IT WAS OFFICIAL: NED LEEDS WAS THE WORST AT KEEPING SECRETS. Diana was just minding her own business, holding Gwen's feet as she did pushups, cheering on Harry who was racing Flash on the ropes, when Ned's voice echoed throughout the room.

"Peter knows Spider-Man!"

Diana resisted the urge to groan and hit herself in the face; she had to seem as shocked as everyone else. She widened her eyes and looked around, frowning when Gwen whispered, "Didn't he say Spider-Man didn't know who he was and that he only took pictures?"

She frowned; did Peter still sell his pictures to J. Jonah Jameson? She had never bothered to ask him much about it, maybe she should next time. That was also a really good point, she wondered how he was supposed to play up his lie.

She received her answer when Peter pointed in their direction-more towards Flash, who had made a snide remark about Captain America and Coach Wilson-while talking to Liz Allan and her friends, saying, "I met him through the, uh, the Stark internship. Mhm. Yeah, I'm not really supposed to talk about it."

She rolled her eyes. The Stark Internship. Of course. 'Tony Stark just saves everything,' she thought bitterly. The perfect Tony Stark who could do nothing wrong.

She knew she was being unfair, but she didn't have the heart to care at that point because she could see the way Peter was looking at Liz, the way he was talking; she had seen it for weeks. She was the girl he was telling Aunt May about. She couldn't blame him, she really couldn't. That was what made it worse.

"Well, that's awesome," Flash said, making his way towards Peter, snapping her out of her thoughts, "Hey, you know what, maybe you should invite him to Liz's party, right?"

"Shut up, Flash," she tried to call out, but her voice was too quiet. Liz had apparently invited the group a few days before; she hadn't received an invite, though Flash assured her that Liz included her name when inviting him.

"Yeah, I'm having some people over tonight," the senior said, smiling, "You guys are more than welcome to come."

Diana pursed her lips and bit her tongue. She had no reason to be angry at Liz, she didn't. She just hated the way Peter was looking at her, the way his eyes practically turned to hearts. She forced herself to look away, ignoring Gwen who tried to catch her attention.

"Yeah, it's gonna be dope," Flash said, "You should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man." Diana gritted her teeth, balling her hands into fists and closing her eyes.

"It's okay," Liz said and Diana turned to look at her, despite her entire body screaming at her to stop, "I know that Peter's way too busy for parties anyways, so."

"Aw, c'mon, he'll be there, right, Parker," Flash said. As he passed, he whispered into Peter's ear, "I'll be there. Diana will be there. You could introduce her to Spider-Man. Show her that you're the cool guy who broke her heart. Prove it."

The girl didn't hear. Instead, she just watched Peter's jaw set as the boy pass, and his eyes fix directly onto her. She turned away, helping Gwen to her feet from her mat, the bell ringing.

"You going to the party?" she asked softly.

"No," Gwen said, "I can't. Dad won't let me." Her father, while an understanding man, was very overprotective at times; he had a complete panic when she returned home from Johnny Storm's party that past weekend.

"I'll be there," Harry said, walking over, "Though, there's something that bothers me about this."

"What?" Diana asked, a full list already prepared in her mind.

He scoffed. "Who has parties on a school night?"

º º º º º

"I can't believe you're going to your first ever senior party!" Jesse squealed, handing Diana her lipstick as they sat in the bathroom, the older girl getting ready.

Diana sighed. "I don't really want to go, if I'm being completely honest." She didn't want to go see Peter drooling over Liz the entire time. She also didn't want to see Liz being perfect and everything she wanted to be, but couldn't.

She also didn't want to get angry at Flash for thinking he was doing the right thing by being rude to Peter. As far as the boy knew, Peter hurt her. People who hurt his family aren't people worth being kind to.

Jesse pushed her makeup bag closer to Diana. "Aw, c'mon, you'll have a great time! Are Harry and Gwen going to be there?"

"Just Harry," Diana replied, rummaging through the bag for anything she could use, "I don't know if he's bringing Johnny. I don't really care either way, but then I might be left alone." The two didn't see each other often and she wouldn't want to get in the way of them spending time together.

"I get that," Jesse chirped, "I would keep you company, but I'm not invited." She pouted at that, sighing.

Diana scoffed mirthlessly. "Yeah. I don't think I was either. Flash said that my name was added in his invite just to make things easier, but I don't know. Maybe he's just saying that."

"I don't even know with Flash anymore," Jesse sighed, helping her go through the bag, "But Liz doesn't seem like the type to turn someone away. She's really nice."

Diana sighed, remembering the few times she and the Thompsons had spoken to her, one of the times being freshman orientation. "Yeah, she's great."

"What's wrong, you don't like her?" Jesse asked, looking up, "Because you can still be a feminist and not like certain people, it's called being human-"

"I know," Diana said quickly, "I know, I just-It's not that I don't like her, I just-" she stopped herself, pulling out a large tube, "What is this?"

