chapter fifty-eight
midtown high: where we shape heroes

    SHE COULDN'T see where the crowd started and where it ended. As soon as she arrived at the front grounds of Midtown School of Science and Technology, Nina was frozen in the backseat of the car. The parking lot that used to always be filled with students arriving, chatting and groups of friends slowly making their way up the stairs and into the school had turned into an organised separation between fans, the press and protesters. The police had to keep them apart, allowing students to walk through the aisle between the lot of them, frowning and murmuring at each other▬startled at how they all eyed each and every one of them with interest, until they realised they weren't who they were looking for, and grumbled in protest. 

    She didn't want to get out of the car. She watched all of the reporters and paparazzi and their flashing cameras▬watching them speak with their microphones like the first day of Spider-Man's senior year was the most troubling breaking news the city could offer. She saw Betty Brant amongst them all, chatting for the school news and she took a deep breath, doing her best to not get angry at someone who was also her friend. 

     But when one noticed her startled stare through the dark haze of the vehicle window, it was a flow-on effect of exclaims, points and then the flashing cameras started. Nina winced a little at their sudden exposure, but she was already starting to get used of them. She didn't know how she felt about that. 

     The flashes forced their way through the window, and she saw her stark reflection stare back at her as they took their photos. The person she saw, she did not recognise at all. She was tired, she was scared and she was so unsure of what would happen the moment she stepped out. Nina almost looked sick, and gaunt▬she wasn't sure whether she'd be able to go outside. She was light-headed. 

     That was when a hand rested on her back and she glanced over her shoulder.

    "You okay, honey?" asked her mother, very concerned. She had decided to take the car trip with her to school, and even though Nina didn't want her to bear witness to how the crowd would react, she refused to let her little girl go here alone. 

     Nina couldn't be truthful to her. She shook her head. But she did not cry. She couldn't let those people outside see her cry. "I'm scared, Mom," she admitted. "If I go out there, and I frown, they'll hate me. If I go out there, and I smile, they will think I love the attention." She glanced down at her clothes▬she didn't wear the simple target-bought jumpers today. She tried her very best to look nice▬to look pretty, hoping that they would be satisfied, and say something nice instead of find everything to judge and dislike. Nina had done her makeup, she had straightened her hair▬and yet, she was terrified. She didn't recognise herself, but she was starting to hate the reflection underneath it all. 

     Her mother pursed her lips and leaned forward, kissing her gently on her forehead. "Do you want to go home?"

     Nina shook her head. "No ... no, I don't want to go home."

    She heard her mother sigh and squeeze her in a swift hug. "You are the bravest person I know, honey," she said to her. "But you shouldn't have to be brave▬but ... But that brave girl will go out there, and she will put on her brave face. Like she always does. But when she gets home, I will be here, because I'm your mother, and I will keep you safe."

    Nina nodded. She stayed in her mother's hug for a second longer before grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. Nina turned back to the flashing cameras, took a deep breath, and then opened the car door. The cameras grew wild▬she could barely hear what everyone was saying to her as she stepped out in front of her high school. She closed the door behind her and flicked her hair out of her face, eyes squinting at the amount of flashes. 

     She heard people shouting her name▬what followed it always varied between something positive and negative; she supposed she gave the cameras credit when credit was due, because it blocked out their voices into muffled noise in the background. Some where asking her questions, how they wanted her to pose for the camera▬asking her whether she could, and getting annoyed when she didn't respond. People were holding up signs in the crowd, trying to get photos of her, too. Some where in complete support. One sign had pictures of her and Peter inside a bright-red handrawn love heart. #Spider-Nina! They had captioned it. (That was their ship name▬Nina has seen it all over TikTok).

    (That was sometimes the only thing she could watch on there. Some edits were so sweet▬like sometimes she never realised Peter looked at her like that. And that 'lalalala okokokok' trend? That did make her smile sometimes▬especially how much they could make from literally nothing. Peter argues he's a 'lalalala' until Nina shows her evidence of every time he's being the 'okokokok' to her 'lalalala').

