How to Form a Love Triangle

Everyone had been thrilled to learn that Logan's memories were back. Logan, Pharaoh, Gambit, and Tony all took Steve out for a bachelor party, though they kept it pretty tame since it was likely that photographers were going to catch them. They went out to a bar and had some drinks and played a few games. The girls went out as well to a club for some drinks and dancing. The night before the wedding Kate and Steve slept in separate rooms and arrived at the church separately as well. Although Logan had been a bit grumpy about having to attend the wedding that all vanished when he saw Natalya in her bridesmaid dress. He was one of Steve's groomsmen and Natalya had to stop herself from biting her lip after seeing him in his tux. It was all each of them could do to keep from ducking into a bathroom and locking the door behind them. The sex between them was...incredible. Every night since his return they had spent together whether it be in her room or his. Sometimes it was fast and passionate...other times it was slow and loving. No matter what mood they were in they were both always satisfied.

Kate's dress was a vintage 1940s wedding dress that had been altered slightly to fit her body. They had opened up the back and added a few other details to make it specifically Kate's dress. It had a lace overlay and long lace sleeves. It was delicate, romantic, and very feminine. She didn't wear a veil because they didn't want to hide her gorgeous dress. Her hair was left down and curled gently so it fell in soft waves. Her makeup was soft and feminine. She didn't want to look like anyone but herself for Steve. She wore the perfume she knew he liked as well as the earrings he had bought for her for their first anniversary as a couple. Isabella had loved seeing the look on Steve's face when he first saw Kate. He looked...awestruck as he watched Phil escort Kate down the aisle and he actually didn't hear Phil at first when Phil told him to take Kate and he had been forced to repeat himself while a few of the groomsmen tried to keep from laughing. Kate though hadn't laughed, but she had smiled lovingly at him and the rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch. The party afterwards was huge and went on through the afternoon and into the evening until Kate and Steve finally left to spend their first night as husband and wife in the penthouse suite of the most luxurious hotel in New York City. The following morning they boarded one of Tony and Isabella's private jets to start their Honeymoon.

Steve and Kate were going to be gone for two weeks and it was now five days into their Honeymoon. The press was finally calming down and moving on from them. Meanwhile, Serena and Gambit were continuing to enjoy themselves. Serena had been talking to Gambit about wanting to leave the team for a while and just travel with him. She wanted to see more of the world and to just be with him without having to worry about anything else. She hadn't heard from Peter since his text that she hadn't answered. She was currently in the kitchen of the Tower getting something to drink after a workout in the gym. She was wearing a pair of tight fitting leggings and a black sports bra. Her hair, which had grown out quite a bit, was pulled back into a messy ponytail and her skin had a bit of a sheen to it. She had some music playing on her phone and was singing along to it.

Peter wasn’t exactly surprised Serena hadn’t texted her back. Their relationship did not end well and he had not contacted her at all while he was in Europe. He had come close a few times but the pain of losing her had been just to much for him to take. A clean break was best in his estimation and he had been busy besides.

Coming back to the tower was a bittersweet event. Bitter in that he knew Serena was with Gambit and sweet in that he would get to see her again and also see everyone else who lived there. Peter, since living in europe had changed his look. He wore gym pants, black with a little red with a black under armour form fitting t-shirt with a gym jacket that matched the pants. His shoes were blue with white designer tennis shoes and his hair was still fairly short but more spikey than he had worn it before. He removed his designer sunglasses and slipped them into the cleft of his jacket. He had a new, black leather backpack and luggage and as he came off the elevator he saw her. The form fitting pants and sports bra giving her a sporty, sexy look in his eyes. He set his backpack into the luggage handle then silently padded up to her from behind. With a smile as wide as his face he placed his hands over her eyes.

“Guess who?” he said. Almost unable to contain his excitement at seeing her again, despite how they had ended. Serena was still Serena and she was still the love of his short life even if she didn’t love him anymore. ‘Do you love her?’ He asked himself. But the question had come to late and he didn’t answer in time before Serena jerked in surprise.

Serena had been too focused on making her protein smoothie and singing along to the song on her phone that she hadn't sensed or heard Peter come up behind her. She was surprised when suddenly her eyes were covered by two hands. She knew immediately from this person's scent that it wasn't Gambit...plus he didn't do things like this. He was more likely to come up behind her and put his arms around her waist and whisper something in French into her ear. It was the voice that made her realize who it was. She jerked back in surprise and pulled away from him and turned and looked at him. For a solid moment they just stared at one another. It had been over a year since they had last seen one another and each of them had changed in that time. Serena found herself rather surprised by Peter's new look. He looked...good and seeing him again...actually seeing him was bringing up a lot of old emotions that she had thought she had shoved way down into her heart.

