Chapter 2
It was late and the moon glowed brightly in the sky. James sat on a random roof eating a sandwich and watching the city. There were many perks of being a masked superhero but James' favorite was this. Being able to sit and enjoy the quiet that comes with the night and reflect on the day.
Tonight James only thought was the mystery boy in his lecture earlier today. James never paid attention to any of his classmates mostly due to the fact that if he made it to class he was usually late and trying to catch up. Being a hero was hard work and it never left him much time for himself or other people.
Sometimes it felt lonely since he hasn't told anyone about his secret night life, not even Peter. It’s not that he doesn’t trust his best friend, he is just worried that if he tells one person he will be tempted to tell more people. He also doesn’t want to put Peter in any danger and being best friends with a super hero seems pretty dangerous.
James also didn’t have many friends other than Peter. He had Lilly but she was at a different college and they didn’t talk much anymore. James used to have a crush on Lilly when they were in school but she never felt the same. So now James sat on a rooftop eating a sandwich watching the city alone.
At least he was supposed to be alone. Suddenly James' spider senses went off. James shot up and pulled his mask down, sadly dropping his sandwich. James turned around to see who had tried to sneak up on him only to be met with a familiar face. The mystery boy from his lecture stood in front of James holding a notebook.
James almost laughed because seriously a notebook? What was a notebook going to do? Give him a paper cut? James apparently took too long to say or do anything because the mystery boy threw the notebook at James.
James caught it and gave the boy a small smile.
“Sorry how did you think a notebook would help you?” James asked, trying to contain his laughter.
“Shut up, give it back!” The boy said, taking a step forward, reaching out to grab the notebook from James' hand. James took another step back, smiling brighter.
“Why? Is this your diary or something?” James joked watching as the boy glared at him.
“Just give it back!” The boy said again, lunging at James. James took a step to the side and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt.
“Now now no need to get so feisty I’ll give it back” James let go of the boy and handed his notebook back to him.
The boy turned and faced him, quickly snatching the notebook from his hands. He clutched the notebook close to his chest glaring daggers at James. If looks could kill James knows he would be dead. Yet James didn’t mind dying to the hands of someone so breathtaking.
“So what are you doing up here this late? Shouldn’t you be in bed?” James asks, tilting his head slightly, studying the boy.
He was shorter than James just by a few inches. His hair was dark and slightly curly. James wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through his hair. He was wearing white pajamas with little black cats on them. He looked cute. James wondered how cute he would look with his clothes on the floor spread out on James bed. James shook his head; he was not going to think about that right now.
“I could ask you the same question,” the boy replied coldly.
“Well I’m a superhero and most bad guys do all their crime at night hence why I’m here” the boy didn’t reply instead he stood there silently staring at James.
“Are you going to tell me why you are out here so late? Or are you just going to continue to ignore me?”
After a few more moments of silence the boy finally spoke.
“I come out here sometimes to write” he held his notebook closer to his chest as he spoke.
“Oh? And what are you writing? Some sad boy poetry” the boy glared at him and James laughed.
“Sorry you just look like you would write that kind of stuff” the boy seemed to take offense to that.
“What does that mean!” He asked, looking like he was about to throw the notebook at James again. James found it hard to be scared of the boy since he was in pajamas and holding a flimsy notebook.
James was about to reply when he felt a sense that something was wrong. James turned away from the boy and looked out at the city. Everything was quiet but the sense that something was wrong was still tugging on his stomach making him want to find out why.
“I have to go” James said quickly.
“What why?” The boy asked, taking a step forward. James didn’t answer instead he jumped off the building and swung away from the building and the boy.
As James was swinging away he realized he never got his name.
“Fuck” he muttered under his breath as he swung into the night.
James felt his head hit the brick wall hard. He groaned and looked up to see the villain he was currently fighting get ready to charge at him full speed.
James missed being just the friendly neighborhood spider man. Life was easier. He got enough sleep and wasn’t always running late and he didn’t get thrown against walls by a random guy in a rhino costume.
His dad was right, with great power comes great responsibility. He left out the part about the great headaches.
The man in the rhino costume ran towards James head bent down slightly, his huge sharp horn pointed towards his chest. James lifted his hand and shot his webs into the rhino's face. Now blinded by webs the rhino slammed into the wall missing James by a few inches.
“Oh shit that actually worked” James muttered under his breath. The rhino quickly recovered, ripping the webs away from his eyes.
“I’m going to rip you to shreds!” The rhino shouts quickly, turning to James.
“Woah can’t we talk about this? Save me the headache?” James says quickly jumping out of the way as the rhino throws a car at him.
“Hey we do not throw things at people!” The rhino yells and runs at James again.
“Really? This didn’t work the first time. What makes you think it will work now?” James asks, webbing the rhino's eyes again.
James jumped into the air sending a web onto the rhino's front horn pulling himself towards the villain. He landed on his back and grabbed a hold of the huge horn.
“Get off me you stupid bug!” The rhino roared trying to shake James off. Luckily for James his arms were not long enough to reach James. Unluckily for James he decided the best way to get James off his back was by slamming them both into a building.
“Hey I’m trying to not cause a lot of property damage!” James shouts trying to lead the rhino to an unpopulated area. James had no idea what he was doing. He was just trying something and hoping it would work. The blinded Rhino let James lead him to a construction sight.
James jumped off the Rhino's back and looked around for something big and heavy. He noticed a crane carrying some large metal pipes and smiled.
Perfect.
