DIANA NEVER LIKED FAMILY REUNIONS. ESPECIALLY SINCE SHE WASN'T EVEN PART OF THIS PARTICULAR FAMILY. She tugged nervously at her dress as she maneuvered through the crowd, smiling politely at people, looking away quickly before she could elicit a response. She looked around frantically for a familiar face, someone with whom she could seek refuge. There were only three real candidates and none could be found.

She sighed and worried on her bottom lip, continuing to walk around, listening as people talked about how much so and so had grown and how this cousin was getting married and that cousin just broke up with their partner and how she couldn't possibly be wearing that unsightly rag of a dress. Just a wonderful, generic family reunion.

It would be more bearable if she were actually related to these people.

"Diana!"

She turned around, sighing in relief at the sound of a familiar voice. She hurried over towards the punch bowl, trying not to trample on anyone's feet or get knocked over by the passing family members. She slowed to a stop, gratefully taking the cup of punch handed to her.

"So," she started, "This is the full family, huh? I like your little three person one better." She smiled at Flash, hoping he wouldn't take offense.

He laughed shortly. "Four person. You live with us remember? After five years, you'd think she'd get it through her head, you know?" He shook his head at his cup, as if sharing a secret with it, pretending that Diana wasn't there to hear.

She scoffed, shaking her head. "Why aren't you mingling? You haven't seen these people in years, I thought maybe you'd be excited to see them."

Flash scowled. "Nope. God, I hate my family. They're all a bunch of assholes." He shook his head, finishing his cup of punch and moving to get some more.

"You're not much of a saint either, Flash Thompson," she whispered as she took a sip of her drink.

He looked up, having heard her comment. "I didn't say I was great, I'm just saying that they're not any better."

She sighed, tilting her head. For all that he acknowledged he wasn't that good of a person, Flash never seemed to be making an effort to get any better. Or, if he was, he wasn't that good at showing it, expressing it, or making any progress at all. She liked to think he was a good person, deep down, but over time, it had gotten harder and harder to believe it.

Flash, who had been downing his just-filled cup, caught her staring and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong? I got something on my face or—"

"No," she said, shrugging, "Just thinking."

"About me?" he ventured, turning to face her, waiting curiously. "Is this going to be a compliment or another insult?" He crossed his arms lightly, his cup hanging loosely in his hand.

She chose her words carefully. Despite being taller than the boy, he was still much stronger; you don't get on the football team freshman year and actually get to play if you're subpar. As a result, she made sure never to get on his bad side, lest he decide to turn his animosity towards his family friend and, by some extension, roommate. Housemate, more like, really.

"It's an observation," she said, finally. He silently motioned for her to continue. She sighed. "Flash, are you going to try and get better?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

She frowned as well, shaking her head. "Don't play dumb, Flash, you know what I mean and I know you're not that big of a jerk to think that what you're doing isn't even the slightest bit wrong."

He sighed. "I know what you're talking about, but—"

"Flash," she interrupted, "I know what your father did to you. I saw what he did, remember, I was even there for some of it." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "But it doesn't justify you throwing kids around, degrading them, being a dick. Flash, that's not how that works."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Shit, Diana. I'm trying, I just—"

"Just what, Flash?" she demanded. She forced her voice to stay quiet and soft, not wanting to draw attention to herself nor agitate him. "What, because I'm sorry, but it seems to me that you're not actually trying—"

"I am trying!" he shouted. He lowered his voice and ducked his head, ignoring the looks from other family members. "I—" he sighed, groaning in frustration, "I'm trying, but it's not like I really know how, remember? My dad wasn't the best and, I know you love her and all, but my mom's not been all that supportive ever since he finally got thrown in jail."

Diana just stared at him, at a loss for words. In all the years she had lived with him, known him, she could count on one hand all the times he had opened up to her. If she could even call this opening up, he seemed more ready to slap her, if anything.

"I would get better," Flash said, slowly, "If I knew how. Until then. I'll work on it. Don't expect something overnight. You of all people should know that."

He stalked off, leaving her alone at the punch bowl. His last line had been like a stab in the heart. It hit home and he knew it. She sighed and poured herself more punch, drinking it all in one go.

She now understood why he had been drinking so much of it during their conversation. Family reunions were the worst.

º º º º º

Diana sat with the Thompsons at their table, politely listening to the other adults chatter on with Rosie, her godmother, about their lives, asking her about what she'd been up to and how she was holding up at home.

Jesse, Flash's sister, younger by one year, fiddled with the various arrangements of flowers on the table, humming a tune to herself as she held them up to Diana's hair every so often, commenting on which ones suited her and which ones didn't.

"Flash, you want some flowers?" she asked, holding out some to her older brother.

Flash looked up from where he was tracing patterns into the tablecloth. "No." He glanced back down immediately, as if nothing had ever happened.

Jesse huffed. "Seriously, it's not going to harm your fragile masculinity if you touch a flower."

He frowned, shooting her a glare. "This has nothing to do with my masculinity, I just don't want some flowers, Jesse, thank you."

