A/N: helloo beautiful people
i come with an extra long and hilarious and cute and fluffy and very padie chapter today because you all deserve it and because i'm finally all moved into my new dorm :)
i'm posting this early cause today's my first day of the semester and i think i'm going to completely forget to publish it tonight lol
anyway, forget all your problems for the next 7,000 words and just relax :)
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"She's on her...cycle."
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Six o'clock couldn't get here fast enough.
She didn't wake up till noon, but when she did, she wished she could go right back to sleep again so she wouldn't have to anxiously wait around the penthouse all day for her date.
She couldn't believe she was going on a date. With Peter Parker. If someone had told her that two years ago, she never would have believed them. He used to just be her best friend but now...well, now he was her first love.
"Morning sleeping beauty," Tony greeted her as she walked into the kitchen, "Or should I say good afternoon? I almost came in there to check your pulse."
"Thank you for your concern," she mumbled groggily as she stuck her head in the fridge to get some orange juice to cure her mild headache. "But my pulse and I are both just fine." She located the bright orange and poured herself a glass.
"Partied too hard?" the billionaire asked. She sat down in a high chair across from him. Man, he had absolutely no idea.
"You could say that. I just need a cold shower and I'll be fine," she said, taking small sips of her juice. She looked around, wondering where everyone was. The billionaire was sitting there, working on something on his laptop as he munched on some leftover apple pie. "Where's Pepper? And Happy?"
"Sleeping in and mega hungover," he said. She eyed him.
"Why aren't you?" she asked.
"I was. But then I took a painkiller and now I'm fine. Happy, however, doesn't believe in taking painkillers."
"They make you weak," the man himself grumbled as he entered the kitchen. He winced at the bright sunlight coming into the kitchen and sat himself down beside the teenager. He looked awful. "They slow your body down."
He sat with his head in his hands as his hangover tortured him from the inside. Adelaide studied him with a frown.
"Oh I'm sure," she said, "That's why you're in such great shape, right?"
"No rude and or snarky comments prior to two o'clock will be appreciated," he mumbled back. She and Tony shared a mischievous look, thinking the same thing.
"YOU GOT IT, HAPPS," Adelaide shouted and the man groaned in pain, squeezing his head and sinking into his chair. Her voice felt like a bullet in his brain.
"SIR, YES SIR," Tony shouted at an equal volume.
"Aghh, it hurts," Happy groaned painfully in complaint, squeezing his eyes shut, "You two are the worst."
"No rude and or snarky comments prior to two o'clock will be appreciated," Adelaide said, sliding her juice over to him, "Juice?"
"And from the hands of the devil herself," he grumbled, swallowing down the rest of her glass. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. In his fluffy white robe and unkempt hair, he looked the most unprofessional she had ever seen him before. It was rare to catch Happy Hogan with out a full suit and tie, but right now, he looked shockingly like a hungover bunny.
"Take a painkiller, Happs," she insisted.
"No," he said immediately, "I've done this plenty of times before. I'll be fine. I just need some coffee." He began to stand up and she put a hand on his arm, stopping him. She jumped off of her high chair.
"Don't. I'll make the coffee, you go get dressed," she said. Happy looked genuinely appreciative.
"That's very nice, thank you," he said, slowly sliding out of his chair. He accusingly glared at the billionaire. "All these years and you never once made me coffee."
Tony grinned, shrugging, "In my defense, I'm raising her to not be me."
The big, hungover bunny looked like he approved and slowly walked out of the kitchen and back to his room to get dressed properly— aka: put on a suit and tie.
Adelaide waited until he was gone to reach into the medicine cabinet and pull out the bottle of painkillers. The billionaire watched her in amusement from his front for seat at the island as she grinded the little pill into a powder and then added it to the cup of coffee she made for him.
Who was he kidding? He was raising her to be exactly like him. And she was. Through and through, she was his copy.
When Happy came back from his shower and drank the whole cup of coffee, he instantly claimed to feel better. He told the billionaire multiple times that he was right and Tony just looked over at his daughter and smiled.
She was a Stark, there was no doubt about that.
—————
It was almost six o'clock. Peter would be here very soon.
But Adelaide had nothing to wear.
