#shrutialliewc

“Uh… thanks,” you responded dumbly, watching him with cautious eyes. Your cheap plastic gun was clutched tightly in your right hand, but you had yet to raise it. You wanted to attribute your hesitation to his strange reaction to missing you. But if you were being honest, he was quite possibly the cutest boy you had ever seen. He was dressed casually in a band t-shirt and jeans, and the orange bandana that he had tied around his head to signify that he was a zombie didn’t look as ridiculous on him as it did on everyone else. It was his eyes that really drew you in though—they seemed to reflect his smile and happiness. If nothing else, he was certainly the most lively looking zombie you’d ever seen.

“I’m Peter, by the way. Peter Parker,” he introduced himself, holding out a hand as though they had just met under normal circumstances. But these weren’tnormal circumstances, so you stared pointedly at his hand until he dropped it back to his side with a chuckle. “Oh right. No touching. Well, I mean, I am about to touch you though.”

You raised an eyebrow in response, still resolutely silent as you waited for him to reconsider his words before you really had to hurt him. It only took the space of a heartbeat.

“Oh, no! Sorry, no, not like that. I mean, not that I’m like disgusted by you or anything, just that I, uh… meant for the game. Like I’m gonna tag you.”

Your lips twitched up involuntarily, despite your best efforts to keep a straight face. His rambling was endearing, if a little strange. “Right. Just one small problem with that.”

“Problem?” Peter repeated, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“Yes, just a small problem though. If you wanna touch me,” you teased, grinning wickedly when he flushed, “you’ll have to catch me first.”

And with that, you were taking off down the sidewalk.

You weren’t sure why you didn’t just raise your gun and shoot him. If you had managed to hit him with the harmless foam dart, he would have been immobilized for 15 minutes per the rules of the game, which would have given you ample time to get away without all of this physical exertion. Yet there you were, laughing exuberantly while being chased down the street by a practical stranger.

But you could hear his yelled threats of “eating your brains” and “turning you into one of us” from behind you, the amusement clear in his voice, and you knew that you had made the right choice.

You stumbled around a corner, accidentally knocking into a stranger and dropping your only weapon as a result. You didn’t slow down long enough to retrieve it, though you did turn to offer a hurried apology. Once you had made another sharp turn, you finally allowed yourself to slow down minutely. You sucked in greedy gulps of air and hoped (and feared) that you had lost Peter with your evasive turns, before looking up and realizing that you had just cornered yourself in an alley.

“Shit,” you cursed, just as Peter rounded the corner after you with a triumphant “Gotcha!” You closed your eyes, desperately formulating ideas to get you out of this as you slowly turned to face your zombie attacker, completely defenseless and with nowhere to run.

“Okay,” you panted, trying desperately to regain your breath even as your smile widened. “How about we make a deal Peter.”

“What?!” The idea of making a deal seemed completely preposterous too him as he laughed and shook his head, not even the slightest bit out of breath. The jerk. “No way! I’ve got you cornered, completely weaponless. There’s no way you can make it out of this un-zombified. I can’t just let you go, no matter what you offer me. I have some pride you know.”

“Mmmhmm,” you hummed, stalling as you tried desperately to think of something that you could offer him that wouldn’t injure your pride. “Well… if you let me go, I’ll go on a date with you.”

That seemed to catch him off guard. His chocolate eyes widened comically, his mouth dropping open as he tried to sputter out a response. You’d be embarrassed if it weren’t so cute. “I—I can’t just agree to let you go in exchange for a date! That’s—that’s like… well I don’t know! But it seems wrong!”

“Why?” you challenged, an excited gleam in your eye. This game was turning out to be much more fun than you had expected. “Nowhere in the rules does it say that you have to tag me—just let me go and I’ll go on a date with you. It’s as easy as that.”

He raised a skeptical brow in response. “That seems kind of manipulative, doesn’t it? That you’ll only go out with me if I do something for you.”

“Well…” you hesitated, realizing that he was actually kind of right. Dammit. “Okay, fine. I would probably go on a date with you even if you tagged me, because you’re cute.” You were kind enough to ignore the way his face flushed at the praise. “But if you want to go on a date with me, shouldn’t you be willing to sacrifice this one kill to let me live? You’ve got me cornered here. Hardly seems fair.”

He crossed his arms, eyes narrowed in contemplation as he mulled it over, blessedly not pointing out that it was actually more than fair. It was how the game was supposed to be played—you were the one trying to play by different rules.

“Okay,” he finally agreed. “If you go on a date with me tonight, I won’t zombify you… now. This agreement will enact a treaty that lasts from now until the moment I walk you home—not a second later. Then, I can tag you whenever I want.”

“If you can catch me again,” you shot back, a smug smile on your face as you stepped forward to shake his hand in agreement. “I accept your terms, Mr. Parker.”

Peter grinned at you in response before slowly lowering his gaze to your still-outstretched hand.

“Oh.” You blinked down at your hand before slowly lowering it to your side. Now you were the one being obtuse. “Right. No touching then.”

“It’ll make for an interesting first date at least,” Peter offered, though he immediately backtracked when he caught the widening of your eyes. “Not that I was gonna touch you! I mean, it’s not like I’m opposed to it or something, just that I, uh—”

“Relax, Peter,” you laughed, rolling your eyes and taking a step back. “I’ll see you at six, yeah? I live in Teter Hall. You can pick me up there.”

With that, to turned around and strode off down the street, looking to retrieve your gun before heading to your next class. Hopefully you could find some ammo along the way.

“Wait!” Peter called after you, though he made no move to follow now that you had a treaty. “I didn’t catch your name!”

“Oh,” you chuckled, the giddiness of your near-“death” experience and your upcoming date getting to you. “It’s (Y/N) (Y/L/N),” you yelled back, turning just long enough to flash him a smile and give him an answer before disappearing around the corner.

---

Four hours later and you were descending the stairs leading up to your building to meet a nervous-looking Peter at the bottom.

“You’re early,” you teased, trying for casual despite the tight ball of nerves that had taken over your stomach. It had been so natural this morning—flirting had never come so easy to you. But now you had time to rethink your actions and you had lost all of your confidence. You would at least do your best to pretend though. “Hope you’re not trying to do some recon for after our treaty.”

“I would never,” Peter swore solemnly, holding a hand over his heart. His expression quickly softened into a smile as he drank in your appearance though. “You look amazing, by the way.”

“Thank you,” you said, doing a little twirl as you took the last step down to meet him at the bottom of the stairs. It was your favorite dress, one that you rarely had the opportunity to wear, so you were glad to break it out for the occasion. “So do you,” you noted, taking in his slightly more formal outfit—he had swapped out his t-shirt for a blue sweater over a checkered red button-up, though he was still wearing jeans and looked as disheveled as he had earlier. He seemed like he was always in a state of disarray.

His cheeks flushed at the praise, and he ran a hand through his previously well-styled hair. “Thanks.”

“So, where are we going?” you asked after a beat of silence, wondering what someone like Peter would consider an ideal first date.

“Well, the animal shelter that’s just a few minutes from campus is open for another hour. I uh… thought that maybe we could go there first, then go get dinner at that Italian place across the street from it?”

He seemed nervous, waiting for you to criticize his plan even as your eyes lit up with excitement. “That sounds amazing!” you decided, taking off in the direction of the shelter without further prompting. “I absolutely love animals. I actually volunteered at the local animal shelter back home when I was in high school. And I’ve always wanted to go to Buchetto’s!”

“Yeah,” Peter said with a relieved laugh, easily keeping pace with you. “I know.”

“Oh do you?” you challenged, glancing at him with narrowed eyes and feigning suspicion. “How do you know that? Did you run a background check on me?”

“Yes,” Peter confessed solemnly, expression suddenly serious. “I wanted to be prepared, and luckily the first thing that popped up was ‘loves dogs and pasta.’ My second date idea was to take you to court to pay for all of your speeding tickets.”

