A/N: Hey, everyone! Sorry it's a little late, but it's still technically Wednesday, right?

I loved hearing everyone's response to last week's chapter! I'm glad you all enjoyed the twist :) Brad really is the worst, isn't he?

Anywho, this one's a little short, but I hope you all enjoy chapter 14!

"...You've got evidence?"

Brad nodded emphatically, still holding up his phone.

Flash felt the corner of his mouth twitch, but he continued to fight off the urge to laugh. "You've got evidence that Penny Parker is a lesbian?"

"Yes, Flash. I have stone cold proof right here on my phone." Brad, to Flash's amusement, had the audacity to sound annoyed. "Why do you keep making me repeat myself?"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, dude. I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for whatever story you've concocted to protect your fragile male ego."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. So what've you got? An old Facebook post about her obsession with Ellen DeGeneres? A screenshot of a Pinterest board she created of pixie haircuts?"

"A picture of her topless with another woman."

"Wait, I haven't finished my joke yet! A deleted Tweet about her passion for lacrosse-" And then Flash froze as Brad's words finally sunk in.

Brad nodded, a slow, smug grin spreading across his face. Flash felt his hands begin to shake.

"...What the hell did you just say?"

"You heard me, dude." He relaxed back in his seat, sliding his phone in his pocket and crossing his arms behind his head. "I told you she was a lesbian."

A muscle in his jaw twitched. Flash spoke his next words slowly and emphatically, taking particular care to keep the tremor out of his voice.

"Brad… how did you get that picture of Penny?"

Flash assumed he must have done an impressive job of sounding calm, because Brad seemed completely unbothered, sliding his eyelids shut as he settled further back in his seat. "Oh, I caught her sneaking off into a building and I followed her in so I could talk to her privately, and there she was in her bra with some European chick."

"You-" Flash stopped himself, checking his tone. His mouth was pressed into a hard, firm line. "You… followed her? And just walked in?"

His eyes were still shut, but he cracked a smile. "Yeah. And I'm glad I did. It's one of the hottest things I've ever seen in person, dude. Actually, how 'bout I just show you?."

Flash sucked in a breath as Brad opened his eyes and began eagerly fishing the phone out of his pocket, swiping to his camera roll.

Holy shit. He's serious. He's actually serious.

"... Who else are you planning on showing this to?" Flash asked, averting his eyes so he was looking out the window. His hands had clenched into fists, his nails biting into his palms.

He was still focused on his phone, brow knotting as he messed up his password in his excitement. "Well... I promised her I was only going to show a few guys, just to prove that I still got game and that she couldn't have been into me anyway. But I don't know, Flash… this picture has got some serious potential." His grin grew wider as his phone finally opened, and he headed straight to his camera roll.

"Huh. You don't say." Flash was gritting his teeth so hard he thought they would snap under the pressure.

Brad, in the meantime, was still blissfully unaware of his reaction. He released a low whistle when he finally landed on the picture, wrapping an arm around Flash's shoulders like they were suddenly best friends. "Here it is! Damn... now that I look at it, Parker really isn't as flat as everyone says. She's always hiding herself under those baggy T-shirts and stuff, ya know? It really is too bad she isn't straight, or else I'd definitely be trying to-"

"Let me see, Brad," Flash quickly interjected, snatching away his phone before he could protest. "Yeah, wow, that sure is some picture, super… hot… and stuff..."

"Wait, dude, you can't even see it because you pressed the home button- hey, what the hell?!"

Flash had just managed to shove the bus window down with his other hand (not as sneakily as he had hoped) and was poised to hurl the phone out of it, but Brad yanked back his arm, pulling so hard he felt something pop. He winced, inadvertently weakening his grip enough for Brad to pry it out of his hand.

Brad held the phone up triumphantly. "Nice try! You really thought you could-"

And then Brad yelped in surprise as the bus took a dramatic swerve, throwing him into Flash with a pained "oomph!"

Flash, now unceremoniously smushed against the window, felt his heart seize up at the site of the bus nearly teetering over the steep incline into the ravine below.

The bus was now a cacophony of shrieks and curses and the students were thrown to the side, their exclamations mixing with the screeching of the bus's tires.

To Flash's relief, Dimitri safely veered away from the edge of the narrow road, but he seemed to have lost control of the vehicle, swerving left and right at an unsettling speed.

Brad peeled himself off of Flash, checked his hand, and then blanched when he realized his phone was no longer in it.

