Bug boy || Peter Parker

Thirty six

Peter couldn't work out where it had all gone wrong. Picking up Liz for the dance had been filled with first date anxiety and general jitters. He still hadn't worked out whatever his feelings had going on for Tate. He liked him, he had worked that out. But he also liked Liz and had already asked her to the dance. His head had been a mess to begin with. Guilt about his feelings to Tate, annoyance that he couldn't get his head straight and anxiety about his date with Liz. Then her front door opened and a scarily familiar face had smiled down at him. Mr Toomes, or in other words Liz's dad, the freaking vulture greeted him with a friendly handshake. 

And now he was stuck in a car with him. Liz oblivious to the tension, busy scrolling on her phone. Peter could feel Mr Toomes watching him in the mirror. "I've seen you around right?" The man spoke up. "I've seen you before. You sound familiar. Somewhere- Have we ever?" Peter shook his head. The nerves a biting sharp teethed creature in his chest.

"Um Peter does academic decathlon with me", Liz offered, not looking up from her phone. "And he was at my party". 

"Ah", Mr Toomes nodded.

"It was a great party. Really great. Lovely house, lots of windows", Peter forced a smile. 

Liz giggled at him. "You were there like two seconds".

"I was there longer than two seconds", Peter could hear his words begin to stutter. 

"You disappeared".

"No. No, I did not disappear".

"Yes you did. You disappeared like you always do, like you did in DC too", Liz teased. Peter wished that she would stop. He could feel the weight of Mr Toomes' gaze. Analysing him. 

The man sighed. "It's terrible what happened down in DC though. Were you scared? I bet you were glad having your old pal Spiderman show up in that elevator though". His voice held an undercurrent of threat. Peter glanced at Liz then met Mr Toomes' gaze in the mirror. 

"Actually I didn't go up. I saw it all from the ground. It was very lucky that he was there that day". 

Mr Toomes smiled without humour. "Good old Spiderman". 

Liz looked up. "Dad. The light". The car continued moving. Silence falling until they pulled up at the front gates of midtown. Peter peered out the window as saw his classmates all in formal wear heading inside. Jason was there, dressed in a black suit with a yellow tie to match the yellow of MJ's dress. (Peter had to blink at that. Since when had that happened?) He couldn't see Abe or Ned but Callum and Charley were getting out of a car just in front of theirs. Both boys holding hands and dressed in matching navy suits with pale blue ties to match the flowers pinned to Callum's hair. 

"Alright, end of the line", Mr Toomes announced cheerfully. Liz unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to the door. 

"Thanks dad!" 

"You get in there gumdrop. I'm going to give Peter the dad talk", Mr Toomes put on a jokey voice and Liz sighed. 

"Don't let him intimidate you", she offered. Then she was leaning forwards to kiss her dad on the cheek. "Love you. Have a safe flight". 

"Love you too", Mr Toomes replied as she got out of the car. Her figure immediately running towards her group of friends. The man's smile faded as he turned to Peter. One hand pulling a gun from the glove compartment as he moved. Peter tried not to look scared. "Does she know?"  

"Know what?"

"So she doesn't. Good. Close to the chest. I admire that". The man nodded and gave a light chuckle. "Of all the reasons I didn't want my daughter to date. Peter. Nothing is more important than family. You saved my daughter's life and I could never forgive someone like that so I am going to give you one chance. You ready?" Peter didn't let his face change. Just held Mr Toomes' gaze. 

"Walk through those doors and forget that any of this ever happened. But if you ever, ever interfere with my work again, I will kill you and everybody you love. I'll kill you dead. That's what I'll do to protect my family Pete". Peter swallowed and looked away for a second. Tate's nickname for him was wrong on that man's mouth. "You understand?" Peter nodded. "Hey! I just save your life. Now what do you say?" 

Peter looked up and met the man's gaze again. "Thank you". 

Mr Toomes nodded. "You're welcome. Now you go in there and show my daughter a good time. Just not too good". Then he was putting the gun away. 

Peter swallowed and got out of the car. His legs felt slightly shaky as he stepped towards the steps of the school. Mr Toomes' car pulling away behind him as he walked towards the doors. 

Peter walked through the crowds on the dance floor in a daze. The hall was decorated in blue and yellow balloons and flashing lights. He caught glimpses of his friends with their partners. Jason waved at him while Mj flipped him the bird. Callum and Charley were slow dancing and snogging, too wrapped up in each other to notice anything else. Abe was dancing with a short haired girl with glasses that Peter vaguely remembered from a science class. He ignored all of them and just headed straight for Liz. Her pink dress standing out even under all the lights. She was laughing with her friends and in a second Peter wished that he had asked Tate to the dance instead. He had been such a fool. 

She turned and smiled widely at his pale face. "What did he say to you?" 

Peter took a breath. "Got to go". Liz's face fell. "I'm sorry", he offered, wishing that he could say something to make what he was about to do better. "You don't deserve this".  Then he was running past her and out of the hall. Leaving Liz standing alone in the middle of the dance floor. 

Mj and Jason watched him go in confusion. Then Jason was whispering something to her and striding over to where Callum and Charley were slow dancing. He poked Callum, disrupting their moment. Callum turned with a ruffle of hair, dark curls loose and pined back by blue flowers. "What?" Charley huffed, annoyed by being interrupted. 

"Peter just ran out of here like a bat out of hell", Jason gestured in the direction he had gone. "What's that about?"

"Why are you asking me?" Callum frowned. 

"Because we're his friends". 

"What's going on?" Ned interrupted, the boy joining their circle. 

"Peter just abandoned Liz", Jason sighed. "He's acting weird. Should we go and check on him?"

"I'll go", Ned offered quickly. "See what's wrong". Callum must have picked out something from Ned's suddenly wide eyes and he frowned. 

"I'll go too. You know Tate worries about him". 

"I'll get us drinks", Charley offered, pecking his boyfriend on the cheek before turning. He grabbed Jason by the arm. "Come one bro. Tell me how you got MJ to agree to be your date. You've been holding on the gossip". Jason laughed as the group split. Ned and Callum going after Peter. 

unedited

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