Straight from Central Casting
"Ok, you have to give us more details than that," Liv said with determination in her voice. "Like, how long?"
"I don't know if I wanna hear that."
Lucy laughed at Wanda's howl.
"Let's just say," she grinned wickedly. "It's not on the small side... ouch!" She didn't manage to evade the pillow that Wanda had hit her with quite harshly.
"Alright fine," Olivia grinned too. "Let's change the subject to one Harry Osborne."
Lucy sighed as if in pain. "You really have it out for me tonight."
"Is that all completely in the past now? I mean you and Quentin seem quite official."
"We're not official," Lucy interjected quickly. "Geez, that whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing makes me wanna bolt. I hate commitment!"
Both Wanda and Liv had huge grins on their faces.
"Oh, come on, Liv! You're not official with Ben and everyone knows you'll end up together."
"But that's different, that's predestination," the brunette smiled good naturedly – an expression Lucy hadn't seen on her face in years.
Wanda frowned slightly. "Doesn't it bother you?" When Liv turned to her questioningly, she elaborated. "I mean the fact that your entire life is planned out from the start."
Liv shook her head. "Not really, if I'm honest. I like the plan. I think most of us just don't know anything else and it's not the worst way a life could go. It's pretty comfortable." She grinned. "If you want someone who broke out, look no further than Lucy here. Although that might be the Carter blood in you." She gave her a friendly push with her elbow. "And it's not that you've given up everything. Just the fact that you have direction in life."
Lucy nodded slowly. It was a blessing and a curse. At least the others weren't in constant fear that they wouldn't fulfil their own hopes. If they got into college and kept the penthouse, they'd achieved everything. She wanted to run Shield and be an Avenger – oh and obviously the fact that by that point she'd put her life constantly in danger. But as much as Liv thought her life was already planned, Lucy felt that part of her had also always been clear. Her grandmother founded Shield, her cousin had a major leadership position, and, in some ways, it was a family business. She grinned inwardly – since most of her family was in the organisation anyhow.
Wanda grabbed another cookie. "I wanna know how you do it. I'm far too nervous to date anyone and apart from that," she smiled wonkily, "no one is interested in me."
"That's not true," Olivia interrupted her immediately. "I've definitely seen some seniors staring at you. Simon? He's fine."
A few months ago, Lucy would've assumed it was part of a twisted game Olivia played, but it was a different story today. She seemed unpretentious and genuinely enjoying the normal teenage experience. Not that it was normal for any of the three girls, but Lucy had to admit that it was relaxing.
Wanda's expression seemed everything but relaxed though as she pulled a sceptic face. "I don't know… I haven't dated yet, but I honestly don't feel the need to. It seems like a giant waste of time."
Lucy started laughing as Liv nodded enthusiastically. "You're correct. But it can soothe that carnal need within us-"
"Yeah, I'm gonna stop you right there," Lucy interrupted the brunette. "You're not ruining Wanda's innocence today."
"Fine," Liv conceded grumpily. "As soon as there is even the slightest possibility of you wanting to date, you'll come to me though. I'll find the perfect guy for you," she turned to Wanda who had no choice but to nod in agreement.
"It's actually true, Liv knows every available bachelor on this entire island," Lucy added as she grabbed a fresh can of coke.
The slumber party was something they hadn't done since the start of junior high, especially considering the absence of alcohol and any other kind of enlightening substances. Not that Lucy had any illusions about converting Olivia away from all that – she didn't want to do that. Her friend had her own life, but she felt a certain satisfaction at the fact that she was able to entertain her in a way that was a lot healthier and far more productive – let alone in Natasha's opinion.
They didn't get much sleep, as expected, but they found solutions to a few problems that had been plaguing them, from the musical to Lucy's love life.
She regretted horribly that Wanda and Liv had grown so close because as soon as they got up the next morning, both wouldn't stop pestering her until she relented and agreed to go dress shopping that day.
"We're going to 'New York Dress'," Olivia said, as if Lucy had gone anywhere else. Wanda just grinned, having no idea what anything meant, but quite obviously enjoying Lucy being tormented.
"Thanks, Liv, but we're not quite getting married yet." Lucy pulled a face and brushed off Olivia's first suggestion.
