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streaminn · 1 year

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(Warnings for creeps again, and mentions of people getting their shit rocked. Because Enid takes no bullshit.)

"Mother, Father. This is Enid." Wednesday lifts her hand, raising Enid's much larger one with it. "She is my girlfriend."

"We know, Storm Cloud. You told us 46 times before you arrived." Morticia says.

"I counted!" Gomez adds.

"Gomez counted."

"She is the love of my life."

"We know."

"I would die for her."

"We know."

Wednesday leads Enid up the steps of her of house, the large woman having to duck under the doorframe so far she's practically sideways.

When they get into the house, Enid lets out a chirp in amazement.

"Big!" She says. Morticia takes her by the sleeve and starts leading the monster around, taking her to the kitchen.

"Awful tall for a... what is she, exactly?" Gomez hugs his daughter, whispering to her. "She's taller than Lurch!"

"I, myself, am unsure. I've ran tests with willingly-given DNA to see if I could find any information from it so as to ascertain of her origins." She shakes her head, pulling away from her father. "Nothing."

"Ah, well. That's unfortunate. Though, it matters little," he nods his head behind her. When she turns around, Enid is excitedly chattering to Morticia about something, waving her hands around and chittering and cooing. "She's got your heart. She's a through-and-through Addams."

"Where is Pugsley? He seemed ready to meet Enid."

"Ah. He got in trouble at school," Gomez pats his daughter's shoulder gently, "I wouldn't worry. He'll break out and meet her soon enough."

Wednesday watches as her mother points at herself and her father, then points at the stairs. She knows what Enid wants to do, but maybe she can resist—

Enid bounds up the stairs on all fours; Wednesday sighs.

She turns around and follows her girlfriend up the stairs, on two legs.

The two still on the ground floor watch as their daughter follows her love, like the moon chasing the sun across the Earth.

"She is perfect for our little scorpion." Morticia leans down and kisses her husband's head.

"We need to get her a credit card."

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Raw?" Enid growls in question, following Wednesday through her halls.

"Hm. Maybe. I believe Fester knows a good place," she opens a black door and leads her love inside, closing the door behind her.

"ROOOOW!" Enid roars as she jumps on Wednesday's bed, wiggling in place happily.

Wednesday sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Okay."

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Enid, we need to get going if we want to get there before nightfall." Enid's head whips around. Wednesday stares at her monster.

"Raw! Roooow, 'Ren!" Wednesday nods, and turns to face the door.

"Well, I'll be waiting in the hearse. Alert me if you need anything." She opens the door and exists the house, clicking it closed behind her. Enid turns to face Morticia again.

"Roaw?"

"Getting closer, Sweetheart." Morticia taps her own jaw gently. "Try to make the sound the sound come from your throat. Aaaaaaa—"

---------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday watches as Enid runs through the forest, in her element.

Enid slams through a tree and picks it up one handed, throwing it at a bear as it roars at her, swiping at it with her claws as the grizzly growls.

Wednesday watches as the monster slams her arm into the bear's stomach. It flings through the air like the Hyde had, smacking into a rock.

The animal tries in one last attempt to not lose but Enid swipes and its head comes off.

"That's enough," the seer calls out, bending her fingers to signal Enid to her side. "Let's get you clean."

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, my dearest Wednesday! How it pained me to be from you. I wish only to hold your hand forevermore!" Wednesday raises an eyebrow at her.

"Fisher said no?" Yoko slumps.

"She said yes at the end of last year, but she's not gonna come 'til tomorrow. Something about siren rituals and family matters or whatever..." Yoko crosses her arms and pouts, looking at the ground as she and Wednesday walk to the gates. "Personally, I think it's an excuse to not see my sweet shirt!" She grabs the sides of her jacket and opens it.

Wednesday looks at her abdomen and reads the shirt.

The whole shirt is a nasty shade of yellow, the top text says "PUSSY MASTER" in an obnoxiously vomit-green color, the bottom text says "GETTER OF BITCHES" in an equally gross pantone brown. It's all in comic sans, and has large red arrows pointing up at the grinning vampire.

