𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲, 𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱, 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿, 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗼𝘂𝘁.

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀: 𝟯.𝟯𝗸

𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗳𝗳, 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘀𝘁, 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

• *:･ﾟ──────✧･ﾟ*✦･ﾟ*✧────── *:･ﾟ•

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ UGH Friday.

You groaned loudly as you threw your alarm across the room, surprisingly not breaking it, and buried your head in your pillows. You hated Fridays. You hated them with a passion. It was the one day of the week that was supposed to feel like a relief, a weight lifted off your shoulders if you will, but instead an even bigger weight was thrown onto them. Everyday of the week it was wake up, go to class, go to work, finish homework, maybe eat dinner, and fall into a restless sleep at night. It was a monotonous cycle you just couldn't seem to break out of.

The weekends were obviously not any better. Any normal person would probably take the weekends to watch some Netflix, chill, maybe even see some friends. But you, were not normal. Not in any way.

First thing in the morning, you had to work at your barely minimum wage job at local mall's café, serving overly peppy fourteen year old's who decided 8 am was the perfect time to shop at Claire's with their friends for cheap jewelry. You had to endure that until 1 in the afternoon, when you had to quickly scarf down some food and rush all the way to the other side of town for your internship at Osborn Industries. You loved it, you really did, being surrounded by equipment you couldn't even afford in your dreams and some of the smartest minds of this generation, but were bathroom breaks to much to ask for? After working all morning serving overly caffeinated tiny monsters, you too needed a good cup of joe. Maybe more than one.

After your internship which ended at 6 in the evening, you had to take a train all the way back to your apartment, where you had to immediately continue the book you were trying to write. And your seemingly never ending writer's block was not helping one bit. Once you pumped yourself dry of fictional scenarios you could use, a shift at a run down little 7 11 was waiting for you with open arms. Finally, after your shift of doing nothing but arguing with the old senile man who refused to believe his slushie was more than 10 cents like it was in the "good old days" ended at 12 in the night, you were allowed to trudge your way to the half broken apartment you shared with 2 other roommate that housed, hold your applause, your bed.

And that was only Saturday.

Onto the next day of the next day of the satanic weekends. On Sunday, you had to get up bright and early at the ass crack of dawn to go workout at your local gym when no one was there, because god knows you hated a crowded gym. After you worked out for two hours, it was time to go to your other side job at the local library. In all honesty, you had thought about just sleeping through it, but nooo, some creepy old prune had to come and flirt with you and ask you to get a hefty list of books that he wouldn't even read just to spend some time with you. Later, you would have to go back to that awful mall where your Starbucks job was at to work at the Forever 21 there. Honestly, if this it was like to be 20 you couldn't even imagine what it would be like to be 21. Forever, that too. That thought always sent shivers up your spine. That job was mostly filled with you having to refuse women going through midlife crisis's a refund for the shirt 2 sizes too small that they bought to feel young again. Once you were done with that you had to rush home, not to sleep, but to get cracking on the mountains of course work your professors loved to torture you with. Usually you ended your Sunday by falling asleep at your desk, only to wake up to the other nightmare that is Monday.

It was safe to say you hated university.

"Oh but you got into such a prestigious university!"

"Columbia is so hard to get into! You should feel honored."

Blah, blah, blah. It wasn't even like you got a scholarship anything. You still had to work like a donkey to pay even a quarter of your tuitions. Que another lengthy rant of all the jobs you had to do to earn some cash.

Alright enough self pity. Might as well get this shit show over with and move onto the next one.

You rubbed your eyes as you sat up and looked around your messy room. Begrudgingly, you hopped off your bed and started to get ready for the day. You really didn't care about what you wore anymore, you just wanted to be comfy. As you threw on an old hoodie and a pair of jeans that you found on your floor, you heard a ping go off from your phone. Yawning quite obnoxiously, you opened you phoned to be greeted a sweet good morning text from your boyfriend.

Peter

Good morning princess! Hope you slept well! I'm free today so we can call today in the evening if you aren't busy. but we might not need to call ;))

You

I'm too tired to figure out what that winky face means so just freaking tell me.

Peter

Well. i'm guessing you didn't sleep well. not even a good morning honestly

You

Don't test me

Peter

Hey i was just saying good morning no need to be short w me

You

you're right, sorry :(

Peter

its ok i know youre stressed

You

Stressed aint the word for it buddy

Peter

well maybe our call in the evening will make u feel better :))

You

maybe

hey i gotta go i have class in a bit

Peter

me 2

bye i love u

You

luv u 2 <33

You sighed as you slipped your phone into your pocket and went to gather your textbooks strewn over your desk. Another thing university ruined for you. Originally you were going to go to MIT with Peter, but you didn't get in. So you ended up going to Columbia while Peter went, with much hesitation, to MIT. He was thinking of going to Columbia to be with you, but you couldn't let him throw away his shot at going to MIT. It was his dream university after all. It was also a hard one, too. You were constantly worrying if he was overworking himself with college, his Spiderman duties, and his actual Stark internship at their Boston office. Peter always said that it was ironic considering how hard you work, but you always brushed him off.

