Newspaper scandals + death = your typical blooming romance... right?
Raimiverse!Peter Parker story.
Book [2] of the Paracosm series (but can also be read as a stand-alone).
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⋆ fourteen ⋆
"You're leaning forward too much. Shift a bit backwards."
"I know how to stand on a skateboard, Lils. What I want to do is learn the tricks."
The smile plays on Lily's lips, reaching out for his waist, gently tugging him backwards slightly. "I can't teach you to Ollie till you learn how to stand properly. Bend your knees a little."
She adjusts him a little more, but it's when she doesn't step back that Peter realises, feeling his cheeks heat up a little. "Is this just an excuse for you to put your hands on me?"
"Everything is an excuse to get my hands on you. I expect you to play along."
In that little park they keep a secret from the rest of the world, Lily Osborn holds Peter Parker's hands, gently pulling him along the pavement on her old skateboard fished out from the cupboard. Peter had already expressed his humour, saying that he'd never realised Lily was one of the cool girls.
"I was always a cool girl," she'd joked on the way. "You were just too busy looking at other girls to notice."
While Lily's mind briefly flits back to what Mr Henson said about her wasting time, it disappears almost instantly. If everyone else can have their own lives outside of work and spend time with their families, she can do the same. She's allowed to have fun, too.
The hours pass with laughter and joy, Peter very nearly slipping a few times as Lily tries to teach him some tricks, but just before he falls, she manages to catch him, pulling him closer. The skateboard slides off and crashes into a tree, with the two young adults holding each other, laughing at bumped noses and skinned knees.
Once their legs start hurting, they head over to the swings, gently pushing themselves as they delve deep into conversation. Not about anything in particular, but everything at once; countless meetings, and how Peter is back in Jameson's good graces, and dinner at Aunt May's that weekend. The bakery just waiting to be opened in the abandoned building and how great it would be if pigs could fly (quoted by Lily) and Harry Osborn and what he'd say if he knew they were dating.
"He'd be shocked, that's for sure," Peter comments with a laugh, slyly picking up his camera from by his feet. "I really liked Mary Jane, and you were with Scott. Besides, I don't think you and I would ever have been the poster couple back in high school."
"That's more because we didn't interact in high school. We saw each other occasionally but that's pretty much it."
"Because you were always at those keg-stand parties–"
"Hey!" Lily can't help but laugh. "I told you that in confidence, not so you'd throw it in my face at every– Are you taking pictures of me?"
Peter at least has the decency to look somewhat guilty, pulling the camera down from his face as Lily eyes him speculatively. He pauses, trying to come up with a decent excuse. "You see... as– as a photographer, it's my duty to take a photo whenever–"
