The night was cold, but I hardly noticed. My mind was too busy worrying over what state Peter was currently in. I mean, clearly he was okay if he'd picked up Ned's call; it was the embarrassment we'd suffered at that stupid party that made me worry. Both him and Ned had so been looking forward to boosting their social standings, and I'm positive we'd only succeeded in doing the opposite.
Stupid, stupid party.
My phone buzzed in my jean pocket and I pulled it out, praying it wasn't bad news from Peter. But it was from Ned.
'you want a ride?'
I smiled and sent a reply telling him I'd be fine walking. Besides the fact that Peter was on his way, the rich neighbourhood Liz Allan lived in easily could've been the safest place in all of Queens. A little over a week ago, I wouldn't have been caught dead near these houses. But, like so many other things, that had changed in the instant it'd taken Spider-Man to fire a web.
I stiffened when I heard someone running toward me, but when I turned around and saw Peter Parker just as he had been at the party I relaxed and slowed to let him catch up. It took another moment for me to realize he had some sort of metallic cylinder grasped in his hand.
"Hey." He smiled grimly. "I'm, uh...I'm really sorry I left you guys, but there was this crazy weapons deal going down and it looked like the same stuff those bank robbers had that night so I had to check it out and I almost had them when this guy in a vulture suit grabbed me and he threw me in the lake!"
The wild story he threw at me took a few seconds to process in my mind. "What?"
Eyes wide, he nodded. "I know," he said. "And then Mister Stark came but it wasn't even really him, it was one of his suits and he pulled me from the lake and told me to drop it—stay close to the ground." Peter threw his arms up in disbelief, obviously upset by this. "Can you believe that?" He continued. "Why would he tell me to drop it? I had it, I had them."
"This all happened tonight?" I asked.
"Yeah! Oh, and I found this." He held the piece of metal up.
It was quite large—about the length of his forearm—and half of the metal casing had somehow been torn open to expose the inner workings. A glowing purple stone caught my attention instantly. It sat encased in sturdy metal, to which a complicated series of twisting wires were attached.
What the hell?
If it weren't for the strange, alien-like rock, it almost would've looked like an ordinary piece of human hardware.
"What is it?"
Peter shrugged, frowning down at the curious device thoughtfully. "I dunno, it fell out of their van. It looks like it could be a power source or something." He weighed it in his hand and we started down the sidewalk. "I gotta take it apart and run some tests at school."
I nodded. "Did you get anything else?"
"Yeah, a few bruises," he laughed, rolling his shoulders with a grimace. "Do you, uh, think you could do that tape-thing again? I–If you don't mind?"
I smiled. "Sure." And then my gaze fell on the terribly conspicuous alien-like technology Peter so nonchalantly held in his hand as we walked down the street.
I pursed my lips. "So you're just gonna walk all the way back to your place carrying that thing out in the open like that?"
Peter's innocent gaze fell on me in surprise, unsure of how to reply. "Yes?"
•••
A movie was playing in the apartment when we returned.
"Hey, guys!" May called from the living room. "You're back kinda early!"
"Yeah." Peter stuck his head around the corner, checking to see if we could smuggle the alien tech to his room without being caught.
He spun back around and glanced over my appearance. Nobody else on the streets had been able to tell I'd been concealing a glowing metal cylinder beneath the flannel in my arms. But May was a woman well-versed in handling teenagers and their tendencies to hide things, especially her nephew.
I was confident in my abilities, considering I'd grown up stealing and lying; it was Peter I was worried about. May had had years of experience in recognizing his mannerisms. For God's sake, even I could tell when something about him was out of the ordinary.
Peter knew as well as I did that he would be the one to get us busted. I didn't need to see the grim smile on his face to know that.
He gave me a thumbs up. "I'll follow your lead?"
I nodded and walked past him into the apartment, staying in the hallway leading to Peter's room.
"God, I hope this works."
