golden | peter parker

fifteen

It had been a week since Peter and Penny had their movie marathon. It had also been a week since he had witnessed her fight with Mr. Jameson, and he had been sure to swing by her walking home the next day so she could snap some pics. He couldn't stick around and talk however, as crime was always calling his name.

They were both currently sitting on the floor of Peter's kitchen, desperately trying to perfect the formula for their makeshift super pill. Much to his dismay however, it was proving to be far more difficult than either of them had hoped.

"No you idiot, I said for every 1 tablespoons of sugar added there needs to be 2 teaspoons of blue raspberry extract," Penny said exasperated. She was taking notes in her notebook, trying to come up with a good recipe.

"Well maybe you should do it then! I don't bake! I don't do any of this bullshit!" Peter said, clearly frustrated.

"Peter, literally all you're doing is ratios. This is simple. Just read my directions more carefully," She replied monotonously, starting to grow tired of his childishness.

"You're doing ratios," Peter grumbled under his breath, not even bothering to make a good come back. Penny raised her eyebrow at him, faking offense.

They continued to work for hours, cracking jokes and laughing the entire time, until they finally came to a breakthrough. They pulled the pills out of the oven, after baking them for 10 minutes.

"The pills! They're staying hard! I think we did it!" Peter shouted, jumping up.

"Finally! Hell yeah!" Penny exclaimed, jumping up with him. They both were bouncing back and forth until Peter accidentally knocked the blue raspberry extract all over the floor.

"Crap! May is gonna kill me!" Peter yelped as he frantically started to clean the mess. Penny hurried to get their papers and computers away from the spill, her notebook nearly getting ruined.

She began to help him wipe it up with what must have been a thousand paper towels. They worked seamlessly together, Peter scrubbing while Penny was wiping. After three short minutes they had finished.

Peter rested his hand on his cheek while he leaned on the counter, watching as Penny jotted down that they needed to buy more of the blue raspberry solution. However, he was unaware that the blue dye had transferred from his hand to his face. So now, he had a large blue hand print on the right side of his cheek.

Penny looked over as he stood up, and laughed at his stupidity. "You absolute dork," She teased as she ran a paper towel under the sink, getting it wet to wipe the blue off.

"What? What's wrong?" Peter asked, confused as she shook her head at him.

"You look like you're turning into a smurf," Penny joked as Peter's face turned into one of horror.

"Well get it off!" He yelped, embarrassed. She rolled her eyes as she stood on her tiptoes to wipe the blue off his face. One hand was being used for his face, while the other was rested on Peter's shoulder for stability.

Penny's eyebrows furrowed and her tongue poked out, clearly in deep concentration. Peter smiled at the sight.

"Stop smiling, it makes it harder," She mumbled, still focused. He complied, but inside he was still beaming at her. Peter continued to stare at her, or more specifically at her eyes. He never noticed the flecks of gold mixed in with her normal chestnut brown.

After a few more seconds Penny was done. She removed her hand and her feet were flat on the ground.

Penny looked back up at Peter only to find him still staring at her. She stared back, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"What? Do I have blue on my face?" Penny asked, feeling shy under Peter's seemingly never ending gaze.

"Hm? Oh, no sorry," He replied, feeling slightly embarrassed. He did however notice she had an eyelash on her cheek. "Although you do have an eyelash." Peter trailed off as he stepped forward to get it.

Penny's eyes closed as she felt his hand touch her face, his hand lingering for a second too long.

She opened her eyes and saw that Peter was still close to her. His eyes flitted from Penny's eyes, to her lips, and back to her eyes so fast that she almost didn't notice. Almost.

They stood still, both thinking they should do something, anything. The seconds ticked by, and just as they almost started to lean in, Aunt May suddenly opened the front door, startling them both. They jumped away from each other, both going slightly red.

"It smells good in here! Like sugar and fruit, I love it," May sniffed as she set her bag down on the island in the kitchen.

"Yeah well, we try," Penny said trying to distract herself from whatever the hell that was.

"Penny dear, are you gonna eat with us?" May asked as she sat down on a stool, and unlocked her phone to probably order something.

Penny's eyes widened slightly, "Um, no sorry. I uh, I gotta get home actually. Thanks for the offer though."

She started to pack her things, cheeks burning red as she felt Peter's gaze on her back. She didn't dare to look at him, still trying to figure out what happened.

Penny turned around, looking everywhere except Peter. "I'll see you in our joined class tomorrow, yeah?"

"Uh, yeah. Def-definitely," Peter stuttered out, not sure what to say.

"Well alright then," Penny felt the situation becoming increasingly more awkward. Something she hadn't felt with him in a long time. "I'll be going."

Penny walked towards the door, waving to May before she left. Peter closed the door behind her, racking his brain to try and understand what just happened.

Penny walked down the stairs, wondering why she almost wanted something to happen, and why she was so awkward after. She also wondered why this was happening to her, especially now.

Peter went to his room, wondering why it felt like he felt with Liz. Why one of his best friends was becoming increasingly harder to ignore. Why he almost wanted something to happen.

Unfortunately for them both though, their questions would have to wait to be answered. But the real tragic part is, Penny would almost hate Peter before the truth came out for the both of them.