Peter Parker had no one. No one knew him. Until a few days ago the entire world had known him, and even though he was glad that his secret was a secret again, he really missed his old life. Barely a few weeks in, and he was already tired of not existing in the minds and lives of anyone. Tired of the loneliness. His entire life, those 17 years he spent living, making memories, forgotten because of a single spell.
And it was painful when he saw how the world went on. How Ned and MJ lived their lives, not remembering that it used to be a trio and not a duo. But he couldn't do anything. He wouldn't do anything. They both were better off and safer without him.
And yes, Peter had tried to socialize with other tenants from the apartment building he now lived in, but he was scared. Scared of making new bonds and promises he wouldn't be able to keep, and would end up breaking.
But his heart ached every time whenever anything reminded him of the innocent, carefree boy that he used to be. He was alone now. Tony was gone, May was gone, Ned, MJ and Happy and Strange had no idea he existed. Accepting the reality didn't make it any less painful.
And then there was Y/n. The girl made Peter wonder if he could be happy again. But yet again, his fears of developing relationships which would end up abandoned were too great. Those fears kept him awake at night and they kept him from ever growing close to her.
What if everything went to shit again?
Of course, there were the few occurrences where Peter and Y/n would talk. Those few seconds would give Peter much insight on Y/n's life. She'd been through much, and the happiness was just a front. And she was willing to get to know him, but he didn't let her in.
And another problem was, he'd grown a little crush on her. Every time he came across her in the hallway, his heart would beat a little faster. His breath would catch and his words would stick in his throat. And his situation would be made all the worse when she smiled. That smile... He could talk about it for hours and never get tired.
If only there was someone who listened.
Days like today were the worst. Days when he had no energy left to fake it all and to make it through the day with a smile on his face, they were brutal. And today had been particularly painful. He had saved Ned and a few others from a burglary-gone-wrong at a grocery story, and had gotten shot in the process.
He was broken. Mentally, emotionally, and now physically.
Great.
He had no option left but to approach Y/n. He had been shot in the stomach; this would be fatal to the ordinary person, but not to him. Yet he was still losing consciousness quickly, and approaching y/n was the best option. He was still wearing his suit, so a hospital was out of question. Y/n was his only hope, and somehow he trusted her.
-----
As she hummed along to the music playing on her speakers while (hopelessly) trying to cook, Y/n heard a faint knocking sound. She paused her playlist and listened carefully. Yes, the sound was real and it was coming from her... Window?
Upon peeking from behind her curtains (after grabbing a frying pan) she was shocked to find THE Spider-man outside. The suit seemed legit, so she opened the window, and the arachnid themed superhero tumbled inside.
"OH my God- are you okay?" She whispered, eyes wide with uncertainty, surprise and elation alike.
"That's the thing- I'm so sorry for intruding in on anything, but I need your help. Can you just dress my wound? I'm so sorry once again but I can't have anyone knowing who I am and this is bad-"
"Yeah, I can do that." Y/n mumbled, already helping the wounded hero up and putting her fangirling aside, realizing the depth of the situation due to the amount of blood. She was a medical student, so this should be easy, right?
The situation was awkward. She helped Spider-man lay on her bed, not caring about the blood getting on her sheets, and quickly grabbed her first aid box.
"We need to remove your suit first. Can you do it or do I help you? You can keep the mask on if you want to." She told him.
"I- I think I can manage, I don't wanna make you uncomfortable." He mumbled, too embarrassed to ask for help, knowing he couldn't remove his suit alone, not right now.
"No, it's not a problem really." She assured him as she observed him struggling to take the suit off.
"I'm so sorry- uh, there's a zipper on the back." He admitted defeat.
"Stop apologizing, I'm happy I could help." She smiled and helped him remove his suit just enough to expose the upper half part of his body.
"I need to take the mask off, can I trust you?" He asked, as it was difficult to breathe with the mask on.
"Yeah, yeah you can. And stop moving, you're losing a lot of blood." She muttered, grabbing the stuff necessary for taking out the bullet and dressing the wound. It would be a difficult task, and she was scared of messing up especially when her patient was a super hero, for god's sake, but she could do it.
Peter took the mask off, taking in huge gulps of air, and Y/n's eyes widened in shock once again, but she chose not to comment on it. Now was not the time.
She focused on quickly taking the bullet out (Thank GOD it had not punctured any vital organs), cleaning and dressing up the wound. She then gave Peter some medicine and helped him change into a baggy shirt and sweatpants she thankfully owned. She was done in 30 minutes, and Peter was asleep. She was afraid he'd get a concussion, but he had assured her in his half asleep state that he'd be okay.
It was not enough to comfort her and take away all her worries, but she trusted Peter.
-----
Peter woke up to the smell of something burning. He took a moment to take in and observe his surroundings, and this was not his apartment. And then he remembered it all.
Meanwhile, Y/n made her way back into her room to check on Peter for the millionth time in 7 hours only to find him up.
"Hey, you're up. How're you feeling?" She smiled at him.
"Yeah, I'm feeling okay." He smiled back.
"What about some breakfast? Sorry if everything is a bit burnt, I'm not very good at cooking... at all. We could order pizza?"
"Nah, I've burdened you enough. Thank you so much for tending to my wound, though. You're literally a lifesaver. Thanks a million-"
"It's okay, you're welcome. It was my responsibility."
"So- uh, who would've guessed my neighbor was spider-man?" She raised an eyebrow at him, smirking.
He laughed nervously, "You won't tell anyone, would you? Please? I just don't want a repeat of last time-"
"What last time?" He froze.
"Uh- nothing! I'm just mumbling nonsense, I just need to rest. Please just don't tell anyone about me being Spider-man."
"Uh, yeah, I'd never tell someone. You know you can count on me whenever you need any help, right? Never hesitate to come to me, either you need medical assistance or just.. someone to talk to, okay?"
"Yeah, thanks again. I should probably get going now." He answered with a real smile on his face, an occurrence which was becoming frighteningly more common as he spent more time with her.
"Don't be a stranger, Pete." She smiled, gazing into his eyes. She had been crushing on her introverted neighbor for quite some time now, and was very happy that they were at least talking now.
"I won't. You'll probably see a lot more of me now." He chuckled in response, internally screaming in happiness due to the nickname.
"Uh- bye. Take care of yourself."
"Yeah, I will. Bye." And just like that, their pure moment was over.
By the end of it all, Peter had found out how to actually smile again. And the reason was Y/n.
Maybe he had finally found his home.