A/N: while writing the beginning of this chapter I could picture all of the camera angles and I hope I wrote it decent enough so you guys can too. And also 🤓 <— literally looks like me
An oval of light. Then darkness. Then another oval of light, wider, more defined around the edges. Darkness, only for a beat. Then light, an assortment of it, not nearly as blinding as before.
Tessa laid sprawled out on her back, pewter eyes gazing up at the sky. Mind dizzy, she slowly sat up with a groan of effort, muscles aching tremendously. A head rush came and she closed her eyes, ears ringing. Focusing on her breathing, she inhaled deeply, held it in, then exhaled. After doing it two more times, she opened her eyes again, fingers playing with something on the floor.
She looked down and saw a jagged rock between her slender fingers, and plucked it into her grasp, slowly bringing it close to her eyes. She examined the years worth of erosion done to it with a head tilt, then her focus on the rock blurred to something past it.
A bigger rock the size of a house rested on gravel. She put the minuscule rock down to gaze at the other one. This rock had cracks crawling over the surface of it, stained ebony. The rock itself was a burning apricot mixed with splashes of ruby, accenting its age.
Her gaze lifted to her surroundings. A smoky grey sky tumbled over her like a blanket, no clouds in sight. The ground was beige gravel with abnormally large rocks scattered everywhere, no clear pathways or patches.
Something caught her attention. The girl gazed at the golden specks floating all around, dancing like winking fireflies. She stood slowly as the specks moved gently around her, not seeming to affect her.
"Hello?" Her voice broke through the deafening silence, not a single echo to be heard. Her joints stiffened as she took a step, planting her left foot firmly on the gravel. Dust puffed up from the action, and she pursed her lips.
Then everything came rushing back to her.
The whole fight with that madman. She was stabbed with a spear on her left side, and passed out while someone was treating it. Peter being insanely protective over her. Her turning to dust.
The girl lifted up her suit to see where the stab was, and saw her skin mended, blood smeared everywhere. It surprisingly didn't hurt, and she twisted her body to look at the cut from the plane crash along the beach. It was nearly healed up once again, and pursed her lips. How was she feeling no pain? Did someone inject her with something? Where the hell was she?
Her face was reddening along with the tips of her ears as she frantically looked around, her heart beat increasing. No one was to be seen. She began to move along the gravel, gripping onto nearby rocks to support her jello legs.
"Peter?" Tessa called, and there was no answer, only the howl of the wind picking up. "Strange?" She began to pick up the pace to a jog while looking for signs of life, anything.
"Peter? Dad?" The wind was now tugging at her hair, whipping the ebony to the left, obscuring her vision. She quickly tugged it out of her face while stopping in the middle of a bunch of rocks, almost perfectly rounded into a circle. Her blood ran cold as tears of pure fear rose to her eyes, and she began to pant wildly.
"Dad? Strange?" Slowly she started to turn in circles, her lip quivering. "Guardian people?" Her hands were shaking at her sides as a whimper escaped from her chattering lips, and she turned quicker, scanning her surroundings.
"Guys?!" Her hair was going everywhere now, fanning all around her. She didn't bother to fix it anymore as her vision got blurry with frightful tears, her face getting more rosy.
"Peter! Dad!" The tears unleashed out of her eyes the next time she blinked and flowed down her cheeks like two vicious rivers, her hope going with it.
"Peter!"
"Tessa?!"
Her breath hitched in her throat, heart stopping. Her lip paused as her eyes widened, the wind instantly stopping in mid air, her hair falling back to her sides, framing her face. Her cauldron eyes whipped to where the sound came from, searching widely.
"Peter." She murmured while walking out of the circle and down the gravel, rocks forming a faint path. Her breathing overdrove to panting as her pace picked up quickly to a run, then a sprint as she called for him, "Peter!"
This time there was no response, and she ran wildly through the sparkles of gold in a random direction, begging that someone was on the other side, anyone.
A few seconds turned in thirty, then into a minute. The minute turned into two, then into five. She was losing her energy quickly as her panting increased, all while she frantically looked around.
"Peter!" Her throat went raw as she called hysterically for him, but to no avail. Her foot collided with a jagged rock, making her stumble and fall to her knees. Waves of crimson came roaring out of her as once she hit the gravel, a cry escaping her lips.
Tears poured out of her eyes as her heart beat was going a thousand miles a minute. The surroundings seemed to be copied and pasted everywhere, and it was messing with her jumbled mind.
Hopelessness flooded the girl's veins as she sobbed, her whole body rattling. She curled into herself, shoving her head into her knees, around wrapping around her legs. She breathed in shakily, tears altering her vision.
Terror was an understatement. She had absolutely no idea where she was, or how she ended up there. She didn't know what happened to Peter, Strange, the guardians, her father, no clue. She was all alone.
That is, until a voice came ringing through the void of silence, slicing it and tearing it away.
"Tessa!"
Her head snapped up as she sniffled, her eyes searching desperately. Her heart picked up upon seeing a figure in the distance walking briskly to her. She kicked up dirt and dust as she frantically got up, and practically hurled herself in the direction of the person.
The figures features slowly unraveled before her eyes. A suit, red and blue, a black spider emblem in the metal with accents of silver metal. Peter sprinted to her, his messy hair flying all over the place.
The gap between them quickly closed, her ebony locks flowing behind her. Once they were within a few yards of one another, she cried out in relief. It was really him.
Tessa stumbled into Peter's outstretched arms, and he hooked them protectively around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck, making him lean down and get closer to her while being on her tip toes. They pulled their bodies to one another, and he let out a shaky breath into her hair. He then nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck and breathed her in, his body instantly relaxing. She was really here.
The smell of lavender intoxicated him, and he sighed, pulling her impossibly closer. She always smelled of the light buds, and he had no idea why, but loved it as it made his head spin giddily. He took his time to drink her in, to accept that she was in fact real, to feel her shaking skin, to smell her lavender, to hold her close to him and not plan on letting go.
He knew that being apart from her for that one month before Thanos would hurt. He craved for her touch constantly, but could never receive it because someone was always keeping tabs on him. He expected his reunion with her to be fantastic. But feeling her again, smelling her again, holding her again? It didn't come close. It was phenomenal.
And Peter Parker could not get enough of it, could not get enough of her. He never wanted to see pain in her eyes, he was determined to protect her from all harm, no matter the cost. No one's going to touch my angel again.
Meanwhile, Tessa was sobbing tears of joy in her boyfriend's arms. She rattled within their cage, cradled into him. She didn't have the idea wrapped around her head yet that he was here, but she leaned into his touch, savoring his warmth.
"I love you, too." He whimpered while pulling his face away and lifting his arms up. Hers quickly found themselves around his torso with an iron grip, terrified that he was going to leave. Instead he lifted up his hands and caressed her rosy cheeks, wiping away the tears with his thumbs. "You didn't get to hear me say it back. I love you too. I love you so much, Tessa, I love you."
Peter dipped his head down and connected her lips with his without missing a beat. Her hands instinctively came up and wrapped themselves around his wrists, ensuring he wouldn't move. He kissed her with such passion that it completely took her breath away. It was as if she was air, and he was underwater. As if she was the anchor holding him down to prevent him from losing himself. She was his everything.
Her tummy exploded with butterflies as she smiled into the kiss, enjoying every second of it. This wasn't like any kiss they've shared before, this was so much more exhilarating. It felt like she was on Cloud 9, and that nothing could harm her. She had her love back.
Peter pulled away all too soon for oxygen, and smiled down at her breathlessly. He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, taking in her closeness. She followed in suit, resting her arms on his chest while his were snaked around her waist, allowing her wild heart to calm down.
They stayed like that for a moment, clinging onto one another like a life line. Until a call perked their ears.
"Kids?"
The two looked up at one another before he grabbed her hand and led her slowly to the source, making sure she was behind him. The gravel slowly shifted under their feet as they migrated together silently, searching around while semi squatting.
"Starks? Anyone!"
Tessa's eyes widened. "It's Strange!" She quickly ripped her hand from Peter's and ran ahead of him, her hair smacking him in the face. He recoiled but soon followed after her while picking out hair from his mouth.
Strange was wandering around the wasteland, attempting to swat the golden speckles away irritatedly. "Kids?"
"Stephen!" The girl cried upon seeing his arrogant form, and instantly ran over to him. Just as he finished turning around, she was connecting to him, her arms coiling around his waist tightly. He stumbled back a little from the force and gazed down to see the ebony hair of the teen he learned to tolerate.
Strange hesitantly put his arms around her upper back, feeling incredibly awkward. He looked up to see Peter glaring daggers his way with his arms crossed, and quickly he hugged her back, getting the message to hug her. Still the guy who tased her.
"Thank god you're alright." She whimpered, not letting go. To his own surprise, he squeezed her tight, putting his chin on top of her head while closing his eyes. He was not used to human intimate contact, so to say the least, this was odd for him. Yet somehow, he felt the care that was emitting from her, and cracked a soft smile.
She pulled back a moment later while panic overran her veins, "Where are we? Where's Dad? Oh god, where the hell is my dad?!" She turned around and looked at her surroundings of rocks and little golden speckles, her heart accelerating. "Dad!" She cried while sprinting in a random direction, and she only got two yards before a pair of arms wrapped around her stomach from behind her.
"Let go of me!" She shrieked while trying to run, and Peter lifted her feet off the ground, legs now swinging wildly in the air. She kicked him in the shin a few times, and he winced but continued to have an iron grip. "Peter, let go!" She yelled while now trying to punch him, and once again he let her while shaking his head, "I'm sorry, but I can't."
"I need to find my dad! Let me go!"
"We have to stick together." Was all he said, and hysterical tears began to rain down her face, wiping away the grime embedded in her rosy cheeks. A sob rose in her throat as she slowly stopped fighting, and after a moment he lowered her.
Tessa then proceeded to turn around, kick him in the shin, and attempt to bolt away. "Argh!" He seethed while grabbing onto her hips and yanking her back over and she slammed into his chest. His arms were a cage, locking her within his grasp. She cried out and began to pound on his chest, and he gritted his teeth, looking down at her.
"Hey," He cooed to her, but she threw an extra powerful fist to his chest, making him purse his lips, "Tessa."
"You asshole!" She cried, "I need to find Dad!" "Tessa, listen to me—"
"No! Let me go or so help me I'll—"
"We need to stick together. You can't just run off on your own, okay?" He tried to reason, but she shook her head wildly while trying to push herself away, "I don't care! Let me go!"
"I already lost you once, Tess, I can't lose you again." Peter said while pulling her back against his chest, and his lips parted as he leaned his head against her hair, breathing in deeply.
After a moment the fussing stopped, and just cries filled the air as Tessa collapsed into him, wrapping her arms around his torso. She held onto him as if he were her life line and completely fell apart within his hold, and now he tucked his face into the crook of her neck, breathing her intoxicating scent of lavender in.