[𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺]

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

PETER SAT DOWN in front of his best friend Ned, who was minding his own business in the table he was sitting at when the brunet called his attention. The classroom was halfway filled with students, and drawings in memoriam to Iron Man were glued to the walls.

"I have a plan," Peter announced, and Ned merely looked up at the sound of his voice. "Okay, first, I'm gonna sit next to (Y/N) on the flight like we have planned."

"Mm-hm," Ned nodded along, but had a frown on his face as he did.

"Second, I'm gonna buy a dual-headphone adapter and watch movies with her the whole time."

"Okay."

"Three, when we go to Venice — Venice is really famous for making stuff out of glass, right?" Peter asked, leaning forward to whisper his words to make sure no one else was hearing him.

"True."

"I'm gonna buy her a Forget-Me-Not necklace — "

"Why a Forget-Me-Not?"

Peter blushed, like he remembered something personal with that question. "That's her favorite flower since she was six."

"Four, when we go to Paris, I'm gonna take her to the top of the Eiffel Tower, give her the necklace."

"Oh."

"Then, five, I'm gonna tell her how I feel. And then, six, hopefully I don't ruin our friendship and she tells me she feels the same way."

"Oh, don't forget step seven," Ned advised.

"Step seven?" Peter clicked his pen and looked back down to his notebook, where he had written the entire plan.

"Don't do any of that."

Peter snapped his head in Ned's direction and frowned. "Why?"

"We're gonna be bachelors in Europe, Peter," Ned explained.

"Ned."

"Look," Ned cut him off. "I may not know much, but I do know this: Europeans love Americans."

"Really?"

"More than half of them are women."

"Okay. Sure," Peter slowly shook his head. "But I've liked (Y/N) for a really long time, man, okay? She's amazing, she's funny even though she's teasing me half of the time. And I really want to cheer her up after all — She's coming."

(Y/N), who had been busy talking with MJ the whole time, moved from her spot and made her way towards the boys. She saw the strange demeanor in the two of them and didn't say anything about it, already used to this kind of behavior.

"Hey, fellas," she greeted. "What were you guys talking about? Excited about the trip?"

"Hey," Peter cleared his throat awkwardly. "We were just talking about the trip."

"Yeah, and Peter's plan," Ned spoke up with crossed arms.

"A plan? What for?"

"I don't — I don't have a plan." Peter jumped to his own defense, playing with his pen in between his fingers.

"No, he's just gonna collect tiny spoons when we're traveling to other countries," Ned sent a wink directly to Peter, who seemed like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

"Oh, really? Kinda vintage from your part," (Y/N) shrugged off. "I was planning on taking a camera to photograph nearly everything."

"That sounds cool, but I'm not collecting tiny spoons. He's collecting tiny spoons," Peter pointed at Ned beside him.

"Okay. See you later, boys, " (Y/N) nodded their way and began to walk away, not before she turned back one last time to say something else. "So, today's that event, right?"

"Yeah," Peter nodded his head and watched how she grinned before she whirled on her heel and walked out of the classroom with a dreamy look.

"Dude, you're totally whipped."

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

THAT SAME NIGHT, both Peter and (Y/N) stood in front of an audience for the Homeless Support charity, which was helping people with scarce resources after the so called 'Blip.' The two were dressed in their respective suits, seeing how many people had gathered in the auditorium and sat around in tables.

May was there too, and she was speaking down to the microphone as the audience listened to her. "When I Blipped back to my apartment, the family that was living there was very confused. The wife thought that I was a mistress. The grandma thought I was a ghost. It was. . .It was really a mess."

"Thank you all for coming out to support those who have been displaced by the Blip. And of course, thanks to our very own Spider-Man and Blue Dame!"

People cheered and clapped in unison, and Peter turned to look at (Y/N) with his masked eyes and she gestured to move forward to speak up in the microphone before her, and he did. He cleared his throat and placed his hands on his hips before he said anything.

"Thank you, Miss Parker, for having us," he flashed the crowd a thumbs-up.

He moved to the side to allow (Y/N) to lean forward into the microphone and say something herself, the blue and black suit shining under the light of the room. "And thank you to all of you for having us."

May patted her in the shoulder and smiled at the crowd. "And thank you, Spider-Man and Blue Dame. They'll be right back out to take photos and videos. Thank you!"

(Y/N), Peter and May all stepped back to the curtains behind the stage and walked through them, the clapping from the crowd being muffled by them as they all shared a high-five, all while the two teens were finally able to remove their respective masks.

"That was awesome."

"That was amazing."

"That was great," May said in a sing-along tone.

"That was so cool. I was so nervous," Peter rambled and walked back and forth around the back of the stage.

"I was a little stiff. I wasn't in the pocket," May confessed with a small laugh.

"No, you were great," (Y/N) reassured.

"Oh, (Y/N), you were amazing," the older woman flashed her a smile before turning to her nephew. "Yeah, I actually think you were a little stiff."

Peter shrugged but hid the offense behind it. "Yeah, I felt that too. I felt that too."

"It's fine, it's fine."

"Okay."

May nodded and decided to change the topic, referring to the science trip Peter and (Y/N) would be taking. "Did you get your passport?"

"Yeah."

"Mini toothpaste?"

"Yeah, I did."

May fixed her eyes on the girl. "Okay, (Y/N), I'll be your ride to the airport or someone else is taking you?"

(Y/N) offered an embarrassed smile. "I was hoping you could take me? Stephen is not answering any of my calls. If it's no bother — "

"No!" Peter cut in way too loudly for his liking, his face turning red from embarrassment and May only winked discreetly at him before answering.

"Of course not," she replied. "I've always told you it's no problem. When that guy finally reaches out for you, I'll give him a piece of my mind."

