#tmsk

“You’ve been avoiding looking at him and you guys don’t talk to each other like you did before. What happened?”

“Well...” How were you going to tell Ned that your guys’ best friend was going to kiss you, but then backed out? You decided to retell what happened from when you left Stark’s limo until you guys were talking on the roof. “He leaned his head on my shoulder and I started playing with his hair... and he put his hand on mine, and went to kiss me...” You twirled your hair around your finger while recalling the events and avoided looking at Ned altogether.

“So he finally had the guts to do it. I had a feeling you two liked each other.” Ned smirked, but asked an additional question. “Did he upset you or something?”

“No, my hand started shaking like they do when I get really anxious and he thought he was causing it. I mean--he kind of was, but I’ve never kissed a boy before, so of course I was nervous.”

“I know it’s hard, but try not to think too much about it. Peter’s an awkward kid and he cares about you; he probably didn’t want to scare you, that’s all. Plus, if you don’t tell him how you feel it’s just going to be even more awkward for longer.” Ned was right. You knew in your heart that ignoring the problem wasn’t going to fix it, and that you should talk to Peter, but the thought of it just made you want to melt into the ground. “For two super heroes, you and Peter are so scared of the silliest things.” Ned tried to lighten up the mood, and you cracked a smile. The two of you threw out your trash and started to make your way towards your next classes.

“Y/N!” Ned tugged on your sleeve and pointed to a flyer on a locker. You groaned with all discomfort. “C’mon, it’ll be fun.” Midtown High’s Winter Formal. You had managed to dodge going to homecoming because you convinced your friends at the time that you were sick and you needed to stay home. In reality, you were terrified of going.

“Midtown sure likes to throw parties...” You mumbled.

“They like to reward us after finals. You could always take You-Know-Who.” Ned wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and you immediately shook your head. “It’d be fun, Y/N, and a perfect opportunity to tell Peter how you really feel.” You felt a nudge from Ned’s elbow and tried to hide your embarrassment behind a smile.

“I’m sure Peter doesn’t want to go...”

“He will if it’s with you. You just gotta ask, ‘cause he won’t.” You bit your lip, and started running through all the worst-case scenarios. 1. He could say no. 2. He could say no, and permanently stop talking to you. 3. He could say yes, and then the night could just be horrible... But you really liked Peter. You wanted so much to be able to hold his hand and hold him close. You already spent a lot of time with him (along with Ned), but you wanted to be alone with him more...

“You sure he’ll say yes?”

“Definitely.” You both stopped in front of your next class. It was one of the only ones you shared with Peter, and his seat was empty as usual around this time.

“Then I guess I’m asking Peter to Winter Formal...” You sighed, and Ned gave you an encouraging punch on your arm.

The clock was ticking. It was only a week until the dance, and you still hadn’t asked Peter. Ned was getting on your case and was threatening to break the news to Peter himself, and you begged him not to, promising that you’d do it tomorrow every time. But every time you went to go ask him, your voice seemed to stop working and your throat got dry. When he’d ask you what was up, you just brushed it off with a nervous laugh and changed the subject. It was almost too late, you needed to act now.

One day you finally had the guts to do it. Peter and you actually took the same bus home normally, so that was when you decided you’d do it. Just do it before his stop, Y/N. You had to keep telling yourself while staring at your hands folded in your lap. “You okay, Y/N?” Peter asked and leaned over to see your downturned face.

“Wha-? Oh yeah!”

“You sure?” This was it, now was your chance.

“Um, actually I was wondering if you’d like to hang out next week...” You avoided his eyes.

“Um, sure. Like after finals?”

“No. I mean--yes! But I was thinking...” JUST SAY IT, GOD DAMMIT! “Doyouwanttogotothewinterformalwithme?” You managed to blurt out as fast as you could.

“What did you say?” You started fidgeting with your gloves and sighed.

“Do you want to go to the winter formal with me?” The silence that followed was killing you. He didn’t say anything, so you immediately apologized. “I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry, Pet--”

“I’d love to.” You looked up and stared into his eyes. He was just as nervous as you, but you found comfort in this for some reason. The bus stopped and you could hear the announcement of Peter’s stop in the background. He didn’t get up.

“Peter, your stop.” You pointed behind him and he snapped back into reality.

“Right. Um, I’ll see you later, Y/N.” He frantically jumped out of his seat and rushed towards the doors before they closed. The bus driver muttered something incoherent--but definitely nasty--under his breath and the bus was in motion again. You sat in your seat realizing what you just did, hiding your blushing face in your hands. You were anxious as hell, but also happy at the same time.

Your phone buzzed.

Ned:

You finally did it, better late than never.😉

Peter must’ve texted him. You leaned on the window and stared outside, thinking about what you were going to do. You didn’t have any formal dresses; you had no need for them up to now. You were going to have to tell your mom and go shopping. She’d pester you and ask you questions and just be embarrassing about the whole ordeal.

The bus stopped and you realized it was your stop. You rushed out the doors and ran towards your house down the street. The door was unlocked like always, and you ran towards the stairs to go hide in your room. “Hey, sweetie. How was school?” Your dad called from the living room and you almost didn’t hear him.

