I ran to Peter with a wide smile. "Hey, my dad said yes!" I wrapped my arms around his neck excitedly with a smile.

"Wow, I'm surprised," he replied, landing a quick kiss on my cheek. I giggled and let my arms fall to my sides. "So it's just the four of us?"

"Yeah," Peter replied as he shut his locker.

I pulled my backpack further up on my shoulders. "Awesome. I have everything already packed."

Peter raised an eyebrow with a small smile. "Oh? How'd you do that? I only asked you like an hour ago."

"Very carefully."

"Storage room?"

"Actually, janitors closet."

"That's my girl," he replied, nudging my shoulder with his. We laughed a bit as we walked out of the school and met up with MJ and Ned. "Hey guys!" Peter said with a smile.

"Hey!" Ned replied, obviously excited. "Is Kate coming with us?"

"Yep!" Peter replied, grabbing my hand. "That's alright with you guys, right?"

"Yeah!" Ned replied with a huge smile. "It's gonna be a blast!"

I smiled and laughed a bit, nudging peter as we set off walking to his apartment. He glanced up and smiled at me, nudging back. Ned and MJ were lost talking about something ahead of us, so Peter pushed me into the alleyway. I tried to push against him but he was inevitably too strong for me. He pushed me against the wall playfully with a smirk. "Gotcha."

"Peter..." I whined, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Hm?" He hummed. "What's wrong Miss Sorceress?"

"Peter!" I smacked his arm, knowing it probably wouldn't hurt him. "Someone's gonna hear you!"

He chuckled, leaning in and kissing my jaw, then pulling back. "Want a ride?"

I smiled as he turned around. I hopped onto his back and he all but ran as I clung to the front of his shirt, laughing like crazy. Soon, we even passed MJ and Ned, Peter and I smiling and laughing.

We arrived at Peter's apartment a short time later, where he carried me in through the lobby and to the elevator. MJ and Ned were still left in our dust, so we went ahead and took the elevator up without them. Peter let me down in the elevator and kissed my cheek. I giggled and pecked his lips. "What's got you so kissy?"

"I dunno, I'm just excited," Peter said with a shrug and wide smile.

I couldn't help but smile back at him, running my fingers through his hair. "You're adorable."

We both laughed as the elevator opened. Peter and I raced to his apartment. I won, of course, because he didn't know that we were racing. We laughed as we walked into his apartment, only to find MJ sitting on the couch. We both looked at her confusedly, but she just shrugged. "What? Haven't you ever heard of stairs?"

Ned walked in behind us, panting and out of breath. "I'm never.... Taking... The stairs.... Again...."

Peter and I turned to one another and laughed. We could tell tonight was going to be a great night.

-------------------

After we finally settled in for bed, I laid on the floor, smiling at Peter and the others. It was about one in the morning, and all the sugar we had was finally wearing off. Peter even slept on the floor with us, as he didn't think it was fair that we were on the floor and he wasn't. We turned off the light, and I rolled over and went to sleep fairly quickly, crashing from the previously consumed sugar.

I woke up later to someone rustling. I kept still, opening only my eyes to observe. Peter's clock read 3:23 am, but everyone seemed to be sleeping still. I figured it was just my imagination, but then I heard some more rustling and someone breathing heavily, almost gasping for air. It didn't sound feminine, so I figured it was either Peter or Ned.

That's when I heard footsteps and someone walked by me and out the door in the dark, shutting it behind them. After a moment, I decided to get up as well and follow them.

As I quietly shut the door behind me, I glanced around the apartment. Walking towards the living space, I heard someone sniffling, as if they were crying. I peeked around the corner to find Peter sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Tears dripped onto the floor below him. Silently, I moved over to him and kneeled on the floor beside him. "Peter...?" I whispered as quiet as I could as not to scare him. Laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, I tried to take his hands away from his face with my other one. When I did pry them lose, he glanced to me sadly. His face was blotchy, as it was every time he cried. I could tell his skin was irritated from his tears.

