Betty Brant

Betty’s shoulder bumped against Peter’s, bringing a small smile to her lips. “It’s okay. These hallways aren’t the widest. I’m sure it happens all the time,” She turned with a grin, purposely bumping his shoulder. Her eyes watched as he shoved his hands in his pockets, and Betty could tell he was pondering something. What though, she wasn’t sure. Was he mad that she knew? Was he in trouble that she knew? Her lips pressed tightly together as she waited for him to speak.

His story. “Peter, you were bit by a radioactive spider!” she exclaimed a little too loudly before she covered her mouth, an apologetic look on her face before she finally removed her hand. “That’s far more interesting than ‘I made a suit and now I’m a superhero’ or ‘I was a lab rat,’” she referred back to some of the other Avengers. “I mean, God of Thunder is hard to be beat. But you know, I kind of wondered what happened to your glasses. I thought maybe you got contacts.”  Truth be told, she liked the glasses on him. She didn’t know why, but she did.

“And here you are. I mean, look at how it changed you. You have more confidence. That you can definitely tell. And you have more….abs,” that accidentally slipped out and she felt her cheeks turn red. “I mean, well, you know what I mean.”

Betty tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and gave Peter an appreciative smile as he held the door open for her. “Thanks,” she said quietly as she walked through. “Look, you’re still Peter Parker to me. The guy I’ve known for years. Just with a little,” she paused to choose her words wisely, “Upgrade? No that’s not the right word. But to me, secret identity or not, you’re still just Peter to me,” she smiled at him, hoping he understood what she meant.

Peter didn’t freak out or anything because of what she said out of excitement because no one was going to believe that anyway. Honestly, he felt pretty good about her being so giddy over this.

“Yeah..”

That was all he could say because he still felt like the most awkward human on the planet sometimes. He parted his lips again to comment on the contacts and explain a little about why he didn’t need them, but raised one brow seconds before the other when she made his abs the topic. That was definitely a first for him, which left him unsure of what to do. He released a breath before a toothy grin spread across his face.

“Oh, uh-”

He scratched the back of his neck, his head lowering slightly to hide his face from her.

“Thank…you.”

When Betty walked outside, he remained in his spot and held the door open for a few extra seconds. He wasn’t really sure what to do with the words he just got, but he was letting flies in the building, so he had to step outside and close the door. His hands found themselves shoved into his front pockets again as he walked alongside her.

He stared down at his feet as he walked, but he was all ears on her. He released a breathy chuckle after she stated that he was the same Peter as before. He turned his head to look at her and smiled softly.

“I appreciate that. Thank you.”

He was getting a little more comfortable with talking. He didn’t necessarily agree with her on the whole ‘confidence’ thing since he still felt like the smallest person in the world most days, but he didn’t feel like visiting that part of his mind to talk about it. Instead, after a deep inhale, he looked back down at the ground before clearing his throat to speak.

Betty’s hands swung as they walked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything. With the comments. I’m still trying to soak all this in. I’m not sure exactly what to say. I’m babbling like an idiot.” Which Betty felt like she was; it was new for her. Usually the guys in their class fumbled over her; not vice versa. But here she was, on his street in Queens, babbling like some girly girl over a guy. Betty internally rolled her eyes at herself, wishing herself to stop.

Betty was thankful when Peter switched the topic to the dance, something she was very comfortable with discussing. “I do. Well almost. Dress, shoes. Hairstyle is picked out and appointment made to have done. I’m only missing one thing,” she let out a huge sigh as she stuffed her hands back in her pockets, eyes traveling to look at the cracks in the ground as the walked the next block, pizza parlor in sight.

Betty chuckled. She knew Peter would take what she meant completely wrong, especially because he looked up to Mr. Stark. “I just mean, well, listen to him of course. But you’re more than just Spider-Man. You’re Peter Parker.” she knew that would probably make no sense to him, but to her, it did.

Her cheeks flushed when she agreed. What was it about Peter that made her so tongue tied at times? He was Peter Parker after all. Her friend. Friend since she’d move here. And yet when she was around him…. she just shook her head.

Betty followed him out the door, not running into the door frame as Peter did, patting his shoulder. “That looked like it hurt. Did it? I mean, does Spider-Man get the normal every day injury?” Stupid question number one she thought to herself. Taking a breath, she shoved her hands in her jacket pocked. “Don’t worry, I won’t ask anything else like that. My questions are more of ‘How did this even happen?’ kind, you know?”

Betty waved a quick goodbye at his aunt as well as they headed out and into the hallway. She pulled her phone out to check the time. “Neah, they’ll be fine. I’ll sent them a quick text that we’re studying while eating. They won’t care. They might not even notice I’m not home,” she mumbled under her breath, not looking at Peter.

Peter whispered “good” as he slipped his phone into his back pocket. His eyes lifted to meet hers as his lips formed a thin line.

“So we can go, then?”

It was more of a question than a statement, but Peter was unsure about most things, so he had a habit of asking to make sure his next move was okay. He hesitantly started to lead the way out of his apartment building. The halls were kind of small, so every now and then, he would catch himself bumping his shoulder into Betty’s.

“Sorry.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down at his shoes as he walked. He cleared his throat as he prepared to respond to something she had said earlier.

“My story isn’t really all that interesting. I’m not even sure most people would believe it if I told them the truth.”

He lifted his head and took in a deep breath, keeping his eyes locked on the door straight ahead.

“I got bit by a spider. It was radioactive and crazy, kind of cool, and it all happened so fast and I suddenly didn’t need my glasses to see anymore and-”

Okay, he was a little…excited? Nervous? He never really got to go full-out and speak about everything to anyone because very few people knew. He loved reliving the moments when he found out that he wasn’t the same teenager he was before; no more squinting to see the board, or running out of breath because of asthma. He was well-aware of the bad sides to all of this, but for now, the pros definitely outweighed the cons.

“Anyway, here I am. I wasn’t made in a lab or anything like that, so don’t worry.”

He paused, opening the door and holding it to allow Betty to pass through. He squinted, eyes shifting out of curiosity.

His story. “Peter, you were bit by a radioactive spider!” she exclaimed a little too loudly before she covered her mouth, an apologetic look on her face before she finally removed her hand. “That’s far more interesting than ‘I made a suit and now I’m a superhero’ or ‘I was a lab rat,’” she referred back to some of the other Avengers. “I mean, God of Thunder is hard to be beat. But you know, I kind of wondered what happened to your glasses. I thought maybe you got contacts.”  Truth be told, she liked the glasses on him. She didn’t know why, but she did. 

“And here you are. I mean, look at how it changed you. You have more confidence. That you can definitely tell. And you have more....abs,” that accidentally slipped out and she felt her cheeks turn red. “I mean, well, you know what I mean.”