“Um, fine!” You threw your shoes off and ran up the stairs. The moment you closed your door you threw yourself face first into your bed and tried to not scream into your pillows.

A couple days later you went to get a dress with your mom. Since it was winter, you decided to get a long dress of your favorite color. You hated the idea of your mom spending so much money on a dress, so you tried to find ones that were in a respectable price range; it was just a school dance, not a masquerade ball.

Soon enough, the day of the formal rolled around. You and Peter went to a restaurant beforehand, just the two of you (”I’ll meet you there, you lovebirds!” Ned insisted to you), and it was just as nerve wracking as asking him to be your date. The both of you were terribly awkward and quiet at first, but slowly started to get more comfortable and started talking just like you normally did. By the time you were done with dinner, the two of you were laughing and enjoying each other ‘s company.

Your mom offered to drive you to and from everywhere, so you were met with the familiar car when you left the restaurant. Peter held the door open for you and helped you in, then scurried over to the other side of the car to sit next to you. Luckily it wasn’t snowing so the drive from the restaurant to the school wasn’t horribly long. You and Peter continued your conversation from when you were in the restaurant and before you knew it, you arrived at Midtown High.

“Have fun you two!” Your mom waved and you gave her the “Please stop, mom” look. She disregarded your cue and kept waving. You hooked your arm around Peter’s and held the skirt of your dress with the other hand so it didn’t drag on the sidewalk.

With every step you took, your stomach kept dropping. You felt like some mini you was in there banging from inside with a giant mallet. A sigh left your lips and Peter glanced over at you. “You good?”

“I’m good.” You nodded and stepped inside. Your English teacher along with another teacher was manning the ticket table. They greeted you and you handed them the tickets you purchased. Peter had insisted on buying them but you thought since you asked him, you bought them; he paid for dinner, though.

“Ned said he’d meet us out front.” Peter started looking around. You spotted him first and pulled Peter with you towards him. The moment he saw you two his face lit up.

“Well if it isn’t the Spiderlings.” He greeted with a smile and Peter tensed up. “I’m just playing, dude.”

“You really think it’s okay to announce something like that?”

“No one’s around to hear!” Ned laughed and you smiled. “I don’t know about you two, but I think that dance floor is calling our names.” He pushed the two of you through the entrance to the gymnasium, which you didn’t even recognize.

Whoever was in charge of decorating went all out, because you couldn’t even tell it was a gym anymore. There were fake lamp posts covered in styrofoam snow mounds littered across the room; icy blue lights to set the ambiance of winter, and lots of icy blue and white streamers strung above your heads. It was breathtaking. They had an area where they had cans of soda and bottles of water for everyone, and different tables where people could rest and chat which were covered in white table cloths, wintery centerpieces, and fake snow.

You’d arrived a little after the dance was scheduled to start, and there were a mass of people gathered on the dance floor in front of the DJ booth. Peter must’ve felt you tense up because he urged Ned that you all didn’t have to be in the mass to dance. There were enough people in their own pods doing their own thing. “Okay, but you can’t chicken out on me now.” He pointed and started moving to the music. You started to sway and step with the music, too nervous to do anything that’ll bring attention to yourself.

It was obvious none of you knew how to actually dance, but after awhile you started to open up. Peter and Ned were flailing their arms around and tried to get you to join them. After a couple “no”s, you gave in and moved your arms freely. It was silly, but it was honestly fun to just let loose with your friends. You also learned that Peter could do a pretty good robot dance while you were all dancing randomly.

After you guys rested on the sidelines for a bit, you went back out only to get the announcement that the next song was a slow dance. Ned grinned mischievously and pushed you and Peter towards each other as you tried to run back to the tables. “Uh uh, you two are dancin’, so get out there.” He gave one last push and you gave up trying to resist. You were impatiently waiting for this moment, but now that it was here, you were dreading it. The butterflies in your stomach were going crazy, and your hands were only shaking a lot.

You’d never slow danced with anyone before, you were afraid of looking stupid in all honesty. You’d seen enough teen flicks to know what to do, but in real life? It was just hell on your nerves. Peter glanced back at Ned one last time before looking at you and giving you a smile. You couldn’t help but be alleviated slightly by his charm, and mirrored what all the other couples around you were doing.

When Peter placed his hands on your waist you felt your heart skip a couple beats. You looked away, hoping Peter wouldn’t misinterpret your anxiousness. “Um, Y/N, can I tell you something?”

“What’s up?” Your voice wavered and you managed to look up at him. The silence was painfully long, but it was because Peter was trying to find the right words to say.

“I--I like you. I’ve like you for awhile. Probably since we first met, actually.” He let out a chuckle and you stared wide-eyed into his brown eyes. This was it; you could finally tell him you liked him too and you wouldn’t have to worry about any rejection. That was the only thing keeping you from doing it; that and fear of ruining your guys’ friendship. Ever since you started to get to know him, after you learned he was Spider-Man, he was someone you wanted to share a piece of your life with. Having someone understand what you were going through with your abilities held a deep comfort in your heart.

