I woke up feeling completely spent. The memories of that night came crashing down on me, making me relive the anxiety and fear that rushed all over my body as that man pointed the gun at me. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes when my thoughts flashed to my masked hero.
Spider-Man.
The warm hand that comforted me while I broke down. The softness of his voice when he made sure that I was alright. The way I felt more at ease talking to him than I did with people I actually knew.
My heart raced fast again but not from fear but because of... something else.
You don't know him, Y/N. I reminded myself. He hasn't visited you since that night. He's a superhero. He won't have time to see you again.
I sighed. Part of me knew that was true, that he would forget about the girl that sobbed in front of him. But part of me wished he would.
Not having much of an appetite, I pushed my lunch around my plate. My usual group of friends surrounded me. They were all talking animatedly about how they were going to spend their weekends. I zoned out of their conversation. As much as I didn't want to admit it to myself, my mind kept going back to the 'moment' me and Spider-Man shared by my window.
I remembered how bold I felt moving close to him and how warm his skin felt against my lips. The way he sounded nervous as he spoke. The way his personality changed from overly confident to soft and caring, made my heart race. Maybe it was because he had saved me from a possibly fatal situation but I knew deep down that it wasn't that.
There was something about the webslinger that had me hooked. And we had only met once. God, Y/N. You're such a hopeless romantic.
"Y/N."
I turned to my friend, Betty Brant. "Yeah?"
"We asked you a question." The rest of the people in our group waited for my answer.
"Oh, sorry. I kinda spaced out. Can you repeat the question?"
Betty put her hand on my shoulder. "You okay? You've been acting a little weird the whole week. Did something happen?" She gave me a concerned look.
I smiled at her. Betty was one of the few people that I knew I fully trusted. She had my back and I had hers. "I'm fine, Bets. I think I just need some time alone."
She nodded. "Talk to you later?" I nodded.
It was lunch period so I assumed the robotics lab would be empty. When I wanted to distract myself from my thoughts, I had the weird craving to tinker with something. Might as well get ahead with that robotics project that Mr. Wilson assigned.
As I pushed the door open, I found that the lab wasn't empty as I assumed. Peter Parker was working on something and was very much distracted by his work to notice my entrance.
"Hey, Peter."
He jumped, finally realizing that I was in the same room. He knocked some of the tools off the table. I approached his table, which was behind mine. Peter rested his arm on the edge of his desk. I'm guessing in an attempt to look 'cool' but the illusion was broken by how red he was turning. I tried to suppress my laughter. He was actually kinda cute. Hmm.
"H-hey, Y/N. I didn't notice you come in."
"Sorry about that. You need some help?" He looked down at his fallen tools.
"N-no, I got it."
"Okay," I placed my bag on my desk and sat down on my chair, still facing him. "So are you working on Mr. Wilson's project?"
"Uh, yeah, wanna get ahead of some school work before midterm season you know?" He spun the screwdriver in his hand.
"Same here. What are you making? I'm not gonna copy. I promise." I held my hands up. He smiled at me and my heart fluttered.
"I haven't really decided on anything yet, to be honest. I'm kind of just tinkering on some of my old projects." He fiddled with a screwdriver. "I've been a little distracted lately."
That I could relate with. "I know how that feels."
"Got a lot on your mind?"
I hummed in agreement. I placed my elbow on his desk and rested my head on my palm while I watched him tinker. I felt strangely comfortable in Peter Parker's presence. I watched him for a few more minutes. He looked so focused, jaw tensed and eyebrows a little scrunched together. He would catch me looking at him and blush, making me blush too.
"Well, I'm gonna start on my project now. Holler if you need anything."
"Okay."
I turned to my desk and sighed at all the loose parts on the table. Robotics wasn't my forte and my project showed it. I was attempting to create a small robot with an artificial intelligence installed. The A.I. was relatively easy to create but the robot was another thing. I sighed and went to work.
I started to work on the head first. Turning it around in my hand to see what more I had to do. I found some wiring that needed to be cut deep inside the mechanism. The wire was at the very back of the robot's head. I placed a finger inside to push the other wires away. I went to cut the wire but found it was tougher than expected. While wiggling the scissors the head slipped, causing the scissors to slice the skin of my finger. Hard.
"Ow, ow, ow!" I screamed. I quickly took out my hand and saw a lot of red.
"Y/N? Are you okay?" Peter asked. He rushed over to me and gently held my hand. My eyes stayed on the blood that was continuously coming out of the big gash on my finger.
"Peter...that's a lot of blood."
"We'll clean it up. I have a first aid kit in my bag. I'm just gonna go get it." He ran back to his desk and pulled a big pouch from his bag. When he returned, he opened the pouch and inside it were a variety of different plasters and gauzes along with every kind of antiseptic you could imagine. "Okay, sit down. I'll patch you up."
I sat down on my chair while Peter grabbed a few sheets of tissue paper and folded them. "Why do you carry a full first aid kit with you to school?" I questioned.
"Uh, you know, for e-emergencies. One can never be too prepared. So, I'm going to put a little bit of pressure to stop the bleeding now, alright?"