You picked up the clock you threw and looked at the time. Your eyes widened as you saw how late you were. You grabbed your three textbooks and ran out of your room.

"Yo! Watch where you're going!" your roommate Bobbi called out. Her real name was Barbara, but she hated that name.

"Sorry! Late for class! Gotta go!" you yelled back grabbing ,your other roommate, Daisy's piece of toast. She simply rolled her eyes and watched as you stuffed it in your mouth while rushing out the door.

Luckily, you were able to get to class on time and didn't have to be the subject of your professor's stink eye for the rest of period. When you were done bringing out your laptop and getting settled down, you heard your teacher say something about the essay finals for this semester.

You snapped your head up in surprise. You had so much going on already, the essay had completely slipped your mind. You started to feel that pit in your stomach as you thought about how much you would have to catch up. You slowly sank down in your seat, barely paying attention to the class you were in, and started to think about how you would fit everything into your already cramped schedule.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Slamming your books down on your desk, you flopped face first on your bed and screamed into your pillow.

"I need new roommates," you heard Daisy mutter as she walked past your room.

"Piss off," you mumbled in response, still muffled by your pillow.

You really didn't want to get up. Getting up would mean you would have to start working. That would fry your brains even more than they already were and it would take away the precious relaxation time you have before the hell hole that is your weekend. Grumbling about all the things you would do to your professor if it were legal, you plopped yourself on your desk chair and grudgingly began to write.

While you were trying to focus all of your thoughts on your essay, you thought of your call with Peter, slouching even more as you sadly took out your phone to tell him you were too busy.

You

Hey bubs i can't call today. i need to start my stupid essay final :((

Nervously, you waited a few moments to see if he would respond, but you only saw the delivered tag turn to read.

Great he left me on read. God, he must be furious.

Usually on the nights you two were going to call, something always came up. This week you both made sure there was absolutely nothing to interfere. Well, he did. You obviously didn't.

Sighing, you got up and closed your door so that you could blast depressing music and get on with your essay. You tried your hardest to focus again, but your guilt for canceling on Peter was the only thing that plagued your tired mind. You weren't getting any work done at all, so you decided to take break to rest your brain.

Closing your eyes, you leaned back and rocked your chair back and forth. You tried to think of absolutely nothing, and somethin that helped with that was saying the word black repeatedly.

You repeated the word over and over again in hopes to calm yourself down, but it only made you more stressed. It reminded you of the black aprons that you wore at the café where you had to work tomorrow. You opened your eyes and stopped rocking your chair. you were starting to get increasingly worried about how your would manage balancing your final, other coursework, and jobs. You started to formulate all sorts of different schedules in your head, but none of them seemed to work. You supposed you could skip the gym, but you would still need more time. And you couldn't skip any of your jobs, you desperately needed them money. Last month you were late on your bills and you could not do that again. Also IV league universities aren't exactly cheap. That wasn't even including the other school work you had. Unlike your wonderful boyfriend, academics didn't exactly come easy for you, and failing was not an option. And speaking of which, you still had to make for time, you couldn't exactly ignore him because you couldn't manage your time. He was so supportive and good at managing everything while you on the other hand couldn't even remember assignments you had to complete.

Without realizing it, you had started hyperventilating as your heart beat kept getting ore and more erratic. You clenched your fists so hard that your knuckles started to turn a ghostly white. You began to have a hard time breathing as your eyesight began to grow blurry and droplets fell from your face. You were trying to keep it together, but you were about to burst at your seams.

Meanwhile, in your living room, the door was being very stealthily opened as to not make a sound. Three pairs of footsteps were being muffled as best as they could while bringing in three heavy overnight bags.

"Took you long enough Parker," Bobbi whispered loudly.

"Hey! There was a lot of traffic and it was a long ride!" Peter defended himself while whispering back.

"So, is she here?"

"Yeah, she's in her room working," Daisy replied.

"Ya know, its a good thing you came. She's has been super stressed, dude. I think I saw a couple white hairs on her," Bobbi informed while Daisy whacked her arm.

A worried look passed over Peter's face as he glanced over at your door.

"Hey I'm gonna go see her okay?"

"Yeah go, we'll put your bags somewhere," the two girls agreed.

Peter tiptoed softly to your room and grasped the handle. A small smile passed his features as he thought of you. He hadn't seen you in so long, and the mere thought of being in such close proximity to you made his heart speed up. His smile grew as he thought how happy you would be when he came into the room. He expected you to tackle him onto your bed and squeeze him till he couldn't breathe. He chuckled lovingly at the thought.

Peter took a deep breath and carefully opened the door as to not make any noise. When he saw your figure his heart practically jumped out of his chest. He had been planning to do something cheesy like cover your eyes and say 'guess who?', but that left his mind when he saw your slightly shaking figure. He saw your clenched fists on your desk and hurried his pace over to you.

"Y/N?" he called out softly.

You froze. You were certainly not expecting to hear his voice. For a second, you thought it was all the caffeine you consumed finally catching up with you. Tentatively, you turned around and to your surprise you saw the face you had been missing the most.

When you looked into his beautiful dark brown eyes that flashed with concern as soon as he saw you, you couldn't hold it in any longer. The flood gates finally burst open. A deluge of salty tears spilled forcefully out of your eyes, momentarily blinding you. The fear of completely breaking down in front of other people was the only glue that held your resolve to not start crying together. But now that Peter was here, it was like all that glue melted and let everything flood out.

Peter immediately rushed to your side and wrapped his arms around your tired, shaking frame. In response, you clutched his shirt in between your fingers and let out a broken wail into his chest. Peter's eyes slightly teared up at that heartbreaking sound. To see you so stressed, so hurt, he couldn't bear it. He buried his face in your hair and picked you up to place you one your bed. Peter sat down on the bed with you curled up in his lap, sobbing your heart out.

Peter knew the best way to let you calm down was to let you cry it all out, get everything out of your system, and so that's what he did. He rocked the two of your back and forth and whispered sweet reassurances in your ear. He held your hand and kissed you softly on your tear stained cheeks. He knew that you just needed him to hold you.

When your eyes finally started burning and your throat was sore, you slowly started to calm down and steady your breathing. You buried your face in the crook of Peter's neck and clutched onto Peter tighter.

"Are you okay?" he questioned gently.

Ignoring his question, you pulled your head away from his neck and let out a watery chuckle, "I bet that wasn't the greeting you were expecting."

Peter brought his hands to your face and cradled it like it was made of the most fragile porcelain.

"I asked if you were okay," he whispered.

"Just peachy. Why?"

He gave you an exasperated look and a small smile.

"Because a couple minutes ago you were sobbing into my formerly dry shirt."

Closing your eyes, you sighed and nuzzled you face into his palm, "Oh yeah, forgot about that."

"Being sarcastic isn't gonna get you out of this," he said while pecking your lips softly.

"I'm just... stressed," you answered quietly.

"I think its more than that."

You sighed deeply, "I mean, its just that I got a lot to do ya know? I got my school stuff, my jobs, my barely functioning social life, bills, ya know normal broke college student stuff."

Peter hummed, nodding slightly to encourage you to continue.

"And I- its just like there's so much I have to do, but the day's just too short. And I feel really guilty 'cause I'm always busy and we can never call. And also I have a ton of school stuff I need to finish and my professors don't really seem to care that I have a life too apparently. I already said that. I feel like I already said that. Did I already say that?"

Peter tilted his head and grinned a bit at you, "That doesn't matter. Just say what you need to say." "And don't feel guilty, I'm busy too. It's not anyone's fault."

You took in a deep breath and continued, "And, uh, well, I have a ton of stuff to do, and it just feels like I don't have any time to myself. Like I don't have anytime to just... just..."

"Breathe?" Peter finished for you.

"Yeah, exactly," you smiled softly.

"Then take a break," Peter suggested.

You rolled your eyes, "Gee, why didn't I think of that."

Peter huffed, "I don't mean just like a 15 minute break in between your work, I mean like take the whole day off. Ya know, like a you day or something."

"Peter, I can't. I want to, believe me I really really want to, but I just don't have that kind of time. Bills don't pay themselves ya know."

"I know, but you need a break. You can't keep— you can't keep doing this to yourself. You're going to really hurt yourself like this," he replied, his voice filled with concern.

You brushed him off, "As long as I have coffee I'll be okay."

Peter gave you a stern look, "I'm serious."

You looked into his eyes for any sign of playfulness but all you saw was determination. You gave in, "Well then what do you suggest I do. Quit everything?"

"No," he drawled out the 'o', "Just take a day to yourself every week. A personal day."

"I already told you Peter, I just don't have time. There's just—it's just—I dunno," you sighed for wat felt like the hundredth time that evening and rubbed your hands over your face. "I don't have time for a 'me day'."

Peter frowned at your exhausted expression. He murmured, "Well then how about a me and you day?"

You looked at him curiously. "A you and me day?"

"Yeah, I'll take like 2 weeks off or something and I'll just stay with you and we'll figure everything out together. I'll help you relax, I can help you study," he glanced at your desk with a mountain range of papers, "I can just help you feel better," he looked at you pleadingly.

"Peter, I can't ask you to do that. You'll be so behind. You have work too ya know."

"First of all, you're not asking, I'm telling, and I wouldn't be behind. I can just ask my roomie to send me the assignments and notes for the classes and I'll be fine," he finished.

Even though you knew he already made his mind up, you still argued back weakly. "Peter, that'll be too hard for you. I don't want you to get overwhelmed when you go back."

Peter looked at you incredulously, "Do you hear yourself right now? Me? Overwhelmed? Look at you! I'm doing it and that's final." He let out an indignant huff.

You grinned slightly, "You done?"

"Yes."

"You're so stubborn sometimes, ya know that?"

"Says you," he mumbled as he leaned into your face to give you a soft kiss.

When he pulled back he asked, "We'll fix your mess out together okay?"

You rolled your eyes playfully, silently thanking whatever gods blessed you with Peter.

"Together."

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁! <𝟯𝟯

1/22/21