A/N: helloo

it's been sort of a rough week with the stress of final exams coming up, but at least it's all almost over!

i honestly cannot wait to write the ending for this book (which is coming up really soon!) because it's just such a cliffhanger that you're gonna hate/love me and then the next book is gonna pick up from right there but i also made new covers for the books that i am dying for you all to see and i wanna make a trailer for the new book and there's just so much exciting stuff coming up!

for now, enjoy this calm and peaceful chapter :)

————————————————————
"Pete, you do realize that it's

three in the morning, right?"
————————————————————

Adelaide hadn't slept a wink since she had talked to Lukov.

Luxium was all she could think about. She had been worried that after learning of Graves' death, she would be consumed with regret, but, in fact, Luxium had kept her mind off of it. Luxium had kept her mind off of everything, actually.

If she could help Lukov, she could really help save lives. And after all the murder she had committed, Adelaide was tempted to call him. Besides, what were the chances? Luxium was highly reactive to light and she could control light. Lukov would never be able to do this without her help.

And if she refused to help him, indirectly, she was refusing to help save lives.

But how could she trust that it would work? She barely even knew Lukov. What if all of this eventually collapsed and led to nothing?

"Adelaide?" Vivian said, waving her hand in front of her friend's face. Adelaide blinked, turning her head to her left to look at her.

"Oh— um, sorry," she stuttered, "What were you saying?"

Ned frowned in worry from the across the cafeteria table.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, concerned. She glanced at Peter who was looking at her worriedly. This wasn't the first time she had been out of it and he was feeling worried that there was something bothering her that she wasn't telling him about. Adelaide shook her head.

"E-Everything's fine. I was just...thinking about some homework," she lied.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Vivian asked, obviously not believing her. Adelaide tried to ignore the look Peter was giving her.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said hurriedly, forcing a smile that fooled no one, "Everything's fine."

Before anyone could say anything else, the lunch bell rang, signaling that it was time to head back to class. Adelaide breathed a sigh of relief, quickly gathering her tray with its uneaten food and practically running away from the table. She could hear Peter saying something to Ned and Vivian, but she didn't stop to listen.

Instead, she quickly left cafeteria, heading straight for class.

"Ada, wait," Peter said, grabbing her elbow to stop her and force her to turn around. She sighed.

"Peter, I swear I'm fine," she said, not looking him in the eye, "I just need to get to class."

"Class can wait," he said and led her over to a secluded hallway where the students wouldn't crowd them as they all left the cafeteria. He studied her face for a moment, wondering what had happened. He should have said something when he noticed her behavior the first time around.

"Hey, look at me," he said quietly, gently tugging her elbow. Adelaide looked over her shoulder at the hallway.

"Peter, please. I really need to get to class," she said, still avoiding his gaze. He frowned.

"Did I do something?" he suddenly asked.

Adelaide finally looked at him. His brown eyes were filled with genuine concern and worry that he might have hurt or offended her in some way.

"No," she sighed, her shoulders sagging, "No, it's not you."

"Then what is it?" he pressed, "You've been on edge all day. What happened?"

"Nothing happened," she said, looking at the floor, "Can we please just drop this? I really don't want to talk about..."

"You know that you can trust me, right?" he said softly. Adelaide very well knew that she could. But the question wasn't if she could, it was if she should. The last thing she wanted was for Peter to get involved in everything. The further he stayed from this, the better.

"I do trust you," she said quietly, looking up at him. She reached up and gently cupped his face with her hand. Her thumb lightly brushed over his crooked eyebrow. "But I need you to trust me right now. I've got this under control, I promise."

Peter hesitated for a moment, as if he was going to argue with her again. Instead, he sighed, dropping it.

"Fine," he said, "But if whatever it is that you're up to gets out of hand, I'm getting involved whether you like it or not."

Adelaide smiled softly, "I wouldn't expect anything less."

—————

Adelaide wished Nat or Wanda or even Vision were here.

