CHAPTER FOURTEEN
❝ the eyes never lie ❞
STILL IN HER pajamas, Aster walked out of the guest room in Rhodey's apartment that Saturday morning. She yawned and walked into the kitchen, not expecting to see a familiar face having coffee with him in the living room.
She froze, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Pepper?"
Pepper and Rhodey stopped their hushed conversation to turn toward her. Pepper warmly smiled, standing to greet her. "Hi, sweetheart."
Even though she was shocked, Aster still reciprocated Pepper's hug. She hadn't seen her since she and Tony broke up over a year prior.
"I didn't know you were back in New York," Aster breath with a smile on her face.
Pepper pulled away and that was when Aster got a good look at her. She was still the same as she remembered, dressed in a white skirt suit that complimented her long strawberry blonde hair perfectly. It brought Aster back to the good old days. "I wasn't. But a little birdy told me you need a dress for your Homecoming dance."
Aster turned to Rhodey and squinted at him suspiciously. He chuckled, placing his coffee down on the table. "Don't get me wrong, kid, I would love to take you shopping. But this isn't really my area of expertise."
Handing Aster an iced coffee and a small pastry bag, Pepper shoed her off. "Eat and get dressed. Happy is waiting in the car."
───
As it turned out, Pepper had rented out an entire boutique for Aster to try on dresses.
It was a warm but breezy fall day, perfect for the dance that night. Aster entered the small shop with her mouth hanging open, scanning the hundreds of dresses to pick through. "Wow."
"Your size should be over on this rack," Pepper said, pointing at the array of dresses to their left.
Both of them looked through the dresses, chatting and picking out different ones for Aster to try on. She didn't have any particular color or style in mind, so it was fair game.
Aster would be lying if she said she wasn't excited about the opportunity to dress up. She had gone to a few of Tony's galas and parties he threw for the Avengers, but other than that, she usually lived in tactical suits or training clothes.
Since she started at Midtown, she was able to have some freedom over what she wore. She swapped her uniforms for leggings and sweaters and honestly, she loved it.
When Aster started trying dresses on, she realized it would be harder to pick than expected. She favored the shorter dresses since it was Homecoming and not Prom, and when it came to the color, she had her eye on one the entire time.
In the dressing room, Aster saved her favorite dress for last. It was a short, tight satin dress that fit her like it was made for her. And best of all, it was pale blue. The same blue that her powers were.
Aster pulled the curtain back and stepped out of the dressing room, trying to stifle the smile on her face. She stepped up on the platform surrounded by mirrors, doing a small twirl for Pepper. "What do you think about this one?"
Pepper was sitting on a velvet couch in the boutique, staring at Aster adoringly. She tilted her head with a wistful smile on her face. "Aster, you look beautiful. I don't... When did you grow up?"
Laughing, Aster shrugged. "We haven't seen each other in a while. Maybe I had a growth spurt?"
The look in Pepper's eyes grew sad at her words. "I'm sorry I haven't been around. It's just..." she trailed off, trying to find the right words. "I needed some time away."
"From Tony," Aster stated, though it came out more like a question.
With a nod, Pepper pursed her lips. "Tony and I have always disagreed over his lifestyle. I understand how special Iron Man is to him and I'd never ask him to walk away, but when he promised me he was done with that life, I was hoping there was a chance he truly was. But then he built Ultron and... I couldn't get over it that time."
Aster went to sit next to Pepper. From what the young brunette had observed, the couple had been having issues since Tony's mansion in Malibu was destroyed and he was presumed dead for a few days. Aster was supposed to visit that weekend but was sent away on an assignment with Natasha and Steve instead. Because of how off the grid the mission was, the three of them didn't even know it had happened until after they got back. "He hasn't been the same since you've been gone."
Pepper looked over at her with a small smile. "He told me about what happened between you two."
Surprised, Aster's lips parted. "You guys have been talking again?"
"Well, it was unintentional," Pepper insisted with a small shake of her head. "He and I were at that wedding in India together. It was for a mutual friend from Stark Industry years ago. And I wasn't planning on talking to him at first but I wanted to make sure he was okay after everything with the Accords. I wanted to ask him about the team, about you." Aster smiled softly. Pepper always cared about her, ever since Aster was ten years old. "It felt nice to talk to him again. It felt..."
"Right?" Aster finished her sentence.
Slowly nodding, Pepper agreed, "Right. Anyways, last night he told me about the argument you two had. And I'm gonna be honest, I've never seen him more upset."
Aster sighed. "I know I made him mad—"
"No, no," Pepper interrupted her. "He wasn't mad at you. He was mad at himself. And he should be. But honey, he would never let anyone take you away from him. He was so excited to tell me he adopted you, he would never give that up."
Aster let her eyes fall to her hands, picking at her nails anxiously. "I know. He's just been gone a lot and I feel like it's my fault."
Pepper tilted her head. "Aster, I was with him when he found out you were in that elevator at the Washington Monument. For a moment, he forgot you were Starlight. He forgot you had powers that you could protect yourself with if needed. When he heard you were in danger, you were his daughter and that was all that mattered."
