I knocked on the bathroom doorframe, causing Peter to jump in surprise. Quickly, his eyes scanned my outfit, mouth half-open.

Is he seriously wearing a flannel, too? "Peter, what are you wearing?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

He gave up trying to do his hair. "Why?" He asked, sounding defeated. "Is it stupid?"

"No, it's fine." I walked into the bathroom and inspected my reflection. "But if we're showing up to the party together and plan on sticking together the whole time, we probably shouldn't be wearing the same thing." Even with my less-than-great sense of fashion, I at least knew that.

"Yeah, that's why I'm wearing light blue and not..." he waved a hand at the flannel I'd stolen from his closet, consisting of dark blue and green and red.

I smiled, shaking my head. He did try. "Don't worry, I was thinking I might get too hot wearing this anyway." I unbuttoned the shirt and shrugged it off, tying it around my waist instead. I could always throw it back on later if I ended up getting cold wearing just my tank top.

"Y–Yeah, that's..." Peter nodded, his voice quiet. "That's nice, too." He promptly returned to styling his hair.

I looked in the mirror and fixed the straps of my top so they covered my bra. "You fixed your phone?"

Peter grimaced at his reflection and commenced another attempt at his hair. "Yeah. Ned's been sending me a bunch of pictures ever since."

I grinned and grabbed a hair tie, slipping it onto my wrist. "Of what?"

"Just different outfits—doesn't know what to wear."

I raised an eyebrow, watching him struggle yet again. "Do you want some help?" I asked.

He sighed and glanced helplessly at me, his warm eyes saying yes.

"Okay," I grinned, reaching my hands up and running my fingers through his hair. "You don't need any more of that," I pointed distastefully at the hair gel sitting on the counter. "You'll start to look like a middle-aged man, and I don't think Liz is into that."

I pulled away, looking over his appearance carefully and nodding. "I think that's better."

"Thanks." Peter released a heavy sigh, glancing in the mirror for the millionth time. I knew he was nervous about this party from the moment Liz invited him, but now he looked like he might throw up.

I was prepared to tell him we could just as easily have a movie night with the three of us—him, me and Ned. We could ditch this dumb party and all the stress it was causing him. But then May's footsteps could be heard approaching the bathroom and she was singing an excited greeting before I could say anything.

"Hey, you two!" She popped into the doorway, a large grin dominating her glowing face. "You ready? We should get going soon, we gotta pick up Ned."

Peter spun so he was facing her, holding his arms out. "Is this okay?" He asked.

May looked over her nephew, nodding. "Yeah," she said, then looked at my outfit, her eyes lingering on the flannel around my waist. She pursed her lips, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Hang on," she pointed a finger at me, "I might have something extra."

With one last smile, May turned and hurried out down the hallway. I glanced down at myself, wondering what I was missing.

Black jeans, dark grey tank top, Peter's flannel…is it my hair?

I looked up and into the mirror. My dark brown hair had lost some of its natural curl and now hung down almost to my bra strap in slightly poufy waves. Damn, it's definitely my hair.

I didn't have anything to fix the annoying pouf and I had to remind myself that I usually didn't care anyway, and I shouldn't now. Stupid party.

"We could still ditch the party if you want," I offered.

Peter glanced at me and leaned against the counter. "I, uh, I'm really nervous," he admitted. "But I think I still wanna go. If…If you…don't wanna go–"

"No," I cut him off gently. "I'm fine with going, I just don't want you to give yourself a heart attack over it."

He smiled and cast his gaze downward sheepishly. "I just…I really don't wanna screw up this chance with Liz, y'know?"

I nodded, remembering how Flash had harassed him at school that day, simultaneously earning us an invitation to Liz's party.

I took a moment to make sure May was still gone. "Are you bringing the suit?" I asked, voice low.

Peter nodded, almost hesitantly. "But I–I'm not sure if I'm gonna use it, it doesn't feel right."

I felt relieved hearing him say that. I knew Peter was the sort of person who believed in using his powers solely for fighting crime and helping people, but with the situation he'd landed in, I was unsure if he'd continue to stand strongly by that belief or abandon it—for a chance with a girl, a chance to prove himself. If only for one night.

May returned soon enough, an assortment of jewelry grasped in her hands. She held up a dainty silver bar necklace, smiling. "Yes?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "No?"

"Um, sure," I returned the smile, nodding. She gestured for me to spin around and I obeyed, lifting my hair up so she could put the necklace on for me. I caught Peter's amused gaze and looked away shyly, feeling my face heat up.

"Alright, now for earrings," May announced.

I spun back around, my lips pressed together. "Um…I, uh, don't have my ears pierced."

Surprised, May looked up from picking through the earrings cupped in her palm. "Oh," she smiled, "no worries, then. You guys ready to go?"

Peter sighed and came up beside me, his arm brushing my shoulder. He looked down at me and I smiled reassuringly, nodding my agreement.

