The Broken Spider-Man - A Peter Parker Fanfiction

Chapter Twelve - Not a monster

TW: mentions of death, mentions of drug and alcohol abuse, mentions of addiction, mentions of trauma.

Y/N's P.O.V

"Pete? You home?" I asked as I shut the door to my apartment and took my coat off.

"Yeah, I'm in the bathroom." I heard him sigh. My eyebrows furrowed at his exacerbated tone as I headed through to the bathroom. I walked in to see him topless and staring at his reflection in the mirror, his fingers pulling at his clean but still unruly beard hair. My eyes widened slightly as I looked up and down his body. Peter had been living with me for a few months now, meaning that his body was starting to be built up again from the scrawny and malnourished guy that I had re-encountered half a year ago, to more like the physique that he had had in high school. And that, was making my heart flutter like crazy. He looked at me.

"What are you looking at?" he chuckled. I shook my head and walked into the bathroom fully.

"You. The progress that you've made in half a year is amazing, you're already looking healthier and more built up again." I nodded.

"Is that your way of saying that I look hot?" he teased. My eyes widened slightly as I looked at him. Yes, I thought, as I shook my head in denial.

"Don't get cocky, Parker." I returned, making him smile and look at me.

"Anyway, we all know who is responsible for getting me better." He nodded as he gently poked my nose with his finger, making me scrunch it up in fake annoyance.

"Yeah, you are. Me letting you move in and everything would mean nothing if you weren't willing to make the change." I encouraged. He looked at me and smiled again, making my smile widen as he leant in and kissed my head before looking back at the mirror.

"Anyway, you sounded annoyed when I came in." I nodded. He sighed and shook his head as he looked at his beard.

"Yeah, I decided that it was time for the beard to go. I've been introduced back into society for half a year now and so I'm thinking that it's time to get a job, but obviously I need to clean up a bit more first. But, my last decent razor broke." He sighed. My eyebrows furrowed and I nodded.

"I have an idea. Get some shaving cream onto your beard." I instructed, making him nod as I left the bathroom and headed into my bedroom. I opened one of my draws and got the shaving kit out before heading back through to the bathroom. Peter looked at me as I came back, his eyebrow raising as he saw what I held in my hands.

"Y/N, why do you have an old-fashioned men's shaving kit?" he chuckled.

"My brother used to have a massive beard, so I thought that it'd be a fun thing to give him for Christmas last year. But then, the little shit shaved it all off before I could give it to him, so I kept it. Lucky that I did." I shrugged as I opened the box and got the shaving knife out. Peter's eyes widened.

"W-wait, you're not actually going to use that on me, are you?" he scoffed. I looked at him.

"No, I got it out so that we could reminisce about the old times of our country. Why do you think that I got it out?" I chuckled.

"But, a-aren't those the types of knives that if a barber made one wrong move, the customer would die? Y/N, I just got my life back on track, I don't want it to be ended by my best friend in a freak shaving accident." He gulped. My smile dipped slightly at his words.

"You consider me to be your best friend?" I asked quietly. Peter looked at me and shrugged before looking down.

"Well, yeah. A best friend is someone who is there for you, no matter what. That is exactly what you've been for me." He nodded. I bit my lip, tears pricking my eyes as I looked down at the knife, my heart fluttering at his words. Sure, it wasn't exactly a love confession, but the fact that he still saw me as being that close to him meant that there was hope. I looked back up at Peter as I raised the blade.