The protocol
It's been nearly two days since Peter experienced that troubling episode with his chest. And to be honest, Peter doesn't remember anything after he begged May not to take him to the hospital but from what he gathered from his aunt, he slept through it all and fortunately, his vital signs improved by the next morning. Following that, Peter spent most of yesterday dozing off, only stirring occasionally to enjoy some soup that May brought from the deli and to take his medication.
Today, he woke up feeling fantastic--the chest pain and other injuries from the ferry incident had vanished. Although May remained hesitant about him returning to school, she ultimately relented, agreeing to take Peter this morning and pick him up after class. Peter accepted this arrangement, fully aware that his aunt's concerns came from a place of love and care for his well-being.
But now, Peter wants to just go back home and sleep rather than hear his principal's lecture for skipping detention and cutting classes.
Principal Morita had been looking at Peter with a mix of concern and encouragement for the past minute already and all Peter wants right now is to leave, "Peter, you're a good kid... and you're a smart kid," he says. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice, though it didn't carry the same weight as the stern words Peter had heard from both Tony and May. He continued, giving Peter an encouraging nod, "... so just try to keep your head straight, okay?"
"Okay," Peter says, his voice small.
"All right, get out of here," the principal says.
Peter nods as he stands up, leaving the office of the man, his heart heavy.
This was the first occasion that Peter had ever received a call from the principal. Generally, Peter was a well-behaved student who rarely found himself in any sort of trouble. In fact, most of his teachers appreciated him for being attentive in class, excelling in all his subjects, and performing exceptionally in his extracurricular activities. That's why Peter understood that it must have come as quite a shock to the principal to learn that he had been in detention in the first place.
Peter closes the door of the office and almost immediately, Ned bombards him with questions, "Are you expelled?" he asks nervously, "Do you have to go to that high school where the principal has a crossbow?"
Peter's brows meets at that, "Pretty sure that's an urban myth, and no, I'm not expelled."
Ned sighs in relief at that, "You're so lucky," he says, shaking his head.
Peter shrugs, "Maybe."
Ned turns back to him, "Also, how's your chest?" he asks, "May had called me earlier this morning and told me to keep an eye on you since you just had an attack."
"I'm fine," Peter answers back, "I'm okay now. I slept all day yesterday and when I woke up, everything's back to normal."
Ned's brows met at that, "But, I thought that all your pre-existing conditions before the bite has already been healed?" the teen asks, "You told me that your heart's healthy now."
"Well, I thought so too." Peter mumbles, "My last ECG was amazing though there were still small abnormalities. I thought that it will continue to heal until it gets back to normal."
"And it didn't?"
"Well, from what happened the other day, it didn't." Peter replied, "But it wasn't too bad though--not like all the other attacks I had before the bite. I had some chest pains and all those painful things but I didn't need to be brought in to the Emergency Room. So that counts, right?"
Ned hums, thinking, "That's not what May told me."
Peter's eyes narrows at that, "Wha--I'm fine!" he exclaims, becoming defensive.
"Peter, you literally begged May not to bring you to the ER but I feel like if it was her call, you would be confined by now."
Peter huffs, "I was injured, okay? That's probably why it hurt that much."
"Or, it was your heart literally somersaulting inside your chest. You know? The usual." Ned shrugs because he's right.
Peter always had numerous scares ever since he was a kid leading to countless visits to the emergency room and numerous weeks confined in the hospital. So, Ned was right--it was a usual occurrence, a normal thing to happen, but Peter wants to disagree because he knows his body. He had been so sick before to the point that he was banned to use the stairs in bad days, which was almost everyday. However, those memories now seem like distant echoes of a nightmare, because now, he found freedom to engage in activities without worrying about his health. And with what happened the other day, Peter believes that it was merely a consequence of the injuries he incurred holding the ferry together.
"I don't know, okay?" Peter sighs, "I haven't had any attacks ever since the bite so I figured that I'm already healed."
Ned can easily spot the disappointment reflected in Peter's eyes, and it tugs at his heart. He lets out a sigh, feeling a wave of sympathy for his friend, especially since he has genuinely been rooting for Peter's happiness. After everything Peter's gone through this year with his family, he deserves to experience happiness, even just a little bit. And Ned has witnessed this newfound happiness up close because all the things Peter had to sacrifice due to his illness are now being restored. It's heartwarming to see how Peter can now navigate the stairs effortlessly, engage in gym activities during PE, and maintain perfect attendance after struggling with frequent absences just months ago. And Ned's scared for his friend--that this happiness might be short lived and he might watch Peter lose himself all over again throughout the days.
