#bc then each boyfriend passionately and carefully explains what it means

[moonmoonthecrabking]

noel and mischa are That poetry couple they write poems for each other it’s sickening how sweet they are

[svtxsoju]

00. prologue | dear miss soju

ღ Synopsis: College is hard. Love is even harder. Good thing the students of Mansae University can write in to Miss Soju, the campus’ very own romance advice columnist! The only problem is she’s never been in a relationship. Ever. There’s no telling what kind of chaos she may cause in the love lives of several of MU’s most eligible bachelors. Too bad no one knows who she really is!  ღ Characters/Pairings: college AU! Seventeen & OC’s, Pairings TBA!  ღ Genre: Romantic Comedy, Slice of Life ღ Warning(s): Mentions of alcohol, underage drinking, mentions of sex, language, bad jokes ღ Word Count: 2.6k words ღ Binu’s Note: hi to anyone who is reading this!!! i’m super excited (and kinda nervous :0) to post this bc i’ve been working on this project for a while now. aaaa i hope there are at least some people who can enjoy it! this is a relatively short-ish chapter but it’s p dense with exposition lol but anyway if ur reading this, thank you i love you!!! 

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Introducing The Front ’s New Romance Advice Columnist: Miss Soju! 

We all have an ideal: an ideal type, an ideal first date, an ideal relationship. The problem is love isn’t ideal at all. And sooner or later, we find ourselves sitting on that plastic chair in that tent on the side of the road with an ache in our chest. You’re hurt, confused, and kind of going crazy-- all the tell-tale symptoms of heartbreak are there. And the only cure? Soju, of course! 

Finding a decent partner and maintaining a healthy, sustainable relationship is difficult enough as it is. Then layer it with the culture shock of university, where you’re experiencing actual adulthood for the first time without mommy and daddy to hold your hand. It’s enough to make anyone lose their minds! Sure, you could always turn to your friends for support and advice, but in all honesty, they’re even more of a mess than you are. 

That’s why Mansae University’s affiliate newspaper, The Front, will be reviving our romance advice column this fall! Each week, Miss Soju will be answering all your burning questions, and that means all of them. Her expertise touches on topics as simple as explaining to that one guy that your love is fated because you passed each other at Yuhaeng Quad, like three times, and extends to more extreme situations that require an anonymous veil, like how to confess to your new boyfriend with the furry fetish that you’ve been severely allergic to animals since you were three and you have no idea how any animals act, let alone… Yikes. 

It’s true, college is full of new and bizarre experiences, some we must go through and some we’d much rather avoid. Who knows? Maybe you’ll meet the love of your life here. But it’s okay to admit that you need a little guidance through the mystical and confusing world of college dating. Miss Soju has got your back, and she’s not afraid to hit you with that real shit. As she always says, good advice is like taking a shot: sweet on the lips but burns your throat as you swallow it down. 

Monday, June 3rd, 2019 3:07PM

“Jihoon, I don’t know if I can do this.” 

Name: So Joohyun. Major: Journalism major with a minor in communications. Estimated graduation year: 2021. Desired position: World News Journalism Intern. That was what she had put on her application for The Front’s junior internship program. She had made sure to attach her published articles and to emphasize her interest in-- no, her passion for-- reporting compelling stories on an international scale. Not once in her application did she indicate that she was an expert in love or sex, let alone qualified to give others advice on the subjects! In fact, she was probably the least qualified person on campus for this position, which was probably the most perplexing aspect of the whole situation. 

But despite all of that, there she was, sitting in Yuhaeng Quad with her best friend, reading the promo piece she had written for Miss Soju. Jihoon had been ecstatic when he had thought of the nickname back in high school. She had snuck bottles of the alcohol over to his house one night after finals week, and he had drunkenly claimed that the name was doubly clever since So-ju were also the first two syllables in her name. When the newspaper had told her she needed an anonymous pen name, it was the only thing she could think of, mostly because creating a secret identity had made her in desperate need of a drink. She changed her mind. Having a secret identity was equally as perplexing as pretending to know how to spice up people’s sex lives. It was like she was some kind of Love Spiderman. She was not ready for that kind of great power or the great responsibility that came with it!

“‘I don’t know if I can do this’?” Jihoon repeated her words slowly. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say those words in that order. Can I take your picture? I need to commemorate this moment.” 

