Spider-Man Imagines I

Let Her Down | Peter Parker [TH] / Ned Leeds

"Hey, it's Peter! Looks like I'm busy at the moment. Leave a message - later!"

You sighed at the all too familiar sound of Peter's voicemail. You licked your lips when the phone beeped and then took a deep breath.

"Hey," you said, "just... checking in to see when you were coming over. Well, I guess you and Ned decided you had better things to do. Just wish you would have told me." You felt tears in your throat. "I'll see you guys Monday I guess." You ended the message and dropped your phone in your lap, looking around at the food you had prepared.

Peter and Ned had gotten busier than usual, and so when they finally agreed to hang out with you again, you were ecstatic. A movie night was long overdue. They even seemed excited about it - encouraging you to buy chips and dip and appetizers from the freezer. Plus, you had rented all their favorite action movies.

And yet they didn't show up, leaving you with a platter stacked high with buffalo wings and a bowl of taco dip. And the thick feeling of hot tears in your throat, of course.

You slowly started to clean up, moving food from the coffee table to the kitchen. Maybe, you thought, if you moved slow enough, they would show up.

But no one knocked on the door by the time the bowl of dip was covered with plastic wrap or the buffalo wings were in Tupperware in the fridge.

You grabbed a can of Coke and ditched the idea of dinner entirely. Your mom walked in, smiling and glancing around the kitchen for your friends.

"Where are the boys?" she asked.

"They didn't show up," you said, avoiding looking at her so you wouldn't cry.

"Oh, honey-" She shook her head. "Maybe they're just late."

"Two hours late, Mom? I don't think so," you said. Tears were in your eyes now. You walked quickly out of the kitchen and towards your room, praying that she would not follow.

She didn't. You collapsed on your bed, sobbing into the plush of your pillow.

Sometimes it didn't seem worth it to keep up with friends that didn't care. Sometimes you felt like giving it all up - but then you imagined life without them. If you didn't try, they wouldn't make any effort to speak to you. It was up to you to reach out or you would be alone forever.

Not that reaching out was doing you any good nowadays.

...

You went to school with every intention of ignoring Peter and Ned. How long you would actually go through with that, you weren't sure, but it was worth a shot anyway.

When you walked by Peter's locker, Ned was there, leaning in close to Peter's ear. The two looked like they were exchanging secrets.

Secrets you weren't trusted with.

Secrets that didn't include you.

You kept your head down and walked on by, heart physically aching.

"Hey! ___!" Peter called, hand reaching around Ned to stop you.

You felt his fingers brush your shoulder. You flinched.

Peter noticed.

"Hey," he said again, all concerned and sorry. He looked at you with pity as you turned around, sucking your bottom lip into your mouth. "We're, uh, sorry for not showing up on Friday."

You shrugged. "S'okay," you said, not sure if it was or not.

"We just feel like you're mad at us," Ned said, frowning. "Something important came up."