*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
( FOREVER )
TWO━━ Normal
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 恋人┊͙✧˖*°࿐(🚙🚦🏘)

( PRESENT DAY ━ OCTOBER 17th, 2023 )

HE'S ENGAGED. May's words were looped like a nefarious mantra in Briar's mind. Forget everything she'd told herself about masking her emotions and remaining calm, because there was nothing she could do to stop the waterworks.

On most occasions, Briar was fairly transparent with her feelings. But whenever she attempted to mask her emotions, it was difficult to pull her back out of the shell she'd retreated into. In the case where Briar became overwhelmed with emotion, simple words spoken in her direction could break the dam of hopeless tears. Usually, that was the moment when Peter would decide to step in, but that was before.

Now, Peter had a fiancé. He was in love with someone else.

Without sparing May another glance, Briar nodded shortly and retreated into the car. With blurred vision, she pushed her keys into the keyhole to start the car but made no effort in driving away. A singular tear fell from Briar's eye and cascaded down her cheek while her hands gripped the steering wheel harshly. Her deep breaths and occasional sniffles were the only noise that could be heard from inside the car.

"Fuck." she whispered. More mumbled curses left her lips as fresh tears began to shed to accommodate her misery. Her head slipped down and pressed against the center of the wheel, activating the horn.

Over the blaring noise—that somehow didn't seem to faze Briar in her emotional state—two short knocks were heard. May stood outside the passengers side of the vehicle with one hand cupped over her ear and the other gesturing towards the lock, pointing below the window of the car. Briar unlocked the car for May and watched while she sat inside, fumbling with her ears.

"Honey, are you trying to make the whole neighborhood go deaf?" May spoke loudly as her ears adjusted back to normal. Once again, Briar failed to respond, choosing to send May a sheepishly apologetic look with her eyes.

It was then that May finally got a good look at Briar. Her nose was runny and her face was puffy and wet from her tears that she'd given up on stopping. The look in her slightly swollen eyes were soft and vulnerable, resembling a kicked puppy.

That was when May stepped into action. She quickly moved to pull her in close, holding Briar tightly to her chest as she cried. May ignored the sting in her ribcage from the center console and focused on smoothing down Briar's hair, rocking them back and forth slightly as Briar sniffled and slightly choked on her own spit.

"He doesn't love me anymore."

Her words fell from her lips as more of a statement, but it was meant as a question. May pulled Briar out of her hold for a moment to wipe the tears from her face. "I'm sorry," May spoke softly, "I'm so sorry, hon."

Briar leaned back into her seat and scoffed to herself. "Who are they?"

"I don't know, but Peter's bringing her over this weekend so I can meet her." May replied hastily while Briar rubbed harshly at her bloodshot eyes.

"This weekend? Well, he—he doesn't know I'm back. He's just.. confused. I'm going over to see him now." With rushed movements, Briar patted herself down in search of the sticky note with Peter's address on it, "you coming?"

May stared back at Briar incredulously, "What—no, Briar. You can't drive to Peter's right now, not like this." Briar furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"Like what?" May's arm reached out to the sun visor above Briar and flapped it down, forcing Briar to stare back at her blotchy, mascara stained face. Briar began to grimace back at her reflection, lifting her hands up to her face in an attempt to fix the mess her tears had caused.

"It's not just about the way you look. It's obvious that you're not in the right place mentally. You're being impulsive and irrational, Briar." Before she could protest, May continued, "And it's getting late, it'll be way past your curfew by the time you get upstate. Hell, your parents must miss you, you just got back and you've already ditched them!"

Briar hesitated and averted her gaze while she shifted to rest her head back against the window, unaware of May's eyes darting carefully around the interior of the car. She cocked her head to the side and glanced at the bright orange sticky note, crumpled and clutched tightly in Briar's grip.

"They don't know where you are, do they? Isn't this James' car?" There was no point in lying, May could read anyone like a book. Peter seemed to have that talent too, he must've learned from her. "I know this is your dad's car. You haven't taken your driver's test yet, I know because Peter had a whole surprise planned for you before—" May's voice got caught in her throat and slowly fizzled out into silence.

"May, you don't understand—I have to see him." Briar lifted her hand to the steering wheel and gripped it until her knuckles stood prominently against her skin, "You know I love you and I appreciate everything you've done for me today—but I'm gonna need you to get out of the car if you're not coming."

