Chapter 25: The Plan

Can't you see
We could be something if we tried,
Just tell me how to make you mine
- The Girl and the Dreamcatcher

Two days had passed since that night with Ember and since then the girl hadn't even looked his way. A part of him was starting to question wether or not it was possible for him to win her back. The fact that she went to him when she got hurt gave him some hope but with the blonde still ignoring him he wasn't too sure of anything.

"Peter" the sound of his aunt's voice, snapped him out of his thoughts. Peter looked up from his food to see May looking at him with worried eyes. It seemed all the poor woman did lately was worry about him and he felt terrible for putting her through that.

"Sorry. What were you saying?" Peter smiled sheepishly.

May let out an exasperated sigh as she went to feel his forehead, trying to find any sign of him being ill. "I was asking if you're alright?"

"Oh, yeah, just tired" Peter said, gently pushing her hand away and doing his best to give him a reassuring smile.

"Alright" May nodded, trying to give him some space. She assumed it had something to do with him losing his internship.

"Hey, May." The two ate in silence for a few more minutes, until Peter finally turned to his aunt once more. "Let's say there's this girl I really like-"

"Right. Short, blonde, green eyes and works at a bakery?" May cut him off, giggling as his cheeks turned red.

"Uh, what? No, I meant hypothetically."  Peter argued, looking down at his plate to avoid May's knowing smirk. "Ned, uh, actually really likes this girl. And he seemed to be getting along well with her and everything seemed great. But he messed up, like really messed up and now this girl doesn't want anything to do with him."

"So you messed up and Ember isn't talking to you?"

"N-no! We're talking about Ned, remember?" Peter cried, his voice rising a bit, scratching his neck nervously.

"Yeah, sure" May answered seeing right through his lie but allowing him to keep going  "So what did Ned do?"

"He pushed her away. I think maybe he was afraid that she was too good for him. He thought he had to focus on other things before he could think of a relationship" Peter said, his shoulders dropping in defeat as he began recalling his entire situation. There was no point on lying to himself anymore. "Maybe he thought he would only hurt her and he needed to let her go and move on"

May nodded, going to her nephew's side and giving him a comforting hug. "And did he move on?"

"No, he realized how much he needed her but it's too late now. He was an idiot to believe he could push her so far and that she would take him back whenever he was ready" Peter admitted, looking sadly at his aunt. Aunt May gave him a small smile, as she held him close and calmed him down. This was the first time Peter expressed any kind of real interest in girls and she knew every teenager makes mistakes when they first fall in love.

"When I was younger," she began, making Peter raise his head to look at her but she seemed to be somewhere else as she told her story. "there was this guy i really liked but I never said anything. I watched him date other girls only able to wonder what would be like if he liked me. It wasn't until I met this other guy, Johnny, that I believed I could love someone else. He treated me like a queen, no one had ever treated me like that, always giving me gifts and I went with it cause the guy I liked never seemed interested" Peter looked at her intrigued, she never told him about any relationship she had before his uncle Ben. In his mind he always imagined the two together since the beginning nit able to picture them with anyone else. "Anyway, I almost married Johnny, even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted he was still very handsome and was always kind to me." May smiled sadly, her eyes beginning to water a little bit as she remembered the times when she was young and wild, not like she wasn't fin now, but back then she was carefree and innocent. "It wasn't until the last moment that the guy I really liked tried to stop me from marrying Johnny. At first i didn't believe him, I thought he was just jealous and was trying to win me over but he was right when he said Johnny wasn't for me. I then married that guy" Peter squeezed her hand, comforting her as her voice started to crack. They hadn't really talked about Ben since that night,it was still a hard thing for them to bring up. May smiled at him, reaching her hand out to dry away the lonely tear he hadn't even realized came out of his eyes. "If your uncle Ben and I had told each other how we felt since the beginning we wouldn't have wasted all those years trying to pretend there was nothing there. The only advice I can give you, Peter, is don't waste anytime. You never know what could happen tomorrow so you may as well risk it all in the present"

❅

The next day at school Peter was walking down the hall, on his way back from the bathroom, when he bumped into the one and only Liz Allen. The two hadn't really talked since she hung up on him back in Washington, when he stood her and the rest of the team up. With the whole trauma from the elevator incident, the entire Spider-Man situation and everything that went down with Ember, Peter hadn't even thought about the senior. And he felt bad for leaving her like that.

"Hey." Peter greeted the girl as she got closer. Liz returned his greeting s the two tried to ignore the awkwardness in the air. "I thought you had calculus fifth period."

"Yeah, I was just doing some homecoming stuff." Liz said, about to pass next to him only for Peter to step in front of her.

"Hey, look, I-" Peter began, unsurely "I just wanted to apologize about the whole decathlon thing."

"It's fine." Liz cut him off, frowning as she remembered what really went down during that trip. "Last week, decathlon was the most important thing, but then we almost died."

"No, I'm- I just mean that it was not cool, especially because I know how much it meant to you." Peter said, nervously looking at the older girl.

