"I'm home!" the smell of cooking wafted through the flat and I took a deep breath as I entered, feeling the cold ebb away as I took off my shoes and hung up my coat.
"Here she is" my nans smiling wrinkly face greeted me when I walked into the kitchen, kissing my cheek affectionately. "how was school?"
"good, good, how was your day?"
"I went to the shop this morning, picked up some of your favourite" I gasped, eyes landing on the bag she had left on the side, and she smiled at my reaction, continuing to stir the pot as I dug through it.
"Kinder!" a stash of kinder chocolate bars made me grin. They were hard to get here, because they were banned for a while, but this one little supermarket down the road still sold them. They were the shit. "thank you" I squealed, wrapping her in a hug from behind, she was quite a bit shorter than me and I had to be gentle.
"Go do your homework, I'll bring this in when it's ready"
God bless this woman, I did as she said, taking the Kinder with me and moving into my room.
I flopped onto my bed with a deep sigh, my body relaxing into sheets as I stared at the ceiling. I had a lot of energy today and I wanted to do something. But I wasn't sure what.
"maybe a bit of drawing?"
Yeah, that didn't do it. I spent an hour pulling my hair out trying to do a sketch, chewing my food unhappily as I frowned.
A: Hey, you up?
I stared at my phone for a second, contemplating deleting the text. I packed away my art stuff in the meantime, putting my hair up when it kept falling in my face.
Hello there...
The voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi made me jump onto my bed, looking at my notification.
Text from Pretty boy.
PB: It's only seven, why wouldn't I be up???
A: alright, you never know. Do you wanna go somewhere? I'm bored ☹
A: no pressure though 😊
P: You want me to pick you up?
A: It's okay, I can meet you at yours.
P: I'll be at yours in ten x bring a coat
A smile grew on my face, and I tried to calm myself.
Relax, it's just a friendly meet up. Act cool.
"where are you going?" Nan asked from her seat on the sofa, watching 'Don't tell the bride'.
"out, me and Peter are going to hang out" I checked my outfit in the mirror as I put my shoes on, fighting the urge to change once again. I had gone for casual, dark blue nike jumper with white joggers and trainers, but this wasn't a date, so it didn't matter.
She hummed approvingly and I rolled my eyes.
"Why don't you bring him back here?"
"because we're going out, maybe next time"
"You should invite him and his Aunt around, I could make lasagna"
"I'll ask him, I'll text you when I'm on my way back, okay?" she nodded, and I cursed before quickly running to my room and spraying some perfume. "mind your language young lady"
"sorry nan, love you!"
"keep each other safe!" I took my keys and shut the door behind me. I hoped he was already downstairs, I always hated being first.
"I thought I said to bring a coat" I jumped at Peter's voice, looking up from my phone to see him already staring at me with a smile. "you're gonna catch a cold"
"I'll live, it's not actually that bad" I reasoned, shoving my phone in my pocket, joining his side as we began walking.
"okay, but don't come crying to me when you get cold"
"whatever you say, child" he didn't like that, nudging his shoulder against mine.
"You're not that much older than me"
"6 months" he frowned, and I grinned "suck it up buttercup"
"That's it I'm going home" he spun on his heel, and I was quick to catch his arm.
"I'm sorry Pete, you know I love you really" I looped my arm through his and he grumbled playfully "you can pretend you're older than me if you want"
We ended up going to a coffee shop not too far away and I had already began regretting not bringing a coat.
"Thanks" Peter wrapped his hands around the hot chocolate as I set it down in front of him, following suite. This was nice, quiet. "why did you want to go out?"
"I had too much energy," I told him "Normally, I get a weird rush at like 2 am but by then it's too dark to do anything. But it's still light now and I thought it would be nice to go for a walk or something. Oh!" I exclaimed as a memory struck me "You know what I saw the other day? This woman was walking across the road, and I shit you not she had the coolest outfit. It was like a yellow coat, orange hair, big thick framed glasses. It was proper cool" I mused to myself before looking back at Peter, who was watching me with a look I couldn't quite place, perhaps amusement? "sorry bit of a tangent there"
"You weren't kidding about having too much energy, huh?" he grinned, and I tutted, taking a sip of my very hot hot chocolate, and immediately hissing as I burnt my tongue. His laughter met my ears as my face grew red.
"shut up"
"I'll get you some more milk" he stole my cup and took it back to the counter before I could say no, and I couldn't help but admire him with a smile. He was too nice. He also smelt great, I wasn't sure what cologne he was using but I couldn't get enough, I hope he didn't notice me sniffing earlier.
"A fresh dose of Oatmilk for you ma'am"
"ma'am" I mimicked in a pretty shitty American accent "such a weird word, thank you" I added as he sat back down opposite me.
"what is it in England? Miss?"
"Or Madam" he hummed, sipping his drink in thought.
"I'm pretty sure that's what JARVIS says"
"well, he is supposed to be British right?"
