Chapter song: [Ive probably already used this song, but I still love it, so] Rollercoaster by the Bleachers and Young, Dumb & Broke by Khalid.

Headcanon of the chapter: Danielle's favorite food is pretzels because when she was little, her dad would always bite into them and make them into little letters to spell her name. And to this day, each time she gets a bag of pretzels, she makes sure to always spell her name with them at least once.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Marvel except my little beans Danielle and... *looks at smeared marker on hand* Jacque.

The next day, Danielle wasn't at her complete 100% having gone to sleep at one and then woke up about five hours later to one of Jack's many calls just checking in from halfway around the world in another time-zone where it was night time. He, of course, neglected to apologize because she, of course, neglected to point it out.

"You're still coming to the Compound this weekend, right? I can make a few upgrades to your suit when I get back. Maybe add a few gold racing stripes," he suggested jokingly over the phone.

Danielle sniffled a yawn as she shifted on her bed and replied, "Yeah... Yeah, definitely." This weekend... What was this weekend? A part of her brain told her something important was happening, but she just couldn't put her finger on it, until... "Oh, wait! I can't go this weekend."

She could practically hear his stress and overprotective-brother level go up in his voice when he responded. "Why not?"

"I've got my Decathlon... thing in Washington. Remember, I told you about it a few days ago?" And a week before that... And a week before that... And a week before that...

There was a pause on the other end of the line and she thought for a moment he might've been suffering from a stroke.

"Jack? Hello?"

Eventually, there was sound on the receiving line. "Right... Right, I totally forgot," he admitted nonchalantly.

Danielle was able to suppress her disappointed sigh so close to the phone's speaker. It's not that she was counting on Jack to go, she knew he was busy and all, but a part of her just really he could at least acknowledge the things she did outside of the Avengers and Eris. It was like, ever since he signed the Accords and was under the Committee's every beck and call, he was blowing her off.

The teenage girl suddenly found herself wanting to just vent and let it all off f her chest. But it wasn't like she could really tell anyone. Well, except for maybe Liz... Who she did end up telling... she just told the altered version.

"So, you're cousin is totally blowing you off now that he has this new job in Germany? Even after your aunt and grandma just died?" Liz asked in disbelief as they entered gym class that day. Gym was one of Danielle's favorite periods. Not because of the actual physical activities (she could've lived without those until Soccer season started back up next year), but because it was full of all her friends. Liz, Peter, Michelle, Ned, Cindy, Sally, Betty, even some of her old Soccer teammates. But, once again, Danielle was sort of forced to hang out with Liz's group of friends which consisted that day of her, Betty, Seymour, and Jason. Not that any of them were bad, they just weren't the people she wanted to talk to. She wanted to talk to just Liz, and only Liz. But unfortunately, she came with a package deal she didn't sign up for when she came back from Summer Break.

"That's so messed up," Seymour remarked as they made their way cross the gym to take a seat off to the side on the bleachers while all their other classmates prepared to take on what Coach Wilson called the 'Captain America Fitness Challenge'. "I'm pretty sure this guy's a war criminal now, but whatever. I have to show these videos. It's required by the State. Let's do it." he'd said before blowing his whistle and sending them all off.

"Um," Danielle began uneasily as Liz and the group took a seat. "Aren't we supposed to be doing lunges or sit-ups or, you know, exercising?"

Betty all out laughed at Danielle's question. "Exercising? Come on, Danielle, Jason and I run the school news, Liz is class President, and Seymour has a doctor's note. Pretty sure we can do whatever we want and Coach Wilson won't say anything," she explained.

Danielle looked between all of them. Seymour, Jason, Betty, and then Liz. She debated whether or not she wanted to even join them or if she wanted to go do as she was instructed and go help Michelle with pushing-up her book she was currently reading. But, it wasn't until she saw Liz's pleading eyes begging her to just 'sit down and get along, please' that she eventually decided to just go along with it. So, she took a seat among Liz and her friends, listening to whatever the crazy topic was that morning.

And apparently, it was... "Superheroes," Jason exclaimed with a beaming smile. When collective groans were heard from around the group, he tried to win them back. "Just hear me out. They are full of drama. I mean, the Germany feud, the Sokovia Debate–"

Danielle furrowed her eyebrows. "What Sokovia Debate?"

Liz then turned to her friend to explain. "Oh, it was the debate on whether or not the new Enhanced heroes that joined the Avengers after Sokovia were even really heroes, since apparently the Scarlet Witch was responsible for what the Hulk did in Africa, and her, Eris, and Quicksilver were helping that evil robot guy before, too."

Danielle felt her heart clench a bit and her skin run cold at the talk of her alter-ego, her siblings, and Ultron. It felt like so long ago. Not to mention, she wasn't even aware that there had been a Debate regarding her, Wanda, and Pietro's loyalties. The Avengers were her family. And she was a hero... right?

"I thought it was kind of stupid," Liz continued. "I mean, they helped save the world, didn't they? I think that earns them the hero status because it doesn't matter about your past mistakes. Everyone learns, right?" Danielle smiled up at Liz, wishing she could tell her just how much hearing her say that meant to her. But, she didn't and instead just got a nice smile back from Liz. Who knew it could be s hard keeping this secret form one of her best friends? Peter probably knew.

At the mention of Peter, Danielle turned her head towards the gym floor where Peter was doing sit-ups with Ned in front of him a few yards away talking. Ned seemed to be ecstatic about something while Peter looked a bit overwhelmed. Then she remembered that now Peter didn't have to keep a secret from Ned anymore because he had found out last night. Huh, she'd nearly forgotten.

"Danielle, hello?"

The brunette's attention quickly snapped back to the group of teens around her. They were all looking at her expectantly. "What... What did I miss?"

The group laughed before Seymour filled her in. "We're playing F, marry, kill. It's between Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk."

Danielle simply stared at her peers with a blank face of confusion, totally unaware of what she just tuned back into. "Um, what?"

Betty guffawed beside her. "Do you not know how to play F, marry, kill? Liz, I thought you said you educated her."

Liz grinned and shrugged. "Well, I guess I missed one game to teach her. But, she can learn now. It's no biggie."

Now Dani was completel and utterly lost. "What am I learning?" She asked her friend.

"F, marry, kill," Liz explained before Jason piped up on the other side of her. "Basically, you choose between three options of who you would marry, kill, or... ya know, F."

"'F'?" Danielle repeated, still confused as to what they were talking about. She got the concept of the game, she just didn't understand the point or what 'F' supposedly stood for.

The group giggled much to her chagrin before Seymour leaned in and whispered the explanation she really wish she hadn't asked for. "Fuck, Danielle. Fuck."

Danielle's eyes widened before she started to nod as if she understood now. "Oh... Right. I think– I think Liz did teach me that one," she lied.

"Well, go ahead," Betty encouraged. "What are your choices?"

Danielle had to backtrack. What were the options again? Right, Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk. Great, Danielle had to think about who she would F, marry, and kill out of the precious actual golden retriever Thor, shy man Bruce, and sort of kind of her uncle Tony. Just lie, she told herself. Just lie... "Um... F Iron Man, marry B- the Hulk," she caught herself with an awkward cough. "And, uh... kill Thor."

"Wow," Jason nodded slowly with a look of impression on his face. She wasn't sure why he was impressed though, she felt disgusted in herself for even saying that out loud. "Bold choices," he praised her.

Danielle really just wanted to gag at the entire concept of this game, but all eyes were on her right now. Thankfully, Betty, like always, quickly took the spot light in the situation with ease. "Now, see for me, it would be F Thor, marry Iron Man, and kill Hulk." Danielle really did hate this game. She didn't understand why someone would choose to kill someone while two other people outweighed their life all because they were screw able or richer or better looking.

Danielle was content with tuning out the rest of the conversation when Seymour suddenly caught her attention with a question. "Well, what about the Spider-Man?"

Betty almost scoffed. "It's just Spider-Man," she replied with a shrug.

"Well, he saves a lot of people," Danielle was quick to come to Peter's defense. Even though they definitely didn't know Spider-Man was Peter.

"Yeah," Liz chimed in in agreement. "Did you guys see the bank security cam on YouTube? He fought off four guys."

"And the people he saved from the building fire that happened a few blocks away back in May," Danielle added matter-of-factly, remembering how she had been one of the people Peter had saved that night. She reminded herself to thank him for that later.

"Oh my God," Betty rolled her eyes. "They're crushing on Spider-Man."

Despite herself, Danielle's face scrunched up in disgust. "No!" She exclaimed at the same time Liz smiled and admitted with a shrug, "Kind of."

"Wait, what?" Danielle turned to her with a look of surprise, to which Liz only blushed deeper. Huh, she couldn't believe it. Peter had a crush in Liz, and now Liz had a crush on Peter's counter part. That was irony if she ever saw it in its finest forms.

"Ugh, gross," Betty groaned. "He's probably like thirty." Danielle bit her tongue to keep from laughing at that.

Then, Seymour joined in with his two cents of disapproval. "You don't even know what he looks like. Like, what if he's, like, seriously burned?"

Danielle almost laughed at that until it got caught in her throat when she heard Liz's honest answer. "I wouldn't care," she remarked. "I would still love him for the person he is on the inside."

"Love him?" The question came out of Danielle's mouth before she even realized she'd said it. "You haven't even met him." It was like the words just came pouring out. She hadn't meant to say that, but Danielle realized she did make a pretty good point. How could Liz say she loved somebody if she hadn't even met them? She'd met Peter, who Danielle knew adored her, and still sometimes ignored him on a day-to-day basis. But she didn't love him for the amazing person he was on the inside. But, yet, here she was saying she did love him. But it wasn't him, as in Peter, but him, as in Peter's counter part. But how could she have known? It wasn't like she knew–

"Peter knows Spider-Man!"

Danielle's eyes widened and her eyes, and everyone else's in the gym, turned to see the source of the voice who had spoken. Sitting a few yards away, was Ned Leeds... and beside him was Peter Parker. Danielle's eyes met his for a moment in panic. She knew he told her Ned knew about the Spider-Man thing, but this was bad... this was really, really bad.

Peter, who had been taken off guard just like the rest of the people in the gym, quickly scrambled to his feet and walked towards where Danielle and the rest of the group sat on the bleachers. "N-no, I don't. No. I–I mean..." he stammered.

Danielle gave him a pointed look that screamed 'what are you doing?!'.

It didn't get any better either when Ned came running up beside Peter to add, "They're friends." Danielle had to suppress a groan as she slowly laid her face in her hands. Se didn't want t see how this train wreck ended, but she also couldn't just look away without helping. Besides, it's not like the situation could get any worse.

"Yeah. Like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends." And she was proven wrong when Flash Thompson shouted from across the gym as he made his way over from where he had just jumped down from off the rope.

"I-I've met him. Yeah. A couple times," Peter tried to explain to Liz and the group while Danielle sat cringing internally from beside her. "But, it's, um... through the Stark Internship. Mhmm," he lied as he weary eyed Danielle who pursed her lips and shook her head in disappointment. Which reminded him...

Suddenly, Peter spun around to glare at Ned. "Yeah, well, I'm not really supposed to talk about it," he seethed through his teeth.

"Well, that's awesome," Flash remarked sarcastically. "Hey, you know what? Maybe you should invite him to Liz's party. Right?" Danielle wished so badly in that moment that she could've thrown him across the room and tied him back up on that rope. But she suppressed the feelings of anger and violence she felt towards Flash.

"Yeah," Liz piped up from where she sat beside Danielle. "I'm having people over tonight. You're more than welcome to come."

Danielle's skin went cold as she turned to look from Liz to Peter. She knew his greatest weak spot was his enormous crush on her, but she hoped to any God out there that he knew better than to agree to this disaster in the making just to impress Liz or shut up Flash, as much as he wanted to.

She saw Peter's eyes glaze over in an almost childlike wonder as he contemplated Liz's offer as if it were a gift from an angel. "You're having a party?" He asked in awe.

"Yeah. It's gonna be dope," Flash interjected into his wondrous moment with Liz. "You should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man." Once again, Danielle's anger flared. There was expression that 'if looks could kill', well, right now her glare she had set in him could've very well just snapped his knee if she really wanted it to, but she knew that wouldn't stop him from being an ass all the time.

"Um..." Peter muttered.

Danielle didn't know what to do. She knew she couldn't let Peter just crash and burn this way. It was kind of her responsibility to look out for him, right? He may have been older by a couple of months, but she had had her powers and 'hero status' (as Liz had called it earlier) longer. She was supposed to help him, right? "He can't go," she suddenly blurted out. Then, all eyes were on her questioningly. Crap. Well, at least she got their attention... Sorta. "He... Uh... He has the Internship," she quickly came up with the lie. "He's been super busy lately. It won't be a surprise if he can't make it. Right, Peter?" She turned to him with eyes that pleaded with him to just take her lie and run with it like she had his about her aunt and grandmother and Germany.

"Come on," Flash insisted as he brushed past Peter with what Danielle knew her brother called a 'shit-eating grin' on his face. "He'll be there. Right, Parker?" But before Peter could answer and Dani could interject, the bell rang, dismissing everyone to their next class.

Before Dani knew it, Liz was nudging her knee and gesturing for her to follow them out. All the rest of their classmates already buzzing with excitement about getting to meet Spider-Man at Liz's party. That could not have gone worse.

"Hey," Danielle quickly caught Liz's arm in her hand, catching her attention for a moment. "I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

Liz didn't bother to ask where she was going while she was already being pulled away by Betty and a few other girls Danielle vaguely recognized as people from the Homecoming Committee. "Okay," she brushed her off and Danielle quickly pushed past a few other of her classmates to get to where she saw Ned and Peter walking beneath the basketball hope towards the other gym exit talking.

"Did you not hear her? Liz has a crush on you," she heard Ned tell Peter, once again reminding her that Ned knew about the Spider-Man thing. "Dude, you're an Avenger now. If any one of us has a chance with a senior girl, it's you." He really should've been more careful. For all he could've known, Danielle might've been Flash and then where would they be?

"What was that?" Both Ned and Peter jumped slightly by Danielle's sudden appearance from behind them. "I thought you were trying to keep the... Internship a secret," she said to Peter in a hushed voice so as to ensure that no one around them could eavesdrop on the conversation.

Peter pursed his lips with a guilty look on his face, while Ned looked between Peter and Danielle with wide eyes. "I-I... We, um," Ned struggled to come up with a lie to try and cover for him and Peter. "I didn't mean 'Avenger', I meant... A tent, sir..."

Peter cringed and Danielle winced and the terrible lie. A part of Peter was starting to really regret letting Ned find out about this. Then again, he was never supposed to find out in the first place. Looking at this now, neither was Elle. Or Mr. Stark... Wow, he really was terrible at keeping his secret identity an actual secret. He wondered how Elle managed to do it for so long.

"Um, Ned," Peter began, his friend turning to him with an apologetic look. "She knows," he explained matter-of-factly.

Ned's once apologetic expression quickly morphed into a look of confusion as he glanced frantically between his best friend and other friend. "She... She knows?" He repeated, flabbergasted. Peter and Danielle grimaced and nodded in unison. "Did you, like... tell her this morning after I found out?"

"No... She found out about... it a few weeks ago," Peter explained begrudgingly to his best friend.

Ned's jaw dropped out of pure shock, his wide eye's growing into saucers as he soun around to face Danielle for a moment. She winced apologetically before he turned back to Peter. "She... You... You told her before me? Me– your best friend?"

"It was an accident, Ned," Danielle quickly interjected. She saw just how hurt Ned appeared to be by the fact that she had found out about Peter's secret before him and didn't want him to think it was because Peter favored Danielle somehow over him. She knew for a fact he didn't. Danielle might've been close friends with Peter for some time now, but Ned outranked her in the friend department, easily. He'd been with Peter through thick and thin, even before she came around. She felt bad seeing his genuine pain by not finding out sooner than she had.

Peter also saw how hurt Ned was joined in on Danielle's efforts to try and assure him it wasn't like the way he was making it out to be. "She found out completely by accident, just like you. It was just... a little sooner."

"And after she found out, you didn't think to tell me?" Ned prompted, clearly upset and frustrated by the two of them. "Pete,r I've been your best friend for years–"

"I know! I know, Ned. But, I didn't even want to tell Elle, or anyone for that matter," Peter tried to explain to him. "I didn't want you or anyone else to find out about the whole internship thing because I wanted to keep you safe. But... things didn't work out that way, and now you do know." Ned seemed to calm down after Peter's explanation of the whole thing, which then promoted Danielle's previous point.

"And soon, so will the rest of the school," she exclaimed with an exasperated sigh as she turned towards Peter. "You're not actually thinking about going to the party tonight, are you?"

Ned and Peter exchanged uneasy looks before the teen vigilante turned back to her. "Look, Elle–" Danielle cut Peter off with a groan.

"Peter... Spider-Man is not a party trick," she told him with complete seriousness. "What do you plan in doing? Going there as yourself, disappearing for five minutes, then coming back as Spider-Man for a few social points?"

Ned smiled and nodded. "Yeah. That was exactly what I think we had in mind."

"And what happens when someone asks where Peter is while Spider-Man is there? Or when you eventually change back and reappear just as Spider-Man disappears?" She prompted the pair. Neither answered as their smiles faded into looks of guilt and disappointment, realization dawning that she had a point.

Danielle wanted to continue the conversation, but she was quick to cut it off short when the warning bell rang, signifying they were more than likely going to be late for their next class. The brunette looked between the pair of boys before she began to back away. "I'll see you guys later, right?"

"Yeah," Peter nodded with a small smile, reminding Elle that they were still cool.

"Okay." She nodded as she began to walk towards the gym exit. Her hand had jut hit the door when she stopped and turned back around to face Ned and Peter. "I'm not saying you shouldn't go to the party, by the way," she shouted to them. "It'll be fun. You should still come."

Ned's smile returned to his face as Peter smirked slightly. "We'll see," he replied just before watching her push the gym door open and walk out.

"Michelle!"

The teen girl with her nose stuck in her book stopped walking at the sound of her name being called. She froze on the front steps of the school's entrance to turn back around to see who it was who had said her name. She shouldn't have been surprised to find it to be the one and only Danielle West.

Michelle gave her that signature half-smirk, half-grimace and a customary greeting of, "'Sup, West."

"Hey," the bright and bubbly brunette replied with a smile as she met her halfway down the school's steps along with hundreds of her other classmates. School had just let out and Michelle was a bit shocked to see Danielle taking this route. Usually she noticed Danielle would walk across the football field to get to her train station, but today seemed to be an exception.

"I was wondering if you were going to the party tonight. At Liz's," Danielle added as if Michelle didn't already know about all the buzz going on in school. Liz's party seemed to be the main topic for the past couple of days, and Michelle knew Danielle had a hand to play in helping her set it up. She was, after all, in that inner circle of people she called friends for some unknown reason Michelle could never quite figure out. Then again, Danielle West was an odd character Michelle always got kind of suspicious of whenever weird things happen. Her and Parker, of course.

Michelle let out a sigh as she glanced around the parking lot, making it seem as though she was even considering going, when in reality she would've much rather just stay at home water boarding herself while listening to a Kidz Bop CD on replay. But she didn't tell Danielle that. Instead, she gave the usual, "parties aren't really my scene," excuse. "Plus, I've got homework to catch up on," she added for effect.

But, surprisingly, Danielle didn't seem to buy it. Then again, she was a persistent one.

Michelle watched as Danielle rolled her dark brown eyes and chuckled, amused. Michelle narrowed her eyes slightly at that small action. She couldn't remember a time when Danielle had ever rolled her eyes that far back. She was surprised the girl even knew how. "You? Homework? You finish all your stuff in class. And if not in class, then during lunch." Shit. She'd caught her in her lies. Well, she still had the party scene to fall back on.

Michelle shrugged. "Parties still aren't my scene."

"Why not?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a loner," Michelle told her bluntly. "Crowded places filled with people partying and dancing and pretending their lives actually mean something in the grand scheme of the universe..." Danielle chuckled at her antics. "... like I said, not my scene."

"Then don't go," Danielle remarked to her surprise.

Michelle narrowed her eyes once again as a small smirk played on the brunette's lips. She was hiding something. "What do you mean? I thought you wanted me to go."

"I do," she replied matter-of-factly. "But you said it's not your scene. So, then don't go. Just... stay home, re-reading something you've probably read countless times before." Michelle smiled slightly at how well Danielle was starting to get to know her. "But, if I do see someone that looks vaguely like you at the party... I'll just pretend that I didn't see them, because you'd never be caught dead at a party like that... It's just not your scene." Then with a sly little wink, Michelle Jones watched Danielle West turn on her heel and walk right on down the rest of the school steps towards what looked to be a red car with Liz Allen's head sticking out of the backseat window, waving her down. Danielle approached the car just as Liz opened the door, but before climbing in, Michelle watched her stop momentarily to turn around towards her and wave. Michelle couldn't help but smile and wave back before Danielle climbed into the car and drove off.

Danielle West sure was an odd character. But, then again, so was Michelle Jones.

Now, all she had to figure out now was what she would possibly wear to a party.

"What am I supposed to wear to these things again?" Danielle called to Liz, who was currently rummaging inside her closet for her own outfit.

"A skirt? A nice blouse?" Liz offered as she threw discarded clothing out of her closet and onto the room floor a few feet from where Danielle was seated at the vanity. "It's not supposed to be some huge, fancy party, Ellie. It's just a little get together among friends and classmates," she explained as she stepped out into the open for Danielle to see the new outfit she was now sporting. It was cute; a light blue, long-sleeve blouse with some darker maroon jeans to compliment it. "What do you think?" She asked her friend with a smile, spinning so Danielle could get the full view of the outfit.

Danielle nodded. "It's cute," she told her with a smile.

Liz smirked, holding up a finger before she disappeared back into her closet only to reappear a moment later with two hangars of clothes. "Here." Danielle nearly dropped the clothes that were abruptly thrown at her. "Try that on and then I can start on your hair and make-up." Without a word of protest, Danielle took the clothes that were given (more like shoved) to her and walked into Liz's closet to change.

As the brunette shimmied her way into a tight pair of black, faded jeans, she heard Liz call out from her room, trying to make conversation. "So, do you really think Peter's going to invite Spider-Man?" Danielle nearly choked on the air that she sucked in with a shape breath at the mention of this particular topic. "I mean, Betty and Seymour think he's kind of full of crap about even knowing the guy, but... You know him better than I do. What do you think?"

"Um..." Danielle's words caught in her throat as she pulled on the blouse Liz had given her. It was bit tight fitting. But, then again, this was coming frm the girl who's wardrobe consisted of oversized graphic tees, hoodies, and flannels, with a nice dose of skirts, baggy jeans, and sweatpants. So, trying on skinny jeans that fit her frame to the T paired with a white blouse that had spaghetti straps and sleeves that dangled just below her shoulders pushed Danielle a bit past her comfort zone. Then again, so was this entire conversation Liz was trying to start up with her.

"Ellie?" Liz called out after a moment of silence from the closet. Movement suddenly caught the teen girl's eye as she turned her head just in time to see Danielle walk out in the outfit she'd chosen for her. "Oh. My. God," Liz gasped in awe as Danielle timidly stepped out of the closet. "You look awesome."

Danielle blushed as she fiddled with the straps of the blouse. "It's a bit... loose," she said with a grimace. But Liz just brushed it off.

"Oh, come on, Ellie. It looks cute," she told her friend as she walked over, placing her hands in Danielle's shoulders and leading her to the vanity, pushing her down onto the plush seat. "How do you want to do your hair?" She asked as she carefully pulled out the rubber band that had been holding Danielle's hair out of her face and brushing out her shoulder-length curls once they were free. "Up in a cute bun? Curled? Or– oh! We can totally just straighten it. You have the perfect length for it to look absolutely killer."

As Liz continued to gush about all the different ways she could style her friend's hair, all Danielle could focus on was the reflection staring back at her in the vanity mirror.

It wasn't uncommon for Danielle to just sit there and look at herself in a reflection wherever she saw one; a puddle on the side of the street, a shop window, a piece of broken glass in an alley, the black screen on her phone, and, of course, the mirror in her bathroom. But, she didn't do it because she enjoyed staring at herself. It was actually quite the opposite. Danielle stared at her reflection not because she was vain or pretty, but because each time she stared into those big, brown eyes of hers, all she saw was a flicker of gold threatening to break out. It was because each time she saw her hair, all she could be reminded of was the shade of blonde it was in that horrible nightmare. It was because each time she saw her face, all she could think of was the scars, and bruises, and cuts, and kicks it endured while inside her own head and outside.

So, as much as Liz told her how gorgeousand healthy her hair was, or how much Betty gushed about how her face was perfectly portioned in every way, or how any other one of Liz's new friends told her about how pretty or cute she looked, Danielle just couldn't seem to look past the monster hidden beneath all that beauty everyone else seemed to like admiring so much.

"Ellie!" Liz's voice suddenly snapped Danielle's attention back to the present where she had to pretend that everything was okay and normal once again.

"Hm? Yes?" She asked in confusion, looking up at Liz through the mirror.

"I asked what you thought about the whole Peter-slash-Spider-Man conspiracy, since you didn't really answer earlier," Liz explained, much to the brunette's dismay. "I mean, it does kind of make sense for Peter to be sort of friends with Spider-Man, right? He has that Tony Stark... Internship thing. It's possible Peter did actually meet Spider-Man through that."

Danielle merely shrugged in response as Liz began to run her brush through Danielle's hair, picking out section at a time to straighten with the flat-iron sat down beside her. "Maybe," she replied blandly, trying so very hard to give Liz the hint that she didn't want to talk about this. But, apparently it didn't stick with her.

"'Maybe?'" Liz repeated skeptically with a laugh. "What's been going on with you lately, Ellie? You've been out of your head all week. This isn't about your cousin still, is it?"

"M-My cousin? Uh, I mean, no," she quickly caught on to the old lie she had told earlier that day about her 'cousin' and being ignorant. She really needed to keep up with her lies better. Both her and Peter apparently sucked at it. "No. It's not that. It's just... I've just been so nervous about Decathlon this weekend," she lied yet again. Hopefully she would remember this one. It should be easy considering that it was a complete lie; she was actually kind of nervous about it. Though, she wasn't entirely sure why. She just kind of had a feeling that something bad was looming near and she wasn't entirely sure why.

Liz put on a small pout as she set down the flat-iron for a moment to rub Danielle's arms and rest her chin on her shoulder. "Aw. It's okay to be nervous, Ellie. It happens to the best of us," she assured her with a small squeeze before returning to her task at hand of making Danielle's hair straight and presentable. "Even I get nervous sometimes."

"Really? But you're the Captain, and one of the smartest people I know," Danielle told her with a look of disbelief. It was hard to imagine someone like Liz, who radiated confidence like the sun radiated light, being nervous at all.

"Well," Liz let out an uneasy sigh followed by an awkward chuckle. Danielle watched her intently as she ran the flat iron down another long strand of her hair. She did it with ease and Danielle winced slightly from the heat that burnt her skin ever so slightly. "Believe it or not, it's a little hard to not be nervous when you have an entire team counting on you to lead them to victory... and on the National level now. Plus, my parents are always counting on me to get good grades so I can get into a good school so I can get a great job and live a happy life." Liz let out an exasperated sigh as she finished straightening yet another strand of Danielle's hair, letting it drop onto her friend's shoulder before combing through it with her fingers. "Like I said... It happens to the best of us. It's hard sometimes to keep convincing myself I can do it all."

Danielle frowned a bit at her friend's reflection through the mirror. She remained quiet as Liz finished off her hair, only to move on to her face. Liz was precise as she pulled up a chair from her desk to seat herself across from Danielle after turning the brunette to face her. Danielle tried not to move so much while Liz worked to slow and steady beat of Khalid's 'Young, Dumb & Broke', applying blush with swift flicks of her wrist, the bristles of the brush tickling Danielle's cheeks. It wasn't until after Liz finished off with Danielle's foundation, contour, blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lipgloss that she finally spoke again.

"All done," Liz exclaimed as she turned Danielle back to face the mirror. Danielle blinked once, then twice, trying to find herself in the unrecognizable reflection staring back at her. Liz had really outdone herself. Danielle's once pale and bland facial features now sported a bit of color. A soft pink blush across her cheeks, contour on her face that made her face more prominent and a bit darker, clear lipgloss streaked across her lips, and eye make-up that reminded Danielle of old photos she'd seen of the Winter Soldier, but better.

"Wow..." Was Danielle's only reaction.

"I know right." Liz beamed at how in awe her friend was.

Danielle turned back to smile at Liz then. "Thank you... for everything."

Liz shrugged. "It's just make-up and some clothes."

"I meant thank you for being an amazing friend," Danielle reiterated with an amused look on her face. Liz blushed and bowed her head. "And, hey," Liz looked back up at Danielle as she took her hand in her own. "You don't have to do it all alone. I'm here, too, you know."

Liz's smile broadened as she stared adoringly into her best friend's eyes. "Thanks, Ellie."

The moment was soft and sweet, but it didn't last all that long when the loud sound of Liz's front door bell echoed throughout the house. Liz was quick to drop Danielle's hand and jump out of her seat in the blink of an eye. "Oh my God. I totally lost track of time. Uh, everything downstairs is set up, right?"

Danielle nodded. "Drinks; alcoholic and non. Food; mostly finger foods. A DJ stand for Flash–" Danielle sent an odd look at Liz. She had already tried talking her out of that decision, but Liz insisted he had paid her to give him this job and that she couldn't really afford a real DJ. "And a bunch of decorations all downstairs."

"Perfect," Liz beamed contently. She then stretched her hand out to her friend with a bright gleam of excitement in her eye. "We have a party to attend. Shall we?"

Danielle laughed as she took Liz's hand in her own and let her friend pull her out of the vanity seat and towards the door. "We shall," she answered with a smug look. And the pair was off to go have the time of their life before the biggest day of their life in a few days.

Little did Danielle know about the teenage boy a few miles away getting ready in his apartment as he slipped on a flannel shirt over a dorky math graphic tee.

Peter Parker turned to look at himself in the floor-length mirror across the room. He pulled his pants up a bit, and adjusted the sleeve of his shirt to cover up the small patch of red and blue sticking out on his wrist. He turned to look back at his reflection. Tonight was the night that he would no longer be a social outcast or a loser. Tonight was the night...

They had no idea.


A/N: Ugh, I can't wait to get to the action-y parts. I also really enjoyed writing Liz and Danielle's friendship in this as well as a Michelle POV for a bit. I'll include more because Michelle is very important to Danielle, as is Liz. The Homecoming Arc deals a lot with Danielle and her feelings about her friends so I wanted to emohasize that in the chapters leading up to the finale of the Homecoming Arc. Plus, I can't wait for the exciting arc after that. :)

Also, I just heard about Comic Con and Phase 4 plans. I. Am. Hyped. First off, I've bee hyped ever since finding out about the Falcon and Winter Soldier show and I'm honestly so ready for it to be out already. The Black Widow movie I know I'm going to see (I'll be damned if it doesn't explain what fuck happened in Budapest). The WandaVision show that is going to be featuring a grown-up Monica Rambeau. ANGELINA JOLIE IN THE ETERNALS AND AWKWAFINA IN SHANG-CHI. Doctor Strange and Wanda in Marvel's first horror-based movie, AGHHHHHH. LOKI. And finally: MY QUEEN NATALIE PORTMAN IS BACK AT IT AGAIN AND WILL BE TAKING ON THE ROLE OF THOR IN THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER WITH VALKYRIE AND THOR AT HER SIDE, AGHHHHHHH. Honestly, I'd be okay if Thor, Jane, and Valkryie just had a whole Poly because I can't decide who I ship more: Valkyrie/Thor, Thor/Jane, or Jane/Valkyrie. Can we have all three, please? I'm beggin Marvel. They deprived us of Tony, Natasha, and good Thor and Steve characterization in Endgame, can we please just get some good Fosthorkyrie (actually not a bad ship name) content? I beg of you. Please.

Reviews:

CocoaFirefly: Thanks. Hope you like this chapter!

Love. Fiction. 2019: ((:

RecklessLaura: Here's your next fix!

Incorrect Quote of the Chapter:

Dani: *walking into Walmart with Peter* Alright, time for mission Two: finding the pretzels.

Peter: Wait, what was mission One?

Dani: Fucking getting here, Benjamin.