A/N: this is pretty long, but it made me happy
Warning(s): cuteness
You rolled your eyes after hearing the familiar soft tapping on your bedroom window. The sound had startled you, making you jump a little because you were sitting in silence as you were doing the homework you procrastinated doing for too long, but you knew exactly who it was and with a small smile, you stood up and grinned at Spider-Man's mask through the window after you had pulled back the curtains.
"Password?" You asked playfully, and Peter smiled beneath his mask. Whenever you were extra bored, or extra childish, you would ask this question.
"Did you change it again?" He asked, his voice already muffled from his suit, and muffled even more because there was an inch of glass between the two of you.
"Of course not!" You exclaimed, pretending to be insulted.
"Then it's...um...sherbet lemon?" Peter asked, unsure of himself. The last password was "Spidey's the best" and it was a really easy answer to memorize, but you had gone and changed it on him once you'd reread the Harry Potter books.
Stifling a laugh, you pulled up your window, holding your hand out for your best friend to grab to help him climb through. Even if he didn't need your help.
"It's pretty late Pete," you hummed, heading back to your bed where you were doing your homework, looking at the clock which read 9:00 and smoothing your hair. "How long you plan on staying?"
"I can breathe!" Peter exclaimed over dramatically as he ripped off his mask, taking a deep breath before flopping down next to you. "I dunno. How long do you want me to stay? May's working a late shift tonight."
"Don't ask me that!" You groaned. If it was up to you, you would say forever although you knew that wasn't an option. You weren't supposed to have a boy in your room without anyone knowing so the two of you were already breaking the rules whenever Peter came over after his patrols, which was most nights. And you further broke the rules by sometimes having unplanned sleepovers, Peter crashing in your bed next to you, and the both of you waking up earlier than normal so he could leave before someone woke you up in the morning. Those were the best nights, because by the morning, his arms would always wind up around you no matter what, holding you close to him. To you, that was the best feeling in the world. Not that you could tell him, anyway.
"Does your mom have to work tomorrow?" He asked, putting his mask down on your bedside table and you shook your head no. "Okay, so I'll only stay a little bit." Which was code for maybe an hour or two. Three of the two of you got carried away, which Peter was silently praying would happen.
"So," You smiled, nudging Peter with your shoulder. "I need your genius to help me with my homework."
"And by "help" you mean, me do it for you?" Peter laughed, already grabbing the paper out of your hand, his protest meaning nothing because he couldn't not help you.
"It's not my fault you give me all the answers." You laughed, handing him your pencil, tousling his hair as he muttered a "yeah, yeah," and his gaze shifted to your Pre-Calc work. "You got any cool stories today?" You asked him softly after the both of you had gotten settled.
"Not really," Peter muttered. "It was really slow today. Couple of would be muggings, a stereotypical getting a cat out of a tree, and getting chased by a pack of wild dogs."
"They chased you?" You smirked, taking your stuff back, because you couldn't have him do it all, as much as you were lazy. "Why not just swing away?"
"I didn't think of that at the moment, Y/N," Peter said a little grumpily because you were teasing him. "They scared me for a couple seconds."
"Did you scream?" You snorted. "Oh, I would've loved to see Spider-Man screaming and running down the street from a couple of dogs!"
"Oh, shut up!" Peter groaned, pushing you slightly with his shoulder, looking over yours and resting his chin there as he looked down at your homework. "That's wrong." He said after a moment, you having circled your answer.
"You shut up." You paused, and after looking it over you erased your work, feeling the smile on Peter's lips from how his face shifted as you redid it.
After you had finished, you put on a movie on your laptop and you and Peter stayed up watching it, chatting comfortably and quietly. You'd had been friends so long, it was amazing you never ran out of a topic to discuss.
You and Peter had started the secret hangouts right after he had started being Spider-Man. You were the first person he told, although it was more like you were the first person to notice how different he was and brought it up with him, and he spilled immediately. Conveniently, May had gotten promoted, and in doing so, had longer hours and alternating shifts. So some days, she didn't come home until ten or so and then went straight to bed, so Peter had asked if he could come over and spend the time with you so he wouldn't be at home alone and then go home later. It had become normal for him to just show up whenever, depending on how long he stayed out as Spider-Man.