She knew exactly what it was, she had seen it advertised in some of the less formal medical articles she read. It was a type of concealing makeup that can hide even the most brightly colored of tattoos. Some used it to hide bruises.

"Just something I picked up while shopping," the girl said quickly, snatching it out of her hands.

"The bottle's nearly empty," Diana pointed out, her heart slowly sinking, "Jesse..."

"I ran out of foundation," Jesse argued.

Diana reached in and pulled out the full bottle of foundation that had just been partly used.

"I bought a new bottle!"

The sophomore shook her head. "Jesse..."

"Just drop it, Diana, okay?" Jesse snapped, pulling away her bag, "You look pretty, now go. Have fun at the party."

With that, the younger girl stormed out, leaving Diana alone in the bathroom. She stared at the slightly ajar door, her thoughts plagued with worry and guilt.

Flash peeked his head in. "Ready to go?" He was wearing a yellow polo shirt and the same blazer from the last party. At her questioning look, he shrugged. "People said I looked nice. I'm DJ'ing, it'll be great."

So, with one last look towards Jesse's closed door, Diana followed him out of the house.

º º º º º

"Since when did you learn how to DJ?" Diana asked as they pulled up, earlier than everyone else.

"Since all I ever did was listen to music since you left for London," he replied, pulling out his equipment, "Not that I didn't used to before. I used my birthday money to buy this, so I figured I'd actually use it."

She thought back to all the times she and Flash listened to music, all the times he would retreat into his room when he was angry, earbuds blasting music which could be heard from a distance. At least he found a new outlet.

As they neared the top of the stairs, Liz opened the door to greet them. "Hey! Glad you two could make it! Thanks for doing this, Flash, I appreciate it."

"Sure, Liz," Flash replied, stepping inside, "It's no problem, this'll be great." He moved to start setting up by the wall in the living room.

"Hey, Diana," Liz said, "How are you, glad you could come." She was smiling at her and Diana wasn't sure if the question was because her parents died or because she was just making small talk.

"I'm good, how are you?" she asked, smiling back. Most people asked how she was doing in relation to her parents, so she would just pretend they were making small talk and try not to make herself upset.

"I'm doing pretty well, decathlon and homecoming stuff has kinda been taking over my life, so that's why I'm doing this," she motioned towards the room, "Just a destressor, you know?"

"Yeah, I do," Diana breathed. She had been trying to find something to take her mind off things for weeks.

"Hey, Diana," Flash called out, "Check this out." He pressed a button and a voice called out in a slight echo, "DJ Flash!"

Liz laughed slightly, shaking her head, while Diana rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Flash, no, why?"

Liz sighed softly. "It's nice, Flash, you'll do great." She looked down at Diana. "What do you like doing, Diana, do you help Flash with this?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't, uh, he didn't tell me he did this. Or that he quit football. And, um, I don't really know what I like doing. I'm always too busy for that, I guess." Sometimes she just doesn't have any energy or drive to go and do anything either, but she wasn't about to tell her that.

"Honestly, that is so me," Liz gasped, "Everyone is always talking about these TV shows and I'm so busy with all these extracurriculars that I never get to. Sometimes I just wish I could throw everything out, grab some ice cream, and binge something on Netflix."

Diana laughed. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't know what half those shows are either. But you really should take a day, you know, it wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Yeah, I might," Liz said, "I just obsess a lot at times. I have to finish up setting up the snacks and drinks-"

"I can help, if you want," Diana said, unsure if the older girl was going to ask.

"Yeah, could you? Sorry, I know it's so bad to ask, but..."

"No, it's fine, here, I got it."

So there the three were, setting up and getting ready for the party which was going to start welcoming in people in a few minutes. Diana found it relaxing to set up, but her anxiety spiked the moment Liz let in her group of friends, all of them chatting excitedly. She didn't need a repeat of what happened at the last party.

"Harry isn't bringing Johnny," Flash said as he motioned for her to stand by his equipment, "So you can hang out with him. Are you gonna be okay?"

She swallowed. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Totally."

He smiled. "You're a fighter, I know you will."

º º º º º

"Who has toast at a party?"

Diana shushed Harry who was spreading some peanut butter onto his toast. The two decided to stay inside the kitchen and chat instead of dancing and hanging in the living room. That meant that the two were people watching and Harry was being very judgmental.

"I'm just saying..." he drawled, taking a bite. "This is really nice bread, what's the brand?"

"Who are you?" she scoffed, shaking her head. She moved to the side to let another girl get some toast for herself, smiling politely.

"Where are your earrings?" he asked, gesturing with his toast, "You usually wear them. Did they just not go with the outfit or something?"

