Archive of Our Own ^beta

Although, it was taking longer than it usually did for her to let him in. Peter furrowed his brow and knocked on the window again, this time putting a bit more force behind it. He faintly heard Aunt May call out to him, and Peter let out a sigh as he crouched, balancing his weight on the balls of his feet. He didn’t keep the position for long, though; while it was a pose he often used, he found it was far more uncomfortable to do in jeans than it was in the Spider-Man suit. He instead simply sat on the fire escape with his legs crossed and waited.

A few minutes later, May arrived, and Peter crawled inside as soon as the window was opened, grateful to get out of the summer heat and into the air-conditioned room. “Sorry I’m late,” he said as he stretched. “You would not belie- you seem overdressed,” he found himself saying as he finally took in his aunt’s appearance.

She was wearing a long, flowy, bright red dress, her hair done up in an elegant bun, and her face sporting more makeup than he’d seen her wear in a while (which, granted, she didn’t usually use much). She looked good, amazing even, but… their dinners were always casual affairs.

She looked like she was going out to a fancy restaurant.

May sighed. “You really need to start taking your phone out with you when you’re Spider-Man,” she said as she brought a hand up to rub at her forehead before thinking better of it. “I’ve been texting you all evening trying to tell you that there’s been a change of plans!”

“I already told you, May, they break too easily,” he tried to defend himself, not that it did much good; she hated that she could never get in contact with him when he went out as Spider-Man and all his explanations for why never settled her worries. “Where are you going?” he asked before they could fall into the familiar argument of his phone situation.

She hesitated as she stared at him, and Peter was suddenly reminded of when he was a child and Uncle Ben told him the Tooth Fairy wasn’t real. “I… well…” She put her hands on her hips and turned her head away from him. “I’ve got a date.”

Peter blinked, his mind stalling as he struggled to process what she said. “Oh,” he found himself saying, though the words sounded muffled in his own ears. “Oh, that’s great.”

It truly was great. He just… was not expecting it.

May turned back towards him and gave him a look he couldn’t really decipher. “Are you okay with that?”

Peter jumped, feeling as though the engine in his brain finally turned over. He smiled at his aunt and gently grabbed her hands. “Of course, I’m okay with that,” he reassured as he squeezed her hands. “You should be allowed to date whoever you want regardless of my opinion, though.”

The tension in May’s posture released, her shoulders dropping a bit. “Oh, I know, I know,” she said as she smiled and rolled her eyes. “But I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, either.”

“I’m not uncomfortable with it,” he said, “not at all! I was just caught off guard. It’s been a while since you’ve tried dating.” Several years, in fact. She never did when he was at a low point, at least not to his knowledge, and he had had so few not-low points in the past decade.

May huffed, though she still smiled as she stepped away from him and pulled her hands from his grasp to straighten out invisible wrinkles on her dress. “Yes, well… I have a good feeling about this one…” She paused, glancing his way briefly before focusing back on her dress. “It’s… actually our fifth date.”

Peter’s eyes widened. In the past, whenever May went on dates, she never went on more than two with the same person. “Fifth?” he repeated before letting out a low whistle. “Guess I gotta get my old suit ready for the wedding.”

“Oh, hush you,” she playfully scolded as she lightly swatted at his arm. He just laughed, barely even feeling it. “I’m sure I’m much too old to ever remarry.”

“Now that’s just not true,” Peter argued. “You could never be too old.”

“That’s sweet,” she said as she pinched his cheek. She made to say something else, but then the doorbell rang, and all color drained from her face.

Peter furrowed his brow. “Is everything okay?”

May nodded as she forced a smile. “Of course! Everything is fine! I just... wasn’t expecting her to arrive so soon.”

Peter blinked. “Her?”

“Looks like you two will be meeting earlier than planned!” she pressed on as if he hadn’t said anything, letting out a nervous laugh as she quickly went to answer the door.

“Wait, did you say her?” Peter asked again as he followed his aunt.

She didn’t answer him. Instead, she opened the door, her smile shifting to one that was far more natural as she called out, “Liv!” and pulled the woman on the other side into a tight hug. “You’re here early!”

Liv looked to be around the same age as May, if not a bit younger. The first thing Peter noticed was that she towered over his aunt; she was likely around the same height as Peter, if he had to guess, but the high heels she wore gave her an extra boost. Her hair was dark with several gray streaks, falling in carefully arranged curls onto her shoulders. She, too, was dressed rather fancily, though her black dress was a bit more formfitting than May’s red one.

When May pulled out of the hug, Liv leaned down and kissed her, and Peter felt extremely out of place.

“Traffic was surprisingly light today,” Liv said once she pulled away from the kiss, and there was a moment where she just... looked down at May with a warm smile, her eyes soft with adoration.

Peter shifted uncomfortably, the feeling that he was intruding increasing tenfold. And yet, he couldn’t help but smile, especially when he caught sight of May’s delighted grin.

His aunt deserved all the happiness in the world.

And then Liv looked up and saw him, and her gaze instantly hardened as she frowned at him. Peter straightened his back, his unease increasing under her intense stare. It was only a mild relief that she didn’t trigger his spider-sense.

May noticed Liv’s change in attitude immediately, and she quickly grabbed Liv’s hand and led her further into the room. “Well, since you’re here so early, I guess I finally have the chance to introduce you to my nephew.”

Liv’s expression once again changed in an instant, realization donning in her eyes as she smiled brightly at him. “Ah, so this is the famous Peter Parker!” she said, her voice becoming a bit exuberant as she stepped away from May and held her hand out to him. “I’ve heard so much about you. May says you’re quite the genius.”

Peter huffed out a nervous laugh as he shook Liv’s hand. “Oh, I don’t know about genius, ma’am,” he said. “You know how parents get.”

Liv’s smile turned knowing as she solemnly nodded her head. “Yes, yes, I know all too well. But something tells me May isn’t exaggerating with you.”

“Because I’m not,” May interjected as the handshake ended, stepping closer to Peter to wrap a loving arm around him. “You were at the top of all your classes Peter, and I still have the report cards as proof.”

Peter rolled his eyes as his face grew warm. “You’re exaggerating,” he argued.

Both women shared a look, one he tried to not think too hard on, but luckily let the matter drop. Instead, Liv turned to him and said, “Well, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, young man.”

“It’s nice meeting you too,” he responded with a small nod. “I guess I should head out and let you two get on with your date.” 

“I’m sorry again about the misunderstanding,” May apologized as she led him to the door, and Peter had to bite back a groan at the thought of leaving the apartment complex through the front door. “I’ll call you later tonight, okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” he agreed as they reached the door. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek before pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m really happy for you,” he whispered into her ear, which made her squeeze him tighter. When they pulled apart, he gave Liv a smile and a wave, and then said to them both, “Have fun and be safe tonight!”

“You too, mister,” May said, to which he gave her a thumbs up.

Taking the elevator to the ground floor was an agonizing wait, and scaling up the building to where he kept his stuff stashed away for when he visited his aunt was as dull and tedious as it ever was. Still, he couldn’t exactly change back to his Spider-Man suit with May’s new girlfriend right there, so he kept his complaints to himself.

“Guess I’ll have to figure out dinner for myself,” he muttered as he began to swing back towards the general direction of his apartment.

He only got a few blocks away from May’s place when his spider-sense flared to life. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to properly react before a man with giant, mechanical wings dropped down on him out of nowhere and knocked him out of the sky.

When Peter finally crawled into his studio apartment two hours later, he instantly pulled off his mask and the top half of his suit before making his way to the restroom. 

The man that attacked him, the self-proclaimed Vulture, typically wouldn’t have been too difficult for Peter to fend off. It had been pure, dumb luck that the man had attacked Peter while he was preoccupied with his thoughts. Unfortunately, the Vulture had included talons to his bird costume, and so that lucky shot had resulted in Peter’s back getting slashed up rather badly and it had been difficult to fight off the villain with his back constantly screaming in agony. Peter had been all too aware of the blood that was ruining what was left of his suit throughout the entire fight and his trip back home.

It took some awkward maneuvering in the restroom for Peter to get a look at his back through the mirror, and the gruesome sight that greeted him only made him hiss. He would live, he knew, but he would need to clean the wounds and get stitches, which would be near impossible with where the slashes were located on his back. He quickly turned and pulled the first aid kit out from under his sink, hoping to staunch some of the bleeding by wrapping his torso with gauze until he could get May to help him properly treat it. 

The bandaging took far longer than it should’ve, and the end result was altogether rather poor, but it would tide him over until he could get legitimate treatment. Peter took a moment to wash the blood from his hands before turning and staggering his way across the apartment and to his desk.

He ignored all the notifications on his phone as he picked it up off the desk and unlocked it, instead instantly moving to his contacts. Aunt May’s name sat at the top of his list, and he moved to select call...

Liv looking down adoringly at May flashed through his mind, and Peter sighed as he pulled his thumb away from her contact name. While he knew, he truly knew, that Aunt May would willingly drop anything and everything to treat him if he was injured, Peter just... could not bring himself to do it. 

“I gotta know someone else with medical knowledge,” he mumbled as he scrolled through his too-short list of contacts.

Unfortunately, a quick look at the rest of the list proved to be futile. Even if Betty, Debra, Flash, MJ, or Ned knew how to stitch his wounds, which he doubted as none of them had ever mentioned having any sort of medical training, the fact of the matter was that none of them knew he was Spider-Man. His secret identity was not something he revealed easily, at least not anymore (the younger Peter’s Ned and MJ didn’t count because they already knew, even if they didn’t know him).

It looked like either Peter would have to go to the hospital, which was a near useless option to have both for the questions and the bill, or he would have to call Aunt May and ruin her fancy date.

Peter sighed as he moved to scroll back up to the top of his contact list, only to pause when one of the last contacts caught his eye.

Phantom 👻

Peter stood up a bit straighter, and he could practically feel the lightbulb turning on above his head. Surely, Phantom would know how to treat his wounds; he had been a superhero for far longer than Peter had, and suffered more injuries as a result. And Phantom knew him as Spider-Man, so if he just put his mask on...

It was perfect.

Peter called him.

Phantom answered before Peter even put the phone to his ear. “Hey, Spidey!” he greeted, his cheery voice holding an echo (a first for their phone conversations) and also somewhat muffled by the sound of wind hitting the speaker. “How-”

“How good are you at giving stitches?” Peter asked in a rush, cutting Phantom off. The silence that followed was eerie, the wind on the other end suddenly coming to a stop, and it made Peter’s stomach twist uncomfortably.

“Where are you?” Phantom asked after a moment, and Peter couldn’t help but flinch at how uncharacteristically grave he sounded.

“In my apartment,” he answered on reflex before belatedly remembering that Phantom didn’t know where that was. He fumbled over his words as he gave Phantom his address, the adrenaline from the fight finally leaking out of him and leaving him shaking with various aches and pains across his whole body, the most prominent being the slashes on his back. “You can’t miss it,” he said around a shaky exhale, valiantly ignoring how heavily he leaned against his desk, “it’s the only one with blood all over the place like a crime scene.” He let out a weak laugh.

“Yeah, now’s not the time for jokes like that,” Phantom snapped, the harshness of his tone making Peter stand a bit straighter. “I’ll be there soon. Just hang tight.”

Peter opened his mouth and began to mumble either an apology for his failure at levity or a quip about how he was basically a master at hanging around, but Phantom hung up before either thought could fully form. Peter sighed, running one hand through his hair as he placed his phone back onto his desk with the other.

“Better put the mask back on,” he muttered under his breath as he turned away from his desk. His legs shook as he walked over to where he had left the mask on the ground, and as a result, it took him far longer to reach it than it should’ve. Spots danced in Peter’s vision when he bent down to pick it up. He blinked and suddenly he was lying face-first on the floor of his apartment.

He blinked several more times as he processed the newfound pain in his nose, turning his head so that his cheek pressed against the tile instead. From the corner of his eye, he could see the gauze he had hastily wrapped around himself had come undone and was now a sickly red.

“Shit,” he mumbled, though his voice sounded distant to his own ears. He suddenly found himself grateful he had called Phantom instead of Aunt May; he did not want to subject her to finding him bleeding out on the floor... again.

Peter moved to push himself off the ground, or at least get up enough that he could pull his mask out from beneath him, but his limbs felt like jello and refused to cooperate. He huffed as he fell back onto the floor and wondered how he would get out of the situation he found himself in.

At some point he blinked and his eyes did not open again.

And then, suddenly, he was jerked awake by someone frantically tapping at his face and calling out for his alter-ego. Peter forced his eyes open, his vision blurry, and found himself looking into a pair of bright, glowing, neon green eyes, and he felt his breath catch in his throat.

“You with me, Spider-Man?” Phantom asked, his tone carrying a frantic edge that Peter had never heard from him before. 

“Hey, Phantom,” he greeted with a smile, though his words slurred. Phantom sighed with relief, and then his cold, cold hands wrapped around Peter’s body, making him jump with a small yelp. “‘S cold!” he gasped as Phantom picked him up off the ground.

“Sorry,” Phantom apologized as he maneuvered Peter over to the chair by his desk. “There’s not a whole lot I can do about it.” He sat Peter down so that his chest was against the back of the chair, and Peter instantly crossed his arms over the top of the chair and rested his head on them. His eyes began to sag, but then Phantom tapped his face again, making them jolt back open. “I’m gonna need you to stay awake for me, buddy.”

“Sorry,” Peter mumbled, “I’ll do my best.” He gave Phantom another smile, and Phantom stared at him for a long moment before nodding. Phantom then turned and went to the bathroom, picking up the first aid kit from where Peter had left it.

It was as he was walking back that Peter noticed the Spider-Man mask on the floor, and he remembered he didn’t get a chance to put it on before he passed out. Suddenly all tiredness rushed out of him as he sucked in a harsh breath and looked up at Phantom with wide, panicked eyes. Phantom paused on his way back, looked down at the mask, and then back up to Peter.

“Oh,” he muttered. He gave Peter an apologetic smile and then...