(Y/N) laughed quietly at May's words but it brought her to another train of thoughts. Over the last months after the battle, Stephen had completely ignored her and given her the cold shoulder, not answering calls or texts. At first, she thought it was his own way of grieving, but it was peculiar to her.

Other than the fact that she didn't have a place to stay ever since Kiara's passing, she was barely taken to a foster home before May intervened, saying she could be (Y/N)'s new guardian for the meantime, and even offered her a place to stay. May had done so many things for her over the past months, and (Y/N) felt guilty about not being able to repay her. She felt like a burden, though she was always reassured that she wasn't.

A loud clattering noise broke off her thoughts, so she and Peter quickly put on the masks in case it was a random stranger and saw a familiar man walking in through the doors, a large cardboard on his hands.

Happy Hogan greeted the trio and approached them. "Hey, sorry I'm late."

(Y/N) removed her mask at seeing him and Peter's own mask was pulled back, the two being relieved it was him. "Happy. Hey."

"Oh, you look lovely," Happy completely ignored them and walked straight to May, the big check of money in his hands.

"Thanks. You too."

"Thank you," Happy said. "New dress?"

"Yeah, yes, it is," May nodded with a grin.

(Y/N) and Peter both looked between the two adults before sharing a confused glance, finding the interaction strange to watch.

"It's a new beard."

"It's my. . .my Blip beard," Happy pointed at it. "I grew it in the Blip. It's a Blip beard."

"I see. Yeah."

"Anyway, so, the reason I'm late is because this was misplaced at the office," Happy raised the check and handed it to May. "Can you believe it? Because it's enormous. Not the amount, the size. The amount's nice too. They're generous."

"Pepper Potts said, sorry she couldn't be here," he continued and avoided the raised eyebrows he was receiving from (Y/N) and Peter.

"Yeah. Thank you," May said. "I think I'm gonna go change the Sterno under the vegan lasagne. Spider-Man, Blue Dame, go shake hands."

May walked backwards before whirling on her heel, holding the check in one of her hands as she opened the curtains and walked away, ignoring the glance Happy was giving her. Peter and (Y/N) answered back to her before their attention turned to the man standing beside them.

"What just happened?" Peter asked first.

"Heads up, Nick Fury's calling the both of you," Happy announced.

"Fury's gonna call me? Why?"

"Why?" Happy frowned before he moved on to explain. "He probably has hero stuff for you two to do. You're superheroes. He calls superheroes."

"Look, Happy, everything's been so stressful right now, I don't think he would be that interested in calling me," (Y/N) crossed her arms.

"Exactly. If it was that important, he'd probably call someone else, not me," Peter answered and right after that, his cell phone rang behind him.

"Great, you jinxed it," (Y/N) muttered.

Peter reached to his backpack and grabbed his phone from inside, holding it with his hands as he looked down at it and Happy moved so he could see it for himself. (Y/N) followed after him and saw that there was no specific name on the contact.

"No caller ID. That's him," Happy said.

"I don't wanna talk to Nick Fury," Peter told him.

"I don't blame you. He's terrifying," (Y/N) mumbled.

"Answer the phone," Happy insisted.

"Why?"

"Because if you don't talk to him, I have to, and I don't want to talk to him."

"Why you don't wanna talk to him?"

"Because I'm scared. Answer the phone."

Peter raised his phone for him to see and pressed on the red button of it, sending the unknown caller directly to voicemail, making (Y/N) let out an impressed whistle and for Happy to pale.

"You sent Nick Fury to voicemail?" Happy asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Peter looked back at his phone.

"You don't send Nick Fury to voicemail."

"See, this conversation was too interesting, but they're calling us back in. We gotta go," (Y/N) grabbed Peter by the shoulder and gestured him to follow after her, backing away from Happy.

"You got to talk to him."

"I'm gonna call him. I promise you, I'm gonna call him. I will." Peter promised and the metallic legs formed on the back of his suit.

"I won't!" (Y/N) gave Happy a thumbs-up before she and Peter stepped back into the curtains, placing the mask back to her face.

"After my trip," Peter muttered under his breath and his own mask reappeared on his face.

Him and (Y/N) were received by hundreds of camera flashed and reporters all around them, people chattering and yelling indistinctly. Kids were wearing masks identical to theirs, drawn with crayons and decorated with glitter, while the adults pushed each other to get into the heroes' vision to ask them a question.

"Okay, one question at a time," Peter said.

"Are you the head Avengers?"

"Are you the leaders of the Avengers now?"

"Uh, no, not at the moment," (Y/N) answered that question after taking a deep breath to calm her nerves down.

"If the aliens come back, what are you gonna do?" a woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, asked and everyone quieted down to hear her clearly.

"Does anyone have any neighborhood questions?" Peter searched amongst the crowd.

A man stepped forward with the microphone in hand. "Sean Winford, Queens Tribune. What is it like to take over from Tony Stark. Those are some big shoes to fill."

That question made (Y/N) freeze in her spot, and she could feel the corners of her eyes watering from all the camera flashes and loud yells from the people, and neither of them could sense her discomfort. Peter was the only one who did, so he took a step forward to stop this from getting any worse, being affected by the question too.

"I'm, uh, we gonna go. Thanks so much, everyone, for coming." Peter jumped above their heads and (Y/N) followed after him, thrusting her hands in the air to join him.

(Y/N) didn't know what to do. She saw a mural that was a tribute to Iron Man, the image that had been haunting her dreams for the last months. She didn't feel like someone worthy of being in the place she was now, knowing how disappointed Mr. Stark would be if he saw how cowardly she was.

finally moving forward to my favorite part of this book. things get interesting from this chapter and on ;)

-see you soon, bex