Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I can’t believe you would do this to me.” You groaned, running a hand through your hair.  

“You’re being completely unreasonable.” Peter’s voice was high in disbelief.  

“I cannot believe you stopped at Dunkin and didn’t get me a donut, Peter. What kind of friend does that?” You flopped backwards onto your bed, acting exasperated.  

“I asked you before I left if you wanted anything, and you said no!” His hands were frantically waving in the air.  

You let out a giggle. “That was before I knew you were going to Dunkin!”  

He sighed, flopping down next to you on the bed.  

“You can have half of my donut, if you want.”  

“I’d love half of your donut, thank you very much.”  

He smiled, tearing his donut in half. You reached up to grab your half, but he shoved it into your face, smearing the blue icing on your nose.    

“Peter!” You groaned.  

Peter’s laugh echoed across your bedroom.  

“You look...like...an angry Smurf!” He let out inbetween gasps, clutching his stomach.  

“That’s Smurfette to you, buddy.” You laughed, wiping off your nose and licking your fingers.  

When he finally finished laughing, he stuffed his half of the donut into his mouth. He had come over to help you study for your upcoming chemistry exam, your absolute least favorite class. You knew Peter would be able to help you, considering he went to a super smart science school . He was also probably the smartest person you’d ever met.  

You reached over, pulling your chemistry textbook out of your backpack.  

“Okay, science boy. Teach me.”  

Peter spent two hours explaining the unit to you, though you only listened to about half of what he said. You kept getting distracted, thinking about how handsome he looked when he started talking about science. His eyes would get bright with passion, and he’d subconsciously start speaking faster. You tried to snap yourself out of it, but it was no use. You couldn’t help that your best friend was hot, though that excuse probably wouldn’t go over well with your chemistry teacher.  

Peter began throwing things into his backpack, packing the materials he had brought with him.  

“You doing anything later?” He asked, watching you read through a paragraph in your notes.  

“Not that I know of,” you reply, glancing up at him, “Why?”  

“Just wondering.” He shrugged. “Can I change in your bathroom?”  

You nod, directing your attention back to the notes in front of you.  

He came out a few minutes later, fully suited in his spider suit, minus the mask. You tried not to stare at him as he made his way to the window. His ass looked great in the suit. You shook your head, startled by the thought that just crossed your mind.  

“I’ll see you later, okay?” He was climbing through the window now, mask securely on his head.  

“Be careful!” You called after him as he leaped from the windowsill.  

When you found out Peter was the friendly neighborhood Spider Man, you hadn’t been completely surprised. He was in and out a lot, would show up with various injuries on his body, and if you were being honest, wasn’t the best at being discreet. You had figured he was doing something hero-like.  

You remembered it like it was yesterday. You were walking home from school when you heard a crash and what sounded suspiciously close to Peter cursing. You followed the sound down an alley and stumbled across Peter, half dressed and bouncing on one foot as he pulled the spider suit on.  

You stared at him, dumbfounded and at a loss for words, until he noticed you standing there, clutching your schoolbooks. He froze, and you giggled softly, which quickly turned into full-fledged laughter. When you could finally breath again, you wiped a tear from your eye and said, “This isn’t half as bad as what I thought you’ve been up to recently.”  

Your friendship had quickly evolved after that. Peter liked having a friend other than Ned that he could talk to about his hero stuff. He loved Ned, but sometimes he needed someone to ground him, not amp him up. You liked that Peter was a constant in your life, always there when you needed a laugh or a shoulder to cry on. He was your closest friend, and you were genuinely grateful that he’d spilled his coffee all over you at the library a few years ago.  

You smiled at the memory of your first-time meeting. He had apologized so much that you had finally asked him if he knew anything about biology, just to get him to shut up. Thus, your friendship with him was born.  

You tried and failed to study for your chemistry exam after he left. Your dad would just have to deal with your C-average. A few hours later, you were getting ready for bed when your phone rang. It was, of course, Peter. You couldn’t remember the last time anyone else had called you.  

“Hey, Spidey. What’s up?” You put the phone on speaker and continued rubbing lotion into your skin.  

“Hey.” His voice was soft as he murmured your name. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”  

A blush stained your cheeks, and you were eternally grateful that he wasn’t here to see it.  

“You didn’t get enough of it earlier?” You question, crawling into bed.  

“Of you? Never.”  

You and Peter talked about nothing and everything for hours, eventually falling asleep to the sound of each other’s voices. The next morning when you woke up for school, the call was still going. You sighed as you hung up. You really needed to figure out your feelings about him. Peter was everything you could ask for as your friend, but did you want to put that at risk by letting yourself think about something more with him?  

//  

A couple weeks later, your chemistry test came back with an angry, red “D+” written on the top of it. Your teacher held you back after class and told you that he would be speaking with your dad about your grades. You trudged home, knowing you’d hear about it, and boy, were you right about that.  

It had been two hours, and your dad was still lecturing you about the importance of good grades for college admissions.  

“I have A’s and B’s in all my other classes. One stupid science class isn’t going to keep me from getting into college!” You exclaimed, throwing your arms up for emphasis. “I don’t even start applying until next year!”  

Your dad shook his head. His disappointment in you was written all over his face. Nothing was ever good enough for him. Ever since your mom died, it was hard to get his attention about anything, other than your poor grades, apparently.  

“I raised you better than,” he shook the test in your face, “whatever this is. Until you bring your grades up, no social outings. You go to school, and you come straight home.”  

You turned, trying not to stomp out of the room like a child. “That’s fine,” you called over your shoulder, “It’s not like I have anything going on in my life anyways!”  

“No Peter, either.”  

You swung around, facing your dad.  

“Excuse me?” You asked. You could feel tears pricking the back of your eyes. Your dad knew that Peter was your only real friend. Sure, you had acquaintances from school, but no one was as close to you as Peter.  

“You heard me. No Peter until you fix this. Ever since he started coming around, you’ve gotten careless. On the phone at all hours of the night, texting him every second of the day. No more.”  

“But Peter’s trying to help me!” Your voice cracked. It was getting harder to hold back the tears.  

“Enough. No more Peter. We’ll discuss it again when you bring your grade up.”  

You closed your bedroom door behind you. You couldn’t believe your dad would ground you from your best friend. You curled up into a ball on your bed, finally letting the tears fall.  

//  

A noise woke up from a restless sleep. You sat up, ready to throw something towards the noise, but relaxed when you saw Peter crawling through the window. It was dark out, so you must’ve been asleep for a few hours. Your eyes drooped, watching him softly close the window behind him. He was in your favorite sweatshirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. You slumped back down, whispering, “You have to be really quiet. My dad grounded me from you today.”  

“I know,” he crawled onto the bed, lying down next to you, “I heard you arguing earlier. I came by to see how you did on your test and overheard it.”  

You cringed with embarrassment, bringing your hands up to cover your face.  

He gently brought your hands down, intertwining his fingers in yours.  

“Are you okay?”  

You let out a soft laugh and then groaned. “I don’t know. I feel like I can’t do anything right with him anymore. Since Mom died, he’s been a hardass. This chemistry test was just the tipping point.”  

Your eyes welled with tears for the second time that day.  

“Hey,” he murmured softly, “don’t cry, okay? I’ll help you bring your grade back up. Don’t worry about it. It’ll all be fine.”  

He brought a hand to your face, using the back of his knuckles to wipe away your tears.  

“What did I ever do to deserve you, Peter?” You mumble, resting your free hand on his wrist.  

He smiled, leaning forward. Your breath hitched as he left a gentle kiss on the tip of your nose. He didn’t lean back, and your heart pounded at the thought of him kissing you. Your lips were inches away from touching, and you resisted the urge to smash your lips against his.  

Slowly, he moved forward, placing a soft kiss on your lips. Your eyes fluttered closed, relishing the feeling you’d probably never forget.  

“What was that for?” You kept your eyes closed, not wanting to face rejection, if that’s what was coming next.  

“I felt like kissing you.” He shrugged, “I’ve wanted to for a while. Was it okay?”  

“Mhmm,” you sigh, content to stay in this moment forever.  

“Can I kiss you again?”  

“Please,” you murmur.  

He brought his lips to yours again, this time more heated than the last. You leaned into him, placing your palm on his cheek.  

When you broke apart, his eyes were warm and bright. You were both smiling at each other like fools.  

“You know you’re going to have to climb in through my window for the next month. My dad was serious when he said I’m not supposed to see you.”  

Peter dropped his head, sighing. “I know. I think I use the window more than the door anyways.”  

You laughed out loud, immediately slapping your hand over your mouth. Peter stifled his laugh, turning onto his stomach and digging his face into your pillow.  

Yeah, you thought, this was definitely worth the risk.