The Top of New York
Y/N sat up straight in bed. “Hey?” They should have been concerned that Spiderman broke into their house, but for some reason, they weren’t. Spiderman probably wasn’t going to kill them or anything, so, it would be fine.
“About yesterday,” Spiderman began.
“Oh, my goodness,” Y/N cut him off. “I am so sorry, I swear I didn't unmask you, and I'm so sorry for ruining your suit, it's just that I thought you were gonna die and I didn't want the police to find out who you were and-”
“Dude,” Spiderman put his hands up. “It’s totally fine, I just wanted to thank you in person,”
“Wait, really? You’re not mad?”
“Are you kidding? You saved my life!”
Y/N let out a sigh of relief. “Nah, I just helped you out a little. I'm glad you’re doing well,”
Spiderman stood, sitting on the bed next to Y/N. “I have a question for you, though,”
“Yeah?”
“Why didn't you unmask me? I mean, I was passed out. You could have done anything and I couldn’t have resisted,”
Y/N’s answer was immediate. “You wear the mask for a reason. I already felt weird enough cutting up your suit, I didn't want to… betray your trust? If that makes sense?”
Spiderman was stunned. “Yeah, I guess that does. Thanks, man. I owe you,”
“Nah, don't worry about it,” they shrugged. “You saved me, I'm just glad I got to help you,”
If Spider-Man wasn’t wearing a mask, Y/N would have sworn that he was smiling. He grabbed their hand, and looked into their eyes.
“I don't know how else to say thank you,”
Y/N’s heart beat faster. Were they going to be kissed?
Spiderman leaned in, and hugged Y/N instead.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
As suddenly as he had leaned in, Spider-Man broke the hug. Y/N would be lying if they said that they weren’t disappointed, but he understood that Spiderman, a hero, likely had a partner already.
“Ill, uh, see you around?” He asked.
“Yeah,” Y/N said breathlessly. “Yeah, I sure hope so,”
With that, Spiderman left through the window, swinging away, nearly hitting a pole in the process. Y/N chuckled as he yelled “Im alright,” While looking back. He was, if nothing else, adorable.
As soon as Spider-Man was out of sight, Y/N grabbed his phone to text Gwen.
Gwen
Gwen
Gwen
Gwen
Yeah?
You will not believe what just happened
Spiderman came into my house and hugged me to thank me
What? Why?
Because I saved his life after the fight
Also where were you yesterday? I went to your house but you weren’t there
I was hiding in the basement lol
But wait
YOU SAVED SPIDERMANS LIFE????
I DID AFTER HE PASSED OUT I TOOK HIM HOME AND BANDAGED HIM UP!!!
OH MY GOD DUDE
THATS INSANE
I KNOW RIGHT
Im just kinda sad that Peter and I don't get to hang out
Thats a little fruity
Shut up
Hey i call it like i see it
I gtg but you’re not off the hook
Ok byeeee
Byeee love you
With that, Y/N put their phone down, lying back in bed. They didn't know how to process what had happened, so they decided to go for a walk. Hopping down the fire escape, they made their way over to the school, only to see caution tape all around it.
A familiar, lanky figure was standing a little ways away, so Y/N called, “Peter?”
“Y/N?”
They raced towards each other, embracing tightly. “Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re okay,” Peter murmured. “I was so worried about you,” Holding Y/N at arm's length, he examined them. “Are you okay? You’re not injured, are you?”
“No, no, I’m okay. What about you,” they leaned forward to touch Peter’s face. “You’re all scratched up,”
“Yeah, the fight got really close to where I was. Had a nasty encounter with a tree,”
“Oh, my god,” they murmured. “You good?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m okay. I'm just glad you’re not injured,”
“How’s MJ? Gwen? I texted Gwen and she seemed fine, but,”
“They’re both okay, I saw them earlier today,” Peter pulled Y/N back in for a hug. “I'm so, so glad you’re okay,”
They held each other, standing in front of the fallen rubble, hoping the other wouldn’t let go.
School was estimated to be out for about two weeks, which meant that they had two weeks to do absolutely nothing. It was a bright, sunny day when Peter texted Y/N.
Hey, do you wanna go skating?
Sure, when?
Right now
Ok ill meet you there
Y/N grabbed their wallet and made their way towards the skate park. The destruction was insane. They had never seen anything on this scale. Entire buildings collapsed. Sidewalks torn up. It was awful.
“Hey!” Peter waved in the distance.
