12

Peter stood still like a statue. His lips quivered and all of his emotions that were bottled up stuck in his throat when he finally registered what had happened and what was about to happen now with Uncle Ben gone. Peter felt as if his body was in auto-pilot since Ben died until today, which was a day for Ben's funeral.

Peter felt a familiar touch on his backside, he knew May's gentle hand anywhere. She was trying to reassure him that everything was going to be fine; that she was fine. Peter doubted it. Nothing was going to be okay after what he did, or rather what he didn't do. Peter felt his face heat up from the fatal incident, his chest burned with feelings of angst, frustration, and sorrow. He narrowed his eyes, trying his best to remain collected.

Peter kept asking what-if questions that were filled with self-doubt and regret.

If only he'd been fast enough, smart enough, and strong enough… If only he could revert time. If only he listened to Ben… If only…

He felt salty tears glisten his red eyes, threatening to fall past the casings. Everything, he thought, was on him to blame. He was at fault. He was the cause of Uncle Ben's death, and nothing or no one was punishing him for his stupid mistakes.

"Peter, you've gotta talk to me," Aunt May insisted, the dark bags under her eyes hadn't suited her. It had been a few days since Uncle Ben's death; a few days of skipping school and ignoring Harriet's worried text messages, and finding just where the criminal who shot a bullet through Ben's heart was located.

Peter stood up from his seat and told her. "I need some time alone." He noticed that he and May were the only ones remaining at Ben's funeral.

May didn't say anything to stop him, nonetheless, she watched with pained eyes as Peter walked away.

Absentmindedly, Harriet poked her salad with a plastic fork as she gazed at her texts to Peter. She sighed, not listening to her friends' conversation. They were talking about the Halloween party and what they were dressing up as. Harriet found herself listening with mild interest.

"What're you dressing up as, Harry?" Ned asked suddenly which made Harriet jump slightly.

"Um…" Harriet sat up in her seat. She realized just how loud the cafeteria was. "I don't know if I'll even dress up this year."

"What? Why?" Ned inquired in pure shock. No one was cool enough or old enough to not dress up for Halloween. It was just blasphemy.

Ron chuckled and made an inside joke, "Harry's gonna dress up as a witch since she's always been one, right?"Harriet pursed her lips at Ron as Hermione jabbed Ron's ribcage to make him regret spouting those words.

Fortunately, Ned casually went on with the conversation, "you should totally dress up as a witch! I think it'll suit you!"

"Thanks, Ned," smiled Harriet. She then looked down at her phone to tell the time, "shoot, I should go now, I need to ask Mr. Harrington a question about the test."

Hermione lightly chuckled as she drank a bit of water. "I'm glad you're taking my advice to heart, Harry."

"Yeah, well, suck my butt."

Harriet refrained a groan as she tried so hard to listen to Mr. Harrington's explanation, or rather rambling. Science was a bore to Harriet and she was almost certain she had a D in the class. Mr. Harrington, however, was a kind-hearted soul and had told everyone in class that he would give extra marks to those who asked him a lot of questions in and out of class.

"Oh, before you go, Harriet," the said girl halted in her steps to exit out of the classroom and turned to see Mr. Harrington nearing her with a file, "could you do me a favor of giving this to Peter?"

"To Peter?" Harriet repeated, scanning through the first couple of pages which contained the homework that Peter missed.

"Peter's a good student and I wouldn't want him to fall behind."

Harriet glanced up and looked at the science teacher in confusion, "but why me?"

"Aren't you two close? That's what I heard from Ned…"

Harriet felt her cheeks redden at the thought of her and Peter having a 'close' relationship, though she doubted Mr. Harrington didn't really mean anything by it.

Mr. Harrington continued his explanation. "I was going to have Ned deliver these to Peter, but he said he had some extracurricular activities… But I swear he only has the Decathlon to worry about…" He then said with a chuckle, "he's such a weird kid."

Damn it, Ned… Harriet realized Ned was setting her up with Peter. It wasn't the fact that she didn't like the idea, but more of the fact that she was flustered and shocked from the surprise attack if she could even call it that.

