had a sudden thought. "Though I can't imagine what Kitty's going to say to me if she saw it and thought it was us."

"I mean, if she brings it up, you can just tell her before she asks," he says. "It's not like I won't tell her the same."

He wonders if Kitty will even ask him. He's had the condom in his wallet since shortly after their conversation at the space station. Even though he hasn't had to use it.

She wasn't sure she had the guts to just blurt out she and Peter hadn't had sex. There was a good chance Kitty hadn't even seen the sock, right?

Though, it led her mind elsewhere for a moment. She put down her own orange juice, debating to ask this. She remembered Kyle berating her once about asking about the 'guy code'.

"If Ned were here, what would you talk to him about?" She paused, then panicked a little. "You actually don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"I mean, about us? And about --"

Peter can't manage to complete the sentence. He swallows hard.

"Ned's... basically my best friend in the universe," he says, because it seemed like he needed to restate the facts before he went on. "There's a lot I'd want to talk to him about because we're just that good of friends. But no matter what, I wouldn't get into the details."

She was quiet for a moment, trying to will the heat in her cheeks to die down. The answer didn't surprise her, not really, but it was one of those things she and Maria always wondered about - if guys really did talk about that stuff with each other or not.

"...I'd do the same with Maria, so, um. I get it." The faintest of smiles appeared. She knew there would be a lot of late nights and sleep overs and giggling if Maria arrived and a lot of it would center around Peter and whoever Maria decided to crush on.

"I'd be okay with that," Peter says really quickly. "With you and Maria talking about this stuff."

He presses his lips together.

"Or if you need to talk with someone else about it here, I'd be okay with that too. I know you don't need my permission or anything, but I just wanted -- you know, I just wanted you to know I wouldn't be mad."

She wasn't sure who she'd talk to here. The last time she talked to Kitty it was... really embarrassing. It wasn't like they were the same age, either. It would be weird to talk about the stuff she talked to Maria with her. The same went for Piotr - plus the idea of talking to a guy about it, even a gay guy, made Liz want to crawl under a rock for eternity.

Maybe one day she'd get closer to Moana, Xavin, or River, but right now, the person she felt closet to talk to was Peter... which was probably why she was much more open about things with him than she might normally be.

"Same goes for me - if you need to talk to someone here, I mean. Because I trust you."

"Thanks," Peter says. He smiles down at his juice and then finishes it off.

Peter sets the glass back down on the table with an audible sound, then looks back at Liz. Even with the bedhead (and now the maskhead) she still looks beautiful this morning.

"Do you have work this morning?" he asks. "I don't have class for another couple of hours."

She shook her head. "I have the dinner shift tonight." There we're only really three times servinf was useful at the inn and it was breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Any other time the restaurant and the cafe were often ghost towns.

"Did you, um. Did you want to hang out before classes?"

"Yeah, I mean," Peter says, the perfect paragon of awkwardness. "If you want to."

Peter stands up and looks down at Liz. "I should go shower and brush my teeth," he says. "You gonna be okay if I leave for a bit?"

She felt a rush of subtle panic run through her. "Um, yeah." Liz paused, then stood up too, an arm crossing over her abdomen to hold onto the wrist of her other arm. "I mean, I can go, too, and give you some time to get ready for class." Or space, but she didn't say that. Maybe she was overstaying her welcome.

"It's fine if you want to stay here," Peter says. "I just didn't want it to be awkward for you."

It had been a little awkward for him, mostly because he had a hard time not thinking about Liz in the shower the whole time he was sitting on his bed, waiting for her to come out.

"Why would it be awkward?" Liz wasn't sure, but she figured it must be because Peter felt awkward. "I'll just head back to my room." She offered a little smile.

"Okay."

Peter leans down to give Liz a kiss. "I'll see you after work?"

She nodded, kissing him back when his lips made contact with hers.

"Yeah, after work sounds good."

"Okay."

Peter smiles, standing awkwardly in front of Liz for maybe a moment too long.

"Uh, I'm gonna go shower," he says.

And then he quickly rummages through his drawers for clothes and heads for the bathroom.

Liz seemed like she was okay now. Peter really hoped she was.

When Peter disappeared into the bathroom, Liz changed out of his clothes and into her old ones, folding them neatly before depositing them into the hamper even though it might not have made much sense. It just felt weird to throw his clothes there.

Then she left, definitely happier than she had been the day before.

Be Careful What You Ask For (Closed to Peter)

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