Secret War

Peter sat on his bed, eyes focused on the crystal in his left hand, and his head was thinking about the face of his actor.

He's been thinking about Tom Holland since this morning when Betty mentioned that the suit and trousers he had only worn few days ago were designer items.

He was absent-mindedly finishing his chemistry class, thinking about the ingredients in Tom Holland's body wash, and he even forgot to make the net liquid.

He finished his physics class absentmindedly, thinking about the subtle differences between Tom Holland and his own tone.

He finished his English class absentmindedly, thinking that he had never used so many metaphors on a single person.

The guy who has the same face as himself and lives a completely different life from his own.

He wouldn't say their first meeting was a good start, he threw a tantrum at Tom and panicked in front of him, he shouldn't be so out of control in front of a stranger.
But the man comforted him gently.

Tom, Tom.
Tom Holland.
He thought of the Englishman's name.
Why did he treat himself so tenderly?

Peter started to get irritable, walking up and down the walls and ceiling.

When he finally smelled that familiar scent from his Spider-Man suit, he couldn't take it any longer.

He tossed his suit aside and summoned the pale purple crystal. He decided not to wear Spider-Man's suit, opting instead for a short sleeve with hilarious scientific puns.

Tom looked surprised when he showed up in Tom's bedroom.
"Peter?" he stammered out the boy's name.

"Yes." He stared at the half-naked man on the bed for a while, and decided to make a normal wave. “Hi.”

"You're back!" Tom jumped up from the bed in surprise, then noticed that he was only wearing his underwear. "Uh, oh my god sorry, I——I didn't expect you to be back so soon! I was going to bed!"
He hurriedly put on his pants. "Do you need my help? What does the villain look like? I'll try my best to provide all the information!"

"No, no, everything is fine, calm down Tom."

Tom fell silent, doubt and surprise in his eyes.
"...If nothing bad happened, why you come to see me?"

Peter's first thought was that he had disturbed Tom. He shouldn't be bothering someone he's only seen twice, and he——can't I just come to see you? Aren't you my actor? !

But before he could generate the next negative emotion, Tom took his hand.

"Have you had a nightmare?" he heard Tom's concerned voice.

He raised his head in surprise, meeting those brown pupils.
Peter's heart skipped a beat and he heard himself stutter. "I, I didn't——"

A warm hug interrupted Peter's remaining ability to speak.
"It's okay, Peter. It just a bad dream. I'm here with you."

Peter tried to explain, but the smell from Tom crept into his nose again, and Tom's hug is so warm and comfortable.
He suddenly didn't want to justify why he was here.

Peter couldn't help leaning his body toward the person in front of him, bringing himself as close to him as possible, and he could even feel every beat of Tom's heart.

"Tom."

"If you need me, you can just come to me. I'm not kidding, Peter. I hope you do this."

“Ok.”

Peter nodded, not going to explain the real reason.
He has already got an answer.

Tom ended the hug and looked at Peter, feeling he had to figure out a way to keep Peter out of the nightmare. Maybe not every time, but at least this time.

Then a light flashed in his eyes. "It might work." A jumble of thoughts ran through his mind. "But will Peter accept it?", "Maybe he will?", "What if he wants?"

"Well, Peter." He looked the boy in the eyes and offered in a cautious tone. "If you need a relaxing break, you can...I mean I'd love to be with you, as long as you don't mind."

Peter looked at the wide bed behind Tom and immediately understood what Tom meant. He was still hesitating, but his inner part had begun to get excited, asking him to accept the offer right away.

It's a good idea to take a nap before patrolling. he told himself. At the same time hope that his blush will not be so obvious.

Everything that happened next came naturally.

Peter goes to meet his actors at least once a week, sometimes in Spider-Man suit, sometimes in regular clothes.
Several times he wears Tom's clothes.

"You know what, Flash was detained today because he stared at me several times in every class." Peter began in a cheerful voice.

"Ah, really? Why?" Tom glanced at the people around him.

"Because of your clothes, expensive brands."
Peter pointed to the jacket he was wearing.
"Obviously your clothes haunted him all the time. After school he finally couldn't take it anymore and asks me where I got the money to buy Prada clothes."

Ah, here it is, Flash Thompson.
Tom knew what the rich kid did to Peter, and it wasn't serious from the scenes he filmed - but it was still bullying.
Should I keep talking about this topic?
Tom took his eyes off the TV screen and looked at the boy. "How did you tell him?"

"I told him I bought it with my internship salary." There was a smile on the boy's face.

Tom looked at the boy beside him who burst into laughter.
"...I think he must have been hit hard." It took Tom some time to come up with what he thought was the right comment: take a stand, but not get too deep.

"Any girls staring at you?" He decided to change the subject.

Peter froze for a moment, his brown eyes widening. He was silent for a few seconds to think about the question.
"Maybe? I didn't pay much attention. I'm sure Flash wasn't the only one who recognized the dress. But maybe there were a few girls.——Why you ask this?”