“Can’t you see that I am having a crisis?” she whined. “The integrity of my career is on the line because I’ve never bothered to go on a date!” 

“When are you not having a crisis?” Jihoon laughed. He sat up from lying down on their picnic tarp to give her full view of his smug grin. Originally, he had dragged Joohyun outside in hopes that the perfect summer weather would help relieve some of her stress from the past week. He even found her favorite spot under the shade of an ancient tree that overlooked the stretch of green field. But Jihoon could not call himself a proper best friend if he passed on an opportunity to rub all of this in her face. “This is what you get for chickening out on all our group blind dates! I could have scored that hot bassist girl with the thigh tattoo, but nooo, you always had to put your career first.” 

“Sue me for having priorities!” she huffed. Leave it to Jihoon to chalk this all up to karma. Now that he mentioned it though, she couldn’t help but feel like a higher power was taking a piss on her life. Or maybe it was just the shit-eating smile on Jihoon’s face that had her on edge. Joohyun tried to avert her focus to a couple of boys tossing a frisbee around instead, but somehow that irked her too. The idyllic weather, the carefree students, everything that was pleasant seemed to mock her sour mood. She pouted at the ground in defeat, and continued, “You are the first person to know that if I was told that dating and fucking around were going to be crucial to my journey to becoming South Korea’s top journalist by the time I turn 25, I would have become a hoe long ago.” 

“Woah, are you gonna start your thot phase for this? Are we gonna have a hot girl summer?” The boy began to bounce excitedly. Joohyun felt it was high time to give him the finger, but she also felt a small smile tugging at her frown. “Easier said than done, though. Remember Jessi from high school?”

“Yeah I remember,” she said with a sigh. High school romance had lured so many of her friends into its clutches, with its enticing promises of sweet chocolates and stuffed animals, and she had helplessly watched from the top of the class as they forsook their grades for boys who didn’t even know what deodorant was. She only shuddered to think of the state of their grades after a nasty break up. It was then that Joohyun had decided that her future was not worth risking over a boy’s attention. “Which is exactly why I never got involved in all that mess in the first place.”

“This must be the gods telling you that it’s time to.”

“What kind of fucked up god sets up a virgin as a love advice columnist?” she asked the sky loudly. If she had known there was anyone listening, she would have insisted that her question was rhetorical and was not in need of any type of response! However, the gods cared not for grammar technicalities on the mortal plane. They just couldn’t resist the chance to respond to someone so openly questioning their decisions with some good ol’ spite. Honestly, with the way things were going for her lately, Joohyun probably should have expected the frisbee flying merrily towards her face, even if she hadn’t just challenge the universe. 

“Oh fuck!” Joohyun jerked out of the way and felt the frisbee thunk against her shoulder instead. “Ow.” At this point, she didn’t even have the capacity to be annoyed; she just braced herself for whatever misfortune life threw at her next. 

“Sorry about that!” A boy called out, jogging up to them. As he came into clearer view, she noted that he looked far from misfortunate, and also had to remind herself that staring was rude even if someone was unnaturally handsome. His features were soft yet striking, like he had been carefully sculpted from cotton candy. Or maybe a fluffy rain cloud? Joohyun shook her head a little as if that would get her to stop staring so shamelessly. She speculated whether it was the sun that made it look like his blond hair was a glowing halo. Okay seriously, stop staring! He gave Joohyun a sweet smile when he reached them. “My friend got a bit distracted. Now that I’m here, I can’t say that I blame him. Hope we didn’t do too much damage!” 

“Uh,” was her captivating reply.  

Jihoon, never one to miss such a ripe opportunity, piped up beside her. “She’ll be fine. This is Joohyun, by the way.” 

His smile widened at Woozi’s introduction, and Joohyun could swear there was an actual twinkle in his eyes. “Nice to meet you both. I’m--”

“Yoon Jeonghan!” They all looked towards the call. The ethereal boy let out a startlingly loud cackle at the sight of his friend, who gave the two strangers a sheepish wave before continuing to gesture for Jeonghan to return. Joohyun must have been put in a staring mood, because she didn’t miss how his friend’s big ears were a shade of pink and how they bloomed into a cherry red when they briefly made eye contact. She caught herself wondering if all the boys at Mansae University were always this cute. 