"yeah, you'll have to come to the tower with me and meet him" he suggested, and I felt my heart jump. The thought of meeting superheroes was a strange one, especially because I knew they were Peter's friends/colleagues? Not too sure what they were to each other, but it was some sort of friendship by the way Pete talked about them.
"yeah maybe"
"why are you nervous? Afraid you'll meet Captain America?" Peter teased and I rolled my eyes.
"how shallow do you think I am? Maybe Spiderman's my favourite hero"
"what?" he asked, his eyes widening slightly, and I chuckled.
"well, he's the only one who wears a mask right? No one knows who he is, therefore, no one has seen his face, he could be hideous" I reasoned "but I'm sure he's lovely, only pretty people hide their face"
"is that so? I'll let him know you think of him so highly" he smirked, and my eyes narrowed at him.
"don't you dare" he shrugged nonchalantly, and I shook my head, gasping as I spotted something in the reflection of the wall mirror, spinning around in my seat as Peter asked what I'd seen.
"oh my god!" I shot up from my seat and he was quick to follow me out the door. It was a parade of people dressed in those inflatable dinosaur suits and I couldn't help the laughter that tumbled out of me. This was great.
"Wow" Peter uttered, and I could only agree, bouncing on my heels, my eyes not leaving the figures fading down the road.
It was really nice, hanging out just the two of us. We took our hot chocolates around Queens, and we just talked, for hours. I found myself getting to know Peter and it was great just getting to know him on a deeper level.
I clutched at my crossed arms as the sun began to set, my entire chest vibrating in an effort not to shake but tremors ran across my body. I kept my eyes ahead as I listened to Peter talk, not wanting him to notice so he could say that he told me so.
"you should join us"
"yeah, that sounds great" even I couldn't stop my teeth chattering as I spoke "wait, what am I agreeing to?" he chuckled, dragging his fingers through his hair before looking at me with his big brown eyes.
"lunch? You, me, May? If your Grandma wants to come too, she's more than welcome to"
"that's so sweet of you" I cooed, my heart warming at the suggestion, and I could practically hear my nan in the back of my head from earlier. "we'd love that"
"May's been pestering me about it for years" I snorted slightly, jumping at the feeling of weight on my shoulders.
"Pete!" I whined but accepted his coat none the less, tucking my arms into the sleeves and putting my arm around his waist as we walked. "thank you"
"I told you so" he chuckled at my tutting, putting his arms around my shoulder. "I'm glad you messaged me; I really enjoy hanging out with you."
"me too, but with you. Obviously" I admired his smile, the way his cheeks flushed in the chill of the air. Pretty boy.
"You spend too much time staring at me" his voice made me grin, but I didn't turn away.
"I can't help it, you're my favourite piece of art" he turned a beautiful shade of red and I turned away, a melody ringing through my ears. "I could watch you for a lifetime, you're my favourite movie" I sang quietly, and he squeezed my shoulder softly.
"You're such a flirt"
"only for you love."
"Why?" he looked down at me, his tone portraying his genuine confusion. "why do you give all this attention to me?" I pulled us out of the middle of the street to I could talk to him properly.
"Because you are the most kind, geeky, most lovely person I know. And despite the banter I give you, I do really like you. And it's literally completely fine if you don't feel the same way" I held up my hands, watching his eyes flicker between mine as his lips curved up "I'll stop all this and will leave you alone"
"Alex," he said my name so softly and I swear my skin tingled as his hand brushed my hair back "the last thing I want you to do is leave me alone. I didn't know you felt so strongly, I mean, the flirting was blunt, but I wasn't sure if it was a British thing" Peter admitted, and I had to bite the tip of my thumb as my smile grew on my face.
"oh my god"
"In my defense, I've never met a British person, not one with a physical body anyway."
"I can't believe you thought that. So, me calling you 'Pretty boy' was just a thing you brushed off?" his lips thinned as I cackled. "aww darling you're so cute"
"Shush you" he put his arm back around my shoulder, tucking me into his side contently before dragging me along with him. "I like you too, just so you know"
"thanks" I grinned to myself, my heart racing in my chest and I bounced with every step.
He likes me too! He likes me too! He likes me too!
"thanks for walking me back, and for letting me borrow your coat"
"jacket" he corrected, and I rolled my eyes teasingly, watching him shrug the item on with amused eyes.
"as payment" I leant over, seeing his eyes widen before I pressed my lips to his cheek.
"what do I get if I give you all my clothes?" he joked, and I rose an eyebrow with a smirk.
"If you gave me all your clothes, we wouldn't be stood out here having this conversation"
He wetted his lips as he studied me silently.
"I'll see you tomorrow"
"See you later Pretty boy" he hesitated before walking down the steps, looking back at me and I gave a loose finger wave. He was the cutest.
"what does that make us?" he called, spinning back around with his hands tucked in his pockets.
"let's see how it goes"
"alright" he nodded to himself, his teeth flashing as he smiled widely, and I couldn't help but mirror his expression.
"go home Parker!"
"miss you already!"