Behind the Mask

Aunt May set my cup of tea on the coffee table beside me. I was busy distracting myself with a jigsaw puzzle of Central Park on the floor. I needed the distraction more than anything, especially since Peter was gone.

He hadn't left for good yet. He just took a trip to the drug store a few blocks up the street. He wanted to buy some necessities to take with him in his backpack when he really did leave. I still had time to change his mind, but I had no idea how to use it.

"I don't think anyone has completed that puzzle in years." Aunt May mentioned, gazing down at me like a proud grandmother. "My husband was the only one that new the secret behind it."

I smiled the best I could. "I bet I can figure it out."

"I wouldn't be surprised." She left me be after that.

I took a small sip of the tea and hugged my knees into my chest. I already chewed my nails and pulled the dead ends off of my hair. I was running out of nervous habits. I knew Peter had enough dignity to come back and say goodbye, but there was still that tiny fear he wouldn't. It would be easier to just walk away. I hoped he wouldn't take the easy way out.

I jumped up when the front door clicked open, accidentally kicking my puzzle in the process. A huge gust of wind blew Peter inside with his plastic bags. I wrapped myself around his middle before he could shut the door.

He backed up into the door to close it. "I got you something." He whispered playfully.

I only squeezed him tighter. "I'm just glad that you came back."

He walked with me still attached to him and placed his bags on the coffee table. "You know I wouldn't leave you like that."

I released a mental sigh of relief. "I know. So what did you get me?"

Peter smirked, digging in the plastic bags for the special item. I raised my eyebrows when he pulled out an electric shaver. "Um, thank you?"

He laughed, handing me the carboard box. "Well, I guess it isn't exactly for you..."

I turned the box in my hands, reading the simple directions on the back. "You want me to shave my head or something?"

He pursed his lips, waiting for me to connect the dots on my own. My eyes traveled up to his hair, wind blown and lovely.

I gasped. "You -- are you serious?"

He shrugged. "It'll make it more difficult to recognize me. I can use all the help I can get."

"Peter? Is that you?" Aunt May poked her head in from the kitchen. 

"Here you are, Aunt May." Peter presented her with a boxed coffee cake. 

She smiled, pleased with her favorite treat. "Thanks, dear. Would anyone like to share this with me?"

Peter held out his hand for the box with the shaver in it. I reluctantly gave it back to him. "Maybe later. Olivia and I have something else to take care of first."

Aunt May shuffled in to get a closer look. "What on earth are you going to do with that?"

. . . . . . . .

I flipped the switch and blinked as the razor blades came to life. I flipped it off just as fast.

"It's supposed to be really easy. It says does most of the work for you." Peter read the box from his seat in front of me. I stood on the kitchen floor behind him, an easy surface to sweep up his hair.

"Easy until I shave your ear off." I frowned at the sharp teeth. "Can't you just wear a baseball hat or something? That will be just as effective."

"Hair grows back, and I'm sure you won't shave my ear off. Now come on." He shifted in his seat, fixing his posture accordingly.

I used my free hand to run my fingers through his waves for a final time. I thought I would miss it more than he would. "Peter,"

"You're stalling."

"No, I just..."

"You just what?"

I slapped the shaver on the counter and moved to stand in front of him. I slipped my fingers deep in his hair and swooped down to sit on his lap. My legs straddled his waist. 

I tugged on his hair a bit to pull his face close to mine. "I'll miss this." I admitted shyly.

His sneaky hands pressed into my hips as he kissed me. I reminded myself to play with his hair as much as I could when I kissed him back. It went on for a while, and I was beginning to think that my strategy to keep him here was working.

"Okay, okay." Peter broke it off too soon. "I don't have alot of time."

I pouted with an disappointed sigh and climbed off of him. Slowly, of course.

Peter laughed at my inability to be seductive.

Fifteen minutes later, his head was shaved clean and his lovely hair littered the floor. He rubbed his own head now, the prickly texture interesting him.

"At least my head isn't weird." He said.

I didn't smile. "What do you mean."

"You'll never know the real shape of your head until you shave your hair." He picked up the shaver and eyeballed me curiously.

I wasn't in the mood to laugh. He was trying to cheer me up, but it was only making me feel worse. "If you're going to leave, you should go before it gets dark."

He caught on that I wasn't in the mood to play games. "I just have to put my things in my bag --"

"Fine."

Aunt May was in the TV room eating her cake when Peter disturbed her. I stayed in the kitchen.

"No, Peter, at least stay until tomorrow morning. It's far too late to leave now."

"I'll be alright, Aunt May. I won't go far, and I'll rest if I need to." I shook my head to myself. He just told her three lies in a row.

"Please stay for the night. Don't let an old woman worry all night long." 

Peter hesitated before denying her again, and I saw it as an opportunity to jump in. "Peter."

Both he and Aunt May looked over at me, hiding half my body behind the wall in the kitchen. "You can leave first thing in the morning." I used my eyes to tell him the rest, just spend one more night with me... 

I knew I got him then. He couldn't hide his guilt from either of us. "I'm leaving at dawn." He decided, marching up the stairs with his backpack.

Aunt May grinned at me. "Well done."

I shrugged. "Men will always wish to please their women."

. . . . . . . .

It was after I'd gotten out of the shower that I remembered I didn't have any clean clothes.

I stood in Aunt May's guest room with a towel wrapped around my middle, staring at Peter lying in bed. He stared back.

"You look horrified." He noted.

I gulped. "I don't have any clean clothes."

He watched me closely, making me feel even more uncomfortable. "Is this another one of your seduction techniques?"

"No." I shivered.

He smirked and finally rolled out of bed. "Too bad, because it's working."

I bit my lip when my cheeks went red. Peter tossed me one of his t-shirts from his backpack.

I was glad that the t-shirt fell to the middle of my thighs, kind of like a short dress. I still held it down when I shuffled back into the room and leaped onto the bed.

Peter leaned down to kiss me softly after he flicked off the light. "I love you, Olivia."
 
I choked back more tears. "I love you, Peter."

After that, he snuggled up close and eventually drifted to sleep. I stayed awake a little longer in an effort to remember everything about him: his smell, his taste, his touch...

I had to save all of this in my memory, because by morning, all that would be left on his pillow was the mask.