Present Day
After homecoming, Josie sneaks off to her room and doesn't emerge for the rest of the night, claiming 'the dance exhausted her'. Everyone knows something's up, but knows better than to ask.
The next morning, Josie wakes up and immediately checks her phone- no messages from Peter. Whatever, she doesn't even care. She doesn't even care. She definitely cares. Still, she gets ready for school, blocking out all thoughts of the Spider-Boy. As she arrives at school, she sees Liz and her mom leaving with a box of Liz's stuff.
"Liz? What's going on?", Josie asks, worriedly.
"My, uh- My dad, he got arrested last night. Weapons dealing. Mom's making me move to Oregon, says we need a fresh start."
"Oregon? I- I'm so sorry. About last night as well, I shouldn't have-"
Liz sniffs slightly, probably not because of what Josie did at homecoming, "No, it's fine. Can't really date him from Oregon very well, can I?"
"Liz, we need to go.", her mom says.
"Bye, Josie. I hope things work out with you and Peter, I really do.", she manages to muster a small smile, before climbing into the car and driving off.
"What just happened?", Josie whispers to herself.
She watches the car disappear down the road, then walks into school. Of course, the second she steps through the door, the one person she didn't want to see is stood there. Peter. He stares down the corridor, not yet noticing Josie's presence. She takes a deep breath and walks down the corridor, pretending she hasn't noticed him either.
"Josie!", he calls after her, she sighs and continues walking, "Jos! Wait!", he jogs down the corridor and places a hand on her shoulder.
Reluctantly, she spins around, with a scowl plastered across her face, "What, Peter?"
"I'm sorry. I am. About last night, I shouldn't have left without saying anything to you.", he, for once, doesn't stammer.
She grits her teeth and puts on her most blatantly fake smile, "Well, I live with a bunch of superheroes. I get it, duty calls. Priorities, right?", she turns and attempts to walk off again.
"Josie!", he sighs and chases her down again, "What was I supposed to do? People could have died."
"Maybe, but last night, you could have too. Not even a goodbye, just a kiss, and then you're gone.", she sighs in frustration.
"Well, you would have told your dad and he would have stopped me."
"And taken care of it himself!", she almost yells, then lowers her voice, "Look, Pea Pod, nobody's told me what happened, who you were fighting, anything. I get it, this is dangerous stuff you're dealing with, but I can handle that! Just let me in, Peter, please.", she subconsciously takes his hands.
"I don't want you to get hurt.", he says, his voice barely more than a whisper.
She smiles, "Come on, I think I'm past the point of worrying about supervillains being after me because of the people I love."
"Almost everyone I've cared about has got hurt and I just-", he's cut off, as she presses her lips to his.
"I'm all in now,", she looks at all their peers gawping at them, "so, might as well go for this, right? Nothing to lose."
He turns as red as a tomato, but nods, "Yeah, nothing to lose."
"YOLO, you know what I mean?", she giggles.
People think of laughing as a noise that comes from the mouth, but when Josie laughs, it's nothing like that. Not to Peter. The laugh is in her eyes, in the way her face changes into that vision of relaxed joy and unrestrained mirth. Yet truly, it isn't in her face either. Her laugh comes from within, it was just the way she's wired; to be loved. The world could be crumbling around her and she'd just shrug and laugh it off, it wouldn't be her first time. That's what, among other things, Peter loves about her. How he can feel as if his problems don't mean jack- worse has happened before, right? In this very moment, he realizes something.
He loves Josie.
Yes. Yes, he does. No doubts. No questions. He loves her.
Sure, he's liked girls before, but this is different. He doesn't know how he knows he loves her, but he does. Love is a quiet emotion that in time becomes part of the oxygen you need to breathe, and so though you may feel not sure that it's there, any form of removal and the emotions begin to choke. And he doesn't want to imagine Josie not being there. He wants to be with her. He wants her to be in his life. He wants her.
So, he pulls towards her and they kiss- to hell with the entire student body watching. When they pull apart, their eyes lock on one another's, just like homecoming. Except, this time, Josie's gaze isn't pulled elsewhere and Peter doesn't disappear.
"So, are you two dating or...", some random guy asks.
"Uh, we're...", Josie starts, but realizing she doesn't actually know, she trails off, "We're gonna figure it out."
* * * * *
(a/n) Hey guys! Remember to vote, comment, and all that jazz!!!
-Hannah(;
Coming up soon:
Present day:
So, are Peter and Josie a thing or...
2010:
Loki!!!!!!
This is the ending of part 2, so I hope you're ready for part 3!!
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His Joy {Peter Parker X Stark's Daughter}
Fanfiction"Friends. I have friends. Friends who aren't superheroes. Oh Josie, if only you knew." Ever since Afghanistan. Ever since he became Iron Man. Ever since he almost died. Tony Stark has changed. Josie knows it, the whole world knows it. So what change...