"Briar, there's no way in hell I'm letting you drive all the way to the Upper West Side right now. I'm two seconds away from calling James and telling him where you are, so for your sake, please cooperate with me. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for my nephew. Peter just lost another loved one in his life and I don't think he's prepared for.. this either."

Briar scoffed as she began to feel the pressure of tears building in her eyes once again. She had heard the news over the radio: Tony Stark was dead. Briar wasn't very fond of the Avengers, but she knew how important Tony was to Peter and the impact he had on his life. She couldn't imagine what Peter must be feeling, losing another mentor figure so soon. "I'm sorry."

May frowned, "You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm sure that Peter wants to see you more than anything. He hasn't seen you in five years," May placed the back of her hand against Briar's forehead in a motherly manner, wincing at her warm temperature, "I know you must have so many questions, I do too, but it's best for you to check in with yourself first. Gather your thoughts, clear your mind."

"Thank you, May." Briar hiccuped. Along with reading people, May had the astounding ability of somehow always knowing what to say. That was another thing Peter picked up from his aunt.

"Don't mention it," May replied nonchalantly as she dabbed at the tear stains on her orange blouse, "now let's switch seats. I'm driving."

The car ride home was surprisingly silent. May switched on the radio and let the tunes play, while Briar rested her elbow against the side of the door and observed the streets that had once been so familiar to her.

May pulled into Briar's street and Briar felt her blood run cold when she spotted her dad sitting on the steps of the front patio, a throw blanket draped over his shoulders as he glared at the car. His hands were weaved together and his eyebrows were furrowed so intensely, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he was furious.

A moving truck now occupied the side of the street, blocking May from pulling into the driveway. Briar inhaled deeply and prepared to get yelled at while May parked across from the house. Making her way past the lawn towards James Langford felt like crossing a battlefield. Especially with the enraged expression James wore on his face. The sun had settled and the sky was beginning to shift to a shade of dark blue, concealing one side of James' face and hiding half of his frustrated scowl.

"Briar."

"James." Briar huffed curtly, shifting her stance to appear intimidating as she held her head high.

"Why the hell do you look like a raccoon?"

May's eyes shifted between the Langford's—who seemed to be in an intense glaring contest, silently challenging the other to look away. She interjected in an attempt to put an end to the thickening tension in the air. James had been glaring at Briar so harshly he had completely forgotten about May, so when she made her presence known again, he squinted his eyes threateningly towards his daughter before giving May his full attention.

"May Parker!" James smiled politely, "It's been too long." his demeanor shifted completely, almost as if he hadn't been giving his daughter the death glare mere seconds ago.

"Certainly for you," May chuckled as she eyed his gray hairs peeking from the top of his head, "but you've aged well! How's Cynthia?"

"They got a divorce." Briar cut in monotonously, her voice laced with pure bitterness as she kept her eyes low as she kicked a pebble across the pavement. James rolled his eyes and turned back to May.

"Yeah, it's a long story." he added tensely and gestured his arm out to the large moving truck and scattered boxes on the driveway, "As you can tell, we're moving. I bought a place deeper in the borough, which is good because Briar won't have to move schools. But, uh—Cynthia isn't here, she's already settled in her new place up in New Jersey."

May widened her eyes as she summed up the new distance between the two, "Where in New Jersey?" Briar listened in on their conversation closely. She knew her dad was prolonging the conversation as much as he could, simply to make Briar irritated and anxious for the inevitable conversation that she so desperately wanted to get over with. At the same time, she was also curious as to where her dearest mother had fled to.

"I don't remember the name, it's a real small town though, I didn't recognize the name when she first told me." James replied, shrugging his shoulders while May nodded understandingly and placed a hand on James' shoulder.

"I'm very sorry to hear about your divorce from Cynthia. I hope you're both doing alright and the move goes well.. but I really should be going home." May conceded sympathetically, carefully uttering her words in a way that wouldn't come across as uncaring or bored.

"Home? Back to your friend Happy's house?" Briar questioned teasingly, a snarky smirk residing on her face as May squinted her eyes and her skin flushed.

"Briar, leave the poor woman alone and stay out of her personal business." James pointed a stern finger Briar's way, "Tell her thank you for driving you home."

