I was laying back on my cot when someone knocked on my door. Looking up, I saw Peter cautiously standing in the doorway.
"Hi," he said, walking in.
"Hi," I replied. I placed my book beside me and smiled softly.
"So, your memories are back?" he asked tentatively as he approached the bed.
"Yeah, pretty much. There are some things that are kinda fuzzy, though," I explained.
Peter stood at the foot of my bed with his hands shoved in his pockets, which I knew he did when he wasn't sure what to do or say. We both waited in awkward silence. I wanted to talk about our fight, and I knew he did too, but I was nervous. Then I realized that neither of us wanted to bring it up first.
"Peter, I'm sorry for that night," I began, steeling my nerves. "I shouldn't have flipped out on you."
"Camella, what are you talking about?" Peter sat on the edge of the bed. "I was the one that flipped out."
I shook my head. "I should've told you. I don't know why I thought it'd be more difficult if you knew."
"Are you kidding? I'm the one who read your text, I should've told you that I knew. And I know I was being a hypocrite, I just—I wanted to keep you safe."
"We were both hypocrites," I insisted, grinning slightly. "And dumb."
Peter let out a small chuckle, shaking his head, then looked back up at me. "Still, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have freaked out at you, especially since you were going through all that stuff with your parents. That was really crappy of me. I just wish I was better—"
I cut off his rambling by doing something I should've done long ago: I placed my hand on the back of his neck, pulled him forward, and pressed my lips against his.
Peter froze up, then finally relaxed after a moment. I realized how much I actually wanted to kiss him, after all this time.
I pulled away, looking up into his warm, beautiful brown eyes I had loved since I was little and thought of how I had grown to fall in love with the rest of him.
"I love you, too, Peter," I whispered.
His eyes grew wider than they already were. "Wha—really?"
I rolled my eyes. "No, I lied. Yes, really!"
Peter smiled so widely, completely at a loss for words. He laughed as if he couldn't believe it.
"Oh!" he said suddenly, like he just remembered something. He reached into his backpack and rummaged around.
"I was going to bring you this as a peace offering, but I guess I didn't need to."
Out of his bag came Lovebug. I took the bear, tracing its little heart. I looked back at Peter and kissed him again, a little more intensely.
"Oh, Peter?" I said once we both pulled away. "You know how you mentioned my parents earlier?"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, about that..."
❃ ❃ ❃
A few months later
"No, no, no, it's fine." I winced as Natasha brought the curling iron dangerously close to my face.
"Are you sure? Because—ow, ow, May, you're pinching me—because I know how much you wanted—"
"Really, Peter, it's fine," I assured him.
The line went silent as he paused. "Okay. If you're sure."
"I am. See you later."
"See you later."
I hung up, placing my phone down on my desk, and looked up in the mirror.
My face was unrecognizable. The makeup Wanda had done was better than anything I could ever do. My eyes were nice and bold, but not too dark, while everything else was soft and neutral. Natasha was on hair duty, and so far she had done a good job of putting soft waves in my hair and not burning me.
"So, are you excited?" Wanda prompted.
"Yeah. But also kinda nervous, I guess."
"Don't worry. You're going to have so much fun." She put the finishing touches on my mascara. "There, done."
"It's...wow, it's amazing. Thank you," I gushed, admiring her work.
"Now," she stated, grabbing the covered dress from off the bed and handing it to me, "go put your dress on!"
I giggled and went into the bathroom to slip on the dress. Peter had suggested we match, so he went and bought a tie the same colour as my dark blue dress.
After I put it on and saw how it looked, I had to admit—I looked pretty good.
I emerged from the bathroom and twirled in the dress. "How do I look?"
"Absolutely gorgeous," Wanda assured me.
Natasha put a hand on my shoulder. "Perfect. Now, let's go show your dad."
I still wasn't really used to calling Tony my dad. We tried our best, but it was still a little awkward when we tried talking about usual father-daughter things.
Some of the Avengers were here tonight. We passed Thor in the hallway, who bowed when he saw me in my dress. I chuckled slightly, then curtsied.
Downstairs, we were passing through the kitchen where Sam and Bucky we're finishing off the cake that I baked the day before. They both gave me thumbs up, trying to hide the cake, but I playfully stuck my tongue out at them as I walked by.
We entered the living room, where my dad, Steve and Pepper were talking about something, a SHIELD report, or whatever.
"Tony," Natasha called, "she's ready."
He turned around and approached me, examining my dress and hair. I was unusually fidgety while he looked me over. I glanced at Steve, who nodded and gave me a smile.
Finally, Tony nodded and looked at Natasha. "You guys did a good job. Of course, I could've done better...I'm joking, I'm joking." He put a hand on my shoulder. "You look beautiful."
As I smiled gratefully, Pepper came up to us. "Here, sweetheart, wear this." She took my hand and clasped a delicate silver charm bracelet on my wrist. Each charm, tiny stars and planets, was carefully and beautifully made.
"Thanks, Pepper." I looked up as Pepper took a step back and hooked her arm through my dad's. Pepper kind of reminded me of Mom, and I guess she's my step-mom, technically. I felt a lump in my throat as I looked at them and thought about how lucky I was to have them.
"Come here, kiddo," Dad said, pulling me into a brief hug.
It occurred to me that this was the first time I've actually hugged my real dad, knowing it's him.
He patted my back as I pulled away.
"Nope, still not used to it,"he muttered under his breath.
The elevator opened, and May and Peter walked in.
"Ah, finally," Dad exclaimed. Him and Pepper made their way over to May, who was almost exploding with excitement.
I grinned at Peter, who was as handsome as he was nervous, which is saying a lot.
"Camella, you look...gorgeous," he exclaimed as he approached me.
I laughed, kissing his cheek. "Thank you. You don't look to bad yourself. Ready for them to take 40 minutes for pictures?"
"Not at all."
It took them exactly 43 minutes to take their pictures, and I'm 90% sure I blinked in half of them.
"Okay, we gotta go now," I urged everyone.
"One more thing," Tony said. He clamped onto Peter's shoulder and got in close to his ear. "If anything happens to her, anything as little as a scratch, I am taking your suit and stuffing it down the garbage disposal, with you in it."
Peter swallowed. "Yes, sir."
Tony patted him on the back, and Peter and I made our way into the elevator, our waiting limo out front, with Happy as our chauffeur.
"Have fun!" May called.
"Not too much fun!" Tony yelled as the doors closed.
I looked at Peter, flushed. "I apologize for him."
"Out of everyone in the world, your dad has to be my boss, Tony Stark," he mused, his voice laced with disbelief.
"He'll loosen up," I assured him. "Eventually."
He chuckled, then held his hand out. "Ready for tonight?"
I took his hand and smiled. "I'm ready for anything as long as it's with you, Spider-Man."
{edited 5/11/20}