Be Careful What You Ask For (Closed to Peter)

[st_hotflashes]

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.

Comments

[st_arkintern]

Peter doesn't say anything while Liz talks. He just listens and takes it all in because even though he's not friends with any of these people and there's a chance that he's never going to meet them, they're Liz's friends, and on some level, it kind of feels like they're his friends, too.

"What did you do to help Michael with his dad?"

[st_hotflashes]

"He refused to ask for help and was threatening to leave Roswell. We just.. we just tried to remind him he had people here." It had seemed to work. "But, to be honest, I think, um. Max.. and Maria. They helped him the most. He really loves both."

Differently, of course.

[st_arkintern]

"Was he already dating Maria when this happened?" Peter asks.

[st_hotflashes]

She nodded. "Yeah." Then a smile crept in with a little bit of humour around the edges. "They're, um. They're on and off again, but you can tell they're crazy about each other."

She thought of Maria being here and how nice it would be. "I think she's the person I wish you could meet the most."

[st_arkintern]

Peter couldn't imagine being on-and-off-again with anyone he was crazy about, but that was probably because he and Michael were totally different people.

"Because you two were best friends, or because of something else?"

[st_hotflashes]

"Yeah, maybe." She paused, thinking some more. "And maybe, um. Maybe because if you knew her then you'd know me completely? Maria - we've been friends forever. She's part of who I am, you know? I would be a completely different person without her."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, no, I think I get it," Peter says lightly. "I think it's the same with me and Ned. I mean, I don't know what I would have done without him. We've been friends since, you know, when my parents died and I'm just really grateful to him for that."

[st_hotflashes]

"Maria would definitely like you." She had given this a lot of thought. Then her smile went a little sheepish. "She'd think you were cute, though obviously not as cute or handsome as Michael." She affectionately rolled her eyes, hearing her friends voice in her head. "And she'd think you're sweet. Plus she would find the Spider-Man thing really cool."

[st_arkintern]

"I'm glad she'd like me," Peter says, because even though it's unlikely he'll ever go there or meet Liz's friends, he likes the idea of them liking him. Or at least one of them. He suspects that Michael and Max wouldn't be crazy about him. He doesn't know about Kyle.

Not that Peter's going to go around asking about that, anyway.

"Do you think i'm as cute or handsome as Michael?" he teases.

[st_hotflashes]

She flushed even though she had no romantic interest in Michael at all. The blush was being teased.

"Yeah. Yeah I do. I actually think you're a lot cuter than him." She glanced down at her hands briefly, biting her lip a little, before looking back up at him. "You're, um. You're actually really distracting most of the time."

[st_arkintern]

Peter smiles at Liz's answer.

"I find you distracting too. Even more than other-Liz, and I used to look at her all the time."

[st_hotflashes]

Her cheeks grow even warmer and she ducked her head. It was nice to know she could compete with someone back home.

She paused.

"What was she like?" Liz looked up at that. She had never really asked too much about Peter's 'Other-Liz'.

[st_arkintern]

"She was really pretty," Peter says. "And really smart. She used to be the head of our Academic Decathlon Team. When Flash was being a jerk, she just ignored him and what he was saying, and that's kind of the right thing to do with Flash."

Not that Peter was ever successful at it; he had a tendency to react.

"I don't think I've ever seen her be mean to anyone, but she wasn't a pushover, either. And even though I was a sophomore and she was a senior, she still agreed to go with me to Homecoming."

Which really meant a lot to Peter, even though he ended up ruining it.

[st_hotflashes]

It was hard not to be a little jealous of her the way that Peter spoke of other-Liz. She sounded really nice though and Liz wondered if maybe she and other-Liz would be friends. They were slightly closer in age, so maybe. Then again, they might have been rivals if they went to the same school and Peter was involved.

She couldn't help but wonder who Peter would have liked right off the bat if they had both been in the same room at the same time. Probably other-Liz since it sounded like she was more active in school life, like Isabel.

"She sounds really nice." Liz smiled a little. "I'm glad someone was able to see you for who you are." He deserved that.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, but I just screwed it all up," Peter says, more wistful than sad. "You saw it, though. The last time I saw other-Liz."

Peter returns to drawing little circles on Liz's knee. "I used to stammer around her all the time 'cause I was just that nervous. I don't really have that problem with you."

[st_hotflashes]

She remembered how Peter felt the last time he saw Other-Liz. It had not been a good feeling.

"You did at the beginning." Liz smiled, remembering. "At the New Year Party? I thought it was cute." Liz felt herself blushing again.

"I... might have looked for you when the count down started, but I couldn't find you."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, I was pretty nervous then, too." He had never entertained the notion that Liz might have liked him, let alone wanted to kiss him at midnight.

"The suit I wore was really uncomfortable, so I ended up leaving early. I never thought someone would notice I was gone."

[st_hotflashes]

"What would you have done... if I had kissed you that night?" Liz might not have liked him, liked him then, but she had thought him cute. A kiss probably wouldn't have been out of the question.

[st_arkintern]

"I was kinda crushing on you then," he says. "I'd seen you around, but I don't think I would have --"

Peter pauses, then rephrases.

"I think I wouldn't have been able to talk to you if you hadn't approached me first." Peter stops there, but then suddenly remembers that he hadn't actually answered the question.

"So yeah, I probably would have been embarrassed, but happy."

[st_hotflashes]

Liz had never been good at picking up when someone liked her unless it was pretty blatant. She probably wouldn't have realized it with Peter for a long time either.

She shifts on the bed, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugs her knees with her arms.

"I guess I'm glad then that you and Sora made those fireworks." And he had been dressed up as Spider-Man at the time.

Liz paused, then a little quieter. "I'm sorry about Sora." That he was gone, she meant. Liz had liked him.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, I just."

Peter takes a breath there.

"I hope he's back home, doing the things he needs to do."

That was the best way to look at things.

"I'm glad we made the fireworks, too."

[st_hotflashes]

She rested her chin on her knees, looking at him. "If you ever want to try building things like that again, I'd be happy to help." Liz might not be able to make something fly up into the air with magic, but she thought she could figure a way around it that was more science-based, probably.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," he says, looking back at her. "I'll let you know. Maybe we'll do something like that for the 4th of July. The magic's not the most important part, so I'm sure we can science it up if we'd like to."

[st_hotflashes]

That was coming up, wasn't it?

"Do you think Caroline is going to make a big thing about it?" She thought about home. "Everyone does a lot of outdoor parties back home. The diner's always super busy so I usually end up working, but Maria and everyone else comes over anyways, so it's not too bad."

[st_arkintern]

"I can't really imagine she wouldn't," Peter says. "I think she likes any excuse she has for a celebration."

Caroline kind of had that reputation.

"May and I used to go to the roof of our apartment on the 4th and watch the fireworks from there. They're not as extravagant as the New Year's fireworks, but it's still nice."