NORMALLY, RECOVERING FROM accidentally whimpering someone else's name in the middle of a make-out session would be hard, but Nina had supernatural powers, and the moment Matty pulled away, eyes wide in shock and confusion, her eyes glowed a bright white - and two seconds after that, he couldn't remember a single thing.
That happened a week ago. To everyone else, that moment never happened; life went on - Matty was acting normally, bringing her the iced coffee and bagel combo every morning before school started, Alaska, who was seriously starting to steal the title for being Nina's favorite person was being the baddest bitch as usual, and Betty continued to walk with her to Delmar's three times a week after school.
But to Nina, that moment replays in her head again and again like an annoying broken record.
It was killing her.
She should've gotten over Peter now, right? It's been a year. She avoided him. She did her part. She forced herself to not think of him (although that ideal made her seem to think of him more that usual) But no ounce of her brain could fathom why the girl couldn't let go of that stupid crush on him.
Sure, she saved him once, but besides that, Peter was nothing to her - so why on earth was she so hung up on the curly haired boy? There was nothing special about him; honestly, she should be enamored by Alaksa by now because Betty was right - she was definitely her type and was probably the most attractive person Nina knew - so why Peter?
It was weird because the annoyance towards the boy was still there; whenever she'd pass by him in her strip spot, a surge of annoyance would pass through her due to the fact that she had to compromise something that was hers for him. When Tony would talk about him whenever she passed by the compound, he annoyed her due to the fact that the older man was completely mesmerized by his science skills and there she was - Midtown High, a high school meant for gifted and talented students in STEM, yet Nina was unable to open her phone at times because she would deem them too high tech. When she'd hear Matty gush about him due to the fact that he was in the robotics club with Peter, she'd feel a surge of anger.
It wasn't as prominent as before - when she would literally lose her mind over any mention of Peter, but even though Nina now tolerated him and considered them to be on okay terms, there's a small, inkling part of her that was still annoyed at him.
Was it normal? Was she normal? Okay, maybe the latter question was redundant. But the first...
That morning, Nina remembers turning around towards where she knows Peter's locker is at - she's caught him staring a bit too much times, and the irony of it all almost made her laugh; there she was, taking in his appearance: his brown hair with the smallest curls, big honey eyes talking to one of his friends (was it Michelle?) animatedly, and his wonky eyebrow that Nina always wanted to smooth down so it'd look like the other one.
How does one person want to strangle someone's neck out and kiss them at the same time?
spider-boy: i think we should add a new rule
spider-boy: no staring at peter at school
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Nina glanced at her teacher for a moment, making sure that he was busy, before her fingers hurriedly typed out a response.
nina: oh fuck you i wasnt staring at you. alaska pointed out something about ur shirt and the two of us have been making fun of you for days
spider-boy: sure
Rolling her eyes, Nina types out another response. Great. Now she's made his head bigger than it already was.
nina: what i'm being serious
spider-boy: i didnt say anything nina
The girl decides that she'd deal with him later, shutting her phone off as she glances at the girl next to her; Alaska was playing with her pencil, which reminded her of something once more.
nina: i can read ur tone through the phone
nina: whatever. take my patrolling shift later i'm going w/ alaska
spider-boy: what, no! i covered for you a bunch of times last week
nina: i was on my period. i was in pain. and i committed to alaska months ago
spider-boy: no
nina: u used to do it alone cant you do it for one more day
Nina bites her lip, trying to hide the scowl on her face as she types out the next text.
nina: please, peter?
It takes a few seconds before the boy finally replies - which was a bit lengthy compared to their fast paced conversation minutes ago, but her phone finally lets out a ping.
spider-boy: yeah sure fine
"Who are you talking to, Nina? You're blushing." Betty smirks, nudging Nina's shoulder.
"I am not!" Nina retorted, in retrospect far more childishly than she usually would have, but even as the words spilled from her mouth she could feel heat rising to her traitorous cheeks.
Betty giggled softly, "Yeah, right."
"I gotta give it to Matty, though." Alaska buts in, appearing out of nowhere, complete with that teasing smile and mischievous glint of hers. "You're acting like a fucking child, twirling your hair and all over a text."
"Shut up," Nina groans, a spike of guilt bubbling over in her chest, "You're so overdramatic."
"Miss Viotto? Miss Brant? Miss Kulkrani?" Their AP English teacher, some dude Nina didn't even brother to know, jumps the brewing conversation between the three of them - just as Nina shoves her phone in her pocket in case the teacher makes a giant deal about it. "Is there anything you three would like to share with the class?"
"We were just discussing about how you're such an amazing teacher, sir." Nina states in a sickly-sweet tone, crossing her fingers in front of her as Alaska sniggers beside her. "You're such an inspiration to us three that we got a little excited. Sorry, sir."
