chapter twenty-eight
promises he can't keep

    NINA HEARD PETER come into her room. She had tried to sneak back inside, tried to step away from her parents' worried words and stern talkings to talk to him, to see him. She heard the news, she heard what happened to Gwen's father. Nina heard and saw all of that, watching with tears in her eyes and her best friend's heart with her own. But when the fire escape creaked, she couldn't do anything when her father stood up to check it. When he told her to stay put and walked into her room, and she knew then and there that he had figured it out. He had known all along. Nina had cried, turning to her mother to do something, but she just held her close, shushing her gently with her hand running down her hair, keeping her at her side while her father was in Nina's room with Peter━and she tried to hear what they talked about, but she couldn't. It was an aching, terrible experience that gnawed at her stomach and chest.

    And when he walked out, Nina rushed forwards. No one stopped her this time, and she surged into her bedroom, heart racing. Peter was there, in the chair, slumped, bruised, bloody and tearful. He looked like a mess, but Nina was just glad he was okay.

    He managed to stand up, leaning almost completely on the arm of the chair to keep his bad leg rested. Nina hurried forward, gently hugging him in his Spider-Man suit, not wanting to think what her father said, just to breathe in this moment that he was okay. And he was alive. And they were okay.

    "Thank god," she whispered, choking back a sob.

    Peter raised his fingers and tenderly tucked her hair off her face, but Nina felt like something was off. There was a sadness to it, a hesitance━one that made her pull back and frown at him, confused.

    "What is it?" asked Nina, her voice small.

    Peter Parker swallowed back something in his throat. He set his jaw and looked down, not meeting her gaze. Nina's eyes followed his movements, confused. "What?" she asked again, throat beginning to close up━as if it knew what was going to happen before she did.

    Her boyfriend took a sharp breath through his nose. He winced, gripping the edge of the chair. Nina rested a hand on his chest, worried. "Maybe you should sit down," she told him. "You ... I'm sorry about my Dad, I━I promise I didn't tell him. He just━he just walked in and I tried to stop him but I couldn't and━"

    Peter brushed more of her hair out of her face as she spoke, watching her ramble with something that looked more than just pain in his eyes. He blinked back tears, but she barely noticed.

    "━and I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, and I hope he wasn't hard on you, and you must be in so much pain━"

    "I can't do this."

    His whisper caught her off guard.

    Nina stopped mid sentence, eyes shooting back towards his in surprise. For a second, she thought she hadn't heard him. Her heart seemed to drop. "What?" she let out in a breathless murmur.

    Peter's brows knitted together. He wasn't looking at her. He sniffled. Nina's own brows furrowed, something starting to settle in her. He couldn't meet her gaze━or maybe he refused to, she didn't know. She just stood there, staring as he shook his head and pursed his lips, taking a step back so that his hand fell away from her shoulder.

    "I━I can't do this," he said again, soft but surer this time. "I━I'm sorry. I━I can't ... uh ..."

    Nina felt her stomach twisting. It was dawning on her. She felt a lump forming in her throat. "What━" She was starting to find it hard to speak. "What are you saying?"

    Peter took a determined breath. His eyes were rimmed with red. He forced himself to look at her, and Nina felt like she had been shot with his gaze. "I can't see you anymore. I━I can't."

    Those words stung. They stung deep inside her; right to the pit of her stomach where she felt sick. She thought he was going to take it back. That he'd make it like some sick, horrible joke, and laugh at her face, and she'd be furious with him but she'd forgive him because this wouldn't be true. But Peter wasn't like that. She knew he meant it.

    Nina's throat began to hurt. She took another step back, already feeling her eyes brim with tears as Peter looked away yet again. He couldn't even look her in the eye. Here he was, breaking up with her, and his gaze was focused everywhere else. Here she stood, feeling some part of her break with them, like she had hit the ground, and shattered, and he was keeping his eyes fixed on his scuffed shoes.

    It hurt almost more than his words did━no, it did.

    Because it made her feel like it was nothing. That this was nothing. That she was nothing. That they had been nothing.

    "Y━You can't say that," croaked Nina, still not wanting to believe it. Even with tears in her eyes, ready to fall, she was clinging on. Desperately clinging on. "You━You don't mean it. You ... you can't say that."

