A/N: i had my first mental breakdown of the semester this week. it came earlier than i expected but im not that surprised.

anyway, so update on my physics exam: i failed it. like got an f failed it sooo. yeah. in other news, peter and adie are still mad at each other and there's still a shitton of sexual tension so yay!

things should get more interesting now cause adie knows a lil something about the weapons sooo

also i almost had a panic attack when wattpad erased my story today because i write everything on here and i don't back it up anywhere else and i have so many scenes that i haven't published written on here but its all good now


"The next day you told

me you liked tight shirts."


"First, I say we put the glowy thing in the mass spectrometer," Ned said as they were walking down the hallway. Peter cringed.

"First, we gotta come up with a better name than 'glowy thingy'," Peter said.

"You're right," Ned said, racking his brain for a better name.

Suddenly, the two guys from that night walked into the hallway. Peter froze.

"Crap," he said and then threw himself behind the wall.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on," he whispered to Ned. Ned stood there for a moment, looking around in confusion and then slowly shuffled across the corridor to join Peter behind the wall, against the window.

Peter carefully glanced around the wall.

"High schools creep me out," one of the men said.

"They got this funny smell, you know?" his pal replied.

"Hey, that's one of the guys that tried to kill me," Peter said, thinking out loud.

"What?" Ned said, his eyes wide. Why was he just now hearing about this?

"We gotta get out of here," Ned said, beginning to feel slightly worried.

"No, no, no, no, no," Peter whispered, "I gotta follow them. Maybe they can lead me to the guy that dropped me in the lake."

"Someone dropped you in a lake?" Ned said, raising his eyebrows. Once again, why was he just now hearing about this?

"Yeah, it was not good," Peter whispered, shuddering at the memory. The two men walked into a classroom, holding some kind of electronic device in their hands. Peter creeped out from behind the wall, walking closer to the men.

"Peter–" Ned started.

"No. Stay there, Ned," Peter whispered and then ducked behind another wall, disappearing from sight.

"Peter," Ned whispered and then waited, holding his breath. Oh well. Ned hoped he wouldn't die.

Someone tapped on the window behind him and Ned jumped up, startled. He turned around. Tiny was smiling at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked. Ned glanced over his shoulder and cleared his throat.

"Nothing," he said.

"Oh," Tiny said.

"Yeah. You good?" Ned said. Tiny pointed to the table behind him.

"Chess," he said.

Meanwhile, Peter had followed the two men downstairs into a classroom. He stayed crouched down, silently sneaking inside. They were both rummaging through the room, almost as if they were looking for something.

"Can you imagine what the boss would say if he knew where we were?" the short guy said.

"It's saying there was an energy pulse right here," the other dude said. Peter crouched down behind a table by the stairs, holding his breath as he watched them.

"There's no sign of the weapon. And even if it was here, now it's gone," he sighed.

"So are we," the tall guy said. As if sensing something, the guy looked over in Peter's direction. He glanced at his partner and then reached for his gun, stalking towards the table stealthily. He crossed the room, coming to stand by the worktable, scanning the area. Nothing.

However, as the men went up the stairs, Peter silently shot out a tiny robotic spider at one of the dude's shoes and it climbed up his pant leg.


At the Decathlon meeting, things were regulated chaos as usual.

Mr. Harrington was practically running around the theater, trying to get everything into place before they headed off to DC tomorrow. Liz was there right along with him, being the good little president that she was, helping everyone get prepared for the trip. They had assigned pencil sharpening to Adelaide (it was less pathetic than what Abe had to do: take attendance). Without Adelaide, they wouldn't have any pencils at the competition.

She had clearly been given the most important job.

Michelle was sitting beside her, The Great Gatsby in her hands. Except it was written in French. Meanwhile, Flash was preparing for tomorrow by taking his regular nap. He said the bags under his eyes became too dark if he didn't get more than ten hours of sleep every day. Adelaide wondered what he'd look like if he got the same nightmares as her.

