Thea and Peter spent the remaining minutes of sunlight walking together to Delmar's shop. The pair laughed about tiny things and enjoyed each other's company.

Thea, although a teenager, had never experienced normal teenage things like friendships with someone your own age, and meals with friends. Thea was always stuck in Avengers Tower after Tony adopted her. It took time for Tony to come to love her and Thea was the same way with Tony. But the downside was the media and public. Tony couldn't let the world know that he had a daughter, let alone an adopted one with powers. He didn't want to bring that life onto her so early in her childhood. He would rather her be safe and calm in the darkness than being out in the open and in danger.

Thea grinned as Peter and she crossed the street to Delmar's. It was a homey store on the corner of a busy intersection. Peter stepped in front of Thea, holding the door open for her.

A bell rang as soon as the pair crossed the threshold of the door. Thea gaped around, looking at the store in awe. The store was packed full of items. Candy and chips were lined up on shelves. Two tables with chairs were lined up on the edge of the store.

At the counter was a tan, older man with gray hairs peeking out of his hair and beard. He put on a wide smile as he spotted the pair, specifically Peter. His eyes widened as they hit Thea.

"Hey, Mr. Parker. Who is this?" He nodded towards Thea as he said this.

Thea waved her hand as she answered, "Hi I'm Thea, Peter's friend."

Peter seemed to be more relaxed once he entered this shop like he felt this was another home in a way. Peter then walked up to the counter, a slight pep in his step. He walked over and held out a hand to Mr. Delmar, who graciously shook it with a tight grip.

"Nice to see you too Mr. Delmar," Peter said while smiling.

Thea took a seat in one of the empty chairs in the store as Peter ordered his own food and some for Thea. Thea watched as Peter made his way over to her with a plastic bag in his hand. With his free hand, Peter waved Thea over to him. Thea stood up abruptly and strode over to him, a smile on her face the entire time. Peter, once more, opened the door for Thea and watched her as they both walked back to Peter's apartment.

In detention, Thea had promised Peter that she would watch Star Wars together and work on the project if they had time. Peter seemed shocked that Thea had never watched any Star Wars movie before had, and he sought to change that soon. Peter had told Thea that May would not be home this early, leaving him relieved. But Thea, however, enjoyed seeing May; she was like a fun aunt to her.

Peter's apartment inside was dark, only slight light coming through the windows from the street lights outside. Peter reached over on the wall in the apartment and flipped a switch, causing the yellow tinted lights to turn on, illuminating the small apartment.

Thea took a few steps into the apartment, her feet hitting the soft carpet. Peter, however, brushed past, walking to his bedroom. Thea quickly tailed him, observing his back as she did so. His backpack was full to the brim with books and papers. Part of it was unzipped and papers hung on by a thread. Thea tilted her head as she tried to read on paper that was sticking out. She could only manage to read a single word, 'Web...' before Peter opened his bedroom door and threw his backpack down into a chair.

Thea noticed that his bedroom wasn't nearly as messy as before. His clothes weren't strewn about the floor, instead, they were in a neat pile on his dresser. His desk was now visible, not cluttered with junk.

Thea stood by the doorway, looking at this practically new bedroom when she looked over at Peter. He had already pulled out his laptop, his disk drive opening and closing. He was sat down on his bed, laptop on his lap. He patted the side of him with his hand gingerly, gesturing Thea to sit down.

Thea walked over to Peter with a pep in her step and sat down on his bed, the frame shaking slightly, making a creaking noise. Thea watched his older laptop as the title card for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace showed.

Slowly, Thea laid down on the bed, her head resting lightly on Peter's lap in order to get a better view of the screen. As soon as Thea did this, Peter's thigh tensed up at her touch. But slowly, Peter relaxed into it. Thea smiled at the screen as a young Anakin Skywalker appeared. Peter, instead of watching the movie, was watching as Thea indulged in the movie's plot.

~~~~

Thea was falling asleep slowly while watching the movie. Before she shut her eyes she glanced at the clock in Peter's room. It read 10:45. Suddenly, Thea was shaken awake by Peter tensing up under her head. She could feel as his arm hairs stood up and his muscles tensed.

Thea slowly took her head off of his lap and turned to look up at his face, away from the screen. Peter got up in a hurry, his laptop almost fell due to the force he exerted. Thea just barely managed to catch it in time before it smashed into pieces.

Placing the laptop on the bed and closing it, Thea asked, "What's wrong?" She sat up on the bed, her back straight and her legs crossed.

Peter turned back to look down at Thea and said harshly, "I'm so sorry... but you need to go."

Thea's face contorted into confusion, her eyebrows scrunched up and eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Peter sighed and took a step towards Thea; he reached out a hand and gripped her forearm tightly. "I'll explain later, but for right now you need to go," Peter said this and pulled her off the bed, he looked stressed.

Thea stood up next to Peter, his arm still gripping mine. Peter's eyes widened with what looked like fear before he stepped behind Thea. Peter let go of his grip on her only to place both hands on her back, pushing Thea out of his room and through his apartment.

Thea planted her foot down on the ground in order to stop Peter from pushing her. She whipped around, her hair hitting Peter in the face. "What do you think you are doing?!" She practically yelled in his face.

Peter's eyes shifted from the ground to the door behind Thea before they eventually landed on her, "I-I... I'll tell you later, but for now please just go."

Thea's face held a monotone expression as she said, "Fine I'll leave." Thea turned back to the door, her hand resting on the doorknob. She contemplated for a second, her hand not moving. With a deep breath of air, she turned the doorknob and left Peter's apartment.

Thea closed the door with vigor, almost slamming it shut. She quickly walked down the hall, toward her apartment. She reached it in a few steps. Thea held her breath as she looked at her door handle, her arm outstretched toward it, but her hand not resting on it. She pondered for a moment before she retracted her arm back to her side and shook her head.

"No," Thea whispered to herself, "He can't just do this."

Walking with determination, Thea reached Peter's apartment and slammed her hand on the door. Knocking harshly on the door caused it to slowly open. It opened with a long creak. Thea stepped through the door cautiously, her eyes scanning the apartment for Peter.

"Peter! You better have an explanation for this!" Thea shouted into the quiet apartment.

Thea carefully walked down his hallway, toward his bedroom. The air got colder the further she went into his apartment. Her eyes wandered around, searching for Peter. In his room, his window was left wide open, letting a cold chill into the apartment.

Thea walked over to the window in the darkroom. Her eyes scanned the outside of the window, searching the surrounding buildings and ground for Peter. But there was no sign of him.

Hurriedly Thea pulled back the window more and hopped out onto his fire escape. A metallic creak sounded when she landed on the metal grate. Looking around at her surroundings, making sure there weren't any prying eyes, Thea pulled out her broach and placed it on her chest, her suit forming around her body. Thea clenched her fists at her side, her hands glowing a slight purple. With a fury, Thea opened her hands, purple mist flowing out of them at a rapid rate, allowing her to blast up into the sky.

Her body rose higher as a trail of purple streaked behind her. Her eyes scanned the city for any sign of Peter. Her breathing became heavy due to the stress exerted on her. Out of the corner of her purple eyes, Thea saw a figure swinging on buildings.

Spider-Man, Thea thought, Maybe he can help.

Thea quickly blasted off in the night sky in order to catch Spider-Man. Her eyes trying to keep up with his fast movements. Thea tried to catch his attention by shouting his name, but over the loud city noise, it was fruitless. A sudden blaring noise of a police car distracted Thea. Her eyes looking down at the sirens going. When she looked up, Spider-Man was out of sight. Thea quickly shot out in the same direction she was going, trying desperately to find him.

After searching for what felt like hours, Thea spotted an alleyway close to home and quickly descended. Once her feet touched the ground, she ripped off her broach causing her suit to disappear. Her teeth clenched as she squeezed the broach in her hand. Her back hit a brick wall as she slid down to the ground. Her narrowed eyes stared at the broach in her hand, gazing at it as the street lights illuminated the corner of silver on it.

Thea sighed and was about to stand up when she overheard the familiar sound of web-shooters slinging overhead. Thea watched as Spider-Man dropped down in the same alleyway as her. His back was turned to Thea as he rummaged by a dumpster. Thea cringed as he pulled out a backpack from the side. Spider-Man pulled out a sweatshirt from the backpack, a sweatshirt that Thea had seen before. Thea stayed silent, watching Spider-Man from a distance. Thea gaped as she saw Spider-Man pull off his mask. In the darkness, Thea couldn't manage to see the back of his head. But once he turned around into the street-lit alley, Thea knew who it was.

"Holy shit," Thea whispered to herself. She was now standing up at the edge of the alleyway.

Hearing this, Peter turned around, his face serious and in shock. Peter stared down at Thea in shock as she took a few steps towards him. Peter's eyes were as wide as saucers, his mouth open slightly.

Peter, kept opening his mouth and blubbered, "W-what?"

Thea took more steps toward Peter, still clad in his suit. Her shock quickly turned into anger as she poked him in his chest. "This is why you've been acting so weird!? You're Spider-Man?" Her forceful poking caused him to lose his balance slightly, causing him to take a step back.

"I-I can explain."

Thea scoffed at this answer and turned around, raising her hands to the air. "Explain what? That you're Spider-Man? You kept this from me?"She felt a gentle arm pull her back around. Her eyes only seeing Peter's soft brown ones back.

His demeanor calmed down quite a bit, his face was relaxed and his eyes showed sorrow. His voice spoke softly to Thea, "I promise... I'll explain everything."

~ 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.

Ohhhhhhhhh Thea now knows the Peter is Spidey.... how will she take it??? Also Peter doesn't know that she is Dark Matter either so she is kinda a hypocrite. It only took 20 chapters for her to realize....so who knows how long it'll take for Peter to realize?

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