Spider-Man/Peter Parker One-Shots

What Happened To Us?

People handle fights in many different ways. You had an explosive anger, the kind that needed to rage until you were satisfied everything that needed to be said had been. And as soon as you were done, it was gone, snuffed out as if a cold breeze took it. Peter, on the other hand, tried to look for a solution through calm conversation, convinced that your relationship problems could be compromised on. While he was right and you did want to compromise, the way you both fought were vastly different. And it was causing more problems than was normal.

"You do this every time!" you shouted, glaring daggers from over the couch. "You act all superior, 'oh let's just talk about this'. I can't just stop being angry because you want to have a calm chat over tea!"

Peter ran a hand through his hair and avoided your heated gaze. "I'm just trying to get you to calm down-"

"And when has that ever worked? Telling someone to 'calm down'?" You scoffed. "Never." He ran a hand down his face.

"You're impossible to work with. It's like dating a child."

"Are you calling me childish?" You leapt up, a new flame burning in your eyes.

"That's it, I'm done." He stood and headed for the door. "You need to control your temper." was his parting comment as he stepped out the door. You stood fuming for a couple minutes, mumbling angry words under your breath until the flame finally went out.

You collapsed onto the couch, sighing into your hands. You knew you had a problem, anger issues weren't exactly uncommon, but that didn't make managing it any easier. It felt like you were a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment. It didn't help that Peter always insisted on talking it out, and he always said it in a voice like he knew he was better than you just because he didn't have your problem. Deep down you knew it was unintentional but it still threw fuel on the flame.

You didn't know how long you sat there, deep in your thoughts trying to think of a solution. You wanted him to fight back, scream retorts back at you to let it all out; maybe that would help you feel better. Then all of your thoughts would be out in the open and you could both deal with them together. But instead he kept his thoughts to himself, unwilling to say what he really thought, and that scared you. Maybe it was just you, but you saw a bright neon sign spelling 'breakup' in the future.

You stood and headed for the door in a desperate attempt to go after him, not realizing how long it had been since he left. When you threw open the door you were met with Spider-man on your doorstep. Your jaw dropped in shock as he cursed.

"Surprise?" he said, throwing up half-hearted jazz hands. You'd recognize that voice anywhere, especially from a spandex wearing hero at your door for unknown reasons.

"Peter?"

"I didn't mean for you to find out." He pushed past you into the house. He pulled off his mask and messed with his hair.

"You weren't going to tell me?" you gaped. He didn't even look at you.

"No. I wasn't sure things would work out between us. I didn't want you trying to get revenge on me by telling my secret." You held a hand over your suddenly aching heart. He didn't trust you? He doesn't even care how his words come across; he's trying to get back at you for earlier.

"And here I thought relationships were built on trust." You forced a laugh between gritted teeth. "No wonder it's a shitshow recently." He finally turned to you.

"I did it to protect the people I care about."

"Which doesn't seem to include me." He didn't have a response to that. "I can't believe you." When did your relationship get so rocky? It had been great, sure you had minor fights now and then but what couple didn't? Then suddenly it felt like everything you built over the past year was crumbling to pieces.

"What else are you not telling me?" You crossed your arms and faced him. "You got a side hoe? Maybe a sick mother that's dying? Or maybe you never planned on tying the knot with me, maybe you just wanted a fling to satisfy some need for female approval."

"You know my parents are dead," he said, pointing at you with narrowed eyes.

"I don't know anything anymore. You could be a pathological liar stringing me along."

"Now you're just being dramatic."

"You broke my trust, Peter. It's not easy to fix something that's broken."

"So you're going to make wild accusations?"

"You haven't denied anything."

He shook his head, arms folded tightly across his chest. "So that's it then. You've given up on us."

"Oh don't act like you didn't give up long ago," you snarled. "You knew it wasn't going to work out yet you didn't say anything, just slowly grew more and more distant and started arguments so you wouldn't feel bad about leaving."

"That's not true."

"Then why are you making me feel like it?" Tears sprang to your eyes but you couldn't stop them before they were flowing down your cheeks. He looked away.

"I'm not in charge of how you feel."

"...What happened to us?" you whispered. He didn't answer. You knew what you had to do, but your heart ached in protest and you couldn't bring yourself to say the words. Instead you said, "I need to go." and walked out the door.

You thought the night air would bring you a sense of calm but it just made you realize you should've grabbed a jacket. You couldn't tell him that relationships scared the crap out of you. You'd had your heart broken before and it took you too longーunhealthy amounts of longーto move on. It was why you were so hesitant to start another one with someone else, but back then he had been a sweet little kid, nerdy and harmless, you knew he'd never hurt you. But now you were terrified he'd breakup with you and your heart wasn't ready to let go so easily.

So swallowing your pride, you sent him a text asking if he wanted to talk things through. You walked for 5 more minutes before he finally replied with 'Doing SM stuff'. SM? Oh, right. You stuffed your phone back into your pocket and huffed. It was so transparent; he didn't want to talk and he was using his superhero persona to avoid telling you that. A pit formed in your stomach as your gaze fell to the sidewalk. Why couldn't relationships be as easy as books made them out to be?

You sent a text. 'If you're going to breakup with me, you better do it in person.' He had to have the decency to look you in the eyes and tell you he hated your guts, not safely hide behind his screen to spout BS.

'You want to break up???'

You thought for a moment. Did you? No. But it felt necessary. If your relationship was going to consist of arguments and resentment then what was the point of sticking with it? As much as heartache sucks, you knew it was better than dealing with this everyday.

'Come talk to me'

You thought it would take longer to find you but within a minute he was standing next to you with his arms crossed. "I'm here."

"Look, Peter, I love you. I don't want to breakup but if we can't figure this out we- we'll need to." You fiddled with your hair as he nodded slowly.

"I don't want us to end." The tension in your shoulders relaxed. "But what are you suggesting? These problems won't go away by themselves."

"I...I don't know." You weren't even sure if he'd wanted to reconcile, let alone work toward a solution. "All I know is I want to fix this." He smiled for what felt like the first time in years.

"Then I know we can fix it."

A/N: Just felt like writing a lil unhappy one as a contrast to the ones I usually write (because let's be honest: relationships are a lot of work and not all rainbows and happiness).
But anyways, Happy Valentine's Day! 💚