Spider-Man Homecoming (Fanfiction) ~

8: Universe, Why?

(Y/N pov, continued):

I got home from school that evening and I groaned, flopping down on my bed. I told Liz in the car what happened on the way home. I also mentioned she should have never invited Peter to the party, and that everyone has been making us the laughing stock in the whole school.

I thought this year was going to be great, fantastic! I wanted to get to know Peter this year and instead the guy just seems to get distracted now. I should have never told Liz I had a crush on him, but then again, she would've figured it out anyway.

"Y/N?" Mom asked, knocking on the door. "Honey?"

"Yes, mom?"  I asked and she opened the door.

"Liz told me what happened." She said and I buried my face back in the pillow. I changed my clothes when I got home and dressed as lazy as I could. I had on my favorite sweatpants, and had my fleece blanket around me.

"I'm glad the whole universe knows now about how I feel about Peter Parker." I said, confessing to mom the rest of the story. "I thought there was something special with him, but it just seems no matter what happens, I either get made fun of or Peter doesn't have the focus."

Mrs. Doris knew how to comfort me when I'm feeling upset. I guess Liz wanted to give up on trying to help me because of the way things are going. She probably thinks it's her fault that things happened this way. I still have no idea if she talked to dad or not.

"Hey, where's dad?" I asked. I already knew he was here this morning and had to leave for another part of his job, but he's also been acting weird lately too.

"At work again, you can call him if you want to," Mom said. "I think he's on his break."

"Nah, that's okay." I said, and heard light tapping on my window. My room was connected to the balcony and there was no way no one could climb up here without access to inside our house. "Thank you for checking up on me, it's been...rough. Where's Liz?"

"She's been prepping for Homecoming and also studying for the Decathlon in October. Aren't you supposed to be studying too? That's happening in a few weeks, y'know."

I would if life weren't so depressing right now... I thought to myself and heard another tap on the window.

"Listen, I'll go ahead and make dinner, and when you're ready to come downstairs, we can talk more about this Peter kid." She said, and she hugged me. She gave me a kiss at the top of my head and then she left.

Once she left, I heard another tap again. If there's someone out there ready to bust in my room or any part of the house, dad always said to be prepared with a baseball bat or something sharp. I grabbed my wooden baseball bat from underneath the bed as the tapping got louder.

"Who's there...?" I asked, creeping over. "I have a baseball bat and I'm not afraid to use it."

A familiar head popped over from the balcony. It was Peter. His average facial features such as his fluffy brown hair and a sharp jawline gave it away. How did he get up here?

I opened a window. It was cold outside and I was glad Peter wore his jacket. "Peter?" I called out to him.

"Hi, Y/N, what's with the bat?" He said, concerned. I tossed it away, and helped him inside. "Whoa...I forgot how cool your room is. It's like a penthouse filled with all kinds of things from Star Wars." 

I had a galaxy light projector on and it was glowing purple and blue lights with stars spread around my room.

"Peter...couldn't you have used the door or something? Like a normal person?" I glared at him, going back to my bed.

He looked at me and sheepishly put his hand around his neck. "I uh, like climbing." He said. "I used to climb trees when I was a kid."

"So you're a monkey." I retorted, giggling. I sat upright against my headboard with my knees up. He laughed too, and agreed. "I've always thought how romantic it is when guys do this in movies."

"I guess I am." He snickered. Peter walked over to me. "Look, Y/N...I wanted to apologize. For today at school. I know I've been acting really strange recently, but I promise you, it's not your fault. Something came up, but it's something I can't explain." I tilted my head in confusion, wondering where he was going with this. "I can't explain because it leads to hurting you and I don't want to do that."

"You're not going to tell me you never liked me in the first place, are you? Because if you came here to just tell me that, Parker..." I found myself starting to whimper.

"What?" Peter's eyes widened, and he sat down next to me. I scooted over so he could be on the bed. "N-no, that's not what I mean! I like you, I really do. I think maybe we can work something out, but the thing about earlier this afternoon when you saw me go after the goons, I can't involve you with that."

I sighed in relief, and he smiled. "Well, now I don't have to suffer anymore." I said, and rested my head on his shoulder. He leaned his against mine. "I was worried you might not return your feelings for me."

"How can I not when I think you're really smart and cute?" Peter whispered, and I blushed. We fell silent for a moment and watched the lights from the projector roam around my room. "I picked you to fill in for my spot for the Decathlon because of that reason."

"Oh." I said, smiling. "You really think I'm intelligent?"

We fell silent again, feeling happy.

"Peter," I started to say. "About earlier this afternoon, you mentioned someone drowned you in the lake." 

"Almost." He clarified. "I almost did. It was miraculous that I got out alive. That's all I can say."

"If you're going to proceed with what you're doing, Peter, I don't want you to get hurt." I admitted, and he took his hand in mine.

"I promise." He said. "Nothing won't hurt me and I won't let anything hurt you."