"We are so going to regret this in a couple of hours."
"Yeah, but present me doesn't care."
Peter smiled over at the girl sitting next to him; his mask pulled up to expose his face and making it so he could clearly look at her; she was eating the doughnuts he'd picked up for them and the powdered sugar was collecting on her black leggings. Peter's red spandex clad legs dangled over the edge of the six story building; swinging and gently knocking into the girl's beside him.
Peter returned to looking out over the city and considered how they'd gotten to this point; when he'd gone out for patrol the night before, he hadn't expected to end up watching the sunrise with the pretty girl he'd been crushing on from the moment he'd first seen her.
Peter still remembered the warmth that'd filled him when he'd swung past her window for the first time; he remembered just staring when she'd smiled and waved at him. And, of course, he remembered quite vividly the feeling of smacking face first into a pole.
But, maybe it was for the best he'd done that; she'd confided in him that she began to suspect that the boy that sat behind her in Social Studies was Spider-Man because of the horrible bruise he'd had as a result.
"Hey, Peter?"
The teenager looked over at his companion and admired the way she looked in the early morning sunlight; the soft glow made her skin and eyes shine in a way he'd never seen before. He cleared his throat uncomfortably; yeah, sure, maybe they both were headed towards feelings that were more than friendship, but maybe she didn't think of him that way. Maybe he'd been misreading this whole situation from the start and she only thought of him as a friend; if her feelings for him were just platonic, then he didn't want to make a complete idiot out of himself.
"Y-Yeah, Rosie?"
She snorted and gently shoved him; obviously holding back due to fear of the edge, even though they both knew that if she pushed him off, he'd be able to swing right back up.
"You call me that again, I won't show any mercy."
"Call you what, Rosie?" Peter asked, feeling comfortable enough to tease her.
This time, when she pushed him, there was a good amount of strength behind it; Peter hardly budging and laughing slightly.
"Screw you and your superpowers," she muttered under her breath, making Peter laugh harder.
"What were you going to tell me?" He asked, a large smile still prominent on his face.
"Well, I don't know if I want to tell you anymore, because it was a compliment," she said, flipping her black hair at Peter overdramatically. The teenage superhero smiled slightly before he spoke in a gentle but amused voice.
"Rosario, I'm very sorry for calling you a nickname you don't like and you've asked me not to call you."
The teenage girl with ochre skin paired with dark eyes sighed before looking back over at Peter; this time with a small smile gracing her pretty features.
"I was just going to say thank you for all of this; swinging around New York with Spider-Man was not how I expected this night to go," Rosario said, reaching down to gently take Peter's gloved hand in hers and squeeze it "And even if I drift off in class because I only got three hours of sleep, I won't regret coming out here with you in the slightest."
Peter beamed at her before it slipped away; both of them feeling the sudden shift in atmosphere as they stared into each other's eyes. Peter's breathing began to pick up and his cheeks began to flush; Rosario seeming to also be affected if the pace that her chest rose and fell was any indication. Peter reached up to gently push a piece of Rosario's dark hair behind her ear before letting his hand drop down to where he was already holding hers; clasping her one hand in both of his.
"Rosie?" Peter asked, his voice containing a soft breathlessness to it as they began to lean closer to each other.
"Yeah?" Rosario replied, her tone matching his; her dark eyes flashing down quickly to his lips before returning to Peter's brown eyes.
"C-C-Can I kiss you?" Peter asked, his voice picking up a pitch as he couldn't help but stutter over his words.
"So long as you promise not to call me Rosie anymore."
"Deal."
Just as Peter was finally going to close the remaining space between them, the annoying jingle of Rosario's phone sliced through the charged silence.
They both pulled back and Rosario closed her eyes tightly in annoyance as she reached into her pocket to grab it; Peter's cheeks pink as he looked away and smiled slightly. Maybe he hadn't gotten to kiss just yet, but she had wanted to; she'd given him verbal confirmation that she wanted to kiss him.
