#imgaine
Summary: Having unrequited love for your best friend wasn’t exactly your plan, but you can’t always help who you fall for… especially when that someone was Peter Benjamin Parker.
Requested: Yes
Word Count: 4.5k
Warning(s)?:Angst, F!Reader, Fluff, Swearing (a little).
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By The Water Fountain
The next few months had flown by quickly, you and Brad had been dating almost 3 months now and he made you happy each and every day. On the first date, he bought you flowers and held doors open for you, a perfect gentleman. of course, over time that stopped but you didn’t mind much, you both were growing comfortable together, finding a rhythm. He’d hold your hand in the hallways and kiss your cheek before parting ways from you to class. He started picking you up in his car and took you to and from school, even staying after school to watch you rehearse.
How did you get so lucky?
The loneliness lessened, though never went away completely. Wants Brad dropped you home, everything came rushing back. The big, empty house, quiet hallways and dark rooms unoccupied. Sadness and loneliness hit you each time you walked back through the front door. Brad helped with it during school, but outside of that it was still there, a sickly reminder of how unimportant you were for your parents. You knew they loved you, but it felt sometimes as if they loved their job more.
Peter hasn’t spoken to you since the fight, you thought in time he would come around and apologise and there were moments where he looked like he was close too, but something seemed to get in the and he’d take off. Eventually he seemed to stop trying, especially when Brad was growing attached to your hip.
Your heart broke, a part of is still broken because you’ll always be madly in love with Peter. You couldn’t help it, you tried to move on but you weren’t able to fully let him go.
“Something on your mind?” Brad sits in the chair beside you in the cafeteria, Ned and Peter no longer sitting opposite you at the table.
“Just stressed with finals, I’m looking forward to spring break though” You responded with a fake smile, leaning onto Brad as his arms snaked around your shoulders.
“Speaking of, Liz is holding a party at hers tonight, we should go” The idea sounded appealing, Brad had managed to bring you out of your shell more. You even developed a couple of friends from Brad’s social group.
“Okay” Brad smiled down at you and pecked your lips before returning back to his food, removing his arm from your shoulder.
~
You stood in front of your full length mirror in your bedroom, admiring the black dress you wore with the black heels to match. You hair was straightened and parted in the middle, a simple makeup look with gloss as the finishing touches for your outfit. Brad arrived not too long later and picked you, speeding off towards the party.
The smell of sweaty bodies and alcohol hung in the air and greeted you once the front door opened to liz’s home. You dismissed the smell and followed Brad over to his friends, saying hi to them all before accepting a drink from your boyfriend. An hour went by quickly, three drinks later and Brad took you to the dance floor and swayed with you to the music. A light buzz was coursing through your body, leaving you smiling like crazy.
Brad pulled you in by your hips and pecked your lips sweetly, swaying your body along with his in sync.
Across the room stood Ned and Peter, Ned was talking with MJ as Peter stood with an untouched drink in his hand, eyes on you. They never left since you arrived, he wanted to so badly talk to you, he’s been trying to for months but something always came up with his duties. He knew things would be easier if you just knew but he wasn’t going to place you in danger, he couldn’t.
His grew heavy with each passing minute, his hands growing clammy and his chest rising and falling with anger and jealousy. It was soon replaced with sadness once he saw the huge smile on your face as you danced away without a care in the world. Who was he to take that away from you? He knew things were extremely hard for you given your living arrangements. Happiness came in fleeting moments for you and he could not bring himself to take them away when they did.
He should of told you, he should of made you stay with him instead of letting you walk away after you told him how you felt. He didn’t know at the time but he did love you, He may not have been in love with at that moment but once he was, he couldn’t stop loving you. He hoped that maybe overtime it would simmer away but it didn’t, which made him worker harder to get you. Till he saw how happy Brad was making you. He stopped trying after that.
And now here you were, at a party on the dance floor, dancing with a guy who was not him and it was all his fault.
He watched as Brad lent to your ear and whispered something, causing a huge blush to form on your cheeks. Your eyes seemed to grow wide for a moment.
Peter needed to stop.
