Vroom Vroom — Charli XCX

The city sounds of Venice were far different from the ones Lila was used to in New York. Boat engines rattled along, and people yelled at each other in Italian, not in English. Even for the morning, Lila was surprised at the level of energy that was waiting outside their hotel. Then, when she approached the breakfast array, the espresso staring back at her answered any questions she had in regards to Italian energy.

MJ had gone downstairs earlier than she had, and was returning to their shared room to pack up her things by the time Lila awoke from her melatonin-induced sleep. Lila didn't have to worry so much about re-packing everything, her travel regimen newly involved packing cubes, and so outfits were cubed per destination. It left her with very little to re-pack, and for that reason, she let herself sleep in longer than most.

She filled her plate with fresh fruit and pastries (she really couldn't believe how much bread was eaten in the morning), coupled with strips of bacon and fresh juice. Eyeing the tables available, she spotted only one familiar face and headed for him, eager to check on his well-being. "Ned," she said, and the boy in question looked up from his plate of eggs. "Can I join you?"

"Hey, Lila, sure thing!"

"Thanks," She grinned, sitting across from him. To his right was a bag she recognized wasn't his, and she realized they might not be dining alone. "Oh, is Betty gonna j-join us, too?"

Ned's face lit up with a bright smile, "Oh, she just finished. She forgot her hand sanitizer in her room, though. Betty has this certain brand that she uses that's super gentle on her skin. And I'm not complaining, her hands are like, so soft."

Lila smiled, tilting her head. "You seem to know her so well in the—" she checked her watch, "— f-forty-eight hours you've been d-dating."

Ned looked at her like he suddenly gained wisdom beyond measure and simply answered, "Well, Delilah, when you know it's love, you just know." All Lila could do to not laugh was hum in response. She nearly choked on her orange juice when he asked, "She grabbed my hand in that bit of turbulence and the rest is history. I'm sure you know what I mean. Like, when did you first know with Peter?"

It took Lila a decent ten seconds and another large sip of orange juice to clear her throat. This certainly wasn't the direction she'd expected the conversation to turn, but one look at Ned had Lila fighting off the urge to deny everything. Several trains of thought happened in a few moments, the first being that she was actively trying not to deny her feelings for Peter anymore. She was going to tell Peter how she felt in a few hours when they got to Paris anyway, she shouldn't have to hide from that. What would it hurt — one more person knowing how she felt?

The second thought was that even though it had only been forty-eight hours (less, really), Ned was in a relationship. He was actively embracing being in love with someone else, and wanting to talk about it. Lila didn't have many people her age she could talk about these things with. Sure, Harry didn't mind talking about Lila's feelings with her, but he was (in his words) a serial monogamist who enjoyed the fleeting company of others from time to time. There were things he wouldn't understand (though he had gotten a lot better about it after he kissed her).

Then there was Michelle — who really didn't want to talk about Peter. Anytime Lila mentioned him, she always grew suspicious. And whenever Lila owned up to her feelings for Peter, MJ would shake her head in disapproval, citing that he kept too many secrets for Lila's own good. And Lila, feigning ignorance and swallowing enormous guilt at doing so, would always ask her what secrets, to which she would refuse to answer. That didn't mean she didn't know, but she didn't want to share with Lila on the off-chance she was wrong, or on the worse chance she was right. That was always what Michelle said, and Lila had to accept that her suspicions of Peter were likely dangerously close to Peter's secret. Because if there was one person who could figure out his secret on her own, it was MJ. Lila simply had to hope that she never get the concrete evidence she needed to be proven correct.

But that line of thinking always trumped Lila's want to talk about her feelings with Peter, or any boy in general, and she found herself internalizing a lot of her own thoughts. So given the chance to work through some doubt and denial, Lila called Ned's bluff at the breakfast table. "It — it was in e-eighth grade." Ned raised his eyebrows, the teasing glint in his eye replaced by genuine surprise and interest.

But he said nothing, inviting her to continue, so Lila did. "It was the day we dissect-dissected frogs in Miss Sullivan's class, and Peter was paired with Ch-Charles. Do you remember?"

"Uh-huh," Ned answered, nodding. "And Charles wouldn't stop crying."

"Frog Bon Jovi recently died," Lila confirmed, skewering a strawberry with her fork and biting into it. "Charles w-was devastated, and it was even worse after — after Flash made a joke that maybe we w-were dissecting his frog, too"

"Yeah, that was such a mean joke."

