#the suit chooses him when he’s following a lead about spiderman

[yeagrave]

symbiote!jake rahhh

[dnfinite123]

(What if) INSOMNIAC'S VENOM LETHAL PROTECTOR

STORY-The tongue that Kraven cut off survives. Eddie Brock happen to be there during the Venom vs Kraven fight and he's the camera-man who got footage for the Bugle. The tongue latches onto Eddie's motorcycle after he got the footage fleeing the scene. Then further down the story Eddie flees town when the symbiotes took over manhattan with the symbiote tongie still on his bike. We cut to Eddie visiting his parent's home out of town where Cletus is right there holding his mom at cut throat. He explains how his mother used to be part of the flame and his cause before she deserted. Eddie tries to reason with hin but Cletus just slices her throat and runs away. Venom sensing eddie's rage bonds with him. This was happening just as the particle acclerator was going of so this piece of venom lives because he's out of range from the particle accelerator. Venom goes on a killing spree of the flame cult trying to find Cletus. Miles having just became an independent spiderman investogates these lines of brutal killings leading to our first boss fight between venom and miles. We play as Venom. Miles lost the fight and tells Peter that venom is back. After more investigation, Miles finds himself confronted by Cletus who reveals himself to have his own symbiote suit. We then have a short boss fight between Miles and Carnage where Miles eventually loses and gets KO'd. We cut to Peter searching the city for Venom after his call from Miles. The 2 eventually finds each other and fight but after a talk about what had happened they make up and decide to end this carnage threat first before settling between them.

Cletus brings all his followers to a small chapel in the city for an initiation where he gives 2 of his followers symbiotes. Turning them into Scorn and Toxin and also showing the incapacitated body of Miles rallying the support of his cult before turning him into Carnage Miles(absolute carnage suit). He also builds a huge shrine over the city blocking the sun making the whole town red as he demands his followers to make this city burn. We then cut to venom going on his own quest before he gets ambushed by Toxin having a fight in the daily bugle. Venom comes out victorious and kills him. Cut to Peter exploring an old abandoned factory where he comes across scorn who controls the technology of the factory turning it against Peter before we have another boss fight, with Peter finishing the fight by disintegrating the scorn symbiote.

Venom and Peter meets up at the bottom of the shrine to have their showdown against carnage facing wave after wave of enemies only to be greeted by Carnage Miles. They have a boss fight with Miles knocking venom of the shrine and bringing Peter to Cletus. Venom has seperated from Eddie where he is badly injured. He reaches for the symbiote having flashbacks of his and Harry's memories while he was venom. Choosing to be a better person he reattaches with venom and grows the wings flying to the top of the shrine to have finish the job. Venom beats the carnage symbiote off of Miles and saves Peyer in a cutscene before all 3 come face to face with carnage for a final showdown. Ultimately carnage is defeated with the symbiote beaten off him and our heroes have a moral dilemma on whether he should live or die. Eddie pleads for them to kill him while the spidermen tries to convince him not to while Cletus will say that he'll escape and do it all again if they take him to prison. Eddie decided that he's no hero and that he's a lethal protector and then proceeds to bite off Cletus' head. He then turns around flies away after trlling spider-man that his job is done and he's needed elsewhere. Ending the story of Venom: Lethal Protector.

Ideas Not done by me big shoutout to a Reddit username Due-Science3011

[lyssismagical]

Harley being worried when peter’s on patrol? with angst and fluff? 🥺🥺 thank you

This is mostly just fluff oops

Harley knew what he was signing up for when he started seeing Peter. The worry, the anxiety, the late nights waiting up for him, it was all inevitable. Peter said that he was never going to give up Spider-Man, it was always going to be there.

And Harley wasn’t mad, per se. He didn’t want Peter to have to give up something he loves doing just for Harley’s peace of mind.

He was okay with it.

But then they moved in together and got engaged a few months later, and it started hurting a little bit more to kiss his fiancé goodbye every night, no idea if it would be the last time.

Harley stays quiet about all his fears, about losing Peter so soon in life, about how he can’t sleep without knowing Peter made it home safe. But being quiet about something that affects him so much isn’t the best idea because it leads to the worst fight they’ve ever had.

It always sucks because whenever they fight, Peter cries, and that’s the last thing Harley ever wants to cause.

After that fight – which ended with Peter staying at MJ’s house for four days before they reconciled and he came home – they finally come up with a schedule to quell Harley’s anxiety as much as possible but without hurting Peter’s Spider-Manning.

But it still sucks.

“Please, sweetheart, just one night?” Harley says, trying to pull the sweetest expression he can.

Peter smiles softly through the mirror. His suit is in his hands, ready to change and leave through the window, but he’s hesitating.

“You know I can’t miss a night, Harls. I’ll be home at one, just like promised.” Peter rakes a hand through his damp hair from showering, and sighs. “I’ll take Sunday off, alright? We’ll go out to that new restaurant you’ve been talking about and maybe, if we’re not super tired, we can see if we can catch a performance on Broadway?”

Despite knowing that it won’t happen, Harley nods anyways. Peter does that a lot, he makes plans for date night or trips, but he always backs out at the last second for Spider-Man or for a work-related crisis.

Peter’s face softens even more, walking into their bedroom to press a kiss to Harley’s forehead. “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t easy for you, but I promise, this time, I’ll be there for Sunday, and for Thanksgiving at Tony’s, I’ll be there.”

“I worry.” It’s not anything new, Harley’s always worrying about Peter. Back when they were stupid teenagers dating online, Harley always felt unbelievably helpless whenever Peter got hurt. Harley was all the way in Tennessee and there was nothing he could do whenever Peter needed help or was in the hospital for weeks following a mission.

“I know you do.”

Early in their relationship, Harley would’ve gotten upset that there was no apology. There was no promise for a solution to Harley’s worrying. Now, Harley knows better. This is just the way it is, the way it has to be.

Harley leans up to kiss Peter. It’s not a goodbye, he tries to tell himself, not necessarily. But it could be. That’s the part that never stops hurting. That any one of these days where he kisses Peter goodbye, it could be goodbye forever.

“I love you.”

“I’m going to be fine,” Peter says. And he will be, Harley knows that. He’s been fine the past four years Harley’s let him go out there. “But I love you too. And I won’t bother telling you not to wait up because I know you will no matter what I say.”

Peter slips his suit on, presses the spider in the center, and cups Harley’s cheek before he puts his mask on. “We’re okay?”

He asks it the same way Harley says I Love You. Just in case.

“We’re good. But I’m holding you to bringing me to a Broadway show and taking me to dinner on Sunday. And next week we’re into the next phase of wedding planning, so you better not ditch me with choosing flowers.”

“I’ll be there.”

* When one in the morning passes, Harley tries not to panic.

Just because they have an agreement that Peter will be home at one, doesn’t mean he follows it too strictly, but he always texts to let Harley know when he’ll be home.

This time, there’s no text.

“I’m sure he’s fine.” His sister sounds exasperated like she always does whenever he calls at the late hours of the night. The only upside to calling her over other family and friends is that she lives on the west coast for school, so her time zone matches up nicely to the times he needs her.

“It’s been an hour and he didn’t text.”

She sighs and he can practically hear her rolling her eyes. “I know but don’t you think you would’ve seen something on the news by now if he’d been hurt? You have the news on, don’t you?”

“I hate that you’re right.” He finally stops in the middle of the living room, hours of pacing making his feet ache. He’s shivering, cold air pouring through the open window Peter will slip through eventually, even Peter’s thick sweater wrapped around him isn’t enough to combat the cold. “I also hate worrying every night about my stupid superhero fiancé.”

She sighs again, a little less dramatically this time. “I obviously don’t know what it’s like to be in your position, but you have to put more trust in him. Before, he was willing to be as selfless as imaginable, like his life didn’t have meaning compared to others, but now, don’t you think he’s keeping himself safe because he has you to come home to? He has a wedding to plan? He has a whole future with you to worry about?”

“I know. And I do trust him. I just worry.” He sits down on the couch, muting the news, and stops looking at the open window. “Sorry for calling you.”

“It’s nice to hear from you occasionally, even if it’s just to rant about Peter,” she says, laughter on her voice. “Oh, and I need you to pick a date for the wedding, so I can book my ticket home soon! Alright, my job here’s done, so I’ll talk to you soon, Harley. Love you. Say hi to Morgan for me. Bye!”

Before Harley has a chance to answer, she hangs up the phone. He laughs quietly in the empty stillness of the apartment, and shakes his head.

He’s about to call Peter, ask him if everything’s okay, when he gets a text.

Sorry I’m late. Be home in a bit. Got caught up. Love you.

He grabs the blanket from the back of the couch, wraps it tight around him, and switches the channel to put on a TV show.

It might not be the way he wants things to be, it’s not the dream life he always thought he’d have. He hates how much worry builds the longer Peter’s gone, but Peter, even if it’s not in his control, will try with everything he has to come to Harley every night. And that’s enough.

* He’s mostly asleep by the time Peter slides gracefully through the open window.

“Aw, honey, you didn’t have to wait up,” Peter murmurs softly. He’s got a bouquet of white and red tulips in his hands, a little damp from the light rain, but it’s the thought that counts.

From the vague flower knowledge Harley has, he’s pretty sure it means I’m sorry and I love you.

“Was worried,” Harley admits. His shoulders have finally relaxed and he’s having trouble keeping his eyes open now that he knows Peter’s safe and home. “You didn’t text.”

Peter bends down to press a kiss to Harley’s forehead, brushing back his messy curls softly. “I know. I’m sorry. There was a home invasion a few blocks from here and their kids were Spider-Man fans so I stuck around to make sure everything was okay. I didn’t realize how much time had passed.”

Harley can barely help the sleepy, dopey smile that crosses his face. “Love you.”

“I love you too, honey. I promise I’ll be here for Sunday and all next week if you need me. For now, let’s get you up to bed, yeah?”

When Peter reaches down a hand to help Harley to his feet, Harley uses the momentum to instead tug Peter down onto the couch with him. It’s not entirely comfortable, they don’t have the money for nice things when they’re planning for a wedding and a honeymoon on their sad salaries, but Peter’s there, against his chest, warm and laughing.

The flowers are abandoned on the floor, neither of them really have the green thumbs to keep them alive anyways, and Peter presses the spider on his chest to toss off his dirty suit, the smell of smoke and blood still clinging to him.

“You’re lucky I love you,” he says, pulling the blanket more securely around them.

Harley grins unashamedly and kisses Peter’s cheek. “Night, darlin’. Love you too.”

“Goodnight, Harls.”

Taglist: @littlemissagrafina  @spideygirl2003 @romeoandjulietyouwish @c-artara @shadedrose01 @likeaphoenix13 @pj-hermes-tonystark-obsessed  @you-get-killed-walk-it-off @kitkatwinchester  @emo-girl10 @justme--emily  @hold-our-destiny @imalivebecauseirondad @spiderman-peterman @dykeragee @maryserrao 

[one-spidey-boii]

BUMMER SUMMER || peter parker; ch five

read ch four here

masterlist

an; sorry for posing so late in the day. i hope this chapter makes up for that. i love to hear your feedback!!

warnings; mentions of battle wounds (i.e. blood/scars/etc), future smut, mature language, fluff, angst, both peter and oc are 18+!!

word count; 2.8k+

edie's pov.

"this is pretty good." peter says with a little smirk on his face. his lips and nose are all i can see as he sits on the couch, still wearing his mask.

he takes another bite of mac and cheese before looking in my direction and shooting me a big cheesy smile.

once he came back i had to explain to him that i did indeed burn my hand on the hot pot of water, fully knowing he wouldn't let me live it down. luckily for me, i'm not the only one who had done something worth making fun of.

"at least i can let myself back into the compound without having to knock." i rebuttal and stick my tongue out at him, "and peter, take you mask off, it's weird watching you eat that way, just a nose and mouth and ew." i end my complaint with a fake shudder.

with an eye roll, peter pulls his mask off his head and takes a spiteful bite of his food. i chuckle at his behavior and excuse myself to the kitchen to clean up.

trying my best to keep my blistered thumb out of contact with anything, cleaning takes me a lot longer than i want it to. i'm about to start the dishwasher when i realize peter still has his bowl in the living room.

"you'd think mr. stark would have a robot to clean the dishes instead of-" i stop my sentence short when im confronted with an empty room, no peter. his finished bowl lay there on the coffee table, with the cheesy fork thrown messily next to it. with a grimace, i pick up after the boy and finally go to finish things up.

it's not like peter to be so...there one minute and gone the next. he's always the one to stick around after all the fun has been had and just, be there. but for the past day, he wasn't. and i know i shouldn't worry about it, being here specifically is stressful, but the more i repeat it over and over again in my head- the more it starts to sound like a really lame excuse.

i let my feet lead me back to my room, hesitating only slightly when i pass peters closed door. it's late, no use in trying to talk to him now. he just needs rest. we both do.

with that thought in mind, i make my way into my room, shutting the door behind me with a soft click. i'm already in pajamas, as i wasn't the one who went on patrol tonight.

my room is alarmingly blank. white walls, no pictures, no personality. at one point i plan to decorate it, and hopefully by then, peter will be comfortable enough to help me. a smile grazes my face when i finally sit down on the edge of my bed, it's comfortable, and i silently thank tony for providing the best for peter and i while we stay here.

i peer underneath the bed frame and pull out the black bag that holds my most valuable belongings. i unzip the top and pull out my utility belt, along with all my knives. i give an amused sigh as i think about people's reactions if they were to ever find these. i'll admit, i may have a few too many knives in my possession, but each one comes in handy every time i go out. and let's be real, you can't expect me to go around and pick up each knife i've thrown after every fight.

my ears perk up when a small creak comes from the other side of my bedroom door. the light in the hallway casts a shadow of two feet i can barely see through the crack along the floor. with my breath hitched in my throat, i slowly stand up to not make any noise.

i know the shadow behind the door is peter. and as i tiptoe my way over to the door, i keep a hold of the breath in my throat, so afraid to scare him away. he keeps moving his weight between his feet, causing the hardwood floors to creak with every adjustment. i move one hand to rest against the doorknob, the other barely skimming the white wood of the door. i let go of the air i’m holding and the movement on the other side halts.

i stop too, wanting him to knock or simply open the door. it has only been a day and the lack of interaction from peter is enough to pull on my heartstrings. much to my disappointment, his footsteps retreat back down the hallway and away from me for the umpteenth time today. leaving me to rest my forehead gently against the cold surface of the door.

peter's pov.

no part of me really wanted to leave edie after i finished my food. i wanted to stay and watch movies and tell her about my first night out. i wanted to see if her thumb really was okay. then the nagging part of my brain kicked in and suddenly i couldn't stand the idea of her walking back in the room, seeing me looking like the biggest idiot still in my goddamn suit.

it's small things like that that keep me from knocking on her door too.

i somehow find myself standing in front of her bedroom door. the time is almost past midnight and my hands are sweaty and oh my god there's a stain on my sweatpants and my hair probably looks a mess and i can't do this. i can't do this. what am i doing?

and then i know she's there. on the other side of the door, just waiting. waiting for me to do something, anything. i want to. i want to walk in and flop on her bed and just talk and smile and laugh at her bad jokes, but then she lets out a sigh. a sigh that tells me she's upset, or lonely. so i raise my hand to knock.

and i don't do it. i walk back to my room and close the door behind me.

-

a few awkward days into the future, i'm again- in my room. the past days rushed by as edie and i remained in our separate corners and patrolled when it was our turn, both afraid to make any sort of move, or at least, i was. small greetings in the hallway, eating dinner together in silence, and secret glances cast across the room were really all the contact we had recently. that was, until now.

she snuck up on me like a wild cat- stealth and agility giving her the upper hand as i made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the kitchen. just as i'm about to take my first bite, the entire thing is knocked out of my hand and onto the ground.

i snap my head up to see edie in her black suit, looking smug and proud of herself.

"no time for food, peter, we gotta train." she chirps at me with a smile that she tries her best to hide. i look between her and my ruined sandwich splayed across the floor, clear annoyance taking over my features. she chooses to ignore that, i guess.

"get that spidey suit on. meet you on the mat in five minutes," she calls out as she turns and runs for the training room. i let my eyes follow her figure until she's out of sight, only then do i turn to the mess on the ground and clean it up as fast as i can. i get ready faster than ever, eager to see what she has in store.

i slow down a few feet outside the door from my fast pace, not wanting her to think i'm too excited after she destroyed my afternoon snack. when i get to the room, she's nowhere in sight. looking back now, i don't know why i didn't see it coming.

with a soft grunt, she attacks me from behind and we both tumble to the ground, i'm trapped underneath her on my stomach as she holds one of my arms behind my back.

"gotcha." she whispers in my ear. i almost pass out right there from embarrassment, but i'd be lying if i said i'm not in the mood for some revenge for my sandwich.

i raise my free hand above my head and shoot a web that reaches the ceiling, pulling myself out from under her and away from her reach. with a sly smile beneath my mask, i taunt her, "come and get me now, wolfie."

then she does something i didn't know was even an option. she raises her arm and points it to the ceiling, a hook shoots out of her suit and clamps onto the concrete next to my head. with that, she propels herself upwards and grabs me by the ankle, ultimately taking me down.

now i'm overwhelmed by how bad i'm being beaten. i'm spiderman, why am i struggling so hard right now?

"i came prepared, parker. don't think i didn't learn from last time." edie teases as she walks around me in a wide circle. finally coming to kneel in front of me, she continues, "i have a proposal for you," she pauses to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, "we'll fight, one to one, no weapons or webs, just us. first one down for ten seconds is the loser."

suddenly wanting out of this situation due to utter embarrassment, i speak up, "well, damn, looks like i've been down longer than ten seconds, i must be the los-" she cuts me off.

"no no no, we'll wipe the slate. get up, mr. parker." she offers me a hand, which i reluctantly take, "and to make it interesting- if you win, i'll go on patrol for you tonight. and if i win," she pauses again, eyeing me up and down, "you have to tell me why you've had a stick up your ass this past week."

my eyes widen, i clear my throat and try to come up with a cover story in my head, "wh-what are you talking about? there is no stick up my-" she cuts me off. again.

"save it, peter. there is a piece of wood stuck up your ass and clearly, it's making you a grumpy boy. and hey, you only have to share if i win." she says it with a look that makes me swallow thickly, but i keep my facade up.

"alright then, let's do this."

with that, she unclasps the utility belt that hugs her waist and tosses it to the side, flinching a little at the harsh sound of sharp pangs of metal hitting the concrete. i can't just take my web shooters off, considering they were a part of my suit, but i pledge to her that i won't use them.

the fight is on when she begins circling the blue mat slowly. i follow in suit, raising my arms in a fighting position. in the moments leading up to the first move, i watch her figure waltz along the outskirts of the mat, her hips swaying naturally with each calculated step she takes. her eyes are trained on mine, or at least the expressive ones on my mask.

she charges at me with fire in her eyes, swinging two punches, one left and one right. i dodge both of them easily, simply stepping to each side as her fists fly past my head. edie huffs heavily and moves on to taking jabs at my stomach, only able to hit me once, but i'd be lying if i said it doesn't throw me off a little.

of course, with that moment of weakness, she ruthlessly grabs my arm and flings me over her shoulder, a move i'm growing to hate coming from her. once on the ground, she sits on top of me, thighs pinning down my arms on each side as she begins to count, "one, two, three..."

with a gruff grunt, i flip my legs up and around her neck, knocking her off of me and to the side as i scramble away from her. getting back onto my feet, i pivot around to avoid another angry punch that comes towards my skull. she throws one more, and i catch it in my hand, stopping her movement as she stares at me with shock.

i twist her arm behind her back and push her down on her knees, she lets out a yelp that hurts my heart, until she picks up one foot and jabs me in the leg, making me let out a yelp of my own. edie is instantly back on her feet and this time she goes for my legs again, lunging towards me and tackling me once again, "get ready to spill your guts, parker," she teases. "three, four, five..."

a horrible, mind-bending wash of nerves washes over me and as she gets closer to ten, the more energy i gather to get the girl off of me.

"seven, eight, nine..."

before she reaches ten, i mindlessly grab her by the neck and flip us over, slamming her back into the mat with more force than i realize at the time.

i immediately begin counting in my head as i hold her there with my hand, my arm shaking, breaths loud and heavy.

one, two, three...

her eyes are locked on me, she's wrapping her hands around mine.

four, five, six...

she's clawing at my hands, her eyes desperate and...

seven, eight, nine...

she's scared.

i fling myself off of her. my breathing still ragged and it hurts my lungs with every shaky inhale. i can't meet her eyes. not after they stare into mine with the only emotion i never wanted to see.

she's scared. of me. and suddenly i can't breathe. i collapse back onto the mat with a shallow thud, staring at the ceiling with a foggy haze clouding my vision. it's silent for a while, aside from the sound of our bodies struggling to fill our lungs with air.

"okay. i'm gonna head out. to patrol." edie's voice is soft and airy. and my heart is broken.

-

she left earlier than technically necessary. our patroling hours were from dusk til whenever it felt right to leave the city. she had been gone for a couple of hours and the sun was just now setting.

after what happened, i laid on the mat in the training room for a long time, not able to move as i processed the previous events. eventually, i got up. with sluggish movements, i arrived in my room and successfully stumbled out of my suit and into my bed. that's what i'm doing now. laying in bed and listening to soft music play from my phone, hoping sleep will take over my body sooner rather than later.

i roll from my back onto my side to face the nightstand next to me. a small glimmer of light reflects off of a small piece of technology. my comm. with a sigh, i reach for it and nestle it in my ear before closing my eyes and slipping away.

"pete? peter, i need you to listen to me. please be listening." a small voice pleads in my head. i raise my hand and swipe at it, as if it's a fly buzzing in my ear.

"come on. let me know you're there." the voice sounds off again. this time i open my eyes and acknowledge the words and where they’re coming from. i shoot up in bed, now sitting straight up, wiping the sweat away from my brow.

"edie? i'm here, e." i mumble, not trying to hide the worry in my voice.

she lets out a breath, "oh, oh good. peter i need you to meet me at the back door, the one in the garage."

i nod and spring out of bed, wasting no time to do what she's asked. "pete?" she whispers. it's so soft and so frail in my ear. i gulp nervously at the sound of it.

"i'm coming, hun. almost there." i whisper back as i round the staircase that leads down to the garage. there, through the glass doors, edie stands. more like leans against the clear surface with a weary smile on her face. i watch as she raises her thumb to the finger pad and the doors slide open. i watch as she takes a few slow steps to meet me. i watch her hands as they slide down her left side, coming back up, covered in blood.

and i catch her as she falls forwards, right into my arms.

|| taglist; @my-patronus-is-mabel-pines @whycantileaveyou @lovewolfspirit

let me know if you wanna be added to the taglist :)

[trojansblr]

#FightOn! (05) | OT7 Halloween edition!

Summary: The University of Southern California is a prestigious school - only the best or the richest can attend. That means there will be a lot of spoiled brats. Two groups start colliding and the entire college shift alongside them. What will happen when sparks starts to flow between them? Drama will certainly be there.

Pairing: BTS with -eventually- female characters

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Smut (in the future), College!au, Interactive!au, Halloween!au

Word Count: 20k UNEDITED

A/N: First things first thank you so much to everyone who patiently waited and sent me nice messages. You guys helped my not so confident ass going hehe :’) also, thank you Ali and Lily for being and unconditional support, even if this piece is a mess. You guys make me feel embraced and secure! Like I said, it’s not perfect and it’s more like a comedy based on the sad life of emo Jungkook  or something than a proper halloween/suspense story, but I tried and had fun in the process! That’s what counts to me. I hope you all like it and also, I’ll be waiting for asks and conspiracy theories on the discord chat hehehe Happy -first part of- Halloween, fam! Love you all very very much. 🖤🎃

P/S: It was hard to insert so many people into one chapter but! to the one’s that didn’t show that much, don’t worry, part 2 coming out soon and you will definitely show more there hehehe and I can assure you guys part two will be even more chaotic. 

The Characters • Day 3 • Day 4 • Day 5

1

USC’s haunting night, which came to an end with a shocking reveal, began with nothing more than an exciting buzz that hovered in the air.

The students were now filling up the campus streets with contagious laughter and thrill. A few lamp poles were shining through this dark afternoon in the fall of 2019, orange pumpkins adorning the entrances of the old buildings, three leaves and skeletons that happened to be hanged around were dancing in the howling wind. It was Halloween night, it was time to trick and be tricked, it was time to pretend to be someone you were not while dancing the night away… you could tell by the way all houses were being left in the dark, that every student residing here waited anxiously for this chance of playing pretend.

A built up silhouette wrapped up in a tight red suit, walked in a fast pace towards the Fluor Tower, nobody to be seen down the gloomy streets since the party was located in the opposite direction. The unforgiving wind made walking a little worse for the boy, his breathing against the mask he was wearing began to feel heavier and warmer but there was no way he would take it off now. His friends needed to see him in full costume, he kept thinking. The boy beneath the mask was Jungkook Jeon. His friends, known to most of the university as the Y Group, were all gathered at Deo and Hyori’s dorm room, waiting for him.

Hyori was the one suggesting the disguise Jungkook was now wearing. A week before this, the boy was still indecisive about what to wear and in one rainy afternoon, while they all ate a cheesy pizza and the rain tumbled endlessly against the window, she suggested him to dress like Spiderman with an obvious glance sent through the other end of the table.

Once he was almost reaching the girls building, he started hearing euphoric chattering close by. Hoseok’s laughter impossible to mistake by somebody else’s.

“I can’t believe he actually did it!” Jungkook heard Hoseok say and immediately the idea of hiding behind a tree and pulling a prank on his friends crossed his mind. That was exactly what he did “That guy is crazy to say at least!” laughter filled the chilly air.

“I never doubted he wasn’t” Hyori added sharply.

“Where’s Jungkook though? Didn’t he say he was like- 5 minutes from here?” The boy’s attention was now fully focused on Deo “I’m going to die if we stay here any longer waiting” the sound of her shoe tapping nervously onto the floor didn’t go unnoticed by the hidden spidey.

“Want my jacket?” Jimin offered “He did say he was a few minutes away? Maybe he met someone?”

“Jungkook is more anti social than I am, I doubt he stopped by with someone-” Hyori started but was quickly interrupted.

“HEY! No I’m not!” he let out by impulse making the group snap their heads towards the direction of the sound. Hoseok’s hands fled to grab Deo’s arm who was near him, his eyes almost popping out. Both girls unable to form a sound, too caught up in the moment.

“Fuck-” Jungkook cursed under his breath once he realized what he did.

“Aaaaish!” Jimin said out loud; adrenaline running through his veins, although he would never admit he got a little scared for a second there.

“Are you serious dude??” Deo said once she saw someone coming from behind a tree, ready to throw some hands at whoever it was. She was dressed like Cher Horowitz from Clueless, the movie, one that Jungkook himself had seen countless times once he was younger. He remember turning on the tv on Sunday afternoons and seeing the actress face over and over again. Deo did a great job, he thought.

“It’s spider man now” he started walking towards his friends, arms coming to the front of him to mimic the superhero spider web shooting action “How do I look?”

“Ya, this guy will never change” Hoseok laughed it out “I was really scared, you- you dumbass” he finished making the younger laugh. Hoseok wasn’t far behind, and the character he had chosen a month before, was on everyone’s opinion, the perfect choice for him. Ace Ventura was spirited and loud in every way Hoseok could be. His clothes were probably arranged by his sister, she loved to dress up her younger brother and Hoseok didn’t mind at all, and his hair… Wow, his hair!

“Imagine if it went like I had planned it to” Jungkook chuckled and reached back to tug into his mask and pull it off. His heavy huff louder now, hair completely messy.

“I could punch you in the face I swear to God!” Deo started but the corners of her mouth were already pulling up.

“Can we go now? After this I feel like somebody else will be lurking in the dark-”

“Eyyyy- It’s halloween but we’re not in a horror movie” Jimin glanced at Hyori feeling creeped out. Of course Jimin wouldn’t waste the opportunity to look cool and laid back this Halloween, and Deo excelled herself making his hair look like Johnny Depp’s in Cry Baby. Hyori on the other hand, decided her costume by fumbling through her whole closet. I’ll go with the easiest but still remarkably costume, she said, and that’s how Ashley Spinelli turned out to be her choice.

“She has a point. Everybody will try to scare us tonight and I’m not ready”

“Let’s just go!” Jimin said pulling Deo and Hyori’s arm at the same time and Jungkook couldn’t help but laugh at how much of scaredy-cats his friends were.

“Wait!!!” Hyori heard Hoseok saying loudly right behind her, and once she turned around to smile at him, vision a little blocked by her mustard beanie, she couldn’t help the goosebumps that went through her body. Something feels eerie, maybe it’s just the fact that we are alone in a dark street, she thought. And shrugging off that feeling, she marched alongside her friends to the party she put most effort so far.

2

Doing his best to keep his posture straight while sitting in bed, Yoongi was feeling rather sleepy having Carolina toy with his hair, the girl trying her best to style it just like Naruto’s. He had been feeling a little lazy the past few weeks but he knew there was zero to no chance of him escaping halloween night, specially because his friends digged the fact they could just dress like some weirdos and pull pranks all night long. If he said he wasn’t going, for sure they would do something stupid and hey, he wasn’t one for refusing free liquor either.

“Why is your hair so damn straight?!” he heard Carolina complain for the thousand time. He said nothing, just kept his eyes closed and opened a cheeky smile. A month before his group started talking about this night - mostly the girl and Taehyung who were already fantasizing about what to wear. Namjoon and Jin quickly followed the lead making jokes on who was similar to what character and what not. Once they inquired him on who would he be for this night he just said the first thing that came to his mind. First because it was an easy costume since it was basically one piece of clothing and also because he wasn’t creative enough to remember anything else, as far as he knew Naruto was the only other guy he would like to be if he had to choose.

“Are you still doing his hair?” Jin came into Carolina’s bedroom with an indignant tone and before she could even answer he was already adding more to his little playful rant “Ya, you need to help me out with the makeup! Namjoon made it look like I had a hole instead of an eye-”

“I’m sorry if I’m no make up artist!!!” they all heard Namjoon say out loud; Yoongi could perfectly picture him sat down on the couch too entertained with his cellphone to even glance up while responding Jin’s comment about his poor artistic abilities.

“Ya” Jin turned around to look at Namjoon; voice deep but in a playful tone “You don’t need to be a makeup artist to know this looks terrible”

“Take those baby wipes over there” Carolina pointed a little package over her desk “And go clean that mess! I’ll do your makeup once I finish Yoongs” she continued spraying hairspray non stop while combing the hair of a now intoxicated boy, who kept coughing like he was really dying.

“I told you not to open your mouth!!” she said more laughing than scolding Yoongi.

“Im- Argh- Impossible!” the taste on his mouth was horrible and for a second he panicked over dying the most ridiculous death. It didn’t help the fact that Jin passed by laughing hysterically only to cough the same way he did once he got closer to the dangerous cloud of spray hovering over Yoongi’s head.

