A/N: I'm testing some new waters here. I've been a fanficcer for a while (a LONG while) but I've never done Spiderman before. Well, after this I can no longer say that! I hope that you enjoy this :D

Chapter One

he understood why he did it. Danger and mayhem was part of his daily schedule, and those two things didn't come without collateral damage. Her father was proof of that. There were unintended casualties, regardless of how strong or fast he was, and he wouldn't risk that, especially after what her father had said. A dying promise between two people tended to stick. So, she understood why he did it. Pushing her away.

That didn't stop it from hurting.

She never knew that missing someone could cause physical pain, but as she trudged through her days post the whole Dr. Connors debacle, she learned that missing someone did hurt. It hurt like hell; and contrary to what she was told by advisors and family members, it only got worse. Time did nothing to lessen the pain; in reality it made it worse. The loss of her father stung, but sometimes she felt that the loss of Peter was even worse to handle. He was still there; still within her reach, yet he kept himself at a distance, moving on with his life while she watched from behind, unable to find her footing.

Until that day in class. He came into class late and promised Mrs. Ritter that it would never happen again. Mrs. Ritter had smiled in bemusement and quipped, "Mr. Parker, don't make promises you can't keep."

Her entire body sang when he whispered behind her, "But those are the best kind."

What did that mean? She had no idea, and she spent the entirety of class sitting there and trying to figure it out. Her mind was nowhere near the subject at hand, and she flushed when Mrs. Ritter called on her and caught her distraction. After an agonizing forty minutes, the bell rang and Gwen gathered her books. Peter strode past her and she dropped her notebook, her eyes following him. Catching herself, she grabbed her notebook and walked out into the hallway.

Peter was waiting for her outside of the classroom, nervous smile in place. His eyes wouldn't exactly meet hers, and she found herself relieved that she wasn't the only one who seemed to want to crawl out of their skin.

"How've you been?" he asked, grasping the strap of his backpack as if it were a harness.

"I'm okay," she said, smiling slightly. "Um, Peter, what you said in there-"

"Yeah," he interrupted, grasping the strap of his backpack tighter. His knuckles turned white. "About that…"

She blanched, silently berating herself for thinking that anything had changed. "You don't have to explain yourself. I, uh, I clearly misread-"

"No, I meant what I said," he cut in, licking his lips. "Just, uh, not how you probably think."

"Okay," she said slowly, peering at him. "What way did I think?"

"Do you want to meet at the bleachers after school today?" he asked. "We can talk, maybe?"

"Talk," she said, nodding. "Uh, yeah, sure. We can talk."

He grinned slightly. "Alright. I'll see you then."

He walked away and she murmured, "Yeah, see you then."

Sitting beside him on the bleachers, it almost felt like the old days, when her father was still alive and her biggest worry was her chemistry homework and whether or not her parents would catch him in her bedroom that night. The track team was practicing out on the track, and she watched them run laps, looking like human hamsters as they made their endless loops.

"One of us should probably say something," she suggested, glancing at him. "That's usually how this whole talking thing works."

He smiled slightly. "Yeah, um, I wanted to talk about what I said earlier in Mrs. Ritter's class." She nodded for him to continue. "You were right before when you said your dad asked me to stay away from you. He did. He was dying, and the last thing that he said was for me to promise not to get you involved, and I need to respect that."

She nodded blankly, thinking if this was what he had to say, then why were they were sitting out on those bleachers at all?

"Okay, so he asked you to stay away."

"Yeah. But, I don't want to."

That caught her attention. Her eyes snapped to his and she said, "You don't?"

He shook his head. "I miss you, Gwen. I miss you more than you can know. And your dad was right. We shouldn't get involved. We can't, because I'm going to have more enemies and they'll go for the people I care about." His eyes softened. "The people I love. But I can't stay away from you. I tried, and I can't."

"Peter," she murmured, her heart slamming against her chest. "What are you saying?"

"I want us to be friends."

Friends. The disappointment was immediate, and she tried to not let it show. He was so eager beside her, telling her what she meant to him; and she realized that this was his way of making amends. He could be a part of her life again without breaking the promise he made to her father. It would be nice to have him in her life again, too. It had been far too long since someone had knocked on her bedroom window. But she had allowed herself to succumb to delusions of grandeur throughout the day as she imagined what their conversation would entail, and with those fanciful ideas perking along in her mind, friendship could be nothing but a disappointment.

Peter read too much into her silence and said, "I understand if you don't want that. I know I've been a jerk and you probably want nothing to do with me, but-"

"We can be friends," she said quickly, biting the inside of her cheek as she realized her sudden interruption. She had to stop him, though, because what he was saying was ridiculous. How could he think that after everything they had gone through she would want nothing to do with him?

He visibly relaxed at her words, his shoulders slackening and jaw releasing.

"Really?"

"I don't see why not," she said slowly. "You're friendly. I'm friendly. The act of being friends does seem to be the logical next step."

He grinned. "That's really great to hear. So, we're friends."

She nodded, teeth tugging on her bottom lip. "It would appear so."

With that settled, they turned their gazes back to the track practice, neither of them having the faintest idea what they were supposed to do next.

A/N: I am intending to have this be longer, so let me know your thoughts on this!