Sam fidgeted as he waited for Peter to enter the café. They had agreed to come here at one p.m. sharp to catch up on lost time or in their case it was – tell me why the fuck you left seven years ago and did not bother coming back.

Sam's fingers started shaking as he imagined how angry and hurt Peter must have felt. Sam could not comprehend what it would be like to feel so abandoned and lost right after spilling everything inside you to the one person you loved and giving them full power over you. Sam shut his eyes tightly as his jaw tightened. He clenched his hands into fists as he remembered how easy it had been for him to destroy that trust. And the worst part was that he had done just that.

Suddenly there was a sound of a bell ringing and Sam's eyes immediately shot open. A nervous smile crept up on his face as his gaze met that of Peter's. The latter smiled at Sam as he moved towards the table. Peter sat down and could not help but chuckle lightly. Sam's eyes narrowed slightly as he asked:

"Why are you laughing?"

"No reason." Peter answered as he continued chuckling lightly. Sam rolled his eyes and sighed before motioning for the chair opposite him. Peter stopped laughing and sat down, but the ever present goofy smile remained on his face. It seemed as though not everything had changed completely.

The waitress soon came and took their orders. Unfortunately, it was hard for both of them not to allow silence to consume them. It was deafening yet slightly comforting in a way. It appeared that they both needed it. After all, it was still hard for Peter to take Sam's sudden reappearance in and it seemed it was still difficult for Sam to feel at ease around someone from his past. The worst part was that despite the time that had passed or the pain that had been undergone, they both had not managed to forget about the other.

As realization hit Peter he could not help but gasp inwardly. He was surprised that he had managed to hide his shock. On the outside his eyes only widened slightly, his jaw tightened, though it was barely noticeable. The only paramount change in his demeanor was the darkening of his eyes as he whispered:

"I am sorry Sam, but I can't do this anymore."

Sam was surprised at the sudden shift in the atmosphere. His eyes widened when he realised what his companion was about to do. That was the reason why with hasty movements Sam's hands covered those of Peter underneath the table and started massaging them lightly. Peter's eyes widened considerably. His breath hitched. The man shit his eyes tight as he relinquished in the warmth and security Sam's familiar touch provided. He could not help but sigh contentedly as Sam managed to achieve the one thing no one could – make Peter calm down and completely forget about the world in a manner of seconds.

Once Sam was satisfied that Peter was not going to run away before he had a chance to explain himself, he stopped his movements and let go of Peter's hands. Peter barely resisted the urge to frown and complain about the sudden loss of warmth. He then realised that he missed this. He missed the warm touches. He missed the midnight kisses they had shared. He missed having Sam around. For fuck's sake, he even missed the guy's intoxicating scent! With a heavy heart Peter reminisced in the memories of the one night they had spent together. After he had confessed, Sam had kissed him. Agony cut through the last layers of Peter's heart and extracted the pain and blood from it, making it hollow and empty as Peter recalled how lonely and broken he had felt in the morning, when he had woken up alone in a bed which was only partially warmed.

"Why did you do it?" Peter suddenly asked with a gelid gaze that sent shivers up Sam's spine.

The latter frowned. His eyes soon widened as realization hit him. Peter was not asking about the reason why Sam left the team. He was asking why he abandoned him! Something burned at the back of Sam's eyes as his vision lost its focus. His balance wavered and nausea filled an empty stomach. The urge to run away seemed far too appealing, but it was soon destroyed as hands shot out from under the table and gripped the sides of the chair tightly, holding a fleeting body in its place.

After some time passed Sam managed to calm down slightly and managed to choke out:

"I had business to take care of."

Peter rolled his eyes as he dropped down his napkin. He had used it to wipe his mouth as a form of distraction. Sam was glad about the time that sole action had bought him. However, Peter was not pleased in the slightest.

"Enough with your evasive replies! I am sick and tired of your constant avoidance, cowardice and negligence! It is high time you took responsibility for your actions and, no, I don't mean only me when I am telling you this. I am talking about the whole team." Peter said with a tone that was surprisingly low yet cold and distant.

Sam looked down at his hands as he closed his eyes. However, he did not miss Peter's next words.

