I woke up early in the morning to my phone ringing, and I saw one missed call from an unknown number.
"Hello?" I whispered into the phone, yawning
"Emily, hey. Where'd you go last night?"
It was Peter. "Peter, you took like two hours."
"I know I'm sorry. I promise to make it up to you. I'll buy you ice cream or something."
"Oh Peter," is said sarcastically, "You know the way to my heart. Food." It was true though. I would probably forgive anyone for anything if food was involved.
He chuckled from the other line. "Well I'm glad you got home safe."
Yeah with Spider-man's help. "Yeah." Was all I said, "How'd you get my number?"
"Doesn't matter." He replied.
"Um… Okay. So are you going to tell me where you went last night?"
"I, uh, I have to go. Talk to you later?"
Of course he did.
"Sure."
"Goodbye Em,"
I smiled, liking the nick name he called me. A lot of people called me that, it was just nice to hear it from him.
"See ya, Pete."
"So," Peter started, walking with me after school one day, "I was thinking since I keep ditching you lately, I'd make it up to you by bringing some pizza over tonight."
"Well," I said, walking across the crosswalk. "Pizza is welcome anytime at my house."
"Of course it is."
I shot him a wide grin.
He just chuckled. "So your place at 7?"
"Sounds like a plan, Stan." I rhymed.
Once again, he just chuckled.
A little after 7 that day, Peter arrived at my apartment. I buzzed him in and a modest while later I heard a knock.
I opened the door, smiling up at him. "Mmmmm." I said, ogling at the extra large pepperoni pizza he was holding.
"You're so weird," He laughed, shaking his head.
"Whatever dork." I said opening the door wider, with a smile. "Welcome to my humble abode."
He studied the room with his eyes, darting them back and forth, and then I saw him run over to the L-shaped couch, diving on it and landing with a thump.
"Make yourself at home," I said sarcastically, after he clearly already did.
"Hey, I brought you pizza." He warned.
"Well, like I said, the pizza's welcome here anytime, you not so much." I teased.
He just rolled his eyes and put his arms behind his head.
I set the pizza box down on a table and took a seat on the edge of the couch, in front of where his reclined body was.
He readjusted himself so we weren't touching and just sat uncomfortably, knowing I had gotten too close to him. I understood, somewhat. He didn't want to get too close to me and not in the physical sense. He had lost a lot of people in his life, the most important ones, and he obviously wouldn't just open himself up to someone; because if he did, and something happened to them, he wouldn't survive that. He would be devastated.
I know as much as he hated to admit it though, him and I were become extremely close friends. I would even consider him as one of my best friends.
"Sam's not here?" he asked, interrupting my thought train.
"No she's out with some boy she's been obsessing over for months." I replied, taking a large bite of my slice of pizza.
Peter reached around me to grab a slice and I saw his sizzled flesh, scabs starting to form all over his arms.
"Peter, what happened?" I said, referring to the burns.
"Oh, it's nothing. Let's just say I'm not a good cook."
"Clearly," I said, snatching up his arms to get a closer look. They looked completely charred up, and painful.
He stole his hand back, releasing it from my grasp. "Hey," He said, lightly hitting my shoulder for my comment.
I just grinned at him, showing as much teeth as possible. He rolled his eyes and took a large bite out of his slice. "So have you at least gotten that checked out?"
He shook his head, "Just a small flesh wound," he teased, "I'll live."
I sighed, shaking my head in minor frustration. When we finished eating, we threw the pizza box in the recycling and I tugged on his arm to pull him towards my room.
"Oh!" He said in response, almost tripping.
"Let's go!" I towed him down the small hallway and into my room. I let go of him once I opened the door and belly flopped onto my bed, propping myself up on one elbow. "Paint me like one of your French girls," I laughed, quoting titanic.
"Shut up!" He chuckled and threw a nearby pillow at me.
I smacked it on the floor and then observed him as he scrutinized my room. He paused when he walked in, much like I did when I first saw his room. There wasn't much to witness. I had a small bed in the corner, a white vanity on the other side of the room a tiny walk-in closet and a few framed photos.
"You're rooms alright. I'm kind of impressed, I guess." He mimicked me from the other night.
I just rolled my eyes and folded my arms over my chest, staring at the ceiling. "Sorry I'm not Peter 'mechanical robotic lock making' Parker."
