CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
❝ a fine line ❞
A LONG, HOT shower was just what Aster needed.
Tony ensured her that the two of them would spend the rest of the rainy day cozied up by the fire, staying on the couch and watching movies. While he prepared the snacks and blankets, Aster scurried off to her room, peeling off her dirty suit and taking the longest shower of her life.
By the time she had changed into comfortable pajamas and brushed all of the knots from her hair, Aster felt ten times better. Still, she was bruised and most likely concussed, but knowing that she would be able to chill out and recover that weekend eased her pain. Before going downstairs, she texted Peter and ensured him that she was awake and well. Thanks to him.
Aster's eyes were glued to the loft's grand windows as she made her way down the stairs, watching as a bolt of lightning cut through the dark skies. "Hey, do you think this is Thor trying to say hi?"
Throwing a few blankets onto the couch, Tony snorted. "Maybe. It would be a hell of a lot easier for him to just come down here and say it."
"It's Thor. He loves the dramatics," Aster pointed out, collapsing onto the sectional. It was then that she noticed the assortment of snacks and candy laid out. "Whoa, where did this come from?"
Tony sat next to her, handing her a bowl of popcorn while tipping his head toward the kitchen. "Happy brought them over. Pepper came with him and brought you some flowers."
Aster turned to the kitchen and a smile pulled at her lips. There was a bouquet of white lilies on the counter, gathered together in a vase with a Get Well Soon card attached. She made a mental note to call Pepper later.
Curling her legs up onto the couch, Aster covered herself with a blanket and raised an eyebrow in Tony's direction. "I heard that you two have been talking again."
He shot her a suspicious look. "Have you been spying on me?"
Aster giggled. "Not this time. She told me when she took me shopping to get my Homecoming dress."
"Oh," Tony hummed thoughtfully. It was as if Aster's words made him fall even harder for the strawberry blonde. "I didn't know she did that."
"Yeah. We had some good girl time." She offered him a genuine smile, poking him teasingly. "You guys need to stop beating around the bush and get back together already."
Scoffing, Tony rolled his eyes. "Fine. That's why I had her over here last night. We're dating again, you happy?" Aster perked up, but before she could possibly jump with joy, he had already shifted the attention to her. "Hey, while we're on the topic of dating... Is there something going on between you and Peter?"
The popcorn bowl slipped from Aster's hands, almost spilling all over the floor. She caught it at the last moment, though her wide eyes were on Tony. "What? No, why would you think that?"
Tony was eyeing her carefully. "Well, you guys have been spending a lot of time together. And the kid wouldn't stop calling me until he knew you were awake. He was really worried about you."
Aster shook her head, feigning disgust. "No, we're just friends. Besides, I had a different date to Homecoming."
She didn't think Tony knew about Henry, but based on the sudden dark look on his face, he did. "Oh, yeah," he hummed. "Henry, right? He's Adrian Toomes' kid."
Narrowing her eyes at his tone, Aster shifted her entire body to look at him. While trying to read his expression, she asked, "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything," he told her, pursing his lips together to act nonchalant. A beat of silence passed. "Since he's eighteen, he's going to be tried as an adult for aiding and abetting his father. Oh, and aggravated assault."
Aster's eyes went wide.
"Toomes is gonna be behind bars forever," Tony said pointedly. "And after I heard what Henry did to you, I'll make sure he's in there for the rest of his sad life too."
Pursing her lips together, Aster winced. "Sorry for my poor dating choices."
"This is why I don't want you to date at all."
Sinking into the couch cushions, Aster rubbed her hands over her eyes. "You know what? Can we not talk about dating? My head still hurts," she mumbled.
"You brought it up," Tony remarked before snapping his fingers and pointing at her. "Hey, this is a good lesson. This is what a hangover feels like."
Aster made a face at him. "I'm pretty sure I can't even get drunk."
"Good. Don't try."
"...Unless I had Thor's Asgardian Ale—"
"No."
