10/12/18
"...my reputation's never been worse so-"
Julia switched off her music and looked at herself in the mirror. She tilted her head to one side, watching the ponytail fall, deciding it was pretty, she liked it. So why was she so nervous? She looked good, she always looked good. She had her signature red lip on, a slightly bolder eye look, one of the prettiest dresses she'd ever worn, she had no reason to be nervous.
Oh, but she did.
"Where you going?" The voice stopped Julia dead in her tracks. Now of all times, her dad decided to ask questions. Julia took a breath. She was maybe five feet from the elevator, this had to happen now? She slowly turned in her pretty black heels towards her dad. Her eyes scanned the living room, usually Pepper would be here as a buffer, and Julia really wished she was right now.
"I thought you had bigger things going on tonight," Julia said, trying her best not to be too bitter about it. But when he wasn't here, he tended to be at that new "upstate" compound. It mostly explained his absence from her games this season, which she also tried not to be bitter about.
"Mhm," he nodded, eyeing her skeptically. His arms crossed over his casual attire. His stupid band tee, so typical of him. "Answer the question," she didn't like that. She'd felt like things, for a little bit, had been better. But with just one sentence there was a tension in the room you could cut with a knife.
"Homecoming," she answered him honestly, waiting for his reaction. Tony leaned back a bit, looking at her. It certainly made sense with what she was wearing. But he still didn't like it. She'd had less than a good time last year, he knew about that. A lot of his Julia information he had to get from Pepper, but she'd told him at least a little about the dance last year, and he was well aware of the ex boyfriend who had made the experience so bad. He'd offered to have some strings pulled and get him kicked out of school, but Julia had insisted that wasn't necessary.
"Oh," he said. "I didn't think you'd be going this year since-"
"Yeah, well I am, and Happy's waiting can I...?" she gestured to the elevator, and started walking towards it.
"Hold your horses, little Stark," he put out a finger, gesturing for her to wait. Julia made a show of being frustrated, tilting her head back dramatically. "Who you going with?" he asked. Julia blinked. This was a question where the honest answer would land her in mega super huge trouble.
"Just friends, Emma," she said quickly. Maybe too quickly. She saw her father's eyes narrow, and she wondered if he believed her.
"Okay," he said, putting out an arm, like he wanted a hug. Julia breathed out and went over to him, giving him a quick hug, feeling him kiss the top of her head.
"Careful, hair," she pulled back, making Tony roll his eyes. He made a move like he was threatening to make it worse, like he'd run his hands over her perfectly slicked back hair and she swatted his hand away, laughing.
"Be home by twelve," he requested, but Julia rolled her eyes as she backed towards the elevator.
"After parties!" she reminded him, though she doubted she'd be going to any. Tony groaned exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"You're so your father's daughter," he grumbled. "One," he offered, but she just shrugged like it may or may not happen. The elevator doors opened and Julia waltzed in, making her father sigh. "Love you, be safe."
"Love you!" she called, just as the elevator doors closed, then she let out the breath she felt like she'd been holding for years. She opened her phone camera, making sure her hair was in fact still intact. Her heels clicked briskly on the sidewalk before she got in the car, and Happy instantly picked up on the urgency.
"What took so long?"
"You didn't tell me my dad was gonna be home tonight," she said, throwing her clutch beside her.
"Thought he had business at the compound," Happy admitted, starting the car. Julia's eyes narrowed.
"You're his head of security," she reminded him.
"You assume that means he tells me everything," he argued, making her shake his head. "What's it matter to you?" Happy asked, pulling onto the street. Julia didn't answer, she just pulled out her phone to tell Peter they'd be there in twenty. Happy's eyes narrowed at her in the rearview mirror. "You haven't told him."
"Obviously. He doesn't want me around Peter, whether it be because he thinks I'll screw him up, or because he doesn't want me meddling in his precious super hero world or--doesn't matter, there isn't even anything to tell him, it's not real, remember?"
Happy nodded slowly. That was too many words in too few seconds, and it was usually better to let Julia cool off when that happened. But they both knew what she refused to admit about the realness of the situation.
"May!" Peter called as soon as he heard the door open and close.
"Hey, honey!" she called back, throwing her bag and keys down on the kitchen table. Peter heard them clink as they hit it.
