"A party?"

Peter looked up from where he sat, glancing at MJ when she asked the question. They sat on the benches, in the quad. Him, Ned, Michelle, Liz and Betty. And, for some reason, Peter found himself avoiding Liz's gaze as much as possible.

But what really surprised Peter, was how he could see. Nothing was juts a blurry, fuzzy mess anymore. He could see every droplet of water on the leaves in the trees and the light glancing off the liquid and every freckle on Michelle's face and-

Oh, Jesus, shut up.

"Yeah!" Liz exclaimed, giving a small smile. "I mean, it'll just be at my house, like normal. And it's a chance for you to get out and about and all that." She told MJ, who squinted at her. There was a lot more tension between them than normal, Peter noticed, and that only made things more awkward.

"And, you know, see some guys!"

Peter spun his head to stare at Michelle...and later, he convinced himself that he only did that to see her reaction. But as soon as he cast his eyes to her, he realised she was already looking at him. And when their eyes met, they both looked away, their faces bright red.

"Um, sorry to disappoint, but I've been single my whole life, and it's going pretty well..." Michelle said looking at her twisting hands on the table.

Liz sighed at that, but her face was determined.

"C'mon, just a little bit of fun!" She insisted, but MJ didn't seem to be listening.

"Like...it's working out..." She said, almost as if to herself.

Ned rolled his eyes. "And I'll be there too! And Peter...maybe, I don't really know." He piped up, looking guiltily at Peter when he mentioned his name.

"I think I'm the one."

And there's a long silence. Liz's face goes blank, and Ned slaps a hand to his forehead. Betty's on her phone and probably had no idea what was going on. Peter was cowering a bit, unsure of how he should feel. Awkward? Embarrassed? Jealous-?

No. Not jealous. What the hell.

"Oh wait, Ned's going?" Michelle said suddenly, turning wide-eyed to look at her friend. "That's a definite pass from me, then. Sorry, bud." 

Okay, so maybe they shouldn't use the word 'friend'. Maybe a little out of context.

"Uh...Liz?" Peter asked, his voice a little high-pitched. She looked up at him, humming. Feeling his stomach heave with nerves, he asked;

"Can we talk? Like, privately?" She looked at him almost expectingly, but also seemingly suspicious.

"Um, yeah! Sure. I'm not really doing anything now, so..." She drifted off, nodding. Peter gave her a small smile, squeezing his hands into fists. He got up from the bench, and so did she. And, as he lead her onto the small path between the quad and the garden, he could've sworn Michelle was watching them as they left.

And now, he stood awkwardly, shifting on his feet, as Liz looked at him even more suspiciously now. He hated it when she did that.

"Um, so-" Peter cleared his throat. "-How's your dad, these days?"

Liz frowned slightly as if confused. Well, she probably was.

"He's fine. Thanks...for asking." She forced an awkward smile, nodding slowly. "Um, why?"

"Oh! I was-I was just wondering. Cos, you know, he's out of town a lot, and I know it can be hard, like, living without your parents and that, so-" He blew out a breath, almost cringing up at her.

"Oh, yeah well, he's away a lot lately. He just got a promotion, I think." Liz said, and her face seemed to relax a bit. Peter sighed quietly a bit in relief.

"So...what does he do? His job, I mean." He added.

Liz quickly looked around, and Peter felt a twinge of confusion. Then, she took a small step closer to him and opened her mouth, and-

"He-"

But the bell rang. And she took a step back, biting her lip.

"Um, I guess I gotta get to class now. Sorry." She said, awkward again. "Talk later?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah." Peter mumbled. And he watched her as she walked away, feeling something a bit like distrust simmering inside of him. And he wasn't entirely sure why.

...

"Hey, Penis Parker!"

Peter spun around, and started walking down the hallway, away from the gloating voice behind him. He seriously didn't want to deal with Flash right now.

And then, remembering he had Spanish with the bully, he groaned, rolling his eyes. And turned around and walked back down the hallway toward his Spanish class. Of which Flash was standing right outside of.

"Why're you hitting on your girl's dad?" He asked, but Peter ignored him. He tried to walk into the class, but Flash punched out an arm across his chest. Peter closed his eyes momentarily, sighing deeply. He was done with Flash. Really, really, very truly done.

"Not rising to the bait, huh? Did your dad never teach you how to fight?" Peter felt anger clench his heart, at the mention of his dad. "Oh! That's right!" Flash continued, still not letting Peter through.

"He died, didn't he?"

And, God dammit Peter, he felt moisture prick his eyes, and Flash let out a satisfied laugh.

"Wow, are you seriously crying right now? Wuss." He smirked, and a few people from inside the classroom were snickering.

"What a baby." One of the girls said, pointing at him.

"Get your effing hands off of me." Peter growls, except he didn't say 'effing'. (A/N: Chaos Walking, anyone...?) He was trying to control his anger. Because if he snapped, he could seriously hurt Flash and anyone else around him at the time, and give away that he was Spider-Man.