"Such a disappointment…" He joked.
"So what are our plans for tonight?" I readjusted to face him.
He shrugged, wide eyed.
I gave him a warm, closed-lipped smile. "Let's go on an adventure."
"An adventure?" He questioned, brows arched.
I nodded, "An adventure."
"Okay… Where to?"
I shrugged, "I don't know!" I was just feeling so high-spirited. It was dark now and the lights of New York were calling to me.
I glanced over to Peter who just sat on the edge of my bed with a contempt smile. He looked so smug. It made me smile. This boy's smile was contagious; whenever he did I did the same. He had an easy, natural grin. It always had a hint of timidness at first but it's charming and simplicity made up for it. It was like the true nerd in Peter was coming out, and I enjoyed seeing that.
As crazy as this was, Peter's smile gave me hope. I always felt like something great would come out of it. Like a rainbow, after a storm. It gave me an anticipated feeling, but not in a nerve-wracking way.
I watched as his lanky body reclined back on my bed. He rubbed his temples with his muscular hands. Peter had an oddly shaped body, in a good way. He was quite tall, but he did have muscles (From what I could see through his usual three layers of clothes he wore). But it also wasn't an overly-muscled body like some guy who appeared to go to the gym too much. It was a perfectly sized body.
I watched as he ran a hand through his hair, and an overwhelming fluttering feeling radiated throughout me.
He peered up at me and for a second, and I almost wanted to avoid contact, although I always anticipated seeing his big doe brown eyes. I just felt nervous around him as of lately.
Maybe his geekiness was rubbing off on me. I smiled to myself at my own comment.
"So," He started, looking over to me with a devilish smile, "An adventure."
"Guess what happened the other day."
"What?" Peter questioned, looking up to me as we walked along the busy New York sidewalk.
"Spider-man walked me home." I announced, waiting for the excitement on his face.
Instead, a sly smirk spread across his lips. "Did he now?"
"Mhm." I nodded, putting my hands in my pocket. "It was pretty frickin' awesome."
"I bet."
"He even gave me a nick name." I continued, intrigued by Peter's reactions.
"Oh really?"
"Yep" I said, popping the letter p. "'Blondie' Although I'm sure he calls every other blonde girl he walks home that too."
"I'm not so sure about that." Peter said, raising his head to peer up at me.
"Oh? You think not?"
He shrugged, staring back at the sidewalk.
"You seem to know a lot about Spider-man."
Once again, his shoulders fell back into a slight shrug. "Just interested in irradiated spider's empowering one with arachnid proportional strength and agility."
"Of course you are." I said, licking my lips. "So what are we doing?"
"I don't know. It was your idea to go an adventure." He ran a hand through his messy hair. "Hey your eye is getting better."
"Yeah I — I guess." I raised my hand to my face, running my fingertips over the bruised skin. "So is your 'rash'" I said, finger quoting the words.
He just smirked.
We turned down an alley, taking a short cut to wherever we were going, and then we made it onto another main street. The large Oscorp building towered in front of us. I paused for a second, taking in its extravagance. Peter stood beside me watching as I gawked at the building.
I remembered going in there with my dad as a young kid, watching him study his small biology labs. This building was unbelievable. "My dad used to work there." I stated to Peter.
"Mine too." He surprised me.
"Really?" My gaze was averted from the building and now towards Peter.
He nodded. I adjusted myself so I could eyes with Peter. I felt we were close enough to ask questions about each other but I was still kind of hesitant to. "Peter, what happened to your father?"
He blinked a few times, his expression un readable, and then looked down to his hands, lacing and unlacing them.
I felt a pang in my change, instantly regretting asking him. I decided to open up, to tell him something not many people knew about me.
I felt myself doing the same thing as Peter, feeling nervous and also sad. "My sister died when I was seven." From my peripheral, I saw Peter raise his head. "When she was four we, uh," I gulped, preparing myself for the wave of emotions that were about to flood through me. "We took a road trip down to Rhode Island for a few days and on the way back we got T-boned by a semi-truck." I felt my eyes well up with tears, but I tried to push them back for the sake of Peter being there.
"It's okay," He said, repeating the words I said to him when he talked about Gwen. He was telling me it was okay to be sad, and that he was there for me.
