Chapter Text
Dusk was falling over the city, people bustled out of buildings and traffic was heavy as it was prime commute hours. It had been a long day and all you wanted to do was go home. It had been another rough day at the Bugle with Jameson yelling at you about your, “total lack of respect” for the bugle. What could you say, you truly hated that job! You sat in your car with your fingers pressed to your temples, obviously irritated.
“Can this damn traffic let up already?” You mumbled to yourself. You swore you’d been stuck on this bridge for half an hour already and you had homework that was due tomorrow.
You could hear the honking from far ahead of you and that only heightened your annoyance. What was honking going to do? It certainly wouldn’t fix the problem. Your eyes narrowed when you swore you could feel your car begin to rattle, leaning your head against the headrest. You could only hope you could get this hunk of junk back home.
The rattle became a hard shake and you lifted your head, “what the—“ your eyes widened when you noticed a burly figure plowing through traffic, “o-oh my god!” You gasped when you saw a slimmer figure swing onto the large horned beast.
You reached down and fiddled with your seatbelt— it was stuck! “Not this shit, please not right now!” You looked up and watched the red and blue clad man swing around in attempts to web up the rhino. Your eyes widened when he snapped out of the webbing and managed to knock the friendly neighborhood hero feet away.
“Spider-man!” You could hear people yelling as they got out of their cars and ran. You, however, were still stuck in your belt. You reached for your glove compartment as you always kept a knife that had a window breaker and a belt cutter as specs. You heard loud and fast steps and when you looked up, you realized it was too late.
With one massive push by the Rhino, your car was in the air. You sucked in a gasp of breath and your scream caught in your throat as you watched your surroundings flip around you. You could see the ocean beneath you coming closer and closer and you didn’t want to accept that this is where you would die.
A sharp scream came from you before the car jolted to a stop mid-air. Your hair was frazzled and tears fell from your cheeks as your fingers held onto the steering wheel for dear life. You slowly craned your neck around to look out your back window. The world around you was still spinning. As your vision blurred in and out, you discovered the reason you were propelled in midair.
“Y-You’ve gotta get out of the car!” Spider-man yelled, grunting in discomfort, “I can’t hold this thing forever!” He was hanging over the bars of the bridge holding tightly to the web that was now attached to the trunk of your car.
You stifled a breath and looked down, rubbing the cutter quickly against the fabric of the belt, “c-c’mon, c’mon...!” You whispered. When it cut through you let out a sigh of relief and without thinking you swung your door open.
You felt your car jolt, “whoa whoa whoa whoa!” You could hear the masked man yell as he struggled to hold the car up. Your gaze fell upon the webbing that was plastered across your trunk. If you could just get to your back seat then maybe—
With no time to properly plan the webbing began to stretch, parts of it beginning to tear, “you gotta hurry!” Called the superhero. Your tear-filled eyes flicked over him for a moment before you crawled back into your car.
“Just move slow,” you whispered to yourself as you maneuvered over the center console and slide into the back seat. A shaky breath came from you as you reach for the back door and carefully push it open. This time there was no harsh reaction. You carefully stand outside of the car and grip onto the metal for dear life. Now all you need to do is—
The web tears completely. With no warning, the car dove forward and the sudden thrust knocked you out of it and propelled you into free fall. A loud scream escaped from you as you squeezed your eyes shut, preparing yourself for a bone-crunching splash into the ocean below. Your breath left you in a sharp woosh when you were swooped out of your descent. Instead of feeling the cold water around you, you felt something warm.
You opened your teary eyes to gaze up at your savior, “gotcha!” He said triumphantly. You held onto him tightly as you felt the cold New York wind brush passed your cheeks. He swung you to the end of the bridge and carefully placed you back on your feet. You were speechless, “Uh— Sorry I couldn’t save your car too, Ma’am,” you opened your mouth to speak but were cut off by the screams of other civilians. Spider-man did a double take behind him before looking at you and offering a quick wave, “Gotta go—duty calls!” He turned and busted into a full sprint before leaping into the air and swinging toward danger once again.
