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MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
iii. THE VIEW FROM THE TOP

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   WEEKS PASSED. NOTHING CHANGED.

   Maybe it was a good sign. It meant nothing had been decided yet. The evidence that Peter brutally murdered Beck was admittedly very compelling, and the public refused to ease up on him despite the Avengers' involvement with the case, but the truth still hung in the air. Riley was grateful for the time she bought Peter.

   When she wasn't with him, she was working: parrying the government, persuading the court of public opinion, scheduling appeal dates, calling the other Avengers to ensure they were continuing to distract the press. Funnily enough, she recently discovered that reporters weren't harassing the Avengers as much anymore since they only ever gave irrelevant, non-answers to their (mostly Peter-related) questions.

   Who would've thought the key to being left alone was being annoying and unhelpful?

   Exhaustion wasn't even the beginning of how she felt, and it was why she and Peter spent their days together doing nothing. Nothing was bliss when the whole world was betting against Peter Parker.

   Happy's apartment quickly became her second home. It was where she helped Peter with his college applications, where she and Roman snuck MJ, Ned, and sometimes Morgan over. It was where Peter and Riley celebrated their first anniversary as a couple in July, which consisted of cooking together, burning said food, ordering take-out, and staying up all night talking because they couldn't exactly go out. It was where Roman and Ned became Mario Kart rivals, where Happy became a victim to an endless stream of pranks, and where May baked so much that the entire building smelt vaguely of vanilla extract.

   It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and Peter and Riley were stuck in the middle yet again. But the middle wasn't always hellish. Sometimes, it was quiet. If Peter was the world's favorite villain, and Riley was the world's favorite hero, they were happy finding their peace in the middle with each other.

   August 10th was Peter's birthday. After spending the day with his loved ones, he asked Riley if they could spend the rest of the night on a rooftop, just like the glory days before his life fell apart. Again.

   They chose Midtown High's rooftop, where they tended to visit whenever Peter needed to get out of the house. (Riley could usually tell when he was getting cabin fever because he'd call her asking things like whether she'd still love him if he was a worm, if he should bleach his eyebrows, and what her thoughts on very specific animal facts he heard on TV were).

   The roof was typically abandoned in the summertime. But school was starting soon. The quiet was slipping through their fingers again as it always did, maybe as it always would. Was all suffering cyclical, or was this the price people like them paid for the view from the top?

   "Aaand done!" Riley beamed. In the night's darkness, she softly glowed to give them some light as they assembled some of Peter's new Legos (one of her many birthday gifts for him).

   Peter's eyebrows furrowed. "What... is that?"

   "What, you don't like it?"

   "I'm just trying to figure out how you built a mini grenade out of the special bouquet edition set of Lego flowers."

   "Oh, sue me for being creative!"

   Peter poked her forehead. "That thing is a dark place."

   When he offered his half of the Lego bouquet, she said, "You know, normal boyfriends give their girlfriends real flowers."

   "Are you kidding? These will last forever!" Peter held them beneath his nose, inhaling obnoxiously loudly. "Don't you love the smell of plastic that isn't at all bad for the environment?"

   Their laughter floated into the city, inadvertently putting restless minds at ease. The stars seemed brighter than usual that night. If Roman was right about the afterlife, Riley hoped Peter could feel his parents and Uncle Ben smiling down on him from the cosmos. She hoped Pietro, Vision, and (despite never knowing him) Athena were there, too.

   "I'm not ready for school to start again," Peter mumbled. "It's gonna be so... different."

   "Yeah, people actually know who you are now," Riley teased, earning a light shove. "Maybe everyone will leave you alone now that they think you're some scary murderer."

   "God, I hope so. I miss being invisible."

   "Me too. Oh, wait..."

   "Har, har, har." He took her Legos, trying to find a way to make her grenade fit with his flowers.

   "Hey, if all else fails, you can just gently threaten to kill them next," Riley suggested.

   "Pretty sure Mr. Murdock would advise me not to do that."

   "Mr. Murdock knows nothing about my need for personal entertainment." She watched Peter for a moment, how his head hung low, brown curls falling over his face to hide his focus. He seemed younger like this. How could anything so terrible happen to a boy like that? "So... I was wondering... Do you... maybe feel relieved about all of this?"

   He stopped fidgeting with the Legos. "I should be relieved, right?"

   "I dunno. Beck aside, you don't have to worry about your identity anymore. That's not such a bad thing, right? He ripped the bandaid off for you."

   "How did you feel?" Peter asked. "When Tony and Pepper told everyone you're Valor?"

   "Shocked. Then, scared," Riley confessed. "I didn't... exist to people back then, you know? I wasn't a person. I was a concept. I was a weapon. I was raised in a sheltered—if you can believe that—world where people hated and judged me before I ever knew what being loved was like. I was scared I would have to go through that all over again. Sometimes, I'm still not sure I exist. Like, one day, I'm gonna wake up on Titan II, and all of this will have been a fever dream."

   Peter gently nudged her. "You exist to me."