"Can you help me?" he asked, not hiding the embarrassment in his voice very well. May's brow furrowed before she went over to his room and saw her nephew struggling to tie a tie that she didn't even know he owned. Her eyes narrowed, shooing his hands away from it. "You'd think I'd know how to do this by now," he muttered. In a matter of seconds May had most of the information she needed. She kept herself up to date on the happenings at Midtown, she knew what tonight was. What she couldn't figure out was why her nephew was going, especially after last year, and who he would be going with.
"This is new," she said, finishing the knot on the tie
"Yeah, I didn't have one that matched Jules' dress," he muttered, clearly not even registering he said it, as he looked in the mirror to fold his collar over the tie. But he did instantly pick up on May's alarm behind her round glasses in the mirror. Peter paused, then turned around. "Right," he began. "Uh, you remember the party? Like a month ago?" May only nodded. "Yeah, well, after that, we just kinda started... talking more," he explained, finding that to be the best way to put this without telling his aunt about their elaborate scheme, or about his huge gigantic crush on her, which she gathered already from the redness of his face. "So I uh," he shrugged. "I asked her, and surprisingly, she said yes," he said, giving her a nervous smile.
May nodded slowly. "Huh."
"And she's gonna be here in like fifteen minutes," he added, just so she'd stop standing around and help him finish getting ready. Luckily, it startled his aunt enough to get her moving. "What else do I need?" he asked.
May was already off to the bathroom to get him cologne. "I thought after last year--"
"I know, I know, but as far as I can tell, Tony Stark is not going to turn into a supervillain and ruin the dance," he said, pulling his suit jacket on. "Unless, of course, he finds out that I'm with his daughter," he added in a mumble, trying not to panic too much about it. He knew it was entirely possible, but he hoped maybe they could get away with it and just enjoy the night. He was spending it with Julia, who would be in a gold dress, all dolled up, how could he not enjoy it.
He looked down at himself, what else did he need? He'd showered, brushed his teeth, again, put on deodorant, had his suit mostly on... Shoes. As he exited his bedroom he was met with a cloud of cologne, walking right into it. He began coughing, swatting it out of the air as best he could.
"May!" he complained, getting hit with the overwhelming urge to sneeze. Then again. Then again.
"Sorry!" she squeaked.
"You know-" he sneezed. "A little goes a long way," he told her, making her laugh, which in turn made him smile. Once the cloud had faded and he could breathe again, he had to admit it smelled pretty good. He just hoped Julia thought so.
Him and May ran over the checklist of things they needed until all they could do was wait. Peter got the corsage and boutonniere out of the fridge and anxiously waited by the door. He knew he shouldn't be this nervous, he knew that it was just for their image, for the plan that was already working quite well, but he couldn't help it.
Julia didn't need to text Peter when she got there, because she'd told him she'd come to the door, so when Happy stopped, she started to open the car door.
"Woah woah woah, where you going?"
"I'm going in to get him," she said.
"You're not wearing a jacket," Happy reminded her. Julia looked down at her outfit that had little to no coverage against the chilly october new york night.
"It's fine, and I look pretty," she said, opening the door and climbing out of the car. Happy quickly rolled down his window.
"Yeah and this isn't real," he taunted, making Julia shoot a look over her shoulder.
"Happy," she scolded, heading for Peter's apartment building door. She had the apartment number in her head, having asked him for it earlier. So she went up to the fourth floor in the elevator, and started toward his door. She looked down at her hands, making sure they were steady. But this wasn't a bad kind of nervous.
She didn't see a doorbell on the door so she knocked when she got there. With her phone left in the car, she didn't know what to do with her hands as she waited for an answer. Luckily, it only took seconds before the door opened and she saw him. She didn't know it was possible, but somehow he looked better than usual, and somehow it stopped her breathing.
On the other side of the door, Peter felt like he was gonna pass out. He'd seen Julia dressed up before, but this was different. Because she was his date. And that part wasn't fake.
The gold dress was stunning. It was shorter, as most homecoming dresses tended to be, covered in sequins, and was just the right amount of low cut, but Peter tried not to linger on that for too long. Her hair was perfectly pulled back into a ponytail that made Peter realize the length of her hair, because the ponytail still fell all the way to her shoulders. And her makeup was just--
"Hey," she smiled her perfect smile, accompanied by her signature red lip, watching as Peter's eyebrows raised, like she'd shocked him somehow by saying hello.
"Hi," he didn't so much say it as he did just try to breathe again. May stared at her nephew from inside the apartment, wondering if he was going to move at any point. Frankly, Julia was wondering the same thing, but she'd be content to just stand here looking at him. He cleaned up really nicely, and she was excited to have all night to take in that view.
