Idoot helped DJ_Tatortot

Summary: You're Peter Parker's friend, you're great with computers, and you don't know that he's Spiderman. And those are just the basics...

QOTP: Peter and Liz or Peter and MJ?

Word Count: 3855

There they go again.

Staring at Liz Allan.

It's not that you don't like Liz Allan; you actually think she's great. Nice, pretty, smart - she's absolutely wonderful. You don't even mind Ned staring at her that much.

It's the fact that Peter's also staring at her.

You sigh, leaning forward on the table so you can see Ned, who's on the other side of Peter. "Ned, if you're going to stare at her so much, why don't you just talk to her?"

Ned, shockingly, looks away from Liz and over at you. "Are you crazy? She's way out of my league."

"You'll never know if you don't try."

"Then I guess I'll never know," he says. You roll your eyes, then he continues. "And, anyway, why me and not Peter?"

At this, Peter actually looks at you, waiting for your answer.

'I like Peter, so telling him to ask someone else out would be stupid,' you think. However, you just end up saying nothing for a moment or so.

Thankfully, Michelle saves you from her seat halfway down the table. "Does it matter? One of you needs to say something or stop the staring. It's getting creepy."

Peter and Ned mumble their, "yeah, yeah"s and turn back to their lunches. You sigh. "So, we still hanging out tonight or what?"

"Yeah," Ned says. "Mom said you guys can come at seven thirty."

"Are we watching Star Wars or are you still opposed?" Peter asks you.

"I'm still opposed," you reply. "We've seen it a thousand times."

"I kinda wanna watch E.T. again," Ned says.

"I'm down," you reply. Peter looks at both of you with disappointment written all over his face. You lightly shove him. "Oh, come on, Pete; it's still space stuff."

He sighs. "Fine."

Soon after that, lunch is over, and the three of you go off to finish the second half of the day.

////

You're at Ned's house at seven thirty on the dot.

Peter isn't.

It starts to become apparent that he's not showing up. Then, he calls Ned, who puts his phone on speaker. "Hello?"

"Hey. I'm not gonna be able to make it. I'm sorry."

"Are you that mad about us choosing E.T.?" you joke, masking your disappointment.

He sort-of chuckles. "No, it's just the-"

"Internship," you and Ned finish simultaneously.

"Yeah..."

"It's cool. But you're missing out," Ned says.

Peter sighs. "I know... I-I gotta go. Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye."

With that, he hangs up.

You sigh heavily, laying back on the couch. "Is it sad that I'm not surprised?"

Ned sighs, too. "I'm not, either." It goes quiet for a while, neither of you in the mood to watch a movie anymore. Finally, Ned says, "You never answered me at lunch today."

"What do you mean?" you ask, knowing exactly what he means.

"When I asked you why I should talk to Liz instead of Peter."

You hesitate. "This is just going to make things awkward for you, but fine. I-"

"- like Peter?" he finishes.

Immediately, you panic. "Is it obvious?"

Ned chuckles. "Definitely not to Peter. He's clueless."

"He's too in love with Liz to notice," you say, half-huffing.

"He's not in love with her, Y/N." Ned sighs. "Honestly, I think he'd choose you over her if you told him how you feel."

"Why?" you ask. "What's that gonna change?"

"It'll make him realize that he doesn't actually like Liz; he likes you."

You raise an eyebrow at him. "Has he told you that?"

"No-"

"Then I'm not telling him. He doesn't need to know, so we should keep this between us," you reply.

"Okay... I still think you should tell him, though."

"No."

////

The almost-completed Lego Death Star is on Peter's bedroom floor in pieces, Ned is standing next to Peter's bed with his mouth hanging open, and Peter himself is in the Spiderman suit in the middle of the room.

"What was that?!" May asks from outside the door, none the wiser.

Peter panics. "Uh, nothing! Nothing!"

"You're the Spiderman," Ned says quietly, amazed. "From Youtube."

