In Loving Memory [A Marvel Cinematic Universe Fanfiction] *Discontinued*

First Kiss

"So, how's MIT?" I say into the phone. I catch myself messing with a strand of hair and stop.
"It's fine," Harley replies. "How's the leg?"
"It's fine," i notice i'm smiling, but it feels nice, so i let myself.
"Will you be okay enough to go out Saturday?" He asks. I can hear the smile in his voice.
"Yeah," I imagine it in my head. We're supposed to go to Angelo's, a little Italian resturant half an hour away from here.
"I'll see you then," he says.
"Yeah, see you then," I hang up the phone just as Morgan comes down the stairs.
"Hey, Maguna," i say, gesturing for her to come sit on the couch with me.
"Hey, Frankie," she climbs up onto the couch, sitting close to me. "I'm hungry."
I glance at the clock. 12:40. "Me too," i say. "How about some lunch?"
"Yeah," she says.
I start to get up, grabbing my crutches. It's been 2 weeks since i got out of the hospital and i have a check-up before my date on Saturday. After that, i should be able to get off the crutches. It's Thursday, now, and Pepper has just started going back to work at Stark Industries. There's a lot to be done there since Tony died.
Peter and his Aunt May found an apartment, and Pepper is helping then out financially until they can get back on their feet. I helped them move what little they had into their apartment and i had seen that Peter had black tape over the light switch in his room with an orange peice of paper above it that said "Do Not Turn Off". I didn't ask about it, but i knew it was because of his nightmares. I want to help, but he doesn't want me messing with his mind.
...
The sun is shining so bright, it blinds me. There are people screaming all around. They look up and so do i. There's a giant cloud of something...no...it has a face. There's lighting in it, and it's attacking these people.
I look back in front of me, and there's a man. A man wearing something really weird. A black and grey suit and a fishbowl on his head. He says something i can't hear and disappears. In his place is a floating white box...no, a drone.
I see someone dressed in black and red -- Peter in his suit, but why is it black and red? The eyes on his suit go wide and he reaches a hand out.
Then i wake up.
The back of my neck is cold with sweat. It's still dark outside, so i must have had a nightmare and woke up in the middle of the night. I do that a lot. I glance at the clock on the table. 3:56 am.
I try to remember, and it quickly comes back to me. I remember the man with the fishbowl on his head and the weird suit, the giant cloud monster thing, and Peter reaching out to me.
It must have just been another weird dream. I've had a lot of those. Like last night, i had a dream i went through an eyeball museum and admired Harley's eyes. He does have nice eyes, though.
Speaking of Harley, our date is today. I smile to myself just thinking about it. I've never felt this way about someone before, so it's all new to me.
Now that i say that, it sounds ridiculous. I'm 21, and i've never been on a date, before. Nat and Steve tried to get me to meet people and go to Steve's support group, but it never worked. I went to one meeting of that support group, and got uncomfortable within 5 minutes. They tried to get me to talk about my experiences in the past 5 years. I had absentmindedly rolled up my sleeves and they all saw the scars. I quickly rolled them back down, and when i refused to talk, another guy started talking about going on a date for the first time in 5 years.
I've never even kissed anyone before, unless you count some guy who tried something on me when i was 11. He quickly learned his lesson when i snapped his damn neck. I don't count that as one.
But who knows what will happen tonight? I could have my first kiss...
God, i sound like a teenage girl. Although, the only difference between me now and my 16 year old self is that i can drink.
The only stuff in know about dating and romance is from movies and TV shows. But if i've learned anything from cheesy Netflix originals, it's that the first date is always awkward and weird.
I try to go back to sleep, but after an hour i decide to just stay up. I reach behind me to my new phone on the table by the couch. I turn it on and the brightness hurts my eyes. I punch in the password as fast as i can so i can turn the brightness down. When i do, i look to the notifications bar. There's a few icons there. One from Instagram, two from messages, and one from a game. I look at the Instagram one, first.
peterparker3000, HarleyK.man, and 3,451 others started following you.
