The Weight of The World ｡ Peter Parker [1]

24 - Just Two Kids

"I've never actually been in your room," Peter was facing away from me, staring at the large range of photos pinned to my mirror. Photos from my childhood smiled across at him, ones with Gwen and Mary Jane, others with my parents. Some were from school formals and others were trips to Disney World when I was a little kid. There was only one photo of Colton and that was framed on my desk. I had invited Peter in without a second thought and because I studied in my room, it didn't seem like such a noted thing to study in my room together. It hadn't seemed like such a big deal, that was until he was actually standing in my room, seeing the very image of my private life in full display. I was suddenly nervous about the pink sheets on my bed and the ugly nail polish stain on my cream carpet. Suddenly, it was like everything that made my room my own personal haven seemed exposed and I wasn't sure how I really felt about that.

I shuffled on my feet, trying my hardest not to throw my few teddy bears that sat on my reading chair out the window, worried he might find it too girly. "It's a little messy, a little girly--" I started quickly, trying to find some excuse for the overwhelming colours of pink and purple.

Peter turned back to me, offering me that smile that actually made my stomach flip. "I like it, honestly."

"Yeah?" I couldn't hide the surprise in my voice, even if I tried. Peter nodded, dropping his bag to the floor and reaching for his textbooks. "You don't even mind the teddy bears?"

He grinned suddenly, big and full of lightness. "I like the idea of you still having your teddy bears. Something about innocence never dies and all."

I liked how those words fell from his lips, something that was honestly just the truth, actually warmed my heart. Peter Parker was not wrong, innocence never really died, not matter how old we grew. I stood in my little room, the afternoon light pouring in from my balcony doors and reality hit me. We were just kids. Two kids trying to find something in a world that had gotten incredibly crazy in the last few years. Iron Man had been around for years now and the new idea of there being other worlds with Gods and how everyone wanted to be a superhero had been filling up the news nearly everyday. The world was spinning and it wouldn't stop but in that very moment, it was just us. Two kids with matching smiles and butterflies in their stomachs.

"Do you mind?" Peter said slowly, pointing over at the bed. I shook my head, words not finding any meaning on my lips. I watched as he lowered himself to my bed, spreading his textbooks and our assignment around him. He looked so calm sitting there, glancing down at his notes, his teeth brushing his bottom lip as he read. I tried hiding the questions that formed in my head once again, wanting to see those bruises that I knew sat on his skin.

But I didn't question it. I just toed out of my shoes and joined him on my bed, my heart racing in my chest. I crossed my legs, reaching over to grab a textbook he wasn't using when he looked up, a pen nested between his lips now. "Have you started section three yet?"

"No, I thought we could go over that before next week's lab class." I started quickly, flipping through the textbook and stopping at the correct page.

Peter tilted his head, giving me a quick grin. "You wanted to do it together?"

With the way he was looking across at me, I was already smiling a like big idiot. "Well, we are partners." I started, curling some hair behind my ear and shifting on my bed slightly. Without even knowing it I had inched closer to Peter, our knees almost touching. "And partners tend to do things together."

A little laugh escaped his lips and he nodded quickly, his eyes dropping to his hands for only a second. When his eyes met my own again they were full of that familiar lightness. I was smiling, maybe too big and goofy but I didn't mind. Peter shifted forward, his finger poking my cheek very lightly.

I swatted away his finger playfully. "You just poked my cheek. Why?"

Peter only continued to grin. "When you smile like that, you get dimples."

"What?" I gasped, touching my cheeks. "I do not."

Peter was nodding furiously. "Yes, yes you do. It's cute, don't worry."

The heat in my cheeks flared and suddenly I couldn't stop smiling. "It's cute, huh?"

It was Peter's turn to grow quite, dropping his eyes to his hands that rested in his lap again. The spoken words on my porch kept flooding through my mind and suddenly I wondered if he was thinking about them too. It had been him that had spoken about our perfect moment. The moment when things would fall into place and we might get our moment to become something else. It had been a whispered string of words and at the time, it had been romantic and dreamy and well, perfect. Those words made my stomach flip and flop just thinking about them.

"Really cute," Peter muttered out. "Well, pretty too."

I laughed, swaying back against my pillows. "You really love throwing around those compliments, huh?"

Peter shrugged, "Don't pretend you don't enjoy them."

"I do," I replied quietly. "I also enjoy watching you stumble over your own words. I also enjoy how you can't say the word pretty and cute without sounding like a total dork."

He tossed his pen across at me playfully. "That's it, the partnership is over."

I faked a gasp. "You're breaking up with me?"

"Yes," Peter gave me a determined look, snapping his textbook shut. "Wait, no. I mean, I wouldn't break up with you. I could never."

The light hearted moment had suddenly taken a sharp turn, everything growing quiet around us. I wasn't even sure he had meant to say those words out loud but now he couldn't take them back. "Uh, well...good." I mumbled out.

Peter rested back on his hands, giving me a nod. "Well, we should start the next section..."

"Okay, yeah." I grabbed my notebook from my nightstand and wondering if the hammering in my chest would ever fade when I was around Peter Parker.