"I told you you could grab a bunch of people's attention with just a little dressing up." Tom smiled and bumped Peter's arm with his elbow.

"Tell me you're not bragging about your beauty." Peter smiled and patted Tom's chest.

"We both are good looking."

Peter laughed even more.

—————————

Everything in the supermarket is discounted, and the prices of eggs and milk are almost buy-one-get-one-free.

Tom rolled his eyes at the red celebration banner.
Maybe I can buy more. he thinks.

Almost all of the eggs and milk he bought went into Spider-man's stomach.

Intentionally or not, Tom started buying lots of food, which allowed Peter to eat enough every time he visited Tom. Tom even took two cookbooks from Sam, making his brother's eyes widen in surprise.

"Tom. Are you... did you buy so much food for me on purpose?"
Peter finally realized what was going on when he saw the three dozen eggs and six boxes of chicken breasts stored in the refrigerator.

"Huh? No." Tom turned his head by the stove. "I just wanted to dine with Spider-Man."
Really, that's one of his motivations.

Peter blinked, but said nothing. He sat quietly on the stool, watching the man show off his cooking skills.

He didn't think about any reason for rejection, his brain wasn't functioning properly. Tom wants to eat with himself? Is this what fans do when they meet idols? How fervent fans would do this? He has no such experience.

Peter looked at the clump of brown hair and remembered what had happened since they first met, how Tom had hugged him.
And the same face as myself.

Fans don't do things like that.

Peter doesn't think it's such a bad thing to eat with his own actor.

—————————

When Tom discovers the growing amount of candy in the pantry, he realizes that Peter really has a sweet tooth.
Does Spider-Man have cavities?

"Peter, do you have cavities?" One day he finally couldn't take it anymore.

"No. Why do you ask that?"

Tom cast his eyes on the five empty candy bags on the table.

"Oh." The boy blushed slightly.

"Ah. You really should eat less."

"Ok Mom."

—————————

"Peter, can I ask where you got that magical crystal?"

Peter took his eyes off the Spider-Man comic on his phone and looked at the man doing push-ups.

The sweat-soaked fabric was tightly adhered to the man's back, drawing out his graceful muscular lines. Peter's eyes darkened, and his enhanced vision allowed him to almost see how the muscles in Tom's arms contracted and released.

He tried to look away, but unfortunately he noticed a drop of sweat, a crystal clear drop, running down Tom's cheek. It stayed in Tom's jaw for a moment, then fell to the floor.

That damn jawline. Peter thought. Why don't I feel this way when I look in the mirror? Obviously we have the same face! Shit, I should take a good look in the mirror when I go back.

"Peter! Peter! Are you with me?"
Tom's hand waving back and forth brought Peter back from his own world.

"Hmm? No! I’m not thinking about your face!" Peter screamed.

"What? I'm asking if you're okay!" The word [worried] was clearly written on Tom's face. "Have you encountered any problems?"

"No no! I'm fine! !Very good! Totally fine!"

Tom looked at the boy, reached out and pressed the boy's ribs and back.

"What are you doing?" Peter didn't even feel offended, he just felt like his face was burning.

"Just to check if you're hurt. What's wrong with my face?"

Peter opened his mouth, unable to think of a word. It's impossible for him to say "Hey, I think your face is sexy."
He will die of shame.

Luckily Tom just looked at his face a little longer and didn't dwell on the issue.
"So, about that crystal, you didn't make a deal with some supernatural being, did you?" Tom frowned, grabbing Peter's wrist and looking him in the eye.

"No. Why do you ask that?"

"Really do not have?"

"Tom, I'm not going to lie to you. And wouldn't screenwriters tell you if I did it ?"

Tom pondered, finally nodding in agreement."That’s true."

"So, what happened to that deal?"

"Um...let's pretend nothing happened. I don't want to make you nervous."

"Tom."

"So how did you get this magic crystal? I don't think there is such a thing in the Marvel universe ——as far as I know."

"Tom."

Tom Holland is battling the packaging of a bag of chips.

"Okay, don’t tell me, I can check it myself." Peter grumbled, grabbing his phone.

"Okay!! god! It's a Spider-Man comic! ... A Peter Parker from another universe made a deal with a demon!"

"What?" Peter shouted. "Why would he do this?!"

"Because," the brown-haired man hesitated and finally sighed. "Because his loved ones is in danger and no one able to help him. Then a demon offered him a deal in such a bad situation."

Peter knows right away what is going on, May Parker, his last relative, existed like his mother. God, when he thinks of his May, his heart is grabbed. If she is in danger, what would he do? He would also give up everything he had to save her. God.

"Don't think about that, Peter Parker. Don't even think about it." Tom knew exactly what the boy was thinking, and he squeezed Peter's wrist hardly to get Peter to focus. "Don't make deals with demons. You should know what this kid knows."