“Go talk to her” MJ spoke up, cutting into Peter’s own thoughts. Peter’s eyes left you to look at MJ who had stopped talking with Ned as he had left to get a refill for them both. Peter sighed and shook his head.
“She’s happy, I can’t” MJ wanted to punch Peter.
“She’s not happy, have you seen her? Yeah, in school she may be but outside of it she’s miserable, how have you not noticed?” MJ asks incredulously. Peter though about those words, he saw how you were through school but never saw you outside. On occasion he spotted you when he was doing his daily Spider-man duties. You seemed distant and Brad was rarely with you. He knew you liked to be alone alot, right?
MJ noticed the distant look on Peter’s face.
“Right I forgot, you were an idiot and blew up in her face” Peter’s eyes widen. How did she know about that? It was then Ned had returned with the drinks, his eyes darting between his two friends as realisation soon struck.
“You told her?” Peter asked his best friend. Ned only shrugged, not getting why Peter seemed to mind. They were all friends and he had always hated secrets between friends, big or small.
“You’ve been acting strange around Y/N, MJ noticed and asked so I told her, I’m not keeping secrets anymore man, look at what happened when there were secrets” Ned pointed out to you on the dance floor, still dancing with Brad. Peter sighed once again as his eyes found you. Ned was right.
On the dance floor, Brad’s hands had dropped lower on your body making you feel slightly uncomfortable. You weren’t a fan of any kind of PDA and Brad was, a few arguments had occurred due to this but you always caved, not wanting him to hate you or get mad at you over something like that.
Instead, you pulled away slightly so his hands couldn’t reach your ass. Yes, you had been dating for a while but nothing has ever gone beyond kissing, you’ve made out once and once Brad tried to touch your breasts you pulled away quickly. Sometimes it felt as if he was growing impatient with you, wanting more but you weren’t ready to go there, at least not with him.
“Brad, there’s people everywhere, they’ll see” You tried to playfully respond, not stopping as you continued to dance with him, finishing your 4th drink for the night.
“Good, I want to show them you’re mine” Brad whispered in your ear, not letting you back away from him as he successfully managed to grope your behind. A gasp left your lips and you tried pulling away but his arms were locked around you. Brad smiled and softly laugh, seeming to take your reaction as one of surprise and enjoyment.
It wasn’t. You pushed on his chest, enough for him to know to let you go. Once he did you stepped away and stopped dancing, looking up at him.
“Please don’t do that” You spoke softly. Unfortunately a frown soon displayed across his face, soon replaced with irritation.
“Why not? You’re my girlfriend, I’ve been patient and caring and anytime I try to get close to you you push me away, why?” Brad’s voice raises slightly, alerting the nearby dancing teenagers to what was happening. The last thing you wanted to do tonight was cause a scene.
“I-im sorry i just… I’m not ready for that yet…” You trailed off, not liking the gazes that were casting over to you both.
“I… i need a minute” Brad stormed away from you and over towards the drinks table where a few of his friends were. You sighed to yourself and your gaze dropped to the ground. The people seemed to stop looking once things had simmered down, probably because they realised they weren’t going to witness a show.
“Your right Ned, that’s it” Peter watched what happened and it was enough for his rage to go into overdrive. He placed his still untouched drink down behind him and walked off to your direction. Your head was still down your arms began to circle around your waist, as if you were trying to make your disappear into the crowd.
Your eyes didn’t move from their spot as you felt a hand grab your arm, pulling you softly off the dance floor and over to a quieter area of the house. You didn’t miss the tingles and warmth that spread across your skin followed by goosebumps. You knew exactly who it was but yo still didn’t raise your head to look up at him, not yet.
Once you were both away from the crowd the hand let you go.
“Y/N, please, look at me” You heard Peter’s voice trail off softly. How desperately you wanted him to speak to you over the past 3 months was enough to make tears form in your eyes.
“Please…” You bit you lip, trying not to cry. You heard him let out a sigh as he took a step forward, his hands reaching out to grad you by the waist, gently pulling you closer to him. The difference with Brad was that he was never gentle, everything was rushed but with Peter, it was as if each moment was slow and gentle, delicate.