“W-wait-!” You stepped forward though you nearly fell, your legs felt like jelly beneath you, “I wanted to thank you....” you mumbled and watched the chaos on the bridge. You turned and made a run for it, your legs trembling with each step.
You couldn’t believe it, you’d just been saved by the spider-man! You almost couldn’t wait to brag to your best friends tomorrow! Your thoughts came to a halt when you realized something. You no longer had a car! Your sprint slowed to a speed walk and your brows furrowed.
“I should call Pete,” you murmured to yourself, it was already getting late and the two of you usually carpooled to campus. You unzipped the pocket of your leather jacket and pulled your phone out, dialing your friend's number.
His answer was almost immediate, “h-hello?” He sounded winded, “Peter? Are you okay?” Worry burned through you, perhaps he was also on the bridge! “U-uh— yeah, yeah! I’m just uh— working out, sorry!”
Your eyes narrowed, though you shrugged it off, “right, um, so like....” you tried to put your thoughts together, “Look it’s too long to explain right now and I’m still shaken up—“ you heard a loud sound from his end, “Peter?”
“Huh-what?” He sounded out of breath. You bit your lip, “Are you sure you’re okay?” His voice grew higher pitched, “what- me- yeah— no— yeah I’m fine! Just uh... just dukin’ it out with a punching bag!”
You sighed, not wanting to pester him with anymore questions, “Right... anyway, I don’t have a car for the time being, I don’t know if you want to just walk together or take a cab—“ you were cut off by him exclaiming, “yeah— yeah we can walk, uh, hey y/n, can we talk about this later I’m kind of tied up right now.”
You briefly sighed and nodded, “yeah, yeah sure, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” You mumbled and without a response, he hung up. You looked at your phone and sighed, what was he up to now? You didn’t want to think he was lying to you but you just worried about him.
The two of you had been friends since high school and he’s the reason you’re so close to Ned and MJ as well. You always worried about him as he was always disappearing out of the blue and coming back so frazzled. You’d never forget the stories Ned told you about how spider-man saved them after the decathlon. You remember asking where Peter was and him going pale in the face and shrugging, quickly changing the subject.
It took about an hour to walk to your apartment building, trudging up the steps and sighing, “home sweet home,” you sighed as you slumped down onto the couch. Your roommates had left a note on the kitchen counter explaining that they’d be out bar hopping this evening. You didn’t mind, you enjoyed the peace and had homework to do anyway.
You trudged into your room and slowly pulled your uniform off, deciding to slip into something far more comfortable. You dipped your head and pulled your hair into a sloppy bun, standing up straight and pulling your laptop from your bed. You heard your phone ding when you made your way back to the couch.
Peter: Hey! Sorry for cutting you off before
You stared at the screen of your phone, unsure of what to say. You didn’t quite mind, but you did worry about him. He had always welcomed you with open arms since you met him in high school. You sighed quietly and picked up the phone, sinking into the couch.
Y/N: It’s okay, how was the workout?
Peter: exhausting, I’m home now
You raised a brow, how was he already home, it’d been like ten minutes and the gym is definitely at least fifteen minutes away.
Y/n: dude, were you like sprinting home when I called you?
You gasped after a few minutes, he’d left you on read! You rolled your eyes and leaned back into the couch and pulling your laptop into your lap.
——————
The vibrate on your phone startled you awake. You looked around and rubbed your eyes. You look down at your phone that was inches away from your thigh and reach for it. It takes you a moment to get used to the light of the screen.
Peter: It’s a long story.
Peter: Did you finish the chem homework?
Peter: My guess is that you fell asleep.
The barrage of texts brought a small smile to your cheeks. You glanced at the time and noticed it was only nine o’ clock. You had done about half of the problems you were assigned, though you knew there was no way you’d be able to finish the other half without help. You already struggled with the class, in fact, you purposely took it with Peter because he was the only one who could ever explain things well enough for you to understand.
Y/N: Hey, are you up?
Peter: yea, what’s up?
Y/N: can you swing by and help me with the homework? Most of it is done but I took an accidental nap. Lol.
Y/N: I’ll treat you to lunch tomorrow.
————
There was a knock not too long later at your door. You hopped up and skipped to the door, swinging it open and smiling ear to ear when you noticed the brunette man before you. “Hey, Pete!” You hummed, moving away to allow him room to walk through the doorway.
“You know the work is due at midnight, right?” You froze and slowly turned your head. He laughed when he saw the dumbfounded expression on your face, “what do you have so far?”
You swallowed hard and reached for your laptop, putting your password in and handing it to him with a hard swallow, “it’s like halfway done,” you looked up at him and watched his brows furrow and his eyes narrow. He looked absolutely focused on double checking her work and it was honestly a cute look. You snapped back to reality when he chuckled, “well, you got two of them right.”
Your heart broke, “two..?” You let out a loud exasperated sigh and slumped back into the couch, “Peter! I’m gonna fail this class, it’s too stressful I don’t know how to do any of this!”
Peter leaned over and set the laptop on the coffee table. “H-hey no listen, I’ll help you!” He looked at you with that warm, dorky smile of his. He must have seen how upset you were by the deep-set frown on your cheeks, he shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “C’mon, when have I let you down?” You looked up at him with a raised brow and you both snickered, “yeah— yeah don’t answer that. Let’s get started on this though.” You couldn’t agree more. You just wanted to get this class over with.
————
Again, you found yourself waking up with a large stretch. All you remembered before falling asleep was pressing the submit button on your class website and rolling over to offer Peter a celebratory high five. You shifted where you laid and sat up slowly, furrowing your brows when you noticed you were in your room. You turned your head and reached for your phone only to find a note on top of it.
Hey, you fell asleep on the floor so I took you to your room. See you in the morning! -P.P.
You couldn’t contain your smile. You brushed a strand of hair away from your face as you shuffled out of bed to get dressed for the day. Peter was definitely a special person to you. He always went above and beyond to help you in day to day tasks. You appreciated him.
A sudden buzz from your phone interrupted your thoughts.
Peter: Did you see the email professor sent?
Your brow raised at his question. The excitement began to stir in the pits of your empty stomach as you flicked out of the messaging app and into your email. You were quick to pump your fist once you read that today's class would be canceled.
Y/N: Now I did! I’m so siked. Finally a day off
Peter: I forgot that we both only have one class on Mondays
Peter: Why don’t we all go hang out? Ned only has class on t/th
You bubble with excitement.
Y/N: I owe you lunch anyways! You get Ned and meet me at my place in an hour!
Peter: roger that
. . .
The time passed quickly thanks to how much time you took to get ready. You applied a full face of makeup and pulled your hair into a high ponytail. It wasn’t every day you got to dress up, so you took the opportunity to do so today.
You posed in front of your body length mirror and smiled, happy with today's look. You donned a floor-length navy blue sundress with your favorite pair of flats as shoes. It was a sunny day out so you were excited to be able to finally wear this. This winter was definitely a harsh one so some sun was much needed.
You scooped up a small black purse and peeked at your phone, seeing a missed call from Peter ten minutes ago. “Oops...” you mumbled to yourself, formulating a text as you began to walk toward the front door.
You opened the door and before you could send your text you bumped into a taller figure. A gentle gasp came from you. Your gaze flickered up to the man before you and you were instantly reassured.
“Pete!” Your smile seemed contagious as he mirrored yours soon after, “sorry i took so long,” you glanced down and back up at him when you noticed his rather stylish outfit, “uh... oh— where’s ned?”
