WARNING: This Chapter is darker than the ones the preceded it. If you're sensitive to mentions of: Death, Drugs, and Gang Violence, then I suggest you skip the italicized portion of this Chapter.

Chapter 6

The night was dark, the moon gone from the sky, instead leaving a blanket of stars to stretch from one horizon to the next. The black of the sky was splashed with brilliant whites, and pebbled with reds, blues and purples in hues that almost escaped notice. Peter brought the cigarette to his mouth, his headphones were resting over his ears and he took a deep drag. The smoke filled his lungs and he coughed, looking down at the offending stick with distaste.

"Man, I don't know how Grandpa does it." Peter brought the filter back up and the second drag was a lot better than the last. He didn't know how long he had been out here, staring at the night sky, listening to the old cassette his mom gave him. He looked down as he felt lights on him, he threw the cigarette away from himself and stared at the headlights as they came up, only to be disappointed when they passed.

"Hey, why you wasting good cigarettes man?"

Peter really jumped this time when he looked to the side, it was a kid from his school. He squirmed in place, looking uncomfortable. "I thought my grandfather was coming."

"Lame, where'd you get these anyway?" The kid came by, the still lit cigarette in hand, taking a drag from it without a thought. "You pay someone?"

"Pfft, no. I didn't need to, the lady at the convenience store is old and easily distracted." He said, puffing his chest proudly when the other arched an impressed brow.

"Nice man." They sat there in silence for a few minutes before the other spoke again, "I'm Joseph. Nice to meet you."

"Peter, but most people just call me Quill."

"Cool, well, I'll catch you around Quill."

Peter frowned when the other stood up, Quill could feel the lights on him again and saw that this time the truck was pulling up to him. He looked back to see that Joseph was already walking away from him. The darkness of the night engulfed him, obscuring him from view.

"Who was that boy Peter? Is he a new friend?" Grandpa asked, something in the tone of his voice seemed off though, not as enthusiastic as it could've been.

"Oh, that was Joseph, we go to school together." He hummed and shrugged, "I don't think we're friends yet, maybe soon though?" His grandfather hummed in response, staring out the window as they drove back home. It seemed odd that the street lights weren't able to pierce through the darkness of the night.

It wasn't even a week later when Peter saw Joseph again, he was seated on the bench that Peter would wait for his grandfather at. As Peter approached he could see the big smile spread across his face and a gentle wave from the other boy welcomed him to the bench.

"Hey, you got any more cigarettes?" Joseph asked as he sat down. Peter stared for a moment and nodded his head, reaching into his bag he pulled out the pack. There was only the one missing from the other night, he hadn't tried to smoke any others.

"Here," Peter offered one, pulling one out for himself. With smoke in the air the two boys appraised one another and were quiet.

"Thanks man." Joseph said, and Peter smiled. He sounded really cool, maybe they could be friends. After another few moments of awkward silence Joseph looked at him and tilted his head across the street. "Wanna go for a walk?"

"Oh, I probably shouldn't, I'm waiting for my grandfather." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"Come on man, don't be a loser, we'll be back before you know it."

Peter flushed in the face, no one called Peter a loser! He stood up and Joseph just smiled at him, leading him across the street. Cars honked at them and had to stop as they bolted across the road. Peter wasn't really sure where they were going, he had only just moved here a few months earlier.

The further they got from the park the worse the area started to look, the buildings becoming derelict and broken down. Peter barely noticed though, locked in conversation with Joseph who seemed to just like to walk wherever. They walked in circles, talking about the cute girls in school, homework and teachers they did or didn't like. Oh, and how dumb parents were, they didn't really understand anything.

Peter lost track of time, and as the hours went by he realized, he was in some deep, deep shit. Looking at Joseph the other also seemed to realize what happened, and the two went running back towards the park. They didn't get quite as far when a familiar truck came tearing around the corner, stopping right in the road for them.

"Peter, get in the truck!" His grandfather yelled at him, and Peter moved to quickly obey. "Stay away from my grandson." Peter had never seen him look like this, red in the face and angry. Peter got into the passenger side of the truck without a question. It was silent for several minutes afterwards before his grandfather spoke again. "I don't want you to be around that boy anymore."

"Why!? I'm sorry we were late, we were just talking!"

"I don't care! He smokes, you smell like smoke and you're walking around in a bad neighborhood!"

"But he's my friend!"

"You just met him! I don't want you to be around him anymore, do you hear me Peter?" When Peter refused to answer his grandfather he stared at him, "Peter!"

"Fine!" It wasn't fine though, and Peter had no intention of actually adhering to his grandfather's command. Looking back on it all, he wished he had.

