Lovebug ── PETER PARKER¹

34. The Boy I Knew

— • —

         Luna felt completely betrayed.

         There was no way to put into words the emotions she felt when she pulled that mask off of the stranger, just to see the face of a boy she already knew. He looked just as shocked as her, the hand he held out to grab onto her dropping to his side as he awaited a reaction.

          Luna's fingers tightened around the mask she held in her hand, shaking her head slightly. "You..." She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence, not wanting to admit it, because admitting it means it was true. Her lips parted as her eyes darted all over his features, hoping he'd make an effort to at least attempt to explain their situation, but he was completely silence.

          Regret washed over his face, and once more he was reaching for the girl, just for her to take a step back. He couldn't lie, seeing her reject him that way hurt him more than he ever thought it would, his heart clenching at the sight of her. "Luna, please," he pleaded.

          She wanted to act like this wouldn't change things, like they could pretend this never happened and go on their date like they planned, but she couldn't. It wasn't possible to just move on after finding out the person you thought you knew was a completely different person, things couldn't just be okay after that. "Were you ever going to tell me?" She asked softly, eyes darting between his in search for the truth. And she got it when his eyes casted downwards, breaking their eye contact for the first time that evening.

         "I was," he eventually admitted.

         "When Peter?" She sniped, his eyes widening at the cold tone of her voice. "After I told you all my personal thoughts? Hm?"

        "No Luna, it wasn't like that–"

         "Then what was it like?" She cut him off, a new wave of emotion coming over her. "Why did you never stop me? Never told me, hey, Luna, I don't think it's right to tell me all this stuff because I am the boy you're talking about. Didn't you think for a second that it wasn't right that you knew all these things, being who you are?" At that moment, he wasn't Spider-Man who saved her twice from the same man, and watched her walk home to make sure she was safe. He was Spider-Man, the boy who knew too much.

         "I didn't know it was me until I saw the book–"

           He stopped himself mid-sentence as Luna realized the truth of the book's disappearance, and once again, she was stepping away from Peter. "You stole it," she breathed, her eyes darting down to the mask still being held by her, wondering how such a flimsy piece of cloth was able to completely change the person who wore it. "You know what," she began, and Peter could already feel his heart beginning to break just from her tone of voice, "maybe we shouldn't go on our date, I don't wanna date someone I know nothing about."

           His face fell at her words, heart falling to the pit of his stomach. "Luna, please." He rushed forward, his hands gripping hers before she could protest. "You do know me, I'm still Peter."

          Luna shook her head, her tear-filled eyes meeting his. "The Peter I knew wouldn't treat me this way." Pushing the mask she held into his hands, she backed out of the alleyway, leaving the heartbroken boy behind.

— • —

          The next few days, things seemed to have completely switched, and Liz and Mia had no clue as to why. They didn't know why their friend didn't smile nearly as much, why she was in such a rush to leave her locker in between periods, why she took the long way to avoid passing the club rooms after the last bell. She refused to provide an explanation for the way she was acting, waving off their questions each time they asked and promptly changing the subject.

          But she didn't need to tell them, not when Ned informed them that Peter was in a sudden moping mood himself, his eyes constantly look past him and at Luna. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots and see the two teens were upset because of one another.

          Liz slammed her hands against the table, making Luna's eyes lift to her, not even flinching at the loud noise. "Spill it!" She demanded, leaning forward to be entirely too close to the girl's face.

          Mia rolled her eyes at the dramatics, sitting beside Liz before yanking her back into her seat. "What she means is we know you're upset because something happened between you and Peter," Luna immediately broke their eye contact, settling her gaze on the script she'd been previously reading, "and we want to help."

          "You can't," She concluded, not even bothering to lift her eyes. Mia's slight smile faded at that, and she immediately turned to Liz for her reaction, seeing the girl now wore a deep frown as well. It wasn't usual for their friend to give up on something so easily, and they certainly didn't expect her to give up on her and Peter so easily.

          Unsure of how to respond to her pessimistic statement, the girls looked hopelessly around the lunchroom. Their eyes eventually landed on the table not too far from their own where Ned sat across from his own friend, trying to coax out an explanation just like them.

        "C'mon, I know little to nothing about girls, but there's no way things changed between you and Luna that quickly."

         Peter let out a sigh, not even bothering to respond. He was tired of it already, tired of Ned's constant pushing, and Mia and Liz's curious glances. They wanted to help, but they couldn't, not this time. This was all his doing, and if he wanted to fix anything, he had to do it on his own. Not that he knew how. Luna had made it her duty to avoid him at all costs, their only interaction in the last few days being when she handed back homework to him in biology after it was given to her by accident. Yet even then, she dropped the paper on his desk without a word, and went back to her desk, unaware of the way his gaze remained on her the rest of the period.

         Peter looked past Ned, his eyes landing on the raven haired girl, her head ducked down as she read the papers in front of her. At that moment, he couldn't help but be angry with himself. He watched as she tucked strands of hair behind her ear, the way her lips quirked up into the smallest smile as she read something funny, how she occasionally looked up to see if someone else had their eyes on her. He was angry, angry that he messed things up with her before they even got a chance to begin.

        "I lied to her," Peter responded, his eyes not leaving her. Not even when she lifted her head and caught him, her eyes lingering on him longer than it had that entire week. Then she broke their eye contact, eyes squeezing shut before she focused on her papers once more, the tiniest bit of hope reinstating itself in him. "I'm... working on it though."