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Chapter Text

It was Eliott’s fifth time being “rescued” by Spiderman that month. The first time it had happened, he’d been appreciative. He hadn’t been aware he needed rescuing, but if Spiderman had thought he was in danger, he supposed he must have been. Spiderman didn’t just go around saving random people when there were actual problems to attend to. 

Eliott had been walking home from school, actually, a bit distractedly if he was being honest, when Spiderman had appeared seemingly from nowhere and stopped him from crossing the street. The same moment, a car barrelled by, no intention of stopping, so, yeah, Spiderman saved his life. 

The second time, however, Spiderman just might have been gaslighting him. Was that a normal thing Spiderman did, or was this a Spiderman impersonator? He— Eliott could only assume Spiderman was a he , but there was really no way of knowing for sure with that damn mask on all the time— had stopped Eliott from getting on the bus home from classes. 

Eliott had tried to ask why he’d stopped him, but Spiderman had merely shrugged, claiming he’d done no such thing. There was something weird about the way he spoke as well, a bit too quietly, like he was trying not to let Eliott hear his voice or something. Eliott supposed it was maybe because Spiderman was trying to keep his identity a secret, but the chances that Eliott knew the man behind the mask were slim to none. Once again, Spiderman had disappeared without a trace the moment Eliott looked away a second too long.

The third time, Eliott had been with some of his friends, Idriss and Sofiane. It was the first time he’d seen them since they graduated, and he hadn’t been expecting to be interrupted by Spiderman of all people. The weird thing about this time was that Spiderman had approached as if he was going to strike up a conversation with Idriss and Sofiane, realizing halfway into a greeting that he didn’t know them. He’d then picked up Eliott and moved him a few feet from where he was standing, claiming that the tree branch he was standing under could have fallen at any minute. Needless to say, Eliott, Idriss, and Sofiane were all confused by that interaction. 

The fourth time, Spiderman showed up to his house. At this point Eliott could only assume Spiderman was either stalking him, or the world was just really small. And crimeless? Wasn’t Spiderman supposed to be stopping crime, not saving Eliott from things he didn’t need to be saved from? 

Eliott had been hanging out with some of his other friends, Basile, Arthur, and Yann. They were waiting for the last member of their gang, Lucas, to show up so they could order pizza, when Spiderman tapped on the window. Eliott was the only one who noticed him at the window, and ducked out of the fire escape to meet him while the other three were distracted.

From there, Spiderman had handed Eliott some money, told him to use it for dinner, and hopped off the fire escape without another word. When Eliott had returned to his other friends, confused, Yann had informed him that Lucas was spending the night with his mother and wouldn’t be able to make it, so they’d each have to pay a bit more when they split the cost of the pizza. 

Now, Eliott could only assume Spiderman was clairvoyant because the amount of money he’d given Eliott basically added right up to Lucas’ share, but he didn’t explain any of this to his friends. They would probably think he was insane and maybe they had a point. 

He actually started to believe that maybe he’d made up all these interactions, with the exception of the first one, and that all the others had just been dreams. Somehow, that made more sense to him than the reality, so when Spiderman showed up for the fifth time, he had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t, in fact, sleeping. He was walking around the park, listening to music, doing nothing in particular when he caught a glimpse of the boy— or man— in the suit. 

“Dude, give it a rest,” he said once Spiderman was within earshot. Spiderman looked about as taken aback as one could while wearing a full suit and mask. 

He scoffed and said, in a voice much higher than Eliott remembered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“What’s up with your voice?” Eliott asked without thinking. 

Spiderman sighed. “I’m working on it,” he confessed, voice now much deeper. 

“How old are you?” Eliott laughed. The voice changes were quite jarring, giving him puberty flashbacks. He couldn’t help but be amused at the thought of some thirteen year old kid inside the suit. It was definitely possible, Spiderman really wasn’t very tall. “Twelve? Thirteen?” 

Spiderman crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. “ No . I’m not— I can’t tell you.”

“Spoken like a true thirteen year old.”

“I’m not thirteen!”

“Sure,” Eliott agreed, cocking his head to one side.   

“Shut up,” Spiderman whined, reminding Eliott of someone, but he couldn’t place who it was. Probably one of his little cousins. “I bet you’re thirteen,” Spiderman continued teasingly. 

Was he flirting? It was hard to tell, especially because there was no reason for thirteen year old Spiderman to be flirting with him. “You can see very well that I’m not thirteen,” Eliott said, gesturing the length of his body. 

“Well, then, you should be able to see that I’m not thirteen either,” Spiderman countered. 

Eliott considered this, then shook his head. “No.”

“No?”

“No,” Eliott repeated, “Because you’re wearing a full suit, so all I can tell about your age is your voice and height, both of which point to thirteen year old.”

“Fuck off!” Spiderman exclaimed, crossing his arms again.

“Fourteen?” Eliott inferred, given the word choice. 

“I’m sixteen,” Spiderman said after a moment, then froze, “I shouldn’t have told you that. Please, please, please , Eliott, please don’t tell anyone.”    

Eliott raised his hands in surrender. “Woah, woah, woah, I won’t, dude, chill out—” something occurred to him, “— wait a second, how do you know my name.”

“Um,” Spiderman looked around casually before leaning against a tree, “I know everyone’s names. It’s part of my job.”

Eliott didn’t believe him. “You know everyone’s names? In the world?”

“ No ,” Spiderman huffed, “I mean, yes, technically I could, but I haven’t met everyone in the world. My suit… it has a built in recognition protocol, gives me the names of everyone I interact with.” 

“Seriously? That’s so cool,” Eliott said in awe. He’d never thought that the suit could be used for anything other than hiding Spiderman’s identity, but clearly he was wrong. What did he have to do to own a spider suit? He asked this, and Spiderman just laughed, before shrugging, “Get bitten by a radioactive spider?” 

“Damn, don’t suppose you have a couple lying around do you?” Eliott asked, finding himself grinning. He was having a conversation with Spiderman, and he was enjoying it. This was not how he would have anticipated this day going, no matter how many times Spiderman had appeared in his life already. “My friend Lucas was bitten by a spider once, he complained about it for days,” he added, thinking back on the memory fondly.

Spiderman coughed loudly, drawing Eliott’s attention. “I hear spiders tend to do that quite often,” he said in his high pitched voice once again. Eliott nodded in agreement, not having anything else to add. He felt so oddly familiar with Spiderman that he hadn’t even realized he’d started to talk about his friends as if Spiderman would know them as well, which obviously wasn’t the case.  

The tree Spiderman was leaning on began to tip precariously and Eliott blinked in shock. The radioactive spider did quite a number on this boy, huh? “Fuck,” Spiderman hissed, leaping away from the tree to stop it from falling, then pulling it back to its original location.

Eliott whistled. “Any other tricks up your sleeve?”

Spiderman laughed humorlessly. “What, you thought I just run around wearing this for fun? With great power comes great responsibility and all that…” he trailed off. 

“If you have so much responsibility, why are you stalking me?” Eliott asked finally, surprising himself. 

Spiderman looked around with what Eliott could only assume was feigned innocence. “Stalking you? What are you talking about?”

“Dude, this is the fifth time you’ve come to ‘save me’ this month. Only one of those times did I actually need saving, and I feel like that was more of a happy accident than a planned occurrence.”

“That’s not true!”

Eliott thought for a moment. “You’re right, actually, you’ve come to ‘save me’ four times this month. You didn’t even bother with the façade today.”

“Fuck,” Spiderman said again. 

“Do you talk to kids like this? Aren’t you supposed to be a role model to them?” Eliott asked. Spiderman flipped him off, then giggled. “I sure fucking hope not. I don’t know how to be a role model. And I don’t talk to anyone, usually.”

“You’re talking to me right now,” Eliott pointed out. 

Spiderman shook his head. “That’s different.”

“How?” 

It looked like Spiderman was going to respond, but then he froze, looking away from Eliott. He stayed like that for a moment, then turned his head back towards Eliott. “I have to go, I’m sorry.”

Eliott wondered if there was actually a problem or if Spiderman was just avoiding his question. Regardless, Eliott nodded. “Duty calls,” he conceded, waving. 

“Right,” Spiderman said, “Right.” Without another word, he shot webs from his suit and attached to a tree a little further ahead of them, towards the city. 

Before he had the chance to swing away on those webs that defied all the laws of physics that Eliott knew, which, admittedly, weren’t many, Eliott called out, against his better judgement, “And next time? You can just talk to me, you don’t have to make up an excuse.”

Spiderman, still attached to the tree, turned around. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Um, ok, then. Maybe I will.”

“I look forward to it,” Eliott called as Spiderman took off, swinging away with ease. Well, until he registered Eliott’s words and crashed right into the tree he was supposed to be swinging to. Both the tree and Spiderman collapsed with a loud thud and a “FUCK!” 

While Spiderman sorted out the mess, flipping Eliott off once again as he lifted the tree back into position with his other hand, Eliott stuck his tongue out in return before making his way in the opposite direction back to his apartment. He couldn’t help but smile the whole way there, wondering why the interaction had left him feeling so light. 

Realistically, developing a crush on Spiderman was a terrible idea, but Eliott was, if anything, a hopeless romantic. Not that he had a crush on Spiderman or anything. Definitely not. But if he did … well, he’d cross that bridge when he got there.

🕷🕷🕷 

Eliott was still thinking about Spiderman later that day while he was going to spend time with his friends. He walked slowly on his way to Lucas’ flatshare, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he’d be saved again. Fuck, he was being completely ridiculous. Who did that? He hurried the rest of the way, if only to trick himself into believing he wasn’t whipped for a goddamn superhero. 

Lucas let him in with a wide, bright smile, gesturing to where the other boys were already in the living room playing some video game that Eliott was going to be terrible at. He hadn’t been friends with Yann, Lucas, Arthur, and Basile as long as he’d been friends with Idriss and Sofiane, but he’d met Lucas a few years back through Idriss’ sister Imane, and they’d taken a liking to one another immediately. When Eliott was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the end of his second year, forcing him to repeat the year due to the circumstances resulting in his diagnosis, he’d transferred to a different school, wanting to start fresh.

Luckily enough for him, Lucas and his friends had been starting their first year during his repeat second year, so he’d had them through it all, even if he didn’t have the comfort of Idriss and Sofiane. 

Now he was in his third year, Lucas and the boys in their second, and Idriss and Sofiane a year out of school. If they thought it was weird that he’d had to repeat a year, they never said anything of it, and Eliott was grateful. His ex girlfriend, Lucille, had not been as considerate, hence their breakup. 

Lucas sat down and patted the cushion beside him, forcing Eliott to maneuver his way around Basile and Arthur on the floor to get to his seat. Yann was sitting alone in an armchair, brows furrowed in focus as he slammed the buttons of whatever gaming console he was using. Fuck, he should really know these things after so much time with the gang, but he still couldn’t tell a PS4 from a Nintendo Cube or whatever the fuck it was called. Lucas liked to pretend he wasn’t the exact same way. 

He turned his gaze to the screen, then to Lucas. “So what are we playing today?”

“Mario Kart,” Lucas answered, watching the screen.

“And why aren’t you playing? Isn’t this your flat?” Eliott teased, knowing damn well why Lucas wasn’t playing. 

Lucas glared at him. “I’m waiting until the next round.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you’re playing next round, and I’ll kick your ass,” Lucas grinned, and Eliott couldn’t help but grin in return.

“What kind of person doesn’t even know what Mario Kart is?” Basile murmured from the ground, looking scandalized. Eliott took a pillow from the couch and smacked Basile on the head with it. Basile screeched in outrage.

“You just cost me the lead, you heathen!” he spat, ignoring everyone else’s laughter. 

Arthur placed a hand on his shoulder as their characters crossed the finish line, Basile in last place. “Face it Baz, you never had a chance.”

Basile scoffed, folding his arms together like a stubborn child. “Heathen,” he repeated, glaring at Eliott, who bit his lip to hide his smile. Arthur handed him Basile’s controller, Yann relinquishing his to Lucas. As they started playing again, Eliott said, conversationally, “Not everyone thinks I’m a heathen, you know.”

“I don’t think you’re a heathen,” Lucas said with faux sweetness, poking Eliott in the stomach to tickle him and distract him from the game. It really wasn’t necessary, Eliott was pretty sure he was steering Yoshi backwards on the track but didn’t know how to fix it. 

Eliott nudged Lucas in return, earning him a small affronted laugh. “Spiderman doesn’t think I’m a heathen,” Eliott continued, and Lucas’ smile fell. Arthur paused the game on his own console, turning to look at Eliott in shock. Basile even forgot he was mad at Eliott, staring with an open mouth. Yann was the only one who didn’t look thrown off balance, staring not at Eliott, but at Lucas. 

“What?” Lucas asked at last, voice falsely casual. 

Eliott launched into his story of all the times Spiderman had “saved” him, only leaving out the time he’d done so when four of them were together. He’d claimed that he’d just found the extra money for the pizza, and he didn’t want them to ask why he’d lied in the first place, especially because he didn’t entirely know himself. Basile and Arthur’s jaws dropped further and further as he continued and Yann was biting his lip in concentration. 

He paused when he got to that day’s interaction, not wanting to share how much they’d talked and what they talked about. Not that he knew Spiderman’s identity, but he owed it to the guy to not give any hints at what that identity might be. The boys knew a lot more sixteen year olds than he did, as they were sixteen themselves. 

“I, uh, saw him today too, but I’m not sure if he saw me or not, he was off to save the world or whatever,” he finished awkwardly. 

“Did you get his number?” Basile asked immediately, earning him a smack on the side of the head from Arthur. 

“You really think that Spiderman, who wears a mask twenty-four/seven to hide his identity, is going to give his number to random people?” Arthur asked incredulously. “No offense, Eliott.”

“Um, none taken?”

Basile considered this for a moment. “Oh yeah… I guess not.”

Lucas frowned. “I don’t think Spiderman wears his mask all the time. Just when he’s, like, fighting crime or whatever.”

Arthur shrugged. “Still, my point stands.”

“Why would I want Spiderman’s number anyway? If I need someone to save me, he’s already stalking me, so I’m good there,” Eliott reasoned.

“He’s not stalking you,” Lucas protested. 

Eliott raised his eyebrows. “No? Then how do you explain this?”

Lucas opened his mouth, then closed it, sitting back against the couch in defeat. Yann was still eyeing him warily. Eliott wondered if maybe Lucas wasn’t a fan of Spiderman or something. Some people got weird about the idea of superheroes.

Lucas unpaused the game, trying to get a headstart before Eliott or Arthur could notice. Eliott noticed, but he was willing to let Lucas try to take the lead. God knew he’d never get anywhere close to winning. 

“Fuck,” he hissed to himself after falling off the track for the millionth time. Why had Lucas picked Rainbow Road? He voiced his question and Arthur snorted. 

“Because it’s the gayest course,” Arthur said matter-of-factly. 

Lucas huffed indignantly. “That is not why.”

“It so is.”

“Not.”

“Is.”

“Not.”

“It definitely is,” Eliott cut in, and Lucas’ eyes softened. 

“Ok, fine, maybe a little,” he said softly, and Arthur cackled loud enough that Yann threw another pillow, accidentally hitting Basile again. 

“REALLY?” Basile yelled, and they all dissolved back into laughter. Eliott didn’t even know who ended up winning, just that it wasn’t him.

He had to go home a bit later, after more laughs and a shared pizza. Eliott really loved hanging out with them all, but mostly Lucas. Lucas understood him in ways the others didn’t, and they had this sort of natural connection that made it easy to share everything with one another. Eliott knew that Yann was Lucas’ best friend, but he’d love to be next on the list. He thought maybe he was, and it made him happier than he knew what to do with. 

When he got home, he frowned upon entering his room. One of his drawings was laying in the middle of his bed, but he didn’t remember putting it there. He was even more confused when he saw what looked like a fifth grader’s rendition of Spiderman added to the corner of the drawing, shooting the racoon that was Eliott with one of his webs. He turned the paper over and saw that there was a message on the back. The writing looked as if someone had written it with the wrong hand, and Eliott soon understood why.

Eliott,

I’m not stalking you, I swear, but I came across this when I left the park and assumed it belonged to you because you look like one of those pretentious artsy fucks. Ok, kidding, I saw it fall out of your pocket and I picked it up without you noticing, thinking that it was a scrap piece of paper. I didn’t want you to unknowingly litter, obviously. Anyway, thought I’d return it with an addition but once I remembered I can’t draw for shit it was too late. Hope this wasn’t your favorite drawing because I think I ruined it. 

See you around,

Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman  

Eliott read it through once, twice. He flipped the paper back over and looked at the drawing again, smiling involuntarily at how shitty Spiderman was at drawing. His heart was beating suspiciously fast and he groaned to himself, falling onto his bed. 

Fine, he had a crush on Spiderman. 

L 🕷U 🕷C 🕷A 🕷S

Lucas was pacing in his room, Yann watching on somewhat amusedly. He didn’t think his dilemma was very amusing, but he didn’t have time to debate the matter with Yann. “You have to help me out here,” he pleaded.

Yann looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Have you ever considered… telling him that you’re Spiderman?” he suggested. 

“Of course not!”

Ok, back up about six months. Lucas was just minding his own fucking business when he got bit by what he thought was a normal spider. Eliott laughed at him, he complained about it, yadda, yadda, yadda. Come morning, however, things were clearly different, and it wasn’t just puberty. 

He’d gone to Yann with the problem, mostly because Yann was already coming over to hang out and Lucas didn’t know how he could pretend that everything was normal. Through a whole lot of trial and error, like a whole lot , they discovered that Lucas could do a bunch of things he definitely should not have been able to do. This was where Imane came in.

She and Lucas were pretty talented when it came to science, and when they worked together they were downright unstoppable, so Lucas had allowed Yann to call her and demand she meet them, claiming it was urgent. The two of them had run some tests that they probably weren’t qualified to do at sixteen while Yann cheered them on. The spider that bit him, it seemed, was radioactive. Go figure. 

Apparently radioactive spiders were very hard to come by, so none of them could figure out the extent of Lucas’ new abilities. What they were able to ascertain was this: he was strong now, like, really strong. Lift a truck over his head without breaking a sweat strong. He could also stick to things, climb up the side of buildings, sit on the ceiling, you name it. The only problem with this was that things also stuck to him, and it took him longer than he cared to admit to figure out how to stop sticking to things. He could also jump really high and far, but he thought maybe that had to do with the strength thing. 

Yann had seen only one option for him. Become a superhero. Imane had straight up laughed in their faces, but something about the idea stuck with Lucas. He liked finding ways to help people, and having these weird abilities might have been a new opportunity to do so. He couldn’t very well go around doing these crazy things and thinking no one would notice, though, so Spiderman was born.

He cringed when he thought about his first attempt at a Spiderman suit, but luckily Imane had caved to his pleading after a while and helped him craft the suit he wore now. She’d also come up with the idea for his web fluid and shooters, and he’d helped her with the execution. Learning how to use those had been quite frustrating, but now swinging from place to place with his webs was easy as walking down the street. 

There was a whole lot more trial and error and failures and successes, but otherwise that was about it, unless he accounted for the fact that he was hopelessly in love with one of his best friends and had been continually saving him as Spiderman in an attempt to flirt with him. This, of course, was fruitless, given his hidden identity, which put him back to square one. 

He was great at being Spiderman, ok at being Lucas, and terrible at being in love.    

“Then may I recommend it?” Yann continued, bringing Lucas’ focus back to the present. 

“Recommend what?”

Yann spoke slowly, enunciating each word. “Telling Eliott that you’re Spiderman.”

“No.”

“Why not?” Yann asked with an exasperated sigh. 

Lucas bit the inside of his cheek. “Because if I do tell him, I’ll never have a chance.”

“Did you not hear him earlier? He’s fucking in love with Spiderman.”

“That’s the problem.” Lucas pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. “I fucked up. I want him to like me , not this enigma .”

“Lucas, you are the enigma.”

“Not to him!”

“Maybe if you told him…”

“But then Spiderman would no longer be an enigma!”

Yann leaned back onto Lucas’ bed, letting out a deep sigh. “Then I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Thanks for the help,” Lucas grumbled, picking up his pacing again. 

Suddenly, Yann sat up. Lucas could almost see the lightbulb above his head. “What if… there was a way to make Eliott see you the way you see him? Without him realizing it?”

Lucas responded warily, “I don’t want to trick or deceive him into liking me.”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant, but will you hear me out?” Yann asked. The look in his eyes was bright and exciting, but Lucas was still a bit hesitant. Fuck it, he had nothing to lose that this point. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to hear Yann out. 

“Ok,” he agreed, “Tell me.”

Chapter Text

Eliott was deeply lost in thought when a tray slammed down beside him. He jolted in his seat to find Lucas grinning at him. “You seem happy,” he said hesitantly. 

“And?” Lucas asked, stabbing the pasta on his tray with a fork. 

Eliott narrowed his eyes. “And nothing, I guess, but what’s the occasion?”

“I need an occasion to smile?”

“Usually,” Eliott shrugged, going back into his daydream. He barely noticed as Lucas’ smile dipped into a frown, too focused on the delusions happening inside his own head. He was a chronic daydreamer and a hopeless romantic which was quite the combination if you asked any of his friends.

Eliott barely noticed when Yann, Arthur, and Basile came and sat down with them until Arthur nodded in his direction. “What’s up with him now?”

“The Demaury Daydream Factory never stops,” Lucas explained, poking Eliott with the sharp end of his fork. 

“Ouch!” Eliott glared at Lucas, as if he could ever actually be mad at him. As long as they’d known each other, all Lucas had to do was widen those big blue eyes of his and Eliott would immediately soften into a sappy pile of goo. 

“Well, stop the daydreams, because I’ve got big news.” Basile shot them all a toothy grin. The four of them stared at him blankly, waiting for him to carry on. “This weekend we’re invited to a party at Emma’s house.”

Yann looked at him strangely. “Why is that news? Emma told me about it yesterday.”

Basile ignored him. “The big news is that Daphné invited me personally.”

Arthur clapped Basile on the back supportively, meeting Eliott’s eyes briefly and shaking his head. Was Basile ever going to end up with Daphné? Probably not, but Eliott admired his persistence. It was more likely than Eliott getting together with Spiderman. 

Eliott was vaguely aware of Lucas’ eyes on him during the rest of the lunch period, and he resisted the urge to question him about it. Maybe he’d noticed that Eliott’s absent-mindedness was a little different than it usually was. He couldn’t help it, really. He wished he could. 

Another thought that had crept into his mind earlier that day that he hadn’t been able to let go of. Did Spiderman go to his school? Was that why he’d been so worried about Eliott knowing his age, because he’d worried Eliott might know him? It seemed unlikely, but it was definitely possible. 

“Shit, I gotta go,” Arthur stood up hurriedly, shoving the last of the food in his mouth. He hopped up from his seat and pulled Basile behind him, the latter huffing in indignation. 

“I’m not done!” he screeched as Arthur attempted to drag him away. 

“No time, we have to meet Alexia, remember?” 

Basile’s eyes widened. “Fuck, I forgot.”

“Well, come on!” he urged, and Basile finally put down the food he’d been attempting to shove into his mouth and ran after Arthur. He tripped and did an impressive ninja roll recovery on the way out of the room that Eliott couldn’t help but roll his eyes at in admiration. Sometimes the two year difference between him and the boys really showed, but he didn’t mind it. 

“What are they doing?” Lucas asked Yann, who rolled his eyes. 

“Alexia asked them to film the dance class so some of the girls who wanted to keep dancing after lycée could send the footage to universities,” Yann explained, “I think Arthur is doing it for the right reasons, but I don’t think Basile is.”

Lucas laughed, tipping his head down as he did so. “Yeah, I think we all could have guessed that one.”

“You don’t want to go help out? Check out some hot girls?” Eliott teased Lucas, knowing full well that was the last thing Lucas cared about. As he said it another thought raced into his mind. Fuck, was Spiderman even into guys? Just because he’d randomly saved Eliott a few times, it didn’t mean that he was into Eliott like that . Eliott suddenly felt like an idiot. 

When Eliott looked up Yann was giving Lucas a look he couldn’t decipher, like he was trying to communicate something. Lucas was frowning slightly, but he looked resigned to whatever Yann was trying to say. 

Yann stood abruptly. “You have a point,” he said to Eliott. 

Eliott blinked, trying to remember if he’d said anything that Yann would agree with. Yann gestured vaguely. “Checking out girls… not Lucas’ thing, but I’m not opposed.”

“Yann…” Lucas warned, and Yann raised his hands in surrender.

“Kidding, kidding, I’m going to keep Basile in line. The last thing these girls need is his drool all over the camera while they film.” 

“Ha ha,” Lucas deadpanned, but he looked a bit nervous. 

Yann saluted the two of them with two fingers before Lucas could get another word in, jogging out of the room after their two other friends. When it was just the two of them again, Eliott cleared his throat, unsure of what to say. He never usually felt awkward around Lucas, but he couldn’t exactly talk about what he wanted to talk about. He couldn’t just say “Hey, you know, I think I have a thing for spiderman and it’s all I can think about”, Lucas would think he was insane. 

“So,” Lucas began slowly, “You have a thing for Spiderman.”

Shit, had he said that out loud? Lucas must have seen his eyebrows crease in worry and surprise, because he laughed and continued, “Dude, no offense, but you’re not subtle at all.”

“I do not have a thing for Spiderman,” Eliott lied fruitlessly. 

Lucas humored him, great friend that he was. “Ok, fine, I won’t help you then.” Eliott narrowed his eyes. So much for great friend, that reverse psychology shit wouldn’t work on him. He was curious though… what kind of help was Lucas talking about? Ugh, fine, maybe the reverse psychology shit was working.

“What kind of help are you talking about?”

Lucas smiled his shit eating grin that Eliott pretended not to love even when he knew Lucas could see right through him. “You need to make him jealous.”

“Jealous,” Eliott repeated. 

Lucas nodded like it was the most obvious solution in the world. Eliott mulled over how he could possibly do that. Lucas clearly had an answer, from the way he was looking at Eliott. There was one thing that was still bugging Eliott, though. “What if he’s not into guys? Aren’t superheroes usually all about that damsel in distress sort of thing?”

Lucas choked on the water he’d been attempting to sip while Eliott talked. “Let’s just assume for the sake of the plan that he is. Besides, you make the perfect little damsel yourself, Demaury,” Lucas giggled, ruffling Eliott’s hair into his eyes. 

“Shut up,” Eliott said, but he was laughing as he fixed his hair. “Now tell me the plan I can tell you’ve been dying to tell me.”

“What plan?” Lucas asked in mock confusion. Eliott leveled him with a dead faced stare until Lucas finally relented. “Ok, fine, I do have a plan. But you can say no, ok?”

“Ok?”

Lucas bit his lip, glancing down at his hands. “So we have to make him jealous, right?” Eliott nodded. “One way to do that would be to date someone,” Lucas explained further. Eliott wasn’t following. 

“Why would I date someone else if I have a crush on him?” he asked, realizing as he spoke how stupid he sounded. This was Spiderman, not Lucas, or someone like that. What were the odds of Spiderman seeing him enough to realize he had a boyfriend or girlfriend or to even be jealous of it?

“You wouldn’t actually date them,” Lucas said, like it should have been obvious, “You just pretend to date them long enough to get Spiderman’s attention.”

“But I don’t want to upset the person I’m pretending to date…”

“Obviously not, dumbass, they’d have to agree to it too!” Lucas sounded exasperated and Eliott couldn’t blame him. 

Eliott still had one question, though. “Who’d agree to something like that?”

Lucas tipped his head back, rolling his eyes, before returning his gaze to Eliott and gesturing to himself. “You?” Eliott confirmed with an incredulous laugh.

Lucas nodded, and Eliott shook his head. “No way, that’s crazy! I can’t do that to you.”

“Who says I’m not getting something out of it?” Lucas asked.

Eliott narrowed his eyes. “What are you getting out of it?”

Lucas shrugged, playing it off casually. “Maybe I want someone to fall in love with me too.” 

Eliott hadn’t thought about that. He supposed it could be true, especially if Lucas was willing to go along with a charade like this. He was sure Lucas wouldn’t have suggested it if there wasn’t something in it for him. Eliott knew this because he would have been the exact same way. “Who?” he asked.

“Who what?”

“Who do you want to fall in love with you?” Eliott rephrased. If Lucas got to know his embarrassing crush, he wanted to know who Lucas was so interested in.

“None of your business,” Lucas shot back with a wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Eliott squinted. “Not true, you just made it my business.”

“You don’t have a plan without me though, and if you won’t let this go I won’t help you.” Lucas crossed his arms in front of his chest smugly. 

“Fine,” Eliott bluffed, “I’ll ask Arthur, then.”

Lucas started giggling uncontrollably. “You really think Arthur will help you woo Spiderman ?” Fair point. Arthur would take the piss at him so often the whole charade would be torture. Lucas was his only real option. 

“Fine,” Eliott repeated, “You win. You have to ask me, though.”

“Ask you what?”

“Ask me to be your boyfriend.”

Lucas scoffed like Eliott was joking. He met Eliott’s eyes and sat up a bit straighter in his seat. “Wait, you’re serious?”

“Dead serious.”

“Fuck, Eliott…”

“Pretty please?” Eliott asked, giving Lucas his best puppy dog eyes. Lucas wasn’t the only one with big blue eyes, after all. He could see Lucas start to smile and he knew he’d won. 

Lucas cleared his throat. “Eliott Demaury, will you do me the esteemed honor of being my fake boyfriend?”

“Hmmm…” Eliott pretended to think it over and Lucas hit him on the shoulder. “I have thought about it, and I accept your request, Lucas Lallemant. I will be your fake boyfriend.” He held out a hand and Lucas grasped it, shaking it once before letting go quicker than Eliott expected. “What are we going to tell everyone?” he asked. 

Lucas considered for a moment. “I don’t think we should tell them it’s fake. If we do, we’ll have to answer all their questions and I don’t think either of us want to do that.”

That was a good point. Eliott could only imagine all the shit they’d get for pretending to date so Eliott could make Spiderman jealous. “They’re never going to believe that we just started dating out of nowhere, though, at least our close friends won’t,” he pointed out. 

Lucas frowned, and Eliott wondered if he hadn’t exactly thought the whole thing through before suggesting it. Then, his eyes lit up. “The party on Saturday.”

“What about it?”

“We can pretend we hooked up that night, caught feelings, and decided to see where it would go,” Lucas suggested, looking proud of himself. Eliott had to admit it was a pretty good idea, and he told Lucas so. Lucas blushed brilliantly, and Eliott could feel himself smiling. Yeah, he might enjoy being Lucas’ fake boyfriend if he was able to continue to make Lucas blush like that. 

🕷🕷🕷

The party was soon and Eliott couldn’t help but feel a little bit excited. He didn’t know if there was any rules to this whole fake dating thing that he should be following, especially because he didn’t want to make Lucas feel uncomfortable in any way. He also wasn’t entirely certain how long Lucas wanted them to do this thing, maybe until each of them got the attention of the person they desired. In that case, Eliott was worried they might be pretending forever. It wouldn’t be that bad, he supposed, to pretend to be in love with Lucas. He already loved him, how much harder could it be to fake being in love?

He was a creative person, acting should come naturally to him, right? Hopefully it would come naturally to Lucas as well. He suspected it would, Lucas was incredible at everything he did, and was quite the skilled liar when he wanted to be. Never to Eliott, though, at least as far as he knew. Lucas had been the hardest of the gang to get to know at first because, for all he pretended to be an open book, he held everything personal about him so close to his chest that it was a wonder anyone ever got to know him at all. 

Yet somehow, Eliott had been allowed inside the wall Lucas built around himself, and neither of them had ever looked back. Eliott was pretty open with everything about himself, so when he’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Lucas immediately knew that something was different, not bad, just different. He’d waited for Eliott to tell him, never pushing or prodding because he could see how much Eliott was struggling with himself, and when he finally did confide in Lucas, he was there for him in ways Eliott had never imagined he would be.

Lucas had told him, since then, that he’d rather have Eliott at his highs and lows than not at all, and something about the deep sincerity of that statement held Eliott aloft even in his darkest moments. He was so lucky to have a friend like Lucas, truly. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a faint whoosh, then a light rattling of the rungs on his fire escape. Eliott wasn’t expecting to run into Spiderman before the party that weekend, but the world always had a way of surprising him. Another surprise was that, this time, Spiderman didn’t pretend to have a reason to be there other than to talk with Eliott. 

Aside from the faint noises he’d heard, partially because maybe he’d been listening for anything out of the ordinary, Spiderman appeared seemingly out of nowhere. “How do you do that?” was the first thing he asked. 

Spiderman shrugged. “Practice.”

“Can you teach me?” Eliott joked and Spiderman laughed lightly. 

“No. You’re not Spiderman,” he reminded Eliott needlessly. The reminder also served to make Eliott come back to his senses, realize who he was talking to. Should he bring up Lucas now, or wait until after the party in a few days? It wasn’t like Spiderman would tell anyone, so it couldn’t hurt to plant the seed now, right? 

He figured he’d ease into the topic. “I heard you coming,” he said.

“Lies,” Spiderman responded immediately, and Eliott couldn’t help but giggle. 

“Lies? Maybe you’re just not as stealthy as you thought you were,” he suggested.

Spiderman paused, and Eliott could bet that he was frowning inside that mask of his. “The suit is supposed to be soundproof. That’s what Ima— I mean, that’s what the, uh, the government said.”

Eliott was confused, not by the soundproof suit. “You work for the government?”

“Well, no,” Spiderman admitted.

“But they gave you your suit?”

Spiderman sighed. “I’m usually better at lying to people.”

“Wow,” Eliott said, grinning, “The Amazing Spiderman admits that he’s a world class liar? How dare you call yourself a superhero.”

Spiderman crossed his arms. “I never called myself a superhero. And besides, isn’t lying all I do? At least outside the mask?”

Huh, Eliott had never really thought about it like that. He shrugged. “I still think you’re a hero.”

“Isn’t that the problem?” Spiderman asked, not waiting for Eliott to answer before continuing, “Calling someone a hero, believing they’re more than a confused sixteen year old running around in a mask trying their best to do something, anything, just because they were bitten by someone’s fucked up science experiment?”

“I guess that’s one way to put it…” Eliott trailed off, looking at Spiderman out of the corner of his eye. It was so hard to get a read on him with that stupid mask on. He understood why it was necessary, having superpowers was like being famous, if anyone knew who he really was he’d never catch a break, but Eliott still longed to see the boy behind the mask. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be complaining. I didn’t have to do any of this, I just… couldn’t sit around and do nothing, you know?” Spiderman sounded like he was trying to convince Eliott of something, but he didn’t know what. 

Eliott stubbed out his cigarette. “I’m sorry for calling you a hero. I get what you mean, I have no idea what I would do in your situation, that’s for sure. I’d probably just let the bad guys win.”

“Why? You don’t think people are worth saving?” Spiderman seemed genuinely curious, even with his voice screwed up enough that Eliott wouldn’t be able to hear what he really sounded like. 

He shook his head. “No, quite the contrary, I just think that if the world was in my hands I wouldn’t know what to do with it. I’m not the type of person you give that kind of responsibility.”

Spiderman was quiet a long moment, almost like he either didn’t know what to say, or he knew exactly what to say but didn’t want to say it. “Sorry,” Eliott apologized, “I should warn you that I’m not as optimistic as I pretend to be. I guess we’re both liars.”

“You’re anything but,” Spiderman said, turning to face him, “Choosing to try to be happy, especially when you aren’t, is far more admirable than swinging from building to building like you’re some kind of god. It’s my fault, in the end, if people treat me like a hero, an enigma .”

Eliott bit his bottom lip absently. How could someone with superpowers , for christ’s sake, have so little faith in himself but so much faith in a stranger? He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he understood what Spiderman was saying, but he didn’t agree. He wouldn’t say anything, but Spiderman was a hero. Not because he had superpowers, but because he chose to help the world in any way he could when most people would use and abuse their powers until they became a villain. Eliott could certainly see himself falling onto that path. 

“So, do you have any fun plans this weekend?” Spiderman changed the subject abruptly, and Eliott was glad he did. His thoughts were getting a bit too dark for his own good, spiraling into his eternal tunnel of self doubt and existential crisis. 

Was now a good time to drop Lucas into conversation, or would that be weird? “Why are you asking? Trying to stalk me again?” Eliott teased instead, waiting until the opportunity presented itself. 

“Hilarious,” Spiderman said, but didn’t deny it, “So?”

“I’m going to a party,” Eliott found himself responding. Spiderman nodded once, waiting for Eliott to continue, almost as if he knew there were words on his tongue he was working up the nerve to say. “I didn’t really want to go, parties can be a bit overwhelming, to be honest, but my boyfriend wanted to go, so…” Well, now it was out there. He really hoped Lucas wouldn’t be mad. 

“Your boyfriend?”

Oh, shit, what if Spiderman was homophobic or something? “I’m pansexual,” he said, as if that would make it any better. 

“Ok?”

“Yeah, it’s when you like all genders, or people regardless of gender, you know? Sometimes there’s—”

Spiderman cut him off. “Eliott, I know what pansexuality is. I don’t live my entire life away from society in this suit, you know.”

“Right.” He was such an idiot. “Um, is that… ok?”

“Is what ok?”

“Me being pansexual?”

Spiderman snorted, and his laugh sounded oddly familiar to Eliott. Before he had time to dwell on it, Spiderman gasped through his laughter. “Dude! What kind of superhero would I be if I was panphobic?” 

“Fuck, I don’t know! Didn’t you just say you weren’t a superhero anyway?”

“Glad you were paying attention.” If he hadn’t been wearing that damn mask, Eliott would have been willing to bet that he was still smiling. “I just didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”

“Oh, yeah, well, it’s new,” Eliott stammered, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about. 

Spiderman nodded. “That’s cool. What’s his name?”

“Lucas.”

“Lucas,” Spiderman repeated, “Nice name. I bet he’s cute.”

“The cutest,” Eliott said, mostly to make Spiderman jealous. It wasn’t a lie, Lucas was the cutest. Spiderman choked on nothing, maybe air, maybe his saliva, maybe Eliott’s words. 

“That’s cool,” Spiderman squeaked out. Eliott eyed him carefully. Was it possible Lucas’ plan was actually working? Before he had time to consider it further, his phone rang. He frowned down at the screen, why was Manon calling him?

He apologized briefly to Spiderman, who waved him off, allowing him to turn and take the call. “Manon? What’s up?” he asked warily.

“Hey, Eliott, have you seen Lucas?” she asked.

Was something wrong? Lucas would have texted him if something was wrong, wouldn’t he? “No, I haven’t… Is everything all right?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure it’s nothing,” she said, but Eliott was still concerned. 

“Do you want me to call him?”

“No, no, it’s fine, really. He just said he was going out but he didn’t tell us where and his phone’s off. I’m just being overprotective, fuck, I really am his mom.” Manon didn’t sound worried, so Eliott calmed down a little bit. He wondered if Lucas was off with whatever boy he was in love with. Would that mean their deal was off?

“Maybe call Yann,” Eliott suggested, and Manon laughed shortly. 

“You’re right, I don’t know why I didn’t… Sorry for bothering you Eliott.”

He shook his head even though he knew she couldn’t see him. “No problem, just let me know when you know what’s up? I guess I’m a little overprotective too.”

“I will, oh— he’s at Yann’s, Mika just got off the phone. Again, sorry for bothering you. He’s just been disappearing so much lately, acting all weird, I want to make sure things aren’t bad with his family again or something.” Now that she brought it up, Lucas had been a bit flaky recently. Not with him, necessarily, but the other boys and his roommates complained about it sometimes. 

“It’s no big deal, Manon, seriously. I’m glad you thought to call me. See you tomorrow, ok?” She muttered goodbyes to him and hung up, leaving Eliott to turn back to Spiderman on the fire escape and let out a breathy laugh. 

“Sorry about that—” he began, but Spiderman was gone.

🕷🕷🕷

He didn’t mention the meeting with Spiderman to Lucas the next day, nor the next. He resolved to tell him about it at the party, but they were both a few drinks in at that point and Eliott still hadn’t spilled. He didn’t know why, he was still buzzing about it, dying to know why Spiderman had left and why he’d come in the first place.

Eliott had met the boys at Lucas’ flat before the party, and he and Lucas had exchanged a conspiratorial glance as soon as he’d arrived. They hadn’t had a chance to talk alone yet, though, so Eliott chalked up his silence to that, not wanting to have to explain his feelings for Spiderman to the others because they would probably laugh in his face. 

Basile was going on and on about Daphné, which would have been all well and good if he hadn’t done the exact same thing every single time the five of them hung out together. Lucas caught Eliott’s eye and rolled his, nodding towards the kitchen. Eliott gave him a subtle nod of acknowledgement before offering to grab more drinks for the boys and following Lucas into the much less crowded kitchen. 

Lucas sighed and leaned against the counter. “There’s only so much more of that I can listen to,” he groaned. 

“You’re telling me,” Eliott said with wide eyes, popping the top off another beer bottle on the edge of the counter. There was a nice, comfortable silence between the two of them and Eliott knew that now was his moment to bring up his interaction with Spiderman. He cleared his throat awkwardly, drawing Lucas’ bemused stare. “I saw Spiderman again, the other day,” he began. 

Lucas raised his eyebrows, but said nothing else, waiting for Eliott to continue. He did, trying his best to articulate the conversation they’d had without giving Lucas any real details. What they discussed deserved to stay between them, and Lucas seemed to understand and respect that. “I did kind of tell him that you were my boyfriend, though. Not that he knows you, but it just kind of slipped out.”

“Ok?” Lucas said, furrowing his brow. 

“Well, I just wanted to tell you because we agreed to start ‘dating’ after tonight and I screwed that up and—”

Lucas placed a hand on Eliott’s arm, startling him enough to cut him off. “Hey,” Lucas said, a faint smile playing across his face, “It’s all good. I highly doubt Spiderman went off telling people you have a boyfriend.”

“Oh. Yeah. You’re right.” Eliott felt heat rushing to his face and he pulled away from Lucas’ reach, leaning back against the kitchen island, mirroring Lucas’ position on the opposite side. “Sorry, I just… I don’t know. I feel stupid doing this whole thing. Why did I have to choose Spiderman, of all people?”

“What do you mean?”

Eliott gestured vaguely. “You know I’m a hopeless romantic, it’s not like it’s much of a secret, but why couldn’t I fall for someone more obtainable? What on earth makes me think a goddamn superhero would ever give me the time of day?”

“Eliott,” Lucas began sternly, “Spiderman would be an idiot not to give you the time of day. Besides, it seems like he already is, what with all the saving you and conversations and everything. You have to remember that he’s just some kid in a mask, not a deity.”

Eliott knew that, it was basically the same conversation he’d had with Spiderman earlier that week, but he didn’t know how to explain properly that he didn’t like Spiderman because of his superpowers, he liked him because of the goodness at his core, the fact that he’d used his superpowers to be a hero, whether he wanted to be called one or not. Instead, he changed the subject slightly. “What would you do if you had superpowers?”

Lucas blinked in surprise, a look flickering across his face that Eliott couldn’t decipher. He almost looked worried. “I don’t know,” Lucas said after a moment of silence, “I guess I’d like to say that I’d be a hero, but I think I’d probably be too freaked out by the whole superpower thing and I’d let someone else choose what I should do. Being a superhero would never occur to me until someone else suggested it. If that makes sense, which I don’t think it does.”

Eliott found himself smiling at Lucas’ response because, yes , it made sense. It was nice to know that Lucas was like him in this way, unsure whether saving the world was a topic for them to think about or not. “It does make sense, really.” Lucas gave him a skeptical look, but he ignored it. 

“I think I’d be a villain,” he said quietly. 

To his surprise, Lucas grinned. “Why, because villains are always hot?”

“Ha, ha,” he deadpanned, ducking his head slightly. “But no, I just don’t think I’d have any other choice. I’m not a good person, no matter how hard I try to be. I’m too fucked up to be a hero, so that leaves me with villain.”

“You’re not fucked up.”

“But I am ,” Eliott protested, “It’s not like I have a choice in that matter either, but people like me never become the heroes. We just feed into our own nightmares until they swallow us whole.”

Lucas didn’t say anything and Eliott worried he’d said too much. Sure, Lucas was always there for Eliott when he needed to talk about these sorts of things, but he always tried to keep those conversations surface level, never quite getting below the surface and into the true darkness of his mind. Maybe the alcohol made his tongue loose, or maybe he thought that, just this once, Lucas would be able to understand. 

Lucas placed his beer on the counter and looked up into Eliott’s eyes. “Then I can feed you my dreams.”

“What?”

“I can feed you my dreams,” Lucas repeated, “To combat your nightmares. You’ll never be swallowed whole as long as I’m with you, ok?”

Eliott felt a tear prick in the corner of his eye and he willed it away, knowing that bursting into tears at a party would probably ruin the mood. Even so, the only thing he wanted to do at that moment was pull Lucas close and hold him tight and never let go. He always asked himself what he’d done right to deserve a friend like Lucas, but he still couldn’t come up with an answer.

He didn’t say anything more, couldn’t form the words to express the depth of gratitude and love he felt at that moment, but he could tell that Lucas understood the words he couldn’t say, the ones written in his eyes and the way he smiled softly at Lucas like he was the only person in the entire world. Whoever Lucas was in love with was one lucky guy. 

“How long does it take to grab a few drinks?” Arthur asked loudly, entering the kitchen with Yann and Basile in tow. Yann eyed Eliott as he walked in, then looked at Lucas. Something passed between Lucas and Yann, but Eliott didn’t know what it meant. 

“Sorry,” Lucas said, “We got distracted.” He winked at Eliott then and Eliott remembered they were supposed to be pretending now, putting on enough of a show that when they came to school Monday people would believe that they were together. He was surprised at how quickly Lucas could go from one persona to another, throwing on a social mask like he hadn’t just said one of the kindest things Eliott had ever heard.

“Well prepare to be even more distracted,” Arthur said, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Eliott locked eyes with Yann, who shrugged. “Come again?”

Arthur gave them all a wide, mischievous grin before pulling out a small baggie of weed. Lucas’ eyebrows skyrocketed and Yann nodded in appreciation. “You’ve been holding out on us, huh?” Yann teased, grabbing the weed from Arthur and beginning to roll a joint. 