    Peter kept his mouth clenched shut. A tear fell down his cheek. He still wouldn't look at her. She waited for him to say something━anything. But he didn't. He just stood there, blocking her off like some cold, stone statue.

    Nina bit back her want to cry. Clenching her hands, she spun on her feet towards the door, not wanting him to see the moment she'd fall. He couldn't do that. After everything, how could he do that?

    A realisation hit her. She stopped right by her door, glancing out to the lounge room where she saw her parents sitting rather still. Her father's back was to her, but she knew he was listening. They were both listening.

    Nina's chest flared with a broken fury.

    Turning back around, she said to Peter sadly, "He made you promise, didn't he? To stay away from me. So I'd be safe?"

    Peter Parker still didn't say a word. But Nina knew. She knew that she was right.

    And so, she turned her back again and left her room. But this time, she did not look back.

*ೃ༄

    THE HALLS OF school weren't quiet, but they felt like it. Whispers of what happened on Homecoming night━an assault, Spider-Man stealing Flash's car, the trashing of the school buses, Liz's father being the Vulture, it was all anyone could ever talk about in hushed mutters to each other. It's been a week, and the truth had twisted so much it wasn't the truth anymore. Nina heard them all, listened to each one, knowing the truth with a bitter tongue she never spoke. She sat in class, alone without Felicia, who was recovering at home, in more ways than one.

    The funeral wasn't much. They couldn't find her father's body▬nothing more than a bloody dagger. Nina wondered how they managed to get a weapon, and how they managed to kill Felicia's dad in a place with such high security it was supposed to make anything impossible. Nothing much was left to his family, and deep down, Nina had a feeling Cia's mother didn't want anything. She had buried him a long time ago, but for Felicia, she was broken. Nina had never seen her so numb, as if no tears were enough, and no words could manage▬she was silent, and aching, in pain, and no matter whether Nina was to say anything, or to just be there for her, as she was, Felicia wouldn't have registered any of it.

    Nina and MJ did their best to keep up with the work for Felicia, whether she'd appreciate it or not. It was hard to say what would happen. Nina remembered how Peter had been when he lost his Uncle Ben, but every one was different when they lose someone like that. And no one really knew what to do, what to say, how to act. Nina had stayed with Peter constantly, holding him in quiet moments of grief. But with Felicia? She knew she'd cut herself off, wouldn't say anything, completely let herself drown until she'd barely be able to resurface, except, this time, Nina was terrified that she might not break through the water; she'd keep sinking.

    The Homecoming banners were taken down. The gym was cleaned up and the flyers were thrown into the trash. Nina got detention (far away from Ned) and listened to the: So, you got detention, you screwed up. You know what you did was wrong. The question is: How are you gonna make things right? From a man who was currently a criminal. Michelle drew her in crisis at her seat. Nina handed in her biology assessment and got top marks, but didn't have Felicia there to celebrate with her. Peter taught her to properly use a headset, but she and Ned were suspended from the computer labs, so she came to his place to play games on his computer (and die, constantly). Things were dangerously calm, dangerously sombre, as if they were all expecting something horrible to come around the corner and overwhelm them.

    Nina bought something she was very happy about. Spider-Man's victory against the Vulture propelled him into stardom amongst the people of New York. The world might not really know who he was, the Avengers might not have him in their team, but the little guys of the New York streets, the apartments and the nine-to-five, five-to-midnight, midnight-to-five workers knew who their hero was. It wasn't long before Nina saw merchandise at small shops━cheap faux masks, home-knitted spider-man shirts, one day in the hallways, Nina hid her laughter to see Flash supporting a shirt with the words: I AM A SPIDER-FAN! under a print of a simplified version of Peter's spider logo. But she fell in love when she walked past Mr. Delmar's sandwich shop on her way to Peter's for a homework night, seeing a plump, miniature Spider-Man toy. Soft, knitted by Mrs. Delmar, with large lenses for eyes and the cutest arms. Nina took a photo of it to send to him, and had to buy it, even though he complained and hated it when she brought it with her to his apartment. She kept it at her window now, amongst the pillows. It felt right, like he belonged there. She would smile at it before she'd head to bed, or after she called Felicia to check up on her and received little conversation.

    At the end of the next week, Liz was leaving.