Y/N waved back. Peter was wearing a green shirt with his black jacket, making him pretty identifiable. Y/N wished they brought a jacket, too. It was starting to get a little bit chilly outside.
“So,” he began. “Are you ready to learn?”
“You bet,”
“Okay, so, the basics. Do you know how to stand on a skateboard?”
“Of course I do,” Y/N exclaimed indignantly. “Who doesn’t?”
“Alright, alright,” Peter laughed. “We’ll see. C’mon, stand on it,”
Y/N put one foot on the skateboard and immediately felt it slide underneath their feet.
“Holy shit,”
“Who doesn’t know how to stand on a skateboard?” Peter teased.
“Shut up, that was a fluke,” Cheeks burning, Y/N moved to stand on it again, only to feel it slide again. “Alright,” they huffed. “Why don't you help me?”
“There we go, see, that wasn’t so hard,” Peter grinned. “So,” he grabbed their waist. “Put one foot on the back of the board, like that, yep, there you go. Now, you’re gonna put your other foot on the middle of the skateboard. Press down on your back foot a little and-”
He didn't get to finish as Y/N went sliding again. Thankfully, Peter was already holding their waist, meaning that he could grab them easily.
“Hey,” Peter murmured, holding them tight.
“Hey,” they breathed.
They stood there for longer than necessary, holding each other. Y/N never really noticed how lovely Peter’s eyes were, brown with slight flecks of green and gold. They were gorgeous, just like the rest of him. They found their eyes beginning to trail down to his lips and-
Snapping himself out of it, Peter pulled away, helping them stand on their own two feet.
“Okay, so uh, you just have to, um, put one of your feet on the back and one on the middle, and yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck.
“Okay,” they nodded. “Like this?” Grinning when they didn't feel themselves slide.
“Yep, perfect! Okay, so now, you’re gonna bring your dominant foot down and just, push softly, making sure to put all your weight on your thighs and core. Make sense?”
“Yeah, kinda,” Y/N said. “Like this?” They found themselves moving slightly, just enough to propel them forward a few feet.
“Yep, there you go!”
The duo found themselves staying until the sun began to set. Y/N shivered slightly as they finished up, Peter grabbing his skateboard.
“Hey, you cold?”
“Naw, it's fine,” Y/N’s shivering betrayed them, however, as Peter shrugged off his jacket.
“Here,”
“What? No, you keep it, you need it more,”
Peter laughed at that. “Dude, your teeth are literally chattering. I run hot anyways, just take it,”
“You sure?” Y/N asked, accepting the jacket.
“I mean, why else would I offer?”
The two of them began walking towards the school, Y/N wrapped up in Peter’s jacket. It was warm, and smelled of leather and something slightly sweet they couldn’t put their finger on.
Peter wrapped his arm around Y/N’s shoulders, and the two of them headed down a street that they had never been before.
“Hey, where are we going?”
“Oh, dude, my bad. This is the way to my house,”
“Ope,”
“Do you wanna come over?” Peter looked at them with such hopeful eyes that Y/N simply couldn’t say no.
“Alright, let's do it,”
They climbed up the stairs of the older looking apartment building, making their way to the fourth floor. It was a quick elevator ride, the interior being a lot more modern than the outside betrayed.
“You’ve never actually been to my house, and we’ve been friends for like almost two months,”
“Oh, that’s true,” Y/N replied. “I haven’t even been to MJ’s yet, the only persons house i've been to is Gwen’s,”
“Huh, we should hang out more. I can’t believe school is gonna start back up in like, five days,”
“Ugh neither can I. I've done pretty much nothing this entire break,”
“Me too. I really hope my engineering project hasn’t broken, too, because I’m going to be pissed if it did,”
“What was it?” Y/N asked as Peter pushed open the door to his apartment.
“It’s like an engine that basically runs on methane. It could be revolutionary,”
“Really? What does it expel?”
“That's the beauty of it. It’s self sustaining. All you need is either Acetone, ethanol, or,”
“Peter?” The voice of an elderly woman came from what Y/N assumed was the kitchen. “Peter is that you?”
“Yeah, Aunt May. It’s me, and I brought a friend,’
‘Oh, how lovely! You two be good, now,”
“Who was that?” Y/N questioned once they were in Peter's room.
“That was my Aunt May. She takes care of me since my parents and Uncle Ben are, well,”
“Oh. I'm sorry,” Y/N tried to comfort him.
“Yeah, it's fine. You kind of move on, after a while,”
Y/N patted Peter’s shoulder a little awkwardly.
