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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
v. SECOND-GUESSING
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SOMETHING WAS DEFINITELY WRONG. Riley had seen more than enough in her life to be able to discern between good and bad, right and wrong with ease. And right now, she was more than positive that something was wrong.
MJ was sprawled across her bed, across from Riley's. The moon hung in the star-littered sky, which seemed to awaken the night owl. A small lantern sat in the middle of the cabin to illuminate the cabin in secret, as the duo quietly spoke rather than being asleep.
MJ watched as she paced back and forth. "Okay, slow down and tell me what's wrong."
"I can't, MJ!" exclaimed Riley. Her hands were stuck to her head as she worriedly ran her fingers through her raven hair.
MJ felt much like a cat watching a mouse. "Maybe I should've clarified," she admitted, rolling over to lay flat on her stomach. "That wasn't a suggestion. I'm literally telling you to slow down and tell me what's up."
Riley slowed down before ultimately halting. She tilted her head back and released a frustrated groan before turning back to MJ. "This is stupid," she pronounced unhappily. "This is totally stupid, right?"
"Hang on, you want me to form an opinion on something I literally have no context for?"
"Um, yes!"
MJ rolled her eyes, reaching back to chuck one of her pillows at Riley. The Latina let out a little squeal, creating a forcefield to stop it from hitting her. MJ had to take a minute to recall that Riley could do... that. She still wasn't used to seeing it in person, never mind on TV.
"Hey, what was that for!?" whined Riley. She paused when she noticed MJ's blank stare that contrarily told her everything. "Right. Sorry. I should tell you what's going on, right?" She paused. She felt like an idiot. Her brain was all over the place all because of this one thing. "Actually, don't answer that."
MJ snickered. "Tell me what's wrong already," she insisted. "Is it Peter?"
Riley felt like she was about to explode. She wasn't used to going to people for advice on anything, even now. She'd always wait until someone asked her. But this was MJ, so maybe Riley could relax just this once?
"Yeah. Yeah, it's about—" She hesitated, "—Peter."
MJ leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. "...Why'd you whisper his name?" she mocked.
"I don't know! That's not the point!" she excused. "I know you read a lot of books, so I'm hoping you picked up good advice over the years."
MJ motioned with her hands, urging, "Yeah, yeah, come on. Out with it already before I hit you again."
Walking toward her roommate, Riley silently kneeled down in front of MJ's bed. "You have to swear... swear on your life that you'll never tell anyone I said any of this," Riley demanded. MJ refused to let it show, but she was actually a little startled.
MJ raised an eyebrow. "Uh... alright. I swear—"
Riley was quick to share her head and interrupt MJ. "No." Riley held up her own hand. "Give me your pinky."
MJ stared at the Avenger's hand, faltering. "You... the badass, valiant Valor... are making me pinky promise you not to tell anyone something I don't even know?"
"Hey, the pinky promise is sacred in my family," disputed Riley. "Now, give me your finger!" Sighing, MJ offered her hand and intertwined their pinkies.
Riley sighed nervously, immediately sinking into her nerves again. "Okay, you're starting to freak me out," said MJ, sitting up. "What's wrong?"
Riley stood up onto her feet and tightly shut her eyes. A deep breath of air inflated her lungs as she revealed, "I like Peter."
Silence.
Thud!
"Ow! Why'd you throw your book at me!?"
"Because I already knew that!"
"You didn't let me finish!" Riley insisted. MJ exasperatedly sighed, causing the Latina to stick her tongue out at her before continuing. "Okay, so I really like Peter. And I've been trying to get rid of this crush for the past month. But I've been unsuccessful and I just..." Riley hesitated, a big smile spreading across her face. "I still really like him. A lot. I swear, I think this crush has been growing since we first met. Is that weird to think? I-I dunno. I don't actually know how these... crush... things work."
"So... what's the problem then?"
A faint smile tugged on MJ's lips as she watched Riley. "So... what's the problem then?" queried MJ.
"I can't tell if he likes me or if he thinks we're just really good friends!" she finally blurted out. "It's been five days since we got to camp, and I still can't figure him out. I thought I knew him, but now I'm second-guessing everything I've ever known!"
MJ shrugged her shoulders. "Boys are stupid like that," she assured. "But... give me more details."
Riley pushed her tongue against the side of her cheek. "Well..."
"So, uh, I like the... p-paint in... in your hair," nervously mentioned Peter Parker to a paint-covered Riley, his boyish charm shining through. Even in a mess of colors, Riley was still a radiant piece of art. Was that cheesy of him to think? Maybe. But did he care? Not at all.
"You do?" Riley Stark wondered with a little smile. He liked her smile.
"Y-Yeah," stuttered Peter. "The color brings out your eyes... Uh... I-I wish I could... pull that off, haha."
Grinning, Riley's eyes lit up with an idea. "You know, there's a really easy way to find out if you can, Petey," she revealed. Before Peter could ask for clarification, Riley extended her arms outward. "Give me a hug!"
Peter's eyes widened, fear flashing across his face as he ignored his racing heart. "Hell no!"
And as Peter took off running, Riley went after him. "Get back here, you coward!"
"In your dreams!"
Riley wasn't one to hold back when she was approached with a challenge, which meant that when Peter said he ran for his life, he really did run for his life. Drops of wet paint fell onto the ground behind Riley as she took off after the amazing Spider-Man.
Peter had never once been in Valor's line of fire before. They'd always worked side-by-side, never against each other. Even during the Avengers Civil War, they were on the same side. That being said, he had never felt a greater, more immense terror than when he was sprinting away from Riley.
It was all going by so fast. One minute, Riley was running after Peter, and the next, Peter was the one backing Riley into a tree.
"You know, I think we're supposed to switch places," Riley admitted to the boy who had managed to capture her in his own web. Literally. He wasn't surprised that she managed to burn his web apart with her UV rays though.
Peter, on the other hand, was huffing and puffing like he had just ran across the country. "How... How are you not tired?" he asked.
Riley shrugged. "I have the stamina of a God," she shamelessly (and rather proudly) declared.
Well, it wasn't only that. She knew Peter could have gotten away if he hadn't used his energy on swimming earlier that day.
"I'm impressed, Riles."
"Aw, I'm blushing," sarcastically said Riley. "Maybe save those moves for your girlfriend."
Peter's eyes widened. "H-Huh? I don't have a girlfriend!" he exclaimed.
Riley smiled up at him, leaning against the back of the tree for support as the two sat down on the dirt ground next to each other. "How am I not surprised?" she teased.
Peter nudged her as he hugged his knees, causing the girl to laugh lightly. "Hey, I could get a girlfriend if I really wanted to," Peter defended, causing Riley to shoot him a questioning, rather challenging glance. "It's true! I'm just... I'm waiting!"
"...Waiting?"
Peter nodded. "Y-Yeah," he admitted, almost forgetting who he was talking to. "I'm trying to get the courage to tell this girl I really like her."
Riley felt her heart stop. She turned away from Peter, afraid that her eyes would reveal too much regarding her thoughts. "Oh," she replied. "You like someone?"
A smile tugged on Peter's lips as he stared out at the camp from where they sat. "Yeah," he confirmed. "She's great. Funny, smart, way out of my league." He let out a little chuckle. "She's really nice, too. And she laughs at all my jokes, even my bad ones. And she does this thing when she laughs where she has to lean on something because she almost falls over from laughing so hard at everything. Honestly, how could anyone not like her? ...Yeah, she's—"
Peter glanced back at Riley, suddenly remembering he was talking to her and not Ned, who had been the only person he ever talked about his crush to. Peter kept forgetting that he was supposed to be playing hard to get.
"—g...great," stammered Peter. "She's cool. Actually, she's okay. Average. Meh. Like-like a good kind of meh, but not the best kind of meh. You know?"
What the hell was that supposed to mean? An awkward silence fell between them as she wondered who he could have been talking about.
Maybe she was just a little too hopeful, but she had a feeling it was her.
MJ furrowed her eyebrows together. "I don't get it," she admitted. "Why are you worried? He obviously likes you."
Riley was on her feet. "See, that's what I thought for a second there, too!"
This time, MJ narrowed her eyes at Riley. "I feel a but coming on."
Riley sighed. "But then... last night..."
The brief conversation regarding Peter Parker's new crush had been on Riley Stark's mind for a full 24 hours. She couldn't not think about it. It was making her go crazy. Did Peter like Riley? Or was she getting ahead of herself?
If there was one thing she'd picked up from being an Avenger for so long, it was that confrontation helped most situations. Sometimes it resulted in fights or wars, but this was Peter. He was just a teenaged boy. He wasn't HYDRA or an alien. Maybe confronting him would make everything easier.
And so, Riley decided to confront him at the nightly campfire 24 hours after their talk.
Riley didn't know why she was so nervous. She'd infiltrated rebel hideouts. She'd taken on the most powerful being in the universe countless times. Why couldn't she just confront a stupid boy about her feelings toward him?
All Riley had to do was ask him about his crush and maybe even confess her feelings for him in the process. Piece of cake!
...Hopefully.
She sat beside Peter at the campfire that evening, leg bobbing up and down nervously. One of their fellow campers had been talking about how they had been coping with life after returning from the Decimation, but Riley wasn't paying attention. Instead, she turned to Peter and whispered, "Hey."
Peter glanced back at her, the fire before them causing his coffee-colored eyes to glow. He smiled at her. "Hey."
Riley wasted no time in getting the words out. "Can we talk?" she requested, her voice soft. "A-About your crush."
"...What crush?"
Riley felt her heart drop into her stomach. Was he joking? Was she hallucinating? Did she dream that entire encounter?
"Uh... your... your crush," Riley stammered, repeating herself. She was beginning to second-guess herself. Maybe now wasn't the time to confess her feelings for him, even if they had been eating away at her for over a month now. "You know, the thing."
"What thing?" Peter replied. He tilted his head to the side. "Which one?"
Riley stitched her eyebrows together. "There's... There's more than one?"
"Which thing are you talking about?"
"Uh..." Just drop it, Riley! "...N-Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"Are you sure?"
"Crystal clear."
"...Great."
"Great!"
MJ nodded her head slowly. "Oh... I see..." she lingered. "He's playing dumb. Or hard to get. I bet Ned must've said something to get in his head. That boy knows nothing about girls, I'm telling you."
"He's... playing dumb?" she repeated, face contorted with something between confusion and frustration. "He didn't seem like it."
"Aren't you supposed to be a secret agent? Of course, he's playing dumb," MJ contested. "He wants you to confess first. Remember, this is Peter we're talking about. Shy, awkward, peed-his-pants-in-middle-school Peter Parker. He won't go for something unless he's sure of it."
"Right... You're right... So... what do I do?"
"Isn't it obvious? Tell him how you feel," she advised.
"Huh? No way! He's just gonna play dumb again! He probably doesn't even like me like that, so why should I bother?" Riley returned, shaking her head. "No, I just need to pretend it never happened—"
"Riley," MJ called, interrupting her friend. "You're a strong, independent woman. You're the coolest person I know. You can shoot lasers out of your hands!"
"They're not lasers. It's ultraviolet—"
"Same thing," MJ insisted. "You're a badass, Riley. Who says the man has to make the first move? That's lame and cliche. You're too good for a cliche. You should tell him how you feel!"
Riley wasn't convinced. "You think so?"
"I know so."
"But..." she trailed off. "What if he doesn't like me back? Won't that be awkward?"
MJ shrugged. "Well, you're gonna be busy anyway when this is all over. You can just pretend it never happened. That's what Betty does. Just repress it and move on with your life."
Riley slowly nodded, trying to accept her friend's advice. Maybe she was right. Maybe Riley just needed to say what she wanted before it was too late. She didn't want to live her life wondering what could have been...
"Huh... You know what? You're right," reported Riley. She stood up onto her feet. "I'll do it tomorrow."
MJ's eyebrows shot upward. "Wait, seriously?"
"Yeah," she answered before freezing up. "Why? Too soon? Should I wait?"
"No! You just... You surprised me," MJ slowly admitted. She wore a small smile. "I'm supporting you every step of the way, Riley." She crawled back to the head of her bed, adjusting her pillow so that it supported her back. "Besides, I have a feeling you have nothing to be worried about."
Riley smiled, feeling more confident than ever. She scooted backward until she was laying down, the covers now over her body.
"One more thing," MJ called just before Riley fell asleep. "Why'd you make me pinky promise you not to tell Peter about what you said?"
Riley furrowed her eyebrows together. "Huh? I didn't make you pinky promise me not to tell Peter," she disclosed. Her words were muted. She was clearly about to doze off. "I made you pinky promise me that so you wouldn't tell my Dad. Tony's a complete blabbermouth. I'd—" Riley loudly yawned. "—never live it down."
The last thing Riley heard before falling asleep was MJ's quiet laughter, her attention shifting back to her book.
As she finally shut her eyes, Riley dreamed of swinging through the city in Peter Parker's arms.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
riley and peter make me SO SOFT <3 and riley and mj make me even SOFTER <333333
real quick, i just wanted to drop a little note to help you guys figure out how much time has gone by in act 3 so far (if you were curious). if not, just ignore this lmfao
End of Act Two (Tony and Pepper's wedding) — Friday; June 2nd, 2023
Chapter 1 — Monday; July 10th, 2023
Chapter 2 — Monday; July 17th, 2023
Chapter 3 — Tuesday; July 18th, 2023
Peter gives Riley the bracelet — Wednesday; July 19th, 2023
Chapter 4 — Thursday; July 20th, 2023
Chapter 5 — Saturday; July 22nd, 2023 (w/ the flashbacks occurring on July 20th and 21st respectively)
okay that's all! let me know your thoughts so far! thank you all, also, for your support and being so patient! it means the world to me :)
things are about to get interesting in these next few chapters hehe