“Don’t listen to him Peter,” Betty rolled her eyes at herself for a moment before holding up her hand to stop herself. “I mean, listen to him of course because he’s Iron Man and knows what he’s talking about. But you’re pretty important. No one else can swing from buildings like you.” She gave her friend a soft smile as she brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m sure he’s just looking out for you. But you can do some really cool things.”

“We make a pretty good team, you and me,” she blushed a little bit, brushing that same piece of hair behind her ear again, even though it remained in place. “I mean, we have chemistry. Together. Class. You know,” Oh my gosh. Could she be more tongue tied all the sudden? What was happening?

Betty couldn’t believe she talked to a suit. In front of Spider-Man. How lame did she look? Thankfully Peter didn’t seem to think she was some loser by doing that as she let out the breath she had been holding. Betty would have felt terrible if she had gotten Peter into trouble with Mr. Stark for stumbling upon his secret. Betty had friends, a lot of them, but Peter was different. He didn’t want to be friends with her because she was on the paper or did the morning report. He was just….nice. And she would have felt bad for doing anything to hurt someone like him.

“Oh, I have a million questions. But I just have to,” she paused for a second, “make some sense of them all. Besides, I’m sure the last thing you want to is answer stupid questions. Let me guess,” she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder as he put on his shoes, “Ned asked you something like if you laid eggs,” she laughed, shaking her head. “I don’t have those kinds of questions, trust me,” she reached for the door, opening it.

“I’m starving. Let’s go.”

Peter’s eyes widened when she suggested to not listen to Mr. Stark. That would surely not end well for him at all.

“He, um, kind of makes it possible for me to have this cool suit, so I kind of have to. He told me he would take it away if I didn’t listen to him, so…”

Again, too much information. Now he was making himself look like an even bigger loser. Great. 

He patted his pockets to make sure he had his phone and wallet before turning around to leave. Before he could exit his bedroom, though, he turned back to look at Betty with a smile that would probably be considered too big and a little creepy under any normal circumstance.

“Yeah, I guess we do.”

He turned back around to exit the door, his hip bumping against the doorframe on his way out. He played it cool, though, and hopefully it looked like nothing even happened. He halted in his tracks and turned to face her once again when she mentioned one of the dreaded questions.

“Uh, yeah, he did. I don’t, by the way. Definitely do not.”

On his way out of his apartment, he stopped to say goodbye to his aunt. She scolded him for not answering his phone because it could have avoided all of what was currently happening, so he just stood there with his lips sealed in a thin line and took it. She was right, but he had to look past that. Betty knew, and he was going to figure something out. Hopefully it would be really easy and she just wouldn’t tell anyone or mention it ever again, but he wasn’t all that sure about that last part.

“Alright, love you!”

He called to May as he held the front door open for Betty to exit. While waiting, he slipped out his phone and looked at the time. His eyes grew wide.

Her cheeks flushed when she agreed. What was it about Peter that made her so tongue tied at times? He was Peter Parker after all. Her friend. Friend since she’d move here. And yet when she was around him.... she just shook her head.

Betty followed him out the door, not running into the door frame as Peter did, patting his shoulder. “That looked like it hurt. Did it? I mean, does Spider-Man get the normal every day injury?” Stupid question number one she thought to herself. Taking a breath, she shoved her hands in her jacket pocked. “Don’t worry, I won’t ask anything else like that. My questions are more of ‘How did this even happen?’ kind, you know?” 

Betty’s lips pressed tightly together, then turned downward into a frown when Peter mentioned being treated liked a kid by Mr. Stark. She supposed it was hard for him, being the youngest out of that group of people. After all, Captain America was like 140 or something. And who knows how old Thor was. So she imagined it couldn’t be easy being a teenage in an adult world. “I’m sure he thinks more of you than just some kid. I mean, you’re like, an avenger. No one else in our school can say.” She tried to lighten the situation.

Betty waited for a lecture about last night but instead, she got the opposite. Did- did he just say that she helped him? She helped Spider-Man? Betty blinked a couple times before a soft smile appeared. “Sometimes we all need help. Besides, we kind of made a good team, you know?” Not that she expected to be asked join the Avengers or anything. But maybe being a sidekick to -

Wait, did he just say that Mr. Stark could hear everything that they said? What else was bugged she wondered? Should she whisper? Should she speak in only hand gestures? “Oh no Peter! I’m so sorry! I never meant for you- I mean, I’m the one who intruded…” she trailed off before heading over to Peter, speaking into the suit. “It’s not his fault Mr. Stark. It’s mine. Please don’t be mad at him. Really,” she took a couple steps back, feeling kind of like an idiot for talking to, well, a suit.

Betty’s hands rested at her side, fingers drumming against her legs as she waited for Peter to change. She almost peeked over her shoulder but at the last second opted against it, giving him his privacy. When he was dressed, she spun on the balls of her feet, facing him.

“What can I even ask you?”

Peter simply stared at her for a few moments when she referred to him as his favorite word: Avenger. It was going to take a lot of getting used to with Betty knowing his secret, but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having someone to talk about it with who didn’t constantly ask if he laid eggs. He would just have to be extremely careful about what he said, and sometimes that was the biggest challenge of all for him.

“Yeah, basically. He still won’t let me do a lot of stuff on my own, though. He says I have trailing wheels…”

His voice trailed off the further into the sentence he got, eyes leaving hers to concentrate on the pile of clothes tossed in the corner of his room. That didn’t last long, because she captured his attention when she spoke again, and even made a small smile appear.

“Yeah, I guess we did.”

He got a little shifty, and his eyes even dropped from hers again. He wasn’t very good at making eye contact if she couldn’t tell, but he didn’t really have time to work on it with bad guys always stealing his energy.

When she started mildly panicking, he looked back up at her and shook his head.

“No, it’s okay! He probably-”

He tilted his head slightly to one side as she approached his suit on the floor. He watched as she whispered to the suit and took all of the blame. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

“Thanks. It’ll be fine. He’s probably on a beach somewhere anyway. He likes to take a lot of vacations.”

Okay, he was already saying too much. Nobody needed to know that, and the only reason he did is when one of Tony’s suits would come to his rescue and he wasn’t in it. It was a little annoying sometimes how awesome Mr. Stark was.

“Oh, um… You don’t have to ask me anything if you don’t want to. I just know Ned had a lot of questions when he first found out.”

He shrugged and walked over to the corner where his shoes were before slipping them on. Yes he could tie his shoes, but he didn’t feel the need to untie them every single time he took them off, so he just left them that way and slipped them on. 

He gave her a smile and did a little bounce in place.

