Advanced Summary: Jackie Logan and her Grandfather moved to a small apartment on the corner of West 54th and 6th five years ago after the incident, and for the past year or so those of the "gifted" kind, whether it be a dunk-ish P.I, a deaf man in a black mask, or a fast-talking Merc, something about her rusty fire escape seems to draw them in when they're in need.
Or maybe it's the cookies she started leaving out after her first super human visit.
Either way, when a kid with spider powers starts visiting her fire escape to Jackie can't help become more invested in him than she is in the others. Of course, the loudmouth Mercenary says she has a crush on him but what does she know, she's an emotionally distant grown up with a drinking problem.
THAT VERY SAME NIGHT, THOUGH IT WAS REALLY THE NEXT MORNING SEEING AS IT WAS NEARING ONE THIRTY IN THE MORNING, PETER PARKER SNUCK THROUGH JACKIE LOGAN'S OPEN WINDOW.
He wasn't sure if he had come to see her because he felt bad for using her in gym earlier that day or because he genuinely wanted to see her.
He decided on both as he shut the window. He liked Jackie. Like-liked Jackie; she made his thoughts jumble together and his palms sweaty -and he felt slimy pretending to be her boyfriend without her knowledge even though it was a harmless white lie. She didn't have a boyfriend or crush- he'd asked while at Noodletown. She could do far better than him, and maybe that's why he felt gross. The more he thought about being her boyfriend, the farther away the notion seemed.
When he climbed through her window that night she'd been sitting upright in bed, reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It'd been the hard copy her father had given her, a part of the full set her dad had bought her right before his untimely death.
"Besides his jacket, Harry Potter is the last connection I have to him." Jackie had mentioned, the reason why it was so special to her.
"Hey Spiderboy," she said, her eyes not leaving the page. Peter slipped off his mask.
"How'd you know it was me?" He wondered as he set his sweatshirt on the back of her desk chair.
"Wade makes too much noise, and by now, Jessica's either already here or drunk so..." Her eyes left the worn, over reading pages and she smiled at him as he sat down at the end of her bed.
Peter tried to ignore the thoughts of Jackie having a pretty smile.
"What about Mr. Matt?"
Jackie smiled at him and Peter ignored his heart rate picking up. "He'd still be out there debating on whether or not to come inside."
Peter snorted. He knew next to nothing about this "Mr. Matt"; not which vigilante he was, only that he was dangerous and protective, like a dad. At least, he knew that Jackie viewed him as a pseudo-father figure.
Jackie folded the corner of her book and set it to the side. She moved up in her bed so she was closer to Peter.
"How was patrol?" She wondered, running a hand through her hair. Peter wondered if it was soft. Her hands were soft, slightly calloused and scarred from baking accidents, but nevertheless very smooth.
"Good," Peter said, "I saved a couple from being mugged-"
"Aw, isn't that a good superhero?" Jackie teased affectionately. Peter felt both his cheeks heat up as he looked down smiling.
"Can I continue or are you going to bully me?"
Jackie's index finger tapped her chin as she thought it over. "Gee, I don't know. Both sound pretty fun." Peter rolled his eyes. "I guess," Jackie said over dramatically, throwing herself over his legs, "You can finish your story."
Peter looked down at Jackie and internally froze. Jackie had always been pretty to Peter. Well, with her perfect looks and unconcealed nerdiness, she seemed damn near perfect; but as she looked up at him with this expression of genuine interest, Peter could swear his heart had never beat faster.
"Anyway," he licked his lips, "I also caught a few kids egging a car-"
"What is it, October?" Jackie asked sarcastically, causing Peters whole expression to light up.
"That's what I said!" He laughed. Jackie giggled.
"Anything else interesting?" Peter shook his head as his right hand subconsciously started to run itself through her hair.
"What about school?" She asked. This time when Peter froze, his muscles tension was visible.
"What?"
"How was school?" Jackie asked slowly. "My day was good," she said airily.
"Really?" Peter asked. He was happy she had a good day, she deserved it.
Jackie sat up, still staying in Peter's personal bubble. Her shoulder was touching his and she'd thrown a leg over his knees.
"Yeah, I found out I have a boyfriend." She looked at him pointedly. Peter felt his face heat up and his heart skips one beat and then stop altogether.
"W-what? How'd you find out?" He squeaked. Jackie placed one of her hands on his shoulder reassuringly as she smiled at him nicely.
"My lab partner, Matt. His sister was in your gym class."
"I'm sorry," Peter said breathlessly, "I'm really sorry, it just slipped out. Ned was joking around and then Flash was being a dick and-"
"Peter," Jackie said cutting him off, "I'm not mad. Matt's sister told him what happened so he told me. I understand."
"You do?" He asked shakily.
"Yeah. Besides, it's not like dating you would be the worst thing to ever happen to me," she told him, her hand still on his arm.
Maybe it was because of his Spidey senses, or maybe it was due to lack of sleep. Either way, Peter was hyper aware of the pads of her fingers still touching his arm.
"You think so?" He wondered, "'Cause for some people I know, it'd be the end of the world."
Jackie rolled her eyes, "Spiderboy, you're probably the nicest guy I've ever met. You're smart and cool- don't make that face, you are cool," Jackie insisted when Peter raised his eyebrows at "cool". "And funny too."
Peter couldn't help but grin. He ducked his head as he kept trying to calm down because of the sudden shift of his stomach. Forget butterflies, his insides felt like a burlap sack full of corgis.
"And it's not like you're ugly either." Peter's head snapped up and looked at Jackie, who not only had a small smile on her face but was also red.
"What?"
"You're cute," Jackie blurted out. Peter felt his head start to spin as she sucked in a deep breath and shut her eyes tightly, embarrassed.
"What I, uh mean, is that you're not pretty-no that, uh, you're cute, yes, but like not in a weird way where I noticed because I stare at you when I fix you up, more in a way where when I pulled off your mask for the first time I was like 'wow he's cute' no that's slightly creepy too-"
It had to be because he hadn't slept in three days and the adrenalin was still in his system, but to shut her up and stop her rambling, Peter Parker leaned over and kissed Jackie Logan.
It was nice, as far as first kisses go. One of his hands cupped her jaw the same way they did in all the movies he'd seen, and the other hand rested next to her hips so he could lean into her.
Her lips were soft but his nose bumped against hers. She was still for a moment, making him think he'd fucked everything up, only for her, once she realized what was happening, to rest one hand behind her for stability and another on his shoulder. Because what do you do with your hands while kissing?
When they pulled away in what was really seconds later- though to both teens, it felt like minutes -Jackie looked at Peter, who was wearing a look of 'I-cant-believe-I-did-that', with her own shocked expression.
"You kissed me," she whispered.
"I'm sorry."
Jackie shook her head, the corners of her lips slipping upwards, "Don't be."
And then she was kissing him and Peter Parker was sure something had happened on patrol and he'd died because Jackie Logan was kissing him.
Not that he minded. Dying while saving people, only to spend an eternity kissing the prettiest girl he knew, was alright by him.
