(A/N: I do not own Spiderman. That right belongs to Sony).
3 weeks had passed since the arrest of Miles Warren. In that short span of time, the Connors had returned from Florida to assume their old positions as head scientists at the ESU Lab, Mark was in the process of being granted probation (Which Peter's new lawyer was helping out with: A nice man named Matt who also happened to be blind) and life was overall going good, despite all the other issues that remained. The 17 year old brunette had finished copying down the notes on the board as he sat at a table with Liz, Gwen and Mary Jane.
As he finished copying the notes, the bell rang. School was officially over for the week.
"Alright, class. Before you go, let me pass out your examinations. Surprisingly, the test scores averaged higher than usual, mostly due to significant improvement of the shall we say...jocky members of our class" Aaron Warren said as he passed out the Exams to Flash, Kenny and Rand.
Kenny managed a C, Flash got a B- and Rand surprisingly got an A-. With Peter's tutoring and no shrilly Brooklyn accented girlfriend nagging him 24/7, he could really focus on the material.
"I must say, you 3 really surprised me. Especially you, Mr. Robertson. Well done" Aaron said with a light but sad smile. He still was grieving over the arrest of his brother, not knowing his own flesh and blood would be involved in such horrors.
Rand smiled. This was the first time in a while he had been complimented on any school work he had done. He could only imagine what his dad was going to say as well. Maybe being a nerd wasn't such a bad thing after all…
Warren finished passing out the rest of the exams. Peter had gotten an A+ (big surprise). So did Gwen. Mary Jane had gotten a B and even Liz surprised everyone by getting an A as well. Since she and Peter were together again, there had been plenty of time for exclusive tutoring sessions together (In which not every single moment was spent reading biology books…).
The only one who had done really poorly on the test was Harry and...well...it's because he hadn't been to school lately. He wasn't there to take the test.
It had been 4 straight school days since Harry had been to school and Peter was starting to get worried. He had an icky feeling he was full on the Green again. The nerdy superhero wanted to do something about it but what exactly could he do? Harry wouldn't answer his texts, would send him straight to voicemail whenever he would call and ignored any email he sent. He even tried phoning his mother to make sure he was fine and all she said was that he seemed fine and that there was nothing wrong.
Peter still felt awful about this whole thing. Even after the whole thing with Gwen, they ended up just remaining friends while Harry had no girlfriend, little friends and hardly anyone in his life now apart from his mom. However, Peter had to acknowledge it wasn't for a lack of trying. The only thing keeping Harry away from their friendship...was Harry and there wasn't a whole lot Peter could do about it now. Not as Peter Parker or as Spiderman.
Peter and Liz left the class arm in arm. They said their goodbyes to Gwen and MJ and the jocks decided to give their gratitudes to Peter as well.
"Thanks a lot for the help, Parker. You know this stuff isn't even that hard now that I think about it" Flash said, examining his grade.
"No problem. Maybe this will encourage you to actually study more instead of looking at porn all night long" Peter said with a smirk.
Rand and Kenny snickered while Flash just huffed and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, we got football practice to go to. We got one more opening. You sure you don't want to sign up?" Flash asked, raising an eyebrow.
Peter chuckled and shook his head. "I'm good, Flash. Really. Anyway, I think we'd better get going. We have plans"
Flash shrugged. "Suit yourself"
All 3 of them turned and walked away, leaving Peter and Liz alone.
"Why don't you try out again, Petey? You don't have to flub for Osborn anymore, especially since he's been kicked out and banned from the football team. You can be a real asset to the team" Liz suggested as they walked down the hall.
"I'm not a football player, Liz. You know that. Besides, it'll cut into my...nightly activities, you know?" Peter said, raising an eyebrow towards her.
"...Right" Liz said. Speaking of which, she needed to speak to him about something related to that real soon.
"So...ready for movie night at Felicia's tonight?" Peter asked the Latina girl.
"Uh...yeah. I think so. Actually, I'm glad we're actually meeting tonight because I have something I want to tell you both tonight. It's….kind of important" Liz said to Peter. He turned and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Oh, yeah? What would that be?" Peter asked.
"I think it's best if I said to you both later tonight. In a bit more...secluded area, you know" Liz told Peter. This got Peter curious but respected her wishes.
"Alright, then. I got to get to the ESU lab. You want to come along? Dr. Connors might be able to help you out more about your...situation" Peter suggested.
Liz shook her head. "No, I actually have cheerleading practice to go to right now but I'm free tomorrow. I'll go with you then"
"Oh, ok. Speaking of which, how's your relationship with Sally going? Still sour?" Peter asked, his voice growing a bit concerned.
