darling [peter parker]

intermission!

It took two days for the symptoms of withdrawal to hit her.

She missed cuddling. And kissing. And feeling special, like she was the one person who could make him smile like that, laugh like that, blush like that. She poured her energy into schoolwork and her extracurriculars. She spent more time out of her room and with her parents. She started doing her homework at the kitchen table. Nights she would've spent with Spider-Man in her room she spent curled up on the couch with her mom and dad watching cheesy sitcoms and bad horror movies.

Every bit of pain went into her cheer routine. Every time her eyes watered or her heart hurt, she'd hit play on the song and dance her heart out. Her parents kept saying things like how proud of her they were and how much they loved her. She'd finish the routine and collapse on the living room floor in a heap of tired limbs and sweat and moments later her mom would appear beside her with a cup of tea and a forehead kiss. She'd put away the last dish and her dad would be there to pull her into a hug and call her 'peaches.'

The night before the pep rally, her Aunt Sharon came to dinner.

"How's the self-defense training going?" Sharon asked before taking a long sip of red wine. They always kept a bottle around just for her. Her mom was a fan of white wine and her dad tried not to drink, but when he did, he favored scotch. When Wendy was little, she used to have a matching glass full of grape juice so she could feel as fancy as Aunt Sharon. 

Wendy shrugged. "Good. I was surprised by how much my ballet training has come in handy, but I guess it makes sense. And I love my instructor."

"That's good to hear," Aunt Sharon sighed, her shoulders sagging with visible relief. "I heard about Colleen from a friend of a friend - I'm glad she's working out."

"She's awesome," Wendy gushed. She'd expected to hate her self-defense classes, but she hadn't given her aunt enough credit. Sharon had picked possibly the coolest instructor in the entirety of New York - Colleen Wing. Colleen wasn't that much older than Wendy and she was so incredibly badass. She'd started their first lesson by knocking Wendy on her ass and telling her she'd have to do a lot better than that.

So Wendy did.

"How's school been?" Sharon pressed. She took a bite of her salad. As long as Wendy could remember, her aunt was a vegetarian. As much as Wendy loved animals, she could never give up burgers or steak or beef tacos or chicken fingers. She had a pescatarian phase in middle school, but it lasted all of a week and ended with her scarfing down so many chicken nuggets at Erin's birthday party that she'd made herself sick.

Wendy shrugged again. "Alright. It's pretty much the same as always, but I'm putting in extra work for cheer. We have our pep rally tomorrow and I had to come up with our second routine. I think it turned pretty good."

"She's been practicing nonstop in the living room," her dad teased, slicing apart his salmon with the outer tine of his fork. "I swear, her sweat is gonna ruin our floor."

"It looks good though," Mom added. Her hair was down for once and the dining room chandelier illuminated her natural highlights. "Your hard work was definitely not misplaced, peaches."

Wendy couldn't remember why they called her 'peaches.' It'd just always been a thing. All her clothing and school supplies used to have peaches on it. She'd plaster peach stickers everywhere she could. To this day, she used the 'Pretty as a Peach' scent from Bath and Body Works.

Sharon side-eyed Wendy like she knew all her secrets. "Any boys? Or girls?"

"Neither," Wendy answered quickly - too quickly. She cleared her throat and repeated, "Neither. Ever since I made my statement, it's like I'm cursed. No one wants to touch me."

Well, no one except my long-time rival, apparently.

And just like that, the symptoms of withdrawal were back. She glanced at her bedroom door, her mind flooded with used to happen on the other side. Her mind flooded with Peter. Peter's lips on hers and Peter's skin on hers and Peter's hands in hers and Peter's smile and hers and Peter's laugh and hers. Her skin was tingling, her lungs suddenly devoid of oxygen. She excused herself to the bathroom.

She splashed some cold water on her face - she hadn't bothered with makeup tonight, so that wasn't something she had to worry about. She rubbed her face like massaging the water droplets into her skin would solve all her problems. She looked in the mirror and was suddenly enveloped in a night not too long ago when she stood in a bathroom like this with a wet face and a heavy heart only for her whirring thoughts to be interrupted by a knock at the door-

Knuckles rapped on wood. "Peaches? You okay in there?"

Wendy opened the door like she had on that night not too long ago. Except, on this night, on the other side of the door wasn't Peter Parker aka Spider-Man aka the boy plaguing her mind. It was her dad, looking just as concerned as Peter had.

Peter. How had her life turned into this? Peter this and Peter that and Peter Peter Peter. This was not who she was. Her gaze shifted from her dad to her Aunt Sharon, whose eyes held a sort of wisdom Wendy could only hope to one day understand.

She was Wendy Carter-Greene. She was so much more than some boy or some heartbreak.

She shook her head like she was clearing cobwebs. "Yeah, Dad, I'm good. Just a little dizzy."

"Go lay down, peaches," her mom instructed from the dining room table. "I'll come check on you in a bit, make sure you're not sick."

Aunt Sharon's eyes were glassy now. "Yeah, kid, get some rest. You've earned it."

*

idk what this chapter is but i kinda love it ??? i feel like i've barely included wendy's family in this fic so here's a lil chapter dedicated to family dinner with special guest star sharon carter!!!