And then a ring of white light appeared around Phantom’s waist, which then split into two as one traveled up his body and one traveled down. Peter could only watch in silent wonder as Phantom transformed before his very eyes, going from a ghostly superhero to... just some regular human dude in a white tank top and boxers that were black with stars on them. He looked... he mostly looked the same, though his skin was a bit paler, he no longer glowed, his eyes were a light blue, and his hair was now a dark black with salt and pepper streaks at the temple.

“Exactly what I am is complicated,” he had said all those months ago.

Complicated. Yeah, Peter could see how it was complicated. Still, even as he continued to stare at Phantom in shock, he could feel his heart rate slow back down and his breathing return to normal. In its place, Peter felt a rush of gratitude and trust that was so strong it got caught in his throat and made his eyes water a bit.

“When you go gray, is your hair as a ghost gonna become black?” Peter asked instead of addressing his onslaught of emotions.

Phantom glanced up at his hair and grimaced. “Probably. I’m not looking forward to that, honestly,” he answered as he resumed his journey back towards Peter. He placed the first aid kit down on the desk and then turned around and quickly walked back to the bathroom sink to wash his hands. Once done, he moved to stand behind Peter, letting out a low whistle as he set about the process of cleaning the wounds. “This looks bad. What the hell did this?”

Peter winced and clenched his fists with each sting of pain he felt from his back. “A man in a mechanical vulture suit,” he answered. “Apparently, I stopped some of his guys from robbing a bank earlier this afternoon, and he didn’t take too kindly to it.”

“Don’t you have that... tingle thing to prevent guys from hurting you?” Phantom asked.

“Yeah. That doesn’t mean I’m always fast enough to get out of the way, though.”

“Fair.”

They fell into a lapse of silence as Phantom worked, and surprisingly enough, during that time Peter’s mind was blessedly blank. There was a lot he could’ve, and probably should’ve, been thinking about, but he was mostly just content to sit and wait out until the stitches were done.

After a few minutes, though, he felt Phantom’s hand (which, while still colder than the average person’s hand, was much warmer than it usually was) tap his shoulder. “You’re still awake, yeah?” he asked. Peter hummed and nodded. “Okay, good. I’m gonna need you to stay awake until I can check you over completely.”

That made Peter furrow his brow and frown. “Check me over?”

“For any other injuries,” Phantom clarified. “You might have a concussion, which... y’know, it’s not good to fall asleep with those.”

“Right,” Peter muttered. “I didn’t even think of that.”

He heard Phantom chuckle. “Yeah, well, I have been at this longer. I’ve dealt with almost every injury you can imagine... well, okay, not every injury, but y’know what I mean.”

Peter let out a huff of a laugh as he turned his head to rest his cheek against his arms. “Yeah, yeah, I get ya.”

There was a brief pause in the conversation, during which Peter struggled to keep his eyes open. As if sensing such, Phantom picked a new conversation topic:

“You have scars all over your back,” he said, and Peter rolled his eyes.

“That’s life for a superhero.”

“No, I know, I just meant... you’ve likely needed stitches back here before.” Peter nodded his head but said nothing, instead simply waited for Phantom to finish his thought. “Who did you have help you?”

“My aunt,” Peter answered instantly, only to then frown at how easily he gave the information. He knew he trusted Phantom, but...

Phantom hummed. “Does she know you’re Spider-Man?”

He hesitated, taking a moment to feel Phantom’s unusually warm hands stitch his wounds together. “Yes,” he settled on; he had already shown this much trust, what’s a little more?

“How’d you tell her?” Phantom asked. “If you’re comfortable with telling me, of course.”

“I, uh... I didn’t.” That made Phantom pause, his hands falling still on Peter’s back. “She found out a couple of years in. I don’t know when exactly; she didn’t tell me that she had figured it out. She wanted me to come to her.”

“What changed?” Phantom asked as he went back to work.

“After... after Gwen...” Peter had to fight back the shudder that wanted to rush through his frame. “Well, you know,” he said instead of making himself say it. Phantom hummed in confirmation. “I was in a dark place for a... a long time. I punched harder than necessary, and I got into the habit of ignoring my spider-sense to let myself get hit.” Phantom sucked in a sharp breath at the confession, and Peter had to bury his face in his arms as shame for his past actions hit him once again. “One day I got shot, and it was all over the news. And my aunt... she called, and she called, and when I didn’t answer she came storming into my apartment. Found me lying on the ground in a pool of my own blood.”

“Spider-Man, that’s-!” Phantom sounded horrified, and Peter would’ve hunched his shoulders if he was certain it wouldn’t mess up the stitches.

“I know, I know,” he quickly cut in, his voice harsh. He heard Phantom’s teeth clack together as he snapped his mouth shut. “I terrified her. I’ve never seen her cry so much, not even when my uncle died.” He gave a small laugh. “I’ve never heard her yell so much, either. That’s when she told me that she knew. She then made me promise that the next time I got injured, I go to her and have her patch me up.”

“And what made you break the promise tonight?” Phantom asked, and there was something to his tone that made Peter’s stomach twist.

“She had a date tonight,” he answered. “She... she doesn’t go out often, and I saw her with her new girlfriend earlier, and... she looked happy.” He sighed and lifted his head to rest his chin on his arms once more, though his arms were slowly growing numb from the position he was keeping them in. “If you didn’t answer or couldn’t help, I would’ve gone to her, though. I just... I don’t know.”

Phantom sighed. “Well, I appreciate the fact that you trust me enough for this, I guess,” he muttered. There was a brief pause, and then in a louder voice he said, “Something similar happened with me and my older sister.”

Peter jerked up a bit, surprised at the news that Phantom had siblings, only to then hiss when pain erupted in his back. One of Phantom’s hands pressed down onto his shoulder to settle him down and keep him still. “Yeah?” Peter wheezed out as he made himself relax. “How’d that go?”

“She saw me transform a few months after I got my powers,” Phantom explained as he went back to work. “Never told me, just decided to help me behind the scenes - y’know, distract my parents when I was fighting ghosts, remind me of any homework I might’ve forgotten, that kind of stuff - until I finally got around to telling her on my own terms. But then, about half a year later, she learned about a... a ghost’s plan to attack me and my friends and family, and in warning me about it she all but revealed the fact that she knew.”

“Doesn’t seem quite as dramatic as my story,” Peter attempted to joke, only to wince as it fell flat.

Phantom flicked the back of his head, which Peter wanted to protest against but didn’t, figuring he kind of deserved it. “You only say that because you don’t know the whole story,” he chided.

“Will you tell me?” Peter asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Maybe... maybe one day,” Phantom answered, though Peter could tell that he really didn’t want to. And that was fair, there were plenty of stories Peter had no interest in sharing. “Not quite sure you would even believe me if I told you.”

“I’ve been to another universe,” Peter argued. “You’re literally a ghost - part ghost? Either way, I don’t think I’ll have a problem believing you.” He paused and turned his head to try and look at Phantom over his shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, though.”

It was strange to see the blue-eyed, black-haired version of Phantom that was standing behind him. The small, grateful smile he gave Peter looked the same, though, and Peter felt his heart stutter as he smiled back.

It wasn’t long after that the stitches were done. “I assume you know how to take care of these?” Phantom asked as he applied some bandages over them.

Peter nodded. “My aunt’s a nurse,” he explained, “she’ll make sure I care for them properly.”

“Good,” Phantom muttered, and Peter could’ve sworn he sounded relieved.

Once the bandages were in place, Phantom quickly washed his hands before going about the process of checking Peter over for any other injuries, including a concussion. Peter offered no protest as he was looked over, used to the same procedure from May (although his heart never fluttered when she did it). Once Phantom was satisfied, he helped Peter to his feet.

“I’m sorry to say you’ll probably need a new suit,” Phantom said as he looked down at the remains of the top half of the Spider-Man suit that hung limply around Peter’s waist, the back torn to shreds and covered in blood. “The bottom half doesn’t look much better from the back,” he admitted. Peter raised a brow and smirked. Phantom scowled. “I had to stare at your back for a long time, it’s kind of hard not to notice.”

“I know,” Peter said with a laugh, lightly shoving Phantom’s shoulder. “Just giving you a hard time.” He then walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants

Phantom rolled his eyes as he set about cleaning up some of the mess in the room, starting with the discarded remains of Peter’s first pitiful attempt at bandaging his wounds. “This is the thanks I get for helping you,” he playfully grumbled.

Peter, who was going through the process of removing what remained of his suit, paused. “Thank you,” he said, though he did not turn around to face Phantom. “I truly do appreciate it, Phantom.” He waited a second for a response. When he was met with only silence, Peter went back to pulling off his suit and replacing it with the sweats.

Once his pants were on, he gathered up his tattered suit and dropped it into the garbage can. “Luckily, I’ve got plenty of backups,” he said, though he wasn’t sure if Phantom was even listening; the man had gone almost suspiciously quiet since Peter thanked him. “Made several a while back. That way, when one gets damaged, I’ll still have something to wear while I get it mended. I’ll eventually get around to making a new one to replace this one.” 

Phantom still said nothing. Peter frowned and slowly turned to face him, his gut twisting and churning with anxiety. Phantom was still standing by his desk, his brow furrowed as he stared quite intently at Peter. Peter gulped, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

“Phantom?” he asked weakly as his mind quickly ran through the last few minutes of conversation to figure out what he might’ve done to upset him.

“Danny,” Phantom said. Peter blinked several times, his quickly mounting anxiety instantly washed away by a wave of confusion. Phantom’s brow smoothed as he gave Peter a nervous smile. “My actual name is Danny Fenton.”

All the breath in Peter’s lungs burst out of him in one fell swoop. He stared at Phantom - at Danny - with wide eyes as he gaped at him like a fish. 

Danny’s smile fell as he nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I just figured... you know, you’ve seen my human form, might as well-”

“I’m Peter,” Peter interrupted, nearly shouting his name. “Peter Parker.”

The way Danny’s face lit up was instantaneous, and Peter couldn’t help but smile back, his heart pounding in his chest.

Danny stepped forward and held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” he joked.

Peter laughed as he clasped Danny’s hand. “The pleasure’s all mine.”

Danny 👻

Please let me know if your
stitches cause any issues.

And maybe have your aunt look
over them. I’ve got some
practice with this sort of thing,
but I’m not a medically trained
professional.

Already had her look. She said
she was quite impressed with
your work, and also would like
to meet you.

Not a bad idea.

Maybe between the two of us
we’ll be able to keep you from
killing yourself.

Oh haha. I’m not that bad.

😒

Actually, my sister lives in New
York. Maybe we should just all
get together for dinner or
something?

Really? You’d be cool with that?

I mean, sure, why not?

Peter was a mess the night they agreed to meet up and have dinner. He got to May’s apartment early to help her cook and set up the table, although she quickly kicked him out of the kitchen with the way he constantly fretted. “Are you sure these clothes are alright?” he asked while he paced the room, constantly getting in May’s way. “Are you sure this is cooked right? Is this enough food?” Question after question rolled off his tongue, and it wasn’t long before Aunt May was fed up.

“Peter Benjamin Parker!” she snapped as she pushed him out of the room. “You are overthinking things! A common problem of yours.”

He at least had the decency to look sheepish. “I know,” he said with a sigh. “I just... really want this night to go well,” he quietly admitted.

May placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward a bit to meet Peter’s downturned eyes. “And why wouldn’t it go well? Do you not trust my cooking abilities?”

Peter’s eyes widened a fraction as he frantically shook his head. “No, no May! I love your cooking!” He ran one hand through his hair. “I just want you two to like each other, is all.”

May sighed as she stood up straight and shook her head. “Peter... while I can’t speak for Danny, I know that if he is even half the man you’ve told me he is, then I’m sure I’ll love him. Besides,” she added as she gave him a somewhat teasing smile, “you are a full-grown adult and therefore should be able to be friends with whoever you want regardless of my approval.”

Peter gave her a light smile. “Yeah, see, I think there’s a difference between me saying that about you dating and you saying that about who I’m friends with,” he playfully countered, which made her roll her eyes as she turned to head back to the kitchen.

“Just keep yourself busy until they arrive,” she called over her shoulder, “and let me finish cooking this meal in peace!”

Peter tried, he did. But he went on to spend the next hour pacing around the dining room, constantly rearranging the dinner table to make sure everything was perfect. It was a small mercy that Aunt May let him bring the food to the table just so he had something to do instead of stewing in his own thoughts. When the doorbell finally rang, signaling the arrival of Danny and his sister, all the tension left May’s shoulders with a quiet, “Oh thank god,” while Peter nearly cried as he rushed towards the door.

He took a brief moment before reaching the door to take a look at himself in the mirror May had hanging in the entryway, just to make sure everything looked okay. His hair was not in disarray, there wasn’t anything stuck in his teeth, his clothes were all in place, and Aunt May’s reflection was rolling her eyes at him. He stuck his tongue out at her before moving to open the door.

It was only the second time Peter had seen Danny in his human form, so it took Peter a second to adjust to seeing him with black hair and blue eyes. But then Danny smiled widely, to the point that his eyes crinkled, and Peter couldn’t stop himself from smiling back even if he wanted to.

“Hey, Peter!” Danny greeted as he lifted one hand in a wave, and something about hearing that voice call him Peter instead of Spider-Man made Peter’s chest feel… full. “I’d like you to meet my older sister, Jazz!” And then the raised hand lowered to the shoulder of the woman in front of him, who was sitting in a wheelchair and looking up at Peter with familiar blue eyes-

“Oh,” was all Peter could say as he finally registered the fact that he was looking at Jasmine Fenton. Everything clicked into place in his brain, and he had to fight back the urge to bury his face in his hands and groan at his own stupidity.

Jazz gave him an amused smile. “Hello again, Peter.”

Danny looked back and forth between the two, his brow furrowed with confusion. “You two know each other?” he asked, his questioning look finally settling on his sister.

“Peter was the one who took my picture for the article about me in the Daily Bugle,” Jazz answered, tilting her head back to look up at Danny over her shoulder. “You know, the one who takes pictures of Spider-Man?”