The music in the background seemed to fade away, and all you could focus on was Peter’s adorable face, which, you realized, was incredibly close to your own. He leaned his forehead on yours; you kept yourself from letting out a squeak of surprise and closed your eyes in hopes of alleviating some of the anxiety built up in your brain. “Well I just poured out one of my deepest darkest secrets to you...” He not-so-subtly hinted, and you took a deep breath.

“I like you too...” You whispered but with how close you were right now you knew he’d heard you. The pressure of Pete’s forehead on your own was lifted, and you opened your eyes to see what Peter was doing. This situation was all too familiar, you realized once he started leaning in towards you. You closed your eyes once more and leaned closer to him.

As cliche as it sounds, you felt like fireworks were going off when your lips met. It seemed like there were literal sparks flying from you, at least that’s what it felt like. It felt like time had stopped for just a moment, so did your heart. For a second you were worried about people watching you, but it didn’t matter to you. For a moment it was like it was just you and Peter in the room.

After what seemed like an eternity, you both pulled apart and returned to resting on each other’s foreheads. The rest of the song was just the two of you swaying in sync and laughing when you stepped on each other’s toes. Occasionally out of the corner of your eye you could see Ned throwing a fist of victory in to the air and jumping around as if he’d just won the lottery.

“Does this mean we’re a couple now?” Peter asked in a hushed voice.

“Yeah,” you pulled him closer to you, “it does.” You planted a kiss on his nose and hoped that the night would never end.

"I don't need one Peter, very few people know of my existence and I pass off as you most of the time." You shook your head and dismissed his suggestion.

"C'mon, it'll be fun." He punched your shoulder playfully and you sighed.

"Got any good ideas? 'Cause I don't want to just be 'Spider-Girl.'" You put up air quotes and he started to look around your guys' surroundings while thinking. "I wanted to be Black Widow, but that name's already taken by a particular Avenger."

"What about Venom?"

"That sounds like a villain's name." You cringed.

"Fair enough, hmm..." You looked at your watch and sighed at the lack of action happening on the scanners. "Hey, what time is it?" Peter asked.

"Um, it's almost midnight."

"That's it!" Peter's sudden outburst made you jump and you had to take a breather to calm yourself down. "You can be Midnight Widow; you're always out at night, it works."

"Ehhh..." You shrugged. It wasn't great, but you could run with it.

"It's a work in progress." He tried to assure you. "When are you going to hang out with Ned and I again?" You gulped.

"Umm, whenever we're both free, I guess. It seems like something always comes up..." You fiddled with the fabric on your fingers.

"Yeah, it kinda sucks we can't let Ned know why we're always constantly canceling or bailing out when we want to hang out..."

You hated keeping the fact about you and Peter from Ned, but it was best for him as well as you. He always asked where Peter ran off to when he didn't make it to lunch or when he left in the middle of lunch. It was always, "Sorry guys, I gotta go,” and he'd look at you because you knew exactly why he was leaving. You'd always wondered why Peter always wore hoodies or long sleeves, and it was to hide all the bruises and scars from his encounters. Nothing big, usually, but it would be enough to raise questions especially from Ned.

It also turned out that Peter worked with Tony Stark. He told you and Ned at lunch once it was an internship, but one night when you were out and about the city he told you that the suit he had was provided by Mr. Stark and was super techy. He even let you try it on; it was like a computer-assisted suit with an AI named F.R.I.D.A.Y to help with combat scenarios.

You warned him about the dangers with his suit. As helpful technology could be, his suit could be hacked and hijacked. "The only one who could hack this is you, probably." He brushed off your warnings, but it really worried you. Something about having such a techy suit made you uneasy. "Mr. Stark is really smart, Y/N. He's not only some rich dude who parties at philanthropy events; even though that's what happens a lot during downtime with the Avengers... He built his first suit in a cave, Y/N." Which you already knew; you respected Tony Stark as a man who withdrew from his weapons division of Stark Industries and was intelligent in technology. But to you a suit didn't make the hero; it was the hero that made the suit.

One evening you were sitting in your room trying to improve your watch's capabilities when your phone went off. Ned had sent a text to your guys' group chat.

Anyone busy tonight? We need to have another movie night, we've been slacking.

The dots popped up indicating someone was typing, probably Peter, and sure enough another messaged popped up.

Tonight, yes. What about Friday after school though?

I'm down✌🏾

You set your phone down and focused back on your computer to look at a line of code before you could forget what you were doing. After finishing it up you glanced back at your phone.

Okay, a couple things: 1) who's place 2) snacks? 3) what are we watching????

Y/N's place is the closest to school, we could maybe do it there?

I'll let my mom know, I'm sure she'll be fine with it. I've got lots of popcorn stored up just for this occasion so unless you want something else I got you covered.

We should watch Alien.👽

Cool beans, I've never seen it.😎

Wait You call yourself a Sci-Fi fan and YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ALIEN??? I'm disappointed, Y/N...