She looked down at her sweater and jeans, shaking her head. "No, I just didn't want to wear them." She didn't want to feel tempted to listen in on Peter talking to Liz or talking to Ned about Liz.

As if on cue, the door opened to let in two familiar figures, one wearing a hat. She and Harry leaned over to see them better, neither feeling like moving to talk to them. They were whispering to each other softly, looking around.

"Can't believe you guys are at this lame party," the girl who had gotten toast said, catching their attention. Diana recognized her from Peter's table; they sat together, but rarely spoke.

"You're here too," Ned pointed out.

She straightened. "Am I?" With that, she put down the knife and walked away, taking a bite from her toast.

Diana was about to call out something to the two of them when Liz spoke up, moving towards them from the hallway, a red cup in her hands. Diana whirled around to stare at Harry's shirt, trying to tune them out.

"My eyes are up here," Harry joked, placing a finger under her chin and raising it up so she was looking at his face. "You okay?" His tone was softer this time around and she scowled.

"I am fine. I am totally enjoying this party. Everything is great!" she threw up her arms at that, knocking over an empty bowl on the counter. She jumped back, wincing. "Damn it!"

As Liz rushed over to help clean it up, there was the familiar sound of a voice calling out through a microphone.

"Penis Parker what's up?"

Her stomach dropped to the floor. "No."

"Where's your pal Spider-Man? Let me guess, in Canada with your imaginary girlfriend?" An airhorn followed along with scattered laughter from the crowd.

Diana right hand curled around the broken glass, cutting up the flesh. "Flash, you asshole." She jumped when her hand screamed at the pain, uncurling her fist to stare at her bloody hands.

"Oh God, let's get you to the bathroom!" Liz cried, helping her to her feet, moving her quickly to the hallway.

She turned back to Harry who followed quickly, weaving through the crowd. He slipped in quickly, helping Liz find her first aid kit.

"Um..." the girl said, glancing over at Diana who nodded.

"He's my friend."

"Cool," she breathed, pulling out the bandages and antiseptic, "Um, okay, I took a first aid course, I can do this-"

"Liz," she interrupted, "I'm okay."

"Dina, your hand is bleeding," Harry pointed out, motioning to the blood that was dripping all over the nice bathroom tiles.

"I can wrap it up myself," she argued, watching as Liz grabbed a pair of tweezers, pulling her hand close. She winced and she began removing the pieces of glass still stuck in her hand, biting her lip to keep from screaming.

"Breathe, Dina," Harry whispered, a hand on her shoulder.

"Can you put some of that stuff onto that towel?" Liz asked him, motioning towards the antiseptic and the hand towel hanging by the door.

He obeyed easily, pulling down the towel and opening the bottle, pouring a fair amount onto it, waiting for the older girl to be finished before handing it to her.

Diana screamed as her hand stung, nerves screaming with pain. No wonder Peter had such a hard time whenever she had to clean out his wounds, this stuff hurt.

She thought back to Peter and Flash, her heart lurching. "Harry, is Peter-"

"Don't think about him right now, Diana, your hand is bleeding. You can worry about him later." Harry was leaning against the top sinktop, watching carefully as Liz worked.

"Are you friends with Peter?" Liz asked as she worked, setting aside the bloody towel.

"Sort of," Diana said, glancing to the side. She didn't want to be talking about her ex-boyfriend to the girl he liked.

"They dated," Harry said. At Diana's look, he shrugged, mouthing a half-sincere apology.

"Oh," Liz said, surprised, "That's nice. Um, are you not dating anymore?"

Diana smirked harshly, motioning to the other girl. "What do you think."

"Yeah..." the senior sighed, "he's got a bit of a crush on me, huh?"

"Yup," Diana said, smiling mirthlessly, "Surprise, surprise." Liz frowned slightly and Diana shook her head. "Don't think I'm mad at you or anything, it's not your fault you're perfect."

Liz laughed shortly, looking down. "I'm not perfect."

"You kinda are," Harry pointed out, "You're president of ASB, you have a 4.3 GPA, are in nearly every club at the school, and you're planning all of the events and dances and you're still alive. You're perfect."

"I mess up a lot, I don't always know the answers to things, I get overwhelmed-"

"Welcome to being human," Diana interjected, "Just because those things happen doesn't mean you're anything less than amazing because you took on all of those things and you never complain, you just do it and you try your best and your best is perfect."

Liz looked up at her. "You...you're not happy, are you?"

Diana smiled. "Sometimes I am, but...no, not really. Do you expect anything else?" Liz opened her mouth to argue, but Diana added, "I know you've seen my interview because during my eighth grade visitation, you and your friends pulled me aside and told me that if I ever needed to talk during school, you would be there for me and you said that you couldn't imagine what I must have been going through.

