𝐖𝐞𝐛 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬

12 | Lightsaber

Dozens of lights and monitors hummed around the living room, cables running across the floor and people rushing from one place to another. Tony, Pepper and Y/N were sitting in fold out chairs getting ready for a photo shoot and video interview. The Stark family wasn't private in the least, their flashy cars, debaucherous lifestyles and extravagant parties appeared in headlines constantly, but this was the first time they'd invited the media into their home. Tony sheltered his daughter from paparazzi until she was 18, and ever since, she could basically do as she pleased.

"Mr. Stark, are you comfortable with us taking any images in your offices or work labs?" a small but well-dressed man asked clicking his pen on his clipboard.

"Yes, but none of my screens will be turned on, and anything published must go through Happy first for security checks" Stark retorted, keeping his head still and pointing to Happy standing from afar. Y/N loved being pampered like this, having her hair washed and styled, her face perfectly made up and stunning designer outfits picked for her. Her own personal style was low key, like her fathers, most of the time wearing t-shirts and sneakers; albeit the plain shirt probably being Balenciaga, and sneakers limited edition. Red carpet events, galas and benefits were amongst other times she could dress up, feeling like royalty in the crowd purely from the Stark name.

The interview was mainly targeting Stark's role as an Avenger, his impact on the world and his future plans with Damage Control. For Peppers contribution, they asked about how she dealt as the CEO of Stark Industries whilst not letting her husbands dangerous line of work affecting her family. Y/N however, was signed on to partake in Vogue's 73 Questions, something she always watched on her favourite celebrities. Excited was an understatement, she'd watched her favourite models, actors and YouTubers do the same. She decided to keep Peter on the down low, not really sure about how their relationship stood anyway, and not wanting to label anything.

They'd discussed dating before, but being the daughter of Tony, and him being Spider-Man, they'd decided that it was too heavy of a commitment to date. It was too dangerous for both of them. Plus, bringing Peter into the spotlight would make it all the more difficult for him to sneak around the city - something he already kind of sucked at doing; how he hadn't been caught she wondered, was a miracle. The questions were fun - about her work at Stark, her future goals, her favourite Avenger being Spider-Man, and when asked if she had a special someone, she rolled her eyes and responded, "Well that ruins all the fun now doesn't it sweetheart?"

Peter was downstairs in one of Stark Towers lower levels, annoying Ned who was doing actual internship work.

"Okay, lightsaber colour, go" he said, flipping a pen between his fingers and spinning back and forth on the chair next to his friend.

"Peter, unlike you I actually have work to do, can we talk about this later?" Ned sighed, pulling up information on his screen and flicking it across to another with his fingers.

"Ned come on, what colour" Peter whined, his boredom obviously showing.

"Fine, green" he huffed, looking at Peter.

"Was that so hard?" Peter said smiling, pulling out a box from his backpack and passing it to Ned.

"Happy Birthday dude" he grinned, Ned snatching the box and ripping the wrapping paper eagerly.

"I thought you forgot! That's why I was so annoyed!" Ned smiled, pulling the lid off the narrow black box and revealing the handle of a replica lightsaber.

"Green, see?" Peter smiled, knowing his best friend all too well. Ned looked to either end of the office, checking to see if anyone was paying attention, but since the floor was basically empty, he flicked the lightsaber out and gasped when the beam of light shot out of it.

"Oh my gosh Peter, this is so epic!" He chuckled, waving it around a few times and giggling at the sounds it was making. Ned thanks Peter whilst imitating Yoda, putting it back in its box.

"You promise you won't be late tonight right? Betty put in so much effort decorating and planning everything" Ned pleaded, knowing Peter had a tendency to be late to things, especially parties. After Y/N had appeared at Flash's party, Ned and Peter became more popular at college, and for Ned's own first proper party, he had double the invite list he had before and was quite ecstatic about it.

Y/N kept her makeup on from the photo shoot, but let her hair down for the party, looking a bit more casual and like her usual self. She was well acquainted with Peter's friends now, going out with them to cinemas or getting Chinese food late at night. She was sitting in a deck chair in the backyard with Peter's arm around the back of her, sipping from her can and playing scissors, paper rock with someone over who would start the game of beer pong. Getting up, she gave Peter a quick peck before heading to the table, him giving her butt a quick slap and an innocent smile when she rolled her eyes.

"Is she here yet?" Betty asked Ned, resting her hand on his thigh. Peter assumed that this must have meant they were dating again, as usually she deletes all of their photos together on Instagram and refuses to speak to him whenever they were broken up. Ned shrugged.

"She said she was coming" he replied, looking up to the house before Peter interrupted them.

"Who are you guys talking about? Who's coming?" He asked, confused as to who they'd care about attending so badly.

"She didn't text you? MJ is back in America after her gap year" Ned replied, Peter's face dropping and lowering his drink to his lap.

"I-um, I didn't realise it had already been a year" he said, looking over at Y/N laughing at the beer pong table, high fiving her partner over a sunken cup. He hadn't told Y/N about his past relationship with MJ, nor about the fact she found out about Spider-Man in Europe. It never really came up.

Peter got up to join Y/N playing beer pong, wanting to look like he was involved more in the party if, and when MJ showed up. He got anxious thinking about what her gap year would have been like, having to hear about all the things, and people she had experienced - it was the reason they had broken up. Yes, being a superhero contributed to it, but she travelled independently and had said 'it would be a more enriching trip if I were single'. Peter stayed in his bed for days after that, no Spider patrols, no Avengers, no movie marathons with Ned. He'd gotten over it with a decent few weekends of drinking, a short-lived download of Tinder and a lot of working out. He wasn't dating Y/N, and they both agreed to that, but he wanted MJ to think he wasn't just the same old Peter than when she left. He was somewhat taken, and definitely desirable at college now that he was seen with Y/N Stark.

Just as he went to meet with Y/N, he had crossed paths with MJ, arriving at the party and making her way to Ned. He swore under his breath.

"MJ! You're back, wow it's been uh, has it been a year already?" Peter stuttered, nervous and caught off guard on how quickly she had arrived from when Ned had even mentioned her. She shrugged and smiled softly,

"Yep, twelve months, good counting Peter" she said, wrapping her arms around him and embracing him in a hug.

"I missed you" she said, her head fitting in the crook of his neck as he tried to not freak out. Meanwhile, Y/N had finished her drinking game a winner and sat back down next to Ned, catching her eye on the girl hugging Peter longer than normal acquaintances did when greeting each other.

"Hey Ned, who is that?" She whispered, leaning over to get closer to Ned.

"MJ" he said, watching Peter talk with her.

"Who's MJ?" She asked again.

"Peter didn't tell you? He was basically in love with her forever" Ned proceeded, waving at MJ as they both came over.

"No, no he didn't..."