chapter fifty-seven
where you go, i go

    AFTER THE COURT case, the public was split into two. It wasn't even much of an event, but the media had turned it into a spectacle. All Mr. Murdock did was speak with the opposing side, and just like he said, their charges were dropped. They were free to walk, innocent▬to continue their lives: go to high school, return to their jobs, try and live a normal life. But that normal life had been ripped away from them a long time ago. It was televised on the news, on YouTube▬on nearly every social media platform Nina could think of. There were 'experts' analysing their body language and trying to read their lips, coming up with sentences none of them had ever said▬they weren't even close. Petitions were set up online. Some were in favour of them, others were demanding that Peter was sent to jail. People held up signs outside on the street: We Believe Mysterio! And even though they weren't convicted of anything by the judge, the public had already convicted them of one thing or another. They already seemed to think they knew everything about them▬and had the right to act on it. 

    Nina was surprised when she received emails and messages on her Instagram from people asking her if she would like to be interviewed. News agencies, Youtube channels, podcasts▬some she has heard of, others she didn't know existed. All of them wanted to ask her questions not about herself, but about Peter▬or Spider-Man, as they all called him. She turned down each one. 

    Things were still on a moving momentum even afterwards. Peter and May had to move out of their apartment, for it got too dangerous from their neighbours and people trying to break in, vandalise and threw threatening things through their windows. They had moved in with Happy into his condominium all the way over in Long Island. A complex with multiple orders of security just to be able to get through the front door. Nina hadn't said anything▬how could she? It was the best choice ... but that didn't change the fact that he was no longer in Queens. It didn't change the fact that they could no longer just sit at the window table at Mr. Delmar's▬just meet up at the subway on the way to school or feel as though he was just a block away from her work. 

    If she wanted to see him, she would have to catch the train across the bridge. And then multiple cross overs towards Long Island▬face so many different people where half hated her, or loved her ... it seemed too dangerous, now. 

    Nina felt isolated from him, and she hated it because she felt so wrong to think like that. 

    They only got to see each other about once or twice a week. Peter tried to dip over to Queens when he donned his suit, but it was hard to fight crime as Spider-Man with the way the city was like now. He couldn't do anything without someone confronting him, an argument breaking out over him in the streets▬the other day, someone ran past and threw green slime onto his suit in Mysterio's name, and he still couldn't get it out. When she tried to go see him, she was always overwhelmed by the alarms that went off each time she stepped inside the door. Or the robots that swung their mechanic arms her way in greeting. Or Happy just ... being there ... all the time. He had given May his room, and Peter didn't have his own, so they both shared the lounge room. Which meant that neither of them could get even a breathe alone when she visited. 

    Something great that did happen as it neared August, was the sudden news that the whole time since they returned from London, MJ and Felicia had been seeing each other. They had both sat Nina down, like she was their own child, and explained to her in gentle detail what happened▬and perhaps they were right to, because immediately, Nina gasped and burst into a flurry of emotions. Happy, shocked, a little upset she didn't know until now, and then▬of course▬the: "I knew you two liked each other▬!" which she did (or at least, knew MJ had liked Felicia).

    MJ had pushed her away as soon as she tried to hug her and stated: "This is why I waited this long to tell you! Because I knew you'd get all sappy!"

    They still had their hot chocolate movie nights and still tried to hang out wherever they could. But it was hard not to notice the large, overhanging cloud over their heads that was the world that was right outside their windows. Nina tried not to notice how she wasn't watching Star Wars movies with Peter ecstatically reciting nearly every line alongside Ned. She missed glancing over and seeing Spider-Man knocking at her window with a cheeky one-liner as soon as she let him in. She missed her boyfriend, but also her oldest friend, almost as if he had returned from Berlin all over again. 

    Where you go, I go, they had both promised to each other again. But now, everything couldn't help but pull them away from each other. Headlines, shouting voices, cameras and people pointing at them whenever they tried to head outside together. People either harassing Peter or trying to ask for his autograph▬or people harassing her. 

    Felicia ripped up another newspaper and threw it into Nina's bin. She and MJ were staying over at Nina's home for the night. Ned, unfortunately, had to go home, as his Lola wanted him home for dinner. 

