Hiding in the Shadows

Chapter 21 - Matchmakers

I felt closer to Peter than I had ever felt before, making me realize how guilty I was for keeping my identity from him. It wasn't fair that I knew his secret, but he was completely oblivious to mine. I had even stopped fighting alongside him during the past couple weeks, not wanting to risk him finding out my identity for my father. Instead I had assigned each borough of New York a number and generated a list of random numbers so that I could choose which part of the city to patrol completely randomly. There was no pattern to it, therefore Peter wouldn't be able to predict where I would be next.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the bell ringing, signaling the end of my English class. I quickly glanced around the classroom, trying to decipher what I had missed when my thoughts wandered off, but had no such luck. I managed to ascertain what we had for homework, but that was about it.

"Hey MJ, what we're talking about at the end of class?" I questioned her in a hushed tone as we began down the hall to our next classes. "I guess I must have spaced off."

"I'll make you a deal, I'll tell you what you missed as long as you tell me what you were so focused on that wasn't Shakespeare," MJ negotiated. "Let me guess, were you thinking about Peter?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" I replied, wondering how she knew. "Why would I have been thinking about him?"

"Oh come on, (Y/N), it is obvious that he really likes you and judging by the way that your hand was clutching his last night I would say that you return the feelings," she promoted, making me turn red in embarrassment. I couldn't believe that I had been that stupid, of course she and Ned had seen us holding hands the night before, I was a fool to think there wouldn't be consequences. "See, look! You're blushing!"

"Shut up, MJ, I don't like Peter," I whispered, realizing that anyone could be listening to us. "Look, I'm a St-(L/N), I don't get stupid schoolgirl crushes. The mere idea is simply ridiculous."

"Well I don't care who you are, you are totally crushing on Peter and I think you should go for it."

"I don't want to ruin the friend group. If Peter and I start dating and then it turns bad, what will happen to the group?"

"Ned will probably stick with Peter and I will stay with you. Unless Peter was just being an idiot, in which case Ned's with you too," she replied simply, as though it was of the least importance. "Come on (Y/N), you came here and immediately took on every challenge thrown at you. You're really going to chicken out of your chance for love?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'll let Peter make the first move, I'm not going to purposely start something that would have such a drastic effect if it fails."

"I suppose that's the best I'm getting from you," MJ sighed. "But I'll take it. Oh, and all you missed was that stupid story that Mr. Wilson told us yesterday about the first time he saw Shakespeare performed live and it changed his life blah, blah, blah."

"Really? You got me to essentially agree to date someone in exchange for absolutely no new information?"

She shrugged, "you agreed to the deal. Gotta go, have fun with Peter!"

I arrived at my physics class, throwing my bag down in annoyance. I couldn't believe that I had just confessed my feelings for Peter to another person. Those feelings needed to stay buried deep, I couldn't risk dating him and allowing him to find out about either of my secrets. Besides, Tony would lose his head if he found out that we ended up dating.

"Hey, (Y/N)," Peter greeted me as he sat at the lab bench next to mine. "I was wondering if you wanted to come over my place this weekend."

"Sounds like fun, what for?" I inquired, my heart racing in my chest.

"I-I thought we could just, like, hang out and maybe watch a movie?" He proposed and from the way he was talking it was clear that Ned and MJ weren't also invited - it would just be me and him.

Part of me wanted to refuse, but another part of me desperately wanted the chance to spend more time with him. I tried weighing the pros and cons, knowing that it would be safer for everyone if I just said no. But I was never one for choosing the safe option.

"I would love to, I'll just have to check with my dad. But I'm sure he'll be fine with it," I smiled, wondering if I would be paying for that response.

-

(Peter's POV):
"MJ and I noticed you and (Y/N) holding hands yesterday," Ned commented as we headed out to physics. "So are you two officially a thing?"

I shook my head, "Ned, she'd never want to date someone like me."

"You're Spider-Man, Peter, of course she'd want to date you!"

"Except for the fact that she can't know that, you're not even supposed to know," I whispered, glancing around paranoid in case anyone overheard what he had said.

"Listen, Peter, you need to tell (Y/N) how you feel otherwise she's going to slip right through your fingers. You've had a crush on her since the moment she walked through the doors and now she's in our friend group, you couldn't have been any luckier!"

"Ned, she doesn't feel about me the way that I feel about her, that much is obvious. And honestly, I would never deserve someone as perfect as she is. Just let the topic go."

But of course Ned failed to listen, "Peter you showed up as Leia and Han last night, surely that's a sign that you two are meant for each other!"

"Ned, you do realize that the two of them shouldn't be used as the prime example of a romantic relationship, right?"

"At least ask her out, ok? If you're right and she doesn't like you back, promise to remain as friends. And if she does feel the same way, then even better! Either way, there's no harm done."

"I-I just can't do it, Ned. I don't think I could handle her rejecting me," I confessed, wringing my hands nervously.

"Peter, you literally face bad guys on a daily basis, you can get up the courage to ask a girl out. Besides, you have to be willing to take a risk to get what you want," Ned encouraged as we approached the classroom. "Go on, ask her out."

I took a deep breath and entered the room, nervously sitting down at the lab bench I normally occupied and turning to (Y/N), "Hey, (Y/N), I was wondering if you wanted to come over my place this weekend."

"Sounds like fun, what for?" She replied with that beautiful smile that rested on her face whenever we spoke together.

I felt nerves taking me over as I stuttered, "I-I thought we could just, like, hang out and maybe w-watch a movie?"

After a silence that felt like an eternity, (Y/N) finally replied, "I would love to, I'll just have to check with my dad. But I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

-

(A/N): look at your kind friends helping you and Peter get together! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!