    It was a sad day at the school. Everyone loved Liz. She was bright, and she was kind, and she was smart━the most popular girl in school. Nina used to envy her, for she managed to keep Peter's time as Spider-Man when Nina couldn't. Now that she understood, now that she knew what happened, now that she saw her hold back tears as she said goodbye to Betty Brant who was a sobbing mess, Nina felt no envy. She felt no jealousy, no self-hatred bitterness. All she felt was pity, sadness, even guilt.

    Liz deserved better. Liz deserved to always smile like she did the moment they won Decathlon. And perhaps she deserved a fresh start, too, whatever Oregon might give her. Nina just hoped it was good fortune.

    She found herself walking up to her after Betty Brant had to go, wiping her tears with blonde hair that was unusually messy. Nina pursed her lips, watching Liz let out a puff of air. Her eyes and cheeks were red. She clutched a box of her things from her locker, looking as though she might break down any second.

    Nina awkwardly gestured to the box, "You ... you want help with anything?"

    Liz shook her head, "No," she said in a quiet voice that was choked in the back of her throat, "I━I'm good, thank you." She sniffled.

    Nina nodded. She shuffled her sneakers on the tiles, staring at the love hearts she drew with pen one lesson when she was bored in Health. The substitute should've gotten a job in sleep therapy, because he managed to drone half of the kids who loved biology to a deep stupor. She thought about leaving Liz to be; her mother was down the hall, waiting for her, but she thought better of it.

    She turned back to Liz, and told her exactly how she felt. "I wish we could've gotten to know each other better."

    Liz sniffled again. Nina saw her manage a smile on her face. She was tall━taller than Nina. Tall, and pretty, and perfect in every way, until she wasn't in such a tragic way. "Me too," she told her, genuine. She then wrapped an arm around Nina, pulling her in for a hug. Nina hugged her back. "Good luck," said Liz.

    "Good luck," whispered Nina.

    Monday came around, and Liz was no longer in the school halls. She no longer sat at the head of the table in the library during their Decathlon Meeting, and Nina stared at it, sitting beside MJ with a heavy heart. Her phone lit up with a message, and she quickly glanced down, and sunk a little to see it wasn't from Felicia. 

    Her eyes wandered up, and met Peter's across the table. He pursed his lips sadly, knowing exactly what she was worried about. His bruises had healed, he could walk without wincing, but there seemed to be something about him that was older━more mature. Vulture had left a weight on Peter that he hadn't had before, one that'll shape him. They shared a sombre exchange.

    Mr. Harrington entered the small space in the library they had habited, placing the trophy they won right in the middle of the table. Flash immediately reached out to touch it, but Cindy Moon smacked his hand away, too busy gawking at it herself. It seemed so long ago, Washington, that the sight of the trophy was almost absurd.

    "Congratulations," said Mr. Harrington, taking a seat, "Decathlon National Champions!" He applauded them all with a smile, and they joined in. Nina chuckled, appreciating such a simple celebration after everything. "I'm gonna have to put this back in the trophy case, soon, but, just for motivation right now at this practice. I'm a little ahead of the game, but we will need a new team captain next year. So, I am appointing ..." his eyes scanned them all. Cindy sat up straighter. Flash elbowed Abe Brown to make him let out a small ouch! and duck sideways. MJ rolled her eyes at them all, just scribbling random things in her notebook, "... Michelle!"

    Her eyes shot up, surprised. Nina glanced at her friend, a grin forming upon her face. She started up the quiet cheer, clapping her hands vigorously for MJ who blinked, all of it slowly starting to dawn on her. She glanced at them all, unsure, not even quite believing that she'd be a choice. But then she shifted in her seat, nodding and clearing her throat, trying to make herself look as cool as possible.

    "Uh━thank you," she muttered as they continued to clap. Nina smiled at her. "Thank you. Uh━um━" she drummed her fingers on her notebook, and then, made a quick decision, "━my friends call me MJ."

    Nina surged with pride.

    Ned tilted his head, brows furrowing a little as he asked her, "I ... I thought you didn't have any friends?"

    MJ stammered for a second. She flushed, finding it hard to look any of them in the eye. "I ... uh ... I didn't ..." But I do now, she kept to herself. Nina saw a small smile on her face.

    Across the table, Peter's phone lit up. He frowned, pulling it out of his pocket to quickly check. His eyes widened, confused, "I ..." he was already starting to shuffle off his chair, "... I gotta go."