"I'm going to drive a flaming stake through your chest." Wednesday starts walking faster, putting distance between them.

"Wait!"

"No."

When Yoko catches up to her, she grabs Wednesday's shoulder. "That was rude!"

"hmm. Was it?" Yoko scoffs.

"Yes! It was ve—" she chokes on her spit as a tree slams into her back, making her trip and slam onto her hands and knees, her glasses falling off her face. "Fuck!"

She almost calls out to Wednesday, asking if she's seen any rouge trees as of late, before she feels the deepest sound of her life vibrate her body.

"Are you... okay?" Comes out slowly. A hand that seems to be wider than her body reaches down and grabs her sunglasses. They fit perfectly in her hands.

The hand that grabs them makes them look like pretzel-sticks and pebbles glued together.

The person's hand grips her by the scruff of her neck like a cat and hoists her up.

The person hands her the sunglasses she needs in order to not burn her eyes out, she slips them on and can finally look at the person's thighs.

Sure, her head is tilted down at an angle, but no one should be so fucking tall that she meets their thighs and not maybe their chest.

She looks up the normal amount to expect to see someone's eyes. Her eyes meet the person's hips.

She looks up and up and up until she feels her throat stretching, and fuck this person is big. And very scrawny. A noodle.

"What?" She rasps because no way this is real.

She tenses the muscles in her legs and yep— she's not kneeling. She swallows.

She reaches back for Wednesday, grabs her shoulder, then blindly feels until she grabs her friend's hand. She takes her hand, takes hold of her index finger and uses it to point at the behemoth of a... person?

"Do you fucking see this?" Wednesday huff out the closest thing to a laugh that Yoko has ever heard from her, before walking over to the goddamn columnar tree and patting their thigh.

"Yes," she sounds infinitely too calm to be this close to a person who looks like they could just throw them both. "I do, in fact, see my girlfriend." Wednesday reaches and take her girlfriend's hand.

"Your what?"

"We really must get going, Weems wishes to meet Enid first-thing of us arriving." Wednesday grabs the giant's hand and leads her to the school. The beast of a person takes tiny shuffling steps so they don't outpace Wednesday. "See you soon, Yoko."

The vampire stands in the middle of the path to the front doors of the school, and lifts her hands to stare at them.

"What?"

---------------------------------------------------------------

"No fucking way you got a girlfriend!" Yoko yanks Wednesday's shoulder to turn her around. "And no way she's that fucking huge!"

Wednesday turns back and keeps walking, "I think you're just upset that we started courting before you and Fisher."

Yoko chokes.

"YOU WHAT?! NO FUCKING WAY!" She runs after the seer, lowering her voice when people start staring at her. "No way you got dating before me!" She stage-whispers.

"We met after my family found her on our grounds. Mother thought at first she was an oddly shaped tree." Yoko whistles lowly.

"No kidding." She walks sadly, gazing at the ground. "I can't believe I got out-rizzed out by an emotionally-unavailable 5'1 goth!" She bemoans.

"I fell for Enid first." Yoko's jaw drops.

"So you're telling me a goddamn tree out-charmed me?! This it the worst day of my life!"

"It's about to get worse."

"I swear to fuck if you tell me someone I like got expelled, I'll bite someone." Wednesday shakes her head and turns the corner.

Yoko stares at the tree sitting at their table, talking to Divina. She turns to Wednesday, mouth open and ready to speak out.

"If your girlfriend can sit with us, so can mine."

Yoko pouts, desperate to change her friend's mind. But it's Wednesday, so she doesn't yield and instead walks to their table.

Wednesday sits next to Enid, Yoko next to Divina.

Enid has a plate of what has to be 8 steaks

Yoko nervously sips at her blood, taking small glances at Divina and Wednesday, making an effort to not accidently gaze at the tower of a woman opposite her. She's taller sitting down than Yoko is standing up.

"Sooooo..." she starts, "how was everyone's summer break? Mine was awesome, I got to see my mom and brother! That was... nice." She sips her blood. Embarrassment burning her face.

