Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm so sorry this took so long to upload. I've been under a ton of stress lately. I made it extra long to make up for it, but it may not be as good as previous chapters. Enjoy!

Parker and I spend the next week together. Slowly, but surely, our friendship came back, but I was beginning to want more. The notes I left in his locker were sincere and kind. We went out for coffee every other day, and the media didn't suspect a thing. For the first time since, well, ever, my life wasn't a complete mess. Despite my complaints, however, Pete took the suit out every day. He cut patrol down to two hours a day to focus on school, but it was still too much work. His late assignments were piling up. I was constantly offering to help, but I got the same reply each time like I was getting today.

"I'm not cheating, Kate. I need to do this on my own."

"Why? What do you need to prove? It's high school, Spidey; it's more important that you bring the grades up. I know you know the material," I argued.

He scoffed at me and turned his head. I saw his eyes linger over the suit. I was desperate to intervene, but I was this close to losing him. I didn't want to take any chances, so I let him be. I let him put himself in harm's way, even though it was slowly killing me too.

-o-

We walked into the school together, holding hands. I squeezed his affectionately, and to my pleasant surprise, I received a small squeeze in return. It was coming. Slowly. I couldn't wait, though, so I voiced my concern as we sat in the cafe.

"Are we coming back? Or is it just me? 'Cus I really don't want to make that announcement on Saturday," I said, breaking the silence.

He looked at me, shocked, before pulling me into an empty nearby hallway. "Uh, Kate…" he began.

"Oh. Just me. I guess I'll just go."

"No. Not just you. But can we talk about this later?" he begged. I knew Peter was never good with words. Kind of like my Dad.

"Just, the kisses mean something now, right?"

"Of course. They always did, even when I was mad. I said a break," Pete said. I laughed.

"You're crazy, you know that, Parker?" I said between giggles. We went back inside, our hands holding each other just a little bit tighter. I had my Peter back. Honestly, I wouldn't have traded it for the world. The fight brought us closer, made my spider more careful, and led us each to an understanding. I texted Mom the good news, and she canceled all her press plans. The rest of school flew by me, and I was on Cloud 9 the rest of the day. Until lunch, that is.

-o-

"You got a problem with me, Penis?!"

It was the first thing I heard when I walked in. MJ was right behind me, and she looked just as shocked to see this. Flash hadn't been teasing Peter ever since I threatened him. But I quickly found out what was going on.

"If you have a problem with Kate, then hell yeah, I've got a problem with you," Peter's voice rang out. I had only seen him this mad once, and that was when I suggested we tell May about his powers. He really loved her. I looked at Flash to see his response, as did everyone around me. They were making quite a scene, but the teachers hadn't intervened. Yet.

As I looked at Flash, I saw him throw the first punch. I got ready to step in because I knew Peter never fought back. The next thing I saw, however, was another punch, aimed at Flash. Peter punched him. HARD. I saw Flash bounce back and grab his chin. Tears were beading in his eyes after one hit. Pete was barely controlling himself. That was, of course, when the teachers stepped in. They held Flash back as he flung himself toward Peter with newly found rage.

"Screw you, you gold digger! At least you're someone low enough for her to date!" Flash yelled, spitting at me when he mentioned me.

Peter was also being taken to the principal by the teachers, and he let them, but not before yelling something in reply. Something I'd never heard him say before. To be honest, I never thought he would say it.

"Shut up! Don't ever talk about Kate that way! I love her!" he screamed.

I gasped. MJ hugged me and pulled me away from the scene. "Come on, K."

"He loves me…" I said, fresh tears in my eyes. But I snapped out of it quickly. "He didn't hold back!" I exclaimed suddenly, causing MJ to jump.

"You don't think," she started.

"Surely no one will find out," I continued.

"They couldn't," she finished simply.

"God, I hope so."

-o-

Next period, I was called down to the office. On my way in, I was met with a concerned Mom, a mad May, and a very upset Mrs. Thompson. No Flash or Peter in sight. I sat down, looking at the ground and imitating my best 'kicked-puppy' look.

The principal came in and sat down, then gestured for the parents to do the same. "Kate, this is the second time we've had to bring you in here this year. Before, you had a completely clean record, with perfect behavior. What happened? We're all worried about you," he said. At least it wasn't the AP again, I thought, and I visibly relaxed. Until I saw my dad. He walked in, apologized for being late, and glared at me. He looked ready to kill. I shrunk in my seat.

"Could you tell us what happened?" The principal asked. I gulped and sat up.

"Uh, well, I walked into the cafeteria to hear Flash yelling at Peter, asking if he had a problem with him. Then Peter replied that if Flash had a problem with me, then he had a problem with him. And then Flash, umm, Flash punched him," I said, trying to cover the cries in my voice. "So, Peter, well, Flash has punched him before, but he's never punched him back. Today, I guess, was the last straw, so Peter punched him back really hard." I looked at Dad pointedly there. He gave me a worried glance. "Then the teachers intervened, and I left."

"We heard from our lunch staff that more was said after the teachers got involved. Care to elaborate?" The principal questioned, looking at me like I was lying.

"Oh, well, basically Flash said that Peter was a gold digger and had sunk really low, but that made him right for me because I was awful. Then Peter said, 'Screw you' and 'I love her' and yeah." I rushed through that last part, but Mom still noticed and perked up a bit.

