INVISIBLE | P. PARKER

THIRTY FOUR

THIRTY-FOUR;
GIRLFRIEND

PETER ALWAYS SMILED WHEN CASSIE WAS AROUND. He admired Cassie silently walking next to him with their fingers interlaced and smiling at each other with love. He chuckled lightly as they approached Midtown High and she placed the hoodie over her head with nervous movements, the boy smiled and placed his own hoodie over his head, making her grin.

"Are you copying my style?" She raised an eyebrow, Peter interlaced his fingers with hers.

"Why? Do I look good?" He teased, looking at her with a bright smile, Cassie pursed her lips together in a smile and kissed his lips quickly.

"No." Peter threw his head back in laughter as they stepped into the crowded school, some students were looking at them. He exhaled as soon as her face dramatically changed. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here." He mumbled, looking straight into her brown eyes. Cassie nodded.

"Okay."

Peter stayed silent as they walked into the crowded hall, hand in hand and trying to ignore the judgement glares they were receiving from the gossiping students. The boy exhaled with relief as they walked into the classroom and searched for their usual seats at the very back and next to each other.

"See? Everything went alright." He reassured, smiling at the brunette. Cassie smiled as she searched for her deck of cards inside the backpack. "Now everyone knows you are my girlfriend." She raised her eyebrows.

"Excuse me?" She smirked, shuffling the cards. "When did that happen?"

"What?" He vaguely asked.

"Me being your girlfriend." Peter turned his face to look at her and blushed, she smiled. "I don't recall you asking me." She teased, handing him a few cards.

"Oh, Cass." He exhaled and leaned closer to her with a smirk. "So? What do you say?"

"About what?" Cassie nonchalantly asked, looking at her cards.

"About being my girlfriend?" Peter pursed his lips together. "I think that after two dates and three cuddling sessions, you have upgraded from the girl I'm dating to my official girlfriend." The brunette smiled, putting her cards down.

"I'll think about it."

+++

Cassie grunted once more when her tired and sweaty body collided with the blue mat. She closed her eyes and groaned with pain, her skinny arms hugged her body as she dramatically grunted and whimpered.

"Get up, kiddo. Nothing happened." Natasha laughed, stretching her hand in front of the girl. "C'mon! I didn't touch you!"

"I–I'm... dying." She whispered, holding her arm up. "What do you say, tiny voice? To follow you to the light?"

"I encourage you to follow it." Pietro said, smirking. Cassie sent him a death glare. "Get up." He took her arm and lifted her up without a problem.

"That was awesome!" She smiled with wide eyes, Pietro scoffed. "I'm tired." She cleaned the sweat with the closest towel she found. "I'm going to take a shower and go to sleep."

"You are not going to learn anything if you keep running away!" Steve said, but she sent him a dismissive gesture and walked out of the training room.

Cassie laughed as she walked to her room. A loud sigh left her lips as she untied her hair to let it down and massaged her head. She pursed her lips together as she walked into the dark room and groaned as she paced around the room to turn the lights on, hitting her knee in the process.

"Dammit." She muttered, turning the light on.

A loud gasp left her lips as she admired the sight in front of her. Christmas lights everywhere and Peter standing in the middle of the room with a bouquet of red roses, Cassie smiled and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What do you think?" He shyly asked, walking to her and handing the bouquet to the shocked girl in front of him. "Your silence is making me anxious."

"You did this yourself?" She asked with amusement and as her brown eyes scanned the room. "It's beautiful."

"You–You like it?" He stuttered, watching her hold the bouquet in her hands.

"I love it."

"Uh, I have something for you." Peter stuttered, taking a new deck of cards from the pocket of his jeans. The girl raised her eyebrows with amusement. "Here, choose one." He shuffled the cards in front of her, Cassie laughed. "Did you choose one?"

"I did." She smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you planning, Pete?"

"Okay, now tell me your card." The brunette snorted. "I know what I'm doing, okay?"

"Fine, fine!" She chuckled. "I picked the red king of hearts." Peter's smile grew as he leaned on to place a gentle kiss on her lips. "What?" She asked as soon as they broke apart.

"Do you know the soulmate card of the red king of hearts?" The boy asked, smiling brightly at her. Cassie nodded.

"The red king of diamonds–" She cut herself off as she remembered the card she gave him. "I understand now." Peter laughed.

He reached back to his pocket and took the card from his wallet, then, he took the deck of cards and handed the red king of hearts to her. Cassie smiled when she read the caption in the card and looked up to meet his nervous gaze.

Do you want to be my girlfriend?

"I thought you'd never ask." She smiled and kissed him softly.

She wrapped her short arms around his neck and grinned through the kiss when Peter confidently pushed her close to him and wrapped his arms around her.

"About damn time!" Tony exclaimed outside her room.