"I……"

"No, absolutely not. That Peter handed over his future marriage and his non-existent daughter to save his aunt." Tom tightened his hands. "You might think it's only about your love, but no, Peter."

"That Peter sold his own future happiness, and love. That's what the devil really wants, because he's afraid of Peter Parker's happiness, he's afraid of the huge impact of Spider-Man's happiness, the impact on the world, so "

Tom stopped, the boy in front of him's eyes widened, staring straight at him, tears in Peter's eyes seemed to burst at any moment.

"But if May dies, what's the happiness?" Peter said softly.

Everyone dies eventually.

But Tom didn't say that.

You can find other happiness.

Tom didn't say that either.

"Your May is alive. She's safe and healthy. I won't let bad things happen, Peter. I won't let it happen to you."

—————————

Peter noticed that Tom peeked at him many times today. This man loses every racing game.

Tom looks troubled, has something bad happened to him?

He became increasingly uneasy too, and he decided to ask Tom what happened after the game was over. He will help him solve it together.

But Tom seemed to sense his mind and decided to take control of the conversation.
"You can come to me every day if you want," Tom said in a normal manner as their characters entered the final corner.

The boy on the floor turned his head to look at him in surprise.
"I don't think I can do it right now. I have to go to school, do my homework, and do patrols." Peter shook his head in frustration after a moment of silence. The character he controls falls off a cliff, Tom won, but he doesn't care. "But I'll take more time to see you!"

"No, you don't have to." Tom didn't show his disappointment. Or rather, it's not that obvious. "Damn, I kinda forgot that you just 16." He put down the remote and sat down beside Peter on the sofa.
"I'm just worried, are you okay?"

"I'll be 17 soon bro, I can take care of myself."

Tom sighed at the dark eye bags under the boy's eyes.
Very convincing. he thinks.

"I know. I just wanted to say...if you're feeling overwhelmed, or you feel like things are starting to get out of hand, then you should take a step back. Like, reduce your patrol time?"

That's the real purpose of this conversation. Peter's body tensed and he began to feel uneasy. Why even his actor asked him to go on patrol less? He is my actor, Shouldn't he support me more?

"I can't do that."
There was anger in his voice.
He was ready for Tom's wrath.

Uneasy, Peter tried to get up, then found Tom wrapped his left leg around his right, holding his hand.

"Don't go crazy, Peter. You did a great job. You should actually be proud. Remember what I said about your Spider-Man things?"

Peter nodded, his entire face flushed at the thought of those compliments coming from someone who looked just like him. His anger was much less.

"I support you as Spider-Man, that's not false. But what I'm trying to say is: Before you were Spider-Man, you were Peter Parker." Tom looked at him. "You need to deal with your own business before you can do the Spider-Man thing."
"Peter Parker is the cornerstone of Spider-Man, and if something happens to you, it will affect——" Tom suddenly covered his face and scratch his hair in frustration.
"Shit, what am I talking about. No, no. That's not what I meant. Please forget what I just said, Peter."

"Tom." Peter tried to soothe the man.

"Please listen, Peter. What I really mean——"

"I see what you mean." Peter grabbed Tom's arm. "You don't means ask me to be more Spider-Man, you just want me to take care of myself."

Tom dropped his hand, looking a little surprised. "Yes, yes, that's what I mean. You shouldn't put everything on your shoulders,you should take break too."

Peter looked at Tom silently for a long time, and his face seemed to be laughing and crying at the same time. He breathed and finally squeezed Tom's arm."Thanks,Tom."

"But I can't do it," the boy said. "I can’t."

"Why?!"

"Because when you can do the things that you can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen,”

"they happen because of me."
Tom looked Peter in the eyes.

It's no longer just a line.

This is what makes you so noble.
This is one of the reasons why you are loved by everyone.
It makes you different from everyone else. It makes the difference between you and me.
This is the hero.

But before that——

"You'll do it, Peter. I'll keep reminding you." Tom held Peter's hand firmly. "You're Spider-Man, you're powerful, but you can't take all the responsibility alone, a spider can't lift an elephant, and you can't take on all the bad things."

The boy frowned and bit his lip, clearly not accepting the words from the older man.
So Tom adjusted his position and sat in front of Peter.

"I make a lot of money as your actor. I also set up a charitable foundation to help starving children. But I'm not going to donate my entire fortune, I'm not a saint, I can't do that Giving everything. you know it's gonna ruin you. And you just..."

Tom remembered that comic, that Spider-Man of the Ultimate Universe, his screams, his fights, his tears, his ending.

Peter Parker is willing to give his all.

"Tom?"

He heard the boy's panicked voice.

"Hmm, eh? Sorry, what?"

"You're crying." After a few seconds he felt a finger run across his cheek, with some icy liquid.

I’m crying?
Tom wiped his face with his hands and saw wet marks on the back of his hands.

"Yeah, you are crying. What the hell happened?" Peter asked worriedly, placing a hand on Tom's upper bicep.