He had told her to wear something comfortable, but leave it up to boys to be vague. She ransacked her entire closet, finding nothing suitable for a first date. What were you even supposed to wear on a first date? She had never had one before.
In fact, Adelaide had never done any of this before. She didn't have the first clue on how she was supposed to behave now that she and Peter were dating. Sure, they had made things official and they were technically 'together' now, but she was new to this stuff. She didn't know what to do with things like this. It wasn't like she could go ask Pepper for advice since they had decided to keep their relationship a secret.
What were you supposed to do on a date? Could she still just behave as his friend or did she have to be his girlfriend? How was she supposed be his girlfriend exactly? And how much had to change between them now? Was he going to change? Was he going to behave like her boyfriend now?
She didn't want him to change. She liked him for the way he was. Just her Pete.
And that was when she spotted the little paper bag she had stashed in her closet weeks ago. She chewed the inside of her cheek, thinking about it. He had said wear something comfortable...Oh, what the hell. It was final.
She would just have to wear that.
—————
"You look happy," May noted as she walked into the kitchen that evening in her pajamas.
Peter stuffed something into his backpack before he looked over his shoulder to see his aunt walking into the kitchen. He grinned.
"And you look beautiful," he said, kissing her cheek as he walked past her. May gaped and then laughed to herself. He had to be joking. No one looked beautiful in fluffy bunny pajamas and a messy bun.
"Seriously, what is it? Wait — are you doing drugs?" she asked her nephew, turning around. She had never seen him so happy before. God, he was literally glowing. Something really was different about him.
"No, May, I'm not doing drugs," he laughed, pulling on his socks while hopping on one foot, "I'm just...happy."
"And why is that?" she smiled, leaning against the countertop. She loved seeing him like this, but she couldn't help but wonder what had suddenly made his nephew this happy. Even people actually doing drugs didn't look this happy. He leaned forward on the kitchen island, grinning as if he had just won the lottery. Which, he kinda had.
"Because," he said with a slightly boyish, slightly childish smile.
"That's not an answer," she said, raising her eyebrow and they had a little staring contest until Peter rolled his eyes.
"May, quit worrying, I'm fine," he said, walking over to her. She would believe him, except he hadn't stopped smiling in over a minute now. He held her shoulders, giving her a honest look. "I'm more than fine."
May tried to fight it but then she sighed.
"I always worry about you," she said, shaking her head. She absentmindedly fixed his hair. He was wearing cologne, she realized. He told her he was only going to Ned's for a sleepover.
"Well don't. Everything is going great. Better than great. It's perfect," he smiled. May narrowed her eyes at him.
"I have trouble believing that," she said and Peter chuckled, dropping his hands off of her shoulders to grab his backpack. He began to put on his shoes.
"Why won't you just tell me?" she asked, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. Peter shrugged, pulling on his other shoe.
"Because there's nothing to tell," he said plainly. May rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, that doesn't work with me. Fuss up," she said.
Uh-oh. That meant she was going into interrogation mode. And when she went into interrogation mode, she got the answers out of him one way or another. He had to get out of here and fast.
"I'm gonna be late," he said, making a break for the door, "Gotta go! Love you! Bye!"
"Peter!" May shouted after him but he had already ran out.
May frowned, staring at the door. He was hiding something for sure. And she was going to find out what it was.
For his sake, it better not be drugs.
—————
At exactly six o'clock, her phone buzzed on her bedside table.
Peter: Balcony
Adelaide rolled her eyes. What was it with him and balconies? She really hoped that he hadn't planned for their date to be on the balcony. Tony would catch them in seconds. Regardless, her stomach flooded with butterflies. He was here! She had been anxious to see him again ever since last night.
She was just about to have her very first date, wherever it was.
Putting her phone back down, she quickly fixed her hair in the mirror and hurried to the balcony before Tony got there first. Sure enough, she spotted him standing there against the railing with his back to her and looking over the city. He was wearing his Midtown sweatshirt and a pair of black sweatpants. Comfortable. His backpack was in his hands.
She assumed he had sensed her there because he turned around before she opened the door.
When Peter saw what she was wearing, he swore someone had stepped on his windpipe.
"Wh-What are you w-wearing?" Peter stuttered. She grinned.