"Woah, Parker, did you use to kiss your mother with that mouth before she died-?" Flash started, and Peter felt like his whole body was being doused in icy fury, but Michelle saved him.

"Just shut up, Thompson. Literally no one cares." She said in her usual bored voice. Peter turned his head, realising she was leaning against the opposite wall in the hallway outside Spanish, quite obviously waiting to get inside. Flash immediately dropped his hand as the teacher walked around the corner, and Peter wiped his eyes, embarrassed. Why was he so weak?

And Spanish passed slowly. Impossibly slow.

He sat next to MJ, and definitely only because Ned wasn't in his language class. He was taking French instead. But Flash kept taunting him, while the teachers back was turned, and Peter didn't know how much more he could take by the time the bell sounded at 3:20. He jumped from his seat, practically skidding from the room and all the way to his locker.

"Hey, dude!" Ned said, from the locker next to his.

"Hey." He said shortly, immediately regretting sounding so rude. But Ned being Ned, didn't seem to mind. God, he had the best friends.

"So, I would do that 'join me and together we can build my new LEGO Death Star' thing, but I've already said that. So, I'm just gonna ask if you want to come over to my place tonight. Oh, and I don't have a new LEGO Death Star, because last time I asked that, I found out you were Spider-Man, and that was way cooler than building things out of LEGO." He rattled off, and Peter grinned as he shoved his school books into his backpack.

"Yeah, um, I'll probably be going on patrol later tonight though. But I'm sure you can-"

"Oh my God he gave your suit back! That's awesome, dude!" Ned exclaimed, clapping a hand over his mouth excitedly. Peter let out a little laugh, nodding his head.

"Yeah, but I gotta tell you all about it. So, you gotta come over tonight because I seriously can't...yeah, just come over, like, ASAP." Peter said, not caring how stupid he sounded, and Ned bristled with uncontrollable excitement.

"Okay, okay, I'll make sure my mom doesn't want me to go to the furniture store with her. I'm getting a double bed! How cool is that?!" Ned said, and they both shut their lockers at the same time.

"Guess what happened in Spanish today." Peter mumbled to Ned, as they walked through the nearly empty hallway. Pretty much everybody had already gone home. Ned and Peter always take a long time to get prepared.

"Oh now, did Flash-?"

"Yeah. And I freaking cried! In front of him and the whole class and MJ, Ned! MJ!" Peter sighed, rubbing his face. Ned frowned at Peter, his concern for his friend shown clearly on his round face.

"You don't need to feel ashamed, Peter." Came a quiet voice from behind them. Both friends spun around, and Peter's jaw dropped open in shock.

It was Flash. And the look on his face – regret, regret, regret.

Peter wasn't entirely sure of what to say, and both of them just sort of stood there, gaping like a pair of fish.

And then Flash's expression changed, from the sorrow into an evil grin.

"That's your parent's job."

And he reached up and ruffled Peter's hair. But he barely noticed.

Because now he was gripping Flash's forearm in his hand, twisting it from above his head. He heard Flash let out a cry of pain, but he didn't care. The rage and hate boiled inside of him from years and years of bullying and holding it all in and he was letting it out now-

And he swung back his arm, as he held Flash in a painful grip-

And he punched the bully in the stomach-

And that sent him flying across the hallway, and-

SMASH-

He crashed into the lockers, leaving a dent there.

And Peter stood there, breathing heavily, hands shaking. Ned was staring horrified at both Peter and Flash, eyes as wide as saucers.

And Peter blinked, falling back to reality with a whoosh, and stumbled back a few steps in surprise at what he had done. He couldn't tear his eyes away from where Flash lay, unconscious.

"Oh my God..." Peter whispered, not knowing what else to say. "Oh my God..."

"Peter..." Ned began, but Peter was already staggering down the hallway.

He had let go. He had freaking let himself go. He was such an idiot. And now Flash was hurt because of his stupid recklessness. What a freaking coward.

And he ran down the hall, eyes set firmly on the wide double-doors at the end of it. And he ran and ran and felt regret at leaving Ned to deal with Flash and regret of hurting Flash himself and, and-

He fell through the doors, eyes searching frantically for his bike in the racks and his eyes passed over-

What the hell?

A sleek black car, the wheels orange and one of the fanciest cars Peter had ever set eyes on.

And standing by the door, black suit and sunglasses – the whole lot – was Mr Stark.

--

hey guys, I updated. Obvi. Anyway, this is sorta short. Butttt...

200 READS I'M SO HAPPY OH MY LORD!

I know it's not much for all you accomplished peeps, but it's probs the most reads on a story i've ever had so I'm happy.

and all you people who vote on my stories - I lysm!!! I literally feel so happy whenever I see that someone has. It makes my day every time. Honestly. I love all you guys who even read my boring stuff. 

Just so y'all know, a lot of the time I use chapters as vents. It makes me feel so much better. Anyone else?

Y'all I'm so excited for Infinity War!!! But if anyone hurts my smol bean imma sue Marvel.

Anywayssss, ttfn <3 <3 (Ugh, why can't you do emojis??)

Will probs update some time next weeks.

LuvForStydia xx