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Chapter Text

Walking through the streets of Queens New York is no easy task.

Your satchel bounced on your hip with each quick step. Today, you had to bring in your most recent reports to The Bugle. Something about a recent sports award or a shiny prize of some sort, you were practically asleep writing the damn thing. Judging by the busy crowd, you weren't gonna make it to save yourself from Jameson's lecture. Although the only thing he ever seems to talk about recently is Spider-man.

The web-slinging hero has been on everyone's mind recently since yet another save from a superbad villain. You can still see caution tape on a few buildings if you just walk a few blocks.
Now you're waiting towards the crosswalk when suddenly your arm is harshly pulled into an ally, and a gun is held to your stomach. A man cornered you and demanded your bag.

"Hand it over, and I won't have to use this one you."

"I- I swear I don't have anything very valuable in here for you to take. I have reports for my job that's it- I don't even carry a lot of cash on me—" you stutter through your stunned state trying to negotiate your way out of it, even though you know it's pointless

"I said hand it over!" He demands a little louder now.

Then another man runs into the alley, about the same age as the first man "Yo hurry up, we gotta get outta here," he whispered

"Alright! I got it," the first man answers and starts to forcibly pull your bag off your shoulder, but you held on tight. The shaking forced the latch to release, and most of your reports spilled out of the bag. At the same time, the man shot the gun into the air, forcing you to let go and cover your ears. The two men ran out of the alley and into the city streets.

You're left now alone with no choice but to salvage the papers you could. You held up the report by its edge. Now stained due to water and mud, the text was barely visible and the color was an ugly shade of brown.

"Ugh...Dammit, " you mumble. To be frank, your pride was more hurt than anything. They were clearly disorganized and young. It felt like you got robbed by a couple of teenagers.

You look around for any way to hold or dry the pages without damaging them.

Suddenly, a loud scream catches your attention, then a loud bang makes you jump, and you see the guys that just robbed you wrapped in webs and stuck on a dumpster. Staring in confusion, you wonder where the hero that dropped the men off might be.

Your question was soon answered.

"This belong to you?" A voice says now behind you.

The suddenness of the voice made you jump and turn around. you see the web-slinging vigilante hanging upside-down holding your satchel. You take a step back and stare at the masked hero. He tilts his head in wonder, then comes down from his web and hands you the bag properly.

"Uh... thank you, Spider-man" A smile couldn’t help but appear on your face

"What this? Oh, it's no problem. Just doing what any good ol' Samaritan woulda done." He expressed even waving his hands in the air and leaning on the alley wall.

You chuckled a bit at his casualness. He spoke as though he'd known you forever. Guess they don't call him 'Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man' for nothing.

3 years he's been at this. For the entirety of your senior year, you've been invested in the good deeds he has committed. Whether it's helping an old woman or keeping the green goblin from blowing up the entire city.

"So you, Report for the Bugle?" He asks, pointing at the papers. Coming out of your own thoughts. You see the muddy report with the mentioned newspaper logo in bold.

"yeah.. Yeah!.. Don't worry about Jameson. Trust me, not everyone there thinks he's right 100% of the time, especially about you. I don't read his blocks about you anyways," you ramble, kneeling down and picking up the rest of the reports.

"You a word-of-mouth type of person?"

"... yeah... you could say that..."You respond

Awkward silence

"...sorry... it's my first time getting robbed, Soo… Y' know I'm still...processing... Well maybe you don't actually know what it's like cuz- y'know-- you're Spider-Man... I mean have you ever been robbed? sorry! That''s a stupid question. of course not" You ramble nervously tucking hair behind your ear and rubbing the back of your neck.

He chuckles. Then kneels down, and takes the papers from your arms, also doing his best to shake them dry. He puts them back into your bag, then shoots a web out of the ally "Next time you need my help, be sure to holler and I'll come swinging for you." he says with a wave and swings away.

You wave back, staring at where he disappeared from, calmly you walk out of the ally preparing yourself for Jameson's lecture, but little does he know a spark of inspiration appeared from that brief encounter.

Hopefully, today will be your day.

---
You walk into The Bugle, moving past all the other reporters and editors running around the room. The sound of printers and typing almost made you walk right back out of the door, but you pushed through.

"Hey, ___." You hear Peter say.

If you had to pick the most likable person in the office, Peter Parker would take the #1 spot every time. While people gave you sly looks for being a 'kid' in the work place. He never failed to greet you each morning occasionally with a coffee if you're lucky.

You quickly greet him back, then immediately go into Jameson's office.

"You're late." He states, not even bothering to look up at you. You rested the urge to choke him.

"I know - I uhh I ran into an issue on my way -"

"Put them on my desk then get working on the other files. They're on your desk. I want these all done by the end of the day"

As you begin to take the files out, you try to talk, "I was actually thinking of asking if I could -"

"Jesus, they're filthy. Print out more and—"

"I WAS ROBBED!" You finally shout, interrupting the prideful man "on the way here, that's why I'm late and why the papers are.. like that..." You finished now calmly.

He pauses

"Well you’re alive arent you? Did they take anything?" He asks. You sigh. Finally, he listened. "No. That's what I wanted to talk about. My stuff was given back because Spiderman caught them and returned my items. I want to do a report on him and all the great things he's done. ,"

"The great things!? He is a menace! We shouldn't be celebrating his crimes -"

"—I won't even ask for payment on this report. Come on, Mr. Jameson, why spend the entirety of your career shouting in papers and broadcasts about something you don't even like? For a few months is all I ask, I'll shine a different light on the vigilante while also doing my usual reports.

The older man thinks for a moment. "Think of your blood pressure," you quickly add-in. He glares at you, knowing the numerous lectures he receives from his wife about it. You were right, and he gives up after taking another puff of his cigar he turns his chair towards you "fine you'll be put on reports about Spiderman and current events. Your first print is at the end of the week, and I want the ones on your desk printed by the end of the day." You nod and turn to walk out of his office. Looking out the glass panel, you make eye contact with Peter, who was messing with his camera. You look back at Jameson who was angrily scribbling on his notepad almost ripping the pages.

"You're wrong about him, Jameson. He's good for this city."

"You're lucky. You're a good reporter. I don't pay you to be biased and sentimental. Just get the job done."

"... you don't pay me much of anything anyway."

"I decided to give the kiddies a chance. I've been feeling generous this year. Don't make me regret it. Now go and get those reports PRINTED!"

Quickly, you run out of his office, avoiding yet another burst eardrum. you slam the door and rush towards Peter with a giddy feeling in your stomach. You grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to your desk.

"Peter Parker, you are not going to believe what gold I have struck today!"

He stared at you with wondering eyes. "What- what? why? What happened just now?"

"I got put on the Spiderman reports"

"...the what now?"

"I'm doing reports on Spiderman! Isn't that exciting? My days won't be filled with just writing about middle school basketball and what ducks are fed at the parks. This is something real, something new, something exciting, and you're going to help me!" You state. He still looks at you bewildered. Leaning in close you grab his hands in between yours.

"Peter Parker, you are the best photographer I know. You have captured numerous and damn near impossibly close images of Spiderman swinging around and in some of the most perfect poses ever." His eyes avert yours for a split second as he blushed, clearly flattered by your praises

"Now I'm relying on your skills to get pictures of him in action, I wanna see him being the hero we know he is. Defeating bad guys and saving civilians! They need to know that he's actually helping people. Like you, like me."

Peter thinks for a moment, then looks into his camera. "You really think he's doing good for people?"

"I think he's doing great. Nothing like what Jamison makes him out to be."

He gives a quick smile, then walks over to his desk and grabs his bag. "So what are you gonna be doing?" He asks

Before taking a seat, you grin at your friend.

"I'm going to get whatever little piece of info I can get on the guy."

You smirk and turned back to your desk, you can't think too far ahead now all you need to focus on was getting these reports out of your way. Although you couldn't help but wonder about Peters's nervous expression.

shrugging your shoulders you pull open your first file.

Hours Later….

You drag yourself and your bag into your apartment doors nearly collapsing in the hallway, your roommate peaked out of his room. 

“Damn, you look like shit,” he says laughing at your misery.

You glared at him putting down your bag and keys. The journey to your bedroom was torturous, your back ached and your eyes felt like they were about to fall out of your head. Staying till the end of the day to finish reports made you want to abandon The Bugle altogether even though it isn't the latest you've come home due to the heavy amounts of work Jameson decided to give you. But still, who would've thought a rookie like yourself would be placed on a task so much larger than you really knew what to do with. It made you kick your feet into your mattress as your eyes slowly succumbed to exhaustion. 

Tomorrow you were gonna do whatever you need to. You were gonna get an interview with Spiderman. 

----------------------------------------------------------

also on Tumblr if you prefer to read fics there.

