Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

32. Shower

Marie called Daphne that evening to ask if she could fill in for the regular employee again at the dance wear shop. The last time Daphne had done that, she met Peter. Just thinking of Peter makes her stomach do flips. It's normal, right? Feeling warm and happy when you think about a good friend? Daphne feels bad for having to disappoint Marie, but she simply has no time to work this weekend. She has to study.

Daphne spends all Friday evening sorting out the chapters of the books she has to learn and gathering exercises to practice during the weekend. She doesn't sleep well that night. She wakes up at seven in the morning, drenched in sweat. She dreamed she slept through the entire weekend, not having studied one second and having to go into the tests completely blank. After staring at her ceiling for almost an hour, Daphne glides out of bed and makes her way to the en suite bathroom. Maybe a shower will help clear her mind.

The warm water relaxes her tensed muscles. She washes her hair, gently massaging her scalp. The foam builds on her head and she squeezes her eyes shut when she angles her face under the shower head, letting all the soap slide down her body. She carefully washes the scar on her back and moves on to the rest of her body. She hums the Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker as she rinses off the last bits of soap. Daphne turns the faucet until the water stops flowing and grabs a small towel to twist her hair into. She uses a second, only slightly bigger towel to dry her body.

When she steps out of the tub, she realizes she forgot to bring a clean set of underwear to the bathroom. She blames her anxious brain. She wraps the towel around her body and makes her way to the bedroom. It's just past eight, so her dad must have already left. Daphne decides to put the kettle on, so the water will be boiling when she's done getting dressed. She really wants a good, strong, caffeinated cup of tea and she wants it sooner rather than later. Efficient time management. She tells herself. She takes off the towel around her hair and throws it back into the bathroom. She tightens the towel around her body and opens the door to the hallway. The wooden floor is cold against her feet, so she rushes around the corner to the living room.

...

Derek makes his way to the front door. He's already late for work and he really needs to check the samples from the snow leopards that he took yesterday, before Daphne came to see him about her school issue. He grabs his bag on the way to the door and opens it.
"Good morning, sir!" Peter says with a bright smile as he straightens his back. He's wearing his staple flannel shirt with a sweater over top. His winter coat is unzipped. From the way he pants slightly, Derek can tell Peter ran up the stairs. He holds onto the straps of his backpack. Derek laughs. The kid is so eager to help Daphne he showed up at their doorstep at eight o'clock in the morning. It was endearing, really.

"Hi, Peter."
"Sorry, I'm early. Is Daphne up yet?"
"Yeah, she is! I gotta get to work, though." Derek takes his coat and scarf from the coat rack and brushes past Peter. "Make yourself at home, but don't do anything fishy, got it?" Peter's cheeks go red from what Derek implies. Or at least what he thinks Derek implies. Derek raises his eyebrows at Peter as he pauses his walk down the stairs.
"We're just gonna study, sir." He points at his backpack. "I made flash cards and everything."
"And what's in the paper bag?" Peter glances at the paper bag that's sticking out of his backpack.
"Cheesecake, sir." Peter smiles nervously. "From the bakery she likes so much."
"You got a slice for me too?" There's a twinkle in Derek's eyes. Daphne must've gotten her sweet tooth from her father.
"Yes, sir." Peter nods quickly and reaches for his bag. "Do you want it now?"
"No, no, don't bother. Put it in the fridge for me, please." Derek laughs. "I'll eat it when I get home." Peter relaxes his shoulders and smiles.
"Okay!"
"Gotta run, Pete. Say hi to Daphne from me!" Derek rushes down the stairs.
"Will do, sir!"

When Derek is out of sight, Peter slowly makes his way into the apartment. He's only ever seen Daphne's bedroom as Spider-Man, so this is really the first time he's ever been there himself. He gently closes the door behind him and hangs his coat up on the rack. He puts his backpack on the floor and unzips it, taking out the paper bag with the cheesecake slices. The open floor plan of the room is easy to navigate and he quickly finds his way to the fridge. He feels like he's intruding, being practically alone in the apartment. He opens the fridge and finds a spot for the sweet treats. He closes the door and wonders what to do next.

Peter has no idea where Daphne wants to study, so laying everything out already might be unnecessary work. He shuffles to the other side of the kitchen when he hears a door open. His glance shoots to the hallway. Should he call out for her? Before he gets time to process that she's coming, she's already in the living room.

Peter's eyes go wide and he freezes where he stands. Opposite him is Daphne. Equally frozen when their eyes meet. She's wearing nothing but a relatively small towel, wrapped around her body. Her hair is still wet, but not dripping. It frames her face and sticks to her shoulders and collar bones in thick parts. He's seen her in skin tight clothes every Tuesday and Thursday for over a month now, but seeing her in just a towel makes Peter's blood rush through his body. She's absolutely breath taking.

"Peter?!" She yelps and Peter turns around to have his back face her. He squeezes his eyes shut and hides his face in his hands. His cheeks are bright red and so are his ears.
"Oh, God, I'm so sorry!" He exclaims. He hunches, cringing at what's happening.
"How the fuck did you get in?!" He hears her shuffle back into the hallway. She's hiding behind the wall.
"Your dad let me in!"
"And he left?!"
"He said he had to go to work!" It's quiet for a second in the hallway. He can hear her heartbeat slow down as the realization hits her.
"Shit, you're right." She peeks her head around the corner. "You can look, Pete," she says softly. "It's okay." Peter slowly turns back to the hallway. "I did see you in your underwear before too." She tries to make light of the situation by referencing what happened in the changing rooms when he had his first ballet class. "Guess we're even now."

He carefully glances her way before standing up straight. She's still half hiding in the hallway, but he can see half of her body. He needs to do everything he can to not look at anything other than her face. His hormones need to stop.
"I, uh..." Peter stutters. "I made flash cards." He points towards his backpack at the door with his thumbs, not breaking eye contact with Daphne. She chuckles softly and the sound of it makes his heart flutter.
"I should probably get dressed before we get to that." Peter presses his lips on top of each other and looks away. He takes a deep breath.
"Y-Yeah, you probably should." She disappears into the hallway.

"Could you maybe put the kettle on? I'll be there in a minute," she half shouts from her bedroom. Peter turns to the kitchen. He spots the kettle in a corner and walks towards it.
"Will do!" He has to keep it together. As he refills the kettle with fresh water, he keeps seeing the image of her shocked face in the hallway. The way her legs looked... And her collar bones. Her ash blonde hair had a deep brown color from the shower and it looked like it was glued to her body. Her flush face and plump lips. Her wide, gleaming eyes...

Shit. Peter thinks. Maybe I am crushing on her. Peter really wishes he could take a shower himself now. An ice cold one.