Divina starts next.

"I got to feed the ducks on the way here! There was a crash and it took a bit for them to clear the road, so my dad and I took our food out to a pond and fed the ducks corn!" Wednesday blinks in confusion.

"Why did you have corn in your car?"

"My dad carries it because we have a lot of ponds and lakes around our house. He likes feeding the ducks."

"Oh."

They sit in a mildly uncomfortable silence, Wednesday stabbing her chicken like she hates it. Enid rips into her raw steak like an animal. Her tongue is absurdly long. Yoko wants to make a joke.

After a few beats, Wednesday nudges Enid with her elbow, startling the willowy woman.

"Oh!" Her voice is like an Earthquake, rumbling lowly and shaking everyone's bodies. "Me 'n Willa went... haunting?" She turns and faces downwards to Wednesday, tilting her head like a dog.

"Hunting." Wednesday corrects.

"Hunting! For cows! For dinner. It was so nice. She gave me this... cherries! And fed me and—" she cuts herself off with a chirp, antlers swaying as she swings her head around. "—I love her very much." She turns back to violating her steak.

Yoko rotates and faces Wednesday, wide-eyed, pointing her head subtly in Enid's direction.

Wednesday rolls her eyes and takes a pen and pad out from nowhere. Yoko sits anxiously, doing her best to not accidently let Enid know what's happening.

Wednesday rips the paper she was writing on and hands it to Yoko. She reads the neat, loopy writing.

Enid isn't human— well, that much is obvious— so she doesn't communicate like a human. Those sounds are good sounds. She isn't a threat, and she wouldn't hurt you.

She knows I see you in a positive light, so she wouldn't. Though, if someone is harassing you and she's near by, just point at whoever is accosting you and say "Enid, don't break bone." She'll deal with them swiftly. She's little more than an overgrown guard-dog

Yoko nods to Wednesday then faces Enid. She's still tearing up her steaks.

"So, Enid," she points her blood bag to the monster, "what's your favorite color?"

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Y'know, Enid is much less scary than she looks." Yoko takes Wednesday's left hand, carefully dragging black nail polish over her thumbnail. "Doesn't change the fact she scares the shit outta me."

She can mostly hear Enid and Divina chatting while the two eat.

"I suppose that's fair," Yoko moves on to her index nail, "though you shouldn't say that around her. She gets insecure." Yoko scoffs.

"What could she be insecure about?" She takes Wednesday's middle finger. "She's built like a skinny-ass redwood tree. No one would say shit to her."

"That's the issue." The vampire grabs her ring finger, "she doesn't want anyone undeserving to fear her. It makes her feel negatively about herself."

"Oooooh, gotcha, gotcha... undeserving?" She moves to her pinky finger, "you sayin' she'd do something if someone deserved it?"

"Yes. Enid has a great sense of justice and how people should treat each other. She doesn't tolerate bullies nor abusers."

"Oooooh, you sure know how to pick 'em." She grabs the seer's right hand, starting on her thumb.

"Dude, do ya think..." she picks up faintly. She pauses in painting Wednesday's nail. "—I've heard goths are crazy! And th—"

Yoko fells bile rise in her throat. She wants to scream.

She returns to brushing the polish onto her friend's nails.

"What's wrong?" Wednesday questions softly, staring Yoko dead in the eyes.

"Nothin', just a couple of guys back there—" she jerks her head behind her subtly. "—bein' creeps."

"Do you want something to happen to them?" Yoko shrugs, hands shaking.

"I dunno. I don't wanna cause a scene, but I don't exactly feel... comfy now, y'know? It feels like they ruined the vibes." She moves on to the index finger.

"What if you didn't cause the scene?" She pauses and looks up.

"What do you mean?" Wednesday's eyes flick to her left. Yoko turns right and see Enid and Divina, still talking. "I meant it when I said she won't tolerate that kind of behavior. She wouldn't kill them unless asked to."

Yoko bites her cheek. On one hand, they'd stop talking, which she'd really like. On the oth—

"Bet the siren knows how to work it." A whisper.

