((I am horrible, no? I made you wait an entire month, that's not cool on my part. SO HERE'S A REALLY LONG FINAL CHAPTER (HEART)))

Play it cool, play it cooool. Come on, Sam, you're a step ahead here. It's been like. . . at least a month since that last happened.

Pulling in a deep breath and slapping on a calm smile, Sam lifted his hand to knock at Peter's front door, only to have the thing swing open before his knuckles could meet the wood.

"Sam! What a surprise!" Aunt May's eyes crinkled as she smiled widely, her purse hanging from her left shoulder as she readjusted her hat. Her dressing was as modest as always, her hair pulled back in a bun, yet she somehow seemed. . . different. The twinkle in her eye was somehow more mischievous than usual. "I was just heading off to bowling, I'm sure you're looking for Peter."

Nodding, Sam managed to continue to smile with ease as he raised an eyebrow. "Is he available?" He asked in an innocent tone, tipping his head slightly to the left. He knew he was being a bit dramatic, but he always seemed innocent enough. Hopefully he could continue that streak.

"Upstairs, he's in his room. He's just finishing up with his homework, but it's not as if that would be a problem." The look she sported at that moment was nothing short of prideful, and Sam couldn't help but note the fondness that seemed to ebb from her expression. After a second, she looked down to glance at her wrist before her eyebrows raised dramatically. "Sorry Sam, but I have to dash. Tell Peter I said goodbye and that dinner is on the on the counter." Patting Sam's shoulder, she smiled before walking off, a slight bounce in her step that she'd never been seen without.

Slipping inside, Sam closed the door behind himself, leaning against it momentarily as he began to gather his thoughts. Peter was upstairs. The same Peter that apparently liked him. Even after all of the crap that he'd put him through.

"What does that say about you, Parker?" Sam muttered under his breath, blushing as he pulled in a deep inhale. This was it; The confrontation. Not something he ever really thought that he'd be doing.

The walk upstairs was long, and somehow more daunting than he had thought it would be. But by the time he'd reached Peter's room, Sam was more set in what he was going to say, a bit more confident.

"Who's there?" Sounded from inside the room, causing Sam to jump for a second before sighing. Pushing open the door, Peter raised an eyebrow as he was met with the sight of the raven haired boy. "Hey. When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago, your aunt let me in." Shrugging, Sam gave a crooked smile. "I just. . . I thought maybe we should talk."

Sam nearly laughed when Peter paled heavily, but managed to keep a straight face. That is, of course, until Peter managed to stutter out, "You haven't been talking to Ava, h-have you?"

Sure, he knew it was wrong to laugh, but he just looked so freakin panicked that before he knew it, Sam was laughing and pinching the bridge of his nose, earning a disgruntled sigh and a glare from the other teen. If their lives were a cartoon, Sam was positive smoke would be above Peter's head. "Calm down, Web-Head, I haven't talked to Ava. I just listened in on something, and I thought I would help you out."

"Help me out? I don't need help on anything." Brow furrowing, Peter's eyes narrowed as he looked at Sam. "What did you listen in on?"

"Well, I was in the bathroom when I heard you and Danny talking, and when you got all tense I didn't just want to burst out there and startle you guys. So, I-"

"You've got to be joking." Giving Sam a dead stare, Peter merely blinked once. "Please tell me that Danny told you to say that or something, oh my god, please."

"I'm not that bad with emotions!" He immediately dragged up, pointing a finger at Peter. "That's crap, and you know it."

"Oh my god, what is with people and their total lack of privacy?!" Peter groaned out, covering his face as he began to blush. "I was supposed to tell you all of that, not have you freakin eavesdrop and hear the whole thing!"

"Well, too bad man. It already happened, you can't take that back." Shrugging, Sam crossed his arms before smiling slightly. "Why Danny, of all people? I thought you'd tell MJ, or Harry first."

"Danny is wise and all that. I thought he'd have a better answer than 'wait for it'." Rolling his eyes, Peter leaned against the door frame. "And then they started making bets, and . . . Oh my god, this is not how I pictured this."

"I'm just surprised that someone so smart would do something as dumb as get a crush on me. Like seriously, dude, I nearly got you killed six month ago." Shaking his head, his small smile turned into a full time grin. "How long have you liked me for?"

