Peter had gone back to his apartment around 10.30 PM after the eventful day. He managed to patrol a little bit and helped a few people. All of the truck owners had thanked him and gave him gifts for Christmas. Hence he bought home boxes of food and medicine that he could use.
He had taken a bath, cleaned himself, and cooked decent dinner from the ingredients that he got and followed a recipe that Joline gave him weeks ago. He cooked some Chinese-style fried rice that seemed pretty decent.
As he cooked dinner, he had a lot on his mind, from cooking the meal decently, the F.E.A.S.T. Christmas Eve party, the Widowmaker, and Joline who had not been home yet.
After he finished cooking he noticed that he had enough for two portions. He sighed and put some of the food in a container. He didn't close the lid though, as Joline gave him a tip that if the food's still hot, don't close the lid first. And so he did, he left the container on his table and lied sat down on his bed (since he doesn't have furniture) and surfed the internet with his phone.
He was on his phone for so long that he got sleepy. His eyelids slowly droop and his hold on his phone loosened.
It was night time in New York. Spider-Man was doing his patrol when he heard a scream from the alleys below with his super hearing.
"HELP!"
Spider-Man quickly swung down to the alleyway to see a girl that is getting choked by a mugger that had her bag.
Spider-Man thwipped his web and jumped to the mugger, safely knocking him down from the girl that seemed to be shaking. The mugger lost his consciousness, and Spider-Man webbed him up to a wall. He won't be down in a long time from the amount of web he threw.
Spider-Man took the fallen bag and brushed the dust off.
"Here you go, young lady. The guy won't be bothering you anymore from now on. I webbed him up real good so you--"
The girl looked up to see Spider-Man's widening eyes. He saw her familiar looking teary eyes and gasped.
"Joline...?" He whispered as he kneeled down.
Said girl sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "H-How'd you know my name...?"
Uh-oh.
"I--uh, I saw it in your wallet earlier when I took it!" He tried to reason as Joline took the bag from him. Joline sniffled again.
"T-Thank you so much, Spider-Man!" She suddenly swung her arms around his neck and hugged the life out of him.
"Uhh... You're welcome?" He answered back unsurely, not knowing where to put his hand, but then settled for her lower back and patted it softly.
"Can you stand up?" He asked. She nodded and He helped pull her up, not breaking the hug.
"Don't go home so late at night," He scolded lightly. "Either get some pepper spray or get someone to walk you home." She nodded in between sniffles. "Anyone that could help you?" He asked.
She sniffled again. "No... Not really. I'm an orphan." His heart ached at this. "But maybe my neighbor can help me. He's a nice guy."
Spider-Man's heart beat louder.
"Who is he?" He found himself asking, already knowing the answer.
"His name is Peter. He's a really nice guy. He's kind too, and He's also dorky. Very dorky." She snorted and laughed. "He's all of the good things, and I... I like him."
His heart beat louder at that. She sounded so honest.
"I-I like you too, Joline..." He whispered softly.
Joline gasped.
"P-Peter?!"
Here we go.
Spider-Man gulped.
"Uh, Yeah..."
They were silent for a while. Joline was gazing into his costume's white eyes looking like she was searching for something.
"Can I..." Joline gulped. "Can I lift your mask?"
He hesitantly nodded.
It was intense.
It was intense how her shaky fingers slowly lifted off his mask.
It was intense, the way she looked at him as she finally found his eyes. Her pupils were dilated and her light brown eyes were shining from the lamp post above them.
"It's really you," She said breathlessly as she playfully stretched his cheeks.
"Ow," He whined. Joline laughed heartily.
"Thank you for saving me, Peter." She smiled and kissed his cheek. His face went warm. His cheek tingling from the kiss she gave him.
His eyes met hers again with such emotions.
They leaned closer, her eyes slowly closing, him following along, their lips slightly touching, when...
"BANG!!!"
Peter woke up with a jolt, almost falling off his bed if it wasn't because of his Spider-sense. His phone fell to the ground though, and as he took it, he scowled as he saw that there was a new crack in his screen. He tapped the screen and looked at the time, it was 2AM. Only he would be bothered by such noise.
He sighed deeply and massaged his nosebridge. He was having a rather nice and sweet... Maybe intense dream, when a huge bang came from outside of his apartment.
His enhanced hearing heard a scowling girl that seemed to be spitting curses at who knows what.
It must be Joline! Who else, nobody really lived on their floor besides them. And it's the highest floor before the roof. Peter quickly got up from his bed and went to go to his door, but caught himself in the mirror and tried tidying his tousled hair from his slumber.
