"Run, you clever boy. And remember."

-Oswin Oswald; from Doctor Who (2012)

The reactions were exactly what Gemma expected. Remy went into a full-on fury, shouting and stomping and cursing. Needless to say, Gemma was very happy she convinced Peter to leave when she did; if he had come up with her to her apartment. . . .the thought made her shudder. Even Jai and Titus had gotten a bit intimidated by Remy's outburst. Gemma tried her best to calm him down, hoping the neighbors hadn't called the cops; though she'd understand if they did.

"How can you tell me to calm down?" Remy snapped. His eyes were nearly bulging out of his head, his face the deepest shade of red Gemma had ever seen. Veins were popping out of Remy's forehead and Gemma was positive all the veins, muscles, and arteries in Remy's neck would snap and cave in from the amount of stress they were under.

"If you'd just shut up and listen then you'd know what really happened!" Gemma barked. "And keep your voice down! Do you want the police to come here!?"

It took some time, but Remy finally managed to calm himself down, his face was still a deep red, and the veins on his forehead were still prominent. Gemma could tell he was itching to do something — hit, punch, kick, scream, whatever — but he was holding back. The sight of her eldest brother being so angry was terrifying, and Gemma could only hope that he didn't hold any long-lasting grudge against Peter, though she knew he would. Remy's ability to hold a grudge was a lifelong commitment in certain situations. Take his current ex-girlfriend and his former best friend. Remy's last girlfriend from Syracuse, a girl named Millie, had announced to Remy, before their breakup, she was pregnant. Remy had been surprised, considering the two only had sex twice, with Remy using protection both times and Millie swearing she was on the pill.

Unfortunately, Remy found out the hard way that not only was the baby not his, but it was his best friend's. He had gone over to Millie's place, not long before Leonard's and Izabela's divorce had finalized, to tell his girlfriend what was going on with the divorce hearings.

Remy found Millie and his former friend, Vik, in the middle of having sex.

Names and accusations had been thrown around. Vik and Remy got into a physical altercation. Millie was an emotional wreck. That was when the truth came out about the baby not being Remy's, that she and Vik had secretly been seeing each other since the beginning of Millie's relationship with Remy. The breakup put a sour taste in Remy's throat, and when he got home that afternoon, he'd destroyed his room in a fit of nearly uncontrollable rage. It was impossible to get him out of his anger, so everyone waited until he wore himself out. Last anyone heard, Millie and Vik ended up dating, but Millie suffered a miscarriage. Whatever happened to their romance afterwards remains unknown.

Remy never forgave Millie or Vik for betraying him like that. And, from what Gemma understood, he'd hold that grudge, that unwillingness to forgive, until the day he died.

"I'm waiting," he seethed. Titus and Jai were standing not far off to the side, looking between Gemma and Remy anxiously. Obviously they were curious on what happened to their sister, but they weren't expressing it as violently as Remy was.

"There were some kid who was beating Peter up," Gemma said, "I stepped in and the kid punched me in the face. It was not, in any way at all, Peter's fault."

"That's it?" Remy exclaimed, his arms crossing his chest. "Some kid was beating up Peter and you decided to jump in?"

"What do you expect I do?" she snapped. "Just let him get hurt? That's not fair to him. He's a good person."

"You just met him today!"

"So? He stuck up for me at school and he got beat up for it. That should count for something."

In that moment, Gemma swore she saw Remy's expression soften, but she couldn't say for sure. The flicker in his emotion seemed to last for a split second before turning back into that anger-fueled one. Gemma might as well given up at that point.

0-0-0-0

By the time Peter made it back to his apartment, he noticed that the television had been turned on and there was some clatter in the kitchen. His heart dropped — May was home. As much as he loved his aunt, he couldn't stand seeing her get worked up over seeing him in such an awful condition. May knew about the bullying, and she did her best to help Peter through whatever problems were going on, but there were some things Peter felt were way out of May's control.