Alien it is then

I came here to have a good time and honestly I'm feeling so attacked right now.

Away with your outdated memes

When Friday came, you were excited to hang out with your two best friends again. You always looked forward to hanging out with Peter and Ned, it was always a blast and made you a little hopeful for any future social interactions. You had trouble making additional friends, but the few ones you had outside Ned and Peter approached you first or were in Comp Sci Club with you.

As Ned and you were waiting outside the entrance of the school, you both received a text from Peter in the group chat.

Hey guys, something with Mr. Stark came up so I won't be able to make it tonight. I'm really sorry, and I'll make it up to you two!

"Dammit." Ned sighed and shook his head. "It always seems like something comes up whenever we want to hang out..." the disappointed look on Ned's face broke your heart, and you patted his shoulder.

"I know, Ned. Peter really cares about us though; he truly does." He looked up at you and smiles.

"I can't help but believe you, Y/N." You smiled back and looked at the time.

"Well, you still down? I know Peter was going to bring the movie but I think I saw it on our shelf when I was browsing our movie collection the other day. My dad's also really into sci-fi flicks."

"Really? Let's go while we still have daylight." You frowned with worry at his remark and he smirked mischievously. The two of you headed to your bus stop and made the journey home while talking about the movie. He told you that at it's a classic sci-fi film and that every geek has to watch it at least once in their life.

Once you got home you called out to see if any if your parents beat you there. "Hey, sweetie!" Your dad responded from his office upstairs.

"Ned's here! Peter couldn't make it, but we're gonna watch a movie!" You turned to Ned. "C'mon." He set his stuff down by the couch and you tossed him the movie case. "You know where the DVD player is?"

“You act like we haven’t had movie night here before.” You smirked and turned around to prepare the popcorn. The kitchen was to your left and you turned that way to start making your guys’ movie snack. You heard the menu screen once the microwave was finished heating up your snack, and scurried over to the couch with the large bowl.

The movie was definitely amazing. You were a little jumpy, so it scared you a bit, but you still loved it. Sigourney Weaver was amazing as Ripley and the Xenomorph was especially creepy. Ned had tried to keep from giving you random trivia about the movie, but it was hard for him. You didn't mind it, though, because he always had something interesting to add. You were surprised to learn that they actually had a super tall guy in a costume playing the Xenomorph.

As the movie was coming to an end, you heard your phone vibrate. You ignored it thinking it was a text but then the buzzing persisted. The caller ID showed Peter was calling you. "Hey, what's up?" You were met with Peter yelling through the tremendous background noise. You couldn't make out what was going on, but you heard screaming and things being thrown around. You got up and went towards the stairs. "I can't--"

"Y/N, you need to come to Manhattan now!"

"What, why?"

"Get your suit on, and get here as fast as you c--" there was an explosion on the background and more screaming. "I gotta go."

"Peter!" You raised your voice slightly, but he had hung up. You started panicking; what was so wrong that he needed to call you in the middle of a fight? Was he okay? What was that explosion?

"Everything okay?" Ned looked over his shoulder from the couch.

"Yeah... Peter tried calling me but my phone was acting up..." You nearly tripped over an end table, but remembered what you were doing. "I'm sorry, Ned; I adore you, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He slowly got up and grabbed his things.

"You sure you're alright?" You guided him to the door and saw him out.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you later, okay?" He squinted his eyes in suspicion, but complied. Once Ned was gone, you locked the front door and ran upstairs. When you looked outside, you realized it was just barley nighttime. You quickly changed into your suit, and searched around for your mask.

"Did your friend go home, Y/N?" You whipped around and saw your dad was standing in your doorway with his mouth slightly opened in shock. "What is this?" He gestured to your suit.

SHIT.

"Dad, I can tell you later, but right now P--a friend of mine is in trouble. I need to go help them." He was about to reach out for you, but you finally grabbed your mask, threw it on, and leaped towards your window. "I'll be back." You promise, and swing off towards Manhattan. You were frantically shooting webs to any building you saw and tried to get there per Peter's request of: "as fast as you can." Oh what have you gotten yourself into, Peter... It seemed like forever before you reached the Manhattan, but you knew exactly where he was as soon as you saw a puff of smoke billow up from a street a couple blocks away. You landed on a roof of a building and peeked over the edge down to the scene.

Peter was dodging flames from a real-life flamethrower being used by a huge man with goggles and giant robotic gloves. They looked like power gloves, and you were proven right because he lifted a car over his head and tossed it towards Peter. He jumped over it and shot a web towards the mysterious villain, but it did little to nothing except annoy him. He tore it off his face and picked up a large chunk of the concrete over his head. "Heads up, webhead!" He shouted and threw the concrete right at Peter as he was running up to him.

Peter didn't have enough time to jump over it so he jumped on the debris, climbed over, and pushed off on the other side. While this was all playing out, you noticed a flicker of movement down below to your left in a damaged building. The lights inside were flickering, but you definitely saw someone hunched over some sort of tablet device. They were typing away at an alarming speed, and your eyes widened because you knew exactly what they were trying to do.

