The Bet (Avenger's High School AU)

♡ Epilogue ♡

Final

Peter sits alone in the empty room, saying silent goodbyes to the walls around him. The bedroom that had kept him alive for a few years. Nothing particularly special, but it's the closing of a chapter of his life to open a new one.

*

Tony finally stands up to Howard, slamming his front door behind him and slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder with a roll of his eyes. His mom is waiting by a car where the rest of his things are packed up. She gives him a hug and passes the keys over. He tries not to let her see the tears burning his eyes.

*

Natasha sits in her car for a few extra moments, resting her forehead on the steering wheel. When she finally brings up the courage to drive, she watches the retirement home slowly fade away in the mirror.

*

Wade smiles at his bare apartment, all his things packed into boxes and inside his car. He pats the counter on his way out, tucking his keys into his pocket and waving a final goodbye to the house that was never really a home.

*

Steve pulls a backpack over his shoulder, hugging his mom tightly and slings an arm around his little brother's shoulder as Thor and Loki pull up in the driveway. It's barely even a temporary goodbye, it's just a see you later kind of goodbye. His dad is gone, leaving a happy family behind. It'll just take them time to heal.

*

Peter pushed the key into the lock, grinning when it unlocks. Not broken like his old apartment's door was.

A new chapter of their lives opening up.

The new apartment is empty and bare, but big and spacious with promise of memories to be made.

An arm is slung over his shoulder, bright smile lighting up the room already.

"You excited?" Tony asks, tossing his duffel bag onto the floor in front of him. It skids across the hardwood and stops in the center of the large space.

An excited squeal echoes from behind them and suddenly Wade's racing between them and spinning in the center of the room, arms stretched wide to show how big the space is.

"This is a dream come true," Peter admits, a face-splitting grin across his face as he finally steps across the threshold into the apartment.

It's three bedrooms, two bathrooms with a nice kitchen and room for a dining room and a living room.

Peter, Wade, and Tony are going to share one bedroom, Natasha will get the other, and the third will be a spare room for whenever they have guests like Steve, Wanda, etc.

They're close enough to school that it's only about twenty minutes to get there by car, but they're also close enough for Peter to get to his job at McDonald's easily.

Wade's still got his income from his parents that'll help cover the rent and bills, Peter's got his job at McDonald's, Nat's applying for a position at nearby grocery stores, and Tony's going to look for a job soon too because he doesn't think his parents will let him continue to use his money.

But the four of them will be able to afford the place pretty easily with enough for bills and gas and food. It'll be good.

"I can't believe you all got here first," Nat says. She tries to pretend to be annoyed, but it's impossible for her to contain the smile that's lighting up her face. "It looks amazing."

"This is going to be amazing," Peter says, wandering over to the window with the sitting nook. It looks out over the city skyline and it looks incredible even for midday on a party-cloudy day.