"Have her snap their legs."

Wednesday grins and taps her thigh. Enid walks over, long legs covering the semi-long distance in seconds.

"Willa?" She rasps. Yoko's come to like her voice. It's warmer than she first gave credit to. Calming.

"See those two over there?" Wednesday nods her head behind Yoko, at the two boys creeping on them.

"Yeah?" Wednesday's already feral grin gets more feral.

"Don't kill them."

Yoko expects a lot of things. She expects a punch, a kick, a bite, hell, maybe Enid would use her sharp-looking antlers to attack them.

What Yoko doesn't foresee is Enid turning to the stone column, digging her massive claws into it, ripping a big chunk out and baseball pitching it at the two.

There's a yell of "OH!" before she hears the crunch of bone and Enid dashing at them like an attacking animal. She moves to Wednesday's middle finger.

"Weems is gonna be pissed."

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Why must you do this?" Weems sounds less like she's talking to them and more so the gods. "Why did you rip the wall apart? Why did you shatter their femurs? How did you do that? Why?"

"They spoke lustfully of myself, Yoko, and Divina," Wednesday defends, "they deserved it."

Weems drops her head into her hands, pushing her hair back.

"You know what?! I'm not dealing with this right now! it's late, I'm tired, and I—" she lifts her hands out "—will not deal with this!" She points a hand to the door of her office.

"You three are in a lot of trouble, rest assured, but that comes tomorrow. As of now: get out and go to the dorms. You will be properly punished later!"

The three power-walk out of her office, ready to go back to the dorms.

"I wish I coulda recorded that! You got a good arm on you, Redwood!" Yoko cheers.

Enid's eyes shift side to side, unsure. "Redwood?" She asks quietly.

"She's given you a nickname based off you height. It's a good thing."

Enid's tail wags, her teeth showing off in a bright grin. "Redwood!" She says it like they've made an agreement.

"Willa—" "don't call me that." "—I'm stealing your girlfriend for coffee!" She takes Enid's hand and leads her to the gates.

"Have you ever had a caramel frappe?" Enid's eyes get big.

She leans down and scoops Yoko in to a bridal carry.

"Friend!" She runs past the gates with Yoko screaming.

"I just get ignored." Wednesday grumbles, turning back to their dorm.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday helps Enid run around in the woods, watching to make sure she doesn't go completely feral and injure herself. The last thing she needs is for her monster to be in too much pain to defend herself.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW." She bellows, swinging at a tree.

It snaps clean in half, Enid preening at her own display of strength.

"Very good, Dear. Now," Wednesday takes her clipboard and sets it down. "Come here."

Enid sprints to stand in front of her.

"Sit."

Enid falls to her knees.

"Good." Wednesday taps her jaw, staring with a medic's curiosity when Enid's maw opens and she can stare at the gorgeously sharp teeth. She places a hand on her front-most bottom teeth, shivering at the sensation of them almost breaking skin. Enid's tongue flicks out, licking her wrist.

"Incredible." She whispers, feeling back farther. Her teeth all share the same blade-like sharpness; like thick cut stones waiting to pierce a ship in the night.

"You are a marvel, my Love." She takes her arm out of Enid's mouth.

"Rah!" Wednesday hums and grabs her clipboard, writing:

'Perfectly sharp teeth. Combined with her impressive bite-force, Enid makes a most incredible weapon. And an even better lover.'

She takes and rubs Enid's head, just between her antlers. "I must buy you ornaments for your antlers, Monster. How would you feel with gold?"

Before Enid can respond, her ears flick. She turns, claws and teeth bared and growling lowly, hackles raised.

"Rooooooooooooooooooow." She rumbles in to the forest around them.

There's a pause before they hear Yoko yell "SHIT!" Followed by panicked running, tripping, then more frantic running.

"She's one of the most cowardly people I know." Wednesday says in disappointment.

"Raaw?"

"No, we don't need to go after her. She'll just tell everyone she almost died later." The seer lifts her arms.

