1 | ISSUES ( Peter Parker )

EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE | BUT I DIDN'T

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you are like night, calmed, constellated.
your silence is star-like, as distant, as true.

-pablo neruda

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"This collar is too itchy," Bella complained, her voice a dull whine.

"You just need to wait, like, forty minutes," Peter responded quietly, chuckling.

Bella opened her mouth to respond, but Mrs. White opened the doors and ushered the first students out to the football field. Quickly, she shut her mouth and began walking. Peter was right in front of her, his hand reaching back to hold hers. Bella squeezed his hand.

As they walked, she scanned the crowd. Alex was sitting with his photographer boyfriend, Blake; both of them were maintaining wide grins. Beside Alex, was Ashara, her beautiful face broken out into a giant smile. Steve sat next to her, his face sporting a beard and Joseph, his and Ashara's son, was standing on his lap, his fists waving at the crowd.

Bella was beaming as they filed into the seats. First, the principal gave a speech. Then, Michelle Jones went up to give her speech. No one in Midtown's senior class had been surprised last month when she was announced to be Valedictorian, though Bella suspected that spot would have gone to Liz if she hadn't moved away.

Then, awards were given. It was a long, bittersweet service. Once the names started being called, the graduation went by quickly. As Bella was called up to receive her diploma, she could hear loud shouts and her brother whistling loudly. She was absolutely beaming as she bounded down the steps and rushed back to her seat.

"We did it!" she whispered excitedly to Peter, looking down at his diploma. "We're done with high school."

Bella was half excited and half terrified to enter this new stage of life. The idea of all the freedom she could ever ask for was both thrilling and worthy of dread. She had no idea how to be an adult... how to cook, or keep herself motivated to clean bathrooms and do dishes. And, she had zero idea who she wanted to be and what she wanted to do. Of course, there was that whole matter of her secret identity, but when she wasn't doing that... what was she going to do?

Two years ago, Bella would have answered with bioengineering. Now, on the brink of her eighteenth birthday as she clutched a high school diploma in her hands, all she could think about was how unappealing that was now. But, whatever. She had four years to decide. She could take an art history class, major in English, and fail at an attempt to learn Arabic. If Bella was being honest, that sounded like the ideal college experience.

She could do extracurriculars, study abroad, go to poetry slams, and drink shitty coffee at two in the morning while cramming for midterms and finals.

[ ... ]

Tony Stark had been kind enough to throw a giant party at the Avengers Compound to celebrate the graduation of Peter and Bella. Aunt May, now in the know regarding Peter's identity, and Ned were there. Halfway through junior year, Bella had cracked and told Abby everything, so Abby had been invited. Aside from them and Bella's brother, the only other people in attendance were the other Avengers.

"I'm very proud of you, Bella," Ashara said, her voice quiet beneath the general commotion being caused by Thor across the room.

Warmth spread throughout Bella's body -- not just from Ashara's comment but also from the general cheeriness lighting up the compound. The last time they had all been gathered like this, the mood had been nowhere near as cheery. She quickly shoved aside the thought of much darker times and turned to Ashara.

"I owe you a lot, you know," Bella told the goddess.

"No," Ashara chuckled modestly, shaking her head. "Me? I didn't make you who you are. You made you, Alex made you. I had nothing to do with you becoming the amazing woman you are, even if I wish I had." Ashara pressed a kiss to the top of Bella's head and stood up. "Someone else requests your time."

Just behind Ashara, was Peter. He held two cups in his hands, carefully navigating his way through the wild hand gestures of their teammates as he approached.

"Hi," he said brightly, handing Bella a cup. "I'm almost one hundred percent sure this is the nonalcoholic drink."

"Well, that's no fun," Bella snorted, raising her cup and sniffing it before taking a large sip. "Hmm... I can't tell."

"Then there's probably nothing," Peter told her, rolling his eyes and smiling fondly. "There'll be plenty of time for underage drinking while at college."

Bella laughed quietly, her shoulder bumping against his. "I know it's stupid, but I'm, you know, kinda scared, I guess, to be going to a different college from you. I mean, like, we've been going to school together for, like, ever."

"I know what you mean," Peter said. "But, Fordham is only thirty minutes from NYU. We'll see each other all the time. And, it's not like you can teleport directly into my dorm whenever you feel like it."

"You sure Ned won't mind?" Bella asked, grinning slyly.

"He'll have to deal," Peter laughed.

And then he kissed her. Bella's hand trailed up his arm, her fingers brushing against the raised, jagged scar he got last year during the fight against Thanos. She shuddered as the images of the fight burst into her mind, remembering the way Peter had been slammed into the ground by Thanos repeatedly. He nearly died. If she was a mere three seconds later, he would have died.

"What is it?" Peter asked, leaning away and looking into her eyes.

"Nothing," Bella said. "Everything, right now, is perfect. I just-- I was thinking about last year... how I almost lost you."

"But you didn't."

Bella smiled.

"But I didn't."

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THE END ...

... but not really!

PETER AND BELLA WILL RETURN IN "FREE FALLING"

( the sequel to this that takes place during infinity war )

ALSO ...

ASHARA'S ORIGIN STORY WILL BE REVAMPED AND REPUBLISHED SOON !

on a serious note, i just want to thank each and every one of you readers, especially those of you who consistently comment and vote on every chapter. i wouldn't have had the inspiration to finish this story if it wasn't for you guys. thank you all so much for sticking with this, and falling in love with bella as much as i have. thank you for being invested in the romance of bella parsons and peter parker. thank you for reacting to the angst, the lies, the violence, the tears, the kisses, the punches, and the screams. thank you all so, so much. i love and adore you guys.

NOTE this epilogue is gonna be edited once I finish writing the sequel, because obviously I wrote this prior to Infinity War and Free Falling.

-peterparrker