“You should be given permission of the state to use something as toxic as this” Jin said getting out quickly making Carolina laugh and shush him with her famous ‘Go away’. He directed himself to their bathroom to try and remove the damage Namjoon had made on his eye. Jin usually liked a lot what he saw on the mirror, and today wasn’t any different. His hair was combed with gel, he had a nice suit on and personally he thought he did a nice job on gluing Thing - family addams member, or hand, into his suit right shoulder. Gomez Addams was who he chose to be tonight, a classy and fun character, very appropriate for him as Namjoon had pointed out.

“Tcharamm! Howl arrived!”

“Woaah Taehyung, nice job!”

“You like it??”

“What’s going on with that cape?”

“Leave his cape alone, Yoongi, he did good”

“Thank you!”

Jin let out a chuckle, his friends were always nagging one another, not that he wouldn’t do the same with them but normally he would play the mom figure and try do ease the situations.

He looked at himself in the mirror one more time after throwing the used baby wipe in the trash and pushing the bathroom door he made his way to the living room.

“Lady Joker I hope you’re ready for me cause I’m all clean and I’m impatient as well” heads turned to Jin, Taehyung’s previous pout face becoming an excited one now after seeing him.

“Woah!!! Jin! You look just like him!!!”

“You mean handsome?” Jin stated the obvious with his hands on his hips.

“Yes…?” Taehyung replied with a weird confused face making them laugh.

“Lady Joker here is ready, so is everyone else now…” Carolina spared a glance to everyone in the room “… I think. It’s just you now, c’mon” she started pushing Jin back to the bathroom.

“That’s cause he has the easiest character of all” Jin went backwards while Carolina still pushed him; his finger pointed out to Namjoon.

“Being Milo Thatcher requires great effort, like having a brain for example” Namjoon concluded.

“I hope that’s not you calling me dumb” Jin answered back, the sound of it a little muffled since Carolina was closing the bathroom door to avoid any bickering.

“Yeap. He was” Yoongi said quietly; he was sat on the arm of the couch Namjoon was in, his arms crossed and his hair was fully up.

“So! Do you guys think I look good with long hair??” Taehyung said after a minute of entire silence making both boys look at him while he wiggled his head to make his fake hair flow.

After the bathroom door was closed, Jin sat on the faucet while Carolina opened every drawer looking after her black eye shadow and that’s when she heard Jin say “He was calling me dumb wasn’t he? He’ll see. Just- Wow the disrespect” and the way he said it was more than enough for the girl to crack a laughter right on his face.

3

Differently from the chilly outside, the party at Tau Kappa Epsilon was burning hot. The frat committee had pulled a great amount of money and effort this year and everyone that had been to the Halloween party last year could say so the minute they set foot on the entrance. For starters, this year for you to get inside you needed to know the password, which was strategically leaked on the USC gossip blog a week before this.

“Did you find it yet?” Holly asked; she had her arms crossed, the wind too harsh and although she was wearing a red hoodie and a pair of yellow trousers because she was dressed as Winnie the Pooh she couldn’t help but feel cold since she and her group were still outside.

“God, why in all days today had to be this windy?!” Tori said with frustration, tightening her grip on the coat she was wearing “If I hadn’t brought this coat I would be hard as ice right now, I’m telling you” she chuckled, her chin trembling a little since she was feeling cold, the coat doing nothing for her uncovered legs. She had decided with Deo they would go as iconic characters from the 90’s, and of course she chose Vivian Ward from Pretty Woman.  

“Ok I think I got it!”

“You did??” Holly that was a little distracted looking around exclaimed in surprise and quickly scooched up towards Silvia who had been glued on her phone scrolling through USC gossip page to find the code.

“Yeah, I think I did! Look-” Silvia showed them the phone; she was dressed as Simon of Alvin and the chipmunks, her glasses sliding on her nose bridge non-stop while she looked down too focused.

“Nice job, Silvy!”

“Now I only need to wait for Esme and Tessa… I’m sure they are almost here, I mean I called them half an hour ago and they were already on their way” Silvia said looking at her phone again, checking if she had any unread messages.

“I’m sure we can go inside and they meet us there? We could send them a text with the-”

“HEY GIRLS!!” the three of them heard and their attention flew to the newcomers.

“Nina!” Holly exclaimed excited.

“You look amazing guys! Oh my God, I’m so excited for tonight!” Nina said making Cecilia laugh besides her; Nina was dressed as Poison Ivy, her new red hair contrasting greatly with her green outfit. She had some ivy plants complementing her costume and it looked absolutely stunning.

“That’s actually right, she came all the way here talking about it” Cecilia joked; she had chosen to dress up like a sexy racer this year, keeping it simple but hot.

“And you look a bomb as well!” Tori said, giving both girls a quick hug. “Now chop chop girls! Otherwise we’ll get all ruined in this bad wind”

“I’ll send Tessa and Esme a text with the code then- Let’s get going, I’m kind of freezing as well and regretting being a chipmunk without proper pants” Silvia said making them laugh.

The decoration this year was incredibly well done, full of big killer statues, things hanged and detailed paintings on the wall, most probably TKE (Tau Kappa Epsilon) had once again contacted the art students to help with that. Hoseok had already jumped out of his feet ten times at least, too scared of the large Pennywise face he had come across a few times and the many spider webs hanging above everyone’s heads.

“I thought it was you!” Amber laughed when she came besides Hoseok and he jumped in fear… Again. “How are you doing Mister…?”

“Ace Ventura! And ooof- Amber!” He gasped first because he had been scared and now because she was looking really good.

“Hey! You came! Are you alright love? You seem a little startled.” Amber was so happy to see the boy that she talked way too fast making him stare at her with endearing eyes “It’s been a while.”

“Of course! I wouldn’t miss this party for the world! But that Pennywise…” he said pointing at the wall painting, a frown crossing his face “Not cool at all.” he chuckled while turning to her again, his glance lowering a bit now to see her costume more attentively. Amber was wearing a playboy bunny costume, a dress like version of it.

“It’s ok, it’s just a painting. Besides if it wasn’t just a painting, I’d always protect you. Well… I would try.” she giggled making him follow “And tonight will be so much fun, I haven’t really celebrated Halloween in years!”

“I see you already have a drink so now just enjoy the night!” Hoseok said cheekly.

“I do!” she stated quickly looking down, where she had a drink in hands “You should grab one soon too.”

“Jimin went to grab some drinks for us. I’m waiting for mine.” he winked “But what are you most afraid of then? If not Pennywise”

“Probably just… Uh… Spirits” she said finally with a tiny shivering “The unknown too. Maybe just being alone. My fears are very strange.”

“Oh spirits are a no for me too! I try not to believe they exist but I have a fertile imagination!” he said with a panicked face and Amber made a quick note on how cute he could be.

“You look really good by the way… Like I know you aren’t in a sexy outfit, but you look happy and just… You know… You just look great.”

“Thanks Amber! I tried hard to find the clothes to match the movie! But you look great too…“ he offered his heart smile, his eyes genuinely matching his soft expressions.

While Hoseok kept talking to Amber, his friends were close by still waiting for Jimin to come back with something to drink. They had arrived for a while now, but since the place wasn’t that crowded yet, Jungkook managed to find a spot for Deo to sit a little. The girl had been complaining about her shoes choice for some time now but he himself felt like sitting, so that’s what he did. He sat and kept fumbling with his phone while Deo rambled with him (things that he was certainly not listening) and Hyori kept scanning the place after Jimin.

“I hope this party doesn’t suck.” Deo commented a little bored while looking the ambience.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no one here. My feet already hurt. Jungkook took the only seat available and is staring at his phone with a grin on his dumb face.”

“We got here super early, relax! And just take the damn shoes off, you’re going to in a couple of hours so might as well do it now.” Hyori grinned at her “Is Jack coming?”

“I think so? I didn’t talk to him today yet but he should be here. We bought his costume like- last week so…” Deo wondered; she was answering Hyori but her head was turned at Jungkook’s direction, trying to pry on what he was doing.

“The love birds that text all day didn’t talk today?”

“He texted me this morning but we were dealing with the outfits so I… kinda forgot to text him back? He’s probably just making one of his ‘imma take longer to answer’ games” Deo looked back at her again to roll her eyes.

“Don’t sweat it, he’ll be around.” the older girl patted her shoulder with a warm smile to wrap that convo up.

“So… you’re just gonna ignore the fact that JK is laughing at his phone?”

“We teased him enough about him wanting to be spiderman…” Hyori bit down a smile, exchanging her glance to the boy in question, still entertained and completely absented of what was going on around him.

“True…” Deo concluded but then turned around to do exactly the opposite with what she had just agreed with “Hey dork.” she called and poked him, making him lift his head towards them “Yeah you. What are you doing?”

“Texting.” he said simply.

“Who?” Hyori questioned.

“Have you ever heard of neighbor number?”

“No…?”

“You have one?!” Deo asked the boy while coming closer and feeling a lot more excited.

“Everyone has one.” he rolled his eyes.

“What is that?!”

“It’s the person whose phone number is either the before or after yours. Like, your’s 55 and their’s 56.” Jungkook explained to Hyori but he locked his phone trying to hide his previous conversation.

“Oh… and that’s cool because?”

“Because!!!” Deo exclaimed turning around to look at Hyori.

“It’s just like meeting someone online guys.”

“Oh don’t be an old lady. You’re a recess punk tonight!” Deo retorted making Hyori do a funny face as a response while trying to pry at Jungkook’s phone as well.

“You’re not looking at my texts.” he said defensively while hiding the phone against his chest once more.

“Oh c'mon JK.”

“No.”

“I’m not keeping your phone in my bag then. Good luck spidey.” Deo teased.

“Fine!”

A while ago Jimin had departed quickly from his friends to go fetch something to drink, but on his way he stopped by with many people. He got used to being popular in some way, he didn’t mind the attention at all… What he did mind was the constant people who tried to fake being friends with him just to get “famous”. He was now walking furiously towards the bar, the last conversation with some random guy he thought that was being genuinely nice to him stuck on his head. A small bump followed, his mind too distracted to actually pay attention at his surroundings and the frown that was before on his face quickly disappeared.

“Wow Jean! Sick costume!” he said once the girl in question turned around surprised to see the one that bumped on her was actually a familiar face.

“Really Jimin? Thank you” Jean was dressed as Mikasa from Attack on Titan, an anime Jimin had seen and liked a lot. “I think you look handsome in your costume” she finished with a cute smile while blushing a little.

“I tried my best to look like Cry Baby but Johnny Depp will always win.” he showed his cute laughter while saying it and Jean quickly retorted.

“Don’t say things like that. I think you just being yourself is handsome and a win for everyone including you” as soon as she said it and he was about to smile at her again thankful, the bartender came by and Jimin was quick to tell him his orders. He looked back to see if Jean wanted something but he noticed she was already served. The guy that was attending him, poured a glass of whiskey to Jimin and went to fetch some beers. While he went inside to fetch it Jimin turned again to Jean.

"You came with friends?”

“I did! I’m meeting Holly here!”

“Oh~ she’s Deo’s friend! I didn’t know you two knew each other! Small world huh?” he winked and raised his glass to take a sip of it making Jean laugh.

“Yes, we do. We talk time to time whenever I have time. She is really nice.” she said and Jimin hummed in agreement.

"So, who or what scares you most?”

“What scares me most is bugs especially cockroaches… oh yeah also rats. What about you? Are you scared of anyone or something?”

“I’m trying to keep a brave face tonight so I can’t tell you!” he cutely joked putting his finger to his lips and doing a slight ‘shush’ motion “But it was nice seeing you Jean~ I have to bring these drinks to the sober ones before they fall asleep” he said while pointing with his head towards the beer bottles the bartender had just brought.

“Have fun at the party. Don’t be reckless or get yourself in trouble!” she said loudly when Jimin started walking away with all those drinks in hands, trying to make way, only to turn back again and smile foolish at her and then winking again.

On his way towards his group he spotted Hoseok a little closer than the rest and he moved fast to get the help of the older boy. Jimin was hardly managing to hold all those bottles plus his cup.

“So do I! I overthink way too much.” he heard Amber say enthusiastically to Hoseok and for a moment he felt really sorry to be barging into the conversation.

“Hey guys! Sorry! Help me-” he said quickly and Hoseok took two bottles off his hands. “Oof! I thought I was going to let everything fall” he laughed at his own moment of clumsiness.

“It’s alright! I’ll help you take this to them” Hoseok trailed off and then looked at Amber once again, she still had a smile on her face, their talk before being way too cheerful for her to lose it. “It was really good seeing you!”

“It was good seeing you too. I hope we can hang out again soon, I’ve missed seeing you.”

“Keep that beautiful smile on your face Amber~ I’ll see you around tonight yeah?”

“I will! Thank you! You enjoy it too, and keep safe, ok? Don’t drink too much and drink plenty of water. I’ll see you later on in the party. I’ll probably stay until pretty late.”

“Can’t promise I won’t drink much but I’ll try to stay away from the zombies! Be safe sweetheart~” and there he went, him and Jimin towards their group of friends.

4

“Where’s Yoongi?” Carolina questioned while looking over Jin’s shoulders; her voice louder than expected as the raging song played in the party.

“I don’t know?” Jin looked around too trying to spot Yoongi’s hair among all those costumes “He left quite a while ago… And I doubt he will be able to bring us all something to drink”

The five of them had arrived and the party was already hectic. Yoongi had offered to go to the bar fetch something to drink since he was in the need of something to keep him relaxed and more loose in the middle of all those people. The rest of them stayed in a corner next to the entrance, the less crowded space they could find, but now a lot of time had passed and Carolina was starting to feel anxious.

“Ok, you guys stay here and I’ll go help him out”

“You’re going alone in this sea of people??” Taehyung asked her, whom was already ready to walk away.

“I’ll be fine Tae, just stay here with Nam and Jin. If anything happens I have my phone with me and I can call you. Yoongi is the one without his”

“We’ll wait here. Namjoon won’t be leaving anyways since he’s socializing for what it feels like an hour now” Jin joked looking at the other boy talking enthusiastically to some people from his book club. Carolina spared a glance and smiled at him, and then in a blink of an eye she was already being engulfed by the many costumed students.

She tried her best to make space and go towards the bar, where she was hoping to find Yoongi, but the task was getting complicated. It didn’t help that people were already tipsy and some really drunk. Carolina was starting to feel a little claustrophobic and way too pissed at the people who were pushing and also pulling her. When she was about to shout at some random guy that was trying to make her dance with him, she felt her arm being pulled and her head snapped quickly thinking she had finally reached Yoongi, but no. Someone in an all black costume and a weird baby face mask was pulling her out of there.

At first she offered no resistance, glad she was going to get out of that tumultuous crowd. But after a few seconds of the mysterious person pulling her towards what it seemed like the bathroom area, she pulled back her arm making the person look back.

“Who are you?!” She questioned seeing that the person went for her arm again but she was quick to flinch it’s grasp. “This is not funny!” still, no reaction. She analysed the person standing in front of her; someone taller than her, definitely a male but not a short one. “Ben?” she tried “Dude this is getting creepier.” the man did nothing but to offer his hand to her gently. And although Carolina was feeling a little creeped out she was also starting to get curious about who the costumed guy in front of her might be. So she took his hand, and he took her to the bathroom area.

“Ben if this is you I swear-“ she started but the man she thought was Ben just opened the bathroom door and pushed her inside, locking the door quickly. He himself never entering the space with her.

Carolina bumped hard against something “FUCKING ASSHOLE!!” she exclaimed mad.

“I said the same but he didn’t opened the door… Until now that is” Yoongi’s voice now filling her ears and she turned back in a snap. Turns out the thing she went against was Yoongi and not a wall like she was expecting.

“Yoongs? What are you doing here?”

“I myself don’t know…” he answered returning the hug she gave him.

“Ok! I think I have a plan!” someone said making both of them get out of their transe.

“Oh yeah, Carol this is Sarah. She was already here when I got… here” Yoongi explained simply.

“Umm… I would say nice to meet you but due to the circumstances I think-“

“I perfectly understand and share the feeling!” Sarah quickly interrupted the other girl “Also either we wait for him to open the door again and I don’t know put our foot in the middle of the breach or we stay stuck here”

“Doesn’t seem like a bad plan but I won’t volunteer my foot for the cause”

“Why the hell are we even here???” Carolina questioned “Is it the new trend locking people in the bathroom to socialise or something?” and as soon as she finished it a cell phone started ringing. They all exchanged glances.

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t even bring my phone” Yoongi said.

“Well it’s not mine!”

“I think…” Sarah trailed off while going towards the faucet, there was something behind it “Oh” and she retrieved a bag. The sound of the ringtone died and she looked at Yoongi and Carolina who were focused on the paper bag. Not even a second passed and the cell phone started to ring again.

“Oh just give me this” Carolina snatched the bag from Sarah’s hands and quickly opened it, a burner phone now visible and she picked it up. “Who’s this? What? Why would I be enjoying being locked inside a bathroom you weirdo??”

“Who is it?!” Sarah questioned and Carolina lifted a hand for her to wait.

“What game? What are you talking about?” Carolina questioned further “A paper?”

“What is this? This is a stupid prank” Yoongi rambled.

“What- Hey!!!” Carolina exclaimed taking the phone out of her ear and looking at it extremely angry “Asshole!!!”

“What happened?”

“This motherfucker said that the rules were on a paper inside this bathroom and then hanged up!”

“Are you serious now? I just wanted a drink” Yoongi sighed and started pacing around.

“What now?”

“Oh! I have my cellphone!!!” Carolina realised quickly reaching for her pocket of her nurse suit “I’ll call Jin and he can come here an- Fuck.”

“What?!” Sarah exclaimed again and Yoongi glanced at them.

“No reception” Carolina said blankly “I fucking hate this party.” she placed her phone inside her pocket once again and crouched down near the bathroom wall, her hand fast to pick up her pen kept inside the same pocket and started doodling on the wall. The neon light in the bathroom making her feel nauseous.

“I’ll start searching then!” Sarah sighed; the girl was dressed as comfortably as she could. Her costume being Violet Beauregard from Charlie and the chocolate fabric and she mentally thanked herself for choosing something so comfy.

“Are you seriously vandalising the bathroom?” Yoongi asked Carolina; he was leaned against the sink, his arms crossed.

“Yeah”

“I don’t think writing on the wall ‘Babyface sucks’ is going to solve the problem”

“Well I’m unsatisfied with Babyface service! He just pushed me and locked me inside the bathroom! Ugh- I bet it was that fucking asshole…” Carolina started doodling near the words she had just written.

“What asshole? Everyone for you is an asshole”

“Well- That’s a good point. But Jimin. I bet it was Jimin. He must be trying to pay me back ever since-“

“You mean Jimin Park?!” Sarah asked while fumbling through the cabinets that the bathroom had.

“Yeah he-“

“I FOUND IT!!!!” Sarah exclaimed excited and showing them the paper.

“Umm… I guess we are a team?” Sarah looked at them expectantly “And I didn’t brought my phone so…”

“I was going to say no but then I saw the 6.000 cash prize so”

“2000 each Yoongi, not 6000!” Sarah corrected him.

“Still. Carolina?” he looked at the girl in question “I could really use the money to-“

“I know.” she said serious “So we better win this. And I guess I’m the only one with a phone which only unlocks with my fingerprint so I guess it’s fine to leave it behind…” she reluctantly put her phone inside the bag “Also Sarah, if we’re doing this-“

“Yeah?” the girl asked.

“Yoongi already knows me but um… I’m kind of extremely competitive so if I happen to loose my shit-“

“Oh it’s ok! Totally get it!”

“She will lose it. Just saying” Yoongi brushed it off.

“I will”

“OK PLAYERS HERE WE COME!” Sarah instantly became another person and both Yoongi and Carolina exchanged glances a little surprised “OPEN THE DOOR!”

5

“I can’t actually believe we got stuck in a tiny broom closet for 15 minutes just to find a damn paper!” Tori let out laughing; her breathing heavy.

“In my defense my moves were restricted to just being able to lift my arms up” Jason retorted, his face a little red from the lack of air in the confinement.

“That’s true! I was feeling trapped between you-“

“Guys shut up!” Jungkook finally said something; the paper with the rules still in his hands “We have to focus now, I ain’t losing this game”

“Jeez! Ok, ok! We’ll focus” Jason put his hands up in defeat.

“I could really use those speakers bro, I want this prize” Jungkook sighed trying to apologise.

Somehow in the middle of the party Jungkook realised he was left behind with Hyori, both of them clueless of where their friends had gone to. So he eased her mind by saying he was going to look after them quickly. Hyori at the time nodded and kept looking around without leaving their previous spot.

Jungkook went to the bar hopping to find Jimin there but his friend was nowhere to be found. He wandered off to the bathrooms but two of them were locked and the other one was empty. He tried to scream Deo and Hoseok names in hopes that one of them were inside but due to the loud music it was useless. Not shortly after a person passed by and seeing he was fumbling with the door lock, that same person approached him and asked what he was doing. “I’m looking for my friends” was what he simply answered so the mysterious being asked what were they dressed like and after a brief description of their costumes Jungkook was pointed towards a long and gloomy corridor. He didn’t hesitate on going and that’s how he ended up opening the dark broom closet and being pushed inside. To his surprise, Tori and Jason were already there, their breathing too heavy and Jungkook kept thinking he had interrupted something else, but his thoughts were quickly brushed away when a cell phone started ringing.

“To get those speakers you first need to win the prize, Kook, and to do that you’ll need to find those damn three hidden bags” Tori pointed out making him come back to the moment; her arms crossed over her chest.

“Things that scare me most…” Jason wondered.

“AH! The decorations!!!” Jungkook’s face lit up “They must be near the decorations!”

-

Most of the teams were already out of their confinements by now. Some a little hazy and confused, some fully determined to win the prize. What student wouldn’t want to win 2.000 dollars in a night just by playing a Halloween game? It was easy money! And that was exactly what Aashna kept thinking.

When she left her dorm to go to the party that night she would have never expected to be going home again with that large amount of money, and there was nothing that she loved more than to play games, in fact she liked to think that she was good at them.

She got a little confused at first, when she lost herself from Sana and Cara, especially because she had left her phone back into the dorms and due to that she had no way to contact the girls. While she kept waiting for Sana to get ready hours ago, she used it so much that it discharged and it was totally useless to take it. But now, here she was, running around with two other girls she had never seen before trying to get to those bags before anyone else would.

“Guys look!” Nina pointed towards three dark things on the floor near a tree in the backyard of TKE. A few people transiting from one house to the other were passing by but none of them were paying attention to the girls.

“Are those the bags??” Esme asked a little behind from the other two. She was dressed like Theodore from Alvin and the chipmunks and although she was looking adorable her legs were freezing.

The backyard was the last place any rational person would want to go. It was windy today, and not the kind that feels like a nice summer breeze, it was the kind that made you feel the presence of a storm coming. The fact that the place wasn’t illuminated properly didn’t help either. Team 6 could barely see if those things on the floor were the bags they needed or not.

“I can’t believe we found them!” Aashna said coming closer and once she grabbed a loop of one of the bags a grotesque nun showed up behind the tree. Slowly it made it’s way towards the girls. “Holy-“ Aashna took a step back startled, the bag she had taken was now dropped onto the grassy floor.

“OH MY GOD!!!” Esme that had just being able to catch up with both of them sprinted back the moment she saw the dark presence, going back to where she had came. She didn’t even took a second glance.

The nun kept slowly walking forward. Aashna at the same time walked back. It’s yellow eyes focused on her and her breathing started to match her heart race. Her chest going up and down really fast.

“Push it, Khaleesi!!!” Nina shouted at her making her snap out of the transe. Both of them could hear a faint scream in the back but it was being blocked by their own heartbeats drumming on their ears. Adrenaline kicking in. Nina kept shouting ‘Khaleesi’ at Aashna, the fearful creature making her forget her teammate’s real name.

On the confusion of it, Aashna did in fact push back the nun, but the result wasn’t the expected. It didn’t move. Not even an inch.

“I GOT IT!! RUN!!!!” Nina passed by her with one bag on her back and two on her hands; her costume making it easier for her to sprint, contrary to Aashna’s.

The girl didn’t think twice. The moment the scary image before her started to lurk forward again, she stumbled two steps back and turned around to run. A hand grabbed her arm making her come to a halt. Aashna screamed and yanked her arm back. Free at last she ran towards Nina and Esme. Her mind not functioning properly. She could see her teammates shouting and making exaggerated moves for her to go to them but she could hear nothing. It was like a slow motion scene of her worst nightmare.

-

Hoseok thought he had been scared enough since he got to the party but now he was more than terrified. He was walking with Cole and Asa, two guys he had just met due to a bad joke and he couldn’t help being alert all the time. Cole was leading both him and Asa and they were looking for the so called bags inside the TKE frat house.

“I’m sure they hid it here, I mean- it’s just the perfect place, not a lot of people will come inside the house when there’s an actual party going on” he heard Cole’s voice more clearly now, the loud music sounded distant; the boy was still facing forward, leading them into a big hallway.

“Yeah but it said it was near what we fear most?” Asa pondered while looking attentive to a photo hanged on the wall “I don’t know about you guys but I’m not afraid of a frat house… As much gross as they can be” he frowned seeing one guy almost naked on that same photo.

The corridor they were now in was narrow so they lined up, Cole going in the front and Asa in the back. The wall on their left had some pictures of the boys of TKE while the wall on their right was mainly filled with big windows. That didn’t mean the place was lighten up, the whole house was dark. Things were visible due to the windows, the boys could see each other’s figures and what surrounded them because of the moonlight, but other than that there was no other form of light.

“Uoooh uoh what was that?!” Hoseok freaked out and fumbled back making Cole giggle.

“It’s just a glimpse of a light dude” Asa calmed him down while catching him and pulling him forward gently.

“I- I think I’m afraid of the dark” Hoseok admitted.

“It’s ok”

“And I’m afraid of being alone” Cole said sarcastically “So that’s why this is the perfect place to hide the bags because it’s both dark and has zero people in it. Genius ain’t I?” and he turned back to face the other two.

Hoseok’s face went pale. Asa’s blue eyes became big. Cole felt a puff of air into his neck and he tensed.

“For the first time in my life I just hope I’m ugly and that’s the reason you guys are doing those faces” he said; his body frozen and his mind in denial, he didn’t want to turn back.

“Boo” something grunted right behind him making his body tremble. Hoseok screamed and fell back into Asa who screamed as well and fumbled backwards, his eyes never leaving the amorphous creature upon them. His big hands clumsily trying to find support on the walls. Hoseok that fell on his butt quickly got up only to turn around just to stumble onto Asa once again.

Cole finally turned back and for a second he wished he didn’t. His voice stuck on his throat, eyes fixed on the sinister scarecrow right in front of him.

“G-Givee meee yourrr heeaaart” the creature grunted once more. Cole finally got a grip of himself and pushed the haunting scarecrow back, running right past him.

“ASA!! THE BAGS!” he screamt after stumbling on something and realising it was what they were looking for.

“FORGET THE BAAAAGS! AAAAH” Asa’s voice was trembling and between trying to help Hoseok who kept falling and running away from the creature who was going after the two he managed to scream back at Cole “FUCK YOU GO AWAY!!!”

“WOOOAHHH!!! WOAA”

“I got this, I got this” Cole kept mumbling to himself while scanning the place. He had very few options. The scarecrow had it’s back turned to him but the corridor was too narrow for him to pass by it without something happening. So he looked at the window right onto his left and let his body take the lead.

Cole’s hands were shaking a bit due to the heat of the moment. He fiddled with the window lock for a little but once he unlocked it a huge smile opened on his face.

“COLEEE?”

“I- Wait a sec! I got this!!!!” he answered while quickly glancing at his teammates and then back at the task in front of him. The window was a little rusty but he managed to open it fully so he threw both bags down. “GUYS! JUST RUN! MEET ME DOWN ON THE LAWN”

“COLE WHAT?!” Asa who was pushing continually the scarecrow back asked. Hoseok was glued to the wall screaming nonstop.

“JUST RUN AWAY! I’LL JUMP” Once he said this the scarecrow turned back. Cole was already sitting in the window. “GO! NOW!” he reassured his teammates again and Asa took the lead grabbing Hoseok by his shirt and running as fast as he could. The dreadful creature fastened it’s pace towards Cole. The boy smiled before jumping.

-

“Did we really need to choose the dark basement as our place to search?” Jin asked while he looked to the stairs that led to the dim place over Sana’s shoulders. His hands were gripping her arms and keeping her in place as a shield. “I feel like there’s definitely something there but it’s not the bags.” he laughed nervously.

“Yeah… I don’t feel like this is a good idea, Jeremy” Sana pondered, her eyes on the same spot Jin’s were.

“Fine then, you two stay here and I’ll go.”

“Great plan!” Jin offered him a quick thumbs up and his hands were back on Sana’s arm making the girl sigh but also let out a small giggle.

“It’s not a great plan” she said making Jeremy retrieve his foot of the first step to look back at her “If something happens to you, it’s only me and Jin”

“Not offended”

“Guys this is a Halloween game” Jeremy said laughing at their faces “The scariest shit that can happen is someone yelling at our ears and that’s it”

“Fine then, go” she brushed off. Jeremy rolled his eyes and turned front again, the darkened stairs making everything creepier. A second passed and he didn’t move. Another one and nothing. “So… Are you going or…?” Sana looked from him to the stairs again.

“I’m going! I’m going! It’s just- dark that’s all. I have no flashlight and I was trying to get my eyes used to it and-”

“You know there’s a light switch right there right?” Jin pointed to the wall next to them.

“Wha- Jin!!!!” Sana turned back giving him a soft slap “You could’ve told us that sooner!”

“Well sorry! I didn’t think he would go into the dark!”

While both of them kept quirreling Jeremy flicked the light switch in a flash tired of losing time, after all he had a game to win. But as soon as the lights were turned on two things came on focus, the bags near the third step and Freddy Krueger right at the bottom starting to climb up to get to them.

“Run-” Jeremy said lowly still paralysed watching the killer move himself “RUN!!!” that’s when Jin and Sana stopped arguing and looked back at him and what was going on. As soon as Freddy entered Jin’s vision, the boy screamt and started running backwards, looking every direction he could too afraid that more frightening creatures would appear. His loud voice echoing without coming to a stop.

Jeremy quickly pulled the bags towards him and turned around to run, passing one bag fast to Sana who was even faster to turn around and run towards the first floor as well but not before taking a box of washing powder left near the washing machine she passed by and throwing it back to hit the burnt face that tormented her so much.

-

Acute clinking sounds filled the air along with tree leaves dancing in the maddening wind. Jungkook and his team were sat on the porch of a neighbour house of TKE, the bags already retrieved and now alight right in front of each of them.

Tori kept trying to align her hair strands that kept swinging in front of her face while Jason kept fumbling with a walkie talkie he had just found on his own backpack. Inside each backpack they found a piece of paper with the same clue written on it, a little flashlight, a map of the campus, a walkie talkie and an almost realistic human finger with a tag on it that said one point for you player!

“This wind is making me stressed!” Tori let out with a sigh. Jason spared her a glance but kept pushing the buttons without really knowing what they did.

“That guy dressed as Chucky was pretty heavy” Jason mused “Don’t you think, bro?” he looked over Jungkook who was really quiet while reading over and over again the clue he found inside the backpack with furrowed eyebrows, deep in thoughts.

“Don’t you think bro??” Jason tried again.

“Uh?”

