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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
xv. UNTIL ANOTHER DAY

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   THERE'S ALWAYS A WARNING. In everything, there's always a sign that foreshadows what's to come next. It's the wind whirling through the heavens. It's a veil of smoke wandering into your nostrils or a flock of birds migrating away in a frenzied state. In those warnings, you're given only a matter of seconds to act. We call this the fight or flight response—the reaction in which you can either march into the disaster head-first or flee with your life. If you're sane, you'll run away. If you're unlucky, you'll freeze. But if you're Riley Stark, you'll face the oncoming storm with a smile.

   That's the strange thing about growing up. It's been wired in our brains since adolescence to resent conflict. No one truly craves hardship. We're taught to work around it or push through it, oftentimes without strategy. It isn't until we're older that we learn that struggles make us stronger, smarter, braver.

   Growing up isn't about eradicating conflicts from our lives completely. It's problem-solving, it's learning, it's figuring out how to strategize. It's discovering how to take on the storm not with a grimace, but with a smile.

  Or, at least, for Peter Parker, it's learning how to cope with his girlfriend being a morning person.

   She sat in a field with the grass poking at the palms of her hands and the skin of her arms. A gentle wind peppered her face with kisses as if to say goodbye, farewell, and bon voyage! Saying goodbye seemed fitting, after all. Today was the day Camp Mirkhaven closed for the season. Today was the day Riley Stark's summer officially ended.

   Riley Stark stared up at the sky. It was still dark with stars twinkling down on the sleeping Earthlings, protecting them from nightmares that lurk in the darkest corners of their minds. Though the constellations always seemed like they varied every evening, Riley knew they were the same as always.

   She felt comfort seeing the darkness of the sky. Though the world still rested after another long day, Riley was wide awake. She was the sunrise the world anticipated.

   A rustling in the trees grasped Riley's attention. It wasn't a simple wave that came from the trees meeting with the wind. The sound was, instead, forced. Someone was coming.

   Riley pinched her eyebrows together, her brown eyes trained on the noise. Her fight or flight instinct flared up in an instant. 'What idiot is up at this hour?' she thought to herself. She paused, noting to herself, '...Other than me.'

   A hand poked through the branches before the rest of his body followed through. Peter Parker emerged from the shadows. A camp tee hung on his muscular body with jeans and an old pair of tennis shoes to accompany it. Though filled with fondness, Peter's brown eyes were dragged down by prominent dark circles. Riley's face stretched with a light layer of surprise.

   "Pete?" Riley greeted, her voice gentle like the morning dew on the bushes. "What are you...?"

   Peter approached Riley with heavy footsteps. It was enough to awaken the sleeping woodland animals and send the nighttime creatures fleeing. "You said you were gonna head out early this morning, so I wanted to join you before you left," he explained, his voice husky and tired.

   Riley eyed him, unsure. "You look like you're about to pass out, amor."

   Peter ungracefully dropped onto the grass beside her. His head hung slightly to the side as he sent Riley a dopey smile. "I wanted to be with you."

   Though his words were casual, they sent the butterflies in Riley's stomach into a frenzy. Her smile grew as Peter leaned his head on her shoulder. His eyes fell shut briefly, the sound of Riley's quiet breathing relaxing him. "But if I fall asleep, I'm sorry in advance," he mumbled.

   Riley snorted. "You should've stayed in bed," she told him.

   "Don't worry, I'm awake," he promised, mumbling under his breath. "Your shoulder's bony anyway."

   Riley scoffed and nudged Peter with her elbow, causing him to jolt upward. "You don't deserve my shoulder," she declared despite the two of them giggling like children.

   Peter pouted, his lower lip jutting outward just a little bit. "I'm sorry, Riles," he whined. He leaned up and kissed her cheek. "Didn't mean it." He kissed her cheek again before leaning on her shoulder once more.

   As a blush burned Riley's face, Peter hummed, adding, "By the way, amor?"

   She shrugged. "It slipped."

   "I like it," he mumbled, eyes shut once again. "I like you."

   Riley shook her head at the sleepy teenager. She was not expecting Peter to act like this when he was tired. "Do I need to drag you back to your cabin?"

   "Nooo, no, I'm good," Peter assured. He sighed and leaned back on his hands before fully laying on his back. His untamed curls fell over his face, causing Riley to smile. She just found Peter so endearing. "Not a morning person."

   "I can tell," she mused. A giggle slipped from her mouth as Peter tugged on her arm, forcing her to lay down beside him.

   A comfortable silence crossed the heroes as they gazed up at the sky. Well, Riley was fixated on the stars. Meanwhile, Peter's eyes were on her.

   Riley was the first to break the stillness between them. "I've been doing some thinking," she quietly announced.

   Peter was instantly colored with curiosity. "Tell me," he encouraged.