You shot a web at the building and launched yourself inside the rubble where the hacker was hiding. When your feet hit some debris, the hacker looked up in astonishment. “There’s two of you?”

“Surprise!” You shot a web at his tablet and yanked it out of his hands. Then before he could escape, you bound his feet together and kicked him right into a wall, knocking the wind out of him. “Just stay right here, I’ll be back.” You muttered, sticking him to the wall with a thick layer of webs, and then ran back to the tablet.

On the screen there was a green status bar that read: Sending Data... and it was nearly halfway done. The whole time Peter was distracted by the big guy, this guy in the shadows was copying some sort of data from his suit and sending it to an unknown receiver. You sat down and started to work your magic.

The tablet was protected with thumbprint authentication and numerous passwords that you had to get past. It would be hard, but luckily you were a good hacker. As the status bar slowly progressed, your fingers were flying all over the screen. The status bar reached 50%. “Not today, evil-doers.” You dramatically pressed a button on the screen and the status bar froze. You breathed a sigh of relief, and fell on your back and stared at the ruined ceiling.

The peace only lasted a moment, because suddenly a body was thrown through the glass window. It was Peter. You sat up almost instantly and scrambled over to him. “Peter.” You shook him and he didn’t move. “Peter!” You tried shaking him again, and he only incoherently mumbled something under his breath. You bit your lip underneath your mask. You needed to stop this guy, but everyone was bound to see you; there were probably tons of newscasters on the scene by now. But this is what you always wanted to do; to keep people safe that couldn’t keep themselves safe. You had the abilities to help, and you wanted to use them for bettering other people’s lives...

You stood up, and peeked around the broken wall of the shop. Mr. Powergloves was bee-lining right to where you were. He didn’t know you were here, though, so you decided to use that to your advantage. You jumped to the ceiling and kept put while looking below to see when he’d enter. You crawled out of the building, using the shadows as camouflage, and landed behind him silently. “Come out, Itsy-Bitsy Spider...” Powergloves chuckled and you hectically searched for a weakness.

His legs. Your brain screamed, and you looked down. They were the only part of his body that wasn’t protected. You shot a tendril at his legs, and tugged. “Fee. Fi. Fo. Fum.” you shot a web from each hand with every word. “This giant’s gonna land on his bum!”  He finally looked back at you in utter shock, and you used all your strength to topple the man over.

Just like you’d hoped, he teetered forward and landed on his face. You jumped over to him and quickly bound his legs. You continued to jump around him and started to feel the strain from spinning so many webs in such a quick time. He started to squirm and you stood on his back, leaning over to pull the gloves off with what little strength you had left. You tried to tug at it, but he was resisting. You punched a hole into the glove then punched your other hand into the hole and tore the piece in half

“AAAAAAGH!”

You did the same to the other glove, and almost fell over in exhaustion. You looked over, and sure enough there were cameras all over the place. There were people who had witnessed the whole event. Your cover was now blown. But that was the least of your worries, you hurried over to Peter as fast as you could and he was still knocked out cold. You used the rest of your energy to pick him up, throw him over your shoulder, and walk out into the street.

The flashing of cameras were irritating your eyes, and you held out your hand to shield the light, but it was useless. You went to shoot a web to start your journey home, but a reporter stopped you with a question.

“Who are you?”

You thought for a second, knowing that the name Peter gave you was ridiculous. So you just shortened it. “I’m Widow.” Then your feet left the ground and you tried to balance Peter with your wobbly and weak arms. It would take a miracle for you to make it to Queens before your parents started worrying. You had to stop by Peter’s place first though to patch him up as much as you could.

You forced open Peter’s sticky window and tried to enter without making too much noise. May was bound to be asleep by now, and you didn’t want her to see him like this. Peter’s feet thudded against the floor when you entered, but you managed to drag him over to his bed. His suit was torn all over the place, and his mask was tattered as well. You tore it off, and pushed the spider symbol on his suit so you could take it off of him.

Normally you would’ve been so uncomfortable with this task, but at this point you didn’t care. You cast his suit aside into the closet and left his room to look for the first aid kit in the bathroom. As quietly and quickly as you could you returned to his room and tore off your own mask. When you looked back up, you couldn’t believe your eyes.

“Oh my god.” Ned had his hands to his mouth.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You hissed and he just stumbled for his words.

“Y-y-you’re--”

“A mutant.”

“And Peter’s--”

“Spider-Man.” His eyes kept shifting from Peter to you, and you sighed. “Ned, I know this is a huge shock, but I need to attend to Peter.” You turned your back to him and started to dab antiseptic to his various cuts. He had a huge one right across his chest, just barely missing the spider symbol, and you had to dab at the smeared blood with gauze. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead... You kept repeating in your head and got out the bandages.

In no time Peter was cleaned up, and you searched his closet for a t-shirt to throw over it so May wouldn’t freak out as much if she were to see him the next morning. You pulled the blanket from under Peter and draped it over him mostly to hide the rest of the cuts and bruises that you couldn’t patch up yourself.

