Magicalmoonstrawberry - Miz - Tumblr Blog
Unknown Sender
happy valentine's day!
MONDAY: 13:52
‘hi.’ Peter squints at the message, then the unsaved number. He's not sure how, but it’s a scam.
‘i’d like to have your attention, please.’ Peter rolls his eyes, swiping left to not only delete but report the number as junk. No doubt it was a bot or someone with a flair for sextortion.
A new number. ‘that was actually so rude of you, parker.’
‘unblock me right now.’
Peter shifts in his seat, he does a slow look around the room and finds nothing off putting or alarming.
‘Who is this?’
Green bubbles pop up. ‘unblock me and i’ll tell you.’ Peter was right to guess about extortion. Another swipe, blocked and reported. Peter wasn’t participating in any games.
A new number. ‘oh, now you’re just being cute.’
Peter feels his heart pick up a bit, it’s a tad threatening and now he’s overthinking it a little. What if someone has it out for him? Is there a mark on his back? ‘Please leave me alone.’
‘no.’
‘can we play 21 questions?’
Peter’s face scrunches up, he spins his head around one more time, someone is fucking with him. He has no clue who has time for something like that in university, but he’s not a willing participant anymore, not since high school.
‘Leave me alone. Go torment a freshman.’
‘i don’t like freshmen. i like you.’ Peter chews at his bottom lip, there was a second of hesitancy but he knows the truth deep down. ‘I’m blocking you.’
‘sure. i’ll keep texting you, too.’
‘I’ll change my number.’
‘noooo please don’t do that. i had to work hard enough to get it the first time.’ Peter doesn’t respond. He blocks the number and moves on, and they don’t try to text him again.
Until the next day and Peter knows two things for certain. There is a note in his backpack, and it wasn’t there before his econ lecture. He remembers pulling that pocket open before he started notes, then when he went to zip it up, a note.
This upsets him. What good was any sense when someone could get that unnoticeably close to him without him knowing? Second, it’s a little frustrating not to know who this person is and how it most likely is connected to the texts he had a few days ago, and that it’s an extremely long played joke that’s mostly boring.
‘Peter Parker-
You’ve been secretly admired. It might not be very secret, because I think you’ve caught me staring at you a thousand times. I like you a lot.
Hopefully liked back,
-X’
But a part of him believes it’s true. He’s trying to think of who’s in his lecture, if he’s caught them staring then they’re either to the side or behind him. There are too many faces, too many times he’s been looked at, he’s almost centered, it’s his fault for choosing a focal point.
Instead of throwing it away, he refolds the pink handwriting and puts it back into place before hitching a strap over his shoulder and sliding behind chairs. One, two steps up he glances at your face, you have a weak smile, he returns the same kind, it’s more like a polite nod. Peter’s always thought you were pretty and he thinks you're nice.
But really, he’s wondering who left the note.
10:30
‘did you get my note?’ Peter does his normal scan across campus, again, his fault for being out in the open. This person could be anywhere, he’s on a picnic bench with a group of friends. If he’s smart, he’d start limiting himself to contained spaces and make you show yourself.
‘Yeah. Who is this?’ Peter’s thumbs dance around the screen waiting for a reply, it comes quick. ‘i told you. x.’ He stops himself from rolling his eyes, he doesn’t know anyone with an ‘X’ anywhere in their name.
‘Is that an initial?’
‘actually, i’m pretty sure it’s british for kiss.’
‘That’s a wild take. Are you saying the UK is responsible for XOXO’s?’
‘i’d like to make you responsible for my xoxo’s.’ Peter chews his bottom lip, he won’t play into anything in writing. He doesn’t believe this for a second, everything about this feels off. Someone’s fucking with him and they’re also in his class, or they have someone in on it in his class.
But this is too advanced.
‘sorry. i don’t mean to like harass you or anything. you’re really hot but you scare me, i don’t think you would like me so idk, maybe if you talk to me you’d like me for me or something.’
‘i just think i’m punching wayyyy above my weight class here and i may be making this worse because there is no doubt you think im weird.’
‘i am weird. i should leave you alone now. i’m sorry.’
Peter reads his screen four times, it’s still not clicking. He’s nothing special and he doesn’t mean that in a way to dog on himself, he’s just nerdy and quiet. It seems a little too authentic to be fake, but he’s got to make sure.
‘How’d you get my number?’
‘your friend. they have been sworn to secrecy but they know what i’m doing and they are in full support. take that as you will.’
‘Depends on the friend.’
‘i’ll tell you when you find out who i am.’
‘I’m going to find out? You’re not going to tell me?’
‘i don’t think i’ve been hiding it. you just haven’t been paying attention and now i want you to.’
‘Oh, but you’re shy?’
‘i’m about to pass out on the lawn behind this fucking screen, don’t play with me parker.’ A slip, you’re around him and you just admitted it. ‘Tell me, admirer, what are you wearing?’ The more detail the better, but he could work off of just a color.
‘nice try. but you’re looking mighty handsome in the blue.’ A glance down, he suddenly feels watched. ‘Are you stalking me?’
‘oh no! no no no. i PROMISE you i’m not that fucking psychotic.’
‘i’m just a “sneak a note into your backpack” level of crazy. i’m here with my roommate and her boyfriend. i saw you and just wanted to know if you got it, i promise.’
‘You do understand that this situation makes you seem psychotic, right?’
‘yes. but i am not.’
‘That sounds like something a crazy person who got my number from a third party would say. Especially after I blocked you six times.’
‘it was three and you didn’t understand my intentions but okay. you have a fair point and i extend the olive branch of brett. he gave me your number and he knows me pretty well.’
Brett? Easy enough, he nods his head towards him and slides his phone across the table. “Explain.” His friend scrolls through the thread, a trustworthy smile spreads. “Yeah, I gave her your number.” Her. Okay, it’s something. “Who is she?” Brett shrugs, “you know her. She’s kind of a firecracker, you just make her nervous.”
“That gives me nothing, Brett.” His friend blinks, “she’s not crazy. She likes you a lot for whatever fucking reason and has no idea how to approach you.” Peter’s letting his words soak in, “don’t believe me? Ask her about the grilled cheese, and make sure you tell her that I told you about how she went on for five fucking minutes about the grilled cheese.”
“What grilled cheese?” Brett slides Peter’s phone back, he’s telling him to ask you. Something tells Peter it’s enough to embarrass, or it might be Brett being the ultimate wingman.
‘I’ve been told to ask you about the grilled cheese.’
‘oh god. there is no need to ask about the grilled cheese, did brett tell you about the grilled cheese?’
‘He told me to ask you. And to specify that you went on for five minutes about it.’
‘five is excessive, it was more like three. second, there is nothing to speak about.’
‘I would like to hear about it.’
‘i’d prefer if you didn’t.’
‘But you’ll do it for me?’
‘i’m weak for you and you know it. it’s sicking, parker.’
‘i heard you talking about making one in class and you said something about the crust and i really fucking love grilled cheese’s so i had a trip to fantasy land where you made me one and how it’s probably the best thing i’ll never get to taste.’
‘Wow. Five whole minutes on that?’ Peter won’t admit it made him feel a little warm on the inside, the most mundane of things to have someone so squirrely makes him feel unworthy.
‘three.’
‘Tell me who you are and I’ll make you a grilled cheese.’
‘you have no idea how much that almost worked.’
‘What’s the plan then, master manipulator?’
‘i don’t know yet. i’m hoping you show me how smart you are and figure me out, then you can do all the hard questions.’
‘Hard questions?’
‘you know, do you wanna go on a date, do you wanna be my girlfriend, do you want to take my hand in marriage and have a summer home in the french alps? that kind of stuff.’
‘Totally not psychotic.’ Peter tucks his bottom lip between his teeth to hide the smile that wants to spread.
‘mostly not.’
WEDNESDAY: 13:57
Peter doesn’t know who X is, but they’re clever and have zero effect on his sixth sense. He doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. Either way, he’s reading a note scribbled in blue pen and as he studies the words he knows it was rushed. It’s proof that he wasn’t being followed everywhere, instead you saw an empty table and an opportunity.
‘Peter-
You use mostly gender neutral pronouns. I think that’s very cool. Is it weird that I notice those things about you? Also- what is it that you’re always drinking from Nuthouse? Asking for a friend…
Have a good day!
-Your not so secret admirer, X.
‘Not so secret,’ Peter isn’t sure about that. You’ve done a good enough job at not trying to be obviously known, he might have looked up your number last night to find dust. One was from an app, but the one you’ve been using is a burner phone.
What he’s really not understanding is how you’re able to get so close to him without him noticing. You had to have been millimeters away when you rested the letter on his backpack, he was gone for less than two minutes and he had zero awareness.
Peter folds up the note and sticks it in the same pocket as the other one, his back slung around one shoulder as he moves up the stairs for the library. At the same time, you come down the opposite side, Peter gives a friendly acknowledgement.
You choke down the lump in your throat. “Hi, Peter.” He’s already past you, it’s echoed behind his shoulder. “Hey.” It’s something. You’re trying, you’re trying to be bold for him. But he’s not going to notice, he’s never going to notice you and if you tell him who you are you’ll never live past his disappointment.
Your phone vibrates, the other phone. Your heart picks up, Peter texted first.
14:02
‘Dirty chai.’
‘best of both worlds. how fitting. you’re such a nonconforming king.’
‘I don’t even know what that means.’
‘But thank you?’
‘you’re welcome!’
‘anything fun on the roster today?’
‘Roster? Who are you?’
‘idk you make me nervous. blame yourself.’
‘Well, coach. Nothing fun on the roster, just some math. Wanna swap places with me?’
‘gross. i hate math so if you like it that’s good with me. one of us has to be smart and it’s not me.’
‘Smart enough to use a burner phone.’
‘oooooh, someone tried to find meeee.’
‘Can’t blame a guy for being curious, can you?’
‘were you disappointed when you found nothing?’
‘A little bit. But, you know, it keeps the imagination alive. A little unfair advantage on your side though, you already know what I look like.’
‘if it helps, you already know what i look like too.’
‘I do?’
‘yeah. we’ve talked before.’
‘Wait, so I know who you are?’ Brett said he did but Peter thought he meant you’d be familiar, not that he actually knew you. This just opened the floodgates to a million more possibilities.
‘not really but yeah i guess. you know i exist but we’re not friends or anything.’
‘I’d like to think we’re friends, but okay.’
‘not outside the texting.’
‘That’s your decision.’
‘HATER.’
‘Anymore hints?’
‘.... no.’
‘HATER.’
FRIDAY: 12:15
You’re about to spill hot tea everywhere but it’ll be worth it to see his face. You ignore your pounding heart and stand in front of him. He’s got no clue you showed up, zoned out looking at the clock on the wall across from him.
“Hi, Peter.”
Full frontal attention, he’s looking at you. He’s perceiving you, he’s smiling at you. “Hi,” your eyes expand, he knows your name and it sounds so nice coming from his mouth. Sure, you’ve chatted with each other- even shared a few highlighters, but nothing serious. You’ve always been too scared to try anything else but maybe your fear has been mistaken for indifference.
“I um, I lucked out today at Nuthouse so if you like dirty chai’s I got an extra one.” Your knees feel weak at his bright eyes, “my favorite. I’d love one, thank you.” You pass over the paper cup, your fingers brush and you think you’re about to collapse.
“Yeah,” a weak laugh. “I had a feeling.” Peter tilts his head at you funny, you wonder if you pushed a little too far. “Okay, um, I’m gonna… have a good… lecture.” Peter nods and watches you go two rows up, he’s finally got a gut feeling. And it tells him to keep an eye out for you.
TUESDAY: 12:10
Not that Peter was reliant on your attention, he was used to it. So when the texts stopped for three days and he was unable to find any letters he assumed you had lost interest and moved on. That felt fair to him, no harm no foul, at least he never really got to know you.
Nevermind, there’s a folded notebook page on his miniature desk and his heart speeds up. His next task, put eyes on you. Bottom level, book and pencil in hand. He makes sure to note it’s a pencil and not the green ink that’s spread across the page.
Peter thinks it’s a mind game, you were smart enough to know he’d look. Unless he was totally wrong on his guess.
‘Peter-
I ran out of minutes on my phone and I’m having a broke college kid moment. However, a friend took pity and donated a twenty to the campaign. I hope you’ve been good- I’ve missed talking to you.
- Your not so secret admirer, X’
ps. stop keeping your backpack so close to you.’
It wasn’t anything personal, you just ran out of minutes. Peter smiles so wide he has to drop it, he almost clutches the paper to his chest in a thank you. Eyeing his backpack, he nudges it a little further behind him, following instruction. He’s kept it close in hopes to catch you, but instead he’s pushing you away.
Peter’s committing the writing to memory as if he’s going to find you by the handwriting alone. A quick glance at footsteps, you’re three steps away when you smile. “Hi, Peter.” He nods, “hey.” You pause for a moment, mind racing for words.
“Did you, um- did you do anything fun this weekend?” You’re about to crawl into a hole and die, it takes a moment to click that you were speaking to him. He went as far to look behind himself, then he spewed the answer to try and make up for the lost time.
“Oh, uh not really. My aunt got a new bed so I had to lug the old one down seven flights of stairs.” Your eyes widen, you feel your mouth go dry and your tongue go thick. “By yourself?” Peter crosses his arms over his chest, a boyish grin swept over and you feel heart eyes form.
“I’m a good nephew.” You want to pat his head and tell him you’re sure he is, then maybe hold him at gunpoint and tell you more stories about how he’s a perfect humanitarian. But you act like a normal human and smile back, “you sound like it.”
Peter thanks you and you return to your seat with wobbly knees and a weak stomach, it’s silent torture to tease yourself like this with him. But you can’t help it and it’s only in effort to go after what you want. Even if it blows up when he figures out who you are.
12:13
‘you’re looking mighty handsome today, mr. parker.’
‘I’m wearing a hoodie, but thank you.’
‘i said what i said.’
Boldly, ‘i see someone had another dirty chai. can’t stay away from them, can you?’
Another tick in Peter's stomach, he almost looks behind his shoulder at you, but he doesn’t. ‘It was a generous donation from a classmate.’
‘oh? pray tell, peter. pray tell.’
‘What? You don’t have a clue about who gave it to me?’
You swallow thickly, before you could get something out he sent another message. ‘No chance you didn’t see it go down?’
‘how could i? I was still on my way.’
‘... or was i?’
‘Tell you what, X. It one of the best teas I’ve had in a while.’
And you’d be damned if that didn’t make your entire chest flutter.
FRIDAY: 15:29
“Here,” Peter’s hand clasped over the paper slapped into his chest. A hint of a syllable, Brett cuts himself off. “She asked me to give this to you.” Peter quickly read it and stared down before confiding in his friend for a second.
‘Peter-
Roses are red, violets are blue, all that I think about is you.
It’s sweet in a cringy way, right? Boo on you for skipping class today, if you want, I could get you some notes.
I hope I’ll see you Tuesday.
-Your (really) not so secret admirer, X
ps. A pen exploded in my pocket. 10/10 chance my thigh will be stained.’
“I think I might know who it is.”
“Uh, huh.”
“But, she’s way out of my league.”
“Correct.”
Peter raised his eyebrows, “so it’s her?” He clarified with your name, Brett shrugged back.
“I won’t be confirming or denying.” Peter knows what that means, “the lack of a no usually means yes.”
“Bro,” Peter starts sputtering, “oh, c’mon! You know what I meant, I just meant that, I just- c’mon, Brett. Is it her?”
“I have no idea who that is.” Peter wants to call bullshit, he has a gut feeling and he swears it’s you. You’re right, it’s not so secret. In fact, you’re painfully obvious.
FRIDAY: 23:14
‘you are soooooooo cute’
‘like your hair is so cute’
‘i looooove curly hair on guys and you have that!!!!!!!!!’
‘and you’re really funny cause like it’s so quick and witty like you have such good one liners’
‘also you’re really fucking hot and i KNOW you’re hiding something under those fucking sweaters and the second i see skin i WILL go feral.’
‘Something tells me you’re at the Kappa party.’ Peter’s pretending he doesn’t have a searing blush. If he’s got an inkling this could be you… then he might have proof for the non-believers that god exists.
‘yes!!! are you here?? i should come see you.’
‘I hate to disappoint you, but I’m currently at a friend's house playing a Mario Kart drinking game.’
“But it’s nice to know that you’d give me your identity that quick.’
‘oh i can tell you who i am.’ Peter frowns at the text, he’s been doing nothing but crave the answer to who’s behind the love letters but it feels wrong. It’s not satisfactory enough for him, it’s also not what you want, you’re just drunk- and Peter’s going out on a limb here- horny.
‘Save it for later.’
‘And maybe drink some water.’
‘i’d do anything for you cause you have the world's prettiest brown eyes’
‘Thank you for the compliments.’
‘you’re super welcome i try to hold them back because i’m a good girl but you’re just so cute i had to let you know’
‘I think you’re going to super regret this in the morning.’
‘false. maybe fact idk’
‘i should trust you tho because you’re super smart and you’re a nerd.’
‘I fear this is taking a turn for the worse.’
‘and that is so fucking HOT’
‘Oh. Back to compliments. Thank you.’
‘if you were here i’d give you a kiss’
‘IGNORE THAT!!!!’
‘I DIDN’T MEAN TO SEND THAT!!!! IGNORE IT’
‘Not ignored. How cute.’
‘screaming crying throwing up’
‘i really didn’t mean to send that it was a joke ha ha funny.’
‘Idk, sounded authentic to me.’
‘peter?’
‘Yeah?’
‘i’m a little drunk rn. and you should know how cute you are.’
‘Oh, I’m talking about record breaking levels of regret. This is amazing.’
‘i have to pee but i do not reget this!!!!!!’
SATURDAY: 09:54
‘i stand by my claim and do not regret a thing.’
‘correction. i regret this hangover and the way my previous texts are not very cool girl of me.’
‘but i would like to know if you won mario last night.’
‘also, who’s ur fav character?’
11:12
1. Proud of you for owning it, that’s very cool girl of you.
2. I did not win.
3. Petey Piranha.
‘who tf is petey piranha.’
‘Mario Kart Sunshine. Came out in 2002. (Originally on GameCube but recently released on switch.) (Hell yeah.)’
Your heart thumps, he’s such a nerd and you wanna kiss the air out of his lungs. ‘out of all the characters and u choose him. why petey piranha’
‘One guess.’
‘PETEY PIRANHA.’
‘OH MY GOD.’
‘you’re petey piranha <333’
Peter fights a grin, ‘I am.’
‘you’re so cute. i love that.’
‘Personally, in the past 24 hours I don’t think I’ve heard enough about how cute I am.’
‘you’re insufferable and it’s sexy.’
‘Oo, new one to the mix. You’re making me blush.’ You really are. He’s never been considered sexy before and it feels really nice.
‘and i bet you look super cute.’
‘Super true.’
TUESDAY: 12:34
‘white t shirt white t shirt white t shirt WHITE T SHIRT.’
‘You like?’
‘i’m about to cry i’m biting my fist so fucking hard.’
‘:)’
‘you’re so ubuibabeyia.’
‘Bless you.’
‘?’
‘Sorry, I assumed you sneezed.’ Peter never whipped his head around so fast at an audible laugh behind him. It was short, it had escaped without being thought about. He’s looking for you, but it doesn’t seem like it was you who laughed. You’re engrossed in chatting to your neighbor.
On the other hand, you almost blew it by clasping your hands over your mouth. Instead you looked next to you and said, directly and with a burning gaze, “I need you to pretend we’ve been talking this whole time.”
‘Someone’s losing their edge, you’re just begging to be caught.’
‘oh, i’m begging all right.’
‘can you hear me whimpering too?’
‘Easy, killer. Let’s not start sexting at noon on a Tuesday.’
‘are you saying there is a time for it?’
‘Give me a little wave and we’ll see.’
‘too late, i’m passed out on the floor. the only thing that can resuscitate me are those thick arms wrapped around me.’
‘Let these strong arms sweep you off your feet, all you gotta do is come talk to me after lecture…’
Peter says that, but he doesn’t mean it. He’ll definitely eat his words when he sees it’s you, then he’d be coming up with a thousand ways to back out of it. He’s so much more than you deserve, you feel so safe behind a keyboard but in person you can barely say a sentence.
It’s stupid and a little humbling because you’ve never felt this way about a guy before.
‘trust me, i’m better in your imagination.’
WEDNESDAY: 14:22
‘Peter-
You know a little about a lot and I think that is one of my favorite things about you. Or maybe it’s your voice. I could listen to you talk forever.
-Your not so secret admirer, X’
A note under his textbook, if he follows his hunch then he’d be looking for… you. Conveniently three tables away and to the right of his own, you’re not looking for his reaction, you’ve got your focus on your own textbook but he swears you’re retaining none of it. It’s a distraction, or maybe it’s a diversion.
Peter doesn’t mind. He’s going to wait. He has all the time in the world today and he’s going to sit here with his eyes on you until you look up at him because he knows you’re going to and once you do, he’s going to have his answer.
If he’s right, and he swears he is, he’s going to absolutely lose is shit because what do you mean you like him and are intimidated? You boldly lied when you said you were punching above your weight class. Does it make him a jerk to say he wasn’t even thinking of you as a suitor and maybe a girl with a much more average look?
Peter counted to sixty twice, you glance up, eyes shooting to the note you left on the table. The next stop, Peter’s face. And oh, you were not prepared to have him looking right back. Panic, you shoot a wave, a desperate attempt to pretend you’re seeing a familiar face.
Peter waves back but he looks much more satisfied than you did, you wonder if the jig is up. Did he crack the code? Was he just trying to find a friendly way to let you down? Deny til death, he has no proof it’s you. You pack your things up, a hurried scramble before you could lose your cool.
On the way out you almost stop breathing, your forearm caught in Peter’s hand. You’re staring down at it, he’s not removing it. It burns in the best way. “Hey,” you wait, you can’t stop looking at his hand, the muscle, the subtle flex, his fingertips paler to show his grip. “Hi, Peter.”
It’s breathless, you think you’re about to die. If he asks, you don’t know how you’ll lie your way out.
Guess who’s got a stained pocket? The corner edge darkened with black ink that would never be washed out. Peter has his answer. You’re her. You’re X. “Thanks again for the tea.”
Maybe you wanted more, you feel a bit deflated when it’s all you receive.
“You’re welcome.” Your arm feels cold when he drops his touch, you linger for a second too long, you’re not sure when you’ll be this brave again. It was too much of a close call. “I hope the rest of your day is good.”
Peter’s got a charismatic grin, he feels settled now that he knows you’re the anonymous lover in his life. Even more so when you find yourself shy and reserved in person, it almost makes him giggle to think of the stark changes in confidence.
“You too.” Your body engulfs into flames when your arm is caught again, you’re struggling to keep calm at his boyish smile. “Quick question,” you nod slightly, trying to show zero paranoia for the following words.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
Short circuiting. You see black spots, you think you’re about to pass out. There is only one thing that means, no guy asks that if they weren’t interested in changing that, right?
“No.” It’s anything but graceful. It sounds like you’ve never had a boyfriend before. It makes you sound like you’re scared he asked it.
But, Peter doesn’t take it like that. He smiles wider, like he already knew the answer before he asked it.
THURSDAY: 16:37
A new letter, stuffed under the top handle of his backpack. Peter listened and stopped setting it next to him, in return he was rewarded. He can’t stop the small smile, you make it involuntary at this point. Peter’s never felt so special in his life, a little part of him wants this to never end. But he’d much rather look you in the eyes.
‘Peter-
I had a dream with you in it last night. Don’t worry, you had your clothes on. I’m not sure what we were doing but you were across from me at a diner and we were sitting in those super thick booths and our friends were there.
I don’t know who these friends were, and I don’t think you do either. But I knew them as our friends.
It felt really nice. I’m happy to know you, even if I just get this little piece.
-Your not so secret admirer, X’
Peter’s been wrong a lot in his life but this time he really thinks he has it figured out. He’s much more bold now, this letter tells him it’s not infatuation, it’s love.
You love him and he thinks he could love you too.
FRIDAY: 20:08
‘Hey.’ Peter could be making the worst decision of his life here, he could be reading everything wrong and ruining this for himself.
‘hi peter!’ But he really thinks he’s got it right.
‘I really, really liked talking to you for the past few weeks but I think I should tell you that I like someone else.’
Gut wrenching despair. You knew it was too good to last, you knew he’d find someone more in his league. Someone who’d be willing to show him their face. There was no reason to respond because what would you say to that?
‘thank you for letting me know that opening up to you was all for nothing!’
‘thanks for making me doubt love!’
‘hope you and her are so fucking happy together!!!!!’
Fuck it all and fuck Peter. He just liked the attention until it came from somewhere else. You don’t think you like him all that much anymore. You think you’re lying, too. Before you can give into the desire of hurting him just as bad, you calmly turn the phone off and stuff it in the back of a desk drawer to never be uncovered again.
You slowly sit in bed and tug the blankets over your head. And only then, do you allow yourself to sob.
Peter chewed on his bottom lip and waited an hour with constant phone checks before he realized a response was never coming. It really set in during the weekend but even further when he got no note or letter on monday. Not even when he left his backpack unattended for five minutes.
TUESDAY -he was able to see you and how you avoided his eyes. How you pretended you didn’t see him send a small wave. How you had pulled back from him.
And if he hadn’t hurt your feelings, or X’s feelings, why would you do that?
You look up at a two fingered knock at the corner of your desk. “Hi.” You blink and ignore the white noise buzzing in your ears at the sight of Peter standing in front of you. “Hi, Peter.”
“How was your weekend?” Bitter. Terrible. Lonely.
“Fine. Nothing exciting.” Besides you breaking my heart.
Watching his fingertips dance on the edge of the plastic, you feel everything in you brighten. “You look sad.” There’s a burn in your stomach, he’s the reason for both the sting and the sadness.
“Do you need something? Or are you just doing a friendly check in?” Peter bites back the grin when you snap at him, he’s so, so, so right and it feels so, so, so good. “Neither. I’m just confirming my suspicions.”
“Suspicions?”
“Yeah. You passed.” Your eyebrows furrow, before you could try to question further Peter was giving half a wave, saying bye, and skipping a step to his aisle.
FRIDAY: 12:08
You stop breathing for a solid second before feeling your brain spark back to life. It could be anything, it could be from anyone, but you know there’s only one person who would’ve left a note on your desk.
Your fingers slightly shake when you unfold the graph paper, little squares bled through with black sharpie.
‘X-
Am I right?
Hopefully,
- Peter’
You can’t breathe, you can’t talk, you can’t move and you definitely can fucking not look at him. No, no, no. You can feel his eyes on you, you know he’s watching for your reaction. Peter figured you out and had his own fun along the way.
You were the girl he liked. Oh, wow. Is this how special you’ve made him feel? Something just for your eyes, from him. A secret you both shared between lines.
