Rollercoaster - Peter Parker

22. Death of a Spider

"Thank you, Lion." She watched Caden's lips curl into a smile, the light from the TV illuminating their faces so she saw his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. May grinned, shaking her head as the boys' attention were glued to the movie playing in front of them. "So, what are we watching tonight?"

"Hearts Beat Loud," Peter answered quickly, waving his hand somewhat dismissively as he was smiling at the girl and her father singing.

"We had thought this girl gave off some gay energy, and we were right," Caden explained, his eyes shifting from the screen to meet May's for a split second. "She's getting a girlfriend soon, I think."

"Ah," May mused. She turned towards the screen with a smile, impressed with the scene of the two characters making such quality music from what seems like a spare room with instruments thrown into it.

The movie continued to impress the three of them, and when it - and the entire pizza pie - was finished, Peter and Caden left May to go to Peter's room.

They laid down on Peter's bed, and Peter slid his laptop over to where they rested, opening it. "Do you wanna watch anything, or are you sick of movies?"

Caden turned on his side, propping himself up with an elbow. He leaned over Peter, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. The two smiled as Caden pulled away before the older boy spoke. "As much as I love movies, I'd rather talk."

"Okay..." Peter replied, the dragged out ending of his agreement sounding more like a question.

Caden chuckled, shaking his head at him. "It's nothing bad. It's just that we haven't hung out and just talked in a while, you know?"

Peter gave him a reassured smile, nodding along as Caden spoke. "Yeah, yeah. I understand. I'm sorry for being weird."

"You don't need to apologize," Caden gently told him. He smiled down at Peter, turning back to lay down next to him.

He grabbed Peter's hand, grinning as he twirled the lion bracelet around Peter's wrist. They were both entertained by this for a while, just happy in the happy silence over them.

"Caden?" Peter whispered, watching his boyfriend stop in the middle of tracing the outside of the lion's head.

"Mhm?" Caden hummed, taking the bracelet off of Peter's wrist to jingle it in his hand softly. Peter giggled, shaking his head at the things Caden was so entertained by.

Peter cleared his throat, the smile wiping off of his face as the same concerns involving Flash flooded his mind again unbeknownst to Caden. Still, he tried to be as nonchalant as possible with his question, "Don't you think it's weird that Flash hasn't been at school all week? Or, at least, hasn't been in chem?"

Caden scrunched his brows together, turning to look at Peter. Peter turned his head to face him, his face slowly heating as Caden seemed judgmental in a way.

"I try not to think about him all that much," Caden softly replied, giving him a shrug. "Maybe he has the flu? I heard that's been going around the school."

Peter nodded, smiling more for Caden's benefit than his own. Mentally, he tried to convince himself that Flash did have a stomach bug or some other illness and wasn't out planning to destroy Midtown High for a whole week.

"Is that what you've been worrying about this whole time? Flash?" Caden asked, the serious look on his face fading into a small smile while Peter looked at him, worried.

Caden kissed Peter's forehead with a smile. He grabbed the silver bracelet, fastening it back onto Peter's wrist then took both of Peter's hands in his own. "Everything's okay. Those rules were put down for a reason, he can't get you anymore. And, if he tries, he'll have to get through me first, alright?"