     Nina managed to muster enough energy to give the cameras a little wave before moving on, and they followed her▬their questions and their demands only getting rowdier. 

     She was glad when she spotted MJ and Ned further down. They had taken a cab together, not wanting to have to travel to high school alone with everything going on. 

    Nina made her way over and immediately linked her arm thorugh Michelle's, holding on tight and turning away from all the loud chatter, yells and cameras. "You guys okay?" she asked them immediately. 

   "You look different," MJ frowned at her, but said nothing else. 

   But Nina pursed her lips nonetheless. She shuffled on her feet. "Is it ... is it bad different?" She didn't want to think that she put all of this effort only to look bad with all of the publicity around▬she would never hear the end of it for the next week at least. 

    "No!" Ned said quickly to reassure her. "You look▬you look cool. You look way cooler than me. And Flash▬Flash bleached his hair, did you hear?"

    Nina chuckled at this, trying to imagine Flash as a blonde▬with bleached tips as MJ made sure to point out. And she was glad to laugh, like things were normal before the first day of school, instead of the entire crowd gathered around them. 

    "I look okay, though?" Nina asked again, her unsurity creeping back up her chest. 

     MJ shrugged. "You always look okay."

    Ned pointed to the denim jacket she wore. "Is that Peter's?"

    Nina quickly pointed to MJ. "She's wearing Cia's shirt."

    Michelle wasn't bothered. She gave then both a look that said, yeah, and what about it? Ned then sighed and slumped. "I'm so single, now! I▬It's a problem. I sent Betty a message the other day."

    Nina gasped, shocked. "No, you didn't!"

    "I couldn't help it! She's so sucessful," said Ned, gesturing over to where the blonde smiled into the school cameras. "Like▬she's interning for The Daily Bugle, like so cool!"

    "You mean ..." MJ narrowed her eyes, "... the same Daily Bugle that calls Peter a menace every chance they get?"

    "Yeah," Ned said simply. "Cool. She's a sucessful woman, guys. That's totally a green flag."

     "Sending her random messages is a red flag, though."

     "Yeah, well, your red flag Nina is the fact you have the Spider-Plush in your school bag, right now."

     Nina flushed. She clutched the strap of her bag a little tighter. "Do not," she argued weakly and Ned gestured to her to say, proving my point.

     "I think it's totally a green flag," MJ shrugged. "The Plush is cute."

     Nina grinned and squeezed her hug around MJ's arm. "See?"

    "Her actual red flag is the fact she crushed on teenage Ben 10 when she was younger."

     Nina went even redder and smacked her friend's arm. "Oh, my God▬Cia was supposed to keep that a secret!" At Ned's judging look she shrugged, desperate to defend herself. "I▬the animation was nice!"

     "The animation was ugly," Michelle corrected. "He sorta looks like Peter if he had really dark hair."

     Nina scoffed. "Pete doesn't look like Ben 10. He looks like guy off the Treasure Planet."

     Both MJ and Ned made a face like this. Together, they made a sound of disagreement and decided: "He looks like teenage Ben 10."

     When there was a sudden eruption in the crowd▬the screams got louder and there were excited cries, their moment of relief and distraction from what was around them dropped. They turned around and held their breaths, flooded in the sound and the camera flashes as the crowd noticed someone else arrive▬who they all had really been waiting for. 

    It was then that Nina started to really notice those who had gathered against Spider-Man. They threw up their signs and shouted their words: We Believe Mysterio! Was something Nina kept on seeing and hearing▬until it almost felt engraved in her. Even after everything; all that Mr. Murdock had done for them, there were so many people who thought Mysterio was right. Most of them▬if not nearly all of them▬were adults, coming to a highschool to heckle a teenager ... Nina clenched her hands. 

      When Peter arrived, the atmosphere that followed was so different to when Nina had. She could barely hear herself▬or hear anything at all. She watched him flinch to himself, and her heart clenched; he could hear it twenty-times louder than the rest of them. Every single sound everyone made, and with his nerves, it only made it worse.