"You'll get there," the other girl mumbled but the blonde tuned her out.
"That's not half bad," she nodded towards a dark blue, sparkly gown that Wanda held up.
When she got out of the fitting room though, the redhead gave a wonky smile. "I don't know, it looks more like the Oscars than prom."
Liv agreed. "It's Columbia but even that might be too much."
Lucy nodded, disappeared again and got into the next one.
"That looks like the Met Gala theme this year was 'raunchy prohibition prostitute'," Olivia laughed as soon as Lucy stepped out and Wanda couldn't help but snicker at the gruesome pink dress.
Lucy frowned. "Alright, I just wanted to see what it looked like."
A few dresses later she actually turned in one she liked. The light champagne fabric fell down in smooth waves, she liked the glitter that started at the off-the-shoulder sleeves and went down beyond the waist and it didn't look like it belonged on a red carpet.
Wanda and Liv were first stunned when she stepped out which Lucy took as a good sign, before their affirmations came in. Not wanting to stretch her luck, she decided that that was the one and after she paid, the girls made their way down to West 35th to grab some bagels and coffee.
Lucy was surprised at current situation. A few months back she had already been very happy but never in a million years had she expected that she'd get a mature boyfriend and that she'd be able to unite Wanda and Liv in one room for anything but a fight to the death. Life went down strange paths sometimes.
###
The fresh morning air was warming up slowly as they jogged through Central Park. Natasha waking them up at 5:30AM every morning to go on a morning run had been a staple since Lucy moved into the tower and they only stopped in the winter when the air got too cold to bear. They'd complained in the beginning because getting up that early tore on Lucy's self-discipline to keep herself from kicking whoever was taking her blanket away, but all three soon realized that the time alone with Nat was pretty great. She was easy to talk to which was nothing new to Lucy, but Peter and Wanda enjoyed the quality time as well. It had become one of their little traditions, just like their car playlist that had come about through careful negotiation with Happy, so Lucy was excited when she got woken up in March at that ridiculously early hour again.
After getting their daily post-run coffee, the group made their way back up to the tower and Lucy quickly changed into her school uniform. There weren't many days in the school year left, but for some reason all the major events happened now. They had only a few more rehearsals before the musical and in between those, she had to fit in the parent-teacher meeting, prom and getting her exam results back. The thought already gave her cold shivers.
Amidst all the end-of-year chaos, the day went by pretty fast and, since it was a Tuesday, the entire tower family congregated in the living room for the tower meeting. Usually there weren't any important announcements beside whether they went upstate that weekend or if someone was gone for a longer period of time. Today though, the adults seemed slightly giddier than usual – well, Tony and Clint.
"So, guys, we have an announcement," Tony began, grinning from ear to ear.
"You don't say!" Lucy couldn't help but throw in the jab in mock astonishment, earning her an exasperated look from the actual speaker.
"It's about our summer vacations, or specifically the lack of one last year – since we had to deal with quite a few changes."
Wanda bumped her elbow excitedly into Lucy's ribs and she snuggled closer to the redhead.
"We've decided that we should go on a bigger vacation this year, so we got ourselves a yacht and for the entirety of July, we'll be sailing across the Mediterranean."
Lucy was startled by Wanda's excited squeal – or maybe it was Peter's, they sounded very similar – and she gave Nat an amazed look who just grinned back.
A vacation would be the perfect way to finally relax and it was even better that everyone was able to come. Even Happy would finally get some time off.
The rest of the meeting was pretty uninteresting compared to this news and by the end, Steve mumbled something about the kids having to go to bed, since the parent-teacher meetings were happening the next day. As if Lucy needed him to remind her. Hoping that her teachers would take pity on her just once, she fell asleep.
###
"I don't have to tell you that she is an incredibly bright girl and I think that she'll do very well with her College Physics next year," Mr Reece smiled at Lucy and then at Nat who nodded and gave a small smile in response.
"Thank you very much, that's always good to hear."
