Youth ➳ Peter Parker

[06] crushes

SPIDER-MAN STUMBLED BACK a step, staring at Maggie through his mask; she could tell he was all but shocked. The boy hero quickly recovered himself, standing up straight and puffing out his chest a bit. "What?" He replied, but his reply was all too late, and the feigned confusion was fake enough that Maggie knew her guess had been correct.

"Peter Parker, I know that's you. I recognize your voice. You're about the same height as Peter too, and-" She stopped herself before talking about how they were both muscular. Taking a step towards him, over her two attackers, she planted her hands on her hips, glaring at the masked teenager.

Spider-Man placed his hand over his face for a moment, rubbing his temple, and then the back of his neck, seeming shy, not knowing what to do. "Come with me." Was all the boy said as he started walking in the opposite direction, and Maggie had to practically sprint to catch up with his long strides. "Where are we going?" She asked breathlessly, struggling to keep up, thinking to herself about how frustratingly out of shape she was.

The hero said nothing in return, just kept walking until they reached a seemingly abandoned warehouse. The building loomed over the two, ominous in the dark grittiness of a random street in Queens. Pushing a door open that she hadn't noticed before, he walked through, disappearing into the darkness, leaving Maggie to hastily follow him, not wanting to be by herself in the darkness.

The door slammed behind her, and she whipped around, staring at the closed door. "HEY, PETE-" Maggie began to yell, but was cut off by a hand slipping its way over her mouth and cutting off her words. "Shut up, do you want people to know who I am?"

He's going to hurt you. You two are alone here, you barely know him, he's crazy, he thinks he's a superhero. He thinks he's Spider-Man. He's not really the hero you see on the TV. He's just some weird fan, Maggie, get out of here.

She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing heavily, angry at the voices for coming back at the most inconvenient time possible. It was only then she realized Peter had her pressed tightly against him, hand still over her mouth, the two teens breathing in sync.

Maggie tried to stop breathing in sync with him, not liking how intimate it felt. She shoved his arms away, turning around to look at him. They stood quietly, staring at each other, only Maggie knew he could see her eyes, and she couldn't see his. The only sound in the room was their breathing, and Maggie took a tentative step forward, reaching out her hand. Her hand met his face, and she fumbled for the opening of his mask.

Finding the slit, she placed both her hands on his face, slipping off his mask, finally seeing his face. Her hands dropped to her side at the sight of Peter's big brown eyes, Maggie still clutching the Spider-Man mask. "Oh my god," Maggie whispered, her eyes widening. She had known from the second Peter had spoken that he was Spider-Man, but hadn't really processed the reality of that until this very moment.

She wanted to faint, to scream, to gasp, to react in any way, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She really wasn't as surprised as she should have been; he'd been silent for months, not talking to anyone but Harry, keeping to himself, not going anywhere after school, going straight home. She'd seen him slip into his apartment, shutting the door softly, always arriving at the same time as Maggie, but never acknowledging her presence.

Peter broke the spell first, opening his mouth and closing it like a fish before saying, "I'm sorry I've been ignoring you." Maggie was surprised these were his first words, and she automatically shrugged. "Um, it's alright, don't-" But she was cut off yet again by Peter, who apparently hadn't finished speaking.

"No, seriously, I am. When you first came into class that day, I was kind of blown away, because you were well, wearing a Red Sox shirt, and I was thinking 'Wow she's got to have some balls to wear that in New York', and then, wait well you don't have balls, but you know what I meant, you're a girl so you don't, um, but yeah, also you were just really pretty and I was confused as to why you were being so cold to me and I got a little insecure but I wasn't about to admit that to anyone, the only reason Harry's been flirting with you is because he knew I liked you, I mean, also because you're pretty, but-"

It was Maggie's turn to slap her hand to his mouth. "Peter, firstly, shut up. Secondly, um, the reason I acted so cold to you... is a long story. Thirdly, um, I like you. Too. Or just, I like you, I don't know if you said you liked me, so. But I do." Her heart was beating at top speed, and her palms sweaty, Maggie unable to make proper eye contact with him.

"I do, Maggie. I like you." The same nervousness was apparent in his voice, and Maggie glanced up. "I guess I get to tell Rachel and Alex that Spider-Man has a crush on me." She teased, unsure of where the sudden confidence had come from, but her smile dropped when something dark flashed across Peter's eyes at the mention of Alex. "What? I was just kidding." She told him, thinking that's why Peter had acquired that look on his face, but realized she was wrong when she heard her name spoken from behind her.

"Maggie? Are you in here?"

It was Alex. He'd followed them here. Maggie glanced at Peter in wild shock, and Peter grabbed her hand, leading her further into the darkness and whispering a "shh" in her ear. "Maggie? Is that you?" The darkness seemed to loom down onto the pair as they stood closer than ever, hiding, trying to hide and hoping and praying Alex wouldn't find them.