"Take us back to the dorms." Enid wraps her arms around her human, and starts sprinting full-speed. She jumps off rock and trees and flings herself around until she's halfway to their dorms, stopping in front of Yoko and Divina's dorm.

"Stop." Wednesday lifts finger to Enid's mouth to shush her.

"Rue?" Enid thunders quietly.

"Do you want to play a joke on them?"

Enid grins.

Wednesday leads her monster to their door, leaning against it to hear them talking.

"I swear, Div! There. Was. A. Roar!"

"Yoko, I don't doubt you heard a roar, I'm just saying that a form-shifting, man-eating monster in the woods is a bit silly."

"The Hyde!"

"...Okay, good point, but I don't t—" Wednesday chooses then to bang on the door.

She nods once. Enid grins.

"Yoko." Enid says flatly, in Yoko's voice. "Help me. Help... us."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—"

-Writer Anon.

(Enid learned how to mimic over the summer so she can hunt her prey better! It works wonders :))

AWH IT'S SUMMER VACATION

Also not the parents contemplating giving their child a card, interesting choice can't wait to see the bank statements be full of meet, coffee orders and several kinds of fabrics from the rainbow to shades of black

I just realized that while Enid knows how to mimic, do you think she'd do sign language? It sounds faster and her and thing could do it to each other

Mortia teaching Enid,, we love the Addams family taking Enid as their own, that's always lovely to see

Yoko's shirt is disgusting and Wednesday's reaction is valid. I too would come to school the next day if I can ignore that atrocity

But yokovina is cute and I'm glad they seem to be doing amazing :)

Love the lil four seat pack they got going on and Yoko freaking tf out. Although I wonder how Enid looks if she's allowed to go around school in broad daylight. I lowkey had a fucked up face in mind but it musnt be that bad if all yoko was panicking about was height

AND YEAHHHH U GO ENID, BREAK EM LEGS WOOOO

Rip to Weems, I feel like she's long since used to these shenienegans and not at all payed enough

Wednesday training Enid? All she needs is the heel command and she's set💀

Although.. Enid fucking with yoko is always fun, but do you think she realizes that Enid is the nevermore monster?

Okok, that's all my thoughts for rn mb if it's teeny asf bc again

I just woke up :-:: BUT TY SO MUCH FOR THE CONTENT WRITER ANON IT'S EXQUISITE AS ALWAYS

#Writer anon #Writing #Wenclair

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bxngthedoldrums · 2 years

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a petekey reading of so much (for) stardust

aka you knew i'd do this aka i didnt take four literature classes in college for nothing aka make sure your tinfoil hat is SECURED to your noggin aka dear lord forgive me for committing sins of petekey in the year of 2023

look. i have to do this or i don't deserve this blog. amen

~ love from the other side

okay. yea, immediately the "you were the sunshine of my lifetime" thing is sort of sus, because we all know pete wentz and anytime sun or summer is involved it's Something. this is solidified in "summer falling through our fingers again" in verse 2, but it's interesting that he uses "ours" in this lyric bc i feel like recently most of pete's summer lyrics have been pretty self-inflicted. it's impossible to not note the whole "inscribed like stone and faded by the rain" in the bridge v. "the tombstones were waiting" line in bang the doldrums. i shant even elaborate u can pick up what i'm laying down!

~ heartbreak feels so good

i think this song is pretty light on petekey imagery but "light from a screen of messages unsent" kinda reminds me of "some nights it gets so bad i almost pick up the phone" in ginasfs but i could be reaching for Sure. let's be real that's all i do

~ hold me like a grudge

honestly i think this is one of the worst petekey offenders on the album. this one had me gawking at my screen as i read the lyrics. "thaw out my freezer burn feelings for twenty summers" ??? be SERIOUS pete... "part-time soulmate, full-time problem" yeah I GET IT I GET IT !!! the whole thing reeks of 2005 summertime fling

~ fake out

"do you laugh about me whenever i leave?" bonkers ass line,,this reminds me of pete's lj writing in those years after 2005,,,"my mood board is just pictures of you, but i'm not sad anymore" YEAH. this is SO pete holy fuck. that classic wentz obsession,,"we did for futures that never came and for pasts that we're never gonna change" this line's got me on the fuckin FLOOR. also classic pete!!! his perchance for nostalgia is just insane and he really feels it huh