Tom looked at the same face as himself, the same eyes as himself - those confused but concerned eyes. He never got that feeling watching his own movie, and when his character actually came to him, it became like an interrogation.

He wanted to say something, even yell, but he let his eyes slide over the boy's body, which was probably the wrong decision, because for a split second he just wanted to rip off the spider logo on Peter Parker's chest.

"You can tell me, Tom."
Peter pushed himself slightly, bringing him closer to his actor.

Tom just took a deep breath.

Peter pulled the man directly into his arms.

"I'll hold you until you feel better," he said. "I'll be here when you need me."
The man in his arms nodded and buried his face in his shoulder.

"Thanks."
A few minutes, or ten minutes later, Peter felt the head of the man in his arms leave his shoulders.

"Better?" Peter looked at Tom, still not letting go of the latter.

Tom nodded and patted Peter on the shoulder. "I'm all right."

"Would you like to talk to me?"

"Yes."

But not all.

Tom Holland knew there was something to hide from Peter Parker.

—————————

Tom was peeking at him again, and Peter noticed.

But he continued to eat the Thai food in the bowl, pretending nothing had happened, until he finally couldn't help it.

"Why do you keep looking at me? Are you not eating?"

"Just thinking." Tom finally picked up his spoon. "Can you notice it if someone stares at you for a long time? Through your spider sense?"

"Maybe? But I need to concentrate."

"That's fine," Tom slapped his palm. "Do you want to go out for a walk?"

"You mean to go out? To the streets of London?"

"Yes, do you want to go?"

"Well, but aren't you a celebrity?" Peter gestured. "Paparazzi and fans? And me." He pointed to his face."You don't have twin brothers, do you?"

"So we're going out at night. I know a quiet place." Tom shook the box in his hand. "I even have mask ready. Would you like to come?"

"I...of course, I want to go." Peter nodded in agreement. "when?"

"About 11? We can do something else until then."

"It's three hours until 11 o'clock. I think I can go on patrol."

It's a no-brainer, direct expression from Peter Parker.
After realizing what he said, Peter was sure that the smile on Tom's face would disappear, and it did.
To his surprise, Tom wasn't angry.

"Okay, I'll wait for you at home." Tom patted Peter's hand. "Remember to put on your iron spider when you patrol."

"Why?"

"Because it protects you better than spandex." Tom finally frowned. "You know the purpose of this suit is to protect you, right?"

Of course he knew, how could he not know? But the suit always reminded him of that man.

"I……"

"Promise me you'll wear it every time you patrol." Tom looked him in the eyes, his expression serious. "If you don't, I'll be wearing Thor’s fake belly in your next movie."

Peter succumbed to the threat.

At 11:43 that night, Peter showed up in Tom's bedroom in his Iron Spider uniform and started talking as soon as he arrived.
"Sorry I'm late!! Tonight...in Brooklyn...there are...four robberies!" Peter was still panting, his brown hair messed up on his forehead and sweat streaming down his face. "I'm very sorry——"

Tom immediately helped him onto the bed and sat down. "You should rest and breathe, Peter. Okay? I'll go get you some water." He gave Peter a hug, hoping to calm the boy down.

Peter nodded, continuing to get himself oxygen.

Tom came back with two bottles of water and watched Spider-Man drink them all in one minute. Then speak before the other person speaks.

"Breathe, Peter. The only thing you need to do now is rest. I don't want anyone to say that Spider-Man actor is abusing Spider-Man."

Peter smiled, took back the Iron Spider suit, and fell on Tom's bed.

Tom followed him, lying beside him.

Spider-Man closed his eyes and kept breathing, and Tom managed to keep himself from staring at Peter's face, but he couldn't help holding Peter's hand. Tom didn't know which was worse, but fortunately Peter didn't react ——except he took Tom's hand too.

Tom tensed in that instant, and he kept reminding himself to relax. He allowed himself to follow Peter's slowing breathing, and when he calmed down he found the boy beside him was asleep.

All right. He smiled and flipped the light switch.

They hanging out on the next night without masks.

The streets were deserted at midnight, they walked along the river, breathing the humid air, Tom made jokes and stories about other superheroes, and the street lights elongated their shadows.

Peter is wearing a hat, a hoodie and Tom's jacket. They sat down on a bench by the river and listened silently to the faint sound of the river's flow in the dark night.

Tom couldn't help but try to hold the boy's hand: he started quietly and slowly, moving his left hand in millimeters until his skin made contact with Peter's.
He waited a moment, then put his pinky finger on Peter's.

Peter Parker was still looking at the dark river, as if he didn't notice the other's hand at all.

Tom inhaled, placing more of his left hand on the back of Peter's. He tried surreptitiously watching the boy's expression from the edge of his field of vision, but it was too dark to do so.
His heart was beating fast as he wrapped his fingers around Peter's.

