I Think I Love You

As upset as they were about their camera, Y/N was also extremely flustered. Spider-Man, the hero they had been trying to catch a photo of, had just saved them from a fate of god knows what. Y/N had learned two things that day: one, that New York was nowhere near as safe as they thought, and two, that they may have a teeny tiny little crush on Spiderman. 

Of course, Spiderman probably did that to everyone he helped. After all, he was Spider-Man. But still, Y/N couldn’t help that attraction that they felt. Perhaps it was because they had just been through a traumatic event that they were attached to him, but the way Spiderman had held their face was surely to be something they would remember for a while. 

Y/N cleaned the tender bruise blooming on their face with some rubbing alcohol, wincing when it came across some exposed skin. This wasn’t something new to them, but it really sucked every time it happened. It was tender and a reddish color, but they knew it would turn purple soon. Wincing as they recalled the force of the hit, they closed the medicine cabinet, catching a glance at their own reflection. Their messy hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a while. They looked tired, with perpetual dark circles underneath their eyes. Sighing, they grabbed a comb, running it through their tangled locks. Their hair knotted easily, something they hated. Wincing as they tugged on a particularly nasty one, they decided they would comb it in the shower. They hopped in, the warm water relaxing their muscles. 

After their nightly routine, they decided that they were too tired to start on any homework. They would probably just do it in class. It wasn’t a big deal, they knew that they would get full marks on it anyways. 

School the next day wasn’t exactly exciting. It never really was. The only thing he had to look forward to was quiz bowl, and even that was causing them trepidation.

“Holy shit dude, are you okay?” Peter asked when he walked in the next morning. “Thats a really bad bruise,”

“Tell me about it. I almost got mugged yesterday,”

“Seriously? Thats awful dude,”

“I know, they broke my fuckin camera,” Y/N sighed. “It’s fine, I can always try to get a new one,”

“Still, that’s rough,”

“Yeah, it really is,”

“Oh, what happened to your face?” MJ asked as she sat down.

“Almost got mugged,” Y/N responded. “They got my camera, though,”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” MJ looked genuinely upset. “I'll ask Gwen, see if she has a spare for you,”

“Oh, you don't have to,”

“No, I'm sure she wouldn’t mind. Besides,” She shrugged. “It’s what friends do,”

A warm feeling filled Y/N. Friends? They mused over the word. They really didn’t have many friends, but it was nice to have some. They didn’t know how to feel about MJ, but since she was the one who labeled them, it was safe to assume that the other two felt the same as well. 

“Friends,” they murmured. “Yeah,”

Floating on a little bit of a high for the rest of the day, quiz bowl came all too soon. Y/N was kind of dreading seeing Flash. Even though they knew that he couldn’t do anything drastic, that didn’t stop their hands from shaking the closer they got to the room.  

“It'll be fine,” Peter murmured. “Flash is mostly bark no bite,”

“Mostly?”

Peter grimaced. “You’ll be ok,”

When Y/N had told Peter about the whole conversation and Flash hitting them, Peter had been quite upset, cursing under his breath.

Peter grabbed Y/N’s shoulder, holding them back for a moment. “Hey,” he began. “If you’re nervous, you don't have to go. I can easily say you had something come up,”

Facing Peter, Y/N breathed in and out. “I don't know, man. On the one hand I really wanna stick it to Flash. On the other,” Y/N didn’t finish that sentence. 

“Yeah, I get it,” Peter nodded. “Flash is pretty scary, and he’s been on my ass for years. You’d think I’d have gotten used to him by now but,”

“Yeah. It’s fine, I’ll deal with it. I don't need some asshole trying to intimidate me,”

“See, there you go!” Peter smiled at that. “C’mere,” And he pulled Y/N into a quick hug. “You’ll be fine, I won't let Flash do anything weird,”

Y/N snorted. “You’re like… a twig. Thanks though,”

“Hey, I'm pretty strong,'' he mock-pouted. 

“Yeah, right,” Y/N laughed. “Cmon, lets go,”

The two of them entered the room, Peter’s hand not leaving Y/N’s shoulder, something they were grateful for. It was grounding, and helped calm him. And if it sent butterflies soaring in their stomach, well, that was a completely separate issue. 

“Well,” Flash announced, annoyed. “Look who joined!” 

