The day following the Battle of Sokovia was a blur for Thea. She mostly spent her time in her bed, trying to recuperate from all the fighting she had done over the span of a day. Thea sighed out in her bed. It was a Sunday evening, it had been a cold and crisp day. Her body was sore and her eyes were still tinged with purple from yesterday. Her face was riddled with cuts and bruises.

Tony had already moved to the upstate facility that would replace Avengers Tower. But it would take him some time to move everything out of there. Thea would then be alone down here in Queens until she found Spider-Man. She somehow didn't want to leave though. She didn't want to leave her friends and school. Thea groaned at the fact that she still had to find this Spider-Man. She was no closer to finding him now than she was when she started searching.

Suddenly, a light went off next to her. She blinked at the bright light and saw on her phone that it was Tony calling. With sore arms, Thea reached over and pressed the accept button.

"Hello?" Thea spoke out groggily.

"Hey kid, how are you doing today?" Tony's voice said.

"Oh, you know, sore and tired, but what else can you do." Thea sighed out.

Tony cleared his throat before he spoke out once more, "Well kid, I'm just calling to see if you got any more lead on Spider-Man."

Thea froze, she wasn't expecting Tony to ask her that just yet.

Thea stuttered out, "Uhhhh... nothing yet," Tony tried to interrupt, "But! I'm going to be searching even harder now. Ok bye!"

Thea hung up the phone quickly and set it down on her tabletop next to her. She sighed out and thought, I really have to figure out who Spider-Man is, and fast.

~~~~

The next morning, Thea struggled to get out of bed. Her back was aching and her face was still bruised and baggs lay underneath her eyes. Thea hissed in pain while walking to her bathroom.

The white bathroom was dark with the shades drawn. Thea blindly grabbed the shades and pulled them back. Thea groaned and squinted her eyes at the sudden light that invaded her. Thea turned towards the mirror and stared at her purple and yellow-tinged face. She reached up, and with a single finger, poked a large bruise on her cheek. She whined at the pain that it caused when she did this. She looked to her countertop and pulled forward from the wall, a makeup bag. She rummaged through it for a moment before she found what she was looking for, concealer.

Applying it generously, Thea covered up her eye bags and bruises with ease. Thea smiled in the mirror slightly before she grabbed her toothbrush and carefully brushed her teeth, making sure not to harm her bruises. Thea held her matted hair back before she spits into the sink in front of her. Thea looked back up and brushed her tangled hair into a neat ponytail.

Thea had never been one for glamorous makeup or hairstyles. She only used face makeup when necessary, like covering bruises or acne. She always wore some mascara and chapstick, but that was the extent of it. Her hair was something she was good at though. She always loved the feeling of her hair up, whether it was a ponytail, bun or braids, she enjoyed the freedom it gave her.

Checking the time on her phone, Thea quickly changed into a comfortable outfit, grabbed her keys and backpack, and was out the front door.

Thea sprinted down the hallway, her mind not focused on the pain anymore, but rather meeting up with Peter again. Although the Battle of Sokovia was only over one weekend, it felt like weeks.

Thea waited patiently in the elevator as it descended from floor to floor. Her smile grew wider as the doors opened to reveal a grinning Peter Parker on the other side. Thea stepped out of the building with Peter and on the way to school. Peter walked closer to Thea than usual, but she didn't notice this.

"So...how was your weekend?" He asked Thea as they were crossing the street to the subway. Peter turned to look at Thea, but in that split second he did so, he stubbed his foot into the curb. This caused him to let out silent curses of pain.

Thea tried to keep a straight face on but lost it when Peter dramatically collapsed on the curb. Thea managed through laughs, "Are you okay?" She bent down and grabbed Peter by his biceps, pulling him up on the sidewalk. Thea continued laughing as Peter grabbed his foot and cursed out once more.

Thea and Peter were having so much fun on the side of the road, that they both failed to notice the time. Thea and Peter arrived in their first-period classes a panting and sweating mess.

Peter clambered into the classroom, shouting out at the teacher hurriedly, "I'm so sorry we're late!"

"Mr. Parker and Ms. Quinton, you both better have a good explanation for this. And don't say you guys were having some us time." The English teacher said, putting emphasis on the word 'us'.

Peter sputtered, frozen in his spot, but Thea scooted forward and said, "No, we just lost track of time. And I don't think a teacher has a right to make any assumption like that." Thea stood her ground as she heard the rest of the class gasped and 'oh' at Thea.

"That's it, detention for the both of you."

Peter whipped his head towards Thea, his eyes wide as his mouth hung open at her. Thea, in response, only huffed and sat down at her desk.

The rest of the periods seemed to go by in a flash. Thea desperately wanted to go home and go around the city as Dark Matter. Thea looked at the clock on the wall, staring at it as time seemed to go by slower in her last period. She groaned out to see that it was only two o'clock.

Her fifth period, physics, was as boring as she remembered it being. Her head came to rest on her desk and sighed out in boredom. Peter, who sat right next to Thea, whispered out, "Hey, Thea, no sleeping just yet." He took his pen he was writing with and poked her in her side. Thea, with her head still down, shooed Peter's pen away from her side.

"Class, today we are going to also be starting our first partnered project." the teacher called out to the class. Thea lifted her eyes up, her chin resting on her arms as she listened to the teacher.

"I want all of you to pick a partner right now."

Thea's mood seemed to cheer up at this idea, but she then groaned out when she realized that Ned was also in this class. This gave her a slim chance to partner up with someone she actually knew. With a sigh of defeat, Thea rested her head back down on her arms when suddenly, she felt a light tapping on her shoulder.

Thea didn't lift her head fully, but rather, she tilted her head in her arms to see Peter's hand retracting away from her shoulder.

"Do you wanna be partners?" Peter rubbed the back of his neck.

Thea raised an eyebrow and sat up straight in her desk, her head rising along with it. "I thought you and Ned were partners?"

"No, Ned is partners with Betty." Peter pointed to the pair on the other side of the room.

Thea followed his finger and turned her head to the side to where Ned and a shorter blonde girl, Betty, were. Ned, who just happened to notice Thea's stare, waved at her with a smile. Thea reluctantly waved back at him before she turned back around at Peter with a confused look.

"Soooo... partners?" Peter asked nervously.

Thea looked up slightly at Peter's face, due to the slight height difference between the two of them, and nodded curtly. "Yeah, let's do this."

~~~~

The end of the school day came and went, but Peter and Thea still owed detention for the first period. Thea hated the idea of detention; sitting and doing nothing for hours. Thea hated the idea of many things, but detention was one she never thought she would be apart of.

Thea made sure to pick a seat in the room close to Peter. The gym teacher was the person in charge for today and Thea smiled as soon as she saw him in the room. He was always a relaxed and carefree man.

Inside the room were a few other kids, around ten. But as time dwindled down, more and more left without the teacher noticing. Thea looked around at the new faces of teenagers, a few of them caught her stare but didn't care enough to say anything. She continued her gaze to see Peter, laying his head on the desk, his gaze fixated on Thea.

Thea's eyebrows narrowed in confusion as she mouthed the word, 'What?'

Peter immediately looked away from Thea for a moment before his eyes landed back on her. He just shook his head and closed his eyes slightly.

Thea looked back to the front of the room where the clock was placed. Her gaze falling to the rolling cart with a tv on it that was playing the same clip of Captain America over again. The first time she saw this clip, Thea thought it was hilarious, but once it passed the fifth time, it became more annoying than funny. Thea swore that the next time she heard Steve's voice, real or recorded, she would punch the source.

Thea looked over to Peter, who looked back to her as she mouthed to him, 'How much longer?' Thea tried her best to overexaggerate her lip movements, in order for Peter to understand, but it failed.

He mouthed back, his eyebrows furrowed, 'What?'

Thea rolled her eyes and pointed to the clock in front of them, 'How much longer?' She mouthed again.

Peter stared at Thea's lips for a moment and then followed her finger to the clock as a look of recognition fell over him. He held up a hand and lifted up three fingers, '30 minutes,' Peter mouthed.

The teacher, who was previously too busy reading a comic book to notice students leaving, spoke out to the pair., "Hey! Don't think I can't see you two."

Thea froze, her finger retracting back to the desk, but she quickly relaxed as he said, "Actually I don't get paid enough to care...just don't make any noise." He returned to his comic for a moment before he looked back up at the half-empty class. "Wasn't there more of you guys?" He eyed the room and physically counted the desks with his finger. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders, then went back into reading his comic.

~~~~

Detention time is another form of time, according to Thea. It moves by the slowest path possible. The last 30 minutes of detention felt like hours for the remaining pair. But when the final bell rang, Thea practically bolted from her seat and out the door. Thea stayed, however, waiting for Peter to pack up his things. The teacher wanted to leave just as bad as the rest of them though, shooing Peter and Thea out of the room.

"Oh my god," Thea groaned as soon as she hit the fresh air of the city. The sun was already starting to set, giving the buildings a golden tint. Thea led the way out of the school building, Peter following closely. Thea then turned her back to the golden lights of the sun in order to face Peter. Her outline was illuminated by the golden hues, making her hair seem to float on its own when the wind blew. Peter watched her in awe as the light hit her in all the right places. Peter barely listened to her voice, only seeing her lips move. His mind transfixed to her glowing with light and he grinned at the heart-stopping smile she gave to him.

~ Author's Note ~

All rights to Spider-Man and original plot goes to the Marvel franchise and their fantastic movies and comics. I own new story lines and new characters, like Thea Quinton.

This chapter was more of a filler chapter, it really just shows their relationship together.
Next chapter will have more action and follow the plot I created.

How are you liking the story so far? What are your theories? I would like to know.