He didn't start sleeping over, however, until he had told you May had found out he was the mysterious web-slinging hero. He came over the next day, and talked all night about how May chewed his ear off but then supported him just like you had.
Peter left close to midnight, you having to tell him to leave so he could get some sleep. He'd been out swinging around for hours, then the two of you talked for hours, you knew he had to be tired. Besides, you didn't want May getting worried, because he hadn't texted her saying he was going to stay over this late.
"Don't crash into a building." You said as you parted, Peter pulling on his mask on the other side of the window and you were standing in your room, ready to close it after he left. "And try to avoid any fights. You need sleep. We have school tomorrow."
"I'll try my best." He told you, giving you a mock salute before whooping as he flipped backwards off the side of your apartment building, shooting a web and swinging off into the distance. You sighed and closed your window, turning off your desk lamp and heading to bed.
———————————————
It wasn't even relatively late when Peter came today. He actually climbed through your window, without saying a word. He noticed you were reading on your bed, engrossed in your book, and took the rare chance to scare you.
"Guess who." You heard Peter's voice before a hand clamped over your eyes. You cut off your scream when you recognized the voice right away, growling a little as you swatted his hand away.
"Not funny!" You exclaimed, dropping your book to you lap and getting momentarily confused when you didn't see Peter in front of you.
"Up here." He told you, directing your attention to above you, and you watched unamused as he tossed his mask on your bed next to you and descended from the ceiling until his upside down face was level with yours, a large grin adorning his features. "That was so funny,"
"I'm never leaving my window open again." You huffed before smiling a little. "You're a little close there, buddy," You pointed out, the boy only being a couple inches from you. A little too close for your comfort, and you didn't want to risk your mind wandering and filling with thoughts you couldn't have.
"You're no fun," Peter joked, grabbing your book from your hands and dropping down next to you. "What're reading?" He asked and you rolled your eyes.
"The Hunger Games, if you must know," You turned your body as Peter shifted to sit up against the headboard with you.
"Didn't you already read this?" He asked as he handed the book back, and you rolled your eyes.
"So?" You asked, grabbing the bookmark you didn't think you would've needed to use and placing the book down on your right. "That's like asking why do you rewatch movies once you've already seen them."
"Because they're good." Peter answered.
"Exactly." You smiled at him, meeting his eyes, but your smile didn't last long as you took in his features.
He wasn't beat up, no, but you could tell he was drained. Peter's smile faded when yours did. His skin was a little paler than normal, and his eyes were bloodshot with deep purple bags underneath. He was exhausted, and you weren't sure how you didn't notice it before. It must've been days before he got this bad.
"Why aren't you sleeping, Pete?" You asked him immediately, running your thumb across his cheek before sighing. "Something wrong?"
Peter looked away at your words. "It's nothing." He answered curtly, and a glare from your end had him explaining himself. "I've just been staying out longer looking for something good, and then I have to go home and do my homework, it's nothing bad." He shrugged. "I just haven't been getting as much sleep as I normally do."
"I thought you had school and being Spider-Man prioritized, Peter," you chastised. "It looks like you haven't slept in days!"
"I went to sleep last night." He countered and you raised your eyebrows.
"Oh yeah?" You crossed your arms. "What time?"
"Last...morning?" Peter answered sheepishly, sending you a shy grin.
"This isn't funny!" You breathed out, a little angrily. "Superpowers or not, you need to sleep. You look terrible!"
"Why thanks. You look good too." Peter's face fell flat as he spoke dully and you rolled your eyes.
"And when's the last time you showered?" You asked although it sounded more like an order. "You can't just stop taking care of yourself, Peter,"
"I know that." He shrugged. "I was gonna sleep in tomorrow. Rejuvenate for going out later."
"No." You stated firmly. Standing up and heading to your dresser, a confused Peter watching you curiously before he saw you toss a gray blob at him. When he caught it, he realized it was one of his old sweatshirts. A pair of blue sweatpants followed. "Go take a shower, then text May. You're sleeping over here tonight."