You spin and swear you can feel his gaze running over your back, he’s aching for the answer. You almost scream at a tap on your shoulder, a peek lets you know it’s the person you’re hiding from.
Another note, folded up just like the other one. It’s pushed into your hand, Peter doesn’t say a word, he just offers and leaves. He’s not watching this time, he’s sitting and focused on the front, you feel air leak back into your lungs.
Full on panic shaking, you’re so happy he’s not watching.
Your name is addressed on the front, just like you do for him.
‘I like you.
I think you not so secretly like me too.
We could talk more about it at dinner tonight. Will you let me take you out?
Circle yes or no.
- Peter.
PS. XOXOXO now you’re responsible for mine, too.’
120 ULTIMATE LIST OF CHARACTER FLAWS. Writers save this!
1. Moral Flexibility - Adapts their ethics to fit the situation, often justifying questionable actions as necessary.
2. Cognitive Dissonance - Holds two conflicting beliefs or values and struggles to reconcile them, leading to inner turmoil.
3. Overempathy - Feels others’ emotions too intensely, leading to burnout or an inability to make objective decisions.
4. Intellectual Arrogance - Dismisses others’ ideas as inferior, believing their own intellect is superior.
5. Chronic Overthinking - Analyzes situations to the point of paralysis, unable to take decisive action.
6. Restless Wanderlust - Has a constant desire for change or travel, leading to instability in relationships or careers.
7. Savior Complex - Feels compelled to “save” others, often to the detriment of their own well-being or others’ autonomy.
8. Emotional Vampirism - Drains others emotionally, needing constant validation or attention.
9. Righteous Indignation - Becomes excessively angry over perceived injustices, often alienating others.
10. Altruistic Self-Destruction - Sacrifices themselves for others to an unhealthy degree, often leading to self-neglect.
11. Pathological Modesty - Downplays their own achievements to the point of self-sabotage or invisibility.
12. Incapable of Solitude - Feels an intense fear of being alone, leading to codependent or unhealthy relationships.
13. Over-Rationalization - Justifies every action or decision, even when it’s clearly flawed, to avoid guilt or responsibility.
14. Constant Self-Sabotage - Subconsciously undermines their own success due to deep-seated fears or insecurities.
15. Misplaced Loyalty - Stays loyal to people or causes even when it’s harmful or undeserved.
16. Ethical Rigidity - Follows their moral code to the letter, unable to adapt to complex or gray situations.
17. Need for Obscurity - Prefers to stay unnoticed or in the background, avoiding recognition or responsibility.
18. Involuntary Aloofness - Appears distant or disinterested, often without meaning to, leading to misunderstandings.
19. Fear of Mediocrity - Terrified of being ordinary, they constantly strive for greatness, often leading to burnout.
20. Rejection Sensitivity - Overreacts to criticism or perceived slights, often withdrawing or lashing out.
21. Conflict Avoidance - Avoids confrontation at all costs, leading to unresolved issues and resentment.
22. Over-idealization of Others - Puts people on pedestals, only to be deeply disappointed when they don’t meet expectations.
23. Chronically Unfulfilled - No matter what they achieve, they always feel something is missing, leading to constant searching.
24. Compulsive Truth-Telling - Feels compelled to speak the truth, even when it would be kinder or wiser to remain silent.
25. Overactive Imagination - Sees threats or possibilities where there are none, leading to anxiety or missed opportunities.
26. Faux Humility - Pretends to be humble but secretly craves admiration or validation.
27. Micromanagement - Needs to control every detail, often suffocating others or hindering their own progress.
28. Anachronistic Thinking - Clings to outdated beliefs or practices, struggling to adapt to modern realities.
29. Over-Reliance on Routine - Becomes anxious or lost without their routines, struggling to adapt to change.
30. Selective Memory - Remembers events in a way that suits their narrative, often distorting the truth.
31. Paradoxical Fear of Success - Desires success but subconsciously fears the changes or responsibilities it might bring.
32. Compassion Fatigue - Once empathetic, now numbed or indifferent due to overwhelming exposure to others’ suffering.
33. Overwhelming Nostalgia - Lives in the past, unable to move forward or appreciate the present.
34. Unyielding Perfectionism - So focused on flawlessness that they struggle to complete tasks or accept anything less than perfect.
35. Epistemic Arrogance - Believes they know everything worth knowing, dismissing the possibility of learning from others.
36. Excessive Hedonism - Pursues pleasure to the point of neglecting responsibilities or moral considerations.
37. Over-Cautiousness - So afraid of making mistakes that they rarely take action, leading to missed opportunities.
38. Idealistic Naivety - Believes the world should operate according to their ideals, often clashing with reality.
39. Ambition without Direction - Desires greatness but has no clear path or plan, leading to frustration and failure.
40. Emotional Transference - Projects unresolved emotions onto others, often misinterpreting their intentions or actions.
41. Overdependence on Routine - Becomes anxious or lost without their routines, struggling to adapt to change.
42. Misplaced Guilt - Feels responsible for things outside of their control, leading to unnecessary self-blame.
43. Fear of Being Ordinary - Constantly strives to stand out, often at the expense of authenticity or well-being.
44. Chronic Indecisiveness - Struggles to make even simple decisions, constantly second-guessing themselves.
45. Faux Cynicism - Pretends to be jaded or cynical as a defense mechanism, while secretly caring deeply.
46. Romanticization of Suffering - Believes that suffering is noble or meaningful, often rejecting happiness or comfort.
47. Selective Compassion - Empathetic towards some but completely indifferent or cold to others, often based on biases.
48. Avoidant Optimism - Avoids negative thoughts or situations, clinging to an unrealistic positivity that ignores real problems.
49. Fear of Abandonment - Clings to relationships out of fear of being left alone, often leading to unhealthy dynamics.
50. Overidentification with Work - Sees their job as their entire identity, struggling with self-worth outside of work.
51. Excessive Altruism - Sacrifices their own needs to help others, often to their own detriment.
52. Self-Imposed Isolation - Withdraws from others out of fear of rejection or misunderstanding, leading to loneliness.
53. Over-Analysis Paralysis - Overthinks every situation to the point of being unable to make decisions or take action.
54. Eternal Romantic - Sees the world through a lens of idealized love, often leading to disillusionment or heartbreak.
55. Emotional Incontinence - Struggles to control their emotions, often overwhelming others with their intensity.
56. Fear of Aging - Obsessed with youth, they go to great lengths to deny or hide the aging process.
57. Intellectual Cowardice - Avoids challenging their own beliefs or ideas, sticking to what they know out of fear of change.
58. Emotional Hoarding - Holds onto past hurts or grudges, unable to let go and move on.
59. Unquenchable Curiosity - Always needs to knw more, often prying into others’ lives or crossing boundaries.
60. Romantic Escapism - Uses fantasy or daydreams as a way to avoid dealing with reality, leading to detachment.
61. Masochistic Tendencies - Deliberately seeks out situations that cause them pain or discomfort, believing they deserve it.
62. Incurable Wanderer - Can never settle down, always moving on to the next place or experience, leading to rootlessness.
63. Dependency on Validation - Needs constant approval or praise from others to feel good about themselves.
64. Constant Self-Reinvention - Continuously changes their identity or persona, never settling on who they truly are.
65. Moral Masochism - Finds satisfaction in self-punishment or guilt, often holding themselves to impossible standards.
66. Faux Bravado - Pretends to be fearless or confident to hide deep-seated insecurities or fears.
67. Over-romanticization of the Past - Idealizes past experiences, believing that things were better back then, leading to dissatisfaction with the present.
68. Chronic Hedging - Never fully commits to decisions or actions, always leaving themselves an escape route.
69. Fear of Stagnation - Constantly needs to be doing something or moving forward, fearing they’ll become irrelevant or bored.
70. Over-Attachment to Objects - Places excessive sentimental value on material possessions, struggling to let go.
71. Emotional Stoicism - Refuses to show or acknowledge emotions, leading to repression and eventual breakdowns.
72. Self-Flagellation - Constantly punishes themselves for perceived failures or mistakes, often disproportionate to the actual events.
73. Fear of the Unknown - Terrified of what they can’t predict or control, leading to anxiety or avoidance of new experiences.
74. Romantic Pessimism - Believes that love or relationships are doomed to fail, leading to self-sabotage or cynicism.
75. Intellectual Purism - Believes in the superiority of “pure” intellectual pursuits, often dismissing practical or emotional concerns.
76. Existential Dread - Obsesses over the meaning (or lack thereof) of life, leading to paralysis or despair.
77. Involuntary Nonconformity- Desires to fit in but can’t help standing out or going against the grain, often feeling alienated.
78. Self-Imposed Martyrdom - Puts themselves in a position of suffering or sacrifice, believing it’s their duty or fate.
79. Idealized Self-Image - Clings to an unrealistic self-concept, struggling to accept their flaws or limitations.
80. Compulsive Honesty - Feels compelled to always tell the truth, even when it’s hurtful or inappropriate.
81. Over-Reliance on Technology - Becomes helpless without modern conveniences, struggling to cope with real-world challenges.
82. Moral Exhibitionism - Shows off their ethics or principles to gain admiration or moral superiority, often insincerely.
83. Perpetual Student Syndrome - Always learning but never applying knowledge, avoiding real-world responsibilities.
84. Emotional Osmosis - Absorbs others’ emotions so deeply that they lose track of their own feelings or needs.
85. Pathological Frugality - So obsessed with saving money or resources that they miss out on life’s joys or opportunities.
86. Obsessive Self-Improvement - Never satisfied with themselves, constantly striving for unattainable perfection.
87. False Modesty - Pretends to be humble while fishing for compliments or validation.
88. Uncontrolled Impulsiveness - Acts on whims or impulses without considering the consequences, leading to chaos or regret.
89. Chronic Hedonism - Lives only for pleasure, often to the detriment of their long-term happiness or relationships.
90. Overly Abstract Thinking - So focused on big ideas or concepts that they lose touch with reality or practical concerns.
91. Romantic Idealism - Believes in a perfect love or relationship, often leading to disappointment or disillusionment.
92. Selective Altruism - Only helps others when it suits them, often ignoring those who don’t fit their criteria.
93. Pathological Shyness - So shy or introverted that they struggle to function in social situations, often missing out on opportunities.
94. Moral Superiority - Believes they are more ethical or righteous than others, often looking down on those who don’t share their views.
95. Over-identification with a Role - Sees themselves only as their job, family role, or social identity, losing sight of their true self.
96. Chronic Complaining - Constantly finds something to complain about, often bringing others down or creating a negative atmosphere.
97. Faux Stoicism - Pretends to be emotionally strong or unaffected, while secretly struggling with deep emotional turmoil.
98. Addiction to Drama - Thrives on conflict or chaos, often creating drama where there is none to feel alive or important.
99. Obsessive Collecting - Gathers possessions, knowledge, or experiences obsessively, often unable to let go or move on.
100. Inflexible Optimism - Refuses to acknowledge negative possibilities, often unprepared for setbacks or challenges.
101. Contrarianism - Always takes the opposite stance just to challenge others, often without genuine conviction.
102. Emotional Projection - Attributes their own feelings or issues onto others, often leading to misunderstandings.
103. Compulsive Heroism - Feels the need to be seen as heroic or brave, even in situations that don’t call for it.
104. Spiritual Narcissism - Uses spirituality as a way to feel superior to others or to avoid personal flaws.
105. Self-Defeating Humor - Constantly makes jokes at their own expense, using humor to deflect serious issues.
106. Identity Fluidity - Frequently changes their identity or beliefs to fit in with different groups, losing a sense of true self.
107. Overattachment to the Past - Can’t move on from past successes or failures, allowing them to define their present.
108. Pseudointellectualism - Pretends to know more than they do, using complex language or ideas to impress others.
109. Overidealization of Youth - Places youth on a pedestal, often dismissing the value of experience or aging.
110. Refusal to Accept Help - Rejects assistance from others, believing they must do everything on their own, even to their detriment.
111. Emotional Manipulation - Uses guilt, pity, or other emotions to control or influence others, often without realizing it.
112. Inconsistent Values - Holds contradictory beliefs or morals, leading to confusion or hypocrisy in their actions.
113. Obsession with Legacy - So focused on how they’ll be remembered that they neglect the present or make unwise choices.
114. Excessive Eagerness to Please - Goes out of their way to make others happy, often at the cost of their own needs or principles.
115. Emotionally Guarded - Builds walls around their feelings, making it difficult for others to get close or understand them.
116. Selective Memory - Chooses to remember events in a way that favors them, often distorting the truth.
117. Overattachment to Authority - Relies heavily on rules or leaders, struggling to make decisions independently or question authority.
118. Fear of Vulnerability - Avoids showing weakness or asking for help, leading to isolation or burnout.
119. Intellectual Detachment - Approaches everything with cold logic, often ignoring the emotional or human side of situations.
120. Obsession with Control - Needs to control every aspect of their life and others’, often leading to stress or strained relationships.
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“I’m not saying modern science isn’t useful for magic. I’m saying you’re focusing too much on what’s ‘physically possible’ and it’s preventing you from casting some very useful spells.”
⭒ 𝑾𝑹𝑰𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑺𝑳𝑬𝒀
gn reader. reader works in a bakery ( this may be a little self indulgent ). mild flirting. wriothesley’s looking for something sweet to go with his tea. ₊ 𓂃 masterlist.
its a perfect day to be enjoying the weather in fontaine, you think to yourself as you do the opposite of exactly that - staring longingly out of the glass window of your parents patisserie as your elbows rest casually on the counter in front.
the roads are quite busy and you’re positive that’s down to the ten AM sun; the type that doesn’t burn on your skin and you bet it feels as good as you can imagine while you find yourself sighing dramatically at the thought.
instead you’re stuck nursing a cup of something that eases you awake on weekends between the cool four walls that feel like they trap you now. not to mention, it seems most of your customers for the day have opted to enjoy their time outside while they can - leaving you bored and wiping down the same four surfaces more times than you can count until they almost sparkle.
you allow yourself another sigh before you’re pulled from your own drowsy state with the bell on the front door ringing, prompting you to turn to finally greet your next customer as they push their way through the door.
“welcome!” your words carry a whimsy tone, but you’re a little taken back by WRIOTHESLEY at first.
although you do find the contrast of him to be quite charming as his huge body seems to crowd its way into the sweet, bright coloured patisserie. he’s a tall man, broad and all harsh lines, rough edges; wrapped fists and dressed in darker colours as a too warm jacket for this weather drapes over his shoulders.
his hair is mused, messy but in a deliberate sort of style; salt and pepper in colour and you’re pretty sure you can see the peek of a few scars from beneath his shirt and sleeves if you were to look close enough, although you think it’s best to atleast try and remain atleast somewhat professional despite how handsome he is.
you’re surprised by the tender tone his voice takes when he replies to you given his appearance. “oh, thank you.” and you swear you see the man almost deliberately attempt to soften his looming stature, like he’s making an effort as to not appear as intimidating as he naturally is.
wriothesley’s boots are heavy and loud as he takes a couple of large steps towards the counter to ponder over the selection of sweets you have placed out, leaving you to gawk up at him while he does; although you’re sure that only adds to the pressure he probably already feels being your only customer right now.
but still, he seems to be really considering it a little too long for it to not be awkward as his eyes narrow on each pastry and sweet equally. you eventually decide to do yourself a favour and break the silence, and part of you wonders if he’s been waiting for you to do so when he immediately responds. “can i help you?”
“ah, you’ll have to forgive me. been a while since i’ve been in the overworld so i’m a little out of touch with the local delicacies so to speak.” wriothesley snorts like he’s a little embarrassed and you find yourself smiling when he does.
“well, what kind of things do you like?”
“ah well, what’s your recommendation? anything that will go nicely with a cup of tea would be great.” his tone of voice is smooth but charming despite your first impression, although you still find his appearance to look a little misplaced inside the patisserie - you can’t help but find yourself feeling drawn to him as you begin to point out a few of the displayed sweets.
“we have a few specials, although i think i know exactly what you might need.” you go over them carefully and wriothesley listens to each description without interruption, nodding along to your preferences and the flavour palettes. macarons to pastries to entremets and you find yourself giggling at his reactions as he cracks a few jokes between.
“hm, that does sound quite lovely.” he huffs, puffing out his chest and you can tell by his expression that he’s having as much trouble just choosing one as he was when he first walked in. he shrugs, “ah, then i’ll take one of each of whatever you think is best.”
“i think that’s a good choice.” you smile giddily, proud that you were able to convince wriothesley to take a few to go as you move to pick up one of the takeout boxes - making sure to pick out the best looking ones of the bunch for him as you set them inside carefully. but because you’re quite curious, and you find talking to him better than fantasising about the end of your shift; you decide to spark up another conversation as you eye him.
“also, i’m sorry to pry but you said you don’t come to the overworld often?”
he nods at you, shrugging like it’s just the way life is. “oh, not at all. but i had some business to take care of today so figured i’d stop by, let’s just say my usual place of work isn’t quite as close to the sun as regular folks may expect.” although his answer only seems to leave you with even more questions.
“hmmmm, mind if i take a guess?” you tilt your head at wriothesley, challenging him and he crosses his arms over his chest as he mirrors you with a smirk.
“be my guest.”
for one, he was a well built man; tall and broad and it would be a shame for a body like that to go to waste. not to mention, he’s definitely in uniform - despite how sinful it may appear stretched along his chest, you assume by the colour and the fabric that he doesn’t work in the palais mermonia. maybe something hands on? given the scars on his body and the callous, rough skin of his hands.. even just looking at them makes you feel even warmer than you might’ve been under the weather outside.
but then you get a.. telling hint and you know you’ve got him as he gives you a smug look. “hmmm,” you begin and he waits eagerly for your answer. “are you a cop?”
“that obvious, huh? i’m impressed.” wriothesley shrugs, chuckling lightly and you feel your cheeks burn beneath the warm sound. “what gave it away? maybe it’s my overwhelming passion for justice or do you have another special talent for reading people, aside from your one for sweet recommendations ofcourse?”
you snort, rolling your eyes playfully and you deliberately take a longer pause between answering just to leave him wondering. “not quite, the handcuffs hanging from your belt maybe.” you assume he forgot he was even wearing them given the way his hand pats on the area a seconds later, and he hums in acknowledgment.
“ah, well i guess i have no choice than to retract my compliment. i didn’t realise you were so observant.” wriothesley teases, implying that he gave you the win.
“taking back my compliment? how cruel, you must be colder than i thought, mr…?” you wonder if it’s only you who can feel the chemistry, or if he was just this easy to get along with, but you can’t help but find yourself wishing to spend the remainder of your shift bantering with him.
“wriothesley.. and well you know, i’m all about upholding the law, no special treatment.” he drawls, wiggling his brow at you,
and you shake your head as you finish packing up his order before sliding it across the counter, “on a guessing game?”
“well when you say it like that.. maybe i was a little harsh. i’ll be sure to make it up to you next time.” the implication makes you feel flustered and you wonder if wriothesley can tell as you look away from him to bite your lip. if he does, he doesn’t say anything as he passes you the payment before taking the box of sweets gently - it looks much smaller in his big hands than it does in yours.
“well, wriothesley. i hope those meet your expectations alongside your tea, i wouldn’t want to wind up in trouble with the law.” you’re smiling again and despite the way you’re still between the four walls of the patisserie you swear you can still feel the warmth of the sun from outside when he looks at you.
“oh, thanks. i’ll be sure to give you a thorough review during my next visit - maybe even treat you to some tea so you can see for yourself.” wriothesley goads, giving you a lopsided smile and a playful wink, “although best to assume the worst if i don’t return.”
“i have no doubts ill see you again.” you wonder if it comes across a bit too forward, so you decide to add a little safety net just incase as you nod towards the small box in his hand. “they’re that good.” and the duke across from you seems to take a moment to chuckle before he gives you another smile, turning when he hears the bell to the front door ring again and you’re greeted with another couple of customers as he begins to leave.
“uh huh, we’ll see. but, yeah.. i look forward to it.”
seen when i was looking up wrio lore than he enjoys treating himself to something to have alongside his tea when he’s up in the overworld and i couldn’t resist 🥹🥹
I'm right here! (Oscar Piastri)
People seem to forget you're dating Oscar
Note: english is not my first language. Another Oscar piece 🫶
Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!
my masterlist
Cw: jealous themes
Tag list: @myloverjk-blog @hiireadstuff @c-losur3
"Do you think this will translate as well on the track though?", Phil, the head of the engineering department, asked as you showed him the latest set of data.
"Even with the interval we've set for changes, these numbers show it could improve performance, especially in race pace", you pointed to the calculations on the side.
"We would only have it for Miami, though", he reasoned, "we don't have enough time to get this done for Shanghai and I don't think it would be wise to test this in a track we haven't raced in five years", Amelia argued as you nodded in agreement, "but it looks promising - good job, Y/N", she patted your back.
"Would you feel comfortable talking about it in the meeting with Zak, Andrea and the mechanics? You have been the one working the most with this, makes sense for you to be the one taking point. Lando and Oscar should join you as well - I think they're doing something on the Sim", William mused.
"Absolutely! Yes, Oscar said he was driving a new set up and strategy Tom also wants to discuss in the meeting", you offered with a smile.
"Having insider information makes this easier - I don't have to check every single e-mail and wonder about things, especially Oscar's schedule", Amelia chuckled, rubbing your shoulder before she got up.
As everyone gathered in the meeting room, you set your laptop up so the latest data would be seen by everyone as you spoke about the changes, "we don't think nor expect this will be ready for China, but we're hoping to have the new package in Miami already - gives us enough time to work on it and the track there is ideal for us to have an idea of how this could play out for the rest of the season", you concluded.
"I agree - I think China will be damage control racing and we're accepting it as it goes", Andrea stated.
"We just need to get going with these then and also get the guys to try it out on the- Oh! Speaking of the devil", Zak chuckled as Oscar and Lando stepped inside the meeting room.
"So that's that, I think - thank you for all your work and let's hope we can bring some points next weekend", the British driver said before everyone scattered out.
Closing your laptop and getting your tablet, you held them against your torso so you could go and set them back to your station before lunch. You didn't make it very far as Oscar stood just outside the room, his hand snaking up your back carefully as he didn't want to startle you.
"Good morning, love", he smiled, kissing your cheek and walking with you.
"Morning, Osc", you kissed his cheek back, "how was training?", you wondered.
"Same old - went for a run this time, though, it was nice enough outside", your boyfriend offered as you reached your desk, tidying it a little bit before leaving to get some lunch, walking hand in hand.
You didn't expect to fall for a driver, especially after the relationship you had with Lando. You behaved like siblings, often pranking eachother, and it had helped you grow more confident around him and the senior staff when you felt you were all but a small intern. Over the years, you grew more comfortable as your ideas and pitches would get considered and tested, finally feeling like your place was well earned and that at the right time, the development would come to bring McLaren to the top where it belonged.
When Oscar joined the team, however, you didn't expect to feel the way you felt about the Australian driver. He was handsome, very shy and very kind and thoughtful as he sat all through the meetings as you explained the changes. Jeopardising your career was something you didn't want to do, but after some not so careful touches and glances, the team assured you it wouldn't be an issue in case you and Oscar were to pursue a relationship together.
"Here's my favourite team-mate! And she brought Oscar with her!", Lando joked as you sat at the same table as him.
Swatting his neck playfully, you sat down next to him so you could face Oscar as he put his tray down, "I will revoke new updates package from you and you'll be stuck in the midfield", you taunted before you started eating.
"Do you want to spend the night at my place? I need to sort a few things out still this afternoon, but I'm hoping I can leave on time today", you squinted your eyes.
"What do you mean on time?", Lando quirked an eyebrow.
"Yesterday, she got so caught up in the calculations, I barely got a text out of her when I asked her if she wanted to have dinner with me", Oscar chuckled as you held hands on top of the table, playing with his fingers, "what was it you texted me? 'I'm having a breakthrough' I think it was", your boyfriend offered.
"I did, though! Amelia checked it over and we might be onto something - I have to go to Race Base this afternoon so they can check them out", you shrugged your shoulders."We're spending the whole afternoon in the sim", Oscar checked with you, "when you get off, then we can leave together - how does that sound?".
Coming back to your place after you stopped by the supermarket, you set the bag on the counter and pulled out all of the ingredients you bought to make sure the dinner would be suitable and appropriate to Oscar's plan.
"I haven't had a proper cuddle today", Oscar pulled you to him, beggining to litter kisses on your forehead all the way to your cheeks and jaw, "I can't ever do this at the center", he mumbled against your neck, tickling you.
"We could, just where there are no other team members", you giggled before cupping his cheeks, "which happens to be nowhere most of the time", before you kissed his lips.
"I'm going to start working on the chicken", Oscar said after you stole a few kisses, "are you going to be in the Center for the race?".
"No, I'm travelling with the team", you smiled as you took the fresh pasta out of the bag, "which means we can spend more time together - and people will actually see us together", you mumbled the last part.
"People know we're together, love", he smiled, cutting up the last bit of garlic and tossing it in the pan.
"Sometimes it doesn't seem like it - they didn't see me in Jeddah and the rumours flew out of control", you wiped your hands on the kitchen towell before hugging Oscar's back, resting your cheek between his shoulder blades.
"You know how the media works - they see the smallest hint to something they want to see and then they're there", he offered, taking one of his hands to squeeze your hip, "you're the one here, aren't you?", he tsked.
.
"Where are you going?", Oscar asked as he saw you grab a tablet and push the chair back under the table, "I thought we could have some time together now".
"The stewards picked out eight cars at random to get checked over a few components - Mike and Barry are waiting for me", you offered, pecking his lips quickly, "hopefully they're just not messing around with our schedule because everything is supposed to be how it is!", you smiled before you started to walk out.
"I'll go with you, then", your boyfriend assured, "can't have you go to the wolves on your own when you can have company, beautiful".
Oscar walked up to the building with you, kissing your temple before you stepped inside, "I left some data from the sprint for you to look at, and tell Lando I also left a file for him with his tire deg - I told Will to do it, but he might forget!", you alerted before letting him go.
Knowing how long it would take, he went back to the McLaren garage, stopping whenever fans snapped a couple of pictures or autographs.
By the time you were back in the hotel room after the sprint and qualifying, Oscar went to the bathroom so he could have a shower, leaving you to lay on the bed and scroll through social media.
You looked at the photos the media team had posted, along with the stories where you could spot yourself in the background and spotted a few comments as you flicked through the carrousel of pictures, the comments under it weren't something you hadn't seen before.
Hear me out, Oscar and Elaine are the perfect match
I know, right? 😭 honestly, they need to get together! They would be so cute together
She's so polite and put together, but I get rhe vibe that she's really shy too, they would be perfect for eachother
Are we forgetting Y/N? aka Oscar's girlfriend
I still can't believe the people at the top have let their engineer date a driver
Y/N's way too out there, I call PR relationship
She couldn't even build a great car, I'm not sure why you would defend her
She was literally the reason the car and the turnaround last year and we started getting podiums?
