I Am Karen - Spider-Man / Peter Parker [1]

Chapter Twenty-Six - Two Proposals

A few days ago, I saw Far From Home and it was brilliant, hats off to all involved.

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It took little time for Maria and Peter to reach the closest bathroom. Maria followed Peter since he had been to them before and she had had no prior reason to be anywhere near them. Strangely enough, the young Stark was curious to what the boys' bathrooms where like after all there were plenty of horror stories that circulated about boys' bathrooms.

Once they were outside the blue door Peter pushed it open and began to walk in but his footsteps haltered as he felt Maria keep the door open and follow him inside.

"M-Maria? What are you doing? This is the boys' bathroom" Peter stuttered as his eyes darted to the corridor where he searched for people watching them enter the bathroom together.

"Yeah and?" Maria asked before she pushed the rest of the way passed him. Peter should have guessed that would be her reaction. The boy fell silent before the pair of them turned the corner in the bathroom to find a man in a suit stood between the sinks and cubicles standing with his back to the entrance.

"Hey, Happy" Peter started causing the man to turn around and face the pair of them. Happy gave Maria a smile which she returned before Peter continued. "What-What are you doing here?"

"I really owe you one. I-I don't know what I would do without this job" Happy started. Maria knew Happy well enough to know that this job meant everything to him as did the Starks. He loved working for Tony – they were best friends even Tony knew it, Maria still remembered when Happy had been attacked by Aldrich Killian's creation and Tony had gone crazy about it. "I mean, before I met Tony -"

Suddenly a toilet flushed and Maria coughed as she tried to stop herself from laughing as a boy emerged from one of the four cubicles. The boy stumbled as his eyes landed on Maria in shock. She gave him a smile but the boy just didn't know what to do. Awkwardly he washed his hands all the while his eyes kept flickering to Maria before he quickly left.

"So how long you been here?" Maria asked as the door closed behind the unknown boy.

"Long enough to be awkward" Happy admitted before his gaze returned to Peter with an almost proud gaze. "Boss wants to see you." Maria had to question what her father wanted with Peter.

"Is he here too?" Peter suddenly whispered causing Maria to lift her hands into the air and frown at Peter.

"You really think my dad would hide in a toilet?" Maria asked causing Peter to look at her. He went to answer but nothing came out of his mouth. "Not everyone is as dumb as Happy."

"Hey!" Happy said clearly insulted. Maria could only chuckle at his reaction before she gestured to the scenario they were stood in - she had proof to support her words. "No, he's upstate."

"Upstate? Like, upstate-upstate?" Peter asked with wide eyes. It was clear that the guy had not ventured far out of Queens before.

"Yeah, let's go" Happy said before he walked passed Peter and Maria whilst Peter was looking at Maria in shock. However, one point seemed to catch Peter's attention a lot.

"Wait, are you living upstate now?" Peter asked his eyes filling with concern. If Maria was living upstate it most likely meant she would no longer go to Midtown High, a fact Peter did not like.

"Yes" Maria answered only to watch Peter's face fall. The young Stark couldn't help but smile as she realised, he didn't want her to go. "But don't worry ... I'm still going to Midtown, just longer commute." She gave Peter's arm a squeeze before she left the boys' bathroom, not missing the relieved smile that landed upon Peter's face at her words.