Requested by simpforsoup: Over the next week, Y/N slowly starts to improve again. As more time passes, she's finally let out of the container and her relationship with Peter progresses. But then, she enters the uncharted territory of having a crush on him, and so starts to push him away since she gets scared. Peter notices and starts to wonder what he did to deserve her ignoring him.

I sat in the container, my back against the wall like it had been this entire time. The door opened, making me look at it. Peter walked in, a small smile on his lips as he saw me.

"Hey, Y/N. You okay?" he asked as he sat down on the other side of the glass wall.

"As okay as I can be when I'm still locked in this box." I muttered.

"Well, that's why I'm here. You're getting out." He admitted. My eyes widened and I turned to look at him.

"What?" I gulped. He smiled and bit his lip at me, making me choke.

"Mr Stark and I agreed that you've made a lot of progress this week. Even if you're still a bit distant, we think that you being kept in here no longer helps." He shook his head. I returned it and bit my lip. I had to admit, he did have a point. It had been a month since I had first been locked into the container but I had become less hostile towards the Avengers and Peter. Instead of yelling at them, I'd just grumble and mutter small "whatever"s at them. Instead of trying to fire my energy at Peter when he pissed me off, I'd just been rolling my eyes at him. I started to feel warm and bubbly around him, and I didn't know what to think about that. I had only realised recently that I had been letting my walls down without even realising it, and I didn't like that. I couldn't let him see how vulnerable I was.

"No. Really? He's letting me out?" I gulped as I stood to my feet. He nodded and bit his lip as he tried to suppress a smile.

"Yeah, he is. On the condition that you don't try to kill any of us once you're let out." He stated.

"Pete, I never wanted to kill any of you. I'd have hoped that you understood that." I scoffed.

"I do. I know that you couldn't control it." He reassured. I sighed and looked at him.

"When am I getting out?" I asked.

"Mr Stark is in a meeting right now, but straight after that. Is there anything that you want to do when you get out?" He asked. My eyebrows furrowed at the question.

"Why are you asking me that, Pete?" I mumbled. He shrugged and looked at me.

"Well, it'll be your first day of freedom in fuck knows how long. I guess that I want to make it special for you." He admitted. I gulped and bit my lip, butterflies exploding in my stomach at his words. The issue was that I still didn't know if I wanted to get closer to Peter. By this point, I saw him as a friend at least, but I was still petrified of hurting him, or worse. It was a double-edged sword, and I wasn't sure yet what side I wanted to be on.

~Two months later~

"Stop, Pete, stop!" I laughed, him returning it as we play-fought on the sofa in the living room. Peter was on top of me, my legs kicking out at him but failing as he held my wrists above my head.

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything." He smirked cheekily, making me laugh and shake my head again. I had been out of the container for two months now, and to say that Peter and I's relationship had majorly progressed was an understatement. I always felt warmth and happiness when I was with him, and I found myself missing him when we weren't together. Though, whilst part of me really liked him, the other part of me was fucking terrified of how close we'd become. I'd never been in this position before, I'd never liked someone and potentially had them like me back, and it terrified me. If I was completely honest with myself, I didn't know yet if I wanted it to progress further. I still had to see.

"Woah, what's going on here?" We both looked to the side to see Tony staring at us with a slight smirk on his lips.

"Pete, are you okay to pry yourself off of her for two seconds? I need a word." he teased.

"Thanks for that, Mr Stark. Not like we were doing anything." Peter grumbled, making Tony chuckle as the boy climbed off of me and allowed me to stand up.

"Let's talk, kid." he nodded. My eyebrows furrowed, my heart leaping slightly in anxiety of what he would tell me as he led me towards my room. This was when he'd tell me that I couldn't be part of the Avengers after all, I was too unstable to be around them all of the time. God, I hoped that it wasn't that. Tony opened the door to my room and let me in before shutting the door behind him. I gulped as he looked at me.