    "Hey, where you going?" MJ demanded, eyeing him with a suspicious glance.

    Peter pursed his lips, not expecting her to say anything. "Uh ...?" He pointed in the general direction of ... nowhere. Nina bit back her amused chuckles, looking down at her nails.

    Michelle set her elbows onto the table, leaning forward to say, "What are you hiding, Peter?"

    He stared at her, speechless.

    It was an awkward, tense silence until MJ broke it with a snort. She shook her head, chuckling at his reaction, "I'm just kidding. I don't care. Bye." And like that, no one cared where Peter might be going. He slowly stepped out of his chair, a bit incredulous.

    As he left, and as MJ had them open up their Physics books, Nina looked up to catch his eye across the library. He glanced back at her as he opened the door, and waved the phone at her. Gotta swing, he mouthed. She bit back her smile, replying back a subtle, Then go get 'em, Tiger.

    He knew what she said. And she saw him smile back warmly without the mask. She saw the way Peter Parker's eyes glinted before he walked out of the library, leaving Nina watching him go with a small breathless sigh. Things were different now, and some things were the same. But Nina Hart also knew that there was a lot between her and Peter Parker that was going to change, too. This was a new chapter in a book that was just theirs, and Nina was excited to see where it might take them.

*ೃ༄

    SHE FELT THE wind in her hair; a sad, gentle whisper as she stood through the service for Harry's father. Nina kept her eyes cast low, her lips sealed shut beside Mary Jane as she listened to the words Harry spoke, choked up with desperation, loneliness and revenge on his tongue, wishing for an answer that wasn't going to come to him. The service should've been beautiful, and sad, but all Nina felt was an ache for the boy left behind. She was just glad that throughout it all, after all these years, Norman Osborn had not managed to taint Harry's mind━that sweet, cheeky boy was still in there, and maybe he'll resurface again, one day.

    There were speeches, not many, but some. Harry watched his father be buried in the ground, and he promised Spider-Man his revenge, and he told Peter that all he had left was him. Nina watched them: two boys now without fathers, and they clung onto each other as brothers instead.

    The ceremony came to an end. People left, Mary-Jane said some words to Harry and rubbed his back before she had to leave, too. He stayed by his father's grave, standing still with red-rimmed eyes. Nina wondered whether she should say anything to him, but at the tense rigid stance he held in his shoulders, she realised he wanted to be alone. And perhaps the last person he wanted to talk to was her right now.

    It hurt, but this wasn't about her.

    So, Nina left him there, and went searching for the other young man who had disappeared off. She followed the trail she knew he'd go to. Memories resurfacing to the other funeral he attended just a year ago.

    Peter Parker gazed down at the small gravestone, hands in his coat pockets. Ben Parker said the stone, Beloved Husband and Uncle. The man who had died trying to do the right thing. A man the universe decided to not just take away his brother, but also himself. Who left the people he never wanted to, forcefully, and terribly.

    Nina wondered whether Peter knew she was approaching him. He made no sound, but also made no move to stop her as she stood beside him. The wind drifted the skirts of her black dress and her hair. Together, they stood in a sombre silence.

    She glanced briefly at him beside her. He looked troubled, like he wished Uncle Ben was here to give him advice, his shoulders weighing down by something unseen. Nina pursed her lips. Carefully, her fingers stretched outwards towards his. Their pinkies brushed before she linked her fingers through his, squeezing his hand comfortingly━warm in the cool air.

    Finally, she whispered, "You must miss him."

    It was stupid. Of course, he missed him, but it was the only thing she could think of saying in a silence that felt like it should be gently broken.

    But he turned to her, and Nina met his gaze. They shared a sad, but soft exchange. "Yeah," Peter murmured, "everyday."

    She nodded. Nina's never seen Peter dressed up in a suit, and for such a mournful time, he looked handsome in a polished, and yet rugged way: a normal boy just walking down the street, but as Nina's gotten to know him, properly━finally━he's become perhaps the most beautiful person she's met.

    Hesitant, she stepped in closer. Letting go of his hand, Nina slowly wrapped her arms over his shoulders, a little taller than him in her heels. Peter sighed, setting his chin on her shoulder and enveloping her arm in a hold so warm. She didn't know how to explain it, but Nina just knew that there was something about his arms around her that made her feel as if she could fall asleep in them, safe and cared for.