"Why don't you talk about this with Doctor Liv, I'm sure she has some answers to your questions." Ned suggests, wanting nothing more but to help his friend.
Peter exhales heavily as they continue to walk, "I can't, man," he mutters, "With the accords thing happening, I can't risk outing my identity to other people. Who knows, I might end up in the raft or worse, be a freaking experiment."
"Are those things true?" Ned asks, feeling scared for the safety of his friend, "I mean, those are just myths right? Hearsays?"
Peter shrugs, "I don't know really but I can't risk that." he answers back.
The two continues to walk in silence, until something in Ned's mind conjures up an idea, "Well, what about Mr. Stark?" the teen asks, "He's rich and I'm pretty sure the Avengers have a private doctor at their disposal, right? Maybe he can help you."
Peter shoots a glare to his friend, "Dude, I was fired." the teen says as a matter of fact, "Besides, Mr. Stark's angry at me so I doubt he'll help me with my health issues."
"Worth a shot," Ned mutters, "Why don't you just try? Maybe he's not that heartless."
"I don't know about that but he's pretty pissed a kid hacked his multimillion dollar suit, so..."
Ned's eyes bulges at that, "Does that mean he's angry at me too?"
"Probably," Peter says truthfully, "He asked me who you were since your name was all over Karen's program."
"Cool," Ned beams, "Iron Man now knows my name."
"Dude," Peter calls, almost chuckling at his friend's take at the situation.
--
"Sales for this month had been better than last month," Charlie says, gesturing to the chart that was currently displayed inside the board room.
Tony of course wasn't paying attention, he doesn't even know why he was there because as far as he knows, all his concerns now for Stark Industries is to design, to innovate--not to sit in a two hour long meeting discussing sales and profits; he's part of the R and D department, for crying out loud.
But one shoulder nudge from Pepper had him backtracking from his own thoughts. "Can you please pay attention to the meeting, Tony?" Pepper says, her voice in a hush, "They're already nervous that you're here, please at least act like you're actually listening."
Tony wanted to pay attention, after all, he's doing all this to continue getting on Pepper's good side but he can't help it. Ever since that thing from the ferry, which was almost two days ago now, he just couldn't seem to focus on anything.
"I want to, okay?" he whispers back, "I'm sorry if my ADHD brain is currently misfiring."
Pepper rolls her eyes at that, "You don't have ADHD, Tony."
Tony's brows raise at that, "Are you my doctor?" he jokes but he quickly backtracks when Pepper looks back at him, her eyes firing some glares at him.
"Dr. Reynolds had said so,"
It was then Tony's turn to roll his eyes as he accepts defeat, "Why are you always right?" he asks.
"I'm Pepper Potts, that's why,"
"Why don't we make it Stark? Pepper Stark?" Tony asks, sounding like he's joking but he wasn't, "It's got some nice ring to it, Pepper Stark," the man muses.
"Tony, focus," Pepper says, finally looking away as to not give the man anymore interaction.
It was fairly successful, ignoring Tony but of course, leave it to the man to yap yet again after only a couple of minutes.
Tony sighs, "How many hours till lunch, boss?" he asks as he nudges Pepper, bugging the woman, "Be a good boss and let us have an early lunch, come on,"
"It's 9:30, Tony,"
"That's why I said early--" Tony wasn't able to finish what he was about to say when his watch started flashing green and the billionaire almost jumps to his feet at the alarm.
Pepper quickly looked at him, glaring, "Don't you dare," she threatens.
Of course Tony doesn't dare angering the strawberry blonde but he'd been waiting for news about the kid for days now--he can't pass this up.
"Good job on the sales, Charles," Tony says as he stands up, smiling at the man presenting--his name wasn't Charles, it was Charlie.
"Tony--"
The man finally turns to Pepper, "I'll have my early lunch now, boss, sorry for the late notice." Tony says as he quickly stands up, not looking back even after Pepper had called him back again.
Tony quickly runs to an empty room for privacy, "FRIDAY, talk to me," the billionaire says as he puts on his earpiece in order to hear his AI's voice.
"Upon reviewing the footage from today, it seems like Mr. Parker has left his apartment in time for his class this morning, at exactly 7:16 AM." FRIDAY relays.
