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a cliche where they're too
afraid to admit their feelings
despite their obvious behavior
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ok I haven't done many fighting sequences and I suck at action scenes...but here u go anyway
also creds to @coldpepperoni for the fighting sequence inspo i got inspired lol
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You pushed open the glass doors to the giant training facility inside the Avengers Tower, observing your teammates going at various things throughout the room. Today you were in the particular mood to spar with someone, so you went up to the first person you thought would put up a good fight.
"Hey," you half-yelled over the noise of Peter's aggressive hits towards the poor punching bag, that looked as if it was going to snap and burst open at any moment. "You up for a classic hand-to-hand sparring match, Parker?"
The teenager stopped what he was doing and steadied the punching bag before it could come flying off to the side and whack you in the face, "Can't you go for Sam or Pietro? Or Clint?"
You raised an eyebrow, motioning behind you with your thumb. "Sam gave up because I beat his ass five times in a row. Pietro's too fast and Clint's going up against Natasha later so I need a new partner."
Peter nodded after a moment, going over towards his duffel to grab a towel to wipe his sweaty forehead with before taking a swig out of his water jug. "Alright, then. Bring it on."
You both stepped into the boxing ring and got into your stances as Bucky stood outside the edge to referee. You could've sworn you'd seen cash exchanging hands.
Also, you tried not to let your gaze linger too much on how well-defined his muscles looked in his tight white T-shirt.
But it was difficult not to.
"Alright, time for seven minutes in hell, kiddies. Rip each other apart," Bucky announced that the match had begun. "But try not to kill each other. I rely heavily upon Y/N's cheddar biscuits, and who's gonna make that if she dies? She's the only one with the recipe."
"Why are you assuming I'm gonna lose, Barnes?" you question as you tighten the protective tape around your palms. "If Peter here gets his ass beat, then you don't have someone to play against in Wii Tennis."
"Touché."
Peter was the one to make the first move. He smirks, pinning your arm behind your back but you were already anticipating this movement, so you quickly jerk your body over to the side and duck underneath his arm, coming up from behind and putting him in a tight headlock.
But he seems to predict what you were doing as well, and pries himself out of your grip before gripping your torso and forearm and flipping you over onto your back, causing your body to make a loud smack when you hit the mattress.
You're quickly back on your feet, though, immediately jumping up on your toes and throwing a right hook to his jaw, which he narrowly misses by an inch. You're unlucky enough to catch a blow to the stomach, however, almost stumbling and crashing against the edge but regaining your balance fast enough to get back up again.
Looking from a physical standpoint, it looked as if Peter would obviously win. He currently outweighs you by at least 20-30 pounds as you're standing at 5'6 and 114, and for you to beat him in a sparring match would take some more effort than usual due to his super-strength that he got from his powers. But you were willing to accept the challenge.
It goes back and forth like that for a bit, you throw a few punches and kicks and Peter dodges them, and he does the same. You're too wrapped up in the heat of the moment to notice the smirks and evil grins of the others as they watch you two tear each other apart in the ring.
"Why's Peter looking at Y/N like that?" Bruce poked Tony in the arm. "He's looking at your daughter with that look...in his eyes..."
"What look...oh."
"So what is it?"
"They're in love, science bro. Now hush and watch, things are about to get spicy," he whispered, pointing at you and Peter practically at each others' throats, "the tension in here's only getting thicker."
You unfortunately were unable to dodge one of his hits and get a roundhouse kick to your solar plexus, getting all the breath knocked out of you and having to pause for a brief second. Damn, was he flexible. And agile.
"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Peter paused, a look of concern now on his face. "I'm sorry-"
You take this opportunity of his hesitation to do the exact thing he'd done to you at the beginning of the match and twist his arm behind his back, putting him to a stiff headlock once again "Rule number one: don't let yourself get distracted by your opponent in a fight. That's how you lose."
Then, you sweep his feet out from underneath him and he stumbles backwards, barely catching himself by gripping the ropes strung around the ring as he falls on his butt. A collective burst of applause sounds across the room and you hear Sam whoop in delight, yelling at Bucky that he now owes him fifteen dollars.
You extend a hand to Peter to help him up and he takes it, but instead of just letting go when he stood up, he doesn't release his hand from your grip and instead tugs you towards him. He wraps you up into his arms, not caring about the multiple sets of eyes watching you two.
