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“And then he said I was the problem. Can you believe that?” Felicia scoffed, gesturing in the air with the fork in her right hand, “What a load of crap.”
“Right,” Peter nodded with faux agreement. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards in a poorly concealed smile, “Because you’ve never been the problem, ever, I’m sure.”
“My fist and your face, Spider,” she said with a sharp glare, jabbing her fork at him before returning to her food.
“That’s incredibly rude of you, Cat,” he quipped, taking his bite as he studied the skyline.
He didn’t know when these unconventional date nights had become a part of their routine, but he always enjoyed them. Once a week, he and Felicia would bring whatever takeout they’d decided on earlier that day to the top of their favorite building in midtown Manhattan: an office building that sat empty due to the outrageous rent the owners tried to charge for it. He and Felicia had an ongoing bet about how long it would be until a new tenant finally moved in, but so far? No dice.
Usually, date night was a chance to unwind in a place that wasn’t their shared apartment, a night where they could have a simple escape from the hustle and bustle of their civilian and costumed lives.
But tonight was not one of those nights.
“Felicia,” He said, turning towards her as he broke the silence, “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Real naming me, Spider? Must be important,” she teased with a sly smile.
“ Felicia ,” he stressed, “I’m being serious.”
She watched him carefully for a moment, mouth pressing into a thin line. Her eyes traced over his unmasked face before she finally placed her food down and turned to face him fully,
“I’m listening.”
God , why was this so hard? He wrote out what he wanted to say in advance. He practiced in the mirror twice . He made Johnny Storm practice with him!
“We’ve been together a long time,” he started hesitantly, fingers tapping anxiously against the concrete underneath him.
“Uh-huh,” Felicia responded with equal wariness.
“And you know I care about you a lot…” he continued.
“Is this a break-up?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest tightly, “Because it feels like you’re breaking up with me.”
“Breaking up with- No!” he exclaimed frantically, “No. No . I’m not breaking up with you.”
“Then where are you going with this, Spider? Because it definitely sounds like the last hundred times you’ve dumped me,” she snapped, clearly upset.
“Oh, man, I’ve totally fucked this haven’t I?” he groaned, throwing his head back before inhaling deeply and grabbing Felicia’s face gently in his hands.
“I love you, Felicia Hardy.”
She paused at that, her shoulders untensing and her own hands rising to rest on top of his.
“Say it again,” she breathed
“Your name or that I love you?” he asked with a soft smile.
“Either. Both. I don’t care.”
“I love you, Felicia Hardy,” he emphasized, bringing his forehead to press against hers, “Which is why I’m asking you to marry me.”
“You…” she pulled back slowly, lowering his
hands but keeping a tight grip on them. Her eyes moved back and forth as she searched his face, “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack,” he murmured.
He pulled a hand out of her grasp, though his fingers itched to keep her close, and reached into one of the pockets Felicia had insisted she sew into his suit after she caught him shoving a piece of paper directly into his suit in lieu of proper storage space.
“I know you have some pretty expensive pieces in your collection, so I went with subtle and sentimental instead of pricey… It’s custom.”
He held the ring box out to her, watching her face as she carefully opened it.
“It’s a cat,” she laughed quietly, eyes shining with unshed tears.
Peter had been so surprised that Felicia was such a big crier when they first got together. She cried watching movies and reading books. She cried when MJ asked her to be her maid of honor when she and Gwen got married. She cried when one of those badly edited sad animal commercials came on the tv.
“Yeah, it’s a cat,” he grinned.
Peter had been worried at first that whatever ring he picked wouldn’t be to Felicia’s liking until Miles (ever the artist) suggested he just have the ring custom-made. That had, of course, led to an entirely new set of anxieties until he had finally been set on a design.
It was smaller and more minimalistic than the flashy costume jewelry Felicia liked to wear out, but still pretty. Most of that had to do with the fact that diamonds were ridiculously expensive , but also because it could be paired with other rings without clashing too much. It was silver, of course, because Peter was competent enough to know that was Felicia’s preferred metal. The band was plain with a single, circular white diamond decorating the center. Just next to the topmost prongs were two silver triangles, giving the stone the appearance of a cat. It was a little cheesy, sure, but Felicia had always liked things like that.
“… Is that a yes?” he asked after another silence filled the air.
“Yeah,” She sniffed, “ Yes , you absolute asshole.”
“ Asshole? ” he parroted indignantly.
“I thought you were dumping me! ” she cried out, “You can’t just start a conversation like that!”
“It’s a proposal, it’s supposed to be heartfelt! I was being in touch with my emotions!” he explained.
She laughed, blinking the tears from her eyes with a growing smile, “I love you, Peter Parker.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you.”