#i...love this

“Uh, if you’re asking to be lab partners, I’d love to be! I usually partner with my friend from trig class, but she’s not here today. I was actually gonna ask you…” He wouldn’t bet on it, but he thought he saw you blush a tiny bit.

“Yeah, actually! That’s exactly what I was gonna ask,” he said, the words falling out of his mouth at a rate alarming to even him.

You laughed, blushing a bit as you said, “You’re cute, Parker.”

He turned his face away from you so you wouldn’t see his face turn bright red. On most occasions, he really hated having the safety goggles, but the green tint helped to hide the fact that his skin never quite went back to its regular shade. You were so sweet, and working with you was incredibly easy; the two of you were done with the lab with plenty of time to spare and begin the report. Peter could feel himself falling head over heels for you as the hour went by all too quickly. When the bell rang, Peter slung his bag over his shoulder, but you stopped him from leaving.

“Hey, Peter?”

“Yeah? What’s up, (Y/N)?”

“Uh, I was just gonna ask… when do you wanna work on the report? I know you’re busy with the Stark internship and stuff, so I can totally do it myself.”

“No!” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not gonna blow off schoolwork, especially not a lab report. I’m usually free for a bit after school because I can catch the four o’clock train home.”

You smiled at him, dazing him. “Okay, that works! After school today in the library?”

Peter nodded. “Sounds great!” He turned and walked out to meet Ned, his giddiness unmistakable.

-

School creeped by. During the last hour of the day, it honestly seemed worse than waiting to go put on the spidey suit. He was tapping his foot as silently as he could as the anticipation nearly ate him alive. As soon as the bell rang, he leapt out of his seat and hurried to his locker to grab his chemistry notebook. Ned met him there, and they walked to the library together. With a wink, Ned bid him goodbye, and Peter watched him go before walking in.

He immediately saw your friends, but didn’t see her with them. With the utmost caution, he walked up to them. These people were (Y/N)’s closest pals; if he needed anyone’s approval, it would be theirs. Without meaning to, he caught a bit of their conversation as we walked up.

“I mean, I don’t really think he’s all that great, know what I mean?” one commented with a scoff.

“I know. I’m pretty sure she only said yes to him because he’s half nice. It’s not like she wouldn’t have her fair pick. She’s so nice, anybody would go out with her.”

“Sure, but it’s probably weird for her that we all go out on group dates and she’s, like, the ninth wheel or whatever.”

“Uhm, excuse me,” Peter said, cringing at his own voice.

They turned to him, one responding, “’Sup, Parker?”

“Uh, well, (Y/N) and I… we’re working on a chemistry report together?”

Before he could continue, another said, “Yeah, she’s with Brady right now.”

Brady… Brady Taylor? Peter gave them a tight lipped smile and a nod and he spun on his heel and walked away. If Brady Taylor, genius and basketball player, was interested in her, he had absolutely no chance. He began spreading out his things with a slightly moody air. He noticed slightly too late that he was still within earshot of your friends.

“I don’t think she even likes him?”

“She doesn’t. She’s never been into people that do sports.”

“Yeah, last year, wasn’t she really into that one guy with all the cool gadgets? He’s a senior now?”

The first laughed. “Yeah, she’s into the dweeby dudes.”

Dweeby? Ouch. This guy kind of sounded like… well, Peter.

“I wouldn’t say dweeby,” the first came to the guy’s defense. “He does some really neat stuff. She would always say she liked to listen to him talk about all that… God, if only he’d’ve known how smitten she was with him…”

“Peter, hey!” your voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “Sorry I’m late, I was…”

“With Brady? Your friends told me,” he said with a half-smile and a nod over to where your friends were still sitting and gossiping.

A blush creeped up on your face. “I-it’s not what you’re thinking. He gives me a ride home sometimes when I don’t wanna take the train. I only told my friends we went out so they would stop badgering me. Would I like a boyfriend? Sure, whatever. But I’d prefer one that’s a little less self-absorbed, y’know?”

They shared a quiet laugh before getting to work. After a bit, your friends came over to say they were headed out, and you said goodbye to them, telling them you weren’t quite finished yet. It was pretty close to when Peter would need to leave to make the train, but you told him you wanted to get as much of the report done that night as possible. Though he tried not to show it, he was just a little over the moon that you chose working with him over riding home with your friends.

-

You had a few things to do both Tuesday and Wednesday, so the only open evening to finish up the report was Thursday night, the night before it was due. That night, however, May was going to be baking date loaves and wanted Peter home to aid her. When he’d asked you if you could study at the apartment, he was sure he’d never stuttered so much in your life. You’d ecstatically agreed, curious about his aunt’s baking… and you’d developed quite the crush on Peter Parker.

