Chapter Text
Tuesday, 1:36pm
jeremy sat bored in the chemistry lesson, don’t get him wrong science had always interested him, especially the practical part of it. but this, the way the teacher would just drone on about the reactivity scale of elements, it was just painfully boring.
he was broke from his internal misery by the light feeling of a pen on his hand, and looked over to see rich drawing on him. this wasn’t really odd at all, since jake would always come out of maths with practically a whole sleeve of delicately drawn flowers and vines, twisting intricately up his arm. jake was always sweet about it, he’d make sure not to wear his jacket as if it would offend his best friend to cover it up.
jeremy knew it had something to do with rich’s adhd, the drawing was able to help him focus and be less of a distraction in his lessons, plus whoever sat next to him got an array of body art. jeremy looked down carefully to see rich had gone with flowers once again, using a white gel pen he definitely had stolen from brooke instead of a normal black or blue one. jeremy looked in awe at the dahlias and daisies that littered his hand and wrist, with hibiscuses spreading onto his wrist, it was something beautiful, and unexpected from the shorter blonde.
the teacher kept going on, unaware of the boy’s attention being elsewhere, admiring rich’s handy work. but jeremy tried his best to zone back into the lesson, ignoring the warmth that immediately rushed to his pale cheeks whenever rich’s hand would brush against his skin. the touch was foreign but not unwanted. he wondered what it would be like, behind the closed doors of his bedroom. rich would sit beside him, a slow, intimate make out while a random movie played in the background, strong arms around his shoulders. it would be nice, rich was shorter than him but he was also definitely stronger, he would be easily overtaken by the boy if they ever found themselves in an intimate situation. by now, jeremy’s cheeks were a bright red as he stared out the window, his left arm laying still as rich used it as his canvas. and for the moment, jeremy could just relax, indulge himself in the thoughts about his friend, even if that’s what they were. just thoughts, not a reality or a possible future, just wishful day dreams.
“hey jerm, you ever wonder what it would be like to be spider-man?” rich blurted out casually, looking up at the taller boy for a moment before going back to drawing, his touch poking out a little between his lips. “like i already live with my aunt, sure my dad didn’t die but my ma did.. hey you’re scienc-y, you can make me a radioactive spider right?”
jeremy chuckled lightly and glanced at him, it was always a little bit of a shock when rich was like this. the squip had changed him so much, but he could tell rich was happier now. “i mean, you’d have to experiment with Dna and chemicals and spider venom, it would probably take years. but maybe one day rich-“
at that, the blonde huffed in mock defeat.
“awh c’mon man! in a few years, i’ll be too old to be spider-man, like the whole thing is he’s like a teenager in his origin stories.” he complained, looking at jeremy completely seriously, like becoming spider-man was actually an option in their reality.
“you’d also need an MJ, or a Gwen.” jeremy spoke, giving into rich’s ideas. he thought about it, he could be a JM, just not an MJ. mars was his middle name, the space obsessed middle schooler was ecstatic to tell everyone he met that. before the social anxiety kicked in at least.
“Hm.. i dunno any gwens.. we’ve got a JD? but jakes like my older brother, that’d just be weird. damn, even being bi i still couldn’t find an MJ-“ Jeremy snorted at rich’s last comment, looking at the blonde again with the amusement clear on his face.
“dude! don’t laugh at my pain, you’re really crushing my dreams here.. well, you’ve got J, it’s only one letter short. that’s it, heere. i’m claiming you, you’re my MJ.” jeremy was so glad in that moment that no one else could hear them, his cheeks burned and he choked on the air.
“y-yeah— whatever you say rich..”
Tuesday, 3:01pm
”you wanna come over? my aunts outta town. plus i wanna see if being spiderman is even remotely possible. hey maybe it would be easier for me because of the squip, like it fucked me up.. but it might help with the whole power thing- y’know. damn i wish we got cool abilities from the squip..”
jeremy just nodded at rich’s first question, draping his bag lightly over his shoulder and listening to the blonde ramble on about his ideals. it was nice just to listen, rich’s voice was always sort of lower, it gave away his age where his height didn’t.
“you spacing out on me tallass?” rich snapped jeremy from his thoughts, nudging the taller one as they walked off the school grounds and towards rich’s apartment.
“no—no i’m fine. just thinking.” jeremy stuttered out, composing himself as he chased away the fog distracting his mind with the thoughts of rich. rich’s earlier comment really got to him, was he interested in.. that sort of relationship?
”i can tell, your face is all scrunched up and it looks like you’re constipated. you need a shit dude?” rich’s tone was jokey, hoping to not embarrass the other too harshly. jeremy heard the slight jingle of metal before rich shoved the key into the door, opening the door and walking in. the short boy quickly discarded his bag and shoes on the floor before flopping on the couch.
jeremy followed in suite, sitting next to rich and glancing around the apartment. it was homely and comfortable. jeremy had met rich’s aunt a handful of times and she was the worlds sweetest woman, though she was always insistent of jeremy eating, the regular claims of adults and how ‘you’re too skinny’ or ‘you need meat on you, boy’ but he never took it to heart, he just had a fast metabolism. pictures decorated all the walls of the apartment, beautiful family photos and landscapes of the holiday destinations. all in all it was comforting, and jeremy was glad rich had a place like this. away from his dad.
he felt hands in his hair, rich had decided to ditch fidgeting with something to play with jeremy’s curls, something that made jeremy swoon whenever someone would do it. instead of protesting or shoving the boy away, he happily laid his head in rich’s lap, giving him easier access.
this went on for a while, a recently released spider-man movie playing in the background as rich shared his attention between it and playing with jeremy’s hair. while the taller boy laid there, his eyes flickering closed every so often before they stayed closed. his breathing evened out and he was asleep without really realising it.
something about friends and potential lovers always brought jeremy comfort. isolated in his bedroom, the boy could never let himself sleep, it was lonely and felt almost unsafe, but when calling michael like yesterday, he was easily able to fall into sleep, falling the warmth and reassurance that came with hearing michaels voice. now the same occurrence with rich, the calming actions of the fingers in his hair, scratching gently against his scalp made melt in the boys lap. it was all okay, rich was with him. and that was enough encouragement for him to give into the rest. he was gonna be okay, even with no michael this week, he had the others to fall back on. it was okay.