#spidey!reader

"We'll see" you squeeze harder on the candies, the blue one cracks under the pressure, chocolate spills over your fingers. "Tough luck for you, Hobie" you grin at him, holding the cracked candy for him.

"Best of 11?" He asks, grabbing your wrist, bringing the chocolate over to his mouth. You're sure he can feel your pulse thumping against your wrist.

"Told you to pick green" a smug look on your face, hiding what you're really feeling.

"What can I say, I like rooting for the underdogs"

Before you could reply, your communicator rings. Popping the small bubble of relaxation you've both created.

"Sorry to interrupt, lovebirds" Gwen's voice rings out on your bracelet "time to switch it up"

You sigh, completely missing Gwen's first sentence, Hobie retracts his arm away, disappointing you both. Standing to your full height, "well, I'll see you in a few hours", quickly popping the candy in your mouth, you grab your mask, pulling it down, Hobie stops you halfway.

"Wait" he takes a few steps towards you, thumb over the edge of your lips. Your heart stops, thinking he's gonna make his move.

You've been crushing on him for a while now, but you could never make out whether his touches and flirty comments are completely platonic or romantic, considering he's always like that to his friends. So unless he says otherwise you'll always see him as being friendly towards you.

He rubs his thumb over the tip of your lips "you got chocolate on it" Hobie wipes the last bits off. Definitely just friendly though, right?

"Thanks" you murmur out, heat rising on your cheeks.

For Hobie though, he almost kissed you right there and then, with how the moonlight shines overhead bathing you in its glow, how could he not? He's sure your lips would taste of chocolate if he did. But he stops, realizing it's probably not the right time since you're both standing on a dirty rooftop. He wants to make it perfect for you and finally cement your relationship.

Hobie taps your covered cheek fondly, "watch your back"

"You watch yours" you pat his chest, Hobie's breathing stops for a second.

Hobie drops and swings away towards the other stakeout location before he could cave in and actually kiss you.

You turn your back, swinging towards your designated location. Dropping down next to Gwen. She's looking through her binoculars watching and waiting for the anomaly to appear.

"Finally, took your sweet time with loverboy" She tosses the binoculars, you fumble with it for a second before you catch it. Her hands are poised on her hips, head tilted accusingly to you.

"He's not my 'loverboy'. He's just a friend" you look through the binoculars, hiding how her comment flustered you.

"Mm-hmm sure, friends definitely look at eachother like that. And they definitely feed each other chocolates from your fingers"

You move your neck a little bit too fast, eyes widening at her. "You were listening in?"

"Hey, not my fault!" Her hands are up in a surrender "you do know our communicators are all on and connected for this mission, right?"

"Oh my god!" You squeak out, hands flying towards your face in embarrassment. "Why didn't you tell us?" You peak through your fingers.

"I tried to! But Lyla stopped us, she said something about friends to lovers, slowburn seventy k or whatever that means"

"Us?! Pav heard too?!" You move your hands over your head, wishing invisibility is in your arsenal of spidey powers. You look at your bracelet.

"Don't worry Lyla turned it off now, she said there's no drama anymore since you're not partnered up now" Gwen reassures you. "It's okay! We all know you're together" she puts a comforting hand on your back, patting it softly.

Your eyes almost pop out of its sockets, mouth agape "we're not together!"

"What?" Gwen chuckles "you sure?"

"Why? Did he say something?" Hope sparks in your chest. Were you in a relationship this entire time? It's not that you'll protest against it, hell you'll even welcome it, saves you the awkward 'asking him out' part. Were you that dense?

"No, with how touchy you both are, we all thought you were together" Gwen shrugs.

"Huh?! What do you mean everyone?!"

"Everyone, the entire spider society. Honestly Miguel's been thinking about setting up an HR department because of your pda"

You crumble to your feet, embarrassment flooding your body. Sure you're also very affectionate to your friends, especially Hobie, but you never thought in a million years that people actually thought you're together.

Meanwhile, Pavitr's been gushing to Hobie about what he heard (and seen, he and Gwen might've glanced your way for a bit) between the two of you.

"You two were so cute!" Pav shakes Hobie's arm.

"Yeah, yeah" if he squints hard enough, he can see you talking to Gwen. "You didn't even bother telling us about the communicator?"

Pav stops in his tracks, chuckling while rubbing the back of his neck "I tried to, bro! But Lyla said It's important for the mission"

"Sure" that's not new, Lyla has been trying to finally get you two together for a while now. He sees you drop to your knees, but he can't make out why you're on the floor.

As if Pavitr senses Hobie's feelings, he pipes up "don't worry, they like you too. Just tell it to them straight"

"I know they like me too, I just don't know what we are"

"Dude, everyone already thinks you're dating, they're just a bit dense, no offense"

Hobie scoffs "don't care what they think" he stops, looking at Pav with a confused look. "What do you mean dense?"

"I didn't mean it in a bad way! It's just– I don't think they know that you like them" Pavitr bounces on the balls of his feet.