"You really couldn't, because if you did, you would know that being pulled aside just to be reminded that my parents died and everyone knew is an awful feeling. It let me know that just because I was leaving middle school didn't mean anything because people still wouldn't know how to talk to me in high school.

"I don't hate you and I have no reason to be mad at you for how someone else feels, but you're right, I'm not always happy."

"I-" Liz stuttered, "I am so, so sorry."

"Everyone is," Diana muttered coldly.

"I'm sorry for what I said," Liz said, finishing up bandaging her hand, "I didn't mean to isolate you, I meant to make you feel safe. I didn't realize how awful it would make you feel, I'm sorry."

"I understand that and honestly, I forgive you. I already did, we're fine, I'm just letting you know that it's hard to be happy when people don't know how to talk to you. Most people just don't because they still think I'm going to have a breakdown like I did five years ago."

"What about Harry?" Liz asked, turning to look at the boy who was staring at the two of them with wide eyes. "How did he know how to talk to you?"

"I was friends with Flash first," Harry explained, "I didn't know how to talk to her, that's why I did." He wasn't going to tell Liz about the therapy or anything about his past, for that Diana was grateful, though still curious.

"Then why don't we talk," Liz suggested, "Let's start over."

Diana glanced at the door. "Don't you have a party to get to?"

Liz shrugged. "It can wait a few minutes. Anyways. I'm Liz, nice to meet you two."

º º º º º º

Their conversation lasted about fifteen minutes. Then they started to hear chanting. Diana was in the middle of telling a laughing Liz about a man she had seen when Flash's voice above the crowd.

"When I say 'Penis' you say 'Parker'! Penis!"

"Parker!"

"Penis!"

"Parker!"

"I'm gonna kill him," Diana growled, standing up and stumbling towards the door, her legs shaking.

"Diana," Liz said, she and Harry following close behind.

The girl weaved through the crowd of people, pushing and shoving. She stopped by the end of the hallway, looking at Ned who had his phone out, aimed towards Flash's equipment and the large group of people surrounding him.

"I'm sorry, Peter," the boy said, "I guess we're still losers."

Diana's placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Ned. Are you okay?"

The boy shrugged. "He's not talking about me, but, no, not really. Peter's my best friend."

"Where is he?" she asked, motioning to the phone.

Ned's eyes widened and she knew he was trying to come up with a quick lie. "Okay, never mind, whatever." She wasn't going to admit to knowing about his secret out in the open like this. "Just...hang by Harry. This might get bad."

"Penis!"

"Parker!"

"When I say 'Penis', you say 'Parker!' P-"

Diana ran over and grabbed the microphone, hurling it across the room, watching as it crashed into the wall and fell with a resounding thud. She whirled around and grabbed Flash by the front of his polo shirt.

"What did I fucking say?" she spat.

"He doesn't deserve your-"

"I don't give a shit about what you think right now, Flash!" she shrieked, shoving him back, "I don't care what you think he deserves or what you think I deserve. Right now, you don't deserve anything either! You never have because you've always been a jerk! But I still talked to you anyways, I still cared! So why is Peter any different?"

Flash tried to argue, but she held up a hand.

"No! You are done talking! It's my turn. He doesn't deserve any different. Because, yeah, he might be a bit of an asshole right now, but so are you. You've been the bigger one for most of our lives! Now pack up, we're going home."

"Diana-"

"We're going home, Flash. Now."

So he packed up. The crowd watched as their DJ packed up his things and followed her out, feeling thoroughly embarrassed and ashamed.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked as they drove back home.

She swallowed thickly. "I'm not mad, but I'm not happy either. I'm disappointed, Flash. I thought you'd be better than this."

He growled low in his throat. "You weren't the one to walk in one you crying on the floor."

"You weren't the one crying on the floor."

He scoffed. "No. But I'm the one who had to leave. Does he know how much that hurt you?"

She shook her head. "As far as I know...no."

"Then I'm gonna keep doing this until he figures it out."

"No, Flash." She turned to glare at him. "Do it and I leave."

He turned as well, his jaw set. "Then pack your bags."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 08.03.17 )

Wow, okay, I didn't plan out that ending very well, I didn't mean for it to get that upsetting, wow, okay, um...wow @ me that was really bad, why? Okay, moving on.

Imagine the gif up top to be Liz at her party being cute and ethereal instead of Flash being a DJ because my boy was not nice in this chapter and I am not proud of him right now. There were no good gifs of Liz and I'm angry at the world.

While I didn't reference it by name, the makeup Diana found in Jesse's bag is called Glamoflage. It's six dollars and encompasses a wide array of skin colors.

Liz and Harry working together is supposed to be a little call towards the fact that they get married in the comics after meeting at Ned and Betty's wedding. They're not gonna date in this fic or anything, but I just wanted to write them getting along and being cute.

That's all I have to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!