STING [peter parker & betty cooper]

Chapter Sixteen: Into The Lion's Den

"Seat belts." Peter said confidently before clicking the seat belt and shifting the rearview mirror slightly to himself.

Suddenly, the car was spinning out of my driveway. You can tell how much experience a person has by observing the way the car corners and moves along the road and he definitely had some despite the ridiculous velocity. I kept telling him to slow down and I was kind of jumping and squirming around in the passenger seat the whole time. He was going slower but still almost smashed us into a parked RV when he made the third curve.

"I have my final test tomorrow." Peter announced, not taking his eyes off the road.

"What?! Why didn't you tell me sooner? You need to get some sleep!"

He stared at the red signal and checked for cross traffic. No one was coming. For a serious moment, I thought he was about to run it anyway.

"The best night of sleep I ever got in this town was inside this car." He confessed. I smiled to myself, wondering if that was a suggestion of some sort but didn't say anything as he continued his twirls.

He deviated from my neighborhood a little but I let him continue since the streets were pretty much empty at this hour. I placed my hands over his on the steering wheel and did my best to calm his nervous fingers, but it backfired. I was the one who ended up getting nervous.

"Don't care too much about the way the steering wheel is moving, check the distance of the other objects with your eyes on the deflector." I advised and felt Peter's fingers relax under mine after a moment. It took us a few seconds and deep breaths from Peter before he finally managed to park my car smoothly.

He went back on the road and inserted my car into an empty parking lot, driving as fast as he could in whatever direction he saw. He just kept putting his foot harder on the pedal. He was doing seventy, then eighty, then ninety. Only when I looked out at a car passing by on the road did I realize how fast we were going.

"Peter!" I yelled. He jumped and the car momentarily swerved.

"What, what is it?" He said a little panicked but the speed remained the same.

"Slow down before you get us both killed!" I practically shouted as he weaved his way through the empty area.

"I can control my spins." Just to prove his point he increased the speed slightly and I found myself digging my nails into the leather of my seat.

"Peter, can you please just slow down a little?" I begged. He glanced over, reading my face and then my hands before looking ahead at the parking lot. The speed decreased to a more reasonable pace, though it was still a little too fast for me.

"Better?"

"Much better! Thank you." I exhaled in relief. "Let's go back around the corner."

We drove past Pop's diner and eventually Peter parked us in a flat sandy field by Sweetwater river, not too far from his neighborhood. Peter moved behind me and opened his arms invitingly in the backseat before I climbed in and nestled against him. He held me close, with one arm around my waist and the other cradling my head.  His heartbeat seemed to harmonize with the sounds of the forest and the soft whispering breeze outside.

"Do you wanna be my girlfriend?" Peter whispered tenderly into my ear.

His closeness made me shiver and I swear my heart must've skipped a beat when I processed his question. "Yes." I responded without hesitation and immediately a happy grin lit up his face. He leaned and kissed my lips gently, his hand on my hip bringing me closer. I was so happy I could cry but I managed to control myself.