Chapter 4
After the events at the bridge, Beca made her way back home, she quickly and quietly climbed up the side of the house. She had left her window open for her to get back in, and once she was inside, she did her best to quietly slide the window shut. She made her way across the ceiling and listened for her aunt who was downstairs in the kitchen. She sighed and shot a small web at the door and tugged on it slowly, trying not to make a lot of noise. Once the door was almost completely shut, she slowly made her way to the ground. While still hanging onto the ceiling with one hand, she peeked through the crack one last time to make sure May was nowhere in site. Positive that the coast was clear, she released her hold on the ceiling and closed the door. She turned around to relax when she noticed Jesse sitting on her bed in shock with the structure of the death star in his lap. After watching Beca, and finally coming back down from his shock, Jesse stood up, forgetting about the Lego set, and there was a loud crash signaling the destruction of the death star.
"What was that," May shouted.
"Uh, nothing," Beca responded nervously.
Jesse took a deep breathe and as he exhaled he finally spoke, "you're that spider guy...from youtube."
"No, I'm not," she stuttered while trying her best to quickly remove the suit.
"You were on the ceiling!"
"No, I wasn't. Jesse, what're you doing in my room?"
"May let me in, you said we were gonna finish the death star!"
"You can't just bust into my room," Beca said when suddenly May burst through the door.
"Hey, so dinner... that recipe was a disaster, let's go out to eat. Thai? Jesse, Thai?"
"Yes," Jesse nodded.
"No," Beca quickly responded at the same time. "He's got a thing."
"A thing to do after," Jesse said.
May smiled and nodded before looking to Beca who was in her underwear, "Bec, maybe put some clothes on first." Beca smiled awkwardly as she reached for a sweatshirt, and sighed as May shut the door.
"Oh my God, she doesn't know?"
"Of course not! Nobody knows!"
"Are you an Avenger?"
Beca thought back to what Chloe has said to her a while ago and grinned, "yeah, basically. But you can't tell anybody, okay? It's a secret."
"A secret, why?"
"Because you know what she's like, if she finds out I'm fighting all these people who want to hurt or kill me every night, she won't let me do this anymore. Come on, Jess, please."
"Okay, I'll level with you," Jesse said with a sigh before shaking his head. "I don't think I can keep this a secret. This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, Beca!"
"No, you have to, May can not know. I can't do that to her right now. You know? I mean with everything that's happened to her."
"Okay."
"Okay? I need you to swear it."
"I swear."
"Thanks, man," Beca sighed as she started guiding him to the door.
"I can't believe this, can I try on the suit?"
"No."
"How do you shoot the web things? How does the suit work? Is it magnets?"
"I'll tell you all about this at school tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," he nodded. "Wait. How do you keep this a secret? I would tell everyone."
"Just get out of here," once she pushed him out of her room and closed the door and leaned her back against it. She groaned in frustration and quickly changed her clothes to go to dinner with her aunt.
The next day, Beca is packing her bag and finds that is surprisingly full. She glances at her books on her desk and sighs knowing she's going to have to carry them to school today. She finished packing and sits back down on her bed waiting for Jesse to text her that he is outside. She glances over at her closet where she put her suit, wondering if she should bring it. She sighed and quickly grabbed the suit, stuffing it in her bag. Then she got a text from Jesse and grabbed her bag and books and went downstairs, "bye, May!"
"Bye, Bec have a good day at school."
Beca was greeted with a smile from her best friend as soon as she opened the door, "sup, loser?"
"Am I really a loser though?"
"No, but I do have a ton of questions."
Beca chuckled, "alright then let's get going, and I'll answer some."
Jesse nodded and the two began their walk to school. Jesse offered to carry some of the books for Beca, but she declined his offer as they weren't terribly heavy due to her newfound strength, "you have super strength? That's so cool!"
"Yeah it comes in handy."
"What other powers do you have?"
"I don't know."
"Wait, how did this even happen?"
Beca sighed as she recounted the event at Oscorp. By the time she finished her story they were stopped at a crosswalk near a small convenience store.
"You got bit by a spider? Can it bite me," Jesse asked as he continued rambling. "Well it probably hurt, right? Whatever, even if it did hurt I'd let it bite me. Maybe, how much did it hurt?"
Beca rolled her eyes, "the spider is dead, Jesse."
"Oh," he said as he glanced over to the small TV in the shop window. "Woah, you were there?"
"Yep."
"You could've died." Beca nodded and began to walk as the signal changed. They were almost to school when Jesse asked another question, "do you lay eggs?"
"What? No," Beca said while laughing, unaware that this was the beginning to a never ending list of questions her friend made up.
The two got to school and met up with their friends. Once the bell rang they all separated, and Beca enjoyed her moment of peace before another one of Jesse's interviews. Beca and Jesse were reunited in Gym class, but this week they were in a classroom for the health portion. Once they sat down the questions began to pour out of the boy's mouth, "can you spit venom?"
