"How long have we been working on this?" Peter asked through a yawn.
"Stop it," you said, waving a hand at him. Though, it was too late. A yawn forced its way to your face and you groaned through it. Peter, under the heat of your mildly amused glare, let out a small laugh. "Sorry."
"Sure you are," you teased, reaching for your phone. Your eyes widened when you saw the time. "No, no that can't be right."
"I think it might be," Peter said, his voice sounding far away. When you looked over to where he was sitting, you saw only space. Quickly glancing around the room, you found him by his bedroom window. He pulled the curtains to the side and revealed the darkness of night that had settled over Queens.
"We're not even close to finished with this," you said, running a hand through your hair. "Did we spend hours just talking?"
"Guess we lost track of time," Peter agreed, moving to sit across from you once more.
On the floor, before you were scattered papers; some riddled with nasty equations, and others were scholarly articles lifted from the school's database. You and Peter had barely begun to scratch the surface of the project assignment. Your eyes flicked over the rubric and your hands lifted to hold your head up as all your energy suddenly morphed into worry.
"Hey," you felt Peter's warm hand on your upper arm, anchoring you to reality. "It's not due 'til next week. We have time." You met Peter's brown eyes and your hands fell from your face. Nerves that claimed you melted into the floor of Peter's new bedroom, leaving only the two of you, staring at each other. The corner of his mouth was quirked up in that infuriatingly charming half-smile he favored around you. How you had missed that smile. How you had missed him.
At the thought, your worry resurfaced. "Will we though?"
Peter cocked his head to the side. "Will we...what?"
"Have time?"
"What do you mean?" Peter's hand fell from your arm, leaving you to face the chill your questioning created. With a small sigh, you summoned the courage to reply.
"This is the longest we've hung out in....in a while. I know you're busy with Spiderman things, I get it, I do, but since Europe, it's like we become ghosts to each other. Does...does that make any sense? I mean, I...-" you swallowed hard and you met Peter's eyes, "I miss you."
Peter's furrowed brows relaxed at those last three words. His hand reached out again, gently taking your hand. You glanced down at his fingers as he rubbed his thumb along your knuckles. The relationship you had with Peter had always been friendly and full of friendly touches. Though something about the tenderness of his hand on yours made your stomach twist. Not with nerves but a tickling sort of excitement.
"I-I've missed you too, Y/N. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too," you said softly. Peter squeezed your hand and gave you another one of his lopsided smiles.
"We'll make time for each other. And the uh, the project."
"Okay," you tried to match his smile.
"Cool."
A sweet silence filled the air. The ticklish twisting in your gut subsided, melted into the steady beating of your heart as you found yourself wholly entranced by the shine in Peter's eyes. You had noticed it in Europe: the newness that surrounded Peter. He was braver than the boy you had grown up with before the Blip, but still himself. The time you had spent apart had made that all the more clear. That, and knowing his Spider-Man-sized secret.
