darling [peter parker]

drama!

Wendy tried to avoid Peter at all cost.

Not just because she was heartbroken - which she definitely was - but because she felt guilty. The rumors had started up again. Wendy's song was about Spider-Man. Apparently, they broke up. No, it was about Peter. Everyone knows Peter's in love with Wendy. Yeah, she looked right at him while she was singing! But red is such a Spider-Man color. What if Peter is Spider-Man? Shut up, you're an idiot.

Shit like that.

Every whisper made her tense up even further. What if someone did figure out Peter's secret identity? It'd be all her fault. She couldn't handle that right now. She was fraying. Her mom was looking for a therapist for her, but who knew how long that would take? And would the therapist even be the right one? Margot and Liz said it was hard to find the therapist that clicks - it'd taken Margot four therapists, and Liz was still searching. "It's a lottery," Margot had sighed.

Wendy didn't have the emotional capacity for a lottery.

She took a peek at Liz's worksheet to see how she solved the problem. Liz glanced at her with a weird look in her eyes. "So, did you get a date to homecoming?"

"No," Wendy said. "The girls and I are just gonna go as a group. I got asked by someone, but it was a total pity ask,  so I said no. You?" Liz played with the corner of her paper. She only did that when she was nervous.

Liz sighed and leaned back in the couch. "You're gonna hate me." They sat in the library, doing their homework together while eating lunch.

"Liz, it is impossible to hate you," Wendy laughed. "I'm physically incapable of it. Everyone is." It was ostensibly true. Liz was adored by all. There was never a single malicious rumor spread about her. Wendy had five malicious rumors spread about her in her first week at Midtown.

"Just-just don't judge me, okay?" Liz pleaded, laying a hand on Wendy's arm. "Okay, so Peter asked me to go with him and I said yes."

Wendy froze. "Peter? Peter Parker?" Liz nodded her confirmation. Wendy briefly wondered if this was what dying felt like. Peter Parker, her ex-boyfriend, asked one of her best friends to homecoming. She could feel the tears coming but she couldn't let them show. If she cried, Liz would ask questions, and Wendy was not about to share Peter's alter ego with yet another person.

"We're just going as friends," Liz said hastily. "It's not a romantic thing whatsoever. At least, I think it's not. I know you hate him, but I mean, he's cute, right? And he is nice-"

"I need to use the bathroom," Wendy interjected. She grabbed all her stuff and practically ran to the nearest bathroom. Tears streamed down her face as she launched herself into a stall and locked the door behind her. Fuck, she was so sick of crying. Her first heartbreak was so not worth her first kiss/boyfriend. Like, Peter was hot and sweet and amazing and all, but if she ruined her makeup one more time, she was going to invent that memory wiper thing from Men in Black.

A groan left her as she left the stall. Her makeup wasn't too badly damaged. She sniffled and ran her fingers through her hair. Just-finished-sobbing was kind of a look. The door opened and before she could duck back into the stall at lightning speed, Peter Parker was walking into the girls' bathroom, looking concerned.

She glowered at him. "Can I help you?"

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Nevermind. That's a stupid question. I'm-"

"Liz?" she interrupted, moving towards him. "Of all people, you had to ask Liz to homecoming? She's one of my best friends-"

Peter cut her off with, "She's one of mine too! And I asked you and you said no-"

"Because you lied to me-"

"I tried to tell you the truth and you wouldn't let me-"

"Oh, so this is all my fault?

"No, that's not what I'm saying! I'm just saying I'm not the only one to blame! I tried to end things before they got started-"

"You should've just told me then and there!"

"And what would you have done? Would you have told everyone? Used it against me?"

Wendy paused. What would she have done if Peter had told he was Spider-Man after their first kiss? She certainly wouldn't've been like, "Cool, let's make out now." Would she have used it against him? Maybe. Or laughed right in his face.

Peter's face was bright red, his eyes glassy. "It doesn't justify what I did. Nothing does. And I'm so, so sorry about everything. But I'm not the only responsible party." Wendy was crying again. He was right and she knew that all too well. She'd stayed up most nights since the breakup listing all the things she'd chosen to ignore, all the times she shut him down in favor of her feeling him up. They were equally guilty.

Ugh, this was just so confusing. She couldn't decode her emotions anymore. She'd once been so in tune with them and now it was like they were a different language she had yet to learn. She missed the days when she knew what she wanted. She missed when simply existing wasn't so painful. She missed-

Wait, when did she start kissing Peter?

But she was kissing him. She was pushing him up against the wall, her fists curled up in the fabric of his t-shirt, her body pressed against his. Their lips moved in sync. They hadn't been together long but there was so much kissing - they knew each other well. His hands were in her hair, his nails scratching lightly against her scalp. They kissed until they were out of breath.

She stepped back to examine her handiwork. Peter was panting, trying desperately to regain some oxygen. His lips were plump and swollen. His shirt was all wrinkled and his eyes were wide and clouded. God, he looked good. She almost went back in for another taste when she remembered that they were in the girls' bathroom and also very much not together anymore.

"Have fun at homecoming with Liz," she sniped before picking her backpack up off the floor and sweeping out of the bathroom like a hurricane.

Flash Thompson later claimed he witnessed a ruffled Peter Parker leaving the girls' bathroom and promptly entering the boys' bathroom, but no one believed him.

*

big oof