Behind the Mask

I was setting out a few rows of cookies and juice on a folding table when Chase snuck over and snatched one.

I refused to make eye contact. "Those are for the homeless children." What kind of person eats cookies meant for homeless children?

"You have extras, right?" He answered my mental question.

I wiped the table with a cloth one more time and walked away without answering. I almost bumped into Daniel.

"Olivia, you brought your camera?" He asked expectantly.

I showed him the camera slung around my neck.

"Perfect!" He grinned. "Make sure you get some good ones for the website." He patted my shoulder and continued on his way.

It gave time for Chase to catch up with me. "Why are you mad? It's just a cookie."

"It's not about the cookie."

"Then what is it?"

I took a deep breath to keep my cool. "It's nothing. We open in less than an hour so I need you to just back off for a little while, okay?" The store was mostly prepared for the loads of people that would eventually swarm inside and drop off their new and gently used toys, but there were still several small things to address before then.

"Can I help?"

I stared at him blankly. "You want to help?"

He nodded eagerly. "I'm already here. Just tell me what to do."

I blinked and glanced around the store, decorated with balloons for the occasion. "Can you unload the coloring books in that box? We have to start making goody bags for the kids."

Chase smiled. "You got it." I watched him actually follow my orders and wondered if I was dreaming.

I started to toss a pack of crayons and some small toys in the bags and handed them to Chase. He filled them each with a coloring book and stacked them on another table. It was strange, we were actually getting along and working together. I didn't think that ever happened before.

"So where's Parker today?"

I still tried not to look directly at him. "Home -- or so he tells me."

"He's not home?"

"He might be. He can't sit still for very long, though."

Chase chuckled. "I can relate." He stopped to flip through one of the animal themed coloring books. "So homeless kids are actually coming here today?"

"How else would they get their toys?"

"I don't know...but how will they get here?" He tried to win my full attention.

I pointed outside. "One of the shelters paid for buses to bring them in with their families."

Chase nodded silently to himself. Then he said it. "I miss you, Liv."

I didn't hesitate this time in meeting his eyes. "What?"

"I know I screwed up, but I miss having you around. You keep me grounded -- kept me grounded."

I continued to angrily pack the goody bags. "Why do I find that so hard to believe?"

"You shouldn't." He said. "I mean it, and I'm sorry."

He was telling the truth, and it made me feel sick. "It's too late to play that game, Chase."

"I don't want anything to happen to you. That's why I'm here today. I know I don't deserve it, but I don't want you to hate me."

I finished filling the last bag. "You'll have to do better than a meaningless apology." I stopped in the middle of bagging and tried to distract myself with something else. I wasn't in the mood to deal with this today.

"Liv, please." He wrapped his fingers around my arm when I passed. "Just talk for five minutes?"

"Why should I?"

He stood up to speak in a quieter voice. "Because I need you to trust me."

I tried to wriggle free. "Let me go."

"No, listen," He held onto both arms now. "Parker will be here any minute to pick you up. Both of you need to get away from here, to the other side of the city."

"Peter's coming here? Why? Did you call him?" I was getting angrier by the second. "It's too dangerous for him! What's wrong with you?"

"Don't cause a scene." Chase whispered. "We've been tracking the two suspects and matched them to the hate mail that was sent here. They've had a plan all along, and they know Spiderman won't be here, so you need to leave before they get a hold of you."

I froze at his words. I never said anything to him about the hate mail.

"I'm not making this up, Liv. You gotta get out of here now."

I accepted the fact that I couldn't breathe anymore. "Okay..."

"You'll be fine. They're getting too hungry for revenge, it isn't as safe anymore. I'm not going to be enough to stop them from hurting you today."

I retraced the conversation we had a few minutes ago. "But you just said you were here to protect me today?"

"I was -- I am, just until Parker gets here."

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that familiar face snaking through the people beginning to pour inside.

Peter could tell by the look on my face that Chase caught me up with the plan. "Thank you." He said to him.

Chase slapped him on the back. "No problem." He looked back at me, his eyebrows angled down. "Be careful Liv."