"Let's do this."

•••

Liz Allan's house resided in the rich neighbourhood. I knew that before we got there—I could tell just by looking at her and the way she acted, how she dressed. Whatever jobs her parents worked had made them very well off.

That itself made me want to go back to the Parkers' apartment and curl up on the couch to watch a movie. Because if I could tell so easily how wealthy people were, I knew they could just as easily tell how un-wealthy I was.

Thankfully, though, it wasn't a long drive and thus didn't give me much time to wish I was someplace else.

In the front seat, Peter was doing his best to act as navigator while May drove uncertainly through the unfamiliar neighbourhood.

"Was I supposed to turn right there?" She asked.

"No," Peter shook his head, staring down at his phone. "It's just up ahead. We'll probably see it."

And he was right. There were a ton of vehicles parked on either side of the road outside Liz's house, which was huge and looked to be made almost entirely of huge windows, allowing us to see just how bright and lively it was inside. A trio of laughing girls hurried across the street in front of the car, arms interlocked and wearing short dresses.

"House party in the suburbs." May looked at the extravagant house in admiration, smiling as she parked the car. "Oh, I remember these—kind of jealous."

Ned grinned. "It'll be a night to remember."

He's not kidding.

May laughed and turned around in her seat to smile at him. "Ned, some hats wear men you wear that hat."

"Yeah," he agreed happily, his grin widening, "it gives me confidence."

Ned's hat just about had me laughing out loud when I saw him slide into the car wearing it. But she was right: unlike a lot of people, he didn't look half bad wearing it.

"This is a mistake," Peter said quietly, still staring out the window fearfully. He turned his head to his aunt. "Hey, let's just go home."

May's mouth fell open as if she sympathized with him. "Oh, Peter," she began, shaking her head. "I know. I know it's really hard…trying to fit in with all the changes your body's going through."

Peter's attentive expression turned to one of confusion.

"It's flowering now."

I bit my lip, trying not to laugh.

May turned around to look at us. "He's so stressed out lately," she said in a lower voice.

Ned and I nodded our agreement. I honestly couldn't deny it.

In the passenger seat, Peter tilted his head back in embarrassment and disbelief.

"What helps with stress is going to a party," Ned stated, eyeing his friend pointedly. "We should go to the party."

"Yeah," Peter unbuckled his seat belt, "let's do it. Yeah, I'm gonna go." He opened the door, and Ned quickly followed suit. I shuffled across the back sweat and followed Ned outside, closing the door behind me as May sternly told her nephew to have fun.

She pointed at me. "You too."

I nodded, offering her a genuine smile.

"I will," Peter promised, closing the door and stepping away from the car. She waved at us and started driving away. From further up the driveway, Ned called out his own cheerful goodbye.

Sighing heavily, Peter glanced at me nervously. "You ready?"

"No," I admitted, not bothering to conceal my fear.

He chuckled softly and squeezed my hand. "Yeah, me neither. Let's do this."

AN: Ugh sorry again for taking so long to update, but I honestly haven't stopped writing. I've been going through a Sandlot phase, specifically with Benny fanfics lol and ya know I just had to write my own but I'm not posting it because I know it'll probs never be finished, it's just another creative outlet for me and I've been using it to keep writing and keep improving my skills when I can't find the inspiration to work on my other stories.

Also, my job is getting so hectic I'm honestly scared to work the week of Christmas lmao and I have to start applying for university but I still have no clue what kind of program I want to go into AND I need to figure out how to keep my bonsai tree alive through the winter yikes haha other than that I'm loving life outside of school i am honestly living

ANyways, i apologize for the short-ish chapter! If I began to write the party scene I wouldn't have been able to stop and it would've been way too long so it needs its own chapter lol

One more thing! I made a trailer LMFAO BUT ITS NOT THAT GOOD SO DONT GET EXCITED! The link is in the extended summary at the beginning of the story. I made one for one of my other stories and had a ton of fun so I wanted to make one for TUG but it turned out a little more like a compilation than a trailer… plus it was really hard finding vids of Ivana Baquero in english so no hate on it haha my other one turned out way better because it was for an action/adventure story, not a romance one. SO if you do check it out, make sure you know it isnt like the new Black Widow trailer (WHICH IS INCREDIBLE ADSKADJEFAK)

You guys are also incredible tho! Love you all pls review! :D

EDIT: Im lowkey an idiot and realized I should just give y'all the trailer link instead of telling everyone to go back to the extended summary lmao so here it is!

[ (youtu).(be)/H0ZLNTOye5k ]

To use it, remove the brackets and parentheses and type it into your address bar, or look it up on my youtube channel, AfterDaybreak. It's one of my first times making anything like this so obviously I'm not very good at it lol. The quality isn't great because I had to crop most of the videos lol but it's just a project I had fun making, I hope you guys enjoy it!