"Do you like it?" she asked, stepping onto the balcony.
It was the red and blue Spider-Man onesie she had found when she was searching for a dress for the Winter Dance. If she pulled the hoodie over her head, it almost looked like she was wearing his suit. There was also a little black spider on the front, just where his spider emblem was on the suit.
"L-Like it?" he continued to stutter, swallowing as she stepped closer to him. He suddenly forgot his own name. He could feel his cheeks filling with color as his eyes grazed over her in the onesie. There was just something about seeing Ada in that. That onesie. That Spider-Man onesie. His stomach flipped like a pancake.
"You don't like it?" she asked quietly, the smile falling from her face. Peter blinked as if he was exiting some sort of trance. His lips parted.
"N-No," he said, "I...I love it. You look...great. Like really great."
Not just great, Peter thought to himself, you look ridiculously hot.
He couldn't get enough of her in that onesie. It made him feel some kind of way he had never felt before. It was almost...possessive? Ada was his girlfriend. She was Spider-Man's girlfriend. His.
Being Peter Parker suddenly became the coolest thing ever.
"I think you should wear this all the time," he mumbled, running his eyes over her again. At that, she smiled.
"That can be arranged, bugboy," she grinned. Peter let his backpack drop onto the floor and stepped close enough to take the hoodie and pull it over her head so it looked like she was wearing the mask too. He loosely hung his arms over her shoulders. She smelled like coffee and clean soap and he wanted to kiss her right then.
"Hi," he whispered softly, gently leaning his forehead against hers. She smiled and her blue eyes crinkled at their corners.
"Hi," she whispered back. She could stand there like that, looking up into his gorgeous brown eyes for hours, but she realized that there was a chance Tony could walk by and see them there. "So what's this date you have planned?"
"Well," he said softly, "I was thinking we could have dinner and a movie. And you would keep wearing that."
She frowned slightly, "You do remember I told you about the house arrest, right?"
"I do. That's why I brought our dinner and movie and we'll just have our date in your room where Mr. Stark won't see me here. And if things so south...well, you can control light so I think we'll be fine," he said. Adelaide couldn't help but smile.
"You really thought this through, huh?" she whispered.
"I wanted everything to be perfect," he mumbled quietly, absentmindedly curling a lock of her hair around his finger, "It is the first date after all. And I need to impress you enough to earn a second one."
"Well, it's already working," she smiled, "Come on, let's go before Tony sees us here."
Peter grabbed his backpack off the floor and then took Adelaide's outstretched hand, curling his fingers around it. With a shy smile, she led him into the penthouse, both of them now completely invisible. There was a brief moment when they heard Tony's voice speaking on the phone in the distant hallway, but it faded away and so she led Peter the rest of the way to her room. Once they were safely inside, she closed the door behind him and made them visible again.
Thank goodness she had tidied up her room before he came. Otherwise there would have been a number of clothes and bags strewn around the room and nowhere to sit.
"Do you have a lighter?" Peter suddenly asked her. She looked at him strangely.
"This a smoke-free zone, you know," she said. She opened the drawer from her bedside table and tossed the lighter to him.
"You're not going to burn down my room, are you?" she asked jokingly. He grinned suggestively.
"You know me so well," he said, "Okay, close your eyes."
"What?" she asked, "Why?"
"Just do it, I promise you'll love it," he insisted. She studied his face suspiciously for a moment before complying. Her ears immediately perked up. She could hear him shuffling around, getting things from his backpack. She heard the crinkle of paper and the sound of a fire being started (at which point she almost opened her eyes, but she couldn't smell any burning and she didn't want to ruin the surprise).
With every passing moment, she rightfully grew more nervous. There was a boy in her room that she was hiding from her family and they were on their first date and there was some sort of a fire. This would either end really well, or really terribly.
"Okay," she heard him say quietly, "You can open them."
The first thing she saw was that he had turned off the lights in the room. The only light was coming from a couple of small candles he had put down on the coffee table by her sofa. On the table, there were two hoagies, wrapped up in their paper with a few napkins off to the side. He had brought a movie with him— Die Hard, the ultimate Christmas movie. Peter himself was standing there beside it all with a nervous look on his face as if he wasn't sure if she would like all this.
