unruly › peter parker

eleven. i like you

🕸

SO WHAT SHE wrote was right.

Words left Rhea, even if she was just asking for confirmation, Peter, her best friend, being Spider-man... She was just at a loss for words, but at the same time, there were a lot of questions she couldn't get out.

"How-" she began, only to hear the distant sound of jangling keys that immediately put her on edge. "Shit, Peter, you have to leave now."

"I-I'll leave my stuff here, I'm coming back tonight."

"You're what?"

"I... need to tell you something, okay, wait, turn around!"

She turned around as told, hearing him fumbling about behind her, God knows what he was doing. Wait, was he stripping?

"What are you doing?" Silence. Sighing, she turned only to be greeted by his Science shirt and jeans crumpled on her carpeted floor, accompanied by his opened schoolbag and shoes.

"How on earth did you get out of those jeans that fast?" Smiling to herself, she scampered towards his mess and turned it into a greater mess (although concealed) by shoving it behind her bed before her mother, bursting through her door, could see them.

- 9 : 2 6 p m -

"I'm here."

She sat up in her bed to see Spider-man, no, Peter freaking Parker (she reminded herself), coming through the window she had opened a few hours prior to prepare for his return as the city's crime-fighting spiderling.

She swept her feet off the bed, placing her phone down that she's been using to kill time earlier, and approached him, feeling the night breeze wicking her heat away faster than her body could replace it without the warm embrace of her blanket.

He swiftly pulled off the mask from his head, revealing his tousled hair and face so tired that she knew his brain was perhaps at most, on five percent battery. What did he need to tell her that he couldn't wait another day?

Her eyes stayed glued on him though, the skin-tight suit clinging onto him and framing his body proportions that were cleverly hidden by his day-to-day clothes. This was a different side to him. A side she hasn't gotten to know, yet already fond of.

"So..." she trailed off, pursing her lips and gulping nervously. The only light illuminating her room was the worn out lightbulb on the verge of burning out that would flicker at times, and perhaps some subtle glow from tonight's full moon. But even the dimness wasn't able to hide Peter's face from her, in which she admitted, he looked striking in that suit. "You said you can't lie, but you sorta did?" She mocked, crossing her arms.

He grinned at her, crinkles forming at the side of his eyes and lips, "Well... There's a difference between lying and keeping a secret."

"True," she shrugged and paused, quickly locking her door before continuing. "What did you want to tell me?"

That's when he froze, his jovial expression fading into that of tenseness as if he wasn't the one proclaiming that he had something important to say in the first place. "I... Uhm..." he started, fidgeting with his hands slightly, "I planned to tell you this next weekend. Actually, I wanted to tell you 4 days ago, but I decided to do it right now, cause' I was afraid I'd keep pushing it back until I never get to tell you and then it'll be too late."

"Whoa whoa, slow down, you're speaking too fast," she chuckled, clearly sensing his strain, although it was different from his habitual awkwardness. He's still him under that silly, man-spider costume.

He drew in a breath as he steadied himself, "I..."

Rhea made sure she could hear him loud and clear, taking a step forward with a slightly raised eyebrow, she waited for the rest of his sentence with jittery anticipation.

"I like you."

She couldn't find her voice. Heat rose to her cheeks and her stomach turned heavy, she was really hoping the lack of brightness in this room could hide that. But him saying that aloud-

-she knew she felt the same way.

Her head was merely filled with the erratic pounding in her chest, and she struggled to find the perfect words to reply him with, not even the simplest "I like you too" came to mind. She was simply too stupefied, that all she could do was silently inhale and exhale, hoping her body would resume the rest of its functions. At the moment, she's only an upright, breathing rag doll.

Peter's gaze looked sadder at her short silence, fearing that perhaps, she didn't feel the same way that he did for her. How even on the most exhausting of days, a single thought of her would be able to jumpstart his heart. How he could vividly recall every moment they spent together. And be it the happiest, gloomiest or nastiest of days, he still wanted to be with her. And for a moment, that world he created came crashing down when she remained quiet. But he was ready to accept Rhea just being his friend. That was enough for his longing heart. 

"Peter," she finally spoke, no longer able to meet his eyes as confidently as she did before, now she felt almost coy. "I like you too."

- - - - -

qotd !! ;
any mcu character likely to become a glucose guardian? ;)