   She nudged him back. "You exist to me, too, Parker."

   He laid on his back, inviting Riley to do the same. She leaned on her side, watching the curve of his mouth as he spoke. "I don't know how to feel. I didn't think people would care so much about who I am under the mask. I'm not Iron Man, you know?" he said. "Ever since I got bit by that spider... nothing's been normal. Nothing's been normal since aliens fell out of the sky, but... this is one of those things that can't be fixed."

   "Hey, you're talking to a Stark. We love fixing things," she said. "Normal's unrealistic anyway."

   "Like you would know anything about that." Peter's head dragged to the side as he met her gaze. His tone was light. His eyes said otherwise.

   "Oh, whatever. At least you're the most famous person in the world?"

   "You think they'll give me that little verified checkmark on my Instagram?"

   "They have to—" She fought a yawn. "—It's only right."

   Peter hummed. "Thanks, by the way. For being here."

   "Well, I hope you didn't expect me to abandon you. Sorry your life sucks, I'm gonna head out now. Got another orphan lined up to be a superhero, so—"

   "You know what I mean," Peter laughed. "It's been a really stressful summer, and you've been with me for all of it. You didn't have to, but... I'm glad you're here."

   "Pete, I mean this in the most sincere way possible, you're never getting rid of me," she promised. "There's nothing I wouldn't do if you asked me. I'd give you the world if I could."

   "Gross. When did you get so corny?" he taunted, causing her to smack his arm. "What would I do with the world anyway?"

   "See, that was supposed to be the part where you say I'm your world—"

   "No, no, now I'm thinking—"

   "Didn't know you could do that if I'm being honest—"

   "—I'd have to legalize healthcare and all that moral stuff, duh," Peter continued. "And I'd have to force Taylor Swift to hold private concerts for us at least once a year."

   "Okay, you're hardcore failing the boyfriend test tonight, so I'm gonna take over from here." She adjusted her voice, adding, "Riley, mi amor, the literal light of my life, you're my world. You're so amazing and perfect and definitely a better fighter than Bucky and—"

   "I don't sound like that." Their faces were mere inches apart, but they didn't move any closer or farther. This, this little moment of peace in the middle, was enough. "For the record? I don't want the world. I want you."

   "Look who's corny now?"

   "Still you. That reminds me, when I rule the world, I'm outlawing rom-coms—"

   "Peter Benjamin Parker, I swear to the gods, I will fucking cut you right now. Don't act like you weren't screaming at the TV when we watched Love, Rosie."

   "I just can't believe it took them that long to get together!"

○ ○ ○

   In hindsight, it shouldn't have shocked Riley so much that every media outlet was obsessively talking about Peter Parker when the dreaded first day of school came a few weeks later.

   The headlines were absurd, between claiming that Peter threatened the numerous reporters and conspiracy theorists camped outside the school and swearing he was crying on his way to 1st period. Every piece of "gossip" was proved otherwise by the insane amount of live footage surfing the news and social media. It had gotten to the point where Riley had seen Peter, as tense and uncomfortable as he looked, from every conceivable angle.

   The presence of newfound Spider-Man supporters almost relaxed her, but that was until she saw some of them on TV shouting something about Valor having Peter's "spider babies." Of course, Tony thought it was hilarious.

   Even Betty Brant was taking advantage of all the attention on their school, promising personal coverage of Peter attending his classes and interviews with him and his peers, including Valor herself (which was interesting because Riley had been ignoring Betty's texts ever since she found out she was interning for J. Jonah Jameson).

   She couldn't even imagine what Peter was dealing with inside the school. Before Mysterio, the few classmates who actually noticed him were dicks. Was the bullying worse now that all eyes were on him? Did the teachers care, or were they Mysterio supremacists, too?

   This was the exact thing Riley had tried to protect Peter from, but it was too late.

   After obsessively watching the news and stalking social media all morning, Riley was restless. She wanted to see Peter, to make sure he, Ned, and MJ were okay. She was in the middle of trying to convince Roman that they should be their bodyguards for the school year when Peter shot her a text asking if she could meet him on the rooftop at lunch.

   When Peter emerged from the stairwell, jaw clenched, permanent worry lines digging into his forehead, the first thing he did was pull Riley into a much-needed hug. He buried his face into her hair and muttered, "This sucks."

   "I'm so sorry." She rubbed circles onto his back. "I promise, this won't last forever. They'll find something new to gossip about soon enough."

   Before he could reply, Roman, who had teleported them to the roof in the first place, chirped from behind her, "Do I get a hug, too?"

   Peter rolled his eyes as he pulled away. "Maybe next time, Rome."

   "And he still has it in him to sass me." Roman whistled. "I'm amazed."

   "Doesn't take much," Riley said. "You said the same thing when you found out what a Kindle is."

   When Ned and MJ joined them, they explained how they were getting harassed just as much as Peter by reporters, crazy fans, their classmates, and even their teachers. Apparently, Coach Wilson was one of those Mysterio supremacists and stood by carelessly when Peter got harassed into showing off his spider powers.

