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

No Thank You

4 1/2 Years Later

Peter

(I'm really sorry this chapter is TRASH, i just have not been in the best writing place but i haven't updated in awhile. It might get better soon)
"You are so weird," she says. "There's no way you can do that."
"Watch me," i say, a slight smirk on my face. Frankie rolls her eyes.
"Fine, but don't expect me to catch you when you fall, idiot." She sits back onto the blanket and grabs a bag of chips.
I look back out to the gap between the buildings, which are now connected by a single web. She dared me to walk itb but i said i could do a flip. Which of course, i can. I've done it before.
What i haven't done is flipping off backwards, shooting a web back at the "tight rope", swinging around and flipping back onto it. That's what she's worried about.
I put one foot center on the web, then the other. I wobble in the wind, but don't fall.
"Be careful, please," she says. I can't see her, but she sounds mildly worried.
Once i get to the center of the rope, i turn 90 degrees so i'm directly facing the setting sun.
"This'll be easy," i tell myself.
I take a deep breath before jumping off of the web and flipping backwards. Then i bring my middle and ring fingers to the center of my palm, making the web shooter shoot a web in front of me. It hits the tight rope web and using the momentum, i swing around and let go just as i come above the tight rope web. I fly backwards through the air and land feet first on the web.
"See? Easy," i say, and make my way back over to Frankie.
She stands and embraces me the second i get off the tight rope.
"Do you have any idea how stupid you are?" She says, smiling at me.
"You have no idea." I say, and bring my lips to hers.
"Peter," she says after a few seconds. She pushes me off but i stay planted. She takes a few steps back with her hand pressed to her stomach. Her face contorts like she's in pain.
"Frankie?" I ask. She looks paler than before. "Are you okay?"
She groans, and her legs crumble beneath her.
"Frankie!" I shout, rushing to catch her. She slams into the ground before i can reach her, though.
She pulls her hand away, and it's coated in something dark. 3 dark spots appear on her previously plain white shirt. They're growing, too.
"Why didn't you save me?" She asks weakly.
"Wha-what are you talking about?" I say, panicked. I press two hands on the dark red spot directly in the middle of her stomach to try and stem the bleeding, but it slips through my fingers and rolls down my hands.
"You killed me."
"No! No, i didn't!"
"It was your fault!" She shouts.
"No!"
I blink tears from my eyes, but when they open, we're not on the roof anymore.
To my left is the Tower Bridge.
To my right is Frankie, whose heart has stopped, whose breathing has stopped; who is dead.
She lays on the rocky shoreline, her eyes closed and her head tilted slightly to the side, her shirt is soaked in her own blood.
I stare in shock.
"No," i croak. "No, please no!"
She stays silent.
"NO!!" I shout, and am blinded by fluorescent lights.
I hear people muttering all around, all staring at me.
My head lays on my arm, which is pressed against the desk.
"Peter?" Professor Ross asks. "Are you alright?"
"Um..." I sit up. Dozens of pairs of eyes stare at me, all either scared, shocked, or tired. "Yeah."
"Everyone, back to your exams!" Professor Ross shouts out. "Peter, i want to see you after class."
"Okay," i grumble. I must have fallen asleep during the exam. It comes as no shock to me. I haven't slept in 3 days. Partially because i was studying for mid-terms, partly because my dormmates insist on snoring as loudly as possible, and partly because of nightmares just like that one. The only part that suprised me was that it wasn't more horrifying. Usually they're scarier. Maybe my brain is just too tired to think up something worse.
The whole thing wasn't scary, though. The beginning was nice, and kissing her was...something else entirely. I'm not complaining.
And it's not just Frankie that's in my dreams and nightmares. It's her, Tony, Uncle Ben, and occasionally my parents. Even though i don't have any pictures or anything like that to remember what they looked like.
I try and focus on the exam. Quantum Physics. Not easy, but do-able. I stayed up all night studying for this.
I've done 1-6, but i guess that's where i fell asleep. I pick up at 7, but my mind wanders off again.
2 days. 2 more days until Winter Break. 2 more days until i get to go home for the holidays. 2 more days until Mid-Terms are over.
2 more days until i go visit her grave. Again.