“We make a pretty good team, you and me,” she blushed a little bit, brushing that same piece of hair behind her ear again, even though it remained in place. “I mean, we have chemistry. Together. Class. You know,” Oh my gosh. Could she be more tongue tied all the sudden? What was happening?

Betty couldn’t believe she talked to a suit. In front of Spider-Man. How lame did she look? Thankfully Peter didn’t seem to think she was some loser by doing that as she let out the breath she had been holding. Betty would have felt terrible if she had gotten Peter into trouble with Mr. Stark for stumbling upon his secret. Betty had friends, a lot of them, but Peter was different. He didn’t want to be friends with her because she was on the paper or did the morning report. He was just....nice. And she would have felt bad for doing anything to hurt someone like him.

“Oh, I have a million questions. But I just have to,” she paused for a second, “make some sense of them all. Besides, I’m sure the last thing you want to is answer stupid questions. Let me guess,” she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder as he put on his shoes, “Ned asked you something like if you laid eggs,” she laughed, shaking her head. “I don’t have those kinds of questions, trust me,” she reached for the door, opening it.

Betty tried to control her stomach rumblings as best she could, but it was no use. She hadn’t eaten since lunch, and it was now - she glanced up at the clock on Peter’s desk- almost eight o’clock. “I’m pretty sure I couldn’t work on that project now tonight even if I wanted to. I have so many questions. I mean, if you can even answer…them…” she trailed off, wondering how much he could even say at this point.

“Wait, that Stark internship that you got? Is that….?” She put two and two together as she stood up, fingertip tapping against her lip. She started pacing once again, a million, no a billion thoughts going through her head again. First off, what pizza place was still open. Then all the questions she had for him.

“I suppose I can’t take care of myself as well as I’d like. I mean, if it wasn’t for you last night, that guy…” she stopped, shuttering a bit, not wanting to think about what could have happened. “Maybe I do need someone looking out for me,” she signed, head hanging slightly for a moment before snapping back up.

Betty wasn’t surprised at the list Peter rattled off that knew his secret. And now she was one of them. A small wave of panic fell over her. “Am I going to get in trouble for knowing? Is Mr. Stark going to like, zap it from my brain or anything?” Yes, those words actually came out of her mouth before she could stop them, her hand coming up to cover it.

“Just forget I said that. He couldn’t…he wouldn’t…right?” She hoped, standing in front of Peter, frowning as he started to change, which completely changed her mindset.

“Oh, right. Um, sure. Sure. Sure.” She quickly turned around, handing waving dismissively in the air as if she didn’t care that he was going to change right there in front of her. “You just…do your thing.”

He felt uneasy when she said that she had a lot of questions, but it really wasn’t a surprise. If he was in her shoes, he would have plenty of questions, too. He took a deep breath, preparing for the worst.

When she mentioned the internship, his eyes lifted toward the ceiling as his head tilted from side to side.

“Kind of. He still treats me like a kid most of the time, so it still sort of is an internship.”

Now wasn’t the time for complaining, so he quickly nipped that in the bud.

When she brought up the details from the night before, his expression softened. He thought back to everything that had happened, from him arriving at the bank until he fell asleep that night. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks as he looked away from her, then down to the floor.

“You helped me, too. It wasn’t just me.”

His voice was quiet as he spoke, but hopefully he could still be heard. When he got shy, he felt like his body was curling in on itself, which resulted in him often losing all train of thought.

His eyes were brought back up to meet hers and he let out a chuckle as she voiced her worries. He shook his head, preparing to assure her that things would be okay.

“No, he won’t. You’re not in trouble. If anything, I’ll be in trouble. He’s probably listening to us talk right now.”

He paused, looking down at his suit, then back up at her.

“It has a mic.”

He whispered, like it was going to do any good now.

When she turned around, he resumed the task of changing out of the suit. He slid out of the latex and was left in his boxers, but he quickly slipped on his jeans after doing several hops to get his legs through the holes. He then pulled his shirt over his head and sighed, relieved that he had gotten that accomplished.

“Okay, you can turn around now.”

While he left her to do that, he turned around himself and found his backpack on the ground. He crouched down and opened the front zipper, where his wallet stayed when he was on duty. Once he slipped it into his back pocket, he stood and turned toward her.

Betty waited for a lecture about last night but instead, she got the opposite. Did- did he just say that she helped him? She helped Spider-Man? Betty blinked a couple times before a soft smile appeared. “Sometimes we all need help. Besides, we kind of made a good team, you know?” Not that she expected to be asked join the Avengers or anything. But maybe being a sidekick to -

Wait, did he just say that Mr. Stark could hear everything that they said? What else was bugged she wondered? Should she whisper? Should she speak in only hand gestures? “Oh no Peter! I’m so sorry! I never meant for you- I mean, I’m the one who intruded...” she trailed off before heading over to Peter, speaking into the suit. “It’s not his fault Mr. Stark. It’s mine. Please don’t be mad at him. Really,” she took a couple steps back, feeling kind of like an idiot for talking to, well, a suit.

Betty’s hands rested at her side, fingers drumming against her legs as she waited for Peter to change. She almost peeked over her shoulder but at the last second opted against it, giving him his privacy. When he was dressed, she spun on the balls of her feet, facing him. 

If Betty’s eyes rolled any harder, surely they’d get stuck. “The. Worst. Liar. Ever.” Was all she had to say to Peter at the moment. Candy? Really? Sure, one might stick to the desk for a quick moment but crawl across the ceiling? She was no idiot.

As her stomach growled again, she closed her eyes tightly. Normally she would be embarrassed by such a display in front of a guy that she- well- she wasn’t quite sure what she was feeling towards Peter/Spider-Man at this moment. But embarrassment over being hungry wasn’t it.

“Oh you owe me so much more than just a pizza for lying to me. Cheese bread too,” she turned her head to the left to smirk at him, eyes batting open to meet his.

Betty let out a breath as Peter mentioned for a second time that she could have gotten hurt. It wasn’t a lie; she could have. But she felt herself above other wimpy girls. She thought of herself as a warrior at the moment, even if she really wasn’t. “I can take care of myself. And besides, I was fine. Ish. I’m not one of those girls that constantly needs rescuing.” Even if, last night, she did.

Peter’s plea got to her. She sat up next to him, hand coming to rest on his arm. Her lips tightened together in a straight line for a moment as she nodded. “Look, Peter. I don’t have anyone to tell. And besides, it’s not my story to tell,” Usually as an ace reporter, she wouldn’t let that stop her. But she knew that giving up Peter’s secret could and would prove to be harmful to him, so this was one story she was going to have to take the grave. So to speak.

“Your secret is safe with me. Besides, I feel kind of-” her lips turned slightly upward into a smile, “special being the only one who knows. Wait, does anyone else know?”

