st_hotflashes | Time to Leave

Time to Leave - Peter

Venice was beautiful. She was glad they had managed to get to it as it near the recommended time the Inn's "travel agents" had told them to take before heading back 'home'.

She was standing in the middle of one of the squares that overlooked a large, old, beautiful church. She was waiting for Peter to bring back some gelato before they headed to the train. It felt... Bittersweet. This other world felt almost like home. The space and the diversity really helped Liz to relax. Spending time with Peter here, too, helped make things feel... Right.

She adjusted her pack on her shoulder as she waited.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Peter looks at Liz, brows furrowed, then presses his lips together.

"Why?" Peter pushes back a few stray strands of hair from Liz's face. Every now and then, Liz seems so unsure of herself, and he doesn't always know what to do in those times. Peter wishes he could just radiate it's okay at her so she knew it was all right and that he wasn't judging her.

Liz wasn't actually sure she knew. She paused and thought. "Maybe it's just... Weird for me to think aliens and the Roswell crash could be a thing without it being... The one that I know, if that makes sense?" She paused again. "Like... If they had the Avengers, but Iron Man or Thor weren't part of the team or... Something."

"It makes sense to me," Peter says. "There's lots of different realities out there that we already know about. What's to say that there's a Roswell crash that doesn't involve your friends or a Peter Parker that isn't Spider-Man?"

She supposed if she watched more science fiction she might have an easier time with the concept. "How would you feel if there was a Spider-Man who wasn't Peter Parker?" Somehow that seemed different than the other way around.

Peter thinks about that for a second.

"I don't know," Peter admits. "I mean, it'd probably be a little uncomfortable, like seeing yourself recast in a play or something."

Peter can at least confess that much.

"But the Peter there wouldn't ever know that he was ever Spider-Man in another reality, so... I don't think it'd bother him. There's a lot of things that would be easier if I weren't Spider-Man, but I don't think I'd ever not want to be Spider-Man, either."

She nodded. She wouldn't want him to be anything other than who he was either.

"I think... I think a part of me feels a little guilty that, um. That I wasn't really upset that people I knew weren't here... I mean, I was more upset I couldn't tell them to be careful than I was that I couldn't see them." And that made her feel like a bad person.

Peter slips an arm around Liz. "Why does that make you feel guilty, though?" he asks. "I mean... it's pretty selfless, right? If you're given a choice to either see someone or warn them, choosing to warn them instead."

Peter's not entirely sure he understands it. Or why Liz's upset. But he wants to.

She pressed her lips together. "No, I mean... Like even if I miss Maria... I don't miss home. I don't miss Roswell or all the alien stuff, not really." She looked away from him and out at the door. "Being with you... Even if sometimes things are hard or whatever, they're... It's different. Back home I was always unhappy or crying and trying to pretend I was strong because everyone else needed me to keep it together because they were losing it. And I realize that even if I go back, what I had with Max was so unhealthy. I don't want to go back and just ... Fall into that again. If I have to go back home... I'm probably going to leave Roswell as soon as I can."

Peter feels his chest ache.

There's nothing he wants more right now than for Liz to be able to go back with him. He doesn't like Max at all. He can't stand to think of her going back to Roswell and being stuck around him. It's not jealousy, either; he came to the same conclusion Liz did. Maybe even a little earlier than she had:

What she had with Max wasn't healthy.

But as much as Peter wants this to be a possibility he can consider, he can't. Even if by some miracle Liz wound up in present-day Queens instead of Roswell, he still wouldn't remember her, because future-him didn't react to Quill, and Peter's sure that if he remembered, he would.

And there's some small part of him that knows that if he doesn't remember, Liz probably won't either, and all the things she realized about Max she'd forget the instant she went home.

"I don't want you to fall back into that, either," he says. "If you do go back, I think it'd be a good idea for you to leave."

He takes a breath. "But... I hope you don't go back."

She suddenly felt the sting of tears and she knew her eyes were starting to waterm Liz did not want to cry - and she wasn't exactly sad, either. It was a mixture of emotions. Peter sounded so sincere and maybe this was the first time he ever really did. And there was a part her that was incredibly sad with the possibility of being apart from Peter.

She inhaled sharply, looking at Peter, and then she suddenly leaned forward to kiss him urgently, hand moving up to caress the side of his face.

The kiss from Liz comes as a total surprise, though not an unwelcome one. When he finally pulls away, it's not very far; he can still feel her breath hot on his face.

"Hey," he says softly. "Is everything okay?"

She gave the slightest of nods.

"I want you, Peter." It came out earnest and breathy and filled with the love she had for the boy in front of her. And then she paused, leaning her forehead against Peter's forehead. She exhaled a soft, single laugh as she realized what she just said and blushed a little. "... eventually, I mean."

Only maybe just a little meant right now, too.

"Thank you," Peter says. And he's sure when he's finally ready, he'll feel exactly the same way, but he's not sure how to tell Liz that, too. So instead, he just gives her another kiss, then leans against her.

"When I'm ready... I'll let you know."

She closed her eyes, happy now and the feelings that had just overwhelmed her were somehow dispersed by her far-too-bold assertion. There was a lot she wanted to say to him. There always were. But all them always seemed so overly simplified and she had to hope that Peter knew, or at least grasped some of how she felt.

"I'm going to close my eyes..." The adrenaline from both getting on the train and then the guy asking for tickets finally wore off. "... You'll wake me up if you need me right?"

"Yeah, of course," Peter says. He kisses the crown of her head. "Get some rest."

He'll probably need her to keep watch for him later.

Liz smiled to him and shifted so that she was lying on the seat, legs curled up as she was on her side. She lay her head on his lap. Something about being near Peter was incredibly calming - and she always felt safe.

Closing her eyes, the gentle rocking of the train helped lull her to sleep.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Time to Leave - Peter

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject