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"YOU KNOW, MAYBE THIS IS A SIGN," Brian suggested, offering a timid smile to Alissa as they waited in line of the middle school, waiting until the cars moved up closer to the main entrance before Brian decided to get out. Off to the side, a teenage couple was leaning up against a tree, one wearing a Spider-Man shirt while the other wore a Spider-Man tank top. "Peter likes Spider-Man, like a lot, and you basically like Spider-Man—"

"I don't like Spider-Man," Alissa objected, but neither brother believe her.

"Really? Says the girl who Spider-Man saves the most and brings home so she doesn't get cold and knows her name," Carter pointed out, laughing as he did so. Sunglasses were perched on his nose, hiding his eyes, but the amusement was there in his voice and in his widespread smirk.

"He hasn't saved me that many times," Alissa defensively scoffed, "And the other times he just showed up, but I had it all handled. I didn't need him."

"We know," Brian said, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "You say it every day."

"Well you remind me every day," she retorted. Brian flicked her ear, making her spin around and take a swing at him as he let out a panicked cry. "Hey, easy! I have to look nice today!"

Alissa paused. "Why?"

"Uh, no reason," Brian tried dismissing, opening the door after car moved up a few inches, but not any closer to the front of the school than they were six minutes ago.

Carter reached behind him, grabbing one of Brian's book bag straps, the younger boy falling back into the car as the door slipped closed, his body collapsing onto the leather seats. "Not so fast, little dude," Carter chuckled, inching the car forward more.

"Why do you have to look so nice today?" Alissa questioned, eyes pinned to Brian. Carter's eyes shined with curiosity, a sly smile etched in his lips. Alissa was biting her lip in anticipation as she waited for Brian's answer. It was clear he'd put more effort into his curls, making them shiny and more fluffy. He wore a polo shirt and tan jeans, which was weird itself as he normally wore pun shirts or sweaters, but he wasn't.

"I, uh," Brian cleared his throat, nervously fiddling with his fingers, "I'm gonna ask Nate out."

Alissa squealed, reaching around and smacking carter's arm in excitement. The boy let out a shout, wincing and rubbing his arm, eyes back on the road. Brian rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He regretted being honest.

"That's amazing, B," Alissa said.

Brian blushed, eyes looking out at the window as they got close enough to the entrance for him to book it to the door without getting too cold along the way.

"What about that crush on Harry?" Carter asked. Brian's eyes widened. "Did you really think I didn't know? Everyone knew."

"Really?" Brian gasped. Alissa scrunched up her nose, tilting her head to side while offering him a small smile. He shrugged. "It's whatever, it's still there, so, if this doesn't work out with Nate, he's my backup."

Alissa snorted out a laugh, shaking her head while Brian opened the door. "I bet he'll be thrilled to here that he's second best."

"Good," Brian smiled, waving to his siblings before he climbed out, slamming the door shut.

He hurried off towards Xavier who was impatiently waiting, Alissa rolling down the window. "Let us know how it goes!" She called out, laughing and beaming, Brian shooting her a glare with his cheeks red from the cold and embarrassment.
Xavier waved, Carter and Alissa returning the wave which made the boy jump in excitement.

Alissa rolled up the window, glancing over at Carter as he pulled away and left the middle school line, heading towards Midtown High.

"Do you think it'll go his way?" Alissa asked Carter, tearing opened a bag of chocolate pop tarts, handing the second one to Carter. "Things don't tend to go in his favor most of the time. . ."

Carter bit into his pop tart, squinting in thought. "I think this time it'll be different. It'll go his way, I'm sure of it."

Alissa smiled, a warm feeling filling her stomach. "Me too."

° ° °

"Wait, so, you're following in your brother footsteps?"

Alissa shook her head. "Not exactly," she said, fiddling with her hands as she sat next to Harry. Gwen and Mary Jane were seated in front of them, the group sitting on the bleachers in the gym a few minutes before school was meant to start.  Peter was, of course, not there, claiming that he was helping May bake some dessert food for her to bring into work that morning as it was someone's birthday. Alissa knew it was a lie, and having heard one too many now, she decided it was time to confront him, but also (maybe) tell him how she felt. Her brother was being brave, braver than ever before, and it was time she did the same. "I'm not gonna ask him to be my boyfriend but. . .I am gonna tell him how I feel."

Gwen giddily clapped her hands together, Mary Jane squealing while Harry proudly smiled. For so long they heard Alissa gush about the boy, spending so many hours just talking about the great things about him while her eyes gazed at him, love and admiration shining so brightly anyone and everyone could tell she liked him.

Harry pretended to cry, wiping away a fake tear. "Our little Al's growing up," he teased, Alissa lightly smacking his arm, making him laugh even more. Gwen and Mary Jane grinned, chucking along.

"Are you sure about this, though?" Mary Jane asked. "You've liked him for a really long time—"

"A really long time," Harry added. The girls chose to ignore him, causing him to frown and pout.

"I just wanna make sure you're ready," Mary Jane concluded, sweetly smiling.

"I've been ready for a longtime," Alissa said. "I just had to fully accept it, and now, I have."

"We're really proud of you, ya know?" Harry said, gently patting her arm. Alissa touched his hand, grinning. "But we're still gonna tease you, especially when you and Pete become a couple."

Alissa's smile fell, dropping her hand in her hands. "C'mon now, you've teased for so many years, shouldn't this be the end of it?"

"Are you kidding, it'll be the start," Gwen giggled, buttoning up her blue cardigan some more. "We can just tease you and Peter about how we knew you would get together all along, especially Ned. He's got the footage that documents it."

Alissa's head poked up. "Wait, what—?"

"Hey, Ned said I'd find you guys here," a new voice interrupted, a familiar boy rushing in, a small smile on his face. Alissa turned with a faint grin, but it instantly fell when she saw a bruise covering his eye. This time, she wasn't the only one to notice a bruise covering his skin. He'd been covered in them for weeks now, and just last week he ended up missing two days of school, not answering calls or texts from any of his friends.

"Oh my god, Peter," Gwen gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Mary Jane turned towards Alissa, shock and worry lacing her features. Harry did a double take, his jaw smacking down. "W-What happened to you?"

Peter shook his head, "I. . .got jumped. Yeah, it was really rough. The guy stole all of my money—!"

"I need to talk to you," Alissa rushed out, wincing at how urgent and hopeless she had sounded. Peter closed his mouth, faintly nodding in agreement. A small flutter came to his heart, wondering if she was going to do what she had talked to him about the night before, not knowing it was her crush who was playing the part of Spider-Man. "Uh, I—Yeah," she dragged off, not daring to look at the faces of her friends, knowing they were all probably sharing knowing smiled.

"O-Okay, yeah, uh, okay," Peter nodded, stumbling a little with his words. Alissa nodded and grabbed her book bag, deciding she would just head to class after she talked to him. No matter what would happen, she didn't think she would be able to face her friends just yet.

Alissa hopped down the steps, walking beside the boy, heading towards the hallway. There weren't too many students lingering by the lockers, most having went to their classes already with five minutes left until the school day began. Alissa looked to the floor, standing by the wall and facing Peter, closing her eyes as her heart loudly beat against her rib cage. She could hear her heart in her ears, the sound almost deafening compared to her breathing that shakily past by her lips. Peter patiently stood there, his own heart fastening when their eyes locked.

"Um, I," Alissa sighed, her eyes looking to Peter. The words were on the tip of her tongue, wanting to slip and surround the air they were both shakily breathing in. She looked at the black eye again, his brown eyes—those stupid brown puppy dog eyes she loved so much—stared back at her, a shine in them despite the bruise that surrounded his right eye. Alissa shook her head, "What happened, Peter?"

Peter heavily sighed. "It's nothing, Alissa. You don't need to—"

"But I do worry, I always worry about you, Peter," she said, feebly frowning. She sighed, shifting her weight to her other leg. "No matter what, I always worry about you. I always have, and now, with all these bruises and lies—"

"I can explain all of that—!"

Alissa shook her head. "Please, just let me finish and then you can explain because I'd love to know why you've been lying to your best friends all these months," she said, a bit of anger and hurt finding their way into her voice even though she tried so hard to hide it. Peter sighed, taking a small step to the side, rubbing the back of his neck. "Listen, I didn't bring you out here to yell at you or to pry, okay? I-I brought you out here because. . ."

Peter waited, biting the inside of his cheek. Alissa let out a nervous laugh, a small smile coming to Peter's face, the beats of his heart beginning to reach his ears. He was almost certain he could hear Alissa's too, being hyper aware, but it still just could've been his own heart skipping so many beats.

"Pete, I-I, I look at you and. . .And I just see this amazing, wonderful boy," Alissa began, her cheeks heating up; along with Peter's. "You're so sweet, and super smart, and such a caring and humble person. I can't begin to explain just how thankful I am to have you in my life, and for being one of my best friends. You're one of the best things that's ever happened to me, and I honestly don't know what I'd do without you around. I'd probably be going crazy with no one to keep Harry under control—" Peter let out a laugh, his blush deepening. He wanted to confess all of his feelings too and tell her felt the same, but she wasn't done just yet. "Pete, I-I love you."

His eyes visibly widened, shock registering on his features. He knew she liked him, but love him? He wasn't expecting that. "Woah, I, I don't even—"

Peter was taken aback when Alissa stepped forward, connecting their lips in a quick kiss.

The kiss was quick and sweet, but Alissa broke it, gasping as her hand went to cover her mouth. Peter stared at her in complete surprise, shocked and still trying to register what had just happened.

"Oh my—Peter, I'm so sorry," Alissa said, panic coming to irritate her stomach. She just confessed her feelings to boy who was at the end of them. "I shouldn't have just sprung that on you—"

"No, you didn't," Peter denied.

"I'm so sorry, and I just kissed you, and you probably don't even like me and—I'm such an idiot. I'm so sorry, Peter!" Alissa frantically shook her head.

Peter shook his head, trying to stop her from walking away as she stepped aside, but she didn't listen. "Wait! Alissa, please don't go, I—" he sighed, dropping his hand at his side as Alissa ran down the hall, a lump forming in her throat as she pushed through the double doors, doubt plaguing her mind more than ever as she ran off, not even looking twice as she bumped into someone.

° ° °

So, this was kind of like a plot twist that I didn't intend for. Okay, that's a lie, i did plan this, but this was needed.

Alissa had that boost of confidence, ya know, and was really feeling it, but after kissing him, all this doubt kind of came to her when she saw the surprise on Peter's face. She does think he likes her, but she's still not entirely sure, and she's kind of afraid to think he is. It's like all these years she's liked him and she's finally admitted and now, she's told him, which is a really big thing to her and it just freaked her out, ya know?

Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! It was a big turning point for Alissa since this whole book has been about her crush on Peter and now she's telling him! Granted, it didn't go the way she, and probably you guys, would've liked, but there's still ten chapters left plus the epilogue, so, yeah, there's that. I hope you all will enjoy what's left of the story!

As always, don't forget to leave your lovely feedback in the comments!! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!