Peter could only hope that she would continue to care more about food than finding out his secret identity, but he had a feeling that it wouldn’t always be that way. He had to make sure that she wasn’t going to tell anyone before she left his room. He couldn’t just web her up and force her to be quiet, although…

No! That would be mean and get him into so much more trouble than he was already in. He had to use his words for this.

“Yeah, we can go get something if you want. Just let me grab my w-” 

He stood, looking down at his suit. He couldn’t just use it for fun, even though that’s kind of what he did the night before, so he needed to change out of it. Before he could, though, his attention was brought back to her as she spoke.

“No, I didn’t mean that, I just-”

He was a little flustered at that point. 

“Look, I just mean it’s really dangerous out there. I can’t tell you what you can and can’t do, because if someone told me, I wouldn’t listen. Just please be careful, okay?”

This was all new to him, trying to come up with things to say after his biggest secret had been exposed, and he couldn’t figure out if it helped because she knew him personally or the opposite. He would never be seen the same again, and he would walk around school meeting eyes with people, wondering if they knew his secret, too. When she assured him that she wouldn’t tell, however, he did feel a little bit of relief. Trusting people didn’t come easy to him, but he had no choice but to put his trust in her.

“Thanks.”

He spoke quietly before walking toward his dresser, where he pulled out a t-shirt and jeans. Facing away from her, he smiled shyly at her words.

“Ned knows, but that’s all from school. May and Mr. Stark know, plus the other Avengers-”

He paused, turning his head to one side but not looking at her.

“I probably shouldn’t have said that, my bad.”

Without thinking, he pressed the emblem in the middle of his chest to prepare for his outfit change, but he froze in his tracks and turned to look at her.

“Can you…”

“Wait, that Stark internship that you got? Is that....?” She put two and two together as she stood up, fingertip tapping against her lip. She started pacing once again, a million, no a billion thoughts going through her head again. First off, what pizza place was still open. Then all the questions she had for him.

“I suppose I can’t take care of myself as well as I’d like. I mean, if it wasn’t for you last night, that guy...” she stopped, shuttering a bit, not wanting to think about what could have happened. “Maybe I do need someone looking out for me,” she signed, head hanging slightly for a moment before snapping back up.

Betty wasn’t surprised at the list Peter rattled off that knew his secret. And now she was one of them. A small wave of panic fell over her. “Am I going to get in trouble for knowing? Is Mr. Stark going to like, zap it from my brain or anything?” Yes, those words actually came out of her mouth before she could stop them, her hand coming up to cover it. 

“Just forget I said that. He couldn’t...he wouldn’t...right?” She hoped, standing in front of Peter, frowning as he started to change, which completely changed her mindset.

Betty’s eyes rolled hard as Peter kept trying to convince her that he wasn’t the masked Avenger she was with last night. Who was Peter trying to kid? “You were crawling across the ceiling!” She reminded him before taking her seated position on the bed by her half dressed schoolmate. Without thinking, her eyes roamed over him once again, this time suited, taking everything in. The guy she had sat next to mere hours ago in chem class was in fact the same guy that had made her year, her life the night before.

Betty had a million emotions running through her at that moment. Shock, elation, a bit of anger at not figuring it out sooner, embarrassment over her swooning of him last night, more embarrassment when she remembered it was Peter’s face that had flashed before when she thought was going to die while free falling, and finally….

Hunger. Her stomach let her and everyone else in the apartment know just how hungry she was when it growled so loud she was sure that people a block over heard it.

“Let’s hope they deliver,” she muttered under her breath. “Right. I’m sure saving the world come before bringing Betty pizza,” she smirked, nudging him with her elbow when he sat besides her.

How was she going to explain last night? She couldn’t very well tell him about her story. Or the rush she felt trying to be all badass. “I- well,” she started before falling backwards on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

“I guess we both have secrets, don’t we?”

Peter cringed when she stated that he was caught crawling on the ceiling. There was no getting out of that, no matter what his out there brain came up with. He groaned as his body fell back onto the bed, legs hanging off.

“My fingers were sticky because I ate too much candy…?”

Alright, one last lame attempt before he rested his hands on his stomach as he stared up at the bunk overhead. He tried to crack a smile at her comment about the pizza, but he just didn’t have the energy; he wasn’t in the mindset for it.

“We can get some when I take you home. We should probably start this project another day.”

All enthusiasm was drained from his voice. No matter how exciting chemistry was to him, he just couldn’t concentrate on it. His mind was in so many different places, strings pulling him in all directions. What was Mr. Stark gonna say? Oh, he would be upset. He might even take his suit away. Maybe he just shouldn’t tell him…

He was brought out from his thoughts when he heard her speak. He turned his head so that his right cheek was resting against the mattress. It made him feel a little better to learn that she had secrets of her own, which earned a small nod from him. He wasn’t going to pry, because he wouldn’t know how to cope having the same thing done to him.

“Could’ve gotten hurt, though. Some of those guys are really bad, and you don’t know what they’ll do until they do it. I have to call for backup sometimes.”

Again, defeat washed over him. He hated reaching out to Tony for help, but after being scolded so many times in the past for not doing so, it outweighed the consequences.

He slowly sat up, eyes falling to his covered hands. The only thing that could be heard was his breathing.

As her stomach growled again, she closed her eyes tightly. Normally she would be embarrassed by such a display in front of a guy that she- well- she wasn’t quite sure what she was feeling towards Peter/Spider-Man at this moment. But embarrassment over being hungry wasn’t it. 

“Oh you owe me so much more than just a pizza for lying to me. Cheese bread too,” she turned her head to the left to smirk at him, eyes batting open to meet his.

Betty let out a breath as Peter mentioned for a second time that she could have gotten hurt. It wasn’t a lie; she could have. But she felt herself above other wimpy girls. She thought of herself as a warrior at the moment, even if she really wasn’t. “I can take care of myself. And besides, I was fine. Ish. I’m not one of those girls that constantly needs rescuing.” Even if, last night, she did.

Peter’s plea got to her. She sat up next to him, hand coming to rest on his arm. Her lips tightened together in a straight line for a moment as she nodded. “Look, Peter. I don’t have anyone to tell. And besides, it’s not my story to tell,” Usually as an ace reporter, she wouldn’t let that stop her. But she knew that giving up Peter’s secret could and would prove to be harmful to him, so this was one story she was going to have to take the grave. So to speak.

Betty remained standing, mouth open, jaw to the ground, eyes wider than they’d ever been before. How could she have not seen this? All the times Peter had disappeared from school? Yes, she noticed. How Peter had all the sudden filled out from the gangling teen he once was? She definitely noticed that. The falling asleep in class? The voice. That’s why it was so familiar. And his scent. Peter and Spider-Man both smelled of a mix of Irish Spring soap and faux Axe body spray.

