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It wasn't unusual for Peter to show up at your window in the middle of the night. Being one of his best friends, you were one of the only people who knew his secret, so he often ended up on your fire escape, knocking on the window for you to let him in. You'd clean him up, comfort him, and tell him that he needed to get it together. It happened so frequently that it had just become part of your routine, all of the motions were muscle memory.
What was unusual, however, was when you sent him a text late at night telling him you needed him. Living only a few floors above you, Peter was down the fire escape and knocking at your window in a matter of minutes. He didn't question it the first few times, knowing you wouldn't want to answer, and instead crawled inside your room, wrapping his arms around you tightly. You cried into his shoulder, hugging him as tightly as you could, your tears soaking into the fabric of his shirt.
But the fifth time it happened... the fifth time was different. It had started out the same as the other times; Peter was at your window only minutes after you sent the text, stepping into your room and pulling you into his arms. Normally Peter could calm you down, but this time, you were practically inconsolable; you couldn't stop the loud sobs from leaving your lips, and your body was shaking. Peter was silent for a few moments as he held you, but you could feel the way his body tensed against yours. You heard the way his breath caught in his throat, and you knew that he was holding back from saying something to you, not wanting to make things worse.
Hand pressed to your back gently, nose nudging into your hair, you could hear Peter's breath falter again. His voice was quiet - so quiet you could barely hear him. "Y/N, what's going on?"
Your head shook from side to side immediately, burying your face back into his shoulder, not wanting to talk. "It's nothing, Peter," you hiccuped, trying to control your breathing.
"It's not nothing. I know you, Y/N, and I know that this isn't okay, it's not normal. Something's wrong. This is the fifth night this month, just tell me what's going on." Peter's voice was soft but firm. You knew he was doing this because he was worried about you, but that didn't make admitting the truth any easier.
You knew Peter was right. He usually was. You just didn't want to admit what the problem was. As soon as you spoke it, the problem became real, and you didn't know if you could handle that. Pulling back from Peter, you wrapped your own arms around your body as you sat down on your bed, sniffling quietly. Peter took a seat next to you, his hand rubbing up and down your back again, waiting for you to say something.
After taking a few deep breaths, you looked up at Peter, whose concern was quite visible on his face. You brought your hand up, pulling the sleeve of your sweatshirt over your fist as you wiped away the tears under your eyes before speaking, "We- we've been fighting. The last few times I saw him, he blew up at me. But th-this time... I caught him cheating. We broke up."
Through teary eyes, you could see the way that Peter's face softened as you finally confessed what was wrong. "Oh, Y/N/N, I'm sorry, I didn't realize..." You could see the genuine concern and hurt for you behind his eyes, but you were also quick to sense the anger that was bubbling up in him.
Your head shook quickly as you sniffled, swiping your hand under your eyes again, "I-It's fine. I'm fine. It doesn't matter."
"Hey..." Peter murmured, pulling you into his body for a tight hug, "it does matter, Y/N. You are incredible and you deserve the best. I can't believe he did this to you, I want to go kick his ass."
Arms wrapping around his torso, your head shook again, "Peter, no. He's not worth it. Please don't do anything."
Peter let a loud sigh, and you could feel his body tense against yours as he nodded slowly, "Okay. But only because you said I couldn't, otherwise I'd whoop his ass." You couldn't help but laugh a little into his chest, and you could feel his smile when he pressed a kiss to the top of your head. "C'mere, love," he mumbled, moving back into your bed and pulling you with him.
He had situated himself on one half of your pillow, legs stretched out on your bed with one of his arms out. You scooted back into Peter's arms, laying down next to him as you hiccuped a few more times and pushed your face into Peter's shirt again. His arms wrapped around you securely, pulling you in as close as he could, the palm of his hand rubbing over your side.
It was silent for awhile while you finally calmed down a little and caught your breath. Peter's lips were pressed to your forehead the entire time, his fingers drawing little shapes on your back. When he felt like he could break the silence, Peter spoke up, "I meant what I said earlier, ya know."
Your eyes blinked open and you tilted your head up to look at your best friend, eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "Whaddya mean, Pete?" you asked, your voice a little rough from crying.
"You're so incredible, Y/N. You're way too good for him, and he doesn't deserve you. You deserve someone to treat you like a princess; someone who will let you know just how loved you are. You're beautiful and smart and funny, and just everything anyone could ever ask for, I hope you know that."
You could feel your heart skip a beat in your chest as you looked at Peter for a few more seconds before resting against his chest again. What was he trying to say? "Thank you, Peter," you murmured, "I'll keep that in mind."
