eleanor ◇ peter parker

epilogue

EPILOGUE.

peter parker sat in the coffee shop and watched as his girlfriend spoke to the barista. the shop was warm, and smelled amazing. he watched as ellie laughed with the barista, grabbing the coffee and heading for the sugars, grabbing a few. peter knew that the sugars were for him. ellie knew that his coffee couldn't be bitter. he liked black coffee with splenda - why? he never knew. it was what he preferred. ellie, on the other hand, was normal. she just got a coffee with liquid sugar already in her drink.

ellie grabbed a handful of sugars and sat beside peter in the booth, sliding over the warm cup to peter and keeping the cold one for herself.

peter smiled and kissed eleanor's temple sweetly. he added the sugars to his drink and used the stirring straw to mix everything together. he glanced over at ellie as she looked out of the window, staring at the sky. "hey, el?" he said slowly, his heart beating in his chest harder than he ever would have thought it could. 

eleanor turned her head to peter, taking a small sip out of her drink. "yes?"

"you know you're not a burden, right?" peter asked. 

the couple hadn't talked about the night that ellie had died. peter knew she needed time to adjust to resurrecting (ellie hated that word). he gave her the time she needed, letting her get used to being alive.

the day she woke up, peter was immediately by her side, brushing her hair away from her face and kissing her head. "oh, my god, you're alive."

ellie, though, had begun to shake, her body being overloaded by confusion. peter quickly let her go, scared that he had hurt her. he was consoled by wade, who explained that it would take her a few minutes before she said anything.

peter watched as ellie looked around, taking in her surroundings. once her eyes finally settled and adjusted to the lights and people, the first word out of her mouth was, "dad?"

wade was beside her that moment, kissing the girl's forehead and grabbing her hand. "i'm right here, baby, i'm right here."

eleanor looked up at her father, squeezing his hand. "can we get out of here?"

eleanor's eyes lowered, looking at the table. "we both said things in the heat of the moment, peter."

"right, but i shouldn't ever imply that you're a burden." peter scooted closer to her and gently placed a hand on her thigh. "it wasn't intentional, but that doesn't matter. that's the way you took it, and that's my fault."

"peter, no," eleanor shook her head. "please don't blame yourself."

"i do." peter nodded with a sad smile. "i blame myself. i am so sorry, el."

eleanor, knowing that he wouldn't accept anything else, forgave him. she didn't want to, because she didn't believe he should be apologizing for her overreaction (as usual), but she forgave him anyway. 

"you're one of the most important people in my entire life," peter continued. his heartbeat started to quicken, knowing where he was going with his little rant. he was finally going to do it. "i don't know what i would've happened if you hadn't woken up."

"but i did." eleanor said. "i always will. always."

peter nodded with a soft smile. "you're right. i-i just..." he trailed off, not knowing how to continue what he was saying.

"what?" ellie asked, giving him his time to say what he needed to say. "breathe, pete. i'm here."

"i'm just so lucky for you. you literally saved my life, el." peter said. "if you hadn't come up there, i'd probably be dead." before ellie could stop him, he continued. "and i know, 'you were up there'. because you don't listen. you never listen. i told you to stay, and you didn't. you went up to the roof."

eleanor's head dropped to her lap, thinking about that night. of course she went with. there was no way she would sit back when there was something she could do. 

"i'm sorry, peter -"

"that's why i love you."

eleanor nodded and continued talking. "but i'm never going to watch someone get hurt, especially when i can do something to help them! you can't blame me for wanting to help, right? isn't that was mutants are supposed to do? i mean, sure, there are bad ones - but that's not me! i'm the kind of person who's going to give my all to help someone in need-"

eleanor's head snapped up, eyes wide with happiness and confusion. "wait, what?"

peter felt a chuckle bubble up in his chest. "i said i love you."

ellie, who had nearly choked on her drink, blinked at peter. "are you sure?"

peter furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "a-am i sure? yes, ellie, we've been together for almost 9 months. i'm pretty sure."

ellie smiled so wide that her cheeks hurt. she wrapped her arms around peter's shoulders and hugged him close. he put his arms around her waist and hugged her back. he gently kissed her neck, whispering out a small, "i love you."

 "i love you, too," ellie pulled back, looking peter in the eyes. "like, a lot."

peter felt his cheeks heating up and he leaned forward, kissing the girl. his hand cupped her cheek gently, rubbing her face soothingly as the two pulled apart.

eleanor couldn't believe the amount of love in her heart for peter parker - her best friend, her boyfriend. the two had been through so much together, more than your usual high-school sweethearts. but deep down, eleanor knew that everything they'd gone through would only push them to be stronger.

peter suddenly felt goosebumps raise on his arms and the back of his neck. he pulled away from eleanor and looked out of the window, seeing a bus speeding down the road, the horn honking like crazy.

peter looked at ellie, who already had a smile on her face. she grabbed his coffee and brought it closer to herself, taking it for him. she quickly kissed his cheek and nodded to peter. she watched as peter stood up and ran out of the coffee shop. he disappeared for a moment before a quick flash of red blurred by, swinging towards the bus to save the people.

eleanor smiled, watching as people began to cheer him on.

"go get 'em, tiger."

_____

wow okay, eleanor is officially ended. i'm kinda shook.

thank you so much for sticking around with ellie! i'm so grateful for the reads and votes that i've gotten!  my faithful readers who have continued to support me (despite the many months of my hiatus) you guys are the absolute best!

part 2? i've got ideas in the drafts already ... :)

again, thank you so much! i love you all <3

- x me