07. SEVEN : a night to remember
The whole day had been very off for Ella. She wasn't like her usual self at all which not only confused both Peter and Gwen but herself as well. Not once in her life had she ever acted like she did today. She was just a jumbled mess. In all of her classes, she just at there hand propping her head up and boredom overcame her. Normally, she was the most focused person in the room but today she barely spoke a word.
She did have Peter in one class though. She hadn't noticed him at first but when she did, Ella moved to the back so she could sit next to him. He was the upside to the whole day. He'd sit there making jokes, pulling faces, anything to try and get her to laugh. Not going to lie, she did feel a little better after that class. There was just something about Peter that made him such a likable person, and Gwen saw that too. Most people couldn't see past the random bruises she'd see him with or sometimes the serious faces he'd pull whenever he'd drift off. Ella admired the way Peter was passionate about what he did.
Ella stared at the blank paper in front of her. She had no clue what to write about which was ironic considering she was interning at a newspaper office. A small groan escaped her lips as she felt a small poke to her side. Peter.
"Ella. Hey, Ella."
"What, Parker?" She tore her eyes away from the paper to look at Peter who held a smile on his face.
"Can I ask you something?" He leaned a little closer to her.
She hummed in response turning back to her paper. "There's a few minutes of class left. Wait until after."
Minutes passed by and Ella almost snapped from the constant tapping Peter was doing with his pencil. In fact, she almost reached over and broke it herself. As soon as the bell rang, Ella shot up out of her seat making a dash for the door with Peter trailing right behind her. When she got to her locker, Ella whipped around to face Peter who looked slightly out of breath.
"We can talk now," She said simply.
"Good," he wheezed. Ella raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms.
"Okay, Parker if you aren't going to tell me then I gotta get to chem. We can talk after class, okay?" She tried to push past him but he quickly grabbed her elbow and held her in place. As soon as she stopped he instantly let go of her.
"Okay. Do you- do you want to come over tonight?" He awkwardly grabbed his neck, a hesitant smile on his face.
Ella scoffed, "What? Like a date?"
"No, no. More like friends, but yeah it could be a date. I don't know it's just Gwen wants me to tell you something important that she thinks would be beneficial. Not that this was her idea, I do want to hang out with you since I bailed on you so many times because of work and-" A flurry of words exited his mouth, and Ella tried to keep up with what he was saying before she couldn't take it anymore. Ella quickly grabbed his face, hands squishing his cheeks as she stared him right in the eye.
"Peter, you need to breathe. What are you trying to say? Just get to your point." She let go of his face, watching as he inhaled deeply before speaking again.
"Carson, I'm trying I ask if you want to come over to my house for dinner. I have something really important to tell you, okay? Do you trust me?" Peter stared at her intently, brown never leaving green.
"Do I have to change out of the clothes I'm wearing now?" Ella really didn't want to change, even for a boy she liked.
"Not if you don't want to." Peter replied instantly. His hands placed firmly on her shoulders, rubbing soothing circles into them.
"Good," she replied with small smile. Ella reach and gingerly took his hands off of her shoulders, leaning in towards him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as she pulled him closer, laughing at the little noise Peter made when she hugged him close. The hug just felt right, like she was made to be in his arms, molded there in the middle the hallway ignoring every other student there. As Peter pulled back, Ella quickly leaned in and pecked his cheek before smiling slyly.
"Then it's a date. I'll see you around, Parker." Ella let go of him quickly and walked away, leaving and slightly confused and starstruck Peter behind her.
She may have looked crappy but Ella had never felt more happy. It was like nothing had really mattered anymore in her life besides Peter and Gwen. Sure, she had the internship but that woman didn't care about her, not like her friends did. Quickly, Ella squared her shoulders, the confidence she wore on the first day she met them was back, and she knew it was take a lot more then almost getting hit by a car for a Ella to lose it all over again.