It truly was a struggle for Peter to not bury his face in his hands.

Danny’s head snapped up to look at Peter, a large grin stretching across his face. “You sell pictures of yourself to the paper?” he asked, only to have Jazz elbow his leg.

“We’re still in the hallway,” Jazz calmly pointed out while Danny bent over hissing in pain.

Even though the comment had been directed at Danny, Peter realized with a jolt that he was, indeed, blocking their path to the apartment. He quickly stepped aside to let them in. A thought occurred to him as they moved past him, however, and as soon as he closed the door he spun around and asked, “Did you know?”

Danny, who was still rubbing his leg where his sister had hit him, sent him a questioning look. Jazz, meanwhile, was the definition of cool and collected. “I knew that my brother had spent days and days constantly freaking out over how he should start a conversation with his new friend, Spider-Man. And I knew that the photographer that took Spider-Man’s pictures was similarly fretting about texting a new friend.” She shrugged as she leaned back a bit in her seat. “I had no evidence, of course, so I didn’t bring it up... But I still pestered my brother for the rest of the day after you and MJ left until he texted you.”

Peter blinked as his gaze drifted over to Danny. “You were all worked up about texting me?” he asked.

Danny scowled. “So were you, apparently, so don’t try and tease me for it,” he said as he pointed an accusing finger at Peter.

“No, no! I’m not teasing! I just…” Peter shrugged helplessly. It made sense in hindsight, but the truth was that Peter had been too caught up over texting Danny that he had never once thought about why it took so long for Danny to text him. It felt kind of embarrassing to admit that, though.

Luckily, he was saved from doing such when Aunt May let out a polite cough from the other side of the room. “Peter?” she asked as everyone turned her way. “Are you going to introduce me to your friends?”

Peter felt his face grow warm as he quickly moved to stand between May and the Fentons. “Oh, uh, May, this is my friend, Danny, and his sister, Jazz. Danny, Jazz, this is my aunt, May.”

May grinned as she stepped forward and shook their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” she told them. “Peter has spoken highly of you in particular, Danny.”

“Really?” Danny asked, tossing Peter a confused look. Peter gave him a sheepish smile and shrug while May and Jazz shared a look.

“Now, come on,” May said as she ushered everyone into the dining room. “This food isn’t going to eat itself!”

“They were lovely,” May said later once dinner was done and the Fenton siblings had left.

“Yeah,” Peter agreed with a nod as he set about gathering the dirty dishes off the table.

May hummed as she moved to help him. “I know I’ve said this before, but… I’m glad you met him.” Peter paused and sent her a questioning look. She sighed. “I mean… I’m glad you have someone to look after you when you’re Spider-Man.”

“May…” he began, but she merely held up a hand and shook her head.

“Being a superhero is dangerous. Too often I had to deal with you getting hurt and wondering if you would make it home okay,” she said sternly as she looked him straight in the eye. “I know you do it because it’s the right thing, but I can’t help but worry. And I’m glad that you… that you finally have someone watching your back.”

Peter gave her a small, wobbly smile. “Yeah, me too.”

“Tiger!” MJ called as soon as Peter stepped out of Jameson’s office, him and Ned both waving him over to Betty’s desk. “Hey, how do you like bowling?” MJ asked as soon as Peter came to a stop by his side.

Peter tilted his head. “Bowling?”

Betty grinned from where she sat at her desk, her head propped up by her hands beneath her chin. “Yeah! The three of us are all going bowling next weekend. We never see you outside of work, so we figured we’d invite you along.”

“Just be sure to bring a date,” Ned cut in as he leaned over Betty’s desk to better meet Peter’s gaze. “MJ is bringing his mysterious boyfriend along. Don’t want you to be the awkward fourth wheel.”

MJ huffed and rolled his eyes. “It'd be an awkward fifth wheel,” he corrected. “And it’s not a mystery. You just refuse to let me tell you and insist on guessing.”

Peter shared a look with Betty, and she affectionately rolled her eyes.

“Well, I would,” Peter said, cutting through whatever bickering that might’ve broken out between Ned and MJ, “but… I’m single? Can’t really bring a date.”

MJ shrugged. “Then invite a friend. No big deal.”

“Yeah, we all know you have at least one friend outside of us,” Ned added with a smirk. “You text him almost every day, after all.”

“I’ll text you the time and address,” Betty quickly said before Peter could respond in any way to Ned’s comment, picking up her phone to do just that. “Invite whoever you want, just be sure to let me know.”

Peter sighed and nodded. “Yeah, sure,” he said under his breath as his phone buzzed in his pocket with Betty’s text. “I’ll… let you know.”

The next day, while he was having lunch with Debra, Peter asked, “Do you like bowling?”

Debra stared at him as she slowly lowered her spoonful of macaroni back to the tupperware she had packed it in. “Bowling?” she repeated. “I… yeah, I guess I like it,” she answered bemusedly. “Why do you ask?”

“My friends at the Bugle-”

“You have other friends?” Debra interrupted with faux shock, her free hand flying up to cup her cheek. Peter glared, which only made her laugh. “Ah, I’m just teasin’.”

He rolled his eyes but made no comment, and instead pressed on. “Anyway, my friends at the Bugle are going bowling next weekend and they told me to invite a friend-”

“Oh, nice!” Debra interrupted again, grinning widely as she dropped her spoon completely into the tupperware and moved to pick up her phone. “Sure, Flash and I would love to go! It’s been a while since we went out with a group of friends.”

Peter bit back a sigh as he pulled out his phone and texted Betty about the two new additions to their group. “Yeah. The more the merrier, right?” he muttered.

That night, as soon as he got home to his apartment, he pulled out his phone and called Danny. “Do you like bowling?” he frantically asked as soon as the phone was answered, not even giving Danny a chance to say anything.

There was a pause on the other end, and Peter could faintly make out the muffled sounds of a group of people talking. “Yeah, I love bowling,” Danny answered almost hesitantly. “Why?”

Peter let out a sigh of relief as he flopped down into his desk chair, leaning his head as far back as he could. “Some friends from work are going bowling next weekend,” he explained, “and I’ll be the only one there who’s single.”

There was an even longer pause, during which the muffled talking on the other end of the phone grew hushed. “Are… are you asking me out?” Danny asked, and a loud whoop and a wolf whistle soon followed.

Peter barely registered the sound of Danny hushing whomever he was with as his face grew hot. He was extremely thankful he had made this call while home alone and not at his aunt’s; he did not need her teasing him over how red his face was. “No!” he squeaked out before coughing. “No, no, I just! I don’t want to be the awkward fifth- uh seventh? The awkward seventh wheel.”

“Ah,” Danny said, “yeah, that makes more sense.” Peter frowned, wondering just what Danny meant by that, but before he could ask, Danny continued, “Yeah, sure I’ll go. I could do with some new friends!” He shouted the last two words away from the phone speaker, and Peter could only laugh as a chorus of boos quickly followed.

“Thanks, man,” he said once his laughter died down, finally sitting up in his chair. “I’ll text you the information later.”

“Sure, sounds good.” More voices spoke up on the other end, but they were so muffled as they talked over each other that Peter could not make out a word they said. Danny’s aggravated, “Guys, seriously, stop,” told him all he really needed to know. “Listen,” Danny huffed after a moment, “I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

Peter smiled and shook his head. “Yeah, talk to you later.” Once they hung up, Peter texted Betty the last addition to their little party.

“They only allow six people to each lane,” Betty explained to the portion of their group that had already arrived and were gathered in front of the bowling alley. Ned stood behind her, his chin resting on the top of her head as he nosily looked down at her phone where she had pulled up the bowling alley’s website. Flash and Debra stood to her left, Debra standing on the tips of her toes in an attempt to do the same while Flash stood coolly by her side with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Peter stood to Betty’s right, his back leaned against the side of the building and his arms crossed. “Now, if Peter had only invited one person like he was supposed to, it wouldn’t be an issue,” Betty continued as she sent him a glare that held little heat.

Peter shrugged. “Hey, you guys are the ones who kept making comments about me not having any friends.”

Debra conceded with a nod while Ned mumbled, “He’s got a point.”

“You were always a loner, Parker,” Flash pointed out. “Can’t blame us for assuming.”

“Anyway!” Betty called out, bringing all the attention back to her. “It’s not that big of a deal. We’ll just have to rent two lanes. Since there’s eight of us, we can evenly split four to each.”

They all nodded in agreement.

“Now we just need MJ and his mysterious boyfriend to turn up,” Ned said as he pulled away from Betty and craned his neck to see if he could make out MJ in the crowd of people that surrounded them.

“And Parker’s mysterious friend!” Debra added with glee as she sent Peter a teasing smile that made him roll his eyes.

“I’m not... that mysterious,” came a voice from behind the group. Everyone startled and spun around to see Danny standing there, his hands buried deep in his pockets as he frowned at them. “Am I?”

Peter rolled his eyes again as he walked over, grabbed one of Danny’s biceps, and gently dragged him over into the group. “No, you aren’t. You’re just some guy.”

Ned sighed, looking mildly disappointed. “Yeah, you’re pretty ordinary looking. Not at all what I expected, considering Peter’s texting you so often.” Debra nodded in agreement.

Peter huffed. “And just what is that supposed to mean?” he asked as he crossed his arms once again and glared.

“Parker, for years you never used your phone,” Debra pointed out, an eyebrow raised. “You seriously don’t get why we would find it weird?”

“She’s right,” a new voice chimed in. They all turned in time to see MJ approaching the group, holding hands with a man who looked suspiciously like a young Jameson.

Peter scowled. “I’m already regretting this,” he grumbled.

He was ultimately ignored, though, as Ned finally stepped around Betty and stared at MJ’s date with wide eyes. “You’re dating JJ’s son?!”

Betty, looking similarly shocked, asked, or, rather, nearly shrieked, “Does Jameson know?!”

Peter winced at how shrill her voice was, but he couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment as he stared at his boss’s apparent son, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“No, no. Dad doesn’t know,” Jameson’s son answered. “And what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” He then smiled as he lifted a hand and introduced himself. “I’m John, by the way.”

“Well, at least their attention’s no longer on me,” Peter heard Danny mutter as the last of the introductions were made.

With their group finally assembled, they all shuffled into the bowling alley and set about the process of reserving two lanes and getting the shoes and bowling balls needed to play the game. They split it up so that Ned, Betty, MJ, and John had one lane while Debra, Flash, Danny, and Peter had the other. They got snacks, entered their names into the machines, and then the game was on.

Peter had only ever gone bowling a handful of times in his life, and all of them had been years ago. Most were when he was a child when Ben and May would take him out as a little family trip. Sometimes Harry would join them, but more often than not it was just Peter with his aunt and uncle. He hadn’t been very good back then, but he had never minded; the time spent with his aunt and uncle had been enough.

He had also gone once in high school with Gwen and her family. He had his powers then, and so he was able to play much better than he had as a child. He had been winning, in fact, and Gwen’s brothers had ganged up on him to try and mess him up, with the older two clinging to his arms while the youngest laid on the ground with his hands wrapped around Peter’s ankles.

As he played the game with his newly acquired group of friends, Peter was surprised to realize he had forgotten those memories. They were good memories, ones he thought he would always cling to, and yet his grief had shrouded them in his mind.

(He wondered how Gwen’s family was doing. Her mother had seemed so distraught at Gwen’s funeral, and her brothers... Well, they all had to be adults now...)

“Jesus, Parker!” Flash bemoaned as Peter got another strike. “How the hell are you so good at this? Are you cheating?”

Peter frowned as he made his way back to his seat. “How the hell do you cheat at bowling?”

“You use the bumpers,” Ned called from the other lane, only to be lightly whacked by Betty.

“That’s not cheating!”

“I cheated at bowling once,” Danny casually stated as he pushed himself out of his seat and moved to pick up his ball, which, of course, was one of the bright neon green ones that hurt Peter’s eyes to look at.

“How?” Debra asked as she leaned forward in her seat, a sentiment everyone in their group shared.

“It’s a secret!” Danny called over his shoulder, though he took a moment to send Peter an over-the-top wink. Peter scoffed and rolled his eyes as he fell back into his seat. Ghost powers, of course.

Danny rolled his ball and knocked down all but one pin. Flash scowled. “How do we know you aren’t cheating right now?!” he cried as Danny moved to pick up another ball.

“Why would he?” MJ asked incredulously.

“Bragging rights,” Flash answered instantly.

Danny knocked down the remaining pin. He spun around and took a moment to send Flash a smug look before he made his way back to his seat. “Y’know, Flash, you remind me of a guy I went to high school with,” he said as he sat down.

Flash’s features smoothed as he sent Danny a curious look. “I do?”

“Yeah,” Danny said with a nod. “You’re slightly less obnoxious, though.”

“...thank you?”

When it was Flash’s turn again, he managed to knock down three pins with his first roll and got a gutter ball for his second. He stood by the lane grumbling at his abysmal score even while Peter moved to take his next turn.

“Don’t be such a sore loser, Flash,” Peter said as he walked up to the lane, red bowling ball in hand. “It’s all for fun!” The rest of the group called out in agreement, with Debra being particularly loud. Flash simply crossed his arms and continued to grumble, ignoring them.

Peter eyed him for a moment, wondering if Flash was ever going to go sit back down, but then shrugged it off, figuring it wasn’t an issue either way. He turned his attention back towards the lane, his eyes narrowed as he focused on the pins. He took a few steps forward, the arm holding the ball swinging back and then moving forward again and-

“BANG!”

Peter jumped at Flash’s loud shout, a tiny squeak escaping him as his arm swung up too high and the bowling ball-

The bowling ball went through the ceiling.

Peter could only blink as debris from the ceiling rained down on him and sunlight began to peek through the wreckage. He stared up at the hole he had made, not fully comprehending the fact that he had done it.

It wasn’t until there was a bang outside, quickly followed by the sound of a car alarm, that he even realized the ball hadn’t yet come back down. He winced as he thought over all the money he would have to pay for damage to the building and that poor stranger’s car.

Peter slowly lowered his arm and turned to face the group, his face heating with embarrassment. Luckily, most of his friends were too busy gaping up at the hole in the ceiling, giving him a bit of a breather before he had to deal with seven pairs of eyes drilling into him.

The only person who wasn’t staring at the ceiling was Danny, who was instead staring at Peter. His expression was one of shock, much like the others, with his eyes blown wide and his mouth hanging open, but there was something... different about it. His cheeks were a bright red, and there was something about the look in his eyes that Peter couldn’t quite identify, almost as if they were darker than usual. Peter furrowed his brow as he looked down at himself, wondering if maybe something had happened to draw Danny’s attention to him. Outside of the debris covering him, the only change was that his shirt had ridden up when his arm jerked up; luckily, Peter hadn’t worn the Spider-Man suit beneath his regular clothes that day, so it revealed nothing but a light scar on his stomach.

Peter huffed as he pulled his shirt down. He then looked back up at Danny in confusion, only to have his attention drawn away as MJ’s head snapped down to finally look at him. MJ’s face no longer conveyed an ounce of shock; instead, his eyes were sharp and knowing as they pierced Peter with such intensity it almost set off his spider-sense.

“He knows,” a voice in his head whispered, and it was all Peter could do to not react to the thought.

He was almost glad when security finally arrived and escorted them all out of the building.

He was definitely glad when Danny called a friend who was, in his own words, “filthy stinking rich.” She managed to smooth things over with the authorities and offered to pay for the damages Peter caused. Peter was so relieved that he didn’t even mind the fact that the list of things he owed Danny was getting to be ridiculous.

Peter whistled quietly to himself as he swung around the city for the last (planned) patrol of the night. The day had been a relatively calm one, with the only crime he had to stop being of the normal, everyday variety. His time in the suit had mostly consisted of him doing smaller things for citizens, which while sometimes tedious (like when he had to chase after a sweet little old lady’s demon chihuahua), were also some of the most rewarding. He truly had not realized how nice it was to just interact with everyday citizens without worrying about their lives until he started doing it again.

He had hoped that his last patrol would be just as low-key as the rest of his day had been. A foolish hope, he soon realized when his spider-sense flared to life.

Peter just barely swung up out of the way before a green energy blast flew past him, almost singeing his suit as it did so. Peter flipped through the air and landed against the side of a nearby skyscraper, both feet and one hand sticking to the glass surface as the other hand struck out, ready to web whoever attacked him.

“Whoa, you really do have a sixth sense!” an unfamiliar voice called out, though it held an all too familiar echo to it.

Peter sighed and moved his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Listen, ghost, I’m not sure why you’re here-”

The voice laughed. “Of course, you know! You’re friends with Phantom!” And then, suddenly, a young woman was floating in front of him. She looked... remarkably like Danny, being a similar height with the same face shape, and her eyes were even the same bright green. Her hair was pure white, however, without any black streaks, and was much longer than Danny’s, tied back in a braid. She also did not carry the same tan Danny did as a ghost, instead she was an almost sickly pale color with a green tint; in truth, her complexion fit more what Peter thought a ghost would look like compared to Danny’s.

Peter blinked as his hand fell limply to his side. “Are you... a relative of his?” he asked on a hunch.

The woman grinned, and though her smile also looked similar to Danny’s, hers had a much sharper edge to it. “You’re smart,” she said as she floated closer to him, repositioning her body to look as though she was laying on her stomach, she even had her legs lazily kicking up in the air and her hands propping up her head. “I’m his younger sister.”

“...Ah,” was all Peter could say. He could vaguely recall Danny mentioning another sibling, but... “He didn’t mention that you also had ghost powers.”

She raised a brow. “Is that how he described what he was?” She almost sounded offended.

Peter sighed and leaned his head back, gently bumping it against the glass behind him. “No. He said it was a bit more complex than that.” He glanced back at her. “I’m guessing it’s the same for you?”

The woman snorted. “You could say that. Although his situation is downright simple compared to mine.”

He was so tempted to ask what on earth that meant. Instead, he held out his hand and introduced himself. “I’m Peter.”

Both of the woman’s eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs as she whistled. “Wow, first name basis already?” she asked as she grabbed his hand and shook it (and damn, her hand was just as cold as Danny’s).

“Well, both your siblings already know,” Peter said with a shrug. “No point in hiding it.”

“True,” she agreed. “You can call me Ellie.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said as he pulled his hand back. “Do you mind if we continue this conversation somewhere else? This position gets uncomfortable fast.”

“Oh, of course!” Ellie answered as she flipped her body around so she was once again floating upright. She then bowed at him and said, “After you, good sir.”

Peter let out an amused huff as he rolled his eyes, but he nevertheless launched himself off the building and quickly swung over to a nearby rooftop. He landed with ease, and in the blink of an eye, Ellie was right next to him, laughing at the way he startled.

Peter scowled. “So, why’re you here?” he asked in an attempt to get her to stop laughing.

It worked, at least, as her laughter quickly died down. “Because you’re friends with my brother,” she answered simply.

Peter waited for her to elaborate. When she didn’t, he pressed with, “And?”

“And I’m curious!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms out wide. “All of Danny’s closest friends are people he met back in high school! You’re the first person I can think of he’s been so trusting to without having known you for years!”

Peter reeled back at her shouting, blinking several times as he processed her words. “Really?” he asked weakly, something in his chest squeezing tightly at the thought.

Ellie lowered her arms and sighed. “Yeah, man. I mean, he’s been burned before, so he’s super careful about who he reveals his identity to.” She scoffed. “Partially because revealing his identity also reveals mine, but still.” She then pointed an accusatory finger toward him. “Then you come along, and in less than a year you’ve got him wrapped around your finger! I had to see what your deal is!”

There was... a lot to what she had said, stuff Peter wasn’t sure he should even unpack, so he focused on the end. “My deal?” he asked as he tilted his head.

Ellie gave him a firm nod as she crossed her arms. “Why does he trust you so much? What have you done to deserve it?”

“Are you... are you doing the whole, ‘if you hurt him, I’ll end you’ threat?” Peter asked, feeling somewhat lightheaded at the thought. There was no way he could take on a ghost on his own; he barely managed with the weird laser lipstick Danny had let him borrow the first time.

Ellie threw her head back as she let out a bark of a laugh. “That wasn’t my intention!” she answered with laughter in her voice. “Danny is more than capable of taking care of himself.” Then, in an instant, her expression became serious, her eyes glowing so brightly they almost looked like green flames coming out of her skull. “If you did hurt him, though, I would not even hesitate. Same with Jazz and all of his other friends.”

Peter raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Don’t hurt him, got it.”

Once again, at the drop of a dime, her expression changed, smiling an overly sweet smile at him. “Good!”

“I wouldn’t want to, anyway,” Peter said as he slowly lowered his hands back to his sides. “He’s... he’s the first friend I’ve had in a... a long time. He’s helped me a lot, hurting him is the last thing I want to do.”

Ellie’s smile slowly fell as she eyed him curiously. “Huh. So that’s it,” she muttered. Peter tilted his head in a silent question. “You’re very earnest.”

“Earnest?”

“Yeah! Earnest.” She then sighed and folded her hands behind her back as she rocked on her heels. “Okay, listen. Part of why I’m so curious about you is that Danny talks about you all. The. Time. But he refuses to invite you over. Everyone wants to meet you, but he’s too nervous about taking you through the Ghost Zone.”

“Everyone wants to meet me?” he repeated, not quite believing her.

Ellie ignored him. “I think he doesn’t want to freak you out too much with all the ghost stuff. But luckily for you, I don’t care about that. We’re throwing a party a few weeks from now, on the tenth.”

“The tenth?” Peter wheezed out. August 10th, his 30th birthday... he had completely forgotten about it.

Ellie sighed. “I know, I know, it’s a Sunday, but you try getting schedules to line up on a Saturday.” He didn’t bother correcting her on why the date had affected him. “Anyway. I’ll meet you somewhere and guide you through the Zone! Everyone will finally get to meet you, and it could be a nice surprise for Danny! What do ya say?” She held out her hand.

Peter stared down at it for a long moment, his mouth inexplicably dry. Spend his birthday, a big milestone at that, with Danny and a bunch of strangers? He and May already had plans to celebrate it on Saturday, as she would be working on Sunday, but he hadn’t really... thought about celebrating it with anyone else, even his friends.

Although, nobody would know it was his birthday. He’d be able to pass through into his 30s unnoticed...

He shook Ellie’s hand. “Sure, why not?”

The Ghost Zone, it turned out, was very... freaky. Peter wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Ellie flew them through the portal she had opened, with only a few scientific papers and Danny’s own accounts to go off of. Evidently, neither the papers nor Danny were enough to prepare Peter for how strange the place was.

Gravity didn’t seem to exist, for one, and Peter had to cling tightly to Ellie, using both his super strength and his sticky powers, to keep himself from drifting away. It was also really cold; even in his civilian clothes, which tended to be warmer than the spandex of the spidey suit, Peter felt chilled (and it didn’t help that Ellie, in her ghost form, offered no warmth).

But the oddest thing by far about the place was how it looked. Everything was green, green, green, which he knew was due to the ectoplasm, but it still hurt his eyes to look at. Random structures and islands floated about the place, some of them containing jungles while others were full buildings, all of them looking extremely out of place and yet remarkably at home all at once. Purple doors were everywhere as far as the eye could see, and Peter was somewhat curious to know what was behind them, but not enough to let go of Ellie and check.

The worst part about the place was that from the second he flew into the Zone until Ellie finally led them out, his spider-sense was screaming at him. He had never had that happen before, where the warning seemed to be coming from every which direction, and it was overwhelming. The instant they flew through another portal and found themselves in a lab of some kind, Peter dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands, willing the headache to go away.

“Uhh... are you okay?” Ellie asked as she transformed back to her human form, and the bright light of the transformation made Peter flinch.

He nodded as he squeezed his eyes shut. “My spider-sense did not like that place,” he grumbled as he rubbed at his forehead. “I just need a minute.”

“Okay...” she said, dragging out the word in a way that indicated that she didn’t believe him. Still, she left him alone, walking away from him. He pried one eye open and watched as she approached a control panel on the other side of the room. She pressed a button, and the green glow of the portal disappeared as it shut down.

Almost instantly, Peter’s headache got better.

He was not looking forward to the trip back home.

Peter pushed himself off the floor and, after confirming to Ellie that yes, he was okay, he followed her out of the lab, which turned out to be located in the basement of someone’s home.

“Who lives here?” he asked without thinking as he followed Ellie out the front door. She merely pointed up, and Peter looked up and found himself staring at a gigantic sign that read, “Fenton Works”. “This is Danny’s house?” He knew that it was not as difficult to find a place to live elsewhere in the country as it was in New York, but he couldn’t help but feel... not exactly jealous, but something adjacent to it regarding the fact that Danny owned a full house while Peter could barely afford a studio apartment.

Ellie shook her head as she locked the door. “It’s our mom’s, though she technically doesn’t live here anymore,” she explained. “It’s a long story, one I’m sure Danny would rather tell you himself, but the short of it is: he and Mom had a huge falling out, and she’s currently staying with her sister out of state. Danny and I live here, now.”

Peter frowned as Ellie led him away from the house. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he apologized.

She shrugged. “It happened years ago, now. They’ve been slowly working things out. Just has taken longer than usual because they both refuse to let Jazz get involved.”

“Why’s that?” Peter asked.

Ellie sighed. “Jazz has always been something of the family mediator. But after Dad died and she lost her legs... she was in a real rough spot. And Mom and Danny fighting wasn’t helping matters at all.” Ellie rubbed at her eyes. “That’s partially why Jazz and her husband are living in New York: he had a great job offer he couldn’t refuse, and she needed to get away from here.”

“Oh,” was all he could say, and she winced.

“Okay, I might’ve said too much,” she admitted as she gave him a sheepish smile. “Maybe don’t bring any of this up to Danny. Like I said, he’d rather tell you himself.”

Peter nodded. “My lips are sealed,” he said as he mimed the motion of zipping up his lips. 

Ellie sent him a grateful smile and then picked up the pace. “C’mon. We gotta hurry if we wanna beat Danny to the party.”

They power-walked for about twenty minutes before finally coming to a stop at a large house on the outskirts of town. Peter followed Ellie as they walked around the house to the backyard, where music and idle chatter was already filling the air. There was a door at the far end of the fence, but Ellie simply grabbed Peter’s arm, turned them both intangible, and walked through the fence instead. Peter shuddered at the sensation but didn’t protest.

He didn’t get much of a chance to, honestly, for as soon as Ellie let go of his arm and made them both tangible again, the chatter in the backyard stopped. There were five adults gathered around a fire pit, one man and four women, all of whom looked to be around the same age as Danny. 

They were also all staring at the new arrivals.

Ellie theatrically coughed into her hand. “Ladies and gentleman!” she called out before gesturing grandly at Peter. “I present to you, one Peter Parker!”

Peter shifted uneasily. “Uh, hi?” he greeted unsurely with a small wave.

“No way!” the one man in the group cried out as he hopped to his feet. “You actually got him to come!”

“Told you!” Ellie said smugly before grabbing Peter’s arm and dragging him towards the group. “Time for some introductions!”

Most of the people Peter had heard of in passing during various conversations with Danny, primarily Tucker, Sam, and Valerie, his apparent friends since high school. The two people who were strangers to him were Tucker’s girlfriend, Jessie, and Sam’s wife, Paulina.

They were, truly, a friendly bunch.

They were also extremely inquisitive.

“So, Peter!” Tucker began as soon as Peter was seated around the fire. “How did you and Danny meet?”

“Tucker!” Valerie bemoaned. “Danny’s already told us that story!”

“Well, yeah, but I want to hear Peter’s side!”

“I wanna know how you manage to take pictures of your alter-ego,” Sam cut in. “I’ve seen a few of the pictures, and you get some pretty impressive angles.”

