COMING TO TERMS WITH THE IDEA that she was going to die was... rough to say the least. The worst part was probably waiting. Kaelyn didn't want to leave Peter's arms because she didn't know much longer she was going to be alive to appreciate it. Maybe she was being a bit of a dampener, but things were looking fairly bleak. While they waited, it was tough to think about what kind of chaos was going on in the rest of the world. Being completely cut off was horrible as Kaelyn viciously bit at her nails while the adults tried to figure things out.

"Hey, hey," Peter spoke gently as the two of them sat on the dusty ground of Titan. He pressed a chaste kiss to her temple before whispering in her ear, "I promised, okay? We're gonna get out of this."

"You don't have to pretend we're gonna make it out of this alive, Peter," she muttered, "I just wish I hadn't left behind such complicated things. I mean, my parents are definitely trying to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D, I have no idea if Caden is okay, I miss Beth. God, I miss Beth more than anything in the world. I don't know how to function without her voice in my ear on missions, Peter. I can't do this. I knew... I knew loving you was going to be dangerous, but I'm not ready to die."

Peter wiped the silent tear rolling down her cheek as he looked at her with sadness in his eyes. Brushing her hair to the side, he kept his hand cupping her jaw. The touch was small and gentle but paired with the look in his eyes it meant so much. "Kae, we're not going to die. At the very least, we aren't going down with a fight. Everything back home can wait, it doesn't have much of a choice, honestly. You want to see Caden and Beth again? Then we have to fight like our lives depend on it. Well, because they do. When have you and I ever put up anything less than the fight of our lives? We're a team, a damn good one at that. I promised you we're getting through this and we will."

It was chaste and careful the way Kaelyn touched him, reaching out and cupping his face as he did hers. Her fingertips danced across his smooth skin as she pulled his face to hers and kissed him through her tears. She knew without a doubt that Peter was her first great love and at this point, he may very well be her last. Kaelyn was going to soak in every moment with him in its saccharine sweetness if it was the last thing she did.

When she pulled away, the heat in her cheeks could be felt as her face was flushed and her eyes beginning to get puffy. Looking up for a moment, she caught eyes with Tony who turned away. He must have been dead set on letting the kids have their moment while he tried to work out a plan with Starlord and Doctor Strange. The day before she would have fought to be included in the grown-up conversations, now all she wanted was to go back to being a kid instead of having the world on her shoulders. Her arms were getting heavy and she couldn't hold it up much longer. Soon, the girl would be crushed.

"I hate this stupid waiting game," Kaelyn mumbled bitterly as she rests her head on her boyfriend's shoulder and he tightened his arm around her shoulders. "I just want to fight and get this over with."

"You don't want that, we don't even know what "over" will mean," Peter says with a small scoff, "I don't mind waiting if it means I get more time with you."

"Don't be stupid," Kaelyn sighed, but there was a ghost of a smile on her face, "Do you remember Homecoming?"

Peter laughed, "Of course, I remember Homecoming. It was when I first realized just how much trouble you were gonna be for me. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you ditched me, remember? So, we never got to dance together. Instead, we just fought bad guys and got all bloody. I'm still mad about losing that dress," she recalled, her eyes staring ahead as she felt Peter lean his head on top of hers. In a moment, Kaelyn pulled herself away from him and stood. Holding out a hand to the boy, she smiled bittersweetly, "C'mon, Parker, can't I have one last dance?"

The boy looked at her in disbelief, a sheepish smile on his face as he eyed her waiting hand. With a small chuckle, he reached up and grabbed her hand, allowing her to pull him up. He stood across from her, sliding a hand to her waist as the two laced their fingers together and she placed her hand upon his shoulder. 

"There's no music," Peter noted, a half-smile gracing his features.

The girl scoffed, reaching up to plant a kiss on his cheek, "We've always been the type to make our own.

The odd gravity on the planet made their silent dance a little more interesting as she felt like she was floating with every movement they made. She felt angelic as he spun her around and wrapped her in his arms. Of course, they were no ballroom connoisseurs, but they did the best they could. They always did. As he pulled her close, he kissed her again and she savored the moment without a care in the world. If anyone else was looking at them, she didn't realize. In her mind, the two of them had the planet to themselves as there was nothing else in the world besides their eyes meeting. The world stopped and started with each other. There was nothing more Kaelyn could ask for besides this moment in time where the world was frozen and Peter was all she had. Her lips curled into a smile as she began to laugh. There was nothing she could do but laugh lest she begins to cry. Maybe she was in denial, but some part of her was hoping and praying that maybe they could win this. Maybe, just maybe, things would be okay. Another part of her knew they could never be so lucky.

She had been beginning to picture her forever with Peter, she just hadn't planned on forever ending so painstakingly soon.

this chapter is super short, but it's such a bittersweet moment and there's like an hour of film in between the conversation in the last chapter and the next time we see the crew on Titan so honestly, I wanted to fill it with Kaelyn's perspective on everything that's happening. I didn't include her usual snark because she's crushed and she's beginning to sober up on the actual situation at hand and what it means so if she seems out of character this chapter it's simply because she's afraid. Also, might do some prewriting for Crushed or update Maniac because i miss when the main storyline wasn't so sad asdskugifghd