𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 — 𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢

☕

          "HARRY, I MADE a mistake," Peter announced that night as he slammed the door to their dorm, a distressed look on his face.

Harry, who had been typing on his computer, stopped and looked at the Parker boy with a suspicious gaze as he raised an eyebrow. He wasn't terribly concerned, Peter was known to be very dramatic, but it did raise flags that Peter was going to him and not Ned or calling MJ. "What is it?" he cautiously asked.

Peter emitted a groan, flopping down on his bed, moving his face to the side so that he could speak clearly. "Brendon asked me out today," he said.

Harry grinned, but only for a second, but coughing to hide what he had done. Of course Peter was in distress and here he was, grinning like a mad man proud of his friend for holding up their agreement but also finally making a damn move on his crush. Harry was tired of hearing about how great Peter was or having Cindy complain to him about how often Brendon talked about Peter's eyes or abs or whatever.

But looking at Peter, he looked so terribly broken and bad and that...that didn't look good. It was not a look he would expect from the statement he had previously said. He expected joy, nervousness sure, but mostly unbounded happiness that someone finally made a move and they were getting this show on the road. Not...not sadness. Not terror.

This was not right. Harry had been so sure that Peter liked Brendon back, everyone had, and they couldn't all be wrong. It had been so obvious, Peter was the absolute worst at keeping secrets, and he couldn't have fooled everyone about this. They had to be right, but the expression on his face made Harry feel like they had all been terribly wrong.

"Um, so what happened?" Harry asked, "I-I mean, why is Brendon asking you out such a bad thing?"

"It isn't!" Peter cried, hiding his face in his bed for a minute while Harry grew even more perplexed.

So it wasn't a bad thing, which meant they were right and Peter liked Brendon and they were going on a date...then why was he looking like this? Was it a prank? Was Brendon trying to get his revenge on Harry and asked Peter to guilt him into thinking he had done something terribly wrong by making the deal on the first place? Because that's how he was feeling right now.

"Um..."

"It's a great thing, it is. I-I've been trying to get myself to do it for at least a month now," Peter continued, "But he asked me and, you know, I was so shocked because I didn't think he liked me at all – well, at least not romantically or anything."

"I'm still not seeing what's so bad here, Peter," Harry broke in, getting a small glare from the Parker boy before it was gone.

"I'm getting to that," Peter told him, "So, he asked me out and I was just – I was shocked. I couldn't say anything for a moment because my mind was racing and no words for coming out and I guess Brendon took that as a bad thing because then he ran away from and said it was fine that I didn't feel the same way but I do! I do feel the same way I just...I was so shocked and nothing was working!"

And it was so true. Peter wanted more than anything to go on a date with Brendon Winchester, to hold his hand and kiss his lips because that sounded so great. He wanted to make Brendon blush and to touch his cheeks and call him his boyfriend...God, he wanted all of that, he was just such an idiot.

Because he never really thought that Brendon could like him. Yeah, Cindy said that it was true and so did his Aunt May. They said they saw it and Brendon really liked him and that's great but he just didn't believe it. How could he? Whoever even liked plain old Peter Parker; the geeky boy who awkwardly spoke and wore sweaters every single day.

No one liked Peter Parker romantically. No one ever really liked Peter Parker at all. But people loved Spider-Man, even Brendon did, because Spider-Man was a hero. He stole the spotlight and saved people, saved the city. Everyone looked at Spider-Man, most people loved him, but no one loved Peter.

Apparently Brendon did. Which drove his heart wild, made all these leaps happen inside his stomach, and made him want to smile like a mad man but he had messed everything up. In his joy and shock he had been silent and Brendon had panicked and now he had ruined everything. He was such an idiot.

"Oh, shit," Harry breathed out, quiet for a second before looking at Peter again, "Well, I'm sure everything's going to be fine. You just need to find Brendon while he's working and explain everything. It'll be fine then."

"But what if it isn't?" Peter whined, a frown covering his features at the thought of never talking to Brendon again.

Because Spanish would be so awkward and there would be no one to wake him up at the end of class and lend him notes. Because sitting with them at lunch on Thursday would be awkward because everyone there was friends with Brendon first and then him. Bren and Betty barely knew him, didn't even share a single class with him.

Yeah, he had gone to high school with Betty, but they never talked. Betty was friends with Liz Allan and Flash, not Peter, Ned, or MJ. Cindy had been the same.

And he didn't want it to be awkward. He wanted everything to be the same and maybe better, maybe with Peter sitting beside Brendon and holding his hand. That made him happy to think about, though it didn't do much to affect his mood seeing the current status of his relationship with Brendon.

"Peter, stop worrying so much," Harry told him, "Everything will be fine and if it's not I'll hit you and Brendon on the head then lock you in a room together so that you can work everything out."

