9/17/18
"You're early," Happy commented as Julia hopped into the backseat of the town car, ten minutes before she needed to. She took a deep breath.
"We're picking up Peter," she said. Happy usually looked at Julia for conversations through the rearview mirror, but that didn't cut it for this. He turned around, facing the teenager.
"Parker?" he asked her, and she just rolled her eyes, which was pretty much what he was expecting.
"Do you know of another Peter that I might be asking you to drive to school? The school we both go to?"
"Okay, smart-ass, cut the attitude," Happy turned back around in his seat, and it made Julia giggle just slightly. Happy put the car in drive, maybe a little annoyed to be breaking the routine he'd been following for four years. Sure, he was head of security, but that security included Julia. And he was the only one Tony really trusted to get her to and from school safely. As much as she thought he didn't care, things like this sometimes made up for it.
"I told him we'd give him a ride," she shrugged, buckling up as he got on the road. "You need the address?"
"No, no, I got it." He answered quickly, but stopped himself. Did Julia know what he knew about Peter? Maybe he shouldn't have answered so confidently, but he told himself there were tons of reasons he could know the boy's address, hoping Julia thought the same. But it had piqued her interest. Had Happy been to Peter's house before? Had he been there often? She chalked it up to it being in her dad's database which did make her think maybe she should've taken a look into that before this whole plan. No, that would be an invasion of privacy. Anything she needed to know about Peter, he'd tell her.
Happy however, quickly got more concerned with why they were picking up Peter Parker. They didn't even carpool with Julia's best friend, who lived maybe 30 blocks north of them. Julia could see Happy's skepticism and just smiled innocently, letting go of her own, leaning back in her seat as he drove. He couldn't help but keep eyeing the girl as they continued in the direction of her school, today with a slight detour. He glanced at her as she pulled her favorite red lipstick out of her bag. It accompanied the black and white outfit she was wearing. Over the years Julia had tended to stop caring when she was overdressed, especially since she modeled for a handful of companies and her reputation with them was usually on the line. So she took it upon herself to always look good. But the red lip... that put the outfit over the edge. "You look nice."
Happy's tone was suspicious, and Julia's eyebrows rose as she did her top lip. Did he somehow know what she was up to? He was probably the only one who did, considering he'd caught them together, and hadn't said anything to her about it since.
"I always look nice."
"I know that, but you look particularly nice this morning... maybe for a certain–"
"Don't say it," Julia closed the lipstick tube and her eyes subsequently. Happy just shrugged.
"A certain forbidden boy, might I remind you," he said, making Julia sigh, putting her lipstick back in her backpack.
"If I tell you something can you swear not to tell my dad?"
She could see Happy's eyes narrow in the mirror, waiting for an answer. She had to tell someone about this plan, and she felt awful lying to Happy, who had known her since she was in diapers.
"Kid," he began, and she braced herself for the scolding she was about to get. But it never came. "I keep secrets for a living," he said, noticing the small smile starting to form on her face. "As long as you're not in trouble, secret's safe with me," he said.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure I'm in trouble," she muttered to herself, "but not the kind that warrants telling Tony," she said, again, making Happy give her a look. Julia just found it funny to call her father by his first name, but Happy and Tony weren't fans. She rolled her eyes slightly. Happy just waited. Rushing Julia never worked and he knew it. With another breath she stared at the floor. "Yeah, maybe, maybe, I like Peter, but honestly that doesn't matter, because, my dad. But these guys at school... Flash and... Ethan," Happy eyed her at the name. "They pick on him," she said. "A lot." she found herself picking at her nails and made herself stop. She liked when they looked pretty. She could see that she was doing it to keep her left hand occupied, but when she willed herself to stop, it did it again. She balled it up into a fist but it didn't stop the shaking. "Anyway, I figured, maybe if he was seen with me, they might lay off, so I'm," she cleared her throat, "I'm pretending to be his girlfriend," she said, glancing at Happy finally. The man who was practically a second father, if not an uncle, just hummed. Then it was silent between them. She just heard the car horns of Manhattan and the dull radio station.
