Author's Note: This is more of a Peter chapter, but don't worry, I promise there will be more Ock next chapter. Also, didn't know what to call Peter's scooter/vespa/bike thingy, so I just called it a vespa. In the comic books I thought it was a motorcycle, but in the movie it was different, so whatever. And Adalheida isn't supposed to be me, even though she does have a crush on Alfred Molina (I couldn't resist putting that in). If Ock had approached me, I would have acted entirely different. As in, "Take anything you want, and there's something waiting for you in the bedroom…" 0:) And last but definitely not least, thanks again for all the reviews!
A very tired Peter Parker made his way to the Daily Bugle. The pictures he had taken in the sewer were way below his usual quality, but then again it was hard to get any good shots with such little light.
"I can't have this on the front page of my paper, the lizard is obviously a hoax. Fake, fake, fake, looks like you had some guy in a costume. I can't go around printing this crap," J. Jonah Jameson said. "Don't you have any of that spider-freak?"
Peter had a few Spider-Man pictures with him. They were old, unused ones from months ago, but Jameson wouldn't know the difference.
"This'll have to work- Robbie, I want this on the front page underneath the headline "Daily Bugle Challenges Spider-Man to Defeat the Lizard."
"I thought you said he's a hoax, sir."
"Yeah, but it sells papers. I'll give you one fifty."
"Two fifty."
"Two hundred, but don't waste any more of my time with crappy shots or you're fired."
Peter walked out of J. Jonah Jameson's office, payslip in hand, giving it to Betty Brant.
"I guess you're able to pay the rent now."
"I might even have money left over for groceries."
"Wouldn't want you to see a nice guy like you starve, Peter. Just in case, would you like to go out for dinner with me? My treat."
Peter knew he could use a few more friends. He had never exactly been popular in high school, and now in college he was too busy running off being Spider-Man to find a social group. Peter and Betty exchanged numbers.
"I'll pick you up at seven. I have to warn you, I have a vespa. It's not exactly a Harley, but it does the job."
Betty smiled.
"That would be fine."
Taking his money and Betty's number, Peter headed for his morning classes and made it home without any disturbances. Once there he tidied up his apartment, dusted, and gathered his clothes to take to the laundromat. He went out to do his grocery shopping with his twenty-dollar budget. He had a mini fridge; it's not like he could hold a lot of food, anyway. Then he did his laundry at the laundromat, and made his way back, groceries and laundry in hand. Peter enjoyed having a "normal" day, it was rare that it went so long without any having to do anything as Spider-Man.
Passing by the Ditkovich's room, he remembered the seventy-five dollars he still owed. He knocked on the door, trying to balance his groceries and laundry at the same time. His knock was answered right away by his skinny, blonde haired admirer.
"Hi Ursula, is Mr. Ditkovich home? I wanted to give him the rest of the rent."
"No, but I can give it to him. Would you like to uh, come in Peter?" Her face was turning a deep shade of scarlet.
Ursula let Peter in, and he fumbled to take out the bills from his pocket, dropping some of his laundry in the process.
"I'm sorry," Ursula murmured, handing back the laundry and taking the one-hundred dollar bill.
"No, it's my fault. Um, I figured I'd leave a twenty five dollar deposit for next month."
"Early rent, that makes up for some of the lateness, right?" Peter thought.
"Thanks. Would you like me to help you carry some of your things back to your apartment?"
"No, it's ok, I'm fine."
"Oh, you had a phone call while you were out. The ringing bothers Father so I picked it up. It was someone named Mary Jane."
"Thanks. Seems like I really need to invest in an answering machine. Good thing you're around."
Ursula blushed even more, and Peter headed up to his apartment. Putting away his groceries and laundry,
Peter saw that it was now quarter after 6, and was hurrying to get ready. He was done relatively quickly, and was about to call Betty to say he was on his way when there was a knock at the door.
"All dressed up and nowhere to go, huh tiger?"
"MJ!"
Mary Jane came in, looking over the apartment.
"You cleaned, but you didn't have time to call me back?"
"I'm sorry, I was running errands all day-"
"Any of them Spider-Man related?" As much as she hated that her boyfriend was a superhero and his life was always in danger, he did always have some interesting stories.
"Well, no, but-"
There was another knock at the door.
"Oh boy, it's probably Ditkovich." It was, it just wasn't the Ditkovich he expected.
"You left these when you came over," Ursula said, more crimson than ever.
Peter took the boxers and Ursula left.
Mary Jane was not amused.