Arthur shrugged. “I was waiting for the perfect time.”

Eliott knew he probably shouldn’t smoke, but he wasn’t as rational as he should have been due to the few drinks he’d had, and he held out a hand for the joint once Yann took a drag. Lucas looked at him in concern, but Eliott tried to reassure him with his eyes. It would be fine , it wasn’t like he was smoking every day or anything. Eliott handed the joint off to Lucas when he was done and Lucas beckoned him closer, hopping up on the counter. “Have you ever tried shotgunning?” he asked, and Eliott raised his eyebrows. Was this how they were going to play it, then?

“No, I haven’t,” he answered truthfully. He’d sort of attempted it once, but it hadn’t quite worked like it was supposed to and Idriss had laughed at him for hours afterward. Lucas beckoned him closer still, lifting the joint to his mouth. Eliott couldn’t take his eyes off Lucas’ mouth and he had to blink a few times to remind himself that they were just pretending, Lucas wasn’t actually trying to seduce him. 

Lucas placed the tips of his fingers under Eliott’s chin, tilting his head as if to ask Is this ok? It was. Lucas brought their mouths close together and Eliott opened his mouth instinctively, waiting for Lucas to open his. His mind flashed briefly, wondering just how much of a show they were going to put on. Not just that night, but all the days and nights that followed. Would they kiss? Hold hands? Sleep in the same bed whenever Lucas’ roommates were home? 

The thoughts were wiped from his mind as quickly as they’d come when Lucas exhaled, transferring the smoke from his mouth to Eliott’s. Their lips were so close to touching, so close that Eliott could almost convince himself he’d felt them, so close that Eliott’s brain malfunctioned a bit, asking him why he didn’t just kiss Lucas right there, Spiderman be damned. 

Then Lucas pulled away, and Eliott’s thoughts righted themselves, and they returned back to the world that existed outside the two of them. Arthur and Basile’s mouths were open in shock, and Yann was looking back and forth between the two of them with a look not of surprise, but of hesitation. 

Lucas was completely red in the face when Eliott dared to look at him again, but the corner of his mouth twitched when their eyes met, letting Eliott know that he was clearly enjoying the little performance. Why Lucas was an S student when acting was so clearly his calling was beyond Eliott. 

Lucas hopped off the counter with a sigh. “I think I’m going to head out, Mika texted a minute ago and said he needed my help with something.”

“It’s one in the morning?” Basile asked confusedly, and Arthur nudged him in the side. 

Eliott grabbed his jacket from where he’d draped it over one of the chairs close by. “I can walk you home?”

“That would be great,” Lucas grinned, and Basile let out a small oh . Let them think whatever they wanted, everything would be confirmed by Monday, Eliott supposed. He’d probably have to stay over at Lucas’ that night, but that was fine. He’d stayed over there plenty of times, this one was no different. 

Lucas’ fingers brushed his gently as he began to walk out of the kitchen, and Eliott made the decision to grab onto his hand, letting Lucas pull him through the throngs of people, leaving their friends a bit stunned in the kitchen. 

Once they were outside, Lucas laughed maniacally. “Did you see their faces? Oh god, I swear Baz was about to have an aneurysm.”

Eliott laughed softly, incapable of maintaining a straight face when Lucas was still laughing like that . “You’re a natural, Lallemant, I can’t believe I ever doubted you.”

“You doubted me?” Lucas scoffed indignantly. 

“Only a little bit.” Eliott grinned as Lucas pouted, reaching over to ruffle his hair. Another perk to fake dating was that he could touch Lucas’ hair whenever he wanted to and Lucas couldn’t complain about it anymore. 

“Are you actually going to walk me home?” Lucas asked.

Eliott shrugged. “That was the plan. Besides, we have to convince your roommates we’re dating too, right?”

“Oh yeah…”

“After you, then?” Eliott gestured to the empty street in front of them. 

“After me, then,” Lucas said, a bit dazedly. He looked back to make sure Eliott was following, light of the stars and the moon reflecting in those bright blue eyes of his. There was no doubt that Lucas was the most beautiful person Eliott had ever known, Eliott highly doubted Spiderman even compared. 

“What are you looking at?” Lucas asked self consciously, lowering his gaze and allowing Eliott a full look at his profile, all sharp jawlines and high cheekbones and long eyelashes. 

“My boyfriend,” Eliott teased, catching up to Lucas at last. Lucas pressed his eyes closed so tight it looked painful. “What are you doing?” Eliott asked, wondering if he’d said something wrong. 

“Committing this moment to memory,” Lucas said, then opened his eyes abruptly, like he’d said something he shouldn’t have. “After all,” he continued hurriedly, “It’s not every day you start the greatest scam the world has ever seen to convince a superhero to be your boyfriend.”

Eliott let out a soft laugh of relief. Lucas wasn’t freaking out, everything was good. “Shut up.”

Lucas gave him his trademark smirk, and Eliott could have pretended to be mad, or offended, but instead he grabbed onto Lucas’ hand, twirling him around once, before pulling him close and putting an arm around his shoulder. “This will be one hell of a story to tell our kids.”

Lucas rested his head against Eliott’s shoulder as they walked, giggling slightly. “Please don’t remind me that someday I’ll have to be a functioning adult.”

“I will do no such thing,” Eliott agreed, using his free hand to mime zipping his lips. Lucas rolled his eyes and laughed again, never once straying from his spot tucked into Eliott’s side. 

They really did make a good pair, it was too bad they were both in love with someone else.

Chapter Text

Eliott woke up on Lucas’ floor with the light streaming in the window. Lucas had insisted that he take the bed, but Eliott didn’t want to displace Lucas in his own room or make Lucas uncomfortable by sleeping in the bed with him. Sure, they’d shared beds on occasion over the years, but Eliott tended to try to cuddle when he’d had a few drinks, even more so when he smoked, and he hadn’t wanted to subject Lucas to that. 

Lucas’ head was hanging over the edge of his bed, looking down at Eliott with a goofy grin. “Morning, sleepyhead.”

“Sleepyhead? How late is it?” Eliott asked, rubbing his eyes. 

Lucas checked the clock on the other side of his bed before leaning back over the edge to speak to Eliott. “About eleven-thirty.”

Eliott was suddenly more awake. “Seriously? I’m so sorry, usually I wake up earlier, you know that.”

Lucas furrowed his brows. “Eleven-thirty isn’t that late. I just got up too. If I could sleep like a normal person I’d sleep until noon or later every day.”

Eliott frowned, even though Lucas was still grinning happily. He knew Lucas had sleeping issues, he always came to school with dark circles under his eyes and texted Eliott at odd hours of the night, but Eliott had never thought much of it. Lucas always seemed to brush all his problems under the rug and Eliott just let him. He felt guilt churning in his stomach, about to say something when he saw a small scratch on Lucas’ cheek. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing to it. 

Lucas raised his hand to his cheek in surprise, as if he had no idea what Eliott was talking about. Eliott watched him catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror across the room before turning bright red. “I, um, cut myself shaving,” he stammered. 

Eliott frowned. First of all, he was pretty sure Lucas didn’t have to shave yet, and second of all, he knew that cut hadn’t been there last night so that meant Lucas was lying about just waking up. Lucas must have realized this the same time Eliott did, because he confessed, “Ok I’ve been awake for a little while, actually, I just didn’t want you to feel bad.”

“Ever the gentleman,” Eliott grinned. He sat up further. “When did you start shaving?”

“Like a week ago,” Lucas said, blushing again. 

“You know that you have no facial hair to shave, right?” Eliott teased, and was subsequently hit in the face by a pillow. Either the pillow was super heavy, or Lucas had thrown it with an insane amount of force, because it almost knocked the breath out of him.

Lucas’ eyes were wide and nervous when Eliott looked back up at him. “I’m so, so, sorry,” he apologized, blinking rapidly. 

Eliott tossed the pillow back, making sure not to launch it like Lucas apparently had. “Stronger than you thought you were?”   

Lucas coughed uncomfortably. “I’ve, uh, been, um, working out?” He said it like a question, even though it shouldn’t have been one. 

“When? I’d go with you, you know.”

Lucas shook his head fervently. “No, no, I like doing it alone.”

“Ok…” Eliott narrowed his eyes, wondering why Lucas was acting so skittish. They still didn’t lie to one another, right?

Before Eliott could question him further, Lucas coughed abruptly and changed the subject. “Come up here, I’m tired of talking to you down there.”

Eliott did as he was told, hopping up and sitting beside Lucas on the bed. Lucas always looked so soft in the mornings, hair a beautiful mess, eyes a bit bleary, pillow wrinkles imprinted in his face. He wondered what Spiderman looked like in the mornings. Or at all. “You summoned me?”

“We need to come up with some rules,” Lucas declared. 

“Rules?”

“For dating each other— fake dating each other,” Lucas explained further, “I don’t want either one of us to be confused about the whole thing, you know?”

Eliott did know, and it was actually something that had been on his mind. He was glad that Lucas had brought it up, because he probably would have forgotten about it until it was too late and then their plan would have been ruined. “Of course,” he agreed, “Where do we start?”

Lucas bit his lip. “Um, basic things, I guess. Like kissing.”

Kissing. Eliott wouldn’t mind kissing Lucas while they fake dated. 

“I don’t want you to kiss me,” Lucas said.

Oh, never mind then. 

Lucas must have noted Eliott’s confusion, because he launched into an explanation. “I’m sure you’re a great kisser, but I don’t want to kiss you just because we’re pretending, all right? I want to save my kisses for people who actually want to be with me.”

“No one is going to believe we’re together if we don’t kiss,” Eliott pointed out, though he wasn’t sure why. If Lucas didn’t want to kiss him, that was his prerogative, Eliott didn’t need to fight him on it. It was a decent point though. 

“I can just tell people I don’t like PDA, it’s not like I’ve ever had a real boyfriend before, so they won’t know the difference,” Lucas shrugged, and Eliott thought oh . Lucas didn’t want to kiss him because he hadn’t ever had any of these experiences in a real relationship yet, and wanted to save them. 

“Ok, fair enough. How about holding hands, cuddling, stuff like that?” Eliott asked. 

Lucas thought about it for a moment. “That’s fine, I guess, just not too much, because then no one will believe I don’t like PDA.”

“I’m gonna cuddle the shit out of you,” Eliott said with a wide grin, pulling Lucas to him. Lucas widened his eyes and pulled away quickly, looking flustered. Lucas blinked rapidly again and Eliott wondered if he might have something in his eye. 

“No need,” Lucas eked out. Maybe he had something caught in his throat, not his eye? “Minimal cuddles will suffice, most people won’t question it, trust me.”

“Well what if I want to cuddle the shit out of you?”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Save the cuddles for Spiderman, Romeo.”

“Fine,” Eliott shrugged, “I will. What other rules are there?”

Lucas’ eyes zoned out and Eliott wondered if maybe he was second guessing this whole thing. He was about to clap in front of his face when Lucas said, dead serious, “Well, we’re going to have to sleep together.”

Now it was Eliott’s turn to cough in surprise. “Let me get this straight. No kissing… but we—?”

“Oh, god, no! Not like that!” Lucas laughed, and the tension in the air dissipated. Eliott hadn’t even noticed there was tension until it disappeared. Lucas was still laughing as he continued, “I meant like, stay over at each other’s places— just to sleep! My flatmates know that I sleep better when other people are here, so they’ll assume we’ll spend a lot of nights together.”

“Ok.”

“We don’t actually have to, of course, you can sneak out when they’re all asleep or whatever, and I can sleep on your couch at your flat, but I think that will help with the ruse,” Lucas explained further. 

“Lucas don’t be an idiot, of course I’ll stay over here. And you don’t have to sleep on my couch . We’ve shared beds many, many, times, this is no different as long as you don’t steal all the covers.” Eliott nudged Lucas’ knee with his and Lucas blushed. “Deal?”

“Deal,” Lucas mumbled, shaking the hand Eliott had outstretched. Damn, he had quite the grip. Eliott wasn’t sure how he’d never noticed it before, he supposed they didn’t shake hands often. “What else?”

“One date a week?” Eliott suggested. The more Spiderman saw the two of them engaging in typical couple activities the better. “We can hang out more often than that, obviously, but we should have one ‘formal’ date per week.” 

“Fuck, I should be writing this down,” Lucas murmured, hopping off the bed with ease and searching the room for a pen and paper. Once he found them, he sat back down, writing down everything they had mentioned up to that point. No kissing, other pda ok in small amounts, sleepovers (no blanket hogging), one date night per week . Eliott wondered what it would be like to just do these things with Lucas without it being fake, then shook the idea from his mind. Where had that come from? Sure, he loved Lucas, but not like that , of course not. 

“I can make drawings for you,” Eliott offered. He already did it pretty often anyway, but he could be more consistent with them, make them look more like couple drawings than friend drawings. 

Lucas smiled softly. “Really? You’d do that?”

“Of course.”

Lucas’ smiled vanished in an instant, turning into a pout. “I don’t have anything like that to offer, I’m not talented like you are.”

Eliott sighed deeply, rolling his eyes. “Shut up, Lu.”

“I’m serious! I want to be able to do something for you, too.”

He most definitely did not need to, but Eliott could see where he was coming from. If Lucas had offered drawings, Eliott would have wanted to do something as well. “You could write me notes?” Eliott suggested.

“Notes?”

“Yeah, like little love letters.”

“Ha ha. You know I’m no good with words.” Lucas was frowning again, and Eliott didn’t like to see him frown. 

He kicked Lucas lightly. “They don’t have to be actual love letters, I can pretend they’re too personal to show anyone. You can write whatever you want, give me your bio notes for all I care.”

Lucas considered this. “Ok. Notes it is, then.” He wrote it down underneath (couple-y) drawings by Eli . Eliott wasn’t sure what else they were missing, their list seemed pretty complete to him. “Also,” Lucas added, “We can’t tell anyone that this is fake.”

“Duh,” Eliott agreed.

“And when we end it, it has to be mutual and we have to stay best friends.”

“I thought Yann was your best friend?” Eliott teased, but when he looked at Lucas’ face Lucas looked nervous. 

“I’m serious. I don’t want to lose you as one of my best friends because of this.” There was actual fear in Lucas’ voice and Eliott just wanted to wrap him up and never let him go. 

He took Lucas’ face in his hands. “Hey. I'll never stop being your friend. Never ever. You’re one of the best things in my life, ok?”

“Ok…”

Lucas wasn’t meeting his eyes and Eliott waited until he finally did to ask again. “Ok?”

“Ok,” Lucas said, firmer this time. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against Eliott’s, closing his eyes. Eliott dropped his hands from Lucas’ face and brought them around his neck, pulling him into a hug. Lucas responded immediately, wrapping his arms around Eliott as well, head now tucked into Eliott’s neck. 

“You’re one of the best things in my life too,” Lucas said softly, almost like he wasn’t sure he wanted it to be said aloud. Because of this, Eliott gave no verbal response, simply tightening his grip on Lucas a little bit, burying one hand in Lucas’ glorious hot mess disaster rat’s nest hair. 

A knock came from the door and the two of them sprang apart, even though they weren’t doing anything wrong. They hugged all the time, and what did it matter if anyone saw them do it now, especially if they were supposed to be dating. 

Lucas shoved the piece of paper he’d been writing on underneath his pillow before answering, yelling at the door, “Yeah? You can come in.”

Mika walked into the room dramatically, flopping onto Lucas’ bed right between the two of them. Lucas met Eliott’s gaze with an amused smile. “What’s up?” Lucas asked. 

“I was bored and you two were still hiding here,” Mika explained, “Manon’s out and Lisa’s asleep. Besides, the gays are much more interesting than the girls, but don’t tell them I said that.”

Lucas rolled his eyes and nudged Mika with his knee. “Seriously? We were in the middle of something.”

“You didn’t have to invite me in,” Mika said with a shrug. Eliott met Lucas’ eyes again and lifted one eyebrow. If they were going to be pretending, now might be the time to start. Mika caught the end of Eliott’s glance at Lucas and he sat up abruptly. “Wait a minute,” he said, “Oh my god.”

Eliott looked at him questioningly, then at Lucas. Lucas was looking right at Mika with raised eyebrows and a small smirk, causing Mika to scream in indignation. “Finally! God knows how long we’ve all been waiting for this!”

“Mika, shut up,” Lucas said, with an apologetic glance at Eliott. Eliott furrowed his eyebrows as Mika began to ramble on and on about how it was about damn time . Probably noticing Eliott’s confusion, Lucas slid his hand across the bed and laced his fingers with Eliott’s. It wasn’t the first time they’d held hands, but it was purposeful this time, and a light bulb switched on in Eliott’s head. Oh, he thought, then, Wait a minute… how long who’s been waiting for this?

“Um, who’s been waiting for what now?” Eliott asked, and Mika paused in the middle of his sentence. 

“Literally everyone? We all see the way you two look at each other.” What was Mika talking about, Eliott and Lucas looked at each other normally, right? “Regardless,” Mika bulldozed on, “I want details. Who made the first move?”

Fuck, they hadn’t talked about the details. Eliott looked to Lucas, maybe he’d be better at bullshitting than Eliott. Everyone could always see through Eliott when he was lying, which was a bit annoying, but expected. Lucas blinked. “Um, I did, I guess.”

“Do tell, kitten. Who knew you could be so bold?”

Lucas rolled his eyes again. Eliott thought it was endearing when he did that, but that was probably only because whenever Lucas rolled his eyes at him it was followed by a smile. “Drunk me can, I guess. I asked Eliott if he wanted to shotgun the joint we’d all been passing around, one thing led to another, and yeah. That’s it.”

Mika narrowed his eyes. “That’s all you’re giving me? Are you official or what?”

Eliott jumped in to answer Mika, letting Lucas take a moment to come up with whatever else they needed to sell their story. “We decided to take things slow but… yeah. I guess you could say that.”

“Don’t tell anyone yet, though, we literally just discussed it before you barged in,” Lucas pleaded. 

Mika scoffed. “I didn’t barge , I knocked. I always knock with you two just in case and it turns out I stay winning, so…”

“Goodbye, Mika,” Lucas said, pushing him off the bed with a loud thump. Lucas’ eyes widened and he leaned over the side of the bed. “Fuck, I’m sorry, are you ok?”

“Jesus, you’re strong kitten,” Mika said with a disbelieving laugh. Lucas laughed weakly in return. 

“He’s been working out,” Eliott explained, and Lucas looked at him gratefully. Lucas had clearly been modest about how much time he’d put into working out earlier when they’d talked about it. Eliott was impressed, he’d never really taken Lucas for the type. Mika nodded at the explanation, leaving the room with wary eyes.

“Just don’t fuck too loud!” he yelled over his shoulder as he left, closing the door behind him. Eliott met Lucas’ eyes and the two of them nearly collapsed into a fit of giggles, Lucas pulling their rules sheet out from under his pillow. 

Eliott tried to get a look over Lucas’ shoulder as he wrote something down. “What are you adding?”

Lucas bit his lip, unable to contain the few giggles that rose up out of him as he turned the sheet to Eliott. There, at the bottom of the page, a few words that had Eliott equally exasperated and endeared. 

Final rule: Don’t fuck too loud. (for mika)  

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Lunch, they’d decided, would be a good time to tell all their friends that they were ‘together’. Manon already knew, partly because Mika couldn’t keep his mouth shut and partly because Eliott had lived at the flat for the rest of the weekend, he and Lucas testing out different coupley things and finding it wasn’t much different than being friends, especially if they weren’t going to kiss or anything. She was happy for them, very supportive, which was exactly what both of them had expected from her. They didn’t think any of their friends would have an objection, but it would still be interesting to see their reactions. 

The crew and the gang didn’t usually all sit together at lunch, but thankfully that day they were. Daphné had called a meeting to discuss the foyer renovations, though Eliott had thought since he and Lucas and the boys had painted a new mural they were pretty much good on renovations for the time being.

Eliott and Lucas walked in together, sitting down beside one another. Manon eyed them from across the table and Eliott caught Lucas sending her a look, wrinkling his nose. Eliott clasped Lucas’ hand under the table, startling him slightly. Now or never, right? he tried to ask subliminally. Lucas seemed to get his message, but before they could say anything Arthur addressed them. 

“Either of you want to share what the fuck that whole thing was at the party the other day?” he asked, looking at them over the rims of his glasses. Yann was eyeing them carefully, as was Imane, for some reason. Everyone else just seemed confused except for Manon. 

Lucas furrowed his brows. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Eliott bit the inside of his cheek, Lucas was such a little shit. Lucas squeezed his hand lightly under the table as if to say What? We never said we couldn’t have a little fun in the reveal. Which, fair. Eliott figured he’d just let Lucas do his thing until he was expected to chime in.

“Dude, you two basically made out right in front of us,” Basile chimed in, mouth full of whatever food the school had been offering that day. Daphné’s eyes widened and she nearly spit out her drink. “Come again?” she clarified. 

Lucas sighed deeply, placing his free hand on the table. “I don’t see what the big deal is…” 

“I don’t know Lulu, usually we don’t just nearly make out with our friends in front of our other friends and then mysteriously disappear all weekend,” Arthur reasoned, looking at them suspiciously. 

Lucas turned slightly and Eliott took that as his cue, casually lifting their joined hands to rest on the table. He saw the moment everyone noticed, eyes widening comically. “That’ll be the last time I show any sort of PDA with my boyfriend, then,” Eliott said with a sigh, and all hell broke loose.

“EXCUSE ME?”

“ Boyfriend? ” 

“I fucking knew it!”

“About time…”

Eliott frowned. Were all their friends really that easy to trick? Yann had a glint in his eye that looked all too knowing as he looked at a blushing Lucas, a glint that went away when he noticed Eliott noticing him. The girls had stopped attacking them with questions and moved on to a too silent Manon. 

“You knew and you didn’t tell us!” Emma accused and Manon shrugged. 

“Not mine to tell,” she said simply. 

Alexia turned to Lucas and Eliott. “You’re lucky she’s your roommate, not me.”

Lucas laughed, and Eliott could feel tension roll off him in waves. It seemed silly that they’d both be so nervous to tell their friends about a relationship that wasn’t actually real, but Eliott found himself letting go of some nerves as well. 

Arthur had his head tipped back and his eyes closed and Eliott looked at him curiously. “Um, Arthur? What are you doing?” he asked.

“Shhh,” Arthur shushed him, “I’m basking in the moment.”

“The moment?”

“The moment you two idiots finally realized you were in love with each other.” Arthur opened one eye and zeroed in on Eliott. “So shhh and let me enjoy this monumental occasion.”

They weren’t in love, but that was beside the point. Although, it was odd how many of their friends were acting like this had been a long time coming. He and Lucas had never seen each other as more than friends. Sure, they could be quite affectionate with one another, but that was just because they knew each other so well. Lucas loved to be affirmed by touch, platonic or otherwise, and Eliott loved cuddling with anyone and everyone. 

“So, what was this about the foyer, Daphy?” Lucas coughed, clearly trying to change the subject. His hand stayed wrapped around Eliott, almost like it was a symbol of their secret and they had to hold on tight to make sure they didn’t let it go. 

Daphné blinked a few times, then smiled widely. “Right, right! Well, I’ve been thinking we should add some sort of decoration or addition to the mural to honor the hero of our city.”

Lucas stiffened beside him and Imane’s eyes shot right to him. Daphné continued, “I’m talking, of course, about Spiderman. He’s done so much for the city these past few months, I really think it would be a nice thing to do to show our appreciation.”

“I’m not sure he needs something like that Daphné,” Yann chimed in, looking hesitant. Eliott wondered for a moment if Yann could be Spiderman, then dismissed the idea. He was too tall, and he never would have been able to keep his identity a secret from Eliott. It couldn’t be anyone he knew well at all, it would be too hard to pretend. 

“Why not?” Daphné looked affronted. 

Imane looked away from Lucas, shrugging. “I mean, he’s just some normal kid or adult or whatever. Some people volunteer or donate to charity and we don’t memorialize them.”

“But he’s a superhero, not just some volunteer,” Emma pointed out and Daphné gestured to her as if she was the only one of them making any sense. 

“If I was Spiderman,” Daphné said, “I’d be so touched that people appreciated everything I did for them.” 

Alexia widened her eyes comically. “Shit, Daph, are you Spiderman?”

Daphné blushed as everyone started laughing, and Eliott felt a little bit bad for her. After all, he was the one pretending to date one of his best friends to make Spiderman jealous. He was also the only one who knew that Spiderman was sixteen and possibly went to this school, the only one who knew what Spiderman really thought about being referred to as a hero. “I think it’s a great idea in theory,” he said, noticing how Daphné’s eyes brightened. 

He continued, “It’s just… imagine Spiderman is a kid at this school. How do you think they would feel going to the common room and seeing people memorialize them as some type of god? At best, Spiderman feels a little uncomfortable, at worst, all that attention goes to Spiderman’s head and they become a villain.”

“Spiderman could never be a villain!” Basile scoffed.

“You never know,” Imane agreed. Eliott shot her a grateful look, knowing she’d have his back. Sure, he was friends with Idriss first and she was just the little sister, but since he’d gotten to know her better he considered her one of his greatest friends. Lucas was glaring at Imane, and Eliott nudged him with his elbow, shooting him a questioning look. Lucas shook his head, giving a weak smile, even though he looked a little bit like he was about to be sick. Maybe he was still reeling from telling their friends they were dating. 

Eliott stood up, pulling Lucas with him. “We’ve got to go guys, but maybe we can continue this discussion later?”

Manon pursed her lips, raising one eyebrow. “You have to go?”

“Yes,” Lucas stated harshly, color returning to his face. “Goodbye.”

Everyone gave them exaggerated goodbyes, miming kisses and making loud proclamations of love. Lucas flipped them all off over his shoulder as they walked away, but his relief was palpable. Eliott released his hand as soon as they were out of view, but he placed a comforting hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “Hey, you ok?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Lucas blinked rapidly, taking a breath. “Just a bit overwhelmed I guess.”

Eliott nodded, that was what he’d expected. “Well, hey, no need to be overwhelmed, ok? I’ve got you, always.”

Lucas sank into his touch, not saying anything, but showing his gratitude with his face. It was still a little red now that it had regained its color, but he looked calmer than he had a moment before. Eliott laughed lightly. “Besides, it’s all just pretend anyway, right?”

Something shifted in the space between them and Lucas shrugged away from his touch. Eliott frowned, wondering if he’d said something wrong. Maybe he’d read Lucas wrong, acted too boyfriend-y instead of friend-y. 

“Right,” Lucas said stiffly, “I’ll see you later.”

“Ok?”

Lucas walked away without another word, leaving Eliott standing dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Things hadn’t been weird between Lucas and Eliott since Lucas had walked away after lunch a few days prior. Eliott had decided not to acknowledge the weirdness, and he and Lucas had picked up on their usual dynamic as they’d met up to walk to the bus stop after school. 

If anything, Lucas had been a bit quieter than usual, but Eliott attributed that to the fact that school was heating up and they spent most of their time together drowning in homework. Lucas would disappear every now and then, ignoring everyone for a few hours at a time, but then he’d reappear like nothing had happened at all, so they all decided to just ignore it. Yann shared with Eliott that Lucas had been seeing his mother more often recently, so Eliott figured that was all it was. 

They were supposed to have their first date that night, but Lucas had just texted Eliott, asking if they could reschedule. Eliott’s phone vibrated, lighting up with another apology text from Lucas. 

Lucas: I’m so so sorry, I promise I’ll make it up to you

Eliott: no worries, seriously

Lucas: I feel terrible though

Lucas: It’s in the rules

Eliott: we can go tomorrow night?

Lucas: True… 

Lucas: I still feel bad

Eliott: don’t, i can go hang out with spiderman ;)

Lucas: Ha ha

Eliott: if i say i expect double love notes next week will your guilt be laid to rest?

Lucas: I’m not filled with guilt

Eliott: lu, i know you

Eliott: you shouldn’t feel guilty, but you do

Lucas: Fuck outta here w your ‘I know lucas better than anyone’ bullshit

Eliott: am i wrong tho?

Lucas: ...No

Lucas: Extra notes it is

Lucas: Gotta go text you later

Eliott: bye lover <33

Lucas: You’re dead to me

Eliott laughed at Lucas’ dramatics, turning his phone off and casting a glance around his messy bedroom. He supposed he could spend the extra time cleaning, but he really didn’t want to. He’d been joking about hanging out with Spiderman, but what if there was a chance they could run into each other now that Eliott didn’t have plans? Spiderman always seemed to know where Eliott was. 

Filled with new purpose, Eliott threw on his trusty brown bomber jacket and left his apartment, no destination in mind. The air outside was crisp and chilly, but also refreshing. He thought about maybe going to the petite ceinture, but decided against it. If he was going to possibly “run into” Spiderman, he couldn’t do it from under the bridge. 

Eliott never visited the Eiffel Tower for fun, he figured he’d leave that to the tourists, but something drew him there that night. Maybe it was because, romantic that he was, he’d always wanted to end a date at the top of the tower, kissing whoever it was right there as the tower twinkled around them. Even if it was touristy, he had to admit that it was quite beautiful. 

Tonight was no exception, and Eliott raised his phone to take a picture to send to Lucas. It was something they always did, whenever they weren’t with each other. It was their way of saying wish you were here , even in the most mundane of places, like the grocery store or their own flats. 

Lucas’ response was immediate, and Eliott smiled down at his phone until he opened the message, smile dimming in confusion. 

Lucas: JDIS89))*&S  csgk

Eliott typed a row of question marks in response, but Lucas didn’t answer again. Maybe he’d sat on his phone or something and not meant to send that. Lucas was known to send accidental texts every now and then.

Someone screamed to Eliott’s right and he startled, following their gaze to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The normally sparkling lights were flickering precariously and Eliott could see the faint outline of something or someone perching on the tip. People around him were starting to get their phones out to videotape, but Eliott just moved closer, squinting to see what was happening. 

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he picked it up immediately when he saw Lucas’ name. The sound was muffled and Eliott held the phone back from his ear to make sure he’d actually answered.

“Lucas? You there?” he asked, still watching the tower worriedly. 

“— nkedvpv FUCK! Did they— ugh— no, I’m not—” Lucas answered, voice coming in and out of focus. It didn’t sound like he was trying to talk to Eliott at all. Maybe it was a butt dial? There was a loud noise and Eliott couldn’t tell if it was coming from in front of him or on the phone. He turned up the volume on the call and pressed the phone into his ear, moving closer still to the tower. 

“Can you hear me, Lucas?” He was aware he was shouting a bit, but no one seemed to notice. There was a loud crash as something fell just in front of Eliott’s feet. He dropped his phone accidentally, blinking rapidly. If he’d still been moving it would have crushed him. 

He scrambled out of the way, picking up his phone as he went, surprised at the fact that Lucas hadn’t hung up yet. When he put it back up to his ear, he frowned. The noises from the phone sounded quite similar to the screams Eliott was surrounded by. Was Lucas there? Eliott had to find him, get him out of there safely. 

“What do you want?” Lucas’ voice said angrily, and Eliott sighed in relief. He wasn’t sure why Lucas was angry, but at least he was safe. 

“Lu, where are you? I can come find you, it’s not safe he—”

He cut off as he noticed another figure joined whatever was lurking above the Eiffel Tower. Lucas said something into the phone that he couldn’t distinguish, then the call went dead, just as a loud roar emanated from the thing terrorizing the tower. 

A lady beside Eliott let out a relieved scream and he looked at her curiously until she pointed back up at the tower. “Spiderman is here! We’ll be ok!”

Eliott had never looked at something so fast. How had he not realized that Spiderman would show up to whatever crisis this was? Usually Spiderman handled everyday sort of crimes, but this seemed like something bigger. 

Before Eliott could register what he was seeing, the creature at the top of the tower took off into the air. He hadn’t even realized the thing had wings. Was it possible that Spiderman wasn’t the only one with superpowers? Was this like one of those parallel universes Lucas always talked about? 

Spiderman leapt from the tower, shooting one of his webs and attaching himself to the creature’s leg, dragging them both down at a rapid pace. Everyone around Eliott was screaming and running in terror, but he found himself glued to one spot, watching as it all went down. If Lucas had been there, Eliott hoped he was running away with everyone else. 

The thing with wings was using all its might to shake off Spiderman, but Spiderman clung to it regardless, shooting another web and launching himself around the creature to wrap its wings together. The two of them plummeted further still, Spiderman leaping away at the last moment before the creature slammed into the concrete, sticking himself to the side of the Eiffel Tower, running down its side and yelling at people to stay away from the thing that fell. 

Eliott was still frozen in place, watching as Spiderman attacked the creature with more webs, making sure it was unable to move or escape. He didn’t know what they would end up doing with the creature, Spiderman didn’t seem the type to kill someone or something, but what else could be done with something that had superpowers it intended to use for evil? 

Most people had cleared the way, so Eliott had a better look at Spiderman and his adversary. To his surprise, the creature wasn’t a creature at all, but a man with these elaborate mechanical wings, plastered to the ground by webs. Spiderman was leaning over him, speaking quietly enough that Eliott couldn’t distinguish any words, but could tell he was saying something. 

Just as Eliott was about to take a step closer, against his better judgement, law enforcement arrived, surrounding the scene. Spiderman paused over his adversary, looking up at the people surrounding him. It became apparent to Eliott and Spiderman at the same time that the officers weren’t looking at Spiderman like a hero. Eliott opened his mouth to say something, but Spiderman shot a web into the distance, swinging away as quickly as he’d come, leaving everyone in a frenzy. He could have sworn Spiderman met his eye a second before he swung away.  

The officers focused in on the man with the wings, but Eliott ran after the direction he’d seen Spiderman swing away. He knew he’d never be able to catch of find him if he didn’t want to be caught or found, but as long as he got away everything would be ok. It scared him to think that law enforcement might come to think of Spiderman as a threat when he was really the one saving them all. 

Eliott hadn’t realized his feet were carrying him back to his flat until he was staring at the door, rustling for his keys. Once inside the building, he realized he was shaking. He’d never been in real danger, unlike the people at the top of the Eiffel Tower, but he’d been scared for Spiderman. He couldn’t win every fight, after all, and what if that one had been the one he’d lost? What if the wings had shredded his webs, or the man had knocked him out as he fell, rendering him unable to soften his landing? 

He opened the door to his flat and slumped back against it the minute he got back inside. There was a sheet of paper on the floor beside him, like someone had stopped by and slipped it under. He unfolded it carefully and widened his eyes with each word he read. 

Eliott,

Next time you’re somewhere like that, run please. I don’t want you to get hurt. You may think you can help me, but you can’t. No one can. I’ll be fine, but it’s really important to me that you are too. I’ll find you next time, hopefully under less dire circumstances .

-Spiderman 

Eliott leaned his head back against the door with an incredulous grin. He knew that Spiderman had seen him. He wasn’t crazy, was he, for thinking that this meant something? Spiderman didn’t leave these notes for everyone he saw, did he? 

Eliott was so focused on the note that he nearly forgot about Lucas and if he’d gotten out of there safely. He wondered why Lucas had been there in the first place if he’d supposedly been too busy to go out, but he decided not to question it. Maybe he’d been with his mother. 

Eliott: hey, did u get home ok?

Lucas: What are you talking about?

Eliott: weren’t u at the eiffel tower?

Lucas: No???

Eliott: oh… u accidentally called me and it sounded like u were there bc i was too

Lucas: Nope, maybe your phone glitched or something… I was with Imane working on a bio project

Eliott: oh nevermind then, glad you’re safe

Lucas: You too… I saw what happened on the news. Please tell me you didn’t go there because Spiderman was there??

Eliott: relax hedgehog, i was on a walk and i just happened to end up near the mess

Eliott: i wouldn’t put myself in danger like that just because i wanted to see spiderman

Lucas: Ok…

Lucas: Glad you’re safe too

Eliott: see u tomorrow, night

Lucas: Night 

Between Lucas and Spiderman and all his other friends and school and his parents and life in general, Eliott was going to be stretched very thin very soon. Thankfully he had Lucas, otherwise it probably would have been too much to handle. Sure, he’d brought some of it on himself, but it wasn’t like he’d just woken up one day and decided to fall for Spiderman. 

One thing that had been bothering him about that night, though, was the fact that the winged man hadn’t decided to act until Spiderman showed up, almost like he was waiting for him. It unnerved Eliott to think that someone might be out there plotting against some sixteen year old kid doing his best to make the world just a little bit safer. 

Hopefully it was just a one time thing, a fluke. It wouldn’t happen again, not after Spiderman had bested his adversary so quickly, right? Eliott didn’t know what he’d do if something like that did happen again, no matter what Spiderman wanted from him. As much as his head told him to stay away, he couldn’t just stand by if Spiderman got hurt, he’d never forgive himself. Ugh, he really was in too deep, wasn’t he?

Chapter Text

Sometimes the only time Eliott felt free to exist was when he was alone. Solitude suited him, which was ironic given the fact that one of his greatest fears was total isolation. The difference between being alone and being lonely, he supposed, was in the depth of interaction he received. He could feel completely isolated in a room full of people or, alternatively, the least lonely he’d ever felt with just one person by his side, or even with no one there at all.

He was alone at that moment, but it wasn’t the kind of alone he wanted to escape from. That kind of alone made him feel like he was running through a narrow tunnel, trying to get out as the walls closed in around him. This one was more peaceful, like lying in a meadow under the sun, letting the breeze drift across his face. 

The peace filled his body as his hand drifted across the pages of his sketchbook, pen clasped tightly into his hand. He was drawing his millionth variation of a raccoon and a hedgehog, this time on the opposite sides of a crumbling Eiffel Tower. There had been real fear in his heart when he’d heard Lucas’ call the other day, and even though he now knew that the call had just been feedback radiating from his own phone, it still left him a bit shaken. He would have been terrified if any of his friends had been in danger, but particularly Lucas. Their friendship had always been different, even from the beginning. Maybe that’s why their friends didn’t find it weird that they were “dating”. 

A knock on the door to his flat startled him, and he accidentally dropped his pen, moving hastily to pick it up because drawing pens were way too expensive and he couldn’t afford to lose it. He rushed to the door, seeing Lucas’ face fill the peephole, eyes crossed and tongue sticking out. Shit , that was right, they’d rescheduled their “date” for that day.

He fixed his face into a wide grin and opened the door. “Hello my love.”

Lucas’ face went slack in shock for a brief moment before he blinked and returned to his goofy self. Eliott could almost convince himself he’d imagined the expression. “You know you don’t have to say things like that when we’re alone, right?” Lucas asked with a weak laugh, letting himself in. 

“I’m a method actor, L, respect the process won’t you?” he responded teasingly, watching Lucas roll his eyes fondly at the nickname. It was sort of an inside joke of theirs, because they’d realized that even though their names were drastically different they did have one nickname in common. L and El. They were the only ones allowed to call each other that and, even though they’d been doing so for years, the rest of their friends still didn’t totally understand it. 

“I’m so sorry Daniel Day-Lewis. Please, continue.” Lucas grinned, cocking his head to one side. Eliott scrunched his nose up as a reaction to Lucas’ example, not because it was a bad one, but because he’d introduced Lucas to the actor, forcing him to watch movie after movie because he admired his skill so much, particularly his devotion to method acting. Honestly, he was surprised Lucas even remembered, he always complained about watching those movies. It was sweet that he’d actually paid attention. 

“So what’s the plan?” Eliott asked, changing the subject. If Lucas was startled by the abrupt change, he didn’t show it. 

Lucas shrugged. “I thought you said you had a plan?”

Eliott opened his mouth, looking for an answer. That was true, he had told Lucas he’d plan everything. Normally he would have, but he was still reeling a bit from his last encounter and exchange with Spiderman. “I do,” he said slowly. 

“And? What is it?” Lucas prompted, and Eliott knew that he could see right through him. He was grateful, though, that Lucas was humoring him, giving him time to think. An idea clicked in Eliott’s head.

“It’s a surprise,” he said, catching Lucas’ disbelieving stare. 

“You know, if you forgot, all you have to say—”

“I didn’t forget,” Eliott argued. Even though he didn’t look convinced, Lucas let it go, allowing Eliott to grab his phone and keys before they left. Eliott had left his phone in his bedroom, and when he emerged back into the living room he found Lucas looking at the drawing he’d left open on the table.

Lucas shifted uncomfortably when he saw Eliott had come back. “I told you that I wasn’t there.”

“I know,” Eliott agreed, “But the thought that you might have been scared me.” Lucas’ eyes widened and Eliott worried he’d said something wrong. “Sorry, I should have put that away, it’s not done yet anyway.”

“No, no, I love it,” Lucas said hurriedly. Eliott narrowed his eyes, but Lucas continued, “Can I have it when you’re done?”

Usually Eliott didn’t give away his drawings, but he could never say no to Lucas. He’d actually lost quite a few of his hedgehog and raccoon drawings to Lucas, who claimed that he wanted to save them to sell when Eliott became a famous artist. Eliott knew better, he knew they sat in a box in his dresser, weathered enough that it seemed Lucas took them out to look at them often. 

“Of course,” Eliott agreed, and the resulting smile on Lucas’ face more than made up for the fact that he’d be losing another one of his drawings. Now satisfied, Lucas led the way to the door, looking expectantly over his shoulder for Eliott to follow him. 

Once they were outside Eliott grabbed onto Lucas’ hand instinctively and Eliott felt Lucas stiffen in surprise at the gesture. Lucas blinked up at him with those big blue eyes of his. “I get that you’re method acting, but this is really unnecessary.” 

“Maybe I want to hold your hand. People can do that without it being romantic, you know,” Eliott pointed out, and Lucas blushed. 

“I know that,” Lucas mumbled, dropping his gaze to the sidewalk,“I just don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Eliott rolled his eyes and squeezed Lucas’ hand, drawing their eyes back up to meet one another. “May I remind you that you were the one who put all the restrictions on our fake dating scenario? If this makes you uncomfortable, I can stop.”

Eliott started to retract his hand, but Lucas tightened his grip. He smirked and raised his eyebrows in surprise, while Lucas acted like he did nothing of the sort.

“My hands are cold,” Lucas said with a small shrug, and Eliott nodded with faux sympathy, knowing full well Lucas was just looking for an excuse. He didn’t care, he didn’t mind holding hands. It wasn’t like they’d never held hands before, so he didn’t know why this time was any different.

Still hand in hand, Eliott led the way, past the various spaces Lucas might expect to be taken, through the park they’d met for the first time, back when Lucas was thirteen and he was fifteen, both at the age range where idiocy came so easy to them. Eliott had actually been annoyed that day that Idriss had invited his sister and her friends to join them at the park, mostly because they had planned to smoke and there was no way they could do that with a bunch of thirteen year olds. Unfortunately for Idriss, Eliott had left that day with a new best friend, someone he felt like he’d known for his whole life. Of course, he never told Idriss that Lucas was his best friend, but it wasn’t like it wasn’t obvious.

There was a bench in the park that Eliott and Lucas came to when they wanted to have heart to hearts. They’d shared plenty of heart to hearts in bedrooms or drunk in bathrooms at parties or hidden in alcoves at school where no one could bother them, but those were the unofficial heart to hearts. If one of them had something they really needed to talk about, in a more formal sort of way, they came to this bench. It was where Lucas had come out to Eliott, where Eliott had come out to Lucas, where Lucas had explained the situation with his parents and why he had been living in the basement of Manon’s flatshare for months, where Eliott had told Lucas about his diagnosis.

“We’re not going to the bench, are we?” Lucas asked when they got close, a bit of apprehension in his voice. 

“No, don’t worry, no secrets tonight,” Eliott reassured him, not registering the way Lucas’ face fell, ever so slightly. They continued on, until Eliott came across the one place he’d told himself he’d never let anyone come near. He hesitated a moment, deciding whether or not he really wanted to show Lucas, then thought fuck it . There was no one in the world he’d rather introduce this part of himself to. 

Lucas clung closer to him, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. “You didn’t bring me here to murder me, did you?”

“ No . This is my favorite place in the city. The petite ceinture,” Eliott explained, taking out his phone and using it as a flashlight to guide them into the tunnel. Lucas still looked a bit wary, but he allowed himself to be led under the bridge.

“Why am I just hearing about it if it’s your favorite place in the city?” Lucas asked, voice echoing in the darkness. 

Eliott shrugged, glancing at the ground. “It’s where I come when I want to be alone. I can think better here, I guess.”

Lucas’ hand slipped from his grip and Eliott looked back up at him, wondering if he’d said something wrong. Lucas had his arms crossed in front of his chest. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to take me somewhere so important to you out of obligation, especially if this is the first I’m even hearing about it and we’ve been friends for three years.” 

“Lucas. Are you serious?”

“I’m just saying!” Lucas threw his arms up. “Did you take Lucille here?”

Eliott wrinkled his nose. “No, of course not. You’re the first.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

Lucas turned away from him, looking at the graffiti that lined the tunnel. “Lucille was your girlfriend for two years, Idriss and Sofiane have been your friends since you were kids, I’ve known you as long as the rest of the gang, what qualifies me to see this part of you that you haven’t shared with anyone else?”

“You’re different, L, you know that,” Eliott said with a sigh. Lucas did kind of have a point, though. He’d never even considered taking anyone else here, even when he’d thought that maybe Lucille would be his forever. 

“How am I different?” Lucas asked earnestly, but Eliott didn’t really have an answer. 

“I don’t know,” he said, “How am I different for you?”

Lucas bit his lip. “Who said you were?”

Eliott shot him an unamused glare. “L.”

“ El ,” Lucas mocked, plopping himself down against the wall of the tunnel. Eliott took a seat beside him, taking it as a good sign that Lucas didn’t move away. He didn’t know why Lucas was raising such a fuss over the whole thing, he’d just wanted to do something to show Lucas how much their friendship meant to him. 

“L,” Eliott repeated, turning his head to face Lucas. 

Lucas turned to look at him in return, raising his eyebrows in question. Eliott continued, “If you want to leave, we can.”

Lucas shook his head subtly. “No, I’m sorry. I’m glad you brought me here, really, I just don’t know why I was the lucky soul invited into the secret world of Eliott Demaury.”

“Because you’re the most important person in my life,” Eliott said simply. 

