Series of X-Reader One-shots

Not My Boyfriend || TASM Peter Parker

"Peter hasn't been a very good boyfriend lately, has he?"

Your classmate's sudden question makes you raise an eyebrow. You weren't even sure if she was talking to you until glancing up to find her leaned back in her chair, body twisted just enough to gaze at you with a look of pity.

"My friends and I overheard the two of you arguing in the hall yesterday. We didn't want to think much of it, but then we noticed you weren't sitting together at lunch today. Don't tell me you two broke up. You and Parker are, like, the biggest lovebirds at Midtown. If you can't make it, then that means everyone else's relationships are doomed to end, too."

"Oh, no. We didn't break up, it's just..." you stop yourself mid sentence, eyes falling to your open textbook shamefully. It's not like you can honestly tell her she's using an empty lure. You and Peter had gotten into a fight yesterday which set a bitter atmosphere between the two of you, but you wouldn't go as far as to say he's a bad boyfriend; just a normal scatterbrained teenager who can be a bit infuriating at times, that's all.

"What happened then?"

Playing with the eraser on your pencil, you give a shrug, deciding to humor Zosia's questions. While your relationship is ultimately none of her business, her random curiosity towards your life has managed to hook your interest.

"...We were supposed to have a study date the night before, but he was a no-show and didn't answer any of my texts until after I had gone to sleep."

Giving it some thought, you begin to regret the tone you had used with Peter yesterday. Of course, he had apologized profoundly the second he saw you that morning, promising to make it up to you in some way. Despite understanding how truly busy he's been and instead of communicating that sting of hurt you had felt by waiting for him for hours that night, you sighed in annoyance and brushed off his offer to study later. One thing led to another with the conversation then escalating into an avoidable argument.

With this new perspective in mind, you decide to add more to yourself than Zosia," I'm going to talk things out with him later and apologize."

"Why would you apologize? Boyfriends aren't supposed to avoid spending time with their significant others. If I were you, I'd be demanding that he make more time for me, not apologize for being the one who's been abandoned. I refuse to believe Parker's stretched that thin that he can't spend at least a little of his day with you. If that's the case, then he should choose which is more important to him: you or work. You're cool; too cool to deal with Parker's bullshit."

"T...Thanks, but it really isn't that big of a deal. Besides, I could never ask Peter to choose between me and his job. It means too much to him."

Your words are true. While it does get difficult knowing the danger the person you love is put in for 'work' and you hate to see how tired he is at the end of each day, you could never be selfish enough to make him choose between two things that make him happy. Of course, you know by just witnessing Zosia's treatment of her own boyfriends that she could never understand the fact that neither partner's feelings come before the other's.

On cue, the bell rings which acts as your saving grace to exit the situation. Quickly gathering your belongings, you hurry to your next period with a new desire to see Peter in chemistry where you're true to your word about properly talking things over with him. After both apologizing and setting up a new date to study (one Peter swears on Aunt May to attend), the two of you end up walking out of class hand-in-hand once again with smiles upon your faces.

While you wouldn't expect someone who has a new boyfriend nearly every month like Zosia to understand, Peter is an amazing boyfriend who does everything in his power to be there for you even on top of all the craziness in his life. He handpicks flowers on the way to school to give to you, visits with you on your windowsill during low points in crime, and even sends you pictures of cute elderly couples watching ducks at the pond together with promises that that'll be you two one day.