"Hey, Pete."
I greeted my best friend, sliding into the seat next to him. The cafeteria was buzzing with the sounds of teenage chatter and utensils hitting plates. I noticed that Peter still hadn't greeted me back. My pulse raced as I took a good look at him. His elbows were placed on top of the table. He leaned forward, hair slightly falling over his eyes and mouth opened. He was staring at something. Or someone.
I followed his line of sight and saw that he was staring at Liz Allen. Most popular girl in Midtown High. I sighed.
"You better close your mouth before you get drool on the table." I said.
Peter turned to face me. "Oh hey, Y/N. Have you been there the entire time?"
"Yup. You were just too busy making googly eyes at Liz to notice me." I internally rolled my eyes and tried my best to keep the bitter tone out of my voice. What was so great about Liz Allen anyways?
"Sorry but can you blame me? She's just so kind and pretty and smart and pretty." Peter gushed. My heart broke with every compliment he gave her. I kept silent and tried my best to blink away the tears from my eyes. Truth was, I'd somehow grown feelings for the dorky boy beside me. It wasn't that hard anyways. Anyone in their right mind would. I decided that I heard enough about Peter's crush and diverted his attention elsewhere.
"Can you help me with this problem? I've tried it so many times and I still can't get it." I asked.
"Oh yeah, sure. You see you just have to..." Peter continued to walk me through the process of answering this problem. I listened carefully to his explanation, smiling at his intelligence. He noticed that I wasn't paying attention anymore and looked at me. "Pay attention, you." He poked my nose with the butt of his pencil. I scrunched up my nose at the action and giggled. We met each other's eyes. The moment turning silent. His warm brown eyes searched mine before they flickered down to my lips. My heart beat so fast that I was almost certain Peter could hear it. I was about to lean in when I heard a shout.
"Peter!"
I turned my head and saw none other than Liz Allen strutting her way down the aisle of tables. I looked at Peter and saw his entire face light up. My previous smile turned into a frown as he smiled at her.
"H-hey Liz! W-what's up?" He stuttered. I looked to down to hide the roll of my eyes.
"I'm good." She said with her sickly, sweet voice. "But I do have a problem..." I looked up and saw that Liz had the fakest frown on her face.
"What's wrong?" Peter asked her. A small glint appeared in her eyes. I crossed my eyes at her, instantly becoming suspicious.
"It's just I have this party on Friday and I haven't done any planning for it yet and I still have so much to do and buy. Not to mention, I still have that essay for my Lit class due the same day." She sighed, pushing her hair away from her face. "And I was thinking, since you are the smartest guy in our grade, I was wondering if you could finish my paper for me. You're invited to my party, you can even bring your little friend over here." She shot a dirty look at me. "Please, Peter." Liz put her hand on top of his.
I heard Peter's sharp intake of breath and knew that she had him wrapped around her finger.
"S-sure." He stared at her, adoringly. Liz smiled, looking extremely happy with her work.
"Great! I'll talk to you later about the deets. You're the best, Pete." She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Peter immediately turned red and I used all of my strength not to let the tears spill from my eyes. When Liz was out of hearing distance, Peter looked at me.
"Y/N, did you see what just happened? Liz freaking Allen just invited me to her party! She invited both of us!" He gushed.
"Peter, she just asked you to do her homework for her. She's using you." I said, bluntly.
"Yeah, well it's not really a big deal. I mean I can finish that in two hours! But Y/N! She knows I exist!" He held my shoulders and shook me slightly. He looked so genuinely happy that I couldn't bring myself to dampen his mood.
"I know, Pete. It's great!" I lied but Peter was much to happy to notice my forced smile. He went back to teaching me while I stared at him, longingly. Knowing I could never have him.
The whole week Peter worked on Liz's essay while I tried desperately to talk him out of it. I was almost close to getting him to stop doing it but then Liz came out, smiling brightly, asking about her paper. Peter instantly became a blubbering mess and started working on it right in front of her. Peter and I got into a short argument after this which ended with Peter holding me in his arms so I wouldn't storm out.
"Are you sure you don't wanna come with me, Y/N?" Peter asked. We were both in his room, me lying comfortably in his bed while he was currently getting ready to get to the party.
"Yeah, I have some reading to do so I'll pass. I'll just stay here and wait for you, if that's alright?" I curled deeper into his blanket.
"Of course, you're always welcome here." He turned to me and held his arms out. "How do I look?" Handsome as always.
"You look weird." I joked, a smirk playing on my lips. He rolled his eyes playfully and jumped on the bed making me slightly bounce up. I giggled and sat up. Peter looked at me, smiling.
"You gonna be okay here alone?" He grasped my hand in his bigger one. I smiled at the gesture and rubbed the back of his hand.
"I'll be fine and I won't be alone. I can chat with May until you get home. I'm sure she'd want to have some girl time after being around testosterone everyday." I said. Peter nodded. I bit my lip, deciding if I should speak out my thoughts. "Peter, can you promise me something?" He scrunched his eyebrows together.
"Anything." He looked me in the eye and squeezed my hand. "What's wrong, Y/N?" I sighed.
"Nothing. Just... be careful later. Okay? You know how Liz's crew gets. I just don't want you getting hurt, Pete." I looked down at our entwined hands. Peter pushed my chin up so that I could look at him.
"Hey, I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."
"You can't exactly web them up if something goes wrong." I hinted at his newfound super powers. He chuckled.
"Don't worry about me. If I do get hurt, I know you'll be there to patch me up again. I'll always come back you, Y/N." He looked at me with a strange look in his eye. Being this close to him always made my heart flutter but now it seemed to flutter a little faster. Peter placed a chaste kiss on my forehead. "Walk me to the door?" I nodded. We walked to the door, Peter saying goodbye to his Aunt May.
"Have fun." I said. I pushed his hair a little bit away from his eyes. I rose up to my tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Text me when you're on your way back."
"S-Sure. I'll see you later, Y/N." He scrambled out the door. I looked at the door in confusion.
"You sure have an effect on him." I heard Aunt May's voice from the couch. She was giving me a knowing smile.
"I don't have an effect on him." My mind went back to Peter's blushing around Liz.
"Oh sweetie, you do. Come sit here." She patted the seat beside her on the couch. I sighed and sat beside her. "So, how long?"
I looked at her confused. "How long what?"
"How long have you been in love with my nephew?" She smirked. I choked on my spit.
"I-I don't - It's just -" I was cut off by May's soft chuckles. My cheeks felt really warm.
"It's okay. He loves you too, you know." I scoffed.
"That's not true, May. I'm pretty sure he loves someone else." I looked at my hands.
"Are you sure? Because the look in his eye when he looks at you would tell me otherwise." May put her hand on mine. "Just give him time, Y/N. Boys can be slow about these sorts of things. I should know. I had to ask Ben out on a date because he was too shy to do it." She chuckled at the memory. I smiled at her.
"Thanks, May." I said, thankful for the older woman's advice.
"Anytime, sweetie. I'm gonna hit the hay. Make sure Peter gets home tonight. I'll see you tomorrow, Y/N." She gave my hand a squeeze and stood up to go to her room, leaving me to my thoughts.
I decided to go back to Peter's room and take a short nap before he came home. I lay my head on the pillow that vaguely smelled of Peter and dreamed about the day he would wake up and find that what he's looking for has been here the whole time.