I nodded. He gently squeezed my finger while pressing the tissue sheets. The pain wasn't that unbearable but it was definitely uncomfortable. Peter kept looking at me to check if I was alright. I would give him a weak smile back.
"Okay, I think most of the bleeding's stopped. I have to disinfect it now so this might hurt." He brought out a cotton ball and placed some alcohol in it. "Ready?"
"I-I guess." I stuttered. My pain tolerance was pathetically low and I was really afraid. "Peter."
"Yeah?"
"Is it, uh, okay if I hugged you?" I felt myself blush because of the ridiculousness of my request. Peter himself looked very red in the face. "I-It's just, I know it's g-gonna hurt and I kinda need someone t-to hold on to." I didn't want to meet his eyes.
"Uh," Peter cleared his throat. "S-sure."
"Thanks."
I awkwardly wrapped one arm around Peter's waist and left my other arm on the table. I rested my head against his chest and I could feel how fast his heart was beating. Peter placed an arm around my shoulders, standing in between my legs so that he could be closer to me. This act made me blush. Y/N, get it together. You don't blush this much around other boys.
I felt Peter place the cotton ball on the cut and for a while I felt nothing but a second later I felt the searing pain. I clung on to Peter's shirt and smothered my face into his chest. I felt tears forming and mentally cursed myself. Goddamnit, Y/N. Peter rubbed my back while he placed a bandage on my finger.
When he was done, I pulled away from him quite reluctantly. A couple tears fell down my face and Peter wiped them away. I looked up at him and met his soft brown eyes. He was still holding on to my face and we were so close to each other. This moment seemed all too familiar.
We both seemed to realize the position we were in and slowly backed away. I took a moment to catch my breath while Peter packed up his first aid kit.
"Thank you." I said.
"No problem." He leaned against my desk. "So, what were you trying to do before all of this happened?" He gestured to my bandaged finger.
"Well, I was trying to cut a wire in my robot's head but it slipped and..." I held up my finger. Peter nodded.
"May I?"
"Go ahead."
He picked up the head and my scissors and inspected the wires. "Which one needs to be cut?" I stood up and pointed it out for him, which he cut in about 5 seconds. "There you go."
"Thank you so much, Peter. I'm really terrible at robotics and honestly, I don't know how I'm going to do my project if I can't even cut a damn wire." I sighed.
"I-I could help you. If you wanted I mean." He suggested.
"Oh no, Peter. I couldn't. You have your project too and I'd just distract you."
"Maybe I want you to distract me." Peter said, quickly. I stared at him, not knowing to say. Peter's eyes went wide as if he couldn't believe he said that out loud. I giggled at his face. "S-sorry you probably think I'm an idiot now."
"Not really." I bit my lip to stop the smile that wouldn't leave my face. He let out an embarrassed chuckle.
"I mean it though. I don't mind giving you a hand." He scratched the back of his neck. The way he was looking at me right now, made my heart skip a beat. He was looking at me with wide, shy eyes and he had a small smile on his lips.
"As long as you let me help you with your project as payment. Deal?" I held my hand out for him to shake.
"Deal." Peter shook my hand. I relished in how comfortable I felt holding his hand. For a while we just stared at each before our moment was ruined by the door flying open.
"PETER! I got the things you asked for..."
Ned Leeds stopped short when he saw the two of us. Very close to each other. Holding hands.
Me and Peter let go of each other at the same time and moved to opposite sides of the table.
"Hi, Ned!" I said.
"Hey, Y/N." Ned moved to stand in between the two of us. Peter was busying himself with some tools. "What are you doing here during lunch? Shouldn't you be with your friends?"
"Ned." Peter said in a warning tone.
"What?" Ned raised his hands up.
"It's alright, Peter." I looked at him before looking at Ned. "Well, I left the cafeteria because I wanted to be alone and do my project but, instead, I found Peter here and he's pretty great company. Better than my usual crowd actually."
Peter chuckled.
"Really? Hanging out with this loser is better than hanging out with Betty freaking Brant?" Ned exclaimed. His statement made me laugh out loud while Peter slapped the back of Ned's head. "Dude! What the hell!"
"Sorry about Ned."
"It's okay. You like Betty?" I asked Ned who was rubbing the back of his head.
"Who wouldn't?"
"Well, I could introduce you if you want." I offered.
"You would do that?" Ned's mouth dropped. I nodded. "Thanks, Y/N. You know you're much cooler than I expected you to be."
"Expected someone snobby didn't you. Don't worry I get that all the time. I'm glad I changed your expectations of me." I smiled at the two of them. "Well, guys I actually have to go. Class is starting in a while. I'll see you guys around."
I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I was almost by the door when I turned around.
"Peter!" He turned around. I ran back over to them. "Give me your phone."
He placed his phone on my open palm. I punched in my number and saved it before handing it back to him. Peter looked at his phone.
"Your number?"
"Yup. How are you going to text me?" I smiled. "For the project of course." I cleared my throat.
"O-oh yeah of course. Yeah, I need this. Right. I'll s-see you..."
"See you, Pete." I turned around and made my way out of the lab. When I closed the door, I heard Ned scream.
"DUDE! You got her number!" After which, I heard a loud slap followed by a pained Peter scream. I shook my head, smiling, and made my way to class.