These have been the best 12 months in terms of development, what are you on about? Just because she's with Oscar, you can't dig at her like that
The last few comments don't come up too often, but you had to admit it was nice when they did even if they did nothing to the way you felt.
The green eyed monster took over more times that you'd like. You work with numbers, probabilities and direct correlations, so it was hard to miss the reason behind how you were feeling.
"Why are you looking at your phone like that? You promised you wouldn't work once we got back to the room", Oscar warned, using the towell to dry his hair before he looked at you again.
"I'm not working", you mumbled, locking the phone and setting it on your stomach, pondering whether or not you should talk to Oscar about this.
"That long silence tells me that there is something bothering you", Oscar began, "I'm not saying you have to talk about it right now - I won't force you to -, but I'm here for you when you want to do it", he offered earnestly.
"I'm jealous of you and Elaine", you stated, earning a quirked eyebrow from your boyfriend.
"Me and Elaine? The communications' intern?", he looked for some clarification.
"Yes!", you answered loudly.
"We don't - I don't even spend that much time with her, what do you mean?", Oscar asked.
"I know you don't, but people online seem to think you should! First, it was that actress that McLaren invited for Abu Dhabi - the weekend where Natalie and Naomi kept approaching us because they wanted to chat and there was actual visual proof we were together after all the rumours -, now they're saying how you should go out with Elaine!", you admitted, "they're all saying you really should have someone and that she should be the one to go, that she has all the qualities you should look for and I-", you took a big breath in, "I'm literally over there, every single day of the races - in the garage, sometimes in the pitwall!", you stated, "I barely do any races from the Center anymore, so it's not like people forgot that I exist!".
"Love, I'd never do that to you - you're the only person I care about like that", Oscar replied instantly.
"I know you don't, but it hurts to see", you admitted, "comments people make about my boyfriend and how he really should start dating someone when our relationship is public - I'm there, I see them, they see me!", you let a tear fall down your cheek, "there's only so much I can do to make it obvious, Osc!".
Oscar sat down next to you on the bed, throwing the towell on the floor for the moment so he could pull you to face him.
"Y/N, I didn't know it was bothering you so much, I don't even notice all of that", your boyfriend craddled your face in his hands, thumbs wiping the tears that continued to fall and looking into your eyes.
"I never told you and I know you don't read all of the comments", you reasoned, "I just thought it would stop at some point! Everyone keeps saying that you should have someone and I want them to think I'm that someone - because I am!", you said bitterly.
"Is there something you'd like me to do? That would make you feel better about it?", Oscar combed your bangs away and behind your ears.
"What can we do anyway? Have you walk around with a t-shirt that says "I have a girlfriend - Y/N, the engineer"?", you scoffed.
"I will do that if you think it will help - throw in a headband with "Y/N's boyfriend" too if it helps!", he tried to pry a smile out of you.
"Don't be silly", you playfully shoved his chest before holding his hands in yours, "I honestly have no idea what to do, but I know I want it to stop without putting our jobs on the line", you pouted.
"Maybe an Instagram post from us then? Something chilled but serious enough so anyone can get the hint - and I wouldn't mind arriving into the paddock with you in the morning", your boyfriend suggested.
"Oscar, I have to be there way earlier than you need to", you argued.
"Then I'll be there earlier, I'll have breakfast there with you and we'll spend more time together in front of everyone - as much as you feel comfortable with", Oscar offered you an assuring smile, "I don't want anyone else the way I want you, I don't love anyone the way I love you, Y/N".
Smiling at the honesty and safety he was transmitting you, you kissed his lips, starting with small pecks before one last long kiss, letting your foreheads touch as you pulled away, "thank you, Osc, I love you".
The next morning, reporters were surprised when they saw the McLaren driver show up in the paddock so early, his hand laced in yours as they asked a couple of questions.
"My girlfriend had to come in earlier, so I thought I'd join her and see a little bit of the preparations", Oscar replied before you continued to walk to the McLaren hospitality.
"Is it bring your boyfriend to work day?", Anna asked after her usual morning greeting.
"He's always with me at work though", you squinted before giggling, "but I really need people to know he's mine and that I'm here!", you half joked.
rookie love | oscar piastri social media au
pairing: oscar piastri x hamilton!reader
sure it's a rookie mistake to lose it in a corner, but is it a rookie mistake to fall in love with lewis hamilton's younger sister?
request from the lovely @starfriuts
MASTERLIST | BUY ME A KO-FI?
f1
liked by lewishamilton, oscarpiastri and 1,324,772 others
tagged: oscarpiastri, yourusername & logansargeant
f1: welcome the rookie class of 2023 !! 2021 f2 champion oscar piastri will race for mclaren, 2022 f2 champion y/n hamilton will be racing for aston martin and 2022 f2 runner up logan sargeant will be racing for williams!
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user1: MY prema girlies
user2: 2019 rookies i am so sorry but there's a new favourite in town
yourusername: two hamiltons on the grid i know that's right 💅 👯♀️
lewishamilton: they hate us cause they ain't us
yourusername: they can't handle the sass
lewishamilton: neither can the fia
yourusername: ... yeah i've been briefed :(
user3: okay, walk with me. if y/n does all of grill the grid, lewis might do the secret santa again
user4: hopes and prayers
fernandoalo_oficial: i'm teammates with a rookie hamilton, i think i've seen this film before
yourusername: i lived through that old man, don't think i won't use your own tricks on you
fernandoalo_oficial: well there's no dna test necessary here
yourusername: the slay is hereditary, but clearly skipped your generation
fernandoalo_oficial: HEY
oscarpiastri: get her jade
fernandoalo_oficial: EY?
user5: the way the grid are not ready for how ride or die y/n and oscar are for each other
user6: bro just quoted COCO MONTRESE for her i am so ready
logansargeant: dude we're getting the band back together
oscarpiastri: f1 boyband have nothing on us
yourusername: xnda who?
lewishamilton: :/
yourusername: no one is safe sorry lew @charles_leclerc you're next piano boy
charles_leclerc: WHAT
user7: i know the aston martin pr department sweating buckets with both fernando and y/n
yourusername
liked by oscarpiastri, lewishamilton and 1,332,551 others
yourusername: the hamilton name comes with the wardrobe
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user8: finally lewis has some competition
user9: if there's something a hamilton is going to do it's going to be wearing a monochromatic outfit.
lewishamilton: was the third photo really necessary?
yourusername: yes!
lewishamilton: you're so corny
yourusername: i know this man ain't speaking.... DIGITAL FOOTPRINT
lewishamilton: girl. i've read your diary and your code names don't mean SHIT
yourusername: YOU WHAT?
lewishamilton: got bored when you had a work call ?
yourusername: come to aston's hospitality i got something to show you
lewishamilton: just text me
yourusername: no. spoiler: it's my FOOT up your ASS
user10: so i thought the tussles would be between fernando and y/n not y/n and lewis
georgerussell63: this is just how they are, they'll be besties again in like two minutes
oscarpiastri: why is my outfit not on here you said i slayed :(
yourusername: you did slay !!
landonorris: he literally wore a team shirt and chinos
yourusername: yes but on the oscar scale that is a slay
oscarpiastri: exactly
landonorris: ok?
yourusername: watch your tone mr. norris, you're being awfully loud for a ripped skinny jeans owner 🤨
landonorris: ????
oscarpiastri: :)
user11: okay i think i get the whole ride or die thing now
logansargeant: believe me it gets worse
lewishamilton
liked by oscarpiastri, yourusername and 1,844,902 others
tagged: yourusername
lewishamilton: bucket list moment ticked off to share a podium in f1 with my baby sister !!
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user14: two hamiltons in f1 and on the podium before gta 6
user15: we got two hamiltons on the podium but still can't escape a max win
yourusername: thank you for not posting the picture of me bawling my eyes out
lewishamilton: i thought i'd be nice, just this once. i'm proud of you
yourusername: thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu. insane to be on the podium with my biggest idol
maxverstappen1: y/n that's very kind of you
lewishamilton: really?
yourusername: 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭
maxverstappen1: saw the opportunity and had to go for it
yourusername: i respect that
lewishamilton: but i am your biggest idol right?
yourusername: yes.
user16: max really out here like i will make a double hamilton podium about me LOL
oscarpiastri: that's my best friend GO BEST FRIEND
yourusername: oscar piastri podium coming soon @mclaren get ur shit together
oscarpiastri: PR KNOW SHE DOESN'T MEAN THAT
yourusername: no i mean every word i wanna be on the podium with oscar :(
oscarpiastri: slumber party ?
yourusername: i'll be there @logansargeant u coming?
logansargeant: i don't really feel like third wheeling
this comment was deleted
logansargeant: if you're buying the room service - yeah
user17: LOGAN WE SAW THAT
user18: y/n x oscar truthers we have some more evidence for the board
user19: gets first woman in f1 on the podium... immediately assumes she’s in a relationship with another driver
user20: i see where you're coming from but watch the prema videos and tell me there's no tension there
user21: idk if oscar can handle all of that ...
user22: i have faith in my goofy lil guy
liked by yourusername
user22: WHAT
oscarpiastri
liked by landonorris, yourusername and 612,094 others
tagged: yourusername
oscarpiastri: pookie was on the podium
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user23: okay you shipper bitches may have had a point...
yourusername: when pookie calls you pookie you know it's real
fernandoalo_oficial: i have never felt older than when i listen to you and oscar talk for more than five minutes
yourusername: the girls who get it, get it
oscarpiastri: and the girls who don't.... well
fernandoalo_oficial: i am a 42 year old man
yourusername: and it shows
oscarpiastri: ... oop
user24: oh they annoying... KEEP GOING
lewishamilton: so this is what you left the after party for?
yourusername: yeah and what about it?
lewishamilton: okay like maybe i need to separate you and oscar cause why are you eating me up
yourusername: i'm me but oscar is a victim of the sassy man apocalypse
oscarpiastri: guilty as charged (i learnt everything from your sister)
user25: you guys acting like oscar being like this is a surprise ... we didn't all see him scalp alpine last summer?
user26: the way in my head him and y/n wrote that tweet together and were giggling the whole time
yourusername: we can neither confirm or deny
user27: that's confirmation to me
logansargeant: when will the logan sargeant erasure end?
yourusername: when you serve as much as me?
logansargeant: i am TRYING
yourusername: plus this is an appreciation post for me, stop trying to steal opportunities from women
logansargent: HUH?
oscarpiastri: so disappointing from you logan...
logansargeant: i'm so done with you two
yourusername
liked by lewishamilton, oscarpiastri and 1,309,562 others
yourusername: summer break is annoying i wanna go racing again
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user31: WHO IS THAT MAN?
user32: my brain (psychosis) tells me it is oscar
user33: i'll believe you
lewishamilton: HOW DARE YOU SOFT LAUNCH WITHOUT TELLING ME
yourusername: girl. sort the tone and i'll call you
lewishamilton: do you think i am dumb? i know exactly who that is, i just need the confirmation so i can beat his ass
yourusername: why would i tell you if you're gonna beat his ass?
lewishamilton: JUST TELL ME
yourusername: you'll have to find me to do that, see you in zandvoort xxx
user34: i think lewis is having brocedes flashbacks
user35: i know bro is PACING
fernandoalo_oficial: you wanna give me a tow in qualifying?
yourusername: why would i do that old man?
fernandoalo_oficial: @lewishamilton i know.
lewishamilton: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? FERNANDO KNOWS?
yourusername: NOT ON PURPOSE HE'S JUST NOSEY AND LIKES TO READ MY TEXTS OVER MY SHOULDER
fernandoalo_oficial: guilty 💅
yourusername: fine. one tow.
fernandoalo_oficial: thanks girly
user36: we have to study the girlypopification of fernando since being teammates with y/n
oscarpiastri: it's missing pookie hours
yourusername: i am having separation anxiety
user37: these hoes think we don't know 😂
user38: they think they're throwing us on their scent ... YALL NOT SUBTLE
oscarpiastri
liked by landonorris, yourusername and 802,778 others
oscarpiastri: does this count as a win?
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user39: sorry max we got an oscar win we don't care about your championship win
yourusername: LET'S FUCKING GO POOKIE
oscarpiastri: slumber party is gonna eat i fear (why do we have to race tomorrow?)
yourusername: you know who else ate? YOU TODAY
oscarpiastri: hehehehe i guess i did
yourusername: no i am so fucking proud of you
oscarpiastri: love you
yourusername: luv you too
user40: okay so they're just playing with our feelings now?
landonorris: proud of you bro (please turn down the beyonce)
oscarpiastri: don't make me enter my lemonade era
landonorris: are you threatening me with a brocedes?
oscarpiastri: maybe?
yourusername: lmao watch your ass lando, i gave him the play-by-play i was in the brocedes trenches
lewishamilton: 1. happy for you oscar 2. SHUT THE FUCK UP
oscarpiastri: oops?
yourusername: sorry lewis, we'll stop joking about britney if you finally call him
nicorosberg: stop calling me that
lewishamilton: why are you here?
nicorosberg: just observing...
user41: poor lewis having his trauma used as a joke 😭
logansargeant: i'm defo skipping this slumber party
user42: you want to elaborate?
logansargeant: no. i don't think i will
user43: JUST SPILL
yourusername
liked by lewishamilton, oscarpiastri and 1,903,448 others
tagged: oscarpiastri
yourusername: got my first win, me and my boyfriend are better than you x
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user44: I FUCKING KNEW IT
user45: i'm gonna need all the bitches who came for me for shipping them so give me my flowers
oscarpiastri: finally. you're too cute not to kiss all the time
yourusername: then hurry up and come here
oscarpiastri: gladly
user46: no i think he actually went, these bitches usually never shut the fuck up
lewishamilton: ...
georgerussell63: oscar RUN THE BREATHING TECHNIQUES AREN'T WORKING
alexalbon: no he's actually going to scrap you RUN FOR YOUR LIFE
landonorris: those dumbasses don't know what is about to hit them
yourusername: why is logan texting me 911 who is being dramatic
yourusername: wait
yourusername: is that him already
georgerussell63: yes for such a short man he's surprisingly fast
lewishamilton: OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR
yourusername: no!
lewishamilton: I JUST WANNA TALK
oscarpiastri: your tone is scaring me
yourusername: OSCAR NO
lewishamilton: OPEN THE DOOR
user47: it's been 20 mins, can we have an update
oscarpiastri: i am alive!
lewishamilton: regardless of what just happened, i am so proud of you y/n !!
yourusername: i love you big brother :))))))
lewishamilton: you're such an inspiration, here's to many more!
user48: lewis being all supportive now after he's scrapped oscar?
lewishamilton: i didn't fight him, he had 30 seconds to convince me not to kill him
oscarpiastri: i did very well :)
lewishamilton: sure
yourusername: you did great babe
oscarpiastri: :)
oscarpiastri
liked by logansargeant, yourusername and 1,099,457 others
tagged: yourusername
oscarpiastri: please don't put me into the barriers lewis, i love your sister
view all comments
user51: i think it's safe to say that the 2023 rookies have out done the 2019 rookie sorry not sorry
yourusername: POOKIE, I LOVE YOU POOKIE
oscarpiastri: I LOVE YOU TOO POOKIE
logansargeant: can i like have a medal or some championship points for 1. dealing with this nonsense and 2. keeping this a secret
yourusername: you're our favourite third wheel? that's all i got
oscarpiastri: we also pay for your room service every time
logansargeant: ... fine
user52: they're all so close to me, need y/n and oscar to be the first husband and wife to both win a championship
yourusername: that's the plan 🤞
oscarpiastri: are you PROPOSING TO ME?
yourusername: not yet...
oscarpiastri: hehehehehehe
lewishamilton: SLAM ON THE BRAKES, I JUST GOT USED TO THIS LET'S NOT BRING UP MARRIAGE
yourusername: maybe you need to leave your slag era so i can wife oscar
lewishamilton: DO NOT SLUTSHAME ME
user53: the hamilton piastri house about to be ground zero for the sassy man apocalypse
landonorris: you people are so grossly in love, how did we miss it?
alexalbon: speak for yourself it was so obvious
yourusername: we we're pretty obvious
oscarpiastri: yeah i can confirm that when we told you we were having a pillow fight, we were not
landonorris: WHAT
lewishamilton: delete this.
fernandoalo_oficial: @yourusername did you guys do this so you didn't have to give me a tow?
yourusername: yes xoxoxo
note: i hope you enjoy. life is insane right now but i got my first article at the top of the google rankings so there's that. also ordered my graduation gown and dress!! much love x
More regulus black and Pandora Rosier content
Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning on the set of "A Complete Unknown" in Paterson, New Jersey.
Be Brave
Oscar Piastri x reader
Masterlist
Summary: You’re a teacher, and someone’s had the brilliant idea to send your class full of 5 year olds to the McLaren Technology Centre. Chaos ensues. Oscar’s there to help.
Word Count: 5.2k
Warnings: none
a/n: this is not the angst I threatened or the fic from the dialogue poll I did, but a secret third thing: a request I finally got the motivation to finish after seeing cute pics of Oscar with kids. Enjoy!
In hindsight, whoever’s idea it was to bring a classroom of five year olds to the McLaren Technology Centre- an active car factory- has definitely never stepped foot in a classroom full of five years olds. You’re lucky- your students are quite well behaved, and you’ve got plenty of parent chaperones with you. It turns out that about half your class’ families seem to be McLaren fans. Half your students had showed up today in bright orange- papaya, one of them had corrected you. You’re not complaining- it makes them easier to spot.
The field trip has been fun. The kids are thrilled about everything. It’s just. Tiny hands, tiny humans, wandering through an active car factory? You’re on edge the whole time. You’re constantly scanning the class, counting to make sure you haven’t lost any students as the tour guide tries to explain mechanical engineering in words that 5 year olds will understand.
You breathe a mild sigh of relief when they bring you into a large, open conference room. They’re going to have someone come speak to the kids in a few minutes. While you have the chance, and a closed room with enough people to guard the exits, you stand in front of your class and tell them to go wild. Seventeen five year olds begin to run around the room. One 5 year old clings to your hand in the quietest corner of the room.
Sammy. He’s a quiet kid, not one for the chaos. He’s stuck to your side the whole morning, staring at everything with big eyes and jumping at all the loud noises. You relate to him more than you’d like to admit. Somehow, the quiet kid turned into a teacher. It seems almost hard to believe looking back, how painfully shy you were.
Sammy tugs on your hand and points at a large mural on one of the walls. “Who’s that?” He asks.
The room you’re in has the two current drivers plastered on the walls, larger than life. You look where he’s pointing and smile.
“That’s Oscar Piastri,” you say, extending the syllables for him.
“Os-car Pi-as-tri,” he sounds out. “That’s my dad’s favorite driver.”
You smile. “Wanna know a secret?” He nods, and so you whisper loudly. “He’s my favorite too.”
Sammy giggles. “Oscar Piastri.”
“He says it better than most of the broadcasters, I think,” says someone behind you.
You turn and come face to face with none other than Oscar Piastri. You hope your shock isn’t too obvious, and you try to control your wide eyes. They’d said someone from the team was going to come talk to your kids- you hadn’t expected it to be one of the drivers. You smile politely as you feel Sammy step behind your legs.
“Hi. Sorry about the…” you wave your hand in the general direction of the children running around behind you. “If they didn’t get some excercise they were never going to make it through the rest of the day.”
“No worries,” Oscar says, smiling brightly. He looks at Sammy where he’s hiding behind you. “Not this guy, though?”
“No, Sammy here is very well behaved and polite,” you say proudly, before whispering, “and quite shy.”
Oscar nods in understanding. His face has gone soft. You weren’t lying when you said he was your favorite, and it only increases with the way he looks at the five year old so fondly. You think maybe Oscar understands Sammy all too well. You turn over your shoulder to look at the little boy.
“Sammy, should we practice being big and brave and introducing ourselves?” You ask. He frowns slightly but nods anyways. “We’ll do it together, okay?”
He nods again and steps out from behind your legs. You stand up straight, and he follows suit. Then you stick your hand out to shake Oscar’s as you introduce yourself.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” he says, repeating your name back to you. “I’m Oscar.”
Sammy takes a tentative step forward and sticks his tiny hand out. You drop back just a bit and pull your phone from your pocket, giving Oscar a questioning glance and making a camera sort of motion with your hands. He nods eagerly before he crouches down to Sammy’s level.
“My name is Samuel,” he says, as he shakes Oscar’s hand. “But you can call me Sammy.”
You hide an endeared laugh behind your hand and snap a picture of the two of them. You know his parents will be thrilled.
“Hi, Sammy,” Oscar says sweetly. “My name is Oscar. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“You’re my dad’s favorite driver,” Sammy says. “And my teacher’s favorite driver. So I think you’re my favorite, too. Os-car Pi-as-tri.”
You stare down at him with wide eyes, suddenly feeling betrayed by your favorite student. Your face grows warm, but Oscar just laughs lightly and smiles up at you.
“Is that so?” He says, turning back to Sammy. “I’m honored.”
He stands back up, and Sammy goes back to clinging to your side. There’s a bright smile on Oscar’s face. You know yours matches it.
“So, are you our guest speaker?” You ask, trying to will your face to cool down.
He nods eagerly, eyes darting around the room, watching kids run everywhere. One of them bumps into the back of your legs and squeaks out a quick apology before running away again. He laughs lightly, hiding it behind his hand.
“Hopefully Lando and I can keep them entertained,” he says.
“Oh, they’ll be fine, they’ll sit quietly when I ask them to,” you say.
He gives you an uncertain look, a soft smirk on his lips. You laugh, hoping it’s not painfully obvious how taken you are with him. He’s been your favorite driver because of his level head and dry humor, but standing in front of him you can’t help but notice how cute he is. Before he can say anything in response and challenge your ability to control your class, Lando comes stumbling into the room.
“Okay, now this is my kinda school trip,” he says, an impressed grin on his lips. He elbows Oscar. “This was me as a kid.”
Oscar gestures towards Sammy, still tucked against your leg. “This was me, I think.”
Lando laughs and nods. He tilts his head at you, and you stick your hand out once again and introduce yourself. Sammy follows suit. Lando bends to shake the five year olds hand, giving both you and him an impressed smile.
“Sammy’s working on being big and brave and introducing himself,” Oscar says.
“Well he’s doing a great job,” Lando says with an approving nod.
“He’s got a great teacher,” Oscar says, grinning at you.
With that, your face grows hot again. You clear your throat and turn over your shoulder to look at the class. They’re beginning to slow just slightly. Perfect timing.
You clap your hands, and each of them skids to a stop, turning to look at you. “Okay, friends! Come sit up here, we have some very special guest speakers.”
The children all make their way to the front of the room, sitting down on the carpet in a semicircle. Even Sammy wanders away, taking a seat near the back. You turn back to Oscar and Lando, who both have impressed looks on their faces.
“I think we need you to run our meetings,” Oscar says, brows raised.
“Oh, if you give them permission to go crazy consistently when they need it, they’ll listen when you tell them it’s time to be calm,” you say with a shrug. “My mum was a teacher, too, she taught me that.”
“Yeah, if Zak let me be a menace before meetings I’d have a lot easier time sitting through them,” Lando agrees. “Alright, you little muppets!”
He steps in front of the class. Oscar gives you an exasperated smile, like you’re both sharing a moment of understanding. Maybe Lando’s still a 5 year old at heart. You laugh and step back with the chaperones to watch them speak as Oscar follows Lando’s lead. It’s fun to watch. You realize they couldn’t have picked better speakers.
Some of the kids recognize the drivers, but even the ones who don’t are enamored once they find out that these guys drive race cars for a living. You snap lots of pictures of your students staring up at them with wide grins. Lando continues to call them muppets, earning laughs each time. Oscar gets down on their level and uses a little model of the car to explain the aerodynamics. They give a horrible demonstration of slipstream, with Lando pretending to drive and Oscar pretending to be the air. Then, at the end, they open it up for questions. Eighteen tiny hands fly up into the air.
“Do you speed when you drive a normal car?” One of them asks.
“Never,” Lando lies.
“D’you ever fight with other drivers?” Another student asks.
“We try to leave what happens in the race on the track,” Oscar answers. “We’re all quite nice to each other outside of the races, actually.”
Lando shrugs and shakes his hand from side to side. A few of the kids catch on and laugh.
Sammy is sitting in the back of the group, his hand raised. He’s not waving it around, not bouncing up and down. But you watch Oscar scan the group, see him spot the tiny hand anyways.
“Sammy,” he calls out. “What’s your question?”
Sammy looks shocked to have been called on, but he clears his throat and speaks up. “What’s your favorite color?”
The grin that breaks across Oscar’s face is endearing. Lando smiles, too, presses his hand to his chest. You wait for the canned answer- papaya, you think.
“Mine’s bright green,” Lando says.
Oscar nods. “Mine is blue. What’s yours?”
“Mine is blue too,” Sammy answers.
“Good taste.” Oscar says. He exchanges a grin with you. You smile proudly at Sammy, so happy to see him step out of his shell just a bit.
The next student who gets called on says, “my mum told me to ask if you’re single,” and you clap your hands and walk towards the front.
“Okay, friends, I think Oscar and Lando have given us enough of their time,” you say. “Can we all say a big thank you?”
A chorus of little voices calls out varying forms of thank you. One of them screams it, and Lando winces. Oscar’s cheeks are pink, probably from the student asking about his relationship status. Is it bad that you almost wanted him to answer? You’re being ridiculous, you know. But his flushed face is cute, and you can’t help but smile at him.
You shake their hands one more time before they leave. “Thanks again. You’ve really just made their days.”
“We were happy to,” Oscar says.
“Yeah, you’ve got a good group of kids,” Lando agrees.
“And they’ve got a good teacher,” Oscar repeats his earlier comment.
You laugh, feeling your face grow hot. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”
Oscar goes to say something else, but someone leans in through the door and calls out to him and Lando. He smiles sheepishly as Lando urges him towards the exit, tugging on his shirt.
“It was nice meeting you!” Oscar calls out before he disappears through the doors.
You turn back to your class and refocus. It’s time to move on to lunch, which is always the worst part of any field trip. Someone comes by to bring your group to the cafeteria. Your field trip worst nightmare- a large, open room full of people. You make sure all the chaperones are set with their groups and head off.
It goes fine. At first. You get the kids settled at tables and do a quick head count. Everyone’s there. They provide lunch for the kids, so you help to hand them out to everyone. Eighteen five year olds sit quietly, eat sandwiches and drink juice. You breath a little sigh of relief.
Then the kids all decide they need to go to the bathroom. You split them up, send them with chaperones in groups. You stay back at the tables with the ones who say they don’t need to go, knowing full well that in ten minutes they’ll be whining for the restroom. You clean up spilled apple juice and eat half your lunch. The bathroom groups come back one by one. Seventeen five year olds sit down at the tables.
And no, that can’t be right. You count again. Seventeen. One more time- seventeen. There’s an empty seat. You turn to the nearest chaperone, who also has a panicked look on his face.