That's been happening a lot, lately. Ever since i helped save the world, i've been gaining followers in Instagram like crazy. It's the only social media i have, but still, it's insane. I tap on it to see if anyone else i know or know of started following me. There are a bunch of Avengers fan accounts and a few other random ones, and every so often, i'll come across a celebrity. Leonardo Decaprio, The Rock, Beyonce, people like that.
I turn my focus to the messages. One is from Harley and the other from Peter.
Harley had texted me after i fell asleep, which was fairly early. He had texted me around 10:00 last night: Can't wait for tommorow! Goodnight ❤.
I smile to myself again and click on Peter's: I had another nightmare. A bad one. Can you talk after you see this? It was sent and hour ago.
My smiles fades. I hate that he has ti go through this. I hit the phone icon on the screen and it calls him. It rings and rings, until on one of the last rings he answers.
"Hello?" He answers. He sounds tired and groggy.
"Are you okay? You said you had a nigtmare." I talk quietly so i don't wake Pepper or Morgan.
"I think so," he says. He doesn't sound okay. He sounds terrified. "It was just really bad."
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.
"Sure," he's learned by now that talking about it helps. So have i.
"It wasn't in the usual place. It was in and empty white room," he tells me. "Then i saw Thanos running up to me with that giant sword he had, about to kill me. Then, you jumped in front of me and you let him kill you instead of me."
"Oh my god," i say, trying to let him know i was listening. "Did anything happen after that?"
"Well, i looked down to you and even though he had stabbed you, that wasn't the only thing killing you," his voice is shaking, like he's cold or something, but i know it's not that. He gets like this when he describes the particularly bad nightmares, and apparently this was one of those. "You're wrists were slit. Your blood started gathering into a huge pool. I blinked, and it covered the walls, dripping onto me from the ceiling. Thanos ran back towards me and i tried to run, but he got to me first. Then i woke up."
"I wish you would just let me get rid of the nightmares for you," I say. I've offered to do it at least 5 times now, and everysingle time he says the same thing:
"No. I don't want you messing with my head." He says, in a bored voice.
"I know, i'm just trying to help," i say, like i do everytime.
"I know," he says, like he says everytime.
"I had a nightmare, too," i say. "At least, i think it was a nightmare."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
I descibe it as well as i can to him. I've told him about my weird dreams and nightmares, and we both just assume it's another one of those.
"Is that why you're up so early?" He asks.
"Yeah. Couldn't get back to sleep."
"You have that appointment today, right?" He asks.
"Yeah," i answer.
"And the date with Harley," I can't pinpoint exactly how he feels about me being with Harley. He says he's fine with it, but his face and tone of his voice say something completely different. I assume it's because of what Ned told me a few days ago when i saw him. Apparently Peter had a huge crush on me when i first got here in 2018, and he told Ned all about it. I'm not going to let Peter know that i know that, but it's kind if funny, when you think about it.
"Yeah, i have that tonight, too."
"Well, let me know how it all goes," he says. "Unless there are some details i don't need to know about," he adds with a small laugh in his voice.
"Shut up you asshole!" I yell at him while laughing, immedeatly shutting up. It's still really early and i don't want to wake Pepper or Morgan up.
"Sorry. But seriously, i don't want to know about those kinds of things."
"Like i would ever tell you in the first place."
"True. Anyways, i have to go. Bye," he hangs up before i can say goodbye.
I start to get up and decide to try without crutches. I sit all the way up on the couch and put my feet on the ground, then start to lean forward and stand up.
Immedeatly, pain shoots through my leg and ribcage, but it's bearable. After a second or two, the pain subsides and it is just sore. I take a few steps and it doesn't hurt as bad as i thought it would.
"What's going on, down here?" Pepper asks, scaring me half to death.
"Oh my god!" I almost shout. "Sorry, i was on the phone with Peyer and accidentilly yelled at him."
"What's wrong?" She asks.
"Oh, nothing, he was just being stupid." I say, smiling a little bit. "He said something about me and Harley going out tonight."
"Oh, right, that's tonight." She looks at my leg. "You're walking!"
"Yup," i say, smiling a little bit, again. "I don't think i'm gonna tackle stairs just yet, though."
"Smart," She says, walking down the rest of the stairs. She's been really depressed and miserable these past couple of weeks, but who can blame her? He husband just died. Of course, Morgan is almost conpletly oblivious. She knows her dad is dead, but she doesn't understand what "dead" means, because she keeps asking me when Tony will come back. She's taken pretty well to Peter, though. He likes her, too. One day when he was still here, he ran around the front yard with her on his back. She squealed and giggled, telling him to go faster.
...
"You look amazing," Wanda says as i stare at myself in the mirror. I almost don't recognize the girl staring back at me. She has on eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. Her hair is down in waves over her shoulders. She wears a flowery, flowing dress that goes almost to her knees and a jean jacket. The only thing i regognize on her is the scars on her arms and her blue eyes.
Wanda and i had gone shopping a few days after i got out of the hospital. All of our clothes were destroyed when Thanos bombed the compound, so we needed some so i didn't have to keep borrowing Pepper's clothes and Wanda didn't have to keep wearing Clint's wife, Laura's clothes. She was staying with Clint's family, but came over to Pepper's house to help me get ready.
"And not at all like myself," i say.
"Oh, shut up. Give me a turn."
I do as she says. Even though i turn semi-slowly, the dress twirls out, the pink, yellow, and orange flowers blurring in my vision.
Wanda gives me a small smile. These past few weeks haven't exactly been easy on her. She lost Vison, the robot she was in love with. She's going through the denial stage of greif, now. She's trying to act strong and pretend as if nothing happened, but she could break at any minute.
"Wanda, are you okay?" I ask. I know she's not.
"I'm fine," she says, turning away and putting the eyeshadow pallet in her bag.
"No, you're not." I say, following her. "I know you're not."
She doesn't look at me for a few seconds, but brings a hand to her face and vovers her mouth. She lowers her head and i hear a whimpering noise come from her. She looks up and her eyes are red, tears about to spill over. I pull her into my arms and hug her, careful not to mess up the make-up she spent 15 minutes on.
"He's gone," she says softly, her voice cracking. She lays her head on my shoulder and we stay like that for a minute until i let go and look at her.
"It'll be okay," i say to her quietly. "You'll be okay."
"You're one to talk," she says, grabbing my wrist and holding it up for a second before letting it go, again.
"Wanda," i say, glancing at the scar before continuing. "I know it seems like nothing will ever be okay again, but you have people to help you through it. And you're not the only person whose lost someone, for good." I remind her of Tony and Nat, and of both of our parents and siblings. "Trust me, i know how you feel."
"Yeah, you're right, you do know how it feels," she says on the edge of rage. "I lost Vison, the love of my life. You lost Peter, who, let's face it, you were going to end up with if Thanos didn't happen, making it illegal."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I raise my voice. "We're just friends!"
"Sure, now you are, but 5 years ago you two were inseperable."
"Just because we spent a lot of time together doesn't mean we were--"
"Whatever. I'll be in my denial and you can be in yours." She starts gathering all her stuff together and starts to storm towards the door, but i pull her back, blue filling up the room. She forces me off, the mixing of our powers making the room slightly purple. She opens the door and starts to walk out, but stops.
"Frankie, you're date's here," she says through gritted teeth, walking away and off the porch. I hear her footsteps pound down the stairs and others replace it.
Out of nowhere, a nauseating feeling appears my chest, making my mouth dry and panic fill me.
"Frankie?" Harley walks through the still open front door, closing it behind him. "What was that about?" He asks, pointing towards the front door with his thumb.
"We had a fight," i say, grabbing my small purse from the couch.
"What about?" He asks.
"Uh...girl stuff," i lie.
"Ah," he says. "You look amazing." He smiles at me, and my stomach turns. "And you're walking!"
"Yeah. Doc said i could stop using the crutches." I try to focus on him instead of Wanda.
"Are you ready to go?" He asks.
"Yeah, hold on," I walk over to the stairs. "Pepper! Morgan! I'm leaving! I'll be back later!"
"Ok, have fun!" Pepper shouts back.
I hear little footsteps race down the hallway and Morgan starts coming down the stairs.
"Frankie! Don't go!" She yells, crashing into me and hugging my good side.
"Don't worry, i'm coming back," i assure her, running a hand over her hair.
She glances over at Harley. "Is he your boyfriend?" She asks with a mischievous smile.
"Uh, no," i say to her. "But maybe, soon," i whisper into her ear.
"Ok. Have fun!" She says as she lets go of me. "And you have her home before 10:00, mister!" Morgan says, trying to make her voice deeper. "I saw that on Disney Channel."
"Ok," i laugh. "Bye, Morgan."
"Bye," she says, going back uo the stairs.
"She is adorable," Harley says as we walk out the door.
"Yup, she is," I say. I stare at the stairs for a few seconds, trying to remember how i got down them this morning. I remember i went down them very slowy, holing onto the rail on the side so i didn't have to bend my leg and oull the stitches, too much. I didn't get the stitches taken out, but i should by next week.
"You okay?" Harley asks, laughing at how ridiculous i look doing this.
"Yeah," i say, getting down the last step. "Ok, let's go."
He runs to the passenger side of the car and opens the door for me.
"Why thank you, kind sir," i say in a bad british accent as i climb into the car. It smells nice, like a combination of vanilla and french fries.
"My pleasure, milady," he says, copying the accent. He snickers and i laugh as he closes the door. Yup, he's as great as i remember him.
He opens his door and slides into the seat as he closes the door behind him. He puts the keys into the ignition and turns the car on, music filling it.
"--another LA Devotee! Just another, just another, oh oh!" Brendon Uries majestic voice fills every inch of the car.
"You like Panic! At The Disco?" I ask, smiling and staring to tap my hand to the beat.
"Yup. If i were ever going to be gay for anyone, it would be Brendon Urie." He jokes.
"For me, it would either be Hayley Williams or Billie Eilish."
"Huh," he says. "Did not peg you for a Paramore type of girl."
"There's a lot about me people don't expect," i say.
"Oh? Like what?"
"Uh...i love The Kissing Booth."
"The what?" He asks, driving down the driveway towards the road.
"It's a movie on Netflix," i say.
"Ok, then," he says, turning his attention to the road.
"I myself have never been kissed," i say before i realize it. Why the fuck would i say that.
"Really?" He asks, genuinly shocked.
"Told you," i say. "Things you don't expect."
"Well, then, we'll have to fix that, won't we?" He says with a smirk. He stops the car and puts it in park. He turns back to me and leans forward.
"What are you doing?" I ask, even though i know exactly what he's doing. I smile, even though i'm so nervous i could throw up. What if i do it wrong?
"What does it look like i'm doing?" He says. "Come on, loosen up." He takes my hand and laces his fingers with mine.
"Fine," i say. I lean forward, too. He closes his eyes and i decide to mess with him. I peck his cheek.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he says, putting a hand along my cheek and jaw, pulling me close and before i can object, kisses me on the lips. My whole body tenses up and he lingers there for a few seconds. I loosen up and it feels...good. We part open our eyes. To my suprise, i pull him back and kiss him. He puts his hand to the side of my face again and we stay like that for a few, long seconds before pulling away again. I can't stop smiling and he starts driving again. The song changes to My Dongs Know What You Did In The Dark by Fall Out Boy, and we sing along to all the songs that play the whole way.