May tried to force back her laugh as she watched Briar huff at her father, who was unnecessarily speaking to her like a child. She waved her hands sparingly, "It's fine. Yes, my friend. Like I told you and Peter last—well, half a decade ago—he's just a summer fling. Nothing more."

"May, it's October!" Briar giggled knowingly, watching May's expression change from lackadaisical and easygoing to flustered and disconcerted in a matter of seconds. "Thank you for everything, May. I probably wouldn't have made it home if it weren't for you."

From the corner of her eye, Briar could spot her dad's smug look of pride and victory that she'd listened to him. As she fought the urge to roll her eyes, May began to walk backwards back into the lawn, keeping her eyes on the Langford's as she spoke.

"Like I told you before—don't mention it. If you need anything, just call. You have my number." May reminded, and with that, she sent one last wave and bid goodbye to James again before approaching the street, where Happy's car was beginning to pull in.

Once May was out of sight and past the intersection, James nudged Briar's shoulder and forced her eyes back towards him, "Do you have anything you'd like to say to me?" Briar pondered for a moment and glanced over her shoulder towards the car parked on the far end of the street and examined it. No scratches. No dents.

"I mean.. not really."

He angrily spoke up once Briar was standing directly in front of him, squeezing her eyes shut tightly in preparation for his speech. "Where the hell were you, Briar? You ran away and stole my car! What were you thinking—"

James' lectured lasted for close to half an hour. They hadn't even moved into the house either, James was just shouting at Briar in front of the house, loud enough for the neighbors to hear and take a peek through their curtains. She didn't pay the neighbors any attention though, because the way James ranted on about how worried and angry he was when she'd sped off was too real. And she was struck with guilt when James delivered the final blow, his last statement where he admitted that he'd fallen into a spiral when she drove off without a heads up or as much as a short text to tell him where she was, because it felt like he had lost his daughter all over again.

As angry as James was, he couldn't find it in himself to ground Briar. She'd just been resurrected, he was too overwhelmed with relief that she was back to actually discipline her like that. The lecture was enough. For the remainder of the evening, James and Briar walked back and forth from the house to the moving truck, lugging boxes that were filled with memories and knick knacks from Briar's childhood. After an extremely tense family dinner, James placed a kiss to his daughter's temple and sent her for a nap before they had to drive to the new house. James wished he could postpone the move for a little while—at least a week—because he saw how distraught Briar was about leaving.

Unfortunately, James was on a deadline, so the best he could do was allow Briar to rest and attempt to compile her thoughts about leaving her childhood home and everything else in this short period of time. He was too busy expressing his anger that he still hadn't questioned what happened at May's house, and although he had been fuming earlier, he didn't plan to do so until Briar came to tell him. Whether that'd be tomorrow or in a month, he'd wait.

Eventually, James made the bold move to call Cynthia and let her know that Briar had returned. It upset him that she hadn't called him to check in the moment people started blipping back and the Daily Bugle started pouring out live updates, but she still deserved to know that their daughter wasn't dead like they'd presumed.

Briar was laying on her side against the floor with her body curled into itself like a roly poly. She remained awake throughout James' call, more or less tuning out her thoughts with the sound of her father's voice and the low hum of her mother's.

There was no way she'd be going to sleep. Briar had too many unanswered questions and not enough answers. She still hadn't found her phone, so she was unable to check to see if Peter had ever texted her back. She wondered how many calls he must've made before showing up to her house, and how devastated he must've been to discover that his girlfriend had blipped.

A loud pounding against the front door startled Briar and shook her from her daze. She slowly got her lanky body off of the rug and approached the front door, rubbing at her freshly washed face. James poked his head from the kitchen into the open hall where the front door was and sent a thumbs up Briar's way as she mimicked his gesture.

Briar hadn't even turned the doorknob all the way when the door was swung open and a strong force pushed against her chest. It forced all the air out of her lungs and knocked her off her feet, the pair landing harshly on the bare hardwood floors.

"Briar! Oh you're here," Michelle lamented loudly, gripping harshly at Briar's light gray sweatshirt as she pulled her in close, "You're such a bitch!" her scoffs and light sniffles from the cold fall air were muffled, but Briar could hear her best friend's insult quite clearly. As her hand smoothed down Michelle's wind blown hair, she looked up at her other friends who'd presumably been dragged along by Michelle in the midst of her panicked frenzy.

"Hey, Briar!" Ned waved his hand cheerily, as if they hadn't just been resurrected a few hours before.