Finally you sat at the foot of his bed and sighed. When you looked back up you found Ned in the same spot you found him. You nearly forgot he was there because he was so quiet as you cleaned Peter up. “So that’s why you two always bail out!” He whispered and you couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah... Sorry we didn’t tell you...” You fiddled with the fabric on your suit.

“My best friends are super-heroes!” He exclaimed.

You chuckled. “Yeah,” glancing over at a sleeping Peter, “we are pretty super.”

You trudged downstairs to your living room and saw that your parents already had the news on; and not just any news, it was national news. Your legs began to shake. Not only did all of New York know of your existence, the whole country did. There was video footage of you and Peter taking down the bad guys, and they even got when you knocked Mr. Powergloves over.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a angry-looking man raging about you and Peter. “We don’t need any more super humans in our city. They’ve done enough damage, and we sure as hell don’t need two Spiders!”

“I don’t know, with what happened with the Avengers I’d really appreciate the protection.” One woman interjected. They went back and forth for awhile, but you stopped paying attention to get breakfast.

“Good morning, sweetie.” Your mom greeted and you smiled back sleepily. “You made quite the ruckus.” She gestured towards the TV and you shrugged.

“It was bound to happen eventually; I just didn’t think it’d happen like that.”

When you came home last night your parents were hysterical; they had been waiting until the wee hours of the night for you to return safely. When you came stumbling through the window your mother caught you from falling to the ground. They scrambled around to get the suit off of you and into some comfortable clothes. You explained about sneaking out at night to help others, and that you didn’t want to become such a big deal. That you only wanted to use your abilities to protect others who couldn’t. You couldn’t remember if they were angry with you or not, because you fell asleep.

“We’re just glad you’re okay.” Your mother wrapped her arm around your shoulder and you hugged her. “You better get going, or you’ll be late for school.”

On your way out of the house, you noticed your phone’s screen glow.

Saw you guys on the news. You two looked bad ass.

Almost instantly, a text from Peter appeared.

Ned knows about us????

Ned had left your house and went to Peter’s place to see if he was home. May had told him that Peter was still out, and he left for home. He then snuck out later that night and went to check on Peter. He knew that Peter always left his window unlocked so he slipped in and waited for him; not expecting to meet you too. Instead of responding to Peter’s text, you frowned and stuffed your phone back into your pocket, then entered the bus so you could be on your merry way to school.

The first thing you did before classes started was search for Peter. You hadn’t had the chance to talk to him since last night and you were still worried sick. You pushed through the crowded halls as you made your way to his locker. He was standing with his back to you, talking to Ned. He looked very uncomfortable, and it was probably because Ned was exclaiming about what he saw on the news.

“Y/N! Oh my God, you guys were so awesome!” He whispered and you barely heard him. Peter turned around and was begging for your help, but you didn’t give it. Instead, you grabbed his shoulders and tightened your grip on his sweater.

“Why the hell did you go in there alone?” You tried not to yell, but a fire was burning in your eyes and Peter could see it. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed!” You shook him and he was speechless; he’d never seen you so worked up about anything before. “Did you know someone was hacking into your suit? Someone was trying to copy some data and send it to someone else!” You felt tears starting to form. “I thought you were going to die, Peter!” Your grip loosened a little and you rested your forehead on his chest. “I thought you were going to die…” You started sobbing and could tell that Peter had no idea what to do. It was probably the first time he had a girl cry right in front of his eyes.

You felt his arms wrap around you into a hug. Your heart started beating at a million miles a minute. You didn’t know what you’d be able to do if Peter had actually died. You didn’t know how it’d affect Ned. You were so worried about not ever being able to see him again. His warm smile, his beautiful brown eyes, how supportive he was when you were anxious or having anxiety attacks. It could’ve been gone in just seconds.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t expect them to be so strong. I thought they were just some normal guys…” He whispered so no one else could hear.

“Well, you’re stupid.” He laughed, and you couldn’t help but smile.

He pulled you away and wiped your tears with his sleeve. “Look, we should probably move before–” He froze and you were about to ask what was wrong, but a familiar voice answered your confusion.

“Well if it isn’t the Three Muska-nerds!” Flash, your stereotypical bully, announced. He had a couple of lackeys with him, who were equally as menacing, that surrounded you three.

“Hello, Flash.” The fear was very apparent in Peter’s voice.

“I’m not his girlfriend. Leave us alone, Flash the Ass.” You snapped with a lot more confidence than you actually had and glared at the taller boy.

“Didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Peter. I’m actually surprised. Bet she’s a huge nerd too.” He laughed.

“At least I have an IQ higher than a coconut.” You grabbed Peter and Ned’s hands with your own shaky ones and stormed off; pushing through Flash’s henchmen. If there was one thing in this whole world you hated, it was bullying. You hated how Flash picked on Peter because he was significantly smaller than him and, quite frankly, more intelligent.

Once you were away from his gang, you let go of your friend’s hands and hand to lean over because you were losing your breath. “Y/N!” Peter put a hand on your back and leaned down to try to look you in the eyes. “Y/N, you need to breathe. C’mon, in… and out…” He had mastered how to help you calm down, because it’d happened so many times while you were at school. You looked into his warm eyes, thinking it would help, but it didn’t. You were so worried about looking like a fool in front of him and Ned that your heart started racing again.