    He searched for them and when he saw Nina, Peter ducked his head and tried to avoid the cameras and all of the loud screaming▬he headed straight for them in a simple white shirt and blue flannel; he was just a teenager. A normal teenager. He deserved to be a normal teenager. 

    Nina found herself not caring about everyone for a moment as she immediately took his hand once he was close enough. He held onto it very tight▬tight enough that it was starting to be painful, but she didn't say anything; she just kept a hold of it, her own fear at the deafening sound around them rising up into her chest. 

    Still, Peter took a deep breath and said to her. "You look nice."

    Nina squeezed his hand and glanced out at the high school doors▬and all the people they will have to walk past to get there. She noticed the signs and heard their comments▬some were throwing rubbish at each other over the aisle and the police had to step in to stop them. 

    She glanced at MJ and Ned, and every ounce of laughter and smiles they had before, were gone within an instant. 

    Nina stepped a little closer to Peter. They would have stayed there, still and unmoving for longer, but they were ushered forward. They wanted them out of here and inside▬they were only making it worse. 

     Together, they walked through the aisle, surrounded by supportors and protestors▬flashing cameras and screaming; they had to walk through it all. 

     Peter's grip on her hand tightened even more as he glanced, scared, around at everyone. He kept her close, but she shuffled even closer▬her breath hitched in the back of her throat, muffling her squeal when someone threw their takeaway soda cup; Peter was so alert that he tugged her in front of him even when it missed by miles. But they had meant to throw it at her, she knew it▬the moment when they pointed and shouted at her. 

    She took a deep breath and they continued to walk. MJ almost stumbled over some of the rubbish that was at their feet. Ned pursed his lips at the sign someone had made▬sticking devil horns on Peter's face.

     It was like walking through a tunnel▬the sound echoed around them, overlapped them, suffocated them, even; narrowing them into a small tunnel that they could not escape unless they passed through it and reached the other side. Peter glanced at her briefly, and noticed the look on her face; he linked their fingers together and she clutched his flannel sleeve with her other hand▬it gave her some comfort to know that he was here with her. 

     "NINA!" someone screamed. "NINA! NINA! WE LOVE YOU!" 

    She glanced over at the sound and her eyes widened in horror to see some random guy branish a shirt with her face on it, jumping up and down and screaming in delight at the sight of her. Nina quickly looked away, her heart racing with a newfound terror. 

    "NINA!" he was still sceraming as they passed the crowd of supporters. Some were screaming and holding up their ship signs and Nina wanted to disappear into a hole. "NINA▬Are you gonna have his spider-babies?!"

     She froze at the stranger's words, both shocked and horrified▬sick, even. Police pushed the supporters back; they seemed even more wild than the protestors as they tried to reach out and touch them. 

     "Come on," Peter tugged Nina to move, and she stared at where the guy had been, still screaming her name▬there was a lot of cheers in favour of the man's words and Nina's stomach twisted painfully. 

     "Nina, you know he's a murderer, right?!"

     "Oh, my God▬look at them, they're so cute!"

     "Can you guys adopt me?!"

     "Peter, do a TikTok with me!"

     "MYSTERIO FOREVER!"

     "DO A FLIP▬!"

     "Hey! Hey!" one guy tried to stop them before they reached the stairs. He grinned, waving at Peter. "Hey▬" he held up his camera eagerly, "▬let's see you and Nina, kiss!"

     Ned turned to him, furious. "Hey, back off, man!" he had started getting sick of all the pervert shit people were shouting. 

     The girl squeezed in between the guy and a protester, forced up against the barricade lowered her phone and scoffed. "Who are you?"

    Ned blinked, startled. He pointed to himself, shocked. "I▬I'm Ned Leeds. I'm Spider-Man's best friend▬"

    "▬I'm Peter Parker's best friend!" Ned stumbled when someone suddenly shoved in beside him and he scowled, annoyed when Flash and his bleached hair frowned dramatically at the crowd. "You come at my boy and his girl, you come at Flash Thompson! And if you wanna read about our inspiring friendship▬" out of nowhere, he pulled out a thick hard-cover book. Ned stared, dubious at the published photo on the cover, "▬you can in my new book, Flashpoint: One spider, two hearts, a million crazy-ass memories..."