May spun around on the couch, switching her attention from the old movie I didn't recognize to us. I'd counted on her turning around to talk to us, which is why I'd made sure to keep the half wall between her line of sight and my concealed loot—an extra precaution, just in case.
"How was it?" She asked, an excited grin on her face. "Did you guys have fun?"
I shrugged, my usual shy smile in place.
"It was alright," Peter replied. "Not really our crowd, though."
I nodded. "There were a lot of people."
May pursed her lips in a frown.
"What are you watching?" Peter asked, changing the topic.
"Oh." She glanced over her shoulder at it and shrugged. "That one with Heath Ledger...Ten Things something..."
"Really?" Peter sounded excited. Not Star Wars excited, but excited.
"I was watching the news, but then I saw this playing and I got distracted," May admitted. She hooked a thumb over her shoulder at the tv. "You guys wanna watch?"
I still didn't have a clue what it was. "What is it?"
"Ten Things I Hate About You," Peter answered, eyes glued on the screen as two characters in the movie threw paintballs at each other. "It's an old romantic one, but it's actually pretty funny." By the little glint in his brown eyes and his tiny smile, he clearly wanted to watch the show.
I couldn't help but smile. I guess we'll just tape your back at two am again.
"Sure," I said. "I'm just gonna change, first."
With that, Peter actually vaulted over the half wall in front of us while his aunt wasn't looking and claimed a spot on the couch beside her. He shot me a grin and I shook my head at him despite my quiet laughter.
I turned and entered Peter's room, making sure the door was closed behind me before searching for a place to hide the stupid hunk of metal and wires I still had. Eventually, I settled with burying it under some homework in my purse since it was the only place I was sure May wouldn't look.
I felt my chest tighten with the realization that maybe I was capable of using my thieving skills for something good. Even if it was just to help Peter possibly catch a few weapons dealers.
As much as I wanted to believe it, I knew I couldn't let myself hope for too long. Because hope also meant disappointment. But when I curled up on the couch next to Peter in a pair of his sweatpants and an old sweater and he smiled at me like I wasn't a girl who'd grown up a broken criminal, but like I was the star he'd been waiting all day to glimpse in the dark. And I felt good. Even if I couldn't believe that I was, I believed him and he looked at me like I was. He always did.
Beneath the blanket we shared, my hand slid into his and I locked my fingers securely with his and I squeezed twice in a way that said thank you. Peter squeezed back.
And then he leaned closer to me and began explaining the plot of the movie in an excited whisper, all the while tracing soft patterns on my skin with his thumb.
And it was so much better than that stupid party.
AN: Not sure if that was a super awkward way to end the chapter or not but whatever lol it's finally done so idc
Sorry again for taking ages to get this out but SHOUTOUT to one of my guest readers who left a review reminding me that y'all have been patiently waiting too long for an update lmao thank you my dude I needed that
My shitty excuse this time around is I've been looking desperately for a job and then I had to figure out school and pull half an essay and an art portfolio out of my ass for my application and I was asked to make a bunch of book trailers(!) which I'm still working on and then this pandemic and well yeah
But here you have it: the chapter after Liz's party. Lowkey boring af. Kasey being a tad bit dramatic at the end of this chapter but I mean it ended up being super cute haha sooo is it really a bad thing? I think not
also, I have real issues because all I want is to write ten different fanfics and publish all of them but I KNOW I won't be able to finish all of them and update regularly so I know I shouldn't but man do I freaking want to ugh
this goddamn virus really do be pissing me tf off tho lmao like WHY my summer's too short to begin with I ain't ready for it to be CANCELLED everyone's gotta stay tf home and wash they damn HANDS
But please, to all my awesome lovely readers, be safe because I love you all. Please wash your hands and try not to touch your face. And try not to panic, just be cautious and considerate of others!
Thank you all for your patience with my updating and I hope you guys enjoyed this brief but cute chapter! As always, I look forward to hearing from you guys and hope to release the next update as soon as I can! :)