I know Frankie's not coming back, but part of me can't let her go. She died almost 5 years ago and i still remember her like i saw her just yesterday. Dark black hair, icy blue eyes, and a smile that could light up the world.
"Time's up!" Professor Ross calls out. What?! We just started!
I find the clock and as my eyes focus on the it, i see that our 2 hours are up. We started at 11:00, and now it's 1:00.
I look down at my blue test packet, most of which is empty.
"Shit," I whisper to myself.
"Turn in your packets on your way out," Professor Ross reminds us as everyone starts filing out of the classroom.
I wait behind for everyone to leave until i go up to Professor Ross, dreading the upcoming conversation.
I hop off the last step from the rised lecture hall seats and make my way to him. He's walking back to his desk now, struggling to carry all of the packets.
"I got it," i say, and take the whole 2 foot high stack of paper.
"Thanks. Just uh...put it over there." He points ahead of him to his desk, one half of which is empty. I set them down there and they make a soft thud as i slip my fingers from underneath the pile.
"Peter, you probably knowthe reason  why i asked to talk to you," he starts.
"I can think of a few," i say. "Is it just one or should i make myself comfortable?"
He laughs lightly. "Why don't you have a seat over there?" He points to the first row of desks in the lecture hall. I make my way over there and plop into the closest one, setting my backpack on the ground in front of it. This isn't going to be good.
Professor Ross opens a drawer in his desk and pulls something out of it, then walks over to me, where he sits in the desk beside me.
He sets a file in front of meand opens it.
"Peter, i know you're a smart kid," he starts, and i have a feeling he's going to be talking for awhile. "You don't have a class after this, do you?"
"No, i'm done until 4:00."
"Great. Your grades from high school up until Senior year are phenomenal. All A's everywhere, with only a few B's and C's in sophomore year, but i know is must be hard to try and balance school, being and Avenger, and a personal life."
He only knows about the second part because that asshole, Beck, revealed my identity to the world right after the London incident. Ever since, nobody has ever treated me the same. I was even framed for Beck's murder, but that was cleared up quickly.
"Yeah, it is," i say. Silence.
"Look, Peter, i think i know what's going on. Your life has bot been easy. In fact, it's been anything but that."
Of course he would know. He's my favorite professor, and i'm one of his favorite students. Being Spider-Man may have a very small influence on that, but Professor Ross isn't like that.
"I've been doing some research--" he starts again
"What are you, a counsler?" I say without thinking. It comes out more aggresive than it needed to be.
"Actually, i used to be a high school counsler."
"So how'd you end up here?"
"MIT has better wages and less idiotic kids."
"Fair point."
"What i mean to say is i've looked into some things about you. Your parents, uncle, Tony Stark, Frankie Grant..." He stops. "Sorry if this is a sore subject."
"It's fine," i say. But it's not.
"And on top of all of that, like i said, juggling Spider-Man and college. Just one of those is hard enough, i imagine."
"Yeah, you could say that." I glance down at the folder. "What's this for?"
"That is a list of all of your teacher recommendations, grades, other recommendations, among other things. Did you know Tony Stark put in a good word for you years ago?"
"No, i didn't know that." I remember him saying something about MIT.
"I've got some pull at MIT. I can make a call." He had said, before the empty Iron Man suit flew away and i argued that i didn't need to go to college.
"That wasn't just an out of the blue nightmare, was it?" Professor Ross asks.
"What do you mean?" I reply.
"You've had nightmares like this before, haven't you?"
"I mean, a few," i shrug. "Can i go now?"
He sighs. "Yes, but Peter, listen."
I stand up and grab my backpack and turn to him, ready to turn back around and leave. "You're a smart kid, you're a good kid. I know you can handle this, but if you ever need to talk, i'm here."
"Okay," i say. "Thanks." And i leave.
...
The second i close the door to my dorm, Ned pops up.
"Peter! Great you're back!" He starts, but i walk past him. He keeps talking.
"What do you want to do for lunch? Because there's this great chinese place down the street that i checked out the other day and it is amazing! So, do you wanna go?"
"Ned, can i just have a few minutes please?" I say, opening the door to Ned and I's room. We have 2 other dormmates and they sleep in the other room.