Going to school is good, right? That means the kid's doing okay since he have the energy to go to school. Tony thought and hopes that it was the case.
"Anything you noticed?" Tony asks, "Any limp? Injury? Did you scan him?"
Ever since the ferry incident, Tony couldn't shake off his unease. Despite Karen's comforting words about Peter's injury healing and the fact that the boy seemed okay when he dropped him off at his apartment, a nagging worry lingered in his mind. This concern grew when neither of the Parkers ventured out of their apartments the entire day yesterday, not even when Peter was supposed to go to school. Although May had briefly left in the morning, she returned with bags of groceries but Peter was still nowhere to be found, which only heightened Tony's anxiety.
"None that I noticed," FRIDAY answers back, "Mr. Parker seems relatively healthy all things considered."
Tony hums at that, letting out a relieved sigh, "Yeah? Uhm, so where's the kid now?"
"Mr. Parker is currently at Midtown High School as of the moment." FRIDAY says, "However sir, may I remind you that you have been breaching Mr. Parker's privacy for over two days now."
Tony rolls his eyes at that, "I know that FRI, and I'm not proud of it, okay?" he mutters, "I just want to make sure that the kid's doing good and not dying."
"Now that you confirmed Mr. Parker's doing good, would you like me to disable all surveillance cameras at the Parker's apartment?" The AI didn't come across as making suggestions; rather, its tone seemed to convey a straightforward message to its creator. And Tony can't blame the AI for that, he's the one who programmed FRIDAY after all.
"You sounded so sure, there FRI," Tony mutters, "Fine, okay, disable all surveillance cameras from the Parker's apartment." he relents, "Now that I know the kid's not dying, maybe I could do something more productive, huh?"
"You currently have pending design works for the R and D department,"
Tony rolls his eyes at that, "I said productive, FRI, not boring."
Tony had hoped that learning Peter was safe would lift the heavy burden of worry from his mind, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. As the clock struck 12PM, he found himself unable to rid himself of the gnawing unease settling in his chest—almost like a nagging voice was urging him to take action. Yet he felt stuck, questioning what else he could possibly do. After all, he had already distanced himself from the kid, and maybe that was the right choice after all.
The billionaire was currently taking his mind off things by tinkering on the collection of cars parked at his laboratory. But no matter how many parts he had taken off from the cars, his mind was still thinking about a certain Spider-kid from Queens.
"Boss, may I remind you again about the design works--"
Tony sits up abruptly, accidentally hitting his head as he was lying beneath the car, absorbed in his tinkering. "Ouch!" he exclaims, rubbing his head, "FRIDAY, you're getting on my nerves." He pushes himself up from under the vehicle, casting a glare at no one in particular. "I told you that we can postpone the designs till next week." he says, "I don't have time to upgrade the Stark phones as of yet."
It was a lie, of course. Tony had plenty of time in his hands as of the moment however, because of the anxiety swirling in his mind, he couldn't think.
"Ms. Potts had relayed to me that this week is your deadline for it, boss."
Tony huffs in annoyance, "You've been pretty boring lately, FRIDAY." he says, "I told you that I want fun as of the moment. I want to take my mind off things--not to do useless things such as upgrading new phones that could wait till next year."
"It is you who designed me sir," FRIDAY retaliates, "Would you like to update my program to make me less boring?"
Tony lets out a grunt as he straightens up, muttering, "Don't get cheeky with me," while he finally sets his tools aside, leaving the car he just repaired. "Did Rhodey swing by and make a bunch of updates to you again? Or was it Pepper? Because I don't recall coding you to be like this."
"Colonel Rhodes and Ms. Potts had--"
"You know what, mute." Tony exclaims in frustration, "I don't want to hear your excuse for being sassy, okay?" he grumbles. The man kinds of feel bad for dismissing his AI but he was certainly not in the mood to be annoyed by FRIDAY's constant reminders. Too much thought and worry is racing inside his head and the worst part was, he couldn't do anything about his worry. "Don't make me replace you with Karen. The kid's AI has a good mix of being playful and serious, you on the other hand..." His words trail off as he notices the Spider-Man suit resting on the table in the corner of his lab, all his previous thoughts suddenly vanished like the answer to his restlessness lies on the red and blue. "Karen, you here?" he inquires, his gaze fixed on the suit.
A cheerful beep sounds as a blue hologram materializes above the child's suit, saying, "For you, Mr. Stark, always," the AI answers back.