“Hey, Flash,” Y/N called back, trying to look confident. “I didn’t take your advice, sorry man,” 

“That's cool, that’s cool,” He laughed. “Oh, well, don't say I didn’t warn you,” The words, though spoken jovially, sent a wave of terror through Y/N’s veins.

“Alrighty, guys, “ The teacher, who Peter had mentioned was named Mr. Winston, clapped his hands. “So, today's quiz bowl is going to be more of a trivia thing. I’ll be asking random trivia questions, you’ll have to tell me the answer, simple enough?”

Everyone nodded. 

“Cool, so, let's get started,” everyone sat up a little straighter. Y/N, who was sandwiched between Flash and Peter, brushed their leg against Peters, who patted their knee. 

“Which country do the cities of Perth, Adelade & Brisbane belong to?”

Like a dart, Flash’s hand shot into the air. “Australia,”

“Very good, Flash. What is cynophobia?” 

Y/N raised their hand at this one. “Fear of dogs,”

“Good job, L/N. How many languages are written from right to left? Parker?” He pointed to Peter. 

“12?”

“Are you sure?”

Peter paused for a moment, before nodding. “Yes sir, I am,”

“Well you’re correct! Next question. What is…”

Thus, quiz bowl continued, with a fierce competition emerging between Flash, Peter, and Y/N. Peter and Y/N’s was more friendly, with the two bumping shoulders every time they got a question, but their rivalry with Flash was more intense, especially for Y/N. It felt as though they had something to prove, to prove that they did belong there, and that Flash had no power over them. Next to him, Flash remained cool and composed, though Y/N could see the beads of sweat racing down his forehead. They were actually feeling pretty good about the competition. It was nice to be in a competitive field without it being self imposed. 

“… and finally, last question! Whoever gets this right gets a gold star,” Mr. Winston chuckled. “In what country would you find Lake Bled?” 

The room went silent. “Bled?” Peter whispered in Y/N’s ear. Is that Russian?”

Y/N raised their hand. “Slovakia?”

“Nope, I’m afraid not. Anyone else?”

Flash raised his hand. “Slovenia,”

“That is correct, Flash. Alright, meeting over! I'll see you guys soon,”

The scraping of chairs drowned out the thudding of Y/N’s heart. How could they have been so stupid? They should have known that, they should have done better, they should have-

They hadn’t even noticed tears were welling in their eyes until Peter grabbed them from behind, burying his face in their neck. “It’s alright, man,” he murmured. “No one knew that. The only reason Flash remembered was because of you,”

“Yeah, you’re right. I don't know, it made me feel like… like I lost somehow,”

“Believe me, I get that,” Peter looked up. “But if you let that define you, you’re going to beat yourself up to the point where you won't be able to win at all, if that makes sense,”

“Yeah, it does,” Y/N leaned into the embrace for a moment. 

“Peter! Y/N!” Gwen called. They didn’t let go, simply let Gwen join the hug. MJ stood off to the side until Gwen extended an arm. The four of them stood there, in front of the school entrance, for who knows how long. It felt nice to be held in the embrace, given that Y/N was extremely touch starved. 

“It’s fine, Y/N,” Gwen murmured. “Why don't we all hang out, and I can give you my second camera?”

“Really?” Y/N sniffed. “Yeah, that sounds great,” 

They let go of each other, with Peter keeping an arm around Y/N’s waist. “I think I left my backpack in the room, though, so I'm gonna go grab it. I'll catch up with you guys in a second, yeah?” Y/N went down the hall, only to be stopped by Flash. 

“So,” Flash began. 

“Leave me alone, man, I don't wanna deal with your shit right now,”

“No, I don't think I will,” 

He found himself being shoved into a locker, head slamming against the cold metal. 

“What the fuck, man? Just leave me alone,”

“It was so impressive, how you answered all those questions, it really was. Unfortunately, I don't like it when people don't listen to me,” 

“Well, too bad Flash. You’re a stupid, pretentious asshole,” The instant Y/N blurted those words, they wished they could take them back. 

“What did you just say?” His voice was deadly calm. 

Steeling their nerves, Y/N responded. “I said, you’re a stupid pretentious asshole. Did you not hear me? Are you deaf as well as dumb?”

The next thing they knew, they were lying on the ground, having been spun around and shoved. A swift kick to their ribs had them groaning in pain. 