She took in Pepper's words for a long moment. Daughter. She had been a daughter once before but the word never felt right. Not until she was referenced to as Tony's.
"We both said some pretty bad things," Aster murmured.
"I know. And he's giving you the space you deserve because he doesn't want to ambush you." A wry smile made its way onto Pepper's face. "Tony has messed up a lot with me. But when he messes up with you, he feels like his world is ending."
Aster appreciated Pepper's transparency. She wasn't afraid to tell someone when they were in the wrong and that was exactly what she did with Tony. "I'll talk to him. I just think I need a little more time."
Pepper placed a perfectly manicured hand over Aster's and gave it a light squeeze. "Take all the time you need. How about we worry about getting you some shoes to match this dress first?"
Smiling, Aster stood and smoothed the satin down. "You think this is the one?"
"I can tell by the look on your face that this one is your favorite," Pepper mentioned. "And it's my favorite too. Everything about it fits you perfectly."
Aster blushed, looking at herself in the mirror. "I should probably tell Henry what color tie to get so that we can match," she thought out loud, shuffling back to the couch to pick up her phone. When she opened the messages app, a picture that Peter had texted her popped up. It was him in a suit and misshapen tie, with a message attached begging for her to help him learn how to tie one.
"Tony would freak out if he knew you have a date." Approaching Aster with a few pairs of sparkly silver heels in her hands, Pepper raised an eyebrow at the smile on the teenager's face. Her eyes flickered down to Aster's phone and she teased, "Is he the reason you have a smile on your face right now?"
Swiping out of the picture, Aster adamantly shook her head. "No, I'm just... texting a friend."
Why did it feel like that was a lie?
───
Liz invited Aster over that night so that they could get ready for Homecoming together.
Aster had never had a girl's night with someone her own age. Sure, she had done plenty with Natasha, Pepper, and Wanda, but never had she been able to have one as a true high school girl.
It was fun.
Liz painted her nails and they both took turns doing each other's makeup. Liz curled Aster's hair for her and Aster helped Liz clasp her jewelry pieces on. And when both of them put their dresses on, they each told each other how beautiful the other looked.
They were simply being girls together. For about an hour, Aster let go of all her worries and let herself be a teenager.
A soft knock reverberated through Liz's wooden door. Her mom twisted the knob and pushed the door open, just enough so that she could stick her head through. She had been bringing Liz and Aster snacks and drinks as they got ready. Liz and Henry's dad brought the latter out to grab his suit, so Aster hadn't met him yet.
"Henry and Peter are here," Liz's mom told them with a bright smile on her face. "You two look beautiful. Those boys are so lucky."
Liz blushed and fixed her hair in the mirror, twisting around to view her stunning red dress from the back. "Mom."
"What? I'm serious. They better treat both of you right."
Aster giggled and smiled back at her, smoothing her hands down her blue satin dress. "Thank you."
Doris disappeared from the door, leaving it open as an invitation to go downstairs. Liz grabbed her phone and shoes, glancing over at Aster questioningly. "You ready?"
Nodding, Aster grabbed her things. "Yeah, I'm just gonna put on some more lip gloss. You go ahead."
When Liz left to go downstairs, Aster stayed in her room for another minute. She studied herself in the mirror, carefully pulling her curled hair over her shoulders and touching up her makeup. Her eyes fell to the silver star pendant on her chest and her heart ached with how badly she missed the rest of her family. She could picture all of them with their cameras out, complaining about how fast she was growing up.
After a moment, Aster took a deep breath and slipped her heels on. She grabbed her silver clutch and walked out of Liz's room, staring down at her feet to watch her heels click down the grand hallway. A flutter of nerves bloomed in her chest and she anxiously ran a hand down her dress again as she appeared at the top of the stairs.
As soon as her heeled shoe met the hardwood flooring on the stairs, all attention was on her. The first eyes Aster met were Henry's, who was staring up at her in awe as she slowly descended the staircase. A grin broke out on his face and he smiled up at her, to which Aster returned with a smile of her own.
Her mistake was glancing past Henry's shoulder.
Dressed in a deep gray suit, Peter was standing in the middle of the living room, though his attention was hooked by something in the kitchen. Aster squinted at the sheer panic that was on his face, but before she could contemplate it for long, the brunette teenager turned and locked eyes with her. The moment their eyes connected, Peter's lips parted and his eyes lit up. He placed a hand on his chest and a smile grew on his face, so shy and slow that Aster almost missed it. He was staring at Aster as if she had hung the moon and stars herself, making her feel more adored than she ever had before.
And in the mere second they stared at each other, Aster came to a horrible realization.
She was with the wrong guy.
She wanted Peter to be the one waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her, not Henry.
Feelings that she had been ignoring overflowed in her chest, taking her breath away. Staggering to a stop on the second to last step, Aster placed a hand on the railing to stabilize herself. Henry's smile faltered and he put out a hand for her to take. Aster made herself look away from Peter, taking her date's hand and forcing a smile for him.