     They were forced to stop at the entrance. Nina held her breath, watching the officers scan him from head-to-toe; she had to let go of his hand, swallowing a harsh lump in her throat. When he was clear, he stepped up and it was her turn next.

    He turned and went to wait for her, but an officer just urged him along. "Go▬" she told him.

    Peter's eyes widened and he shook his head, refusing to move. He gestured at Nina. "N▬No, I gotta wait▬" but they just continued to gently force him up the stairs away from Nina who had to just watch. 

    "No!" the officer was stern and when another rushed down to help, Peter realised he had no choice. "Go!"

    Peter locked Nina's gaze, a little anxious to leave her. "I▬I'll see you inside, okay? I'll see you inside▬"

    She nodded, trying to reassure him with a small smile. But they both knew it was forced. Peter gave her one final glance before letting them escort him inside, forced to leave Nina and his friends out in the raging crowd. 

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    "KEEP WATCHING Midtown News all year as we bring you up close and personal coverage of Peter fighting his biggest battle yet: College admissions!"

     Inside was worse, if it was even possible. Peter refused to go anywhere further than the entrance hallway, waiting stubbornly for Nina, Ned and MJ to meet him inside. Betty Brant's voice echoed out of the speakers, muddled with all of the noise happening outside. Students were surrounding the television, for once enamoured by their high school news. So enamoured that none of them had actually noticed Peter Parker, or Spider-Man, had stepped inside. 

     Almost immediately, Peter grabbed Nina's hand again▬he didn't want to let go of her; not all, not right now. He could hear her racing heartbeat, her hitched breaths▬he could feel how scared she was, even if she didn't say anything. Not just because of his spider senses, but because he knew her so very well. And just like she was anxious, so was he. 

     The group of them quietly started to make their way up the stairs, completely leaving Flash as he stepped inside the door. He threw his hands up at them as they did, as if utterly disappointed and hurt▬until he turned to the group of students by the television and started promoting his book. 

     It was strangely quiet, though, when they made it up the stairs. Too quiet. As the group of them continued to hurry up the stairs, wanting to get as far away as possible before the bell for homeroom▬they realised why. Nearing the top of the stairs, their rushed steps slowed down and their faces contorted into silent, disbelieving stars to find Mr. Dell, Mr. Harrington and Coach Wilson all standing by, waiting for Peter's arrival. 

    They stood in front of something▬a display board of what used to be for Decathlon trophies ... and turned into nothing if not a shrine to Peter's entire existence. Nina made a face, glancing at Ned and MJ and mouthing: "Do you see what I see?" MJ just nodded, for once, having no opinion at all. There was Peter's Decathlon blazer, his school photo, his old engineer and coding projects; a random Spider-Plush, newspaper cuttings of him going up against villains, a Spider-Man mask made out of paper mache, even a photo album that looked like it had been made up of every photo in Peter's high school career so far▬from Freshman to Junior; every random moment, every random event where he happened to be in a photo, it had been cropped and collaged onto the pages. 

    Nina awkwardly glanced past their teachers onto a large body of students hovering by the lockers▬another crowd that they were going to have to walk through. They had their phones out already, taking photos, and videos▬they chatted to each other in both excited and fearful whispers.

     "Peter," began Mr. Dell. He tried to plaster a big smile. Beside him, Mr. Harrington stood rigid and still, his hands clasped tight in front of him. He looked as though he was trying hard not to cry. Coach Wilson looked the most awkward out of the lot of him, baring his teeth in more of a grimace rather than a smile. "We would love to welcome you and your friends▬" he quickly added when he saw Nina, MJ and Ned, "▬back to Midtown High, where we shape heroes."

    Mr. Harrington gestured, proudly to their display of Peter Parker, Spider-Man. A handwritten banner had been hung up with the new school motto: Midtown High School of Science and Technology: Where We Shape Heroes! 

     "Or murderers," added Coach Wilson quietly. 

    Mr. Dell and Mr. Harrington both clenched their eyes shut in frustration. "Stop," grumbled Mr. Harrington out of the corner of his mouth, glaring at their coach. "Stop it▬It's an honour▬" their Decathlon and Physics teacher saluted Peter. Nina made an incredulous face with MJ, "▬to serve you, sir▬"

    "▬It's not!" let out Coach Wilson. "Mysterio was right!"

    Mr. Harrington spun to his coworker, suddenly very emotional. "Stop! That's all▬"

    "▬Mysterio was right," Coach Wilson leaned forward, enunciating every word. Mr. Dell sighed, stuck in between the two of them. 

    "▬Stop it. Stop it. Stop it." Mr. Harrington quickly pointed to the display once again. Peter pursed his lips, silent in dubious shock. He glanced at Nina and she shrugged. "The▬some of the students put this together for you."

    "No," frowned their coach, his hands in his pockets. He shook his head. "No, you did that," he told Mr. Harrington.

     "I▬I helped a little bit▬"

     "▬You did that▬"

     Peter didn't know what to say. "I▬oh, wow..." he frowned at even the crocheted Spider-Man tissue box and his Sophmore science award▬there was even a hoop embroidery Spider-Man dangling down from a rope. 

    "▬And I tried to stop you so many times, but you powered through▬"

    Nina leaned close to Peter to whisper, "Did he photoshop himself into one of our photos in Venice...?"

    "▬He did all of that▬"

    Mr. Dell held his hands up between his coworkers. "You did a great job," he reassured Mr. Harrington who was getting flustered by Coach Wilson's accusations. 

    "I hope you have time to stop and check it out," he said to Peter. Spider-Man offered a strained grimace.

     "Yeah! Yeah," nodded Mr. Dell. "A▬and feel free to walk or▬or swing through the hallway ... Or crawl on the ceiling to avoid everybody...!"

    "We all know you can do it."

    Peter took a tense breath. He nodded. He cleared his throat. "I▬I'm just gonna..." he started to drag Nina past their teachers and down the hallway. 

    "I know what you did," Coach Wilson called after him. MJ and Ned both had disbelieving frowns as they followed.

    "Stop it," they heard Mr. Harrington chide his coworker behind them. "You're embarrassing yourself▬"

    "I know what you did▬"

    "▬He's a conspiracy theorist..."  

     Nina swallowed harshly at all the students that had crowded in the hallway. She held Peter's hand tight, glancing back at Ned and MJ briefly to avoid all of the eager smiles and disappointed frowns from people that were their classmates, teammates and others they had never seen before. It seemed as though even though they were inside, they could never escape the cameras, the whispers or the looks. Nina could feel how tense Peter was beside her as they held their breaths, walking through a suffocating sea of people▬who most of them, before now, would have never given them a second glance in the school hallway. 

    "We were lab partners," someone muttered once they had passed. "Did you know that?"

    The school day didn't get any better from then on. Neither did the entire week▬in fact, it all seemed to only get worse. None of them could get a moment alone without someone walking up, asking them questions or asking to take a picture with them. Nina doesn't know half of the people who came up to her, seemingly more invested in her relationship than she was. All of a sudden, Peter Parker was everybody's best friend. They tried to joke with him in the corridors, egg him on to join their Tiktok videos, and tried to get him to do tricks in the school hallways or during gym. And if they weren't his best friend, he was their worst enemy. While half of the school was in love▬and a group had even created a Spider-Man fan club▬, there were the others who whispered their support for Mysterio, chucked paper at them in class that read We Believe Mysterio or airdropped photos whenever they noticed they had their phones out with mean and anti-Spider-Man memes. 

     Nina turned off her airdrop after the first day. But even then, she couldn't escape how some students▬even fans of Spider-Man▬hated her. It was one thing reading all of the insults they spoke about her▬how she looked, how she dressed and how she acted. But now, she was hearing it be spoken to her, whispered under people's breaths and saw it in their scoffs and looks. Some students argued that she wasn't good enough for him, and a few went as far as calling her some ... some very mean things. On the first day back at school for her senior year, the very first photo that had been airdropped to her (and made her turn it off immediately afterwards), was a photo of her that was taken a few days ago in the streets. Slut, they had written on it.

     She tried her best to keep a brave face. She tried her best to ignore the chatter and the excited rush each time they she or her friends stepped out of class. She tried to ignore the squeals even if she was just standing with Peter in the corridor, or the whispers under some students' breaths. She couldn't win. No matter what she did, how she dressed, how she did her hair or her makeup▬she couldn't win. 

     All Nina wanted to do was make sure her grades stayed consistent to make sure she got into M.I.T., which seemed like the only option she had left. N.Y.U. could no longer be her dream, and yet, right now, as she tried to listen to her Biology teacher and ignore the whispers from her classmates that sat around her ... it seemed like the least of her problems. Nina couldn't even be a teenager anymore. She wasn't even her own person; she seemed to belong to everybody else. They seemed to think they could take pictures of her, and videos of her, and say all of these different things, and invest themselves in her relationships and her life▬without even asking.

     Nina wasn't an angry person. She wasn't mean. She wasn't anything but a kind and gentle person▬she loved that about her. She never wanted to not be kind and caring. But by the end of the first week of school, she heard some sophomore scoff to her friend as she walked with Peter down the corridor. What she whispered was more than just calling Nina a slut▬she went into great detail about what she and Peter did that was more than inappropriate.

    No one was expecting it. Nina had spun on her heel and stormed over to the girl whom she didn't even know and snapped. "Hey!" the girl glanced up, surprised. "Hey, you wanna say that again?" Nina got right up into her face▬the students in the school hallway went dead silent. They got their phones out to record. She didn't care. Nina didn't even hear or notice Peter trying to stop her. She just shoved him off and pointed a finger at the sophomore girl with an unlikely ruthless venom on her tongue.

    "Go on," she taunted her. "Say what you said to your friend to my face. And I'll tell you exactly what we did▬that way the whole school will know you're just some shit-talking bitch!"

     The girl frowned at her. She leaned back, shocked. "You're crazy!" she cried out. 

    "I'm crazy?!" Nina had lost it. She knew she had lost it. She was furious after everything that has happened in just a single week. She shoved the girl slightly and everyone in the hallway gasped, starting to talk in excited murmurs. "I'm the crazy one?!"

     "Whoa▬" Peter pulled her away and she let him, breathing heavily through her nose with a furious glare. "Hey, hey▬"

     Some random guy not far away snickered to his friend and muttered. "I love it when girls fight, it's so hot▬"

     Nina spun to him and threw up her middle finger. "Go and fuck yourself over it, then!"

     She stormed off down the corridor after that. There was a mixture of applause and laughter while others whispered; the phones followed her until she was gone, Peter rushing after her. 

     As soon as he caught up, he took her arm. He gripped it strong enough that she couldn't shove him off, even if she tried. "Hey▬" His voice was gentle though, and her anger simmered for a moment. She met his gaze, and he looked very concerned. "Come on..."

     She pursed her lips, but followed him, her frustration and anger starting to turn into hot tears that she forced to keep in when his hand gently brushed down from her elbow to take her hand once again. 

     He took her to a place they had found on the first day of school. They climbed up the staircases hidden behind a door; wrapping around until they reached the top of the school building. No one came up here, hidden in between the Biology and Engineering rooms where there was the whir of the air conditioner and the outside ventilation system connected to the labs. They had a perfect view of the grounds behind the school, watching students spend the rest of their lunch outside; and none of them saw them up here. And they loved it. 

    Nina and Peter sat down, huddled together with their textbooks and notebooks in front of them▬and finally, they found peace. 

    Peter squeezed Nina's hand, noticing the way she had grown tearful. "You okay?" he asked her softly. 

    "I didn't mean to do that," she said, her throat closing up with sudden shame. "I▬I didn't mean to do that. I just ... I am so sick of▬of what people say about me..."

    She didn't see Peter's face fall▬or the guilt that he held, clouding the gentle gaze in his eyes. Nina took a deep breath and shook her head. "I don't▬I never did anything to them and yet ... they hate me? I ... why do people hate me? I try so hard▬and no matter what I do, they can't seem to find anything to like about me anymore."

     "I like you," Peter muttered. It seemed fruitless to say it, but he did anyway, especially when he saw her head hang and hear the sniffle as she tried to push back her tears. "I really like you."

     "We've known each other since first grade, Pete," she mumbled. "You're supposed to say that."

     "Exactly," Peter squeezed her hand and she met his gaze. "Exactly▬I've known you for ages, which means if anyone should know if there is anything not to like about you, it would be me. But I like you. Despite all of that, I still like you so much." Her brows knitted upwards, tearful. "I like your optimism, I like your jokes, I like how you're really kind and understanding and how you're super smart. I like how you liked me before I became Spider-Man, and you like me after you found out. I like how you're obsessed with hot chocolate," she managed a chuckle at that, "and ... and I just like everything about you. I always have. And you're really pretty▬" he added, chuckling too. "I▬I mean, you're super pretty..."

     Nina looked down at their hands and started to fiddle with their fingers, blushing. "I ..." she glanced back up at him shyly as she mumbled, as well: "... I think you're super pretty, too..."

     His face broke out into a little smile, looking down as well as he blushed. "Point is, it doesn't matter what they say. Because▬you know▬it's always been us, just us from the very beginning ... so if I like you, and you like me, then what they say doesn't mean anything."

     Nina met his gaze again. "Really?" she whispered.

    "Yeah," Peter said, nodding. "I mean▬I can't go anywhere without someone calling me a murderer ... or▬or saying I'm a liar or a freak ... but you don't think that. You ... I know they're wrong because then I see you, and I see that stupid Spider-Plush▬" they chuckled again, "▬and I know that at least there's one person in the crowd that believes in me ... and that person is you, and that's always enough."

     She watched him for a long moment, her heart swelling in her chest as she realised he was right. All Nina needed to know was that Peter liked her▬he always liked her; and he has always been there for her, since the very beginning. Nina leaned in and kissed him. One of his hands lifted up to play with the broken pendant of the necklace he had given her before holding her close by her cheek. 

    For the strangest moment, Nina thought about all those horrible dreams she'd have▬all of the tragedy and the death and the way they'd make her scream and cry. They told her, every single time, that somehow, she and Peter weren't destined to be happy. She didn't know whether they were true, as of yet▬and she believed she was perfectly happy in ignoring the possibility that they could be. Because right now, she didn't feel like they were meant for tragedy. Nina was happy here, with him. They've always had each other, through thick and thin, and they will always going to have each other. She knew it. If this was just another dream, Nina realised that this one was going to be the dream with a happy ending. 

*ೃ༄

    a/n: i'm like not a fan of real-life fics at all - like i'm against writing a real person and pretending to know how they act or their relationships or place them in scenarios as themselves, who we don't even know - it doesn't sit well with me, even if it is a fanfic 'and its not real'. especially if it's a real person x oc romance.

     that said i cannot stop imagining nina as if she was actually a part of the series and is thrown into the chaos that is the spider-gang interviews (especially the nwh era). so now i feel like a hypocrite. 

     so, context said, here's me being a little bit of a hypocrite and just feeling like if nina was in the movies, her and tom would be too fukin chaotic and just sweet, cute besties.

     let's just ... in full disclaimer that the idea is all fun and games and not at all to be taken seriously ... i just imagine nina in every interview from the movies i- 

     and that is all I'll say before i go and put my head in a bucket of water to cleanse myself. i got it out of my system now, i'm fine. 

     (anyway, nina popped off! like she's better than me i would have rage-thrown shit from the first day). 

    (minimal editing).

    (also, next chapter i'm so creating some updated 'camera roll' graphics because i loved doing that).