Prompt Post 1
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AN 2: This is also posted on AO3.
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When Flash hears that Peter Parker's uncle is dead, it kind of surprises him how sick he feels.
The thing is that before this, Flash kind of had trouble thinking of Parker as a, y'know, actual person, and not just an annoying loner who doesn't let him have fun and is just good to rag on. Flash is angry, okay, and sometimes he likes taking it out on other people, but he doesn't see what's wrong with that, really. The Thompson's are an aggressive family, and Flash is just following in his dad's footsteps.
But no one deserves to have an uncle dead. Having people you love die sucks, and Flash knows that Parker is an orphan, or at least has heard it around. It's the only reason he sometimes actually feels kind of bad about messing with Parker, even though he shrugs off feelings like that pretty quick. Parker's annoying, and it's his own fault for not just taking what Flash dishes out and being a fucking smart ass instead, or defending the other kids Flash messes it, who deserve it anyway. They're weak, and might is right, after all. Flash learned that when he was a little kid.
And Flash never thought he'd feel bad for Parker, especially after how the kid humiliated him during basketball practice. (And how the hell did Parker get good at basketball anyway? He's never been in sports, ever, and Flash has hit him with enough sports equipment to know that Parker hasn't always been good at that stuff.)
But now that he thinks about it, he guesses he kind of respects Parker. A little. The guy does stand up for himself sometimes, and other people, which Flash guesses makes him strong, and suddenly it turns out he is strong (because shattering a backboard? What the fuck?). What Flash is getting at, he thinks to himself while he lies awake at night thinking of a guy he thought he hated but actually kind of feels bad for, is that the reason he picks on Parker is that Parker doesn't take it lying down, and Flash doesn't actually hate that as much as he thinks he does sometimes. He likes it. He likes a challenge.
Now that he thinks about it, there's probably an alternate universe where he and Parker are friends.
That's when he rolls his eyes at himself, because this is probably all just sleep-deprived bullshit anyway, and finally closes his eyes and drifts away.
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That's why he goes to Parker and tries to say what he feels, tries to say sorry, tries to say I wish this hadn't happened, tries to say, I don''t want to hurt you anymore, not after this, I'm not that much of an asshole.
But Parker doesn't really let him say anything, just slams him into a locker with a ridiculous amount of strength, but Flash isn't even mad, which is weird, because he's mad a lot.
Right now, Flash just kind of feels like shit, because clearly Parker thinks that he's enough of an asshole to actually make fun of a guy who just watched his uncle die, and that's a fucking revelation.
Besides, this Flash understands. Parker's angry, and he wants to take it out on somebody else. Parker's scared, and he wants to make somebody else feel scared too.
So Flash holds up his hands in surrender, mumbles out some words he doesn't even hear, and gears up to get punched in the face, but Parker just drops him and lowers his head and walks away fast while Flash stares after him.
Flash watches Gwen Stacy hug Parker, watches Parker wilt like he's just going to break down and cry, but walk away instead.
Gwen follows him.
So does Flash.
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Flash walks in and almost walks out when he hears the sound of sobbing, because he's shit at stuff like this, at comforting people. He couldn't comfort his dad after his mom died, and he can't do this. But he walks in further anyway, because Flash Thompson is not a coward.
Parker's kneeling on the dirty floor, trying to muffle his crying with one hand. Gwen is kneeling in front of him, a little to the side, her blonde hair all Flash can see of her head, and she looks like she doesn't know whether to reach out to Parker or just sit with him. She looks unsure, and Flash doesn't know Gwen Stacy all that well, but from what he does, he knows that that's not an emotion she deals with much.
He deals with it all the time, so he just goes over to Parker and sits next to Gwen, looking at Parker's tear-streaked face and feeling something like fear, something like pity, something like sympathy, something like another person's grief.
Gwen looks at Flash and opens her mouth to say something, her eyes shining but the set of her jaw protective.
Parker beats her to the punch. "Leave me alone."
Flash feels a little bit of anger bubble up deep in his abdomen, but he puts a lid on it for now, because he doesn't know what he's angry at. He'll take it out on a wall later.
"No, man," Flash says, and it disgusts him how emotional his voice sounds, how gentle. He's not gentle. "I'm sorry."
I'm sorry your uncle died. I'm sorry for being a dick.
Parker lets out something that sounds like a laugh/sob hybrid. "Don't be nice."
"Why the hell not?" Flash snaps. "What else am I supposed to be?"
"Yourself," Parker says in a half whisper.
Gwen grabs Parker's hand, a wild kind of motion, and Parker's fingers curl around hers.
"This is myself, Parker. I'm not a fucking monster."
Parker looks like he can't believe it, and that hurts, sure, but Flash sometimes knows how to hold back.
"I am," Parker says, and that kind of floors Flash, because where did that come from?
Gwen makes an indignant kind of noise, and then shakes her head. "No," she says like she really, really believes it. "No."
Parker squares his jaw, tries to be strong even though there are still tears running down his cheeks. "It's my fault."
"How?" Flash asks, because he doesn't know what Parker's deal is, doesn't know the details of what happened, but from the news knows enough to understand that Parker wasn't the one who shot his uncle.
But Parker just shakes his head and won't answer.
Finally, Parker slams his head backwards onto the wall he's leaning against, once, twice, three times and plaster crumbles and Gwen cries out stop, Peter, and the first thing Flash can think of to do to get Parker to not give himself a concussion is restrain him, so Flash hugs him.
It's not really a nice kind of hug, but Flash grabs the back of Parker's head, digs his fingers into brown hair, and thinks that Parker could probably incapacitate him pretty quick.
Parker's stiff as a board in Flash's arms, and Flash has no idea what to do now. He looks over Parker's shoulder at Gwen, who's not crying but coming pretty close, and wants to ask her what to do, but can't get out the words.
"Peter," she finally says. "It's not your fault."
And that's when Parker slumps and starts shaking, bringing his hands up to clutch at Flash's shirt. Gwen rubs Peter's back and leans her head against his shoulder, and it's all pretty awkward, but Gwen whispers, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay," and it's not true at all, but when she says it she sounds so sure about herself that it seems like it is.
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This gave me chills - I loved loved that scene in the movie where Flash tries to apologize to Peter at his locker but Peter just thinks he's going to be a dick, and you took it one step further. Amazing.
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