"Peter?"
"Yeah?" Peter asked, hearing in her tone that something was wrong, but unable to wipe the smile off of his face as he imagined what it would be like when they finally kissed.
"It's seven fifty-five."
The teens stared into each other's wide eyes for a moment; neither of them able to process it just yet.
"Shit!"
.
Peter quickly pulled on a sweatshirt as Rosario looked down at her phone; the pair had swung through the city streets at a record time to get to Midtown High, but they were still five minutes late.
"Okay, let's go," Peter said, finishing with his laces and beginning to run.
"Wait, wait," Rosario said, grabbing Peter by the arm and making him frown in confusion "Is your zipper up?"
"What?"
"Peter, I'm not showing up late to class with a guy whose zipper is down!" She hissed, Peter checking as he sighed.
"Yes, let's go," he said, grabbing her wrist and forcing the roof door open before the pair proceeded down the stairs together; their loud stomps undoubtedly bugging some classroom, but the pair unable to bring themselves to care about anything other than their own tardiness.
They ran down the empty halls and practically burst into Social Studies; the entire class snapping over to look at them and the pair both heating up as the silence was nearly palpable. The two teenagers practically able to hear the thoughts of their peers;
"Why is Peter Parker and Rosario Gonzales showing up late together?"
"Parker, Gonzales; where have you two been?" Their teacher demanded, voicing the question that everyone else had and making Peter wince; of course they had to be late for Mr. Miller's class. The man already had a bit of a problem with Peter, so this was not going to go well.
"W-We, uh, were-" Peter started to sputter out; having a secret identity somehow didn't make him better at lying and the teenager was already imagining the metaphorical ass-kicking he was about to get from Mr. Miller. But, before he could dig himself into an even deeper hole, Rosario interrupted.
"Well, Mr. Miller, it all started last night when I was at the Metropolitan Opera House with my cousin Renata and seeing Nabucco. And I don't love Nabucco, but the woman playing Abigaille made it all worth it; her voice was divine! Anyway, during intermission we get to talking and Renata tells me that she's working at this club down in Brooklyn and apparently it's like this real boujee place with a bunch of rich clients who come and blow all their money on Ace of Spades and stuff like that. So, she tells me that after the show she can take me in to look around so long as I stay away from the alcohol, which I wouldn't have touched anyway; my Dad gave me a sip of his Mezcal when I was twelve and I still haven't gotten over that."
"Anyway, after the show, it was already pretty late, like, past midnight, but a girl only lives once, you know? So, we head to the club and I got to look around at all of the high class people and watch them get crazy drunk; like, completely slammed. It was hilarious. So, after all that, I get home after three and I'm wired, so I decide to watch some Ghost Adventures to help me fall asleep. And I got really tied up in this one episode about Lizzie Borden, so I don't get into bed until four, which means I don't fall asleep until five."
"Then, the next morning, Peter comes over so he and I walk to school together since we live really close to one another, you know, but when he got there I was still asleep; so it's really my fault we were late. Well, more Renata's for taking me out so late, but I was the one who slept in late and forgot to set my alarm. So, I apologize for all of that."
It was quiet for a long, long moment; Rosario smiling without seeming to register the wide eyed looks that was coming from every single person in the room. Mr. Miller looked over at Peter, whose brown eyes were also blown open wide.
"Um, w-what she said," Peter said, his voice breaking slightly due to his astonishment.
"… Right… Sit down, you two," Mr. Miller said slowly, the pair nodding and sliding into their seats.
Class resumed and it took about ten minutes for it to get back to normal. When the vibe finally leveled off, Peter leaned forward and gently poked Rosario in the back; the girl keeping her eyes trained on Mr. Miller but leaning back in her seat to let him know she was listening.
"What was that?" Peter whispered, able to tell that Rosario's lips had just curled into a smile.
"You haven't met my brother, Luis, have you?"