The nasty look on his face disappears, replaced with a small smile. "That's - that's nice, Ms. Viotto. But now we need to continue with the lesson."
The teacher jumps back into his lesson with his mood way better than he first was; Betty and Alaska smiling softly at the fact that they had gotten off scot free.
...
Alaska was a rich girl.
Now that Nina had finally stepped in her home for the first time, she had realized that Alaska was a very rich girl, but unlike her during her sophomore year, she didn't flaunt her money relentlessly for validation from her schoolmates.
Sure, when Alaska brought Nina and Betty over to the suburbs, the two of them sort of figured out that their friend was well off. But now that they were in it, they couldn't help but gawk.
"The lower floor is usually occupied by storerooms and barns, so this is the ceremonial room where mom and dad receive guests." Alaska tells them, walking in the second floor.
From the Gujarati Bandhani to silk woollen carpets from Kashmir - Nina smiles at the sight. It's beautiful. The bright sunshine yellow wall made the whole place look homey and warm: the ethnic water mark based designs in light and dark hues of beige, and a deep blue border with Urdu words printed in white... there were no other words to describe it but beautiful.
"I'm never brining you two to my apartment. This is the prettiest place I've ever stepped into." Nina comments, remembering how boring her two bedroom apartment (technically, Tony's) look in comparison to this.
"Do I look okay? Do I look weird?" Betty questions, straightening out her skirt as she looked at her two friends for validation.
"You look like a mini Christiane Amanpour, as usual." Nina teases the girl - Betty takes it as a compliment, though.
"Well you look like a hot hooker," Betty shoots back (all in good nature, of course), as she eyes Nina's outfit - ridiculously short white shorts and a very revealing top. "I seriously can't believe you haven't gotten dressed coded in that when Mr. Park got mad at me for showing my shoulders."
"The dress code system in our school is shit," Alaska mumbles, tone dark, as she peers around the house to catch a sight of her parents. "I once saw a senior boy practically shirtless and they get mad at us for showing shoulders? Jesus."
Nina nodded along, making a little mental note in her head to do something about it when she comes back to school the next day.
"Also, don't worry about looking like a hooker—"
"I don't look like a hooker!"
"My parents are super religious but they're really chill. They wouldn't care about what you're wearing," Alaska reassured her, eyes widening when she sees the two people come in with bright smiles. "They're the most important people in my life so I hope to god that you both make great impressions cause if not I'm literally going to shit my p—"
"Alaska, dear." God, even her mom's voice sounded rich. "Introduce us to your friends."
Alaska, one of the rowdiest people Nina knew, suddenly stood pin-straight, a beaming smile on her face as she pointed to her parents. "Nina, Betty - this is my mom and this my dad."
"Hello, Mister and Miss Kulkrani," Nina's eyes brightened, a tactic she used whenever she'd meet someone's parents to create a great impression. "It's lovely to meet you."
"Nina and I heard great things about you two," Betty stated, bubblegum pink lips curling into a smile. It wasn't even a lie to get into their good graces; Alaska loved her parents. She really did - but Nina still thought that it was bullshit. With the way she described her relationship with her family was too good to be true, but for her friend's sake, she pretended to be completely enamored.
"This is Betty - I told you, she's president of a bunch of clubs at school and she's in the school paper," Alaska explained that she would have to advertise them, for some reason, and as she pointed to Nina, the other girl felt her heart stop. "This is Nina and—"
"The famous Nina," the woman smiles gently, "I've heard a lot about you from Georgina."
Seeing the surprised look on her face, Alaska takes it as an initiative to lean closer to the girl. "Seems like lover-boy has been talking about you to his mama."
There it is again. The weight in her conscience, latching onto her heart and dragging it into the bottom of the ocean.
"You work at Stark Industries, right?" Alaska's father questions her with a thoughtful look on his face.
"I do." Great. They hate me. Ever since she was announced as Tony Stark's personal intern, a lot of people have been quippy at her, and since Nina could read people like books, she knew exactly what they were thinking; she doesn't deserve the internship. Which was true, considering that the internship was just a cover up for something bigger, but god, why was she getting all the shit when Peter ran around scot free with people praising his ass all the time and she—
"That's amazing. And how old are you?"
As she masked her genuine surprise with a smile, Nina squeezed Alaska's hand for moral support. "I'm sixteen, sir."
"What an amazing achievement at such a young age," the stern, stiff looking man stated, straightening his shirt cuffs. "My personal intern is thirty."
Nina could hardly imagine she lived and joked around with one of the most renowned billionaires today, sparing with a bunch of high tech robots every once in a while, and had faced off against HYDRA and a few members of the Maggia a few months ago, but in the presence of her best friend's parents, she was rendered into a puddle of nerves.
"Okay..." Alaska mumbles, unsure on why her father had to mention that piece of information that had no use whatsoever. "Let's jump Nina with our questions later. The three of us are cooking dinner."
