only fools rush in

i.

Bodies bustled past you, pushing tightly together as they all navigated to different places. You tucked yourself in tighter on your newfound home on the bench and slid your bag higher on your shoulder, preparing yourself for the crowd. You glanced at the time on your phone, mentally calculating how long you could stay in the heat of the building before you would officially be late for class. The chill of the air burst in the door surrounding you forcing you to pull your coat a little tighter around your body. You felt a body slide in next to you, their knee bumping into yours.

“Planning on staying here all day?” He whispers quietly into your ear, bumping his knee playfully into yours once more.

“It’s cold,” you mutter, “I’m trying to decide if going out there is worth it.”

“You know you’ll regret skipping a lab,” Peter’s eyes slide to yours, a smirk making its way onto his face. “Besides it’s your one class with me so it’s definitely worth it.”

You roll your eyes, shoving his shoulder away from you. Peter’s hand find yours and he pulls you up quickly, the warmth of his hand disappearing much too quickly for your liking.

“Come on, before you make us late. Again,” his eyebrows shoot up as if you needed a reminder of this same stunt you’ve pulled ever since the temperatures dropped below 30.

Before you registered what was happening, Peter unwound the scarf from his neck and wrapped it tightly around yours. His hand found yours as he pushed open the door, fingers interlocking with yours, the warmth returning once again as you navigated your way through the crowd.

ii.

After a year of tiptoeing around your feelings, Peter had finally been the one to crack and confess. You had been finishing getting ready for your weekly dinner tradition, about to slip your shoe on when you heard Peter’s signature knock on your apartment door. Hobbling to the door, one platform converse in hand you swung open the door revealing a nervous Peter holding a bouquet of flowers dangling haphazardly by his thigh.

“Hey Parker, gimme a sec.” You smile softly at him, before turning your attention back to the shoe in your hand. Your eyes skipping right over the flowers, as you sit on your couch.

Peter shuffles into the room, his eyes darting around as if he had never stepped foot in your living room. He reached behind to scratch the back of his neck, the bouquet a long forgotten thought as he felt a petal break off and fall in the collar of his shirt. His arm flies back down to his side, wide eyes finding yours.

“Peter,” you start softly, eyes finally finding the daisies and taking in the jumpy nature of your best friend.

“Y/N…” Peter started, the entire speech he rehearsed on his way to your place flying out of his head.

Your eyes found his once more as you stood to move closer, a look of fondness passing over both of your faces.

“I think I’m in love with you Y/N. And I want tonight to be a real date. But I don’t want to ruin what we have, so if you don’t feel the same way please tell me to shut…”

Your hand slides over the stems of the flowers, pulling them gently from his hand.

“You’re insane if you think I don’t feel the same way Parker.”

A smile lights up Peter’s face, sliding his hand towards yours he pulls you closer. He brings his other hand up to your face, thumb caressing your cheek.

“I love you Y/N,” he whispers against your lips, pressing his lips softly to yours.

Your foreheads still resting against each other, you whisper I love you back.

“So should we go on that date now,” Peter replied. A smile etching widely on his face, fingers toying with yours.

iii.

“Peter I am not.” A firm look planted on your face.

“But Y/N, please,” Peter begged, brown eyes pleading with yours.

“What if…” you started before Peter quickly cut you off, pleading his case once more.

Which is how you found yourself on the roof of your apartment building, your masked boyfriend practically vibrating with excitement behind you.

“I swear to god if you drop me Parker,” you threaten weakly, an eyebrow quirked for good measure.

“Please,” Peter groans, rolling his eyes, “the lack of faith you have in me hurts Y/N.”

His sidles his way next to you, his gloved hands intertwining with yours, rubbing comforting circles on the backs of your hands.

Your eyes shut softly as you breathe in Peter’s scent and focus on the feeling of his thumb massaging your hand. This was something you knew your boyfriend wanted to share with you and was something you had expressed an interest in experiencing. But as the thought of swinging freely across the city you have grown to know twisted in your brain, the nerves began to knaw in your stomach.

“We don’t have to,” Peter muttered into your hair as you pressed closer to his chest.

“I want to, just need a minute,” you said into the spider spread across his chest.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” you pulled back, eyes looking into the white masked eyes of your boyfriend.

“You sure?” He questioned, his hand still interlocked tightly with yours.

“Don’t drop me Spidey,” you reply, a smile in your voice.

Peter’s hands slip out of yours, making a home of your waist, locking tightly around it. He waits for you to further lock yourself around him, glancing back down to make sure you haven’t changed your mind.

“Let’s go bug boy.”

“Bug boy?!” Peter laughs incredulously as it echoes through your chest as he shoots a web and begins to swing you through the city.

Your eyes stay clamped shut, buried into the red spandex covering Peter’s neck. Your grip tightens before you bravely peek from your hiding spot to see Peter quickly glance down at you before looking back up to navigate between the next 2 buildings.

The buildings rush past you, the wind whipping your hair around your face. A bubble of laughter builds in your stomach, erupting out as the exhilaration of the moment takes over.

Awhile later you find yourself sitting atop the Empire State Building in between Peter’s legs, his arm anchoring you in place.

“How’d you like it baby?” Peter’s chin is resting on your shoulder.

“Honestly the best date you’ve taken me on.”

Peter’s lips pressed into your jaw line, a content sigh escaping his mouth. Your hand found his, his slender fingers twisting with yours. You pulled his arm tighter around you, sinking deeper into him until you molded as one body.

iv.

Peter’s greatest fear had come true as his eyes locked on your figure across the street. His girlfriend finally finding her way into a crime scene. A panic welled in his stomach, his brain trying to come up with a way from stopping the scene unfolding in front of him while simultaneously getting you as far away from here as possible.