“I guess I better go,” the boy named Jeonghan shrugged. Joohyun felt his fingers brush against hers when he took the frisbee from her hand, his eyes glinting mischievously. Now she was sure she was seeing things. “See you two around!” 

They both watched him retreat in an awestruck silence. That was certainly… unanticipated. Even long after Jeonghan and his friend were out of sight, the brief encounter left a blanket of fogginess lingering over them. Had she not felt his fingers on hers, Joohyun would have easily believed that it had all been in her head. At the same time, she was pretty sure that she wasn’t bold enough to conjure up someone that looked like that on her own. As she continued to fathom how a human being could glow, Joohyun felt the fog dissipate into the warm summer air. She felt like she was waking up from a disorienting dream, and she blinked to hasten the process. To her growing bewilderment, she found that her heartbeat was steady as she came back to her senses, her mind seemingly devoid of the panic and doubt that had plagued her all week. It was a gasp of fresh air. 

Jihoon, on the other hand, had long broken free from the strong impression that the blond boy made. He noted the dazed look on his best friend’s face and rolled his eyes. Who knew that a pretty boy was all it took to make her shut up a bit? He nudged Joohyun impatiently, so that she could pay attention to him while he roasted her for totally flubbing her chances.  “You thinking of risking it all for that guy?” 

In an instant, Joohyun slammed herself back into reality just to shove Jihoon away from her. “That is so not happening,” she said a little too indignantly. Before Jihoon could reassure her that the guy seemed interested enough even though she had only said a single syllable to him, Joohyun suddenly turned to him very seriously. “Do you really think I  can do it, Jihoon?” 

“What, bang that guy? I can try calling him back here if you want,” he snickered. 

“You know what I mean!”  

“Okay sorry, I couldn’t resist,” Jihoon replied, his grin now melting into a familiar smile, the one that could put her at ease on her lowest days. “I just don’t know why you have to ask. You and I both know that you kick ass at writing. You’ve written about stuff like natural disasters and the student protests, no problem at all. It’s not like you have a PhD in environmental science or politics. How is this any different? ”

Joohyun scrunched her face as if Jihoon had just suggested that chocolate milk came from brown cows. “Dude, they’re completely different. Those articles were reporting on facts. I did research, I conducted interviews!” 

“That’s what I’m saying, Joo!” Jihoon exclaimed suddenly. As smart as she was, he couldn’t help getting a little giddy whenever he thought of a good idea before her. “Why not treat Miss Soju like any other of your other projects? I mean, love is probably one of the most well-documented experiences throughout history, and people are still going through all the same shit. There’s probably thousands of resources for a man simping on a hot chick alone. You can even take your pick, like movies, songs, books, weird couples on Youtube?You don’t need to have experience, because you can just do the research! ” 

“Research?” Joohyun repeated. If there was one thing that she was good at, it was doing the work. From the moment she had decided to become a journalist, everything she had done was a strategic move to get her closer to her end goal. She had spent sleepless nights perfecting the details of her writing, countless hours reading through endless archives of old articles. Hell, she even restricted herself from dating for years just so she could focus on keep her grades up. It was almost too easy of a solution. Maybe she was meant to do this after all.

 Another couple of months of research would simply be another hurdle on her way to the finish line and she was getting closer and closer. Finally, she felt a smile spread across her cheeks, a real, genuine smile. “I… I can do that.” 

“Now that,” Jihoon said as he took her hand in his, pulling her up to her feet, “sounds like So Joohyun. Or should I say Miss Soju?” 

She laughed as she dusted the grass off of her butt. “You know, it’s probably not a good idea to include the first part of my name in my anonymous persona. It makes it so obvious that it’s me.”

“Yeah, I mean it would be obvious if people actually knew who you were in the first place,” Jihoon scoffed, narrowly dodging a kick from her. “That’s a good thing for you! Anyway, let’s get out of here, I have a couple of tweaks to make to my song before releasing it tonight. Could you listen to it by the way? I need to know if it’s too cheesy.” 

“Oh, the song you’re writing about your mystery muse?” Joohyun hummed playfully while packing up their blanket. She followed after her best friend as he began the short climb uphill. “I don’t know if I want to, you’ve been pretty out of pocket today.”

“Hey!” he said defensively. “First: I don’t need a muse for my songs, I just have a very vivid imagination and my talent does the rest. Second: I literally just stopped you from giving up on your lifelong dream of becoming a journalist, so I think you owe me one. You’re just jealous I can write love songs without having an existential crisis.” 