Peter, idiotically, presses the button on his chest, causing the suit to fall around his ankles. "I'm not. I'm not."

"You were on the ceiling."

"No, I wasn't - Ned, what are you doing in my room?"

"May let me in; you said we were gonna finish the Death Star-"

"You can't just bust into my room-"

Then, May busts into Peter's room, waving smoke out of her face. "That turkey meatloaf recipe is a disaster. Let's go to dinner. Thai? Ned, you want Thai?"

"Y-" Ned starts.

"No," Peter says over him. "He's got a thing."

"A thing to do," Ned confirms. "After."

"...Okay," May replies, going to leave. "Maybe put on some clothes."

As soon as the door is closed, Ned says, "She doesn't know?"

"Nobody knows," Peter replies, putting on clothes. "Well, I mean, Mr. Stark knows because he made my suit, but that's it."

"Tony Stark made you that?" Ned gasps. "Are you an Avenger?"

Peter pauses, shrugs. "Yeah, basically." Ned grabs onto Peter's bunk bed for support. Peter walks closer to him. "You can't tell anybody about this - you gotta keep it a secret."

"I can't even tell Y/N? You're not gonna tell Y/N?" Ned asks.

"No," Peter replies. "She can't know; she'd just worry about me. That's why I haven't told May, either. If they knew that people were trying to kill me every night-"

"But secrets don't keep friends," Ned says. "And she could help a lot; she's great with computers."

"I know, Ned, but I can't do that her. We'll just keep calling it the Stark Internship-"

"Wait, this is the Stark Internship?" Ned asks.

Peter sighs. "Just... I'll tell you everything at school tomorrow, okay? I gotta go."

"Okay... Think about it, though. I don't wanna keep secrets from her."

"Me neither."

////

The next day, Peter and Ned are staring at Liz next to Peter's locker. You walk in, spotting them immediately. They don't look up, and they don't see you.

They used to.

Irritated, you start forming a rant in your head, walk over, and stand in front of them, blocking their view of Liz. They look at you, and your resolve crumbles.

"Hey," Ned says.

"Hey," Peter mimics, though he notices something in your expression Ned doesn't. "You okay?"

"Ye-Yeah," you reply. He looks at you skeptically, so you continue, almost sheepishly. "It's just that, well, lately, whenever Liz is around, it's, uh, kinda like I don't even exist? You guys are, like, totally focused on her, and I'm sitting right in front of you, but you don't even, um, talk to me... at all... unless I say something first. An-And even then you barely even look at me..."

You aren't looking at their faces, so you don't know what their reactions are, but you're starting to regret every word coming out of your mouth. Then, you spot Michelle, who you share first period with. "Welp, there's Michelle, so I'm going to class - bye!" You start walking away. "Forget everything that I just said!"

Peter sighs and looks at Ned. "I'm not sure I want to tell her."

"Why?" Ned asks.

"Did you see that? She would absolutely crumble under any kind of emotional pressure. Like, for instance, worrying about me going out every night to fight crime."

"I mean, you don't know that. She might not worry as much as you think. And she's probably stronger than you think she is."

Peter stops. "Are we talking about the same person right now?"

Ned sighs. "I know, but still. She could help. And if she thought you were keeping a secret from her like this, I'm sure she'd want to know."

"I know..."

////

Later, at lunch, Peter and Ned actually talked to you again (while stealing glances at Liz, but progress is progress). In your afternoon class with Peter (and Liz), he talked to you whenever possible.

You felt like you had your friends back again.

The next day goes about the same, except Peter cancels plans with you and Ned again - a movie night reschedule. Ned doesn't seem too bothered, but you're disappointed all over again.

"I can't believe he did it again," you say, deciding to actually watch the movie this time. Without him.

"Well, the Stark Internship is pretty time consuming," Ned says.

"Yeah, tell me about it," you reply, putting the movie in.