And suddenly, the billionaire know what he needs to do now. Fix, fix, fix.
Tony nods at that, "Please run diagnostics on your system and programs," the man commands, "I had already fixed your mainframe but the other systems are still under the kid's friends name so we need to fix that."
"Running diagnostics,"
"FRI, what was the kid's friend's name again?" Tony says but when he hears no answer from his own AI, he rolls his eyes, "FRI, don't be angry with me now, unmute."
The AI beeps, "I'm not programmed to have any emotions, boss,"
"Then explain why you're so sassy?"
If the AI could rolls its eyes, it would have. FRIDAY ignores the question and proceeded to answer the first one, "Peter Parker's friend is Edward Leeds or more commonly known as Ned."
Tony nods at that, "The kid's got a bright future ahead of him. Say what, why don't you put the kid's name on the list of the September Foundation." the man mutters, "Just so I could know if he ever applies for it and I'll definitely get him a pass. I know how our HR people work."
"Noted, boss," FRIDAY answers back.
"Diagnostic run completed. 96 protocols are still under the name Ned Leeds and 79 programs had been suspended."
Tony almost whistles--welp, the Fred kid is truly a genius too... like two peas on a pod.
Tony runs his hand on his goatee as he stares at the hologram in front of him, "Override," he dismisses, "Code 1564892p.a.s."
"Override accepted." After a minute the green hologram from the suit finally turns back to its original red color, "You have 16 missed alerts from the Spider-suit and as per the Big booboo protocol, you have 4 missed alerts."
Tony's mouth almost drops when he heard about the Big booboo protocol because that was only activated when the kid's hurt, and... the kid had been hurt alone? "I-- what are... what are those 16 missed alerts?" he inquires carefully, bracing himself for the four additional alerts that he dreads to uncover.
"It was the 16 times Peter had worn the suit."
The genius nods, then clears his throat as he asks, "And the other four? What and when were those?"
A whirlwind of potential situations raced through his mind, causing his anxiety to soar to unprecedented heights. The Big Booboo protocols kick in only when the kid is injured, and with four activations already logged, Tony couldn't shake the worry of what mischief the kid might have found while left alone. The thought of not being there to help during those moments was almost unbearable. Yet, amidst the chaos of his thoughts, the one thing that brought him some peace was the knowledge that the kid was safe now, and whatever had happened was already in the past.
"1st activation of Big booboo protocol is during Peter's fight with the flying guy in DC. He suffered a minor concussion." Karen relays.
Tony shuts his eyes upon hearing that, leaning awkwardly against the chair next to him. "I really don't want to know how he ended up battling the flying guy again," he breathes out, letting out a sigh. "What about the second one?"
"The 2nd and 3rd activation of the Big booboo protocol seems to be of the same reason."
"And that is?"
"Peter's heart rate and vitals started sky rocketing. It was first detected 2 weeks ago while he was on top of a rooftop patrolling and the other alert was detected a week ago while he was resting after patrolling." Karen relays.
That got Tony's attention because why did the kid's heart activated the protocol? It was only activated if the kid was hurt--the kid was doing normal things when these things happened... resting? Lounging?
"And why is that recorded?" Tony asks, "The kid was not hurt, was he?"
"The suit detected atrial fibrillation."
Tony chokes, "Atrial--what?!" he asks, his mouth agape. "I--what--"
"Atrial Fibrillation happens when abnormal electrical impulses suddenly start firing in the atria. These--"
"I know what an AFib is, Karen." the man almost shouts because how the hell did Peter had an episode of AFib... and there was no one there to help him? "I-- what happened... what did you do to--what did you do to help him?"
Tony wonders if he was having an anxiety attack over this because his heart is beating so fast against his ribcage and he suddenly felt floaty. All the medical trauma that he had when his own Peter was first diagnosed from cancer started invading his mind like those aliens from New York--and his heart physically hurts.
"Peter had dismissed me when I alerted him of what was happening."
"I--" Tony was in shock because no normal kid will have atrial fibrillation, twice! "Was the kid okay?" the man asks, his voice small like all his strength had left his body, "I--"
"I am detecting a minor anxiety attack, Mr. Stark." Karen relays, "If it would help you, would you like to hear our conversation?"
Tony gazes off into the distance for a moment, absorbing all of Karen's words. Deep down, he feels a sense of gratitude for the composed demeanor he had instilled in the AI, and it felt like it was an older sister looking after you. This was precisely the intention behind his programming of Karen; he wanted an AI that would ensure that Peter would always be protected, like how a sister would to her brother.