"It's not what it looks like. I'd explain, but I really have to go, I'll call you tomor-
"And where are you going all dressed up?" MJ had her arms crossed.
"I'm going out to dinner with Betty-"
"Peter!"
"It's a friend thing!"
"First I can't get a hold of you, then when someone finally picks up it's some girl, then some girl is giving you back your boxers, and now you're going out to dinner with Betty? Anything else you'd like to add?"
"Um….I love you?"
Exasperated, Mary Jane left. Peter called out after her, but saw that it was twenty to seven. He ran out to pick up Betty.
They went to a nice restaurant, nicer than the diners Peter was used to, anyway. Peter enjoyed seeing Betty outside of the Daily Bugle. She was easy to talk to and they surprisingly had a lot to converse about. Betty explained how her brother was a lawyer, and their mother had died a few years ago so she had dropped out of college to get a job. She was proud of her brother but didn't think that it was fair that he got to go to college while she was stuck being a secretary. It sounded like she was unsure what she wanted in life, besides stability, and wanted to return to college. Peter talked about his childhood, Aunt May, and his studies. Even though some of the topics seemed heavy, the mood was lighthearted and they both had a good time.
While they were drinking their coffees Betty made a confession.
"I have to admit, I've had a little bit of a crush on you for a while."
Peter nearly spit out his coffee. Sure, he had noticed the raven-haired secretary, and flirted a good amount of times with her, but that was before he and MJ were dating. His heart had always belonged to Mary Jane.
"Wow, I'm really flattered Betty, I am..."
Betty sensed a "but" coming on.
"But I uh, we can't date, Betty." He wanted to say he liked her as a friend, but it seemed so cliched at the moment. He grasped for another excuse. "I'm taken," If MJ even wants to see me again he thought solemnly, "and besides, there's someone else that likes you."
Betty seemed pleasantly surprised.
"I wasn't supposed to tell you, but I guess I let the cat out of the bag. The new reporter, Ned Leeds. He's been talking about you." Actually, he hadn't, but Peter had a hunch he was interested in her. He had seen the way he looked at her. He hoped his instincts were right.
Betty seemed flattered, even though Peter had let her down.
"Still friends?"
Betty smiled. "Still friends. You're lucky, if not you'd be paying for your own dinner and I suspect you'd be in the back washing dishes."
Peter lifted his mug in mock toast.
"To J. Jonah Jameson, the most benevolent employer I've ever had." What Betty didn't know is that he was only half kidding, considering his past jobs.
After Peter dropped Betty off, he made his usual rounds in the city, and made it back to the lab to work with Octavius. It was another unsuccessful night, but there were getting closer.
A very tired Peter Parker made his way to the Daily Bugle. The pictures he had taken in the sewer were way below his usual quality, but then again it was hard to get any good shots with such little light.
"I can't have this on the front page of my paper, the lizard is obviously a hoax. Fake, fake, fake, looks like you had some guy in a costume. I can't go around printing this crap," J. Jonah Jameson said. "Don't you have any of that spider-freak?"
Peter had a few Spider-Man pictures with him. They were old, unused ones from months ago, but Jameson wouldn't know the difference.
"This'll have to work- Robbie, I want this on the front page underneath the headline "Daily Bugle Challenges Spider-Man to Defeat the Lizard."
"I thought you said he's a hoax, sir."
"Yeah, but it sells papers. I'll give you one fifty."
"Two fifty."
"Two hundred, but don't waste any more of my time with crappy shots or you're fired."
Peter walked out of J. Jonah Jameson's office, payslip in hand, giving it to Betty Brant.
"I guess you're able to pay the rent now."
"I might even have money left over for groceries."
"Wouldn't want you to see a nice guy like you starve, Peter. Just in case, would you like to go out for dinner with me? My treat."
Peter knew he could use a few more friends. He had never exactly been popular in high school, and now in college he was too busy running off being Spider-Man to find a social group. Peter and Betty exchanged numbers.
"I'll pick you up at seven. I have to warn you, I have a vespa. It's not exactly a Harley, but it does the job."
Betty smiled.
"That would be fine."
Taking his money and Betty's number, Peter headed for his morning classes and made it home without any disturbances. Once there he tidied up his apartment, dusted, and gathered his clothes to take to the laundromat. He went out to do his grocery shopping with his twenty-dollar budget. He had a mini fridge; it's not like he could hold a lot of food, anyway. Then he did his laundry at the laundromat, and made his way back, groceries and laundry in hand. Peter enjoyed having a "normal" day, it was rare that it went so long without any having to do anything as Spider-Man.
