May 19th, 2016

Peter closed his eyes, trying to hear Harley's door close. There was no way his plan would work unless Harley was asleep in his room. Finally, upon hearing the door shut, Peter stood up and opened his own door.

Step 1: Sneak into the lab.

Peter quietly tiptoed down the stairs and made his way to the lab. His dad was out of town because of a business conference—much to Tony's displeasure—and from what Peter knew, Harley was asleep in his room, so hopefully, no one would see him.

Step 2: Get supplies.

"Friday," said Peter, "are you one hundred percent sure Dad won't know if I use this stuff?"

"Yes, Peter. Unless what you're using is unsafe and will cause harm to you or others, I will not inform Mr. Stark." She paused. "However, if he asks, I am obliged to tell him."

Peter smiled. "Okay, that's fine. Thanks, Fri."

Step 3: Test webs.

Peter had already worked out the formula (or, at least, one possible formula) during school, so all he had to do now was test it.

Peter took out the sheet of paper he had written it on and began mixing the appropriate chemicals. Within a few minutes, Peter had a beaker in front of him. Unfortunately, it was not the desired outcome. Instead of the sticky 'spider-like' substance that Peter wanted, whatever the hell was inside the beaker looked like rotten milk.

Yeah, this would probably take a while.

—

Throughout the night (with the help of caffeine), Peter actually got the spiderwebs the way he wanted them. It was late by the time he finished—around five in the morning—but by god, he had done it.

Gathering his notebook, which was now filled with scribbles of formulas, Peter left the lab, sneaking up to his room.

Just as he was going up the stairs, the door to Harley's room swung open. Harley, rubbing his eyes, stared at Peter.

"What are you doing?" Harley asked, scrunching his eyebrows. "Why were you downstairs?"

Peter hid his hands behind his back, holding the notebook. "Nothing, I just… forgot something upstairs." He climbed up the remaining stairs while Harley eyed him suspiciously.

"You… forgot something? What did you forget?" Harley crossed his arms.

Peter's eyes went wide as he thought. "My glasses! I forgot my glasses!" He hadn't been using them for the past few weeks due to the helpful lie of contact lenses, but the excuse was good enough.

Harley nodded slowly before pushing past him and going downstairs. As Peter reached the door to his room, Harley yelled up at him.

"Is everything all right? Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" Peter yelled back, biting his cheek. "Everything's fine!"

—

June 8th, 2016

Peter left the school quickly, the bell still ringing in his ears. The swarm of students was sure to follow, but Peter had managed to escape fast enough.

"Pete!" Ben waved his hands from the car, grinning at Peter. "Over here!"

Peter went over to Ben and climbed into the car. "Hey." He leaned back into the seat, taking a deep breath.

"Let's get going then," said Ben, putting the car into Drive. "You have a good day at school?"

All right, in all honesty, Peter had been entirely focused on going to May and Ben's after school. His plan was finally coming into motion, with the web shooters complete (after many sleepless nights in the lab) and a makeshift suit.

"Yeah, it was good. I had a lot of fun." Peter stared straight on, ignoring Ben's gaze. Ben didn't notice and continued chatting.

—

"All right," said May, yawning as she stood up from the couch, "I'm going to sleep, you guys."

Ben followed her. "Same here, Peter. We can finish the movie tomorrow. It's getting late, and I need to get up at six tomorrow."

Peter nodded, keeping the best neutral face he could. "Yeah, okay. I'll go too." He went to his room, trying to look tired. "Good night."

"Night, sweetie. Sleep well." May shut the door to her and Ben's room softly, and immediately Peter began changing into his Not-Yet-Official Superhero Suit. Yeah, it didn't look like much, but it wasn't as if Peter could just steal his dad's technology without no one noticing or becoming suspicious. Completely out of the question, which meant he was stuck with the hoodie and sweatpants.

Peter also attached the web shooters to his wrists and packed extra web cartridges in his pockets. Running out while in the air would be a complete nightmare. Yeah, no thanks. Falling to death was not on his agenda.

Finally, Peter opened the window slowly, staring out at Queens. He swung his feet over the edge of the window and stuck them to the side of the building. Taking a final deep breath (and praying to god that this wouldn't backfire), Peter pushed himself from the window so that he was standing sideways on the building.

After a brief moment of celebration, Peter turned around and began walking up the building's side all the way to the roof.

May and Ben's building wasn't tall per se, five or six stories, but staring down, Peter really regretted this decision. Nonetheless, he shot a web using the web shooters (just to make sure they still worked), and it flew across the sky. Yay. No excuse to get out of this.

Peter aimed his wrist at the nearest building and shot another web. It stuck to the side, so he tugged at it, checking if it would hold. When it did, Peter took one last sigh, and jumped off the roof, holding onto the string with both hands. He swung into the side of the building, where the web was, and stuck himself to the wall while groaning in pain. How had he not seen that that was a terrible idea? Scrunching his eyes, Peter climbed to the top of the building again.

—

After an hour or two, Peter had finally gotten the hang of it. It was sort of like riding a bike in the sense that he couldn't stop moving, and it wouldn't work unless he was fast.

A shriek filled Peter's ears, and he jumped. Then, they shrieked again. Peter (with his brand new swinging abilities) swung to the sound, preparing himself. This was the first time he would actually, ya know, be a superhero.

Perching himself on the edge of a building, Peter glanced down into the alleyway. A young woman was being backed into the wall by two men, one of whom was holding a knife. Peter decided it would be best to go for this dude first.

He climbed lower on the building and shot a web a Knife Guy, who got thrown him back into the wall. His head hit the brick and then lolled down.

Other Guy looked in Peter's direction, turning his back to the lady. "What the hell?"