Vivian was off in a corner, preparing lanyards for the team and making folders for everyone with maps and other information. She was clearly enjoying herself. But she was always enjoying herself so it was hard to tell.

Adelaide looked down at the stack of pencils on the table. There had to be at least three dozen. Which meant only sixty-four more to go.

All day long, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to what she had overheard between Peter's and Ned's conversation this morning. Alien tech? Is that what the robbers had used that night at Delmar's? And who exactly was using it?

She had so many questions.

"We need more binders," Liz frowned, appearing in front of the room. Vivian jumped up.

"I'll get it!" Vivian said, smiling brightly. Adelaide looked back at the pencils in her hand.

"No, I'll get it," Adelaide sighed, standing up. She needed a serious break from sharpening pencils. Liz beamed.

"Thanks! They're in the closet across from Mr. Harrington's room," she said. Mr. Harrington's room? That was on the other side of the school. Well, at least it meant more time to spend away from them.

"How many do you need?" she asked. Liz did a quick calculation in her head.

"Six," she said.

Adelaide nodded and left.


"Where are you going?" Peter asked Ned.

He had waited for a minute after the guys had left to sneak back out of the classroom. Once he had come back into the hall, he had found Ned still waiting there, pretending to read a bulletin board. He quickly filled him in on what happened.

"Decathlon meeting," Ned said. Peter sighed.

"Okay, go. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," he said. Ned nodded.

"Be careful," Ned said before turning the corner.

Peter nodded and then picked his backpack up off the floor and began making his way down the hall to go home. He was going to have to hail a cab since all the buses had probably already left.

He couldn't wait to get home. Now that he had placed a tracker on that guy, he was going to be able to see wherever he was going. And then he could easily track those weapons. If things went well, maybe even Mr. Stark would realize that Peter had been right from the beginning and they could take down the bad guy together.

Suddenly, Peter heard a noise.

"Man, I must have dropped it somewhere out here," he heard the guy from earlier say. Peter's eyes widened.

"Hurry up and find it. I hate this place," the other guy muttered. Peter flattened himself against the wall and then carefully peered around the corner. They were both there, scanning the floor for something. What were they doing back here? They couldn't be here!

As if sensing something again, one of the guys looked up.

Peter quickly ducked back, pressing himself as flat against the wall as he could. He internally cursed at himself for slipping up. He held his breath, listening.

"Who's there?" he said. His voice sounded closer. Peter frantically looked around for an escape. There was nothing in this hallway. Not even an air vent he could web himself up to.

"I saw someone," the guy said to his friend, "Over here."

He was almost at the corner now. Peter could sense him. He was closing in. And he would catch him if he didn't do something fast. So Peter did the next best thing.

He ran.

He zipped down the hall and turned the corner, coming up to a closet whose door was slightly ajar.

"Hey! I saw something!" the guy shouted.

Without thinking twice, Peter stumbled inside.


"Don't—!" Adelaide said, reaching for the door. But it was too late. Peter had already slammed the door shut.

There was a silent pause.

Peter slowly turned to look at her and she could just barely make out the outline of his face from the light coming in from under the door. Adelaide glared at him hard. He didn't even have the time to think about what the hell she was doing in the closet.

"Don't tell me it's locked," he said.

Adelaide groaned, shaking the door handle vigorously.

"Why didn't you say something before!" he whispered, pushing her aside to shake the handle himself. Adelaide angrily rubbed her face, letting her fingers pull at her hair in frustration. He wanted to beat the door so someone could hear them and let them out, but making any sort of noise would only alert the guys outside.

"You never let—!"

Peter immediately covered her mouth with his hand, trying to get her to stay quiet. She stumbled backward, her back hitting the wall. He pressed his hand against her mouth, holding her shoulder with his other hand and glancing over his shoulder worriedly. Her eyes widened angrily and she pulled at his hand.

"Ggt yr nd ff my outh," she grumbled, glaring at him.

"Shh!" he whispered, holding a finger up to his lips. Her eyes widened again. First, he locked her in a closet and now he was covering her mouth? Was this some kind of joke?