    "Are they all idiots?" she was saying. "It makes me want to get my claws and make a message out of them."

    Nina's eyes widened at her friend. She shook her head, a little uneasy at the Black Cat's threat. "D▬don't do that, Cia ... please."

    MJ glanced up over the edge of a magazine. She was currently doing a test to see whether she was more like Peter Parker or Spider-Man▬even though they were the same person. "Do it," she told Felicia. 

    "No▬" Nina emphasised, giving them both disappointed looks. "No being a villain. No hurting anyone, okay?"

    "Do you see what they're saying?" Felicia stood up and paced Nina's room angrily. She picked up her Cat mask that was on Nina's bedside table, as if almost considering fulfilling her threat. "Do you see what they're calling you▬both of you▬?" she gestured the mask over at MJ. "How can they do that? How are they allowed to do that?"

    MJ made a disgruntled noise. "Dammit, I got Peter ... Gross."

    Felicia stared at her, incredulous. "MJ, how can you just sit there and not even▬I don't know▬get angry? I'm angry for you!" 

    "Because," Michelle set the magazine aside. She pulled up her blanket and shuffled in so her shoulders rested against Nina's up against the end of her bed. "If you react, then you're giving them exactly what they want. You're more likely to anger them more if you don't even give them a second glance. Besides, I know the truth. That's all I need."

    Felicia sighed and dropped the mask back down. She slumped in next to MJ and scowled at 10 Things I Hate About You that was playing on Nina's laptop screen. Michelle then went a little rosy at the cheeks and mumbled. "But it's ..." she gave Felicia a shy side-glance, "... nice to know you care."

    The Black Cat met her gaze. A small, sweet smile made its way onto her face▬the first real one Nina has seen in a long time. 

    Nina stayed quiet. She was staring at another headline on her phone. Somehow, either they believed she was losing weight, or she was gaining it. Nina frowned at a picture taken of her the other day▬she had bought nice clothes, hoping they would say something positive, instead, all they could do was point out every single flaw they could think of. 

    Felicia noticed. "Hey▬" she reached out and took her phone out of her hands. She set it down on the carpet, face down. "You don't listen to anything they say, you hear me?"

    Nina pursed her lips. She felt this lump grow in her throat and she huddled in closer to MJ, lying her head on her shoulder. She stared at the laptop screen, watching Kat smile up at Patrick and say: "Hey ... your eyes have a little green in them." Julia Stiles looked stunning. Nina wished she looked like her. 

    "Do you guys think I'm pretty?" Nina found herself asking. 

    Felicia sat forward, staring at Nina in horror. "You? Nina, you're gorgeous!"

    "They don't think so▬" she nodded to her phone.

    MJ pursed her lips and decided to wrap her arms around her friend and pull her closer. It was so unlike MJ▬and yet so like her▬that Nina welcomed it with a few tears. Felicia quickly joined in, hugging them both and resting her cheek on MJ's head. "Your nose is super pretty," MJ told her. "And so is your smile. You have a smile that brightens up every room you're in, and you will never hear me say that ever again."

    "She's right," said Felicia. "They're all just jealous of you. They point out what's so amazing about you and say it's terrible. But they don't know you like we do, okay?"

    A few more tears fell. But Nina nodded, "Okay."

    A week later, it was Peter's birthday. Nina was determined that they were to spend it together. He didn't want to make a big deal about it, and she understood that. He just wanted to spend it with her, and then maybe meet up with the girls and Ned later on. Nina took him back to Queens, and they spent lunch at Mr. Delmar's▬who had closed the shop for Peter, so he could have privacy for what felt like the first time in forever. He could have his favourite sandwich, and pretend like nothing with Mysterio had ever happened. He loved it. 

    After that, Peter could choose where they wanted to go, and so he took them away somewhere else. Somewhere away from everyone else once again. That was how they made it here, sitting on top of the 30 Hudson Yards. Nina had never felt so alive, with the air billowing her hair in her face as she gazed down at New York▬hundreds of feet up in the air, and yet, for the first time, never had a fear of falling. 

    "Are you sure we're allowed to be up here?" she asked Peter▬the only thing she was unsure about.

