Endless nights, we were infinite.

Summer's end would mean the death of us.

VIII.

As promised, Elly and Peter never talked about the impending end of their relationship. Instead, they did their best to fulfill a makeshift bucket list to count down the days until Elly's birthday. Each day, internship or not, was filled with a brand new adventure. They were such simple things like a movie marathon for an entire twenty four hours or going to the beach or a concert. Elly's birthday was the following day, her first week of college was on Monday, and every second that they spent together was not enough. Both of them were afraid of the conversation that needed to happen, but Peter refused to let it ruin the dinner plans he made for her tonight. Even so, he couldn't stop fidgeting with the watch on his left wrist as he waited for Elly, Tony, and much to his surprise, Pepper at the table. According to Elly, she had finally gathered the courage to call her mother and convince her to come back to the Tower in small doses.

Pepper and Tony finally had talked things out, agreeing that being together was what their little family needed, and that had helped Elly substantially. Even with such great things happening with her family and her happiness, Peter felt it almost wasn't his place to be included as a contribution. Because even as wonderful as the last three months had been, they both knew it would all end with the summer. May noticed how much he was fussing around with whatever he could get his hands on, causing concern in her to arise. "Peter, everything okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." He mumbled, not making eye contact with her.

"You don't fool me, you know." Peter groaned internally, knowing his aunt wouldn't let up. Either that, or his anxiety was gnawing at him so much that he wanted to believe his aunt was going to pressure him into talking about it.

"I-I'm not ready for today to be over. Because after this, her internship is over and Elly and I are going to over a-and that scares me. I have spent seventy two days with Elly from sunrise to sunset and I don't know what I'm going to do after today. She's become such a normal part of my day to day life that I-I don't know if I can go back to being normal after this." Before he had realized it, he was crying. He wanted to say so much more, but words were failing at conveying how he really felt. May looked at her nephew, sympathetic of his breaking heart.

"Peter, it doesn't matter how many days it has been. It's, um..." May paused, treading cautiously with her next words. "It's dangerous, to create homes out of people—to feel like you are only your best self when you are with that person. I know that better than anyone. Because when they're gone, it will always feel like you're homesick." A single tear slid down May's cheek as well, her late husband's face flashing through her memories. On the one hand, she was glad she was able to share her expertise on the subject. On the other, she had almost wished Peter never had to feel as homesick as she did. "But I will tell you one thing. In my experience, it's impossible to not create homes out of the people you love." The 'L word' hit Peter hard, his eyes wide open as he gawked at May. But he didn't rebuttal because he knew she was right.

Seventy two days, not including the week he had spent in Germany apart of from her, was all it took for Peter to fall in love with Elly. Seventy two days of her smile, her laugh, her smarts, her wit, her composure, her presence, and her vulnerability. He was homesick already.

The Stark family finally arrived, each of them dressed to the nines. Elly was glowing and all smiles as she greeted May and gave Peter a brief peck on the lips that ended all too quickly. All five of them were gathered at the round table, with Peter on Elly's left hand side and her dad to her right. Joyous giggles filled their group as she talked about how excited she was to start her classes at Empire State University. Her enthusiasm simultaneously filled Peter with both dread and pride. Throughout the night, May was playing double agent. She was trying to show support to Elly in her journey into college, but also kept a close eye on Peter to make sure his heart didn't shatter.

As dessert arrived, Peter felt his internal clock ticking down the minutes and he hated every second of it. Still, his facade never slipped as he celebrated his soon to be ex-girlfriend's blowing of her birthday candles. The evening was coming to a close, and to prolong it by just mere minutes, Peter excused himself to the washroom to gather his thoughts before everyone went their separate ways. Nobody thought anything of it, and nobody thought anything of it when Tony excused himself as well short after. Upon entering the mens room, he saw Peter splashing water on his face, taking note of his swollen eyes. "You got a second, kid?"

"Uh, yeah." Peter tried to sound put together in front of his boss, making his voice just a bit deeper. But, judging by the unsettled look on Tony's face, he wasn't succeeding.

"I just want to say you have made my daughter so incredibly happy this past summer. But you know what's coming, and I need to get something off my chest." Subconsciously, he tapped on his arc reactor. "Don't ever stop choosing Elly."

"W-what?"

"You heard me. I had to break my own kid's heart after we got back from Germany and tell her her own uncle chose an old friend over family—over her. I know you guys have to do this because of age of consent and all, but don't ever stop choosing her."

