"There ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you" 
- Marvin Gaye

  Two months went by, during which Harper kept training with Natasha twice a week. Clint had returned to his farm ; Steve was back at the headquarters, where he didn't do anything but investigate about Helen Grey. She'd gone off the grid since the events of the bunker, even though she'd been seen briefly in a nearby state, using a fake name and wearing a blond wig. Pepper had spent several days going through all the files that had been left behind in the bunker. She was starting to lose faith and yet, one file caught her attention. She'd showed it to Tony and Harper right away. Multiple reports were in it and all of them were about Harper.

  'Once again, the subject has lost control of her abilities. The silver hand-cuffs we made seem to stay efficient and prevent her from hurting us during our observation phases. However, the electroshock therapy that we use to erase her memory are starting to have side-effects. The subject can now guess other people's thoughts. We still don't know how she manages that ; we think that she doesn't have control over this ability.'

  Her telepathy was an accident, a side effect. Harper was quite astonished when she heard the news : she'd been thinking about what her mother could've wanted to do with such a power and now she knew that she had nothing to do with it. They found the names of the two scientists who'd led the experiment : they had both died in more than suspicious conditions, according to the Avengers' investigation.

 Weeks passed after this strike and here they were, two months later, at the exact same point they were before. Nobody had tried to hurt Harper (she was more than relieved about  that) and she had slowly went back to some kind of a normal life. She was going to school, going out with Peter from time to time even though he was spending more time at her place — and vice versa — and she was training with Nat. It was a nice routine.

  "What are you doing today ?" Tony asked while he was eating breakfast.

  "Erm...Peter and I thought we could watch a movie."

  "Alright. I gotta see Steve and I'll only be back here in two days. You'll be okay ?"

  "Dad, you know I'll be just fine," she sighed. "Mom's here and it's only for one weekend : it think I'll survive."

  "You're sure about that ? Starks never rest," he joked.

  "Yeah, sure... When are you leaving ?"

  "Two hours from now."

  "Thank god you're telling me that soon enough."

  "It's a last minute thing, Harper. We...we might have a lead about Grey's whereabouts."

 "You do ?"

  Her eyes shone with attention when she heard that name that had been hers for so long, when she still needed to hide.

  "She came back in the state, that's for sure. We only need to know where she's hiding exactly."

  "That's what you and Steve are gonna do ?"

  Tony nodded. He knew Harper was dying to come along. He also knew that she was aware of how important it was for her to stay at home. Moreover, she didn't want to cancel her plans that night. Peter and her had got closer than ever these past two months. They were incredibly comfortable around each other and their small sphere of happiness was intact.

  "Well, I'll be in my room. I gotta pack my bag for tonight."

  She hoped her father wouldn't say anything, thus agreeing to let her spend the night at the Parker's. Unfortunately (for her), you couldn't fool Tony Stark that easily.

  "Wait a minute," he said, stopping her when she was on the first step of the staircase. "Why do you need a bag ?"

  "Huh...to put...my stuff in it ?"

  "Something you wanna ask me ?"

  "Mom's already said yes !" she cried, embarrassed. "You're...you're okay with it, right ?"

  Tony stayed cried for a moment, looking thoughtful.

  "You can go," he finally said.

  "Thanks, Dad !"

  Harper thought she was finally out of this...but Tony decided to join her in her room. He sat quietly on his daughter's bed and invited her to do the same. Before he spoke, he switched positions about four times, visibly awkward.

  "We need to...talk," he said with a lot less of assurance than he usually had.

  "Meaning ?"

  "If you're going to sleep over at Peter's, then I want to tell you to be...careful. Alright ?"

  Harper got the point and suddenly felt extremely awkward. 

  "Oh no, Dad, not that  talk ! Please, not again," she complained, burying her face in her hands.

  "We have to, Harper, you can't... What do you mean, again ?"

  "Mom already lectured me about that, so I don't think we necessarily have to do this one more time."

  "Oh, well, I... Perfect, then," Tony said, feeling more embarrassed than he ever did. "Well, huh... I'll let you pack, then."

  "Yeah, thank you."

  He left the room and once he walked in the hallway, he was face to face with Pepper, who couldn't help but laugh out loud. She kissed her partner tenderly, not breaking her smile.

  "I've never seen you stuttering like that," she said, voice filled with tenderness.

  "You could've warned me you'd already talked to her about...you know, that !" he mumbled, moving his hands. "I could've avoided that."

  "Oh no, it was way too funny. She's a big girl now, you know. She's almost an adult, so it's normal she's starting to..."

  "Stop it ! I don't wanna hear a single word about that !" 