"I've literally n-never seen Flash get in s-so much trouble," Lila agreed, biting into another piece of fruit. "But anyway, Peter launched into this — this story about h-how the frogs were raised on th-this farm for scientific study, and they were researched and studied their wh-whole natural life. And the f-farm had so — so many frogs that the ones they sent to classrooms died of nat-natural causes.

"He was so confident in his answer that Charles eventually st-stopped crying. And Peter offered to do the whole dissection on his o-own while Charles took notes." Lila smiled at the memory, Peter Parker in his huge glasses and scrawny frame. Looking back on it, his expression — the reassuring one that warmed his eyes and the soft smile that calmed a racing heart — was everything to eighth grade Lila. Sitting catty-corner from that look, her own dead frog pinned down in front of her, Lila was a goner.

The recollection of that moment was all over her face, the nostalgic smile she wore across from Ned was surely a trademark lovestruck expression. She blinked, and finished her tale, "A-Anyway, I went home later that night and looked it up. None of what he — what he said was true. Peter just made it up to make him feel better." Ned just nodded along, smiling softly at her. The silence that followed was comfortable, and allowed the two to finish their breakfasts.

Lila didn't know what Ned was thinking as they ate, but she thought about the picture sitting in her backpack, ready to go for the Eiffel Tower excursion later that evening. How nice was it to revisit her beginning with Peter right as she was about to confess everything to him? Strangely enough, the nervousness that she had was so secondary to her excitement. She didn't want to assume that he felt the same way, but these feelings were something Lila was coming into after eight years of secretly wanting (yes, she absolutely counted the Blip in those years, it added theatricality). Living her truth was something she was looking forward to, and hopefully, she could do so with Peter Parker.

She and Ned were making their way to the lobby when Lila pulled on her friend's elbow to stop him. "Hey, Ned?" She waited until he looked back at her, "I, uh, I would r-really appreciate it if I was the — the first person to tell Peter how I feel, okay? I'm gonna do it soon, I just..."

"Oh, don't worry, Lila," Ned held out his pinky finger, and Lila's heart melted a little at the gesture, "Your secret's safe with me."

She smiled warmly at Ned, latching her pinky with his. Then, a lightbulb went off in her head, and she suddenly felt guilty for not having already asked. "Oh my god, Ned! Speaking of — of Peter and s-secrets, he told me what happened last night. Are you — are you okay?!"

A wide grin took over his face, and he excitedly replied, "Okay? Lila, Nick Fury shot me with a tranquilizer. I'm amazing."

And Lila had the good sense to laugh before parting ways with her friend to go and retrieve her things. Mister Dell was in the lobby triple-checking his own backpack's zipper as other kids started appearing with their luggage in tow. Lila said good morning to a couple other students, waving back at Brad Davis (who was eagerly waving good morning at her) before heading up the stairs.

Again, Lila didn't have much to re-pack, and was finished in about five minutes. She made her way back downstairs, where Mister Harrington had joined the group. He was on the phone, ushering kids who were ready to leave to wait outside of the hotel. Lila spared one last look over at the breakfast area and doubled back, waiting patiently for an espresso to brew in a to-go cup. She took the cup, took her suitcase, and made her way outside. Peter Parker was in her periphery, making his way down the stairs with his own suitcase. He caught her stare, and she waved at him, smiling as she headed outside.

MJ was outside with some other kids, leaning against the wall and people-watching. Lila walked over, setting down her suitcase before she handed the espresso over to her best friend. Michelle glanced down at the coffee and quirked an eyebrow at her, "What for?"

"Because my best friend deserves to drink Italian espresso in Italy," Lila smiled, and was pleased when MJ offered one in return, "And she doesn't deserve to feel like she has to hide it from me when she does drink it."

MJ shrugged a little at that, gratefully accepting the coffee, "I know it was hard when you first quit, I just didn't want you to feel alone in that."

"I did miss it, but I don't so much any more," Lila admitted. "You were right, it did m-make me feel more anxious."

"And now?" MJ asked before sipping, "You seem more anxious lately, did you start it back up again?"

"Oh, no, I—"

"Good news!" Once again, Lila was saved from lying by Mister Harrington shouting to the class from behind her.

*****

"We're going to Prague!"

Peter's smile fell right off his face. "What?"

