France — Paris — Restaurant — Late Afternoon
Coming back to the present from that very recent memory, Peter slowly gathered his thoughts. His gaze remained lost in space for a few moments before returning to the others.
— "This is really... incredibly awkward. I've got to find a way to make the atmosphere a little more relaxed. We're on vacation, after all..."
Just as he was about to speak, Flash beat him to it.
— "So... Miles, Anya... where are you guys from?"
Everyone turned to look at him. No one had expected him to start the conversation like that.
Noticing their reaction, Flash became slightly uncomfortable.
— "I-I mean... I don't really know who you are outside of school."
Miles hesitated for a moment before answering.
— "Well... we're both from Brooklyn."
— "Brooklyn? What's it like over there? I've lived in New York my whole life, and I've never even been there. Do you think you could show me around someday?"
— "O-Oh, uh..."
— "Okay, that's enough."
While calmly eating, Anya swallowed her bite before letting her fork fall onto the table.
The metallic clang echoed throughout the restaurant.
— "I don't get it. What's your deal?"
— "Anya... please... just shut up. Please!"
— "Why are you pretending to care about us?"
— "Uh, Anya... I don't think he's—"
— "Hey! What's your problem? He's trying to get to know you, and did you hear the way you talked to him?"
This time, Liz dropped her utensils onto the table.
Another sharp metallic sound rang out.
Even louder.
— "Ooooh, sorry! He's trying to get to know us? Ooooh, I get it now!"
She wore a smile dripping with sarcasm.
— "Trying to get to know us like at the beginning of the school year, when he thought it'd be hilarious to lock Miles and me inside the gym all night?"
Her voice rose.
— "People thought we'd been kidnapped, for God's sake!"
As he remembered that incident, Flash's expression darkened.
He slowly lowered his eyes.
Ashamed.
— "I know... and I'm sorry about that. It was really stupid of me."
Ever since the meal had begun, Sally had been eating while looking at her phone.
She finally looked up.
To everyone's surprise, she defended Flash.
— "Come on... like you said, it was just a prank."
The moment she heard that, Anya immediately clenched her fists. For a split second, she was ready to punch Sally right in the face.
Peter noticed immediately. With a firm look, he silently told her not to do it. She completely ignored him.
Inside, Peter was already screaming in despair. Thankfully, Gwen stepped in as well. She didn't say a single word.
She simply gave Anya a gentle look. Anya remained frozen for a few seconds... before finally holding herself back.
Peter let out an enormous sigh of relief in his mind. Part of him still felt slightly offended. Even when he gave her a serious look, Anya wouldn't listen.
It took Gwen stepping in for her to calm down. The two lovers exchanged a knowing glance.
Harry finally spoke up as well.
— "It's easy to hide behind the excuse that it was 'just a prank.' But when that prank lasts for days, weeks, months... even years... you start wondering if it's really a prank anymore."
His expression hardened.
— "It's complete bullshit!"
Peter finally raised his voice slightly.
— "Okay, okay! Guys, can we all calm down for two minutes?!"
Several customers immediately turned to look in their direction. A few seconds later, their teacher quickly walked over.
He kept his voice low, but his irritation was obvious.
— "Can someone tell me what's going on?! Why are you making so much noise?! We've been here for less than an hour, and people are already giving us dirty looks!"
He continued immediately.
— "Behave yourselves, or I swear this isn't going to end well!"
Before walking away, he gave Peter and Gwen an especially stern look. Both of them shivered slightly.
They fully felt the weight of the responsibility he had entrusted to them. Silence immediately settled back around the table.
Peter exchanged a hesitant glance with Gwen.
He took a deep breath before speaking.
— "Alright, listen... I know this isn't easy. I really do. We're far from having a good relationship, and everyone has their own reasons for not necessarily wanting to be friends with each other. But honestly... no one's asking you to become best friends. We just want you to at least be able to stay in the same room and talk without arguing or disrespecting each other."
Everyone listened.
Yet somehow, it still didn't seem to be enough.
Gwen decided to take over.
— "Peter's right. We're a group! And even if this isn't what we would've chosen in the first place, that's the way it is, and we can't change it. But what we can do, right here, right now, is make sure this trip goes well and create amazing memories that we'll all be able to look back on with a smile."
A shy smile brightened her face.
— "You don't really want these three days to turn into nothing but a nightmare... do you?"
A long silence followed her words.
Their eyes met.
The tension had already eased considerably.
Anya, who had still been clenching her jaw just moments earlier, slowly relaxed it.
Her expression softened.
— "If it's so these three days can at least be somewhat enjoyable... I guess that's possible..."
Seeing the most stubborn member of the group take a step back, the others gradually calmed down as well.
