The Weight of The World ｡ Peter Parker [1]

25 - Another Superhero

"You and Pete sure do look close these days." Gwen noted one morning as we sat comfortably around Mary Jane's bedroom. It was a Saturday and we had just spent the previous night watching movies and painting our nails. The whole night my mind kept on drifting over to the boy who was across the hall and wondering what he was doing. A number of times I thought about knocking on his front door and seeing if he wanted to join us for a girly night in with popcorn and too much chocolate, but I never did. 

Mary Jane snickered into her hot tea, her red hair messy from sleep. "Really close."

I shook my head at the two of them, pulling a pillow into my lap and trying to hide the burn of blush that tinted my cheeks. The two wildly different girls were watching me closely, trying very hard not to blurt out what was really on their minds. They were my best friends and I usually told them everything but something within me wanted to keep whatever I had with Peter to myself. I wasn't sure what was going on but I wanted it to stay just between us. "We're just...hanging out." I mumbled. It wasn't like I didn't want to tell them that Peter was quickly inching his way into my mind each second we spent together. I did want to tell them that all I wanted to do was see that dorky smile, to feel those butterflies go off in my stomach when his hand brushed my skin. But it felt private and I wanted to hold onto that a little longer. 

Gwen gave me a look. "Hanging out? That's what you're going with?"

Mary Jane continued to beam. "Have you two kissed yet?"

I nervously fiddled with the pillow in my lap, imagining the feeling of his lips pressed to my own. "We have not kissed. We're just--"

"Hanging out?" Gwen offered quickly. 

I tried not to smile. "We're just seeing where things go." It was the complete truth. I didn't know what was going on between myself and a certain geeky boy, all I knew was there was a warm rush of feelings that swarmed my chest when he smiled or lamely tucked some of my hair behind my ears. 

"I think it's a nice idea," Mary Jane said, pulling her knees to her chest and threading her arms around her legs. In the morning sunlight flooding through her window she looked younger, a splash of freckles crossing the bridge of her nose. "Not rushing into things, just letting fate guide you. It's almost romantic, just waiting."

Gwen rolled her eyes at her, always one to jump before looking. "Romance doesn't need to be slow, it just has to be passionate." For weeks and weeks we had heard all about her blooming romance with Flash Thompson, always gushing on about how sweet he actually was. I had never seen it actually, not until that day he had apologised to Peter about everything. He had been so honest, something I had never seen before. It had been in his voice, a soft quiet way which he had been truthful. In that short moment, the flash in his eyes had changed and something else had shined through. Now, when Gwen spoke about him, I didn't want to roll my eyes and cover my ears. 

"Let's not talk about this," I suggested. It was too early in the morning for such conversations about romance, love and boys. I hadn't even had my daily dose of tea yet. 

Mary Jane gave a nod of her head. "Okay." I had a slight feeling she was almost too happy to steer the conversation away from the current topic and I couldn't help but wonder what was actually happening between herself and Harry. 

"You two are boring," Gwen blew some air from her cheeks and pulled the blanket up to her waist, resting back against a stack of pillows. "Wait, I have a new topic."

"What?" We both chimed in.

Gwen gave us a daring smile. "The new superhero gracing our city."

Mary Jane was already shaking her head lightly. "Really? Again with the superhero stuff? Don't we hear enough about this--"

"Hey! I think it's important to know about which heroes happen to live in our city." Gwen started, ignoring Mary Jane's quick response. "You never know when he might just swoop in and save the day."

Mary Jane gave her a pointed look. "You're just overly interested in him because you think he's got a nice ass in that skin tight suit."

I couldn't help but laugh, a bubble escaping my mouth as I grinned at the two girls. For weeks New York City had been graced with a masked man in blue and red, swinging from some sort of webbing and stringing up criminals for the police. He was becoming quite the household name, leaving a little message behind. Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

Spider-Man. It seemed like a fitting hero name since he swung from webbing. "Guys, please." I started, settling the discussion. "We've seen heroes for years. With Tony Stark coming out as Iron Man and then forming The Avengers and whatnot. Spider-Man is just another superhero, nothing more and nothing less."

Gwen gave me a pout. "Flo, will you promise me something?" 

I nodded. "Anything."

"When Spider-Man happens to save your life, please remember this conversation and know you stand corrected."

The thought was laughable and very questionable but I gave her a quick grin, crossing my heart with my finger and promising her that if I was to ever be saved by Spider-Man, that I would in fact stand corrected and know that this red and blue hero wasn't just another superhero. 

Little did I know that he would become more than just another superhero.

That he would be the boy to save my life. Again. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

ohmygosh I'm sorry. That was icky and I didn't really like it. I had a little more planned for the chapter but I figured I would leave it for the next update, which will be far more action packed. I'm really sleepy right now, so please forgive the grammar and whatnot. Guess who we finally meet in the next chapter? Maybe a certain hero dressed in blue and red? Has a weird connection to spiders? Aye, how exciting. Anyway, thank you for the patience and support. I am really appreciative, know that. A massive thanks to those who were very kind in voting and nominating me for the Marvel fanfiction awards too, we did it, I won! 

-tinkertaydust xo