About halfway through, you finally decide to just enjoy yourself with Ned and forget about Peter for a while. Maybe even until tomorrow.

You're doing pretty great until he calls you about an hour after you get back home from Ned's.

"Hello?" you say, confused as to why he isn't just texting you.

"Hey," he says, sounding breathless. "You home?"

"Yes, why?" you reply, confused.

"I'm coming over," he states simply.

"You're what now? Peter, I don't-"

"I'll be on your fire escape in, like, thirty seconds. What floor is your apartment on again?"

"The fifth floor - Peter, are you okay? Why are you coming over? What's-" Suddenly, you hear a tap on your window. You turn, and see none other than Spiderman looking at you through the glass.

Of course, you yelp.

Luckily, your parents aren't home.

"Um, yeah, that's me," Peter says. "Open up."

In total shock, you hang up and go over to open the window. You don't even notice that he isn't holding a phone. "Peter..." you trail off, unsure what to think. He climbs inside your room and closes the window behind him.

He takes his mask off and holds his hands out. "Surprise?"

"You-You're Spiderman?" you ask.

He shrugs a little. "Yeah."

With that, you need to sit down. Peter sits next to you on your bed, waiting for you to say something. Finally, you ask, "Is this the Stark Internship?"

"Yeah. Mr. Stark is the one who made me this suit."

"Huh."

You go quiet, processing it all. Peter gets nervous. "Are you mad?"

You look over at him. "Why would I be mad?"

"Because I didn't tell you."

You shake your head a little. "No, I'm not mad. This is just... it's a lot."

"Yeah."

"So do you really go out every night, fighting crime? Or...?"

Peter nods. "Yeah. I-I do." There's a pause, then he says, "That's kinda why I didn't tell you. I was worried you would be worried - about me - and it all sounds kind of stupid now that I really think about it."

"I am worried," you reply. "What you're doing - it's dangerous-"

"Y/N-"

"-but I don't think you should stop. And I'm not gonna make myself sick over it. For one thing, you've got a suit made by Tony Stark himself and that's one heck of an advantage.

"And secondly... you're helping people. You're doing a lot of good, so it doesn't matter how worried anybody is. You have to."

Peter, relieved that you understand, hugs you tightly. "I really should've told you sooner. Ned was right."

"Ned knows?" you ask, pulling back to look at him.

"Yeah. I didn't really mean for him to find out..."

Peter tells you the story, and after that, you ask him a million questions. He leaves when your parents come home, both of you feeling better about your friendship than ever.

You even forget about Liz for a moment.

////

"There's no way," Peter says in disbelief, looking over your shoulder at your computer. What was on the screen only partly made sense to him, but he studied it anyway.

"Actually, there is," you reply, typing too quickly for him to even process. "Because I just did it."

"You just hacked into the suit," Ned says excitedly, looking over your other shoulder.

"Tony Stark made that," Peter adds, dumbly pointing at the suit that's hooked up to your computer.

"Uh huh," you reply nonchalantly.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," he says, sitting back; all of the numbers and words swimming on the screen are starting to give him a headache.

"So what do you have to do now?" Ned asks.

"I just need to fix some of the settings on this thing, then I can connect it to the police scanner." You had the idea yesterday - two days after you found out Peter is Spiderman.

This way, instead of just relying on his Spidey sense, he can actually get some details on what and where the crime is. He'll also have a faster response time than the police, considering the webs and everything.

Ned looks over at Peter. "I told you she'd be a big help."

"And you were definitely right."

You smile triumphantly from your chair, continuing to type away.

////

After a few weeks of using the police scanner, Peter can safely say it's a big help. You even installed the option for him to turn it off and on as needed.

It's off now. He's sitting on a rooftop, eating a hot dog from a street vendor on the corner below. The only sounds are the city around him.

Until he hears a voice.

"Hey, Pete."

He jumps and turns, finding no one. "Hello?"

"Dude, relax; it's me," the voice says.