Peter jumped to the ground, crossing his arms. "Did no one tell you it wasn't nice to steal?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Other Guy reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun, steady hands pointing it at Peter. "Get outta here now, or you're gonna get it."

Crap that hadn't been a part of the plan. Peter threw his hands up, taking a step back from the man. As if that was going to help.

"All right, just… calm down–" Before Peter knew what had happened, a bang came from the gun, and Peter jumped out of the way. He whipped his head around, trying to understand what just happened. How wasn't he dead?

Other Guy was also in shock because he glared at Peter and muttered, "fucking hell." Then, he aimed the gun and pulled the trigger again and again until there was no more ammo.

Peter barely jumped out of the way, and one of the bullets grazed his left arm. Peter inhaled sharply, hissing as the pain hit him. He looked up at Other Guy, who was backing away from Peter. The woman was crouched at the far end of the alley, hugging herself.

Peter took a deep breath and flicked his wrist at Other Guy. The gun in his hand was instantly webbed to the brick wall, and with another flick, Other Guy attached the opposite one.

"Fuck you, dipshit!" Other Guy screamed. Peter saluted him and quickly walked up to the woman.

"Hey, lady, are you all right?" he asked as softly as he could. "Do you need help? Do you want me to call the police?"

The woman stood up slowly from where she was. She had tears on her face, and her eyes were red. "Who are you?"

Peter cleared his throat. "I, uh, haven't decided on the name yet. Are you okay?"

The woman took a step closer to him skittishly, clutching her purse tightly. "Yeah… I think I'm fine. They didn't hurt me."

Peter smiled through the mask, and he gave her a thumbs-up. "Do you want me to walk you home or anything? I can call the police?"

"I'll accept the walk. You never know at this time of night." She gave Peter a good look, scrunching her eyebrows as she took him in. "What's your deal?"

They stepped into the street, slightly illuminated by the lamps. Peter shrugged. "Not important. Do you live near here?"

"Yeah, I live around the corner with my girlfriend." She pursed her lips. "You sound young."

"Oh, yeah? What's her name? What about your name?" He asked, in hopes of avoiding the age topic.

They crossed the street. "Her name's Evie. Mine's Mal." They stopped in front of a glass door, showing a pretty rundown lobby. "This is it."

Peter opened the door for her, and Mal stepped inside. "Try to stay safe," said Peter.

"Will do—" she looked him up and down—"Spider-Boy."

—

June 9th, 2016

Peter waved goodbye to the mugger—who was webbed onto the wall—as his eyes picked up on something. The sun was up. It wasn't even touching the horizon at this point!

Peter pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. It was exactly 5:59 am. Almost fucking comical.

Without another second, Peter jumped from the ledge and began webbing. His arm was still aching from the graze and the constant movement (seriously, who knew being a superhero was so tiring?), but Peter didn't have the luxury of stopping.

He reasoned with himself that maybe Ben wouldn't check his room when he woke up, but the chances were slim. Ben was a predictable person.

Peter landed at May and Ben's building at 6:14 am. He climbed down the building side to where his room was and poked his head down just enough to see inside. Ben was seated at his bed while May paced from side to side, crossing her arms. Peter let out a sigh and climbed down the rest of the building. He removed the makeshift mask and web shooters, stuffing them in his backpack. Hopefully, he would pass as somewhat normal now.

Peter went up the stairs and waited a few more seconds before knocking on the door. May opened it moments later.

"Peter!" May grabbed his shoulders. "Are you all right? What happened? Where the hell were you?"

Peter ducked underneath her arm and walked into the apartment. "Sorry."

May scowled, crossing her arms again. "Sorry? Sorry? Peter, where were you?" She ran a hand through her head. "You just disappeared! We were about to go to the police!"

Ben, who was standing in Peter's doorway, took a step forward. "Peter, where did you go?"

"Me? I- I was just at a… a party." He gave a nervous chuckle. "With Ned. I was at a party with Ned. I guess we just lost track of time…"

Ben looked at him incredulously. "You went to a party with Ned… and you just… forgot to come home? Am I understanding this right, Pete?"

Peter cringed. "Yes, sir. Seriously, Ben, I promise. I just didn't realize how late it was. Or early, I guess."

May closed the front door. "Peter, do you have any idea how scared we were? I swear to god, I was about to have a heart attack."

"I'm really sorry, May. I swear, it won't ever happen again." Peter paused. "Did you tell Dad, by any chance?"

Ben frowned. "Not yet. We didn't want to worry him until we found you."

"Please don't tell him! Please, Ben, I promise I won't ever do this again. Just don't tell Dad! He'll just get really mad, and it's not worth it."

May check her watch. "I have to go. We will talk about this later." She picked her bag from the table and left, giving Peter one last glare.

Ben sat down on a chair slowly. "Peter, are you telling the truth? Is there nothing you want to tell me?"

"No… I swear, Ben, I just lost track of time. I wasn't… doing anything wrong."

"Besides forgetting to come back home, of course?"

"Well, yeah, other than that… Are you actually going to tell Dad?"

Ben sighed. "No, I don't think so. If you swear, this won't ever happen again."

"Yes, I promise."

—

They were finishing the second half of the movie when Ben's phone rang. "It's Tony."

Peter gave a quick nod. "You're not–"

"No, hon, I've already told you we're not telling him," said May. "Just never let it happen again. Got it?"

"Understood."

Ben picked up the call. "Hey, Tony. How ya doing?"

"Hey, Ben. Could be worse. How's everything there? Peter all right? Is everything going smoothly so far?"

"Yeah, he's fine. We're just watching a movie right now. Couldn't be better."

"Sounds great. I'll talk to you later then. Goodbye, Ben."

"Bye, Tones."