"Yeah, I-- yes. Yes, please," the man says.
A beep rings out as the video from the suit started playing in front of him. The scene looks like from a rooftop of a small bodega in Queens and Peter was just sitting on the ledge, probably waiting for some action to happen. And that was that--Peter was just sitting down.
"Peter, it appears that your heart is exhibiting indications of an irregular rhythm, which may be indicative of atrial fibrillation."
Tony's heart was on his throat as he watches the kid sway his legs on the ledge--and the billionaire doesn't even want to imagine the kid falling because of his condition.
"Oh, you detect that too?" Peter exclaimed, his tone as cheerful as ever—far from the demeanor of someone experiencing an irregular heartbeat. "Cool," the kid beams.
Peter looked and sounded normal and Tony wonders, or probably prays that it was just a mistake. The Ted kid must've broken something in the suit while he was hacking it.
"Peter, it is in my program to alert Mr. Stark when things like this happens. However, some of my protocols are down."
"Oh yeah, that's because of Ned." Peter nods.
Why is the kid conversing like this is his regular afternoon? He's supposed to be in pain or in some sort of discomfort but the kid--the kid's just lounging out there like it's no big deal. Tony's mind was in disarray, he doesn't even know what was happening or what he is even feeling as of the moment.
"Would you like me to manually contact Mr. Stark?" Karen asks.
"Oh, don't worry Karen." Peter says, "I'm fine. This happens sometimes, so..." the kid shrugs.
This happens sometimes?! Tony wanted to demand Peter for an answer because what did he mean that this happens sometimes when it shouldn't even be happening at all?
"AFib is a serious condition, Peter," Karen reminds, her voice calm, "I suggest you contact someone regarding this."
Peter finally gets off the ledge as he went to where he had hid his bag, "It's fine, it'll go away on it's own." the kid says, taking out a sandwich from his bag, "Chest's a little tight but it's not bad compared to the others. Probably should eat something and drink my meds, but since I left my meds at home, I'll just eat." the kid grabs the sandwich from the paper bag and started eating it, "Everything's okay, Karen. I'll be better after this sandwich."
"I--" Tony was speechless, he doesn't even know what to say because it seemed like this wasn't the kid's first rodeo and... meds? As in medicine? Was he taking something whenever this kind of thing happens?
Before Tony could spiral in his own thoughts, another beep rings out as the second activation started playing in the hologram. This time, the kid's just hanging out in what he assumes as a random fire exit.
"Peter, I am detecting, yet another AFib episode." Karen's voice rang out, "Please contact Mr. Stark."
Tony feels like his heart's about to burst because he could've helped the kid. He could've gone there in a minute and find out what's causing these episodes but he couldn't. The suit was broken and Karen had no other connections to FRIDAY to send out the protocol and for that, Tony was furious--the anger that he felt during the ferry started resurfacing. Peter truly didn't think--he was reckless and that recklessness almost costed him his life.
"I'm fine, Karen. It'll go away on it's own, just like last time."
It was supposed to be reassuring but Tony felt everything except being assured. Sure, the kid looks and sounded good but heart problems are always serious--speaking from his own personal experience. But this kid was shrugging it off like it happens everyday... but does it?
"AFib can cause stroke, Peter... and many more complications."
And of course, Tony knew this--AFib is a serious thing and it just means that there was something wrong with the kid's heart. It could breed out other complications and... Tony doesn't even want to think about it because one thing's clear--Peter's heart has a problem and the billionaire will make sure to get to the bottom of it.
"I know," Peter answers back calmly--which was the opposite of what Tony was feeling as of the moment. "Good thing I brought my medicines today."
Tony perks at that as he carefully watches the medicines that Peter was getting from his bag. As soon as the tablet were shown on the video, Tony quickly demands, "Pause."
The man looks at the medicine on Peter's hands.
"It seems like its metoprolol, boss," FRIDAY says before Tony could even ask her to scan it.
"Metoprolol?" Tony asks.
"As per the National Library of Medicine, Metoprolol is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. It also is used to treat chronic angina. Metoprolol is also used to improve survival after a heart attack. Metoprolol also is used in combination with other medications to treat heart failure. Metoprolol is in a class of medications called beta blockers. It works by relaxing blood vessels and slowing heart rate to improve blood flow and decrease blood pressure."