Peter was still looking at the river as if it were some interesting chemical formula, but his hands tightened slightly, squeezing the other person's hand with an insipid force.
Tom had to control himself to not let out a heavy gasp.

"Tom," the boy finally turned to look at him, brown eyes like rich maple syrup in the dim light. "Would you like to tell me about you? If you..." His voice ran like the river.

"I mean, you know basically everything about me, I being brought to Germany, my homecoming, and the stones thing." Peter's voice paused, then continued. "But I have absolutely no idea about your life."

There was a flash of surprise in the other man's eyes, and he couldn't help taking a deep breath.

Wow, wow. Spider-Man is interested in me. Peter Parker wants to know about my life. Wow. He wants to get to know me.

"I studied ballet," Tom said.

Peter's eyes widened a little, but he didn't say anything, just nodded.

"I studied for a few years, and I started performing musicals when I was nine, Billy Elliot -- is there this on your earth?"

"I've heard of it, but never seen it."

"Well, anyway, I started my first movie in 2012, not starring. But nothing else happened in the two years after that." Tom rolled his eyes, as if recalling the past. "I even went to learn carpentry skills, just in case."
"But in 2015 I was in another film, working with Thor’s cast."

"Wow..." Peter opened his mouth. "Thor..."

"Yeah, Thor’s actor, cool, right?" Tom smiled. "But there's something cooler: I started playing you in 2016." He's really smiling now. "You were dragged to Germany."

"What? Wait, so you're playing 14 when you're 20? Shit, I'm supposed to be younger!!" Peter jumped up, pointing at Tom. "You're making me six years older!"
He pretended to accuse the older man, but his voice was mingled with laughter. "Where's your phone? Let me see what you look like at 14!"

Tom, obviously amused, raised a finger. "How rude, the author of Spider-Man said that I'm the "exact age and height" when he envisioned the character! "

"I wish I could get him to draw me younger!" Peter put his hands across his chest and pouted in dissatisfaction. "You should arrange a meeting between me and him!"

Tom fell silent, his hands at his sides, and he frowned, looking at Peter with a complex look. "Ah, that."

Peter froze in that stare, and he became overwhelmed, not knowing why Tom stopped talking all of a sudden.
"Tom? Do I?"

"No, not you." Tom shook his head, denying the boy's wrong idea. He walked over and took Peter's hand. "I, uh— he — he's 95, Peter."

The boy's body froze. He started blinking incessantly, opening and closing his mouth several times. Finally he made a sound.
"Oh. OK. I…" Peter hissed. "95 is a big number."

Tom nodded and hugged Peter. "Yes, it's a long time."

Peter was silent for a moment, then looked up. "Hey Tom, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

Peter let go of Tom and looked the man in the eyes.

"Do you know what he thinks of me? Just a fictional character or? He, he loves-likes?"

Tom stared at a lamp in the street, thinking.
Then he looked at Peter.

"I don't know, Peter. I'm not Stan Lee, I can't read minds, and I've seen him so few times that I don't know exactly what he thinks of you."
"But one thing I can be sure of: He loves you, Peter. If he doesn’t love you, he wouldn't be drawing so many of your stories."

Peter keep silent.

They stayed like that for a while, and finally Tom patted Peter on the back. "It's late, we should go back."

—————————

When Peter saw a man in a red and black Spider-Man uniform in Tom's house, he jumped in shock, almost hitting the ceiling.

"Wow! You don't have to be so exaggerated!"
The man in the red and black uniform was obviously taken aback, and he took a step back and said under the mask. "I even thought you were about to jump out of your pants."

"Of course I'm surprised! You're wearing a Spider-Man suit!" Peter pointed at that man, his eyes widening. "For a split second I thought you were some other Spider-Man!" he called out his actor's name with a hint of complaint.

The other was silent and did not answer.

"Tom?"

"Who is Tom?" asked the Spider-Man in the red and black uniform.

"Tom is... you're not Tom?"

The other shook his head.

"But your voice..." Peter froze. "Can you take the mask off?"

The other held his chin, clearly thinking.
"Of course," he said finally.

Underneath the mask was the same face as Peter's, but full of confusion.
"You look like me. Are you Spider-Man too?"

There was a brief look of surprise on Peter's face, then anxiety and worry.
Crystal will teleport him to the place closest to Tom where no one else is watching. If the person in front of him is not Tom, where is Tom?

"Have you ever seen a guy who looks the same as you?Us? But not a Spider-Man?" He glanced at the other person quickly, and quickly went to check other rooms without waiting for an answer.

The other person was stunned for a moment and followed him in a panic.
"Peter. I "

"Tom!" The boy ignored him, calling out the name of the person he cared about. "Tom Holland!!"

No respond.

"Tom! Where are you?" Peter walked into Tom's bedroom, and he even checked the bottom of the bed. "Karen, scan the life activity in the house to find where Tom is."

"Peter, Tom Holland is behind you right now." The AI marked the British actor's location: he was standing in the doorway of the bedroom.

