Peter's POV
"Dude, let's go to the football game tonight." Ned said, "I heard the team's playing against the rival school tonight."
"Every school is our rival, Ned."
"Come on, you've been such a sad sack since you and Dianna broke up and it's been months. This could be a pick-me-up."
"We don't even know anything about football."
"We don't have to. Just cheer when everyone cheers and boo when everyone boos. Spider-Man can take a break for one night."
"What if she's there? I don't want to see her. It's not because I despise her or anything."
"Then why have you been avoiding Dianna for all these months?"
"I don't know. I just don't want to try to patch things up again and be turned away and look like a clown."
The truth is, I wish I would've tried to work things out with her. I know that we weren't being completely honest with each other, but there were probably ways that we could've mended things. It was our breaking point and instead of saying we should take a break, we broke up. I didn't fight hard enough for the relationship but neither did she.
I put being Spider-Man at the top of my list of priorities instead of my relationships with people I love. Aunt May even called me out on it–now that was a wake up call. I tried to work things out with Dianna the day after the breakup, but no luck. We were officially over. I know she's still upset. I see it, so am I.
We argued over the dishonesty between the two of us. We argued about my jealousy toward Nick. We argued about her feeling like she's not on my list of priorities. We argued about me putting her in danger, to which she always argued back, "Peter, my dad is the Hulk. I know what kind of danger I'm in." There was so much constant arguing that it was time to end the relationship for both of our sakes.
I miss having her around. I miss going to her so that she can help me clean up my wounds because I know nothing about first aid and I don't want to go to May because it'll worry her more than it already does. I miss hearing her laugh at my stupid jokes, either because they're genuinely idiotically funny or because she feels bad and laughs to make me feel better. I miss her.
"Let's go. It'll get you out of this funk. If we see her, then we see her. It's not like you can avoid her for the rest of your life." Ned nudged me.
I looked at Ned.
"No. You are not going to avoid her for the rest of your life."
"But–"
"Peter. No. You know you love her too much to let that happen. You were together for three years. You can't just erase those three years of memories that you created together."
"I know."
"Why don't we go get some food and then head over to the game and have some fun? We haven't had fun in a while. You need a break from your Spider-Man responsibilities. One night. If anything, Raava can take care of it."
Little did he know that Raava was Dianna in a suit.
I hesitated. Maybe I should go out and have some fun for the first time in a while. I can't keep hiding behind my mask and pretending that I'm holding it together. I can't keep sitting around being a "sad sack". But what if something happens tonight and I'm not there to help? Spider-Man would be blamed for it. No, he's right. Dianna can take care of it.
With Mr. Stark's loss and losing any type of relationship I had with Dianna, things have felt like it's tumbling down on me.
"I'll call Happy and let him know that I'm taking the night off but if anything comes up to let me know." I caved.
"There we go. It's just one night. If anything, you can just postpone your patrolling to later tonight. So technically, you'd only be pushing your night patrol back a couple hours."
"I really hope I don't regret this."
"You won't. Just relax and have some fun. Be a teenager tonight. Not Spider-Man, Peter Parker pre-spider bite."
I nodded.