For a moment, the closet was silent except for the sounds of their breaths.

Peter put his ear to the door, listening for the men. He hoped they didn't come to check this closet.

"You take the left, I'll go out right," one of the men said.

"I still haven't found my wallet!"

"Quit acting like you had anything more than a a couple dollars in there," the guy muttered. Peter held his breath. Adelaide's eyes darted around his face. She hadn't been this close to him in so long. She'd forgotten how much beautiful his brown eyes were.

Finally, their footsteps faded away down the hall. Peter waiting for a heartbeat before relaxing his shoulders. He was safe. For now.

"Mbfhbl!" Adelaide said and his eyes widened.

"Oh. Right, sorry," he said, dropping his hand from her mouth. She glared at him.

"What — the — hell — was that?" she hissed.

"Nothing," he sighed, rubbing his face. It was slowly starting to sink in just how grave this whole situation was.

"Uh-uh," Adelaide said, shaking her head, "You don't get to 'nothing' me. What the hell is going on?"

Peter glared at her.

"Do you have to be so nosy all the damn time?" he grumbled, running his hands through his hair tiredly. Adelaide raised her eyebrows. A lock of his hair fell into his forehead, tickling his eyes. She gritted her teeth.

"You lock me in a closet and then have the audacity to call me names?" she said. Peter sighed, looking away. He could not spend another minute in here. Even if it were those criminals who had to come get him out, he'd deal with it.

He began hitting the door, trying to get someone to come open it.

"Ned!" he shouted, "Ned!"

"They can't hear you," Adelaide mumbled, defeatedly slouching against the wall, "No one ever comes in this hallway after school."

Except for him, apparently.

"Just great," he sighed, slamming his fist on the door one last time. It left a crack in the wood.

"Do you have your—"

"It's dead," he sighed, falling back against the wall opposite to hers. Adelaide rolled her eyes. So useless. Not that she had her phone, but it wasn't her fault they were stuck in here to begin with.

And it was in that moment that Adelaide realized that they were really, actually stuck in a closet together with no hopes of escaping. Why couldn't she have just let Vivian go instead? Or even Liz. Then maybe Peter could have had his 7 Minutes in Heaven. She rolled her eyes at the thought. He'd love that, wouldn't he.

"How long do you think before someone realizes we're missing?" Peter said. Adelaide crossed her arms across her chest, giving him a look.

"I don't know," she mumbled. Peter sighed. Just great. He was indefinitely stuck in a closet with the last person he wanted to be with. Just great. Fantastic.

For a moment, they both fell silent, thinking the situation over in their minds. Adelaide ran through a million ways to get out of this stupid closet, but not one of them seemed plausible. They were actually stuck.

"This is your fault, you know," she said pointedly. Peter glared at her.

"That doesn't do anything to help us get out of here," he said. She looked away.

"Just thought you should be feeling guilty," she said. Peter sighed.

"Believe me, I am," he said, "I can't believe I was dumb enough to lock myself in a room with you."

"It's not like I want to be here either," she snapped back.

"You know what your problem is? You just can't ever accept the fact that you're wrong," he said and Adelaide sensed that this wasn't about the closet anymore, "You always have to be right."

"What about you, Spider-Man? You walk around all high and mighty like you're doing the city some sort of favor by hunting for a criminal every night."

"I am doing the city a favor. And I don't do it for myself," he said, gritting his teeth.

"I didn't know you were capable of thinking about anyone else but yourself," she snapped, leaning forward. Peter pushed himself off the wall angrily.

"I know it's hard for someone as narrow minded as you to see the good in someone, but I do. And I care about the city which is why I'm out every night risking my ass to help other people." They were standing only a few inches apart. In the dark, it was easier to say anything that came to mind because they couldn't see each other's reactions.

"And you think that makes you better than them?" Adelaide breathed, "If you're out every night just to kill a man to get revenge, then you're no different than the criminals, Peter."