“Lost much, Kook?” Tori laughed.

“What are we supposed to do with this information?” Jungkook asked frustrated to his team “Wet blue? What is that?? There’s no such color”

“I’m sure we still have time, man, don’t stress it” Jason tried to cheer him up “I’m sure we were the first ones finding the bags plus we each have one point finger” he laughed while holding his gifted finger up.

“Yeah” he sighed “You’re probably right” Jungkook swept his bangs back. By now he was sure his hair was a mess, but he didn’t care much.

“Umm..” Tori began, her eyes following the movement of something way ahead of them “Not trying to break the lovely moment but I guess we are second place”

“We what?” Jungkook lifted his eyes from the paper he wouldn’t stop reading to see where Tori’s eyes were focused at and to his despair Yoongi and Carolina, alongside some blonde girl, were walking in a fast pace towards somewhere. They all had a backpack and the blonde girl was explaining something to them in a enthusiastic way. Jungkook tried his best to overhear what they were talking about, shushing Jason when he tried to say something along the lines of ‘don’t worry bro, we still got this’.

“Are you sure that’s the place?” he heard Yoongi ask lazily “I ain’t walking all the way over there for nothing”

“It’s there Yoongs, just stop being a grandpa, do you want the two thousand or not?” Carolina joked and Jungkook instantly got up.

“HEY!” Jungkook shouted “YOONGI”

“Kook what are you doing?” Tori asked alarmed.

“You heard this?”

“I think it was someone calling your name” the blonde girl said to Yoongi while looking around.

“YOONGI!! HERE!” Jungkook stepped forward.

“Who’s there?” Jungkook saw Yoongi stop and squint his eyes in his direction, he knew the older guy had a bad vision. “Ya, who’s that?” Yoongi asked Carolina who had the same expression on her face.

“It’s spiderman” the blonde one said and Carolina immediately commented “Uh nice butt” since the boy was turned to the side trying to fetch his walkie talkie to talk to Yoongi, and as soon as he heard the comment he turned around and walked forward a little further.

“IT’S JUNGKOOK!! YOONGI, IT’S ME!”

“Nevermind” Carolina said again and crossed her arms “WHAT DO YOU WANT VIRGIN BOY?!”

“It’s Jungkook?”

“Yeah”

“BRO ARE YOU PLAYING THE GAME?” Jungkook shouted trying to ignore Carolina. A hard gust of wind hit them suddenly, the boy’s hands coming up to protect his eyes.

“YES WE ARE”

“DO- DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE PLACE IS?”

“WE DO VIRGIN BOY BUT WE AIN’T TELLING” he saw Carolina shut Yoongi’s mouth without need with one of her hands and answered for him while laughing. Jungkook knew this because although he was trying to ask Yoongi the answer, he lived with the guy and knew him well enough to know that he could be a snake sometimes. “GO FIND YOUR BRAIN QUICKLY BEFORE YOU RUN OUT OF TIME”

“YOU- YOU’RE A BITCH!” Jungkook grunted in frustration.

“AND MUCH MORE!” her laughter echoing in the silent street and she coldly turned around with the blonde girl, both of them walking away. Yoongi did the same but before he shouted an apology “SORRY JUNGKOOKIE, GOOD LUCK!”

“Well that sucks” Jason stated bluntly coming near Jungkook, Tori right behind him.

Jungkook kept staring at their figures slowly disappearing in the distance, and something inside of him started boiling. His body was starting to get cold and his brain was completely blank due to his frustration.

A static noise broke the tension and Jason got startled by his own walkie talkie, Tori came rushed towards him as well as Jungkook - who spared one last glance at the horizon, Yoongi long gone.

“Hello players, this is your game master” a modified voice came out of the piece of machinery Jason was holding.

“Thank God! We need a hint!” Tori exclaimed, her right hand coming to her chest in a sign of relief.

“Beware of who may be watching you…” the voice said and as quick as it came it went away. The three of them still looking at the walkie talkie in hopes to hear anything else but nothing. Nothing came. Just the howling wind that was serving as a background song for their night.

“It’s.. It’s that it?” Jungkook asked indignant.

“It sounded like that guy- What’s the name?” Jason asked Tori rather excited “The Scream dude! The voice was exactly the same”

“TKE is definitely excelling themselves this year”

6

Hours ago Silvia thought she was up for a hell of a good night with her friends, even if the weather wasn’t helping at all, and now here she was, chasing the correct number painted on a tree located on the McCarthy Quad park. At least that was what Hyori and Namjoon had concluded from the clue they had been given to and she didn’t dare to refute.

Silvia was running fast but Hyori was running faster and the wind was pushing them back, difficulting their bodies movements. She heard someone shout a little further and coming to a halt she turned to see Namjoon pointing towards a big sycamore tree.

“Hyori!!!” she looked back to shout at the girl that went ahead “Hyori!!! He found it!” Silvia’s hair was all over her face and for a moment she could hardly see one foot ahead.

Something cold touched her skin while she tried to tame her wild curls, and when she looked up startled she saw Hyori’s smile. Both girls ran towards Namjoon who currently fought a battle with the zipper of his backpack trying to put away the clue inside it.

“What are you doing?” Hyori questioned him chuckling once they approached the spot. The boy glanced at them with a furious expression.

“I broke the zipper of my bag”

“Let me see it” Silvia took the still light bag only to conclude he indeed had broken it. She started then to try and find a solution to his problem.

“Ok so this is it” Hyori said looking around; the lantern she had in her right hand illuminating the red number painted on the tree. “And I’m guessing we’ll have to digg now” she pointed then her flashlight to the shovels pilled next to it.

“I’ll start then” Namjoon took one in his hands and started digging; he had no clue of what he was doing.

“Ok, let’s do this-” Silvia was going to put Namjoon’s backpack on the side but the other girl interrupted her with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s take turns!” Hyori said with a gentle smile; her small voice a little louder now to be heard in such a terrible weather. “Me and Namjoon will digg while you come up with a solution to that” she chuckled.

“Got it!”

The boy wasn’t paying much attention now, his eyes strained onto the ground and he tried his best to not make a mess out of it. He could be clumsy at times - most of the times if he had to be honest, but he was trying his best to do the job properly and not disappoint both of his teammates. Hyori on the other hand got a little distracted once she saw another group of three a little further away from them. They seemed to be looking at a map. The only thing she could see was their flashlight pointed to the piece of paper and their silhouettes.

Hyori normally wasn’t that great at distinguishing people, she was bad with faces and all, but she would be damned if she didn’t recognize her own best friend even if she was from far away.

While her gaze was upon Deo and what her group might be, one of the tall silhouettes turned it’s head to the side, right at her direction. The flashlight wasn’t illuminating properly, but Hyori could see it was two boys that surrounded her friend.

“Are you going to digg too or…?” Namjoon asked huffing.

“Yeah… Just a sec…” she answered still too focused on Deo’s group. When her roommate illuminated the higher corner of a map she had in hands, the ray of light flashed Jack’s face and she could see his squinted eyes trying to look at her as well. “Jack!” Hyori said out loud but the howling wind muffled her voice.

The next thing she saw was Jack pointing towards his back and leading both Deo and the other tall guy further away from her. Is he really that competitive? Hyori thought. She held her glance at them for a few more seconds before Namjoon say something.  

“I- I think” he gasped “I think we have the wrong spot”

“It’s still shallow Namjoon” Silvia pointed out laughing.

“Oh? Yeah… Sorry. I think I’m not doing a very good job” he said with both hands resting on his shovel, admiring the work he had done so far.

-

“Jack I’m pretty sure is that way” Deo pointed towards her back but her eyes were still trailed on the map she was carrying around. Jack’s hands never leaving her shoulder, pushing her forward. The girl was a little out of focus since her worst fear (clowns or just pennywise) got to chase after her earlier, that resulted on her eye mascara being smudged a little under her eyes due to crying. 

“It’s not baby, look” he pointed with his own flashlight to a trail marked on the map. “We were here and we need to go this way”

“He’s right… I think” Taehyung admitted against his will. From the second he met Jack he hated the guy. He was the typical jock that made stupid jokes and spoke nothing more than about himself. The guy was cocky and basically the complete opposite of Taehyung. And to say it wasn’t being hard to control the facial expressions he felt the need to do every time Jack spoke was a complete lie.

“You can’t even read the GPS on your car and you’re asking me to trust you with a map?” she looked over her boyfriend.

“Hold on a second-”

“Sorry to interrupt the love quarrel but the guy is right” Taehyung interrupted; he was walking behind the couple and that made Deo stop on her tracks to look back at him, Jack being obliged to stop as well. “We passed by those trees back there” Taehyung said carefree while pointing back “and their numbers were 4, 7, 9… If we are assuming this is like a house address numbers thing, then our tree is on that way” he finished his thinking pointing frontwards.

“Thank God someone that backs me up” Jack said with a bright smile and going back to push Deo forward and gently once again.

“Fine then, let’s see” the girl rolled her eyes but offered no resistance at being guided.

Somewhere near, in the chilly park that was already filled with autumn leaves everywhere, you could hear the sound of a shovel insistently hitting the earth while a heated chattering followed. Team 3 was finding hard to reach to an agreement. Emma kept digging by herself, it had been fifteen minutes since they found their tree but Jennifer refused to touch a single nail on a shovel. V alongside Emma had picked a shovel to dig as well but seeing Jennifer did nothing she stopped her work and started arguing with her.

“We are a team Jennifer!” V was now almost yelling; the vein on her neck popping due to such frustration. “You gotta help as well!”

“I’ll help in the next one” Jennifer rolled her eyes and kept playing with her nails. Her expression not even alterated.

“That’s what you said when me and Emma were trying to catch the bags, yours included! And when we were trying to figure out this riddle”  

“Stop being a dramatic bitch” Jennifer retorted now looking at Victoria’s eyes. “I said I will help on the next task”

“Leave her be, Victoria” Emma said with a huff. “I can do it, it’s-” another puff of air leaving her mouth “It’s alright”

Victoria grunted in frustration, her eyes never leaving Jennifer stare. “Forget it” she ended up saying and then went back to help Emma. “How deep do you think we have to dig?” she asked throwing the dirt she had just digged to the side.

“To be honest-” Emma started and stopped to kick her shovel deep into the soil “I hope not much more”

“Well I think you two will have to dig a whole more and faster if you want to finish this game until tonight”

“Shut up!” V snapped at Jennifer “No one asked your opinion, oh my God”

Jennifer just laughed in amusement, scenes like this were a regular thing on the volley practices. Both girls were from the same team although it didn’t look like not even a little not even at all.

“Did you felt that?” Emma asked V, trying to ignore the profound want and need of hitting Jennifer with her own shovel. The girl was just being too much ever since they got trapped together.

“Felt what?”

“That” Emma said again hitting her shovel on something harder than what it felt when digging earth and hearing a clink noise in return.

“Shit- We found it” Victoria exclaimed and quickly let her shovel fall by her side to start brushing the dirt aside with her own hands.

7

“Told ya’” Jack said. They had just found the tree marked as 22, the bright red impossible not to spot from a certain distance. They had been walking for ten minutes non-stop trying to check every tree they found on the way, to make sure they weren’t missing theirs. And turned out Taehyung was right about the whole address thing.

“Told ya” Deo mocked “Just grab the freaking shovel jock. Let’s put those muscles up to good use” she cheekily put her tongue out making Jack blow a kiss with a cocky smile. Taehyung decided not to stand by watching the scene so with a roll of his eyes he grabbed the first shovel he could see and started digging.

-

Dylan was completely stretched on the dirty floor of McCarthy Quad, although he was feeling his clothes getting damped due to the temperature he was just too exhausted to get up.

“So what do we do now?” Lindsay questioned; in one hand she had the little paper with their new clue and the other was resting on her hip. “You guys have any idea of where this might lead us?”

“I have no clue” Ali who was dressed in a renaissance garb sat down next to Dylan; the air she huffed and puffed visible in the air due to the temperature drop. She and Dylan digged until they found a metal box, inside it another finger with the same tag one point for you player! and the clue.

For a few seconds the only thing hearable was the sound of Lindsay wiggling the pearls she was wearing around her neck to complete her flapper costume and the tapping of her impatient foot.

“Ok” Dylan said while shuffling himself to a sitting position. “As soon as we figure the place, cause I’m really assuming that note leads us to another location, I have a plan for us to go faster”

“Please do tell” Ali turned her face gently to the side to see him.

“No, no, first we need to find what is up with that location”

“Isn’t this talking about books though?” Lindsay said, her eyes trailed on the little note and her mind paying no attention to her teammates.

“Books?”

“Let me see it” Dylan asked with an extended hand to her and she handed him the clue. “Umm… You guys know we are right in the middle of two libraries right?” he asked looking from one to another.

Ali immediately looked at Lindsay with huge eyes. “Oh my God we are!”

“So, what was your plan to get us there quickly?” Lindsay asked excited.

“Oh nevermind, the buildings are right here, we don’t need that old bike over there” Dylan shrugged off.

“Were you seriously thinking on riding that thing?” Lindsay laughed. The old bike leant on a bench near where they were was rusty and seemed to be missing some pieces.

“You probably failed calculus because we are three and there’s no way you could ride a bike taken other two people in it”

“I said I had a plan, not that I had a good one!” he said jokingly while getting up and cleaning his hands on the side of his trousers. A static sound interrupted the girls laughter.

“Hey players, if I were you I’d run…”

“Bro the Halloween game this year is getting hella’ artistic” Dylan commented.

“Yeah, tell me about it! That horrendous version of Slash was really artistic”

“I spy with my little eyes…”

Lindsay glanced around a little spooked out, she didn’t know if it was her head painting scenarios over what she had just heard the so called game master saying or if she could really feel someone watching them. “Guys let’s just get out of here”

-

The third challenge was indeed in the libraries that surrounded the park the players had gone to like Dylan suspected. As soon as the teams got to the entrance they could spot the door open and everyone knew that it wasn’t supposed to be open at night. Most of them in fact hesitated to enter the dark place… Hyori for example went over the little clue a few more minutes before coming to terms that she would have really to trespass the property.

Screeching noises could be heard the moment you passed through the door, the aged wooden floor not helping to keep the secrecy of someone being there. The only thing team 10 could see was what their flashlight was illuminating.

“Oh my God what is that?!” Jae whispered alarmed, her body frozed up near a huge shelf full of books.

“Is that another player or…”

“If you say it’s that weirdo dressed as Scream again, Cecilia, I swear to God” Tessa was crouched near them, her hands on her head. When the girls were searching for their bags they encountered Scream. He looked like a statue, one of the many that were decorating the party that night, and they would never think it was actually a real person. Tessa that was in the front got a tremendous jumpscare and ended up falling.

“It doesn’t seem him” Jae that was still looking at the lurking presence a little forward said after looking back at them. “It’s mask is different”

“That one is a…” Cecilia tried to figure out. “A phantom of the opera?”

“Oh then we are ok” Tessa got up and started walking towards the person. “Hey! Psssst”

“Tessa!” both girls whispered in a loud manner.

“Hey you! I’m sorry-“

The costumed guy, dressed as what it seemed like phantom of the opera, said nothing but pointed her towards a door.

“Guys” Tessa called looking back. “I think we have to go that way!”

“Really?” Jae approached her, looking from the clue she had pointed with a flashlight and then the door. “Between poets and suspense…” she looked to the sides of the door. There were a two shelves next to it, one that said poetry and the other said suspense/thriller.

“Yeah, definitely here” she concluded.

“Let’s go then… I guess” Cecilia went to open the door, and once her hand was on the doorknob it opened up without her doing anything. “Jesu-“

“For some people Naruto is indeed Jesus” Yoongi chuckled opening the door fully now and walking past Cecilia and the other girls from team 10.

“TESSA!” Carolina exclaimed once the girl entered her sight. “You’re here too?”

“Just got here!” she went for a hug. “What did you do there?” Tessa pointed the door that was now being closed by a girl dressed as Violet from the charlie and the chocolate fabric.

“Friends are friends, business is business, Tess! Sorry!” Carolina smiled apologetic. “And good luck!!” she wished truly.

“Fiiiine” Tessa sighed. “Happy Halloween!” she smiled to her friend. “Let’s go, girls” and she opened the door again, this time going through it with Cecilia and Jae right behind her.

“I didn’t know you could make friends” Yoongi pointed out in a tone of joke; his arms crossed.

“I befriended you, after that everything else is super duper easy” she sticked her tongue out.

Yoongi laughed and then took out the little card he had hidden inside his pocket. “Tchaa!” he sighed “Another one for you two, I’m tired of thinking”

“That sounds like a fun place to go” Sarah chuckled nervously.

8

Cara, Jimin and Holly had just entered a dark room they had been pointed out inside the library. Jimin mustered the courage he didn’t have and put on a brave face to go first while Cara and Holly followed, both of them tightening the grip on his leather jacket. The room was pitch dark and before going in they saw a sign saying they needed to leave their backpacks behind.

“Just stay close” Jimin whispered without a need while going inside. Not a peep could be heard.

“This room is freezing!” Cara commented while getting even closer to Jimin. “And my outfit isn’t helping”

“It’s ok, girl, I got your back” Holly immediately crouched to grab part of Cara’s dress to help her walk more freely. Her chosen outfit for tonight was Feyre from A court of thorns and roses and although she was looking beautiful until now her dress was making everything seem harder for her, specially running. Before she could thank Holly, the door they had just walked through which was also the only remaining source of light for them was shut close with a loud bang. The three of them jumping with the loud noise and an uncomfortable silence followed.

Jimin’s eyes were trying to adjust to the somber room, he blinked and tried his best to focus on some spot and try to see at least some silhouettes but he failed.

“Hello players, I hope you are up to play a game because I have some questions for you” a grotesque laughter came right after, the voice deep and clearly altered.

“Who’s there??” Jimin asked and chuckled nervously after he did it. He brought Holly and Cara closer to him, his hands firmly placed on the small of their backs.

“Who directed the film Halloween from 1978?” the grotesque voice asked them.

“Eeey- That isn’t fair!” Jimin complained. “How are we even supposed to know that?!” 

“Oh God, I don’t really know that one!” Holly said anxious. Cara just kept holding for dear life onto Jimin. 

A loud error noise was able to be hear making the three of them jump in fear, no one expecting the loud noise so close and loud. 

“Which film has as its main characters, Morticia and Gomez?”

“Oh! Oh! That’s easy!” Holly exclaimed. “It’s The Addams Family!”

“Nice!”

“Thank God we have Holly” Cara said in relief. 

“WOUSH!! What was that?!” Jimin fumbled back taking the girls with him. 

“What?!” 

“There was something touching my feet!”

“What is the word Hallowe’en an abbreviation of?”

“All Hallow’s Eve!!” Jimin and Holly yelled at the same time. Cara unable to form coherent thoughts on her head, the dark room was freaking her out. 

- 

On a blacked out room right next to group 9, three girls were kneeled on the ground together. As soon as group 6 entered the room they started getting uncomfortable with not being able to see things and also about the lack of sound. 

Esme started crouching down, her defense mechanism being turn herself into a little ball, and of course Nina followed. Aashna stood up for a little while, she kept feeling the other two getting closer to her legs, but once a loud bang echoed the room she dropped to her knees in a matter of seconds.

“What was Dr. Frankenstein first name?”

“Victor! It was Victor!!!” Nina yelled, she wasn’t afraid but she would admit the room was getting weirder and weirder. 

“Yes!!” Esme celebrated when a xylophone acute sound soared on the room, they knew the answer was right. 

“Name all the killers that embodied Ghostface from Scream.”

“Oh fuck! That one is hard” Nina said more to herself than anything. 

“You know it?” Esme asked turning to Aashna. 

“Uh… Roman Bridger is one of them…?” Aashna started not feeling very secure of her answer. “Loomis? Ugh I don’t know!!” 

“It’s ok-” 

A loud error sound echoed startling them, that probably meant the answer was wrong, they thought. 

-

“Who were the targets of Jack the Ripper?”

“Prostitutes!” Dylan said. “That’s for sure!”

“You sure?” Ali questioned him, but he didn’t need to answer because the xylophone sound was heard. 

“Thank God! I just want to leave here!!!!” Lindsay was feeling agitated on this room, it was too eerie. 

“It’s ok, Linds! I’m sure it will be over soon” Dylan said softly trying to pull her closer. They had just met but he knew she was having a hard time being scared. 

“For what is Ted Bundy known?”

“Killing over 35 women!” Ali and Dylan said at the same time. 

“It was 35 right?” he questioned.

“Yes, I’m sure!” 

Another xylophone sound was heard. 

“Please tell me this was the last!!” 

“It’s almost babeee” Ali tried to cheer her up, her hand coming to Lindsay’s squeezing it a bit. 

“It’s dare time players” the game master finally said freaking them out. 

9

After answering the last question, there was a loud bang again and Deo immediately held the closest thing she found as some sort of comfort. She knew this was just a game but she couldn’t help feeling scared being in the dark.

“Lights on”

The girl had her eyes closed shut. Jack opened his and rubbed them. When he looked back he saw his girlfriend holding tight Taehyung who was standing still like nothing was happening while scanning the room. That was enough to make Jack insanely mad. 

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!” he exclaimed loudly making Taehyung look at him confused and Deo just opened her eyes surprised. 

“I-I thought it was you!” the girl said after looking at Taehyung’s face and realizing it was not her boyfriend there. Taehyung immediately let out a tsk. 

“ME?! I look nothing like that guy!” Jack pointed at the other boy furious. “Why are you still holding him?!” he asked when his girlfriend did nothing to move away. His anger making him explode and stride quickly until he could reach her arm to pull her away. 

“Hey!” Taehyung exclaimed; his eyebrows furrowed. “You’re going to hurt her” 

“I was not! And how could I see?! It was pitch black!” Deo defended herself. 

“You were with me in the dark before. You should know damn well how I feel to the touch”

A snort sound coming from Taehyung was heard. “Now that’s just pathetic”

“What?! That doesn’t even make sense!”

“You know what?!” Jack exclaimed furious “I don’t want to talk about this shit anymore” he went towards the left wall; hands placed on his hips. An awkward moment of tension followed.

“Oook” Taehyung said breaking the silence. “What’s up with this thing?” he approached a locker standing in the middle of the room. 

“Are you seriously going to be like that? Whatever..” Deo said, Jack having his back to her. And then looking over the locker where Taehyung now was she asked “How many digits?”

“Four” 

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? Are you really pretend nothing happened??” Jack looked back at both at them but his frustration clearly directed at Deo. 

“Jack what the fuck! You said you didn’t want to talk about it, let’s not!” she answered, looking everywhere but him. 

“Not to be indelicate but- 2:31 minutes left according to that timer over there”

“Fuck off dude!!!” Jack yelled at him. 

“Yeah, same” he answered back. 

“Jack!” Deo reprehended him but he did nothing but to ignore her still pacing around the room. "Do you want me to just tell you the words on the walls?“ the girl asked Taehyung. 

“Could we maybe exchange? I’m not very good with this but I have big eyes so I can tell you the words!” Tae smiled cutely to her and she immediately walked over the locker. 

"Yup, sounds good to me." 

“I have big eyes so I can tell you the words” Jack mocked in a stupid tone. “Did I just disappeared is that it??”

"Fucking wish Pennywise was here” Deo said almost in a whisper way. Jack didn’t hear but Taehyung certainly did which made him chuckle loudly. 

“What is so funny, jackass?!”

“You’re the one named Jack not me” Tae scoffed; his eyes briefly on Jack before returning to the written walls again. 

“Guys the time!!!”

“Sorry!” Taehyung apologized and quickly read a few words before finding one with four digits. “Try rack” he said looking back at Deo.

“Oh shit!!”

“What?!” Taehyung asked nervous and Jack just stopped pacing to look at Deo expectant. 

“It’s right!”

“IT IS???!” Taehyung just couldn’t believe he found the word at his first attempt. A huge smile taking over his face. “My eyes worked!!!!”

“What does it has inside?” Jack asked without patience. 

Taking over a piece of paper from inside Deo said “A clue I think”

-

Aashna kept blinking trying to adjust her now recovered vision to the intense light. Nina and Esme seemed more recomposed than her since both of them were standing in the middle of the room inspecting a big and solitair red locker that also stood there. She observed that the walls were full of words and letters painted in red, her hand trailing slowly the gory word that gained her attention the most. Somber.

“I think we need to find the word that opens this” she heard Nina say but her eyes still on the marked walls.

“Yeah and we need to find it fast, look” Esme said and she turned around to see what the girl was talking about. Esme was pointing towards a timer placed on the top of the door they came in by. 2:40 it marked. And after blinking Aashna got to see one number less, the timer was decreasing.

“How are we supposed to know which word is it???” Aashna panicked.

“For starters I think it’s a four letter word since there’s only four spaces here” Nina pointed out going to the nearest wall to try and find something.

“I’ll insert every word I know then!”

“Try dark” Aashna said when she spotted the word right next to where her hand was leaning and then looked expectant at Esme to see the result.

Esme fumbled with the padlock a little and then looked back at Aashna “Nope, not that one”

“Lost!” Nina shouted from across the room.

2:03.

The clicking sound of Esme fumbling with the locker could be heard, nothing else. It was followed by a long sigh. “Still a no!”

“Bone?” Aashna asked.

1:40.

And when the answer was once again a no, Nina shouted again “Shot!”

“I’m starting to get really frustrated at this” Esme grunted. “No, still nothing” she sighed.

“Are we going to stay stuck here?”

“Just keep looking!”

“Ok, what about blue? It’s written there” Nina suggested. “There’s not even a clue or something?”

“I guess not…” Esme answered her while inserting the word on the padlock. “And it’s not blue either.

1:01.

“This sucks!!!”

“I don’t see anymore words here with four letters only” Aashna said while reading everything she could. “Are you sure it’s a four letter word??”

“Pretty sure!” Esme answered leaving the locker and going to check the walls herself. “There’s only four spaces there.”

“I’ll try words I know then” Nina said walking towards the big red locker. “We still have time right?” she looked over the timer to see 0:43 marked on it. “Shit. Ok, what about home?” she said more to herself than anything else fumbling with the lock.

“Ghost”

“That’s a five letter word” Esme chuckled making Aashna chuckle too.

0:27.

“Love isn’t the answer after all…” Nina sighed moving onto the wall on her right. “Let me see if there’s something here”

“And the only door here is locked” Esme said turning the knob of the door and stating it didn’t open. “So yeah, we are probably screwed”

“What happens when the timer reaches zero though?” Nina questioned.

“ZERO! That’s it!” Aashna said excited looking from the timer to Esme who was quick to run towards the center of the room and insert the word on the padlock.

0:09.

“Please, please” Aashna mumbled.

“IS IT?”

And with a heavy sigh Esme said “No”.

A loud and screeching sound of a siren echoed in the entire room making the girls press their hands to their ears to somehow muffle the noise. Nina even crouched on the floor and they got even more horrified when the door finally opened and a tall figure dressed like an intimidating and gory doctor entered with a catering trolly, three cups on top of it.

The siren stopped and the abrupt change made the girls head combust. “I guess it’s going to be trick instead of treat” the guttural voice echoed on the room once again and the girls knew right then they would have to drink from the cups.

“Choose your cup wisely players” a wicked laughter followed along with Aashna, Esme and Nina exchanging glances before picking up their glasses and gulping everything down.

-

On the room next door the timer was running fast but still no sign of the locker opening up.

“I still can’t believe Jungkook managed to open this thing” Jennifer kicked the locker lightly. Group 3 had previously met Group 2 on the entrance of the library, Jungkook, Tori and Jason were just leaving the place when the girls happened to be entering. They exchanged a few words since both V and Jennifer knew Jungkook and Jason from volley, and of course, Jungkook knew Jennifer from much more than volley but it was a brief meeting nonetheless.

“You don’t know if he actually did it” V retorted.

“Try the word host!” Emma said to Jennifer who rolled her eyes and fumbled grudgingly with the padlock.

“I’m guessing he did since he was walking away from here differently from us” Jennifer answered while doing the task she was in charged with.

1:04.

“And it’s not host”

“What about Hope?” V asked.

“I’m sure it’s not going to be a cutesy word, hello? We are in a halloween game!” Jennifer answered without moving to do what V had asked her.

“Girl I swear-”

“Just try it out, Jennifer” Emma let out a long sigh.

“Fine” with another roll of eyes she turned around to fumble once more with the padlock.

0:38.

V and Emma waited expectant. “Not Hope, as I clearly explained before, the answer is clearly nothing like a cute word.”

“Let me see then” Emma said walking slowly around the room again and reading carefully every word she could find.

“Dark?”

“We tried that one already, pay attention bitch” Jennifer chuckled acidly.

“Girl you better watch out your back starting from tomorrow I swear, if I see you on the street-”

“Four? Try four” Emma ignored the heated argument, by now she was more than used to it.

0:17.

“That would be such a stupid passcode” Jennifer said while inserting the word. “I will be so disappointed if that is actually- It isn’t! Thank God” she snorted.

“This bitch is dumb as hell.” V chuckled while nodding her head and turning around to check the walls once again. “She is actually thanking the lord for not being able to get out of here.”

“It’s what they say, aesthetics first” Emma let out almost in a whisper and it was totally unintended but V managed to hear and she cracked hard.

0:02.

“Oh great, the time is up and you two are laughing like best-” Jennifer was saying but the loud siren interrupted her. She instantly fell backwards, bumping into the locker and slowly sliding down with her hands pressed firmly against the sides of her head.

Emma did the same, trying to protect herself from the madding noise while V stayed up trying to open the door by twisting the knob furiously. Until the door opened and she stumbled backwards seeing the eerie doctor coming in with a trolley and the three cups.

10

Carolina could feel her heartbeat drumming in her ears due to such excitement and thrill. Yoongi was the one decoding the clue they managed to get from inside the locker placed in the challenge of the library and they quickly came to the nearest graveyard around USC. Arriving there none of the three could see a single soul walking or completing the next challenge and both Carolina and Yoongi weren’t very keen on risking when they didn’t know the outcome. So thinking fast the girl suggested the other two for them to hide near the graveyard and wait for the next team, that way they could see what were they up to or at least know what they should and should not do.

Sarah was bundled up on her tracksuit just looking out with her lince eyes towards the foggy graveyard. Yoongi was crouched down right next to her looking comfortably, his hands near his mouth for warmth. If there was a thing he really hated was the cold. Carolina on the other hand had no coat, she was wearing only a nurse dress, her arms and legs were so numb that she stopped paying some mind to the harsh and cold wind.

“You look like a lunatic with that makeup” Yoongi whispered to her chuckling softly. His breathing creating a considerable breath vapor every time he talked or chuckled.

“Even when you’re serious you look like you’re laughing wickedly” Sarah whispered too with a satisfacted smile making Carolina open one herself.

“Why so serious?!” she looked at them jokingly with one eyebrow up and a creepy smile.

“Ya” Yoongi pushed her and she stumbled back since she was crouching to stay hidden. “That was creepy as fuck” he finished making Sarah laugh again.

“I almost fell and got dirt and mud on my white nurse… thing. What is this called?”

“It’s just a dress” Sarah laughed even more.

“This way we are going to ruin our plan, everyone can hear us”

“We got here first???” they heard someone exclaim from a distance. The three of them silent now and vigilant.