"Y/N—" he began to protest, but shut himself up when you locked eyes again. He realized you weren't joking in any manner. "Whatever you say," He got up, and you gave him a small smile, one he returned as he headed to the door off your room that lead to the bathroom.
"You text May, you know my password. I'm sure she won't say no." He said before disappearing behind the closed door.
When Peter emerged from the bathroom, he was poorly drying his hair with a towel, his suit hastily folded under his arm, and he saw you back on your bed, The Hunger Games splayed open on your lap. You'd changed into an old shirt and a pair of shorts when he was in the shower, so you were ready to go to bed too.
"We're good?" Peter asked, dropping the towel in your clothes hamper and placing his suit on your desk, grabbing his mask from your bed and chucking it with the rest before reclaiming his spot next to you.
"Of course." You said, glancing at him before your eyes settled back on the words in front of you. You always had to force yourself to look away from Peter after he showered, the occasional you saw him when he did. There was just something about his hair being wet, and the smell of shampoo and body wash, that made you want to curl up besides him, bury your face in his chest.
"What chapter are you on?" Peter asked, leaning over so he could read over your shoulder and you held back a laugh.
"Twenty-three." You answered. "I wanted to finish tonight, but I obviously have something more important to do."
Peter turned his head and frowned at you. "You don't have to put me to sleep, y'know,"
"Oh, but I do." You smiled, going to grab your bookmark again, but Peter's hand stopped you.
"Wait," He looked at you, and this time, you were confused. "Would you read to me?" He asked softly and hesitantly, and you laughed quietly.
"Sure," you answered. "But you might be lost."
"I watched the movies," Peter countered and you scoffed. "Jus' give me a sec to get comfy." You watched as Peter smiled and squirmed to get comfortable, finally deciding on laying his head on your shoulder, turned on his side. "Okay, go."
"You seriously want me to read you to sleep?"
"Why not?" He grinned before closing his eyes. "It'll be different."
"I'll say," you muttered before clearing your throat. Peter laughed a little and you nudged his chest with your elbow as you grinned.
You began to read. "It's eerie how little sound he makes, even when the leaves have fallen and it's a challenge to move at all without chasing off the game, I feel certain he's laughing back home." You stopped and glanced over at Peter. The second he heard your voice stop, he peered up at you with one eye and you smiled, continuing. " "Yes," I say patiently. "I will, too. That way we'll both be quieter." Like I was making any noise. So we both strip off our boots and socks and, while there's some improvement, I could swear he's making an effort to snap every branch we encounter.
Needless to say, although it takes several hours to reach my old camp with Rue, I've shot nothing. If the stream would settle down, fish might be an option, but the current is still too strong. As we stop to rest and drink water, I try to work out a solution. Ideally, I'd dump Peeta now with some simple root-gathering chore and go hunt, but then he'd be left with only a knife to defend himself against Cato's spears and superior strength. So what I'd really like is to—"
You stopped reading the second you thought you heard a soft snore, and surprisingly enough, another one filled the silence. Peter was sleeping already.
You couldn't blame him, he was extremely tired. If anything, you were happy he fell asleep that quickly. Finishing the chapter, you grabbed your bookmark yet again and put down The Hunger Games on the table underneath the lamp. You had to reach slightly and carefully as to not wake Peter up to turn the light off, plunging the room into darkness.
You waited a moment before you realized the two of you were still in a sitting up position, and to your dismay, you were starting to get uncomfortable. It took a little work, but you had successfully moved Peter enough for you to lay down properly.
You were on your back, stretching before you decided to get comfy, when Peter shifted, finding you again. He'd turned back to his side, and he face found the crook of your neck, deciding to call it his pillow without any second thought, and an arm laid across your stomach.
You groaned a little playfully, reaching up to softly run your hand through the sleeping boys hair before you realized this was how you were going to sleep. You would never dare wake him up, not when he needed as much sleep as he could get. Your other reason for not attempting to move being you wanted Peter's body that close, you enjoyed his extra warmth.
You closed your eyes, and just as you felt yourself starting to nod off, you heard a soft humming come from Peter. It was only a couple of notes of a song you thought you recognized and your eyes opened slightly, but then you felt Peter's breath tickle your neck as he started singing lightly.
