1 | BUSTED! ━ Peter Parker ✓

23 - A PLAN

WHEN SHE FIRST LOOKED INTO PETER'S EYES, everything melted away. The adrenaline from her meeting with Aaron Davis faded and all Kaelyn cared about was the boy standing in front of her with tears in his eyes. Nothing else mattered when he looked at her. Without a word, she pulled Peter into her arms and held him as tight as she could. There they stood in the doorway, two kids with the world on their shoulders and almost nothing but each other. All that mattered was the warmth of their hearts meeting in the middle, her red hair tumbling over his shoulders while his chill tears hit the crook of her neck. Her hand rested gently on the back of his head, entangling her fingers in his soft tufts of hair, making sure he felt safe with her. Fortunately, she prepared for a moment like this, tucking her dinner servings into her book bag she left sitting on her passenger seat. Yes, she was definitely gonna get robbed someday because of it, but right now it was worth it.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Kae muttered softly into his shoulder blade, taking in the smell of his t-shirt; it had to have been fresh from the dryer because it was warm and smelled of florals. She could feel Peter shake his head in response to the question, so she nodded slightly, "Well, in that case," she pulled away from him, immediately missing the warmth, and pulled out the Tupperware, "I brought dinner!"

"Thank you," the boy breathed a sigh of relief, "May burnt the chicken and I don't think I could force it down tonight so I told her I had a stomachache, hide these from her I don't want her to feel bad."

She nodded and shoved them back into her bag, just as May's head peered around the corner followed by the rest of her appearing in the doorway. Immediately, she pulled in the girl into a hug exclaiming, "Kaelyn! What a nice surprise! Ugh, it's been too long since I've seen you around these parts. Did you eat? Do you want some chicken?"

"No, thank you, my brother made dinner for me. It's nice to see you again, May," Kaelyn greeted with a small giggle, "I'm assuming you want the door open?"

"Always, I'm too young to be a graunt," May laughed, tussling Kaelyn's hair a bit before ushering them off to Peter's room, "I'm just kidding, you're good kids! But really, be safe!"

Peter rolled his eyes, "Oh my God, May, there's a time and a place! Come on, Kae."

He sneakily grabbed a couple of forks from the kitchen while Mae was distracted before running back to his room. They sat side by side on his bed, eating spaghetti while his head rests on her shoulder. This felt safe, this felt normal. It was something Kaelyn hadn't felt in too long of a time.

"So are you just going to not be Spider-Man anymore?" Kaelyn broke the silence once they finished eating. The question hung in the air like a fog, sending a chill throughout the room. As soon as those words left her mouth she almost wished she could take them back, but it was far too late for that.

Peter hesitated, but after a moment he shook his head and said, "I can't. Not with these guys on the loose. I don't need the jacked up suit Mister Stark gave me. He forgets that I already had my own thing before he came along. Sure, it looked like pajamas, but the web slingers? That was all me. I'm so much more capable than he thinks I am."

"Well, you know, pajamas or fancy suit, I'm gonna be your sidekick," Kaelyn said with a small smile on her face, looking over at Peter and getting a glimpse of his grin. After a moment, an idea found itself stuck on her mind, "Wait, Peter, what if we totally play him? I mean, maybe you don't have to face this battle completely alone with your old suit. I can tell Mister Stark you're not giving up and I have to keep you in line and he'll tell me to use my suit as needed. Except, you and I will be working together the whole time. Together, we can finally get these guys. I think we could do it, Peter."

"Kaelyn, that's genius. I mean, I could still prove to him that I can protect the city without my suit and you can prove that you're more than just some babysitter. I mean, seriously? Your only job was to protect me? How dumb does he think we are?" Peter agreed, sounding offended as he made his last comments.

It was clear how much Tony Stark's actions had truly struck Peter to the core. She couldn't imagine how disheartening it might be to watch someone you idolize lose all their faith in you. The pain Peter must have felt in the moment Tony took his suit away, must have felt similar to losing a parent. A feeling both of them already knew far too well. The thought of her parents sent a chill down her spine, her mind trailing back to those haunting words Aaron Davis spoke to her. That was the one thing she did not want bugging her right now. She didn't know what was bugging her more, the fact that those words would not stop running throughout her mind over and over or the fact that everything was screaming at her to tell Peter, but she couldn't. Not right now. It's selfish, far too selfish. This was something she couldn't do to him. The boy already carried so many burdens upon his shoulders, she was not going to toss her's onto the ever-growing pile too.

The girl nodded along with Peter's words, adding, "Exactly! We're still young, yes, but he has no right to treat us like toddlers who can't even keep our heads up. We're tough as shit! I mean, I'm literally bulletproof, Tony Stark can't say that about himself, now can he?"

"He can't!"

"Exactly!"

"Oh, my God, Kaelyn, I could kiss you right now, this is the happiest I've felt since everything happened," he sighed.

Nervously, she took this has a sign and placed one hand gently underneath his chin and pulled his face close to hers until their lips met. Everything seemed to fall perfectly in place like the pieces of a puzzle. She couldn't remember a time she was happier than this. After a fleeting moment, she pulled away.

"All right, Spider-Man, let's make a plan. We're getting these assholes once and for all."

Okay I've been teasing this update forever, but I've been unable to finish it for very good reasons! I had a cold, then I developed pink eye from the cold, now the pink eye is gone, but I still have the cold! So rude! And then my birthday was yesterday so I wasn't online much at all but now I finally have this little baby update out and I hope you guys like it! Also, my partner gave me a promise ring for my birthday and I'm so happy I never wanna take them off okay cool boring author's note done! Ahh I'm so excited for what's to come with this story I already have the ending all mapped out!