“See, that is what I mean by out of pocket,” she paused for a beat. “I may be willing to listen to your song. For a small price, of course.”

“Okay, deal,” he agreed without hesitation, missing the way Joohyun deviously smirked beside him. They reached the concrete pavement at top of the hill and headed in the direction of his nearby apartment. “What is it this time, Ms. So?” 

“Well Mr. Lee, thanks to your lovely suggestion earlier, I have been inspired to begin work immediately. So we shall be watching Twilight on movie night,” she said all too gleefully, mostly for satisfaction that Jihoon’s twisted face of disgust gave her. 

“Do we have to?” he groaned.

 “It’s for my research!”

[randomfandomimagine]

Special Like You (Peter x Reader)

Character: Peter Parker (Tom Holland)

Fandom: Spiderman

Categories: Reader Insert, Female!Reader

Title: Special Like You

  Requested by anon:

hi ^-^ Would you do a fem reader with Tom’s Spidey? she knows he’s spider man & always worries about him getting hurt, and secretly on the inside she’s insecure about her bff being a super hot hero and she’s just, her. And then she’s clumsy and trips too hard or something but won’t tell bc she doesn’t wanna seem weak and clumsy. he’s with her and sees how uncomfortable she is and then he’s cleaning her up and scolding her when her feelings and insecurities come out. Cliche, I know. Im sorry 😣

Requested by @friceaurelia07:

Hey! Could u do a peter parker one? (They're already dating) Like instead of Liz, its her who is peters date + shes the one he left at homecoming(he never saw her again cause she "moved"). But plot twist, shes a superhero and when he's at the new avengers compound, they she each other but he doesnt know that its her and he falls in love/is interested with her superhero self but she's pretty much pissed and kinda hates him and you decide the continuation. Thankyou♡

 My heart was pounding. I impatiently tapped my foot against the floor. I looked at the watch for the tenth time. I checked my phone for the umpteenth time. Still nothing.

Where was Peter? Was he okay? Was he even still alive? What happened to him?! My mind was racing with thoughts, all of them about the many terrible ways in which Peter could have gotten hurt, or even died.

I was tempted to go downstairs and talk to May to distract myself since the anxiety was growing too big to bear, but she would notice how agitated I was and I wasn’t ready to explain that I was scared that my boyfriend Peter Parker, also known as Spiderman, was in trouble.

Resigned and even more anguished than before, I started biting on my nails nervously. Just then, I heard the sound of the window being opened and I immediately stood up from the bed.

“Pete!” I exclaimed as I threw my arms around his neck, holding him tight.

“Wow, jumpscare!” He notably jumped, startled, even though his arms still reciprocated the embrace in a daze. “Y/N?”

Slightly relieved now that I knew he was alright –or at least alive and not too badly injured –I angrily broke the hug by pushing him off me.

“Peter Parker, where the hell were you?” I whisper-yelled, trying not to get May’s attention.

He observed me, speechless, for a few seconds. Then he took his mask off and gaped at the air, opening and closing his mouth in astonishment.

“What…?” He muttered, frowning as he reached out to touch me. I swatted him away.

“You have any idea how worried I was?!”

“Worried? But…”

“Yeah, worried! Since you decided to go after those dangerous guys”

“Don’t you trust me, Y/N? I’m Spiderman, I-“

“You’re Spiderman, and there’s a bird man trying to kill you, Pete. What if he did, huh? I was so scared that this time you wouldn’t come back, that-that-that…”

“Hey” Urgently, he put his hands on my upper arms and squeezed me fondly as his lips suddenly met with mine for just a second. Briefly yet passionately. “Calm down, breathe, I’m okay. I’m fine, see?”

It was only when he shut me up that I realized I was very close to hyperventilating. I had never been so scared in my entire life. Just thinking about losing Peter…

“Hey, c’mon, Y/N!” Peter gently smiled at me, trying to reassure me. “You see me, right? I’m right here, nothing happened to me, I’m alright”

I just nodded, feeling very weak all of a sudden. The scares that boy gave me…

“Sit down” His hands were still in my arms as he gingerly placed me on top of the bottom bunker bed. “And relax, it’s okay”

“I hate you so much for scaring me like this, Pete” I mumbled, heaving a big sigh as I felt myself calming down a little.

