stark, peter parker

xiii. the most throat-punchable boy

when dakota got a call from peter asking her to come to a party with him, she thought he was joking. peter wasn't necessarily the party type; in fact, he was much the opposite. he never seemed to want to hang out with anyone that wasn't ned or kodie, so him wanting to go to a large gathering of people seemed suspicious.

"why are you, peter parker, attending a party?" she asked.

peter cleared his throat, leaning against the gym bleachers with his phone pressed to his ear. "well, i.. i kind of got myself into a little situation."

dakota's brows raised in interest. "a situation?"

"just a little one!" he defended himself. "i kind of promised my classmate that you'd show up."

"and.. why.. exactly.. did this come up in conversation?"

"no one believed i was dating you when ned said i was, and this guy's gonna beat me up if he finds out i was lying-"

kodie didn't let him finish, her posture changing as she became intrigued. "someone's.. someone's threatening to beat you up?" she asked, becoming more defensive.

peter's eyes widened; he could practically sense her growing anger. "it's just this guy in my class, flash, but, don't worry about it."

"peter, how can i not worry about it? it's a problem if someone is threatening you." she paused for a moment, thinking. "is he going to be at the party tonight?"

"yeah, he's the dj."

dakota smiled to herself, running her tongue along her teeth. "yeah. yeah i'll be there."

‎⎊‎⎊‎⎊

although she didn't have anyone to impress at the party, dakota still wanted to be easily recognizable as a billionaire's daughter. she wore a red champagne dress that showed off very little (yet just enough) of the body that she'd worked out so frequently to achieve. her curly brown hair was tied half up with a clip, and she slipped on some simple black heels. her jewelry was simple gold hoops and a golden chain. her suit being black and blue didn't stop dakota from frequenting her father's red and gold color scheme.

as dakota arrived at the party, chauffeured by happy, of course, she eyed the house warily. it was big, and bumbling with noise of all the happy and partying high schoolers.

she couldn't say she'd been to a party of people her age in quite some time, if ever; most of her memory of parties were ones where her dad would leave with a random woman, leaving happy to take her home.

when she entered through the open doors, not knowing what to expect, she was immediately noticed by the crowd. obviously everyone there knew who she was; how could they not? wearing the signature red, she was extremely noticeable.

"so, where's your pal spider-man?" dakota heard someone say through a microphone. "let me guess: in canada with your imaginary girlfriend?" everyone in the middle of the house laughed, while those who stood near dakota were still staring at her, dumbfounded.

"this imaginary girlfriend?" kodie asked, gathering the attention of everyone else in the house, including peter and ned, who were standing by themselves. "hey." she said to peter as she walked over to him and his friend. she put her arms around his neck, watching as his eyes widened. she wasn't typically this forward with him, but she, protectively, wanted everyone in the room to know that peter was hers, exclusively. 

flash looked about to fall over, his eyes glued to dakota. "that's.. that's dakota stark..."

"that is my name." she said, turning to peter. "he is, by far, the most throat punchable boy i've ever seen in my entire life." she whispered as he nodded in agreement, his hand instinctively wrapping around her waist. "hey ned! are you having a good night?" she leaned over to smile at his friend.

ned nodded in response, excited to see dakota, who he hadn't met until then. "i didn't think you knew my name!"

"of course i know your name," she chuckled, "you're peter's best friend. i love the hat, by the way."

"thanks, it helps give me confidence." ned said with a small smile, making dakota laugh.

peter looked over at dakota somewhat sheepishly, giving her his signature half-smile. "thank you for doing this, i honestly feel bad for even asking you."

her brows furrowed in response. "pete, i'm happy to be here. besides, i haven't been to a party in forever." she looked around the house, eyes slightly squinted in observation. "i forgot how annoying they are." 

peter laughed a little at her comment, his hand remaining on her waist. he looked around the room for a moment before he leaned in. "girlfriend?" he whispered, a boyish grin on his lips.

dakota only shrugged in response. "what?" she feigned nonchalance. "what do you say we get out of here? go outside for some air, maybe? it's too crowded."

the boy was confused, his eyes scanning her face in an attempt to try to understand what she meant. did she want to be his girlfriend? was she just putting on an act in front of his classmates for his sake? or was she still waiting for him to officially ask her, the way he'd planned?

"i don't want to leave ned." peter looked over his shoulder, expecting to see his friend still standing by him, only to be met with an empty space.

"i think he'll be okay." kodie said, pointing to ned, who was on the other side of the room, deep in conversation with a large group of people.

peter smiled, happy for his friend, taking dakota's hand in his and leading her out of the house. once they were outside, they looked up at the dark sky above them. peter's gaze shifted from the moon to kodie, admiring the way it reflected off of her eyes. "have i ever told you how beautiful you are?" the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them, and he found himself blushing a little as she looked over at him.

"maybe once or twice, but i certainly wouldn't mind hearing it again."

he shook his head fondly, his hand reaching to the back of her head, pulling her in for a soft kiss. dakota smiled blissfully as he pulled away, blinking her eyes back open. she could've stayed looking into his eyes for hours, but a blue explosion in the distance caught her attention.

"what?" peter asked, turning around and seeing what she was seeing. "what the hell?" he muttered, taking his mask out of his back pocket.

"woah, why do you have your suit?" kodie asked, watching as he took off his shirt and pants to reveal his spider-man suit.

he shrugged. "you know, just in case you weren't able to make it and i had to save my dignity somehow."

dakota almost paused to argue with him, but another bright blue blast in the sky brought her back to the task at hand. "okay, well, i don't have my suit."

"i can handle it." peter assured her, pressing a kiss to her cheek before putting his mask on and stepping backwards away from her. "i'll go check that out and then i'll swing back to the avengers tower to tell you what's up, okay?"

"okay." she replied, watching as he lifted his hand up and shot a web, swinging through the night sky and over to whatever dangers awaited. "be safe!" she yelled after him, her hands cupped around her mouth.

‎⎊‎⎊‎⎊

after arriving at the avengers tower, dakota went to her room, picking up the miscellaneous items she had still sitting around and putting them into boxes. "mr. stark has launched a drone suit." friday announced, making kodie look up in confusion. 

"hey, friday, how's peter doing?"

"i believe he nearly just drowned, miss stark." the ai replied nonchalantly.

dakota's eyes widened. "oh god."