"No," Beca whispered.
"Can you summon an army of spiders?"
"No, Jesse," Beca sighed.
"How far can you shoot your webs?"
"I don't know," Beca said as she flipped through the pages of the assigned reading that was on the board. "Shut up."
"If I were you, I'd stand on a building and just shoot them as far as I could."
"Shut up, Jesse," she pleaded.
Jesse nodded and began reading. Beca took a deep breath relieved the questions were done, but Jesse has one last thought on his mind. He grinned and looked at the hero, "can I be your guy in the chair?"
"What?"
"You know how in movies there's a guy with the headset telling the hero where to go," he explained. "If you're in a burning building, I could tell you where to go," he rambled through Beca's objections. "There could be screens all around me and I'd have one of those swivel chairs, so I could move all around. I could be the guy in the chair!"
"I don't need a guy in a chair, Jess," Beca said looking up from the book.
Jesse frowned as Beca went back to reading. The coach was passing out papers from the last class session and reached the pair. He handed Beca back a quiz and there was a red 'A' on it, "nice work, Mitchell."
"Thanks, coach."
"I expect to see this kind of work on the court next week, you still trying out?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
Jesse leaned back over to whisper to his friend, "don't you think it's kind of cheating to try out? I mean you have a clear advantage over everyone else."
Beca shrugged, "I mean it's not that bad dude."
"It's totally unfair, Becs."
"Whatever, man. The team could use someone with my skills. Plus, Junk says I have to join a sports team."
Jesse nodded, "they are pretty terrible."
"See? Now just be the supportive best friend, okay?"
"Well, it would be a good chance for us to be popular."
Beca scoffed, "yeah right. Besides, who cares about that crap anyways?"
"Uhm, everyone. Even you," Jesse said hitting his friend on the arm. After receiving a weird look from her he chuckled, "come on, Bec! You can't tell me there isn't one thing about popularity that would benefit us."
Beca sighed and thought about it. If she were popular she would definitely be on Aubrey's good side. And even though Chloe doesn't seem bothered by her social status, it would definitely make her more noticeable by the redhead, "I guess it wouldn't be so bad."
"That's my girl," Jesse said. "Hey, you know what else would be a big popularity booster?"
"What?"
"Telling everyone you're that webslinger."
"What? No, Jess."
"Why not?"
"Because, that's not why I do it."
"C'mon think about it. The girls, the fans, the girls," Jesse reemphasized.
"I don't care about that stuff. And besides, I can use basketball for those. I don't need to use spiderman."
"Bec-"
The bell rang and Beca quickly packed up, "this is not up for debate, Jesse. I'll see you later."
"Yeah I'll swing by after rehearsals."
Once all of her classes were finished, she headed to the auditorium for rehearsal. She set her bag down with the rest of them and took a seat next to Amy who quickly leaned in and whispered to her, "hey shortstack you got a tampon on you?"
"In my bag."
Amy nodded and quickly ran over to Beca's bag. She unzipped the main compartment and searched through the various pockets. Suddenly, she noticed red and blue fabric, thinking it was a small bag that may have held the item she was looking for, she pulled it out, revealing a spider symbol, "what the," she mumbled. Curious about the suit, she continues searching and found the mask of the cities hero, "no freaking way." She shook her head and kept looking for a tampon. She cheered to herself as she pulled out the small wrapped package and quickly ran to the bathroom. When she returned she sat back down next to Beca and sighed.
"Everything okay," the brunette asked.
"Yeah. You know your bag is a mess."
"Yeah sorry, I don't really have a lot of down time. I kind of just shove everything in their."
"Well you should be careful."
"Why?"
Amy shrugged, "just make sure you have important things in a place where people can't find them."
Beca nodded, "alright."
Before Amy could ask her about the suit, Aubrey and Chloe started rehearsal.
At the break, Beca walked over to Amy and grabbed her water, "hey Jesse is swinging by after rehearsal, and we are gonna hang later, wanna join?"
"Interesting word choice."
"What?"
"Nothing, but I think I'll pass this time. Maybe we can hang anotha time?"
"Sure."
After they finished the other half of rehearsals the girls were all gathering their things. Jesse walked in approached his friends, "hey guys."
"Hey Jess."
"Ready to go, Bec?"
"Yeah, let me just make sure I have everything."
As she was packing her things she and Jesse overheard a conversation going on between Stacy, Aubrey, and Chloe.
"For me I'd have to go with," Aubrey said pausing to think. "F Thor because he's a literal God. Marry Iron Man because I'd be set financially. And kill Hulk."
"What about that spider-guy," Stacie asked.
"It's Spiderman," Chloe corrected.
"Right, the Spiderman."
