P E T E R

        Entering the immense wedding venue, Peter sighs and bites his lip as his eyes scan every table and every chair from left to right to find Zoee Atkins' familiar, yet beautiful, face. 

        When he first landed outside the building where the afterparty is being held, he took a while to straighten his tie and fix the ends of his suit that wouldn't stay down because of the wind that blew it around while he was swinging. He fixed his attire and his hair, looking at his reflection in a parked car's window underneath a streetlight. He sighed in relief as he noticed he didn't have any bruises or cuts on his face anymore, all thanks to his super healing. Once inside, he had trouble with a bouncer who wouldn't let him in because of the crumpled invitation Peter handed him. He "apparently" had trouble reading the paper and didn't believe that he was Zoee's guest since he didn't see him walk in with the Atkins girl. 

        It was until he noticed Laura Atkins from afar, exiting the bathroom. Peter rushed over to her and started rambling about how he was super sorry about being late and how the security guard wouldn't let him in. Laura had to stop him with a chuckle since the poor Parker boy didn't even stop to breathe as he tried to explain. She went with him to the security guard and once the whole misunderstanding was fixed, Peter was allowed in. Laura didn't go in with him since she has someone to find so now Peter is stuck by the front double doors, trying to find his best friend. 

        The hall has a yellow glow coming from round lanterns hung on the ceiling along with strings of fairy lights hung from one corner of the ceiling to another. The large, round tables are covered with white table cloths and lit candles. White lace cloth is woven around the wooden chairs and all in all, the hall looks gorgeous. 

        Peter takes in the scenery while he keeps scanning the room until his eyes fall on a certain someone and his breath is taken away.

        Zoee Atkins' body is clad in a knee-length yellow dress, her hair straight and tucked back, revealing her beautiful face. The lighting of the room makes her skin glow and her smile shine bright. 

        Peter subconsciously smiles at her smile while his body stands still. He feels like as if he moves towards her, she'll disappear. He is stuck in his thoughts when a hand on his shoulder brings him back down to Earth. 

        "She looks beautiful, right?" The Parker boy turns his head to meet with Zoee's mother's face. 

        Peter nods slowly, wanting nothing more to look back at Zoee. "So beautiful." He murmurs. Laura smiles fondly at him and pats his shoulder. 

        "Thank you for everything, Peter. You've helped my Zoee and brought her back to her old self and for that, I will forever be grateful." Peter swore he saw Laura's eyes water and he brought her into a tight hug.

        "No, thank you. Thank you for being so kind to me." 

        Laura hugs him back just as tightly before patting his back and pulling away. "Go get her, tiger." She winks, a mischevious look in her eye. She obviously knows how he feels towards him and Peter notices, growing sweaty. She smirks before she pushes him forward. 

        Peter stumbles but regains himself, his face growing hot as some guests turn to look at him as he yelped. He smooths down his suit and adjusts his tie before walking across the dance floor, making his way towards his dream girl. Girlfriend who? Gwen Stacy is nowhere in his mind right now. 

Z O E E

        Zoee smiles as she watches the newly married couple feed each other from afar. She longs to have a relationship like that one day with whoever that comes her way and offers it, but for now, she wishes it was Peter Parker. She keeps staring at the man and woman in love until she feels a presence looking at her from afar. She turns her head and her eyes meet with Peter Parker's. 

        As he walks towards her, Zoee's smile disappears. She purses her lips to avoid smiling again as she is happy that he ended showing up, but deep down she's upset that he left her waiting. She wants to be mad at him, but looking at his face, all that anger dissolves. Instead of pretending to be angry, she decides to do something even better. 

        Once Peter is finally in front of her, close enough to hear anything from her, he opens his mouth. Before he's able to form any word, Zoee smirks and says, "Fashionably late, huh?"

        She giggles at Peter's reaction as he gapes, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. "W-What?" He's able to stutter out after a few beats. "You're talking—"

        "Yeah, yeah. It's kind of old now." She teases, biting her lip. "I'm glad you made it."

        Peter rushes to take a seat next to her, grabbing her hand. "How? When did this happen?"

        Zoee is silent for a moment, going back and forth with herself to see if she should tell Peter how she finally broke 'the spell' and started to talk again or if she should just keep it to herself. She goes with the latter, smirking again. "That's for me to know and for you to never find out."

        Peter looks down at his lap, mildly hurt, making Zoee's chest tighten in guilt. She is so close to taking it back and admitting everything, but the thoughts of how Peter basically ditched her for Gwen Stacy came to mind. He should feel a little part of what Zoee felt. 

        "Thank you." Zoee does squeeze his hand, making him look at her. "This is your doing, so thank you."

        Peter smiles and lifts their hands, leaving a delicate kiss on the back of her hand. "I love your voice. It's like music to my ears." He murmurs, loud enough for Zoee to hear.

        Much as you blame yourself,
        you can't be blamed for the way that you feel

        Had no example of a love that was even remotely real

        How can you understand something that you never had

        Oh baby if you let me, I can help you out with all of that

        "Speaking of music..." Peter smiles, standing up and softly tugging her up by pulling at her hand. Zoee smiles back and relunctantly stands, following the Parker boy out to the dance floor.

        Girl let me love you

        And I will love you

        Until you learn to love yourself

        Zoee copies Peter, wrapping her arms around his neck while his hands rest on her hips. Althought Ne-Yo song isn't a slow song, Peter and Zoee act like it is. They sway side to side to the beat, nodding their heads to the song. Zoee can't stop laughing and giggling and Peter can't stop chuckling as they probably look ridiculous. People around them are dancing normally by swaying their hips or moving their arms and they are dancing formally which is so funny to them. 

        Girl let me love you

        And I will love you

        Until you learn to love yourself

        After the first chorus is when things get serious. The second verse starts to play making Peter slow down the swaying, Zoee following him since he is leading. Zoee watches as his face goes serious for a moment, his eyes showing pure adoration. The Atkins girl smiles shyly and looks down at their shoes, listening to the lyrics.  

        I can see the pain behind your eyes

        It's been there for quite a while

        I just wanna be the one to remind you what it is to smile

        I would like to show you what true love can really do

        The fast beat chorus starts up again but the couple of best friends remain swaying slowly. Zoee watches as he bites his lip and hears when he mumbles to himself, "Let me love her..."

        The Atkins girl doesn't question it but for the sake of the moment, she believes what he said was meant for her. She pretends this is all a fairytale and that Peter is interested in her, just for this one night. Zoee smiles, looking up into his eyes before leaning in, resting her forehead against his while moving one of her hands to rest on his chest. Peter lets his head rest against hers for a moment before moving his head up and pressing his lips to her forehead. At that moment is where Zoee knows she just fell for Peter, hard. This is when she falls in love with him.

        I love you, Zoee thinks as she opens her mouth.

        But she doesn't say it. They remain holding each other in their arms for the rest of the song, swaying side to side gently. Even when the song is done, they're standing out in the middle of the dance floor, Zoee's chin resting on Peter's shoulder, Peter doing the same on Zoee's bare shoulder. It's until Peter speaks that they break apart. "Let's get out of here." He whispers. Zoee looks up at him with a soft smile and nods, pulling away to grab his hand. Without a word, she leads him out some side doors that lead into a hallway.

        With their hands linked together, they walk around, twirling each other around to the slow music that was playing with loving smiles on their faces. They enjoy each other's company in silence, both falling into silent love without the other knowing.