Her hand instinctively came up and smacked her forehead as she started pacing his room. “It all makes sense now,” she said to no one, walking towards the window before turning. “Everything makes sense. You. The voice. The smell. How you,” her eyes ran up and down him as he stood there in his boxers, her brow raising as they ran over him once again, “look like that. I mean, you did that back flip while I was running track a couple months ago. You didn’t think anyone was watching but I was.” Betty had wondered at the time when Peter had become so aerodynamic. It was all falling into place as she walked back towards the window, turning back to him once again.

“Peter Parker you are the world’s worst liar. You. Are. Spider-Man. That was you last night. Who saved me. Who I-” she paused, her cheeks turning bright red as she thought about the kiss on the cheek, “I mean, that was you, who took on the most exciting night of my life. Swinging across the city.” She stopped her pacing as she fell to a seated position on his bed, arms folded.

“Your aunt let me in,” she simply shrugged her shoulders. “You’re late. And you owe me pizza.”

Peter remained in place, but his eyes followed her as she paced the room. He listened to her words, brows knitting together when she mentioned his smell. The suit was cleaned often, courtesy of Tony Stark himself, so what did she mean? He lifted an arm to sniff himself and found that he didn’t smell great, but not terrible.

His attention was brought off of that topic when she subtly complimented his body. That was new. He totally forgot everything going on for a moment and his expression softened as he responded.

“Aw, thanks.”

He shook that off and clenched his jaw because this was a serious matter. He still had a chance at convincing her that he was not Spider-Man.

“A lot of people can do a backflip! That doesn’t really prove I’m Spider-Man. I’m not even sure if he’s good at those. He might be scared.”

His voice was shaky from the nervousness that was overtaking him, and he could have sworn that he felt his lip quiver, too.

His eyes slammed shut as his nose scrunched up, taking in the words of her not buying into any of it. She was now fully convinced that he was Spider-Man, and she was right, but he couldn’t stand the thought of anyone from school knowing besides Ned. What if she told someone, or even worse: what if he had just unintentionally put her in danger?

His expression softened and he slowly opened his eyes when she mentioned the night prior. His eyes fell to his chest, which he simply watched move up and down with each breath. He swallowed and sucked in a deep breath, body deflating as he released. He was beat.

His eyes lifted to meet hers when she said that his aunt let her in. That explained why she tried to call him, but he made a huge mistake and didn’t take it. It was all his fault that she knew. His tongue poked out to wet his bottom lip as he moved toward the bed, taking a seat next to her on the edge. He stared at the floor, releasing a breathy chuckle at her mentioning the pizza.

“Sorry. I was going to pick it up on the way to your house, but you’re here.”

He was very good at stating the obvious.

“Sorry about being late, too. I had some stuff to do.”

He still wouldn’t tell her exactly what, because she didn’t need to know some of the things that his role entailed. She probably saw what everyone else did and saw only the good parts on the news, but what no one else saw was how he would come home most nights too tired to stand and sore from all of the fighting. He had to shake it off for school the next day, but sometimes he would fall asleep during lectures. It wasn’t as glamorous as everyone made it seem, but it was who he was, and he loved it most days.

Keeping his eyes on the ground, he shifted the conversation toward her.

Betty had a million emotions running through her at that moment. Shock, elation, a bit of anger at not figuring it out sooner, embarrassment over her swooning of him last night, more embarrassment when she remembered it was Peter’s face that had flashed before when she thought was going to die while free falling, and finally....

Hunger. Her stomach let her and everyone else in the apartment know just how hungry she was when it growled so loud she was sure that people a block over heard it.

“Let’s hope they deliver,” she muttered under her breath. “Right. I’m sure saving the world come before bringing Betty pizza,” she smirked, nudging him with her elbow when he sat besides her.

How was she going to explain last night? She couldn’t very well tell him about her story. Or the rush she felt trying to be all badass. “I- well,” she started before falling backwards on the bed, staring at the ceiling. 

Betty should have grabbed a protein bar or apple or something to appease her hangriness but Peter had promised her pizza, and she was bound and determined to have said pizza at some point during that evening. Even if it meant starving for a bit.

Hearing a noise as she laid on the bed waiting, her eyes flashed opened, and she sat up listening, believing it was a bird or a rat climbing up the side of the building. Betty could never have been prepared for what came next.

Spider-Man, crawling through Peter Parker’s window. What. The Fu-

She cut her thoughts off as he spoke to Mrs. Parker, unaware of her presence in the room. An audible gasp escaped her lips as Spider-Man turned around, revealing the face of her chemistry partner, her friend, her potential date for the winter dance before her. The phone in her hand fell to the floor, the same as her jaw.

“Pet-Spider-er?” She finally choked out, eyes wide as she just stared at her classmate, clad in the tightly fitted outfit. “How- what -wait! That was you last night?” She brought her hands to lips, giving herself away as if he didn’t already know it was her in the cape. “You’re Spider-Man?”

Peter could see her lips moving, but he could barely make out anything she said. He was too busy panicking on the inside to show it on the outside. There were some pretty scary moments since putting on the suit, but this one took the torch. He didn’t know what to do or what to say, but when he drifted back down to reality, he knew that he had to try something.

His breathing gradually got heavier as he stared at her. He quickly shook his head, preparing himself to come to his own defense.

“No! I’m not! I don’t know anything about last night! W-What do you mean?!”

He wasn’t comfortable with sharing just how many octaves his voice raised in that moment.

“I didn’t! I wasn’t, I was just coming home from a costume party where I dress up as Spider-Man for kids and-”

Oh. He was standing there in his boxers. Right.

He quickly looked down and bent over to pull the suit back up to his chest. Once his arms were inside the sleeves, he pressed the emblem, leaving nothing except his head showing.

“I-It looks so real, right? But it’s not! I don’t even know Tony Stark that well. I mean, I have the internship, but we’re not even that close!”

Okay, that pained him to say, but he was only saying it to make her believe something else.

He paused, shaking his head so fast that it was giving him whiplash. He placed his hands over his face and groaned into them before slowly dragging them down. She saw him on the ceiling, and she just watched the suit form to his body perfectly. There was no way that he was going to lead someone as smart as Betty Brant astray, so his body slouched as he sighed in defeat.

Her hand instinctively came up and smacked her forehead as she started pacing his room. “It all makes sense now,” she said to no one, walking towards the window before turning. “Everything makes sense. You. The voice. The smell. How you,” her eyes ran up and down him as he stood there in his boxers, her brow raising as they ran over him once again, “look like that. I mean, you did that back flip while I was running track a couple months ago. You didn’t think anyone was watching but I was.” Betty had wondered at the time when Peter had become so aerodynamic. It was all falling into place as she walked back towards the window, turning back to him once again. 