"This psycho thought you were dead because you weren't responding to our texts, she reminded me of my dad," Harry explained with a sassy roll of his eyes towards Michelle as Ned stood idly beside him.

"Before or after the drugs?"

There was a short pause from Harry as he stared blankly back at Ned, "Is there really a difference?"

"There's a difference." Michelle mumbled into Briar's neck. Harry furrowed his eyebrows but remained silent at her response—Michelle had never met Norman before. But he wasn't surprised that she knew, after Harry's mother passed away, Norman went off the rails and it had been all over the news. That's when Harry and Norman's relationship fell apart—as if it wasn't broken before, with him jetting off to a different country every week, leaving for business unexpectedly, and essentially never being there for his son.

Briar nodded in agreement at Michelle's statement and adjusted her head to hold up Michelle's weight against her shoulders.

"Fine, like my dad after the drugs—have you been crying?" Harry interrupted himself, stepping closer to the girls to examine Briar's face in the correct lighting. He could've sworn he saw her puffy and bloodshot eyes, but he wanted to get a closer look just to make sure.

Briar was able to pull her arm out of Michelle's harsh grip to pat at her face, but it was completely dry. "Yeah, like an hour or two ago, is it really that obvious? How could you tell?" Harry shrugged while Ned stepped inside the house, looking around in confusion at its strange emptiness.

Harry helped pry Michelle's clinging body from Briar so he and Ned could greet her properly, "Because you look like shit—" Harry wasn't able to finish his sentence before Briar gaped at him and wriggled her arms aggressively, swatting at Harry's chest lightly as she attempted to escape his embrace which only made Harry hug her tighter and let out a loud chuckle, "you know I'm joking! You look radiant as ever, sleeping beauty."

"Aye Skeletor!—get away from my daughter." James barked from the archway that connected to the kitchen. He brought his phone away from his ear and placed it in his pocket before approaching the teens and closing the front door to keep the warm air inside.

"Dad, don't be mean, you remember Harry." Briar scoffed after Harry pulled away quickly from her, standing as stiff as a board. For a person who'd practically been given everything and never been disciplined in his life—except for that one time he was arrested in Barbados—Harry was weirdly obedient and overly-polite in front of Briar's parents.

No one could blame him, they were kind of scary. And plus, it didn't help that Harry felt as if he needed to prove that he was—that he could be a regular dude. Yeah, there were tons of perks that came with having a rich dad and a famous family, but Harry didn't exactly feel welcomed when everyone already had some sort of perception of him based off of all the articles written about him or his father. Briar noticed and commented on his odd actions early on, but after all the times Briar's parents and Harry have crossed paths, he still felt like he had to keep one eye open.

"Of course I do, the rich boy with daddy issues—"

"That's me!" Harry smiled sarcastically, a fake enthusiasm hidden in his tone.

"—where's your dad?" James inquired to Harry, but glanced at Michelle and Ned with questioning eyes. Before the Snap, Michelle and Briar were constantly visiting each other, but Ned and Harry rarely ever came past the evening. Ned, because his parents usually never allowed him, and Harry, because he simply wasn't allowed in Briar's house after dark.

James and Cynthia's rules.

"Uh, I tried calling him, but he never really answered me before the Blip anyway. One of my dad's employees—who I'm pretty sure dad treats more like his son than me—picked up and told me he's busy in Dubai. On business, as usual." Harry mumbled as he nervously twitched under James' intense stare.

James nodded understandingly and listened while Ned and Michelle explained where there parents were and how they allowed them to come visit Briar. Michelle's mom always let Briar and Michelle have sleepovers and spend weekends at each other's houses, so James cared a little less about Michelle's reason than Ned's.

After Ned explained how he had to be home soon, James moved on to offer Harry a place to stay until he could get in contact with his family—he didn't need to offer Michelle, he knew she would insist on staying anyway—but Harry declined politely, trying his hardest to not sound like a complete douche when he explained that he had an empty penthouse in the city waiting for him.

Since there was no point in staying inside an empty, dim house for the rest of the evening, James had the teens hop in the moving truck and pile into James' car to start unpacking as much as they could when they arrived to the new house.

Briar could tell everyone was stepping on eggshells around her. It was almost impossible not to notice, especially with everyone making their motives so obvious. James constantly distracted her or gave her tasks to do after he told her off, and it was clear that Briar's friends were trying very hard to refrain from asking why she'd been crying.