“I’ll let you off easy since you’re new. But don't ever,” he punctuated the sentence with another kick. “Ever do that again. Got it?” And with that, Flash left, footsteps echoing down the hallway. 

Y/N didn’t know how long they lay there for, but eventually, they found the energy to push themselves up to his feet. Leaning against the lockers, they winced. Their ribs were definitely bruised, and they were lucky they weren’t broken. Hobbling down the hall, they grabbed their backpack and made their way back to where Peter, MJ, and Gwen were. 

“Hey, what took you so long?” Peter was the first to come up to them, eyes full of worry. “We saw Flash coming this way,”

“Ugh, nothing. Asshole just shoved me into a locker and kicked me a few times. Hurts like a bastard,” they shot a wry grin at them. “It’s not too bad. Let's get going, yeah?”

“I’m gonna kill Flash,” MJ growled. 

The walk to Gwen’s house wasn’t too far, thankfully. Y/N didn’t know if they would make it that far, with how their head was aching. They didn’t think they had a concussion, thankfully, but that didn't make it any more fun to deal with. 

“Alright, here we are,” Gwen stood in front of an unassuming apartment building. “Cmon,”

Gwen’s house was on the third floor, and the ride up was anything but silent. The four of them were chattering and laughing like there was no tomorrow. 

Eventually, they were seated in Gwen’s room, an aesthetic one with fairy lights and Polaroid photos of her and her friends. Y/N stood awkwardly at the doorway before Peter called them over to come sit on the bed with him. MJ and Gwen shared a bean bag while Peter and Y/N sprawled on the bed. 

Eventually, night began to fall, and Y/N began yawning. Curling up on the bed like a cat, they let the conversation lull them. It was warm in the room, and they could just close their eyes for a minute, and-

They woke up with a start, before realizing they were in bed. They felt another jolt of panic when they realized that it wasn’t their bed. They were sandwiched between Gwen and Peter, with MJ holding their hand from where she was next to Gwen. 

Y/N smiled softly as they snuggled back into the warm bodies. It was nice, something they had never experienced before. Damn the consequences. What could possibly be bad about this?

The next morning came with the sound of Gwen’s alarm going off. Y/N sat up straight in bed, groaning. 

“Mm, good morning,” Peter yawned from where he was laying. 

“Dude, shit, I fell asleep,”

“Yep, that you did,” he laughed. “It’s fine. I can get you a change of clothes and we can get going. Gwen doesn’t live far,”

Y/N flopped back into bed, feeling Gwen stir next to him. 

“Morning,”

“Morning, Gwen,” 

“Hey, MJ, sleepyhead,” Gwen called. “Wake up,” 

“Ugh,” she groaned. “Morning already?”

“Unfortunately,” Gwen smiled. “C’mon, or we’re gonna be late,”

“Fine, fine, I’m up,”

The four got out of bed, with Peter heading to Gwen’s closet. 

“Here,” he threw Y/N a shirt and some pants. “It’ll probably be a little big on you, but I always keep some extra here because I’m over so often,”

“Oh,” Were the two dating? It didn't look like it, but why else would he have extra clothes at Gwen’s?

As if reading their mind, Peter smiled. “Don't worry, I have some at MJ’s too,” he leaned in conspiratorially. “I think that MJ and Gwen like each other, but they’re just dancing around it,”

“Wait, really?” Y/N whispered. “No way. That actually makes sense,”

“I know, right? They’re so into each other,” as if to prove his point, he looked over at them, where MJ was brushing Gwen's hair with a sweet look on her face, sweeter than they had ever seen. 

“You know what? I think you’re right,”

“Of course I am,” Peter grinned. “C’mon, let's get going,”

The two changed, and soon enough, the four of them began walking to school. Gwen and MJ led the way, with Peter and Y/N following. 

“So,” Peter began. “What do you do for like, fun?”

“Um,” Y/N began. “I like to take photos? I like to draw, and I listen to music I guess. I don't know, I’m not super interesting,” they huffed out a self deprecating laugh. “What about you?”

“Me? I love skateboarding. I like to take photos too. I've been looking to grab a photo of Spider-Man, but no luck so far,”

“Same, oh my god. I was actually looking for him before I got mugged, and then dude, you know what? He actually saved me!”

“Wait, really? Like, in person? Holy shit, dude, that’s so cool!” 