He stops, brows furrowing. "Y/N?"

"Yeah," you say. "Anyway-"

"Where are you?" he asks, still looking around him.

You roll your eyes even though he can't see you. "In your suit. I'm the AI voice, but, like, alive."

"What? Why?"

"Because you never answer your phone when you're out being Spidey, and I need to ask you something," you reply.

"Okay, but I need to ask you something first."

You sigh. "Fine."

"How are you doing this right now? I'm miles away from you."

"I've hacked into it before - I literally plugged it into my computer. It wasn't that hard. Anyway, I need your help on my Chemistry homework."

"You hacked into my suit just to ask me for help on homework?" he asks, incredulous.

"Yes," you reply, "so, question one..."

Peter sat there for about twenty minutes, helping you with your homework. After you made your way back out of the suit (which took a minute), Peter had to admit it: The police scanner and AI were no replacement for you.

They didn't even come close.

////

Since then, you and Peter have been through a lot, including (but not limited to): Liz Allan's party, him getting stuck in warehouse, and him saving you and Ned from a broken elevator in the Washington Monument.

The party can be, for the most part, boiled down to Peter going to put on the Spidey suit to impress Liz, never coming back, and you worrying and calling him a hundred times. He never answered, and your computer was at home, so you couldn't hack into his suit to talk to him. Eventually, though, he called you back.

Then, he got stuck in a warehouse. He told you where he was going before he left so you wouldn't worry. He also told you that if he wasn't back in three hours, call him, and if he didn't answer, then worry. He wasn't back after three hours, so you called him. He didn't answer.

Lucky for Peter, you had your computer and could hack into his suit. Once you figured out the situation, you wanted to try to get the door open, but it simply couldn't be done, and Peter told you not to come get him. You talked for a few hours, though - about everything and nothing - and then you started to fall asleep. Peter told you to go to bed, so you did.

Then, the elevator. That was a whole ordeal. It broke down, and you had a full blown panic attack. Peter saved you all, though. Only you and Ned knew it was him. He got everyone out that was closest to the doors, then you, Ned, and Liz were left. He pulled out Ned, then grabbed Liz, who was also panicked but had enough sense to walk towards him. You were frozen in fear, pressed against the far wall. Peter tried to reach in to grab you, but then the elevator fell. He caught it - and you - and you latched yourself onto him as tight as you possibly could.

"Peter," you said through tears. It was quiet enough that no one else heard.

"You're safe. You're okay. I've got you," Peter replied.

He got you to let go of him by promising he'd be back on the ground as Peter, but he had to go change out of the suit before anyone realized he was missing. So, he swung away and you made your way back to the bottom, Ned's arm around you the whole time. When you saw Peter standing there, you ran to him.

You didn't let go of him for half an hour.

Or maybe it was Peter who didn't let go of you.

As he later told you, when he saw you crying in that elevator, his heart completely shattered. And when the elevator dropped, so did his heart. Right into his stomach. He's never been more panicked in his life.

He nearly lost you.

You think, after all that, maybe you and Peter have a shot. Maybe - just maybe - he really does like you back. Ned thinks so, too.

And then he asks Liz Allan to Homecoming.

////

You try not to cry as you see Peter walk in with Liz. You're standing next to Ned and Michelle.

Michelle, of course, knows about your crush purely from observation (she even drew you being sad over Peter). She sighs, seeing the hurt look on your face. "Don't even worry about him, Y/N. If it bothers you that much, I'll slow dance with you."

You continue to look at Peter. "Thanks for the offer, Michelle, but I wouldn't torture you by making you do that with me."

"Well, I wasn't actually going to, anyway. Just figured I'd offer."

Then, Peter walks over, and you manage a fake smile for a few minutes.

And then he takes off.

He just leaves Liz standing there.

It's Spiderman. You know it's Spiderman.

You take off your shoes - you can't run in high heels - and run out, too, following him down the hallway. "Peter!"