"Just Spiderman," Chloe stated.
"Who cares," Aubrey said, rolling her eyes.
"Seriously? Did you guys not see the traffic cam footage on the news or YouTube," Chloe asked. "Spiderman faced off with that Lizard man and saved dozens of lives."
"Oh my God, you're crushing on him," Stacie exclaimed.
"No," Chloe said while trying to hide the red in her cheeks. "And he is a girl, thank you very much."
"Wow, I didn't realize you played both sides."
"Of course, I don't discriminate," Chloe said with a wink.
"Whatever, you're totally crushing on her."
"Kind of."
"Gross," Aubrey scoffed.
"Yeah," Stacie nodded. "She could be like thirty. And you don't even know what she looks like. This identity could be used to compensate for a lack of beauty."
"Um I don't care, I would still love her for the person she is on the inside."
Beca grinned as she heard Chloe's words about her and Amy noticed the girl's growing grin. As she was about to ask Beca about it, Jesse blurted out to the entire group, "Beca knows Spiderman!"
Beca looked over at Jesse in awe and quickly looked around to the Bellas, "no I don't, I don't. I mean-"
"They're friends," Jesse said trying to make up for his sudden outburst.
"Yeah," Aubrey commented. "Like how Coach and Captain America are friends."
"I mean, I've met her like a couple times, but just from being near some of the places she was…"
"Well then, you should bring Spiderman to the party tomorrow night."
"Party," Beca asked the trio.
Chloe nodded,"Yeah, Aubrey is throwing a party tomorrow night since her parents will be gone. You're more than welcome to come, we were going to send a text in the group chat."
"Yeah maybe you can bring your spider friend," Aubrey joked.
"Don't force her, it's okay, Bec," Chloe said with a smile. "I know you're way too busy for a party anyways."
"Come on, she'll be there, right Hobbit?"
Beca nodded and quickly left the auditorium with Jesse. As soon as they were out of the school, Beca punched him in the arm, "what are you doing?"
"Come on Beca, this is a huge game changer!"
" We already talked about this, Spiderman is not a tool for popularity."
"Come on Beca, Chloe is totally into you, you heard her."
"No, she likes Spiderman, if she knew it was me she would instantly Iose interest."
"No, you've got it all wrong, dude. Chloe isn't like that. She defended you, and she didn't seem to be weirded out by Spiderman being a girl."
Beca sighed, she knew he was right, but she couldn't just reveal herself to the school, "no, Jesse. I won't do it."
"Why not? You're an avenger man! If anyone has a shot with Chloe Beale, it's you."
"I just can't right now," Beca said shaking her head."Not with everything going on with this Lizard guy. I don't want to bring anyone into this, and I won't put Chloe in danger."
Jesse nodded,"I get it man, but look at the Avengers. Everyone knows who they are, and they're fine."
"Dude, they brought a war with aliens to New York like eight years ago."
"So there was collateral damage. But you can be famous, and get your girl. The girl you've been drooling over since kindergarten."
Beca nodded, "I'll think about it, Jess."
"Alright, now let's go get some sandwiches."
"Finally, something we both can agree on." The two went and grabbed sandwiches at Delmar's, then went to Beca's house. They went straight up to her room to eat, and as soon as Beca sat down she sighed, "finally, I get to relax."
Jesse sat at the desk chair and began eating his sandwich, "yeah, now we can debate the morality of you joining the basketball team."
"Dude, come on. We already had this discussion. It's not that big of a deal."
"Bec, you have superpowers. That's unfair to all the normals out there."
"Look man, the only stuff that is an advantage now are my reflexes and my spidey senses."
"And your super strength, your jump, your speed."
"I won't need the strength, plus I'm not like the hulk, I can control myself. The jump is an easy change, and the speed is only because of the webs."
"That is not true, you could totally dust me in a race."
"I'm not the flash, Jesse. I can run faster than normal people but not lightning fast. You've seen me in gym, I got a bad mile time."
"I still don't think that it's right."
"It's not. But just because I have these powers doesn't mean I can make every basket. And I don't have a choice. It's the only sport that I know how to play, and I was good at it before I got my powers."
Jesse nodded and sighed,"It will be nice to see you play again. Remember all the pickup games in middle school?"
"Yeah," Beca laughed. "Those were fun."
"And thanks to you, we never lost."
"And hopefully I can bring the same luck to the team here."
" This is crazy," Jesse chuckled.
"Yeah, shit is complicated."
"You can say that again."
Beca spent the rest of the night discussing whether or not to go to the party and if they should bring Spiderman. By the time they were done arguing, they came to the decision to bring the suit and see how it goes. Jesse left with time for Beca to lap around the neighborhood before going to bed.