“I’m sorry!” He replied whole heartedly, even though he was moving to close the door so May didn’t see him in his suit. “I’m really sorry, but you don’t have to worry”

As soon as he sat down by my side, he shyly reached out to hold my hand. I appreciated the gesture and rested my head on his shoulder, sighing again.

I wanted to talk back to him, but I felt like he wouldn’t understand. I admired Peter so much for being Spiderman. He was so brave, so selfless and heroic. He was New York’s hero, even if for him it was kind of ordinary at this point to be friendly neighborhood Spiderman, but for me it wasn’t. It was so huge, so important, so great.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to me” Peter whispered, his thumb caressing the back of my hand. “I know what I’m doing”

“I know, Pete, but… it’s so huge” I wondered how he didn’t realize the way I looked at him, not only with so much love, but also admiration.

I adored Peter Parker as much as I loved Spiderman, and not just because they were the same person. But because they were two different parts of someone that I loved so much and that inspired me to be better myself.

“Hey, how about this?” To lighten the mood, his voice drastically changed from cautious and soft to cheerful and a bit more energetic. “Let’s go out! Take a walk, maybe grab some dinner? I would love to be with you for a while, I’ve missed you”

“You’re just saying that because you know it’s what I want to hear” I teased him a little, pulling away from his shoulder to look him in the eyes.

“No, I mean it!” His sweet brown eyes looked directly into mine. “Let’s go have some fun!”

“You got yourself a date, Parker” I smiled at him, feeling better already.

“Great” He squeezed my hand before he stood up. “Could you tell May that I’m home while I get dressed?”

“Wouldn’t she have noticed if you walked through the door?”

“Hopefully she was too busy doing something else to notice and I can use that as an excuse for sneaking in”

I chuckled, but let him put on some clothes –over his Spiderman suit, I assumed –while I stood up myself.

“Fine” I kissed him in the cheek and headed for the door.

Peter was already going through his clothes to choose something to wear. I looked over my shoulder to him, feeling so grateful that he had come back in one piece.

I couldn’t help myself, I went back to hug him once again. He chucked in amusement, but didn’t think twice to reciprocate by wrapping his arms around me as well. We lingered in the embrace for several minutes, just enjoying feeling each other so close.

*

I giggled when Peter playfully tickled my sides, squirming away so he would stop. He obliged and wrapped me in a hug from behind instead, resting his chin on my shoulder. Then he pecked my cheek, the smile still plastered on his lips.

“Peter…” I whined shyly, feeling self-conscious about being so affectionate in public. To be honest, he wasn’t usually like that but I guessed he was just trying to make me forget about before. And it worked.

Fondly chuckling, he positioned himself next to me and kindly held my hand in his. We smiled at each other and kept on walking.

“You have mustard on your face” Pete pointed my cheek. “From the hot dog”

“Oh, wait” I quickly wiped that spot off, hoping it was gone. “Now?”

“No, lower” He pointed to his own face to show the spot.

“Here?” I rested my fingers against the corner of my lip and wiped again when he nodded. “Now then?”

“Not quite”

“Where is it then?”

“Here”

I should have known and not fall for it. Peter then planted a sneaky little kiss on my lips, making me blush like crazy.

“Peter Parker…” I complained, flustered by his loving attentions and how adorable he was. When I looked back at him, he was blushing a little, but that bright smile lingered on his mouth. 

I was too busy looking at him to watch where I was going, so I tripped. I twisted my ankle and lost balance. Before I knew, and even though I felt Peter fumbling and flailing around trying to catch me, I painfully landed on my knees. Since I was wearing shorts, I could feel how I scraped my skin.

“Sorry, Y/N!” Pete was kneeling next to me in an instant. “I tried to catch you, but I wasn’t fast enough to-to… I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

I stared at him, wincing and brushing my palms since they had broken the fall as well. They were scraped too, and covered in dirt form the filthy sidewalk.

“I think so…” I hissed through my teeth, feeling my knees burning and my ankle in pain as well. “My ankle hurts, but I think I’m okay”

Pete gingerly placed his hands against my legs, analyzing the damage. I looked too, and saw that I was bleeding a little since I had ripped most of the skin from my knees off.