"You owe us at least that." Peter whispered as he too gazed down. However, his attention was fully directed towards his cup of coffee that was already half empty. He then looked up and noticed that Sam's was half full. He suppressed a deep chuckle from escaping his throat as his mind went over the choice of words and labeled the whole situation as ironic. Right now the silent and helpless one was not Peter. It was Sam. Though, perhaps, Sam had been helpless then and had resorted to desperate measures. However, there was no way Peter could find out. Not at least Sam told him.

Sam clenched his fists before he whispered in an equally cold tone, "You have no idea how hard it was."

Peter frowned as his head shot open and he asked incredulously, "Excuse me?"

Sam then looked up and gazed directly at Peter. The latter was shocked at the anger and darkness that were swimming in those green depths. Fire was blazing inside of them, licking away all trace of innocence and carelessness Sam had once possessed. His jaw was tight as his lips moved to form a sinister smirk. Peter seemed to cower away in fear as Sam's head lowered slightly and his eyes were shadowed by Sam's fringe. It seemed that Peter had been wrong. Nothing was the same and it never would be the same. In the midst of it all Peter could not help but wonder just what exactly had transpired between Sam and those two villains they had faced all those years ago and as the seconds ticked by and insanity took full control over Sam's body Peter felt the need to ask – just who the hell was this person sitting across from him?!

"Leaving you and the team turned out to be the best and worst decision in my life." Sam began as he then lifted his head and continued retelling his life story in the form of a short resume, "To be honest, I remember thinking long and hard about it. You see, I had my doubts. I had my insecurities, but I knew that staying with you would only endanger you guys further. Plus, there was always the duty to my family that had never died and never would."

Peter listened carefully, but yet as clear as Sam's words were, almost nothing made sense about the last sentence. That was the reason why he uttered, "Wait…. What?"

Sam sighed deeply and exhaustedly before he explained thoroughly, "I was not born here on Earth."

Peter's eyes widened. He snorted before his lips parted. He was just about to ask whether all of this was all a sick joke when Sam put up his hand and said:

"Spare me the crap you are about to pull. Everything I have said thus far and will continue to say is the truth. You wanted the full version of the story? Well, I am giving it to you then so you might as well sit quietly and listen carefully because it is a long one and as you may know I do not like repeating myself."

Peter could not help but obey. It was strange to feel so intimidated by a person who was once his inferior. To think that what Sam was about to say might change Peter's opinion and judgment of the boy, now man, before him was to say the least perplexing.

"Good. It seems you are not going to interrupt me." Sam said as he looked directly into Peter's eyes as though he were daring him to disobey. And again Peter had to wander just who exactly he was having a conversation with.

With a deep sigh Sam's gaze turned from cold and distant to emotionless and worn. He unclenched his fists and leaned back in his chair before he leaned slightly forward and put his hands in his lap, pulling them together to form a semi circle. The position he was in seemed foreign. Everything about his posture was unfamiliar yet Peter could not help but remain immobile and wait for the answers he had been longing to hear for the past seven years to be told.

"I was born on a planet that is far away from here. It is called Amyss. You might note that is quite similar to the word abyss in the English language. To be honest, that word does describe the place quite well. The past ten years at least. Anyway, those two people we fought seven years ago, they were my brother, Ademus, and my sister, Akantha. You see, we three are part of the royal family and it is our duty to protect our people from anyone who would dare harm them. However, our family was torn between aiding them and fleeing from the planet when a civil war broke out. Half the population supported us, while the other half were against royalty and wanted all traces of it to be annihilated. I was not at Amyss when the whole ordeal broke out. I was here on Earth because mother had thought it would be a good idea to have me transported here for my protection. I was but one when that happened. They thought the war would end, but it did not. It stretched on for twenty fucking years. Not to mention that the aftermath was horrible. You still there?" Sam suddenly asked as he waved a hand in front of Peter's astonished face.