What?

Peter turned and stared at Tom sternly until he saw the panic hidden in the man's face.

Gradually he guessed Tom's intention: a prank. After getting rid of the fear, his heartbeat calmed down, but at the same time he felt a little dissatisfied.

The human heart is unpredictable. Even Peter didn't understand why this little anger turned into a catalyst, a spark that ignited a thread. It exploded, causing an idea to pop into his mind.

"What did you do to him?" Peter allowed a hint of threat in his voice.

"Uh, what?" Tom's eyes widened, not expecting Peter's reaction.

"Tom, Tom Holland, our actor, a normal guy. What did you do to him?" Peter took a step towards the man. "I swear if you hurt him——"

"I didn't!!" Tom was clearly startled by the look on Spider-Man's face, his body visibly shrank. "Peter, I. Well I lied to you, I'm Tom! There's no other Spider-Man!"

"Do you think I'll believe it?" Peter wants to laugh, but he kept his grim voice and continued towards Tom.

"I'm so sorry I'm so sorry! I just found my suit to surprise you! Then I found out you thought of me as another Spider-Man! So I'm decided to tease you!!"

"Well, good try, go ahead."

"I was eating an apple when you first met me! Then you thought my name was Tom Parker!"

Peter raised his fist. "You must have pressed him, you baster."

"And then you had a panic attack! I held you on the floor for half an hour!"

Wow, I didn't know this. Peter thought.
Maybe I should stop teasing Tom?

"I use my Queens accent to soothe you!"

Peter was already one step away from Tom, who seemed ready for Spider-Man's fist.

"Peter please! It's really me!"

Peter raised his hand, but pulled the older man into his arms at the last minute. "Don't do it too anymore , I'm really freaking out."

"Never again." Tom relaxed, reaching for the hug, and the next second felt like the world was spinning.

"What hell?!" he yelled in panic, clutching what he could get his hands on before noticing the world turned upside down.

With a smug grin on Peter's face, his hands firmly gripped his back and shoulders, pinning them to the ceiling.

"How do you feel?"

"I——Whoa. Whoa." Tom gasped, looking at the floor in surprise and then at the boy's face. "We're on the ceiling. God."

"Yes, I dare you can't do this."

"Uh,...Let me try." Tom used Spider-Man's hands as fulcrums, trying to use his muscles to stick his feet to the ceiling.

Once he succeeds he starts trying to straighten himself again, which takes a while, but finally he "stands" on the ceiling and smiles at a surprised Peter. "Almost the same as you."

"You're really good at surprising people." Peter's eyes went wide, and he scanned Tom's body, unavoidably noticing the graceful lines of muscles. "You—you're amazing."

"Otherwise, how can I be your actor?" Tom patted the dazed boy on the shoulder. "I even learned a Queens accent."

"That must be time-consuming."

"Yes, but they are important," Tom said. "I want to play you as well as possible."

Peter was silent, he didn't expect Tom to be so careful, shouldn't he just be a fictional character to Tom? Why bother to play... well, any good actor would take their role seriously. He told himself so.

"Uh, Peter?" Tom snapped his fingers before his eyes. "Earth calls Peter."

"What? Sorry I lost my mind."

"I think you should put me down, I feel like there's too much blood in my head."

"Ah, sorry! My bad!" Peter put them on the floor. "I thought you were really comfortable standing on the ceiling."

"It's really tired, I have to tighten my legs and waist muscles to get the effect of standing." Tom threw himself on the bed, stretched his limbs, and let out a long sigh of satisfaction.

"I don’t know being an actor was so hard." Peter sat down beside the bed, his brown eyes looking at Tom's tousled hair, and then his attention was paid to Tom's red and black suit.

"It's mostly because I'm doing action movies. There's a lot of stunts. And some of the moves require props, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do it at all. Like your flips in the air."
Tom reached out and circled in the air, imagining Peter making a series of flying, spinning movements between the buildings in New York.

Peter couldn't help laughing, his voice had a boyish tone.

"What?" Tom tried to sound displeased, but half of his voice was a smile.

"Nothing, I just think you're cute. Are you really 23 years old?"

"Look at your face, are you really 16 and not 23?"

The brown eyes looked at each other for a moment, then the two burst into warm laughter. Peter threw himself on Tom.

—————————

After May had to wake him up for three days in a row, Peter noticed he was able to sleep longer.

He no longer has several night terrors every night, and sometimes he can even get a full sleep, although he still needs the lights on to fall asleep.

He stared at the mirror in the bathroom and noticed that his face was no longer so thin, and he could even subjectively say that his dark circles could be ignored.

He found himself starting out with few injuries on patrol.

He sometimes stares at himself in the mirror.

He reduces patrol time when he has a lot of homework.

He didn't realize that he was seeing his actors more often.

—————————

"Actually, I've been bullied too," Tom said without warning, which made the teenager beside him tense.

