lacuna || Peter Parker (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

13

"A party?"

Peter looked up from where he sat, glancing at MJ when she asked the question. They sat on the benches, in the quad. Him, Ned, Michelle, Liz and Betty. And, for some reason, Peter found himself avoiding Liz's gaze as much as possible.

But what really surprised Peter, was how he could see. Nothing was juts a blurry, fuzzy mess anymore. He could see every droplet of water on the leaves in the trees and the light glancing off the liquid and every freckle on Michelle's face and-

Oh, Jesus, shut up.

"Yeah!" Liz exclaimed, giving a small smile. "I mean, it'll just be at my house, like normal. And it's a chance for you to get out and about and all that." She told MJ, who squinted at her. There was a lot more tension between them than normal, Peter noticed, and that only made things more awkward.

"And, you know, see some guys!"

Peter spun his head to stare at Michelle...and later, he convinced himself that he only did that to see her reaction. But as soon as he cast his eyes to her, he realised she was already looking at him. And when their eyes met, they both looked away, their faces bright red.

"Um, sorry to disappoint, but I've been single my whole life, and it's going pretty well..." Michelle said looking at her twisting hands on the table.

Liz sighed at that, but her face was determined.

"C'mon, just a little bit of fun!" She insisted, but MJ didn't seem to be listening.

"Like...it's working out..." She said, almost as if to herself.

Ned rolled his eyes. "And I'll be there too! And Peter...maybe, I don't really know." He piped up, looking guiltily at Peter when he mentioned his name.

"I think I'm the one."

And there's a long silence. Liz's face goes blank, and Ned slaps a hand to his forehead. Betty's on her phone and probably had no idea what was going on. Peter was cowering a bit, unsure of how he should feel. Awkward? Embarrassed? Jealous-?

No. Not jealous. What the hell.

"Oh wait, Ned's going?" Michelle said suddenly, turning wide-eyed to look at her friend. "That's a definite pass from me, then. Sorry, bud." 

Okay, so maybe they shouldn't use the word 'friend'. Maybe a little out of context.

"Uh...Liz?" Peter asked, his voice a little high-pitched. She looked up at him, humming. Feeling his stomach heave with nerves, he asked;

"Can we talk? Like, privately?" She looked at him almost expectingly, but also seemingly suspicious.

"Um, yeah! Sure. I'm not really doing anything now, so..." She drifted off, nodding. Peter gave her a small smile, squeezing his hands into fists. He got up from the bench, and so did she. And, as he lead her onto the small path between the quad and the garden, he could've sworn Michelle was watching them as they left.

And now, he stood awkwardly, shifting on his feet, as Liz looked at him even more suspiciously now. He hated it when she did that.

"Um, so-" Peter cleared his throat. "-How's your dad, these days?"

Liz frowned slightly as if confused. Well, she probably was.

"He's fine. Thanks...for asking." She forced an awkward smile, nodding slowly. "Um, why?"

"Oh! I was-I was just wondering. Cos, you know, he's out of town a lot, and I know it can be hard, like, living without your parents and that, so-" He blew out a breath, almost cringing up at her.