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"No, no way in hell!" Flash shouted down to Nico as he continued to climb the rope. They were in Phys. Ed class, bickering as usual. Flash was attempting to the climb the rope, while Nico sat and watched as he rambled on about his conspiracy theories. He had a doctor's note excusing him from the gym activities, but unfortunately for him he still had to show up to class.
"Look, if the God of Thunder exists and aliens, there is a possibility that Mothman can be real then. It's not that far of a stretch —"
"Boys! Enough. Delmar if you don't stop distracting him you're going up too." Coach Wilson, the gym teacher, said sternly.
Nico stopped and turned his attention towards Coach, "Actually, you can't make me do that."
Coach Wilson sighed, "I know. But please, both of you, just stop fighting."
"We're not fighting, we're having a matured, civilized discussion." Flash yelled down. Coach Wilson waved off the two boys and walked away in what was obvious on his face — annoyance. Nico and Flash exchanged a quick laugh before Flash returned to climbing and Nico continued on his Mothman spiel.
Meanwhile, Peter was subconsciously stealing glances at Nico while Ned held him down as he did situps. Ned was also too busy rambling, and hadn't realized his best friend's attention was focused on another boy across the gymnasium. Peter wasn't processing a word Ned said, he was too busy wondering things about Nico; like what kind of music he liked, what his favourite movie is, what his favourite food is and what he did for fun on Friday nights. But there was one question in particular he wanted to know — what did he think about Spider-Man? Along with, was their hug genuine, or was it just part of the moment and meant nothing? There was something else Peter wanted to know, and it was why did he care so much about what Nico thought?
"Yo, earth to spider? Are you even listening?" Ned asked, immediately snapping Peter out of his thoughts.
"What? Yeah, yeah, I —" Peter mumbled before Ned cut him off.
"So what do you say? Can I be your Guy in the Chair?"
"Ned, I don't need a guy in the chair." Peter answered, as he continued to do situps. The boys' attention quickly turned over to Liz and her friends at the mention of Spider-Man.
"...He fought off four guys!" Liz exclaimed to her friends.
"Oh my gosh she's crushing on Spider-Man." Betty Brant said with a light laugh.
"Kind of..." Liz stated with a shrug.
"You don't even know what he looks like. I mean, what if he's seriously burnt." One of Liz's friends mentioned.
"I wouldn't care, I would love him for the person he is on the inside." Liz replied, earning chuckles from her friends.
"Peter knows Spider-Man." Ned shouted. The entire gymnasium fell silent. Nico turned his gaze towards Peter and Ned, along with everyone else in the room.
"Uh no I don't - I mean —"
Ned interrupted Peter as the two walked over to Liz, "They're friends."
Flash jumped down from the rope and landed with a loud thud, which slightly startled Nico. "Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends." Flash scoffed as he walked over to the group. Nico quickly got off the floor and followed after him, just in case Flash ended up saying something stupid, which he would eventually have to apologize for on his behalf (which was about sixty percent of the time).
"I-I've met him, a couple times, but it's um...through the Stark internship." Peter stammered. "I'm uh, not really supposed to talk about it." he added, turning his head back to glare at Ned.
"Well that's awesome," Flash said, "hey, you know what, maybe you should invite him to Liz's party, right?" he asked, glancing over at Liz.
"Yeah, um, I'm having people over tonight, you're more than welcome to come." Liz responded.
"It's gonna be dope, you should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man." Flash suggested. Peter gulped, not knowing what to say. His eyes eventually landed on Nico, who gave him a sympathetic smile. Nico could tell that he was clearly uncomfortable and there was nothing he could do help him; but he was hoping he'd say yes to the party because he also wanted to meet Spider-Man.
"It's okay, I know Peter's way too busy for parties anyways." Liz said.
"Oh come on, he'll be there. Right, Parker?" Flash asked with a smirk playing on his lips. The bell rang and students began to immediately leave the gym, saving Peter from the uncomfortable situation.
Peter turned to Ned, "What are you doing?!"
"Helping you out," Ned replied, "Did you not hear her? Liz has a crush on you." Peter paused briefly before coming to realization, and before either one of them could say anything else Nico came jogging over.
"Hey!"
A smile instantly formed on Peter's face, seeming as if he just forgot everything that happened two minutes ago. Peter didn't realize his sudden shift in emotions, but Ned did.
"Sorry about Flash, he's annoying as fuck." Nico stated. Peter and Ned laughed in agreement. "So, I uh can't make it over to your house for the project after school because my dad needs to meet with the insurance company and he's refusing to drop me off at your place on the way since its on the other side of town, but, you can come over to my house at around five?" Nico said in one breath, which Peter surprisingly understood without need for clarification.
"Yeah, that's fine." Peter nodded.
Ned awkwardly stood beside Peter as he continued to talk to Nico. The only time Ned could actually remember having a conversation with him was when he asked to borrow a pencil from him almost a month ago. Now finally taking the time to notice Nico, he realized he was just a slightly confident version of pre-radioactive spider bite Peter.
"I'll see you guys tonight hopefully?" Nico asked, snapping Ned out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, we'll uh be there," Peter replied with a smile.
"First we're not going and now we are?" Ned said once Nico left, earning a shrug from Peter as response. He was about to ask about what made him change his mind, but stopped himself from doing so. He already knew, but from Peter's obliviousness, he could tell that he had no clue.