My friend spider-man Tumblr Fic

Chapter Text

A new day has begun.

 The sun is shining, and the horns of new york traffic are blaring through your balcony glass doors. Lazily, you detangle yourself from your blankets and push off the mattress for a nice refreshing shower, before your roommate could wake up and steal all of the warm water for himself.  

You sit in the shower, letting the water run down your back. As you sat in the tub, you got to thinking about how you would go about scoring that interview. You were stumped, nothing came to mind…Unless–

 BANG BANG BANG!!!

Sudden bangs break your thoughts. 

“Yo! Are you alive in there? If you are, hurry up I gotta get going. - And don’t you steal all the hot water!” Your roommate, Mikey, shouts into the thin bathroom door. 

“Shut up, I’ll be out in a sec!” You shout back reaching for the shower handle and shutting it off. 

After a rushed routine, you exit the bathroom already glaring at the man in front of you. 

“Geez finally” He huffs, towel and his clothes under his arm. 

“Can’t you shower at your girlfriend’s place?” You ask as he pushed past you. But he slams the door in your face not even bothering to respond. 

Quickly you get dressed in your most professional outfit. Readying your bag and notepad you made sure to also bring an audio recorder just in case. A ping from your phone grabs your attention. It was Peter.

Peter: Sorry, Can’t meet up with you today got busy. :( 

A heavy sigh leaves your lips when you read the first few words. Peter just always seemed to get busy at the worst moments possible.

You: That’s fine. say hi to Aunt May for me 

Peter: Will do. Sorry again. 

Shaking your head you stuff your phone into your pocket, grabbed a quick breakfast, and went out into the city streets. 

You tapped your pen on your chin, looking over your notes on how to grab the Spider’s attention. 

You contemplated jumping into traffic but that was too risky. 

Getting robbed was an option though there was no way you could properly set that up and turn it into an opportunity without getting flustered. 

Maybe standing on the roof of a building… but he might get the wrong idea.

“Hmm…” You hummed to yourself. How the hell does Peter do it? Always at the right spot at the right time you supposed. 

The right spot…

You stop in your tracks and looked over to an alley similar to the one from yesterday.

A smirk appeared on your face as you walked into the entrance “Just a holler and you’ll come swinging right spider-man? Well… We’ll see how true to your word you actually are.” You say and placed yourself right in the middle of the alley grabbing your notepad a pen and activating the audio recorder before abandoning the bag. 

Quickly you scan the area to make sure it’s free of people. 

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! SPIDER-MAN!!! HELP!! HELP ME!!!”

You shout using every breath of air you could store in your lungs. The enclosed space made the screams echo back to you, you tried your best to make the plea as realistic as possible. People that walked past shot you strange looks making you feel slightly embarrassed. After a few  seconds, You tapped your foot impatiently “Guess not–.” 

“Y’now, when I said give me a holler. I mean when there’s a real emergency” The voice behind you made you scream and turn around. 

“Holy shit you actually did!” 

The famous hero looks around the alley spotting your bag and the audio recorder on top of it. He shakes his head and turns it off. 

“Ma’am I respect the dedication to your work, but I don’t think this is how you get an interview. Someone else might—” 

He stopped suddenly, you took out your notepad and pen and walked towards him more.

“I would like just a few minutes Spider-man, just a few questions. I won’t be long. I swear.” 

“...”

When you were met with silence your shoulders drop. “I’m sorry. It’s just You’ve inspired so many including myself and I just wanted to—” 

Suddenly Spider-man grabbed your arms and pulled you with him into the air. At the same time a log arm smashed into nearby buildings and large pieces of gravel fell into the alley you were just standing in. 

You gasped and yelped clinging onto the hero, arms tightly wrapped around his neck. As he swung around the giant metal arm grabbed his leg and pulled him along with you in the complete opposite direction. Everything was so fast and blurry, quickly you felt him protect your head as his back smashed into a building. He stuck to the wall while holding your waist. He crawled around the building, there was a ledge and he set you down on it. 

“I’ll come back, just stay here.” you nod at his words but your ears rang and your mind was cloudy making everything dizzy, not even noticing when he jumped off the ledge. You forced yourself to not look down. 

You sat as close to the wall as possible hugging your legs. Heavily breathing and struggling to keep up with your rapid heartbeat.

—

After what felt like hours you no longer heard crashing and banging, the sound of gravel faded away and the shaking stopped. You look around for any sign of the web-slinging hero, you huddle into yourself keeping all your limbs as far from the edge as possible. 

Slowly you see Spider-man lower down in front of you, hanging on his web. He steps onto the same ledge as you and waits His suit was covered in rips and blood, he clearly took a hard beating. There is silence between you two, he reaches his hand out. 

“Come on, I’ll take you home.” You just sit. The fear in your stomach doesn’t allow you to move even an inch

Slowly he crouches in front of you “Hey, You can trust me alright?” His words were gentle as he held his arm out for you. 

Finally, you grab his hand and he carries you off and around the city. Occasionally you point out what direction to go in and in no time your balcony was visible.

“Now… When you want a real interview, be sure to call me like a normal person.” He says gently placing you down on your balcony.

You were dazed and slowly released him from your bear hug, though to him it must not have felt like anything. You smiled up at him. “but…I-I don’t have your number.” 

“That’s right, so maybe you should give me yours.” He responds.

 You couldn’t see his face but you just knew he was smirking under his mask. “Smooth.” You chuckle and pull out your notepad again to write your number and quickly hand it to him. He tucks it into his sleeve and salutes you goodbye, shooting a web. 

“Until next time miss reporter.” 

“Yeah…Until next time, spider-man” 

With that, he jumps off your balcony and swings away. You watch as he turns and flips in the air until finally, he’s out of your view. You squealed in excitement and jumped up and down, rushing into your room to open your computer and begin writing. 

Spider-man Saves City From Doc Ock.

No no no… 

That’s way too basic. Everyone knows he’s a hero, despite some other opinions. Everyone knows he’s done so many good deeds. People need to know him, people need to know the person behind the mask. You need more information.

Ping

You glance at your phone

Peter: ___ oh my gosh did you see the news? Are you okay? Where are you right now?

You: Yeah I’m okay Doc Ock just attacked out of nowhere, Luckily Spider-man made it there on time. He saved me, Peter. Again. 

Peter: That’s good! Meet me at the diner just wanna check up on you.

You: I thought you were busy. 

Peter: My Schedule, just cleared up :)

You laughed at his message, He’s always been so sweet, even during high school and that really strange point during senior year. You dismiss the thought and were about to leave your apartment again before realizing your clothes were all dirty and messed up. You huffed in frustration and quickly got changed and out the doors. 

You saw people crowding around destroyed buildings, construction workers were at the sites and TV news reporters were also gathered around. You walked passed as quickly as you could but a reporter caught up with you “Excuse me, ma’am. You are the woman who was saved by Spider-man this morning is that right?” The woman says walking with you, her Camera man following close in front “I.. um” 

“How would you say Spider-man knew how to defeat Doctor Ock?” 

“I- I don’t know, I didn’t ask him. Listen I really gotta go.” You say quickening your speed, She tries but decides not to keep following you. 

At last, you make it to the diner scanning for your friend. He waves you over. You were shocked to see a bandage covering his cheek and forehead. You ran over to him.

“Oh my gosh, Peter are you okay?” You asked holding his face to examine it. 

He smiles and rubs the back of his head. “Yeah I’m fine, I just so happen to have been at the scene the same time the attack happened. Don’t worry, okay?”

“You were there?” You asked sitting across from him

“Yeah, just running a few errands for Aunt May when suddenly the building was smashed through, I was hit but nothing serious.” His story made you worry more. His eyebrows furrowed then he turned and grabbed his bag. “Anyways amongst all the chaos, I managed to take these.” He says and pulled out some sheets of picture paper. 

He lays out the photos on the table, you stared in awe at the pictures. One was of Spider-man in the middle of battle, Doc Ock’s metal arm wrapped around his waist and another in Spiderman’s arms. 

Some others were of Spiderman swinging around the city. 

And the last one was of the Spider carrying civilians in the air protecting the two from the villain close by, one of Doc Ocks arms was in the shot. Every detail was captured in the image. How the civilians clung to the hero's arms. His chest logo was also visible in the shot. The perfect image. It made you wonder how it was possible for an image to be captured. 

“Oh, Petey these are amazing!… How you manage to be at both the right place and the wrong place at the same time will never cease to surprise me.” You say messing with his wavey brown hair.

He lowered his head shyly. 

After you two got lunch Peter offered to walk you home and you gladly accepted. 

You walked together speaking about random things and reminiscing about your history together. He has been your closest friend since middle school, through thick and thin he has been the most constant person in your life. Eventually, the topic got back to Spiderman. “You get any luck on the interview yet?” 