A stray tear fell down the left side of my cheek, and he caught it with his thumb.
I glanced up at him, then back down at my feet as he retrieved his hand back. "She was dead instantly. No suffering, I guess that's good. You know they say the safest seat in a car is behind the driver? I wish she sat there and not I." Another tear fell, and Peter didn't catch it this time, because they kept coming now. Like a sink faucet.
I felt Peter pulled me closer to him and the strength of his arms locked around me, trapping me in his never ending warmth. "It's okay," He repeated, whispering in my ear.
I awkwardly placed my arms around him now, not wanting him to let go. I knew if I didn't, he might stop hugging me. I felt the warm breath coming off of his lips tickle my shoulder.
I didn't want this hug to end, I really didn't. Peter was the first person, beside Sam, who I had opened up to about my sister, Jess. I trusted Peter, probably more then I trusted anyone, and to have him be there for me was a remarkable feeling.
"My parent's passed away when I was seven. They left to go on a private flight and died overseas."
I didn't say anything, just tightened my arms around him even more.
We went home after that, taking a cab. We didn't feel like walking. When we got to my house at elevn I offered him a drink.
"No thanks," He shook his head at the glass of milk I held out to him.
I nodded and sat on the couch.
He was watching television, listening to a segment about Spider-man's latest adventures. I walked over to a frame that was on the wall opposite from us, then walked back to him, sitting on the couch. I pulled my feet up to my chest and wrapped an arm around them, handing the frame to him.
"This was her."
He took the frame, smiling at it. In the photo, Jess was playing in our old house, in the sandbox in the backyard. She loved that sand box, although it always smelt like cat piss.
"She's so cute." He smiled, putting the frame on the coffee table.
I nodded, yawning.
My eyelids fluttered a few times, and I struggled to keep them open. I looked over to Peter, who was still intently watching the television, and then I let my body relax. I felt my consciousness ebbing away, and then everything finally went dark.
The infamous Spider-man theme sing rang through my ears. It took me a few minutes to realize it wasn't a dream. My eyes shot open in an instant. My head was on Peter's shoulder, in the crook of his shoulder and his head.
When he woke up, he gently pushed me off of him, like he always did whenever he noticed the slightest affection.
"Shit." He breathed, staring at his phone. "Shit!" He lifted the phone to his ear, "Hello?"
I couldn't hear the voice clearly on the other line but I could tell it was a woman's voice, May's probably, and she didn't sound happy.
"I know, I'm sorry." He paused, "We fell asleep, and— I know. Yes. Okay I'm on my way home now." He licked his lips, "Aunt May, I'll be fine. I've walked home this late before. Okay. Love you too, bye."
He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes darted back and forth. "I— what time is it?"
I looked down to my phone, "2:00 am." Holy…
"I have to go, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you like that—uh, I should go." He was making this way more awkwarder then it needed to be…
"Um, okay. I mean, I would drive you home, but looks like my roommate is... Uh… usually this is the part where I say some witty euphemism for sex but I'm too tired to think."
He just smiled, forcing his feet into his shoes, almost toppling over. "See you tomorrow?" I was taken aback about his forwardness of asking me to hang out again.
I nodded, over exuberantly. "I work till 5,"
"Okay," he unlocked the door, "Goodbye Emily."
The way my name sounded coming out of his lips was like chocolate. Sweet and velvety. It made me all tingly inside.
"Goodbye Parker," I beamed, saying my famous last words to him.
And with that, he threw me his greatest grin, and shut the door.
After chatting to Sam about the previous night, (Which she filled me in about Brandon, the guy she was now seeing), I headed to work.
When I finished at five, I saw Peter through the large glass doors. He waved like a little boy excited to see the girl he has a crush on.
"Hey!" He said, pulling his hood off of his head. His radiant expression made me ecstatic. I was happy to see that he waited outside of work for me. I was always blissful when I saw my best friend. It probably didn't mean anything at all that he took off his hood when he saw me, just a simple movement, but it made me buoyant. It felt like we were getting closer, and he was one step closer to opening himself up to me, instead of shutting everyone out.
When I first saw him, sitting at that coffee table alone a few months ago, I felt pitiful for him, and part of me still felt that way, but now whenever I saw him I couldn't help but smile. He wasn't the same person he was back then. Makes me wonder what he was like when he was with Gwen.