Despite the peril of the situation, Flash couldn't help but crack a smile. "Aw, that sucks, dude. Too bad the window was open."

"Penny! Plant your fanny in that seat and buckle up right now!"

His smile was immediately wiped from his face. Looking up in alarm, he saw Penny standing in the middle of the aisle, surprisingly stable despite the reckless driving. She was staring towards the end of the bus, a determined look on her face.

"Uh… look at the baby mountain goats!" She suddenly exclaimed, jabbing a finger to her right.

Flash stared at her in disbelief, shaking his head to himself. Her lies are seriously getting worse and worse. I mean, who would believe that crap-

"Ooh, baby mountain goats?"

Flash had already begun standing in his seat, ready to grab Penny and sit her down because damn it this accident prone girl was not about to be thrown out of a window as carelessly as Brad's phone, but he quickly found himself swarmed by Mr. Harrington and the rest of the student body, who were now staring out the window excitedly. He and Brad were shoved against the window again as everyone 'oohed' and 'ahhed,' whipping out their phones to take pictures. He tried to make her out behind the rows of students, but his vision was completely blocked.

"Wait- I don't see any baby mountain goats," Mr. Harrington said dejectedly. As he and the rest of the students, grumbling to themselves, moved back to their seats, Flash shot back up to make sure Penny was still in once piece.

To his utter bewilderment, She was standing in the exact same spot as before, but her braids were loose and stray hairs framed her face in a windswept fashion. She was also breathing heavily, and her sunglasses were sitting askew on her face.

"You missed them," she explained between breaths, grinning sheepishly.

The bus was now back on course, Dimitri's whitened knuckles resuming their former color as he loosened his death grip on the wheel, but Flash didn't miss the glare he shot in the girl's direction. Smiling awkwardly at him, she quickly slipped back into her seat next to MJ, taking off her sunglasses with a sigh.

He watched the entire exchange with a furrowed brow. Absolutely none of this made sense to Flash.

What the hell is this girl up to this time?

He moved again to get out of his seat for the second time, but a firm hand pressed down on his shoulder to stop him.

Brad loomed over him, his face pinched. "Dude, what the hell! You threw my phone out the window!"

Flash was slapped by another wave of rage. Oh, yeah. Brad.

"Last I checked, you dropped it, Davis," Flash crooned, shrugging his shoulders innocently. "I was just trying to get some fresh air."

"Why you little-"

Anticipating his blow, Flash ducked under his swinging arm, sliding past him with more grace than he thought himself capable of. Brad, caught off guard by his change in position, ended up ramming his shoulder into the side of the bus. He whirled on Flash, but he pressed a hand against Brad's chest, keeping him where he was.

"I'll pay you back for the phone," he whispered, his voice dripping with venom. "The money means nothing to me. But you won't tell anyone this was anything other than an accident or else I'll tell the whole school that you're a perv that likes to sneak in on girls when they're changing and take pictures. Got it?"

Brad could have easily shoved him off and clocked him right then and there, but their exchange had already gotten some curious glances from surrounding students, and Flash knew Brad believed every word he said.

He sneered, pushing his hand away, but he made no move to fight him. "Whatever, Thompson. You're the one who's lovesick over a lesbian."

"Believe whatever you want to believe, Davis. Just keep your bullshit excuses to yourself, alright? Don't go around spreading rumors about Penny just because she's figured out what a douche you are and has moved on." With a final, halfhearted shove, Flash slung his bag over his shoulder and started trudging towards an empty seat at the back of the bus.

Mr. Harrington, so enraptured with his historical fiction novel that he missed the entire scuffle, chose that exact moment to look up. "Flash, I already asked everyone to sit their tushes down!"

"Sorry, Mr. Harrington. Just needed some more leg room," Flash explained, sliding into a new seat. Dropping his bag to the ground, he released a sigh and began rubbing his temples with his fingertips.

This girl's life is a never ending soap opera, I swear. I guess she's over Davis, now, that dickwad…

And then, despite himself, he smiled.

…Huh. Yeah. I guess she's over Brad.

"Penny. You almost killed Brad."

Penny shakily removed her glasses, muttering her thanks E.D.I.T.H. before returning them to her case. "Yeah. I know."

"That's so cool."

Penny made a face at MJ, whose knees were bouncing in excitement. "It's cool that I almost killed him?"

MJ shrugged, smirking at Penny's distress. "Yeah, it kinda is. I mean, I'm glad you didn't, even if I hate his guts and hope he accidentally bumps into a wiccan and gets cursed with genital warts for the rest of his life, but you have to admit that having the ability to launch satellite missiles is awesome."

