This is a prompt responding to an alternate 3 whumptober prompt: Comfort
Summary: The aftermath of Homecoming leaves Penny's closely knit facade of normal crumbling OR Sometimes you'll do anything to keep the love from your family, including betraying yourself.
She stood against the wall. Her stance adjusted so she was carefully balanced at just the right angle with arms crossed in front of her chest and head tilted up. Penny hoped she looked normal; like she gave off the air that she was okay and none of the turmoil inside her was leaking out. She hoped doing normal everyday things would lock away her true thoughts and, if she practiced them enough, maybe she would start to believe it herself.
Penny remembered how it the new strength felt in her muscles when she was bitten. She teetered on the edge for more than a month, afraid she would lash out and break something. Sometimes it happened by mistake. She winced thinking about the closet door still lying on the door. Her finger prints pressed into the handle. Doors in the end didn't matter, but the people around her did and she would die if something happened to them.
The world changed for her once she was bitten. She had strength and strange abilities. Some were…wicked. Flying across the sky and sticking to walls was beyond her wildest dreams and now she was used to it she wouldn't change a thing. But there were small things that took her off guard. The light overhead flared too brightly and Penny had the urge to shuffle away. It stung her eyes, made her vision tunnel to the tiles on the floor, and she swayed slightly unable to get her bearings. They were the same lights as always May had assured her, yet so much brighter than before.
May was unloading groceries. It was another normal task that would help her feel normal, balanced again but she couldn't gather the strength to walk across the room. She tried to radiate calm from her perch but from the crease in her aunt's eyebrow, it was unsuccessful.
She didn't know what had happened on that barge. She couldn't know what had happened between her and Mr. Stark either.
Her aunt continued to talk and Penny nodded not actually listening. The kitchen fell silent. There was no rustling of bags or May gossiping about the neighbor below. Instead, she was looking at him with narrowed eyes. Penny started sweating under the intense gaze. Maybe she looked worse than she assumed. Maybe May could see how upset she was. Penny had to find out.
"May?" May didn't respond but her gaze zeroed in on her hair and she wondered in a flash of panic if she developed any other crazy powers, if her hair was growing wildly fast her eyes changed colors.
Some strange, distant, look passed over May's face. Her eyes glazed over as a small, toothless smile appeared. Penny wanted to reach out and hug her but she couldn't stop the trembling in her arms from trying to keep that damn boat together. May walked over and placed her hands on her shoulders. Penny felt the warmth through her sweatshirt. She swallowed back a retort at the soft look in May's eyes, now directed at him instead of some far away thought.
May walked back to their catchall drawer and began rummaging around. She hummed when she found what she was looking for and appeared back at Penny's side with a pencil in hand. Without explaining she reached above her head to the door molding. Penny stilled as her breath washed over her. May smelled of the chocolate cookies the made over the weekend. She smelled of their laundry detergent and home.
"There." She said in a soft tone. With pressure from the hands on her shoulders, she turned around and stared at May's work.
Faded grey lines with penciled dates were printed into the molding. Years of records held dearly in the wood of the door. Her gaze started near the floor and continued up as the lines marked her growth from childhood to the present. At the top was the newest line, crisp charcoal grey with today's date beside it.
"Look at you." May said and hugged her from behind. "My baby's all grown up."
She could hear the catch in her throat. Penny, with all her strength locked away, placed her hands-on top of the ones wrapped around her neck. Her own eyes began itching and all the normalcy, all her convincing that everything was okay threatening to break free. How could such a flimsy tradition be enough to tear down her act? She tried to swallow the feelings down.
"Come on May," She said. "I need to grow at least two more inches to catch up to Ben."
May twisted Penny in her arms and hugged her. Penny thought of how much she wanted Mr. Stark to do the same, to tell her it was going to be okay and that she'd tried to do good. She tried not to think of how disappointed he looked, the grim set of his mouth as he told her exactly what he thought before dismissing her.
She had stumbled away, unseeing through her tears until she found somewhere she could be alone. Bile rose up and she fell to the ground, clawing at her mask so it wouldn't get dirty. She knelt there in a dark alley waiting for something to change, waiting for him to find her and tell her he was proud she tried. She'd tried so hard and it was all for nothing. Mr. Stark didn't want her anymore and she knew if May was aware of everything the woman who cared for her like a mother would be so disappointed.
The last bits of her façade cracked away, falling to the ground along with her tears. Penny wrapped her arms around May hoping that if she held on tight enough, her aunt wouldn't leave too. She could feel May's muscle clench under her and it made her that more aware of her unnatural strength.
They fell onto the floor on their knees as one, their heads bowed together as Penny sobbed and held onto her aunt dearly. Their heads in line with the penciled mark of five-year-old Penny.
"You already have, Penny. He would be so proud of the woman you are becoming."
Penny couldn't help the pained smile on her face and she buried it into May's shoulder. Nothing was normal anymore. The rejection burned in her chest. May carded a hand through her hair and whispered sweet words to her. She would do anything to keep her aunt safe. Anything to keep these hugs and acceptance, and if hiding who she was protected her, then that's what she would do.
She was Penny Parker, teenager, decathlon participant, and self-described nerd. There was nothing uncanny about her, nothing to cause disappointment. She nodded to herself. It was the way it had to be. Her tears dried and she slowly began to rebuild the walls around herself. She took in the smell of cookies and saw the groceries unpacked on the counter. When she turned around she even saw proof in the line that said she was finally 5'5".
All of these normal things would shield the people around her. Mr. Stark was a lesson and one taught in the harshest of ways. Spidergirl and all the strength, the missions, the danger, didn't mix well with people and would ultimately lead to either someone getting hurt or another rejection.
Penny breathed in again, secure in her decision. She couldn't wait to rub her height in Ned's face but for now she stood up, began unpacking the rest of the groceries for May, and ignored the burning pain in her chest that was making it hard to breath.
Hope you like it! I saw a post where May was measuring Peter's height (a beautiful comic but I lost it and can't find it) and wanted to write something for it. I'm working on another story called The Hourglass that is also responding to whumptober prompts in multi-chapters.
Let me know what you think.