Lucas’ head shot back up as he turned to look at Eliott again. “One of,” he said quietly. 

“What?” Eliott asked.

“One of,” Lucas repeated, “That's what you said last week. One of the best things in your life.”

“I mean, yeah. Thing-wise. I do really love my art pens, you know,” Eliott explained, and revelled in the way Lucas’ lashes fanned out on his cheeks as he laughed softly. 

“But you’re the most important person in my life,” he reiterated, waiting for Lucas to open his eyes. He did, and with the action came a sort of steely determination mixed with a softness they never usually possessed.

Lucas’ face suddenly seemed much closer than it had a moment ago, and Eliott found himself leaning in slightly. His eyelids became heavier, and he noticed Lucas’ were closing as well. They were so close now that the tips of their noses were touching, and Eliott felt himself holding his breath, anticipating something he didn’t even realize he was anticipating. Their noses brushed further and Eliott saw Lucas snap open his eyes. 

“More important than Spiderman?” Lucas said with a cough, pulling away and leaning back against the wall. Eliott blinked a few times to clear his head. What had just happened? It almost seemed like they were about to kiss… but no, Lucas must have been teasing him, right?

Eliott settled back against the wall, releasing a breath and forcing a smile, trying to cut any lingering tension. He reached over to ruffle Lucas’ hair. “Of course you’re more important to me than Spiderman. I barely know him, for starters,” he teased. 

Lucas melted into a laugh, even though it sounded a bit strained. “Oh thank goodness,” he said, folding his knees up and laying his head down on them. 

Eliott had the urge to brush a strand of hair that had fallen into his eyes out of his face but refrained, choosing instead to watch Lucas, taking in all the details. He didn’t know why he refrained, he touched Lucas’ hair all the time, especially to move it from his face. Maybe he didn’t want Lucas to know that he noticed every little thing about him, especially when Lucas probably noticed every little thing about the mystery boy he was so in love with, not Eliott. 

“Thank you for taking me here, El,” Lucas said softly, eyes sparkling even in the darkness. They were like stars themselves, tiny universes Eliott could see himself getting swept up in.  

He pushed back his thoughts and smiled in response. “There’s no one I’d rather be on a fake date with.”

“How lucky for me,” Lucas said with a laugh. 

How lucky, indeed. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

To say Eliott was avoiding Lucas would be a tad extreme. He wasn’t avoiding, per se, but he really couldn’t afford to spend any time with him at all whatsoever. He couldn’t think properly around Lucas, and he was worried that his brain might be starting to forget the “fake” part of fake dating. So, naturally, he just had to distance himself a bit, focusing on his actual crush, Spiderman. Or hopeless infatuation, whatever you wanted to call it. 

During the week it was pretty easy, he claimed homework had been kicking his ass and Lucas looked at him sympathetically, wishing him luck and promising he’d be there if Eliott needed anything at all. Nights were a bit boring without anyone to hang out with, because he hadn’t wanted to call anyone else lest they tell Lucas and Lucas realize he was lying about being busy, but at least he’d had some alone time to work on his art.  

However, he and Lucas were supposed to have their second date that night, one that Lucas planned, and stay over at Lucas’ flat for the night because they had nowhere to be the next morning and Manon had said she was planning on making muffins. 

He fired off a quick text to Lucas once he got back to his flat from running errands, wondering how much time he had before Lucas would expect him over. 

Eliott: what time should i meet u at the colloc?

Lucas: I’ll pick you up! ;)))

Eliott: pick me up… 

Lucas: Just be ready at 19h, ok?

Eliott refrained from asking more questions, only because he knew it would give Lucas an opportunity to confuse him further, but he’d honestly just assumed they’d have a movie “date” at the colloc or something. Lucas was never much of a planner, particularly regarding dates. 

He sighed a bit fondly, unpacking his groceries bit by bit. A piece of paper fluttered out of one of the bags, and Eliott reached down for it with a frown. Once he had it in his hands he read it through about seven times before he even began to process what it was saying. How had he not noticed it being slipped into his groceries?

Eliott, 

Long time no talk, I’m starting to think you’ve forgotten about me :( just kidding no one could ever forget about me muahaha. Sorry, that was weird. Fuck, this whole thing is weird I should just start over. Sorry. One sec. 

Eliott,

It’s been a while, unless you count the time some winged dude tried to kill me and you watched it happen. Not one of my finest moments, but I got him in the end, right? Anyway, I was wondering if you would want to hang out or something tonight. I don’t have much time, but if you’re down, meet me in the alley behind your flat at 19h. God, that sounds creepy as hell, I swear I’m not a serial killer, I’m a superhero, remember? If you aren’t there, I don’t blame you, but if you are, I can’t wait!

-Spiderman 

Eliott had two defined options, but he was still struggling with making a decision. He could go on his date with Lucas and forget he’d ever seen the note, which was kind of what he wanted to do, or he could meet up in secret with Spiderman. He shook his head, trying to think straight. What he should be doing is going to meet Spiderman, he was head over heels for Spiderman , not Lucas. He could hang out with Lucas anytime. Plus, Lucas had already rescheduled one of their dates, so he didn’t need to feel bad about doing the same.

He pulled out his phone before he could overthink further and sent Lucas a message.

Eliott: hey, can we rescedule? something came up :(

Eliott: *reschedule 

Lucas: Is everything ok?

Eliott: yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it, just need a raincheck

Lucas: Ok…

Lucas: Yeah, whatever, no big deal

Eliott: thank u thank u <333 

Lucas: :)

He didn’t take the time to decipher Lucas’ message, knowing that a smiley face from Lucas was usually a sign of him being passive aggressive. Whatever, he had no right to be mad, if he even was. Maybe Lucas could use the extra time to hang out with the boy he was so interested in.

The clock moved way too slowly while Eliott got ready to meet Spiderman, butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. Was this a date? He’d told Spiderman he had a boyfriend, but he wasn’t sure Spiderman would remember.

He changed his outfit approximately nine times, trying to decide if he should be cool casual, trendy casual, trying too hard casual, not at all casual, or not trying enough casual. In the end he just slipped on his black ripped jeans with a black hoodie and his big brown jacket thrown over the ensemble. 

He had been fussing over his outfit so long he didn’t even realize that he had two minutes before he was supposed to meet Spiderman. Only taking time to grab his phone, not even locking the door behind him, Eliott rushed down the stairs and around the building, finding a smaller figure laden in his usual uniform (costume?) waiting for him.

“Thought you’d bail on me,” Spiderman said as he approached, and his voice sounded different again than it had the other times they’d spoken.

Eliott pointed it out. “I understand the secrecy, but why does your voice change every time I see you?”

“I’m working on it,” Spiderman said with a sigh. He gestured to his face. “There’s supposed to be technology in here that warps my voice but I haven’t quite figured it out yet so I always end up sounding different.”

“I don’t mind if you don’t use it with me,” Eliott said. 

Spiderman laughed, pointing a finger at him. “Nice try.”

Eliott hadn’t been trying anything, really, even if it would be nice to know who was behind the mask. If their friendship— or whatever it was they had going on— continued to grow, he expected to find out who Spiderman was at some point, but it didn’t have to be anytime soon if it made Spiderman uncomfortable. “So what are we doing?” he asked, changing the subject. 

“Talking,” Spiderman said simply.

“Talking?”

“Ever heard of it? It’s when your voice box vibrates and you move your mouth and suddenly noise comes out in the form of words.” 

Eliott squinted his eyes. “That was the weirdest way to describe talking that I’ve ever heard. At least now I know you’re not an L student.”

“Maybe I’m bamboozling you into thinking I’m not when I actually am,” Spiderman suggested.

“Well, if you were, you wouldn’t admit it, so I’m guessing S student,” Eliott inferred, laughing as Spiderman huffed and crossed his arms. 

“Fuck you.”

“Spiderman, the children!” Eliott exclaimed with another laugh. Something about the fact Spiderman swore so much was hilarious to him.

“Fuck them kids,” Spiderman said seriously, before a small giggle escaped him. It sort of reminded Eliott of the way Lucas laughed, giggles coming in small spurts before he broke down into heaving laughter. 

“Quite the role model,” Eliott teased, looking over at him through his eyelashes. 

Spiderman scoffed and tipped his head back, leaning against the wall. “I already told you I never signed up to be a role model. Wouldn’t know how to be one even if I tried.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Just trust me on this one, I can barely live my own life without fucking it all up.” His tone was sad and Eliott wanted to comfort him in some way, but wasn’t sure how to. He understood that Spiderman wouldn’t give him any personal life details, but it was hard to know what someone needed if they couldn’t tell you what was wrong. 

Instead, he opted for a small shrug, leaning against the wall beside Spiderman and said, “I don’t believe that for a second, but if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.”

Spiderman’s fingers brushed against Eliott’s ever so slightly before flinching away, almost as if he’d been burned. Eliott didn’t comment on it, but he also didn’t want Spiderman to feel like he couldn’t be a source of comfort, even platonically.

“What about you?” Spiderman asked, “Do you need to talk about anything?”

Only that he was falling for someone he knew absolutely nothing about other than the fact that they were sixteen and had superpowers, wasn’t quite sure where his and Lucas’ relationship stood at the moment, was struggling a bit in school because he’d been so stressed out recently, and, oh yeah, was bipolar. How did he tell Spiderman something like that? He’d probably never want to see him again. 

“Too many things,” Eliott confessed. 

Spiderman nodded as if he understood, and that was enough for Eliott at the moment. “I’ll be here to listen when you’re ready too then,” Spiderman said. 

Eliott made a spur of the moment decision, not thinking it through before he reached out and folded Spiderman’s hand in his. Spiderman’s eyes widened and Eliott was struck but how expressive he could be even in a mask. 

“What are you doing?” Spiderman asked in a low voice. Eliott opened his mouth to answer but he couldn’t find the right words. Spiderman continued, “You have a boyfriend, Eliott.”

He did, but he didn’t. In all fairness, he wasn’t doing anything wrong here. For all he knew, Lucas was with his mystery boy right now too. “It’s complicated,” Eliott said at last, gazing at Spiderman with a burning intensity. One of their rules had been to never reveal the truth of the fake relationship to anyone, but it was a bit frustrating not to at that moment.

“I really wish I knew your name,” Eliott sighed, and felt Spiderman’s fingers wrap around his. 

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you,” Spiderman said in a soft, barely audible tone of voice. “I don’t think you’d like me if you knew.”

“And do you want me to like you?” Eliott asked, inching closer, only a little bit. 

“Close your eyes,” Spiderman whispered, and Eliott obliged, shutting his eyes softly just as a hand ran through his hair. He stood as still as possible, eyes still closed, heart rate picking up slightly as the hand in his hair came to rest on his face, picking up even more when he felt breath on his face. He didn’t dare open his eyes, but if he was feeling breath on his face that meant Spiderman’s mask was off.

A siren blared in the distance and the hand disappeared from Eliott face. He opened his eyes instinctively, catching Spiderman pulling his mask over his chin before he looked away, trying not to make Spiderman think he’d been trying to catch him without a mask on. Unless he was completely mistaken, Spiderman had been close to kissing him. 

“I should go,” Spiderman said, voice hard and empty. He stiffened a bit, almost like he was cold or something. 

“Ok,” Eliott said, not finding the words he wanted to say. Did he want Spiderman to stay? Did he want them to kiss? He thought he did, but there was still a small part of himself that had been holding back. He called out just as Spiderman turned to walk away, “Hey, wait!”

Spiderman turned back around slowly, looking at him. Eliott shrugged off his jacket and tossed it to him. “You were shivering, I thought this might help.”

Spiderman held the jacket gingerly, looking it over, and Eliott worried he might have been a little too forward. Maybe Spiderman’s suit could regulate his body temperature and the gesture was pointless. But then, after a moment, Spiderman shrugged the jacket on, drowning in it a bit given their height difference, and turned away again.  

“See you later, Eliott,” Spiderman said as he walked down the alley, turning back once to look at Eliott as he went. Eliott merely lifted a hand in a small wave, utterly paralyzed by what had almost happened and how he felt about it all. He was also a little bit cold now that he’d given his jacket away.  

He pulled out his phone with slightly shaky hands. 

Eliott: hey can i come over?

Eliott: i need to talk 

He waited for a response, bouncing his phone against his leg and pacing up and down the alley. He didn’t want to go inside yet, but he didn’t know where else to go. His phone buzzed after about ten minutes and he sighed with relief at the message on the screen.  

Lucas: Of course

L🕷U🕷C🕷A🕷S 

He didn’t really know what he’d been thinking. Everything had been a mess since their first fake date, Lucas knew that. He knew Eliott better than anyone, so he knew when Eliott was trying to avoid him. 

He was an idiot, really, for thinking that the fact that Eliott had taken him to his refuge, that they’d almost kissed, meant that Eliott might actually have real feelings for him. He’d almost thought, before they went to the petite ceinture, that Eliott was taking him to their bench to confess that he had feelings for Lucas. If he had, Lucas would have done the same, maybe even telling Eliott that he was Spiderman.

Eliott probably hadn’t even thought that they’d almost kissed, he probably blew off the whole thing. Not because he didn’t care, but because he just didn’t see Lucas like that . Lucas still had to know for sure though, which was why he’d left that note in Eliott’s grocery bag, against his better judgement. Just to see if Eliott would choose him if given the chance. 

Surprise, surprise, he didn’t. 

He’d shown up as Spiderman with the full intention of blowing Eliott’s interest off, coming off as aloof and unattainable, but the moment Eliott had come out of his building that resolve had disappeared and Lucas had played into everything he had told himself he wouldn’t. He even nearly revealed himself, kissed Eliott as someone other than himself. If they hadn’t been interrupted, he probably would have, and he didn’t know what that said about him. 

It was also frustrating to him in some ways that Eliott hadn’t figured it out yet. Sure, he had a masked face and voice, but he spoke in a way with Eliott that was much more intimate than a proper stranger would have. There were times when he would catch Eliott looking at him funny and he’d think that Eliott had figured it out, but he never quite put two and two together. 

If Eliott was Spiderman, Lucas was certain he’d have figured it out by now. 

Lucas had thankfully had time to change out of his suit and into regular clothes and hide the jacket Eliott had given Spiderman in the back of his closet by the time Eliott knocked on the door to the flatshare, hands fluttering at his sides and an indecipherable expression on his face. It was a good thing Mika, Manon, and Lisa were already in their rooms for the night because he barely said hello before making his way into Lucas’ room, flopping face first on the bed as Lucas closed the door behind them.

“Everything ok?” Lucas asked hesitantly.

Eliott’s voice came muffled by the comforter, but Lucas could get the general idea of what he was saying. “I almost kissed Spiderman. Or, he almost kissed me. I don’t really know.”

Lucas’ surprise was genuine, he hadn’t been expecting Eliott to just come right out and say it. Then again, why wouldn’t he? He didn’t know that it would hurt Lucas to hear he’d come close to kissing someone else (even if that someone else was him). 

“Um, ok. That’s new,” Lucas said, sitting down on the bed. Eliott poked his head up and looked at Lucas before laying it back down on one of his arms. 

“I’m so confused,” he mumbled. 

Lucas furrowed his brows. “Why?” 

“What do you mean why?”

“Why are you confused?” Lucas laid down beside him, head propped up on one arm just like Eliott. “If you like Spiderman, shouldn’t you be excited you almost kissed him?”

Eliott blinked once, frowning. “Oh.”

“I’m not saying you can’t be confused, I’m just asking why ,” Lucas reiterated. 

Eliott’s face flushed bright red and his eyes zoned out a little bit. He didn’t answer, and Lucas tried not to wonder why. Maybe Eliott was falling for Arthur or something too, he wouldn’t be surprised.

“I’m sorry for cancelling our date,” Eliott said after a while. Lucas blinked up at him in surprise, then shrugged. 

“Don’t be, you almost kissed Spiderman.”

Eliott sighed and laid on his back. “Yeah, but I like hanging out with you too.”

“You can hang out with me anytime, El,” Lucas countered. He wasn’t sure why he was fighting Eliott on this, but he didn’t want Eliott to feel like he had to hang out with him out of obligation. If Eliott was ever going to fall for him, he couldn't force it.

Eliott said nothing more on the matter, choosing instead to settle into the bed further. “Can I stay here tonight?” he asked.

“Of course,” Lucas responded immediately, “Do you need clothes to sleep in?”

“A t shirt, maybe,” Eliott requested, and Lucas went to his closet to grab one of the ones Eliott had left over at his house at some point that he’d reclaimed as his own. 

When Eliott put it on he frowned at the length in confusion. “Why does this fit me?”

“Because it’s yours,” Lucas giggled, seeing Eliott’s face go from shocked to amused.

“You little—”

“Oh, what, like you don’t have any of my clothes at your place?” Lucas accused with a laugh. Eliott didn’t have a comeback for that because he knew it was true. Every time Lucas couldn’t find something in his closet or his drawers he could bet it was sitting somewhere forgotten at Eliott’s flat.

It was a release, to fall back into this easy pattern of teasing one another. Lucas really wasn’t in the mood to comfort or give Eliott advice on how to make someone else fall in love with him. He really didn’t act differently under the guise of Spiderman, though, which was another reason Lucas was appalled Eliott hadn’t figured it out yet. How could Eliott fall for a version of him wearing a mask before the real version?

Eliott slipped out of his jeans and Lucas did the same, both of them falling on their respective sides of the bed. Lucas was pressed nearly to the edge of his side, trying to avoid contact with Eliott at all costs, serial cuddler that he was. 

Eliott clearly noticed, because when he opened his eyes he was met with the sight of Eliott trying to hold back a grin. “What?” Lucas asked defensively. 

“Nothing, nothing,” Eliott said nonchalantly, schooling his face into a neutral expression.

He sighed. “Eliott…”

“You’re so far over you look like you’re about to fall off the bed,” Eliott said with a small laugh. 

“Only because you’ll hog all the covers if I don’t mark my space,” Lucas shot back, a poor excuse, but one that Eliott accepted without complaint. Instead, he moved closer into Lucas’ space. 

“If we’re closer we can share better,” he reasoned, which, admittedly, made more sense. It did nothing for Lucas’ racing heart though. Only because he was panicking a little bit, Lucas reached out and poked Eliott in the stomach, knowing he was ticklish. 

Eliott let out an offended peal of laughter. “Dude! You know I’m ticklish!”

“Duh, that’s why I poked you.”

“Oh, you’re asking for it now…”

Lucas widened his eyes at the mischievous expression on Eliott’s face. “El… no, don’t—”

Sure, Eliott was ticklish, but that didn’t mean Lucas wasn’t equally as ticklish. Within seconds they were engaged in quite the tickling fight. Actually, it was more of a tickling war than a fight, Eliott reaching and poking Lucas as he curled into a ball and tried to find Eliott’s blind spots, poking him back where he could when he could. 

They were both laughing breathlessly, partially at the tickling and partially because Eliott had noted that Lucas had curled up like a hedgehog at the first given opportunity. He may have complained when Eliott had first assigned his spirit animal, but time had only proven how accurate the assessment had been. 

Eliott gained the advantage, positioning himself on top of Lucas and pinning his arms down. Eliott didn’t seem to realize what position they were in, but it was all Lucas could notice. He stopped fighting at the same time his heart stopped beating, Eliott’s face smiling brighter than the sun above him, his hands held down by Eliott’s, fitting together like they were made to hold one another. 

“Ok, you win,” Lucas said quickly, shifting his body so Eliott rolled off him swiftly and abruptly. Lucas faced his body away from Eliott, screwing his eyes shut and refusing to turn around, not wanting to see the look on Eliott’s face. 

It took a moment, but finally there was a shift in the weight distribution on the mattress as Eliott settled himself back down into bed. “Goodnight, El,” Lucas said, trying to keep the quaver in his voice to a minimum as he reached over to turn off his bedside lamp.

“Night, L,” Eliott responded in a voice that was equally as falsely casual. The lamp clicked off, leaving them engulfed in darkness, both on complete opposite sides of the bed. Good, Lucas wasn’t sure he could have survived anything else. 

Before he drifted off, though, it was hard for him to keep himself from imagining a world where he woke up engulfed in Eliott’s arms, bodies pressed together and clicking into place like puzzle pieces finding their homes.

Chapter Text

Eliott opened his eyes lazily, feeling the weight of something pressed into his chest. Once he was able to register what he was seeing, he froze. Lucas was fast asleep, face pressed into Eliott’s chest, arms wrapped around his waist. Eliott’s own arms were wrapped around Lucas’ shoulders, face pressed into his hair. 

Lucas was sleeping so peacefully, breath coming out in small puffs, and Eliott didn’t want to wake him, so he just pulled him a little tighter and closed his eyes. If he pretended to be asleep until Lucas woke up, there would be no harm done. They hadn’t set any rules about cuddling, so Eliott could just claim Mika had come into the room while Lucas was asleep and he’d cuddled him to make their act more believable. 

Eliott didn’t let himself ponder why he was going to lengths to come up with excuses as to why he should keep cuddling Lucas. If he buried his face further into Lucas’ hair, no one ever had to know.

He stayed in that exact position for a long while, noting the way the light started to stream in through the curtains, casting golden light on Lucas’ hair. He played with it idly, always soft enough to make sure Lucas wouldn’t wake. Lucas had a hard enough time sleeping already, Eliott didn’t want to be the cause of him not being well rested. 

Eliott registered the exact moment Lucas woke up, partly because he could feel the flutter of Lucas’ eyelashes on his chest, and partially because afterward, he felt Lucas stiffen in his arms. Eliott struggled to stay relaxed, heart sinking in his chest at the realization that Lucas was probably disappointed to have woken up in his arms. 

But then Lucas settled back in arms holding Eliott a little tighter. Eliott nearly heaved a sigh of relief, glad Lucas could find some sort of comfort in their closeness. He didn’t know how long they stayed there, both of them awake, only one of them aware of that fact. Lucas might have drifted off again at some point, and Eliott hoped he had. If his presence could give Lucas rest, he would gladly stay there all day. 

The moment had to end eventually, though, and he kept his eyes shut as Lucas disentangled himself slowly, carefully, trying not to disturb Eliott. Eliott waited another few minutes, then cracked his eyes open slowly, feigning awakening. 

“Morning sleepyhead,” Lucas said with a groggy morning voice, and Eliott was taken back to a few weeks ago, when he’d awoken on the floor and Lucas had looked down at him with a goofy grin and said the same thing. Funny that he was the sleepyhead when he’d been the one awake for hours. Of course, he could never tell Lucas that, Lucas would think he was weirder than he already did. 

“Good morning my love,” Eliott said, turning to face him. Lucas was on the complete opposite side of the bed, so far away it looked like he would fall off at any moment. 

Lucas blushed and buried his head in his pillow. “For the last time, don’t say things like that when we’re alone.”

“Ok, sorry,” Eliott sighed, sitting up to rest against the headboard. He gestured to his position near the middle of the bed. “Sorry if I invaded your personal space as well.”

He wasn’t sure why he said anything, he could have played it off and pretended they’d both slept on complete opposite sides the entire night, but he wanted to know if Lucas would lie to him about how they’d woken up or not. They didn’t lie to each other about anything, but maybe now they did. Lucas coughed nervously. “No, nothing like that, don’t worry. You smacked me in the face accidentally a few times while you slept, but you always do that.”

Ok, so they did lie to each other now. Eliott supposed he deserved it, wasn’t he lying a bit too? A lie by omission was still a lie. He didn’t allow himself to ponder on it for too long, interrupted by a knock on the door. 

“You two better be decent!” Mika yelled, thankfully giving them a moment before barging in. In that time, Eliott widened his eyes and beckoned Lucas closer, feeling Lucas’ head press into his lap the second before the door opened. Eliott placed a hand in his hair, brushing through it casually and looking up as Mika walked in, looking disappointed. 

“You two are boring, why aren’t you fucking?” Mika pouted.

Lucas scoffed in indignation. “Mika! For fuck’s sake! You should be glad we weren’t.”

Mika raised his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying… you two have been pining so long, you deserve some nice morning sex.”

“Mika!” Lucas’ face was cherry red and Eliott pretended not to notice out of courtesy. He really didn’t know what pining Mika was talking about though, he and Lucas had never seen each other in that way. Sure, they were a bit more tactile than most friends were, but that was something they couldn’t help, it came as naturally to them as anything, as walking down the street. 

Mika turned to look at Eliott. “So, loverboy, I have to ask, what made you finally come to your senses and take pity on this little loveless gremlin?”

“Mika, I swear to god I’m going to murder you,” Lucas said before Eliott could even think of answering. He sat up and crossed his arms grumpily, glaring at Mika so hard that Eliott thought, if looks could kill… 

“Lucas isn’t a loveless gremlin, and I would never take pity on him,” Eliott responded anyway. He knew that Mika was joking and had Lucas’ best interests at heart, but he also knew how hard the teasing could be on Lucas sometimes. “If anything, he took pity on me, the kid who had to repeat because he was too crazy to take his life seriously.”

Mika looked slightly uncomfortable, and Lucas turned his glare to Eliott. “Don’t you start with that. You’re not crazy, no crazier than the rest of us, at least. I would never take pity on you either, not when I could love you instead.”

“What?” Eliott choked in surprise, and Mika’s eyes were nearly popping out of his head. 

“Uh.” Lucas’ voice turned a bit shaky. “I said, um, not when I could be there for you in a non pitying way instead.” That wasn’t what he said, and all three of them knew it. Eliott was impressed with Lucas’ acting skills, he almost believed it for a second. 

“Did you need something?” Eliott asked Mika, taking the pressure off Lucas. Lucas looked grateful, and Eliott was glad Mika went along with it. 

“Oh, that’s right! Manon made a full breakfast spread, she wanted to know if you wanted to join us in the kitchen or if you wanted a tray for breakfast in bed.” Mika looked between the two of them with a grin, watching as they communicated silently with one another. 

Lucas answered, “We’ll eat with you guys, just give us a minute.”

Mika wiggled his eyebrows as he walked backwards to the door. “Take more than a minute, if you need. The walls may be thin, but we can pretend not to hear a thing.”

“Mika!” Lucas yelled once more as Mika closed the door behind him, cackling loudly all the way to the kitchen. The walls actually were pretty thin, Eliott noticed. Lucas put his face in his hands. “I’m so sorry about him. I wasn’t expecting him to be so… you know… about us.”

“L, it’s fine, I can handle Mika, I have for years. I know that deep in his heart, he means well,” Eliott reassured him. Lucas didn’t look entirely convinced, but he relaxed a bit. Eliott really hoped this whole thing was beneficial to Lucas too, he could tell it was causing him a lot of stress and didn’t want there to be no reward. 

“I haven’t asked,” Eliott added, “How’s it going with your mystery man? I’m always talking about myself so much, I never take the time to ask, which I’m sorry about.”

Lucas nudged him. “Don’t be sorry, it’s why we’re doing this whole thing, right? As for the mystery man… there are some moments when I feel like he might actually be falling for me, but then it’s like the illusion cracks and he goes back to either total obliviousness or total disregard for my fairly obvious feelings.”

“Maybe you aren’t being obvious enough,” Eliott suggested, “Like, obviously you don’t want him to think you want to cheat on your current boyfriend, but maybe he thinks you’ll never like him like that.”

Lucas laughed mirthlessly. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s it.”

“Hey, just trying to help.” Eliott raised his hands in surrender. “I want you to get your man as much as I want to get mine. You deserve an epic love story.”

Lucas blushed and mumbled something under his breath that Eliott couldn’t make out, but he didn’t ask. If Lucas had wanted him to hear, he would have spoken up. “We should go out there, otherwise Mika will think we’re fucking,” Lucas said after a moment spent curling his sheets into fists in his hands. 

Eliott had a flash in his mind, a simple fantasy, gone in the blink of an eye, but it left him a bit shaken. Lucas grabbed his hand and pulled him off the bed, and Eliott had to look everywhere but him, flashes of skin and kisses and big blue eyes running through his mind. He couldn’t very well start thinking things like this about Lucas, he was sure Lucas would never forgive him if he went and caught feelings when that was the last thing they’d set out to do. 

Clearing his mind, Eliott rolled his shoulders back and entered the kitchen a step behind Lucas, turning to make conversation with Manon to keep his eyes from drifting to where Lucas was filling their plates. Of course, he couldn’t just not look at Lucas from now on, but waking up in Lucas’ arms and not letting go had set off something in his brain that he desperately needed to escape from before it got out of hand. 

“El, look!” Lucas giggled, and Eliott did so without thinking, catching Lucas using a strip of bacon as a smile and going cross eyed before collapsing into a fit of laughter. His hair was still sticking up in every direction and the sunlight was hitting his eyes at just the right angle, making them a pale, tranquil blue. 

Fuck, Eliott was so screwed.

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott was with Idriss at his apartment, trying so hard to focus on whatever the two of them were watching, and failing miserably. He felt terrible, it had been a while since he and Idriss had spent one on one time together, and he wasn’t even mentally present. He barely noticed when Idriss switched the tv off and turned to him with a deep sigh. 

“Bro,” Idriss said knowingly, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Eliott lied, sinking deeper into the couch. 

Idriss was unamused. “Eliott, I’ve known you since we were kids. I can see through your raccoon mask.”

It was true. Idriss was probably the only one who could, which was nice sometimes and annoying other times. Thankfully Lucas couldn’t see through the mask fully yet. “Does it have something to do with Lucas?” Idriss prompted.

Eliott sat up straight. “How do you know about Lucas?” He hadn’t found the time to tell Idriss or Sofiane yet, not wanting to have to lie to them. He knew it was selfish, Lucas had told all of his best friends, even his roommates, but Eliott was nothing if not selfish.

“You always seem to forget that I’m related to Imane,” Idriss said, rolling his eyes with a small smile. Shit, that was right. Imane knew, so obviously Idriss did too. Great, now Idriss would make a fuss about Imane knowing before him. 

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, but Idriss brushed him off. 

“Dude, I get it. It’s new, even if the feelings aren’t, and you’re probably still wondering if it’s really happening or not.” 

Eliott frowned. What did Idriss mean, the feelings aren’t new? “I… guess. What do you mean, about the ‘feelings’?” Eliott asked casually, voicing his thoughts. 

Idriss sighed again. “Dude, everyone knows you and Lucas have been in love with each other for years, we just never thought you’d get over yourselves and do something about it.”

“That’s so not true, Lucas doesn’t love me, he never has or ever will,” Eliott said before he could stop himself. Idriss scrunched his eyebrows in confusion and Eliott backtracked hurriedly, “I mean, not yet, right? It’s still early for love, and whatever.”

“Eliott, what’s actually going on?” Idriss asked point blank. 

“I misspoke Idriss, that’s all,” Eliott tried, but Idriss was done with the bullshit. Eliott was too, if he was being honest. All Idriss had to do was give him the trademarked Bakhellal look, and Eliott told him everything. 

He told him about all his interactions with Spiderman, about Lucas’ idea, about how he’d gone along with it at first because it seemed like a good idea, but now he didn’t know what to do. He’d been surprised by everyone’s reactions to him and Lucas dating, saying how they’d been expecting it for a while and everything, especially because he knew Lucas didn’t actually like him like that. He still liked Spiderman, but he didn’t know how they could continue whatever it was they had going on if Spiderman had to remain anonymous. There was also a nagging sense of familiarity with Spiderman that he couldn’t place, like he’d known him for longer than he actually had. 

When he finished talking, Idriss put his face in his hands, which Eliott figured couldn’t be a good sign. “Eliott,” he began warily, “I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you’re an idiot.”

“How is that nice at all?”

Idriss didn’t answer, continuing his own train of thought. “Feelings for a fucking superhero aside, you’re in love with Lucas.”

“Idriss…”

“I know you better than anyone, Eliott. You’ll deny it until the day you die, but you’re in love with him.” Idriss sat back, looking pleased with himself. 

Eliott groaned, flopping back onto the couch in an entirely different manner. “Even if that’s true… Lucas is in love with someone else, that’s why we’re doing this whole thing.”

Idriss folded his hands together and looked Eliott in the eye carefully. “Have you ever considered that maybe that person was you?”

He hadn’t, because it couldn’t be. Right? Lucas was dumb sometimes, but not that dumb. Why would he suggest fake dating when he knew Eliott had feelings for someone else? Besides, there had been plenty of moments, just the two of them, where Eliott had thought for a fleeting instant that there might be something more there, but Lucas never seemed to feel the same. Plus he always avoided Eliott like the plague after those instances, so Eliott always assumed he was repulsed by the mere thought. 

“Here’s a revolutionary idea,” Idriss suggested, cutting into his thoughts, “Why don’t you— wait for it— talk to him about it? Like, communicate?”

“Don’t be stupid, Idriss,” Eliott scoffed. As if he could ever tell Lucas something like this when he was pretty positive Lucas was into someone else. He didn’t want to guilt Lucas into faking feelings for him or, even worse, lose his best friend forever because he couldn’t keep himself from falling in love like the hopeless romantic he was. Besides, he did still have real feelings for Spiderman that he wasn’t quite ready to let go of.

Eliott didn’t choose who he fell in love with, but he did choose to fall at the worst times. It was the tragedy of wearing his heart on his sleeve, leaving it open for interference from everyone he came in contact with. 

“Just think on it,” Idriss said. Eliott could do that, he could think, but he was also scared to. Thinking had a history of getting him into trouble or leaving him six feet under water with no chance of making it to the surface. 

He didn’t know how to explain this to Idriss, so he said, “I will,” and let the conversation fade. He knew Idriss wasn’t entirely convinced, but he was grateful Idriss didn’t push further. 

Idriss turned the tv back on, and Eliott retreated back inside himself, trying to maintain a neutral expression so Idriss wouldn’t worry or feel the need to continue their talk. He tried to think of things objectively, tried to find evidence that he was in love with his best friend and that his best friend was in love with him. 

Point in his favor: Lucas had suggested the fake dating thing.

Point not in his favor: Lucas had put “no kissing” on their list of rules.

Point in his favor: Lucas blushed every time he said something flirty.

Point not in his favor: Lucas seemed extremely uncomfortable and repeatedly told Eliott to stop whenever he started to act too coupley, especially when they were alone.

Point in his favor: They had almost kissed. 

Point not in his favor: They had almost kissed. 

He groaned, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Idriss. There was too much inconclusive data to come to a real conclusion. He could talk to Yann, but he also didn’t want to continue to break Lucas’ trust and tell more people about their falsified relationship. He could also talk to Lucas, like Idriss suggested, but yeah right. 

It was funny, he and Lucas talked to each other about anything and everything, and yet somehow now he couldn’t find it in him to have this type of conversation. At the end of the day, he’d rather have Lucas as a best friend than not at all. There were billions of people in the world, they’d both find someone else to be with eventually, and he happy. 

Unless, of course, they were soulmates. 

God, he could nearly hear Lucas laughing inside his head. Lucas did not believe in the idea of soulmates, not one bit, but Eliott did wholeheartedly. As an artist and film connoisseur, how could he not? Sometimes he wished he’d been born into one of those worlds where people had their soulmate’s name tattooed on the inside of their wrist or something, just so he’d know for sure that he wouldn’t always be alone.

Of course, that would also imply that he wasn’t meant to be alone anyway. A dangerous thought to have when he knew the reality of himself was that he was a burden to anyone and everyone and would be better off isolated than loved. The only person, he realized with a start, that could probably change his mind about that was Lucas. Because Lucas had seen him at his worst and treated him no different, never saw his mental illness as a problem to be solved or something to be dealt with. It was life, and sometimes it made life difficult, but where was the fun in an easy life? Lucas always said.   

“Dude, I can hear you thinking from over here.” Idriss cut into his train of thought again.

Eliott responded by throwing a pillow at him. “You literally just told me to think about it.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean right now. But if this gets your head out of your ass I can't complain,” Idriss shot back, “How on earth did you not realize you’re in love with your best friend until now?”

“I’m not in love with you Idriss,” Eliott said, if only to deny the fact that he was, in fact, in love with Lucas. 

Idriss glared at him. “We both know I’m not your best friend anymore, Eliott.”

“Ugh. Fine. Maybe I am in love with him. But so what? I still like Spiderman too,” Eliott said, clinging to that fact like his lifeline. It didn’t matter that Lucas wouldn’t ever like him back if he had Spiderman to fall back on. 

“Right. The superhero.” Eliott could hear the judgement in Idriss’ voice, but he ignored it. Idriss continued, “How do you know that Spiderman isn’t like fourteen years old? That would just be creepy, if you had a crush on a fourteen year old.” 

Eliott rolled his eyes. “Spiderman isn’t fourteen.”

“You know this how?”

“He told me how old he was accidentally. I’m not telling you , but we’re not in a ‘creepy’ age gap.” Spiderman was the same age as Lucas, after all. 

Idriss looked at him out of the corner of his eye, then bit his lip and turned to face him. “If I tell you this would all be solved with a little communication again will you kick me out?” he asked innocently. 

Communication, communication, it always did come down to communication. But Eliott was stubborn. “Yes,” he said. 

“Ok, forget I said anything then.” Idriss shrugged and flopped back to his spot on the couch. Eliott appreciated everything he’d said, he really did, but he wasn’t entirely willing to face the idea of telling Lucas how he felt. At least not yet. He sighed, mimicking Idriss’ position on the couch. He’d think on it, and hopefully the answer to his struggle would be written out in the stars for him, plain as day. In the meantime, he just had to continue to pretend nothing was different, that his heart wasn’t about to burst at even the slightest mention of Lucas Lallemant. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

He’d done a lot of thinking over the past week, if that’s what he could even call it. Lots of doodles of hedgehogs with raccoons, some sketches of a spider that he really didn’t think would match whoever Spiderman was under the mask, even more pages filled entirely black with scribbles, trying to undo the knots in his mind. 

He was holding Lucas at arm’s length again, and he felt terrible about it, especially because he knew that Lucas knew he was doing so. His excuses weren’t cutting it anymore and Eliott had given himself until Friday night to sort things through once and for all. 

It was Friday night now, and Eliott realized that giving himself time to think things over had only increased his ability to procrastinate thinking things over. His mind was still in the same jumble it had been in when Idriss left his flat earlier that week. 

Usually when he didn’t know where to go or what to do, he went to the petite ceinture, but when he’d gone there the other day, all he could think about was nearly kissing Lucas under the bridge. 

So, he walked. He walked until he didn’t totally know where he was, then he walked some more. The city was alive, but Eliott bypassed all of that in search of solitude, somewhere he could finally start to clean up his cluttered mind. 

Whenever he thought about his life and who he wanted in it, Lucas was always there, he knew that much for certain, but in thinking so, he’d never considered loving him the way he was pretty positive he did now, not wanting to jeopardize being in one another’s lives forever. Love could fade, even in the strongest of relationships, and Eliott was a lot to put up with.

Now that the possibility of being with Lucas in a whole new way had slipped into his head, though… now he wasn’t so sure if he could be just friends for the rest of his life, consequences of falling in love be damned. 

So, he walked. 

Then, he stopped walking. It turned out that there wasn’t that much to think about after all. If Lucas didn’t like him like that, he’d get over it or get under someone else, but if he did , how could he live not having made his feelings apparent, not giving it all a chance?

Before he could think twice, he pulled his phone from his pocket and clicked the first name in his recently called, realizing that, aside from his parents, Lucas was the only person he called regularly. Idriss had been right, he really was an idiot.

The phone rang a few times before— “Hello?”

“Lucas, hey,” Eliott said with a smile, feeling like he was soaring already. 

“El? Is something wrong?”

Eliott shook his head before he remembered Lucas couldn’t see him. “No, nothing like that. I was just wondering if I could come over?”

Lucas laughed softly. “First, you never have to ask, second, you could have just texted me.”

“I wanted to hear your voice,” Eliott said before he could stop himself. Wow, he really was not going for subtlety now, was he. Lucas was silent on the other line for so long that Eliott had to check to make sure the call hadn’t dropped. “L? You there?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry.” Lucas cleared his throat. “Come over whenever. I’m not doing anything, obviously.” 

“Be there in a few,” Eliott smiled into the phone, hanging up after Lucas gave a confused goodbye. He walked with an extra spring in his step, trying to navigate wherever it was that he’d ended up. He prided himself on knowing Paris inside and out, but he’d wandered farther than he’d intended. There was a building, which was a good sign, he figured he could use it as a marker for where to go from there.

When he pulled up his location on maps, however, the building in front of him wasn’t anywhere to be found. He wasn’t stumped about his location anymore after looking at the map, but he was curious about this building now. 

Against his better judgement, he got closer to it, realizing it was abandoned. Interesting. The door opened when he placed a hand on it, and he slipped inadvertently, not realizing it would be unlocked. His thumb slipped on his phone and he realized he accidentally sent the gang his location. Whatever, they would probably just ignore it, they’d all accidentally sent things to their group on occasion. 

Cautiously, he made his way further into the space, not entirely sure why he was doing so. It would be a nice place to remember, though, if he wanted another place to be alone, or somewhere to take photos or film for projects he worked on. There was a loud noise that sounded like it came from above him, and Eliott realized he probably shouldn’t have been there alone. 

Breath caught in his throat, Eliott looked to the ceiling, finding a small staircase against the wall opposite him. Did he dare climb it? There was a possibility there was someone up there, and he didn’t know if they were in danger or if they were the danger. 

He found himself ascending the staircase regardless, wondering why the hell he was the way he was. It became increasingly apparent, as he made his way to the top of the stairs, he most definitely should have run in the opposite direction. He had no idea what the person upstairs was doing, but there were so many scientific tubes and materials that it couldn’t have been anything good. He wondered if he’d maybe stumbled on a meth lab by accident, and cursed his luck. 

There were two people, as far as Eliott could see, but both of their backs were turned to him. One of them had a hood up, holding a tube of something very uniquely colored. There was no way what they were doing was natural. 

He slipped up the last step, banging his knee and causing a loud noise in the process. Both of the people’s heads turned to him immediately, and Eliott gasped loudly, instinctively. He didn’t recognize either one of them, but the man without a hood did look vaguely familiar. 

The familiar man disappeared almost immediately upon seeing him and Eliott wondered if he was going to get back up or some type of weapon. Eliott still couldn’t see the face of the person beneath the hood, but they set their tube of liquid aside and faced him fully. 

“What do we have here?” Their voice was a rasp of other voices, not distinct enough for Eliott to remember should they meet again. 

Eliott tried to steady his breathing, inching back towards the stairs. “I— I’m sorry. I thought this building was abandoned, I was scouting locations for an art project.” It wasn’t the best he could have come up with, but it would have to do. 

“No one happens upon this place by accident. Either you’re one of us, or you’re him ,” the hooded figure said matter of factly, but in such a way that made Eliott’s hair stand on end. 

“Him?” he asked weakly, just as the eerily glowing lights went out completely. The room was engulfed in darkness, other than the colorful light emitting from whatever serums were displayed across the workspaces. Before Eliott had any time to think, the hooded person was in front of him, and Eliott froze. 

The man had no face. 

That wasn’t right, exactly, but there was nothing distinguishable, identifiable, about his face that would provide him an identity. What the hell had Eliott stumbled upon? 

“Bold of you, coming here with no mask,” the faceless man said, stepping ever closer. Eliott was still paralyzed, unable to do or think of anything. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eliott was able to manage, pleading tone in his voice. “What mask?”

The faceless man held out a gloved hand, brushing gently across Eliott’s cheek, turning his face side to side, taking in every inch of his appearance. Eliott felt completely exposed, even in the darkness. “We weren’t meant to meet like this, Spiderman,” the faceless man said.

Well, this was just fantastic. Of course this guy would think he was Spiderman. He wondered if that’s what he meant by him . 

The man’s hand hovered an inch in front of his face before it stopped suddenly, accompanied by a loud whistle. The man and Eliott both turned towards the sound, only to find the real Spiderman leaning on the windowsill like he had just been passing by. Maybe Spiderman really was stalking him. 

“Not quite,” Spiderman said, throwing the man across the room with a flick of his wrist. Eliott realized that the man had been stopped from touching him again by one of Spiderman’s webs attached to his arm. Spiderman leapt with ease over to where Eliott still stood with wide eyes. 

“Are you ok?” he asked, gripping Eliott’s face with his hands. Eliott nodded without thinking, mind not entirely back in his body yet. Spiderman took one of Eliott’s hands in his and squeezed. “I’ll get you out of here.”

Eliott believed him, but he wasn’t sure how they would when the faceless man was already standing back up, looking ready for a fight. “Trust me?” Spiderman asked, not even giving Eliott a chance to respond before picking him up like he was a feather and throwing him out the window, accompanied by a variety of webs, which miraculously stuck him to the side of the building.

It was only in that moment that he realized the severity of what was going on. He was pretty sure he’d just accidentally stumbled upon a supervillain's lair, or lab, straight out of the movies. That made him that poor sap who got killed in the first act because he was stupid enough to walk through an open door when everything was telling him to walk away and never look back. 

He couldn’t see what was happening, but based on what he heard, both the faceless man and Spiderman were engaged in quite the brawl. Eliott’s heart was pounding so hard in his chest he worried it might burst and all of Spiderman’s efforts would be for naught. 

There were crashes, and he could have sworn he saw sparks of electricity shining through the window he’d been thrown out of. The vaguely familiar man had not returned, it seemed, and Eliott wondered if he’d recognized him in some way too.

There was a sudden tense silence in the air, and Eliott didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It may have been ten minutes or an hour later, but the fact that no one was coming out to kill him meant that Spiderman probably won. A surge of guilt roiled in Eliott’s chest at the thought that Lucas was waiting for him, probably thinking he’d blown him off. 

Suddenly, a hand wrapped around his and he was pulled from his web of protection and drifting across the sky. Eliott wrapped himself around Spiderman instinctively, stomach doing a series of somersaults that usually accompanied roller coaster rides. 

Spiderman swung and ran, building to building, road to road, and Eliott kept his eyes screwed shut the entire time. He wasn’t afraid of heights or anything, but he was worried that if he opened them that made everything that had just happened real. 

There was an abrupt lack of movement, and Eliott found himself being disentangled and placed on the ground. Eliott opened his eyes at last, seeing Spiderman hanging upside down in front of him, masked face impassive as always. 

“What the fuck !” Eliott yelled, pressing his hands to his temples and breathing rapidly. 