After doing so, he quickly went to his door and took a breath to ready himself. He opened the door slowly to minimize it's creaking and tip toed to the stairs. He looked down to see a red hooded figure, sitting on the stairs and clutching her shin.
"...Joline?" He whispered softly.
She sniffled in response.
"P-Peter?" She looked up to meet his eyes. Peter quickly noticed her tears and jogged to her side.
"Rough day?" He asked softly as he sat down next to her, "Are you okay?"
Joline didn't know why, but that question really got to her heart, making it ache, and made her tears flow harder. Peter panicked.
"I- Uh, shit. I don't know what to do. Are you okay, Joline? Are you hurt?" Joline only sniffled even more at the heartfelt question and started snorting runny nose.
"Oh shit, you're crying! Shit!" His hands flailed everywhere, not knowing what to do. He tried to stand up, "I-I'll get tissues--!!"
But Joline's hand quickly reached Peter's, pulling him back down.
"S-Stay." She begged, "Don't go..."
Her teary, light brown eyes... Even under the red hood, looked at him with so much emotions. The fact that she begged him to stay made his heart ache. He nodded and slowly sat down next to her.
She didn't let go of his hand. He softly undwinded them so he could hold hers instead. His bigger hands warmed her little ones.
Peter stayed silent as he attended to Joline's sniffles. He occassionaly glanced at her from the sides to make sure she's okay.
"Do you want a hug...?" He offered awkwardly as he remembered his dream earlier.
Joline whined with a sob.
"How are you... This nice?" She complained mid crying and turned to him. "You're the kindest guy I have ever met, Peter. And that's... That's really nice of you, offering to... Do things for me, helping me and all... Like... I am a nobody, to you... You don't know things about me and me about you... But you still stayed. Why...?"
Peter smiled to her as if the answer was simple.
"Because you are my friend."
Joline's eyes widen.
"Friends do this?"
Peter hummed.
"If I would ever come back late at night like you do without any news, would you get worried like I would?" He asked. Joline nodded hesitantly.
"If I would ever get in trouble, would you ever help me?" He asked again. Joline nodded.
"If it's still in my capability, I would."
"Then we're friends then." He concluded. "I even think of you of my best friend..."
He said honestly, "I don't really have anybody else..."
"Me too," She answered softly, clutching his hand with her other one. "I think of you of my best friend too..."
They looked at each other and smiled. Joline let go of her hand from his and started laughing while cleaning her tear strained cheeks. Peter laughed along.
She finished crying as they got silent.
"...Can we still hug?" She asked innocently as she turned to him.
"Of course, yeah-- Whoa," Peter steadied both of them as Joline quickly hugged him, her hands on his neck. Peter's face warmed as he felt like he was in his earlier dream. This time, he put his hands on her waist, knowingly. He patted her back as she hugged him tighter. She leaned her head to his neck, and Peter breathed in her scent.
Mint... Hydrangeas... And oil?
Sweet... And mysterious.
"Long day at work?"
She nodded.
"I would ask, but you look like a wreck." He joked. She twisted his ear in retaliation.
"Just hug me, Parker."
"Thank you. I really needed it."
"You're welcome, can you stand up?" He stood up first and held out his hand.
"Yes--" She took his hand, then, "Ouch!" Her other hand clutched her shin.
"It hurts. I've been working the whole day and I was dead tired, going up the stairs, then I tripped from thin air, and hit my shin on the stairs!!!" She hissed while she rubbed her shin.
"So that was the loud bang that woke me up!" He chuckled, and Joline gave him a glare. Peter snorted.
"I was waiting for you to come back and fell asleep. You woke me up real good, I almost fell off the bed." He chuckled again.
"Great to know how my pain is so amusing to you." She scowled and pouted. Peter softly smiled and had an idea.
"Hey, can you wrap your arms around my neck?"
With a suspicious stare, she asked him, "...Why?"
"Trust me," He gave her a mischievous look and she sighed, complying. He shocked her when he suddenly lifted her off her feet, his hands under her knees and back, carrying her bridal style. She let out a squeak.
"Jesus Christ, you surprised me out of nowhere, Parker!" Joline complained.
"Hold on tight!" He wiggled his eyebrows cheekily and carried her up the stairs to her door.
"I'll open the door," She did so, twisted the doorknob, and Peter opened the door wider with his shoulder. Joline turned on the lights as Peter closed the door with his foot.
He laid her down on her sofa.
"I'm not heavy, right?"
"No, you're not." He answered amusedly.
"Please close the curtains for me," She sighed and laid down on the sofa. Peter closed the curtains for her and got back to the sofa, kneeling down next to her.
"You eaten yet?"