This made you pause and stare at the ground nervously 

“Well… uh…I mean I had something planned but it didn’t really go as i wanted.”

“Huh, is that right?” he laughs 

“Yep, I had everything completely under control—” You say walking into the road but before you even had time to realize what was happening, the back of your shirt was grabbed and you were pulled back and fell to the concrete. Blaring horns speed past you and the driver shouts in your direction. You stare shocked. this is the third time you’ve almost died and it hasn’t even been 24 hours. 

You look up at Peter who held a concerned expression. 

“I uh. Think I might still be a bit dizzy from the events this morning.” You admit, Peter shakes his head in disbelief and helps you up “Nice reflexes by the way, since when could you do that?” You ask brushing yourself off.  

“Uhh….That doesn’t matter let's just get you home before you actually die,” Peter says and wraps an arm around you protectively and you both walk huddled together. 

—

You make it to your apartment without losing your life. 

You sight when you finally make it through the door and walk into your room to flop on your bad. 

Ping

You hum in annoyance at the new message. 

Sluggishly you pull out your phone and look at the contact. 

Unknown Number: 

I think I’m ready for that interview now. 

A simple message. No context was needed for who the sender was. 

You stare 

And stare 

And stare… 

10 minutes

You have been staring at the message on your phone for 10 whole minutes. Everything wasn’t real to you because if it was then that meant that Spiderman. The Spider-man just agreed to an interview with you. 

Jittery butterflies scattered in your stomach. Just think, Spider-man sitting beside you answering question after question, answer after answer until finally, you have all the material you need to make the best report in your career. You'll be generously rewarded and celebrated for sharing all that you know on the vigilante. 

And so will he. The city will shine a different light on the red and blue hero. 

You'll make sure of that.

Chapter Text

It was early in the morning, the sun had just risen leaving the sky a lovely mixture of orange and blue. You nervously tapped your foot and picked at your fingers. You were currently at the agreed spot Spider-Man said he wanted to meet. 

The roof of a random business building. Discrete but easy to get to, How considerate.

The pit of uneasiness jumbled in your stomach You didn’t even give yourself time to eat breakfast because you were scared you would throw it all up out of nervousness, this would be so much easier with Peter by your side but he got busy again so he couldn’t make it. You called him practically begging that he accompany you but he was insistent that you were capable of the interview on your own and he couldn’t come. You wanted to be mad but knew it wasn’t his fault. 

Now Spider-man was late, 15 minutes late. 

Geez isn’t that just your luck? 

—

In order to pass the time you look over your prepared questions in your notebook, you wanted to know as much as you could within the limits of concealing his identity, though it is a topic you do wish to dwell in

Who doesn’t want to know what type of person the hero that swings around new york and saves people is?

Who wouldn’t want to know the man under the mask?

Your foot hasn’t stopped tapping since you first sat down on the building’s bench. 

“Morning” 

The sudden voice made you jump slightly and look up. There was the man you waited for that morning, Spider-Man. He stood straight and tall in his regular everyday suit next to the bench. One of his arms was hidden behind his back as he gave you a casual little wave. 

“I got you breakfast.” He says revealing his arm. 

“Thanks.” You say grabbing the little baggy from his hands. It was from your favorite fast-food stop. “Nice to know you also have great taste.” You say putting down the bag next to you. 

“Only the best for my favorite reporter lady.” He states, walking around and going to sit on the roof floor. 

This makes you laugh “Well if it helps you should also know my name is ____.” 

“Well,____. What questions are you just dying to ask me?” 

—

Minute after minute question after question you ask and ask but he continues to dodge each and every single one! 

“What is the most grueling thing about your everyday life?” You would ask 

“Oh, I don’t know, motion sickness.”

“When did your powers first begin in your life?” 

“Puberty hit me pretty weird.” 

“How would you say your best method of defeating your opponents is?” 

“Hit their ego harder.” 

Frustration began to expand in your stomach and replace the butterflies. Was he playing you? Or is this the juicy side of his personality you needed for that 100% authentic Spidey attitude-filled report? 

No, he was definitely playing you right now.

You got off the bench, leaving the notebook behind, and went to sit right next to him legs crossed. His joking tone settles and he looks at you quickly, Then back at the city. 

“Spider-man… Why did you choose to become a hero? What drives you to help the citizens of New York?” You asked 

“I was given the power to help others, a power that I had no choice over. A great man in my life taught me to use it responsibly. One day I wasn’t able to protect him. So I decided to dedicate my life to defeating those that need to be defeated and keeping people like yourself safe, from all the dangers that follow me.” He states seriously, you gazed softly up at him. This moment was so tense, and for some strange reason, the hero next to you felt, vulnerable. Like he was opening himself up to you. Only you. 

“I umm…I won’t include that if you don’t want me to.” You say shuffling slightly beside him

“Aww…You won’t include the most interesting piece of info just for little ol’ me?” He coos tilting his head towards you.

You smile at him “Of course if you’re gonna be looking out for me, I might as well look out for you as well. Then We can call it even” 

"Even? I saved you three times in the last 48 hours." He scoffs lightheartedly standing up and walking away. 

"Three? No no, It's only been twice" You correct also standing up and following him.

"Nope, could've sworn it was three." he spins and walks backward facing you. He was getting closer and closer to the edge of the roof your eyes darted to his masked eyes and the side of the building. 

"I think I would know how many times I've been saved by you from near death." You respond still walking towards him.

"Yeah, and it would be three." He says and stumbles over the ledge, instinctively you reach out and grab him. Your arms hold onto his upper arm to keep him from ‘falling’ You knew he would be totally fine. 

You pull him back onto the roof holding his arm close. 

“It’s alright…” You can hear the smirk in his voice. You glare at him then lightly pushed him and he falls off the building.

“That was rude!”  he shouts. After a few seconds of falling, he shoots a web onto the building and rests on the side of it.

“Why don’t we get together for lunch later, so we can discuss further on the topic,” you say peeking over the ledge down at him. He looks up “Lunch? You know I can’t sit at a restaurant with ya?” He responds louder so you can hear.

“You know where I live, meet me there.” You say 

He thinks for a moment then jumps off the building and swings away. You sigh then walk back to the bench. You notice the bag of food he gave you earlier, you pick it up and take out the breakfast sandwich. It’s cold. 

While eating the sandwich you hear a ping

Spidey: See you then 8).

You smile at the message then quickly finish and pack your thing to leave. 

On the way home you thought about what to get the web-swinging hero likes to eat. You decided to go to the diner you and Peter like to hang out at. Hopefully, he also likes the same foods as Peter. It’ll sure make your life easier. 

—

After a couple hours of doing both homework and writing your report, you stretch and eye the time 

12:27 PM

Spiderman could arrive any minute. When you got home you noticed Mikey was out, probably at work. That gave you the opportunity to clean up and put the food away. 

You look over more of your notes reviewing what questions you could use for the report. You look over the text carefully, each answer had just a hint of his personality in it each sassy or casual comeback. You laugh at one of his answers, one that you didn’t really appreciate at the time but now looking back you found them funny and charming. Suddenly you hear a knocking next to you. 

There you see Spiderman waving through your balcony door. 

I perk up and immediately stand up and open the doors “Hey! You actually came” You greet more surprised than you wish to admit. He hesitates to step into your room hovering one foot between the balcony flooring and your carpet. He decides against entering deciding to stay outside. 

“I got us lunch. I don’t really know what you like so I got you what my friend usually orders from the diner.” You stand up and walk out of your room for a moment to grab the takeout and heat it up. 

When you finally re-enter you no longer see the hero at your balcony. This confuses you, you put down the food and look around the area, you scan down the balcony when suddenly Spiderman popped up right next to you “Surprise!” he says after his sudden appearance. You jump away. 

“Sorry” he laughs 

You smile at his playfulness “You know when we didn’t meet yet i thought you were going to be much more serious.” You laugh. He shrugs and sits on the balcony floor. You bring out the food and he excitedly pulls the mask up just above his nostrils and grabs the sandwich. 

His action surprised you. His mouth and chin were the only inches of skin revealed, the most you or anyone have ever seen from him. His skin was beige with a peachy tint. Your eyes fixated on the only bits of his cheeks you could see. They were lightly freckled. For some reason that part of his face was… familiar?

You brush off the idea. And grab your own food.

“So what about you?” he says mouth full of his BLT sandwich. 

You look over at him curiosity on your face, “hmm?” you question also in the middle of your bite. 

“What are you like?” He asks with a smile 

“Why do you wanna know something like that?” you asked, Spiderman thinks for a moment “Well you’re always asking me questions about myself, I wanna ask some stuff about you. Don’t worry it’s for my _____ the reporter report,” he states, you chuckle and push him lightly. 

“Oh shut up.” 