“Bro what did I tell you??? We didn’t open that stupid locker but we still got here first than anyone else!!”

“Who are those?” Yoongi whispered, his eyes squinted but he couldn’t see anything.

“I think… Jason?” Sarah whispered back.

“Not surprised he didn’t open the locker then” Carolina chuckled lowly.

“What do we do now? There’s nothing here”

“And that’s virgin boy”  Carolina added.

“How do you even know?”

“Confirmed, it’s him” Sarah answered her.

“His voice is annoying”

“Shit there’s more people coming”

“Where?”

As soon as team 8 heard that, they looked towards the direction the girl that was with Jungkook was looking to. Sarah, the only one with falcon eye vision in that group was reporting what she saw. To what she could see, there was not only one other group approaching but two. The first one she described as being three girls and Carolina quickly recognized one of them being Esme, her new front door neighbour. The other group as Sarah described had two girls and a guy. She tried her best to explain who Silvia was, saying she worked on the library and everything but Yoongi and Carolina never really paid much attention to their surroundings. Now, the guy… That one as soon as he came to both friends vision they recognized as their clumsy friend. He approached Jungkook and while doing so he stumbled on a grave and if it weren’t for the spidey senses that Jungkook conveniently had Namjoon would probably be on the floor right now.

The so familiar static sound surprised team 8 that was focused on the other groups interacting. “Should I take someone else to serve as company to your friend, players?” They heard the voice say followed by a muffled scream that left them in shock.

Sarah chuckled nervously. “They- They are really taking this game seriously” she let out a few more spaced laughter, her eyes going from Yoongi to Carolina, hoping that one of them could ease her mind that the pained scream she heard was nothing but a dumb joke of halloween.

Yoongi pressed the button to respond on the walkie talkie and a little beep could be heard. “Is this another riddle or clue? Over” and as soon as he said it he could hear himself faintly, the message being emitted from Carolina’s and Sarah’s walkie talkies still kept inside their own backpacks.

“Why are we receiving the message as well?” Sarah asked.

Another muffled and pained grunt could be heard again and their attention fell over the walkie talkie on Yoongi’s hand “Tik Tok players… Your friend doesn’t have much time, that I can guarantee you” Carolina looked from the piece of machinery in Yoongi’s hand to his eyes “Mhhmmm” someone screamed uncomfortably and visibly gagged. “Tik tok” and the beep sound made them know the message had come to an end.

“What is happening?” Sarah asked visibly disturbed. Carolina didn’t answer but her eyes moved towards the graveyard again, Namjoon was there looking at a map together with his team and her heart tightened. Where is Taehyung and Jin? she thought to herself.

“Yoongi there’s something wrong”

“What do you mean?” both him and Sarah said at the same time, their expressions worried.

“There’s only Namjoon there.” Carolina pointed out. “Where’s the other two?”

“Which two? What are we talking about?”

“I’m sure this is all a prank Carolina” Yoongi tried to ease her mind. “It’s halloween after all”

“I’m telling you-”

“Too slow” there it was the static noise again. “Happy haunting, players”

A loud scream was heard, Yoongi’s head snapped towards the sound and Sarah gasped at the vision. A bunch of grotesque and gross zombies appeared on the graveyard, and if they didn’t know zombies didn’t exist they would definitely think they were just now meeting the creatures.

Tori was being dragged towards a tiny grove behind the graveyard, she screamed and struggled to get away but the fetid creature had a tight grip on her. Jungkook tried to help but two of them came towards him and he had no choice but to run and on it’s way of doing so he took one down that was trying to catch Aashna. He grabbed her arm and forced her to run with him, dodging the grunting beasts but there were many of it. Aashna eventually couldn’t keep up with his pace and was grabbed by the waist being dragged away from the boy.

“I FOUND ONE!” they heard Jason scream, his arm up trying to show Jungkook the finger they had been receiving with every clue so far. “IT’S THE POINTS RIGHT??”

“KEEP LOOKING FOR THEM!!” the boy answered dodging another zombie.

Esme and Nina were running together, they were trying to leave the graveyard when Nina spotted a piece of paper tied to a finger. She swiftly snatched the finger and looked back to check on Esme, they had what they needed, now they just had to run as fast as they could to the front gates, Aashna already had been taken, they couldn’t afford being catched as well.

“Nina run!!!” Esme’s voice could be heard louder now after a little scream. Nina looked back to see the girl being held by two of the ill looking beings. “GO NINA!”

“We have to help” Sarah whispered to her teammates, they were still hiding.

“No no no, let’s wait” Yoongi tried.

“Yoongi something is not right here, why would they take people?”

“And this game master person said our friend needed company and our friend seemed in pain. I don’t think this is a bad joke guys…” Sarah was trembling.

The boy sighed and then looked front, he could see Namjoon hiding with both girls of his team, just like he was. But something definitely felt wrong. “We need to evaluate this better”

“There’s nothing to evaluate Yoongi. We have zero ways of communication right now” Carolina looked at him with pleading eyes. “We don’t have our phones, we only have walkie talkies that don’t let us talk to others apart from this fucking psycho and that was not a sick prank.” she paused offegant. “I know how editing works and so do you. That didn’t sound like a sound effect he browsed online, that sounded like a real fucking person and it’s either Jin or Tae”

“I- I think she’s right… I didn’t come with friends tonight so he was probably talking to you two. And it’s pretty weird that one of your close friends it’s there but the other two aren’t-”

“We don’t even know if they are in the game! As far as we know they can perfectly be partying right now” Yoongi reasoned.

“And why the hell did he choose me and you instead of Jin and Tae? No offense but those two are walking gamers. Me and you are just grandpas that do nothing but complain” she pleaded tugging his arm. “This thing is looking like the fucking Saw movie, Yoongs”

“Carolina-” he was going to say but Namjoon’s voice was heard loud and clear making the three of them look again at the chaotic scenery at their front.

A group of zombies were trying to take Hyori away but Namjoon pushed two of them freeing the girl. She quickly ran to stay behind him and everything seemed ok until the got to the other girl that was with him. He grabbed Silvia’s hand to pull her towards him, but two built up gory zombies dragged her in a flash.

“Silvia!!!” he yelled. Another one was coming towards him and Hyori again, but he took her hand in his and they both sprinted towards the entrance of the graveyard.

“Fuck.” Carolina said and before she could think properly she was getting up. “Stay here and when I say so you two sprint out of here, understood?” she looked back at Yoongi and Sarah.

“Hell no. What are you doing now?”

“I- I can come as well” Sarah offered.

“I said stay put.” she glanced at them with warning eyes and sprinted towards Namjoon.

11

A lot of the dead creatures had been gone by now, there was only ten of them remaining and most were focused on trying to catch both Jungkook and Jason. The fogg was making everything feel creepier and Carolina couldn’t help the goosebumps and bad feeling she was having even if her skin was already burning hot from the sprint she suddenly took.

“Namjoon!!” She screamed over the top of her lungs and her friend came to a halt, he was almost near the gates to leave, Hyori right behind him.

“Carolina?”

“You have the clue right??” she asked still sprinting; she could see three creatures walking fast to approach Namjoon and the girl.

“Yes! Are you alone?? What are you doing here??” he asked in a hurry while looking to his sides to see if there were any threats near.

“I’m with Yoongi!” Carolina was almost reaching him “There’s something wrong-” right at that moment she felt something grabbing her arm and she yanked it back, running faster. “There’s something wrong!!! Namjoon run!! The walkie talkies- We can’t communicate”

Two grunting creatures appeared behind Namjoon and Hyori, the girl screamed and stumbled back. “Hyori run!” he said grabbing the grimy arm of one of them and pushing the other with all his might.

“I won’t leave you!!”

“Mother-” Carolina came fast pushing hard one of the creatures due to the speed she was in. “Go you two! Find Jin and Tae!!!”

“What’s going on Carolina???” he asked in panic.

“Try the walkie talkies, Nam, there’s something wrong!!”

They started to aglomerate near the three of them and Namjoon just nodded and ran, taking Hyori’s hand once again and disappearing into the fog.

“WATCH OUT!” Carolina heard Jungkook’s voice near, he came running and pushing a zombie that was hunting down after her but he tripped and fell, the clue he had just found falling from his grip. The girl saw the opportunity and took it. She quickly grabbed the finger tied up with a clue that Jungkook just lost and started running, the object entering swiftly her pocket.

“HEY! CAROLINA” he yelled after her, still on his knees.

“I’M SORRY!” she shouted back but he was being left behind. “YOU AND JASON CAN MANAGE FINDING ONE MORE!! I’M SORRY”

“AAAAH” she heard his scream and turned back to see two morbid silhouettes dragging him by his arms. “GET OFF OF ME”

“Ah shit” she cursed under her breath and sprinted towards Jungkook.

-

Group 5 had roamed for a while now trying to figure out what the next place could be. Deo kept saying it could only be the graveyard and none of the boys said the contrary, even if Jack kept saying he was convinced it was some place else. 

“Do you think this is the right place?” Deo shrugged, eyes shifting from one boy to the other, their eyes clued to their maps. The graveyard seemed empty. 

“Yup, seems right to me.” Taehyung said, nonchalant.

“And what now?” She asked again, the apprehensiveness tone in her voice visible.

“Nice! Seems like we are the firsts so let’s not waste more time and look for the next clue.”

“This is huge… It’s going to take us forever specially with this fog.” Taehyung sighed, squinting his eyes to try and see over the deep white cloak pairing in the air. Before Deo could open her mouth to complain about how creepy the game had become Jack pulled her to him, grabbing her hand and running backwards. 

“Watch out! Zombie!!”

Taehyung ran right besides them, the wet grass making it slippery for them to keep balance. They heard a scream not so far away and Taehyung’s supersonic ability of recognizing every sound possible made him look attentively towards his right while still running. 

“JIMINAH!!” He yelled; his voice sounding deep and hoarse, the wind carrying it away. 

“TAEHYUNGIE!!!” he heard back but he had no sight on Jimin. More screams could be heard and in one second of distraction Taehyung bumped into one Zombie. He fell back harshly but quickly getting up. That’s when he saw the piece of paper tied onto a finger and he thought no more, he clumsily ran towards it and grabbed it. 

“TAEHYUNGIE! THE ZOMBIES! BE CAREFUL” he heard Jimin’s voice once again and he looked towards the direction of it. 

“JIMINAH! LET’S DO THIS!!!!” 

“Jack!!!!” Deo’s voice sounded close to him. “Get awaaaaay!!” 

Taehyung ran as fast as he could and when he got near the girl she was trying to set herself free from the disgusting creature holding her by her waist. The boy glanced over to see Jack dodging two of them and he wasted no time in pushing the zombie that fought Deo. The creature stumbled back and Taehyung pulled her with him towards the entrance once again. 

“JACK!” she kept screaming back. 

“I GOT THE CLUE!!! RUN FASTER BRO” Taehyung yelled in hope the other guy could hear it. 

“FUCK YOU!!”

-

The desert streets of USC campus that normally had a peacefulness to them were now feeling intimidating. The big and old buildings had a menacing look to them now. Silvia had her arms crossed tight over her chest, the trees making noises that were scaring her and her body was trembling from head to toe. Her Simon glasses were long gone, she lost them while trying to get away from those zombies, her backpack still secure on her back though.

On her hands she had only her walkie talkie that seemed useless since she tried over and over again to talk to someone but obtained no answer in return. She wasn’t liking the feeling of having to wander around USC at night and alone…

Suddenly a screeching sound. “It’s easier to hunt a prey if it is found alone” and a sinister laughter followed. Silvia looked around, the feeling of being watched creeping her out. She fastened her pace and tried again.

Beep. “Hyori? Namjoon? It’s me Silvia! Please Answer! Over” she kept looking around and walking as fast as she could trying her best to stay in the middle of the street where some lamp posts were still on. The leaves being swayed away by the wind.

“Silvia???” she heard Hyori’s voice and quickly brought the walkie talkie towards her mouth.

“YES!!! IT’S ME”

“Where are you right now?? Over” Hyori asked, her voice seemed hurried.

“I’m-” Silvia looked around. “Near Webb Tower! Over”

“Ok, listen to me very carefully” Hyori started, her voice difficult to be heard due to the noises the machinery kept doing. “Me and Namjoon think there’s something wrong. Be careful! We are currently on our way to the cinema department, the next clue sends us there. We’ll wait for you in the entrance ok? Over”

“What do you mean something is wrong? But ok, I’ll be there! Over”

“We’ll explain once you’re with us again.” Hyori said. “But please be careful. Keep talking to us from five to five. Over!”

“Ok! On my way. Over” Silvia answered before tightening her grip on the walkie talkie and running down the street.

12

Holly had been separated from her group quite a while ago. The last thing she remembers being Jimin trying to protect her and Cara from some scary zombies who were trying to catch them. It all felt like a fun game of catch until one of them dragged her away towards the grove and tied her up, her eyesight being compromised since they put a sack on her head. She felt like she was being taken somewhere since she could feel she was inside of a car, she could also feel there were other people inside it with her but she didn’t know who since she had a gag on her mouth keeping her from asking questions.

When the car came to a halt for the third time, she was dragged again, this time they removed the rope she had on her hands and then all she could hear was the sound of the tires burning in the asphalt. She waited for a few seconds and since nothing happened she slowly took off the sack that was still on her head. Holly felt a little scared while doing so, she was afraid of what she might see, but it turned out to be nothing more than an empty and dark street.

Now here she was running towards the cinematic department since she was able to contact Jimin and Cara with the walkie talkie that she kept inside her backpack, and although she was feeling a little dizzy due to the alcoholic beverages she was forced to gulp down on the library (her team didn’t manage to open the locker up) and Jimin kindly offered to go pick her up, she was feeling more alive than ever, a little spooked too, but that was halloween and nothing could stop her now.

“It has been quite a while since she said she was on her way” Jimin said pacing around with his hands in his hips; eyes trailed onto the horizon, hoping Holly would emerge there somehow.

Jimin and Cara had arrived on the cinematic building half an hour ago. A big sign glued on the wall saying for the next challenge they needed all three present, and ever since he saw Holly being taken he started worrying over the girl.

“I’m sure she’ll be here soon, Holly is a brave girl, she’s fine” Cara was sat on the steps of the front stair. The wind softly blowing on her face.

“Yeah but it’s dark and-”

“Are you actually afraid of the dark Jimin Park?” Cara chuckled trying to release the tension the boy was feeling somehow. She knew he was feeling guilty over the fact he let Holly unguarded somehow because a group of people passed by him and he got distracted. And Cara was still curious about why he did such a surprised face but that was a question for another time.

“No but she might be!”

“I think she isn’t” Cara offered a smile. “Once she arrives here we ask her about it and see who wins, what do you think?”

“Yeah sure” he answered but his eyes were still full of worries; his lips caught up by his teeth and his body never facing anything but the horizon.

-

Inside the cinematic department the air was hazy and there was also an unintelligible sound echoing the halls. Group 7 was wandering the halls, Cole once again in the lead since he was a frequent passenger of this department. The lights were out, the three boys were finding their way while following the bloody arrows painted on the floor with their flashlights and as Cole was starting to think it was leading them towards the basement or the archive room as the cinema students would call it.

He wasn’t wrong. He came to a halt right at the door of it, the whole way there Hoseok standing really close to Asa both of them a little spooked out.

“Is this it?” Asa asked. “I was expecting something scarier, I have to be honest”

“I can’t handle anything scarier than this”

“Well, I guess it is a little scarier” Cole pointed the flashlight towards a paper glued on the door. “Look” his flashlight now illuminating the big black letters. “One stays here and the other two go down… in the dark. Wow, what a fun activity!” he looked at his teammates with a sarcastic smile.

“I’m not going down- No oh. Not a chance” Hoseok said, his eyes flickering with fear.

“Then you just have to go there” Cole pointed towards an open space full of small screens twitching and showing different perspectives of a long corridor. Asa kept looking from one to another, he himself wasn’t finding the decision an easy one to make.

“No way I’m staying over there alone! The place looks like a scenery of a horror movie”

“It’s either that or the dark”

“If you stay up you will have to lead us with the walkie talkie, that’s what the rules say… At least it’s a rather backlit place!” Asa presented him the options. “But if you’re scared of staying alone, you can always go down, you’ll be with one of us… but in the dark”

Hoseok’s eyes kept going from the glitching tv screens and the iron made door with the intimidating keep out sign on it.

“Hey guys!!” all of them looked back pointing their flashlights towards the newcomers. Hoseok letting out a few weird sounds, he was definitely the scaredy cat of the group.

“Wow!” Tessa chuckled; her hands serving as shield for her now blinding eyes. “Keep pointing that at me and I might actually become the moon”

“Sorry! We thought it was someone else” Asa clumsily apologised making the girls laugh.

“Ok so I think one of us has to stay outside guiding the other two since down there is basically pitch black and we can’t enter with our flashlights?” Cecilia said, she was reading the rules until now.

“Alone here??” Jae exclaimed. “Not a chance!”

“I’ll do it it’s ok, you guys go” Cecilia reassured them and moved towards the screens. Pressing the button speak of her walkie talkie she tested if it was working. “One, two, one two” beep.

“It’s working!” Tessa gave her a thumbs up.

“Ok, I’ll stay here! It’s ok, I’ll stay with her” Hoseok pointed towards Cecilia.

“Alright! Let’s move then” Cole replied and opened the heavy metal door with a screech.

-

Somewhere in the way team 7 and team 10 went separate ways, both Hoseok and Cecilia guiding their teams to opposite directions. The humid and pitch black corridors giving everyone the chills, and if that wasn’t scary enough the sound of water droplets falling into what seemed like buckets with water inside was the cherry on top of the cake.

Jae and Tessa were holding hands both of them completely blind in the dense and darkened place, they walked slowly, each with a walkie talkie in hands.

Beep. “Guys turn to your right” Cecilia voice was heard through the static noise. “Not now! Walk about four steps straight and then turn”

“Can you see something inside here with us???” Jae asked her; her voice quivering a little.

“I don’t think so. Over”

“Did we take four steps yet?” Tessa asked coming to a stop. Through the little screen upstairs, Cecilia could see them stopping, they were talking but she couldn’t hear them.

“I don’t think so… Did we?”

Beep. “Girls what are you doing? Turn right now” Cecilia ordered.

“Turn left or right? Over” Tessa asked completely lost. Not being able to see was messing with her sense of direction.

Beep. “Left! Over” and they immediately turned left but what came after was chaos.

Tessa screamed once she felt something going against her. And that something screamed even louder. Fearing something was happening Jae crouched on the floor, the only command her mind was able to give her body with the jumpscare.

“It’s us! Calm down, it’s ok!!” the girls heard a deep voice say making them even more scared. A continuous scream still echoing.

“US WHO???” Tessa shouted putting her hands close to her chest as a defense mechanism. “Don’t touch me!!” she let out in surprise when a hand brushed hers.

“It’s Jeremy! Jeremy from the volley team! And Jin!” the owner of the deep voice said trying to calm them down.

Beep. “Girls are you ok?” Cecilia asked worried. She saw the whole scene without a sound.

“YEAH AND JIN!!” Jin shouted; his hands kept wiggling, in his mind if he kept doing that no one would approach him and scare him. “WoOAh”

“Jin? Jin Kim?” Tessa asked, her hand coming to her heart to calm herself down.

“Who’s asking?” Jin answered turning abruptly to his side and then to the other. Eventually Jeremy had to place a hand on his shoulder to make him stop.

“It’s Tessa! From the cinema!”

“Tessa?”

“Who- What is happening?” Jae was still crouched down.

“Carolina’s friend! She was asking for you!!” Tessa answered Jin.

“She was?” Both Jin and Jeremy asked at the same time.

“When we were arriving here she and Yoongi were leaving and she asked me if I saw you! She looked very worried. She asked for Taehyung as well”

“I-I’ll try to catch up with her” Jin said. “Let’s go Jeremy, we already have the thing”

Beep. “Girls?” Cecilia asked again.

“We’re here!” Jae quickly answered. “Everything’s ok, we just bumped on Jeremy”

“Hey! And Jin!!!” Jin scolded.

Beep. “And Jin”

Beep. “You got it?” Sana’s voice was heard and that made Jeremy remember what he had come for.

“Tell her yes!”

Beep. “We got it! On our way. Over” Jeremy said.

Beep. “Let’s go then! We have a game to win people!!” Sana finished the message with a cute chuckle.

“Best of luck, girls” Jeremy said pulling Jin with him.

“The clue is on the floor!” Jin said quickly and winked and then laughed like a mad man over his own stupidity of winking if no one could actually see his face.

Beep. “Keep moving forward now! I see some things on the floor. Over” Cecilia told them and both of them quickly said their goodbyes to the boys and went on walking slowly and tugging at each other’s arms.

Jin and Jeremy kept walking forward this time, the latter on the front since Jin was a total basket case when it came to feeling scared.

“I think we’re almost out” Jeremy said lowly.

“Ya, how do you even know?!” Jin chuckled. “I can’t even see you!”

“I just know man”

“Back there I was so blind and afraid that it felt like I lost you for a second. I was screaming your name but I don’t even know if it was something decipherable”

Jeremy was about to answer, he turned back as if to face Jin to do so but the static noise of the walkie talkie interrupted him. “Boys! To your left now!” Sana said.

Beep. “Right now?”

Beep. “Yes, turn left Jer! Jin, place your hands into his shoulders, like a train that way I will guide him better and you will follow. Over”

“Ya how do I even know where he is…” Jin thought out loud; his hands coming forward to try and find Jeremy.

Beep. “A little forward!” Sana chuckled. “Up! Up! There you go!”

A few minutes had passed, the boys following Sana’s instructions until they reached the metal door once again. She was already there waiting for them but her voice sounded nothing like before.

“G-Guys we need to go” Sana said almost in tears. Jeremy quickly went towards her and gave her a side hug. Jin approaching her too but without knowing what to say or do.

“What happened?”

“The g-game master” she said pointing towards the screen room now completely empty, team 7 and 10 most probably long gone.

“What did he say?” Jeremy asked concerned. Jin’s face going from worried to confused in a small fraction of time.

“I-I” Sana tried but she was really struggling to say out loud what was bothering and disturbing her mind.

“Easy! Is ok” Jin gently rubbed her back. “Just tell us what is happening”

“The game master he- I think he is keeping someone captive” she blurted it out. Jeremy glanced over Jin who chuckled unsure about the whole situation.

“He probably has… It’s supposed to be a fun game after all” he told her gently. “We have a serial killer like Freddy chasing us and then we had the zombies… I mean, it’s scary but it’s the game-”

“No!” Sana interrupted him. “You guys are not understanding!!” she gasped and looked at them a little distressed. “He contacted me saying there was a traitor inside and I thought it was just another riddle but then- then I heard someone screaming for help!”

“Ya… That was just him trying to scary you” Jin shrugged and then looked at Jeremy who was lost in thoughts. “Right Jeremy?” Jin poked him.

“Yeah! Right”

“I’m telling you guys! It wasn’t for pretend, I swear!” Sana pleaded once again.

“Ok let’s do this” Jeremy paused; both Jin and Sana looking at him attentively. “Let’s go to wherever this next clue takes us and try to find other people? Let’s just finish this and see where this whole thing leads us, ok? It’s probably like Jin said, only a prank to scare you.” he finished. Sana wasn’t very convinced, she knew what she had heard, but she nodded and followed the two guys out of the cinematic department.

13

It took a good hour for Cole to find a way of getting out a room where someone trapped him, completely in the dark. Once he managed to break in the door he desperately yelled Asa’s name, his clothes were damped and he had to hold one of his arms (he injured it while trying to break the wooden door trapping him from the outside world). Asa who was almost losing hope, absolutely terrified, was quick to get up on his feet and yell back. It was a trick thing to try and find the other person in the dark, specially inside of what it felt like a cold and infinite labyrinth.

Asa pushed the metal door while offering some support to Cole that was visibly hurt and even the half light hurt their eyes when they passed through the way out.

“Hoseok??” Cole shouted. “Our walkie talkies jammed, man! Someone trapped us inside” they both walked towards the little screen room Hoseok was left in.

“Hobi?” Asa called.

The room was completely empty. No note, no walkie talkie, no backpack, no Hoseok.

“What the fuck?” Cole let out in a breathy way.

“He’s probably outside waiting for us dude, let’s just go there” Asa said and both turned around to get out.

“Oh! Asa!” Hyori’s voice shouted. Namjoon and Silvia right behind her as it seemed they had just arrived to complete the challenge.

“Hyo! Again!” Asa chuckled.

“Where’s Hobi?” she asked glancing over his shoulder.

“He’s probably outside!”

“What…?” Hyori asked weakly.

“What happened dude?” Namjoon pointed Cole’s arm with his chin.

“Me and Asa here were the one’s going down but we got trapped. I had to take a door down to get us out of there…” Cole answered. “Hoseok was supposed to be here but he’s probably outside”

“But there’s no one outside” Silvia stated confused.

“Where’s- Where’s Hobi?” Hyori was starting to panic. The way to the cinematic departement was spent by her and Namjoon talking about Carolina’s weird comments on the graveyard. They got genuinely spooked out and tried the walkie talkies, stating indeed there was something wrong with them. Now she was starting to think that wasn’t the only thing that was wrong.

The static noise that by now freaked everyone out interrupted Asa from saying whatever he was trying to say, his mouth opening and closing at Hyori’s question. “Tik tok players, find the last clue to save your buddy here- MHHnMPHHH HEL-” the beep cut the rest, but by the look on everyone’s faces, they knew it was help.

“Hobi-” Hyori gasped.

To be continued…

[alydiarackham]

(cover by me)

How to Be a Hero Like a Villain by Alydia Rackham

Introduction

I’m Basically a Geek

                 Hi. Yeah, so, it’s true. I’m a geek. Have been forever. I really had no shot at being otherwise. My mom raised my brother and I on musicals and Star Wars and Star Trek and Disney. Growing up, I read loads of YA sci-fi novels—again, lots of Star Wars—and then when Marvel started making movies, I got into X-Men and then Iron Man, Thor (my major crush on Loki still remains alive), Captain America, then Batman; all that jazz. I’m also a Disney fanatic and a theatre nerd.

I was an English major in college, am in love with Tolkien and Austen and Dickens and Doyle, and adore all things Victorian. My friend Jaicee introduced me to Vampire Diaries and Originals (which are both compelling studies in heroics and villainy, let me tell you). I’ve written tons of fanfiction, in addition to loads of original novels. I write in all genres, mostly because I get hooked on a good story, good characters, no matter the setting—though I do have a weakness for an epic story arc, flawed heroes and of course, powerful villains. Right now, I’m on the 5th book in my fairy tale retellings series. So far, I’ve retold “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Snow Queen,” “The Little Mermaid,”—and then I did a totally-original one about a Curse-Maker, from the POV of…yep, the villain! At the moment, I’m working on a retelling of the legend of King Arthur, called “Excalibor.” It’s a blast.

               As you might imagine, I am intrigued most of all by character. I enjoy reading about the great ones, and inhabiting the interesting ones in my own writing. Flat romantic interests and motivation-less villains drive me nuts. I’m fascinated by a character’s inner workings, his history, his motivation, his mannerisms, his relationships, his skills, his style, the way he presents himself to the world. My brother and I love analyzing plot holes and devices and flaws and symbolism and insights. (Our after-movie discussions can get very animated, and last for hours.)

               Often, we find ourselves yelling things at the Hero on the screen like “For crying out loud, don’t do that! Don’t go in there! Stop wasting your time! Watch out—don’t you know what’s in there?” We easily see the choices that the Hero makes that are flawed, impulsive, or just plain stupid.

               But very rarely do we notice such things about the Villain. A good one, anyway.

               The Villain takes us by surprise. He startles us. He’s two steps ahead. He already has the device, he’s laid the trap, he’s captured the girlfriend, he’s destroyed the evidence. (Cancer Man in X-Files makes me absolutely want to scream because of this stuff.)

               Why is that? How did he know? How is he doing this?? It drives us crazy—and yet, we reluctantly have to admire the greats for being such awesome masterminds.

               So…how are the Villains so successful? Sure, we could shrug it off and say, “Well, he’s a super-genius, what do you expect?” But that’s too easy, and frankly, it’s doing a great disservice to our Evil Neighborhood Menace. In fact, with everything we see, and with the Hero making such rash and stupid decisions, oftentimes it’s a wonder that the Hero even lives, let alone triumphs in the end.

               And actually, in real life, that’s often true. The Hero does die or fail, and the Villain lives and prospers. Why?

               What is it that the Villain is doing that the Hero is not doing, which makes him successful? Again, the easy and lazy answer is “He kills people to get what he wants, he lies, he steals.” Okay, sure. What you’re describing is a garden-variety thug. Somebody who gets caught in Spiderman’s webs every weekend.

You are not describing a Super-Villain.

There’s something about a Super-Villain—a really great one—that keeps him in the game, that makes him a serious threat to the Hero, even after being beaten over and over again. What is it about Lex Luthor—who has no powers—that keeps him alive, and makes him a continuous, serious threat against Superman, the most powerful being on the planet?

How is it that a Villain keeps coming back, when similar failures and losses would crush a Hero and send him home forever, never again to don the super suit?

Could it be that a Villain’s methods, his mindset, his approach, are vastly different from a Hero’s?

And, if a Hero could learn to take these qualities and mesh them with his own already-existing awesomeness, could he perhaps avoid a devastating loss, a crushing defeat?

Is that…in fact…what does make the Hero succeed in the end??

That’s what this book is about. Examining what truly is awesome about a great Villain, and showing YOU how you can put those qualities to use in your own life to do a great deal of good, instead of great evil.

Be a great Hero. Take a few tips from the Villains.

-Alydia Rackham

         P.S. I’m going to refer to both the Hero and Villain in this book as “he.” I’m doing that because it’s waaay easier than saying “he or she” all the time. Not because I don’t believe that women can be awesome Heroes, or terribly wicked Villains.

Because I totally do.

 Chapter One

What Makes A Hero or a Villain?

                 So, what is it that makes a person a Hero, instead of a Villain? We’re talking the foundation, here. What are the qualities he or she possesses deep down inside that distinguish, that draw the line, that clearly state to the world: “Nope, this is a good guy, this is a bad guy”? This can be confusing. Especially when we look at two characters, say Loki and Bucky Barnes. Both of them have been all over the map with both good and evil deeds. Both have been called Villains, and both could be Heroes.

               What is it that makes us decide where someone stands?

               I would say that it all comes down to one thing: CHOICES.

               It can’t be anything else. You can’t say it’s kindness, or love, gentleness, trust, honesty, bravery, self-sacrifice, or self-respect. Many Heroes and Villains alike struggle with self-respect. Many Villains sacrifice themselves for a person, or a cause. Villains are almost always exceptionally brave. Villains probably are honest with at least one person, or have been in the past. They also have trusted someone, been gentle with someone or something. Most certainly, the best Villains have loved very, very deeply, and tried their best to be kind to that person or animal.

               However, something went wrong. Very wrong. And with every Villain, it can be traced back to Choice.

               Sometimes, it’s a single choice. Many times, it’s several choices in a row. And eventually, they all decide that “the ends justify the means.” They opt for self-preservation, for the removal of liberty for other people, for the arrogant assertion of their own will. Over and over again, until it poisons them.