“I’ll take you back and heal that, okay?” He mumbled nervously as he placed an arm around my waist. “We’re near my place, I’ll get you there in no time”

“Wait, get me?” Just as I spoke, he had placed his other arm under my legs and was lifting me up.

“Yeah, I’ll look at your ankle back home” How was he so okay with me being so clumsy? Especially when I was so mortified at that moment.

“I’m so clumsy…” I muttered while he carried me along the streets.

“Hey, it’s okay!” He smiled down at me. “It could have been worse”

“I’m fine, Pete” I babbled stupidly, hating to worry him and get his attention so focused in me over something so absurd. “You can put me down, I’m okay!”

���I don’t want you leaning on your bad ankle and making it worse” He sweetly smiled at me once again.

I just resigned myself and hid my face on his shoulder, waiting until we were finally back. Then we could get over it already.

*

May freaked out when she saw Peter walking in carrying me bridal style. We had to reassure her that it was nothing, but even then she rushed to get the first aid kit and Peter had to convince her to leave him to heal me. All that fuzz over a little fall.

Peter knelt down in front of me to take a look at my ankle as soon as he carefully sat me down on the bed. I sighed as I reluctantly let him work.

“I think your ankle’s fine” His hands gingerly palpated my ankle, looking up at me to see if I winced or complained, which I didn’t.

“I told you, I’m fine” I avoided his eyes. “It’s a bit sore, but I’m not hurt”

“Okay, now your knees” He went to get the first aid kit, and I sighed tiredly before he came back.

The silence settled on the room as he kindly pressed a small piece of cotton doused in alcohol against my scraped knees. It sting a little, but I didn’t complain. Peter still blew on it to alleviate it.

“You’re very quiet” He suddenly piped up, staring up at me. “And you look upset, what’s wrong?”

“I just…” I dared to look into his eyes, even though I heaved a sigh. “I feel so stupid…”

“Why?” Peter whispered, nearly heartbroken.

“Because I’m so clumsy! This isn’t the first time I’ve embarrassed myself in front of you like this, Pete! And it probably won’t be the last one either” I had to avert my eyes when he frowned, not wanting to see the sadness reflected in his eyes.

It was always hard admitting one’s insecurities, but especially when it brought sadness to someone you loved. And Peter seemed to be unable to understand my reasoning.

“I think it’s pretty cute” He mumbled, and I caught a glimpse of a casual shrug.

“Is it cute when I fall and hurt myself?”

“No! Of course not, I don’t like you getting hurt! But when you get embarrassed it’s pretty cute”

I knew he was just trying to cheer me up and see the silver linings, but I wasn’t in the mood for that at the moment.

“But you get why I’m insecure about it, right? I’m just so stupid… It’s something stupid”

“Y/N” Peter curled up his finger under my chin and gently lifted it up so I would look back at him. “You’re clumsy, yeah, it’s one of your flaws. But I love you, flaws and all. Because it’s part of who you are, and I love you exactly how you are, clumsiness and all”

“You mean that?” I whispered, feeling tears of frustration arriving to my eyes.

“Every word of it” He nodded vehemently, letting go of my chin to rest his hands on my hips. “I wouldn’t change a thing about you, you’re perfect the way you are”

I chuckled through my tears, wiping them from the corner of my eyes before they could shed.

“So stop feeling insecure, okay?” He briefly leaned forward to leave a loving and lingering kiss on my cheek. “You’re the coolest person I know, and I know Spiderman!”

“Shut up, Pete!” I giggled, lowering my glance, now flustered at his attempts.

“Are you okay now?”

“Yeah, now I am”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure”

“Great, let’s go back outside, sounds good?”

“Fine”

“Besides, now I have an excuse to hold you close to me so you don’t trip”

I softly slapped his chest as we both left the room. But I gladly snuggled to his side as we walked outside, his arm tightly wrapped around me.

*

I laughed at the Star Wars joke Ned said, even if Michelle rolled her eyes at us and our geekiness. I was wondering where Pete had went, but decided to be patient.

I entertained myself in looking around at the wonderful job that Liz and the rest of the homecoming committee had done. The gym looked better than ever, with all those lights and decorations. And people wore with their best dresses and suits, I myself had bought a beautiful red dress that Peter had complimented –and how ‘awesome’ I looked in it –many times.