Lugging fifty pound boxes up multiple flights of stairs wasn't exactly how Briar had planned to spend her evening, but her friends and James made an effort to make it a somewhat enjoyable experience. As they began cracking jokes and starting random conversations as they trudged upstairs, Briar began to feel these warm, wholesome interactions heal her soul and genuinely make her feel like things were okay. Like her life wasn't completely falling apart.

Maybe James was right, what she needed was a good distraction.

The apartment James had bought was in the middle of Queens, much closer to Midtown than Briar's childhood townhouse is. Thankfully, during the time that James was looking for an apartment, he had held on to the hope that Briar would return, and so he splurged on a two bedroom apartment instead of just the one. He and Cynthia still needed to discuss their custody arrangement for when Briar would be alternating between living in New Jersey and Queens—if that was the case, but to Briar's relief, it was looking like Briar would be living more with her dad than with her mom. Briar and Cynthia didn't have the best relationship.

When they entered the apartment, the first thing Briar did was go searching for her room, trying her hardest to navigate through the unfamiliar setting while struggling to carry the cardboard box filled with her knick knacks, trinkets, and jewelry boxes in her arms. Michelle stayed back, observing the house's architectural style and mumbling small comments to herself. The last thing Briar heard as she made her way into the dim hallway was Michelle pointing out something she felt was wrong with the apartment and James' playful scoff.

"You look like you're struggling, let me help you with that box." Harry came jogging behind her, holding his box with one arm so he could assist Briar. Instead she shook her head and cocked her head towards his box.

"No seriously, let's switch. Your dad gave me the box of pillows." Harry insisted, reaching for the box but Briar pulled away and continued down the hallway.

As she opened random doors to the half bathroom and coat closet in search of her room, Briar let out a small chuckle and smirked, "That's because my dad thinks you're fragile. He doesn't want to overwork you." Her tone was teasing, but it caused a revelation in Harry's mind. Come to think of it, the last three boxes James had handed him were filled with pillows, old stuffed animals, and blankets.

Briar found what she assumed was her bedroom at the end of the hallway next to the master bedroom. The room was dull, empty, and bland. The floors were hardwood like the rest of the apartment, and the walls were painted an unexciting shade of beige that contrasted poorly against the dark cherry red floor. The room itself was quite pleasant though, it had a fairly large window with the view of the street in front of the apartments and the closet space was better than she'd expected, but everything else about it felt like a wasted opportunity to make this space beautiful.

Unbeknownst to her, Briar was like stained glass. Not only in a sense of fragility, but because she was easy to see through and recognize her pain. She was beautifully complex and almost impossible to not observe and admire, even when the darkness set in.

"Wow! It's.. nice." Harry commented as he stepped into the room and set the box down, grimacing at the way his voice sounded so unsure. He wasn't necessarily lying to Briar, but he was at least trying to make her feel somewhat better about the move. Briar could see right through his phony act though, like she'd ever believe that her best friend, the son of a billionaire was impressed by her 10x12 bedroom that someone's old cat probably died in.

"On the bright side, you could redecorate your room!"

"That's a hard pass, the last thing I want right now is even more change." Briar sighed and sat down on top of one of the boxes just as Michelle and Ned came strolling in.

"Your dad found your phone in one of the boxes in the living room." Michelle tossed the device carelessly towards Briar, who scrambled quickly to catch it before it dropped to the floor and cracked the screen.

While Harry ripped open the box of pillows and pulled them out for everyone to sit on, Briar unlocked her phone and scrolled desperately to check her notifications. She stared blankly at the illuminating screen while her blood ran cold and a sharp pain panged at her chest.

571 messages, 362 voicemails, and 587 missed calls from peter parker🤍

Briar's emotions from earlier this afternoon were beginning to resurface and she knew that if she didn't stop staring at her screen soon, she would end up staying awake all night listening to each voicemail and reading every text, unintentionally forcing her mind to wander to a dark place.

But luckily for Briar, she had Michelle Jones, Harry Osborn, and Ned Leeds to keep her company and prevent her from having to go there.

"So, where's Peter?" Ned piped up, shuffling awkwardly as he broke the silence among the four.

Scratch that, maybe just Michelle and Harry.