    And that what Peter's always done. He's always taken care of her.

    Nina closed her eyes, relaxing. She heard him say, "It's been so hard without him." She hugged him tighter at that, thumb gently brushing the back of his neck.

    "I think he'd be proud of you," she told Peter, "very much."

    Peter's nose dropped to the crook of her neck, "I hope so," his words were muffled into her jacket. "He always seemed to know what was right."

    Nina pulled away, hands lingering on his shoulders. They gazed at each other, and Peter managed to give her a kind smile despite it all, like the sight of her was enough to give him strength to do so.

    That was the smile she thought of as she fell. That made her terrified that she'd never see him again. But she had been given the chance to. The universe had given her enough luck for this chance ... and now, Nina didn't want to waste it. It gave her courage.

    "I have to tell you something," she said suddenly.

    Peter's brows furrowed slightly, but he nodded, listening. Nina realised that this was it. And perhaps it was a horrible time, but she now knew that maybe if she walked across the road, a car could come swerving out. Maybe if she left her apartment to go get groceries, some gangs of men could come out to attack her. She knew that the impossible could happen to take everything away, and Nina realised that there were some things in life that just can't go unsaid, because if they do, maybe you'll never get the chance to say them ever again.

    So, she took a deep breath and began, nervous. "Um ... when I was up there, and ... and I thought I was going to die. I remember thinking━well, apart from naturally calculating how hard I would hit the ground━" Peter chuckled at that. It made her nerves fall away ever-so-slightly, "━I was thinking about who ... who I wouldn't get to see again. Who I wouldn't get the chance to say goodbye, and say everything I wanted to say. And ... it wasn't who I thought it would be."

    Nina fiddled with her fingers, watching them and trying to figure out the right way to say this. But there never was. It just ... happened. "I realised that ... this whole time, what I've been looking for, it had been right in front of me." She smiled, and pushed herself to meet Peter's eyes again. She blushed. "I ... I was thinking of you."

    Something in Peter's eyes lit up. His breath hitched. "R━Really?" he asked her, and she chuckled at his surprise.

    Nina surged forward and cupped his cheeks, heart pounding. "You've always been there for me," she said. "A━And I'm sorry I didn't see until now, and that maybe I've been taking you for granted but I won't anymore. And you don't have to say anything, or do anything, I just ... I just want to say this, incase something else happens and I'll lose it. I just ... I just want you to know."

    He smiled. She let out a breath, a weight lifting from her chest in relief to feel him tuck her hair behind her ear and off her face. Peter looked like he wanted to say something, or do something, and despite what she said, Nina was pleading for him to do so. But then, the smile fell off his face, as if realising something. Her stomach dropped, knowing that look all too well on anyone.

    Peter Parker swallowed back what looked to be tears. He hung his head slightly, hand falling away from her cheek. "I can't," he whispered.

    Nina watched him, confused, "You can't what?"

    He set his jaw. Peter sighed, "Tell you," he said, "everything, I mean ... there's so much to tell, I ..."

    Her hand fell, too, resting on his shoulder. Nina started to feel like she knew where this was going. "Tell me what?"

    Peter pursed his lips, "I want you to know," he began, "that I will always be there for you. I will always be there to take care of you. I promise you that. But ..." he sighed and Nina nodded, feeling a lump grow in her throat. She did know where this was going. "As ... as a friend. That's ... that's all I have to give."

    Nina fought back tears. He was, too, and it confused her. That's all I have to give, perhaps meant something more. Like another promise she didn't quite know at this moment in time.

    But she didn't fight it. She didn't question it. If Peter was only in Nina's life as her friend, then that was enough in itself. "Okay," she managed in a quiet voice. "As long as━" She swallowed the lump in her throat, "━as long as you know that I'll be there for you, too, Peter Parker. No matter what. I promise that, too."

     Peter Parker smiled. "Thank you, Nina Hart," he whispered.

    Then, he stepped back and away. Nina watched him go, marching through the fields of the cemetery like a lonely soldier.

*ೃ༄

    SHE REFUSED TO talk to him, but that didn't mean she couldn't stop staring at him. Across the hall, across the classroom. Nina wanted to say something to him, anything, but she wouldn't let herself. Her bitterness rose, she remembered the night where he broke up with her━broke her apart after everything they had been through. She watched him chuckle, nervous at Flash who passed by, supporting a Spider-Man shirt that would've made Nina smile if she didn't slam her locker and storm past. Looking at him hurt, but she still looked at him all the same.