“Class is about to start, Y/N. Do you want Peter and I to walk with you to your class?” Ned offered, but you shook your head.

“I’ll be fine, I don’t want you guys being late…” You straightened up and tried to take a couple more deep breaths. Finally you managed to steady out your breathing. “Thanks guys, you’re the best friends a girl could ask for.” You hugged them both, and bolted off, shocked that you didn’t fall up the stairs because your legs were shaking.

You didn’t think you’d break your record of number of anxiety attacks in one day, because at lunch time, a certain man by the name of Mr. Stark showed up. He was followed by your guys’ principal and his own body guards. You couldn’t help but stare at him as he casually made his way towards your table. “Hello, Peter.”

“M-Mr. Stark!” Peter nearly dropped his milk. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed to steal you for an important project. Your principal said it was okay, and so did your aunt.”

“Well, if this is about yesterday, Y/N needs to come too. She was a big help with it.” Peter gestured towards you and your heart stopped right when Mr. Stark turned his gaze towards you. He stared at you for a moment, as if he were trying to judge whether or not you were worth his time. “Alright.” He turned on his heel and started to walk towards the exit. You and Peter scrambled to gather your things and looked over at Ned with full panic. He shrugged and the two of you scurried to catch up with Mr. Stark.

“What do you think he wants?” You whispered over to Peter.

“I don’t know. Do you think he knows about my suit getting hacked?” You shrugged. The two of you anxiously watched the back of Mr. Stark’s head.

Once you were out front, you spotted a limo parked out in the street. “Peter. Y/N.” Mr. Stark held open the door and the two of you glanced at each other for reassurance. “Come on, you two.” Stark gently pushed both of you towards the car and you crawled in. Stark followed and the door was shut behind him. He sat opposite of you and Peter with a smirk on his face.

“So,” he waved his hand and a hologram showed up. It was the video of you and Peter from last night. “You and your girlfriend caused quite the scene last night.”

“I’m not–”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” When Peter said it, it almost hurt. But it was true; you weren’t his girlfriend.

“Uh huh… Anyways, I got a security breach notification from F.R.I.D.A.Y about your suit.” He knew. He knew everything.

Peter opened his mouth to say something, but he was speechless. “They were trying to copy some data, sir.” You chipped in. Stark turned to you and you gulped. “I think they were trying to copy the code for your AI. They were trying to send it to someone.” Your voice was higher pitched than normal and it croaked almost like a frog.

“And did they get it?”

“No, Mr. Stark. Y/N stopped them. She’s pretty smart.” Peter defended you and you felt a small weight lifted off your chest. Mr. Stark looked at you again, and you could swear there was a hint of shock.

“I’ll have to thank you for that–people still want to misuse my creations…” Stark returned his attention to Peter. “I can’t have this happen again, kid. You promised me to keep your activities in the junior leagues for now. What you pulled back there? That was professional league.

“Mr. Stark–”

“Look, kid, you were aiming too high. I need to bring you back down to Earth.”

Peter turned to you in desperation. The look on his face broke your heart, but you didn’t know what to say. “Without the suit I’m–I'm nothing!”

Peter’s outburst was met with a silence in which you could hear your heart beating in your ears. The tension between Stark and Peter grew with every second he stared at the teenager.

“That’s exactly why I need to take it away. It’s a privilege, Peter.” Peter looked so hurt at these words, he stared down at his feet, and ran his hands through his hair. Stark held out a hand signaling Peter to hand over the suit. He complied, though you knew he didn’t want to, and dug the suit out of his backpack.

The limo stopped, and you looked out the window to see you were at Peter’s apartment. “I’m sorry, Peter. But you’re more than just a suit.” He didn’t sound sorry though. He sounded like he knew this was going to happen. As much as you wanted to tell Stark to screw off, you knew he was right; Peter was reckless. He could’ve gotten so many people hurt or killed. He barely survived only thanks to you. Peter started to climb out to the snowcapped sidewalk.

“Wait, kid,” Stark stopped you as you were getting ready to join Peter. “What was your name again?”

Your hands started to shake again. “Um, Y/N L/N.” What was with this sudden interest? You were quiet nearly the whole time and didn’t think Stark cared about your presence.

“That was some impressive stuff you did yesterday. I don’t think I’ve met a kid who’s so well versed with computers like that.”

“You mean you’ve never met a kid who can hack a hacker?” You smirked, not particularly flattered with his compliment.

“Sure. But seriously, if you’re looking to do something with that,” he pulled out a business card from his jacket pocket, “give us a call. Make sure you mention the word ‘pancakes’ or they’ll just direct you to our standard automated message of calling you back in which we don’t actually call back.” You glanced down at the card, back to Stark, then back to the card again. Without another word you took it, and climbed out of the limo.