"Peter, baby, the corsage?" May reminded him, finally kick starting his brain again.
"Right, yes," he cleared his throat, setting himself back into his voice. He opened the box and pulled it out, so Julia gave him her wrist. Traditionally, it would go on the left, but her left wrist was occupied, as it always was, by her mom's watch, so she gave him her right, and he slipped it over her hand. She looked down at it as he pulled his hand away. The flower was mainly white, complementing the dress.
"You already did the boutonniere," she frowned, looking at it on his suit.
"May said they're tricky, so-"
"Right," Julia startled. "Is she-"
"Hi," Aunt May was inserting herself in the doorway before Julia even managed to ask if she was home. Julia put on her friendliest smile, her parent-pleasing smile. "I'm May, it's so nice to meet you," she said, immediately putting out her hand. Julia shook it politely.
"Julia," she said.
"Oh, I know," May said, making Peter close his eyes, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"May," he scolded.
"Not because--he--just," May immediately tried to talk her way out of this as she let go of Julia's hand, but Julia just found it endearing that Peter talked about her. She didn't think he was going to, given that May didn't know anything else about them.
"Should we go?" Peter asked, trying to get his aunt to stop.
"Sure, yeah," Julia nodded, stepping back so Peter could leave.
"You guys have fun, have him home whenever," May said from the doorway.
"May," he complained again.
"It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Parker," Julia said, smiling politely at May.
"Please, call me May," she corrected, making Julia's smile feel more real. As the two made their way down the hall it became evident that May had forgotten something. "Love you!" She said, smiling as she closed the door.
"Love you, too," he called over his shoulder, before he let out a breath. He regretted it when he looked at Julia again, forgetting how to inhale.
"She's sweet," Julia said, making Peter shake his head.
"She's something," he agreed, heading towards the elevator. He looked down at her pretty corsage-d hand, wanting to hold it so badly, but there was no one around, so there was no reason to. But it was all he could do not to. To hold himself back from that, or from saying something super embarrassing about how pretty she looked. How could he not tell her? She kept glancing over at him, perfectly eye level with him in her heels. He took a breath when they got in the elevator. "You--" he paused. He didn't know if he had the kind of bravery to say what he wanted to. But she wasn't just his fake girlfriend right now, she was his date. Julia looked at him, her brow slightly furrowed, waiting for whatever it was he wanted to tell her. "You look..." he couldn't find the right word. Not a single adjective in the English language described how she looked right now. "Honestly, pretty doesn't begin to cover it," he finally admitted.
Julia's heart skipped. Her furrowed brow disappeared. She felt her cheeks start to hurt as she fought a smile, but she knew they were red regardless.
"Thank you," she said, her gaze on the floor. Peter just nodded, kind of proud of himself that he'd managed that. She wanted to come up with something to say back, but she didn't know how. He looked good, of course he looked good, he always looked good. Nothing quite covered that. Sure, him in his suit gave her butterflies, but he did that without a suit, or in a different kind of suit. Especially in that different kind of suit. She thought about him on her balcony in his spider-man suit without the mask on perhaps more than she should. "You're not so bad yourself, you know," she added as the elevator doors opened and she slipped out, leaving Peter to just watch her for a second. Had she just called him pretty? It was all he had not to blush furiously as he followed her out.
With a hi to Happy, Julia sat back in the car, Peter beside her, but still a ways away. She was suddenly wishing that there wasn't a middle seat, and that she could be sitting closer to her date, but asking him to move felt silly. He'd never sat in the middle just to be closer, he probably wasn't gonna start now. It didn't really matter, she could still tell he was wearing cologne from this far away.
"You smell good," she said, immediately wishing she hadn't. Peter's head shot up and he looked at her.
"Oh," he smiled a little. "Thanks."
She should've known it was coming, but she was immediately met with a glare from Happy in the mirror, which she returned. Peter pretended he didn't notice it.
Peter made sure to hold the car door for her when they got there, one of the little tips May had given him last year before the catastrophe that was the dance. Happy had told them to have fun, and then there they were, standing in front of the school. The music could be heard from outside of it, playing whatever the top hits were right now. Julia could vaguely hear what might have been 5 Seconds Of Summer.