    Weeks passed by. Gwen's father's funeral was held and everyone attended. They shot rifles into the air, showcased a flyby of police helicopters and said speeches that were so heartbreaking, it was impossible not to cry. Peter wasn't there. Nina had searched for him, gazing up at the tops of the church under her umbrella, expecting to see a flicker of red, but she never did.

    She got to keep her internship at OSCORP even with Dr. Connors sentenced to jail. Nina kept working tirelessly, her mind spinning with assessments, studying and work to keep it away from everything else. To keep her from checking her window incase Peter decided to visit, to call him up and argue that she deserved to make her own choice. To stop herself from remembering every kiss, every chuckle, every smile and every promise he made, treasuring her like she was the one thing in this entire world that made sense to him. To stop herself from remembering that she had felt the same way in such a short time.

    But despite it all, Nina kept her window open, she kept gazing at him when she thought he didn't see, she kept remembering it all to the point it made her sick to the stomach. It was impossible to forget Peter Parker, and she wanted to hate him for it, but she never could.

    It was a month before he spoke to her again. Nina kept her window open that entire time, her eyes wandered, searching for him day to day, until he noticed and she'd turn away. She was angry, and she was hurt, but she was also hanging on some stupid thread that kept her wishing for him to pull her back up.

    But no matter his promises, no matter his determination, Peter Parker couldn't stay away from her either. He kept an eye on her whenever he could from the alcoves and the fire escapes. Stopped centimetres from her bedroom window, so close to knocking on the pane to crawl in, just to see her. But he stopped himself last minute, remembering the words her father begged that dreadful night.

    But he should know, that when it came to Nina, he was terrible at keeping promises.

    He was late to English. Stepping in just as the teacher was about to have them pull out their books for the new term. Peter saw her, sitting in that same desk as the day she first talked to him, a pen tapping on her cheek and forcing herself to glower at her book instead of meeting his gaze.

    "Mr. Parker," grumbled their English teacher, watching him choose a desk amongst the students. There were a few he could've taken, but his feet carried him to the one seated behind Nina. The one he took that very same day after his fight with Flash. "Tardy again." He didn't say a word as he sat down, just watching the way Nina went rigid and gripped her pen so hard he was afraid it would snap.

    "Well," sighed their teacher. She pushed off her desk and walked around behind it, "at least we can always count on you."

    "Sorry Ms. Ritter. It won't happen again, I promise," he pulled out his camera and his books, setting them onto the table as his teacher clicked her tongue.

    She gave him a look, both of them knowing it very much will happen again. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Mr. Parker," she chastised.

    But Peter just smirked. Leaning forward around his camera, he whispered to the beautiful girl sitting in front of him, "Yeah, but those are the best kind."

    Nina Hart didn't glance back. She didn't look away from her book. There was nothing about her that acknowledged she heard what Peter said, until someone saw the small, flicker of a smirk cross her plump, rosy cheeks.

END OF ACT ONE

*ೃ༄

    a/n: we did it!! we made it to the end of the first act omg!!!!!! I have so much planned, so much pain, cuteness, angst, drama, the lot!! I can't wait for you guys to read it!!!!

    and since we've made it to the end of act one, here is a whole dump of memes I've gathered especially for this chapter ahaha:

     be prepared for a whole lotta new girl and b99 memes:

    felicia trying to find nina like:

    mary jane buying nina hot chocolate:

     nina, just nina:

    harry at thanksgiving:

    nina and ned before they helped take down the shocker vs. after they helped take down the shocker:

    i think I posted this on my insta story I can't remember past the number five which is completely unrelated but if you have adhd trust me it ain't.

    i also made these a while back. they're like Nina and Peter's camera rolls featuring rly bad manips:

    nina's camera roll:

       (also featuring peter being a idiot whenever she and ned are around)

    peter's camera roll: 

      (featuring a lot of nina lol the poor boi--)

     anyway, thank you guys so much for making this book such a worthwhile to write. you guys literally blew it up faster than any of my other books have in such a short time, and I can't wait to continue into the next act with all of you ilysm <3