“I’m sorry,” Spiderman said, and Eliott could tell that he meant it. 

Eliott laughed disbelievingly. “You’re sorry? You saved me! I was the dumbass who went there in the first place… how did you find me?” 

“Would you believe me if I told you it was a coincidence?” Spiderman asked, and Eliott shook his head. “Well, it was. I hadn’t expected anyone to be there, actually, based on my intel.”

“Oh.”

“Speaking of which,” Spiderman continued, “Why the hell were you there? You do realize that was like, a villain lab, or something?”

“I do now ,” Eliott said stubbornly. He curled his hands into fists at his sides. He wasn’t angry with Spiderman, wasn’t angry with anyone really, but fuck , that was scary. There had been a brief moment where he thought he might die. So, he said so. “If you hadn’t shown up, I would be dead, so thank you.”

“If you had died, I might have too,” Spiderman said back, and Eliott had to blink a few times, running the words through his mind to make sure he wasn’t mishearing things. Before Eliott even had time to think through what had been said, Spiderman pulled the bottom of his mask off with one hand, pulling Eliott close with the other, wrapping it around the back of his head and pulling him into a kiss. 

Maybe it should have been awkward, or maybe Eliott should have remembered that Lucas was waiting for him, but he surrendered to the kiss completely. It felt so right . It felt familiar, somehow, like Spiderman was someone he knew nearly better than he knew himself. He knew exactly how to deepen the kiss, how to make Spiderman grip his face with both gloved hands, still hanging upside down, and give in. 

The kiss was everything, and Eliott was drowning, and the kiss was numbing, and Eliott was breathing fresh air for the first time in a long time. It felt so right, like a kiss he’d been waiting for his whole life. Maybe there was a reason Spiderman had entered his life after all, and maybe this was it.

They broke apart, finally, and Spiderman quickly fixed his mask back into place. Eliott was completely out of it, the events of the last week finally taking their toll on him. Did he actually love Lucas, as he’d thought, or was he just there when Eliott was desperate for affection. He’d nearly given up on Spiderman, but that was not a kiss to forget. 

“Fuck,” Spiderman hissed, mostly to himself, then disappeared, shooting one of his webs to the next building over and taking off before Eliott could say a word. Eliott slumped back against the side of the building and realized that he was in the alley outside his flat, exactly where he and Spiderman had nearly kissed before.

Before he could process his thoughts fully, think about what he was doing, Eliott texted Lucas. 

Eliott: sorry, can’t make it, something came up :(

Lucas: I figured, it’s been a while

Eliott: i’ll make it up to you, i promise

Lucas: Honestly, El, don’t worry about it

Eliott: ok… 

Lucas: I’ve gotta go, see you whenever. 

Eliott didn’t know what that meant, but he knew he was screwed. Lucas was mad at him, Spiderman was possibly too, and he might be in love with both of them. This whole situation was turning out to be so much more than he bargained for, which was his own fault, really. 

Yet, still, lingering in the corner of his mind, the kiss. It was a once in a lifetime kiss, and that couldn’t be discounted. So much for sorting his thoughts, he was more confused than ever.

Chapter Text

He really had to tell Lucas about the kiss. It was all he could think about, whether he wanted to or not. When he wanted to, he thought about the kiss in the way he’d experienced it, full of love and light and heart racing joy. When he didn’t want to, he thought of Lucas, of how Lucas would be happy for him and they’d go back to the way things had always been, and he didn’t want that. But he also didn’t want to let go of Spiderman.

It was all so confusing, Eliott’s mind could hardly catch a break and he couldn’t be too upset because it was what he deserved. He’d put himself into this situation, now he had to figure out a way out of it. 

Maybe he didn’t have to tell Lucas about it, actually… it wasn’t like it was ever going to happen again, was it? He’d kissed Spiderman one time because Spiderman had saved his life, that was all. But then there had been that moment before the kiss, where Eliott felt intimately connected to him in a way he had only felt with a few people in his life. That heart stopping, world pausing feeling where everything left your head and it felt like some sort of epiphany, a euphoric sensation where everything in the world made sense.

He wanted to get a second opinion about it all, but he already knew what Idriss would say. He would tell him to be honest with Lucas and that if Lucas didn’t want him after it all it was his own fault. 

It was his own fault, everything was his own fault. He tried so hard but always came up short or screwed himself over in some way. Even if he wished it wasn’t so, he knew deep down he’d ruined whatever future he might have had with Lucas before it had even begun. 

There was a knock on the door, pulling Eliott from the corners of his own mind and reminding him that he had only a minute longer to make a decision, because Lucas was at the door, and he had to have some sort of explanation for blowing him off. 

“Hey!” he opened the door with a wide grin and cringed internally. Yes, he was happy to see Lucas, but now Lucas was looking at him suspiciously. 

“Everything ok?” Lucas asked as he walked in, throwing his trusty blue bomber jacket on the back of a chair. Eliott nodded casually, walking into the kitchen to avoid having to look at Lucas straight on. How had it taken him this long to realize that he was the most beautiful person in the entire world?

“Do you want anything to eat or drink?” Eliott called over his shoulder, only to see that Lucas had followed him into the kitchen. He halted and shifted on his feet nervously. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize you came with me.”

“El, what’s going on? You’re acting super weird.” Of course Lucas could see right through him. It made him happy, in a small way, but mostly a bit anxious at the present moment. If he looked too long into Lucas’ eyes, would he see everything? Would he run?

Eliott leaned back against the counter, opening his mouth and not knowing what he would say first until it came out. “Spiderman kissed me.”

Lucas blinked in what Eliott assumed was surprise. “Our plan worked then?” he asked with a slightly strained voice. 

“I guess, if you put it like that,” Eliott said hesitantly. This wasn’t the way he’d wanted the conversation to go, but he had no idea how to steer it into a different direction. Lucas seemed upset, but was that because Eliott had kissed someone else or was it because of something entirely unrelated? 

“So, we’re done with this, then,” Lucas said definitively. 

Eliott snapped his head to look at Lucas. “Woah, woah, I didn’t say that.”

Lucas looked at him with narrowed eyes. “But… you got what you wanted. There’s literally no reason for us to keep doing this.”

“I got what I wanted? You say that like Spiderman is some shiny prize or something,” Eliott argued. 

“Isn’t he?” Lucas asked, and Eliott froze. Did Lucas really think so little of him that he thought he only wanted Spiderman because he was seemingly unattainable, that it was just another person for him to treat like some kind of object? Sure, Eliott had a few tumultuous on and off relationships in the past, the most recent being Lucille, but he never once saw them as any kind of prize to be won. He just fell too hard too fast and overlooked any and all red flags until he was in too deep. 

Instead of letting his insecurities come to the surface or lashing out at Lucas, he changed the subject. “Still, why would we be done? You still need to get your man, unless you have already and haven’t told me.”

“He’s never going to like me back,” Lucas said without a pause, “I’m over him, he’ll never see me the way I see him.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Eliott said.

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, it’s not about what you believe. It’s a fact, the sooner I accept it the better. We done here then?”

“Oh.” That was abrupt. “Um, I mean, we can still hang out? We’re best friends right?”

“I’m not really in the mood,” Lucas said softly. 

Eliott nodded like he understood, but he didn’t, he really didn’t. “What are we going to tell our friends?”

“You broke up with me, obviously.”

“Obviously?”

Lucas laughed mirthlessly. “No one is ever going to believe I broke up with you. It’s much more believable that you just got bored with me and wanted to move on to something better.”

“ Bored with you? Seriously Lucas?” Against his wishes, he was starting to get a bit angry. It didn’t help that Lucas was acting so strangely, like none of this mattered. “Maybe you think I just go wherever the wind takes me and I just get bored with people and toss them aside like garbage, but that’s not true . I love people so fiercely it physically hurts sometimes, but I keep doing it, hoping that someday it’ll lead me to my forever.”

“That’s not what I meant—” Lucas began, face getting red. 

“Then what did you mean Lucas?” Eliott could hear his voice start to shake and begged himself inside his head to hold it together. “Of all people… I always thought you were the only one who would always see the real me, who would like me despite all my flaws and never make me feel like shit because of them.”

“El—” Lucas’ voice broke, then hardened, “I didn’t mean that. I meant that it was ridiculous that anyone believed someone like you ever loved someone like me in the first place. I do always see the real you, I would recognize you anywhere.”

“I would too.” Eliott hated hearing Lucas talk about himself like that, especially when Eliott did love him, he just didn’t know how to say so. 

Lucas shook his head sadly. “No, you wouldn’t. But it’s ok, I don’t expect you to.”

He left the kitchen and Eliott followed in confusion, catching as Lucas grabbed his jacket and shrugged it back on. Eliott reached out to grasp his arm before he could make it to the door. “Lucas. What just happened?”

“Nothing,” Lucas said brightly, shaking his head, “It’s cool, Eliott. Go get your man.”

“L…” Eliott tried, but Lucas slipped out of his grasp and out the door. Eliott only hoped he hadn’t slipped out of his life. Their entire conversation had left him feeling entirely unsatisfied and slightly scared for their future. If Lucas really did start to tell people that they’d broken up, it’s not like they could just go back to being best friends like normal. They hadn’t thought through that aspect of it. 

The question still remained of whether Eliott even wanted to be with Spiderman or not. His head and his heart were telling him different things, but both were so cluttered that he couldn’t understand what they were saying regardless. 

He supposed he’d get some answers at school, see if Lucas actually went through with his decision, or if they’d both overreacted and would find time to talk it through during the week. Selfishly, he hoped for the latter. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷                            

Lucas wasn’t at school. It was odd, partly because Lucas hadn’t said anything about missing school and partly because Lucas never missed school. Eliott was always the one of the two of them to be absent, more often than he should have been. 

It also seemed he hadn’t said anything to his roommates about his discussion with Eliott, because when Eliott asked Manon where he was, she looked at him oddly and thought he should have known, given the fact they were dating. He never got an answer from her, pretending to have received a text that had slipped his mind. 

Yann was his last hope, but he couldn’t be obvious about how he asked, hopefully Basile or Arthur would ask in his stead. The four of them were sitting together in the cafeteria, Eliott gazing out the window, lost in thought, when the subject was finally brought up.

“It feels ominous, without Lucas here,” Arthur said, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Basile nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lucas miss a day of school. Probably because he’s a nerd.”

Arthur smacked Basile upside the head and nodded to Eliott entirely unsubtly. Eliott probably would have argued if he’d had the brain power to do so, but everything seemed so caught in a limbo in his mind that he let it slide. Besides, Lucas was a nerd, in the best way possible. 

Yann eyed Eliott briefly before speaking up, “He sprained his ankle.”

“He what?” Eliott asked before he could stop himself. 

Arthur furrowed his brows. “You didn’t talk to him?”

“Yeah… of course I did… but you know Lucas, he thinks things are no big deal until he ends up with a sprained ankle. He must have gone to the doctor this morning, I saw him last night.” That much was true, if it counted for anything. Did he actually have a sprained ankle, or was Yann testing him? 

“Yeah,” Yann agreed, “He texted me before French this morning, letting me know he wouldn’t be there for a day so I should send him my notes.”

“Should we go see him after school? Bring him a care package or something?” Basile asked, words barely discernible between the food he continually shoved into his mouth. 

Arthur nodded in agreement. “That’s a good idea, he’d do the same for us, right?”

Yann agreed as well, and they all looked to Eliott. “Well?” Arthur asked, “Lover boy?”

“Yeah, um, sounds good,” Eliott said noncommittally. The other three looked at him suspiciously, and he tried to muster more enthusiasm. “We can meet at the bus stop after school, I can ask the girls if they want to join as well?”

“Ooh, good idea, Manon is probably better at care packages than we are,” Basile grinned in agreement, before switching topics, allowing Eliott to continue to tune everyone out. He pulled out his phone and pulled out his last brief texts with Lucas, wondering if Lucas was still mad at him for those too. 

Eliott: u sprained your ankle??

Lucas: Oh, hello to you too

Eliott: l.

Lucas: El.

Eliott: lucas i’m serious, what the hell?

Lucas: Yes, dad, I sprained my ankle. I’m a dumbass, but it was barely a sprain I’ll be fine in like a week

Eliott: that’s not how sprains work??

Lucas: What, you’re a doctor now?

Eliott: are you mad at me for something?

Lucas: No.

Eliott: why do i find that i don’t believe that one bit

Lucas: I don’t care what you believe, I’m not mad at anyone but myself for spraining my stupid ankle

Eliott: how did you even do it? i literally saw u last night 

Lucas: I tripped on the sidewalk on my way home, thought I just twisted my ankle but it was super swollen this morning so Manon made me go get it checked

Eliott: thank god for manon

Lucas: I’m literally fine I should be at school

Eliott: what, you’re a doctor now?

Lucas: Hilarious

Eliott: thanks i try

Eliott: anyway, the boys (and possibly girls) and i were going to come over after school with a care package what do u want in it

Lucas: Care package? Please don’t do that

Eliott: too late it was baz’s idea

Lucas: Fuck

Lucas: Idk?? Whatever you think

Eliott: thanks, that helps a bunch

Lucas: I don’t want a care package!!

Eliott: i know, that’s why i gave u a heads up

Eliott: time to prepare your award winning performance for surprised and grateful fallen hero

Lucas: Fallen hero

Eliott: isn’t that what you are?

Lucas: Truly, your capacity for humor astounds me

Eliott: who said i was joking?

Eliott: i know, i’m great

Lucas: I didn’t tell them yet, by the way

Eliott: yeah i kinda figured that out

Lucas: Oh yeah… 

Eliott: are you still planning to?

Lucas: Yeah, I’ve lived enough lies in my life

Eliott: can you give it until the end of the week? spiderman kissed me, remember?

Lucas: What does that have to do with anything?

Eliott: maybe i don’t want to be with him like that anymore

Lucas: Why not?

Eliott: i’ll tell you by the end of the week, i promise

Lucas: Ok, Mr. Mystery, whatever you say

Lucas: I have to go, Mika is fussing again

Eliott: i’d pay good money to see that

Eliott: remember: act surprised and grateful

Lucas: Yes dad

Eliott: daddy ;))

Lucas: Do not push your luck Demaury

Eliott: see you later, l

Lucas: See you later, El

This was good. This was good? This was good. Eliott had given himself a self imposed deadline to sort out his feelings, and he was determined to actually do so this time. Hopefully he’d run into Spiderman at some point before then to get some clarity surrounding that situation. 

He thought that was maybe why his feelings were so confused in the first place. Spiderman had gone from seeing him and pretending to save him multiple times a month, or even a week, to random meetings every once and awhile. Aside from their pseudo date, or whatever that had been, Spiderman hadn’t initiated contact with him, and Eliott had no way of knowing how to reach out to someone who remained anonymous. 

Well, with or without Spiderman, he’d have to figure it out. He had no other choice.

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Lucas had acted both surprised and grateful when nine people showed up at his door after school with a wild collection of things they thought constituted as a care package. Eliott winked slyly at him over everyone’s heads and Lucas had smirked in return before he was engulfed in a big group hug. 

He had a pair of crutches that he definitely was not using, which Imane chided him for, but Eliott could tell it was only because she cared so much. He would never say it out loud because she’d probably kill him, but Imane’s soft spot for Lucas was so glaringly obvious, heartwarming as it was. 

Their care package consisted of a blanket Emma already owned but knew Lucas liked to use when he was at her house, some cookies made by Manon, a six pack of beer from the boys, biology notes from Imane, a rainbow pin from Alexia, and colored sharpies from Daphné, who’d thought Lucas would have a cast for them to sign instead of an ace bandage. Eliott had gone in on the beer with the boys, but he’d tucked some of his drawings into the package when no one was looking. 

“So how did this even happen?” Emma asked, kicking his leg. Manon shot her a glare as Lucas winced slightly. 

“I tripped on the sidewalk when I was coming home last night,” Lucas said, the same answer he’d given Eliott. Not that Eliott had thought he was lying, but he’d never really taken Lucas for the clumsy type. Everyone had surprises, it was just that Eliott always thought he’d figured out all of Lucas’ surprises. He didn’t know whether it excited or terrified him that he hadn’t yet.

Manon made Lucas sit back on the couch, which he did with a pointed expression of disgust. Honestly, if any of them were to hate having a sprained ankle, it would be Lucas. Eliott probably wouldn’t care that much and would use it as an excuse to skip more school, but Lucas always liked to be a part of things, liked to put chaotic energy into everything he did, and the fact that he was relegated to the couch was clearly not sitting well with him. 

Eliott sat beside him, it would have been weird if he hadn’t, and Lucas looked at him softly, grinning slightly. 

“How are you doing?” Eliott asked quietly as everyone else engaged themselves in other conversations. “Actually?”

Lucas leaned his head back on the couch, glancing up at the ceiling. “Physically? Fine. It really doesn’t even hurt, I’m just a dumbass.”

“Mentally?” Eliott asked, because he was the only one who would know to.

Lucas answered with a weak shrug that made Eliott want to wrap him up in a hug. So he did. They weren’t broken up yet, so he could do things like that and even if Lucas didn’t like him like that, he could just pretend it was all a show for their friends. 

Surprisingly, Lucas melted into his embrace, folding his arms around Eliott in return, his fingers lightly brushing the skin on Eliott’s wrist. It made Eliott’s nerves stand on end, a sensation similar to when Spiderman had gripped both sides of his face and pulled him closer. 

Remembering, he shifted a bit, Lucas still in his grasp. Every time he thought he was over the kiss, the memory rushed back in a heartbeat, spurred by the most random things. If the kiss hadn’t been what it had been, his decision might have been easier. But it was such a kiss, such an  intense feeling, that it was hard to consider that anything might ever match it. 

“You two are so gross, seriously get a room or something,” Emma said, sticking her tongue out at them. Lucas pressed himself further into Eliott. 

“This is my flat, Em. Plus, I’m injured I need El to carry me from room to room, weakling that I am,” Lucas fake whined, earning a few fond eye rolls. 

“That’s so not true!” Basile interjected, “You’re, like, weirdly strong.”

Lucas shifted a bit uncomfortably, laughing in what Eliott could tell was a forced way. “No I’m not Baz, maybe you’re just even weaker than me. I’m pretty sure everyone here but you and Daph could beat me in a fight.”

“No! Remember the time you accidentally flipped Arthur over your shoulder or when we did piggyback races and you carried Yann way faster than Arthur carried me?” Basile asked.

Lucas shrugged and laughed again. “Well, those were flukes, I can’t do much carrying right now anyway can I?” 

Eliott saw Imane narrow her eyes at Lucas and he wondered if he was missing something. Lucas was stronger than he thought he was, but he didn’t know why that would be a big deal. Why was he arguing with Basile so much, wouldn’t Lucas want people think he was stronger than he was?

“Speaking of which, can you help me to my room? This has been great but I need to do some homework,” Lucas said, squeezing Eliott’s hand. 

Eliott nodded, untangling their bodies. “Of course.”

He hoisted Lucas up bridal style, to which Lucas began complaining immediately. “El, El, put me down I just meant like grab me those stupid crutches or something.”

“Can’t hear you.”

“Eliott…” 

“Please, move along, some of us are trying not to vomit right now,” Arthur said, winking at Lucas. Lucas flipped him off, still in Eliott’s arms, then flipped Eliott off, who grinned goofily down at him in response. Eliott carried him all the way down the hall before plopping him onto his bed and closing the door behind them.

Lucas sat up, resting on his hands, hair a mess, and Eliott almost thought his mind was made up right then and there. “You don’t actually have to hang out in here with me, they’ll all leave soon,” Lucas said, and Eliott re entered his own mind.

“Why do you keep saying that? When have I ever not wanted to hang out with you?” Eliott demanded, flopping down on the bed next to Lucas. 

Lucas looked down at his lap, playing with the strings on his sweatshirt. “You know when.”

Eliott did know when, but he didn’t know why that applied right now. Sure, he had a tendency to blow off Lucas and his other friends whenever he dated someone new, but he didn’t do it so often that he neglected everyone all the time. Had Lucas been acting so weird because Eliott blew him off that one night to hang out with Spiderman? That had been their plan, it shouldn’t have been a big deal. 

Either way, he was with Lucas right now, not Spiderman, even though he really needed to have a conversation with Spiderman. 

“Kissing Spiderman,” Lucas began, still refusing to look at Eliott, “What was it like?”

“Why do you care?” Eliott asked, genuinely curious.

“I don’t know,” Lucas answered, finally meeting his eyes. 

Eliott sighed deeply. “Ok… um, it was amazing. Like kissing in general is amazing, but there was something about it that felt so familiar, so comforting, you know? Like we knew each other outside of the bubble of Spiderman and his damsel in distress. God, that sounds so stupid, I know it does, obviously I don’t know Spiderman outside the mask, but it really made me wish I did. I was kind of content with the idea of the hero in the mask until then, you know? But he said something to me that made me want more than what we’d been doing up until then.”

Lucas looked away from him abruptly. “What if Spiderman was someone you knew in real life?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, what if he was someone you already knew, would it change how you felt about him, or the person you knew?” Lucas asked in a soft whisper.

Eliott contemplated it. In some ways it might feel a bit relieving, to have it be someone he already knew on some level. But also, wouldn’t that person have been lying to him this whole time, showing interest when it was convenient but pretending they were someone else entirely the rest of the time? “I guess so,” he said at last.

“In what way?”

“I don’t know, I guess it would depend on how well I knew them. Like, if it was Arthur or something I’d probably be kind of mad they didn’t just have a conversation with me and felt like they had to hide behind a mask to show me how they felt, but if it was just someone random from school I’d kind of understand,” Eliott explained, hoping he was making sense. Sometimes things were easier if you didn’t have to be yourself, that was why he’d always identified with a raccoon after all, but there were some people you shouldn’t need that mask around. 

Lucas got quiet again and Eliott wondered what he was thinking. Was it possible Lucas had a crush on Spiderman as well? No, that would be crazy… right?

“Want to watch a movie?” Eliott asked, trying to clear both his mind and Lucas’. He wanted them to settle back into being El and L, best friends, even if one was possibly in love with the other. 

Lucas sighed, mostly to himself, before turning around with a small smile and scooting closer to Eliott. “Sure. I get to choose, though, I’m injured.”

“You just said you were fine,” Eliott pointed out. He had quite the list of movies and tv shows he wanted to watch, and Lucas only ever wanted to watch the same three things over and over. One of those things was Stranger Things, which Eliott also loved, but the third season had emotionally devastated him enough that he wasn’t quite ready to go back down that road. 

“Well, what do you want to watch then? I love Call Me By Your Name , because I’d fuck Timothée Chalamet in a heartbeat, but I can’t watch him cry to ‘Visions of Gideon’ again,” Lucas pleaded. Eliott cracked a smile, ruffling Lucas’ hair. 

“How about The OA? It’s one of my favorite shows, I swear it’s so good,” Eliott asked, folding his hands together and giving Lucas puppy dog eyes.

Lucas narrowed his eyes and grimaced. “Fine, but if there’s peach sex, we get to watch what I want.”

“Deal,” Eliott agreed, because he knew very well that there was no peach sex. 

They settled in for the first episode and Eliott clicked play, trying not to react as Lucas slumped his head onto his shoulder. He really had to make up his mind, otherwise he might end up hurting Lucas in ways he didn’t even want to consider.

Chapter Text

Spiderman had been completely MIA since Eliott had last seen him. No stopping bad guys, no saving people, no media coverage, no stalking Eliott for no reason. It was what he’d hoped for last week, before their kiss, but now he really, really just wanted clarity. He was minutes away from going back to that place he’d happened upon the week before, the place that had set this entire series of events into motion. 

But he didn’t, and Spiderman didn’t contact him in any way, so he was left in the dark. 

He figured drawing might take his mind off things a bit, so he got out some pens and put one of his favorite records on the player, tuning out any and all Spiderman or Lucas related thoughts. He even went so far as to mentally ban himself from adding hedgehogs to his drawings for the rest of the day. It was unrealistic, but he’d try to refrain for as long as possible.

It worked well, for a time, just him, the music, and his mind, off limit topics entirely off limits. He hadn’t done this in quite some time, draw for the sake of drawing, no other deeper intent. He might have done it all day had a knock not sounded on his door. Frowning he went to look to see who it was, he wasn’t supposed to have plans with anyone.

Yann stood at the door, expectant expression on his face. Eliott couldn’t have been more confused. Sure, he loved Yann and they were friends, but he didn’t think they’d ever actually hung out one on one before. The only members of the gang he’d hung out with one on one were Lucas and, on occasion, Arthur. 

“Hey, Yann, what’s up?” Eliott said regardless of his confusion, welcoming Yann into his flat. Yann gave him a small smile as he stepped inside, following Eliott into the living room where Eliott’s record player was still churning out the sounds of some classical artist Lucas liked but would never admit he liked to anyone else. He switched it off quickly and sat on the chair opposite Yann. 

“I know,” Yann said simply. Eliott squinted in false confirmation, pretending he had a clue what Yann was talking about. “You’re killing Lucas, bro, and I couldn’t call myself his best friend if I didn’t say anything about it,” he continued. 

Eliott didn’t say No, I’m Lucas’ best friend , but he did say, “Wait, what? What are you talking about?”

“I know,” Yann repeated, “That you’re not actually dating.”

Eliott stiffened in his seat, but he couldn’t feel angry at Lucas for telling Yann, because he himself had told Idriss. “Um. Ok?” What else was there for him to say?

“I’m telling you this because I care about Lucas a lot, and if you’re going to hurt him, I want to know how many pieces I’ll have to be there to pick up,” Yann said, which Eliott thought was unfair. Why would Eliott hurt Lucas? Lucas was the one who wanted them to ‘break up’. 

He voiced this. “I appreciate your concern, Yann, but if anyone’s going to get hurt it’s going to be me.”

Yann looked unconvinced. “How do you figure that?”

“Because I’m in love with him, and he’s in love with someone else. Or, he was, at least. I’m not really sure what’s going on with that at the moment…” Eliott trailed off as Yann looked at him in disbelief. “What?”

Yann blinked. “Sorry. Just making sure I’m talking to Eliott, not Lucas.”

Eliott raised his eyebrows, not really in the mood to deal with anything cryptic. If Yann wasn’t just going to say what he meant, Eliott would ask questions until he did. “Please, elaborate.” 

“God, no offense, Eliott, but you’re even more of an idiot than Lucas,” Yann began.

“Ouch.”

“I said no offense! But come on, dude. You’re the guy Lucas has been in love with the whole time. You didn’t find it odd that he said he didn’t think his crush was into him after he heard you kissed Spiderman?” Yann asked.

“How did you know that?” Eliott asked, “Besides, Spiderman kissed me.”

Yann gave him a look that said, Does that really matter right now? Eliott supposed it didn’t. “I’m the one who gave Lucas the idea to fake date,” Yann admitted sheepishly, “That’s how I know. He keeps me posted.”

Yann was the one… Eliott wanted to feel betrayed, but if Yann was telling the truth and Lucas was really in love with him, he had bigger things to think about. 

“I’m gonna ask you something,” Yann said slowly, pulling Eliott from his thoughts, “Are you really in love with Lucas, ready to leave Spiderman behind? Because Lucas is a real person, right in front of you, and Spiderman is some enigma in a mask.”

“I want to be,” Eliott said, which he knew wasn’t much of an answer. That’s why it was so confusing, because Eliott didn’t feel like Spiderman was some enigma, he felt like he knew him.

Yann stayed silent, giving Eliott time continued to think through his feelings. “I know that I love Lucas, I think I have longer than I realized, but when Spiderman kissed me it was like something clicked into place. It was the best kiss I’ve ever had. But I don’t know if it was just meant to be that, a great kiss, or something more.”

“Well let me ask you something else,” Yann said, leaning forward in his chair. “Why do you love Lucas?”

Why didn’t he love Lucas? “How long do you have?” Eliott asked with a small laugh before continuing, “He’s just perfect. Well, not perfect, but imperfectly perfect in an unapologetic way, you know? He doesn’t do everything right all the time but it’s ok, because I love him more and more for every mistake he makes. It makes me feel more worthy of him, because god knows I’m as flawed as they come. He never once has made me feel less than anyone, though, never once has even implied that I’m a burden on him, not like so many people I cared about deeply. He doesn’t bring light everywhere he goes, but I want to follow his path anyway, because he’s afraid of the dark and I want to bring whatever light he lacks. He loves so much more intensely than he even realizes and I just know that whoever he loves would have his whole heart, and he deserves that and more in return. Plus, have you seen him? He’s the most beautiful person in the entire world.” 

Yann looked vaguely exasperated, and Eliott cringed a bit. He probably could have gone a little less in depth. “Ok… why do you love Spiderman?”

“I…” Eliott thought about it, and thought about it. Spiderman felt real to him, felt familiar, but the sad reality was that he didn’t know enough about him to even contemplate why he loved him or whether he even was in love with him. “I don’t know. It was more of an in the moment feeling, I guess.”

“Isn’t that your answer?” Yann asked.

“Isn’t what my answer?”

Yann looked Eliott right in the eye. “You love the idea of Spiderman, you love Lucas. It’s not a bad thing to love the idea of someone, a lot of times loving the idea of them can lead to real love. But would you rather live your life without Lucas or without Spiderman? Because at the end of the day that’s what it comes down to.”

“I could never live without Lucas. A life without him isn’t much of a life at all,” Eliott said instinctively. Yann simply raised his eyebrows, as if that was answer enough. Perhaps it was. 

Eliott was such a fucking idiot. 

Something occurred to him. “Wait a minute… you said you came up with the fake dating idea… why on earth would you do that if you thought it would hurt Lucas?”

“Have you never seen a romance movie before or something?” Yann asked incredulously. Eliott squinted his eyes and gestured vaguely, awaiting explanation. Yann rolled his eyes in a way that reminded Eliott very much of Lucas. “The fake dating trope? Two people who are clearly into one another decide to fake date to attract the attention of other people, but end up falling in love themselves?”

Eliott stared at Yann, mouth agape. He had no words. “My life isn’t a fanfiction,” he said stubbornly. 

“Fuck, bro, it should be,” Yann laughed, throwing his head back. Eliott probably would have laughed along if he weren’t both impressed and wary of Yann’s romcom trope knowledge, enough so that he’d successfully put it to use.   

“I think this is the point in the romcom where you go run after Lucas and confess your love to him in the pouring rain,” Yann prompted, and Eliott finally gave in, laughing.

“It’s not even raining,” he pointed out, though he knew Yann was right. He was restless now, couldn’t keep his thoughts from straying to Lucas even if he tried. 

Yann shrugged. “Even better. This way I won’t have to deal with Lucas complaining when he gets a cold from being out in the rain.”

Eliott smiled to himself at the thought. Although, if all went to plan, Lucas wouldn’t need to complain to Yann, because Eliott would wrap him up so tight and never let him go, and they would spend their days side by side like they always did, but in a completely different way.

“Well?” Yann raised his eyebrows again. “What are you waiting for?”

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott was sitting on the bench flipping his phone over and over in his hands. The bench. It was where Lucas had come out to Eliott, where Eliott had come out to Lucas, where Lucas had explained the situation with his parents and why he had been living in the basement of Manon’s flatshare for months, where Eliott had told Lucas about his diagnosis, and, today, it would be where Eliott told Lucas he loved him for the first time.

Was it too much, to say such a thing so early in what Eliott hoped would be a relationship? Maybe it was too late, that was also a possibility. He couldn’t expect Lucas to wait around for him forever, based on what Yann had insinuated. It was entirely possible Lucas was done waiting for him to get his shit together. 

What would he do if Lucas was done waiting? What would he do if they kept missing each other in love and ended up miserable? He wouldn’t go running back to Spiderman, he promised himself that much. Spiderman was Spiderman, and Spiderman was amazing, but he wasn’t Eliott’s forever. Not that he needed to be worrying about a forever in high school, but he thought Lucas might be the one to hold that title if they both opened up and allowed themselves to fall fully.

He’d never felt the way he felt about Lucas before. His only notable relationship was with Lucille, and while it had its good moments, the bad moments were bad enough that Eliott knew they could never spend their lives together. Neither of them had intentionally hurt the other, but even then Eliott was always quick to jump whenever Lucas called, even if he was on a date with Lucille. He couldn’t imagine leaving Lucas to run to anyone else. 

How in the hell had it taken him so long to realize he was head over heels in love with this tiny, grumpy, beautiful boy?

His heart was beating so rapidly he almost didn’t notice Lucas as he walked over to the bench, no limp or anything. He sat down apprehensively and Eliott scrunched his face up, abandoning his internally rehearsed romantic monologue. 

“Don’t you have a sprained ankle?” he asked instead.

Lucas narrowed his eyes, knowing that’s not why Eliott asked him to meet there. “It healed.”

“It healed,” Eliott repeated slowly. 

Lucas shrugged and nodded. Eliott was no medicine man, but he did know that it took longer for sprained ankles to heal than a couple days. Whatever, he hadn’t come to question Lucas’ body’s ability to heal sprained ankles, he’d come to tell Lucas something he’d been holding deep inside much longer than he realized.

“So… why did you want to meet me here?” Lucas asked after a beat. “Is something wrong?”

Eliott shook his head. “No, no, the opposite, actually. It’s about the person I like. More than like, I think.”

The look on Lucas’ face changed immediately, his posture shifting from comfortable to stiff, smile going from teasing to forced. “Oh?”

“I realized recently that I’ve been an idiot,” Eliott began, trying to work his way up to what he wanted to say. He didn’t want Lucas to feel tense or nervous, but he couldn’t just say I love you without explanation. He continued, “You know me, you know I get lost in fantasies more often than not, sometimes so much so I begin to mistake them for reality. I thought I fell for Spiderman because there was something special between the two of us, something undeniable, you know? It felt like I knew him, underneath the disguise. But I didn’t fall for Spiderman.”

Lucas’ head shot up, brows furrowed deeply as their eyes met. “I fell for someone else, someone I might have been falling for for years without realizing it,” Eliott continued, feeling his cheeks start to warm. Lucas looked like he was understanding what Eliott was trying to say, but he didn’t believe it. “I fell for my best friend, it just took me a little while to distinguish between real love and an idealized love. I don’t have to love a superhero to have the kind of love you find in the movies, true love will make you feel better than love in the movies, because at the end of the day, movies are just stories and this is real life. It’ll be ugly sometimes, but I’ll be damned if I lose a once in a lifetime love because I was waiting for something that doesn’t exist.”

Lucas’ brows were still furrowed, focused. “El, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, Lucas, that I love you. More than I think I’ve ever loved anyone before. I didn’t ever want to picture my world without you in it, but now I don’t ever want to picture a world without you in it as something more than my best friend. I wear my heart on my sleeve, but that heart is fake. It sees what it wants to see and expresses love that it doesn’t really feel. Love that it can never quite obtain, because it’s scared of the consequences of falling for someone for real. I’m ready to let myself fall for someone for real, and I know that it’s you,” he said breathlessly, wanting nothing more than to cup Lucas’ cheeks with his hands. 

“El…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Eliott said quickly, “I just wanted you to know how I felt. How I feel.”

It would be nice if he did say something, though, so Eliott could stop screaming internally. The lack of reaction was a bit more disconcerting than Eliott had anticipated. He’d almost prefer if Lucas screamed in his face and walked away. At least then he’d have an answer. 

An answer, instead of Lucas staring at him, mouth agape, face unreadable. Maybe he shouldn’t have, but Eliott took a moment to appreciate everything that Lucas was. If this was the end for them, if Lucas was about to walk away from him forever, he wanted one last look at what could have been, of what he’d been too stupid to see before. 

He resisted the urge to reach out and touch, possibly for the last time, those cheekbones carved from marble, the lips his eyes felt drawn to, even now, lips he wanted to kiss at least once, but as much as possible if Lucas would let him. It was undeniable that Eliott’s favorite of Lucas’ features were his eyes though, his eyes that communicated every one of his unsaid feelings if Eliott only looked long and hard enough. The clear, deep, ocean blue that had been Eliott’s favorite color from the moment they met. It troubled Eliott that he couldn’t read the words in Lucas’ eyes at that moment. 

Lucas shut his eyes, long lashes resting on his cheeks, breathing in and out. When he opened his eyes Eliott was met with a sense of clarity reflected in those wide, beautiful blue eyes that Eliott wanted to spend each day falling in love with over again. 

“Eliott. You’re a fucking idiot.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck, this was where it all went to hell. What did Yann know anyway? No one else had ever insinuated that Lucas might have a crush on him or anything, maybe Yann was just seeing what he wanted to see. Maybe this was just a giant prank and the rest of the gang was waiting to pop out and laugh at him. 

He couldn’t do this, he couldn’t be there while Lucas rejected him and stomped on his heart. He stood abruptly, starting to walk away when he felt a hand on his arm, making him stop and turn around. Lucas took a step closer to him, face shining with emotions Eliott couldn’t place.

“Eliott,” Lucas repeated, placing his hands on either side of Eliott’s face, raising up onhis toes a bit, “You’re a fucking idiot because I love you so much .”

Eliott was barely able to process the words because a moment later their faces were close, close, closer, until their lips were touching and they were kissing and the rest of the world fell away.

His hands were in Lucas’ hair, Lucas’ brilliant hair, and Lucas’ hands were on his face, both clutching each other so tightly, as if they might fall apart at any moment. There was a symphony, a swell inside Eliott’s head and he couldn’t help but imagine this was a scene in a movie. Somehow, he’d gotten the boy, the boy of his dreams. If Lucas’ parallel universes did exist, Eliott wondered how many versions of them had found each other and how many were still searching. 

There was no doubt in his mind that every Eliott found their Lucas in every universe. Eliott was a hopeless romantic after all, he believed in soulmates, and he knew in that moment Lucas was his. He felt like an idiot for not realizing it much earlier, just as Lucas had said he was, but he firmly believed that things like this took as long as necessary, and once they fell into place that was it. Sure, they’d probably have some ups and downs, but Eliott was fairly certain his love for Lucas would never waver again.  

Eliott felt something wet on his face and he wondered briefly if one of them was crying, but he sank further into the kiss anyway, until Lucas pulled away and looked up at the sky in confusion. They barely had a moment before the clouds opened up and dumped what felt like an ocean’s worth of water down on them. Eliott nearly laughed, thinking of Yann and his romcom tropes. Kissing in the rain, what a cliché. 

He looked down at Lucas, who was still looking up at the rain with an incredibly blissed out expression, and he couldn’t help himself, he simply pulled Lucas face back up to his in another searing kiss that made his mind go completely blank in the best way possible. 

Sure his kiss with Spiderman had been amazing, but this was otherworldly. It had that same sort of familiarity as the kiss with Spiderman, like coming home, but Eliott could feel all the unsaid words and emotions between the two of them coursing through their kiss, a kiss that Eliott wanted to be a part of forever.

“I thought you would hate me forever when you found out,” Lucas said in a hushed gasp, dropping his gaze. Eliott understood his concern, even though he couldn’t imagine a world where he hated Lucas, even for a minute. 

“Found out what?” Eliott teased. Truly, he just wanted to hear Lucas say it again. Maybe then he would actually believe it, start to understand that this wasn’t just a giant prank and the man of his dreams also thought that he was the man of his dreams.

Lucas rolled his eyes fondly. “You know what.”

“I really don’t, enlighten me,” Eliott said with faux confusion. 

Lucas mumbled something Eliott couldn’t make out with the sound of the rain pelting them from every direction. Eliott raised one eyebrow, eliciting another eyeroll. “That I love you too,” Lucas said, a bit louder.

“Love me, do you?” Eliott gasped. 

“Idiot.”

“He said with love,” Eliott grinned. 

Lucas stepped back and crossed his arms. “You clearly didn’t think so a minute ago.”

Eliott laughed loudly. “Hey, fuck off! You weren’t saying anything, I thought for sure you were going to turn me down.”

“As if anyone could turn you down. They’d have to be blind.”

“Oh, so you only like me for my looks then?”

Lucas shrugged, cocky smirk on his face. “Added bonus.” 

Eliott cupped his face and split into a grin so wide he was sure Lucas would find it overly cheesy or annoying. He spoke seriously, wanting to make sure Lucas heard him loud and clear. “I want you to know, wholeheartedly, that even if I didn’t feel the same way I would never hate you.” 

“I’m still having trouble believing that you feel the same way, honestly,” Lucas said. 

“Well, you’d better get used to it, I’m never letting you go,” Eliott said with an uptick of one eyebrow. 

“Never?” Lucas asked, and his voice was so small, so intimate, that Eliott just wanted to wrap him up in his arms and carry him all the way home. So he did. 

Lucas let out a gasp of indignation when Eliott picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, dissolving into small giggles. 

“Never,” Eliott promised.

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott woke up next to Lucas, just as he had a few weeks prior, but everything was different about it now. Now, he didn’t have to pretend to be asleep when Lucas made a soft sigh and snuggled in closer to Eliott. Now, he could pull Lucas into him, feel Lucas press his face into his chest, and smile. 

He wasn’t sure how early or late it was, but he was grateful for their fake dating ruse because that meant no one would bother them about their whereabouts, assuming they were together. And they were, together for real. Not that they’d talked about it yet, but Eliott was fairly confident that they could take the ‘fake’ off ‘fake-boyfriends’. 

“El,” Lucas said sleepily, barely audible with his face in Eliott’s shirt. He lifted his face up and cracked his eyes open wearily. “Am I dreaming?”

“No,” Eliott affirmed with a grin, running one hand through Lucas’ hair. 

Lucas’ eyes flicked down as a soft smile spread over his face. “Oh,” he said, “Good.”

If Eliott could have captured Lucas’ face in that moment, he would have hung that picture up all over his house so he could see it everywhere he went. 

“Good,” Eliott repeated, and Lucas nodded. Lucas lifted his face back up, eyes trained on Eliott’s lips, and that was another sight Eliott could get used to. Lucas had the most adorable face when he wanted a kiss, a bit like a puppy, eyes heavily hooded in desire. Eliott, ever the gentleman, obliged him after taking a moment to appreciate Lucas’ cuteness. 

Their lips met in a softer fashion than they had the night before, knowing they had all the time in the world. They fit perfectly, matching lips and matching souls like they were always meant to. The night prior had brought a fervent passion with it, a desire so strong they could barely keep their hands off each other on the short walk back to Eliott’s place. Eliott had set Lucas down after a bit, unable to keep himself from kissing him again. At that point they’d both been soaked by the rain, but the warmth in Eliott’s chest kept any lingering chills away. He had a funny feeling Lucas felt the same way.

Plus, the rain had given them a reason to shower when they got back. After holding back from loving each other for so long, it was hard to not want to jump into everything right away, but they restrained themselves quite well— though not completely— for the time being. That wasn’t to say they’d taken separate showers. Please. But at least they hadn’t kept each other up all night, no matter how much they both wanted to. 

Lucas had fallen asleep with his head on Eliott’s chest, wearing Eliott’s clothes, and the world had felt so right at that moment. That rightness had carried into the morning, and lingered in every kiss they stole, smile they shared. 

Now, Lucas’ lips were still on his, and they were still lying lazily, no plans to do anything else for the entire day. He tasted better than Eliott even imagined, unlike anything Eliott had ever tasted before, but exactly like home. 

Eliott pulled Lucas on top of him and released a soft breath as Lucas leaned into him, joining their bodies together in perfect harmony. Eliott raised himself up slightly on his elbows and Lucas raised up with him, wrapping his hands to cup Eliott’s face, pressing into him little by little. 

Eliott suddenly had the sensation of the wind being knocked out of him and he flew off the bed, falling to the floor with a dazed expression. Lucas’ eyes were wide as they poked over above him.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, are you ok?” Lucas asked, assessing Eliott’s face with his eyes. Eliott scrunched his nose up and blinked slowly. 

“What the fuck just happened?” Eliott wheezed, and Lucas bit his lip, falling back onto his own pillow. 

He coughed uncomfortably. “Um, I guess I got a little too into it.”

“So you flipped me off the bed?” 

“I was trying to flip our positions,” Lucas said meekly, and Eliott couldn’t help but giggle from the floor.

Eliott sat up and looked at Lucas with raised eyebrows. “And you say you’re weak.”

“I guess I underestimate my strength sometimes,” Lucas shrugged uncomfortably. It was a bit odd that Lucas had accidentally thrown him off the bed, Eliott didn’t ever think he could do that accidentally, but stranger things had happened. Eliott narrowed his eyes but didn’t push the subject further, noting the panicked light in Lucas’ eyes. He didn’t want Lucas to feel bad about the situation at all. 

“Hey,” he said, standing up and plopping himself back down on the bed next to Lucas, “It’s ok, I’m fine. It was kind of funny, actually. Just don’t tell the gang about it, they’d never let either of us live it down.” 

Lucas cracked a small smile, finally. “Deal.”

“Does this mean it’s breakfast time?” Eliott asked, eliciting a groan from Lucas, who reached for him with grabby hands.

“No. Cuddle time,” Lucas said adamantly, and who was Eliott to refuse? He sunk back into the mess of pillows and sheets, pulling Lucas back onto his chest. This was his favorite way to lay with Lucas, he decided, arms circling him protectively. Not that Lucas actually had to be protected, but Eliott wanted to give him the sense that he would be there if the opportunity arose. Maybe he could be Lucas’ superhero.

Eliott looked down at Lucas head on his chest, hair flipping every which way. “Are you going to tell me how your ankle healed so fast now?”

Lucas scrunched his face up and tipped his head back to meet Eliott’s gaze. “Why? I don’t know, it just healed quickly, I guess.”

“Sprained ankles usually take over a month to heal,” Eliott pointed out, and Lucas sighed.

“Well, sprained was an over exaggeration. I told Manon it was sprained because then she wouldn’t fuss about me missing school, and apparently she told anyone who would listen. It twisted weird and they thought it might have been sprained, but I went back to the doctor’s office a couple days ago and it turns out it was just a muscle strain,” Lucas explained. 

“Hmm,” Eliott said.

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Hmm? That’s all you have to say?”

“I don’t know, I was worried about you! You had crutches!” Eliott said with a laugh. 

“The crutches were just a precaution, I literally only used them the day you all came over,” Lucas said, resting his head back down on Eliott’s chest. 

Eliott ran his fingers idly up and down Lucas’ spine. “Damn. I was looking forward to being your knight in shining armor.”

