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ALISSA'S PAST TIME SEEMED TO BE EXPLAINING WHY SHE DIDN'T BELIEVE SHE WAS IN LOVE WITH PETER. She had long accepted the fact that she had a crush on him, and that her friends already knew it, even if she still tried denying it sometimes. The boy was undeniably her cause of her near heart attacks whenever the boy did something that made her heart beat louder and beat more often than was healthy. Maybe she could have been in love with Peter, but she felt she was far too young to think that, and she avoided and denied it.

"So," Brian began, nudging his sister with smirk, "Whatcha you gonna do about Peter?" Alissa, who'd been in the middle of doing Physics homework in the public library down the road from the high school, tore her eyes from her packet of unfinished questions, blankly blinking at her brother. "What? You're seriously not just gonna keep looking at him like some creepy, lovesick girl, are you?"

Alissa scoffed and twisted her head, resting it on her hand with her elbow propped on the wooden table. As it was Brian's last day of his suspension, he had nothing to do as he finished all of his own assignments. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, warm rays beating down on the city of Queens, and yet, he found himself accompanying his sister at the library.

It was quite large, books strewn across the main floor, and the upper two floors. It was funded by Tony Stark, and books came frequently; the librarians were quite fond of him. Alissa didn't mind him, she liked all of the Avengers, but she didn't pay attention to them, and she wouldn't pay attention to Queens wannabe Avenger, either.

"I don't look at him like some lovesick teen," Alissa said, offended. Brian pursed his lips. "I don't." Alissa quickly lowered her voice when she heard it echo amongst the many shelves. "I look at him like anyone with a crush would."

Brian dramatically rolled his eyes, slightly pushing his chair back so it was balancing on the two back legs, his hands holding onto the edge of the table so he didn't fall backwards and hurt himself. His hair was tangled, but the curls made it hard to tell; he never really did anything to tame his mane.

"Yeah, like he's the only person you can see," Brian said, a small smile appearing on his lips. His eyes flickered to one of the books in the aisle across from them.

Alissa's brows furrowed together, noticing how Brian no longer looked amused, but like he was lost in thought; it was as if he'd fallen into his own kind of trance, thinking of someone who makes him feel the way that Peter made Alissa feel.

"You look at him whenever you get the chance. He makes your heart flutter when he walks into the room. His smile lights up your entire day. Anything he does makes you smile, and when he starts laughing, you can't help but laugh too. . ." Brian's voice dragged off, blinking several times. He looked back at Alissa, blushing at the stare he received from the girl.

"You say it like you know how I'm feeling," she stated matter of factly. She dropped her pencil and leaned back in the chair, pushing her hair over the back of it while keeping her gaze of the dark haired boy. "And I think you do."

Brian pursed his lips, lowering the chair so it was on all fours. His gaze dipped to his hands, biting the inside of his cheek. Alissa let a small smile appear on her lips. "I guess you do get it, don't you? Is that why you were gonna tell Nate?"

Nate Marsh was Brian's crush, and he had been since their first year of middle school. Of course, Brian hadn't thought anything of the feelings, brushing them off like rain drops. He didn't understand it, and so he ignored them. By the time the beginning of their eighth grade year rolled around, it became clear to him, but he still hadn't told anyone except his closest friends. He never told his family, but slowly and surely, they all seemed to figure it out on their own.

Alissa had her own suspicions by the way Brian would talk about Nate, telling her he was too popular to be his friend, or even talk to him. She wasn't entirely sure if it was a crush, but the more he went on about the boy, she realized that it was the same way she talked about Peter. When the chance came, she would go on and on about him, and that was the same for Brian, but he didn't notice. Alissa didn't always notice when she did it herself, but her friends were more than willing to let her know, and so, she did the same for Brian, asking him if he liked Nate; he'd just blushed and mumbled a yes. Luckily, she reacted the way he was hoping, and even better when she cheered and hugged him.

Carter never really suspected a thing until he saw Nate's name doodled all over a page in Brian's notebook. He didn't really think anything of it, just brushed it off. His mind suddenly registered another possibility, and rather than going to Brian, he went to Alissa. She remained silent, claiming she didn't know and that he just asked Brian, and so he did. Brian didn't say anything, not knowing how his brother would react to finding out he was gay. However, Carter seemed to figure his answer then and just wrapped his arms around Brian, telling him he would always love and support him no matter what. Alissa was thankful she decided to eavesdrop that day. And as for their parents, they weren't too sure, but they had their assumptions, so, Brian didn't feel like anyone else needed to know just yet except for that subject of his affection.

"I-I like him, and I want him to know," Brian informed Alissa, rubbing his hand up and down his arm. Alissa grinned, eyes briefly glancing to her homework. Dozens of questions still had to be completed, but it would have to wait. "And I want you to tell Peter, too."

Alissa let out a yelp of a laugh, quickly covering her mouth with both of her hands. Wide eyed, she turned to face Brian. She removed her hands from her mouth, shaking her head from side to side, "No," she said more quietly, stop laughing. "Now freakin' way, B. You're free to tell Nate, and I'll even go with you to tell him if you want, but I will not tell Peter. It'll ruin everything."

"No it won't," Brian stressed, scooting his seat closer to his sister. "He likes you, too. I know it." Alissa scoffed, picking up her pencil again. Brian reached forward and snatched it out of her hand, not even thinking as he tossed it behind him. The pencil went over the railing, making Alissa's eyes widen and jaw drop pen.

"What the—" someone began to say before the stopped, remembering they were in a library.

Alissa and Brian snorted out a laugh, but it stopped just as quickly, Alissa sighing. "C'mon, Al," Brian said, taking her hand in his own. "He likes you, and you like him. Now's your chance to get the boy of your dreams. Don't you want that?"

Alissa groaned, closing her eyes, "I-I do, B, but I—"

"Great!" Brian exclaimed, ignoring the glare Alissa sent him. "We'll tell them on the same day. What's the worst that could happen?"

Alissa didn't even bat an eye as she said, "He could hear me."

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Okay, wow, just a heads up: bring tissues for the next chapter 👀. I'm currently reading The Book Thief in my English class and Death is mentioned a lot (well at the time this was written I was, but I'm long out of school), and I thought it would be fun to do something similar, idk why, I just really like the book.

Anyways, look at my little babies getting so gushy about their crushes 🥺🥺.

Okay, please let me know what you thought of this by leaving some comments!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!