"No, I'm hungry." She whined and sat back up again. "I'll cook some instant noodles--"
"No need! I bought some groceries today and... Cooked a lot of food. Uh, if you want to,"
"Sure, thanks. You can heat it up here while I clean myself up." She stood up.
"Yeah, let me help you to the bathroom." He did so and before she could close the door, she stopped, and turned to him seriously.
"You know how to use the microwave, right?"
"Are you implying that I don't know how to use a microwave?" He asked back, a little offended.
Joline shrugged and chuckled.
"See you later, Parker." She softly closed the door and Peter smiled.
He went back to his apartment and quickly to hers and heated his cooking in the microwave, but after moving it to a plate. He almost didn't. It took him 10 seconds to realize that the container was made of plastic. He panicked and quickly stopled the microwave and moved the food to a plate.
He chucked the container to the trash bin, though, as it had already melted off at the outside.
"You put the plastic container in the microwave, didn't you?" She suspiciously asked as she dried her hair off with a towel, using one hand, after taking a bath. Her other hand was holding a pack.
Peter looked away, guilty that he almost burnt plastic and for staring at her. Joline was wearing an oversized white shirt that reached her knee. He noticed that she has quite smooth, slender legs.
"You look so guilty." She stated with a chuckle.
"Can you take the plate to the coffee table, please? I really want to catch up on some movies while I eat."
He did so but Joline kept instructing, "Move the coffee table to the side, and open the sofa bed's latch from the side.
"Well you're bossy," He joked.
"Hey, I'm the sick one here," She joked back with a smile. He held his hands up in surrender.
Her sofa already have some fluffy pillows and a big enough blanket. She sat down and her legs straight.
Peter took the plate of food, but realized he forgot the spoon and fork, along with her apple juice carton from the fridge. He quickly got it as Joline took the TV remote to open a movie streaming platform.
"Here you go, sorry I forgot the spoon and the fork. I've got your favorite apple juice too,"
"Thank you," She took the plate gratefully, "Sit next to me, Peter."
"Ok. I'll can compress your shin while you eat."
Joline ended up watching Star Wars after Peter found out she has never watched one single episode, or... Movie. She said she was more of a Harry Potter kind of gal since she had read the books as she had got them as a present. She pointed them out at her bookshelf near the TV, and there was a complete collection of Harry Potter.
She finished eating in the middle of the first episode and had complained to Peter that she needed to pee. He reluctantly paused the movie and took the time to wash the plates. Joline thanked Peter for washing the dishes and said that she had brushed her teeth, and with how boring the movie was, she could fall asleep easily.
Peter was offended.
Nobody sleeps at Star Wars.
So that led to the two debating throughout the whole movie as they were under the warm blanket. It snowed for the night a few minutes after they started the movie.
"Don't you think the lightsaber is cool?!"
"Yeah it's cool and all, I can probably make it."
"What?!"
"I can make it in one day, probably. Wait, make it half a day, if I were very focused." She yawned.
"Are you yawning at Star Wars?" He asked in disbelief.
She sighed. "No, I'm not." She denied.
"You did!" He said accusingly.
"No." She closed her eyes softly, and snuggled to Peter closer for warmth. "You're such a dork, Peter. Can we stop arguing now?" She whined.
Peter smiled as his heart warmed.
"As long as you say Star Wars is good," He slowly put his arm around her shoulder, and Joline snuggled closer, her breathing starting to even.
"Star Wars... Is good..." Then she snored. Peter poked her cute nose playfully.
"Huh, she's really asleep. Must be so tired at work." He said while his head leaned to her too.
"Good night, Joline..."
"G'nite... Peter..." She answered through her sleep.
He smiled warmly as he held Joline this close. He had never seen her cry or be in pain before, so this was fairly new to him. He felt like they broke some of their walls around each other at every interaction they have.
Peter felt grateful. He turned to the window. One of Joline's curtains were slightly opened and he could see the white winter snow. It must be because they're nearing Christmas--
Shoot.
He forgot to ask her to the Christmas Eve party.
He facepalmed so hard, and turned to the sleeping Joline.
"Joline?" He asked softly. "Want to go to the F.E.A.S.T. Christmas Eve party with me?"
He didn't know why he asked her when she was sleeping. Maybe he was hopeful she would answer yes, and he doesn't need to wait for the morning when she wakes up.
"Mmm..." She moaned as if she was sleep talking, "Always... For you... Peter..."
He blinked his widened eyes and blushed, looking away.
"I'll just ask her in the morning." He concluded and slowly moved both of them so they can sleep comfortably on the sofa bed.
"I'll ask her," He said again reassuring himself, as he closed his eyes.
"I'll ask her."
And then he fell asleep, with Joline snuggling to his side.
"I'll ask her..." He mumbled in his sleep.