“Anyways,” Peter announced, extending his arms. “Welcome to my room!”
It was fairly neat, with clothes on the floor and a messy desk. There appears to be an organization system to his room, even the messy parts.
“It kind of fits, actually?”
“What?”
“Your room. It fits you. Like it makes sense that this is what your room looks like,”
Y/N roamed around, checking out the figurines on the shelves. There were a few potted plants, and some trophies from quiz bowl and various science fairs.
“You absolute nerd,” they teased. “All these science fair trophies and not a single sports trophy,”
“As if you could win one,” Peter teased.
“You’re not wrong,” Y/N responded.
The two of them hung out until midnight, laughing and talking. It was nice, Y/N mused, having a friend like Peter. Reluctant to leave, their goodbyes must have lasted at least another half hour. Making their way home was no fun in the cold. About halfway through, Y/N realized that they still had Peter’s jacket. They quickly shot a text and continued walking, hyper aware of their surroundings. They really didn't want to get mugged again, but they felt a little safer knowing Spider-Man was out there.
Spiderman. What the hell were their interactions? That couldn’t be normal, how would a superhero have time for that kind of stuff? Did Spider-Man have a crush on them? Did they have a crush on him?
Thinking back, they realized that maybe they did. It wasn’t like it would go anywhere, unfortunately, but still, it was there all the same. Sighing in the chilly air, they wrapped Peter’s jacket around them a little tighter.
Flipping the lights on, they realized that no one was at home yet again. Their parents had to be in the mafia or something. That would explain all the moving and all the fact that they were literally never home. It kind of sucked, they mused. Having parents who were a part of their life would have been amazing. Life would have been so much better, and yet, with everything, they would have never met Peter, Gwen, and MJ.
They climbed up the creaky steps, trying to ignore the dark hallways and how lonely he felt. Even though he had a lot, they couldn’t help but wish for more.
Their room, with its barren walls, looked the same as ever. Moonlight illuminated it, eliminating the need for Y/N to turn on the lights. They kicked off their shoes, not bothering to look where they went. They were tired, and wanted to just collapse in bed. As they began changing, they realized that they didn't really want to take Peter's jacket off. So, doing something they would never tell anyone, they changed and put the jacket back on, their excuse being that it would be cold, since their parents didn't like leaving the house warm since they weren’t home and Y/N apparently wasn’t important enough to turn the heating on for.
Just as they were about to crawl into bed, they noticed a box sitting, wrapped on their bed.
Maybe it was from their parents? No, it couldn’t have been. When was the last time they had ever given them a gift?
Like a child on Christmas, they unwrapped it, gasping at the contents inside.
It was a DSLR box.
Oh, god.
Y/N was going to pass out.
Carefully, they opened the box, only to see a Nikon D810.
Holy fucking shit. The camera was worth at least two thousand dollars. That was a huge step up from what they previously had. Who would do this, though? This was a lot of money to drop on a camera, or hell, on anything.
Checking the box for any note, the only thing they found was a note that said
Thanks for the help
Love, Spider-Man <3
Y/N found themselves flushing. No way in hell Spider-Man did this for everyone. They carefully unboxed the camera, pulling it out. There was no way in hell they were sleeping tonight. They punched the air, whispering a soft “yes” as they held it up in triumph. They went over to the window, where they caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure swinging away.
Dawn came, and Y/N was still on the street taking photos. They had been up for far too long, but excitement kept them awake. Deciding that they wanted to crash, they took inventory of their surroundings. They were really close to the deli, so they figured it wouldn’t be that far of a walk to Peter’s house. Hoping that he wouldn’t mind the intrusion, they made their way over to his apartment complex.
“Hey,” Y/N said as Peter opened the door.
“Morning,” Peter yawned, hair adorably messy. “What’re you doing up so early,”
“Let me in and I’ll tell you all about it,”
Once comfortable in Peter’s room, Y/N began. “So, remember how my camera broke?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, guess who got a new one?”
Peter perked up at that. “You did?”
“Yep! And get this,” they paused, brimming wit excitement. “It’s from Spider-Man,”
“No way!” Peter exclaimed. “Dude, are you sure?”
“Oh, 100%. He left a note and everything. This is a 2000 dollar camera. This is insane,”
“Yeah, Jesus, you look like you haven’t gotten any sleep at all,”
“Yeah, wanna see some of the photos I took?”
