C I N D E R ― An MCU Spinoff.

F I F T E E N

"Because one—you need to be there and you all deserve a break, and two, it's because I've been having visions of Peter having a bad encounter."

She says as she hands him a mug, a brow raised.

Kyle suspiciously raises a brow at her statement but nodded, draining the hot chocolate from his mug.

"And I heard Peter asked Liz to Homecoming, so you should follow suit and ask Alessa. I'm sure she would love to go with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am." She grins.

Kyle decided to ask Alessa around lunchtime, just before she would head to the cafeteria and sit at the table with the gang as usual.

He patiently waits by her locker, sighing and fiddling with the sleeves of his sweater.

Kyle was nervous and probably about to puke as he was thinking of many scenarios that would happen as a result of him asking Alessa to be his date to Homecoming.

"Hey, why are you here?"

He hears Alessa's voice from down the hallway as she walks over, books in her arms.

Shit.

"I.... I want to talk to you. It's sort of important? So hear me out."

Kyle nervously says, seeing Alessa nod before stuffing her books in her locker, giving him a smile.

"I'm all ears, Kyle. Just say what you want to say."

Here goes....

"I like you, Alessa. I... I've liked you for a while now and I was wondering if you want to be my date for Homecoming."

Kyle says straightforwardly, watching the expression on Alessa's face change drastically.

"But you don't have to go with me. And you probably don't like me in the same way I do, and it's okay, you don't have to. I'm not pressuring you to like me, I just wanted to get that off my mind."

He couldn't tell how she was reacting. And he was about to panic. Did he ruin her day by admitting he had a crush on her?

Please no please no.

There was a momentarily silence before Alessa awkwardly clears her throat, looking shy and flushed.

"I like you too."

Alessa bluntly says, face a bright red. "And... And I'm not forcing myself to say that I like you.... I actually like you, you know, more than a friend."

She then sighs, wondering why she couldn't bring herself to say what she wanted in the first placd

"I've been romantically interested in you for a while and I want to date you, is what I've been wanting to say. But I didn't want to approach you because I've been busy with my inventing and because of the possibility of getting rejected by you."

She couldn't say much after, voice hoarse and face redder than before.

"And I'll go to Homecoming with you. And I don't mind going with you as a date."

She adds.

They awkwardly stood in the hallway, avoiding to look at the other as they didn't really know what to say—still trying to wrap their head around that they both shared the same degree of feelings for one another.

"Since we're going to Homecoming together, we could treat that'll  as a kind of date and see what will happen from there?"

Kyle nervously suggests, still not looking at her.

"Christina said we should go because she thinks something bad will happen to Peter and she needs us there, in case."

He input awkwardly after a moment, seeing Alessa nod and move a little closer, grabbing ahold of his hand.

There was a hint of a shy smile on her lips as she grabs onto his other hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Really? You're actually going to go through the trouble of actually going to Homecoming with someone who probably isn't that great of a person?"

Kyle made a snarky remark, unaware of Alessa pulling him down to her level, sighing.

When he was about to say something else which would usually annoy probably every single person on the planet, she pulls him into a hug, struggling to hold him close as he starts complaining about how he isn't a great person and doesn't deserve to go anywhere with her.

"You're a good person although you had some flaws, okay? Don't put yourself down like that."

Alessa would say, frowning as Kyle rolls his eyes and let go of her hands.

"I have a tendency to feel like shit. But yeah, I shouldn't have to put myself down because I'm feeling horrible for the person I've grown up to be."

He shrugs before he proceeds to pull her into a hug, holding her and wanting to keep her close as long as he could.

He felt her look up at him before holding onto him firmly, sighing to herself.

"So, where do I pick you up?"

"At my family's place. It's like a block or so away. My parents want to do embarrassing parent stuff and take photos of me and Joshua."

Alessa says when she pulls away, shyly grinning.

"But they're pretty relaxed parents so they'll like you."

Kyle nodded, before they started to walk to the cafeteria, trying not to give off the impression that they were a sort of thing.

"Kyle?"

"Yeah?"

"You're horrible to keeping your feelings for me to yourself."

He heard Alessa say as she began giggling, and his face heats up.

Instead of yelling and doing the typical 'I will kill you' Kyle speech, he nudges into her playfully as they made way to the gang's table.

Kyle was happier than usual, remaining like that for the rest of the day, which weirded out the rest of the team.

But it was nice to see that side of him come out more often.

I'm one happy, love-struck mess, holy shit.