𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨: 𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄, meaning that stevie only had a few more periods left until she got to go home. there was no decathlon practice after school, which the girl was extremely happy about. she loved decathlon, but all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and get some type of sleep.

she gently put her lunch tray down at a table before she sat down. she released a sigh as she looked down at the food. it's not that it didn't look like it tasted good, stevie just didn't have an appetite at the moment. her body was craving sleep; every body part felt like it was being weighed down by 50 pound weights, especially her eyes. she simply pushed the tray away from her before she folded her arms and put her head on them.

she released a sigh, deciding that she should take a nap. she closed her eyes, feeling them basically scream in relief as she let herself relax into the table. and just like she hoped, she started to doze off, drifting somewhere between the land of sleep and actually reality. but that all vanished when she felt her phone vibrate in her jacket pocket. she sat up, letting a groan escape her mouth as she pulled her phone out. she stopped once she saw that it was her mother.

MAMA💞🍂
i know it's your lunch period, so hi.
the storage place that keeps all of
your dad's old experiments and stuff
called. said something about a smell
coming from it.
i need you to help me with it after school.

STEVIE✨💖
okay, sure thing.
am i meeting you there?

MAMA💞🍂
yes. i'm going there straight from work.
and then we can go pick up that tea.

STEVIE✨💖
okie doke.

she swiftly placed her phone back into her jacket pocket, going back into her previous position as she closed her eyes. she felt herself started to drift off once again, but then something slammed beside her, making her shoot up.

"sorry, stevie." donnie apologized sheepishly, seeing how he had scared her.

"it's okay." she sighed.

"you're not eating?" donnie questioned, eyeing the tray that was a few inches in front of stevie.

"not hungry." she shrugged. donnie gave her a stern look, making her roll her eyes. "don't worry. i ate this morning, and i'm gonna eat when i get home." she assured.

"you better. or we're gonna have a problem, carpenter." donnie threatened, but stevie simply ignored it.

soon, ned and peter joined them at the lunch table, placing down their trays as they sat across from stevie and donnie. they seemed to be planning when they should build another lego set that ned had bought. they continued to talk for a few more seconds before they turned their attention to the long haired boy and curly haired girl in front of them.

"wassup, guys?" ned greeted, a smile spreading across his lips.

"hey." peter smiled, looking at donnie.

stevie watched as donnie's cheeks quickly turned a crimson color, the latter dropping his head so that no one could see the blush. stevie stifled a laugh as she turned back to the two boys in front of her, discreetly putting her hand on donnie's thigh.

"edward. petey." she began, making both boys groan at the names. "how are you two doing on this fine afternoon?" she finished, adding a horrible british accent.

"why must you call me my actual name?" ned questioned, eyebrows raised.

"and me petey?" peter then adds.

"well, edward sounds like a really fancy name, for some reason." stevie answered, pointed towards ned. she then moved her finger towards peter, said boy raising his eyebrows. "and because it annoys you."

peter rolled his eyes, picking up a fry from his plate. "okay, so - so do we get to call you stephanie, then? you know, to annoy you?" he quizzed before he shoved the fry into his mouth.

"absolutely not." the carpenter girl replied. "and if you do, you will be on the floor before you can even get past the first syllable. got it, parker?"

peter raised his eyebrows in shock, but nodded nonetheless. this made stevie, ned, and donnie both start to laugh. stevie wasn't the type of person to ever inflict hurt on others, especially her friends. but everyone knew that she could hurt them if she truly wanted to. and plus, she was really, really intimidating at times.

"i didn't notice it earlier, but your bags are a lot worse, stevie." peter points out.

"got any sleep this time?" ned then questions.

"i actually got a whole. . . three hours of sleep." she informed with fake enthusiasm, fixing the hat on her head. "that's gotta be a work record or something, right?"

donnie shook his, an amused smile on his lips. "i'm pretty sure that you've gotta sleep for more than eight hours, stevie. but, uh, five more hours to go."

"damn." stevie mumbled, taking a fry off of peter's tray.

"dude!" he complained, slapping her hand away.

the curly haired girl simply stuck her tongue out, which made peter roll his eyes at her. the quartet continued continued to talk about whatever popped into mind. michelle jones, or mj, had joined the table at some point, but no one had noticed. it's what she did, though. she either always had her nose in a book, quietly reading it, or was observing everyone or everything.