"...Peter...what...what are you doing here?" she said in an attempt to come up with something to say.

Even with the initial uncomfortableness of their reunion he did notice that Serena was absolutely gorgeous! His cheeks flushed almost immediately when her dark eyes looked into his. And those old feelings, well not so old perhaps, flooded back into his heart. He had always loved her freckles. They gave her face, that naturally beautiful look.

“Oh, you let your hair grow out, It looks...nice,” he said quickly. “You’re father didn’t tell you? I’m coming back to the tower. Like a ‘trial’ period for the avengers. While I was in Europe he helped me...through some things,” he said. It wasn't easy to not just smile like a fool at her. He wanted to put his arms around her, which reminded him of Gambit. Her father had mentioned they were together.

“You’ll have to tell me what you’ve been up to. I have some amazing stories. Where’s Gambit, by the way?” he asked in his usual way of talking fast and changing the subject when he was a little nervous or unsettled.

Serena just blinked at Peter as what he said sank in fully. She turned off the music on her phone and forgot about her smoothie. She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at him. "My father helped you through some things? What things exactly?"

Peter had been gone a while but he knew that look and that body language. ‘All prisoners will be executed immediately!’ For some reason though her tone got his back up. “Some...spidey stuff,” He said. “And the rest isn’t your business,” he said as he shrugged. He hadn’t changed his upbeat tone when he said it though. He didn’t want to fight with Serena. He wanted to catch up but her eyes seemed to grow in their heat toward him. Or maybe Tony, he couldn’t be certain.

Serena's eyes narrowed towards Peter but then her father walked in and she immediately turned her attention to him. Before he could even open his mouth to say anything she spoke up. "So Dad, when were you going to tell me that not only have you been in communication with Peter but that he was also coming back to the team? Because I don't remember in all the conversations that we've recently had you telling me this."

Serena wasn't angry at Peter anymore over what had happened. She had long since let that go and moved on. However, she hadn't exactly been expecting him to suddenly show up at the Tower and say that he was joining the team. She would have liked for her father to talk to her about this considering her history with Peter and her relationship with Gambit. She would have liked, at the very least, to have had some time to sort through her feelings about all of this and prepare herself emotionally for seeing Peter again. She was so not prepared right now for this and it didn't help matters that Peter had walked back in here looking incredible!

Tony had several pieces of mail in his hands. When Serena spoke he looked up from what he was reading. “Oh Hi Peter, you settling in? I see you met our chief interrogator,” He said musingly. “Why don’t you get a bite and we’ll catch up later,” he said and nodded for Serena to come with him. He could tell she was angry but if she wasn’t about to be more angry in the next few minutes he’d be surprised.

“Well good morning to you to tiger,” he said as he closed the door then set the mail down on his desk. “Could you be more specific?” he asked and she knew immediately what he was doing. He always said that when he wanted to diffuse the situation. He tilted his head and smiled at her. A fatherly smile he always had when he looked at her.

Serena was not happy. That much would be abundantly clear to him. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her gaze at him. She wasn’t in a playful mood that much was quite evident. “Why didn’t you tell me that Peter was coming back to the team??why didn’t you tell me that you have been talking with him? He told me that you actually helped him out a few times. When were you going to tell me this? Peter and I have so much history and you couldn’t just sit me down and talk to me about this instead of me being blindsided.”

Tony loved Serena. So much so arguing with her always felt...alien to him. Peter had had some real problems of the superhero kind and he had no parents to help him through what was likely one of the toughest moments of his life. He had lent his technology, his help and his advice to Peter. How could he tell his daughter how much the boy had grown on him? Peter was honest and loyal, almost to a fault. Prime material for an avenger.

“So are you really here Serena? I think I recall you saying you and Gambit are going to Vegas next week. Avenger decisions are for full-timers. Not part-timers,” he said plainly but clearly he didn’t like saying it to her. It had taken real effort to keep Isabella from calling her down for not being here. The Avengers was a full time gig like being a fireman. Everyone knew that. Even Steve and Kate had their comms on and the jet could get them back extremely fast.

“Peter doesn’t have anyone looking out for him like you do Serena. He’s alone out there with no one to have his back. He reached out and I helped him,” Tony said. “And he specifically asked me not to say anything to you about that. He asked me how you were doing and I brought him up to speed,” He said as if what he had just said was no big deal at all. "You never asked me to keep you and Gambit a secret," he added. "Should I have?" He asked

Serena listened to her father and sighed. Why the hell did he always have to be right? It was very annoying to her, especially when she wanted to be angry at him. And now she came out of this looking bad. She began to pace a little as she processed everything. She was calming down and Tony would be able to see the real reason she was so upset...she still had strong feelings for Peter.

“When you helped him...was he alright?” she asked with genuine concern in her eyes.

Tony lowered his head but kept his eyes on Serena and his smile changed into just a mild grin. “He was in a pickle but he came out of it alright. He grew up a little I think. The parts of him that make him a good candidate to be an Avenger anyway. “I asked about you often and seemed happy that you were happy,” He said. “I could have told you he was coming but what fun would that be?” He said and winked at her. But he also had a feeling he knew what this was all about.

“It seems to me,” he said as he put his hands on the sides of her arms. “You have some soul searching to do.Your mother didn’t think you and Peter ended on the best of terms. Well, he is here now and I don’t think he is the kind a guy that holds a grudge. Do you?” he asked her for both ways she could take that.

Serena looked at her father slightly when he mentioned that Peter had asked about her a few times. She suddenly felt confused about how she was feeling. She was with Gambit and she loved him. And yet she also loved Peter. Those feelings hadn’t gone away. She didn’t honestly know what she was going to do. She had a suspicion that Gambit wasn’t going to be happy about this situation.

She went back to her room and changed before going to Peter’s room. She stood there in the doorway for a moment before walking in and looking at him.

“I’m sorry about how I reacted. I was just...surprised at seeing you. I’m not angry at you. I’m glad you’re doing alright.”

“I went to see if you were back in your room but you weren’t there,” he said. Peter was sitting on the end of his bed. He hadn’t unpacked anything as if he had been preoccupied by something. That and he wasn’t smiling at her anymore. His face was...neutral but Serena might take it as...disappointed. “I guess you’re staying with Gambit in his room?” he asked as if she hadn’t spoken.

Apparently the lack of information went both ways. Her father did not tell Peter everything.

Serena suddenly felt some awkwardness settle between them. She sighed when he asked her if she was staying with Gambit. “For the most part, yes,” she answered honestly. Things became quiet again and she desperately tried to think of something to say. “How was Europe?”

Peter’s eyes looked pained at hearing what she said but after a moment he had schooled his expression. “Different. The people there are mostly friendly but not everyone likes Americans. The Technical University in Munich was HUGE and very old. I could have used you as a lab partner for sure,” he said quickly. “I liked Cambridge much more I think. For one I could understand everyone,” he said and chuckled. “And I made some friends while I was there,” he said. “They made fun of how I talk but not everyone did,” he said and his cheeks colored slightly when he thought about Sophia. A girl he had gotten close to while he was in England.

“Cambridge has this science festival every year. I did a little networking and met alot of Scientists from all over. It wasn’t all just school though. “Mysterio was a big problem,” he said and didn’t appear to elaborate on that.

Serena listened with genuine interest as he told her about his time in Europe. She smiled a little when he commented that he could have used her as a lab partner in Munich. She actually briefly imagined them working there together side by side. It was a pleasant thought. Gambit wasn't really into science like she was. He encouraged her learning, but he wasn't someone she could go and talk to about her work because he didn't really understand it. She had missed being able to talk to Peter about that kind of stuff and working with him in her father's lab. Her pleasant thoughts about them working together in a lab again disappeared when Peter mentioned someone named "Mysterio." She had a feeling that this was the guy her father had helped him with.

"Mysterio? Who is that?'

Peter looked down at his hands. “Just another Evil guy...I...don’t really want to talk about it,” he said as if he was recalling something very unpleasant. “Look, I should probably get to unpacking,” he said and stood. She’d notice that his eyes were more serious than they had been. As if his trials abroad had aged him to a degree. “Mrs. Stark said she was making cheeseburgers and fries. Will you be there for dinner?” He asked and he had that ‘hopeful’ look she would know well. Serena and Gambit had already made reservations at a very upscale sushi place that was extremely difficult to get into for tonight.

Serena nodded a little and decided not to push him to tell her about Mysterio and what had happened. When he stood she looked at him. Each of them had matured since the last time they had seen one another. However, it pained her a little to see how serious his eyes were now. She rather missed that playful sparkle to them. When he asked if she was going to be there for dinner she sighed a little and shook her head.

"I'm sorry. Gambit and I have dinner reservations that this Sushi place that is extremely difficult to get in to. In fact, I should probably go start getting ready. Maybe we can meet up tomorrow and talk?"

When Peter heard that she was going out he caught his outward expression before it had changed. He had blown it with Serena and he knew full well he had no right to still have feelings for her now. She was with Gambit and that was just something he was going to have to get used to. ‘But we’re supposed to be together!’ That voice inside his head argued. “Yeah sure,” he said and shrugged as if he didn’t care either way. But he did though. Just her being in this room made him feel better. Like he was a different person altogether. She half turned to go and he hurried forward and touched her arm.

“Hey, I’m...sorry things didn’t end so well for us,” he said and sounded quite sincere. He let go of her immediately when she faced him. “I know I...I shouldn’t feel as if there is something unresolved between us but I do Serena...do you?” he asked as if he were almost afraid of her answer.

Serena had turned to leave when she suddenly felt his hand on her arm. She turned and looked over at him and their eyes met. She looked into his eyes and felt a sense of comfort come over her. Having him near her brought back so many different feelings. She could still remember that first kiss they shared when they were both shoved together into the closet at Harry's party during their freshman year. She could remember the buildup of feelings over next year and a half until they finally decided that they couldn't stand not being together. She remembered feeling so happy with him and believing that they were destined to be together. But now she just felt...confused.

She sighed and then slowly nodded a little. "Yes, I do."

They were both met with flashing lights and cameras just to get inside Sushi Inoue. The restaurant was very fancy and they even had Geisha performers on a small stage doing some amazing things with their fans. The music was soothing, some kind of wooden pipes and an odd stringed instrument. There were several famous people in the restaurant including Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth who sat one table over from them. As they were being seated Miley said. “Hey, look, its Serena Stark.” Gambit sat next to her like he always liked to do and he held her hand as they watched as their food was prepared. He lifted up her hand and kissed it lovingly. He was in a new suit and he leaned over toward her ear.

“Are you alright, you seem...far away right now. We could have eaten with the others if you wanted to Serena. I know Peter is important to you,” He said. ‘But he can’t have you!’ He thought.

Serena was wearing a short, black dress and black high heels. Her hair was down and had a tousled, wavy look to it. She wore a beautiful, and very expensive, bracelet and diamond pendant necklace Gambit had bought for her recently. She never asked him to buy her these things. He would just surprise her with them.

Serena took a seat with Gambit sitting next to her and she crossed her legs. She no longer noticed when people looked at her. She was usually recognized almost everywhere she went. She couldn't stop thinking about Peter all afternoon. A lot had been left unsaid between them and she no longer knew what she truly wanted. She quickly realized that she wasn't acting like her usual self when Gambit said something to her.

"Yes, I'm fine," she reassured him. "Peter is important to me...but so are you and I want to be here with you tonight."

The food came fairly quickly and there was alot of it. He taught her about Saki, the cold, the cold, filtered, the hot and which ones were dry and which ones were sweeter. He had ordered them a flight each, 5 small cups in each flight and they each had 5 different varieties. Once she selected the one she liked best, he ordered a bottle of it. They were in a corner booth and Serena sat on his right side on the inner side of the booth. The tables sat on wide pedestals and were made of a very dark wood. Gambit fed her a couple of his favorites and let her feed him. At one point during their meal he slipped his hand under the black napkin that was on her lap. Gambit used his hand to pull up her dress a little. Just enough to touch her middle. There were no cameras aloud in the restaurant but there was plenty of opportunity for people to look at them though most of what anyone could see was obscured by the pedestal that held the table. He felt her get wet immediately and he was very good with his fingers. He appeared outwardly quite casual as if he wasn’t doing what he was doing to her. Gambit was spontaneous like this often and he constantly enticed her to be as well.

“Whats the matter, you look...flush, you want me to stop?” he asked softly.

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Peter laughed at Logan’s joke and to his surprise Natalya did to. He had never seen her so...normal? Was the only word he had to describe it. Steve and Kate were still on their honeymoon. “So when I webbed up the strange weapon with the taser webs...thanks to the ‘combat’ protocol in my suit that I didn't know how to use, it fired all over the place and it was a miracle no one died. The blasts cut the entire ferry in half!” Peter said and everyone but Tony laughed at that. Tony pointed his butter knife at Peter.

“This kid has webs all over the place trying to hold the halves together. I saw him holding them as the webs began snapping all over the place. I got there just in the nick of time to pull his bacon out of the water,” Tony said.

Serena had drunk quite a bit of Saki and was starting to feel rather drunk. Usually, Serena was a happy, playful drunk, but tonight she felt...different and she knew in the back of her mind that it had to do with Peter. She felt Gambit pull up the hem of her dress and start to touch her under the table. This was not something new. Gambit loved the thrill of possibly getting caught and usually she would get turned on enough to go along with him. However, tonight she wasn't in the mood. She gently grabbed his hand and pulled it away and then pulled her dress back down.

"I'm not in the mood tonight."

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Natalya found that she had actually missed having Peter around. Peter was funny and genuine and she loved that about him. However, she could tell that he had grown up quite a bit while he was gone. She could see him glance over at Serena's empty seat every so often and knew that it he still really cared about her.

"Well, it's not like I haven't had to pull your butt out of the frying pan a few times," Isabella teased Tony with a playful smile.