   Peter always liked listening to Riley's thoughts. Sometimes, he felt like she could be a little too serious at times. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but he knew it wasn't her. He knew she forgot that she didn't have to always be in work-mode anymore. That's why Peter was always patient with Riley. He discovered only recently that when Riley went into her little rambles, it was her way of showing him that she was comfortable, that she trusted him enough to share her thoughts with him. It made him feel special.

   Regardless of that, Peter was definitely not expecting Riley to say, "I think our lives have just become songs by the band Queen."

   Riley turned to face Peter, surprised to see that he was already looking at her. "W-Well," she stammered shyly, "you know... like... Bohemian Rhapsody represents the chaos of our lives. Nothing really made sense, but it did at the same time, you know?"

   Peter nodded slowly. "Ohh, like a theme song?"

   Riley's smile grew. "Yeah," she confirmed. "Like a theme song."

   Peter hummed, taking her comment into consideration. "So..." he trailed off. He looked up at the sky. "What you're telling me is that at some point, Another One Bites The Dust was our theme song?"

   For just a moment, Riley had been sitting there wondering what their next theme song would be, but her thoughts halted altogether by his statement. Eyes widening, Riley and Peter instantly erupted with laughter. "You're going to Hell for that one," she said.

   "Hey, I'm taking you down with me, Ghostie."

   "Uh, nice try, but I'm a survivor."

   "Oh, and I'm not?"

   "Mhm!" enthused Riley. "It's called natural selection, bud."

   Peter sat up in an instant, looking down at Riley in shock. She bit her lower lip and tried her best to not burst out with more giggles. "I cannot believe you're blaming the most traumatizing event of my life on natural selection," he asserted, attempting (and failing) to be serious.

   A laugh slipped out between Riley's lips. She sat up and pinched Peter's cheek lovingly. "Aw, don't worry. You can count on me to save you."

   Peter narrowed his eyes at her, but Riley couldn't take him seriously due to how his face was in her hands. "I'll remember that the next time I save you," he grumbled, failing to repress his smile. She released his face as their laughter resounded into the early morning skies.

   Riley smiled at Peter fondly. It was moments like these where she couldn't believe this was what her life looked like now. Contrarily, it was also moments like these where she couldn't believe that her life was once completely different from how it was now.

   Riley found herself relaxing as a new thought entered her subconscious. "We've come a long way, you know?"

   Peter didn't need to hear that twice. He knew exactly what she meant. Though they were still just kids, they had faced a lot—both, as individuals and as a pair. "Agreed."

   Riley peered back at the sky, seeing as it had already begun to change colors. Oranges and yellows began to eat at the blue hues. "I still remember my first real mission. Like, the first mission that actually mattered," she reminisced. "Tony was being targeted by Ivan Vanko, who was working with this guy... Justin Hammer. They ripped off the Iron Man designs and tried to take over the world or some villain bullshit."

   The memory sounded familiar to Peter. "I think I was there when that happened," he admitted without giving it much thought. Riley whipped her head around to face him, intrigued. "I don't really remember much of it, but I remember there were all those robots and people were screaming. I almost died, I think. I remember I got to see Iron Man up close, and I was so shocked that I froze up. And then this girl came up to me and she was all Go! Run away! But that's all I remember, honestly."

   Riley was visibly taken aback by the memory. "That's so weird," she breathed. "I remember seeing this kid and..." She hesitated. "No way. Are you sure you were there?"

   Peter nodded. "Uh-huh. I remember tellin' May that I saw Iron Man."

   Riley felt like her brain was about to explode. "There's no way," she mumbled to herself. She turned back to Peter. "I... I'm pretty sure I was that girl that told you to run away. Like, I'm 96% sure."

   Peter's eyes widened. "No way!" he insisted, suddenly wide awake. "But... that would mean... you saved me back then, too!?"

   Riley rolled her eyes. "That's what you got from that?" she teased. "Hey, you've saved me before." Peter looked back at her, skeptical. "Remember dodgeball?"

   Peter stifled a chuckle at the memory. "That feels like forever ago," he admitted. He paused. "Are we getting old?"

   Humming, Riley nodded. "Mhm, arthritis and everything," she bantered. "Soon, the kids will start calling us Boomers."

   Peter nudged her. "I think you need to go back to high school."

   Riley cringed and mumbled, "I think I'd rather get punched in the face."

   The two fell silent once more. Now that it had been brought to each other's attention, it seemed that they were quickly realizing how much time had passed. They'd been through so much that their lives might as well have been copied and pasted from a comic book.

   Riley searched her mind for a while, considering it. Surely, she had to have learned something from her adventures, right? These were the days she'd talk about to people just like her in the future, after all.