They exchanged a few glances... not a single word was spoken, yet they all understood one another.
Beneath the table, Peter and Gwen discreetly slipped their hands into each other's.
Their fingers gently intertwined. Little by little, the conversations resumed. The tension finally faded away. And the rest of dinner unfolded in a much more relaxed atmosphere.
France — Hotel in Paris — Peter and Flash's Room — Evening
Night had now settled over Paris.
In their room, Peter and Flash were each lying on their respective beds. Flash was texting on his phone while Peter stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.
— "Flash...?"
— "Yeah?"
— "Could you... tell me what happened? Explain why our relationship ended up like this? After what you told me before we went to the restaurant... I have to admit, I just can't get it out of my head."
Flash immediately stopped typing on his phone. He slowly turned his head toward Peter.
— "Are you sure you... really want to know?"
Peter nodded calmly, determined to understand.
Realizing how important this conversation was and wanting to take it seriously, Flash locked his phone and placed it on the small table beside his bed.
— "For a long time... my relationship with my father has been complicated."
He lowered his eyes slightly.
— "Very... complicated."
— "What exactly do you mean?"
Flash took a long breath before continuing.
— "When I was a kid, I always admired my dad. He was a strong and kind man... and I wanted to become just like him."
— "Was...?"
— "But one day, without me understanding why... he completely changed. He became colder and more violent. Toward me, my mom, and my little sister... but mostly toward me and my mom. My little sister was spared much more than we were. And over time... all of it started affecting me. My father, the man I admired, looked like he hated me without me understanding why... and he had even started drinking. That only made everything worse."
He paused briefly.
— "I slowly started falling apart. I paid less and less attention at school, got into more and more trouble, and I felt awful."
His gaze remained lowered.
— "I don't really know how to explain the feeling, but... it was like something was eating away at me. I was angry... really angry. And yet... I never blamed my father. I blamed myself instead. I kept telling myself that maybe it was my fault... that maybe I deserved it. That I must've done something to make him so angry."
His voice grew heavier.
— "But then... I started wanting an outlet. I needed something that would make me feel better. And the best thing I found..."
He clenched his fists gently.
Ashamed.
— "...was hurting other people."
— "When my father hit me, insulted me, or humiliated me... I wanted to do exactly the same thing to someone else, just so I wouldn't feel so alone. It made me feel better. And little by little... it became a habit."
He closed his eyes for a few moments.
— "You... and a lot of other guys... became my way of coping. But as I got older... I started realizing that what I was doing wasn't right... that it was pointless. And yet... I kept doing it. I was smart enough to see the problem... but not strong enough to fix it."
Silence fell over the room.
Other than Flash's voice, there wasn't a single sound.
Peter remained perfectly still.
He listened carefully to every single word.
And the more Flash spoke, the more deeply it affected him.
— "To be completely honest with you... the reason I want this trip to go well isn't just because I'm trying to be nice or because I feel guilty."
He slowly raised his head.
— "It's also because after this trip... I won't be continuing my studies. I'm joining the army."
— "...Wait, what?!"
Inside, Peter was completely stunned.
Even so, he remained silent.
— "When my dad realized I was useless at school, that decision had already been made a long time ago. And even though I never showed it... at first, I was terrified. I didn't want to go."
He took a deep breath.
— "I wanted to change... to become a better person... but I just couldn't do it. Every time I tried, I always ended up hurting people again just to keep that false sense of feeling okay."
A brief silence settled before he continued.
— "Well... that was before Spider-Man showed up."
Peter's eyes widened slightly.
Not with joy.
But with curiosity.
— "Spider-Man? What do I have to do with any of this...?"
Flash wore the same expression Peter had already seen whenever he talked about Spider-Man in class.
With one major difference.
This time, there was no excitement.
Only sadness, guilt... and sincere admiration.
— "Ever since I saw him lift the Daily Bugle to save all those people... when I saw him fighting to save New York all by himself... something just clicked inside me."
His voice grew more confident.
— "That guy is my role model. From that moment on... I told myself I wanted to become like him. That I had to become like him. I don't really know how to explain it, but... he gave me the strength to try."
He looked down.
— "To genuinely try."
Realizing he was gradually getting carried away while talking about Spider-Man, he took a few seconds to calm himself before returning to a more serious expression.
— "I never thought I'd had that much of an impact on him..."
— "So... this school trip is my last time with Liz, Sally... and all of you."
A sincere smile appeared on his face. The very same smile Peter remembered from years ago.
The smile of the kind Flash he used to spend time with when they were kids.
Not the one who had bullied him for years.
— "You know... the truth is, you're probably the best friend I've ever had in my entire life."
He looked away slightly, embarrassed.
— "And deep down... I've always regretted treating you the way I did. So maybe I'm asking for too much, but..."