Despite your best efforts, you couldn’t contain your laugh at his dry humor. “Speeding tickets, huh? I think you might have found the wrong girl.”

“Ah,” Peter sighed, ducking his head down to try to hide his answering smile. “Good thing I looked you up on Instagram as a backup then.”

“So… you did stalk me on Instagram then?”

Your grin widened as you watched Peter flounder for a response. You considered taking mercy on him, but instead choose to wait a full minute for him to settle on a simple. “Well… basically, yeah.”

“Good,” you answered, moving your gaze to look straight ahead as the shelter came into view. “I’m glad I wasn’t the only one. Having an internship with Stark Industries is amazing, by the way. Kudos to you.”

Peter’s smile was relieved and more than a little grateful. “Thanks. So, shall we pet some puppies?”

He opened the door to the shelter with a flourish that made you giggle. You played along, dropping into a clumsy curtsy before entering. “Yes sir, I believe we shall.”

---

As far as first dates go this one was… well, definitely the best you had ever had. After spending nearly an hour playing with the adorable dogs and cats—all of which you wished you could sneak into your dorm room—you made the short walk across the street to the Italian bistro that Peter had suggested. It exceeded your expectations as well.

The puppies were cute, the food was delicious, but Peter blew them both out of the water.

He was amazing, simply put. You could tell that he was nervous at first—and though you wouldn’t admit it, you were too—but that quickly faded throughout the night. He was funny and charming (but not in a charming way, more like a this dork is hopeless but it’s so endearing I think I may swoon way). He was also smart, which shined through in the things he said and did without him having to brag or draw attention to it. And he wasn’t putting any pressure on you the entire time—the date was casual and relaxed, without any hint of aggression or creepiness on his part. And considering your past dates… that was a major feat.

Most importantly though, he had yet to touch you.

This fact was also one that was becoming increasingly disappointing.

It was great that he appeared to be taking your treaty very seriously. There had been plenty of opportunities for him to hold your hand or place an arm around your shoulders, effectively tagging you and making you a zombie, but he hadn’t. You hoped that it was solely because of the game, but you also had a small fear that he just wasn’t interested after all.

Thanks to your circumstances, you really had no way of knowing short of asking him outright. Which you were not going to do.

“So…” Peter said once you were out of the restaurant and heading back to campus. He tugged subconsciously at the orange headband he wore around his head as he smiled down at you, only reminding you again that this game was effectively the biggest cockblock at the moment.

(Not that you were thinking about that of course! Just that…yeah. No touching.)

“So…” you mimicked, returning his smile and wondering if it would be worth losing the game just to reach out and grab his hand.

“I had a great time,” he finally decided on, meeting your eyes briefly before his gaze darted away. “I’m really glad that you blackmailed me into doing this.”

“Hey!” you protested, barely catching yourself before you playfully hit him in the shoulder. Something he noticed, if his smirk and glint of mischief in his eyes indicated anything. “It wasn’t blackmail. It was… a negotiation.”

“Okay, fine. We negotiated,” Peter acquiesced with a chuckle. “I uh… hope we can negotiate again in the near future?” His voice sounded so unsure and hopeful that any previous doubts you had faded away.

You grinned as you came to a stop in front of your dorm, wishing that this wasn’t the end of the night but glad that you now had the promise of more. “I would love that.”

“Hey!”

The voice made you both jump, and Peter’s gaze snapped somewhere over your left shoulder, his eyes narrowing. You whirled around, more than a little irritated that some jerk was interrupting your nice night, and was surprised to find that it really was just some random dude about twenty feet away from you.

“Do you know him?” you asked, raising a brow. You certainly didn’t recognize him from anywhere and couldn’t come up with a reason that he would be yelling at you—and it had to be at the two of you as there was no one else around at this time of night on a Friday. Everyone was either inside catching up on school work or out socializing elsewhere. Everyone except you and this jerk wearing a—oh.

“No, but he’s a player,” Peter pointed out in a whisper just as you came to the same conclusion. The guy was of average height and build, with shaggy blonde hair held back with an orange bandana that signified his zombie-status. And he was moving steadily toward you, a slow grin forming on his face.

Peter stepped up behind you, closer now but still not touching. Your eyes snapped to the side, gauging the distance between you and your dorm building and your chances of making it there before the guy tagged you.

“Hey,” Peter called back, making an effort to sound friendly but assertive. Unfortunately, assertiveness wasn’t really his strong suit and it came of as weary more than anything. “What’s up man?”

“You do realize that you’re standing next to one of the last fifteen humans in play, right?” the blonde zombie asked, bewilderment coloring his tone as he came to rest only a few feet from you. “Why haven’t you tagged her yet?!”

“We’re… friends,” Peter answered, stepping up beside you and glancing you out of the corner of his eye as though to confirm. You shrugged—you hardly knew what you were, but you knew you hoped it was more than friends. Now just wasn’t a good time to hash that out.

“Well, she isn’t my friend,” the guy responded with a snicker. He took another step forward the same moment you took one back. “And I’ve only got thirty minutes left to tag someone before I’m out of the game. So, sorry sweetheart, but you’re about to be it.”

A tense moment followed his statement, one that seemed to last forever but in reality, only took long enough for Peter to glance back at you to mouth one word: run.

You didn’t hesitate to listen. You spun on your heel, taking off toward your dorm as fast as you could, but the zombie was faster. He lunged after you, hand outstretched, and barely missed your shoulder when Peter tackled him.

You gasped in shock, eye blowing wide at the unexpected save, and froze.

“Go!” Peter called out, rolling off of the guy. You understood that he couldn’t exactly restrain the guy forever—you were just playing a game and at some point, it would become assault—but you wished that he could have bought you just a few more seconds. “I’m right behind you!”

Your feet responded before your mind did, which was great except that they decided to carry you in the opposite direction from your dorm. You suppose it made sense as Peter and the other zombie were blocking your path, but now you were just running aimlessly away. Impulse decisions really just weren’t a strength of yours.

You heard footsteps pounding behind you, and you picked up the pace. Man this guy was fast—even the quarterback from yesterday hadn’t put you through this kind of workout.

“Hey!” a voice you immediately recognized called out, and you stumbled in surprise. Peter’s hand shot out to help you, but he quickly caught himself and let it drop as he came to a stop beside you. “This way!”

He inclined his head in the direction of a gazebo to your right, and it was only then that you realized you had made it all the way to Campus Square. You nodded, taking his advice and dashing over to the gazebo with Peter hot on your heels. You both dove down to find cover in the bushes behind the gazebo and got as close together as you could without touching.

You sat there in silence, listening intently for the arrival of your zombie attacker before you started giggling.

“Uh… What’s so funny? Shouldn’t we be trying to be quiet right now?” Peter whispered, looking down to meet your eyes. You could barely make out his features in the dim lighting of the nearby lampposts, but you saw affection warring with the confusion and it made you smile.

“Yeah, it’s just… isn’t this so ridiculous?”

“Ridiculous?” Peter repeated, clearly still confused though he smiled when you laughed again. “What do you mean?”

“I mean this game,” you explained quietly. “We just spent this entire evening together, not touching once, so that I could stay in as a human. And then as soon as we get back to my dorm and our treaty is technically over, some other guy shows up to tag me. The timing is impeccable, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed with a soft laugh, shaking his head. “I guess it is pretty ridiculous. But it feels wrong to tag you now, even with the treaty, you know? I just hope that we can make it back to your dorm without that guy finding us. He doesn’t really seem like the type to give up.”

You considered that, taking in the truth of his words. The solution seemed obvious.

“Peter.” You whispered his name like a prayer, tone suddenly sober and serious when previously it had been full of mirth.

He noticed the change immediately, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to interpret your meaning. “(Y/N)? What—”

You didn’t give him the chance to finish, deciding that it was now or never. Your hand shot out and grasped peter by the collar of his dress shirt to pull him down into a heated kiss.

His surprise was obvious—he jerked back in surprise and his lips remained frozen under yours. You were just about to accept that you had misread the situation and made a fool of yourself when he finally responded.

Losing the game was definitelyworth it.

His lips were soft and gentle as he brushed them against yours, and his touch was tentative but firm when he raised a hand to hold the back of your head. But it was sweet and loving in the way first kisses should be, and a warmth spread in your chest and stole your breath.

“Oh, come on!”

You both jumped apart, faces flaming red as you turned to find the zombie from earlier staring down at you in horror.  “I was so close to getting you!”

“Sorry man,” Peter replied with a chuckle and a shrug after he got over the initial shock of being caught making out in the bushes. “I got her first.”

“Yeah, I see that.” The guy rolled his eyes but held a fist out for Peter to bump his against. “Good for you dude.”

He left after that, clearly sulking now that he was out of time to stay in the game, and you sighed in relief. “Boys are stupid.”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed with a laugh before standing and holding a hand out to help you up. “That we are.”

“Well, at least some are more tolerable than others,” you teased, unable to contain your smile. The only consolation was that Peter seemed to be having the same problem.

“Here,” he said, reaching out with steady hands to untie the orange bandana from around your arm. “We have to make it official.”

Your cheeks heated as he worked on retying the bandana securely around your head, marking you as a zombie. You hoped he didn’t notice. “I was really set on lasting longer you know.”

“Sorry,” Peter said with a sheepish grin, though you got the feeling he really wasn’t. “I guess that’s what you get for going on a date with a zombie.”

“Yeah, I guess,” you sighed heavily, casting your gaze to the ground. He tensed as he finished tying the bandana, and you knew he was seconds away from making a real apology when you said, “Worth it though. There’s no other zombie I’d rather have bite me.”

Peter pulled back, cheeks tinted pink and smile daring as he laughed. “Well, I didn’t bite you. But—”

“Slow down there Zombie Boy,” you laughed, grabbing his hand and leading him in the direction of your dorm. “Walk me home first and we’ll see where it goes.”

“Sounds like plan,” Peter agreed, easily falling into step with you. “Well negotiated as always.”

Y/N had been trying to sleep for hours but couldn’t. She had just gone back from her most recent world tour two days ago and she was still severely jetlagged. She gently unwrapped Tom’s hands from around her and sat on the edge of her side of the bed. She looked over at him, who seems to be in deep sleep with his mouth slightly parted as he snores softly, and smiled. It’s so good to be home, she thought.

She got off the bed, gently, not wanting to wake Tom up and went into the bathroom. Y/N stood in front of the mirror, glancing over at her reflection. The dark circles under her eyes had become more prominent, clearly due to the exhaustion from touring and the jetlag that comes after it. She turned on the tap and splashed some warm water on to her face, before wiping it off with a towel. Then, Y/N walked down the staircase and went to the fridge, getting herself a drink before making her way towards the living room.

“Might as well do something productive.” She muttered softly. She switched on some of the lights and took a seat in front of the piano. Y/N’s hands moved gently along the keys, a soft tune echoed through the living room, as she hums a melody fitting to it and started to work on a rough draft of a song.

A little over an hour later, Y/N was still in front of the piano and was halfway through on the song. Music has always been Y/N’s go to. She could write, sing and play the piano for hours and never get bored of it. She could get lost in it, drowning out her surroundings.

Tom woke up to an empty space next to him and panicked. He looked over to his bedside table and turned on his phone screen to see that it was a little over three. He swung the covers off him and got off the bed to check up on Y/N. He left the room and walked down the staircase towards the living room to see her in front of the piano.

“Y/N?” Tom called out.

Y/N visibly jumped in her seat. “Tom! You scared me. Did I wake you?”

“No. It’s-uh-It’s three in the morning. What’re you doing?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Y/N shrugged.

“Still jetlagged?”

“Yeah.” Y/N responded as Tom moved towards her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, Y/N leaning into him as he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. An idea popped into Tom’s head and he removed his hands from around her.

“Be right back.” Tom mumbled and made a beeline straight to the kitchen. Y/N nodded and resumed in playing the piano.

He opened the cupboard to take a small pot and filled it with water before placing it on top of the stove. He grabbed a tea bag from the box of herbal tea his mum had given to him a few months prior. He placed the tea bag in a cup and waited for the water to boil. He poured the water onto the cup and watched as the water became a dark brownish-red color. He added a little bit of honey and stirred the liquid before walking back towards Y/N. She had stopped playing the piano a few minutes ago and was now sitting on the couch as the TV played a rerun of Grey’s Anatomy.

“Drink this. Careful, it’s hot.” Tom said as he handed her the cup and Y/N thanked him. She took a small sip of the hot liquid, tasting it.

“It’s really good. What’s this?”

“It’s that tea I told you about, the one my mum used to make for me when I couldn’t sleep. It’s got lemon balm in it and is supposed to help you sleep better.” Tom replied, lying down on the couch, propping one arm against his head to face her. He watched as she nodded and proceeded to drink more from the cup.

Once she was done, Y/N placed the cup on the table and laid down next to him on the couch, him wrapping his arms around her.

“’S so good to have you back. Missed you.” He said, nuzzling his face on her neck.

“I know, you’ve told me that a lot in the last two days.” She let out a small laugh. “I missed you too.”

They laid in the couch in a comfortable silence for a while, treasuring the time they have together, as Tom was going to leave for his press tour in a week.

“Sing for me. Sing me to sleep.” Y/N nudged him and before he could say no, she added, “C’mon, you know I love hearing you sing.”

Tom finally gave in and started singing the words to Let Me Love You by Mario, one of Y/N’s all time favorite songs. She attentively listened to his voice, shutting her eyes, allowing herself to drift off to the sound of his voice. Y/N fell asleep near the end of the song, Tom looked over at her and stopped singing before falling asleep himself.

Y/N awoke a few hours later and looked over at the clock that was on the wall above the TV and found that it was a little over half past nine. She sat up on the couch and started to shake Tom’s sleeping body.

“Tom. You’ve got to get up.”

“No. Later.” He mumbled sleepily.

“You have a meeting, don’t you?” Y/N reminded.

That was, of course, the Slytherin Liza Patek. She was beautiful with raven black hair and forest green eyes. Liza was everything you wanted to be. Maybe your silly crush on Holland had made you think that you had to be like Liza. However, Liza was pretty and extremely kind. There was no doubt most guys and girls fancied to her.

"Just to let you all know, if my name was picked up from the Goblet of Fire, I would definitely win the Triwizard Tournament." you overheard the braggy Gryffindor brag. He sat on the side of the fountain made of rock, with his brothers and mate. They all wore their robes with their respective house colours.

"Uhuh, yeah sure Holland." his best friend Harrison Osterfield replied sarcastically. "You would win - and every girl in the universe would just love to touch you all the time!"

"Oh my god, I'm Tom freaking Holland and I'm the hottest guy in the universe!" his younger brother Harry mimicked.

In response, Tom just laughed. "Hey, I was just joking, shitheads!"

In one split second, his eyes wandered to yours. His deep brown eyes that you wished would be on you all the time. You could feel yourself blush as he shifted position to talk with his mates. Were you fantasising the whole sight exchange?

Thankfully, your Hufflepuff scarf hid your reddened face. Silently, you picked up your books and notes, ready to go. You knew you wouldn't be able to focus anymore. Not because of the windy weather, but your eyes would send quick glances to Tom every thirty seconds if you stayed.

Honestly, you felt betrayed by your heart. Out of every single person at Hogwarts, and even in the world, you had to fall for the cockiest guy ever. And he didn't even know your name. How would ever have a chance with him?

You had to walk past the boys to make it back to the Hufflepuff dorm. There was another way, but you were tired and didn't want to spend an extra 15 minutes walk just because you didn't want to walk past your crush. Even though you didn't want to catch any attention, you would not take a detour because of something ridiculous.

"Y'know, the Yule Ball is approaching. Do you idiots have any dates yet?" asked Sam Holland. He picked up Harrison's History of Magic book from the solid ground.