"So?" he asked anxiously, "What do you think? Too much?"
Adelaide couldn't help the huge smile that took over her face.
"It's perfect," she said laughed quietly.
Peter let out a little relieved laugh. Then he held out his hand for her to take which she did. She loved holding his hand. His was much bigger than hers, but his fingers fit perfectly in the nooks and dips between hers. She suspected it was because of the spider bite, but his body always ran a little warmer than most people which was perfect on a wintry night like this.
Slowly, Peter led her over to the sofa behind the coffee table and she curled up there next to him. With Peter beside her and this immensely comfortable onesie around her, Adelaide felt the most comfortable she had in a while.
"Can I confess something?" Peter asked quietly, looking at their intertwined hands. She glanced at him. There was a little crease between his eyebrows in the glow of the candlelight as if he was thinking hard.
"Hm?"
"I don't...I've never...Ada, I've never actually done any of this before. The dates and the whole boyfriend thing. I don't really know how to do any of this. And I've definitely never...never been in love before. It's all new for me."
Adelaide stared at their hands, watching his thumb brush the back of her hand comfortingly.
"So what are you saying?" she asked quietly. He looked up at her, an honest look on his face.
"I'm saying that I want you to tell me if I screw something up," he whispered, the corner of his mouth slightly tugged upward in a quasi smile, "I really want us to work, Ada. After...all this, I can't go back to the way it was."
She smiled softly at him and then gently kissed his shoulder before leaning her head against it. She closed her eyes, feeling something warm and cozy bubbling inside her chest. She inhaled deeply.
"I want you to tell me if I screw something up too, you know," she whispered, staring at the flickering flame on the candle. He leaned his head against hers. "And Pete?"
"Hm?" he hummed softly.
"We're going to be great together, I just know it," she whispered. She could picture him smiling as he gently kissed the top of her head.
"I know," he murmured.
So then they ate their first dinner together as a couple and it was the best dinner she had ever had.
—————
After they were done eating, they curled up beside each other on the same sofa and started the movie.
Adelaide had thrown a pillow onto his lap and was lying down with her legs stretched out and head on the pillow. Peter was leaning back against the sofa. One hand was in her hair, gently caressing it while the other holding her hand which was resting against her stomach. It was the most comfortable he had ever felt. Her hair, which he had pictured himself running his through previously on an embarrassing number of occasions, was as soft as he had imagined.
It was so comfortable, in fact, that he could hardly pay attention to the movie (even when Bruce Willis did the whole gun-taped-to-his-back maneuver, which was his favorite scene in the whole movie) because his senses were heightened and all he could focus on was the feeling of Ada's stomach steadily rising and falling against their hands as she breathed. He could listen to her breathe for hours— even though it would be slightly creepy.
All he could think about was how pretty she looked with her hair tangled around his fingers like that and her blue eyes focused on the tv. His gaze slowly traveled down the length of her face, lingering on her lips. Ada was beautiful in every sense of the word.
It happened when the movie was almost over.
Peter suddenly felt the tingling on the back of his neck and he knew that he had to hide right now. Ada must have felt him go completely still because she frowned, turning her head to look up at him. When she saw the expression on his face, she immediately knew what was wrong.
"Hide!" she whispered and Peter desperately looked around for a good place to hide.
Just seconds before Tony opened the door, she realized that the leftover trash from their dinner looked like two people had been eating there. She quickly grabbed one of the sandwich wrappers in her hand and hid her hands behind her back. Just in time too, because Tony barged into the room without warning as usual. Adelaide didn't even have enough time to see if Peter was hidden yet.
"Have you ever heard of knocking?" she said, trying to keep her cool. It was really hard to not look over her shoulder to see where Peter was hiding.
"Nope. Must be an extraterrestrial thing from the planet you came from," he said. He glanced at the tv.
"You were watching Die Hard without me?" he asked, seriously offended, "And during Christmastime, too. Were you trying to hurt my feelings?"
"It's January second," she reminded him.
"It's still considered Christmastime," he said, "What else am I supposed to celebrate right now? January? There's nothing good about January. It's like celebrating Monday."
"What are you doing here, Tony?" she asked with a sigh.
"Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to watch a movie together, but I see that you're cheating on me so," he said, walking around the room. Suddenly, his eyes snapped to her.
"Wait a second, what are you wearing?" he asked. Her eyes widened slightly. Shit. "Did you join some kind of Spider-Man fanclub or something?"
"Um, no. Wh-What do you think I did?" she asked, hoping he would help her come up with the lie.
"I think you have completely lost your sense of fashion," he said. She shrugged.
"I-I guess I did," she mumbled.
When he turned his back, she glanced over her shoulder at the sofa. For a moment, she couldn't see Peter anywhere. And then, she spotted him. Hiding on the ceiling, tucked away in the corner. Her eyes widened. He winced in apology.
"Actually, I came in here because I needed some advice," he said, sitting down on the edge of her bed, completely oblivious to the whole thing. Adelaide looked over to see the billionaire was facing her, which meant he was facing Peter. She quickly rushed to the other side of the room as fast as she could without seeming obvious before Tony spotted her boyfriend hanging from the ceiling of her room.
"A-Advice?" she stuttered, trying to keep Tony looking at her. He picked at the thread on her comforter.
"You were right. I do need to propose to Pepper. But anything less than Malibu just isn't...big enough, you know? I want it to be subtle but classy. Like make the cover of the New York Times subtle. But like a candid photo classy. You follow?"
"Mhm, sure," she swallowed nervously. She most definitely did not follow, but that was how most conversations with Tony went.
"I'm open to ideas," he said. Adelaide tried to keep the panic off of her face.
"I-I really think this is something you need to figure out on y-your own, don't you?" she stuttered, "I mean, no one knows Pepper better th-than you do."
"You're right," he sighed, moving to lie down on the bed. Her eyes widened. If he lied down and looked up at the ceiling, it would be game over.
She let her instincts take over and let out a high-pitched scream, making the billionaire jump up a foot in the air in surprise. She could see from the corner of her eye that Peter gave her a what the hell look from across the room. She did her best to ignore him.
"C-Cockroach," she said with wide, terrified eyes. Tony narrowed his eyes.
"Since when are you afraid of insects?" he mumbled, glancing down at the floor around her for the bug. There was nothing. Adelaide was sure her heart had never raced this fast before.
"Uh, I-I thought you were," she said.
"You're confusing me with Happy," the billionaire mumbled, "Remember? Last Halloween? We put that fake roach in his pants?"
"O-Oh, right," she breathed, trying to steady her voice, "Anyway, you should go."
"Why do you want me out of here so bad?" he asked suspiciously. He almost began to look around the room for a giant clue like a stash of cocaine or a maybe even a boy she could be trying to hide in her room, but then Adelaide blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"Cramps!" she exclaimed a little to loudly. She could feel her face turning red with embarrassment when she realized what she had said. There was no getting off this train now. "It's— I-I'm having cramps."
Tony pursed his lips awkwardly and stood up from the bed, taking the hint. When it came to girls — especially teenage ones — they were always so unpredictable during those times, it was hard to tell if they were feeling an overwhelming amount of love for you or if they wanted to kill you. Sometimes, somehow, it was a bit of both.
"I'm gone," he said, heading towards the door. Adelaide had almost closed the door behind him when he poked his head through.
"Do you need anything? Like sanitary napkins or chocolates—"
"Tony," she mumbled in embarrassment.
"—or even a heating pad. I know where Pepper keeps hers. Or maybe an Advil," he continued.
Adelaide felt her face heating up more by each passing second. She was on her first date, in her room. Her boyfriend was hanging from the ceiling to hide from her dad and she was discussing her menstruation problems with him. Could this possibly get any worse?
She should have known better than to ask.
"What's wrong? Is Adelaide okay?" Happy asked when he saw the billionaire standing there. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
"She's having cramps," Tony told him. Happy came to stand beside him.
"Menstrual cramps?" Happy asked. Adelaide had to fight the urge to shut the door on both of their faces.
"She's on her...cycle," Tony whispered.
"Oh, my god," she suddenly groaned. She couldn't believe this was happening to her right now. Especially with Peter literally hanging from her bedroom ceiling, hearing everything clearly. "Please leave. Both of you. I'm begging you."