Passing by the Ditkovich's room, he remembered the seventy-five dollars he still owed. He knocked on the door, trying to balance his groceries and laundry at the same time. His knock was answered right away by his skinny, blonde haired admirer.
"Hi Ursula, is Mr. Ditkovich home? I wanted to give him the rest of the rent."
"No, but I can give it to him. Would you like to uh, come in Peter?" Her face was turning a deep shade of scarlet.
Ursula let Peter in, and he fumbled to take out the bills from his pocket, dropping some of his laundry in the process.
"I'm sorry," Ursula murmured, handing back the laundry and taking the one-hundred dollar bill.
"No, it's my fault. Um, I figured I'd leave a twenty five dollar deposit for next month."
"Early rent, that makes up for some of the lateness, right?" Peter thought.
"Thanks. Would you like me to help you carry some of your things back to your apartment?"
"No, it's ok, I'm fine."
"Oh, you had a phone call while you were out. The ringing bothers Father so I picked it up. It was someone named Mary Jane."
"Thanks. Seems like I really need to invest in an answering machine. Good thing you're around."
Ursula blushed even more, and Peter headed up to his apartment. Putting away his groceries and laundry,
Peter saw that it was now quarter after 6, and was hurrying to get ready. He was done relatively quickly, and was about to call Betty to say he was on his way when there was a knock at the door.
"All dressed up and nowhere to go, huh tiger?"
"MJ!"
Mary Jane came in, looking over the apartment.
"You cleaned, but you didn't have time to call me back?"
"I'm sorry, I was running errands all day-"
"Any of them Spider-Man related?" As much as she hated that her boyfriend was a superhero and his life was always in danger, he did always have some interesting stories.
"Well, no, but-"
There was another knock at the door.
"Oh boy, it's probably Ditkovich." It was, it just wasn't the Ditkovich he expected.
"You left these when you came over," Ursula said, more crimson than ever.
Peter took the boxers and Ursula left.
Mary Jane was not amused.
"It's not what it looks like. I'd explain, but I really have to go, I'll call you tomor-
"And where are you going all dressed up?" MJ had her arms crossed.
"I'm going out to dinner with Betty-"
"Peter!"
"It's a friend thing!"
"First I can't get a hold of you, then when someone finally picks up it's some girl, then some girl is giving you back your boxers, and now you're going out to dinner with Betty? Anything else you'd like to add?"
"Um….I love you?"
Exasperated, Mary Jane left. Peter called out after her, but saw that it was twenty to seven. He ran out to pick up Betty.
They went to a nice restaurant, nicer than the diners Peter was used to, anyway. Peter enjoyed seeing Betty outside of the Daily Bugle. She was easy to talk to and they surprisingly had a lot to converse about. Betty explained how her brother was a lawyer, and their mother had died a few years ago so she had dropped out of college to get a job. She was proud of her brother but didn't think that it was fair that he got to go to college while she was stuck being a secretary. It sounded like she was unsure what she wanted in life, besides stability, and wanted to return to college. Peter talked about his childhood, Aunt May, and his studies. Even though some of the topics seemed heavy, the mood was lighthearted and they both had a good time.
While they were drinking their coffees Betty made a confession.
"I have to admit, I've had a little bit of a crush on you for a while."
Peter nearly spit out his coffee. Sure, he had noticed the raven-haired secretary, and flirted a good amount of times with her, but that was before he and MJ were dating. His heart had always belonged to Mary Jane.
"Wow, I'm really flattered Betty, I am..."
Betty sensed a "but" coming on.
"But I uh, we can't date, Betty." He wanted to say he liked her as a friend, but it seemed so cliched at the moment. He grasped for another excuse. "I'm taken," If MJ even wants to see me again he thought solemnly, "and besides, there's someone else that likes you."
Betty seemed pleasantly surprised.
"I wasn't supposed to tell you, but I guess I let the cat out of the bag. The new reporter, Ned Leeds. He's been talking about you." Actually, he hadn't, but Peter had a hunch he was interested in her. He had seen the way he looked at her. He hoped his instincts were right.
Betty seemed flattered, even though Peter had let her down.
"Still friends?"
Betty smiled. "Still friends. You're lucky, if not you'd be paying for your own dinner and I suspect you'd be in the back washing dishes."
Peter lifted his mug in mock toast.
"To J. Jonah Jameson, the most benevolent employer I've ever had." What Betty didn't know is that he was only half kidding, considering his past jobs.
After Peter dropped Betty off, he made his usual rounds in the city, and made it back to the lab to work with Octavius. It was another unsuccessful night, but there were getting closer.