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe three dates?" Harry shrugged while grinning. Many would say the curly-haired boy was a real player in his year.

"Oiiii!" Harrison and Tom laughed as Sam cracked a smile. You could sense Harry blushing from the sudden laughter.

Harry fixed his curly hair as he laughed. "Ah, just admit it. The ladies love me." All the boys laughed.

You walked as casual as possible. You had no desire in disturbing them, and you did positively not want their attention. It would be too much. But your books were very heavy and the ground was slippery.

There was no surprise that you would trip. But you did not imagine to fall right into Tom Holland's lap. Your books were accidentally thrown in the fountain as you lost your balance. Your wand and quill ended up on the ground as your body was thrown onto Tom's lap.

Fate was really playing with you.

"Oh my god, I'm so-so-so sorry! Are you okay? I didn't mean to..uh..fall on you. I'm so sorry!" you excused immediately. You moved from Tom's strong body as you looked after your books. "Shit!" Your books were in the fountain.

"Hey, let me help ya." Sam offered as he helped you to pick up your books from the cold water in the fountain. "Are you okay?"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you guys." you picked up your wand as you mumbled a spell to dry your books. "Tergeo." Hot air sprung out from the tip of your wand as it dried your wet books.

Tom didn't really know what to do. A moment ago, he was joking with his mate and brothers - and the next second there was a girl on his lap. He didn't recognize the girl until he saw her face. It was the one Hufflepuff girl who spent all her time in the courtyard.

He had heard from a lot of people that she was very kind, but also shy. However, Tom had never really cared to get to know her. He knew they shared multiple classes, but he had never noticed her much. "It's okay," Tom answered blank, moving away from the fountain.

As soon as your books were dry, you picked up your books and left. "Sorry!" you excused again. You could feel the boys' eyes on you as you walked into the old castle.

Back in the courtyard, the boys kept their conversation about girls on. "Such a girl-magnet, huh?" Harry snickered.

"Ah, fuck you, Harry." Tom rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Harrison shrugged. "You know what? I'm going to ask Maya to the Yule Ball."

"Oooh, so you're finally going to ask the girl you've had a crush on for three years," Harry stated sarcastically. "Y'know, you've tried to ask her out before, but you always chicken out, Haz. I won't believe it until I see you asking her out with my own eyes."

"What about this. We need to ask out a girl in front of everyone. The bigger proposal, the better." Tom challenged. "And the best and most romantic proposal gets bragging rights and ten minutes worth of shower time for two months."

"Oh, I'm in!" Harry shouted. Tom, Harrison and Harry were in the red and gold Hogwarts house, while Sam was in Hufflepuff. To say at least, Sam had to be the judge.

"Deal." the three boys nodded at each other.

"Get ready to shower in cold water, cause I'm goin' to win!" Harrison smirked.

"Let the game begin," Sam announced.

Tom had planned everything. The roses leading to the pavilion, then the nice notes and of course the fireworks. If everything went as he planned in the pavilion, like Liza accepting his promposal, everything would go perfectly.

The air was cool as the sun was setting in the horizon. Tom felt the nerves almost taking over his body. He had never been that nervous. It even surpassed his stress level from when he studied for his N.E.W.T.s.

The proposal in the pavilion was only a small and private one. Tom had also planned the proposal in front of his friends and brothers to be in the Great Hall in front of everyone. With even more fireworks and roses.

Liza Patek wouldn't be able to resist him. Not a single girl would be able to.

"Hey, I heard you wanted to talk to me." a calm voice spoke. Tom recognized the voice. He turned around to see the one he had been waiting for. Liza.

Her dark brown hair framed her face which Tom had dreamed of multiple times. It had taken him a while to get the courage to ask her out. If there was one thing he was afraid of, it was rejection.

"Yeah, um...um," Tom had lost his sense of words. He couldn't even say a proper sentence. "Y'know Yule ball is coming, and I was wonderin' if you wouldliketogototheballwithme."

Liza's confused look made him even more nervous. "Um, I don't know what to say. I would've loved to go with you, but someone else asked me first." She looked deeply into his eyes. "I hope you understand."

Tom's mind went blank. The only words he got out of his mouth was, "Oh, okay."

"I mean, this whole plan was amazing. And I love all of the roses. I know there's a lucky person out there who deserves this more than I do." Liza excused. She gave Tom a soft kiss on his left cheek before leaving.

Tom had never been rejected. Never ever. It was a new feeling for him. Heartbroken, he went back to his shared dorm room. His face was blank. His biggest fear was rejection. Rejection from friends, family and others. He didn't want to fail at anything. But now he failed at something he was incredibly nervous about.

After all, he forgot about something very critical. His public proposal. And didn't turn out as he expected.

It was a week after the incident. The one where you ended up on your crush's and managed to embarrass yourself. Out of the many embarrassing things you had been through your entire life, that was your worst incident.

Since the event, you hadn't dared to go back to the courtyard. Now you were stuck in the silent library. There was nothing bad with it, but it didn't feel as personal as the courtyard, where you had your own space to do whatever you wanted to do.

The library was cold and smelled horrendous. Some other student had managed to spill a lot of pumpkin juice on the stone cold floor and the old carpets. Three days old pumpkin juice stains did not smell good.

Sighing, you decided to take a break from studying. You were studying all the time. Closing your History of Magic book, you checked the dusty iron clock on the left wall. The clock was almost seven in the evening - which meant dinner was almost over.

Picking up your books and parchment paper, you ran in a hurry the direction of the exit. The empty halls were filled with the smell of tasty food from the Great Hall.

When you arrived the filled hall, you were surprised to see everyone watching you. The crowd went slowly silent as you stood by the entrance. You froze at the sight. Did you have anything in your face or hair?

Suddenly, you heard loud explosions from behind. You turned around in fear, to see multiple colours erupted from fireworks. It took a while until you figured out the firework made a sentence. "Will you be my date to the Yule Ball? Love, Tom."  

You couldn't believe it. What in heaven was happening?

Red roses fell down from the magic sky of the Great Hall. All you could see was the fireworks and roses. Turning around, you saw the amusement in everyone's eyes. Then, the realization hit you.

At the end of the hall, laughter erupted. "Honestly Tom, I really thought you could do better! She looks so bloody confused."

Tom froze the moment the fireworks went off. "Fuck," he whispered to himself as he turned around, looking after the poor person who would get all the attention. He almost dropped goblet with gillywater when he realized you were in the middle of it all.

Everyone watched, wondering what your answer to the very confusing promposal. Who could say no to Tom Holland? A sane person wouldn't be able to, they thought.

You couldn't handle the attention. So you did the only reasonable thing. You turned towards the exit and ran.

Anyway, just wanna say that it makes me so happy to hear your responses to this!! So please leave a message or something <3

And it will also make me happy if you reblog this so others can read this ;D

Add yourself to my taglist?

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“You’re a mysterious one, you know that?”

You looked at MJ, who was leading you through the hallways of your new school. It was only your second day, so you knew you were lucky you’d already found somebody nice to help you around. And Michelle – no, she’d said you could call her MJ – was really your type of person. She didn’t seem to care what other people thought about her, something you tried to be too, but your previous school had left quite an impression. You didn’t know MJ that well yet, but you already felt that she wouldn’t judge you as your previous classmates had.

Plus, she had really nice friends. You’d only met Ned and Peter once, but somehow you already felt included in their little group. Sure, they were both a little awkward, but how could you judge when you were probably even more so?

A light chuckle escaped your mouth as you looked up at your new friend. “And you aren’t?” It was true, MJ was probably the most mysterious person you’ve ever met. But something about that made you want to become her friend even more.

She took your arm as to not lose you in the busy hallways, pushing your way through the crowds of students that were packed before their lockers. As soon as you passed them, she let go of you. There wasn’t much you knew about her, but you did know she wasn’t a touchy-feely person. More of the opposite actually, which made a warmth spread in your chest – because that meant she was looking out for you.