Once of his hands left your waist to cup your cheek, tilting your head up enough for him to lean his forehead against yours. Your breathing quickened at this. You knew this was wrong so you couldn’t bring yourself to look him in the eye, instead settled to look at his chin. his thumb brushed over softly, caressing you making your knees grow weak. After all this time the effect he had on you was still there, stronger then ever. the alcohol in your system was heightening your senses, his touch feeling like electricity flooding through your body, igniting you and urging you to lean forward to touch him, kiss him, anything.
But you didn’t, he wasn’t yours and you weren’t his. Brad was your boyfriend and for the most part, he treated you like a princess and you genuinely liked him. You could be with him, there would be no secrets, you knew his feelings and where you stood with him. You would be happier with him.
Peter knew this as well, Brad would probably make you happier and safer then he ever could and he hated himself for that. You deserved it so much and who was he to take that away because he was selfishly in love with you?
“I’m sorry, I’m really fucking sorry Y/N, I never should have snapped at you that afternoon, i never should have let you walk off after you told me how you felt. I never should have stopped talking to you, I should have told you why I was upset, how I felt and kept talking to you every day after that. Maybe then things would have been different” Peter finished his speech, his own breath hitching in his throat at the end due to the raw emotion he laid bare for you.
“Maybe…” You whispered back, your forehead never leaving his as your eyes dropped back down to the ground as you pulled away slowly. Peter licked his lips and frowned when he knew you weren’t going to look at him. It broke him. He had lost maybe the best thing to ever happen to him, all because he was too stupid to realise what he had right in front of him the entire time. Liz could have never compared to you, not even remotely. He saw that now.
“You should probably get back…” Peter didn’t want to say get back to Brad, your boyfriend. You sniffled and nodded, glancing at his for just a moment, forcing yourself to then quickly look away before walking back over to dance floor.
Peter wouldn’t say another word to you till 2 weeks later.
~
Brad had grown more and more persistent over that time, wanting to touch you more and move things to the next level. You couldn’t see the rush though, Homecoming was just around the corner. He had persuaded you into going with him, organising the car, the after party and even wanted you to stay with him for the night. You weren’t an idiot, you had a rough idea why and even though you voiced your concerns, he assured you you both wouldn’t move forward till you were ready.
He was sweet like that, you thought.
Though when the night came of homecoming you were a wreck. Your dress was all crinkled and it didn’t matter how hard you tried to fix it nothing had worked, your makeup wasn’t right and there was nothing you could do to tame your wild hair. You had desperately messaged your friends needing help but they were all already heading over. Your eyes darted to the alarm clock on your bed and homecoming was due to commence in 10 minutes.
Fuck.
Your eyes darted around your quiet room, eyes peeling outside your opened bedroom door to the dark hallways. If only mom was home, she’d know what to do…
You quickly dialled the only number you could think of, already sending a message to Brad to pick you up later which he was fine with as he wasn’t ready either.
“Hello?” You heard the lovely feminine voice drift through your phone, you smiled in relief to yourself.
“Hi, I need your help”
Aunt May beamed from ear to ear as she welcomed you into her home with open arms. She hugged you tightly before pulling away, inspecting your appearance. She quickly clapped her hands together once, eyes raking to see what could be done.
“Easy, I’ve got my curling wand heating as we speak, put on these for now and I’ll steam press your dress before starting on your hair” God you loved her. You thanked her sincerely before grabbing the outstretched clothes from her hands, making your way over the bathroom in the hallway. Your thoughts lingered for a few moments on Peter, wondering if he was home but knew he was probably at the dance by now or with Ned.
You shook your head, not wanting to spend the evening thinking of them two as you hastily slipped on the shirt and boxer shorts… wait what?
Your eyes fell to yourself in the mirror and you mouth parted slightly. You recognised these clothes but not on Aunt May…
“Aunt May, have you seen my tie?!” No, no no no no no. What was he still doing here? You cursed yourself inwardly, knowing you probably should have asked Aunt May if Peter was still home. You think that woman was sly at times, seeing as she always given you a knowing look when she caught you staring at her nephew for a little longer than normal. Damn that woman.
“Hanging behind your bedroom door on the mirror!” She yelled back, her voice travelling through the small home. You heard a door close in the distance, recognising it to be Peter’s. You had been here so many times that you could tell.
With that you left the bathroom, adjusting the shirt as much as possible, walking over to Aunt May in the living room. Your left arm went over to hold your right arm anxiously, watching as she quickly finished the last little bit of your dress. Your eyes lit up, she worked magic!
“Oh my god it looks amazing! thank you” You smiled, happily giggling as you rushed up to the dress and reached for the coat-hanger.
“Uh uh not yet, it needs to sit for a few minutes, follow me and i’ll curl your hair and touch up your make-up” You followed her through to her bedroom, sitting down at her desk when she asked. It only took her 15 minutes to successfully curl your hair and add some powder to your face, fixing the blotches that appeared.
“I say we leave the hair down, especially with the smokey eye” Aunt May comments as she continues fussing over you. You saw the sparkle in her eye, almost as if she was enjoying glamming you up as much as you were excited for the dance.
“All done” With one last stroke of the brush against your cheek she pulled away, smiling happily down at you. you smiled in return and turned to face the mirror, eyes widening once you took in your appearance. Your hair was perfectly curled flowing down your back, bits and pieces pinned back to frame your face. Your make-up was natural apart from a slight smokey eye effect and lip gloss on your lips.
“Come on, photos and then you can go on your hot-date!” Aunt May raced out of the room before you could being protesting. In the last 20 minutes or so you had managed to forget that your parents weren’t here with you to enjoy this moment, that Brad was on his way to pick you up now and that you felt so alone.
“Aunt May, I’ve watched at least a thousand tutorials on youtube and I still can’t-” Your eyes left your reflection in the mirror towards the door, spotting Peter now standing there wearing a black tux, his hands twiddling with the unwrapped tie around his neck.
“Get it right” Peter finished, eyes widening once he saw you.
“Wow…” He mumbled to himself, though unfortunately for him it was loud enough for you to hear. You laughed softly at the awkwardness, a blush coating your cheeks.
“Thanks, your Aunt helped heaps though, if it wasn’t for her magic wand I wouldn’t be going to the ball at all” You joked, trying to reference the time you and Peter binge-watched Disney together one weekend, the Cinderella moving ending up playing on repeat on T.V as you both were sound asleep, though each time the ‘pumpkin turned into a carriage’ scene came on, the music woke you both up without fail.
You quickly shook away the random memory that made your heart twinge a little in sadness. All those moments with your best friend you were never to going to experience ever again.
You both continued to look at each other before Peter cleared his throat and glanced away.
“Where’s Brad, isn’t he…?” Peter trailed off. A frown settled across your lips which was an action that didn’t go unnoticed by him.
“He is, I told him to come here” The awkward silence soon settled in once again. Peter continued to fumble with his tie as your hands fell onto you lap, your thumbs awkwardly toying with each other. Your ears perked up when you heard Peter grumble a little in frustration.
“Need help?” You asked once you noticed he was still struggling with the tie. He dropped his hands and nodded, a slight tinge of red spreading onto his face. You bit your lip and rose, the boxer shorts raising slightly as you did catching Peter’s attention.
You were wearing his clothes! The boy could have jumped to the moon and back. He’s pictured you in them for months and yet, never thought it would happen. Peter shook his head once his thoughts went down the wrong path, slowly spreading warmth down lower. Not now Peter…
Your hands delicately wrapped around his neck, lifting up his button shirt a little to adjust the tie so that it sat flat. Peter’s heart began to race with the close proximity of you both, yours did as well but you willed it calm down before guilt came seeping through. Brad was the only guy you were mean’t to feel this way around. It hasn’t happened yet with him but you knew it would… soon. hopefully.
“You know… it’s not too late to back out, stay home, rent some DVD’s and eat candy” You laughed softly at this, thinking of the same memory he was when you would both spend weekend together, sometimes with Ned as well doing just that. It was tempting, to spend the evening with him and blow off Homecoming altogether but you couldn’t. You had moved on from that, you were now a girl who had a boyfriend and friends, who went out and socialised and had fun.
Someone who had moved on from their best friend.
“Brad should be here soon” It felt wrong saying it, licking your lips as you finished tucking in this tie correctly. You took a step back and smiled up at Peter as he glanced down, adjusting the tie slightly before looking back at you.
“Right, wouldn’t want to miss Homecoming…” Homecoming, the dance you had been dreaming of going to with him. You shook your head, probably causing Peter to look at you oddly at the action but you wanted to get rid of these intruding thoughts. Brad, you needed to think about Brad, your boyfriend who is so perfect for you. Not Peter, the guy you had been in love with since-
“Don’t go” Your heart stopped. Did you hear him right? No, no way. You tilted your head to the side in confusion, your skin beginning to prickle as you felt tension soon rise in the quiet room. What the hell was taking Aunt May so long?
“I mean… you s-s-should go, definitely but… not with him…’'
’'My boyfriend, I shouldn’t go with my boyfriend?” You didn’t mean to let anger flow through your tone but it did hold an edge to it. You began to cross your arms over your chest as you looked pointedly at Peter. Peter sighed and dragged a hand over his face. He kept putting his foot in it.
“Uhh… no? Y-yes? I… I don’t know” Your lungs deflated as did your heart when these words left his lips. Of course he didn’t.
“That’s the thing Peter. You. Don’t. Know. I don’t think there’s been a time where you have known” You side stepped around him, wanting to just get changed and now meet Brad possibly outside.
“But please, once you figure it out do tell me… if I’m still here” Did you just give him an ultimatum? You hadn’t even realised what you meant by the words till it was too late to take them back. The words left you so quickly that your heart quickened once you saw the expression on his face. He was shocked.
You hated how petty and bitchy you sounded but now wasn’t the time to dwell. You continued past him and over to the living room where Aunt May quickly spun around, pretending to work on your dress. That sneaky woman…
“Can I go get changed?” You asked nicely, smirking to her once she looked at you. She smiled and held at the dress for you to take. Once you did, you quickly raced into the bathroom and threw it on, adjusting you hair one last time in front of the mirror before exiting the room.
“Oh my… sweetie you look amazing!” Aunt May beamed once she saw you, glancing over to Peter who had joined in his Aunt in the living room with a vacant stare. That quickly changed though once his eyes saw you.
“Doesn’t she look amazing, Peter?” She coaxed her nephew, giving him a little elbow to his stomach as discreetly as she could in front of you when he couldn’t utter a single word. Instead he stood rigid with his mouth open in what you thought was disbelief.
“Really pretty” He said more to himself aloud, a smile soon fighting his way on his lips despite the moment between you two not long ago.
The sound of the door bell soon went off alerting all 3 of you. Aunt May walked off and over to the intercom. Peter was mustering up the courage to speak to you before you inevitably left with Brad. This may be the last chance he has before he loses you forever… like you had said.
“Iloveyou” It took a total of 10 seconds to compute what flew out of Peter’s mouth as he stood in front of you, hands in front clasped together shaking slightly. Your eyes widen in surprise, your heart not even registering the words before the front door swings open, Brad sauntering in with a smirk.
“Hey gorgeous” You stood frozen, eyes still widen as Brad walks over, eyeing Peter as he pulls you in by the waist, kissing your cheek softly. Your heart began bubbling inside your chest as your own hands began getting clammy. Your breathing hitched in your throat and you felt as if the room had grown 10 degrees in heat.
“Here, I bought this corsage cause I thought it would go perfectly with your dress” Brad snapped you out of your thoughts and brought you back to planet earth. You cleared your throat and wiped your hands on you dress, letting out a deep shakey breath.
“T-t-thank you that’s really t-thoughtful” Your eyes were still glazed over as his ar settled on your waist, holding you against himself as may snapped some photos of you both. Peter soon walked away from the pair and over towards the front door, eyes lingering on you. He bit his lip and frowned to himself, realising it was indeed too late. he closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts and emotions before deciding to leave for the Homecoming, alone.
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A/N:Ready for the last and final part? Much love xx
