Chapter Four

Two weeks have passed since the warehouse fight. Before Spider-Man jumped into the fray he set up his trusty camera as usual and got some amazing shots of the fight which he was able to sell to the Daily Bugle. Jameson of course tried to pin everything on Spider-Man and his masked accomplices, but Peter was just excited to have met more superheroes. Before they went their separate ways Daredevil gave him a number that he can be contacted if Spider-Man ever needs his assistance. Unfortunately some of the pictures Peter submitted featured a battle damaged Spider-Man that a certain someone was not fond of. Felicia was not happy with the state Peter was in after the fight and made her feelings known. Peter now knew Felicia could hit very hard when she's upset and promised to be more careful. Much to Peter's annoyance The Enforcers managed to slip away with the stolen goods during the climax of the fight when the rest of the Defenders showed up. Peter was more curious about their boss Kingpin, but Daredevil seemed to want to keep him out of it for some odd reason. Peter has to put all that into the back of his mind considering today was the first day of school and he was nervous. If he was going alone he would just blend into the background like the loser people think he is, but Felicia decided she was tired of being home schooled and enrolled in Midtown High.

Parker Residence

Aunt May just finished making breakfast and setting the table she was lost in her thoughts worrying about Peter. After the breakup with Liz, death of Norman Osborn, and isolation from his best friends Harry and Gwen she was concerned Peter was slipping into depression. He had been more depressed in the last few weeks then during the time of her late husband Ben Parker's murder. May worried so much about her nephew who felt more like a son to her which is why she initially was weary of Felicia. That was until she got to spend time with the young woman and see the light she caused to shine within her nephew once again. It was similar to seeing him with Mary Jane or Gwen Stacey, but somehow even brighter the love those two shared was something special. The doorbell broke May out of her thoughts as she went to get the door. Felicia was standing outside in black leggings, a tight fitting white polo shirt, and a black sweater.

"Good morning Mrs. Parker" Felicia greeted.

"Oh please dear we've been over this you can call me May" she replied giving the girl a hug.

"Sorry about that May, is Peter ready yet" Felicia asked before sitting at the table.

"Oh you know how he is, he's almost ready I'm sure" she responded with a chuckle.

On cue Peter jumped down the stairs using his spider agility and gracefully landed. Peter did a mock bow as Felicia was the only one who saw his acrobatic display.

"Good morning, how are the two lovely ladies in my life doing today" Peter asked with a smile.

"Always the charmer aren't you Mr. Parker" Felicia replied playfully.

"He's a charmer alright, especially when he's trying to get an extra serving of bacon" May replied with a chuckle.

May served them both a nice breakfast of pancakes and bacon before giving them a bit of privacy as she went into the other room.

Felicia watched Peter devour his food and some of the extra food that May made for them.

"Peter where does it all go" Felicia asked shocked.

Peter responded in between bites " after being bitten by the spider my body needs more fuel since my metabolism burns energy faster."

Felicia didn't know what it was, but something about his tone changed it was small, but she noticed.

"Peter what's wrong" she asked.

"What, oh nothing is wrong" he replied with a fake smile.

"Peter Benjamin Parker, don't you think I know my boyfriend well enough to tell when something is going on," she replied, getting a bit worked up.

"I'm sorry Felicia I'm just nervous about today is all" he replied.

"What do you mean" she asked.

Peter looked around to make sure Aunt May was far enough away "Felicia, you got to meet Spider-Man everyone else grew up with Peter Parker."

Felicia grabbed Peter's chin raising his head to eye level "I may have met Spider-Man first, but I fell in love with Peter Parker, you don't need to be anything other than yourself Peter."

Before Peter could refute her statement her lips crashed into his which made him forget about his worries. The two shared a long passionate kiss before a "mhm" could be heard from Aunt May. The embarrassed couple quickly broke apart cheeks tinted red.

"You two better hurry along before you're both late on your first day" Aunt May said with a smile on her face.