"You know, I've heard drinking ginger ale can relieve menstrual cramps," Happy said. Tony nodded.
"Oh, good one. I've heard that too," he said. Adelaide wanted to die. Have a hole open up in the earth and swallow her completely.
"Heating pads also help," Happy said as if he had memorized the solution manual for cramps. Fall in the center of the earth and get melted by molten lava.
Tony's face lit up, "I said that one too!" Die and completely forget that this conversation ever, ever happened.
"On a scale of one to ten, how bad are your menstrual cramps?" Happy asked. She glared at him.
"Please stop saying menstrual cramps," she said. She had had enough humiliation to last her a lifetime. And then some more.
"Why?" Happy asked, "That's the medical term for them. Cramps could be anything. Menstrual cramps let's everyone know what kind."
Adelaide was sorry she was ever born.
But there was only one way to force these two idiots out of her room.
"PEPPER!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"What?" she shouted back from what sounded like the living room.
"They're bothering me about my cramps again!" she said.
"Tony! Happy, we talked about this!" she shouted. Both men looked at each other.
"We were just trying to help," Tony shrugged.
"Tony," she said, stopping him from humiliating her further, "Thank you, but I am fine. I'm just going to go to bed, alright? And I don't need anything so please don't come back in here again."
"What if you need some—"
"Tony!" shouted Pepper.
"—It'll be like I'm not even in the house," he finished with a smile.
And then she finally closed the door behind them.
Peter waited for a few seconds until the billionaire's footsteps faded away down the hall before he let himself down from the ceiling. Adelaide let out a breath, leaning back against the door and closing her eyes. If she looked in a mirror right now, she was certain her face would have been brighter than a tomato. She covered her face with her hands.
After a few seconds, somehow, she gathered the courage to peek through her fingers.
Peter was sitting on the sofa, leaning his arms forward on his knees. His face was slightly red too as he stared at the rug.
"Um...are you...do you have...cramps?" he asked awkwardly. She groaned in embarrassment.
"No," she said, "I...I don't. I just said that so he would leave. I didn't think he would actually...you know."
"Right," Peter said. The movie was playing the credits now. "So is Mr. Stark really proposing to Pepper?"
"Yeah," she said, leaning back against the door as she stared up at the ceiling, "He was going to in Malibu but then I..."
"Yeah," Peter said, remembering. Then the conversation ended abruptly and silence casted over them. Not just any silence— awkward silence. The worst type known to mankind. Adelaide would have rather taken an anvil to the head than live through this type of awkward silence. She had a feeling Peter felt the same.
"Pete...I'm sorry. This didn't completely ruin the mood, did it?" she asked, knowing the answer was yes but hoping he'd say no.
"Honest answer or sugar-coated one?" he asked, finally looking up at her. She winced.
"Sugar-coated?" she said unsurely.
Peter tried to sugar-coat his answer, but she must have read the look on his face because she groaned into her hands again, coming over to sit beside him. She held her head in her hands.
"It's weird now, isn't it?" she mumbled, her voice muffled by her hands. Peter smiled when she looked at him.
"A bit, yeah," he said, shrugging with one shoulder. She laughed a bit, dropping her gaze.
"Sorry," she said, taking his hand into hers, "Everything was going so well."
Peter didn't say anything for a moment. He just watched as she traced the blue veins running through the back of his hand with her finger. Even a featherlight touch from her felt incredible.
"I have an idea," he whispered.
"Yeah?" she said distractedly. He reached into the pocket of his sweats for his phone and quickly pulled up what he was looking for. Then, he stood up, taking Ada's hand and pulling her up with him. She watched him curiously as he slowly led her to an open space in the room.
He felt for a button on his phone from the outside of his sweats' pocket and suddenly, quiet music began playing from it.
"Wise men say...only fools rush in..."
Adelaide caught his brown eyes and let out a quiet laugh. She bit her lip, settling for a smile that felt bigger than her face. Peter rested both of his hands on her hips. They were warm. She loosely hung her arms around his neck, letting her fingers occasionally and teasingly brush against the nape of his neck. He smiled, pulling her closer.
"But I can't help...falling in love..."
