INVISIBLE | P. PARKER

FIXTY ONE

FIXTY ONE;
VICTORY

AT EXACTLY 5AM, Cassie knew there wasn't a point in trying to fall asleep. Her brown eyes traveled all over the ceiling and the raindrops hit the windows of the waiting area. She turned her face to the side to find Pietro uncomfortable snoring on the seat of the corner, and his brother and Wanda whispering between each other.

"Hey, kid." She turned her face to meet Tony's gaze. The girl noticed the rather big bags under his eyes. "Everything okay?"

"I'm really trying to pull myself together." Cassie answered truthfully with a deep sigh, she brought her knees to her chest and half-smiled. "I'm glad you're here." She admitted with a low voice, Tony sent her a smile and reached out to hold her sane hand.

"I'm glad too." He gave her a reassuring squeeze and exhaled sharply, then, sat straight like if he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot." The brunette narrowed her eyebrows as she stared at the man standing up and walking to Pietro, who was hugging a backpack as he slept.

"What's that?" She frowned at the backpack he placed on her lap.

"I collected some of your things back at the tower, I thought you might want them." The grown man spoke quietly. "I thought they were important."

Cassie turned to meet his gaze and smiled thankfully as her hand tried to unzip the backpack. Her brown eyes scanned the contents inside, until they landed on a special notebook. She exhaled sharply and took it out with a sad smile.

"My music sheets." Her voice came out as a whisper as she flickered through the notebook and her half-smile slowly disappeared. "How did you–"

"They were hidden in your room. I–" He anxiously scratched his chin as he stared at the pages. "I admit that I spent quite a long time lingering around your room, I just–I couldn't leave. One day I found them under your pillow and, well, decided to save them for the day you'd come back." Tony tried with every inch of his body to hide the quivering of his voice, and it almost fooled Cassie. "Of course, I was planning on giving them to you in... different circumstances."

"Don't worry." She beamed at him. "Thank you." She hugged him quickly and sat back in her chair, then opened the notebook. Tony watched as she scanned the sheets and tapped different patterns over her knee. "See this one?" The man nodded. "I named it victory."

"Why?" He grabbed the notebook and noticed her messy handwriting and smudged doodles. "I don't understand any of this." Cassie chuckled, making him laugh quietly, too.

"I started it the night you told me you were going to adopt me." She admitted. "And I continued writing it as good things happened." Tony half-smiled at the girl as she stared down at the music sheet. "I don't know–But you guys coming to my life felt like a victory to me."

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Peter's head throbbed, and he wasn't sure how he ended up in the hospital where Bruce worked. His mind was fuzzy and certainly messy with all his thoughts and memories scattered everywhere, but he managed to turn his feelings on when he thought about Cassie and what happened to her after he passed out.

He turned his head to the side with hesitation, only to realize it wasn't very dark outside. His nose scrunched up at the smell of medicine and mostly alcohol, the smell was very strong and he suspected his wounds were that bad that the doctors needed that much alcohol. A loud groan escaped his lips as he tried to sit straight, but his stomach hurt, and pretty much every limb.

His eyes tried to adjust to the dim lights of the room and he inspected every corner, his senses were alert as he processed everything and where Cassie could be. The teenage boy tried to reach for the so called emergency button to call a nurse, but then the door opened slowly and quietly. Even if the person tried to get in was trying to not wake him up, his senses acted up, and he attempted to web the person but; one, he didn't have the web shooters on, and two, no one really walked in.

"Cassie?" He whispered as her quiet steps interrupted the silence of the room, well, if you ignore the beeping of the machines he was connected to. "Is that you?"

"Fuck." The chair next to him fell back and a small thud echoed around the room. Peter tried to laugh, but the act made his stomach hurt again.

Before he could say anything else, the girl turned visible in front of him and he pressed his lips together at the sight before him. She probably didn't look as bad as he did, but she still seemed like an entire building fell over her, literally. Her hand shakily cupped the side of his face as they stared at each other lovingly.

Cassie's lower lip quivered as she forced her muscles to form a smile, but it was too much for her. Peter's eyes were intense over her, he studied every cut and bruise in her face and she did the same. He looked severely injured, and then, the sobs started to leave her lips uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry." She had a troubled expression and Peter's heart sunk. "I tried, believe me, I really did–"

"H–Hey, hey. Shh." He whispered as she moved from the chair to the edge of the bed. His fingers interlaced with hers, the act seemed to calm her down. "H–Hey, i–it's not your fault, okay? Don't blame yourself for this." His voice was slow and groggy. Cassie half-smiled as he squeezed her hand. "L–Look at me." He ordered calmly.

The brunette didn't know if she could look at him once again, it hurt every inch of her heart to see him that way. He seemed so broken and hurt, and part of her felt guilty about it.

Hesitantly, she met his gaze. "I–" She tried but he was already slowly sitting straight to get close to her face.

Cassie's breath hitched as she unconsciously leaned in, her eyes stared at the small cut on his lip and then back at his eyes. Peter was already staring at her with a sparkle taking over his chestnut eyes, the brunette timidly smiled and so did he. She felt giddy and the moment felt too intimate, too romantic, and she suspected he felt that way too, because a shy smile tugged onto his lips. The brunette leaned closer, so close that now their lips rosed and there was a small hesitation in their actions.

"I love you." Peter whispered lowly to her and his eyes searched for her reaction.

The corner of her lips turned upward so slightly that he almost missed it, but what he didn't miss was the sparkle in her eyes.

"I love you too." She answered a few seconds later, and that was enough to give him enough courage to finally press his lips over hers.

A happy sensation lingered over them as they cherished the familiar taste of each other's lips. They may have kissed several times in the past, but this one was charged with love, hope and need. A need each one had to kiss again, to hold each other one more time.

The boy was sure her lips tasted like mint, meanwhile Cassie was sure Peter's lips tasted like victory.

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this is probably the most romantic thing i've ever written. i'm a mess.