Penny made a gagging noise. "Genital warts?"

"Wiccans are creative people, Penny. They'd come up with a special curse just for him."

She cracked a smile at her friend, halfheartedly nudging her shoulder with her own. "Once I recover from my near heart attack, I'll let you know if I think that was awesome or not."

"Trust me. It is."

Penny, after accidentally commanding E.D.I.T.H. to shoot Brad down via a gun-wielding space drone, nearly swerving the bus off of a cliff to avoid its first blast, and then distracting her classmates so she could jump through the exit on the roof and shoot it down, had finally requested the AI system to permanently delete the image off of Brad's phone, iCloud and all.

"You can say it, by the way," Penny muttered to MJ. "I can take it."

MJ cocked her head at her. "Say what?"

"I told you so."

"Penny. Look at me."

Penny forced herself to look up from her shoelaces and into MJ's eyes, which softened under her gaze. She placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently.

"You couldn't have known that Brad was that terrible of a human being. Even I wouldn't have guessed that he'd do what he did. You're not to blame for being pulled in by his charm, Pen. And what he did was inexcusable and disgusting."

Penny smiled gratefully at her, squeezing her hand back. "Thanks, MJ. I'm just glad E.D.I.T.H. was able to get rid of that picture once and for all. And now that I know his true colors, I'm staying far away from him."

"Good. I'm glad."

Penny smiled at her, and then allowed her eyes to shut as she leaned back into her seat with a sigh. Ugh, I'm still exhausted. Now that that's all over, maybe I can get some sleep…

"Um, Pen?"

"Hm?"

"Not to disturb you, but what are you going to do about Flash?"

Penny frowned, opening her eyes and staring at her with raised eyebrows. "Flash?"

And then she remembered.

Brad said Flash is in love with me.

Brad sat next to Flash on the bus.

Brad was going to show Flash the picture.

Shitshitshitshitshitshit...

"You guys are talking about Flash?"

Penny and MJ both turned to see Betty, sitting across the aisle three rows behind them, give them a curious stare. She urged Ned with a wave of her hand to join her as she scooted to the row right across from the girls. Mr. Harrington released an audible sigh, but said nothing.

"Uh… j-just, you know, talking about, uh..." Penny stammered, nudging MJ with her foot for assistance.

MJ stiffened. "Yeah, just, uh… talking. About stuff."

Penny repressed a wince, giving MJ a wary glance out of the corner of her eye. MJ just shrugged.

Thankfully, Betty didn't seem to be paying too much attention to what they were saying, too excited to share her own gossip to care. She leaned in conspiratorially, glancing right and left to confirm no one was listening. "So, like… you guys heard he totally just punched Brad Davis in the face, right?"

Penny could have sworn her heart stopped beating then and there.

She had no idea what her expression must've looked like in that moment, but it must've egged Betty on, because she began eagerly spilling all of the details of the exchange.

"So Angela told Henry who texted Lauren who told Elizabeth who I overheard that Flash just totally punched Brad over something with his phone. I don't know much more than that, but Ned saw on Lauren's Instagram story that she might spill more details later."

Ned leaned in from behind her, holding up his phone. "It's true," he said giddily. "Crazy, right?"

There were a million ways Penny could have responded to this news, but she had been rendered speechless. Flash… stood up for me? He freaking punched Brad? For me?

Mouth agape, she slowly turned to gauge MJ's reaction.

"Wow… that's, uh… he must've cared a lot about whatever they were arguing about," MJ said, fighting a smile as she nudged Penny's foot back. "I'm impressed."

"Right?" Betty was positively beaming with excitement. "Stuff like this never happens at Midtown! What do you think, Penny?"

Penny suddenly shot to her feet. "I'm, uh- I'm going to make sure he's okay!"

Without another word she stalked off to the back of the bus, avoiding eye contact with Brad Davis and ignoring Mr. Harrington's even louder sigh as she walked.

When she spotted Flash, she plopped herself down right next to him almost robotically, staring straight ahead. She heard him startle at her sudden entrance, but she refused to look at him.

"Hi."

"Uh, hey, Penny. Are you alright?"

"I heard you punched Brad Davis in the face."

"What?"

Now she turned to face him. He was looking a little roughed up, his hair a tousled mess that somehow managed to look even better than it did when it was styled, but his expression was an equal mixture of disbelief and amusement. "You heard I punched Brad? Where did you hear that?"