Years passed, and with every year Peter became more rebellious, hanging out with Joseph, and defying his grandfather. Peter and Joseph's little group grew to include Kevin, Bailey and Rosanne. The small town that they had moved to soon figured out that they were the little hellions that would steal from stores, and tag public property. They created a reputation for themselves, and it was all so simple until one day it wasn't.

"How would you kids like a job?"

Fresh out of high school, Peter, Joseph and their three friends all looked at the shady man, tattoos decorated every free space on his arms, and his face had a few as well. Peter didn't really know this guy too well, only seen him here and there. Something told Peter that it was time to run, it was time to go.

"What did you have in mind?" Joseph asked instead, looking at him with that glint in his eyes, the one that saw an opportunity.

That had just been the start of it all, the start of a long and dark path of drugs, abuse and money. Parts of it were exhilarating, the money was great and there was a certain appeal to being bad. Peter squashed the feelings inside him that reared their ugly heads over the years, it was just about the money, just the money. It wasn't like they were hurting anyone, until they did.

Roseanne was the first of their group to go, drug overdose. She used as much as she sold, if not more. One day it was just too much and she never woke up. Bailey was gunned down in a transaction gone wrong. Then there was Kevin, who tried to run. When the Snatchers caught him, well, there wasn't much left of him to give back to his family.

It all came to a head one day when Peter was told to kill someone, someone who didn't pay back their debts. It all came crashing down around him when they pressed a gun into his hand and told him to pull the trigger. The day didn't end with that man's blood on his hands, but others did suffer for him. So he could get away.

He didn't even really notice the blood on his hands when he jumped into the old familiar truck that had come to his rescue. He grabbed the wheel, the key still in the ignition and tore out of the driveway. He heard the sounds of gunshots as they fired at him, at the truck. Maybe luck was on his side, or maybe he'd paid enough for one day.

He never went back, he couldn't face his family, he had enough money to keep himself going for a little bit, he'd make more. He wiped at the tears on his face, but when he caught his reflection in the rearview mirror, he'd only smeared blood across his cheeks. Making a fresh wave of tears fall from his eyes.

Peter could barely see the stars tonight, the moon was far too bright in the sky. Obscuring the rest of the light with its own luminescence. He had his headphones planted well over his ears and laid back on top of his trailer, staring up at the sky. He could feel the trailer under him moving as Thor moved about, making the entire trailer shift with every step. He'd been silent the entire way home when Thor asked him that question. Leaving the other in the truck as soon as they pulled up he had run inside, grabbed his music and disappeared up here.

He was grateful for one thing, Thor let him. It'd been at least an hour, maybe two, that he had been up here, just staring at the sky and listening to some of the old tracks his mother gave him. He tapped his fingers on his chest and figured this should be relaxing, but instead all he felt was a heavy weight on his chest and sadness thrumming in his veins.

There had been a time he was prepared to see his old ghosts, had seen them around every corner, in every shadow and behind his reflection in the mirror. With time, and successful avoidance, he'd all but forgotten what it was like to be on the run. Seeing Joseph again after nearly a decade was enough to return all of that fear, he felt like he was back to square one. The only thing that brought him out of his dark inner musings was when he felt the trailer tip once again, leaning towards Thor as he pulled himself up the short ladder and up on top.

He didn't say anything, at least not yet as he looked at Peter. Pleased to at least see him still alive and responsive. He still didn't say anything when he sat down next to the prone form of Peter, watching patiently.

Peter tried to ignore it at first. He could feel those blue eyes like blazing sapphires watching him. He wanted to tell the other to go away, to find himself a nice cave to squat in and stay there. He wanted to be alone, no, deserved to be alone.

"What Thor?" He eventually asked, pulling the headphones off his head, they clattered gently to the ground beside his head, he could still faintly hear the music from them.

"Are you alright Peter?"

"I told you it's Quill, and yeah I'm fine." Peter tried to keep the surly and unforgiving tone out of his voice, but ultimately failed.

Thor didn't react negatively, in fact he seemed unaffected by Peter's sass. "Would you like to tell me about it?"

"Not really dude."

"Mmm, I think you kind of owe me. Seeing as I hid you so intimately." Thor was staring at him, he was watching, prying into business that wasn't his own.

Anger curled in his gut and crawled up his chest and took a strangle hold around his heart. "I don't want to tell you! I don't want you to know anything about me! You're some delusional fuck who for whatever reason unknown Jane is giving the time of day! You're here because she asked to let you stay, not because we're friends, or because of the kindness of my heart. No, you're here because you have to be!"