“Sammy,” he says, eyes wide. “He was in my bathroom group, I swore he came back with us-“
You can’t panic. You turn to the nearest McLaren employee and tell them the situation. The look on her face tells you she’s going to panic, so you take control of the situation. You ask her to get everyone on the lookout for him, to page him over the speakers. Then you turn to your class.
“Friends,” you say, loudly. “Has anyone seen Sammy?”
Casey, one of the louder boys, raises his hand. “He stopped to tie his shoes when we were coming back.”
You could strangle the parent for not noticing, for not keeping an eye on the kids, but you don’t have time for that. At the very least, you have a starting point. You delegate a couple chaperones to stay with the kids in the cafeteria, and enlist a couple others to help you look. Panic is itching at the back of your brain, but you keep it tamped down. You’ll find him, and then you’ll freak out about it.
You split up, wandering the halls and asking everyone if they’ve seen a shy five year old with dark hair. They all tell you no, but that they’ll keep their eyes peeled. You check around corners, behind doors, in conference rooms and offices. You think you accidentally interrupt what was likely a very important meeting, though when you explain you’re looking for a missing child the men in suits all seem to understand.
The longer it goes on, the more sick to your stomach you feel. It’s Sammy. He got separated from his group and probably panicked just like you want to do now. He could be anywhere. He’s tiny, he could be hiding somewhere you’d never even think to look. His parents are going to kill you-
Oscar calls your name. It’s probably odd that you already recognize his voice, but you don’t have time to worry about that. You turn to look at him, and relief washes over you. He’s standing at the end of the hallway, his hand holding onto Sammy’s. You want to march down the hallway to them, but instead you collapse against one of the walls and press your hand to your mouth. Oscar pulls him towards you.
“I found him wandering in the hallway upstairs,” Oscar says. “He said he got lost.”
You nod, crouching down to Sammy’s level. He hides behind Oscar’s legs slightly.
“You’re not in trouble,” you say. “It’s okay. You found a helper, right? We always say that, look for the helpers. It’s okay! But next time you stop to tie your shoe-“ Oscar muffles a laugh behind his hand at that. “-you tell a grown up, okay?”
Sammy nods solemnly. You stand back up.
“Thank you,” you say to Oscar. “I owe you one, big time.”
“No worries,” he says, shrugging. “Knew you must be freaking out, so.”
You reach for Sammy’s hand and head for the cafeteria. To your surprise, Oscar follows. You’re not complaining.
“I’ve only been teaching for a year,” you explain, though you doubt he cares. The nervous energy needs to go somewhere, you suppose. “And I still feel brand new, you know? And school trips- don’t even get me started.”
Oscar laughs. “But field trips were the best part of school.”
“I lost a five year old in a car factory,” you say dryly. “Field trips are much less fun as a teacher.”
Oscar nods in understanding, trying and failing to hide his laughter. You come into view of the cafeteria and start counting heads. There are seventeen other 5 year olds still sitting at the tables. Sammy joins them, and you breathe a sigh of relief. Oscar does too. You pull out your phone and call the other chaperoned who went off to look, and tell them to head back to the cafeteria. With any luck, you might still be able to finish the tour.
“He’s a good kid,” Oscar says fondly, and you smile.
“He’s my favorite,” you admit. “I was a shy kid, too.”
Oscar leaves soon after that with a soft smile and an even softer goodbye. You wish he was the one leading the tour, but you know that would never happen. You’re lucky enough to have had the chance to meet him. He’s the same age as you, and he’s a world famous racecar driver. He’s probably already forgotten your name.
The rest of the tour is uneventful. None of your students wander off, and all of them are well behaved. They spot photos of Oscar and Lando in the halls and point excitedly at them, calling out their names. Finally, you’re brought out onto the lawn near the lake, and you give the kids a few minutes to play in the grass. You have the strong urge to lay down on the lawn and let them run until they all pass out. They have boundless energy, but you’re exhausted.
Someone nudges your arm lightly. You turn, expecting it to be a kid or a chaperone, but you come face to face with Oscar again.
“Oh god, did I lose another one?” You ask frantically.
He laughs. “No, no! Just came by to say goodbye.”
“Oh,” you say in understanding. “Thanks again, you know, for finding Sammy and for talking to the kids. I don’t think they’re gonna stop talking about this for ages.”
Oscar’s cheeks are flushed. “I’m glad they had a good time.”
You nod. “I did too, even with all the chaos. You have a really cool job, you know?”
He shrugs. “Not as important as yours. Tiny minds, shaping the future, you know.”
You let out a puff of air. “Sometimes it feels like I’m just struggling to keep the tiny humans alive, let alone teach them anything.”
He’s staring at you with this warm look on his face. You like his smile. There’s something comforting about it.
“Nah, I see the way they look at you. And Sammy introduced himself, you taught him that,” Oscar says. “That’s way more important than shapes or letters.”
Your face grows even hotter. “Thanks, Oscar.”
You see the bus pulling up the road out of the corner of your eye. About time to round the kids up. You turn towards your class, who are running around on the grass.
“Well, I’ve got to get them rounded up to go back, so unless you want to get mobbed by tiny humans you might want to make a run for it,” you say. “They’re distracted now, but they’ve been talking about you all afternoon.”
Oscar laughs brightly. “Yeah. I’ll head out. Um- d’you maybe-“ he pauses, and when you turn to him he shakes his head. “Sorry. Maybe I need to go back to school. Just. Have a good rest of your day. It was lovely meeting you.”
“You too,” you say warmly. “Thanks again.”
He disappears and you watch him go. You wonder what he was going to say- it sounded an awful lot like a question. But he’s gone now, and you’ll probably never see him again, so you try and let it go. By the time you get your class back to the school, it’s almost time for pickup. They’re all half asleep at their desks, absolutely worn out. Parents come by one by one to pick them up, and when Sammy’s dad shows up, you pull him aside and explain everything, the worst feeling in your stomach.
He laughs and shakes his head. “He does that to us all the time. We’ll be on a walk and he just- stops. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
Sammy wanders over as you’re still processing the fact that his dad isn’t mad. “Guess who I met?” He says, staring up at his dad with a wide grin.
“Who?” His dad asks.
“Os-car Pi-as-tri,” Sammy says.
“That’s actually true,” you chime in. “I have the pictures to prove it.”
His dad looks at you with wide eyes. “If you’d have led with that, I wouldn’t have even heard you when you said he got lost.”
Despite what Sammy’s dad said, you toss and turn all night. Thankfully, it’s a Friday, so you don’t have to teach the next day. Every time you close your eyes you think of seventeen tiny heads, and one missing, and you feel sick to your stomach again. When you finally do fall asleep, you dream of children disappearing and warm brown eyes paired with an Australian accent. You spend the weekend trying to get your mind off of all of it.
On Monday, Sammy’s mother brings him into the classroom earlier than normal. You’re still turning on the lights and straightening things when they come in. He’s holding a little bouquet of flowers, and your heart melts.
“Sammy wanted to apologize for getting lost,” his mother says. “We know you must’ve been very worried.”
You let out a breath. “Thank you, Sammy.”
He nods, and you take the flowers from him. Then he scurries away to the play area.
“It’s okay,” his mother says. “Peter said you were really beating yourself up over it.”
You shrug. “It’s my worst fear, you know? I hate school trips.”
She laughs. “You know, he really likes you. We were worried, with how quiet he is, that he’d hate school. But you make it fun for him. So thank you.”
You smile, unsure of what to say in response other than, “thank you.”
You turn to your desk to find a vase or a cup for the bouquet, and that’s when you see the other flowers. A mix of white peonies and white roses and greenery, with little orange flowers stuck between all of them. You stop in your tracks. Behind you, Sammy’s mother laughs.
“Got a secret admirer?”
You shake your head uncertainly. You’re not sure how anyone even got flowers into your classroom this early on a Monday. But there they are, sitting proud and pretty. There’s a note tucked into the stems with your name on it, and so you pull the little envelope out and open it.
Hi,
I hope you had a lovely time at the MTC. I really enjoyed meeting you. I’d love to take you out for dinner sometime. Hope this isn’t too forward,
Oscar
His number is written below. You let out a squeak. You can tell she wants to look over your shoulder or ask who it’s from, but she bites her tongue. Sammy’s your favorite student, and his parents are up there, too. But this feels like too much to share with a parent, so you shove the note in your pocket.
“Just a friend,” you lie.
“How sweet,” she says, nodding. “Well, I’d better be off. I’ll take Sammy out to the playground. We just wanted to stop in and chat.”
“Thank you,” you say, turning to her with a smile. “And sorry. Again.”
She gives you an amused smile. “It’s okay.”
You carry the note around in your pocket with you the whole day, unsure of what to do about it. Of course, all your students notice the flowers, and they tell all their friends at lunch, who then tell all their teachers. Suddenly everyone seems to need to borrow something from you, sticking their heads into your classroom and just then noticing the flowers. How pretty! Beautiful! Who are they from? You tell them all the same thing. A friend. It’s only when your favorite coworker, Maggie, comes into your classroom later that you finally tell someone.
The kids have all gone home for the day, and you’re cleaning up the last bits of paper from your class activity. She walks in and beelines for the bouquet on the desk.
“Okay, I have a theory,” she says.
“And what’s that?” You ask.
“Orange flowers,” she says. “Someone from your trip on Friday.”
“Papaya,” you correct softly.
“Huh?”
“They call it papaya, not orange,” you say. She gives you a look, one brow raised. “I know. I…”
You dig the envelope out of your pocket and throw it to her. She opens it and gasps, sinking down in your desk chair. She must reread it five times, letting out giddy noises.
“So when are you getting dinner?” She asks.
“I haven’t texted him yet,” you admit.
She stares at you with wide eyes. “He’s your favorite driver and he gave you his number and you didn’t text him?”
“That’s the thing though, Mags,” you say with a sigh. You lean against one of the desks. “He’s an F1 driver. I’m… me.”
“Yeah, and he liked you enough to send flowers to your classroom.”
“It’s not that, it’s…” you shrug. “Those guys date supermodels and actresses and pro athletes. I’m… a teacher.”
“Babe, if you don’t text him you’ll regret it,” she says. “Big time. Just give him a shot.”
You take your flowers home with you, placing them carefully in the passenger seat of your car. You set them on your kitchen counter. They oddly feel like they belong there, like that’s what the room has been missing, though you didn’t know it before. And as you sit there and eat dinner, you take out your phone and type in a new number.
…..
It takes a while for your schedules to line up, but when they finally do, you find that Oscar’s a fun person to go on a date with. Fun might be an understatement, actually. You’ve never had a better time on a date.
You’ve been texting since the day he sent you the flowers, back and forth trying to coordinate a date at first. And then it turned into little funny texts, photos of things throughout your days that made you both smile. You update him on your class, he tells you what chaos Lando’s been causing. He sends memes, and you send him ones back. By the time you actually see him in person again, it’s like you already know him.
You’d been worried that a date with someone like him was going to be a fancy restaurant that you would feel out of place at. But he suggests a little hole in the wall pub that he says is his favorite, and you eagerly agree. You meet him there in a casual outfit, jeans and a cute sweater. He’s dressed in jeans and a sweater too, his hair adorably messy. He has that same warm smile on his face.
The two of you sit and order, and any awkwardness you’d expected just isn’t there. It’s like you’re two old friends, already comfortable with each other. He jokes with you, and you match his dry humor step for step. He’s the only person you’ve ever been on a date with who doesn’t seem to bore of your stories about 5 year olds. His knee knocks against yours under the table, and you don’t pull away. You find yourself leaning closer, actually. You’re longing to reach across the table, to feel his skin against yours.
You look around later and realize it’s been quite a while since the two of you sat down. The restaurant is starting to empty out. Oscar seems to notice the same, and reluctantly asks for the bill, refusing when you try to pay for your own. You both stand up from the table and head for the door. You stop just outside, breathing in the cool night air.
He nods towards a nearby park. “Wanna take a walk?”
You definitely aren’t ready to say goodbye, so you agree. He sees you shiver slightly, and within seconds he drapes his jacket over your shoulders. It’s warm, like him, and it smells like him too. You smile bashfully up at him as you shove your arms through the sleeves. When your hand pops out, he wastes no time in linking your fingers together. You bite back a gasp.
His hand is warm against yours. It sends a shiver up your spine. You hold on tight to him and hope your palm isn’t sweaty.
He turns to look at you. “I had a really good time tonight.”
You smile. “Me too.”
“I was thinking, wondering I guess,” he says, “If you’d maybe want to do this again?”
You slow to a stop under a streetlight. He follows suit. You press your eyes shut.
“Oscar, I… I had a really good time. And I really like you,” you tell him. “But you’re world famous and I’m just me. I just don’t know…”
He squeezes your hand. “We can take it slow.”
You sigh and open your eyes to look at him. The fluorescent light shines off his fluffy hair and his cheekbones. He has a hopeful look in his eye that you’d hate to rid him of.
“You make me feel grounded,” he says. Your heart twists in your chest. “You have since that day at the MTC. You’ve just got this calming presence. And I think you’re funny, and pretty, and- yeah.”
“You think I’m pretty?” You tease.
He blushes. “Shut up.”
It’s scary, really, to think about. You want to try but he’s a bit intimidating, no matter how well you get along. And the attention that will come from dating him is even scarier. But you think of Sammy, hiding behind your legs, and how you’re trying to teach your students to be big and brave, and how you should try that, too.
You laugh and squeeze his hand. “I think you’re pretty too,” you admit, just to watch his cheeks grow redder. A sheepish smile crosses his lips, and he rolls his eyes playfully. “And kind, and funny. So yeah. We should do this again.”
“Cool,” Oscar says.
“Cool,” you agree.
Then he kisses you under the streetlamp, his hand still linked with yours. And yeah, you could get used to this.
…..
Two months later, when Sammy comes into class, he points an excited finger at you.
“I saw you on TV!” He squeaks.
You laugh. “Did you?”
He nods assertively. “My mum said I was probably wrong, but I know it was you. You were holding hands with Os-car Pi-as-tri.”
You laugh and put a finger to your lips. He takes the hint, but he laughs the whole way to his seat. You think it might be time to talk to Oscar about going public with your relationship. After all, if the five year olds are catching on, the adults will be soon, too.
When your students find out, they beg you to take them to a race. You think back to the McLaren field trip and decide you’re never, ever taking eighteen 5 year olds anywhere near a race track. That would be bad for everyone’s health. But when Sammy shows up as a grid kid at the next British Grand Prix, that’s all on Oscar. It’s definitely not because he’s your favorite student.
Okay, maybe it is.
a/n: my lovely 🐈❤️🩹 anon sent me a photo of Oscar with a grid kid & said: Oscar and Sammy. Please look at this photo I screamed over it. can imagine teacher!reader standing off to the side trying not to cry over how cute Oscar is tbh. anyways thanks for reading!!
taglist: @4-mula1 @celestialams @struggling-with-delia @lovekt @i-wish-this-was-me @forzalando @iloveyou3000morgan
Do you have any favorite Peter smut fics to recommend? I'm in need something spicy! I'll take anything you can think of!
Dear, if you want to turn up your temperature with some of the smut fics I’ve read recently, here are a few:
So, So Mean, by @lovelettersforthedamned
Smitten, Peter's Angel, The Ruler and The Killer, Peter and a Cam Girl, Enraptured, Doing so Well, Not so Innocent, The Goddess, In The Dark, Cheating With Peter, Phone Sex, and my favorite ever Back to Basics, by @blooming-violets
Love on the Brain: Sugar & Vice, vol 2, Sugar and Vice, Sweet Dreams, These Violet Delights, by @liz-allyn
Bondage, Mattress Acting, by @reysdriver
August Slipped Away by @peterthepark
Symbiote mini series by @mrshipsmcgee
Florence series by @periprose
Dulcet by @jamespottersdaisy
Quiet Temptations by @parkerpeter24
Sparks Fly by @mortwig
Jawbreaker by @witchywcmans
The Angel In The Garden of Evil series, In Your Boss’s Office, Professor Peter Parker by @backtothefanfiction
'Til Kingdom Come by @pedrito-friskito
Masterlist of @withahappyrefrain
This fic of @deviouz
Going to The Edge of Heaven by @multifandomworldsposts
Another Love series by @abibliophobiaa
Too Close For Comfort by @lovelettersforthedamned
Thick and Thin by @ficthots
Daddy Issues seeries by @venus616
I’m Holding my Breath for You by @lxinesux
There must be others I’ve read, but I’ve read so much fanfic… You must find more things in this tag [peter parker fanfic] that I usually put in the fics I reblogged.
Thank you to all the writers on Tumblr!
― Virginia Woolf, A Writer's Diary
[ text ID: Yes, I deserve a spring–I owe nobody nothing. ]
All I Wanted Was You || Slytherin Boys
type :: angst
tw/cw :: insecurities, slight yandere (tom), mention of abuse (mattheo), sexual things implied (theodore)
contains ::
summary :: inspo by paramore's "all i wanted was you" cause it's forever a banger. basically, different situation the guys would be in for this song. kinda inspired by tara yummy and jake. i literally know nothing about them besides that tara is hella pretty but yea!
DRACO MALFOY (enemies)
It's just impossible for Draco to like anyone that he does not hate because his brain just does that
He's a straight bully for you, awful in every way possible
Spilling milk down your book bag, writing mean messages on your desk, and more
His entire group would join him on this, making your years at Hogwarts miserable
That was until you finally had someone stick up for you, the most surprisingly person ever, Tom Riddle
Tom was the only person that Draco was ever scared of since Tom was one year older than everyone plus he was the strongest player in the entire school
Instantly, Draco backs off, running away like a pussy when he makes eye contact with Tom
But Tom doesn't help you up or even touch you, he just simply tells Draco to piss off and find a new hobby
You decide to thank Tom for his action, making him a batch of cookies with little smilely faces on it with chocolate
The next day, you hand them to Tom and he's slightly surprised
He's never had someone be kind to him before out of pure want, normally it's out of fear
From this, you two begin to talk about baking and different desserts that you both love, Tom has a major sweet tooth which is ironic for a scary intimidating guy
Draco sees this all, feeling so angry but he's not sure exactly why
He gets huge balls all of the sudden as he marches up to you and Tom's shared potions table, tossing the entire basket of cookies on top of your hear
But before Draco can laugh at you, Tom's wand is in his hand he casts a spell to prevent the cookies and basket from falling
Tom gives Draco a death glare, silently telling him that if he ever does that shit again, Tom WILL beat the shit out of him
From this, you once again gift Tom more sweets the next day in order to thank him again
And Draco can't do anything but watch bitterly from the other side, biting the skin him his cheek until he bits off a small piece
As the months pass, you and Tom get even closer, enjoying each other's silence and small sweet gestures
Draco hates this since it spoils his favorite hobby, tormenting you, and it also hurts his heart to see the person he's obssesed with begin to forget him
In order to stop this, he makes a huge masterplan with his goons to catch Tom off guard and completely embarrass him by spilling a disgusting, smelly, sticky potion all over him
The first step of the plan requires Draco to distract him while his goons wait for his signal to spill the liquid all over him
But as Draco got closer to where you and Tom usually sit, he saw Tom and you kissing, breaking the kiss as you giggled while Tom gave you a small smile
Instantly, Draco was heartbroken. He wasn't sure how to treat his crush or what to do, and now he lost you
He can feel his heart strings rip and disconnect from the different veins in his body as he stares at what could have been his
If he was just a bit nicer
He doesn't even know why he's mean, he's never liked being mean to you
TOM RIDDLE (best friends)
Befriend Tom Riddle was one of the most impossible tasks in the world but you somehow did it
Ever since year 4, you two were the two duo - a grumpy x sunshine duo
It was odd since you were popular, well liked, smart, all of the traits of a literal goddess
While Tom was a brooding, mean, know-it-all that didn't care for others
But maybe that's the exact reason why you two were best friends, opposites that completed each other
Tom's not good with emotions, he struggles to identify anything he feels without looking into a textbook as to why he feels that way
But he knew that you would be a good wife and mother, creepy to say but in his mind "crushes" are simply just "likely mating option"
He's weird asf for that, but that's the only way he can process a crush in his head
Cutely enough, he goes to not Mattheo or Draco, but surprisingly Theo
I think that Theo and Tom get along great due to them both being quieter and the most level-headed out of their entire group
Theo is a renowed quiet fuckboy who draws people in with his mysterious aura, which is like Tom but without the "drawing people in" part
Overtime, Theo gives Tom some advice on how to get you to like him and how to show his feelings for you
But it constantly fails due to him not being able to break out of his emotionless face and dull tone
He gifts you flowers, but mentions how they were on sale and how he picked the colors he liked despite you hating those colors
He does all of your homework as a gift, but talks about how he's surprised you're even passing in Hogwarts with how stupid you are
You get the idea... He has the right idea but horrible execution
But you're used to his meanness, making you see his attempts at romance as just "Tom being weird" as usual
So when you mention to him that you think you have a crush on someone, Tom instantly is destroyed
He wants to support you, since he loves your smile and happiness, but he can't bring himself to pretend that he likes this idea
He asks who it is, and you say Theo... The exact guy who was helping him try to get with you
Tom dismisses himself from the room without saying anything, you see this as Tom not caring for romance
But in reality, he's running down into his chamber of secrets to calm down
He throws his robe off of him in anger, slamming it into the ground
He whips out his wand and yells, blasting the beautiful snake statues that he bought
His breakdown causes him to destroy everything beautiful within his radius
The feeling of grief and pain is so odd and overwhelming to him, he doesn't understand why he feels like this
All he knows is that he wants- no needs you. And he's willing to do anything to get that
MATTHEO RIDDLE (exes)
Being friends with your ex is one of the biggest red flags ever, you never thought you would be that type of person
But here you are, still best friends with your ex, Mattheo
You two broke up over him cheating on you with some random girl, but somehow Mattheo snuck his way back to being your friend after months of apologies
He always wanted to get back together, regretting his actions every day, but you knew better than to give him two chances
You've always been popular with the guys, attracting a lot of them but turning them all down since you were still healing from Mattheo
But now, you were much more confident and content with yourself, feeling ready to get back into dating
Mattheo laughed at this thought, thinking it was just an attempt to make him jealous and that you would finally come back to him
But when he saw you walking down the hall alongside Harry Potter, he instantly felt like a bullet shot him a million times
You looked so happy with him, laughing and joking with him as if you've known him for ages - just like you do with him
Once you and Harry split up, Mattheo pulls you aside, completely ignoring the fact that you have class in about 2 minutes
"What are you doing with him?" He hissed, gripping your arm kind of aggressively
"Ow! What the hell is your problem? It's just Harry??"
"It's not "jUsT hArRy", what the hell are you doing with him?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Because you're MY girlfriend???"
"No I'm not! And I never will be again!" You shouted at him, shoving him away as you stepped into class, leaving him in the empty hallway
His heart shattered, a raw and gut wrenching feeling that he's never felt before over anyone besides his father
The pure disappointment and hurt he felt was scary - he's supposed to be big and tough, a bad boy, yet you had him wrapped around your finger against your own will
So many emotions hit him, the feeling of guilt from ruining it all, self-hatred because of how stupid he was, the jealousy, the insecurities, the fear of being so deeply in love with someone who may never reciprocate it back
He won't ever admit it to anyone, but he skipped all of his classes that day and hid in the forest by himself, smoking and crying until either his lungs or heart gave out first
THEODORE NOTT (situationship)
You two had a weird relationship that was almost like dating but you two never put a real title on it
This went on for about 2 years: Making out, going on small dates, always hanging out past curfew
You both loved each other, but Theo wasn't able to fully commit and neither could you after seeing all of Theo's flaws and toxicity
You never told Theo this, but if he ever confessed to you, you would still accept it despite knowing how awful of a boyfriend he is
And Theo never told you this, but he's always wanted to confess to you but he knew he wasn't in a good spot mentally yet to be a good partner for you yet
A small pinch of right person, wrong timing because I'm such a sucker for that trope UGHH
Theo was yet again messing around with another random girl, something you got used to
At first, it used to make you really upset and make you have full on breakdowns, but now you're used to it and have fully accepted that you have no control over Theo
But you still couldn't help to feel a tad bit jealous of the situation
You ignored Theo and his new girl toy for a week, knowing that Theo would probably come back to you sooner or later
But a month passed, and you two still haven't spoken...
Maybe Theo did actually like this girl, but if he did, then why hasn't he told you he wants to fully cut you off?
You shrugged it off, it's not unlikely that he just completely forgot you (he would never be able to do that, but you don't know because AGH I love the misunderstanding trope idc idc idc)
Since you thought he wouldn't come back, you decided to move on to no other than Lorenzo, one of Theo's closest friends
Lorenzo has always liked you but he never made a move since he knew you were basically with Theo
But he's always kept close tabs on you and saw how you were secrectly lonely since Theo moved on from you
With Lorezno, it was so different, DRASTICALLY different
He was so sweet and kind in public which Theo never did
He was possessive over you but he still let you have freedom, something that was so complicated with Theo
He was easy to converse with and actually replied to everything you said, completely unlike Theo
And most importantly: he didn't seem to care much about your body at all
Overtime, you slowly forgot about Theo as you focussed purely on Lorenzo
But Theo never forgot.
He was so angry at first, wanting to beat up Lorenzo for taking you and wanting to yell in your face for cheating on him
But he was thinking all of this whilst gripping his new girl toy's waist
He was just messing with this girl since she was so easy and innocent, something that Theo loved about you before he corrupted you slightly
As he watched you accept Lorenzo's ask to be his valentine, Theo felt his jaw tense up as he watched you smile brightly at Lorenzo
Lorenzo was exactly the man Theo wanted to be for you, but Theo wasn't that man yet
And it broke him to know that maybe in a different universe, a universe where he was shown healthy relationships, a universe where he didn't only feel value from sexual acts, maybe in a universe where he just tried harder - That could have been him with you
LORENZO BERKSHIRE (best friends)
You've been Lorenzo's best friend ever since you two got into Hogwarts, you two were rarely ever seen apart
People always confused you as a couple but you were very quick to state that you two were just friends
But Lorezno always hoped that one day you two could date
He's loved you for ages, literally 1 year after being your best friend he realized he was madly in love with you
But since he's been super busy with quidditch, you were left to do your own things
That's when Cedric started to talk to you while you waited for Lorenzo to get out of practice
Instantly, you two clicked and shared so many interests together
Lorenzo couldn't do anything but watch as you laugh at Cedric's jokes and playfully hit him, something he thought you only did to him
His entire heart feels so heavy that his broom starts to sink to the floor without him noticing
Once his practice ended, it was time for Hufflepuffs to use the field
"Alright let's go get some food! I'm so hungry." Lorenzo whined to you as he packed his jersey into his gym bag
"Um, actually I was wondering if I could stay behind?" You said, blushing lightly still from your interaction with Cedric
"What? Why???" He was so confused, but he knew deep down what you were going to say.
"Cedric said he would take me out to get some dinner after his practice. He made a bet that for every goal he scores, he'll owe me that many chocolate frogs!"