There was a twinkle in her eyes when she looked at you, as if she was on the edge of discovering something. “No, I mean there’s something about you that you want to keep a secret. I just wonder what it is.”

Her smile told you that she already had a few ideas, and your cheeks grew bright red under her investigative gaze. How did she -?

“We’re here.” She interrupted your thoughts by leading you in a room you hadn’t been before. “Welcome to the Academic Decathlon Team.”

Hesitating, you looked around the room. There wasn’t a team like this in your old school, probably because no one wanted to enter it. Something about it not being cool enough. But you were pleasantly surprised to see that here it was an honour to represent your school.

There were not many people in the classroom yet, only a boy and a girl that were sitting at a table and laughing at something on the boy’s phone. You looked at MJ. “Shouldn’t the teacher be here already?”

“He’s late, as always.” A loud voice behind you exclaimed. You couldn’t even turn before you felt a hand on your back and you felt a presence behind you, looking over your shoulder. “That’s why we always come here fifteen minutes later too.”

The boy looked at you a little too close with his dark eyes, a strand of his equally black hair hanging over his forehead. Behind him Michelle rolled her eyes excessive, and you couldn’t blame her in the slightest. The guy had an aura around him that you couldn’t quite place, but you didn’t like it.

He gave you a once-over and extended his hand with a smirk. “You must be new here. I’m Flash, I’m basically the teamleader. Nice to meet you.”

You politely took his hand, but raised your eyebrows to MJ - who rolled her eyes again and shook her head to you. “He’s not. I am.”

Flash only shrugged at her words. “I should be.”

Realizing you were blocking the doorway for other students that wanted to pass, you moved away – well, actually more because Flash was getting in your personal space and you didn’t know what to think of him. MJ certainly didn’t seem to consider him her best friend.

Footsteps came from the hallway and both Flash and Michelle looked over their shoulder. Another smirk appeared on the boy’s lips, but this time it was a more taunting one, not the flirty one he had given you only a few moments before. “Look who it is! Penis Parker decided to show up today!”

“Just shut up already, Flash.” Peter Parker, the guy you’d met the other day, entered the classroom with a rather irritated expression on his face. You didn’t blame him, ‘cause really? Penis Parker? You had had enough to do with bullies already, and you didn’t like it when other people suffered the same experiences you had to go through on your previous school. Although Peter seemed more frustrated by Flash’s almost childish behaviour than he seemed intimidated by it.

“Ah, Penis Parker here has some comebacks on his sleeves.” This time Flash looked to you, throwing you a wink. Somewhere in the back of your brain you realised he tried to impress you by getting other people down, but that just made your distaste for him grow even more.

You threw him a glare, hoping to shut him up now once and for all. “You heard him, just be quiet.”

At the sound of your voice, Peter abruptly whipped his head around. He probably had already forgotten you would come today, as he was staring at you with wide eyes. A small smile formed on your lips, hoping to let him loosen up around you a little. “Hey, Peter.”

“Y/N.” He whispered your name, and somehow it felt really intimate coming from his lips that way. Which was super weird, because you’d only met the guy the day before.

Peter quickly shook his head, then a smile matching to yours appeared on his face, although a little more shy. “Y/N, hey!”

“Hey, Y/N!”

You hadn’t seen Ned until he suddenly stood behind Peter, immediately catching your attention. He smile widely at you as if you just had made his day a whole lot brighter, but how contagious his laugh was though, it wasn’t what drew your attention.

No, his clothes did. Or rather, their colour. Everything he was wearing was a bright, outstanding orange, from his shoes to the hat he was wearing. And since most people in the room were wearing more safe colours, like black, white and grey – since it was rather difficult choosing clothes when you couldn’t see their colour, and you could never do wrong with those – his remarkable choice of clothes was even more obvious.

Honestly, the person who invented that shade should go to jail for a crime against humanity.

You quickly realised that no one seemed to notice anything outstanding, because not many people your age had already seen their soulmate. That’s why no one turned their head when Ned walked in in those horrible colours.

Just kidding, it wasn’t that bad. It was … flashy.

“Hey Ned.” MJ greeted him back, bringing you back to the world of the living. “You seem happy.”

Ned was beaming with the attention he suddenly got from MJ. “I am! I saw –“

“That wasn’t an invitation to talk, weirdo.” Flash interrupted him cheekily.

MJ threw him a murderous glare, reminding you immediately why you wanted her as a friend – and not as an enemy. “Shut up.”

Even the always chill Flash seemed to be at least a little bit afraid of her.

“Alright kids, let’s begin!” A tall man stood in the doorway, instantly drawing all the attention to him. Then he squinted at Ned. “Wow! What are you wearing?”

He shook his head instead of waiting for an answer and walked right to the table where more students were already waiting. You knew that face, it was that face that said ‘never mind, not my problem, don’t get involved’.An expression you were quite familiar with, for the simple reason you had had to do with teachers all your life and they all could get evenly frustrated and uninterested when it came to their students. Just another day in high school, apparently.

“What? Don’t you guys like my clothes?” Ned didn’t seem disrupted at all by his teacher’s words, his usual wide smile still plastered on his face. “Y/N?”

“What?” Why did he address you? Did he know something? You couldn’t say anything about the colour, because everyone here thought you hadn’t met your soulmate yet. Which was technically the truth, since you’d only seen him from a distance, swinging in the air like it was just another boring day in Queens. “I think they’re … nice.”

“What do you think about the colour?”

MJ interrupted him, but gave you weary look at the same time. “Why do you think she can see colours yet, Ned?”

He shrugged casually, as if it was the most logical answer ever. “Well, since Peter can see colours …”

“You can see colours?”

Michelle didn’t often look this astonished, and even you knew that while being here for this short period of time. Flash apparently didn’t know it either, because he looked just as stunned.

Your interest was immediately awoken.

Peter looked flustered, so nothing different from how you have seen him that one time before. “I – Not so long! Only a –“ You noticed how he quickly looked your way while he tried to explain. “Only a couple of days?”

Flash scoffed, obviously not believing him. “And who’s the lucky person? Or unlucky, if they have to be tied to you for their whole life!”

He looked Peter challenging in the eyes, and this time Peter was not so quick on comebacks. No, Peter seemed to have a hard time with words for the moment.

“Uhm … It’s – complicated?” Again, he looked at you from the corners of his eyes.

Flash huffed demeaningly. “Sure it is. Which colour is Ned’s hat?”

“Orange.”

Ned smiled broadly, and you were almost worried that he was gonna break his face if he kept laughing like that. “He’s right, my mum said so too! Is it a cool orange?”

Peter chuckled at his friend, truly amused by his excitement. “It’s the ugliest colour I’ve ever seen, I’m sorry man.”

At least that’s something you and Peter had in common.

The moment every student was seated at the large round table in the middle of the room, the teacher cleared his throat. “Yes, well, for everyone who’s new here, my name is – and I think it’s only you who is new here, what’s your name?”

You felt your cheeks redden at the ten pairs of eyes that suddenly looked your way, some of them more curious than others. “I’m – uhm, Y/N Y/L/N, sir.”

“Miss Y/L/N, right. So, welcome in the Academic Decathlon Team, I’m sure you will like it here. I’m Mr. Harrington, the head of the team.” He was fumbling a bit with the papers that were laying in front of him and pushed his glasses higher on his nose with one finger. He seemed to be a nice teacher, though he was a little clumsy.

“Uh- Where did I leave those papers? I had them right – ah, here!” Mr. Harrington mumbled under his breath, then his focus shifted and he looked at MJ. “Maybe you could start with practicing some questions?”

MJ shrugged indifferently, but her eyes shone as if this was really important to her. “Sure. Who begins?”

She looked at you before she even finished her question, just like most other students, you realised. Mr. Harrington coughed. “Yes, Y/N. We need to see what you can do.”

For the second time that day you felt your face flush. Michelle just nodded seriously. “We’ll do in teams. Abe and Jason against Y/N and …”

“Peter will do it!” Ned was quick to intervene, maybe too quick. You didn’t notice though, as you send Peter a genuine smile.