"Yes ma'am, have a good day May" Peter replied.

"Oh and kids do try to avoid such public displays of affection at school I would hate to get a phone call" Aunt May said laughing.

After recovering from their momentary embarrassment the duo said their goodbyes to May and began the walk to Midtown High. As the happy couple chatted away getting closer and closer to the school Peter was almost tackled to the ground by an unknown assailant. He relaxed when he realized his spider sense didn't go off and then he noticed all the red hair in his face.

"Peter Parker, how dare you not call me over summer break" MJ said with mock anger.

"Hey MJ it's good to see you, sorry about that giving everything that happened I thought you might want some alone time and I didn't want to bother you" Peter replied sheepishly.

MJ still had Peter in a headlock esque hug before she noticed the snow haired girl glaring daggers at her.

"Hey there, I've never seen you around before are you a new student, and how do you know Peter" MJ asked.

Peter could sense the tension and quickly jumped in "MJ meet my girlfriend Felicia Hardy, Felicia meet one of my good friends Mary Jane Watson."

Both girls smiled at one another as if some unspoken conversation was taking place.

" Pete wait right here for a second, I want to get better acquainted with Mary Jane" Felicia said with a smile that put Peter on edge.

Before Peter could cut in MJ stopped him "don't worry Peter it's just girl talk nothing to worry about."

Felicia and MJ walked out of ear shot from Peter and began their girl talk.

"I will only say this once that boy has been through so much this year and if you hurt him I will make you regret it" MJ said with fierce determination.

"I know all about what happened between him, Liz, Gwen, and Harry I have no intention of hurting someone as sweet as him, but I'm warning you he is mine and I will claw your eyes out if you try to make a move on him" Felicia countered.

"Trust me I'm the least of your worries I can only imagine the blowback of Peter breaking up with Liz is going to have" MJ added her voice low.

"What do you mean exactly" Felicia asked.

"I'm sure Peter has told you he isn't exactly popular and well Liz is a cheerleader she is very popular and well the popular crowd might not respond well to her heartbreak" MJ explained.

"How bad of a blowback are we talking here" Felicia asked.

"Let me put it to you like this majority of the school has it out for Peter and the only friends he had not counting me won't be in his corner" MJ said.

There was a long silence before MJ extended a hand "so we're in agreement then?"

Felicia shook her hand "anyone who tried to make trouble for him has to deal with us."

The girls rejoined Peter, Felicia hooked her arm around his and pulled him close "let's go Pete we shouldn't be late on our first day back."

Midtown High

Peter and MJ helped Felicia find the principal's office so she could get her classes sorted out. The day moved along pretty quickly wither Peter being able to successfully dodge the popular crowd. Unfortunately for the first four out of seven periods he didn't have Felicia in any of his classes which bummed him out slightly thankfully he had MJ in the first two and Gwen in the other two. Gwen gave him a weak wave during class, but that was it. With his fourth class done it was time for lunch and Peter was thankful to get a break. Peter didn't need his spider sense to tell him something was wrong, several students just stared at him and a few were snickering lightly as he made his way into the cafeteria. After grabbing some food and not being able to find Felicia Peter was ready to sit at a table alone until MJ waved him over. Smiling Peter made his way over to her table "hey red how's your first day back been?"

"Not bad, I'm so happy we have that senior meeting and get to go home right after, anyway how has your day been" MJ asked.

"I've been getting by, I have Gwen in two of my classes she shot me a wave so I guess that's progress" Peter said nonchalantly.

As the conversation continued about teachers and classes members of the football and cheerleading team made their way to the table. Flash Thompson, Hobbie Brown, Tiny McKeever, Randy Robertson, and Kenny Kong who collectively make up the Midtown High football team were standing on Peter's left. On Peter's right stood his ex Liz Allan and members of the Midtown High cheerleaders Kenny's girlfriend Glory Grant, and Randy's girlfriend Sally Avril. Peter looked around suddenly feeling like a trapped animal "hi guys enjoy your summer break?"