"Ready?" Peter asked her, as she glanced over at him. Looking at the pretty boy in his suit definitely helped, but she couldn't shake the nerves. Something in her was dreading seeing Ethan right now, knowing he was in there, he probably had a date, maybe one of the cheerleaders. Peter put out his hand, and just as Julia went to take it, she stopped herself. Peter's brow furrowed cutely the way it did, trying to figure out why she stopped. It hit him quickly, which she was grateful for. He quickly walked around her, putting out his right hand. Julia smiled a small but grateful smile.
Peter hoped that after a month with him, she wouldn't be so nervous. But he knew it was probably more than just going in there with him, because he'd already gathered something about homecoming was setting her on edge. So instead of asking, he just held her shaking hand tightly, wishing there was something he could do to stop it. Other hand clutching her bag, they started to walk in, waves of students filing in with them. No turning back now.
The gym looked surprisingly nice, it always amazed Julia how they were able to turn a literal high school gym into a venue like this. Why the very-well-funded science school didn't use an actual venue was beyond her, but they'd lined anything unsightly with pretty shimmery fabric, and the fairy lights certainly made the room feel cozier. There were disco balls, photo ops, tables everywhere but not much in the way of food. That didn't really bother her, she was too nervous to eat anyway.
Peter found that she was letting her lead him, which was unusual, he felt like usually he followed her, but this time he was the one pulling her into the gym, looking for people they knew. A wave caught his attention, his eyes finding MJ a few feet away. He waved back, then looked at Julia next to him.
"Do you," he began, once he'd caught his breath, and he got her attention. "Do you wanna meet my friends?"
It had never really occurred to her that she was supposed to. But she really only saw Peter in school, so it hadn't felt like a necessary step. Now that he'd brought it up, she realized that maybe she should've tried to sooner, so that it wasn't happening when she wasn't at her best, so she could make a really good impression, so they'd like her, so they'd approve of her.
"We should take a picture," she said, pointing to the photo op with the shimmering backdrop. Peter shrugged, gesturing with his free hand.
"They're on the way," he said, not picking up on her additional nerves. She put on a brave smile, one she'd mastered after all these years.
"Okay," she said, just a bit too quietly to be heard over the music. It wasn't until he started leading her over that he felt her hand get worse. He glanced at her, but she wouldn't return his gaze, so he didn't press. Julia just made herself look confident for his friends, two of them to be exact. His best friend, Ned, had a gray suit on, accompanied by... a fedora. Julia tried not to question the fashion choice. MJ, who Julia recognized slightly more, was also in a suit, but it suited her. Her usually messy hair pulled half up out of her face.
"Hey," Peter smiled at his friends, making sure he didn't drop Julia's hand as he did his handshake with Ned that made Julia smile a little more. It was cute, albeit, adolescent. "You know Julia," he said, not really having to introduce her, but not for the same reason most people didn't.
"Sup," MJ said with a polite half-smile.
"Hey," an almost squeak like noise escaped Ned. Julia took a breath that she tried to make discreet.
"Nice to meet you guys, heard a lot about you," she said.
"I hope not," Ned muttered, looking a lot like he meant it.
"We're in physics together, right?" Julia asked MJ, trying not to worry too much about whatever was going on with Ned. Suddenly MJ didn't look much better.
"Yeah," she confirmed.
"Great, you've got more classes with her than I do," Peter complained, but it got no response. He looked between his friends, to his girlfriend, who looked about as confused as he was. "What is the matter with you two?"
"Just," Ned made an attempt to speak. "She's--you're--" he looked from Julia to Peter. "She's Julia Stark," he reminded Peter, as if he had somehow forgotten. Julia lost her smile that she'd been putting on to begin with. Peter sighed, knowing he'd have to apologize for Ned's behavior.
"It's not like you didn't know I was dating her," Peter said, trying to sound more confident than he was.
"I know, I know," Ned said. "I just, she's, your-"
"I'll be right back," Peter told Julia quickly, before he slowly let go of her hand, and grabbed Ned by the arm, pulling him away from her. He supposed the shock came from the fact that Ned had never met Julia face to face. He'd just heard Peter go on... and on... "Dude," he said."Why would you say that?"
"I didn't mean to," Ned claimed. "I just, I don't know, I'm intimidated dude! How are you not? You're dating a celebrity."
"She's not-" Peter stopped himself. He supposed he felt the same way Ned did when he first met Julia, he was just a bit better at hiding it. And he was more concerned with his giant crush on her than her celebrity. "Yeah, I guess," he agreed.