"M-Mr. Stark? I-I don't...I don't understand." Tony sighed, unsure of how to phrase his words to properly convey the message he wanted to give.

"Things are going to be mess, kid. And it's going to be really hard for a while. But if you love my daughter like she loves you, choose to make decisions with her well-being in mind, even after tonight." With that, Tony exited the restroom, leaving Peter awestruck. He would be lying if he said he completely understood his boss' words. But he didn't question it and, instead, focused on keeping those words close to his soul. Don't ever stop choosing her.

Peter had felt his heart grow heavier as he returned to the table. Pepper and Tony were giving Elly elegantly wrapped gift boxes, which she gladly opened. May put a hand on Peter's shoulder as they watched—instantly noticing his ashen face. "She will love it." May whispered in encouragement. In response, he grabbed her hand with one his and squeezed it. If it weren't for aunt May today, or any other day really, he wasn't sure would be able to handle this situation. Pepper and Tony had given Elly a short diamond necklace paired with a black velvet choker with matching diamond studs. Though small and simple, the gesture made Peter's gift feel insignificant. But he did what he could to not let that thought bother him. His gift had sentimental value and he knew Elly well enough to know she would appreciate it.

Dinner had officially come to a close and each person had went their separate ways, save for Peter and Elly. "Hey, can we take a drive to the pier?" He asked after their families were nowhere in sight. Elly raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Usually, I'm the one asking you that, but sure thing." It was quiet as they got into her car and while Elly knew something was wrong, she couldn't bring herself to ask him what. As they started driving, the radio playing different songs that rang somber and neither of them could tell if A.A.R.O.N had been doing so intentionally. Elly's hand strayed from the steering wheel to hold his as an offering of comfort. Still, they say in silence until they arrived at the pier where they had their first kiss. "Okay, what's wrong, Peter?" She finally asked. He let go of her hand and turned to face his girlfriend while shuffling around in his pocket. He pulled out a tiny navy blue velvet box.

"I-I didn't get you anything super amazing for your birthday, but I think it's time we finally have our talk." Nerves that Elly had long forgotten filled her gut. With both hands, he peeled open the velvet box, revealing a thin rose gold ring with a small pearl set in the center. It looked incredibly delicate—something to reflect the current state of their relationship.

"O-okay." She hesitated.

"Elly, we have spent exactly seventy nine days in a relationship a-and they have been the most incredible seventy nine days. But knowing the world knows who your dad is, I-I don't want any trouble to ever come to you in the event that the public discovered I'm not the legal age of consent yet." Elly nodded very slowly, taking in his words. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she feared for the same. She was afraid of people finding out who she was and finding any spec of dirt to some form of revenge against her dad. She couldn't do that to him. "But I wanted to give you this." He says finally, holding her left hand with his right, the ring in his other.

"I-it's beautiful, Peter." Elly says in a hushed mumble as he slides the small ring on.

"I wanted to make a promise to you. I promise I will always protect you and be here for you. And the second I turn seventeen, I will come running back."

"R-really?" After placing the promise ring onto her finger, Peter cupped her cheek gingerly before pulling her into a deep kiss. It was delicate and fragile and full of the goodbyes that he didn't want to say.

"I don't want this to be the end, Elly. I really don't."

"I don't either." Peter rested his forehead onto hers with his eyes scrunched his eyes close. Slowly, they opened to stare longingly into her blue eyes. He didn't want to do this; he wasn't ready. How was Peter supposed to come home everyday, knowing that he didn't spend the entirety of his day surrounded by her warmth and support of him getting stronger? Elly was mirroring every emotion that was running through his head as tears spilled along her cheeks. While moving onto college was well and exciting, what was she supposed to come home to without him there? With trembling lips, she pulled him in for what she hoped wasn't their last kiss. Tiny gasps of air broke their lip lock as she sobbed, but neither of them dared to move away. They needed every millisecond of this last moment.

Elly threaded shaky fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, desperate to hang onto him. Their tongues laced with each other, pouring their passion into one another. Neither of them wanted to pull away, but before they said their goodbyes, she needed to tell him. "Peter, I-I love you." She sniffled, wiping away her tears before holding his hands. The glint of the pearl on her ring finger caught the light of the pier.

"I love you, Madelyn Joyce Stark." He took a leap of faith, saying those three little words he never dared to say before. But he needed to say it—he needed her to know. "In ten months, when we can finally be together again, I will come running home to you. I promise."