The next morning, Beca was up before her alarm. She was packing her things when she got a text from Chloe saying she was on her way. Beca smiled at her phone and quickly threw on her suit before swinging out the window. She made her way towards town, doing a quick morning patrol before finding the redhead walking alone towards her house. Beca made sure to keep an eye on her given the girl's reputation to get into trouble. She laughed to herself that Chloe was on her phone while walking on a semi-crowded sidewalk, She followed her until they were a few blocks away, and she quickly zipped towards her house.
Chloe had a feeling someone was watching her. She decided to get up early so that her and Beca wouldn't have to rush walking to school. But as soon as she was off her street, she felt like someone was following her. She pulled out her phone to try to see if someone was following her in the reflection. She was just about to out her phone away when she noticed a small flash of red and blue when she turned at the next block. Chloe chuckled and continued to watch her phone reflection, spotting the quick flashes of red and blue whenever she came to the end of a block. As she was nearing Beca's she put her phone away, and heard a faint sound of a web shooter, she looked up to the nearest buildings and frowned when she didn't see anyone. She shrugged thinking she may have just imagined Spiderman following her in the first place.
Beca made it back to her house with enough time to change and take a quick shower. She left the girl with a five minute walk left to go. She showered in record time then quickly changed and shoved her suit into her bag. May had already left for work, so Beca went downstairs to make a quick breakfast when someone knocked on the door. Sue quickly walked over and opened the door, greeted by a smiling redhead, "hey."
"Hi, Becs."
Beca stepped out of the way to let Chloe in and sighed, "I was just about to make breakfast, would you like anything?"
"Sure, I'll have whatever you're having."
"Eggs, bacon, and toast sound good?"
"Sounds great."
"Awesome, well make yourself comfortable, the food will only take a couple minutes."
"Thanks."
Beca smiled at Chloe who sat at the counter and watched her cook. Beca made two eggs over easy and a small pan of bacon as well as four pieces of toast. She put everything on the counter, one plate in front of Chloe and the other to the girl's left. She grabbed a glass and poured herself some juice and looked over to her, "milk, juice, water, or coffee?"
"I'll just have some juice, please."
"Very well," Beca poured another glass of juice and sat next to Chloe and handed her the glass of juice, "m'lady."
Chloe chuckled and grabbed the glass, "thank you, madame. It smells great."
"Thanks."
"I should come over every morning."
"You should try the food before complimenting me."
Chloe rolled her eyes and took a bite of the food. A delighted moan came out of her mouth and she set her hand on top of Beca 's and squeezed it, "the food is amazing."
"Well I'm glad."
"Do you cook a lot?"
"I try to. My aunt cooks a lot, so I try to help her out as much as I can."
"Well you're a great cook."
"Dude, it's just bacon and eggs."
"I know, but I usually just have a granola bar and coffee."
"Well, if you want you can come over every now and then for breakfast, or I can bring you something in the mornings."
" No, Becs. That's really sweet, but I can't take advantage of you and your aunt. I'm more than capable of making my own food in the mornings."
"Okay. Well if you ever feel like coming over, the offer stands."
"You're so sweet, thank you."
" Of course."
After finishing their food, the two cleaned up their plates and gathered their things to leave.
"Do you have everything?"
"Uh, let me check," Beca ruffled through her bag, checking to make sure she had her suit and clothes for rehearsals. "Yep, I'm all good. You ready to go?"
"Yep."
"Awesome, let's go."
The two each grabbed a container of cupcakes and headed out of the door to school. The walk was filled with small talk, mostly about school, the bellas, and the upcoming tryouts.
"Are you nervous for tryouts next week?"
Beca shook her head, "not really, I feel like I got some pretty good skills. And I'm pretty athletic."
"Wow, who would have known," Chloe joked.
"Not like I do a shit ton of cardio for the Bellas or anything."
"Hey, all those laps will pay off."
"They better. What about you? Cheer tryouts are next week too, right?"
"Yeah, hopefully I'll be cheering you on at your games."
"Can't wait, Beale."
Chloe chuckled and sighed, "so are you coming to the party tonight?"
"I don't know, that's not really me scene."
"I know everyone was pressuring you at rehearsal the other day, but I think it would be really cool if you came."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I wanna know what Beca Mitchell is like at a party."
"Oh, I'm not that interesting, I usually just stay near the food."
"Well at least I know where to find you."
"Why do you want me to go?"
"Because it'll give me something to look forward to."
"Really?"
"Yeah, plus I'll get to meet your friend."
"Oh," Beca frowned as the warm feeling in her cheeks began to fade.
"Do you really know Spiderman?"
Beca nodded and grinned.
"Can I ask you a favor? You can totally say no."
"Sure."
"Can you get me in contact with her? I need to thank her for saving my life on multiple occasions."
"Cool, I can tell her that."
"No, well, uh. It's just that, uh."
"Everything okay?"
