After the events of No Way Home, Peter Parker had the chance to restart his life and start fresh. But without his family, friends, mentors or fellow Avengers, his life began to spiral into darkness.
His new neighbour however, seems to make that dark...
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PETER PARKER
I hadn't swung through New York holding the weight of another person in years, so if I'm completely honest, I was a little rusty. Y/N had her face pressed against the crook of my neck with her eyes screwed shut the entire way home, her legs wrapped around my waist and her arms around my neck. My weight was distributed weirdly and I kept falling too far forward when I went to grip new webs. Plus the lack of motion I had in my arms since she was weighing down my shoulders with her arms. But although my swinging was all out of whack, I was just glad I was swinging home with Y/N safe and sound.
Once I got to our apartment building, I told Y/N I would feel a lot better if I knew she wasn't alone today, as being abducted by Venom would have been traumatic for her. I offered for her to stay at mine and take a nap since she probably didn't sleep at all last night, you know, cos she was kidnapped. She nodded gently without looking down - since I was still sticking to the wall several storeys high - and I opened my bedroom window with my foot to keep my hands free in helping her inside.
When we got inside I did the courteous thing and let Y/N take a warm shower. In the meantime I laid out a pair of track pants and a sweatshirt for her on the bed and brewed a cup of tea for her which I left on the bedside table. We didn't speak all that much during all of this, it was mostly just a few words here and there. We both knew there was an elephant in the room that neither of us wanted to initiate talking about. Actually, there were multiple elephants.
After she showered, we awkwardly passed each other as I went into the bathroom to shower myself. As water ran over me l thought about which of the elephants I should address first. Was it the whole 'I'm sorry an alien kidnapped you' thing? Or was it the 'I'm sorry for being late to your gala' thing. Fuck, maybe it was the 'why have we been weird around each other for two weeks' elephant in the room. And just to top it off, why not add the 'how come you didn't tell me you had powers even though you knew I was Spider-Man' thing.
God, we have so much to talk about and it's not even fucking midday.
Getting out of the shower I thought the best elephant to start with was probably the Venom one since that was most recent and possibly the more traumatising one for her. I rubbed my hair roughly with my towel, wrapped it around my waist, squirted some toothpaste onto my toothbrush and began to brush my teeth whilst staring at myself in the mirror. How the fuck am I supposed to even start this conversation with her?
"Ahm sho-ree you goh gid-napp," I said standing in the doorway with a mouthful of toothpaste and saliva, instantly regretting my decision to tackle the elephant now of all times.
"What?" Y/N said looking up at me with furrowed brows and a look of pure confusion.
She was sitting up in my bed with her knees bent and her hands cupping the mug of tea, not to mention dark circles under her eyes. Slurping my minty saliva to the back of my mouth quite disgustingly, I tilted my head slightly back and pulled the toothbrush out of my mouth this time.
"I'm sorry you got kidnapped," I said again, now realising that that wasn't a great apology to begin with but nevertheless continuing to brush my teeth.
"It's okay, I'm just glad I knew Spider-Man's number or who knows what would have happened," she joked, her laugh soft and gentle despite the very heavy situation she had encountered with Venom.
Look, she did call me. And she did leave me a voicemail saying that there was an alien in the club. But I know Venom wouldn't have hurt her, he would have just taken her and sent me some sort of cruel sign in order for me to find them. He did that to get my attention, and it worked.
I quickly went back into the bathroom to rinse my mouth out and come back to properly talk to Y/N, running my fingers quickly through my hair to make it look semi-respectable. I came back into the bedroom to rummage through my drawers for some clothes for myself, pulling out a similar outfit to the one I had picked for Y/N; sweat pants and jumper.
"Thank you for saving me Peter," Y/N said quietly from behind me, causing me to turn around, smile and say 'don't mention it' as if it was as simple as buying her a coffee.
"And I'm sorry I've been weird lately. Uh, a lot happened," she chuckled awkwardly, trying to tackle one of the other elephants in the room.
The stark gala. The revealing of powers. The fight between us. The stagnation in our relationship.
"I'm sorry I was a dick to you that night," I said slipping my underwear on underneath my towel.
This woman had very much seen my penis before, let alone had it in her mouth but for some reason it felt weird to get naked in front of her. Also, it would be weirder for me to leave the room to get changed because of the fact she had seen my penis before. Jesus Christ why am I overthinking all of this?
"I'm sorry for overreacting. I don't drink very often and things just- Things just got out of control let's just say that," she apologised.
With the simple apologies we had exchanged, it seemed like we had an mutual understanding between us now that we didn't have to mention it again. It was kind of like we knew we both fucked up and both wanted to move past it. When Y/N yawned and passed me her empty mug, I told her she should try and sleep which she then nodded at, thanked me again and wriggled down underneath the covers.
It was only about twenty or so minutes I was scrolling aimlessly on social media when Y/N opened the bedroom door with sleepy eyes and an innocent look on her face.
"Hey Pete? Can you lie with me? Just until I manage to fall asleep, I can't seem to turn my brain off," she said gently.
I simply nodded, left my phone on the couch and followed her into my bedroom. Sleeping with Y/N wasn't anything new to me but given our recent situation, I wanted nothing more than to have her curl up against me again. I wanted to feel the warmth of her laying next to me. I wanted her to feel safe with me. I wanted her to want me again just as much as I still wanted her.
"I'm sorry again," she said quietly getting back into bed.
Instinctively I put my arm out for her to curl up against my chest like we used to; which she did to my surprise. I couldn't help but let a small smile creep on my face as we laid together with our heads on the same pillow. Just like old times.
"You don't need to apologise Y/N, we're both just two people who made dumb mistakes," I chuckled, running my hand lightly through her hair as she closed her eyes.
I often forget that Y/N is younger than me, but in moments like this when I see how small and gentle she is, I remember that she's still figuring all this adulting shit out like the rest of us. And it's scary when you're doing that whilst having superpowers.
But right now with her in my arms, nothing feels scary anymore.
