Sunflower (or, a Solangelo Spider-Man AU)

I Feel Like I Might Sink and Drown and Die ! (actually real)

"You have a crush on Mafia dude?!"

Will flinched at the volume of Cecil's voice. His words practically echoed across the lunch room. "Can you shut up?" he hissed. "And that is NOTHING like what I just said."

"That's what I heard." Cecil shrugged, twirling the straw in his juice box. "You save this guy. You think he's hot. You see him at school. Find out he's Mafia dude. Still think he's hot."

"I- that is completely inaccurate. And can you STOP calling him that?"

"What? Mafia dude?"

"Yes! He doesn't like it. His name is Nico."

"Nicooooo." Cecil drawled. "Hmm. Nicoooo. Not as fun as Mafia dude."

Will decided that if he talked to Cecil for one more moment, he might actually punch him, so he turned his focus to Lou Ellen. "Okay. What do you think?"

Lou Ellen shrugged. "I really hate to say it, but I agree with Cecil. You have a crush on the guy."

"I have no such thing!!" Will sputtered. "So I think he's cool. What's there about it?"

"You gave us a detailed description of what he looked like, sounded like, acted like, and smelled like." Lou Ellen replied dryly.

"Mhm," Cecil said through a mouthful of chips. "Like the ground after it rains and pine trees."

Will flushed. "I'm an observant person! And even if I did have a crush on him, what would it matter?"

"Uh, duh. You're Spider-Man. You can't like someone who's in the Mafia." Cecil said.

Will wanted to reach across the table and choke Cecil, but knowing him, he probably would've just made a weird joke out of it. "Don't say that so loudly!!" Will whispered. "It's called a SECRET identity for a reason. And again, he's not in the Mafia!!"

"Did he ever actually say that he wasn't in the Mafia?"

"Um, no, but it was implied-"

"So I'm right!" Cecil leaned back in his seat victoriously.

Will buried his face in his hands and sighed.

Lou Ellen spoke up again. "Will, it doesn't really matter if you like him or not. It matters whether you can accept how you feel, and not push it down or deny it."

"You're one to talk," Will mumbled. "You and Cecil-"

"This is not about me and Cecil!"

"But it could be." Cecil said, grinning at Lou Ellen.

Lou Ellen shoved him without even looking. "ANYWAYS, what I'm saying is, you need to confront your feelings. Talk to..."

She trailed off, her eyes fixed behind Will. Will looked over his shoulder, following her gaze, and saw Nico. He was wandering kind of aimlessly, fiddling with his jacket cuffs.

"Is that him?" Lou Ellen hissed to Will.

"Um. Yeah?"

"Ask him to sit with us!"

"WHAT? No!!"

"Don't you like him?"

"I mean, yeah, but-"

"So ask him to sit with us! What's there to lose?"

"There's a lot to lose, Lou Ellen! What if I do something wrong or say something dumb, and then he thinks I'm weird, and doesn't talk to me, and everything is terrible!"

Lou Ellen and Cecil shared a look. "And you say you DON'T have a crush on him." Lou Ellen said.

Will tried to think of a retort, but came up empty. He shoved himself up from the table. "Fine. I'll ask him to sit with us. Don't be surprised if he declines after seeing Cecil."