───
As it turned out, Starlight and Spider-Man were the talk of the school that coming Monday. Everyone was raving about their team-up, especially excited that the youngest Avenger was back and better than ever. People were praising the two heroes left and right, not knowing that they were just two ordinary teenagers blending in with the rest of the school. Thanks to their advanced healing, most of Peter and Aster's injuries were gone, ensuring that they would be able to continue living their double life.
When the last bell of the day rang, Ned, Peter, and Aster all left class together and began making their way through the busy hallways. For the third time that day, Ned was rambling on about how cool it was to be involved with the takedown of Vulture. Apparently, he didn't just save Aster from Henry. He also used one of Peter's web shooters to save his best friend from Toomes' men.
Ducking under a Homecoming banner that was being taken down, Ned continued retelling his side of the story, "It looked so insane. That whole..." He turned to Peter, moving his hands through the air in an animated manner. Like, it was just crazy. He was like, 'Zzz,' and you were like, 'Ah!' And then I just hit him with the 'Pew.'"
"Shh," Peter attempted, though he had a smile on his face.
Ned didn't listen to Peter. He turned to Aster, scream-whispering, "It was so, oh my god. And then, I hit Henry with the 'Bam!'"
"You saved us," Peter pointed out, hoping to stop him from telling the story again. "It was awesome."
"We might have to promote you from Guy in the Chair," Aster mentioned, making Ned perk up.
When a crowd of students broke apart ahead of them, they could see Liz sharing a tight embrace with Betty at the end of the hallway. Her mom was lingering behind her with a sad smile on her face, holding a box of her daughter's belongings in her hands.
News had spread of who Adrian Toomes was, as well as how Henry was involved with his father's crimes. Everyone was shocked at the betrayal from their star quarterback, but for the most part, many students were heartbroken that Liz had to move away because of it.
Aster turned to Peter, tilting her head in Liz's direction. "You should go talk to her before she goes."
Peter pulled his gaze away from Liz to stare at Aster nervously. "I don't know if she'll want to talk to me," he murmured, referencing the fact that he left her in the middle of the dance.
"Then take the chance to apologize," Aster told him.
Ned checked his watch. "Make it quick because we have a Decathlon meeting starting, like, now." He cocked a thumb behind himself. "Come to the library when you guys are done."
Even after Ned walked away, Peter still stood frozen in his spot. He was glancing between Aster and Liz, staring at the former as if he wanted to stay with her.
"Go," Aster urged him on. "I have to grab something from my locker, so I'll be right here."
He slowly nodded, hesitating for a moment before jogging after his Homecoming date. "Hey, Liz!"
Aster forced herself to tear her eyes away from Peter as she crossed the hallway, dialing in the code to her locker. Once the door was open, she let one backpack strap slide down her arm, opening the big pocket. Grabbing her Decathlon book from the top shelf, she slid the book into her bag.
By the time Aster was done and had shut her locker door, Liz and Peter's conversation was already over. Liz was walking away from Peter, wiping at her red-rimmed eyes. Her mom began to pull her away, but just before she disappeared, she caught Aster's eyes in her peripheral vision. Offering her a sad smile, Liz timidly waved to the younger girl.
Smiling, Aster lifted a hand and waved back, hoping that Liz wouldn't carry the blame for what happened. She was a good friend and Aster would most certainly reach out to check in on her in the future.
Peter was left standing alone at the end of the hallway. He seemed to be stunned at whatever Liz had said to him. Aster walked over to him with a frown on her face. "Hey, you okay?"
He snapped out of his daze, turning to stare at Aster. His expression softened when he laid eyes on her and he cleared his throat, nodding. "Yeah. We should... we should probably get to the Decathlon meeting."
Aster nodded and the two of them hurried to the library. The rest of the team was already there, and as soon as Aster and Peter took their seats, Mr. Harrington waltzed in with the Decathlon trophy held high in his hands. "Congratulations, Decathlon national champions!"