"That's nice of you," he finally said. "You adding philanthropist to your title like your dad?"
Julia rolled her eyes, bringing up her thumbnail to her mouth. "Very funny," she muttered, catching herself and putting her hands in her lap. "I am a philanthropist," it felt silly to say so she just mumbled it. But that was one of the parts of her reputation that meant the most to her. What she was doing with Peter wasn't that. Happy let her be after that, not bothering her until just before they pulled up to Peter's place. He couldn't have picked a worse time to speak again. Julia was trying to look cool, pretend to be scrolling through Instagram when they picked up Peter. She'd sent him an im here text, but that was all. She was putting on an earth shattering Julia Stark performance of not caring about him.
"You doing this for him or you?"
The question made her head shoot up.
"What?" she asked Happy just as she spotted Peter leaving his building. Julia quickly unbuckled and moved to the opposite side of the car so Peter could get in. Her heart started pounding. "Him."
The answer was so quick she knew Happy didn't buy it, but she was not having this conversation now. The door popped open and Peter sat in the seat beside Julia in the very expensive looking car. He'd been in it a few times before, and every time he felt out of place.
"Hey," he said, and Julia glanced up from her phone, looking at him.
"Hi," she said quietly, in a way that made Peter forget it was 6:45 in the morning. Her voice made his heart beat almost as fast as caffeine did. Which of course, stopped working for him two years ago. He lost her gaze as quickly as he'd had it, and she looked at her phone again, scrolling through what was probably thousands of comments from followers. The number must've been close to 20 million, if not more.
"Mr. Parker," he heard from Happy, and he politely looked at him instead of the model in the seat behind the driver.
"Hi--hi, Happy," Peter said, trying not to look too hard, but he was sure he'd gotten a bit of a glare from the head of security.
"This a regular thing now?" he asked the kids, mostly Julia, who didn't even look up. She really was playing it cool.
"Oh, well, Julia offered, and-"
"Yeah," Julia said simply, looking up from her phone to Happy, giving him a warning look in the mirror as he started driving again. "Saves him from taking the subway, and might as well now that we're-" both Peter and Julia froze, looking at each other for a moment. What were they? They'd only met two weeks ago, they could hardly be friends, but they were, as far as everyone else would be concerned very soon, they were dating. "Friends," Julia decided, the eye contact lingering with Peter. Was that even true for either of them? Maybe depending on how long this went on, it could be.
"Thanks, Happy," Julia said calmly as she got out of the car. Peter went to follow but Happy's voice stopped him.
"Parker," Peter froze, the door halfway open.
"Yes, sir?" he asked, already nervous.
"Be good to her."
Peter wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. It certainly wasn't that.
"Yes, sir," Peter said instantly. He had every intention to be someone Julia wanted to spend time with. He had every intention to be someone she deserved. Happy just gave the boy a succinct nod and he closed the door. Peter walked around and met Julia on the other side, finding the front of the school to be as crowded as it tended to be right before school. Peter looked at Julia, who was just looking at everyone else, making sure they'd seen that he was riding to school with her. "What's..." he cleared his throat. "What's the plan?"
Julia hummed, leaning against the wall of the stairs. "I say talk out here for a few minutes then make an entrance?" She offered, and Peter just nodded slowly, looking around briefly at all the eyes on them. He was forced to look away, trying to find solace in something other than everyone looking at him standing with Julia after getting out of the car with her, when he felt a hand on his backpack strap, tugging him just a little bit closer. "You don't have to stand so far," she whispered, making the boy's eyes go wide, nodding again. Julia swallowed, hoping she hadn't made it weird.
"Right, right, sorry," he said. But he didn't know what to do with himself when he was this close to her. One of his hands slipped into his jeans pocket, feeling the folded up piece of paper there. Man, he was overthinking everything. Was the note too romantic, did he have the right idea?