“Ah, yes! You’re a fantastic photographer!” Paulina added. “Would you be willing to take pictures of our son for his sixth birthday? We will pay generously, of course.”

“Do you get paid for being Spider-Man?” Jessie asked. “Or for any of the merch? There are so many shirts and toys with your face on them, you should see some of that money.”

“Uhhhh,” was all Peter could say in face of the bombardment of questions.

“I think you broke him,” Ellie said with a laugh as she poked his arm. “Maybe speak one at a time?”

The group shared a sheepish laugh as they all apologized.

Peter shrugged it off before turning to Paulina. “Depending on when his birthday is, sure, I’d be willing to. Not gonna turn down some extra cash.” Paulina’s face brightened and she clapped a bit while Sam gave her an amused but adoring look. Peter turned to Jessie. “No, I do not get paid for being Spider-Man, and I don’t see a penny from merch sales.”

Jessie frowned. “Now, that doesn’t seem right,” she muttered under her breath.

Tucker nodded in agreement. “They’re using your likeness; I would think they’d have to compensate you!”

Peter shrugged. “Can’t really do that when your identity is a secret.” Jessie nodded solemnly while Tucker didn’t seem convinced.

“What you need is a good PR team,” he said, and everyone (besides Peter, who merely looked around, confused) groaned.

“Don’t tell me Tucker’s going on another PR tangent,” Danny’s voice called from the other end of the yard, and everyone turned just in time to see him walk through the fence just as Ellie had. He walked forward a few steps before his eyes fell on Peter and he froze.

“Surprise!” Ellie weakly called out as she did some jazz hands.

Peter gave him a somewhat nervous smile as he pointed toward Ellie with his thumb. “What she said.”

Danny swallowed thickly but then smiled, and Peter felt his heart flutter at the sight. “Yeah, this is a surprise,” Danny said with a laugh as he continued the rest of the way towards the fire pit. “I was actually planning on visiting you later once this was done.”

Peter sat up straighter. “Really? Why?”

Danny took a seat next to Peter and winked at him. “It’s a surprise,” was all he said, and Peter’s heart stuttered once more. He was so caught up wondering just what sort of surprise Danny had in mind that he almost missed the knowing look the rest of the group shared.

“Well!” Sam said as she clapped her hands and jumped to her feet. “Since everyone’s here, now, I’ll go get the drinks!” A chorus of cheers followed her as she wandered into the house.

It was fairly late once the party came to an end. Well, late was a relative term. 11 o’clock on a Sunday when most people had work the next day? Yeah, that was late. And thanks to the time difference, Peter’s body thought it was midnight. Midnight on a Sunday when he had work the next day. He mentally groaned at the thought as he followed Danny and Ellie back to their house.

“I’ll take you back home,” Danny offered once they were inside. “I know the quickest way to get to and from New York through the Zone.”

“Be careful,” Ellie warned as she made her way upstairs. “Apparently, being in the Ghost Zone messes with his powers!”

Danny shot Peter a concerned look as they moved down into the basement. “What’s she talking about?” he asked.

Peter sighed as he rubbed his forehead. “My spider-sense went wild when we were in there before,” he explained. Danny hit a button on the control panel, and Peter could feel the headache already forming as the green portal opened.

Danny frowned as he transformed into his ghost form. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll try to fly fast.” He held out his hand for Peter to hold. Peter shook his head and latched himself to Danny’s side, much like how he had done with Ellie, except this time he squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face into Danny’s shoulder. He felt Danny go tense beneath his hold, even as he wrapped the offered arm around Peter. “Oh, uh...” he trailed off, sounding nervous.

“Yeah, sorry,” Peter apologized, his voice muffled against Danny’s shoulder. “Don’t really like that place.”

He felt Danny nod and relax. “Okay. Let’s make this quick, then.” And then Danny lifted them off the ground and flew through the portal. Peter’s grip on Danny tightened the instant they were through, his spider-sense once again screaming.

Luckily, it did not take them nearly as long to fly through it as it had taken Peter and Ellie. Before he knew it, they were out, and he was surrounded by the familiar sounds of New York City. He waited until his headache died down before pulling away from Danny and prying his eyes open, and he was surprised to see them floating outside of Peter’s apartment building. Danny gently lowered them through the roof and a few floors until they reached Peter’s apartment.

Peter’s legs felt a bit wobbly as he stepped away from Danny, who transformed back to his human form as soon as Peter let go. He sat down heavily on his bed and ran his hand through his hair. “So,” he began after a moment, eyeing Danny, “why were you going to visit me?”

Danny sat down at Peter’s desk and pulled a small box from his pocket, one that was wrapped in Spider-Man-themed wrapping paper. “Your aunt texted me earlier, telling me how it was your birthday,” he explained as he handed the present over to Peter. “I didn’t really have time to go get a gift, so I’m sorry it’s not much.”

Peter stared at the present for a moment, blinking his eyes as they began to sting and blur with tears. “I... I wasn’t expecting anything.” He looked up at Danny and smiled. “Thank you.”

Danny blushed and looked away. “Don’t thank me until after you opened it,” he dismissed. “There’s a chance you won’t like it.”

Peter doubted that, but he did as he was told and opened the gift. He tore away at the wrapping paper and opened the box to reveal a flash drive.

“You talked about doing research on ghost stuff back when we first met,” Danny explained, still refusing to meet Peter’s eyes. “You can find a few papers about it online, but... it’s only a fraction of what exists. That,” he pointed at the flash drive, “contains over 20 years worth of research my parents and me and my friends have collected. If you’re interested, still.”

Peter beamed. “Of course, I’m interested! Thank you!” He then threw himself out of his bed and wrapped Danny up in a tight hug.

Danny laughed as he hugged him back. “Happy Birthday, Peter.”

Danny 👻

So, when’s your birthday?

April 3. Why?

Damn. Missed it this year.

Don’t worry about it, man. I kind
of didn’t tell you on purpose. We
barely knew each other back
then.

Well, you best be ready for a
super awesome gift next year!!

Haha, fine. I’m looking forward to it

“Did you ever dress up as your alter-ego for Halloween?” Peter asked as he looked through job applications on his laptop, his phone sitting next to it on speaker.

Danny chuckled on the other end. “No. I was stupid as a kid, but not that stupid.”

Peter frowned down at the phone. “You’re not stupid.”

“I used to shout ‘I’m goin’ ghost!’ right before I transformed, even when there were people around,” Danny countered. “I was a little stupid.”

“You were fourteen with superpowers!” Peter argued with a laugh. “What kid wouldn’t give themselves a catchphrase in that situation?”

“Did you have a catchphrase?”

“No, but I was seventeen,” Peter answered as he turned back to his computer screen. “There’s a world of difference between a fourteen-year-old and a seventeen-year-old.”

“I guess,” Danny conceded, although he didn’t sound truly convinced. “But to answer your question, no I didn’t. I have the same face in both forms, I didn’t want to risk someone finally looking close enough and putting the pieces together.”

Peter scoffed. “If nobody figured it out after the first month of you fighting ghosts, I doubt you had much to worry about.”

Danny hummed. “Maybe,” he said, once again sounding none too convinced. “Why do you ask? Did you dress up as Spider-Man for Halloween?”

Peter huffed out a laugh. “No, but I came really close to. I was so sure that it would’ve been the perfect low-effort costume. Gwen talked me out of it, though. Which, looking back, was probably the smart move.”

“Probably,” Danny agreed with a laugh. There was a brief pause, and then, “She helped you a lot, huh?”

A shudder wracked Peter’s frame, but he quickly gathered himself together with a deep breath and said, “Yeah. I doubt I would’ve made it those first two years without her.”

“Was she there when you got your powers?” The question was asked quietly, almost hesitantly.

Peter sighed. “I mean. I got my powers when I was bit by a genetically altered spider. She was there when I got bit, but my powers came to me gradually.” He paused, biting his lip as he looked back down at his phone. “She was the first person I told, though.”

“Ah...”

Something about that one, tiny sound made Peter pause. “Was... was anyone there when you got your powers?”

“Yeah,” Danny answered, and something about his voice made Peter’s heart clench. “Sam and Tucker were there. You know the portal in my basement?” 

“Yeah.”

“Well... when my parents first built it, it didn’t... it didn’t work. So, I took my friends down to the lab to show it off and mess around with it. They dared me to go inside, so I did...” Danny paused with a shuddering breath, and dread pooled in Peter’s gut as he held his. “It turned on with me inside it. I was electrocuted and ectoplasm fused with my DNA.”

“Fuck,” Peter wheezed out, unable to truly express his horror at the idea of someone experiencing something so terrible.

“Yeah,” Danny said, his voice flat. He then forced out a laugh that only made Peter’s heart sink more. “It was not fun. Zero out of ten, do not recommend.”

Peter forced a laugh of his own, though it died in his throat pretty quickly. His brain scrambled for something, anything to say to lighten the mood, and he found himself saying, “Is that why you have a tan as a ghost?” before he could stop himself. He nearly smacked himself upside the head as soon as he registered his words.

To his surprise and relief, however, Danny let out a loud, genuine laugh. “You noticed that!” he exclaimed, voice joyous once more. “Yeah, I got a permanent tan that would make any celebrity jealous.”

“And I bet your sister’s jealous, too,” Peter added with only the slightest bit of hesitance.

Danny laughed harder. “Yeah! She didn’t get shocked like that, so she’s as pale as a ghost!”

Peter snorted. “God, that was awful.”

“You laughed, though! I heard you!”

“It was a pity laugh.”

“Still counts!”

Peter laughed (a true laugh, not a pity laugh) as warmth filled his chest.

It was as though he blinked and suddenly a year had passed.

Peter had stared at the calendar in shock that morning, unable to believe it. How had a year gone by so quickly? The past ten years of his life had been such a sluggish blur, and yet the year since he went to another universe had sped by before he could even process it. So much had changed in that time: he somehow managed to turn the public’s opinion on Spider-Man around, at least somewhat; he saw Aunt May at least once a week; he had friends from all three lines of work for him to talk to and socialize with.

And to think, he was only able to accomplish so much because he met and helped alternate versions of himself.

“Life is so weird,” he said to himself as he helped May wash dishes after their weekly dinner together.

May glanced over at him from where she stood drying the dishes. “Honey, I hate to say it, but I think for you that’s the understatement of the century,” she joked, causing him to roll his eyes.

“It’s just hard to believe it’s been a full year, that’s all,” he defended himself as he handed her another dish.

She nodded as she dried it, somehow knowing exactly what he was talking about. “A lot happened in that time,” she pointed out with a light shrug. “That made it seem faster than it was, I guess.”

“You’re right about that,” Peter agreed as he picked another plate from the sink and began to wash it. “There were some big changes.” He sent May a sly smile. “Speaking of, how’re things with you and Liv?”

May gave him an exasperated look. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice deceptively light.

“Oh, you know... you two have gone on several dates now,” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows as he handed off the now clean plate. “Think there might wedding bells in your future?”

May scoffed. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” she said with a huff as she dried the plate.

Peter quickly went to work on washing one of the glasses in the sink. “I don’t know... you’re my aunt, I think it’s somewhat my business.”

“Oh yeah?” May asked with a raised brow as she set the plate down and turned to lean her side against the counter, her arms crossed. “In that case, the reverse is also true. How’re things with you and Danny?”

Peter froze, his brow furrowing in confusion. “What?” he asked as he sent May a questioning look. “What are you talking about?”

May rolled her eyes. “Oh please, Peter, do not try and play dumb with me. You think I don’t notice that longing, puppy-dog stare you give him whenever we have dinner with him and his sisters?”

Peter’s frown deepened as his hands began to shake. “May, seriously, I have no clue what you’re talking about,” he insisted, a hint of desperation in his voice.

May huffed as she turned back to the dried dishes and moved to put them in the cupboards. “Don’t bother denying it, young man, I’d recognize that look anywhere. Your father always gave it to your mother, and Ben wore it more often than he’d like to admit. Hell, you used to give Gwen-”

The glass slipped out of Peter’s grip, crashing into the sink with an almighty shatter. Peter didn’t notice the noise, though, just stared numbly down at it as his racing thoughts blocked out the world around him.

May didn’t know what she was talking about. He did not give Danny any sort of stare, longing or otherwise. And he certainly didn’t look at Danny like he had looked at Gwen. He loved Gwen, loved her with his entire being. He didn’t love Danny, not like that.

Oh, sure, his heart sometimes fluttered weirdly when Danny would look at him a certain way, or skip an entire beat when they touched sometimes, but that’s just-

That’s what it did with Gwen.

But, when he had dated Gwen, hearing her voice was enough to calm him down when his job got overwhelming-

Danny had brought him back down to earth many times.

He had daydreamed about Gwen’s gorgeous blue-green eyes-

And Danny’s two shades, the breath-taking, blinding neon green and the soft sky blue.

Gwen’s laugh was adorable-

Danny’s was too.

Peter gasped as he stumbled away from the sink and sank to the floor. “No,” he whispered. And then he whispered it again and again, repeating the word over and over and growing louder each time. “No, no, no, nonononono-” 

“Peter?”

His head snapped up and he met May’s concerned gaze, her steadying hands on his shoulders anchoring him. “Peter, breathe.”

He sucked in a lungful of air and slowly breathed it back out. He repeated the process a few more times until his head was clear, and then he wheezed out, “I can’t do this.”

“Peter,” May began, her voice gentle but firm, and he shook his head before she could speak further.

“I love him,” he admitted, his voice thick with unshed tears. The words felt right, solidifying the fact that they were true, and that only served to weigh him down further. “I can’t do this again, May.”

“Oh, Peter,” May sighed, her hands moving to run soothingly through his hair. “It’s okay.”

He shook his head. “No, you don’t understand-”

“But I do,” she pressed, her voice firm and unyielding, daring him to interrupt her again. “Damn it, Peter, I do. I spent 37 years of my life loving your Uncle Ben, and I’ve spent the last thirteen years of it grappling with the fact that he’s gone.” That made Peter clamp his mouth shut and his shoulders slump. “You’re frightened, and you have every right to be. Losing someone like that hurts like hell, and you never want to go through that again.”

