Just a Bet
“I don’t catch feelings, Y/N!” Peter’s voice rang much too confidently loud in your ears. You turned your cheek away from him so he wouldn’t see the tears pooling up and threatening to spill over in your eyes.
“Peter, I just… I can’t even believe what you’re saying right now, just a few days ago you told me that— that you loved me,” you whispered so quietly you weren’t sure if he would hear you. Peter scoffed and slammed the heels of his feet against the ground, pushing off the bed to put even more distance between you two.
“That’s pathetic.”
Your chin wavered under the harsh words flowing out of his lips so easily you couldn’t try and tell yourself that he was just pretending to mean them anymore. A few cracked sobs escaped your mouth despite your palms firmly pressed over it; chunks of hair hung over in the front of your face, hiding you from the sweet boy you thought you knew so well.
“I don’t understand, okay! One day you’re telling me all these things I want to hear, for what? Why did you do this to me, Pete?” your voice developed a bitter undertone as you tried to wrap your head around it. Peter’s head shot up at the nickname only you called him by, and for just a second, he remembered why he told you he loved you in the first place.
But that was before he “lost the Stark internship.” Peter couldn’t keep trying to do good when obviously he only managed to make things worse every single time. He was done trying. Done with Spider-man. Done with Peter Parker. He didn’t want to be anybody anymore. He didn’t want to have to lie to you, but it was the only way.
“Fine! You— you really want to know, then? You were just a stupid bet, anyway!” Peter spat, the intent behind his words was clear and convincing. It… it couldn’t really be true, could it?
Peter was the boy that gave you his sweater if he noticed a single goosebump on your arm. He pulled your chair out for you every day before you sat down at lunch. He never let go of your hand in between classes, no matter how many textbooks he struggled to carry. It just didn’t make one bit of sense.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t really care, just… get out of my room already,” Peter finished, walking away from you to fling open the door and motion with his hands for you to leave. You wanted to throw yourself under the covers, tell him to stop messing around already and cuddle with you. But something had obviously changed inside of him, and all you could do was respect his wishes.
Trembling, you walked to the door and wrapped your arms around Peter in one last hug. He didn’t push you away, only stood there and took it, forcing his eyes shut so this time you wouldn’t be the one to see him cry. Before he could shut the door in your face, you turned and spoke a final goodbye.
“I hope it hurts the next time you think of me.”