“I know, right? Also, it's so cool that you skateboard, i've always wanted to learn,”

“Dude. Tomorrow. Meet me at the skatepark. I'm gonna teach you,”

“Wait, really? Are you sure?” 

“Absolutely,” Peter nodded self assuredly. “You’re gonna be become the second best skater in New York City, second only to me, of course,”

“Second? We’ll see about that,” Y/N shoved him playfully. 

Saturday couldn’t come soon enough in Y/N’s mind. Laying alone in their blank room, anything would be better than that. They didn’t even have his camera to take photos, and Gwen never gave them her spare, which was absolutely fine. They weren’t entitled to anything. 

Sighing, they tossed and turned, but couldn’t get comfortable. Deciding that they couldn’t sleep, they crept out their window onto the fire escape and climbed down into the alleyway behind their apartment complex. 

It was risky, sure, especially after their last encounter, but it would be alright. They could hold their own, especially now that they had nothing valuable. They began walking in a random direction, crossing the street, and heading towards where they knew the school was. Leaping over puddles, they tried to stick to the main streets. They weren’t in the mood to get mugged again. They pushed open the gate to a park, and climbed up on a tree. It was a nice spot, secluded, but nice enough that they could see the streets. 

Speaking of streets, it was a little too quiet on the roads. They had grown used to the constant sounds of traffic and such, but they could not hear a thing tonight. It was too quiet for their liking. Checking his phone, they saw that it was around one AM. The silence made sense, sure, in a small town, but even then, they could always hear a train or some small cars. 

Something wasn’t right. 

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The sounds of car alarms and something breaking got closer and closer to where they were. Leaping out of the tree, Y/N ran out of the park and raced over to the middle of the street. Flashing lights got closer and closer to where he was, outlining a massive figure swatting at the air. 

Oh, god. It must be Spiderman. This was the reason they didn't want to come to New York: the fighting. They began sprinting home, trying to run back to their parents as fast as he could. 

As soon as he neared the school, a thought crossed his mind: Gwen.

They ran in the opposite direction of where they came from, hearing the sounds of police sirens getting louder and louder. 

Praying that the building was the right one, they sprinted up the stairs, furiously knocking on the door. When no one answered, they pushed the handle only to find it was unlocked. 

“Gwen? GWEN?” Y/N yelled, searching her room. Upon not finding her, they raced back out to the street, looking around. Maybe there was still time to hide.

One small issue stood in his way:

The fight had reached them. 

Y/N raced over towards the school, ignoring the sounds of the battle as best they could. At least the school would provide some cover. Climbing up the fire escape, they made their way to the roof, where they saw Spider-Man get slammed into the side of a wall. 

Holy shit. 

They put their hands over their mouth to prevent themselves from screaming. Surely Spider-Man had to be dead. It was to Y/N’s surprise, then, when the webslinger got back up and shot webs at the man? Beast? Y/n wasn’t quite sure who was being fought. All they knew was that it didn’t look like Spider-Man was doing well. His movements were slow, reactions delayed. The giant was landing more and more hits on him, and Spiderman was taking longer and longer to get up. 

Climbing down, they grabbed a half of a fallen lamppost, and lifted it. It was heavy, to be sure, at least 50 pounds, but adrenaline was coursing through them. They waited until the giant stepped a little closer, then, just as he was about to hit Spiderman, they swung it with all his might into the metallic feet of the giant. 

It hardly made a dent. 

And now the giant knew they were there.

Sprinting in the opposite direction, they hardly avoided its monstrous grasp. Racing back towards the fire escape, they hid behind the dumpsters, trying to muffle their panting.

They didn't know how long he sat there for. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, they heard a deafening roar and a thud. Cautiously, they peeked out from behind the dumpster, and then sprinted into the middle of the road. There was an unconscious Spider-Man, and a defeated man in what looked like a wetsuit lying next to a massive metal robot. 

The sound of sirens got closer and closer. If the police got here, and they unmasked Spider-Man, J Jonah Jameson would have a field day, not to mention Spiderman getting arrested. 

They had to do something. But what?

Y/N ran over to Spider-Man, trying to shake him awake. He looked to be in bad shape, with at least three broken bones, and blood everywhere. 