Throwing off his shoes, he let out a sigh as he tried to prepare himself for May's onslaught of questions and worries.

"Pete? Is that you?" she called.

"Yeah," he answered, his voice squeaked a bit.

"Hey, I was getting worried," she said, walking out of the kitchen. "I called Ned's place and. . . ." There was a long pause as she looked at his face. Peter knew there'd be no getting out of what she was going to do next, and a part of him wished the ground would just swallow him whole at that moment. "What. . . .?" she stammered. "Peter, what on Earth happened?"

Shrugging slightly, Peter shifted from foot to foot, not exactly meeting May's gaze. "It's nothing," he exclaimed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You don't need to worry about it."

"Peter, you're all cut up and bruised," May exclaimed, waving at him. Her eyes were wide and an exasperated look was on her face. "Look, I know you don't really like talking about it, but you've gotta tell me when there's something wrong. I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

A sinking feeling mixed in with a heavy sensation of guilt. May was the only family Peter had left. And after what happened with Uncle Ben — the feelings were still pretty raw, and it hadn't even been a year yet. Peter saw how May did her best to stay strong, to be the best support Peter had; he didn't like seeing her get worked up, he didn't like seeing her get worried or anxious or even a little bothered over anything. That was the main reason he hated her seeing him like that. It made him feel weak and vulnerable and. . . .incapable of taking care of anything.

What he wouldn't give to be strong enough to take care of himself.

"May, really, I'm fine," Peter said, trying to casually brush it off. "I'll be OK. Don't worry."

"That's the problem," she sighed, "I'm always going to worry. I'm taking care of you, Peter, and I feel like I'm doing a bad job sometimes. . . ."

Before she could say anything else, Peter went over and gave May a hug. He knew there were moments where she doubted herself. He didn't blame her, honestly. Uncle Ben and Aunt May never had the opportunity to have children, or maybe they just didn't want children, but when Peter came to live with them, he became the closest thing to a son they'd ever have. In the time he spent with them, Peter tried to show as much appreciation for everything Ben and May had done — giving him a place to live, sending him to a decent school, and being so supportive of him. Even after Ben's death, Peter tried finding ways to be appreciative of the things he did. It was the closest he could get to remembering him and honoring him.

"You do more than enough, May," Peter said, his voice soft. "Don't ever think otherwise."

When he felt May's arms wrap around him, Peter relaxed. He always tried his best to ease May's worries.

"C'mon," she sighed, "let's get you cleaned up."

(A/N):

Not a super long chapter, but I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway. If you've got constructive criticism, don't hesitate to let me know, OK? I think it's great when people tell me things I can improve on!

The day I own anything in MARVEL will be the day pigs fly.

So...a new trailer for the third THOR movie has been released. To be completely honest, I've never really been a big fan on the THOR movies, I thought they were a little boring. But after looking at the first two trailers for RAGNAROK, I have to say I'm pretty excited. It kinda reminds me of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY in a way — maybe with the music they've played for the trailers and all the bright colors and 80s-ish style? I don't know. That's how I see it, at least. I also love Mark Ruffalo's version on Bruce Banner, so I'm probably just happy to see him and Thor actually interacting together.

Did I also mention the trailer preview for INFINITY WAR at a SAN DIEGO COMIC CON panel? I don't know. If I didn't, the MARVEL crew, along with some of the actors and actresses from the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, showed a trailer on what INFINITY WAR's gonna be about. From what I know, no clips have been officially released on the interwebs, though there's been some leaks that have been taken down. I guess INFINITY WAR's gonna be super violent? Maybe it's because they're fighting Thanos? I just hope Thanos doesn't hurt Bucky or Spidey? Or Falcon?!

*takes a deep breath* My little nerdy moment is over.

Like I mentioned above, constructive criticism is always welcome! I'll also have no problem adding in subplots or OCs, if you guys have any suggestions you'd like to give. Stuff like that is always welcome!

Thanks.

Jasper