"hey, guys, can you keep it down?" she questioned from her spot at the other end of the table.

this made the group stop laughing, turning to face the curly haired girl. the three boys then all looked at stevie, knowing the affect that mj had on her. remember when i said that stevie had her eyes on someone else? yeah, well the someone else is mj. there was just interesting about the jones girl; she was relatively quiet, always making sure to stay on the sidelines then draw any attention to herself.

once stevie had realized that everyone's eyes were on her, a blush creeped up her neck before settling on her cheeks. must her friend be so obvious?

"if we make so much noise, why do you sit with us?" donnie questioned, tucking a few strands behind his ears.

"because i don't have any friends." mj shrugged, looking at the long haired boy. her eyes then shifted to a very flushed stevie, making the taller girl furrow her eyebrows. "you all right, stevie?"

"uh, yeah. i'm - i'm fine." stevie quickly answered, making the three teenage boys around her all smile.

"whipped!" donnie exclaimed in between coughs, bringing his hand up to his mouth. "whoa, i'm sorry, guys. i had something in my throat."

"yeah, it was peter's di -" stevie started, glaring up at her best friend.

donnie quickly slapped his hand over stevie's mouth, stopping her from finishing her sentence. ned looked at the duo with a knowing look, while peter's eyebrows curled upwards in confusion. even mj sat confuse from the other end of the table, putting her book down.

"peter's what?" peter asked the two, eyebrows still scrunched together.

"nothing!" donnie quickly said, peter barely able to finish his question.

peter continued to give donnie a curious look, seeing how his cheeks and the tips of his ears were beginning to turn pink. stevie smiled under donnie's hand before she stuck her tongue out, licking his palm.

"ew, ew, ew, ew!" donnie exclaimed, retracting his hand from the shorter girl's mouth before he started to rub his palm on his jean. "you unbelievable pig person. you giant fat pig person. you sloth."

"did you just quote new girl at me?" stevie questioned, eyebrows furrowed.

the watson boy was still rubbing his hand on his jeans, trying to get stevie's saliva off of his hand. "yes. yes, i did!"

"how dare you quote schmidt at me?" stevie asked with narrowed eyes.

donnie narrowed his eyes back, stopping his hand movements as the two best friends have a staring contest. ned and peter watched with amused expressions on their faces as mj went back to reading her book. the staring contest between stevie and donnie went on for a few more seconds, donnie's eyes turning into slits as he fought to keep them open. but then he blinked, making him release a groan.

"ha! i win!" stevie said in triumph, sticking her tongue out at donnie.

"whatever." he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

the shrill of the bell echoed throughout the cafeteria, making stevie jump. she groaned as students started to pack their belongings up and start to head to their respectful classes.

"you guys stopped me from taking a nap." she complained.

"don't you have a free period next?" donnie questioned as he put his bag on his back.

"oh, yeah!" this made stevie beam, an excited smile plastered on her lips. "walk me to the library, don."

"actually, i have a test next period. mr.wilson is making us start as soon as we step in the classroom, and i don't wanna be late. sorry, stevie." donnie explained, an apologetic look on his face.

"oh, it's cool." she waved him off. "good luck on your test, ninja turtle.

the taller boy simply stuck his middle finger up, walking away from the table that they were at. peter and ned bid goodbye to stevie as well, neither one of them being able to walk her since their classes were on the opposite side of the building.

"um." a voice started, making stevie look up to see mj. "i have a free period next, too. we can walk together. . . if you want."

stevie felt her her cheeks heat up once again, mentally cursing herself out for blushing. "uh, yeah. sure." she smiled, hoping mj didn't see how flustered she was.

the duo walked to the library in awkward silence. stevie didn't know if it was because the two barely spoke to one another, or because stevie had a crush on the taller girl. either way, it was uncomfortable for the both of them - or at least for stevie.

mj hovered over stevie, being two inches taller than the carpenter girl. she had long, brown curly hair that was always pulled back, with the exception of a few strands that would always cover the right side of her face. the taller girl was usually dressed in dark clothing, a long with black converse, or doc martens. no one ever saw her without a book in her hand, always distancing herself from everyone so she could read whatever book had grabbed her interest. stevie knew that the older girl could draw as well, sometimes seeing her drawing in other classes.

