"oh shit, you're serious?" dakota asked, looking over at liz and her father. "that's the guy who's been using all those weapons?" peter nodded in response, looking extremely pale. "well, we have to make sure."

peter's eyes widened. "what? what do you mean? wait, why are you going over there?"

"i'm going to introduce myself." kodie replied as if it was obvious.

reluctantly, he followed her over to them. "hi!" dakota said, putting on a convincing smile. "i'm dakota, you must be liz! peter's told me a lot about you; he says you're the leader of his academic team!"

liz smiled, completely shocked. "you're dakota stark!" she said in disbelief. "oh my gosh, it's an honor to meet you! you're here with peter?" she asked, looking over at him.

"yeah, we're- we're here together." peter said, looking over at her father.

toomes was staring daggers into dakota's skull. being the daughter of tony stark, and an avenger herself, she was the exact thing that he was against. "nice to meet you, miss. stark." he said, extending his hand.

dakota shook it, her award-winning smile still plastered on her face. "nice to meet you, as well!"

"kodie," peter said, putting his hand on her lower back, "why don't you and liz go on inside, i'll be right there, okay?"

although she wanted to argue, dakota simply nodded, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before walking into the school with liz, beginning a random conversation about how pretty the decorations were.

as dakota walked into the building, she cast a final glance over her shoulder at peter.

peter was left alone with toomes, and the two eyed each other. "i know who you are." peter said, trying his best to make his voice sound as brave as possible.

"and i know who you are." he replied. "peter, nothing is more important than family. you saved my daughter's life. i could never forget something like that. so i'm gonna give you one chance." he said. "are you ready? you walk through those doors, you forget any of this happened. and don't you ever, ever interfere with my business again. because if you do, i'll kill you and everybody you love, including that little stark girl. i'll kill you dead." he repeated. "that's what i'll do to protect my family. do you understand?"

peter nodded, not willing to meet the man's eyes.

"hey," toomes said, "i just saved your life. now, what do you say?"

the boy looked straight into his eyes, his jaw clenched. "thank you."

"you're welcome." toomes responded, patting peter's shoulder before going and heading back towards his car.

peter stood there for a moment before shaking his head, still in shock. he walked into the school, looking over to see dakota standing with ned, michelle, liz, and some of the latter girl's friends. he felt that his feet could barely support him anymore as ned waved at him.

dakota furrowed her brows as she watched peter walk into the room. making her way towards him, she took his hands gently into hers. "is he the guy?"

he nodded, frozen in place. "he's the guy." he said, looking more scared than dakota had ever seen him before.

"what's your plan?" she asked him, feeling him take her hand in his and quickly leave the room with her by his side.

"i gotta stop him." peter said, leading her down the hallway. he effortlessly picked up a row of lockers with one hand, making dakota bite her lip. (what, super-powers were admittedly super hot). he reached under the lockers, pulling out his homemade spider-man suit. "and i have to do this by myself."

"wh-"

"kodie, you have done so much for me. but i can't let you take the fall for this. i know about your dad not wanting us to be together."

"peter, i meant to tell you, i-"

he shook his head. "he told me, too. and while he wasn't right about that, he was right about one thing. i'm going to get you hurt with this. and i can't let that happen, okay? this isn't your fight. it's mine."

"i want us to be able to fight together, peter. i want to support you. you shouldn't feel like you have to fight by yourself, pete, i'm right here." she reached to grab his hands.

he squeezed her hands, nodding his head. "i know. i know you support me. and i'm so grateful for that. but i.. i can't let you get hurt for me."

she frowned, feeling him brush his nose against hers.

"i'm so sorry that i asked you to this dance only to leave early, kodie. i just-- i have to finish this." he explained, holding onto her hands. "man, i really wanted this whole homecoming thing to go well." he sighed. "i wanted to ask you to officially be my girlfriend, and everything, and now i've just.. i've ruined it. i'm sorry."

dakota grabbed both of his cheeks, pressing her lips to his in a kiss. "yes." she said when she pulled away for air.

his brows furrowed. "what?"

"yes, i'll be your girlfriend, officially." she clarified, smiling up at him. his face lit up. "be careful." she said as she pressed her forehead to his.

"i will." he assured her, pressing his lips to hers again for a quick second. "i'll see you soon. girlfriend." he grinned at the new title.

"okay, superboy." she chuckled, feeling his nose touch hers again. "you have a city to save." she reminded him. "call if you need anything." she said as he nodded, turning and running down the hall.

"where'd he go?" ned asked as he ran down the hall, stopping by dakota.

"spider-man needs our help."