"Thanks. That's...oddly comforting," Peter told him honestly, because at least being locked in a room together with Brendon meant that he would have the chance to talk to Brendon without the other boy running away from him again.

Harry smiled at him. "I try."

＆

Brendon had successfully avoided Peter for five days. They had been a miserable five days, he would admit, but at least he had avoided the burning shame he would feel when he saw Peter again. Yeah, he wanted to apologize again and move on and not feel awkward, but at the same time he knew there was no going back to before he had asked the boy out so avoiding him just seemed like the best thing to do in the current situation.

"Cynthia?" he called out, looking at the name on the coffee cup and grinning to himself when Cindy rolled her eyes and came up to take the cup from him.

"I fucking hate you," she growled at him, only causing him to laugh at her. "No, seriously, you're the worst."

He scoffed, "Am not. Plus, you make it too fun not to mispronounce your name every time you get a drink."

"Am I just going to have to start getting coffee when you aren't working now to avoid this?" Cindy asked him, sipping at her drink.

Brendon frowned. "Hey! You don't have to go that far!" he paused for a second before adding, "And if I'm not here then you won't get a discount."

"Damn, you know how much I love discounts," Cindy swore to herself before sighing, "Ugh, fine. You win. I'll keep getting my coffee while you're on shift."

"Good," Brendon brightened, "Now go run along before Izzy gets on my ass again."

As he said that, Izzy walked out from the back and shot him a glare and a smile which caused him to make himself smaller and smile back at her with a wave. Cindy laughed at the interaction, "Fine, fine. Have fun working, Brennie."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved her off, taking another cup that Bren had placed down on the counter before him. "Tom?"

A guy came up and took the drink and once he was gone, Brendon stepped back and saw that there was no one taking orders so he got back to it. It went like that for minutes, writing down orders on cups with names and sending it to Bren or Izzy before cashing them up because they don't do free drinks there. That would be a terrible business strategy if they did.

It only stopped when he looked at the end of the line and froze momentarily. Peter was there; he was there in line and he looked so incredibly nervous and Brendon felt his heart stop. Oh, no. He could not face Peter for the first time after his awkward rejection at work. This was like the worst possible time for him to come!

He looked back and grabbed Bren, startling the other boy. "Hey, what the –"

"Peter's here," Brendon cut him off, "Can you take orders for me? I need to take my five minute break right now."

Bren nodded and Brendon sighed in relief, practically rushing to the back where he began to pace. Why was Peter there? Was it to torment him for so foolishly thinking that he was gay and would even like a disaster such as Brendon? God, he was so stupid for doing that. He should've never made that bet with Harry because now everything was so awkward and different and he just wanted to go back to before he made that mistake.

He peered out the window of the door and saw that Peter was gaining in the line and turned away again. He couldn't do this again if Peter came back but he just couldn't face the boy. It would be too humiliating and Brendon really didn't feel like never being able to go back to work or ever showing his face in public ever again.

After another two minutes he looked out again to see that Peter was sitting down as he waited for his drink. Oh, shit. Please don't let Peter sit around at the coffee shop while he drank his drink, that would actually be the worst thing in the whole entire world.

But he couldn't keep hiding in the back, he was already using up his break for the day and he didn't want to get fired for this or anything. So, manning up, Brendon walked back out there and began making drinks because at least then he could turn his back to Peter and try and forget that he was there.

And he did that. For three drinks, at least, before seeing that the drinks he placed on the counter that were finished weren't being called out and cursing internally that he had to be the one to do that.

Picking up the first drink, he called a man that wasn't Peter. And that was his luck for number two. Alright, only one other cup. It wouldn't be Peter, it couldn't, unless the world really was wicked and cruel and so terribly evil and just wanted Brendon to suffer. And...

Shit. It was Peter. The universe really was a cruel being, wasn't it? "Peter?" he called out hesitantly, seeing how his head snapped up and he walked towards the counter.

Once Peter got to the counter, he gave the boy his drink and wanted to just run off but stopped himself. He couldn't do that again even though everything inside of him was screaming to just bolt and go for it.

"Um, Brendon, can I talk to you?" Peter hesitantly asked but all Brendon could feel was dread.

No, the last thing he wanted to do was talk to Peter again and go through such an embarrassing conversation where Peter calmly explained to him that he didn't like boys or just didn't like Brendon like that. He couldn't go through that.

"Sorry, I'm working," Brendon told him before rushing off, not seeing how Peter's face fell at that as he sighed to himself before leaving the building.

All Brendon could feel was relief at seeing Peter leave, missing a terrible conversation that he had built up in his head with the boy. It was better like this. He would get used to the routine soon enough.