“Absolutely,”
As the two of them pored over photos together, Y/N found themselves nodding off slightly. At some point the two of them had scooted against Peter’s headboard, so it was easy to rest his head on Peter’s shoulder. And that they did. Not even realizing that they had fallen asleep, Y/N fell into a restful, dreamless doze.
Y/N awoke to an empty bed, that once again, wasn’t theirs. This was the second time in how many weeks, which was quite unusual. They clambered out of bed, getting caught in the sheets multiple times.
“Peter?” They called. “You home?”
“Yeah, I’m in the kitchen,” He yelled. “Uh, I could use a little assistance though?”
They made their way over to the kitchen where they were immediately consumed by smoke.
“Oh my god, Peter, what the hell?”
“I was trying to make food and then, well, this happened,”
“Okay, open a window,” Y/N called. “Turn on the exhaust,”
“I did! Well, not the window part!”
“Peter, I can't even see you! How did it get this bad?”
“Don't ask!” A cough. “I can't make eggs, apparently,”
“Eggs? Are you serious?”
“Don't laugh,”
It was too late. Y/N was heaving with laughter. “Seriously? Eggs?”
“Shut up and help me fix this,”
After much struggle, a lot of bringing in fans, and several cups of water, they were finally able to find the source of all the smoke: burning eggs.
“Peter, what the hell?” Y/N exclaimed as Peter accidentally poured a mug of water on them instead of the eggs. “I'm not on fire!”
“No, but you are hot,” he winked, then promptly dropped the mug on the ground.
“Idiot,” Y/N grinned fondly before remembering that they were absolutely soaked. “Im gonna kill you,”
“I’d like to see you try,”
“Idiot,”
The two of them stood there for a second, before remembering the shattered mug and the currently flaming eggs.
“I got the eggs, you can do the mug?”
“Got it,”
Y/N bent down to begin collecting the shards of ceramic while Peter continued to douse the fire. Eventually, he got the brilliant idea to put a lid on the fire to douse it. As he was placing the lid, he accidentally bumped Y/N’s hand, causing them to cut themselves with a shard.
“Ow!” They exclaimed. Blood began pouring down their hand, “Jesus, oh my god,”
“What? Oh, my god, Y/N, are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good, I’m good. Lemme finish cleaning this,”
“No, no way, here. You come here, we’ll bandage this up,” Peter gently bent down, grabbing YN and hoisting them to their feet. The two made their way to the bathroom, where Peter opened under the sink. He grabbed some bandages, and tenderly took Y/N’s hand.
“Does it hurt?” He asked.
“Not too bad anymore,” Y/N lied.
“Okay, that’s good. This might sting a little,” Peter ran the wound under the water, wincing at Y/N’s hiss of pain. “I know, I know, I’m sorry,” he murmured. He bandaged the wound gently, wrapping it several times to make sure that no blood soaked through.
“It wasn’t that big a deal,” Y/N spoke.
“It was bleeding a lot and looked like it hurt,”
“It kinda was,”
“Are you okay now?”
“You could kiss it better,” Y/N teased.
Without breaking eye contact, Peter grabbed Y/N’s hand and brought it up to his lips. “Better?” He asked softly.
“Yeah,” Y/N breathed. “So much better,”
They gazed into each other’s eyes, at least until Y/N remembered that they were still soaking wet. “Hey, uh, not to be annoying, but,”
“You’re not being annoying,” Peter interrupted.
“I'm still soaking wet,”
“Oh!” Peter flushed, then gently pushed past Y/N. He returned with a shirt. “Here,” He nodded. “It might be a little big, but, yeah,”
“Thanks,” Peter left the room, and Y/N pulled off their shirt, only to be faced with a blushing Peter.
“Oh! I am so, so sorry,” Y/N apologized. “I didn't realize you were still in the room,”
“No, no, I’m sorry, I just wanted to tell you that you can leave your wet clothes on the rack over there, I’ll, um, I'll go now, yeah,”
Y/N quickly changed into the soft hoodie, smiling as they looked at themselves in the mirror. They kind of liked how they looked in the large, oversized hoodie. It was stupid, but it was what friends did. They stepped out, only to see Peter still standing there, face slightly still red.
“Okay, well, um, I can clean the floor now,”
“Yeah, okay, I’m sorry,”
“No, no, don't be sorry, I’m sorry, I put you in that position,”
“No, no, no, its okay, I was just careless,”
“Still,”
“It’s okay, lets just go back,”
The two of them made their way back to the kitchen, and while Peter picked up glass shards, Y/N tried to clean the stove a little.