"Hey" I finally replied.
He beamed down at me, and then we started our walk. I don't know where we were going but we would end up somewhere, we always did.
He dropped his skateboard to the floor, and planted his feet on it, rolling on the cement a little faster than I could keep up with.
"How can you ride that thing? It's like a death trap…"
"Oh, come on. It's not that hard." He hopped off of it, pulling the skateboard close to him. "I'll teach you."
"No no no." I held my hands up in defense, "I am not riding that thing."
"Come on!" He pleaded.
"Nuh-uh." I shook my head like a toddler.
He wrapped his arm around my waist. "Come on…"
I jumped at his touch, startled by his gesture. When he realized what he had done, he pulled away. His face was shameful, like it was some crime. I, on the contrary, enjoyed the feeling of his arms around my waist.
"Please, for me?" His eyes widened, and his hands locked together.
I rolled my eyes imperturbably and chuckled a little. My laugh faded, and I looked into his eyes again, feeling them lock right with mine. I just stared into them, not wanting this connection to break. "Peter Parker…" I breathed.
He cocked his head curiously.
"The effect you have on me and my decisions is kind of insane."
He smiled in triumph, "So is that a yes?"
"I suppose."
"I always win!" He cheered, towing me down the street.
When we made it to the skate park, not too far from his house, he showed off some tricks, and then asked me to try.
My eyes widened, "What? No."
"I'll help you. I'll teach you. You'll be fine, trust me."
"I don't want to fall…"
"I won't let you fall, I promise."
"I'm going to fall."
"No you won't!" He chuckled. "I'll catch you, I promise."
"Promise?"
He nodded, "I promise, Emily."
I gnawed on my lip, and then decided I would go for it. What's the worst that could happen? I nodded, and Peter's face lit up.
"Okay." Peter put one hand on my hip. I looked up at him, and he just stared at me bug-eyed. "S-So you're going to place one foot on the board." I hesitated, but did so. "Now put the other foot on. I'll hold you, don't worry." He placed his other hand on my hip, and then I planted my other foot on the board. "See? You're fine."
I wobbled a bit, but somewhat had my balance. "Now I'm just going to gently take my hand off of your—"
"No!" I yelled objectively. "No don't let go." I lost my balance for a few seconds and grabbed Peter's forearms. "Please…" I was way too scared to fall. I clutched on to his arms as tight as I possibly could, and I could feel the strong muscles he was working to keep me up.
"You're doing great," He reassured with a smile, "How about I hold you and we move a little bit?"
"L-Like actually skate?"
"Like actually skate." He chuckled.
I gulped and leisurely nodded.
"Its flat pavement, don't worry." He laughed.
"Why are you enjoying this so much?" I said harshly.
He just gave me a wide, humorous, grin.
He slowly pushed me down the pavement, and I continued to clutch his forearms. I tried to wobble back and forth, keeping my balance, failed miserably. Eventually, ten minutes or so later, I got the hang of balancing while holding Peter.
I smiled every now and again. It wasn't so bad… I just hated falling.
"See you got it!" He yelled from quite a distance away. That was when it hit me… He let go of me… I felt like a little kid learning to ride a bike and their father had just let them go. Panicked waved over me and I tried to balance myself but I wobbled. I was heading further down the pavement, heading straight for a pole used to do tricks on.
"Oh no…" I breathed, bracing myself for the impact. Peter never taught me how to turn. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see the disaster take place. When I reopened them, not feeling the impact when I should have, I was met with Peter's lovable brown eyes. He just laughed down at me.
I was in his arms, I was okay.
Once I gathered myself up, I stood upright and lightly slapped him on the shoulder. "You let go of me you ass butt!"
"Ass butt?" He chuckled, turning into a fit of laughter, "I was just trying to help, and look; you did great!"
"Yeah until the part where I almost hit a pole and died."
"Oh stop being so melodramatic!" He chuckled.
"Then stop enjoying this so much," I folded my arms over my chest.
The laughter didn't stop. He just continued in his fit of giggles, and I couldn't help but join in after a while. When my laugh faded, I wiped the tip of my nose, a smile on my face.
Peter, in an instant, yielded his laughter, but a smile was still spread across his face.