~ heaven, iowa

i dont even know how to get into this one. "kiss my cheek, baby, please/would you read my eulogy?" SICK and TWISTED evil!!! evil!!! "i will never ask you for anything except to dream sweet of me" jesus h christ the melancholy is off the charts but holy fuck this song is so,,,tender? i dont know wht to say but i know this was written w summer of love intention. i know this in my heart. "scar-crossed lovers, forever" OKAY I KNOW !!! this song is DEVASTATING verse 2 is fucked UP and the bridge is too!!! "closed my eyes inside your darkness and found your glow"???? i cantr og on

~ so good right now

i can't really discern any particularly petekey lyrics in this one right away but the whole "i cut myself down to be whatever you need me to be" is pretty fucking wild

~ i am my own muse

there's some really sad lyrics in this one ab the whole future-not-going-as-planned thing that comes up so frequently in pete's writing but honestly the whole "let's twist the knife again, twist the knife again like we did last summer" thing made my head explode. every lover's got a lil dagger in their hands!!!

~ flu game

im not gonna sit here and type out ths whole fucking song but oh my GOD bro. this song to me is a really nice callback to pete's older style of lyricism but that comes with the self-deprecation and all the other really sad shit. it's beautiful! it's horrible! i love it!!! its about mikey i cant even pul out a few lyrics just LISTEN

~ baby annihilation

another fucked up one that literally anyone else in fob should have vetoed but OKAY?? "time is luck and i wish ours overlapped more or for longer" MAN SHUT UP. "self sabotage at best, under your spell/but you know what they say, if you want a job done right, you gotta do it yourself" ..........dude. if you're like me and you've poured over pete's oooold lj posts from the mid 2000s you already get it, but if you havent,,,go do it and get back to me bc this is TOO MUHC im unwell. "what is there between us if not a little annihilation?" i think i hauve covid

~ the kintsugi kid (ten years)

this song is really fucking sad actually. there's so much fear of being forgotten on this album and it's showcased really beautifully in this song,,,mayhaps not the most obviously petekey song but god damn

~ what a time to be alive

this song's about covid and quarantine n it's pretty easy on the whole suffering from a fling in 2005 thing! good job pete and fob

~ so much (for) stardust

this song is kinda suspicious but there's very few lines that really solidify it as a petekey song,,, altho "i think i've been going through it, and ive been putting your name through it" is a really interesting lyric. and OF COURSE, "in another life, you were my babe/in another life, you were the sunshine of my lifetime" happy xmas war is over

#petekey #had to do it to em #man what the FUCK goes on

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thompsborn · 10 months

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hello @ the anon whose birthday was yesterday: i’m very sorry i didn’t get hb chapter 16 done, i tried but things came up that made it so i wasn’t able to make a lot of progress on it, BUT i hope you had an incredible birthday and i will probably wish you a happy birthday in the authors note on the chapter when i do eventually post it! however, i promised that if i didn’t get the chapter done then i would post some snippets from it for you!! it’s a day late now, but here they are!!

firstly, i’m gonna tell you the chapter song!!

medicine by havelin

the chapter title:

when i first saw you i was pitiful

and the chapter lyrics:

“i hope you know

you pulled me up when i was down

you showed me love when i knew hopelessness

breathing slowly, softer sounds”

and now, a few snippets! (these are unedited as of now, so any typos and grammar errors should be fixed when the chapter is actually posted lol)

The song changes—BomBom transitions into Talking to Myself by Watsky.

Peter lets out a slow, shaky breath as the music washes over him, the introductory instrumental quickly giving way to the lyric heavy majority. On the next swing, he flings himself to the side, off of the street and above a nearby apartment building. Letting himself drop to the roof, he rolls onto his feet and gives himself a moment to look around for security cameras. Once he’s sure that it’s clear, he pulls his mask up—not all the way off, but just enough to hook it over the bridge of his nose, allowing the crisp late-winter air to ease the sudden ache in his lungs.

