| sparks + butterflies | a peter parker fanfiction |

-07-

1076 words :)

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TIME WAS AN ODD THING. Theadora had been in Queens for almost two months, and she'd been friends with MJ, Peter, and Ned, for almost five weeks, and yet it somehow felt as though she'd been there for years and simultaneously like no time at all had passed.

It felt like she fit. Like she belonged.

She sat with Peter, Ned and MJ at lunch, and whenever she needed help in class, Peter wouldn't hesitate to support her. Whenever Flash was being a dick, Thea and MJ would tag-team and tear him to pieces. And whenever anyone was down, Ned would cheer them up.

It felt right.

And to be honest, Thea had no idea what she did to deserve them. They were amazing to her, and she couldn't even tell them who she really was. But she did her best. She let MJ rant to her about her older brother and she did her best to defend Peter from Flash's relentless bullying. Thea picked up a job at a local library with Ned, and Katrin was grateful to have some of the strain taken off her shoulders.

That afternoon, Peter had offered to meet Thea after school for help with a new topic in Maths that she hadn't been able to get her head around. He'd helped her before, but it had been at school, during lunch.

This time, they were meeting at the library that Thea worked at, after school, and it felt...different, this time. And Thea found herself actually looking forward to it.

Afterschool, Thea's ancient iPhone 5 buzzed with a message from Peter.

Peter :)

Sorry I won't be walking home with you, I have a few errands to run.

See you at the library at 4:30?

Me

all good. see you then.

Deciding that there was little point in going home, Thea checked the time. 3:17.

She had about an hour to kill. After deliberating for a moment, she decided to just explore Queens, as she hadn't had much time to do so before the school year started. As she walked through a park, her stomach rumbled. Thea got an allowance from Katrin every month, but so far she hadn't found much reason to spend it. Approaching a street vendor, Thea bought herself a doughnut, before finding a seat in the park and pulling out her book.

At HYDRA, her collection consisted of Little Women, The Hunger Games, and the first 6 Harry Potter books. Now that she was free, Thea had gotten her hands on the last Harry Potter book, and was finally able to answer the questions that the last book had left behind.

Curling herself up on the park bench, Thea lost herself in the story. The next thing she knew, it was 4:20, and she was running late to meet Peter at the library. Cursing, she shoved her book back in her bag, and hurried out of the park.

Queens was very different to the places Thea had lived before, but it definitely had charm. And Thea desperately tried to fight off the fact that maybe that charm had something to do with a certain curly-haired boy who she was on her way to see.

Shaking the thought out of her head; she and Peter hadn't known each other for more than two weeks; Thea pushed open the library doors. Peter wasn't there, so Thea slid into a booth and unpacked her books.

She checked the time. 4:29.

Opening her maths textbook, Thea flipped to the page the class was working on.

4:32. Thea decided to re-read the chapter so she wouldn't look like a complete idiot when Peter got there. After finishing the chapter, Thea checked the time again.

4:43. Peter was thirteen minutes late. Maybe he...missed his bus?

4:50. Still no Peter. Thea had taken to doodling little faces in the corner of her workbook.

5:03. No messages, no Peter. A sinking feeling had settled in the pit of Thea's stomach. He wasn't coming, she shouldn't have agreed to get help.

5:12. Nothing. He was over forty minutes late. Thea told herself she'd wait another fifteen minutes, and if he wasn't there by then, she would go home.

5:27. Still no Peter. No messages, no calls.

5:32. Thea picked up her things, fighting off the tears that seemed determined to spill. Cursing herself for getting soft, she swung open the library doors and stormed down the path. This is why you don't get help, she told herself. This is why I don't make friends.

Thea crossed the street to the bus stop. This is why I don't trust people.

Because you just get hurt.

Stepping off the bus, she began the short walk to her apartment; just a block away. She was rounding the corner, her fists clenched tightly around her bag straps, when a figure in red and blue spandex dropped from the building above.

'Hey!' he called. His voice sounded...familiar. Also young. Much younger than Thea would have expected.

She tilted her head at the superhero. Didn't he have people to save?

'Are you okay?' He asked. Thea glared at him.

'Not really. Why do you care?' She asked, irritated that he couldn't just leave her to her cursing and misery.

'I'm Spiderman. I care about Queens. And you live here, don't you?'

Thea nodded. How the hell did he know where she lived? Did he know who she was?

'So, what's up?' he asked, casually leaning against the apartment wall. Well, as casually as a guy dressed in a tight spandex spider costume leaning against a grimy wall in Downtown Queens could, anyway.

'I was supposed to meet a friend. He offered to help me with school stuff. He didn't show up. Obviously, I was stupid to agree.' She wasn't sure why she was opening up to a superhero, but here she was.

Spiderman looked...sad? 'Maybe he couldn't make it? Maybe he really wanted to, but something else came up?'

'He could have at least texted me,' Thea said, moving past him to walk into the apartment.

Spiderman was silent. 'I guess.'

Thea tapped her foot awkwardly. Something was off about the hero, and she felt as if she'd definitely met him before.

'Well, good luck with your friend, Thea!' The hero said suddenly, swinging away, before she could respond.

Thea watched him go, her brain whirring. She never told him her name.

This either meant two things; Spiderman had been watching her, and he was the one to trash the apartment and assemble her file, or she knew Spiderman, whoever he was behind the mask.

She wasn't sure which was worse. 

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