Two months had passed since Elly's eighteenth birthday and her and Peter had hardly spoken. College was okay, but she felt herself overwhelmed with seventeen semester hours, trying to social while commuting to school daily, and had the fortunately unfortunate task of creating a new suit for Peter per the request of her dad. She had made one friend so far in university—a spunky boy whom was also a freshman by the name of Scott Price. His relaxed attitude that accompanied both of their high stress responses to their workdload had made the two of them get along exceptionally well. He was the only comfort she had since Peter had kept their contact to minimum. Pete always said he was working on a project with Ned or out on his internship, which she knew was true since she had seen local papers of the mysterious Spider-Man. Elly had also found out from her dad about Peter's entire encounter with Vulture. That conversation ended up leading to the heartbreaking information of finding out that Peter was briefly dating now senior and Vulture's daughter, Liz Toomes, before she ended up moving to the other end of the country. Elly remembered Liz. She was beautiful and smart and popular and it was no wonder Peter fell for her. That never stopped betrayal from poisoning Elly's heart.

At the moment, Elly and Scott were sitting at a coffee shop on campus working on their chemistry assignment. They were griping over getting different answers despite using the same formula, or rather Elly was essentially tutoring him. After they both arrived to the correct answer, Elly's phone rang her usual tone of Alt-J's 'Left Hand Free'. Her mom's name flashed on the screen. "Hey mom, what's up?"

"Hey, honey. What time are you going to be home tonight? Your dad and I are calling a press conference."

"Oh, I can be home as soon as you need me to. What's the press conference for?"

"Your dad is introducing Peter as the world's newest avenger." Elly went quiet as her heart throbbed in envy.

"Understood, mom." She responded quietly before cutting off the call as to prevent her emotions from getting loose. Her best friend took an immediate notice.

"Everything okay?" The tall brunette asked.

"Y-yeah, I just have to get home for some important meeting." She lied. This time around, the administration knew of who Madelyn was, but the student body was still completely oblivious and Scott was no exception to that. "I'll see you tomorrow in chem?"

"For sure, get home safe!" Scott was all smiles, and it put Elly at temporary ease. She got into her car and headed straight home to the brand new, relocated Avenger's Tower in upstate New York, trying to focus on controlling her fidgeting instead of focusing on her nerves. It was the first time she would be seeing Peter since their break up and their lack of communication made her anxious. As soon as she got home, Elly went straight to her room to get ready for the press conference. Granted, she always sat in the front row and never went on stage. On rare occasions, she would do damage control and fake being a reporter but she was hoping she could stay far away from that tonight.

After doing her make up and pulling half of her wavy brown hair up, Elly dressed in a black halter skater dress with an open back and white pumps. She needed to slay the press conference today, if only for herself. She took the elevator up towards the floor the third to the top—a floor that was mostly used for meetings. "Oh, there you are, honey!" Pepper called out, clipboard in hand, as she went to hug her daughter.

"Hey, mom. Where's dad?"

"He is—"

"Right here!" Tony called out, walking up to the ladies of his life with arms wide open. He gave his daughter a peck on her temple before giving Pepper a kiss to her lips. It made Elly happy to see her parents getting along again, but it was only enough to temporarily distract her. "Stark family, ready to rock?" Pepper gave a laugh before heading back to the conference room, Elly in tow. More footsteps came thudding through the hall and Elly knew it had to be Peter. "Oh, there they are!" She heard her dad say, causing her to walk with more ferocity. But he saw her. Only a glimpse, but he saw her. He wanted to chase after her, but Tony stopped him by repeatedly patting his shoulder before wrapping an arm around him. He apologized for taking away the original Spider-Man suit or something or other, but Peter would be lying if he said he was listening.

"Mr. Stark, I really—"

"You screwed the pooch, hard, on this one, but then you did the right thing." For some reason, Peter felt that Tony wasn't just talking about taking away the suit anymore. After a couple poor analogies, he turned Peter slightly to face him more as they continued to walk towards the conference room. "I was wrong about you. I think with a little mentoring, you could be a real asset to the team." With a couple more pats to his shoulder, Tony's way of showing his daughter's ex affection, he let the teenager go before opening the door to the conference room. As much as Tony refused to admit it, he had grown fond of the spider-ling over time.

"T-to the team?"

