Kylie POV
I looked around anxiously for Peter from where I stood with the other graduates. I got worried when he hung up with me after thinking he saw Captain Stacy. Right as he hung up Gwen ended her speech. The B's were quick to go as you can imagine.
Now I kept searching the crowd for Peter, fruitlessly I might add. He might just miss his own graduation—they were already at the O's. I could see his Aunt May out in the audience looking for him too.
My own mother was just sitting happily in her seat. She smiled at me and waved when I caught her eye. Dad and the other Avengers couldn't come because they'd be too conspicuous and no one at school but Peter knew they were my family. It would blow my cover.
Speaking of covers, in the last two weeks Peter and I had starred on front covers many times. I had a couple of ones without him on it as New York tried to puzzle out who I was. Mom and Dad had been talking about it at home a lot and I was forced to speculate with them.
So far I hadn't been given a name besides 'Spidey's New Helper' or 'Spidey's Friend' or 'Spidey's Mysterious Friend'. Frustrating, believe me. What symbol would I put on my uniform? A spider with a silhouette of me next to it? We were waiting for someone to get creative and take the big step that was naming a superhero.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by a name.
"Peter Parker."
He wasn't there yet.
"Peter Parker?"
Just as the announcer was about to give up, Peter ran on stage in his cap and gown. He had on a backpack that probably contained his uniform as he shook the principal's hand.
Peter walked up to Gwen who, as the valedictorian, was still on stage. He dipped her into a kiss that left the crowd cheering. I couldn't help but wonder if that was some sort of goodbye.
As Peter walked over to stand with the other graduates, I gave him a death glare. I forgot how mad I was that he ran off and fought the Russian mob without me. Now that my worry of if he'd make it or not was out of the way, I could freely judge him for fighting without me.
He spotted me and my anger and gave me an apologetic look.
'Later' he mouthed to me.
'You're gonna get it' I mouthed back.
With that, I ignored him until the end of the ceremony.
*********************************
"Congratulations honey," my mom sobbed into my shoulder.
"Mom, it's all right, I'm gonna be fine," I sighed.
"But you're all grown up and I can't take care of you anymore!" She wailed.
I saw Peter with Aunt May and I waved him over once I caught his eye.
'Help me!' I mouthed.
He laughed to himself and nodded. He said something to his aunt and they both walked over to us.
"Hey Mom, look, Peter and Aunt May are coming over here," I said quietly.
She quickly stopped crying and wiped her face with a tissue. She plastered a smile to her face as Peter and Aunt May approached.
"Hello Peter, May," Mom said calmly. She never liked to cry in front of anyone.
"Hello Laura," May returned just as Peter said "Mrs. B."
"Peter," my mom said warningly. He chuckled nervously at her.
"Um, we're just gonna let you two catch up," he said as he dragged me away. Once we were a sufficient way away from them, Peter stopped walking and just started staring at the ground.
"Hey, are you alright? I know you're kinda shaken up from seeing him, but—" I started to say in concern. Peter cut me off before I could finish.
"I can't take it anymore, Lee," he choked. "I see him everywhere. He just glares at me, and I know he died because of me, and I broke the promise I made to him too. I broke a promise to a dying man, Lee. To keep Gwen safe and, I don't know if she's safe. I could be putting her in the path of danger right now. I don't know, and that kills me Kylie."
"Peter it wasn't your fault. He was an officer, it was his job to keep the city safe and he died doing it. It could just have easily been you or me. He knew the risk, just like we do, but we still do it. He still did it. He knew what it would mean. He doesn't blame you, and neither do I. Gwen doesn't blame you either. She knows the risk of being with you, but she's still wants to be with you because she loves you Peter," I soothed him.
I hated myself even as I said it, because it had to be said, and I had to convince Peter to stay with Gwen when my heart was screaming to be with him myself. He and Gwen loved each other, and I knew he probably never love me like he does her. She makes him happy, and that's what's important.
"And I love her too. I do. And that's why I can't be with her. I have to stay away from her to protect her. I can't lose her, Lee," he shook his head.
"So because you love her you're going to stay away from her? Because you can't lose her you can't be together? It doesn't make sense Peter," I asked him.
"It's the only way that I can keep her out of it," he replied.
"She's going to bring herself back into it, Peter. It's too late for you to shut her out now, she loves you too much for that. She'll still put herself in danger to help you. And can you honestly say that you'll stay away from her, either?" I pointed out.
"I don't know what else to do Kylie," Peter sighed.
Just then I heard a shout from behind us. We both turned to see Gwen's family waving Peter over.
"Peter, come get in a picture!" Her mom yelled.
"Sorry, I can't! I have to find my aunt!" He shouted back.
"Just do what's best for you, Peter," I sighed. Without a word, he walked back over to his aunt May. I followed behind him to go find my mom.
*********************************
I was just sitting alone in my room contemplating what I would do now when Peter came flying through my open window.
"Look, Kylie! Look look look look look!"
"Alright, what is it? Calm down!"
He handed me a copy of The Daily Bugle which featured a picture of me on the front.
"Okay, so I'm on the front cover again, what else is new?"
"Look closer! Read the headline!"
"'The Dark Archer Strikes Again'," I read aloud. A name!
It was an article about the job I did last night. Peter had been under close watch from Aunt May for some reason and I was forced to save the city solo. There was a robbery on 29th and I had to stop five men from getting away with a jewelry heist. It was easy enough and soon they were all swinging from light poles.
It was clear from the article and name that The Daily Bugle thought of me as a menace, just like they did Spider-Man. Nevertheless it was a name, and not a bad one either.
"A name!" I squealed. "It sounds like a villain name, but it's better than nothing."
"If you ask me, I'd say it sounds badass," Peter said.
"Careful," I snickered. "You never know when my uncle Steve could be listening."
"I think I deserve a little slack for the picture," Peter replied.
"They hired you to take pictures of me, too?" I wondered.
"Yeah, and that's not a bad one, is it?" He asked cheekily.
I squealed again and gave Peter a massive hug. He returned it, chuckling at my enthusiasm. It was about five seconds later that I realized we were still hugging and Peter didn't seem to have a problem with it. He was so warm that I found it hard to pull away, but I did, reluctantly.
I didn't know what was going on between us, but we'd had a lot of moments like this. Weird, awkward, romantic kind of moments. There'd been the roof and my room on my first night and many other moments between then and now. They left me confused because as far as I knew, Peter still loved Gwen.
"Thanks for bringing this to me, Peter," I said with a blush. I blushed harder when the memory of Peter calling me cute when I blush surfaced.
"No problem, Lee," he brushed it off.
He walked over to my window and leaped out without another word to me.
"The Dark Archer," I said to myself. "I like it."