With that, the two got up and Lucy threw a thankful look towards her physics teacher. These meetings had gone better than expected – apparently her teachers didn't realize that she spent half of class doing something else. Or maybe they didn't care as long as she brought in the results. Whichever way, she was glad Nat didn't hear anything negative – at least not until now. The teacher she'd saved for last was Maria Yahontov and for good reason.
"Ah, Nataliya Romanoff, privyet! Prisazhivaysya, pozhaluysta," the short, dark-haired woman said in her curt tone.
Natasha and Lucy did as she told them to and without much pretense, her teacher began.
"Lucy has been working to a satisfactory standard."
Oh, bozhe moy. That started out well.
"She's easily distracted when she's not interested in the topic and she lacks the self-discipline to persevere if there's a topic or a novel that might be harder than what she can handle. I think this is because most things come very easy to her."
Leave it to the Russian teacher to be blunt. Most of the others had been trying to paint her positive, even if there were obvious faults but not a stone-cold, cold-hearted - she was just glad that they were talking in Russian and no one around could understand them.
"Yes, I can imagine that that could be a problem."
Lucy felt Natasha's disapproving gaze on her and chose to evade it. Thankfully, her teacher continued.
"I do believe that it got better over the course of our time together though."
Lucy breathed out. So, it wasn't too bad.
"Hence, why I think it'd be important for her to take some subjects next year that are not in her regular portfolio, like History or Government."
No, no, no, Lucy's head jerked up. She had been looking forward to getting rid of all that crap in Senior year but by Nat's expression she was sure that that option had just gone out the window.
She wanted to shake Ms Yahontov, but she also felt that it was somewhat justified. She knew she should've paid more attention and while her exam was above standard, she could've taken much more from that course. So instead of arguing, she took a deep breath.
"That sounds like a very good idea, thank you. It is very important to learn that you sometimes have to do things you're not particularly interested in."
Lucy still kept her eyes from meeting Nat's and tried to make herself invisible while the two women talked about her fate.
With a rare smile, Ms Yahontov got up. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Nataliya Romanoff."
Nat reciprocated the niceties and Lucy's teacher turned to her with her curt smile. "You've been a good student. Keep working on your self-discipline and you'll become a great one too."
Lucy almost grinned. Russian motivation truly was something special. As they were walking away, she managed a short look at Natasha's face who watched her in amusement.
"I'm just gonna go ahead and guess that your English teacher and a few others were being much nicer about your work ethic than they rightfully should've been?"
The girl gave a wonky smile back. "Possibly, yeah…"
Nat placed a firm hand on Lucy's shoulder as she navigated her out of the school. "We'll see what subjects you could take next year that'll teach you to develop some perseverance."
Of course, they would. Lucy managed to refrain from rolling her eyes though and since Wanda, Steve, Peter and Tony were already waiting by the car outside the school gates, she quickly made her way down there.
###
"Turn, turn, turn." Wanda directed her sister with a wave of her hand while Peter just stood back, obviously working hard to keep his mouth shut.
"How do I look?" Lucy turned to the spider.
His eyes almost fell out of their sockets. "Like a Disney princess."
Lucy frowned. "I'm not entirely sure, if that's the look I was going for, but I guess it's good enough."
Wanda had done very well with Lucy's hair and make-up and for the first time, it sunk in that she was actually going to prom. Well, Quentin's but still. Quite the statement to make.
The three made their way down to the common area where everyone else was already waiting.
At Lucy's expectant looks, they all gave their approvals, with Steve and Clint especially smitten. They didn't have much time to gush though, as Quentin appeared not much later and delivered a beautiful champagne corsage that Lucy immediately put on her wrist.
With a smile and a tongue-in-cheek remark to the old people not to wait up, they left, Happy being nice enough to drive the two of them.
As they entered the old hall of Columbia, it was unrecognizable. Their prom was not some tacky affair but seemed more like an Upper East Side function – which it was, in a way.
After saying hi to some of Quentin's friends and her own acquaintances from senior year, Lucy and Quentin made their way to the dance floor and just relaxed.
Time went by pretty quickly, no one spiked the punch and the last song was another slow dance. Lucy buried her face in the nape of Quentin's shoulder and one of his hands went up to her hair as the other one traveled down to her lower back. Lucy didn't care who saw – it felt far too good to stop. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay over at Quentin's tonight. That would've been the perfect ending. But as things were, Happy turned up exactly at 1PM, just as prom ended and even though Lucy managed to prolong her goodbye-make-out session for a little while, eventually Quentin pulled back.
"I never knew you could be so clingy," he grinned down at her.
"Tonight was good," Lucy mumbled, kissing his neck. She felt him nod.
"That's true but if I don't get you home in time, this is over a lot sooner."
Lucy pulled back and looked up into his brown eyes. "Why do you always have to be right?"
When Quentin took a breath, she already interrupted him. "Don't answer that."
She turned back to see the grey Audi with Happy being polite enough to wait inside. "I do have to go, but call me?"
Quentin nodded and pressed one last kiss on her before she turned and climbed into the car. Happy looked back at her through the rear mirror.
"Good night?"
Lucy grinned. "That obvious, huh?"
Happy laughed as he maneuvered the car out of the parking lot and down the UWS. "It's nice to see you this happy and Quentin really seems like a nice guy."
"He is," Lucy sighed. "It just makes it so much harder that I have to end it."
She could've sworn Happy almost stepped on the breaks.
"Why would you do that?"
Lucy smiled sadly at Happy's surprise. "Not yet, by the end of the summer. He's going to college in California and I'm not invested enough or ready for the commitment of a long-term relationship. It'd be selfish of me to pretend."
Through the rear mirror, she could see Happy's sad but understanding eyes. "That's really mature of you." He grinned. "Might as well enjoy the time you got now."
Lucy nodded with a wide grin. "Exactly."
###
"But we already went for a run this morning! Even though it's Saturday and we could've slept in," Peter was complaining. Though it was definitely a whine at this point, Lucy thought.
It was true, they had gone on a run this morning, but their training session had also been scheduled for the afternoon. And it promised to be a pretty interesting one, since it wasn't their usual instructors beside Nat, but Tony and Steve were also training them today and they had the big training area at the compound to themselves. Lucy wasn't exactly opposed to that but since both Wanda and Peter had started to complain about the double feature, it felt easy and justified to just follow along with them. She didn't say anything out loud though – she'd overlooked Nat's expression when this whole discussion started and wisely chose to avoid fueling the fire – but her facial expression spoke volumes. Peter and Wanda though continually pestered their mentors and Lucy wasn't exactly surprised that they didn't comply with the direction. They probably wouldn't have argued the same way with Sam or Rhodey, they knew where they could and definitely could not push each mentor.
"Steve, please! It's too much if we have to train today after we've already worked out in the morning. One session a day is enough," Wanda said quite sweetly, definitely trying to appeal to Steve's sense of justice.
He immediately sighed and his resolve already seemed to waver. "I know it's more than usual, but this morning wasn't a real workout, only a short run?"
Lucy had to concede that point, a half hour run really wasn't a true workout, but by now the stubbornness had set in. She rolled her eyes.
"Come on, it's true! We've already had our exercise today and we're so close to summer break as well!" Her voice had transformed into a whine without her realizing it in time and that was a mistake.
Nat's eyes fixed on her intently and Lucy immediately bit her lip and looked away but it was no use.
"That's it. Lucy."
She took a deep breath in and looked back up at Natasha's stern eyes. When her mentor used that tone, she'd better listen.
"Apparently you still have too much energy to burn if you're still complaining." Nat didn't move a muscle in her face that was set to her usual no-nonsense expression. "Get downstairs, we're having another session. One-on-one."
Lucy sighed and briefly closed her eyes but had enough sense in her not to roll them. She really should've known. Obeying pretty much immediately, she got up, glancing at Peter and Wanda briefly who definitely had sympathy in their eyes but since their mentors didn't act the same way, they just continued to whine.
On her way to the training area Lucy tried to calm herself a little before she was too annoyed to fight. Nat would only wipe the floor with her harder and it'd be no one but her own damn fault.
Downstairs, Lucy quickly changed into her training clothes and stepped on the mat, opposite Nat. She looked at her mentor with a skeptical expression.
"You know the others are still upstairs, whining."
Natasha only grinned in response. "And you're down here, training. You tell me who's in the worse position."
Lucy sighed. "Why are you always twisting my words?"
"I'm not twisting them," her mentor replied dryly. "When I'm riding you about doing something, it's because I see more in you than you do yourself." She grinned again. "And I'm just not a pushover."
Now it was Lucy's turn to almost grin. "Are you saying Tony and Steve are pushovers?"
"In some ways they are," came Nat's curt reply. "But enough distraction, we're training now."
With a sigh, Lucy took a defensive stance and they started trading blows. Needless to say, Natasha took her down multiple times and finally declared the session over when Lucy landed on her back for what felt like the hundredth time.
They got back upstairs to join the others who had planted themselves in the living room and just started a movie. Lucy plopped down in between the other two.
"So I see you managed to get out of training."
At the two nods in response she cocked her head. "What did you do instead after you got them to cave?"
Wanda shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing much, just browsed through Youtube."
As Peter nodded in agreement, Lucy looked straight ahead and smiled slightly.
After the movie finished and everyone broke up for the night, Lucy and Nat walked back to their own floor. As they stepped through the door, Lucy turned and threw her arms around her mentor's neck.
She felt Nat tighten her embrace and after they broke apart, the redhead smiled at her protégé.
"What's that for?"
Lucy grinned in response. "For not being a pushover. And for not letting me hate myself."
###
The bright light was centered on Liv who delivered her lines with the right mixture of sadness and earnest. Lucy grinned, counting down the beats to the start of the music and took a deep breath to get into character.
The loud percussion shook her body and the sudden lights on her and the rest of the group were blinding. Nevertheless, she launched into the opening, her muscle memory effortlessly remembering the moves across the stage. As she passed Liv, the two girls exchanged a grin – not totally out of character – and found their respective "boyfriends".
"Both my folks. Total jokes. All they do is chew my ass!"
As she turned from Harry to sing the last bit towards the audience, Lucy searched in the dark auditorium for a glimpse of Nat's face. Wanda and she had peaked through the curtain as the adults came in and took their places, so she knew the general direction and she wasn't wrong. Even though she wasn't able to make out Nat's facial expression, she recognized her red her and threw a mischievous grin in that direction.
Turning to Liv for the next line, the girls traded knowing looks. "They should just be glad I make it to class."
"I don't worry, if I blow my SAT's-" Lucy sang the last line with full conviction, before making her way across the stage for the next part.
Behind the curtain, the girls didn't have much time to congratulate themselves on the great opening as they had to change into the gym clothes within only a few lines sung by the boys outside.
The rest of the opening number went just as smoothly as the beginning and Lucy was watching proudly from the back of the stage as Wanda got her first moment in the spotlight, reciting the Lord's prayer.
The shower scene was pretty great – as well as that scene could've gone – and Lucy definitely enjoyed letting loose. What came afterwards was one of her favorite parts of the entire musical – any scene she had with Liv was. Seeing her as such a good girl made it really hard for Lucy to keep her chuckle in.
"Sue, shame on you! What's gotten into you…?" She delivered the lines with a perfect snarl and broke into a genuine chuckle at the next one. "…besides Tommy Ross' tongue!"
The musical continued and as Wanda as Carrie walked across the stage in front of the two of them, Lucy gleefully catcalled her. "Like mother, like daughter!" She'd always loved that line.
The calling got louder and the sneers from the others intensified as they slowly retreated backstage and Wanda burst out into 'Carrie' and Lucy could stop smiling stupidly from the wings.
Liv also grinned at her, whispering softly. "She is just awesome."
Lucy only nodded in response.
A few scenes later, they were all sitting on stage again, at Chris' party and for Olivia and Lucy, it didn't take much pretending.
What did take lots of pretending was Liv playing good-naturedly Sue but she did a pretty great job and Lucy managed to be completely serious as she delivered her last line. "It's hilarious!"
The music started and she turned to Liv again. "Oh, sweetie, there's always a runt in every litter – a nobody. And our nobody is Carrie."
She turned towards the audience again as she launched into her song, which she absolutely loved.
"My daddy taught me you get nowhere being nice" – it wasn't exactly wrong and from Liv's hidden grin, she knew the other girl felt the same way.
After Sue's little interlude, Lucy belted her other favorite line. "My daddy taught me who's on top and who's below" – again, not wrong.
Once everyone had left the stage and Lucy was alone in the center, with the harsh stage light only on her, she took a deep breath before ending her song with the unexpectedly vulnerable bit. Again, she directed her words towards the middle of the auditorium where she could spot Nat's red hair.
Her mission of shocking the audience went well, judging by the rapturous applause and she arrived backstage with a huge grin, getting immediately but briefly hugged by Wanda who was on her way back out onto the stage.
Another great scene approached – with the amazing Emma who played an amazing Ms Gardner and Lucy almost felt bad for being so mean to her. But the fun overweighed any other feeling usually.
She could never be so insolent towards a teacher or any person in authority, but Lucy figured Nat and the others wouldn't be completely surprised she had it in her.
The confrontation went over well, and Lucy was convinced they've made their shoving look realistic. Screaming out her last line satisfied something inside of her and so she left he stage with "you can all go to hell!"
'Do me a favor' started with Sue and Tommy lit up and Chris and Billy making out in the dark and Lucy was sure, Harry was enjoying it far too much. But she was still glad she did this with Osborne than with just some random, ugly guy.
Pushing him away wasn't hard either and she was sure their chemistry translated to something quite interesting on stage. Channeling all her evil energy into her singing and she was convinced that her and Harry's miming on stage went very close to some forbidden area in the Columbia code.
The end of act one came quicker than expected and all the kids were thankful for a little breather and a moment of reflection. Ms Evans was very happy so far but Lucy, Liv and Wanda exchanged knowing looks – the real highlight was one that none of their teachers could foresee… mostly because they banned it, but where was the fun in that?
The second act started, the prom scene went over in the perfect calm-before-the-storm manner and Lucy scream to Harry to dump the blood was perfectly timed.
Wanda was great and started the destruction with the planned acting – pushing back people 'telepathically' and crashing the prepared set (Peter pulling the strings – literally – behind the scenes). But it didn't take long for her to go off script, using her powers to fiddle with the lights in the auditorium, illuminating it as if lightning had suddenly gone off inside. She dragged some furniture across the stage, lifting and dropping it and as she 'killed' off the characters she made her way towards Lucy. The two had practiced their stunt secretly in the training area a few times and so she didn't feel scared as Wanda lifted her up and shot her backwards with only a bit of magic. Lucy landed and regretted immediately that she had to pretend to be dead as she really wanted to see the audience reaction. It had looked pretty awesome, judging by the oohs and aahs.
As the musical came to an end and everyone reunited on stage for the ending number, Lucy was finally able to shake the last of her tension and at the same time being filled with sadness that it was now over. The raging applause that never seemed to dim filled her with immense pride and as the lights went on, she was finally able to see Nat and Steve's faces and their expressions spoke volumes.
The individual bows felt pretty awesome and she cheered with everyone else as Wanda returned to stage and was greeted with loud applause and as they lined up, Lucy squeezed her hand tightly.
They returned backstage as the curtain closed and fell into each other's arms.
"We did it, guys!" Wanda almost sobbed and even Lucy could understand her emotions.
"And you were so great!" Liv smiled at the redhead and Lucy suddenly had pang of sentiment just how far they'd all come within only a few months.
The happy bubble was about to burst though, as Ms Evans approached and pulled the trio to the side. She threw a suspicious look towards Peter but decided he wasn't involved enough to warrant a lecture.
Her stern eyes focused on the girls, but Lucy was far too happy to be intimidated by her teacher.
"I remember telling you specifically, Wanda, that you were not to use your powers onstage."
Wanda only smiled politely in response. "Well, Ms Evans, I tried but I just got so into character, it just burst out of me!"
The brunette teacher quickly glanced towards the celebrating students across the room before turning her gaze to Olivia and Lucy who wore their best innocent look.
"By the absolutely non-existing surprise of your fellow cast members, I assume you planned this. And since you were intelligent enough not to cross the line into the dangerous and it's the end of the year, I'll let you off." She gave them one last strict look before letting a small smile out. "Have a great summer."
The three girls thanked her and quickly changed into their normal clothes, running out into the lobby outside the auditorium where Nat, Steve, Tony, Pepper, Clint and Sharon were waiting.
Nat had an uncharacteristically large grin on her face and Lucy threw herself into her mom's arms, not caring who saw. Steve seemed like he wouldn't let go of Wanda but eventually the others all managed to congratulate the girls as well.
"I'm so, so proud of you!"
Wanda seemed to grow a few inches under Steve's praise and gave Tony a devilish grin back as he continued amusedly.
"Never thought your powers could be so helpful in a musical, huh? I had no idea you were able to control them so well."
Everyone grinned and Lucy nodded enthusiastically. "I'm always excited to hear her sing the 'down on their knees line' – and then I make a mental note to ask her if something's bothering her, because that was scarily realistic."
She narrowly avoided Wanda's elbow in her ribs, just as Liv made her way up to their little group. Lucy grinned and held her arm out to the girl whose parents, of course, hadn't turned up.
"That was so well done, Olivia. Your acting and singing was amazing." Nat smiled at the girl who politely thank everyone for their congratulations.
After some small talk, Liv turned and gave everyone an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I gotta run. Martha wants to go home, I think. I'll see you tomorrow?" she turned to Lucy, Wanda and Peter, grinning. "Last day of junior year!" With that she returned across the lobby to her nanny who immediately put a coat around her shoulders before walking out into the dark June night.
"We should probably get back as well, seeing how it's your last day of school tomorrow." Pepper looked at the kids as if lost in thoughts. "Last day of junior year, I can't believe it."
Not wanting to engage in sentimentality from her or Clint (that was going to be terrible), Lucy quickly intervened. "Yep, time flies. Alright, let's get going."
Back at the tower, she enjoyed having some quiet quality time with Nat who wanted to go over every single one of Lucy's appearances, having questions or just generally praising her. Lucy was happy to indulge and revel in memories that weren't that old but the longer she could keep them vivid, the better.
She went to bed that night, filled with happiness at the great show and the last day of school. Usually it wasn't a huge deal – she'd still stay at the boarding house and worked on her own projects. This year, she wouldn't see her school in two months for the first time in years and even finally go on vacation.
###
"So, basically, I'll be gone the entirety of July, but we'll definitely be able to see each other in August."
Quentin smiled next to her on the bench and nodded. "My classes start on the 21st, so I'll be moving in the weekend before." He grinned and moved closer. "That gives us more than two weeks to get up to some stuff."
Lucy couldn't help but mirror his expression. "Some stuff, hmm?" She took his face into her hands. "I can think of some more specific things." With that she closed the distance between their faces and they kept their lips locked until a ping on Lucy's phone distracted them.
She sighed as she took in the message and looked up at Quentin again. "Liv just texted, she's on her way. We better get going."
Quentin grinned. "Come on, it'll be fun and we don't have to stop making out!"
Lucy conceded and they gathered their flags and made their way downtown.
"Are we going down to the village? That's where the parade is ending right?"
A snort was the immediate response he got from Lucy. "I don't think Liv would ever step foot below 23rd, so we're meeting at 26th and 5th."
Quentin chuckled and linking his arms with Lucy's they kept on walking, managing to gather Peter and Wanda along the way.
Liv was already waiting with Heather and a few of the other girls at the designated spot, having shoved people away to secure it.
"You look great!" Wanda smiled at Heather who was completely decked in the colors of the bi flag and Liv nodded in support.
"I'll take that compliment, since most of the choices was my idea," the brunette said quite proudly.
Lucy took a moment to take the entire feeling in. During Pride, the entire city seemed to suddenly get along and the feeling of community was incredible. She was glad to be able to share it with Peter and Wanda and it definitely presented the perfect end to their first joint school year and year of living together. If she compared where she was now to one year ago, she couldn't believe it. She had a family that cared about her, a mentor who loved her and siblings who managed to keep her balanced and happy. She managed to cope with her grandma's death and even the devastation of her parents – the only family left – dying and they'd all emerged stronger. Quentin put his arms around her from the back and Lucy's heartbeat slowed as the first floats emerged from around the corner. This was good.