When she walked into chemistry, Gwen gave her a funny look as she sat down. It was a complete 180 in her attitude since she first came in the morning.
"What's got you all smiley?" Gwen leaned over and nudged her. "Earlier today you were in some kind of funk."
"Nothing." Ella shook her head, keeping her eyes straight forward.
"Uh huh, it was Peter wasn't it?" The blonde gave Ella a pointed look.
She shrugged. "So what if it was?"
"Well then I have to thank him for getting you out of your mood." Gwen smiled lightly at her before turning to face the front leaving the strawberry blonde alone with her thoughts for the rest of the class period.
____
Ella tucked a loose strand of hair gingerly behind her ear before she knocked lightly on the door. Somewhere, deep inside of Ella she felt like she shouldn't have come, like he was going to leave her, but she doubted that. So against her better judgement, there Ella was standing in front of the Parker household at eight at night. When the door cracked open, Ella smiled as she saw a petite woman who looked to be in her fifties.
"Hi, um, is Peter home? He invited me." She gave the woman a quick smile.
"Oh, yes of course he is." She replied before she turned around and yelled, "Peter, a pretty girl who isn't Gwen is here to see you."
Ella could feel her face flush a deep red at the comment.
"Hi, I'm his aunt May. It's nice to meet someone other than Gwen for a change." She stuck out her hand for Ella to shake.
"Ella Carson. Nice to meet you." She replied, shaking the hand gently.
Not long after, Ella could hear a pounding like someone running across the house. As the footsteps got closer, Ella could see Peter running around until her got to the door.
"Whatever aunt May has told you about me, only half of it is true." He said quickly.
Aunt May hit Peter gently in the side, "I didn't tell her anything, Peter. Have fun you two, if you want anything to eat just tell me."
Aunt May walked off leaving Ella and Peter in a staring contest. Ella smiled brightly at him, suddenly feeling the urge to change into nicer clothes.
"Hey, Peter. Want to let me in?"
He snapped out of his gaze and took a step back. "Yeah, yeah sure. Come in."
Hesitantly, Ella took a small step into the house as Peter shut the door behind her. He quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her towards his room. Along the walls, pictures of Peter throughout the years were on display. It was like his whole life flashed before her eyes in the form of pictures. He pushed through the door of his room and gasped in surprise. It was nothing like she imagined.
"You like it?" He ask, dropping Ella's hand so he could gesture to everything around them.
"It's interesting to say the least. Trust me, you probably don't want me to hurt your feelings by saying anything else." She shoved a few clothes off of his bed and sat down staring up at Peter.
He dramatically gasped and placed a hand over his heart. "You wound me, Carson. I'll have you know that this is considered clean for me."
"Yeah, well, you should see my room." She smirked. Her room looked like a tiny tornado had hit it. "It'll give yours a run for its money."
"I'm sure it will, but my room is not what I wanted to show you." Peter grabbed Ella's hand, lifting her up. He walked over to the window with Ella in tow. With a grunt, Peter pushed open the window and gestured for Ella to step through tossing out a little "trust me" and a smile.
Hesitantly, Ella stepped through the window and onto the balcony. The cool air nipped at her nose and in the distance she could hear the honks of cars stuck in traffic. Though when she looked up, it was something a New Yorker never got to see that often: the sky. Bright stars illuminated the sky and Ella stared in wonder at them.
"It's nice isn't it. I did tell you to trust me, didn't I?" Peter spoke up from behind her.
"Yeah, it really is," Ella murmured.
They sat in silence for awhile just staring at the stars until Peter spoke up again. She sat down on his roof, eyes never leaving the night sky even when she felt Peter sit next to her.
"What state are you originally from, Carson?" She turned to look at him, a curious look gracing his features.
"I'm from Virginia."
"Oh, that's not too far." He pointed out. Ella shook her head and hummed in response.
"Why'd you move here?"