They spent the afternoon cleaning, with Y/N cleaning the stove and the exhaust and Peter scrubbing the pan. Eventually, Y/N taught Peter how to cook eggs, something they found absolutely adorable.
The two sat at the table, with Peter bringing the eggs and Y/N bringing two glasses of milk.
“Wait,” Peter began. “These are actually so good,”
Y/N laughed. “Do you burn down the kitchen every time you try to cook?”
“No, only when I'm trying to impress,”
Y/N laughed even harder. “Yep, that’s impressive alright,”
Peter smiled, leaning his head on his hand. “Thanks, I aim to please,”
Eventually, Y/N did have to go home, although reluctant. Still smiling as they walked, they felt as though they were floating. It was amazing to have friends, they mused. It really was.
Sitting at home, on their bed, they found they weren’t tired, likely because they had slept at Peter’s.
Feeling bored, they went to grab their camera, and made their way to the fire escape once again, only to see a shadowy figure already sitting there.
“Hello,” Spider-Man said cheerily.
“I'm starting to think you’re stalking me,” Y/N joked.
Spiderman just grinned under his mask. “I just wanted to hang out with my favorite hero, is that such a crime?”
“Me? A hero?”
“You saved my life,” he shrugged. “That makes you a hero. Anyways, you like photography, right?”
“Um, yeah. Oh, by the way, thank you for the camera, you really didn't have to do that,”
He waved it off. “Don't worry about it,”
“Do you do this for everyone?”
“Only the people I’m trying to impress,”
Y/N flushed. Spiderman? Trying to impress them? That didn't make any sense. Still, it was really sweet.
“Anyways, I wanted to ask you something,”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to get a photo from the top of the Empire?”
“What?”
“Here, c’mon,”
And without giving Y/N any time to object, he grabbed them and began swinging.
Swinging was terrifying, to say the least. But where it was terrifying, it was also breathtakingly exhilarating. “Holy shit!” Y/N yelled. “Do you do this all the time?!”
“Yep!” Spiderman yelled back over the whistling wind. “Isn’t it fun?”
“I mean yeah, but I’m also shit scared!”
Spiderman laughed. “Just hold on! I promise I won't let you fall!”
The words reassured Y/N, and they clung a little tighter to Spiderman. Eventually, the two made their way to the Empire State Building, where Spiderman began crawling up the side.
“Oh, god,” Y/N murmured, seeing how far up they were. “Are you sure you won't fall?”
“Don't worry, I do this all the time,”
“Okay, I’m trusting you,”
The view from the very top was breathtaking. The wind whipped Y/N’s hair around, causing them to unconsciously cling to Spiderman.
“Holy shit!” They yelled. “It’s beautiful!”
“Yep! I get to see this all the time!”
“Here!” Y/N grabbed his hand and took him to the massive pole. “Climb that! I want a photo of you!”
“Alright!”
Y/N snapped a quick photo, then as Spider-Man came down, they pulled up another idea.
“Hey, okay, I know this is crazy, but could you leap off the ledge and shoot a web towards me? I promise it’ll look cool as shit,”
“Yeah, sure, but are you sure you won't fall off the edge?”
“Um,”
“Here,” Spiderman grabbed them. “Let me web you to the edge, that way you can lean and not fall, yeah?”
“Sounds good,” they grinned. “Let's do this,”
It took a few rounds for Y/N to get the right shot, but when they did, it was an insane perspective shot of Spiderman shooting a web straight towards the camera, falling into the city. It was gorgeous.
“How’d it turn out?” Spiderman asked, hopping onto the ledge.
“It’s insane,” Y/N murmured. “Look!”
“Holy shit, you’re so talented,” Spiderman exclaimed.
“No, not really, I’m just lucky enough to have such an insane model,” they smiled.
The two of them sat on the cold concrete, looking up at the sky.
“So,” Spider-Man began. “What happened to your finger?”
“Oh, me and one of my friends were cooking and well, he dropped a mug after drenching me in water,”
“Sounds exciting,”
“It was, the kitchen was so full of smoke, and you couldn’t…”
Their conversation continued until late. It seemed to flow naturally, as if they had known each other for years.
Eventually, Spider-Man dropped Y/N off at their house again, though it seemed he was reluctant to do so.
“Bye!” They waved as he swung off into the night.
Smiling, Y/N pulled up their laptop to edit the photos they had taken of Spiderman.
Maybe things weren’t so awful after all