James ran towards the crane and used his webs to grab ahold of the metal pipes. He needed to wait until the Rhino was closer so he could slam the pipes into his head. Hopefully the force would be enough to knock him out.
The Rhino managed to get all the webs off his eyes again and turned towards James. In true rhino fashion he bent low and prepared to run towards James head bent. Seriously, did this guy not know any other way to fight? He ran towards James yelling angrily. James stood his ground waiting for the perfect moment.
Just before the Rhino could get to James he yanked on his webs and sent the metal pipes towards the other man. There was a loud clash and the Rhino dropped to the floor. James let out a sigh of relief thankful his plan actually worked.
James left a pink sticky note on the unconscious villain apologizing for any damage he may have caused and quickly swung away before any police arrived.
Regulus hated Spider-Man. Truly he did and he wasn’t saying it to try and be cool or different he was serious. The guy went around the city acting all high and mighty like he is god’s gift to the world. It pissed Regulus off.
So you can imagine his shock when he saw the said hero sitting in his spot on the roof eating a sandwich. The worst part is that Regulus was wearing cat pajamas. Regulus wanted nothing more than to walk to the edge of the roof and jump off.
He didn’t and instead tried throwing his notebook at the hero. A very stupid idea since one that notebook had very sensitive information in it and two since the hero was able to catch it like it was nothing.
Thankfully the hero didn’t open it and read what was inside and instead gave it back to Regulus but not before he teased him about it. The hero had left very suddenly shortly after which was very rude to him. Was Regulus really that bad at keeping people company?
Whatever the reason it didn’t matter since he doubted he would see the web slinging hero again. At least he hoped he didn’t. Regulus sat down at the edge of the building and let his feet dangle dangerously off the edge. He wasn’t going to jump, not really but he liked having the option. It felt comforting.
It wasn’t like he was suicidal it’s just Regulus didn’t mind the thought of dying either. If he were to die tomorrow he would greet death with open arms. But not in a suicidal way because Regulus wasn’t suicidal.
He sat on the roof and opened his notebook. Spider-Man was annoyingly correct about the contents of his notebook. He did mostly write poetry; he wouldn't categorize it as “sad boy poetry” but he has been told his poetry can be depressing.
Regulus sat on the edge of the building writing in his notebook for a few hours. He wished he could have stayed out all night but he knew his parents would get suspicious if he didn’t go back in. So Regulus closed his notebook and stood up taking one more look over the edge of the tall building before walking back into the apartment building.
His family was what some might call wealthy. He wasn't rich in big mansions and summer homes rich but he was rich in private school and big apartments. His dads family was apparently wealthy from doing something back in the day and the money hasn’t run out yet. His dad worked at the NYPD and has been trying to arrest Spider-Man since the masked hero showed up.
Regulus quietly walked into the apartment and headed straight to his room. He had hoped his parents would be busy arguing with each other to notice his return but the universe seemed to be out to get him today. Right as he opened the door to his room he heard his mother call his name from the kitchen.
He froze and quickly threw his notebook into his room and closed the door. He took a deep breath wiping his face of any emotion and walked into the kitchen where his mother stood, arms crossed and face cold.
“Yes mother,” he replied in an almost empty voice.
“Is he still trying to contact you?” She asked, voice dripping with venom.
Regulus almost cringed at the question. His older brother had recently reached out to Regulus in hopes to help him get away from their parents. Unfortunately for him his parents found out and have since made sure to remind Regulus that he was not leaving. He was stuck here. They made sure to block his brother on his phone but that hasn’t stopped his brother from trying to contact him. It was starting to get on Regulus nerves.
“No he hasn't, perhaps he has finally taken the hint” Regulus replied, keeping his voice even.
It was a lie of course his brother had shown up at his college and begged Regulus to talk to him. Regulus ignored him and told him to fuck off. He wished his brother would leave him alone; it would make his life so much easier.
His mother didn’t reply right away, instead she studied Regulus trying to decide if she believed him or not. After a few minutes of silence she replied.
“Very well just remember you are to never talk to him. He is a disgrace and not welcomed in this house or our lives. '' Her voice was cold and Regulus fought the urge to shiver.
“Yes mother, I understand if you don’t mind I am going to my room to study” his mother didn’t reply just turned around and walked away.
Regulus went to his room and closed his door letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He picked his notebook off from the floor from when he threw it earlier. He put it safely under his mattress and sat at his desk. He really did need to study and do homework. He also had to remake some notes since he gave his notes away to James.
He wasn’t sure why he did it; he shouldn't care if some random student passed or failed but there was something about him. For one he was in Regulus eyes the most beautiful man he had ever seen. His dark brown hair somehow was curly and fluffy at the same time? His skin was darker than Regulus and his eyes. Regulus could never describe those eyes and do them justice. He had been working up the courage to talk to him since the first moment he walked into the first lecture.
He really shouldn’t get attached to him, he should really stay as far away from James as he can. But Regulus was known for making bad decisions and this was a bad decision he was happy to make. He knew he would never have the chance with him; he was probably straight for all Regulus knew. But that didn’t stop his heart from beating faster when he spoke to him. Or his brain from imagining James doing very inappropriate things to him.
Regulus shook his head to clear his thoughts he did not need to think about that right now he nodded to focus. He studied and worked on his new notes until he physically couldn’t anymore. He checked to make sure his alarm for the morning was set and layed in his bed. He closed his eyes and hoped to have a peaceful sleep.
Regulus never did get what he wanted.