“Spiderman, Spiderman,” they yelled. “Hey, get up, man, the police are almost here,” 

No response. The sirens were getting closer, and they could see, in the faint distance, headlights beginning to shine. 

They did the only thing he could: Pulled off their hoodie and put it on Spider-Man. Then, they grabbed his unconscious body and heaved it onto his shoulders. Pulling a nearly six foot man was no easy feat, but they managed to get him near the fire escape, where they set him down for a moment. Panting, they stood over him as he wondered what to do. In the end, there was only one thing they could do. 

At some point during the walk, Spider-Man had regained consciousness several times then lost it again, which was pretty concerning. Avoiding people and cops was also not fun, given that it looked like they were lugging a corpse around. 

Eventually, the two reached Y/N’s house. The most tricky part was yet to come. They had to get Spider-Man up the stairs, without anyone hearing. Oh, who was he kidding. No one would pay attention to that after everything that had happened. Their parents probably weren’t home, either. They were likely at work when everything happened. Praying that they were okay, Y/N began the tricky task of taking Spider-Man up the stairs. It was no easy feat, but in the end, they got him in. 

They both fell to the floor with a thud as Y/N tried to get them both inside. Wincing, he grabbed Spider-Man again and brought him over to their bed. 

They didn't have much medical knowledge, but what they did know was that they needed to begin cleaning and bandaging Spider-Man’s wounds, and they needed to set any bones that were broken. They didn't know if Spider-Man could heal fast, so they assumed that he was just an average joe. 

Grabbing some alcohol and gauze bandages, they began to cut up Spider-Man’s suit, praying it wasn’t expensive. They felt like they were violating his privacy, but then again, the man could die. 

Spider-Man’s leg bones were in bad shape. That was likely why he kept gaining consciousness, thanks to the pain of them being moved. Sighing, Y/N grabbed a ruler and some athletic bandages for a makeshift splint. They set the bone, wincing when Spider-Man didn't even groan. They sanitized the ruler and wrapped the bandages around his leg. 

Once that was set, he worked his way to Spider-Man’s ribs. Cutting open the suit some more, they saw that there was a lot of bruising. Pulling out the gauze pads, they poured some alcohol on them and began cleaning. Again, the masked man didn't stir. Nothing appeared to be broken, at least not externally, but Y/N decided that after taking care of his back, they would wrap his ribs just in case. 

After no small struggle, Y/N flipped him onto his back, where they analyzed the cuts there. There were fragments of glass and brick caught in his suit, so, praying that the man was wearing underwear, they cut it all off. They ran to the bathroom to grab some tweezers, and began pulling glass out of the wounds. Just as they were about to finish the first wound, they heard a groan come from the man. Backing up, they spoke tentatively. “Spiderman?” 

He didn't stir anymore, so Y/N left to go get some hydrogen peroxide and some saline. They always kept medical supplies on hand, an old habit from when they used to get bullied quite extremely. Shaking their head to rid themselves of the thoughts, they grabbed the materials and began rinsing out the wound, hoping to get any last bits of glass out. They did the same for the other cuts, then began bandaging Spider-Man’s ribs, making sure not to go too tight. 

Turning the man back on his front, they cleaned up Spider-Man’s arms, chest, and upper thighs, thanking god that Spider-Man’s athletic cup saved him from needing to clean more… unsavory parts. 

Eventually, satisfied with the job they did, they began putting everything back in its original place and grabbing some painkillers. He took out a change of clothes, and, making sure that they had bandaged everything up, turned him on his side in case something happened overnight. They pulled up a chair, wrote a note to Spider-Man and placed it next to the painkillers, and fell asleep.

The morning came, and the clothes and painkillers were gone. They could only assume that Spider-Man had gotten home safely, and hoped that everything was okay. They had slept awful, but, remembering that he had to hang out with Peter, he hopped out of the chair. Texting him, they asked if they were still on, the events of last night flooding back. 

Hey man we still good for today 

I think everything’s kinda destroyed

Yeah, i think it is too. Maybe later sorry man

No problem :) see you tomorrow

Putting his phone down, Y/N sighed. They were exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to sleep. Crawling into bed, they fell asleep within minutes. 

That was, until they woke up randomly. It was evening by that time, and the shadows were long.  

He turned over, only to see a man sitting in his chair that he hadn’t put away. 

“Hey,” he spoke. 

It was Spider-Man.