You smiled happily, breaking Lorenzo's heart even more
"O-Oh. Yeah that's fine uh... I'll see you tomorrow then." Lorenzo said, he was doing his best to hide his emotions but he couldn't stop his eyes from watering up
He turns away from you, speed walking away to his dorm
Once he's in his dorm, he breaks down heavily
He always thought it would be you two in the end, that you two were the perfect fictional slow-burn relationship that he's always dreamed of
But now you liked Cedric? Someone who was objectively almost better than Lorenzo in every way
Cedric was smarter, WAY better at quidditch, made you laugh within seconds, and even had the confidence to ask you out??!?
His tears wouldn't stop, he felt so stupid for crying but he couldn't control it
All he's ever wanted was you, and Cedric took you away so easily
“english isn’t my first langua—“ say no more.
In another universe, you didn’t just say you loved me, you actually did.
Red Light/Green Light
I personally, love a good angst to fluffy story.
Pairing: mcu Peter Parker X Reader
Genre: Angst
Warnings: fights :( and mentions of sex if you squint.
Word count: 7.5K
You weren’t an anxious girlfriend by any means.
Peter could do whatever he wanted when he wanted.
If he wanted to go get pizza with MJ you would encourage it. If he wanted to help out Inez in intro to darwinism because she was confused you would tell him to go for it. When he got Bailey's number to help her with some minor debate help you saw no issue with it.
Until now.
Now you were asking yourself if you sent him into the arms of another girl.
You hated that you noticed this, you were never like this before but Peter suddenly had a lot to talk about with Bailey. When you went out for dinner he started keeping his phone upside down, when you hung out he kept it near him at all times so when a text came through he could intercept it immediately.
That was red flag number one.
It didn’t come to a head until recently. Peter went to the bathroom during movie night and his phone went off once, you continued to look at the screen. His phone went off twice, you looked at his phone face down on the arm of the couch. His phone went off three times, you looked towards the phone and the bathroom door. When it went off for the fourth time you couldn’t help it. You never looked through his stuff before but what could Bailey need that it required four double texts?
Holding your breath and looking towards the door again you lent over and picked up his phone. You sighed when you realized you were correct and looked at the stacked notifications from Bailey. You tapped on them to open them, you needed to put in his passcode. You typed it in but it vibrated, you did it again but it happened once more. You did it slower, pressing each number on their own. His phone locked, one minute before you could try again.
He changed his passcode.
Red flag number two.
You tried to stay normal but the panic of him talking to a girl while changing his passcode didn’t leave much room for interpretation. When he came out of the bathroom he was wiping his hands on his pajama pants. He sat down and kissed your head, “You okay?” His question came when you pulled away from him, you crossed your arms and stared at the screen.
“Baby?” He called when you ignored him.
You hummed. If you spoke to him right now it wouldn’t be pretty.
“You okay? You look like-” He started to make a joke, you cut him off. It wasn’t the time to be cute and funny.
“Like my boyfriend has been texting a girl so much it made me insecure and when I tried to look at what was so important she needed to text you four times in a row I realized you changed your phone passcode?” You turned to look at him dead in the eye.
“Do I look like that, Peter?”
His eyes went wide, his mouth dropped open and his cheeks flushed with color.
He looked guilty.
“I, I, I…” He tried to start.
“You, You, You.” You spat back.
You stood and grabbed your water bottle and phone.
“You need a better excuse. I’ll talk to you later.”
You walked to the door and picked up your backpack. You had a hand on the door and waited. You waited for something, anything. You waited for Peter to speak, to call your name, to call you dumb for insinuatiting what you were, to beg you to stay, to talk about it. You waited for him to web your hand to the door, something.
You opened the door and waited. You walked over the threshold and waited. You shut the door and waited. You walked down the stairs slowly, you stopped at the lobby entrance for a moment and waited.
He never came.
Red flag number three.
If you were a cartoon character you would have steam coming from your ears. Your head would be red and swelling, it would pop with the pressure of heat and anger. If you could burn holes through someone right now it would be Peter.
Because, when you tell your boyfriend someone he’s talking to makes you feel insecure and you even snap at him over it and leave his house you would think he would learn something. Not having her stand at his locker, talking back and forth. You watched with seething anger, he was talking about something insignificant, you could always tell when he was ranting on a topic.
But Bailey, you never really watched her. And boy are you glad you tapped into that conversation.
Bailey liked Peter. No. She loved Peter.
You could see it written all over her face, her eyes were lit up at his movements, she was laughing when he wasn’t saying anything funny. She was curling a stand of hair around her finger, twisting her hips back and forth. But Peter, Peter didn't have a notice in the world she was looking at him like that.
He was just moving things around from his backpack to his locker, he didn’t look at her once but she bored her eyes into his face like he was the world's greatest human. Peter could be deft at times, he was so smart but so dumb. He could recite the first fifty numbers of Pi but had no clue when a girl was into him.
You slammed your locker and stomped over to him.
The power that you felt the moment Peter’s gaze finally looked up and smiled at you walking to him. And the moment Bailey’s face dropped. You lent forward for a kiss and smiled when he pushed his head down to meet you, he pulled back but you pulled him back by the waist of his shirt for one more.
“Looks like someone made up after the fight.”
Your power was drained. You felt weightless and defeated.
You looked at Peter and frowned. He almost wanted to cry, in the time you’ve been together he’s never seen a sadder face.
“You told her?” Your words were built in betrayal. He wouldn’t talk to you but he talked to her? The reason you felt so shitty to begin with?
“Yeah,” He looked at Bailey for a second, he licked his lips and thought of his next words carefully.
“Yeah, I just needed a girl’s perspective.”
You stepped back from him.
“A girl's perspective?”
You looked at Bailey, she had a half smirk but dropped it when Peter looked at her again.
He nodded his head and gulped. Bailey said this would help but it was backfiring badly. He didn’t choose his words carefully enough.
“You could’ve asked MJ or literally anyone else.” Your voice was monotone.
“Well Bailey-” He started. He was defending her. Not you.
Red flag number four.
You cut him off and spoke loudly. You wanted the hall to hear this.
“Bailey wants to fuck you. She’s trying to fuck this up.” You pointed between you and him.
“And you’re letting her.”
You stepped back ready to turn away to go to class. You looked at Bailey once more, her head was down and her cheeks were the color of a tomato, her whole body was flushed. You called her out in front of everyone.
You looked back at Peter and pointed at her ashamed stance.
“I don’t want to give you an ultimatum. I’m not that kind of girlfriend, but when you choose two girls you lose the one.”
You shook your head at him in disappointment and turned for math class.
—------------------------------------------------
Peter was always your partner in lab. Even though you didn’t sit together he made a deal with his seat partner that during lab he would work with you instead. He always looked forward to the block class, he got almost 2 hours with you and especially today he needed the time to talk to you, to try and fix this because god, you were pissed.
But imagine his surprise when the teacher called for lab and you moved to his table but when his table partner went to stand you pushed his shoulder back down.
“Thanks Tye, but today I’m going to work with Bailey.”
You looked at Peter and turned to go back to your work station with Bailey. Her face froze in panic when you returned, you smiled at her.
“Why aren’t you working with Peter?” She laughed to ease the tension. It didn’t work.
“Because,” You sat next to her and twirled a strand of her hair around your finger.
“I don't want to work with Peter today. I want to talk about Peter today. I thought you would love that, both of us chatting about the boy we love.”
Peter gulped. You knew he could hear you, you knew he wouldn’t be able to focus right now. You knew he was in full blown panic mode. You knew he was a nervous pee-er.
Bailey looked behind her at Peter but you caught her chin to bring her back to your face.
“He’s nervous. He doesn’t like that I broke the routine.” You looked at her.
“When he’s nervous he has to pee. It’s cute, on our first date he had to pee like seven times.”
“He’s about to ask for a bathroom pass.”
Peter’s hand raised, “Mrs. McClendon, can I go to the bathroom?”
You raised an eyebrow at her. “Told you.”
You watched her take your words in silence. She was scared of you at the moment, it was cute.
“Now, when he gets back, he is going to look at us. He’s going to wipe his hands on his pants and bite his lower lip. Then he’s going to sit down, he’s gonna tap his pencil on the desk and bounce his leg. Then he’s going to get up and look around and sharpen his pencil at the front of the class so he can get a better look at me to make sure I'm not tormenting you too much.” You smiled at her when you finished.
Bailey wasn’t sure where you were going with this.
When the class door opened you paused on writing down a chemistry question, the solution was the mixture you would be working on today.
“Go ahead. Look at him.” You nodded towards the back of the class. Bailey kept her eyes on her paper, you elbowed her.
“Really, watch him. I’m asking you too.”
You watched as Bailey looked at you, then turned her head to your boyfriend. You continued to work, even sliding Bailey’s worksheet to you to finish the second half of the equation. Bailey watched Peter at your command, she watched as he wiped his hands and looked around the room chewing on his bottom lip. He looked around until he looked towards their table, his eyes on you. You bent over the table, you looked between the pages and started to mumble. He heard you mutter something along the lines of ‘if Peter was here how would he do this? Is it x squared? No he would say that not every problem would be solved with x squared.’
He moved his eyes to see Bailey looking at him, he hadn't even noticed she was staring at him.
Peter moved to his seat with his head down. He started to tap the end of his pencil on the desk, then moved from biting his lip to shaking his leg. He looked at you once more, ignoring Bailey’s eyes. He looked at his pencil and pressed the lead to his desk watching it snap. He stood and walked to the front of the class to sharpen it again. He looked towards you and watched you struggle with the question, if you weren't mad at him you would have asked for help 3 times over by now.
He blew a breath through his mouth, he had to at least check on you. He had to make sure you weren’t berating Bailey too bad. He slowly made his way towards you, if the teacher asked he was taking the long way back to his seat. He paused in front of your seat, he was ignoring Bailey right now. Even he wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and talk to her right now.
“How’s it going over here?”
You looked up to Peter and smiled, you wrapped an arm around Bailey’s elbow and tugged her into your side. “Great! You know, I think we have some things in common.” You looked at her and watched her slow blink, you pushed your shoulder to hers, “Right?” She just nodded blankly.
“That’s great.” Peter responded weakly, he moved to stand over your shoulder.
“Need any help?”
You straightened your back and felt him involuntarily move in, it was a habit. He was used to standing guard over you.
“Yes, actually.” You pulled your arm from Bailey’s, and pointed to the sixth task.
He hummed and moved forward, his hand moving over your shoulder to grab your pencil. He lent his mouth into the back of your head and placed a soft kiss. You knew it was an ‘I love you’ and grabbed his wrist in a silent ‘I love you too.’
“You know you can’t solve everything with x squared right?” You lent your head back into his chest and groaned.
“I know but last lesson it was the answer to everything and it made me feel smart and now I need your help again.” You placed a kiss on his forearm. “Every time I feel caught up it changes.”
Peter hummed and wrote the equation down for you, most times he helped you solve it. Sometimes you weren't in the mood for a whole lesson and he would just give you the answer.
“I know, it’s such a drag to help you. I mean, you have to come over and I help you and then we get to watch movies and I get to kiss up on you. It’s actually terrible.” He kissed your forehead and pulled back.
“You’re good to start now. You wanna come over tonight? We can do homework, or…” He trailed off and moved to your right ear, his whisper to you only, he didn’t want Bailey to hear, your reaction alone would make her shake.
“Or, we can do something else. May isn’t home, she won’t be back til tomorrow evening. Whole place for us all night.” He mumbled into your ear and you pulled back with a gasp. You held a hand to your chest, “Peter Parker!” He hummed and smiled, he placed a kiss on the top of your head.
Before he parted he pulled your head back by your chin, your face pulled backwards to look at him upside down. He had both his hands on the side of your face and smiled with his whole heart, he looked into your eyes and spoke honestly.
“Hey. I love you.” He winked and went back to his seat.
You started to pull the liquids to make the chemical reaction.
“How accurate was I?”
Bailey looked at you, and spoke softly.
“Spot on.”
“Know why I told you that?” She shook her head no.
You smiled at her with pity, you knew she felt it. She looked down in shame, “Know why I asked you to look at him?” She looked at you again, “No.”
“Because, You will never know him like I do. And he will never love you like he loves me.”
Bailey was silent for the rest of lab.
—----------------------------------------------------------
Peter thought he had made it right.
You talked to him in lab. You lent into his touch and he even gave you the answer off the bat. He even totally ignored Bailey and felt like a dick but he did it so you would know there was nothing to worry about. He loved you, he thought you knew that. He didn’t mean to make you so upset, he really didn’t mean to make you cry.
In fact, if Peter really thought about it he can’t remember a time he’s made you cry like this. He made you cry because he made you feel beneath him.
Peter thought when you came over tonight all would be solved. There would be no Bailey discussion, he figured he made his point when he ignored her existence in class today but apparently that wasn’t good enough.
The way tonight went Peter wasn’t even sure he had a girlfriend anymore.
Honestly he wasn’t too sure when it started. He wondered if you came over with the intention to fight or it just happened, maybe it was intentional because you didn’t even bring your backpack. You were in pajamas and had mascara under your eyes, he wondered if it was from crying or rubbing at your eyes from a long day.
“Hi.” He greeted you at the door.
“Hey.” That set him back some, you both always said the same thing. It was always hi, always. Peter felt like he was slipping, were you both on different pages?
“Hey?”
“Hello?” You questioned back.
“Are we just running through formal greetings?” You moved to the kitchen to inspect his fridge. Peter always had the best snacks and drinks, and they were always different. It was the first thing you always checked, looking for the flavor of the week.
“Hi. It’s always hi.” Peter felt nervous, his eyes shot to his bathroom door.
You scanned the fridge and found the new soda flavor in front of you.
“Oo, orange? May is going crazy. If she gets grape next time I won't leave until I finish all of them.”
“Did you hear me?” He shifted his weight.
“Huh? Oh, yes sorry. Hi, Peter.” Your voice was muffled when you poked your head back into the fridge.
Peter frowned. It threw off his balance and it didn’t feel the same when he asked you to say it. He wanted you to do it naturally, not because he wanted it.
“Babe, do you have any more cherry Coke? I kinda want one of those instead.”
“Um, Maybe. I can look, I really have to pee though.” He nearly sprinted to the bathroom.
When he opened the door he saw you standing right by it, he jumped a little and held his hand to his chest. He looked behind you to the kitchen and started to make his way to look for your cherry coke.
He stopped when you put out an arm to block him from moving.
“Am I making you nervous?”
Peter looked around and looked back at you.
“A little.”
You raised your eyebrows.
“Why?”
“I think you're mad at me.”
You paused and thought about it. You were a little upset still but not angry.
“I don’t think I am. I’m a little upset but I don’t want to yell at you.”
“You’re not mad?”
You moved in for a hug and squeezed until he grunted.
“Not mad.”
“Then why didn’t you say hi?”
“Hi.” You kissed where your head fell on his chest. You leaned up and kissed up his neck into his jaw, each kiss he was given an ‘Hi’.
“Okay, okay I get it!” He laughed and pushed you away from him.
You followed him to the kitchen and watched him squat in front of the fridge, his head ducking to try and find a Coke for you, he knows you stashed one. You just forgot where you put it. He rooted around in the vegetable drawer and pulled the last one out. He held it to you and you gasped and held it to your chest.
“My hero!”
Peter stood and stretched, “If only every crime was that easy.”
You yawned at his stretch and watched him copy.
“I’m putting on my PJ’s. You pick the movie.” You gave him a ‘you sure?’ look. Peter always chose the movies, he said you had the worst taste in movies and you weren’t able to pick them anymore. When you binge TV he loves your choices, but movies were a failed task.
“I’m positive. Be right back.” He answered your look, it made your heart swell when he did that. He knew you so well that one look could ask him a question.
You cracked open the can and took a sip, you offered one to Peter. He took the can and took a mouthful that puffed his cheeks out. He wiggled his eyebrows and you giggled, he turned to his room to change. You meant to walk to the couch to choose a movie, and you did. You even sat your soda and phone down but then the thought of Peter changing was so exciting you bailed and went to watch him.
Except the excitement was blown the second you walked in. Peter wasn’t changing, he was sitting on his bed with his phone pulled to him with the charger in. He was fully clothed still, he went in with the intention of getting on his phone, not putting on pajamas.
His fingers were moving fast, he was trying to write as quickly as the thoughts came to him.
You knew who he was talking to.
Red flag number 5.
“What is wrong with you?” Your words were venomous.
Peter’s head shot up and his eyes went wide.
“You didn’t think I’d catch you? You’re so smart Peter, why are you being so dumb?”
Peter’s eyebrows furrowed.
“What does that mean?”
“Why are you still talking to her? What is it about her?” You pointed at his phone in his hand. He locked it and placed it face down on the nightstand. Your breath caught, he still didn’t want you to see.
You took a step back, and stared at his phone.
“Peter, I think we should break up.”
Peter stood from the bed.
“What?”
“I think we should break up.”
“What?” He couldn’t conceptualize what you were saying.
“I don’t like how you’re making me feel. I think I need to step back from this.”
“Step back? No, no no no, you don't need to step back.” His hands started to shake. He didn’t mean for this to happen, he didn’t know how serious you were at school. You told him you’d dump him.
“Then why are you still texting her?” You shouted the words, tears gathering. You were about to break down.
“She’s a friend! You treated her like shit today and she wanted to make it right with me.” Peter sighed and felt tired, he didn’t feel like fighting right now.
“I treated her like shit? She’s the one that is trying to ruin this!”
“Really? Because you’re the one fighting with me.”
The tears came down your face, you started to huff.
“Why are you letting her do this?”
Peter ran a hand over his face. He could fight guys all night long but fights with his girlfriend were daunting and exhausting. There was always too much emotion involved.
“I’m just talking to her. As a friend. I’m your boyfriend, you won.”
“Then why did you change your passcode!” You screamed the words, your breaths were short.
“And why do you hide your phone from me? And why are you lying about talking to her?” You were on the verge of hyperventilating.
“I’m not! Morgan got my password and texted everyone in my recents I sucked. I changed it then, I swear! I’m not trying to hide it but you said you were insecure!” Peter tried to defend himself but just put his foot in his mouth.
“I'm insecure? You know I'm insecure about her and you’re still talking to her?” You wiped your tears and sniffled.
“She just went through a bad break up! She said it was hurting debate so she needed help and she just started talking to me.”
“She wants a rebound not a friend Peter!” You were hurt and frustrated.
“Oh my God!” He shouted and pulled at his hair.
“She knows you exist! She knows we're dating!.” He pointed between you two.
“And she doesn’t care! You know she likes you, I know you do!” Your voice was rising again.
“I didn’t know it until today, I swear. But she knows we’re dating and that nothing will happen! She told me today!”
“And you told her about last night?” You shot at him.
“I needed to talk to someone!” He matched your tone.
“But not your girlfriend? Really? You’re going to talk to the person that made me leave?” You slapped your hands on your thighs and sniffled. You crossed your arms over your chest and looked out his window as you started to cry again.
Peter sighed and looked at you, you were so upset you were trembling. He had really fucked this up, he was trying to save the relationship not make it worse. He stepped forward to grab you but you stepped back and looked at him.
“Why her?” You sniffled and wiped away your tears before more were released.
“I never get jealous. I let you talk to other girls all the time, I let you hang out with them and I don't get mad or question you. But this one, this one makes me upset. Why can’t you get that? It’s just one.” You spoke softly, your lip trembled with the sob that wanted to escape. You wanted nothing more than your boyfriend to hug you and tell you he would stop talking to her, but he didn’t.
“I didn’t mean for that to happen, Y/N. I just thought she needed a friend. I just think you’re reading too much into it.” He spoke calmly but his words made you feel dumb, like this was a silly argument.
Red flag number 6.
“I don’t like you right now Peter. I’ve told you how I feel about her twice now and each time you wave it off. It’s not about her anymore, she's just a girl from school. But you're my boyfriend, and you've made me feel belittled and downplayed and lower than you.” You moved towards the door, but kept facing him.
“I’m sorry I made you feel that way. It wasn’t my intention.” His response was robotic.
You guffawed at him, his words were hollow. Did he not understand what was happening here?
“You know what Peter? It feels like you're cheating on me.” Your words sent swords to his heart.
“I’m not- I would never.” He moved towards you and grabbed your hands in his.
“I’m not cheating on you. I wouldn’t do that, okay? I love you.”
You pulled your hand from his and shook your head. The disappointment was written on your face, even he could see it.
“If you loved me you wouldn’t treat me this way.” Your words were soft, the decision was made. You weren’t going to make your partner choose you.
“What does that mean?” His voice was panicked. He didn’t mean for this to happen.
You stayed silent. He knew what this meant. He was fucking this up, you were the love of his life and he’s about to let you walk out the door. He was letting you dump him.
“Baby, what does that mean?” You turned your face and held your eyes shut as you cried. This was so hard.
“Baby?” His voice was pleading. You cried harder at the word, it was yours. He gave you that name and you wore it like a badge.
“Please.” His voice cracked.
Peter had never cried in an argument, but this wasn’t an argument anymore. This was a breakup.
“Don’t do this. Please, don’t do this to me. I’m sorry, please don’t. Please.” He begged you.
You shook your head, you had to stay strong. You had to prove you were worth more.
“Baby, please. I’ll let you read the texts. I’ll block her number. Please. Anything.”
You met his eyes, they were red and glistening. His nose was red, you remembered you told him his nose always went red when he cried. You called him your little rudolph. You just felt sad looking at him.
“Please don’t leave me.” His voice cracked and tears ran down his cheeks. His breaths were short, once the tears started he couldn’t stop. He brought his wrist to his eye and rubbed at it. He turned his back to you, his quick inhales left you wanting to run to him. You wanted to rub your hand down his back and help him breathe, you wanted to hold him and tell him it was okay but it wasn’t. You didn’t feel secure anymore.
“Peter,” You looked at his front door, you needed to leave. You couldn’t watch him anymore, it was becoming unbearable.
“Peter, I should go.” You nearly whispered the words, they were so hard to say.
“Y/N.” He whimpered. You’ve never heard him like this. He was pleading with you, he needed you like water right now.
“Peter, I have to go now. I’ll see you later, okay?” You stared at his back. You realized you hadn’t kissed him tonight, you didn’t get a last kiss.
You silently grabbed your phone and left. He didn’t say a word, part of you wanted him to fight harder for you. The other was glad he didn’t, he let you make this as easy as possible and you knew it killed him inside to do it.
You loved him. You truly loved him with your whole heart. And if you were cruel you would tell him that, but instead you looked at him one last time. He was hunched over as his shoulders shook, he was holding in his cries for you. Your heart fell to the floor and you left it there as you passed over the threshold.
Peter couldn’t sleep that night.
He also couldn’t be Spider-Man that night. He couldn’t do anything that required him to get out of bed, he felt trapped the second you left. His mind was hollow, he was entirely empty inside. He kept replaying the fight in his mind, he was never good at fighting with you. He always said the wrong things and made it worse. That’s why he never tried to fight.
He felt depleted and at a loss. He felt so fucking stupid too. He doesn’t know why he fought you so hard on it. It was one person that made you feel bad, but Peter, the one who wants to do nothing but love and protect you made it worse. He didn’t take your side, and that’s why you dumped him. He doesn’t blame you, he’d dump himself if he could.
He told himself ‘That’s it!’ If he goes over to Bailey’s and talks to her he can solve everything with you. He just needed to friend dump her and everything goes back to normal. Satisfied with his plan he jumped out of bed and grabbed his wallet and phone barley locking the front door before speeding down the stairs.
When he got to Bailey’s the plan was simple: Tell her girlfriend dumped you, tell her you can no longer be friends, get girlfriend back. Easy enough.
But the second the first part came out she let out an “Thank God!” and sighed.
“What?” Peter was puzzled.
“Thank God! She was the absolute worst. I don’t know how you lasted that long with her. She is truly insufferable. She’s always talking about you and going on and on about how special she is to be with you. If I’m being honest she never deserved you.” She paused and took a sip from her straw.
“You didn’t like her?” Peter was lost. Bailey had told him you were friends and she loved how cute you and him were together.
Bailey laughed at his question. “God no, I was praying for her downfall.”
“What? Why?” Peter couldn’t believe this. He was so blindsided, you were right. All she wanted was to get him to herself. And he let it happen.
“She didn’t deserve you. I just said that, silly.”
Bailey moved closer to Peter and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“But, if you’re feeling sad and needy I can make a good rebound. I need one myself, this works out perfectly.” She lent in to kiss him but Peter pushed her back.
“Are you insane? You said you needed a friend. I was good to you, I believed you when you said you wanted nothing more than that. I fought with my girlfriend over you. I got dumped because of you and you want to have sex?” Peter stood and shook his head at her.
“You’re not a good person. You rubbed off on me, I was a terrible boyfriend tonight. You don’t deserve me at all, and how you could insinuate that is beyond me. You are a shitty human who did a terrible thing.” He spat the words and turned to leave.
“Oh yeah? Well you’re just as bad. You fell into my trap just as easy, you knew what I wanted. Even your girlfriend called me out and you still kept talking to me. You must not have loved her that much.” She shrugged her shoulders, this was nothing to her.
Peter’s blood boiled with her words. You had told him those words just a few hours before and now Bailey was rubbing that in his face. Peter clenched his fists but couldn’t keep calm, he was so pissed at this girl that ruined his relationship he couldn’t keep a level head. He turned to walk to where she had stayed. Peter bent at the waist so his face was in hers directly, he wanted her to know the words he was about to share came from his heart.
“You are vile. You are scum. You are a terrible shitty human with no remorse or moral standpoints. You prayed on pity and turned it into a fun game. You mean nothing to me, if you were on fire I wouldn’t even spit on you. I think you are the worst person I have ever met and I’ve met a lot of them.” His words were ice cold, he has never spoken such cruel things.
“Wow. That hurts.” She blinked at him.
“You know what Bailey? I hope you find love, I really do. And I hope it’s really good. The kind of once in a lifetime kind of love. The love where you know the other person like the back of your hand, there is nothing that they can hide from you, and you can’t hide it from them. I want you to have a love that gives you a reason to wake up in the morning, someone that makes you breathe better just by seeing them. A love where you can’t imagine one possible moment without them because no matter what it is they just make it so much better. I hope that for you, I really do.” Peter spoke sincerely and went to leave.
“Do you really?” Her voice was soft. She always wanted a love like that, she dreamed of it.
“Of course.” He had his hand on her doorknob and turned his head over his shoulder.
“Then I hope you fuck it all up and lose it all.” He opened the door and slammed it behind him.
Peter was banging on your window.
You tried to ignore the taps at first, but then they were knocks. Then they were thumps of his palm against the window. You rolled your eyes, there was a reason it was shut and locked. You wanted to keep him out.
His restlessness was unsettled, his bangs became faster until you huffed and threw the covers off you and ripping the curtains open. You stared at Peter on the other side of the glass, and waited. You weren’t going to say a word until he did.