"You could at least act like you like me," she said, tilting her head to try to catch his gaze. When he looked up at her with these big brown eyes like a wounded puppy she felt it. Was she being too harsh with him? Was she being too "media Julia?" Maybe she needed to be more like she was in the ice cream shop but that was too close, too real, and only so they could get to know each other. This was how she was with other people, maybe everyone but Emma, and briefly Ethan, but this was carefully curated. She just didn't want to scare him by playing it up too much.
"I'm sorry-" He tried to say, but she shook her head, stopping him.
"No, I'm sorry-"
"I've just never done this so I don't-"
"I know," she assured, giving Peter a gentle smile, that somehow seemed to fix everything."Maybe let's... go inside?"
Peter took a step back, glad to have an excuse to not stand so close. Not because he didn't want to, but because he thought that expensive perfume must be some kind of magic potion the way it was making his head cloud. He was also grateful to get away from all the eyes, though he was certain they were about to encounter many more. He looked down at their hands, psyching himself up just a little. You got this, Peter. He put out a hand, and Julia glanced down at the movement. He watched her gentle smile turn a little more excited, glad he made the right choice. Then she considered his hand. It was his left, so he'd have to hold her right. Julia looked at it briefly, then cleared her throat quietly.
"Can you stand on my other side? Hold my left hand?" She asked.
Peter met her eyes, and immediately he listened. He walked around Julia as she shifted to give him space, and he stood on her left. "Yeah, sure," he was saying as he moved. "Is it a preference thing I should know about, or-"
"Yeah, yeah, I," Julia let out a sharp breath, knowing he'd know the second he touched her hand. "My left hand shakes," she whispered, "when I'm nervous, so just," she held it out, and he didn't hesitate. He didn't know what took over, but his hand slipped in hers. He did feel it, he felt it shaking, but he closed his fingers around hers anyway, and he felt it slow. He didn't press her, but he did want to know why. He'd ask another time. Julia's face shifted. She looked so surprised, so in awe that he just listened, and didn't ask questions. Julia smiled slightly, catching his eyes, catching the quick glint of nerves in them. Not the bad kind, but the kind you got around the person you liked. At least that's what she hoped it was.
"What's the plan?" Peter whispered as she started to pull him up the steps to the school. "We could go to your locker, or mine, or we split up and I meet you at yours and-"
"Peter," Julia said, making him stop right in his tracks. She pulled on his hand just a little, until he was facing her. "Let's just walk in first, okay?" she asked, in the way that made Peter's mind fog, but he nodded. How did she always do that? She let her grip on his hand loosen a little so his focus could too.
She could tell the eyes were already on them, seeing them discuss that outside the open school doors. But for a moment there she's forgotten there were any other people. She turned forward, and crossed the threshold. Her locker was upstairs and at the end of that hall, and Peter knew this, since it wasn't far from him. He'd always liked that. They were walking fairly quickly down the hall but to Peter it felt like they were moving in slow motion. It was the way Julia always looked to him, but now he was a part of it. All the eyes were instantly on them, which of course, Julia was used to, but not him. She could feel it affect him, he was more tense.
Julia brushed her thumb over his, getting his attention. "My locker?" She offered, and he breathed out softly, looking at that gentle smile again. He nodded. "Kay," she whispered, taking him further down the hall, her shaky hand squeezing his steady one just a little tighter. She heard it as they kept walking. The is that Julia? Who's that? Who is she with? She tried to tune it out. She even moved a little closer to Peter just to try to make it better. They were both glad she hadn't worn heels, Julia liked that he was just a few inches taller than her. Maybe two or three, but still. Had Peter always smelled this good? She was grateful for the way it distracted her, she stopped hearing everyone else.
She glanced just a bit to her right as they started up the stairs, thinking about how nice Peter Parker looked in blue. His little glances back at her to make sure she was keeping up, in the shoes he thought couldn't possibly be comfortable, made her smile. But her shoes were comfortable and her outfit was too nice for him to even offer his sweater, which was ok, another day.