"Well the last time I ran into her, something happened, and I just I'm confused and kinda excited but I don't know what it all means."
"Care to clarify," Beca asked, doing her best to act as if she didn't know what the girl was talking about.
"I kissed her." Beca put on her best surprised look, but before she could respond, Chloe continued, "I know it's crazy. I couldn't help it. I thought she was so hot ever since I first met her. Then all of a sudden she saved me from some thugs, and I just got caught up in the moment."
"So what's the issue? Why not just keep the memory and move on."
"I don't know," the redhead shrugged and looked to Beca. "I just felt like there was something there. Maybe I'm crazy, but either way I feel like I need to apologize for kissing her. I mean she seemed totally into it, but maybe she was just being nice. And-"
Beca interrupted the girl's rambling and chuckled, "I will get you in contact with her, okay?"
"Thanks, Becs. And for the record, I think you're awesome with or without your spider friend. So you should totes come the party. It will be the highlight of my night."
In that moment, Beca was sure Chloe knew she was spiderman. She felt like she was talking about both her and spiderman in her last statement, and she couldn't help but wonder if that was her intention. But either way, Beca had made up her mind, "I'll be there, Chlo. And I'll talk to spiderman about dropping by."
"Awes, tonight is going to be the best night ever," Chloe beamed.
The girls made it to school early so they could put their cupcakes in the fridge in their classroom. They parted ways and Beca went to her locker to put her stuff away. So she went to work on an idea that had been in the back of her head. She has two suits, so she figured she could leave her first suit in school as a backup in case something were to happen to her current one. But she didn't want to leave it in her locker, so she wanted to figure out if she could make a small storage unit under her locker. She worked on the draft for a little bit before the students started arriving.
It was an easy day in school. Beca and Chloe did well on their project, and Jesse helped Beca with her storage plan. Aubrey held a short rehearsal so that she and Chloe could go prepare for the party. After rehearsal, Jesse met Beca afterwards and they managed to start on the storage plan. It was easier than Beca thought it would be, and they were able to get it done quickly. She decided to use the small space between the locker and the floor. The gap was covered by same metal that the lockers were made of, and she found out that she is able to lift the locker up to separate it from the bottom piece. She grinned at Jesse when they realized it would be much easier than they thought.
After they figured out the secret storage area, they went to Beca's house to get ready for the party. Jesse was sitting on her bed while she tried to figure out what to wear.
"What if there's an emergency? You'll need to be able to change pretty quick."
"What like the lizard man decides to crash a high school party?"
"Yes, and from now on let me deal with enemy names. How about just the Lizard."
"Whatever. Speaking of, any idea how you track a lizard?"
"I don't know," Jesse shrugged.
"Well I need to find him, he's dangerous."
"I don't know, Becs. That's pretty large dude, shouldn't the cops handle that?"
"Well yeah, but nothing says I can't help them."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, this thing is a serious threat to the city. It needs to be stopped, soon."
Jesse sighed, "well, we have a few hours, let's brainstorm some ideas."
"Sure, I give up on the outfit thing, I'll figure it out later."
After two hours the two came up with a small plan to capture the Lizard, but they still needed to figure out how to track it. Jesse thought that they could check the surrounding parks as there are some small sheds where the beast could be hiding out.
"What about sewers," Beca asked. "I mean Lizards are reptiles, wouldn't they want to be in a cool environment?"
"Maybe, I don't know. You could ask Dr. Connors."
Beca nodded, "yeah, I'll swing by there next week."
Beca and Jesse continued planning until May called them down for dinner. The two went downstairs and ate the homemade lasagna as well as talk about their day. Afterwards they helped May clean up before returning upstairs to get ready to leave.
"Alright we have thirty minutes, I'm gonna get dressed, so can you like…"
"Seriously? C'mon Bec."
"Please, Jesse. I know we are very comfortable with each other, but I'm still very self conscious."
Jesse nodded and grabbed his bag before going across the hall to the guest room. Beca sighed and went to her closet. She grabbed her suit and sighed. She looked over the design and thought about her conversation with Chloe in the morning. She grinned at the thought of the girl and put on her suit. Now she was scanning her closet for an outfit to put on over it. She decided on a pair of jeans, a red t shirt, and her black leather jacket. Once she had her outfit set, she walked across the hall and Jesse stood up and smiled, "you look great, ready to go?"
"Sure, what's up with the hat?"
"This is my party hat."
"Okay, some do we want to walk or ask my aunt for a ride."
"Can we just ask her for a ride?"
"Sure."
The duo walked down stairs to find her aunt reading a book. Hearing the footsteps coming down the stairs she looked up and smiled, "hey there, sweetie."
"Hey aunt May, I was wondering if you could give us a ride to the party tonight at Aubrey's."
"Will there be drinking or drugs?"