Turning to Liz, I told her how amazing the gym looked and before we could continue the conversation, I saw Michelle do something that caught my attention. She was jokingly flipping someone off, and I knew that Peter had arrived.

As he arrived, he smiled at Liz and planted himself in front of me. I frowned when I noticed the expression on his face. He seemed, worried, scared, absent. Something bad must have happened.

“Pete?” I whispered, even though my voice could barely be heard over the loud music.

“Y/N…” I only saw his lips moving, didn’t hear his voice. “Y/N, I…”

“What’s wrong?” I urged him, taking him away from our friends to talk to him.

I noticed Ned staring at us, since he was the only one that knew Peter was Spiderman apart from myself. And we both had the feeling that whatever happened to him had to do with Spiderman.

“I’m sorry” He seemed to momentarily get out of his own thoughts as he locked eyes with me. “I’m so sorry, Y/N”

“Why? About… about what?” I urgently held his hands, concerned. “What happened, Pete?”

“I have to go” His eyes seemed absent as he looked at me with a sad frown. “I don’t have time, I need to go right now”

That said, he broke the contact and began running away from me. I had waited for that day for so long, looking forward to the moment when I’d go to the homecoming dance with Peter Parker. And he was standing me up without an explanation.

“Peter!” I shouted, loud enough for some people to turn around and watch.

I then sought Ned, and his eyes fell over me as well. Being Peter’s best friend and my own friend as well, he must have realized how I was feeling. Confused, worried, scared, insecure, angry, resentful. All at once, which was messing with me a little.

“I’ll go after him” Ned put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me as he hurried behind Peter.

I was left standing there for several seconds until Liz came by and asked me if I was okay. I brushed it off saying that Pete had to leave and got worried for a moment, but that I was relieved when Ned went with him. It was partially true, but that explanation was too simple for the complexity of the things that were happening and the emotions I was experiencing.

For the rest of the night, I tried to enjoy the dance with my remaining friends. Michelle, Liz and the rest were really fun, but I was having a hard time focusing on anything. I kept checking my phone to see if Peter or Ned called, but they didn’t. I hoped that meant they were both okay. Ned didn’t come back to the dance.

The days after I felt truly miserable. Ned and I felt distant for some reason, and things were even worse with Peter. It always looked like he wanted to approach me and talk to me, but he never did, he always hesitated and thought twice. It only worsened my insecurities.

I had developed a deep resentment towards them, especially towards Peter. It wasn’t logical, and it wasn’t permanent, but I was hurt. He knew how worried I got about him, how insecure I felt about myself, and he just left without telling me anything. He abandoned me just like that, even if he had reasons to. Couldn’t he have spared two more seconds to tell me ‘I have to go after the bad guy before he escapes’? I would have understood that, I wouldn’t have gotten mad. Worried, of course, but not angry.

The previous close and intimate relationship we had was gone, replaced by awkward glances and eventually avoiding each other. I felt worse than ever, noticing his absence, missing our moments together, dwelling on my own insecurities. Feeling terrible about both our situation and my own.

So I made up my mind, I was going to change it. Even if it was too late for Peter and I to figure things out, I needed a change. And so I committed to that resolution.

*

Time had passed, and things had been quite crazy and frantic at first until I got used to my day to day at the new Avengers compound. I still could hardly believe that none other than Tony Stark had given me a job there, helping Happy. It made me wonder if Peter told him about me, but I quickly dismissed that thought, not really wanting to think about my ex-boyfriend. Despite the fact that I had no resentment left and I was still fond of that boy.

But getting back to the job, it gave me the opportunity to meet the Avengers. And eventually, after being trained –mostly by Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow herself –going with them to some missions and helping them as much as I could.

The relative tranquility of my new life was suddenly interrupted when Mr. Stark arrived, bringing a visitor. Just as I walked around the hallway after doing inventory for Happy, I noticed him walking with Peter Parker. And they were headed my way.

“Y/N” Mr. Stark greeted me with a head nod, which seemed to gather Peter’s attention as he hadn’t noticed me.

“Y/N?” The boy repeated, whipping his head so fast that he had to massage his neck. “What are you doing here?”

I paused for a second, realizing those were the first words we exchanged in months. He seemed to notice it too after being impulsive enough to talk without thinking, because he awkwardly looked away.