"You're not going to weasel your way out of this Puny Parker" Flash said.

"Get away with what exactly" Peter asked genuinely confused.

"You broke Liz's heard after she took a chance on a loser like you" Sally said with disgust.

"And to top it all off Randy overheard Harry talking to Gwen about YOUR NEW GIRLFRIEND, you dropped Liz for another girl Peter" Sally yelled.

"So who is it nerd, did you guilt Mary Jane into dating you, by the way Liz's brother Mark is in jail and you try to two time him with this nerd no class at all" Flash said shaking his head.

"I suggest you watch your tone Flash and don't you dare speak about things you don't know about, I truly cared for Mark but he cared more about gambling and that is what lead to him going to prison" MJ sad defensively.

"Hey that's enough Flash your problem is with me not her" Peter said.

"Oh sure nice of you to defend your new girlfriend" Flash mocked.

"Guys we should stop, this is making Liz uncomfortable" Glory said.

"We're not done until this loser apologizes to Liz" Flash said sternly.

"Flash what happened between Liz and I is our business and no I'm not dating Mary Jane we're just friends" Peter said trying to defuse the situation.

"You'll never do better than Liz nerd any chick who dates you either has to be seriously desperate or have no taste," Sally said.

Before the degrading of Peter Parker could continue a new voice cut in "excuse me why might I ask are you all trying you trying to gang up on my boyfriend?"

Everyone was in shock at the drop dead gorgeous snow haired girl who just claimed to be Peter Parker's girlfriend. Flash was almost drooling as he was looking her up and down "excuse me Ms. did you just say you're Peter's girlfriend?"

"I sure did the name is Hardy, Felicia Hardy." Felicia said.

"Felicia Hardy huh, to date loser over there you must be desperate, have no taste, or all of the above" Sally said with some snark.

"You're rude, but I guess if I had split ends like you I would be rude too" Felicia countered.

"HOW DARE YOU" Sally yelled moving towards Felicia.

Mary Jane and Glory both stepped in to keep the girls seperated. Peter deciding he had enough started to get up, "you know what I don't feel much like lunch anymore let's go girls."

Flash grabbed Peter by his shoulder stopping him "you're not going anywhere this isn't done."

Felicia stepped on Flash's foot causing him to let go of his grip, Flash quickly recovered and attempted to grab Felicia. Before his hand could make contact with her something grabbed Flash's arm he turned and was shocked to see it was Peter and even more shocked he couldn't break his grip.

"Flash I've taken your abuse for years, we used to be friends as kids but you turned into a bully, you want to bully me that's fine I don't care but you will not lay a hand on her do you understand me," Peter said slightly tighten his grip.

Flash was a bit nervous, but did his best to play it off "whatever loser this isn't over."

Peter let go of Flash and made eye contact with Liz he could see the hurt in her eyes and he genuinely felt guilty about everything that happened between them.

"Liz, I'm sorry about everything that happened between us you don't have to forgive me or speak to me again I just want you to know I am truly and honestly sorry." Peter said sadly.

"Petey," Liz began before she saw Sally glare daggers her way.

"Peter Parker, I'm glad I dumped a loser like you who didn't deserve me" Liz yelled before she walked towards Peter and slapped him.

Peter ignored his spider sense and took the full force of the slap as it echoed out of the cafeteria. Peter was stunned, he knew it was coming, but couldn't believe she actually did it. Felicia was fine with Peter apologizing to Liz, but the moment she put her hands on him that was a step too far. Felicia tackled Liz to the ground before grabbing her and lifting her up to eye level "you put your hands on my boyfriend again and I will make you regret it."

Sally tried to sneak up on Felicia from behind, but was blocked my Mary Jane "sorry, but I do believe in fair fights."

"Guys you should all really stop, I've already told the teachers about you all ganging up on Peter" a new voice said.

Everyone turned to see Gwen with Harry at her side.