Peter looked at you wide eyed with an open mouth. He didn’t expect you to actually come to the window, he assumed he would have to break in.
“What?” You barked the words at him. You didn’t want to break the silence first but he was taking too long. Peter cupped his hand around his ear and made a confused face. “What?” You repeated. He narrowed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders and pointed to his ears.
“I know you can hear me Peter!”
He stared blankly at you.
You groaned and unlocked the window and threw it up.
“Hi!” He smiled at you.
“Hi.”
His heart clenched. You still did it. Involuntary or not it counted.
“What do you want?” You were quick to the point.
“Oi! What happened to exes being friends?”
You frowned at him. It’s too soon for him to be making these jokes, it hasn’t even been twelve hours.
“Not funny yet?” He read your mind.
“No.”
“That’s okay. I’m still into my ex.” He shrugged and watched you roll your eyes. He didn’t miss the hint of a smile on your lips, he still has you.
“Why are you here?”
“I went to Bailey’s house.” He started but you were finished at that sentence.
You stared at him and pushed the window down, he caught it at the bottom and pushed it up. You huffed and pushed it down, he kept his hand in place the window not budging against his grasp. You stood on your tiptoes and put all your weight into pushing it down but it stayed complacent.
“This isn’t one you’ll win baby.” His tone was cocky, he liked seeing you flustered.
“You can’t call me that I’m not your girlfriend.” You sat down at the window so you were equal height with Peter on the other side. You grabbed at this hand and tried to uncurl his fingers on the wood.
“Oh you like rubbing that in.” He watched as you tried to get him to release his grip but you were failing.
“Peter let go!” You reached your arm out to pull at his wrist.
“No. I love you.”
You pulled away and tucked your knees to your chest. You put your head down and started to cry, your shoulders shaking with each sob. Peter pulled the window open and let himself in, he sat down with you and wrapped his body around yours. You cried harder at his warmth, you turned around to press yourself into his neck.
“Why’d you let me do that?” Your words were muffled in his shirt.
“Because you had to.” He kissed your forehead and rested his head on yours.
Green flag number 1.
“Can I continue?” You nodded your head against his.
“I went to Bailey’s house. See, I had this great idea that if I told her what happened she would be empathetic and set it straight and then we would never talk again and me and you would get back together and the worst five hours of my life would be over. But something worse happened.”
You sniffled and pushed him back with your hands on his chest. You looked over his face and neck, if he was here to tell you he hooked up with her you would lose it.
“What happened Peter?”
He sighed and looked down. “You were right.”
“Huh?”
“I know right? Here I go with my loud mouth saying you don’t understand, but it was me babe. I didn’t understand. You were right, you were so right.”
“About what?”
Peter leaned back on his arms, “She wanted to bone me babe. Like right out the gate, I went over there heart in my hands. No light or soul left in me, just grasping at straws. I tell her you just dumped me with a capital D, no remorse, just a straight kill shot.” He smiled when he made you laugh, you wiped at your nose with a sleeve of his hoodie.
“And she goes, and I quote, “Thank, God.” and I obviously, in pure shock. Just double knifed right now, punches from every side. I say, “what?” because there is no way I heard that right and she says it again. Then she said she hated you, which she said you were friends all along, and that you didn’t deserve me. Then said I needed a rebound and so did she and this was actually a good thing if I think about it. Then she tried to actually bone me.” Peter concluded his rant.
“What did you do?” You looked at him and hoped he did the right thing.
“I barked at her.”
You laughed and leaned forward to hit his arm, “No you didn’t.”
“No I didn’t. I said some really, really mean things. Like, I defended your honor so hard she’s gonna form a crush on you instead.” He smiled at you, he wanted to ask if everything was okay now.
Green flag number 2.
“How mean?” You pushed him, you’ve never seen Peter mean. He must have wished her coffee was always too sweet or too bitter, never just right. That's the most vicious you could imagine Peter getting.
He let out a puff of air.
“Uh, something about being vile and being a shitty human and hoping she has the once in a lifetime kind of love you always dream of and she fucks it all up. Or something like that, I dunno it’s kinda blur.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked towards you.
Green flag number 3.
You pulled your head back in impressment.
“Wow. I’m lucky you spared my feelings when I totally crushed you after I slammed dumped you.”
“Good one, babe.” He stuck his hand out for a fist bump.
“You were totally heartless there. I mean I was crying like a baby and you stone cold just left. Now I know who the bad cop is gonna be when we have kids.” He poked fun and you turned your head at him.
“We’re not getting back together, Peter.”
Your words were ice. Peter felt frozen, he was sinking on the titanic. He figured it was okay now, you were talking like you were okay. Peter had a deer in headlights look and cleared his throat.
“Um, yeah. Of course, I really fucked that one up. I just wanted you to have closure.” He gave you a tight lipped smile and went to stand so he could make his exit.
You reached for his wrist and pulled him to keep him sitting.
“No hard feelings?” You reached your hand out for a handshake. He started at your hand and shook it, he nodded at your words. “No hard feelings.”
Green flag number 4.
You let out a breath of fresh air.
“Oh good. Don’t get me wrong, you’re totally hot and smart and totally my type. I mean you make me laugh even when I’m supposed to be mad at you and you always know how to fix our problems but I mean, I’m still hung up on my ex. It wouldn’t be fair to jump into a new relationship right now.”
Peter nodded with your words.
“I understand. I’m still not over my ex, she reminds me a lot like you. Beautiful, witty and just a dream stomper. I still love her actually.” He sighed and reminisced.
“I still love mine too.” You looked at him and felt like giving him the best kiss of your life.
“You know if we're both hurting from our ex’s we could just be each other's rebound. It works out perfect.”
You leaned over and met him in a kiss. He made a surprised sound not expecting your move but grabbed your waist and pulled you into him. He opened his mouth into yours and deepened the kiss, he thought he wasn’t going to be able to do this for a while. Not ever again though, he always knew he would win you back. You moved to straddle his waist, with your arms locked behind his head you pulled back from him and pecked his mouth.
“I’m sorry I broke up with you.” You whispered into his mouth.
“It’s okay. I deserved it.” He matched your tone.
Green flag number 5.
“It was the worst five hours of my life. Let's never do that again.”
Peter lent in to kiss you again, and again.
“Deal.”
“No really, it was traumatic.”
Peter was kissing down your neck, he hummed and you pulled away with a shout.
“Was it? I think I was more traumatized. The love of my life broke up with me like it was nothing. I was a mess.”
“No, actually I had it worse. I mean you were begging me not to do it, I was the heartless monster that had to keep going and actually do it.”
“I think you gave me trust issues.” He moved some hair behind your ear and you raised your eyebrows at him.
“Oh I gave you trust issues?” Making sure to enunciate on the you.
“Mhm. I see the error of my words.”
You pressed your forehead against his and stilled. It was okay. Everything was okay.
“Hey, Petey?”
“Yes, baby?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Green flag number 6.
The Last I Heard
i may have a seperate part 2 of this on the way, the idea is so cute.
Pairing: Peter Parker (mcu) x Reader
Warnings: peter do be flirting
Genre: Fluffy/slight angst/ pining
Word Count: 15K
Summary: Peter overhears you saying you like him but you're too scared to tell him, he makes you want to tell him.
Peter knows it is absolutely wrong to use his powers for his own advantage.
He also knows that the majority of common folk would disagree and use it to their own advantage if situations were reversed, and that’s fair to Peter. Everyone at one point has sworn that if they had super powers they would listen in to every conversation, or they would read everyone’s mind.
And Peter did do that at first, until he realized that eavesdropping was a terrible idea. Because you start to feel kind of itchy and icky about yourself, you realize that these are conversations that were meant to be personal. Ned was the one that usually begged, he would point out random people and persuade Peter into listening in and giving him dirt.
It was never anything too interesting, just personal.
At lunch Ned would ask, “Yellow jacket is up in hat’s face, what’s going on?”
And Peter would listen in.
“You weren’t there! You have no idea what went down, like, at all!”
Hat defends her stance, “Oh come off it! You’re supposed to be MY best friend, you were mine. And I lost you to him.”
Yellow jacket is upset at her dismissal, “ You decided that, not me. You think this is dumb of us? That we’re selfish? That this was one big ploy to fuck up your life?”
Hat is taken aback, then stands her ground. Solidly, “You fucked my brother, Jessica. You both decided to run around and date behind my back, and if you did it openly it would’ve gone over better. But you conniving with him hurts, I just lost my best friend and I have to watch her walk around my house cuddling up to my brother!”
Peter stops listening, he feels like he should’ve never heard that.
But he still tells Ned.
Once at the mall Ned pointed to a group of girls, “What are they talking about?”
Peter hones in, then repeats. “Redhead is looking for a tampon, Jeans is helping Redhead search for a tampon. Ponytail is talking about wanting to hook up with Jayson but she’s dating Erik, Bangs is telling Ponytail to do it anyways and Glasses thinks you’re cute.”
Ned grins, “Should I go ask for her number?”
Peter frowns, “No.”
He doesn’t like playing this game so much anymore, he’s started to feel like a constant invasion of privacy. He doesn’t do it for Ned much anymore, only sometimes.
“It’s an emergency, Peter! Like a real emergency! You have to tell me what they’re saying!”
Ned shakes Peter's shoulders for emphasis, Peter bobbles his head back and forth then stops to wave and smile like a normal human when you walk by doing it first.
He lets out a sigh, “Who?”
Ned points to Betty Brant and Flash Thompson.
Peter understands why he wants to listen in so bad, he gives in. By the way Betty looked it wasn’t going to be anything juicy.
“Flash is telling her about how his mom is gonna buy him a new car, Betty is saying her mom’s making her favorite dinner.”
Ned pouts, “Nothing about me?”
Peter shakes his head slowly, “Sorry man.”
Ned stays quiet for a few seconds then pushes his head towards them again, “How about now?”
Peter sighs, “No, Ned.”
—------------
MJ wrapped her hand around your neck after you passed by Peter.
“Waving to your future man?”
You turned your head back, panicked he had heard her. Instead you just saw Ned and Peter looking at Betty and Flash.
“He’s so fucking cute, right? Did you see his hair? His curls are like, fucking perfect today.”
Peter Parker made your heart race.
He was a goddamn saint, the nicest person you’ve ever met. He was a genius, the smartest person you’ve ever met. He was funny, the best quick wit you’ve ever heard. His laugh was the best you’ve ever heard. His smile made you feel like putty, his voice woke you up in the morning but melted you down if you’d been extra stressed that day, and his clothes looked down right adorable on him.
Everything about Peter Parker was your favorite thing about him.
“Careful, Y/N. I may think you have a crush on the kid.”
You pushed MJ in her ribs, “Has he ever kissed anyone before?”
“Why, looking to be the first to settle the land, Christopher?”
You gasp, “Did you just call me a colonizer?”
MJ ignored you, “You know, you could just ask him.”
You laugh, “That’s cute.”
It was. You and Peter were casual friends, you’ve hung out in only groups and only had one on one conversations a few times. You did like him, and you did flirt when you were around him but it was so subtle you don’t blame him for not picking up on it.
“I mean, I think you guys would actually work out. Like hardcore, he’s just a little dumb. You’ve gotta be the one to bring it up.”
Here we go again, the same tired piece said over and over. MJ, Betty, even Flash has gotten in on it, they all claim Peter would be down in an instant but would it be because it’s you, or because someone likes him?
“Does he even like me? Or think of me like that?”
MJ grimaces, “Peter’s hard. He doesn’t really talk about girls, you know? I mean, he’ll say when a girl is pretty or whatever but he’s never been one to be like, ‘she’s so hot, i wanna french her by noon,’ so, maybe?”
You tap her arm around your neck, “So insightful, I’m so glad I have a friend on the inside.”
MJ squeezes the sarcasm out of you.
—-----------
Peter’s gotten better at not eavesdropping.
It’s been weeks of fighting off Ned’s request to listen in on an unsuspecting victim.
Until recently.
He kept hearing his name, but couldn’t clock it. He had his head swiveled around the entire lunchroom with no luck. It wasn’t a constant calling, just casual. Peter this, Peter that, Peter, Peter, Peter.
He swears he’s going insane, he can’t jus-
Peter jumps, he’s trying to dial his focus on his name when you slam your hand down on his lunch table.
“Oh.” When he realizes it’s just you.
“Hi, Y/N.” You grin when he does, it’s infectious. You almost forgot why you approached, MJ said Peter would admit when a girl was pretty.
“Hi, Peter.”
Peter looks to the side of him and pushes his backpack away, “Wanna sit here?”
Your heart lurches with the question, he was asking if you wanted to sit next to him.
You shake your head, “I just have a question.”
A grin, “Shoot.”
You gulp, why did you do this again? Oh. To prove you had a chance.
“In a strictly non friendly way,”
“Uh oh.” He voices.
You smile, “Do you think I’m pretty?”
Peter freezes, “Oh! Uh, I mean, me?”
“You what?”
“Me! You’re asking me? Of course I think you’re pretty!”
You smile, “Thanks, Peter. But, am I pretty in a non friendly way?”
He looks confused, “What would be a non friendly pretty?”
You roll your eyes, “Like, pretty enough to date.”
His eyes go wide, pink coats his cheeks.
“Oh, oh!” He nods enthusiastically, “Yeah! You’re dating pretty, don’t worry about it.”
You thank him and walk away with your head a little higher. Your group quiets when you approach, MJ greets you with raised eyebrows. She has to pretend the whole group wasn’t just talking about you and Peter.
“What was that about?”
You sit your stuff down and take a seat, you shrug and look at her.
“He said I was pretty.”
Flash commends the size of your balls.
You thank him.
—--------------
“Y/N asked if she was dating pretty today, what does that mean?”
Ned shrugs, “Google it.”
Peter gives him a ferocious look, “And what would Google say?”
Ned sighs as he looks over Betty, “Are you sure she’s not talking about me?”
Peter looks towards the back of the class, you and Betty sat next to each other giggling. Peter tells himself not to, but he does.
He hones in, he doesn’t get much. He’s learned to listen in enough to get the details, but protect the person at stake.
Peter’s eyebrows furrow, he wants to listen to more.
“Uh, they’re talking about a double date.”
Ned throws up his hands, his jaw is dropped and he’s looking between Peter, you and Betty.
“Well?”
Peter looks around, “Well what?”
Ned tugs at Peter’s arm, “With who?”
Peter’s eyes widened, “Oh!”
“I’m sure Peter would be down, Y/N.” Betty shoulder checked you and winked, you groaned and looked up at Peter, he was looking at you. Even though he was across the room you felt paranoid he could hear you.
You smiled at Peter and turned to your friend, “Sure, you ask Ned first.”
Betty drops her jaw and looks at Ned, she starts to sputter.
“No! That is not the plan, at all!”
You huff at her, “The plan was to use Peter against me? You’re sick for that.”
Peter knows he should stop listening, he’s caught on, the double date was with him and Ned, but he also wants to keep listening.
“No! I never said that!”
You narrow your eyes, “Look, it would make sense for you to ask Ned on a date.”
Betty turns her nose up, “Well, the same could be said for you and Peter.”
Peter Parker can’t help but feel a bit giddy, you asking him on a date? He would never shut up about it again.
Ned is pawing at Peter’s shoulder begging for an update, he shrugs him off and keeps listening.
“What? No, it literally could not. You and Ned flirt all the time, everyone knows it’s gonna happen, it just when.”
Betty is slightly confused, she's wondering if you two are fighting. Just slightly.
“Do you think you’re not flirting with Peter?”
You blink and Peter watches your mouth open, you’re about to reply when Ned shakes him hard.
“Well?”
Peter turns back around and scoots his chair closer to the desk.
“It’s us.”
“What is?”
Peter clears his throat, “The double date, it’s us.”
Ned’s eyes light up, the thing he’s been searching for in conversation is coming to fruition, then dials it back some.
“Betty wants me, right?”
Peter nods.
“And Y/N wants you?”
Peter shrugs.
“I mean, it makes sense. She’s always trying to hook up with you.”
Peter’s head spins, “What?”
Ned pulls his head back, “Well, yeah. I just thought you weren’t interested. She’s always trying to make a move when we hang out.”
Peter is in disbelief, “She is?”
“Bro, she literally only hugs you when we all hang out. When she gets there and when she leaves, she wants you all over her. Like, now.”
Peter is nibbling his lip, he never thought he had a chance. He just thought you were extra friendly towards him, maybe you thought he needed a friend. He didn’t know you wanted him like that though.
He decides to listen in, one last time. Then he swears he was done, forever.
Betty huffs, she’s lovely but absolutely stubborn.
“Then fine, I’m not asking Ned until you ask Peter first.”
“That’s fine, Ms. Brant. But I’m never gonna ask him.”
Betty huffs again then looks to the boys and sees Peter looking at you, she gets a wicked grin across her face.
“Then I’ll make him ask you.”
You turn your head to see her looking at Peter, you start to backtrack immediately.
“No! No, no, no. You won’t. You promise me you won’t get Peter involved.”
Betty pretends she didn’t hear you.
“Betty, I’m serious. Promise me right now you won’t involve Peter.”
She starts to hum, this is a game to her. You know what she wants and you’re about to give in.
“Betty please, don’t involve him. I’ll ask anyone else, if you’re that dead set on a double date I’ll ask literally anyone else.”
She pretends to think about it, then calls out across the room.
“Hey, Peter?”
You whip your head to his, he’s looking at Betty confused. You start to melt and panic.
“You won’t.” You mutter the words.
“Come here?”
Peter looks at Ned and shrugs, he goes to stand.
Your heartbeat is hammering your chest, you grip Betty’s elbow tightly.
“Stop it, Betty. It’s not funny anymore.”
Peter’s walking over, you feel your hands shake. You curl them into fists.
“Betty!” You look over your shoulder, he’s about to be here.
“I’ll ask him! I’ll ask him!”
Betty smiles, it’s like she's asking you if it was that hard.
You can’t help the smile that crosses your face when Peter not only approached your side of the desk, but also smiled at you first and made sure you saw him before looking at Betty.
“You called?”
Betty grins, it makes you feel sick.
“I was thinking of asking Ned on a date, what’s his favorite food?”
Peter thinks of his next words carefully, he makes sure to look at you when he speaks.
“We’re both pizza kinda guys.”
You shudder. it was never about asking Peter for you, it was about forcing you to say yes.
“What’s his favorite? He strikes me as a hawaiian type of guy.”
He grins, “You guessed right.”
You speak up, “You strike me as a cheese or pepperoni type.”
Peter tilts his head, “Do I?”
You shake your head, “Actually, I think you’re a ‘any type of pizza will do, as long as I can pile as much parmesan cheese as humanly possible on it.’ kind of guy.”
He hums, “Are you a crushed red pepper kind of gal?”
You shrug and feel your cheeks get warm, “Maybe.”
“That’s good then, none of the packets get wasted. Look at us, the zero waste couple.”
“Couple of besties?” You give a nervous grin.
Peter nods, “Sure.”
You swallow hard, you were never prepared for Peter to say something flirty to you, he was supposed to be the nervous quiet one, but you have a feeling he can be extremely charming when he wants to be.
Betty eyes you then looks at Peter, you notice they share a look but you can’t place what it is.
“Pizza then?”
“Trust me Bets, Ned is gonna scream when you ask him out. He’s been dying to do it but it’s always nice to know when a girl is into you.”
He let that last line slip, he’s trying to hint to ask him without laying it out. Or let you know he was listening in.
“Does he really? I swear he doesn’t make it known.”
You look over at Ned, you have no clue how she thinks he doesn’t make it known. He followed her around like a puppy and was at her beck and call. Not to mention he’s watching the entire encounter rocking in his seat biting his nails.
And you were scared you looked nervous.
You point at Peter’s best friend, “Really, Bets? He doesn’t make it known?”
Peter pats your head, “What she said.”
You bite your bottom lip hard to stop the whimper from escaping, Peter shares a glance with you, you’re pretty sure he heard you.
“So it’s an easy yes?”
Peter nods, “The easiest.”
Betty nods at Peter then looks towards you, “Y/N? Anything you need to ask Peter?”
Your cheeks feel hot, you give a death stare to Betty.
“Uh, nope. Can’t think of anything.”
Betty pushes, “You sure?”
“Positive.” You push the word through clenched teeth.
Betty waits with pursed lips and when you offer no more she nods slightly, she can play this game too.
“Thanks for the advice, Peter. But I don’t think I’m going to ask yet.”
You want to disappear, and you are extra aware of Peter’s body next to yours. If you leaned against him you would rest into his waist, you wanted to make him proud again, so he could give you another celebratory pat.
“He’s there when you’re ready, Betty. Stays between us, promise.” Then he looks at you before he departs, “Hey, you going to Flash’s party tonight?”
You don’t trust your voice and nod, Peter watches where you chew on your lip.
“Good, I’ll see you there.” He taps your shoulder with a punch and walks back towards his best friend.
Ned looks at him with wide eyes, his fingernails are nubs.
“Well?”
Peter sighs dreamily, “I’m gonna make her ask me out.”
—---------
“Peter!”
“Y/N!”
You both point at each other then meet in the middle for a hug, Peter sways you slightly and pulls away.
“Long time no see!” He jokes, you giggle along. He’s just so funny.
“No kidding, you know time stops when you’re not around.” You wink to play off the joke.
Peter scrunches his nose like a bunny, “I love when you flirt with me. Want a drink?”
You feel frozen for a moment, he’s not supposed to catch on. He was supposed to play dumb until you all grow up and get married and have kids and one night over lunch when you catch up after years you let it slip that you had a giant crush and always waited for him to notice. He wasn’t supposed to notice now.
“What are you drinking?” You clock his red cup, he’s not a drinker but it’s not a water bottle this time.
He holds it out, “Try?”
You take it and raise it to your lips, it’s nearly empty. You can’t help but think about this being the first time you’ve shared a drink with Peter, you’re putting your lips where his were. The only thing more intimate than this is sharing a bite of food. If you pretend hard enough you can say that you’ve technically kissed him.
It’s sweet and you can’t detect alcohol. You pull back and eye him, he’s waiting for your reaction. He hopes you like it. You pull a face then try it again, you’re trying to place it.
“Like it?”
“It’s like a cherry sprite, but like, better?”
“It is! I can make you one?”
Peter pushed you towards the kitchen with a hand to your back, you felt his palm through the material of your shirt and realized how cold the rest of you felt. Small conversation carried you through the wait, he made each of you a cup and handed it over.
You both took a sip at the same time, you pulled back with a slight frown then took another sip. Peter watched you furrow your brows before you reached out for his own and took a sip. You make a confused sound.
“Hm?”
You shrug, “Your’s tastes better.”
Peter thinks it's adorable, he can only hope that if this goes the way he’s thinking that you would carry this over. He always wants his to taste better, just because it’s his.
“I’d offer to swap but then I’d think that one would taste better.”
You nod, “I think you’re right.” Then hold your own out, “Cheers!” Peter obliges then holds his back when you try to tap it, “What are we cheering for?” You pucker, “Do we need a reason?”
Peter pouts, “No, I guess not. Feels better to have one though.”
You think for a reason then exclaim, “Here’s one,” You raise your cup again, “Here’s to new friends!”
“And couples!” Peter taps his cup on yours.
“What?” You eye him down, did he just say what you thought?”
He nods his head towards Ned and Betty, totally wrapped up in each other.
“Right! To new friends and couples.”
Peter was about to speak again when Flash’s voice rang out on the DJ speaker.
“Friends to the inner ring, losers stay away.”
MJ immediately leaves from the inner circle to the kitchen, “MJ! You’re a friend!”
She calls behind her, “I know you consider me one!” She stops when she sees you and Peter chatting closely.
She nods her head in recognition, “Nice.”
“What are you doing?” You watch her open cabinets moving around the kitchen.
“Making toast. Take my place for me.”
You made a pit stop to the bathroom and came back to the living room, the whole group sat across the couches and criss-crossed on the floor, there was not one space open. Peter took the last spot, you were about to sit in the kitchen with MJ when Peter waved you over and tapped his lap. You felt warm just thinking of sitting on his lap, it was closer than you’ve ever been before. You would literally be on top of him, and if you were to move just right perhaps you’d get even closer.
You held your breath as you lightly rested on his lap, most of your weight rested on your feet you kept planted on the ground. Peter wrapped his arm around your waist and tugged you against him, your feet dangled between his knees and his chest was against your back. He delicately wrapped his other arm around your waist, he was hugging you to him.
“Good?” He tried to look around at your face, instead you gave in and rested your head against his shoulder and rested a hand over his on your waist. You nodded against his neck, he grinned softly, “Good.”
The rest of the party went by quickly, it was just a few rounds of some games but nothing too crazy. Some truth or dare, some never have I ever, some beer pong but nothing that led to anything more between you and Peter. He did however stick to your side the whole night.
Betty and MJ had to nearly pull you from his side to leave, you wish they would’ve left you so that Peter would walk you home and you could maybe score a midnight smooch but they didn’t let you get the chance.
“Say bye to Peter, Y/N.”
You pout at Peter, you’re wishing he says he’ll take you home instead. He thinks that’s what you want too, but he has patrol after this, he even has the suit on.
“Bye Peter. I’ll see you on Monday.” You reach in for a hug, he squeezes you and talks in your ear.
“Bye Y/N. Let me know when you’re home, okay?” You grin into his shirt, he’s never said that before. You pull away and he looks over your face and hesitates before leaning in and pressing a kiss to your cheek, “See you Monday.”
The only thing you can do is nod, you smile softly then step back into MJ and Betty who are ‘oohing’ softly at Peter’s move. You can’t even form words, your knees feel shaky and all your pacing thoughts are screaming his name over and over. Peter grins at your reaction before turning and going back to Ned who is now ready to leave since Betty is no longer there to entertain, Peter feels the same way.
—-----------
Okay, Peter swears this is the final time.
He’s never going to listen in on you ever again, he just needs to know what you’re feeling right now. He’s just making sure you’re okay, you didn’t talk over the weekend beyond the ‘home safe’ text and his ‘good, i had fun tonight! thanks for hanging with me!’ text. After he finds out what you’re thinking he’ll trust the process, he just needs to be sure you know he’s interested.
You were distraught, did you go up to Peter? You got closer than ever at Flash’s party, but he didn’t text you all weekend, but you didn’t either. You wanted to pull at your hair, you had a feeling Peter was the ‘what you give is what you receive’ kind of guy. You swallow the lump in your throat and walk towards him.
“Hi.”
Peter opens his arms, “Hi.”
Your face lights up, he’s never initiated a hug before. You step into his hold and melt into him this time, no more pretending you didn’t absolutely love this.
“Good Morning.” He mumbles the words in your ear, you mumble them back into his chest.
“I don’t want to go to math, go for me.”
Peter rests his chin on your head and pulls you in tighter, “Wanna swap? I have advanced trigonometry.”
You pull away and squint at him, “Ew.”
“I know right?”