stevie always wondered why she was so closed off from the rest of the world. she never really interacted with anyone, barely interacting with anyone on the decathlon team. the only people she did interact with on the team was stevie, peter, and ned, and sometimes flash when he said something stupid or made fun. outside of decathlon, she interacted with donnie, but that was on rare occasions.

stevie's crush on mj started to develop last year - their freshman. they had a lot of the same classes together, and in one of them they even sat next to one another. this led to them having to be partners for a lot of classwork activities. and during that short time, stevie had managed to get a glimpse of what was behind the walls that mj had built around her heart. she was able to learn that mj had a dry sense of humor, and that she was a very intelligent girl.

the shorter girl hoped that she would be able to break down the walls all together at some point.

"so, uh, you haven't been getting any sleep?" mj asked, deciding to break the silence that they had been.

stevie blinked, forgetting that she was actually walking with the girl she was thinking about. "yeah. i mean, no. no, i haven't."

"any idea why?" mj questioned.

"uh, i take medication because of my adhd. . . trouble sleeping is a side effect." stevie explained, scratching her ear.

"oh, wow." mj mumbled. "i didn't know you had adhd."

"yeah, a lot of people don't." stevie shrugged. "everyone expects me to be a big ball of energy or be very disruptive because of my adhd. but it doesn't really work like that."

"i'm sorry that people assume that about you." the taller girl apologized, making stevie look up at her.

"it's not your fault." she dismissed. "i mean, that's how people remember me. i had a lot of energy when i was a kid and got in trouble a lot. i still have energy, but it's a lot less now."

"you were diagnosed when you were a kid?" mj questioned.

"yeah. when i was six."

mj simply nodded, not knowing what else to say. the jones girl then came to a stop, making stevie look up. to her surprise they were in front of the library, her eyebrows shooting up her forehead. she scratched the back of her neck before she went to go open one of the heavy doors. she gestured for mj to go in first, the taller girl doing as told.

"thank you." she mumbled. "so you just plan on sleeping?"

"yep." stevie answered, nodding her head.

"do you, uh, mind if i join you?" mj asked, stevie raising her eyebrows at the question. mj quickly realized what she had said, a blush creeping on her cheeks. "i - i mean, do you mind if i sit with you while you sleep and i read?" she quickly corrected.

the shorter girl smiled slightly, not used to seeing mj so flustered. "no, i don't mind." she said shaking her head.

"cool."

and with that, mj walked away, probably to go find a book to read. stevie raised her eyebrows but didn't question it. instead she went to the corner that was all the way at the back of the library, smiling as her eyes landed on a beige couch. she laid down on the sofa, taking her book bag off and putting it down. she then slid turned her hat around and slid her hood over her head. she laid down, putting her head on her bag, and pulled her hat down over her face.

she had started to doze off, fully expecting herself to not stay asleep. but as she started to drift deeper and deeper, she jumped up because she felt someone sit on the other end of the couch. she quickly pushed her hat up, a breath escaping her lips once she saw that it was just mj. 

"sorry. didn't mean to scare you." mj mumbled, opening the book that was in her hand.

"it's okay." stevie said, shaking her head.

she laid back down on the couch, pulling her hat over her face to block out the light. a few minutes later, she was sound asleep. mj looked away from the book, quiet snores catching her attention. when her eyes landed on a sleeping stevie, she felt her heart warm for some reason. did she know why? no, but she didn't mind the feeling in her chest.

⚛︎ ✳︎ 𖢥 ✳︎ ⚛︎

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 shrilled in the hallways of midtown high, signaling that school was over. stevie had all ready been out of class, finishing all of her work within the first 30 minutes. so here she was, at her locker, putting all the books that she won't need inside. once she was done, she closed her locker, jumping slightly when she saw donnie leaning on the locker next to her's.

"why do you love scaring me?" she questioned, her eyes narrowed into slits.

the long haired boy tilted his head slightly, a hum vibrating his throat. "because it's fun. anyways, how was your nap in the library?"

"it was actually good. i actually slept." stevie answered as the both of them started to walk towards the exit that led to the parking lot. "oh, and mj was there."

"oooooh. how did that go?" donnie asked, wiggling his eyebrows at the shorter girl.

"it didn't go. i was sleep, remember?" the carpenter girl rolled her eyes.