Suddenly he felt it. His blood ran cold for a moment. Just a moment, as his hairs stood on end. Julia's hand under his was shaking a little again, so he instinctively tightened his grip. That's when he saw him. Ethan Howard was leaning against his locker. Julia's smile faltered. Peter even swore it had been real for a moment, and now it wasn't. How bad had the breakup been? Was she always so tense around him? They hung out, as far as he knew. In a short spur of confidence, Peter pulled her closer. And Julia was grateful for it.
She evaded his eye contact as she leaned into Peter, looking forward, towards her locker. The good and bad news was it wasn't far from Ethan's. She stopped in front of it, turning away from it to lean against it, still holding Peter's hand. Admittedly, she was afraid to let it go. "I'll meet you over at your locker, kay?" she asked, giving his hand a squeeze.
"You know where it is?" it came out more shocked than he meant it to, and he saw Julia smile a little.
"Don't ask questions, just go," she let go of his hand and pushed his arm. Peter couldn't help but smile, because her smile seemed real. He could tell no one was behind him, so he just backed away from her with that same smile before he turned to go to his locker. She wondered where he got the confidence to just back up, assuming he wouldn't hit anyone. When she turned back to her locker to open it, she couldn't fight the smile that came with it. So far so good.
Peter, however, lost his smile the second his locker opened. Because he felt the other guy coming. As he usually did first thing in the morning. If Ned didn't come first, either Ethan or Flash would be there. And this morning he knew exactly who it was. Peter tried to exchange his homework books for the ones he needed in peace as Ethan Howard's six foot frame blocked the light.
"Penis Parker," Ethan said slowly. Peter sighed heavily. He shoved his first period books in his backpack, ignoring Ethan as best he could. "My eyes deceiving me or did I just see you with my girl?"
Peter's blood boiled an his skin crawled and his stomach twisted, every bad sensation a person could have washed over him. No way did Ethan Howard just call Julia his girl. They'd broken up well over a year ago, where did he get off thinking he could do that.
"She's not your girl, man," Peter couldn't stop himself from saying it, closing his locker quickly, hoping Ethan's fingers would be in the line of fire, unfortunately he was wrong. Ethan was leaning one arm higher on the lockers than Peter could probably reach. The few inches Ethan had on him never bothered him until now, and he was realizing why.
Luckily, Ethan leaned down, trying to intimidate Peter. He wouldn't let it work. "Yeah? Then whose is she? Yours?"
It took only a few seconds of Julia being at her locker to notice what was going on. She really didn't think that Ethan would stoop to that. Truthfully she thought he was done with her when he'd tossed her out a year ago after getting what he wanted from her. Instead she found her feet rushing over to Peter's locker, to be at his side, just as Ethan insinuated that there was no possible way she'd date Peter. Her shaky left hand was in his steady right one in a second, acting as though she saw no one but him. She almost believed it, too.
Peter took a breath, finally able to with Julia at his side.
"Hey," she said quietly, in a way that gave him goosebumps. Then her gaze found Ethan. As if she hadn't noticed him. "Oh," her tone shifted, like a cockroach had just breached her path. "You're here."
Peter tried not to laugh at the way Ethan's face fell. Julia just smiled triumphantly. Taking idiot men down a few pegs was one of her greatest joys in life. "Did you need something?" she asked as Ethan struggled to find words. She raised her eyebrows.
"You—You're," Ethan breathed out angrily. "You're dating him?" Julia looked at him like she found his stupidity amusing.
"Is it any of your business?" she tilted her head. Ethan's jaw was tight. How she loved riling him up.
"But you-"
Julia took a step forward, daring him to say something bad about Peter in front of her. "What?" she asked very slowly, to the point of Ethan backing up. Julia let out a fake gasp. "Don't tell me you've finally learned when to shut the fuck up?" the mock-surprise in her voice made Peter suppress a smile. "Guess you can teach an old dog new tricks," she said, backing up so she was beside Peter again. "Walk me to class?" she asked him, and Peter looked at her with a newfound confidence.