"I doubt it, Aubrey is pretty strict."
"Alright then, are you guys ready to go?"
The two nodded and May stood up and grabbed her purse and keys, "cool, then let's go."
Beca texted Chloe for the address and they were on their way to the party. When they pulled up, her aunt put the car in park and sighed, "house party in the suburbs. Yeah, I remember these. I'm kind of jealous."
"It's gonna be a night to remember," Jesse said from the back seat.
May turned around and looked at him, "you know Jess, some hats wear men, you wear that hat."
"Yeah, it gives me confidence."
Beca had been thinking about all of the worst case scenarios that could happen tonight, and was freaking out. She looked at the house and panicked, "this was a mistake. We should just go home. Jesse I'll even watch a movie with you."
"As tempting as that is, you are not skipping out on this."
"Oh, Bec. I know its hard. All the changes going on, and trying to fit in with all of the things your body is going through."
Beca chuckled and shook her head, "thanks."
May looked to Jesse, "she has been so stressed out lately."
"Well you know why helps with stress, Bec? A party. Come on, let's go."
"Yeah," Beca nodded. "Yeah, let's do it. I'm gonna go," she said getting out of the car.
"Alright that's what I'm talking about," Jese cheered while getting out.
"Beca, have fun, alright?"
Beca nodded and smiled.
"Okay, call me if you need anything."
"I will."
May nodded and drove off, "bye, May," Jesse waved. "This is awesome." The two walked up the steps into the house and Jesse tapped her in the stomach, "wait did you bring the suit?" Beca lifted up her jacket sleeve, revealing the bottom of the suit and Jesse nodded, "sweet. This is gonna change our lives."
"Yeah," Beca nodded.
Jesse checked to make sure no one was around and moved in closer to Beca, wrapping his arm around her, "so, Spiderman will swing in, say you guys are tight, then I'll get a fist bump or a bro hug."
Fat Amy walked up to them and rolled her eyes, "can't believe you guys are at this lame ass party."
"You're here too."
"Am I though?"
Beca chuckled, "c'mon I'm sure it'll be better when all the Bellas get here."
"Correction, it'd be better if general Posen weren't the hostess."
Beca laughed along with Amy while Jesse did his best to defend the blonde. Amy walked off, and Beca and Jesse got some sodas. They made their way to living room where they were greeted by Chloe, "oh my gosh, hey guys! Nice hat, Jesse."
"Hey, Chloe."
"We have pizza too, you know. Becs, I even ordered your favorite in hopes that you'd show up."
"Thanks. Great party by the way."
"Thanks, we did our best."
Suddenly there was a crash and Chloe looked up, "oh, I gotta go, Aubrey will kill me if I'm not making sure nothing gets broken."
"Wow, does the General ever relax."
Chloe chuckled, "well this is a big step for her."
Beca nodded and there was another crash, and Chloe apologized before leaving the two to check on the rest of the guests. Beca watched her in awe when she walked away, and was brought back to reality when Jesse hit her arm, "dude, what are you doing? She's here, spider it up!"
"Dude, no, I can't. Spiderman is not a party trick."
"What?"
"Look I'm just gonna be myself."
"Beca, nobody wants that."
"Dude," Beca said offended.
Jesse was about to respond when Aubrey and some of her friends interrupted her. Beca recognized two other faces, Stacie and Chloe, "can I help you, Aubrey?"
"What's up, hobbit?"
"Nothing?"
"Hey, where's your pal, Spiderman?"
"Uh," Beca looked over to Chloe who looked back at Beca with an apologetic look.
"That's not spiderman, that's just Jesse in a red shirt," Aubrey teased. Her friends laughed at the comment and Jesse did his best to stand up for Beca. Beca angrily rushed away from the situation, ignoring Chloe calling after her. She ran outside to the side of the house and climbed up the side onto the roof. She pulled her mask out from the inside pocket of her jacket and placed in front of her. She took off her pants and jacket and began practicing her lines for her appearance at the party.
"Hey what's up everyone, I'm spiderman. Just thought I'd swing by and say hello to my buddy, Beca," she exclaimed as she took her t-shirt off. "Oh hey, what's up Jesse? Hey, where's Beca anyways? She's gotta be around here somewhere." She heard Chloe call her name outside, and she crouched down, out of sight. "God this is stupid. What am I doing?"
"Leave me alone Tom."
Beca looked over at the sound and saw Chloe and her ex-boyfriend talking, "what the hell?"
"Come on babe, I know you wanna kiss me. Don't you miss this?"
"No. Now please leave. You weren't invited, and stop calling me babe. We broke up like a year ago."
"Well I want you back."
"And I don't. Goodbye, Tom," she said as she turned around to go back inside.
Suddenly she was turned around by the boy, "hey, don't walk away from me, I'm not done talking."
"Tom, what the hell, let me go!"
