PETER 🕷

_

UH.

Okay, so that happened. A girl I met a few days ago, who happens to be really pretty and smart, just told me she was my soulmate, and now I need to seriously rethink my life. No, I do that every day. I need to jump off a building and into a pool of shark-infested waters just so I can punish myself for doing the unthinkable.

I friend-zoned her.

PETER WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Okay, okay, in my defense, she said Spider-Man was her soulmate, and not me (Peter Parker the sad idiot), so I was perfectly justified. It's too dangerous to be Spidey and date a civilian. She could be held hostage or in danger just because of my masked persona.

Was that a mistake?

No, it was the right thing to do, I only want to protect her.

Gosh, I'm supposed to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, not the evil heart-breaker Spider-Man. I need to speak to my not-qualified therapist Ned, because he'll know what to do. Or, at the very least, he can provide me some reassurance that I did the right thing.

"You did the dumbest thing alive," Ned said as soon as I told him.

Okay, so maybe this was a bad idea.

"You had one job, Peter," he continued, pacing around my room, "find your soulmate, date her, marry her, and have a happy ending."

I winced. "I don't think—"

"And then you screwed it all up!"

It was nearly midnight, May was asleep, and I was getting reprimanded by my friend for making a mistake. It was a mistake, and now I have this stomach full of guilt instead of dinner, because I didn't feel like eating (because of the guilt, you feel me?).

So now I was crouched underneath my bunk bed, watching as Ned paced across my wooden floor, shaking his head at me in disappointment. He had a right to be, honestly. I made him stalk [y/n] all the way to Brooklyn, because I overheard her and that kid with the blue hair talking about finding Spider-Man. I thought she was a fan!

I didn't think she was my soulmate.

Help, I'm not mentally-stable enough to take all of this in right now. I thought I was going to end up alone, and now I've just gone and friend-zoned this cool, pretty, science-girl—sorry, scientist—who I'm fatefully tied too.

"I was just trying to protect her," I sighed, slumping onto my wall.

Ned scoffed. "From what? A bike thief?"

"No—"

"You're just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, not an Avenger, so the world isn't out to get you like you think it is," my friend said, "and now [y/n] is probably out there with a broken heart, and you couldn't even protect her from that."

There was a heavy pause in the room.

"Wow, Ned, that was deep," I blinked.

He nodded. "Yeah, that was."

"You should be a motivational speaker."

"No, I'm the guy in the chair," he corrected, before snapping back on topic, "but focus, Peter, we need to figure out how we're going to fix this problem."

I sighed, smashing my head into my pillow. "Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry."

I really was sorry. Not for myself, but for her. She had this sad glint in her eyes when I told her it was too risky, and it was painful to watch that sadness turn into annoyance when she started to walk away. I didn't want her to hate me, I only wanted to protect her.

"I pity your soulmate," Ned said bluntly.

I gasped. "Hey!"

"What? I'm right!"

Ned was a great friend, but he also was unafraid to speak his opinion on some subjects, and unfortunately, roasting me was one of them. My dignity was nonexistent in his presence. Not that I had any to begin with. Wow, my life is sad.

"So what should I do?" I asked, my voice muffled by my pillow, "apologize?"

Ned tapped his finger against his chin. "No."

"Really?"

"If Spider-Man apologizes to her, she might think you mean you still want to date her," he explained, "but since you're 'trying to keep her safe' and whatnot, you can't do that."

I blinked. "So I just don't apologize for rejecting her?"

"Yes."

There was another pause, where the two of us just stared blankly at each other.

"Ned, that plan sucks," I said, "it's not even a plan."

He frowned. "Hey, at least I'm trying here."

"I appreciate it, but I think the only I can do is wallow in my misery."

Smashing my face into the pillow again, I let out a groan, cursing life for its miseries. When I first got bitten by a radioactive spider, I thought I'd finally be cool. All the girls would flock my way, I'd be more popular than Flash, and my life would be inherently better than what it was before.

But no, that's not at all what happened.

Instead, I'm still just as lame as before, all the girls think I'm some 30 year-old vigilante, and Flash still picks on me in front of the whole school. And, to top it all off, I've just rejected my soulmate. I know I've said that for the millionth time, but it was such a dumb thing to do, I'm still slightly in shock of it all.

"Wait!" Ned yelled suddenly, springing onto his feet, "I've got it!"

I turned my head. "Got what?"

"A plan!"

Intrigued, I sat up, poking my head out from under the bunk-bed to get a better look at my friend.

"If she can't date Spider-Man," he grinned, "why doesn't she date Peter Parker?"

I gave him a strange look. "Ned, I am Spider-Man."

"I know."

"Then what's your point?"

"My point is that she doesn't know you're Spider-Man," he explained, "so if she dates Peter instead, she'll be safe, and you'll still end up together as soulmates should."

Oooo, yes, this was a very good plan.

Nodding my head, I thought it through, thinking of all the possible outcomes that could happen. None of them seemed alarmingly bad, because this genuinely sounded like a good idea. All I had to do was get her to forget Spider-Man, and like me instead (yes, I'm aware that I am Spidey, but to the rest of the world, we're two different people).

And if she could fall for me?

Then maybe the two of us won't end up alone, and we can fulfill our role as soulmates. Boo-ya.

"Alright," I grinned, "let's do it."