INeedAUsername8: Yeah, not a great moment for him.

Chapter 23: Hurt Feelings

(The Royal Palace, Wakanda, the next day)

Peter had woken up from a horrible slumber. He'd been asleep for several hours, but felt like he was drained of his energy. He recalled the nightmares he had. Ava was the main subject of all of them. Some were of her just relentlessly beating him while mocking his weakness of being 'just him'. Others were of her tricking him like the moment before knocking him out at the tag team fight. However, most were centered on her being attacked by Kraven and meeting the same fate as her father, calling out for Peter to save her. As he awoke, he found the sheets were wet with his flood of sweat. He knew it was sweat for the stench rang of its scent. Peter's mind bombarded him with the nightmares he suffered during his restless sleep. He walked through the halls, his skin cold and his head burning. He, however, did recall a part of his slumber where things were calm…when he thought he heard Ava speaking to him, but when he couldn't see her. But for now, he needed something to eat and drink.

(The dining room)

No one was there, but food was fixed. T'Challa's chefs are the ones from some of the best in the country. They were efficient in their work, but the teen didn't really care about that at the moment. He sat down and reached for some fruits. He started eating, but took small bites and slowly chewed. His mind was still centered on Ava. But now, it was back to the revelation of what happened during the match. She had used Shuri's tactics to manipulate Peter's soft side to leave him helpless.

(….Morning guys….I don't really feel like talking right now…Sorry…)

He then heard the sounds of footsteps and saw Ava walking into the room. She gasped when she saw him. They hadn't really talked in some time, with Peter being KO'd by her last week as the main reason.

'Gosh…He still looks horrible…' She gasped in her mind. "H-Hey…" She said. "….Hey…." He grunted, his voice nearly inaudible. "Mind if I sit down?" She replied. "….You're the guest of honor." He sighed, not looking at her.

Ava could hear the dwelling hurt and anger in his voice. She sat in her seat and started putting food on her plate. For a few minutes or so they didn't talk to one another. Every now and then Ava took glances at him, not sure of when Peter was going to talk. She knew why he wasn't…she knew it all too well.

"Pete…about last week…" She sighed, but was interrupted, "I don't want to talk about it." "We have to talk about it. Ramonda told the king and me…" She continued, but was interrupted again, "Ramonda told you? That's odd…I thought Shuri told you?"

Ava could now really hear the simmering annoyance and slow boiling anger in his voice.

"Webs, that was just a stupid prank." She said.

She then saw not the anger in his eyes, but hurt.

"Prank?...You sounded really serious before you put me in the hospital for a week." Peter grunted, his anger continuing to boil. "Peter…" She tried to say, but was interrupted by Peter hitting the table.

While he didn't use his spider strength, the hit shook the table well enough to shock Ava into a gasping state.

"…Do you know what it felt like to know you tricked me?...When I heard it from her mouth?..." He hissed.

She didn't say anything, for she could see the tears slowly appearing on Peter's face.

"It felt like my heart had been torn apart. It was even worse than the night my Uncle Ben died…" He growled, but with more sadness than anger in his voice. "I-I'm sorry." Ava replied, her voice filled with an unidentifiable emotion. "…You sure didn't look sorry." The teen grunted.

Ava didn't know overcame her, but her anger started to rise.

"Oh, like you do with you mocking statements?" She snarled. "What's that supposed to mean?" Peter grunted.

Ava's sharp nails scrapped the table.

"You made fun of my skill and capability! It was like how you treat the villains we fought!" She hissed back.

Peter could hear the nearing explosion of anger in her voice.

"It's the way I fight. I throw them off their game to distract them. Honestly, I don't know if I enjoy doing it, but it works. But I know I didn't enjoy saying that to you…it just works to keep anyone and me from getting hurt…lot of good that did me.,." He growled. "Really? Because you sounded like you really enjoyed doing it." She hissed back.

Now Ava could feel the tears coming forth. She did her best to hold them back.

"You humiliated me in front of the entire city!" Ava snarled, her anger starting to emerge. "ME?!" He bellowed.

Ava sneered, an angry growl reverberating from her throat. She stood up from her seat.

"YES YOU! I COULD HEAR PEOPLE LAUGHING AS YOU WBBED ME TO THE MAT!" She growled.

Peter growled, his tears continuing to run down his face.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come…Tony was the one Fury ordered mainly to come…" The teen grunted. "THEN WHY DID YOU COME?! WHY THE HELL DID YOU COME ALL THIS WAY?!" She screeched. "Because I wanted to see you…because I missed you…I didn't want you to go…" He replied, his voice sounding almost dead.

Ava's eyes narrowed with annoyance.

"YOU CAN'T TELL ME TO DO WITH MY LIFE!" She growled. "I'm not trying to." He replied. "REALLY?! THAN WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT IS YOUR STUPID FUCKING REASON FOR ALL THIS?!" She screeched. "….I guess I felt something special…something that I couldn't understand till now…but it was all for not…" He grunted, then stood up.

Ava gasped when she saw the way his face looked. Peter' face no longer were lining with tears and was so pale that he looked like a ghost.

"…I'm leaving…I'm going to contact Fury and have him trade one of the Avengers for me here and there. Once you come back to New York City, I'll step down as leader of the team…I'll stay out of you way…and you'll never see me again…you can do what you want with your half of the split keychain…I already know what I'm going to do with mine. This is the last time you'll ever see me…I hope I wasn't too much of a burden to you…" He sighed, then walked away.

Ava just stood there in silence and shock.

To be continued…