Blushing even harder, Peter stood up a bit taller. "About eight months," he answered honestly. "And you know what? I don't see why that's a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with it." In his mind, he could just imagine how stupid he looked right about now. He could also imagine Sam laughing and saying that he liked MJ, and her hopping into his arms before the boy shot away into space while the two of them laughed like those villains in those old black and white films. Then again, the second one didn't seem all that likely at the moment.

Clearing his throat, Sam nodded. "I don't see anything wrong with it either," He admitted off-hand, feeling warmth creep up the back of his neck.

"Wait, seriously?" Peter asked, his eyebrow arching as he relaxed a bit. He hadn't even realized how much he'd tensed himself up in anticipation for rejection.

"No, I'm joking, ha ha ha," Sam said mechanically. "Yes I'm serious! I wanted to tell you a while ago, but. . . Like I said, I was kind of a jerk back then and I thought it would ruin my chances."

"Yeah, you were, but that was back then and even then, well. . . . You stayed by my bedside." Shrugging for the billionth time, Peter continued, "I didn't think you'd do something like that. Not to mention that you kind of looked half dead yourself."

"Yeah, I must've. I was freaking exhausted." Laughing slightly, Sam ducked his head before looking up at Peter. "So. . . . What now, exactly?"

"Well, I think this is the part where I hint that I want your number, you don't get it, we talk for another ten minutes, then I finally ask you only for you to say you don't have a phone and you walk away. Or, at least that's my experience with flirting."

"Wow." Scrubbing a hand over his face, Sam laughed. "I was thinking more like, go on a date or something. But we can do that too, if you want, I have awesome avoidance skills."

"Yeah, so awesome, in fact, you bombarded me in my own home about this."

"Yeah, so I avoided you confronting me by confronting you first. That means I win."

"How do you win? You eavesdropped, thats the cheating of real life! You can't just do that."

"I already did, can't take it back."

"Yeah, but I still win, even if it's by default."

"Dude, that's a cowards victory."

"It's better than your sore losing."

Rolling his eyes, Sam reached a hand out and pushed Peter's shoulder. "Jerk."

"Idiot," Peter retaliated, pushing Sam's head back lightly with a smile. "So. . . What kind of date did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, a movie? Dinner? Dinner, probably, I could eat a horse right now."

"A horse? Dude, that meat would be tough and just taste like sadness."

"Wow, you know, for being Peter, you sound a lot like PETA."

"Hardy har har." Stepping out into the hall, Peter pulled the door closed behind him. "Then lets grab something to eat." Nodding towards the stairs, Peter cautiously reached out and grabbed Sam's hand, blindly lacing their fingers together as he pulled him along. "Come on, I know a good place."

Sam had exactly two seconds to be happy before both of their communicators went off, Fury's face appearing. "Team, we have a new mission."

-0-0-

"So much for eating," Nova managed to call out to Spiderman, flying past as they tried to clean up some of the wreckage. Rhino had come back, and right now the two of them were on duty to take care of the civilians while White Tiger, Iron Fist and Power Man worked to take care of the man currently ripping New York apart at the seams.

"Maybe tomorrow. How about Chinese?" He joked, swinging down to the street. Nova managed to land next to him, the two standing as they listened to the sounds of people panicking around them.

"Nah, not really in the mood. Mexican?"

"Ah yes, exactly what I need: edible fire." Turning his head, he flashed Nova a cheesy smile before his senses went off like a bell, causing him to shoot a web upwards and pull. "Move!" He ordered, looking down as Rhino charged through the street once more.

Nova managed to shoot upwards, only his foot getting hit by Rhino's charge. Letting out a small yelp of surprise, he managed to ignore it, lifting a hand as he began blasting at the grey figure. From down below, he could see a sudden movement before Power Man had invaded the center of the street, his hands raised up. Both of the two up top smiled widely when the man was distracted just for a second from the heat of Nova's blasts. The difference in his speed wasn't much, but it would have to do. Within a moment, the Rhino had charged straight into Power Man, his speed dwindling as Power Man's feet dug into the street while his hands stayed firmly gripped onto the man's shoulders. From behind, there was a small yell as Iron Fist jumped up off of Power Man's back, slamming his fist down against the only exposed skin the Rhino possessed. Surprisingly, the villain crumpled with a yell. From between two different buildings, White Tiger ran forward, slightly out of breath but still on top of the matter. Jumping up on his back, she switched the electricity on in her gloves, pressing it under his chin as a silent threat.