Chloe was the last person Beca wanted to see right now, but she couldn't watch anymore, she put the mask on and swooped down, startling the two. She landed in between the two so that she could pose as a buffer for Chloe, "I believe the lady said to leave her alone, buddy."
"Whatever, man. Who the hell are you?"
Beca turned to look at Chloe, "no one seems to understand the concept of the mask." Chloe chuckled and Tom lunged towards Beca to punch her. Thanks to her spider reflexes, she dodged the hit and grabbed his arm, "hey man, I'm not looking for a fight. Just leave her alone, alright?"
"What are you gonna do about it?"
"Look. I get it. You want her back. She doesn't want tk get back together. I understand what it's like to like someone who doesn't like you, believe me. But do you really want to be known as the asshole ex? Just let it go, and maybe one day you guys can be friends."
Tom clenched his jaw and looked at Chloe, "is that what you want?"
Chloe nodded, "I'm sorry, Tom."
Tom huffed, "fuck this, man." He stormed off into the street and left the two alone.
"Thanks," Chloe said with a smile.
"No problem. I actually heard from Beca that you wanted to talk to me?"
"Yeah."
The noise from the party got louder and Beca sighed, "do you want to get out of here? I know I place where we can talk."
"Sure."
Beca shot a web to Chloe and pulled her in close to her, "you might want to hold on then."
Chloe squealed at the motion and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, "okay."
Beca shot another web out around the lamp post and held on to Chloe before leaping off into the air. It was difficult but she swung the two out of the neighborhood and back into the city. Chloe was amazed by the feeling swinging through the air, but she always got nervous when the hero let go of one web amd launched another. Beca felt the girl's grip tighten everytime she would shoot out another web and she felt bad that she loved the feeling of it so much. She took them to chrysler building and Beca landed them near one of the eagle gargoyles.
She carefully set Chloe down and the girl let out a big breath she didn't know she was holding, "holy crap!"
"It's pretty fun right?"
"It's definitely an adrenaline rush."
"Yeah it's my favorite mode of transportation."
"I can see why."
"You didn't get any bugs in your mouth did you? Next time I'll bring another mask or something."
Chloe chuckled, "no I'm all clean."
"Good."
There was an awkward pause before they both tried to talk at the same time, "you first," Chloe said shyly.
"No, no, by all means, ladies first."
"Okay, well I don't really know where to begin."
"Okay, well is something or someone bothering you? I'm not really like a paid assassin, and I don't believe in killing people, but I can find someone and intimidate them."
"No, oh gosh, that's so sweet of you. But no, it's not an issue like that. I uh, I just wanted to say thanks."
"Oh, well then, you're welcome. Did you need anything else? I feel kind of silly for bringing you all the way over here for that."
"No, um I uh, wow I don't think I've ever been this nervous. Uh I wanted to apologize for kissing you."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah I should've asked."
"I mean you did. You asked if you could thank me. I'll admit, it took me a bit by surprise, but it was nice."
"Oh thank god."
"Is that all?"
"Can I say something stupid?"
"I'm sure nothing you have to say is stupid, but yes."
"I like you. And I like kissing you. Is that crazy?"
Beca grinned under her mask, "no, it's not."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but-"
"But you're in love with someone else? Someone you can't be with?"
Beca sighed, "it's complicated."
"I like complicated."
"She and I are good friends at school and stuff. And I would totally ask her out, but her best friend...Let's just say she's not a fan of me. And then the girl, I just don't want to bring her into all of this. Especially with the Lizard tearing through the city."
Chloe nodded, "well I hope everything works out."
"Me too."
"So where does this leave us?"
"I mean you don't even know the real me. What is the usual first step?"
"I could get to know the real you."
"I don't think you'd like the real me," Beca said shaking her head.
"I'm pretty sure I would. You're friends with Beca, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I can tell you two have a lot in common, I mean you're practically the same person," Chloe joked.
Beca laughed awkwardly, and was glad the mask hid her expression, "yeah. You have no idea."
"So I think I'd get along pretty well with you."
"Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Grab on," Beca sent a web out to the nearest building.
"Ending the trip already?"
"Yeah, I don't think you realized it, but we have been up here for an hour."
"Oh crap, Aubrey is going to kill me."
Beca chuckled and extended her arm. Chloe quickly wrapped her arms back around the girl and cuddled into her side, humming as the hero wrapped her arm around her to.get a good grip. Before Chloe could realize it, they were swinging back to the party. This time it felt more relaxing and she made a mental note of how good it was to be held by the vigilante. She took in a deep breath to smell the girl's suit, it was a mix of city smell, detergent, and deodorant. She also took note of the muscles that were flexed against her, firm but soft and comforting, and they made her feel safe. Chloe frowned when she saw they were approaching the house, and Beca quickly set her down on the side of the house.
