Lists were one of Flash's favorite things. The 17th of February could almost top that as his favorite thing in the world.
The date was the anniversary of his parent's agreeing to take part in something traditionally called marriage, but Flash called it a life sentence. However, the boy had a bit of freedom whenever that date came around. His parents always took a weekend trip to Ithaca where they had met at Cornell University.
Flash found it ironic that his parents had met at one of the most strenuous colleges in the country. Not to mention, the school was rated as one of the top suicide schools.
The month after he had discovered he had some type of power, Flash always expected to wake up the next morning to find them gone. So, he decided to make the most of what he had day after day. He soon compiled a list of all he believed to be his strange powers, realizing that no other super whatever-he-was had the same specific powers. He took pride in having them unique to himself, smiling wider each day as he focused on perfecting his new skills to eventually use them to his advantage.
Early on, he used his powers on Peter. Although his technique wasn't as effective as he would've hoped, he smiled when Peter got back a B on his chemistry test instead of the usual A+.
Flash held his own A in a strong grip in his hands, his fists curling into a victory fist pump. He couldn't help but smile to himself when Peter walked out of the classroom, talking to Ned and Caden about how he didn't understand how he could just forget almost everything on the unit test.
He dreamt about the endless possibilities that he could discover through his powers and how he could manipulate a multitude of things with just enough practice. He would always wake up with a start, red and blue hues blurring his vision in the later parts of his dreams until he would open his eyes.
It seemed strange that the same event would happen day after day, but he figured the only explanation that could be used was the fact that hundreds of vials of all kinds of chemicals had to leave some kind of mark. Though, he couldn't shake the bursts of red and swipes of blue from the back of his mind.
It started to bug him, knowing each morning he'd wake up to the same thing. He'd try to set an alarm for hours before so he wouldn't have to endure the annoyance, but nothing worked. It was like an annoying insect that wouldn't stop bothering him, and he had to find a way to stop it.
-
While Flash was in his usual alleyway, working hard to perfect his skills, Peter was swinging through the air with Ned's voice in his ear.
Returning to Ned's bedroom window after a long day of patrolling, Peter hurriedly gathered his clothes. He slipped out of his suit, throwing on his heavy clothing to brace the weather.
Ned strolled in with a chocolate milk in hand, sputtering a laugh as he saw Peter all discombobulated in his winter jacket.
"I told you to come back earlier and set your time later," he explained quickly, picking up the red and blue suit and placing it in Peter's arms, "otherwise, you'd be late, and May would murder you."
Peter let out a long sigh, running a hand through his slightly sweaty hair. He shook his head, a hint of a smile appearing nonetheless.
"Since I'm ready, I guess I'd better go now." Peter shrugged, walking out of Ned's room with his backpack hiked high onto his shoulders.
He smiled at Ned and Nessa as the two waved goodbye, and he started to head towards the subway to his own apartment building.
Although however much he would've rather spent a few extra minutes flying around the city, Peter sent Ned a quick text of thanks after he sat in one of the last available seats. Ned was right, May would've killed him if he was late for their big night out.
It started out as a joke, May and Harper wanting to take Caden and Peter out on a double date, but soon Peter realized it wasn't a joke anymore. And, how could he say no to May?
He had to call Caden - with May eyeing him from the kitchen - and invite him to a double date after Valentine's Day. It was really nice of May and Harper, but as his aunt reminded him of the daily countdown, all he could do was flush red in embarrassment.
If he was late to his apartment, that meant he'd be late getting ready which meant May would freak about missing their reservation at some fancy steakhouse that was a half hour drive. Peter couldn't afford to mess up any scheduling, so he raced off of the subway and into his apartment, his backpack thumping against his back down the hallway.
"Please don't wear the purple dress," Peter begged May as he saw her getting ready in her room, "we all know what it means now."
May's head snapped around, and Peter could see a faint blush on her cheeks. She let out a breathy laugh, a smile growing on her lips. "I have other things to embarrass you with, don't worry, Peter."
"Oh, believe me," Peter breathed out, a small grin on his lips, "I know."
"Caden and Harper will be here in a few hours, so get everything you need done out of the way... it'll be nice to see you not so uptight." May gave him a smile from her view as she looked in her mirror. "Caden's changed you. Made you looser."