The next few hours feel incredibly domestic, a strange feeling in comparison of what Nina usually faced each day: run around New York, occasionally get overpowered and beat up, go to the compound, train, go back to school - but the feeling of warmth in her chest blossoming as Alaska showed them how to cook a bunch of meals in the kitchen made her crave for more.
It was a nice feeling. Cooking Kheema Paratha with her two closest friends felt much more amazing than getting her ass beat by gang members or even training at the compound.
There used to be a time when Nina genuinely believed she'd be alone for the rest of her life. After the crap the Illiana put her through, she believed she was just too tainted to be good for much of anything beyond the girl who did her dirty work for her mother, and even that she didn't believe she deserved. During the past year, it was tough, trying to keep her head held up high as she did her duties with Tony and hung out with her friends when all she wanted to do was crumble under the weight of what happened to her.
But then, she had Tony. Then she had Pepper and Vision and occasionally Rhodey - and her friends; Betty and Alaska who were probably the only people in the whole school who knew the real her - but something... something felt missing.
That missing piece was something Nina shoved in the back of her mind and tried to never think of again - something she always did whenever she had a problem. She did it with Peter. She did it with Matty. She did it with Samara. She did it with Illiana and Valeria - so that feeling wasn't new to her.
For the longest time, Nina couldn't figure out what that missing piece was. But now, after spending a night with her best friend, watching her interact with her parents, she realized what it was.
As she watched Alaska laugh along with her mother, giggling over some picture, she realized that she was jealous.
Shamefully, painfully jealous.
She's jealous of Alaska, of Betty, of anyone who has a mom they can call for help and not beat her up over the smallest inconvenience, a sister who comes to visit and who isn't trotting halfway across the globe, a dad who gives pony rides.
She's jealous that Alaska has people commenting on the pictures of her, wanting pictures her from her parents. She's jealous that people are not only excited to see her, but grateful to her parents for brining her over.
She's sad that she doesn't have that support, doesn't have that help, doesn't have that level of connection.
She's sad that she doesn't have what Alaska has. She's resentful that her friend doesn't even know how good she has it, that she doesn't know what a dream she's living in to be surrounded by people who love and long for her.
She's angry that she has more than enough while she has none.
It's not her fault that she has what Nina wants and enjoy what she never knew she craved until now. It's not her fault that she has such a wonderful support system.
The moment before she goes back home, she watches Alaska's dad hug her daughter for no apparent reason except just to give her a hug, and the blue eyed man pops up in her head for a minute before she walks out.
...
Nina was not a patient person. The traffic in New York was insane, especially at the time, and she was well aware of the undiscovered species laying in the train station so there was absolutely no way she was stepping in a train.
So how else can you go home without the promise of traffic except for the help of Spider-Man, right?
"I had to swing you from the Bronx to here and cover up your areas — don't look at me like that, I was just trying to say that the least you can do is give me a bottle of water."
Maybe it was because he was covered up with his mask, or that he saved her from hours of traffic, but the presence of Peter Parker didn't piss her off. "What's the magic word, Spidey?"
"Give me a bottle of water or I'll get it myself."
Nina gives him a look, which makes the boy sigh, knowing that she has - yet again - got through him. "Please?"
"Stay here and don't take a step inside," Nina tells the boy, eyeing him as he tethered along the window, eyes dancing around the room. "I'm serious. Stay there and don't move."
Peter rolls his eyes underneath the mask in the knowledge that Nina wouldn't see it. "Yes, Ma'am."
With a nod, Nina holds the plastic bag tighter (it contained Tupperware's of food that Alaska's parents insisted she'd bring home, not that she was complaining) and walked over towards the kitchen with the full intent of handing Peter a bottle, until she feels a set of eyes on her.
Not a set. Two sets.
And somehow, without turning around, she knows who they belong to.
"What are you two doing here?" Nina questions as she grabs a water bottle, despite the small part of her brain already knowing the answer.
"I told you I'd know, Nina." His distinct accent quips in a tone she was awfully familiar with.
"You're not... you're not mad at me?"
"We have no reason to be mad at you. None of this was your fault and you needed some time, dear."
Nina swallowed her bitter disappointment, only wishing Illiana could've understood her like this - with her, it was always get beaten up if you disagree - and the fact that she was given time to process her own thoughts brought a warmth to her chest.
"I need to hand this water bottle to someone..." Nina tries her hardest not to break into a smile, causing an odd, crooked line to form on her face. With that, she takes the Tupperware's off the plastic bag, gently pushing them towards the blonde woman and the blue eyed man. "But... uh... I bought food, so.... let's have dinner... or something."
...
NOTES: chapter five aka domestic bliss aka nina gets a fucking break!!
next chapter is set in three months... which means yk infinity war soon 🤞🏽🤞🏽