Peter blushed heavily at Ned’s not so subtle words, and even more when you smiled so sweetly at him. “Yeah, I’d like too!” He returned your smile.

“What is the modern name of the element Sb, which stands for Stibnum or –“

You didn’t need to hear the end of the question to know the answer, but one of the boys on the other team was faster than you to push the button. You didn’t remember which of them was Abe and who was Jason.

“It’s Stibnite.”

Whatever his name was, he was right. But Michelle just shook her head. “It is, but that was the last word of the question. Which you would’ve known if you had listened ‘till the end.”

At those words you immediately pressed the button. You had something to prove.

“Yes, Y/N?”

“Is it Antimony?” Though you were certain of your answer before, now you doubted it again. Like always.

But MJ nodded lightly, and you could swear she had a small smile on her face. “Yes, great job. I think that makes 7-3 for Peter and Y/N, which makes it ten questions. Let’s switch groups.” Next to you Peter started to get up, but MJ wasn’t finished yet. Now her smile was more obvious as her eyes locked with yours. “And I think I speak for all of us when I say that Y/N is an amazing addition to our team.”

You bowed your head so to hide your flushed cheeks at her words, and followed your partner to the tables in the back of the room. You looked up again when you felt a kind nudge against your arm.

“You’re amazing, Y/N.” Peter looked at you admiringly as he walked next to you, and you almost beamed under his gaze. “I don’t think you even need me as your partner.”

It was an obvious lie, of course, because you knew he could’ve easily been a lot faster than you in answering. At least, that’s what MJ had told you earlier, that Peter was effortlessly the smartest kid in school. His only problem that most of the times he just didn’t go to school.

But you appreciated his gesture. You weren’t the most confident person, and as if he knew that, he tried to give you more trust in yourself in the only way he could right now. It was sweet.

“Thanks, Peter, but I think you know I that I do need you.” You winked at him. It was so easily to get him flustered, and somehow you thought it was cute when he was this red because of something you’d said. “You’re a great partner, you know?”

Ned held his hand up for you to give him a high five when you arrived at where he was waiting for you two. “That was so great! You really smashed them there!” Still as excited as ever.

His flashy orange clothes were still horrible, but you kinda were used to them by now. Peter chuckled next to you. “They’re on our team, Ned. Be nice to them!”

“No, he’s right.” You lightly poked Peter with your elbow as you looked at him with a glint of mischief in your eyes. “We really did smash them.”

All three of you laughed loudly now, a little too hard that Mr. Harrington had to ask you to be quieter so the other students could exercise without being disturbed. Giggles still escaped your mouth after he’d warned you a second time, but you didn’t mind that much. It’d been a while since you really felt included in a group. And now, with Peter and Ned, and even MJ who threw you an irritated look but with a small smile on her lips as if she couldn’t wait to join you, you knew this year would be better than the last one. Not that it could be any worse, that is.

You had new friends, and you couldn’t wait to get to know them better. No drama this year, and certainly not when it came to soulmates.

“So, who is it?” MJ asked you the moment you were alone again. Her expression was indifferent, but her eyes shone with curiosity.

“Who’s what?”

“Your soulmate.”

Your mouth fell open at her words, but you immediately remembered that she was not supposed to know.“I don’t – what are you talking about?”

She sighed. “Listen, you don’t have to tell me. I know you probably have your reasons to keep this a secret and I swear I won’t tell anyone.” She quickly looked you in the eyes, and that was enough for you to see she meant it. “I promise.”

You realised you were gaping at her. And that it probably was pointless to deny at this point. “How did you know?”

A small smile played on her lips.

“I’m just very observant.”

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Soulmates were a tricky thing.

Parents told their children about it as bedtime stories, stories about how they first met their significant other and immediately knew. Now, in a world where people only started to see colours upon seeing their soulmate for the first time, it was kinda obvious.

You had vivid memories of lying in your bed, being gently tucked in by your father and listening to him. Sometimes he told you how he first met your mom, and how the world quite literally looked brighter. But that wasn’t what you were most interested in. You wanted to know what red was, or how the sky looked when it was not grey. Was it just as beautiful as people said? You wanted – no, you needed to know.

You used to talk about it with your friends, and then you discussed what you thought colours looked like. “My mommy says green is the colour of the grass, and that it looks really fresh and that trees have the same colour!”

“My daddy says yellow is the most beautiful colour, because the sun is yellow and bananas are yellow and I like bananas.”

“What colour do you think my jacket is? My mommy says it’s red, but I think it looks more like blue.”

“Oh, can you see colours already?”

“No, but I thinkit’s blue. Blue is gonna be my favourite colour!”

Even when you were little, you could talk about colours for hours. Your friends, however, could get annoyed pretty fast by your rambling, because to most of them the colours where only a nice bonus. Meeting your soulmate was the real thing.

It wasn’t that you were indifferent to the whole soulmate story, the colours were just more important to you. No, you secretly loved the idea of soulmates, the idea that there was somebody out there who was perfect for you in every way and who you could share the rest of your life with. You wouldn’t have to feel alone anymore once you met them.

And as everyone grew older, and many of your classmates started to date – because suddenly they were repulsed by the idea of having the universe decide for them -, you still held on to that thread that would lead you to that perfect person. Because even though you understood their doubts about the whole soulmate idea, you trusted the universe in that decision.

It wouldn’t fail you, would it?

You remembered the day you finally saw colours for the first time, as if the exact moment was etched in your memory. It probably was.

It wasn’t the first time you’d been staring at the sky and imagining what it’d be like to see the different shades of what your parents called blue. You were waiting for something, maybe the bus, when suddenly everyone around you started buzzing more than usual. Something had happened, and a little further a crowd was gathering. It took you a moment before you noticed what the problem was exactly.

A scaffolding had collapsed, and two construction workerswere dangling from the edge of the building, both about to fall to their death. You were almost shocked to see that, except for one mother and a college student, no one really tried to help them. Of course you knew why - this was New York, so there would probably be a superhero somewhere in the neighbourhood who would save them.

Still, you couldn’t just wait and stare. That wasn’t in your nature. But before you could do something, an excited scream erupted from the crowd. People looked up to the sky as one, and you instinctively followed their gazes to see what had caused that reaction.

Next thing you knew, you could see it. Colours.

The first you saw was red, you would learn to know later. It was a flash of red that drew a line in the air, but it wasn’t the thing that caught your attention the most.

No, it was the sky. Because now you could finally see the heavenly blue you had dreamed of all your life, and it was so much more beautiful than you’d imagined.

Your eyes were wide as you stared in shock at the sky, so surprised that you only later realized how weird that must’ve looked for other pedestrians – but this was New York, no one probably even cared. And most of them were more focused on the collapsed building anyway.

It took a few seconds for the truth to settle in. You could see colours, so that meant … Realization hit you.You turned so abruptly you almost fell, but … You saw him. The guy in a blue and red suit. He’d managed to grab one of the workmenand bring him to safety, no idea how he’d done it. But then the other one’s hand slipped … and the masked superhero caught him mid-air, somehow swinging from a thin thread in his one hand, while his other held tight onto the surprised, but relieved construction worker.

When he’d brought the man safely to the ground, an applause rosefrom the crowds. But instead of welcoming the attention, like you knew Iron Man would most likely do, the guy seemed almost … perplexed by the positive reaction. First he stumbled backwards, but once he noticed that the people weren’t playing a stupid joke on him, he simply saluted a little awkwardly and exited the scene - swinging from building to building.

You were perplexed. Of course that had to happen to you, a soulmate with a red-blue onesie and weird superpowers.

At first you didn’t tell your parents about it. Well, you told them you’d seen your soulmate, that you could see colours now – they were almost more excited than you were, if that was even possible -, but you didn’t tell them whoit was. You told them you wanted it to stay your secret for a while, until you eased into it a little, and with your parents being amazing and supportive, they understood.

They didn’t have to know that you were not even sure who your soulmate was.

