"You should talk to her, that's all I'm saying. I talk to her every day. She's really cool, Peter."
Ned has to have lost his freaking mind. Sure, you are approachable and have never flat out ignored anyone but his problem goes a little beyond that. He's already tried to talk to you in the past- several times. And every single one he made a fool of himself.
Who could forget the duck incident of last year? He couldn't see you without blushing for weeks after that.
"That's what I was thinking, ducks' feathers are like-" Peter had stopped mid-sentence the moment you walked up to him and Ned, smiling widely.
He adored your smile.
"Hey, Ned. Hey, Peter." You'd said, and while Ned greeted you like a normal person, the only thing Peter managed to blurt out was-
"Duck." You'd frowned but nevertheless ducked your head down, looking up to see why he could've told you to do that. He would've explained that he didn't mean to say that were it not for the fact that his throat was completely dry and he'd forgotten all the words in the English language. Ned looked like he was suffering horribly from second-hand embarrassment, and Peter couldn't blame him.
"What, why?" You asked, frowning deeper as you looked around.
"There was a bee. Huge one. Bzzzzzz and everything." Ned said in a desperate attempt to save Peter, who only managed to nod as his face practically lit on fire. You didn't look too convinced but nodded anyway, and Peter begged to whoever was listening for the floor to open and swallow him whole.
"Right..." You said, clearly uncertain. "Anyway... Ned, you forgot your notebook on your desk." You handed it to him and he took it with a grateful smile. "Well, see you around." You waved at them and walked away, and Peter could see Ned turning to him slowly with a disbelieving stare.
"What. The hell. Was that?" He asked in a whisper, looking as if he was feeling real, physical pain. "I have never felt so embarrassed for another human being before."
"Excuse me, I need to go dig up my grave and bury myself." Peter said, slamming his locker door and wishing more than anything else to have the power of going back in time.
Sadly, he wasn't that lucky.
"I'm not going to talk to her because I can only embarrass myself when I'm close to her so I'm just gonna look at her being beautiful until we graduate." Peter says resolutely as they walk towards their next class. "I can't be a normal person when I'm around her so I might as well just stop trying to be."
"Come on, dude!" Ned groans exaggeratedly. "Please, just talk to her. She's nice and funny and smart and everything you ever wanted." He sighs and shakes his head. "You make me sad. You've liked her for two years now."
In theory, what Ned is suggesting may seem simple, but in practice it really isn't. The truth is, Peter can't control himself when you're near him. He gets butterflies and his palms start sweating and it gets hard to breathe- and he just doesn't know how to act differently when you're around. He knows it's irrational but he can't stop it, no matter how hard he tries.
You have no idea why Peter Parker dislikes you. You've been nothing but nice to him and yet, whenever you talk to Ned he looks like he's been punched in the stomach- like he can't wait for you to leave.
Also, it doesn't help that you've had a crush on him since the beginning of time.
Okay- it's actually been two years, but it sure as hell feels a lot longer than that. You've given up hope on that front a long time ago, though- it's clear he'll never be interested.
Since the start of the year you and Ned have been partners in Biology for the second year in a row, and he's been great. You were just a little more than acquaintances before that, but since then you can say confidently that you've become close friends. He always says hi and you text pretty often because he's hilarious and amazing- but still, his best friend has been rejecting you as if you were a disease over a year.
You're not going to stop being friends with Ned and you don't want to feel uncomfortable when you talk to him just because he's with Peter- because the truth is that they're together most of the time. There are days when you've wanted to sit with him at lunch and chat for a while but you've stopped yourself every time because Peter always makes you feel unwelcome.
You want it to stop; if he doesn't like you it's fine, but he doesn't have to be so rude about it. You know he's been friends with Ned since forever but Ned is your friend now too, and you don't want to lose him because he has another friend who dislikes you for no apparent reason.
That is why you've been thinking all morning about how you're going to approach the subject today during class, because you need to ask Ned what is wrong with Peter to see if there is a way to at least make this situation a little better so you can be around your friend too.
"So, Ned..." You say, trying to sound nonchalant as you write what's on the board on your notebook.
"[Y/N]..." He answers, trying to imitate your tone. You snicker and shake your head.
"Uh... can I ask you something?" You ask, biting your lip and feeling extremely self-conscious all of a sudden.
"Yeah, shoot." He says, erasing something on his own notebook before writing over it again.
"Why does Peter dislike me so much?" You see Ned stopping his movements altogether from the corner of your eye and you feel a knot in your stomach because of it- but you keep writing as if nothing is wrong, even though you're doing it mechanically and have no idea what you just copied.
"Wait, what?" He asks, and you don't have the guts to look at him so you just shrug your shoulders and keep acting as if it's no big deal.
"It's just that, you know... he always looks so uncomfortable when I'm around that I kinda don't wanna like, talk to you or anything because I feel like he doesn't want me there. It's just- I don't know, I just don't want us to stop being friends because Peter doesn't like me."
"We- I- wh- I don't-" He shakes his head and waves you off with his hand. "You know what? I'll talk to him." Your eyebrows shoot up and you turn to him, surprised. You were expecting him to only tell you what was going on, but maybe this is better- maybe Ned can sort this out himself.
"Oh- that's great but maybe don't- uh- tell... him I asked?" You say, grimacing a little. He shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders.
"Nope. I won't." The bell rings right in that moment and you both start gathering all your things. "I'll get back to you on that, don't worry." Ned says with a reassuring smile and you honestly feel relieved, because it seems like he will take care of it.