"What is wrong with you—Briar, don't feel like you have to answer—Ned," Michelle scolded and slapped the back of Ned's head semi-gently, "she's probably going through something, take a hint!"

Being the observant, attentive person that she was, Michelle had known something was going on with Peter and Briar since she stepped into the house and hadn't found the two attached by the hip. Even for her, it was confusing that Peter hadn't been spending the last few hours with Briar.

Michelle obviously knew Peter was Spider-Man and had endless responsibilities as New York's vigilante, but seriously?

Michelle wasn't planning on prying the whole situation with Peter out of Briar until after Ned and Harry had left the apartment, but given that Ned brought up the elephant in the room so nonchalantly, apparently he had a different approach to getting the information out of Briar.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I kind of let Michelle drag me along with her because I thought Peter would be with you, he wasn't answering his phone either, so I just kind of assumed—"

"It's fine." Briar chuckled awkwardly and turned off her phone without sparing the notifications another glance. "Peter didn't blip, I literally drove through all of Queens to find him, but May was the one who broke the news to me."

The three teenagers stared back at Briar blankly, and one by one, they processed what Briar had told them and their priceless expressions of realization hit them. Briar continued to recall her conversation with May at Happy's house, brushing over some minor details like her breakdown in the car and the old woman in Peter's apartment. Briar could tell Harry was still confused, a wave of emotions were beginning to wash over Ned, and anger—or a bit of pettiness—seared through Michelle's veins.

"And he hasn't even thought to call? Where is he?" Michelle raised her voice as she stood up, her tall body towering over Briar. Her mind suddenly caught up, and as she pictured how stressed and anxious Briar must've been earlier, Michelle was suddenly on a mission.

"Wait—he's about to tie the knot with someone who isn't Briar? How is that possible?" Harry spoke up, baffled. Michelle rolled her eyes while Briar and Ned looked at him pointedly, "I don't buy it, there's no way! Do you all not remember how whipped he was for her? And plus, who else besides Briar would ever want to marry Peter—" Briar retaliated and expressed her annoyance by flinging the square pillow Michelle had abandoned across the room and straight towards Harry, who was too busy rambling to catch it.

"Men have nothing but the audacity." Michelle mumbled in disgust, glaring directly at Harry. He stared at the girls incredulously before he shook out his curls and ran a hand through his untamed hair. Michelle spent the next few minutes mindlessly ranting in hopes of helping Briar feel better about Peter's abnormal and unusual actions—or lack thereof and Ned remained silent and kept to himself.

After carefully planning his words in his head, he finally spoke his thoughts. "I don't think you guys should be hating on Peter just yet." he started, voice uneven as he prepared for whatever kind of outburst Michelle would have to defend Briar, "I mean, maybe he has a good reason for not calling. It's been five years, I assume that it's kind of unbelievable for him to have lived without us for so long.. and then suddenly have us poof back like nothing happened."

"Yeah, but did he really have to go snuggle up and plan to get hitched with someone else while he was grieving Briar?" Harry murmured, but Ned still picked up on it. Briar watched the interaction closely, picking at her nails absentmindedly as a bubble of nervousness began to rise in her chest.

"Harry, it's been five years, you don't know what could've happened or what he went through, so you shouldn't assume that it was that easy for him." he defended. Harry scoffed and stood up from the box of books he had been sitting on.

"Look, we all know Peter loved Briar. Deserved her? That's a different story." Harry waved his hand as if he was brushing the topic aside, "But the fact that Briar, this sweet angel—ray of sunshine who could do nothing wrong ever and has never hurt a soul in her life—had to have her heart shattered into pieces through someone else because Peter couldn't bother to check in when he started seeing people pop back up out of thin air shows how much he truly didn't care."

"Or maybe," Ned huffed, beginning to become frustrated, "it shows how much the blip has affected him and how hard it must've been for him!"

"I don't know shit about anything that happened in the last half decade, but Ned, neither do you! So stop putting Peter on a pedestal like you always do and just be there for Briar." Michelle argued and placed a comforting hand on Briar's shoulder, but she shrugged it off as she began to feel more irritated with Ned.

"I'll probably never know what Peter went through during the last five years, but I know that Peter and I were in love. Like.. like a real, real love. And I don't know, maybe me more than him, because if I were the one who survived the snap, then I wouldn't have given up and moved on. I would've waited—"

"That's the thing, Briar! You don't know that, because you'll never have to make that kind of choice! If you were in the same situation as Peter, I'm sure you would've done the same thing." Ned insisted, standing up and crossing his arms as if it helped to prove his point.