"Not to mention, Tony Stark's daughter," he said, which instantly made Peter throw his hand over Ned's mouth. That was not something he needed Julia to hear, since she got that more often than her own name.
"And that's the least cool thing about her," Peter told him, removing his hand. "Can you just maybe treat her like a person? It's important to me that you guys like her. And not because she's famous," he told Ned, who looked over at MJ and Julia, who seemed to be getting along fairly well. He looked at his best friend, the desperate look on his face.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry," he said.
"Thank you," Peter said.
Julia gave Peter and Ned a funny look as soon as they walked off, suddenly wishing he was still next to her. But she shook it off, she rolled her shoulders back as she always did.
"That's just Ned," MJ said. "He's like that, give him time," she said, catching Julia's eyes. That definitely didn't help, but MJ was not about to make a fool out of herself like Ned had.
"It's fine," Julia swore, reaching her now free hand up to her hair to give it something to do. She pulled the end of the ponytail around her fingers, trying to hide the shaking. She tried to give her a polite smile, really trying to make it seem like this interaction didn't mean that much to her. What she didn't expect from this interaction was to see MJ's eyes wander, just a little, just enough for Julia to notice. And somehow she wasn't that nervous anymore. She kept twisting her hair, suddenly realizing why MJ had been acting weird, and it wasn't because she didn't like her. When MJ met Julia's eyes again, her face fell. She'd been caught, and they both know it. "So that physics homework," Julia said, and MJ quickly tried to recollect herself.
"It's--impossible, yeah," she said, just as Julia started to smirk. "I'm sorry," MJ said, her face a little red. "You just," she breathed out, "you--you look really nice," she said, just to make sure Julia knew she wasn't a total creep. Julia felt--what must've been pride, in her chest.
"That's okay, thank you," she accepted the compliment well. Most didn't really phase her, anyway. The ones that did came from the boy that was finally starting to come back over. He saw the slowing of her hand on the way, the tightness in his chest releasing just a bit with it. His hand slipped back into hers, feeling that it was a bit more steady. Julia gave it a squeeze, pulling him closer to her, without really making the decision to, she just wanted him there. She passed her clutch to him, and he took it, without her asking. Her gaze lifted, just for a moment, to his face, before she slipped her right hand around his bicep. Peter started to smile, catching MJ's suspicious looking gaze, taking his smile quickly off his face. Did she know something?
Julia would have been content to stay here all night, until she saw him. And Peter felt that familiar jolt, the Julia Mode he'd become accustomed to. Ethan Howard had fallen into her eye line, with a pretty cheerleader on his arm, just as she suspected he'd have. She was taller than Jules, blonde, skinnier, of course she was. Julia wished she could keep her smile. She was hanging off of Peter Parker, but her ex wiped it right off her face. Oh, she hated that. Her grip on Peter's arm tightened, pulling him a little closer. Peter didn't want to make any sudden movements that scared her into stopping, but that kind of closeness wasn't totally usual for them. But all the same, he couldn't help the curious look on his face, and the tilt of his head. Finally she looked at him, catching his look, the furrowed brow she usually found so endearing.
"Did we want to go take a picture?" she reminded him. And what choice did he have than to follow, and act like he didn't know something was wrong.
"Sure," he agreed. "We'll be back," he told his friends, something he also didn't know was true. And then they were off, the way they were, with Julia leading and him following. Before he knew it they were in front of the shimmery golden tassels they were using as a backdrop. He felt himself seizing up just a little, he was never good in front of a camera, he preferred being behind it. Looking at Julia in that outfit he'd rather just capture that, than be captured by her side.
Yet here he was, setting down her clutch and waiting for her to tell him how to pose. Mostly she just stood beside him, his arm around her waist, her left hand on his tie and right around his back. The flash was blinding, but neither seemed to mind. Peter's fingers curled into her waist, and she felt herself leaning into him. Her heart pounded against the side of Peter it was pressed to.
She knew the eyes were on her, a specific pair, that was. It's what convinced her to take Peter by the chin and press a red-lipped kiss to his cheek, making him blush for a photo. She caught his eyes after, the slight smile that he had. She returned it, before she pushed him away from the photo op. He'd needed it to jump-start himself, grabbing her clutch, and taking it to wherever it was she'd lead him next.
