After hugging May and reassuring her that he was okay, Peter went home — which didn't take very long, as Grace called when they were nearly at the school. Shortly after that, Peter headed into his room and changed into the Spider-Man suit, hastily getting the Washington Monument postcard out of his bag.

He got it while dressed as a Spider-Man from the Washington Monument Bookstore. The cashier was very confused, but Peter was a paying customer; he had money in his bag, which he went back for before rejoining the Decathlon group as himself.

He now puts the event from his mind, focusing on what's about to happen.

He's going to see Grace again.

A smile breaks out on his face as he writes a message on the back of the postcard and stows it in his suit. Then, he texts Grace. 'I'm swinging over now.'

Finally, he climbs out of the window and swings off the fire escape, heading straight for Avengers Tower.

~~~~

Grace is already on the balcony when Peter arrives, impressively flipping over the railing. Grace just laughs at his antics, her heart full, her stomach in knots, and her heart beating faster than normal. Just because he's here.

Peter pulls his mask off, messing up his hair in the most perfect way. "Hey," he says, half-breathless.

"Hi," Grace replies simply.

Peter pulls out the postcard and hands it to her. "Here it is, as promised."

Grace takes it, looking at the picture for a moment, then flipping it over to read the message on the back: 'From Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man' with a heart at the end. She smiles back up at him. "I'll keep it forever," she jokes.

He laughs, sitting down where he sat last time. Grace sits next to him, the postcard still in her hand. Her shoulder brushes his, and it makes them both smile. Grace thinks about how glad she is that he's here, in person.

It makes her remember that this can't last forever.

She sighs sadly, and Peter turns to her, brows furrowed in concern. "What's wrong?"

"It's just... we'll be moving soon. To the Avengers compound, upstate." She looks over at him sadly. "We won't be able to do this anymore..."

Peter frowns, then tries to be positive. "Well, we'll just have to enjoy it while it lasts, right?"

Graces nods a little. "Yeah."

They lapse into a sad silence, Peter's thoughts now turned from how happy he was to be with her to how he'll rarely see her at all after she moves. How much he'll miss her, how much harder it'll be to get to know her more, even more than he knows her now. Talking on the phone isn't the same as talking face to face — even if seeing her face reminds him of how he lied to her.

And that eventually leads him to thinking back on his conversation with Karen. About her mom. He feels bad for looking into it behind her back, for one thing...

"Can I ask you something?" he says.

Grace looks over at him. "Sure."

It's then that Peter realizes that it was a very bad idea to just bring this up. He shakes his head, looking away from her. "Never mind."

She bumps his shoulder with hers, smiling, teasing, trying to get him to look at her again. "Well, now you have to ask me."

But Peter won't. "I think you'll be mad at me if I do..."

She pauses, brows furrowing. "Why would I be mad at you? Is it about my dad or something? Because I don't really mind answering questions about him."

Peter wants to just change the subject, but he knows that she won't let up if he tries to avoid answering. He sighs. "No. Actually it's... about your mom."

"Pepper?" Grace asks cautiously; she's mentioned her before in conversation, but she didn't call her mom, seeing as... well, she left.

"If she's your... biological mom, then... yes," Peter replies, his eyes still cast down.

Grace takes in a deep breath, then breathes out her answer. "She's not."

Peter finally looks at her, hurriedly saying, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't've-"

"No, Peter, it's okay," Grace replies. She sort of knew this conversation would be coming at some point, she just didn't know when. And then there's Peter's situation — the one he never told her but she knew anyway. The one she thought about sometimes when she was talking to him, but he wasn't talking about it, so he probably didn't want her to know. "I guess I should tell you considering I know... what happened to your parents."

Peter stops, surprised. "You... You do?"

Grace nods a little. "When my dad figured out Spider-Man's identity, everything on record came up. And he gave me the run down so we'd know what we were walking into."

Peter nods a little, quiet for a moment, then asks, "Do you know... how?"

Grace winces a little. "The general... gist of it, yes. Peter, I'm so sorry-"

"No, it's okay," he says. He didn't expect her to mention it, and he sometimes wondered if he ever would. It shocked him, hearing it at first, but it's almost a relief to have it out in the open. "I'm glad you know. When you get close to people, you kinda have to have this conversation at some point, right?"

Grace snorts lightly and mirthlessly. "Yeah, I guess so..."

Peter sighs. "Well, then... here goes nothing..." He clears his throat. "My parents. A plane crash. They went to Europe for their anniversary. Left me with my aunt May and... uncle Ben. I was a baby. I don't remember anything...

"And then Ben. Shot in the street my freshman year. Mugging gone wrong, they said." Peter shakes his head again bitterly, tears coming to his eyes. "Spider-Man could've saved them," he whispers.

Grace immediately reaches over and grabs his hand, letting go of the postcard as she recognizes those words, hurting just to see him hurting. "Peter, you can't blame yourself for that."

He sighs shakily, his hand still in hers. "I know. I wasn't even Spider-Man at the time, obviously... But I can't help thinking... what if I had been? Would they still be alive? I mean, Uncle Ben, at least..."

Grace frowns, thinking, then remembers something she read that's stuck with her — a reminder of sorts. "Okay, this may not be the best time to quote a lion, but...

"'To know what would have happened...? Nobody is ever told that... But anyone can find out what will happen.'"

Peter listens, takes in the words. "Actually, that's kinda comforting," he replies.

They're silence again, their hands still interlocked. Grace shifts a little, now thinking about how she's going to tell him something she's never had to tell anyone else before, at least not in person. She clears her throat. "Well... I suppose it's my turn."

Peter hears her tone, then says, "You really don't have to if you don't-"

"No, I want to," she replies. "It's like you said; the conversation comes with getting close to people." Peter goes quiet then, waiting for her to begin, listening intently. Grace decides to start from the beginning. "So. There was a party, right? And my dad was at this party, and he was... his old self — but, like, not in a good way. And he met a woman, and he... he spent the night with her.

"Well, later, the woman contacted him again and told him that she was pregnant, and she didn't want the baby. But Dad did. He... He said, in that moment, he just knew that he wanted the baby. And he told the woman that, just to see what she would say, and she said that she would have the baby if my dad paid for everything — and then some — and if she didn't have to be in the baby's life at all after that. Dad agreed.

"Well, the woman had the baby — and yes, shockingly, the baby was me — and she left after that, and Dad hasn't heard from her since. And I've never heard from her in, like, my whole life," Grace finishes. She sees the look on Peter's face and raises a brow. "What?"

"I just..." he starts. "I don't understand how she could just... leave you like that."

"I mean, my dad is Tony Stark; she knew I would be well taken care of," Grace jokes.

Peter shakes his head in utter disbelief. "No, I just... I don't understand."

"Honestly? I don't either. But that's what happened, and here we are now."

Peter goes quiet for a moment, still trying to wrap his mind around it. Then he asks, "Do you hate her? Your mom?"

Grace shrugs. "No. I mean, I wouldn't be alive without her, and if she hadn't've left my life would be way different. Aside from never leaving the house, I kinda like it the way it is now."

"And you don't know who she is?"

"Nope."

"Do you ever wonder?"

Grace sighs. "Sometimes. But then I remind myself that I don't care. I've got Dad and Happy, and... sort of the Avengers."

Peter squeezes her hand. "You've got me too."

She squeezes back, smiling a little. "I know."

He turns back to the skyline in front of him, still keeping her hand in his. They sit in comfortable silence for a while, but then he says, "I'm sorry."

Grace gives him that familiar look, though he doesn't turn to see it just yet. "For what?"

"For what your mom did," he replies sadly. "Leaving you..."

But Grace playfully rolls her eyes. "Why do you always apologize for things that aren't your fault?"

Peter shrugs. "I don't know. I feel like I have to. Because you deserve an apology for what happened to you, but the person who needs to apologize to you won't do it. So I will."

Grace smiles, scooting closer to him. "You're sweet, Parker. Awkward and a little strange, but sweet."

"Well, you're-" he turns to look at her then, about to deliver a compliment quite similar in nature to hers.

But he cuts himself off, first seeing the blue in her eyes shining back at him, almost like a beacon, lit up by the night lights, reflecting them. He sees her messy hair, her dark, slightly uneven bangs almost falling in those beautiful eyes. He sees the slight curve of her lips as she half smiles, and in his heart, he wants more than anything to press his own lips to that smile, to pull her to him, keep her close. And the realization hits him like a brick wall, knocking the air out of his chest, sending him falling.

In a whisper, he says, "Grace, you're everything..."

She's rendered speechless by his declaration, one he probably doesn't even fully understand, not yet, not at sixteen. But he meant it, and that's what matters. That's all that matters right now, in this moment.

And she wonders how it's possible for a boy like Peter Parker to exist in the world as her eyes travel over his face, his expression asking her to say or do something in response as he starts to second guess himself. So Grace lets go of his hand and reaches up, tentatively brushing her fingers into his hair.

And, almost without thinking, he moves forward a little, his hand reaching up to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing the corner of her mouth, causing her stomach to do somersaults.

"Peter," she breathes, but she doesn't know what else to say. She searches his eyes, waiting for some kind of sign, as if what he's already done isn't enough.

Finally, he leans closer, but this time he doesn't stop himself as he softly, awkwardly, and unsurely brushes his lips against hers, sending chills through her. He pulls back slightly, gauging her reaction, which is simply to kiss him again, more forcefully this time, though it's messy. But it doesn't matter because she just wants this. Maybe it's the forbidden-ness of it all; kissing a boy she isn't even supposed to be with right now, and no one — not Happy, not Pepper, not her father — knows. Or maybe it's just Peter.

Maybe it's both.

His hand moves down to her shoulder to pull her closer to him, and she leans against him, having nothing else to hold herself up. Her one hand goes through his hair, the other resting on his shoulder, and she smiles against his lips. It makes him smile too — so much so that they have to pull away.

Her hand leaves his hair, then, and he wonders if that was the movie-worthy (or book-worthy) kiss that she'd always wanted. Did he match up? Was he better? Worse?

"Was that any good?" Peter asks nervously, those questions swimming through his mind.

Grace raises a brow at him again. "Peter, that was the best kiss I've ever had." Then, she pointedly adds, "That was the only kiss I've ever had." And it was incredibly obvious too, as neither of them had a single idea as to what they were doing. But, again, that didn't matter.

Peter laughs a little, relieved. "Same here," he replies. Then, he smiles, a mischievous glint in his eye. "So, I guess we need something to compare it to, then..."

"Ooo, smooth, Parker," she laughs as he leans towards her again, this time holding her as he feels he's always wanted to.