Fingers Crossed || Peter Parker

Chapter 14

"Road trip!" Emma called out excitedly as they all finally got on the bus. The process of getting both Emma and Peter on the bus had been quite the extensive one. For Peter he had to convince everyone to let him back on the team what was actually less work then one would think much to Flash's disdain. Emma on the other had to convince her father to let her go. After the whole fight between the two a few nights ago their conversations had been brief and riddled with anger on both sides. When Emma reminded her father last night that she was leaving for DC this morning he had freaked out claiming that he didn't want her to go. After coming close to begging her father she finally convinced him to let her go after he saw how much the decathlon meant to her. Since getting to Midtown High Emma had really gone all in on training for the decathlon and had been studying for weeks for this event. She just wanted to prove to herself and everyone else that she deserved to go to an advanced school like Midtown.

As they all got on the bus Emma she made sure to sit next to Peter. Emma had been feeling sick with nerves since this morning and getting on the bus only exaggerated these nerves. While on the surface Emma seemed calm and collected, Peter could see through this façade knowing that she had spent numerous late nights preparing for the competition. Peter didn't know why she felt the need to prove herself so much; someone would have to blind not to see Emma as smart. Peter grabbed Emma's hand as the bus pulled away from the school trying to calm her down.

Liz started to quiz the group on questions to get them well practiced. Emma jumped on all the questions she could, answering all of them correct. Emma had come to see Liz as a close friend and mentor for her as looked up to the strong and brilliant girl. While she didn't hang out with Liz a lot outside of decathlon they had spent numerous study sessions together of Liz helping Emma catch up on all the missed practice she missed at the beginning of the year.

Peter had managed to answer a few questions correctly on his part before his phone buzzed and seeing it was Happy jumped over Emma to answer it. Emma knew that this weekend was not only important because of the decathlon but also because tonight they were all going to try and get information about the weapons in Maryland. Emma was nervous about making it back in time for the Decathlon but she trusted Peter when he guaranteed that they would.

Peter talked to Happy realizing that he was being tracked as Emma kept answering questions. They were nearing DC and Peter was feeling anxious about tonight not just because of going after the criminals but also for how Emma would react

XXX

As the team arrived at the hotel they all got their room assignments. Emma and Liz were rooming together much to her happiness so she could get any last minute advice from the senior girl she looked up to.

Peter and Ned were rooming together as expected and Emma couldn't help feel suspicious when they rushed of to their room after getting assigned. Peter said something about texting her when she should come over so they could leave together but she couldn't help but feel a little suspicious about the fact that he was indignant that she study with Liz and that Ned and him could handle removing the tracker alone. Emma decided to not think about it to much as she wanted to get any last minute studying she could.

A few hours later Ned and Peter were still in the process of removing the tracker and finalizing the plan.

"Peter are you sure that it's a good idea to not tell Emma about your new plan?" Ned asked as Peter continued to work on the tracker.

"Yes, you know how much the decathlon means to her and if she wasn't back in time she would be heartbroken" Peter replied trying to justify his actions.

"So you're lying to Emma now" Ned asked already thinking it was a bad idea to lie to Iron Man by removing his tracker. Ned thought it was an even worse idea that Peter lie to Emma about taking her with him tonight.

"I mean, I'm not lying. I just haven't told her the change of plans and that she isn't coming tonight. I just can't worry about protecting her while going after the bad guys it would be too much of a liability" Peter said feeling more and more guilty as he thought about it. Peter knew that Emma was going to mad when she found out but he wasn't willing to risk her getting hurt.

"There's a ton of other subsystems in here," Ned said deciding to change the topic as Peter finally got the tracker out "But it looks like they are all disabled by the training wheels protocol"

"Well activate them, I'm sick of everyone treating me as a kid" Peter said getting frustrated of everyone feeling like they needed to watch over him. He was a hero and he could do some saving by himself.

"But you are a kid. And between disabling this and not including Emma I just feel like this is a really bad idea" Ned hated getting in the middle of Emma and Peters drama but Peter really wasn't being smart here. Plus Emma was going to be so upset at himself and Peter when she found out.

"Come on Ned you can finally by my guy in the chair"

"Don't do that. Ugh fine" Ned finally relented realizing that Peter was stubborn about this. As Peter put the newly revamped suit on under his clothes and got ready to leave Ned continued to feel like he was making a big mistake.

"Keep the glowy thing safe, it's evidence. And tell Emma I'm sorry but she deserves to go to the decathlon" Peter said as he got ready to leave. As Peter opened and closed the door he literally ran into no other but Emma.

"Hey where are you going" Emma asked confused to see Peter with his backpack. She had headed over to the guys room to check on their progress. Their original plan had to be to leave in about an hour but Emma wanted to double check on them since it had been quite a bit since she last heard anything from them.

"Oh I was just going to get some food from downstairs so we had something to snack on" Peter said thinking of a lie as fast as he could. While he knew Emma was going to find out soon enough that their whole original plan was a lie he didn't want to tell her in person. He wasn't ready to see the anger and disappointment on her face that would come with his secret being told.

"Oh why don't I come with you! The rest of the team was going down to the pool for some late night bonding but I figured I would checkup on you guys" Emma said as she felt more excited about going on her first mission tonight.

"NO!" Peter said loudly causing Emma to take a step back due to his abruptness. "I mean you should go bond with the rest of team for an hour or so, I know how much it means to you to get closer to everyone" Peter recovered hoping she would take the bait and let him leave.

"Oh okay thanks I guess. That's so thoughtful of you" Emma responded surprised as she wrapped Peter into a hug and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Sometimes Peter could be so thoughtful as he really cared about her. "You are the best boyfriend you know that? Okay I should go but text me when we are leaving okay?" Emma smiled as she was glad to get to spend a little bit of time bonding with Liz and the rest of the group even if she was leaving in an hour or so.

"Yeah" Peter felt even more guilty and the farthest from being the best boyfriend as he was literally lying to Emma's face. Not to mention the fact that Emma just called him her "boyfriend" something they had never done before. "See you soon" Peter said walking away as he couldn't stand to look at Emma anymore. He needed to do this to protect her even if it was going to break her heart in the process.

No less then ten minutes later Emma felt her phone ding indicating she got a new text. Thinking it was maybe Peter saying it was time to leave she excitedly pulled her phone to see a one-word text from Peter. Emma felt her heart drop as she read the words "sorry" over and over again realizing the gravity of what that one word meant. It meant that Peter had already left without her. It meant that he lied.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter even though the fluff came to an end for a little bit. Comment and vote if you guys liked this chapter as it motivate me a lot to keep writing. As always-big thank you to everyone who has continued to read this story you guys are amazing! Let me know what you all think of the new cover!