Huh, so that's why you've never initiated anything, or even told me you like me. Hobie thinks, everything makes sense now. Your shy smiles and tentative flirting back fits right in like a missing puzzle piece. You don't know. He's never confessed to someone before, maybe he should just kiss you and hope for the best.

You pace around the small rooftop "it's silly, he can't actually like me, right?"

Gwen opens her mouth to speak but you keep talking to yourself, like you're trying to convince yourself how could Hobie like you more than a friend would? "Like seriously, how can he like me? He's like that with everyone! He's just being friendly y'know. You're so silly, Gwendy" you ramble on, laughing loudly, a little too crazy of a laugh for Gwen's liking.

"Okay, you clearly like him back" Gwen sighs, exasperated, shaking your form like she's trying to wake you up "Just tell him" She moves to the side showing you where Hobie stands on the opposite rooftop, his and Pav's body a small dot in your eyesight. You look at Gwen confused, he's a bit too far for a confession, but you throw caution into the wind, Gwen's encouraging words pushing you to just do it. Cupping your hands over your mouth into a makeshift megaphone.

"Hobie!" You scream loud enough to get his attention, you see him raise his arm. Gwen stands next to you, facepalming. "I like you!"

"What?!" Hobie yells back, mirroring your stance, he genuinely didn't hear you. Pavitr stands next to him, groaning. Yep you're perfect for eachother. He thinks.

Gwen murmurs out "love makes you so stupid" she taps a few buttons on her bracelet opening the line of communication for the team.

"I like you!" You shout it again, this time Hobie hears it loud and clear. He doesn't waste a second, jumping from the roof, he swings as fast as he could to you.

Lyla's hologram appears, a popcorn in her hand, she squeals "it's happening!" Gwen side eyes her, wishing she had some popcorn too. She stands a bit farther away giving you both space, seeing Pav jumping up and down from his roof.

Hobie lands breathlessly in front of you, hands waiting to break that barrier between you.

"Hi" you smile shyly.

"Hi" He cups your face in his hands, carefully sliding off your mask until he can see you in all your glory. "There you are"

"Here I am" you could only manage to bracelet his wrists with your hands, breathing matching his.

Hobie bites the bullet, "can I?" Tapping your lips with his pointing finger.

You swallow down "mm-hmm"

"Need you to use your words, love" He needs you to say it, just in case it goes over your head again. Hobie removes his mask in one swift move, quickly putting his hand back to your face.

Gwen takes this as a sign to leave, swinging towards an excited Pav. Lyla's hologram stays to the side, eyes glued to you both, she ignores the fifth call from Miguel.

"You can kiss me" his affection doesn't fly over your head this time, understanding his actions completely.

He leans down, feeling your lips against his. You can feel him smile through the kiss, you both taste like chocolate. You loop your arms over the back of his neck, pulling him closer. Hobie chuckles. Melting in his touch, you take it that he likes you back.

He reluctantly pulls away for air, you look at him your pupils blown out, your lips shining. Tilting your head you ask meekly "do that again?" Hobie chuckles deeply, pecking your nose before he kisses your lips again.

Pavitr shakes Gwen's shoulders excitedly, "I did that" he puffs his chest out in pride. While Gwen's already thinking of ways he can tease Hobie.

Miguel's hologram suddenly appears next to Lyla. He takes one look of you both tangled together, yelling out "That's it! We're having a meeting about workplace relationships!--" Lyla cuts him off, sighing, her hologram glows a bright pink. Good thing the anomaly didn't show up.

ʕ⁠·⁠ᴥ⁠·⁠ʔ

You loved your parents but hated the fact that you had to uproot your life and move to a new city with hardly any notice or any say in the matter. There was nothing at all wrong with Queens, but it just didn't really feel like home. Being halfway through your junior year didn't help anything either. The more you thought about it though, the more you realized that being in a new place was the very least of your problems. Thanks to your eidetic memory, the work was easy and even though you weren't exactly social, you still managed to make a few friends. That was the most you could ask for.

“Goodmorning!” Your mother called to you even though her back faced you while she busied herself at the stove.

With a half-hearted grumble, you greeted your parents before settling down in the seat across from your father. Drawing your knee up to your chest, you rested your foot on the edge of your chair. Normally, this would have killed your knees but lately, it’s been the only way you could sit comfortably.

You looked at your father, a cup of coffee warmed one hand with a cell phone clutched in the other. He spent more time at his office than anything and after a nudge from you, he finally decided that maybe it was a good idea to upgrade from the regular old newspaper to keep up with his business more efficiently. He'd only glanced up when you walked into the room, but it clearly was enough for him to look at you with a curious expression etched into his features. Peering over his glasses at the illuminated screen in front of him, you noticed that he was fidgeting as if he wanted to say something. You knew he never wanted to pry, this is just how he was. He always waited for an invite to dive into your personal business. It was refreshing at times but it was mostly annoying because he was basically making you be social.