“It’s cause you’re such a smartie. I bet I could quiz you on anything and you would know it.”
Peter grins, “Wanna come over and test that theory?”
Your eyes widen, “Just you and me?”
Peter laughs, “Unless you want to make it a decathlon.”
A joke.
He’s joking.
“Bet, I’ll start working on the flash cards. Irrelevant question, what is your toughest subject?”
He blows air through his lips and shrugs, he lets out the word with an honest chuckle.
“Girls.”
You swallow, “Noted.”
—------------------
He was losing his window of opportunity.
Good thing, you and Betty sat with him and Ned at lunch. (MJ and Flash followed.) Bad thing, he couldn’t listen to you talk about him. Peter will admit that it feels good to openly like someone and not be scared because he knows the other likes him too, it gives him confidence like he’s never had before.
You sat next to him too, it went: him, you, Betty, Ned, Flash then two seats away from him, one from Peter was MJ. The table was loud, everyone having mixed conversations, once it quieted down some MJ was reminded of something.
“Hey, Peter. Are we still doing the thing tonight?”
What thing? You weren’t told of a thing, was it a Peter and MJ thing? I mean, MJ doesn’t like Peter and you’re almost sure Peter likes you but what is that thing tonight?
“Yeah! I think Ned is gonna invite Betty too if that’s cool?”
MJ nods, “Betty’s cool.”
Peter then nudged his nose against the side of your face, you turn and he’s right there. You notice him glance at your lips for a quick second then asks, “Busy tonight?”
You hum and think, “I don’t think so.”
Peter grins, “Wanna come over? It’s game night.”
“What kind of games?”
“Mostly video games, MJ and Ned have a switch so we all take turns. But I have some two player board games if you want to play me.”
You give him puppy dog eyes, “That is so cute.”
“Is it?” Peter didn’t know it was that easy, he just wanted you to feel included if you didn’t want to watch him or your friends play games.
You bite your lip and nod, without thinking he places his thumb on your chin and pulls down releasing it. You stare at him and he watches your pupils go wide, he was about to apologize but he won’t now. He’ll let you believe he did that on purpose.
“Do you have Guess Who?” You clear your throat and try to level your breathing after his stunt.
“Think so, I have a couple of good ones. I’ll show you when you come over.”
You look him up and down, “Can I wear my PJ’s?”
Peter holds a hand to his chest, “I’d be insulted if you didn’t.”
You hold out your hand to shake his like a business agreement, “Deal.”
He tells you he’ll text you the details and you lean into him as you laugh at something Ned said in retort to something Flash said. Your head was against his arm, he carefully watched as you made eye contact with Betty, she raised her eyebrows slightly and you carefully nodded your head.
He wrapped his hand around your neck and pulled you into him.
Peter knows he has you now.
—--------------
“Okay, what’s up with you and Y/N?” MJ wasn’t one to care, she promises. But you did consider her a friend on the inside and Peter was acting extremely touchy feely with you and he’s never done that before. Not to mention he kissed your cheek the other night.
You couldn’t shut up about it on the way home, and of course the group text with you and Betty had been blowing up like crazy. You were constantly analyzing Peter’s every move and Betty was doing the same with Ned. If MJ was honest, and she would never admit it, Flash was her favorite right now.
“Uh, nothing?”
MJ nodded, “Nice to know we’re lying.”
“I don’t know. I know she’s into me and Betty wants to ask Ned out but she won’t do it until Y/N asks me first, but she doesn’t think I’m into her so I’m trying to show her that I am so she’ll ask me.”
“How the hell do you know about this?”
Peter shrugs sheepishly, “I listened.”
MJ groans, “You said you were gonna stop!”
“I know! Ned was begging me and I accidentally heard it, and now I know she’s into me. I just want to make sure this actually happens.”
Ned walked in the front door and shook his shoulders, “It’s freezing tonight.”
Peter glanced at his phone to see if you texted him again, he told you to let him know when you were on your way up, he wanted to catch you in the hallway. Alone.
“Y/N and Betty are on their way, by the way.”
“Betty’s bringing her switch so we can all game.” Ned shot finger guns at MJ, she blocked the imaginary hits.
“Sweet. I’m gonna kick double ass in Mario Kart.”
Ned looks at Peter, “What are you doing?”
“I think we’re gonna play some games in my room.”
MJ waggles her eyebrows, “Alone?”
“Yeah?”
Ned whistles, “On your bed?”
“Probably.” Peter doesn’t see what’s wrong.
“She’s gonna think you’re making a move, you know that right?” MJ clicks her teeth at him.
“Like what?”
MJ chewed on her lip, “She asked me if you’ve ever kissed someone.”
Ned whoops, “Get it, dude!”
Peter isn’t that surprised, he wants to kiss you too after all. And maybe that was slightly his plan already, he was trying to separate the both of you from the pack. He just wanted to talk with you more and he couldn't spit game as confidently when his friends were watching and listening. Peter also can’t think of a downside of kissing you either, it just seems really lovely.
“It’s almost like I planned it.” He winks at his friends as they realize he did in fact plan it to be this way.
His phone buzzes, “Hold on.”
He opens the door to see you and Betty’s smiling faces, “Hello.” He reaches in for a hug, you first then Betty. “If you wanna head in you can,” He smiles at Betty and watches her step through the threshold, you go to follow and he steps in front of you. He softly closes the door behind her, you watch expectantly.
“Hi.” He smiles.
“Hi.” You mimic.
He almost kisses you now, he opts for pulling you in for a second hug. You’re surprised but latch on tightly, he pulls away and places a delicate kiss on your cheek. It’s softer than the one at the party, it’s intimate, it was a private kiss.
“Thank you for coming.” He whispers against your skin.
Your cheeks flush, you’ve never felt this seen before. Peter notices everything about you, and you wonder why it took him this long. You can’t help but get lost in daydreams where he was truly yours and his kisses never stopped, even as they trailed down your body.
“Thank you for inviting me.”
He didn’t even look at what you were wearing, he tilted your head up with his hand on your jaw.
“You look pretty.”
You blinked slowly, you kept looking between his eyes and his mouth. He said his worst subject was girls, you think he’s a liar, he’s too smooth and quick.
“You’re better at this than me.”
Peter just grins smugly. He’s better at the flirting game and he knows it. Spider-Man has some quick wit and it’s helped Peter out tremendously.
As soon as you both stepped through the door MJ berated you, “What were you two doing out there?” You wince and suck a breath through your teeth, “Making out. Hard core face sucking, had a full round of tonsil hockey.”
MJ narrowed her eyes, “Oh? Peter finally kissed you?”
This is what Peter means when he says his friends ruin his game.
You nod, “Oh yeah. Had me pressed against the wall and everything. I’m still seeing stars.”
It’s funny, nothing actually happened but what did felt more personal than actually telling your friends about a hook up session.
“Really?” Betty gasped, fully amazed that you had actually done it.
You frowned slightly, she seemed so excited for you. You had to let her know you were kidding.
“Yup. He even asked for my hand in marriage, right Peter?”
He nods, “We haven’t set a date yet.”
Betty boos with Ned, “No fair, we actually believed you.”
MJ shook her head, “No way. Peter’s not the make out in the hallway type.”
Peter makes kissy faces at MJ, “Wanna find out?”
MJ gags.
Ned huffs, “Betty and I are setting up Mario Kart.”
“I’m making popcorn.” MJ backs up into the kitchen.
Peter tugs you into him, “Wanna check out my games?”
—-----
You may or may not be trying a little extra hard to make your butt look good as you bend down looking at the games, Peter’s standing behind you and you just hope he’s taking a little look. Your PJ’s did hug you just right.
“You know I’ve never played chess?” You move the box to the right and find Connect Four, you pass him the box and he gasps. “Never?”
“Nope.” You wish you could play Clue, it was a favorite. You’re gonna team up with Betty to get the boys to play with you, MJ was an easy add if everyone else played.
“Never learned?”
You shake your head, “Never did. I dated one guy in middle school who did it competitively, and seeing as he was my boyfriend and a master in the game, or at least I thought he was at the time, I asked if he would teach me and he laughed at me and said it was “too advanced for a brain like mine.” So I vowed to never play it.”
You stood and handed him two more games, Guess Who and Battleship.
Peter frowned, “Sounds like a dolt. If you want, I would love to teach you. The hardest part is learning what the pieces do, after that it’s all strategy.”
You smile, “Don’t make fun of me but that would be a cute date.”
He laughs, “Teaching you chess?”
“Yes! You would be like this does that, and this does that, and you would let me practice on you, but you wouldn’t let me win cause then you can tell me why I failed so I actually get better.”
Peter doesn’t know why he thought girls were so hard to please, he thinks that's just what he’s been told. But so far all you really want to do is hang out with him.
“We can do it later this week if you’re up for it.”
You grin and nod, “Yes! You’re awesome, thank you so much!”
You also are extremely excited to see Peter concentrated and calculated with his moves.
Peter tells you it’s no biggie, then asks if you want to play in his room. You breathe in and nod, you were nervous to be in Peter’s room for the first time ever, and alone with him. It was slightly calmer if you think about how this is the first of many times you’ll see this room. You’re hoping you’ll be looking at the ceiling a lot more, though.
He points to his bed when you enter, “I’m leaning towards Guess Who first.”
You kick your shoes off and sit on his bed, “Comfy.”
“Just big enough for two.”
The way he speaks so casually makes you sweat. He’s a natural when it comes to flirting with you, you feel kiddish thinking about your lame attempts you call flirting. No wonder it went over his head for so long.
“Red or blue?” He holds up the plastic, “Red.” He nods in approval, “Nice choice.”
You hum, “Spider-Man wears red, I like red. I’m easy.”
He looks at you, “You like Spider-Man?”
You draw your head back, “You don’t?”
“I do! I didn’t know you were a fan, that’s all.”
“I’ve never seen him in person though, MJ has and I ask her about it all the time but she’s just super generic. Have you seen him?”
Peter clears his throat, “A few times.”
You drop your jaw, “No way! Tell me!”
“Nothing special, just the usual walking down the street and seeing him swinging.”
“That’s so cool though, have you seen him just fucking people up? Like when he does that web thing when he picks them up and slams them down? It’s so sick. Or when he wraps them up and like, flies towards them and double kicks their chest?”
Peter pretends to think about it, “I think I’ve seen some videos. He’s pretty cool, he’s got a few sick moves.”
“He’s my Harry Styles, if I saw him I’d melt down and cry and ask him to gently hold me. Like, it sounds crazy but I just know he’s cool. I don’t even like him like that, I just want to be his best friend.”
Peter wants to ask how you’d feel knowing you were about to make out with him.
“Total fangirl moment?”
“Pictures and all. I’d ask him to sign my tits, no joke.”
Peter throws his head back in a laugh, you smile at how he lights up. You love making him so happy.
“Okay!” You clap your hands.
“Is your person wearing a hat?”
“Nope.”
“Is your person wearing glasses?”
“No.”
“Fuck.”
“Does your person have a beard?”
“Fuck off, Peter. I’m moving in.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Is your person old?”
“Ancient.”
“Is your person Sam?”
You narrow your eyes at Peter, “Is this how it’s going to be between us? You always winning?”
“I ask good questions, stick around me long enough and you’ll get better at dodging me.”
“I could eat you up in scrabble.” You mutter.
“Yes you could, I’m ass at scrabble.”
Somewhere after the hour mark you’ve made your way to Battleship, it’s been a close game both of you have one more hit on the other person. You’re starting to feel the pressure, you try and calculate where he is, if you guess wrong he’s going to win. You know it.
You hold your breath, “C-4.” Peter looks at you and builds the suspense, then frowns. “Miss.” You groan, “Ugh, go ahead and sink me.” He smiles softly, “D-11.” You grunt at your board, “I’m swimming in the ocean with hope and a lifejacket.”
“Don’t worry, my one boat will come to save you.”
You snort, “Don’t worry babe, I blew your engines. You’re sinking next.”
“Are we gonna Jack and Rose it?”
You nod stiffly, “I’d let you die for me, yes.”
The room gets quiet, it makes you want to puke but you think the time is right. You told Betty you’d do it tonight, and Peter isn’t so scary, you just hate the feeling of rejection.
“Remember when Betty called you over about Ned?”
Peter has to pretend to think about it, he hums as he’s setting up his ships again.
“Well, she was trying to set up like this double date thing cause she’s too scared to go out with him alone for the first time. I mean nervous, not scared. Ned’s not scary.”
He hums again, he’s placing the third ship. He’s nearly holding his breath in excitement.
“And she wanted me to, like she asked if I would, I uh, nevermind.”
You lost the steam, you weren’t even sure how to word it without making it seem like a favor.
“I’m listening, she asked if you would what?”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s stupid. Are you almost done?” You almost looked over to see if he was done placing his ships but stopped before you would ruin the game.
He looked up at you, “Tell me about Betty, come on.”
You shook your head and bit your lip, he took his chance and leaned forward to untuck it like he did earlier. Peter watched your pupils blow like before, he looked between your eyes and mouth before moving in. You felt his hand move to cup at your jaw, his thumb brushing your cheek softly before hooking his hand around your face.
You felt like you couldn’t breathe, you knew what he was doing. He watched your reaction as he pulled you near him, he leaned in closer. He was taking his time, you were nearly shaking waiting for him to just kiss you, he was slowly building the tension. He wanted you to know he wanted this just as much as you did.
He smiled as he leaned in, just inches away. He brushed his lips against yours, the feather like promise of more. You melted into his touch and closed your eyes, he took that as a sign. His lips pressed against yours and your spine jolted, electricity felt like it ran through you, it didn’t hurt but it woke you up. You gripped at the back of his neck and held him tighter to you, you had dreamed of this for months, you weren’t letting go easily.
Peter moved against you slowly, he felt as you opened your mouth slightly and he took that as an invitation, he smoothed his tongue over yours and you moaned into his mouth. You’ve never felt this way before in a make out session, and this was just starting. He went until he felt choked for air, he pulled away slightly. You made a wet smacking sound when you separated. You raced for breath and kept your eyes closed, still panting you needed more. You opened your eyes to blink then pulled him back in, you were only able to last a minute before you searched for more air.
You couldn’t help yourself, he tasted so sweet it felt impossible to pull away. Now that you know what you were missing you never wanted to go back. You told yourself one more, you tried to pull him in but he pulled your hands from behind his neck, “Breathe. I’m not going anywhere. Can’t make out if you're unconscious.” You nodded and made a show of you breathing, then you leaned in for one more, he bowed his head and laughed. “That good?” You drank him in with greedy eyes, you ached for him. “Please,” You whimpered the words, it sent chills down his spine, he loved the way that sounded.
He nudged his nose against yours, “Please ask me, I’ll say yes.” He whispered his request.
He wasn’t talking about kissing, you knew that. He was asking about you asking him out, you know he was. He tied two and two together, you breathed in deeply.
“Do you want to go on a date with me?”
He nodded and placed his mouth on yours once more, you gripped at his shirt before shoving the plastic boxes to the side so you could get closer. You slowly shuffled toward him until you pulled away to straddle his waist, meeting his lips quickly before he could tell you to slow down. You’ve dreamed of this forever, you were in awe of what was happening, Peter Parker was making out with you, and it was really, really good.
Betty tried to walk in to ask what time you were leaving, it was a school night after all. But she decided to back out and give you space when she saw you busy at work on top of Peter. She came from the room glowing, she couldn’t believe you had actually done it.
“What’s going on in there?”
Betty smiled at MJ, “They’re making out.”
“Good for them!” Ned cheered out, he passed the finish line before MJ, “Last lap, loser.”
“That reminds me!” Ned looked over at Betty, “What?”
“Wanna go on a date with me?”
Ned dropped the remote, his character fell off a cliff.
“Yes. God yes!”
MJ is sure Flash is her favorite now.
We're Okay
A/N - Guys idk where this came from. I guess I'm just feeling emotional and inspired.
Content - After JJ admits her decade-long love for Spencer, you and your boyfriend have to have a conversation to calm both of your doubts and fears.
Warnings: spencer reid x fem!reader, season 14 spoilers, anxiety, mentions of typical BAU-level crime stuff, fluff at the end
You walked in the door slowly, cautionary even; afraid the smallest noise would bring reality crashing down on you. The car ride home had been completely silent, as neither of you bothered to turn on the radio. Spencer shuffled in behind you, the click of the lock making you wince as you did your best to avoid his gaze. You stripped off your coat, throwing it over the couch before walking straight into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind you.
As you started the shower and stripped off your clothes, the evening’s events rushed back into your mind. Being involved in a hostage situation with an unstable unsub was one thing. JJ being held at gunpoint was worse. However, as if all that wasn’t enough, JJ admitting her decade-long hidden love for Spencer was the final nail in the coffin. As you climbed into the shower, you did your best to let the water wash away the thoughts running through your head.
Unfortunately, your attempt was unsuccessful. As you dried off and wrapped yourself in a towel, your mind raced. You’d been dating Spencer for nearly a year and a half. The two of you had just recently moved in together. Having known him and JJ for at least half a decade, you knew they were close, but you never would have guessed this was coming. You couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same way she did. If so, what did this mean for your relationship?
After stalling in the bathroom for so long that goosebumps dotted your freshly dried body, you mustered up the courage to slip out of the bathroom and into the bedroom that you shared with Spencer. As you walked across the hallway, you could see his silhouette sitting on the living room couch, head bent forward. You couldn’t tell if he was reading or in deep thought, but you decided that either option was better than the alternative: trying to have a conversation.
You snuck into the bedroom, gently turning on the bedroom light and letting your eyes adjust to the warm glow of your room. You meandered to the closet, pulling out a simple t-shirt and shorts to sleep in. Slipping into your pajamas and stealing a glance at yourself in the vanity mirror, you noticed one of the many images covering the tabletop.
A framed photograph from less than a year ago of JJ, Will, Spencer, and yourself with the boys on a weekend hiking trip. You felt a pang of guilt in your chest and wondered if Will had any idea what was going on in JJ’s head. You shook the thought away, reminding yourself that you had bigger problems of your own to deal with. You turned back to the bed, sliding under the covers and turning off the light. Despite your distress, you were exhausted and you found yourself losing track of time and drifting off to sleep in mere minutes.
* * *
You awoke to the sound of the bedroom door latching shut. You rolled over, blinking your eyes open in an attempt to sneak a peak at your bedside alarm clock. You’d already been asleep for three hours and Spencer was just now coming to bed. It was well after midnight, and you knew that meant he had been up thinking about something. You figured it would be best not to push the subject after everything that had happened.
With your eyes shut, you waited to feel the familiar sensation of Spencer climbing into bed. Instead, you felt his weight at the foot of the bed, as if he had perched himself on the end. You tried not to think much of this and did your best to fake sleep. However, it soon became apparent that Spencer was on to you.
“I know you’re awake,” he said gently. His voice was gruff from the hours he’d spent in silence. Spencer waited before speaking again, “I think we should talk about what happened.”
There it is, you thought. Your stomach sank as your eyes fluttered open. You rolled over to face him, leaning up on your arms. It was then you noticed that he was still in his suit. His unkempt hair fell over his eyes and you couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the disheveled man in front of you. “Alright,” you relented, still refusing to meet his eyes, “what do you want to talk about?”
Spencer rolled his neck, tension evident in his movements. “I want to know how you feel about what was said earlier,” he said. For the first time in hours, you met his eyes, trying to gauge his sincerity. You found no signs of dishonesty, so you fell back on the bed, letting out a dramatic sigh.
“I don’t know, Spencer,” you groaned. “I definitely was surprised. I definitely wasn’t thrilled.” Spencer nodded, moving some hair away from his eyes as you spoke. “But,” you started again, “it’s not like we can go back and change it now.”
He reached an arm out, putting a hand over the covers on top of your knee. “I know,” he whispered, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
You scoffed a bit at his sincerity and his innocence, meeting his eyes once more. “And how do you feel about it?” you asked.
Spencer bit his lip in thought. You could tell you had caught him off guard with the question, and he seemed to be calculating his response. “Can I be honest with you?” he said.
You raised your eyebrows, the nervous feeling in your stomach intensifying. Is this where he tells you he feels the same way and leaves for good? You pushed your thoughts to the side. “Always,” you whispered.
He sighed, laying back on the bed so he was next to you. You could feel the heat radiating off him, and you wanted nothing more than to curl into his warmth. You knew this wasn’t the time, so you held yourself back and held your breath, awaiting his response.
“First, I was confused,” Spencer explained, eyes locked on the ceiling. “I haven’t thought about JJ like that in over ten years. Frankly, I never knew she thought of me that way, so I was caught off-guard.”
So he did have a crush on her at one time, you thought. You were ready to close your eyes in defeat, to slip off the bed and out of the apartment and never come back when he cleared his throat.
“But then,” he started once more, “I had a quick epiphany of all the moments she’d gone out of her way for me, and I could understand where she was coming from.” You turned to look at him, watching his eyes scan the ceiling as he tried to come up with his next statements.
“And?” you asked, prompting him to continue.
“And then,” he continued your previous statement, “I was terribly appalled.”
Your head, which had turned to the ceiling, snapped back in his direction. You felt your eyebrows raise and your jaw drop open a bit in surprise. “Appalled?” you asked, confusion evident in your expression.
“Appalled,” Spencer echoed, sitting up on the edge of the bed once more and looking back at you.
“Why?” you asked.
Spencer shook his head, looking around the room. “I’ve been thinking about that for the last couple hours, and I’ve come up with a lot of reasons,” he mused. “I know she was in a tight place, but Will deserves better than that. The boys deserve better than that. But aside from them,” he leaned over on the bed, intertwining his fingers with yours, “I couldn’t stop thinking about what you must have thought. I was so afraid of your reaction and of losing you.”
Despite your evident emotional state as tears pooled in your eyes, you tried to play it off. “Spencer, this isn’t about me,” you reminded him.
“Yes,” he said, lying next to you, “it is.” Spencer ran a hand through his hair, pulling some curls out of his eyes. “Everyone knows how much I love you. I know how scary something like this can be. But you have to know that I have no idea where this came from and that anything JJ and I had died, on my end, long before I ever met you.”
You glanced over at him, the sincerity in his voice had moved you to believe him. For a moment, you forgot about JJ and Will, the boys, and the implications of her words. You offered his fingers a small squeeze. “So we’re okay?” you asked in a tiny voice.
“More than,” Spencer whispered.
He rolled on his side to face you and you mirrored his actions. He wrapped his arms tight around your body, the textured material of his suit jacket pressed against your cheek. A gentle kiss was pressed to your forehead and you found yourself falling back into sleep. After several minutes passed, you felt Spencer’s voice rumble through his chest for a final time before he succumbed to sleep: “Ever since I met you,” he mumbled, smoothing some stray hairs away from your face, “it’s always been you.”
Unknown Sender
happy valentine's day!
MONDAY: 13:52
‘hi.’ Peter squints at the message, then the unsaved number. He's not sure how, but it’s a scam.
‘i’d like to have your attention, please.’ Peter rolls his eyes, swiping left to not only delete but report the number as junk. No doubt it was a bot or someone with a flair for sextortion.
A new number. ‘that was actually so rude of you, parker.’
‘unblock me right now.’
Peter shifts in his seat, he does a slow look around the room and finds nothing off putting or alarming.
‘Who is this?’
Green bubbles pop up. ‘unblock me and i’ll tell you.’ Peter was right to guess about extortion. Another swipe, blocked and reported. Peter wasn’t participating in any games.
A new number. ‘oh, now you’re just being cute.’
Peter feels his heart pick up a bit, it’s a tad threatening and now he’s overthinking it a little. What if someone has it out for him? Is there a mark on his back? ‘Please leave me alone.’
‘no.’
‘can we play 21 questions?’
Peter’s face scrunches up, he spins his head around one more time, someone is fucking with him. He has no clue who has time for something like that in university, but he’s not a willing participant anymore, not since high school.
‘Leave me alone. Go torment a freshman.’
‘i don’t like freshmen. i like you.’ Peter chews at his bottom lip, there was a second of hesitancy but he knows the truth deep down. ‘I’m blocking you.’
‘sure. i’ll keep texting you, too.’
‘I’ll change my number.’
‘noooo please don’t do that. i had to work hard enough to get it the first time.’ Peter doesn’t respond. He blocks the number and moves on, and they don’t try to text him again.
Until the next day and Peter knows two things for certain. There is a note in his backpack, and it wasn’t there before his econ lecture. He remembers pulling that pocket open before he started notes, then when he went to zip it up, a note.
This upsets him. What good was any sense when someone could get that unnoticeably close to him without him knowing? Second, it’s a little frustrating not to know who this person is and how it most likely is connected to the texts he had a few days ago, and that it’s an extremely long played joke that’s mostly boring.
‘Peter Parker-
You’ve been secretly admired. It might not be very secret, because I think you’ve caught me staring at you a thousand times. I like you a lot.
Hopefully liked back,
-X’
But a part of him believes it’s true. He’s trying to think of who’s in his lecture, if he’s caught them staring then they’re either to the side or behind him. There are too many faces, too many times he’s been looked at, he’s almost centered, it’s his fault for choosing a focal point.
Instead of throwing it away, he refolds the pink handwriting and puts it back into place before hitching a strap over his shoulder and sliding behind chairs. One, two steps up he glances at your face, you have a weak smile, he returns the same kind, it’s more like a polite nod. Peter’s always thought you were pretty and he thinks you're nice.
But really, he’s wondering who left the note.
10:30
‘did you get my note?’ Peter does his normal scan across campus, again, his fault for being out in the open. This person could be anywhere, he’s on a picnic bench with a group of friends. If he’s smart, he’d start limiting himself to contained spaces and make you show yourself.
‘Yeah. Who is this?’ Peter’s thumbs dance around the screen waiting for a reply, it comes quick. ‘i told you. x.’ He stops himself from rolling his eyes, he doesn’t know anyone with an ‘X’ anywhere in their name.
‘Is that an initial?’
‘actually, i’m pretty sure it’s british for kiss.’
‘That’s a wild take. Are you saying the UK is responsible for XOXO’s?’
‘i’d like to make you responsible for my xoxo’s.’ Peter chews his bottom lip, he won’t play into anything in writing. He doesn’t believe this for a second, everything about this feels off. Someone’s fucking with him and they’re also in his class, or they have someone in on it in his class.
But this is too advanced.
‘sorry. i don’t mean to like harass you or anything. you’re really hot but you scare me, i don’t think you would like me so idk, maybe if you talk to me you’d like me for me or something.’
‘i just think i’m punching wayyyy above my weight class here and i may be making this worse because there is no doubt you think im weird.’
‘i am weird. i should leave you alone now. i’m sorry.’
Peter reads his screen four times, it’s still not clicking. He’s nothing special and he doesn’t mean that in a way to dog on himself, he’s just nerdy and quiet. It seems a little too authentic to be fake, but he’s got to make sure.
‘How’d you get my number?’
‘your friend. they have been sworn to secrecy but they know what i’m doing and they are in full support. take that as you will.’