   Well, every story starts with a beginning, a "once upon a time". For Riley, her beginning started out lonely. The world was a dark, dreary place. Her world didn't start small and became bigger with age. Instead, the universe threw itself into Riley's hands and told her to figure it out.

   But then, she found people to help her find her way through life. She found the ones that taught her everything she knew now, the ones who encouraged her throughout life's hardships. In a weird way, it was like Riley was taught that she wasn't alone, but she was still be strong without them.

   Change is always inevitable. Everyone figures that out the hard way. The world keeps turning and life keeps going. The key isn't learning how to keep up with it; it's learning how to embrace change and running alongside it. And if Riley was being honest, she liked to think she was doing a damn good job.

   Riley hesitated. All stories come to an end, don't they? What was her ending? What was her happily ever after? Endings come in all shapes and forms. Sometimes, they're hidden so perfectly in plain sight that you don't even notice that another chapter of your life has concluded, thus commencing a new one.

   Yes, that was it! Riley's life hadn't ended. After all, she's only 16. Her life was just... changing, and that was what growing up was all about, right? Riley's life was just beginning. What once was a dreary night sky was now a sunrise full of hope and light.

   "So, what now?"

   His voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She turned to face him and, with a tilted head, asked, "What do you mean?"

   Peter smiled at her, snickering. "Well, the sun just came out," he explained as if it were the most obvious thing ever. He nodded to the sky. The warm oranges and pinks had finally faded into a light blue morning sky. A sunrise.

   Riley hummed thoughtfully. "Breakfast?" she suggested.

   Peter opened his mouth to reply, but his growling stomach seemed to beat him. Peter glanced down at his stomach before his eyes returned to his girlfriend's face. "It's a date," he decided.

   Peter took Riley's hands, pulling her onto his feet once he was standing. "A date?" she repeated. "I'm expecting a five-star restaurant, Pete."

   "Only the finest for Ms. Riley Stark," he replied, knowing damn well they were about to walk over to the dining hall one last time.

   The two went on to dive into another conversation—most likely one about how Roman had decided to steal Riley's bed last night because he didn't want to go back to his cabin—as they walked away from the field, hand-in-hand. Riley wondered if Peter knew that this was the field where she confessed her feelings for him.

   Riley now knew what her next warning sign from life was. All this time, she had been looking for something that was an indicator of a disaster, a nightmare that would keep her up every evening for eternity. She was looking for something that told her that something worse than the Decimation was coming, but now, Riley knew she had it all wrong.

   Her warning sign was the universe telling her that it was her turn to relax. While life wasn't always going to be easy, there would always be a sunrise to keep Riley grounded. It gave her hope, it gave her dark pathway a beacon of light. Her warning sign was that there would always be a tomorrow. Until another day, after all.

   Riley Stark now knew who she was. She was a bullet forged from the most salient of Vibranium. Sharpened against the most lustrous gems, she was a blade. Her mind was her mightiest weapon. Her memories were stained by crimson blood and blurred by tears of the fallen. She was an angel in disguise, concealed by the scars of her past. She wore the touch of glorious hope like a crown and her trauma like armor. She was a savior, the one who hunted down the monsters under your bed. But she was also poisonous, dangerous, for nothing was more horrifying than the illusions of light.

   But that was what made her special, what made the world look to her in the darkest days. She was light. She was hope, courage. She was a hero. She was valiant. She was the sun. She was made for this—No.

   She was born for this.

END OF ACT THREE; SOMEBODY TO LOVE

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

uh HEY? it's over??? i'm in shock right now haha what???? i'll try not to say too much here because there's still a POST-CREDITS CHAPTER COMING UP NEXT, but i just wanted to say that i really did not think i'd ever finish this fic. it's so near and dear to my heart, and i've really poured so much into it.

firstly, i just wanna apologize for the lack of riley and peter action. i really feel like i could've done more, but also, i hate when fics forget that their oc is also a fully functioning person. to make up for that, i tried to make her interesting and have strong relationships with the other marvel characters we already know and love.

secondly, did you guys catch those little life lessons i threw in there? that wasn't just for riley - that was for you guys, too. here are the big ones that riley's learned throughout this fic and hopefully, you guys will remember these and apply them to yourselves:

1. you're never alone, but you can still be strong without the people in your life. appreciate and cherish the ones that mean the most to you, but recognize that your worth and strength comes from you and only you.

& 2. change is inevitable and things will always happen one way or another, but it's all about how you take the change and run with it. embrace the change that comes your way! it's not easy, but that's all we can do. take it one step at a time!

there are a few more life lessons i threw in this chapter, but those are the big ones. please do comment what you guys think of this chapter, this fic in general, the characters, or anything you want! your feedback means a lot to me!

that's all i'll say for now. there's still a post-creds chapter, so look out for that!

thank you all for your endless love and support, and thank you for taking a chance on me and riley. it means the world to me <3

all my love,
liza