Tom knows what happened to me at school today? No, no way, he can't. But why did he suddenly bring up the subject? He——

"I wasn't healthy when I was a kid, I got sick easily and got tired. So they called me Sick Note, well, it was pretty bad for me. And part of it was because I was learning to dance."

Tom stared at the TV screen, not allowing himself to notice Peter's reaction.
He took a breath and continued. "Those times were really bad and they took a toll on my self-esteem."

"I'm sorry, Tom, you shouldn't have suffered like this." Peter held Tom's hand as he spoke softly, thumb resting on Tom's palm. "You're a good person."

"Nobody should, but it just happened didn't it? You shouldn't have suffered those injuries either."
"Anyway, I started working out when I became a professional actor because I didn't want to be a Sick Note anymore. I think I really changed because of you, both physically and mentally."

Peter finally couldn't help turning his head to stare at the man.

"If you think being Spider-Man is a responsibility, so is being your character. There are a lot of kids like me who are bullied at school and Spider-Man is their backbone. and go-to guy. They can take courage from Spider-Man ——from Peter Parker. You know."

Of course Peter knew. He himself was often sick when he was young, had few friends and was alone. Then he was bitten by a spider at the age of fourteen, and his life was turned upside down ever since. He could lift a building, join the Avengers, and go to aliens to beat a purple alien.

"I don't think I can help them too much, because Flash obviously doesn't want to let me go," Peter said as lightly as he could. The next second Tom's hands tucked tightly around his thumb.

"What did he do to you?" Tom's voice sounded disturbed and angry.

"Well, just some abuse."

"At least you can seriously tell him to go away." Tom looked at Peter. "Or "You kiss your mother with this mouth?" "Uh, no, that's too Nick Fury."

"Yeah, I don't think I'd say anything like that anyway." Peter patted Tom's arm with his free hand. "I'm fine. Just some dirty words. You don't have to worry."

Tom sat up straight from the couch and pressed the pause button on the TV.

"You should be nicer to yourself, Peter. If you don't respect yourself, how will others respect you?"
Tom's expression was so serious that Peter thought he had done something wrong. Those brown eyes looked at him without blinking, as if looking into the depths of his soul. "Tell Flash fuck off.”

For a split second Peter thought he saw Tony.

"If you feel no one respects you, then I'll do it. You've done so much for people, and you deserve respect," he told him.

"You're still young, you're still growing, and you can stop bullying you. Right now I'd love to go back and be a little more brave, so don't let the opportunity slip through your hands."

You deserve credit.

You deserve respect.

You deserve to be happy.

If Tom's eyesight were as good as Spider-Man's, he'd be surprised how sad the reflection in Peter Parker's eyes looked.

—————————

"Peter, I need to go to the set to reshoot some scenes, so you will be teleported to the set during this time? Or my room?"

"I'm not sure, but the crystal will always take me as close as possible to you. I'll be careful not to be found." Peter swallowed the apple. "Is it a movie about me?"

Tom nodded.

"Looks like I'm in trouble again." Peter sighed, throwing himself on the bed. "Parker luck."

Tom didn't respond, but looked out the window.

"Tom?"

"If you want to know, I'll tell you." After a moment of silence, Tom finally turned his head to look at Peter, his brown eyes half-worried.

"No no no!!! don't spoil me! I don't want to know the future and lead me down another path!" The boy immediately sat up from the bed and covered his ears with his hands.

"What? What do you mean?"

"If I knew about my future, I would definitely make some changes subconsciously, and I might even try to eliminate the danger before it happens."
Peter stretched out his index finger and put the other on top Make a fork in the road. "It might cause me to stop being the Peter you played."

I'm sure you're still essentially the Peter I play. Tom said the words in his head.

"I don't care if you're the Peter I play," Tom said.

"No no no, what if I cause more serious consequences to avoid bad things? What if I cause the butterfly effect? Or should I call it the spider effect?"

Peter waved his hand in rejection. "Don't even tell me if things turned out good or bad."

Tom was silent again.

True, he couldn't guarantee that things wouldn't get worse. He doesn't know anything about the workings of the Marvel Universe, if things really turn out like that——

Then he remembered what he had heard about Tom Hiddleston's Loki solo episode, about the Time Keeper? Or the Scared Timeline?

Damn. He cursed to himself. Peter shouldn't be involved in this mess. He's convinced that Spider-Man's only inconsistency with time in the comics is being late.

"But it's very"
The next second Tom's chin was gently held by a hand, causing him to look up at the person in front of him.

"I'll be fine," Peter said.

"I should have protected you." Tom's voice was weak and low, sounding like a rock.

"You've done well. Did I tell you that I can sleep through the night now?"

A gleam of joy flickered in Tom's eyes. "not enough."
"You deserve a better life."

"Hey." Peter wiped Tom's face lightly with his fingers.
Meeting you has changed my life for the better. He wanted to tell him so.

"I'll be fine."