               A Hero is someone who does not do this. Who chooses, even if it is wrenchingly difficult, to stand by what is right, no matter the consequences. No matter if he loses everything. He will not betray his honor. Even if no one else would see or know—he would know. And he will not do it.

               In the end, this is what makes the Hero stronger than a Villain. The climax, and the defeat of the Villain, comes when the Villain’s weaknesses are exposed, and the Hero takes all his own strengths, combines them with the strengths of the Villain, and declares victory.

               A Hero guards his or her good conscience fiercely. It’s pretty well summed up in this quote from Captain America:

               “Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are: not a perfect soldier, but a good man.”  

 Chapter Two

Good Guys Can Be Stupid

                 We all know it’s true. When we’re in the movie theatre, we mutter under our breath, shake our heads.

When we’re at home, we scream at the TV.

               “Nooooo! What are you thinking? Don’t go that way, go the other way!”

               “You moron, don’t go off by yourself! Never leave the group! Especially in the dark!”

               “What, you jumped in there but you had no way of getting out?”

               “Don’t ignore her calls, she’s trying to save your life!”

               Yep, we’ve all been there. So what are some bad traits that Heroes tend to display that we ought to try to avoid ourselves?

  Stupid Impulsiveness

               Sure, impulsiveness can be good on a date, or at a restaurant trying some new dish.

It’s not good when you’re, I dunno, jumping off a ten story building. Following a noise into a dark forest. Or deciding to stop a bank robbery two days after you discovered your powers. Bad planning, or none at all. Not even thinking about what could happen in the next five minutes, let alone preparing for it.

For us regular folks, this can be translated into deciding to go for a drive in the snow with no 4-wheel drive, jumping off something that’s too high, going on a trip without enough money, walking down a dark alley in New York City…

               Yeah, you get the idea.

Not Keeping Family and Friends in the Loop

               We’ve seen it a lot: Heroes thinking they need to conquer alone—deal with all their problems, and protect their family members. However, all that ends up causing is major trouble. Sometimes life-threatening, sometimes not, but it’s never good. One that comes to mind is Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. If she had told her sisters about what was going on with Darcy, and especially the drama with Mr. Wickham, she might have saved her sister Lydia from being entrapped by the Villain. Pretty much every single story about a superhero contains this type of lament: “If I had only just told them the truth!”  

               Heroes fall into the trap of thinking that they’re protecting their loved ones by keeping secrets. By not trusting their friends or their family with what’s going on in their lives. When in fact, this only puts their loved ones in danger, and puts serious stress and pressure on the Hero, which can lead to exhaustion, panic, stretched resources, missed opportunities, and giving the loved ones the feeling that they’re being neglected and forgotten.

  Discouragement

           So many times, the Hero just doesn’t have the tools to do what he needs to do. He’s isolated himself, he’s gone without sleep, he’s fighting an uphill battle every day. And then, one major thing goes the wrong way, and he’s broken. He collapses, he throws things, he cries, he’s in despair. He thinks there’s no possible way for him to do this, to keep going.

               He dwells on the failure. It almost swallows him. He loses all confidence, all belief in himself. He might even lose faith in the cause itself, in the people and things he’s been fighting so hard for. And if someone doesn’t come along and convince him otherwise, he’ll never put on that Hero cape again, or pick up that shield, or that sword.

Read this book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Hero-Like-Villain-Villainous-ebook/dp/B07NMVGCHP/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=how+to+be+a+hero+like+a+villain+alydia+rackham&qid=1572901986&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

[trashcanmarvelfan]

Aftermath (A Peter Parker Introspective Fic)

Summary: Peter dealing with the effects of Endgame, pre-FFH.

Warnings: ENDGAME SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Word Count: 1821.

Author’s Note: Just processing my post-Endgame feels and working out some headcanons. Takes place post-Endgame, pre-Far from Home.

Requests are always open!

Cross-posted at AO3.

Peter Parker sighed as he slammed his locker shut. It had been a month since the snap that had wiped out half of the universe (including himself) had been undone, a month since Thanos had been defeated for good, a month since… Well. He swallowed thickly. At least it was Friday. He could go home and pretend like a world without Tony Stark didn’t exist for the next 2 days.

His phone buzzed with an incoming text:

Pepper really needs to see you. It’s important.

Peter rubbed his eyes. Happy. He had been texting Peter for the past few weeks:

- Hey, kid, how you holding up?

- Haven’t heard any Spider-Man updates, you patrolling Queens?

- Need you to come by the office when you get a chance.

- Pepper has something to discuss with you at Stark Industries.

- Really need you to swing by S.I. when you can.

He clicked his phone off without responding and walked toward the exit. Mr. Delmar’s bodega was still around, maybe he could stop there–

He burst out the door and stopped in his tracks.

Happy stood waiting in front of the usual nondescript black town car. “Hey, kid. You haven’t been answering my messages.”

“Well, you know…” Peter adjusted his backpack. “Been busy.”

Happy gave him a ‘I know BS when I hear it’ look. “I need you to come with me.” He opened the back door of the car and waited.

Peter sighed. Might as well get this over with. He climbed in.

To his immense relief, Happy didn’t try to make conversation on the way to Stark Industries. He merely parked and escorted Peter up to the lobby leading to Pepper’s office. “Wait here,” he instructed.

Peter thought about bolting, but the nearest train station was at least 3 miles away and he didn’t have his web shooters on him; and besides, even if he had had his web shooters he was sure that the last web fluid he had made had long since disintegrated.

A few minutes later, Happy returned. “Go on in.”

Peter walked down the hall to Pepper’s office and knocked on the open door.

“Hi, Miss Potts – Or actually I guess it’s been Mrs. Stark for a while now, huh?” he said, shuffling his feet nervously. “You, uh, you wanted to see me about something?”

Pepper walked out from behind her desk and pulled Peter into a tight hug. “Hi, Peter,” she said softly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.  “Come on in.” She gestured over to the couch.

Peter took a deep breath and sat.

“How are you holding up?” Pepper asked, taking a seat next to him.

Peter shrugged, keeping his eyes trained towards the floor. He had a feeling that Pepper already knew - that he had woken up screaming almost every night since that final battle. That every time he closed his eyes he saw the light fading from Tony’s ARC reactor. That he never got to tell Tony just how much he meant to Peter - that Peter saw him as more than just billionaire Tony Stark, as more than Iron Man, as more than just someone to admire and look up to. Tony was much more than a mentor to Peter - he was the closest thing Peter had to a father since Uncle Ben had died. And now he was gone.

Pepper looked at him sympathetically. “Listen, Peter… I’ve arranged for psychiatric and grief counseling for all of Stark Industries’ employees who were affected by the snap.” She placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Including our interns. I already talked it over with your aunt and principal, and you’ll be given an excused absence on Monday to talk to Dr. Lansing.”

Peter blinked back tears. “Ok,” he said softly. “Do they– do they know? About me being Spider-Man?”

Pepper shook her head. “She knows that you were working personally with Tony before the snap and that you two were very close. Anything else you tell her is up to you.”

She took a deep breath. “Peter, the main reason I had Happy bring you here today is because Tony included you in his will.”

Pepper got up and walked over to a table, picking up a silver case and placing it on the coffee table in front of Peter before sitting next to him again.

Peter hesitated. He knew what that had to be.

“Go ahead, open it.”

Peter glanced at Pepper before placing his thumb against the sensor. The case beeped once before opening to reveal a new red and black Spider-Suit.

“Tony had made this before the Snap and was hoping to give it to you once you graduated from high school,” Pepper explained. “After the Snap he kept updating it in case we were able to bring everyone back.”

Peter just stared at the suit. “He… He kept working on this? Even after… after I…” He trailed off.

Pepper nodded. “And there’s something else. Education was extremely important to Tony, so in his will he founded the ‘Stark Industries Educational Scholarship for Technological Advancement of the Sciences’, or the ‘SIESTAS’ grant for short.  It offers full tuition including room & board, plus a stipend for books and food to a student studying technology or science to the college of their choice, with an option to renew the scholarship for a masters’ program & Ph.D. as well.” Pepper paused. “He named you the recipient.”

“Wow, that’s– that’s amazing.” Peter was at a loss for words. “Thank you.”

Pepper smiled softly at him. “Tony talked about you a lot, you know.”

Peter looked up at her in surprise. “He did?”

Pepper nodded. “I wish you could’ve heard him sometimes. He was so proud of you and everything you’d accomplished.”

Peter’s eyes filled up with tears again. He sniffled. “And I always thought Mr. Stark barely tolerated me,” he joked weakly.

Pepper shook her head. “You were so much more than just a mentee or an ‘Avenger-in-training’ to Tony, Peter. Even though he never got to tell you, he loved you like a son. You made Tony realize that he wanted to be a father, and for that I’m forever grateful because although Tony may be gone, the best part of him lives on. So thank you.”

She picked up a framed photo of herself, Tony, and the little girl that Peter had learned was Tony and Pepper’s daughter, Morgan. Pepper caressed the photo softly before setting it back down. “Before Tony and I found out that we were having a girl, he said that if we had a boy, he wanted his middle name to be Peter.” She paused. “So instead, Morgan’s middle name is Petra.”

Peter’s Greek wasn’t too advanced, but he did at least know that ‘Petra’ was the feminine version of ‘Peter.’ He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Pet– Petra?”  

“Tony wanted you to know just how much you meant to him – to us.”  Pepper took Peter’s hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You’re part of this family, Peter– you and May both.”

She stood. “I’m so sorry I have to cut this short - I have a meeting with the shareholders to go over some projects for next quarter. We’re going to do an official announcement of the SIESTAS grant at a later date with a presentation and everything, but I did want you to know about it as soon as Tony’s will was read.”

As if on cue, Happy knocked on the doorframe to Pepper’s office. “You ready to go, kid?”

Peter nodded numbly.

Pepper hugged him once again.

“Thank you, Mrs. Stark,” Peter replied.

“We’re family, Peter. You can call me Pepper.” She released him. “Don’t be a stranger, alright? I mean it. Morgan’s been wanting to meet her surrogate big brother properly.”

Peter smiled sadly. “Thank you, Pepper.”  He picked up the case with his new suit and followed Happy out of the office.

Once Peter arrived home, he opened the case and took the suit out to examine it.  Stark tech had always been way more advanced than most technology, but this… Tony definitely had made some upgrades to Peter’s suit in the past 5 years.

Peter hadn’t worn his Spider-Suit since the day the Snap had been undone and they had defeated Thanos. Even though they had won, he still felt like he had failed because he couldn’t save Tony.

He sighed and hung the suit up.

He was working on his homework when May arrived home. “Hey, Peter!” she called out.

“I’m in here, May!” Peter called in reply.

May knocked on his door then opened it a crack. “Hey, how was your day?” she asked.

“Fine,” Peter replied. He bit his lip. “I, uh… I went by Stark Industries after school today. Mrs. Stark - I mean Pepper - she wanted to see me.”

“Oh?” May asked nonchalantly.

“She mentioned that she arranged counseling for Stark employees, and I… I have an appointment on Monday.”

May visibly relaxed. “That’s wonderful, Peter. I’m proud of you for accepting help.”

Peter nodded. “But that wasn’t all she wanted to talk about. Mr. Stark… Tony… left me some things in his will.”

“He did?”

“He gave me a 4-year scholarship to any college I choose, with the option to renew the scholarship for a Master’s degree and Ph.D if I choose to pursue them.”

May’s eyes widened. “Wow, that’s so generous.”

Peter gestured toward his new suit. “He also left me a new Spider-Suit.”

May put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “He obviously cared a lot about you.” She paused. “Have you tried your new suit on yet?”

Peter shook his head. “Not yet. I…” His voice broke. “I just miss him so much, May.”

“I know, sweetie,” May replied, sitting next to Peter on his bed and wrapping her arms around him. “I know.”

She held on to Peter for a few more moments. “Just remember that those we love are never truly gone, ok? Tony would want you to continue on.”

Peter sniffled.

May kissed the top of Peter’s head and stood. “Now, I’m going to go make us some dinner and you join me when you’re ready, ok?”

Peter nodded, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

May exited Peter’s room and shut the door behind her.

Peter sat quietly for a few more minutes, just staring at his suit. Finally, he thought, May’s right. Tony *would* want me to continue on. The world needs Spiderman.

He stood and picked up his new suit. Here goes.

He stripped down to his boxers, pulled the suit on, put on his mask, and pressed the spider on the front of his suit to fit it to his frame.

He took a deep breath as he waited for his AI, Karen, to boot up and greet him.

Instead of Karen, however, the updated AI voice was one he had never expected to hear again.

“Hey, Underoos.”

[frostilyfiction]

Weaver's Family and Friends

Just posting a list of my Marvel OC Weaver's friends and family. She is a spider person and exists in an alternate I created, Earth 842, which has some familiar faces who exist in different ways.

Nat - A financial analyst at Pym Tech who is also the superhero Weaver. She was accidentally bitten by a radioactive spider developed by Hope Pym. This gives her regular spider powers. Scott Lang was her mentor before his untimely death and helped give her some tech to use as well. Weaver wants to help people as her parents did but she's too afraid of failure and her own perceived weaknesses. So, she gets a job at Pym Tech feeling that working for a good company means she can help people indirectly. Once she gets bitten  t the spider and develops her posts she's ready to become a superhero as she wants to follow her mother's idea that if we have the power to help people we have the responsibility to. She follows her father's sense of justice that no mar how bad someone is one cannot be judge, jury, and executioner. She believes in catching bad guys and allowing the justice system to deal with them though there are times this moral code is tested, especially when it comes to those she cares for. Weaver tries to protect and save everyone so when she loses Scott it years her up for a while and she goes to the MCU universe to get away. After talking with the heroes of that universe she learns to accept that heroes make their choices and Scott chose to protect her just as she chooses to protect others and that's all she can do at the end of the day.

Family Dad and Mom - A police officer and a lawyer respectively. Helped Weaver develop her sense of justice and responsibility. She's really close to both of her parents even if she can't visit them often.

Friends - Earth 842 Peter Parker - A robotics expert at Stark Industries. Not spider bit in this universe. Lives with his Aunt May. Best friends with Weaver since preschool. After her fight with Mysterio, he learns of her identity as Weaver. Though she doesn't want him involved for fear of his life, he becomes her 'guy in the chair' and helps her with updating her tech. Later becomes an Iron Man like hero called Safeguard who fights beside Weaver.

MJ - A lead singer in a band. Best friends with Weaver and Peter since middle school. Weaver had always admired her confidence and strength. Weaver and Peter both want to make sure she doesn't find out they're heroes but they learn she's known since the beginning. She just wanted them to come to her about it in their own time as she respects them not wanting to get her involved for her safety.

Ned Leeds - Works in IT at Stark Industries with Peter. Plays DnD with Weaver, Peter, and a (semi reluctant) MJ. Once Peter becomes Safeguard he becomes the new 'guy in the chair'.

Aunt May - Peter's aunt who's known Weaver since she was little. Super nice and makes great dinners.

Eddie Brock - An evening news reporter and the host of the Venom symbiote. He's an ally(?). Weaver and him don't see eye to eye when it comes to killing people but they don't get in each other's way and have even assisted each other at times, such as when Venom is taken from him.

Hope Pym - Owner of Pym Tech and Weaver's boss. Pym Tech specializes in biochemistry, entomology, robotics, quantum physics, and AI just as it's founder Hank Pym did and Hope dabbled in most all these fields as well. She assist Weaver in her hero antics by making her web fluid, providing her with her suit, etc. Hope created the radioactive spider that bit Weaver. She wanted to try it on herself but was afraid she'd end up like her father Hank Pym who went crazy after experimenting with the Pym Particles in himself. Hope "recruits" Scott into testing it and assisted him during his time as Spiderman. They also dated.

Scott Lang - An electrical engineer at Pym Tech. Former criminal. Weaver's neighbor. The Spiderman of this universe. Wanted to be known as more than a "criminal" so he accepts when Hope says she wants to test the spider on him. Creates most of his tech, such as his and Weaver's spider legs and web shooter. With Hope's help, he designed a portal to travel dimensions through the Quantum Realm (jokingly called The DeLorean though it's not able to time travel). He dies protecting the device from a villain known as Arachnis though it's still highly sought after by Arachnis and other villains.

Miles Morales - A high schooler who Weaver knows from their dad's working together in the police force. She constantly finds him creating art and helps assist him. He was a big Spiderman fan and now a big Weaver fan.

Gwen Stacy - A high schooler who Weaver knows because her dad is a police captain. She attends a lot of MJ's band's shows as she's an avid drummer. Her dad is not a fan of superhero 'vigilantes' but Gwen is a fan.

[kamino-ink]

Behind The Mask | Lee Felix

✧ Genre: Spiderman!au, fluff, angst

✧ Summary: You’ve started to notice how your friend has begun to show up to class absolutely exhausted, always falling asleep - he claims it’s just his schoolwork and his internship, but what you don’t know is that his so-called “internship” is actually his duty to serve the people of Queens as Spiderman.

✧ Word Count: 3.2k

✧ Check out my masterlist!

                                         ✧

 “So, class, as you can clearly see on the board, there are about four key reasons why water is so vitally important to us, as human beings, and the planet itself-”

 “Do you think this is how he dirty talks to his husband in bed?” Jisung whispered to you across the lab table, leaning dangerously close to a stray beaker on the edge of the desk.

 “Dude, I didn't need that image in my mind. Thanks a lot.” You groan sarcastically to the amused boy, discretely reaching over to slide the beaker closer to the middle of the table so the clumsy kid would (hopefully) not somehow manage to break it.

 Jisung sticks his tongue out at you before turning his attention to a very dazed looking blonde beside you. “Come on, it was funny - right, Lix…? Felix? Hellooo?”

 You tilt your head slightly in curiosity as to why the boy next to you wasn’t answering his other friend, your gaze drifting over to his slumped over form. He was just barely holding his head up with his chin resting on the palms of his hands, though his legs drooped down to the floor, the bottoms of his shoes swaying above the ground. His black turtleneck was covered up by the plaid shirt draped over it’s material, though spots of the coal colored cloth was made visible by the odd tears in the overlapping shirt.

 Lately, you’ve begun to notice something... off, about your close friend. He was mostly quiet, unless he was with you or Jisung, choosing to crack stupid jokes around the two of you instead of trying to amuse a larger crowd. That hadn’t changed, really, but Felix was starting to make weird excuses to not hang out with either of you after school some days - this didn’t happen every single day, of course. Though, whenever you saw him again either at school or outside of it, the teenage boy would be covered in spots of dark bruises or little cuts protected from the outside air by bandages (usually Star Wars or Hello Kitty ones, curtesy of his aunt.)

 Needless to say, you were starting to wonder if maybe Felix had somehow managed to have a run in with a bad crowd - perhaps he had been influenced by them, hence the cuts and bruises.

 “Yo Felix, wake up,” you grunt, noticing how your teacher had paused for a split second in his lecture to send a heated glare to the dozing boy, “what’s up with you? This is the third time you’ve nearly fallen asleep in class just today. It’s not even eleven.”

The blonde slowly adjusted his position on the stool, now choosing to let out a whine as he let his tired body lead him to lean on your shoulder for support - mostly for his head. “s’ the Stark Internship, Y/N, I already told you guys like a miiiilion times.”

 “I am going to personally beat Tony fucking Stark up if he keeps making you work so hard. Does the man have his head so far up his ass that he can’t see how exhausted you are?”

 “Look, I swear he isn’t overworking me. I’ll be on a break soon, promise.”

 “Pinky promise?”

 He lets out a soft sigh, begrudgingly bringing up one of his hands from his lap to link his pinky finger with your own.

 “Pinky promise.”

 “Fuck me!” Felix screamed into his pillow, completely ignoring a smirking, amused Jisung sat at his own desk just a mere few feet away.

 “Eh, I think I’ll pass,” the cheeky teen snickers, dodging a pillow that the younger had thrown violently at him from his spot on the bottom bunk, “you kind of did this to yourself, Lix. You pinky promised Y/N that you wouldn’t let Stark overwork you-”

 “But it isn’t Mr. Stark telling me to do all these jobs, Jisung! I’m the one who keeps putting myself in these shitty situations.” The blonde shot back almost too quickly in his hero’s defense, throwing his legs over the edge of his bed so he could properly sit up and face his friend.

 An entire week had since passed the day in chemistry class where you had made Felix pinky promise to take a real break from his “internship.” What you obviously didn’t know was that Tony Stark had little to no time to direct Felix’s superhero antics each and every day or night; it was all him, for the most part. In fact, you weren’t even aware of Felix’s superhero alter ego - Spiderman. Only Jisung was aware of his otherwise secret identity, not including the amazing scientist himself. Sure, he sort of felt guilty about not telling you of his secret, especially since he knew you would support him through thick and thin, no matter what - the only thing that might change or, well, increase is your babying of him. You already worried enough about his consistent injures, why should he put that burden of knowledge on your head?

 But now, the injures had gotten worse - he had a run in with some ragtag gang of robbers at a convenience store a couple nights ago, and one of the bastards had managed to slash through his suit deep enough to leave a mark on his arm. The following day, he had neglected to wear longer sleeves, which meant that his bandaged wound was open for anyone to see - and boy had you seen it.

 “Felix, what the fuck happened to you?” The burning question had been on the tip of your tongue the entire day at school, only you had decided to wait to confront Felix about it until you both began to walk home.

 “I uh - nothing, I swear - I just got... mugged?” He lied to you through gritted teeth, the following laugh stained with awkwardness.

 “How the fuck were you mugged in broad daylight?”

 “Well, um it was actually like... around eleven, I guess?”

 “What - Lix, why in the world were you out so late? There is no way in hell May would’ve let you out at that time for no reason.” You whirled around on him now in the middle of the otherwise deserted sidewalk, crossing your arms over you chest impatiently.

 “S-Stark Internship? Yeah! I was supposed to get some field work done before the next morning and I forgot the other half of the day, s-so I had to finish it really late.”

 Needless to say, you had quickly snapped in a blind, chilling rage, badmouthing the multi-millionaire in front of his nervous intern, who first came to you as your best friend. You brought up the fact that Felix had promised to take a break from the exhausting internship, to which the already perplexed, panicked teenager had then snapped at you of all people, saying that this internship was basically his duty - his life. Since then, you had been silent towards the boy all week, refusing to speak to him out of pure agitation, worry, and hurt.

 “Listen, I know that this entire ‘I’m a superhero’ thing is really, really important to you. But you have to take a step back and look at the bigger picture sometimes; clearly you’re working too much, and between school and your spidey-shit, I’m honestly surprised you haven’t collapsed yet.” The brunette admitted bluntly. “This isn’t healthy like, at all. I doubt Stark would appreciate you getting hurt so often just because you feel obligated to make him proud.”

 Before Felix could even get a word of retaliation out, he heard his phone’s ringtone faintly going off somewhere on his mess of a bed. He was about to just ignore whoever was calling at such an ungodly hour, but after a sharp glare from Jisung, he tossed a pillow and curled up blanket from the corner of his bed onto the floor to reach his still ringing phone.

 A picture you had taken of all three of you huddled together during Christmas last year displayed itself on the bright screen, showcasing your bright smiles and red cheeks from the cold day last year. The time read one-thirteen in the morning.

 Why were you calling so late?

 “Hello-”

 “L-Lix?” Your voice comes out as a stuttered whisper, immediately grabbing his rapt attention as he presses a button on his phone and puts you on speaker.

 “Y/N, why are you calling?” He notices Jisung shake his head from his seat, clearly wanting you to keep talking considering the dangerously low, nervous tone you were using.

 “I fell asleep on the train and m-missed my stop a while ago. I started walking home, b-but now these two people are following me. I - I think I’m close to the bank down the street, could you - could you come get me?”

 Felix shoots out of his spot on the comfy bed, tossing his phone onto the comforter while he darts over to his closet in a hurry. “Y-yeah, of course! Just don’t stop walking, okay? And stay on the phone-”

 “-Felix!”

 The line cuts off.

 Jisung throws himself up from his seat by the desk and grabs Felix’s phone from his bed, turning his back to the boy as he starts to slide his suit onto his body in a rush. “Felix, she won’t pick up the phone now!” He says quickly, continuing to spam your contact even when they run out of the apartment - not bothering to see if May was awake or not.

 “She said that she’s by the bank, right? I’ll swing over there and take care of the creeps, you call the police and meet me there.” The superhero tells the following boy his plan, already shooting out a splatter of webs onto the side of the building so he can swing into the air.

 He knew that you wouldn’t hang up on him, especially after calling him for help. It was likely that you had already called the authorities beforehand just in case, but he was too worried that they wouldn’t be able to get to you in time. Felix had already lost too many people that he loved in his life, he wasn’t about to risk losing you too.

 The city of Queens was relatively peaceful during the darkest hours of the night, with a good handful of its otherwise lively residents choosing to stay in the comfort of their homes rather than walking around at that vulnerable time slot. While everyone was more than aware of the superhero presence in their world and, specifically for them in the case of the web-slinging hero, city, the rising danger of criminal activity pushed them to refute from stepping outside when the villains might be lurking about in the shadows. This left the city of Queens to be oddly silent during those particular hours, which is why Felix would so easily hear your desperate screaming even before he had turned the next corner that led to the closed bank.

 “Let go of me, you assholes!” You shout at the perps, your voice coming out strangled in taut pain from how the manicured nails of the woman dig into the skin of your neck, her wrist pressing down harshly onto the front of it to regulate your pained breathing. Fighting back had proven useless, as each time you even tried to swing a leg at the powerful woman she would only further intrude onto your sensitive skin, drawing copious amounts of blood that dribbled down your neck and onto your exposed shoulder, the sleeve of your shirt having been ripped in the initial struggle.

 “No one is coming to save you, angel,” the man taunts you from a few feet away, cracking his neck, “not the cops or whoever you called. They won’t be able to piece your damn body back together - you see, my sister here has an acquired taste for blood, but mostly from pretty little girls like you.”

 “-Hey now, isn’t that cannibalism or something? Cause’ let me tell you, drinking human blood is not normal. Dude, that is so messed up.”

 In sync, all three of you twist your heads to look to wherever the sudden voice had come from in the dead of the night, the nails digging into your skin in the back of your mind the second someone else had suddenly appeared.

 Perched on top of a dimly lit lamppost was a figure you never would have thought you would be able to see in person - or in a sticky situation like the one you were currently tied into.

 It was him - Spiderman.

 The young superhero casually hopped off of the lamppost and onto the sidewalk, the pads of his covered feet soundless even then - it was no wonder that none of you had heard him approaching. “Alright creepy lady, if you could let my fr- erm, my little buddy go it would be greatly appreciated. Kinda makes my job easier.” He hums nonchalantly, his bug-eyes seeming to move with his suit as he analyzes the situation at hand.

 The redhead practically strangling you lets out a growl, sounding eerily similar to a wild dog, and easily releases her grip on your neck. Your back slumps against the brick wall as you take deep breaths, your throat sore from the strong pressure, stinging pain from her long nails ringing in your head.

 “A spider, huh?”

 “Everyone has a gimmick these days.” The brother retorts sourly, twisting his neck to make it ‘pop’ again while his sister steps up beside his shorter form. “Come on, Spiderboy, I would love to dissect your organs and the girl’s!”

 “I mean, you guys totally brought this onto yourselves.” He quips, not even hesitating to sling out four splotches of his webbing onto the creepy criminals, effectively ensnaring them into the sticky substance.

 But it could never be that easy, and Felix probably should've been expecting that much.

 While he had been making his way towards your shaking body still leaning against the wall for support, he had left his back turned to the two perps. Because of his keen focus on making sure you were still, you know, breathing, he hadn't noticed that the woman had tore through the web - not until he felt an all too familiar tingling sensation run up his arms, sending his hairs flying under the tightness of his suit.

 Before he could spin around and protect the both of you, she had snagged her nails - more like claws - underneath the hem of his mask, pulling it completely over his head and slinging it to the ground. The next few seconds were like a blur to you as Spiderman turned on his heels and threw the woman back onto the concrete with a sickening thud, splaying his web all over her from head-to-toe, including her entire skull so she couldn't catch a glimpse of his exposed face.

 But it was too late - you had already seen him.

 “F-Felix?”

 Said teenage boy whips his head around the second you utter his name in a shaky, bewildered tone. He sees the confusion, hurt, and complete awe in your glazed over eyes; you had seen him, you had figured it out without even needing to try.

 Lee Felix was Spiderman.

 “... so what you’re saying is I have even more reason to beat the ever living shit out of Tony Stark?”

 The blonde hisses a word of protest at your monotone grunt, accidently pressing down a bit too hard on the gauze he was using to wrap up your bloodied neck, which made you whimper softly in pain - almost immediately the boy bandaging you up paused in his movements, the tips of his cold fingers grazing your skin midair.

 “You’re fine, Lix. Keep going.” You uttered to the cautious boy quietly, watching his every hesitant move in the reflection painted on his bathroom mirror.

 When he had heard the sound of police sirens and the frantic shouting of Jisung approaching the bank a few minutes ago, Felix had panicked and grabbed his mask, slipping it over his head before he had scooped you up into his arms and swung back to his apartment. Luckily May had been in a deep sleep, so she wasn’t there to pester you two about your shared injuries.

 Jisung was on his way back, of course, since Felix had texted him a quick sentenced summary of what had happened.

 “Are you not - how are you not angry at me right now, Y/N?” Your best friend questioned you, guilt seeping into his soft, broken voice so much that it made your heart squeeze in your chest.

 “I’ll admit, I’m kind of ticked off that Han fucking Jisung knew before me, but I suppose I can forgive you for, you know... saving my life.” You laugh weakly, blinking slowly at the reflection of the boy, still clad in his blue and red suit, carefully finishing off the bandaging on your neck. While it most certainly was not the appropriate time for your pitiful heart to start racing in your chest at his close proximity and soft breaths fanning out onto your chilly skin, you couldn't help but fall into a short-lived daze when the boy grabs onto your thighs and turns you to face him.

 “I - I did want to tell you Y/N, I swear,” he mumbles, “Jisung found out on accident, and uh, obviously Mr. Stark knows because he gave me this suit n’ all. Don’t - don’t be pissed at him for encouraging me to do this, please? I was already sort of doing this stuff before he found me.”

 “But why, Lix?” You huff a bit selfishly, looking down at the floor of his tiny bathroom. “You could seriously get hurt doing this - we’re just kids, we’re supposed to be doing stupid shit like - like falling in love, going to the arcade with friends, and going to dumbass parties just for the free food.”

 “Because I’m the friendly neighborhood Spiderman, Y/N. I want to protect the people of Queens, and outside of it - I wasn't able to save my uncle, but... I have helped so many other people doing what I’m doing. I mean... I was able to save someone else I love, for once, tonight.” He whispers to you softly, lifting your chin with a single finger so you can meet his steady gaze.

 In all your time being friends with him, you don’t recall ever seeing Lee Felix looking so serious.

 “I was actually able to save you, Y/N - god I was so fucking worried when you called because y-you sounded so scared and I wasn’t there to prevent any of it from happening. I’m so thankful that I got to you before something terrible happened.”

