- A YEAR AND A FEW
MONTHS LATER -

"WHERE exactly are we going to?" Lillian asked Peter whilst looking out the window of the school bus before turning to face him.

"OsCorp- OsCorp Industries." Peter stated as he looked down at his phone. "I think we're meeting Dr. Connors." He smiled in excitement as he put his phone in his back pocket of his jeans.

"Isn't he-"

"Peter, look!" Ned interrupted excitedly, pointing at the building they were getting close to.

Peter turned his head in the direction Ned pointed to, in awe. Lillian smiled at Peter's enthusiasm before looking out the window as well.

"I'm sorry. What were you saying?" Peter asked, giving Lillian an apologetic smile.

Lillian shook her head, "Nothing. I'll figure it out." She chuckled softly. "Hey, do you wanna be my field trip buddy?" She smiled.

Peter chuckled lightly as he nodded, "Yeah." He smiled, intertwining their fingers together.

The bus pulled up to the side of the curb, the science teacher doing a head count of the students getting off the bus. Once everyone was out of the bus, the bus driver drove off somewhere to park and rest for a few hours. The teacher went over some ground rules on how the students should behave.

"He acts like we're five." Peter muttered softly as he tapped his foot impatiently.

Lillian snickered lightly as she noticed his foot tapping, "Hmm... I wonder why?" She teased with a small smile as she nudged him with her shoulder playfully.

Their teacher finally giving them an okay to go, Peter sighed in relief. "Finally." Peter mumbled as they walked inside the building.

Lillian shook her head as she smiled at Peter. She took in the atmosphere of the building, finding herself in awe. Her eyebrows furrowed in realization as their class began with the tour. "Hey, Peter?" She said softly, catching his attention away from the group.

"Yeah?" He asked, his gaze glancing over the group every now and then to keep track of them.

"Didn't your dad used to work here?" She asked whilst looking at her surroundings seeing a familiar face on screens.

Peter's eyebrows furrowed in thought, "Now that I think about... yeah. I think he did." He shrugged nonchalantly. "He was so secretive with things." He mumbled.

"Welcome to OsCorp. My name is Dr. Curtis Connors." Curtis called out, catching the students' attention. "In case you're wondering, yes, I am a southpaw." He jokes as everyone laughed with him. "I'm not crippled, so don't go pitying me." He waves his hand dismissively as he sat on the edge of a desk. "I'm just a scientist- former scientist, that is. I'm the world's foremost authority on herpetology. Does anyone know what that is?" He asked as the students looked at one another in confusion. "Anyone?"

"It's reptiles." Lillian answered catching Peter off guard as she shrugged whilst looking at him.

"Ah, good. Someone who's paying attention. Like the Parkinson's patient who watches on in horror as her body slowly betrays her-" Dr. Connors went on about his research.

"I didn't know you were into reptiles." Jade nudged Lillian.

"I'm not. But you remember how my brother went through this reptile phase and insisted that I educated myself on them." She laughed lightly.

Jade nodded in agreement, "Yeah... that's true." She said softly. "Those were some tough times." She jokes as Lillian agreed.

"-I long to fix myself. I want to create a world without weakness." Dr. Connors stated.

"That doesn't sound right." Lillian muttered softly to herself.

"Anyone care to venture a guess just how?" Dt. Connors asked as Flash raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Stem cells?" Flash answered.

Dr. Connors sighed, "Promising, but the solution I'm thinking of is more... radical."

"It's cross-species genetics." Lillian heard Peter mumble.

"No one?" Dr. Connors asked.

"Tell him." Lillian spoke softly as she slightly nudged Peter encouragingly.

Peter nodded as he cleared his throat whilst Lillian gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go. "Cross-species genetics." Peter answered before continuing. "A person gets Parkinson's when the brain cells that produce dopamine start to disappear." He pointed out as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "But the zebrafish has the ability to regenerate cells on command." He shrugged nonchalantly. "If you can somehow give this ability to the woman you're talking about, that's that." He chuckled lightly. "She's- She's curing herself." He stated confidently as Lillian looked at him in admiration.

Flash scoffed, "Yeah. You just have to look past the gills on her neck." He jokes as someone else laughed along with him.

"And you are?" Dr. Connors questioned, looking for Peter.

Peter cleared his throat, "P-Parker- Peter." He stammered as a phone rang.

Dr. Connors eyes furrowed in confusion, "Excuse me." He said softly as he left to go answer the phone.

Lillian laughed softly, "You completely geeked out." She nudged Peter playfully as his cheeks grew a soft pink.

"Yeah, how can someone mess up their own name?" Flash questioned, crossing his arms. "Oh I know, a dickwad." He sneered.

Lillian rolled her eyes, "Fuck off, Eugene." She retorted as she faced him.

"Or what?" He smirked. "You're gonna have your girlfriend pick your battles, Parker?" He scoffed. "You're such a wuss." He shook his head as he left.

"Don't listen to him." Lillian said softly.

Peter shrugged, "Maybe he's right." He said nonchalantly.

Lillian eyes narrowed at him, taken aback by his response.

"Peter, come here! Look what I found." Ned said excitedly, motioning Peter to follow after him.

"I should go." Peter said softly, "He's gonna keep bugging me if I don't."

"Yeah- No, go. I-I understand..." She gave him a forced small smile, brushing him off to go.

Peter nodded, hesitantly going with Ned before looking back at Lillian. Lillian let out a breath of air as she looked around her. She noticed Jade with Michelle and walked over to them.

"Hey, my lovelies." Lillian smiled.

"Hey, we just found a research of..." Jade pointed at a file, "I think some spiders?" She shrugged.

"Yeah, but some dudes took it away and Dr. Connors was telling them that it needs to be gone." Michelle shrugged, "Shits suspicious, but when aren't doctors sus... y'know."

Lillian's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she took in what they were saying. "I guess?"

"How come you're not with Peter?" Jade asked.

Lillian shrugged, "Ned saw something and he called Peter over." She waved dismissively as she laughed lightly.

"Hmm. Okay, well... they have some interns spots open." Michelle added.

"Really? That's cool." Lillian nodded.

"You should intern here, lilypad." Jade smiled.

"I was thinking about it, but I don't know." Lillian looked around her. "It doesn't really seem like this would be the place for me." She looked at her best friends as she shrugged.

...

NED nudged Peter, pointing at a picture of Peter's dad on the wall. "Dude, isn't that your dad?" He asked quietly as they were hiding from security after finding a file with Peter's dad's name on it before it was taken elsewhere by the head security.

Peter nodded, "Y-Yeah..." He breathed out, his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"I'm sorry, but you guys are not suppose to be here." A woman's voice spoke up startling the two.

"S-Sorry, ma'am. Um... Do you know anything about this man?" Peter asked softly, pointing toward his dad's picture on the wall.

The blonde woman shook her head, "Not really. All I know is that he was working on some research here and then destroyed it." She shrugged. "After that, he left without a word. Why? Did you know him?" She asked inquisitively.

Peter shook his head hesitantly, "Just a-a huge fan of his work." He gave her a small smile.

"We'll be on our way." Ned nodded to the blonde, dragging Peter along with him. "Bye." He mumbled as he and Peter caught up with their group.

Lillian turned around to see Ned and Peter walking up to them, her mouth opening slightly to say something, but fought against it as she turned back around. She tapped Jade's shoulder, "Can I sit with you guys?" She whispered softly.

Jade looked at her with a puzzled look but nodded nonetheless, "Yeah, of course." She said giving her a reassuring smile.

"Alright kiddos, let's get on the bus." The teacher called out as they all made their way into the bus.

As they got on the bus, Lillian sat near the window along with Jade next to her and Michelle beside them. Peter looked at Lillian, his eyebrows furrowed as his gaze met Lillian's. Lillian looked out the window as Jade shrugged at him. Peter continued his way on to the back of the bus as Ned sat next to him. As the bus started moving and overlapping conversations about everyone's favorite part of OsCorp was, it felt silent for Peter and Lillian as they both stared out the window of the bus.

- :: -

( author's note :
sorry if this sucks pls don't hate me
for it,, but on a good note i
passed all my exams n i
finished my first semester
of college !! )