"Peter, what's going on...?" I whispered, pulling myself up to the couch and cradling him beside me.

"I... I don't know... I just... I've been having nightmares, Kate..." he whispered back, sniffling again  and crying into my collarbone as I held him close.

"Oh, Peter..." I whispered. "Tell me about them... Maybe it'll help."

"It's... It's you... It's always you..."

"Hm?"

"You always get captured... O-Or held hostage... Or you're threatened... O-Or worse and..."

I gently rubbed Peter's back, though I stayed silent to let him continue at his own pace.

"And..." he continued a bit later. "And I can... I can never save you!" He exclaimed quietly.

I held Peter close, cradling him. "Shhhhh..." I shushed. "It's okay, baby... I'm here for you... I'm always here... Nobody's gonna get me..."

"But-But what if they do?"

"They won't... I've got a big, strong boyfriend to protect me. His name is Peter, and you know what? He could lift a bus if he wanted to. And then he can yeet it at the bad guys and save me. Then I'd be all like, 'oh, Peter, you're my hero!' And the world would be saved."

Peter laughed a little, curling up on the couch with his head on my lap. I stroked his hair, humming gently. He closed his eyes, soon falling into a gentle slumber. I passed out some time later as well.

-------------------

The next time I woke up, I found Peter gone from my lap and a blanket draped over me. I glanced around, reading the clock that said 11:05 am. That's when I saw May, Peter, Ned, and MJ at the table nearby, talking quietly about something. Peter caught sight of me with a sideways glance, then got up and walked over to me, crouching on the floor before me as I sat up.

"Hey," he said quietly. "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good," I replied gently. "How are you?"

"Better now."

I smiled and leaned down, kissing his forehead. "Good."

That's when I heard May's voice from the table. "So, what were you two doing sleeping out here instead?" She gave us a look.

Seemingly embarrassed, Peter shook his head. I glanced between him and May, who seemed to have some sort of understanding. MJ looked suspiciously between the three of us and Ned just seemed confused, but I got up and moved into Peter's room where my bag was, packing my things. Peter followed me, wrapping his arms around me from behind. He buried his face in my neck. I could tell he was still uneasy about his nightmares.

"Peter..." I whispered.

"Hm?"

"You know that your nightmares will never be real, right...?"

Peter stayed silent for a moment, hugging me a bit tighter. "I... I guess they just... Feel real..." I turned around in his arms, putting my hands on his face gently. He looked away. "I just... Every time I wake up... I want to make sure you're okay... and Aunt May... She helps me... She tells me you're fine... But I'm never really at ease until I hug you at school... Or I hear your voice on the phone..."

"Is that you've started calling me late at night?" I asked, tipping my head.

"Yeah..." he said breathlessly, a tear streaking down his cheek.

"Hey..." I whispered, wiping the tear off his cheek. "I'm here, Peter... I'm safe... Right here in your arms..."

He hugged me tighter, sniffling and putting his forehead to mine. He squeezed his eyes shut, starting to cry. I ran my fingers though his hair, gently shushing him and holding him tight. "I'm right here..." I whispered again gently. "I'll always be right here..."

Peter hugged me as tight as he could without hurting me, then let me go, wiping his face. His eyes were puffy from crying. I gave him a small, tender smile, then grabbed a few tissues for him, throwing my bag over my shoulder. "Dad wanted me home before noon so I could study with him," I said. "But I'll call you later, okay?" I leaned up, giving him a gentle kiss and another hug before walking out of the room. He followed after a moment as he regained his composure.

"Katelyn?" He asked after me, making me stop and turn around.

"Mmhm?" I hummed in response.

"I love you..." he said, even in front of his friends and May.

I smiled a bit, walking over and kissing his cheek. "I love you too." I looked at him for a moment before turning and walking out the door, saying a goodbye to everyone else.