He felt Lucas’ grin pressed into the fabric of his shirt and couldn’t help but grin right back, even though Lucas wasn’t looking. “How do you know I’m not your knight in shining armor?” Lucas shot back. 

Eliott scoffed. “ Because , I’m older, I have to be your knight in shining armor. Plus you’re as beautiful as all the princesses waiting in their tall towers for someone to come rescue them.” 

“Are you saying I’m a damsel in distress?” 

“If the shoe fits.”

“You’re mixing a lot of different fairytale stories here, I can’t keep up.”

“I could have made a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves joke about how tiny you are, but notice how I refrained?”

Lucas swatted him playfully and pouted. “I think that counts as making the joke.”

Eliott widened his eyes innocently and grinned wider than he had in a long time. Lucas continued, “Would it be so weird, if you were the damsel, and I was your knight?” His voice carried a timid quality Eliott didn’t entirely recognize.

He thought about Lucas’ question. Would it be weird? Not really, even if Eliott admittedly couldn’t imagine it. He wanted to protect Lucas from any evils the world had to offer, and he would go to the ends of the earth to do so. If he was so busy doing that, what would Lucas have to save Eliott from? Himself, maybe, but Lucas had always been rather apt at that.

“I have been the damsel,” Eliott said, “But my only enemy has been my own mind.”

“And was I your knight?” Lucas asked softly, tracing lines from Eliott’s brows to his cheekbones to his jaw. 

Eliott clasped that hand softly with his own, holding it pressed up against his face. “You were more than that. You were my light.”

Lucas’ grip tightened, even as he said, “Nope, not possible.”

“Excuse me?” 

“I can’t be your light when yours is brighter than any star in the universe,” Lucas told him matter-of-factly. If Eliott wasn’t already in love, he might have fallen right in that moment. No one else in his life would ever say something like that and mean it the way Lucas did. It was a beautiful thing, to see yourself the way someone else did, even if he didn’t entirely agree.

“Even the sun?” Eliott asked, deflecting the thickness in his throat that threatened tears of pure love. 

Lucas laughed, loud and harsh. “The sun ? You think the sun is the brightest star in the universe?”

“Isn’t it?” Eliott asked genuinely.

“Um, no ,” Lucas scoffed, “Have you never taken an astronomy class or anything?”

Eliott laughed a bit to himself. “Uh, no, I haven’t.”

Lucas’ face softened, then turned bright red. “Oh.” He laughed, hiding his face in Eliott’s chest. “Sorry. But, um, the sun isn’t the brightest star in the universe.”

“Well then what is?”

Lucas shrugged. “We don’t know. The brightest star known to man is Sirius, though.”

“Like Sirius Black?” Eliott asked with a grin. Lucas was a massive Harry Potter nerd, though he might claim otherwise. 

“Exactly like that,” Lucas said with a sly grin, “J.K. Rowling named him after that star, also known as the dog star. His name literally means ‘Black Dog’. And Remus Lupin is basically just ‘Werewolf McWerewolf’.”

“Do you think that in an alternate universe we met at Hogwarts?” Eliott asked, goading Lucas further into the topic. He loved the way Lucas’ eyes gleamed with a wild light when they talked about something he had an endless supply of knowledge on. 

“Of course,” Lucas said, “You’re obviously a Ravenclaw, but maybe you transferred from Beauxbatons or something, you know, for the intrigue of it all. I’d be a Gryffindor—”

Eliott cut him off with a laugh. “Pssh! Please. You’re Slytherin through and through.”

“Trust me, pal, I’ve considered it all, but at the end of the day I’m a Gryffindor and that’s all there is to it,” Lucas argued, “Though I’m glad you think I’m part of the sexy house.”

“Isn’t Slytherin the evil house?”

“That’s what they want you to think.”

“And what do you think?”

Lucas considered him carefully. “I think… that even as a Ravenclaw, you’re the sexiest of them all.”

Eliott closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You’re making it very difficult to just cuddle.”

“Oh yeah?” Lucas goaded, and even with his eyes closed Eliott could hear his wide, toothy grin. “And what do you want to do instead?”

“Don’t tempt me, L,” Eliott pleaded, only half joking. 

“What if I want to?”

Eliott’s eyes opened in a snap, Lucas’ face hovering over his. “You’re going to be the death of me, I hope you’re aware of that.”

“That was the plan all along, didn’t you know,” Lucas said softly, leaning in even further, lips meeting again in perfect harmony. It seemed they wouldn’t be leaving bed the entire day. Eliott had trouble finding a reason to complain about that.

Maybe the moment was fleeting, but in that moment everything was right in the world.

Chapter Text

They hadn’t talked about how their PDA around their friends would change now that they were officially dating for real, but considering the looks they were getting, they probably should have. Yann, of course, knew everything, so he accepted it with a conspiratorial wink, but Arthur and Basile kept pretending to vomit and looking at them like they’d each grown an extra head. 

Maybe they could lay off the PDA a little, but truthfully Eliott didn’t care all that much. He wanted everyone to know how much he loved Lucas, and he hoped Lucas felt the same. Scratch that, he knew Lucas felt the same, and still couldn’t believe his luck.

He was currently sitting with Lucas and the girls in the foyer, Lucas’ head in his lap as they talked about whatever plans Daphné had concocted for some weekend coming up. Eliott didn’t know if he and Lucas would join, but he stayed somewhat engaged with the conversation, zoning out every once and a while to play with Lucas’ hair. 

“Why don’t you do that with my hair?” Daphné pouted, turning to look at Manon and resting her head on Manon’s shoulder. As Manon laughed and dropped a kiss onto her forehead Lucas sat up so fast Eliott barely had time to register his absence. 

“Why doesn’t who do what with what now?” Lucas asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. Eliott bit back a smirk, meeting Imane’s eyes across their group. A new development, apparently, was that Manon and Daphné were now dating. Eliott only knew about it because he’d been the first to show up at the foyer, well, not the first technically, because the two of them were already there making out. He would have told Lucas, but in the end the three of them agreed it would be funnier not to. 

Manon sighed melodramatically, crossing her legs. “That’ll be the last time I show any sort of PDA with my girlfriend, then,” she said, and Eliott couldn’t help but laugh. He’d almost forgotten that’s how Lucas decided to tell their friends that they were (fake) dating. 

Lucas opened his mouth in shock, then narrowed his eyes when he realized Eliott didn’t look shocked at all. “You knew?”

“Not mine to tell,” he said, miming zipping his lips.

Lucas scrunched his nose up and huffed. Eliott fell in love all over again. “Just for that no kisses until after school.”

“Nooo…” Eliott pleaded playfully, knowing Lucas’ resolve wouldn’t hold up under his best attempt at puppy dog eyes. Lucas looked away with another huff, crossing his arms. Eliott poked his head around and continued with the puppy dog eyes, because really he just had to be patient. Lucas was a stubborn little shit, but he always caved to Eliott, even when they were just friends. Eliott saw the corner of Lucas’ mouth start to lift and he knew he won. 

“Fine,” Lucas said, “But only because you’re so cute.”

Eliott grinned cheesily, squinting his eyes and scrunching up his nose. “Oh, fuck you,” Lucas whispered as he leaned in for a kiss, continuing when they broke apart. “You can’t do shit like that and expect me to not want to rip your clothes off right here, right now.”

“Do shit like what? Smile?” 

“ Yes .”

Eliott smiled again, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. Lucas rolled his eyes half heartedly, leaning back in for another kiss, clearly forgetting he claimed resistance not so long ago.

“Ugh, we get it, you guys are as annoyingly adorable as Manon and Daphné. Now can you please either get a room or wait until I rinse my eyes with bleach to continue?” Emma groaned, shoving her face into Alexia’s shoulder, who patted her head sympathetically. 

Imane pointed between the two of them. “Don’t you two go hooking up now, I can’t deal with three sets of disaster gays.”

Emma laughed into Alexia’s shoulder while Alexia shrugged, pretending to consider. “No promises,” she said, “But only because you don’t swing my way Imane.”

“Hey, who said I do?” Emma asked, poking her head up. 

“Literally all of us,” Manon answered, everyone in the group nodding in agreement. Emma seemed ok with this, simply shrugging and laying her head back down on Alexia’s shoulder. 

Daphné cleared her throat then, clearly trying to bring their attention back to whatever they had actually met there for in the first place. Lucas settled his head back into Eliott’s lap and Eliott turned his attention to her, pretending it was possible for him to think about anything other than the beautiful boy looking up at him with such adoration.

“Next weekend,” Daphné continued, blushing lightly as Manon folded their hands together, “Party of the century!”

“Do explain,” Alexia prompted, bolstering Daphné’s confidence. 

“I mean, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Since we’ve had a good party?” When none of them answered Daphné sighed, pouting. “Yes, Daphné, it has been a while, please tell us your idea,” she said to herself, glaring at each of them in turn. 

“Yes, Daphné, it has been a while, please tell us your idea,” Manon repeated, allowing Daphné to soften. Did Eliott look like that all the time around Lucas? He was almost certain he did, and probably had longer than he realized. 

Daphné sat up a bit straighter, spreading her arms wide. “Secret. Foyer. Party.”

“Secret… foyer… party,” Imane clarified, with much less enthusiasm. 

“Come on, guys! I thought you’d be more excited!” Daphné exclaimed a bit angrily. 

“Whooo!” Lucas raised his fist and pumped it in the air. “Secret foyer party!”

“Thank you!” 

Eliott dropped his eyes and caught the end of Lucas’ shit eating grin. He jostled Lucas’ head with his knees, nodding in Daphné’s direction. She was not someone to be messed with, even though she looked soft and sweet. Lucas just laughed and pulled Eliott’s face down for another kiss. Eliott wasn’t upset about it.

“I’m thinking the theme will be ‘infiltration’,” Daphné said, clearly proud of herself. 

Manon narrowed her eyes. “You have an ulterior motive.”

Daphné scoffed, drawing her hand back and crossing her arms. “I do not.”

“Yes, you do,” Manon argued, still smiling serenely. “I know you Daph. Quite well, I might add.”

“Ewwww gross, Manon,” Lucas whined jokingly.

“You literally have your head in Eliott’s lap.”

“And what about it?”

“Guys!” Daphné clapped. “Infiltration!”

Emma humored her. “What exactly does infiltration entail, Daphné?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” Daphné paused dramatically, making sure everyone’s eyes were on her. “Since it will be a secret foyer party, we’ll all be dressed in masks and espionage themed outfits. Plus some neon, because I bought a blacklight, and I won’t let it go to waste.”

As far as themes went, it wasn’t the worst one Eliott had ever heard, even if it was a little out of nowhere.  

Alexia leaned to the middle of their makeshift circle and stage whispered, “She chose this theme because she wants Spiderman to come.”

“Alexia!” Daphné gasped angrily, but Eliott’s attention wasn’t on her. It was on Lucas, who tensed, jaw clenching in a way that couldn’t have been comfortable. Eliott wondered if he harbored any ill will towards Spiderman, given that he’d been the object of Eliott’s desire in the first place. 

“Spiderman is not going to come,” Imane said boredly, yet sternly. 

“He might,” Lucas said with the same blasé tone. 

“He won’t ,” Imane said, even more adamantly, and Lucas rolled his eyes. Eliott felt like he was missing something, and he could tell the rest of the girls felt the same way. 

“So, what do you need us for?” Manon cut in cheerfully, breaking up the tension that had somehow built up. Eliott really hoped it wasn’t there because Lucas hated Spiderman or something. Sure, Eliott didn’t like him like that anymore, but he was still a pretty cool dude. 

Daphné bit her lip, shrugging. “I don’t know yet. I still haven’t figured out how we’ll be able to get in here over the weekend.”

“Ah, leave that to me,” Alexia said, not elaborating further. Daphné seemed to decide to take her word for it and she moved on turning to, of all people, Eliott. 

“You’re an artist.” It was a statement, and Eliott didn’t know what response she desired. 

“I am…?” 

Her eyes brightened again. “Can you make a cool mural or something that will glow under blacklight? Something ‘infiltration’ themed, obviously. But like, discreet enough that the headmaster won’t realize it’s for a secret party?”

He considered this, though it wasn’t like he could really say no. Maybe he could rope Lucas into helping him. “Sure,” he decided.

Daphné clapped excitedly. “This is going to be the greatest party ever!”

Eliott sure hoped so, but if not at least he could escape somewhere with Lucas and have an even better time. He recalled the last party the two of them had gone to together and how even then he’d felt a bit overwhelmed with the urge to kiss Lucas, not understanding why. At least now he wouldn’t have to hold back, and he knew exactly why he wanted to do it. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott was trying really hard not to be worried about Lucas. This was the third time he’d flaked on their plans, which wasn’t a big deal because they had just seen each other all day at school, but Eliott was still uneasy. It was either this or he would randomly have to leave in the middle of hanging out, but Mika and Manon were none the wiser to his whereabouts either.

Eliott checked his phone again, wondering if he watched it long enough he would get an explanation. As if summoned by his thoughts, a text from Lucas came in and he read it right away. 

Lucas: Sorry for being The Worst

Eliott: shut up dummy 

Eliott: as if you could ever be the worst

Lucas: I’ve just been so flakey lately, and I’m sorry :(

Eliott: just give me extra kisses tomorrow and all will be forgiven ;) 

Lucas: I’ll do you one better

Eliott: ???

Eliott only had a moment to wonder what Lucas meant before he heard a tap on his window. Lucas’ stupid beautiful face was sticking his tongue out at him from outside, and Eliott rushed over to open the window.

“What the hell?” he laughed as Lucas clambered through the window. 

Lucas shrugged, grinning goofily. “I figured I’d spice things up.”

“Climbing four floors up the fire escape isn't my definition of ‘spicing things up’, but to each their own,” Eliott said, pressing a kiss to the top of Lucas’ head.

“Hey,” Lucas said, when Eliott walked back over to close the window. He turned around, question in his eyes. “I love you,” Lucas continued, and Eliott had no choice but to take long steps across the room and sweep Lucas up in his arms. 

He pressed kisses to Lucas’ hairline, his temples, his forehead, his nose, and finally his lips. “You’re so beautiful,” he said between kisses, “And I love you too. More than you know.”

Lucas shook his head, wrinkling his nose up at Eliott as if he wasn’t enjoying every moment of affection, and it only made Eliott want to kiss him even more. Eliott knocked their foreheads together gently, arms resting on Lucas’ shoulders. “Want to make copious amounts of popcorn and watch the greatest movie of the decade?” he asked.

Lucas raised one eyebrow. “And which movie is that again?”

“ La La Land ,” Eliott answered, because the answer should have been obvious. Granted, this wasn’t the first time he and Lucas had watched ‘the greatest movie of the decade’, because Eliott’s favorites changed rather often.

“The musical?” Lucas clarified, distaste written on his face. 

Eliott scoffed in offense, releasing his hold on Lucas and going over to grab his laptop. “Yes, the musical, but that’s not all it is. It’s a story about love and chasing your dreams!”

“But they don’t end up together,” Lucas complained, going into the kitchen and putting a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

Eliott whipped around to face him. “Who told you that?”

Lucas giggled, looking completely unfazed that he’d been spoiled for the ending of the movie. “You did?”

Oh, well, that was Eliott’s bad then. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure he remembered coming home from the movie for the first time and calling Lucas immediately, dying to talk about it with someone. He’d seen a lot of himself in both Mia and Sebastian, but he’d seen a little bit of Lucas in them too. All the small— but at the same time glaringly obvious— signs he’d been in love with Lucas all this time kept showing up, didn’t they. 

“I’m certain I didn’t tell you everything , though,” Eliott countered, even though he very well might have. He’d never really expected Lucas to listen when he talked about things like musicals and cinematography.

The timer went off on the microwave, and Lucas poked his head out of the kitchen to gaze at Eliott so softly Eliott’s heart contracted in on itself. “Even if you did, we both know I’m going to watch La La Land with you and I’m going to love it despite pretending I won’t.”

“Have I mentioned recently that I love you?” Eliott asked sincerely, despite Lucas’ answering snicker. 

“Once or twice, maybe,” Lucas said, followed by a sharp curse as he likely burnt himself on the popcorn bag trying to pour it into a bowl. Eliott smiled to himself, because this happened every time Lucas made popcorn for the two of them, somehow never learning from the past. A second later Lucas appeared with a massive bowl of popcorn and a wild smile. 

“Where to?”

Eliott nodded towards his bedroom, and Lucas blushed, despite the fact they’d been there together a million and a half times. It wasn’t like there was ever any pressure to do anything, but the opportunity was always there, hovering above both of their heads. It used to be unattainable, but now all they had to do was reach out and touch. So, Eliott did, brushing his fingers against the back of one of Lucas’ hands before making his way to his bedroom, looking over his shoulder with one eyebrow raised. 

A few kisses later, the bowl of popcorn sat between the two of them on the bed, serving as a buffer of sorts. It wasn’t that Eliott didn’t want to forget about the movie and kiss Lucas senseless, but he had to practice some form of self control. Plus, he was going to get Lucas to like La La Land even if it was the death of him. 

Still, the air was charged, and Eliott was pretty sure he spent more time watching Lucas than the movie. He couldn’t help himself, it was like he was discovering all these new things, loving each one more than the last. 

The blue of Lucas’ eyes had always been his favorite color, little oceans determined to make Eliott lose his balance until he fell overboard. His hair was a little bit longer than it had been in a while, but Eliott loved it, fingers dancing as they remembered the way the silky strands felt in his hands while they kissed. Lucas was also way more muscular than Eliott ever remembered him being, which wasn’t a bad thing, just surprising. Though Lucas had said he’d been going to the gym more often, so he supposed his efforts were paying off. If Eliott was being honest, he found it kind of hot even if it did make him feel a little inadequate.

“For someone who wanted to watch this movie, you’re not doing much watching,” Lucas hummed, still looking at the screen, but he had a knowing smirk on his face. 

Eliott was unperturbed by the fact Lucas had caught him staring. “I can’t help it when you look so beautiful.”

He saw Lucas’ breath catch, even though he knew Lucas would go on as if Eliott’s words hadn’t affected him in the slightest. As predicted, Lucas sighed, continuing, “I’m beautiful all the time.”

“Oh you think this is a one time thing?” Eliott asked with a small laugh. “Good luck ever getting me to stop staring at you and your beauty.”

Lucas groaned, but he didn’t seem too upset. “Romantic fuck,” was all he said before moving the (now empty) popcorn bowl out of the way and pulling Eliott to him. 

Between kisses Lucas shook his head, sighing again but this time in a lovesick sort of way. Eliott thought it was so adorable he could hardly breathe. “I’m the one who’s been pining all this time, I should be the one with the grand romantic statements,” Lucas complained, and Eliott giggled.

“You remember who I am, right? No one can out romance me,” Eliott said, brushing strands of Lucas’ hair behind his ears as he held either side of his face. 

“Is that a challenge?” Lucas asked, voice barely a whisper as he pressed his lips to Eliott’s once more. Eliott merely hummed in response, deepening their kiss and moving his hands from Lucas’ face to his chest. Lucas grinned into Eliott’s mouth, meeting Eliott’s hands with his own and using them to pull his shirt off. Eliott’s own shirt was quick to follow and suddenly Eliott was on top of Lucas, pushing him down onto the bed. Lucas’ hands trailed down the bare skin of Eliott’s back and Eliott nearly shivered as Lucas’ fingertips brushed his spine.

His hands fiddled with the button on Lucas’ jeans when Lucas opened his eyes abruptly, as if someone had shocked him. All the hairs on his arms looked like they were standing on end. Eliott sat back immediately, eyes searching Lucas’ face.

“Is everything ok?” he asked. They’d gone farther than that before… he hoped Lucas wasn’t uncomfortable. 

The panicked expression on Lucas’ face softened a bit, and he brushed a hand down Eliott’s cheek. “Yeah, yeah, sorry, it’s not about you, or this, I just… I have to go.”

“But you just got here,” Eliott said, confused. 

“I know.” Lucas twisted his lips, biting the inside of his cheek. “I don’t want to leave, but there’s something I have to do.”

The warmth in Eliott’s chest went away as quickly as it had come, and he rolled off the bed, finding Lucas’ discarded shirt on the floor and tossing it to him. “Ok. Um, see you tomorrow? Painting the mural?”

A million emotions flickered over Lucas’ features, too quick for Eliott to discern any of them. “Yeah, tomorrow,” he agreed, pausing with his shirt in his hands. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine, Lucas,” Eliott assured him, because it was fine, he was just confused. If it wasn’t anything he’d done, what was the problem? Lucas looked at him, love in his eyes, crossing the room to pull Eliott into a blinding kiss that, by the time Eliott recovered from it, Lucas was gone.

He was gone without a trace it seemed, and when Eliott left his bedroom to see if Lucas was at the door all he saw was an empty flat, draft coming from the open window. He must have forgotten to close it when Lucas came in. When he tried to close it, his hand brushed against something sticky and he retracted it as if he’d been burned, leaning down to inspect.

It looked like a spiderweb… Great, he definitely needed spiders roaming about in his apartment. It was ironic that he’d had a minor crush on Spiderman when he hated actual spiders more than anything, but Spiderman wasn’t an actual spider, so. 

The night breeze felt kind of nice, actually, so Eliott stepped out onto his fire escape, admiring the city from this point of view. He wished Lucas was still there to admire it with him, but he’d settle for a joint at the present moment. Luckily, he had one handy, so he lit it with the lighter Lucas had gotten him on a whim one time because the one he’d had forever had stopped working and let his thoughts mull around in his mind. 

They strayed to Lucas, because Lucas had been a permanent fixture in his mind for years, but their new relationship had expanded that tenfold. As long as Eliott had known him, Lucas had never been one to forget plans or bail early with little to no excuse, so his forgetfulness lately confused Eliott a little bit. Sure, everyone had things going on, but the secrecy and lack of explanation was a bit suspicious, if Eliott was being honest with himself. He didn’t know if Lucas didn’t trust him, or if he just left without explanations because Eliott never demanded one. 

He blew smoke through his nose, stubbing out the joint after only a few hits, too in his head to enjoy it properly. It wasn’t like his plans for the night had been ruined, because he hadn’t had plans until Lucas showed up at his window with that goofy, intoxicating grin of his, but now he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed regardless, wishing Lucas was there so they could ‘accidentally’ fall asleep together and cuddle all night long. 

He stumbled back into his flat through the window, wondering how Lucas had come in so gracefully and went straight to his fridge as if it may grant him the answers to the universe. It didn’t, but he did realize he was out of milk, eggs, and beer, so he decided there was no time like the present to run out to the store and stock up on those essentials. 

On his way out he realized he was still missing his favorite brown jacket, the one he’d lent to Spiderman all that time ago. He wondered if he’d ever get it back, wondered if he’d ever even see Spiderman again. It wasn’t a problem if he didn’t, but it was a bit strange how after they’d kissed Spiderman had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. Or out of Eliott’s life, at the very least. He was all over the city from what Eliott had seen on social media and the news. Hell, he’d probably even show up to Daphné’s party. 

The store was only about a block away from Eliott’s flat, so the lack of jacket wasn’t too noticeable, but there was still a chill in the air he hadn’t felt in its entirety out on his balcony. There were quite a few people hovering around the store, many more than Eliott saw on a regular daily basis, and Eliott wondered why. 

People were whispering to one another, passing phones and trying to get a better view over one another and Eliott caught the barest hints of their conversations as he wove his way through the throng of people.

“Did you see—?”

“That was insane!”

“How did Spiderman get here so quickly?”

Eliott stopped where he stood, turning to the person that had just spoken. “Did you say Spiderman?”

The girl in question smirked, raising her eyebrows. “Where have you been? Spiderman just came out of nowhere and stopped a robbery in progress inside the store. I don’t know how he knew so quickly… he’s so fearless, too, the robber had a gun on him and he just dodged every bullet without breaking a sweat. Well, maybe he did break a sweat, but with the suit you can’t really tell…” she trailed off, and Eliott stopped paying attention, pushing back through the way he’d come. A sense of urgency had overtaken him, and he figured Spiderman might still be close by so they could at least have a conversation. Maybe it wasn’t the best time, but Eliott was tired of waiting.

He almost ran past his building when a blur of red and blue caught his eye from the fire escape. He skidded to a halt, blinking up at the figure looking through his window. “Spiderman?” he called out, then realized he should lower his voice a bit. “Spiderman?”

That unreadable gaze turned to face him, and Spiderman froze like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have. Eliott went to the base of the fire escape, but Spiderman jumped down with ease before Eliott could even begin to ascend the many stairs. 

“What are you doing here?” Eliott asked.

“Stopping a robbery,” Spiderman said, completely casually, as if he hadn’t just been peering through Eliott’s window. 

Eliott sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know that. I meant what are you doing at my flat?”

Spiderman shrugged, leaning against the building. “I was in the neighborhood?”

“Hilarious, L,” Eliott said, massaging his temples with one hand.

Spiderman stumbled, masked voice coming out a bit shaky. “What did you just call me?”

Eliott furrowed his brows, then blushed as he realized his slip of the tongue. “Sorry, I don’t know where that came from. Well, I do, it’s the nickname I have for my boyfriend, but I don’t know why I just called you that. Habit, maybe.” He shrugged apologetically. “Sorry.”

Spiderman didn’t say anything, and Eliott wondered if he was thinking about how Eliott had technically ‘cheated’ on said boyfriend when the two of them had kissed. He debated setting the record straight, but now that he wasn’t pining after Spiderman anymore, he didn’t really see the point, it would only confuse things more. 

“So… long time no see,” Eliott tried, never knowing how to break the ice on an awkward conversation, especially when this one was so far out of anything he’d ever experienced before. 

“Yeah,” Spiderman agreed, settling back against the wall again. “Sorry about that.”

Eliott shook his head. “Don’t be, I just wanted to see you one last time, to clarify things.”

Spiderman cocked his head to one side. “Oh?”

“When you kissed me, I was more shocked than anything,” Eliott admitted, “And sure, it was a good kiss, but I need you to know that I’m very, very , in love with my boyfriend.”

“I’m sure he’s fantastic,” Spiderman agreed, and Eliott didn’t quite know if he was being sarcastic or not. 

Eliott coughed, offering, “We can still be, like, friends, though. If you want. You’re still a pretty great person. Or spider-person, or whatever.”

“What would your boyfriend say about that?” Spiderman asked.

Eliott laughed, thinking about Lucas’ reaction in his mind. He was pretty sure that they were confident enough in their feelings for one another that it wouldn’t matter. He was also pretty sure Spiderman wouldn’t hang around him as much now that there was nothing between them, so it wouldn’t really even be a problem. Something told him that Lucas would like Spiderman, though, if they ever met.

“I really don’t think he’d be too worried about it. We can all hang out together, if you want,” he suggested, knowing that was probably pushing it a bit far, but wanting to show Spiderman how serious he was about his relationship with Lucas. The look Spiderman gave him was somewhere between belief and disbelief, or maybe he was just reading too far into things given what he could discern from the mask. 

“Eliott,” Spiderman said, taking a step towards him, “I’m sorry.”

That was not what he had been expecting. “Sorry? For what?”

“All the things I want to tell you,” Spiderman said. He looked down at his hands, at his suit. “Your boyfriend is one lucky guy.”

He started to walk away, but Eliott stopped him, placing a hand on his arm. He was too confused to just let him walk away again. “You can tell me anything, I swear I won’t tell a soul unless you want me to.”

But Spiderman just shook his head. “You’d never forgive me.”

“I bet I would.”

“Don’t say that, please.” Spiderman tore his arm from Eliott’s grip, pausing and looking up at him. “I’d say ‘see you around’, but I think it’d be best if we both forgot about each other.”

“What are you so afraid of?” Eliott asked genuinely. He knew where he stood with his feelings, and even if Spiderman maybe liked him, it was clear to both of them that was never going to happen, especially when Spiderman wouldn’t even remove his mask fully to kiss Eliott.

Spiderman laughed, like the question had been funny. “Oh, El. Everything,” he said, shooting a web to the top of the building next to Eliott’s apartment and swinging out of sight before Eliott even had a chance to respond. Instead, he stood in the alley alone, more confused than ever.

L🕷U🕷C🕷A🕷S

He’d been stupid, going back to Eliott’s place, but every decision he made was stupid when it came to Eliott, so he hadn’t thought it through at the time. Now he couldn’t stop overthinking every word he’d said. Eliott had looked so puzzled, so lost, and Lucas knew that his words were probably coming from a million different directions and causing more confusion than closure.

He’d called Eliott El, and Eliott had called him L, but he prayed the former had gone unnoticed. There was a part of him that worried Eliott still yearned for the hero that he thought Spiderman was, that he’d leave Lucas in a heartbeat if there was a chance of something more between them. 

(He knew this was stupid, that he was Spiderman, and Eliott couldn’t very well leave him for him , but Lucas rationalized that Eliott could, in fact, leave him for the idea of him.)

As he’d sat with Eliott, watching a movie that pretty much encapsulated all the things Eliott loved about cinema, and realized that this was real, they were really together, he’d wanted to stay in that moment forever. But, of course, when his ‘spider senses’, as Yann called them, tingled and he knew that something wasn’t right, the moment was broken. 

He wished he’d never been bitten by that stupid spider, and immediately felt guilty for wishing so. How selfish was he, that he’d sacrifice such an amazing thing that could help so many people just for the chance at being Eliott’s forever? 

Eliott hadn’t texted him at all after he’d left, both as Lucas and as Spiderman. Lucas didn’t know how to feel about that, and he hoped he hadn’t messed with Eliott’s thoughts too much. The last thing he needed was for Eliott to tell him that he was in love with Spiderman again.

He still felt guilty for leaving, too, even though he’d known he had to. There had been a possibility that something really bad could have happened, and how could he claim the title of ‘superhero’ if he’d ignored it? Granted, he hated the title of superhero, but if he had to wear it he may as well live up to it. 

Things had been a bit precarious as of late, since he’d found Eliott in that abandoned building. The building had disappeared overnight, which shouldn’t have been possible, and he couldn’t get the image of the faceless man out of his mind. It felt like something was brewing, something bigger than him, and he was about to get caught in the crossfire. He didn’t sign up for this shit, he didn’t sign up for any of it, really, but movie supervillains come to life were not what he’d been expecting when he’d first donned his mask and suit. Was the world really so bad that when it gave someone the power to make a positive change it also created someone hell bent on doing the opposite? Did the man he’d fought at the eiffel tower have something to do with all of this too? 

Lucas pushed the thoughts from his mind, not willing to entertain them any longer, especially on his way to meet Eliott. He’d talk it all over with Imane and Yann later, they were much better at this whole thing than he was. If Imane was Spiderman (or woman, he supposed) Lucas was nearly certain that she’d never have made this many messes, and if she did, she’d know just how to clean them up.   

The worst part was that he’d really been so good at keeping Spiderman and Lucas separate (at least for the most part, upside down kiss aside) but the more time went on the more lines blurred and he didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep this up, all the secrecy. It was one thing to lie to millions of people you didn’t know, it was quite another to lie to the one person you loved more than anything.

Yann kept telling him to tell Eliott the truth, and Imane kept threatening to tell Eliott the truth herself if he didn’t get his head out of his ass, but he knew she would never actually do something like that. He also knew that they were both right, but what constituted the correct circumstances to say such a thing?

Eliott was already in the foyer when Lucas opened the door, completely lost in his thoughts. Lucas hardly registered Eliott’s presence until he was greeted by a soft kiss on the forehead, something that was pretty unusual given his new abilities. It was hard to surprise him anymore, but he did have a lot on his mind, and his guard was always down around Eliott. 

Eliott still didn’t seem like Eliott, though, and it worried Lucas. Normally, he would have rattled off a list of ideas for the mural right off the bat, but instead he went back to stand in front of the wall in silence, looking pensive. Lucas shrugged off his jacket and shoes and went to stand beside him. 

Honestly, it was a wonder Eliott had never taken his height difference with both Spiderman and Lucas into account when he was searching for Spiderman’s identity. Then again, Lucas didn’t even know if Eliott had ever actively sought out Spiderman’s identity. He knew that he would have, but he knew that Eliott probably cared more about respecting Spiderman’s wishes than discovering who he was under the mask. Lucas wasn’t sure how that made him feel. On one hand, it was nice to know how caring and considerate Eliott was, how respectful he was of others even when it didn’t benefit him. On the other, would Eliott really have been satisfied with a love like that? Sure, love was blind, and Lucas would have had to tell him eventually, but did he really not care who was under the mask, did he really think it wouldn’t make a difference? 

“We should talk,” Eliott said, and Lucas stiffened involuntarily. There it was, everything was about to come crashing down.

Lucas couldn’t bring his eyes to meet Eliott’s. “About what?”

“I, um, had a run in with Spiderman last night,” Eliott said, and Lucas did his best to look confused.

“Oh?” What else was there to say?

From the corner of his eye, Lucas saw Eliott lift his hand to his lips, running his fingers back and forth across his lips, a nervous habit he’d always had. “It was kind of confusing, if I’m being honest,” Eliott admitted, and Lucas squeezed his eyes shut.

“If you’re going to break up with me, Eliott, just do it,” he said defeatedly, not wanting to drag things out longer than necessary. He risked a glance at Eliott and saw that he looked completely taken aback. 

“Wha— Why would I break up with you?” Eliott asked.

“Because you love him more than me.” Because you love the fearless, heroic version of me more than the one you’ve known for years. The one that’s shared every vulnerability, every flaw. 

“Lucas—” Eliott reached out to him and Lucas took a step back. Eliott looked hurt, and Lucas didn’t know why. He was the one that should have been hurting. “Lucas, I’m not breaking up with you.”

Now it was Lucas’ turn to blink in surprise. “What?”

“I love you ,” Eliott reminded him, but Lucas’ insecurities had taken the better of him, and he’d dug himself into an impossible hole. 

“Yeah, for now. But a week ago you were in love with Spiderman. How do I know I’m not just the person right in front of you, the one you love because you think it’ll fulfill you until the superhero is yours for the taking?” Lucas asked. 

Eliott rolled his eyes. “Are you serious? I don’t half ass love, I could never.”

“That’s what you think, but—”

“Well, what about you, huh?” Eliott demanded, going on the offensive. “When we’re together, it’s everything, and I feel every bit of love you have to share, but then you leave, you leave, and you leave. Or you don’t show up. Or you’re god knows where with god knows who at all hours of the day and night and I’m just expected to sit back and say nothing because it’s your life, but I’m a bigger part of that now, whether you like it or not, so when you leave and don’t show up and disappear I don’t know what to do.”

Well, fuck. “Well sorry for not telling you my location every second of the day, last I checked you were my boyfriend, not my father.” Well, double fuck. Why did he never know when to stop talking? 

“You’re impossible,” Eliott said, shaking his head and looking away. He’d said it a million times before, usually accompanied with a laugh or a fond look. Never this cold, never this serious. Lucas didn’t like fighting, especially with Eliott, but he’d been holding back so many things recently, keeping so many secrets from so many people, that he got needlessly defensive to avoid spilling them all.

He was scared that he would say something he’d regret, or spill a secret he wasn’t ready to spill, so he clamped his mouth shut, dipped his brush in paint, and flung it at Eliott. 

Eliott stumbled back in shock, and Lucas hoped his added strength hadn’t made it hurt at all. Eliott’s fingers traced the paint that now adorned the left side of his face and shoulder, and his expression turned from shocked to indignant. 

Lucas saw it coming, not only because of his spider senses, but also because he knew that when he reacted, Eliott exhibited an equal or opposite reaction, just like Newton stated. This reaction was going to be equal. 

Sure enough, he got a swipe of blue paint right across his forehead. This probably would have been sexy, under other circumstances, and Lucas hoped that a parallel version of himself got to have a sexy paint fight with Eliott rather than this petty one. 

They both completely disregarded the task at hand, even dropping their brushes and grabbing as much paint as their hands could hold before throwing it at each other. In the back of his mind, Lucas knew that he could have just apologized, that he should have just apologized. 

Though, he had to admit that a paint fight was an excellent way to release pent up tension. He thought he saw a little spark of light in Eliott’s eyes, like maybe he wasn’t actually mad, but it only made Lucas throw the paint a little harder. Fuck Eliott for being so perfect all the time.

Paint was flying from every angle in every color, and Lucas also knew that, frustrated as he may have been, Eliott’s brain was taking it’s time to appreciate the art in what they were doing too, the ways the colors mixed and how they landed and blended on skin, clothes, the floor beneath them. If he had been more artistically inclined, Lucas probably would have been appreciating it too.   

“What the hell is going on here?” someone screeched and Lucas and Eliott both froze mid throw, turning to the door with wide eyes. Daphné was looking at the two of them in utter dismay, the rest of the girls behind her. 

“Lucas started it,” Eliott said.

“Eliott’s being a dick,” Lucas said.

“Eliott was trying to have a conversation.”

“Lucas doesn’t give a shit.”

“Maybe Lucas should give a shit.”

Despite knowing that the girls were all standing there watching, Lucas lifted a paint can with ease, dumping its contents on Eliott. Eliott wiped his eyes, looking a little bit more angry now, but before he could retaliate, Imane ran in and stood between the two, holding her hands out and giving them each a disapproving glare, Lucas especially. She probably knew that this argument had stemmed from Lucas unwillingness to be truthful with Eliott. 

“Don’t make me,” she hissed under her breath to Lucas, not having to say more than that for him to get the point. She said something to Eliott too, but Lucas couldn’t hear it. Whatever it was Eliott deflated, anger leaving his eyes. He dropped the paint can he’d been holding with a loud thud, shaking his hair slightly to get rid of excess paint before grabbing his shoes off the floor and storming out of the room. 

Lucas was tempted to do the same, but Imane leveled him with another glare. “Not so fast. You’re not leaving until this mess is cleaned up.”

“Eliott got to leave,” he whined indignantly.

“Don’t test me, Lallemant.” She pointed a finger at him, shaking her head.

Lucas sighed, but obeyed her instructions. He owed her, Daphné, and Eliott that much. He and Eliott both probably needed a little bit of space, anyway, because apparently the two of them trying to talk ended in paint wars. 

Maybe his life would be better if he just shut up for a change. A lot of people’s lives probably would be, Eliott’s included. Funny how he could be a hero and a disaster at the same time. Hopefully that disaster wouldn’t start trickling into his heroic façade, that really would just be the icing on top of the cake, wouldn’t it?

Chapter Text

Lucas was giving Eliott the silent treatment, and even though grumpy Lucas was usually cute, this was just too much. If he had to see Lucas pouting or turned pointedly away from him for one more minute, he was going to explode.

They were at Daphné’s secret foyer party (Spiderman was notably absent, thankfully) and Eliott was determined to have fun, grumpy boyfriend aside. Yann kept pulling Lucas aside and talking to him fervently, but Eliott didn’t know what they were talking about. Lucas looked stubborn as ever, so Eliott knew Yann was never going to win whatever argument they were having. They’d both been stupid, the day before, and Eliott suspected Lucas’ silence had more to do with him knowing that fact than actually being mad, so Eliott just decided to give him some time.

He’d come back to school early in the morning to actually paint a mural, because he didn’t want to let Daphné down, and he’d decided on a simple Jackson Pollock inspired splatter paint mural with glow in the dark paint mixed in reading ‘infiltration’. It was a little bit of a risky move, but it would only be seen under blacklight, so the headmaster would probably never see the hidden message. If worse came to worst, he could paint over it as well.

Lucas looked beautiful (what else was new) in a fairly simple ensemble. The most he’d done, really, was paint two stripes on his cheeks, but they somehow accentuated his cheekbones in just the right way. It really was too bad they were both exceptionally stubborn. And petty, because Eliott had covered half his face with a mask that he knew Lucas would probably find alluring and sexy. 

He felt a presence at his side and turned to see Arthur, watching him watch Lucas. “Can I help you with anything?” he asked.

“Me? No, no,” Arthur said, then nodded to Lucas and Yann. “What’s going on there, though?”

“Fuck if I know,” Eliott admitted with a sigh, pouring himself another cup of whatever mess of beverages had been provided by Emma. 

“Trouble in paradise?” Arthur joked, but Eliott’s frown must have been too prominent for Arthur to not catch on to, because he sighed, placing a hand on Eliott’s shoulder. “If Lucas did something stupid, cut him a little slack. I know you probably know him better than I do, but he keeps a lot inside, you know? He thinks he has to be this person, put on a show, because he’s scared of people leaving him. I guarantee that whatever he did, it was borne of those insecurities, because we all have them, and we all have the worst way of showing them to people at times.”

Eliott raised his eyebrows. “How do you know all this?”

“I’m much more perceptive than people give me credit for,” Arthur said with a nonchalant shrug. 

Eliott wasn’t entirely certain if he wanted to know the things Arthur knew about him, but he asked regardless, “And what if I’m the one that did something stupid?”

Arthur studied him. “You didn’t, at least initially, but the reason you guys are fighting is the reason you work so well together. You’re two halves of a whole idiot, and whatever dumb thing Lucas said or did, you rose to it, and you satisfied those insecurities of his without realizing it, because you have insecurities of your own, and your biggest one is your fear of being alone. Funny how similar you two are, actually, Lucas fears being left, and you fear never having anyone to begin with.”

“What the fuck, dude?” Eliott was a little creeped out by how accurate everything Arthur was saying was. Was it all that obvious to everyone, or did Arthur just pay a little bit more attention than most? 

“I don’t know, man, I’m super high right now,” Arthur confided with a small giggle, “Baz and I were arguing about whether or not birds were real and I got a little too heated, so I figured you might need a nice Dr. Phil session. I can, like, feel your puppy dog eyes from across the room.”

“Birds aren’t real,” was all Eliott could think to respond to.

Arthur clapped his hands on both of Eliott’s shoulders, widening his eyes. “Thank you. That’s what I’m saying! Have you ever seen a baby pigeon? No, because they don’t exist. They’re government robots, originating in…”

Arthur rambled on about pigeons and conspiracies alike but Eliott started to tune him out when he accidentally met Lucas’ eye across the room. Lucas was still standing with Yann, but they weren’t arguing anymore, and he had a softer expression than he’d been carrying all night. The moment their eyes met it felt like electricity had zapped its way back into Eliott’s nervous system, waking him back up. He could tell Lucas felt it too, by the way his eyes changed in subtle, almost imperceptible, ways. Lucas looked like he was opening his mouth to say something, but then Baz crossed in front of Eliott’s field of vision, and by the time Lucas was in his view again, his eyes were trained on the floor. 

“…and then they’ll target the hedgehogs, probably,” Arthur was saying, and Eliot tuned back in, honestly forgetting he’d been talking that whole time. “Oh my gosh, what if they go for Lucas? You always draw Lucas as a hedgehog and whatever, so if they go after hedgehogs, they’ll go after him , oh, Eliott, what are we going to do?”

Arthur looked on the verge of tears and Eliott did not want to be the one to handle stoned Arthur crying about robot hedgehogs controlled by the government, so he passed him off to Alexia, the nearest person he knew within range of his current position. He felt like she’d probably actually appreciate his ramblings, indulging him enough to find a solution to not turn Lucas into a government controlled robot. 

When he’d finally extracted himself fully from Arthur’s hold, he turned around and ran right into Lucas. 

“Hi,” he said dumbly, taking off his mask. 

Lucas just looked up at him. Eliott really wanted to kiss him. Eliott really wanted them to stop fighting, if that was what they were doing. He couldn’t tell anymore, if he was being honest. 

Lucas’ eyes glowed under the blacklight, more so than usual, especially with their close proximity. Eliott knew that he’d probably already committed those eyes to memory, staring into them more times than he could count, but they were so effervescent, so real, so Lucas, that he got lost in them every single time. And that included the times before he’d known he was in love with Lucas.

“You finished the mural,” Lucas said, glancing over Eliott’s shoulder. It had barely been a full day, but Eliott nearly exhaled in relief when he heard Lucas’ voice again. It was softer than he’d expected, which pretty much confirmed his suspicions. 

Eliott turned to look at the mural, then at Lucas. “I did. It’s not exactly what I would have wanted, but…” he trailed off with a shrug. 

The intensity in Lucas’ eyes burned into his. “And what would you have wanted?”

“You,” Eliott said, and Lucas blinked, eyelashes fluttering in apparent surprise. Eliott continued, “I just wish we could have done it together. Without a paint fight.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Lucas said quietly, looking down at his feet. 

“It’s no big deal,” Eliott promised, because it really wasn't. He’d take a petty paint fight that they’d probably laugh about in the future over something more serious and final.

Lucas looked back up at him, a somewhat desperate look on his face. “It is. I’m sorry for overreacting and saying all those things about you and Spiderman and me and our relationship. I get a bit insecure about it all, the fact that you like me like I like you and that this isn’t just some big joke the universe is playing on me. I get scared of you leaving, like everyone else in my life does.”

Eliott put both his hands on Lucas’ face, brushing his cheekbones with his thumbs. The face paint Lucas had on smudged slightly under his fingers, but he didn’t think Lucas was too worried about it. “This is real, L, realer than anything I’ve ever felt. That’s why I get scared sometimes too, you know. Because as afraid as you are of me leaving, I’m terrified of never having someone in the first place to love me.” He stole Arthur’s words, because they fit like a glove he didn’t want to wear, but maybe he had to anyway.

“We’re really dumb, aren’t we?” Lucas asked, leaning into Eliott’s touch.

“The dumbest,” Eliott agreed. 

Lucas bit his lip, eyes dropping to the ground then back up again. “If we’re idiots, I’m glad you’re my idiot, and that I’m yours.”

Eliott dropped his eyes to Lucas’ lips just as Lucas placed his hands on Eliott’s wrists, fingers brushing against his skin and raising his heart rate with each movement they made. Their noses brushed first, and Eliott held back just enough to take the moment for what it was, two kindred souls reconnecting, finding their place in the world.

When Lucas got fed up with waiting and closed those final few millimeters between them, it was a softer kiss than Eliott had been intending, but it made him feel like he was in a movie. With the lights swirling around them, the music fading to the back of his mind, it was hard not to pretend that they were a part of something bigger, a story that crowds of hundreds or thousands might look at and think, yes, that’s love . 

It was, it really was. 

Two beautiful boys slow dancing to the rhythm of their own music, lost in every sense of the word, lost in each other. Kisses feather light but felt to the bone, a steady thrumming in their chests beating out ‘I love you’ in morse code, if only they understood morse code. The dizzying realization that someone right in front of you knew every part of you and decided to love you on purpose, flaws and faults and misunderstandings and petty arguments and mistakes aside. It took a lot of effort to attain that kind of love, but it was so effortless at the same time. Loving Lucas was the easiest thing Eliott had ever done. 

Then, inevitably, the crowd reappeared, the music returned, and the world was normal again, not knowing that somehow two boys in a secret high school party in France had stolen time for the two of them to exist in a reality entirely their own, even if just for a single second.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Eliott asked, because they were bound to be caught by the night guard at some point, and Eliott wanted to be far away when that happened. Also because Lucas was wearing far too many clothes and now that they were back to kissing Eliott didn’t ever want to stop, but their friends would be hearing the first excuse.

Lucas’ soft, lovelorn eyes softened even more, and his fingers were feather light as ever as he brushed them across Eliott’s eyebrow, then his cheek. He snapped out of the daze he was in for a split second, as if he was remembering something, then smiled serenely once more. “I would love to. I just need to use the bathroom quick, ok?”

“Ok,” Eliott said, “Do you want me to wait here?”

“I can meet you outside,” Lucas said hurriedly, lowering his voice. “Less questions from ‘concerned’ friends.”

Eliott laughed, pressing a small kiss to Lucas’ temple. “See you outside.”

“See you outside,” Lucas agreed, saluting him.

Eliott continued to chuckle fondly, meeting Imane’s eyes across the crowd of people as Lucas walked away. He blushed, even though he hadn’t been doing anything wrong. She should be glad he and Lucas got over themselves enough to have a conversation and get back to where things were meant to be. She simply raised an eyebrow and mimicked Lucas’ salute, and he flipped her off discreetly.

Once again he was struck with the loss of his jacket as he stepped outside into the night. It wasn’t terribly cold, but he hadn’t been terribly warm to start with and his face mask had been long since abandoned. He leaned up against the building, wondering how long Lucas was going to take, because he really, really just wanted to kiss him again and again.

The music and voices in the party got louder, or maybe the world around Eliott got quieter, and Lucas still wasn’t outside. He pulled out his phone, because maybe Lucas had gone to a different side of the building or something.

Eliott: hey i’m out front, where are you?

Lucas: Sorry, sorry! I’ll be right there, I promise

Lucas: Yann stopped me on the way back from the bathroom because Baz is drunk and he didn’t want to deal with him

Eliott: no problem just hurry plssss ;)

Eliott: i miss u

Lucas: Running

And he was, because a few moments later Eliott heard his footsteps, knew they were Lucas’ footsteps without even having to look, and Lucas burst through the doors, red faced and bright eyed. His hair was mussed up like he’d just been electrocuted, which was exactly how Eliott liked it. 

When their eyes met, Lucas bolted to him, wrapping his arms around him tight enough that Eliott gripped him back with equal strength, spinning him around once, twice, before settling him back on the ground and kissing his forehead, nose, cheeks, and lips. 

“Happy to see me?” Lucas teased and Eliott shushed him. 

“Just let me enjoy all that you are, please,” Eliott asked, brushing their noses together gently.

Lucas leaned back slightly, teasing him further. “Are you insinuating that you don’t enjoy every part of me all the time?”

“Ah.” Eliott tucked his hands into Lucas’ hair, twirling some of the ends with his fingertips. For some reason his hair felt slightly sweaty, and Eliott wondered how fast he’d run there. “On the contrary,” he continued, “I can’t get you out of my head.”

“Good,” Lucas said smugly, pulling Eliott into a kiss. “Because I can’t either.”

They made it back to Lucas’ flat, eventually, but not after a fair few stolen kisses and piggyback rides, and time spent looking up at the moon and wondering if she was looking proudly at them from her position in the sky, watching their lives tangle the way they’d been destined to tangle. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott had been banished from the kitchen, so he was sitting out on the sofa trying to make small talk with Lisa while Lucas made breakfast. Most of their mutual friends had seen Eliott at various states of good and bad and everywhere in between, but Eliott had an extra soft spot for Manon, Mika, and Lisa who (with Lucas) had treated him like a member of their makeshift family long before he and Lucas had gotten together, fake or real. 

Eliott could hearing Lucas singing to himself in the kitchen and resisted the urge to go take a video lest he be kicked out of the flat entirely, but damn he wanted to. Lucas did not realize it, but he had the most beautiful singing voice Eliott had ever heard (not that his normal voice wasn’t already beautiful on its own). It was just another part of Lucas that Eliott had slowly fallen in love with over time not realizing that was what it was until he recognized it as the voice he heard in his sweetest dreams.

“You two were loud last night,” Lisa said from the other side of the sofa, eyes trained on the tv in front of them playing some rerun of a shitty tv show Eliott knew she couldn’t actually be very invested in.

“Thanks,” Eliott said, letting a smirk play across his features. He was shameless when it came to loving Lucas. 

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“Kitten!” Mika chose that moment to burst into the room in full Mika fashion, doing a double take at Eliott on the couch. “You are not the kitten I was referring to.”

Eliott laughed. “Your kitten is in the kitchen,” he supplied. 

Mika raised one eyebrow suggestively. “Isn’t he your kitten?” he asked innocently, and Eliott blushed needlessly. Kitten wasn’t the animal Eliott would have used, but the sentiment remained. 

“I’m his hedgehog,” Lucas said, entering the room with two plates of breakfast food. Mika tried to swipe one from him and Lucas ducked away rather gracefully, somehow not dropping either plate. He placed one on the table in front of Eliott with a wink before sitting beside him, shoving Lisa’s legs out of the way. She scoffed at him indignantly but Lucas ignored her, looking at Eliott expectantly. 

“Better than a PONI?” Lucas asked, and Eliott nudged him lightly with his knee.

“That was one time ,” Eliott said defensively, taking a bite of the non cinnamon filled eggs. Yes, he’d experimented a bit the first time he’d ever made Lucas breakfast, and yes they’d both come to regret it, and yes Lucas refused to let him live it down. 

The door to the flat opened and Manon walked in, grocery bags in hand. She looked surprised to see Eliott there, and Eliott remembered that last she’d seen the two of them they were fighting. 

“Everything good here then?” she asked as she unwrapped her scarf from her neck and set her groceries on the counter. 

“Better than ever,” Eliott said, mostly to Lucas, who stuck his tongue out at him. 

“When did you guys get back last night?” Manon asked. She must have gotten back later than them, because Lisa had been the only one home when they arrived, and she was fast asleep, so they were able to take advantage of the relative emptiness of the flat. 

Eliott shrugged, exchanging a glance with Lucas. “Fairly early? We weren’t at the party long.”

“Wait, you weren’t there when Spiderman came, were you?” she gasped, scooting Lisa over more to sit with them on the couch. This was news to Eliott. Daphné must have gone crazy. 

“No, we weren’t,” Lucas said.

Manon widened her eyes. “Well, it’s not like he was there long or anything, but Daphné will be talking about it forever and ever.”

“What happened?” Eliott asked, trying not to sound too eager because Lucas had folded in on himself a bit at the mention of Spiderman. 

“Nothing much, like I said,” Manon explained, “But he sort of swung in out of nowhere, took a photo with Daphné, and left in a blur.”

“That’s weird,” Lisa chimed in from her side of the sofa, and Eliott couldn’t help but agree.

“Does that mean he goes to your school then?” Mika asked excitedly, stirring his coffee with a spoon. 

“I highly doubt it,” Lucas said hurriedly, just as Eliott had shrugged and said, “It’s possible.”

They both narrowed their eyes at one another, before falling into laughter. “You know him better than me I guess,” Lucas whispered under his breath, and Eliott faked another laugh, not sure if that was meant to be a joke or some sort of test. 

“Regardless, Daphné’s life is made,” Manon said. 

“Getting a superhero to come to your secret party is a pretty big feat,” Eliott agreed, noticing the way Manon’s face lit up when she talked about Daphné. 

Lucas must have noticed it too, because he asked, seemingly out of nowhere, “We should go on a double date with you and Daphné.”

Manon looked taken aback momentarily, before regaining her composure. “We should!” she agreed, then whispering conspiratorially, “She will have many dumb questions, though, be warned.”

Lucas laughed. “Manon, it wouldn’t be Daphné if she didn’t.”

“We’re trying to work on it,” Manon said anyway, standing up. “Is there edible food in the kitchen or did Eliott cook?”

“It was one time !” Eliott repeated.

“I cooked,” Lucas reassured her, taking another bite of his own food as proof.

“Thank god.”

Eliott resisted the urge to argue back, turning instead to his shithead of a boyfriend. “It’s really good,” he said, nodding to his plate.

“I know,” Lucas said smugly, and Eliott shoved his shoulder.

“I was trying to pay you a compliment asshole.”

“I know.”

Eliott had no choice but to kiss him senseless, smartass Lucas was so undeniably sexy to him. Not that any version of Lucas wasn’t, but damn . Lisa coughed loudly beside them to remind them she was on the sofa, but neither one of them listened to her. They’d be done kissing soon, surely. 

Or maybe not, Eliott was fine with that too.

“Lucas, we get it, you have a boyfriend,” Mika said boredly, and Lucas broke their kiss, leaving his hands on Eliott’s shoulders and frowning grumpily. 

“Manon has a girlfriend too!” he said indignantly. 

Mika spread his arms wide, looking around the room. “But she’s not here, is she?”

Eliott coughed uncomfortably, even though he knew Mika didn’t really mean it. “I can leave…”

“Oh, no,” Mika and Lucas said at the same time. Lucas’ eyebrows bunched together in the middle of his forehead as Mika continued, “You’re welcome whenever, Lucas is the annoying one.

Lucas let go of Eliott, rolling his eyes and flopping his head back on the couch. “Fuck off, Mika.”

“Gladly,” Mika said, stealing a bit of bacon off Lucas’ plate before he went. 

Eliott and Lucas settled back into each other, hardly noticing as Lisa got up with an exasperated huff as well, storming back into her own room. 

“I love you,” Lucas said quietly, in their newfound peaceful atmosphere.

“I love you too.” It was still surreal to Eliott to be able to say it so casually, both of them knowing they meant it from the bottom of their hearts. Even so, as Lucas’ body was tucked into his, he felt so far away at the same time. “You ok?” he asked gently. 

“Yeah,” Lucas sighed, not very convincingly. 

“We can go to the bench if you want,” Eliott offered, opening the door just in case Lucas had something weighing on his mind that he wanted to talk about. Eliott could tell that he did, actually, but he didn’t want to demand anything before Lucas was ready to open up. The bench was a nudge, though, just in case. 

“Let’s just stay here,” Lucas said, tracing the veins in Eliott’s arms. 

“Are you sure?” Eliott asked.

Lucas didn’t answer, which was answer enough. Eliott wrapped him up in his arms a bit more tightly, pressing his face into Lucas’ hair. “You know that you don’t have to go through anything alone, right?”

Lucas’ eyes shifted about the room, and Eliott could feel his heart beating irregularly in his chest. “I know,” Lucas said, but Eliott didn’t think he did. 

“I’m serious, L,” he pushed, and he watched as Lucas closed off further.

“Can you just drop it? Please?” Lucas pleaded, voice soft and distant. 

Eliott didn’t know what to say. He could tell there was something weighing on Lucas, but he didn’t want to become Lucille and act more like a parent than a significant other. This was why, in the end, he simply pulled Lucas closer to him, pressed a kiss to his forehead, and murmured, “Ok.”

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott turned around when he heard someone calling his name in the hallway, smiling when he saw that it was Imane. He slowed to let her catch up, greeting her with a nod. 

“How’s it going?” he asked. “I’m on my way to meet Lucas for lunch, but I’m sure he won’t mind if you join.”

“That’s what I’m here about actually,” she said apologetically. “Lucas told me to tell you he can’t make it, he and Arthur are testing a project in biology and need to use our lunch period to work.”

Eliott frowned. “Aren’t you his bio partner?” 

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t remind me. It’s for Arthur’s project, Lucas offered his help a few weeks ago and Arthur just decided to take him up on it.”

Eliott considered this. “Sounds like Lucas,” he shrugged, and Imane nodded in agreement. “Want to go to lunch with just me then?” he asked.

She eyed him with the usual softness she reserved only for him, Lucas, and Sofiane. “Sure.” 

They didn’t stray far from school, because Imane had to get back earlier than Eliott did, but they settled in at a small cafe and Imane filled Eliott in on the bio project she’d been working on. He’d always known she was brilliant, but the things she was talking about flew so far over his head that he was too intimidated to stop and ask her to re-explain it all, in much simpler terms.

Lucas would have understood every word she was saying, Eliott was almost entirely certain of it, though he probably would have kept Eliott in the dark as well because he thought it was funny. 

“Is Lucas working on a project too, then? Or is he working with you?” he asked as soon as she finished her explanation. Maybe that was part of why he’d been so MIA lately, if this project was consuming a lot of his time. 

“We all have our own projects,” she said, “Lucas’ is very ambitious, so he should probably spend more time working on that than on Arthur’s, but he only listens to you, so anything I say goes in one ear and out the other.”

Eliott knew she was joking, but he felt compelled to say, “Please, Imane, I think you might be the only person Lucas respects as his superior.”

“His superior, huh? I’ll have to tell him you said that,” she said with a smirk. 

He laughed. “Feel free, I’m not sure it’s much of a secret.”

“You two are good, then, I assume?” she clarified, and he remembered that, like most of their friends, the last they’d seen each other Lucas and Eliott had been steadfastly avoiding one another. 

“Yeah, we’re good,” he assured her. “A little communication goes a long way.”

It was true enough, they had communicated a fair bit, even if there was still some things not talked about. Eliott was pretty sure all of his feelings were out in the open, he didn’t think he had anything to hide, hadn’t had anything to hide before, really, but with no worry of feelings for Spiderman he felt a bit freer in his love for Lucas. 

They never lied to each other, and they never hid anything from each other, except that they did. Sure, hiding the fact that they’d both been in love with each other wasn’t a harmful thing to hide, but Eliott did worry, in the back of his mind, if that meant they could hide a variety of other things. Like whatever it was that was weighing so heavily on Lucas’ mind. 

“Are you sure?” Imane asked, drawing his mind back to the present. It was quite annoying how perceptive she was. 

“I think he’s hiding something from me,” Eliott admitted, dropping his chin into his hands. 

Imane was silent for a minute, not quite the reaction he’d been expecting. He’d hoped she’d jump right into easing his worries. “What makes you think that?” she asked instead. 

Eliott shrugged to the best of his ability, taking a deep breath. “I don’t know. He’s been weirdly absent lately, even longer than we’ve been together, you know? And even when we’re together, it’s like he’s a million miles away at times. He keeps saying it has nothing to do with me, and he doesn’t want to talk about it, but if something’s bothering him I want to be there for him, the way he’s been there for me many times before.”

Imane was considering him carefully, and Eliott blushed, realizing he’d unloaded quite a bit of worry that he had barely allowed himself to consider fully. And he wasn’t worried , not really, but he was. He was worried. The last time Lucas had been distant like this, hiding things, was when he’d been struggling to come out, and Eliott knew what a painful time that had been for him. He hated to think Lucas was suffering again in silence. 

“I…” Imane paused, biting her lip. Eliott wasn’t sure if she knew something or if she was just struggling to find the right thing to say to him. “Lucas internalizes everything, we both know that, and I don’t think opening up comes easily to him, even though he trusts you more than anyone.”

“I know that,” Eliott agreed, “I just— I don’t want him to trust me halfway.”

“Have you told him that?”

Eliott sighed. “Not in such defined words.”

He wasn’t sure if defining his words would have helped much anyway. Lucas would probably just assure him that he trusted him, and then Eliott would allow himself to be kissed senseless and forget all about any hesitations he had. 

Imane bit her lip. “Look, I— and everyone— know that Lucas loves you more than he’s ever loved another person, ok? I really don’t think you have to worry about that at all, but he might be scared to tell you some things, worried about how you might react or if it’ll make you love him any less. He’s terrified you’ll walk out on him someday, just like his father, and though it may be an irrational fear, doesn’t make it any less scary to him.”

So he’d been told quite a few times recently. “But what could he possibly have to say that would ever make me think any different of him?” Eliott wondered aloud. He let out a rueful laugh. “Is he a government spy or something, leading a nefarious double life?”

Imane stayed silent, refusing to indulge his idiotic ramblings, which was probably a good move on her part. He felt bad venting his frustrations out on her, but it hadn't been his intention to do so when he asked her out to lunch, if that counted for anything.

“I wouldn’t care if he was a government spy! I wouldn’t care if he was anything, because he’s just Lucas to me, and just Lucas is more than enough,” he said softly, dropping his hands onto the table. 

“Then tell him that,” Imane said.

“I’m sure he already knows.”

“Probably,” she agreed, “But it doesn’t hurt to repeat the sentiment.”

He leaned back in his chair. “I guess…”

It was then that he thought to himself, this was what it was to be in love. Sure he’d been in love before Lucas, and he knew what love was, at least he thought he did, but love wasn’t always soft kisses and looks shared across rooms and hands and bodies and nights pressed close to one another. Love was worried conversations about the other, frustrated sighs, and paint fights, and always coming back to one another because it hurt more than anything not to. It was a choice as much as it was destiny. Fate may have led him to Lucas, but it was his choice to love Lucas that kept them together day by day. Love without purpose was the kind of love that was fleeting, never lasting longer than it began. It was the kind of love he’d had with Lucille, but everything with Lucas had been different from the very beginning. 

A stunning realization, one that caught him unawares, was that he loved Lucas differently than he’d ever loved another person. He loved Lucas with the same depth and intensity he did his favorite films, which maybe to someone who didn’t know him might not seem all that intense at all, but Eliott knew better. He knew that even when people disappointed him, his favorite movies would always be there, his favorite music, his favorite books. Lucas was like that, a solid force in his life that he always knew would catch him should he fall or should the world hit him a little too hard. 

That was why this all scared him, he was coming to realize, because it raised the question of what if Lucas didn’t see him in the same respect? He loved him, he loved him purposefully, that much Eliott was able to ascertain, but did he love him with that infinite depth reserved for the things that made people feel most at home, most comfortable in this wild, spinning world? Questioning was part of understanding, and communication, more often than not was the only answer. Idriss had been right all that time ago, Imane was right now, even if she hadn’t been so blunt about it. 

Eliott wanted Lucas to know the intricacies of his heart, and Eliott wanted to know the intricacies of Lucas’ heart. It was only a matter of whether or not he was willing to share. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott: i feel like i haven’t seen you in forever

Lucas: Me too

Eliott: bio project?

Lucas: Something like that

Eliott: want help? or moral support?

Lucas: I wish… but I think I need solitude to get this to work

Eliott: yeah, yeah of course

Eliott: if you change your mind though, you know where to find me <3

Lucas: I love you

Eliott: i love you too

Lucas: I’m going to kill Arthur

Eliott: hello to you too

Eliott: should i be worried? 

Lucas: Lemme get back to you on that 

Eliott: your project or his?

Lucas: His

Lucas: I swear, for someone so smart he can be so dumb

Eliott: sounds like someone i know

Lucas: Yeah, Arthur

Eliott: pretty sure we both know i meant someone else ;)

Lucas: Yourself?

Eliott: fuck arthur 

Eliott: come over 

!! Message not delivered !!

Eliott: now    

Lucas: What????

Eliott: jesus fuck my wifi is shit 

!! Message not delivered !!

Eliott: what i meant to say was fuck arthur

Eliott: as in f off arthur not like go to town with arthur

!! Message not delivered !!

Eliott: and come over to my place

!! Message not delivered !!

Eliott: preferably now

Eliott: or sooner

Lucas: Eliott???????

Lucas: ??????????????

Lucas: Fuck Idriss

Lucas: Now

Eliott: you’re hilarious, do you know that?

Lucas: No, tell me

Eliott: well now i don’t want to

Lucas: Tease

Eliott: careful who you call a tease, lallemant

Lucas: Would a tease be at your door right now?

Eliott: wait for real?

Lucas: Let me in asshole I’m cold

Eliott: just for that…

Lucas: Eliott, love of my life, man of my dreams, please let me inside otherwise I will fuck Arthur

Eliott: love of your life, man of your dreams, huh ;)

Lucas: Dialing Arthur as we speak

Eliott: i buzzed you in a few minutes ago love, no need to get your panties in a bunch

Lucas: I’ll bunch your panties

Eliott: not quite the sexy talk i was expecting but we can work with it

Lucas: I hate you. So much.

Eliott: love you too

Eliott: now get your ass up here, i’m getting cold 

Lucas: You’re getting cold???

Eliott: hey, can i come over?

Lucas: Now isn’t a great time

Eliott: is it ever?

Lucas: What?

Eliott: sorry. long day.

Lucas: I can call you in a bit, if that works?

Eliott: don’t worry about it, i’m tired anyway

Lucas: Ok… the offer stands, though, in case you want to talk

Eliott: thanks

Lucas: Of course

Lucas: Sorry about the other day

Lucas: I should have been there for you

Eliott: what are you talking about?

Eliott: l, it’s 3 am go to bed

Lucas: You’re up, aren’t you?

Lucas: That’s what I thought

Lucas: Anyway, I’m sorry I wasn’t available when you needed to come over

Lucas: I should have been

Eliott: don’t worry about it, lucas, really

Lucas: I just feel like I’ve been such a terrible boyfriend lately

Eliott: you haven’t

Lucas: I have, though

Lucas: We go to the same school and we barely see each other, and then I’m anywhere but with you after

Eliott: you’re busy, i understand

Eliott: i can’t expect you at my beck and call 24/7 

Eliott: and vice versa, you know?

Lucas: I know. It would be nice if we could be, though, right?

Eliott: if i had my way you’d never leave my side

Eliott: not in a creepy way 

Lucas: Haha, I know, El

Lucas: Me too

Eliott: get some sleep, ok?

Eliott: there are no thoughts worth worrying that pretty little head of yours 

Lucas: Pretty, huh?

Eliott: did i stutter?

Lucas: No 

Lucas: :)

Eliott: goodnight, loverboy

Lucas: Loverboy? Isn’t that you?

Eliott: you can be my loverboy too

Lucas: Ok <3

Lucas: Night, loverboy

Eliott: hey, lucas, can i come over?

Eliott: no crises, i just want to talk to you

Eliott: not a bad talk

Eliott: just like, talk talk

Eliott: i’ve just been putting this off too long

Eliott: ok that sounds like a bad talk but i promise it’s not lol

Eliott: i love you

Eliott: i’m coming over ok?

🕷🕷🕷🕷

It had been over a week since Eliott had spoken with Imane, and he knew that he shouldn’t have put off talking with Lucas for so long, especially since all he wanted to talk about was how much Lucas meant to him, but it was still a bit scary. And Lucas was still a bit unavailable. He hadn’t texted Eliott back that day either, but Eliott decided he’d take his chances, kick Arthur out if he had to.

He knocked on the door to the flat, checking his phone again to see if there was any response from Lucas. None. He bit his lip in disappointment, though he knew that Lucas had a habit of not looking at his phone for hours on end. 

The door swung open and Eliott was met with the face of his boyfriend, slightly out of breath, shirt on inside out. 

Eliott narrowed his eyes. “You weren’t fucking Arthur, were you?”

Lucas’ surprised expression softened as he melted into a laugh. “No, just got back from working out. Sorry, I just saw your texts, come in.”

The flat looked relatively empty which meant that Mika was probably at work, Manon was probably with the girls, and Lisa was probably sleeping in her room. Lucas led Eliott down the hallway, stopping right in front of the door to his bedroom. 

“You wanted to talk?” he asked a bit nervously.

“Kind of, yeah,” Eliott said, opening the door, because it didn’t seem like Lucas was going to. Lucas’ hand brushed against his as he went to sit on the bed, eyes darting around the room. “It’s nothing to be afraid of,” he assured him with a small laugh.

“What?” Lucas said, finally looking at him. “Oh. Um, yeah.”

Eliott furrowed his brows as Lucas sat tentatively on the edge of the bed. “Are you ok?”

“Why do you ask?” Lucas laughed with a false cheeriness. 

“You seem a little on edge,” Eliott said slowly, following Lucas’ eyeline around the room until he felt Lucas’ hand on his face and snapped their eyes back to meet again. 

“Sorry,” Lucas apologized breathlessly, “I’ve been—”

“Busy, I know,” Eliott said. Lucas shrugged, twisting his lips into a sort of apologetic grimace. Eliott sighed, taking Lucas’ hand in his and folding their fingers together. Lucas’ presence— or lack thereof— wasn’t what he was there to talk about. He had to focus, take Imane’s advice, remember all that he’d been thinking about since they spoke. 

“So, um, I realized something recently,” Eliott began, steady as he could, looking down at their joined hands. Lucas’ were rough and calloused, knicks and scrapes all over the back of them. They’d been like that for a while, but Eliott had never asked about it.

Lucas nodded at him to continue, and he did. “I was thinking about you, like I always do, and how much I love you and all that, and I know that you know I love you, but I know that we’re both still scared of being hurt. It’s in the nature of loving someone and allowing yourself to be loved to be scared of being hurt, but I just wanted to talk about why you don’t need to be scared of that, I guess. I don’t just love you because fate decreed that you’re my one true soulmate or because kissing you feels like coming home, I love you because it’s my favorite thing to do, and I want to do it. I want to feel it. Does that make sense?”

“I, uh, I think so,” Lucas said, looking slightly taken aback.

“I love movies,” he continued, even as Lucas looked a bit bewildered, “I love them even when I hate everyone in the world, because I know that even if they hurt me, it’s the kind of pain that I can handle, because the love is worth any trouble it takes to get there. That’s how I feel about you, I love you like a movie.”

Eliott wasn’t sure if he was explaining himself properly or not, but Lucas’ eyes were soft, and his thumb was tracing circles across Eliott’s palm, so all appeared to be going according to plan, even if the metaphor was a bit confusing. 

“I know there are things you aren’t telling me, but I just want you to know that I don’t care, whatever it is. Nothing could make me love you— or want to love you— any less.” He grinned, glancing down at the sheets, then casting his gaze around the room. “Even if you’re some government spy sent here from Russia, or a secret Prince in hiding from his home country, or—”

He cut himself off, eyes catching on something across the room, in Lucas’ closet. He could feel the blood drain from his face as he looked away from the closet, to Lucas, who’d followed his gaze. Lucas instantly looked petrified, etches of an adoring smile still ghosting his face. 

Eliott stood up from the bed slowly, like he might scare the object that had caught his attention away. Lucas sat frozen on the bed, watching him go until he found what he was looking for. 

His brown jacket, the one he’d given Spiderman all that time ago. Why did Lucas have it? There had to be a simple explanation. Maybe he’d found it somewhere, maybe it wasn’t Eliott’s jacket at all. Or maybe… Lucas had been with Spiderman this whole time? Had everyone been wrong to say that Lucas loved him, and the real prize had been the same as the one Eliott had yearned for not too long ago? Or maybe… Eliott didn’t want to allow himself to think it, didn’t want to believe that he’d been lied to over and over again. But there it was, in his hands, the answer he’d been looking for all along.

“Even if I was Spiderman?” Lucas asked, voice a gentle whisper from where he still sat on the bed, fear alight in his eyes. Every part of Eliott wanted to run over there and nullify his fears, wrap Lucas in his arms until he smiled, but no, he couldn’t do that. 

Eliott took one step back towards him, then two more. “Are you?” 

Lucas looked up at him, and he broke. Tears filled his eyes as he opened his mouth. “I can explain everything,” Lucas said in a small voice, so small it didn’t suit him one bit.

But suddenly, Eliott found that he didn’t want an explanation.

“I have to go,” he said, jacket in hand. He didn’t know what to do with it, should he leave it there, or should he take it with him? He threw it on, noticing how it smelled like Lucas, wondering how he’d never noticed that Spiderman smelled like Lucas. 

“Eliott wait!” Lucas called, following him out into the hallway. Eliott didn’t turn around, because he feared that if he did he would break as well. How long had it been? Had their whole relationship been built on lies and deceit? 

Eliott kept walking until he knew Lucas wasn’t following, right out of the flat and onto the street and to a place that he knew would always be there for him when his mind was a mess and he didn’t know what to do. He heard Lucas’ broken voice in his mind, replayed all the fervent glances and unexplained absences and moments with Spiderman where it had felt like they knew one another. 

He also remembered what he’d just been in the middle of saying to Lucas, about his love, about how he would love Lucas no matter who he was or what he could possibly have to hide. That was the thing, he did love him still, even knowing Lucas had been playing him from the start. He had to believe that Lucas loved him back, that there really was a simple explanation, and maybe he’d let Lucas explain it, but he still needed some time to gather himself into someone who was ready to receive that information. 

His phone buzzed once, twice.

Lucas: Eliott please

Lucas: Please come back Eliott. I love you, I do, I’m so sorry for not telling you

Eliott: stop texting me

He sent the message, pausing his walking and staring down at the screen. Lucas’ worst fear was coming true, he realized. He was leaving, just like everyone always left Lucas. There was a possibility that none of this had been real, but on the off chance that it was, Eliott had to say something before there was no going back.  

Eliott: i love you

Eliott: i just need some time

Eliott: i meant what i said

He shut his phone off, regretting and not regretting what he’d sent. His feet carried him all the way to the petite ceinture, and he knew Lucas would be able to find him there if he really wanted to, but he didn’t care. He slumped against the side of the bridge, pulling his knees to his chest, and burying his head between them, screwing his eyes shut. 

He didn’t know how long he stayed like that, thoughts swirling in his mind at a rapid pace, but he knew that it was dark now, he could tell by the amount of light behind his eyelids. Still, he didn’t open his eyes. He’d stay there all night if he had to, he just needed to make some sense of everything that had just been revealed to him. 

Footsteps startled him out of his stupor and he blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes to the lack of light. 

“Lucas?” he called out, but the footsteps went silent. He furrowed his brows a moment, listening as well as he possibly could, and hearing nothing but the sound of his own shallow breaths. A minute passed, then two, and he relaxed back against the wall. No one was there. He was alone, and he was still trying to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 

He blinked slowly, letting his eyes rest before he opened them again, breathing in and out slowly. Then, the footsteps again. 

“Lucas?” he asked, a bit more hesitantly, opening his eyes.

There was a blinding light, and then—

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott was used to darkness and the terrifyingly simple solitude it brought with it. He was no stranger to monsters, knew that he had the worst ones of all inside his own mind sometimes, but he’d always come out of those fights victorious. Still, the darkness lurked, always waiting to bring him back to where it thought he belonged. Sometimes Eliott himself thought he belonged there.

He was used to the darkness, but somewhere along the way he’d gotten used to the light that came after, the beacon of hope that usually wore a face with wide blue eyes he could get lost in for days. But now, there was no light. 

Just the dark.

No blue eyes soft with reassurance, no wild laugh or tousled hair or calloused fingertips.

Just the dark. 

Eliott was used to darkness, yes, but he was scared of it now. Scared that this wasn’t the darkness he knew so well, the kind he’d beat in battle a million times over. He felt like a child, clinging to memories of a nightlight long since thrown away, struck with the realization that he was alone, and if the monsters wanted to attack, there was nothing standing in their way. 

It was dark, it was dark, it was dark.

Until it wasn’t. 

The light shone in Eliott’s eyes so bright he near went blind from it at first, holding his hands up in front of his face and squinting his eyes. A low, sinister chuckle emanated from the light, and he immediately knew that this light was darkness in disguise, that wherever he was was somewhere worse than anything he could have ever imagined. 

The initial shock of brightness cleared, and Eliott saw beyond, right into the impassive gaze of the man without a face.

“Well, well, well,” he said, “Long time no see.”

Eliott said nothing, not understanding, and not trusting his vocal chords enough to make any noise.

“You’re him, then,” the man continued. Eliott still didn’t know how he spoke, without a mouth, but that was the last thing on his mind at the moment. 

“I’m not Spiderman,” he eked out, voice raw and shaky.

The man with no face laughed, like gravel crunching under a car tire. “No, you are not. You’re something better.” The man with no face smiled and— wait, that couldn’t be right. Eliott blinked, wondering if he was seeing things, wondering if this was all a dream. Suddenly the man with no face had a face, and it was scarier than anything Eliott could ever have imagined. 

Eliott looked at a mirror image of himself, and heard his own voice utter words that shook him to his very core. 

“You are Spiderman’s demise.”

Chapter Text

Eliott hadn’t responded to Lucas in over a day and, while Lucas knew that he needed time, he was still scared that time would turn into forever. He barely resisted the urge to go running to Eliott’s apartment and demand to be listened to, instead wallowing in his own stupidity.

Yann and Imane had been right, had been telling him all this time that it would all blow up in his face, but he’d been too stubborn to listen. He could already hear Imane saying ‘I told you so’ and Yann sighing that magnificent disappointed sigh of his.

At least they went to the same school, so Eliott couldn’t hide from him forever, and by the time Lucas’ alarm woke him up on Monday morning he was more than ready to start his day, hoping Eliott wouldn’t avoid him the entire time. 

He wasn’t waiting by Lucas’ locker like he usually did, which was to be expected, Lucas supposed, so he went about his day to the best of his ability until he could find Eliott at lunch and hopefully talk things through. 

He was aware of how horribly he’d fucked up, and he knew that Eliott didn’t want to talk about it, but he’d said that he still loved Lucas, so Lucas had held onto that hope with every fiber of his being. Manon, Lisa, and Mika were probably sick of him, he’d been so on edge all weekend that he’d hardly sat down for more than a minute, texting Eliott a million and a half times and pacing around the living room.

Eliott’s class got out just as Lucas reached the door, bouncing anxiously on his toes. If people didn’t know better, they’d probably think he was just excited to see his boyfriend. He waited patiently as Eliott’s classmates exited the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of that golden brown tousled mess of hair he loved so much, but when Alex exited the classroom last, he realized Eliott wasn’t there. 

“Hey!” he called out to Alex, running to catch up with him after peeking his head into the classroom.

Alex slowed and turned to Lucas with his eyebrows raised. “What’s up?”

“Where’s Eliott?” he asked. 

Alex looked him up and down, considering his likely confused expression. “Shouldn’t you know that?” Alex teased, and Lucas really wasn’t in the mood for teasing. 

“Alex, come on.”

Alex sighed. “I don’t know dude, he misses class a lot. You’d know that better than anyone. I’m sure he’s fine, maybe it’s just one of those days, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Lucas said noncommittally, watching Alex walk away with a light wave over his shoulder. 

He’d been trying not to blame himself too much for Eliott not reaching out, but at this point it was hard not to. As long as they’d known each other, Eliott had been nothing but sincere and honest, even more so since they’d gotten together for real, and Lucas had done nothing but lie and hide. Sure, he’d only been Spiderman for a fairly short amount of time, but he didn’t know why he hadn’t just told Eliott about it in the first place. He’d told Yann and Imane, and he’d definitely considered telling Arthur at least, or Manon, because he knew they’d keep the secret. Eliott would have kept the secret too, but Lucas could never bring himself to tell it to him in the first place.

And now it was probably too late.

Eliott still loved him, sure, but love could fade, especially if the other person had done something so fucking stupid like Lucas had. He’d kissed Eliott as Spiderman for fuck’s sake. Ugh, if he’d ever had any question about where he’d end up in the afterlife, it seemed pretty certain now that he was destined for hell.

He fired off another quick text to Eliott because he couldn’t help himself, he’d waited long enough to continue their communication.

Lucas: Hey, El, I know you’re mad at me, rightfully so, but can we please talk?

He wasn’t expecting an immediate response, but he had to hope that Eliott would respond sometime soon. 

Yann was waiting for him at his locker, just as he’d been waiting for Eliott at his classroom, and the small gesture was almost enough to make Lucas burst into tears. Yann likely noticed this, and his eyes went wide as he placed a hand on either one of Lucas’ shoulders.

“Lu? What’s up?” he asked, voice laced with concern. Lucas shrugged halfheartedly, shaking his head. Yann levelled him with a knowing stare. “Lu.” 

Lucas sighed. “Can we blow off the rest of the day?” he asked, eyes wide and pleading. He knew that Yann liked to miss class even less than he did, but he needed to talk to someone, and Yann was the only one who would possibly be able to provide advice in any form. 

“Yeah,” Yann agreed, much more easily than Lucas had been expecting. Though, he likely looked like shit, so that probably helped his case a bit.

Yann didn’t ask any questions on his way back to Lucas’ flat, and Lucas was more than happy to let the two of them ride the bus in silence, gearing up to explain all the ways he’d fucked up even if Yann knew most of them already.

The minute they walked into Lucas’ bedroom, shutting the door behind them, Yann spoke. “So what happened?”

“He knows,” Lucas said miserably, running his hands through his hair with clenched fists. Thankfully, Yann knew exactly what that meant, and his face looked appropriately shocked. 

“You told him?”

Lucas really couldn’t blame Yann for sounding so surprised, the last conversation the two of them had about the whole Eliott-Spiderman thing was Yann chastising him for not being honest, and Lucas being too stubborn to listen. “Not… exactly.”

Yann rubbed his temples. “Why am I afraid to let you finish your train of thought?”

Lucas sighed, flopping himself down on his bed and gesturing vaguely to his closet. Yann’s eyes widened. “He saw the suit? Lu, why weren’t you hiding it better?”

“No, no, he saw his jacket,” Lucas corrected, crossing his arms over his eyes.

“I… don’t follow.” 

“He gave me his jacket as Spiderman and I hadn’t given it back yet, and it was in my closet, and he saw it,” Lucas grumbled, voice somewhat muffled by his arms. 

Yann was silent. Then— “Yikes.”

Lucas continued, “He saw it right in the middle of giving me some sort of speech about how much he loves me and that he’d love me even if I was leading a secret double life as a government spy or something.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Yann asked. “You kind of were leading a secret double life.”

Lucas shook his head, dropping his arms. “You didn’t see his face. And he just… walked out, didn’t look back once.”

“Isn’t that a bit hypocritical of him?” Yann shrugged, crossing his arms. “Just saying.”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Yann, come on. I’m not mad at him at all, he has every right to be mad at me. I’ve been lying to him for so long… I led him on as two different people, and I got jealous when he wanted to spend time with me instead of me… I’ve fucked up so badly and I don’t know how to make it right.”

Yann sat down on the bed beside him, studying him. This was a situation neither one of them had been in before, obviously, but he was really hoping Yann would have some helpful advice, because god knew Lucas would just mess up again if left to his own devices. 

“I could say ‘I told you so’,” Yann said, and Lucas glared at him.

“Very, very, unhelpful.”

Yann reached over and put a hand on one of Lucas’ shoulders. “Listen. I’m not going to say you didn’t fuck up, because you did, but if Eliott wants to make a grand speech about loving you no matter what and then fuck off the minute ‘no matter what’ becomes a bit tricky, that’s on him.”

“No,” Lucas groaned again, putting his hands over his face. “He didn’t fuck off.”

He peeked between his fingers to see Yann, blinking slowly like he was asking some divine entity for some patience. Lucas didn’t blame him. “Lucas, either explain the whole story or don’t ask for my advice.”

“He texted me afterwards,” Lucas said in a small voice, “Saying he still loved me, that he just needed time.”

“Why didn’t you lead with that?” Yann asked exasperatedly, throwing his arms wide.

Lucas sat up, voice shaking. “Because. It doesn’t matter. He’s only saying that to soften the blow when he leaves me for real. I’ve had enough experience with that to know it’s only a matter of time.”

“Lucas,” Yann said seriously, facing him head on. “There are people who will leave, and people who will stay, and Eliott is one of the ones that will stay. He loves you so much, you know. Like, so much that it’s all I see when I look at him. And you deserve that love, every bit of it. Ok?”

“Yann—”

“Ok?”

Lucas didn’t answer, didn’t trust himself to, but it turned out he didn’t have a chance to anyway, as a knock sounded from the other room. Yann turned to Lucas with furrowed brows. “Were you expecting someone?”

“Why would I be expecting someone? I’m supposed to be at school,” Lucas said as he left the bedroom, making his way to the door curiously. To his shock, when he opened the door, there was Eliott.

“I’m gonna go,” Yann said, skirting around Lucas. Lucas hadn’t even noticed that he’d followed from the bedroom, too dumbfounded that Eliott was standing at the door. 

Once they were alone, Eliott nodded to the inside of the flat. “Can I come in?”

Lucas nodded in a daze, eyes never leaving Eliott’s figure. He was so beautiful it hurt, especially wearing that brown jacket of his. Eliott didn’t say anything more, so Lucas swallowed and took a deep breath. “Look, I’m really sorry—”

“Listen, man, it’s fine,” Eliott said, and Lucas furrowed his eyebrows. 

“It’s… fine?”

Eliott shrugged. “Life’s too short to be mad about meaningless things, I guess.”

“Meaningless?” Lucas appraised Eliott with his eyes, speaking slowly, “I told you that I was Spiderman, not that you’re a shitty cook. Which you are.”

Eliott’s eyes widened minutely, so small in fact that the untrained eye might not have noticed it. But Lucas had always noticed everything about Eliott, even when it had been painful to do so. “I’m just glad it’s out there now, I guess,” Eliott said, entirely unfazed by the dig at his cooking skills, devoid of any humor or levity.

“Right,” Lucas agreed, leaning against the wall. “Um, why are you here, then?”

“Your text,” Eliott said.

Lucas pressed his lips together in a tight line. “Well, I suppose that’s all I needed to talk about.”

“Yeah,” Eliott said, then looked at the ground. “I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh?”

Eliott cleared his throat, biting his bottom lip. “I have a surprise for you.”

Lucas smiled, tilting his head to one side. “That’s not a question.”

“My question is, will you be there?” Eliott asked, a fierce sort of desperation in his eyes. 

“Be where?” Lucas asked.

The corner of Eliott’s lips twitched. “I’ll text you. Surprise, remember?”

“Right, of course,” Lucas chided himself, laughing lightly. 

Eliott grinned, ducking his head. “Cool. Tomorrow, ok?”

“Tomorrow,” Lucas confirmed with a nod. Eliott brushed past him, and Lucas caught the tips of his fingers as he went. Eliott turned around, looking slightly alarmed. Lucas clasped his hand tighter in response.

“I’m glad you forgive me,” he said. 

Eliott shrugged gently. “You’re one of the most important people to me.”

“That I am,” Lucas said with a smile, heart racing. He squeezed Eliott’s hand once before dropping it. “See you tomorrow.”

Eliott grinned, looking Lucas up and down. “Yes, you will.”

And then he was gone, and Lucas slumped against the wall. He had some preparing to do. 

E🕷L🕷I🕷O🕷T🕷T

Eliott didn’t know what time of day it was, or what day of the week it was, but it was still dark, so dark. He faded in and out of consistent anxiety over the man with no face— the man with his face— and Lucas. Something was brewing, surely, and Eliott was terrified that Lucas would get hurt. 

The eerie silence that seemed to fill the space when Eliott was there alone subsided a bit, and Eliott knew that meant the man was back. The air seemed to stand on end when he was around. Eliott wondered if he was the one running the show, or if he was a mere lackey to something bigger. He still hadn’t forgotten the familiar looking man from the abandoned building, and didn’t know if he had a place in this as well. 

“Well, well, well, you didn’t tell me that your little friend is Spiderman, did you?” He heard the man before he saw him, strolling along wearing clothes and a face and a body that didn’t belong to him. 

Eliott’s voice caught in his throat. He knew, he knew that Lucas was Spiderman. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Lucas…” the man trailed off, “Quite a boring name for someone so extraordinary.”

“Don’t hurt him, please, all he’s doing is helping people, what’s so bad about that?” Eliott pleaded, hearing how desperate he sounded and not caring one bit. 

The man clicked his tongue, disapproval evident in his voice and manner. “How naive you are, thinking there’s a place in this world for superheroes, as if they aren’t the problem themselves.”

“It’s not naive to have hope,” Eliott said, sounding more defiant than he was sure he looked at the moment, locked away like an animal. “To believe in the good in people.”

The man shrugged. “I suppose you’re right. I could have said idiotic, but I was trying to be nice.”

Eliott hated hearing his own voice, seeing his own face, and not being able to control the words that came out or the things that he did. The man either didn’t care for Eliott’s discomfort, or he noticed it and it delighted him.

“It makes things so much easier, really,” the man continued, “That your Lucas is Spiderman. I’d hoped he’d know where to find him, not that he’d just give himself up as your beloved hero within minutes of conversation.”

This man had spoken to Lucas. As him. All Eliott could think was that Lucas was probably so relieved that Eliott was talking to him that he’d spilled any and every other secrets he harbored. Eliott knew that he hadn’t asked for this, that he couldn’t have done anything to stop it, but he’d never felt so helpless in his life. Whatever was being planned, it was all his fault. How had the man known to talk to Lucas anyway?

The man smirked, looking at him with narrowed eyes. “I can see that you have so many questions, you’re the kind who questions everything, I presume. You wouldn’t have found us in that building otherwise.” He paused, sitting on the floor in front of where Eliott was being kept. “I suppose I can share some answers, it’s not like you’ll live long enough to share them anyway.”

Part of Eliott had known that this is what it would come to, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it. Maybe he was naive. 

“How?” he asked in a hoarse voice, because that was the only answer he really needed. How had they found him? How had they known he was the key to Spiderman’s demise? How was he the key to Spiderman’s demise?

“Do you like my jacket?” the man asked, ignoring Eliott. Of course Eliott liked the jacket, it was his favorite one. Well, it had been. He wasn’t so sure anymore. 

The man continued, “Spiderman liked it too.”

And fuck, things started to come together in Eliott’s head. He’d given Spiderman his jacket, and whoever this man was had seen Spiderman in the jacket. That didn’t exactly explain why Eliott was there, though, or how they’d known it was his jacket before kidnapping him.

“It was completely accidental, actually, that we found you. Well, not completely. We just so happened to see you with that jacket, and we followed you.” He wasn’t working alone then. Good to know. “We recognized you from before, and it doesn’t take a genius to deduce that someone who shares a jacket with Spiderman and has been saved by Spiderman is likely someone of importance, so here you are.”

