"Peter!"
Peter was surprised to say the least hearing Astrid call for him in the hallway.
It was just yesterday he spoke to her as Spider-man and she may have professed her love to him- well, Spider-man.
So how was he supposed to face her after that?
"As-Astrid, hey."
"Hey... um... I need you to give this to Spider-man."
Disappointment- that was all Peter felt.
He was also confused, how the hell was he jealous of himself?
"O-Okay."
"Thank you," she smiled gratefully, "And just- make sure you give it to him before school ends. Maybe you can ask Mr. Stark to send him over so he can pick that up? I don't know just- think you can do that?"
"Oh I can definitely do that," Peter chuckled.
I'll give it to him right after this conversation. Here you go Peter- thanks Peter.
"Thanks Peter," Astrid smiled before walking off.
The second she turned the corner, Peter was quick to open the piece of paper.
'Spidey,
I'm sorry but we sorta have to stop seeing each other for a while. Dad found out and well, it's a bit of a mess right now. From now on I'll be with my brother and friends again but don't think I don't want to see you, cause I do. But I just have to go back to my normal routine for a bit- so dad doesn't go crazy. I'll miss you, but I'll definitely see you soon.
Astrid.'
Maybe this was the answer he needed, to get Astrid away from Spider-man.
But the thought of Norman Osborn being a problem to their possible future relationship had him all sorts of worried.
That's all he could think about for the rest of the school day and for the first time in a while, he didn't rush off after school to dress in his suit to wait for Astrid.
Astrid felt disappointed walking out of the school with her group of friends and not seeing Spider-man in his regular spot but she knew her father probably still had his surveillance on her and she couldn't risk it.
"So how are you here with us today, Astrid?" Gwen asked her, snapping her out of her daze.
"Harry convinced dad to not send the car- promised he'd make sure I didn't leave his sight."
"Basically, I'm a babysitter," Harry smirked, ruffling Astrid's hair.
"Who would've thought, Harry the responsible one," Gwen chuckled.
"Wow Astrid. You must've done something really bad to get the tables to turn like that."
"I did nothing wrong but let's not talk about that please."
"Fine, fine," Ned huffed, "Can we talk about my new Lego Death Star than?"
No one was really interested but Gwen, being the nice person she was, who spoke to Ned about it while Peter remained oblivious to the conversation as he walked next to Astrid.
"So about this Spider-man note..."
"Oh god," Astrid groaned, "You read it, didn't you?"
"No!" Peter quickly defended, "But Spider-man did and told me to ask you, why?"
"Long story short? My dad. He isn't a fan of Spider-man."
"Wh-what?"
Astrid nodded, "Shocking right? I thought everyone liked him."
"How did he know you were even with him though? I heard he was very careful."
"Apparently not careful enough," she sighed, "Dad had me followed. So basically, everywhere I went to meet up with Spidey, dad's guy was there."
"That isn't creepy at all," Peter scoffed.
"Tell me about it. I was so angry- I still am but... if I don't stay away..."
"What? What would happen?" Peter asked nervously.
"He threatened to send me away to boarding school."
"You really think he'd do that?"
"I don't know. My dad is so hard to read sometimes so I'd rather not test him."
"Yeah but... I don't know, I think your dad loves you too much to send you away."
"So you think I should defy him and still try to see Spider-man?"
"God no," Peter frowned, "It's definitely best that you stay away."
Astrid slowly nodded, "So what else did Spidey say?"
"Nothing worth noting..."
Except for the fact that you have feelings for him now.
"Yo! We're gonna run in real quick, grab a few snacks. You coming?"
"No, we'll wait out here," Astrid smiled at Harry before Peter could say a thing.
Harry gave her a look as the others walked into the store, "Pete, keep an eye on her okay? Don't let her swing off with Spider-boy."
"It's- Spider-man," Peter sighed when Harry walked in, obviously not caring, "So um... why didn't we go inside? I could really go for-"
"You do realize I can tell when you're lying, right?"
"What?"
"You didn't look at me when you told me Spider-man told you 'nothing worth mentioning' which means he did tell you something else. What is it?"
Of course. Nothing went by her.
Peter sighed in defeat, "He um... he may have told me- or insinuated at least, that you may have feelings for him."
"What?" Astrid blushed now.
"Is it true?" Peter blatantly asked though, "Do you really like him?"
"I... no!"
"Why do I feel like you're lying to me now?"
"I don't know but I'm not!" she defended, "I... sure he makes me feel all giddy and happy when I see him but that's just cause he's freaking Spider-man!"
"Bu-but you said you know him so well and he knows you and..."
"Wow, he tells you everything, huh?" Astrid chuckled nervously.
"He just needed my advice. And- he was so confused hearing you say that. If Harry and your dad didn't interrupt- he was sure you were going to say you liked him."
"I have a crush, sure but I don't like him. Like he said, I don't even know who he is."
"Then how do you have a crush?"
"I guess I'm just crushing on who he is as a person. A genuine, sweet, funny and caring guy who in such a short amount of time got to know me so well."
Considering it's me, yeah I got to know you well all over again.
"It was just- it was nice to get to know someone and become so close in such a short amount of time. I mean the last time I got that close to someone..."
Astrid stopped short, which was all Peter needed to hear to know what she was talking about.
"The last time was with me," he finished for her, "But now you hate me."
"I don't hate you."
"Sure," Peter mumbled, looking down.
"I don't," she quickly reassured him, nudging him to look up at her, "You're so important to me. That's why it hurt so much when- you know what? Let's not bring that up again."
"Re-Really?"
"Yeah," she smiled, "Forgiven and forgotten. I mean, usually my motto is forgiven and not forgotten but for you- I'll make an acceptation."
"Why cause I'm so special?" Peter blushed.
"You really are," Astrid answered honestly, smiling brightly up at him.
It suddenly felt like the old times again, when Peter and Astrid were really close but, of course, it wouldn't have been the same if they weren't interrupted by Harry.
"I think I preferred it when you were swinging around with Spider-boy."
written: October 16, 2018
posted: February 26, 2019
I ALMSOT FORGOT TO POST BUT IT'S STILL TUESDAY HERE SO I DIDN'T FORGET!!