Peter pushed himself up, Thor leaned back, arching an unimpressed brow at him. "How about, instead of asking me what's wrong, what about you oh Lord of Thunder? Why are you here? Did you see the pathetic look on your face when Erik asked you?" Peter shoved a finger into Thor's shoulder, his anger roaring like a flame caught with gasoline.

Thor's face was grim, his eyes narrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line. He carefully, but firmly, took Peter's hand and pushed it away from himself, glaring balefully at him. "It is none of your business what has led me here, and you would-"

"Oh! So I'm expected to share with you because I apparently owe you some explanation, but you can keep your secrets!? No, I don't subscribe to that bullshit dude, you'll have to try it on someone else." Peter snarled, having cut Thor off as he stood up, grabbing his cassette player and all, then leaped off the side of the trailer. Normally such a jump wouldn't have been a problem, but Peter landed roughly, scraping his knees against the dusty, rocky ground.

What was worse though was that Thor followed him, landing a lot more gracefully than Peter had. Though still angry in the face, Thor offered a hand to Peter, who batted it away without a thought. "What is wrong with you!?" He yelled at the other, standing on his own.

"I do not understand the question." Thor answered, his tone was clipped, and carefully controlled. Not offering Peter any leeway to get even angrier.

Jokes on him though, Peter didn't need a reason, lashing out even more. "You come up out of nowhere, taking advantage of Jane's good will, pretending to be something you're not! Something impossible! You're insane dude! You know that right?" Thor continued to look composed, and even seemed to be calming down, that was not something Peter wanted, he wanted him to hurt. "Everything you said is a joke! Asgard, the Bifrost. You're some drunkard who was abandoned here like a piece of trash!"

That seemed to get a reaction out of Thor, who looked hurt for a moment, his face quickly froze over, but when he spoke it was with a warning. "Quill," he growled.

"Oh? Is that what it is? Someone abandoned you here? A friend?" Peter watched Thor's face carefully, looking to see what would really hurt. "A lover? Sister? Father!?" At the last dig Thor's face twisted into immeasurable pain for a moment, and Peter knew he had it. In his anger riddled mind he laughed without joy, a cruel and horrible sound. "So Daddy didn't love you did he? Left you here in the desert because you weren't good enough was it?"

Thor turned away from him, hiding his face, but Peter didn't relent. "Stop me if I get close! You were left out here in the desert by Daddy Dearest and so you what? Came up with some elaborate and unbelievable story about Asgard, and gods and traveling across space in the blink of an eye, for what? To impress him? Are you going to tell him when he comes to get you that you fooled two scientists and a student!? Wow it's not hard to imagine why he left your stupid, worthless ass out here!"

Peter didn't have the chance to shout another word as suddenly a large hand wrapped around his throat and shoved him into the side of the trailer. He felt his feet hover over the ground as he was lifted into the air. Thor's face was absolutely hateful below him, he didn't seem too bothered with Peter's weight either, just held him there while he seemed to struggle not to kill him.

"You will silence yourself Peter, before I do it for you permanently." Thor's tone was dark and foreboding. The younger man clawed and scratched at Thor's hand, trying to get away. "You speak of things you know nothing about, shoving those who offer a caring hand to you away. You lash out like a petulant child, cowering and scared. You are little more than a beast in a corner and if that's how you wish to act, then I shall treat you as such."

Thor dropped him to the ground and Peter crumpled, sucking in air that he desperately needed, rubbing at his raw throat. There was definitely going to be a bruise there later.

"I will leave you for now to collect yourself and calm down. You will never speak to me like that again, do you understand?"

Peter tried to ignore him, he did, but when Thor reached for him again he quickly nodded. "Fine!" He rasped around a sore throat.

Pleased with this, Thor walked up the two steps and disappeared into the trailer, shutting the door softly behind him, as if the two hadn't just fought.

Peter leaned against the side of the trailer, hand over his throat as he stared off into the desert distance. He felt the panic that had just started to well in him recede back to… wherever panic came from. He took deep, calming breaths and wiped at the tears that escaped from his eyes moments later. As he settled down, looked back over what he had just done, he realized he fucked up, big time.

Peter ran a hand over his face and walked slowly into the trailer, looking to the small bed that Thor was currently sprawled on he was met instead with Thor's back. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words caught in his throat. Instead he turned around and went into his bedroom. He shut the door gently and just leaned against it, quietly crying from the stress of the night, and under the impossible weight of his own actions. He didn't know how he was going to fix this one.

Author's Note: Ooof! This one was a much darker and sad chapter than the others. It needed to happen though, can't all be sunshine and naughty day dreams of Thor can it? I hope you all enjoy the development of Peter's character and the little bit of backstory that highlights and defines who he is. I'll see you all in the next Chapter!

-Rezzo