"With you," Peter sang quietly under his breath. Slowly, he began moving her around their makeshift dance floor. She held onto him, never once letting go of his love-filled gaze. Her smile filled up her eyes and her heart.
"Shall I stay? Would it be a sin?"
Peter took her hand and spun her around, making her laugh. Adelaide stepped back in front of him with her hands flat on his chest as he held her waist and continue to slowly sway them both side to side.
"If I can't help...falling in love...with you."
Closing her eyes, she rested her head against his chest. She could feel him moving his arms around her until he was cradling her against him. Her ear was pressed against right where his heart was and she could hear it beating softly. She felt butterflies erupt in her stomach at the feeling. Peter leaned down and buried his face into the crook of her neck.
And they continued to dance in that position until the song faded to an end.
Yet, they still couldn't seem to just quite let go of each other. So they stopped dancing but stood there that way until their hearts were full enough of this moment.
"Pete..." she whispered as she felt his heart beating against her cheek just slightly faster. He inhaled deeply.
"Hm?" he hummed softly.
Slowly, she pulled her face back slightly to look up at him. The boy peered down at her, brown eyes looking into blue ones. In the soft glow of the candlelight and the beautiful look on his face — one that said I haven't felt anything like this before, how can a feeling be so powerful? — Adelaide couldn't help but wish but freeze this moment forever.
Peter swallowed as he looked down at the girl in his arms. He thought about all they had fought through just to have a moment like this one. All those times he had wished to the stars in the sky that he could hold her like this, just for a moment. How they had somehow, against every odd, found each other.
And he never wanted to let go.
Slowly, Peter's heavy gaze traveled down from her blue eyes to her flushed cheeks and finally to her soft lips that were slightly parted. He barely even felt himself leaning in until his lips brushed against hers. He felt his entire chest explode with a feeling that could only be described as sunlight. Then he closed the very small distance between them and pressed his lips against hers.
He felt like he was experiencing the event of the birth of a new star in the galaxy when Ada's mouth moved gently against his. It was a feeling he couldn't explain— not because he couldn't find the words, but because putting this feeling into words would only disrespect it.
All the languages of the world failed to describe how it felt when she slowly moved her hands from his chest up to the back of his neck and tangled her fingers in his curls. He loved the way it felt when she tugged his hair when they kissed. No amount of magic or song could explain the feeling when Ada pushed herself onto her toes and pressed her small body against his just to kiss him more deeply. Even the greatest poets in the world couldn't define the emotion that Peter felt when Ada made that soft sigh of satisfaction in the back of her throat.
Because no matter how many times he kissed her, it wouldn't be enough. And no matter how many times he felt her lips molding so perfectly against his, it would always feel like the first time.
And just when Peter thought his heart wasn't capable of containing any more emotion, Ada softly whispered,
"I love you."
In just three little words, she had managed to take his breath away. To make his heart flutter like a hummingbird's wings. To make his soul inside him dance with joy. In just one breath, Ada had made all the other words in the dictionary seem incomparable to those three she had just said now.
Even heaven and hell were just a jumble of letters compared to when Ada said I love you.
Because Ada's I love you was more important than the sun rising every day. Because hearing I love you from her lips was like hearing music for the first time. Because each time she said I love you, Peter lost a little more of his heart to the girl in his arms.
Peter truly felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have Ada love him.
"I love you too," he whispered, his eyes running over her face again, drinking her in. The corners of her eyes crinkled slightly.
She took a step back with a shy smile on her face and his hand in hers. Peter watched her curiously as she slowly led him through her room. He didn't care where she took him as long as she was right there with him. She stopped by the sofa and sat down. Eyes never leaving hers, Peter did the same.
She put her hand on his chest and then, slowly, she leaned forward until their lips met once again. Adelaide led the kiss this time, letting her hand on his chest wander up to hold his face in the palm of her hand. Peter leaned back into the sofa as she leaned forward. Her hair fell past her shoulders, tickling his cheek. She felt his warm hands on her hips, not moving unless she wanted them to.
Not long after, Peter's lips roamed away from hers. She felt his mouth against the corner of hers and then again on her cheek. With each kiss, Adelaide felt herself getting more and more lost in a fire that seemed to consume her from the inside. When he pressed his lips to the corner of her jaw, just below her ear, she nearly forgot how to breathe for a moment. The feeling of his warm breath trailing against her neck set her skin ablaze.