"I know." Liz smiled softly at him "it really is fine"

Peter sighed in relief, returning the smile. Liz Allen was very nice girl and he never wanted to hurt her in any way. "Great"

It was silent for a moment, before Liz began chuckling as she thought about something. "You know, I used to believe you had a crush on me"

Peter felt his cheeks go bright red as he gaped at her words. "W-hat? I- I mean, uh, I d-did" He could feel his palms were beginning to sweat as he tried to find a way to answer as the older girl chuckled. "You are really nice, and very beautiful and like super smart but"

"But you like Ember" Liz cut his rambling off with a knowing smile. Peter went to deny it but she beat him to it "You're terrible at keeping secrets."

Peter sighed, chuckling at her statement knowing there were some secrets he knew how to keep. "Yeah, you'd be surprised"

"I heard Ned is taking her to the dance" Liz asked at the still blushing boy who nodded sadly at her words. "Why aren't you taking her?" Liz frowned, genuinely curious about the situation.

"I-I was" Peter mumbled, causing Liz to raise an eyebrow at him. He saw her confused expression and decided to elaborate a little bit more. "I messed up. Said somethings I shouldn't have and just acted like a complete jerk"

"Oh" Liz smiled at him sadly, noticing how bad he felt about the whole thing, until her eyes brightened with a new idea. "I guess I'll have to help you win her back"

"Wait, what?" Peter turned to look at her, surprised and intrigued.

"I have a plan but were going to need help" Liz grinned at the still confused boy before beginning to explain what she was thinking.

❅

"Ember!" Ember Snow was about to leave the school when she heard someone desperately screaming her name. She turned around to find an exhausted Ned trying to catch his breath as he finally reached her.

"Hey, Ned. You alright there buddy?" She asked concerned, as she patted him in the shoulder waiting for him to compose himself. The boy gave her a thumbs up, before grabbing his bottle of water and chugging it all. "You sure?"

"Yeah" Ned sighed, ignoring the weirded out stares from some of the students around him. "You walk really fast you know?"

"Sorry" Ember chuckled lightly, quickly sending a glare at some of the students still, staring at them, smiling brightly at Ned "what's up?"

"I was wondering at what time do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?" Ned asked giving her a small smile.

"I thought we were meeting at McDonalds?" Ember asked, confused at the sudden change of plans. They had agreed to meet at McDonalds to have dinner and then Ned's mom was driving them to the dance, it was what they agreed on just the day before.

"R-right" Ned stuttered nervously as he avoided eye contact and looked around as if looking for something. Just as Ember was about to question his odd behavior the boy cut her off. "I just thought, it would be nice if I pocked you up. More gentlemanly?"

"Uh, sure?" Ember agreed, weirded out by his behavior.

"Great!" Ned's voice raised attracting the attention of some pf the people walking around them. "Is six alright?"

"Six? But the dance doesn't start till nine"

"I-I just really like McDonalds" Ned smiled sheepishly at her.

"Alright then?" Ember shrugged her shoulders and gave him one last look "See you tomorrow Ned"

After her weird conversation with Ned, Ember met up with Michelle at the entrance and the two began their walk towards Ember's place.  By the time they arrived they were surprised to find Carter already there. Which was unusual considering it wasn't one of his short days.

"Hey dad?" Ember greeted her dad, once they got closer to the couple.

"Geez, Ember you could pretend to be more excited to see me" Carter chuckled, leaving his wife's side to greet his daughter with a kiss in the forehead and sending Michelle a warm smile.

"What are you doing here?" Ember asked, confused. Why was everyone acting so weird today?

"Oh, you know it was a slow day and the boss said I could go home" Carter smiled innocently at the two girls.

"Anyway!" Angela cut their conversation, catching the attention of the teenagers. "How was school?"

"Same as always, I guess"  Ember shrugged giving Angela a greeting kiss on the cheek before making her way towards the place they kept their aprons.

"That's good!" Angela beamed at her, grabbing Carter's hand and following the two girls towards the kitchen. "Uh, girls? Why don't you take a sit?" Angela called out, making the two give her a weird stare, usually Angela was hurrying them to work the minute they got home, but not today.

"What?" The two asked at the same time, making their way to the place Angela was indicating.

"Good. Well, Ember, we've been meaning to tell you something and well since Mitchell is practically family we figured why not tell you at the same time?"

"Yes, especially since you're always here anyway" Carter chuckled at Michelle, making the two girls exchange worried glances. "Anyway, we just wanted to -

"I'm pregnant!" Angela's excited squeal cut off Carter's explanation, it was like the woman couldn't hold it any longer.

It took a second for the words to register in the teenagers head. It was Michelle the one who reacted first, quickly going to hug Angela and Carter, congratulating them. After that, sox pairs of eyes turned to the gaping blonde still stunned on her sit.

"Emmy?" Carter called her softly, beginning to worry that perhaps his daughter wasn't happy with the new addition. That was until the blonde's eyes began to water a little but mi tears came as she rushed into the arms of her family. For once things, seemed to be turning out for the better and she could only wish for things to stay that way.

❅

[word count; 2171]
A/n: Short? Check!
Filler? Check!

Not edited