You quickly found out, though, because the next day Spiderman was thehot topic of your school. There was a new superhero in town!

Some of your classmates thought he had really cool powers – he was not a Thor or a Hulk, but still. Others were more interested in what he would look like under the mask – was he young? Old? Maybe he was really handsome!

And then your best friend asked what your opinion was on this new Spiderdude, and you made the mistake of telling the truth.

“I think he’s my soulmate.”

You’d never really been popular, but not a complete loser either. But those words were a terrible mistake, because somehow, nobody wanted to believe you. You understood their caution, but still. It wasn’t long before you were looked at differently, and everyone started making vicious comments on everything you did. Because if he really was your soulmate, why didn’t he know that as well?

And to be honest, you wanted to know the answer to that last one more than anyone. There was an obvious explanation actually, because that you saw himdidn’t mean he had seen you too. But it was common knowledge that it almost never happened that only one half of a soulmate duo started to see colours. So why would you be that exception?

When you came home from school a few days later, you told your parents the truth, and how nobody believed you. Your parents comforted you as well as they could, but you knew, you felt that they didn’t believe you either.

All those vile comments you received from classmates were eventually the reason you changed from school.

Peter Parker didn’t expect much to happen that day.

Some boring classes, Flash being a dick, Ned fanboying about his last night activities as Spiderman … He was tired anyway, so maybe he hoped that nothing much would happen.

Everything went all right – as all right as high school could be, that was -, but then it was lunch break, and his spidey senses were tingling. He probably should’ve paid more attention to it, but this was high school, which meant that danger was around every corner. It probably was just Flash about to call him ‘Penis Parker’ again.

Ned was rambling about the Star Wars movie he’d seen last night, when MJ appeared. Peter didn’t really know how it had happened, but Michele had become one of his best friends in a short time, even though it seemed like she could say nothing but sarcastic remarks. He liked that about her, though, she wasn’t afraid to say what she thought. She was the complete opposite of Ned, because she kept him with his feet on the ground. And he maybe needed that sometimes.

“So, guys, there’s a new girl at school and I’ve said she could sit with us.” Michele said it as if it was the most normal thing in the world, but both Peter and Ned knew better. It wasn’t like her to casually invite new people over.

She just took a bite from her sandwich when she noticed the boys staring at her. “What? She seems cool.”

A big smile appeared on Ned’s face. “I trust your judgement, MJ.” The girl threw him a weird look, to which Ned answered with an only bigger smile. Peter hadn’t known it was even possible.

His spidey senses started tingling right when Michele looked up. “Oh, there she is!” A genuine smile appeared on her lips, something both boys weren’t used to see on their friend. About just as much as seeing MJ waving to the person behind them.

When Peter turned around, the first thing he noticed were your eyes, that were anxiously looking around. The second thing was how your mouth curved into a small smile when you saw Michele, and how you trembled a little, nervous to be in this totally new environment.

It was only when he looked into your eyes again, that he noted something new. Your eyes didn’t look grey, like Ned’s or MJ’s, but he saw a twinkle and … a colour, only he didn’t know which colour he was looking at yet. But he didn’t mind, because it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life. His eyes grew wide with understanding once he noticed that not only you, but everything else was suddenly so much brighter than it was before.

“Dude! Stop staring!” Ned pokedhim with his elbow, his excitement making the nudgea little too hard. But Peter didn’t care, because he didn’t feel like he could focus on anything other than the girl in front of him. You were the most beautiful person he’d ever seen, and maybe that was just because you were the first person he’d seen in colour. Or maybe he was a little biasedbecause you were his soulmate …

His soulmate. You were his soulmate.

“Ned.” Peter tried to tap his friend on the shoulder, but it was as if he couldn’t get his eyes of you, so he ended up patting him on the head instead. He didn’t care. “It’s her, Ned. It’s her!”

“What?”

“Boys.” MJ interrupted Ned, who Peter was sure was looking at him with confusion written over his face. Peter didn’t look, though, because his eyes were trained on the girl who was now standing in front of them, shy smile plastered on her pretty face.

“This is Y/N Y/L/N, she’s with me in English Literature.”

You felt your cheeks grew red at MJ’s introduction, even though there was literally nothing to be ashamed over. Both boys in front of you seemed sweet enough, although the one on the right was staring quite a bit at you. You dismissed it with a shake of your head and gave them a little wave. “Hi, I’m Y/N.”

You could mentally slap yourself. That was literally the first thing your new friend had said about you. “But of course you know that already, since Michele just told you.”

Way to go, Y/N. Way to make new friends!

But they didn’t seem to notice how awkward you felt. No, the boy on the left had the biggest smile on his face and waved cheerful before extending a hand to you. “Hi, I’m Ned!” He told you as you took his hand. If he shook your hand only a bit harder, you were sure it would fall right off.

The other boy didn’t react, he kept staring at you. It was starting to get a little uneasy, but then MJ slapped his arm and the boy shook up. With wide eyes, he looked around. “Wha-“ From the corner of your eyes, you saw Michele roll her eyes and give him a hand sign in your direction. The boy quickly extendedhis hand towards you. “I’m – I’m Peter. Sorry, I was  …“ He narrowed his eyes as he studied your face, searching for something. “- a little … distracted.”

“Hi.” You answered him with a small smile and went to sit down next to Michele. How could you blame the boy – Peter – for not being completely here with his thoughts? That was something you easily did all the time.

And these people seemed nice. Maybe your time on this school would be better than on your last one.

Hopefully.

How could it be that he saw colours, but you didn’t?

Peter had studied your face for minutes now, and you showed no sign that you’d just met your soulmate. No indication of seeing colour – none.

How?

“So, why did you change schools, Y/N?” It was MJ who’d asked the question, and Peter honestly couldn’t remember when was the last time she’d been this interested in someone. Although he must admit that he was pretty interested himself. Even if you weren’t his soulmate and him seeing colours was just an accident or a fault from the universe, you still seemed like an amazing person. He wanted to know more about you.

“Euhm –“ You were hesitant to answer the question, that much was obvious. But that didn’t take long. “My parents thought it’d be better to change schools, they think I’d be better prepared for university here.”

The words came out smoothly.  As if you’d been prepared for that question, and had repeated the answer way too much in your head.

Peter himself hadn’t said much yet to contribute to this conversation, but the mystery that surrounded you intrigued him. Maybe he could get more answers by just asking, instead of searching for them in your gorgeous eyes.

“So, Y/N.” He cleared his throat, to ask her why– why she didn’t seem astonished upon seeing him. Because she should’ve been, right? Seeing colours was not an everyday thing, it was special. Right?

You were looking at him with expectant eyes, he noticed then. And immediately decided he couldn’t ask what he wanted to know so badly. Because maybe you just didn’t want him to be your soulmate.

“So are you thinking about joining the decathlon team?”

“Hey bro, what’d you think about that new girl?” Ned had been excited all day, and Peter suspected it was because he loved meeting new people. Somehow, where Peter was anxious, Ned was physically incapable of having any negative feelings.

School had just ended and Ned had decided to come home with him, y’know, for some ‘guy in the chair’-business. Since aunt May had found out about his Spiderman-secret, she was so much more protective than she’d ever been before. But somehow she trusted him more when Ned was there to help him, because if Ned wanted to be the enthusiastic one, then Peter had to be the responsible one. Which made him hopefully much more careful. Her words.

And of course Mr. Stark was there to help him, too. Ned had now access to his personal number too if he ever needed it, because apparently even Mr. Stark trusted him more when Ned was by his side.

Which he was not sure was a compliment, or if he should feel a little offended by.

“Hey, man, what’s wrong?” Ned poked him, but real worry overtook his features. “You’ve been absent all day!”

Peter shook his head lightly. “It’s nothing, Y/N just confuses me a little.” It was not only that, he’d been completely distracted in every single class for the fact that he could see colours now. He didn’t know if was really a fault of the system, but for as long as he could see this new world, he wanted to take it in as much as he could. Although he had to admit it was also very much overwhelming.

