Just Steve

F O U R T E E N

"PETERRR!!!"

You ran down the long and winding staircase that led from the living room of the tower to the gym. After searching all over the large apartment building, you had found the boy in the middle of a training session. 

He watched as you marched over to him but he continued his workout, doing push-up after push-up. Once you reached Peter you sat down in front of him, bouncing your knees up and down anxiously.

"Can I help you?" he asked, smirking slightly.

"I need you to distract me."

"I can't dumb ass," Peter replied in between push-ups. "Can't you see I'm training?"

Over the past few weeks, you and Peter had become very close. He spent a lot of time at the tower, and for some reason you noticed he often wasn't included in the meetings Tony seemed to be constantly calling lately. Maybe it was because he was younger than the rest of the group, or because he was still in school. When you asked him about it he shrugged it off saying he was happy with the balance he had struck between his regular life and his super-hero life, and that if something serious was going down, he would know about it. As a result, when Steve was pulled away into meeting after meeting, you were left with the brown-haired boy who was quickly becoming your new best friend.

You knew you shouldn't compare him to Amanda but you couldn't help but notice the difference between the two. It was clear now that your friendship with Amanda had only ever been one-sided. To you she had been a best friend, a partner in crime. To Amanda, it was a friendship out of convenience, nothing more. 

With Peter, something seemed to click into place after that night you had opened up to him about moving into the tower. You felt comfortable around him, and relaxed in his company. As scared as you were to be letting someone new into your life, the happiness on Peter's face in the moments where you truly let him in encouraged you to push past and work through your fears. The few weeks you had been friends felt more like years, as you felt yourself and Peter becoming an inseparable duo. Whether it was lounging around the tower or commuting to your classes uptown, whatever it was that you were doing you seemed to be doing it together. You didn't have any siblings but you imagined that this is what having a brother must feel like. 

"Come on pretty please? Steve is being all perfect and all sexy and-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," Peter interrupted knowing he didn't want to hear the rest of that sentence. "Just go and watch a movie or something."

You had kept your promise to Steve and had been making an effort to get to know him. The problem was the more you got to know him, the more you realized you were falling for him. Steve was perfect, and not just because he was easy on the eyes. He was generous and compassionate, with a sense of humor and sarcasm that paired well with your own. He was patient and attentive, without being too pushy. He was everything a girl could ever dream of. 

But you had made a promise. You often repeated the words to yourself, hoping it would strengthen your resolve. Just friends, just friends, just friends. Maybe if you said it enough you could convince yourself it was true. In the times that you felt your resolve truly shaking you would seek refuge elsewhere. Sometimes it would be the local library, other times your favorite coffee shop. Today it was Peter. 

"Please Peter?" you gave him your best puppy dog eyes, hoping you would be able to guilt trip him into ditching his workout. If all else fails you would just annoy him until he would eventually give in anyway. 

Meanwhile, Peter had made it his own personal mission to make the tower truly feel like home for Uou. He wanted nothing more than for you to be comfortable and feel safe there. After some trial and error, he seemed to have learned when to get you to talk about the things that were worrying or bothering you, and when to leave you to your own thoughts. With everyday he could sense your trust in him growing. He wore every joke, every secret, and every truth you told him proudly like a badge of honor, making a promise to himself that he would never break the trust of the sweet girl who was starting to feel like family. 

"Fine, fine, we can do something," Peter relented, finishing one last push-up before standing up for a quick stretch, still amused by the anxious girl in front of him.

"Yes, yes, yes, thank you!" you cried jumping up in excitement.

"What do you wanna do?"

(Y/N) hummed in thought, trying to come up with something for them to do. It was raining heavily outside which limited their options greatly. You and Peter walked side by side back up the stairs and down the long hallway until you reached his room, chatting about what you should do next. He crashed down backwards onto his bed so he faced the ceiling, and you plopped into the bean bag chair in the corner. 

"Oh I know what we should do," you said excitedly, a gleam in your eye.

"No, no I know that look," Peter whined, knowing exactly what you wanted you wanted to do, "we aren't playing that game."

"Why not? Scared I'm gonna kick your ass like last time?" you teased. Peter was extremely competitive and you knew all it would take was a little trash talk to get him to agree.

"Christ you're annoying. Fine, one game but that's it," Peter sighed, grabbing the tv remote and two xbox controllers.

You leaned over to the gaming system, putting in the disk to Black Ops II. It was a game you had played for years, and you had enjoyed showing Peter up the week before, surprising him with your skill and beating him quickly. 

Peter was the only one in the house that would play with you. Steve had tried for your sake but not having grown up with video games he struggled to understand how it worked. Tony had laughed saying video games killed brain cells, and after that you had been too afraid to ask the rest of the group to play. Peter wasn't bad, and you had continued to play each other but he had yet to win a game against you. He tossed you a controller as you pulled the bean bag chair over to where he was perched on the edge of the bed, so you could both face the screen.

Not five minutes into the game, Peter jumped up onto the bed shouting loudly.

"No n-no no no!!" he called out as you cornered the last zombie shooting him down, ending the game.

"Shit." He fell back onto the bed in defeat, the controller tumbling out of his hand and onto the floor.

"So I'm guessing those spidey senses of yours don't apply to video games?" you mocked, smiling slightly, trying to contain your laughter.

"I hate you so much," he grumbled, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt over his head.

 "Aww Peter, don't feel too bad. I think playing this game is my superpower. I'm simply unbeatable," you cracked, laughing as the frustrated boy grabbed his controller back off the ground, and loaded the screen to start another round.