The Girl and the Superhero{Peter Parker}

Part 31(Kenzie's POV)

          After hardly sleeping at all due to euphoria the past few days, I didn't wake up at all the whole way back from Avengers Headquarters, the soft thrum of the engine putting me into a deep, dreamless sleep. The last thing I remember is Peter humming softly to the radio and rubbing my back with one hand as he drove.

          After what seemed like mere seconds, I felt the car below me settle and the engine stop. Something inside of me registered that we were at my house, but my eyelids were too heavy to lift, and I just wanted to fall back asleep again. I heard the driver side of the door open and shut, a short burst of wind entering the car. I moved my head groggily and started to open my eyes to see where Peter had gone. Before my tired brain could really process it, the door that I had been laying my head on opened beneath me, but after a second, I realized I wasn't falling. In fact, quite the opposite. I was being picked up. Peter's pleasant, familiar smell filled my nostrils and I curled into him, his warmth enveloping me. A soft smile formed on my lips, and pretending to be asleep, I forced myself to stay awake long enough to savor what I was feeling.

          Peter tried to front door to my house, which, to my dismay, flew open easily. I must have forgotten to lock it back up after leaving for Peter's a week ago. Eyes still closed, I felt Peter walk up the stairs and open the door to my room. He laid me down gently on my bed, pulling the covers over me and adjusting the pillow under my head. The familiarity and warmth of it reminded me of how tired I was, and sleep pulled at me like I was swimming with an anchor tied to my ankle. There was a sound like a swish and the room darkened behind my eyelids as Peter closed the curtains and shut the blinds. After a second, I felt a soft kiss on my forehead, spreading more warmth through my body. Then the blissful oblivion of sleep enveloped me.

          It was early morning when I heard it. Even though I had been sleeping for over sixteen hours, the small tapping sound on my window brought the dread of getting out of bed into my stomach. It was faint at first, but it quickly got more intense. Groaning, I took my pillow out from under my head and shoved it on my face and over my ears, trying to block out the noise. When it persisted through the feathery softness of the pillow, I begrudgingly got out of bed. I started walking towards the window.

          Through my fatigued consciousness, the thought crossed my mind that the person or thing waiting at the window might not be friendly. A sliver of dread expanded in my chest until it filled me like a balloon.

          Why would a serial killer knock on my window? Wouldn't they just break into the house? I thought. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to analyze the situation. It's probably just a confused bird, I tried to convince myself. What kind of criminal would knock on their victim's window? It didn't make sense. But then again, I wasn't a criminal mastermind, so that kind of thinking didn't exactly cross my mind all the time.

          I basically stood there, at the foot of my bed, contemplating my life for a full three minutes before deciding to arm myself before I went to the window. Not that I really had anything to arm myself with. The best I could do was an old, bright pink softball bat I found under my bed from my prime time T-ball days in the first grade. Still, it was metal, so it would have to do.

          The pink blurred in my peripheral vision as the bat shook in my hand. I pressed my back against the wall right next to the nook with the window, and ripped back the curtain. Keeping my shoulders and back pressed against the wall, I lifted my head off the wall and strained to get a look at the thing knocking on the glass. I saw a flash of red outside the window, and my heart jumped into my throat. Gathering up my courage, I leaped in front of the window and threw my bat at it as hard as my arms would let me.

          As my diabolical weapon crashed through the top window, a yelp was audible on the receiving end and I watched in horror as Spider-Man started falling clumsily to the ground. I leaped onto the cushions of my nook and carefully peaked my head out of the broken window, examining the damage I had done to my boyfriend and favorite hero.