"Doo doo doo...tomorrow if I don't wake up dead," You couldn't help yourself from smiling. "This is the road to ruin...and we're starting at the end," a small giggle escaped your lips, and you clamped your hand over your mouth to stop it for turning into anything more.
Out of all the years you've know Peter, you've never heard him sing in his sleep. Ever. And the boy was one hundred percent asleep at the moment. Singing Fall Out Boy. It was by far the cutest thing you've witnessed him do, even if he isn't conscious of it, to date.
You let yourself laugh once more before you closed your eyes again. Peter had gone silent, so you figured it was probably a one time thing. You were seconds away from sleeping again when the same thing happened. You opened one of your eyes at the sound of his voice. This time, it was Smash Mouth.
"Only shooting staars break the mooold..." This time, the words were more mumbled, but you could understand them nonetheless.
"Peter, you're crazy," you muttered under your breath, but froze when you heard your name.
"Y/N?" You thought he had woken up, and you went to go sit up so you could turn towards him, but his arm had tightened around your waist, keeping you in place. You frowned and waited. It was silence before you heard him sing again, the words clear as day, you slightly feeling his lips curve up. "I think I love you..." he sang, courtesy of The Partridge Family, then he chuckled softly, turning his face so that his face was pressed against you even more and he hummed the next line before going silent again.
You felt your heart start to pound in your chest before you shook your head, closing your eyes. Peter was dreaming. You knew how crazy dreams could get. It had to be just a coincidence he said your name before singing that song. That exact song.
"He's sleeping." You reminded yourself, taking a deep breath before you heard Peter's soft snores start back up again. You waited a couple of minutes, although they felt like hours, but Peter didn't sing again. You weren't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, because now you were having trouble getting to sleep. The words that most likely meant nothing, Peter's voice, were reverberating in your brain.
But eventually, you fell asleep too.
———————————————
You pressed your eyes tightly together as you felt the sun beaming through your curtains and hitting your face. You had turned in the middle of the night, so you were sleeping on your side. Groaning, you stretched a little even though you didn't want to wake up yet. You hadn't felt Peter's arm around you because it's been there all night.
You moved to your back, yawning, and then you flipped to your opposite side, and squinted as you started the process of opening your eyes. At first, you saw a blurry lump of gray mixed with tan skin and you opened your eyes even more, blinking to focus, and they shot open when you realized it was Peter, remembered that he slept over.
Panicking a little, you sat up, cringing when you'd moved Peter's arms, which made the boy groan a little. You paused, not sure if you should wake him up or not yet, and you looked at the clock. It was a ten minutes before nine in the morning. You sighed gratefully your mom didn't check in on you when she left for work an hour ago. She likes Peter, having known him as long as you did, and trusts him, but she definitely would've flipped out, waking the both of you up, if she saw him there without her knowing.
You glanced over at Peter when you saw him shift, grabbing the pillow you were using and tucking it under his head, and you smiled down at him before slowing getting out of bed, and heading to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
After a moment of just standing in the empty kitchen, gulping down your water, you decided to start breakfast. Peter was always starving when he woke up. It was one of the few things you weren't sure of if he was like that before or after the spider bite. The boy always seemed to eat you and your mom out of house and home whenever he was over.
"I thought I smelled pancakes," You heard Peter's voice, low and groggy as he stumbled into the kitchen. You turned your head and saw him smile sleepily before leaning up against the refrigerator.
"Good morning," you greeted in a soft voice. "These are almost done if you wanna grab the syrup." You told him, motioning to the syrup on the fridge as you grabbed plates from the cabinet above you, putting them down in time to flip the two pancakes you had cooking. Peter grabbed utensils, as well as two cups and the orange juice out of the fridge, and by the time he was done setting up, you flipped the two now done pancakes onto the plate with the rest of the pile. Peter was standing next to you, ready to grab his serving.
"How many do I get?" He asked, almost impatiently.