Peter was sulking, drawing circles in the snow with his foot, while he was waiting for you out on the sidewalk. You glanced back at the car before it drove away, and turned back to Peter to try and console him. “C’mon, Peter.” You grabbed his hand, and led him to the alley where the fire escape was. You jumped for the ladder and started climbing up. Peter followed closely behind and you passed his window.

“Um, Y/N, that was my room.”

“I know.” You continued on your journey upwards and finally made it to the roof. You tossed your bag to the side where there was no snow and sat down, dangling your feet over the edge. Peter takes a seat next to you and you both stare at the skyline. The silence was making you uncomfortable, but you knew exactly what Peter was thinking.

“Um, Peter? I know you’re really disappointed about losing your suit, but… I think Mr. Stark was right.” Peter looked at you as if you were crazy. You continued to hopefully explain yourself. “I mean, you were reckless. You’re lucky no one got hurt or killed. You’re lucky you didn’t get killed.” Peter must’ve seen the worry in your eyes, because he seemed to relax a little bit.

“I–I’m sorry. I just want to be like him. Like Mr. Stark; like Iron Man. A real hero.” He held his head in his hands and you hesitated to put a hand reassuring on his back. You did, and felt your stomach explode with butterflies.

“Peter, you are a hero. And I’m not just saying that because I’m your best friend,” he sat up and looked up at you, “Do you remember the reason why snuck out every night? The reason why I begged my parents to move here?” He was speechless, but you knew he remembered clearly. “It’s because I was so inspired by you. You were someone I looked up to, even if we are the same age.” You added with an awkward smile. “Sometimes being a hero isn’t always about what you do, but how you affect people.” You looked away in hopes of avoiding eye contact. Peter returned his eyes to the skyline while taking in your words.

His next actions caught you by surprise, and you almost fell off the edge in utter shock. He leaned his head against your shoulder and muttered, “Can I tell you something?” Panic ensued. You hated it when people started a conversation with questions like that.

“Anything.”

“I’m really glad I have a friend like you, Y/N.” Your arm had a mind of its own–you felt the hair on the back of Peter’s head on your fingertips as you gave him a reassuring, but awkward pat on the head. You nervously rolled the strands of his hair between your fingers.

“Me too, Peter.”

The two of you sat like this for awhile; just silently staring at the city skyline, while you absentmindedly played with his hair. It felt surreal; like you were in a dream. When you realized what you were doing, your stomach dropped. Normal friends didn’t just play with their hair, did they? You decided to stop, and went to drop your hand back to your side. Peter shifted his body and you felt his hand reach for your gloved one. “Why’d you stop? It was nice…” You felt like you were going to be sick; not because it was Peter, but the whole situation was heightening your anxiety. You were unsure, you didn’t know if it was platonic or romantic anymore. You wanted more than anything for Peter to like you too, but if it was at the expense of your friendship, you were willing to just stay best friends.

Your internal questions were answered when Peter sat up and looked into your E/C eyes. You couldn’t tell if his hand was the one getting hotter or if it was yours, because you felt a temperature change and your hands starting getting clammy. When he started to slowly lean closer to you, you closed your eyes and felt your hand start shaking under his. The minute he noticed this, he stopped and asked, “Are you okay, Y/N?” You opened your eyes and were met with Peter’s glowing brown eyes filled with worry. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I shouldn’t have been so stupid…”

He removed his hand from its position on top of yours and looked away. “It’s okay, Peter.” Dammit… Your anxiety loved to kick in at the most inconvenient times. Ned also liked to text you guys at the most inconvenient times, too.

What did Tony Stark want with you??? I’ll be over in 10

“Um, we should head down to my place…” Peter quickly stood up and went to retrieve his things. You sighed and stared down at your feet and the footprints in the sidewalk below before getting up to follow him.

When Ned arrived, you were in Peter’s bedroom, sitting as far from each other as possible, and he burst in with millions of questions.

“Ned, Ned, Ned!” Peter got him to shut up and sighed. “He was talking to us, mostly me, about what happened last night. My suit was being hacked while I was fighting one of the guys and I didn’t realize it. They were trying to copy Mr. Stark’s AI system and use it for their own purposes, probably.” He was leaving out an important bit and you shot him a look that told him, You better tell him or I will. “He also took the suit away from me.”

“What?!”

“I was reckless. I almost got killed, and he thought it was best that I didn’t have the suit for awhile…” He avoided your guys’ eyes and tapped his foot.

“Man, I was hoping I could try it on.” Ned chuckled and you couldn’t help but smile. “He’ll give it back soon. Plus, you don’t need it; you were doing fine without it before he gave it to you.” Peter glanced up at Ned and took a deep breath.

“I know… I just want to be like him. Like Tony Stark…” Peter sighed, even though you’d just gone over this with him. “But, I can’t do anything about it now, so I’m going to have to make due with a homemade one.” He shrugged and you thought about offering someone you knew that made suits for heroes, but thought it’d be better for him to just figure this out on his own.

“We’ll help you make a new one, right, Y/N?” All eyes were on you, and you bit your lip.

“Of course!” You slid from your spot and joined the boys to look through Peter’s clothes for potential costume items.