Saving Grace

Fifty Eight

After hugging May and reassuring her that he was okay, Peter went home — which didn't take very long, as Grace called when they were nearly at the school. Shortly after that, Peter headed into his room and changed into the Spider-Man suit, hastily getting the Washington Monument postcard out of his bag.

He got it while dressed as a Spider-Man from the Washington Monument Bookstore. The cashier was very confused, but Peter was a paying customer; he had money in his bag, which he went back for before rejoining the Decathlon group as himself.

He now puts the event from his mind, focusing on what's about to happen.

He's going to see Grace again.

A smile breaks out on his face as he writes a message on the back of the postcard and stows it in his suit. Then, he texts Grace. 'I'm swinging over now.'

Finally, he climbs out of the window and swings off the fire escape, heading straight for Avengers Tower.

~~~~

Grace is already on the balcony when Peter arrives, impressively flipping over the railing. Grace just laughs at his antics, her heart full, her stomach in knots, and her heart beating faster than normal. Just because he's here.

Peter pulls his mask off, messing up his hair in the most perfect way. "Hey," he says, half-breathless.

"Hi," Grace replies simply.

Peter pulls out the postcard and hands it to her. "Here it is, as promised."

Grace takes it, looking at the picture for a moment, then flipping it over to read the message on the back: 'From Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man' with a heart at the end. She smiles back up at him. "I'll keep it forever," she jokes.

He laughs, sitting down where he sat last time. Grace sits next to him, the postcard still in her hand. Her shoulder brushes his, and it makes them both smile. Grace thinks about how glad she is that he's here, in person.

It makes her remember that this can't last forever.

She sighs sadly, and Peter turns to her, brows furrowed in concern. "What's wrong?"

"It's just... we'll be moving soon. To the Avengers compound, upstate." She looks over at him sadly. "We won't be able to do this anymore..."

Peter frowns, then tries to be positive. "Well, we'll just have to enjoy it while it lasts, right?"

Graces nods a little. "Yeah."

They lapse into a sad silence, Peter's thoughts now turned from how happy he was to be with her to how he'll rarely see her at all after she moves. How much he'll miss her, how much harder it'll be to get to know her more, even more than he knows her now. Talking on the phone isn't the same as talking face to face — even if seeing her face reminds him of how he lied to her.

And that eventually leads him to thinking back on his conversation with Karen. About her mom. He feels bad for looking into it behind her back, for one thing...

"Can I ask you something?" he says.

Grace looks over at him. "Sure."