  Tony looked at his future wife laughing against him and he couldn't help but smile. When she watched Tony walk downstairs, Pepper's soft smile couldn't leave her face. Tony would definitely never want to see her little angel growing up. And yet, he wouldn't  have the choice.

***

  "What do you wanna watch ?" Harper asked, comfortably laying down on Peter's bed.

  "Whatever, what do you want to see ?"

  "Anything as long as it's not an action film."

  Peter, surprised, looked away from his laptop and gave Harper a confused look. 

  "But you love action films," he noted, his brows furrowed.

  "I do, but I think our lives are action-packed enough and I'm sick of action," she explained. "Don't you have like...a good old rom-com ?"

  "Well, I've got comedies, but I can't guarantee you that they're romantic."

  "Seriously ? Not even the classics ?" she said, faking offence.  

  "Huh..."

  "Give me that."

  She grabbed the laptop and typed in some key words. She smiled, satisfied, and laid it down on Peter's lap.

  "I won't let you live another day without showing you Love, Rosie. It's like...a crime towards Lily Collins."

  "And that's supposed to be a classic ?"

  "Yeah, it's not the most famous one...but it's one of the best ! I mean, Lily Collins and Sam Claflin...ugh, I love it."

  "Do I have a choice ?"

  "Not really."

  "Fine, but that's only because I chose it last time," he mumbled.

  He made himself comfortable next to her and placed the screen in front of them. Harper leaned against Peter's chest, between his arms, as she did on each of their movie nights. The movie started and Harper let herself get swooned in the movie by the dialogues she knew too well. Peter found himself enjoying the characters and the storyline, even though it was a little farfetched : you had to admit that those two friends had so much bad luck it was getting scary. 

  "I don't understand," he admitted. "If he'd told her right away that they'd kissed, it would've turned out way better for them !"

  "But she didn't remember ! And there wouldn't have been a movie otherwise."

  "Good point."

  He turned off the computer as Harper went to the bathroom. When she came back, her hair was braided and she'd put on her pyjamas. Peter couldn't hold back a smile when he saw her dressed with her pink shorts and her old chick yellow T-shirt. It wasn't a really good match.

  "You got a problem with my PJ's, Parker ?" she asked with a falsely threatening look.

  "No problem, Ma'am," he said, still smiling.

  "Good." 

  She closed the door behind her and hurried up to him. She slid between his arms and pressed her lips against his. What started as a quick, innocent goodnight kiss quickly became a bolder embrace. When she felt Peter's hands on her hips, she let her own fingers sneak under his shirt. She parted her lips, deepening the kiss as he pressed her back against the door and explored her hips, the small of her back, her arms and her hair. In a quick and handy gesture, Harper locked the door, making sure they wouldn't be interrupted. Peter let his mouth travel down her neck, leaving small kisses on his way. Filled with desire, Harper lifted the bottom of his shirt. She didn't have to ask twice : he took it off and threw it on the ground. Harper helped him taking off her own shirt and it quickly joined Peter's on the floor. Harper finally dragged him on his bed, where he kept kissing her as if they were running out of time. No sooner said than done, they both took of their pants. Harper had never been so exposed and even though she felt vulnerable, she felt comfortable. She loved Peter and would've trusted him with her life.

  "Everything okay ?" he asked, as if he was only just processing what they were about to do.

  "Everything's perfect."

  She offered him the most loving smile in the world before kissing him again. Quite awkward, Peter pulled away once more. He seemed to have a problem.

  "What's wrong ?" she asked him with worry.

  "I don't have any..."

  "Don't worry."

  She rolled on her side, held out her arm to reach her backpack and took out a small plastic envelope. Peter was both surprised and impressed. Did she think they'd take things this far ? He'd thought about buying some all day long. 'No, Peter,' he'd told himself, 'what do you think she'll say if it hasn't even crossed her mind ?' And so he didn't buy condoms. She had. A few seconds later, under the sheets, Peter kept worrying at the slightest gasp of his girlfriend.

  "You're sure you're okay ?"

  "Yes, I am. Don't worry about me."

  "But you look..."

  "It's okay."

  She touched his cheek and kissed him again. Once the first painful moments were gone, she even found herself enjoying what he was doing. He was kissing her neck, her collarbones and even if everything was alright, he kept worrying about her. They even laughed stupidly loud when Peter's arm slipped and he almost fell down right on Harper. Afterwards, cuddled up against him, Harper held tight to that boy as if he was the only stable element in her universe. And that's exactly what Peter Parker was to her : an anchor in the stormy ocean that her life had become.