In her head, it was anywhere but where Ethan was. Her first thought was to find Emma, hoping Peter wouldn't mind a turn of tables, instead meeting her friends. She realized quickly that she'd been so worried about her own dress that she didn't ask Emma what color she'd be in, and now she was wishing she had. Luckily, she didn't have to know. She felt a familiar hug around her waist and she immediately felt every nerve she'd had leave her. She smiled as she turned around, throwing her arms around her best friend, who was wearing a baby blue dress that looked just beautiful on her.
Julia beamed as she pulled away and checked her out. "Oh my god, you look stunning!" She gaped, and Emma just tilted her head like she knew it.
"So do you, but I would know, I picked out your dress," she said triumphantly, making Julia shake her head.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you did a fabulous job," she told her, holding both her hands, pulling her in. "I think he really likes it," she said in a sharp whisper, so Emma would hear her over the music, but so Peter, just a few feet behind her, wouldn't.
"Duh," Emma whispered back, pulling back just to look over Julia's shoulder at the boy. Julia could see Emma giving him a smirk, making her shove her just a little. She turned back to Peter, then gestured to Emma.
"I don't know if you've met, this is—"
"I'm Emma," she interrupted, obviously jumping on the chance to talk to Peter. "Her best friend," she reminded him, almost like she was trying to scare him. Peter just nodded nervously.
"Yeah, she talks about you a lot," he said, and Emma just smirked, linking her arm in Julia's.
"She better," she said. Julia rolled her eyes. "She talks a lot about you, too. At least. She does now," she shoved Julia back just a bit, and Julia bit her tongue, looking between Emma and Peter, the latter of which had a familiar confused look on his cute face. Julia felt a quick rush of adrenaline to her heart when she realized what she had to admit.
"Um," she fought a smile. "She knows," she told him. And instead, Peter's eyebrows raised in shock.
"She knows?"
"She forced it out of me when we were buying a dress I'm sorry," Julia said quickly, letting go of Emma and latching onto Peter instead, taking his arm. And despite them saying they wouldn't tell anyone, Peter found it particularly difficult to be upset with her holding him like that. He found it difficult to be upset at Julia in general. Peter tilted his head back, quickly coming to terms with this information, before he just shook his head, unable to fight a smile. It still baffled him that Julia even wanted to fake date him, and he still couldn't pinpoint a reason, so her telling her best friend didn't bother him so much except for that now Emma probably knew more than he did. Julia didn't give him long to think about it.
"Do you wanna dance?" she asked. And he just stared at her. The answer was no, he very much did not want to dance. But again, if Julia said hey wanna go jump off that bridge he'd say yeah sure. He gave her a small nod, which keyed her in to his nerves, but she squeezed his hands, and started to pull him over. "We have to dance sooner or later, it's a dance," she reminded him.
"I choose later," he joked, which made her shake her head at him, smiling.
But as it turned out, it wasn't so bad. Their dancing was--bad, that is--but the act of doing it was surprisingly easy. It might have been because they'd gotten so good at putting themselves in a bubble by now. He'd stopped noticing the eyes, he knew they weren't on him, anyway. It amazed him how good he'd gotten at being around her, given how intimidated he'd been just a month ago. But she just wasn't that girl anymore, she wasn't this unattainable thing who didn't even notice him, she was just Julia. His... fake girlfriend.
He lost sight of her when he split off to go get them punch, which was fine, she said she was looking for her soccer friends anyway. It did mean he'd have to go back over to his friends without her, and he felt a little unprepared for questions. But to his surprise, there weren't many. They just mentioned how cool she was, how different she was to what they'd been expecting, and Peter just smiled. He was glad someone else could see that, with a drink in either hand, he waited impatiently for her to return.
Julia headed off to the side, towards the food, but was mostly just looking for her team. She found a few of the girls on the way over, giving them a hug, telling them how good they looked. She was mostly looking for Maia and Molly, because of their locker room conversation, but there he was again. Tall enough to spot in a crowd, tall enough to look over everyone's heads to find her. Julia's red lips became a frown almost instantly, and they only got worse when she saw his feet start moving.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. If she turned and walked away she'd look like a coward, but she was so not in the mood to face him. Why hadn't he taken after Flash and left them the fuck alone? Then it started to dawn on her that he seemed to have left Peter alone...