"There you go. I hope you enjoy the rest of your night."
Beca was prepared to go back up to the roof to change when Chloe stopped her, "wait. Will I see you again?"
"Sooner than you think, Red."
Beca shot a web out to the roof and was about to leap forward when Chloe grabbed her arm, "can I at least get a goodbye kiss?"
Beca sighed and nodded. Chloe began to lift up her mask, struggling a little more than she did the first time. Beca helped Chloe by pulling up her mask a little more. Once she could feel the cool air on her lips, she pulled her lips up into a grin. Chloe smiled in response and moved impossibly closer to the girl, and moved them so that the hero's back was now against the wall. Chloe hummed as she brought their faces closer together. Unable to wait any longer, Beca brought her hands up around the base of Chloe's neck and quickly brought their lips together. They shared a quick, but passionate kiss that soon turned into a longer, heavy kiss. They were stopped by a loud crash inside of the house that startled them.
Beca sighed and leaned against the wall, her lips red and a little swollen, "wow."
"That was a pretty intense kiss for someone who doesn't want to be with me."
Beca put her mask on and shook her head, "I never said that."
"Well then how about we try being friends?"
"I'd like that."
"So if I want to hang out, how do I get in touch with you?"
"Don't worry about that, I have my ways."
"Which are?"
"I can't tell you that, then you'd surely know who I am."
"Would that be so bad?"
Beca chuckled and shot a web up to the roof, "until next time, Chloe." And those were the last words she said before zipping back up to the roof to change.
Chloe went back inside and grabbed a drink, hoping to blend back in, she walked around and talked with some of the Bellas before Aubrey found her, "where the hell have you been, Chloe? I've been looking everywhere."
Chloe sighed and remembered how Aubrey had treated Beca before she left, "I was looking for Beca, have you seen her?"
"Last I saw her was when she ran off, why do you care anyways?"
"Because what you did was mean, she's a Bella, we are a family. And she's my lab partner."
Aubrey rolled her eyes and sighed, "whatever, I guess you can check with her friend."
Chloe nodded and walked over to Jesse and tapped on his shoulder, "hey, have you seen Beca? I need to talk to her."
Jesse shook his head, "sorry, no. And after the way you treated her, I wouldn't let you speak to her."
"I know I should have stopped Aubrey, I didn't think she was going to be like that. But that's why I need to speak to Beca, to apologize."
Beca had managed to change and was upstairs eavesdropping on Chloe and Jesse's conversation. She sighed and decided this was the best time to rejoin the party, so she walked down the staircase and walked up next to her friend, "sorry about that Jess, are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Wait, Beca," Chloe grabbed her arm and was a little shocked by the amount of muscle the brunette had. "Can we talk?"
"There's nothing to talk about." Beca continues walking to the door, and Chloe continued to follow.
"Please, Beca. Just five minutes."
Beca sighed and shook her head, "I'm really not in the mood, I'm exhausted. Maybe another time, Chloe."
Chloe wouldn't take no for an answer, she couldn't deal with her partner being mad at her, "please, I won't be able to sleep knowing you hate me."
"I never said that," Beca said. "I'll text you later. Bye, Chloe."
Chloe frowned as she watched the girl leave, and she went back inside to grab her things, "hey, Bree I'm gonna head out. I'm really tired and I just want to sleep."
Aubrey nodded, "okay, text me later?"
Chloe nodded and gave her friend a hug before leaving.
Beca and Jesse were back in her room and Jesse looked at Beca, "dude where did you go? I thought you were gonna spider it up!"
"I was, Jess. I'm sorry. I was with Chloe."
"Really? Then why didn't you want to talk to her back there?"
"Because we hung out for like an hour, and I was worried I would say too much and reveal myself as spiderman."
"Would that have been so bad?"
"Maybe, I don't know. I just don't want to bring her into all of this right now."
"Are you going to tell her eventually?"
"Maybe."
Chloe was back at her house sitting in bed going over the events of the night. She really enjoyed her time with Spiderman, but she couldn't help but feel as if she recognized the hero. Then she thought about Beca and how she hurt her friend. And though she had yet to admit it to herself, part of her knew the only reason she was so infatuated with Spiderman was because the vigilante reminded her of her lab partner.
A/N: Well, this was a long chapter to make up for the ungodly long wait. Apologies again, everyone. College is kicking my ass once again, and I have been doing my best to write bits and pieces to each of my stories while also working and doing homework. So hopefully I can finish up some other chapters as well. I know this is probably annoying as I don't update very frequently, but I am truly trying to do my best to not take exceedingly long. Or at least providing you all with decent quality content when I do update. I am trying to do better, but when I am on winter, spring, and summer breaks is usually when I have more free time to write and update more often. Anyways, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks again and as usual RR much appreciated (: