chapter five!
by association

A LOT happened last night.

Peter was still trying to comprehend it all. Usually, his afternoons and nights as Spider-Man consisted of helping old ladies with directions and receiving churros as payment, or stopping grand theft auto bikes. But an actual ATM robbery? With thugs dressed up as the Avengers with strange weapons? His heart still pounded thinking over it all. Mr Delmar was lucky he was alive. Peter was lucky he got to him in time.

And then Peter ran into Nina on his way home? He had watched her step out of her work with his heart in his throat, an ache to the side, a burn on his shoulder and the want to just sleep. But the city never slept, and neither did he. Nina didn't work overtime on Wednesdays. She worked late on Fridays, in which Peter was always there to make sure she got home safe from a distance. He didn't know what made him dangle down and talk to her after everything. He told himself: stay away from her. Keep her safe that way.

That wasn't what he had done last night. He talked to her, walked with her, made her laugh and smile━he let his guard down, broke his promise to have a moment where everything was normal. Where they were friends again ... even more than that. He cursed himself for it, and yet, he hadn't been able to stop himself. In fact, he felt the need to dress up in his mask again, swing towards her apartment this afternoon and do it all over again. Peter had been aching to talk to her, to find a chance to explain ... as Spider-Man, he could do that; he had his chance to just ...

He didn't know. Tell her the truth? That he was Spider-Man? That was the last thing he could do.

He felt like he was a record. He played his song of promise, of responsibility and determination━over and over until it was on a loop in his head with every lyric memorised. And then Nina smiled, or scowled, or just walked past in the street or the hallway, and that record skipped. He forgot the lyrics. He forgot what he was supposed to be. He was Peter Parker, still crushing on the girl who's heart he broke, and held no real explanation for her except I'm sorry. His record skipped, and all of that didn't matter. He just wanted her close, to talk to her, to have her joke and make him laugh. She had been his closest friend forever before they even started dating, before he was Spider-Man. Back when he was just Peter Parker.

And no matter what, he was drawn to her. She was his beacon, and he was desperate to call home to her. But even when he tried, he couldn't. He had been behind his mask━and that was the only time he had the courage to even talk to her the way he did. She might be his beacon, and her smile and heart had been his home, but the bridge was broken; the boat was sinking ... his webs were just reaching an inch too short and he was falling; sinking, crumbling.

He shouldn't━ever━do what he did again.

(But he knew full well he will).

Peter's thoughts were broken up as the chair beside him creaked. He tensed slightly, his grip around his pen tight. His eyes weren't fixed on the projection on the board. They were━as they always seem to be━focused in on the girl sitting in the second row, writing the calculus equation down in pretty handwriting.

"So, did you tell her?"

Peter's gaze snapped away and he frowned at Ned. His friend was watching him, expectant for an answer. "What?" Peter chuckled, barely louder than a whisper. He glanced around cautiously. He caught Michelle in the corner, not paying attention and instead just reading her Stephen King novel. "N━no."

Ned sighed, yet again, "Come on, man..."

"What?" Peter said again, a little annoyed. All day he's been hearing these questions about his alter ego. He hadn't accounted for Ned to be waiting in his room when he returned home, in his suit and his identity revealed. He had made him promise to not tell anyone, especially May and Nina, but he somehow hadn't stopped him from talking about it in a situation where anyone could overhear. "I told you━she cannot know."

"What about Liz━?"

"No!" he cut him off with a urgent shhh! "Why do you think I'd tell Liz if I won't tell Nina?"

Ned shrugged. His mind was on overdrive━so many questions, so much excitement. He had a thrill to this Peter couldn't exactly relate to. At least, not now.

There was a few seconds of blissful silence until Ned leaned in again and asked, "So ... you talked to her last night?"

Peter grumbled out of the corner of his mouth, "Yes."

"What did she say?"

"She thought I was Spider-Man, and that's how it's going to stay," his eyes returned to his ex. She was tapping her pen against her cheek, off in thought. Beside her, Felicia was whispering in a similar tone to Ned, and the conversation was strikingly similiar.

"Is he good-looking?"

Nina frowned at Felicia, taken aback by the smirk upon her face. She didn't want to tell her friend about her encounter with the web-slinger. She wasn't exactly sure why, but perhaps it was because of this exact conversation. Nina didn't want to talk about it. She wanted to keep it to herself. So, she talked to Spider-Man? So have plenty other people in New York. And yet, at the same time, until Felicia literally drilled it out of her, keeping it a secret made it more special than it was. It made it personal and ... Nina didn't know why she wanted it that way. She just did.

"He wears a mask," she grumbled in reply, whispering harshly but not so much to alert the teacher.

Felicia rolled her eyes. She leaned in even closer, "Yeah, but could you see through the suit━his shoulders, his abs━?"

"He's strong, okay?" Nina cut her off, feeling flustered. She tucked her hair behind her ear and reached for her pen. She scribbled down the equation, refusing to look at her friend in fear that she'd see the pink tint to Nina's cheeks. "I didn't really focus on that. I'm not a creep, you know?"

Felicia propped her chin on her palm, smirking at Nina━she knew. She always knew. "What was his voice like?"

"Cia━"

"Come on..." her friend purred. Nina hunched up━there was no use in hiding her blush, but she did it anyway.

"Fine," she mumbled. "His voice was ... cool, I guess. He sounded like he was putting it on━but I think he's our age."

Felicia's smirk grew at this; her eyes lit up. "Really?" she found this all amusing━and if not a bit thrilling. Her best friend met Spider-Man, it was the most exciting thing to happen all week! "What did you guys talk about?"

"Nothing."

"You just walked in silence?"

"No, of course not, just ..." Nina tapped her pen against her cheek and checked her phone. She wanted the bell to ring. "I don't want to talk about it right now, not in class, at least."

"No, no, I get it," said Felicia. She snagged her phone as well and slipped in an ear-bud. Her notebook page was blank of any notes. "You don't want anyone to know about your encounter. You want to keep him all to yourself."

Nina gasped at this, cheeks so red they burned. Her gasp didn't go unnoticed. It sliced through the air and their teacher frowned, glancing back at them. Nina cupped her hand over her lips and shrunk in her seat, hiding her face amongst her hair. Felicia stifled her snickers. The class grew silent as the teacher's attention settled on the two of them.

"Is there something more important than my class Nina, Felicia?"

Nina quickly shook her head, "Nope."

Felicia leant forward, much more confident than her blubbering friend. She smirked her usual, sly smirk. "No, of course not, Miss. Nina here just gets a little stuffy in the nose this time of year. Go on."

This only made Nina's situation worse. She kicked Felicia's shin under the table as their teacher pursed her lips, now concerned. "Do you need to go to the nurse, Nina━?"

"No!" Nina said quickly. She pressed her lips together as she realised how loud she was. "N━No!" she cleared her throat and fixed her posture. "E━everything's fine━I'm fine. It's all good. No nurse necessary."

Their teacher continued to frown at her. Nina gave her best smile. Slowly, she decided to leave it be and went on with the glass. As she turned, Nina let out a long, relieved sigh and Felicia coughed a short cackle. She kicked her shin again. "Shut up," she grumbled.

*ೃ༄     

"WELCOME to Just The Facts with J. Jonah Jameson, alerting you to the threats you don't even know about. Let's dive right into the calls. Speak!"

"Okay, so not for nothing, you gotta give Spider-Man respect for taking down those thugs at the ATM robbery last night, right? I mean, the less thugs on the street, the better━it's good for everyone!"

"Is that right? Tell me, are you a police officer? Prosecutor? Maybe an award-winning reporter and editor with decades on the job like me?"

"Uh ... no ... I'm a plumber."

"Oh! Good! Then fix my toilet and SHUT UP!"

"Can't believe you guys listen to that crap."

Looking over her shoulder, Nina didn't even realise Michelle Jones had been sitting not too far away, listening to the girls huddled up instead of participating in gym. Felicia frowned at her, incredulous. Her phone slipped in her painted nails; a brow arched. Michelle matched her gaze, unwavering. Nina pressed pause on the podcast on the Daily Bugle website. Those who weren't doing what they were supposed to do━not that the teachers cared━were sitting on the benches, all of them listening to the Spider-Man news J. Jonah Jameson seemed absolutely obsessed to talk about constantly. Nina, Felicia, Betty Brant, Liz Allen and now━apparently━Michelle huddled together, listening intently to the phone Felicia held out on her knees.

"You're listening to it right now," shot back Felicia, confused.

Michelle narrowed her eyes. Then, she murmured, "Am I? Am I really?" and just went back to her book.

Betty Brant turned up her nose. Then, she decided to turn back to Felicia. "Okay, here me out. Kiss, Marry or Kill: the Avengers."

Felicia scoffed, "Easy." She held up her fingers and ticked them off. "Obviously, I'd marry Iron Man, that guys the richest man in the world. Kiss Thor because man have you seen his biceps? And finally, kill Captain America."

Betty didn't look happy with that answer. "Kill Captain America? Really?"

"Yeah," Felicia crossed a leg over and flicked some hair over her shoulder to go back to her phone. "Obviously. The man's too good for my taste. I like something shady. Makes it all exciting."

"And he isn't rich," offered Nina.

Felicia snapped her fingers at her, "Correct."

Liz then frowned, "But isn't he like a war criminal now ... wouldn't that make him shady?"

Felicia tapped her nails on her phone, "Is he rich?" No one answered, and so she nodded, satisfied. "I make my point."

During this time in gym, Nina would admit she was tense. Sitting close to Liz Allen, knowing full well she was Peter's crush at the moment made her want to stand up and storm off. It was horrible, because Liz has never done anything to her; she was kind, and she talked to her every now and then, she even once offered her notes from her Freshman physics book to help Nina out last year. But to think that she got Peter's attention when Nina never could; after everything they went through, all those years of friendship, and the excuse he was too busy for anything, and yet wasn't too busy for Liz Allen, made Nina's blood boil. She wasn't angry at Liz, she was angry at Peter, but there was that stupid nagging voice inside her head that said, why wouldn't he? Liz has everything you don't.

But she pushed through it, reaching for her phone instead and trying to distract herself as Betty answered her portion of the question. She scrolled down Instagram and found a new post from Spider-Man's account (oh, yeah, the vigilante as an Instagram, and boy, did he take fantastic photos━he must be some sort of photographer in his spare time.), liking it with a newfound stammer in her heart, as if thinking he'd see it over the thousands of other likes he got.

She heard stories of people having one meeting with their favourite celebrity and losing all respect for them━the saying of: don't meet your heroes, because they'll end up not being how you pictured them━all high and mighty━in your head. For Nina, it seemed as if it had gone the exact opposite. Before last night, she didn't really care about Spider-Man. He was just another superhero, someone trying to reach up to the likes of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, brought to fame after a few last-minute saves of high-speed car chases against buses. But now, Nina was scrolling through his Instagram with fresh eyes. She looked at these pictures differently, saw the mast and remembered how he walked her to the subway━joked and laughed and made silly jokes ... and how he caught her and held her close, without even realising. And for a few seconds, he had not let go.

Nina rejoined the conversation when it was Liz's turn, mainly because after that, it would be hers. "Okay," the senior thought about it, her voice trailing off as she drummed her fingers on her knees. "How about ... Marry Captain America, kill the Hulk and ..." she was stumped. She slouched forward, trying to think of who she'd pick.

Felicia━ready to stir up trouble, as always━smirked and offered, "What about the Amazing, Spectacular Spider-Man?"

Nina sent her a sharp look. Her friend just smirked. "It's just Spider-Man," she corrected her stiffly.

"I don't know," said Liz, smiling a little. "I'd say he's pretty amazing and spetacular. I mean, did you guys see the bank security cam on YouTube? He fought off four guys."

Betty's brows shot up. Then, she rolled her eyes, chuckling with a knowing look on her face, "Oh, my God," she said, "she's crushing on Spider-Man."

Nina clutched her phone tight at this. She looked away, clenching her jaw. Don't be jealous━why am I even jealous?! Liz chuckled at her friend, shrugging with a blush on her cheeks. "I━I mean," Liz held out her hands gently, not sure what to say, "I guess. Kind of."

"Oh," Betty shook her head. "Gross. He's probably like thirty."

"You don't even know what he looks like," said Felicia, though she was smirking━and Nina knew it was directed at her. "What if━" she leaned forward and said in a dramatic whisper, "━he was seriously burned?"

Liz gave Felicia a stern stare. "I wouldn't care," she told her strongly. "I would still love him for the person he is on the inside." Betty was chuckling, finding all of this very hilarious.

Then, out of nowhere, Ned blurted loudly, "Peter knows Spider-Man!"

Nina's eyes widened. Her head snapped over. Everyone stopped their rounds of sit-ups on the mats, turning to stare at Peter and Ned who were in dead-silence at the sudden attention. Peter froze up, cheeks going pale as he glanced at his friend. They shared a quick exchange before he jumped to his feet and rushed over to where they sat, "Uh━no, no, no! I don't."