“But seriously, tell me more about you.” He laughs 

You sigh and look down at your lap “What do you wanna know about me? Got any questions?” You ask willing to entertain this role switch he decided on so suddenly.

“Well… what are you like?” he asks, you smile at his attempt to come up with a good question on the spot.

“Hm, Well I grew up here in Queens, I went to the same middle school and the same high school as any other kid who lived around here. I’m studying journalism in college and, as you know, I work at the bugle as a part-time reporter.” you summarize quickly. 

“Okay, maybe not the best question,” he smirks, and goes back to eating

a few minutes pass and after he finishes he pulls down his mask and turns in his seated position to look at you.

“Do you wanna know who i am?” he asks in a more serious tone. This surprises you “if i say yes would you tell me?” you question 

He shrugs. Is he.. Testing you?

You think for a moment, it would be interesting to know who he was under the mask, but something inside of you didn’t want to know. “No, i don’t at least not right now.” you answer with a smile. 

“Really? Why?” He asks 

“It’s more fun this way. I like the mystery of you.” You said honestly ans stand up to go back inside and grab a few drinks. 

Ping 

Peter: Hey, look what i got. *Image attached*

You open the attached image and see it’s a picture of Spiderman crawling on one of the business buildings from that morning. 

Quickly you reply back in his support and return to Spiderman who was now sitting on the rail of the balcony 

“Okay, tell me honestly how you and Peter are always in the same vacinity at the same time?” you ask and show him the picture you just received. 

“Peter Parker, The photographer? You’re friends with him?” He asked this surprises you for a moment, you didn’t expect Spiderman to actually know who you were talking about. Had Peter met with Spiderman and never even told you?

“You know him?” 

“Well, I never talked to him but he’s always there taking pictures. I even posed for him a couple times.” 

You smile at the thought of Spider-man purposefully posing for Peter's camera, he is not going to believe you when you tell him.

“Are you close?” He asks 

“He’s my best friend, and basically the reason I survived high school.” You laugh half sarcastically but with a hint of sincerity. 

“He seems great,” he comments still on the rail.

“He is.” You say leaning on the metal bar beside him to look out at the city. No matter how many times you stood and watched everything go by.

It was a beautiful sight

Chapter Text

Your meetings are continuous. Strange and unexpected but still continuous.

Never too long, probably about two to three hours, but enough to feel closer to him by the end. For some reason he just kept returning, standing on your balcony with a stupid flashy pose. If he felt generous he would bring you lunch and a piece of information for your paper… but 90% of the time he is clowning around like he’s not a literal famous superhero. No, now he’s a guy in a funny costume that shows up at your apartment to hang out and tells you about random subjects, like what the weather is like on the other side of the city (he says there’s a difference, but you’re not convinced) or about how he found pigeons wearing a scarf. Stuff that you can’t even use in the report, he made it his mission to make this paper as difficult as possible for you. 

And yet, you keep that door unlocked waiting for him to arrive if he so wishes. You didn’t tell Peter about Spiderman’s visits, You don’t know why. He would’ve kept it a secret, you are confident in that fact… but you want to keep it to yourself—like your own little secret. 

Now you are sitting beside the suited hero eating a hotdog he got you from a vendor 40 blocks away. He claims them as ‘the best dogs in New York.’ 

You sat next to each other with your feet dangling down off the balcony platform. Staring at the many buildings of New York. Making small talk and laughing with each other…

“You wanna know something funny Spidey?” you ask taking a bite from the hot dog.

“Hmph?” He muffles out cheeks stuffed with half of his hot dog. 

You chuckle as you chew and swallow. “I hate Spiders.” 

He places a gloved hand over his heart in mock offense topping it off with an exaggerated gasp after the rest of his hot dog made it down his throat. 

“Gasp!! NO!!…” 

“Yeah…” 

“Can’t you make an exception for me?” He pleaded leaning towards you.

You laugh at his dramatics crumpling the wrapper paper and throwing it behind you, into your room to clean up later. You hum as you think

“Hmm, I’ll have to think about it.” You smirk kicking your feet. Spiderman lets out a relieved sigh.

After a few minutes of silence, you lay on the ground and use your hands as a pillow for your head. You look up at both the sky and the underneath of your neighbor’s balcony. It was cloudy, as you expected for mid-day New York. You hear shuffling and turn your head to see that Spiderman has adopted the same position as you. 

You see his broad chest rise and fall with each breath he took and he had pulled his mask back down to cover his face completely again. 

“Do you think this is the right choice for me?” You ask suddenly, you didn’t even know what or why you were asking it until it came out of your mouth. 

“You’re asking the guy that wears spandex to swing off of buildings and fights goblins all day,” He says in a joking manner. Unamused you jab his ribs making him twitch with a small yelp. 

“I’m being serious here Spider!” 

“So am I! You’re really gonna take life advice from someone whose main focus is keeping a city safe from zoo animals and other weird stuff like that?” at this, you sit up to turn towards him “Oh come on, Give yourself some credit, it doesn’t hurt to ask.” You say then lay back down on your back and huff. Spiderman sighs “Honestly, I don’t know why you doubt yourself sometimes…the paper is going fine, Jamison’s not gonna like any positive stuff about me being put out in papers either way so I would call it a win that you even convinced him.” You nod your head at his words then stop.

You think back to any moment that you might’ve shown The hero your report. None come to mind.

“How the hell do you know how the paper’s going?” You ask turning your head towards him with furrowed eyebrows. The only person you’ve told the updates to is Peter. 

He paused…Realizing his mistake he looks away 

“I… Uh- might’ve taken a slight glance at it… while you left the room.” He admits. You shove his shoulder “You need to wait! The paper comes out at the end of this week! You can’t wait two days?” 

“I needed to make sure it was as accurate as it could be,” Spider says defending himself

“No– No.” You begin and sit up to face him with your whole body

“You. will be waiting for the papers like everyone else, Weekly. No sneak peeks or quick glances at the rough draft,” you say sternly, he puts his hands up in defense “Okay…okay… but what if you write something that’s not exactly the truth?” 

“Well, then that will just have to be between you, and I won’t it?” 

He chuckles a bit at your comment. “It sure seems like a lot of things are staying just between us, huh?” you take a moment… Spiderman had been returning to your apartment balcony for days now… it was starting to feel like he hung out with you not as an interviewee but as a friend. “Yeah…they’ll just have to believe me then…either way I'm not worried about getting anything wrong. After all... I do have the most direct source of information on Spider-man”

This makes him laugh out It was an airy youthful chuckle it lifted a little of your worry. 

“Yeah. you are right about that..”

I smile as I watch him laugh, then I looked down at my lap “I umm…I haven’t told Peter…about us.” You confess rubbing the back of your neck.

He looked at you with a tilted head “Do you want to tell him?” 

You kick your feet as you think “I don’t know, I mean how am I even supposed to tell him that a superhero just casually hangs out with me almost every day.” you say thoughtfully “Honestly you’re hanging out with me more than Peter has recently…I’m not blaming him though, He’s a busy guy.” You see Spider-man looking down thoughtfully “But don’t worry about it okay? That just means that we’ll get more time to spend together... Just you and me.” You say trying to lighten the mood back up.

“Yeah just you and me,” He says gently, you couldn’t see his face but you could tell he was smiling behind the mask.

–The next day later–

TOMORROW! 

 The paper comes out tomorrow! You need to get your report to Jameson as soon as possible!

As quickly as you could, you leap out of bed, patting down your hair. You grab a random shirt and pair of pants and do whatever you needed to in the bathroom. While brushing your teeth you receive a message from Peter

Peter: Good luck today!!

You: THX!!! <3

You don’t even say bye to Mikey before grabbing your report and running out of your apartment you run through the streets to make it to Jameson’s office on time maybe even a little early. 

…

“YOU'RE LATE!” He shouts As you rush through his office doors, knowing that if you were late he wouldn’t publish your report.

“No, I'm not.” You argue back, holding the papers in your hands

“Uh, yes you are,” He says sassily holding his arm out to look at his watch. 

“Nuh Uh” You argue back again with a smug smile. Before shouting back at you he looks at his watch closer to see you were actually 5 minutes early. “You’re early, I don't support try-hards.” He states standing up to walk out of his office. Your shoulders slump and you follow him out. “Oh come on Mr.Jamison…that’s not fair.” 

“Fair? I’m not here for fair. I’m here for sweet sweet capitalism.” Jameson announces proudly, you roll your eyes at him still following as he walks through the many people who want to get their papers finished as soon as possible. A printer walked up to him asking him for tomorrow's front page. He rolls his eyes and snatches the report from your hands and hands it to the printer. “And the headline?” The printer asks. Jameson holds his hand out “How about ‘Deceived Citizen Reports on Spiderman Even Though He’s A Menace’” 

“I’m not deceived, Jameson.” You state sternly

“That’s too long sir,” The printer says and Jameson brushes him off and continues to stomp away. The printer and you stand together. He holds your report in his hands and then looks at you. “You wrote this right?” You nod 

“do you have a name for it?” you think really hard for something interesting and cool to pop into your mind but only one thing made it out of your mouth.

