Peter huffed when he failed to fall asleep for the umpteenth time. He took a look at his phone and realized that it was now 3 a.m. He had been trying to fall asleep for two hours?! Now that was something new. Usually all it took for him to doze off was for his head to hit the pillow but now this task was proving to be quite difficult to accomplish.

Why does it have to be this night?!Peter asked himself that question over and over again. He didn't know why it was so hard for his mind to simply switch off and surrender to sleep. He knew he was quite intelligent, even considered a genius by some, although he did not know why, but even the smartest people needed sleep in order for their brains to function properly!

Peter turned on his side and shut his eyes. He started counting sheep and after the tenth one screamed and buried his face in his pillow. It seemed he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. He just hoped that last night's four hour sleep would be enough to help him get through tomorrow. Again the question for the reason for his lack of slumber came back. Peter refused to believe Sam was partially to blame for this, despite the fact that the boy hadn't done anything. He had simply been far too good-looking, far too damn mysterious and attractive. And why did Peter have to be so drawn to him? Wasn't it strange to feel such a strong connection to someone you had barely met?

He did save my life. Is that the reason why I feel the need to be around him and help him? Yeah that's it. I feel indebted to him. Once I've paid off my debt I'll be alright and I'll stop feeling this way.

But something felt wrong. Peter did not feel indebted to Sam. He was grateful that the boy had saved his life but Peter did not feel the need to be constantly around Sam and search for a way to pay him back. After all, you couldn't put a price to a man's life. Therefore you couldn't calculate the payment that would be required if someone saved yours. Now that that was settled one more question remained: Why was Peter so drawn to Sam? That, of course, brought along other questions: Did Sam feel it? Was he drawn to Peter as well? What did this connection mean? Could they become friends? What did Sam have to hide? Could he open up to Peter? And most of all – could Peter trust Sam?

A splitting headache had started forming. All this over thinking especially so late at night was not helping Peter at all. He rubbed his temples and sighed in contentment after a few minutes. The throbbing had ceased and that made a smile form on Peter's face. Perhaps he was just being delusional. Maybe he and Sam just clicked and that sort of connection he felt was only in his head. Probably his imagination was playing tricks on him again.

Yeah that's it. I'm worrying over nothing. These feelings will probably disappear after I get to know Sam better if I get the chance that is.

With a semi-cleared head Peter got up from his bed and went to his closet. His fished out his Spiderman costume and put it on. If he couldn't sleep, he might as well go and do something productive like catching a few villains. Peter smirked as he remembered how flustered Sam was when Peter had asked him whether he liked Spiderman. He almost thought there was more to Sam's words. Surely appreciation did not make one blush that way did it?

There I go again looking for something where there's nothing. I need stop; otherwise I might get disappointed again.

Spiderman swung through New York at a rather high speed that night. It appeared something was troubling him for he nearly missed the top of a building when he shot a web at one of its angular walls. Spiderman never missed unless something was wrong. Nova allowed a frown to appear on his face. What did Spiderman have on his mind?

Nova had been stalking, no observing (yeah that's better) Spiderman for the past few weeks. He had even joined a few of his fights in order to help him but most of the time he lurked in the shadows and took out some of the idiots that had the stupidity to try and charge at Spiderman from behind. It wasn't that Nova thought Spiderman was weak. He didn't underestimate the other superhero's abilities. Nova had even heard of the infamous spider sense Spiderman possessed but sometimes even if there was a warning Spiderman did not have the time to react. And that was when Nova stepped in and knocked out a few accomplices while Spiderman took out the ring leader.

Suddenly the alarms of a bank nearby were set off and five armed men exited the lightless building with a huge bag of money or stolen goods, no doubt, in each of their hands. Nova scrunched up his nose and allowed a smirk to form on his face. It was time to show these idiots where they stood. Nova hoped that this time they would learn their lesson but seeing as this was the tenth, maybe eleventh or was it twelfth? It didn't matter which time it was. The point was that these criminals had suffered enough punches and kicks from both him and Spiderman quite a few times and still they tried again. Honestly, Nova sometimes wondered how they managed to escape from prison so many times. Probably they had someone to help them.

Nova flew towards the battle area as he liked to call it where Spiderman had already disarmed a few of them and had successfully captured some more in his webs. Kicking two of them to the curb, Nova landed swiftly right next to Spiderman, who managed to disarm the remaining robber. Standing with their backs to each other both of them looked around carefully. Each one of them took in their surroundings and searched for any signs of reinforcements or traps. None were detected. After about a minute or so they visibly relaxed and left the street just as a few police cars came around the corner.

"Glad you decided to join the fight this time and not stay in the shadows. I still don't know why you do it though. Both I and our enemies know when you're around." Spiderman told Nova as they landed on the roof of a nearby building.

Nova scratched the back of his head and was grateful for his helmet because otherwise Spiderman would be able to see his slight blush. Even after all these weeks and conversations they'd had, no matter how quick, Nova still found it hard to control his beating heart and erratic breathing around Spiderman. He had it bad. And the worst was that he didn't mind at all.

"I feel safer there. Plus even though they know I'm in the neighborhood, they still can't figure out immediately exactly where I may come from." Nova explained and was glad that his voice sounded normal.

Spiderman nodded and looked ahead. Most of the time this was all they did. They either discussed the brawl or simply kept each other company while still looking around for any signs of trouble. If either found one, they would jump into action, not bothering to alert the other for it was not needed.

Then there were the quieter times when there was only a robbery or someone trying to break into a house. When that happened and they finished rather quickly, they would stand on the highest nearby building and would sit in silence. They would wait till sun rise and then they would part ways without even saying a simple 'thank you for the help' or 'have a nice day' or 'I hope you didn't get hurt' because neither Nova, nor Spiderman needed it. They were happy with the way things were. Nova knew how thankful Spiderman was for the help even though he would never admit it. And Spiderman knew how grateful Nova was for being able to fight alongside him and for the lent hand.

Things were simple. Things were easy between them. Neither of them got too attached to the other because they knew how dangerous what they did was. Spiderman knew he would be sad if one day Nova died and he was aware that Nova would be affected by his death as well if it happened. But they would not allow themselves to dwell too much on something so trivial because after all what was one life compared to that of the millions that lived in this city? Nothing. And that was why they would continue as though nothing had happened; as though the other was nothing but a mere shadow in the endless sea of lost lives.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

A/N: A huge thank you for the reviews, follows, favourites. A response to your reviews:

Guest: Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy reading this story and find this plot bunny interesting.

Flamen007: I think this chapter answered your question. ;)

Until next time I update and/or post a story my fellow readers,

~ QueenofRhymes ~