Mister Harrington turned around to answer, "Yeah. Tour company called. They upgraded us!" Peter shared a concerned look with Ned, completely ignored by his teacher. "You should've heard me on the phone with them, I really gave 'em hell."

Mr. Dell had his hands on his hips when he said, "All I heard was crying."

That statement was ignored, and Mr. Harrington lead his group of very confused students down a few blocks and around a corner. His excitement trickled down the line of kids as they all laid their eyes on a sleek black van, large enough to hold all of them comfortably. "Look at our upgraded ride, huh?"

"I'm impressed, Mr. Harrington," Mr. Dell responded, and similar sentiments were expressed all throughout. The only two people who didn't seem excited were the last two, and Peter looked over to Ned as he eyed Dimitri, one of the agents he met last night, waiting by the van with a sign that said "Midtown High".

"Peter, what—? What's going on?" Ned stammered.

Peter's stomach sank in understanding, excitement from this morning and last night extinguished to nothing but dread. "I think Nick Fury just hijacked our summer vacation." Ned's resounding Awesome! was ignored by Peter, who had caught Lila looking back at him in confusion. She seemed to be aware of what was going on too, for she mouthed Prague? back to him. He could only nod in confirmation, sorry that her expression grew concerned.

All they could do was get on the bus. Once everyone was settled, Mr. Harrington announced that Paris was a destination, it was just going to be moved around to after their stop in Prague. He then pulled Lila aside, no doubt to reconfigure when she would leave their group to visit her family. Peter sighed, trying to to get his hopes up. There was still time, Paris would still happen.

But Peter had kind of hyped himself up to tell Lila how he felt today. He spent all of breakfast practicing in the mirror when exactly he would hand Lila the bracelet and what he would say to her. It only took him five tries, but he got it nailed down. Unfortunately, part of his speech revolved around a Parisian setting, and he didn't know much about the Czech Republic to just substitute locations in his speech.

Which was how Peter found himself using the van's free WiFi (it really was a nice upgrade) to Google the top romantic sight-seeing locations in Prague. Just because the plan went sideways didn't mean that it couldn't continue. The memory of Lila inches away from his face, her breath on his neck and her grip around his shoulders was more than enough motivation to push forward.

Maybe he wasn't one hundred percent sure that she liked him back, but it wasn't like she was getting that close to Brad Davis. Brad, who had been looking at Lila all morning and glancing at her the entire bus ride, irked Peter to no end. And a tiny part of him raised enough doubt in Peter's heart to wonder if maybe there was some potential between the two of them.

No, he wouldn't go there. In fact, Peter put his phone down in order to stop thinking of ways his plan could go wrong, and came across the large glasses case that had been glaring at him all morning. Deciding there was no time like the present, Peter opened the glasses case to stare down at the sunglasses sitting neatly in the satin lining. They weren't exactly Peter's style, but they were definitely Tony's. A pang of grief hit Peter, and the longing he felt for his old friend spurred him to put the glasses on.

Sitting on his face, he could almost imagine Tony wearing this exact pair, hiding behind them as he took in the world around him. When Peter looked back down at the glasses case, the Stark Industries business card was all that was left inside. Turning the card over was Tony's handwriting.

For the next Tony Stark, I trust you.
P.S. Say Edith
— T. S.

Peter quietly read the note aloud, and upon saying Edith, his vision changed. What was once just tinted specs flashed a computer screen right before his eyes. A smaller sub-screen appeared in the center of his vision, and a voice sounded in Peter's ears. "Stand by for retinal and biometric scan." A beat, and then, "Retinal and biometric scan accepted."

"Hello?" Was all Peter could manage.

"Hello, Peter." The voice grew slightly more personable, and Peter recognized this as another AI. "I am E.D.I.T.H., Tony Stark's augmented-reality security and defense system."

"So, he made you for me?"

"No. But you have access to all of Tony's protocols."

"Cool."

"Would you like to see what I can do?" Peter supposed he didn't have a choice as they continued along the drive. He glanced around at all the others in the van, making sure that no one was paying too close attention to what he was doing. Though he realized he probably just looked like he would be talking to himself. He figured that if this was what Tony saw through these glasses and no one knew, it was likely because he designed it to look like a normal pair of sunglasses to everyone else.

"E.D.I.T.H. stands for Even Dead, I'm The Hero. Tony loved his acronyms."

Peter smiled fondly, he could almost hear Tony saying those exact words. "Yeah, yeah he did."