“I can’t,” he muttered. Going through another death like Gwen’s would likely break him.

“And neither can I,” she admitted, her voice softening a bit. “I was absolutely terrified of getting close to Liv, and there are days still where it overwhelms me. But I talk to her about it, and she understands.”

Peter gulped, and a few tears slipped down his cheeks. “I don’t want to stop loving her,” he admitted softly.

“You won’t,” May reassured. “I still love Ben, and I will always love him. And you’ll be the same way with her. But we can carry that love and grief with us and still find happiness again with someone else.” Her hands moved back down to his arms and she gave him a reassuring squeeze. “That’s okay, Peter.”

He took a deep, shuddering breath. “What should I do?” he asked, feeling like a small child all over again.

“I can’t answer that for you. Only you can decide.” May leaned forward and placed a comforting kiss on his forehead. “But for what it’s worth?” she said as she pulled away. “I think you should talk to him. Because he likes you, too.”

Peter stared at May for a long moment, not quite sure he had heard her right. “What?”

May gave him a small, soft smile as she squeezed his arms again. “You don’t see the way he looks at you sometimes. It’s like... it’s like he thinks you put the moon and the stars in the sky.”

Peter let out a huff at the surprisingly fitting comparison, recalling how Danny had said he once wanted to be an astronaut. But then the small bit of amusement he felt withered away, and he was left with an overwhelming sinking feeling tugging at his gut.

“He shouldn’t,” he muttered. He doesn’t, he thought.

May tutted. “Well, that’s not for you to decide for him.”

(“Nobody makes my decisions for me!” Gwen had said mere moments before her death. “Alright? Nobody! This is my choice!”)

Somehow, the thought didn’t make him feel better.

Peter didn’t know what to do.

He was in love with Danny. And if he thought about that for too long, he would have trouble breathing. And everyday things just... reminded him of his feelings. Talking to Danny definitely reminded him, and his other friends poking fun at him (and god, had they all known? Was he truly the last to know his feelings? Did Danny know?) helped matters none. 

So... he stopped talking to them.

Danny would call, and Peter wouldn’t answer. Danny would text him, and Peter left him on read. He stopped eating lunch at work and kept talking to Debra at a minimum. He stopped going into the Bugle office to drop off pictures and instead simply emailed them to Jameson.

It was... suffocating, being alone again after slowly getting used to companionship. But it was easier. Alone he wouldn’t have to face any prodding questions. Alone he could pretend that he wasn’t in lo- feeling things for his friend.

He had spent ten years of his life isolating himself. It was almost too easy for him to slip back into it.

Though it wasn’t exactly how it had been before his multiverse adventure. He still kept in regular contact with Aunt May, if only because he knew that if he didn’t she would kick his door down.

He honestly didn’t expect anyone else to kick it down.

They came to him, like most things, in three.

The first happened one week into his bout of self-isolation.

He was leaving work, keeping his pace brisk and his head down, eager to switch to the Spider-Man suit and go on patrol. Debra, for once, did not try to catch up with him, for which he was grateful. Of his friends, she was the one he had to see the most, and she made it difficult for him to keep to himself as he sorted out his thoughts. She was far more social than he was even at his best, and he didn’t want to be rude to her either. Maybe she finally caught on to him dodging her questions and realized he wanted to be left alone for a bit.

He was proven wrong when he heard Flash call out his name. “Parker!” Peter looked up and found him and Debra standing on the sidewalk in front of the school, neither looking all that happy to see him. Debra‘s eyebrows were pinched with worry, her hands constantly fidgeting with her purse, while Flash was all out glaring at him with his arms crossed. “Hey, Parker, you got a minute?”

He didn’t, but Peter couldn’t exactly get away without causing a scene, so he sighed and stepped forward.

“Are you okay?” Flash asked instantly, his glare falling away. Peter reeled back, not expecting the sudden shift.

“You’ve just... you’ve been avoiding me,” Debra added when Peter didn’t answer. “At first I thought I had done something to upset you, but then-”

“But then I talked to your aunt,” Flash cut in. “And she said you got real upset during your last visit. So we just... wanted to check in with you.” Peter stared at them silently, unsure what to even say. His lack of an answer made Flash frown. “Listen, is this... is this about Gwen? Because I can-”

“It’s fine,” Peter snapped, something in him twisting harshly at how close Flash had gotten to the mark. Both Debra and Flash flinched back at the harshness of his tone, and Peter quickly reeled himself back in with a steadying sigh. “Listen, I appreciate you guys checking in, I do... I’m just... Going through something that I need to work out on my own.”

Neither looked particularly convinced, but neither did they appear ready to push him for answers. 

“Okay,” Debra said, her voice small. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

Flash nodded. “And if you ever need to talk about her, I’m a phone call away.”

Peter forced a smile on his face, though it only lasted for the second it took for him to slip away from them.

The second happened during week two of his isolation.

Peter had just gotten home from his evening patrol and switched to a large t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants to laze about his apartment when a banging erupted from his front door. He furrowed his brow as he approached it slowly, his senses on high alert. No one ever came to visit him... no one except his aunt, anyway, and he had seen her earlier that day. His spider-sense wasn’t going off, which was good, and he took that as a small comfort as he peaked through the peephole.

He was surprised to find MJ on the other side, impatiently checking his phone. Peter held his breath to see what he would do next. When MJ huffed and banged on the door again, he decided to open it.

“Okay, what is going on with you?” MJ asked by way of greeting as he forced his way into Peter’s apartment.

Peter blinked, his face blank. “What?” he asked in a flat voice, too tired to put much more effort into it.

MJ crossed his arms and glared. “It’s been two weeks since you’ve stopped by the office.”

Peter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “So? I’ve not stopped by the office for longer than that before.”

“Yeah, but it’s been nearly a year since you did that,” MJ countered. “And you’ve stopped by the office at least once a week every week in the interim.” He then pointed accusingly at Peter. “You’ve also been going out as Spider-Man on a daily basis, so don’t you dare say you’ve been sick.”

Peter scowled. “MJ, I-”

“Don’t deny being Spider-Man,” MJ cut in as he moved his hands to his hips. “You know I know, so don’t play dumb.”

Peter gave him a flat look. “I wasn’t going to,” he said as he crossed his arms. “And I wasn’t going to claim to be sick, either.”

MJ huffed. “Then what’s going on? Ned and Betty and I, we’ve all tried getting in contact with you just to make sure you’re okay, and you just! Say nothing!” He threw his hands up in exasperation. “Listen, if it’s a Spider-Man thing, or a personal thing, just a quick text saying, ‘hey, can’t talk right now,’ would’ve been fine.”

“Why do you even care?” Peter found himself asking as he furrowed his brow, not quite glaring at MJ but getting close.

MJ’s hands fell to his side as he gaped at him for a moment. “Because you’re my friend?” he began in disbelief. “Because you’re all of our friends? And you just randomly dropped off the face of the earth with no explanation, and even your other friends outside of the Bugle haven’t heard from you! We’re worried about you, tiger.” 

Peter was silent for a long moment, his mind turning over what MJ had said and trying to come up with a decent response. He eventually settled on, “I’m sorry. I’ve just... been working through something.”

MJ raised a brow. “Something serious?”

“Something personal,” he corrected pointedly. “I’ll let everyone know once I’ve worked through it.”

MJ gave him a doubtful look but pushed no further as he left Peter’s apartment.

The third arrived on the third week of his isolation.

Peter was out on patrol as Spider-Man, swinging through the streets desperately looking for some sort of distraction, when his spider-sense flared, and he once again found himself dodging out of the way of a green blast. This time, however, the energy blasts kept coming, and Peter found himself continually dodging and avoiding getting hit by the skin of his teeth. He twisted around in the air as he swung away, looking desperately for whoever was attacking him and finding nothing.

His spider-sense screamed, and before he could even think about responding to it, he felt a weight slam into his side and tackle him to the ground, the two of them landing in an empty alleyway. He wheezed for breath, stars dancing in his vision, as his assailant pushed herself off of him.

“You asshole,” Ellie growled, her eyes once again glowing dangerously bright with her hands matching. “You god damn dick!”

Peter stumbled to his feet, his ribs aching from the crash, and held out a hand in an attempt to stop her. “Ellie,” he choked out.

She threw a punch at him that he barely dodged. And then she threw another. “Whatever happened to ‘hurting him is the last thing I want to do’, huh?” she ground out as she did her best to hit him.

Peter kept dodging. “What are you talking about?!” he snapped as he moved, irritation quickly bubbling to the surface.

Ellie growled. “What do you think?!” she shouted. “You keep leaving Danny on read! You deliberately hang up when he calls! For three weeks! You just dropped him like a newborn giraffe! Did you honestly think he wouldn’t be hurt by that?”

In truth, he knew it had been a possibility, but he had figured... well, he wasn’t sure what he had figured. That it would have been better in the long run?

Well, either way, Ellie’s words had him second-guessing his original thought process.

Peter’s stance slumped, and suddenly he found himself struggling to stay upright. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, guilt and... a whole mess of other emotions churning within him.

Ellie scoffed, though her hands and eyes stopped glowing so intensely. “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to, asshole,” she said before punching his arm. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to some of the other hits Peter had taken over the years.

He ignored the sting and sighed. “I’ll call him once I get home,” he promised.

Ellie pointed at him threateningly. “You better,” she said, voice low. She then grabbed his wrist and began to float up in the air. “Now, come on. Jazz wants to see you.”

“What?” Peter yelped as he was dragged off the ground, flailing about awkwardly as he dangled from Ellie’s grip.

Ellie looked down at him and rolled her eyes. She then flung him up in the air, and Peter could only scream as the world around him became a blur. It came to an abrupt stop once Ellie caught him, one of her arms wrapped around his waist. He didn’t even get a chance to recover before she was zooming through the sky at high speed.

It took only a couple of minutes for them to reach Jazz’s apartment. Peter’s head was still spinning by the time they sank into her living room, and it took some real effort to keep from getting sick.

“Ellie!” Jazz snapped as Peter sank to the floor and tried to get a hold of himself. “I told you to tell him that I wanted to speak to him! Not to drag him in! And did you-? Did you fight him?”

“It wasn’t much of a fight,” Ellie said under her breath.

“Ellie!” Clearly, she hadn’t said it quietly enough.

“It’s okay,” Peter gasped out as he finally regained his equilibrium and pushed himself back to his feet. “I kind of deserved it.”

When he looked up at the two women, he found himself facing two very different expressions. Ellie’s face was incredulous, her lips pressed together in a thin line and one eyebrow raised as if to say, “Kind of? There’s no ‘kind of’ about it.” Jazz, meanwhile, just seemed... not sad, exactly, but something close. Once again, he was reminded of the older Peter, specifically of the look he gave him when Peter had bemoaned about not being able to fight an alien.

(“Can we rewind it back to the ‘I’m lame,’ part? Because you are not.”)

“So, why did you want to see me?” Peter asked instead of addressing either of their expressions.

Jazz sighed but obliged the topic change. “Listen, Peter, I know we don’t know each other that well, but I... just talking with your aunt and Danny, it’s clear your coping mechanisms aren’t... the best.”

Peter winced, and it was a struggle to not bristle at her words. She was right, at least a part of him was aware of that, but that didn’t mean he liked to hear it. “And?” he asked, only just barely keeping it from being a snap.

Ellie glared at him, and he glared right back. Jazz rolled her eyes before giving Ellie a pointed look, nodding her head towards the door. Ellie scowled but left without a word.

There was a brief pause before Jazz turned back towards him. “I just wanted to offer you some resources in case you wanted any counseling,” she said, her voice calm and collected.

Peter scoffed and crossed his arms. “I can’t exactly afford a therapist,” 

“You don’t have to worry about the money,” Jazz dismissed with a wave.

“I don’t want your pity-!”

“It’s not pity,” Jazz cut in before he could truly begin to argue. “You’re Danny’s friend.” He said nothing, simply stood there scowling at her from behind his mask. Jazz sighed. “Think of it this way: you’re a superhero. You need to keep in good health to help people properly, right?” He nodded. “Well, part of that includes your mental health.“

“So... you’re helping me... to help New York?” he asked incredulously as he slowly lowered his arms to his side.

Jazz leaned her head back and groaned. “Okay, it sounded better in my head,” she admitted as she lifted her head to look at him, and Peter was reminded so much of Danny in her actions that he couldn’t help but smile a bit.

Still, he supposed she had a point. “I’ll... I’ll think about it.”

She smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

That night, Peter spent an inordinate amount of time staring at his phone. He knew he should call Danny, he had promised that he would, but saying and doing were two completely different things. He wasn’t even sure how he could explain his actions to Danny. “Hi, sorry for not talking! I realized that I’m in love with you and I panicked because the last time I was in love with someone she died in my arms!”

Yeah, no. Peter couldn’t just say that.

But he had to say something. He had to apologize. He had to apologize to all of his friends, really, but Danny first and foremost.

“Fuck it,” Peter muttered under his breath after spending over an hour fussing over it. “Just get it over with. Improvise.”

He squeezed his eyes shut as he hit “Call”.

The phone rang for a while, far longer than it usually did when he called Danny. Peter held his breath all the while, and he wondered if Danny would let it go to voicemail as a sort of petty revenge for ignoring him. Peter wouldn’t blame him if he did, but it would make apologizing all the harder.

Luckily, that wasn’t the case, for Danny soon answered his phone. But instead of saying hello or any other greeting, he opened with, “Did Ellie threaten you to call me?”

(It was the first time hearing Danny’s voice since the revelation, and Peter cursed the way his heart stuttered at the sound of it. Had his heart always done that? Or was it new?)

“No,” Peter lied with ease, “she just took me to go see Jazz.”

Danny groaned. “Jazz got in on it too? I told them to just give you some space-”

“No, no,” Peter cut in, shaking his head even though Danny couldn’t see it. “No, Jazz just... wanted to help me... seek out some grief counseling.”

