Peter Parker & Tom Holland Imagines

walking the wire pt.1 {p.p.}

Request by AO3 user Athena's_favorite_child

Another week, another city, another show.

I let out an exhausted sigh and add another pin in my hair. Sometimes I wish that this wasn't my life—that the circus wasn't all I've ever known. Or that at the very least there was a choice in it all. Because right now, my only future is here—running the show when my parents retire and, until then, being the star of the show.

"Almost ready?" Luke, my trapeze partner, calls as he slips inside my section of the crew's tent. I nod with a tight-lipped smile that he sees right through. "Hey, cheer up! I thought you would be excited for this. Just think about it, once we finish this week's show, it's off to Europe."

"It's all I've been able to think about." I grumble as I push myself to my feet so I can pace freely. "I'm not ready for this, Luke, and I don't think I ever will be."

"Yes, you will be." He argues with a soft smile. "What do you think about your parents have been doing all year?"

I ignore the question and turn to face him. "Do you ever wish that we had something more than just the circus? Like, don't you ever want to be somewhere for more than a week of performing?"

Luke opens his mouth to say something, but he's cut off by Tilly, his girlfriend and our fire juggler, shouting and rushing us to our places. "Good luck! We've got a great crowd out there tonight." Her bright, bubbling enthusiasm almost makes me crack a smile, but it quickly fades when I see Luke's pensive look. "Go, go. You don't want to miss your cue."

I shake my head to dispel the lingering daze as I climbs up to the big top tent's rafters and to the empty platform. My hands deftly untie the knot and secure hand around the rope with a tug to check it. All the while, my dad begins his grand routine of introducing and boasting about my act.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the most enthralling trapeze act you will ever see." As his voice dies off, the spotlight splits and highlights both Luke and I.

My feet balance on the edge of the platform as I check the rope with another tug and lean over the edge of the platform to shout, "Guess we better give them a real show, huh?"

Luke smiles mischievously to help sell the act as he replies with his line of, "And what did you have in mind?"

"How about this?" With the statement, I let myself fall from the platform, which makes a loud gasp echo from the audience that's quickly followed by applause when the rope picks up the slack. Luke follows suit as he swings out to the waiting trapeze bar and grabs a hold of me so we swing in tandem.

My mind gets lost in the haze of the routine and adrenaline of it all. I try to let it take my mind off of the look Luke gave me when I asked, and it creates a sliver of fear embed in my chest wondering if he'll say anything to my parents. I doubt they'd understand. After all, my whole life I've heard lectures about how this is a dying art and shame on everyone who leaves it to die.

Sometimes, I think that if I were to leave, it would break them.

I brush the thought aside as Luke and I finish the routine and are lowered down to the ground, where we take our bows before the rest of the crew joins us for the end of the night. Tilly's hand wraps in mine as she smiles and bounces on her feet with the excitement of a child at the—well at the circus. It makes me smile as I look out to the crowd and make eye contact with someone.

The whole world seems to slow down as one second drags out into several. People's claps happen slowly, the crew suspended in a slow bow, and there we are—just looking at each other in surprise. There's a faint smile on his face, but his eyes glimmer with a look I've never seen before. It makes me want nothing more than to go introduce myself to the cute boy.

Except, I don't get the chance.

Time resumes and moves faster than usual to play catch up for the delay, and I'm tugged away before I can so much as blink. It's not until we're back in the crew tent and most of the crowd has dispersed that I seem to be back to normal, but I keep wondering about the guy.

"Y/N," Luke says, which draws my attention to him and off what just happened, "Are you okay? What's all this talk about change coming from?"

"I—I just—" I stutter in search of a believable lie, but come up blank. Luckily, Tilly has fantastic timing and nudges me with a devious grin. "What's that look for?"

"You have an admirer. He's waiting for you out there if you want to go see him, which if I were you I totally would." She sing-songs and motions to the front of our dressing tent. "He's a real cutie. You should at least go meet him."

My heart pounds in my chest as Tilly hands me a jacket to wear in the New York cold as she nudges me out of the tent. I stumble from the force and hear her giggles echoing from inside the tent as I look around for the mysterious 'admirer.' It only takes a second before I find him.

He has his hands shoved in his pockets with his back to me, but I can tell it's him. It's like there's a magnet in my chest that draws me closer to him, and he turns around as I take a few steps forward. His brown eyes widen and jaw goes slack when he sees me. "Um—hi," he whispers as his breath puffs out in clouds against the cold.

"Hi," I mumble with a soft smile and try not to blush with the way he's looking at me, "I—I heard you were asking about me. I'm Y/N."

"Yeah, I was. I'm Peter, by the way." He pauses, clearly as nervous about this as I am, "So, this may sound kind of strange, but um—can I—I mean would you—"

I smile softly at him and put a hand on his arm, "Hey, you don't need to be nervous or anything. I promise, I don't bite."

Peter smiles at me, and I swear it makes my heart forget how to beat for a split second. "Would you like to get coffee or something sometime?"

I have to pause a moment to look around before I can answer. As much as I want to agree, we'll only be here for a week like always. I don't know if I want to give him a chance only to disappear soon, but something in me thinks about how everything stopped when we saw each other. Maybe there's more to this than I know, and the least I can do is give it a chance.

"Yeah," I tell him with a growing smile, "I'd like that very much."

"Cool—awesome." He stutters and scrambles for his phone, "Can I get your number so we can figure out the details?"

I laugh and try to ignore the sudden warmth I feel when our fingers brush, "Here's my number, but if you want, maybe we can go get coffee in the morning? I should have some free time before we have to get stuff ready for tomorrow's show."

"Yeah, that sounds great." He smiles and looks down at his phone when I pass it back as if to make sure this is all real. "How about the coffee shop a few blocks down at eight?"

"The one with the funny name?" I question and laugh with him at it. "So, I guess I'll see you then?" Peter nods with a goofy grin, and in a burst of confidence, I lean forward and press a kiss to his cheek. "I can't wait. Goodnight, Peter."

He mumbles something back, and I try to keep myself from blushing as I walk away. That fails horribly when I glance behind me to see Peter staring dreamily into space before pumping his fist and cheering. A laugh escapes me, and I can't stop smiling as I think about tomorrow.