requested by crashingdiscoball. thank you for your covers! hope you enjoy your imagine <3

* I'll be posting one cover request imagine per day (so long as my schedule allows it) and will be trying to post a part to our ongoing series as well

//

Peter Parker was your best friend. And you had a lot of friends, like Ned and Cindy and Betty and Flash, but Peter was your absolute greatest friend. 

You absolutely adored him. There was no one you could be goofier with. You spent every weekend with him, ate lunch with him at school ever day, and spent every moment you could texting or calling him. And not once did he ever seem like he was annoyed with you.

Until he started to hang around MJ a little more than usual. 

At first it was just before class started. He'd say good morning to you, mention one of your inside jokes maybe, then talk to Michelle for the rest of the time. It stung, and you felt something you'd never felt before: jealousy. 

It was an ugly feeling and you despised it. More than that, you despised Peter and Michelle for making you feel it. Why were they suddenly hanging around each other? Since when did Michelle let anybody hug her like that, or speak to her in class while she drew her pictures?

That Wednesday, for the first time, you walked to lunch alone. Peter was busy with Michelle at the end of the class, laughing about something you weren't involved in. You went ahead and left, getting in the line for lunch before they even got to the cafeteria. After you paid for your wrapped sandwich and bag of chips and milk, you headed towards the lunch table. At least Ned was nice to sit with. Maybe he could even make you feel better. 

You sat your tray down and smiled at Ned. He greeted you, poking a fork into a ravioli. "What's up?" he asked. 

"Um... nothing."

"Where's Pete?" he asked. 

"I, uh, don't know," you replied. To change the subject, you asked, "How's the ravioli?"

"Okay," he said, shrugging. "Are you alright?"

"Mhm." You unwrapped your sandwich. "I'm fine."

You pretended to take extra care in putting your favorite sauce on top and then picking the right place to take the first bite. As you did that, your cheeks burned, because you heard Ned say, "There you are, Pete!"

"Here I am," he said. He put his legs over the bench, placed his tray down, and looked at you. "Why didn't you wait for me, dork?" He elbowed you gently. 

You suddenly felt extremely ridiculous for overreacting. You smiled. "Sorry, I was just... hungry."

"Yeah?" He raised his eyebrows. "Well, your sandwich looks great. I'll trade you." 

"For carrot sticks? Yeah, okay." You rolled your eyes and pushed his hand away. "Get out of here, Parker."

"What did you do now, Parker?" Michelle asked, and she plopped down right next to Peter. 

"I didn't do anything!"

"Uh-huh," she replied, and she pulled open a bag of baked potato chips. She ate one and then passed the bag to Peter, who dug a couple out and then passed it back.

You swallowed hard. 

"Parker, stop taking so many!"

"What? You offered!" 

"Yeah, one!" she laughed.

You took a long drink of your milk and smiled awkwardly at your friends. Michelle and Peter were in their own zone, and that was so unusual. Cindy and Ned seemed to realize, too. 

You swung your leg out from under the table and got up, grabbing your tray and taking it to the trashcan. You dumped it and left, keeping your head down. Hopefully no one would follow you-

But you knew better than that, because Peter was already right at your heels, saying your name obnoxiously again and again.

"What?" you asked, and he grabbed your hand and held you in place as he leaped in front of you. 

"What do you mean what? You just ran away," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "What's up? You okay?"

"I'm - fine. I'm fine, okay?"

"Okay," he said. He pulled his hand away. "I'm just... worried about you. You've acted weird for the past week."

You closed your eyes and shook your head. "Peter, I don't know..." You blinked your eyes and suddenly there were tears in them.

"Whoa, hey-" He wrapped his arm around you. "Come on, let's go outside and sit for a while, okay?"

You let him take you out there and sit down beside you. You stared at your hands which you let sit limp in your lap. 

"Peter, do you like Michelle?" you asked him.

"Yeah, she's my friend. Why?" he asked. 

"Because... because..." And your voice went higher as you said, "Because sometimes I think that Michelle might be a better best friend than I am. Or maybe you... you like her more or something."

"What?" he asked. "___, that's ridiculous!" 

"I know it is, but-"

He turned around and grabbed your hands. "You're always going to be my best friend. Always. I just... I was around Michelle so much because she knows something that no one else knows. Something I haven't been brave enough to tell you." 

You looked at him. "What?"

"___, I'm Spider-Man,"  he said. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't tell Michelle either. She just found out. And I don't know, it's been nice to talk to someone that understood and knew. But you aren't any less of my best friend, and I can't believe that I made you feel like you weren't. I am so sorry."

You shook your head. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you were Spider-Man," you said. 

"I'm sorry," he laughed. 

"No more secrets, okay?"

"And if we are hurting one another's feelings, we tell each other," he added.

"Deal," you said.

"Deal." He wrapped his arms around you and hugged you close. "I love you so much, dummy."

"I love you too, Pete," you whispered.