sam had been on edge recently. everyone with eyes could tell. his usual, playful teasing had been replaced with an aggressive bluntness that nobody liked. true to sam’s nature, he wouldn’t tell anyone what his issue was either. he would just sulk.
typically, sam doesn’t hold grudges. he would normally be upset for a day or two and then go back to normal. but this time was different. it had been nearly a week since sam started being like this, his bad mood growing worse as the days go on.
even worse? all of his anger seemed to be caused by one person: peter parker.
sam had been (very obviously) avoiding peter, dodging conversations, and refusing to look him in the eye. it got so bad, that in class, sam had asked to switch seats with flash, just to get away from peter. whizzer allowed it.
peter knows he needs to talk to sam. he knows that he needs to fix whatever he did. despite this, he never makes an effort to. he simply doesn’t have any time. at school, he really can only try talking to sam during that small, three-minute passing period between classes. when he’s not at school, he’s leading the web warriors, he’s teaching them to be heroes. when he isn’t doing that, he’s either patrolling or doing homework. he typically finishes that late into the night, so all that’s left for him to do is sleep.
okay. peter definitely could make time for sam. he just doesn’t want to. in truth, peter is afraid to spend too much time with him. not because of sam’s clear anger, but because of his own feelings.
every time he’s around sam, whether it’s simply sitting next to him or it’s a casual team hang out, peter loses it. he finds that he’s hyperaware of where sam is, of how close he is, of all of his touches. each casual, innocent touch sends a jolt of pure panic and excitement through his entire body. when they’re alone, peter gets sudden urges to make a move, to kiss him, to hold his hand, to do something.
whatever this feeling is, it’s scaring him. peter doesn’t want to feel any differently about sam than he does anyone else. so, he figures that if he doesn’t see sam, this odd feeling will go away.
of course, none of this would last long, peter knew that. he knew that either his team or fury would force them together, trying to make them make up, so they could get back to their normal lives. unfortunately enough for peter, this came earlier than he was ready for.
“parker!” fury barks at peter, who is standing innocently at his locker. “care to explain to me what’s going on?” his voice is firm, much scarier than usual. because of this, peter instinctively fixes his posture, raising his chin at fury.
“explain…what?” peter asks, mock clueless. fury’s face molds into a stern, thick frown, his stance suddenly threatening.
“with sam,” he points his finger at peters face accusingly, leaning in closer to him. peter feels like crying, like disappearing into the air and never coming back. “whatever you did, you’re going to fix it. tonight. i set you up on a required,” his voice became slightly higher and louder, like an almost-yell. “patrol, for you and nova. only you and nova. fix this.” he sends one more grumpy look at peter, and storms off.
peter slams his locker shut, sticking his tongue out at fury’s back. he mutters a few ‘you can’t tell me what to do’s, ‘who’s got your bra in a twist?’s, and ‘you always ruin everything’s under his breath before he sees sam waiting next to him. peter jumps to the side, glad his alarmed look is covered by his mask. how long has he been standing there?
“we’ll meet at the usual place at five.” sam spits out, his voice bitter, cold. peter bites his bottom lip. sam hadn’t talked to him the entire week, so peter didn’t realize how bad being on the receiving end of this coldness was. “don’t be late, or i’m just going to patrol without you.” this was a threat that nova often makes, but this time, peter figures he’s serious. peter nods, dumbfound.
after what feels like forever, peter finally manages to get out an “a-alright, i’ll be there.” before sam took his leave.
peter doesn’t like this. any of this. the fact that he has to spend several hours with nova, alone, was bad enough. he’s going to have to face what he’s been avoiding. but on top of that, nova is absolutely pissed at him!
peter just sighs deeply, closing his locker and making his way to the training room. this is going to be a long day.
—
it’s now 5:45, and peter isn’t on their rooftop. instead, he’s tying up the beetle with the web warriors. nova, however, is watching from their usual rooftop, chewing on the inside of his cheek. as soon as peter finishes celebrating with his team and checks the time, nova could see how he visibly stiffened. he says goodbye to his new team, before rushing up to their rooftop.
peter was more than surprised to see nova there, his masked eyes wide. he was sure that nova would’ve left without him. he stands there for a second, gawking at sam, before he brings himself back to reality and starts explaining.
“nova! i’m so sorry, i didn’t realize how late it was and i was training the web warriors, then beetle came and we had to—“ peter is talking fast, flailing his hands in all different directions frantically.
“i know, webs. i was watching. let’s just get this over with.” nova interrupts, standing up and shoving his helmet on. his tone hasn’t changed from this morning. if anything, it’s colder. drier.
peter rushes to nova’s side before he takes off, the both of them rushing in no particular direction.
the patrol was uneventful, to say the least. they stopped a small mugging, saved a cat from a tree, and were heading back to their dorms.
that was, until they saw the beetle on the loose yet again. they’re on the scene quickly, nova shooting at the beetle furiously while peter acts as bait.
peter cracks a joke about beetle’s oddly shaped head, and sam bites back a laugh, but not without cracking one himself. peter laughs at it, an ugly, real laugh, and soon sam is laughing too. this fight quickly turns into a fit of insults being thrown at beetle, the pair laughing until their stomachs hurt.
eventually, peter webs him down for real, and the pair leave beetle on the ground happily. sam puts his hand on peters shoulder as they walk, and peter allows it. leans into his touch a bit, actually. he doesn’t know why, but he knows that the touch is welcoming, and maybe that means they’re okay. plus, it feels nice.
“what a fight!” nova plays on, gesturing with his free hand. peter chuckles.
“i know!” peter smiles. “i don’t even know how he got out…” nova tenses up a bit, before shrugging.
“i don’t know, maybe you didn’t knock him out.” sam guesses, but peter shakes his head.
“my team may be rookies, but we aren’t stupid. my team has iron spider on it, ya know!” peter retaliates. nova scoffs, removing his hand and turning the other way a bit.
“yeah, okay. your perfect team couldn’t have messed up.” sam spits out, his tone newly condescending.
it takes peter by surprise, not completely understanding why the shift in sams mood happened so soon, and so drastically.
“nova, i didn’t mean it like tha—“
“news flash, peter! if your new team did everything right, then beetle wouldn’t have gotten away!” nova is yelling at peter now, and all he can think to do is stare.
“your new team isn’t all that, you know! sure, you have a better, stronger, smarter version of me, but cho isn’t like us! we’re more experienced, we work better together!!” nova continues his fit, and something finally clicks in peter’s brain.
sam’s been like this because he feels replaced. and peter’s avoiding him probably didn’t help much.
“sam, i-“ peter’s attempt to communicate quickly got shut down.
“no, you know what? it’s fine. i don’t care. i never did care! it was just getting annoying. they’re rookies, peter. maybe next time you should replace us with someone who’s more..” sam went on and on, clearly caring a lot. peter can’t get a word in, to explain to sam that what he’s thinking is all wrong, that he’ll do better. so, peter lifted his mask to his nose, moving closer to sam.
of course, sam didn’t notice much, he just continued on his tangent. peter got progressively closer, before smashing his lips into sams, effectively shutting him up. it took a few seconds for sam to register what was going on, but after he did, he was kissing back.
eventually, peter pulled away, looking at sam intensely.
“sam alexander, no one will ever replace you. i’m sorry that i made you feel like i was. in full truth, i was avoiding you,” sam’s face scrunches up. “but, only because i was scared.”
sam speaks softly, as if talking too loud would shatter the moment into pieces. “scared of what?” it’s barely a whisper.
peter sucks in a breath. he can do this. “of you. i like you a lot, sam. i guess i just couldn’t come to terms with it.” peter shrugs, feeling both relieved that he got this off of his chest, and completely horrified at what sam would think.
sam lets out a giggle, leaning in a bit more and muttering a quiet, “you’re an idiot.” before connecting their lips once more.