“Here I am,” Eliott said softly, to himself. If Lucas got hurt because of him, he’d never forgive himself, even if he was dead. 

It was then that he realized he wasn’t mad at Lucas anymore, because how could he be? Sure, he’d kept a secret, a major one, but maybe he’d kept it because he’d been afraid of something like this happening. How could he blame Lucas for trying to protect him? He would have done the same, still would now if there was any way that he could.

More than anything, he knew that he loved Lucas more than ever. Neither of them deserved what was coming for them, but at least Lucas had a chance at escaping with his life. 

“Who are you?” Eliott asked, because he felt like, if he was to die, he at least deserved to know who’d done it. 

The man looked at him, a slow grin spreading. “Wouldn’t we both like to know. As far as names go, you may call me Chameleon.”

Chameleon. Eliott couldn’t say he was surprised, it seemed fitting. “What do you need me here for, Chameleon?” Eliott asked, because he still wasn’t entirely certain. Sure, they didn’t want him out there to warn Lucas about their plans to defeat him, but they didn’t really need him alive, did they, now that Chameleon wore his face?

“He’s coming here to meet you,” Chameleon said, “And you, he will meet.”

Eliott stared at him blankly. “Please excuse me if I don’t understand.”

“Do you expect me to sit here and wait for your friend, when I have plans of my own to attend to?” Chameleon scoffed, and Eliott noted the words he used. Friends. Was it possible he didn’t know that Eliott and Lucas were dating? He didn’t know if it would make any difference to the plans being put into place, but Eliott wasn’t going to correct him.

“What makes you think I’m going to cooperate?” Eliott sneered, knowing that antagonizing the person with his life in his hands wasn’t necessarily the best idea. He was past caring at this point. 

“Because I’ll kill you if you don’t.”

Eliott shrugged. “You’ll kill me anyway.”

“True,” Chameleon said with a small grin, like he was enjoying this, “But if you don’t cooperate, I’ll make him watch. And then I’ll make him watch as I kill anyone else in this world he may care for, or who may care for him.”

Eliott could face death head on if he had to, he’d faced the prospect many times in the confines of his own head, but he couldn’t face the idea of Lucas having to watch all the people he loved leave him, even if it wasn’t by choice. It would be worse that it wasn’t by choice, because Lucas had been coming to terms with people choosing to leave for a long time, so much so that he expected it of everyone. But these people, the ones that Lucas was surrounded by now, these people were the ones he’d grown to realize would never leave him, no matter what. To have that kind of unconditional love ripped away in front of his eyes until there was no one left to love him at all… it was a fate worse than death for him.     

“Fine,” Eliott said, because maybe he was weak and naive, but he couldn’t let Lucas’ worst nightmares come true. He’d find some other way to warn him, some other way he could avoid Lucas getting hurt or seeing him get hurt. 

Chameleon smiled, and Eliott prayed that wasn’t what he looked like when he smiled. It wasn’t bright, or warm, but filled with malice and dripping with poison. “That’s what I thought.”

He came right up close to the bars Eliott was encased inside, tilting his head, a feral sort of look in his eyes. “Let’s get started, then, no time to lose.”

Eliott looked up at the ceiling, where he knew the sky was somewhere just out of sight, and took a breath. He could do this. The promise of seeing Lucas one last time, telling him that he wasn’t mad, that he loved him still, and that even death couldn’t stop his love was what kept him going as Chameleon talked, detailing plans that would attempt to break Lucas down to nothing at all. 

He couldn’t let it happen. 

But he had no choice. 

The only hope he had was that Lucas was smarter than him, and that he’d be able to save himself if Eliott wasn’t able to. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Lucas would be coming any minute. Such was the plan laid out through careful texts throughout the previous night. They weren’t anywhere that weird, a place that would raise much alarm, so Lucas would never know what was coming. 

Chameleon was Chameleon again, forsaking Eliott’s face for his own blank canvas, waiting to be molded to whatever fit his agenda. Eliott briefly and fearfully wondered if Chameleon would take Lucas’ face and turn Spiderman into a villain. 

Eliott had tried to glean as much information as he could from the man, but most of his questions remained unanswered. Still, he was able to deduce a few things. Chameleon wasn’t in charge, someone else was, but he was never referred to by name. He was the one that had made Chameleon into what he was, and he was the mastermind determined to bring his opposition to his knees. Apparently this boss knew nothing of who Spiderman actually was, he didn’t really care much for the boy behind the mask so long as he was out of the way. He didn’t know or care that he was just a sixteen year old boy shouldering a burden he hadn’t asked for. 

The man from the eiffel tower worked for this boss as well, they called him Vulture, what with his mechanical wings. He’d gone to prison after his attempted attack, and Eliott suspected there was some plan in the works to break him out. There were a lot more people in on this than Eliott had expected, not that he’d actually seen any of them other than Chameleon, probably because no one would believe a story about a man with no face should he escape and send people their way. Still, Chameleon spoke of others as if they were a group of many, and that worried Eliott for Lucas’ sake more than anything.

Chameleon was somewhere out of sight, but within earshot. Unfortunately, Eliott was unable to pin down his location as he’d been blindfolded until Chameleon was a safe distance away. He had thin, nearly invisible cuffs linking his hands and his legs together, both so that he wouldn’t be able to run and so that Lucas wouldn’t notice them. He tried to school his expression into one of indifference, deciding how to best go about warning Lucas of the plot against him without saying anything at all. 

The massive door opened and there was Lucas, scarf wrapped up tightly around him, beaming smile on his face once he located Eliott. 

“This is a weird place,” Lucas said jokingly, “But you artists are nothing if not weird.”

The plan had been to tell Lucas to come here so he could take photos of him for an art assignment, and Lucas hadn’t questioned it one bit. 

“It is weird,” Eliott said, trying to inform Lucas with his eyes just how weird it was. Lucas looked away, surveying the space with the hint of a smile on his face. 

“So… what kind of photos are you taking, man?” Lucas asked, and Eliott scrunched up his face, forgetting for a minute that they were in the middle of an attempt to neutralize Lucas once and for all. Eliott was supposed to answer with a location for Lucas to stand, and then Chameleon would strike.

Instead, he was so caught off guard by Lucas’ words that he said, “Did you just call me man?”

“Yeah,” Lucas laughed, “Like you did the other day.”

Eliott couldn’t remember ever calling Lucas man, but maybe this was a new thing they were doing now? “Oh. Yeah?”

It came out as a question, and Eliott saw a slight shift in Lucas expression, from apprehension to relief. He didn’t know what it meant, but before he could say anything more, Lucas whispered so quietly that to anyone else it might have appeared he merely took a deep breath, “I love you. Stay cool, and trust me.”

Eliott barely had time to process the request before Lucas shot his arm out, web shooting from his wrist across the room. Eliott’s eyes widened as a shot rang out, skimming just past his own head, and Lucas tugged on the web, pulling Chameleon into their space. 

Eliott tried to back away from the scene, forgetting he was somewhat locked into place, and ended up falling off the chair he was sitting on onto his side. Just in time, in fact, because Chameleon aimed another shot at him just as he fell. 

Eliott had a limited view as Lucas kicked the gun from Chameleon’s hands, tying him up with webs that came from god knew where until he was entirely immobilized. Once Lucas looked satisfied with his handiwork, he raced over to where Eliott was on the ground, hair flopping into his eyes.

“Are you ok?” he asked, scrutinizing Eliott’s every inch. 

“I—” Eliott began, subtly gesturing to his cuffed hands and legs. Lucas caught on, locating and ripping apart the restraints with ease. 

Eliott’s breathing was ragged as he sat up, stretching out his limbs. “How did you—?”

“I once told you I’d recognize you anywhere,” Lucas said, blowing his hair from his eyes, “That also applies to recognizing when you aren’t you.”

“You knew it was a trick all along?” Eliott asked in disbelief. 

Lucas laughed, and Eliott was amazed that he had the ability to do so after knowing that coming here might have been the last thing he’d ever done. “Not all along, don’t give me that much credit, but I pretty much deduced that you weren’t you when you came to see me. I had to be prepared for anything, and when you didn’t remember calling me ‘man’ the other day, that was all the confirmation I needed. Well, that and my spidey senses warning me someone was about to try to end your life.”

“Spidey senses?” 

Lucas shook his head. “Don’t ask.”

Eliott and Lucas gazed at each other at the same time, realizing they’d both addressed the elephant in the room without noticing that they had. Lucas’ eyes softened, and he opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by alarms blaring all around them. 

“Shit!” he hissed, unraveling his scarf and taking off his sweatshirt. In the blink of an eye, he was Spiderman, not Lucas, throwing his mask on and revealing the suit underneath his clothes. He tossed his discarded clothes to Eliott, who caught them just in time for Lucas to throw him over his shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes.

“Working out, huh?” Eliott teased aloud, even though the situation they were in probably didn’t require humor. 

“Shut up,” Lucas said, but it was without malice. He set Eliott down in a hidden corner of the building where no one was sure to find him anytime soon. “Stay here,” he said, more seriously, shooting out a web and retracting it, Chameleon’s gun stuck to the end. He handed it to Eliott. “Only use this if you absolutely have to. If I do my job right, you shouldn’t.”

Then he was gone, swinging out of sight. Eliott knew that he should just let Lucas do his thing, that he was more skilled than ten versions of Eliott, but he couldn’t sit still knowing Lucas might be in danger.

He got up from the spot Lucas had hidden him in, dropping Lucas’ clothes and clicking the safety off his stolen gun. He had no idea how to use one, really, but pointing and shooting couldn’t be too hard. There were lots of loud noises and yelling, so Eliott followed the sounds, making sure the yelling was never coming from the voice he knew to be Lucas disguised as Spiderman. The alarms were still blaring, throwing Eliott off his rhythm because the noise was so piercing, but he pushed on, further and further into the belly of the beast.

Once he reached the action, however, he regretted not following Lucas’ instructions. He had no idea how Lucas was fending them all off, there were too many. Somehow, though, even more were spiderwebbed to the walls and floors in various places. Eliott realized that Lucas wasn’t killing anyone, and it’s not that he expected or wanted him to, but all of a sudden the gun he was holding felt heavy in his hands.

He’d aim for the legs, he decided, if he had to shoot.

A hand grabbed him from behind and before he knew it, he was on the floor, gun nearly slipping from his hands. The person who’d grabbed him was wearing a mask not wholly dissimilar to the one Lucas wore, but Eliott could see his eyes, and murderous quality they carried. He raised his weapon, something that looked a bit like a gun, but wasn’t that exactly. Eliott briefly wondered if it had something to do with the laboratory he’d stumbled upon weeks ago.

“And who are you?” the man snarled, standing above him. “Spiderman’s bodyguard? No, wait— you’re the boyfriend, aren’t you? Should have known he was a f—” 

Eliott went blind with rage, regaining control of his body and swiping his leg under the man’s feet. The man still had his weapon in his hand, and Eliott was afraid to touch it, but he wrestled it from the man’s grip while he was still stunned from falling.

Standing over a villain with a weapon in either hand trying to fight for his and his superhero boyfriend’s lives put Eliott so far out of his element that he wondered if he’d accidentally stumbled into a parallel universe, but then the man moved beneath him and Eliott fired one of the weapons instinctively.

It was the one he didn’t know how to use, the gun that wasn’t a gun. The man’s eyes widened as a dart shot out, sticking him in the neck. Within seconds he was completely immobilized and Eliott freaked out, dropping both weapons. The man looked dead, eyes wide open but looking at nothing. 

Eliott dropped, pressing his head to the man’s chest in search of a heartbeat, and nearly cried in relief. Sure, this was a bad guy, but he never wanted to kill someone, especially by accident. The heartbeat was there, but everything else was frozen. Eliott grabbed the dart from his neck, turning it over in his hands. There was a little canister with remnants of something brightly colored on the inside and Eliott dropped it before he could accidentally be paralyzed as well. Hopefully it would wear off eventually… 

There was a loud clang across the room and a startled, “Fuck!” from a voice he knew too well and he picked up the paralyzing gun, leaving the other one before taking off towards the sound of Lucas’ voice. He looked out over the metal railing just in time to see Lucas jump from a few levels above. He cried out, but his voice was drowned out by all the other noises blaring from every direction. 

Just before he reached the ground, Lucas shot a web to the ceiling and swung himself back up to the other side of the room, the side Eliott was on, jumping over the railing. Eliott’s heart was beating so rapidly that he could hardly stand it, but he didn’t want to be a coward in the face of danger, so he pushed on, running up the stairs and ducking out of the way before anyone could see him, trying to find his way up to Lucas’ level.

When he finally got up there, he was momentarily stunned to see Lucas fighting four people at once. Somehow, he looked completely in control, and Eliott found it kind of hot. Lucas turned, attaching a web to one of the guy’s heads and slamming it into the railing just as his eyes locked on Eliott’s. 

He froze, and in that split second one of the men grabbed him by the top of his mask and pulled it off, pushing him over the side of the railing.

“No!” Eliott yelled, accidentally calling attention to himself. The three remaining men turned to him, and Eliott shot three darts in their direction, closing his eyes as he did so. He heard the sound of three bodies falling and cracked one eye open, breathing a sigh of relief. 

He hadn’t heard Lucas hit the ground, but he couldn’t just assume everything was all right so he grabbed the mask from one of the villain’s hands and peered over the ledge. 

Lucas was on the ground, but he was standing, legs spread into a fighting stance, eyes wandering about the cavernous room. His hair was more of a mess than it usually was and Eliott knew him well enough to know that he looked scared. 

Eliott suddenly realized that everything was quiet now, the alarms had stopped. It was so quiet that he could have sworn he heard Lucas’ ragged breathing from five floors below. 

Lucas looked up at him, and he sighed, hint of a relieved smile hitting his face as Eliott smiled at him in return. Maybe this was all over, maybe they were finally safe. 

Eliott felt the cool barrel of a gun press against the side of his head at the same moment he noticed that Chameleon was no longer trapped under a sea of webs on the floor. A had enclosed his body in a vice like grip and Eliott knew that this was the end. Panic shot through Lucas’ eyes, and Eliott tried to keep his own expression calm, breathing steady. He was scared, he knew there was no use for him now, but he couldn’t die letting Lucas know how scared he was. 

He heard the safety click off of the gun as he noticed something light and shiny extending from his chest. The gun pressed closer to his skull, and Lucas twitched his hand, pulling both of them over the side of the railing. 

Chameleon’s grip slipped and Eliott was able to free himself from his hold, trying not to think about how he might break every bone in his body falling from such a height. But then arms wrapped him up tightly, arms that he had no problem sinking into because he knew that they belonged to the boy he loved. 

“Fuck I’m so sorry about that,” Lucas whispered as he put Eliott down, carefully removing the web string from the front of Eliott’s shirt. 

Eliott was vaguely aware that he was shaking slightly, whether from fear, adrenaline, or a mix of the two, he wasn’t sure. “It’s ok.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Lucas said, hands on Eliott’s shoulders. Eliott still had Lucas’ mask clenched tightly in one of his hands. He nodded, glancing over Lucas’ shoulder to the door and tensing up at what he saw. 

Chameleon, because apparently they couldn’t have nice things, gun raised and pointed right at Lucas’ back. 

“Lucas…” Eliott began, and a shot rang out. Eliott squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to feel Lucas crumple into his arms, but he didn’t. He opened his eyes slowly, wondering what he would see. Lucas was still there, and his hands were still on Eliott’s shoulders, but he was barely holding onto him anymore, head turned up to one of the upper levels in the building. Eliott followed his gaze, noticing that Lucas looked paler than usual, just in time to see the familiar looking man from the abandoned building tuck a gun into his waistband and walk away. 

Eliott furrowed his eyebrows, gaze landing on where Chameleon way laying in a pool of blood on the floor, shot clean through his head. It was enough to make Eliott want to gag, and the small noise he made must have been enough to knock Lucas would of his daze. 

“We’re leaving,” Lucas said, wasting no time and pulling Eliott by his hand. 

“What about your clothes?” Eliott asked dumbly, but Lucas just shook his head. 

“They don’t matter. Can I have my mask, please?” 

Eliott handed it over and Lucas slipped it on with one hand, keeping the other locked in Eliott’s grip. “Why did that guy—”

“Not now, Eliott, please,” Lucas’ masked voice was somehow still familiar, especially now that Eliott knew who it was underneath. He felt like an idiot for not catching on to the inflections and mannerisms before. “Let’s get somewhere safe first.”

They were much further outside the city than Eliott had thought, though he wasn’t really sure where he’d assumed they were to begin with. They kept to side streets and back alleys, trying to stay out of sight of the general public, especially seeing as Lucas was in full Spiderman gear (or uniform? costume?).

They went back to Eliott’s, now that the other side knew where Lucas lived, and Lucas sent quick texts to Manon, Mika, and Lisa, telling them to stay somewhere else for the night and he’d explain everything in the morning. Eliott could tell he felt terrible for being the reason why their home was no longer safe, and it helped Eliott understand even better why he’d kept the secret for so long.

Eliott stayed silent long enough for both he and Lucas to take a shower and change, times spent in the shower a bit longer than necessary, even as the water went cold. 

Lucas was tucked low under a pile of blankets by the time Eliott finished, and Eliott joined him, keeping enough distance between them to force them to talk instead of avoiding all that had happened and falling back into each other. 

“So,” Eliott said, and Lucas barely responded to the sound of his voice. He wanted to reach out, but didn’t know if he should. “Are you ok?”

Lucas’ eyes shifted to his for a brief second. “I just wanted to help people,” he said, voice, soft, ragged, monotone, and filled to the brim with emotion all at once. 

“I just wanted to help people,” he repeated, more adamantly, “And now everyone I love is in danger and you could have died and nothing will ever be the same and you might still hate me for it and I don’t even know what I’m doing ninety percent of the time and I feel everything too fucking much all the time and I—”

“Hey, L, hey, breathe with me,” Eliott said as Lucas’ words cut off into breathless sobs. He placed a hand on either side of Lucas’ face, and Lucas broke down, shaking his head as tears poured from his eyes. 

“No one was supposed to be hurt other than me,” Lucas said. 

Eliott leaned his forehead into Lucas’. “Lucas, don’t say that. Don’t ever say that.”

“But it’s true. The superhero is supposed to risk their life to save people, not sit there like a pathetic teenager while the person they love most in the world is kidnapped by the people that would have no qualms about killing everyone I’ve ever cared about.” 

“But you are a teenager,” Eliott said softly, voice gentle enough to feel like a warm hug. “You didn’t ask for any of this, the power, the responsibility, but you shoulder it nonetheless. Quite well might I add.”

“You’re not— you’re not mad at me?” Lucas asked, wide blue eyes staring into the depths of Eliott’s soul.  

Eliott could have stayed stubborn, could have acted as shocked or betrayed as he’d been when he first found out, but they were both alive, they were both together, and that’s all that really mattered. Lucas still looked apprehensive, but Eliott engulfed him in a hug that he secretly hoped would never end. He’d have more time to think about everything later, but right now he just wanted to hold Lucas in his arms and think that maybe things would turn out all right. 

“You saved my life,” he whispered, mouth pressed up against Lucas’ shoulder, “How could I ever be mad at you?”

Lucas shook his head but held him tighter. “It’s ok if you were mad, though. Just because I saved you, and because I love you, doesn’t mean you don’t have a right to be mad at me for not telling you.”

“I know,” Eliott said, “It just seems so pointless, given everything that’s happened in the past however many days. You’re here in front of me, alive, and telling me that you love me, and that’s all I care about. Of course I’m going to worry a bit about you now, not because I don’t think you can handle being a superhero, but just because I never want to see you in danger. It’ll take some adjustment, but I’ll learn to manage it and support you in any way I can.”

Eliott felt Lucas squeeze his eyes shut against his shoulder just before he pulled back. “Sometimes I wish none of this ever happened, you know. I’d give up any superpowers any day if it meant the people I love were safe.”

“But then you wouldn’t be you,” Eliott said, brushing back a bit of hair from Lucas’ face. 

“I’m not sure if I am me anymore.” Lucas looked so troubled, so deeply lost in thought, and all Eliott wanted to do was to dissuade any of his worries, but he knew it wasn’t really his place to do so. He had no idea what Lucas was going through, only that he wouldn’t be handling it all nearly as well if he’d been put in that situation.

“You are,” he said, nevertheless deciding the best course of action was reassurance. “You’re the same little shit I’ve been in love with longer than I realized, even if you’re all buff now.”

Lucas cracked a hint of a smile. “I haven’t actually been going to the gym,” he admitted.

Eliott laughed, wrapping his arms around Lucas’ neck. “Yeah, I kinda figured that one out.” He giggled eliciting a look of light amusement from Lucas. “Remember when you accidentally threw me off the bed?”

Lucas groaned, but he was smiling, and Eliott took a mental picture to remind himself of that look on the days he felt at his lowest. “Oh, god, I thought we were never speaking of that again?” 

“It’s more embarrassing for me than for you,” Eliott said as he ran a finger down Lucas’ cheekbone. “But it can stay our little secret if you want.”

Lucas’ smile faltered and he pulled back. “Speaking of secrets… I’m sorry for keeping so many. I know you said you’re not mad or anything but… I’m sorry.”

He was looking at Eliott in a way that Eliott knew too well. It was the face of someone who simply needed to be forgiven, not to be told that he didn’t have to apologize. He’d worn that face many times, and Lucas always knew just what to say. 

“I forgive you,” he said, and Lucas melted, looking like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He wrapped Lucas’ hands in his and searched his eyes. “No more secrets between the two of us, ok?”

Lucas nodded, single tear falling down his cheek. “Ok.”

Eliott pressed a kiss to his lips, soft and slow, before engulfing him in the same kind of all consuming bear hug he’d wanted to stay in forever just moments before. Lucas clutched him back, and Eliott could feel all the love they shared flowing between the two of them. 

Lucas didn’t pull back as he started speaking, almost like he was scared to look Eliott in the eye. “I have one more secret.”

Eliott’s heart clenched in anticipation, but he answered with a simple, “Ok?”

“The man, the one who killed the guy without a face?” Lucas paused, breathing shakily. “I think he’s the boss of whatever those people are doing.”

“Ok?” Eliott said again, because that didn’t seem like too much of a secret. They’d both been there to witness it. Eliott had also assumed that must have been the man Chameleon had referred to as the boss. 

“He…” Lucas trailed off, arms clutching Eliott tighter than ever. He was silent long enough that Eliott wondered if maybe he’d forgotten what he was going to say. 

Eliott pulled back from their hug to see that Lucas’ eyes were shut so tightly like he was actively trying to convince himself whether he should or shouldn’t speak. He opened his eyes, then, looking more serious than ever. “He’s my father.”

Eliott froze, then blinked, sure he’d misheard. “I’m sorry?”

“That man, he’s my father,” Lucas repeated, like that made it make any more sense. “I don’t know what he wants, but I don’t think he knew it was me, not until he saw me there today.”

Lucas had always been a bit tight lipped about his father, and Eliott never pressed beyond the details Lucas had been willing to share over time, but it did make sense that the man would have looked familiar, certain traits aligning with the scared looking boy in front of Eliott right now. 

“So… what does that mean,” Eliott asked, voice laced with concern.

“I don’t know,” Lucas admitted, “But I don’t think I’ll get so lucky next time.”

Eliott furrowed his brows. “What do you mean? He saved you from Chameleon.”

Lucas looked away from him, biting his top lip. “I don’t think he meant to save me. I think he wanted to reserve the kill shot for himself.”

“Lucas—” Eliott began, because surely that couldn’t be true. He knew that there was a rough history between the two of them, but he had to believe that Lucas’ father wasn’t rotten to the very core of his being.

“Eliott don’t try to reassure me, please,” Lucas said, “I only told you because I trust you, and I really don’t want any more secrets between the two of us either, but please don’t try to make me feel better about any of this, not right now.”

Eliott’s heart fissured in a few small places as he looked at Lucas, asking him the impossible. “I’ll help you through it all, then, in any way I can,” he promised, “Ok?”

Lucas nodded, pressing his head into Eliott’s chest. “I’m really glad we’re not dead.”

“I am too,” Eliott agreed, holding him steadily.

“I love you, El.”

“And I love you, L.”

Eliott couldn’t sleep, but he felt Lucas’ breathing steady over time, little puffs of air exhaling from his nose every now and again. It made him smile to think that Lucas could find safety in his arms after all they’d been through over the course of a few days. Logically, Eliott knew that with Lucas’ revelation there would be more to come, and it would make moments like these feel like a mere fantasy, but if the worst was yet to come, but at least they’d be facing it together this time.

Eliott clung onto that thought like a lifeline, and finally let himself fall into Lucas and into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

Watching Lucas in the pale morning light was one of life’s small moments of magic. Sure, it wasn’t magic in the same way as Lucas having super strength and whatnot, but it was magic all the same. His face was buried deep into his pillow, drool slipping out from the corner of his mouth and hair askew, but Eliott had never thought he was more beautiful. 

It was rare for Eliott to wake up first of the two, but he knew that Lucas needed the sleep. The two of them had been through quite the ordeal, and sure, a little sleep couldn’t cure it all, but it was a good place to start. 

He was tempted to go down to the bakery on the corner and grab some fresh pastries for the two of them, but he didn’t want Lucas to wake up alone. Neither of them would be alone ever again, if Eliott had any say in the matter. 

Minutes stretched on but Eliott found that he didn’t mind the simple silence, Lucas’ breaths heard lightly as they ruffled the hair that had fallen across his face. If they could stay exactly like that forever, Eliott would have been the luckiest man alive. He already was, just to have Lucas in bed beside him, sleeping more comfortably than he ever had done before. Their relationship may have had its ups and downs so far, and Eliott was sure there were more to come, but as long as Lucas could sleep peacefully by his side, he knew that everything would be ok. 

Lucas’ eyes blinked open gently, bright blues adjusting to the light. When his eyes landed on Eliott’s soft, smiling face, he heaved a sigh of relief. “You’re here.”

“I’m here,” Eliott agreed.

“And you’re safe,” Lucas continued, “Alive.”

Eliott gently brushed hair from Lucas’ field of vision, twirling the silky strands between his fingers. “Thanks to you.”

Lucas’ face darkened and he turned away from Eliott, breathing stuttering. “Don’t, please.”

“L—” Eliott began, reaching a hand out, but Lucas shook his head. 

“I— I know what we talked about last night, but I’m not ready to act like a hero yet. Is that ok?” He turned his head, eyes searching Eliott’s face with a wide, pleading expression. 

Eliott nodded, folding their hands together. “Of course. Spiderman who?”

Lucas laughed weakly, squeezing Eliott’s hand gently. “You’re a dumbass, do you know that?”

“I’ve been told on many occasions,” Eliott conceded, “Good thing we’ve already determined that I’m your dumbass.”

“My dumbass indeed,” Lucas agreed, grabbing Eliott by the chin and pulling him into a kiss. Eliott dipped his head back and Lucas whined, leaning in closer to him. 

“You have morning breath,” Eliott said wrinkling his nose. In all honesty, he didn’t care one bit, but he did love seeing Lucas’ fake offended face. 

“You do too!”

Eliott shook his head, smiling a toothy grin that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to wear again. Leave it to Lucas to bring out the best in him time and time again. “My superpower is not having morning breath.”

Lucas snorted. “Well, it’s clearly a shitty superpower, because it’s not working.”

Eliott scoffed in faux indignation, leaning over and engaging Lucas in a tickle fight. Lucas squeaked in surprise, mischievous grin adorning his lips as he tickled Eliott back, grin turning into wild laughter. Eliott would have bottled the sound if he could, just to have on the days laughter felt like a distant memory.

Lucas must have noticed that Eliott had ceded the battle, even though he was the one who’d started it, and he flopped back onto the pillow with a soft breath. “We have to face the real world at some point, don’t we?”

“Unfortunately,” Eliott sighed, looking up at the ceiling. The curtains were only letting in a small stripe of light, and he followed it with his eyes. “What are you going to tell Manon, Mika, and Lisa?”

“I don’t know,” Lucas admitted. “Knowing everything will put them in more danger, but I don’t know how I’ll explain it without telling the truth.”

Eliott understood that, and he agreed. “I can try to come up with some excuse, if you want,” he offered. 

Lucas smiled minutely, but shook his head. “I have to tell them, I know I do. And if they kick me out, it’s probably for the best anyway.”

“They’re not going to kick you out, L,” Eliott reassured him, turning on his side, “They just might need a little time. Doesn’t mean they love you any less.”

“Yeah…” Lucas said, but Eliott could tell he didn’t actually agree. Eliott felt a pang of guilt at the fact that his reaction was the only one Lucas had to go off of at that point, so he’d be expecting the worst from everybody. 

“Hey, they’re much better people than I am,” Eliott said, trying to sound like he was joking but failing. “They’ll be there for you, ok? And if they aren’t, I’ll kick their asses.”

Lucas turned onto his side as well. “You’re not a bad person for reacting the way you did.”

“I just hate that it’s made you question your other relationships, think that they’ll abandon you like I did.” Eliott looked at the sheets between them, running his fingers in small circles to distract himself.

Lucas grabbed his hand. “You didn’t abandon me. You came back. Or, you would have, had you not been kidnapped and whatever.”

“‘Kidnapped and whatever’, very eloquent,” Eliott teased. 

Lucas shoved him. “Shut up, I’m trying to be sweet and genuine!”

“You don’t have to try, you just are.”

Lucas glowered at him as if daring him to interrupt again. Sweet and genuine was clearly his middle name. “ Anyway , it’s not you, it’s really not. You know I’ve had experience with this kind of fear, and it just seems worse with Mika, Manon, and Lisa because they’re the ones who took me in when I had nowhere to go, when I was at my lowest. It would break my heart to lose them.”

“You won’t,” Eliott said adamantly. “I promise.”

“You can’t make promises like that, you don’t know—”

“I promise,” Eliott repeated. 

Lucas looked at him fondly, like he was the sun. “You’re a stubborn dumbass, aren’t you?”

“As if you didn’t know that already.” 

Lucas didn’t answer, just pulled him back in for another kiss, morning breath discussions forgotten as they lost themselves in one another. Eliott wouldn’t have changed a single thing about that moment, even if he was offered all the riches in the world. No amount of money could compare to the feel of Lucas in his arms, lips meeting purposefully and passionately.

“What, do you think,” Lucas began, punctuating each statement with a small kiss, “Our parallel universe selves are doing right now?”

Eliott raised his eyebrows and leaned back a bit, unable to think with Lucas so close to him. “Lots of things, probably,” he laughed, unable to come up with an adequate answer, Lucas was still too distracting to him.

“C’mon! Think about it.” Lucas bit his bottom lip, waiting patiently for a real answer, so Eliott mulled it over more seriously, thinking about all the possibilities the world had in store for them. 

“Well, in one of them Eliott and Lucas just moved in together. It’s Eliott’s first year of uni, Lucas’ final year of high school, and they figured it was time. Eliott had a rough adjustment at first, but he knows that Lucas will always be there for him, and that he loves him, so that’s all that really matters. I bet they’re on holiday with the gang and the crew right now too, a bunch of dumbasses rolling around in a bright orange van,” Eliott said, letting his mind drift. He definitely wasn’t projecting some of his wishes onto their parallel selves, definitely not.

“Moving in together, huh?” Lucas asked cheekily, and Eliott could hear his grin, even though his eyes were squeezed shut. 

“Shut up,” Eliott said, Please don’t , he meant. “What do you think they’re doing, then?”

“Have I told you about ballet elu yet?” Lucas asked excitedly, and Eliott peeked one eye open warily. 

“Ballet elu?”

“Elu, Eliott and Lucas, keep up!” Lucas said dramatically, resting his head on Eliott’s shoulder and wrapping their legs up together. “Anyway, these versions of us dance at the Paris Opera Ballet School, or something, but they’re the same age—”

“Is that how parallel universes work?” Eliott wondered aloud, and Lucas shushed him.

“Shh, it’s my turn. Where was I? Right, they’re the same age, but they hate each other. Well, Eliott doesn’t, because how could any Eliott ever hate little old me, but Lucas does, because they had a falling out when they were kids. Something to do with ballet, or with Lucas’ shitty family, because that much stays the same in most universes too, but for what it’s worth: they’re rivals. But then! In their last year, they’re forced to room together, and they slowly start to reconcile, and fall in love, all while preparing to dance in the school’s production of Swan Lake ,” Lucas finished with a flourish, looking pleased with himself.

“Did you just… write an enemies to lovers meets ‘and they were roommates’ fanfiction about us in your mind?” Eliott asked carefully, laughter threatening to burst out. 

“Absolutely, yes,” Lucas confirmed, small giggles surfacing involuntarily. Eliott gave in as well, and soon the two of them were laughing thinking about the many different versions of themselves that were doing the same. 

Lucas got quiet after a while and turned his head up to Eliott. “It helps, sometimes,” he continued, “To think about all the things we might be doing in other lives. To think that in some of them, Lucas’ only worry is coming out to his friends, or what he’s going to study in university. To know that somewhere out there he doesn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders and a city to protect because he put on a stupid costume and decided he was more than the scared boy looking back at him in the mirror.”

“In the worlds I imagine,” Eliott began, “I’m not bipolar. I’m the type of person you deserve.”

“Eliott don’t say that.” Lucas’ voice was soft but determined. 

“I know,” Eliott said, because he did, he’d known Lucas would argue with him from the start. “I just wish I wasn’t me, sometimes.”

Lucas scooted up closer so they were barely a breath apart. “You’re incredible. When she was making you, the sun crafted you with so much brightness that you’re still afraid of burning people, but the people you burn are the ones that deserve to be burned, the ones that don’t understand what a gift your light is.”

Eliott was nearly moved to tears. Sure, Lucas knew exactly what he needed to hear, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t entirely genuine, words like sweet poetry. Sometimes Eliott teased him about how he had the makings of an L student, and Lucas would scoff in offense until they talked about a new subject. In all actuality, Eliott thought that maybe Lucas just didn’t know how brilliant he was, a brilliance that extended to all facets of life. 

“You have such a beautiful mind,” Eliott said, hoping Lucas understood the depth of the compliment. 

Lucas turned bright red, looking away. “Stop.”

“Never.”

Their hands found each other again, brushes of fingertips always so nice and gentle, holding each other with the care they deserved. Lucas interlocked his pointer finger with Eliott’s. 

“Well then thank you,” he said, “For always thinking the best of me.”

“I don’t, always,” Eliott admitted, but Lucas didn’t seem to mind. 

“You do when it matters,” he said, and they fell into easy silence. 

Eliott had no idea what time it was, though it was probably nearing noon, if it wasn’t already past then. He didn’t mind, he’d stay in bed with Lucas all day if that was what Lucas wanted. 

Lucas let out a soft sigh, and Eliott could tell he was working up the nerve to say something. He brushed Lucas’ hair reassuringly, and after a moment or two, Lucas spoke up. “Will you go with me? To tell Mika, Manon, and Lisa everything?”

“Of course. They can come here, if that’s easier.” Eliott didn’t think any of them would be returning to the colloc anytime soon.

Lucas glanced up at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Eliott nodded. Lucas smiled and leaned over to grab his phone off the nightstand. 

“As much as I want to stay in here with you alone forever, I think Mika will kill me if I don’t explain what the hell is going on,” Lucas sighed, showing Eliott his lockscreen which had a total of forty two texts and twelve missed calls from Mika, and a handful of others from Manon. He snuggled in a bit closer to Eliott as he texted them, telling them to come over to Eliott’s place at their earliest convenience. Knowing Mika that meant they probably had roughly ten minutes left to themselves. 

Lucas groaned and rolled over until he was off the bed, pouting at Eliott. “Stop looking so pretty,” he said.

Eliott pulled the covers up to his nose, raising his eyebrows. “I’m doing no such thing.”

“Stoooooop,” Lucas whined, huffing a breath through his nose. “You’re very cute, and this is very unfair of you. My heart can only handle so much Eliott Demaury cuteness before it goes into cardiac arrest.”

Eliott cocked his head to one side, dropping the covers. “Oh no, that won’t do. Is there any way to ensure that doesn’t happen?”

“A kiss, perhaps,” Lucas suggested, holding a hand out. Eliott rolled his eyes fondly, smile overtaking his face as he reached out, allowing Lucas to pull him closer. 

Eliott was at the edge of the bed, Lucas standing above him, and Lucas’ hands were carding through his hair. He looked up at Lucas like he was the center of the universe, probably because he was the center of Eliott’s. 

“I love you,” Eliott said.

“I love you too,” Lucas said. 

A soft kiss, a gentle embrace, the warmth of their love nearly tangible in the air. Eliott sighed into Lucas’ mouth, wrapping his arms around his neck. “I never want to let go of you.”

Lucas broke away, shit eating grin overtaking his face, and Eliott narrowed his eyes in suspicion a moment before he was being hefted over Lucas’ shoulder. “Done!” Lucas said cheerfully, carrying him into the other room.

“L, let me down,” Eliott giggled, but Lucas just spun the two of them around. 

“You’re the one who asked for this, sir,” Lucas laughed, shifting to lift Eliott above his head with both hands. Eliott froze, eyes widening.

“L, L, L, let me down, fuck, seriously!” Eliott was nearly certain Lucas was a second away from dropping him.

Lucas just laughed again. “El, you’re fine, I promise. Lifting you is like lifting a book over my head.”

Eliott briefly forgot his current distress, dropping his head down to look Lucas in the eye. “Wait, seriously?”

Lucas nodded. “Did we not already confirm I haven’t actually been working out?”

Eliott rolled his eyes. “We did , but super strength takes some getting used to, you know.”

“Uh, yeah, I do know,” Lucas said with raised eyebrows. He looked like he was about to say something else but was cut off by the door swinging open, a confused Mika, Manon, and Lisa standing in the entrance to the flat.

“Someone let us in downstairs,” Manon explained weakly, the only one not focused on the fact that Lucas was lifting Eliott over his head.

Eliott found himself being deposited to a normal standing position, Lucas leaning against the wall like they hadn’t been doing anything out of the ordinary. Mika looked back and forth between the two of them, eyebrows shot up to his hairline. 

“We’re not going to talk about what the fuck that was, then?” he asked, and Eliott turned to Lucas for his reaction. Lucas was looking at the ground, nose scrunched up adorably. When he looked up at Mika, his nonchalant demeanor broke. 

“I have to tell you guys something,” he said, voice little more than a whisper. Eliott stepped closer to him, grabbing his hand in a show of support. Manon, Mika, and Lisa moved further into the apartment each of their faces reflecting a mix of confusion, suspicion, and unease.

“I, um,” Lucas began, biting his thumbnail absently, eyes flitting around the room. Eliott squeezed his hand again. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, then opening them. “I’m Spiderman.”

Mika burst into laughter, Lisa didn’t look fazed at all, and Manon widened her eyes like something was starting to make sense to her. When Mika realized Lucas wasn’t laughing with him, he faltered. “You’re serious?”

Lucas nodded, and launched into a full explanation, looking so incredibly uncomfortable, nothing like he had minutes prior, but Eliott held his hand through it all, a silent reassurance that everything would be ok. When he finished, a charged silence filled the room, one waiting to be broken, but it seemed no one could find the right words. Lucas had finished his story with the reason they were at Eliott’s place, details of his father and Chameleon and how they’d used Eliott to get to him and everything that had happened in the crossfire of it all. 

Manon took a step forward, extending her arms, and Lucas collapsed into her, crying. Eliott’s heart ached to see Lucas break down like that, but Lucas didn’t need his boyfriend in that moment, he needed his family. Mika joined, then Lisa, and soon Lucas was surrounded by a pile of love he’d been so desperately needing. 

Eliott was sure they’d spend the rest of the night figuring out where to go from there, but presently it was just enough to know that Lucas still had people that cared for him as much as they’d promised to. Eliott smiled, and was pulled into the hug. The world smiled with him, even if just for a moment. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott was on his way over to Yann’s place with Lucas, and Lucas seemed nervous for some reason, more nervous than he had been to tell his flatmates the truth of everything that had been going down. Eliott kept their hands linked reassuringly, smiling at him every so often. 

Yann seemed to be in a perfectly happy mood, and he gave Lucas a look that Eliott couldn’t discern when he let the two of them into his house. To Eliott’s surprise, Imane was there too, which was weird. Sure, the girls and the boys were all friends, but Eliott had never gotten the sense that Imane and Yann were very close. 

Yann looked somewhat surprised to see Eliott there as well, which didn’t make sense, because Lucas had told him that Yann invited the two of them over to hang out. 

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever man, how you been?” Yann asked, giving him a high five. Eliott couldn’t very well just say ‘kidnapped, actually’, so he shrugged, glancing quickly at Lucas. 

“Fine,” he answered simply. That should suffice. Eliott didn’t know if Lucas was going to tell Yann and Imane about everything or not, but he figured it was Lucas’ story to tell if he wanted to, not his. 

Lucas narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Instead, he turned to Imane, who was already looking at him and said, “Those new things you gave me? I might need more.”

Yann’s eyes were wide, looking between Lucas, Imane, and Eliott, but Imane seemed unbothered. She rolled her eyes and held out her arms. “Glad you’re alive dumbass.”

“Yeah, me too,” Lucas joked, and Eliott tried to meet Yann’s eye, who was suddenly very interested in the ceiling. 

“Hold on,” Eliott interrupted, trying to decode their ambiguity. He turned to Imane. “You know?”

She raised one eyebrow at him in turn. “ You know?”

“We all know,” Lucas interjected, biting his lip. 

Eliott turned to Yann. “This whole time?”

Yann, looking extremely uncomfortable, conceded, “Yes?”

Lucas was watching him nervously, as if he’d be mad other people knew before him, but Eliott started laughing. The life that the two (or four) of them had stumbled into was already so absurd, not much could surprise Eliott anymore. 

“Welcome to the club, man,” Imane said, breaking up the small amount of remaining tension. Lucas breathed a subtle sigh of relief that Eliott wasn’t mad, and Eliott gave him an extra reassuring squeeze. 

“Happy to be here,” Eliott said with a wink, then a backwards glance at Lucas, “Well… I mean…”

Lucas interjected, “I have a lot to fill you guys in on.”

Eliott sat and listened while Lucas repeated his spiel, nearly the same as the tail end of the one he’d given Manon, Mika, and Lisa a few days prior. For the time being, Manon, Mika, and Lisa were staying with Emma because her mom was gone all the time, and Lucas was staying with Eliott because neither of them wanted to have the other out of their sight for too long. Sure, they’d stayed over together many a time, even before they started dating, but having Lucas live with him (in a sense) put a whole bunch of butterflies in his stomach, thinking of what it would be like if they lived together every day, not just when they were possibly in mortal danger.

Imane didn’t seem as concerned about any of the new developments as Yann did, but that made sense. She always had a calm, level head when the rest of them were freaking out. Thank god for Imane.

Yann stole Lucas from Eliott, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. “Fuck your dad,” he said seriously, ruffling Lucas’ hair. 

Lucas smiled weakly, eyes glistening just so, like he’d only at that moment realized the severity of the situation. “Easier said than done, I’m afraid.”

“Hey, look at me,” Imane said, standing beside Yann and placing a hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “You are not alone. You have me, you have Yann, you have Eliott, you have Arthur and Basile, you have all the girls, you probably also have Sofiane and Idriss too, and they barely know you. Ok? We’ll all figure this out together, because you may be a superhero, but we’re not so bad ourselves.”

“I know how to fire a gun and everything now,” Eliott chimed in, kissing the back of Lucas’ head as he laughed, a soft beautiful sound. 

“Yeah, you’re staying away from the fighting from now on,” Lucas said sternly.

Eliott scoffed. “What? But I’m so good at it.”

“Ha ha.”

“That wasn’t a joke Lallemant.”

Yann rolled his eyes. “Can you guys stop flirting for like, one minute?”

Eliott and Lucas exchanged a glance. “No,” they said simultaneously, each with a faux apologetic shrug. Yann rolled his eyes again, but this time he was hiding a smile. 

“Well?” Imane said, bringing them back to the topic at hand. “Dream team unite?”

Eliott smiled at the three of them shyly. “Am I included in the dream team?”

Imane opened her mouth but Lucas cut her off. “Of course. You’re my dream.”

“You guys are so gross,” Imane said, turning on her heel to go in the other room, Yann following dutifully. Eliott stood in the hallway with Lucas a moment longer, smiling at him in an intentional sort of way, the kind that said you mean just as much to me as I do to you . 

“You’re my dream too,” Eliott said. “Just you, my Lu.”

“Not the hot mysterious superhero?” Lucas asked like he was joking, but Eliott wasn’t sure if he was. 

Eliott shrugged. “Him too, but he’s not the soul I fell in love with. That’s all Lucas.”

“I was in love with you before I was ever more than just Lucas,” Lucas said, twining their fingers together. 

“You’ve always been more than just Lucas to me,” Eliott said, leaning down gently to capture Lucas in a kiss. Because he had been, even if it had only been as friends before. There was always something special about him, something that told Eliott they were soulmates long before that ever came to fruition. He was glad that it finally had, and that they wouldn’t have to spend the rest of their lives wondering what might have been.

Their moment was broken, however, by the one and only Yann Cazas. “Hey, assholes! You gonna help with this or what?”

Lucas groaned, leaning against Eliott. “We’d better…” he trailed off, nodding to the other room. 

Eliott sighed dramatically, running a hand through Lucas’ hair. “Love you.”

“Love you too."

Imane looked like she was trying not to smile at the two of them when they entered the room, and Yann looked like he was pretending to be annoyed with them, which was pretty expected from the both of them. 

Lucas sat beside Imane and looked at what she was doing on her laptop. She glanced up at both of them. “When’s the last time you’ve had contact with your dad?” she asked Lucas gently.

“Years ago,” Lucas said, looking like he’d been anticipating this conversation, but still didn’t want to be having it. Eliott understood, even in the years they’d been friends Lucas never talked about his dad beyond vague statements about not needing him in his life, being glad he wasn’t in it. 

Imane pressed on. “What does your dad… do?”

Lucas shrugged. “I don’t really know. I was too young to understand what he did when he left, and I never cared to figure it out once he was gone.”

“Can’t you just look him up or something?” Yann asked, watching Lucas carefully. Of all of them, he was probably the only one who knew anything about Lucas’ father aside from Lucas himself. 

