The Amazing Life Of Peter Parker (Peter Parker Short Stories)

Black Letters

So I don't know how but I randomly had a burst of inspiration to write this and now I am really excited we'll see if this is trash. This is that soulmate AU where whatever you write on your skin appears on your soulmate's. PS, I am not actually saying who the soulmate is. I know I know, you'll probably want to see a ship but I don't really like writing a romance between 2 existing characters (at least not in the MCU (boyf riends for life)).

ANGST WARNING.

Peter always loved to doodle.  Some might even call it an obsession. Everyone could always see him writing on his arms if 1st grade with color markers, and doodling small animals in 5th grade. He could cover his entire body with small swirls if he had enough time and pens. There was always something on his asking, whether that be a swirl on his ankle or a flower on his wrist. His body was his canvas.

But Peter had another problem.

See Peter struggled with self-esteem issues. It wasn't a constant issue, but he felt very awkward in his own skin. Most of the time he was fine, but sometimes he wasn't.

Peter never hurt himself. The closest he ever got was a patch of red skin from where he scratched himself too long, but he never left scars or scabs on his body. But that isn't to say he didn't leave marks.

Peter would leave himself helpful, reminders on his skin just below his sleeve. He can't really remember when it started, but he can recall covering himself in dark sharpie with barely any of his pale skin left showing.

The messages started off harmless enough, saying things like his locker combination (because he would always forget) or the time he was supposed to meet someone somewhere. But it soon escalated into reminders about himself.

"Don't forget to smile today!" He would write with the thick sharpie.

"Why didn't you laugh at that joke?" The black marker would ask.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Why are you like this?"

"Stop pretending." 

"You are awful."

"No one wants to look at you."

"There is a reason people only appreciate you when you wear a mask."

"You're a failure."

"Trash."

"Ugly."

"Disgusting."

"Selfish."

"Mistake."

It was on one of those days when his entire stomach was coated in a thick black sharpie, that his teacher announced soulmates. The teacher told the class that today was the day they would get to discover their soulmates and that whatever you wrote on your skin would appear on your soulmate's skin too. Peter panicked, like anyone who's entire torso was covered with curse words, and quickly began rummaging through his backpack.

See Peter wasn't stupid. He never forgets about the dark letters sprawled on his skin, and he knows that there would be an issue if someone were to discover the dictionary on his thighs. So to avoid any conflicts, Peter would always carry a bottle of rubbing alcohol with him. He would plan to rub off the letters before PE, that way when he would have to change in the locker room, no one would know his little secret.

So Peter was frantically looking through his backpack while the teacher continued to explain how your soulmate may not be your romantic partner, and that they might just be your platonic match. She continued to explain that they would all go to the gym where there were a bunch of specialists who would activate the chemical compound in their blood, but Peter was too panicked. He had just come to the conclusion that he had left his rubbing alcohol in his locker on the other end of the campus, and was too freaked out to put together a valid excuse to rush over.