“Uh.. how about ‘Our Friend Spider-Man’?” You suggest to the printer with a nervous expression. He stands there for a moment and stares at you. Then he smiles “At least you’re not calling him a menace.” He laughs which makes you chuckle. You look around and see Peter who waves when you spot him, you wave him over. 

After a brief conversation, Peter gives the printer his photo the one where Spiderman was holding those people in his battle with Doc Oct. The printer thanked you and walked away leaving you with Peter, After a few moments you fake faint into his arms.

“Oh I have been so utterly exhausted and sorrow-filled without my best friend who is always busy~” You say dramatically teasing Peter who looks down at you with a smirk “-and the only way to make it up to me is a milkshake from the diner~” You continue peaking one eye open at him. “One milkshake it is, ____.” He says walking with you out of the Daily Bugle building and down the streets of New York. 

—

“‘Our Friend Spider-Man’

The citizens of New York are all well aware by now of the masked red and blue vigilante swinging through our city. Whether that be because of a video on the internet, seeing his mask on the front page of all your newspapers, or because of a personal situation where the masked man saved your day. Ever since his first debut, people have been wondering one single question. ‘Who, is Spider-man?’ and though the question refers to the man behind the mask I sought to find out more. Not what does his face look like necessarily but what type of person he is. A man that has transformed from a wonder, full of mystery, fear, and caution to a casual part of our daily lives, one that many of us welcome with open arms. Though his intentions have been put under many questions and his unwillingness to associate with law enforcement caused his reputation to become infamous. many would agree that he is an important and special part of why we live fearless and proud. From a brief interview with the masked hero, I was surprised to learn that he was not born with his powers. Instead, he was given them from an unspecified source and it took him months to years to become fully accustomed to his newfound powers. He was not born a powerful hero. In fact, he used to be exactly like us, an average man living a regular life. He is humble and humorous able to make the best out of a dire situation, comforting the afraid and angering the evil. Spider-man isn’t someone who sits back and waits for things to happen for him. Instead, he makes a valiant effort to strive for greatness. He protects to protect and fights to protect and honor those closest to him. Whoever those people may be–”

“Can you stop reading it!? it’s so embarrassing when you’re here!” you shout throwing your shoe at the hero who dodged it effortlessly and used his webs to retrieve it for you. 

 “Oh come on it’s not like it’s your diary, I'm just reading the papers,” Spider-man says teasingly, folding the newspaper and hopping off the rail to walk into your room. You sat at your desk with your head planted on the table blushing heavily at him reading your report out loud. 

He stood behind you and put the newspaper on your desk. You lift your head and see the photo Peter took printed on the front. You sigh and turned around to look at him. “Well…I guess that's it then right? I Gotta say it was nice seeing a different perspective to the famous Spider-man…” I say looking up at the hero. 

“What do ya mean by that?” He asks pacing around your room curiously. With a magazine in his hands

“Well…since my report’s complete it means you're done hanging out with me, right?” You ask almost sadly. Spider-man looks at you with a look of surprise he puts your magazine down and walks to your balcony looking at the view with his hands on his hips. Then he turns back to you and webs your chair to bring you closer to him making you yelp in surprise and grip your seat tighter. 

He laughs at your reaction “Nah, I think I’ll hang out with you just a little more.” He says through chuckles, You look up at him with wide eyes and slowly you begin to smile. 

“Really?” You ask standing up from your seat. Spider-man jumps and stands on your balcony rail. “Yeah, sure.” He answers nonchalantly then falls backwards off your balcony. You quickly rush to the rail and look down. You don’t see him falling when you look, instead, you feel a tap on your head and when you look up you’re face to mask with the hero who hung upside down. You laugh and back away from him. And he goes back to crouching on the rail.

“So how about it,_____? Willing to have Spider-man as a hang-out buddy?” he asks holding his gloved hand out for you. 

You smile and put your hand in his. “Sure why not,” you say, and his head tilts before he shoots a web and raises himself and you off the balcony and into the New York Sky.

Chapter Text

As your feet lift off your balcony platform, you yelp loudly and tightly hold on to Spider-man's hand. His hand sticks to yours securely, but you weren’t going to risk it. You look down to see your balcony now a distance away and the road is full of cars as it usually was, but now you have a full view of the street and the entire block you live in. The wind blows through your hair and your feet kick under you in protest of Spider-man’s actions.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?!?!” you yell fearfully as the hero swings around with you. The wind blocked anything that he might’ve said. Suddenly, you went flying through the air. The hero quickly catches you as you scream during the freefall.. You wrap your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist, koala clinging to him so he wouldn’t let you go. You bury your face in his neck. His arm around your waist tightened. You could feel how he chuckles at your reaction. “It’s alright, just look, you can’t miss this…” He says in a comforting tone. You shake your head at this “No, no, I’m not looking down!” You shout into his neck. He chuckles again. After a few minutes of fear, you no longer feel the wind hitting against you and he stops moving around. But you continue to cling onto his neck and waist. “Come on, just look, it's alright… I got you…” He says in a more soft and relaxed tone. You swallow nervously and peek from under your arm to see where you stood.

“Where are we?” You ask moving your head back to bury into his neck “You gotta guess.” with a sigh you look ahead of you at the New York buildings from so high up this makes your heart beat faster and bury your face into his shoulder once again. “Are we on the goddam Empire state building..? You ask, turning your face back and dig your nose into his shoulder. He stood silent for a bit before answering, “Yeah…”

“I’m gonna kill you…”

“How was I supposed to know you’ll guess it on the first try?” He asks with bewilderment in his voice, “This is one of the tallest buildings in New York. How would I have NOT known!?!?” You argue back, moving your face from his shoulder to look at him.

"Also, before you decide to swoop in and lift me off my balcony, I would appreciate a warning next time! What if I had a heart attack? Then what would you have done?!"

He groans, annoyed that he's getting lectured, then makes you untangle yourself from him to stand on the tall building. You immediately bring your hands to your face and cover your eyes. "Come on, just… just look at the view. You're not afraid of heights, are ya?"

You let out an annoyed mumble, "No… not necessarily.... but that doesn't change the fact that this is dangerous for a regular person like me. I could fall!"

He chuckles "It's alright cuz I'm here to catch you."

You move your hands and stare angrily at him. "It's better if you didn't put me in the situation in the first place!"

He lets out a loud audible sigh, then walks closer to your side and places his hands on your shoulders. He nudges his chin to the view. You close your eyes and take in a deep breath before peeling them open and looking at the view he is so eager to show off.

Your body relaxes, and your eyes widen when you see the incredible sight. Spidey holds your shoulders tightly as you turn your head and step to look around more from the top of the building. You’re silent from the amazement, spider-man points in the direction, making you squint your eyes and try to look closer. “There’s lady liberty,” He says, his voice careful. You smile and look at his masked face.

He moves his head to look at yours, white-lensed eyes facing directly at you.

“You’re one weird guy, Spidey… I mean, capturing a girl to show her a tourist attraction…It’s quite the fantastical feat.” The spider chuckled.

“I didn’t capture you.”

You shrug your shoulders. "Meh, debatable.”

He shakes his head and sits down. Spider-man rests his arms behind his head and lays down relaxing on the tall building without a care in the world. You do the same next to him. The sounds of the busy New York street blaring below you, the winds muffled most of the sounds.

“Ya know, you’ve never asked me what my secret identity is,” Spidey states. You look at him, surprised. It’s true, in the many questions you threw at him, you never asked Spider-man to reveal himself or even insinuate who he could be. You look back up at the sky again, thinking about your answer.

“I’m curious, everyone in this city is…but I know you wouldn’t tell me,” You sigh again. “and honestly, I'm okay with that. Maybe the whole mystery aspect of this is what draws me to learn more about you, about why you do what you do…but whoever you are, I'm sure you’re great.” You say, giving the hero a small genuine smile.

Spider-man looks at you for a moment, moving his arms to host himself up so he can sit up and look at you. There is silence between you two. His mind raced for a moment, thinking about what you said. He opens his mouth to speak… "___–”

“Oh, crap! I have to go see Peter!” You exclaim, cutting the hero off. He jumps slightly from your sudden exclamation. You turn to him.

“I’m sorry for cutting this short, but I gotta go see my friend. He probably wants to talk to me about the report, and I have to thank him for the photo!" You stand slowly, legs wobbling as you stand on the tall building.