"Harriet?" Mr. Harrington called out, "do you accept this quest?" It was blatantly obvious that Mr. Harrington was and always will be a massive Dungeons and Dragons diehard hardcore player.

Whenever Mr. Harrington acted this way, Harriet went along. It was part of the reason why he treated her as one of his favorite students. "I do accept this quest, Mr. Harrington."

"I trust that you will not fail me."

"Of course."

Harriet: What's Peter's address Ned

Ned: You mean you don't know?

I thought you knew by now

Harriet: Just

Ned: right sorry

Receiving Peter's address, Harriet started toward a direction. Halfway to Peter's home, Harriet's mind registered how fast her heart was beating half in excitement and half in uneasiness.

During the few days Harriet hadn't seen Peter, she'd messaged him, and when those texts were ignored, Harriet wondered if she was acting clingy. She asked herself questions like what if Peter didn't like her anymore? It could've been anxiety planting those thoughts or something else entirely.

Breathing in and out to calm her nerves, Harriet lifted her fist to knock on the door of the small bungalow, however, she stopped herself midway when she heard Peter's voice call her name.

She turned and saw him within a few feet away. Instantly, Harriet saw a broken boy, as if he was worn down and beaten up, in both physical and psychological way. The look in his eyes matched the bruising of his cheek and the notable fresh scar on his neck.

Without a word, Harriet walked toward Peter and pulled him into her arms. She felt him tremble from her touch, breathing in her cozy scent that smelled strangely of home. She gradually felt her shoulder getting soaked by his unceasing tears. As Peter continued to cry, Harriet proceeded to caress his hair in a soothing motion.

Peter didn't want Harriet to see him so weak, so fragile. He wanted her to see him in his best moments. However, when she pulled him into her embrace, he broke down even further.

"It's okay. I'm here."

Peter believed he needed to hear those words.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something here?"

Harriet and Peter both pulled away immediately when they heard May's voice. They were both red in the face, flustered. Peter quickly wiped away the tears from his cheeks, but the tear stain on Harriet's shoulder was clearly evident.

May smiled at the two teenagers. She was glad Peter was finally getting all of his bottled emotions out of his system. This must be the girl Peter asked out to the movies, she thought in delight. May may have teased Peter about it, but she was still mourning the loss of her husband so she didn't have enough energy to do so. Instead, May asked, "why don't you both come inside?"

"Oh, no, I don't want to intrude. My parents would worry if I don't hurry back home," Harriet told May.

"Alright, well, it was nice to meet you…"

"Harriet Potter," Harriet responded.

"Harriet," May smiled, "I'm Peter's aunt, you can call me May." She then glanced at Peter and told him, "meatloaf will be ready in half an hour, Peter." before going back inside after sending a final friendly smile toward Harriet.

Harriet then turned to Peter and gave him the work Mr. Harrington gave her to deliver, "I just stopped by to give you what you missed out on."

"Thanks," Peter said with a small smile, grabbing the papers from her.

Harriet responded with a smile of her own. She touched Peter's arm before saying, "I'll see you in school."

Peter stopped her by her wrist before she could leave, "I-I'm sorry for not replying—"

"It's okay. No hard feelings." Harriet's expression gradually formed a slight frown, "I can understand if you, um… don't want to talk to me anymore."

"Wh-What're you talking about? Of course I want to talk to you!" Peter spouted, as though his thoughts didn't follow along with his speech at the same time. he watched as Harriet's eyes slightly widened in surprise. Peter sighed as he let go of her wrist and swept his bangs away in a nervous habit. "I… My uncle— he died."

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Peter. I didn't know…"

"It's really all my fault…" He didn't know why he was saying all these things. It was as if he couldn't help it but feel that Harriet was willing to listen to everything he had to say and not judge nor reprimand him. He honestly felt that Harriet had a strange aura that existed like an oasis in the middle of a desert.

Harriet frowned at his response. "I'm not the best person to talk to about this… I can't empathize with you, I don't know what it feels like to lose someone so precious to you, and I'm sorry for that. But, Peter, just know that I'm here for you whenever you need me."

a/n: