Filler, but make it both fun and depressing.
Chapter Songs: Turning Out Pt. ii by AJR for the first half and Prom Queen by Beach Bunny for the song used at the end.
Headcanon of the chapter: Danielle had become severely underweight during her stay with HYDRA and had developed an eating disorder that lasted until her time with the Avengers. But her bad eating habits still remain and she has to catch herself with them from time to time. It's especially harder now that she's been away from Steve, Wanda, Sharon, or her brother that regulated her eating up until everyone went their separate ways.
—
Danielle doesn't go to school the next few days. No one is exactly around to stop her, so she figured she could take advantage of it without anyone noticing.
The first day, she just lies in bed for hours on end. Laying on her side, on her back, on her stomach, staring at nothing. Just alone with her troubling thoughts. It's a shit thing to do, but she'd rather this than having to go to school and face the onslaught of questions from Peter, Ned, Liz, or even Michelle. She just wants to be alone for now. And she is. At first.
By the second day, Rae struts in through the Penthouse elevator. Danielle had just walked out of her room to catch her entrance. They both looked like shit, but for different reasons.
Rae looked exhausted from worked, but Danielle just looked drained from everything.
She was wearing leggings and a baggy t-shirt that hung down just below her knees. She was covered in the large comforter from her room she wore like a hood and cape. Her naturally curly hair was unkept beneath the blanket and her olive complexion was a blotchy white in the natural light of the sun peeking in through all the Penthouse windows. And the bags underneath her eyes would've been more attention catching with how dark they were if it weren't for how bright, puffy, and red her eyes were. She looked like she had been crying for days.
The teenager didn't say anything when her 'caregiver' walked in. She had expected a question as to why she was there or why she was back so early or even some quipped one liner about finally showing her face after so long, but the girl just stared at her as if she was expecting her to say or do something.
Eventually, Rae sighed and broke the tense silence. "I saw what happened on the news," she explained as she set her bags down in the floor beside the kitchen island. "I figured you would be here brooding or something... I guess I was right." It wasn't the best way to approach an emotionally unstable teenage girl, but it wasn't like Rae had much experience with this. What the hell was she supposed to do? Hug her, piece together puzzle, watch chick flicks together, eat ice cream on the couch and discuss their feelings? Gross.
Her words didn't seem to affect Danielle, though. Instead she just shrugged off her presence and turned on her heel, walking right back the way she came. Rae listened for the sound of the door closing and was almost relieved when it eventually did. She knew she should've gone after her and asked what was wrong and all that jazz, but Rae wasn't cut out for this.
"For fuck's sake," she groaned in frustration as she pulled her earpiece from out of her back pocket and started dialing up a certain number on cell. The call rang four times before someone answered. "Pep? Yeah, she's pretty screwed up right now. I don't know what the hell to do. You mind patching me in to the big guns for this one?"
—
Danielle wasn't upset over Rae's sudden appearance, but she was mildly annoyed. She just didn't have the energy to outwardly express said annoyance, so instead she settled with just ignoring her all together.
Danielle continued about her brooding around the Penthouse as if Rae wasn't even there. She came out of her room on the third day to sprawl out on the spacious couch and watch some cartoons, but they didn't hold her attention for long. Eventually, Danielle just ended up changing the channel to the news.
The media had died down on covering the story of what happened on the ferry and had turned their attention towards other subjects like new sanctions on the Accords and some celebrity wedding happening in the next few days. Danielle was just relieved she wouldn't have to hear about her mistakes any further.
However, the outside world still reminded her every so often in the small forms of gift shops on the streets below selling newspapers with her and Peter's alter egos plastered on the front page, Twitter blowing up about the recent activity of the vigilantes, and her phone buzzing every so often with a text or missed call from Peter. She didn't bother looking at them. She didn't need to to know what they were about.
It was by the fourth day that finally Rae decided to take action about the girl brooding around the Penthouse like the ghost of a dead Victorian wife that haunted her husband's old mansion.
Danielle had been ready to start the fourth day out as any other of the past days, by lying in bed staring at her ceiling alone with her thoughts for a good hour and a had before eventually getting up to grab a granola bar for breakfast. But, when she walked out to the main area of the Penthouse, she was mildly surprised to find Rae leaning against the kitchen island as if she had been waiting for her. Which was odd only in the fact that Rae had been isolated in her room the past few days taking calls and emails at all hours of the night.
"Someone's here to see you," she remarked in that smooth, yet hard voice that always made Danielle question whether the white-haired woman hated her or if it was just her voice.
Danielle ducked her head and kept to walking towards the kitchen. She knew Tony was bound to show up some time to pick up her suit, but she didn't feel like dealing with him now. Or ever, for that matter. "I don't want to talk," she muttered beneath her breath as she brushed past Rae to get to the cabinet beside her.
"How about just listening?"
Danielle froze from in her place. Slowly, she shut the cabinet and spun around to find her brother standing in the middle of the are Penthouse living room. Danielle blinked once, twice, three times, trying to process that he was really there in front of her after so long.
He was.
—
"So, what's the Spider-Kid like," were Jack's first words after they stood side by side outside on her terrace balcony. They had stood there at the edge overlooking downtown Manhattan for a few minutes in silence, just listening to the cars honking, people shouting, and wind blowing all around them from this high up. Jack could see the appeal of why Rae chose this Penthouse to take refuge.
Danielle chuckled slightly beneath her breath as she shrugged. "His name is Peter," she corrected him with a smirk on her lips. "He's nerdy, jumpy, stead-fast. He talks a lot and makes a lot of jokes, sometimes at the worst times... He reminds me of you." Jack shared a knowing look with his sister before she turned back to the city in front of them. "He's also smart like you. And he has a weird thing with Tony. He always calls him Mr. Stark and he has Iron Man posters in his room. He looks up to him like a mentor."
The brunette frowned before continuing. "He wanted to try and stop the weapons dealers to prove himself to him... To have his approval."
The teenager could feel her brother's eyes on her, but neither sibling spoke for a minute.
"Tony told me what happened," Jack eventually told her.
Danielle shifted her feet uncomfortably and tugged on her black cardigan to wrap tighter around her middle and arms as she hugged herself. "You could've just watched the news to know what happened," she muttered.
"I wasn't talking about the ferry," he amended. "He told me about the rooftop."
Danielle glanced up her brother only to find he was staring rit back at her with a sad, knowing look, heavy with guilt and regret. She immediately turned her eyes back to the city view.
Jack sighed. "He didn't mean it-"
"He meant every word," Danielle cut him off firmly. "And he was right..."
"Danielle..."
"Jack," she retorted stubbornly. "Tony was right. I should've known better not to help Peter with trying to track down the Wing Man and the weapons dealers. I should've just left it alone, like Tony told us to. But I didn't. And I'm sorry."
"Why didn't you leave it alone?" Her brother prompted her. His voice not holding a tone of malice and rage, but that of someone who was just genuinely curious to know her reasoning. "You could've tried to talk the kid out of it. He would've listened as far as I know. And knowing you, you wouldn't throw yourself into something this dangerous without telling someone unless it was for a serious reason. So, what was it?"
"I..." she tried to search for the right words. Truth be told, she herself had n real idea about why she agreed to help Peter. But, Jack was right, she could've said no and she had to have a reason of why she helped other than just the fact that it was Peter. And maybe she did have one... One that wasn't for Peter or New York City or for Jack or Tony, noteven really for herself. She did this for a reason. To prove herself and to prove to others that she was strong and could handle stuff like this. But, even she knew deep down it was something else. "I wanted to prove myself too," she murmured aloud, barely over a whisper.
"Prove yourself to who? Me?" God, she wished she knew. Maybe she did.
"You know I know you're strong. Tony does too. We weren't trying to say you weren't by benching you on this, we just wanted you to focus on school and to have normal teenager experiences, not hunting down weapons dealers. You don't need to prove anything to us..." Jack trailed off abruptly when he glanced down at his sister and found that none of this was computing for her. In fact, her eyes were still staring off into the distance, past the city skyline towards the ocean along the horizon. She looked like she was searching for something, or rather someone unseen out there...
Realization set upon the electro-kinetic young man now.
"You didn't do it to prove yourself to me or Tony, did you?" He prompted his sister, her eyes glued to the city down below as her lips pursed themselves into a thin line. "You did it for Steve."
Danielle ducked her head. It stung to even hear it out loud. The fact that she was fighting nd putting herself, Peter, and others in danger just to prove herself to someone who wasn't going to come back for her. "I don't know why..." she admitted in a soft voice, barely above a whisper.
"Because he's like your Tony," Jack explained. His sister looked up to meet his gaze as he continued. "You love Steve, Dani. He was like your caretaker after Sokovia. And I can't even be mad about it because, honestly, I turned to him sometimes too. Cap was a pretty great guy until all the Accords mess went down and Germany happen." Danielle inwardly cringed at the memories. "But my point is that a lot of people respected Steve and wanted his approval, you most of all because you were close to him."
"But, he's gone," Danielle exclaimed. "Him, Wanda, Sam, Natasha- they're all gone and they're not coming back. Why would I be fighting for someone's approval when they're not even here?" She asked him, desperately hoping he had the answers she didn't.
Jack frowned as he placed a hand on his sister's cheek, his thumb gently brushing away the small tear tha threatened to roll down her pale face. She sniffled and looked up at him, her big teary eyes full of fear and confusion. He sighed, "Because you think by proving yourself, you'll somehow bring him back... But he's gone, Dani, and you don't need to prove yourself to him, me, Tony, or anyone. Because he may be gone, but I can assure you, he'd be proud of you no matter what. Just like me, Wanda, and even Tony."
He watched as his sister's eyes filled up with even more tears and her face broke out in a both sad and happy smile before she ran into his middle and wrapped her ar,s around him in a desperate hug. Jack didn't hesitate to return the hug just as eagerly, his arms coming around to wrap around her shoulders to squeeze back. He turned his head slightly to press a tender kiss to the top of his sister's head as she sniffled and cried into his chest. He wondered how long it had been since she gotten a hug, how long he had gone without a hug, and mot importantly, how long it had been since he got to share a comforting and loving moment with his only remaining family member and the one person he dedicated most of his life to protecting above all else. Jack realized it had been a long time for all of this and tightened his hug.
The Harper siblings stood on the terrace in each other's embrace until eventually Jack heard Danielle's sniffling start to slow and her shoulders began shake less. Their hug wasn't as tight, but neither pulled away as Danielle turned her head to the side instead of directly into her brother's chest.
She took a deep breath to tr and stop the sniffles before speaking. "Does this mean I'm not grounded?" She asked sheepishly, trying to lighten the mood and to let her brother know they were alright.
He sighed in relief, but couldn't help the laugh that escaped his mouth in the form of a scoff. "No. You're still most definitely grounded from going out as Eris," he explained to her. This time, he did pull away to glance down at her. "And as much as I did come down here to talk, Tony did let me come for a reason."
Danielle watched as her brother held his hand out in front of him, palm up as his fingers wiggled expectantly. She frowned, glancing up at him through her skewed and damp eyelashes before she reached into her pocket and reluctantly dropped her two suit pieces into his hand.
Jack closed his hand and shoved the suit into his back pocket. He turned back to Danielle whose eyes were downcast again, her thoughts far from the terrace and her brother in front of her. He could practically hear the gears in her head turning and the guilt in her chest plummeting to her stomach. He couldn't imagine how she must've felt. "Hey," he said softly to call her attention, his fingers coming up to tilt her chin up to look at him. "Don't beat yourself up too much, Dani. Everyone screws up. We just gotta learn from the consequences."
Danielle narrowed her eyes in a light glare. In that moment, all Jack saw was Wanda who would've smacked him upside the head for making such a lame comment like that.
He gave Danielle a knowing smile before letting go of her chin. He opened his mouth to add something further to his little feel-good speech, but was interrupted by the ring of his phone. He sighed and frowned before picking it up and checking the contact. His frown deepened.
Jack turned back to his sister then. "Look, I gotta head back to the Compound for a debriefing on the ferry incident." Danielle opened her mouth to ask about a million questions, but he was quick to out them all to rest as he assured her, "It's standard procedure, you and the Spider-Nerd are fine." Danielle still remained worried nonetheless.
"I'll make sure to call you when I make it back upstate, alright?" He leaned forward to press another quick kiss to her forehead before pulling away and walking back towards the terrace door. "And, hey," he stopped momentarily in the doorway to turn back around to his sister. "Try to take advantage of this break from vigilante-ing. Try being a normal teenager for once, huh? Have fun, live a little. How hard can it be?"
And with that, he was gone, leaving Danielle alone on the terrace with the lasting effects of his words... How hard can it be? Danielle wondered to herself as she walked over to the small couch by the edge of the terrace and threw herself onto her back dramatically.
How hard can it be? He had no idea.
—
When Danielle eventually returned to school, she had insisted on Rae letting her ride the subway to school that day instead of her usual insistence on driving her to school in that death machine she called a sports car. However, Danielle had forgotten a vital part of taking the Subway from downtown Manhattan Midtown was a lot quicker than her usual route and ended up getting there kind of early.
The teen felt a nostalgic feeling walking from the near-empty subway station by the school towards the football field. It reminded her of when she first started attending Midtown Tech. Her and Peter would study in the subway, eat lunch at Delmar's, eat lunch together on a regular basis. Simpler times... Well, sort of.
But, she really did miss those days when her and Peter would just hang out on the bleachers. So, it was a pleasant surprise when she glanced up at them only to find none other than Peter himself waiting there at the top, exactly where they used to sit.
When she caught sight of him, he had glanced up and caught sight of her. He smiled awkwardly before instantly jumping to his feet and skipping down to the bottom step just as she walked along the edge to meet him there.
"Hey," he beamed at her, a sad edge in his voice that she caught onto immediately.
She nodded her head and spared him a knowing grimace of sorts. "Hey," she replied. "What are you going out here?"
Peter glanced back up at the top of the bleachers then back to her, his hands nervously shoved into his jacket pocket as he shrugged. "Well, ever since you stopped taking the subway, I've been getting to school early by myself and have just been... chilling on the bleachers," he explained. "Sometimes I work on homework, play games, check my phone for Spider-Man news..." he trailed off on the last one, a distant look in his eyes as he bowed his head.
Danielle frowned at his mention of Spider-Man. "Peter, about what happened on the ferry-"
"No, Elle, don't," he abruptly cut her off. "It was my fault. I... I talked you into helping me take down those guys after Mr. Stark told us not to. And what happened on the ferry is on me. Mr. Stark shouldn't have yelled at you the way he did."
Danielle shook her had in disagreement. "No, Peter, he was right," she stated. He looked up at her in mild surprise. Had he heard her right? "I should've known better than to agree to helping you take down the weapons dealers. I've been through stuff like this and know not to be doing it alone the way we did. It was wrong, and I should've been the responsible one to tell you."
Peter stared at her for a beat, taking in her words before letting out a sigh. "How about we meet in the middle and say it was a joint effort?" He offered with an extended hand. "We are partners after all, right? One of us messes up, both of us take the fall."
Danielle smiled warmly and took his hand in hers, shaking it in agreement. "Partners."
Peter smiled back and shook her hand. After a moment, the two relaxed their hands and Peter jumped down off the bleachers to walk with Danielle down the football field the rest of the way. "So," he started off. "How bad was it for you?"
Danielle frowned and let out a heavy exhale. "My brother took my suit and I'm probably not allowed out of the Penthouse for 'extra curricular activities' until further notice," she replied before turning to him. "You?"
"Well, after you disappeared from the rooftop- literally- Mr. Stark took away my suit... indefinitely," he explained glumly. "Then when I got home, May grounded me and the next day at school, Principal Morita gave me two weeks worth of detention for sneaking out the first time."
Danielle's frown deepened and her guilt churned in her chest at the thought of leaving him for almost a week to suffer all this crap by himself. She felt bad for abandoning him the way she did. "I'm sorry, Peter. I know how much the internship with Tony meant to you," she said sympathetically. "I've also never really been to detention before, but I'm sure two weeks will probably suck."
Peter scoffed. "It's only been a few days so far and it already sucks," he exclaimed, causing both of them to laugh in amusement at his punishment. "But, hey, it could be worse, right? Plus, we do have each other still."
Danielle smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we have each other," she said just as the pair walked into the main hallway of the school, sweaty bodies of angsty and antsy teens alike pushing past them to get to either their first class or their close friends. "I should probably get going," Danielle exclaimed as she managed to dodge a kid with a stack of books in his hands.
Peter nodded over a shorter classmate that walked through them, the bell ringing overhead signifying the start of class. But just as Danielle began to walk away, Peter suddenly remembered something he had to tell her. "Oh, hey, Elle!" Danielle paused and turned back towards him with a questioning glance. "I asked Liz to the Homecoming dance," he explained with a wide grin on his face. "She said 'yes.'"
Danielle wasn't sure what the tugging sensation in her chest was, but she convinced herself it was excitement for her closest friend getting the date he wanted with the girl he liked that she was also friends with.
She smiled and gave him a thumbs up for congratulations before heading to her first class of the day. Something told her that Jack was wrong, being a teenager was extremely hard.
—
"You don't understand how glad I am that you're back," Liz gushed as she led Danielle down the hall towards the cafeteria. "We need all the help we can get."
The hallways were nearly empty, save for a few students wandering this side of the school during the last period. Danielle followed behind Liz just like she always had, with her hands in her pockets and her chin high. She barely remembered the conversation now, but somehow someway Liz had managed to talk Danielle into helping her set up for the Homecoming dance. Officially, she wasn't apart of the committee, but by association with Liz, she was allowed to help.
Liz squeaked with excitement as they entered the cafeteria. Most, if not all, of the tables were moved and rearranged to help clear a large space in the middle where Danielle assumed the dance floor would be. At the right end of the cafeteria was an array of a few tables set up with a blue background with bubbles and green streamers taped to it to mimic an underwater setting plastered behind them. Liz had explained that was the area where the food and drinks were going to be as well as where the pictures were going to be taken.
And on the opposite side of the cafeteria was where a large stage area was set up with a lighting system and a DJ set-up was already prepped on top. Danielle smugly noted that it was much more intricate and well-put than Flash's system she fried at the house party.
All across the cafeteria ceiling were streamers and brightly colored blue swirls that dangled just above the girls' heads as they passed under to get to where the back wall was.
"Here lies my problem, Ellie," Liz began as she stopped before the bare cafeteria wall. "This is where the Homecoming King and Queen set-up is going to be, but I, not sure how to set up the thrones or the background. Should we go classical medieval royalty style or mermaid glamor style?" She promoted the brunette beside her.
Danielle, both confused and perplexed, shrugged. "I'm... I'm not sure. This is my first Homecoming. I forgot we even had a court we were voting for."
Liz raised an eyebrow as if to glance at her friend suspiciously. She had caught onto the lie fairly easy. "Oh, come on. I know you heard the minute you got back," she exclaimed.
There were a lot of perks that came with being friends with Liz Allen that Danielle had come to live with. Homecoming Commitee was one, and popularity was another.
When you close friends with Liz, everyone knew who you were just by association. Half of the school loved you and the other half wanted to be you. There were stares, whispers, and of course the people that sucked up to you just to get closer to her. Which is what began to spark the whispers Danielle was catching wind of for both her and Liz's nominations for Homecoming Queen.
Danielle crossed her arms across her middle awkwardly as she glanced around the cafeteria at all the rest of the workers and committee members bustled about. She was sure most of the people in the room right now were the ones that had come up with the grand idea to pit the close friends against each other.
"Is it true?" Danielle wondered aloud. "Did we both get nominated?"
Liz chuckled at her friend's antics. She sounded terrified of even the idea of being nominated. "Well, yeah. Isn't this great? Either one of us can get it. It's a win-win, right?"
Danielle swallowed hard, turning to stare long and hard at the bare wall Liz had taken her to come set-up in the first place. "I think mermaid-glamor would be a pretty good theme to go with. It goes with everything else themed, right?"
"Oh my God..." Liz muttered. "You don't want to be nominated, do you?"
Danielle shook her head firmly. "Not really, no." Liz gave her a look. "Okay. No, not at all."
Liz looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "What?! Why not? It's Homecoming Queen. It's basically every high school girl's dream to even get the chance at the title, and you're acting like its a curse rather than a miracle. What gives?"
Danielle shrugged for probably the third time this entire conversation. "I don't really want it," she replied. Liz's eyes widened in surprise at the blunt answer. "I mean, this is your last Homecoming and you've worked so hard to put it together. I just don't want there to even be a chance for me- or anyone else for that matter- to take it from you," she explained truthfully.
Liz's frown turned into a half-smile of acceptance and understanding as she glanced at her friend appreciatively. "That's actually really sweet, Ellie." Danielle could only smile in response before Liz sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright. I'll tell the committee to revoke your nomination if it's really what you want."
"Please," Danielle sighed in relief.
Liz chuckled in amusement before bowing out to talk to the main girls in charge across the cafeteria near the DJ stand. But, just before she could get too far, Danielle hd a brilliant idea strike her. "Liz, wait!" She called after the girl. Liz turned back to her expectantly. "Can you trade my nomination in for a nomination for Peter for Homecoming King?"
—
Danielle wandered into the Penthouse that night with a heavy sense of dread in her heart at the mere thought of the fact that Homecoming was in a few days and she had yet to actually know what she was going to wear, how she was going to get there, who she was going to go with, or even if she was going to go at all. It was all just a lot to think about and figure out in a few days and, truthfully, it was the last thing Danielle wanted to do.
Usually, on a night that she wanted to procrastinate with anything, she would out n her mask and jump off her balcony to go out and stop a robbery or save someone walking down a dark alley or just sit out on the roof of a tall building listening to the police scanner for literally anything to do. But, she couldn't do that anymore.
The brunette wandered the large expansion of the Penthouse searching for something- anything to do.
She turned on the large TV in the living room and figured out how to work the sound system that seemed to echo across the entire Penthouse. It took her about 30 minutes, but she did it nonetheless. After that, she managed to find away to connect her phone to the system and started blasting the radio as she continued to explore.
There were about four other guests room throughout the Penthouse, each one varying in size, style, and how expensive it looked. In the downstairs area (that Danielle was just now discovering) there was a miniature movie theatre with reclining seats, cup holders, and alarmed viewing screen up front. Down the hall from that, there was a large squad room with a pit in the middle lined with flat, white couches and a coffee table in the center. All around the room were shelves filled to the brim with books of all sorts. Danielle ran her finger along the many spines as she read the titles and the authors. There were classical fiction books, modern dystopian scientific fiction novels, romance stories, an epic poem written in another language, an entire shelf dedicated to folk lore and all types of mythology and another shelf full of only scientific textbooks.
The next room Danielle happened upon was the main master bedroom. She knew it to be so because there were two large double doors at the entrance with intricate carvings in the wood and especially heavy and glistening gold handles on each door. Danielle pressed her finger down in one to see if by chance they would open, but as suspected, they were locked. It was Rae's room- it didn't take a genius to figure that out. But, something about the room drew her in.
Danielle hesitated. She could've easily broken in by unlocking it with her power or just pushing the door down the same way, but something about Rae and her dangerous mysteriousness warned Danielle that some doors were best kept locked.
By the time Danielle had finished her little exploration of the house, it was coming up on seven pm and she hadn't eaten anything for going on- she checked the digital clock above the oven- six hours. And as if on cue, her stomach growled in anguish.
"Yeah. Eating sounds like a good idea," she mumbled to her self.
It didn't take long for her to whip up a decent stove-grilled cheese sandwich with sliced tomatoes and fresh kale shoved between the toasted bread and smothered in the melty cheese. It took Danielle two commercials in between the news broadcasts to finish the first sandwich. And it took her an entire feature story to get up and make another one.
By the time she had finished eating her dinner, it was already eight o'clock and already Danielle was getting messages from both Liz and Michelle.
To: Ellie Enchanted
From: Spunky Spice
The coloring for Homecoming is blue, green, and silver, but would I blend in too much if I wore something aquamarine or should I wear something that would help me stick out, like my red dress?
[two attachments]
Danielle clicked on the attachments. One photo was of Liz in a mirroring posing in a dress that was a green-slash-blue cocktail dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline. While the second photo was of Liz posing in the mirror in a very different, vibrant red short dress with small puffy sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. The brunette sighed as she alternated between the two photos. Both were pretty, but she knew Liz wanted a decision, not a compliment. Danielle also knew Liz enough to know she wanted to stick out in a crowd and not match with the theme as corny as that was.
She messaged back: number two is definitely a winner. you worked hard painting the posters for the dance, no need to become one.
After checking with Liz, she moved on to Michelle's message and couldn't help the outright laugh that escaped her mouth when she read what her friend had sent.
To: Dah-knee-yell
From: MJ
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I find it interesting how your name is off the ballot for Homecoming Queen and Parker's name is suddenly ON the ballot for Homecoming King.
Danielle couldn't wipe away her grin as she replied back: had to give Flash some fair competition.
MJ: FAIR?!
Dah-knee-yell: -\_(:/)_/-
Just as she sent her message to Michelle, she got another incoming text from Liz which sent her joking mood with Michelle into an all out panic.
Spunky Spice: So, what are you planning on wearing?
Danielle looked up from her phone screen for a moment and wondered to herself, what was she going to wear? Was she even going to go? Well, didn't she have to? She had worked hard to put it together and her friends were going- WAIT!
To: MJ
From: Dah-knee-yell
Are you going to Homecoming?
Danielle watched her phone closely, waiting for Michelle's response. She knew that Michelle was proof that just because everyone else was going didn't mean she had to-
MJ: Yeah. Why?
Danielle groaned. Shit. There went that excuse not to go.
Great... What was she supposed to wear?
—
Danielle figured that there would be a day sometime in the future that the expensive closet of clothes Rae had boughten for her would come in handy.
Today was the day.
Danielle had never been so grateful for the plethora of expensive dresses hidden away in the far corner of the enormous walk in closet than she was right now as she sifted through the hangars and picked them out one by one to try on. And, of course, her being the big rom-com lover she was, had to blast music in the background to pretend like she was in a movie montage scene.
"Shut up. Count your calories... I never looked good in mom jeans."
Danielle mouthed along to Beach Bunny as she slipped on the fifth dress of the hour and stood in front of the large fully-body mirror on the closet door. The dress itself was small. The skirt ended mid-thigh, exposing her pale legs and blotchy knee caps she so badly wished had at least some kind of color to them after all these years of wearing nothing but skirts in hopes that they would catch some sun. But unfortunately five years in the dark would need more than a year and a half in the sun to be reversed.
Her insecurities aside, she just wasn't feeling the salmon pink dress that clung just a bit too tightly to her skin. It was itchy on the weirdly half-short, but not too long sleeves and the neckline was just too tight for Danielle's liking.
"Maybe I should try harder... You should lower your expectations."
Danielle hummed along as she zipped up dress number nine. It was a pale yellow dress with a simple flowing skirt and lace, off-the-shoulder sleeves that clung to her boney arms. The style of the dress was nice, but the color reminded her too much of her alter-ego and she would much rather not have to deal with that part of her life during her normal Homecoming dance.
But, hey, maybe it wasn't the color. Maybe it was just that her hair was... bland.
Danielle began to try and pull it up in a bun, throw it in a ponytail, braid it to the side, crunch it to make it seem like it was curled a bit... She sighed as she stared at herself in the mirror. "It's the color," she sighed in defeat as she dragged her feet walking back into the closet.
"It's getting hard to breath... There's plastic wrap in my cheeks."
Danielle groaned as the tight-fitting cyan blue gown that stretched down to the floor hugged her hips and chest area just a bit too tightly. She was fit snugly in the Goan and found herself struggling to breath properly as she had to adjust and readjust her strapless bra to fit her boobs in the top of the dress correctly. It was no use. She was shaped like a 'P'.
Not to mention her hips were prominent in the dress. Her love handles didn't budge as she tried to push them down in the gown or suck them in with a deep breath. Nothing worked and she gave up on dress number thirteen fairly quickly.
"They say beauty is pain. You'll only be happy if you look a certain way."
Dress sixteen was fairing well. It was a short olive green cocktail dress that clung just off of her hips at the skirt and ended just above her knees. The neckline dipped ever so slightly just above her chest and gave way to two long sleeves with intricate holes that exposed her arms in a zig-zag pattern all the way down to her hands.
It looked fine. It looked great. But, Danielle just couldn't find it in herself to like it.
There was always something wrong. The sleeves were too tight on this one, her knees were exposed, the neckline dipped a bit too much for comfort, it was too tight on her hips, her stomach looked bloated-
"Stop!" She whispered beneath her breath, shutting her eyes forcefully as if to will her own self-deprecating thoughts from her head. She took a deep breath before stomping back into the closet to grab dress number seventeen.
It was relatively easy to slip on dress seventeen. It was breather and easy-flowing. It fall onto her body liked slip-on and she found her anxiety levels slowly falling as walked toward the mirror at the end of the closet. But before she could get there, she stopped momentarily and took a deep breath. "You look fine," she told herself before walking up to the mirror.
Her reflection was beautiful. The dress she had slipped on had an intricate skirt. The back half was long and went down to her calves while the front half only went up to her knees, but all of it flowed like linen in the wind and was light and soft enough to look like pale pink silk. The top part was more simple with spaghetti straps underneath the lace short-sleeves that fell of her collarbone and covered her boney shoulders. It wasn't too right, too short, or too revealing. It just... fit.
"I wanna be okay!"
You are okay.
—
A/N: Quarantine's been kicking my ass. School, work, and life have all just been taking turns beating me down, but finally I've pushed out this chapter. It's a bit filler-y but next chapter is where the action begins and will hopefully be the last chapter of the Homecoming Arc and will lead us into the next original plot line and then Infinity War/ Endgame Arc. One right after the other, so PREPARE because Summer is officially here and I have all the time in the world to crush your hearts and blow your minds.
Reviews:
Pinney: I feel like Danielle really did need to hear what Tony had to say to her, because although he went about it a bit harshly, he did have a point. The Homecoming arc and the upcoming arc really show Tony and Danielle getting used to each other and life without Steve and I think the harshness and difficulty they both pose for one another really helps the, develop their new relationship outside of just distance caretaker to Danielle and kid dumped onto Tony.
zikashigaku: You guessed correctly! Guess Jack really did step up in the big brother department and hopefully the pattern will continue. We'll just have to see.
PrettyRecklessLaura: Sorry you had to wait so long... Again. :/
anonymouse: aw, I'm sorry about your breakdown and having a bad time. I hope you're still doing alright.
semper paratis: Yeah, this girl is basically just like her author in the sense that she doesn't think shit through. That whole arc was bit of a bumpy ride, but hopefully the next original arc isn't as messy or confusing. But I'm glad you've stuck around this long.
semper paratis: Why thank you. It took me about 4 days to write each of the two chapters that made up leading up to the fight and the fight itself. Glad you liked it though.
