Work Text:
You Are In Love
One look, dark room
Meant just for you
Time moved too fast
You play it back
Peter Benjamin Parker has always seen the world through the contradicting lenses of both optimism and realism.
He was optimistic in a sense that he believed in dreams.
He believed in the impossible.
He believed in reaching those impossible dreams.
Ever since he was a child, he believed that anything was possible or attainable if you just put your mind to it.
Then the whole getting bitten by a radioactive spider fiasco occurred and he was quite figuratively and literally slapped by reality over and over and over and over again.
Said reality was an absolute bitch, pardon his language, but he stood by that claim to his grave.
But he never really allowed that incident to truly define him, who he was, and what he stood for. If he gave up, he would never forgive himself for allowing himself to succumb to reality’s vicious hands.
So, he made sure to be both optimistic and realistic when it came to his goals.
He knew the responsibility his powers gave him, a responsibility he never asked for nor did he pray for in the middle of the night. But it was his responsibility and it was his to adhere, no matter the pain that would entail doing the said responsibility. No. Matter. The. Pain.
He knew he would be underestimated once he did get into the field, but he knew if he was given a chance to prove himself, he would be seen as a force to be reckoned with. And indeed, he was.
He knew that a certain telepathic redhead was a questionable ally in the whole Damage Control incident, but he knew that if anyone had needed the chance to prove themselves, to be a hero, it was her. Because he knew that everyone deserved that chance.
What he never knew was that aforementioned redhead telepath would be the love of his life.
No matter how many times he plays back the moments they had and the time they spent together, he would be hit by whiplash of how they became enemies to friends to lovers.
Realistically, this would never occur.
Realistically, their love would be seeing imminent destruction.
Realistically, they would never even come to be.
But Peter never really cared for reality, not when the warmth of Jean Elaine Grey kept him grounded and safe in a world that never dared to give him on any normal occasion.
Buttons on a coat
Light-hearted joke
No proof, not much
But you saw enough
It was in the smallest, insignificant things that made Jean fall for Peter without even realizing it.
The way he stooped down to her height to fix a stray button on her pink rain coat that one blistering Tuesday morning.
The way his little jokes never failed to make her smile, even if she didn’t want him to see his effect on her.
The way he held the umbrella every time they had to be out on the field during a rainy day.
The way he looks at her when he thinks she doesn’t notice.
His eyes light up in way she has never seen eyes do, the way they shine made her knees weak every time.
The way he let her hold his hand when the New York crowd became a bit too much, anchoring her to him in the sea of people.
The way he would brew her favorite tea when the rain outside just bombarded their windows.
The way he would just sit next to her when the quiet of the apartment and life engulfed them with its inescapable gravity.
The way he was just… there. Like the space between them didn’t exist at all.
Small talk, he drives
Coffee at midnight
The light reflects
The chain on your neck
He says, "Look up"
And your shoulders brush
No proof, one touch
But you felt enough
Jean remembers them driving back to their apartment one particularly long day of work with Yelena and Frank, she wasn’t much of a coffee fan, but when the time came for it, she soaked in the ambiance of caffeine and sugary powdered donuts.
“Hey, Jean, look up.” Peter says as he gently brushes his shoulder to hers, taking Jean out of her sugary infused daydream.
Stars were a rare sight in New York, what with all the light pollution basically killing them out of sight. But with the hustle and bustle of the city dying down a bit, the stars were starting to peak out of the night sky.
True, they weren’t as present as they would be back anywhere else, like her old home in Upstate New York, but this was still a sight to behold.
A thousand shining balls of fire illuminated the midnight sky, some of them shooting through the sky with streaks of white light heading to destinations unknown.
“Whoa…” Jean says as she moves forward and looks at the majestic sight before her, not noticing her paw gently falling on top of Peter’s.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” She says as she continues to admire the rare spectacle.
“Yeah, it is.” Peter says in a voice that she never heard before.
She didn’t notice it that night, she only found out later on that he wasn’t referring to the midnight sky at all. What with his eyes being captivated by her and her alone.
You can hear it in the silence, silence, you
You can feel it on the way home, way home, you
You can see it with the lights out, lights out
You are in love, true love
You are in love
She wasn’t sure when she found out.
But she had a suspicion how it occurred.
She had been trying to look for a new apartment to rent when he suggested they moved in together.
It was a perfect idea.
They were partners, they had the same schedule, they almost had the exact morning routine needed without getting in each other’s way, and most importantly, they trusted each other with their lives.
She never realized how easy it was to live in the same space as him.
It was as if they were meant to be that way from the very start.
It was in the way they communicated without words.
It was in the comfortable silence they had with each other.
It was every time they came home to each other on the other’s day off from their civilian jobs, Peter at the Bugle and Jean at the local library, and how they were welcomed with a fresh cup of tea every time.
It was there when they were dancing in the middle of the night to a newly released album by Taylor Swift or Malcolm Todd, the refrigerator being their only light source.
Then a slower song came up and all of the sudden, they were slow dancing in the near darkness of the room.
She looked up at him and ocean blue met chocolate brown. A slow understanding washed upon them like a cold bucket of water.
She knew, she just knew, that at that very moment in time… she was in love with her best friend.
Morning, his place
Burnt toast, Sunday
You keep his shirt
He keeps his word
All of the sudden, things started to change for them.
He would make her breakfast every single morning, it didn’t matter that he was not the best cook in the world, it meant so much to her that he tried.
Sunday morning was always filled with snuggles and pampering by Peter that it felt like she was a princess.
She would wake up wearing his shirt that smelled of him. He didn’t mind that he has one less shirt in his closet, so long as it smelled like her, he was good.
How he would promise to bring back some potato chips she was craving on her days off. And how she would do the same with blueberries that Yelena would send to them specifically when he had a day off.
The little things that mattered were more than what words could describe.
And for once, you let go
Of your fears and your ghosts
One step, not much
But it said enough
You kiss on sidewalks
You fight and you talk
Jean Elaine Grey had a small fear of the unknown.
That was a secret she never told anyone.
Her favourite motto was “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.”
But sometimes the unpredictable world still got to her.
Peter knew this when they traded secrets under the safety of warm sheets.
In his arms she has never felt safer in her life.
If it was up to her, she would stay in this moment forever.
Peter taught her the beauty of unpredictability when he kissed her out of nowhere in the middle of the sidewalk on the way back to their vehicle one night ordering donuts for themselves and Frank.
She surprised him in turn when she kissed him passionately on an evening stroll in Times Square.
Perhaps being unpredictable was not so bad.
One night he wakes
Strange look on his face
Pauses, then says
“You're my best friend”
And you knew what it was
She never heard him say the words before. Jean thinks as she snuggles closer to him.
She knew why.
He was afraid of breaking this one perfect thing in life, or at least that’s what he said to her.
He was afraid of losing her.
Like Ben.
Like Tony.
Like May.
Like Ned.
Like MJ.
Every single person he’s ever loved found a way to leave him in his own misery.
Doing one stupid thing might break whatever magical thing they had together.
But she reassured him that she would wait until he was ready.
Until he could say them fearlessly without the demons of his past coming back to haunt him.
What she never expected was him rousing up from his slumber.
A look in his eye told her he had a serious thought in mind.
A pause that spanned seconds, minutes, hours, years, or centuries.
And one simple phrase that she would remember for a lifetime.
“You’re my best friend.”
She never replied to that, all she did was envelope him in her embrace and claimed his lips on hers.
For she knew what it was.
He is in love.