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areislol · 1 year

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xiao as spiderman headcanons 🕸️

►— pairings. spiderman! xiao x gn! reader

► — warnings. slight angst (?), fluff, modern! au, spiderman! au

► — a/n. guyss this includes xiao as spiderman and also your classmate (you don't know that, shhhhh) art by @niilar on twt

wordcount. 3.3k

𝐱𝐢𝐚𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧... / general hcs / meeting you

i. xiao definently stays quiet throughout the day, he doesn't really want to make himself all that known in society (hard to when you're literally spiderman). his only job is to protect the city and its people, he doesn't have "time to do other things other than saving the city" as he says.

his mysterious nature and how he keeps his life and well, himself, so private only makes people want to know more about him, reporters and people who are dedicated to finding out more about his life would try to follow him whenever he's done saving the city or just webbing a robber on a wall but whenever they try to follow him they always end up losing him after a few turns around buildings.

and xiao knows this, he doesn't get why they're so interested him and his life, it's bothersome really. but then again, he understands at the same time. i mean.. who wouldn't get so curious about one's life when they leave straight away after fighting some bad guys? it only makes them more interesting!

ii. he's so quiet and doesn't talk much, even when he's fighting. his opponents are always egging him on to talk and teasing him but he only gives them one snarky comment or scowl in response. even when he's not fighting, even when he's just roaming the streets to see if anyone is up to no good (and many people watching him), he doesn't speak.. not once.

when someone asks a question he gives them a short answer because he can't be that rude, but if it's too personal then he'd just start walking faster and if they keep on pestering him he'd just swing away.

iii. he's so, so chill. nobody really hears that much from him and they can tell that he's really chill because?? whenever somebody alerts xiao as he's walking the streets that there's somebody trying to steal a bag of grapes he's sighing and nodding his head, thanking the person beforeswinging towards the place like it has happened more than once (it has)

the way he swings and thwips his webs is so elegant and has such a.. calm and chill vibe/manner? of course any spiderman who has been spiderman for a long time gets used to swinging and gets good at it but the way he does is different.

it's probably how he swings from one building to another with such ease and it looks like he's cutting through the air...

iv. HE MULTITASKS!!! he would be fighting with some bad guy, for example, a reptile mutant! and then all of the sudden his minions start to run towards xiao from different directions and he is so quick with it.

he quickly looks around his left and right before webbing them to the wall while also avoiding the attacks of his opponent, (that's so hot of him) AND HE LOOKS SO GOOD DOING THAT AS WELL!!!! the way his face is so concentrated on trapping his enemies to the wall yet also avoiding the punches of the reptile mutant and sometimes even using the webbed enemies to whack the mutant as well.

thanks to his spidey senses, xiao can easily swiftly avoid the attacks and land a blow towards his enemy. and by the end can you just imagine every single one of the enemies minions webbed to the walls, squirming and cursing while xiao's just stepping on the reptile mutant who's wrapped in web with one leg, some of the web wrapped aroun the palm of his hands and whenever the reptile would move, even just an inch, he would tug on it, narrowing his eyes at the mutant.

"be quiet and don't move."

even if it's something simple like webbing a bagel for him to eat while also webbing a theift who stole some old woman's purse nonchalantly. the little things you guys. the little things.

v. he has a soft spots for kids. and people know this. you can often spot him just minding his own business before stopping in his tracks, watching a couple of children play soccer or any games. and even though he's wearing a mask, you can notice the way his white eyes soften and the jawline softening. it's adorable.

he gets really shy whenever anybody asks if he has a soft spot for children. always blinking stupidly at the person before shaking his head.

"no, what makes you say that?"

vi. texts with fighting like it's nothing. (just like miles honestly) this links in with multitasking but.. i'll keep it separate. could be fighting some big ass monster or robot but he'd be texting you, his friends, getting in tune with today's drama or even watching the live video of him fighting the monster.

[1:15] "hey Y/N, what are you doing?"

[1:15] "... atlas, aren't you meant to be fighting off that dude? 😭😭"

you're literally watching the live video on youtube right now on your laptop. and he's fighting some big monster dude that's wrecking buildings and throwing cars while xiao's effortlessly avoiding the cars and texting on his phone, texting you. you can see how he looks away from the phone to web the guy's arm to the back before texting you back.

[1:20] "yeah, sorry for the late reply. was busy"

??? but he looks so hot while doing it so it's fine.

vii. xiao would try to distance himself a little from you since he's spiderman and he doesn't want you to get hurt but at the same time he wants to be with you. he then remembers that he's spiderman, he has spidey senses, he saves people.. he can easily prevent any danger coming towards you!

so that easily solves the problem.

vii. when he first met you (as spiderman), he had saved you from a group of boys who cornered you in a dark alleyway, and it just so happened that xiao was patrolling that area. when he spotted the odd scene of a group of boys surrounding someone, he immediately, and quietly, walked over to the alleyway.

and when he heard your scared and wobbly voice, pleading for them to leave you alone he clicked. stepping into the alleyway, making sure not to make a sound before gripping onto one of the guy's shoulder tightly.

"and what do you think you're doing?"

the guy turned around so fast he almost got whiplash and his eyes widened at the sight of the spiderman. before any of them could move or think or their next move he quickly webbed them two by two onto a wall, making sure to tape their mouth with webs as well.

that's when he saw you. his crush. you were crouched down, cheeks wet with tears and hair sticking on your forehead from sweating too much from being afraid. he slowly stepped towards you, making sure not to freak you out. he felt anger and rage travel throughout is body, they made you feel this way?

"are you alright? what did they do to you?"

you explain to him how they have been following you for a while now, only for you to be cornered into an alleyway. an that's when he found you, and xiao understood how scared and terrified you were so he offered you a hand to get up, he made sure you were stable.

you were sniffling and your eyes were slightly puffy from all the crying, xiao just couldn't leave you like this. his job was to protect the city and its people, nothing else. but.. he wasn't just spiderman, underneath the mask was a normal human being who was just like everybody else. and so xiao decided to cheer you up by taking you a calm and warm café.

it was a bit odd, for spiderman to offer you a treat but you couldn't deny that you were hungry and you agreed. you two ended up chatting from walking to the café, inside and sitting down and even till you two left.

xiao had to admit that it was quite fun to chat with you, you listened and had many stories to tell him, even drama from your school (that he somehow already knows..). he eats with the lower mask lifted up to reveal his lower part of his face and wow, was he attractive.

you were so wowed and taken aback by his... pretty lower face? you tried to eat your donut but it would miss your mouth and you just stared at him in awe as the donut missed your mouth like three times. and only when xiao stops eating his own food and looks at you quizzically and clear his throat, do you snap out of your thoughts and begin to eat your donut.

your gaze definenetly made him red and nervous. he didn't know why but something about you drew him towards you, was it your friendliness? how you were patient and kind towards him? how you treated him like a real person than just spiderman? it surprised him that you were this kind. maybe.

he paid for everything despite your protests and to your dismay. you two walked out of the café and he made sure to walk you home to make you were safe. you were thankful for him saving you and walking you home since you never felt safe walking home alone.

and plus, you got to talk to somebody as well! xiao didn't mind listening to you ramble on about your day, it's... as if he's used to it already.

when you're by your apartment door you're thanking him profusely and he's just taking it with a nervous wave, telling you that it's alright. opening your door, you're about to step inside when you turn around and it almost frightens xiao by how quick you turned.

"how about– we.. as a thanks we go to that café again? i'll pay, this time."

your face is slightly red from inviting him to that café, since you've never really invited anyone to anywhere, let alone spiderman, a very handsome one.

xiao dislikes the idea of you paying but then again, throughout the time you two were at the café he felt so comfortable around you even though you two were strangers and barely knew each other, well, that's what you think anyways. plus.. he gets to spend even more time with you!

since then, the café became a place you two would frequent to get together again, to talk and discuss about your day. thing is, you two start to grow closer and closer the more you two meet in the café, and it went from just a day in a week to like three-four days in a week to going to the café.

and that's how xiao, as spiderman befriends you! funny how he's both your friend as spiderman and xiao, isn't it?

𝐱𝐢𝐚𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞

i. he was one of your first friends when you both first arrived to school. xiao wasn't the "friends for life!!" type, but like spiderman xiao, he was drawn to you. your cheery smile and aura made him feel so welcomed and safe, like he would never be judged.

ii. xiao doesn't have many friends, like maybe two or three. but you're his closest friend. and no matter how many times you try to help him gain more friends (because so many people always give him an interested look), he always turns the offer down and shakes his head, saying that you're enough. (which never fails to make you blush)

iii. he sits next to you, always. if somebody takes HIS spot, he will glare at them until they get the message and get up. and sometimes his leg moves to the side, touching yours. obviously you notice but don't say anything. and if you happen to sneak a glance at xiao while he does this you can notice a very faint blush on his cheeks.

iv. he is VERY smart, like impossibly smart. so he always helps you with your questions, like you don't even have to ask, one glance at your puzzled face and he's already helping you. also takes this opportunity to inch and move in closer to you to the point your shoulders are touching.

if the teacher EVER picked on you to answer a question (that she knows you absolutely do not understand) xiao will whisper the correct answer, and to make sure the teacher doesn't notice he looks down and rests his cheek on his palm, making sure to face you before muttering the answer.

loves to see your happy and confident face when the teacher is astonished by how you got the answer right, that is until she calls you up to explain how you got your answer.

tutors you for free if you need it, he's a great tutor. he takes your pace and understands what he needs to do to make you understand, whether it be visually like a video or a drawing or if you need it to be physical.

gives you his homework answers, but also explains to you how he got them since he wants you to understand. lets you cheat off his paper, and he is ALWAYS prepared for his tests so if you need a study/revise buddy, he's your top pick.

if the teacher ever caught you cheating off a text (which, will never happen) he would take blame, saying that he knew and allowed you (true but still).

v. he's very protective over you. always keeping you close by (to the point where he's either lurking right behind you or pulling you in where your shoulder and hips are touching, you don't complain.)

xiao glares at any boy who decides to give you the look, he wants to keep you safe so he never leaves you alone unless you need space or feel uncomfortable.

vi. when he first got bit, you immediately knew something was wrong when he came to school all sweaty and nervous. you questioned him if he was okay or sick but he said it was nothing, obviously it more than nothing since he continued to profusely sweat and looked around at the people around you like they were crazy.

you brought him to a classroom where nobody was and tried to calm him down, he did, gradually. of course he didn't tell you that he was bitten by a spider and that he may or may not be spiderman.

but overtime he started to started to get the hang of being spiderman and could control his nerves around you, but that also meant that he more sensitive with his new abilities. he could tell when you were about to get intro trouble or whenever you were going to get hurt

he is so so thankful for his spidey senses, although even without them (before he was bitten) it was like he could sense whenever you were about to get hurt.

because of his training to become spiderman and saving the city and people, you two spent less time together, but it didn't mean he makes up for the lost time!

vii. this is out of topic but... that's right folks, in apology for not spending enough time with you (which is like, every hour of the day) he stays over at your place, watching movie with you, studying, baking, or just sleeping over. he gets to be even closer with you without anyone to disturb him.

he also gives you little gifts sometimes, whether it be little snacks you like or cute keychains on your desk. or sometimes you'll see your favourite drink or some heated food on cold days on your desk, and when you look over at xiao like "???" he's all like ":)))"

viii. sits with you during break all the time, sometimes buys you lunch and eats it with you. if you're feeling confident and cute, you can feed him. he's in shock at your question if you could feed him and he's EMBARRASSED, but he still lets you feed him with a grumpy face, it's so cute.

people are always questioning whether or not you two are dating or not. it's honestly so cute seeing you two eat together, the way you two talk about whatever for so long and you two NEVER run out of things to talk. normally it's you that's doing the talking and xiao listening.

ix. lends you his blazer every winter season, when you lose/forget to bring yours or just gives it to you for no reason. and he finds you so adorable when his blazer is slightly big on you (if you're shorter than him)

sneaks a photo of you in it without you knowing.

x. HHHH IF YOU'RE INTO LIKE CUTE LIL ACCESSORIES HE TOTALLY LETS YOU PLACE THEM IN HIS HAIRRRRR, whether or not it matches his appearance or not xiao will still wear them no matter what because it's you.

xi. if you ever gift him keychains, and EVEN though they don't match his whole appearance/vibe, he'll still place them on his bag cause?? he finds it cute.. like if you have a whole different style compared to xiao he definenetly finds the difference... cute.

xx. switches sides with you when you two are walking on a pavement near a road!! like originally you were on the road side but xiao quickly switches sides with you so you're on the safe side with all the buildings while he's on the road side. (plus with his spidey senses he can just protect you 100x more)

xxx. when you two are on a bus going to school together, if there's no more seats he would either, one, glare at someone until they give up their seat (it works), two, holds you close by the waist with one arm while he uses the other to hold the handle.

or you're in front of him WHILE he's holding you by the waist and using his other hand to hold onto the handle, if the bus ever shakes or halts abruptly xiao's quick to hold onto your waist tightly and makes sure you're okay. it always makes you blush.

if you two are going on the regular bus to go to a city or some place, he hides you from the creeps!! hiding your body (the back) with his front. or the other way, except, since he can't cover your behind with his hands or arms he pulls you into a hug and covers it with his bag (AAAAAAAAAAAAA).

he shares one of his earbuds with you, he probably buys a new pair of earbuds so it's brand new and not dirty, he makes sure he only uses one side while you have the other side.

xiao asks what songs he should add into his playlists so you can choose any song when you two are listening on the bus on your way to school or anywhere. doesn't matter if your songs aren't his type, if it makes you happy he could care less.

xl. he holds your bag. it's the bare minimum, i know, yet so attractive. heavy or not he WILL hold your bag so your shoulders aren't affected by your straps at all.

lx. totally unrelated to this topic but, he definenetly keeps and sticks polaroid pictures of you two (or you) on his wall, anything you take with him he puts on his wall, right next to his bed so whenever he wakes up, he's either met with the face of you (yes he's that whipped for you) or he can just turn around to be reminded of you again.

when xiao invited you over to his place, he kinda forgot about the pictures on his wall so when you noticed them when you entered his room xiao was SO shy and embarrassed, stuttering and stumbling over his words as he tries to explain himself but you laugh and shake your head, telling him it was cute.

dies inside when you give him some polaroid pictures of you, just you.

note: if you would like to be added to the genshin impact spiderverse! au taglist pls just ask me!! dont be shy <3

taglist 🏷️ : none so far

liking + following + reblogs are very much appreciated!!

another note: i just needed to get something out honestly, don't know if anyone has done this yet so, here we are! starting another wip after i post this.

#genshin impact x reader #xiao x reader #spidersona xiao x reader #spiderverse au xiao x reader #genshin impact au #—✧ · . fandom: genshin impact #xiao x y/n #xiao x you #xiao x yn

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jo-harrington · 1 year

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Freaky Friday - A Stranger Things Story (Part 2)

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

Word Count: 8.4k

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader, Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader, Eddie and Steve (Enemies to Friends)

Summary: Eddie thinks that Steve has everything in life handed to him on a silver platter (including his new girlfriend who Eddie has a crush on). And Steve just can't believe that the kids look up to Eddie the Freak, or that he lives his life without giving a single fuck.

Must be nice. But you know what they say, the grass is always greener.

Warnings/Themes: AU with no Upside Down. Body swapping, dark magic/alchemy, unrequited love, mutual pining, Babysitter Steve, No Upside Down means slightly still King Steve, unresolved feelings, manipulation/deception, Reader gets a nickname (Honey), no Y/N if I can help it, no smut in Part 2 either but the next chapter does get steamy.

Note: Ok big shout out to @ghost-proofbaby for her Steve lessons and just generally being a Steve soundboard. I'm not a Steve girl yet but...idk. And then also to @trashmouth-richie for being so supportive and listening as I ramble on about plot things. I admire you both as writers and love you guys as friends; thank you for your support.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

“No, no, no,” Steve whined as he approached the mirror, squishing his face and pinching at his cheeks. “This is a dream. I’m still asleep. Or I’m dead.”

He cleared his throat a few times, slapped it, pinched his Adam's apple. He used every bit of willpower in him to stop the voice that was coming out of his mouth from being Eddie’s voice. It didn't stop that everything else was Eddie's though.

Eddie’s hair. His face. His body.

Steve was in his house—trailer, Steve recalled. It was a trailer. He was wearing his clothes. Sleeping in his bed.

Steve vaguely recalled the thing he thought last night when Eddie left Family Video.

A curse.

Eddie had put a curse on Steve. Steve had made Eddie pay non-member prices for his stupid video rental and Eddie put a fucking curse on him?!

There was a knock at the door and Steve jumped.

"Everything alright in there Ed?" a hoarse, muffled voice asked.

"Uhhh," Steve tried to come up with some kind of response, but suddenly all of the excuses he could ever come up with eluded him. Every scrap of knowledge he had ever reluctantly learned about Eddie Munson—thwip—gone.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to focus, get in the moment, clear his head. If this was a basketball game or a swim meet, he would never let himself get this worked up.

"I'm fine," he started and then paused.

Eddie's parents weren't around anymore, who did he live with? The kids had mentioned it once or twice, said the guy was nice, a little rough around the edges. Said he let Eddie do whatever he wanted for the most part. His uncle...

"I'm fine Uncle W-wayne," Steve answered.

"Late for school," Wayne sighed. "You skipping again?"

"I--"

Steve didn't know what kind of excuse to come up with. What kind of excuses did Eddie give his uncle? His attendance was abysmal, Steve knew, and on the days he was in class, his attention was barely there. Always scribbling and doodling and cracking jokes when he was called on to answer.

He should have just dropped out the first time he failed, a fact that Steve had mocked him for repeatedly, let alone this second time.

Fuck, but if Steve was stuck in Eddie's body, he couldn't not go to school. He had enough trouble with his high school diploma, let alone without one. Maybe...maybe he could ask Dustin to help with his—

Dustin.

That little brat would be at school. Of course. He and others...they were a part of this little cult...maybe they knew what Eddie did to him? Or they could help him at the very least figure out how to reverse this curse.

"Listen son," Wayne continued. "I know it's hard to do this all over again; I told you that you didn't—"

"No, it's ok," Steve quickly cut him off. "I just slept in...accidentally. I'll go. I'm late but I'll go."

"Alright, whatever you say. I got a fresh pot going for you but I'm gonna get cleaned up and hit the hay alright?"

"Sounds good," Steve replied absentmindedly, staring around the room trying to figure out what, in all of the piles of clothing and junk, he could wear.

"Steve Harrington."

Eddie rummaged through the products in the medicine cabinet. Shampoos and after shaves and hair gels and mousses. Way more interesting and expensive sounding than the bottom shelf stuff he got at Melvald's.

He had to be honest, some of it didn't smell great and he didn't see the appeal. Oh well.

"The name's Harrington, Steve Harrington."

He shuffled through the clothes in the closet and the dressed. A lot of trendy, Sears catalog-looking stuff. Polos and windbreakers and jeans in various shades of blue. All neatly hung and folded, nothing out of place, even the underwear drawer was pristine. Nothing black or ripped or...god forbid a band tee or something like that.

Eddie was gonna have to change that...eventually.

"Hey, uh, have we met before? I'm Steve, Steve Harrington."

After the initial shock of finding that he was, indeed, in Steve's body, a sort-of calmness washed over Eddie. The panic subsided pretty quickly, to be honest; he might have been full of electric, frantic energy that dared to be contained, but he was also very good at improvising and devising a plan thanks to years of DnD.

But what was the plan when you found yourself in someone else's body? There wasn't really a handbook for that but like any good player...he would just have to play the part until the answers were revealed to him. And that meant he would have to become Steve Harrington--know Steve Harrington--in a way that he would have loathed if he wasn't in this situation specifically.

The first step had been checking out what Steve was packing.

Eddie peeled away the tight purple briefs and stared at his dick.

"Alright Harrington, alright," Eddie bobbed his head from side to side in contemplation and then grinned ferally. "Mine's bigger." And with that he adjusted himself back in the underwear and continued on his exploration.

Clothes, shoes, books—or more accurately the lack thereof.

Jesus, how have I failed twice and he graduated?

He dug through drawers, found the stash of dirty magazines under the bed, and then scanned over the calendar neatly pinned above the desk with shifts at Family Video clearly penciled-in in a handwriting that looked way too nice to be Steve's.

Steve would be expected to open the store this morning and Eddie grimaced. It wasn't exactly how he wanted to spend his day, but he had a part to play.