My dad looked at the principal, not me, and asked if he could talk to me. Everyone left as he was given permission, but he pulled Mom back in. He then turned to me. "Kate. I don't even know where to begin. You got back together with Parker after he hurt you, then he says he loves you? For crying out loud, I can't keep up. This is the SECOND time in this office. There shouldn't have been a first time. I'd say it's past punishment time," he said.

I didn't know how to reply, but luckily Mom did. "Honey, we punished her last time, and I think it's fair to say that this wasn't her fault. She wasn't even involved. And as to why she and Peter are back together, we can have that discussion when there isn't as much tension."

Dad could never tell Mom no, so he shut up and just glared at me. She held my shoulders and forced me to look at her. "Hey, this s a mom thing, not a PR manager or CEO thing. So, lay it on me. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. No one attacked me. Is Peter alright?" I asked worriedly.

Dad interrupted. "Peter is fine, but Flash will have a lasting bruise."

I winced at his cold tone. Everyone came back in, and Mrs. Thompson looked very mad at me. She didn't say anything, but I knew she didn't care for the Starks much. Flash had an iPhone, never a StarkPhone. The principal told my parents that he didn't find me at fault, then began to address May and Mrs. Thompson. He told us to leave, and I started to head back to class, but my mom pulled me back. "None of that," she whispered, "You should come home. I'll email your teachers."

We got ice cream, then drove the rest of the way home. When we got there, May texted my dad.

Peter was told to go home. Can we come over and talk? It read. My favorite thing about Friday was her lack of privacy. Jarvis would keep things from us, but ever since Steve and Dad's fight, she told everyone everything. It seemed to calm Dad, in a way. He replied openly in front of us.

Fine. But if you haven't yelled at Parker, I will. About two years ago, May would have never asked to come over, but she was finally realizing what Dad meant to Peter- and what I did. Now they worked together to keep Pete safe. It was adorable, really. I shifted impatiently as I waited for him to show up. Eventually, they came in, and Peter looked awful. Sure, his bruises were already healing, but his hair had been pulled at, his tired lines were pronounced, and he looked super guilty. I wanted to run to him, but May looked mad, so I decided not to.

"So," May said, breaking the silence as Mom brought in some snacks.

"Let's sit down," Dad suggested. They gave each other that Parent™ look. I gazed at Peter, and we locked eyes. I mouthed I love you too to him, and he beamed. We sat on the couch and turned the tv on, checking the news. Unfortunately, we were on there. I had really thought they'd keep this a secret, but of course, the press found out.

"Hello, and welcome back to New York Nightly News. I'm your host, Davey Moore, and wow, do we have some celebrity gossip today. First up, our biggest tea to spill. The genius Katelyn Stark and her recent public boyfriend Peter Parker were in a fight at school today! A boy in their grade, who wishes to remain unnamed, was punched by Peter after talking about Kate. We're glad to know he's protective, but he seems really aggressive! Kids at his school were shocked by his outburst. The boy has a pretty banged up lip, but from this photo just an hour ago, you can see that Peter has hardly any injuries! Is this why Katelyn was keeping their relationship a secret? Is she ashamed? Will the couple last, or is this the final straw? We'll have more on the story later, but next up, we have something on the Kardashians."

I shook my head. This was bad. Really bad.

"I'm sorry, love," Peter said. It was the first thing he'd said to me since the cafeteria.

I looked at him, surprised. "It's fine! You know I don't blame you for what happened. But what did happen? I only heard the second half…" I trailed off, looking to Dad for permission. He nodded, looking curious himself.

"Well, he started telling everyone that he was way smarter than you, then passed around a petition to remove you from Midtown. You know, since it's private, they let people do that. I told him to cut it out and that you were amazing. So, then he called me a gold digger and pointed to me and said, 'If this is what Kate finds attractive, then she obviously isn't smart enough to go here'. His friends started booing and laughing, so I yelled 'Hey!' at him, then you heard the rest," Peter said. I stopped. Obviously, as a Stark, I knew people that had hated me before, but I had never heard someone say such bad things about me in particular. I vowed never to let Flash talk bad about Peter again because damn, it hurt. Tears pricked in my eyes, and I felt protective hands grab my shoulders. Dad.

"Well then, it's settled," he said, like 'it' was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?" I asked between sniffles.

"Duh. I get this Flash kid expelled."

"No! Don't do that! He doesn't deserve that," Peter cried.

"Heck yeah he does, Peter. Don't tell me what to do," Dad said his jaw set with fury. I saw Mom move to comfort him, but he pulled away. "Friday, I'm sure this is more than enough evidence to send to the board?" he asked.

Friday pulled up a video of the fight Peter was just telling us about. "You have a camera on my kid, Stark?" May asked, upset.

"For safety measures. Look, it's helping," Dad said as Friday told him it would work. He sent it to the board- along with a wad of cash- to be approved, and then he turned on a movie. We ate snacks and tried to forget about the Flash thing, but I knew Peter was upset. Poor Flash. He was going to have a hard time now that Tony Stark got him kicked out of a high preparatory school. I almost felt bad for the guy. Almost.