the strongest avenger

thirty three

The boy and girl look around the roof. Strands of lights outline the area, a large air mattress is blown up in the middle. It's decked out with blankets and pillows. Bowls of popcorn litter the ground, unopened candy joining it. Tal's computer is hooked up to the projector, which projects the Star Wars logo on the wall of the Tower that holds the satellites.

Talia's grin grows as she looks over at Peter's shocked expression.

"Happy birthday Pete."

The boy blinks a couple times, and then looks over at her.

"You—you guys did this? F-For me?"

"Well obviously. You're our best friend."

Peter smiles at the girl and pulls her into a hug. He wraps his arms around her, tugging her close, and then looks at Ned.

"I thought you were at the beach?"

"I was for the day. Tal and I wanted to surprise you."

A chuckle escapes Peter's mouth. "Well I'm definitely surprised." He looks at the both of them. "Thanks guys."

"Anytime, anytime." She pulls apart from him and grabs a bowl of popcorn. "Now...are you ready for a Star Wars marathon?"

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️

A snore jerks Talia from her sleep. She blinks, eyes adjusting to the blinding light surrounding her. But it's not light—it's just the sun rising.

They had made it through two and half movies before falling asleep.

Talia looks to her right, finding a snoring Ned and to her left. Peter sleeps turned towards her, on his side, with his mouth slightly opened, and his hair falling into his eyes.

She pushes off her stomach a little, stopping when she feels a weight across her back. Looking over her shoulder, the girl sees Peter's arm thrown over her.

She smiles, and rubs her eyes, looking back at Peter's relaxed face. She looks back towards the rising sun. Tal reaches out and pokes Peter on his shoulder, watching him stir.

He scrunches up his eyes, and then opens them, meeting Talia's blue ones.

"Hey." He says.

"Hi."

"How long you been up?"

"Literally a minute. I wanted to watch the sunrise."

"Let's do it then."

She purses her lips. "Well you're kinda...on me."

Peter's eyes widen slightly as he realizes. "O-Oh, sorry. I uh—sorry." He says while lifting his arm off of her and leaning back.

"You're good." She pushes off the air mattress, wisps of her hair escaping from its braid.

They both glance down at the snoring Ned.

"Ah, let him sleep." Peter says.

Talia gets up and stretches, arms reaching up, still wearing Peter's grey hoodie. She runs her hands over her hair, smoothing down the stray hairs, as she makes her way towards the edge of the roof.

Peter joins next to her, his elbows leading on the ledge. Talia looks out over the early morning New York skyline, admiring the way the glowing orange and pink lights reflect against the buildings.

Peter turns his gaze to Talia, who doesn't see him looking at her.

So pretty.

She huffs. "It's very pretty."