Imane glared at Yann. “I did, I just wanted to cover all of our bases.”

“Well?” Lucas asked, biting his bottom lip and looking at Imane with wide eyes, like he was scared of what she might say.

She sighed, turning her screen to face them. “There’s not much about him, honestly. He has a high up position in his company, but that company looks pretty clean from what I’ve seen, no reports of manufacturing illegal substances or modifying human beings into whatever the hell you’ve encountered.”

“Chameleon and Vulture,” Eliott supplied, feeling himself shiver involuntarily. At least one of them was dead. 

“I don’t know,” she complained, “I feel like this is just scratching the surface, but I’m not sure how to dig deeper.”

Yann held out his hands. “Looks like you need Cazas for this one.”

“You really think you’ll be able to find anything I haven’t been able to find?” she challenged, holding her computer close to her chest. 

“I very much do think that,” Yann said with a grin, and she reluctantly handed it over. Eliott watched their exchange carefully, trying to figure out what everyone’s roles were in this operation. 

Lucas must have noticed his confusion, because he said, “They’ve been helping me this whole time. Imane designed my suit and everything, Yann is mostly there for moral support but he has some helpful skills.”  

“He means I’ll do illegal shit that Imane won’t do,” Yann interjected, typing away. 

It was hard for Eliott to not feel a little left out, even if he did understand why Yann and Imane had been roped in much earlier than he had. The three of them just fell right into a little rhythm, the likes of which somewhat relieved Eliott as well, knowing that Lucas hadn’t been going through this all alone. He had sort of been wondering about the technology involved with being Spiderman since he’d found out that it was Lucas, and there was no one quite as smart as Imane, so that at least made sense. 

A lot of things made sense, even things Eliott had never in his life even considered happening. Maybe everything was just the right amount of fucked up, the amount that made it all seem somewhat normal. 

“Hey, Lu?” Yann called over to Lucas, who raised his eyebrows in response. “Did your dad ever talk about working in a lab?”

Lucas scrunched up his nose, looking confused, then a sense of clarity overcame his features. “My grandpa worked in some government lab. My parents never really talked about it though, just mentioned it in passing once or twice.”

Imane and Yann shared a look. Yann continued, “Do you think that could have something to do with all of this? Is it some secret government conspiracy?”

“Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?” Lucas asked, but he didn’t argue.

That too, made sense, in the odd sort of way all of this did. Eliott thought of something. 

“That’s why no one’s doing anything. Sure, the police arrested Vulture, but Chameleon seemed pretty sure he would be free soon, and I haven’t heard any coverage on weird things happening throughout the city aside from a few Spiderman escapades. He’s working with the government, they’re in on this too.” Anyone else might have thought he was talking out of his ass, but Yann could always be counted on to suspect the government for any wrongdoings at all. 

Lucas blinked like he’d had an epiphany. “Imane, you keep track of all the news about Spiderman, right?” She nodded, unsure where he was going with this. He continued, “They haven’t reported everything , have they?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, holding out her hands to take the computer from Yann, typing away immediately once it was in her possession. Lucas looked at her like he thought she knew exactly what he meant. 

Yann looked like he knew too, because he added, “They haven’t reported on a variety of things you’ve dealt with, just the smaller, more low key things. They reported when you saved that store by Eliott’s place from getting robbed but they didn’t report a thing when you came across that random building a while back and saved some kid’s life.”

“That was me, Yann,” Eliott said, unless there had been another instance where the same thing happened.

Yann looked at Lucas accusingly, who shrank in his seat. “You told me it was some random person!”

“I lie about a lot of things, Yann,” Lucas said, folding his arms over his chest. 

Yann looked like he wanted to argue further, but Eliott cut in with a thought before he had the chance to say any more. “Your dad was there that night.”

Lucas whipped his head to Eliott. “He was? I didn’t see him there.”

“He left right before you got there,” Eliott said, “I didn’t know who he was at the time, just thought he looked sort of familiar.”

“I mean, it can’t be a coincidence,” Yann said, looking between Lucas and Imane pointedly. Imane sighed and shrugged like she had no choice but to agree, and Lucas seemed to be coming to a similar conclusion.

“But what does he want?” Lucas asked quietly, more to himself than anyone else. That was the question on everyone’s mind, it seemed, because no one had a concrete answer.

“I’m afraid there’s only one way to find that out,” Imane said just as softly, watching Lucas carefully. “But we can manufacture the entire thing.”

Eliott blinked a few times, catching onto what Imane was saying. “Hold on a minute… you can’t be saying what I think you are? No way are we putting Lucas in harm’s way for the sake of some fucking government conspiracy! No way.”

“Eliott—” Lucas began, but Eliott shook his head. 

“You can’t honestly be serious?” Eliott demanded of all of them. 

Yann stood and placed a hand on Eliott’s shoulder. “Lucas is the only one who has a chance. They’re after him for some reason, and they aren’t going to relent.”

“You don’t know that,” Eliott pleaded, begging Yann with his eyes to consider his point of view. 

“Eliott,” Lucas said again, more definitively. “I love you, but it’s not up to you. I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to play a superhero, and I have to accept the responsibility that comes with it. Especially if my dad’s involved. I’m sure I haven’t scratched the surface on all the bad shit he’s done, but if there’s some way I can help put an end to it, I want to.”

Lucas looked at him the same way he’d looked at Yann, and Eliott’s defenses crumbled. “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Eliott said. 

“I never wanted you to get hurt either,” Lucas said, eyes carrying more pain than they should have at his age. “If I do this we can be one step closer to not hurting anymore.”

Eliott closed his eyes, breathed in and out of his nose slowly. When he opened them, Yann, Lucas, and Imane were all looking at him hesitantly. He trusted Lucas, he did, more than anyone. As hard as this might be, Eliott had no choice but to agree with the rest of them. They had to do what they could to uncover whatever was going on and make it right. 

“All right,” he agreed, “What’s the plan, then?”

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott hated the plan. He’d helped to come up with the plan, but he hated the plan. He hated it because he would have to wait, wait until things either went perfectly or horribly wrong. Imane had full faith in the plan, so that should have put Eliott at ease, but it didn’t. Not much did these days.

It had been so hard to pretend everything was the same at school around their other friends. Manon looked like she might have been having a hard time adjusting too, but Lucas, Imane, and Yann were pros. Eliott didn’t know whether or not he should have been impressed by it. 

Lucas had decided not to tell the rest of their friends about everything until after his confrontation with his dad, just to have less stress surrounding everything that would go down. He didn’t say it was because Eliott’s worry was more than enough, but he didn’t have to. 

They were still staying together at Eliott’s place, and the soft, domestic moments they were able to sneak in almost made up for the absurdity and secrecy of everything else going on. The night prior Eliott and Lucas had made a promise not to talk about what was coming the next day and pretend it was just another night, and it had been one of the best nights they’d spent together in recent memory. Lucas had been in such a cheerful, loving mood, and Eliott had been more than happy to follow suit. They made (or, more accurately, failed at making) a meal together, sat and ate on the kitchen floor, neglected to do the dishes in favor of spending some much needed time together in the bedroom, and they’d fallen asleep tucked into one another, whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears. 

It was the perfect night, and Eliott tried not to think about the fact that it may have been their last one. 

He was at home, waiting by the tv, waiting for a breaking news broadcast. Imane and Yann were together, helping from the sidelines, but Eliott had been given no job other than to sit and wait. As if summoned by his thoughts, Imane texted him.  

Imane: I can sense your worry from here

Eliott: good

Imane: Eliott. It will all be fine, I promise.

Imane: You know the plan, we’ve orchestrated the whole thing, we have the power here

Eliott: i don’t trust his dad one bit 

Imane: None of us do

Eliott: i know you guys are smart, but what if he has people that are smarter?

Imane: No one is smarter than me

Eliott: i’m being serious, imane. i’m scared.

Imane: Trust Lucas, ok? He wouldn’t be doing this if he didn’t trust himself.

Eliott: yes he would

Eliott: he’s a self sacrificing asshole 

Imane: Well, he’s your self sacrificing asshole

Imane: Trust him. And try not to worry so much, I’m sure he can sense it too.

Eliott: easier said than done. 

Imane: Do you want me to tell Manon & co to come over to yours? They might not know about the plan, but I’m sure they could take your mind off it

Eliott: no. i think i need to be alone.

Eliott: i’ll let you know though

Imane: It’ll be ok <3

Eliott: i hope so.

Eliott shut off his phone, not waiting for a response. He knew Imane was right, that he should just trust her and Lucas and the plan, but it was so, so hard to abandon his anxieties like that. 

The plan was for Lucas to bait his dad by busting a fake robbery, that way they could ensure news coverage without interference from whatever organization his dad was a part of. They weren’t certain his dad would take the bait, but they’d been doing small things over the past few weeks to draw more and more attention to Spiderman, make him out as the hero most of the city thought he was. The hero Lucas thought he was anything but, the hero Eliott knew he was, even without a mask. 

They didn’t know if it would be Lucas’ dad or if he’d send someone else after Lucas, but Lucas had made it clear that he would do whatever, go wherever, until he found his dad and got answers. They knew there was a risk of Lucas’ dad interfering with the news, so Lucas’ suit was equipped with a camera and an earpiece that doubled as a microphone as well, but only Imane and Yann had access to it. Part of the deal was that they’d keep Eliott informed, but he wouldn’t be in the middle of it all. 

Eliott was mostly worried Lucas’ dad would do something drastic right off the bat and they wouldn’t get any answers or Lucas would get hurt. Ever since Lucas claimed that his dad would have no qualms about killing him, it was all Eliott had been able to think about. Part of him still couldn’t believe it, but he knew Lucas would never lie about that. 

Eliott checked the time, then the tv, knowing that whatever was happening would surely be happening soon. He was right, just as he looked at the screen, a breaking news broadcast showed up, informing of a robbery halted by the local hero, Spiderman. There was some footage of Lucas sweeping in to save the day, but not much. There were cameras on him live as he waited outside the site of the “robbery” and Eliott could sense the tension he was carrying even from miles away. Normally he left the scenes of crimes he stopped immediately following the crime stopping, but the plan had called for him to wait for retaliation, so Eliott watched as he waited.

He was watching the tv so intently that his vision nearly blurred, and in that time he noticed a small glitch in the camera filming the scene, and when it came back into clear focus, Lucas was gone. 

Fuck. 

He dialed Imane immediately. 

“Imane, where the fuck did he go?” he demanded into the phone when she picked up.

“Eliott, calm down. He’s with his dad,” she answered. 

That didn’t really give him much to go off of. He switched off the tv, now that Lucas was gone it wouldn’t be much help. “Where?”

“We’re not entirely certain, but on the roof of some building,” she said distractedly. 

Yann yelled into the phone from where he was likely stationed beside Imane. “It’s ok, Eliott, Lucas knows what he’s doing.”

“What are they talking about?” he asked.

Imane sighed, “I’d be able to tell if I could hear him over you.”

“Sorry.” Eliott went silent, waiting for her to listen and fill him in. It felt like an eternity, but she finally spoke up again.      

“He’s asking his dad questions, but his dad won’t answer. It’s ok, though, he’ll just keep— fuck!” she swore suddenly, and Eliott’s blood pressure spiked. 

“Imane, please tell me what’s happening,” he rambled worriedly.

“I have to go, Eliott, I’m sorry,” she said, voice wavering a bit, and the call disconnected. Impulsively, Eliott threw his phone across the room, hearing the glass crack as it hit the wall, then the floor.

He stormed out of his flat, not bothering to grab his broken phone or lock the door. He ran and ran and ran, all the way to Yann’s place, where Yann and Imane were set to be stationed. Fuck waiting, he wouldn’t do anyone any good if he was going out of his mind with worry back at his flat. 

It was probably the fastest Eliott had run in his life, and he showed up on Yann’s doorstep panting and sweating. He knocked and would not stop knocking until Yann’s sister opened the door, looking confused. 

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Imane and Yann are here?” he confirmed, ignoring her. 

She frowned. “Yeah, they’re in his bedroom, what are you—” 

He pushed past her making his way up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He could hear Yann and Imane’s voices yelling but he couldn’t hear what they were saying, so he wasted no time in wrenching open Yann’s door and being met with two nervous faces. 

“What the hell is going on?” he asked, and thankfully neither one of them chided him for being there. 

Both of the large monitors they’d set up were completely black, fuzzing with static. Imane looked on the verge of tears and Yann was shaking. He repeated, “What the hell is going on?”

“Eliott—” Imane began, cutting herself off at his expression.

“Where’s Lucas? Why are the screens black? What’s he saying?” Eliott demanded, and still Yann and Imane were silent. His voice broke. “P— Please. I need to know that he’s ok.”

Yann looked up at him, pain so clearly evident in his eyes, and Eliott knew. He shook his head. “No,” he argued, despite them not having said a word, “You told me this was all under control, you told me not to worry.”

He turned to Imane, seething, tears threatening to run down his cheeks. “You fucking lied to me Imane! And for what? He’s— he trusted you. He trusted all of us. I fucking—- I hate you. Both of you. I’ll never forgive you for this, Lucas, he—”

Eliott stumbled, falling to his knees. His chest hurt so badly, he felt like he was having a heart attack. Hands wrapped around him holding him so tightly it almost hurt, but he didn’t want them to let go. He let himself sob openly the tears tasting salty as they fell in rivers. Yann was crying too, he realized, but in a quiet sort of way, like he didn’t deserve to cry. Eliott felt horrible momentarily, Yann had known Lucas longer than any of them, had been his best friend since they were just kids learning to tie their shoes.

Eliot lifted his head, gripping Yann and Imane back with equal strength. “I’m sorry.”

His voice sounded dead, it didn’t sound like his voice. He wasn’t sure it would ever sound the same again. “You didn’t— we all underestimated his dad.”

“I shouldn’t have. I should have known better,” Yann said quietly. “I was the only one other than him who knew his dad. I should have insisted on some sort of backup, I should have vetoed the plan entirely.”

Eliott shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I’m sorry for blaming you, I just…” He couldn’t find any more words, and the other two seemed to understand. Sobs were still heaving in his chest, but he needed answers, he needed to know where exactly it had all gone wrong. 

“Was he scared?” Eliott asked.

Imane shook her head, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “I don’t think so.”

“Can you please tell me what happened then?” He didn’t want to know. He did want to know. He didn’t know what he wanted. He just wanted Lucas. 

Yann too, was still fairly inconsolable, and Imane took on the task of telling the story. “He asked his dad some questions, just as I told you. He wouldn’t answer until Lucas took his mask off, so he did. He started asking Lucas questions too, and Lucas wouldn’t tell him anything until he got answers of his own. It’s not like Lucas had anything to hide, anyway. His dad took out a gun, told him that he’d kill everyone Lucas cared about if he didn’t give him what he wanted. Lucas refused, calling his bluff. He said he didn’t have anyone he cared about anyway, so it didn’t matter. His dad knew about you, though, and Lucas told him you were already dead, that you’d been shot at the warehouse and you two had escaped together only for you to die in his arms hours later. He said he had nothing to lose, and he’d rather die himself than give up anything for his dad.”

Eliott could picture it all, picture Lucas’ stubborn face, his fierce heart. One of the last things he’d done was protect Eliott, and Eliott hadn’t been able to protect him. His chest panged again, heart on fire. 

“Lucas whispered something, and then his dad shot him. Without another word. That’s when our screens went black and the audio went silent.” Yann’s voice was as cold as Eliott’s.

Hearing it stated so bluntly made Eliott feel like the floor had been ripped from under him, like he was free falling with no one to catch him. It was a sensation he’d felt many times in his life, but never this strong, never with so much depth to the hurt. 

Voice broken, he whispered, “What did Lucas say?”

Yann and Imane shared a glance. “He told us that it wasn’t our fault, and to tell you that he loves you more than he ever thought a single person could love another.”

“He knew,” Eliott said, rapid breaths rising, thinking about what Lucas had told him about his spider senses, how he could anticipate attacks better than anyone. “He knew his dad was going to kill him? And he didn’t try to stop it? Why didn’t he try to stop it?”

“Eliott—” Imane tried.

“No.” Eliott pulled away from their loving hold. “He let it happen. He let his dad kill him. He was a fucking superhero! He— he—”

Yann shook him by his shoulders. “Eliott. Shut the fuck up. I know you loved Lucas more than anyone, but I loved him too, for a much longer time. It all happened so quickly, I don’t think Lucas could have stopped it if he tried. I don’t think he let it happen, and fuck you if you’re going to blame him for being fucking muderered! Fuck you!”

Eliott could feel his temper rising and he was worried he might say something he’d regret, but Imane got between the two of them, pressing a hand to both of their chests. “We’re all hurting right now,” she said, her tone sharp and serious, like she was trying her best to hold it together, “You two know him more than me, but I know for a fact that he wouldn’t want the two people he loves most to fight, to blame each other—”

“To blame him ,” Yann spat, and Imane pressed harder.

“—to blame him. Which I don’t think Eliott was doing. We’re all experiencing a lot of emotions right now, so I swear to god if you two don’t stop this I— I—” Imane broke off into sobs, clenching their shirts in either one of her hands. Eliott looked at Yann, a wave of understanding passing between the two of them. Yann was sorry, Eliott was sorry, but no matter how sorry they were, it didn’t change the fact that Lucas was gone.

They folded into one another melting into a circle of comfort and support, knowing it wouldn’t do much good but trying anyway. They let Imane cry, they let Yann cry, they let Eliott cry. It was all they could really do for one another at the moment.

The sun had gone out, but somehow they were the only ones who noticed. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

It had been a month. Eliott wasn’t coping well, but none of them were. A car accident, they’d told the rest of their friends. Eliott, Lucas, Imane, and Yann had been going outside the city for the weekend, just to have some fun and get away, and there had been an accident. They didn’t have a funeral, but everyone came to Eliott’s place and they all drank themselves sick and cursed the world for being so cruel. He wasn’t sure that was what Lucas would have wanted, but funerals were for the living anyway. 

Eliott had one of the worst depressive episodes of his life, and Yann and Imane hadn’t left his side through it. Their sadness didn’t carry the same endless depth, but it was deep enough for them to be intimately aware of what Eliott was feeling. 

Everyone treated the three of them with extra care, like they might break with a single touch, and Eliott was too exhausted all the time to argue. Sometimes he felt like he might break with less than a touch. Something didn’t feel right, didn’t feel finite. 

There had been no news of Spiderman’s death, which Eliott had assumed would have been displayed for everyone to see, instead the world just went on wondering where he was and why he’d stopped being a hero. Lucas’ body wasn’t ever found either, though that wasn’t too weird. Lucas’ dad probably had more resources than Eliott, Yann, and Imane did, so they hadn’t really banked on finding him, and deep down Eliott could tell they were kind of glad they hadn’t. 

Eliott knew he had to start making an effort if he was going to pass his bac this time around, but he felt like nothing mattered anymore. Lucas was the one that deserved to be taking his bac, looking at universities, not Eliott. 

His phone buzzed, and he nearly ignored it, but then it buzzed again, and again, and he figured he’d at least look to turn it on silent. It was probably Daphné, thinking she was doing some good by “checking in” on him.

Unknown Sender: Is this Eliott?

Unknown Sender: If not, ignore this message

Unknown Sender: If yes, please let me know

Eliott: who is this?

Unknown Sender: I can’t tell you that. Is this Eliott?

Eliott: yes

Unknown Sender: Thank god.

Unknown Sender: I need your help

Eliott: i’m not sure how i can help if i don’t know who you are

Unknown Sender: You wouldn’t believe me even if I could tell you

Eliott: try me

Unknown Sender: Will you help me or not?

Eliott: what do you need help with?

Eliott was utterly confused by the whole exchange. Who would be reaching out to him for help? He left his room and went to the living room, where Imane was sitting doing homework. 

“Hey Imane?” he asked, and she indulged him with a hum. “I got a weird message, do you think you could track it?”

She looked up immediately. “What kind of weird message?”

He showed her his phone and she immediately glowered at him. “This is how bad things happen to good people Eliott. Why on earth would you confirm your identity to someone who refuses to tell you who they are?”

Eliott shrugged. He had nothing to lose at this point. “All the bad people we know think I’m dead.”

“Still.” She sighed, plugging his phone into her computer. After a few minutes, she gestured for him to look. The signal was coming from the middle of an entirely empty area on the map. “Do you know where this is?”

He blanched. “I don’t, but I have an idea of what might be there.”

It was all too similar to another space that a map claimed to be empty, and his gut was telling him that he was on the right track with this. It was also telling him he could trust the unknown sender, against his and Imane’s better judgement. The phone buzzed again. 

Unknown Sender: I need you, Imane Bakhellal, and Yann Cazas, if they’re willing.

Eliott: how do i know i can trust you?

Unknown Sender: Because I promise I’d never let anything happen to you, or to them. I swear it on my life.

Eliott: your life may not mean that much to me

Unknown Sender: Maybe it does, though

Imane took the phone, rolling her eyes. 

Eliott: This is Imane. Stop playing with him, tell us what you want and we’ll decide if you’re worth it.

Unknown Sender: You’ve tracked these messages already, yes?

Eliott: Yes.

Unknown Sender: I need you to come here, and to disable all the tech, and clear a path for me to escape.

Eliott: Excuse me?

Unknown Sender: I know it’s a lot to ask, but they’re not as sophisticated as you’d think. It’ll be easy for you.

Eliott: And how would you know that?

Unknown Sender: I can’t tell you

Unknown Sender: Not because I don’t want to

Unknown Sender: I just have to be careful

Eliott: Fine.

Unknown Sender: Fine as in you’ll help?!

Eliott: Fine as in I’ll think about it.

Unknown Sender: Thank you Imane. Thank you. 

Eliott: Don’t thank me quite yet

Unknown Sender: I swear, it will be easy for you

Unknown Sender: Minimalism Imane, minimalism.

Unknown Sender: Can I talk to Eliott again?

Imane handed the phone back over, looking conflicted, like she was thinking something she didn’t want to be thinking.

Eliott: this is eliott

Unknown Sender: I know, I can tell by the way you type

Eliott: its a gay thing

Unknown Sender: Wait, really?!

Unknown Sender: i mean, wait really?!

Eliott: you’re gay, then?

Unknown Sender: you tell me

Eliott found himself grinning, despite himself.

Eliott: i’ll convince imane to help. yann too.

Unknown Sender: i know you will

Unknown Sender: i can’t wait to see you

Eliott: do we know each other?

Unknown Sender: enough

Eliott: then i can’t wait to see you too

Unknown Sender: i’ll text you more details when i can, but i have to go now

Eliott: ok

Unknown Sender: goodbye, eliott. sorry i didn’t say it before

Eliott: what?

Unknown Sender: nothing. just goodbye for now

Eliott put his phone away, assuming the strange conversation was over. Imane was staring off into space and Eliott had to wave a hand in front of her face a few times before she focused on him again.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

She nodded dazedly, forcing a smile. “Yeah. Great. Just thinking.”

“About?”

“How to help this weird friend of yours,” she teased, but the usual bite wasn’t there, her mind was still elsewhere. 

“They’re not my friend, I have no idea who it is.”

“Right,” Imane said, like she was just appeasing him at this point. 

Eliott frowned at her. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I’m fine, I just need to talk to Yann. Will you be fine here for a little while?” she asked. 

He nodded, not understanding what she was being so weird about. She left in a rush, leaving most of her things behind, but Eliott figured she’d be back soon enough anyway. In the meantime he went back to the refuge of his bedroom, wrapping himself back up in a cocoon of longing. Lucas would have been so annoyed with him for texting a random person who refused to reveal their identity, but he wouldn’t have expected anything less. 

Weirdly, texting that person was the only thing that had taken his mind off how much he missed Lucas recently. He’d allowed himself to banter, to enjoy the conversation, because it felt so familiar to him and so comfortable. Almost like Lucas had been there with him. But, of course, that wasn’t possible.

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott, Yann, and Imane were sitting in a van in front of a giant building that shouldn’t have been where it was. Their job really was simple, Eliott’s most of all. He was just their ride, but their mystery contact had wanted him there, so there he was. 

Yann’s job was to hack into their systems, Imane’s was to surveil the inside and provide a path for their contact to escape from, and if all else failed, Eliott’s other job was to cut off their generator, leaving them powerless. 

The thought that Lucas’ dad might be in that building living and breathing nice and comfortably made Eliott’s blood boil so much that it was probably a good thing he was just on getaway car duty. Their sender had made it clear they only had a window of five minutes before the people inside the building realized they were missing, and the sender had an undisclosed job to do in the meantime as well.

Helping whoever their inside contact was had been good for Eliott, actually, it took his mind off the pain he felt constantly. He couldn’t tell if it was doing the same for Imane and Yann or not, they were both as focused as he was but he thought their intention might have been different. That being said, he had no idea what that intention might have been. 

Even now, Imane and Yann were so tense that it was putting Eliott on edge. Just before they’d arrived, Imane had asked Eliott how he felt about being complicit in a serious crime and he hadn’t known how to respond. That seemed to be a good enough answer for her. The two of them were being a bit secretive too, but Eliott tried not to take it personally, he knew it was likely about things that would have gone over his head anyway. 

“You ready?” Yann asked Imane, then Eliott. Imane nodded curtly, laptop at the ready. Eliott had rented a big van for them to set up their needed technology in, and if Eliott was being honest, it made him feel like he was in a heist movie of some sort. He nodded at Yann as well, and the two of them got to work, Eliott waiting for word from the inside. 

Yann swore under his breath every now and then, but other than that, things seemed to be going well. His fingers flew across the keys faster than Eliott thought should have been humanly possible, and after nearly ten minutes of tense silence, he cracked a grin.

“We’re in.”

Imane took over from there, Yann monitoring to make sure they went undetected in the system. Yann nodded at Eliott, and he texted their informant, letting them know their progress. 

Eliott: we’re in the system, imane’s almost ready for you

Unknown Sender: i’m ready

“Hey, Eliott?” Imane called to him, and he looked up, awaiting instruction. She continued, “Can you wait up front?”

He furrowed his brows. “Why?”

“We might need to make a quick getaway, and I want you ready,” she said harshly, but nervously. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think she was trying to hide something from him. 

“Oh, ok,” he agreed, sliding back into the front seat. Imane and Yann exchanged a look, and Imane spoke up again. 

“Can we have your phone?” she asked.

He handed it over, but still questioned, “Why?”

“We need to talk to hi— the contact. We’re going to call them.”

Eliott nodded, not sure why he couldn’t have been a part of that. He’d probably been the one with the most contact to the mystery insider. Whatever, he was sure they knew what they were doing. He tried not to think about the last time he’d been left out of some details of a major plan, tried not to think about the consequences. 

Yann slid the dividing door between the front and back closed, cutting him off from them. Eliott could only barely hear murmurs of them talking either to each other or the phone. Inside the building, he saw a trail of lights go out, one by one, and he assumed their contact was on the move. He straightened up in his chair, hands tightening on the wheel. They had five minutes. 

Something bright went off in the upper corner of the building, far away from where lights were still blinking off leading a trail for their contact to follow. It was working, it was really working. There was stillness for a few tense seconds, then the building’s power shut off completely. Eliott hoped to god that was Yann’s doing.

Eliott knocked on the door separating him from Yann and Imane, wondering if he should be concerned, but they just knocked back without saying anything, so he assumed all must have been well, or all must have been terrible. He was hoping for the latter.

Lights started turning back on one by one and Eliott squinted to see what was happening inside. It looked like madness, from what he could see. People were running all about, some looked like they were frozen in place, and alarms were blaring now that the power was back. 

Yann slid open the door and placed a hand on Eliott’s shoulder. “Our contact is coming, but I don’t want you to try to look at them and distract yourself, ok? I’m gonna close this door, and when you hear me hit it twice, fucking gun it and get the hell out of here.”

“Why can’t I—” Eliott argued, but Yann clamped his hand down harder.

“Trust me, ok?” His eyes burned holes into Eliott’s resolve, and he nodded.

“Ok.”

Yann told him to rotate the van quickly and quietly so their contact could jump into the back and they could get going, then shut the door, leaving Eliott alone again. He did as he was asked, heart rate spiking involuntarily with all the adrenaline coursing through his body.

He waited five seconds.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Twenty—

Two knocks on the door. 

Eliott gunned it, driving faster than he’d ever dared to in his life. He had to admit it was kind of fun to be a getaway driver, just as fun as the movies made it out to be. He thought about Lucas again while he was driving, about how fun Lucas would think this was, how he would pretend he was Vin Diesel in one of the many Fast and the Furious movies. His heart hurt as it usually did when he thought of Lucas these days, but it was full of fondness. A tear slipped down his cheek as Yann slipped into the front seat beside him, shutting the door tightly behind him before Eliott could so much as hear Imane and their newcomer talking. Yann looked like he’d been crying too, but Eliott didn’t ask about it.

They stayed on the outskirts of the city until they got to the location they’d decided to ditch the van, just in case anyone was on their tail. It didn’t seem like it though, so Eliott allowed himself to hope that maybe they’d done whatever it was they’d set out to do. 

Just as the van came to a stop, Eliott putting it into park and taking out the keys, Yann clapped a hand on his shoulder again, imploring him with his eyes. 

“Please, Eliott, don’t be mad at us,” Yann said, face full of an emotion Eliott couldn’t place.

Eliott frowned. “What do I have to be mad about?”

Yann ignored this, continuing, “Imane didn’t even want to tell me, and we didn’t want to fuck with your emotions, let you get your hopes up, just in case everything went wrong.”

“Yann what—” Eliott tried again, and Yann opened the door to the backseat.

L🕷U🕷C🕷A🕷S  

Fuck, Eliott was breathtaking. Lucas smiled weakly as Eliott looked at him like he was a ghost, and Lucas supposed he was. No matter how awful the last however many weeks of his life had been, he was sure Eliott’s had been worse. At least he had the hope of Eliott, of the rest of his friends to keep him going. Eliott thought that Lucas left him, left him for good. 

“Eliott, I…” Lucas said, incapable of verbalizing all the emotions and thoughts running through his mind. With that, Eliott’s expression changed, shock mingling with hope, and he opened the driver’s door, hopping out of the car. 

Lucas exchanged a worried look with Imane, whose presence was reassuring as always, and by the time he looked away the back doors of the van were being ripped open and he was being pulled into a grip so tight that he didn’t think he’d ever be let go. Good, he didn’t want to be. 

Slowly, cautiously, he wrapped his arms around Eliott in return, and Eliott only held him tighter, small sobs shaking the both of them. 

“I’m so sorry El,” Lucas said, eyes stinging with tears shed and unshed. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you—”

“Shut up,” Eliott said, shaking his head, “I love you Lucas, god, you’re real?”

Lucas pulled away just enough to look Eliott in the eyes and nod. “I’m real.”

Eliott’s mouth didn’t so much meet his as crash into his, a needy, desperate kiss that Lucas was more than happy to return. The world wasn’t ending, not anymore, it was just beginning. A whole new world for the two of them with no secrets and no life threatening situations. Well, maybe some life threatening situations, but Lucas would try to keep them to a minimum from here on out.

Eliott pulled back, then kissed him again, long and hard. “I don’t,” he said between kisses, each of them yearning for another once the last was finished. “I don’t understand.” Another kiss. “How are you—” Kiss. “How is this—” Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.

Lucas placed a hand on either side of Eliott’s face. “Let’s go home. I’ll explain there, ok?”

Eliott’s eyes fluttered shut at Lucas’ touch, his head coming to press against Lucas’. He nodded once, breathing in and out deeply. “Home,” he repeated, folding his hands over Lucas’.

“Home,” Lucas agreed. 

They walked home, leaving the van where it was, though Lucas knew there was no longer reason to worry. He had a lot to explain, to all of them, but he hoped that by the time he did there would be no more reason for worry lines to crease their faces, no reason for sadness and hesitation. Yes, healing was in order for everyone, but healing would bring light for all of them. 

He looked sidelong at Eliott and smiled. He was pretty sure that finding light wouldn’t be too hard, not with sunshine incarnate by his side.

As much as Lucas wanted to take a shower immediately when they walked into Eliott’s flat, he knew there was a lot of discussion to be had beforehand. Still, he’d been wearing his Spiderman suit for nearly two months without washing it or himself, and he knew he didn’t smell or look the best. The flat looked lived in as usual, but in a new way. There were remnants of Imane and Yann everywhere, and there was a hum in the air that reeked of desperation and hopelessness. It made Lucas’ heart ache more than he imagined it would. 

“Don’t be mad at Imane and Yann,” Lucas said first when they sat down. He wouldn’t allow himself to be curled into Eliott’s side, not yet, but Eliott’s fingers were laced with his in a comforting and grounding way. “I told them not to tell you, not until we were sure everything would work.”

Eliott watched him steadily, not bothering to interject, and Lucas continued, “Our plan, our original plan, it wasn’t that it didn’t work, it was just that my dad is smarter than a couple of teenagers, as smart as those couple of teenagers are. I knew what was happening just before it happened, but I went with my instinct. I could have jumped out of the way, but I knew that wouldn’t have stopped him, so I let his bullet hit me, and as I suspected, it wasn’t a bullet at all. It was some sort of paralyzing technology. I couldn’t move or speak, and I knew the camera and audio must have gone out, so there was nothing I could do to reassure you guys I was alive. If there had been any way for me to, I swear I would have, but when I first contacted you Eliott was the first time I was able to contact anyone at all. I knew that by then everyone would have assumed I’d died, and I’d formed a new plan by then that I knew had a chance of taking me out for good, so I thought it best to only let Imane know it was me, because I knew she’d be the hardest to convince to help some random person stuck in a lab that didn’t exist on any maps.”

“I figured it out, though,” Yann said proudly, and Imane nudged him. Eliott didn’t seem fazed by any of this, so Lucas took a deep breath before continuing his story. 

“Yann figured it out accidentally . I really didn’t want him to know, because I didn’t want his hopes up either, but it turned out to be helpful for planning. During the time I was in there before I got ahold of you all, I would sneak out of where I was being kept at certain times during the day and night to map out the layout in my head and take inventory of the space, its weak spots, its strong spots, and what I might do to get out of there for good. And to make sure they never came after any of us again. My dad was with me most of the time and he—” Lucas broke off, remembering. He did a lot of things, mostly to get Lucas to talk about his transformation into Spiderman and how it had come about, and Lucas held out to the best of his ability, but he had limits. After he had all the information he needed, he used Lucas as a test subject for things he was working on, like whatever he’d done to the man who had become Chameleon to make him into a monster. 

Lucas shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what he did, but I knew that once he was done, he was going to kill me. I’m lucky I got out of there with a mind of my own, to say the least.” He almost didn’t, if Imane, Yann, and Eliott had been any later, he wouldn’t have. “My dad still underestimated me, though, he didn’t think about the fact that some of the things he was doing would make me more of a threat to him, so I used that to my advantage. I still had my suit, obviously, because what damage could some spandex do? Quite a lot, actually.”

He pulled out a near miniscule flash drive Imane had embedded into the suit long ago, never knowing if it would come in handy. “There’s enough information on here to burn that place to the ground, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. It’s the last step of the plan, and once we do it, I think this will all be over.” He let out a breathy laugh, reaffirming to himself that they were almost in the clear. “It needs to reach a global audience, though, just in case the French government is in my dad’s pocket. I’m sure you’re up to the task, Bakhellal?”

She smiled at him slyly, but with a hint of relief and affection in her eyes. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“Wait,” Eliott interrupted for the first time, “What did your dad do?”

Lucas shook his head. “That’s not important.”

“It is to me.”

“Eliott—”

“All due respect, Lu, but I’m with Eliott on this one. I need to know that you’re ok for real,” Yann cut in, fixing Lucas with a stare that offered no way out of an explanation.

“He… questioned me,” Lucas said elusively. Maybe he’d go into detail someday, but he wasn’t ready to relive it for quite some time. He coughed. “And when he was done questioning me, he decided to experiment. The experimenting wasn’t all bad, but it did require some adjustment. I don’t know if I can call myself Spiderman anymore, because I’m not sure that’s what I am, but I’m still human, I’m still Lucas.

“The power outage, the one back at the lab? That was me. I’m not really sure how it works yet, but I have a newfound affinity for electricity, and I did my best to use it to my advantage while I was in there. I also, um, can turn invisible?” He figured if he voiced it as a question, it would sound less absurd. Clearly, it didn’t work, because everyone was gaping at him like he was insane. 

“Invisible?” Yann clarified, and Lucas nodded somewhat apologetically. Yann continued, “Can you…?”

Lucas laughed in an apathetic sort of way. “Not right now. I’m really, really fucking exhausted. I need a shower. I need to remember what it is to be a teenage boy for a minute, without worrying about the end of the world. I need Eliott, alone.”

Eliott’s eyes snapped to his and Lucas bit his lip. He truly didn’t even mean what Yann and Imane probably thought he meant. All he wanted was to melt into Eliott’s warm embrace and apologize for leaving him, and promise never to do so again. 

“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Imane said, pulling Yann up out of his seat. Yann mumbled something grumpily and Lucas stood to follow them to the door, squeezing Eliott’s hand to let him know he’d be back in a minute. 

“Thank you,” he said, “For everything, not just tonight.”

“I really fucking missed you, man,” Yann said with a tight smile, breath shuddering in small amounts. 

Lucas looked down. “I’ll never stop being sorry for that, and I don’t expect you to forgive me, but for what it’s worth, thank you for not giving up on me.”

Yann tipped Lucas’ head back up and shook his head. “That was never an option. No matter what we thought, we’d never give up on you.”

Lucas had so many more words, but sometimes words weren’t needed to say what you needed to say. He pulled Yann in for a hug, melting into the embrace he knew better than anyone’s, the hug that had helped him through all the hardest times in his life. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” Yann said, and ruffled Lucas’ beyond dirty hair.

“You too, Imane,” he said, turning to her, “I love you too. Thanks for making sure these two were ok, and I’m sorry if no one checked to see if you were ok.”

She smiled sadly. “Making sure they were ok made me feel more ok, if that makes any sense. I kept it together, because I couldn’t afford to fall apart.”

“If you ever need to fall apart, just let me know, I think it’s my turn to keep it together,” he said in a joking sort of way, but he was dead serious. “I’m here for you too, you know?”

She nodded. “I do.”

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” he said, “I think we have a lot of explaining to do to a lot of people.”

Yann groaned, resting his head on Imane’s shoulder. “Everyone’s going to kill us.”

Imane rolled her eyes, shrugging him off. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

Lucas closed the door behind them softly as they went, letting them bicker all the way down the stairs and out of the building. Eliott was waiting exactly where Lucas left him, and when Lucas opened his mouth to speak, Eliott shook his head.

“Shower first,” he said, “You know where everything is.”

Lucas bit back his words, his apologies, and went to do just that, anxiety spiking. Now that they were beyond the initial relief of seeing one another alive and well, was Eliott mad? He had every reason to be, Lucas had inadvertently put him through hell, and there was no way to forgive that, really.

He let himself get lost under the water, smothering his racing thoughts and cleansing himself of the bad things that he’d done and had been done to him. His body was a canvas of cruelty, some scars would fade, some wouldn’t, and he was momentarily happy Eliott hadn’t seen him like this. 

Eliott had placed a large hoodie and a pair of sweatpants on the bathroom counter for when Lucas finished, and he smiled at the simple, domestic act of care. By the time he was dressed and went to the bedroom, Eliott was laying down, looking up at the ceiling. 

Towel drying his hair, Lucas realized how long it had gotten, especially now when he didn’t have any products to keep it from flopping in his eyes. Under any other circumstances, he and Eliott would be laughing about it, or Eliott would be braiding his hair and he would pretend he didn’t like it, but instead he just slipped silently into bed beside Eliott, laying on his side and waiting for Eliott to do the same. 

Eliott did, eyes soft and open. “I really missed you, you know.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Lucas said, gearing up to beg for forgiveness. 

Eliott shook his head, brushing a thumb across Lucas’ cheekbone. “You don’t have to be sorry. I forgave you the moment Yann opened the door and I saw you in the back of the van. I just want you to know how much I missed you, and how my love for you never wavered, not even for a single second.”

When Eliott’s thumb brushed his cheekbone again, it was to brush away a tear. Lucas hadn’t realized he’d started crying. Eliott continued, “I’m sorry for what you went through. I know I don’t even know the half of it, and I don’t blame you for that, but I’m here when you want to talk about it. I’ll be here forever, if you’ll have me.”

“In every universe?”

“In every universe.”

Lucas melted into Eliott like he’d been born to do so. “I love you more than the moon.”

Eliott smiled intimately. “That’s a bold claim to make.”

“It’s true,” Lucas said with a shrug. He promised, “I won’t ever leave you again. At least not without telling you where I went.”

“You can go wherever you please as long as you come back to me, some way, somehow.” Eliott’s breath tickled Lucas’ face as they moved closer into one another, wholly unintentionally. 

“Always and forever,” Lucas agreed, folding his arms tightly around Eliott. “Will you make me blueberry bacon muffins tomorrow?”

Eliott laughed, and god, Lucas had missed that sound. He felt like he might have just gotten high off it. “Let’s not think about tomorrow,” he said, and Lucas furrowed his brows. 

“No?”

Eliott shook his head. “Remember what you told me, all that time ago, when I was having that really bad depressive episode?”

Lucas did remember. “Minute by minute.”

“Minute by minute,” Eliott confirmed. “Now that we’ve clarified that we have forever, let’s agree to take that forever minute by minute. I don’t care what happens tomorrow, you’re here in my arms right now, and that’s all that matters. Deal?” 

Minute by minute. Lucas was surprised Eliott even remembered, but he was glad that he had. “Deal,” he said, then, “In this minute, can I kiss you?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Eliott said.

Every time they were together, their souls soared high enough to touch the stars, but that night they came back down to earth, grounding them in the sensation that this, Lucas and Eliott, was real, and it wasn’t going anywhere.

- after -

After began like this: Arthur and Basile and Manon and Emma and Daphné and Alexia and Mika and Lisa and Idriss and Sofiane and the looks on their faces, the relief, the shock, the hurt, the love. It was Lucas telling everyone his biggest secret and all of them promising to love him despite the things he’d hidden, happy to have him back, happy that they were right to hold onto their hope. 

After was Lucas getting food poisoning from Eliott’s muffins and laughing the entire time he was bent over the toilet because of fucking course . In that minute, he’d decided to be happy, even while his stomach felt like it was slowly trying to kill him. 

After was Imane and Yann working with Lucas while Eliott watched fondly, blasting the corruption Lucas had uncovered to a global scale, taking down the systems that tried to take them down, even if they never got answers to what they wanted in the first place. Some things were better left unanswered, after all. 

After was Eliott asking Lucas to move in with him, officially, after Eliott passed his bac and got into an art college in the heart of the city. They got a whole new flat of their own, decorated the kitchen with fairy lights and a handwritten sign that read ‘No Eliotts allowed’, because one could never be too careful. 

After was Spiderman continuing to save the city, using his newfound invisibility to his advantage and basking more in the shadows than the spotlight. No one ever found out that Spiderman had a boyfriend, which was a miracle, because the two of them weren’t very discreet. Some may wonder if Spiderman’s boyfriend was turned on by all the spandex. But again, some questions were better left unanswered.

After was Ouba Lallemant-Demaury, the beautiful little terror that she was. She reminded Eliott of Lucas more than Lucas even knew. Lucas finally got a haircut too, but not until after Eliott braided it and made fun of it and turned it into a giant spike in the shower. Somewhere along the way Eliott and Lucas had turned a house into a home, and a couple of friends turned lovers turned into a family.

After was Arthur learning to adjust to a new way of living, and finding love and support in his friends along the way. If Lucas happened to sign ‘I love you’ to him one time, accidentally activating the web shooters hidden up his sleeves and subsequently flinging himself into a nearby tree, they never mentioned it again. (To his face). Eliott was reminded of one of the first times he’d spoken to ‘Spiderman’ and he’d been so flustered he’d knocked a tree right out of the ground. So, maybe Eliott was laughing a little harder than everyone else, but no one needed to know why.

In some ways, after was just like before, and in some it was wholly different. Before, Eliott loved Lucas and Lucas loved Eliott, and after only made it stronger. The gang and the crew were more of a gang-crew (or grew?) and Manon and Daphné were closing in on Eliott and Lucas for the title of cutest couple. Eliott, Yann, and Imane still hung out, just the three of them, and remembered the hard times and how they’d gotten each other through them. Sometimes Eliott awoke in the middle of the night and forgot that those hard times were in the past, tears stinging his eyes until Lucas’ hand found his in the dark and Ouba jumped on his lap to comfort him. Sometimes Lucas awoke in the middle of the night screaming and all Eliott could do was hold him while he trembled like a leaf, promising that he was safe now. 

Sometime during after Lucas told Eliott what all the marks on his body meant, and Eliott promised to never look at him any different, though sometimes it was hard not to. After was therapy for Lucas and Eliott both, checking in and keeping one another on track. It was nice, and it wasn’t, because vulnerability was hard at times even in cases it should have been easy. 

After after, there was even more to uncover. Lucas graduating high school and going to his top pick university, Eliott and Lucas coexisting in the world they’d made for themselves with such ease they felt like their lives had been leading to this point. Eliott got a job at a video store and he and Lucas would sneak away to make out between the shelves on days the store wasn’t busy. 

Eliott graduated university, then Lucas, then all of a sudden they were adults, real ones this time, and they had real jobs. Spiderman was still Spiderman, but they didn’t know for how much longer. Was there an expiration date on superheroes? 

They went to see the ballet from time to time, imagining another version of themselves up on the stage and giggling in their seats. A new flat, another dog, because Lucas could never say no to Eliott no matter how hard he pretended to try. Time spent and plans made, waiting for the right moment for Eliott to get down on one knee and ask Lucas to spend the rest of their minutes together. 

After could have been many things, it could have been dark, Eliott without Lucas or Lucas without Eliott, and it could have been better, no exams failed or Spiderman rescue missions gone awry or food poisoning had because Lucas still put too much faith in a lethal combination of blueberries and bacon. It was all those things, technically, because in infinite worlds there were infinite versions of their lives playing out, just waiting for their next minute to come. Always Lucas and Eliott and Eliott and Lucas.

In its purest sense, after was this: not the end, just the next minute.