They would know exactly what to do. She wouldn't have hesitated to call them. But it had been months since she had seen them last and she had no way of contacting them. She missed the old team. Especially Nat and Wanda. She could tell them anything. And they always had a solution.

Things were much simpler then since she didn't have her memories. Defeating Ultron felt like a piece of cake. Sometimes she wished that never got her memories back even though she had fought so hard to find them. If she had known how dark they were, she would have chosen to live in oblivion.

All of that blood...trauma...pain...anger...guilt. She wished she could just delete it. Of course, there was no way to do that.

But, there was a way to make it easier to live with.

She flipped the card in her hand around, contemplating it. Her phone was already in her hand.

Just do it. What's the worst that could happen? It won't work. Then you can just leave it alone.

She wouldn't be able to rest peacefully until she did this. She looked back down at the card in her hand.

She had to try.

She typed the number on the card into her phone and settled onto her bed, pulling one leg under her. Adelaide impatiently listened to the phone ringing. Suddenly, he picked up.

"This is Ivan Lukov's office, how may I help you?" he answered.

—————

It was late in the night.

Or early in the morning— Adelaide didn't know, nor did she care. All she wanted was to sleep, but for some reason, her eyes had opened up in the dark and she had been lying awake for half an hour now, trying to go fall back asleep. It hadn't even been a nightmare that had woken her up like usual, surprisingly.

She turned onto her left side again, pulling the comforter around her and then kicking it off a second later. She curled her legs up to her chest before changing her mind and stretching them out again. Nothing felt right. No matter how she was positioned, everything was uncomfortable.

All she wanted was some sleep.

Just then, her phone vibrated and lit up on her nightstand. With a sigh, she pushed herself over to pick it up and read the message. It was from Peter.

Peter: You up?

Yeah. Can't sleep. You?

Peter: I'm out on patrol

What? You're going out on
patrol without me now?

Adelaide fell back onto her bed, now with her phone in her hand as she watched the bubble with three dots show up, indicating that Peter was typing something.

Peter: Not a busy night
Go out to your balcony

Adelaide frowned at her phone screen, running her eyes over the message once again. To the balcony? Right now? Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she slid her legs off the side of the bed and slipped her feet into some loafers. On her way out the door, she grabbed her black silk robe and pulled it on over her pajamas. As she quietly padded down the hall, she pulled her hair out from under the robe and ran her fingers through it in effort to tame her bed head. The brown locks fell around her shoulders, inadvertently more of a tangled mess than before she had tried to comb it with her fingers.

Slowly, she approached the balcony doors and pulled them open just enough to slide herself through to the other side. Instantly, she was hit with a chilly breeze. She wrapped her arms around herself, looking around the balcony for god knows what. She had no idea what Peter had called her out here for. On top of that, she had accidentally left her phone atop her comforter.

Just as she was beginning to get used to the cold breeze, something bright red landed in front of her.

The teenager nearly let up a scream as she jumped back from the edge of the balcony. She swore she felt her heart skipping a beat. Now breathing heavily, she looked up, coming face to face with Spider-Man. Adelaide let out a breath, relieved that it was only Peter. Once she was certain her heart wasn't about to stop beating, she smacked his arm.

"Who does that, you asshat!" she scolded. Peter chuckled.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "Forgot you don't have a spidey sense too."

"Obviously not," she grumbled, trying to steady her breaths again. She rubbed her arms. "What the hell are you doing here at three in the morning?"

"I told you, I was patrolling," he said, casually swinging his legs over the railing and softly landing on the balcony as if this were an everyday occurrence. He stood in front of her, leaning his back against the railing. Adelaide brought her robe closer around herself and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Here? You were patrolling the Stark Tower?" she asked. Peter half smiled underneath his mask.

"If I said yes, would you believe it?" he grinned.

"Absolutely not," she said, "I'd say you're here for some other reason."