“...oh,” Danny said, his voice small. “That was nice of her.”

“Yeah...” Peter said as he got up and began to slowly pace the room. “I don’t know if I’ll do it, but... it’s a nice thought.”

“Well, speaking as someone who pushed back against the idea of therapy for years... it does help.” 

“So they keep saying,” Peter muttered.

“Why did she send Ellie after you, though?” Danny asked after a moment, his voice finally returning to its normal volume. “Couldn’t she have called?”

Peter stopped his pacing and stared out his apartment window. “She didn’t have my number,” he answered, running his free hand through his hair. “Somehow while exchanging our information that first dinner, she got my aunt’s number but never got mine.” He ducked his head down and sighed. “Not that I would’ve answered even if she did call.”

“So, it wasn’t just me?” Danny asked, and Peter’s heart sank.

He moved to his bed and sat down on it. “No... Listen, I need to apologize. I shouldn’t’ve...” Peter sighed as he flopped back onto his bed. “I just... the stuff with Gwen hit me hard, and I kind of... I shut down.” That was close enough to the truth, anyway. “I know you said that I could go to you when it got rough, but this time...”

Danny sighed. “Dude, I get it. Don’t worry about it.”  There was a pause, and then in a small voice, Danny added, “I appreciate you reaching out like this, though. You had me worried.”

Peter threw his arm over his eyes. “Yeah, I know. You and everyone else. Next time I get hit like this, I’ll at least give everyone a heads up before I drop away like that.”

Danny let out a huff of a laugh. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

Peter smiled despite himself. “So, we’re still friends?”

“Dude, we never stopped!”

When the phone call ended, with their friendship restored and plans to hang out again soon, Peter spent an unknown amount of time holding the phone above his face and staring at it. His mind kept turning over the situation he was in and how to best approach it.

The facts of the matter were as follows:

So far, the best solution he could think of was this: Peter would just have to continue being friends with Danny and ignore the fact that he was in love with him. 

He could do that.

He could totally do that.

How hard could it be?

“Should I text him?” Peter muttered as he sat at his desk with his phone in his hands. “It’s been a while since we last talked... I should ask him how he’s doing. Yeah.”

He lifted the phone and began to type a message... and then instantly deleted it.

“No, no. I don’t want to come off as clingy.” He frowned at his phone as he moved to close the messenger app. “Don’t want to give anything away.”

He closed the app.

He sat in silence for a moment.

“What the hell am I doing?” he groaned. “You texted him all the time before. You’re overthinking it!”

He texted Danny.

It was the fifth time he had had that conversation with himself. It would not be the last time he would have it, either.

“So, the Fenton Thermos can contain any ghost, right?” Peter asked as he hung upside down from a horizontal flagpole that was attached to the side of a building.

Danny floated beside him, positioned so it looked like he was laying on his back, and was lazily throwing a baseball into the air and catching it. “Yep, pretty much.” He threw the ball and caught it again, only to pause in the action as he frowned up at the sky. “Well, okay, it does have its limitations. If a ghost is powerful enough, they can break out. You often gotta weaken them first.” He turned his head towards Peter. “Why do you ask?”

Peter shrugged. “Was just wondering if you ever got stuck in it. Would it even work on you or Ellie since you aren’t full ghosts?”

Danny stared at him for a long moment, blinking owlishly. “No,” he said, his voice devoid of any emotion. “I’ve never been stuck in the thermos.”

“...you have, haven’t you?” Peter asked solemnly, though inside he was freaking out a bit. Had he accidentally triggered an unpleasant memory?

Danny blushed, his whole face lighting up. But... it was green. He blushed green! Peter was so overwhelmed by the sight he was lightheaded. 

“No, I didn’t!” Danny said, his voice a higher pitch than normal.

God, how adorable.

Peter laughed. “Okay, you definitely have.” He dropped from the web he was hanging on and began to swing away. “I’ll just go ask Jazz!”

Danny scrambled to get himself upright, and Peter almost missed his next thwip upon seeing that, dropping a few feet in the air. “Don’t!” Danny cried as he finally righted himself and flew after Peter, which only made Peter laugh harder.

“You better not mess this up, Danny,” Ellie teased as she watched Danny pipe the whipped cream onto the chocolate pie he had made.

Peter, who was helping May and Jazz set up the table for Thanksgiving dinner, paused partway through setting a plate down to watch the exchange. 

“Leave him alone, Ellie,” Jazz reprimanded, sounding tired; clearly, she was used to such exchanges.

“No, no,” Jazz’s husband, Samuel, said from his spot in the kitchen where he was pulling the turkey from the oven, “she’s right. If he messes this up, then the whole meal is ruined!”

Jazz sent her husband an exasperated glare, which just made him laugh.

“You guys should all shut up if you don’t want me to mess up!” Danny called out, although he didn’t sound particularly annoyed.

Peter slowly lowered the plate in his hands onto the table as he watched Danny pipe dollops of whipped cream around the outer edge of the chocolate pie. Danny’s eyes were focused entirely on his task, his hands steady as he slowly moved them over the pie. Peter took a moment to admire his hands before allowing his eyes to travel up to Danny’s face, from his furrowed brow to the way his tongue stuck out a bit as he concentrated-

A cough to his right startled him, and Peter whipped his head around to find Aunt May giving him an amused look. “We have a schedule to keep here, Peter,” she reminded as she handed him the remainder of the plates he was to set around the table.

Peter blushed but quickly went back to work.

Peter did manage to take another peek at Danny right as he finished piping the whipped cream. Danny pulled the piping bag away from the pie and he looked down at it with a small, proud smile, and Peter felt like his heart was melting.

“Wow! You managed to not fuck it up!” Ellie shouted, knocking Peter out of his trance. He ignored the amused looks May and Jazz gave him as he went back to setting the table.

“Is there a reason why a ghost obsessed with boxes and a ghost who controls meat is attacking Times Square?” Peter asked as he dodged a box of clothes that was thrown at him.

Danny sighed as he kicked a tiny meat monster off his leg. “They like to go out and haunt new places on their anniversary.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “They’re married?” he asked incredulously before turning his attention to the tiny blue man in overalls next to the towering figure made of meat. “Talk about an odd couple.”

Danny snorted. “You’re telling me.” He shot a few of his ecto-blasts at the various boxes and globs of meat that were flying at him. “You’re just lucky their daughter isn’t here; she can throw quite the tantrum.”

Peter reeled back, his mind blanking as he tried to think of just what their child would even look like. 

He was so caught up trying to sort out how a child between the two ghosts would work that he almost missed his spider-sense going off.

By the time he noticed it, however, it was too late, and he was knocked to the ground as a box full of smartphones rammed against the back of his head. Peter fell forward onto the pavement with a cry, only just barely catching himself before his face hit the ground, preventing himself from smashing his nose and getting the inside of his mask bloody. He winced as he rubbed at the spot where he had been hit; it felt like nothing too serious, but it’d probably leave a nasty knot, which meant he couldn’t sleep on his back for a while.

“Spider-Man!” Danny called out, and suddenly he was kneeling beside Peter and helping him off the ground. “You alright?”

“I’ll live,” Peter said with a grunt, doing his damnedest to not pay too close attention to Danny’s hands on his arm and shoulder. “Thanks, though.” Danny smiled, which made Peter’s heart flutter. He didn’t get the chance to dwell on it, however, when his spider-sense went off again. Peter’s head snapped up in time to see a box that was on fire (and how the hell did the ghosts manage that?!) flying towards them. “Look out!” he shouted as he moved to get to his feet.

But then Danny was in front of him, shielding Peter with his body as he summoned a bright green shield around them both, and... oh.

Oh.

Peter’s breath caught in his throat.

Something about the lighting and the serious look on Danny’s face, as well as the way he was leaning over him, stirred something inside Peter that he hadn’t felt in a long time. And the fact that Danny was so close helped matter none.

Peter blushed, thankful once again for his mask hiding his face as his eyes involuntarily traced Danny’s body.

And then Danny’s shield was gone, and he stood up and held his hand out to help Peter up. Peter, however, merely sat there and stared up at him, overwhelmed. His heart was pounding so loudly in his chest that he didn’t even really hear when Danny once again asked if he was okay.

“I’m fine,” he managed to wheeze out as he pushed himself back to his feet, resolutely ignoring Danny’s offered hand. 

Danny frowned down at his hand for a moment before shrugging and turning back to the fight.

And Peter... Peter tried to pay attention to the fight at hand, he really did, but he kept getting distracted. So distracted that he would often miss his spider-sense for minor threats. By the time Danny managed to capture both ghosts, Peter had been smacked around quite a bit and knew he would be sporting a few new bruises.

His lackluster performance led to Danny practically dragging Peter away someplace private so he could check him over for injuries. Which was fine up until the point where he had to remove Peter’s mask to check his eyes.

“You don’t appear to have a concussion,” Danny muttered, one of his hands gently cupping Peter’s chin as he leaned in close to look at his eyes. “You’re really red, though, are you sure you’re okay?”

Peter was dying.

“Yeah, of course!” he said in a rush as he pulled himself out of Danny’s grip. “Totally fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” He yanked his mask down over his face and instantly felt a part of him relax a bit.

Danny didn’t look convinced. “Okay,” he said slowly, dragging out the word. “If you say so. You should have May check you over, though, just in case.”

“Yes! I will do that! Right now, in fact!” Peter gave Danny two thumbs up before turning to leave.

“Okay...” he heard Danny mutter behind him. “That was weird.”

Okay, so apparently continuing to be friends with Danny while ignoring his feelings for him was difficult. 

Extremely difficult.

...

Well... shit.

“Hey, Peter,” Samuel greeted as he opened the door to his and Jazz’s apartment and stepped aside to let Peter in. “No May today?” he asked, glancing around the hallway just to be sure before closing the door.

“Nah, she had a date with Liv tonight,” Peter said as he waved over at Jazz who was busily typing away on her computer. “So, it’s just me. That alright?”

“Never has been a problem before,” Jazz answered as she continued to type, not once turning away from her computer screen. “Dinner is in the oven now, it’s lasagna tonight.”

“My specialty,” Samuel bragged, puffing up his chest a bit as he smiled proudly at Peter.

Peter smiled. “Sounds good,” he said as he gave Samuel a thumbs up.

Samuel returned the gesture before making his way to the kitchen. “Well, it’ll be a bit until it’s done, so go ahead and take a seat! You want anything to drink?”

“No, thank you,” Peter answered as he sank onto the couch. “Where are Danny and Ellie?” he asked as he looked around, just then noticing that the two younger Fentons were nowhere to be found.

His question made Jazz pause in her typing, her eyes dashing over to the clock on her computer. “Huh. They’re running late,” she said with a frown. “Wonder what’s keeping them?”

Peter frowned as his eyes drifted towards the front door, anxiety slowly building in his gut. While neither Danny nor Ellie were all that punctual, they still rarely ever arrived after Peter did. And while there was likely a wide range of mundane reasons why the two were late, Peter couldn’t stop his mind from jumping to conclusions.

Luckily, his mind was prevented from doing so for long when a series of loud, frantic knocks erupted from the front door. He glanced over at Jazz only to find her staring incredulously at the door.

“Really?” she muttered under her breath before she turned to Peter. “That’s probably them. Would you let them in?”

Peter nodded and quickly stood. “Yeah, sure.” The banging on the door grew louder and more frantic as he approached, which made Peter’s stance tense further for whatever was to meet him on the other side.

He cautiously cracked opened the door, only for whoever was on the other side to kick it open the rest of the way as soon as he did. Ellie rushed in with a loud “Whoo!”, her hands raised in the air as she pranced over to the couch. “I got here first!” she called out as she jumped onto the couch and made herself comfortable. “So, I get the couch!”

Before Peter could even ask what she was talking about or where her brother was, Danny quickly pushed his way into the room, looking rather angry with his bottom lip split open. “You cheated!” he shouted as he pointed accusingly at Ellie and stomped over towards her. “You tripped me!”

“You never said tripping wasn’t allowed,” Ellie countered smugly. “So, I didn’t cheat.” She then mockingly stuck out her tongue at him.

Peter quietly closed the door to the apartment as he watched the exchange, all earlier worry gone and replaced with confusion. He glanced over towards the kitchen and saw Samuel watching them with a look of fond amusement.

Jazz, meanwhile, let out a frustrated groan as she maneuvered her wheelchair away from her computer and over towards her siblings. “Okay, what’s going on?” she asked, her voice surprisingly level. “Why did you guys race here? And what’s this about my couch? And Danny, you’re bleeding.”

The anger on Danny’s face dissipated for a moment as he reached up and touched his lips. It quickly returned, however, when he pulled his hand away and saw blood on his fingertips. He glared down at Ellie one last time before making his way to the bathroom.

All attention turned towards Ellie. She tilted her head back and sighed.

“We got attacked by some ghost hunters while we were flying over here,” she answered, and Peter felt his entire frame go tense.

Jazz, similarly, looked troubled. “Ghost hunters?” she asked as she frowned. “Was it anyone we faced before?”

Ellie shook her head. “Nope, they were new.” That made Jazz’s frown deepen, but Ellie dismissed her silent worries with a wave of her hand. “They weren’t all that tough, honestly.”

“Uh-huh,” Jazz said, not at all convinced.

“Okay, so their tech was pretty impressive,” Ellie conceded, “but they were nowhere near as ruthless as other hunters we’ve faced. They shot us with something that shorted out our powers and when they couldn’t read our ecto-signatures anymore, they just assumed they got us and left.”

“And now we’re stuck in New York until our powers come back,” Danny added as he left the bathroom with a cloth pressed to his lip. “So, we decided to race to see who would take the couch and who would have to go to a hotel.” He glared down at Ellie. “And someone decided to cheat.”

Jazz sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “And you didn’t think to ask me about staying over first because?”

“Because we knew you would say yes,” Ellie answered blithely like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Jazz sent a weak glare toward Ellie before turning to Danny. “Do you even have enough money on you for a hotel room?”

Danny shrugged. “I can figure it out.”

“You could just stay with me.”

