golden | peter parker

thirty five

Peter's heart stopped. He stumbled backwards, blood rushing to his ears. How could Penny possibly say yes to Flash of all people? He thought she hated him as much as he did. He thought that she despised him.

Peter felt like throwing up. He thought that maybe Penny had liked him back. He thought that when they danced together at the wedding, that maybe they could be something more. He supposed he thought wrong.

He hung his head low and walked away, wanting to change into Spiderman as fast as possible to get his mind off things.

If only Peter had heard Flash and Penny's entire conversation. He would have heard her try to get rid of him almost instantly. He would have heard Flash persist anyway. He would have heard Flash bargain with her. He would have heard that she had conditions for accepting. He would have heard Flash say whatever her terms were, he would follow them. He would have heard Penny say that he needed to leave Peter and Ned alone forever. He would have heard that Penny would meet him at the dance, and that they weren't going to go home together after. He would have heard Penny say that she would only be his date at the dance. He would have heard Flash agree. But what Peter did hear was that Flash asked her, and Penny said yes. He did not see her roll her eyes when Flash told her to get ready to pucker up.

Penny, despite being repulsed by Flash, was almost okay with being his date. It would mean that her friends wouldn't be tormented by him any longer. Although, she was slightly upset. She had hoped that maybe she could go with Peter, but that was just her imagination. Peter would never want to go with her.

Peter went out on his patrol, as Penny walked home. Both of them saddened slightly by the fact that they weren't going to go to homecoming with each other.

As Penny listened to her music, she clambered her way up the eight flights of stairs to her apartment. She was looking after Noah until Sara and William got back in two weeks.

"Noah! I'm home!" Penny called out, as she locked the door behind her. She heard a scrambling coming from what she presumed to be his room, when he came sprinting out of his room.

"Penny! I've been waiting for you to get back! I have a very important question to ask you," Noah said seriously, bounding over with his laptop.

"Go for it," She stated as she flopped down onto the couch.

"What," Noah paused for dramatic effect as he opened the laptop lid, "is this?" It was a photo of her and Peter as they were walking down the aisle. Penny was looking down, a rosy blush dusting her cheeks with a massive grin. Peter was looking at her with such admiration, with just as a big a smile on his face.

Penny grabbed the computer, eyes shining with fondness. Just looking at this photo, seeing how happy they were, in all of its candid glory, caused a smile to grace her lips. Noah watched his sister light up at the photo, it was obvious from the first time he saw them together, but he knew that Penny and Peter would end up together. And this photo, and probably dozens more like it, were the first steps to show her how cute they were.

"This is, well, I don't know what this is," Penny finally answered her brother's question. Her fingertips brushed against the screen, almost as if she was trying to go back to that exact moment.

"Well there are a bunch like it. Even some of you dancing with him at the party. It's disgusting how in love you guys are," Noah rolled his eyes.

"Dude! We are not in love! We're not even dating! What's wrong with you?!" Penny squeaked out, her voice an octave higher than normal.

She wanted one thing to be clear, she had a massive crush on Peter, but that did not mean she loved him.

"Yeah, sure. Okay. I believe you," He sarcastically said, pulling his laptop back. 

"Wait! Send all the pictures of me in them to me?" Penny asked hopefully.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll e-mail it to you later because there are too many attachments to text."

"You're such a strange 10 year old."

"You're a strange 15 year old."

Penny and Noah went back and forth for a couple of minutes, both ending up laughing by the end of it. She would never admit this to anyone, but she actually enjoyed spending time with him. They had so many inside jokes, and genuinely cared about each other, despite being occasionally annoying. They had a strong sibling bond, and they both wanted to stay close when they got older.

Noah went back to his room, as Penny turned on Hot Rod. She loved Andy Samberg, and thought that he was hilarious. She actually wound up falling asleep in the middle of it, and slept straight through dinner. 

Noah had made mac n cheese, and left her out a bowl and a note. so idk when ur gonna wake up but i left you sum food. i plan on playing fortnite with kyle until bedtime so plz dont interrupt me. luv u, enjoy my master chef skillz.

Penny smiled at the note. She ate her food quickly, and another wave of tiredness hit her. As if her, she checked the clock and saw it was 7:48, almost four hour nap wasn't enough. She was genuinely going to go to bed before 8. 

She shrugged her shoulders, and made her way to her bedroom, getting changed into her pajamas. She slipped under her covers, and began to think.

Penny couldn't help but think about how Homecoming was going to be so much fun. She would be able to hang with all her friends, and yeah she'd be with Flash, but it wouldn't be insufferable. Right?

She also thought about that photo of her and Peter that Noah had showed her. Just thinking about it brought a smile to her lips. She couldn't help but feel happy. It radiated joyful energy. She began to wonder if maybe Peter felt the same way she did. It certainly looked like it in the photo, and there is that saying. A picture is worth a thousand words. But what if she was just over analyzing things like she tended to do?

Eventually Penny drifted off to sleep, and despite what she thought would happen, she slept in late. Only waking up when her phone started buzzing because of a phone call from Michelle. She checked the time and saw that it said 11:29. She had slept for nearly 19 hours.

She picked up the phone groggily, "MJ, you're not going to believe how long I just fucking slept for."