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also went to bed with 499k on this story and woke up with 502k, so thank you all!
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Peter decided it was better to walk you home than to try and drive through the piles of debris and streets marked off with yellow police tape. So as the sun set on the ruins of Queens, Peter walked alongside you on dusty sidewalks and over piles of concrete to your apartment.
Not once did he let go of your hand.
He just couldn't. Even though the war was over for now and that was becoming more and more clear, he felt like letting go of you, for even a moment, would put you at risk. He also imagined horribly dark things as he remembered you getting grabbed by Thanos, and it made him so sick with worry that only the squeezing of your hand could bring him back to reality.
The reality that you were safe and sound and with him, and he would never let Thanos come near you again, even if it meant him dying to save you in the next war, or the one after that, or the one after that...
As he crossed a street that no longer had buildings along it, he helped you up a mountain of rubble. It was harder for you to climb that it was for him, but he was patient with you and even lifted you over things you couldn't climb over. He held both of your hands tight and slowly backed off of a tall slope of rock, eyes on his shoes as he did so, then yours, to make sure you didn't fall and hurt yourself by twisting your ankles.
As his sneakers met the solid ground, he looked up at your eyes. "___," he said softly, "what were you going to tell me at the bus?"
Your head lifted and your eyes met his, and he saw you swallow nervously. You stepped down and placed your feet flat on the ground and let go of one of his hands. Peter held your other tight, swiping his thumb across the bumps of your knuckles, pulling it close to him.
"I was going to tell you," you said, pausing to offer a shy smile, because suddenly you were scared, as if because the war was over, Peter would think he didn'tlike you, because he was still alive and had another chance and was a hero and-
"I was just going to tell you," you tried again, "that I love you in every single way possible."
He smiled, and it was full of love. "I know that part," he said, his hand moving forward and touching your waist. He urged you closer. You took a clumsy step towards him, your other hand falling on his bicep, your cheeks growing warm as he dipped his head so close to yours. "What else? I definitely remember an andin there, ___."
You laughed softly. "Um," you paused, "I don't know... I guess that-" You licked your lips and remembered how it felt to think he was going to die. How you sat in your room alone and sobbed and prayed for a chance like this to tell him. Just one more chance. "Just that you were everything to me, and always will be, and I always wanted to tell you, you know? That I look at you and see everything I'd ever want, everything I'd ever need- and just that if I lost you, nothing would be okay. Nothing." You looked down, feeling shy.
Peter's hand went under your chin and lifted your head up. He sighed and smiled, and spoke gently. "I wanted to say all of those things to you, too, but I thought that if I did die, if I got hurt or something and you found out after I had told you all of those things, it would only hurt you. And I don't want anythingI do to hurt you, okay? I never want to hurt you." His hand moved up and held your face. "But I love you. So much. And this war isn't over, but I can't... I can't pretend that I don'tlove you, when the entire time I fought, I was thinking of you. It was all for you. And seeing you there, waking up and actually seeing you, and then seeing him-" He stopped.
"Peter," you said softly. You shook your head. "You don't have to. I get it."
"No, I need to just... I have to." He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. "You're my best friend, but you're more than that, too. I would have died if I had lost you. I'm glad I didn't. I'm so glad. And now I know I can't just waste any moment I have, so I'm going to tell you that I love you. I love you more than anything, and I would never do anything to hurt you." He grinned. "I'll keep you safe, ___, through any war we might have to live in."
"Pete," you said, your chest touching his, your eyes swimming with tears. "Pete... I-I'd follow you to the great unknown. Off to a world we call our own." You reached up on your tiptoes and kissed him softly on the lips, catching him off guard before he dropped your hand and your face and wrapped his arms around you. You pulled away and kissed him once softly on the corner of his lips then smiled at him. "I'd risk it all just to be with you."
He smiled, but he shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that."
"You don't have to," you said, and you kissed him again, your palms pressed to his chest, your lips curling into a smile.
Hand in my hand And you promised to never let go We're walking the tightrope High in the sky We can see the whole world down below We're walking the tightrope Never sure, will you catch me if I should fall? Well, it's all an adventure That comes with a breathtaking view Walking the tightrope
With you
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and that's the end of our greatest showman imagines! i feel like i've been doingthesefor ages lol