    He pulled her closer at this, keeping her safe from falling inside his arms. "What?" Peter rested his chin on her shoulder and they both gazed down at Hell's Kitchen. "'Course, we are. The number of times I have saved this place from expensive window replacements from D-List villains trying to destroy everything▬it's the least they can do."

    "Wasn't one of those times you almost smashing into those windows?"

    "That's getting very specific."

    Nina chuckled. She leaned back and sighed out▬she missed him. She missed him a lot. She supposed she got used to him being around all the time again, that now, she forgot what it was like not to see him nearly every day. "This is nice."

    "Yeah," Peter agreed. "It's a great view."

    "No," Nina shook her head. "Not just the view. You, Tiger. You making jokes. It's nice."

    "Yeah, well..." he sighed, too. He rubbed circles into the side of her stomach. "It's easy to▬up here, with you ... I feel like I can just be whoever I want to be. I feel safe ... I don't feel alone. Not up here with you." Peter smiled. He kissed her cheek and she blushed. "Best birthday present."

    "Good," she muttered▬though there was a lot she wanted to say, though she didn't know how to say it, not when he spoke words like that. They were overwhelming▬but in the best way. "You deserve it."

    "I can't believe you managed to convince Mr. Delmar to close the shop," Peter chuckled, too. He shook his head. "You are the best, Nina, you know that?"

    She flushed and couldn't think of a way to reply. Instead, she just rested her head back up against his chest again. Nina didn't say it, but she supposed she liked it up here▬not just because of the view, but because up here, so far away from everybody else ... there was no one trying to tell Nina who she was supposed to be. All she could be was no one other than herself. She felt safe and not alone▬as herself. Up here, with Peter Parker. 

    "You know," went on Peter absent-mindedly, "if the Multiverse is real▬the String Theory, all of that ... I think that we'd still be here."

    She arched a curious brow. "What do you mean?"

    "Us," said Peter, squeezing her slightly. "You and me. I just ..." he blushed and shook his head. "You'd think it stupid."

    "No," said Nina quickly, glancing up at him. She leaned back so she could meet his gaze. He kept a strong hold on her as she did. "No," she reassured him. "Tell me."

    Peter's gaze softened. He pursed his lips and his cheeks went even a brighter red. "Just ..." he shrugged, chuckling a little. "If the Multiverse is real, then there are multiple parallel worlds that are the same, but like different▬"

    She nodded, "Yeah▬"

    "▬So, in that theory, then we are in those universes, right?" She hummed, still nodding. "Well ... I▬I have this feeling that ... Well I feel like I know ... that no matter what universe▬if▬if the theory is true, right?" Nina smiled gently. "So if the theory is true, then no matter what universe, I think that there is something the same: us. We're with each other no matter what. At least, I know I could never not know Nina Hart."

    Nina's smile fell into a soft look of surprise. At first, she didn't say anything. All she could think of was all of those dreams she has had▬does have. Every single one. And no matter what happened in each▬how crazy they got ... or how devastating ... there was one thing that was the same in every one: Peter Parker. Maybe with different eyes, or a different smile▬he looked like a stranger in each one, but 'stranger' was far from what he was. 

    And for the first time, Nina wasn't scared of those dreams. Because if Peter's theory was true, she didn't focus on how those dreams ended, but how they always started. If the Multiverse was real, then she did know the answer to his thoughts. Nina whispered to him. "I believe it."

    Peter frowned at her, a little taken aback by how soft her voice was. "Huh?"

    "I think you're right," Nina said. 

    "Yeah?"

    "Yeah. I think ... I think we'd find each other no matter the universe. I know it."

    Peter started to smile. "Can I kiss you?"

    Nina made a face. "Peter, you're my boyfriend▬this is twice that you have been my boyfriend, now, you don't need to ask you can just kiss me▬"

     He kissed her then. Nina started to get the feeling he liked making her ramble just to kiss her in order to cut her off. She was surprised by it▬having never expect Peter to kiss her in such a sudden, passionate way that she just sighed into, hands lifting up to clutch his shoulders. He pulled away suddenly, too, and she was left hanging▬dazed and blushing. 

    "You just kissed me?" she whispered, breathless.

    Peter frowned, looking confused in a ridiculous way. "You said I could?"

    "Kiss me again? Please?"