‘Depends on the friend.’
‘i’ll tell you when you find out who i am.’
‘I’m going to find out? You’re not going to tell me?’
‘i don’t think i’ve been hiding it. you just haven’t been paying attention and now i want you to.’
‘Oh, but you’re shy?’
‘i’m about to pass out on the lawn behind this fucking screen, don’t play with me parker.’ A slip, you’re around him and you just admitted it. ‘Tell me, admirer, what are you wearing?’ The more detail the better, but he could work off of just a color.
‘nice try. but you’re looking mighty handsome in the blue.’ A glance down, he suddenly feels watched. ‘Are you stalking me?’
‘oh no! no no no. i PROMISE you i’m not that fucking psychotic.’
‘i’m just a “sneak a note into your backpack” level of crazy. i’m here with my roommate and her boyfriend. i saw you and just wanted to know if you got it, i promise.’
‘You do understand that this situation makes you seem psychotic, right?’
‘yes. but i am not.’
‘That sounds like something a crazy person who got my number from a third party would say. Especially after I blocked you six times.’
‘it was three and you didn’t understand my intentions but okay. you have a fair point and i extend the olive branch of brett. he gave me your number and he knows me pretty well.’
Brett? Easy enough, he nods his head towards him and slides his phone across the table. “Explain.” His friend scrolls through the thread, a trustworthy smile spreads. “Yeah, I gave her your number.” Her. Okay, it’s something. “Who is she?” Brett shrugs, “you know her. She’s kind of a firecracker, you just make her nervous.”
“That gives me nothing, Brett.” His friend blinks, “she’s not crazy. She likes you a lot for whatever fucking reason and has no idea how to approach you.” Peter’s letting his words soak in, “don’t believe me? Ask her about the grilled cheese, and make sure you tell her that I told you about how she went on for five fucking minutes about the grilled cheese.”
“What grilled cheese?” Brett slides Peter’s phone back, he’s telling him to ask you. Something tells Peter it’s enough to embarrass, or it might be Brett being the ultimate wingman.
‘I’ve been told to ask you about the grilled cheese.’
‘oh god. there is no need to ask about the grilled cheese, did brett tell you about the grilled cheese?’
‘He told me to ask you. And to specify that you went on for five minutes about it.’
‘five is excessive, it was more like three. second, there is nothing to speak about.’
‘I would like to hear about it.’
‘i’d prefer if you didn’t.’
‘But you’ll do it for me?’
‘i’m weak for you and you know it. it’s sicking, parker.’
‘i heard you talking about making one in class and you said something about the crust and i really fucking love grilled cheese’s so i had a trip to fantasy land where you made me one and how it’s probably the best thing i’ll never get to taste.’
‘Wow. Five whole minutes on that?’ Peter won’t admit it made him feel a little warm on the inside, the most mundane of things to have someone so squirrely makes him feel unworthy.
‘three.’
‘Tell me who you are and I’ll make you a grilled cheese.’
‘you have no idea how much that almost worked.’
‘What’s the plan then, master manipulator?’
‘i don’t know yet. i’m hoping you show me how smart you are and figure me out, then you can do all the hard questions.’
‘Hard questions?’
‘you know, do you wanna go on a date, do you wanna be my girlfriend, do you want to take my hand in marriage and have a summer home in the french alps? that kind of stuff.’
‘Totally not psychotic.’ Peter tucks his bottom lip between his teeth to hide the smile that wants to spread.
‘mostly not.’
WEDNESDAY: 13:57
Peter doesn’t know who X is, but they’re clever and have zero effect on his sixth sense. He doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. Either way, he’s reading a note scribbled in blue pen and as he studies the words he knows it was rushed. It’s proof that he wasn’t being followed everywhere, instead you saw an empty table and an opportunity.
‘Peter-
You use mostly gender neutral pronouns. I think that’s very cool. Is it weird that I notice those things about you? Also- what is it that you’re always drinking from Nuthouse? Asking for a friend…
Have a good day!
-Your not so secret admirer, X.
‘Not so secret,’ Peter isn’t sure about that. You’ve done a good enough job at not trying to be obviously known, he might have looked up your number last night to find dust. One was from an app, but the one you’ve been using is a burner phone.
What he’s really not understanding is how you’re able to get so close to him without him noticing. You had to have been millimeters away when you rested the letter on his backpack, he was gone for less than two minutes and he had zero awareness.
Peter folds up the note and sticks it in the same pocket as the other one, his back slung around one shoulder as he moves up the stairs for the library. At the same time, you come down the opposite side, Peter gives a friendly acknowledgement.
You choke down the lump in your throat. “Hi, Peter.” He’s already past you, it’s echoed behind his shoulder. “Hey.” It’s something. You’re trying, you’re trying to be bold for him. But he’s not going to notice, he’s never going to notice you and if you tell him who you are you’ll never live past his disappointment.
Your phone vibrates, the other phone. Your heart picks up, Peter texted first.
14:02
‘Dirty chai.’
‘best of both worlds. how fitting. you’re such a nonconforming king.’
‘I don’t even know what that means.’
‘But thank you?’
‘you’re welcome!’
‘anything fun on the roster today?’
‘Roster? Who are you?’
‘idk you make me nervous. blame yourself.’
‘Well, coach. Nothing fun on the roster, just some math. Wanna swap places with me?’
‘gross. i hate math so if you like it that’s good with me. one of us has to be smart and it’s not me.’
‘Smart enough to use a burner phone.’
‘oooooh, someone tried to find meeee.’
‘Can’t blame a guy for being curious, can you?’
‘were you disappointed when you found nothing?’
‘A little bit. But, you know, it keeps the imagination alive. A little unfair advantage on your side though, you already know what I look like.’
‘if it helps, you already know what i look like too.’
‘I do?’
‘yeah. we’ve talked before.’
‘Wait, so I know who you are?’ Brett said he did but Peter thought he meant you’d be familiar, not that he actually knew you. This just opened the floodgates to a million more possibilities.
‘not really but yeah i guess. you know i exist but we’re not friends or anything.’
‘I’d like to think we’re friends, but okay.’
‘not outside the texting.’
‘That’s your decision.’
‘HATER.’
‘Anymore hints?’
‘.... no.’
‘HATER.’
FRIDAY: 12:15
You’re about to spill hot tea everywhere but it’ll be worth it to see his face. You ignore your pounding heart and stand in front of him. He’s got no clue you showed up, zoned out looking at the clock on the wall across from him.
“Hi, Peter.”
Full frontal attention, he’s looking at you. He’s perceiving you, he’s smiling at you. “Hi,” your eyes expand, he knows your name and it sounds so nice coming from his mouth. Sure, you’ve chatted with each other- even shared a few highlighters, but nothing serious. You’ve always been too scared to try anything else but maybe your fear has been mistaken for indifference.
“I um, I lucked out today at Nuthouse so if you like dirty chai’s I got an extra one.” Your knees feel weak at his bright eyes, “my favorite. I’d love one, thank you.” You pass over the paper cup, your fingers brush and you think you’re about to collapse.
“Yeah,” a weak laugh. “I had a feeling.” Peter tilts his head at you funny, you wonder if you pushed a little too far. “Okay, um, I’m gonna… have a good… lecture.” Peter nods and watches you go two rows up, he’s finally got a gut feeling. And it tells him to keep an eye out for you.
TUESDAY: 12:10
Not that Peter was reliant on your attention, he was used to it. So when the texts stopped for three days and he was unable to find any letters he assumed you had lost interest and moved on. That felt fair to him, no harm no foul, at least he never really got to know you.
Nevermind, there’s a folded notebook page on his miniature desk and his heart speeds up. His next task, put eyes on you. Bottom level, book and pencil in hand. He makes sure to note it’s a pencil and not the green ink that’s spread across the page.
Peter thinks it’s a mind game, you were smart enough to know he’d look. Unless he was totally wrong on his guess.
‘Peter-
I ran out of minutes on my phone and I’m having a broke college kid moment. However, a friend took pity and donated a twenty to the campaign. I hope you’ve been good- I’ve missed talking to you.
- Your not so secret admirer, X’
ps. stop keeping your backpack so close to you.’
It wasn’t anything personal, you just ran out of minutes. Peter smiles so wide he has to drop it, he almost clutches the paper to his chest in a thank you. Eyeing his backpack, he nudges it a little further behind him, following instruction. He’s kept it close in hopes to catch you, but instead he’s pushing you away.
Peter’s committing the writing to memory as if he’s going to find you by the handwriting alone. A quick glance at footsteps, you’re three steps away when you smile. “Hi, Peter.” He nods, “hey.” You pause for a moment, mind racing for words.
“Did you, um- did you do anything fun this weekend?” You’re about to crawl into a hole and die, it takes a moment to click that you were speaking to him. He went as far to look behind himself, then he spewed the answer to try and make up for the lost time.
“Oh, uh not really. My aunt got a new bed so I had to lug the old one down seven flights of stairs.” Your eyes widen, you feel your mouth go dry and your tongue go thick. “By yourself?” Peter crosses his arms over his chest, a boyish grin swept over and you feel heart eyes form.
“I’m a good nephew.” You want to pat his head and tell him you’re sure he is, then maybe hold him at gunpoint and tell you more stories about how he’s a perfect humanitarian. But you act like a normal human and smile back, “you sound like it.”
Peter thanks you and you return to your seat with wobbly knees and a weak stomach, it’s silent torture to tease yourself like this with him. But you can’t help it and it’s only in effort to go after what you want. Even if it blows up when he figures out who you are.
12:13
‘you’re looking mighty handsome today, mr. parker.’
‘I’m wearing a hoodie, but thank you.’
‘i said what i said.’
Boldly, ‘i see someone had another dirty chai. can’t stay away from them, can you?’
Another tick in Peter's stomach, he almost looks behind his shoulder at you, but he doesn’t. ‘It was a generous donation from a classmate.’
‘oh? pray tell, peter. pray tell.’
‘What? You don’t have a clue about who gave it to me?’
You swallow thickly, before you could get something out he sent another message. ‘No chance you didn’t see it go down?’
‘how could i? I was still on my way.’
‘... or was i?’
‘Tell you what, X. It one of the best teas I’ve had in a while.’
And you’d be damned if that didn’t make your entire chest flutter.
FRIDAY: 15:29
“Here,” Peter’s hand clasped over the paper slapped into his chest. A hint of a syllable, Brett cuts himself off. “She asked me to give this to you.” Peter quickly read it and stared down before confiding in his friend for a second.
‘Peter-
Roses are red, violets are blue, all that I think about is you.
It’s sweet in a cringy way, right? Boo on you for skipping class today, if you want, I could get you some notes.
I hope I’ll see you Tuesday.
-Your (really) not so secret admirer, X
ps. A pen exploded in my pocket. 10/10 chance my thigh will be stained.’
“I think I might know who it is.”
“Uh, huh.”
“But, she’s way out of my league.”
“Correct.”
Peter raised his eyebrows, “so it’s her?” He clarified with your name, Brett shrugged back.
“I won’t be confirming or denying.” Peter knows what that means, “the lack of a no usually means yes.”
“Bro,” Peter starts sputtering, “oh, c’mon! You know what I meant, I just meant that, I just- c’mon, Brett. Is it her?”
“I have no idea who that is.” Peter wants to call bullshit, he has a gut feeling and he swears it’s you. You’re right, it’s not so secret. In fact, you’re painfully obvious.
FRIDAY: 23:14
‘you are soooooooo cute’
‘like your hair is so cute’
‘i looooove curly hair on guys and you have that!!!!!!!!!’
‘and you’re really funny cause like it’s so quick and witty like you have such good one liners’
‘also you’re really fucking hot and i KNOW you’re hiding something under those fucking sweaters and the second i see skin i WILL go feral.’
‘Something tells me you’re at the Kappa party.’ Peter’s pretending he doesn’t have a searing blush. If he’s got an inkling this could be you… then he might have proof for the non-believers that god exists.
‘yes!!! are you here?? i should come see you.’
‘I hate to disappoint you, but I’m currently at a friend's house playing a Mario Kart drinking game.’
“But it’s nice to know that you’d give me your identity that quick.’
‘oh i can tell you who i am.’ Peter frowns at the text, he’s been doing nothing but crave the answer to who’s behind the love letters but it feels wrong. It’s not satisfactory enough for him, it’s also not what you want, you’re just drunk- and Peter’s going out on a limb here- horny.
‘Save it for later.’
‘And maybe drink some water.’
‘i’d do anything for you cause you have the world's prettiest brown eyes’
‘Thank you for the compliments.’
‘you’re super welcome i try to hold them back because i’m a good girl but you’re just so cute i had to let you know’
‘I think you’re going to super regret this in the morning.’
‘false. maybe fact idk’
‘i should trust you tho because you’re super smart and you’re a nerd.’
‘I fear this is taking a turn for the worse.’
‘and that is so fucking HOT’
‘Oh. Back to compliments. Thank you.’
‘if you were here i’d give you a kiss’
‘IGNORE THAT!!!!’
‘I DIDN’T MEAN TO SEND THAT!!!! IGNORE IT’
‘Not ignored. How cute.’
‘screaming crying throwing up’
‘i really didn’t mean to send that it was a joke ha ha funny.’
‘Idk, sounded authentic to me.’
‘peter?’
‘Yeah?’
‘i’m a little drunk rn. and you should know how cute you are.’
‘Oh, I’m talking about record breaking levels of regret. This is amazing.’
‘i have to pee but i do not reget this!!!!!!’
SATURDAY: 09:54
‘i stand by my claim and do not regret a thing.’
‘correction. i regret this hangover and the way my previous texts are not very cool girl of me.’
‘but i would like to know if you won mario last night.’
‘also, who’s ur fav character?’
11:12
1. Proud of you for owning it, that’s very cool girl of you.
2. I did not win.
3. Petey Piranha.
‘who tf is petey piranha.’
‘Mario Kart Sunshine. Came out in 2002. (Originally on GameCube but recently released on switch.) (Hell yeah.)’
Your heart thumps, he’s such a nerd and you wanna kiss the air out of his lungs. ‘out of all the characters and u choose him. why petey piranha’
‘One guess.’
‘PETEY PIRANHA.’
‘OH MY GOD.’
‘you’re petey piranha <333’
Peter fights a grin, ‘I am.’
‘you’re so cute. i love that.’
‘Personally, in the past 24 hours I don’t think I’ve heard enough about how cute I am.’
‘you’re insufferable and it’s sexy.’
‘Oo, new one to the mix. You’re making me blush.’ You really are. He’s never been considered sexy before and it feels really nice.
‘and i bet you look super cute.’
‘Super true.’
TUESDAY: 12:34
‘white t shirt white t shirt white t shirt WHITE T SHIRT.’
‘You like?’
‘i’m about to cry i’m biting my fist so fucking hard.’
‘:)’
‘you’re so ubuibabeyia.’
‘Bless you.’
‘?’
‘Sorry, I assumed you sneezed.’ Peter never whipped his head around so fast at an audible laugh behind him. It was short, it had escaped without being thought about. He’s looking for you, but it doesn’t seem like it was you who laughed. You’re engrossed in chatting to your neighbor.
On the other hand, you almost blew it by clasping your hands over your mouth. Instead you looked next to you and said, directly and with a burning gaze, “I need you to pretend we’ve been talking this whole time.”
‘Someone’s losing their edge, you’re just begging to be caught.’
‘oh, i’m begging all right.’
‘can you hear me whimpering too?’
‘Easy, killer. Let’s not start sexting at noon on a Tuesday.’
‘are you saying there is a time for it?’
‘Give me a little wave and we’ll see.’
‘too late, i’m passed out on the floor. the only thing that can resuscitate me are those thick arms wrapped around me.’
‘Let these strong arms sweep you off your feet, all you gotta do is come talk to me after lecture…’
Peter says that, but he doesn’t mean it. He’ll definitely eat his words when he sees it’s you, then he’d be coming up with a thousand ways to back out of it. He’s so much more than you deserve, you feel so safe behind a keyboard but in person you can barely say a sentence.
It’s stupid and a little humbling because you’ve never felt this way about a guy before.
‘trust me, i’m better in your imagination.’
WEDNESDAY: 14:22
‘Peter-
You know a little about a lot and I think that is one of my favorite things about you. Or maybe it’s your voice. I could listen to you talk forever.
-Your not so secret admirer, X’
A note under his textbook, if he follows his hunch then he’d be looking for… you. Conveniently three tables away and to the right of his own, you’re not looking for his reaction, you’ve got your focus on your own textbook but he swears you’re retaining none of it. It’s a distraction, or maybe it’s a diversion.
Peter doesn’t mind. He’s going to wait. He has all the time in the world today and he’s going to sit here with his eyes on you until you look up at him because he knows you’re going to and once you do, he’s going to have his answer.
If he’s right, and he swears he is, he’s going to absolutely lose is shit because what do you mean you like him and are intimidated? You boldly lied when you said you were punching above your weight class. Does it make him a jerk to say he wasn’t even thinking of you as a suitor and maybe a girl with a much more average look?
Peter counted to sixty twice, you glance up, eyes shooting to the note you left on the table. The next stop, Peter’s face. And oh, you were not prepared to have him looking right back. Panic, you shoot a wave, a desperate attempt to pretend you’re seeing a familiar face.
Peter waves back but he looks much more satisfied than you did, you wonder if the jig is up. Did he crack the code? Was he just trying to find a friendly way to let you down? Deny til death, he has no proof it’s you. You pack your things up, a hurried scramble before you could lose your cool.
On the way out you almost stop breathing, your forearm caught in Peter’s hand. You’re staring down at it, he’s not removing it. It burns in the best way. “Hey,” you wait, you can’t stop looking at his hand, the muscle, the subtle flex, his fingertips paler to show his grip. “Hi, Peter.”
It’s breathless, you think you’re about to die. If he asks, you don’t know how you’ll lie your way out.
Guess who’s got a stained pocket? The corner edge darkened with black ink that would never be washed out. Peter has his answer. You’re her. You’re X. “Thanks again for the tea.”
Maybe you wanted more, you feel a bit deflated when it’s all you receive.
“You’re welcome.” Your arm feels cold when he drops his touch, you linger for a second too long, you’re not sure when you’ll be this brave again. It was too much of a close call. “I hope the rest of your day is good.”
Peter’s got a charismatic grin, he feels settled now that he knows you’re the anonymous lover in his life. Even more so when you find yourself shy and reserved in person, it almost makes him giggle to think of the stark changes in confidence.
“You too.” Your body engulfs into flames when your arm is caught again, you’re struggling to keep calm at his boyish smile. “Quick question,” you nod slightly, trying to show zero paranoia for the following words.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
Short circuiting. You see black spots, you think you’re about to pass out. There is only one thing that means, no guy asks that if they weren’t interested in changing that, right?
“No.” It’s anything but graceful. It sounds like you’ve never had a boyfriend before. It makes you sound like you’re scared he asked it.
But, Peter doesn’t take it like that. He smiles wider, like he already knew the answer before he asked it.
THURSDAY: 16:37
A new letter, stuffed under the top handle of his backpack. Peter listened and stopped setting it next to him, in return he was rewarded. He can’t stop the small smile, you make it involuntary at this point. Peter’s never felt so special in his life, a little part of him wants this to never end. But he’d much rather look you in the eyes.
‘Peter-
I had a dream with you in it last night. Don’t worry, you had your clothes on. I’m not sure what we were doing but you were across from me at a diner and we were sitting in those super thick booths and our friends were there.
I don’t know who these friends were, and I don’t think you do either. But I knew them as our friends.
It felt really nice. I’m happy to know you, even if I just get this little piece.
-Your not so secret admirer, X’
Peter’s been wrong a lot in his life but this time he really thinks he has it figured out. He’s much more bold now, this letter tells him it’s not infatuation, it’s love.
You love him and he thinks he could love you too.
FRIDAY: 20:08
‘Hey.’ Peter could be making the worst decision of his life here, he could be reading everything wrong and ruining this for himself.
‘hi peter!’ But he really thinks he’s got it right.
‘I really, really liked talking to you for the past few weeks but I think I should tell you that I like someone else.’
Gut wrenching despair. You knew it was too good to last, you knew he’d find someone more in his league. Someone who’d be willing to show him their face. There was no reason to respond because what would you say to that?
‘thank you for letting me know that opening up to you was all for nothing!’
‘thanks for making me doubt love!’
‘hope you and her are so fucking happy together!!!!!’
Fuck it all and fuck Peter. He just liked the attention until it came from somewhere else. You don’t think you like him all that much anymore. You think you’re lying, too. Before you can give into the desire of hurting him just as bad, you calmly turn the phone off and stuff it in the back of a desk drawer to never be uncovered again.
You slowly sit in bed and tug the blankets over your head. And only then, do you allow yourself to sob.
Peter chewed on his bottom lip and waited an hour with constant phone checks before he realized a response was never coming. It really set in during the weekend but even further when he got no note or letter on monday. Not even when he left his backpack unattended for five minutes.
TUESDAY -he was able to see you and how you avoided his eyes. How you pretended you didn’t see him send a small wave. How you had pulled back from him.
And if he hadn’t hurt your feelings, or X’s feelings, why would you do that?
You look up at a two fingered knock at the corner of your desk. “Hi.” You blink and ignore the white noise buzzing in your ears at the sight of Peter standing in front of you. “Hi, Peter.”
“How was your weekend?” Bitter. Terrible. Lonely.
“Fine. Nothing exciting.” Besides you breaking my heart.
Watching his fingertips dance on the edge of the plastic, you feel everything in you brighten. “You look sad.” There’s a burn in your stomach, he’s the reason for both the sting and the sadness.
“Do you need something? Or are you just doing a friendly check in?” Peter bites back the grin when you snap at him, he’s so, so, so right and it feels so, so, so good. “Neither. I’m just confirming my suspicions.”
“Suspicions?”
“Yeah. You passed.” Your eyebrows furrow, before you could try to question further Peter was giving half a wave, saying bye, and skipping a step to his aisle.
FRIDAY: 12:08
You stop breathing for a solid second before feeling your brain spark back to life. It could be anything, it could be from anyone, but you know there’s only one person who would’ve left a note on your desk.
Your fingers slightly shake when you unfold the graph paper, little squares bled through with black sharpie.
‘X-
Am I right?
Hopefully,
- Peter’
You can’t breathe, you can’t talk, you can’t move and you definitely can fucking not look at him. No, no, no. You can feel his eyes on you, you know he’s watching for your reaction. Peter figured you out and had his own fun along the way.
You were the girl he liked. Oh, wow. Is this how special you’ve made him feel? Something just for your eyes, from him. A secret you both shared between lines.
You spin and swear you can feel his gaze running over your back, he’s aching for the answer. You almost scream at a tap on your shoulder, a peek lets you know it’s the person you’re hiding from.
Another note, folded up just like the other one. It’s pushed into your hand, Peter doesn’t say a word, he just offers and leaves. He’s not watching this time, he’s sitting and focused on the front, you feel air leak back into your lungs.
Full on panic shaking, you’re so happy he’s not watching.
Your name is addressed on the front, just like you do for him.
‘I like you.
I think you not so secretly like me too.
We could talk more about it at dinner tonight. Will you let me take you out?
Circle yes or no.
- Peter.
PS. XOXOXO now you’re responsible for mine, too.’
I LOVE ETHAN SM like that’s the goat right there <3 I love the friendship he has with trouble 🥹
also when/if Ethan had a partner they’d for sure team up with reader so they can double attack Peter and Ethan with their combined wit 🤝 and the boys are just like…wtf did we do…
both of you giggling, half running into the game room. peter and ethan sat next to each other on the couch, a playstation controller in their hands.
you share a look with taylor, the girl next to you. both of you clasp your hands behind your back and bounce on tiptoes.
“hi boyfriend,” peters eyes leave the screen for less than a nanosecond to look at your face, already suspicious. “hi.”
“hi boyfriend,” taylor mimics, ethan pokes his tongue out the corner of his mouth, pressing buttons harder like it’d save him. “sup?”
“we were thinking…” you tease the words, neither boy shows a reaction. it’s time to double down, glancing at each other for the go ahead you approach peters side and start to mount his lap.
“no, no, no! don’t do this to me, trouble.” his heads bobbing around your body for a clear look at the screen, his character desperately trying to scramble to hide before he was shot.
ethan’s girlfriend hiking her leg over his lap at the same time.
“tayl- oh god damn it, your big ass head got me killed.” ethan drops his controller to his lap while he watches his killer dance on his body. taylor smiles and kisses at his cheeks, pushing her face away he talks to peter as he’s collecting kills.
“you gotta win this for us, don’t let the estrogen win. this is what they want, power through it, parker.”
you kiss at peters sweet spot, he leans ever so slightly into your mark but straightens up and focuses on the approaching storm.
“peter,” you whine out his name, tugging at the curls around his ears. “pay attention to me! we have to talk to you guys.”
ethan celebrates when peters down to three other players, taylor frowns at the lack of attention, she brings it to a whole new level.
“i guess they don’t care about the pregnancy pact, oh well.” taylor starts to scramble off, ethan wacks peter a good one, before hunkering her to his lap.
peter smirks, building a quick wall to hide behind before looking at his friend. “don’t let the estrogen win.”
last effort, like an annoying toddler. you both rapid fire their names.
“ethan, ethan, ethan, ethan, eth-“
“peter, peter, peter, peter, pe-“
peter drops his controller, his hands squeezing tight around your waist and pulling you into him. “you’re being a real menace today, trouble.”
ethan silences his girlfriend with a hand over her mouth, “my brain is melting and i’ll kill you.” taylor tugs at his wrist, ethan rips it away with a gag, “you licked me!”
“this is your fault, parker. you see what your girlfriend has turned mine into? she’s made her into trouble 2.0, it’s despicable.”
taylor stopped him with a kiss, “this is why you always win, it’s so unfai-“ another kiss.
your turn, tapping on his shoulder he gives you his full attention. “what is it, my baby? you have my full attention.” you give him a peck.
“taylor and i have come to the agreement that you’ll take us to see the barbie movie and get dinner after.”
“i’m so glad you’ve decided for us.” sarcasm on peters end.
“is this a watch the movie movie or make out movie movie.” taylor tucked some hair under ethans hat.
“oh no, we’re watching it, lovie.”
“i’d rather eat glass, lovie.”
you frown and tsk, “i told you they don’t care about us. we can just go taylor, maybe we’ll find some boys that wouldn’t mind seeing the barbie movie with us.”
“ugh, you’re so right. ethan told me he loved me but i guess he was lying.”
“same with peter, he actually hates me. he loves making me unhappy.”
peter and ethan stare at each other while taylor and you bounce between a ‘who’s boyfriend hates them more’ contest.
in tandem, your thighs are slapped, taylor jumps slightly, you pout.
“alright. barbie movie. let’s go.”
it’s clear you’ve been showing taylor the ropes, because peter can hear you mumble out as you walked out behind them, “i told you the ‘you don’t care’ thing works every time.”