“Peter Parker you are the world’s worst liar. You. Are. Spider-Man. That was you last night. Who saved me. Who I-” she paused, her cheeks turning bright red as she thought about the kiss on the cheek, “I mean, that was you, who took on the most exciting night of my life. Swinging across the city.” She stopped her pacing as she fell to a seated position on his bed, arms folded.

This was probably more excitement than Betty needed in a twenty four hour time frame but the adrenaline rush she received from all of this, well, she could understand why someone would want to be a superhero. Not that she was. She was more like a masked vigilante. Well, not even that. She was more like a masked vigilante in training. Without someone to train her.

Because if she had that mentor, they probably would have told her that a bright red cape, quiver and crossbow in daylight was probably not the best idea the red head had ever had. A police officer spotted her pretty quickly as she knelt behind the dumpster, waiting for either Spider-Man to arrive or for the bad guys to make their next move. As the officer came closer, she panicked, shooting an arrow at him, but far enough to the right as to not hit him but distract him as she made her exit from the scene, running as fast as she could home.

Maybe she wasn’t quite cut out for this work after all.

Disappointed in herself, and a bit scared that the cop had followed her home, she hid in her room, lights off, until she was sure that she wasn’t going to be hauled of to jail for wielding a weapon on the streets of Queens. When the coast was officially clear, she opened her window, and started preparing for the night ahead.

She headed down to the kitchen with her laptop, phone and books, grabbing plates and everything else that was needed as she started looking over the project, waiting for Peter.

5:55. She had a few minutes as she took some more notes for her story.

6:15. She looked up from her laptop at the clock, frowning. Well, there could have been a line at the pizza parlor, but he should have called ahead to order. Betty grabbed her phone, playing around on social media for a bit.

6:45. Well, now she was mad. Didn’t she say she didn’t like tardiness?

Hangry, and more hangry that Peter wasn’t answering his phone, she grabbed her phone, chem book, keys and jacket and headed the few blocks over to his brownstone, pounding on the door, only to be met by Mrs. Parker. She apologized and explained the situation as they chatted for a few minutes before Mrs. Parker told Betty to wait in his room, surely Peter would be home soon. Something obviously held him up.

Betty did as told, falling back on to his bed, book to her side, eyes closed as she waited.

And waited.

7:15. Hangry.

Peter was never the best at intimidating poses, so he stuck to folding his arms across his chest and flexing his biceps as much as they would allow. That rarely phased the bad guys, though, so he was going to have to work on that.

Time really does fly when you’re having fun, and Peter found that out when it was half an hour until six o’clock. He gasped and hurried away, but before he could, everything went dark. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t- wait, was he breathing? Okay, yeah, but he was definitely passed out.

His own groan brought him back to life as the stars overhead began spinning.

“That’s really pretty…”

He reached up to touch them, only to find out that he was laying in the middle of the street when a car with bright lights started honking its horn. Thankful for his speedy reflexes, he gasped and rolled out of the way, leaving less than half of a second before he would have been flattened.

He crawled over to the sidewalk to catch his breath, when suddenly, it dawned on him.

“Oh crap.”

It was dark out, and he could’ve been passed out for who knows how long! 

“Hey, Suit L- Karen! Hey! What time is it?”

His eyes widened when she told him that it was fifteen after seven. He quickly got up and made his way to the nice old lady’s house, where he picked up his backpack. He thanked her and told her that he would stop by the following day to take her to the grocery store before he was off again. Since he had to stop by his apartment to grab a few things before going to Betty’s house, he didn’t even bother changing out of his suit. May already knew, and-

Oh no! The pizza! He forgot about the pizza, but it was all the way back in the other direction, so he could just pick it up when he went to Betty’s. That was better anyway, because it wouldn’t get cold.

He was swinging with one arm because he was in such a hurry that he was just holding his backpack in his hand, which was more difficult than it seemed. Karen announced that he had an incoming call from May, but he told her to ignore it because he was going to be home soon. He would soon find out that he should never ignore his aunt.

He had to take a minute to catch his breath when he made it to his apartment building. Even though he had super strength and all that, his lungs were still pretty small it seemed. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and slowly crawled up the side of the building, paying close attention to any strange noises that could be people.

Once he reached his window, his sticky fingers attached to the glass and slid it open. He carefully crawled inside, sucking in a sharp breath when he went to close his window and it caught his finger. He dropped his backpack and walked toward his door, where he opened it to yell to his aunt.

“May, I’m home! Sorry I missed your call.”

He gripped the top of the mask and took it off in one swift motion, his tiny curls falling freely. He was still yelling down to his aunt as he turned around and pressed the emblem on his chest, releasing the tight suit.

“Today was really weird. I almost got-”

Frozen. Eyes impossibly wide. Heart not beating.

Hearing a noise as she laid on the bed waiting, her eyes flashed opened, and she sat up listening, believing it was a bird or a rat climbing up the side of the building. Betty could never have been prepared for what came next.

Spider-Man, crawling through Peter Parker’s window. What. The Fu-

She cut her thoughts off as he spoke to Mrs. Parker, unaware of her presence in the room. An audible gasp escaped her lips as Spider-Man turned around, revealing the face of her chemistry partner, her friend, her potential date for the winter dance before her. The phone in her hand fell to the floor, the same as her jaw. 

Betty grinned as Peter accepted her pizza proposal. Unlike him, she did judge people by their pizza choices. All veggie? Pretentious. All meat? Obviously waiting for a heat attack. Pineapple? Those people didn’t need to exist in her world as far as she was concerned. “Aren’t you just the perfect guy, bringing me what I want?” She grinned wider at him.

Betty headed for the library for her study hall period, earbuds in as she scanned the police scanners for the latest haps in her burrow. She hadn’t even grabbed a table yet when she was alerted to some major going downs in the outskirts of Queens. Biting her lower lip she debated, school or being the arrowed red hood from last night. All she’d need to do is run home and grab her quiver and bow; her cape with her. The rest of the day was boring; history and English after lunch. She could easy play off some girly reason to go home. She’d done it before. There really was no debate.

Bag on her shoulder, she headed out the back doors that no one used, not even noticing the broken the camera, running the few blocks to her home, changing out her school bag for her quiver. It would be a little harder to get around in the day with a crossbow so she was going to have slink around the alleys as best she could, hiding it under her hood as she came up on the scene in question.

Now, just where was that masked avenger she’d hoped to see….

“Hey buddy! Put it down.”