He hesitated.
— "...I hope that someday, you'll be able to forgive me."
There wasn't the slightest trace of arrogance or mockery on Flash's face.
His expression was completely sincere, marked by a shame he was no longer even trying to hide.
Peter noticed it immediately and understood that Flash wasn't pretending. A brief silence settled between the two boys.
After confessing that last part, Flash looked slightly uncomfortable, as though simply saying those words had taken every ounce of courage he had.
Peter remained silent for a few moments before slowly sitting up on his bed.
Then he gently turned toward Flash, who was still sitting on the other side of the room.
— "But you don't have to, you know? I'd understand, and it would be perfectly nor-"
Before he could finish, Peter simply extended his right hand.
A gentle smile appeared on his face.
— "I forgive you, Flash."
Flash froze.
For a few seconds, he had trouble believing what he had just heard. Not a single word came out of his mouth. His expression, initially frozen in surprise, gradually softened until it became a genuine smile.
The same warm smile he used to give Peter when they were kids, back when they played together without the slightest trace of resentment.
Without taking his eyes off Peter, Flash slowly reached out his hand.
Peter accepted it without hesitation.
Their hands met naturally, as though, despite all those years of conflict, they had always been meant to find each other again.
— "Flash hurt me, that's true. And I'd be completely justified in holding a grudge against him and refusing to forgive him. But unlike me... he didn't have an Uncle Ben. He didn't grow up in a healthy home or receive the same upbringing I did. He spent years living with a father who hated him... and who still hates him to this day. And for any child... that has to be incredibly hard. It would be unfair of me not to take that into account."
A few moments later, they slowly let go of each other's hands. Without saying another word, each of them returned to what they had been doing.
Flash picked up his phone again. Peter, meanwhile, quietly left the room to take a walk through the hotel's hallways.
— "Flash bullied me, and I was often mocked at school. So without Uncle Ben... who knows what I would've become in his place? I'm honestly impressed that he recognizes his flaws now and genuinely wants to change them. It took a long time, sure... but still... I'm glad I learned all of this and got to see this side of him."
He continued walking calmly down the hallway.
— "I wish I could help him, but I don't think stepping in would leave a good impression. Quite the opposite. Especially in a situation like his. It's better to let him deal with it himself. But... if I ever see that he needs help... I'll be there for him."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
— "After all... he's an old friend."
After several years, a single day and a few conversations had been enough to lay the first stones of a friendship they had both believed was lost forever.
New York — Forest — Night
Night had settled over the long highways crossing the vast forests of New York State several hours earlier. At this hour, traffic was scarce, and only the steady rumble of engines occasionally broke the silence between the trees.
Behind the wheel of his massive semi-truck, a burly truck driver continued his route peacefully. One hand rested on the steering wheel while the other held a sandwich, enjoying the calm of the long nighttime drive.
Suddenly, an intense light illuminated the sky.
Intrigued, he instinctively looked up through the windshield.
A gigantic meteor was tearing through the atmosphere at tremendous speed, leaving a long trail of fire behind it.
For a few seconds, he remained completely frozen.
Then...
The meteor violently crashed somewhere deep in the forest, only a few hundred meters from the highway.
The impact was so powerful that the ground began to shake, sending violent tremors through the entire truck.
— "Holy shi-!"
Caught off guard, he slammed on the brakes and brought the vehicle to a stop on the shoulder.
With the engine still running, he quickly climbed out of the cab. In the distance, a thick column of black smoke slowly rose above the treetops, clearly visible despite the darkness.
The truck driver stood there for a few moments, staring at the strange plume of smoke, torn between curiosity and growing concern.
Eventually, he opened one of the truck's storage compartments, took out a flashlight and a rifle, then cautiously made his way into the forest.
The silence there was almost unreal. Only the sound of his boots crushing dead leaves and snapping branches accompanied his advance.
The farther he walked, the more shattered tree trunks and broken branches appeared around him, as though something unimaginably heavy had plowed straight through the forest.
After several minutes of walking, he finally reached the point of impact. Before him lay a massive crater, still smoking.
The earth had been completely overturned, and a faint heat still radiated from it. The beam of his flashlight slowly swept across the inside of the crater.
At first...He saw nothing.
Then something caught his attention. A strange black mass...Viscous. It moved slowly at the bottom of the crater, almost imperceptibly.
In the darkness, it was impossible to make out its exact shape. But one thing was certain…
It was moving.
— "What the hell is that thing?!"
The truck driver tightened his grip on his rifle, never taking his eyes off the strange entity.
He had no idea that it was neither a meteor…Nor even a simple creature. This thing from outer space was alive.
It was a symbiote.
TO BE CONTINUED.