"You don't know what you're talking about," he said angrily, "Being a hero isn't easy. Not like you would understand anyway."

"I can't believe you call yourself a hero," Adelaide scoffed in his face, "You're just the opposite and Ben would be ashamed of you."

Peter took a step back. Adelaide realized she might have crossed a line. But, regardless, she knew she was right. Ben would never advocate violence or murder even if it was for revenge.

"He would never agree with what you're doing and you know that," she said, more quietly this time. Peter gritted his teeth.

"Don't act like you know my Uncle better than me just because you knew him for a few months," he said, "I don't need someone like you telling me how to take care of my family."

And he was right.

What did Adelaide know about family?

She was living on her own in an apartment she couldn't afford, having hurt and lost everyone she ever had a chance of calling a family to begin with. Peter was right. He didn't need someone like her telling him about family when she didn't have one to begin with.

She stayed quiet, backing down.

Peter looked slightly surprised that she hadn't made a remark for that, but didn't press on it any further. If they were going to be stuck in here for a few hours, it was going to be exhausting if they spent that entire time arguing. He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

He stole a look at Adelaide, realizing that he no idea what was going on her life anymore. She could be sick or dying or something and he had no idea.

Peter looked away.

Something about her bright blue eyes was bothering him.


"Hey, Ned," Vivian said with a smile.

"H-Hey, Viv-ian," he stuttered, doing an awkward little wave. He looked down at what she was doing. "D-Do you need help with th-that?"

"If you don't mind," she said, "I've been trying to cut these name tags for the lanyards as fast as I can, but I don't think I'm doing it fast enough."

"I-I'll help," he said, pulling out a chair across from her. She handed him a pair of scissors and the name tags. They both quietly cut the name tags for a while before Vivian spoke up.

"So have you done this before?" she asked.

"I mean, I have been using scissors since kindergarten..." Ned said, slightly confused. Vivian laughed and it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. He wanted to make that his alarm so he could wake up to it every day. Was that weird? It wasn't, was it?

"I meant the decathlon," she said.

"Oh. That would make more sense," he said, "Yeah, I have. It's a lot of fun."

"I can't wait. I've never been to DC before," she smiled, "And I love to travel."

"Yeah, I love you too," Ned muttered and Vivian looked up, slightly surprised, "I mean! I-I love traveling too."

"Oh. Cool!" she said, "I'm going to go give these to Liz really quickly. I'll be right back."

"Okay," Ned said. He waited until she was gone to slap himself for almost giving himself away.


"How much time has it been?" Peter groaned.

Adelaide shrugged. She hadn't said a word since their fight had ended. Not that Peter cared. The less she spoke, the better.

"How did it happen?" Adelaide said, a question that she had been running over in her mind for a few months now.

"How did what happen?" Peter said tiredly. They both were sitting on the floor of the closet. He had his knees pulled up to his chest, resting his forehead on them. Peter estimated it had been about half an hour now and he was starting to get antsy from being locked up. He needed to follow those guys. If they got away with those weapons...

Adelaide was sitting across from him, with her back against the corner and her legs stretched out towards the door. The closet was so small that she couldn't even fully stretch her legs out.

"The Spider-Man thing," she mumbled tiredly.

"Field trip," he said. Adelaide looked up at him. She was playing with a rubber band she had found on the ground, snapping it against her wrist.

"Radioactive spiders?" she asked. Peter nodded.

"Yup. One bit me and then..." he sighed. It felt like so long ago. He couldn't even remember how it felt to not be Spider-Man anymore. The only thing he could recall were those stupid glasses he wore all the time. Sometimes, he wondered where he'd be if that spider hadn't bitten him.

"The next day you told me you liked tight shirts," Adelaide said, only slightly smiling. Peter gave a weak chuckle that was more like just breathing out loudly through his nose.

"Yeah," he said.

"Who else knows?" she asked, rubbing the red spot on her wrist where the rubber band had snapped against too many times. She knew the answer, but she just wanted to see if he would tell her or if he would lie.

"No one," he said.

