Flowers trapped in the web

Chapter 12

I paced anxiously as I waited for the dreaded doorbell to ring. I was going to tell Peter. Today. And holy shit was I nervous. Well, I guess technically I was telling him something he already knew, but at least he would know that I know that he knows. You know?

Maybe I should have put on something other than my pj's.

My socks made me slide across the floor as I turned abruptly towards the door as it shrilled, shit he was here.

"hey" I felt my lips twitch as I smiled up at Peter, his face growing concerned.

"are you okay?"

"yeah why wouldn't I be?" I asked, ushering him inside, glad to see he was in joggers with one of his familiar star wars hoodies.

"you just seem nervous?"

"do you want some water? I'm having some" I deflected as he set his bag down by the door, feeling him watching me as I filled a cup from the tap and took a sip.

"Alex, take a deep breath" he took me by my shoulders gently, gaze boring into me "what is it?"

"I know you know" my eyes flickered between his and he let out a high-pitched laugh.

"what?"

"I know you know about the whole flower thing" he was taken back, catching his tongue between his teeth.

"oh"

"I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for lying to you and Ned and MJ about it, I promise it's not a big deal or that I'm some sort of supervillain or something, I mean at most I can kill plants pretty well but other than that I'm completely-"

"brilliant, completely brilliant" he finished for me, taking my face in his hands "it's okay, I'm sorry we pried about it, me and Ned did this whole experiment to test out your powers" it clicked in my head and things began to make a lot more sense.

"so that's why you guys were so persistent with those videos!" he nodded sheepishly, and I chuckled, "you guys aren't weirded out or anything?"

"I mean, it's not like you're wreaking havoc on anyone by making a few flowers bloom." Peter reasoned "why do they come from your head?" I shrugged.

"your guess is as good as mine, I think it's because they grow like hair follicles, from the root." He nodded.

"that makes sense, does it hurt?"

"when I pull them out? I can barely feel it, obviously, otherwise I would have known you were taking them a lot sooner" he blushed knowing he was caught red handed.

"I just thought they were really pretty, and I didn't think you wanted anyone to see" I smiled softly, admiring the way his eyelashes fluttered across his cheek. I willed my potted plants back to their normal state with a little force.

"I didn't know you could do that" he touched one of the leaves softly.

"I've been practicing" I stated, calling on Alexa to turn on my fairy lights before turning to the boy leaning against my kitchen island.

"Thank you" I leant up, pressing a kiss to his cheek "I really appreciate your help, and the fact you didn't tell anyone else."

"of course," his eyes twinkled down at me "did you chose a movie yet?" a grin lit up my face and he groaned "please don't tell me it's a horror"

"Okay, I won't tell you"

It was funny, watching Peter's face as he squirmed as the music rose in suspense, the Swedish people about to murder yet another American.

We were about halfway into Midsomer, and he had settled himself between my legs, hugging my waist with his head tucked against my stomach, a blanket covering his bottom half whilst I had one wrapped around my shoulders.

"we can turn it over" I murmured quietly, my fingers trailing up and down his back soothingly.

"no, it's good" he protested, "I'm really enjoying it"

"tell your face that" I smirked, and he pinched my skin lightly.

"Did he just-" his eyes widened as we watched the man on the screen pick pubes out of his food. Peter gagged and I bit down on my lip to prevent myself from giggling.

"okay I think this is getting too much" I held his arm as I twisted my body to grab the remote.

"no, we have to finish this now! I need to see how it ends" he pulled me back down, pinning me to the sofa.

"are you sure? Because I really don't mind if we watch something else. I don't want to traumatise you or anything"

"It can't get much worse than this right?" my silence didn't help his fear, but he did make it to the end of the film. Not without his mouth hanging open as he sat up in disbelief.

"But she- all the stuff that happened! And now she's one of them?" Peter turned to me, and I chuckled, shrugging.

"They accepted her, and she gets to be on acid until the ripe old age of 72 or something."

"But-what?" he slumped back into the sofa, running both hands through his hair and clutching at the roots. "I don't understand"

"it's a bit of a brain fuck for sure" I opened YouTube and brought up the behind-the-scenes videos to help calm his mind. I got up to grab a glass of cranberry juice, bringing Peter back some twizzlers for us to share as I curled up next to him. "the first twenty minutes were so long"

"yeah, but it set up her trauma pretty nicely. But it could've been cut down to like five minutes" we discussed for a while, laughing at the behind the scenes and I could see he was feeling a lot better.

I yawned as I brushed my teeth, blinking at myself in the mirror lazily. I was on my last legs for sure. It was probably about twelve now, but I was so tired.

"sounds like someone's ready for bed" Peter joked, leaning his head back on the sofa and I frowned, feeling the temperature difference in here. It was certainly a lot colder in here than my room.

"do you wanna share my bed? It's freezing out here" I said, shivering to prove my point.

"are you sure? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable" I snorted, shimming back to my room and he hopped to his feet to follow. I cleared my extra pillows out of the way and pulled back the sheets.

"I have a phone charger on my side if you want me to plug yours in?"

"thanks" he tossed me his phone gratefully, falling onto the bed with a content sigh. "your room is so cool"

"do you like the pictures? I thought they were pretty funny" his body turned to my picture wall and a grin soon lit up his face.

"that's so cool wow, I forgot about some of these" I perched on my side of the bed, pulling my damp hair out of its bun, and fluffing out my hair, I always found I got headaches if I slept with ponytails in.

"you can get in the bed you know," he tentatively pulled back the sheets and lay down next to me.

"you wanna snuggle? My body runs pretty high" I shimmied closer to his open arms, and he was right, I was immediately wrapped in a blanket of warmth.

"you're like a human radiator" my voice was quiet against his top, hoodie now on the floor. "mmm" I hummed, my heart and body both at rest in the arms of Peter. I tucked my hands against his chest, brushing across a piece of exposed skin just above his waist and pressing my cold fingers against it, which made him gasp.

"you're hands are so cold!"

"you know you love me" even with my eyes shut I could sense his smile as he tucked his head on top of mine, squeezing me closer to him.

"whatever you say"