"yeah, whatever." donnie mumbled, rolling his eyes as well.

the two walked out of the big school building, the sun hitting them in their faces. they walked to donnie's car, which was actually a really old van. it was his dad's and he insists on driving it, even if it puts them in danger. but stevie didn't mind, she loved the van just as much as he did.

"i have to go help with my mom something." stevie informed once they were at the van. "you can come by later if you want."

"okay, will do. what do you have to help her with?" donnie asked, leaning on the hood of the van.

"i think we're cleaning out my dad's old storage unit. she said that the owner said something about a smell, i don't know." stevie mumbled.

"you want me to bring anything when i come by?" donnie questioned.

"nah. i'll text you when we leave, okay?"

"okay." donnie smiled, leaning off the van so that he could place a kiss onto stevie's head.

and with that, he got into his van while stevie started to walk to the closest train station. she prayed that she remembered where she was going, considering the fact that she hadn't been to her father's storage unit since right before he died.

⚛︎ ✳︎ 𖢥 ✳︎ ⚛︎

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 storage place with her headphones in her ear, glad that the loud music was drowning out the ringing. she smiled once her eyes landed on her mother's car, erin leaning on the hood of it as she patiently waited for her daughter. the carpenter girl continued to make her way towards her mother, making erin look up as she got closer and closer.

"hey." erin greeted, a small smile brushing her lips. "how was school?"

stevie paused her music and took her headphones out, stuffing them into her jacket pocket. "it was okay. took a nap during my free period." she answered, shrugging. "how was work?"

"exhausting." erin mumbled, rolling her eyes. "and this is gonna be even more exhausting. you ready to smell whatever is stinking?"

"oh, god. please don't remind me." stevie groaned as she followed behind her mother.

erin release a laugh, wrapping her arm around the younger girl's shoulders. they walked into the building, waving at the guy that was sat at the front desk. they continued to walk through the corridors, passing the many units that held people's belongings. stevie then started to wonder if storage wars ever happened.

after about ten minutes of walking through creepy corridors and going up a flight of stairs, they finally arrived to nathan's storage unit. erin pulled out her set of keys, looking for the small key that unlocked the lock that was on the rusted gate. once erin pulled the lock away, stevie immediately pulled it open, watching as the gate rolled in on itself above their heads. a horrible smell slapped both of them in their faces, making the younger girl slap her hand over her nose while erin grimaced.

"oh, that's bad." erin mumbled, closing her eyes.

"do we have any. . . masks or anything?" stevie questioned, gagging.

erin simply reached inside her bag, pulling out two masks. both of them quickly placed the masks onto their faces, a sense of relief washing over them.

"it smells like something died." stevie noted, seeing the many boxes that was scattered through the unit. "a rat or mouse probably got in or something."

"yeah, maybe." erin mumbled, putting her hair into a messy bun. "you ready?"

stevie looked at her mother, nodding her head. with that, the two of them started to cautiously enter the unit. they began to push the many boxes out, stevie looking through them to see what was inside. it was scrap metal and other parts filled in a few boxes, and files filled with information about experiments in others.

she didn't know much about her dad's occupation. all she knew was that he used to work for s.h.i.e.l.d. as one of the many scientists that was there. he told her that he wanted to try an experiment on spiders, leaving out details on what exactly he wanted to do. the board at s.h.i.e.l.d approved of it at first, but as time went on and they realized that nathan wasn't going anywhere with the experiment, they shut it down. so nathan being nathan, decided to finish it by himself, in this storage unit.

once they cleared all of the boxes out and looked inside, they could see that there was a desk in the unit. it was a messy stack of papers on the desk, along with a lamp. stevie could see that there was a thick coat of dust covering everything from where she stood, seeing a few spiderwebs as well.

"dad used to work in here, right?" stevie questioned, wiping the sweat off her brow as she walking to the desk. "like, on his experiment?"

"yeah." erin nodded, looking through a box. "oh, my god."

stevie looked over to her mother. "what happened?"

"i think i found the rat." erin mumbled.

she slowly grabbed a tissue from her bag - that was placed on the floor - before she reached into the box. she then gently grabbed the rat by it's tail and picked it up, slowly raising it up out of the box. stevie could see the the disgust on her mother's face, even with the mask still covering it.