“Yeah, that was really obvious.” Ned’s voice made Peter jump out of his daydreams – he had those a lot today – and look at his friend in bewilderment. Ned went on, he probably hadn’t even noticed that Peter’s thoughts had been wandering again. “Bro, you’re so smitten by her, it’s almost embarrassing. You’ve been staring at her the whole day!”

“No! No, I haven’t!” He was quick to defend himself, but he realised that he really had been staring at you a lot.

“Yeah, you have!” A smug look adorned his friend’s face, like always when he was certain he figured something out. “What, is she your soulmate or something?”

He had said it jokingly, but Peter only looked at him with determined eyes, a look that could not be misunderstood, not even by Ned. And yeah, Ned’s eyes widened almost immediately in understanding.

“She is?!”

“I don’t know, Ned!” Frustration coated Peter’s voice. “I started seeing colours when I saw her, but she doesn’t show any sign of seeing colours too! It’s confusing!”

“You can see colours.” It was as if Ned hadn’t understood a thing of what he just said, because he was staring at him in something that was almost close to awe. He had that same face when he’d found out about Spiderman. “You can see colours!”

Peter chuckled. Even if nothing seemed to go the way it had to, Ned’s excitement always managed to cheer him up, even just a little bit. “Yeah bro, that’s what I’m telling you.”

A big smile accompanied the enthusiastic look in his dark brown eyes. “Then am I really wearing red? Or is it not red? What does red look like? Did you hear music when you saw her, like in movies? Cause that would be so cool!”

“I don’t know!” Again, he chuckled, then tried to answer his best friend’s question as well as he could. Describing colours actually helped him not to think about Y/N for a while.

Maybe that had been Ned’s intention all along.

As if he sensed it, Ned looked up at Peter and threw him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, bro, I’m gonna find out for you tomorrow.”

Needless to say, and surprisingly enough, the table read went really well yesterday. Only 1 person wasn’t able to make it due to a family emergency so I had to read their part as well as the stage directions. At first I was unsure about the table read because Tom didn’t see anyone do their auditions, but apparently he was in the back of the theatre during all of them.

Tom didn’t say anything during the table read, he only listened to everyone as they said their lines. He seemed to be in deep thought about how he wanted the show to play out. I just hope that we don’t get into any arguments over how the show should be done. Yes, the director is in charge of the show, but that doesn’t mean they’re always right. Besides, I’m going to be the one running the show the day we perform it so I need to know what he wants me to do as well as the actors and other techies.

Tom didn’t say much after the table read was done either. Only the simple things like start thinking about what your character would be doing during that scene, know the places where to project a lot and not as much, etc. Now that I think about it, he barely said anything to me yesterday. After being introduced to one another, he told me to round up all the actors so we could quickly get started before the class ended. Then after we finished he told me that we needed to make a schedule of what scenes/pages that we have to do each day leading up to the day of the show. He’s lucky I did just that last night.

Abby and I met for our morning coffee like clockwork, me being a little early. As she walked in, I could tell she had lots to talk about from the expression on her face. “Oh my god, okay, so,” she said as she walked over to me and sat down. I cut her off, quoting one of our favorite musicals that was soon coming to Broadway. “At the end of last night’s party, very end of last night’s party, did you see Rich?” She laughed softly, replying to the quote (‘Oh, I saw Rich.’) before straightening herself up in her seat. “Seriously though, we’ve got a lot to talk about this morning.”

She got up to get her drink, leaving me alone for a few minutes. What the hell was she planning to talk about that happened to be that exciting? A guy asking her out? Acing a test she thought she was gonna fail? Knowing her, it would be anything that she thought would benefit her/be in her favor. I looked back up at her as she sat down across from me, drink in hand.

“So,” she started, looking down at her drink as if she knew something that I didn’t, “what do you think of the director?” Oh god.

I shrugged. “He seems nice. I just hope that he doesn’t do anything crazy for the show. I’m the one running it after all.” I laughed softly, sipping my drink to stop myself from saying something I would regret. The last thing I need is an actor mad at me for some sarcastic yet truthful comment.

“Yeah, agreed, but have you seen him? He’s so cute!”

Oh god, no..

If there’s anything worse than an actor thinking that they know everything, it’s people in drama/theatre dating. The last thing we need is the show to drop in flames due to a breakup or some sort of drama happening between the couple. She can go after him when the show is said and done, but now, she needs to keep her hands off. I’m not risking to lose my theatre degree for something as stupid has a petty crush.

Of course I had to stop myself from telling her my thoughts so I took another sip of my drink as she finished talking. I needed to compose myself and think about what I wanted to say. I shrugged, nodding as well as if I slightly agreed with her. “He’s alright, I guess. I’m personally not looking for anyone right now. Not to mention, you’re quite busy as it is. Are you sure you should be in a relationship right now?” I tried to sound convincing to her but my point isn’t seeming to get across to her.

“I guess I’m kinda busy at the moment. But I’m not looking for anything serious, maybe just a fling of some sort.”

It took everything I had in me not to groan loudly, sink into my seat, and leave the cafe entirely.

That’s even worse than a couple in the theatre. So much can happen from a so called ‘fling’, Abby, don’t make me bring up our times from high school.

Once again I had to compose myself. Thank god she was taking a drink, I had a moment to think. However, she apparently had more to say on the matter.

“He also looks well built, I mean, can you just imagine all the things he could do? Thank god he isn’t an actual teacher, I actually have a shot at getting with him.”

I wanted to bang my head on the table over and over until Abby was done talking about all of this. I had to talk some sense into her somehow.

“Abby,” I laughed softly, trying to sound more happy in my voice, “you literally met this guy yesterday. You need to calm down and take things slow.”

Fuck, why did I word it like that?

“I mean, do you want a real relationship or not? You and I both know that flings never work out. Either take the time to know him or move on to someone else. Aren’t you crushing on that Caleb guy as well?”

That was a little better, still wasn’t perfect. I just need her to move on from Tom so that the whole class doesn’t end up failing the semester due to the grade we’re getting from this.

I sipped my drink again as Abby looked out the window and shrugged. “I mean,” she paused as if thinking about her answer, “Caleb is a nice guy, I’m still not too sure about dating him or not. Besides, we rarely ever talk to one another now. Haven’t had a decent conversation since he went back home for his sister’s birthday this week.”

I choked a little on my drink but I covered it up with a small cough. How is she not seeing what I’m talking about? I get it if she wants to get with a cute guy how is she not seeing that her and Caleb seem to have some sort of connection? They’ve hung out and talked a lot the past month or so due to him working at the cafe and seemed to really enjoy each other’s company as well. The only reason she hasn’t seen him was because he was away. He left last Friday evening and wouldn’t be back until Wednesday (he would have left earlier in the day but that was also the day that the cast list was posted and Abby was not happy; I wasn’t going to deal with it so she called Caleb and he comforted her. For god’s sake, Abby, read between the lines). The fact that she’s describing ‘not talking in almost a week’ as ‘rarely ever talking’ makes me mad and want to just throw at least some common sense at her.

Thank god she had an earlier class today before I could say anything else.

“Anyway, I gotta get going. See you at class, yeah?” She smiled, standing and grabbing her backpack before heading out of the cafe. When I knew she really had left, I sighed in relief and sunk into my seat. I don’t know how much longer I could’ve handled that conversation. I finished my drink while scrolling through my phone, just waiting for time to pass by since I only had classes in the late afternoon and evening today. I looked at the top of my screen seeing a text notification from Tom. I guess I forgot that we exchanged numbers yesterday as well, makes sense that we would.

iMessage from Mr. Director Tom Holland

I rolled my eyes at the contact name he gave himself on my phone. I’m glad he seems to have a sense of humor. I clicked on the notification to see what he had to say.

Hey (Y/N), it’s Tom. I know it it’s early in the morning but would you be up for meeting up at lunch to discuss the plans of the show? I made out somewhat of a schedule and I would love to hear any thoughts you had for the show in general