The dreaded voice crack got in the way of Peter sounding intimidating, so he just mumbled ‘whatever’ and did what he did best: webbed the bad guy up. Peter snatched the purse from him and handed it back to the lady that is belonged to, who was pretty shaken up. He placed his hands on her shoulders as he made sure she was okay, speaking to her softly to not freak her out. Once she gave a verbal response confirming that she was fine, she went on with her day and Peter was left alone with the bad guy until the cops showed up. He filled them in on everything that happened, and soon enough, there was another bad guy off the streets.

Peter got high enough so that he could take off his mask and catch his breath. Swinging his legs from a powerline was probably not the brightest idea he ever had, but he was sure that Tony had thought about things like that and made the suit accordingly.

As he looked down over the city, he caught a glimpse of something red. Wait, what? He shook his head quickly, making sure that he was seeing what he thought he was, but before he could really tell, his spider-sense started going off the charts. He had to push the thought of his classmate skipping school at the same time he was to the back of his mind quickly, because someone was in danger.

Because if she had that mentor, they probably would have told her that a bright red cape, quiver and crossbow in daylight was probably not the best idea the red head had ever had. A police officer spotted her pretty quickly as she knelt behind the dumpster, waiting for either Spider-Man to arrive or for the bad guys to make their next move. As the officer came closer, she panicked, shooting an arrow at him, but far enough to the right as to not hit him but distract him as she made her exit from the scene, running as fast as she could home.

Maybe she wasn’t quite cut out for this work after all.

Disappointed in herself, and a bit scared that the cop had followed her home, she hid in her room, lights off, until she was sure that she wasn’t going to be hauled of to jail for wielding a weapon on the streets of Queens. When the coast was officially clear, she opened her window, and started preparing for the night ahead.

She headed down to the kitchen with her laptop, phone and books, grabbing plates and everything else that was needed as she started looking over the project, waiting for Peter. 

5:55. She had a few minutes as she took some more notes for her story.

6:15. She looked up from her laptop at the clock, frowning. Well, there could have been a line at the pizza parlor, but he should have called ahead to order. Betty grabbed her phone, playing around on social media for a bit.

6:45. Well, now she was mad. Didn’t she say she didn’t like tardiness? 

Hangry, and more hangry that Peter wasn’t answering his phone, she grabbed her phone, chem book, keys and jacket and headed the few blocks over to his brownstone, pounding on the door, only to be met by Mrs. Parker. She apologized and explained the situation as they chatted for a few minutes before Mrs. Parker told Betty to wait in his room, surely Peter would be home soon. Something obviously held him up.

Betty did as told, falling back on to his bed, book to her side, eyes closed as she waited.

And waited.

“Pineapple,” Betty gave Peter the most stern of stern looks one could give someone, “does not belong on pizza,” she smirked at him. “But I applaud you on the fact that you don’t judge people for their pizza choices. Personally, I like pepperoni and green peppers. But I’ll eat whatever you bring over. I’m not picky. Minus the pineapple.” she quietly laughed as she wrote a few notes of whatever Mr. Cobbwell was talking about.

Her head down focusing on her notes, her nose caught a whiff of a familiar scent but she couldn’t quite place it. It reminder her of, no. No, that was silly. She knew she had Spider-Man on the brain after last night and this was her mind playing tricks on her. No one in this room could possibly be him. But she swore someone had the same scent; the same soap? She shook her head to wake her from whatever delusions she had when the bell rang.

Her brow quirked when Peter jumped, and she wondered what world Peter had traveled to while they were supposed to be taking notes. She was going to ask but he was too quick out the gate to head to his next class.

“I hate tardiness,” she grinned with a wink as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “I’ll see you then,” her grin grew, feeling…well…what was this feeling?

Peter would never say it out loud, but the type of pizza toppings a person likes says a lot about them. He was relieved to know that she didn’t like pineapples on pizza either, resulting in a soft smile.

“That’s great. Same page, then. I’ll bring you pepperoni and green peppers.”

He slung his backpack over one shoulder before he nodded. He hated being tardy as well, but he didn’t have much of a choice most days. He probably looked way too far into her wink, but it caused his smile to grow in awe. He quickly caught himself, though, and cleared his throat.

“Yeah, I-I’ll see you then.”

He watched as she walked away before releasing the breath that was beginning to make him feel lightheaded. He gripped the strap of his backpack and bounced up and down nervously in place. Little did she know, he was off to skip school once again to take care of some things in the city, which involved the red and blue suit that she seemed to love.

He was always sneaky about leaving, which meant he snuck out the back door. There were cameras, sure, but when a pencil was thrown with so much force that the lens broke, they couldn’t really prove that he left the building.

Once he was outside, he didn’t waste any time getting off school property. He ran toward his nearest hiding spot, which was a dark alley with two dumpsters. He grabbed his suit out of his backpack as he looked around, making sure that no one was watching him. He quickly shimmied out of his clothes and slipped on the tight latex. His favorite part was always pressing the spider emblem in the middle of his chest, which sealed the suit on so that it fit just right. 

He had learned his lesson about leaving his backpack places, so he found an even more secret hiding spot, which was at the old lady’s house who lived across the street. He had helped her cross the street plenty of times, so she kept his backpack safe for him. She couldn’t see very well, so he didn’t have to worry about her getting into his stuff and seeing his real name. It was a win for everyone, really.

Betty headed for the library for her study hall period, earbuds in as she scanned the police scanners for the latest haps in her burrow. She hadn’t even grabbed a table yet when she was alerted to some major going downs in the outskirts of Queens. Biting her lower lip she debated, school or being the arrowed red hood from last night. All she’d need to do is run home and grab her quiver and bow; her cape with her. The rest of the day was boring; history and English after lunch. She could easy play off some girly reason to go home. She’d done it before. There really was no debate.

Bag on her shoulder, she headed out the back doors that no one used, not even noticing the broken the camera, running the few blocks to her home, changing out her school bag for her quiver. It would be a little harder to get around in the day with a crossbow so she was going to have slink around the alleys as best she could, hiding it under her hood as she came up on the scene in question.

Mr. Cobbwell started talking again, and to Betty, he sounded like that teacher in the Snoopy cartoons. Betty was intelligent but something about chemistry and her didn’t click. It was her least favorite class this year, and she was barely pulling a B. She needed to go well on this project, which apparently, was going to depend mostly upon Peter Parker.

With a sigh, she leaned her elbow on the table, head resting in her palm as she turned towards Peter. He looked a little too excited about whatever Mr. Cobbwell was talking about, which was a good thing. He understood it.

Her brow raised lightly when he mentioned working on their project tonight. She did have a social life. Well, kind of. Not as much of one as she typically played off but…she was kind of hoping to have another run in with Spider-Man tonight. Biting her lip, she weighed her choices. Good grades, hot Avenger. Well, she didn’t technically know if he was hot. She was just guessing. But she was pretty sure he was. Orrrrrr good grades. She needed this grade to make her grade point average didn’t fall.