All of the students burst into applause and happy cheers. Peter glanced over at Aster with a genuine smile on his face and she winked in response.
With a grin, Mr. Harrington placed the trophy at the head of the table. "I'm gonna have to put this back in the trophy case soon, but just for motivation right now at this practice. I'm a little ahead of the game, but we will need a new team captain next year. So... I'm appointing Michelle."
Every head turned to the end of the table, all the way down to where Michelle sat. Aster was the first one to begin clapping, though the rest of the team quickly followed.
Michelle looked shocked. Regardless, a smile made its way onto her face. "Uh, thank you. My friends call me M.J."
From the seat over, Ned squinted at her. "I thought you didn't have any friends."
She made eye contact with Aster across the table and shrugged. "I didn't."
Peter's phone began to vibrate on the table. Aster felt hers vibrate in her bag, but before she could even reach down and grab it, Peter had already picked his up. Frowning, he angled his cracked screen toward Aster, revealing a group chat with the two of them and an unknown number.
Unknown Number
Go to the bathroom
Aster's eyes narrowed suspiciously and she mumbled, "Both of us?"
In response, Peter shoved his phone into his pocket and announced, "I, uh, I gotta go."
Grabbing her backpack from the floor, Aster slung it over one shoulder and stood up. "Same."
M.J. narrowed her eyes at both of them. "Where are you going?"
"I have a test to make up," Aster easily lied.
Peter, on the other hand, still wasn't very good at coming up with quick excuses. "Uh..."
Tilting her head, M.J. stared at him with eyes full of suspicion. "What are you hiding, Peter?"
Peter's mouth opened, though no words came out. Before he could truly panic, a grin broke out on M.J.'s face and she snorted. "I'm just kidding. I don't care. Bye." Turning to the rest of the team, she got straight to business. "All right, so we should run some drills."
Amused, Aster grabbed Peter's arm and tugged him out of the library. When they reached the boy's bathroom down the hall, Peter hesitantly pushed on the door, holding it open for Aster to follow. Even though it felt wrong, she stepped inside and peered around the corner, narrowing her eyes at the familiar figure at the end of the stalls. "Happy?"
With his hands shoved into the pockets of his dress pants, Happy turned around at the sound of Aster's voice
Standing at Aster's side, Peter tilted his head in confusion. "Hey, Happy. What, uh... What are you doing here?"
A beat of silence passed before Happy sighed, nodding at them. "I really owe you guys one. I don't know what I would do without this job. I mean, before I met Tony—"
The sound of a toilet flushing cut him off. A student walked out of one of the stalls, glancing at them oddly. They awkwardly stood there as the boy turned the sink on, pumping soap into his hands before rinsing them off. As slowly as possible, he pulled a few paper towels from the dispenser, wiping his hands dry while turning to stare at them again. His eyes strayed particularly long on Aster, who glared back at him and asked, "What are you looking at?"
The student's eyes went wide and he scurried out of the bathroom.
Peter turned and watched him leave, clasping his hands together in front of himself when they were finally left alone. "So, uh, how long you been here?"
"Long enough to be awkward," Happy said. "Boss wants to see both of you."
Pointing at the row of stalls, Peter tipped his head down and whispered, "Is he here too?"
Scrunching her nose up, Aster mumbled, "I hope not."
Happy made a face at him. "In the toilet? No, he's upstate."
Aster's heart soared and she glanced over at Peter. She knew what upstate meant.
"Upstate? Like, upstate-upstate?"
"I think he means upstate-upstate, Webs."
Cocking a finger at Aster, Happy ushered them out of the bathroom. "What she said. Let's go."
AUTHOR'S NOTE!
okay so i lied.
NOW there's one more chapter left.
i always get carried away while writing and then have to break one chapter into two.
anyways, this chapter began wrapping up some loose ends and the next chapter will finish it off!
i did not mean to make this act eighteen chapters long LMAO it's much longer than my usual acts.
thank you for reading so far!
leave your thoughts!
<3 mal