I nodded mutely and lifted his hand to kiss his knuckles. I hoped it was enough of an apology.

Peter half smiled for my sake and took my hand. We walked at a fast-walking pace in the opposite direction of most people, dodging in and out of holes. I looked back and saw Chase continuing to fill the bags with coloring books.

We still hadn't spoken a word when Peter stepped up to the curb and challenged the red light on the opposite side of the crosswalk. It finally turned green and we hustled across the street. He held my hand and arm close to his body, but focused solely on walking ahead.

"Look for a taxi." It was the first thing he muttered to me in over ten minutes.

I scanned my eyes over the busy street and pointed. "Over there."

Peter jumped over to the curb again and waved the taxi down. We got inside and Peter tossed some money over the seat -- I didn't see how much. He gave the driver the name of a hotel, and we were off again.

I wasn't sure whether it was safe to talk yet. I watched quietly out the window as we drove farther and farther away from home.

Peter released my hand to lift his fingers to my face. He wiped a tear I didn't even noticed was falling. "I'm sorry."

There weren't anymore tears after that. I wasn't weak, I was stronger than I thought. "Don't be sorry, Peter." I held onto his hand again and squeezed it to reinforce my point.

"I'll only be sorry until you're safe again."

"So are yah tourists or what?" The cab driver suddenly asked, peering back at us through the rearview mirror.

"Yes." Peter answered. "We're just visiting for the weekend."

"Yah look like tourists." The gruffy man said. "Picked a hell of a weekend to be heah. I betcha Spidey is gonna get run outta town."

I gulped, desperate to play along. "You mean Spiderman?"

"Yeah. Son of a gun is bettah off losin' the game, anyways. Puttin' us citizens in dangeh for nuttin. We don't need 'em."

Peter squeezed my hand hard just as I squeezed his.

"So are yah sports fans? We got the greatest all-around teams in the country."

It took another twenty minutes or so until we reached the hotel. Peter arranged a reservation with Chase's advice in case something were to happen today and we couldn't spend the night at home. I wasn't going to question Peter's motives at this point.

The lobby was very quiet though clean. I tried to pretend this was a vacation or a weekend getaway rather than a safepoint. I stood back while Peter grabbed the room key and realized I didn't have any bags packed.

That's when I noticed the backpack slung over Peter's shoulder. I couldn't remember whether he had it in the cab with us. I figured it didn't matter and I would survive one night. But would it just be one night?

We rode the elevator only because our room was on the eighth floor. It didn't bother me that much anymore. When we made it to the hall and Peter swiped the key at our room. The door clicked open and I was hit with a strange sense of safety.

They wouldn't find us here, locked away in one of the thousands of hotels in the city. I didn't want to think about what would happen if we stayed home.

Peter dropped his bag and went in the bathroom. I peeled off my jacket and shed down to my tanktop and jeans. I shuffled over to the king-sized bed and dropped myself carefully onto it, hugging a pillow close to my head.

I could see Peter standing at the sink in the bathroom because he left the door open. He watched himself in the mirror before he turned on the water and splashed a few handfuls of cold water onto his face. I listened to the hum of the heater by the windows until he finished.

He almost tripped on his bag when he left the bathroom, stumbling when his foot got caught. He smiled at me, and it lightened the mood right away.

"You could have warned me we were planning to run away." I said.

"I didn't want to scare you." He rolled onto the bed beside me.

I hugged the pillow closer. "Too late."

He rolled closer as well. "It'll all be fine, I promise. This is just a precaution."

"Is it?"

He didn't answer right away. "I'll be sure tomorrow."

I blinked away more stubborn tears. "Tomorrow? What'll we do until then, hide out here?"

I could feel the heat of his chest on my back, so I could tell we were almost touching. "I don't think it's that bad..." His fingertips, cold from the water, hooked under the straps of my tanktop and bra, tugging them slowly down my shoulder.

He kissed the bare skin on my shoulder once, and then again. I rolled over and pressed our bodies together as well as our lips. I moaned softly into his mouth, wondering how on earth he could make me want him so bad in just a split second.

Long story short, we found something to occupy us until tomorrow.