You really had no idea how Spider-Man did it. How could he walk around in his civilian life, bursting at the seams with the secret of his powers, and not tell anybody? How could he stay up half the night roaming the streets of Queens and keeping them safe? How did he balance his hero responsibilities with those of a typical teenager? You were sure that, if the radioactive spider had bitten you, you would not have been able to handle it like Spider-Man did.
You felt the change immediately when you woke up the morning after your night with Spider-Man. After crossing all those lines that the two of you had so carefully left uncrossed for months, you had stayed up almost all night, just talking (and also kissing a little bit? But really, could anyone blame you? He was a super hero). Once Spider-Man had left around four am, you had had less than two hours of sleep once your alarm rang at six. And by the time you made it to school, you had felt like death warmed over. That day had been a groggy fog of trying to stay awake and coherent until school was over, and you were tucked away in your cozy bed.
And the thing was, the tiredness was the least of your worries. You had kissed Spider-Man. You had kissed Spider-Man. Not only that, but Spider-Man had kissed you back. And not only that, but Spider-Man was your boyfriend. As in, someone that you could keep kissing, whenever you wanted to—as long as whenever was between the hours of midnight and three am. All the secret meetings were exciting, sure, but bottling it up was starting to get to you. Your friends had begun to notice that something was up with you, and they were beginning to ask questions.
“Seriously, Y/N, what is going on with you lately?” Alex had questioned in chemistry a few weeks into the affair. “Is something bothering you?”
“Hm?” You raised your head from your table, blinking groggily at your friend. “What was that?”
“Wake up!” Alex was twisted around uncomfortably in her chair, yet still managed to aim a kick at your leg under your table. “Are you sleeping okay?”
“I’m sleeping fine,” You yawned, stretching a hand into the air. “I’ve just been busy with school and stuff, and it’s tiring me out.”
“Oh, come on,” Alex rolled her eyes. “Are you really blaming this on academic decathlon? Peter’s in it too, and even with his Stark internship as well, he’s not as tired as you.” Alex glanced at the door. “Speak of the devil—”
Peter had walked over to your table, taking his seat down next to you. “Pardon?”
“Peter, you’re a busy guy, right?” Alex raised an eyebrow.
“I, uh, I guess so, yeah,” Peter shrugged, laying al his books on the table and pulling out his chemistry notes.
“Yet even you’re more awake than Y/N,” Alex pointed to you. “Which leads me to believe that Y/N must have something else filling up her time, besides what she says. What do you think, Peter?”
Peter glanced at you, blushed, and then moved his gaze back down to his notes. “I, um, I wouldn’t know, really. Who—I mean what! What Y/N does at night is—is completely her business.”
“Thank you, Peter,” You had nodded towards the boy then looked back at your friend. “Why can’t you be as nice as him?”
“Character flaw, I guess?” Alex had shrugged and turned back around to face the front as your teacher called the class to order.
You knew that there was no chance of being able to tell Alex the reason you were so tired. You knew that you couldn’t tell anyone. And you didn’t want to tell anyone. Or at least…you didn’t want to tell just anyone.