These songs mean a lot to him, even if he still struggles to understand them. Harley is pretty straightforward in a lot of ways, tends to wear his heart on his sleeve and make his cards known, but Peter’s started to realize the fact that maybe that isn’t entirely true. Harley definitely seems like an open book, but Peter had absolutely zero indication of the fact that he knew Tony, too. Thinking back on it, Tony had mentioned another kid every once in a while. Not very often, always making it clear that it was someone he knew but someone who didn’t want to be talked about, but even then, not once had Peter considered the fact that the kid Tony mentioned could have been Harley. His friend. His crush. A very fundamental part of who he is now.

Basically, Peter thought he could guess with Harley, thought he knew more than enough to be able to decipher Harley’s brain and understand the way he thinks—but then Harley gave him the burned CD. Despite it being over a month since Peter received it, he still doesn’t fully understand. Each song has a meaning, right? Harley made that clear in his note. Either the song made him think of Peter in some way, or he thought Peter would like the song, or both.

Peter is a puzzle solver. He’s a quick thinker with the brain of a chemist, a scientist, an engineer. He likes to look at inconclusive data and figure out a conclusion for it. But this? These songs?

…but as time advanced, the lovely days were covered up from view by an advancing melancholy haze that hovered near the dew…

Peter has yet to decipher them.

His fingers twitch at his sides and he spins around, pulling his mask back over his nose and mouth before promptly launching himself off the roof. He feels antsy. Restless. Thoughtless swinging is a good way to distract that feeling and give his brain the ability to stay on track. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, really,” Harley replies, the concern from before falling away. “I got bored. Harry and Gwen are at some study group for one of their classes and I was trying to do this essay, but it’s… I mean, it’s boring. Really easy, you know? Kinda hard to focus on ‘cause the topic is super simple and not at all interesting. I know I wasn’t gonna stop by today, but I was—I mean. I…” Here, Harley trails off, sounding uncertain of his words.

Peter launches himself over an intersection. Below him, a few cars honk as he flies over them. He waves but remains focused on the call, listening as Harley sucks in a sharp breath, lets it out slowly, almost… nervous? Anxious? Afraid? Peter frowns, parts his lips to ask—

“I was just wondering if you’d maybe wanna hang out,” Harley blurts, a bit rushed and breathy. Peter’s frown deepens, confused. “Just, like—like, a normal hang out.”

“As opposed to…?”

Harley huffs, something that’s kind of a laugh but also not his normal laugh. “No investigation stuff,” he supplies. “No Spidey stuff. No school stuff. Just… us. Hanging out. Together.” Then, almost as an afterthought, he adds, “Maybe a movie and some snacks…?”

(“It’s stupid,” Peter said when it was his turn, hands clasped around his cup of coffee and eyes flittering around their booth to avoid direct eye contact. “It’s kind of embarrassing, actually.”

Gwen quirked her brows. “Well, now you have to tell us. Is it Boss Baby?”

“50 First Dates?” Harry ventured. “Bring It On?”

An offended gasp ripped its way out of Gwen’s throat as she whipped around to face Harry sitting across from her. “Hey! Bring It On is a classic, okay? Don’t you dare—“

“Okay, lesbian,” Harry interrupted, rolling his eyes. Gwen parted her lips again, but slowly closed them with a glare after a moment. Peter snorted and shook his head.

“No, it’s, like—it’s not the movie that’s embarrassing, I guess? It’s more… the reason why.”

Harley was sitting across from him, head cocked slightly to the side as he peered at Peter curiously. “Mine’s The Pursuit Of Happyness,” he offered. It wasn’t his turn—he wasn’t supposed to go until after Peter—but still he spoke up, explaining, “It’s kind of fucked up, I think, but it’s, like… I mean, my dad left before I was ten, right? And I don’t really give a shit anymore—it’s basically been a decade, I’m over it for the most part, but…” He trailed off, averting his eyes away from Peter despite Peter looking back at him with surprise.