"Ah, I get first dibs," you pushed his hand away, grabbing three off the pile and turning around to sit at the small kitchen table. You laughed as you saw Peter grab four and turn to meet you. You started to reach for the butter on the table, but stopped when you heard Peter quietly humming Alone Together under his breath, and you looked up at him, wild look in your eyes as memories of last night flooded your brain.
"Are you okay?" Peter asked when he saw you were staring at him and he sat down across from you. "What, do I have drool on my face or something?" He asked, wiping his hand across his chin, and that's when you shook your head.
"No." You answered. "It's just, you were singing that in your sleep last night." You chuckled a little, and you noticed Peter's eyes widen a tiny bit, but not too much.
"I guess that makes sense. It was stuck in my head all day." He smiled, taking a deep breath.
"Yeah. Was All Star in there too?" You asked, continuing your action you had halted.
"How'd you know?" He asked before realization made it's way onto his face. "Oh, did I sing it?" You nodded. You saw out of the corner of your eye Peter cut into his food. "Did I- did I sing anything else?" He asked tentatively.
"Um," You weren't sure how much you wanted to tell him, partially afraid of what he might say, but your curiosity was also too strong. "I Think I Love You." You looked up at the boy when you heard him cough, almost choking on his food. You looked at him curiously, and when he had gulped down some O.J., you spoke again. "It was really weird, because you had said my name right before." You weren't sure exactly how much you would regret adding that tidbit of information.
"Oh. I-I did?" Peter asked, and he avoided your eyes, staring down at his food. You couldn't mistake the color you saw his ears flush, and although he was looking down, you could only guess his nose and cheeks were the same color. That's always been the case whenever the boy blushed. "That's funny."
"...yeah." You agreed, trying to ignore your heart sinking.
"I don't really remember what I was dreaming about, so I wouldn't worry about it." Peter then added quickly.
"What would I have to worry about?" You asked. You could tell he was trying to end the conversation.
"Right. Nothing."
"Right." You nodded your head, Peter looking up and sending you a tight lipped smile before looking away again.
You regretted bringing it up, because all it did was make things awkward between the two of you. Peter was fidgeting in his seat, shifting every couple of seconds, and neither of you saying a word to each other as you ate.
But at the same time, you knew Peter was lying. You knew Peter better than anyone, you like to think, and he was definitely lying. You really didn't want to push things any further, but you also really didn't want to not know the truth.
"Do you?" You asked, interrupting the tension in the room.
"Do I what?" Peter asked.
"You saying my name, you know you did. You remember your dream." You accused. "Do you? L-love me?" It just seemed too close together, too smooth to not be connected. You had to know.
"Uh," Peter gulped, slowly dropping his fork. "Depends on what you mean by love." He said, and you can tell he was trying hard not to stammer over his words. "I-I mean, you're my best friend, and there's different types of love. Of course I love you like that, but if you're talking about the other kind of love—"
"Peter." You closed your eyes, and when you opened them, Peter's brown ones had met yours instantly, and he sighed.
"Yeah." He answered, seemingly deflating. "Yeah. I do. I-I love you."
"Holy Hera," you gasped, your breath getting caught in your throat as you felt your heart filling again, your head overwhelmed with happiness. It didn't last long when you noticed Peter shrinking down into his seat. He wasn't looking at you, and he thought your reaction was bad. "Peter!" You got his attention, his head suddenly looking back up and you and your growing smile from across the small table. "Peter, I love you too," you breathed out, relieved that you could finally say the words you've been keeping in for almost a year.
"What?" You heard him almost squeak, and you let out a laugh of disbelief.
"I really do." You reassured him.
"No way..." Peter whispered, relief flooding his emotions. "You're not getting me back for scaring you yesterday, are you?" He then narrowed his eyes at you, and you smiled and laughed, shaking your head. "Because if you are, that is so not cool."
"No, Peter," you glanced down at your food. "I've loved you for a while now. You've just always been my best friend, and I never wanted to lose you,"
"I never wanted to lose you either!" He exclaimed, but then calmed himself down. "I-I can't believe I outed myself without even knowing."
"What even was your dream about?" You asked, feeling your face start toe heat up now that you knew how Peter felt, and he knew how you did.
"Oh, it was really stupid." Peter muttered, a small smile on his face as he took another bite. "It was kinda like musical charades? I don't know what to call it. It was the group of us, me, you, Ned, MJ, some other people, and we had to pull a slip of paper that would say something like "a song that describes how you feel about someone" for one instance," he glanced up at you. "Or "a song that has the word gray" And then we'd have a few seconds to think of one and sing it to get the points."
"That honestly sounds really fun." You chuckled. "I really want to play that now,"
"You would've won in my dream," Peter admitted, smiling. "If I hadn't gone before you."
"Nice to know I had the same reaction as real life."
It had felt like a weight had been lifted off of your shoulders, now that you had told Peter the only secret you had been keeping from him. The air was light, and the tension was gone. The two of you ate breakfast in a comfortable silence, staring at each other from across the table and then quickly looking away like the children you were, randomly bursting out in laughter.
Neither of you had spoke even when the both of you had finished eating, and you cleaned up breakfast together in silence. It's not that neither one of you didn't know what to say, both you and Peter had wanted to say a thousand things, but it seemed like the two of you were living in an extended moment, and neither one of you didn't want to ruin it.
The two of you were doing the dishes, you washing while Peter was drying and putting them away, when one of you decided to speak. Only because it was such a surprise.
"Hey," Peter laughed, hitting you with his small dishrag. "Don't fling water at me!"
"What? I didn't!" You turned your head to face him, and you were sure you didn't, but the water droplets dripping down his face said otherwise. "Okay, I didn't mean too." You paused before you waved the last plate in his direction, spraying him with water. "That time I did." You giggled and Peter frowned playfully before grabbing the plate from you and mocking you, your hands coming up to shield your face.
"You're mean. Is this really what I get for admitting I loved you?" Peter rolled his eyes, drying the last plate and you turned off the kitchen faucet.
"Loved? You're over me already?" You teased, faking a pout and crossing your arms.
"You're over dramatic, Y/N," Peter dropped the cloth, turning to face you, wiping water off of his face.
"Then what were you expecting to get, huh?" You dried your face before the water dropped into your eyes with a large smile. You weren't expecting Peter to shoot forward, connecting his lips to yours, and you pulled back out of shock, giggling a little.
"Oh damn," a panicked look filled his eyes. "I should've asked, sorry,"
"You're such a Web-Head," you shook your head before grabbing his face, bringing it back to yours. You were sure earlier there wasn't ever a better feeling than waking up next to Peter, but you were glad you were proven wrong in the best way possible.
"Woah," Peter breathed, separating two of you, and a dumb grin appearing on his face. "That was nice."
"I waited too long to do that," You smiled before tossing the rag he put down at his chest. "Now I think you should clean up the syrup mess you made."
"We just kissed, and that's the first thing you say after?" Peter laughed with disbelief lacing his voice.
"What? Maybe you shouldn't make me worried. So this is payback." You grinned, but started to laugh when Peter wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into a hug.
"You're mean." He said, his voice slightly muffled from your shoulder.
"You need to prioritize." You tell him, squeezing the boy back. "Just because we're together now doesn't mean anything changes."
"We're together?" Was all Peter got out of that.
"Once you take a break from everything." You told him, poking his shoulder. "Get some more sleep."
"We just slept like ten hours. I think that's enough."
"Oof, that's never enough." You laughed.
"I'll figure that out. But for now," He started softly. "I just want to be with you."
"You're such a sap." You said as Peter pressed a kiss to your cheek.
"A sap you love." He wiggled his eyebrows, causing you to laugh.
"Don't give me reasons to take what I said back." You warned him although you didn't mean it at all. Then you tightened your arms around him, sighing contently and closing your eyes. You hugging in the kitchen wasn't too much of a difference; but the evil grin on your face and you singing was.
"I was sleeping and right in the middle of a good dream, like all at once I wake up from something that keeps knocking at my brain,"
"Oh god, Y/N, stop." Peter pulled back but you kept singing.
"Before I go insane I hold my pillow to my head and spring up in my bed screaming out the words I dread." Peter held his hands to his face, groaning, but failing to conceal his smile. "I think I love you!"
"This is is never going away, is it?"
"Nope."