Liz lowered her head in a bit of sadness. "Yeah...she's still pretty ticked. Ever since Flash and the guys stopped hanging out with her and Rand all but broke up with her, she's been moody and she refuses to talk with me"
Peter looked sympathetically at Liz and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm sorry, Liz. I didn't mean to come between the both of you" Peter said.
"Don't you dare blame yourself, Peter Parker. Even though I still see Sally as a friend, she's still an immature brat and she put herself in this situation, not you, me or anyone else. If anything, she put her own ego between our friendship" Liz said, holding Peter tightly.
"Well...if you say so. Here's hoping she'll come around. Anyway...I guess I better be going. I'll see you tonight?" Peter asked.
"Yeah. See you there" Liz asked, kissing Peter's cheek and walking away. Peter did the same as they walked in 2 opposite directions.
Peter was curious as to what Liz could be talking about in regards to that 'important' thing she needed to tell both him and Felicia. However, that had to wait as he needed to get to the ESU Lab. It was so great having the Connors back at the lab. It was kind of like old times again, even without Harry or Eddie by his side.
As for Liz, she was both excited and nervous to tell the both of them. However, she felt this was something she had to do. She kept this thought in mind as she walked towards cheer practice
*Later that night, 7:30PM, Felicia's Penthouse*
Peter sat between Felicia and Liz on a leather couch watching the end of a movie on Felicia's giant HDTV in her luxury Penthouse.
This had become a bit of a weekly routine for them with Friday being their official 'date night'. Peter was never one to brag but if there was ever a time to, it would be now while he was sandwiched between a 20 year old platinum haired woman who could easily pass for a supermodel and a beautiful Latina cheerleader, holding onto his arms.
As the credits came onto the screen, Peter stood up and stretched.
"Well that was a good one. Nice choice, Cat" Peter said to Felicia.
Felicia smiled and nodded. She stood up and wrapped her arms around him. "Anything to please my man"
"I hope you don't mind me asking but if you're so rich and you live in a place like this, why steal?" Liz asked, raising an eyebrow towards the 20 year old.
This question seemed to affect Felicia in an emotional way. She slowly detached herself from Peter and turned to Liz and looked at her with a face Liz was surprised to see: A sad, insecure face. It was kind of shocking as Liz had only seen the quirky, confident side of her.
"Well...I grew up close with my dad growing up, much closer than I was with my mom who was a workaholic businesswoman and politician. I...just kind of got into his work I guess...maybe a little too much" Felicia explained.
"Ok...I don't want to open a can of worms by bringing up any bad memories but...your dad was the one that...you know…" Liz asked as her eye repeatedly trailed from Peter to Felicia.
"...Yes...I...I still love him and I always will...but I understand why now Peter doesn't really like him so...because of that, I've accepted that he's going to be in jail for the rest of his life" Felicia said, looking at the floor, somberly thinking about her daddy in jail.
"But you knew he had done that before?" Liz further asked.
"I...I did...but it's easy to not think about it when you're not looking at the people it affected. I was kinda selfish back then, thinking about what was only good for me. I should have realized the person my daddy had hurt the most was right in front of my face. Because I didn't, I spat right in his face and that's something I'll regret for the rest of my life" Felicia said, a small tear leaving her eye.
Peter noticed the tear running down her cheek and gave a sad smile. He walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
"It's alright...It's alright, Felicia. We all make mistakes. Me especially. Because of the mistake I made that night, I lost one of the only family I had left. Now I keep his spirit alive by living true to his word that with great power comes with great responsibility" Peter explained, kissing her cheek.
Felicia smiled and scoffed. "Yeah, well...I guess it's my time now to live up to that sort of message"
"And you'll do it well. I know it" Peter said, still smiling at her.
Felicia unwrapped herself from his arms and gave him a nice, soft kiss which Peter returned.
Liz watched the both of them. She should be burning up with jealousy right now by watching Peter kiss an unbelievably gorgeous girl but she could only smile. The exchange was sweet...and Peter's little speech about responsibility reminded her of what she wanted to tell the both of them tonight.
She stood up from the sofa and cleared her throat.
"I hate to interrupt this tender moment but...I want to tell the both of you something tonight" Liz said to the both of them.
Peter and Felicia parted and turned to Liz while still holding each other.
"What would that be?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I...You know how the both of you go out every night and do your whole superhero thing?" Liz asked, sheepishly, twiddling her thumbs.
"Uh….yeah?" Peter asked, getting more curious.
"Well...I spent a lot of time thinking about this, ever since I found out about my…special thing, I guess you could say. After a lot of thought, I decided...I want to join in with you guys" Liz announced.