Slowly, she felt Peter putting slight pressure on her hips as if to gesture her to lean back and she obliged, leaning back until her head was resting on the armrest and Peter was hovering above her. The warm, golden glow of the candlelight cast high-rising shadows on his face, sculpting him to look nothing short of a god. Yet, he looked nervous.
"Is this okay?" he whispered. Feeling too nervous to speak, she reached up and cupped his face with her hand, slowly leading him to her lips. He held himself up with one arm digging into the sofa and the other cupping her waist, fingers curled underneath to hold her back.
She pulled away from the kiss for a moment, looking up at him in wonder. She swallowed.
"I uh...I worked on something for you," she whispered.
"Yeah?" he whispered back. She swallowed.
"Я люблю вас," she whispered (I love you), "I-It means I love you."
"Ada..." he breathed.
"When you...you spoke in Russian it just reminded me of all the violence I've heard in that language," she swallowed, "But then...I remembered that um, my...my mother s-spoke in Russian too and when she spoke it...it always sounded so comfortable to me. So I-I realized that um, that part of my past isn't all terrible. You reminded me how beautiful the language sounded when my mother spoke it a-and that's the only part of my past that I want to remember."
"I'm sure your mother was a great woman," he said. She smiled.
"She was the best. And she would have loved you," she whispered, cupping his face.
"Я люблю вас," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her again.
So they let themselves experience love for the first time. The kind of love that came in kisses that made them forget their own name and the kind of love that came in the silence of a dark room that was filled with I love you's and quiet breaths so delicate it's as if they were their first.
Because for the first time, those two kids learned what it meant to feel happy.
And it felt magical.
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Time seemed to pass differently when Peter was here.
Because all too soon, it was time for him to leave. Saying goodbye to him had never felt this difficult before.
They stood there on the balcony, not quite willing to let go of each other just yet.
"I had fun tonight," she whispered, smiling as she looked up at him. His arms pulled her closer to his chest.
"Me too," he smiled, "So does this mean I get a second date?" Adelaide laughed quietly.
"I guess it does, bugboy," she said.
"Good," he whispered, kissing her again. This time, much more slowly as if he never wanted it to end. He pulled back slightly and let his nose brush against hers. "I really, really don't want to go."
"And I really, really want you to stay," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his. He didn't reply for a while. For a while, they both just listened to the sounds of the city and breathed.
"Goodnight, Ada," he whispered. She replied by stealing one last kiss from him.
Then, he stepped back, shot a web from the balcony, and swung off.
Adelaide sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. She already missed the heat of his body. Without him around, the colorful lights in the city seemed dull. She hid her face into her shoulder, smiling to herself. God, she was a lost cause. He was gone for two seconds and she already didn't know what to do with herself.
Just as she was about to turn around and go back inside, she felt the world spin around her, and then she crashed against someone. Before she could say anything, she felt Peter's mouth kissing hers again. He scooped her up into his arms and kissed her so deeply that she felt her feet being lifted off the ground. Slowly, he let her down and let his eyes wander over her face as if trying to memorize the way she was looking at him.
"Sorry," he grinned, slightly out of breath, "Couldn't help myself." Adelaide smiled at him and pushed herself onto her toes to kiss his cheek.
"Goodnight, love," she whispered in his ear, unknowingly sending tingles down his spine.
Peter stepped back with a ridiculous grin on his face and swung all the way home just like that.
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A/N: you thought this chapter was cute? just wait, things are only gonna get cuter
so i moved to my dorm on monday and today is my first day of classes but...i'm kinda feeling homesick already and i miss my family :(( but it's okay cause my roommate is amazing and we get along so well!! like yesterday we literally stayed up till one am just talking lol
uni life has been good to me so far, i've met a few really friendly people and i'm super excited to meet more as i continue to ignore my social anxiety haha
anyway, the next few chapters are just really focused on their relationship getting started so expect a lot of cute and romantic scenes because we all know that peter parker is a hopeless romantic
question: favorite part of the date?
see you guys next week!! 💛