"Before I forget," he reached into his pocket as Julia looked at him, ignoring the fact that Ethan still stood by them in shock. Without another word, Peter passed Julia a small note, to which she smiled, and slipped it into her free hand. She caught one look at Ethan's clenched jaw, narrowed eyes, overall very angry face, before she nodded her head in the direction of the hall. She flashed a signature fake smile at Ethan before her and Peter started walking.
When they were finally far enough away she breathed out. "God, I hate that guy," she muttered.
"That was amazing," Peter told her, making her glance at him.
"That?" she asked, smiling triumphantly as she leaned against the wall outside her first period class, calculus. "That was nothing," she said. She played with the note in her right hand, excited to open it when she got to her seat. Then she felt silly, it was probably something dumb because this wasn't a real relationship. She watched Peter check his phone, maybe checking the time.
"I have a question," he said, making Julia tilt her head. "Did we want to do any nicknames?" Her thick brows furrowed. She passed the piece of paper between her fingers.
"Like pet names?" Suddenly she was realizing they'd never discussed it.
Peter kept his voice down when he was speaking in case this didn't sound like normal couple talk. "Sure, but I mean like," he shrugged. "Jules, or something."
She was taken aback by the name. She'd had a plethora of stupid nicknames from her father, but Jules wasn't one of them. In fact, as far as she could remember, no one really called her that.
"Huh," she muttered. "Jules," she repeated. It felt foreign in her mouth.
"I don't have to-"
"No, I like it," she decided. She supposed no one ever really nicknamed Julia because it was often accompanied by Stark. Her name held too much weight to be nicknamed. But Peter didn't seem to care. He didn't care what her name was. That was new.
"Okay, great," Peter started to smile.
"And pet names?" she whispered, and he nodded nervously.
"Sure," he said. "Just didn't need to be using your full name all the time, it felt," he shrugged again, taking her hand for a second. The touch seemed to shock her, and honestly it shocked him too. She'd figured she'd be the one initiating most contact. She liked that she was wrong.
"Uh," she looked at their hands, back to his face. "Yeah," she agreed. She felt it fall. One of the many walls she had up. Just one, and just a little, but he was making his way through them. And she couldn't find it in herself to mind. The only thing that could possibly make her stop looking at him did, the bell. She smiled delicately and let go of his hand. "I'll see you later. Maybe after school?" she offered. Peter just nodded, not knowing whether or not it would happen, but hoping he'd see more of her. She smiled at him, then disappeared into the calculus class, and into a seat next to Emma Harris.
Julia was fighting a smile when she sat down. Emma swiveled in her seat to look at her. Julia was just pulling out her books, placing them on the desk, hiding the note that had her name... and a heart on it.
"What did you do?" Emma asked her, plain and simple. She never really minded that Emma was as direct as she was.
"Very possibly executed a perfect plan," Julia said in a hushed tone as she opened the note and she felt a blush rush to her cheeks.
Have a good day beautiful
- p.p.
Julia knew it was coming, but it didn't make it any more fun. She'd already convinced her best friend that she was dating Peter, and Emma didn't question it. Julia was good at this kind of thing, she could have anyone she wanted. She just hadn't wanted anyone in the past year, so once she found someone, Emma wasn't surprised that she snatched him up as quickly as she did. Julia loved that about Emma, she backed her on anything. She didn't have to justify this to her, like she was about to have to do at lunch when she saw Ethan and Flash.
She hated the way she jumped when Flash slammed his tray down next to her at their lunch table. Her jaw tensed as she turned to look at him, forcing a smile to the point of squinting to make it believable.
"Let's see," Flash muttered, seemingly looking very closely at Julia. At her lipstick, at her outfit, at her shoes. "Red lipstick, classy outfit, what are those Dior?" he asked, which she imagined was about her shoes.
"Prada, actually, can I help you?" she asked him, watching Ethan slip into the seat across from them. Julia was suddenly wishing she made better choices of friend groups. Most of the other boys on the basketball team at least weren't this horrible. And the other girls on the soccer team were also some of her best friends, but for some reason she couldn't shake these two idiots.
"Word on the street is that you're seeing someone, someone a little," Flash tilted his head, "below your paygrade."
