two sided | peter parker

XXXIII | contumacious

『contumacious | adj. | stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority』

HER EARBUDS BLASTED, playing the '90s and early 2000s bops that she'd grown so used to listening to. Nowadays, mainstream music was merely rap songs with mumble that didn't make sense or unnecessary rap verses barging into an already perfect song and destroying its innocence within a few lines.

Peter swung onto the roof, this routine becoming pretty common as the days passed. It was always the same schedule, Peter would always work with Tony in the lab on fixing and upgrading his suit along with Tony's. On the other hand, Y/n was stuck training the new recently found hybrids, Genevieve and Wren.

Genevieve was sarcastic and blunt, tending to tease Wren often. The two got along just fine, Wren being more chill and having the same general personality. Genevieve, who commonly went by Viva and had a soft Italian accent, usually wore her messy and curly hair done up with a more punk look.

Wren, on the other hand, had black hair that turned to fuchsia at the tips. They were pretty sweet with silver and brown eyes that could turn into mean and angry ones within milliseconds. Wren tended to be a bit paranoid, but played it cool and tried their best to keep up a strong front of the others, especially Faye.

Ebony kept her distance, mostly lingering by Faye and leaving Y/n to rely on Peter more than ever. After the incident, the past was behind them and not looking back at it was the best option. Everyone was merely focused on recovering and it was obvious when Tony's health deteriorated so much that he passed out in the lab, Pepper forcing him to get bed rest.

Allowing Spotify to choose a recommended song, Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee came up. Her head moved side to side as she played with the bookmark in her hands, getting distracted from the beautiful sunset as her book sat on the side, forgotten. Peter's soft greeting made her tilt her head up, smile, and offer an earbud.

He gladly took it, plopping down beside her and folding the corner of the book's page to mark it since the bookmark was still being fiddled with in her fingers. "This isn't a bad song," He commented, smiling when Post Malone came up and kept up with the soft beat. Y/n nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She laid her head on his shoulder silently.

Recently, she'd been pretty quiet as had the others, but her especially. Yet, somehow, Peter always managed to get through to her and talk to her. The crying sessions, his comforting words, his hugs, they'd slowly been inching her out of her depression stage. The only thing that held her back was Faye's refusal to talk to her, her brown eyes glowing with hatred each time.

Peter could tell one of those quiet days. The ones where she felt slightly exhausted and distant, as if she just wanted to float with her thoughts. Still in his suit and the mask at his side, he smiled at her and jabbed his thumb to the right. "Do you want to get some coffee?" Y/n's eyes lit up, the girl nodding and grinning in return.

His hand rested on her hip, the girl pulling his mask on for him as he fumbled with the earbuds and managed to keep the one in his ear still stuck in. The other was still in her ear and her phone was tucked away in the pocket of her hoodie. Grabbing his backpack with him and setting it on his other shoulder, he swung away and ducked into a dark alley. 

The music went to pause once they landed. She kept an eye out with her back to him as he changed and stuffed his suit into his backpack. Y/n turned, the boy giving her a quick thumbs up and beaming before wrapping his arm around her nervously. His hand seemed to be shaking, as if he was questioning if it was okay. Reaching and lightly tugging his fingers, he sighed in relief.

His backpack on again, her earbuds were shared between them whilst Sunflower kept playing. The music stopped, Y/n tugging her phone out and placing it on loop before smiling at Peter and putting her phone back. He grinned for a fraction of a second, his eyes landing on the coffee shop shortly afterwards as he led her over.

Letting her sit down, Peter bounced on his heels in line with a few dollars in his hand. Although he was paying this time, Y/n was sure to sneak back in some of her own money into his wallet to pay him back. As he stood, the door's bell rang and signaled someone entered. "No way! Is that Penis Parker?" Peter froze, slowly turning his head and meeting Flash's eyes.

Y/n even shot up, looking at the boy with a sense of peculiarity. As if feeling his look of concern and nervousness, she slowly strolled over to him and intertwined her fingers with his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The larger man in front of her that she didn't recognize, laughed. "Oh my God! You're who he moved on to? Damn, you're an unlucky one. At least date something!"

Her eyebrows furrowed at him, her head cocking at his narcissistic statements. He continued to egg Peter on, expecting some kind of reaction or if it were to happen, him to hide behind his 'girlfriend'. Y/n took a step forward and unlaced her fingers, looking Flash in the eye as the culprit smirked. 

With a quick swing, her fist made contact with Flash's jaw and a sickening crack rang out. Almost instantly, the cashier was yelling at them to get out while Peter grabbed Y/n's hand and practically sprinted out with her. She stayed silent, not saying much, but her eyes burned with fury and absolute irritation. 

Sitting at the steps of an apartment building, he knelt in front of her and took out his essentials when it came to 'hero time'. Peter took out some bandages, glancing back and forth between his backpack and her purple knuckles. "You can't just punch anyone," He spoke softly, scolding her as he rolled the bandages around her hand.

Y/n shrugged, whispering back. "He isn't anyone. He's an asshole. That guy has a category of his own, for God's sake." He chuckled at her words and brown locked with e/c his eyebrow raised in amusement. Finishing the bandages on her hand, he tossed the leftover back into his backpack and zipped it up. "I know, I dealt with him in high school. It was so hard not to kick his ass."

They laughed for a bit more, shit talking over Flash and the stupid asshole like things he did back in Peter's four years of high school. Not much high school as it is torture, but he left out the parts of Rebecca protecting him from Flash and rather referred to her as 'Flash repellent', making Y/n snort at some point.

As stars filled the side, she reached over and put her hand on top of his, whilst leaning her head on his shoulder. "It's not only because he's an asshole. I can't lose you too, Peter." Y/n boldly said, her statement only coming out as a small whisper in between the spectrum of softer and silent. 

He glanced at her with a gentle smile, flipping his hand so his palm was against hers. "You won't. I promise you won't."