"And you would be right," Peter said, pushing himself off the railing and dusting his hands together, "You said you can't sleep so, here I am. Spider-Man, at your service."

Adelaide studied him for a moment, incredulous.

"What, do you help people fall asleep now, bugboy?" she asked. Peter rolled his eyes.

"No, I just...just come with me," he said, holding out his gloved hand. Adelaide looked from his hand to his masked face. She thought he was kidding.

"Pete, you do realize that it's three in the morning, right?" she asked.

"Believe it or not, I do have a sense of time," he said, dropping his hand back to his side. Adelaide shook her head, looking past him at the city.

"What about the crime?"

Peter shrugged carelessly, "The police will take care of it tonight. It's about time I gave them a chance to do their job." Adelaide studied him for a moment longer, her lips slowly breaking out into the faintest of smiles despite her will.

"I'm wearing a robe," she said.

"Spider-Man never judges people by their appearance," he said solemnly, "And, besides, I've seen you wear worse."

She smacked his arm, but then began laughing lightly a second later.

"C'mon Ada, it'll only be for a little while," he said, holding out his hand again. Adelaide hesitated. Then she shook her head.

"Pete, I really don't think this—"

Before she could create a brand new excuse that he was never going to believe, Peter shot out a web at her and pulled her towards him. She crashed into his chest and he wrapped an arm around her, securing her against his body. Then he shot another web at the glass windows above her balcony and swung them off platform before she even knew what was going on.

Adelaide let out a muffled scream into his shoulder and Peter laughed as he swung them away from the Stark Tower. Adelaide tightly held onto the boy, properly wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder. She couldn't believe him. He had grabbed her so unexpectedly, she had barely gotten a chance to grab onto him before he had swung them off of the balcony.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the cold wind raking through her hair. She didn't dare to open her eyes and look down at the city swinging under them. Instead, she tried to focus on how warm Peter felt or how nice his arm felt around her waist. She could feel the muscles of his arms and chest shifting against her as he expertly maneuvered them between and over buildings.

Slowly, she lifted her head up from the crook of his shoulder just enough to look up at him. She turned her head, feeling her hair falling into her eyes for a moment before the wind pushed it away. She studied his masked face as he focused on swinging.

From this close, she could see the individual threads that made his mask and the eyes of the mask getting slightly bigger and smaller as he focused. Various shades of lights from billboards and towers reflected on his mask as they swung by them. The sounds of the city beneath them seemed blurred and faded. Maybe it was because she was so focused on their proximity or because her mind was completely calm for the first time in ages.

Sensing her gaze on him, he slightly turned his head to look at her. Peter smiled underneath his mask, grateful that she couldn't see the blush coloring his cheeks.

He looked away as he saw their destination a few feet away. With one last shot of web, he swung them up to the top of the building. They landed where there was just barely enough space to stand on.

"Careful," he whispered as Adelaide slowly lowered her feet onto the narrow platform, too scared to completely let go of Peter.

She held onto his torso and Peter rested his hand on her waist to steady her. The girl looked up at him questioningly. With his other hand, Peter pulled off his mask, letting his soft brown curls tumble out from beneath. He grinned at her and then gestured for her to look down.

Slowly, Adelaide let go of his steady gaze and dared to look down.

She froze.

They were on top of the Empire State Building.

She nearly let out a scream.

"What the hell!" she shouted, now clutching him tightly, "Peter, we could die!"

Peter chuckled, taking look down at the familiar view for himself.

"Relax, no one is dying," he said, "I come up here all the time."

"Yeah, well I don't!" she shouted, feeling her palms starting to sweat just at the sight of how high up they were. Even someone without a fear of heights would be terrified of standing on top of the goddamn Empire State Building. "Peter, I'm serious. What if we fall?"

He pretended to actually think of an answer for her obviously rhetorical question and peered down over the edge. He shrugged carelessly.

"That looks like a pretty long way down," he said, "I'd guess we'd die a quick death."