   Speaking of the reporters, they refused to leave the school, along with the conspiracists and Spider-Man fans. The group could hear the chaos from the rooftop. Riley always thought roofs were a perfect place to escape to. If everyone just stood on a high enough building, the world and all of its problems seemed so much smaller.

   Maybe they needed a taller roof.

   "Don't those guys have jobs? Kids? Plants to water?" Ned groaned.

   "Can we just stay up here all day?" Peter laid his head on a textbook, eyes squeezed shut. "It is so crazy down there."

   "Wait, wait, this one's good," MJ said, her nose stuck in a newspaper. "Some suggest that Parker's powers include the male spider's ability to hypnotize females, which he used to seduce Valor into his cult of personality."

   Roman gasped. "That's so fucked up, Peter. That breaks, like, at least three feminist laws, I think."

   "How do I know I'm not hypnotized right now?" Riley bantered. "Tell me to do something."

   "Uh..." Peter shrugged. "Give me $20."

   Riley suddenly tensed, robotically reaching into her pocket, only to offer him a middle finger instead. For the first time all day, MJ, Ned, and Peter laughed.

   "Wait, if this is a cult," Roman complained as he skimmed the newspaper over MJ's shoulder, "why does Peter get to be our leader? Who voted on that?"

   "Oh, did you miss that meeting?" Ned asked. "I thought you were on that email chain?"

   "You're telling me all of you voted for Peter?" Roman dubiously asked.

   "Yeah, it's easier to blame him when things go wrong," MJ said.

   "Stop, stop!" Peter laughed.

   Wryly, MJ said, "Yes, my Spider-Lord."

   "While we're on the topic of people being brainwashed, can someone tell me how Flash became a best-selling author for lying about being friends with Spider-Man?" Riley asked. "I'm kind of offended he didn't do this when my identity got out."

   "Fuck the patriarchy," MJ simply said, to which everyone chorused with a unified, "Amen!"

   "So, I was thinking." Ned unzipped his backpack and pulled out his laptop. "When we get into MIT, we should live together!"

   "Yeah, for sure," Peter said while MJ agreed.

   Ned turned his laptop to the group, showing MIT's website. There was a picture of some students playing outside. "This is gonna be us!"

   "Yes," MJ said. "Minus the Frisbee. And the smiling."

   "MIT's obviously the dream... But if we match up our backup schools, either way, we'll all be together in Boston," Peter said while sitting up. "New school, new town. I can Spider-Man there. I mean, they have crime in Boston, right? It'll be like a fresh start."

   Riley clasped her hands together. "This is so cute! I remember being in college. Feels like yesterday."

   "What was your college experience like? Class at 2, war at 3?" Ned joked.

   "You laugh now, but that happened a few times. One time, I had an essay due the same day S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed."

   "I would've just given up and died at that point," Peter said, and before Riley could tell him that he had already used that tactic before, she noticed how MJ's face had fallen.

   Roman felt her sudden onslaught of despair first though. He asked, "What's up?"

   MJ hesitated, struggling to meet his gaze. "I don't know, I just feel like... if you don't... If you expect disappointment, then you can never really get disappointed."

   "You're being unfair to yourself," Roman said.

   Riley took her hand. "He's right. Just look at the facts. All of you have been working your asses off throughout high school. If MIT doesn't want a bunch of geniuses, they're stupid, and Columbia's better anyway."

   "When this year is over, it'll be a fresh start. We'll be together, no matter what. It'll all work out," Peter encouraged. "Right?"

   "Yeah, for sure," Ned reassured.

   "Nothing lasts forever anyway," Roman added. "All of this shit will be over before you know it."

   "You could say the same thing about anything good that happens," Riley countered.

   "Sure, but the point is, no feeling is permanent. The bad, the good. All of it. Everything comes to an end soon enough, and the cycle of time starts again," Roman explained. "You don't have to be hopeful or pessimistic. Just know that a fresh start, whatever that might mean to you, is on its way. It could be horrible, but it could also be alright. It doesn't matter. Knowing that a fresh start is on its way is better than believing any hole you're in is eternal."

   MJ squeezed Riley's hand, her smile slowly returning. "Yeah. Yeah, you know what? You're right. A fresh start is coming."

   The thought of another reset in Riley's life made her cringe, but Roman was right. Nothing lasts forever. Not loneliness or pain, not joy or ecstasy. Life would keep going, and everything would become a memory at some point or another.

   Maybe it was time she accepted that it could be a good thing.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I only mildly hate this chapter! But I've had most of this prewritten in my drafts for a while, so I figured I'd might as well publish it already.

Sorry for the lack of updates — Life and school always get in the way. I just wanted to say, I cannot believe how much shit actually happens in the first few minutes of this movie. LIKE WE'RE LESS THAN 20 MINUTES INTO THE MOVIE. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!

Anyway, I hope that everything I have planned for this story makes up for the slow updates! <3 Love you guys as always.