“Oh, so this is Y/N” Tony looked from Peter to me. “The Y/N, your Y/N”

Why… did it feel like Mr. Stark knew this would happen? Was he playing matchmaker? Was he trying to get us to talk? Or was this just a coincidence? His tone most definitely stated otherwise.

“Y-Yeah…” Peter babbled, unable to keep his eyes off me now. He was looking at me almost like before, with the same adoration and fondness, maybe even more.

“I’ll give you kids a moment to talk then” In a subtle not so subtle way, Tony pushed us closer to each other. “I have to talk to Happy anyway”

As soon as he had walked away, I self-consciously rested the folder I kept the inventory with against my chest and hugged it tight. I decided to talk first.

“I heard about your heroic deed the day of the dance” I mumbled, realizing I still had a tiny bit of resentment left even though I understood that Peter really had to go to save the day. “I suppose you’re here about Spiderman”

“That, yeah…” Peter nervously nibbled on his bottom lip. “Mr. Stark wanted to talk to me after that”

“Great” I was happy about him, I really was, especially since I overhead Tony saying something about ‘upgrading’ Spidey with a new suit. And I tried to say it cheerfully, I really did, but it turned out quite cold.

“So… what are you doing here?” His eyes briefly fell over the folder that I clutched to my chest, but quickly went up to my eyes.

“I work here” I rolled my eyes, being suddenly flustered about it. “I’m unofficial back up for the Avengers”

“R-Really?” Peter chuckled, causing us to lock eyes. “Me too, I guess”

I realized how I had subconsciously sought a way to be closer to Peter even if I was still trying to distance myself from him somehow. We were both in the same situation, secretly ‘working’ for Tony Stark and backing up the Avengers in the rare occasions in which they needed our help.

“Maybe I was trying to be special like you” I admitted, also telling myself so. “More like Spiderman”

I noticed the realization slowly arriving to his features, and he sighed tiredly. For a moment, he glued his glance to the floor, but after a few seconds he looked back at me.

“You were never supposed to compete with Spiderman” He said in a low voice, almost being in pain as he spoke. I knew he was somehow blaming himself for that.

“I know, and it wasn’t your fault” I sighed as well, feeling a weight being lifted from my shoulders after all that time. “But I wanted to, I admired you so much…”

“But Y/N… Peter Parker and Spiderman are different”

“Really? So you didn’t leave that day without your super suit?”

Peter gawked at the air, astonished by my sudden comment. I shrugged a little, taking importance out of it.

“Yeah, I know. Mr. Stark sometimes isn’t as secretive as he thinks”

“I never meant to…” Peter’s eyes were becoming watery. “I’m really sorry, Y/N, I really didn’t want you to feel like that”

“Look, Peter” I rested the folder against my legs instead, feeling suddenly fidgety and restless. “I’ve changed. In the time I’ve been working here I’ve… matured. The Avengers helped me realize some things, especially Mr. Rogers”

“I mean… he’s the oldest, right?” Peter joked, probably trying to hide the fact that he got emotional. “He’s gotta be... the wisest...”

He shook his head, embarrased about his goofy attempt. I smiled fondly, but continued talking nonetheless.

“I’m not mad at you, and I still care about you. I’ve gotten over most of my insecurities, I’m a different person now” I said it with the intention of showing him that I didn’t think like that anymore. Maybe I was still trying to reach Spiderman when I first started at the Avengers compound, but not anymore.

“Would you take me in again then?”

“W-What?”

“I… Really miss you, Y/N” His expression was that of a lost puppy, which was pretty adorable and irresistible. “We’d make a good team”

“You mean with Spiderman? Or with Peter Parker?” I tilted my head to the side, analyzing the shift in his expression.

He smiled a little, and his brown eyes sparkled with happiness.

“Both. After all, they’re the same person”

I smiled back, noticing he had realized I was right about that part. It felt like we had settled our differences, fixed everything that pulled us apart. It felt… reassuring, exhilarating.

“Okay, Parker” I leaned the folder against my ribs with one hand and wrapped my free one around his. “You got yourself a deal”

“Underoos!” Mr. Stark called him, and I was surprised when Peter walked his direction along with me, never letting go of my hand.

I noticed Tony looked at us with a little smirk, satisfied. He didn’t seem to mind that Peter was bringing me with him to have the private conversation with him.

“Just so you know” Peter whispered as we walked. “You’ve been always special like me”