#mcu MJ looking at you... | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dixonsbrat · 9 months ago

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𖥔 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄 𖥔

summary ; your valentine’s day takes a turn when what you think is just a surprise from peter turns out to be a lot more than you bargained for.

pairing ; mcu!peter parker x fem!reader

notes ; fluff, some mentions of anxiety, but mostly just peter being an oblivious lil himbo baby! this is a repost from my old acc x

do not transfer, translate or share my work to any other sites.

with valentine’s day just around the corner, it was easy to find yourself paranoid about the entire holiday and what exactly it meant for you and peter.

while for most people, it was a celebration of love and being able to embrace that, for you, it had become an anxiety-induced menace of a day that had you second-guessing everything.

the worst part of all was that you and peter technically weren’t together.

yet, as the days grew closer and you continued to get your hopes up, it was hard not to feel disheartened when he hadn’t uttered a single word about it. leading you to wonder if he had even given it any thought or if you were simply just getting in over your head about the whole thing.

to any stranger passing you by on the street and witnessing just how affectionate you were with each other, you looked like a couple. heck, you had even shared the occasional kiss, sometimes a little more, and on days when you would go to his apartment to study, it was never long before you’d find yourself snuggling in his bed while he tried to do homework over the top of you.

you never really cared to put a label on your situationship until now, and mostly because you didn’t think you had to.

but when the day finally arrives and peter was yet to exhibit any efforts in the name of romance, you were devastated.

“so, he really hasn’t said anything?” mj asks as you head to your locker, having just finished your last class of the day.

“nope. not a word,” you shake your head.

with her brows furrowing into a scowl, mj exhales, “man, i really thought he would have. i mean… it’s peter. the dude is literally the biggest softie i have ever met.”

despite the sadness you were feeling, you couldn’t help but crack a smile at your best friend’s words. she was the only one that knew how strongly you felt for peter.

after all, she was the one to point it out.

“i don’t know, maybe i’m just looking too much into it?” you lift your shoulders into a shrug at the same time you reach your locker.

“well, speak of the devil,” mj gestures towards the end of the hallway where peter and ned had just rounded the corner.

it only takes them a moment to catch sight of you, and when they do, peter beams with a smile and waves before heading in your direction. even as they passed by multiple girls carrying flowers and the various heart-shaped decorations scattered all over the halls, peter still hadn’t noticed.

“hey! ned and i were talking about going back to mine to study for that test we have coming up, and maybe watch a movie. you guys in?” he asks, tugging on the straps of his bag, completely ignorant to his surroundings.

it was like he had forgotten about the holiday’s existence altogether, or he was actively trying to avoid it. but why?

“i can’t. i, uh, i actually have a date tonight,” mj says, tucking her hair behind her ear as all eyes turn in her direction.

“wait, what? with who?” you ask, this being the first you were hearing about it. honestly, you were surprised she had even told you at all.

shaking her head, she looks down at her feet and shrugs, “just this guy. it doesn’t matter. but, uh, y/n is free tonight so… there’s that.”

the second the words leave her lips, peter’s attention returns to you. and you weren’t entirely sure, but it almost looked like he was relieved that you had no plans.

a small smile dangled on the corner of his mouth, and his deep brown eyes softened as they met yours. “oh, okay. well, uh, do you want to join us?” he sort of fumbles over his words.

while it wasn’t exactly what you had imagined spending the most romantic day of the year with peter would be like, it beat having to sit at home alone wallowing in your own self-pity. even if it was with the person causing it… and ned.

you open your mouth to speak when you’re interrupted by ned’s phone.

“actually, change of plans,” he says. “it’s betty… and she wants to see a movie tonight.”

“i thought you two broke up?” mj narrows her eyes with confusion.

“we did… but maybe she wants to get back together?” he turns to peter with hopeful eyes, and after a moment, the other boy gives him a nudge.

“dude, go!” he laughs. and just like that, ned rushes down the hall in search of betty, leaving the three of you dumbfounded as you let out a chorus of chuckles.

“on that note, i better get going too,” mj says once the laughter faded into sighs and points the same way ned had gone. “i’ll see you losers monday. have fun, studying.”

rolling your eyes, you wave goodbye to the girl, as the thought of being alone with peter all night creeps into your mind.

the idea alone causes your heart to fasten, thrumming loudly in your ears as your mouth becomes dry with nerves. it wasn’t like you at all to be so anxious around peter, and so much so that you almost couldn’t think straight. he was typically the one person you went to when you needed things to slow down, not make them difficult.

you try to play off the effect he was having on you as you close your locker and swing your bag over your shoulder, but the second your gaze meets his again, it only seems to amplify.

“so, it looks like it’s just you and me,” he shuffles awkwardly on his feet, tightening his grip on his bag straps once more.

“uh, yeah. looks like it.” you smile, swallowing the ball that had formed in your throat, and the two of you slowly head towards the exit.

the walk back to his apartment is quiet at first, but the second peter starts talking about the chemistry assignment he had coming up, there was no stopping him. though, you couldn’t shake the feeling like he was purposely trying to prolong the walk.

he insisted that you take the longer route, which you never do, and he even slowed down his pace through the park. and as you were passing the deli-grocery, he stopped off to buy you both a sandwich, which wasn’t completely out of the ordinary, but it did add another fifteen minutes to your time.

it was like he didn’t want to get back to the apartment, like the thought of being fully alone with you was something he didn’t want to partake in.

when you do finally reach the apartment, however, he fumbles to unlock the door and almost drops the keys in the process, but the second it’s open, you’re hesitant to even step inside. you had been there a million times before but this time, for whatever reason, felt different.

you wondered if it really were such a good idea for you to be there, to be alone with him when he was clearly opposed to the idea. which was odd considering he had been the one to initiate you going over there in the first place.

“do you want a drink or anything?” he asks as he passes the kitchen to put his bag in his room.

most days, you would follow him straight to his room, sometimes even beating him there, but with how he had been acting, it just didn’t feel right. so you lingered in the living room instead.

at least, until he pops his head out of the door, and with a reassuring smile surfacing on his lips, he gestures for you to follow.

“we’ve got water, juice or soda?” he asks as you enter the room, dropping his bag at the foot of his bed.

“water is fine,” you nod.

“okay, give me a sec,” he nods back, and having to cram past you to get out of the door, his hand runs down your arm so to not squish you. the touch immediately sends a pulse throughout your body, causing you to let out a small gasp.

you were just grateful peter was far enough away that he hadn’t heard it, or if he did, he didn’t show it.

with peter leaving you alone in his room, you take the chance to take it all in like you hadn’t been there before. you drop your bag beside his and slip out of your jacket before falling into a stupor on his bed.

peter’s room had always been comforting to you, though, since the blip, it didn’t quite feel like it was his anymore.

like everyone else that tragically disappeared, peter lost the majority of his belongings, as did you, but he no longer had any of his action figures or comic books. even the nerdy science posters that you would pick on him for, or his lego models - all the things that made peter’s room… his… was all gone.

shaking away the thoughts, you bury yourself in the comfort of his sheets, letting your fingers dance across the cotton as you wait for him to return. but when you move to grab your phone from your jacket pocket, something in the corner of your eye catches your attention.

it was the smallest glimmer of something red inside his closet, and the door was only open a crack, but it was enough to make your thoughts go wild.

was it possible that peter had bought you something for valentine’s day and this whole thing was just a ruse to get you alone with him? were ned and mj in on it? or had he decided against it, thinking that maybe it was too much, and that’s why it was hidden away in his closet?

perhaps that was why he had been acting so strange and why he had been pretending like today was nothing but any other regular day?

however, before you get the chance to relieve your suspicions, peter walks back in with two glasses of water, and when he sees that you had already made yourself comfortable, he draws in his bottom lip as a nervous smile takes hold of his features.

“something tells me you have absolutely no intention of studying,” he shakes his head.

“something tells me you’re right.” you pat the spot beside you, and he obliges, pulling his laptop from the desk beside the bed and finding a movie for you both to watch.

while you enjoyed laying with peter in comfortable silence, watching the film he had chosen, you couldn’t stop thinking about what was in his closet. the tiny sliver of red teasing you from between the slats, begging for you to confront it.

nevertheless, it takes two hours for peter to finally leave the room again, and within that time, he hadn’t mentioned it at all. which only made you all the more curious.

so the second he stepped out of the room, you set into motion to find out what it was he was hiding. and you knew you shouldn’t have, but not knowing was killing you, and you simply couldn’t help yourself.

you tip-toe across the floor, avoiding the creaky spot in the middle, and after a deep breath, you slowly open the door. though, what you were expecting to be a heart-shaped balloon or a cute stuffed animal that said something like ‘be my valentine?’ on the front, was far from what you had imagined.

instead, hanging on the metal rod was a suit. a suit that you would recognise absolutely anywhere with it’s distinct red and black colours, and who could forget the unmistakable mask with its intricate detailing.

then it hits you, and a shiver of realisation rolls down your spine.

setting out a gasp, you drop the suit to the floor and stumble back into the bed, knocking over a book in the process. you couldn’t believe what you had just discovered, and you barely get a moment to collect yourself before peter comes running to the door.

“hey, are you-” he stops the second he sees the suit, his smile falling as he takes in your bewildered state and it transforms into a look of horror.

“peter, i-”

“shit,” he exhales, cutting you off as he reaches for the material and throws it back into his closet as fast as he can, despite knowing that the damage was already done. “don’t look at that. that’s nothing. completely and totally nothing.”

“peter, was that - are you?” you try to get the words out, but you’re still in so much shock that it seems near impossible to do so.

“no. nope. It’s not…” he shakes his head rapidly, leaning against the closet now. “it was, uh, it was a gift from may. she knows i like superheroes, so, y'know?”

“peter…”

“it’s nothing, really. i promise. it was just a-”

“peter…”

“i was thinking of maybe even wearing it for halloween this year, what do you think? you could go as black widow, or umm, captain marvel?”

“peter!” this time when you say his name, he stops talking, realising that there was no way he was going to get out of this. and if he did, it would be a miracle. but you were smart, smart enough not to believe the nonsense that was pouring out of his mouth, and know that this was for real.

his head falls with defeat, and he drags himself to sit beside you. the air was heavy now, filled with worry as he tried to choose his words carefully. there were only so many ways you could tell someone you had a secret identity being a superhero and he had wanted to do it perfectly - but most importantly, not like this.

“look, i - i hated not being able to tell you but if everyone knew who i was then my life wouldn’t be the same anymore."

"but, this is me we’re talking about peter. i’m the same person that knows you still wear star wars underwear, and that you secretly love it when i choose to watch twilight on movie night.” you sigh, shoulders slumping slightly. “you can tell me anything.”

his eyes soften at your remark, and the ghost of a smile tugs at the corner of his lips. “i know, but i wanted… i wanted to keep you safe. there are bad guys out there that would like to come after spider-man and you knowing who i am, only puts you in danger."

"who else knows?"

"may, ned and… mj.”

“mj?” you retort.

“to be fair, i didn’t tell her. she worked it out herself and i swore her to secrecy so don’t be angry at her for not telling you.” he raises a finger to further prove his point. “i was actually planning on telling you about it tonight, but every time i thought about it, i got nervous and i couldn’t do it.”

“so that’s why you’ve been acting so weird?” you ask, nudging the boy’s shoulder playfully as relief washes over you. “and here i am thinking that it was me. the only reason i looked in your closet was because i… i thought… never mind it’s stupid.”

he chuckles, “no. you have to tell me now!”

you let your head fall back for a moment, and after letting out a deep breath, you sway your head back down. “okay. i saw the red through the cracks and i thought that maybe… it was a valentine’s day present. i know we never really put a label on… us… but i just, i don’t know, i thought that maybe that’s where we were and-”

your words turn into muffles as peter presses his lips to yours in a swift movement, and you’re taken back by his actions but you don’t push him off. your body feels electric and you kiss him back with a smile, sinking into it more before he pulls away.

he doesn’t pull back much, and instead, rests his forehead against yours as you both try to catch your breath. your heart thumps in your chest and you’re still so close that you were sharing the same air.

peter had kissed you many of times before, some of them turning into heated make-out sessions but this was different to any of those. this had purpose.

“sorry, you were rambling and i couldn’t help myself.” a coy smile flashes across his face for a moment, before being replaced with a look of uncertainty. “was that enough for you to see how i feel about you? or would you rather i change my relationship status too? or i could just post to the entire world about how much i love you?”

upon hearing the words, you pull away and a shallow gasp escapes you. you weren’t sure if peter had meant to say it, but whether he did or not, it was out there now and your heart pangs inside your chest as your stomach fills with butterflies.

“you love me?” you say between breaths and disbelief in your eyes.

he lets out a nervous laugh as his cheeks redden, and his fingers play with the folds of his shirt. “i mean, yeah… you’re kinda my favourite person in existence. it’d be hard not to.”

“really?”

he nods and walks back over to the closet. “yeah. also if you had of looked in the other side of my closet you would’ve seen this…"

you watch as he opens the closet door to reveal a beautiful bouquet of white and red flowers all wrapped up in bright red paper.

"i was going to give it to you when i told you about… y'know…” he widens his eyes. “but you sort of did that for me… plus, there was also this.”

this time he pulls out a small bag, something that you’d find at a jewellery store, and hands it to you. you look to him as though to be asking permission to open it, and he nods, gesturing for you to do so before leaning against his desk.

“it’s not a lot, and i’ve been saving for a while now to get it for you, but if you don’t like it then we can exchange it or get something else…”

opening the bag, you find a small box with gold detailing around the sides. and when you open it, inside sits a bracelet decorated with charms, but the one in the middle, that you can’t really see unless you’re looking close enough is a 'p’.

after a moment of basking in the sentiment of it all, you lean back and give him a warm smile.

“i love it,” you say, tears slowly starting to brim your eyes as your mouth involuntarily starts to crease. “and i love you.”

“yeah?” peter’s brows twitch, his eyes never leaving yours, and he lifts your palm to his lips for a feather-light kiss. he barely touches you, but it sets your skin alight.

then all of your focus is on him as you stand to meet him, enveloping him in another kiss. hands moving along his chest to fall behind his neck as he wraps his own around your waist and holds you tight. pulling you as close to him as humanly possible.

when you do finally pull apart, he clasps the bracelet around your wrist before you slide your fingers through his, savouring the warmth of his skin against yours.

“so, since you have two identities does that mean i get double the love?” you let out a small chuckle and peter matches it.

“i think i could manage that.” he says and places one more kiss on the tip of your nose.

#— 𝐯𝐞𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 .ᐟ ᡣ𐭩 #— 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫 ᡣ𐭩 #peter parker x reader #peter parker x fem!reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x y/n #peter parker oneshot #peter parker one shot #peter parker imagine #peter parker fic #peter parker fluff

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certifiedlovergirlsstuff · 8 months ago

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request!!: peter parker who has a huge crush on reader and one day r just accidently friendzones themself without even realising that they did? (i hope that makes sense?) then after that u can take it anywhere u want to honestly!! ly <333

ily anon, you answered my pleas. also you know that tt prank where couples kiss and then say “thanks brother” or “love you sis”… couldn’t help but add it for some comedy.

mcu!peter parker x fem!reader

masterlist

you need to learn when to shut your mouth. tripping your foot into your mouth has gotten you into too many situations before, but this one is absolutely the worst one. you might as well be taken to the grave already.

your just a girl. sometimes you say your crush is “like a brother to you” when getting hounded by mr. delmar. it’s a panic move, mouth speaking before mind catches up. and it landed you in the dog house when you saw the way peter’s face dropped at the implication. but you thought he was smart enough to know that wasn’t true, you were touchy and teasing with him. you wouldn’t do that with a sibling, you’re not one of those people.

“mj, i’m a fucking idiot.” groaning into your pillow, trying to suffocate yourself.

she gave an exasperated sigh that you knew was followed by an eye roll. “yes you are, but you don’t need parker.” you heard the flip of a page.

you whined in your throat, “but i want parker!” acting like a tantrum kid. even adding a kick to your feet, your bed springs creaking.

mj groaned, “then clear the air! it’s not that hard!” over your peter parker drama.

you rolled from your stomach to your back, arms flipping to your sides as you stared up at your white ceiling. “but what if-“ your sentence was cut short by a knock at your window.

“say his name and he appears.”

peeking at the tips of your toes you saw peter squatting on your terrace, a hesitant smile with an awkward wave. welp, now’s a good time to clear the air.

crawling off your bed you pushed the window up and were greeted by a cool breeze. bits of peter’s baby curls swaying with the touch, a angelic glow surrounding him. you feel yourself melt just at the sight of him.

“h- hey peter, whatcha-“ “can we talk? alone?”

your eyes zeroed in on mj who was blantanly staring at the two of you, book of no interest at the moment. “oh, i’m fine over here.”

“mj…” “fine. fine. i’ll see you both at school.” packing up and leaving your home with a wiggle of her brows.

“so what did-“ “do you really think of my as a brother?”

you couldn’t help a small chuckle, “kinda funny how you’ve interrupted me three times, but uh, no. i- i don’t see you as a brother, that thought feels gross. mr. delmar was making me anxious.” looking to your fingers as you drummed them along your windowsill.

“oh thank god.” peter declared while cupping his hands on your cheeks to bring your head up. both of you smiling brightly at each other

two months later

“so what do i do?” “just sit there and look pretty.”

a shy smile at peter’s lovely words. he finished setting up his camera and pressed record, you just stared at his side profile.

“you wanna get to her, well you gotta go through me.” and peter turned to kiss you on the lips. a shiny haze covered your eyes then- “love you sis.”

“peter!”

#erin’s blurb requests #peter parker x you #peter parker fluff #peter parker angst #tasm peter parker #peter b parker #peter parker fic #peter parker imagine #peter parker x female reader #peter parker x reader #peter parker #mcu peter parker #ps5!peter parker

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presleyluvschris · 1 year ago

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chilly

pairing(s): mcu peter parker x sick!fem!reader

desc basically im obsessed with sick!fics. posted one a while back for another fandom 🤭 just peter worried.

a/n holy shit im so sorry i haven't been posting lately my loves. my house is currently being sold and i've been running ramped. i wrote this after i had time off work. hope you enjoy.

warnings language, fluff, grammar. (please message me if i missed any!)

@cozytober2023

requests | open 💌 masterlist

It was only October 7th and you we're already a stuffy snotty sticky mess from the sudden drop of temperature outside.

It was cold outside, but the light from your wooden bedroom windows sunbathed the room, brightening your pale complexion.

tissues were plastered all over your messy bed and your phone was constantly dinging with messages from your group chat. you didn't show up to work, or to school that day, and by the looks of your random naps and binge watches on Netflix, you had forgot to call anyone to let them know you couldn't make it, including your boyfriend peter.

you kept coughing which made your head pulsate more as you wrapped your blanket around you and curled into it, squirming and desperately trying to get comfortable.

he was always super protective of you. sometimes it was really annoying but it felt good to know he was always thinking of you. and thats probably an understatement.

you felt sick. that might've been a blunt word, but everytime you tried to swallow your own spit it hurt like hell and you felt your head beating in pain like a heart would pump blood.

you groan and pull your comforter back over your head before you flutter your eyes closed and try to get your mind off the pain in your throat. It burned everytime you breathed which made you hiss uncomfortably. You eventually get yourself to fall asleep (after way too many doses of NyQuil) with half of your body immersed in your pillow.

you rested softly for a few hours before you woke to the sound of peter climbing through your window. you're eyes could barely adjust to the light as your tried to look up to see who it was, but your body was too tired to try and shake yourself up.

he rolled on the floor after falling from your complicated window sill but quickly got up with a groan.

he puffs, dusting him self off as he looks around the room for his girl.

"love?" peter looked around curiously to find you laying in your bed.

he carefully knelt down and shook you slightly as you woke up again with a jump.

you cough. "jesus, peter. you scared the shit out of me." you shift your arms behind you to prop yourself up, as he tucks a piece of your hair that fell back behind your ear.

"sorry," he laughs. "i just got really worried. I came as soon as I could. are you alright? why weren't you at school? or work- MJ said you didn't come."

his smile turns into a concerned perplexed look.

"uh", you sit up and rub your eye, coughing.

he noticed you sweating, and your puffy red eyes and a nose rubbed red.

"are you feeling okay?" his eyes and face look soft for you as his lip pouted a little.

he comes closer to you, kneeling down as he rests his hand on your forehead gently. you press your lips together and sniffle.

"pete, im fine."

"but- you're burning up!" he adds, as you look away from him.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? i could've taken school off or-"

"peter." you look up.

"no." you croak, "i would never let you do that."

He puffs his cheeks and breathes out as he sits with you in your bed. You look in your boyfriends eyes as he turns his head to examine you.

"you don't look well, sweets." he frowns as he kisses the top of your forehead.

"i know", you say as you sniffle and your face starts to tickle a little.

he hands you a tissue as you sneeze in your sleeves. "bless you." he rests his tongue to the side of his mouth.

spidey senses.

"you okay?" he looks at you.

"mhm", you purse your lips.

you blow your nose as he looks at your face again.

"you gonna let me take care of you?" he holds his breath in worry.

you shake your head. "no."

he frowns again. "but you're sick! you're my girlfriend I can't just leave you here." He seems stressed, folding his his hands on your arms.

you cough and add, "i don't want you to get sick. plus, you have patrol tonight."

he shakes his head. "no way, im staying."

"No." you look in his eyes.

"Yes." he nods.

"No, peter."

"Yes, y/n." he crosses his arms.

you sigh.

"im staying right here." He says determinedly as he wraps his arms around you from behind and rests his chin on your shoulder. worry chilled up his spine for you.

"okay," you give up. "its cold anyway." you couldn't resist him. you didn't want him to patrol in the this insane cold weather anyways.

you pull a sweatshirt over your head.

"movie?" we whispers. "i'll get you snacks." he rubs your back softly.

you sweat a little and try to swallow.

you smile a little, "okay."

coughing, he rubs your arm. "are you okay?" he looks at you worriedly.

"im fine, my body just hurts."

he pulls you in a hug before kissing your head and leaving the room to go to the kitchen.

he gets back almost instantly with a bag of candy and popcorn, setting it on the bed and a mug of hot tea for your throat on the bedside table.

"can i get you anything else?" he looked sad.

your heart warmed and hurt at the same time.

"no, im okay."

he places a bowl of soup down next to the mug as you lean over to take it and sip it gently.

he lays in your bed as you open your laptop to the same crime documentary.

"again?" he groans, shifting his neck up against the pillow as he scrunches his face, looking at the ceiling.

as you giggle he looks up to see your smile which made his stomach hurt.

"yes, again." you try to hold back your lips from curling into a laugh.

he sighs and clicks the play button on your computer.

you rest your head on his chest, snuggling into him as he lays his arm around you, intertwining your hand into his.

"love you." he whispers in your hair softly, tucking a kiss to the back of your head.

taglist my idols/inspo @everythingisawayoflife @cafekitsune @luveline @scarthefangirl @elliexmylove @thevoidsaidnothanks @thestarvingwriter @spider-stark @bittenbyyou @incorrectmarvelquote @badass-dora-milaje @yes-i-am-happyaspie join my taglist ♡

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awhoreintheory · 20 days ago

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okay so MCU canon Peter in DC is all funny and games but what about comic canon Peter? Peter who’s in his 30s, whose life is falling apart(again) and has clones to deal with(man I hate the fact that Ben became evil :(.)

extra points if Miles and/or Mayday is with him. This single dad is STRUGGLING. And the bats wanna help him/his kids cause man! Look at them :(

(extra extra points if Dick = Richard Parker. That’s a whole nother can of worms. Like the bats are thinking Peter = Family of Dick they didn’t know but NO! It’s actually Dick’s son! Dicks a granddad!)

I want to PSA to anyone sending asks/requests, I'm not ignoring you!! I'm just a slow writer!!! I hope you enjoy though <33

Peter B. Parker could, 100%, picture landing in (yet another) alternate universe. You know what? As a matter of fact, he expected it.

What he didn’t plan for, however, was being stranded in another universe with his baby girl strapped to his chest.

But here he was, crouched in a narrow alley in the darkest corner of Gotham City, New Jersey. From the name alone, Peter knew he landed himself in a section of the Multiverse Miguel had expressly labeled as off limits. It wasn’t his fault he’d landed here, though!

One minute he’d been web-swinging through New York, enjoying a rare peaceful day with Mayday babbling happily, and the next he was crash-landing onto a grimy rooftop in the most dangerous city he’d ever seen. It was like New York turned up to eleven, all shadows and towering gargoyles, dripping with rain that seemed perpetual. The interdimensional bracelet he’d been given to travel the multiverse was sparking and smoking in his pocket— total toast. He was officially stranded.

Ok, so it maybe, kinda sorta, been an eensy weensy, tiny bit Peter’s fault.

Peter’s, very high-tech and likely expensive bracelet had been, uh, scratched in a fight the day before. Barely even a nick! He swears he could’ve reattached the wires and fixed the screen.

He probably should’ve also taken the watch out of his robe pocket before he started swinging Mayday to daycare.

MJ was going to be so mad.

It became evident early on it’d take a little bit to find a way home, or for someone to find him. If it had just been Peter, he could’ve roughed it on some rooves and abandoned buildings. It wouldn’t be a big deal, he knew he would be getting home eventually. Being a little smelly was the least of his worries.

But he had his baby girl with him.

So, with the money in his wallet, he found an under-the-counter, rundown but otherwise warm, apartment in a place called Crime Alley. (What a seriously terrible name) Peter started pulling together whatever side gigs he could, fixing appliances, tuning up electronics, just enough to get by. Even for a guy who was used to scraping by, the situation felt bleak, especially with Mayday depending on him.

His little red-headed whirlwind was still too young to understand what was happening, but she noticed the tension and started clinging to him more tightly. Peter knew he couldn’t keep this up forever, but he wasn’t sure how to trust anyone in a city that had both criminals and vigilantes lurking around every corner. When he spotted someone in a cape swinging overhead, he instinctively hid in the shadows, holding Mayday close, her tiny face tucked into his shoulder.

But the Bats noticed him.

It was hard not to notice a single dad with no records, no job, and no explanation for why he was squatting in Gotham’s most dangerous neighborhood. Bruce, ever vigilant, put out word to the family to keep an eye on him.

Jason, who patrolled Crime Alley, wasn’t thrilled about the idea. “A guy moved into my turf with a baby?” he grumbled to Tim. “Either he’s got a death wish, or he’s crazy.”

Tim, on the other hand, was fascinated by the mystery. He dug through every database he had access to, and then some. But “Peter Parker” returned zero results— at least, none that matched this Peter Parker. no criminal record, no birth record, no online footprint. It was like he just spawned in!

Dick didn’t have a whole lot of opinions. He thought the man was nice, though he had only met him once in a routine mugging. He evidently cared for his daughter, and matched Nightwing’s wit and humor pretty nicely, too. He looked annoyingly familiar too. Maybe it was Tired Dad Chic? He kind of reminded him of Bruce, in a way.

Steph seconded the funny part. This Peter guy could be one of those dark-humor comedians.

From what they observed, and conversations supplied by Jason (who was his neighbor in a series of fortunate events), Peter really did seem to just be an ordinary guy.

Then one night, Peter was picking up groceries from a corner store when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find a man in a ski mask brandishing a knife, gesturing for his wallet.

“Hand over the money, and I won’ hurt ya’ kid.” The man threatened, waving his knife around threateningly. Peter tensed, dropping his groceries in favor of cradling Mayday closer.

Peter blinked at him tiredly. “The best I can offer is some lint and a can of beans.”

The man tensed, stepping closer in an attempt at intimidation. Peter thought that his face turning red with anger was kind of funny.

“Don’t fuckin’— are you makin’ fun of me?” The man fumed. Peter might have let out a sleep-deprived chuckle, partially forgetting to respond.

The mugger lunged, and before he could dodge, Peter felt a searing pain in his side as the blade plunged in, his vision blurring with the shock. Normally, Peter would’ve disarmed the guy without breaking a sweat, but tonight, with Mayday in his arms and his body worn from days of restless sleep, he kind of just… blinked and the knife was there.

Peter blinked again, then looked back up at the man.

“Oh, wow,” he said, his voice dripping with deadpan sarcasm. “A knife in Crime Alley? Super original. Really, I’m honored to be a part of your creative process.”

The mugger blinked, clearly caught off guard. Peter rolled his eyes, adjusting Mayday to better apply pressure to his side. “Next time you stab a guy, maybe aim for someone with insurance.”

The mugger stumbled back, looking increasingly confused by Peter’s lack of fear. Peter sighed, bouncing Mayday gently as she began to fuss. “Listen, I’m already running on no sleep and the caffeine fumes of yesterday’s coffee. And now you’re just making my night even worse.”

Peter winced, feeling the slow but consistent leak of blood. His healing factor was helping, but it was dulled due to lack of sleep and hunger.

Between one long blink and the next, someone had jumped down and knocked out Peter’s would-be mugger.

After another blink Peter realized he was on the ground, Mayday’s wails filled the air, her cries echoing down the alleyway, and Peter tried to smile through the pain. “It’s okay, baby,” he mumbled, clutching her tightly. “Daddy’s fine… just a little… scratch.” But his vision was going hazy as he pressed a hand to his bleeding side. The world began to spin.

One of the vigilantes that Peter recognized as Red Robin rushed over, talking hurriedly into a comm. Peter blinked up at him, his mouth curling into a weak smile. “Hey, nice costume,” he muttered. “Does the utility belt come in dad sizes?”

Red Robin blinked in surprise, but otherwise keept his focus as he worked to stop the bleeding.

“It doesn’t, unfortunately.” Red Robin offered, popping open his emergency med kit. “I’ve got help on the way, ok? Stay awake for me.” But his attention was snagged when Mayday, overcome with distress, reached out to him, her tiny hands gripping his arm. She wasn’t just clutching it— she was sticking to him, her fingers locked like suction cups on his suit. Tim’s eyes widened as she scrambled up his arm, scaling it like a bug on a wall.

Red Robin took it in stride, scooping Mayday up as he continued to work. Peter had been on the Meta radar for a bit— a few things here and there just a little off, and it was mostly based on Red Robin’s time spent with super-powered individuals.

But as he patched up Peter, he discreetly swiped a sample of blood, stashing it in his belt just as the Batmobile pulled up.

—

Later that night, he ran the sample through the Batcomputer, expecting some small lead. A Meta, possibly insect-based? What with how the kid had stuck to him. Instead, the results left Tim absolutely speechless.

Peter Parker, the man who was in his early 40s and a single father, didn’t just match someone in the system— it matched Dick Grayson.

Not as a brother, or a cousin, but as a son.

Tim must’ve ran the test at least 100 times. It came back the same every single time.

Tim called Bruce and the rest of the family, each of them crowding around the screen with varying levels of shock and amusement as the analysis rolled in. Dick was dumbfounded, staring at the results in disbelief.

“You’re telling me this guy is my… son?” he stammered, struggling to wrap his mind around it.

Bruce, socially unaware in all his glory, tried to comfort Dick. “He’s likely from far into the future. Barry said there was a ripple in the timestream around the time Peter showed up.”

“So what does that make Mayday?” Jason asked, snickering.

“His granddaughter?” Steph said with a teasing grin.

“Wow, Dick. You went from a dad to a grandpa in the same minute.”

“That’s gotta be a world record.”

“You think we can submit this for a Guinness World Record?”

Dick groaned, rubbing his temples as Jason laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

“He’s from the future, right? Something must’ve gone wrong on his end," Tim said, folding his arms with a thoughtful look. "He’s definitely got the skills. Moves like you, Dick. It's obvious he's had training.”

Dick couldn't help but smirk, puffing up a little with pride. “Of course he does. He’s got Grayson blood in him, after all.”

Jason snorted. “Yeah, because the whole ‘falling on his face with a baby strapped to him’ bit? So graceful.”

Tim rolled his eyes, trying to stay on track. “Look, I don’t know why he didn’t come to us for help in the first place, but the point is, he’s family. We should get him back to his time, if that’s even possible.” He looked over to Bruce. “Are any speedsters available? Maybe the League could lend us Wally or Barry—"

“Hold on,” Dick interrupted, frowning. “I’m not sure we’re ready to ship him off just yet. The guy’s been trying to make it on his own. He’s got a baby to look after, and I think he’s afraid of dragging us into whatever’s going on with him. You know this family and their pride.”

Damian, who had been silent up to this point, finally piped up, his arms crossed. “I’ve seen him with the baby. She’s… persistent.” There was an almost begrudging respect in his tone. “But he clearly doesn’t have the resources to keep her safe here. If he did, he wouldn’t be living in Crime Alley.”

Dick nodded. “Exactly. The guy’s holding it together with duct tape and dad jokes. We can help him and get him back on his feet while we figure out a way home.”

Bruce, listening intently, finally spoke up. “He’s right. Until we find a way to get him home, Peter and his daughter stay here. We’ll pull together whatever resources we can to help them both.”

Steph and Tim shared a look. He just wanted to meet his grandson and great-granddaughter.

There was a beat of silence as everyone absorbed the decision, and then Tim looked at Dick, a small smirk playing on his lips. “So… you ready to be a dad, Dick?”

Dick flushed, looking a mix of horrified and pleased. “I’ll just stick to ‘Uncle Dick’ for now. Baby steps.”

EXTRA:

“Hey,” Jason drawled, barely suppressing a smirk as he looked over at Dick, “you think we can submit this for a Guinness World Record? Fastest unplanned parenthood, or maybe most confusing family reunion?”

Dick rolled his eyes but couldn��t quite hide his grin. “Very funny, Jay. Maybe we can submit you for most inappropriate comments per minute.”

Jason chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder. “Just saying, man, it’s impressive. One day you’re Nightwing, lone acrobat extraordinaire, and the next? Boom— you’re the proud father of a scruffy, interdimensional— what'd you say it was, Tim? Spider-dad? A Spider-dad.”

Tim snickered, glancing up from his laptop. “We’re all just living in a 'Strangest Family Reunion’ reality show at this point. Besides, if anyone’s submitting to Guinness, it should be Peter for most relentless optimism under terrible circumstances.”

Bruce cleared his throat, giving them all a look. “Enough. This isn’t a joke. We have a situation to handle here.”

Dick, still grinning, turned back to Bruce. “All right, fine, we’ll save the record-breaking for later. Right now, I say we start by finding this guy and getting him some real help.”

107 notes · View notes

webslingingslasher · 2 years ago

Text

The Last I Heard

i may have a seperate part 2 of this on the way, the idea is so cute.

Pairing: Peter Parker (mcu) x Reader

Warnings: peter do be flirting

Genre: Fluffy/slight angst/ pining

Word Count: 15K

Summary: Peter overhears you saying you like him but you're too scared to tell him, he makes you want to tell him.

Peter knows it is absolutely wrong to use his powers for his own advantage.

He also knows that the majority of common folk would disagree and use it to their own advantage if situations were reversed, and that’s fair to Peter. Everyone at one point has sworn that if they had super powers they would listen in to every conversation, or they would read everyone’s mind.

And Peter did do that at first, until he realized that eavesdropping was a terrible idea. Because you start to feel kind of itchy and icky about yourself, you realize that these are conversations that were meant to be personal. Ned was the one that usually begged, he would point out random people and persuade Peter into listening in and giving him dirt.

It was never anything too interesting, just personal.

At lunch Ned would ask, “Yellow jacket is up in hat’s face, what’s going on?”

And Peter would listen in.

“You weren’t there! You have no idea what went down, like, at all!”

Hat defends her stance, “Oh come off it! You’re supposed to be MY best friend, you were mine. And I lost you to him.”

Yellow jacket is upset at her dismissal, “ You decided that, not me. You think this is dumb of us? That we’re selfish? That this was one big ploy to fuck up your life?”

Hat is taken aback, then stands her ground. Solidly, “You fucked my brother, Jessica. You both decided to run around and date behind my back, and if you did it openly it would’ve gone over better. But you conniving with him hurts, I just lost my best friend and I have to watch her walk around my house cuddling up to my brother!”

Peter stops listening, he feels like he should’ve never heard that.

But he still tells Ned.

Once at the mall Ned pointed to a group of girls, “What are they talking about?”

Peter hones in, then repeats. “Redhead is looking for a tampon, Jeans is helping Redhead search for a tampon. Ponytail is talking about wanting to hook up with Jayson but she’s dating Erik, Bangs is telling Ponytail to do it anyways and Glasses thinks you’re cute.”

Ned grins, “Should I go ask for her number?”

Peter frowns, “No.”

He doesn’t like playing this game so much anymore, he’s started to feel like a constant invasion of privacy. He doesn’t do it for Ned much anymore, only sometimes.

“It’s an emergency, Peter! Like a real emergency! You have to tell me what they’re saying!”

Ned shakes Peter's shoulders for emphasis, Peter bobbles his head back and forth then stops to wave and smile like a normal human when you walk by doing it first.

He lets out a sigh, “Who?”

Ned points to Betty Brant and Flash Thompson.

Peter understands why he wants to listen in so bad, he gives in. By the way Betty looked it wasn’t going to be anything juicy.

“Flash is telling her about how his mom is gonna buy him a new car, Betty is saying her mom’s making her favorite dinner.”

Ned pouts, “Nothing about me?”

Peter shakes his head slowly, “Sorry man.”

Ned stays quiet for a few seconds then pushes his head towards them again, “How about now?”

Peter sighs, “No, Ned.”

—------------

MJ wrapped her hand around your neck after you passed by Peter.

“Waving to your future man?”

You turned your head back, panicked he had heard her. Instead you just saw Ned and Peter looking at Betty and Flash.

“He’s so fucking cute, right? Did you see his hair? His curls are like, fucking perfect today.”

Peter Parker made your heart race.

He was a goddamn saint, the nicest person you’ve ever met. He was a genius, the smartest person you’ve ever met. He was funny, the best quick wit you’ve ever heard. His laugh was the best you’ve ever heard. His smile made you feel like putty, his voice woke you up in the morning but melted you down if you’d been extra stressed that day, and his clothes looked down right adorable on him.

Everything about Peter Parker was your favorite thing about him.

��Careful, Y/N. I may think you have a crush on the kid.”

You pushed MJ in her ribs, “Has he ever kissed anyone before?”

“Why, looking to be the first to settle the land, Christopher?”

You gasp, “Did you just call me a colonizer?”

MJ ignored you, “You know, you could just ask him.”

You laugh, “That’s cute.”

It was. You and Peter were casual friends, you’ve hung out in only groups and only had one on one conversations a few times. You did like him, and you did flirt when you were around him but it was so subtle you don’t blame him for not picking up on it.

“I mean, I think you guys would actually work out. Like hardcore, he’s just a little dumb. You’ve gotta be the one to bring it up.”

Here we go again, the same tired piece said over and over. MJ, Betty, even Flash has gotten in on it, they all claim Peter would be down in an instant but would it be because it’s you, or because someone likes him?

“Does he even like me? Or think of me like that?”

MJ grimaces, “Peter’s hard. He doesn’t really talk about girls, you know? I mean, he’ll say when a girl is pretty or whatever but he’s never been one to be like, ‘she’s so hot, i wanna french her by noon,’ so, maybe?”

You tap her arm around your neck, “So insightful, I’m so glad I have a friend on the inside.”

MJ squeezes the sarcasm out of you.

—-----------

Peter’s gotten better at not eavesdropping.

It’s been weeks of fighting off Ned’s request to listen in on an unsuspecting victim.

Until recently.

He kept hearing his name, but couldn’t clock it. He had his head swiveled around the entire lunchroom with no luck. It wasn’t a constant calling, just casual. Peter this, Peter that, Peter, Peter, Peter.

He swears he’s going insane, he can’t jus-

Peter jumps, he’s trying to dial his focus on his name when you slam your hand down on his lunch table.

“Oh.” When he realizes it’s just you.

“Hi, Y/N.” You grin when he does, it’s infectious. You almost forgot why you approached, MJ said Peter would admit when a girl was pretty.

“Hi, Peter.”

Peter looks to the side of him and pushes his backpack away, “Wanna sit here?”

Your heart lurches with the question, he was asking if you wanted to sit next to him.

You shake your head, “I just have a question.”

A grin, “Shoot.”

You gulp, why did you do this again? Oh. To prove you had a chance.

“In a strictly non friendly way,”

“Uh oh.” He voices.

You smile, “Do you think I’m pretty?”

Peter freezes, “Oh! Uh, I mean, me?”

“You what?”

“Me! You’re asking me? Of course I think you’re pretty!”

You smile, “Thanks, Peter. But, am I pretty in a non friendly way?”

He looks confused, “What would be a non friendly pretty?”

You roll your eyes, “Like, pretty enough to date.”

His eyes go wide, pink coats his cheeks.

“Oh, oh!” He nods enthusiastically, “Yeah! You’re dating pretty, don’t worry about it.”

You thank him and walk away with your head a little higher. Your group quiets when you approach, MJ greets you with raised eyebrows. She has to pretend the whole group wasn’t just talking about you and Peter.

“What was that about?”

You sit your stuff down and take a seat, you shrug and look at her.

“He said I was pretty.”

Flash commends the size of your balls.

You thank him.

—--------------

“Y/N asked if she was dating pretty today, what does that mean?”

Ned shrugs, “Google it.”

Peter gives him a ferocious look, “And what would Google say?”

Ned sighs as he looks over Betty, “Are you sure she’s not talking about me?”

Peter looks towards the back of the class, you and Betty sat next to each other giggling. Peter tells himself not to, but he does.

He hones in, he doesn’t get much. He’s learned to listen in enough to get the details, but protect the person at stake.

Peter’s eyebrows furrow, he wants to listen to more.

“Uh, they’re talking about a double date.”

Ned throws up his hands, his jaw is dropped and he’s looking between Peter, you and Betty.

“Well?”

Peter looks around, “Well what?”

Ned tugs at Peter’s arm, “With who?”

Peter’s eyes widened, “Oh!”

“I’m sure Peter would be down, Y/N.” Betty shoulder checked you and winked, you groaned and looked up at Peter, he was looking at you. Even though he was across the room you felt paranoid he could hear you.

You smiled at Peter and turned to your friend, “Sure, you ask Ned first.”

Betty drops her jaw and looks at Ned, she starts to sputter.

“No! That is not the plan, at all!”

You huff at her, “The plan was to use Peter against me? You’re sick for that.”

Peter knows he should stop listening, he’s caught on, the double date was with him and Ned, but he also wants to keep listening.

“No! I never said that!”

You narrow your eyes, “Look, it would make sense for you to ask Ned on a date.”

Betty turns her nose up, “Well, the same could be said for you and Peter.”

Peter Parker can’t help but feel a bit giddy, you asking him on a date? He would never shut up about it again.

Ned is pawing at Peter’s shoulder begging for an update, he shrugs him off and keeps listening.

“What? No, it literally could not. You and Ned flirt all the time, everyone knows it’s gonna happen, it just when.”

Betty is slightly confused, she's wondering if you two are fighting. Just slightly.

“Do you think you’re not flirting with Peter?”

You blink and Peter watches your mouth open, you’re about to reply when Ned shakes him hard.

“Well?”

Peter turns back around and scoots his chair closer to the desk.

“It’s us.”

“What is?”

Peter clears his throat, “The double date, it’s us.”

Ned’s eyes light up, the thing he’s been searching for in conversation is coming to fruition, then dials it back some.

“Betty wants me, right?”

Peter nods.

“And Y/N wants you?”

Peter shrugs.

“I mean, it makes sense. She’s always trying to hook up with you.”

Peter’s head spins, “What?”

Ned pulls his head back, “Well, yeah. I just thought you weren’t interested. She’s always trying to make a move when we hang out.”

Peter is in disbelief, “She is?”

“Bro, she literally only hugs you when we all hang out. When she gets there and when she leaves, she wants you all over her. Like, now.”

Peter is nibbling his lip, he never thought he had a chance. He just thought you were extra friendly towards him, maybe you thought he needed a friend. He didn’t know you wanted him like that though.

He decides to listen in, one last time. Then he swears he was done, forever.

Betty huffs, she’s lovely but absolutely stubborn.

“Then fine, I’m not asking Ned until you ask Peter first.”

“That’s fine, Ms. Brant. But I’m never gonna ask him.”

Betty huffs again then looks to the boys and sees Peter looking at you, she gets a wicked grin across her face.

“Then I’ll make him ask you.”

You turn your head to see her looking at Peter, you start to backtrack immediately.

“No! No, no, no. You won’t. You promise me you won’t get Peter involved.”

Betty pretends she didn’t hear you.

“Betty, I’m serious. Promise me right now you won’t involve Peter.”

She starts to hum, this is a game to her. You know what she wants and you’re about to give in.

“Betty please, don’t involve him. I’ll ask anyone else, if you’re that dead set on a double date I’ll ask literally anyone else.”

She pretends to think about it, then calls out across the room.

“Hey, Peter?”

You whip your head to his, he’s looking at Betty confused. You start to melt and panic.

“You won’t.” You mutter the words.

“Come here?”

Peter looks at Ned and shrugs, he goes to stand.

Your heartbeat is hammering your chest, you grip Betty’s elbow tightly.

“Stop it, Betty. It’s not funny anymore.”

Peter’s walking over, you feel your hands shake. You curl them into fists.

“Betty!” You look over your shoulder, he’s about to be here.

“I’ll ask him! I’ll ask him!”

Betty smiles, it’s like she's asking you if it was that hard.

You can’t help the smile that crosses your face when Peter not only approached your side of the desk, but also smiled at you first and made sure you saw him before looking at Betty.

“You called?”

Betty grins, it makes you feel sick.

“I was thinking of asking Ned on a date, what’s his favorite food?”

Peter thinks of his next words carefully, he makes sure to look at you when he speaks.

“We’re both pizza kinda guys.”

You shudder. it was never about asking Peter for you, it was about forcing you to say yes.

“What’s his favorite? He strikes me as a hawaiian type of guy.”

He grins, “You guessed right.”

You speak up, “You strike me as a cheese or pepperoni type.”

Peter tilts his head, “Do I?”

You shake your head, “Actually, I think you’re a ‘any type of pizza will do, as long as I can pile as much parmesan cheese as humanly possible on it.’ kind of guy.”

He hums, “Are you a crushed red pepper kind of gal?”

You shrug and feel your cheeks get warm, “Maybe.”

“That’s good then, none of the packets get wasted. Look at us, the zero waste couple.”

“Couple of besties?” You give a nervous grin.

Peter nods, “Sure.”

You swallow hard, you were never prepared for Peter to say something flirty to you, he was supposed to be the nervous quiet one, but you have a feeling he can be extremely charming when he wants to be.

Betty eyes you then looks at Peter, you notice they share a look but you can’t place what it is.

“Pizza then?”

“Trust me Bets, Ned is gonna scream when you ask him out. He’s been dying to do it but it’s always nice to know when a girl is into you.”

He let that last line slip, he’s trying to hint to ask him without laying it out. Or let you know he was listening in.

“Does he really? I swear he doesn’t make it known.”

You look over at Ned, you have no clue how she thinks he doesn’t make it known. He followed her around like a puppy and was at her beck and call. Not to mention he’s watching the entire encounter rocking in his seat biting his nails.

And you were scared you looked nervous.

You point at Peter’s best friend, “Really, Bets? He doesn’t make it known?”

Peter pats your head, “What she said.”

You bite your bottom lip hard to stop the whimper from escaping, Peter shares a glance with you, you’re pretty sure he heard you.

“So it’s an easy yes?”

Peter nods, “The easiest.”

Betty nods at Peter then looks towards you, “Y/N? Anything you need to ask Peter?”

Your cheeks feel hot, you give a death stare to Betty.

“Uh, nope. Can’t think of anything.”

Betty pushes, “You sure?”

“Positive.” You push the word through clenched teeth.

Betty waits with pursed lips and when you offer no more she nods slightly, she can play this game too.

“Thanks for the advice, Peter. But I don’t think I’m going to ask yet.”

You want to disappear, and you are extra aware of Peter’s body next to yours. If you leaned against him you would rest into his waist, you wanted to make him proud again, so he could give you another celebratory pat.

“He’s there when you’re ready, Betty. Stays between us, promise.” Then he looks at you before he departs, “Hey, you going to Flash’s party tonight?”

You don’t trust your voice and nod, Peter watches where you chew on your lip.

“Good, I’ll see you there.” He taps your shoulder with a punch and walks back towards his best friend.

Ned looks at him with wide eyes, his fingernails are nubs.

“Well?”

Peter sighs dreamily, “I’m gonna make her ask me out.”

—---------

“Peter!”

“Y/N!”

You both point at each other then meet in the middle for a hug, Peter sways you slightly and pulls away.

“Long time no see!” He jokes, you giggle along. He’s just so funny.

“No kidding, you know time stops when you’re not around.” You wink to play off the joke.

Peter scrunches his nose like a bunny, “I love when you flirt with me. Want a drink?”

You feel frozen for a moment, he’s not supposed to catch on. He was supposed to play dumb until you all grow up and get married and have kids and one night over lunch when you catch up after years you let it slip that you had a giant crush and always waited for him to notice. He wasn’t supposed to notice now.

“What are you drinking?” You clock his red cup, he’s not a drinker but it’s not a water bottle this time.

He holds it out, “Try?”

You take it and raise it to your lips, it’s nearly empty. You can’t help but think about this being the first time you’ve shared a drink with Peter, you’re putting your lips where his were. The only thing more intimate than this is sharing a bite of food. If you pretend hard enough you can say that you’ve technically kissed him.

It’s sweet and you can’t detect alcohol. You pull back and eye him, he’s waiting for your reaction. He hopes you like it. You pull a face then try it again, you’re trying to place it.

“Like it?”

“It’s like a cherry sprite, but like, better?”

“It is! I can make you one?”

Peter pushed you towards the kitchen with a hand to your back, you felt his palm through the material of your shirt and realized how cold the rest of you felt. Small conversation carried you through the wait, he made each of you a cup and handed it over.

You both took a sip at the same time, you pulled back with a slight frown then took another sip. Peter watched you furrow your brows before you reached out for his own and took a sip. You make a confused sound.

“Hm?”

You shrug, “Your’s tastes better.”

Peter thinks it's adorable, he can only hope that if this goes the way he’s thinking that you would carry this over. He always wants his to taste better, just because it’s his.

“I’d offer to swap but then I’d think that one would taste better.”

You nod, “I think you’re right.” Then hold your own out, “Cheers!” Peter obliges then holds his back when you try to tap it, “What are we cheering for?” You pucker, “Do we need a reason?”

Peter pouts, “No, I guess not. Feels better to have one though.”

You think for a reason then exclaim, “Here’s one,” You raise your cup again, “Here’s to new friends!”

“And couples!” Peter taps his cup on yours.

“What?” You eye him down, did he just say what you thought?”

He nods his head towards Ned and Betty, totally wrapped up in each other.

“Right! To new friends and couples.”

Peter was about to speak again when Flash’s voice rang out on the DJ speaker.

“Friends to the inner ring, losers stay away.”

MJ immediately leaves from the inner circle to the kitchen, “MJ! You’re a friend!”

She calls behind her, “I know you consider me one!” She stops when she sees you and Peter chatting closely.

She nods her head in recognition, “Nice.”

“What are you doing?” You watch her open cabinets moving around the kitchen.

“Making toast. Take my place for me.”

You made a pit stop to the bathroom and came back to the living room, the whole group sat across the couches and criss-crossed on the floor, there was not one space open. Peter took the last spot, you were about to sit in the kitchen with MJ when Peter waved you over and tapped his lap. You felt warm just thinking of sitting on his lap, it was closer than you’ve ever been before. You would literally be on top of him, and if you were to move just right perhaps you’d get even closer.

You held your breath as you lightly rested on his lap, most of your weight rested on your feet you kept planted on the ground. Peter wrapped his arm around your waist and tugged you against him, your feet dangled between his knees and his chest was against your back. He delicately wrapped his other arm around your waist, he was hugging you to him.

“Good?” He tried to look around at your face, instead you gave in and rested your head against his shoulder and rested a hand over his on your waist. You nodded against his neck, he grinned softly, “Good.”

The rest of the party went by quickly, it was just a few rounds of some games but nothing too crazy. Some truth or dare, some never have I ever, some beer pong but nothing that led to anything more between you and Peter. He did however stick to your side the whole night.

Betty and MJ had to nearly pull you from his side to leave, you wish they would’ve left you so that Peter would walk you home and you could maybe score a midnight smooch but they didn’t let you get the chance.

“Say bye to Peter, Y/N.”

You pout at Peter, you’re wishing he says he’ll take you home instead. He thinks that’s what you want too, but he has patrol after this, he even has the suit on.

“Bye Peter. I’ll see you on Monday.” You reach in for a hug, he squeezes you and talks in your ear.

“Bye Y/N. Let me know when you’re home, okay?” You grin into his shirt, he’s never said that before. You pull away and he looks over your face and hesitates before leaning in and pressing a kiss to your cheek, “See you Monday.”

The only thing you can do is nod, you smile softly then step back into MJ and Betty who are ‘oohing’ softly at Peter’s move. You can’t even form words, your knees feel shaky and all your pacing thoughts are screaming his name over and over. Peter grins at your reaction before turning and going back to Ned who is now ready to leave since Betty is no longer there to entertain, Peter feels the same way.

—-----------

Okay, Peter swears this is the final time.

He’s never going to listen in on you ever again, he just needs to know what you’re feeling right now. He’s just making sure you’re okay, you didn’t talk over the weekend beyond the ‘home safe’ text and his ‘good, i had fun tonight! thanks for hanging with me!’ text. After he finds out what you’re thinking he’ll trust the process, he just needs to be sure you know he’s interested.

You were distraught, did you go up to Peter? You got closer than ever at Flash’s party, but he didn’t text you all weekend, but you didn’t either. You wanted to pull at your hair, you had a feeling Peter was the ‘what you give is what you receive’ kind of guy. You swallow the lump in your throat and walk towards him.

“Hi.”

Peter opens his arms, “Hi.”

Your face lights up, he’s never initiated a hug before. You step into his hold and melt into him this time, no more pretending you didn’t absolutely love this.

“Good Morning.” He mumbles the words in your ear, you mumble them back into his chest.

“I don’t want to go to math, go for me.”

Peter rests his chin on your head and pulls you in tighter, “Wanna swap? I have advanced trigonometry.”

You pull away and squint at him, “Ew.”

“I know right?”

“It’s cause you’re such a smartie. I bet I could quiz you on anything and you would know it.”

Peter grins, “Wanna come over and test that theory?”

Your eyes widen, “Just you and me?”

Peter laughs, “Unless you want to make it a decathlon.”

A joke.

He’s joking.

“Bet, I’ll start working on the flash cards. Irrelevant question, what is your toughest subject?”

He blows air through his lips and shrugs, he lets out the word with an honest chuckle.

“Girls.”

You swallow, “Noted.”

—------------------

He was losing his window of opportunity.

Good thing, you and Betty sat with him and Ned at lunch. (MJ and Flash followed.) Bad thing, he couldn’t listen to you talk about him. Peter will admit that it feels good to openly like someone and not be scared because he knows the other likes him too, it gives him confidence like he’s never had before.

You sat next to him too, it went: him, you, Betty, Ned, Flash then two seats away from him, one from Peter was MJ. The table was loud, everyone having mixed conversations, once it quieted down some MJ was reminded of something.

“Hey, Peter. Are we still doing the thing tonight?”

What thing? You weren’t told of a thing, was it a Peter and MJ thing? I mean, MJ doesn’t like Peter and you’re almost sure Peter likes you but what is that thing tonight?

“Yeah! I think Ned is gonna invite Betty too if that’s cool?”

MJ nods, “Betty’s cool.”

Peter then nudged his nose against the side of your face, you turn and he’s right there. You notice him glance at your lips for a quick second then asks, “Busy tonight?”

You hum and think, “I don’t think so.”

Peter grins, “Wanna come over? It’s game night.”

“What kind of games?”

“Mostly video games, MJ and Ned have a switch so we all take turns. But I have some two player board games if you want to play me.”

You give him puppy dog eyes, “That is so cute.”

“Is it?” Peter didn’t know it was that easy, he just wanted you to feel included if you didn’t want to watch him or your friends play games.

You bite your lip and nod, without thinking he places his thumb on your chin and pulls down releasing it. You stare at him and he watches your pupils go wide, he was about to apologize but he won’t now. He’ll let you believe he did that on purpose.

“Do you have Guess Who?” You clear your throat and try to level your breathing after his stunt.

“Think so, I have a couple of good ones. I’ll show you when you come over.”

You look him up and down, “Can I wear my PJ’s?”

Peter holds a hand to his chest, “I’d be insulted if you didn’t.”

You hold out your hand to shake his like a business agreement, “Deal.”

He tells you he’ll text you the details and you lean into him as you laugh at something Ned said in retort to something Flash said. Your head was against his arm, he carefully watched as you made eye contact with Betty, she raised her eyebrows slightly and you carefully nodded your head.

He wrapped his hand around your neck and pulled you into him.

Peter knows he has you now.

—--------------

“Okay, what’s up with you and Y/N?” MJ wasn’t one to care, she promises. But you did consider her a friend on the inside and Peter was acting extremely touchy feely with you and he’s never done that before. Not to mention he kissed your cheek the other night.

You couldn’t shut up about it on the way home, and of course the group text with you and Betty had been blowing up like crazy. You were constantly analyzing Peter’s every move and Betty was doing the same with Ned. If MJ was honest, and she would never admit it, Flash was her favorite right now.

“Uh, nothing?”

MJ nodded, “Nice to know we’re lying.”

“I don’t know. I know she’s into me and Betty wants to ask Ned out but she won’t do it until Y/N asks me first, but she doesn’t think I’m into her so I’m trying to show her that I am so she’ll ask me.”

“How the hell do you know about this?”

Peter shrugs sheepishly, “I listened.”

MJ groans, “You said you were gonna stop!”

“I know! Ned was begging me and I accidentally heard it, and now I know she’s into me. I just want to make sure this actually happens.”

Ned walked in the front door and shook his shoulders, “It’s freezing tonight.”

Peter glanced at his phone to see if you texted him again, he told you to let him know when you were on your way up, he wanted to catch you in the hallway. Alone.

“Y/N and Betty are on their way, by the way.”

“Betty’s bringing her switch so we can all game.” Ned shot finger guns at MJ, she blocked the imaginary hits.

“Sweet. I’m gonna kick double ass in Mario Kart.”

Ned looks at Peter, “What are you doing?”

“I think we’re gonna play some games in my room.”

MJ waggles her eyebrows, “Alone?”

“Yeah?”

Ned whistles, “On your bed?”

“Probably.” Peter doesn’t see what’s wrong.

“She’s gonna think you’re making a move, you know that right?” MJ clicks her teeth at him.

“Like what?”

MJ chewed on her lip, “She asked me if you’ve ever kissed someone.”

Ned whoops, “Get it, dude!”

Peter isn’t that surprised, he wants to kiss you too after all. And maybe that was slightly his plan already, he was trying to separate the both of you from the pack. He just wanted to talk with you more and he couldn't spit game as confidently when his friends were watching and listening. Peter also can’t think of a downside of kissing you either, it just seems really lovely.

“It’s almost like I planned it.” He winks at his friends as they realize he did in fact plan it to be this way.

His phone buzzes, “Hold on.”

He opens the door to see you and Betty’s smiling faces, “Hello.” He reaches in for a hug, you first then Betty. “If you wanna head in you can,” He smiles at Betty and watches her step through the threshold, you go to follow and he steps in front of you. He softly closes the door behind her, you watch expectantly.

“Hi.” He smiles.

“Hi.” You mimic.

He almost kisses you now, he opts for pulling you in for a second hug. You’re surprised but latch on tightly, he pulls away and places a delicate kiss on your cheek. It’s softer than the one at the party, it’s intimate, it was a private kiss.

“Thank you for coming.” He whispers against your skin.

Your cheeks flush, you’ve never felt this seen before. Peter notices everything about you, and you wonder why it took him this long. You can’t help but get lost in daydreams where he was truly yours and his kisses never stopped, even as they trailed down your body.

“Thank you for inviting me.”

He didn’t even look at what you were wearing, he tilted your head up with his hand on your jaw.

“You look pretty.”

You blinked slowly, you kept looking between his eyes and his mouth. He said his worst subject was girls, you think he’s a liar, he’s too smooth and quick.

“You’re better at this than me.”

Peter just grins smugly. He’s better at the flirting game and he knows it. Spider-Man has some quick wit and it’s helped Peter out tremendously.

As soon as you both stepped through the door MJ berated you, “What were you two doing out there?” You wince and suck a breath through your teeth, “Making out. Hard core face sucking, had a full round of tonsil hockey.”

MJ narrowed her eyes, “Oh? Peter finally kissed you?”

This is what Peter means when he says his friends ruin his game.

You nod, “Oh yeah. Had me pressed against the wall and everything. I’m still seeing stars.”

It’s funny, nothing actually happened but what did felt more personal than actually telling your friends about a hook up session.

“Really?” Betty gasped, fully amazed that you had actually done it.

You frowned slightly, she seemed so excited for you. You had to let her know you were kidding.

“Yup. He even asked for my hand in marriage, right Peter?”

He nods, “We haven’t set a date yet.”

Betty boos with Ned, “No fair, we actually believed you.”

MJ shook her head, “No way. Peter’s not the make out in the hallway type.”

Peter makes kissy faces at MJ, “Wanna find out?”

MJ gags.

Ned huffs, “Betty and I are setting up Mario Kart.”

“I’m making popcorn.” MJ backs up into the kitchen.

Peter tugs you into him, “Wanna check out my games?”

—-----

You may or may not be trying a little extra hard to make your butt look good as you bend down looking at the games, Peter’s standing behind you and you just hope he’s taking a little look. Your PJ’s did hug you just right.

“You know I’ve never played chess?” You move the box to the right and find Connect Four, you pass him the box and he gasps. “Never?”

“Nope.” You wish you could play Clue, it was a favorite. You’re gonna team up with Betty to get the boys to play with you, MJ was an easy add if everyone else played.

“Never learned?”

You shake your head, “Never did. I dated one guy in middle school who did it competitively, and seeing as he was my boyfriend and a master in the game, or at least I thought he was at the time, I asked if he would teach me and he laughed at me and said it was “too advanced for a brain like mine.” So I vowed to never play it.”

You stood and handed him two more games, Guess Who and Battleship.

Peter frowned, “Sounds like a dolt. If you want, I would love to teach you. The hardest part is learning what the pieces do, after that it’s all strategy.”

You smile, “Don’t make fun of me but that would be a cute date.”

He laughs, “Teaching you chess?”

“Yes! You would be like this does that, and this does that, and you would let me practice on you, but you wouldn’t let me win cause then you can tell me why I failed so I actually get better.”

Peter doesn’t know why he thought girls were so hard to please, he thinks that's just what he’s been told. But so far all you really want to do is hang out with him.

“We can do it later this week if you’re up for it.”

You grin and nod, “Yes! You’re awesome, thank you so much!”

You also are extremely excited to see Peter concentrated and calculated with his moves.

Peter tells you it’s no biggie, then asks if you want to play in his room. You breathe in and nod, you were nervous to be in Peter’s room for the first time ever, and alone with him. It was slightly calmer if you think about how this is the first of many times you’ll see this room. You’re hoping you’ll be looking at the ceiling a lot more, though.

He points to his bed when you enter, “I’m leaning towards Guess Who first.”

You kick your shoes off and sit on his bed, “Comfy.”

“Just big enough for two.”

The way he speaks so casually makes you sweat. He’s a natural when it comes to flirting with you, you feel kiddish thinking about your lame attempts you call flirting. No wonder it went over his head for so long.

“Red or blue?” He holds up the plastic, “Red.” He nods in approval, “Nice choice.”

You hum, “Spider-Man wears red, I like red. I’m easy.”

He looks at you, “You like Spider-Man?”

You draw your head back, “You don’t?”

“I do! I didn’t know you were a fan, that’s all.”

“I’ve never seen him in person though, MJ has and I ask her about it all the time but she’s just super generic. Have you seen him?”

Peter clears his throat, “A few times.”

You drop your jaw, “No way! Tell me!”

“Nothing special, just the usual walking down the street and seeing him swinging.”

“That’s so cool though, have you seen him just fucking people up? Like when he does that web thing when he picks them up and slams them down? It’s so sick. Or when he wraps them up and like, flies towards them and double kicks their chest?”

Peter pretends to think about it, “I think I’ve seen some videos. He’s pretty cool, he’s got a few sick moves.”

“He’s my Harry Styles, if I saw him I’d melt down and cry and ask him to gently hold me. Like, it sounds crazy but I just know he’s cool. I don’t even like him like that, I just want to be his best friend.”

Peter wants to ask how you’d feel knowing you were about to make out with him.

“Total fangirl moment?”

“Pictures and all. I’d ask him to sign my tits, no joke.”

Peter throws his head back in a laugh, you smile at how he lights up. You love making him so happy.

“Okay!” You clap your hands.

“Is your person wearing a hat?”

“Nope.”

“Is your person wearing glasses?”

“No.”

“Fuck.”

“Does your person have a beard?”

“Fuck off, Peter. I’m moving in.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Is your person old?”

“Ancient.”

“Is your person Sam?”

You narrow your eyes at Peter, “Is this how it’s going to be between us? You always winning?”

“I ask good questions, stick around me long enough and you’ll get better at dodging me.”

“I could eat you up in scrabble.” You mutter.

“Yes you could, I’m ass at scrabble.”

Somewhere after the hour mark you’ve made your way to Battleship, it’s been a close game both of you have one more hit on the other person. You’re starting to feel the pressure, you try and calculate where he is, if you guess wrong he’s going to win. You know it.

You hold your breath, “C-4.” Peter looks at you and builds the suspense, then frowns. “Miss.” You groan, “Ugh, go ahead and sink me.” He smiles softly, “D-11.” You grunt at your board, “I’m swimming in the ocean with hope and a lifejacket.”

“Don’t worry, my one boat will come to save you.”

You snort, “Don’t worry babe, I blew your engines. You’re sinking next.”

“Are we gonna Jack and Rose it?”

You nod stiffly, “I’d let you die for me, yes.”

The room gets quiet, it makes you want to puke but you think the time is right. You told Betty you’d do it tonight, and Peter isn’t so scary, you just hate the feeling of rejection.

“Remember when Betty called you over about Ned?”

Peter has to pretend to think about it, he hums as he’s setting up his ships again.

“Well, she was trying to set up like this double date thing cause she’s too scared to go out with him alone for the first time. I mean nervous, not scared. Ned’s not scary.”

He hums again, he’s placing the third ship. He’s nearly holding his breath in excitement.

“And she wanted me to, like she asked if I would, I uh, nevermind.”

You lost the steam, you weren’t even sure how to word it without making it seem like a favor.

“I’m listening, she asked if you would what?”

“It doesn’t matter, it’s stupid. Are you almost done?” You almost looked over to see if he was done placing his ships but stopped before you would ruin the game.

He looked up at you, “Tell me about Betty, come on.”

You shook your head and bit your lip, he took his chance and leaned forward to untuck it like he did earlier. Peter watched your pupils blow like before, he looked between your eyes and mouth before moving in. You felt his hand move to cup at your jaw, his thumb brushing your cheek softly before hooking his hand around your face.

You felt like you couldn’t breathe, you knew what he was doing. He watched your reaction as he pulled you near him, he leaned in closer. He was taking his time, you were nearly shaking waiting for him to just kiss you, he was slowly building the tension. He wanted you to know he wanted this just as much as you did.

He smiled as he leaned in, just inches away. He brushed his lips against yours, the feather like promise of more. You melted into his touch and closed your eyes, he took that as a sign. His lips pressed against yours and your spine jolted, electricity felt like it ran through you, it didn’t hurt but it woke you up. You gripped at the back of his neck and held him tighter to you, you had dreamed of this for months, you weren’t letting go easily.

Peter moved against you slowly, he felt as you opened your mouth slightly and he took that as an invitation, he smoothed his tongue over yours and you moaned into his mouth. You’ve never felt this way before in a make out session, and this was just starting. He went until he felt choked for air, he pulled away slightly. You made a wet smacking sound when you separated. You raced for breath and kept your eyes closed, still panting you needed more. You opened your eyes to blink then pulled him back in, you were only able to last a minute before you searched for more air.

You couldn’t help yourself, he tasted so sweet it felt impossible to pull away. Now that you know what you were missing you never wanted to go back. You told yourself one more, you tried to pull him in but he pulled your hands from behind his neck, “Breathe. I’m not going anywhere. Can’t make out if you're unconscious.” You nodded and made a show of you breathing, then you leaned in for one more, he bowed his head and laughed. “That good?” You drank him in with greedy eyes, you ached for him. “Please,” You whimpered the words, it sent chills down his spine, he loved the way that sounded.

He nudged his nose against yours, “Please ask me, I’ll say yes.” He whispered his request.

He wasn’t talking about kissing, you knew that. He was asking about you asking him out, you know he was. He tied two and two together, you breathed in deeply.

“Do you want to go on a date with me?”

He nodded and placed his mouth on yours once more, you gripped at his shirt before shoving the plastic boxes to the side so you could get closer. You slowly shuffled toward him until you pulled away to straddle his waist, meeting his lips quickly before he could tell you to slow down. You’ve dreamed of this forever, you were in awe of what was happening, Peter Parker was making out with you, and it was really, really good.

Betty tried to walk in to ask what time you were leaving, it was a school night after all. But she decided to back out and give you space when she saw you busy at work on top of Peter. She came from the room glowing, she couldn’t believe you had actually done it.

“What’s going on in there?”

Betty smiled at MJ, “They’re making out.”

“Good for them!” Ned cheered out, he passed the finish line before MJ, “Last lap, loser.”

“That reminds me!” Ned looked over at Betty, “What?”

“Wanna go on a date with me?”

Ned dropped the remote, his character fell off a cliff.

“Yes. God yes!”

MJ is sure Flash is her favorite now.

#peter parker x reader #peter parker blurb #peter parker angst #peter parker smut #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fluff #peter parker fic #mcu peter parker #mcu angst #peter parker #my writing

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casualcomicfan · 1 year ago

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Things non-comic fans get wrong about Peter Parker.

Several people who don't read the comics seem to get ideas about characters and how they act. It's fine when you're doing to characters you know about, but for characters you don't know about, not so much.

Please note: This post is not meant to gate keep anyone from comics, MCU or any other Marvel related products.

#1: He is ugly. This one is false for the most part. Look at the women he has dated, Liz Allan, Gwen, MJ, Black Cat, Carol Danvers and others.

#2: He is naive. This one is also false. Peter is optimistic. There is a difference. Peter himself recognizes that the world is a terrible place. However he thinks it can get better. That is the whole point of him not killing his enemies.

#3: He has to suffer to be relatable. No, just no. This one is false. He doesn't have to suffer to be relatable. He is relatable because he deals with relatable problems. He is nerdy, has to make ends meet, etc. That is how he was relatable. Not suffering. And certainly not whatever the f#ck is going on in the current run.

#4: He is hated by other heroes. This one mainly stems from the Superior Spider-Man comic arc, but is still blatantly wrong. He has several friends in the comics, such as: Daredevil, Deadpool (to an extent) Wolverine, Luke Cage, Johnny Storm, Cloak and Dagger, and several others.

#5: He is not respected by the other heroes. This was also caused by Superior Spider-Man. However several people respect him. Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man respect him for his intelligence. Captain America calls him on of the greatest men he's ever known. Thor says (in a complimentary way) that he was the most mortal man he knew. T'Challa let him eat a Heart-Shaped Herb. Hulk was one of the few people who knew Peter's identity after OMD.

#6: He was a teenager for most of his publication history. The first ever Spider-Man comic was published in August 1962 in Amazing Fantasy #15. He he graduated and became an adult on June 8, 1965 in The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1 #28.

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writeroutoftime · 1 year ago

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you found me

(neither gifs are my own)

pairing: mcu!peter parker x reader

summary: as the multiverse is in peril, peter promises he will find you after strange's spell is cast. but how can peter remind you of who you are and what you mean to him?

warnings: angst but then fluff!

words: 1.4k

a/n: so, I just rewatched no way home and had this idea, which was so much fun to write! also, I just couldn't help but imagine the whole "I will always find you" line from the show once upon a time. that was my middle/early high school obsession lol. anyways, enjoy and please let me know what you think!

oOoOo

The wind whipped around him, and the adrenaline pumped through his system at rapid speed. Peter knew he had only minutes, but he couldn't help but take in the sight of Ned, MJ and - most importantly - you one last time.

"Listen, you're all about to forget who I am." Peter spoke. "Strange agreed to cast this spell to end all of this."

"What? No!" Ned and MJ shouted as you simply stared at Peter with tears in your eyes.

If the entire multiverse wasn't on the line, Peter would have broken at the look you gave him. But this was for the people he loved, for you. He had to make this sacrifice to keep everyone safe.

"But you'll find us." you finally spoke up, voice shaky yet confident. "You're going to find me, and then we'll figure it out. Together."

Peter couldn't help but smile. Even with all that had happened, you still had immense faith in him. He swore to himself he would find the three of you and make it all right again.

"Yes, I'll find you." he vowed, taking you in his arms. "I got you to fall for me once, I can do it again." he chuckled, pressing his forehead against yours one last time.

You revealed in the gesture, unbothered by how selfish you were being with Peter's time. After a few moments, you pulled back and quickly worked to unclasp the necklace that sat against your neck.

Hurriedly, you passed the item into Peter's hand and shut his fingers around it. "I know you will. And then you can give me this." you told him, cupping his face and savoring one last kiss.

Peter was the first to pull away, committing the last smile you would give him as more than a stranger to memory. This would not be the last time he held you in his arms. It couldn't be.

oOoOo

Days morphed into weeks, and weeks into months. Peter was well and truly on his own in New York like he never existed in the first place. That first week he holed up in his new apartment, mourning the loss of his life - of you.

But when the self-pity subsided, Peter marched down the busy streets and checked all your frequent spots until he finally found you one day. The sun framed your figure like a spotlight, and Peter felt as though the breath had been stolen from him. It was like falling in love all over again.

Your melodic laughter rang out of the coffee shop, face scrunched up over a joke MJ shared with you and Ned. The scene tugged at his heart, and suddenly, fear washed over Peter. He looked down to his hands and gripped your necklace even tighter.

It had been a present he gifted you on your first birthday the two of you celebrated as a couple. It was a small, dainty necklace he had laughed at when he first saw it. You had found out early on that Peter Parker was Spiderman, and so the silver spider quickly became a prized possession for you. Often times it was slipped underneath your clothing to tamp down any suspicion, but it was always on you, claiming it was a good luck charm for the both of you.

Looking down at his closed fist and back up to you, Peter was suddenly seized with fear. What if you never remembered him? Or worse, what if you remembered him and didn't want to be with him anymore?

He watched you for a few more moments and saw how carefree you looked. Could he really subject you to all the chaos and danger his life entailed all over again? He vowed he would find you and make you remember, but he had also promised himself to also protect you. Maybe this was how that happened.

Without another glance, Peter turned on his heel and dashed out the door. Clueless to the fact that you caught a fleeting glimpse of him as he ran away, curious and left with an empty feel afterwards.

Over the next three weeks, Peter continued to see you from afar at the coffee shop you frequented. Each time, he ached to be near you, but held back from approaching. He just had to know you were okay, remind himself that he was making the right choice.

What Peter hadn't taken into account was the chance that you would notice - and be interested in - him. It was during the fourth week that you finally approached Peter's table as he poured over his study materials, looking down at him rather nervously.

"Hi." you began softly. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I've seen you around here recently. You look so familiar. Have we met?"

Here it was, he thought as his heart beat rapidly. Peter's chance to explain everything and make you remember him. But as he opened his mouth, it seemed his mind had a different plan.

"N-no. I don't think so." he said. Your shoulders sagged at his words, sparking something within Peter. Even now, he never wanted to be the source of your disappointment. "But, uh, I'm Peter. Peter Parker." he introduced.

You offered a dazzling smile, sticking your hand out. "Hi, Peter, it's nice to meet you. I'm y/n." you introduced, taking the seat across from him.

oOoOo

Peter swore he fell for your twice as hard this time around. The two of you talked for hours that first day at the coffee house. Of course, he feigned innocence and pretended not to know the answers to all the questions he asked. But, regardless, it felt so wonderful to be near and to talk to you again.

It became a regular occurrence for the two of you to meet at the coffee shop, but your exchanges quickly expanded outside of the shop's walls. Each time he saw you, Peter tried to gauge if there was any spark to demonstrate you remembered him and your lives together, but each time he was disappointed. Never in you. In himself over the entire situation.

Soon enough, Peter had invited you over to his apartment when the weather derailed your plans of a stroll around the park. You happily accepted, wanting to know more about the man who had quickly become such an important part of your life. He led you into the studio apartment and left you to explore for a minute while he ran to grab a glass of water in the kitchen.

Glancing around Peter's apartment, you noticed how little decoration or personalization there was. No pictures on his dresser or posters on the walls, only a few post-it notes scattered here and there. The one thing that did catch your eye, however, was a flash of a silver necklace that laid delicately on the dresser.

Peter hardly seemed like the jewelry type and so you stepped forward to inspect it further. Slowly, you reached out your hand and threaded the cool metal chain between your fingers, the pendant hanging in the air. A small laugh left your lips as you noticed the necklace was of spider silhouette.

There was something that struck you about the necklace. It was so familiar, almost as if it were out of a dream. Somewhere deep inside, there was an urge to put on the necklace, but before you could, you heard Peter's footsteps behind you.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Peter." you apologized, quickly setting the necklace back where you found it. "I shouldn't have been snooping, I just couldn't help myself."

Peter stared at you, eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. "I-I, no, it's okay." he stuttered out, swallowing harshly. "Uh, it belongs to a real important person in my life." he added, lamely gesturing to the necklace.

"It's beautiful." you admitted, still unsure if Peter was angry or not.

To your surprise, Peter reached around you to pick the necklace back up. He glanced down at the jewelry, before holding it up and gestured to you. Without hesitation, you nodded and turned so that your back faced Peter.

He stepped up behind you and immediately you could feel his warm breath fan against your neck as your breath hitched. He lifted the necklace and let the chain and pendant fall against your skin before he clasped it shut. You reached down and held the spider pendant in your hand, gasping as another rush of recognition ran through you.

Turning around, you looked at Peter who snapped out of his trance zoned in on the necklace. His eyes met yours and there was something behind them you could almost put your finger on. Both of you took a step closer to each other and Peter reached out to gently cup your cheek.

"Just, trust me." he whispered, leaning towards you to mold his lips against yours.

Your eyes fluttered shut, instantly, and you leaned into Peter's chest and the warmth of his chapped lips. Your hands threaded in his hair at the nape of your neck, sighing into the kiss.

Slowly pulling away, your eyes remained closed for just a moment longer. Then, as if suddenly breathing in new life, you gasped loudly and opened your eyes. "Peter." you whispered, gripping tightly to his shirt. "You found me."

Peter made no attempt to stop the tears that fell down his cheeks as he held you close to him, pressing soft, quick kisses all over your face. "I will always find you."

#peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #mcu!peter x reader #spiderman x reader #spiderman imagine #marvel imagine #rita writes

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juneberrie · 10 months ago

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WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN ➜ peter parker, mcu

requested: yes / no — not goodbye. just "see you later"

author's note: i was listening to remi wolf as one does and down the line came on.. and i got the amazing idea to write this. you're welcome! debating whether i should make a part two. . .

ⓘ content: fem!reader, angsty, mcu!peter, takes place during nwh mwahahaha, not proofread

word count : 1.4k || peter parker masterlist

"you're gonna forget who i am," peter blurts out.

"what?" ned says. mj stares at him, a cut on her forehead dripping blood onto her eyebrow.

"peter, what do you mean?" you ask, voice shaking. so much had happened today; you just wanted to go home, take a shower, and curl up in bed with your boyfriend.

"it's okay," he whispers, taking your hand. "i'm gonna come and find you, and i'll explain everything. i'll make you remember me. it'll be like none of this ever happened. okay?"

you shake your head at him. "what are you talking about?" you say quietly. "what– what do you mean, we're gonna forget you?" your voice cracks.

"i'll explain everything when i find you," he repeats. his eyes are welling up with tears. he turns to ned.

"promise?" your friend asks.

"i promise." peter drops your hand quickly to embrace his friend. when they pull away, tears are rolling down both their faces.

peter turns to mj. "i'll come find you."

she steps forward and hugs him. "you better," she warns. "or– or i'm just gonna figure it out."

peter lets out a shaky laugh. "i know you will." he finally turns to you.

"ange–" he starts, but you throw yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him. his hands drop to your waist, pulling you flush against his chest.

when you finally pull away, he gives you a soft smile. "i love you. don't forget it."

with sobs threatening to spill out of your mouth, you shake your head. "i don't want to. peter," you beg. "isn't there anything we can do?"

he shakes his head, watery eyes staring into yours. "i'm sorry," he murmurs. "i love you," he repeats.

"i love you too," you whisper, burying your face in his chest. he kisses your head, murmuring reassurances.

"i promise i'll fix this," he says. you look up through blurry eyes, taking in your boyfriend one last time. the boy who had been by your side for the past year and a half, building star wars legos, having study dates, binge watching movies. the boy you loved.

he looks behind you, at mj and ned. his face settles into stony determination. "take care of her. of– of each other," he says.

"we will," ned promises. mj gently places a hand on your back.

peter swallows, his adam's apple bobbing. he lets go of your waist. he jumps up onto a piece of a fallen wall, turning back to look at you one last time.

"bye," you say quietly, salty tears streaming down your face.

he shakes his head. "not bye. see you later."

he swung away, leaving the three most important people in his life crying behind him.

2 WEEKS LATER.

the door jingles as someone pushes it open, letting a cold gust of air in the cafe. mj shivers as the air reaches her bare arms.

"it's so fucking cold out," she complains, pouring coffee into a cup. you snort.

"that's why we're inside, mj," you remark, taking a bite of your donut.

she rolls her eyes at you. "you should do stand up," she says, snapping the lid onto the cup and sliding it across the countertop to a waiting customer. "when's ned getting here?"

you check your phone for any texts. "soon. he say's he's almost here."

right as you say that, the door jingles again, and you turn to see a boy holding the door open for ned. "he's here!" you say to mj. she rolls her eyes again, smiling. she turns to the other boy, who looks strangely familiar.

"hey," ned says, sliding into the seat next to you.

"hi," both you and mj reply. she gives the two of you a small smile before turning to look at the boy, who's glancing between you, ned, and mj.

"can i help you?" mj asks. the boy looks slightly startled, but shakes his head and smiles.

"hi!" he clears his throat. "um. hi. i'm peter parker and i....." his voice falters as he looks at you. he takes a deep breath. "i would like a coffee, please," he says.

mj side eyes you and ned, who bites back a laugh. "okay, no problem, peter parker." she turns to grab an empty cup and moves to the coffee pot.

as she does this, you notice the boy, peter's, eyes quickly flitting between you, her, and ned. his eyes lock with yours and you raise an eyebrow, a small smile playing on your lips.

he clears his throat again, looking away. mj hands him the coffee and tells him his total. he pats down his pockets before pulling out a wallet and handing her a few crumpled bills.

"thank you..." he says slowly.

"no problem," mj replies.

he looks at ned's sweater, the mit logo emblazoned on the front. "you excited for mit?" he asks.

"huh?" ned turns to him, then looks down at his sweater. "oh, yeah. which is weird. usually i'm not excited about things. i kind of expect disappointment."

peter takes a sip of his coffee. you see his nose scrunch up slightly. he hates black coffee, you think. you blink. what was that? how would you know that? you shake your head ever so slightly, telling yourself that its a normal reaction to pure black coffee.

tuning back into the conversation, you hear him ask mj, "are you okay?" he's looking at the bandaid on her forehead.

"yeah," she says simply. "don't remember how i got it, but it doesn't hurt anymore."

"thats good," he replies. a silence settles over the coffee shop, the only sound being the wind outside.

"is there anything else you need?" mj asks him.

"um." he glances at you again. "no, actually. thank you."

"no problem. see you around," she says, grabbing a washcloth and starting to wipe down the counter. peter pushes the door open, the bell jingling, and steps into the cold new york air.

immediately, mj turns to you, leaning her elbows on the counter. "he was checking you out," she says bluntly.

"what?" you feel your cheeks get hot. "no way."

ned poked you in the side. "yes way. he was totally into you!"

you shake your head, laughing at the two of them. "yeah, alright."

the three of you laugh. you had to admit, he was pretty cute. but you probably would never see him again, so what was the point in getting caught up with a crush?

walking back to your apartment, you shove one hand in your coat pocket and use the other to fish your key out of your bag. you trudge up the stairs, thankful for the shelter from the freezing, snowy air outside.

as you reach your floor, your hear the landlord say, "rent is due on the first of the month. don't be late." he brushes past you as you make your way towards your apartment.

peter from the coffee shop was standing outside the door in front of yours, struggling to balance a box and slip the key into the lock.

"oh, hey!" you say. he turns to you and nearly drops the box. you grab it before it hits the floor. "need any help?"

his face flushes. "oh– uh, yeah, that'd be great." you smile at him as he fumbles with the key, finally getting it in the lock and twisting the knob. he pushes the door to his apartment open, holding it open for you. you set the box down on the kitchen counter, then turn to him.

"i'm y/n," you offer.

"peter," he replies. he hesitates before holding his hand out for you to shake. you laugh at his nervousness. it was kind of endearing.

"nice to meet you, peter," you smile, taking his hand. "hey, if you need any help moving in—" you point across the hall, to your door. "—i'm right over there."

he smiles. "that'd be great." he glances down at your still joined hands and flushes slightly. he lets go. you stand together in his empty apartment for a few moments.

"well, i'll see you later?" you say, a hopeful smile on your face.

"yeah, yeah," he nods quickly. "sure."

"cool," you smile. "well, bye!" you step out of your newfound friend's apartment, fishing your key out of your pocket.

"see you later," you hear him murmur. smiling to yourself, you unlock your door and slipping inside and shutting your door. you can't wait to tell mj about this.

#liz’s writing ♡#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x y/n #peter x reader #mcu!peter parker x reader #mcu!peter x reader #mcu x reader #mcu x you #mcu x y/n #tom!peter parker x reader #marvel x reader #marvel x you #marvel x y/n #divider by cafekitsune

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aesthetixhoe · 1 year ago

Text

posts and pictures with jack champion — J.C.

warnings: cursing, harry potter username

word count: ---

pronouns used: she/her, fem reader

authors note: reader plays gwen stacy in the mcu spiderman movies. have been wanting to do this style of post with someone for a while and finally settled on jack. formatting and the final push came from @dizscreams <3

liked by devyn_nekoda, lianaliberato, jasminsavoy, and 740,839 others

accio_[y/n] Jack doesn't like planes, too bad we're flying all the way to LA :(

masonthegooding aww, the poor baby needs his mommy? 🥺💔

| jackchampion PLANES ARE SCARY

| jasminsavoy wuss

zendaya you better visit me while you're in LA, I need my Gwen back :(

| tomholland2013 you have me to keep you company 😁

| zendaya oh yayyyy...

| tomhollad2013 what's wrong with me?

| accio_[y/n] you're not me, that's what's wrong with you 🤭

liked by zendaya, lianaliberato, tomholland2013, and 948,394 others

accio_[y/n] look at this buffoonery I woke up to

masonthegooding GROSS 🤢

| jackchampion it was a joke

misstrinitybliss I love you two, but that's gross jackchampion

| jackchampion it was a joke!

jasminsavoy I might throw up

| jackchampion IT WAS A JOKE! I SWEAR!!

| lianaliberato it was not, you talk like this all the time.

liked by masonthegooding, lianaliberato, melissabarreram, and 209,541

jackchampion catching z's 🥱

accio_[y/n] no photo cred? this is absurd!

| jackchampion sorry babe, I'll tag you next time! 🥸

| masonthegooding you should thrown water on him for that

| jasminsavoy you should push him in

| accio_[y/n] I'll do both 😈

liked by zendaya, lifeisaloha, masonthegooding, and 2,490,582 others

accio_[y/n] he thinks he's spiderman...

tomholland2013 HEY THAT'S MY ROLE!

jackchampion I do not think I'm spiderman!

| accio_[y/n] you literally said "take a picture of me so I look like spiderman." 😐

| jackchampion I'll be spiderman if you're my Gwen Stacy

| accio_[y/n] you're a dork

| tomholland2013 I'm ok with this, I have my mj

masonthegooding I'm actually kinda liking spider-jack

liked by zendaya, jackchampion, misstrinitybliss, and 1,684,493 others

accio_[y/n] post red carpet

zendaya I love my Gwen Stacy

| jackchampion that's my line 🥲

devyn_nekoda you're welcome for the amazing picture 🙄

| accio_[y/n] thank you so much bae 😘

jackchampion my beautiful girl. tonight was a blast

| accio_[y/n] I love you

liked by jackchampion, accio_[y/n], devyn_nekoda, and 319,485 others

masonthegooding these two are insufferable.

accio_[y/n] you know it!

| jackchampion we just cool like that 😎

devyn_nekoda you have to admit, they are cute together.

| masonthegooding I'll never admit it.

Liked by zendaya, jackchampion, jasminsavoy, and 1,384,829 others

accio_[y/n] you got me spinning like a ballerina. happy two years to my beautiful boy <3

jackchampion my favorite girl 🩷

masonthegooding this is grossly cute.

| devyn_nekoda YOU'RE ADMITTING IT!

masonthegooding your caption is cringe tho

| accio_[y/n] your face is cringe, boom!

taglist: @wenvierismycomfort @beggingforxavierthorpe @ourloveisgod23 @sssi-nr @eliza1720 @writinganything @snaackthatsmilesback @dizscreams @saintlulls @xyzstar @urmomlovesliyah

#hoe writes #jack champion head cannon #jack champion #jack champion x reader #ethan landry #ethan landry x reader #x reader #jack champion fluff #fluff #tom holland #zenday #gwen stacy #spiderman

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jahayla-parker · 8 months ago

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🎆 Hey J!! Congrats on your 1.5 followers I'm so proud of you girl!! So for my request I was wondering if it could be a Peter Parker one where y/n is somehow transported into Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, or Spider-Man No Way Home you pick and chaos ensues 💜

Multiverse : Peter Parker x Real-world!Reader

Descr: short fic in which y/n finds herself in her favorite movie and has to decide how to proceed.

Warnings: I’m not really great at these kind of AUs but other than that, I can’t think of any but let me know!

This sucks; I'm sorry, nothing was coming to me

Y/n bounced her right leg nervously as she looked around. She didn’t understand what was going on. One second she had been rewatching the latest Spider-Man movie, No Way Home from the comfort of her apartment. The next, she was standing in front of a glowing circle, identical to the ones that were portals in the movie she’d been watching. She hesitated briefly but nevertheless let her courage guide her into the multi-dimensional opening.

Y/n squinted as her eyes adjusted to her new surroundings. She quickly realized she’d somehow seemingly entered into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. How that was possible, she wasn’t certain. Had it not been for her literally pinching herself several times, she’d have thought she was simply dreaming. But she wasn’t. This was real.

Y/n slowly made her way across the bridge, stopping the moment she heard the fighting begin. She was actually in No Way Home.. or… in the universe that held the No Way Home events..? She wasn’t sure how to phrase it, it was all so bizarre. Either way, she knew from having seen the movie countless times already, that she ought to run and hide unless she wanted Dr. Octavius or Green Goblin to harm her.

Y/n let her feet guide her away from the immediate threat, only looking up when her legs came to a halt. She blinked rapidly as she found herself standing in front of Doctor Strange’s Sanctum. Of course she’d managed to make it here. Perhaps she should just go with the flow and try to help. After all, she knew how things would go, maybe she could prevent Tom Holland’s char Peter from getting hurt and May from dying.

That idea turned out too optimistic as Peter understandably was weary of y/n. It was one thing to bring people who knew him/Spider-Man from other universes. But a universe in which he was actually just a character and not real, that was another thing to digest. Nevertheless, Peter didn’t want to take any chances so he let her help him, Ned, and MJ.

It was a bit difficult at first to get Peter to trust her. As in his eyes, she seemed to be able to tell the future and was offering to stop the bad things before they happened. Luckily, having seen Far From Home, y/n understood why he was so weary of such a thing being too good to be true. So even when Peter trapped her in a sheet of webs as he demanded answers he could understand, she remained calm.

Once he had heard her out and understood that she meant no harm, Peter let y/n guide him on what to do and what not to do. There were some moments of chaos nonetheless as they were trying new things that y/n knew Peter hadn’t done in the movie before. But, she figured it was worth all the danger and chaos because she was helping her favorite superhero.

Only that too was much more intense than y/n had anticipated. Yet, she was simultaneously thrilled to be playing an active part in the movie she loved so much. Especially since they were now near the ending and May hadn’t died!

The only issue is y/n now had to return to her own universe. As much as she wanted to stay and make a place for herself in this one, she refused to risk ruining the MCU by accident. So, with a sigh, y/n closed her eyes as she said goodbye to this universe before stepping back into hers.

Taglist: @justapurrcat @natswife-marvelicious @directioner5life @ell0ra-br3kk3r @galaxyholland @bigbirdstwins @mcushvft @fishingirl12 @raajali3 @theslayerofthevampires @wonderland2425

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devilfic · 11 months ago

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❝small favor❞

V. the christmas special.

parts: previously / next plot: it's the most beautiful time of the year. pairing: mcu!peter parker x gn!reader. cw: christmas shenanigans, alcohol mentions, harry gets drunk for norman osborn related reasons, peter is a little ball of anxiety because he likes you, can I share with you what jobs I think ned and mj got after graduation. words: 8.4k.

a/n: this was gonna be a two-parter but I thought. no. so instead it's just super long :D

Peter has started visiting more.

There were the surprise visits on weekends. Something was just too important to wait a week, and too important to give you a call, and you liked that he made a note of bringing you food for the trouble. Then he was popping in on Wednesday nights—sometimes Friday mornings—because he'd forgotten to tell you this or he just couldn't wait to tell you that.

And he has texting you more, too. Not super serious things either, and after a few days of it, you had worked the fight or flight reaction to his ringtone out of your system. At some point, you had started feeling like this was becoming... a genuine friendship.

"I mean... I... yeah. We talked about it, didn't we?" Peter stops pouring, brownie batter dribbling off the lip of the bowl, "Friends. I- I think of you as a friend. If you think of me... as a friend."

You gnaw on your pen as you study him. It's another weekend surprise visit, and this time he's brought you boxed brookie batter as an olive branch. You'd actually been busy this time, and so you'd put him to work baking it while you made your vacation list, "It's just... crazy. I mean, we went from being strangers to only seeing each other once a week—purely professionally—and now you bake me things. And we hang out."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing! It's just weird," he continues to pour as you talk, "I used to see you as this unattainable hero. I couldn't believe you trusted me, felt comfortable enough to tell me your name, to care enough that even EDITH knows who I am. And now we're friends."

Peter's nose scrunches at that, and you've never wished more than now that you could see the rest of his face. He starts placing balls of cookie dough in the batter, "You talk about me like I'm Beyoncé or something."

"You're the Beyoncé of superheroes."

"Hey, that is not true. That title goes to Captain Marvel."

"Not to me."

"Well, of course not to you. You're my biggest fan."

"Wow, demoted to a fan already."

Peter slides the pan into the oven, "You know what I mean. You're biased."

"You're starting to sound like Jameson now."

He kicks the oven door closed and hops up onto the kitchen counter next to you, nudging your knee with his knee, "Oh, you haven't heard my Jameson impression. Watch this." Peter clears his throat, clenches his fist, and shakes it in the air, "Spider-Man is a menace and should be charged with domestic terrorism!"

You giggle, "Do more."

"5G isn't giving your kids cancer, it's Spider-Man leaving his webs all over the city!"

"More!"

"Spider-Man is laying eggs in our city's sewers so that one day, all his freaky spider children will rise up and take over New York!"

"Please, keep going."

Peter groans. You see his head tilt toward the notepad in your lap, "How's the vacation going? Or vacation planning, I guess."

You sigh. Your list to pack kept getting longer, and yet, anytime you tried to focus on what to bring, you would just remember something else you needed to do before leaving New York. "How do you think, based on my utter lack of excitement?"

Peter raises a brow, "Whaaat? You're not excited for Miami?"

"I was, but... everything in the world is happening at the same time. Jameson wants me to get two more articles out before I leave and my family wanted me in Florida three days ago. At this rate, I'm just barely going to make it there before Christmas. Not to mention..." You trail off as you look to Peter, whose mask eyes have gone comically wide in interest, "I don't want to leave you all alone."

"You know I've been Spider-Manning since I was like, 14, right?"

"Well, yeah, but- wait, 14?" Peter grimaces. You gloss over it before he can worry himself about it, "Anyway, I just worry. I mean, with Fisk turning the PR tide and God knows what he's planning, I don't wanna just fly to the other side of the country. It feels wrong."

Peter smirks, "Nah, nah. It's fine. I can take care of myself."

"Don't make me remind you about how all of this," you gesture between Peter and the oven, "started." He looks away from you, sheepish. "You know what I mean, right? Maybe I'm overestimating my worth to you, but-"

"You're definitely not. You have no idea how much you mean to me." That stuns you. It stuns both of you, clearly, if Peter's frantic peek at your face was anything to go by. His mouth gapes like a fish out of water for a moment, "I just mean that... you've made being Spidey... easier on me. It's nice knowing someone's actually on my side in this city. So yeah, it will feel really weird without you being just a swing away."

"You can still call, Peter. I won't mind."

"And when your family asks who's bothering you while you're sunbathing on the beach?"

"I mean, my little cousins will be impressed if I name drop Spider-Man."

He smiles. He kicks his feet out, heels bumping the cabinet doors beneath you while silence settles. You take this chance to examine a slight fraying on the fabric of his suit, a hole beginning to form on his upper thigh that you could just fit your pinky through. You remembered a time when his suit was made out of sweatpants and a dream.

He was 14 when he first started all of this. When you were 14, you were stressing over high school essays and alien invasions. You couldn't help but think that maybe he'd lost his youth to this thing. This thing that brought you together.

Spider-Man who, back then, was really a kid. He'd had to grow into it. You couldn't imagine having to grow into that. "Well, that's enough about my holiday plans. What about you?" Peter prepares to answer, then deflates. "What's up?"

He bites his bottom lip, "I don't... have any."

Your heart sinks, "What? Why not?"

"No, no, it's fine. I'll probably be out on patrol making sure everybody else is having a safe, criminal-free winter break."

Sliding off the counter, you come to stand in front of Peter with your arms folded, "Absolutely not."

"Okay, before you say anything-"

"It's Christmas, Peter! You're supposed to take time off! Be with friends and family. If you never take a break, you'll wear yourself out."

"Just hear me out-"

"No! I won't have it. You're not the only hero in New York. You're taking Christmas off. I don't care if I have to stuff you in a carry-on and take you with me but you will not be working-"

One hand clamps around the back of your head and the other silences you, turning your complaints into mush, "If you would let me finish..." you huff indignantly against his hand, "you'd know that a friend of mine is throwing a Christmas party and I was invited. There. I have plans."

Your face softens. "Really?" You ask, but the sound is muffled and it comes out more like, "Will-ee?"

Peter laughs, hand slipping from your mouth, "Really. I'll at least take a few hours off. Maybe more if I fall into a food coma."

Peter's other hand is still cradling your head, but you don't bring it to his attention. "You promise? I won't have to fly back early and check up on you, will I? 'Cause I'll do it."

"I wouldn't stop you." You glower, making Peter's mask eyes squint with amusement, "I promise."

"Sometimes I think you like making me worry over you."

"Would you believe me if I said that I'm just this awful all the time?"

"Yes, but that would make me worry even more."

The hand at your neck gently curls around the side of your throat, Peter's thumb angling your chin up to his own. The brush of it makes you tremble just slightly.

Was he trying to make you dissolve into a puddle?

"I'll be okay. Just... come back to the city, will ya? Don't fall in love with Miami."

You place one of your hands over the hand on your throat. The other hovers somewhere near his knee on the countertop, unsure of yourself. When you admire his exposed mouth, you think of Peter. Parker.

You remember you hadn't actually talked about that since it happened. It was Peter's intention to skirt around Parker, regardless of how certain you were that they were the same person. It was all in jest, sure, but some small part of you (some incredibly small, minuscule, microscopic part of you) wondered if your reporter brain just fit the two pieces together because it wanted them to fit.

Perhaps he wasn't Peter Parker. Perhaps this really was all a coincidence, and perhaps aliens didn't fall from the sky and gods didn't save the world.

You wouldn't push him on it. You wouldn't look into it either, because reporter brain be damned. You cared more about the Peter you knew than the Peter you didn't.

You smile up at him, "How could I? Miami doesn't have you."

"Nice to see you could finally make it, kiddo." Jillian is grinning at you when you arrive, her baby tucked at her hip and her wife entertaining the little monster over her shoulder. She sees the winded look on your face and immediately motions you over, pressing a hand to your cheek, "Did you crawl out of a snowdrift? You're freezing!"

You lean into it, chasing the warmth in hopes that it would restore some feeling to your skin, "The storm's getting awful out there."

"Came outta nowhere, didn't it?" Jillian's wife snorts, booping the baby's nose. "We almost didn't risk coming with the little one, it was so bad."

Said little one looks perfectly warm wrapped up in her blanket, an envious sight as you shiver and shuck off your coat to hang. You would offer the kid a boop on the nose yourself, but with your fingers frozen solid around your offering—a plate of sugar cookies—you don't want to make her cry. You give her a smile instead.

"Oh, and would you believe it?" Jillian whispers, sidling up to you, primed for gossip, "We've got a real treat here tonight. Take a wild guess who decided to show up."

"Jonah's wife?"

Jillian cackles, "God no. The stalker."

As soon as she says the name, your eyes zero in on him.

He's wearing that plaid shirt again, but the collar and cuffs are all that peek out from underneath a wrinkly blue sweater. His hair is free and gelled back, revealing his nervous expression more clearly. Nursing a cup of apple cider, he just barely looks like he wants to be here. But then he catches your eye across the room.

And he waves.

"Oh my," Jillian teases, "you must've left quite the impression if he came all this way just to see you."

"He did not come just to see me." You reply in a hushed tone, but she laughs at you all the same.

"Sure. And that's not him heading over right now, even though he's been hugging the wall all night."

You jerk your head to where Parker was standing, and, sure enough, he's pursuing you.

You part from Jillian before she can get the chance to embarrass you (she accepts your cookies as payment), and so you all but jog to meet him halfway.

He doesn't get the chance to be polite before you're interrogating him, "Where did you go?"

"Uh... What?"

"At the gala. When I ran back inside the ballroom, I couldn't find you anywhere."

Peter's eyes slowly widen, "You went back inside?"

"Answer the question, please."

"Wh- I... I was there. You didn't see me?"

"No, I didn't."

"It got crazy after Fisk rushed the stage. I got swept up in the crowd. You must've missed me."

"Really? 'Cause I was with the crowd, you know. In front of the building? Where Fisk was giving his big speech about how he saved the day? I didn't see you anywhere."

Peter blinks, then gasps as if he'd just remembered something important, "You know what? That's right. I went to go find Harry. I wanted to make sure he was alright, and then I couldn't find you in the crowd so I just assumed... I'm sorry for leaving you back there all alone." You watch as he fumbles for something convincing, "I texted Spider-Man about it, though. He said you were safe."

You fold your arms, "...Is that all he said about me?"

"Well, that. And something about your conspiracy theory?"

"Conspiracy theory."

The topic change gets some of the tension in Peter's shoulders melting away, replaced with a smile faint enough to not pass as overtly smug. He waits for one of your co-workers to move out of earshot before continuing, "You think... I'm Spider-Man."

Your jaw tightens. You know that anyone would draw the same conclusions you did after that night. You also know that no matter how logical your reasoning is, you sound highly illogical when you admit to it out loud. If you brought up the same accusation to Jillian or Jameson, they'd both laugh you out of the office.

You have to stand your ground, though. If there was one thing you were learning about Peter, it was that he was easy to fluster, "And if I do?"

"I'm flattered, really, but I don't really have the hand-eye coordination."

You know it's bullshit. He should know you know it's bullshit. If it hadn't been for his quick thinking, you and Harry would've been trampled under the masses at the gala. It's bullshit and he's waiting for his checkmate that will never come.

You do not give it a second thought. You toss your phone at Peter's head.

And he catches it. Of course he does. He stops it mere inches from his face.

If anyone saw you try to give him a concussion, they don't come over to question you on it. "Can you..." Peter starts after a breath, a bit dazed, "...can you stop trying to hit me?"

You go to defend yourself because, at the very least, you hadn't meant to try to punch Peter—which meant it didn't count—when someone barrels right into you.

And, to prove you right twice in a row, Peter is quick to catch you. He scoops you up into his arms before you end up a reporter pancake on the floor. One of your co-workers, already blitzed off spiked eggnog, had bumped you on their way to the drinks table for what looked like the umpteenth time tonight, and didn't have enough marbles to apologize before bumping someone else.

Peter is careful in how he holds you. There's that unmistakable strength behind his grip, but also... he was gentle. He felt safe.

You don't make to escape just yet, all your bravado knocked right out of you. "Jesus, you okay?" His eyes dart over to your co-worker and a scowl turns his expression sour, "Jonah should put a cap on the drinks."

You feel more than embarrassed stumbling to your feet, even more so when Peter still coddles you after you're standing upright. "I'm fine. Thanks." Peter's looking at you, brows drawn together, with so much concern it makes that second thought from earlier come in hot with a sizable topping of shame, "Talk about instant karma."

Then it's gone. Peter laughs and... it sounds just like your Peter. Undeniably. You can't help but give in. For a fleeting moment, the question of secret identities has melted away and it's just the two of you, giggling about something silly.

You're ashamed enough to apologize for throwing your phone at his head when the laughter dies down. You succeed in stealing it back and lead him over to the windows, far away from any more drunken disasters, "It's alright. I've had worse thrown at me before."

You raise an eyebrow, "Oh? Like what?"

His voice catches in his throat at first, "A... carton of expired milk. High school bully, Flash Thompson. We were both on the same academic decathlon team but he never gave up on his dream of professional baseball."

"Flash Thompson? You mean, Silicon Valley, MIT grad, tech startup millionaire Flash Thompson?"

Peter winces, "The one and only."

You frown at the distant look on Peter's face, aware of some regret there at the mention of Flash. "You and Harry went to ESU together, right? Is that where you always wanted to go?"

Peter shakes his head, but a smile comes to his face regardless, "MIT was my first choice, actually. But... even with a scholarship, I just couldn't imagine leaving New York behind. So I stayed. Went to ESU. Helped my Aunt May with the mortgage on her first house since my... my uncle passed. And now I'm selling pictures of Spider-Man to pay my rent."

You can't help the way you soften. "I'm so sorry about your uncle, Peter. Your Aunt May is lucky to have you around."

His eyelids flutter closed for a breath, and his smile grows wider. If it were even possible. "I'm lucky to have her."

You stand there together in silence after that, but it feels more comfortable than before. All the scrutiny and speculation you'd come in with had faded away, and now you were left wondering more about Peter. His hopes, his dreams, his life before all of this. What would it have been like if he'd gone to MIT? Where would you be? Or Spider-Man?

Peter's eyes peel open, "So, what about you?"

"Oh. Well, I took a shine to my school newspaper. After... everything in 2012, I knew the world would never be the same. So I had dreams of becoming a journalist, covering the street, being the first on the scene. Took my ass to college on part-time jobs and a dream, and interned at nearly every newspaper in the city before Jameson gave me a shot here. As much as I can't stand the way he talks about Spidey... he's not that bad of a guy. All things considered."

Peter agrees, "He did hire you, so..."

"Yeah, well," you lean your cheek against the window, glass cooling your blush, "At least Spidey doesn't hold it against me... but, I have to ask: why the Bugle? I mean, with photos like yours, you should be fighting off every publication in the city. Instead you turn in these... absolute masterpieces, freelancing, for a guy who can't even give you due credit, and you only stop by for a paycheck."

Peter looks to the window, the wind howling over a crooner's cover of Santa Baby. The storm was still raging on outside, and you dreaded the thought of having to walk through it to get back home. The taxis wouldn't have much luck either from the looks of it. "I... like my job, but it's not what I wanna do forever. I don't care about fame or Pulitzer prizes. It's always been about taking care of me and my Aunt May, and Jameson is a lot of things but he's always understood that. He pays me enough that I can have a place of my own and a little leftover for my aunt, and he doesn't ask questions.

"I don't need to be seen. And that's the whole point, isn't it?" His expression gradually warms as he recalls something, "It's not who's behind the lens that matters, but who's in front of it."

Your expression warms too, "I can see why Spidey likes you."

A notification disturbs the moment. Raising a finger at Peter, you check the latest notification... and your stomach drops.

Peter takes a step forward, sensing the change in atmosphere, "What? What is it?"

"My flight's been cancelled. I was leaving tomorrow for Miami but the storm..."

"Oh. Man, I'm sorry."

"I should've left sooner, I should've left when my family..." You lose the motivation to even finish your sentence, feeling exhausted all at once, "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm stuck here for Christmas."

Peter stuffs his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet as he searches for something to say. You're about to tell him not to worry about it when he speaks up, "You know," he starts, the uncertainty in his voice giving you pause, "it's no... Miami, but my aunt throws this Christmas party every year? For Christmas Eve. We invite a few friends over for dinner. She'd love it if you came."

"Oh, Peter, that's sweet but... I don't really want to intrude on a friend thing-"

"No, no, it's okay! Anyone can come. It'll just be my aunt, some of her co-workers from F.E.A.S.T., a few of my friends, my ex-girlfriend-"

"Your- what?"

"Oh. Well, I mean, we were friends before we dated. Well... technically? She sort of just... hung around me and Ned in high school and then we started dating for a while but then we broke up in university. But we stayed friends. Became better friends, actually. So, she's my ex but also a really good friend. I promise it's not weird or anything. She's super cool about it. And I am too! Her name's MJ. I think you'll like her."

You stare at Peter. You think you see a bead of sweat twinkle on his forehead underneath the Christmas lights above.

He insists that you're welcome to come, and staying home alone for Christmas would be pretty hypocritical after your argument with Spider-Man.

Spider-Man.

"...and Spider-Man will be there."

Spider-Man?

You abruptly lock eyes with Peter. "Spider-Man?"

Peter's smile is tight-lipped, "Yeah." His voice cracks. "I mean, he's just stopping by real quick, but I invited him. He might not come. But... he also might."

Was this the friend of his throwing a Christmas party? Why in the world would Peter (Parker) invite you to the same party Spider-Man would be at, unless he could stand in the same room as him at the exact same time? There'd be no other way to convince you otherwise, and you'd be forced to accept that they really were two completely different people.

Yeah, right.

You'd go to this party and suss it out for yourself.

And it wouldn't hurt, would it? Peter was nice, if not the most awkward person you've ever met. To offer you a place at his aunt's Christmas dinner not long after hurling an object at his head was a sign of true Christmas spirit. You could learn a thing or two from him, "Okay. You've convinced me. What's your number? You can text me the address."

Peter blanks for a moment, "Um... yeah, um..." You watch him flounder, growing increasingly suspicious, "Can I see your phone?"

You drop your phone in his hand. His fingers move quickly across the keyboard before returning it to you. Peter Parker is now in your contacts. You check the number against Spidey's but there isn't a match. "Thanks," you glance at his wobbly smile, "I sent you a text."

Peter gestures behind him, "Oh, cool, awesome. Will you excuse me for a sec? I gotta use the restroom." And he doesn't wait for you to affirm before he's rushing down the hall and out of sight.

A full minute passes before you receive a text back from Peter.

15 Amfan Ave Forest Hills, NY 11375 7pm :) Hope you can make it! He never shuts up about you *I *shut

Hm.

So... I hear you're throwing things at people now Who told you that? You lose one phone, then you try to bludgeon an innocent man with another. I should lock you up and throw away the key I wasn't trying to bludgeon him, because I knew he'd be perfectly *fine*. And he helped me prove a point Which was... That the chances of him being you are more likely than either of you would have me to believe Could it be that you just have a thing for attractive, masked men? That is That is irrelevant to the conversation HA you so do Literally nothing to do with anything I just said It's okay. The mask makes it really easy to project one's ideal man onto me. Or so I've learned through Twitter I'm not projecting *anything* onto you Do you picture Ryan Reynolds when you talk to me? It's okay if you do Peter, shut up Maybe someone more boyish like Timothy chalet Timothee Chalet Timothee Chalamett I'd say you just like hearing yourself talk but this is a textual conversation I like that we can talk like this :) I like it too :) What about Tom Holland? We've got the same jaw If you think me accusing you of being Parker is me projecting a handsome man onto you, I can only assume you think he's hot. Which means I can assume you have a thing for him. Because I can also make things up Like Batman and Clark Kent? Are you saying Parker is the Clark Kent in our fictional relationship? More like Superman and Jimmy Olsen And you're my Lois Lane? ... Goodnight, Peter

Aunt May's home is beautiful. There's a lovingly sculpted garden out front that has since given into the snow, but you can tell it's a sight in the spring. For now, the Christmas garland lining the doorframe—wrapped in a rope of rainbow lights—brightens up the porch. As does the collection of little striped sweater-wearing gnomes gathered around the front door.

There's a commotion of voices behind it as you approach. You shift your plate into one hand, pressing the doorbell with the other, and the voices get louder. You swallow down your nerves when the door is ripped open by a stranger.

The stranger in question is staring out into the dark at you like they weren't expecting you. Your eyes quickly dart to the plaque beside the door and see a bold "15" emblazoned there. Nope. This is the house.

Their eyes zero in on the plate in your hand. Smiling, they open the door wide and step back, "Sweet! Peter said you'd bring dessert."

You kick the snow off your boots before stepping inside. The stranger shuts the door behind you before any more of the cold could get in. "It's peppermint bark," you explain, returning a smile of your own, "but I hear May's making a cake."

"May and Peter. May's great with everything but the oven- don't tell her I said that. I'm Ned, by the way." Ned holds his hand out for a shake.

Ned is really talkative, you find out. He holds your peppermint bark as you undo your boots and coat at the door, rattling off about how Peter and he had been friends at Midtown. He tells you about his job as a cybersecurity specialist, a job he'd naturally floated toward after graduating from MIT, and how he'd stayed with the Parkers for a few months after moving back to New York. It's how he knows that the downstairs bathroom door won't close unless you lift up when you shut it. You only remember about half of what he says by the time you get to the living room.

There are considerably fewer people than you expected, one of which makes his way over the minute you catch his eye.

"Hey," Harry grins. Unlike the nice suit he'd worn to the gala, he's dressed down in jeans and an ugly sweater with "I've been naughty" printed in big letters across the front, looking a lot less tense than when you'd first seen him, "Fancy seeing you here."

"I could say the same." You can't help but ask, "Don't the Osborns host Christmas Eve at Oscorp tower every year?"

Harry's good mood fizzles out right before your eyes. You feel pretty awful about it. "Uh, yeah. Norman does. But it's more business than anything, so I dipped. I'd rather be here watching Pete fuck up a perfectly good cake."

"I heard that!" Peter's voice calls from a room away.

Harry's good mood returns, "Well, it's good to see you at the annual Parker holiday celebration. And I'll forgive you for poking into my family business if you hand over those treats."

Bashful, you let Ned pass the plate into your hands before passing it to Harry, "Sorry. Reporter brain."

Harry's nose scrunches up, "Don't apologize. Unless these taste like ass."

"I promise they taste better than ass."

"Good enough," he backs away, turning his head to shout down the hall, "Peter! Get in here already!"

When the redhead is immersed in a game of UNO, you turn to Ned, "And that doesn't... feel weird? Having Harry Osborn at family dinner?"

"There are weirder things about Peter. Speak of the devil."

The ugly sweater is the first thing you notice. A companion to Harry's, it is nearly the exact same design, except for the "I've been nice" where the "I've been naughty" had been. He's dusting his hands of something when he comes around the corner. His eyes soften when he sees you with Ned, "Hey, you came." He says in a much too gentle voice. Harry and his opponents nearly drown him out with their cheers and boos.

Unlike at the office party, you notice, Peter's hair isn't tamed by hat nor hair gel. Instead, it curls incessantly around his flushed cheeks. He looked like a damn Keebler elf. It was frustratingly adorable. "Of course. I heard there'd be cake."

"How is that cake, Peter?" Ned pulls on a piece of the ugly sweater as he walks by, and you realize that some of the red had been singed. You follow Peter's frantic gaze from the hole to you.

"This was unrelated to the cake."

"You burned something else?"

"No! One of the stockings fell into the fireplace and I-" Peter trails off as you begin to smile, "you don't get to laugh at me if you didn't bring sweets."

"I did! Harry stole them." You nod over to the coffee table where the group is devouring your peppermint bark with reckless abandon. At least you knew they didn't taste like ass. Peter rushes over to steal the plate before they could polish off the last handful, much to their protest.

"Dinner's almost ready, I swear. You've met Ned, uh, Harry..." Peter scans the group, using his free hand to point out people, "...that's Yolanda, Katie, Lexie, Eduardo: all May's friends. May's in the kitchen but I'd stay out of her way until the ham comes out unharmed."

You notice that out of everyone gathered in the house, he does not mention his ex-girlfriend. "And MJ?"

You wait for an answer. Instead, something heavy shakes the house from above. It doesn't sound like it came from outside, but rather somewhere in the house. Not quite above your head. Weirdly enough, only you seem to be concerned about it.

Peter just glances at the ceiling, "And MJ."

MJ is tossing an empty storage bin to the side when you crawl up through the floor behind Peter. She's crouched on the balls of her feet, shoulders slouched, the sharp bones of her back poking through her tight graphic tee. Her head snaps toward you both when she hears you grunt up the last rung of the ladder. Her eyes narrow on you, then Peter, "I can't find it."

Peter offers you a hand to hoist you further into the attic, "Did you check the-"

"Yes. And I checked the one next to it. And the one next to that."

You look at Peter for an explanation, but he doesn't provide you with one. He walks over to where MJ has now fallen back on her ass, rifling through one of the bins. His mouth twists to the side. "Maybe she meant the box next to her old CDs?"

"There's like 15 boxes in here, Peter."

Off to the side of the room, where MJ was currently facing the mysterious dilemma, were about nine—not 15—storage bins in disarray. Two were off to the side, emptied of their contents: there were piles of men's clothes, women's clothes, baby blankets, and more. The third box that MJ was poring over had Halloween decorations in it.

"Well, you're getting close." Peter encourages.

The way MJ grumbles resentfully has you squirming. As time ticked on, your presence unannounced, you were starting to feel like an intruder. You clear your throat and MJ looks over at you for the second time, "Maybe I could help?" You offer.

At this, MJ brightens. "Finally! Someone cares about my plight. I don't know you, do I?"

You crawl over to where MJ is sitting and Peter gestures to you, "MJ, I told you about the reporter from the Bugle, right?" You give your name for good measure, and MJ's eyebrows raise. She gives a quick, indecipherable look to Peter. He returns it. Then she examines you.

After a moment, she dusts her hand off on her khakis and holds it out for you to shake, "Michelle Jones. Call me MJ." You repeat her nickname warmly. "Peter never shuts up about you."

Peter chokes on his spit.

"He... he does?"

MJ continues shaking your hand for longer than necessary, smiling secretively now, "Oh, yeah. He's got your blog bookmarked too. Post notifs for your Twitter, the works." You cut your eyes to Peter, appalled that he'd ratted you out to someone else, but MJ is quick, "I figured it out on my own ages ago."

"Is it really that obvious it's me?"

"No." And she smiles wider.

Peter is about to cut in with something when a woman's voice rings out, shrill and clear despite two layers of flooring in between you. He's needed with the ham. He looks between you and MJ, reluctant, "Look, if you can't find it-"

"We will." MJ's reply is confident, leaving no room for failure. You feel a little pressure applied to "we".

Peter nods. He mouths an apology at you and skitters out of the attic.

Left alone with MJ, you notice that she is staring at you now. You feel like you've been left alone with an oracle, prepared for your innermost being to be laid bare before you: past, present, and future. She looks like the type to know what makes people tick.

"What are you looking for?" You try to break the silence, though your voice comes out meeker than you'd have liked.

She doesn't look away from you as her fingers grip the container in between her legs, "Uncle Ben's favorite Christmas sweater. All I know is it has a reindeer holding a beer on the front."

Reinbeer. You almost laugh at it. You imagine it would tickle an uncle pink too. "Then I'll get to looking."

You've only just crawled over to a bin of your own when MJ asks you outright, "You like Peter, right?"

Your hand stills as it pries the top off. You feel her eyes burning into your back. "He's... nice, yeah."

You can hear how unimpressed she is with that, "I don't know if it's obvious, but Peter isn't exactly popular." You think that's kind of a cruel thing to say about someone you consider a friend, but MJ keeps going, "All he had was Ned back at Midtown. And me, eventually. I've known him since high school and he's made maybe a handful of friends, maybe less. The last time he invited someone new to Christmas dinner was Harry."

And that had been at least a few years, judging by how long Harry had been away at Oxford.

But why was she telling you this?

"He likes you." You yelp when you realize MJ's voice has gotten close. You turn, and she's kneeling behind you with no interest in your fear. "But do you like him?"

In her hands is a faded, toy Iron Man mask. "I... I think he's nice. I mean kind," you correct yourself when MJ frowns, "but I... I don't really know him. I mean, I don't think I do. I've only actually spoken to him twice and one of those times, there was a gun involved. Everything I know about him is through his pictures and Spidey, and I trust Spidey. So, I trust Peter."

"And Spider-Man?"

"What?"

"Do you like Spider-Man?"

You swallow. Like didn't really sum up how you felt about him. He was a hero, an inspiration, a friend, and also... yeah, you felt something more there too.

You think about why she would ask. Why it would have anything to do with you liking Peter or not. You look at her and it feels like she hasn't really asked you that different of a question at all. Your answer is much more definitive this time, "I do. I like him more than I know what to do with."

MJ leans back on her haunches. She appraises you, "He's pretty great, isn't he?" Her tone is considerably softer.

"Yeah. He really is." You smile.

MJ hands the mask to you and you take it, admiring the chips in its paint and the lovingly worn edges. She scoots between you and the bin you'd been looking into and pops the lid off. Almost immediately, she swears in relief. Sitting folded on top is the most gaudy sweater you've ever seen. A deformed reindeer is embroidered on the front, and sure enough, holds a can of beer in its hoof. When MJ shakes it out, little specks of dust fly everywhere.

This, too, she hands to you. You look at her in bewilderment. "You'll wanna make a good first impression with May," she advises, "just be prepared for the water works."

And there are water works.

May throws her arms around your neck and just about sobs her thanks to you, squishing the sweater between your chests. You note that she smells like candy canes. When she draws back, her glasses are all askew, "And I'm so glad you could make it! Peter wouldn't shut up about you. Isn't that right, Petey?"

Peter's eye twitches. "I'm gonna set the table. Ned, you wanna set the table?" And he scoots past you and May without waiting for a response.

"Don't mind him, he gets testy when he's cooking. Did Petey give you the tour?" You shake your head and May kisses her teeth in Peter's direction, "Okay, this is the kitchen, around the corner here is the dining room. You've seen the living room and the attic. The bathroom is by the front door, and the bedrooms are upstairs. If someone's in the bathroom down here, do not use the bathroom by the stairs. That's Ned's favorite when he gets bubbly guts, and he will get bubbly guts."

Ned complains under his breath as he walks by.

"If you need somewhere to get away from the festivities for a bit, backyard's that way and my room's upstairs, first door to the left. All good?" She pets your shoulder. Then, she looks down at the sweater still in your hands and takes it from you, tenderly. "I'm gonna go change into this and then dinner is served. Help yourself to anything, okay?"

May leaves you in the kitchen with that. Around the corner, Peter and Ned are fussing over where to put the ham and sides. Around the other corner, Harry is drunkenly singing Christmas carols with Yolanda. MJ watches on from the corner of the room, recording on her phone. She catches your eye and mouths, "For blackmail."

You peek into the dining room and Peter is worrying over one of the chairs. You can hear Ned scold him, "Sit next to them. You don't wanna talk over the ham. It'll kill the mood."

"But how do I... subtly get them to sit in this chair and not next to MJ or something?"

"Tell MJ not to sit next to them."

"But what if-" You jolt a little when Peter suddenly spots you eavesdropping. He straightens up with a death grip on the chair he'd been messing with, "Hey! Hi. This is your chair by the way." And he tops it all off with a smile.

It's warm in May's home.

You don't even register the cold at first. You do register Harry's frenzy, the way he grabs far more napkins than he needs to, pressing them to your stomach where the majority of his spilled drink had gone. When you finally do comprehend what just happened, you place your hands over his, "How long have you been plotting your revenge?"

Harry is red-faced. He lets you hold the napkins there while May rushes to find a towel, "Sorry. I wasn't looking where I was- sorry."

You don't get to dwell on the déjà vu of it all. May is ushering you up the stairs with a beach towel pressed to your front, muttering about how she'll have to put Harry on ginger ale for the rest of the night. She guides you into what you're certain is Peter's old bedroom.

It's been cleaned out, and most of his personal belongings must be at his own place, but there are still old posters on the wall, and a calendar dated in April, two years ago. His bed is ruffled like he'd slept overnight. It's neat, and looks like it usually is neat, but there are traces of him everywhere, like picture frames with Peter and May and a man you don't recognize.

"Peter probably has something here you can wear. It's all stuff from college." She digs through the top drawer of his dresser, finally stopping on a sweatshirt with Empire State University in college block across the chest. "Here! You think this'll fit?"

She stretches it out and you nod, thankful, "Yeah, thank you so much, May."

She smiles, "Okay. Bathroom's across the hall if you need to wash off. I can run your shirt through a wash while you're here if you'd like. Just let me know, okay?"

May is, perhaps, the sweetest woman on earth. She leaves you with a thumbs up and shuts the door behind you, reminding you to lock it after she leaves.

Your shirt had absorbed most of the drink, and you're relatively unscathed besides some sticky residue. You wipe at your stomach with the towel she'd given you and slip Peter's sweater on. It feels... odd, wearing it. It smells like May's house with little traces of Peter.

Your eyes drift back to the picture frames.

One such frame sits on top of the dresser, a photo of Peter and the man who you assume is Uncle Ben. He holds Peter in a headlock but they're both smiling at the camera. You smile too, tracing a finger around the wooden edges.

Another picture is of Peter and MJ and Ned, standing outside of MIT with their fingers pointing at the school. Another is of Peter and MJ sharing cotton candy at Coney. Another is of Peter as a little boy, with two people flanking his side that you do not know. You realize you'd never asked about Peter's parents.

There are other photos of him around that age with May and Ben, and as you piece together what feels like an undoubtedly tragic story, you catch something outside the window.

A person. Hanging onto the side of the house.

Your heart hammers in your chest as a hand pushes the window up, and then, "Did I scare you?" Spider-Man perches on the sill with what you can imagine is a shit-eating grin.

You stomp over to the window and shove at his shoulder, but he doesn't budge in the slightest, "You almost gave me a heart attack! Were you watching me get dressed?"

The mask's eyes blow open, "What? No! I swear I just got here."

"Do you ever use the front door?"

"Not if I can help it," he crawls in, staying planted by the window, "don't tell me you're snooping through Parker's things."

"I was just... looking. At the pictures. And Harry Osborn spilled his drink all over me so I had to borrow Parker's shirt."

"Hm. ESU looks good on you."

You look up at Peter, who keeps his hands tucked behind his back, leaning against the wall by the window. "Aren't you gonna say hi to the party? Make Parker look cool?"

"Eventually. Maybe. Might just watch from afar."

"No, nuh-uh. You said you had holiday plans and that you were going to a party. That doesn't count if you're watching from afar."

Peter's head sways to the side, "I never said this was the party I was going to."

"Is there another?"

"Well... maybe. Maybe not."

"Peter-" You whine, but he cuts you off.

"I'm not a party guy! Sue me."

"Well, then Parker's got you beat two for two. Unless you're lying, since I haven't given up on my conspiracy theory."

Peter presses himself off the wall, sauntering toward you in a zig-zag. Your eyes follow him, back and forth, back and forth, until he's a step or two away. His hand reaches out to play with one of your sleeves, its seams resewn with mismatched thread, "Leaving a party as Peter Parker to come back as Spider-Man. Give Parker some credit. That's the kind of plan you come up with in high school."

You shrug, trying not to act like Peter playing with your sleeve wasn't giving you goosebumps. "You never know."

Peter nods, "Yeah, you're right. I mean, he was really excited to see you."

"Oh yeah?" You swallow.

"Yeah. Was kind of pathetic, actually."

Peter shoots a web at the ceiling and twists, catching the web between his feet so he could hang upside down. The suddenness makes you stumble back with a breathless laugh, "That's not a very nice thing to say about a friend."

"Weren't you the one who said he'd be shaking and crying if you yelled at him?"

You sigh, "I was... I was teasing you."

"Because I'm Peter Parker."

He says it matter of fact. You stare at him, "Yeah," you whisper, "that's right."

He pulls himself up the web until he's face to face with you, "Then that wouldn't be very nice to say to a friend, would it?"

"No, it wouldn't. If you were Peter Parker, I guess I'd have to apologize to you."

"Yeah? How?"

You breathe deep. Everyone is still laughing downstairs. You become hyper-aware of the fact that you hadn't locked the door. At any moment, someone could walk in and...

Peter waits, curious.

Your fingers trace the lines of his jaw, pressing into the fabric of his mask, feeling over the ridges where black lines broke red. You know what you want to do. And you also know that there is no going back if you do it.

Your fingers reach the place where the mask meets the rest of his suit. Hooking two fingers under the fabric, you pull.

Your fingernails trace over the curve of his Adam's apple as it bobs, over the jut of his chin. Peter's breath is heaving. One of his hands releases its grip on the web and you see it glide toward yours out of the corner of your eye. You just feel the skin of his bottom lip under your finger when you realize how this might look. What he might think you're trying to do.

Mask in hand, questions of his identity hanging in the air, your curiosity and his vulnerability. You release the mask, awash with worry. You want to get it out before there's any misunderstanding, but as your hand drifts back to yourself, his catches it. You would give anything to know what he's thinking right now.

Peter lets your fingers fall. Silently, he drags the mask over the tip of his nose and leaves it resting there. An invitation. "I trust you." He promises. And kisses you.

He has to stretch a little to reach you. You understand this and press closer, taking the back of his head in your hands and holding it steady for you, but you know you're trembling. You curse yourself for how much your body reacts to this, how uncool you must look, how you shake with all the excitement and terror of this. You kiss him and feel silly about how you claimed to know his lips so well before now. That was nothing.

This is everything. So many things. Each time you go back in for more, you lock away some new little detail about him.

Peter places a hand against your neck and tugs you even closer, but the momentum makes him swing a little bit so his nose bumps your chin. You're too stiff to laugh, but he does, "Sorry," his voice is raspy, "this looked cooler in my head."

You lean into him, dizzied, "Was this... did you plan for me to kiss you? When you got up there?"

"I've wanted to kiss you plenty of ways." Peter's admission is followed by a sigh. He presses a hand to your chest and nudges you back a step before he's dropping to his feet and advancing upon you once more, bumping you against the dresser as the picture frames rattle. Your fingers sneak under his mask at the back of his head so they can sink into his silky hair.

He probably kisses you a hundred more times after that. Every kiss you think might be the last, but then you feel a tug in your chest and go in for one more. An itch that no scratch can soothe.

Peter's mask starts to slip and you feel one of his hands leave your waist to fix it, but the warmth your fingers had snuggled into disappears and-

You keep your eyes screwed shut, "Peter." You gasp against his mouth. Your fingers twitch in his hair, finding no resistance.

"It's okay," he nudges your nose with his, still pressing kisses to the corner of your mouth, "it's okay."

"But-"

"Don't you wanna know if you were right?"

You squeak when his lips find the underside of your jaw, "I don't need- you don't need to-"

"You're always right," Peter interrupts you, kissing down your neck, "I was never fooling you. You're so smart, you know that?"

"Peter." You say his name with no real plans for it to do anything, letting your head fall back.

"Please." He says back. Urging.

You lift your head, heart hammering away, and meet the eyes of Peter Parker.

#peter parker x reader #peter parker scenarios #peter parker fic #peter parker fluff #peter parker #spiderman x reader #spiderman scenarios #spiderman fic #spiderman fluff #tom holland peter parker #marvel #mjwrites #if you see any mistakes in this no u didn't #this has gone through a few revisions and uh. i'm sleeby #pp; small favor

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