Sharp Edges / Peter Parker

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

a/n: idk wtf happened to my new keyboard because it said delivery failed so that's cool, but i finished typing this out on my phone because i'm really excited to progress the story and get things moving for peter and tillie! enjoy ♥️

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IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE, BUT PETER WAS OUT PATROLLING.  When he saw Happy's SUV pull up in front of his apartment building, he thought he was hallucinating at first. Then when Tillie got out from the passenger seat, turning around to wave goodbye before she walked towards the building, he thought for sure he had to be seeing things.

Since when did she know him? But he hasn't known her that long, so after thinking about it for a moment, Peter guessed it wouldn't be that surprising. After all the only people that he knew they for sure had in common were Ned and MJ, and that was only because he went in to the coffee shop nearly every day.

But wait, does that mean she knew Tony? Surely if they did know each other, he would've mentioned it. And what about the others, could Tillie know them, too?

Hoping it wouldn't be too obvious, Peter waited until Tillie stepped into the building. He quickly climbed down the side and slipped into his apartment through the window. A minute later, he was back in his regular people clothes, and 5 minutes after that, he was knocking on her apartment door.

"Oh, hi Peter! Merry Christmas... Eve? Do people say "merry Christmas Eve"? Or did I just make that up..." Tillie stepped aside as she tried to think, and asked Peter if he wanted to come in. They walked over to the couch and sat down.

"I was just sitting looking out my window and saw you get back, figured I'd come say... merry Christmas Eve. You know Happy Hogan?"

Tillie was surprised to hear his name from Peter. But then again, Happy must've become pretty well known thanks to Tony Stark, so it shouldn't have been that surprising.

"I actually just met him for the first time tonight. Steve asked him to pick me up—" Tillie paused. She was careful and tried not to name drop at all if she could help it, but talking to Peter felt so casual that it slipped out.

"S-steve Rogers? Like, Captain America, Steve Rogers?"

"Umm, yeah. I met him a while back in therapy. You know, before the Avengers brought everyone back."

This made a lot more sense. Why none of the other Avengers or their families ever mentioned Tillie, probably because they didn't know her then.

"Oh," Peter realized that he'd immediately made things pretty awkward.

"Yeah. He found out that I'm gonna be by myself for the holidays so he invited me over. Tomorrow too, but I didn't feel like being around a lot of people. Christmas is kind of a sore subject."

Peter was almost envious. He'd give anything to be around all of them again, and he assumed that's where Tillie had been invited to tomorrow. But he knew it wasn't her fault, she didn't know about any of his past. No one did.

First Christmas without May, then again even if she were here, it'd still be his first Christmas without her. Made worse by the fact that he didn't have Ned, or MJ either.