He pulled his hands from his pockets and scratched the back of his head, “It turns out he had to do a group project today, it’s just gonna be us today,” he awkwardly giggled.
You certainly didn’t mind this, after all, he was your closest friend. You shrugged and shut the door behind you, “that’s fine, I have something crazy to tell you anyway!”
You could see his piqued curiosity, “You might not believe me but uh— did you see the whole thing on the news last night about rhino?”
You glanced at him as the two of you headed toward the elevator. You swore you noticed his jaw clench, “uh... yeah I heard about that actually, why w-what happened?” He swallowed hard and pressed the button to call the lift to their floor.
You cleared your throat, “well, I so happened to be there and uh,” you began to fidget with your fingers, “well I don’t exactly have a car now but...” You took a deep breath, “I don’t even care about that right now— Spiderman saved my life, I got flung off the bridge and he came to my rescue.”
“You don’t say?”
“Peter!” You nudged his arm with your elbow, walking into the elevator once the doors opened, “I’m being serious! I could’ve died!”
“Wh- no I didn’t mean it like t-that I’m sorry...” you couldn’t stay mad at him with those puppy eyes.
“It’s fine,” you shrugged and pressed the floor level button, “but anyways, I have to save up for a new car now,” you sighed, “at least I’m alive. If it weren’t for you I’d be pretty screwed too.”
The brunette turned his head to look at you, curious. “What?”
“The homework...?”
“O-oh! R-right the homework!”
You rolled your eyes, “C’mon, you need an energy drink; stat!”
The two of you made your way out of the elevator and out of the apartment complex. You took a deep breath, the warmth was certainly something you needed. The two of you were silent for most of the walk, though that wasn’t anything new. You did tend to get caught up in your surroundings and Peter knew you too well to distract you.
“Are you okay, by the way?”
His question caught you off guard. You glanced up at him with a confused smile, “Hm?” your brow furrowed.
“The whole thing that happened yesterday--”
“Oh--”
“I didn’t mean to make it into a joke earlier. I know your car is gone but are you--”
You nudged him in the side with your elbow, “You’re fine! I’m fine, don’t worry about it, Pete!” He offered a tight smile, it seemed forced. He was always such a worry wart, “Peter don’t look like that, there’s nothing you could’ve done, you were at the gym,” you shrugged, “anyways, I don’t think it would have worked out very well anyways, Spider-man only has two hands so unless he can shoot webs from his feet then uh,” you snickered, “Only one of us would’ve made it out of that, I think we both know who that one would be, too.”
“Now wait a minute--!” the two of you shared a long laugh before he continued, “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
You heard his deep sigh but you decided not to press on. Sometimes you really didn’t know what to say to him to make him feel any better. You always worried about how much he worried about others. You feared it could get him into some serious trouble, but you thought that he was smart enough not to do anything brash.
“Anyway, how about we grab a coffee and some breakfast sandwiches from the cafe and do somethin--”
You were interrupted by a ding coming from Peters phone. You both glanced toward his pocket and you watched as he looked at his phone.
Please don’t cancel, Please don’t bail.
“U-uh- actually,” Great, “A-Aunt May just texted, she’s uh,” he looked back at his phone, “She’s really sick and asked me to get her some medicine,” he shoved his phone back into his pocket, “Can we uh...rain check?” he looked at you with his brows upturned, a sad look in his eyes.
You couldn’t stand him and that damn puppy face, “You’re too sweet, Pete,” you shrugged, “Go, your Aunt needs you. We can do something later. I should probably get to work on my photography homework anyway.” he offered a small smile in response.
“You’re the best! I’ll text you!” he waved his hand and turned, running into the other direction.
And you simply watched him. Your smile faded and you sighed to yourself. You adored his friendship, but this wasn’t the first time he’s done this. Perhaps Aunt May really was sick, who were you to say? You didn’t want to think he was lying, so you simply left it at that and began the short trek back to your apartment.