Spiderboy

forty two

Peter turned, and scanned the restaurant until he spotted me. His face lot up as I squeezed through two gossiping ladies, and joined them. Peter was wearing the same clothes he had worn to school, and was joined by his aunt May, who smiled at me warmly.
"Alexis, hi, you remember aunt May." he said, gesturing to his aunt and I nodded. May smiled at me and patted Peters shoulder.
"I'll find us a seat and something to order. You two take your time." she said and I shook my head.
"no, that's fine. My uncle owns this place, I can take your order." I said and Peter raised his eyebrow, clearly only finding this out now.
"oh, lovely! Well I'd love to meet him, is he here?" she enunciated and I nodded, leading them towards the front counter.
"Uncle Jack?" I inquired, and he appeared from behind a shelf, wiping flour off his hands into his red apron and smiled.
"that's me. Is there a problem?" he said and I shook my head, stepping back.
"no, I wanted to introduce you, this is May Parker, and Peter." I said, ignoring Uncle Jacks raised eyebrow at Peters name. I blushed a bit, and ignored Peters eyes.
"nice to meet you both, I'd this your first time comic to the den?" he questioned and I didn't hear May's reply, instead going to back to the few bites left on my pancakes and homework. I felt a faint warmth in my side as Peter slid into the stool next to me, looking over the page I was reading.
"so now you study?" he taunted, making me laugh.
"hush, at least I'm doing it." I answered, elbowing his softly and he chuckled.
"yeah." I watched May and Uncle Jack converse for a bit, then turned back to my work, flicking over a page. I saw movement out the corner of my eye and my hand snapped out, as Peter reached for the remainder of my pancakes. He laughed, easily dodging, and snatching the last bite with my fork. I huffed, shutting my book and rolling my eyes. I stood up and took the plate behind the counter, to the mechanic dishwasher, and hearing Peter laughing. I smiled, glancing back to see him. I walked over to Uncle Jack behind the counter and joined in his conversation with May, and Peter did the same.
"Alexis, how come you know Peter?" Uncle Jack questioned, smirking and I dropped my mouth open in surprise, then crossed my arms.
"I know him from school. I said, sticking out my chin and Peter winked. Uncle Jack saw this, and grinned evilly.
"oh, of course, you mentioned that when you were talking about him a few weeks ago. Remember, when you came home wearing his jumper?" he said, and I glared at him. Peter caught my eye and smiled, and I knew he was thinking the same as I was. That same day was when Peter came through the fire escape after I broke up with Flash, and stayed the night. For a millisecond, I saw myself that day, wearing his school jersey and against the bookcase in my room, and then waking up early in the morning, not alone. I bit back smile and turned back to Uncle Jack.
"it may have come into conversation." I said indifferently, and May smiled good-naturedly.
"I seem to remember a similar conversation, when Peter came home and announced that you would be staying the night." she laughed, and I blushed. Uncle jacks eyebrows shot up and he gave me a stern look.
"are you telling me when you stayed at a friends house that night, you were staying with Peter?" he scolded and I winced.
"um, surprise?" I said meekly and May put her arm around my shoulder.
"relax, Jack. They were with me, nothing." she said, and I smiled gratefully at her, and Uncle Jack raised his eyebrow.
"so something might have happened?" he pointed out, more teasing than getting us in trouble, and I laughed, refusing to look at Peter.
"relax, I fell asleep as soon as I got there." I reasoned, and hurried to change topic. Uncle Jack didn't seem to be as willing.
"just school friends?" he implored and I raised my eyebrow.
"I'm sixteen, not six." I said firmly, and he chuckled, nodding.
"alright then. I should get working, Alexis, you have study to do." he commanded and I huffed going back to my stool and sitting back down. I flipped open a random book, and stared at the pages, listening to the conversation between Peter, May and Uncle Jack, and resting my head in my hand. I could hear Peter's warm voice, Uncle Jack's deep booming voice, and May's laugh. I took out my phone, scrolling through random people off of instagram, and felt Peter join me again.
"I got no more pancakes for you, you are them all." I joked and he grinned.
"because that's the only thing I get out of your company." he sassed back, mocking me and I laughed, shaking my head at his goofiness. He beamed at me and I smiled back, relishing in the mix of Peters smile, and the warm chocolaty scents from around me. I hummed in contentment and put my phone down on the bench, next to my long-forgotten thick shake that I was surprised Peter hadn't stolen yet. He spun in his bar stool, leaning back on his elbows, which were resting on the bench top, covering up my books and almost knocking over my drink. I took my shake and sucked on the straw, staring absentmindedly through the window out at the street, then back at Peter, who was watching the jukebox swap songs with a penny.
"you look bored." I stated and he raised his eyebrow.
"I was thinking." he said and I wrinkled my nose.
"sounds boring" I mused and he laughed.
"not with you around." Peter grinned, and we both turned, bringing our attention back to my uncle and his aunt.