"You nerds stick together huh, and look we have the cheater who cost us our championship because he couldn't stay clean" Flash said.

Harry cringed slightly at the comment.

Felicia dropped Liz as the bell rang and everyone slowly dispersed making their way to the auditorium for the senior meeting. Felicia looked around and noticed Peter was gone "MJ did you see which way Peter went?"

"Sorry, Peter is good at blending into the background when he wants to, we will find him during the meeting let's go and thanks for helping out Gwen glad to see you're still in Peter's corner" MJ said with a smile.

"Of course, we're still his friends" Gwen said cutting her eyes at Felicia.

"Such great friends who talk about him apparently" Felicia said rolling her eyes.

MJ sensing the tension tried to grab Felicia.

"No let her finish Mary Jane" Gwen said angrily.

"That girl Sally said Randy overheard you and Harry talking about Peter's new girlfriend" Felicia countered.

Gwen and Harry went wide eyed for a second before Harry chimed in "listen we've been his best friends for years we're just looking out for him is all."

Before Felicia could retort MJ grabbed her by the arm "we have to go find Peter remember."

Gwen and Felicia locked eyes as MJ dragged Felicia away.

"You ok babe" Harry asked.

"Yes and Harry I've told you not to call me that, I just don't like her" Gwen stated.

"I don't see the big deal unless, are you jealous of her Gwen" Harry asked his voice deepening.

"I just don't want Peter to get hurt is all Harry" Gwen responded quickly.

After shuffling around in the auditorium Felicia and MJ couldn't find Peter. Felicia suggested MJ sit with Harry and Gwen to see if they found him while she kept looking.

Felicia sent out a text 'So where did my wonderful boyfriend run off to? :("

Felicia's phone quickly vibrated with a reply "Look up gorgeous 3"

Felicia looked up and saw Peter was in the balcony high above the auditorium. Smiling she quickly and stealthily used her Black Cat like agility to climb up a column and made her way to the balcony. She noticed Peter was scribbling things into his notebook, with him distracted she decided to sneak up on him. Because she wasn't there to do him any harm his spider sense didn't go off and almost jumped when he felt someone hug him from behind.

"I wanted to make sure you were ok, things got a bit chaotic in there" Felicia said.

"Sorry about leaving like that, I just needed some time to process everything" Peter replied.

"I hope I didn't cause you too much grief" Felicia said with a hint of sadness.

"Are you kidding, you stuck up for me I'm not too used to that these days" Peter said with a smile before kissing Felicia on the cheek.

Before the happy couple could go any further Peter received a text 'Spider-Man we've located The Enforcers meet us at this address'

Peter showed the message to Felicia "so I guess your schedule is always this busy I'm guessing you have your suit with you?"

Peter smiled "Always keep it in my backpack during school hours."

Felicia opened her bag as well and pulled out her Black Cat costume "I'm learning too."

Felicia quickly transformed into the Black Cat, and watched with a seductive smirk as Peter donned his Spider-Man suit and mask.

"Well I like what I see here" Black Cat said blowing Spider-Man a kiss.

Spider-Man's face turned red and he quickly put on his mask to hide his -Man's mask began booting up, after finishing the boot up sequence Spider-Man checked to make sure his web shooter upgrades came online as well as his heads up display.

"So, you never told me how we're going to sneak out of school" Black Cat said.

"Oh that's the easy part, I've been doing this since my sophomore year follow me gorgeous" Spider-Man said.

The duo made their way to a nearby window that was hidden behind drama theater props. Black Cat was the first to jump out with Spider-Man hot on her trail as they began swinging to the location Daredevil sent them.

Authors Note. Happy New Years to everyone who didn't give up on this story. I've been gone for a bit, but now I'm back and I am able to be committed to this story. So many of you have followed and favorited this story I couldn't help but continue it. This chapter doesn't have much action but we finally get the confrontation between Felicia and Liz. Next Chapter will see more action stay tuned for more.