I toss my backpack onto the bed and close the door behind me, going back into the main room with Ned.
"A few minutes for what?"
"Ned, i have been taking mid-terms all week long and this last one did not go so well, so can i please just--"
Something, someone on the couch catches my eye.
"What is Betty doing here?" I ask.
"Ned and I wanted to go to lunch with you and your boyfriend," Betty says.
"First of all, that's not what i meant. I meant 'Are you with her again?' Because this is the 3rd time this year that she has been here after you have broken up twice."
"Yeah, we're together again," Ned confirms, walking over to Betty and sitting beside her on the couch.
"Second of all," i continue. "Harry and I broke up last week. Did i not tell you this, Ned?"
"No, not that i remember. Dude, i'm so sorry!"
"It's not your fault," i say, the night where Harry Osborn dumped me replayling in my head.
"Dude, you're hung up on a dead girl," Harry says. "Admit it."
"I'm not!" I argue.
"Then why do you still talk about her in your sleep? Why is she the star in every story you tell? Why do you still have a framed picture of her?" He picks up my picture of Frankie from before Europe. I took the picture with my phone when she wasn't looking. It was one of the many times she smiled after everyone came back.
"Put that down," i say. My heart skips a beat when he picks it up. He looks like he's about to smash it.
"Tell me why you're so hung up on her!"
"Because she was my best friend!"
"She is dead! And she's not coming back like everyone else, so you need to get over it!"
"I..." I start to say, but the words don't come.
"Admit it. She was more than a friend before the Snap."
I say nothing.
"Fine. Say you love me more than you love her. A dead girl."
I still say nothing.
"See? You can't, because you would be lying. And i know you still had those feelings after the Blip, because to you, it was 2 seconds instead of 5 years. I know because i felt the same thing for someone. But i knew how to move on. You don't."
"Harry--"
"Don't."
"Peter?" Ned asks, and i get my head out of the memory.
"What?"
"Do you still want to come to lunch with us?"
"Uh, no." I say. "I didn't get much sleep last night so i'm just going to lay down for awhile."
"Ok. And dude, i'm so sorry about Harry."
"It's fine," i say. Betty and Ned start to walk towards the dorm door. "Bye"
"Bye," the both say at the same time, followed by their usual "Babe!" whenever they do something cute.
After they leave, i go into Ned and I's room.
It's a mess, but what else can you expect from two college Juniors?
There are shirts and pants thrown around everywhere and some mac-and-cheese cups in the most random of places: a bookshelf, the floor, and the closet.
The only thing that doesn't seem to be out of place is the framed picture i have on my nightstand of the girl i had a dream about just 20 minutes ago. She smiles and it seems like the whole world smiles with her. She deserves at least that.
After Frankie died, the way the world reacted shocked me, although it shouldn't have.
Memorials popped up everywhere. Frankie fandoms that i didn't know existed emerged, and they had a huge ceremony and everything at Avengers Complex. There were too many people there, telling stories about her that probably weren't true. I say probably because Harley confirmed one story of her getting wasted one night and making out with a girl she had never met before.
But the thing that pissed me off the mosy about how the world reacted was Halloween. Some kids put on long black wigs and drew blue scribbles all over their hands. That was cute.
What wasn't cute was the college girl who wore an outfit exactly like Frankie's the day she died. She put fake blood all over the shirt, made her face all pale and her lips light blue, and soaked herself.
At first, i thought i was seeing things. I thought i was hallucinating.
But she was making fun of her death. She made fun of the horrible way she died.
She saw me staring at her and things connected in her mind pretty quickly, especially since my identity had been revealed shortly after Europe. I was accused of murder but proved innocent pretty quickly.
She saw me on the street Halloween night and tried to apolojize, but i was gone before she could.
I take one last look at Frankie's picture. She was really very pretty, but she never thought so. I would even go so far as to say she was beautiful.
I tear away from the picture and take in the disaster that is my room again, before giving up on trying to even get myself to clean it.
Something in the window catches my attention.
"Seriously?" I say to myself upon seeing the paper taped to the glass.
I unlatch the window and swing it out. When i pull the paper back inside, i see that it is the same shit i get all the time. Someone wrote their phone number and with it: "Hit me up, Spider-Man ;-)". No thank you.