 “I-”

 “Please don't interrupt, for once I’m actually talking about how I feel without chickening out like I usually do,” Felix laughs quietly, watching as your lips twitch into a small smile at his truthful words, leaving him to keep speaking, “I like you - love you, so much, Y/N. S-so, if you don’t mind, could I - could I possibly kiss you?”

 You nod with no hesitation, feeling your cheeks heat up when he gulps and starts to lean in, closer and closer until you lips are brushing against each other.

 “... so should I shut the door before May inevitably wakes up and potentially sees you two kissing? It might weird her out since Spiderman is kissing her nephew’s best friend.”

 “Jisung-”

 “I’ll take that as a yes.”

                                         ✧

[weartirondad]

A/N: We did a thing for @parkrstark ‘s appreciation day. You are amazing and we’re sending all our love! xx

This is inspired by Chöre by Mark Forster (a German song, most translations suck but try this one) 

Even superheroes need someone to fight for them sometimes. ao3 I FF.net

I’ll Love You (When You Can’t Love Yourself)

“Mister Parker seems to in distress, boss. His vitals suggest that he has been getting steadily more agitated over the past ten minutes.”

“Wha- Ah- Fuck”, Tony cursed when he hit his head on the underbody of the car as he tried to crunch up before the roller board was completely out from underneath his 1949 Mercury Coupe. The car didn’t seem to mind in the slightest, which didn’t surprise him, but even his AI simply kept talking as if he hadn’t just almost split his nose open again.

“His heartrate has been well over 120 beats per minute for the past five minutes. His blood pressure is significantly elevated at 170 to 100.”

He was already halfway to the nearest suit when he realized he wasn’t even sure where Peter would be. What time was it anyway? Was school over already? Was it even a school day? Good thing his AI seemed to have psychic abilities where she was lacking basic human empathy and told him before he had to ask.

“The tracker that you installed in his watch suggests he’s still in school. Though according to his time table his last lesson ended fifteen minutes ago.”

“Is- Is he involved in a fight at school?”, Tony wanted to know, halting his movements with his hand still stretched out and with half of his armor already attached to his body. Did Peter get into fights at school? Was that bully giving him trouble again? He thought they had handled the Flash issue weeks ago... Then again, Peter was really determined about keeping him in the dark about important things like his wellbeing.

“I don’t think so, boss”, F.R.I.D.A.Y. unhelpfully supplied, “There doesn’t seem to be an imminent threat.”

“Oh-kay”, he turned around, dropping his arms to his side, thinking, “Tap into the voice recording of the watch, F.R.I.”

“I think that would be a violation of the privacy setting you have discussed with Mister Parker.”

“Well, the kid would feel a lot more violated if Ironman were to show up at his school without reason. God that sounded wrong. Just do what you’re told. He can have privacy when I’m dead.”

“Very well, boss.”

Not a second later the slightly metallic version of a teenager’s voice filtered through his lab and he frowned in confusion. That voice didn’t belong to either of the two nerds Peter usually hung out with and it didn’t belong to Flash. He hadn’t known that the kid talked to more than those three people. After just one sentence, however, it became clear what had caused Peter’s current distress.

“-posed internship all you want, maybe Stark Industries does a few things right but the truth is, that your dear Tony Stark’s fortune is built on blood and death. He’s not the hero he claims to be. He never stopped being the merchant of d-“

“No.”

Tony all but flinched at the kid’s cold and steady tone. Peter wasn’t ever supposed to sound so angry. He listened to the kid argue, still unsure whether or not to deploy the suit right away or to get rid of the armor again.

“You have no idea what he’s doing to keep all of us save. He flew a nuke into a wormhole, that our government sent, knowing it would essentially obliterate all of Midtown. He didn’t know if he would make it out alive. He sacrificed himself for all of us. And he did so without hesitation or thoughts to his own wellbeing. Don’t you dare call the person who saved your fucking life the merchant of death.”

That was also the first time that Tony had ever heard Peter curse but he let it slide in favor of concentrating on the jagged breathing coming through the speakers, worried the teenager would start hyperventilating and eventually pass out.

The other boy scoffed and the billionaire could do nothing but watch the red numbers, that were telling his kid’s blood pressure, continue to rise. And his mind was still battling about what to do. Was this really an argument that Ironman should interrupt? Where the hell was Ned anyway?

“Oh yeah, maybe he did that out of the goodness of his heart. Or maybe because he was still feeling guilty. And what about Sokovia? What about all the people that died so your supposed superheroes could have a little party? What about your dear Tony Stark’s Ultron? What about that German airport they destroyed because they couldn’t get their heads out of their asses? He somehow even got Spiderman to fight on his side. That guy would be better off without ties to Ironman. People actually-“

“Shut up!”, Peter yelled and the sound made Tony’s stomach curl in hatred for the person who had elicited such a furious response from the usually calm and happy kid. “You have no idea what you are talking about! He was fighting to keep us safe from their flaws. They’re heroes, they’re not perfect. He was one of the ones who actually signed the Accords, no matter how much they needed amending, because he believes that superheroes need to be held accountable, too. And Spiderman- Spiderman wouldn’t even be alive without Tony Stark you, you-“

Before Peter could actually find an insult to throw at the other’s head, another familiar voice sounded through the speakers in Tony’s lab and he thanked the gods for Peter’s best friend finally making his entry.

“Hey Peter”, Ned called, either oblivious to the tension that was palpable even through audio or actively choosing to ignore it, “Your ride is outside and he’s getting annoyed at the delay. Sorry, Matt, we gotta go.”

A short pause in which all Tony could hear was the metallic scratching and shuffling of fabric and then hushed voices. “Come on, dude. Let’s get outta here.”

Peter seemed to follow Ned’s lead because he heard slow footsteps echoing through a wide room. And thankfully the kid’s heart rate was slowly returning to normal. Even his blood pressure had gone down to 140 to 90 since Ned had gotten there and for the first time since getting the distress signal, Tony felt his own heartbeat calm down, too, and he let out a breath.

He logged out of the watch’s audio once Ned had successfully calmed Peter down and had dropped him off with Happy and he was sure they were both on their way to the Tower.

Suddenly he felt more tired and older than ever before, well, at least ever since almost dying. He couldn’t wrap his head around someone as pure and good as Peter defending him of all people. He had never seen himself as anything other than a major fuck up and he had credited the fact that Pepper, Rhodey and Happy had kept around at all, to them all having to atone for some thing or another they had done in a previous life. There was no way they were sticking around for anything else. No way could someone, who wasn’t as thoroughly fucked up as he was himself, ever even consider loving him.

And still here they were. With Peter wanting to hang out with him, wanting to be mentored by him and defending him in front of people in his school when he was already being bullied.

His heart felt too full and he couldn’t help but feel the weight of the trust the kid had in him, press down on his torso, suffocating him. It was all too much. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t figure out how to be this person that Peter saw in him and he couldn’t bear to disappoint him again. Not him.

Fuck. No. Not a panic attack. Not now. Nonononono.

Without his command, the part of the suit he was still wearing started flying him to the nearby couch, depositing him on it before slipping off of his body so he could curl into himself.

In. 3, 2, 1. Out. 3, 2, 1. In. 3, 2…

He managed to pull himself back from the edge, something he had gotten a lot better at recently, especially when the Spiderling was about to show is face. He was refusing to let the kid see him spiraling into a full blown panic attack. So far his thick head had gotten him farther than his improving mental health, though he suspected it did play a part.

Instead of going back to working on his car, he pulled up the Iron Spider Suit and started working on a few minor improvements and new safe keeping protocols – something that never failed to calm him down – and that was how he occupied himself until Peter got there. Trying not to think of how easy it would be for him to break something so precious that he deserved no part in.

He wouldn’t.

Not quite twenty minutes later the doors to his lab slid open and Tony felt the new presence in the room more than he actually heard the soft footsteps on the floor. He didn’t turn around and for a while Peter didn’t speak up either, simply plopping down on the couch Tony had occupied earlier and watching his mentor work in silence.

Then, really quietly, barely enough to reach the mechanic’s ears hadn’t he been waiting for the words, he heard, “Why do you do this? Why don’t you tell the world what you do to keep them safe every day? Why do you let them believe that you’re not really a hero?”

Tony almost choked on his own spit. So many replies were running through his mind then and he couldn’t bring himself to voice any of them because he didn’t have the heart to tell this kid, his kid, that he didn’t believe it himself. Instead he made up some bullshit excuse about people not needing to know and about them being better off not knowing but of course that wasn’t enough to convince Peter. He had the uncanny ability to see through his crap from still a mile out and he was currently not even five feet away.

The teenager was watching him with knowing eyes. Eyes that went right through his superficial Tony Stark persona and into his soul, dissecting every inch of it without judging. He hated being so see through to people, he hated that apart from his friends who had dealt with him for years, this boy had managed to walk past all his walls and really see him. He adverted his eyes, busying his shaky hands with some (useless) reprogramming of the suit.

Still, he didn’t turn his body away and that seemed to be all the incentive Peter needed to walk up to him and rest a hand on Tony’s shoulder. Of course he had picked up on Tony not being too fond of being touched and tried to avoid it especially when he knew Tony was on edge.

Although, that wasn’t entirely true. A fact he had only started to realize himself – Peter’s touch was okay. It would always be okay.

“You know you’re a hero, right?”

The kid’s voice sounded so self- assured and certain where it was usually rambling and timid, that he had to look up to meet his eyes. He said it like there was nothing that could convince him otherwise, and maybe there wasn’t, because he was stubborn, too.

Meeting the warm brown eyes of his mentee had been a mistake, though, because at seeing the unconditional loyalty (And love? Was that love?) in them, he felt the tears that had been threatening to spill ever since listening to him defending his honor actually fill his eyes and had to blink them away in favor of being able to see Peter’s face.

Also, he refused to cry in front of the teenager.

He didn’t deserve the look he was getting but he couldn’t bring himself to look away. Something in him wanted to make him see that he was not the man Peter believed him to be but as much as he believed it himself – he couldn’t, for the love of it, bring himself to dim the hope and trust in the kid’s eyes with his own self-loathing. He refused to be responsible for Peter ever having to see more darkness in the world than he absolutely had to. And even that he would fight tooth and nail.

Instead he stayed quiet, silently enjoying that the teenager didn’t move away but after a moment it felt as if their moment was over and before it could get weird, he started to turn back to his work. The small hand on his shoulder with the strong grip wouldn’t let him, though.

The billionaire didn’t tell him how the touch grounded him, just raised an questioning eyebrow and that seemed to embarrass the kid, making him get flustered but never actually releasing his grip or loosening the strength he still projected with his eyes. Right now he was being strong for both of them and he seemed to realize it.

Tony hated that he had to.

“You’re my hero”, Peter told him quietly, unwavering even as his cheeks were turning pink, “Not just because of Ironman but because of you. Tony Stark – genius, inventor, mentor – is my hero. You are a hero.”

The repetition sounded like a mantra and maybe it was and it was all Tony could do to stare up at him, still not quiet believing. Some 15 year old kid’s words couldn’t erase everything Tony had been told to believe his entire life but they were a start because he could already feel part of the armor around his heart melt.

It was obvious that Peter thought their moment was over then, that he was close to stepping over an undrawn line, so he started his usual nervous word vomit to, metaphorically, take a step back. “And uh. I know you’re not into hugs and... uh.. touching in general but I really wanted you to know that and I’m just- I’m gonna go n-“

The grip on his shoulder tightened shortly, then the hand lifted but before Peter could stumble backwards (and right into Dum-E) Tony’s Hand shot out, holding the boy back. And then he was standing (he didn’t remember giving his body the signal) and, after just a millisecond of hesitation, he pulled the kid into a hug.

It felt awkward at first, both their bodies surprised and rigid next to each other, and he wanted to slap himself and pull away immediately, thinking that this was a mistake. But when Peter’s arm snaked around his waist tentatively and the boy’s body started relaxing against his own, he could feel, with every fiber of his being that he had wanted that hug since forever but had been afraid to ask.

He should’ve known. Peter was big on touching but he would never try to pressure because Tony was known for being really big on not touching.

After a moment, Tony relaxed, too, and tightened his arms around this kid who had somehow managed to waltz past all the barriers and walls he had so painstakingly erected.

“Thank you, Underoos”, he said in his ear before he pulled away, “That means a lot to me.”

He had wanted to give a sarcastic retort of some sort but felt it get stuck in his throat somewhere on the way and he was glad because the smile he got in return was the brightest he had ever seen and he knew without a doubt that his answering smile was just as open and that this kid was one of maybe three people he let see that smile, his real one.

Tony coughed slightly, all the emotion suddenly getting stuck in his throat, and patted Peter’s back, “Let me show you the new feature I’m working on for Karen.”

It was like a switch had been turned in the kid when he started talking about everything and nothing all at once. Years – hell even months ago – Tony would’ve threatened anyone who dared to disrupt the silence in his lab with rambling but here he was, enjoying whatever the kid had to say just because he liked listening and knowing what was going on it his brain.

Tony turned back around to the screen, knowing that Peter would follow suit, and started working again. Without looking up again he said “Oh, and Peter? Don’t get into fights because of me, will you?”

“What’s gotten your panties in a twist?”

Peter barely had the energy to look up to see his aunt standing in the living room with her arms crossed. “Uh- oh. Hey Aunt May, didn’t know you’d be home already.” He trailed off with a deep sigh and went back to staring straight ahead at the dark TV screen.

A moment passed and he would’ve thought she had gone to her room to change into something more comfy like she usually did, hadn’t he been so acutely aware of her presence – her heartbeat and breathing pattern so uncannily familiar that it immediately calmed him down. He knew he worried her by sitting on the couch without moving a muscle, still in his Spidersuit minus the mask, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it.

Another sigh, May’s this time, and he heard her drop her bag before starting to move towards him, her already soft footsteps muffled by the carpet. He still didn’t move but when she sat down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders he felt his muscles start to relax and he allowed her to pull his head onto her shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

He shrugged even though he could already hear his aunt rolling her eyes at his ‘grumpy teenager antics’ as she liked to call them.

“Okay, let me rephrase that”, she said, her arm tightening around his body, pulling him a little closer still, “Are you physically hurt because of your superheroeing beyond something I can fix with my first aid kit?”

“No, Aunt May”, he answered truthfully, turning his head until his face was buried in the crook of her neck, “I’m fine.” His voice came out muffled but even he realized that he didn’t look or sound fine right now.

“Good.” She pressed a kiss to the top of his head like she had done ever since he was a little child and he felt tears spring to his eyes at the comfort it provided. “Emotionally hurt then?”

He shrugged. She sighed.

“Teenager angst? Did something happen at school?”

He shook his head but stopped once her hand came up to the base of his neck, rubbing soothing circles into his skin.

“Superhero angst?” Shrug. Sigh.

“Do you want me to call Tony?” He shook his head, then changed it to a shrug.

At this point he knew she was humoring him despite being actually concerned. It was part of their routine. It was what they had always done when he needed to talk but didn’t really know how to go about it. May, in her eternally patient way, simply asked him yes-no questions until the dam burst and he spilled whatever was weighing him down. The familiarity of it all made the corners of his lips turn up slightly.

“Is it about Tony? Do I need to have words with him?” Now she sounded protective and Peter loved her even more for her readiness to go toe to toe with a billionaire superhero just because he might’ve hurt his feelings.

“No”, he let out a deep breath and turned his head until he was facing forward again, while never moving out of his aunt’s embrace, “He didn’t really do anything. It’s just- He doesn’t- Ugh.”

“Sort your thoughts, Pete”, she told him gently, “Then tell me.”

The teenager nodded and for a bit he simply enjoyed the feeling of her fingers carding through his curls, trying to make sense of everything he had been feeling ever since he had gotten home. He had been so caught up in his feelings that he hadn’t really tried to wrap his head around it so far, he had simply let himself get stuck in the emotional component of it all.

“I told you how today was this meeting with the rogue Avengers and Secretary Ross about amending the Accords, right?” It was a rhetorical question – they had had a very long, very emotional conversation about why Spiderman had to partake in that meeting in the first place – but his aunt nodded anyway, though she seemed a little tense, prompting him to keep going.

“It went okay, I think.” It really had gone good. Better than Tony had expected it to which, considering his fatalistic attitude at times, wasn’t all that surprising, but not even Colonel Rhodes had believed it to go so smoothly. “There was a lot of talking, not much screaming. It was a very grown up conversation, you would’ve liked it. There are going to be a few more follow-up meetings until it’s all finalized but the cornerstones are already mapped out. So, the meeting ended with scheduling another meeting.”

“But that’s a good thing, right? Why are you so upset about it?”

Peter lifted his head from his aunt’s shoulder then and leaned away to really meet her eyes for the first time that evening. “They scheduled the next meeting for next Thursday.” Pause. “That’s May 29.”

He watched the confused frown slowly morph into understanding first and then she smiled at him, ruffling his hair again.

“He won’t be busy with the meeting all day, though, right? He’ll still have time to celebrate his birthday.”

“You know what he told me, when I asked him why he didn’t veto that date?”, he wanted to know, suddenly feeling his suppressed anger and smoldering discontent flare up in his chest bright and red. “He told me that ‘getting the world its heroes back is a lot more important than some birthday’”, he recounted, his voice laced with mock when he imitated his mentor, “especially his. And I feel like he doesn’t even realize that he is a hero, too! You know, he goes on and on about how America needs its Captain back when Captain America was the one who left him hurting alone in effing Siberia. He doesn’t care about what getting them pardoned means for him! He doesn’t care that he’ll be miserable once they’ve been put under his care and supervision. He’s going to have to see them every day, May! And he flinches whenever Steve Rogers just moves too fast. Yet whenever I try to tell him that he’s a hero, too, he deflects and I hate it. I hate how lowly he thinks of himself. I mean that’s my hero he’s badmouthing and he doesn’t even realize it. He- It makes me so angry!”

“Sorry”, Peter added, breathing heavily after his outburst. He hadn’t meant for it all to come out like that, he hadn’t meant to put all that on May’s shoulders because she had enough to worry about as it was. Hell, he hadn’t meant to get so angry at Tony, he hated being angry. But he couldn’t stop it. It was wired deep into his soul that he had to protect the people he cared about. He just hadn’t ever had to protect someone from themselves.

It wasn’t that he was a stranger to self- doubt. No, he’d been different all his life and he knew exactly what it felt like to feel out of place and unworthy and just plain wrong but he had always had May and Ben telling him off for thinking like that and he’d had Ned in his corner who was different, too, and who helped him embrace it. They never let him talk down on himself. There had always been someone there to catch him when his doubts pushed him over the edge.

In his eyes, Tony Stark was just what this world needed, what he needed. With all his imperfections and the mistakes he had made and continued to make, he never gave up and never stopped caring about random teenage kids he found swinging through Queens, even though the world had told him off far too often.  

“It’s okay, baby”, May whispered, giving him exactly the right amount of time to wallow in his thoughts before pulling him back up, “Sometimes it’s hard to see all the good you’re doing when everyone only ever shows you where you messed up. And it’s a hard habit to break someone out of. But Tony’s strong, too, and he’s got a lot of people in his corner. We all just need to keep telling him every once in a while.”

“I guess”, he sighed in agreement, suddenly feeling worn out now that his anger had run dry, “It’s very infuriating, though.”

“It is”, she nodded and opened up her arms for him to fall into which he did, enjoying how every hug felt like coming home. “But you’re pretty stubborn, I think if someone will get through his thick skull it’s gonna be you.”

Peter grinned, feeling lighter than he had ever since that meeting. “You bet. And I’m getting him to shift that meeting around. I don’t care if the other Avengers had some surprise birthday gift planned. I’m not letting him spend his birthday with people who hurt him. Not on my watch.”

“You’re invited to my surprise birthday party, too, I take it?”, Tony greeted May as she stepped out of the elevator. She didn’t even seem too shocked at the revelation that her nephew had effectively messed up the only thing making a surprise birthday party a surprise – not telling the person in question.

“You don’t have too many friends, Stark”, she gave back without missing a beat, though the playful twinkle in her eyes gave away that she was joking, “I’d be nice to the ones who actually like you.”

“So you do like me?”, he grinned, accepting her half hug graciously, “Now I’ll finally be able to sleep through the night again.”

May pulled back, now openly laughing, and found the billionaire looking equally relaxed. “You’re looking good”, she told him seriously as she took in his faded blue jeans and plain black t-shirt. He was in socks and the only accessory he was wearing was a leather bracelet with an engraved spider she knew Peter had gotten him as an alibi birthday present. There were no sunglasses hiding his eyes and no watch with built-in kill switch. Right now he wasn’t Ironman and he wasn’t even Tony Stark.

He was just Tony. Pepper’s fiancée, Rhodey’s and Happy’s best friend, Peter’s sorta-dad and her sorta- co-parent partner.

It had taken her a while to separate Tony from the masks he usually put on for the world to see but it had been worth it. She could see why his friends had stuck around for so long and why Peter had kept insisting that he was ‘one of the good guys’, why he kept looking up to the man even when he screwed up.

“Don’t tell Pep, she gets jealous.”

The smirk he shot her would’ve riled her up only a few months ago but she’s seen him with Pepper often enough to know that there was no way he would ever be unfaithful to her. He was like a lost puppy without her and he was smart enough to keep the only woman who could handle him and continuously challenged him. He didn’t even seem to realize that it worked the other way around, too, for Pepper.

“Why are you up here anyway? I thought you were all meeting downstairs to get the whole surprising going.”

May nodded, “But someone’s gotta get you to go downstairs without telling you what we’re doing, don’t we?”

“Yes, because you’ve all done such a good work keeping this party a secret from me”, Tony shook his head with a bemused smile, “What did you do to get singled out like that?”

There was that low key self- deprecating that had prompted Peter to throw the whole party in the first place but May took it in stride, knowing enough about Tony to know how to talk to him when he tried to talk down on himself. Honesty usually worked best because he never seemed to expect it.

“I volunteered”, she told him with a shrug, “Peter wanted to but we didn’t think he could get a single word out without spilling the beans and we wanted to give you the chance to act all surprised to make him happy.”

“That’s very thoughtful of-“

“Besides”, she interrupted him, watching his face closely for his reaction, “I wanted to give you your present before you meet the others so you can get those tears out of the way and don’t have to pretend you’re not crying.”

His expression was priceless, May decided, and it was a shame she didn’t get it on camera. She enjoyed every second of his micro expressions, though. How his mouth fell open, actually surprised, and he looked like he was about to protest the accusation once he had gotten over the initial shock before he decided to instead mock her, the skin around his eyes already crinkling before the – undoubtedly sarcastic – words could leave his mouth. Before he had formed a sentence, though, May pulled out his present and continued to watch.

He frowned in confusion when he took the book from her that had a small spider and two bigger ones on the cover. She had personalized the two adult spiders – one was wearing her glasses and the other had an arch reactor on its body. The little spider was ambitiously climbing up the water spout while the two bigger ones stood on the ground, looking up at the little one in concern and/ or fascination (it wasn’t that easy to interpret feelings into minimalistic drawn spiders). They looked eager to catch their little one when it would undoubtedly be washed out again.

Next to the drawing the nursery rhyme was written in artful calligraphy and after a stunned moment it was that detail that Tony decided to comment on.

“Itsy Bitsy Spider? Really?”, he asked amused, “I’m starting to think that your family has a very unhealthy obsession with arachnids.”

She ignored him and instead gestured to the book, “Open it. We’ve only got twenty minutes until we’ll be expected downstairs.”

The first page of the photo album was a picture of Peter, May and Tony at Peter’s last Science Fair. He was posing proudly with his cheap plastic trophy while May and Tony stood to either side of him, sharing a grin over the top of his head.

He met her eyes then and she had never seen him as uncertain and insecure as he was looking now. His gaze screamed Are you sure? at the same time as it begged Don’t take it away. Frankly, it broke her heart but it also made her proud that he was letting his walls down so completely with her, that he trusted her so much.

She poked him in the side, an invitation to keep going, and watched him flip to the second page, her eyes filling with tears as her own gaze fell on the slightly faded pictures of toddler Peter with his parents and slightly newer ones with Ben.

Tony didn’t say a word as he continued to go through the book, pausing ever so often on pictures of Peter he hadn’t seen before, but she watched him the whole time and she saw the two lone tears that trailed down his cheeks until they got lost in his goatee. He didn’t even seem to realize, too captured by the pictures she had chosen.

There were pictures of Peter on his own, dressed up, doing stunts, just grinning stupidly at the camera or caught off guard. There were pictures of him with his parents and with Ben and her – happy memories that had taken her a long time to revisit. Then came a time when there weren’t many pictures of him at all and were his smile seemed a little off.

Towards the end the images had him laughing more and his eyes shining brighter again. There were new pictures, just with May this time, and then came the first picture with Tony. It was a screenshot of the video message Peter had sent her from his ‘internship retreat’ in which Tony looked at Peter while the teenager grinned into the camera, obviously over the moon.

“May- I can’t-“

She shushed him and turned to the next page for him when his hand was shaking too much to grab the paper.

More pictures of Tony and Peter. Some in the lab, some in the park, some in a greasy diner or at Delmar’s. There were some with May and with Pepper and with Happy and Rhodey. In everyone, Peter was the center of everyone’s attention and his smile shone through the pages, making her smile through her own tears.

On the last page was a picture of Peter from just this week. He was in his Spiderman suit, the mask lying forgotten on the chair behind him, and he seemed oblivious to the picture being taken. He was on a video call with Ned and was hanging from the ladder of his bunk bed with only one arm and leg. The other arm held an Ironman figurine he was flying through the air, mouth open because he seemed to be commenting his adventures.

Underneath it, written in May’s chicken scratch – though she had tried her best – was a tiny paragraph.

 Dear Tony,

you never had to step up like you did but thank you for doing it anyway. Thank you for encouraging him, and for chastising him when it’s called for. Thank you for being a dad and a hero to our boy.

You’re family.

May

 She read her own writing over his shoulder and had to swallow past the lump in her throat once more. This was big. For both of them. It wasn’t that she was scared he would run because he’d had so many chances to run and had decided to stick around but still, she was nervously waiting for his reaction.

It took him a moment to fall out of his stupor but when he did, she was surprised that he hugged her. Not the half hug they had compromised on for greetings but a fully body hug, in which he held on to her like a life line.

“Thank you”, she heard his hoarse voice whisper again and again and again. “Thank you for letting me be a part of your family. Thank you for this. Thank you for everything, May. You’re one of the strongest women I know to have raised such a wonderful boy.”

For a while they stayed like that, wrapped around each other, until their tears had dried up and their voices weren’t as shaky anymore.

“I’d say it was a good call to give it to you up here, don’t you think?”, she joked once she got her bearings back.

“You’re a very smart woman, May Parker”, he gave back, finding his way back to his usual snarky self. “Shall we?”

“It is my distinct pleasure.”

They sauntered towards the elevator in companionable silence, hands brushing against each other as they walked as it happened with two people close to and comfortable with each other. The photo album had gone back into hiding in May’s bag but it felt lighter now that it had been put out there, like a subconscious weight she had carried with her until she had seen the honest tears and bright smile.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. didn’t need to be told where to go and so they started their descent without a word until suddenly Tony’s voice interrupted the silence.

“F.R.I. stop the elevator.”

“Wh- Tony?”, May asked, her heart beating faster in her chest when she saw the scared look in the billionaire’s eyes, “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, a fist coming up to press against his chest. His breathing was accelerating and she reached out on instinct when he stumbled forward a few steps in the tight space.

“I- I can’t do that”, he managed to get out through clenched teeth and suddenly his eyes were open again, looking wildly around the elevator until they settled on her, widening with panic.

A panic attack. Oh no.

“Relax”, she whispered, immediately going into mum-mode as Peter called it, and pulled him to the ground with her. “Breathe, Tony. It’s okay. You’re okay. We’ve got all these amazing people there to see you. We’re all with you. You’re safe.”

Tony shook his head though, fighting through his jagged breathing until he could get the words out. “I can’t- I’m not a parent, May. I’m not. I’m a mess. I-“, his voice broke and he tried to blink the tears away that threatened to take his sight, “A parent should be the one encouraging, helping. He- He shouldn’t have to throw me a party to tell me I’m alright. I shouldn’t be such a fucking mess. I can’t- I can’t, May. I can’t ruin him. Please. Please don’t let me.”

Her body worked on instinct again when she pulled his head into the crook of her neck, her hands finding his hair and soothingly carding through it like she would do for Peter.

“We’re all a mess sometimes, Tony”, she whispered, “Parents are allowed to be messes. God, you should’ve seen me after Ben’s death...”, she trailed off, voice breaking, “And I’m still here and so is Peter. We’ll get through anything, together, that’s what families do, right? You’re not going to mess him up. Just... just let him do this for you, try to listen to the people who love you more than to the ones who don’t. You can do that, right? Ignoring assholes is one of your specialties. Just ignore yourself sometimes.”

That actually earned her a wet laugh and she smiled into his hair when his arm snaked around her waist, stroking her back ever so slightly. Only then did she realize that she was crying, too.

“See, we’re all messes.” She sniveled. “Parenting is supposed to make you a mess and it’s supposed to scare you that you could mess your kid up. But you’re supposed to say ‘Screw you, doubt!’ and do it anyway. Because you’re a parent now. Parents are the strongest superheroes the world has ever seen. Nothing can come against us when it’s about our kid.”

“Sometimes part of our job is to let our kid reassure us, too. Sometimes he needs it as much as we do”, she added after a moment of silence that was only interrupted by both their heavy breathings, “This is not a one sided relationship. You get back, too, on occasions. You can’t and shouldn’t take their gratitude for granted but you should accept it when it comes.”

Tony nodded finally and pulled back, leaning back against the wall of the elevator, just as May did the same opposite of him. “Think we can get away with ten more minutes before we go in?”, he asked quietly, wiping at his eyes, and May nodded because there was no way she would go anywhere looking like this.

“Yeah, I mean they won’t start the party without their guest of honor.”

“SURPRISE!”

The doors to the elevator hadn’t even fully opened yet when he was met with the eardrum piercing yell from way up high on the ceiling and before Tony had the chance to blink, Peter was already sailing down and with him confetti started falling down from all over the place. As soon as the Spiderling had landed, he started singing – loudly, confidently and horribly off-key – and a heartbeat later everyone else had joined in, too.

Happy and Rhodey were standing in front of a huge “Happy Birthday Mr. Dad, uh, Tony” banner, grinning from ear to ear not even bothered by the purple party hats they were wearing that were complimenting their purple bowties. Each of them held a confetti gun in their hands, aimed directly at him.

Pepper stood a little to the side, rocking a dark blue glittery hat, with a champagne flute in her hand that he was about 97 percent sure was filled with apple juice. She was singing, too, almost as badly off-key as the kid and at least as happy about it, too.

When he turned around, he found that May had pulled out a green party hat, too and had joined the awful singing band, winking at him when his wide eyes met hers.

Tony had had a plan. Of course he had. He always needed plans for everything. And he needed plans in place should his plans fail. He needed so many fail saves that sometimes he ran out of letters in the alphabet to name them. Even though this had been supposed to be a surprise party, he had planned exactly how he wanted to act surprised and, as it usually happened, his plan flew right out of the window when he couldn’t even see through the thick confetti shower.