"I--" Tony breathes heavily, "Do you have the kid's medical files, FRI?"
"I do have it, boss,"
Tony breathes, his eyes still glued on the single pill in Peter's hand.
The billionaire stares at the apartment before him, he sighs, not knowing what to do. After watching the logs from Peter's suit, he had every urge to just go through Peter's files and find out himself what the kid's sickness. But he had already breached Peter's privacy more than what he's comfortable. So here's Tony now, parked outside the Parker's apartment, mustering the courage to talk to the kid and ask him about it himself.
It took him 2 hours to finally muster up the courage and walk his way towards the Parker's apartment. Now, all he got to do is to knock on the door but it seems like he just physically can't.
But before the man could tuck his tail between his legs and run away, the door opens and lo and behold, May Parker is standing before him.
"Tony Stark?"
--
Peter was bored.
Peter never thought he'd find himself stuck in detention, but here he is, trapped for the last few days. To make matters worse, he's also grounded for three weeks because, despite May being pretty shaken up after the ferry incident, she hasn't forgotten all the trouble he's caused. That means no hanging out at Ned's or any fun escapes after school. Plus, May has been picking him up right after class, keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't sneak off anywhere. So, even Spider-Man was down for the count—though it's not like he could do much anyway since Tony had taken away his suit. Now, he was just stuck dealing with schoolwork and chores, and boy was it boring.
But Peter thinks that all those boredom are going away soon.
"Hey," Peter greets as he sees Liz from across the hallway, his heart was beating fast but for once, it wasn't unpleasant--Peter even dwells in the feeling.
"Hey," Liz greets back, a small smile peeking out of her lips.
"I... uh, thought you had calculus fifth period." he blurts out but instantly regrets it as soon as it left his mouth because he sounded like a stalker. Though probably, he can be counted as one since he'd been keeping tabs at what Liz does--a part of his admiration, really--so yeah, he kind of knows the girl's schedules.
Liz shrugs as she slowly walks towards Peter, "Yeah, I was just doing some homecoming stuff."
"Hey look, I uh--" Peter mumbles, hanging his head low, "I just wanted to apologize about the whole decathlon thing."
Liz shakes her head, "It's fine," she says, cutting off Peter. "Last week, decathlon was the most important thing, but then I almost died."
"No, I'm--" Peter stumbles over his words, unsure of how to explain everything without revealing his own secrets. He feels the weight of the truth on his shoulders, knowing he was the one who nearly put the entire decathlon team in danger. "I just mean that it was not cool, especially... because..." He struggles to find the right words, feeling completely tongue-tied, but somehow, he manages to blurt out, "I like you."
It was a spur of the moment--he didn't mean to say it but he did and now, there was no turning back.
"I know,"
Peter nearly spins his head around to look at the girl, his expression revealing total shock—if his heart was racing just a second ago, it now felt like it was about to burst out of his chest... was he experiencing a heart attack? Is that what this sensation is? "You do?" he questions, his gaze locked onto Liz's warm brown eyes.
Liz almost chuckles as she shakes her head, "You're terrible at keeping secrets."
The boy felt an immense weight lift off his shoulders—who would have thought that confessing your feelings to your crush could feel so freeing? He chuckled, "Yeah, you'd be surprised." but then his smile faded as he realized he had been out for way too long. "I... I got to get to class, uhm..." he stammered, at a loss for words once more. "I'd say we should hang out, but I'm gonna be in detention for..."
"Uh-huh," Liz nods.
"...ever, but um--" come on Peter, just say it. Peter hypes himself up. You already let out the big guns, what's more to lose? "I guess you already have a date to homecoming," he shrugs, unsure.
The girl beams at that, almost as if she had been anticipating this moment, "Actually," she breathes, "I was so busy planning it, I never really got around to that part, so..." she glances at Peter, hoping he'll catch her hint and muster up the courage to ask her out.
It was time. Peter thought.
"Uh, do you want to..." Peter breathes, anticipation laced in his voice, "... go with me?" he finally asks.
Finally. Liz thought.
Bravery--Peter Parker sure was brave, "Yeah, sure," she beams, her heart beating happily against her chest too.
Peter was caught off guard by that—Liz's tone had already suggested a 'YES', but hearing her say it out loud felt completely different. "Really?" he questioned, a bit hesitant, but then he quickly recovered and beams, "I mean, uh, great. Cool." he added, a big smile spreading across his face.
Liz nods, "Cool."