He turns. "Y/N, what are you doing?"

"I think I should ask you that," you reply, though there's no sass in your voice.

He keeps walking, so you follow. "Liz's dad is Vulture."

You audibly gasp. "Liz's dad?!"

He nods, opening his locker and pulling out his Spidey suit. "Yeah. And I have to go stop him, so you need to stay here and not worry about me."

"But, Pete-"

"Please, Y/N," he pleads, his suit jacket already off. He starts taking off his tie.

"Tony Stark himself told you to leave Vulture alone, which means he's dangerous-"

"Y/N-"

"- so I'm coming with you."

Peter stops mid-taking his shoes off. "You what?"

"I'm not letting you go alone, Peter," you reply adamantly. "I'm coming with you."

Peter shakes his head, now taking his socks off. "No. No, you can't come. You could get hurt."

"So could you!"

He sighs. "Y/N, you coming would just make it worse. All I would be doing out there is worrying about you the whole time. You'd be a much bigger help here."

You stop, partly because he just started unbuttoning his shirt, and partly because you're realizing he's right. "Alright, fine. I'm getting Ned and heading to the computer lab."

Peter sighs in relief, his shirt now on the floor. "Thank you."

You start to go, but stop. "Please be careful."

He nods once. "I'll try."

"Promise me."

He stops, pauses. "Promise."

With that, you go and get Ned.

////

There were a few touch and go moments - especially for Peter - and you worried the whole time, considering you couldn't hack into the suit from the school computer. There was also that moment when a teacher came in the room and asked what you were doing.

Ned panicked. "Um... making out."

Your eyes widened as you discreetly minimized the tabs open on the computer. "NED!"

After all that, though, Peter made it out alive. Injured, but alive. And Vulture ended up in prison.

Peter still hasn't told you the specifics of what happened, save (most of) the fight on the beach. He knows you'll freak when he tells you about the building collapsing on top of him, but he'll tell you eventually.

He's not sure if he'll mention that the thing that gave him the strength to get out of it was thinking of you and the fact that he promised you. That would possibly imply the fact that he's pretty sure he's, like, in love with you, and he's terrified of rejection.

Liz leaves, and Peter apologizes yet again. It seems like she's forgiven him.

You and Ned shut down rumors about the two of you making out at Homecoming, which Peter finds hilarious (and sometimes eggs on).

Life is good. Aside from the fact that Peter is bottling up his feelings for you and vice versa.

Finally, though, you decide to take a chance.

////

Peter is swinging toward a crime scene - a bank robbery in progress (no innocent civilians involved) - when he hears, "Hey, Pete," in his ears.

He chuckles. "Is there any reason you're hacking into my suit right now?"

You sigh. "We've been over this. I knew you were on your rounds so you wouldn't answer your phone."

"I might've."

You scoff. "Yeah, but when have you ever?"

"Alright, you got me there," he sighs, still swinging. "Is there any specific reason why you want to talk to me right now or are you just bored?"

You're suddenly not in a quippy mood. "A little bit of both. I need to ask you something."

Peter's brows furrow. He lands on a rooftop. "Yeah?"

You take a deep breath, close your eyes as if it will help, and ask, "Do you wanna go on a date with me?"

Peter blushes as his stomach does a backflip. "A-A date?"

You open your eyes, hearing his reaction. You may have misinterpreted, though... "Y-Yeah. With me. Maybe. I-If you want."

Peter grins. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to."

You grin, too. "Great."

"Great."

There's a pause, then you say, "So I'll text you details later? You're probably busy being Spiderman at the moment."

Peter remembers the robbery. "Yeah, a little bit."

"Alright. Later, Pete."

"Later."

You start to click various things on your computer. "Actually, hold on. This is gonna take a minute. I have to get back out of the suit..." Peter laughs, already ready to swing away. Finally, you have one more button to press. "Bye."

He shoots a web at the building in front of him, still grinning. "Bye."