"What?" I asked, wiping the tip of my nose again.
"Nothing," He shook his head, staring at his feet with a smile. "That thing you just did with your nose, it was uh…" He looked back up at me, "It was cute," he finished, smiling smugly.
I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as he said that. "Thanks?" I said, almost questioningly, trying to hide my blush.
"I— uh," He rubbed the nape of his neck. "Guess what happened?"
My phone ringing interrupted his words. I held up a finger, and pulled the phone up to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Emily, it's Mom. Where are you? We've called you a million times!"
"What? I'm out with a friend. You're in England right now, why do you care?" I replied, scratching my head in confusion.
Peter cocked his head, narrowing his eyes.
"Didn't you get our letter? We're visiting for the night before we go to Florida—"
"Mom! No one sends letters anymore. Why didn't you call me or text me?"
"I emailed you…" She explained in her soft melodious voice. I admit, it was nice to hear her voice, but I couldn't believe she was at my apartment right now!
"Mom…"
"No one emails anymore either?"
"Not really…"
"Either way, we're waiting outside to be buzzed in."
"Umm…" I looked to Peter, who looked more confused than I did, and then looked back down at my feet, pressing a finger to my ear to drown out the other noise. "I'll be there in ten, okay?"
"Okay," she replied. "Love you," I heard her and my dad say in the background.
"Love you too." I responded, hanging up. I shoved my phone in my pocket and turned to a bewildered Peter, supposedly expecting an explanation. "Okay, so my parents decided to spontaneously show up for dinner because they're here for a night until they leave for Florida. I have to go."
"Oh," Peter said, a little stunned by the words I just spat at him, "Okay, that's fine. I'll just go." He pointed in the direction of his house.
"No! Come with me."
He abruptly had bug eyes and he looked anxious. "Umm…"
I didn't have time to waste and I wasn't going to let Peter say no. Instead, I just grabbed his wrist, "You're coming, let's go." I dictated.
"Yes, boss." He replied.
I elbowed him in the rib, ignoring his small "ow," and waved to the nearest taxi.
When we arrived at my apartment I was surprised to see no one standing there. Was this some kind of joke? I let myself in and walked to the 8th floor.
When I unlocked the door, I was even more staggered when I saw my parents sitting in my living room, two giant suitcases and two small carry-on's parked beside them.
My mother jumped up from my infamous L-shaped couch and immediately forced me into a hug. I felt her warm breath on my neck. "I missed you." She muttered into my hair.
I giggled, releasing her, "I missed you too mom. How did you guys get in?"
"Sam came home before leaving to the movies."
"Oh," After giving my dad a big bear hug, which I had to stand on my tiptoes for, I introduced the new stranger in the room.
Peter nervously fiddled with his hands.
"Mom, Dad, this is Peter. Peter Parker."
"U-Uh hello Mr. and Mrs. Taylor."
Knowing my mom, she pulled him into a hug, rather than going for a handshake. "It's lovely to meet you Peter!" She grinned.
"You as well." He smiled shyly.
He held out a shaky hand to my father.
After running a hand through his brownish-grayish hair, my dad shook Peter's hand, who politely held it out to introduce himself. "So Parker, as in Richard Parker?"
Peter tensed up and his attention was completely on my father. "Yes. My father. You knew him?"
My father and I nodded. "Of course I did. Richard and I worked together quite often, as well as Dr. Hendrix. We worked with cross species genetics a little bit. That was his focus, right?"
Peter eagerly nodded, "Yes, specifically cross-species spiders."
"Right, right. He worked with Curt Connors quite a bit."
Peter nodded.
"I'm glad Connors is in prison now."
"Me too," Peter responded, referring to the lizard incident that happened a while back. Dr. Connors had a mishap with cross-species lizards. He created a formula to re-grown an arm he lost. When he injected it like a flu shot, it didn't just re grow his arm, he literally turned into a giant lizard. I wasn't too involved in it but I heard about it all over the news.
"Thank God for Spider-man," I concluded, walking to the kitchen table.
A/N: Sorry its been a little while I went away for a week and I'm going away next week too! I hope you enjoy this chapter! It mostly focuses on their relationship progressing but I promise the plot line will appear in the next chapter or two. THanks for reading :) Thanks for the reviews too!