Spider-Man Imagines I

Just Friends | Peter Parker [TH] / Ned Leeds

"Yeah?" Peter mocked. He held up his hand and scoffed, "Dude! Who in Midtown is prettier than Liz Allan?"

You shut your book and pushed your tray to the boys, signaling they could have the rest. Ned watched with sad eyes as you got up and walked out of the cafeteria, not saying a word.

"Dude," Ned whispered to Peter.

"What?" Peter asked through a mouthful of sweet potatoes. "What did I say?"

"You hurt her feelings," he said. "She's a girl, man."

"Oh." Peter swallowed. "It's, uh, hard to remember sometimes."

"How?" he asked. "___ is the prettiest girl I know, and you're being a freaking jerk right now-"

"Hold on," Peter said. "Do you like her?"

Ned didn't say anything.

A second later, Peter grinned. "Holy crap. Holy crap! Dude, ask her out! She's so great and you two would-"

"She likes someone else," he interrupted, looking down at his tray.

"Who?" Peter asked, looking around the cafeteria. "Someone in our grade, or-?"

Ned gave him a look, and Peter understood.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh." He rolled his eyes. "It's so easy for you, Peter. And you chase girls like Liz when girls like ___ are right there-"

"Dude," Peter said, shaking his head. "People like different people. I like ___, I think she's great, but Liz..." He smiled. "The way I feel about Liz is the way you feel about ___. There's nothing wrong with not liking someone back. It sucks, but even Liz doesn't like me back. And you might think that ___ doesn't like you back at all, but I'll bet she does. Tell her that you like her, dude. You totally should do it."

"You think?"

Peter nodded. "I wouldn't set you up for failure here, bro," he said.

Ned grinned. "I know. Thanks, Pete."

...

Ned laid on his stomach in bed, his Spanish textbook opened up in front of him. He held his phone to his ear and listened to you read off Spanish vocabulary words.

"Okay," you said, "quiz time."

He groaned. "Can we call it a day?"

"No, Ned," you said, "make a pot of coffee if you're tired. We have a lot of stuff to get through." You breathed heavily. "Okay... let's start with furniture. What's the Spanish word for co-"

"Wait," he said. He was remembering what Peter had said at lunch. "Wait a second."

There was a long pause. Then you said, "Ned? Um... what is it?"

He pressed his lips together. "Can you switch to videochat real quick?"

"Uh, yeah," you said.

"Great. Hang on." He pulled his phone away and hit the word video. He set his phone up against his books and saw you pop up on the screen, hair tied up in a bun, pajamas on. You rubbed your face and smiled.

"What's up?" you asked.

He took a long, deep breath. "I... wanted to ask you something."

"Okay. Shoot," you said. You reached down and pulled out a bag of popcorn. "I'm eating snacks, don't mind me."

He smiled as you shoved a handful of buttery popcorn in your mouth until your cheeks were full.

"Remember when I said I thought you looked pretty today?" he asked. You nodded, picking a kernel off of your blanket. "Well," he said, his mouth dry, "I think you're pretty everyday. And I like you, like, a lot." You choked and dropped your phone. He raised his eyebrows as your phone tipped and he could hear your coughing and just see the posters on your bedroom wall. "___? Are you... are you okay?"

"Fine," you choked.

"You don't- you don't sound fine."

"I'm okay," you said, and you picked up your phone. "I'm fine."

"Before you respond with what I think you're gonna respond with, can I continue?" he asked. You nodded. "I figure I might as well dig my own grave here. Okay. So. ___, I like you a lot. I know I said that already. I think you're great. You're so awesome... and I just- I just need you to know that I want to be more than friends."

You nodded slowly. He paused, biting his lips, feeling sweat on his forehead, mentally cursing himself. Then you smiled.

"Ned, when you said that I looked pretty today, I froze." You laughed lightly. "I thought there was no way you would be saying it to me. Not because you're not nice or anything, but because you were talking to me. I mean, you're, like, my best friend. You have seen me take a nap and drool on myself and eat a bunch of junk with absolutely no shame. And still - and still you think that I am pretty? That's..." You looked down and smiled to yourself. "I like you, too, Ned."

"You do?" he asked.

You nodded. "I do. And if you're asking me to be your girlfriend..."

"I am! I am." He coughed and made his voice deeper. "And I'm totally being cool about this."

You laughed. "Then I'll be your girlfriend," you said.

"Awesome," he breathed. "So, uh. We should probably have our first date, like, today. So I can actually see you in person. Plus I kinda wanna kiss you right now and can't-"

You laughed again. "I can come over and we can study at your place. I'll pick up some snacks?"

"Sure," he said.

You grinned. "I'll get ready and then see you in an hour or so-"

"You don't have to get ready," he said. He shook his head. "Don't. Just come over like that, and we can have a pajama party."

If possible, your smile got bigger. "Ned, you're the flipping best. I'll see you in a few minutes, then." You held your phone and just looked at him for a second.

He smiled. "Okay. See you."

But he didn't want to stop looking at you, either, even if it was just through the tiny screen laying in his palms.