"You don't know what I would have done." Briar seethed and rubbed at her temple as she stood up to meet Ned's eye level, "so stop acting like you know better than me, like you know my pain, and go run off to Peter—wherever he is—because god knows you've only stuck around with us these past few years because of Peter anyway."

The four of them stood staring aggressively at each other simultaneously as the room filled with silence and Ned coughed, nodding his head and backing down.

Briar sighed and moved to step closer to Ned but he flinched and took two steps back. "Ned—"

"No, you're—uh, you're right. My mom said I had to be home by ten anyway, so I should be heading out." Ned smiled awkwardly and looked uneasily at Michelle and Harry.

"Oh. Oh, okay. I'll—uh, see you at school? Whenever we're forced to go back, of course." Briar chuckled uncomfortably, offering a watery smile. Ned stared back at her blankly, an emotion swirling through his eyes that she couldn't decipher.

"I don't know. Like you said, I only hang out with you guys because of Peter, so now that he's gone, I guess I don't really have a reason to stay around." Ned shrugged and glanced down at his feet to avoid meeting Briar's eyes. He wasn't sure if he was making sense anymore, but all his energy had been wasted on arguing and defending Peter that he really couldn't care less.

Harry rubbed his clammy hands against his jeans and sighed, "Well let me give you a ride home, I should be going back to the penthouse anyways." he offered, pulling out his phone to contact his chauffeur. He shrugged on his hoodie and strode over to the girls.

"Good night," Harry smiled warmly and leaned in to press a chaste kiss to Briar's temple, "hey, don't stress or get all in your head about what Ned said—or what you said to him. It was just a spur of the moment thing. I'm sure he'll understand, but I'll talk to him in the car." he whispered softly to prevent Ned from overhearing. He then shuffled over to give Michelle a hug and say good night before saying one last goodbye and following Ned out of the room.

Briar and Michelle walked out of the room only once they'd heard the front door close, and awkwardly met James' questioning eyes. The girls simultaneously shook their heads as if to say 'not today' as they shuffled over to the pull out couch that James had set up for the girls while they were in the other room.

"I know things are insane right now, but I promise everything will be okay. It'll take the world a little while to adjust, but soon enough your lives will be back to normal." James smiled sympathetically as the girls covered themselves in the random blankets James had sprawled out and nodded mindlessly, barely comprehending James' words in their exhausted, guilty, and overall extremely emotional states. He flickered off the living room lights and exited the room without another word, leaving Michelle and Briar alone with each other and their thoughts.

On any other day, arguing would've exhilarated Michelle and given her more energy and inspiration to continue on or even just keep talking with Briar and attempting at comforting her, but with all the stress she'd endured earlier in the afternoon when she blipped back and tried to get in contact with Briar, it was no surprise that she had fallen asleep so quickly.

But for Briar, it wasn't as easy. Her brain kept reminding her of all the chaos that had happened today, moments flashing in her head embarrassingly like a traumatic slideshow of her mistakes and fuck ups.

As she turned on her left side to face the window and glance up at the moon, she let a single tear fall. Michelle and Harry had been so quick to burst out in anger against Peter, but Briar couldn't find it in herself to be angry. Not now, at least, she was still in denial of everything. How could James promise them that things would get better? Surely he was optimistic, but saying that things would return to the way they were? Not even Briar could buy that. You had to be blinded with denial to believe that.

Normal. Yeah, right. She scoffed and turned away from the night sky. Briar still refused to believe any of this was actually happening, but deep down, she knew one thing was for sure: Nothing would ever be the same again.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
( RORY RAMBLES )
i don't really have an excuse for not updating i was just having a lot of fun writing blurbs on tumblr and making people covers SJDJDJDJ but i wrote this in 2 days so ✋😌

prepare for a LOT of fluffy (and angsty) flashbacks in the upcoming chapters. if flashbacks aren't your thing.........sorry, this is a short story and i didn't want to start from the VERY beginning. can't wait to explore peter and briar's backstory a little more.. they're a mess

here are pictures briar langford took using peter parker's camera (which used to belong to ben ofc):

anyways, this chapter was disgusting. but don't spare me, vote and comment with your honest thoughts as usual