You sighed, your fuzzy sock-clad feet tucked under you as you sat with your legs crossed on Peter's bed. He had promised that the two of you could have one of your traditional movie nights, and needless to say, you were beyond excited. It seemed like ages since your last one of these. It was understandable, though, considering how your best friend was Spider-Man himself... yeah, you knew, but most days the thought of him being out there fighting still didn't sit right with you.
He had told you to come over at 5:30, so you'd arrived at 5:15. When you knocked on the door, May greeted you with a huge smile and a bear hug. After knowing Peter since you were in third grade, you'd also grown to know and love his Aunt. Every time you came over, she always had some sort of baked good prepared for you. She was like your second mother.
Now it was almost 6:00, and there was still no sign of Peter. You sat on his unmade bed, scrolling boredly through your Instagram feed. You knew why he was late, obviously, but you couldn't help feeling incredibly disappointed nonetheless. Lately, he'd been even more distant. In school, you sat together at lunch with him, Ned and MJ, but during every conversation, it seemed like he wasn't even really there.
You were about to send him a text when May's face popped up in the doorway. "Hey, kiddo, I'm sorry about this. Peter has been so flaky recently, and he won't even tell me why." She gave you a look of pity and understanding.
"Yeah, it's okay. Maybe I should head home, I guess." You meekly smiled, trying not to let the overwhelming dismay leak into your voice. May just nodded. Grabbing your backpack from the ground, you tucked your cell phone into the back pocket of your jeans.
Standing up, you were almost all the way out of the bedroom when you heard the front door open and slam shut. Peter.
You listened intently as you heard May's footsteps approaching him. She was talking to him, but he was answering in a tone none higher than a whisper. You could barely make out what he was saying. Biting your lip, you dropped your bag back down onto the ground and waited for Peter to come in.
The doorknob turned slowly and then opened to reveal your best friend on the other side. His hair looked disheveled, and your eyes widened as you took in the sight of a huge black eye forming on his face. He was sporting a light gray hoodie and jeans, but you could tell that he'd just thrown the clothes over his suit.
Peter met your gaze, his eyes slightly lighting up. You quickly went over to him, closing the door behind you. "Oh my gosh, Pete, come here." You led him over to the bed and carefully sat down next to him.
"Hi." He muttered as you both sat, leaning in to hug you before grimacing in pain.
Now you were really worried. "What the hell happened? It's not even dinner time and you're already all beaten up!" Your voice raised slightly, and you had to fight hard to not let tears start pouring from your eyes already. Running your hands through your hair, you squeezed your eyes shut.
"Hey, hey, I'm right here. (Y/N), look, I'm okay." Peter grabbed your hand, rubbing his thumb over your clenched knuckles soothingly. You let out a deep breath, his touch always had a way of simultaneously calming you down and making you completely lose your train of thought.
Opening your eyes again, you started, "You know, I was really, super worried about you. And I couldn't even talk to May about it," You felt yourself succumb to your emotions that were currently on overdrive, droplets of salt water beginning to leak from your tired eyes. "Now, you need to tell me what happened."
Peter sighed, still holding your hand in his. "Well, there was a bank robbery. I tried to stop it, I almost had them, I really did. But then one of them pulled out this massive gun thing, I swear it was like something from another dimension, it was so insane (Y/N)."
"Oh my god, I'm gonna be sick." Standing up and pacing back in forth in front of his bed, you shook your head in disbelief. "Peter, you could have died."
"(Y/N), every time I put on that suit, I run the risk of dying." He murmured, earning a death glare in his direction from you.
"Gee, thanks, that makes me feel so much better."
"(Y/N)! Jeez! I'm fine, I'm here. Why are you suddenly freaking out about this? It's just a few scrapes and bruises, nothing out of the ordinary." Peter pleaded, now standing up and facing you directly. You stared at the bruise on his eye that blocked out a cluster of the freckles that dotted his face.
Unfortunately, Peter was significantly taller than you, which meant that whenever you talked, you had to look up at him. This was your current situation, and as much as you were mad at him, the urge to collapse into his arms was still prominent in your mind as ever.
The words were flying out of your mouth before you could even process them. "God, Peter, because I'm in love with you, you dumbass!"
Suddenly you had stopped your pacing. Eyes wide as saucers, heart beating out of your chest, the reality of what you'd just admitted was slowly sinking in. It was your turn to blush profusely that night.
Meanwhile, Peter's mind was racing at a mile a minute. (Y/N) (Y/L/N), the girl who he'd pined after in secret since he was thirteen, had beaten him to say that he loved her first. The girl who Peter had watched admire other boys in their grade for years upon years. The girl who sat next to him at lunch on his first day being the new kid in their school. The girl who had punched Flash Thompson in the face one day after he'd dumped his lunch tray on him. The girl who he'd practiced confessing to in front of his mirror countless times. Holy shit.
You were staring up at him, your soft eyes wide with anticipation. Don't mess this up, Peter. He took a single step towards you. He felt time slow down.
The distance between the two of you grew smaller with every passing moment. You felt your heart surge in your chest as Peter's honey colored eyes scanned yours.
"(Y/N)?"
"Yes?" You choked out, voice barely rising above the volume of a whisper.
"I-I love you too."
Time froze. You let out a shaky breath of relief, before giving him the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen in his whole life. His eyes sparkled, flecks of light green catching in the light coming from the window.
"I think now's the moment where you're supposed to kiss me." You chuckled, watching as Peter's cheeks flamed.
"R-right." He stuttered, taking a final step forward towards you and wrapping his arms around your waist. You smiled again, causing him to almost fall over at how much he loved you.
And then he kissed you, so gently as if you were glass and he didn't want to break you, and all the years of hidden feelings suddenly came out into the open.
