The shadow Hunter

Chapter 32

"I'm down." MJ replied. "Me too." Ned chimed in. I turned to Peter, waiting for his answer. "Yeah sure, i just need to find Liz and say goodbye first." He looked around and spotted her in the crowd and rushed off to her. I looked after him and watched how he hugged her and how she kissed his cheek. I looked back at MJ and Ned(who was making plans with Betty for the summer) "Happy is over there." I said, cocking my head to the black Mercedes. We stepped over the road as Peter ran to catch up with us. I sat in the front with Happy and the other three sat in the back. "How was your last day?" Happy asked us. "Brilliant." MJ replied. "I can't wait for the next 6 weeks." Peter said. "I miss Betty." Ned replied sadly. I turned around in my chair. "You saw her 5 minutes ago and your seeing her again in 2 days." I reminded him. We all laughed at Ned and his pining. 

Happy dropped us at Stark tower and i had to pry security off the other three. "Woah, this place is insane." Ned muttered as he looked around for the first time. I tapped my keycard against the scanner next to the elevator and the doors slid open. Once inside, i scanned it again and options for all floors came up on the screen. I pressed the option for the penthouse floor and immediately we started to move up. The doors slid open at the penthouse and we all stepped out. "Welcome home Ms Stark." FRIDAYS's cool voice said- Tony had had this element set up recently but it freaked me out, i had demanded he get rid of it but he refused. "This is amazing." Ned muttered in disbelief. He stood in the middle of the room, turning around in a slow circle, taking in everything. We chucked our bags on the sofa. "Come on Ned." I said, tapping the keycard against the pad. "We aren't staying?" He asked. "We are going upstairs." I told him. "What's upstairs?" He asked. "The bar." MJ told him with a smirk. Ned's eyes widened as he hurried to step in the elevator. We went up three floors and the doors opened at the bar. 

I hurried round the bar and pulled out a carrier of beers. MJ cheered. "Do you think Mr Stark will be angry?" Peter asked. "He's got like ten boxes back here, he won't notice a few missing." I replied. I opened up each bottle, passing each one around. MJ immediately started to down hers. Peter took one sip and started to cough and splutter. "That's an interesting taste." He remarked with a hoarse voice. He took gingerly sips every now and then. We played music on the jukebox, laughed and played pool. I beat Peter 3 times, although he would tell a different story.

 Half way through a fourth match, his phone began to ring. He answered and stepped away. "Hi Liz." He said. I placed the pool cue down on the table and took a sip of my drink. "yeah, i'm just at Clara's place." Peter spoke on the phone. "Clara's place? What just you two?" Liz's voice asked from the phone. "No, MJ and Ned are here too." He told her. "Oh ok. My mum wants to know if you like Cajun chicken." She said. "Cajun chicken? Yeah i like it. Why?" Peter asked. "Because your coming to dinner tomorrow silly." She giggled. I took an even longer sip from my glass. "Oh yeah, right, of course. Listen i have to go, i'll call you back later." He replied quickly. "Oh really? Ok bye, i guess." Peter told her goodbye and then hung up. "Sorry about that." He said to me. I sipped from my glass. "No, it's fine. If your girlfriend calls then you have to answer." I told him nonchalantly.  "Well i don't really know if she is my girlfriend, i mean, i guess, but..." Peter trailed off awkwardly. "Your meeting her mother tomorrow so, it seems like she's your girlfriend." I said. "I mean is that even a good idea, seeing as you just put her husband into jail." I muttered. Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "Well technically that was Spiderman." He muttered back.

 We spent a couple more hours laughing and talking and at 7, we chucked the remanence of the drinks down the sink before Tony got home.  "Do you need a ride home Peter?" I asked him. He shook his head and unzipped his bag slightly, showing his spider suit. "I hope you have a good summer Clara. I'll text you soon and maybe we can hang out." He suggested. I nodded. "yeah sure, just text me. And tell me when you get your results. Goodbye."

 The anniversary of Pietro's death snuck up on me like a man shrouded in a black cloak. Me and Wanda knelt by his headstone as we placed flowers on his grave, sobbing silently. We stayed there for a long time, reminiscing about him even though it pained us both. "You know when you used to go upstairs for the experiments, he used to talk about you. All the time, for long periods, he would just talk and talk. He would wander about your past, admire your spirit. And your eyes, he used to talk a lot about those too. He said they reminded him of the endless sky." A small smile flickered on my lips. "To be honest it was quite annoying." She chuckled. "But it was plain to see he was falling for you and that made me love you." 

I thought maybe Wanda would appreciate some time alone and so i headed back home. I walked slowly through the city, keeping my head low. I looked through a shop window at the tv inside. The news was showing images from last year in Sokovia. "Today marks a year since the devastating attack on Sokovia. Today many mourn the deaths of hundreds of Sokovians including Pietro Maximoff, one of the enchanced prisoners at the HYDRA base." The news reporter said on a voice over. " A year on, his twin Wanda Maximoff has joined the avengers and was a major reason so many were saved from the Coulson mall shooting. As for Clara Stark, well much still remains a mystery." I hurried away from the shop. How could they be talking about me and speculating about my life when so many people died that day?

I avoided Tony when i was back at the penthouse. I slid upstairs and stayed locked in my room for the next two days- not wanting to face him, scared I might break down. Tony would occasionally knock on my door, checking up on me, but not much would have changed since the time he had before. The morning, two days after the anniversary, i opened my door. "Bacon sandwich?" Tony asked me as i came down stairs. I nodded and he plated one up for me. We sat in silence as we ate them and then i got a call from Peter. "Hey." He said when i picked up. "Hey." I replied. "I would have called you a couple days ago but i thought maybe you would need space from everyone." He rambled. "But i just wanted to make sure you were ok." He explained. "So are you?" He asked. "Yes, i'm ok." I told him. "Ok good." He said softly. "How was dinner with Liz and her mum?" I asked, vaguely interested. "Oh, ye, i mean it was ok." He replied quickly. "But anyway, i was thinking maybe, you would want to hang out with me. There's this shop i know that does the best churros and i thought maybe we could get one together. Only if you want, when ever you feel like it." He rambled again. "Ye sure. How about sunday?" I suggested. "Perfect." Peter replied. "Cool, see you then." As I hung up the phone, Tony tried to hide the expression on his face. "What?" I questioned sternly. "Nothing." He replied, defensively. "Just that Peter's a good friend." He continued. "Yeah, turns out he isn't bad."