ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴜɴᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ (peter parker x oc) (g x g)

fifteen

I awoke the next morning to the sound of cluttering. I jerked up, brushing the unkempt hair from my face. "Show yourself!" I demanded at the shadow approaching me, my hands roaming my body for a spare weapon.

Somebody snorted from the dark as they switched on the light. "You know, not everyone is out to get you," Sam muttered, tossing a tray of food on my lap.

I huffed, laying back and plucking my phone from my bedside table. "I don't particularly enjoy strangers lurking in my room," I tapped away a quick message before slipping the device away. "Call me crazy."

Sam narrowed his eyes at me. "Would a stranger take you to get ice cream on your fifteenth birthday? Yeah, I spent twelve dollars on those organic, fruit blended crap and the fact that you don't even appreciate m-"

"You pushed my face into the cone, Wilson," I crossed my arms.

He grinned. "Oh yeah. Hey, we should do it again this year."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you doing here, pigeon?"

Sam scowled momentarily at the nickname. "Vision cooked you breakfast but he's not allowed in the hospital after last time when he-"

"-Tried curing Clint with his mind stone and burned a hole through his hand. Yeah. I remember."

We both chuckled at the memory. "-so I brought it to you and your father wants you down at the lab in an hour to start researching the cure."

I nodded, only half-concentrating on what he was saying. I stared at the plate of eggs and bacon in front of me. "You did something to this, didn't you?"

Sam placed a hand over his heart in defiance. "I would never. In fact, I stopped Vis from using salt in your coffee instead of sugar. You're welcome."

I poked at a piece of bacon. "And then you replaced the sugar with strychnine?"

He frowned. "No! Of course not! I need you to cure Wakanda quickly. I know you'll be of great help."

I tilted my head. "Oh.. well that swee-"

"Man, Wakanda was such a great place to get weaponry from. I was waiting on a new piece for Redwing before this virus."

"And you immediately ruined it."

Sam stuck his tongue out at me. "I gotta go get breakfast together for everyone else. Man, this place would fall apart without me. I'm telling you, nobody would even be able to survive if it wasn't for my .."

His voice faded away as he walked out, continuing his string of self-applauding commentary.

I focused my attention back on the food, weighing the possibility of potential poisoning to my hunger.

"I wouldn't eat that," Natasha strolled in with a small smile.

I grunted. "Learn to knock, people." I placed the tray onto the ground. "Sam did something to it, didn't he."

"Tricked Vis into cooking everything with baby oil," Nat grinned. "So what's up? I got your texts," She pulled out her phone. "'Why is Sam here' ... 'Can you come down to the hospital I need to talk about something'... 'Bring burrito'?"

I raised an eyebrow. "And did you?"

The agent pulled out a wrapped sandwich and tossed it to me.

Natasha closed the door behind her and hopped agilely onto the bed, crossing her legs. "What's going on? We haven't really talked since... everything."

I blushed, fumbling with the burrito wrapper. "You had a... thing with Bruce, right?"

"You.. could say that," Nat frowned.

"And.." I took a deep breath. "How was it, being intimate with someone who thought themselves as a monster?" 

"I.." Natasha studied me for a moment. "It was difficult, I guess. He was never willing to open up to me. And it did eventually cost us our relationship."

My head dropped. "Oh," I mumbled. "I guess his self-image was a problem, huh?"

Nat paused. "Who is this really about?" She asked quietly. "Ah," She smiled when I didn't answer. "The Wakandan Girl."

I gasped audibly, scarlet flush flooding over my cheeks. "What? Tabia? No! I wasn't talking about.. I meant somebody.. somebody for school. Her... His name is.. Be.. His name is Mark!"

Natasha stared down at me knowingly as I continued to ramble. "Tabia is.. she's too pretty. I mean have you noticed how her hair's just perfect all the time. And that irritating way she scrunches her nose when she smiles. I mean, some may say it's adorable, but I think it's ..."

Nat's gaze was becoming increasingly judgemental. I sighed. "Yeah. It's Tabia."

"Well, it's the twenty-first century. Liking a woman has become a lot more accepting," Nat said. "And, generally speaking, women are more capable of communicating, more romantic, better in bed.."

I was nodding along until the last phrase. "Wait what?"

"Don't worry about it," Natasha brushed it off. "There's a couple of things you don't know about me."

I took a moment to process this. "Anyways. I'm not worried because she's a girl."

"Then what is it?"

"Well, I.." I bit my bottom lip, hesitant again. "I've never really felt like this around anyone before and-"

"Hold up," Nat raised a hand. "What about spider-boy."

"Peter? No! He's a friend. We've never thought of each other that way."

"Mhm," She muttered. "So what time are leaving? I could give you a lift."

"Oh, I'm sleeping over. Peter and I thought we could have a slumber party like the old days."

Natasha narrowed her eyes. "What- it isn't like that!" I swore.

"So.. if it isn't spiderling and it isn't because she's a woman.. then what's holding you back?"

"I.. what if I don't deserve it?"

"A relationship?"

"Yeah.. I mean. You said Bruce couldn't open up because he was a monster, right?" I asked quietly.

"Maze," Nat sighed. She reached out and touched my hand. "You and Bruce are completely different people. But you are not a monster any more than he is. In human form, I mean. Can you even imagine that man killing a mosquito?"

"No. But only because I've actually seen him running away from one," I said.

"See. Everyone has a teenage phase. Yes, yours may be less 'listening to rock music and going to parties' and more 'stealing intergalactic objects and giving them away to a celestial being' but you deserve that kind of love."

I pursed my lips.

"Although, you're only seventeen, kid. Steve's over a hundred and man's still single," Natasha added.

I had to smile. "Thanks, Nat. You know, you're kind of my best friend."

"Apart from spider boy?"

"Obviously."

"And you're sure the kid returns these platonic feelings?"

I hesitated. "I mean.. yeah. He's never brought it up before."