Peter's eyes widened slightly as he could only nod dumbly and wait for Sam to continue. The latter jus chuckled lightly before he resumed his previous position. Once he had got comfortable enough he continued, "I grew up here. I was raised by a loving family in Arizona. However, it turned out that my life would not be perfect forever. My father died and entrusted me with the helmet. Although, in theory, I should not be able to activate its powers, my natural gift is connected to light and anything that has to do with energy. It turned out that they were quite similar and as a result I became Nova. I was sent to New York, to Nick Fury, to be exact, when I was eleven. He was a close friend with my dad and had promised him that he would look after me and make sure I never lose control over my powers. It seemed that not the powers of the helmet were the problem, but my elemental ones. That was the reason why I accepted my brother's offer to go back to Amyss at the age of thirteen. I stayed there for two years, practiced controlling my powers and learned a few tricks. I helped my family as much as I could, but soon came back because according to my biological father I was not ready to face the gruesome and traumatizing battles that were led on the battlefield. As a result I came back and continued working for S.H.I.E.L.D. The rest two years of my life is something you are more than well acquainted with, I suppose?" Sam stopped retelling his life story to check if Peter was following.

Peter sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He wished Sam would just skip and tell him everything, but it seemed that if he did that, then Peter would probably not be able to understand any of it. Suddenly Peter felt something pounding in his head. He inwardly groaned as he realised that he was developing a headache. With another deep sigh Peter surrendered and said:

"I am. Honestly, I don't think I'd be able to digest anymore. Plus, the team would also be grateful if you told them the reason why you left. I am starting to think that you went back to help your family in the war. Am I close?"

Sam seemed to be contemplating something before he tilted his head slightly and answered, while shrugging:

"I suppose you could call it that. I actually returned to my home planet for a number of reasons, but I am starting to think that you are right about the telling the whole team part. But are you certain they would be ready for it? I mean…. you and I were sort of closer than we would both like to admit and here you are finding it hard to comprehend barely half of it, if not one third?"

"One third?!" Peter choked out as he drank the remnants of his coffee that had grown cold as Sam did the same. The former frowned slightly when the latter just chuckled.

"Seems like it would be better to call it a day, huh?" Sam asked as Peter barely nodded as a moan escaped his lips. Sam's eyes widened as he immediately leant forward and asked:

"What's wrong?"

Peter scrunched up his face as he answered:

"I seem to be developing some kind of headache."

Sam sighed as he muttered, "I would not call it a headache. It seems more like a migraine to me. Have you been having more stress than the occasional one?"

Peter shook his head but once Sam's question had fully sunk in he could not help but frown and ask, "Wait. What do you mean by 'occasional one'?"

Sam rolled his eyes as he iterated through gritted teeth, "You know damn well what I'm talking about Parker."

When Peter still did not say anything and remained confused, Sam rolled his eyes, leant forward completely so that his cheek was almost brushing that of Peter's and whispered in his ear:

"I mean you working for S.H.I.E.L.D."

Sam then withdrew and could not help but smirk at the slight redness that tinted Peter's cheek. Although Sam was slightly flustered himself, at least it was not that noticeable. With a huff at Sam's badly concealed chuckle, Peter replied:

"I don't do that anymore. And for your information neither does anyone from the team. We quit that organization three years ago."

Sam frowned as a sudden hole formed in the pit of his stomach. His gut instinct was telling him that something terrible had happened yet there was faint hope that it could be wrong. With shaky hands and withering gaze Sam asked, "D-Did something happen to you guys during my absence?"

With a deep sigh and heaviness in his heart Peter nodded. He then noticed how fast Sam froze and immediately reached out a hand to grasp one of his. As he tenderly caressed the cold skin he said, "It is not your fault Sam. There was an accident during which both Danny and Luke were heavily injured. You will see so yourself once you meet up with them. Ava and I tried to continue on our own, but found it impossible and shortly after it, a month perhaps, we, too, gave up."

Peter gauged Sam's reaction. A soft sigh of relief escaped his lips once he noticed that Sam's shoulders lost some of its tension. A small smile formed once Sam moved his other hand and covered that of Peter's. However, the tender moment was ruined when Sam noticed the ring on Peter's other hand. His eyes widened and he immediately froze. With a shaking and slightly furious gaze he looked up and asked, "Is there anything else I should know about?"

Peter looked guiltily at Sam. He had not wanted Sam to find this out this way. He had wanted to talk to him after Sam had finished telling him everything about his troubled past. You might call it selfishness, but Peter called it self-preservation. He wanted to shelter Sam from the horrible truth longer. But, in reality, all Peter was doing was protecting himself.

With a heavy heart Peter nodded and answered, "Yes, I am engaged."

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas that have nothing to do with the series.

A/N: Thank you for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting. I am glad that you like this story. Tell me what you think of the development of the plot and the cliffhanger in a review, please.