He squinted at his friends – his family – once the song had finished and was about to say something when both Happy and Rhodey made use of their weapons and added some more color to his already color-improved former black shirt. They caught him mid motion and he had to spit out a mouthful of confetti before he could start to chastise them.

“Mr. Stark! Happy birthday!”

Suddenly he remembered why this was supposed to be a happy moment – why he was supposed to be thrilled about being drowned in shards of colorful, glittery paper – just as Peter’s arms wrapped around him in the most physical hug they had shared as of yet. He let his body melt into the embrace and his hands found his curls of their own accord. The answering beam was worth the knowing smiles his friends shot him.

“Mr.Stark”, Peter giggled, still peering up at him, “You’ve got some confetti stuck in your frown.”

“Yeah, and who’s fault is that?”, he shot back with a smile even as he let Peter pick the offending piece of pink paper from his forehead.

“It’s kind of your fault for frowning on your birthday”, the Spiderling retorted and took a step back then.

He seemed a lot more self-conscious now that the adrenalin was wearing off and he was fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie until Tony’s hand covered his and he shot him a reassuring smile.

“You want me to throw the gang out for our heart to heart or-“

“No, no it’s fine”, Peter straightened up and finally met his eyes again, “They know why we’re here anyway. The only one who doesn’t get it yet is you. So I’m gonna need their support for this. You have to promise not to interrupt or disagree, though.”

The billionaire blinked at the teenager incomprehensively for half a minute before nodding. “Seems a little unfair seeing as this is my birthday but fine.”

“O-okay, so”, Peter started with a slight stutter before squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, “The Cambridge dictionary defines a superhero as someone who has-“

“Wait!”, Tony interrupted, hand raised to stop the kid from talking, he imagined his eyes had to be comically wide but he couldn’t help but stare, “Did you actually prepare a speech? Like you wrote it down and practiced it and-“

“Mr. Stark!”, the teenager whined, glaring at him, “You couldn’t keep your promise for, what? A total of five seconds?”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just, uh”, the billionaire looked around the room and, finding no support from his friends, “I’m just gonna take a seat right… uh, right here”, he finished a little lamely as he dropped down to the ground cross-legged, watching in amusement when all the adults followed his example until Peter was the only one standing. After a moment of hesitation, he sat down as well, situating himself opposite of Tony, his gaze open and earnest.

“As I was saying, The Cambridge dictionary defines a superhero as someone who has a special strength and uses it to do good things and help other people, as well as someone who has done something very brave to help someone else.”

Tony had to physically restrain his hands by sitting on them to not start fidgeting right away. He was also biting down on his lip so he wouldn’t interrupt the speech again, no matter how much every fiber of his being wanted to protest.

“I know you don’t think you have a special strength”, Peter continued, “I know you think that special strength means being physically strong or enhanced in some way or another but that’s not true. You have so many strengths that are so much more important than any of that. Some might say that your biggest strength is your brain. You’re really really smart, Mr… Tony.”

The boy smiled up shyly at him and Tony decided then and there that he would sit through actual torture again if only he kept smiling at him like that.

“I agree. Ever since I was a little kid, I looked up to you because of your intellect. I was in awe of someone who could build their own superhero suit in a cave out of nothing but scraps and determination. Uncle Ben told me that you were hurt, too, and that made you so much stronger in my eyes. You saved yourself when almost everyone had already given up on you and you didn’t need enhancement to do it, all you needed was yourself.”

I didn’t do it alone. He wanted to scream, his chest starting to ache in phantom pain when he thought back to Afghanistan and to Yinsen. But right now he had more important things to do than fall back into that hell and so he took a deep breath and tried to listen to Peter’s words. Somehow, miraculously, the kid’s voice managed to calm him down. (It really shouldn’t surprise him anymore.)

“Then when you came back, you broke with everything you thought was wrong without a thought about what it would mean for your company. You were a hero to many for that alone. And then you told the world that you are Iron Man. You were the first superhero who held himself accountable by giving away his identity.”

Tony wondered briefly, how Peter managed to overlook all of his mistakes and all the people that got hurt on his path to rediscovering himself. If it had been some other kid, he would’ve thought they simply didn’t get it but with this particular kid he knew that to be wrong. Peter was smart enough to know that the world wasn’t all black and white, he knew about Tony’s mistakes and he was a superhero himself, he knew that people got hurt sometimes. Yet here he was, calling Tony a hero.

“Iron Man is a hero”, Peter pulled him out of his thoughts again, “But Iron Man is only a hero because Tony Stark is. You’re brave and smart and selfless and those are all traits of a hero but what makes you our hero”, he glanced around the room, waving at the people sitting around them watching him, “What makes you my hero is your heart.”

“You care so much about everyone, even virtual strangers. You care about them so much that you would give your life for any one of them and you have proven that numerous times. You cared about me when you really didn’t have to.” His voice dropped a little, sounding much softer and vulnerable now when he met Tony’s eyes again.

“You put so much time and money into keeping me safe from the moment you first made me the suit. You could’ve stopped there and I would’ve been so grateful but you didn’t. You continued to protect me from my own mistakes, saving me when I screwed up and fixing the messes I made. Again, you could’ve stopped there and I wouldn’t have asked for more, because this was so much more than I expected but, again, you didn’t. You basically took me in – me, Peter Parker, not Spiderman – and you made time in your crazy schedule to hang out with me and to teach me. You never had to do that, no one would’ve expected you to. But you did it anyway because you care so much, even about some random kid from Queens who manages to get himself into trouble every other night.”

The billionaire superhero was already blinking away tears and through the veil he saw Peter doing the same thing, but he smiled through it – the love in his expression warming Tony’s heart like only Peter could. His eyes never left the kid’s. If they did, he would’ve seen that everyone was battling with their own emotions threatening to spill over.

“You never had to step up from being a fellow superhero to a mentor. You never had to step up from being a mentor to being more – to being a dad. And yet you did. That makes you the best superhero to me. And it’s okay if you won’t believe me – us - right away but we’ll just keep telling you. Because we love you.”

Tony swallowed. Tears were running down his cheeks freely now but he didn’t care enough to wipe them away.

All his life he would’ve brushed the emotional speech off, making a counterargument to every bullet point on the list just because he never had dealt well with compliments. Now, for the first time, he didn’t feel the need, though. He didn’t want to prove Peter wrong, instead he wanted to prove him right – wanted to become that man that he saw in him – and if that meant dealing with his low self-esteem and not talking back on compliments? Then he’d work his ass of getting better at those things.

So, instead of arguing, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Peter. It didn’t take the teenager more than five seconds to uncurl his legs and throw himself into the hug, making Tony almost topple over with the force. He let the tears run freely into Peter’s curls and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“I love you, Pete”, he whispered so softly only the enhanced Spiderling could pick up the words, before looking up and waving to the others with the one arm he didn’t necessarily need to keep his kid close to his chest.

“I love all of you. Come on into the hug. This is probably the first and final time I’m offering you all a group hug.”

It wouldn’t be. They all knew that. They came forward anyway.

May hugged Peter from behind, one hand patting Tony’s shoulder. Pepper came up behind Tony to wrap her arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to Peter’s hand. Happy and Rhodey gave their group hug its finishing touch by standing to either side of the bundle and acting as a cocoon around all of them.

This wouldn’t be the last time Tony couldn’t see his worth. It wouldn’t be the last time either of them doubted themselves. But that only meant the others would be there to convince them otherwise.

As a family did.

pic by @lieselfh

story by @josywbu (ao3 I FF.net)

[overly-b]

Perfect - Tom Holland

Hello hello everyone! So this isn’t based on a request but I have been absolutely obsessed with Perfect by Ed Sheeran and was very inspired to write this. If you’ve never heard this song I totally recommend that you do I linked it below so you can listen as you read. I have seen posts like this before so I’m sorry if you’ve seen stuff like this already and I tried to make this as original as possible. Hope you enjoy! I apologize in advance as this got so much longer than I had intended but, here it is! Comment or message me for requests! 

Word Count: 7k (whoops) 

Warnings: Some swearing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vv-BfVoq4g 

“I found a love for me. Darling just dive right in, and follow my lead”

Tom remembers the day that you came into his life. Your hair was in a messy, yet not so messy bun, wavy strands falling out near the sides of your face, framing it beautifully. Your long eyelashes fluttered when you blinked, your bright orbs stunning his senses. He notices a MacBook under your arm and a college sweatshirt under your army green jacket. A single strap of a backpack slung over your shoulder as the other hangs by your back. You had come into a coffee shop on a gloomy afternoon, that just so happened to be the afternoon that Harrison and Tom snuck offset. Not being able to take the suit off, Tom opted to hide the costume not-so-skillfully under a shirt and long jacket “Well I found a girl, beautiful and sweet” 

Tom waited in line impatiently and anxiously as he was not supposed to be wearing the suit anywhere off the movie set. He was already terrible at keeping secrets. As you had gotten into line directly after him, you had noticed the young man standing in front of you in the blue and red tight pants that also covered his feet. You scoffed a small laugh through your lips, raising an eyebrow, deciding to comment on the guys interesting choice of legwear as you waited in line. 

“Those pants are, amazing” You smiled sweetly, amusement apparent in your voice as you took a step to stand beside him. Tom was so focused on not getting caught that he didn’t even realize that the beautiful girl he had noticed earlier had been behind him. Your voice sounded like the perfect music to Tom’s ears. It gave him a warm feeling that he could barely describe. To your comment, his cheeks took on a blush and he became flustered for a moment before answering. Before he could even think of what to say, needing to choose words carefully due to the situation,

“Yeah I know right,” He takes a moment to look down at his legs. “I made a bold choice in pants today, how do they look?” His accent rung in your ears and took you by surprise. Embarrassingly enough, your facial expression showed that for you. 

“Whoa!” You gasped, “Your English! What the hell are you doing here?” You joked, giggles erupting from your lips. Another sound of harmony to Tom. 

“I’m here for work actually” Tom states, chuckling at your sense of humor. 

“Ahh” You nodded. “Are those the pants that you wear to work?” You raise your eyebrows, your chest bubbling in the light-hearted banter. 

“Yeah” Toms mouth curls into a large opened mouth smile. You had no idea that he was being completely serious, and that he had purposefully meant for his answer to sound like a joke. 

“I have to say, they look kinda like something that Spiderman would wear or something.” You mentioned, looking at his feet and shins at the design of the fabric. Tom panics for a split second, eyes opening wide. He quickly covers it up. 

“Really? Do you like Spiderman?” He questions innocently, interested as to what you would say. 

“Oh my god yes! I’m a total Marvel nerd!” You gushed. This made Tom’s heart swell. 

“Me too-” Tom gets cut off by being called up in line. The pair meets again not but three minutes later as they stand to wait for their drinks. 

“So British boy, where do you find pants like those?” You smirk, scanning his legs for the tenth time, not being able to shake the feeling that you had seen them somewhere before. 

“Um,” Tom weighs his choices for a reply, and there are not many. “I don’t even remember.” “Come on, you can’t just forget where you buy a pair of pants like that” You wave your hands, gesturing to his legs. 

“Well American girl,” He smirks, repeating your commentary. “I guess I did forget.” He nods, toothless smile apparent. 

“Shame” You gave him a sideways smile, your eyes locking for a moment or two longer than they probably needed to. “What’s your name Britain?” 

“Tom” He chuckles as he responds. 

“Y/N” You toothlessly grin back. You hear Tom’s name get called from behind the counter but he ignores it, as he is too busy looking at you as he thinks about your name. Y/N, Y/N, Y/N. He is broken out of his trance when you point to the counter, motioning to the fact that his drinks were prepared and ready. Flustered once again, he takes the two drinks, wanting nothing more than to stay with her rather than going back to film. 

“I’m sorry, I have to get back to work. But I can’t help but want to talk to you more.” 

His comment makes you smile. A light pink spreading its way across your cheeks. You hold up a single finger to him, telling him to wait for one moment. You stride back to your bag where you find a pen quickly. You walk back to find Tom sipping on one of the coffees in his hand. You reach him just as he takes it back from his lips. You extend your arm, taking it from his hand, writing your number neatly on the white paper cup. You hand it back to him. 

“Now, we can talk as much as you’d like.” You name is called and you take your drink. “Have fun at work” You shoot Tom a sly smile. You then turn about back to where you had set down your bag and Macbook. Tom is awestruck as he realizes what you have done, and his mouth remains in an agape smile as he finds Harrison, telling him everything. He waits a while before texting you, but his excitement gets the best of him. 

Hi Y/N

To his delight, your respond quickly. 

So, those are the pants that you wear to work then huh?

“I never knew you were the someone waiting for me. ‘Cause we were just kids when we fell in love. Not knowing what it was” 

The nineteen-year-old Tom Holland had been on a train of crazy adventures before even turning twenty. The acting, the fame, becoming the new spiderman. Somehow it was you that took him by surprise the most. He knew he wanted to focus on his acting, and he hoped that if he worked hard that he could achieve his dreams. But you, he never saw you coming, and that hit him like a brick wall moving at the speed of light. 

Tom knew that after you met, all that he wanted to do was see you again. But he did not know that he would. He would see you. He would see you again, and again, and another time after that. All throughout the time that Tom was filming in Atlanta, he wanted to see you, and he did. And you wanted to see him too. In the months that Tom had gotten to know you, and date after date, you soon became his girlfriend. 

Once Tom had stopped filming in Atlanta, he had gone back home. But somehow that didn’t stop the two of you. You just so happened to be studying abroad for a semester. Abroad meaning England. There, you saw Tom very often, there Tom had realized something. You were it for him. And for a while, he had no idea what that meant. He had loved people in the past, but this was so much different. So much better. All Tom knew is that you made him feel like nothing else. A feeling that he could only describe in few ways. Like a child hearing sleigh bells on Christmas Eve’s night. Like sitting by the fireplace wrapped in a blanket with your dog. 

Like finding the one that you love. 

“I will not give you up this time” 

After the semester was over, you inevitably moved back to the states. Knowing this, Tom never found a time to tell you the way that he felt. The distance would put a dent in your relationship, so, you broke things off. It was one of the hardest things that you had ever done, but you thought it was right. You only had one more semester to finish school, and you had to focus on that. 

Tom sulked for weeks. After seeing you so often within the seven months that you had known each other, having you ripped away so quickly took a toll on the young man. He tried to convince himself that yes, it was the right thing for the two of you to do. But he simply could not bring himself to that awful conclusion. He couldn’t just give up. 

So he didn’t. 

Tom booked a fight, packed a bag, and journeyed to find you. When he did, told you everything. 

“Y/N” He started. 

“But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own And in your eyes, you’re holding mine”

“Tom?” You questioned, eyes wide. “What the hell are you doing-” He cut you off by kissing you more passionately than he ever had before. His heart began to glow as you did not resist him, but kissed back, just as hard. You had been miserable without him too. 

“I don’t care about what you think is right, because us not being together, that, that isn’t right. I know it may be difficult, but I don’t care about that either. All I care about is you. Y/N I fucking love you, and honestly, if you love me too, that’s all that matters” And so he had said it. “You have my heart, and I hope I have yours” You smiled as your eyes filled with happy tears. You let out a watery laugh. 

“Oh Tom, Tom Holland you do. You have my heart. I love you” 

“You do?” He takes a moment to process the words that you are saying. 

You look into his eyes, and the look that you give him is all he needs to confirm. “You do.” 

“Yes, I do. And I have no idea, how this is gonna work, or what we’re gonna do, but-” 

“We’ll do it” Tom finishes your statement for you. “Now shut up and kiss me”

“Baby, I’m dancing in the dark with you between my arms Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song” 

Now it wasn’t always easy, but somehow, the two of you had done it. In four months, you finished your last semester of college at took to the stars as an aspiring writer, trying to get your first book published, and Tom was preparing for the release of Spiderman. Just before the release party, the two of you celebrated one year of dating over facetime. 

Having never been to a Hollywood event before, you were exceedingly nervous about everything. Tom took care of a lot, booking the two of you a place to stay for the week, arranging his limo to pick you up beforehand, helping you find a place for you to get a dress. Having become close friends with Laura and Zendaya, the three of you got extravagant dresses together, and their teams of stylists did your hair and makeup. 

There was a line of limos, carrying most of the cast. The girls got into their respective limos, leaving me to wait for Tom. You watched as he stepped out of the black limousine, looking dashing as ever. 

The two of you hadn’t seen each other in a few weeks, but when Tom picked you up in a limo on the way to the red carpet that night, he was more astonished at the sight of you than he had ever been. 

“Why don’t you look handsome spiderboy” You approached him from behind. He smirks, turning around, but his smirk fades into awe as he drinks in the sight of the women that is his. “What?” 

“You” He begins to take large strides towards you. “I love you” And then he smashes your lips to his. To this, you squeal against his lips. He gently leans you back, his hand supporting you on the soft skin of your spine. “You look absolutely stunning darling,” he said as he slowly took his lips from yours. Darling. A word that held a soft spot for you.

“Smooth Holland” You giggled, referring to the dipped position you were in, looking like something straight out of a movie. “Thank you, darling” You mimicked him as you often did, reaching a hand to his face, stroking his cheek with your thumb. “I love you too” 

And with that, he opened the door for you to get inside, and the two of you were off to the premier. As you neared the red carpet, a million thoughts ran through Toms’ head. He was so nervous. All he wanted was for people to like the movie. All he wanted was for you to like the movie. His biggest fear is that you wouldn’t love it as much as he did. You had noticed his bouncing leg and shaky breaths and placed a hand just above his knee. You reassured him with your touch and your eyes. 

“You know how we’ve been talking about announcing our relationship?” You ask Tom. 

“Yes,” He looks at you, mind distracted from his nerves. 

“What if we do it tonight? We’ve been together for so long and your fans practically know already, I think it’s time” 

“Babe, I would love to. As long as you are ready and okay with it” Tom responds, remember previous conversations on this topic. You were drowning in worry and fear of what people would think and how this would change your life. Right as you pull up the red carpet and the flashing lights, you nod to him, confirming that you are ready for this life-changing moment. 

“You ready love?” You ask him. 

“Oh my god yeah, let’s go” He rushes, nerves consuming him once again. You gave him a lighthearted kiss. 

“You got this” 

This gave Tom a small boost in confidence as he opened the door. The screams are defining as he waves to the press and the people. He turns, helping you out of the vehicle and it seems that the cheering gets even louder.  

After that, the night went absolutely beautifully. You walked the red carpet, managing somehow not to fall over your heels. You spoke to Tom’s co-stars who were friends of your as well. You and Tom took pictures with fans, and you finally announced the fact that you were indeed together. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone went inside and you watched the movie. You held Tom’s hand in yours, loving every second of the film. Tom smiled, being reassured more and more every time you laughed. 

The after party of the premiere was a blur. So many people were coming up to Tom, praising him for his work. Many people approached you as well, asking for your autograph and wanting to speak with you. You were taken aback just by the fact that so many people knew who you were, for your writing as well as you being with Tom. 

Much to your dismay, you had no chance to steal a dance with your favorite man all night. Though you were completely understanding and accepting of why. On your way back to the house you were staying, Tom was surging with energy, on cloud nine from the experience. He’s voice flooded your ears about the people he had spoken too as well as what they had said. You were nothing but happy for him. After thirty minutes of Tom’s nonstop talking, which you didn’t mind one bit, Tom leaned back in his seat, letting out an exasperated breath. 

“What a fucking night” You giggled at his demeanor. The limo stopped at the secluded house and you both thanked the driver. 

“I’m so proud of you” You kissed his cheek as you stepped out of the car. 

“Thank you, darling. I don’t know if I could have gotten through tonight without you though, I’m so glad you could come” 

“Tom I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” You leaned your head on his shoulder as you walked up the drive. 

“Although,” Tom turned to face you. “I am slightly disappointed that I never got that dance we promised each other” He cocks one eyebrow upwards. You remember back to the night of your anniversary when you shared your want for a slow dance with him at the premiere. 

“I can fix that,” You told him. “Come here” You take his hand, leading him to the edge of the concrete where you discarded your beautiful yet painful heels. He soon follows, taking off his fancy dress shoes and socks, stepping from the pavement to the cool grass. You take him round to the back of the house where you set your shoes and your clutch purse after retrieving your phone. You turn on a song that you both love, clicking the volume all the way up. Tom sends you a loving smile as you wrap your arms around his shoulders. He hands slide around your hips, keeping them at the small of your back as you sway to the soft music. 

“When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight”

“The movie was amazing Tom” You continue to talk about your favorite scenes, Tom letting you ramble as you had let him. Soon rain began to fall on the two of you. Tom spins you and the rain turns into a pour. You both look upwards and laugh. You pull Tom in closer, resting your head on his chest.  “I probably look ridiculous” You laugh. 

“Darling you look perfect” He mumbles. And with that, you kiss him, unable to grasp the fact that he can still make you blush so furiously. 

“Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know”

One of the things that Tom loves the most about you is how strong you are. You are undoubtedly his rock, and he had no idea how you do it. He knows that you have been through a lot of hardships in your life, and though it all, you still remain the strongest person he has ever met. Tom remembers the first time that you saw him cry. 

You were accompanying him and the cast on a few of the dates on the spiderman release tour. Today, he was going to a children’s hospital to surprise children in the Spiderman suit. You stood by his side, taking videos and pictures and talking with the parents of the children. 

The circumstances had made you and Tom emotional throughout the day, but when you had returned to the hotel that night, Tom completely broke down, crumbling in your arms. It happened almost instantly after you had opened the door to your shared room. You and Tom hadn’t spoken much on the way home, you know he loves doing these things, but you hated how it affected him afterward. You threw you belongings onto the table and turned to face Tom who sits on the bed, his eyes were red and watering, and you could tell that he had been holding back. You sit beside him crossing your legs and placed a comforting hand on his cheek and he melts into it. A few tears streaming down his face. 

“Oh honey” You whispered, already knowing what was the matter.

That’s when he lost it. You moved your hand, leading him into a hug and Tom began sobbing to no end. You move over his lap to straddle him, pulling his head to your shoulder. 

“Shh shh, Tom” You pulled him close to you, rocking him back and forth. “It’s okay. It’s okay” You tell him, on the verge of tears yourself. 

“Y/N, they deserve so much better” He sobs, his body convulsing. “They don’t deserve all of that shit” He tries to say, but his voice won’t allow him. Instead of trying to continue, he clutches you tighter, holding on for dear life. 

“Oh god, Tom I know. Baby, I know” You hold him tighter. “It’ll be okay” You stay like that for a while as his tears dry out and his throat becomes numb. At that point, he is simply worn out. In silence, your both change and climb back onto the bed, where you can tell Tom is still rather upset. You pull him on top of you and rub his back. You change to rubbing his hair, and soon he falls to sleep with tear stained cheeks, knowing that if nothing else good in this cruel world of sick and evil, he always has you. 

“She shares my dreams, I hope that someday, I’ll share her home” 

You were aware of the fact that Tom had been looking for a place to reside when his life wasn’t a thing of chaos. You also knew that it was in the UK, not in America. You had no idea what that would mean for the two of you. You had absolutely loved England when you lived there so a semester, but your life was here. 

Tom knew that after the spiderman tour, he would be going straight into filming Chaos Walking. He had boughten a flat, near his family and he wanted nothing more for you to live with him there. But with that, he knew that there were things to consider. He knew that your life was in the United States. That was a given. But what would happen when he was away for months at a time? There was no way that he was going to ask her to live with him and then leave her all of the time. He could not do that to her. He was torn. 

But he had soon found a short-term solution. Rather than asking her to move into his flat with him, he asked you if you would live with him and his brothers along with Harrison in their house in Montreal while he filmed Chaos Walking. To this, you happily obliged. You wanted nothing more than to live with Tom. You thought of it as your next big adventure together, as well as a sort of test to see if you could truly live together. Because you assumed that is what was coming next. 

So, you moved into the cozy house in Montreal, Canada. With Tom and three of your best friends. You knew the craziness that you were getting yourself into, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets To carry love, to carry children of our own”

You and Tom both loved children, it was a given that if you two stayed together, you would definitely have a few of your own. Though, your baby fever had truly started on the Spiderman: Homecoming press tour. After Tom’s meltdowns of sadness and anger seemed to follow some of his hospital visits, you were reluctant to have him continue. Despite this, making the kids happy is all that he wanted. He always wanted to make people happy. So he continued, and during one of the hospital visits, somehow Tom had gotten a baby into his hands. A small, wrinkly, adorable newborn baby that looked like it was meant to be in Tom’s arms. There were many pictures taken that day of Tom and the baby, as well as you Tom and the baby together. 

After the pictures of Tom and the baby, alongside you and the baby circled the internet, there were many of your fans joking about the baby secretly being yours and Tom’s. 

You were standing on the balcony of the hotel room, scrolling through your endless feed, a smile coming to your lips as you see yet another picture of you and Tom with the baby. In your eyes, it was a hopeful glance into the future. You began to giggle as you read the fans ridiculous comment, placing theories and betting on scenarios.  

“What’s so funny over there darling?” Tom stepped out of the bathroom whilst running a towel over his hair, his sweats loosely hanging off of his hips. 

“Come look at this babe” You call him over. Tom reenters the bathroom for a moment, coming out without a towel, but now with a tee shirt in his grasp. You watch as he fumbles with it as he walks to you, hugging you from behind as he reaches you. 

“What is it” He eagerly rests his chin on your shoulder, looking over your phone. After a few moments, you feel his chest rumble in a deep chuckle. 

“I’ve seen so many of those since yesterday. Everyone is freaking out” 

“Yeah, I know” You giggle softly. “It’s really funny” You slide your thumb over your phone, finding more pictures and post similar. The two of you sit in the quiet buzz of the darkening city for a few minutes as you read post after post, theory after theory. Your scrolling comes to a halt as you find a picture that looks like the three of you are a family. And for some reason, you cannot stop looking at it. The caption on the picture being ‘Just wait until these two have a family of their own’ 

“You know, that doesn’t sound so bad if you ask me” Tom leans his head into your neck, kissing it softly. 

“What?” You ask as you were slightly zoned out looking at the image. You turn around in his arms. “A baby?” 

“Yeah” He grins. “Not right now of course, but eventually, of course.” He looks deep into your eyes. “I mean we both love and want kids I thought it was a no-brainer” He laughs lightheartedly. 

“No, of course, it’s a no-brainer. It’s just crazy surreal to be talking about it” 

“Well get used to it darling. Cause I’m gonna put a baby in you some day. I promise” He smiles that sweet smile of his. I throw my head back in laughter at his choice of words. 

“Okay, Holland. I promise I’ll carry that baby you put in me someday.” 

And to that, he just kisses you. A kiss that says I love you, in a million different ways that just became a million and one. 

“We are still kids, but we’re so in love Fighting against all odds,” 

The filming of Chaos Walking was coming to an end, and Tom was still at a crossroads. He wants you to live with him, he couldn’t believe how much he wanted that. But that would be asking so much of you. Tom has been in his head too much pondering the topic. Little did he see, you were beginning to notice. 

But you thought something totally different about the matter. 

You had become slightly worried at the fact that Tom happened even mentioned living together after filming. And the fact that the film was wrapping up, and Tom had been acting strange, your immediate thought was that he was never gonna ask, nor did he want to in the first place. 

One day, late in the afternoon, the two of you were on a walk through the streets of a small town in Montreal. Neither of you had said much. Until you could no longer take it. 

“Tom,” You started, swiveling in front of him. “Do you not want to live together?” You asked bluntly. 

“W-what” Tom blinked a few times, taken aback by your question. So you repeated it for him. “Darling, of course, I want us to live together, what would make you think otherwise?” 

“Tom you’ve been acting so strange ever since filming started wrapping! And you have not once even mentioned us living together after this! So what are we just gonna go back to living on opposite sides of the world again? Because Tom that did not work!” You continue on your outburst. “I know you have a place near your moms, and for some reason, I was expecting you to ask me to live with you there! Unless you wanna get a place here then that’s okay too! And if you weren’t even thinking about moving in together and I’m being ridiculous right now then please-” Tom cuts you off by kissing you. 

“I know we’ll be alright this time” 

“There is no doubt in my mind that I want to live with you Y/N. But me asking you to move to a whole other country, that’s way too much of me to ask of you, as much as I want you to live with me in England, I could never ask you to do that for me.” Your heart softens at his explanation. 

“Tom, I love you so much, that you want me to move to England with you, isn’t asking much. There is nothing that you could ask that I wouldn’t do for you.”

“Is that a yes then? You’ll move in with me?” 

“Yes, that’s a yes, you lovable idiot. I’ll move in with you” 

“Yes!” Tom picks you us my your waist and spins you around. You scream in surprise and delight as you share this moment, this milestone. You’ll work out the rough details later, but at least for now, everything was perfect, and you were going to change your address to his. 

“Darling, just hold my hand Be my girl, I’ll be your man I see my future in your eyes” 

And just as you had predicted, living with Tom was the hardest easy thing that you had ever done. Your shared apartment served more as a home base rather than a home that you lived in all of the time. As Tom was filming his new movies, you were on a new adventure. You book release and then the release tour. Some way, somehow, you had gotten your schedules to coordinate, so most of the time you were traveling with each other. Though of course there were many times as well where you didn’t see each other for weeks at a time. It took a toll on the both of you, but in the end, it changed absolutely nothing. 

For your third anniversary, and a celebration of the end of your book release tour, Tom had taken you to the fanciest of dinners, where you ate some of the most expensive food imaginable. You drank champagne on ice that was never ending, all the while, Tom was a ball of nerves. His acting skills served him well in that he had almost never appreciated more than that night. 

You got back to the house that night, to find candles and rose petals everywhere. But no Tom. He had opened the door for you to go inside, and he had all but disappeared. 

“Tom?” You called into the house. You followed a trail of candles and rose petals to the living room where you found your boyfriend in the middle of a heart of fire and red flowers. Your hand clasps over your mouth. Could it be?

“Y/N” I breath escapes your mouth and the palm of your hand as yes indeed, this is happening. You step into the heart, finding your free hand in his. 

“Tom?” You say again, not believing it to be true. 

“Y/N” He repeats. And with your one hand still in his, he slowly lifts up his pant leg, bending down to one knee. A tear escapes your eye. “These past three years, have been the most amazing ones yet. And not because my career took off or because I got my dream role, no. Not because of any of that. These past three years have been the best years of my life because I have gotten the honor of sharing them with you.” A single tear slips from his right eye as more and more roll out of yours. “When I look at you, I see all I want in the rest of my life. I see my future in your eyes. You have made me the happiest man on the face of this earth. But somehow, you could make me even happier,” He reaches into his pocket. “If you did me the honors and became my wife” A happy cry leaves your mouth. 

“Oh my god Thomas” You use his full name as he takes his hand from yours, wrapping his fingers around the top of the box. Now both of your hands are covering your mouth in awe. 

“Will you marry me?” He opens the small black velvet box. But you don’t look at the ring. No, you look at him. 

“Yes” You throat can barely make out your words, but he hears them. 

“You didn’t even look at the ring” He lets out a watery laugh and you kneel down on your knees to meet his height. 

“I don’t have too. Tom, of course, I’ll marry you” Both still kneeling, you kissed amongst the fire and the sweet smelling roses. 

