"I don't want to miss one smile
I don't want to miss one kiss"
- Aerosmith

  Up in her room, Harper looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She couldn't quite believe that in barely thirty minutes, Peter would be there and get her to the dance. Her dress was magnificent and Pepper had worked wonders with her hair but stress and anxiety still got a hold of her. She was scribbling in order to chill out when Tony came in.

  "How is the most beautiful girl of the dance ?"

  "Fine."

  "Then why are those brows so furrowed ?"

  "They're not... Fine ! Maybe they are. I'm just anxious."  

  "Come here."

  Harper sat down next to her father on her bed. Before he said anything, Tony looked around. He let his gaze wander on the pictures hanging on the grey walls : Harper and Tony when she was only ten years old, a shot of her with Happy, another one with Pepper... The latest : a picture of the couple with their daughter.

  "You know, when I came to pick you up in that orphanage, I was still young and selfish," he said. "I thought I owned and deserved everything. But when I saw you... I knew that you were all that I missed. You see, Harper, if you hadn't entered my life, I wouldn't stand here, today. Things wouldn't have worked out between me and Pepper, most likely. Afghanistan...it was awful. But you were there, at home, and... The idea of holding you in my arms again is what got me out of this cave."

  While listening to her father, Harper couldn't help but smile and tears were running down her cheeks. Tears of joy.

  "So I came back. I had the chance to see you grow up and now...now, you're going to your school dance with a boy who -I hope- is a great guy."

  "He is," she said instinctively.

  "I know," Tony confirmed as a smile appeared on his lips. "You became a wonderful young woman, Harper, and you deserve the best this world has to offer."

  "Thanks, Dad."

  "No, no. You don't say 'Thanks.' Your answer must be 'I know'."

  Harper let out a light laugh and wiped her tears away.

  "I love you," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him.

  "More than anything, little angel."

  They were still hugging when Pepper surprised them with the old Polaroïd she kept for such occasions. She smiled as she looked at the photograph appearing before her eyes.

  "Peter is here," she said. "And he looks really cute."

  With a wink, she walked away. Tony helped his daughter get up.

  "Everything is gonna be just fine."

  Peter was waiting in the living room and his eyes couldn't look away from the stairs. When he saw Tony coming down, he understood Harper was probably following so he stood up. He had put on a nice black suit and he had chosen a regular tie over a bow tie. Pepper was right : he did look really cute. Anyway, that's what Harper thought when she saw him downstairs. She had to slightly lift her dress in order not to trip over it and even though she had never felt perfectly good in high heels, these were perfect. She finally got to Peter. He awkwardly handed her a corsage with a magnificent white flower.

  "Oh, you didn't need to..."

  Peter shrugged his shoulders as he fixed the ornament on her wrist.

  "Are you guys ready ?" Tony asked. "I'll drive you."

  "No !" Pepper exclaimed, holding her Polaroïd. "We have to immortalise this moment. Tony, get away from them, please."

  The two teenagers got closer to one another. Feeling kind of brave, Peter wrapped his arm around the waist of his partner, whose cheeks turned slightly pink. Once the picture was taken, Tony rushed them a bit.

  "You guys don't want to be late, right ?" 

  They then got in the car and the ride went down without any awkwardness, if it wasn't for Tony who couldn't help but tell Peter about his beloved daughter's funny childhood anecdotes. Harper was more than relieved when they finally got to school.

  "Go inside, sweetie. I need to talk to Peter."

  "Dad, is that really..."

  "Yes, it is. Out !"

  "Sorry," she mumbled to Peter before leaving the car.

  When she was far enough, Tony turned around to look at Peter in the eyes, not even realising what an awful feeling of déjà-vu he was giving him.

  "Take care of my daughter," he simply said. "Okay ?"

  "Of course, Mr Stark," Peter answered, happy he didn't have to go through some lecture.

  "And if she doesn't have a good time... Well, I am Iron Man."

  Peter hesitated between laughter and panic : Stark's smile didn't help him choose. He waved at Harper's father, his own mentor, before hurrying to find her back, in the entry hall.

  "Ready ?" he asked.

  "Ready."

  They smiled to each other and entered the gym that had been decorated for the dance. Golden balloons were hanging on the door-handles and windows ; banners on which you could read things like 'Dance night' had been hung to the ceiling ; ballot papers were given in every corner for the election of the king and queen of the night ; tables were scattered around the room where you could find bowls of crisps. Peter and Harper quickly found Ned, at the end of the room.  