"So, kiddo, I have a proposition for you. This is going to sound like a weird offer since I know how intelligent you are, hell, you're probably smarter than all of the Avengers put together. But, I thought that it would be an idea for you to join Peter at Midtown high school. I thought that it would help you feel more like a normal eighteen-year-old." he admitted. My eyes widened.

"Tony, I'd love that! That'd be awesome!" I laughed, making him smile.

"Yeah? Brilliant. Look, Peter only has six months left before he graduates, but that's still plenty of time for you to experience what it's like to be a normal teenager, to meet his friends, even to get some experience in his classes. I know that it's not much, but it's the best that we can offer you." he shrugged. I bit my lip, tears of happiness pricking my eyes as I looked at him.

"It's more than enough, Tony. Thank you so much." I smiled. He returned it and nodded.

"It's nice to see you smile. Though, we're seeing it a lot more. Especially when you're around Peter." he nodded teasingly as he raised his eyebrow. My smile dipped.

"What do you mean?" I chuckled nervously.

"I mean that you have a little crush, kid. It's alright, it's perfectly natural, nothing to be ashamed of." he returned the chuckle. My eyes widened and I shook my head.

"N-no, I don't have a crush on Peter, he's just a friend." I scoffed, my heart starting to race in panic.

"It's okay to admit that you like him, Y/N. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." he continued to lightly tease, my mentor giving me a wink as he opened my door and headed out. I gulped, my eyes wavering at his words. If Tony had noticed how I acted around Peter, surely he had too. Oh, fuck, I thought as I started to panic. This had been exactly what I had been afraid of this whole time. Liking Peter was completely uncharted territory, and wasn't territory that I had wanted to be in. I didn't like the fact that I couldn't control what I was feeling for him, especially as I had no idea if he felt the same. Sure, I had endured years of torture and abuse from HYDRA, but I had a gruesome feeling that getting my heart broken by Peter if he didn't like me back would feel so much worse. Especially as he was my first crush. I gulped and sat down on my bed, a tear leaving my eye as I could think of only one realistic solution: I had to distance myself from him. That was the only way to prevent myself from getting hurt in the inevitable outcome of him not liking me back.

"Y/N." I looked up, my heart leaping and my eyes wavering as Peter stood at the door. Speak of the fucking devil, I thought to myself.

"Mr Stark just told me that you'll be joining me in school from Monday. That's awesome!" he laughed and shook his head. I gulped harshly, my heart pounding in my chest as I tried not to look at his cute little face.

"U-um...yeah. Y-yeah, it'll be cool." I mumbled quietly as I looked back down at my fingers. His smile dipped slightly, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked at me.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice full of worry as he rushed into my room and sat down on my bed next to me. I scooted away from him slightly, making his eyes widen.

"What's up, Y/N? You know that you can talk to me." he insisted. I kept my eyes glued to my hands, my heart breaking already at the idea of pushing Peter away. But I'd started it now, and so there was no turning back.

"Nothing's up, I'm fine. But I have training, so I should get dressed." I nodded, Peter following me with his gaze as I stood up and held the door before looking at him. He gulped, his eyes full of confusion as he stared at me.

"Right. Yeah, course. I, um, I'll see you later?" he asked hopefully as he headed to my door.

"Sure." I nodded, not letting him answer me as I gently pushed him over the boundary of my room before shutting the door.

Peter's P.O.V

"Stop, Pete, stop!" Y/N laughed, him returning it as the pair play-fought on the sofa in the living room. Peter was on top of the stunning girl, her legs kicking out at him but failing as he held her wrists above her head.

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything." He smirked cheekily, making her laugh and shake her head again. Y/N had been out of the container for two months now, and Peter had loved every second of time that he'd spent with her. He loved everything about her, everything from her eyes, to her hair, to her smile. Not to mention her personality. She was weirdly kind and gentle for someone who had been raised to kill and had been beaten every day of her life, but he guessed that she was the type of person who reciprocated what she was shown. So, since Peter was kind and gentle to her, she was kind and gentle back to him. His heart was so full when he was with her, so much so to the point where he was starting to fall in love with her. And he didn't want to stop falling.