"Dang it Iron, why didn't I have you around the first time? This all would have been a lot easier," Spiderman yelled down, feigning annoyance and earning a winning grin from the green and yellow clad hero.

"Yeah, just Iron, I get it. He's the only one that helped out." Faking hurt, Power Man pouted as he earned a consoling pat on the shoulder from the wise one of the group. Eventually the two laughed as White Tiger began to yell at them for losing her in the crowds, also about how reckless they'd been when it came to stopping their newest target.

Watching the scene with vague interest, Spiderman merely glanced over at his friend, not noticing anything different. "Took less time than I expected," The brunette admitted, shrugging. "So, Nova, still up for dinn-" Looking over at where Nova had been floating, really looking, Spidey frowned. Nova didn't look too hot. He looked like he was either about to throw up or cry. "You okay?" He asked, tipping his head to the side. When he didn't get a response, he webbed Nova's arm, pulling slightly. "Come on, down to the ground." Surprisingly, Nova actually listened, letting himself float down while Spidey merely swung, reaching the ground a moment before the defender.

The moment he met gravel, Nova collapsed, his left foot springing up to his hands as he let out a hiss between his teeth. "He broke my foot," Nova admitted, looking slightly guilty as he sat up a bit more.

Spiderman was quiet for all of a moment before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Why do you get injured so much?"

"Because not all of us heal in an instant?" He snapped back, his eyes narrowing.

"Well it's not my fault your Nova Corps thing doesn't give out good healthcare," the red clad hero pointed out, sitting down next to Nova as he watched Iron Fist call SHIELD in.

"Shut up," Nova ordered, putting a hand over Spidey's mask before pushing him backwards, smiling as he earned a small, 'Hey!' while his friend toppled over.

Sitting up and brushing the imaginary dirt off of his suit, Spiderman was very careful to look around. Everyone had deserted the small street a while ago, and only a few were trickling back in, all focused on the white clad girl standing on top of the rhino sized man. Deciding to risk it, he lifted up the bottom of his mask and freed his mouth, leaning forward to kiss Nova once. In all reality, it was pretty much the shortest kiss in history, but hey, it was a start. Nova's eyes were slightly wide as he looked over at a grinning Peter, who pulled his mask back on completely.

"You have terrible timing," Nova pointed out, even as he smiled.

"Yeah, I've been told that before. But hey, it kinda seemed like good timing, so I went for it."

"You're getting all sappy on me, dude."

"Am not!"

"Just keep it together, Web-Head," Nova grinned, leaning over to kiss Spiderman's cheek once before lifting off the ground. He could see a few SHIELD agents coming onto the scene, and he needed to get to Doc Connors to fix his foot as quickly as possible. "You coming?" He asked, nodding towards the Helicarrier.

-0-0-

"You are evil."

"That is so unfair, you manipulative ghoul."

The other three teammates watched as Spiderman and Nova kissed, while Iron Fist grinned like a Cheshire. "See? Told you I could get Sam to tell Peter."

"But you lied to him, you told him no one would win!" White Tiger argued, even as she pulled out her wallet. From the corner of her eye, she saw Nova shoot off with Spiderman in hot pursuit towards the Helicarrier. "Not to mention that you knew Sam was in the bathroom too."

"'A small white lie can provide a rather large truth with light'," Iron Fist grinned, plucking the money from White Tigers hand as Power Man passed over his money with a sigh. "So, which one of you wants kitchen duty, and which wants cleaning the bathrooms?"

((Fin! So freaking sorry this took this long to update, it's just been a really hectic month. I may write other stories that I will be a lot more dedicated to and will actually update every other day, so tell me if there's a prompt you want written or any pairing in particular. And who knows? I may just add fluff to this if the mood strikes. ^-^ Hope you guys have an awesome day and thank you for reading! (heart)))