  "Hey, you two !" he greeted them joyfully. "You'll never guess what happened : the girl, over there, the one with the green dress -no, not this one, Peter, the other one, without glasses- well, she asked me to dance !"

  "Then what are you waiting for ?"

  "Uh, there's not any slow music..."

  Peter rolled his eyes and Harper took them both to the dance floor. She pushed Ned right next to the girl in question and the four of them danced to the rhythm of the entertaining song that was on. Harper had never been to such an event before and thus didn't know how she was supposed to act. She had trouble letting go. Thankfully, Peter seemed to be in the same situation. The bass slowly faded and let the sweet intro to one of Harper's favourite songs resonate through the room. Of course it was a slow : what would be the point otherwise ?

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming

  "I love this song !" she exclaimed when she heard the first notes.

  "Would you...like to...dance ?" Peter asked quite awkwardly.

  "It would be a pleasure."

  Peter shyly laid his right hand on Harper's waist ; with his left hand, he held hers. They went from left to right, slowly moving their bodies to the cries of Aerosmith.

  "I didn't know you liked that band."

  "It's one of my favourites," she said with a big smile.

  "I can see why."

I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Cause every moment spent with you
Is a moment I treasure

  Peter was feeling more confident and he got closer to Harper. As if it were completely natural, she let her forehead rest on his shoulder, even though he wasn't much taller than her. She closed her eyes and let both the music and Peter's arms carry her away. They stayed like that for what seemed to be an eternity when actually, it was only one song. Peter's fingers gently touched Harper's bare skin, where her back was exposed. Shivers ran down her spine and she felt a sweet pain in her stomach.

  "Are you cold ?"

  "No, it's just..."

  She pulled away from him, just enough to be able to look at him. 

  "I'm just scared," she admitted.

  "Of what ?"

  "Well, of all of this. What's currently happening and..."

  She stopped in the middle of her sentence as Peter looked at her with his mouth slightly open and confused eyes. Suddenly Harper couldn't look away from his face. She was falling in love : slowly, but deeply. Within a week, this boy had changed his life...kind of. He had first been a classmate. He had then become a friend despite all her warnings and reservations. Despite what she was, he'd stayed. He'd never been afraid of her, had never looked at her with disgust, not even once. Their walks from school to her house ; their ridiculous laughs ; his compliments about the doodles he sometimes managed to see. Everything in him made her heart melt. As to Peter, he couldn't believe he was holding a girl like her in his arms. He breathed heavily before lowering his head a little : once again, it's important to know that the height difference between them was far from huge, especially with those heels she was wearing. She didn't step back when he pressed his lips against hers. On the contrary, barely one second later, she kissed him back. They were alone now : they were the only ones who mattered. Nothing could have possibly disturbed them. Together, they were in their own spot in Heaven, their puncture-proof bubble floating high above everyone else. When their mouths parted from each other, they stayed forehead to forehead for a while.

 "Wanna go for a walk ?" she whispered.

  He nodded and, while holding hands, they slipped out of the gym and explored the hallways. They were empty : everyone was still at the dance.

  "Can you imagine ? We have the school all to ourselves," she noted, amused.

  "If this isn't amazing."

  They walked a little bit more, stopping from time to time to steal a kiss or two. By dint of wandering in the building, they soon found themselves outside, in the streets. They could still hear the music from far away. 

  "Thanks for asking me out," Harper said suddenly.

  "Huh ? I'm not the one who needs to be thanked."

  "No, you don't get it. Thanks for getting me out of my house."

  They sat on a bench, still holding hands.

  "Before you, I had never opened up to anyone and...and now I'm at a school dance. I wouldn't have believed it if you'd told me that last week."

  She looked at the street in front of her with dreamy eyes, as though she was lost in thoughts. Peter was watching her without any discretion and still found her wonderful. He laid his eyes on their intertwined fingers and gathered all his strength.

  "Harper, there's something I need to tell you," he stated.

  He couldn't lie to her anymore : it was too much to handle. Especially now that he had kissed her.

  "What's wrong ?"

  She seemed worried by the serious look that had suddenly appeared on Peter's face.

  "It's quite a long story, actually. How do I put it... The reason why I... God, this is so..."

  "Peter ! Get down !"

  He didn't get down soon enough : the man who'd showed up behind him hit him on the back of his head with a baseball bat. Harper watched Peter falling to the ground, then screamed.

***

Dam dam daaaaaam ! Sooo #Starker is FINALLY official but what do you think will happen next ? 

- Céline