"No one?" Adelaide asked. He shook his head.

Adelaide sighed.

So things hadn't changed.


"Hey, do you guys know where Adelaide is?" Ned said, looking around the room. She had said she was going to come to the decathlon meeting, but he hadn't seen her around.

"I asked her to get extra binders, but she should have been back by now," Liz frowned, glancing at her watch.

"Did she say where she was going?" Ned asked, beginning to feel slightly worried. What if those guys had got her?

"The storage closet. Across from Mr. Harrington's room," Liz said.

"I'm going to go see if she needs help," Ned said to Vivian and she nodded. Ned left the theater, making his way down the hall to the other side of the school.

The school looked much more different with the lights off in the hallways. It almost looked kind of creepy. He began whistling the tune to Cotten Eyed Joe as he walked down the hall, deeper into the dark school. Soon enough, he came to Mr. Harrington's room and then turned the corner to where the storage closet was.

"Adelaide?" he said, unsurely knocking on the closet door.

There was a pause.

"Ned?" she said, her voice muffled by the door, "Is that you?"

"Yeah," he said, relieved, "You didn't come back so I came to see if you were okay. What's wrong?"

"The door's locked from the inside," came her reply.

"Oh," Ned said, looking down at the door handle. He twisted it, pulling the door open. Ned was surprised to see that Adelaide wasn't there alone. Almost immediately, both of his best friends threw their arms around him, nearly tackling him over.

"Thank God you came, Ned," Peter breathed.

"Peter?" he said, furrowing his eyebrows once they both had pulled away, "I thought you went home."

Peter sighed, "Long story."

Adelaide rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache making a debut behind her eyes. She had been cramped in that stupid closet for too long.

"Wait — how long have you guys actually been in there?" Ned asked. Adelaide glared at Peter.

"Too long," she answered and Peter glared back at her, gritting his teeth.

"If you hadn't started a fight, it might have been more tolerable," he snapped.

"If you didn't slam the door, then we wouldn't have been stuck in there to begin with!" she shouted back.

"If you had just—"

"Woah, woah, break it up guys," Ned said, looking between the two of them. It made him sad to see his two best friends fighting like this. He didn't know what had happened between them, but they both seemed to hate each other now.

"I'm going home," Peter sighed, picking his backpack up off the floor and slinging it around his shoulder. Adelaide let out a huff, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'll see you later, Ned."

"Yeah..." Ned mumbled, watching his friend walk away with a frown, "See you."

"Come on," Adelaide sighed, turning away, "I'm sick of this decathlon thing."

Ned stood there in the hallway by himself, feeling horrible. He only ever had had two best friends and now they didn't get along either. And somehow he'd gotten tangled up in their relationship to the point where he didn't really feel like he had much of any friends left.

He sighed.

He just really wanted things to go back to the way they were.


When Adelaide got back to the theater, the meeting was being wrapped up. Liz was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Adelaide realized that she'd forgotten to actually bring the binders, thanks to Peter.

She sighed.

"Good news!" Vivian said brightly, appearing in front of her like a pop-up add you couldn't block, "We got our rooms booked in DC and you and I are roommates!"

Adelaide sighed.

Could this day have been any worse?


A/N: so i had a decathlon of sorts this weekend and WE WON THE REGIONAL COMPETITION AND WE'RE GOING TO STATEEEEE omg we were so happy when they announced our school name our whole team was practically SCREAMING at the top of our lungs. im soooo exictedded

so i just wanna say something.

ive been so much happier lately and i didn't realize how truly unhappy i had been for a long time until i wasn't. like i find myself smiling for no reason sometimes and im doing much better emotionally and idk im kinda scared cause it feels so good and something always happens but it's been a couple months and i think that this happiness is finally here to stay for a long, long time. and i think a big part of it comes from this story so i just wanna thank you guys for being so sweet and supportive. and also, if you're feeling like you're not in a good place right now, just remember to be gentle with yourself and that time will make things better :)

Question: Which part of this story made you stay and keep reading?