There was about ten more minutes on the road before Dimitri turned off the winding highway and onto a smaller street. The town they stopped in was tiny, filled with a single restaurant, a single gas station, and a single inn. The road was full of cyclists, and racing by the van after it had pulled over. Everyone filed off the bus after Dimitri, who loudly announced a ten-minute bathroom break. When it was time for Peter to exit, he was stopped by Dimitri, who pointed to a doorway opposite of where everyone else was going.

In the creepy, empty building was a woman. Tall, slender, blonde, and dressed in all black, she appraised Peter with a calculating gaze. She said nothing as he timidly greeted hee, and waited until he was completely inside to instruct him to close the door. When he did so, the next words she said completely took him off guard.

"Take off your clothes."

"Excuse me—?"

"You told Fury that Spider-Man could not be seen in Europe. So I made you this," She handed him a neatly folded pile of clothing. "Your new suit." As if that was the answer to asking a sixteen-year-old boy to remove his clothing.

"I'm sure it fits fine, I don't need to—"

Peter knew she was only asking because it was her job, but when she sharply told him to take off his clothes again, well, it was the most awkward moment of his life. He began to do so, sliding his pants down his legs when the door behind him opened. It was a strange surge of relief that he didn't have to continue followed by sheer panic at the realization that the agent in front of him was reaching for her gun. Holding out his hand to her, Peter turned around, and to his mortification, Brad Davis stood there looking caught. "I thought this was the bathroom."

His look turned calculating, and he ignored Peter's stammers denying the situation presented to him. Instead, Brad, who held his phone, turned the camera to Peter (whose pants were still around his ankles), and took a photograph. "I'll leave you two alone," he stated, and walked out. Peter had no choice but to ensure the agent, whose weapon was still drawn, didn't pursue, and yanked his pants back up, fumbling with the zipper as he ran to catch up to Brad.

"Brad? That's not what it looks like, buddy! That's —"

"Look, Peter," Brad said, shrugging, "I'm not here to judge your life choices, dude. If you wanna hook up with some random European chick on our school trip, that's on you."

Peter's heart was in his throat, his stomach churning with panic. "That's not what that was, honestly!"

Brad's tone grew serious. "I can't pretend I didn't see what I just saw. I know you're trying to get with Lila, it's obvious. But I like her, too."

"Wait a minute, hey, hey, hey. You cannot show her that photo, man." Peter knew he might be able to explain away whatever Brad thought he saw, because he could simply tell Lila the truth. But he also knew that it did not look good for the girl he liked to see a picture of him with some other woman and his pants entirely off. The sheer thought of Lila seeing that made Peter's nausea grow tenfold.

"I'm sorry, man. I have to." The worst thing about it was Brad almost looked sympathetic. Clearly not sympathetic enough to actually listen to Peter as he said, "She deserves to know the truth."

It was then that Mr. Dell called everyone back onto the bus. Peter had no choice but to rush back inside the building and collect the new suit (the blonde agent had entirely disappeared). He stuffed it in his backpack and raced back to the van. Of course he was one of the last to board, and he ended up sitting in the front with Flash and Dimitri. As soon as everyone was on board and driving off, Peter eyed the rest of the van nervously. He caught sight of Lila, who was sitting next to MJ, and Brad sat right behind her. He made eye contact with the latter, who shook his head at him, and Peter's desperation grew to new heights.

The events that transpired after Peter placed Tony's glasses on his face were not ones he was proud of, to say the least. In fact, they were very nearly downright disastrous. It started with an accidental launch of one of Tony's missile systems on Brad, thrown in with some perilous driving on Dimitri's part (and Peter's when he shot a web at the wheel), coupled with Peter accidentally punching Flash in the face and knocking him out cold (he didn't entirely regret that), to faking a baby mountain goat sighting and jumping out of the sunroof, all ending with Betty thinking Peter's windswept hair and sunglasses were a new European look for Peter, and Peter finally managing to erase the picture from Brad's phone.

No one was the wiser, except maybe Dimitri, but even he said nothing as Peter sat in his chair silently and stiffly as the van drove further down the road. In fact, he hardly moved at all until he saw the rolling cityscape of Prague through the windshield of the tour van. And his heartbeat didnt slow down until they drove up to the hotel, and Peter was once again on solid ground.

You guys, @-obriens did my covers again and I just UGH I want them in my bloodstream thank youuu