"Oh, don't say that," Peter mumbled, his cheeks burning red. He raced into his room, closing the door with a slam.
Peter puffed out his cheeks, letting out a long sigh. He shook his head at May's comment, a smile growing on his lips. He took off his backpack, throwing it deep into the back of his closet on top of discarded Lego boxes and childhood projects from school.
Hanging on the top of his closet door was his freshly ironed red dress shirt and a pair of gray pants. He smiled to himself as the memory of getting his first suit came to mind.
-
"Hey, Lion, what about this one?" Ben knocked on the dressing room door, a stupid smile on his face - the one uncles use to laugh to their wives without actually laughing.
He held a bright red suit, a dark blue shirt underneath the red, and neon blue shoes to match its striking tie. As hoped, Peter opened the door and immediately tried to close it after glancing in the suit's direction with an eye roll.
"That's so bad," he laughed out, leaning out of the small room to see if May was witnessing the moment.
She watched with a smile and flipped through suits and mismatched pants and shirts on a rack near the dressing room exit. "Do you know what color scheme MJ is going for, honey?"
Peter gulped, turning to the mirror to self consciously run his hands through his recently cut hair. He turned to see Ben watching him with furrowed brows, his heart beat racing in his chest.
"Uh, n-no," he finally answered, licking his dry lips. He glanced at May, shaking his head rapidly. "No, I mean... c'mon, May. It's MJ we're talking about, do you really think she's gonna have a color scheme at her bat mitzvah?"
May hummed softly, finally nodding after close consideration of the question. "I guess you're right. I wish she had though... it would be so much easier to pick out a suit for you."
That would've been the part where just a month ago, Ben would suggest to May about looking in the dress aisle, knowing there were way more options. Peter overheard that conversation a month earlier, and he almost came out to them right there. He needed this suit. It was his only hope.
Peter just nodded, holding out his hand for whatever clothing that Ben and May both liked so that he could try on and decide whether he liked it.
Hours of suit shopping later and Peter finally decided on a lightly patterned gray suit and a dark blue tie. It fit perfectly - except the pants needed some hemming - but more importantly, he left the store with a smile on his face and May and Ben couldn't be happier for him.
-
Harper arrived before Caden which was good and bad for the same reason: she and May would bug Peter about his relationship. It would've been bearable with Caden sharing the embarrassment. At least then, he'd be able to flash his charming grin and change the subject to something about Harper, but Peter was left vulnerable with no one to turn to as he stared down at his school notes.
"Hey, what's up?" he reluctantly asked, glancing up from his writing towards Harper in his doorway.
"How was your Valentine's Day?" the woman asked with a growing smirk. Peter quickly darted his eyes away from her, his cheeks heating up.
"No, no way. We're not going there," he said, waving his hand as he shook his head. "Nope."
She let out a laugh, the reaction quickly turning into a pout. "Why not? I hear it's PG-13."
Peter rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat as he laughed. "I am 15."
"I know," Harper scoffed, leaning a hand on Peter's desk to support her weight as she watched him get all flustered. "Wanna hear about mine and May's night?"
"Considering she didn't come home... no, thank you." Peter chuckled, scrunching his nose in disgust.
"Ah, that purple dress. Ned was right."
"I'll let him know," Peter assured her with a tone of disgust. He mimicked vomiting into his garbage can at his feet, starting to giggle when Harper laughed loudly.
"Must be pretty memorable, though, your first Valentine's Day with Caden and everything."
"Yeah, he gave me this bracelet," he held out his left hand, smiling wide as she gazed at the shiny silver, "but it's the same with you and May. Except you're old."
"Smart ass." Harper smirked at him, leaning on the doorway once again. "But, we've been together awhile, you guys are in a brand new blossoming relationship."
"Relax. It's not that much of a big deal." Peter tried to play it off as such, but they both knew he was lying. Harper was like May in that one way: even if the woman only knew him for a few months - unlike May with Peter's entire life - she still could tell what he truly meant in his hormone induced teenage brain.
"Yes, it is!" Harper insisted, her eyes almost popping out of her head because of her shocked, wide eyed expression.
"It's just... a day," he sighed, holding back a smile. "We're always admittedly pretty cute everyday, so why would Valentine's Day be any different?"
Harper snorted, chuckling with a head shake as he watched Peter with sparkling eyes. "So, what I'm hearing is that things are good between you two?"