"There you are!" Just as he was getting close, maybe ten feet away, her vision got obscured, and in the best way possible. Julia let out her breath when Maia cut off her view of her ex, with a look like she was a little worried about her. Maia looked over her shoulder at the king of douchebags, then back at Julia, noting the relieved look on her captain's face. Julia couldn't help it, she pulled Maia into a hug immediately as Molly showed up by her side. She gave Molly one, too, as soon as she could, then looked at their dresses. Molly was in white, and Maia was in black, a perfectly coordinated set for the couple.
"Hi," Julia said, her breath still not fully in her voice. "You guys look amazing," she told them, making both the girls smile.
"You're one to talk," Molly said, reaching for Julia's left hand and giving it a squeeze. "I cannot believe we were wrong," she used Julia's hand to gesture to her dress. "But I am glad so we were, look at you!"
Julia finally began to smile again. "Thank you," she said, steadying herself. It was exactly what she needed to be talking to her girls. She just wished she could do this all night, be around the people she actually liked, and avoid the ones she very much did not.
And she managed to, for a while longer. Emma had come over to talk to her and Peter and his friends. She didn't seem to know them well, either, but her and MJ were hitting it off, making Julia and Peter exchange a look while her hand rested in his. Emma even somehow convinced MJ to dance with her and Jules, the boys both insisting they couldn't.
"Can't keep my hands to myself-"
Julia gasped upon hearing the song, looking at Emma who immediately rolled her eyes. Julia was beaming, wishing she had her phone on her, but Peter was still holding her clutch. "I love her," she practically squealed.
"I know," Emma rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't like Selena Gomez, it was that she was jealous that she was among Julia's celebrity contacts. Julia danced with a little more spirit, and with a few dance moves that Peter could tell she'd definitely gotten from her dad. And even though Emma pretended she was mad, she couldn't help but dance with her, the girls all dramatically pausing before singing "I mean I could but why would I want to."
Julia found that as good a time as any to break off, leaving Em and MJ alone, and heading back over to Peter.
"You texting her?" Emma called after her, making Julia glance back over her shoulder.
"I have to!" she replied, as she made her way to Peter, and her things. But by the time she got there she'd practically forgotten that she wanted her phone, she was too winded from dancing and could only think about some water, and taking her heels off, only one of which was an option right now. "Do you want me to get us more punch?" she asked, her hands coming up to Peter's shoulder, but he didn't even flinch. She knew, of course, that he always knew when she was coming. He smiled a little, glancing at her. It all felt so real in moments like this, especially here at a dance together. So he nodded, making her give his arm a squeeze before she turned and headed towards the refreshments.
She saw it, she could see the waters and the punch just a few feet in front of her, but why would Ethan ever let her have anything she wanted?
"How cute," she heard the voice like nails on a chalkboard, but she should've seen it coming. Julia tilted her head, the ponytail falling to one side briefly, before she forced herself to turn around and look at him. "No red, I'm surprised. Changing it up for him?" he asked her, checking her out in her dress. She fought every urge in her body to roll her eyes.
"I can wear other colors," she reminded him. She just watched his eyes wander again, fighting the urge to hit him in the face.
"Yeah you can," he agreed. Julia rolled her shoulders back, looking up at him.
"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. She knew she couldn't intimidate him which always bothered her. She'd like to be able to give him one look and get him to fuck off, but Ethan was stubborn like that. And he hadn't liked how she'd been walking all over him. He always liked to push his luck. So he looked like he was thinking about that, but when he took too long to answer, she started to walk past him. He just sidestepped to breach her path again, making her huff, and look up past those few inches to his face, with the very familiar I'm gonna kill you look.
"Yeah, actually," he said. "It's," he thought for a moment, taking another step towards her. "Interesting," he decided. "Seeing you two together," he looked over her head at Peter, who had yet to notice him. Julia just looked at Ethan like he was stupid. "He doesn't really seem your type," Ethan said, smirking a little, thinking he was right. Julia just hummed, nodding.
"Which once again just proves how little you know about me, excuse me," she began trying to get around him to get their refreshments, but Ethan did as Ethan does, he grabbed her arm. Julia froze, balling her left hand into a fist. He leaned in a little.
"I think you're wrong. I think I know you better than you want me to, and I think we both know you don't really like him," he said, all too close to her ear. She wanted to laugh at just how wrong he was, but his proximity made it hard to do anything but remember how to breathe. "I think you know I'm right about what I said to you that day? On the bleachers?" he said, as if she needed any reminders. "And you're not very convincing."
What was funny to her was he was right about one thing, that she was trying to be convincing. But her and Peter's little act had less than nothing to do with making Ethan Howard jealous.
