The Intern & The Daughter {peter parker au}

Chapter 2: Suits & Setbacks

Even with mustard dribbling down his chin, he's still just as cute as the first time I ran into him. I've lived in New York City my whole life, but it was really fun getting to feel anonymous with him. Trying on I ♥️ NYC baseball caps was more fun than the amusement park. He claimed his other friends bailed on our plans, but I couldn't help but feel that maybe his plan all along was to get us alone.

After eating, we walk around the park just talking. I skirt questions about my parents and he skirts questions about his internship. I can't help but wonder what he might be hiding; then again, I'm not the only one concealing the truth here.

Later, I sit on the upstate bound train smiling at nothing, giggling excitedly at no one. Just having spent time with Peter sends me into a spiral of happiness. I get a knowing eyebrow from my stepmom as I enter the residence, but I keep smiling as I roll my eyes and go upstairs for a steaming shower.

Peter and I begin spending every afternoon together at my usual Starbucks. He's always a few minutes later than me, because Midtown isn't exactly close. In all honesty, I often wonder how he makes it that far so quickly, but I stop questioning it a few days in to our new arrangement. I've never noticed how many other Hewitt people come to this Starbucks after school until they notice me. I can feel their stares as they try to remember my name and search their faintest memories for any inkling as to who sits, laughing and talking with me, the most antisocial girl they know.

Sometimes Peter takes the train with me, other times he heads straight back to Queens. Once I even meet his Aunt May because she "accidentally" runs into us. Based on Peter's embarrassment and his Aunt May's peculiar behavior, I deduce that the run-in was not entirely accidental.

On the coolest pre-Winter day New York has seen yet far, Peter grabs my gloved hand on our walk to the train station. He jerks me back from the street to keep me from being run over by a bicyclist, but his grips stays firm, even after the bike is long gone. He speaks up about the new development first.

"So. This." He says with his 1,000 watt smile, nodding at our hands.

"Well....yeah" I reply humorously.

"So, does this mean I'm your boyfriend now?" I notice a hint of nervousness in his tone.

"Well, does this mean I'm your girlfriend?" I ask teasingly. His face hardens a bit, worrying me.

"I can't very well be a good boyfriend if I haven't even met your parents. Don't I have to ask your dad or something?" He asks with a quiet, nervous laugh.

"That's only if you're getting married. And....I'll talk to them this weekend. In all truth, I....I've never had a boyfriend. So this could be a bit...." Tough? Weird? Maddening? "It might be hard for them to take. You know, their baby is growing up and all?"

"Yeah, I get it" he says a tad more light-heartedly. I breathe a sigh of relief at his returned casualness, and we step onto the train while my mind spins with how to work my way out of my web of unspoken truths and white lies.

I don't get an opportunity to talk to my parents on Friday night. And I don't even see them on Saturday until I hear a knock on my door.

"Come in!" I shout while securing the back on my earring. As I'm smoothing my formal gown, both of my parents enter my room. My mother is admittedly stunning in a gold, Grecian style gown and my dad looks dashing in his tuxedo. We're preparing to drive into the city for a gala. The gala is held in the ballroom of a fancy but not too pretentious hotel and is limited only to superheros like my father and their closest friends and loved ones. Oh, and politicians and other New York elite. You know, the usual. My hair is pulled into a low updo, painstakingly arranged by a hired hairdresser, and my makeup has been applied lightly by my mother's trusted but rarely utilized makeup artist.