A fist came flying at his face, his senses almost missing it while focused on you. Peter quickly caught the hand inches away from his face, flipping over the man, landing with a hard thump against the ground.

Even with the distance between the two of you, Peter could hear your heartbeat rapidly increasing as your eyes scanned the street looking for the quickest and easiest way to escape. Others around you had begun pushing and shoving as they ran to flee.

Peter made his way through the gang of men, throwing punches and dodging knives flying at him. He fought his way through the group, throwing webs towards men sticking them to the various police cars around him.

Your body was still moving away from the scene as he glanced your way, but not quick enough for his comfort. As Peter prepared to catch another fist flying near him, he heard a small gasp to his left. Eyes flicking back on your figure as your toe caught onto the edge of the curb, sending your body in the wrong direction. His eyes locked on the man in front of you, holding a knife pointed in the direction your body was falling.

All of the air left Peter’s body. Your eyes blew wide as you realized what you were falling into, desperately trying to fight gravity and pull in a different direction.

Without thinking Peter ran as he threw a web at the criminal in front of you. His web caught the man’s hand as he yanked him hard, groaning as he collided into the ground.

Peter’s hand wrapped around your wrist, pulling you roughly into his chest, listening to the clattering of the metal on the pavement at his feet. Your heartbeats beating rapidly into each other.

Before he could process, Peter was swinging you across the city, landing on your fire escape. His hand grabbed yours, holding it tightly near his chest as his lips pressed roughly onto yours.

“Please never scare me like that again,” Peter muttered against your lips, eyes glistening as he gazed deeply into yours.

“I promise,” you mumbled back, pressing your lips together once more, hands still locked together.

v.

He could feel the blood seeping into his suit, his breathing becoming labored as he tried to swing quickly. Before long he found himself crouched on your fire escape, lightly tapping on the window as he yanked his mask off his face.

Your eyes flicked up from your laptop, widening as they met your boyfriend’s. You quickly slide your window up, trying to pull Peter in.

He flashes you a wide smile that could be more accurately described as a grimace. Pain lacing his eyes and short breaths coming out as it got harder for him to breathe.

“Peter…” you whisper, eyes wide in horror as you begin to peel his suit back, revealing the deep gashes and cuts lining his chest.

“You should see the other guy,” Peter forces out as he leans backwards onto your bed, the soft pillows being the best thing he’s felt all day.

You fly through cabinets in your bathroom, pulling out various first aid items, rushing back to Peter’s side seconds later.

His eyes watch your hands as they dance gently across his chest. Cleaning and bandaging every cut on him. A look of yearning passes across Peter’s face, love blooming in his chest as he watches the love of his life tending so carefully to his wounds.

“Hey,” Peter lets out softly, ducking his head to catch your eyes as they frantically scan his body looking for anything you might have missed in your haste. “Look at me baby.”

Your eyes, glittering with wetness in the corners as you process that he’s going to be okay, meet with his, a rush of heat passing between the two of you.

“I’m okay. I promise I’m okay, I love you.” Peter says fondly as his fingers tuck a piece of hair behind your ears.

“I love you Peter,” you say with equal fervor.

Peter’s fingers trailed down the side of your face, ghostly down your shoulder and arm till he found what he was searching for. His fingers traced over yours, dried blood still coating both of your hands.

Your nose bumped into his as his fingers finally locked with yours. In that moment, Peter knew he had found his home as electricity shot up his arm at your touch.

vi.

Peter had never felt worse. Every step he took sent shocks through his legs, every twist of his body sent a wave of pain as he could feel his ribs cracking.

His eyes scanned across the scaffolding before him, looking for any signs of the goblin currently attacking him.

“Over here Spider-Man,” Harry spit out.

Peter turned, horror overtaking his entire body. Harry had an arm wrapped around his girlfriend’s throat, pressing tighter forcing you to gasp for air.

“Harry please..” Peter started, trying to bargain a way out of this. He never wanted this for you, had never wanted you to feel the fear he felt every night fighting off bad guys.

“It’s okay,” you choke out, tear filled eyes meeting his. “I love you Peter.”

“No, no. Harry stop. You want me not her.” Peter’s own tears had now spilled over, as he ripped off his mask to gaze into yours.

“You know what, you’re right,” Harry said, laughter exploding out of him.

Harry pulled you with him to the edge of the scaffolding, looking at Peter once more before loosening his grip. Your body tumbled over the edge, hand shooting out looking for something to grab to catch yourself.

“Y/N!” Peter screamed out diving over the edge towards you.

He straightened his body, gliding through the air to you, not wanting to make the same mistake again. His hand reached out grazing your fingertips, relief poured through his body as he realized he was seconds away from having you wrapped back in his arms.

As he fingers began to reach out further to pull you into him, the goblin’s glider came flying at his body sending him in the opposite direction.

His ears picked up a sickening crack at the same time his body collided with a pole. He could faintly hear the green goblin’s laughter as he flew away from the scene.

Ignoring the pain screaming in every limb of his body, Peter limped over to you. His body was heaving with sobs the closer he got, while your limbs were twisted in a way he wished he never had to see.

He fell to his knees pulling your head into his lap. Hands rushing over your face, wishing more than anything that he didn’t have to accept the fate before him.

Peter reached out his hand towards yours, before retracting it quickly pulling it back into his body, not wanting to feel the coldness he knew was coming.

He rubbed his hand harshly down his face, collecting tears. Timidly his hand found yours, the lack of warmth making him heart constrict even more. Peter stretched down and pressed a kiss to your forehead, his salty tears staining his lips.