"Yeah, there's about fifty reporters behind that door; real ones, not bloggers." Tony said, clicking a few buttons on his watch, opening up a fake wall. "When you're ready, why don't you try that on? And I an officially introduce the world to the newest Avenger: Spider-Man" Peter's eyes nearly fell out of his as he laid his eyes on a brand new Spider-Man suit. He began laughing nervously, mostly due to shock. It was stunning, he couldn't stop staring—and he knew. He knew Elly had made it. He wasn't sure how, but the intricate detailing, the shade of navy in the fabric had Madelyn Joyce Stark written all over it.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. But I'm-I'm good."

"You're...good? What do you mean, 'you're good'?"

"I-I-I mean would rather just stay on the ground, for a little while. You know, friendly, neighborhood, Spider-Man. Somebody's got to look out for the little guy."

"You turning me down?" Tony asked in disbelief, taking off his signature sunglasses. "Think about this. Look at that, look at the hard work Elly put into that suit, for you, kid. Last chance, yes or no?"

"No." Peter replied all too quickly. At that moment, Tony couldn't decide if he was proud of the kid or wanted to punch him in the face. His daughter had slaved over her newest creation, and he was denying her. He decided to go with the former and sucked in a breath.

"O-kay, then. Happy will, uh, take you home."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. I'll see you around." Peter walked backwards to give him and Happy a brief moment, but his eyes never left the suit his ex-girlfriend made. His heart swelled with pride and guilt, but mostly guilt. Knowing her, she put her all into doing it despite him knowing she was hurt. He turned away finally, hearing the door shut. The door was shut.

Pepper popped out of the conference room, staring at Tony who's face clearly showed a mixture of emotions. "Where's the kid?" She asked, refusing to call him by name. While Tony was fond of him, Pepper wasn't as much. Stupid kid broke her daughter's heart. "Everybody's waiting."

"You know, he actually made a really mature choice again, just surprised the heck out of me."

"Are you joking? I have a room full of people waiting for some big announcement, what are we going to tell them?" She seethed—how the hell Tony managed to screw up another press conference was beyond her.

"I got an idea. Go wait inside, I'll be in there in a minute. And make sure Madelyn's on stage for this one." Pepper's eyes widened. Their daughter was never on stage at a press conference. The look of disbelief did not go amiss. "Just go, I'll be right there." He reassured, pressing a quick kiss to Pepper's forehead before she went back into the conference room grumbling to herself. "You still got that ring, Happy?"

"Are you kidding, I've been carrying this thing around for eight years!" His head of security responded excitedly, pulling out a black velvet box from his pocket.

"Perfect, it's show time." Together, Tony and Happy entered the noisy conference room, everyone instantly shouting out his name. He stood on the stage, giving a prompt wave to get everybody to quiet down. Happy stood to his right, Pepper and Elly to his left. "Thank you all, for being here today. I know everybody is expecting a big announcement and I don't want to delay anyone any further. I've been delaying this announcement for eighteen years." Confused murmurs began to buzz. Elly perked her head up, her dad's speech taking a very unexpected turn. "I would love to introduce to the world, the daughter of Virginia 'Pepper' Potts and myself—Madelyn Joyce Stark." A spotlight fell onto Elly, making her stare around the room.

"H-hi." She said quietly as her dad handed her a microphone. "I am the daughter of Pepper Potts and Tony Stark?" Elly fumbled around with words unsure of what to say and her parents knew it. Questions were firing rapidly at her, and she had no idea how to respond. Seeing her drowning at the attention, Tony took the microphone back.

"One more thing, before we take questions. I've been delaying something else that is long overdue." He held the microphone in one hand as he got down on one knee, his eyes focused on Pepper. "Honey, I haven't been a model boyfriend to you, but thanks to our wonderful, smart daughter—I want to prove to you that I will be a better husband. Hopefully I'm just as good of a husband as I am father. Virginia Potts, will you marry me?" Pepper's mouth hung wide open as her, and her daughter's, eyes both began to well with tears. A sniffle escaped her nose as she tried to hold back sobs of joy as she nodded over and over. Tony slid the ring he had held onto for all those years onto the finger of his bride-to-be before giving her a long kiss and hugging his family. A wave of confidence washed over Elly, the joy that was surging through her family was giving her strength to take the microphone from her dad.

"There you have it, folks. The Stark family. We will now take your questions!" Elly jeered, the room exploding with overlapping clamor. She was distracted by the all the talk as she held the microphone in her right hand and answering questions, all the while subconsciously spinning the rose gold promise ring on her finger. Nobody seemed to notice except for the lone, sixteen year old boy standing at the back of the room who had snuck his way into press conference. Peter had seen her. But more importantly, she saw him.

Author Note: Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.