By then the adults had quieted, watching the two with intrigue. Diana felt very out of place seated between them, wanting nothing more than to disappear under the table and stay there until the gathering was over and they could return to their hotel and she could sleep.

"How's football going, Flash?" one of the older men asked, saying the nickname in an odd voice, as if Flash were still a child, asking him to call him Captain John of the Seven Seas or something else ridiculously innocent.

"Pretty good," the boy replied, "I'm a freshman, but they're letting me play. Not always, but most of the time."

Jesse scoffed, mumbling under her breath, "Yeah, when the other team sucks enough."

Diana shushed her softly. "Don't be rude."

"Flash," one of the women said, as if just noticing Diana for the first time, "How come you never introduced us to your pretty girlfriend?"

Flash and Diana both froze, glancing at each other with wide eyes. Of all the things she could have been mistaken for, of course she just had to be mistaken for his girlfriend. Of course.

"She's not my girlfriend," Flash said quickly, shaking his head.

"Oh," the woman said knowingly, "Of course she's not. You two are just friends." She winked, using her hand to hide her face from Rosie who was laughing quietly, a little too intoxicated to properly defend anything.

"She's not," Flash insisted, "We're not dating, she lives with us, that's kind of weird."

The table fell completely silent. All the adults—there were about ten in all, not counting Rosie—were looking at Diana with calculating eyes. Some wide, some narrowed. All were trying to place her, to figure her out. It was unnerving.

"Oh," another woman said, breaking the silence, "So you're...her." She tucked her blonde hair back behind her ear.

Diana frowned slightly. "Yes...?"

"I heard what happened to your parents," she drawled, leaning forward, "It's just so tragic. I mean, crushed by some building, I could only imagine what it must have been like for you. To see them die right in front of you. Oh, I wouldn't be able to stand it."

Diana took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. "Mhm."

"Of course, the real victim is you, Rosie," the woman said, turning to Diana's godmother, "Having to raise not only your own children, but another one all on your own? It must be such a burden. I can't believe your so-called best friend would be so selfish and place this weight on your shoulders, had she no brain?"

"Don't talk about my mother like that," Diana spat, gritting her teeth, "Aunt Rosie could've said no, she agreed to taken care of me when she became my godmother, and you never knew my mom."

"Honey," the woman said. Her tone was condescending and it set all of Diana's nerves on edge. "That's what makes me such a good person. I don't need to meet someone to know when they're a terrible person."

That was when Diana threw her soup.

º º º º º

Flash sighed as he undid his tie, throwing it at haphazardly in the direction of the chair by the desk, falling face first into the nearest bed. Diana followed soon after, landing just a few inches away. They both groaned into the mattress.

The rest of the night had been a disaster. After throwing her soup, Diana proceeded to fall into a screaming match with the other woman—Aunt Marie, as she had later learned—who kept shouting "statistics" about problem children and drug addicts.

At some point, Flash had gotten involved, doing his own fair share of shouting. Then more people got involved, all pointing fingers and demanded that Rosie get ahold of her children. Jesse then jumped in, shouting for them to lay off her mom, she was trying her best.

At the end of the night, the Thompsons made their way back to their hotel as familial pariahs, Rosie being their ringleader and Diana her second in command.

She wasn't even part of the family.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Rosie," she repeated for what seemed to be the hundredth time, lifting her head up briefly before dropping it back down.

Rosie sighed as she peered out from the bathroom. With a soft smile, she walked over and smoothed out Diana's hair. "Don't be, Diana. You did the right thing, standing up for your mother. I'm sorry I wasn't able to."

Diana didn't know how to respond, so she just shrugged and sighed, her face still pressed into the mattress. She heard her godmother retreat back to the bathroom.

"This'll be a fun story to tell my friends," Jesse said, typing on her phone.

Flash and Diana both looked up to send her unamused looks. Sighing again, Diana climbed onto the bed, lying down, facing the ceiling. Flash followed, lying down next to her.

She turned her head to look at him. "I'm sorry I screwed up things between you and your family."

He turned his head as well, making a face. "Like I said, they're assholes. Aunt Marie especially." He sighed, pressing his palms into his eyes. "What a night."

She huffed a laugh, nodding. "Yup. I think I got into more fights tonight than I ever have in my entire life."

He laughed quietly. "Yeah. And the first one was with me." He pulled his hands away. "I'm trying, you know. You don't know everything about me."

She sighed. "I know."

He nodded. "Good." Then, after a moment, he added. "You were right."

She raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

He smiled. "I like our four person family a lot better."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 05.26.17 )

So! This was the first chapter! I'm sorry there was no Peter whatsoever, but I figured that I'd start out with the Thompsons and what happened to Diana's parents first, if only to just sort of set up their dynamic and how she relates to them.

Flash's character arc will be slow and be very, very difficult, but that's kind of how humans work, so I'm excited to write him. Jesse will also have more development, this didn't have much of her, but she'll show up more later on, Rosie as well.

Also, warning, there will be some cursing within this story. Not a lot, not like in Dexter (man, there was a lot of cursing in that) just mild cursing, the sort that Peter had in during Civil War and in the trailers

That's all I have to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! And I hope you stick around for the rest of the story!