Ella raised an eyebrow, "I think you know the answer to that, Parker. You were the one to take that picture. I don't normally say thanks but this is a special occasion, so thanks." She knocked shoulders with Peter, giving him a small smile.
He gave her a smug smile, "you're very welcome."
Another silence washed over them. Slowly, Peter stood up and stared off at the New York City lights. They were both silent for minutes, enjoying the moment until Peter quickly whipped around, startling Ella. "I want to tell you something."
"Um, okay? Is this the thing you were talking about earlier at school, Parker?" Ella stood up to face him eye to eye, a curious gleam in her eyes.
He nodded hesitantly before speaking, "mhm-hmm. It's just- I've been bitten."
A sly smile appeared on her face. "So have I."
He looked over at her glancing from Ella's eyes to her lips before snapping out of some sort of trance he was in, "Okay, okay okay. I gotta tell you this one thing, and it's about the vigilante and the car thief, alright? You know that happened earlier this week?"
Ella vaguely remembered seeing it on the news a few days ago before she kind of lost touch with the world, "oh, okay."
He shook his head, "No, no, no, don't. Forget that, I'm not gonna talk about that, I'm gonna talk about me."
"What about you?"
"I wish I could just... I can't, it's hard to say." That sparked Ella's interest more than the car thief and the vigilante.
"Just say, say it." She cooed softly, a smile on her face. Peter looked over at her and sighed. Whatever he wanted to tell her was apparently very important that he just couldn't get himself to say it. He leaned over on the edge of the balcony, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Why, what?" She asked. Peter looked up at her and then back to the city. "Fine. I guess, night, Parker." Ella folded her arms over her chest, and spun around. She had hoped that the night would've gone more in her favor, despite the mood she had been in all day. But before Ella could walk too far away, she felt something hit the back of her leg and pull her spinning towards Peter. A gasp left her mouth as she toppled onto Peter, her hands placed on his shoulders so she wouldn't fall. Ella's eyes widened as she stared at Peter. He was the one who had saved her the other day. He was not only the person who helped her get a picture of Spider-Man but he was also the person who gave it to her. Peter Parker was the official vigilante.
"You-" she breathed in shock. Just before Peter leaned in and placed his lips on hers. Ella could feel her eyes slipping shut as she leaned more and more into the kiss, the previous thoughts flying out of her head. He grabbed her by the neck and pulled her in close until they needed to breathe.
"You're Spider-Man-" Her voice barely came above a whisper.
"Shut up." Peter replied before kissing her again. It was definitely the best thing Ella had done ever since she came to New York. If it was doing an internship at the New York City News or kissing Peter Parker, well, Ella would have to choose the latter. It could've been seconds or minutes, but she never wanted it to end. She didn't care that the man she was kissing was wanted all across New York, she only cared that she was kissing the boy she had a crush on since the first day he ran into her.
Suddenly Peter pulled away, leaving a very frustrated strawberry blonde staring at him. He looked directly at her with a small smile before turning to look at the city. In the distance, Ella could hear police sirens blaring. Ella glanced from Peter to the city, to back at Peter.
"What?" she asked. He let go of Ella and walked closer to the ledge of the roof. Her arms unconsciously wrapped themselves around her body at the loss of warmth.
"Something's happening. I gotta go, Carson." He turned towards her and gently kissed her forehead.
"Wait, Peter. What am I going to do? I'm not at my house." He walked away from Ella, jumping onto the ledge of the building. Deep in her bones, Ella felt scared for Peter, like he'd fall to his death from there but she knew he wouldn't.
"Sleep over. Aunt May will be fine with it, I promise." He called over his shoulder before jumped off the ledge. Ella smiled at bit at his antics. Always going off to save the world. That was Peter.
"Be careful, Peter!" Ella hugged herself a little tighter and smiled as she turned back towards the house. Just as she was about to walk through the door, leaving the cold of the night, Ella turned back towards the city.
"I'm in trouble."
____