Tom somehow manages to lift you up from your kneeling position, still holding your lips to his. After what seems like forever, and somehow not long enough, he sets you on your feet and takes his mouth from yours. He swiftly takes the ring from the box, tossing the cube behind his shoulder. Your shoulders shake in a laugh and you attempted to swipe away your remaining tears. Tom takes your left hand in both of his large ones. 

For the first time, you catch sight of the ring. You stare at the most beautiful, shimmering diamond ring as the love of your life slips it onto your finger with ease. It fits perfectly. 

“It’s beautiful” You tear your gaze from the ring to him. 

“Well, it’s perfect for you then” He smirks. You scoff in a laugh. He never even begins to stops letting you know that he loves you. “Come here” He pulls you into a slow dance position. “Guess what Y/N” 

“What Tom?” You quirk your eyebrows. 

“We’re getting married” 

“Baby, I’m dancing in the dark, with you between my arms Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful I don’t deserve this, darling, you look perfect tonight”

The crazy train that is the life of Tom Holland never could compare to what it felt like to marry you. His heart was beating out of his chest as the last fo the wedding party had walked the aisle. 

You were next. 

It had been nearly two years since Tom had slipped that ring on your finger and this moment was all he had been dreaming of since. 

He looks over his shoulders to find Harrison and his brothers, all looking sharp in their suits. Harrison gives him a nod, it’s finally time. All of the people in the venue stand from their seats, this makes Tom stand up straighter. When finally, what could have been mistaken as an angel straight from the depths of heaven itself, stepped through the doors. 

And if that was the last thing that he ever saw, he would die with a grin on his face. 

Tom couldn’t help the beam of a smile on his face. He nearly lost all composure seeing you walking towards him. He brings a hand to his mouth, sliding it down his chin then straightening his posture again, bringing his hands together in front of him as he watched you. The same giddy grin and blush were displayed on your face as you saw his reaction to you. 

You finally reached the altar and Tom cames to meet you and your father. The two most important men in your life shared a hug and a quick word and then, with tears in his eyes, your father gave you to him. 

“Hi there” You toothlessly grin slyly as the two of you step to the officiant. 

“Hi darling” 

You handed your flowers back to your best friend and maid of honor so you could finally join both of your hands. 

The ceremony was a blur of tears and commitments of love, and before you knew it, you were Mr. and Mrs. Holland. 

To say that it was the happiest moment of both of your lives would be an understatement. You walked back down the aisle, being flooded with applause and shouts of congratulations. 

That night, after being announced into the reception for the first time as a married couple, you shared your first dance. You had no idea what song it was, Tom begged to pick it, and wouldn’t tell you when he had. You both wander out onto the dance floor before you stop him. 

“Wait!” You slip off your heels, tossing them to your maid of honor. “Okay” You breath out, wanting nothing more than to dance with your husband. Husband. 

“In true tradition” He refers to the many times you had danced without shoes. One in mind specifically. The lights dim and the music flows out of the speakers. You gasp as you recognize the song and the memory that accompanies it. 

“Did I choose well?” He smirks, knowing fair well what this song means to you. 

“The song from after the premiere” You gush. “When we danced in the rain” You hold him close and sway to the music, just as you had that night, seeming like a lifetime ago. He twirls you around, your curls following a second behind, falling in a slightly messy fashion around your face. He pulls you back to him. 

“God, you look so stunning my love. I don’t deserve any of this” 

“I think quite the opposite Mr. Holland” 

“Thank you for giving me a love I could have never dreamed of, Mrs. Holland” He emphasizes his last two words. To that, I open my mouth in awe of how it sounds. 

“You deserve the world Tom” Place a kiss on his lips. 

“Hey Y/N, guess what?” He mumbles on your lips. 

“Hmm” You pull away, resting your forehead against his. 

“We’re married” 

“Baby, I’m dancing in the dark, with you between my arms Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song”

“Something on your mind babe?” His voice startles you, for you were peacefully sitting out  on the patio of your new house.“Sorry” He notices he made you jump. You shake off his apology as he sits next to you. 

“Kinda, I guess, a little” You answer his previous question. 

“What wrong darling” 

“Trust me when I say that nothing is wrong” You smirk. 

“Okay, then what are you out pondering in the middle of the night?” 

“Dance with me,” You say, nearly as a demand. “We haven’t slow danced since our wedding, Tom! A year and a half is far too long” 

“Darling, you still haven’t answered my-” 

“Shh” You cut him off taking his hand in yours and lifting from his seat. You turned on the song. The one you had your first dance to as a couple, the one that you danced to at your wedding, it was only a practice of tradition that it is playing for this. 

“Y/N you’re freaking me out a bit” 

“I said it was nothing bad, do you trust me?” You look at him through your eyelashes. 

“Of course,” He says in a hushed voice. 

“Then just dance with me” 

And so you sway back and forth to the all too familiar music. No spins or dips, for you both just rather hold each other and rock back and forth. As the three and a half minute song only has a minute or so left, you find your self-running out of time. 

“Hey, Tom” You lift your head from his shoulder, placing your head on his forehead, as you have many times before. 

“Yes, my love?” 

“Guess what?” Your voice cracks. 

“What darling?” 

“I’m pregnant” 

“I have faith in what I see” 

That wakes him up quick and he looks at you with curious eyes. 

“W-what” 

“Tom you’re gonna be a dad” 

“Oh my god! Are you serious!?” He lets go of you as the song fizzles out. “I’m gonna be a dad?!” To this you nod happily, your heart glowing. “I’m gonna be a dad!” He throws his hands in the air, shouting it to the world. And at that moment, you couldn’t care less that he most likely woke people from their slumber. Because he embraced you softly and kissed you roughly, and with a large hand covering my still flat tummy he whispered, “We’re gonna be parents.” 

“Now I know I have met an angel, in person And she looks perfect” 

Seventeen hours you were in labor. Seventeen hours of screams, and curses, and agonizing pain for the both of you, your baby girl was born. Once again, he had no idea that there was any possible way for him to love you any more than he already did. But somehow he could. You had just given him a new way, the biggest way, for him to love you even more. 

It was the middle of the night, and Tom was watching you sleep when the small human in the cot next to your hospital bed began to move. Wanting nothing more than for you to get some rest, he moved to the hospital’s bassinet and took her out of it. Cooing her back to a sound state. 

He returned to his chair, cradling his baby so gently as if she would crumble through his fingers. 

“Hi Princess” He whispers to the child, his child. Her eyes staring right back into his. “Hi darling” He smiles as you had been the only person he has ever called that. “Well don’t you look just like your mummy” 

And it was in that moment, that Tom had met his second angel. Oddly enough he hadn’t realized it before. You were his angel, and so was this beautiful baby girl that he got to call his daughter. He looked over to you, the love of his life, having gone through so much pain for so long, and yet still, you looked like an angel. That’s it. That’s what you were. 

“My two angels” 

“I don’t deserve this You look perfect tonight” 

[mcu-in-da-maze-with-werewolves]

I know what I’m doing

{ Imagine following your boyfriend ,Peter, after he chooses the Stark internship over you, and accidentally finding out about him being Spiderman 

Warning(s): fluff

Word count: 2159

Recently, Peter had been acting strange…well stranger than he already did. His craziness is what attracted you to him in the first place, but it was just starting to get weird now. It all came down to that Stark internship he had been offered, no one actually knowing what it consisted of. He had to leave often and hardly had time to do anything with you and your other friends anymore. It even got to the point where you were scared that he was going to break up with you, but that was thankfully not the case. The time that you did spend together made you forget about Peter’s odd behaviour. He was the sweetest boyfriend you could ever wish for, but you were worried about him. He always looked exhausted and his grades were starting to drop. Even his aunt May was starting to notice. That’s why you decided to follow him one day after he had cancelled your plans, because Mr. Stark needed him once again. You had pleaded him to take a break from the internship, since it obviously took up all of his time, but he wouldn’t listen to you. He claimed that you wouldn’t understand how important it was and that he couldn’t pass up on such an amazing opportunity. He was going to ‘make the world a better place’ is what he told you. You had just sighed and gave in, set on finding out what he did that was so important. Peter kisses you goodbye and makes his way towards the exit of the school. You quickly close your locker, adjust your backpack onto your shoulders and run towards the exit, hoping you will be able to follow him before he disappears out of your sight. Luckily, you spot him and you make your way towards him, making sure to keep a reasonable amount of distance between the two of you. You just prayed to god that he wouldn’t catch you stalking him. You had a way of being clumsy, and that wouldn’t exactly come in handy right now. It becomes more difficult to keep your eyes on him as he disappears into the sea of pedestrians on the shopping streets, so you step up your pace, seeing Peter slip into one of the abandoned alleys. You frowned. What in the hell was this boy doing? What kind of tasks did Mr. Stark require him to do? You slowly come to a stop before the alley and peek, seeing your boyfriend walk towards the end of the dark alley. There is a big dumpster right on the left of the alley, which would give you a perfect view of what Peter was planning on doing. It is risky, since there is a chance that he will catch you, but you take it anyway, crouching and tiptoeing towards the dumpster. You peek along the side and see Peter crouched down, grabbing something out of his backpack, before proceeding to throw the bag to the side. It looks like something red, but you’re not exactly sure what it is. As he stands back up, you’re surprised when he pulls off his pants. “What in the hell?” you whisper quietly to yourself. He then hastily pulls off both his sweater and shirt, before stepping into what looks like a red suit. It doesn’t seem to be fitting him at all, so why is he even putting it on in the first place? However, as he puts on a mask and presses a button on the suit, it tightens around him, making you realize who he really is…what your boyfriend has kept a secret from you. “Spiderman” you whisper and move your foot, accidentally bumping into the dumpster, which makes a bit of noise. As Peter turns around, you quickly crouch low and hold your breath, your heart racing like it never has before. Why would he keep this from you? Why would he put himself in danger like that? He is only a teenager. This is way too much responsibility. You notice how quiet it has gotten in the alley. Releasing a small breath, you slowly peek around the corner again, seeing Peter is nowhere to be found. You stand up, making your way over to where Peter had been standing only seconds ago, noticing his backpack plastered to the wall with some kind of white substance. You carefully touch it, immediately removing your hand again as you notice how sticky it is. It almost feels like a cobweb. “A fuck it” you say before ripping the backpack off the wall with all your strength, the force causing you to fall onto the ground. You decide you will clean his backpack once you’re home. First you have to get over the fact that your boyfriend was freaking Spiderman. So, that is what that so-called Stark internship is. You wonder whether he is a part of the Avengers as well, with him having special super powers now. Slowly, you make your way out of the alley and start walking towards your house, thinking about how you would confront Peter about this. He most likely never intended for you to ever find out about his second life, which hurt. He knows that he can tell you anything, just like you know you can talk to him about anything. Somewhere you understood why he hadn’t told you. He didn’t want to involve you in any dangerous activities, because he would blame himself if he ever let something happen to you.

That evening you decided to go over to his house to give him back his backpack. You take a deep breath before you ring the doorbell. His aunt, May, eventually opens the door and greets you before telling you Peter is in his room. You thank her and make your way over to Peter’s room, his backpack in your arms. You’d always liked May. She was very nice to you, always asking if you’d stay for dinner, and she couldn’t tell you enough times how glad she was you and Peter were together, and that you were the most adorable couple she had ever seen, never failing to make you blush. You knock onto his door, but when you get no reply after a few seconds, you slowly open the door and peek into his room, noticing that it is empty. A frown makes its way onto your face as you step inside, leaving the door slightly open behind you. He hadn’t even come home yet from his Spiderman adventure? And here is aunt was, thinking he was in his room. With a sigh, you plop down onto the lower bunkbed and place the backpack next to you, determined to wait for him to show up. You would just kill some time by playing games on your phone. About an hour later, you hear the sound of a window being opened. Quickly, you put your phone into stand-by mode and look to your left. You had to blink a few times to believe it, but he really is crawling across the ceiling, slowly creeping towards the door and then carefully closes it before skilfully landing onto the ground. All you can do is stare at him with big eyes, not believing what you had just seen. Peter lets out a sigh of relief and turns around, immediately freezing when he spots you on his bed. He quickly takes off his mask. “Y/N…wha- how? I can explain” he pleads and presses a spider-like button on his chest, causing the suit to loosen around him. You get up from the bed, crossing your arms. “You’re freaking Spiderman, Peter? I just don’t know what to think. On the one hand, I’m absolutely excited about the fact that my boyfriend is some kind of superhero, but on the other hand, I can’t believe you’ve kept this from me!” you exclaim, throwing your hands into the air. Peter quickly shushes you. “Everything okay there?!” May shouts from outside. You bite your lip, realizing that you probably should tone it down a bit if you two don’t want her to find out about his other personality. “Yes, aunt May! Everything is fine. No worries!” he shouts back and struggles to get out of the suit, leaving him standing in his boxers in front of you. He grabs a shirt and some sweatpants from his chair, and hastily pulls them on. Meanwhile you are waiting for his explanation, but you can’t help but admire his well-defined body as he changes in front of you. Once dressed, he leads you towards the bed and you two sit down. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this. I just don’t want to put anyone in danger, especially not you, Y/N. I didn’t mean for you to find out like you did.” He genuinely looks guilty. Realizing you’re still holding his backpack, you hand it over to him. Peter looks confused. “My backpack? Wait, where did you get this? I webbed it against the wall after I changed into the suit…” he quizzically looks up at you, causing you to roll your eyes. “After you said goodbye to me this afternoon, I decided to follow you. I couldn’t stand it anymore Peter. I just wanted to know what you were up to. I saw you…changing into the suit, and after you had left, I found your backpack stuck to the wall and took it. I still can’t believe it” you whisper and take one of his hands into your own. “You followed me?” he smirks. “I guess I should have known I wouldn’t be able to keep this thing a secret from you for long” he chuckles and cups your cheek with his free hand. You crack a smile. “Well, I guess you were just really bad at hiding it. You know how curious I can get sometimes.” You subconsciously lean into his touch. “I’m just worried about you Peter. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” “I’ll be fine. I know what I’m doing” he tries to convince you, resulting in you raising an eyebrow at him. “Really? You know what you’re doing? You’re just about as clumsy as I am” you say, biting your lip to keep yourself from smiling. Peter chuckles. “Okay okay, I guess we can work on that. But seriously Y/N, I’ll be okay. I promise.” He softly kisses you, moving his hands to your waist. As he pulls away, your eyes open and you wrap your arms around his neck. “You gotta explain this cobweb-thing to me though. It’s fascinating really. Is that coming out of you? Or is it part of the suit? You’re not some kind of mutant, are you?” you say with a worried look on your face. Peter laughs and shakes his head. “No, don’t worry babe. I’m not a mutant. I’m just simply enhanced. And about the cobwebs, I made these devices which enable me to shoot a substance that I’ve invented myself. It works exactly like a cobweb, but stronger. I can also use it without the suit on.” Your eyes widen in excitement at the thought of trying it out. “Oh my god, that is so awesome. Can I try it out, Peter? Please?” you plead and give him the puppy eyes. He reaches over and grabs one of the devices. “Here. I used to use these before Mr. Stark gave me my suit.” You take it from him and your mouth opens in shock. “Stark gave you a suit? Damn boy, you have no idea how lucky you are.” Peter helps you put it on and shows you how to use it, before sitting back onto the bed. “Give it a try” he says, nodding at you. Doing exactly as he told you to do, you shoot a web. However, you forgot to specifically aim at something, so when you look up, you see Peter’s face covered in cobweb. It takes everything in you not to bust out laughing right now. He walks over to one of his drawers and grabs something to take it off his face. “I’m so sorry” you giggle, holding your free hand in front of your mouth to keep yourself from smiling. Once Peter has freed himself, he turns to you and shakes his head. “Alright, so first, I will teach you how to aim” he says before he softly tackles you onto the bed, tickling your sides. “Peter, stop!” you exclaim, but it’s too late as multiple cobwebs shoots out of the device, covering a big part of the walls. “Peter?!” May calls from outside, causing you both to freeze. “Whoops?” you whisper, giving Peter an innocent smile, leaving him to shake his head at you. It was definitely going to be a challenge to keep this a secret from everyone close to you, especially with the two of you being the clumsy people you were.

The End

[amoristt]

Trophies | Peter x Reader

Alternatively: The Halloween Fic I Never Posted

originally this was supposed to be posted on halloween but i’ve been rather stressed lately so i ended up not finishing it until last night! i hope you guys can appreciate it regardless <3

i listened to >this< song while writing this (if you can’t click the link, it’s lorde - ribs ryan hemsworth remix) and i suggest you do too!

reblogs + tags and replies will make my entire day as i put a lot of effort into this :)!

story continues beneath the read more. let me know if you can’t access it!

Trophies

Hours after Halloween had come to an official end, you discovered that you weren’t done with your seemingly unlimited energy. The houses were dim without all the colorful lights, the streets vacant and littered with open candy rappers here and there. If you weren’t dressed in your costume you’d have picked some up and thrown them away, but you had no pockets to work with. Besides, you had your own candy to worry about.

It’d been somewhat of a slow night but it was fruitful, as evident in your dully aching shoulder and cramping wrist. Peter seemed unaffected by the weight of his candy bag, occasionally pulling it open and eagerly grabbing at a random piece and trying to read it through the darkness. Unoriginally upon choosing costumes he went with the one thing he was the most familiar with: Spiderman. At first he was hesitant but when you told him no one knew his identity, therefore making his outfit both compatible AND ironically hilarious, he moved forth with his plans and decided to keep the mask on incase someone realized the material of his suit was a little… too realistic. As the streets cleared out he slid the mask up his face enough to eat varying chocolates, unable to wait for a moment to sit on a bench.

Somewhere in the distance a child called out to her father, the sound followed by an array of giggles and laughter, then a door closing. Silence, and the porch light flickered off. The night had come to an end but you were not disappointed, and neither was Peter. If anything he was as good as can be, eagerly picking out and digging through his bag.

It had been his idea to go trick or treating this year, something you discovered he’d never really had the chance to do. You didn’t have the heart to say no and your decision did not go regretted- he had had so much fun.

“Where should we go?” Peter managed through a mouthful of airheads.

You shrugged, using your free hand to smooth down your messy hair. The night had been thankfully dry (unlike previous years) but windy nonetheless. Once again, Peter didn’t seem to care one bit that upon removing his mask his hair would likely be everywhere in tufts.

Your bag of candy knocked against your upper back and you gave it, moving it off your shoulder to pull out a piece and re-sling it back over. Even more house lights turned off as the two of you passed them by, and you wondered where a fun place would be to relax and hang out before heading back to Peter’s house. “What about that one park you told me about? The one by that sandwich shop you like.”

He blinked at you once or twice before recognition took over. Before he spoke he pulled the just opened sucker from his mouth and said, “Oh, oh right! Yeah we can hang out there for a bit- or just until Aunt May calls me. She was freaked out over the staying out late thing so I said we’d be home before midnight.”

“That’s fine,” You giggled. His Aunt May could be such a worrier. “What time is it anyways?”

“Uuh-” He looked down at a gadget build into his wrist. “About 9:30.”

“Alrighty then, lead the way. You know these roads better than I do.”

The walk was thankfully short, only a few blocks away from where you and Peter currently were upon your decision. Along the mostly vacant roads were a few groups of adults here and there standing around fires, the smell of alcohol thick in the air as you both walked by and awkwardly waved when a few people shouted out drunken ‘hello’s.  

With the park in sight you were delighted to see it was lit up with lamps, making it all the more safer to be a makeshift hang out spot. Not that you needed to extra safety anyways, you were, after all, literally walking along side the Spider Man himself, but if you could avoid a fight that was definitely a good choice. By the time you and Peter arrived, you setting your bag down with an audible huff and him just tossing it to the dirt, it was 9:45 and your legs were aching up a storm. Despite being lopsided and made of an uncomfortable wood, the bench felt like a saving grace. Peter let his mask fall next to him and sighed in relief. 

“Do you still wanna’  trade candy when we get back?” You asked, leaning forward and rubbing at your knees.

“Yeah of course!”

“Hell yeah.”

A comfortable and relaxing silence took it’s place in between you and him, and in the wake of it you leaned back against the bench and stared up. It was a windy and chilly night but there wasn’t a cloud to be seen, the stars shining brightly even with all the buzzing and livelihood of New York. You’d heard from a friend that outside the cities, the stars looked like entire galaxies, and you having grown up in the city with all your relatives blocks away only dreamed to see of it. Sometimes you wished you could be somewhere out in the country lying in some open field, the stars dancing and sparkling brightly.

But, those were future thoughts. Right now you were in a city that never sleeps, and among that you were at an empty park with Peter resting right beside you. A smile shaped on your lips and you sat straight up, looking around. It was a small, dingy park, with a merrygoround, some swings and a miniature play structure. The merrygoround looked inviting, however, so you brought yourself back to your feet.

“Come on.” you urged, holding your hands out for Peter to grab. You led him to the structure, a laugh bubbling out of you as you approached it.

Carefully you stepped onto the platform of the merry go round, eyes widening for just a second as it shook beneath your weight. Like old bones, the bolts and joints creaked but you continued in stepping into the center of the ride and grabbing onto the railings. They traced the outline of the circle with small space in between, then all met in the very center for safety. You crouched alongside one, and this close you could see how the paint chipped and peeled away to reveal what looked like ancient metals.

“Ready?” Peter asked, and you grinned, nodded, and tightened your fingers around the railings.

The spinning started slow at the first, naturally. Slowly the world around you cruised by and then repeated. Every few seconds you saw Peter standing only inches away from the moving ride, hands pushing hard at the same railings you gripped tight.

“Faster!” You chanted as you kicked your legs out from underneath you and sat back against the metal. Thanks to the night's chill it was cold, and it bit against your skin, but you didn’t mind. If anything it felt refreshing in some ways.

As soon as you’d spoke you felt the shoving intensify. The poor merrygoround shook with every forceful push and for a moment you worried that it could possibly just fall apart all together, but as you felt gravity start to tug you outwards those thoughts faded away. “You asked for it!” He taunted in reply, and you laughed gleefully even as your knuckles turned white.

For a brief, capturing moment you sent a glance up to the sky and admired the way the stars looked like they were funneling above you. The movement didn’t allow you to notice each individual twinkle but you knew they were winking anyways at the sight of you and Peter together, playing like teens should, at some no-name park just before 10. Even the crickets seemed to chirp sweeter than usual, egging on the radiant smile you offered the world.

“Had enough?” He spoke over the rides shrill cries, and you tried to manage a glimpse of his face. It was moving too fast- but just in his voice you knew he was watching you untroubled and beaming.

Everything was a blur at this point, and when it would come to a stop your stomach would likely be churning, but you still tipped your head back once again and let out a string of laughter. He was standing idly now, no longer urging the ride faster, so you called out to him. “Jump on!”

“Jump on?” He asked incredulously. “It’s going way too fast for me to just hop on!”

“Do it anyway!”

For a split second he came into view, and then the next time you saw him he was a few feet back. “Alright, here goes-” Before you caught another glimpse the entire ride shook with a great force, the ends rocking back and forth unstably. You cried out but it wasn’t of fear, that wide smile still apparent even through the night’s darkness.

“I think you broke it!” You giggled. As the merrygoround shook it still continued spinning, as did it still continue whining under your now combined weights. Through the gravity of the spinning Peter managed to scoot his way close to you, sitting at your side and gripping tight onto the bar next to his head. His hair was much messier than it had been when the night started, but he seemed so much livelier. The possibility of getting chewed out by his aunt May was only a distant memory, the fears of potentially running into a villain even further.

“Knew you could do it,” Once again your eyes found their way up to the sky. “Don’t the stars look cool?”

Peter too fixed his gaze up at the swirling moon-lit sky, and a soft silence (filled by only the ride’s creaking) took over. He smiled beside you and leaned back to let his head rest against the bar. “This is making me so dizzy.” he mumbled, and you nudged his arm.

“Weakling. They do look awesome though, don’t they?”

Peter shrugged. “I guess I uh-.. Never really thought about it.”

“Seriously?” You casted him a skeptical glance, one that he did not meet. “I’d have thought with your whole nerdy stuff you’d be all over stars.”

“Well, no, I mean I know a lot about stars. I just never really… Appreciate them I guess.”

You brought your knees up to your chest, heels pressed hard against the metal to assure you wouldn’t slide down and hit the wood chips. Peter seemed different suddenly, a little more mellow than he had been just seconds ago. Something was on his mind.

“You should.” The ride trembled beneath your body, and you leaned back. “Appreciate them more, I mean.”

“I know.” Peter sighed, closing his eyes, and you wondered if it was possible for Spiderman to get motion sickness. “Everything’s just been so crazy lately you know? With school, and the Avengers.”

Tentatively you unhooked a hand from the bar and rested it on top of his. “Well, nothing's going on right now, right?”

For a moment he looked back down at you, a strange distant yet affectionate glimmer in his eyes, but he soon turned his attention back to the constellations overhead. He sighed and slumped his shoulders. “Guess you’re right. I’ve been missing out on a lot, lately.”

“But you’re Spiderman,” You blurted. “You’ve gotten to do so much cool stuff like meet Tony and save people. You stole Captain America’s shield. Not everyone can say that.”

Peter shrugged dully. “I know. I just don’t really feel like I’m doing things normal kids should be doing.”

You frowned. “But… You’re not normal.”

He just nodded down at his lap, and a sinking feeling started taking its spot in your gut.

“Hey,” You brushed your elbow against his own, a halfhearted attempt to push him from whatever thoughts were starting to eat away at him. “If you’re worried about missing out on things then don’t worry. We’ve got plenty of time to do stupid stuff.”

A lopsided smile graced his features, and he let out something between a sigh and a meaningful deep breath. “Star gazing is stupid?”

“No,” You tilted your head from side to side. “But staying out late to mess around a park? I think so.”

“Right,” He nodded, laughing quietly under his breath. “Speaking of that we should probably get going, I don’t wanna freak out Aunt May.”

By that moment the ride had started to lose its previous momentum, now only idly spinning at a much less nauseating speed. Though you’d much rather have sat there with him all night, you removed your hand from his own, and made your way scooting down to the edge of the circle. The moment you hopped off you were struck with dizziness, a strange lead-like weight holding your legs down. It took you a few moments to get your balance back, and thanks to Peter’s supportive hand taking a quick rest between your shoulder blades, you were able to walk like normal again.

“Almost tipped over there for a second.” You laughed, stretching your arms broadly with a yawn. You picked your candy bag up from the ground and let it take its place back over your shoulder, that same dull ache already starting to reform the instant it did so.

“You know,” Peter grabbed his own candy bag and brushed off his suit with his other hand. “We should come here again sometime. Maybe a bit earlier though since-”

“Aunt May?” You rose a brow teasingly.

He sheepishly grinned and looked down for a second. “Yeah.”

“We should totally come here again earlier next time. Other places too. Gotta get some stupid things in there.”

At your words Peter laughed, eyes closing for a second before he looked back out ahead. “We’re going to end up getting in trouble somehow, I know it.”

“You bet we are.”

Like before the streets were vacant. Even by now the groups of drunken adults had dispersed, some scattered voices in backyards calling out goodnights and goodbyes to one another. A truck started up, took off, and then there was silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, however. You stared down at the ground as you walked, wondering what kind of movie you and him would want while you ate yourselves sick on candy like kids did.

It had never really occurred to you that Peter felt somewhat… Alienated from his age group. He’d always seemed to adamant about being more mature than his age, capable of handling things well beyond his pay grade. Being upset over ‘missing out’ on being a silly teen made you feel in the dark. It made sense in some way, he was out doing things in secret that hardly anyone else would relate too, and in order to do so you knew he’d sacrificed so many social outings he wished he could’ve attended.

The candy in your bag nudged against each other with every step, and you smiled when you heard him once again reach inside and pull a piece out to snack on.

To you the bag felt like a weight. It made your arms ache, your wrist cramping with the constant position, but to Peter it was likely an entirely different story. It made sense why he seemed more than happy to plow through nearly a quarter of his bag before you and him finally made it to his home.

A simple bag of candy from a fun, childish night probably felt like a trophy to him.

[amyltia]

The costume desing scene in Spiderman (Sam Raimi)

I was watching a funny video of a mother making a costume for a play for her daughter, and in the middle of it it made a parody of that famous scene in Spiderman, when Peter Parker draws endless designs for his future costume. So I began to think about that specific scene in the superhero movie genre in general.

1. A scene of introspection (in the superhero genre)

At their beginning, every hero discovers his power, deals with his new identity, it operates a transition between his old self and life and his new one (that’s why I love Spiderman 1, Captain America 1, etc I love those “coming of age” stories, asking who am I now? who do I want to be from now on?).

In this perspective, finding a costume is highly related to finding his new self, the hero has to find his new “skin”, find who he is now that everything has changed about him, find what is his new self. So the costume design scene is more than just finding a suit, it’s about finding the representation of who you are, actually it’s really about finding who you are. At least it’s one of the potentialities of this type of scene. In Iron Man 1, the technological aspects plays a lot, the abilites and the powers too : Tony Stark as rich adult man, he doesn’t have the same arc as young awkward teenager Peter Parker.

So the scene in Sam Raimi movie is cult because it is multi layered and has a point. It’s about finding a suit, but also about showing how Peter Parker deals with his new powers, his new self in order to find himself (it’s basically puberty). Sam Raimi chose to give this scene an introspectionnal turn, made of failures and successes and constant evolution, all in a short amount of time and with a very dedicated Peter Parker who’s thinking, more than what would be cool and practical to wear : Who will I be ? Who am I ? Who do I want to be ?

2. Two costumes, two metaphorical paths (in Spiderman 1)

To put things in context, let’s not forget that he has two costumes in the movie : the one for the boxe contest, and the real one after that.

To follow this thought, the first costume is wrong, not suited for him. First he isn’t confortable in it. His entrance is a desappointement, and he is compared with other people in COSTUME : it is nothing more than a costume, he is playing a part, the part of the strong tough guy, the role of those who bullied him on high school, and who use their power and strenght for themselves. And that’s exactly where the scene leads : he set free the future killer of uncle Ben and shows no mercy, he is given a power and use it for vengeance, personnal purpose (choosing to close or not the elevator door is a power in itself, only he used it for vengeance at this moment). This crucial choice leads to the death of uncle Ben. This costume is stained with this fatal choice, made him a “killer”. And THAT is not what Peter Parker is, nor what he wants to be. The costume is the emanation of a self that is cruel and brutal, something he can be, but refuses to be. So he metaphoricaly has to change his costume.

That’s when he gets his second and real one : the first one was a mistake, he designed it and tried it but decided that it is not who he wants to be. He knows now. Because he has learned that “with great power come great responsabilitiy”. The first costume is the emanation of this raw power, but the second and real one is the emanation of power attached to responsability : and THAT is Spiderman, that is who Peter Parker found out he is and want to be, THIS spiderman. The one that liks power to purpose, that’s when he becomes a real superhero, and the costume change shows that.

Conclusion : I think that this design costume scene is so cult in Spiderman 1 because it is included in the whole construction of the movie, along with the first costume and the real one. In Sam Raimi’s Spiderman, costumes play a big part and have a narrative role, so such a basic scene for the genre here reaches its full potential and is consciously used in the movie. It makes a web connecting those costume themed scene and layers the design scene even more.

N.B. The construction of this movie always impresses me : the climax, the villain, the hero, it has so much making it such a classic.