For some reason, sitting so near to him was making her feel fidgety, and she found herself wringing her hands as she spoke. "Uh…" she squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to recall. "So Betty heard from Elizabeth who heard from Lauren who heard from-"

A gentle squeeze of her hand broke her out of her speech and stopped her nervous gesture. "It's okay, Parker," he chuckled. "I think I get it."

She flushed at the contact, but didn't make any move to remove his hand. "Oh. Okay."

"So people are saying I punched Brad?" His grin widened at the thought. "Huh."

Penny blinked in confusion. "So... you didn't punch him?" She glanced down at the hand on hers, inspecting the knuckles for the telltale signs of an attack. To her slight disappointment, his hands looked completely normal.

"Unfortunately, no. Even though he definitely deserves it." His gaze shifted back to her, and his amusement fell away as his countenance grew more serious. "So, uh... Brad told me what he did."

Penny swallowed, her mouth now dry. "Oh. He did, huh?"

Her heart was thudding so loudly in her chest she could have sworn Flash could hear it. There was one question she wanted to ask him, the same question that had been plaguing her mind since Brad sat with him on the bus, but she was so terrified of hearing his answer that she couldn't manage to form the words.

But, in the end, she didn't have to.

"I didn't see the picture, Penny," Flash whispered solemnly, squeezing her hand even more firmly. "He tried to show it to me, but I… Actually, I kinda threw his phone out the window."

Her relief was immediately replaced with shock as she reeled back from him. "You did what?"

"Well, allegedly, threw, or…" he scratched the back of his head, smiling slightly. "I guess technically he threw it out… it's a long story. Anyway, the phone is gone. And so is the picture."

Penny sucked in a breath as she took in this information. She didn't know if it was the stress of the situation, her lack of sleep, or maybe the fact that she was going to be fighting a giant fire monster that could literally destroy the planet in a few hours, but for some reason his answer caused her eyes to fill up with tears. She began rapidly blinking, turning away from him with flushed cheeks, but she felt him stiffen beside her, noticing her distress. His thumb began inadvertently stroking her palm in a soothing gesture, and he leaned in even closer to her, his breath tickling her ear.

"Hey, it's okay, Penny," he said, his voice so sincere it made her heart ache. "Brad's a total dick, like, the literal scum of the earth, and he doesn't deserve you, anyway. You're so much better off without him, and I know you're heartbroken right now, but-"

"I couldn't care less about Brad, Flash," Penny whispered, stopping him mid sentence. Mustering up her bravery, she turned to face him head on, giving him a teary smile. "I really couldn't. It's just- thank you. Thank you so much. It really means a lot."

Flash's eyes widened. His ears noticeably reddened as he opened his mouth to respond, closed it, and then opened it again. "Oh. Well, yeah, of course, I mean… you're welcome, I guess? I mean, not I guess, but, you're… welcome?"

Penny snorted at him, finally cracking a smile. She wiped away the few stray tears on her cheeks, and none came to take their place

"Flash… you are such a dork." She removed her hand from his to muss up his hair further, giggling when he batted her hand away.

Her action broke him out of his serious state. He rolled his eyes at her, but there was a glint of humor in his eyes. "Uh-huh. This is coming from the girl who still plays Minecraft."

She placed her hands on her hips. "Oh, you really think you're too mature for Minecraft?"

"The game is for 10 year olds!"

"Hey, the official age range is seven and up! I just happen to fall in the 'and up' category!"

"Whatever Parker."

They were grinning at each other like loons, but she didn't care how stupid she may have looked. With Brad, she had always felt on guard, cautious, like she had to show him a specific side of herself in order to be accepted. With Flash… she was just herself. Just Penny.

And she liked it that way.

"I think throwing his phone out the window is much better than punching him, by the way," she added, her eyes glinting mischievously. "The other day he was bragging about being on round, like, 750 of Candy Crush. Now he'll have to start all over."

"How tragic," Flash agreed, shaking his head in mock despair. "The absolute horror."

"I think we should host a funeral for his phone."

"God, no, it was a Samsung, it doesn't deserve that kind of gesture."

"Hey, I have a Samsung!"

"Well, I wouldn't throw your phone a funeral, either."

"No, but you would throw it out the window, apparently."

"Allegedly throw."

And as they fell into easy conversation, all thoughts of Brad and his previous hold on her melted away.

Because now, heaven help her, Penny was very much falling in love with Flash Thompson. And now she knew that he might just be falling for her, too.