This was it. The final frontier, the final fight; Aspen Blue was going to find her parents--or father at least.
It was the night before they were about to leave and a few days after Tony Stark decided to trust the girl. Aspen was laying face up in her bed with her eyes wide open. She couldn't sleep at all, for her anxiety regarding the trip was through the roof.
The trio was planning on leaving for Nashville extremely early in the morning, so Peter was staying the night in the tower as well. The boy had to miss school for this, but he honestly didn't care; he would do anything for Aspen.
The girl glared at the clock next to her and let out a groan. It was 2:19 and they were planning to leave at five. She knew that she needed to get rest before the next days events, but her mind was not letting her sleep.
Before she realized what she was doing, the girl peeled the white covers off of her body and placed her feet on the cool floor. She mindlessly walked out of her room and allowed her feet to lead the way.
When she realized where she was, Aspen hesitated but pushed aside the bubbling feeling in her gut and slowly opened the door.
She peeked in and saw Peter's sleeping figure and was about to retreat when the boy stirred and sat up.
"What's going on?" His voice was hoarse and laced with sleep, and he rubbed his eyes.
Aspen grew embarrassed and looked down at the floor. "Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you, I was just- I don't know..."
"Are you alright?" He asked in a concerned tone.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I'll just be going-" She pointed in the direction of her room and made a move to exit Peter's.
"Aspen you can talk to me about anything, you know that right?" Peter was not going to give up on trying to get her to talk to him, and Aspen knew that.
The girl let out nervous breath and walked back into his room, closing the door behind her. She grabbed a chair and dragged it over to his bed then sat down and put her head in her hands.
"I just can't sleep. It's nerves I guess." She started, then looked up and met the boys tired eyes. "I should really let you sleep, I'm sorry I bothered you."
Aspen tried to stand up from the chair, but Peter grabbed her hand and stopped her for moving any further. He reached out and took her other hand in his so that they were connected fully. Without saying anything, Peter pulled her in his direction, bringing her closer to him.
"Talk to me, Penny. Please talk to me." The boy was begging for the girl to be open with him and wanted nothing more than for her to stop bottling up her emotions.
The girl looked down, avoiding his pleading gaze and clenched her jaw tightly. "I'm scared." She finally let out in a weak voice.
"What if we get to the prison and my dad isn't there? What if he's dead too and all of this has just been a trap and Hydra is working to get me back? We don't know if any of this is real, and we don't even know what Hydra did to me. What if they are there waiting for us and turn me back into Hemlock?" The girl was fighting tears and she hated herself for being so weak.
"Penny, it's okay to be afraid and it's okay to cry. Tony and I, we would never let anything happen to you, and I sure as hell know that you can handle yourself. You are the strongest person I have ever met, not physically, but mentally. If it's a trap, then we'll fight our way out of it. If your dad is dead then you have me and you have Tony. Aspen, we are here for you and we believe in you. I know you can do this."
"Why are you so good to me, Peter Parker?" Aspen asked with her eyes closed and the smallest of tears falling down her cheeks.
There it was. The question that could changed everything.
Peter didn't admit it to himself until then, but in that moment he knew. The boy knew exactly what he wanted to say, and he wanted to shout it out a thousand times so that everyone in the entire world knew.
Because I love you.
But he didn't say it. He didn't scream it from every mountain top or paint it on every canvas, instead he smiled, wiped a tear off of the beautiful girls cheek, and squeezed her cold hands tighter.
"Because I care about you."
And that was the honest truth. Peter cared about Aspen more than he cared about any girl ever (except Aunt May of course, but that was different).
Aspen opened her eyes and smiled lightly at the boy. That was all she needed to hear; Peter Parker cared about her, and that was what mattered.
She leaned down and rested her forehead against his, allowing her eyes to fall shut once again. "I care about you too."
They remained like that for a while. Their eyes closed and hands clasped together like someone was trying to break them apart.
But in the end, they knew they couldn't remain that way. As much as they wanted to sit together forever, they both knew that they needed rest, for they had a big day ahead of them.
"You need to sleep, Blue." Peter whispered softly, pulling his head away but not removing his hands from hers.
"I know." She whispered back, still unmoving from her chair.
Instead of letting the girl go, Peter tugged on her arms and scooted over in the bed. "Come on then."
Aspen fought a small smile and climbed into the bed with Peter, the warmth of his sheets enveloping her cold frame.
Letting go of her hands, Peter wrapped his arm around her and Aspen snuggled closer.
They laid in silence for a while; two bodies mushing into one. But as comfortable as Aspen was, she felt as though she didn't say everything she needed to.
"Peter?" She whispered in the softest voice possible.
He hummed in response and Aspen thought about her words for a few seconds.
"If we end up in a situation where you can either save yourself or me, promise me you'll chose yourself. No matter what I do or say, you have to let me be the only one that gets hurt."
Peter became more awake at her words and looked at her with wide eyes. "I can't make that promise." He shook his head in protest, not wanting Aspen to sacrifice her safety for him.
"You have to, Pete. If you died, you have people that you would be leaving behind. Ned, May, everyone. I have nobody. It wouldn't be fair to take you away from all of those people when it could be me making a lesser impact."
"You have me. It would impact me. Aspen, I'm not letting anything happen to you." Peter argued back, growing more and more frustrated with the girl.
"We are both going to protect each other equally, but in the end if anything goes wrong, you get out of there before you get hurt." She spoke firmly, her eyes hard and face stone. "Promise me."
Peter sighed and nodded his head. "I promise."
It was a complete lie. Peter was not going to run away when he could be doing more to save the girl he loved. Even if she didn't share the same feelings as him, he would still do anything for her--including put himself in the face of death. He knew it would ease her conscious though, so he lied.
Aspen let out a breath in relief and nuzzled her head back into Peter's chest.
The young Blue was not under any circumstances let anything happen to Peter Parker. He was too pure and meant too much to so many people that it would be selfish of her to allow him to fall on her behalf.
He meant too much to her to let him fall on her behalf.
Aspen didn't know how she felt about Peter, but she knew it was something powerful. The girl had never felt love before, but she had seen it. Stanley and Marie Blue were two of the most in-love people anyone had ever seen, and Aspen couldn't help but wonder if someday she would get that.
She couldn't help but wonder if she would get that with Peter.
Aspen didn't know if what she was feeling was love, but she was willing to find out. She would wait until she was absolutely certain, and then she would come to terms with her emotion. So for now, the girl would stick with saying that she cared a whole hell of a lot about Peter Parker and leave it at that.
Emotions were a scary thing for her, and love was a completely new chapter. Her most recent emotions were fear, anger, and sadness, and Aspen had been feeling those for about two years now. It was hard for her to remember what true happiness felt like, but when she was with Peter she was reminded of that.
So, the broken girl decided to trust her heart and allow it to do what it wanted with the boy.
Her heart would let her know when she was really in love.