The heat of my florescent lamp beat down on my hand as I attempted to understand how to find the probability of getting a black card from a deck of cards. I gripped my hair, frustrated with myself. I groaned. I wished Peter was here. He could've answered this in less than a minute. But no, apparently he was too busy to help his best friend from failing math.
"Okay, Y/N. You got this. You've got to focus." I gave myself a pep talk and took a deep breath before going turning back to my book. I managed to get through a few hours of "studying" before my eyelids grew heavy and my head tilted forward. "Just a few minutes." I mumbled with a yawn. I crossed my arms and placed my head on the desk.
Knock.
Knock knock.
"Five more minutes."
Knock knock knock knock.
I grumbled before looking for the source of the sound. My eyes still slightly blurry, from being pressed against my arm for so long, managed to make an image of a figure by my window. I rubbed my eyes and made my way to the window and opened it. Vision cleared, I opened my eyes. My mouth dropped open as I made sense of what I was seeing.
"Uh-hi."
Spiderman. Friendly neighborhood Spiderman-Spiderman. Was standing by my window sill, clutching his side and breathing heavily.
"Sorry for barging in on you. You seemed a little busy there." He joked. I let out an airy laugh. "Can I come in?"
Somehow unable to form words, I nodded and stepped to the side. He limped his way inside and managed to catch his foot on the window sill. He fell forward and landed on his face. This seemed to snap me out of my trance.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?" I scrambled to him and put my hands on his shoulders.
"I-I'm okay, Y/N. Just slipped. I'll be fine just give me a sec." He blew out air. I was about to let him be when I realized something.
"Wait. H-how do you know my name?" I asked, confused.
"Uh..I-I dont't! You just seem like a Y/N! Y-yeah that's it!" He tried to explain. Something about him was just so familiar. His high pitched voice, the expressive hand gestures. It reminded me all of......
No.
"Peter?" I asked, hesitantly.
"W-what?" He exclaimed. The mechanical eyes of his mask widened in surprise. "I don't know a Peter! Who is this Peter you speak of?" This is definitely him. I've known him for far too long to not know how his voice would raise when he gets nervous.
"Peter." I said. I placed my hands on his neck and pulled out the edge of his mask. He sighed. I pulled it off slowly. He didn't stop me. Once I managed to get the mask off of him, I sat back. I tried to process what was happening. My best friend. My nerdy, non-athletic best friend was this loud mouthed superhero who swung from building to building, saving civilians from danger.
Peter refused to look me in the eye as he fiddled with the machines on his wrist.
"This isn't how I planned on telling you. I didn't think you would recognize me which is stupid of me since you're the smartest person I know." He said. If this was any other time, I would've blushed and looked away due to my growing feelings for the boy I've known since I was a child. Not knowing what to say I kept silent. "Please say something."
I looked up to meet his eyes. They were pleading, desperate to know how I would react.
"Is this where you've been disappearing to recently?" I asked. He nodded. "How long have you kept this from me?" I could feel tears forming in the back of eyes.
Peter ran a hand on his face.
"About 7 months?"
"And you never thought of telling me? I thought we told each other everything. Do you not trust me anymore?" My voice cracked as I said that last word. Peter's head shot up and met my teary eyes. He crawled over to me and held my face in both his hands.
"No no no no no it's not that. Of course I trust you. I trust you with my life! I-It's just-" He stuttered. "It's just-" He let out a long sigh and averted his eyes from my gaze.
"It's just what, Peter?" I placed my hand on top of his, sensing his nervousness. He looked up at me.
"I wanted to keep you safe." I kept silent and waited for him to continue. "I've made enemies, Y/N. They could hurt you or Aunt May and I-I can't lose anyone anymore. Not after my parents and Uncle Ben." I gave his hand a small squeeze. "So I decided that if you didn't know the other me, you'd be safe because if something were to happen to you because of who I am... I would never forgive myself."
A few tears fell from my eyes before I threw my arms around his neck in a tight hug. Almost instantly, his arms wrapped themselves around my waist.
"I'm sorry, Y/N."
"No, don't be sorry. I understand now why you kept it from me. But you know you don't have to go through all of this alone. I'll always be here for you." I said. He squeezed me tighter before he let out a sharp gasp. He let go of me and grasped his side. "What's wrong?"
"I was fighting a group of crooks trying to mug this old lady and one of them threw a punch a little too hard on my ribs."
"I'll go get you some ice." I ran to the kitchen as quietly as possible so that I wouldn't wake up my parents. I came back to my room, ice pack in hand, and saw Peter lying down on the floor looking completely exhausted. I smiled and shook my head.
"Come on, hero. Get on the bed. There's enough room for both of us." I helped him up and half dragged him to my bed. Once his back hit the mattress, he let out a content sigh. I placed the ice pack on him before climbing in the bed. I snuggled closer to him being careful not to hurt him even more. Sleep was starting to overcome me when I felt a hand running through my hair. "Hmm?"
"Nothing, just go to sleep." I heard Peter say. I nodded and fell back asleep. I didn't even notice Peter give me a kiss on the forehead and whisper the words I've been craving for him to say.
"I love you, Y/N."
