summary: in which you're dating calum hood, and he's hiding a secret
finally, after what felt like the longest day of calum's life, he could rest. from school to fighting crime, he only felt like he could catch his breath when he was with you. though, he still hadn't found the courage to tell you about his secret life yet.
you had been there that day. the one where his life would change forever. watching the venom take over his body, changing him, but in a way you couldn't see. how could anyone expect a spider bite to turn a boy into some kind of spider-man?
"may, i'm home!" he yells after swinging in through his bedroom window. the room wasn't big, but it was his space. the lego death star him, and michael had yet to finish staring him down on the floor. his unwashed laundry on the bed, and a small framed picture of the two of you on his nightstand.
may walks into the doorway of his room. "dinner is on the stove," she says before noticing the scratches covering his face. "calum, what happened?"
"it's nothing, may. don't worry." he says giving her a sympathetic smile. all she can do is sigh and say, "just please clean it." then turning around and heading back to the kitchen.
he knew she worried; how could she not? after losing calum's parents, may had always been protective. after he changed, she still worried, even more than before.
as he slides off his suit, he can't help but sigh. he was exhausted.
quickly changing into a pair of grey sweatpants and a stark industries hoodie. he wanders out to the living room and plops down on the couch. the tv playing some nineties sitcom may had been listening to while cooking.
"do you want to invite her over?" may asks, walking over to the couch.
he looks up at her "it's late; are you sure?" not wanting to disturb her night.
"you've had a hard day, calum," she says, frowning. "she can stay for a few hours."
"thank you, may." he says, smiling at her.
within thirty minutes, you're in his room, his arms wrapped around you in a meaningful hug.
"is everything ok, cal?" you ask, worry written on your face.
he pulls away. "of course, why do you ask?" he says, attempting to hide the stress of his day from you.
his attempt failing, you look at him with a frown. "please just tell me what happened."
he grabs your hand, guiding you to his bed, "i promise nothing bad happened; i'm just tired is all."
both of you lie down. your head laying against his chest. the quiet sound of his heart beating and his fingers running through your hair, eases some of your worries.
though you know he's hiding something.
he attempts to change the subject. "have you studied for the chem test yet?"
"no, i'll probably start tomorrow," you say. "this unit has seriously been kicking my butt."
you hated admitting something you normally excelled at was causing you so much stress.
"i can grab some of my notes if you wanna look over them?" he asks.
"yea, maybe some notes that aren't mine could help," you say hopefully.
calum slowly gets up from the bed. making sure not to ruin your comfortable state.
you watch as he leaves the room to retrieve his backpack.
glancing around, you try to see if anything is out of place. if he won't tell you what he's upset about, maybe you can figure it out.
that's when you see it. a small piece of red fabric sticking out from his closet.
in the three years you've known calum you've never seen him wear anything red.
"do you want a snack or anything?" he shouts from the kitchen.
you jump slightly. "sure," you say, hoping to buy yourself more time to investigate.
as you get up from his bed, you try your best not to make noise. slowly, you open the door to his closet.
bending down, you reach for the suit in front of you.
this can't be real, could it?
there was no way calum, your calum was spider-man.
"ok so i grabbed some pretzels and-" he stops his sentence abruptly, seeing you standing in his closet holding the red-and-blue suit.
"calum," you say, confused. "what is this?"
both of you stare at each other. the silence in the room is deafening.
"i can explain; i was going to tell," he says, moving over to you and reaching for the suit.
"is it real?" you say, even though you already know the answer.
with a long sigh, he looks into your eyes. "yes." he says with a sense of shame in his voice.
"how long?" you ask, your voice low.
he looks at you, confused.
your face hardens. "calum how fucking long?" you say, raising your voice.
he looks down, head hanging low. "two years," he says quietly.
"two fucking years," you say sharply. " and you never thought to mention you're spiderman!"
you shove past him. but in one quick motion he's in front of you again.
"can we please just talk about this?" he begs. "i have my reasons, i swear."
he reaches for your hand, eyes pleading for you to stay and hear him out.
"you have five minutes, and then i'm leaving, cal." you say, not for his sake but to hopefully ease your own mind.
he lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
you both take a seat on his bed, with a clear space between you. his heart broke knowing he had caused this divide.
"do you remember that day a spider bit me?"
"it was radioactive." he says.
"i don't think i'll ever fully understand what happened, but i know that the spiders dna somehow combined with mine." he sighs.
tears welling in your eyes, "calum, what do i even say to this?"
"you lied to my face every time i asked why you were late to school." the betrayal was clear on your face.
you slowly get up from his bed. standing in front of him, you can see the glassy wall stopping his tears from falling. you wanted to stay with him, hear more of his side, but you just couldn't.
"i'm gonna leave," you say quickly. "i think we both need some time to think about everything."
he looks deep into your eyes, begging. "please don't go."
"i have to. if i don't leave now, we'll both say something we'll regret."
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