UPON HER ARRIVAL back to New York, Kaelyn screamed into a pillow. She screamed until her throat got scratchy and tears streamed down her face. After a while, Caden came home from work and came busting into her room.

"Hey, hey, hey, Kae, what's going on? One of the neighbors told me you'd been screaming for hours they were about to call the cops," he wrapped his arms around her and she cried into the crook of his neck.

"I ruined everything, I ruined everything between us," she sobbed into his shoulders, feeling the tears staining his shirt. The last time she talked to her brother they fought about her going to D.C. Now here they were, acting like everything was okay. She didn't mind, the last thing she needed was for Caden to be mad at her.

Interrupting the moment, Kaelyn's phone started vibrating underneath the pillows she threw it under.

"Woah, when did you shatter your phone?" Caden asked, "I'm not sure I can spare much to get that fixed, Kae."

"It's cool, don't worry about it," she wiped her tears and answered the call, "Beth? What's up?"

"Turn. On. The. News. Now. Your boyfriend is wilding right now and he's the only reason we're all alive," Beth spoke urgently, something shaken in her voice. As soon as she finished her sentence Kaelyn ran into the living room and turned on the TV.

'MASKED VIGILANTE SAVES GROUP OF TEENS FROM FATAL FALL' Read the headline on the bottom of the screen. Sure enough, there was footage of Spider-Man swinging around the Washington Monument.

"Oh, I gotta go! Imma be on the news! Bye, Kae, I'll talk to you in like five minutes. I'm gonna pretend to be okay for a few so I seem cool so just prepare for a breakdown later, okay? Okay, love you."

"Love you, too, Beth," was all Kaelyn said as the newscaster's voice was heard.

From the screens she spoke, "We've got Scott on the scene now with Midtown High School student, Elizabeth T-Joo. Scott?"

"Miss T-Joo was in the elevator that the masked vigilante known as Spider-Man waves from falling all the way down to the bottom. What was it like being in that situation?" the newscaster, Scott, asked as he held the microphone up to Kaelyn's best friend.

She cleared her throat, "First of all, it's pronounced with a soft J so don't even try it, whitie, now let me tell you I almost died. I don't care what laws he broke, but give Spider-Man a medal of honor because I saw God in that elevator and I haven't seen him since my mom stopped forcing me to go to church when I was like ten and that is that. Thank you."

The microphone went back to poor Scott who clearly had nothing to say to that, "Well, all right Miss Tju. Back to you, Linda."

Kaelyn laughed to herself; that was the first time she had smiled all day. Of course, it was Beth that made her laugh. It always was. Beth always used to joke that Kaelyn was her platonic soulmate and the girls were just destined to be the closest of friends. If soulmates, let alone platonic ones, were a thing, Kaelyn would believe it. As soon as the camera cut back to the office, the phone rang again.

"Did you see me?" Beth asked as soon as the call went through, "I know you guys are fighting right now, but give Peter a kiss for me because I was two seconds away from dying today and I didn't like that very much but he saved me! Saved everyone. Oh, also, I have some news in the Liz department!"

Happy to distract herself with some gossip, she prodded, "Oh? Do tell."

"Well, right as we were about to die, in front of all the decathlon kids she just, like, grabbed my face and kissed me. Kissed me, Kae! Like I am talking lip to lip action!"

Kaelyn could have screamed, "I'm so happy for you, Beth! That's, that's amazing."

"Sorry, you're probably not in a super romantic mood nowadays. Has he talked to you at all?"

"Well, apparently he's been busy saving the lives of my best friend and her new romantic prospect." There was a sorrow in her voice she tried to conceal, but she was sure Beth could see (or, well, hear) right through her. If she did hear any inconsistencies, Beth refrained from saying anything. "Anything else in the Liz department?"

"No, she hasn't talked to me, barely even looked at me since we got out of the monument," Beth sighed through the phone, "Totally lame, right? But, she was a pretty good kisser so, like, I'll let her take her time as long as it means I get to do that again. Hey, I can totally stop talking about romantic stuff if you need me to? I mean this in the most loving way possible, but you sound totally scratchy like you've been sobbing your eyes out. If you have been crying and haven't come down with a spontaneous cold please drink some water you are probably so dehydrated."

Kaelyn laughed, but it was a little more broken than she wanted it to be, "No, no, Beth, I'm happy for you. Plus, this means I won't have to worry about Liz going after Peter anymore so I guess that's kind of a relief, right? I mean, fighting or not he is still my boyfriend."

"Look at you! Lookin' at the bright side! That's my girl!"

"You are so lame. Oh, hold on, I'm getting another call," Kaelyn interrupted herself looking at the new caller. Of course, here to ruin her mood, it was Tony Stark. "Bossman. I gotta go. Talk to you in a sec."

"Buh bye, good luck, I love you, Kae," Beth blew a kiss before hanging up and letting Kaelyn pick up the call.

"Hey, Mister Stark, how can I help you?" she spoke as bubbly as she could into the phone.

The man on the other end of the phone did not hesitate in speaking in the slightest. "Do you know what babysitting means? It means you do not let the child out of your sight. So, tell me why Peter is slinging around famous monuments? Where are you?"

"Brooklyn."

"Why the hell are you in Brooklyn?" Tony sounded stressed, but not quite angry. Which Kaelyn was thankful for, of course, she wasn't sure she could handle much anger right now.

"I told you I quit. I said I was done, I meant it," Kaelyn spat, channeling all of her repressed anger from cheerleading season into her voice. There was a lot to pull from in that area, that's for damn sure. "Peter found out. It's completely wrecked us, so thank you so much for that. Sorry, Stark, you're only down to one teenager doing your dirty work. Also, while I have you here, I'm giving you a piece of my mind and if you hang up I will call you a million times until you hear what I have to say. You treat Peter like absolute dirt. I get it, he's headstrong and can make pretty bad decisions, but he's a goddamn smart kid. He helped me go from a D to an A in math in less than a month. All he wants to do is good. He wants to help people, he wants to fight the good fights, and he knows how to win them. He saved my best friend's life today. When are you going to stop looking at him like some dumbass kid who randomly got bit by a radioactive spider? He's not that kid anymore, he's a hero, Tony. So start treating him like one."

The man was silent for a long, breathtaking moment. After a while, he spoke, "If the next thing you say is that you're in love with him, I am chalking that whole speech up to dumb teenage infatuation so choose your next words carefully."

"We've been dating for three weeks, Tony, I'm dumb, but not dumb enough to fall in love. Just, all I ask is that you trust him, okay? He sees everything in you, but he's convinced himself that you see nothing in him," she continued, feeling a tear fall down her cheek as she defended the boy like her life depended on it. "Just believe in him. Thank you for your time."

She hung up the call before Tony could get another word out. She pulled her phone away from her ear so vigorously she could feel a small, shallow cut stinging from the cracks in her screen. Turning around, she faced her brother whose eyes were wide.

"Peter is Spider-Man?"

I remembered Caden existed! Who is surprised? I sure am! Also, this one is for you Samar you a real one