"i'm gonna go throw it in the trash." erin whispered, almost like if she talked any louder, the rat would jump awake.

stevie couldn't help the laugh that escaped her mouth. "okay."

she watched as her mother slowly started to walk down the long corridor. with the speed she was walking, it was gonna take her a few minutes to come back. stevie took advantage of being by herself, turning to look back at the dust covered desk. she looked over it, a small smile appearing on her face once her eyes landed on the picture that was on the wooden desk. she picked it up and used her hand to wipe the thick layer of dust off, revealing a picture of her and nathan. she had to be about ten in the picture, remembering the haircut that she had given herself.

she gently placed the picture down before she started to look around again. she paused once a blue tarp came into view, her eyebrows knitting together when she realized that something was under it. she walked towards it and pulled the tarp off, revealing a tank with of dirt and webs in it. she assumed that this is where her dad kept the spiders, quickly noticing that there was a hole in the cover.

"stupid rat probably died from radiation or something." stevie mumbled, bending down so that she could look inside.

she didn't expect to see any spiders, considering the fact that it's been three years since any of them had been here to take care of the bugs. she stood up and went back to the desk.

"okay." the voice of erin appeared. "after disposing of the rat and thoroughly washing my hands. . . i am back. you ready to go?"

"yeah, i'm ready to go." stevie nodded, picking the picture back up. "can i take this?"

"of course, sweetie. take whatever you want." erin nodded, a small smile on her face.

"oh, so i can take a box of the parts?"

"yeah."

stevie smiled, walking over to one of the boxes and gently placing the picture onto of the pieces. she then picked the box up. erin watched as stevie walking out of the unit and into the corridor, quickly pulling the gate down. she then put the lock on it and grabbed her bag. with that, the both of them started to walk back to the lobby, erin pulling her mask off. she looked over to stevie to see that she still had her mask on, reaching over so that she could pull it off.

a few minutes later, erin was at the front desk, stevie patiently waiting by the exit as she held the box. the teen had placed the box on the floor, feeling something tickle her arm. she scratched the spot that was being tickled through her jacket. she pulled her phone out of her jacket to let donnie know that they were about to leave the storage place. then the feeling of something crawling on her neck appeared before a sharp pain took it's place.

"ah!" she exclaimed, quickly bringing her hand up to slap her neck.

erin and the guy at the desk turned to face her, a look of worry on erin's face while the guy just looked bored with life.

"uh, s - sorry." stevie awkwardly apologized, holding her phone up. "i - i died. in a game."

erin gave her daughter another look before she turned back around to finish talking to the guy. stevie brought her hand up to her neck, rubbing it with a pained expression on her face.

"the fuck was that?" she mumbled to herself.

⚛︎ ✳︎ 𖢥 ✳︎ ⚛︎

𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐓 home safely, the two of them picking up some take out on their way. donnie had joined them, immediately eating the food that he was given. now, hours later, the two teens were on stevie's bed, watching a movie on the girl's laptop. she has been feeling extremely tired since they got back from the storage place, which is why she was dozing off during the movie.

"why do you look more like shit than usual?" donnie questioned, making the carpenter girl's eyes snap open.

"i don't know." she mumbled. "i got bit by something, but i thought it was just a mosquito or something."

"wha - did you tell erin?" donnie asked.

"no. like i said, i thought it was a mosquito." stevie answered, shifting on the bed so that she could be more comfortable.

as stevie shifted on the bed, donnie caught a glimpse of the bite that was on the girl's neck. "oh, wow! what the hell is on your neck?"

"what?" stevie asked.

"is that where the bug bit you? on your neck?" donnie quizzed.

"yeah."

"it wasn't a mosquito, stevie." donnie said. "i think you should tell erin."

"no."

"stevie -"

"i'm too tired to go to the hospital." the curly haired girl whined, burying her face into her pillow. "it'll be gone by tomorrow, donnie. just let me sleep."

"are you sure?" donnie asked, not believing his best friend.

"yeah, i promise, don. you have nothing to worry about." stevie confirmed.

"all right." donnie mumbled, turning to look back at the movie.

look who finally updated this book. . . wowwwwwww. i haven't updated since october and i have started two new books since then. butttttttt because i'll try to incorporate stevie's powers in the next chapter and then the chapter after that will briefly take place during civil war. and then we are gonna follow homecoming.

but i hope u guys enjoyed :)

EDIT: i added like two small scenes and changed the others a lot. but yeah