"O-oh yeah, yeah, totally." Spidey says, also standing much more confidently than you. He is quick to wrap his arm around you, resting them on your waist, respectfully.

"Ready?" He asks, pulling you closer to his chest. You wrap your arms around his neck.

"Yeah sure. Just get me home quick, please." You say, squeezing your eyes shut and holding the hero tighter.

Without warning, Spider-man jumped off the empire state building with you clutched in his arms. You screamed as the two of you were free falling. He shot a web to a nearby building and the two of you swung through the air with grace.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

Maybe not.

Once the ringing stopped in Spider-man’s ears, it wasn't long until you saw your beloved balcony. You cling onto him as he steps on the rail and the two of you are back on the glorious tiled floor.

You don't let go, however, still recovering from the whiplash you nearly received from falling down extreme heights.

"Come on, I've got a city to maintain, and you've got a boy to meet." Spider-Man chuckles, setting you down, and patting your hair back in its place, gently tucking misplaced pieces of hair behind your ear.

As he turns to leave, you reach out.

"Wait." He turns.

"What's up?" He asks so casually, You pause and think over the words you were about to say.

"Thank you for knowing I trust you." His head tilts and a smile peaks at the corner of your lips.

"I know you wouldn’t have done that if you knew I didn't trust you." It sounded so corny once you say it out loud, but Spider-man didn't laugh or chuckle or even tease. Instead, he stepped back on the rail of your apartment balcony and shot a web.

"I'll see you later, ______." And with that he was gone, once again off to save the city you call home.

--------
Your foot taps on the porch quickly, almost impatiently, after ringing the doorbell of the Parker residence. You hold a rolled up newspaper in your hands and scan your eyes through your section for what seems to be the hundredth time.

Finally, the door opens and you see Aunt May. She smiles warmly when she sees you and ushers you in.

"_____! What a surprise!" She exclaims, guiding you to one chair and gesturing for you to take a seat, and she rushes to go get you something to sip on.

"Did Peter not tell you I was coming over?"

You asked curiously. Peter is usually good at letting May Know when You were gonna visit. Whether she admits it or not, you know that you're her favorite out of Peter's handful of friends. She even framed your first article next to Peter's first newspaper photograph.

May shakes her head when she comes back with a mug. "No, but no need, I know everything. Your section was amazing. I couldn't put it down. Shame on Jameson for painting Spider-man in such a bad light. He's a hero and if you believe in him. Then so do I." She says with a brighter smile radiating with pride.

You look down at your mug of steaming tea and smile warmly to yourself "Yeah… He's Grea—" "Sorry I'm late May, Oh _____, You're here too" Peter says running through the front door.

You and May exchange surprised glances, taken aback by his sudden appearance. You stood up and firmly placed your hands on his shoulders, gripping them tightly. "Did you see it? Did you read it? What did you think?" You question before he could even enter the room fully.

"Uhh… It's great. Honestly ______. I've never seen you so nervous after publishing before." Peter laughs, taking out a few things from the plastic bag he brought. A couple of bandages and a sewing kit.

Strange, you never knew Peter could sow. You ignore the purchases and groan back into your seat. "I know, I know, but this is my first big block. What if people think it's lame..." You feel a whack on the top of your head and quickly look at the source. Aunt May gazes down at you with a stern glare, holding the same newspaper you were reading before.

"Don't think such nonsense ______. You've spent too much time around Jameson. It's making you paranoid. Now I'll leave you both to it," May says before walking off to another room.

You turn your head to look at Peter again.

"She doesn't really mean that, does she?" You ask with a sheepish smile. Peter only shrugs in response, making you sigh.

"She's right though. I've never seen you be so hard on yourself. You're such a confident reporter."

"Yeah, well, that was all stuff I didn't care about, like local sports or whatever happens at college… but this. Spider-man...I'm passionate about what he does, about...him.." Peter is silent for a moment, probably just letting the tense air clear for him to speak.

"Well, New York would be even more out of its mind not to listen to you… Spiderman, too."

This makes your shoulders relax a bit. A small smile spreads across your face, making Peter visibly relax as well.

"I couldn't do it without you... you know that, Pete?"

He smiles, his classic warm smile the kind that could relieve all your worries because Peter is just that kind of guy.

Then he looks down at this lap, glances back at his backpack, then looks at the door frame where May walked through. He's thinking, but about what you wonder.

"How long have we known each other? 5 years?" Peter asked, his shoulders clearly tense. You tilt your head in confusion at the sudden change in tone.

"Yeah, around that time. Why?" You asked with a slight chuckle. He scanned over the tiled floors till his honey brown eyes met yours.

"______, I wanna tell you something... but you can't freak out." Peter states a slight panic in his pitched down voice, the sound reverberating in his chest.

This makes you sit back straight in the chair. He has your fullest attention.

"Yeah, yeah, what's wrong Pete?"

He swings his bag onto his lap by a single strap and zips it open. "______, I'm—"

Ring!
Ring!
Ring!

You spring to your feet grabbing your phone in a rush and turning to answer. It’s Jameson, he wants you in the office now. To be specific...

Quote " _____I want you in my office now before I throw you and your typewriter out of my company!! " unquote

You turn back to Peter not noticing his shocked expression.

"Sorry Peter, Jameson wants me in the office and I'm afraid he'll rip my head off if I don't."

Peter blinks, taking his hands out of his bag and letting his shoulders drop. "O-oh okay...I'll meet back up with you at the library, okay?" Peter says back. You give a passing nod, quickly gather your things and walk out of the Parker home onto the busy New York streets.

-----

Finally, making it to the Bugle was no sweat for you, but meeting eyes with the merciless reporter was like handing your pride over to the jaws of an alligator. But this is your career. Your future as a reporter depends on this moment if you can't handle Jameson… Well, honestly, who can handle Jameson?

Anyway, you walk up to the soundproof glass, the only thing saving you from the eardrum bursting demands coming from the man. But when you walk in you hear what might be the worst sound of all.

Silence.

Shit. He hates it and he'll fire me on the spot unless I can convince him not to.

"Good morning Jameson." You start but he doesn't answer the greeting instead he stands up.

"_____. You proved yourself a promising reporter, you get the news, write a detailed little article about it and I publish it. See how that works?"

"... yes sir."

"Good, so tell me why you decided to write a front-page article about Spider-man and all the "great things he's done for this city?"" He uses finger quotes to enhance his sarcastic question. “Kid, if I wanted a cutesy little article, I would go to a preschool show and tell.”

"But...you published it. Sir..."

"I know! And everyone's loving it! Now more people will be asking for 'good ol' neighborhood Spider-man!' Is this what my career has become, catering to thoughtless fangirls Blah blah blah BLAH BLAH!"

You didn't hear anything past that. "People like my article?" You ask, eyes wide with shock. His anger didn't dull your smile in the slightest. On the contrary, it only made you all the more proud of yourself.

"People are loving it! That's what you said!" You jumped with joy, making the reporter cross his arms and scowl

"Woo! Woo! Thank you, Mr. Jameson! I'll get that next article for you in a snap!" You say from excitement not bothering to hear his protest.

"Oh, yeah!? Well, make it more interesting next time, no more of that praise crap! I want some real news!" He shouts, shaking his fist in anger as you skip out of his office.

You were on cloud nine, the stars hanging around you and sparkling you up for all to see.

You leave the Bugle with your nose pointed high and walk the streets of New York clutching your satchel protectively. All was good, all was right, all was— Crash!!

You jump from the startling sound and turn to the source of the sound, quickly spotting a strange… monster? It wasn't like anything you've seen before, only able to describe it as a hybrid between Doc Ock, Lizard and Green Goblin.

As terrifying as that sounds, it didn't compare to seeing it with your own two eyes.

Scales ran down its spine and covered its entire body like a green metallic armor and its tail split into four parts. Lashing out at buildings. And clawing through walls, the ruble fell to the ground, making everyone panic.

You felt the same, but by some miracle, your first instinct wasn't to run or scream...you just stood there and watched. Screams for help echoed in your ears and you just ran towards the rubble.

It’s a nearby small clothing shop connected to a complex. You push through the clouds of debris. It’s stupid; you knew that. Spidey must be rubbing off on you.

Even so, he wasn't here, and you are the next best thing. You ran into the shop guiding people out and helping them escape the slowly falling apart building. You cough, covering your mouth from the dust getting into your lungs. it covered your hands and got in your hair in the gray sand.

A woman calls out from a hidden area in the far end of the shop. Blocking your eyes, you walk deeper to try and find them narrowly avoiding falling tiles and breaking lights. It looks like she is trapped in the staff room, behind the broken door and a large plank that fell from one wall and hit the door frame.

"I'm going to help you out of here!" You shout. She looks at you, her eyes wide with fear, and nods her head, reaching out to grasp your hand for any sort of comfort. You squeeze it back. Somehow, the cold already got to her.

Releasing her hand, you took a step back and crouched to get a good grip on the plank.
Your legs shake as you try to push up but it wouldn’t budge, you turn to push with your back but that didn't help either. You stood back up and took her arm. “I need you to back up as far as you can for me, okay?” You say.

The woman nods and backs up. You do the same, then rush up and kick the door, making it snap, then a loud crash makes you look ahead. Several broken tiles fall from the ceiling and land on top of the woman she lies on the ground. You cover your mouth and kick the door over and over and over again, but it wasn't big enough for you to crawl through.

In desperation you call out into the destroyed store, but nothing answers. You resume kicking and pulling, then a hand on your shoulder breaks you from your movement. You look to your side and see Spider-man.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

The sounds of your breath pounded in your eardrums, shaky and wheezy. In your hazy state, you could only shake your head and point at the woman trapped.

He rushes to push the plank aside. Like it weighed nothing, it crushed on the ground and a cloud of dust flew into the air. He pushes the tiles away and picks the woman up and he walks up to you with his other arm open.

“Alright, let's get out of here.”

“No…take her first.”

“_____-” He tries to reach for you again. You shake your head and back away.

“No. Spider-man, take her first. She needs help, much more than I do.” You state firm and unmoving. He wants to argue back, but doesn’t have the time. Frustrated, Spidey lets out a sigh as he readjusts his grip on the woman and swiftly swings out of the building. You watch on, then hear more crashing behind you. Suddenly, an eerie breathing sensation brushes against your hair, sending a shiver down your spine. Slowly, you turn your head, feeling a sense of dread consuming you. To your horror, the creature from before stands a dangerously close distance from you. Standing at an intimidating height of approximately 7 feet. Its grotesque appearance sends a chill through your bones - jagged teeth protrude from its mouth, while its body is covered in scales resembling green metal. Long, metallic tendrils extend from its form, ruthlessly tearing apart the walls of the shop, creating chaos and destruction in their wake.

“SSSSPIDER-MAN,” it hissed, making you shudder in fear. You fall back and crawl backwards, making distance between you and the creature. It throws its head back and roars with anger, using its claws to throw planks and break through walls, searching for the hero full of rage. You bite your lip, keeping yourself from screaming. Gripped by the fear of being discovered, you instinctively retreat to the far corner of the shop. Huddled in a tight ball, your eyes remain wide and fixated on the monster's relentless search.

After minutes of waiting and with newfound confidence, you cautiously unravel yourself and crawl low to the ground, determined to escape before being seen. But you don’t have that much luck. The monster spotted you quickly and roared again. You scream and stand up to run, throwing whatever is in your way at the beast. The ground rumbles under your feet and the monster lands in front of you. The impact as it hits the ground sends you flying back.

Before the horrific creature could catch you another figure jumps in front of you protectively. “Spidey…” you whisper, covering your mouth. He shoots webs at the hybrid’s face, covering its eyes in the sticky white thread and blinding it momentarily. Without missing a beat, Spider-man swiftly runs and kicks it down before shooting more webs around it, turning it into a cocoon, he then turns around, picks you up and jumps over the monster, flying you and him out of the building.

He holds your head tightly against the side of his face, cradling you tightly. He says something as he swings around the destroyed shop and whatever it was remains unheard. You were in shock, a close brush with death for any normal person like you.

You lack the clarity to say much to let him know how you were feeling. You want to tell him you’re fine that the monster didn’t affect you severely but that would be a lie. When he finally lands on the hard concrete ground, your haze fades. “Let me go…” you say softly like you were afraid of saying anything more. He obliges and steps back, still holding your arms, which you pulled away. “______…?”

Your eyes remain on the ground, heart beating in your ears, your breathing labored, and the feeling of panic makes you shut down. Slowly, you back away from the hero and turn away, walking back home without another word.

 ----------------------------------------------------------

also on Tumblr if you prefer to read fics there.

My friend Spider-man Tumblr fic

Chapter Text

You laid in bed, feeling the softness of your blankets wrapped snugly around you. Not a single identifiable sound was made, only the rustling of your roommate as he goes about his own day. Aside from that, your room felt an eerie sense of stillness, A few days after your encounter with the monster. You haven’t had the energy to get out of bed, was it fear? You weren’t sure, just that you didn’t want to get out of bed. Your door opens slowly and you see Mikey’s head peeking into your room. 

“Hey, I’m gonna be at my girlfriend’s place for the night. Don’t just lay in bed all day, alright?” 

You don’t answer. Mikey was a nice guy, seeing you under the weather was worrying him, but you couldn’t bring yourself to respond. You hear him sigh and the soft clicking of your door closing. You closed your eyes and pulled the blankets tighter around you. 

Peter tried texting you after the attack. You stared at that message for what felt like hours, only to never respond. Too many scenarios, too many uncertainties. You feel shitty about blowing him off. He is always the first to worry and sometimes, you can't decide if you like being the target of his caring nature or if it only makes you think about them even more. Another ping from your phone catches your attention and after a few seconds of pondering, as you reach for it on your nightstand, you hear your doorknob turn and open. In walks your brown haired best friend with a white bag at his side and phone in his hand. 

You sat up immediately and unconsciously tried to fix your ghastly appearance. “Peter.” You exclaim and he walks in. “Hey, how are you feeling?” He asks, sitting at the foot of your bed. You sigh and snuggle back into your cocoon, pulling it over your face. He laughs quietly and not in a mocking, but something more like understanding. He leans over and lifts the side of the blanket. “Not great, huh?” 

You blink up at Peter meeting his soft brown eyes. “I don't know how to feel. I guess I'm scared, but… I'm not at the same time.” 

Peter doesn't respond to your admission. He lets the silence between you sit for a moment until eventually you crawled out of your cocoon to sit next to him. You lean into his shoulder, which he is happy to provide. Your arm slipped under his to hug the limb. “You know I did something really stupid at the shop?” His head turns to look at you. 

“I…I just ran in. I didn't even think twice about running into danger. It felt instinctual, like I had to help those people.” You look down. 

“At that moment I just thought, what would Spider-man do? And that's all it took for me to run into a breaking down building.” Peter tensed for a minute. 

“...That's…admirable _____.” He states gently, moving so he can look at you face to face. Peter takes your hand, brushing his thumb over your knuckles, making your cheeks heat up.

“Really?” You asked with breathy words.

“yeah. I'm just relieved…you're okay and I'm glad Spider-man was there. To help you when you needed him, I don't know what would happen if we lost you.” 

Your expression softens with his words. You slowly wrap your arms around his neck, hugging Peter tightly. “You won't lose me Pete.” 

He hugs back, resting his head against your neck. You breathe in the smell of coffee and the cologne Aunt May bought him for Christmas since he always somehow went home smelling like the New York alleyways. You laugh at the thought before pulling away. 

Peter still holds onto your hands. “Hey, how about we head over to the library and think up some new stuff to write about?. Jameson asked for news, right? We'll, let's give him news.” He laughs, pulling you up to stand.

“Yeah, uhh… later though, I probably look terrible right now.” You admit pulling your hands out of his. 

His gaze lingers on you, sure you weren't as presentable as you usually are, noticing the signs of your prolonged stay in bed through your tousled hair and unchanged attire, but in Peter's mind you could never look less than beautiful. 

He tears his eyes from your face and takes a step back. “Well…um then get yourself changed and meet me there later.” 

With a chuckle and a nod, you watch as Peter grabs his bag and leaves your room. Feeling as your face warms slightly after he leaves. You quickly get into the shower and clean yourself off.

Finally, you let out a sigh of relief, feeling the tension leave your body as you dry yourself off and put on your clothes. You glance over to the window. The day had mimicked your mood and clouded over, on the verge of releasing into a heavy rain.

With an annoyed groan, you pull out your phone and message Peter.

You: Hey Pete. You can go ahead before me. I'll drive over there in a few, looks like it's gonna rain. -_-

Peter: Ok see you soon. 

You put your phone down, finished getting dressed and fixed your hair. You dug through your backpack to go over what you plan on bringing.

 Suddenly, an enormous boom echoed in the distance. You look out the window and your breath hitches. You see, the monster from the other day climbing up one building. It roared, sounding all the way to your apartment. This monster was bigger than the last tentacles tangling around the skyscrapers and claws digging into the steel like sheets of paper.

Your eyes widened seeing the monster jump off the building on top of the library, crushing the stone under the weight of its feet. “Peter…” you whisper, running to your phone to begin rapidly texting him.

You: Peter!? Are you okay!? Are you at the library? you need to get out now!

Another loud thud bangs against the floors and your balcony doors swing open. “____? _____!” You turn around and see Spider-man rush up to you. 

“You’re here…you're okay…” He breathes relieved. Your eyes stare at the masked vigilante for a few seconds before returning to your phone. No response from Peter. Your grip on your phone tightens, as if holding onto it for dear life. With little thought, you turned and rushed over to your balcony. “Peter…my friend! Peter, he's still out there!” Spider-man quickly ran after you, tugging your arm back. “It's okay…I'll get him, don't worry-” 

With a thunderous roar, the monster jumps up and demolishes a smaller building, similar to the shop from the other day, except this time the building crumbled, entirely sending debris flying in all directions. You both watch in shock at the sheer power this Monster displayed. With newfound seriousness, Spider-man pushes you back into your room and turns away. 

"No, no! I'm not going to let you leave, Spider! This is worse than you've seen. You can't take him on by yourself!" You exclaim, gripping his arm before he could run off.

"You need to stay put _____. You hear me? Stay put." He demands, rushing back to your balcony 

You ran up, pushing through the doorway and grabbing his arm in a desperate attempt to keep him from jumping off again to save the city from that…that thing… "No! He'll kill you. Don't be stupid, this is reckless!" 

He turned to face you. Holding onto your shoulders and guiding you back into your room. He held the sides of your head despite the adrenaline rushing in his veins. He held you so tenderly his thumb pressed over your cheeks, brushing over them. His touch reminds you of Peter's gentleness, making your entire body feel weighed from the guilt of not being there at the library with him. "____, I need you to stay here. Stay inside, please. I'll be back. I will always come back -" you stared into his masked eyes, then closed yours with a pained expression burning tears pricking your lashes."it’ll kill you..." you whispered. He rested his forehead on yours, shutting his eyes for a second.

"... I need you to be safe." 

He releases your head and begins to hurry away again. "Don't make me web you," he jokingly warned, trying to lighten your mood, but didn't wait to hear if you laughed or not. You didn't. He was already swinging away. 

You slowly back away from your spot and sink onto the plush bed, feeling the gentle bounce of the soft cushion beneath your full weight, folding your hands together, fiddling with your thumbs. Praying that he would return to you.

Alive.

---

“We are starting this broadcast to proudly announce that Spider-Man, the web-slinging hero of New York, has once again defeated a massive threat to the city. Here, you can see Spiderman destroying the source of the enemy's power, a large energy source attached to the enemy's chest; it is suspected that this is yet another ploy to stop this hero. But fortunately, Spider-man was able to outsmart the beast and incapacitate him. Although The city is left with more construction work to finish. This fight has concluded with no casualties as far as we know..."

You replay the live broadcast over and over, watching as he swung around the villain and tied them up in his web. When the tape ends, you play it back again. 

He was being risky... again; He got closer than he needed to be. This enemy was so powerful, worse than he had ever fought before. Like a hybrid of some of the worst people he's faced. You couldn't keep track of the amount of times he was thrown into a building or struck with a deadly blow.

Luckily, the battle stayed far away from your apartment, so you stayed inside by his demand. Spidey was insistent that you stayed safe.As the camera panned out, the sight of multiple fires and shattered windows filled the screen, evidence of the aftermath of the altercation.. You didn't care about them, something... someone was more important than any amount of damage compensation or any building. 

The rain starts, droplets pattering all over the city and immediately killing the fires. 

After what felt like hours of pacing, worrying, and anxiously biting your nails, you see a silhouette on your balcony followed by the dark figure dropping with a thud.

Your body tensed. The booming noise in the silence gave you chills. 

Opening the doors, you see your suited friend laid on the ground, gripping his side. You listen closely, a faint groan escapes from him. His costume was torn, and peaks of his skin were bruised. His blood pooled under his body, mixing with the water making puddles of red. 

"Spidey!!" you shout and rush over to kneel over him. You hold his head in your hands and tilt his head to look at you, although the lenses on his rain soaked mask were clearly closed shut. Your hands tremble as you reach out, fingers brushing against his skin, feeling the heat of his pain. Your forehead rests on his and your lungs release the breath you’ve been holding. You try not to cry. You try and try but fail. 

"I can't- I don’t- I can’t help you....I can't spidey… i-- i can't -" Tears stream down your face as you gasp for breath, the weight of your despair hanging heavy in the air. The sight of his battered body fills your vision, wounds glistening with a mix of blood and rain. You are left feeling hopeless, unable to properly care for his wounds. His life is in Your hands, and you are completely useless. How could he be so strong all the time? He worried about so much, yet always had the strength to push forward. 

You didn't want to be weak. This wasn't the time. 

He depends on you. At this moment. You can't let him go. You weren't going to. You wipe your tears away and positioned behind him, to drag his unconscious body into your room. A path of deep red follows him, staining your bedroom floor. You open your door to drag his heavy body down so you can take him to the hospital, but pause… If you take him to the hospital, they’ll take his mask off and reveal his identity. He’s so vulnerable.

With his body now on the floor, you pace nervously around the room, desperately trying to come up with a plan. Finally, you act.

You run into your roommate's room and grab a few clothes, and run back to the passed out hero. You stare at him for a minute debating if you were really going to do this you take a breath and began to take his suit off piece by piece, despite the embarrassment of undressing him screaming in your mind. You start by removing his gloves, peeling the fabric from his palm and fingers to set it aside. 

You do the same with his red spandex boots, quickly replacing them with leather black boots. You nervously pulled up his suit top. The room was dim, barely able to make out any shapes, but still you keep your eyes up to avoid looking at his torso, littered with deep purple bruises and multiple scratches. Replacing it with a loose gray T-shirt. You thanked god that his suit pants were a solid blue, so you didn’t have to change him out of those. 

Finally, you only had to remove his mask. Slowly, you slip your thumbs under the hem of it, pulling the fabric up his bruised neck from being strangled by the tentacles of the beast. With each inch you came closer to revealing Spider-man’s identity to you. After all this time, you were finally going to find out who he really was. You were gonna see his face and reveal his identity, but you stop. The mask rests just below his chin. 

This is wrong. 

Of course, you were curious about who he was, what his face looked like, and what kind of guy would risk his life like that every day, but this wasn't right. He trusted you enough to come here when he was beaten down.

Ironically, taking off his mask felt more exposing than switching out his clothes.

Once again, you walk to your roommate's room and gather a hat, sunglasses, and a face mask. 

You sat in front of Spidey, took a deep breath to prepare yourself. Then, you closed your eyes; you felt around his head, down his neck and removed the mask. You glide your hands through his hair to put the hat over it. With a brief pause you analyze the soft loose curls between your fingers, he was so familiar to you, so comfortable to be around. He smelled of blood and rain with a hint of… something else… but your mind was in such a haze you couldn't put the pieces together or your brain just wouldn't allow you to finally slip the beanie over his head, and cover most of the top of his head. With eyes still closed you added the glasses and mask on Spider-man’s face, then opened them again, still avoiding looking directly at his covered face, to drag him outside into your car to the nearest hospital. 

On the drive, you continuously checked your mirror to see if he would move or talk or do anything… you were desperate for anything. He just laid on the backseat with the occasional groan. Those noises of pain gave you a bit of relief that he is still alive. Finally, you reach the hospital and stop the car, not even parking it. Quickly you get out of the car and drag Spidey out of the back seat resting his arm over your shoulder to carry him into the hospital doors. 

"Help! Help this guy! He's hurt!!" You yelled in the hospital, which was clearly in a state of emergency due to the recent attack. Several staff ran up to you and took Spidey laying him down on a gurney. As they reach to remove the glasses and mask, you quickly turn around to walk out. "You need to wait. Hold on, who is this?" A nurse blocked your way with a clipboard in hand.

"I- I don't know. I just found him on the ground. He didn't have an ID on him, so i have no idea who he is—" You quickly answer, then step to the side to leave the hospital before the urge to look back becomes too overwhelming. 

Sitting in the confines of your car, you tightly grip the leather of the steering wheel. Your quivering lips betrays the overwhelming feeling coursing through you. 

You pressed your forehead against the cool surface of the wheel and let out a soft sob. The distress eating you up on the inside made you sick and dizzy. 

"Please be okay… please be okay Spider-man." You sobbed.

My friend spider-man Tumblr Fic

Chapter Text

Hey, everyone who has been reading my Spiderman fanfic and awaiting the next part. I'm writing this just to say that I've kinda dug myself into a hole with this fic. In all honesty, I'm disappointed with the way I've written this story and feel like I didn't put in as much effort as I could have. Which made me feel stuck in a box when I try to write a long overdue update. So, I've decided to put this fic on hiatus- until further notice.

I will most likely start from the beginning again and properly unfold the events of the story and figure out a way to deepen the relationship between the reader & Spidey, since chemistry feels off.

Thank you for reading so far. Keep following this story if you want the updated version I will post eventually.

<3