    He chuckled, dubious, but listened to her anyway. "Okay▬" his lips found hers and Nina felt happy. She was happy, whenever she was with him. No one down below▬none of their headlines mattered, not up here. 

    Until▬

    "HEY!" 

    They broke apart abruptly at the sound coming from below. In sync, both of them glanced down and saw somebody wave an angry hand up at them from the balcony below. "HEY! GET OFF THERE! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ON THERE!"

    Nina turned to Peter slowly with an accusing eye. "Allowed to be on here, huh?" she taunted.

    Peter scoffed. "Uh▬a little white lie never hurt anyone. I▬"

    "GET OFF THERE, NOW! OR I SWEAR, I WILL CALL THE POLICE RIGHT NOW!"

    Nina chuckled out a breath of shock. "Oh, my God▬" she turned to Peter's chest.

    "I think we've overstayed our welcome," he said dumbly▬on purpose, no doubt. 

    "You think?"

    He tightened his grip around her. "Hold on tight."

    Nina squealed▬but this time, it was with much more delight when Peter dropped them both off the side of the tower. And she laughed, she did not scream, as they swooped away from the angry man who waved his fist after them still. 

*ೃ༄ 

    AUGUST PASSED quicker than Nina wished it would. She was starting to get scared for her senior year of high school. Before everything happened, Nina would have looked forward to reaching her last year, but now, she was terrified of what will change. Her entire life felt televised every moment she stepped out of her home▬turned and tossed around, and will high school be the same. Will her classmates be divided just like everyone else? Will they talk like every headline she saw each day? Will they swarm them, sneer at them▬what will they do? What will it be like? 

    But she supposed there was something she had to be looking forward to. Despite moving out to Long Island, Peter was still going to attend Midtown High for his senior year▬which meant that Nina will see him every day again. She will see all of her friends every day. Which meant that while school might be more of a hell than it ever has been, at least they were going to get through it together; at least they will have each other. They were safer in numbers, right?

    As it came to the last week of the summer holidays, the conversation of their college applications were at the forefront. They were all hoping for early admission▬wanting to get it out of the way with their current grades incase things went downhill. 

    Nina hadn't thought about college ever since their summer trip, and now that she was staring at it in front of her▬the realisation hit her like a bag of bricks. 

    MJ, Ned and Peter have all finished their applications▬all of them. They all had this plan, and it was a great plan. They all made sure they had the same first choice, then the same second choice, and third choice, and fourth▬every back-up school they could find away from the New York area, to have a chance at a new life somewhere else, were in sync. They knew that wherever college would take them, they weren't going to split up. 

    Nina had been stalling her applications. 

    They all wanted to go to Boston. A fresh start▬that was the plan. And Nina had agreed with that plan because she didn't want to upset them. She didn't want to upset Peter. She had agreed and said she would apply at MIT ... but she's been staring at the application screen for days on end, now. 

    Her whole life, Nina had been sure of one thing. Ever since she won her first science fair in elementary school. She wanted to be a scientist▬she wanted to change the world: help create a better world. She was going to graduate high school, go to New York University and achieve her degree and honours in Biochemistry▬and then, she was going to live her dream. The dream she has had since she was a little kid. She has never once let go of that dream▬ever. 

    Now, she wasn't so sure. After all that has happened, Nina felt like some part of that dream was slipping away from her. 

    It had always been something that she couldn't ignore forever. She wanted to go to NYU, Peter wanted to go MIT. For so long, they had promised they'd go wherever the other went▬that they'd never let themselves be separated ... until now that this decision churned at her stomach. She wanted to still apply at NYU▬she wanted that so much ... but she felt as though she had no choice but to choose the same as her friends. To go to MIT▬to leave New York, her home, and study in Boston. 

    Because New York didn't welcome her home anymore. 

    Nina stared at the NYU jumper she had thrown over the back of her desk chair▬one that she had bought at a career's day back during junior year. 

    Her life really was going to change▬be turned around and twisted and tossed to the point she felt like she was going to break, but she knew she couldn't. She refused to break and to show that it was, for Peter. Because she understood that the moment she did, he would blame himself▬and she that broke her, too. 

    He always protected her. This was Nina's way of protecting him, too. 

    Peter was so keen about their plan. He was so excited for it▬he believed with every optimism that it was going to work. The first real breath of optimism he has had since Mysterio. Nina didn't want to ruin that. 

    She hugged her Spider-Man plush toy close to her chest, moodily staring at the MIT application as her screen slowly dimmed darker until it went black, going to sleep. 

    Nina pursed her lips and turned around on her bed. She let her head fall, comfortable against her pillow and met Peter's gaze again through the camera of her phone. He smiled a little when he saw her wrapped up in his flannel. He was lying up against the arm of the lounge he had been sleeping on the past month. Tonight, he wore a shirt that said: If H20 is the formula for water, then what is the formula for ice? H20 Cubed.

    "Have you sent in your applications yet?" she found herself asking him▬almost as if to make it seem as though she had already done it, when all she was doing was lying straight through her teeth. 

    He shuffled down against the pillow, kicking off his blanket a bit more. "I literally just finished my MIT one. You?"

    Nina pursed her lips. She hugged her plush toy closer to her chest. She still always put a band-aid on to cover the tear he got during the battle in London. It matched her Hulk band-aid on her elbow she got skating this morning. She didn't get to skate as much as she wanted to, now▬not when she got dirty looks and tabloids making drastic, negative suggestions each time she went to the nearest skate park. 

    "I'm getting there," she mumbled, not quite looking him in the eye.

    She could see the look he gave her anyway. "Nina..." he said to her in a hesitant, anxious breath. "You need to get them in soon otherwise you'll miss out."

    "I know," said Nina. "I▬I got the MIT one open now."

    (That wasn't completely a lie). 

    That seemed to make him happy. He sighed out, relieved and smiled. "Hey, can you imagine if we both got in? And Ned and MJ?"

    Nina fiddled with Spider-Plush's arm. She squished it and tucked it in▬she wrapped it around her finger and murmured: "Well, I mean, we'd have to get scholarships so we could actually go..."

    Peter gave her another look. "Are you seriously worried about scholarships?" he said, completely missing the reason why she was so hesitant, and perhaps that was a good thing. "You got the scores and the grades and▬"

    "Yeah, but anything could happen. I mean, I struggle with AP Physics▬"

    "▬Yeah, but you always got me to help you with that. Like you help me with AP Biology."

    She frowned. "You don't need my help you are literally applying for a Biophysics major. You are a bug."

    "Technically, I'm an arachnid."

    Nina rolled her eyes, but she was unable to resist the small smile that tugged at her lips. "I just ... Don't you think we should have some back-up's here? In New York? In case something does happen?"

    "Yeah, I mean ... you could if you want to, but ... don't we wanna stay together for this?"

    She flushed and hunched up underneath her blanket. "I mean, yeah, definitely..."

    "But...?"

    Nina's eyes drifted over to where the NYU jumper was. She held back want she really wanted to say and instead forced a smile on her face. "I just wanna make sure everything works out okay."

    Peter smiled at her, too▬gentle. "Everything's gonna work out okay. It's gonna be good."

    She wanted to believe him. She wanted to easily be happy and agree▬to hold hope and excitement for this dream he had: this fresh start ... but Nina didn't know whether she was ready to say goodbye to the dream she had before to do so. 

    Nina fixed her grip on her phone and tried to do it. She tried to see this fresh start. "So ... what are we gonna do in Boston?"

    Peter's eyes lit up. The heaviness Nina had before seemed to lift when she saw it. "Uh ... We'll have study dates."

    "Study dates?"

    "Yeah, the ones where we're supposed to study but we never get any study done."

    She blushed. "What else?"

    He thought about it. "We can apply for accomodation in the same building▬that way, we can always visit each other. And I'll help you with your electives and you'll help me with mine."

    "We'll probably have a tutorial together if we're both doing Bio."

    Peter grinned. "Yeah. Yeah, we probably would. And lectures. And lab. Then we'll go get hot chocolate at the cafeteria or a cafe nearby and hang out▬look at places and pretend we're buying an apartment or something."

    Nina chuckled. It sounded great▬it really did sound great. For a moment, maybe she could imagine it▬until all she saw was that jumper again. 

    (Should it truly matter where she studied, as long as she and Peter were together...?).

    The distant grovel behind Peter's shoulder made Nina frown. It sounded as though a dinosaur, a pig and an elephant were sneezing and wheezing all at once, but it was through a winding, tunnelling, struggling bathroom air vent▬and it was the most horrible sound Nina has heard in her life. 

    She made a face. "What's that noise?" she whispered.

    Peter's eyes widened as he quickly realised what she meant. He glanced over his shoulder. "Oh!" he dropped his voice into a low whisper, too. With a sneaky sleight of hand, he directed his phone camera towards the noise and Nina's frowned deepened even more when she saw a slumped mound in a lounge chair connected to what looked like a vacuum cleaner. "Oh. That's▬uh▬That's Happy. Look. He gave his room to May, so he's sleeping down here."

    Nina watched him for a moment. Her gaze was fixed at the way he made a breathless chuckle, careful not to wake Happy who snored away in the back. She held this strange thought▬a strange revelation. For most of her high school career, Nina has been thrown into Spider-Man's antics. But she had always known Peter Parker. Then, she started to get to know them both▬and it was something she sort of liked. When someone joked or questioned who Spider-Man was, she'd shrug and ponder the question, too, while she laughed about it silently when they didn't see. She knew who Spider-Man was▬she had figured it out, and Spider-Man was also her best friend and now her boyfriend ... he was Peter Parker. That was something special for her. 

    But now, the whole world knew, and she supposed there was some relief▬of which she almost felt guilty about. Because while the secret had been special, that secret hurt a lot of people closest to her. It hurt Felicia, it hurt MJ▬it hurt her parents and their friends. Nina hated having to hide this secret from her parents, having to bite her tongue and fight the urge to tell her father that Peter Parker, the kid he offered to take driving, was also the vigilante he thoroughly disliked. And now, he knew▬now, he was slowly getting better; getting used to the idea ... and she was relieved. This weight lifted off her shoulders▬and amongst everything else, it almost seemed impossible to feel, until she lied down and actually thought about it.

    Nina slipped one hand under her pillow. "Can I ... Can I ask you a strange question?" she asked Peter.

    He frowned, but nodded. "Yeah, sure."

    "Does ... Does any part of you feel relieved about all of this?"

    Peter was surprised by her question. But then he settled back underneath his scattered blankets and rested his head on the pillow pressed up against the lounge chair arm. He considered what she said, and then said in a murmur something he's never spoken about before▬to anyone. "You know, ever since I got bit by that spider ... There's only a few moments where my life felt normal▬or▬or as normal as it could ever be, I guess. And ... the first one, was when you found out. Because when you found out, nearly everyone that was in my life that I wanted to know knew. And since then ... the only time I ever feel like I'm just ... just Peter Parker, living this normal life ... that's always been around you. And every time I get to spend with you ... it's perfect. But now everybody knows and ... I am the most famous person in the entire world. And I'm still broke."

    She couldn't help the little chuckle at that. Blushing and looking down at her Spider-Plush, Nina missed the way Peter Parker smiled. She made a shy face, not able to hide how red her cheeks were. "I ... I miss you. I can't wait to see you tomorrow."

    Peter's brows lifted. He quickly nodded. "Yeah. Me too."

    "Wrap it up▬"

    The voice made both of them jump out of their skin. For someone who had enhanced super senses that could predict danger before it happened, Peter was startled the most▬he nearly leapt right out of the sofa, glancing back to stare, horrified at Happy who peeked open one eye. 

    "You both like each other," he was saying and Nina caught a wayward glimpse of him in the chair as Peter's phone moved. "We get it. Hang up. There's no new ground being broken, okay? I need my eight hours."

    "Have you been listening this whole time?"

    Nina waved at her camera. "Hi, Happy," she called out.

     "Uh. Not by choice."

    Peter held up his phone. "Nina says hi."

    Happy raised a disinterested hand. "Hello."

*ೃ༄ 

    a/n: this whole chapter is just Nina and Peter fluff. 

    ya'll need the fluff before the fluff turns to angst. take it while you have it is my advice. 

    (also I took one scene out from the comics for this chapter and referenced another scene btw cos I get way too invested in this <3333)

    MEMES: