#peter parker who frightens everyone who has only met him in passing

[pbpsbff]

reject precious peter parker. embrace feral cryptid peter parker.

[rendevousz]

little hacker

avengers x fem!teen!reader

characters: brief clint barton, tony stark, steve rogers, natasha romanoff, peter parker

summary: you hacked into tony's systems and he, along with the team, track you down.

warnings: mentions of death and a car crash, hacking written by someone who has no idea how it works

word count: 3241

note: hi um this is my first oneshot on tumblr i hope you like it!!

you were 14 when you first met the avengers. your family had gotten into a tragic car accident and you were the only one who made it out alive, leaving you in excessive guilt and burden; guilt because you were the only one granted a second chance at life and burden because you had to live your life, barely scraping by as you were dropped the responsibility of taking care of your sick grandmother.

at 11, where all that the kids your age had to worry about was whether their pocket money was enough to get themselves an after-school snack, you worried whether or not the money left to your name was enough to survive.

at 11, where girls worried about their changing bodies and asked their mothers about it, you had to figure it all out yourself and with the help of your trusty laptop, the only gadget you had, one that your dad had gifted to you after you had gotten 100s for all your tests at age 8. he thought you were his little prodigy and figured a laptop would treat you well. you took care of it well because while you didn't want to spend the last of your money left, —that was specifically set aside for your grandmother's hospital bills— you wanted to hold on to the laptop for as long as you could, as a reminder of your loving father, as well as the memories the item held, after you've watched movies with pretty much all of your passed family members on that laptop at different points in your life. that was why whenever the thing lagged due to how much you've been using it, you almost always figure out how to fix it until it was good as new.

at 12, while your classmates had their parents to protect them when they were out at night, you feared for your life whenever you were out past dark. which led you to learning self defence from youtube videos. you learned them pretty quickly and with your sharp-wittedness, you no longer feared to be out at night. you even had the honours of trying out your skills when some men thought they could get you just because you were smaller than them.

at 12, where kids your age were having fun, enjoying their childhood, you had no choice but to be mature and think for the good of yourself and your sick grandmother. you were forced to grow up and you were probably more mature and intelligent than the rest of your classmates combined.

and at 13, you realised that money wasn't going to grow on trees and the money you were left with wasn't going to last forever. it had to last until you were old enough to work. but with your grandmother's condition getting worse and worse, you were forced to drop out of school. you were upset because you loved it. you loved knowledge. but family came first and the only thing that your knowledge increased on was on computers.

which led to you being able to hack into tony stark's bank account at only 14. you had no other choice than to steal money and who better to steal it from than a guy whose pocket change could probably last you another five years or so? you knew who tony stark was, the whole world knows who he is. and you thought that maybe he would be too preoccupied with his alter ego saving the whole world, along with his group of earth's mightiest heroes that he wouldn't notice the tiny bit of money you'd stolen from him.

of course the billionaire had been alerted immediately by his AI when you'd accessed into his systems. "security breach?" he exclaimed, immediately dropping the tool he was tinkering his suit with in his lab.

he spent about 3 minutes, that was how long you took touring around in his systems, observing what you did in it. he watched as you did nothing about the highly confidential information he had and instead, stole....5 grand from his bank account? that was barely a scratch to his account. what was going on?

he had requested FRIDAY to track down the hacker, mainly because he was perplexed that someone had hacked into his well protected system just to steal a tiny bit of money but it seems that even FRIDAY couldn't track down where it came from.

he told the team and it was then that everyone worried how dangerous the hacker could possibly be.

"who steals just 5 grand after hacking into a billionaire's bank account?" clint frowned after tony had explained the whole situation. "i mean, if i managed to hack into your systems, i'd do way more than just steal a couple bucks."

"exactly. and who knows? they might just be waiting for the right moment to install dangerous malware into the system and until we find the culprit, they're roaming somewhere out there with all our confidential information right at the tip of their fingers. if they decide to use it against us..." tony trailed off, for once having a worried expression on his otherwise nonchalant face. he's never been this clueless about what to do with any sort of technical issues concerning the avengers or himself.

you on the other hand, after getting complacent that you weren't caught, kept doing so for the next couple months or so. you had no ill intentions, just trying to scrape by. the whole situation puzzled tony. he didn't care how much you've taken from him in total now, you were right; it was merely pocket change to him. but you were still considered a threat since you had free access to his systems and he didn't even know who you were or where you were.

that was until you made a tiny mistake, one that if tony wasn't spending every waking moment trying to track you down he wouldn't have noticed. and though it was a small mistake, it certainly was going to change how things ran from then on.

that afternoon, after having just gotten back from visiting your grandmother at the hospital, you were planning to get more money from the billionaire's bank account at the comfort of your own home. god, hospital bills were expensive. once you had had a little snack, you settled down on the couch and opened your laptop. but being the quick-witted person you were, before the screen in front of you lit up, you saw movement from behind you.

your heart raced. you could handle fighting people but those usually happened in alleys at nighttime. this was in your home, your safe place. you made sure to lock the doors and there weren't fire escapes outside your windows so how did the intruder get in?

you could tell they were trying to be inconspicuous to get to you and so you let them. you let the person think that they were going to get you without a fight but when they were right behind you, you swiftly turned your body around and jumped over the couch. the masked intruder let out a surprised yelp and the two of you fought for a bit. before you knew it, you had them pinned under you in just ten seconds.

"wha– how– what?" it sounded like a boy. you looked down at him and noticed his red and blue spandex suit. you frowned. wasn't this the friendly neighbourhood spiderman guy or something? why was a superhero breaking into your home?

he was coughing from your knee pressing down onto his chest and you lifted it slightly, enough for him to breathe but not enough to escape. he seemed grateful though because he muttered a seemingly embarrassed 'thanks'.

"get off the kid or i'll blast you off of him myself."

you look up and saw the iron man repulsor aimed right at you, and obviously iron man himself was standing right there in the middle of your small apartment. behind him stood a redhead, who you knew as the black widow, aiming a pistol at you, and a man with a shield, captain america. the spiderboy must've come in through the window and unlocked the door for them.

when you made eye contact with steve, he frowned in confusion. you looked way too young to be the culprit they had expected. he muttered a quiet 'wait, what?' before tony stark revealed himself, his iron man faceplate opening.

"um...kid? where are your parents? or guardian? we need to see them because there's been some highly illegal activity coming from this address." the man in the suit spoke. you stayed still, knee still pressing against the boy under you, frowning at the adults in the room. they noticed your apprehensiveness and slowly lowered their weapons. "we're not here to hurt you, you can release the boy now," steve told you gently.

you usually weren't one to trust easily but since these people were known superheroes, you reluctantly stood up, still anxious of the possibilities of what they could do to you. the spiderboy got up too and dusted his back, before going to stand next to steve. you were confused as to why these heroes were breaking in your home until you remembered what you had been up to for the past weeks. how could you forget when that was the only reason you were still surviving?

your eyes widened with fear when they met tony's soft ones. he looked at you with such care and worry that you were reminded of your late dad. the man in front of you wasn't the arrogant man you've watched on youtube. you felt bad for stealing from him now. you used to think that he deserved it, despite how little you took compared to how much he had. the man knelt down before you so he didn't appear so big in front of you, seeing your frightened expression. little did he know you were frightened for a totally different reason.

"anyone else living here, kid? because i tracked down this address and someone has been stealing money from me. i might need to have a little talk with them." he explained, looking around the house. you fiddled with the hem of your shirt nervously, scared of what would come once you came clean about your actions. you were scared you were going to be taken in for juvenile crime but you were also scared of the consequences of lying straight to their faces. so you took a deep breath before deciding to just tell the truth.

"t–that would be me, sir." you admitted in a small voice, avoiding eye contact with the billionaire you had been stealing from. a few shocked looks from the team and an incredulous 'what?' from tony had you biting the inside of your cheeks in fear.

"i'm truly sorry about that, sir. i..." you trailed off, debating whether or not to justify your actions because you thought that he might not even want to listen to it. "i had to pay off my grandmother's hospital bills because she is very sick. my family died a few years ago in a car crash and i was the only one who made it. i was left some money to my name but having to survive on that along with paying off nana's bills, it was bound to run out. i...i thought that since you were a billionaire, stealing a few thousands wouldn't matter to you...i'm so sorry, sir. i– i'll start working to pay you back.." you stuttered out, holding your hands together so it would minimise the shaking.

tony's mouth opened and closed, like fish out of water, not knowing what to say to you. he stood up and you were on the verge of breaking down right then and there, feeling as small as you did before he knelt before you. "p–please don't report me, sir. i– i don't know what would happen to my nana if you do.. i swear to you that i didn't mess with your other files. i only accessed the system for your bank account and that was it. i have no ill intentions, please don't report me.." you were now the one kneeling down in front of him, begging.

the team were flabbergasted at the scene unfolding before them and tony was quick to get you off your knees, which scared you even more because the death grip of his metal hands on your forearms had your mind running wild at the millions of possibilities of what he would do to you. was he going to kill you and leave you somewhere that people were never going to find your body? or was he going to dispose of you and use his power to remove you permanently from the system so no one came looking for you? he had the power to ruin your life and you feared that.

snapping you out of your mental breakdown, he spoke softly. "hey, it's okay." and that was when you realised the 'death grip' he had on your forearms had only been your paranoia getting the best of you. he was barely even touching you. your teary eyes looked up at his soft, brown ones in fear.

then he smiled at you.

"it's okay. i understand the reason why you did what you did. you're a good kid, your nana is so lucky to have you. what's your name?" he knelt down before you once again, knowing that him standing tall in his iron man suit terrified you. "y/n." you responded timidly.

"how old are you, y/n?" this time, it was steve who asked. you had forgotten that there were other people in the room, too consumed by your fear for your life a few moments ago. "i'm fourteen, mr america, sir." you whispered out, the sight of captain america in person intimidating you until you saw a kind smile on his face.

"you're pretty young to be doing what you've been doing, y/n. are you aware that you're the first person to be able to hack into my heavily protected, supposedly impenetrable network? many have tried to do so and failed, and they were really smart people too. have you been doing this for a while?" tony asked.

"um...my father gifted me this laptop when i was 8 because i did exceptionally well in school. he believed i was a child prodigy and let me have a laptop since he knew my studies wouldn't be affected by the distraction of entertainment. i used to only hack into games to cheat my way up the ranks but only recently i tried something else since i had nothing better to do and i've been out of school for a while now. i knew you were a billionaire so i tried just for the heck of it and surprised myself when i got in on the first try. and then i saw your bank account details and i really needed money so i stole some... again, i'm so sorry about that." you apologised, looking down at your feet.

he couldn't believe it. you were just messing around and you managed to get into his system? you, a mere fourteen year old who was out of school, managed to single handedly do what geniuses around the world had failed to do?

he was initially just going to have a talk with the hacker, and in case they were dangerous and had backup, he brought his own. but bringing steve, natasha and peter proved to be unnecessary when the culprit turned out to be you.

"where did you learn those moves?" natasha stepped closer towards you. you looked up at the redhead, noticing the glare she had on you when she aimed her pistols at you was replaced with curiosity.

you fiddled with the hem of your shirt even more, embarrassed to tell her that you learned to fight from a couple of youtube videos when she had gotten years of actual training. you were pathetic compared to her. "i, um, i learned them from some youtube videos."

her eyebrows raised in surprise at the revelation. you hadn't gotten professional training yet you moved like you had. peter had superhuman strength, agility and endurance yet you took him down in under ten seconds. sure it may have been a disadvantage to peter because he was caught off guard but he should've been able to take you down still.

now was tony going to let the chance of a lifetime slip by? no, of course he was immediately thinking of recruiting you. your dad had been right about you being a prodigy. you adapted to new skills quickly and you were perfect for recruitment.

"hey kid, wanna be an avenger?"

your eyes widened and your jaw dropped in shock. steve immediately turned to him, an incredulous look on his face as he glared dangerously at the billionaire. "stark, you wanna think about this for a minute?"

"thank about what, cap? you saw what she did to the spiderling. and she successfully hacked into my system on her first try and we took weeks to trace her. romanoff back me up here," he saw how impressed natasha was by you and he knew the redhead wasn't going to disagree. "stark's right, steve. she's only fourteen and she's capable of so much already. we need someone like her."

"exactly! she's only fourteen! this life is dangerous for her!" steve argued. peter then tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "hey, mr rogers, i'm a sixteen-year-old avenger and she took me down easily. not gonna lie, it hurt my pride, also my back when you flipped me over your shoulder," he turned to you but you didn't say anything because you couldn't see his facial expression. "but i think she's going to be okay, sir."

steve sighed before turning to you, the defeated expression on his face softening when you looked up at him with your doe eyes and a small smile. you didn't answer to tony just yet since it seemed that steve had a say in it as well but you were dying to say yes. not only were you not going to be reported for your crimes but to be recruited by iron man himself to be an avenger? who could say no to that? not you, at least, since you had nothing better to do with your life at the moment.

"well, what do you say, kid?"

your smile grew and you nodded happily. the team couldn't help but crack a smile at how happy you looked for the first time since they've encountered you.

"well, you should go pack your important stuff so we can go back to the tower. you're going to be moving in if you're an official member of the avengers." tony told you and you nodded, walking towards your room to start packing while the team sat on the couch to wait for you.

"wait, what's going to happen to my nana?" you turned back towards them, worry etched onto you face. "don't worry about it, kid. you can give me the details later and i'll settle it. she'll be in good hands." he assured. "okay." you mumbled in response.

you were actually going to be an avenger. "awesome.." you grinned to yourself as you packed.

[beardrabbles]

THIN ICE

rating: k

words: 1796

characters: female stark reader, peter parker, tony stark

notes: ( ao3 request ) I deleted the chapter with the request like the dummy I am, but the gist of it was reader is a Stark, and Peter is frightened of Tony after learning that. Been a while, but I’m glad to be writing for you all again! :D

tags: none

“Weather’s nice…”

“Mhmm.”

“Would really suck if it was raining.”

“Yeah, it would.”

You spare a moment to glance at the boy beside you and find him muttering quietly to himself, the tone reprimanding and self-depreciating. Without meaning to, you giggled. You had fully anticipated waiting alone on the edge of the street, but another had arrived not long after you had. Clearly, the ones that had promised to pick you up were late, forcing awkward interaction between you and the one with splotchy, red cheeks. Although, now that you were getting a longer look at him — with his pushed back hair and his kind eyes — something about him seemed familiar.

“I feel like I’ve seen you before, but I don’t remember you being in any of my classes.” You turned to him, giving him your undivided attention. “Have we met before?”

The boy chuckled nervously and gave his lean shoulders a shrug. “I don’t think we have. I mean, aside from now. Now we’ve met.”

“Have we?” You arched a brow, and it only made him redder still. “Cause it still doesn’t feel like I know who you are.”

“Oh, yeah! Parker. Uh, Peter.” He held a hand out and smiled twitchily.

“Peter Parker? Nice to meet you. My name is (Y/N).” You were sure to avoid saying your last name, and he didn’t seem to catch that. Your first name was enough to make his eyes light up and his posture slacken even after you placed your hand in his.

“(Y/N). That’s a nice name.” He shook your hand for a second too long, but was prompt in dropping it after he realized how long he’d held it for. “You waiting for someone to pick you up?”

“Yeah, my dad.” You rolled your eyes and looked down both ends of the street, but didn’t spot the car you knew your father was driving. There was always the possibility it would blend in, except your father’s car was far from dusty or rusty or average. You knew for an absolute fact that you’d recognize it from miles away, and you had yet to see it after waiting nearly an hour. “Figures he’d be late.”

“I dunno, I’m kind of glad he’s late. Wouldn’t have been able to talk to you if he got here on time.” Peter became flushed again, and so did you. “Hey, I know this is sudden, but would you wanna hang out with me and my friends tomorrow? We were going to get pizza and relax a little before tests start next week.”

“Relaxing before tests? No studying?”

“It’s Ned’s idea, and I think he’s right. We can only study so much, and pizza’s good.” Peter laughed, and you joined in soon after.

“He is right. Y’know, I’ve been here for about a week and I’ve done nothing but run around. Keeping up with my classes, getting used to being in a new state, new school, not knowing anyone — it’s a pain. I think vegging out over some pizza would do me some good.”

“Great! Here.” Peter fished out his phone and handed it over. “So I can tell you where we’re meeting.”

“Good idea.” He didn’t give you the impression that he was doing this just to get your number, but you would have given it to him either way. Peter seemed nice and a little dorky, but you knew you could be too.

You tapped your number into his phone, and he was quick to send you a text so you could add his number in exchange. The single pizza slice emoji elicited a giggle before you put your phone away. “So, are you waiting for someone too?”

Peter nodded and began to rock on the soles of his sneakers. “Yeah! My mentor’s got something planned for me, and he said he’d pick me up today to make things easier.”

“Mentor? Are you an intern?” You would have been more surprised, but most of the students you now shared a school with were smart enough to own their own business.

“It’s not a big deal.” Peter shrugged modestly and looked down at his feet. “It’s just some big, hot-shot guy. Super cool. His tech is beyond what I expected. Loads smarter than me, but he’s teaching me so much. He’s kind of the best, but I think he already knows that.”

“Not a big deal, huh?” You laughed and nudged him with your shoulder. “He sounds pretty great. Who is it?”

“Oh, uh... You’ve heard of him. Everyone has.” His hesitation was endearing but ill timed. As he struggled with the balance between modesty and excited bragging, a car pulled up alongside the street. The slick, black exterior still managed to glisten despite the overcast sky and the looming threat for rain. The windows were tinted, of course, but you knew who sat in the driver’s seat.

“Looks like Dad finally decided to show up.” You adjusted the pack on your back and grinned towards Peter, but all you saw was confusion.

“Dad? But that’s Mr. Stark’s car.”

It was your turn to look at him strangely. “Mr. Stark? You sound like one of the people that works for him.”

“I don’t work for him, but——”

“He idolizes me.” Tony stepped out of the car, a cheeky smirk on his lips. “Who doesn’t?” 

You wanted to groan loudly at your father’s mountain sized ego, but you had less self-centered people to talk to at the moment. Addressing Peter again, you had only one question. “Let me guess, he’s the mentor you were talking about?”

“He never told me he had a daughter!” Peter balked.

“You never asked.” Tony countered. He moved around the nose of the car, brown eyes peering over the tops of his sunglasses. “I had a feeling you two would run into each other eventually.”

“How come I haven’t run into her while working with you?” Peter looked between the two of you, spotting minor similarities in posture, facial structure and ( now that the two of you were speaking ) the cadence in speech.

“Because I’m not his shadow, as much as he’d love for me to be.” You pass him a smile, but it was too sweet and clearly fake. The smile he gave you in return was soft and genuine, a rare sight. An arm wrapped around your shoulder and pulled you in, his facial hair rough against your temple where he placed a loving, fatherly kiss.

“She’s got her own plans. Whether they follow mine or they go in an entirely different direction doesn’t matter. She’s a Stark! She’s destined to be the best in any field!” He bragged, giving your shoulders an extra squeeze before releasing you. You were flush under his praise, and you had to wonder what you’d done to deserve such an accepting father.

“This.  .  . is weird.” Peter frowned, and it caused both you and Tony to raise an eyebrow in such a way that it only weirded him out more that you two were so alike.

“What’s weird about it?” Tony asked.

“I just asked her ou——” Peter sucked in a breath, paused with his mouth open, then clamped his lips shut. Sadly, it was too late. Tony tensed beside you, and you felt the need to leap forward and protect Peter from the sudden shift in atmosphere.

“He wanted me to hang out with him and his friends.” You quickly amended.

Tony licked behind his lower lip and shoved his hands into the pockets of his faded jeans, his whole posture threatening. There was a moment of silence, but it somehow still felt noisy with the sheer amount of thoughts rolling around in Tony’s head.

“Him and his friends, or just him?” The question he posed felt like it was meant for you, but his dark eyes remained on Peter. Because of this, you kept your mouth shut and let him answer.

“Mr. Stark, you know I’d never——”

“Alone or with friends, Parker?” The sharp jab of his last name made Peter flinch.

“With friends! You know them. I’ve told you about them. Ned and MJ wanted to get pizza and hang out, but we haven’t picked a place yet. So we exchanged numbers so I could tell her when we did. I swear, it’s just to chill out before testing next week.” He sounded pleading, and it annoyed you — not because the pleading itself bothered you, but because your father was causing it.

“Dad, get back in the freakin’ car.” You grabbed his arm and turned him around, hands pushing at his back. He didn’t fight you off, but he did raise his hands while complaining.

“You’re dismissing your own father? I’m hurt, (Y/N). I never thought a boy would be more important than family.” He followed along as he was lead back to the driver side door.

“You are an actual menace. Leave us alone. I’m a big girl, and I want friends.” Once you neared the door, you lowered your voice so only he could hear. “You know him, right? Is he alright?”

“He’s more than alright.” Tony whispered back. “He’s one of the smartest kids I’ve met, aside from you. A little on a dweeb side, but you could make worse friends. Don’t tell him I said that, you I’m docking your allowance.”

“You won’t.” You smiled and bit at your lip. “So I can go with him?”

“Only if I’m allowed to mess with him a little more.” Perfectly white teeth were flashed in a cheeky grin. “I think I freaked him out.”

“I think so too.” You suppressed the urge to laugh and stepped back. “But you’re an actual butthead.”

“I know.” Tony winked, then put on another severe expression that he directed towards Peter. Sharply and menacingly, he motioned with two fingers that he would be keeping his eyes on the young hero. Peter stammered again, but Tony had already folded himself into the driver’s seat.

You moved around the car again and stopped in front of Peter, a spring in your step.

“Text me when you’ve got it figured out. I wanna come along.” You smiled shyly and nudged your shoulder against his. “See you, Peter!”

Peter lifted a hand in farewell, but made it a point to avoid looking anywhere in Tony’s direction. “Yeah! See you. Later. Tomorrow.”

You fled into the car, but rolled your window down at the request of your father. He leaned across you and shouted through the window as he slowly rolled the car forward.

“Watch yourself, Parker! I’ll know if you try anything!”

And with that, you and your father drove away, leaving Peter to panic on his own.

[certifiedskywalker]

Academic Misgivings (Part Four) - Peter Parker

You and Peter Parker aren’t friends, but you’re not entirely enemies either. You don’t like him but he always tries to be nice to you. He has everything you’ve ever wanted and you’ll do anything to show him that you can make it on your own. But can you?

PART ONE / PART TWO / PART THREE /

Thank you all for the support on this series so far! Like last time, I won’t post the next part until this one reaches 250 notes! Have fun reading my friends!

You didn’t remember the drive to the hotel or the walk you must have made to your shared room with MJ. Nor did you recall how you had changed into sleeping clothes and climbed into bed. When you woke, naturally with no ringing phone, the 24 hours prior where all lost in a haze. All that was clear in your mind the whipping wind against your skin.

The ghost of the sensation caused you to shudder and you pulled the covers a bit tighter over your shoulders. You sat up and flitted your gaze around the room. MJ was pressed against the headboard, a book opened on her lap.

“What time is it?” Your voice is hoarse when it comes out and you imagined it was from screaming the day before. 

“Like seven fifty-three,” MJ replied, not looking up. 

“What? Don’t we leave in like seven minutes?!” You jumped out of the bed and scurried over to your bag. Just as you stand, clothes gathered up in your arms, MJ decided to speak up.

“Don’t you remember? Mr. Harrington said we’re going to leave later, ya know...things that happened yesterday.” You licked your lips anxiously as your cheeks heated up. 

“I don't ...we didn’t have to….”

“It’s alright, Y/N. Plus, I think Ms. Lauren was more scared than you were,” MJ pointed out but upon seeing your frown, she got up from the bed. “Hey, Y/N, are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, I mean my hands kind of ache still, I have to change the bandages but-”

“No, I mean, emotionally, mentally,” MJ interrupted, “are you okay?”

You gaze shifted, studied your shoes rather than maintaining eye contact with MJ. “I-I uh, yeah. I think I am. I’m okay. I think I just need to keep going.”

“Makes sense,” she replied, “you did almost die.” You shouldn’t be as shocked as you are at MJ’s bluntness. “Sorry, that was-”

“It’s alright,” you said with a half-hearted smile. Before MJ could speak up, you filed into the bathroom to change clothes. As you lifted your shirt up and over your shoulders, your hands stung with overuse. A breath whistled between your teeth and you examined your palms. Fresh blood soaked through the bandages and the sight made your stomach churn.

You ignored the ache in your hands and dressed quickly. Goosebumps bloomed across your skin as, once you were changed, unraveled the bandages wrapped around your hands. The EMTs, when they had removed the shards of glass, had gifted you with rolls of gauze to tend to the cuts. Some of the larger wounds were stitched close to expedite the healing process. Carefully, you grazed the tip of your finger along the sensitive flesh.

The tearing returned along with a breeze that threw you back to the tower. Your throat raw and cheeks wet with tears. It took only a moment until your began to hammer just as it had done while you clung to the edge of the balcony. Your breath shallowed and with closed eyes, you forced yourself to recall the warmth. The power of red over your vision reminded you that you were safe, Spiderman had saved you.

A knocking at the door frightened you, pulling you back to reality. “Y/N, we’re supposed to head down in like ten minutes. You okay in there?”

“Yeah,” you said, although your voice faltered, “I’ll be out in sec.” MJ fell silent on the other side of the door and you swiftly rewrapped the cuts that decorated your palms. The gauze was snug, applying what could have been too much pressure but you were much too rushed to care. You pushed open the door and catch MJ near the hotel room door with her bag slung over her shoulder.

“I’ll meet you on the bus okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” you conceded and watched as she left you alone. You wandered over to your bag and tucked your pajamas inside. 

Another chill took you over, goosebumps returned and fueled a search for your green sweatshirt. Where was it? You had had it with you yesterday as you could still feel the loose, heavy fabric as the wind whipped it about. Teeth sunk in the flesh of your bottom lip, you felt tears gathering in your eyes. 

“Stupid,” you muttered, “it’s just a shirt.” You had survived a near-death scenario and to worry about a lost shirt seemed meaningless. So you hurriedly packed the rest of your things, all too eager to leave the place that was now tainted by an almost deadly fall.

“Oh, Y/N, honey are you feeling better? Did you sleep well?” Ms. Lauren rested a hand on your shoulder as you placed your bag alongside the other mountains of luggage beside the bus. You sighed and nodded in the hope of sedating the young teacher’s worries.

“I’m alright, Ms. Lauren, really. I just want to go home,” you said with a sad smile.

“Oh, I’m sure you do! Your parents must be worried sick! We tried to contact them but they didn’t pick up. Did you try to text them?”

“I can’t,” you swallowed, “my phone broke in the fall.”

“I can ask Mr. Harrington to try them again if you want to-”

“No, no, it’s alright,” you replied and walked past Ms. Lauren to escape further questioning. The last thing you needed was your family screaming on the phone at you, or anyone else that would listen. Maybe you didn’t want to go home, you just wanted to be in your city again where heroes fell from the sky to protect everyone.

So you boarded the bus, scanning over the seats for MJ. Betty is tucked in beside the curly haired girl who looked as if she wanted to die. Her brown eyes met your gaze apologetically, mouthing a ‘sorry’ in your direction. You dipped your head at her before you took a seat for yourself. Pressed against the window, you caught sight of Peter, cheeks reddened, as he rushed towards the bus. The sound of his mounting steps reached your ears and you sighed, silently wishing that Peter would pass you by quietly.

“Uh, hey, Y/N?” You looked up towards the aisle and met Peter’s gaze.

“Yeah?”

“If you wanna talk about it or not, ya know, you can do whatever with me.” You quirked a brow at his wording, the first spot of humor you had picked up since nearly falling to your death. “I mean, like talking. You can talk to me.”

“Truly eloquent,” you teased, unable to stop yourself from taunting the way the boy stumbled over his words. He gives you a half-hearted smile that turns into a slight frown. You frowned too, a feeling of shame filling your gut. Peter was being kind, annoyingly so, in the same way he was irritatingly smart and sweet. “Thank you, Peter. I might take you up on that.”

“O-okay, cool. Oh, and uh I thought you might be looking for thi-”

“Peter!” Ned’s voice cut through and Peter looked over at his friend.

“You better get back there,” you jabbed, “sounds like important stuff.” Peter opened his mouth to speak but Ned called out again. Peter met your gaze one last time where it lingered long enough to coax a blush to your cheeks. 

“I’ll see you later?” What normally would be heard as a statement sounded more like a question falling off of Peter’s lips. You only nodded at him in response, pleased with how you had carried yourself.

Flash’s plan echoed in your head, about befriending Peter, sabotaging him. The hunger, the drive, to be the best filled you with a burning flame. How easy you flipped between wanting to protect Peter and hate Peter was alarming; however your reflection was brutally interrupted by Flash, who plopped in the seat beside you.

“Nice job. I think you have an in now, with Parker.” 

“That wasn’t-”

“So like what did he smell like?”

You brows knitted together in confusion at Flash’s question and wide brown eyes full of intrigue. “You ...what Peter smelled like?”

“No! Spiderman!”

Due to the incessant ramblings the poured from Flash’s mouth in meaningless droplets of spittle. When Flash finally talked himself to sleep, you were able to get some semblance of rest. However you were woken up what felt like seconds little to a chorus of happy laughs. Eyes peeled open and you craned your neck over the back of the seat. 

“I don’t know guys,” Peter sighed, quiet to your ears due to the seats between you and the group of friends. “Homecoming wasn’t as cool as I thought it would be.”

“You’re only saying that ‘cause Liz moved away,” Ned pointed out, “you can find someone else to go with.” You felt your breath catch in your throat at the words. Peter had been so enamored by Liz, but the girl had hardly given him a second glance. Their off-and-on pining, mostly on Peter’s part, set your jealousy to a boil. Memories of Peter’s stares shot towards Liz had made you sick, even then on the bus.

“Yeah,” Betty agreed, “I’m sure plenty of ladies would love to go with you, Peter.”

MJ scoffs, not once looking up from her book. “Sure.”

Betty gives the other girl a look of ‘you’re not helping’ but the glare is lost on MJ. You leaned back, rubbing at the ache in your neck. Snooping wasn’t worth the pain, so you settled in and decided to listen instead. 

“You could come with us, as a group,” Ned suggested and you quirked your brow in slight interest. It could be an easy in to obtaining Peter’s phone for Flash’s planned sabotage. MJ scoffed again and the sound compelled you to search in what had amused her so. Neck craned once more, you peeked over the seat.

“I think I’m good, Ned. I’ll just….” Peter frowned and his eyes scanned around the bus to look for any well of possibility. His eyes met yours for a split second, enough to send you retreating behind you seat. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Heh, I’m sure you will,” you heard MJ quip. Sadly, the remark did not diffuse the tension that had so suddenly gathered on your shoulders. The lurch of the bus also did not aid in that feat, the vehicle chugged along and crossed state lines. Hours more of a drive loomed before you and you figured sleep would be a better distraction than anything else.

It was dark when the bus pulled up to the front, opened face of Midtown High. Not even the vibrant blue dotted around the school’s courtyard shone under the limited light. Smog from the city choked out the stars which left only dim lamp posts to supply light. Yet nothing to steer the familiar sight from your vision. You were finally home.

“Alright, grab your bags and file out,” Mr. Harrington chimed, visibly relieved to be back and have the responsibility taken away from him. 

“My car’s here,” Flash grinned as he peered out the window. You eyed him until he sat back in his seat, returning the stolen space back to you. “What?” “You’re unbelievable,” you deadpanned, but Flash only smiled.

“Unbelievably han-”

“No, get up,” you interrupted and nudged Flash towards the edge of the seat. As you both wormed your way off of the bus, you felt eyes trained on you. Sparing a glance over your shoulder, you caught sight of Peter as he stared at you. He pale skin turned pink as he tore his eyes away. A strange smugness and pride flowed through you as your feet hit the pavement of the sidewalk. You tightened your grip on your bag and scanned around to see if your ride was there.

A frown found its way  to your lips when you realized no one was there. Typical. As you waited, you watched as MJ reunited with her father who seemed just as aloof as his daughter. Just as you were about to start on your own way  home, Flash rushed up to you with wide eyes.

“Alright, I’ve texted my contacts and the first part of the plan is in place. Are you ready?” You nodded, a new rush overtook your form. 

Yeah, I’m ready,” you promised and Flash grinned. You were about to ask, again, who exactly Flash called his ‘contacts’ when you heard a shrill but light laugh. You glanced over your shoulders and saw a slim, brown haired woman with a large smile on her face as Peter embraced her. A refreshed stab of jealousy pierced the veil of confidence you had thrown over yourself. “Beyond ready.”

As it turned out, Flash’s plan truly did work. Whoever his mysterious contacts were, they had done the job: Peter was extremely late to practice. Reddened cheeks and mouth parted, Peter explained himself. Mr. Harrington stood as Peter talked on, hands on his hips.

“It was like some water spill, all the water fountains like-”

“Peter,” Mr. Harrington said a hand raised to put a halt to his rambling. You tore your eyes away for a brief moment to take in the expressions of the rest of the team. Flash was smug as he leaned back in his chair while the others watch Peter get chewed out. “We need you to be here, present, and ready. You know that.”

“I know,” Peter agreed, although his face was down turned. You suppressed your budding smile with a shiver, one that reminded you of your missing sweatshirt. The need for it would grow with the cold, but you had bigger things that occupied your mind. Peter found a seat beside MJ after the girl begrudgingly took her feet off of it with a slight glare. Mr. Harrington continued on, rattled off the reorganized team with you still leading B team in first seed. You bit at the inside of your cheek but when Mr. Harrington named MJ as first seed on A team, the pain is numbed.

“Why?” MJ asked as she looked up from her notebook where she had been drawing.

“You performed well at Ravenswood and…” he trailed off, eyes skirted over Peter then back to MJ. “And some attitudes and responsibilities need to be changed.” MJ spared a glance at Peter but remained silent, without a biting response for the first time in a long time. Pleased, Mr. Harrington dismissed the team who quickly fled the scene of Peter Parker’s metaphorical murder.

MJ pulled the object of attention to the side, her arms waved as she talked, cartoonish mannerisms and all. Peter’s wide brown eyes were glued to the girl before him in a way that made your stomach twist tight as rope. A snare drum in your chest beat wildly at the thought of Peter looking at you in the same manner.

“Go over there,” came a low hiss. You turned your head, only to be met by Flash’s wide eye jerking over to where Peter and MJ stood. 

“What? Why?” A rush flooded your system and heat rose to your cheeks and rested there in full bloom. 

“The plan,” Flash grumbled in an attempt to keep the volume of his voice low. “You need to get close, remember? Jeez, do you even want to be on A Team?” You glared at him and Flash shrunk back.

“Yes,” you snarled, “just give a minute, Johnson.” Flash, seemingly put at unsteady ease, backed up into the book shelves of the library and pretended to be busy. After you watched him feign intrigue in a book about toy dog breeds, you shifted your gaze back to Peter and MJ. 

It seemed that they were in a hot debate, with MJ’s voice just barely audible as she spoke with, more like at, Peter, who took it kindly. A small, almost nervous smile played on his lips as he tried to counter whatever MJ said. That was your chance, that pause before he ever-so politely shook his head. You darted over and put a hand on MJ’s shoulder.

“Hey, sorry to intrude,” although you really weren’t, “but uh, MJ, have you seen a green sweatshirt? I brought it with me on the trip but I can’t find it.”

“I, you know, I-” 

“Haven’t seen it. Sorry, Y/N,” MJ said, interrupting Peter as well. You shrugged and gave them both a half-hearted smile. Peter turned his eyes away when you met his gaze, lighting a flame within you. He couldn’t even bear the sight of you; you had nothing to lose.

“It’s alright,” you sighed, “what’s up with you guys?” You glanced between the two of them and a sudden, smug smile spread along MJ’s lips.

“Peter is Spiderman.”

“She thinks I’m Spiderman.”

“Oh…” you furrowed your brows and felt a smile form on your own lips before you broke into a fit of laughter. You curled over yourself, unable to stop the giggles that spilled out of your mouth like a broken hose. Finally, you were able and collected yourself. “No….”

“That’s what I keep saying,” Peter said as his eyes met yours, “I know him, with the Stark Internship but I’m like, actually him.” In the moment all laughter died in your soul and it was simply just you and Peter. Not even jealousy in regards to the internship could worm it’s way between the tension. Your mind was quiet and trained on Peter until MJ spoke up, that is.

“Okay, but Spiderman was in Washington and now Chicago, ready to save anyone from our team specifically. I can’t be the only one that thinks that it’s a little strange and too consistent to be a coincidence.” She glared over at Peter who shrugged.

“No, it can’t be him,” you added, your tone colder as you spoke. You tore your eyes from Peter’s when you saw the frown on his face. Spiderman had made you feel so safe but everytime you glanced at Peter insecurity fell into place. There was no way.

“Why? My theory is sound,” MJ rebuked, her arms in the air.

“Because he saved me,” you explained bitterly, “I don’t think Peter would do that. “ “What?” The question came from both MJ and Peter, whose eyes studied your features carefully. 

“I mean, I haven’t been the nicest,” you admitted. Silently you hoped that it would give you an easy in with Peter, if you exposed your wrong doings in the past.

“No,” Peter said and your eyes lifted to meet with his. “Y/N, that doesn’t mean you’re not worth saving. Everyone makes bad choices, and I mean,” he scratched at the back of his neck, “you’re actually nice, Y/N. I mean, sometimes at least.”

“Thanks, Peter,” you replied, much too shy to meet his eyes in the moment. 

“You’re pretty cool. I like-”

“You guys are disgusting,” MJ grumbled, her arms crossed over her chest as she glanced between the two of you. You wanted to tell her, explain to MJ that it was an act. That you’re acting this way and that you didn’t care what Peter thought of you, or his forgiveness; but you couldn’t. Then, you would be lying to yourself. “I uh...gotta go so,” Peter gave the two of you a small wave and started off. The heavy doors to the library opened and slammed behind him due to their weight. 

“I-I didn’t mean for that to be awkward,” you started to ramble as you turned to MJ. She merely held up a hand and pouted.

“If I have to watch you two dance around your feelings I will hold it against you forever. I hate that stuff.”

“I don’t have feelings for Peter,” you mumbled, “I just felt bad.” MJ eyed you, her gaze skirting up and down your form until you felt bashful. 

“Sure,” MJ drawled before she picked up her bag. “Wanna walk with me?”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” you replied and grabbed your own bag from a nearby table. You followed MJ towards the doors Peter had just walked out and found yourself looking for Flash. His dark eyes met your gaze and gave you a proud wink as you followed MJ out the door.

The sky wasn’t too dark, as it was only a few hours after school had gotten out, but the growing cold warned you that soon, night would fall more swiftly; and that you would dearly miss your sweatshirt. You hugged your arms to your chest to combat what you could of the chill as you fell into step beside MJ. 

“You really don’t think he’s Spiderman?” You gave the girl a side glance and gauged just how serious she was. Her straight-faced expression told you she was deeply invested. 

“I don’t think so,” you murmured in reply, “I think it could be someone on the team but not Peter.”

“But he just happens to be gone when Spiderman is saving people. Like with you, when you were falling, Peter had rushed inside the tower beside he said his stomach hurt. He ran away when you were like about to die and then Spiderman just appeared. That can’t be a coincidence!” You greeted MJ’s assertion with silence as your mind flashed back to how the wind kissed your skin while you had dangled from the tower’s ledge. 

“Yeah,” you muttered numbly, “I guess it is….”

“Oh, shit, sorry, Y/N. I just...I say whatever comes to mind when I’m passionate about something.” MJ gingerly rested a hand on your shoulder. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” you said in the hopes of putting her at ease. “I’m alive right, thanks to Spiderman.”

“Yeah,” MJ replied, removing her hand, “whoever he is, I’m glad he was there.” You gave MJ a weak smile but one that was true despite it’s feebleness. You stopped suddenly on a street corner and MJ shot you a confused look.

“I live down this way,” you explained. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” “Yeah, have a goodnight, Y/N.” You nodded at you turned around to walk down your street. Soon the polished pavement became pockmarked with potholes and graffiti. Bright colors in familiar tones of blues and pinks, signs that you were headed back home. 

All your movements felt as if someone else was making them. Almost drone-like, controlled by some inner force, you mounted the steps to the somewhat dilapidated apartment complex. An old woman sat on the bottom steps and fed the strays that gathered around her. The sight nearly warmed your heart, the cold metal of the door knob snuffed out the spark. 

Once you were in your apartment, empty and devoid of life as usual, you headed to your room. You threw your bag against your bed and flicked on the light. Yellow tones from the bulb seemed to mock the idea of sunlight with it’s falseness as it created a sickly glow. A heavy sigh fell from your lips at the sight of your bed and one of relief when you laid down. 

Your eyes were just about to close, your body ready to retreat in a dream world free from any schemes of boys that were too perfect to be good when you heard a tap against your window. White-hot fear tickled up your spine and down to your fingers as you slowly peeled your eyes open. There was no ghastly figure that waited outside but a plastic bag.

A blacksmith was hard at work in your ribcage as your heart’s hammering flooded your ears. Slowly, wearily, you swung your legs off of your bed until your toes hit the cool wooden floor. With your heightened alertness, you cringed at each step that released a creaking sound. You hoped that rushing to the window would eliminate the obvious sound but your swift steps only made it worse. Pressed up against the window, you waited, listened for any sign of intruders. 

When you felt that the coast was clear, you lifted the glass. Finger curled under the frame and the chilly evening air that breezed through the Queens area made you shiver. You plucked the plastic bag off of your fire escape and took it inside. 

Familiar green fabric, the color of deep evergreen pines entered your sight as you peered inside. Soft in your fingers and returned home was your sweatshirt. Your fingertips brushed against something sharp and you pulled back, taking a sticky note with you. Scribbled in rather sloppy handwriting was a greeting:

‘You left this in Chicago, Y/N - your friendly neighborhood Spiderman’

Your mouth fell open, unable to fathom the how and the why of it all. Spiderman knew you, where you lived, and that put your whole being on edge. Yet, on this edge, there was little fear of falling. You felt safe now that you knew he was there, that he knew you. 

That wonderful sense of warm security was not outdone by MJ’s theory. How strange it is that when the team returns to the city, so does Spiderman. You pulled the sweatshirt over your head, the sticky note still clutched in your hand. For now, you pushed all ‘what ifs’ from your mind and let yourself rest with the knowledge that you weren’t entirely alone. 

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

“While they're depicted as happy and in love, there are a lot of details that don't make sense.”

Oh boy I can’t wait to hear this from the pinnacle of comic book journalism that is Screenrant....

20 EVERYTHING ABOUT "ONE MORE DAY"

 Okay fair enough

 19 THEY HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON

 Sense of humour. Study different forms of science. Science and acting are both about making sense of life. Troubled childhoods. Living double lives. Living with guilt over relegating on responsibilities which hurt your family. Immense inner strength. Oh and btw having shit in common isn’t the be all and end all of romantic relationships so shut up.

 “It's possible for two people to love each other and not have much in common. ”

 That’s what I said.

 “At some point, however, a couple needs to have something to build a relationship on.”

 And they did see above and add in being one another’s friends, confidants and support group.

 “Peter Parker and Mary Jane couldn't be further apart from each other in almost every single way. He's a science geek with a weird sense of humor and no social skills.”

 Also heroic, also gult ridden, also responsible, also inner strength, also working class, also lost a parent, also lived a double life....like MJ.

 “Meanwhile, MJ is an aspiring model/actress, except for when she's a super successful model/actress.”

 Everyone knows model/actress = a personality right.

 “In recent years, she's shown a more entrepreneurial side, but that still involved opening a nightclub, the sort of place where Peter doesn't fit in at all. They say opposites attract, but there comes a point where that just becomes nonsensical.”

 Yes there is but that point is well beyond the ways in which Peter and MJ are opposite to one another because their traits often balance one another out.

 18 THEY GOT TOGETHER WAY TOO SOON AFTER GWEN'S DEMISE

 They got together almost 2 years after Gwen died shut up.

 “Time in comic books is a funny thing. The Marvel Universe has a sliding timescale, meaning that it's hard to peg down when stories took place in relation to each other. The time that passes in the real world means nothing. That being said, Peter and MJ started dating way too soon after Gwen Stacy's demise.”

 Canonically its still 2 years so shut up.

 “She lost her life in Amazing Spider-Man #121 (1973) by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane. By the end of the next issue, the seeds were being planted for them to get together. They didn't immediately start dating, but Peter seemed to get over his "one, true love" suspiciously fast”

 2 years isn’t too fast and she wasn’t his one true love. Nobody has a one true love.

 17 SHE FLIP-FLOPS ON PETE'S LIFE AS SPIDER-MAN

This list is about stuff that doesn’t make sense. Anybody dating a superhero is probably going to flip flop over their own or their loved ones’ lives being potentially endangered by super powered serial killers.

 “Look, dating a superhero must be hard. Nobody can blame someone for not wanting to deal with it, or trying to convince a loved one not to risk their life. Also, it can make having a social life impossible. It's understandably frustrating, but at some point, enough is enough.

It seems like Mary Jane can't make up her mind about Peter's life as Spider-Man.”

 Obviously she can because she chose to date him, chose to marry him and stayed with him all the time sans stories where she was written as OOC.

 She both likes it and dislikes it which makes her compelling and its realistic too. She doesn’t HAVE to make up her mind definitively and every day stay on track with liking or hating it because people flip flop over shit all the time.

 Shit Spider-Man himself flip flops about BEING SPIDER-MAN!

 “Sometimes she's fully supportive, while other times she wants him to quit. ”

Gee its almost like something as dangerous as a superhero’s life would have lots of factors that impact how you feel depending upon what side of the bed you got up from.

 Also she never wanted him to quit outside of when she was OOC. She only once wanted him to remain retired when she was heavily pregnant.

 “Considering that she knew Peter was Spider-Man before she even met him, it's time for her to figure out her feelings and make a decision. ”

 a)                  She did, hence they married

b)                  She doesn’t need to make a decision YOU the individual reader want her to but realistically the character for her own sake doesn’t have to

 “They both know he's not going to give up being a hero, so it's time to be grown ups.”

 16 THEIR ENGAGEMENT WAS SUPER QUICK

In the history of mankind there have been quicker engagements.

Shit STAN LEE got married super quick, he married his wife Joan of 60 something years literally the day she got divorced.

“In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987) by David Michelinie, Jim Shooter, and Paul Ryan, Peter Parker married Mary Jane. Behind the scenes, this occurred because Stan Lee wanted Spider-Man to get married in the newspaper comic strip that he was writing at the time. Marvel liked the idea, and decided to have them get married in the comics as well.

The problem was that they were broken up at the time. So, the writers had to quickly bring her back, rekindle the romance, have Peter propose, and then get married.”

 This is total fucking bullshit.

Mary Jane had been a mainstay in the titles for over 4 years before the wedding, being the most recurring character sans Spider-Man himself.

Moreover broken up isn’t strictly accurate, Peter and Mj years prior to their wedding had been effectively dating whilst being in denial about it to one another or publicly.

Their romance and love was always there they just weren’t being honest about it until Peter proposed.

Yeah the proposal-wedding was a few issues, but the romantic tension and relationship had been years in the making.

“Anyone that's ever planned a real wedding knows how unrealistic this whole timeline was.”

Yeah unless you were having a quick wedding at city hall with a small ceremony and there was a time skip before and during the final part of the story where they tie the knot.

15 DO THEY HAVE A BABY OR NOT?

“The second Clone Saga that ran during the mid '90s had one of the most confusing endings ever written. Basically, the writers needed to finish Ben Reilly's storyline while also tying up all of Peter's loose ends to make it possible for Peter to become Spider-Man again. One of these plot threads was the fact that Mary Jane was pregnant.

The editors felt that Spider-Man being a dad would age him, so they suggested that Mary Jane not have the baby, after all. However, it was also heavily implied at the time that Norman Osborn had the baby taken away. This storyline was teased for a few years, before ultimately being forgotten about.”

This list is about things that do not make sense. This list is not about things that are merely unresolved.

14 WHY DOES PETER STILL USE THE BLACK SUIT?

“In Amazing Spider-Man #299 (1988) by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane, Venom made his frightening first appearance. Mary Jane thought she saw Peter wearing his black costume, until a mouth formed and turned into a horrific smile. Venom didn't hurt Mary Jane, but the experience was still pretty traumatic for her.

After Spidey defeated the villain, Mary Jane asked him to stop wearing the black costume. This made sense, and Peter happily obliged. Except, he keeps bringing the costume back from time to time.”

 Yeah and it’s justified each time.

He brought it back in the 1990s during McFarlane’s run because he needed something stealthy and he discussed this with MJ.

He brought part of it back in the Clone Saga because he had nothing else to wear but it wasn’t the whole suit.

He brought it back during the Mackie run with Larsen because again he had nothing else to wear and MJ was presumed dead at the time anyway.

He wore it again in Back in Black at a time where he wasn’t wearing it in front of MJ and wanted to send a message to criminals that he was now going to be a more violent and scary fucker (it worked).

He wore it again in Brand New Day when he was impersonating Venom and he and MJ were broken up.

He wore it again in ASM #800 when he needed the power boost from the symbiote to beat Red Goblin.

And all this aside, MJ got over her fear of Venom anyway.

So rather than making no sense each individual instance actually did add up.

“Sometimes there's a specific reason, other times he just seems to feel like wearing it. He knows it scares his wife, but apparently Peter likes the way it looks too much to care.”

Not true as I just explained. Peter himself doesn’t even LIKE the suit anymore.

13 HOW SUCCESSFUL IS HER CAREER?

“Not everyone is a fan of Peter and Mary Jane's relationship. While many fans love her, some feel that it's weird for Peter Parker to be married to a supermodel. That can be a valid complaint, but the problem is that Mary Jane has had one of the most inconsistent careers ever.

She's constantly moving between being a struggling model, a highly sought after model, a soap opera actress, and even giving up on show business completely multiple times. It's understandable for careers to have ups and downs, but it seems like the writers can't even decide if she's famous or not.”

Because a model and actresses career and fame can’t fluctuate right?

 12 THEY'VE BOTH DEALT WITH TOO MANY STALKERS

WTF is too many exactly when one of you is a famous-semi-famous actress and model and the other is a superhero?

Like shit dude, there are people, a lot of them women, who aren’t famous and can have stalkers.

“In the late '90s, Marvel's first attempt to undo Spider-Man's marriage resulted in Mary Jane getting on a plane which then exploded mid-flight.”

Technically that was not their first attempt.

“For the next year or so, everyone believed she had passed away. Instead, she had been snatched away by a deranged stalker, who caused the explosion so that no one would look for her.

Before that, Mary Jane had to deal with Jonathan Ceaser, who attempted to take her away several times in the early '90s.”

 OP misspelled ‘once’ as ‘several times’.

 “Even Peter had to deal with his ex girlfriend, Felicia Hardy, dating Flash Thompson just so she could be near him during that same time period. ”

That isn’t a stalker.

“People really need to give these two their privacy.”

 Again...not a thing that doesn’t make sense which is the point of the article.

 11 THEY BREAK UP CONSTANTLY

constantly

Dictionary result for constantly

/ˈkɒnst(ə)ntli/

adverb

1.    continuously over a period of time; always.

 Hmmmmmm...doesn’t seem to add up with breaking up:

 For the first time in the late 1970s.

Again in Spider-Man vs. Wolverine.

Trial separating (which isn’t a proper break up) in 2001.

Seperating for real in OMD/OMIT

Breaking up again in Superior when it wasn’t even the real Spider-Man. And no her dumping him again twice doesn’t count.

 Gee, four break ups across 40+ years = constantly apparently.

 “Comic books can't just rely on action, they also need to have drama. One of the most common places writers create drama is in the hero's relationships. It's probably very hard to date a superhero, and it's understandable that not everyone would want to sign up for that ride. At some point, however, enough is enough.”

 I’m not saying I’m innocent of lazily repeating the same words and phrases over and over again, but I also don’t get paid to write for a big website.

 Also, wtf does enough’s enough even mean?

They broke up a few times, one due to genuine issues, once because of a misunderstanding, once because MJ wasn’t well and Peter was OOC (which doesn’t count) and every other time also because they were both OOC.

 “It's hard to feel bad for them when Peter and Mary Jane break up, because they do it all the time. He's always focusing on saving people, she's constantly moving to another part of the country to work on her career. When Mephisto forced them to break-up, he could've just waited a few months and gotten the same result.”

Again all the time and constantly does not = 4 times across 40 years.

Also that wasn’t Mephisto’s endgame but whatever.

10 HOW DID SHE NOT NOTICE OTTO'S MIND IN PETER'S BODY

Hey look, the secod legitimate point on this list. The answer was because bad writing.

9 HOW DO THEY AFFORD THEIR APARTMENTS?

“A common complaint across various forms of fiction is that characters always seem to be able to afford apartments that they shouldn't be able to. For Spider-Man and Mary Jane, however, it's pretty bad. Of course, there are times when Mary Jane's career is going very well, which explains how they can afford a nice apartment.

For the most part, however, Peter is a struggling photographer and she's a struggling model. Somehow, they are consistently able to afford apartments with giant skylights. ”

 If this happens across most fiction in ways which aren’t more egregious than anything else (because Joey and Chandler’s apartment is egregious given their jobs) then it’s not worth mentioning on this list.

“Seriously, Tony Stark would struggle to afford some of the places they've lived in over the years.”

He really wouldn’t.

8 PETER WAS SUPER SHALLOW ABOUT MEETING HER

First off he wasn’t super shallow, he was as shallow as you would expect any teenager to be in that situation.

Also, a teenager being shallow. Thats certainly something that doesn’t make sense and belongs on a list entirely about shit that makes no sense.

“In the early stories, Peter could be kind of shallow. Granted, he was a teenager, but he always just seemed interested in dating the prettiest girls. ”

Ugh...no he didn’t. He asked out 3 young women who were all relatively attractive but none of whom were like compared to Hollywood starlets of the era. There was something of an implication that Betty Brant, his high school love, was not as attractive as the more glamorous Liz Allan whom he typically rebuffed in favour of Betty.

Also if we’re playing the ‘its super shallow to just date the hottest people you can’ then Peter and MJ were no worse than one another at those ages.

“Considering that he was always getting bullied and picked on, he should've been more understanding.”

a)        Being bullied and picked on isn’t innately going to make you more understanding of anybody

b)        Understanding of who? Who was he being inconsiderate towards exactly? He asked out two girls he was attracted to, attraction being an involuntary thing in the first place. He presumed his elderly not hip aunt who described MJ as being a good house wife was going to pick someone unattractive or boring, especially considering that if she was going to be set up with him she probably couldn’t get a date with anyone else. Meaning in his teenage head she must be unattractive

“Then, when he found out that she was beautiful, he was suddenly interested. ”

 My God how dare characters as teens be shallow and flawed. It makes no seeeeeeense!

 “It turns out, Peter's type was "any girl that looks good, regardless of her interests or personality."”

 That’s true which is why he quickly began to turn away from MJ because he found her shallow and preferred Gwen who was seemingly not shallow...

 7 WHY DID SHE NEED TO BE SET UP WITH PETER IN THE FIRST PLACE?

...huh?

 “Every comic book fan knows the story of how Peter and MJ met. A recurring plot line in early Spider-Man stories was Aunt May constantly trying to set Peter up with her friend's niece. The two didn't actually meet until The Amazing Spider-Man #43 (1966) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, when Peter opened the door and she said the iconic phrase "face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot!"”

 Wow...the degree of incompetence in this paragraph is truly impressive.

 First of all it was ASM #42 not #43...how do you fuck that up. More importantly it was with Lee and Romita Senior not Lee and Ditko. SERIOUSLY how do you fuck that up.

 “What's weird about this, however, is that Mary Jane was a beautiful and outgoing girl. Peter was busy being Spider-Man, and was considered a nerd by his peers, so it's understandable that he'd need help getting dates. Mary Jane, on the other hand, should have been doing just fine.”

 Lets ignore how this was explained in Parallel Lives a story which has a major plot point referenced by the article more than once.

...why is this presumption Mj NEEDED to be set up. Maybe she just agreed as a favour to her aunt.

6 HOW DID SHE KNOW TO SAY THE JACKPOT LINE?

Because she knew she was sexy and could tell by his reaction he didn’t realize that and was taken aback by it.

“Ok, this might seem like a nitpick,”

Why let that bother you now.

 “The famous scene where Peter and Mary Jane first meet plays out like this: Peter answers the door, and Mary Jane is standing and delivers the famous line. It's a memorable moment, but it also doesn't make any sense.

Mary Jane never met Peter before this.”

Not formally no, but yes she had and knew what he looked like.

“How did she know she was a "jackpot" for him? Maybe she wasn't his type?”

His reaction spelled it out for her.

“For all she knew, he could have answered the door and been very disappointed. Also, maybe he wouldn't care what she looked like? It was a pretty arrogant thing to say, looking back, and she's lucky it didn't backfire.”

 *rolls eyes* oh fuck off.

5 THE REASON SHE CALLS HIM TIGER MAKES NO SENSE

“For years, everyone focused on the "jackpot" part of Mary Jane's famous introduction, but apparently, Peter was focused on a different part. Apparently, he never understood why she called him "tiger," especially because the nickname stuck. In all honesty, it's a good question. Especially during those early years, Peter Parker was anything but a "tiger."

In the original Clone Saga that ran during 1975, Peter actually asked Mary Jane for the reason. It turns out, it's because he's not a tiger and she's just playfully teasing him. That's fine, except why did she say it the first time she met him? How did she know he wasn't a "tiger?"”

a)           Because she called everyone that

b)           Because Aunt May and Aunt Anna probably told her about him

 4 THEY DON'T EVEN TRY TO HIDE KNOWING EACH OTHER

Yeah they do.

 “Peter's never been great at keeping a secret identity.”

Yeah that is why hardly anyone knew it before Civil War...

 “His entire scheme is that he takes pictures of himself fighting crime as Spider-Man, and then pretends that he's just Spidey's photographer. He's basically telling everyone that he's connected to the wall-crawler in some way.”

Yet it worked so obviously he is good at hiding it.

 “Even worse, whenever Spider-Man runs into Mary Jane, they often blatantly talk to each other in public. They always forget to pretend that Mary Jane isn't supposed to know Spider-Man. ”

He talks to lots of people in public and MJ has the easy cover story of knowing/dating Spider-Man’s friend Peter Parker.

“That, or they go way over the top and really awkwardly state that they don't know each other.”

No they don’t.

“At some point, someone's going to notice Spidey flirting with Peter Parker's wife and put two and two together.”

Yet they never have so...

 3 HOW DID SHE FIGURE OUT HIS SECRET ID?

“As previously stated, Peter is kind of terrible at keeping a secret identity. ”

As previously stated no he isn’t

“Often times, Peter doesn't even get caught as Spider-Man, people just end up figuring it out.”

Again a lie from the author who didn’t even know Romita Senior isn’t Steve Ditko.

“For example, after dating Peter during the '70s and the '80s, Mary Jane broke up with him, moved away, and then came back to New York. ”

Actually they broke up in the 70s and began dating after she returned in the 80s.

“When she returned, she revealed that she had figured out his secret.

While that made sense, later stories contradicted this. It was eventually revealed that she saw Peter leaving his house dressed as Spider-Man the night Uncle Ben died. So, she didn't figure it out. Obviously, this was a retcon, but the result is that Mary Jane lied to Peter. She didn't figure anything out!”

a)           Seeing Peter Parker enter an abandoned house and Spider-Man emerge would count as figuring out his identity

b)           She never actually told him directly she figured it out like she was a goddam detective

2 THEY BOTH KEEP HANGING AROUND THEIR EXES

As do most comic book characters...

“Both Peter and Mary Jane had healthy dating lives before marrying one another. There's nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, it's strange how they're both constantly hanging around their exes. ”

Or refreshingly healthy...

“Peter still brings Black Cat around constantly, and he and Betty Brant are still very close.”

He dated Betty as a friggin teenager and the author reaffirms he doesn’t understand what constantly means.

“Meanwhile, Mary Jane dated Harry Osborn while they were both in college, and the relationship did not end well for him. Now, years later, everyone is always hanging out together and that's a little strange. Hanging around with your exes typically leads to disaster, and based on how many ex-boyfriends and girlfriends are around, Peter's Spidey-sense should be tingling.”

Or again healthy and an affirmation of a deep bonded friendship that goes beyond personal baggage from when they were young and dumb.

1 GWEN WAS MEANT TO BE PETER'S TRUE LOVE, NOT MJ

Again, not something that doesn’t make sense. In fact it makes less sense for Gwen to be his true love since they were not a great match and true loves are fairy tale bullshit.

 “The end of Gwen Stacy is one of the most defining moments in comic book history. Up until that point, the hero saved the girl. Part of what made this story so memorable was that Gwen Stacy was always meant to be Peter's one true love.”

As far as Stan Lee was concerned yes but not everyone else.

Also OTLs are bullshit.

“Her demise rocked his world, and he's still affected by it, even to this day.

That's understandable, but it also strains Peter's relationship with MJ. She's always been understanding, but how many times can she come across him crying over Gwen's picture in the attic before it starts to effect her.”

He has literally never ever done this ever.

“She's constantly being reminded that she might be Peter's second choice.

Again with the misuse of constantly and no she isn’t because Peter has told and shown her she isn’t second best more than once.

And again, not a thing that doesn’t make sense however you slice it.

You what really doesn’t make sense.

This person being paid for this garbage.

[captnswilson]

Together

Written by: warlcksbane

Prompt: Steve’s hope is restored as he reunites with Tony

Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Thor Odinson

I’ve never written anything stony related before but I really need this reunion. It takes place two days after the tragic ending of IW. Platonic stony, a bit of romanogers and mentions of Bucky, Peter and Pepper. Enjoy! 

Everything seems to be unbearably quiet. There is a certain unspeakable rule that everyone ought to avoid unnecessary sounds and keep conversations to a minimum. It is possible that the reason for this passive, silent life of the Avengers is that they have not yet fully realized what happened just two days ago. Maybe they still don't know that hope has turned into grief as all is lost.

Steve Rogers is no different from people who only tend to stare at emptiness or walk in and out, barely making any sounds. Sometimes, as at this very moment, he catches himself looking down at his hands and waiting for a trace of ash to appear on them.

He closes his eyes and once again sees his friend's frightened face before he disappears where Rogers cannot follow him. “Steve,” Bucky whispered back then before crumbling away.

Not only the loss of Bucky makes Steve wish he had died too. He thinks of Sam who happened to be completely alone when his end came, and of Wanda who had to watch Vision's suffering before leaving this world herself.

All heads are suddenly raised, and all eyes wander to the door when Natasha appears. Steve is relieved, as always when he sees her.

“Steve,” she turns to him. “Thor came back.”

Nothing more is needed to say for him to get up and, in the company of Natasha, head to the place where the ship has landed. He cannot help but wonder if there are good or bad news waiting for him.

“Did he manage to rescue anyone?”

“All friends of Rocket have disappeared among Dr Strange, whoever he was, and Peter Parker,” Natasha informs him.

“Parker?” The image of that young boy appears before his eyes. “You mean this kid from Queens? Spiderman?”

“Yeah,” she admits, looking away. “Only one person survived. He had to see them all die.”

“Tony.”

Steve can only imagine what Tony must feel. The rest of the way Steve and Natasha spend in silence until they finally reach the ship. Thor smiles at the sight of them, though it is rather a smile resulting from politeness than from happiness.

“How is he?” Steve asks even though he expects how the answer might sound.

“Not good,” Thor responds. “I found him on Titan. Honestly, I have never seen Stark in this condition. He is completely broken.”

“Let’s go, Thor, we’ll inform the others,” Natasha suggests. “The boys have to catch up.”

At the thought of having to face Tony after two years of separation, Steve feels something crush his chest.

“Wait, Nat!” He grabs her arm. “I can’t go there. Tony won’t want to talk to me. He… he hates me.”

Natasha gives him a benevolent smile, which is the only light in the darkness that has been surrounding them for two days.

“I really doubt that. Half of humanity is gone, Steve. No time to scratch old wounds. Tony is stubborn, and he won't make it easy for you, but there is no one in the world who should talk to him if not you. He needs you, just like you need him.”

Steve stands there for a long moment, watching Natasha and Thor leave him. They are still alive and well, so maybe not everything is lost. And Tony...

He takes a deep breath and climbs aboard the ship. He finds Stark faster than he would want, and at the sight of his old friend Steve realizes that he is not ready for this confrontation.

Tony does not even look up to see who dares disturb his peace. He is sitting on the floor, leaning his back against the wall of the ship, keeping his hands on his knees and looking blindly at something in front of him. He indeed looks quite different than the old version of Tony Stark who Steve used to know. There are blood marks on his clothes, and his hands are covered with something dark, like... When Steve realizes it must be ash, he suddenly gets sick.

“Is Pepper…” Tony's voice sounds so strange, as if it belongs to a completely different person.

“She’s fine,” Steve assures him immediately. “Natasha tried to reach everyone whose safety wasn’t certain. Pepper is alive, though very worried about you. Unfortunately, we do not have any news from Hill and Fury.”

An act of nodding the head. That's all Steve gets from Tony who closes his eyes and in doing so seems to close himself from the world around him.

Steve does not know what to say to dissipate the sadness and regret hovering in the air. Finally, resigned, he sits on the floor and leans against the wall in front of Tony, who seems to be ignoring him. The unspoken pain of the past two years is consuming Steve from the inside, but he has no idea how to get rid of it. No word nor gesture seem to be appropriate.

“Who else?” Tony surprises him with this question, still not looking at him. “I figured out Vision must be gone since the purple monster managed to get all the stones. Who else is gone?”

“Wanda, T’Challa, Sam…”

“Rhodey?”

“He’s alive.”

“What about your best friend?” Tony opens his eyes; his voice as cold as his stare. “You know, the one who killed my parents.”

Steve swallows hard, not looking away from Tony.

“He’s gone. I assume you see it as an act of justice.”

“No, I don’t.”

Tony stands up slowly, wincing as if every move hurts him. He approaches the window, leans one hand against the wall and stares at what is beyond Steve's reach.

“Two days ago, I met a bunch of idiots who were so determined to kill Thanos but at the same time just as unprepared as everyone else. They did not mean much to me, but when they started to disappear…” His voice breaks only to become bitter rather than sad. “Among them, there was Dr. Strange, a wizard who gave up the time stone to save my life. My life in exchange for the half of humanity, can you hear how ridiculously it sounds? A moment later, he disintegrated in front of me, just like everybody else.”

“Just like Peter,” Steve realizes. “I’m sorry, Tony. I know how much you cared about him.”

Tony's bitter smile reflects in the window, and then he rubs his face with his hands, not paying attention to the fact that he can get dirty. Steve starts thinking that Tony will finally allow himself to release the despair which, apparently, he suffocates within himself, but he only turns away from the window and begins to walk around the ship.

“Peter,” he whispers. “All I ever wanted for him was not to get involved, not to risk everything. He was just a kid.”

“It wasn’t your fault.“

“Really? It felt quite opposite.“ Tony stopped in front of Steve, who raised to finally confront his old friend. “Before Dr Strange died, he said that it was the only way. Maybe, just maybe he saved my life because he knew I had to survive.”

Steve blinks in surprise, rather expecting words of hate than a hint of hope from Tony.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that there might be a chance to save the world. All those people... What if they aren't dead but trapped in another universe or something like that?” Tony takes a few steps toward Steve, this time speaking with strength in his voice. “Or maybe there is way of time travel without the time stone?”

It’s all Steve has needed and more. A glimpse of hope.

"I've been thinking of the same, Tony, but I would never dare to think of it as something possible.”

“Old men can have wishes too,” Stark teases, sounding more like himself than a minute before. “It's not impossible. In fact, the word impossible is getting more and more useless as we live in a world where everything can happen. Thor, Bruce, Natasha, you and me… It seems that the original Avengers are still alive. Perhaps it’s time to reunite and save the world one last time.”

“But how?”

“I have no idea.” Tony walks away a few steps, passing his hand over his face. “I only know that no matter what, I won’t give up until I’ll bring Peter back.”

His concern for that boy is so strong that it is affecting Steve. Suddenly everything becomes obvious, words flow from his mouth without any difficulty, as if they have been just waiting for the right moment.

“If we’re about to fight by each other’s side, there cannot be any remorse and sorrow,” Steve says, wishing Tony would turn to him and see only good intentions in his face. “I’m sorry, Tony. I'm sorry for turning my back on you and choosing Bucky over you. I'm sorry for being a terrible friend. I don't deserve your forgiveness, but please, don't hate me.”

A short silence reigns between them before Tony turns to look at him. 

“I don’t hate you, Steve,” Tony finally addresses him by his name. “I’m sorry, too. I understand that Barnes was brainwashed and even if I don’t like him, what is hard to hide, I’m sorry you had to lose him again.”

Steve manages to smile, for the first time in two days, then hugs Tony without a second thought. Stark clumsily pats his back, apparently surprised, but does not reject him. At least not immediately.

“Okay, Cap, it’s enough. I cannot allow myself to be moved to tears, what will people say? I already look like a mess.” He steps away from Steve and looks at himself appraisingly. “I need a shower and a phone. If I don’t call Pepper she’ll give me worse hell than Thanos.”

Tony turns to leave the ship, but suddenly changes his mind, walks over to Steve and shakes his hand.

“Do you remember the word you used when we fought against Ultron? Very cliché. You said we would do this-“

“-together.”

“Yeah, and if we lose…“

Tony silences, waiting for Steve to finish his sentence. Rogers smiles again, squeezing his friend's hand more tightly and only now realizing how much he has missed him.

Bucky, Natasha, Sam, Vision, Wanda, Thor, Peter, Rhodey... Tony. Maybe grief can turn into hope again and not all is lost.

“If we lose,” he repeats, “we do that together too.”

[softspideys]

Are you okay? (Peter Parker x Reader) (Part III)

summary: while walking home alone one night, you find you’re being followed by a group of men. a certain masked hero swoops in to save the day before it’s too late.

warnings: none

words: 1.9k

pairings: peter parker x reader

a/n: ahhhh apologies for the angst but it had to be done at some point am i right. sorry this took me a lil while, i’ll try to have the fourth (and probably final) part up by the weekend! thanks so much for reading and feel free to send me some requests to do after this series is finished!!! :)

The next morning, you were happy, but exhausted. So, so, exhausted. Your normal sleep schedule was by no means perfect, given you were a high school student, but you managed to squeeze in at least five or six hours a night. However, last night, you’d laid awake in bed for another half an hour, thinking about your encounter with Spider-Man. You’d only gotten about a 30-minute power nap in before your alarm went off.

You knew that if you asked, your mom would probably let you stay home. But thinking about the mountain of homework that would be waiting for you the next day was not appealing, so you forced yourself up.

Now, you slogged through the halls like you were trying to walk through molasses. You could barely keep your eyes open. Your teachers had caught you falling asleep in the middle of class twice already and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

The only thing getting you through the day was knowing that somewhere, at some high school in Queens, Spider-Man was also sitting in class just like you, probably nodding off too.

You liked him. You really, really liked him. It was dumb, because you barely even knew him, but who said stuff like this ever had to make sense? He seemed into you too, but there was something holding you back. You wanted to know him, know what he looked like when he smiled and laughed and pouted and cried. You liked the guy behind the mask, and you wanted to see his face.

Now, you struggled to stay awake during math, a class you were good at but never really cared for. The room was warm, and your teacher’s flat voice was almost like white noise, soothing you and making it easy to block out any other sounds around you. You slowly rested your head on your arms, the material of your shirt feeling soft against your cheek. Despite your best efforts, you closed your eyes . . .

Of course, you dreamed of Spider-Man. You were in his arms, clinging to him as he swung from building to building, one arm wrapped around your waist. You were frightened, but exhilarated. You’d never felt so free, never been up so high. He landed on the roof of a building and set you down, and the two of you gazed out at the city in front of you. After a moment, he turned to you. He was so close you could practically feel his body heat coming off him in waves. You reached out and gripped the edge of his mask, waiting. He nodded. Slowly, you began to pull it up, revealing . . .

“Y/N!”

Revealing . . .

“Y/N!”

Someone poked you in the back with something sharp. You sat up, nearly falling out of your chair. You were still in math class. Everyone seemed to be partnering up and doing some work out of the book. The teacher hadn’t noticed you’d been asleep. So what was the issue?

You turned around and saw Peter Parker staring at you with wide eyes, holding a pencil. “Did you just poke me with that pencil?” you demanded.

“Uh, no?”

You glared at him. “I was sleeping.”

“Sorry, we’re just supposed to be working and I didn’t want you to get in trouble, so . . .” He swallowed. “Do you want to be partners?”

You sighed. “Alright, fine.” You grabbed your book and flipped to the correct page, beginning to write down the problems. But no matter how hard you concentrated, the numbers seemed to jumble and swim in front of your eyes, quickly giving you a headache. You closed your eyes and rubbed the bridge of your nose.

“Hey,” Peter said. “Are you okay?”

You opened one eye to look at him, annoyed. “Can you go one day without asking me that?”

His ears turned pink. “Sorry, I just – okay. Going back to my work now.”

You immediately felt bad. Being mean to Peter was like being mean to a Golden Retriever. “Wait, I’m sorry. I’m just tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Yeah, me neither,” he said with a small smile. After a moment’s hesitation he asked, “Is there something on your mind?”

You didn’t answer for a second, trying to collect your thoughts. Finally, you asked, “Have you ever really liked someone even though you knew it probably wasn’t going to work out?”

“Yeah,” Peter said. For a brief second, you wondered who Peter had a crush on.  And then you wondered why you even cared. Maybe he was just referring to his not-so-secret crush on Liz Allen, who’d moved away a few months ago.  

“Well, that’s kind of what I’m dealing with at the moment.”

“You like someone?” Peter asked, trying to seem casual. It wasn’t really his strong suit.

“Yeah, I guess. And I think he likes me too? Maybe? But I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to find out. His job is kind of . . .  crazy. I just don’t know how we could make it work, if we could ever make it work.”

“I think you should tell him,” Peter said quietly. “If you think he likes you too, he probably does.”

“You think so?” you asked.

“Yeah. You’re awesome, Y/N. If the guy has any sense he’ll see that and he’ll want to make it work. Maybe he’s just scared too. Maybe he thinks that someone like you would never like someone like him.” Peter cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing. “I’m only guessing, of course. Does he go to Midtown?”

“Um, I don’t know.” You realized how weird that sounded, but you were mostly hung up on what Peter had just said. Was he right? Did Spider-Man feel the same way about you that you did him? The idea of it made your stomach erupt in butterflies.

“Well,” Peter said slowly. “I wouldn’t give up on him just yet. People can surprise you.”

“I guess so,” you said thoughtfully. You smiled at him. “Thanks.”

He smiled back, a little shyly. He has a nice smile, you thought to yourself, and then wondered why you were just noticing it. You’d seen Peter smile dozens of times; what was different about this? But for some reason it just was, and you felt like you were seeing his bright brown eyes and that stray curl that fell across his forehead for the first time.

Before you could ask why he hadn’t slept that night either, your teacher called, “Five more minutes, and then we’ll be going over the answers!”

You were the first to break the gaze, staring down at your notebook. “Um, we’d better do this,” you said. Peter merely nodded, swallowing hard. The two of you didn’t talk for the rest of the class.

______________________________________________________________

That night, you hung around on your fire escape long after you promised your mother you’d be in bed. You wanted nothing more than to go to sleep after getting so little of it the previous night, but you didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to see Spider-Man.

It was almost midnight and you were just beginning to nod off when you heard a soft swoosh and then someone landed beside you, light and nimble like a cat. “Hey.”

You blinked and smiled up at him. “Hi.”

“Are you okay? Were you about to go to sleep?” he asked worriedly.

“No, no, you’re fine. I wanted to wait for you.”

He scratched the back of his neck. “You should, um. You should get some sleep.”

“So should you,” you countered.

He laughed at that. “Touché, I guess.” He sat down next to you. “How was your day?”

“Fine. How was yours?”

“Fine.” You were both nervous, you could tell.

Cautiously, you placed your hand on top of his, and tried to ignore your pounding heart when he turned it over and laced your fingers together. You knew that what you were about to ask was monumental, but it seemed like the right time, right occasion, right . . . well, everything, really. “Um,” you said quietly. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Anything.”

You squeezed your eyes shut, not wanting to see his reaction. “Will you take off your mask?”

The silence that followed was long. You knew immediately that it was a bad idea, but you didn’t take it back. This was something you’d been thinking about ever since you met Spider-Man, and although you’d allowed him to deflect it the previous night, you couldn’t do it again. Not when you felt so strongly about him.

Finally, he said, “Why?”

“Because I want to see what you look like,” you said slowly.

He shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Do you know how dangerous it is? There are so many people who want me dead, Y/N. If word gets out about my real identity, the bad guys won’t just come after me. They’ll come after my family, my friends. Everyone I love could get hurt.”

“You think I’d tell people who you really are?” you asked, a little hurt. “You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just . . . too much to ask. Besides, I thought what we have right now was good? I thought things were really good with us?”

“They are,” you said softly. “But it’s not enough. You can’t tell me you don’t understand why it isn’t enough.”

“But I don’t understand,” he said, and his voice had an edge to it. He slowly untangled your fingers, and you felt your heart sink. “I don’t understand why you want to know the identity of someone you just met.”

“Don’t act like you don’t feel this, either,” you said hotly. “We may have just met, but . . . I feel like . . . like . . .” You stopped yourself, closing your eyes. “All I know is that I want to get close to you. But I can’t do that if I don’t know who you are.”

“Trust me,” he said, and his voice sounded bitter. “You don’t want to know the person under this mask.”

“Yes, I do,” you insisted. “I really do. Please.”

He shook his head. “No, you really don’t. Trust me. You don’t want this. You’d hate me.”

“Yes, I do!” you practically shouted. “How can you say that? You saved my life. You walked me home. You came back to see if I was okay. You like Star Wars and science and animals and trashy reality shows. How could you tell me I don’t want that? How could you think I’d ever hate you? I don’t care what you look like or who you are!”

“You would, though,” he said, and he sounded so sad. “I’m sorry. I wish I could. But it’s too dangerous, and it’s just . . . it’s not worth you getting hurt. I could never live with myself.”

He stood up and started to back away, and you could feel tears welling up in your eyes. Things had been so perfect just five minutes ago, and now everything was all wrong. “I thought you liked me,” you said softly.

“I do,” he murmured. “I like you so much. And that’s why I can’t let you see who I really am.” You didn’t answer, continuing to stare at him with wet eyes, and finally he turned away, facing the city. “I’m gonna go,” he said heavily. “You should get some sleep.”

“Please don’t,” you pleaded.

“I’m really sorry, Y/N. I really, really am.” He shook his head. “I’ll see you around. Or not.” And just like that, he was gone.

You stayed out on your fire escape long after he left.