The boy's eyes flashed with firm conviction.

"Yes, I'll make sure you’ll be all right," the man swore.

—————————

Peter hasn't come for four days in a row since he was teleported into the bathroom while Tom was taking a shower.

—————————

Tom noticed that Peter started peeking at him from time to time. But he couldn't say anything because he was doing the same thing himself.

—————————

"Tom, I need to ask you something."

The boy's tone was still so calm, as if he was just asking about tomorrow's weather. He'd rehearsed the question a hundred times, and now he's saying it out-of-the-ordinary——even Peter himself was amazed.

"Huh? Sure." Tom finished his push-up and was laying down on the sofa. His eyes were closed, not realizing what kind of conversation he was facing.

"What made you willing to do these things for me?"

He asked not for reasons, but for motives.

Peter Parker cuts right to the heart of the matter.

"I……"

Why Peter suddenly ask this? Why?

Maybe this is an opportunity.
No, it's not a good idea.
But this is an opportunity.
It could also be the death penalty for your relationship.
Peter Parker's lover is MJ.
But he said they were just friends.
The movie has been made and they will become lovers after a trip to Europe.
He said that MJ has a girl he likes.
Does Peter Parker like men?

"because I——"

He will change his mind about you and he will no longer be able to treat you the same way he used to.

He couldn't do it, he couldn't say it.
Tom chose to look away.

"Tom, I trust you. I trust you. I can't read minds like Wanda, but I can feel your care in everything you've done for me since we met. I may not fully understand what you're telling me though, but I know your actions are well-intentioned."
"So no matter what answer you give, I will not run away from you."

Tom's chin was held lightly, and he looked back to see the boy looking at him fearlessly.
Damn. This boy is really getting more and more mature.

"So please tell me. I want to know." The boy wrapped his fingers between the man's, further encouraging his confidence.

Tom suddenly felt dry, as if the words were burning on his tongue.

"I——"

His heart was beating fast, and he was sure Peter could hear it clearly.
He wants to run away.
His only option was to get it out.

"I love you."

Tom thought he was prepared for what might happen next.
The boy might yell at him that he likes MJ, that he doesn't like men, that he can't like someone who looks like him, or even that he has a sick head.
Boys would leave in a fit of rage or panic and never return.
He can take it all.

He didn't expect that Peter only thought for a minute after listening to his confession, nodded lightly, and said, "I know ."

"You know?" Tom opened his eyes wide and looked at the person in front of him.

"It's only now completely certain." Peter shrugged.

"……Okay, cool."

Tom waited a little longer, but Peter just looked at him and didn't seem to be planning to do anything other than that. They fell into a strange silence.
In the end, Tom was puzzled and opened his mouth cautiously. "...Do you have anything else to add? Or leave?"

Peter shook his head. "Uh, no. I'm not leaving." He grabbed Tom's hand as if to prove it." I like to stay with you.” He added.

"But shouldn't you reject me? You don't like me, you like MJ, you didn't intend to"

"I don't like MJ!!"

Tom's words were interrupted by the boy, he sat quietly, waiting for the boy to finish the rest of the words.

"Uh, okay, OK." Peter realized his gaffe, and he took a few deep breaths, hoping to help him not blush. "Okay, I. Emmm, I have some affection for MJ, yes. But I'm not sure what it is." Peter felt a little irritable, but he still held Tom's hand.

"I," he paused and continued to take deep breaths until he was sure he was really calm.

"I'm not going to reject you, no. I'm not going to agree to say yes right away, maybe."
"I've thought about how you feel about me many times since I went back, so I wasn't really surprised when you told me you liked me."
"But I don't know what kind of feelings I have for you. Tom. You're nice, really nice, and I like you a lot, and I, just, I just don't know if my feelings for you are right for you. Mine is the same."

Peter faltered, trying to find the right words to make a proper sentence. He felt that the man in front of him could cry at any time. Why? Tom’s puppy eyes? Although he thinks Tom is sexy, but does he really feel that way about Tom? Is this a form of narcissism? God god god, he didn't want to mess with these things, he just wants to hug Tom.

"You know I'm a nerd, actually I've never been in a real relationship, so I just want to hold you."
Peter covered his face and sighed again.

After a few seconds he opened his eyes wide in the palm of his hand.

The room was filled with an embarrassing, itchy silence.

Well gosh, great job Peter Parker. You are wonderful. Peter said to himself silently. You speak out what's in your head. Your mouth is clearly not fully developed.

Should he pretend he didn't say that?

But Tom obviously disagreed with this idea, he pulled the boy into his arms and hugged tightly.

Peter couldn't help letting out a sigh of resignation in the comfort of his arms.
I wish the spider that bit me would have the burrowing skills so I could hide my face. He thought.

His actor obviously can read minds, because he heard Tom says, "Don't worry Spidey, I'll hold you until you stop blushing ."

Peter Parker let out a shameful whimper in Tom's arms.