He grabbed the little green and orange vest hanging off the back of the desk chair and threw it on over the trendy striped polo that made him itch—did Steve have some kind of allergy or something? God, his chest and arms were just itchy, and it was driving Eddie nuts.

He headed downstairs, through the immaculate house that he vaguely knew the layout of having dealt at a party Steve held last year, to the kitchen to rummage for some kind of breakfast.

He had already checked upstairs and now again as he walked through; the house was empty. Steve's parents gone for the day.

Eddie rolled his eyes as he opened the fridge and found, among the very neat and plentiful groceries, a brown paper lunch bag with the name "Stevie" written on it with a little heart.

"Great," Eddie scoffed bitterly, the first really sour thought he’d had all morning. "His mommy still makes his lunches."

Eddie thought about the handwriting on the calendar upstairs; it was the same as the lunch bag. Thought about the neatly folded clothes, about the extremely tidy rooms. He knew Steve's mom didn't work; she didn't do much of anything except parade around town flaunting her perfect life.

And she was a real bitch.

She was on the Hawkins Town Council and the PTA. She was the first person to call Hellfire Club a cult when they had originally petitioned for some money from the PTA for shirts a few years back. She had called Eddie a menace too many times to count, periodically to his face if he parked a little too close to the front to her liking at Bradley's.

"And she makes her precious baby boy Stevie tuna salad sandwiches and ants on a log like he's 6," Eddie grumbled as he peeked inside the bag. He couldn't remember the last time someone made his lunch for him.

Well he could...in those early days with Wayne. They were both trying to navigate the new living arrangement after his mom had passed. He wasn't that great at peanut butter and jelly or carrot sticks...but he did teach Eddie that you could put potato chips inside of your sandwich though. Taught him how to make the best of a situation, to take care of himself.

So that's what he was going to do. He was gonna make the best out of this situation and play the part and get through the day. Because things were always good—life was always good—if you were Steve Harrington. And he was Steve Harrington now.

"And Steve Harrington," Eddie pushed past the bitterness and found a little spark of goodness. "Drives a BMW."

"Watch where you're going freak!" Someone grunted at Steve as they rammed their shoulder into his as they passed.

"When did everyone get so damn rude?" Steve grumbled to himself. It was the fifth person who had done that today. Hawkins High really had gone to the pits in the past few months since he graduated.

To be fair, everything had really sucked for him so far that day. He thought, Hawkins High was his stomping ground. Just put on the Harrington charm—despite the rough exterior—and everything would work out.

He was so wrong.

First he had gotten detention for being late to class, apparently for the third day that week—

God, Munson needed to get his act together; no wonder he hadn't graduated yet.

—then when he had tried to schmooze Mrs. Worth, the school secretary, into giving him Dustin's schedule, she laughed. And when he asked if he could have a copy of his own schedule, Eddie's schedule, she had just rolled her eyes and said,

"Trying every trick in the book to get out of classes, Edward. I can't help you unless you help yourself."

"How can I help myself if I don't have a schedule Jeanine?" he snarked, figuring Eddie's own signature shitty attitude would get him somewhere instead.

It only added an extra 15 minutes onto his detention.

Great.

Finally he managed to find the crumbled scrap of a class schedule in Eddie's locker—the only locker without a lock on it although he doubted anyone would want to steal from this absolute cesspit—amongst the piles of incomplete homework and garbage and overdue library books. It took everything in Steve not to rip it to pieces when he saw archaic symbols drawn all over it, no doubt another curse Eddie was waiting to enact on someone.

Steve just went through the motions and still got picked on and berated by every teacher and most of the students. Of course, Eddie fucking deserved everything he got. He was a lazy student and a menace, always causing some kind of trouble. But it made Steve especially grumbly that he would now have to deal with the fallout of Eddie's shit. Despite trying to adapt his own good behavior.

"Just gotta find Henderson and this will all have been some silly dream," Steve muttered to himself all day. And thankfully he had survived until lunch and immediately spotted Dustin and Mike as they sat down at the freaks' usual lunch table.

God he needed to get those kids away from Munson and his cult. Especially now that he knew what they could do.

He quickly crossed the busy cafeteria, uncaring of anyone he bumped into or the sharp words they spat at him.

"Henderson, we need to have a little chat," Steve announced as he reached the table. One of the older kids at the table—Steve tried to recall his name: Gary, Garth, Garrett—perked up at the sight of "Eddie" though and started chatting excitedly.

"Hey we were just talking about Hellfire tonight. I know you won't tell us anything but do we ne—”

"Hellfire's canceled," Steve dismissed coldly.

"What?!" They all started talking over one another.

"You never cancel Hellfire."

"Are you sick?"

"Guys he's dying. Or he's lost his mind."

Steve felt the annoyance bubble up inside of him and he raised his voice.

"It's canceled!" He leveled all of them with a scathing look. "I've got detention. Alright?"

"You always have detention," Mike spoke up, then cowered slightly as Steve glared at him. "Y-you've never canceled before..."

"Tough shit. Maybe next week." Steve turned his attention back to Dustin. "Let's go."

He grabbed Dustin by the arm, hauled him out of his seat, and pulled him out of the cafeteria.

As soon as the heavy double doors clicked shut behind them, Steve fell back against the wall and buried his face in his hands.

"Shit! Eddie!" Dustin's demeanor immediately went from fear to concern. "What's going on?"

"'m not Eddie," Steve groaned.

"What?"

"I'm not Eddie!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands out as if it would reveal who he actually was. "It's Steve, I'm Steve."

"O-ok?"

"I'm Steve and I woke up in Eddie's body and I don't know what's happening and I'm..." He started breathing heavily. "I'm so fucking pissed off and I'm so fucking scared."

"Hey listen man, I know," Dustin began hesitantly. "I know you keep telling us that the weed is not for freshman but if this is supposed to scare me—"

"This isn't to scare you," Steve grumbled, grabbing Dustin by the shoulders so he could pull him closer. "I'm not high. And I'm not Eddie. I'm Steve Harrington."

Dustin blinked at him.

"Ok..." he nodded slowly. "You're Steve Harrington? Tell me something only Steve and I would know."

Steve wracked his brain; there were a lot of things that he and Dustin shared, he was closer to Dustin than all of the other kids. But now, so was Eddie...so what was something that Eddie wouldn't know?

"Last year...last December..."

"Yeah?"

"The Snow Ball?"

"Ok?"

"I helped you with your hair...I told you my secret."

"Which was?"

Steve and Dustin stared each other down for a moment before Steve caved.

"Thefarrahfawcettspray," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"The Farrah Fawcett Spray, alright? I swore you to secrecy, I wouldn't tell anyone else, let alone Eddie Munson." He clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth.

"Son of a bitch!" Dustin hissed. "It really is you."

"I told you so, you little punk."

"What did...I mean..." Dustin clutched the bill of his cap with both hands and exhaled. "How?"

"I was hoping you could help me figure that out," Steve sighed. "And how to undo it."

"I think this is a little beyond my academic ability Steve."

"No, not just because you're smart. Because you hang around Munson. He's the one who did this to me."

"Wh-what?" Steve started talking a mile a minute and Dustin stopped him. "Ok, slow down. I'm gonna need you to start over. If you want me to help you, I need to know everything."

Steve spent the rest of lunch explaining everything to Dustin, from the interaction with Eddie at Family Video to feeling off last night during dinner and then waking up in Eddie's body this morning.

Dustin asked, what seemed to be, random questions. Like if he had remembered brushing his teeth the night before, if he’d had any indigestion, or if there were any scars that he had as Steve that might have appeared on "Eddie's" body instead.

"I wasn't exactly eager to check Eddie's body out," Steve scrunched his nose in dismissal.

"You didn't even take a shower or anything?" Dustin asked.

"I mean, no," Steve shrugged. "But now that I think of it...how am I gonna even be able to take a shower. Ugh, I don't want to touch Eddie's junk."

"Your junk," Dustin reminded him.

"Eddie's body," Steve insisted.

"And you're Eddie for the foreseeable future," Dustin shrugged. The bell signaling the end of the period rang and Dustin sighed. "Listen, I'm gonna skip next period and see if the school library has anything useful. But I'm not hopeful."

"Hey, you shouldn't skip class!" Steve argued.

"It's just Latin."

"Which you're failing."

"Skipping one class while you've literally had your mind transplanted into another body over night seems like the correct choice. I'll see you later." Dustin disappeared amongst the throngs of students and Steve sighed, resigned to go through the motions for the rest of the day.

It was a lot more of the same shit he'd gone through in the morning: getting body checked in the hall, having his books slapped out of his hand, teachers purposefully calling on him thinking he wasn't paying attention—even though he was, thank you very much. Although...considering that Eddie's notebooks were filled with doodles and poetry and shit...it wasn't a far stretch to believe that no, Eddie didn't actually pay any attention in class.

Steve actually had never had any classes with Eddie except for PE, really. And the fact that Eddie got into constant arguments with Coach should have been enough of an indicator of his poor academic performance as it was. But he’d based all of his assumptions on other factors. They hadn’t really interacted short of seeing him roaming the halls, the many few times Steve and his friends had mocked the Hellfire kids, even the one or two times Steve had gone up to Eddie himself to coerce him into dealing at a party.

He had always thought of Eddie as a thorn in everyone's side...but now being Eddie...

The bell rang signaling the end of the day and although Steve knew he had to get to the cafeteria for detention, he still went to find Dustin and see if he had any answers.

It wasn't a long search, Dustin was waiting by Eddie's locker looking...incredibly nervous.

"Anything?" Steve asked.

"The school library isn't well-stocked with occult books," Dustin sighed. "Best I could find was this, Mysteries of the Unknown, which I'm gonna read, I just don't think it's gonna help us out very much."

Steve groaned and covered his face with his hands.

This was just great.

“Listen, I’m gonna level with you this is…kind of outside of my expertise here Steve,” Dustin said hesitantly.

“But what about the cult stuff,” Steve asked, throwing his hands out. “You spend every Friday with Hellfire Club.”

“Playing a board game,” Dustin defended. “One that you could have learned by now if you just—”

“You’re telling me there aren’t any spells or...or something that could do this in your little game?"

"It's Dungeons and Dragons. Not Jumanji."

"...does that game maybe have a spell that—"

"No!"

"Well what about all of this shit Eddie has drawn in his notebooks, huh?" Steve fumbled to flip to one of the pages that had little symbols drawn in the corner. "What is this?"

"Probably something for a campaign. Maybe you should ask Eddie?" Steve froze and Dustin frowned. "You...have talked to Eddie about this right? You didn't just...come to school...without talking to Eddie, did you?"

Steve felt like an idiot. Of course Eddie would be in his body if he was in Eddie's. Eddie didn't just...banish Steve...he put a curse on both of them.

"Dustin Henderson, you are a genius." Steve pressed a kiss to Dustin's head, turned on his heel, and ran towards the door. Detention be damned.

"I'm not a genius, you're just an idiot!"

For all of the fears Eddie had about growing up—finally graduating, deciding if he should take some classes at the community college like the guidance counselor suggested ages ago, having to get a job or really throwing everything he had into making Corroded Coffin successful—he was honestly having a good time working at Family Video.

Steve always seemed a little bored and grumpy every time Eddie had stopped in. But it wasn't that bad if Eddie was being honest.

He'd been a little frantic at first, trying to figure out which key unlocked the door, and how to turn on the computer and open the cash register—thankfully there were little handwritten instructions taped under the keyboard—but once everything was up and running, it was a good time. He got to put a movie on—Star Wars, duh—easily chatted with some of the apparent-regulars who came by to make returns, even processed shipments of some new releases. It was a blast.

Eddie vaguely wondered, whenever he found himself back in his own body, if he should apply for a job here.

The bell above the door rang and Eddie turned, expecting to greet customers, only to be met with a fuming Robin Buckley.

Eddie didn’t know Robin very well, but what he did know he respected, if not outright liked. During his first senior year, she and a group of band nerds had gone up against Corroded Coffin in the last round of the Hawkins High Battle of the Bands. Now, he knew that the whole competition was rigged—Corroded Coffin had gotten second place despite being the best metal band in town—but she was pretty cool to shake their hands after the event was over. Tell them how good they were.

Of course, her band did a cover of "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions." Kind of cheating if you'd asked Eddie...but they did a pretty good job of it. He couldn't fault the student body for choosing that over the alleged Devil Worship music.

However, gone was the bashful Robin in his memory, and instead there she stood seemingly gearing up for a fight, with her sleeves rolled up and teeth gnashing together as she sneered.

"Forget something today dingus?" Robin asked "Steve" through clenched teeth.

"Uhhh," Eddie fumbled. "I don't kn—"

"Me! You forgot to pick me up for school," Robin exclaimed, hands thrown up in the air in exasperation. "You didn't even call? What gives?"

"I, uh," Eddie wracks his brain for an excuse. Because he didn't know he needed to? Because he wasn't actually Steve? "I accidentally overslept."

"And then I was worried about you," Robin rambled, running a hand through her bangs as she went on. "You could have...crashed into a pole, or...or...had a stroke and drove into a ditch."

"I'm sorry," Eddie offered with a half-smile.

"You better be! And your alarm better be set on Monday; I am not walking to school again," Robin grumbled as she headed to the back room to clock in. Eddie sighed in relief as the door shut behind her.

He really did feel bad about not picking her up for school. His friends were used to him skipping or just...sleeping late. If he wasn't at their houses to pick them up by a certain time, they knew they'd have to find another ride. Or just walk.

Gareth's mom was usually nice enough to give them rides on the days when Eddie didn't show.

But Robin...well, shit, Eddie knew Steve and Robin worked together...not only here but at Scoops Ahoy before this but damn, he didn't know Harrington was driving her to school. He must have been really good about picking her up every day if she was mad and worried.

"—and the thing is that I worried all day for nothing." Robin continued as she walked back onto the shop floor. "What if he's dead? What if his parents don't know? I think I failed my algebra test because of you so...just call next time ok?" She stared at him expectantly.

"Ok, I will," Eddie nodded. But Robin just narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms across her chest. "What?"

"What do you mean what?" she asked. "What are you still standing there for? It's almost 4."

"Oh!" Eddie checked his watch. "Is it? I guess...my shift is over right?"

She stared at him with a dumbfounded expression and then slammed her hands on the counter, making him jump.

"This is why you're single, this is why you can't find a girlfriend," she whined. "I don't even feel bad for you anymore. Not when you're screwing it up every step of the way. I really thought you were gonna get it right this time."

What was she talking about?

"How could you forget!?"

And in spectacular timing that Eddie could only have expected in a movie, the clock struck 4, the bell rang as the door opened, and you walked in for your date with Steve.

You were nervous.

Of course you were nervous, this was your third date with Steve Harrington. Steve Harrington. You sort of still didn't believe that he had asked you out.

You didn’t believe you were still going out with him.

It was just a random night that you'd run into Family Video to grab a movie before they closed. How easily he bantered with you, how he made you laugh, how he suggested Sixteen Candles of all movies for your study night with the girls from your classes at the Tri-County Community College.

He had made a joke when he looked up your mom’s membership…if the number on file was up-to-date so he could inform you of new releases…or just to ask you out.

You had giggled so stupidly after you left. He had called that night.

You'd always been sort of afraid of him during school. He was cute, sure, charming when he wanted to be...but he was popular and a jock and kind of a douche. You’d seen him pick on countless nerds.

He was King Steve, The "Hair" Harrington, whose dad owned the car dealership and had even run for Mayor once and was expected to run again. And you...you didn't have confidence issues really, but there wasn't anything really special about you either. You'd always held out hope that your silly high school crush would ask you out, so you never accepted any of the offers you had from any other boys.

But he never ended up asking you out, no matter how many signals you gave him, how much time you spent with him. How you wore the cutest outfits if you knew you’d partner with him in class.

And shy of some random drunken makeouts and one unfortunate hookup at some stupid party to get your first time “out of the way” (according to Julie Williams)…you stayed single.

Now you were out of the dregs of the high school hierarchy, sure, but you never expected Steve to ask you out. You weren't popular by any means...

But neither was Nancy Wheeler before Steve dated her.

Nancy Wheeler, Nancy Wheeler, Nancy Wheeler.

You couldn't get the name out of your head. Or more accurately, you couldn't get Steve saying her name out of your head. You hadn't even heard of her until they had started dating in your junior year; she was a year younger than you and Steve. Sweet, a little timid maybe. You thought they were cute together, always kind of near each other. Holding hands or kissing or laughing.

Nancy stood in the spotlight with Steve, and they spent enough time for him to become nicer and for her to become more confident. Confident enough to dump him about halfway through your senior year.

Rumors were afloat about King Steve losing his crown. That the new kid Billy Hargrove had taken it when the king was down on his luck. But Billy was an even bigger douchebag and you'd thought...well, Steve was the big man on campus, he would bounce back right? Surely once you graduated at least? He’d find his footing and move on?

And you thought he had. He’d stayed in town, gotten a job, went about his life like it was normal. Still drove around and charmed the town, asking girls out and whatnot. Asking you out.

Imagine your surprise when he mentioned Nancy on your first date. Coffee at that little bakery in the town square; he had ordered for you before you got there and you asked if it was his favorite or something.

"Well Nance always liked it so I figured you might."

And then again at the movies, he'd ordered you a cherry coke and Mike and Ikes. No popcorn.

"Nancy always complained about the kernels getting stuck in her teeth."

You were patient and you tried to be nice. But it created this constant, subconscious comparison to her that hit you every time you saw her around town. And she was always around.

And Steve…tried, he made sure the dates were nice, he called on the phone, asked you about your day, told you about his. You just knew you couldn’t…allow yourself to feel less than, even if Steve didn’t realize he was doing it to you.

So you decided you were gonna end things.

You'd gone to Family Video to tell him as much, to have a nice discussion, before heading to your shift at Benny's. But he was very sweet, unexpectedly so. Promised your third date would be something special. You'd both dress up. He'd take you out to dinner somewhere nice.

"You're gonna love this place," Steve had said, taking your hand in his. "Nance thought it was great when I took her there too."

Nancy Wheeler, Nancy Wheeler, Nancy Wheeler.

And at that moment you decided to just pull your hand away and tell him "I'm sorry Steve" and "you can’t keep bringing her up, it’s over."

Until you caught sight of Eddie Munson at the corner of your eye.

Your high school crush.

Who was funny and clever and silly and handsome and more. Who was everything you could kind of ever dream of. Who you got into a fight with your best friend over because she thought she had dibs since her brother was his friend. Whose name you scribbled in your notebook and almost died the one time he flipped through to copy your notes.

Who never saw you as more than a classmate.

And you decided...even if you were tired of playing second fiddle to Nancy…you had spent enough time waiting to be noticed by Eddie. All of high school and, you were ashamed to say it, even now after the fact.

You couldn’t do this anymore. Couldn’t pass upon another boy who actually noticed you just to keep waiting on Eddie.

So you told Steve that his idea was great and you went on your merry way.

You had convinced yourself that it could work out, that you could be Steve’s girlfriend if he asked, if he kissed you at the end of the night. You'd dressed up to go to class today, knowing that you wouldn't have time to change for the date after. Your friends had teased you about your date, about the fluffy tafetta dress you'd chosen, giggled along with you and inflated your confidence.

It was still a little bit of a shock when you walked into Family Video promptly at 4 only to find Robin standing in front of the counter with the most pitying, sympathetic look in her eyes. And Steve still behind it, looking like a deer in the headlights, still dressed in his casual work clothes, hair slightly disheveled.

Not prepared for your date at all.

Did he forget?

You shouldn’t have felt bad, really. You were meeting him after his shift. You knew that you didn’t always look or feel great after work. You should have given him the benefit of the doubt.

Or did he change his mind?

Because he talked the talk yesterday and you fell for it. You let your pride get the better of you and you should have just followed your instinct to end things.

That insidious voice in the back of your mind though…

Nancy Wheeler, Nancy Wheeler, Nancy Wheeler.

…told you that he realized you weren’t good enough.

"H-hey," you greeted sheepishly. Your throat got tight

“Say hi dumbass,” Robin muttered over her shoulder. “Steve was just telling me how excited he was for your date!”

“Really?”

And then…it felt like Steve was suddenly seeing you for the first time. Because Steve Harrington just had a way about him, right?. That cool, casual exterior. That easiness.

Looking at him now…his eyes were wider and brighter, his smile bigger, eager. It was a version of him that you hadn’t experienced.