“I suppose tonight works. You know, early. I need my beauty sleep,” she smirked, hopefully giving herself time for a quick adventure if they got done early enough. “My place? Say six? Bring pizza.”

Her hesitation left him uneasy, causing the all too familiar lump to form in his throat. He squirmed in his seat as he anxiously awaited her response, and he was already thinking up of an unnecessary apology that he always seemed to give. Before he could part his lips to speak, though, she approved the suggestion. He nodded, understanding everything what she requested, even the pizza.

“Your place. Six. Pizza. Got it.”

He paused, a question popping up in his mind.

“What kind of pizza? We could get plain cheese, pepperoni, or even the one with the pineapples that definitely don’t belong there. I won’t judge, I promise.”

He gave her a soft, assuring grin. As wrong as it might have seemed, he couldn’t stop the flashbacks from coming every time he looked at her. He felt her body against his, with her arms wrapped around him and her face nuzzled into the crook of his neck. He could even hear her scream, and because she was totally okay with it after, it was pretty funny. There were so many questions that were going through his mind, but the main one was why she was even there in the first place.

He jumped, being startled and brought out of his thoughts by the bell ringing, signaling that class was over. He scrambled to gather his belongings. He stood next to the seat and shoved his stuff into his backpack.

“Six. I won’t be late.”

Her head down focusing on her notes, her nose caught a whiff of a familiar scent but she couldn’t quite place it. It reminder her of, no. No, that was silly. She knew she had Spider-Man on the brain after last night and this was her mind playing tricks on her. No one in this room could possibly be him. But she swore someone had the same scent; the same soap? She shook her head to wake her from whatever delusions she had when the bell rang.

Her brow quirked when Peter jumped, and she wondered what world Peter had traveled to while they were supposed to be taking notes. She was going to ask but he was too quick out the gate to head to his next class.

[ @stubbornscribe ]

The night had quieted down a bit, which was good because at the rate it was going, Peter could get a good night’s sleep for school the next day. He wasn’t in a hurry to get Betty home because he wanted her to enjoy herself for as long as possible, but he could only thwip so slowly. As a result, it felt like only a few seconds instead of minutes until they were standing on the grass in front of her house.

He slowly loosened his grip on her and allowed his arm to fall to his side as he listened to her speak. It was a good thing that his mask was covering his cheeks, as well as pretty much every other part of his face, because he could feel the temperature of his skin rise with each second that passed. He didn’t have a response to her words, other than him dipping his head in shyness.

Suddenly, no sooner than it had fell, his head lifted as he felt her fingertips crawling up his neck and sending shivers down his spine. All of the air left his body when her fingers curled around the bottom of his mask. The only sounds that could be heard were her breathing and his pounding heart inside of his chest.

This was it. He was going to be exposed for who he really was, and if he didn’t act in a split-second, there was no going back. He couldn’t just erase her memory and make her forget that her favorite, or one of, superhero was someone that she went to school with, and someone who she might find disappointing. A million thoughts raced through his mind, but he couldn’t make any muscles move, so he silently accepted the fact that his mask was about to be pulled over his head.

Only it wasn’t. The skin of his cheek felt cold as the air hit it, but that only lasted until he felt something much warmer against his skin: her lips.

Such a thing had never happened to him before, so he wasn’t sure exactly what to do or how to handle it. Was he supposed to give her one back? No, that would be wrong. Should he just say thank you? No, because that would be an awkward thing to-

“Thank you.”

His hand lifted to brush against his cheek where her touch ghosted him. He slowly brought his hand back down to rest at his side before saying his final words for the night.

“Y-Yeah. Good night.”

He watched as she climbed the ladder toward her bedroom, making sure that she made it okay. He waved one last time, unable to tell if she could see him or not, before he turned to make his way back to his apartment himself. He had to admit, he was still a bit in shock after what had just happened. He not only got kissed on the cheek out of kindness, but it was from someone he knew. How was he going to look at her in school? What about chemistry, where they were lab partners? Maybe it wouldn’t be as awkward as he thought it would be, or at least he hoped, because he didn’t want her somehow finding out who really took her home that night.

Betty wrinkled her nose at him, head tilted as she just continued to stare. Sometimes she wondered if she and Peter were having the same conversation. Or what Peter was really thinking.

“What other kind of suit is there? Swimsuit? Yeah, you know, the suit you wore to the Spring Fling last year. The black one,” she nodded in agreement when he mentioned it. “You looked-” she paused for a second as she finally set her pen down, “sharp.” And honestly, he had. She was almost jealous that he hadn’t asked her to that dance that she was stuck there with Jake McAdams.

Betty glanced up at the clock, class starting any moment. She was about to turn to face the front when Peter started talking about the dance. Was he asking her to the-

Annnnnd there was Mr. Cobbwell, closing the door and going on about some project with a partner. Everyone seemed to be pairing up with the partner next to them, which meant she would be paired with Peter. Please don’t let him blow up the classroom.

“Fun doesn’t begin to describe it,” she signed as she pulled her book to her, opening it. Chemistry wasn’t her favorite class, and it was the random one she didn’t excel at. “I hope you understood what he was talking about because,” she waved her hand right over head.

Betty saying that the project sounded exciting didn’t sound so convin- Wait, did she just refer to him as sharp? That was a term that only his aunt had used on him before, so he really took it as a compliment. He chuckled nervously, instantly dipping his head a little to look away.

“Thanks.”

He still had that same suit hanging in his closet, but with being a superhero and all of the physical activity that required, it wouldn’t fit him anymore. If he was going to go to the dance, he needed to know quick so that he could get a new one, but considering that the two of them were going to be partners on the project, he would have plenty of time to go through with asking her very soon.

His head lifted while his eyes found her. He wasn’t sure if it was right to do, but he couldn’t help but to admire the way her hair fell at its own preference as she leaned over to get her book. On top of that, he noticed how she wore an uninterested expression while the teacher spoke. It was no secret to him that she wasn’t a fan of chemistry, but good thing he was.

“I can explain it more to you tonight. We could even get a head start on it if you want.”

Oh, that was bold. He cleared his throat, immediately questioning his statement.

With a sigh, she leaned her elbow on the table, head resting in her palm as she turned towards Peter. He looked a little too excited about whatever Mr. Cobbwell was talking about, which was a good thing. He understood it. 

Her brow raised lightly when he mentioned working on their project tonight. She did have a social life. Well, kind of. Not as much of one as she typically played off but...she was kind of hoping to have another run in with Spider-Man tonight. Biting her lip, she weighed her choices. Good grades, hot Avenger. Well, she didn’t technically know if he was hot. She was just guessing. But she was pretty sure he was. Orrrrrr good grades. She needed this grade to make her grade point average didn’t fall.