"Woah, what's going on here?" Both of them looked to the side to see Tony staring at them with a slight smirk on his lips.

"Pete, are you okay to pry yourself off of her for two seconds? I need a word." he teased.

"Thanks for that, Mr Stark. Not like we were doing anything." Peter grumbled, all of the heat rushing to his cheeks at his mentor's words. Tony chuckled as the boy climbed off of Y/N and allowed her to stand up.

"Let's talk, kid." he nodded. Her eyebrows furrowed, as did Peter's as he led her towards her room. Peter couldn't help but wonder what the conversation would entail. Maybe this was when Tony would tell her that she could finally become an Avenger. He certainly hoped so.

Peter sat in the living room on his phone as he waited for Y/N to come back from her conversation with Tony. He looked up, his eyebrows furrowing as Tony walked back into the room. Without Y/N.

"What was that about, Mr Stark?" he asked as he sat up. His mentor gave him a small smile as he sat down next to him. He looked at him.

"I suggested that she joins you at Midtown for the remainder of your time there. And she said yes. She loved the idea." he admitted. Peter's eyes widened, a wave of excitement washing over him at the idea of getting to spend more time with her and introducing her to Ned and MJ.

"Mr Stark, that's amazing! That's awesome, I'll get to show her around school and around Queens!" he exclaimed.

"I did figure that you'd jump at the chance to be her tour guide. Go and talk to her, she was really excited." Tony nodded.

"I will. Thank you so much, Mr Stark, this is awesome." he smiled as he stood up, making Tony return it as Peter rushed along to Y/N's room. He slowed down as he got to her open door, his heart leaping as he saw her sat on the bed.

"Y/N." He spoke, making her look up. Her eyes wavered as she saw him.

"Mr Stark just told me that you'll be joining me in school from Monday. That's awesome!" he laughed and shook his head. She gulped harshly.

"U-um...yeah. Y-yeah, it'll be cool." She mumbled quietly as she looked back down at her hands. Peter's smile dipped slightly, his eyebrows furrowing as his mind filled with confusion. Not five minutes ago, she'd been laughing and smiling when they'd been play-fighting, and Tony had said that she'd been really excited to be told that she was going to high school. So, what had changed for her to be sitting here, looking like she'd just found out that someone that she loved had died?

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice full of worry as he rushed into her room and sat down on her bed next to her. She scooted away from him slightly, making his eyes widen. Something was definitely wrong, Peter's worry was that he had no idea what that was.

"What's up, Y/N? You know that you can talk to me." he insisted. The beautiful girl kept her eyes glued to her hands, making his worry that he'd done something wrong start to increase. Why else would she be suddenly acting so distant and cold again, just like she'd acted when she had been in the container? It would break his heart if she took their relationship back to that point, but he had the most gut-wrenching feeling that that was what she was doing.

"Nothing's up, I'm fine. But I have training, so I should get dressed." She nodded, Peter following her with his gaze as she stood up and held the door before looking at him. He gulped, his eyes full of confusion as he stared at her. Why was she suddenly being like this? He was desperate to know, but he was also very cautious of pushing her too much. After all, he didn't want to accidentally push her away even more by prying too much for answers.

"Right. Yeah, course. I, um, I'll see you later?" he asked hopefully as he headed to her door.

"Sure." She nodded, making Peter's eyes widen as she gently pushed him over the boundary of her room before shutting the door. Peter turned around and stared at the now shut door with wide eyes, his heart dropping at what had just happened. She hadn't acted so cold towards him like that in two months, and he had genuinely thought that they'd been making progress. In fact, they'd only been another good week or so away from him asking her out. Though, that didn't feel like a good idea anymore. He gulped harshly, tears pricking his eyes and his mind racing as he desperately tried to figure out what was wrong. Though he had a feeling that Y/N wouldn't give that information up easily.