And he just holds you there, one arm tight around your waist, the other held to the back of your head. Your head was now buried in his chest and the warmth of him felt so familiar and safe; oddly comforting despite the awkwardness of the situation.
"I think I'm ready to try archery," you mumbled into his chest and carefully pushed yourself away from him after a few moments. You needed to get what just happened off your mind. "Clint?"
"I have a few spares in the back. Get ready and I'll go get 'em," the archer replied. You stepped out of the ring and wiped your forehead with a towel Wanda handed you, unwrapping the protective tape from around your palms and setting them by your water bottle.
Clint comes back from the storage room and hands you a smooth, black bow with a sheath of a dozen arrows before going over to Natasha and Bucky. "Go for it, kiddo. Try not to spear someone in the chest, alright?"
"I won't," you chuckled, and he ruffled your hair in response.
You went towards the back towards the shooting range and set your things down next to you, tightening your ponytail before getting into position.
You hear a familiar set of footsteps behind you and see that Peter's followed you. "Hey."
"Oh, hey."
"How's it going back here?"
"Uh...it's okay..." you glanced downwards, "...it's just been a while since I last held one of these things, so..."
"You want some help? I got trained for a few weeks last month," Peter offered.
"Yeah...that'd be great."
Peter goes to stand right behind you with his chest touching your shoulder blades and put an arm around your waist to hold you steady while his free hand adjusted the bow in your hands. You inhaled sharply and held in several shaky breaths, not wanting to give away the fact that being this close to him was making you nervous.
"Yep, there we go," he breathed out and stepped back, releasing you from his grip and going to grab a sip of water. "Now give it a shot."
You slid an arrow into your quiver, closing an eye as you aligned your gaze with the target ahead of you. When you let go, it sailed smoothly towards it and landed straight in the middle with a thwack. Everyone in the room bursts into applause.
"Holy crap," Peter gaped, "and you said it's been months since you last handled a bow and arrows!"
"Six months..." your eyes widened as you took in the scene before you. "It's been six months."
"That was incredible," Clint came over to give you a quick high-five and pat on the back, "your form was perfect."
"I think I know why," Bucky snickered into Sam's ear so that you couldn't hear him.
By the time you've finished reveling in your temporary victory and snap out of your daze, you realize just how little space is remaining in between you and Peter before your lips would touch. He notices this at the same time as well, and a hint of some unrecognizable expression flickers across his face but he quickly goes to staring down at the floor, averting his gaze.
Right at that moment, you finally realized what you were feeling. It was him. Something about him made you feel like you were both falling and flying and bursting into flames all at the same time and you didn't want to let go of that.
"Shit," you muttered under your breath, feeling your cheeks grow warm. You're pretty sure that he can hear your heart beating right out of your chest because it's so loud, seeming as if it's drowning out the sound of everything else.
"A-are you okay?" he barely manages to get out before stumbling over his own words. "Are you feeling dizzy...do you need to sit down..."
"I'm fine," you carefully step around him and wave him off, "perfectly fine."
"Well, that was quite awkward," Thor comments as you leave the training facility. "I was hoping that I would be able to get some action."
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"Y/N, you have that look on your face," Sam raised an eyebrow at you as you were in the middle of chugging a Diet Coke in the kitchen. "I've seen that look before."
"What look?"
"The 'I like someone and I'm hopelessly in love' kind of look."
"No, I don't like anyone!"
"Wanda, what if she likes your brother?" he called out.
"I don't like Pietro! I like Peter!" you shout as you set your drink down on the counter, but quickly slapped a hand over your mouth when you realized what you'd just said.
"Ha," he snorted, pointing a taunting finger at you, "you walked right into that one."
You immediately froze up when Peter walked in, giving you an innocent smile and wave though the bright pink shade of his cheeks gave it all away.
"Whipped," Sam whispered under his breath and nudged you in the side, causing Bucky to snicker.
Because Peter is now looking just as petrified and nervous as you are, you didn't expect him to simply walk straight up to you and press his lips to yours without saying anything. But you go along with it anyways, because you like the feeling that he gives you and you're not about to let a perfect moment such as this go to waste.
"Even I have to admit," Rhodey comments with a roll of his eyes, "I hate romance, but that sexual tension was killing all of us back there. Good to see you kiddies did something about it."
You blush furiously and bury your head in Peter's chest. Peter looks absolutely mortified at this point, looking down to hide his obvious embarrassment.
"Use protection!"
"DAD."