Was this maybe what Nancy Wheeler saw when she looked at him…looking at her?

And now he was looking at you this way.

"I...I'm not late am I? Or too early maybe?" you asked, suddenly bashful under his gaze.

“No,” Steve shook his head. “You’re perfect.”

“Gross,” Robin gagged. “Ok get out of here before I vomit.”

Steve practically vaulted over the counter and disappeared into the back for a moment, then situated himself at your side upon his return.

“You ready to go?” He asked eagerly. You raised your eyebrows in question and glanced down at his outfit, still dressed the same, still wearing his Family Video vest even.

“Oh you…” you started and then stopped when his smile got even brighter. “Yeah let’s go.”

You were barely out the door when a familiar van skidded into the parking lot and came to a halt in the spot next to your car. Eddie jumped out of the driver's seat and slammed the door, before pointing at Steve with a manic look in his eyes.

“You!” Eddie shouted. “What did you do? How did you do this!?”

You immediately turned to Steve, whose eyes went wide for a moment before he smiled lazily, almost condescendingly.

“Me? I didn’t do anything,” Steve announced, holding his hands up innocently.

“I know you’re in there Eddie, you son of a bitch,” Eddie grumbled and practically lunged at Steve. Steve jumped a few steps back and you got between the two of them, hoping your presence would put Eddie at ease.

Wait…

Did he call Steve…Eddie? Did he call Steve by…his own name?

Was he high or something? You tried to rationalize it: The anger, the manic look in his eyes, the way his shoulders shook as he breathed heavily. It only made sense.

“Hey look at me,” you said gently. “It’s gonna be ok, you need to take a deep breath and calm down. You’re gonna be ok.”

“Stay out of this honey,” Eddie said through clenched teeth. “This is between me and him.”

“Steve, what’s going on?” You glance back at him for an answer.

“Nothi—” Steve began but Eddie quickly spoke over him.

“He put a curse on me, he put a curse on us,” Eddie heaved.

A curse?

“M-maybe you need a doctor or something,” you tried. “You aren’t making any sense.”

”He doesn’t need a doctor,” Steve called from behind you. “He’s a freak, a criminal. He needs to be locked up.”

Eddie froze and looked between you and Steve, fear suddenly in his eyes.

“Steve are you crazy?!” You turned and hissed at him, but by the time you turned back to Eddie, he was backing away and retreating into the van.

“This isn’t over,” he threatened, pointing at Steve through the window. “You’re gonna fix this.”

“Eddie wait!” The van backed out of its spot and sped back out of the parking lot. You sighed with worry. “Eddie.”

“Sweetheart,” Steve casually put a hand on your shoulder “Don’t worry about him.”

You turned on your heel and slapped his hand off you.

“What the hell is wrong with you!?”

Eddie played the part perfectly...

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

...or so he thought.

While he would never call anyone else a freak, standing and staring at his own face--despite the realization that Steve was in there--it was almost cathartic to yell those things at himself. To get a feel of what everyone else felt when they yelled those things at him. To not be on the receiving end of it for once.

Except you didn't seem to see it that way.

While Eddie had felt like he had hit the jackpot all day, being in Steve's body, he knew that he really came out ahead when you showed up for your date with him. The thought briefly crossed his mind...if he broke your heart as Steve...it might be a better chance for him to ask you out and for you to say yes.

But considering that he might possibly spend the rest of his life as Steve Harrington...having you was too good of a chance to pass up.

He would rather have you as Steve, knowing you would never care for him as Eddie, than lose you altogether.

Except that might be exactly what he had done as you stood there glaring at him.

"W-what?" He asked nervously.

"Are you kidding me right now?" you exclaimed. "He...there was clearly something wrong with him. How could you say those things? How could you call him those names? And then he...he left...what if he gets hurt?"

"What do you care about Eddie Munson?" he scoffed.

"He's my friend!"

Fuck.

Hearing that made his heart ache in his chest. He was a friend. Yeah. Just a friend. Which is why...if he wanted to salvage this, he would have to think quickly.

"I just...you're right," he explained, holding his hands out defensively. "He looked like...there was something wrong. And you were so quick to jump in the way...what if he hurt you?"

"He wouldn't!"

"I was worried."

"He wouldn't have hurt me."

"Listen to me," he soothed and approached you carefully in case you lashed out again. "I...I care about you, honey. I don't want to see you hurt. And Eddie...definitely looked like he was ready to hurt someone. I needed to get him away from you."

You gnawed at your bottom lip for a moment, pulling at your fingers nervously as you contemplated his excuse.

"Alright," you finally nodded. "I understand."

"You do?" he asked.

"Yeah," you sighed. "But please...please don't do that again. Don't call Eddie a freak. He's my friend and he deserves better than that."

Eddie's throat got tight, wanting to scream--

It's me. I'm Eddie. I'm in here.

--instead he took a few steps closer and folded you into a hug. You shook for a second, and god damn did he feel like he was on the verge of shaking too.

He needed a distraction.

"So...how about that date huh?" He questioned after a few moments of savoring the feel of you in his arms. "You ready to go."

"Sure," you pulled back and gave him a small smile. "Where are we going?"

Eddie, of course, had no idea where Steve had planned to take you. His mommy didn't mark dates in his calendar like she did his work schedule. So he simply decided to make something up on the spot. One of his favorite places.

He simply told you it was a surprise and led you to Steve's BMW, opening the door for you like a gentleman should, before he got you both on the way.

His fingers fidgeted on the steering wheel as he drove. He debated asking you questions, but decided against it on the off chance that they were things Steve had already on your first two dates. And the music that Steve had in the car was abysmal and wouldn't do anything to calm Eddie's nerves.

You seemed content to stare out the window as he drove though, still fidgeting with your fingers as the drab scenery passed by once he got onto old highway 77.

A few miles past Starcourt sat "Stoney Creek Adventure Center," boasting a halfway decent arcade and two miniature golf courses. With all of the new amusements in and around Hawkins, it wasn't as busy as it was the few times his mom and Rick had taken him when he was a kid. But it was still pretty lively on a Friday night: some families with younger kids, a couple of teens who snuck into the windmill to get high and make out.

Eddie escorted you out of the car and watched as you stared at the half-faded turf and oversized obstacles.

"So?" he asked, hands on his hips. "What do you think?"

Your hesitation to answer made his throat tight again.

What if this wasn't a Steve Harrington-calibur date?

"Uh..." you paused and looked at him out of the corner of your eye. "This is the place you took Nancy Wheeler? You said...you were taking me someplace she really liked."

Alright, time to make it or break it.

"I just thought you might like something different," he shrugged. "I thought...I've been bringing up Nancy a little too much. I want to enjoy new things. With you."

The way your gaze softened and you smiled at him...yeah, he was really fixing all of Harrington's fuck-ups. Give you everything you deserved.

"Oh, that's...yeah, that's really sweet," you giggled. "I...I didn't want to say anything...I know she was important to you. But I was actually starting to feel like--"

"Hey, listen," he interrupted you, knowing what you were going to say next...feeling a little smug that he was right. "The past is the past. I'm sorry I made you feel like you were playing second fiddle to Nancy."

"You really did," you confirmed.

"But I really like you," Eddie admitted, feeling a weight lift off of his shoulders as the words escaped him. Even though the voice he said them with was not his own. "I want you to feel important too. Ok?"

"Ok," you agreed, lips pursed and nose scrunched as you obviously fought a smile.

"Alright then, let's get to putting," he clapped his hands together and started walking towards the arcade to pay for your rounds of golf.

He stopped, however, as you grabbed him by the arm.

"Don't you think I'm a little overdressed?" you asked bashfully, gesturing down at yourself. "You told me we were going someplace nice."

He placed a hand over his heart and acted wounded.

"You're saying mini golf isn't nice?" he whimpered.

"No, it's perfect, I just..." you shrugged. "I don't know, I think...I don't even have a jacket or anything."

"Well tell you what," he said and peeled his Family Video vest from his shoulders. "As long as you don't tell Keith that I made you a temporary employee for the night--that's what this means you know, so don't take it lightly--you can wear my vest."

You didn't fight the smile this time, it beamed brightly in the golden afternoon light. You put the vest on and did a little turn, modeling it for him, looking slightly ridiculous with your fancy dress and the stupid green and orange vest.

What Eddie wouldn't have done right then to have his battle vest instead right then. To make you look like you were his girl and not Steve's.

"Beautiful," he told you truthfully. "Now you ready to lose? I happen to be a mini golf champion."

"In your dreams," you scoffed.

No...not in his dreams anymore...

At the end of the night, well past it getting dark, Steve drove you back to the strip mall parking lot for you to get your car and head home. But it felt no less romantic than it would have been if he was actually dropping you off at home and you were chatting on your porch before you went inside.

“I really did have a great time tonight,” you told him honestly. It felt like a cliché, like something from a tv show. But...despite the rocky start, you did have a great time and it was absolutely nothing you expected from Steve of all people, especially not after those first two dates. After all of the things you had doubted.

You had played both of the miniature golf courses, sat at the little picnic benches and shared a basket of half-soggy fries with ice cream cones--yours strawberry, his a chocolate-vanilla swirl--and chatted about your classes, and then ended the night beating the high score on Space Invaders.

Maybe things were looking up after all. Maybe you were right to give him this last chance.

“It was kind of perfect," you continued. "Thank you.”

“Well, what can I say?” Steve beamed. “I’m full of good ideas, when I’m inspired to have them.”

“And I, um, inspired you?” You asked hesitantly.

“You have no idea,” he laughed. “You wouldn’t even believe what was going on in here even if I told you.” He tapped his forehead a few times.

You reached up and rapped your knuckles on the side of his head the way you would a watermelon to see if it was ripe.

“I dunno, sounds kind of hollow to me—Steve!!” He grabbed you around the middle and started tickling you. You yelped and giggled as his fingers relentlessly tapped and pinched at your sides. “Stop it.”

“Sorry, honey, I told you I was full of ideas,” he pouted playfully but didn’t let up. “You just looked awful ticklish; it inspired me.”

“I can’t,” you laughed. “I can’t breathe.”

“I guess I can stop,” Steve sighed, the tickling letting up for a moment. His hands stilled on your waist as you caught your breath and he inched closer. “I think I’m inspired by something else now, to be completely honest with you.”

And then he did a thing--something he had been doing all night--he was looking at you like he couldn’t really believe you were there with him. His eyes were sparkling and happy. His smile wasn’t the…signature smooth Harrington smile that you’d grown accustomed to the last few dates. It was wider, easier.

“Y-yeah?” You whispered. “What’s that?”

He leaned in closer, rubbed his nose against yours. Your eyes fluttered shut and you exhaled softly.

"C-can I," he whispered, soft enough that you could barely hear him. "Can I kiss you, honey?"

"Y-yeah," you agreed just as softly. He hummed but didn't make another move, choosing to continue giving you such soft attention. It made your heart melt.

"You sure?"

"Please," you keened.

He let out a soft chuckle and pressed his lips to yours and you sighed.

If was all of the tender softness you deserved, but never knew in the fast, hormone-and-alcohol driven kisses you had experienced in high school. However few. You were simply surrounded by him.

His touch--his soft lips molding to yours, pressing, and his hands on your waist, pulling--constant and pleading for more but never pushing. His scent that invaded your senses--sharp and citrusy and fresh, like a summer's day. His sounds, that simple...constant little hum as the seconds ticked by.

He was everywhere and everything.

But...

You thought about Eddie earlier that day, the striking, wild look in his eye. So different from the Eddie you were used to, the Eddie you cared about, the Eddie your heart beat for over the past 5 years. You were worried about him, yes, but one thought occupied your mind.

How would Eddie have kissed you?

Your heart stung when Steve pulled away and you blinked back the burning in the back of your eyes.

You couldn't entertain those thoughts, not when Steve was standing right in front of you, after he had just kissed you so perfectly, and looked at you as if you were the only thing that could ever make him happy.

“G’night honey,” he murmured.

“Goodnight,” you whispered guiltily. "Goodnight Steve."

Eddie made it back to the Harrington's house with a big smile on his face.

He could do this forever if he had to.

Live in Steve's body, go to work at Steve's job, drive Steve's car, kiss Steve's girlfriend.

He'd been partially wondering on his drive back to the house--

Between the long, sweet moments of recalling your kiss.

--if this was, perhaps, some kind of karmic reward for all of the shit life had handed to him. A terrible father, a dead mother, a short attention span, and the entire town voicing their opinion that he was some dirty, rotten, trailer park freak. And then on the contrary, Steve--who had been given everything he never asked for and was an ungrateful shit--could have some karma as well.

As he made it up the stairs--the stairs, Eddie still couldn't believe it--to his new bedroom, Eddie thought about Wayne and did feel a little guilt. He definitely suffered just as Eddie did, maybe more so, simply for the fact that he had to put up with Eddie for 10 years and now would have to put up with Steve too. Eddie's stomach turned when he thought of all the things he did just to take something off Wayne's plate. Repairs around the trailer, grocery shopping and "making dinner" (which was usually code for some kind of takeout when he was too lazy to pop some frozen pizza in the oven). Not to mention the extra cash he made dealing...would Steve do those things now that they were stuck like this?

Where was Wayne's karmic reward?

There were so many things Wayne sacrificed for Eddie. And Eddie knew and did everything he could to give back to his uncle, as much as his uncle would let him. Now with this situation with Steve, he had to do a little more to lift what would end up being an additional weight off of his uncle's shoulders.

Maybe...

Maybe "Steve" could convince Mr. Harrington to offer Wayne some better, cushier job at the car dealership? So he wouldn't have to suffer as much as he did at the plant. He definitely deserved more, but this was the first thing Eddie could think of off the top of his head. After a few months it might be a new car, or some...help with a down payment on an actual house...or at the very least, a larger trailer so that he could have his own bedroom instead of that fold-out bed.

Yeah, that was it. He would think about how he would bring it up next time he saw good ol' Pa Harrington...but since the house was still empty almost 14 hours after Steve's parents apparently left for work that morning, it might not be any time soon...

Eddie opened the door to the bedroom--momentarily dismissing his thoughts of Wayne to consider if he should get some posters to cover the pretentious plaid-papered walls--only to find the light on and his own face staring back at him, scowling, as Steve sat propped against the headboard of the bed.

Eddie hesitated in the doorway, stunned.

“I told you this wasn't over, Freak."

Fuck.

Tag List: @luna-munson83 @kaitebugg03 @invaderzia1 @delusionalbabe @secretdryrose @eddiesguitarskills @simplyundeniable98 @imaslutforcuddles @hanobe8

#Eddie munson x reader #Eddie munson fic #stranger things fic #Eddie munson imagine #Steve Harrington imagine #Steve harrington fic #Steve harrington x reader #Freaky Friday AU

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forggywrites · 10 months

Note

I been thinking about make this request,basically platonic headcanons of Miguel with a gn reader that is very young(14-15) and have a symbiote, reader meets miguel due to him as spiderman rescues reader from some bastards that were experimenting with reader for the perfect symbiosis they had, the reader is very skinny and easily scared and the symbiote is very protective over reader, miguel is also very protective over reader and theach them how to control their power,basically miguel being a mentor/father figure for the reader Who admires him and want to protect the multiverse like him(like a sidekick).

If this is so Long youre Free to ignore

I LOVE this idea!

PLATONIC Miguel x GN teen reader w/venom symbiote.

I’m trying to make this as general as possible so anyone can read it, but sorry if I make any mistakes.

CW: use of y/n, Miguel might be slightly ooc, talk of human experimentation, kidnapping, abuse, violence, medical settings, venom needs his own warning.

—————————

It was cold.

So fucking cold.

The only color on your skin was dark blotches from struggling against your captors.

You were unsure of how long you’ve been locked in this dank room.

You had barely eaten or drank anything since ending up here, so you were multiple pounds lighter than you normally were.

Your muscles had lost a significant amount of definition from only moving when they moved you.

You didn’t know who they were or what they wanted, but you did gather they didn’t target you specifically.

The experiments were painful.

No matter how much you screamed or cried they never stopped.

After one of the first experiments you started hearing a voice.

The voice was deep and grainy, it told you that it was known as Venom and it came from space.

”These people took me as well… I can help you escape.”

You had ignored the voice, telling yourself it was just the trauma and isolation.

Until a particularly painful test.

Your entire body felt like it was burning, your screams were deafening.

Suddenly the restraints that held you down snapped, and you felt something ooze all over your body.

You were unable to control your actions. The lab was destroyed and your captors were all dead. Heads had been ripped off and digested by the thing controlling your body.

You watched as your much taller body escaped from the hellhole you had been kept in.

As soon as you got out the black goo dissipated, leaving your much smaller, frail body in its wake.

”You’re welcome” the voice rasped.

Your legs started to move, you ran as far and fast as you could, tears streamed down your face as you were finally free.

Before you knew it, you had ended up in a crowded city. You were unaware your tattered clothes were covered in blood.

Your tired feet tracked down the sidewalk, many avoided you, uncaring of your beaten and bloody form.

”Hey, kid-“ a hand landed on your shoulder.

Venom did not like that.

Suddenly your body was taken over once again, wreaking havoc on anything and everything.

People screamed as your monstrous form throws a tantrum.

Then you hear a thwip and your once again muscular arm gets pulled.

A man in a dark blue and red suit starts to face off with you.

His attacks were deliberate and calculated, quickly taking your exhausted form down.

You feel your head smash against the concrete and loose consciousness once more

—————————

There you were, in another lonely room. Trapped yet again.

But this time it was warmer, you were lying in a comfortable bed with tubes and wires running from your body to various machines.

The high pitched beeping was annoying you, so off came the wires as you tried to stop the noise.

But it only got worse.

A high pitched scream came out of the machine next to you, your body felt like it was on fire once again. You covered your ears as you screamed in pain.

With the noise a group of doctors and the man from before rushed into the room, attempting to reattach the monitors and calm you down.

Your arm reached out, wrapped in the familiar black goo, and shattered the machine. Stopping the noise and actions of the oddly dressed people in the room.

Venom’s goo retreated back into you, soaking back into your skin.

Everyone in the room was frozen. Not knowing what to do or how to respond to the outburst.

”Where am I?” You rasped out, your throat was dry and scratchy from dehydration and screaming.

One of the people left the room and quickly returned with a bottle of water. You gulped it down in no time, panting from the lack of oxygen.

”You’re in a secure location.” The man from before piped up, he was still wearing the odd mask and outfit.

The doctors and nurses attempted to restore what you had ripped out, but you flinched as a hand touched you.

They stopped again, not wanting more destruction.

”Please let them help you, you’ve been injured.” The man says.

You looked at the tall man in front of you.

”Why am I here?” You question him.

”You attempted to destroy the city.” He grunts

”No I didn’t! It was that thing those “scientists” gave me!” You shout, trying to defend yourself.

“I AM NOT A THING, CHILD. I AM VENOM. AND I HELPED YOU!” Venom screamed, though only you could hear him.

“What thing, and what scientists?” The tall man inquired.

”The black gooey thing, Venom. It appeared after one of the experiments the guys who took me did…” you trailed off, struggling to explain exactly what had happened to you.

The man stands for a moment, thinking. “Were you kidnapped?” He asked.

”I- I don’t really remember…” you look down, uncomfortable with all the eyes on you.

The tall man sighs and approaches you slowly, his mask suddenly dissipated before he started talking.

”I’m Miguel, what’s your name?” He had a small smile on his face, trying not to intimidate you more than he already has.

”it’s Y/n.”

“Well Y/n, I want to help you. Can you tell me what happened?”

—————————

After a long explanation Miguel told you that he needed to work some things out, so he left you under close watch by the nurses.

While he was gone you were given a small meal consisting of a sandwich, some carrots, and a cup of chocolate pudding. The doctors didn’t want you to eat too much as to not cause your malnourished body any harm, but you were still hungry.

Until you got to the chocolate pudding.

”That is amazing, I love it.” Venom says.

”it’s chocolate pudding.” You respond.

”I need more. I don’t feel as hungry anymore.”

—————————

When Miguel returned there was a pile of empty chocolate pudding cups on the bedside table and you were asking for more.

A nurse was trying to reason with you. ”Why don’t I get you some more carrots? You shouldn’t be eating so much sugar-“

”I need chocolate, that’s what he wants.” You argued.

”Hey kid. What do you mean by “it’s what he wants”?” Miguel questions you.

”Venom. He said chocolate makes him less hungry, and I was hoping if I kept eating it he’d finally shut up.” You avoided making eye contact with the tall male.

”Interesting… I did a little research and it seems that you’ve become a host for some sort of extra terrestrial being.”

“Well duh, Venom told me that already.” You give Miguel a deadpan look.

”It would have been nice to know that…” Miguel sighs. “We can start looking into removing the…”

”Symbiote”

”Right, Symbiote. We can look into removing the symbiote if you’d like.”

Suddenly the black goo emerges once again, taking over your face.

”I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE YOU SPIDER SHIT!” Venom roars and then sinks back into your skin. Leaving you back to normal.

…

“I don’t think he wants to leave…”

”Well that was kind of obvious.” Miguel sighs.

—————————

It had been a few days since your arrival at the “secure location”, which after enough bugging of Miguel, you found out was the spider society. A place where spider folk like him from hundreds of different universes came together to protect the multiverse.

You had started trusting Miguel, and he the same with you. It was odd to others to see such a cold man being so caring and protective of a child who had “tried to kill him”.

He wasn’t the biggest fan of Venom, but when he realized you had a certain knack with the alien he stopped trying to convince you to separate from him.

Soon enough you started to train with Venom, Miguel helping you along the way. Miguel taught you hand to hand combat, self defense, and so much more.

Once Miguel believed you were ready, you started to go on missions with him. You met many other Spider folk and even made some good friends along the way.

Miguel knew that Venom needed phenylethylamine (or PEA for short) to survive. And since the only places you could get that was from brains or chocolate, he made sure there was always a large stock of chocolate around for you and venom, at least until he could develop something to give you the PEA you needed in a different way.

Miguel was glad that he had gone out on patrol that day, knowing that if he didn’t, he might not have met the kid who changed his life for the better.

—————————

Thanks for reading y’all! This was WAY longer than I was expecting, but hey, I got into it. I might make some separate or more headcanons with this reader/scenario.

(Also I got my first dose of testosterone done this morning, so your boy is finally on T!!!)

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vhstown · 10 months

Text

tender

— pavitr prabhakar x gn!reader

summary: It's the middle of summer, and Spider-Man caused a city-wide power outage; your friend Pavitr tries to make it up to you.

word count: 0.7k

warnings: fluff, mentions of food/drink

a/n: there's not enough pavitr in this world 💔 another 3am notes app to one-shot pipeline, somewhat edited

"Ugh..."

It was probably the hundredth time you groaned that morning. Your uniform was sticking to you, your notebook was less than efficient as a fan and you still had to come into class for the rest of the day. The Mumbattan sun was practically bleeding through the walls, and though you and Pavitr had found a shaded spot outside, it did little to stop the constant wave of sweat that trickled down your back.

"Probably the worst day for the power to go out, right?" Pavitr gave you a crooked smile. His shoulders flexing uncomfortably as he leaned forward, tilting his head to meet your squinting eyes.

"Yeah. Spider-Man really did us a service, huh?" From what you knew, Mumbattan's one and only "hero" with stupidly good hair had managed to disconnect the entire city's power last night. Alchemax was "working hard" to restore it (probably in their own building), but you didn't know how much longer you could survive without the academy's stellar, now out-of-service air conditioning.

"He's not so bad. He's probably suffering from the heat too; think about the suit!" Thinking about the suit only made you sweat more.

You met Pavitr's defense with a frown, shaking your head. "It's his problem. Well, it's everyone's problem now."

Pavitr returned your frown with his own, his eyes narrowed and trailing off in silence. You two talked about Spider-Man often; his hair was pretty compelling, but today he was more of a menace than anything, even if he was boiling under that suit too. Your notebook was practically clinging to your clammy hands, but Pavitr seemed fine for the most part, just one button of his shirt undone. Maybe the heat was the reason why you were looking at his bare collar so much.

Your head fell back as another flash of sweat went through you, and you were ready to let out another groan before Pavitr spoke up.

"You know what? I'll be right back. One sec... a minute — two minutes!" He gave you a wave and half a smile before getting up, the way his hand pushed off of the hot concrete making you cringe. The sun was hurting your eyes, so you gave up on trying to look out for him, sinking into the heat as you waited.

Around the corner, other students of Mubattan Visions were suffering a similar sizzling reality to you, the same complaints and frustrations dampened by the heat. It was an oven inside and a slow-cooker outside; you didn't know which you preferred — probably neither now your best friend was gone.

Thwip! Thwip! You barely registered the sound before you felt a hand on your shoulder, looking behind you only to have something cold put in your hands — a drink.

"Two minutes," he grinned, sitting next to you as he cracked open the lid of his own bottle. 100% Natural... "Tender" Coconut Water?

Your brows furrowed, trying not to crack a smile while taking a sip of the drink. It was cool, easing the breathless feeling you had from the heat as it went down your throat. "How'd you even get this?"

"I uh, had it in my backpack." His casual and slightly unsure look did nothing to convince you.

"Is your backpack a fridge or something?"

"Maybe. Guess I should be an engineer, huh?" It was finally cool enough to laugh, and you hesitated to drink again as the thought of Pavitr's refrigerator backpack cracked you up a bit.

"Yeah. Maybe. Nadeesh's got competition."

"The kid had it coming," he shrugged, rolling his eyes and smiling.

The two of you finally had something to talk about other than the heat. You chatted through the school morning, and it was a little easier to endure the heat even if the power was still out. You had no idea how Pavitr had managed to get cold drinks when almost all of Mumbattan was simmering alive, but you were thankful enough.

Pavitr set the empty bottle down, letting out a contented sigh as he crossed his arms, leaning his shoulder against yours. It was a little uncomfortable given the drying sweat pressing into your skin, but you decided it wasn't worth moving away because of a bit of extra warmth.

In fact, though the power would be out for a couple more hours, and Alchemax might've had a broken vending machine, this sort of warmth was something you could get used to; it was almost tender.

Maybe you'd have to get that coconut water more often.

🕸️🔭🪀

thank u for reading ! my boy pavitr is so real 🫶 also nadeesh = ned (silly headcanon for his universe...)

reblogs appreciated <3 catch my atsv masterlist here!

#pavitr x you #pavitr prabhakar #pavitr prabhakar x you #pavitr prabhakar x reader #pavitr x reader #atsv pavitr #atsv x you #atsv x reader #across the spiderverse #pavitr my beloved #vhstown

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lokust · 11 months

Note

Literally anything with lee!miguel orz

I’m especially fond of the miguel/peter b/mj poly dynamic but I’d happily take anything lolol

There was something up with Miguel. Something just... not quite right, and everyone closest to him had noticed it. Hobie and Noir gossiped about his attitude, while Gwen interrogated Lyla in an attempt to get to the bottom of it. Miles minded his own business, but Pavitr and Jess went to Miguel himself to question it.

Miguel was irritable- more so than usual, and he was really, really jumpy. Every little noise, every accidental touch, made him flinch or jerk away as if he was expecting something to happen, but nobody had any idea what.

He was also incredibly snappy- again... more so than usual. Every inquiry about his mental state or general unusual behavior was met with a snarky remark or a near-deadly glare. Everyone had caught attitude from Miguel throughout the day. Well, almost everyone. Everyone but Peter B.

It was no secret that Miguel had something going on with Peter and MJ. What little free time he had was spent in their universe, and the kids had caught glimpses of heart emojis and sweet messages from both Peter and MJ on Miguel's phone, but nobody ever dared say a word about it.

It was unusual for Miguel to spare Peter from his general grumpiness. For some reason, though, Miguel seemed to be an absolute mess anytime Peter was in the room. It was like he couldn't keep his eyes off of Peter, staring at him from across the room and blushing like mad. Even something as simple as the sound of the older spider's voice had Miguel a blushing, stammering mess, but all he could do was hope nobody had noticed, especially Peter.

They had all noticed, especially Peter.

Peter knew exactly what the problem was, and he was not helping.

Every time they were in the same room, Peter sneaked "accidental" touches to Miguel's sides or back. He made it a point to let Miguel know that he noticed the staring. He stared back, smirking while drumming and tapping his fingers against whatever surface he could find. He wanted Miguel to know that he knew.

Miguel was, in fact, in a lee mood. The worst lee mood he'd ever been in.

Miguel finally realized that the only way he'd get through the day without turning into pure mush was by avoiding Peter at all costs. So that was what he did. If Peter was going one way, Miguel went the other; if Miguel noticed their paths crossing, he made a beeline for the bathroom or the closest supply closet; if he walked into a room that Peter just so happened to be in, he immediately walked out in a flustered, frustrated frenzy.

But, of course, Peter noticed. For the last time that day, Miguel had found himself inside a supply closet, peeking out of it for just a moment to make sure Peter wasn't following him, and he let out a sigh of relief as he realized Peter was nowhere in sight and had probably gotten lost in the crowd.

He shut and locked the door, allowing himself a moment to relax. He closed his eyes, resting against the wall as he took deep breaths. He tried his hardest to calm himself down and get rid of the embarrassing blush that covered his entire face and traveled all the way to the tips of his ears.

He sighed once more before taking a deep breath, "Come on, Miguel. Keep it together…”, he said to himself before pushing himself off the wall and opening the door, peaking out one last time before deciding it was safe.

Unfortunately, just as he opened the door, he heard the unmistakable ‘thwip’ of a web shooter, and the door was shut again, white webs covering the knob. Miguel's eyes widened as he stood completely still, blood rushing to his cheeks as his heart started beating nearly out of his chest.

"Turn around”, said the voice behind him, and slowly, Miguel turned around.

There he was, Peter B. Parker, hanging upside down from a web with that goofy smirk. Miguel looked up and mentally kicked himself as he noticed the open vent in the ceiling.

Miguel opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, to try to explain the situation away, but Peter beat him to it, "It’s been awfully hard for me to catch up to you today, Miguel~”, he sing-songed, looking around the small room as he did so “That’s alright, though! I enjoyed our little game of Cat and Mouse”, Peter said before dropping from his web and inching closer to the adorably flustered spider in front of him. "Care to explain why exactly we were playing?", he asked, his voice dropping slightly as he raised one eyebrow.

Peter loved this: toying with Miguel and watching the usually stoic spider crumble into a bashful mess. Even more than watching it happen, he loved knowing that he was the reason.

Miguel's throat went dry as he looked for an explanation, stammering over the beginning of his sentence, “I-I, uh, I don't- I have.. n-no idea what you're talking about. I was just- I came in here to-“

"To hide from me?", Peter teased, stepping even closer to Miguel. Miguel had backed up against the door, his chest nearly against Peter's. "You can't hide from me forever~", he said, placing his hand on Miguel's side and gently drumming his fingers.

Miguel swallowed nervously, his eyes widening as he looked down at Peter's hand and then back up at Peter. He tensed his muscles and bit his lip, preparing himself for the inevitable, but... nothing ever came.

They stood just like that, in total silence, for about half a minute, That teasing smirk never leaving Peter’s face, and Peter’s gaze never leaving Miguel.

Thirty seconds had never felt longer, and Miguel thought surely he would combust as his eyes darted nervously around the small room before finally landing on Peter again. Peter chuckled and rolled his eyes fondly, deciding to give Miguel a break. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna get you”, he said, ruffling Miguel's hair as the younger sighed in relief, “Not yet anyways."

Miguel's eyes widened again as he looked at Peter. That was just cruel. To get him all worked up for it.. and then take it away.

“That was a fun game, my little Spider-Mouse!” Peter said with a giddy laugh, patting Miguel’s cheek gently, "We'll deal with you later. See ya at home, my love!", he said happily before turning around, flicking his wrist at the open vent and hoisting himself back into it, but before he could leave, he was interrupted as Miguel uttered just one word.

“We?”, he repeated, his heart rate increasing as he looked at Peter incredulously. Peter giggled as he peered down at Miguel, nodding and bringing his phone into view, the screen facing Miguel.

“Oh, did I forget to mention that?”, he asked, still smiling from ear to ear, “I texted MJ! Had to let her know about your current condition.”, and sure enough, Miguel caught a glimpse of the few messages Peter had sent MJ over the course of the day.

Peter smiled triumphantly as he saw the look of realization cross Miguel’s face, and he quickly tucked his phone back into his pocket. “Now, I’ll leave you to sit with that information for as long as you need, buddy! I’ll see ya at home- er, we’ll see you at home! Love ya!”, and with that, Peter was gone.

As Miguel stood there in utter disbelief, he finally snapped out of his flustered trance, allowing himself to sink down against the wall and bury his head in hands.

'This is gonna be a long day...'

It was a long day, and Lyla had to pull him out of a smiley daze more times than he’d like to admit. He just couldn’t help it. He couldn’t stop himself from imagining the trouble he’d be in when he got to Peter’s place, the way they’d tickle him to pieces, expertly targeting each and every little tickle spot, how they’d tease him…

He couldn’t wait for the end of the day, when he’d finally be able to leave, but once the time finally rolled around, he found himself too nervous to even leave his office.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?”, Lyla said as she suddenly appeared, projecting on his desk.

Miguel jumped and hissed at the sudden noise, blushing when he realized it was just Lyla. He cleared his throat awkwardly and sat up straight in his chair, furrowing his eyebrows, “W-What are you talking about?”, he asked, trying to be inconspicuous.

Lyla quirked an eyebrow, propping her hand on her hip and tilting her head, “You really gonna make me text him and tell him to come get you? Is that what you want?”, she asked, not even a hint of a joke in her tone.

Miguel huffed, taken aback by Lyla’s threat as he stared at her with furrowed brows. With a few incoherent grumbles, Miguel stood, still glaring daggers at Lyla. Using his watch, he opened a portal directly to Peter’s house.

His hands shook nervously as he felt his face already heating up. He tried to contain the bashful grin tugging at his lips, but it was no use as he stood in front of the portal. He knew what awaited him on the other side. He knew there was no avoiding it. For a minute or so, Miguel simply stood there, taking deep steady breaths and trying to calm his shaking before finally letting out one heavy sigh… and stepping through the portal.

He was tense as he stood in Peter and MJ’s kitchen, looking around the dimly lit room nervously. He saw the glow of the TV from the living room, and he could smell something sweet- like cookies baking. He took a deep breath as he slowly entered the den from the kitchen, but as he rounded the corner into the den, MJ rounded the corner as well, bumping right into Miguel.

She yelped a bit as she was unaware of his arrival, but as she looked up and saw Miguel’s blushing face, her look of surprise turned to a sweet smile, “Hi there, sweetie”, she spoke softly, her tone loving as she leaned up and kissed Miguel’s cheek, “I’m gonna take these cookies out of the oven”, she said, putting on an oven mitt that had little flower patterns all over it, “I went ahead and made you a treat for… well, after”.

Miguel’s breath hitched in his throat and he buried his face in his hands, but before he could worry himself too much with it, he heard a much louder playful voice from behind him.

“Well, honey, would you like who finally showed up!”, Peter exclaimed, picking up a cookie before hissing in pain and immediately putting it back down, “Oh wow those are hot! Hey, Miguel, we had some matters to attend, right? I think we did!”, Peter spoke quickly, a happy smile on his face as he grabbed Miguel’s wrist and immediately turned on his heels, leading Miguel through the house. “Let’s go, MJ!”

MJ stood with her arms crossed, a slight smirk on her face as she watched Peter all but drag Miguel as the younger spider turned to look at her with wide eyes that were begging for help already. She just chuckled, shaking her head and following after them fondly.

Peter opened their bedroom door and playfully pushed Miguel onto the soft mattress, laying down next to him with one of Miguel’s arms underneath him. Peter smiled at Miguel and ran a hand through his hair, “And look MJ! He must’ve gotten into these clothes before he got here. I always wondered how changing out of a holographic suit worked…”, he said, furrowing his brows a bit in thought. “The tank top’s very subtle though, certainly doesn’t make your intentions too obvious. Very inconspicuous!”. Miguel was practically scowling, but the unusual bright red color of his cheeks certainly decreased the intimidation of it.

MJ couldn’t help but laugh at the two boys as she too laid down beside Miguel and did the same as Peter, pinning one of Miguel’s arms beneath her. Miguel just huffed, his face scrunching up a bit as he turned his neck to look at MJ instead of Peter. MJ raised her eyebrows as she placed a hand on his side, gently tracing her nails up and down, “Oh, do you think I’m gonna save you from him, hun?”, she asked, leaning in a bit closer and dropping her voice to a whisper. “Not a chance, sweetheart”.

Miguel squealed and tugged at his arms a bit as MJ’s nails traveled up to his armpit, and he also wondered what on earth was going through his head when he decided to wear the tank top. Spoiler: it was this exact situation. She spidered her nails slowly and oh so lightly under his arm, watching intently as he let his head fall back against the pillow and bit his lip in an attempt to keep himself from giggling.

Peter chuckled and shook his head, “Holding out on her, hm?”, he asked teasingly as he lifted Miguel’s shirt up above his ribs. “Why don’t you see just how long that works for ya! I’ll bet twenty seconds tops.” Peter placed his hand on the very center of Miguel’s tummy and formed a claw with it. “If you win the bet, we’ll stop teasing. Deal?”

Miguel looked at Peter with wide eyes and shook his head frantically as he realized Peter’s intentions, twisting his hips in an attempt to get away from the hand on his tummy.

“Deal!” Peter said on Miguel’s behalf. “Twenty seconds starting… now!” Suddenly, Peter began digging and clawing all five fingers rapidly into Miguel’s belly, wasting no time in driving him up the wall.

Miguel let out a strained squeal and arched his back, biting his tongue to keep himself from laughing, but there just wasn’t much he could do. Within seconds, he was a blubbering mess, “NNGH! Peheheter! Peter, that’s no f-FAHAHAIR! I cahAN’T!”.

Peter cooed in mock sympathy, moving his hand a bit lower to assault Miguel’s much more ticklish lower belly. He tickled from side to side, clawing from one hip to the other over and over again, “Aww, well, that was only about two seconds. Did you misunderstand the premise of the bet?”, he asked in feigned curiosity, looking over Miguel at MJ. “Should I have been more specific?”, he asked, rapidly squeezing the little bit of pudge at Miguel’s lower tummy.

MJ chortled, shaking her head at her husband as her nails fluttered and danced oh so gently in the center of Miguel’s hollows- a total contrast to the rough tickling Peter was putting his tummy through, but the light flutters gradually became light, quick scratches, “Are you enjoying yourself?”, she asked in that soft, sweet tone. “Is this what you wanted? To come home and let us tickle all your worries away?”.

Miguel shook his head at MJ’s teasing, but his entire body tensed as he let out a squeal, Peter’s hand suddenly jumping from his hip to his armpit. Miguel arched his back as the two opposing sensations persisted: MJ’s light scratching and spidering, and Peter’s rough digging and clawing both assaulting his pits. “W-WAHAIT WAIT!”, he choked out, his face red as tears of mirth pricked at the corners of his eyes, “CAHAN’T- cahan’t tahaHAKE IT!”. He kicked his feet, clenching and unclenching his fists in hopes that it would distract from the tickling, but it was no use.

“Look at those fangs!” Peter said excitedly, “Who knew deadly weapons could be so adorable, am I right?”, he teased as his hand traveled down just a bit, squeezing and pinching at Miguel’s very top rib. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He tugged at his arms and twisted his hips, but it was all fruitless.

“Aww, Peter..”, MJ said as she slipped her hand into his tank top, raking her long nails up and down the side of his rib cage, “He said he can’t take it~”, she cooed, kneading her fingertips into the spaces between the bones.

Miguel’s laughter raised in pitch and volume, and there was nothing he could do to ease the maddening sensation. If he twisted his body to the right, he only brought himself closer to MJ’s long nails, but if he twisted himself to the left, Peter was right there, cooing about how he must love it since he’s trying to get closer.

As evil as they seemed to be, both MJ and Peter were in absolute awe as they teased and toyed with the man below them, admiring his blushing face and adorable giggles. Miguel squealed, his eyes shut tight as he squirmed. The two of them looked up at each other, both smiling as they gave a silent acknowledgment of their adoration for Miguel.

“Cant take it, hm?” Peter asked, tweaking up and down Miguel’s rib cage, vibrating a clawed hand into it after delivering a couple teasing pinches and pokes. “What about this? Is this any better for you?”, he asked, knowing damn well he’d just made it ten times worse.

Miguel’s eyes shot open at the sudden sensation of five fingers vibrating against the front of his rib cage while MJ’s nails danced up and down the side of his ribs. He couldn’t take it. “NAHAHA! STOPSTOPSTOHOHOP! MJ, HEHEHELP! M-Mahahake him stOHOP!”, he pleaded, tugging desperately at his arms. He needed to get away, but he couldn’t, and he really didn’t want to, but he thought certainly they’d tickle him to tears. He tried to take a deep breath through his loud belly laughter in an attempt to ease the sensation as he thought there was certainly no way it could get any more ticklish.

Oh, how wrong he was.

MJ giggled and shook her head, kissing his cheek, “You know I can’t do that, sweetie. You waited all day for this, why would I stop him now?”, she asked, only half teasing him. He had waited all day, and they were definitely making up for it, but suddenly, MJ’s nails latched onto his lowest rib, and a loud hiss sounded through the room in unison with a couple yelps as Miguel’s loud laughter turned to frantic giggles. It took him a moment to realize the tickling had stopped, his two partners looking down at him with wide eyes and smug grins. As he calmed down, he looked up at them, still giggling a bit, “W-Whahat is it?”, he asked, his face flushed red as he looked between the two of them.

MJ giggled, tilting her head as she spoke, “You hissed at us!”, she said, playfully feigning anger. Miguel’s eyes widened, realization hitting him like a train as he hurried to apologize, but he couldn’t get the words out before Peter was chiming in.

“That you did! And not to mention..”, Peter sat up, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding down at Miguel’s hand, “You stabbed us! Stabbed us both right in the back! What do you have to say for yourself, mister?”, he asked with a pout. It was clear neither of them were actually upset with him, but that didn’t stop him from feeling tremendously guilty.

Miguel gasped as he looked at his own hand, his claws now fully on display. He pulled his now free hand to his side, doing the same with the other as MJ sat up as well, “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”, he said, stammering over his apology as he hurried to get it out, “Did I hurt you guys? Are either of you bleeding? I really didn’t mean to, I promise! I just- it.. it-”, Miguel trailed off, unable to finish his sentence as he looked down at his hands.

“It tickled?”, MJ offered, smiling at him as she slipped her hand under his shirt, scratching gently up and down his back. He shivered a bit at the feeling of her long nails against his back, but thankfully, her touch was firm enough not to send him into a giggling fit. He really was too ticklish for his own good.

He blushed, curling in on himself and hiding his face in his hands. They knew there was no way he’d answer that, but thankfully, Peter answered for him, “It did! Like crazy probably, but he’s Spiderman”, he said with a wave of his hand. “I’m sure it was no problem for him at all!”

Miguel whined, shooting a glare at Peter before suddenly finding himself pinned down again. This time by webs that trapped his wrist against the headboard. He felt the familiar flutter in his tummy as he tugged at his wrists, “Hey! What are you doing? I-I thought we were done!”

Peter just laughed, tilting his head in confusion, “You thought we were done? Oh no! We were just getting started!”, he said as he and MJ both repositioned. Peter straddled Miguel’s hips, smiling down at him innocently while lifting his shirt up. MJ sat on his shins, facing Peter’s back. “And after all, you did scratch us… On purpose or not, I think that’s worthy of a punishment. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Miguel’s eyes widened as it struck him why they had pinned him in the way that they did, and he shook his head, “N-No! It was an accident, I couldn’t control it!”, he said, huffing a bit and glaring at Peter. “If anything, it was your fault that you got scratched!”

MJ tutted as she suddenly dragged her nails down his thighs. He absolutely should not have worn shorts. “That’s a shame… this could’ve been so much easier on you if you’d just taken responsibility..”.

Before he could protest any further, Peter’s hands were clawed and poised above his tummy, fingers wiggling as those hands got closer and closer, while MJ continued to drag and scrape her nails up and down every muscle and curve of his thighs.

“Remind me, my tickly little spider. Your worst spots are your belly, and your thighs, right?”, Peter asked, a small innocent smile tugging at his lips. Miguel couldn’t even try to conceal his nervous smile, and there was no point in trying to suppress his anticipatory giggles.

Peter’s hands were so close, Miguel swore he could already feel them.

“You ready, Miguel?”

________________

Ummm I GOT A LITTLE CARRIED AWAY SO… THERE’S GONNA BE A PART TWO HSBSHSKL

@tickles-tea I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKE THIS BECAUSE I PUT MY WHOLE HEART IN IT😭

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ticklyblues · 1 year

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hiya! i saw requests open, is it okay if i request a lee!hobie and ler!pav from atsv? Like a scenario where normally hobie is the ler but pav is able to turn the tables and flip it on hobie. Hobie would be shocked but smug, but as soon as the tickles start that facade would fade. I also headcannon if you get a certain spot for long enough hobie just melts. anyways take ur time and tyyy!!

Yes!!! Of course!!

(youre my first ever request btw :D literally so excited to write this)

A Lession on "Childish"

762 words

Lee!Hobie

Ler!Pavitr

(VERY brief lee!pavitr and ler!hobie but like only for a second)

CW: very mild and minimal swearing

The night was dark. The night was stormy. And frankly, the night was boring. The rain lightly patted against Hobie's window as him and Pav tried to come up with something to do.

"We could... go play in the storm?" suggested Pavitr.

"Nah," the punk said, "our clothes would ge' all soggy. Plus, isn' jumpin in puddles a tad too childish for us?"

Hobie did have a point... kind of. But Pav was dead set on going outside. He didn't care what it would take, they were gonna go play. It couldn't be that hard, the guy doesn't believe in consistency after all.

So of course he started whining about it. "Hobie PLEASE! We could bring umbrellas! What if we wore raincoats? Would that change your mind? hmmmm?"

Hobie thought about it for a second. If he was being honest, the only reason he considered it was to get the kid off his ass. The boy sat there with a stumped look on his face, trying to think of something to distract the other spiderman with while it continued to rain. All of the sudden, he had an idea. His expression was so intense, you'd think to check for a lightbulb above his head.

He looked over at Pavitr. The poor guy was still pacing around the room, no clue what was about to happen.

In one quick movement, Hobie was across the room, rapidly poking at Pavitr's sides. Foolishly, he thought he had won. "Finally, this should keep him busy." He hoped.

Spiderman India held back a yelp. Thankfully, his spidey-senses had warned him not long in advance. He was prepared for Hobie's attack, and he even had an idea to counter him. Pav almost felt sorry for the guy as he thwipped webs at his wrists, pinning him to the bed.

The punk's expression hardened even more at this. "Pav... ye know I'm not ticklish, right?" Hobie lied, pretending he didn't care one bit. He was hanging onto every last bit of hope that Pavitr wouldn't go any farther, if he convinced him it wasnt worth it.

"You sureee? 100 percent? Do you have something you might not want to admit, Hobieeee?"

"Ov course I don't!" he shouted back, still trying to keep up his "cool" personality. If Pav found out, he'd almost never hear, or worse, feel the end of it.

Pavitr hummed in response to this. He already guessed Hobie was at least somewhat ticklish, he just never got around to proving it.

"You know what Hobie? I know you hate labels and all, but you're pretty hypocritical... maybe I should show you what childish REALLY means!"

The older ones eyes widened at an exponential rate. "WAITWAITWAITTT!!!" wow, Pav had barely even dragged his fingers up his sides yet. This was gonna be fun. Spiderman India started with light little circles on Hobie's collarbone, going easy on him for now.

"Pahahahavvv!!" Hobie started, giggling like mad, "We can go play ou'sihihihide if that's what you really wahahahant!"

"Nah, I'm past that now bud. Besides, aren't you having fun just like this?" Pavitr questioned playfully, switching to scratching at his ribs. This made the punk chuckle a little harder, trying to squirm away but to no avail.

"Nooohohohoo!!!" Hobie squealed, if you could even call it that. "हे भगवान, होबी! This is a pretty bad spot for you, huh? Maybe I'll be a little nicer..." Pav might've SAID that, but he didn't really mean it. The dude always had a plan, after all. He started circles again, this time at his armpits, which quieted Hobie's laughter a little bit.

The punk thought that his ribs were the worst of it. Boy, was he wrong. After about 20 seconds of Pav under his arms, he could barely take it anymore. The guy tried his best to act tough, but his head shaking and shoulder shimmying could only hold back his laughter for so long.

"PAHAHAHAHAVVV!!! ENOUGHHHHH!!" As soon as Hobie shouted that, Pavitr immediately undid his webs and brought his hands back. He might be mean, but not THAT mean. He gave the curled-up spiderman a pat on the back, actually feeling sorry for him this time.

"Woah there man, that was a solid 2 minutes! New record?" Pav was only half joking, he'd never seen Hobie being tickled for longer than a few seconds, after all.

The older spiderman looked up with a smirk on his face. "Aye, I guess." He thought for a moment. "Wanna try beatin' it?"

Legends say that Pav didn't survive that night.

#across the spider verse tickle #across the spider verse #pavitr prabhakar #hobie brown #lee!hobie #ler!pavitr #tickle fic #tickles #sfw tk community #tickle thoughts #sfw tk blog #sfw twords #tickle fluff #tickle community #across the spiderverse #sfw tickling #spiderman india #spider punk

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rofax · 1 year

Text

Okay okay okay just saw Across the Spider-Verse and have A Thought. Hear me out:

Miguel is not a "true" Spider-Man.

(I KNOW he is a Spider-Man in comics but the movies are establishing their own canon so stay with me here.)

I feel like the movies planted a lot of flags about how he is so, so fundamentally different from the other Spiders. Consider:

• He enters and has a CAPE. Spider-Man doesn't wear capes. It's disrespectful.

• Why is he getting a musical sting that is reminiscent of Prowler's? Why does he get a villain score? Extra suspicious given the big end reveal about the universe with no Spider-Man.

• "I'm not a bad guy!" "You look like one!"

• Peter asking, "Spider-Man is supposed to be funny. Why aren't you funny?"

• He says he isn't like the other Spider-Man's. Maybe he means because he makes the hard choices. Maybe it's more than that.

• Comic Miguel injects himself to get the powers of the Earth-616 Spider-Man. This Miguel is also seen injecting himself to get his powers. There's not really any indication of when this started. I'm thinking it started AFTER he lost his "family".

• He found a world where he wasn't alone and took the place of that Miguel when he died. IIRC, at no point does it show either versions of that Miguel as Spider-Man. Just that this Miguel had a family and he wanted that (ala kingpin).

• When the big anomaly is destroying that reality, why does he not just thwip thwip away with his kid? Does he not have powers?

• He is furious at Miles for robbing a reality of its Spider-Man, but surely he did the same thing when left to take the other Miguel's place?? Unless he was never Spider-Man to begin with.

• Spider-Man dying isn't part of the spider canon we have been shown. Why would it be so disruptive for Miguel to take his place? JUST because he is an anomaly? The other Spiders in the first movie didn't fundamentally destabilize Miles' reality, they were just going to glitch apart themselves. It shouldn't have such a butterfly effect for Miguel to do what he did, unless maybe the original Miguel was adjacent to Spider-Man. Maybe he was the cop who died in that world. Maybe he was the Uncle Ben figure. Somehow his death was important to the Canon.

• Why does he not bring up his Uncle Ben or his cop-close-to-him dying? Why is his tragedy only the one he created and not the usual Spider canon?

• I know he's a cool cyberpunk Spider-Man but he's the ONLY one we see with different colored webs. He is very visually distinct from the others.

• "Are your sure you're a Spider-Man?"

Theory: Miguel was just a scientist who found a world where he wasn't alone and stepped into it. When he brought on destruction by being an anomaly to the Spider-Canon, he chose to become a Spider-Man to preserve the canon and keep the universes in tact... but he was never supposed to be a Spider-Man either, just like Miles. He doesn't follow the canon either.

Also I think because Miles and probably Miguel exist outside the Spider-Canon, they won't be bound by it and will be able to disrupt it. I feel like a significant portion of Miguel's redemption arc/Heel-Face-Turn is going to be realizing Miles is right and helping him because neither of them should have been Spider-Man but both of them became him anyway. Because anyone can wear the mask.

#across the spider verse spoilers #spiderman atsv #spiderman across the spiderverse #across the spider-verse spoilers #spoilers #miguel o'hara #spiderman 2099 #I JUST #I JUST THINK HE WOULDNT HAVE SO MANY MAJOR DIVERSIONS FROM SPIDER-MAN IF IT WASNT PLAYING AT SOMETHING

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heyitsme1040 · 7 months

Text

Swing By [spider-man]

summary : Reader just finished her shift at the coffee shop near campus. Wanting nothing more than to nap in her dorm before her study session, she walks home. Being pulled into an alley by two muggers wasn’t on her to-do list for the day. Neither was being saved by New York’s very own friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Swung to safety, she thanks her masked savior. With the promise of not leaving her until she’s home safe, Spider-Man gets a kiss on the cheek as goodbye minutes before Peter arrives to study for the exam with his lab partner.

pairings : TASM!Spider-Man/Reader

warnings : Swearing (I think it’s literally one word), mention of a knife, attempted mugging, mention of feeling the need to be sick (it doesn’t happen), and I think that’s it. (If I forgot any please let me know!)

word count : 1,980

AO3 (x)

a/n : Day one of Comfortember is here! The prompt was ‘safe’.

With a tired sigh, I wipe down the counter around the espresso machine one final time. Tossing the rag back into the bucket filled with soapy water, I begin to untie my apron. Finally finished with the closing process, I was ready to be back at my dorm so I could take a quick nap before studying for my biophysics exam with my lab partner. Hanging my apron on the hook I claimed in the back, I emerged from behind the counter with my backpack and headphones for the final time today. Turning the lights off, I finally close the door behind me and lock it.

I began the quiet walk to campus instead of waiting on the bus today. The sun is starting to set as I weave my way through the crowds of people on the sidewalk. Passing a quiet alley, I’m suddenly pulled into it. A hand covers my mouth before I can shout, and two more hands hold my arms against my side.

“You’re going to stay quiet,” a rumbling voice tells me. “No need to disturb those nice people’s day,” the man pointed at the opening to the alley with a knife, “don’t you agree?”

All I can do is nod, hoping that if I cooperate they’ll let me go faster.

“I’m so glad you agree,” his voice mocks me. “Now, I’m going to keep an eye on you while he takes your bag. Got it?”

Before I can nod again, my backpack is ripped off my shoulders. I look past the man holding the knife toward the mouth of the alley, debating if I can make it back into the crowd before he could catch me.

“This shit’s useless,” the guy behind me grumbles. “It’s just binders and textbooks,” he complains as I hear my things being dropped to the ground. “This kid has nothing.”

“Well she’s gotta have something,” the man in front of me slowly drags his eyes over me. “Empty your pockets or we’ll–”

He cuts himself off while looking over my shoulder. I hear a faint thwip followed by a choked shout. As the man in front of me turns to run I see webs stick to his feet and the ground.

“What, can't you stick around?” A voice comes from above me.

I stay frozen in place, unsure what to do. In a streak of red and blue, Spider-Man lands in front of me. He quickly webs the knife to the wall before trapping the man’s hands to himself.

“Are you okay?” He automatically asks while turning to face me.

My tongue feels like lead. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Obviously I knew of Spider-Man, but never thought I’d need to be saved by him. I was stunned by this hero, that he happened to notice what was happening in the alley.

“Hey, it’s alright. You’re safe now, did they hurt you?” His tone softens.

I can’t see past the white lenses of his mask, but I feel his eyes searching me for some kind of injury. The thought of having his attention focused on me snaps me out of my shocked trance.

“I’m fine,” I blurted out, “thank you. I, uh, yeah. I’m fine.”

I nod to myself while mentally slapping myself over the word vomit that just escaped me. Looking down, I suddenly remember my bag dumped behind me. I turn around, hoping to hide the embarrassed flush on my face, and crouch to grab my textbooks. Shoving them into my bag, I pick up my binder. As soon as it leaves the ground all my notes start to float out of it into the wind.

“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter while rushing to grab the papers.

“Here,” Spider-Man offers me some pages.

“Thanks,” I squeak out.

“No problem.”

Finally zipping my bag shut, I hear sirens approaching. The flash of red and blue lights reflect at the mouth of the alley.

“Did you let them know they needed to come here?” I groan once again, not wanting to deal with the police.

“I, uh, it’s just–you were being mugged.” I was shocked to hear Spider-Man fumbling over his words. “I reported it before I stopped it. Don’t want these two mugging more people. Y’know the whole ‘friendly neighborhood’ thing isn’t just to describe me.”

I sigh heavily, “I get it. I just don’t want to deal with the cops today. I need to get home soon and don’t have the time to deal with this.”

“The cops don’t like me–”

“Then why did you–”

“So I can swing you home before they arrive.”

Spider-Man holds an arm out to me. I don’t have much time to think as I hear the sirens get louder. Slinging my backpack on, I step closer to him. He wraps his arm around my waist.

Keeping me facing him he warns, “Close your eyes and hold on as tight as you want,” before he leaps us into the air.

I quickly bury my face into where I have my arms wrapped around his neck. The rush of us swinging through the air has my head spinning and my stomach dropping. Within minutes I feel him stand on steady ground, my feet landing moments after his. I don’t move yet as my head continues to swim. I feel a warm touch against my hands as he gently pries my hands away from behind his neck. He doesn’t move to push me away from my hiding place in his neck, but he does slowly guide us to sit on the ground.

“You’re okay,” he reassures. “The head rush is intense the first few times. Putting your head between your knees helps with the dizziness.”

I nod at his guidance, not moving yet. “I feel like I’m gonna be sick.”

“That’s normal, too. Putting your head between your knees also helps with that.”

I slowly unbury myself from him and carefully place my head between my knees. The spinning sensation lets up a little, but I still can’t move from my position. I look at the gravel beneath my shoes, focusing on the pebbles to keep my vision steady.

“Thank you,” I whisper out, barely audible.

“No problem,” Spider-Man chuckles, “just part of being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”

“Where are we?”

“We’re on top of the Saratoga children’s museum.”

“How?” I incredulously demand. “That’s like a mile from the coffee shop. And it’s been only, what, a couple of minutes?”

Spider-Man shrugged, but I heard his amused snort. “It’s the same as if you would have driven here.”

I shook my head in disbelief, finally lifting my head to look at him. I couldn’t believe the nonchalance of his answer. He casually swings through the city at like forty miles an hour. And he acts as though that’s nothing.

“Where do you need to go? Spider-Cab can drop you off wherever you want to go in New York. Free of charge,” he jokes around his offer.

“Empire State college. Back toward the coffee shop. Then another half mile and you’ll be at the dorms there,” I explain. “But I can get a cab there. You’ve already saved me, and I’m sure someone else out there could use the assistance.”

“I can take you. It’s part of the job. Saving them from danger and keeping them safe. If that means taking you to your dorm, then I promise to keep you safe until then.”

“Alright,” I concede. “Do you have to swing that fast though? I don’t think I can take it.”

Spider-Man stands and offers me a hand, “I’ll go slower this time.”

Taking his hand, Spider-Man pulls me to my feet before pulling away. He turns his back toward me this time and squats down a little.

“What are you doing?” I tilt my head.

“Hop on,” he looks over his shoulder. “It won’t be as bad if you’re facing where we swing.”

I hesitate a moment longer before putting my arms around him. His hands grab behind my knees and he shrugs me higher onto his back. He moves one hand to my ankle and crosses it around his waist. Understanding what he’s suggesting, I wrap the other around him.

“Hold on tight. We’re going to be slower, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hold on tight. I’ve got you, but it’s a bit trickier with someone on my back. Are you okay with this?” He places his hand on top of mine across his chest.

“I trust you,” I admit.

I barely hear him say, “I’m glad,” as he stands on the ledge. “Here we go!” He shouts.

And just like that we’re swinging through the city again. I squint against the rushing wind, but keep my eyes open. The city looks so different like this. We’re soaring through the air, people below us unaware we’re here. The sounds of traffic can’t be heard over the wind. It’s peaceful.

All too soon it comes to an end. Spider-Man swings us past the coffee shop again, and soon we’re at the college campus. I shout over the wind which dorm building is mine and laugh as he gently lowers us to the roof. I feel adrenaline rushing through me alongside the excitement of having swung through the city.

“Here we are,” Spider-Man announces.

“I don’t think I can move,” I giggle out.

I feel him laugh more than I hear it. He once again carefully pries my off of him, unwrapping my legs from his waist before turning in my hold. I don’t feel as dizzy this time, but with how close he is my head is spinning for a different reason.

“Home safe and sound,” he murmurs. “Just like I promised you.”

“Thank you,” I sigh.

I finally release my hold from around him, but he doesn’t move. Remaining close to me, I try to imagine what he’s doing behind the mask. If his eyes are searching me the way mine are him. With a lot of courage (and reckless abandon) I kiss him on the cheek.

“Good night, Spider-Man,” I whisper against his cheek. “Thank you again for saving me.”

I turn away before he can respond, opening the door to the roof access.

“Good night,” he calls after me.

I turn to look at him. He hasn’t moved from his spot, but now his hand rests over his cheek. I wave as the door shuts behind me. I feel like I’m floating as I make my way down the stairs to my floor. Unlocking my door, I flop onto my bed with a sigh. Looking at the alarm clock near my head, I see the lights blinking ‘5:45 PM’. I smile in relief that I made it back before my study session at six. I lay still as the feeling of excitement fades away with the adrenaline. Soon, I hear a knock on my door through the haze of a nap creeping into my mind. I look at the clock again to see it’s only been five minutes. Getting up, I crack the door open to see who it is. Recognizing Peter, I quickly close the door and remove the chain before opening it up all the way.

“Hi,” Peter cheerily greets.

“Hey,” I smile, “you’re early for a change.”

“I’m usually on time. I’m just chronically late to classes,” he jokes.

I laugh at his comment. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. You ready to cram for this exam?”

“This professor’s exams are the worst. At least I brought snacks this time,” he groans.

I close the door as he enters and lock it. Turning on my laptop I opened the study guide the professor emailed us. As we study, I turn the radio on low, smiling as the voice of J. Jonah Jameson starts to bark on about the most recent Spider-Man sighting earlier tonight.

Author's Note : Reblogs are appreciated, likes are welcome, and if you want to read more of my fics then maybe follow.

©heyitsme1040 If you find this post on any platform under a username different than heyitsme1040 it is not their work.

#fanfiction #fanfiction writer #fanfic blog #comfortember #tasm fluff #tasm fanfiction #tasm spiderman #tasm peter x reader #tasm peter #peter parker x you #the amazing spiderman #spider man #spiderman #comfortember 2023 #comfort fic #cheesy puns

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webslingingslasher · 1 year

Text

Build it better

Part 3 of Something in the orange

part 2

the long awaited final piece, i cannot thank everyone who rooted for this the entire time enough, you made me happier in the last months i've been in a long long time.

Warnings: Ned and Betty are the true heros in this story.

Summary: Peter is stupid, but he always wins.

You talked Peter into going out, you fought him tooth and nail for the bill, finally settling on “I won’t be your girlfriend if I can’t buy you dinner.” He immediately slid the check towards you.

He walked with your hand laced in his down the street, it was slower now. Most action was done for the day, only a handful of couples or college kids were sharing the space, Peter walked slowly with you and enjoyed conversations about nothing. Like, who would win in a fight, a room full of feral kittens or a room full of preschool kids. You take cats, Peter questions how easy it is for you to count out kids.

“Little kids are terrible with pets, they would be pulling them by the tails and swinging them around by their necks.”

You counter react, “Sure, but it would only take one kid to get fucked up by a kitten and then the rest of them would be terrified.”

Peter nods, “I choose cats.”

The conversation dies down, both of you enjoying being together in silence. That was important to have with someone, don’t get it wrong, you and Peter spend endless amounts of time talking and laughing and theorizing, but there was never a need or push for it. You talked because you wanted to, not because the space would be full of awkward silence.

You should be able to be silent with your person and still know what they’re thinking.

Peter sniffed in the cold air, he was the runny nose when cold type and you were the frozen boogers type, a match made in heaven.

He broke the silence first, he must have known what you wanted the whole day. He also knew you didn’t want to bring it up.

“You wanna talk about it?”

You look over at him, you know instantly what he’s talking about.

You nod, “Yes, please.”

He nods then looks around, “Can I take you somewhere?”

“Of course.”

“You’ll have to ride.”

“I don’t mind a taxi, especially when I’m in it with you.” You winked.

“I appreciate it baby, but I mean a swing ride.”

“Oh.”

Say what you will but swinging around the city with Peter isn’t all that fun for you. It’s all the thrill of a rollercoaster with none of the safety, you know Peter would never intentionally hurt you but accidents happen and he may be alright with a bad spill but you wouldn’t be. He’s taken you around before but it was always your idea that you then regretted so you stopped asking, it always seemed fun until you were in the air with just an arm wrapped around you.

“I know, baby. It’ll be quick.”

You pout and stomp a foot, a little toddler tantrum.

“A taxi can’t take us there, otherwise we’d already be in one. I’ll make it fast, promise.”

You frown.

“I’m not even in the suit, I can’t go far.”

You groan, “Okay, fine. But I’m closing my eyes the whole time.”

“That’s okay.”

“And don’t talk to me, I want no distractions while you're swinging me around all willy nilly.”

“Got it.”

“And I want a tight hold, Peter. Bruise me if you have too, I’ll freak out if you’re too gentle.”

He salutes, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Ready?”

You sigh, “No, but yes.”

“Great!”

Peter steps forward and holds out his hands, you step forward and wrap your hands around his neck.

“Leg up.” He taps on your thigh, you holster it to his hip where he grabs under your thighs to hold you against him, you look down as he holds you.

“Wrap ‘em around me,” You cross your ankles behind his back.

He pats your butt, “Good girl.”

You assume the position and hunker your forehead to his shoulder and close your eyes tight, you hear a thwip and you start to leave the ground.

A powerful shriek is ripped from you, “Arm, Peter! Arm, arm, Peter! Peter!”

His right arm is wrapped around you tight, so tightly it’s nearly uncomfortable and pinchy. It feels extremely secure, you feel brave and peek one eye open to the city cutting by you.

“Are you looking?”

“Don’t talk to me, Peter! Hold tighter!” He squeezes you, you think a little air left your lungs. You welcome it.

The second his feet touch the ground you latch on tighter, squinting one eye open to make sure it was a safe landing and not sudden death territory. You stayed wrapped around him for a second to catch your breath before dropping down.

“Welcome back.”

“Can I still get that ‘I Survived’ metal?”

“Already have it on backorder.”

You look around, you’re on a building. You’re not too sure where though, it had to be close but Peter could also go in the distance in just a few minutes. If you had to take a guess it was somewhere in the business district, tall skyscrapers full of the same office over and over. If you look closely at the buildings across from you, you could see a few offices light up, a couple of guys putting in extra work hours. You wonder if they’re trying to stay away from home because it’s too empty and cold, or maybe they were trying to escape their families.

“Where are we?”

He’s taken you to essentially, the middle of nowhere.

There were things around but nothing of importance to either one of you.

“Where I decided to end things.”

You purse your lips, “Oh.”

It must have been a place of importance to Peter.

“C’mere.”

You follow him towards the back of the roof, a small overhang from the bigger building behind it. You catch the puddle of stained blood on the cement near Peter’s feet. You have an achy feeling it wasn’t his.

Peter notices you looking at it, you realize he wanted you to see it.

“I was sitting here,” He turns to point at the overhang, you can imagine his feet kicking and dangling as he watches over the city.

“And this guy I’d been back and forth with for a minute comes right in, I mean out of the middle of nowhere. And we’re fighting, it’s normal.”

You nod, choosing not to speak, it was his turn to talk, yours to listen.

“And uh,” He pauses to think, he knows there is no easy way to drop this bomb. But he’s come to terms with it, he’s forgiven himself and he’s able to talk about it now. But only with you, only you can get the whole truth.

Peter runs his hands through his hair, you watch as he shakes out his hand after. He’s getting annoyed at the length, you step in to fix it. Reminding him why he’s let it grow.

“I gotta be honest here, honey. I was getting my ass kicked, I hadn’t been getting sleep, you were sick and I was helping you catch up on schoolwork and I wasn't thinking about him. I was busy with other things and I didn’t think he was that serious.”

He notices you frown, he didn’t mean to make it sound like you took the fight out of him.

“I don’t like how that sounds. It wasn’t you at all, I just had my mind on other things and when he showed up I was unprepared. I just wasn’t expecting anything like it that night.”

“I know you don’t blame me.” You shook your head, where was this going?

Peter nods, “Good, where was I?”

“You were getting your ass kicked.”

“Oh, right. Okay, so this guy is just wailing into me.”

You shudder, you never loved hearing about him getting beat up. Doesn’t matter how strong Spider-Man is, that’s your Peter.

He noticed the recoil but continued, “And I was losing, badly. Then,” He lets out a dry laugh.

“Then, he asks me, ‘I wonder if Y/N was here you’d be trying harder?’ and I uh, I totally fucking lost it, Y/N.”

Your breath caught, you always knew that was a fear in Peter’s mind. He always tried to tread carefully with you and Spider-Man so these things wouldn’t happen, he did his best to keep you separated from his alter ego but he guesses he didn’t do it good enough.

This was the first time someone knew who you were in a fight, this was the first time Peter ever lost his temper.

“Is that why you were nervous when I came by to see you as Spidey?”

He nods, if he’s honest he never wants to see you again when he’s in the suit.

“I hurt him really, really badly. After that I just, panicked. I had never done that to someone and I know it wasn’t, but it was because of you. I didn’t do a good enough job at protecting you, and you got looped into something that you have no place being a part of, and then you became a risk. Losing you became a risk.”

“So you broke up with me because even if I hated you, you would still have me in your life.”

It wasn’t a question, the pieces clicked.

“I did.”

“How bad is bad?”

You know in your heart Peter could never kill anyone, right?

“He was throwing me a mean right hook and as soon as he said it I grabbed his fist, and threw him off me. Then I just started punching, I just kept going. It wasn’t even a fight anymore, he stopped fighting back. He couldn’t. And I was so fucking angry he talked about you, that he knew your name and what you are to me. And I kept, fucking, going. He started to gargle on his blood and it sounded so good to me, to know he wasn't able to say your name again.”

You had no words, how could your Peter do something like that? But he wasn’t your Peter in that moment, he wasn’t the delicate touches and tender words.

In that moment he wasn’t Spider-Man, he was Peter using Spider-Man.

“And then he stopped moving. Stopped breathing, stopped choking on his blood. Just, stopped.”

He stared at the blood stain, you hated you were right when you guessed it wasn’t his blood.

“And uh,”

His voice cracked, you try to remember when he stopped making eye contact with you.

He was ashamed. He thought you were ashamed.

“It felt good, it felt really good for a second.” He said the words shakily, sniffling and turning his head to the sky. You knew he was trying his hardest not to cry.

“Then I panicked, all that anger was washed away in a second and I felt disgusted and upset and dirty. And I did a scan on him, he was alive. But barely.”

You couldn’t help but give a sigh of relief, not even for you, but for Peter. You don’t think Peter could ever fully bounce back if he had killed him.

“He’s okay now, right?”

Peter thinks it’s cute how optimistic you are.

“He’s in a coma, still is. But, they expect a recovery. It’s medically induced, his brain is swollen.”

“But he’s okay, right?”

Peter pinched his face, “He’s in a coma, baby.”

“I know, but he’s safe. He’s breathing, he’s getting help. He’s in a medical setting, and he’s alive because of you. You may not think you showed mercy but him laying in a hospital bed is proof that you’re not a bad person, right?”

He ignored the last part, “Okay, he’s okay then. He’s okay.”

“Are you okay?”

“It wasn’t just about keeping you safe.”

You tilt your head, “The breakup?”

“I also never wanted to do that to another person, and I felt like you had a little too much power over that part of my brain. I just felt like I needed a break from you to heal that part of me, and that’s probably selfish but I just couldn’t pretend everything was fine and love you like nothing happened when something did happen.”

“Looking back I think the breakup was a good thing,” He shared a look with you. “Honestly! I realized a lot of that hurt and pain I had was because I put too much on you. I let you give me every bit of my self confidence and worth and when it ended I realized I had nothing to give myself.”

“And when you broke up with me I found that. I found my beauty, and my worth and I grew my confidence and I realized why you loved me. Losing you made me love myself, and that’s a lesson I’ll be thanking you for my entire life.”

“Do you mean to tell me you hated me for nothing and breaking up saved our relationship?”

“I think so.”

Peter hummed, he actually agrees with you.

“Well, do you think I’m a monster?”

“Oogly boogly, I’m terrified of you.”

He rolls his eyes, “Serious, come on now.”

“No. No, I don’t think you’re a monster. I think it may even be a little off putting by how okay I am with that. Not that I think you should do that again, especially with me involved. But, I dunno, Peter.”

You sighed, “I know that hurt you, and it scared you and it freaked you out. I get it, and you show regret and remorse and you changed by yourself, with no one in on the secret you realized what you did was wrong and you vowed to yourself you would never do it again.”

You stepped forward to grab his arms, “You’ve punished yourself enough for the both of us. You broke up with me to make sure you would never do anything like that again. That’s growth.”

“I love you, Peter. And trust me, nothing’s ever gonna change that.”

“You’re a freak for loving a menace.”

You smacked Peter on the chest and pushed him away, “Way to ruin a cute moment!”

“You already told me you loved me, it lost the punch.”

“No I didn’t! I’ve been saving that one.”

“When you saw me earlier, I said ‘love you, bye.’ Then you said ‘love you too.’”

“God damn it, you should’ve pretended you never heard that.”

“Oh, okay.”

Then he jumped up and down with a squeal, he threw his arms around your middle and lifted you up spinning. “She loves me, she really, really loves me. Never a doubt in my mind, cause she loves me!” You laugh pushing at his hands to set you down, “If it makes it better that's exactly what went through my mind earlier.”

You grin, “It makes it better.”

“You make everything better,” He pressed a fat kiss to your cheek.

“You know what this means?”

“Hm?”

“You can be my boyfriend again.”

“Fuck yes!” It was rare to hear Peter curse.

“Not yet though.”

“Oh.”

“I still have to ask!”

“Ugh, well. Can you do it soon?”

“You can do it right now, tiger.”

He narrows his eyes, “No, I don’t think I will.”

“Then you can’t complain.”

“Like hell I can’t.”

—-------------------------------------------------

You needed the right way to ask, you were full of ideas but you chose to go big with it.

Not public, you know that would freak him out.

But exciting and sentimental for both of you.

You had been having fun though, the past few days you’ve teased him relentlessly watching him squirm.

Last night you told him, “If you say this one thing to me I’ll make you my boyfriend right now,” His head whipped to yours, “Anything, what?” You try to hide your laugh but fail, “I want to fuck you right now.” His nose scrunched, “Not worth it.” Which ended with a gasp and, “Peter!”

You don’t want to admit it but you’ve been losing sleep over this a little bit.

At first you were thinking of a scavenger hunt, maybe around the apartment that would end in asking him, but then it would feel a little out of place, the prize at the end was you.

Then you thought about taking him out to dinner and asking and while it was a nice idea, knowing how you and Peter are and the history you had, it felt a little formal.

After the third day you had to ask someone who had been through this before, him. He asked you to be his girlfriend in such a cute way too. You both passed notes back and forth all class and they were usually filled with doodles, interesting facts, confessions of want like, ‘I can’t wait to kiss you after class,’ or ‘I miss your warm touch,’ until one day, Sandra, who sat between you two had gotten the note from the opposite table where Peter sat.

You opened the folded paper, biting your lip to hold in the smile. Peering up you looked towards Peter who had a similar grin who then nodded at the paper in your hands, you carefully unfolded it to see a message, ‘Check yes or no: Will you be my girlfriend?’ Except the no wasn’t an option, the options were ‘yes, of course I want unlimited access to you’, and ‘no, I am choosing to deny Peter any more kisses’.

Looking up at him you narrowed your eyes, then held your hand in front of the note so he couldn’t try and make out your scribbles, then rolled your lips in your mouth as you passed it back through Sandra, you didn’t miss the subtle shake of his hands. He was nervous to ask you despite how much he knew he made you feel.

Peter held his breath opening it, you had crossed out his no option, and checked his yes so many times he couldn't see the blank behind the box. Under his no you wrote out, ‘as if there were any other option,’ he scrunched the note up and held it to his chest before stuffing it in the bottom zipper of his backpack, he looked your way and mouthed ‘Thank you,’ you turned your head at him, confusion clouding you, ‘For what?’

Peter just shook his head like you didn’t understand, ‘For being mine.’

You’ll never forget that.

Now you looked at Peter tinkering with the DVD player that had suddenly stopped working, cross legged in front of the TV his shirt bunched as he moved forward straining the fabric.

“Help.”

His head turned around, “Help with what, baby?”

“Me.”

“What’s going on?”

You pout and feel tears pricking, it was so dumb but Peter made you feel so special when he asked and nothing felt right to you, nothing felt like it made sense, was it supposed to? It was just a question, one you already had the answer to. But he made you feel wanted and important and you wanted to deliver the same back.

“I don’t know how to ask you, I’m failing.” You rub at your eye to stop the tears.

“No you’re not, baby. It took me a minute to ask you too, I just went with my gut, do the same.”

You pouted and despite fighting, tears fell, “No tears, c’mon now. No tears, it’s just a question.”

“But, but,” You start to breathe harshly, Peter comes to sit next to you and tugs you to him.

“Slow it down, we’ve got all night. Think about what you want to say, no tears, okay?”

“I just,” You sniffle, “You made me feel so special and important and I want to do the same but nothing sounds or feels right and I can’t copy you.”

Peter presses a kiss to your head, “I promise I’m simple back, I don’t want this to stress you out even more but I don’t care how you ask at all. I just want you to ask.”

“It can be simple and you won’t be upset?”

“Psh, you make me the happiest guy alive. I don’t need anything else.”

“Okay, I’m sorry it’s taking so long.”

He rubs his cheek on the top of your head, “We have nothing but time, I’m not going anywhere and I’m hoping you aren’t either.”

“Never, never ever again.” You lean into his chest and let him hold you for a moment.

“Good. Now, I’m going to leave you so I can fix this thing and then we can cuddle on the couch okay?”

“I love you.”

Peter looks a bit confused because, of course he loves you too but he wasn’t even leaving your sight. In fact if you stretched your foot out you could probably kick his back.

He realizes it wasn’t about a declaration of love, it was you telling him you were trying, and please don’t give up.

“I loved you first and I always will,” He winked, and even though he didn’t need help and it would actually be harder with two people he still asked, because he wants you to feel important to him.

“Actually, baby, can you come over here? I need you to get a cord for me.” He pointed behind the TV, he didn’t need the cord, but pretended he did just to watch your eyes light up and skip to the wall.

“This one, Petey?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

You handed him the power cord, nothing would work now.

Peter pretended to move things around then handed it back, “Plug it back in for me?”

With your back turned he actually did what was needed to fix it, “Turn it on for me, please?”

A click, then the DVD menu came to life, a loud cheer and hands jumped around his back.

“We did it, Petey! Go team us!”

“Go us!” He tapped your bottom and pushed you to the couch, “where you want me, champ?”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------

You needed outside help, you had a plan and needed someone to help pull it off and normally it would be Peter but that would be like asking him to wrap his own birthday present.

So, you went to the man in the chair, his best friend in the whole world (you were an extremely close second), Ned.

“I need your help asking Peter to be my boyfriend.”

Betty squealed and bounced up and down on Ned’s bed, sometimes you wish you had a mini Betty Brant on your shoulder to be your own personal cheerleader. When you questioned yourself or felt unsure Betty was always there to double down on confidence.

Ned rubbed his chin and nodded slowly, “I see, I see.” If he had a cat in his lap he would be playing ‘The Grandfather,’ before he could even get another word in, his blonde girlfriend piped in, her smile swallowed her face, you couldn’t help but match it. Her joy was contagious.

“So what are we thinking? A carriage ride in central park? Oo! Maybe some roses and a bottle of champagne? No, no, I know! An aquarium date, he loves the aquarium!”

You grinned and tilted your head as you thought over her options, yours was better.

“I was actually thinking of a virus.”

“Like the flu?” Betty was confused.

“Or like Monkeypox?” Ned was also confused.

“Babe! That’s insensitive, that’s like a thing right now.”

“Would Ebola be better?”

“No! That’s deadly!”

“So is the flu!”

“Oh my god, I cancel myself. Take me off the air, I don’t deserve it.”

You cross your arms in the air calling for a break, “I meant a computer virus.”

Ned seemed taken aback, like giving Peter the flu would actually be the better option.

“A computer virus?” He shared a look with Betty, “Your great idea is giving him a computer virus?”

You rolled your eyes and tugged your laptop from your backpack, “Not him, me.”

Ned looked at Betty again.

“Stop doing that!”

He turned his head back to you, “Sorry! I just thought when you said you needed my help you needed me to get Peter out of the house or distract him with something, not infect your computer.”

Betty nodded in agreement.

“A fake virus!”

“I’m sorry, Y/N, but how the hell will that make Peter be your boyfriend again?”

You tapped your laptop against your forehead and breathed in deeply, “Well, Ned, if you would just let me explain!”

He made a gesture of zipping his mouth and handing Betty the key, which she stuck in her pocket.

“Okay, I have this idea. You put a fake virus on my computer, and I bring it to him and I’m all like, ‘Babe please help me I clicked on something I shouldn’t and now I’m hacked,’ and he’s gonna be like, ‘oh my god, I told you to stop clicking on the side ads’ and then when he tries to reverse it a pop up blocker appears and it says ‘Will you be my boyfriend?’”

You blink at the couple and shake your shoulders, “Well?”

“I think that is absolutely adorable! And so Peter, he’s gonna love it!” Betty beamed with confidence in the plan.

Ned looks to Betty, she pulls the imaginary key from her pocket and hands it back. Ned unzips his mouth, “Oh yeah, he would love that for sure. It’s gonna take me a minute though, if we’re trying to trick him it’s gotta be believable. If not, he's gonna have it figured out in a minute.”

You pushed your computer at him, “What can we do?”

Ned grabbed it and turned in his desk chair, he opened the screen and started to click around.

“We can do nothing, I will do everything.”

You pout, “I can help, Peter says I’m great at helping him.”

Ned raises his brow, “Oh, is that what Peter said?”

You gasp, “Why? Does he say I’m bad at helping?”

Ned questions how he’s going to answer, “Uh, I mean, no?”

You look at Betty and panic, “Am I bad at helping?”

“No, not at all! You’re a great help, I’m glad I have you to support me when I need it!”

Ah, that Betty Brant positivity.

“Do you have any plans tonight, Y/N?” Ned shot over his shoulder, he was curious about his deadline, he also didn’t want to throw Peter under the bus.

“Sleepover at Peter’s, nothing else, why?”

“When do you need this done?”

“Uh, when you can have it done, I guess. There really isn’t a time limit, just sometime this millennium.”

Ned hissed through his teeth, “You drive a hard bargain.”

You squint your eyes at him, he was being sarcastic and said you were a bad helper. You turn to Betty, she looks pleasant and waiting for your question.

“Wanna get pizza? I’ll text MJ?”

Betty hops up and wraps her scarf around her neck, she wraps her hands around Ned’s neck as he whines in protest and presses a fat kiss to his cheek, “Bye babe! Love you, I’ll bring you home a slice of hawaiian!”

“And garlic knots!” His voice was muffled as you shut the door.

—----------------------------------

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Get down, get down!” You whisper screamed at your friends, pulling a hand from MJ and Betty to get them to squat behind a concrete planter outside the pizza place.

Betty freaks out immediately, ducking and covering her head with her hands, she starts whispering a prayer while MJ blinks at her hand in yours and shakes it out. She stands, sees Spider-Man looking at her from a building, then is pulled back down by your vice grip.

“I said get down!”

“Oh my god!” Betty cries.

“You’re safe Betty! Peter is across the street!”

“Oh, okay!” She untucks herself, then circles back, “Wait, what?”

“I told him I was in the district with my parents! He can’t see me here, he’s gonna know I lied!”

Peter knows you lied, he doesn’t know why but he can literally see you behind the planter screaming at your friends.

“I’m pretty sure he’s looking right at you,” MJ blinks at you then peers at Peter through a crack in the planters, he is.

“Oh god, if he can see me, he can hear me.” You groan and look at Betty for help, she shrugs her shoulders.

“Peter?” You whisper out, too scared to actually look at him.

“You’re not him, you dolt. If he’s talking back you won’t hear him.” MJ was always the brain.

“Oh shit. Uh, Peter, if you can hear me do something.”

“It’s like you're trying to prove God exists.” Betty giggles.

You hear the bell of a church across the street chime, double whammy. He hears and sees you.

“Fuck, do I just get up? Pretend this didn’t happen?” You look at your friends for help then let out a scream when a hand touches your back. A guy your age is squatting behind you.

“What are we hiding from?” He’s blonde and has a crooked front tooth, it fits him.

“Who the fuck are you?” MJ was scared of no one. You commend her balls.

“Jake, what’s up?” He reaches out a hand, MJ raises a lip at it and Betty and shakes it enthusiastically, “Betty Brant! That’s MJ and this is Y/N.”

“Let’s maybe not tell strangers our name.”

“Oh. Sorry, MJ.”

“Y/N, you seem like the ringleader here, why are we hiding again?”

You start to get nervous, it was obvious he was hitting on you and he was still touching you.

“We’re hiding from my boyfriend, we’re playing a game and we can’t see each other.”

Jake’s hand rises higher on your body, you notice MJ’s unwavering stare, ready to bite if you call for it.

“Oh cool! Is it one of those race to win scavenger hunts?”

“It’s uh, Betty is he still there?” Betty peaks her head around, “I don’t see him.”

“Awesome!” You raise to stand, his hand floating down your back, brushing against your ass.

“Hey!” You reach back and slap his hand, “The fuck? Did you just touch her ass?” MJ made sure to get the outside patio customers to look over.

“It was an accident,” He raises his hands, Betty humphs at him. “That’s not very gentlemanly,”

“Yeah, yeah. Where’s the ‘boyfriend’?” He used air quotes, you suddenly felt cornered. You don’t know where he went, probably got pissed you lied and swung away.

“Right here,” Peter had appeared from nowhere, his collar buttoned all the way up, sleeves tucked into his thumbs, you knew the suit was underneath.

“This guy?” Jake chuckled a little bit.

“The last guy that said that was struggling to breathe,” You narrowed your eyes at the blonde and Peter rested a careful grip on your shoulder.

“Okay! Let’s go.” Peter started to pull you down the street, you tucked under his arm closer and watched to the side to make sure MJ and Betty followed closely.

Peter pulled all three of you into an alley, he looked at every face and gauged that everyone was okay.

“Next time, we don’t worry about Peter seeing. We get away, okay?”

MJ raised a hand, “I don’t care about you either way, I wasn’t the one that panicked.”

Betty nods, “I’m sorry Y/N lied.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I lie- wait, what the fuck Betty!”

She jumped, MJ muffled a laugh.

“Oh what? You think he’s not gonna find out you lied to him, as you are literally getting caught in a lie?”

Peter high fives Betty, “What she said.”

“Why didn’t you just tell him?”

You huffed, “Tell him what, Betty?”

She tightened her scarf, “that you came over to, oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“Yeah, she couldn’t exactly tell him that, Bets.” MJ came to your defense.

“Tell me what?” Peter looked between everyone.

“Nothing!” All three of you rang out at once and refused to look at him, it screamed guilty.

“Uh huh, right. I’m gonna go back to city watching, get home safe and you,” He pointed at you and made a come here motion, you looked at the ground and pouted, you felt like a scolded puppy.

“Don’t worry about me, okay, just keep yourself safe. I’m glad you had your friends with you and I’m glad I was right there, but next time think for yourself, capisce?”

You nod, “Capisce.”

“Good, c’mere.” Peter leans in for a kiss, both of your friends make a puke sound.

You pull away to leave with your friends and Peter pulls you back in, “Love you,” your face matched his grin, “liar.” You drop your grin and grumble, “Love you too.”

—-----------------------------

“Did it die?” You press the keys harder, they clack but the screen stays blank.

“It has a virus.” Ned shrugs, you tap the keyboard sporadically, finally a small figure appears, it jumps up and down on the black screen then makes a laughing sound, ‘Files lost, loser!’ blinks at you.

“It’s inoperable, Ned.” You whine at him and try to bypass it, it’s impossible. You begin to think he actually infected the technology.

He rolls his eyes and bites into his pizza, “I told you it had to be hard, cause Peter would be able to crack it in a minute.”

“Okay well, I need to actually use it in the meantime, any chance that can happen?”

Ned holds his finger in the air working on chewing and swallowing his bite, he breaths in, lifts the pizza to his mouth, “No,” then takes another bite.

You drop your mouth, “No?”

“Nuh uh. Not until he cracks it.”

Betty smiles and taps his shoulder, “So smart, Neddy!”

“No, not ‘so smart, Neddy,’ I can’t do any school work, I need to write my history essay!” You groan and tuck your head into your hand.

“Sorry,” Ned doesn’t seem sorry with his careless shrug.

“Use Peter’s, or if you want I’m going into school early Monday so you can come with me.” Betty shines a smile at you and picks a piece of pineapple off Ned’s pizza, she dropped it in her mouth forgoing Ned’s open jaw, he was saving that piece for last, it had the perfect crust, ham and pineapple ratio.

“It’s due Monday, Bets. I’m gonna have to ask Peter.”

Ned swallows his last bite and begs for Betty’s water bottle, then smiles.

“Good. That was the plan, wasn’t it?”

“I mean, yeah. But also, like, now?”

“No time like the present.”

You huffed and stuffed the computer in your bag before zipping it, “Fine then, I’m going to Peter’s to use his.”

“Or you can ask him to fix yours?” Betty suggested calmly.

“I don’t even know how it looks! I’m not sure this is the best idea.”

Ned raised his hand in the air, it was weird how easily it settled you.

“He’s gonna crack in, then try and find the “corrupted file”,” He used air quotes, “Then a big pop up blocker is gonna take over the screen and it’s gonna say “Will you be my boyfriend?””

You stayed silent, it was adorable and you know Peter will love it.

“And it won’t be instant, right?”

“He’ll have to dig around for a minute or two, just enough to get him in the zone.”

“You’re sure I can’t see it first?”

Ned shakes his head slowly, “Sorry, if I go in now it will ruin it. It will take hours to reset it.”

You nod, Betty notices you stalling.

“You’re not nervous, right?”

You shuffle your feet, “I dunno, maybe.”

Ned guffaws, “What? Why the hell are you nervous?”

You shug and look at Betty, “What if he says no?”

Ned stands from his chair so quickly it spins, “Okay, look. I kept my mouth shut, I learned early that you never stand in between in a couple so I’ve been a good friend to both sides. And, Y/N, I say this with only love, but you are so so dumb. I mean, what kind of a question is that? ‘What if he says no?’ Do you understand what he’s been working towards this entire time? There is only one god damn reason he’s been doing everything he’s done these past months, you. You are the only thing that is keeping him going, he is living on the bare hope of you accepting his apology. I know Peter, if, and I mean if, it didn’t work out he would act fine to you but he would break inside, there would be nothing left to him. You’re all he has, Y/N.”

Ned breathes in and out, “I have never seen love like you two, I have been trying to match up with Betty, to have what you have. And I get it now, I get how Peter can feel so helpless because I feel like that everytime I’m not around her.”

Betty wraps her hands around his neck and snuggles into him, “Neddy, I love you so much! I don’t feel the same when you’re not around, it’s like I have a gaping hole in my chest.”

You shudder, “Is this what it’s like when Peter and I are in the same room?”

“Worse.” They both respond at the same time.

You suck in a deep breath, “You’re right, Ned. I have nothing to worry about, he loves me and he’s gonna say yes.”

Ned nods like you finally understood him, Betty smiles brightly, “You got this, Y/N!”

You smile back at her, it’s impossible not to.

“I love you guys, you know? If you ever repeat this I’ll deny it, but I felt lonely without you guys. After the break up, I mean.”

“Hear that, Bets? She needs us.”

“I did hear that, honey.”

You raise a finger, “I did not say that.”

Ned hums, “I think you did.”

“I really didn’t.”

“Close enough.”

You sigh, “Yeah, yeah. I needed you for computer help, guy in the chair. Nothing more.”

Betty gasps, “She admits it! She needs us!”

A groan rips from you, “I’m going to my boyfriend's house.”

“That’s right, girl! Manifest that shit!”

You sling your bag over your shoulder, “I’ll see you later,” You head for the door and turn back one more to the couple, somehow cuddling closer. “Thanks again guys, I mean it.”

Ned stage whispers to Betty, “She’s acting like she thanked us in the first place.”

“Okay, that’s it. I’m only talking to MJ here on out.”

—-------------

Peter’s door never seemed scarier, despite Ned, you were nervous.

And, fair to him, you didn’t really know why. It was in the bag, you were basically dating already, just without the label. It just felt real now, all the emotions of the three month split ran through you at once. The pain, the hate, the dispare, the confusion, the hurt, the loss. It sucked and you never wanted to go through it again, ever. Not with Peter, not with anyone.

You shake out your shoulders and suddenly a knock pierces the hallway. You don’t remember knocking, then a hand on your shoulder. You jump away and yelp, you turn to see Peter wide eyed.

“You good?”

Your heart races, “What are you doing out here?”

His eyebrows furrow, “I live here, remember? I’m going inside, what about you? You’ve just been staring at the door for three minutes.”

“I uh, you know.”

Yet again, Peter doesn’t know. He pretends he does.

“Right, right. You’re here to spill the beans on your lies.”

“What lie? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Peter marks a finger against his palm, he’s tallying up a score.

“One more to the list.”

He’s joking, he’s not mad. He’s not even curious, you don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. You assume it’s good, it means he trusts you, even if you bent the truth.

You push his hand down, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lie.”

Peter bounces the words in his head, “You just didn’t mean to get caught.”

“Okay, maybe so. Doesn’t mean I’m not sorry.”

The door opens in both your faces, May’s hair pushes back from the breeze, “Are you coming in or what?”

You pull Peter by the fabric of his jacket through the door.

“Are you fighting? No more fighting allowed in this house, you understand? I just restocked the strawberry ice cream.”

You salute, “No arguing here, just light banter.”

Peter giggles, “She’s lying, May. She’s been lying all day.”

“Oh my god, shut up Peter! She’s gonna think you’re being serious.”

Peter tilts his head, “Am I not?”

“Okay, that’s it. Bedroom, now.” You start to stomp towards his room, May looks over at him and hisses through her teeth, “Looks like you’re in trouble.”

“Why am I in trouble? She’s the liar.” He raised his voice at the end, making sure you heard him.

You did.

“Peter!” You yell out his name in warning, May wide eyes him. “Better get over there, it’s gonna get worse by the second.”

Peter rolls his eyes, “Yeah, yeah. Boyfriend duties, she lies and it’s my fault.”

“Peter, I swear to god I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Your voice comes out muffled, ripping off your shirt you changed into one of his; pajama pants slipping on next.

At last Peter comes in and shuts the door behind him, he raises his eyebrows at your shirt. He hasn’t seen you in his clothes in awhile, you said that was relationship stuff. He can’t help but imagine that means you’re in a relationship.

“What’s going on with you?”

You sigh, “How do I know it won’t happen again?”

Peter’s confused, “What won’t happen again?”

“Breaking up with me. How do I know that you won’t freak and end it if someone finds out who I am, or maybe five years from now things get tough with Spidey and you have to call it?”

He blinks, “I don’t… I don’t know. It’s a shit reason but, I just know I won’t. I can’t promise you more than that, and I’m sorry. You’re gonna have to trust me, you have to trust me when I say I will never do that to you again.”

“Okay.” You whisper out the words looking at his shoes.

“Okay?” He cups your face, you look at him and smile.

“Okay.” You nod in his hand and lean up for a kiss, “I trust you to never break my heart again.”

“That’s a lot of pressure on a guy, you know?”

“Mmm, I think you can handle it.”

“I sure can.”

He leans closer and looks in your eyes, “Is that it? That’s what’s got you worked up?”

You lean away and groan, Ned’s words rang in your head. ‘No time like the present.’ You figure, ‘what’s one more lie?’ especially if it’s for the greater good.

“No. I did something bad, you’re gonna be mad.”

Pause, Peter is never mad. At least at you, he’s never gotten loud or stormy. He’s gotten annoyed and pissed but not mad.

“Uh oh.”

“Like super pissed.”

“Wait, how pissed?”

“Mega. Bar bathroom in Hell's Kitchen pissed.”

“Oh geez. Lay it on me.”

You look at your backpack, “It may be better if I show you.” You pulled it up by the handle, “Oh god, please don’t show me a dead animal.”

“Is that your first thought? Really?”

You unzip and pull your computer out, he groans, “did you put our sex tape on pornhub?”

You whip your head to him fast, “We have a sex tape?”

He shrugs, “We could.”

You reach out your computer and turn your head away, “I can’t bear to look at it.” Peter looks at you unsure and grabs it, he sits on his bed and you follow him, you bounce down and he presses down on the side to steady it, his voice warning, “Y/N.”

Peter opens your laptop and waits for the screen to wake up, when it doesn't he taps the trackpad. It stays black, “Baby, I promise I’m not being funny, but did you forget to charge it?”

“Oh no, keep pressing around.”

He looks at you and taps, it takes a minute or two but the preloaded screen pops up. The figure jumps up and down, the threat of corrupted files and name calling had Peter drop his jaw. He blinks at the screen, looks at your sheepish face then back at the screen, once more at you, then the judgment.

“God damn it, Y/N. What the fuck did you do?”

“I uh, you know.”

Peter does know this time.

“I told you not to click on side ads! You’re worse than a ten year old with unsupervised internet access. I mean, seriously baby. I cannot believe I have to tell you this, but if an ad has a phone number attached or if doctors hate her, then for the love of god do not click it.”

“I-”

He kept going, “I told you I was going to install an adblocker but no, you swore you learned your lesson. And here we are, with a worse virus than before! I mean, this is gonna take all night! I may even have to get Ned in on it.”

“No! Not Ned!”

Peter looks at you with a side eye, “I mean it’s embarrassing. Like, I should know better, right?”

“Yes. You should. But, here we are. Staring at the screen of death.”

“Don’t say that, I have a history paper to write.”

“The one I told you to start three days ago?”

“Possibly.”

“Alright, get your cute butt to my desk and start writing on mine.”

“No!”

He side eyes you again, “I mean, I want to see you do this. Because next time, I mean not next time because I won’t ever do that again, but maybe I can figure it out myself.”

“You really need to start that paper, sweetheart.”

You huff, “Ned said you think I’m bad at helping. Is that true?”

His eyes widened, “When did he say that?”

“Well, I said you thought I was a great help and he went, ‘Oh, is that what Peter said?’”

“Oh, is that what Ned said?”

“You’re deflecting!”

“Ned doesn’t know what he’s talking about, baby. You’re an excellent help, you helped me with the DVD player, remember? And you helped me with my web shooters that one time.”

He’s talking about you handing him tools when he asked, maybe you really weren't a great help.

You feel upset.

“You know what, maybe Ned can help me instead. Apparently I’m no good to you.” You reach for the computer and he leans to the left so you can’t grab it.

“C’mon, no hostility. You’re a great help, even if you don’t think you are. I need you for moral support.”

Now you were really upset, he admitted you were of no actual use.

“Okay, you know what? I’m gonna go to the library and do this, I don’t need your help like you don’t need mine.”

“Stop.” His tone made you actually stop, it made you pause and think that he actually does think you’re a great helper.

“No, cause Ned is right. You do think I suck at helping you.”

“I said stop.” He shakes his head and starts to press at what you believe are random keys, he’s actually just breaking back into the computer.

“Peter!”

“I’m not entertaining this any further, Y/N.” He sighs when his attempts are futile, he starts again.

“Okay, deflecter.” You mumble under your breath, you know he hears you. He hears everything.

“Don’t make me shut you up,” He mumbles back while tapping, he huffs this time, he tries once more. Ned wasn’t lying when he said he made this difficult.

“No really, It’s fine. I’m just literally never gonna help you with anything ever again because you only ask to make me feel better.”

Peter deflects once more, “See what I’m pressing? I’m holding these at the same time and when I let up you hit this one. It should be an entire system override, no matter the virus you should be able to get back into your screen. That way you can see how affected it got.”

It worked, “This one?”

“Yeah, hold these two and stop when I tell you to.”

“Okay!”

Peter is glad you can switch your attention on a dime flip, “Stop! Now hit this one, and if you’re luckier than me you should be able to break in.”

You press it, and it works. You are met with your homescreen, you cheer.

“See? I needed your help, you got the magic touch. Without you I’d still be nowhere.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Parker.”

“Is that the saying?”

You shrug, “Close enough.”

Peter holds control and R for a while, a popup block hits the screen. He then selects system preferences and enters into the computer bio. All you see is binary code, repeating zeros and ones in no clear order, at least to you. Peter is scanning through each code, his eyes running over every number.

“You can read binary code?”

He nods and keeps searching.

“That is so hot.”

“Thanks, baby.”

You chew your lip, “Last time you used a scanner.”

“That was a regular bug, this one is too deep in the system. It wouldn’t register with a malware scan.”

Peter's eyes race through the screen, it would be deemed impossible to most human eyes but similar to reading text, you can spot the typo. Peter could spot the binary typo, it was just a matter of identifying it. The hardest part is that he doesn’t know what he’s looking for until he finds it.

“Aha! Get out of here!”

You watch with a held breath as he selects it then deletes. It is immediately returned to the system, Peter draws his head back and looks at you.

“Where did you say you got this from?”

“Uh, I’m not sure.”

He furrowed his eyebrows and leaned closer at the screen, he’s making sure that what he’s seeing is correct. It was an extremely powerful virus, not a simple bug or keyboard hack but an entire system overhaul. He would be lucky to actually remove it, he’s never had a virus come back after being deleted.

“Baby, this is a pretty hardcore virus. You’re not just going to pick it up off a google ad. What were you on?”

“Maybe I was watching porn or something?”

He looks at you, “Those are mostly penis enhancer pills, got anything to tell me about?”

You push his arm, “No! I don’t know, maybe it was when I was exploring the dark web.”

He scoffs, “You don’t know how to get to the dark web.”

Peter is telling the truth, you have no idea how to get there.

“Yes I do!”

“Oh really? How?”

You sputter, “Well, I can’t tell you because I don’t want you to get on there.”

“Baby, I cracked into there when I was ten. Don’t try me.”

“And I got there the same way.”

“Through Google?”

You nod, “Yup! Just googled it, Petey. It’s not hard.”

“Oh see, now I know you’re lying. You can’t get on it from google, you need to download a VPN and TOR, then hack in or get invited through a link.”

“And you did that at ten?” You were slightly doubting him.

He stares at you blankly, “I can read binary code, Y/N.”

You purse your lips, “Okay, true.”

“Seriously, how did you get this thing?”

Peter once again attempted to delete, it swung right back in. It was getting harder, it wasn’t going back to the same spot. It moved all around, he had to keep fighting to search for it.

“And don’t lie, you’ve done that enough today.” He was teasing but warning.

“I really don’t know, honest. I gave it to Ned to borrow, when I got it back I tried to do my paper, and I saw that.” It was slightly true, you did let Ned borrow it.

“Ned put this on here? Why was he borrowing your laptop?”

Fuck, he’s got you there.

“Well, I gave it to Betty, actually. Then I guess Ned used it, and when he gave it back, bam! Virus.”

“Ah, while you were out with her and MJ?”

“Yes! Exactly!” Peter just helped you with a lie he didn’t know he was part of.

Peter let out some soft swears, he was getting pissed.

“Fuck off,” he whispered at the screen, the visual character popping up laughing calmed no anger.

“What are you doing now?” You tried to peer at the screen, you were half watching him and the screen. You weren’t sure when the message would come through, you didn’t want to miss his reaction.

“Trying and failing with my girl watching, not a great feeling.” Peter sat up straighter again and searched over and over for the code. Little did he know Ned thought this over extremely carefully, he implemented it in the system for it to change patterns and virus’ after three attempts.

Peter is racing his eyes over each line over and over, he knows it’s not gone, but it’s gone from his eyesight, and that is worrisome. He genuinely doesn’t know how you, or Ned got it. Peter’s actually never seen something like this, heard of it but it’s rare. This is a deep, deep hack.

He wants the pressure off him, he can feel your eyes burning into his back and it’s starting to make him anxious. He’s failing at helping, he hates that.

“So, liar, any reason why you were spitting them out today?” He tossed the words over his shoulder, you pulled your back from the wall the bed’s pressed against, you tug at his elbow and whine, “Don’t call me that!”

“Why? The guilt is too hard to handle?” He breathes heavily out his nose from his own joke.

You push your cheek into his shoulder, words coming out muffled because one half of your face was squished into Peter’s body; your entire weight was leaned on him.

“I’m sorry, I’m not a liar.”

“But you did today.”

You nod against him, “I did today.”

“Why’s that? You don’t have to hide your friends from me, I know you have ‘em.”

You move your head to bite lightly at his bicep, he shakes you off, “menace.” He actually doesn’t mind it this time, it’s been a while since you did that. It used to annoy him at times but similar to your favorite nickname to use on him, he missed the things he used to think were a nuisance. He missed you doing those things.

“I love you.” You kiss his arm and move back to leaning into him.

“Looks like both of us are deflecting tonight,” He tsks and your cheek hardens when he flexes his bicep, he’s got his fist clenched in anger, he nearly slammed it down on the computer, he’s glad he restrained, you would probably never speak to him again if he broke it.

“Break it and you die.” You warn him.

“Your heart, or the laptop?” He chides back.

Your eyes narrow, “Yes.”

He hits delete on the file for the fifth time, he holds his breath steady. It’s deleted, his air deflates from his lungs slowly, “Fuckin got it.” Peter cracks his knuckles and smiles proudly, you sit up quickly, Peter feels the cold air seep into the cotton of his shirt where you rested. Panic was smeared across your face, you were glad he couldn’t see your face.

“Wait, what?” Your reaction had Peter throwing his head at yours, “Is that not what you wanted me to do?” You sound upset, you grab at the screen in his lap and shake it slightly, then slap your palm on the empty space next to the trackpad. “Woah!” Peter pulls it away from your hands, “What’s up with that?” You shake your head and try to pull at it again, “It shouldn’t of been that easy, it was supposed-”

You were cut off.

The screen flashed red, an angry face appeared on the screen, big bold black text followed.

‘TRY ONE MORE TIME, I DARE YOU.’

“What the fuck?” You both spoke and stared at the screen.

It kept flashing, you had no idea what was going on. You were starting to believe you were actually hacked.

“Peter, I don’t…” You trailed off and watched the flashing red. He thinks of what to say, he can get this figured out, he’s sure of it.

“I think I know why this is happening,” He nods his head, he’s sure of it.

“Wait, you do?” You were excited but let down, you wanted him to see the surprise, not guess it.

“I think I do,” He draws out the words and looks at you.

“Why is it happening, Peter?” You whisper the words.

“Because,” He pauses and lowers his voice, a secret between you both. “Because, you lied.”

You groan and throw yourself flat on your back, “Okay, okay, I get it. You’re joking but you’re also serious. I just,”

“No fighting, right? Cookies? Good time for cookies?” May pushed through the door, a steaming plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies was held in front of your face. She also pushed a glass of strawberry milk in your hand, and you accepted it with a smile. You couldn’t help yourself and took a gulp, you were nervous. You didn’t want to lie about the lie, it was getting harder to cover.

May was a third party, you could tell May.

You handed the glass to Peter to set it on his nightstand, thinking about the condoms in the drawer made you smile, it was so innocent and dirty in one picture.

“May, can we talk? Please?” She tilts her head at Peter, he shrugs. He doesn’t know either.

“Of course, darling! Peter, take the cookies.” She handed them to Peter, he sat the plate down and then grabbed one to munch on. You stand and speak clearly for Peter, “Don’t listen in, seriously. Don’t.”

“Got it,” The words muffled, he gave you a thumbs up.

You nod and walk out with May, you turn back quickly. Peter’s hands working on the screen, “And don’t touch that until I come back.”

“It’s no biggie, I’m sure I’m close.”

“No! Don’t touch it, I’m serious Peter!”

He looked confused but promised he wouldn’t.

May had you backed into the hallway, you were hoping Peter was staying true to his word and not listening in. “What’s that about?”

“I lied to Peter today.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“It’s for a good reason, but I can’t tell him that.”

“Why not?”

“It will ruin it.” You shake your head.

“Ruin what?”

“The surprise,” you whisper but know it’s useless if he’s actually listening.

“What surprise?”

“I had Ned put a fake virus on my laptop, and I said I was going to the district with my parents but then he saw me at lunch with MJ and Betty, and I can’t tell him why I lied cause it will ruin it all, and I don’t want to lie about lying.” You breathe it out in one go, May still looks lost.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. But, what will you ruin? I’m lost, dear. You said Ned put a fake virus on your computer?”

You smile at her, she’s going to be more excited than Peter.

“I’m asking Peter to be my boyfriend tonight.”

May’s scream was automatic, she hurried to put her hand over her mouth but Peter’s head popped out from the doorway anyways. “You okay?”

“So okay! Oh my god, congratulations!” May wraps you in a tight hug and sways you back and forth, you giggle and squeeze her back.

“Oh god, did you get a promotion?” Peter groans.

“No, but you’re about to,” You wink at him and head back to his room, pushing him back in by a hand on his chest.

“You swear you didn’t listen?” You look him over, he wouldn’t be able to contain the excitement if he did.

He holds up three fingers, “Scouts honor.”

“But, I did touch the computer.”

“No!”

“Don’t worry, I found it but I'll give you the honors of doing the final delete.” He grins and taps the seat next to him, you ready yourself and reach your arm over.

You delete it.

A big pop up box appears.

‘WILL YOU BE MY BOYFRIEND?’

You hold your breath and blink at the screen, you wait for Peter to notice.

“Huh?” Peter furrows his brow then closes out of it.

He presses again, the same message.

Peter humphs and closes it out again.

‘WILL YOU BE MY BOYFRIEND?’

It’s spelled out boldly, you know he sees it.

He shakes his head and closes one more time.

Your heart sinks, it didn’t work. You tried so hard to make it special, make it just right, something he would love, something he would understand immediately, and he’s not. He’s breezing right past it, something that’s literally in his face. You can’t help the tears that cloud your eyes, you watch as he closes it one, two, three more times. More and more frustrated with each time.

You feel one tear fall, then two, then they start to stream. Peter doesn’t notice until you sniffle, he knows your cry sniffle.

“Hey, no crying. It’ll be okay, I’ve almost got it figured out.”

Peter reaches out a hand but you smack it away, “No, you don’t almost have it figured out.”

“Baby, I promise I will. I’ve just never seen anything like it before, I mean, what kind of message is that?”

You sob at his words, it was a total fail, you feel sick.

“I’m just gonna take it back to Ned’s, he put it on there in the first place.” You were defeated and terribly sad, this is exactly why you didn’t want to do this. You rubbed your nose and reached for the tech, Peter raised his shoulder to block you.

“What? No, you’re already here, just let me do it.”

“You’re not doing it right!” You feel your chin wobble when the words tumble out, more tears running.

“Baby, I’m trying, okay? I’ll get it back and it will be just like brand new. It’s just a dumb message, don’t freak.”

Peter’s trying to be sweet and supportive, and it would work literally any other time.

“It’s your message!” You almost shouted the words, your breathing became harsh. He thought it was dumb.

“What do you mean it’s my-” He looked back at the screen and re read the words, he checked again. ‘WILL YOU BE MY BOYFRIEND?’ He dropped his jaw, that's why you wanted to look over his shoulder so bad, and wanted him to wait before he kept digging. He assumes that’s why you lied, you were busy putting this together and he just shit all over it.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Peter’s never sounded more delicate.

You shake your head, it makes you cry worse.

“C’mere,” He reaches for your hand but you shake your head again, he can’t take it back. It felt entirely ruined.

“Baby, look at me.” His words were gentle but demanding, you look at him and pout.

“You ruined it.”

He nods solemnly, “I did. I know I did.”

“This is why I didn’t want to do this, it was a stupid idea.” You sniffed and wiped away your tears.

“Hey,” His tone was offended, it wasn’t stupid at all. He was.

“It’s not stupid, I was stupid. It went over my head, I wasn’t even thinking about it like that.”

“First you think I’m bad at helping and now you think the way I asked you out was stupid. Maybe we shouldn’t get back together.” You didn’t mean it at all, you were hurt.

Peter knows you’re acting like this because you're hurt, he’s learned that much from the split.

“Come on now, you don’t mean that. You’re just upset I didn’t catch on, now c’mere.”

You slowly waddle to stand in between his knees. Peter pulls at your hands and makes you look at him, “You are an excellent helper, I’m sorry I made you think you aren’t. You never complain, even when I get cranky things aren’t going my way. You do whatever I need you to do and you do it happily, even when you just sit next to me, it makes me work better, because you’re watching me and I want to impress you. I need you as my little helper, I always will.”

You nod and grab one hand in both of yours, you slowly turn it, playing with his fingers and tracing his watch. He’s made you shy, it’s a good thing.

“Second, it wasn’t stupid. It’s a really smart, sweet way of asking me. I just wasn’t thinking of it like that, Ned played it off so good I really thought it was a wonky virus. That’s why I said it was stupid, not because I don’t like it. I love it, I really do. It’s a geeky way to ask me, and that’s why it’s perfect.”

You mumbled back to him, you pressed the button on the side of his watch and watched it transform into a webshooter. You lightly pressed at the circular tab, a web hit his ceiling. He acted like it never happened, “You still ruined it.”

Peter nods, he agrees to the fullest extent, “I did.”

You press again, another web shoots out.

“I tried really hard.”

Peter smiles sadly, “I know you did, I’m sorry I didn’t react how I should’ve.”

You press the button on the side, it retracts back to a watch. You press and watch it transform again, you do it one more.

Peter grabs your hand when you try again, “Look at me?”

You oblige.

“I would really, really love to be your boyfriend, if you’ll still let me.”

You shrug nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal. You untuck the corner of your bottom lip you were chewing on, “If you wanna.” He pulled you on his lap, pushing the computer off to his side.

“Of course I wanna, I've only been begging for months.” He pushes you in to hold you tightly against him, you feel your chests move in unison, one breath in, one breath out. You keep yourself pressed to him for a minute, no words were needed.

You huff into his shoulder and think about it, you push yourself away from him by your arms on his shoulders.

“Petey?”

“Yes?”

You breathe in deep, “Will you be my boyfriend?”

“What are the terms and conditions?”

“Love me forever and ever, and never break up with me again. Cause if you do, you'll have to pay for my therapy.”

Peter throws his head back in a laugh, “Deal.”

“Deal?”

“Yes, I would love to be yours, again. And forever and ever.”

You both look at eachother with a smile, until he pulls you in closely.

“I wanna ask you something,” You look impressed.

“Me? Little old me?” You make a motion of flipping your hair back.

“Can I kiss my girlfriend?”

You nod quickly, and fuck what you’ve said before. No kiss has ever felt this good between you two, it was home. You finally felt at total peace, he was yours and you were his. It was the way it was supposed to be.

Breathless you open your eyes, “You’ve been waiting on that one, huh?”

He can’t help himself, he pulls back in, “You have no idea.”

—------------------

THREE MONTHS LATER,

“Peter I swear to god if you’re not here in the next five minutes I’m sending out a bolo on Spider-Man.” Your words were threatening on the phone, Peter winces on the other line and dodges a fist.

“Baby, I promise I’m on the way.”

You hear grunting and silence, you start to steam.

“Please tell me you’re not fighting someone right now.”

Peter stays silent, you hear a whizzing sound.

“If you tell me that you were late because you had to stop and fight crime I am gonna be so pissed.”

“I’m not fighting anyone, I’m almost there.”

“Lies!”

“I’m not! I was fighting with someone but I’m not anymore, I’ll see you in like thirty seconds.”

“They’re about to call you up, I’m not kidding.”

You hear him swing faster, “I know, I know, did you leave the gown where I told you?”

“What you should’ve done, is gone with me, like we planned, remember?” Your tone was clipped.

“I remember, did you leave it there?”

“But no, you had to go on your own. I knew this would happen, but no, don’t listen to me. It’s fine, I only told you that you would do this, and what did you say?” You were barking orders from behind a tree, you had to resituate the cap on your head, it started to slant down.

“I said I wouldn’t stop, but I’m about to be there. Did you leave it?” He was running out of breath, he can’t remember the last time he swung this fast.

“And this wouldn’t be an issue if you let me around Spidey, but nope, lost that privilege. So now I can’t even make sure you’re on time, I just have to trust you and now you’re late.”

A grunt on the line, he landed.

“Baby, where did you put it? It’s not here.” Panic, he was going to be late. He didn’t know who would chew him out more, you or May. You, he could win back over with a date night and a few kisses, May would just shake her head every time he would try to explain it to her.

Peter knows your right, he shouldn’t have stopped for that guy. It was supposed to be a quick in and out, he didn’t expect you to be on his ass but he should’ve.

“Are you even dressed right? You have your slacks and button down on, right? Please tell me you brought shoes, I swear to god if I see those red boots under your gown I’ll scream.”

“Yes! Yes! I’m dressed right, where the fuck did you put it, Y/N!”

“No cause you wouldn’t be talking to me if you did, I know you’re talking through Karen!”

He sighs, he sees you tucked it behind an exhaust pipe.

“I’m talking to you through Karen so you can tell me where my gown is, but I found it.” He pulls it over his long sleeve and zips it up. He’s about to jump down when he pulls his mask off and drops it on the roof.

“And another thing! If I’m doing you a favor and going out of my way to make sure you’re taken care of, the least you could do is show up on time! I mean I-” The buzz of the phone makes you notice he ended the call before you could give him the last piece of your mind.

You stare at your phone, insulted he would hang up on you. You huff and shove it in your pocket, “fucking prick!” You mumble insults under your breath, “Hey, no need for hostility. I’m on time, see?”

“Late to your own graduation, Parker! Who does that?”

You spin to face Peter who shugs sheepishly, “I said I was sorry, I’m here and my name hasn’t been called yet. It’s all good, now where’s my cap?”

You huff and pull it from under your arm, Peter leans down so you can secure it tightly. You fix the tassel in a straight line and smile at him, he looks down right adorable in his graduation blue.

“You look cute, I need to see more of you in ambiguously shaped clothing.” He winked and you scoffed, “Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Mr. Parker.”

“You said it gets me everywhere.”

“Yeah, well, not today!”

You both follow the line, due to alphabetical order you won’t be sitting next to each other.

He pulls your arm and you step out of line, you flash an apology smile to the guy behind you. He nods his head, your spot is saved.

“Hey, one more kiss? While we're both in high school?”

“I guess so,” You sigh and lean up for one.

“You know, you’re my highschool sweetheart.”

“I guess that means you’re mine too, Parker.”

“You made it the best four years, I mean it.”

You squirm, “Don’t get all mushy, you’ll make me cry.”

Peter’s name is announced as Valedictorian, he has to go to the stage. He presses one more kiss, “I’ll be the one cheering the loudest when your name is called, I love you.”

“I love you too, handsome.”

After the graduation you both took pictures, some with parents, alone, friends such as MJ, Betty and Ned, even flash made an appearance in a group photo. You then trekked into senior send off dinner, where the entire class got together for one last shared meal, never again would you see those faces in a cafeteria.

Peter sat by you the whole night with a hand on your thigh, even though it was just hours after your high school career ended it gave you a sense for the future, Peter would always be by your side and he would always be the smartest in the room, you noted and loved the way he would be able to share a conversation with anyone he passes by, he’s perfected the craft of knowing a little of something about everything.

You ended the night at Peter’s, May had baked a cake with a fat congrats roped across the top, she kissed both of your heads and wiped tears with a “I’m so damn proud of the both of you,” before she left for the night.

Now, you had both unzipped from the gowns and you watched them lay puddled on the ground, there was no need to hang them anymore, their purpose fulfilled. You sat your diploma next to his on his desk, Peter undid the buttons on his sleeves and rolled them up carefully. You watched with heavy eyes.

“I’ve been working on something,” He drawls, he tugs at his button down and you melt inside.

“What?”

“Lay back,” He points at his pillows, you make a confused face.

“What for?” You listen and lay back, Peter comes to stand over you.

“I’m gonna fuck you.” The words came thick from his throat, something tells you you won’t be hearing that often.

“Oh my god, this is the best graduation gift I’ve ever gotten.”

“Is it really?” He’s on the bed hovering over you, he’s looking at you like he’s about to fucking devour you.

You nod, “Tell me one more time?”

He leans in, he kisses you for a minute. He trails his marks down your neck and collarbone, he kisses back up into your ear and whispers, “I said, I’m gonna fuck you.”

“I am so glad you dumped me, you have no idea.”

He looks puzzled for a moment, “Me too. We’re gonna build it better this time around.”

You nod and tuck your bottom teeth into your lip, “Yeah, we’re gonna build it better.”

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