𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐞- 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫

7.

I exhaled sharply, almost forgetting that I'm in school. I slammed my locker shut, seeing Peter was already on his way over to my locker. I didn't know if he was going to stop or keep on walking, so I quickly joined him on his way to class.

He didn't even look down at me today which was off even for the last week. I bent my neck down in order to examine his face when I noticed the large bruise around his left eye.

"What happened to your eye?" I gasped, almost stopping him in the middle of the hallway. I wasn't sure where he went after we split ways yesterday.

"It's a rash." He covered.

"Well then, you should get that checked out." I suggested, reading straight through his lie. He wasn't very good at them.

"It's fine." He said, sounding perfectly fine as if he was okay.

"Do you like chicken Parmesan?" I held my books close to my chest.

"Yeah, yeah. I do."

"Okay, well, if you'd like, you can come to my apartment tonight." I took out a slip of paper to write the address down in case he really didn't actually look at his phone at all.

He took the paper, smiling lightly.

"My mom is making chicken Parmesan because Steve is coming over again tonight. So be prepared, but it's the only nights she makes something, so." I was about to prepare him with sentences full of warnings, but he seemed to catch on.

"No, that's okay." He chuckled. "I'll be there."

"Okay." I smiled widely, my body going relaxed. "I'll see you tonight.

Today couldn't of gone any more slowly than it has been all day. Sitting through classes and secretly passing notes back and forth to Peter all class was painful when all I thought about was how tonight was gonna go.

It could either go smoothly or terribly because of Steve. It all depended on his mood which was usually bad-tempered. I never really had company over, and having Peter might not have been the best idea.

I was sitting in my room doing homework when there was a small tap on my window. I sat up wearily, seeing Peter crouching by my window. I smiled, hopping down from my bed to open the window.

"The fire escape, really?" I stepped aside, letting him crawl through the window. "Subtle."

"Impressive, right?" He grinned. His smile didn't drop. Looking me up and down, his smile only grew. "Wow. You look great."

I spun around, showing myself off in order to hide my blush. "Why thank you."

"Oh, here." He took off his backpack, unzipped it, and handed me a smooshed bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolate. "One for your mom, and one for you. Also, I hope you like chocolate."

I looked between the smooshed flowers and his eyes. "They're gorgeous, Peter. And I love chocolate."

"The flowers were nice." He promised.

"I love them. Thank you." I giggled.

"I'm gonna keep them." He bit his lip, stuffing them back into his bag. He still gave me the chocolate that I put on my bedside table for later.

There was a knock on the door and a moment after it opened. Steve stood on the other side with narrow eyes and an odd stance. "You must be Peter."

"Yes. Hi, sir. Peter Parker." Peter shook his hand.

"Right." Steve said. "Dinners ready."

My mom already set the table and placed the chicken on each of our plates. Peter and I sat beside each other, Steve and my mom across from us.