Even terrified, Adelaide managed to smack his arm.

"I'm serious, you idiot!" she shouted. Peter gave her a boyish grin.

"And I'm Peter."

"Peter!" she shouted, "Not! Funny!"

Peter laughed, "C'mon Ada, it's not that big of a deal. Seriously. I come here all the time when I need to relax which you definitely need to do. Just sit down with me, come on."

"You are insane if you think I am actually sitting down," she breathed. Peter gave her a look and then slowly turned her around before sitting down himself. He patted the small space beside him. She let out a short breath, realizing that she didn't have much of a choice. Besides, she trusted Peter. Well, only sort of after this.

Very, very carefully, she sat down on the ledge beside Peter. She pressed her back firmly against the building and gripped the edge tightly. She let out a shaky breath, peering down over her dangling legs before sitting back up straight again. She noticed Peter laughing at her.

"You know, I'd smack you if I wasn't literally holding onto my life by my fingers right now," she snapped, swallowing as she leaned her head back and looked up at the sky.

"Oh I'm sure you would," he chuckled. A moment of silence passed before Peter spoke up again, "Ada..."

She turned her head to look at him.

"Look," he said, gesturing to the view.

Slowly, she slid her gaze across the view of the city, actually looking at it this time. It was absolutely breathtaking. Even at this hour, the city was sparkling with every imaginable color of light for as far along as she could see. It looked like it was raining diamonds with the way all the lights were twinkling. The chatter of the city had died down to a comforting buzz at this hour. The cold breeze flew through the myriad of towers and came to embrace her, making her shiver.

And suddenly a word came to mind: home.

Adelaide couldn't imagine living anywhere else but here. The skyscrapers and the musical city noise and the smell of a feeling she couldn't assign a name to...it was all home.

"It's beautiful," she breathed and she could see the air coming out of her mouth in a cold puff. Peter smiled softly at her.

"Yeah," he whispered, "So beautiful."

"You really come up here all the time?" she asked, still looking over the city.

"Yeah, kinda makes me feel like Batman overlooking Gotham," he said and she turned to look at him with a smile that lit up her entire face.

He loved that smile. Peter wished he could always make her smile like that. It was slightly childish and asymmetrical, but he loved it all the same. It was the kind of smile that came just before a laugh. Where he could see her teeth peeking through from underneath her lips and her eyes wonderfully crinkling at their corners and he knew that if he were to say something funny, he would be able to hear the beautiful sound of her laughter.

"And what about all the people in Queens, bugboy?" she asked. Peter grinned.

"Spider-Man has leveled up, okay? He can handle two cities now," he said smugly and she laughed. It made Peter's heart flutter like a butterfly in his ribcage.

"Sure he can," she said, forgetting about how high up they were for the moment being. She had gotten too caught up with the beauty of the city — her city — in the dark of the night. She was glad Peter had brought her here. She didn't know until now that she needed to see this view.

"Are you doubting my abilities?" he asked, feigning offense.

"I would never," she gasped, "But yeah, I guess I am."

He stuck his tongue out at her and she burst out laughing at the ridiculously childish gesture, which made Peter smile so big that he was sure he looked like an idiot.

Not that he minded in the slightest.

—————

They had been talking for nearly an hour now about everything under the sun— well, moon.

Peter was happy with the way the night had turned out. There hadn't been a moment of silence between them until now, when they were slightly lost in their own minds. There was a question that had been lingering in Peter's mind ever since he had brought Ada up here. In fact, he thought about this question every time he came up here himself. It might have been because of the view or the aura of city at night, but he decided that he would dare to ask the question aloud this time.

"Do you believe in soulmates?"

Ada turned to him, her gaze slightly surprised. He almost regretted asking, but it was out there now. Besides, he really wanted to know what she thought. Every time he came up here and saw just his many people were walking around on the streets, it always got him thinking about if he was ever meant to be with any of them.

Of course, now, as he looked at Ada