Peter furrowed his brows, wondering if he should laugh. When he saw that Harper had her brows slightly raised, a gentle smile resting on her lips, he found out that she was serious. Why wouldn't everything be fine between the couple?
"Well... yeah? I don't know to answer that because we're fine, but... should we be worried about stuff happening?"
Harper licked her lips slowly in thought, she tapped her heel on Peter's ancient Thor nightlight and then answered with the same gentle smile. "It's just that the honeymoon phase doesn't last forever, Peter."
Before he could even open his mouth to respond, Harper turned on her heel returned to the kitchen. Peter blinked a few times in surprise, his brows knit together permanently as he stared off in space, only pulled out of it by a knock at the front door.
"Hey, Harper." Caden gave the woman a smile, offering her a small wave as her lips upturned. He held out a bouquet of flowers, a blush creeping onto his cheeks as he eyed Peter watching the exchange from the hallway. "Happy late Valentine's Day."
Harper's smile widened, a shocked expression taking over her face as she looked from the flowers to the boy. "Thank you, Caden. These are so beautiful."
He laughed, hiding his smile behind a hand that went up to adjust his glasses. "It's no problem." His eyes dropped down towards his hand that held another bouquet, and he looked to Peter with a quizzical smile and furrow of his brows as if to ask 'Where's May?'
Harper took the flowers gently from his hand, patting the back of his hand as a another gesture of thanks. "I'll give them to her when she's done getting ready. I swear, it's like she takes days."
Caden nodded, offering her another smile before making his way to Peter. Caden laced their fingers, Peter smiling up at him with a look of pure amazement.
"You gave Harper flowers," Peter commented once they were in his room.
There was a growing smile of shock and happiness on his lips, his eyes sparkling in awe. He situated the door so that it was partly open - enough to satisfy May. He turned to Caden who was sitting in the desk chair with tightly knit brows.
"Was I not supposed to? I didn't know you liked flowers, I would've-"
Peter cut off his rambling, entwining his fingers. "You're just so... You're so nice. I can't believe you got my aunt's girlfriend flowers. That's just- It's why I like you so much."
A matching grin had spread across Caden's face. "How do I know that you're telling me the truth?" he asked, his eyes crinkling at the corners as his grin grew wider.
"You'll just have to trust me, I guess." Peter shrugged. Caden tugged on Peter's dress shirt, leaning forward to kiss him.
"Well, then, it's settled," Caden whispered, holding Peter steady as they leaned their foreheads against each other's.
"What is?"
"I know everything there is to know about you now, Peter Parker. Like I promised I would." Caden smiled widely, letting out a chuckle. "Sorry for the wait. It took longer than I thought it would."
At Caden's words, Peter leaned back from him, his smile falling the slightest bit. His breathing quickened, and he could hear his rapid pulsing heartbeat in his ears. He swallowed hard as he met Caden's confused eyes. The older boy didn't know the half of it, and he only knew half of Peter Parker.
"Caden," he breathed out shakily. He noticed that his palms that started to sweat as he rubbed them together anxiously. "I, uh... I have to-"
Suddenly, May's voice rang through the house. "Time to go, boys!" She opened Peter's door, rushing the couple out a wave of her hand before joining Harper in the kitchen.
"To be continued?" Caden asked with a small laugh. He sat up, planting a kiss on Peter's lips on the way. "C'mon, let's go eat until we can't move!"
Peter could only smile uneasily at the back of his head as he was dragged out of his room, Caden holding his hand and walking in front of him.
-
As the two couples spent their Saturday night in peace - filling their stomachs with mashed potatoes, Caden and Peter blushing whenever the women moved the conversation towards them, and the women doing the same when the boys mimicked them - Flash was sleeping.
He had used the weekend to his advantage: trying to sleep soundly without the repeating red and blue strikes in his vision which were causing him a splitting headache. Painkillers wouldn't work either, and it was a constant dull banging in the back of his head.
Every time he'd close his eyes, he could imagine the swipes of color, causing him to get dizzy and nearly vomit. It was a torturous Saturday despite being able to freely practice his powers.
He couldn't even understand why the colors were so persistent and continuous night after night. The only reasonable explanation - and he had to pinch himself for thinking it was any type of 'normal' reasonable - was that it had something to do with the near future. But... how?