The two of you were seated at the little booth by the kitchen, chemistry notes spread all over the table. Finally, you were on the last and hardest part, discussion of theory, or finding quotes in the notes or the text that gave information about the experiment. May was in the kitchen, busily making baked goods for some of her work friends. You could tell where Peter got his sweet nature from, and it wasn’t from the date loaves.

Though you finished the report in the early evening, May offered to have you stay for dinner. Peter’s heart leapt into his throat when you accepted, but he did his best to keep his cool. After all, this was just, like, a family dinner with a friend or whatever. This was totally nothing more than that to Peter. He was totally not a nervous wreck all of dinner, nope. Try as he might, he couldn’t quench his dry mouth and drank nearly a whole bottle of water at dinner. Neither you nor May noticed anything was off, but Peter felt as if his heart was beating loud enough for the downstairs neighbors to hear.

Though you left soon after dinner, you didn’t leave Peter’s mind all night, and he struggled to fall asleep. You were single, but maybe didn’t wanna be? Honestly, he was shocked that someone hadn’t made a move on you yet. How could someone not have? To him, you were absolutely gorgeous, impossibly kind, incredibly funny… Like, what more could people want?

-

“Peter, just heckin’ ask her out before I go insane,” Ned told him the next morning as they walked to their chemistry class.

“Ned, buddy, you know I can’t.”

“You can! Also, don’t sit next to me. Sit by your lab partner when you turn the lab in, okay?”

Peter’s cheeks flushed pink when they walked into the classroom. Though he knew Ned was trying to be helpful, forcing him to be around you was driving him crazy. He thought the onslaught of daydreams couldn’t get any worse, but he was zoning out of class with thoughts of you more than he was with memories of his adventures as Spider-Man. Maybe Ned was right.

During class, you didn’t say anything to one another, but Peter stopped you on your way out, calling your name. “Hey, (Y/N), wait.”

“Yeah?”

“Uhm…” Come on, think of an excuse. “I think some of our notes got mixed up last night? I’m pretty sure I’m missing some stuff from lecture last week…” Nice.

You flashed him one of those smiles that dazzled him. “Oh! Wanna sort stuff out after school? Is the library okay again?”

Peter nodded, smiling back. “Of course.”

-

The day had gone by far too fast. Why did he make such a brash decision? He knew he had all of his notes; they’d checked that before you’d left the night before. He was banking on the fact you thought he was forgetful… or, maybe, you were and didn’t quite remember sorting notes before dinner. While it was plausible, Peter’s anxiety was telling him otherwise.

You sorted notes as soon as you got there. To Peter’s surprise, you actually did have one of his pages of lecture exercises from the last week. You shared a laugh when you found it, and you told him that he had a really good eye. Though he knew he thanked you, he barely heard the noise leave his mouth because of the multitude of thoughts buzzing in his head.

When you stood up to leave, Peter stopped you, again. “(Y/N), wait.”

You gave him a look of confusion. “What is it, Peter?”

“Uhm…” he gave an awkward cough. “I haven’t really rehearsed saying this… Okay, I’ll be honest, I didn’t even think I was gonna do this until chemistry this morning…”

His pause was long. “Okay…?”

“Okay, I’m gonna do my best to make this unique to anything you’ve heard from anyone else.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, trying to calm his nerves. “Well, uh, (Y/N), over the past few months, I just haven’t been able to help myself but notice how effortlessly beautiful and funny and all-around amazing that you are.” His face was bright red, which brought a small smile to your face. He was unbelievably nervous. “And, I, uh, well, Ned convinced me to switch partners so that I could have more time to talk to you… And, well, it’s done nothing to change my overall opinion of you… In fact, I stand by it even more that you’re an incredible girl and I just… I…” He took a deep breath. “Look, I know we’re not super close or whatever, and I don’t know your past and all that, but none of that really matters to me…” He chewed on his lip for a moment. “Well, I uh… I… Would you maybe wannagoonadatewithme?” The last several words blurted so quickly Peter had barely understood himself.

Your smile widened, and a short laugh left your lips. “Peter,” you started.

“Oh no. Oh, no, no, you know what? Never mind; this didn’t happen. I, uh, I gotta go catch the train.”

“Peter,” you said, more firmly this time, grabbing his arm for emphasis. “I would love to.”

-

A week later, Peter overheard your friends again, talking about how much they approved of her new boyfriend. The smile those comments brought didn’t leave his face for the rest of the day.

Fin.