Peter's head turned the second Ethan grabbed Julia's arm. He was so attuned to the feeling by now, the connection he had to Julia's nerves, and he couldn't even be mad about it. "Excuse me," he said immediately to his friends, handing off Julia's clutch to Emma who was shocked she didn't see it before Peter did.
"And you know what I think?" Julia said back, ripping her arm away from Ethan's grip. "I think you're an idiot," she gave him a semi-convincing smile, ending the conversation there. She was beyond tired of his narcissism, of his efforts to try to get her to budge. And she really really didn't want to have to prove anything to Ethan. But unfortunately, he was a little right, he knew her, at least to some extent. Her words only did so much. And maybe some part of her wanted to do this, wanted to give Ethan something to be mad about. She knew he was just riling her up, but it didn't change her mind. She turned, heading towards Peter who was halfway between Ethan and their friends, wanting to come to her aid, but knowing there was nothing he could do. It wasn't about him anymore.
Julia took Peter by the arm, with a bit more force than normal, turning him away from Ethan, and taking them just a bit further away. The dance was so crowded that it was hard, and she didn't want to take him too far that her ex couldn't still see her. She tried her best to make it look like she was just pleased to see Peter, but her hand was still shaking, and her heart was pounding. She'd never been nervous about something like this before.
"Hi," she said quickly. Peter looked at her funny.
"Hey?" He watched as Julia took a breath, which only concerned him further. Her hand moved up his arm, holding him lightly by his bicep, as she leaned in a little so she could speak to him low enough that no one would hear. It's not that she didn't want to do this, she just didn't want it to be like this.
"You can say no," she began, which did not calm him down, "but," she willed herself to say it, "can I kiss you?"
Peter tried not to let the alarm show on his face. Kissing Julia. Kissing Julia?! He'd never kissed anyone let alone a genius, model, billionaire, heiress... but he'd said it to Ned, she wasn't any of that. She was Julia. And Julia was someone he thought about kissing a lot. Something in him didn't care that it might not be real, he couldn't stop himself. He nodded, letting out a weak: "yeah."
"Are you sure?" she checked, which didn't help the fact that they were both so aware that this was his first kiss. He just nodded again, trying to come off more confident. It helped that he could see Ethan Howard over her head, even though he tried not to look. He could hear faint whispers of Julia's name being passed from Ethan to whoever he was talking to. He couldn't keep track of all the things he was feeling, but suddenly he was slightly less nervous, mostly because he was thinking the same way Julia was. He was thinking about how good it would feel to be able to throw this in Ethan's face. It was a good enough reason for him.
"Yeah," he said again, and Julia nodded a little. Even though she knew it probably looked like she'd just asked him if she could kiss him, she moved her hand on his arm to his face. She smiled a little, an instant remedy to his nerves, she leaned in, and she kissed him.
It was hard to not smile with her lips on his, but if she needed any confirmation that she really really liked Peter, this was it. No one she'd ever kissed had ever kissed her like this. Everything about it, from how gentle he was, to the lack of annoying height difference, everything was new to her.
His hand floated nervously to her waist, then the other to her back. He would do almost anything to keep her here, her hand still on his face, moving to his hair, and her lips unwavering from his. He didn't care that they were in public, he didn't care that half the school was probably watching, he was kissing the girl he'd been in love with for three years. Her left hand moved to his tie, resting there, which he didn't mind at all, if anything, it gave him an excuse to come closer.
But just as he did, Julia pulled away, not wanting to overwhelm him, and not wanting to make too much of a scene. She felt a little silly when she realized she was still smiling, but it helped that Peter looked worse. He looked so dumbstruck, so in awe. Julia quickly realized her hand in his hair probably didn't help and she brought it down to his shoulder. She gave his tie a quick tug, to get him to focus.
It's not that he wasn't focused, it's that all he could focus on was kissing her again.
"You okay?" she asked.
Peter nodded weakly, knowing that no words would come out if he tried. Julia smiled a little bigger. She wanted so badly to do it again, but she didn't want to over do it. She glanced over his shoulder at their friends, seeing Emma staring at her with a dropped jaw, making Julia go a little red, which was hidden by the dim lighting, and the fact that she was already flushed from kissing him. "Come on," she said, letting go of his tie, and slipping her hand into his. He just followed her, feeling like he'd forgotten his own name, as she led him back to their friends, back into reality.