But when her hand slipped into Henry's, it didn't feel right. Not like it had in the countless times hers and Peter's had touched.
As Henry helped Aster down the last few steps, a familiar deep voice from the kitchen interrupted her swirling thoughts. "Wow, wow, wow. Do you two ladies look beautiful."
Aster's breath hitched in her chest and she resisted the urge to instinctively turn to Peter. She finally understood why he looked so pale before.
Standing next to Peter, Liz blushed and rolled her eyes, murmuring, "Please don't embarrass us, Dad."
Aster did her best to school her expression, turning to face the man in the kitchen. She wasn't expecting to come face to face with the Vulture that night, but alas, she could never have one day off.
He was standing over a cutting board full of fruit with a knife in his hand, smiling at Aster when she met his eyes. "You must be Aster. I'm Adrian Toomes, Liz and Henry's dad."
Dad. Liz and Henry's dad was the criminal whom Aster and Peter had been tracking down for the last few weeks.
The worst part about it was the way he was staring at her. As if he could see straight through her. A shiver ran down Aster's spine and she attempted to calm herself down with the reminder that he couldn't possibly know who she was.
Could he?
"I got this for you. You look gorgeous," Henry whispered to Aster, holding up a corsage that she hadn't previously noticed. It matched the color of her dress, just like his tie did. She smiled and held her wrist out for him, hoping he wouldn't be able to feel her racing pulse under his gentle fingertips as he secured the corsage to her arm.
Liz glanced over at Peter and bounced on her heels, waiting for him to hand her the similar red corsage he was holding. "Is that a corsage?"
With his eyes still on Toomes, Peter nervously shoved the corsage into her hands. He looked like he was going to throw up at any second.
Clearly, he wasn't keeping his panic under control as well as Aster was.
Toomes cleared his throat, glancing between his twins. "Did you two decide who's taking the Mercedes? "
"I won rock paper scissors fair and square," Henry bragged, earning a glare from his sister. "Aster and I get it."
"I still think you cheated."
"How would I even cheat?"
"Okay, okay, calm down," Toomes chuckled. "Liz, I can chauffer you and Peter. It's not a big deal."
The idea of leaving Peter with Toomes made Aster's stomach twist. As politely as possible, she smiled and asked, "Uh, couldn't we just carpool?"
"The family car doesn't have a lot of room in it. And the one we're taking is a 2018 Mercedes-Benz SLC," Henry told her with a hint of arrogance in his tone. "Only sits two people."
Aster had the resist the urge to roll her eyes. She hated being mansplained to.
Doris attempted to push the teenagers together. "Regardless, we have to take some pictures first." Henry pulled Aster to his side while Peter just awkwardly scooted closer to Liz. The four of them stood together and smiled as Doris grabbed her camera from the counter. "All right. Oh, right here..." She frowned and waved a hand at Peter. "Come on, you guys. Peter, closer."
"Mom," Liz scolded through gritted teeth. Peter continued to stand there, frozen. Henry just snorted and slid a hand over Aster's waist, pulling her even closer. Aster rested a tentative hand on his abs, trying her best to smile for the picture.
Satisfied, the woman held the camera up. "Smile." The flash went off as she took a picture and she nodded, taking a few more. "There you go."
Toomes turned and grabbed two sets of keys from the counter, throwing one to Henry. The football star caught it with one hand and spun it around his finger. Toomes held the other pair up to Liz and Peter. "Let's get this show on the road!"
"Sir, you don't have to drive us," Peter said, struggling to keep his voice level.
Shrugging on his jacket, Toomes shook his head. "No, no, it's not a big deal. I'm going out of town. It's right on my way."
Aster bit down on the inside of her cheek. Going out of town? This time, she did look at Peter. Suspicion painted both of their expressions.
"He's always coming and going," Doris murmured teasingly.
"Last time," her husband promised.
Doris hugged Liz, whispering into her ear about how cute Peter was. Next, she pulled Henry down to kiss his cheek and whispered to him, "Have fun... and make sure you're respectful to Aster."
With her advanced hearing, Aster heard it all. Henry's cheeks bloomed red and he mumbled back to her, "Of course."
Grabbing an overnight bag from the table, Toomes leaned down to kiss his wife, mumbling against her lips, "See you in a couple of days."
Henry gently tugged Aster toward the front door by her hand. "We should get going."
"Yeah, we should," Aster breathed, glancing back at Peter one last time.
A silent understanding passed between them, shared through a nervous look and reassuring nod.
AUTHOR'S NOTE!
AHH, it's happening!
the look of love, everybody.
aster is finally starting to recognize her feelings for peter.
can you tell i was listening to i wanna be yours while writing this chapter LMAO.
clearly, they have more urgent things to take care of before sorting out their feelings but this is the start of something big <3
how does peter feel?
and more importantly, will they both muster up the courage to talk to each other about it?
only a few more chapters left of this act!
buckle up because things get crazy in the next chapter.
<3 mal