Harley has mentioned his dad a few times since they met, but only vaguely, here and there. Every time has been apathetic and deadpan, done as soon as it began, but this…

“I just—I guess I like stories where there’s a good dad, you know?” Harley shrugged, lopsided as he shrunk back in his seat a little bit. “Maybe it doesn’t make sense, but I like to see proof that there are good ones out there. Just because mine sucked doesn’t mean all of them do.”

Silence hung over their booth for a long moment. Harry looked understanding as he knocked his shoulder against Harley’s, sharing a small smile that Harley looks hesitant to return, while Gwen looked on with something a bit sad but a bit warm on her face, like she was upset about Harley having this struggle but she was glad that Harley was sharing. Peter kept his gaze on Harley, refused to move it away, waiting until Harley eventually looked back up and their eyes met across the table. Only then did Peter speak.

“Homeward Bound,” he said, gaze steady on Harley. He saw the way Harley’s brows twitched together, the way he seemed to think for a moment, before his eyes went a little bit wide, apparently realizing exactly what movie Peter was talking about. “The one with the animals.”

The booth was silent again. Harley stared back at him.

Peter found that it wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be to explain, “It was one of May’s favorites. She was a nurse for a long time, you know? Wasn’t until after we came back from those five years that she decided to change it up. Before that, she worked in an emergency room. Sometimes in the ICU, when she was needed. She saw… a lot of things.”

He heard Harry shift in his seat. Felt Gwen’s eyes on him. He didn’t look away from Harley, didn’t even want to blink, and Harley continued to look right back. Gave a small nod, barely there, hard to see—but Peter saw it and felt the encouragement coming from that small action.

“She didn’t tell me about it,” Peter continued. “Some stuff, here and there, when I got older, but for the most part she kept it to herself, but I could tell when it had been a rough day. She’d come home looking like she aged ten years. And after a really rough day, she—I mean, she wouldn’t say it, but I could tell that she just needed a chance to get the emotions out, and she’d pick a movie or a show that has a happy ending but gets pretty sad along the way. Homeward Bound was one of her go-to picks. It’s a good movie, you know? Always made her cry but had her smiling at the end. I’d always watch it with her. It became one of my favorites.”

There’s more to it than that. Peter faltered, unsure if he wanted to keep going, but something in Harley’s eyes was shining and he felt some unexpected courage bubble up in his chest.

He still hesitated, but ultimately added, “It also… I think about May when I watch it, you know? Because I always watched it with her, but it also…” He trailed off, pondered his wording for a minute, before stating, “There were reasons it got to me, too. It’s emotional in a lot of ways and May always had a soft spot for animal movies, which I think is why she always picked it, but for me, it… it was kind of nice to see a family come together like that. I didn’t have that, you know? I don’t really remember my parents. I barely remember Ben. Looking back on it, I only really remember having May, and I love her, and I’m so grateful that I had her, but it was—”

Just lay it out. It’s just me and you.

I’m right here. We’re okay. It’s just me and you.

It’s just me and you, okay?

Pulling in a shaky breath, Peter said, “It was just me and her. I wouldn’t trade that for the world, but there were times growing up where I would think about what it could have been like if I had been raised by my parents, if Ben never died. Kind of like what you said, Harley, about wanting to see proof that there are good dads out there, right? That kind of logic. I want…”

Harley looked sad. He looked heavy. He looked like he wanted to go back in time and save Peter’s parents himself. Like he wanted to use Tony’s tech to prevent Ben from dying.

“I want to have that reassurance that not everyone ends up like me,” Peter finally said.

With that, he looked away—down at the table, at his cup of coffee. He went quiet and waited until the others picked up conversation, apparently realizing that he was done talking for the time being. Even then, he didn’t look up. Not until he felt something hit his foot, and then he glanced at Harley, who was still looking at him with something horribly sad and overwhelmingly fond in his eyes. Harley hooked their ankles together under the table. Smiled.

Peter slowly, slowly, slowly smiled back.)

happy birthday anon!!!

#homeward bound fic #homeward bound fic spoilers #parkner #my writing

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