Julia scowled at the comment. What was it with these two their obsession with money? Julia's fortune didn't make her any better than Peter. In fact, she thought it made her worse. Julia sighed, she needed to make this relationship as public as possible, so she needed to tell them. They'd spread the word faster than maybe anyone, the two weren't exactly quiet boys.
"Word on the street," Julia mocked. "Relax, we're in high school," she reminded Flash Thompson. That, and she had too much word on the street about her outside these walls. "And yeah, I'm seeing someone," she said, just about as confidently as she could.
"Does that someone happen to respond to Penis?"
She shoved her tray away and looked at Flash, watching him jump at her sudden brashness. "Call him that again," she challenged. Flash's face flushed. "He's my boyfriend, dickhead, I don't wanna hear anything but his name--actually, I don't even want his name coming out of your mouth, got it?"
Flash's jaw was tight, he clearly didn't like the way she was talking to him, and it brought her a lot of joy.
"You can't tell me what to do," Flash finally mustered the courage to speak. Julia sighed, pulling her tray back over, picking up her fork.
"No, maybe I can't," she said, but it was enough. He was afraid. And she knew that if he kept fucking with her "boyfriend," slowly but surely, his reputation would start to slip. And that was all she needed. He'd look just like the asshole he was, him and his best friend, king of the school, taken down by pretty little Julia Stark. Flash turned his attention away from her, going to talk to his best friend, pulling up the latest news about his favorite superhero, Spider-Man. His favorite activity was bringing up all the stuff he did around Julia, adding the occasional your dad ever do that? She let it roll off her back, Spider-Man wasn't Iron Man. That, and she found Flash's obsession with a superhero childishly cute, so it didn't bother her the way other talk about her dad did.
Ignoring Flash as well as the other pair of eyes on her, Julia and Emma tried to enjoy their lunch period, as Julia explained how her and Peter "got together." The story was at least almost true. The way Peter looked at her in the ice cream place, and his piles and piles of nerves made her believe the part about him having a crush on her for a few years. At least she liked to believe it.
Peter had never been more mad to not have any classes with Julia than he was today, and he felt like an idiot for it. This whole thing was fake, she didn't like him, and he felt like a lost puppy. He was grateful when his best friend slid into the seat next to him in chem, asking how his weekend was, and Peter only had enough time to tell Ned that he wouldn't believe him if told him.
In fact, he didn't get a moment to tell Ned until gym and they were circling the track around the football field lazily. It wasn't that Peter was avoiding the conversation, he just didn't want to lie to his best friend's face. Tell him he was "dating" Julia when he wasn't, when he didn't even know if she was his friend. The bad news was, he didn't have to.
"So were you ever going to tell me or was I just supposed to find out through the grapevine?"
He knew that tone, Ned didn't take it with him a lot, but it did happen when Peter was being careless, and that had certainly happened before. Peter sighed, not bothering to face him. "I'm sorry, man, I meant to-"
"Your first real girlfriend, and you didn't think to mention it to your best friend," Ned was fighting real disappointment in his tone, and Peter could tell.
"Ned-"
"No, not only that, but Julia Stark," Ned said, as if he didn't believe it, and Peter couldn't blame him. "You're dating not only the most popular girl in school, but one of the most famous women in the country--world, maybe, and you just didn't think to mention it?"
Peter sighed, looking at his feet as they walked. "It just happened, and if I told you before chem i'm pretty sure neither of us would've gotten any work done," he tried to explain, rubbing his palms together. "Are you mad?"
"Mad?" Ned asked, and Peter braced for impact. "Peter this is the coolest thing that's ever happened to us!"
It wasn't what he normally did, but he'd missed her most of the day, so he felt it was only right, for the sake of the relationship, for them to have another appearance together. Yeah, that was definitely it. So instead of slipping out the second the bell rang, he made himself wait. New York could give him a few minutes to talk to his--fake--girlfriend.