Betty arched a brow. She didn't look impressed. Nina froze up, too, mouth agape slightly as she set her eyes on her ex. He knows Spider-Man?

Why was that a surprise, he has the Stark Internship?

Nina didn't know why she felt a twist in her gut. It was trying to tell her something she should know, but she didn't. But her shock and suprise at the outburst turned into a frown. Her eyes narrowed slightly, her lips pressed into a line.

Peter glanced at her briefly, at at the suspicious tilt of her head, he had to look away, heat rising to his cheeks as he remembered last night. Damn it, Ned!

Peter stumbled over his words. He wiped his hands on his gym shorts. He tried to drag himself out of this situation he was forced into, but the confidence he held as Spider-Man had no place without the suit━especially in front of everyone like this; in front of Nina and Liz. "No," he tried again. "I don't. I━I mean━"

"They're friends!" added Ned, scrambling up to follow. Peter clenched his fists, shooting the boy another glare over his shoulder. Seriously? he seemed to scream.

Flash dropped down from the climbing ropes. Swinging on it slightly, he arched a brow and scoffed a laugh, "Yeah," he said, joining the conversation knowing full well it wasn't for him, "like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends."

There were some chuckles at this. Nina's frown turned soft, glancing around at the disbelief and the snickers of other students. She felt something in her throat tighten: a want to defend Peter. She wanted to snap at Flash━tell him to go piss himself in the courtyard. She wanted to say, leave him alone! Like they were still friends. Like nothing had changed. But she was silent, because while at the same time in wanting to help Peter, she was also struck with the realisation. He knew Spider-Man, and she didn't know why she felt like she should've known, but it hurt her because Nina was starting to understand she hadn't known Peter as well as she thought she did.

"I━I've met him, yeah," managed Peter over the chuckles, hunching up slightly. Liz titled her head, and he went even redder. Nina set her jaw. "A couple times. B━But it's, um, it's━" he pointed blindly towards the door, gaze set on his feet, "━through the Stark internship."

Flash grinned, not believing a word Peter said. But he was liking this━he was enjoying this moment to just drag the teen right under his feet.

"Yeah, well," Peter rubbed his pants again, his palms rather sweaty. He didn't know whether it was his heightened abilities, or his nerves, but he could hear every single thing in the room. The squeak of the mats as people shifted their positions to sit and watch him, the little scoff Betty made, the scrape of Felicia's nails against her phone case. "I━I'm not really━" he gave Ned a knowing, angry look, "━supposed to talk about it."

He flushed a little.

"Well, that's awesome," said Flash━he didn't sound like he meant it, at all. "Hey, you know what? Maybe you should invite him to Liz's party. Right?"

Peter frowned. He turned to Liz, surprised. She pursed her lips, not liking to be called out like this. She hadn't originally invited Peter, and now she was embarassed. She quickly hid it though, putting a kind smile on her face, "Y━Yeah, I'm having people over this weekend. You're more than welcome to come."

"Y━You're having a party?" he whispered, shocked she'd invite him━even if she felt obligated to. Peter was never invited anywhere, let alone a Senior's party. Nina felt a strange tug in her chest to see him so breathless and amazed. She looked back down at her phone, wanting to suddenly make a break for the doors.

She felt Felicia gently squeeze her arm. Nina sent her a strained smile.

"Yeah," said Flash, "it's gonna be dope. You should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man."

"Uh ..."

"It's okay," said Liz quickly. She delivered Flash a sharp look.

"Anyway," Nina didn't realise she was speaking until she heard the sound from her lips. Bitterness grew up her throat, replacing the fall of her heart. She met Peter's eyes and said, "Peter's way too busy for parties, so ..."

Betty's brows shot up at the tone of her voice, surprised Nina had it in her. Nina was surprised she had it, too. Peter gaped at her, trying to find words but nothing seemed to work━or will work. Everything he wanted to say was stuck in the pit of his stomach, churning with that annoying record.

"Oh, come on," taunted Flash. "He'll be there. Right, Parker?"

And just like that, the bell rang, and Peter didn't have time to give his answer.

*ೃ༄

a/n: miss author here got her tickets to no way home!!!

also, peter and nina share the same energy. like, srsly. they don't even realise it.