“What's up?” You questioned, nibbling on a piece of toast from the plate your mom planted in front of you.

“What going on with you?”

“Dad, I don't think I know what you mean.” Your face felt like it was burning from the inside out and your heart was pounding. You hated keeping secrets from your parents, but you weren't even sure you fully understood what was going on with you yet yourself and lying to them was starting to become second nature.

“Every morning, you come down here looking more exhausted than I’ve ever seen.” Your dad speaks while pointing at the hall that you'd emerged from just a few minutes prior. “Yet you move like a ballerina. I know you, you've never moved so gracefully before. So, what's up? Are you stressed out about something? The new school? Is it...boys?”

Nearly choking on your coffee, you slam down the mug in your hand and stare at your father with your other hand on your sternum while tears welled up in your eyes. There wasn't any anger or irritation in his face, just genuine curiosity. Of most kids in your area, you were one of the few with such a remarkably stable family dynamic. For that, you were grateful. You had parents who were both fascinated with your life, they cared for and supported you, loved listening to you, and doing everything they could to ensure that you were making the best of your life in whatever way you saw fit. But you just couldn't tell them everything and maybe one day, they'd understand that. If you ever did tell them the truth.

“I'm just trying to study as much as I can at night and then start the day off right. You know, keeping the positivity up. I’ll try to cut back though, don’t worry.” You lied with a small shrug, glad that he would soon drop the subject without another word. That wasn't without giving you a long stare first though.

You finished your breakfast and coffee before bouncing back upstairs to your bedroom. After checking the weather on your phone, you picked out your clothes for the day and hopped in the shower. It was all part of your routine. You’d been getting to school in record time as of late, so instead of heading straight there, you would find a secluded spot to sit and take in your surroundings. It was tough at first, keeping down the sounds and feelings but after a while, you learn how to control everything and for just a minute out of the day you allowed yourself to breathe.

Classes were boring. This lead to you spending most of your time looking out the window, making up backstories for the people who would pass by your school by car or foot, and trying to keep yourself in your seat. The one thing you did uncontrollably though, the one thing that your classmates would probably say was the most annoying thing about you was the tapping. You would idly tap your pen on your notebook while pretending to listen to your teacher. It was a force of habit and most of the time, you didn't even notice you were doing it.

She would talk about a book you'd read three times by the weekend, tap tap tap. Then she'd explain the guidelines of your report that was due next week, tap tap tap. Mentioning how illegal plagiarism was while you tap tap tapped.

Then Peter Parker walked into the room to the deafening sound of silence, your pen now laid across the black page of your notebook. Your eyes found where he stood, a chill rushed through your veins, and your hair stood on end. You’d noticed him before but it wasn’t like he was a constant presence in your life. Not until recently. He was almost everywhere you turned and more often than not when you looked at him it was because he was already looking at you.

There was barely enough time for you to whisper what the fuck to yourself before he was gone and your hand was in the air, vying for attention. It almost didn't even register to you that your teacher had called your name before you snapped back into reality.

“Uh, I have to go to the bathroom.”

With a lame excuse and an even more lame hall pass in your hand, you stepped out the door. With each footfall, you felt more and more urgent. Something was building in your chest, an anxiety itching at your brain. You had to follow it, you had to find it. By the time you felt the hairs on your arms raise once again, you were sprinting toward the school's exit.

All of this was very new to you but this was far from the first time this had happened. There was a constant internal pull telling you to follow the feeling, to stop what you were doing, and to drop your public mannerisms for a deep primal instinct. Your shoes slammed down onto the pavement, carrying you away from your school, your boring classes, and closer to something unknown.

The danger felt heightened, more present, but it was exactly what your body was looking for. You couldn't explain it any other way. Finding a discreet space, you spun your normal identity-hiding clothes, being sure to cover at least half of your face.

It was the webs that would shoot from your fingertips. At first, you barely control them and they scared you, but you quickly learned how to work with them. Making clothes, climbing walls, hanging from ceilings, the strength, and power, it was new but it quickly became who you were. There was no wondering where the new found powers came from but that didn’t make you feel any better. The fact that something as small as a regular old spider could turn your life upside-down frustrated you.

You had plans for a normal life, or at least as normal as you could manage and yet there you were, a hero that wasn’t really trying to be a hero. You were no Captain America, but you couldn’t bring yourself to ignore the nagging feeling you felt whenever something bad was happening.

With a flourish, you were up in the air. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop with an unmatched speed, using your webs to swing between buildings while hoping no one would have the sense to spot you.

Finally, your body was telling you to stop. What brought you to a random rooftop in the middle of a school day? There were no burning buildings, no screaming people, no gunshots. The only distress in the area was coming from within you and it was unexplained until a figure landed just behind you. Then the feeling went from danger to something completely unexplainable. You needed to get closer but forced yourself to stay put with your guard up.

“Hey, I'm Spider-Man.” He introduces himself with a friendly voice and a weak wave. “I think we should talk, Seda.”

Part Two