He stood on the front stairs of the school, waiting on his phone as students passed him by. He checked the time, finding it had jumped a few minutes. Where was she? Maybe she didn't even come out this way, maybe he looked like an idiot.
But then the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he turned around. He could hear her laugh from this many feet away. His stomach flipped. He saw Julia starting down the stairs with her best friend. And her smile dropped when she saw him. He knew this was a bad idea. He pocketed his phone and willed his feet to move but they wouldn't. But then her smile returned. A genuine smile, like she was happy to see him. Then her brow furrowed in the pretty way it did.
She came straight up to him, her best friend trailing her.
"You don't need a ride do you? You know Happy doesn't come get me until after practice-"
"No," Peter began laughing nervously, "no, I've got things to do, just," he glanced back at Emma as he forced himself to say it. "Just wanted to see you."
Julia's smile grew as she looked back at her best friend, shooting her a look that told her to get lost.
"I will," Emma cleared her throat, "see you later," she said.
"You play, too?" Peter asked earnestly, earning a laugh from Emma as if she found the idea ridiculous.
"Getting covered in mud is not for me," she told him as she backed up, then turned to leave. "Later babe!" She called behind her as she left Julia and Peter.
"She's not sporty," Julia told Peter with a crinkle in her nose. He just nodded, listening. Julia stared at him for a minute, a her smile getting subtler, more inquisitive. "Were you..." she tilted her head, leaning on the railing. "Waiting for me?"
"What?" Peter laughed, playing it off as best he could. "N-no, I..." her tilted head and expression told him that she didn't believe a word coming out of his mouth, so he closed it. "Yeah, yes, I was," he said, which made her giggle, therefore making him want to hit the floor.
"You're cute," she told him, sending a jolt through every part of him. He breathed out, looking at his feet. Had she said the wrong thing? "Uh, what things do you have to do?" She asked. And really she'd just meant it out of curiosity, but Peter started to sweat.
"Oh, you know," his mouth hung half open as he floundered for an excuse. An excuse that wasn't "be Spider-Man."
He didn't have long to think about it. "Stark!" Julia heard the irritating voice, immediately registering who it was. No one else was that loud all the time. He tried to drape an arm over her as he came down the stairs but she saw it coming and whacked his hand before he could. When she tried to ignore him and look at Peter, she was surprised to see how... angry, Peter looked. She'd never seen him look like that. Granted she'd known him maybe three weeks, but still. "And... Peter. Parker." Flash said, like it physically pained him to say, and the anger on Peter's face took a backseat to his look of surprise. No way the plan was working already. "I'll admit, I'm surprised to see the rumors were true," he said, making Julia look at him like she thought he was stupid, which she did.
"I told you myself, three hours ago," she reminded him.
"Yeah but you talk a lot, not sure what I can believe," he said, and Julia felt her eyes roll.
"That's real nice, Flash," she said before she let a condescending smile settle on her lips. "How about you get to practice, yeah?" she asked, patting him on the back. "Football team needs all the help they can get," she said, like he was talking to a child. Flash lost just a bit of his stamina, deflating slightly. He rolled his eyes, shooting a quick glare to Peter before he backed up.
"Whatever," he grumbled.
Julia let out a breath when he was out of earshot.
"I didn't know it was possible to get him to shut up," Peter said, making Julia laugh softly.
"Took a lot of practice," she told him, then glanced at the dainty watch, the same one. "Speaking of, I should get to mine," she said, needing to shake the frustration she was feeling, and she was fairly certain that barking orders and kicking around a ball might help with that. "I'll see you tomorrow, though," she assured him at the slightly disappointed look on his face.
"See you tomorrow," he agreed. Julia stepped onto the step beside him, and then got on her tiptoes as she held his bicep--and wow--just so she could give him a kiss on the cheek. It lasted only a second, but Peter felt his soul leave his body in that second. His breath caught, and she heard it. She smiled to herself as she lt go of him.
"Bye," she beamed, walking off to practice, suddenly not as frustrated as she'd been just a moment ago, leaving Peter Parker with a dumb smile and lipstick stain on his cheek.