It wasn’t until all eyes snapped towards him that Peter had even realized he had spoken. He felt his face grow hot as he fought against the urge to fidget. “Yeah, y’know... you could stay the night at my place, save some money.”

Danny raised a speculative brow. “Yeah? And where would I sleep?”

“My bed,” Peter answered without a second thought, which made Ellie snicker. “I can create a hammock with my web and sleep in that. No big deal.”

Danny didn’t look particularly convinced, but he still said, “Sure,” so Peter counted that as a win.

“Do we have to do this?” Danny asked after dinner once he and Peter gathered on the roof of the apartment complex. He had opted to look down at the street below while Peter switched back into the Spider-Man suit, and he blanched at just how far down it was. “Couldn’t we like... walk?”

Peter snorted as he stuffed his civilian clothes into his backpack. “Do you know how far away I live? That would be an unreasonably long walk.”

Danny sighed. “What about a taxi?”

“The whole point of you staying with me is so you can save money.”

“I think I can afford a taxi.”

Peter stood up, swung his backpack on, and walked over to stand by Danny’s side. “Why are you so nervous?” he asked as he crossed his arms. “You fly everywhere.”

“Yeah, but when I’m flying I’m the one in control,” Danny grumbled as he pushed himself upright.

Peter placed one hand over his chest. “You don’t trust me? Ouch.” Danny snorted and rolled his eyes, but he said nothing to contradict the claim. Peter dropped his arm with a sigh. “Listen, I’ve done this before. You’ll be fine! You might even have fun.”

“I doubt that,” Danny muttered. Still, he offered no further protests as he moved in close to Peter’s side and wrapped his arms around him.

And, ah, right.

Peter did not think his plan through.

He gulped as he wrapped one arm around Danny and pulled him in close. “You ready?” he asked as he lifted his other arm and aimed it towards a neighboring building that was several stories taller than the complex.

“As I’ll ever be,” Danny answered as he tightened his grip around Peter.

Peter’s heart pounded as he shot out some web and began to swing back home.

He did feel some sense of victory when Danny began whooping and hollering halfway through the trip, though.

“Are you sure about this?” Danny asked from where he sat on Peter’s bed as he watched Peter set about making his hammock. Danny had stripped out of most of the layers he had worn to fend off the cold, leaving him in only a black NASA shirt and blue boxers with cartoon rocket ships on them (and no, Peter did not find the fact that Danny wore space-themed underwear cute, shut up).

Peter, who had similarly dressed down to his typical nightwear of no shirt and a pair of sweatpants, waved off his concerns as he made his hammock up in the corner of his studio apartment that was the furthest away from his bed. “I’ve done this before, it’s no problem.” And it was the truth. It had been several years ago, sure, but he knew what he was doing.

“You sure? Because if it’s too much trouble, I could sleep on the floor,” Danny offered.

“You’re my guest, you aren’t sleeping on the floor,” Peter instantly declined as he reached out and pressed down on the hammock to test if it would hold his weight. He frowned when there was more give than he would’ve liked and went back to work.

“Then we can share the bed,” Danny amended as he crossed his arms. “We aren’t teenagers, I think we’re both mature enough to handle that.”

Peter paused, a light blush lighting up his cheeks. “No, no,” he said, his voice a pitch higher than usual. “No, this is fine.” He was not going to share a bed with Danny. He would not be able to handle the mortification of waking up the next morning to find himself wrapped around his friend’s body.

Gwen had always found the fact that Peter tended to cuddle against her in his sleep cute. Peter highly doubted Danny would think the same.

Danny raised a brow at his refusal but did not question it. Instead, he asked, “Okay... could you not have put the hammock closer to the ground, then?”

Peter looked over to where his other hand was attached to the wall, holding him up there, and then down at the floor several feet below. He turned back to Danny, his brow furrowed. “What’s wrong with up here?”

“You’re gonna hurt yourself if you fall out,” Danny answered plainly. “You were the one telling me about your back problems the other day; a fall from up there will only make it worse.”

Peter rolled his eyes as he went back to work on his hammock. “You worry too much.”

It was about one in the morning when Peter was awoken from his nightmare of running out of web-fluid mid-swing by pain erupting from his back as he slammed onto the floor.

“Peter?” Danny groggily called out as he sat up in Peter’s bed.

“I’m fine,” Peter wheezed, the breath still knocked out of him.

Danny’s eyes turned towards him, and Peter was surprised to find that they reflected the light that drifted in from the window. “I told you so,” Danny said flatly as he pushed himself out of bed before making his way toward Peter. Peter tried to get up off the ground and out of Danny’s way, but the pain in his back slowed his movements. He could only squeak as Danny easily scooped him up and threw him onto his bed. “We’re sharing,” he said as he crawled into bed beside him.

Peter’s breath caught in his throat as his arm brushed against Danny’s back. Already he could see how it’d go the next morning. They’ll start on opposite sides of the bed, and somehow in the night Peter will move in his sleep and wrap around Danny, and they’ll wake up a tangle of limbs. He almost whined at the thought, not ready to deal with the mortification.

“I should get back in the hammock,” Peter said as he pushed himself up, only to wince at the pain in his back.

Danny reached behind him and placed his hand on Peter’s chest, gently pushing him back down. “Dude, you’re hurt. Pretty sure the bed is better for your back than a flimsy hammock.”

Peter huffed. “I’ll be fine, honestly-”

Danny’s hand moved off his chest, but Peter didn’t get the chance to feel relieved before Danny turned over to face him. “Okay, what’s up?” he asked with thinly veiled annoyance. “Do I smell bad or something? Is that why you’re so worked up?”

Peter turned his head to meet Danny’s gaze. His powers made it so he could see better in the dark, and he was capable of making out the small, worried frown that was on Danny’s lips. “I...” Peter turned to look back up at the ceiling with a sigh. “I move around a lot in my sleep.”

“Clearly,” Danny said dryly, which made Peter let out a small huff of a laugh. “Don’t worry about it, though. You’re not the first person I’ve shared a bed with that’s hit me in their sleep.”

“Yeah, that’s... that’s not exactly what I meant,” Peter said, his face growing warm. He really hoped that Danny couldn’t also see well in the dark.

There was a slight pause, then Danny sighed. “Well, I still wouldn’t worry about it. I’m not fourteen, I’m not gonna freak out if I wake up and we’re closer than we were when we went to sleep.”

Peter glanced at Danny out of the corner of his eye. “You promise?”

“On my life.”

Peter turned his head back to face Danny with a glare. “You’re a ghost.”

“On my afterlife, then,” Danny corrected with a small laugh and a roll of his eyes. “Now go to sleep, will ya?” Danny then turned back around so his back was facing Peter.

Peter stared at the back of Danny’s head for a long moment before sighing and looking up at the ceiling. He mentally swore that he would not fall asleep.

He passed out not five minutes later.

When Peter woke up the next morning, he was horrified to find his face pressed against Danny’s chest, his arms and legs wrapped around Danny like he was an overgrown koala. He was even more horrified when he tried to pull his hands away from Danny only to find the tips of his fingers were stuck to Danny’s shirt.

God, why did his sticky powers have to betray him now ?!

Peter did his best to keep calm as he tried to pull his hands away, but his groggy mind and his overwhelming embarrassment made it so his hands refused to let go. It was like when he first got his powers all over again, except somehow worse.

“Peter?” Danny grumbled, his voice gravelly and thick with sleep. Peter’s stomach did a little swoop at the sound, and he felt his face grow hot. “What are you doing?”

“My hands are stuck to your shirt,” Peter answered weakly as he tugged once more to get free.

“Oh, okay,” Danny said, sounding none too bothered. “That’s fine-”

“It’s not,” Peter cut in as he tugged once more. “I’m sorry, just give me a moment and I’ll be free.”

“Dude, it’s okay. If you wait a little longer-” A loud rip filled the air as Peter tugged harder than he had intended. Both of them froze, and it took all of Peter’s willpower to not panic. “...my powers will come back and I could’ve gone intangible,” Danny finished his thought with a sigh.

Peter closed his eyes. “Oh god,” he mumbled before speaking up. “I am so sorry. I can get you a new one.”

“Yeah,” Danny said with a sigh as the two of them pulled apart, “that’s fine.” 

Just what about the situation was fine, Peter couldn’t say.

Peter refused to look at Danny as they each set out getting ready, with Danny heading towards the bathroom to brush his teeth (thank god Jazz had had spare toothbrushes at her place and that Danny thought to bring one with him), while Peter struggled to pull the remains of Danny’s shirt from his hands. Of course, now that Peter was not cuddling up next to Danny, it was far easier to remove the fabric from his grasp. He grumbled about it as he went about picking out a shirt for Danny to borrow.

Unfortunately, while he and Danny were about the same height, Danny was a bit bulkier than Peter was, with broader shoulders and thicker arms. Not that Peter was scrawny by any means, but he was definitely leaner than Danny, which meant most of his shirts would be too tight. Peter pulled out the largest shirt he had, a light blue one with a black print of a T-Rex skeleton (which was scientifically accurate, thank you very much) on the front. It hung a bit loosely on Peter, so hopefully, there was enough give for it to be comfortable on Danny.

When Danny finally exited the bathroom, Peter handed him the shirt without looking at him; he was mortified enough as it was, he wasn’t going to embarrass himself further by openly staring at Danny’s chest. “Let me know if it fits or not,” Peter said as he felt the shirt be taken from his hands.

“It fits fine,” Danny said a few seconds later, which was Peter’s cue to finally look up. Danny wasn’t lying, much to Peter’s relief; it was a bit tight, but not egregiously so. It would be enough to last him until he got home, anyway. “You got any coffee?” Danny asked, sounding somewhat subdued, and it was then that Peter noticed the small frown that was marring Danny’s face.

His stomach sank. His earlier actions had upset Danny, the exact thing he had been fearful of the night before.

“Uh, yeah,” Peter said, ignoring the way his throat clenched. “In the cupboard above the sink.” Danny nodded and turned towards the little corner of his apartment where the kitchen area was kept. Peter watched him work for a minute, noticing how he could see the muscles of Danny’s shoulders move through the fabric of the shirt, before shaking himself out of it. “I’ll just... go brush my teeth,” he muttered before moving to the bathroom.

He used that time in the restroom to get ahold of himself and to try to think of ways to apologize to Danny for ruining the day before it even began. Unfortunately, he had not thought of anything by the time his teeth were cleaned and his hair was brushed.

Danny was leaning against the counter by the coffee maker when Peter left the restroom, a mug of coffee in his hands. Peter tried to meet his eyes, but Danny was staring intently down at his drink, so he opted to just stand next to him.

“So,” Peter began, hoping that he could wing a proper apology.

Danny’s head snapped up, and he looked at Peter with calculating eyes that made him pause. “Can I ask you something?” Danny asked after a moment of awkward silence.

Peter swallowed and nodded, not trusting his voice.

“What’s your...” Danny paused, licking his lips before turning back down to his coffee. “How have you managed to balance out being a superhero with your love life?” he asked in a rush.

Peter reeled back at the question, not expecting it in the slightest. He couldn’t help the bitter twist in his heart as he answered, “Pretty terribly,” in a low voice.

Danny winced and glanced Peter’s way briefly before turning back to his cup. “So... you haven’t dated much?” he asked almost hesitantly.

Peter sighed as he turned to lean his back against the counter to mirror Danny, though he crossed his arms since he did not have anything to hold. Part of him wanted to brush the question off, to refuse to answer, but that part was not loud enough to stop him from saying, “No, not really. There was Gwen, and...” A lump formed in his throat that he swallowed with a shuddering breath. “Well, you know what happened there. After her, I didn’t really... I went on a couple of dates, but I always backed out pretty quickly.” He paused for a moment as he debated whether or not he should mention Black Cat. They hadn’t necessarily been a couple, but... “There was this burglar, Black Cat... she didn’t know Peter Parker, but she and Spider-Man...” He winced and shook his head. “Well, I guess I kind of had a fling with her? But it wasn’t... it wasn’t for long, and it wasn’t... Well, the less said about it, the better.”

“Ah...” was all Danny said before he took a long sip of his coffee.

Peter watched Danny drink out of the corner of his eye, silently wondering what had prompted Danny to ask such a question. Was it just revenge for tearing his shirt? Did he suspect Peter’s feelings-?

Peter’s eyes widened a fraction as they focused down on his feet, only just then considering the possibility that Danny wasn’t attracted to men. Oh, sure, Aunt May had said Danny looked at him adoringly, but May was not the end-all-be-all for reading people. If Danny suspected something and was trying to sort it out so he could let Peter down gently...

Well... Peter could play that game.

“What about you?” he asked in as casual a voice as he could muster as he turned his head to look at Danny. “Have you dated much?”

Danny leaned his head back to look at the ceiling and let out a small laugh. “Ha, yeah, you could say that. Uhh... My first girlfriend was in high school, Valerie, you remember her?” Danny glanced Peter’s way just long enough to see Peter nod. “Yeah. It didn’t last really long, because she didn’t know my secret identity back then and hated my ghost half, and for good reason. We tried dating again in college, years after she found out I was Phantom and things had smoothed over, but it just felt too awkward. 

“After we broke up the first time, I spent most of high school dating my friend Sam. We never really officially broke up, but after a while, we stopped acting like a couple and were acting like regular friends - like not even friends with benefits, just like the way we were before we started dating - so that didn’t work out. And then in college, Tucker and I decided to try and date because we both were realizing we liked guys and he was the only one of my friends who I hadn’t dated yet-”

“Oh!” Peter said quietly. The rest of Danny’s words faded in Peter’s ears as his mind focused on “realizing we liked guys”. So, Danny did like men, which meant that Peter’s crush wasn’t destined for doom. Peter stared down at the floor, quickly reevaluating every interaction he had had with Danny for the past year, trying to pick out any clues that supported May’s claims.

Unfortunately, his quiet exclamation did not go unnoticed by Danny, who turned to Peter and repeated, “Oh?”

Peter jumped, startled from his thoughts. He glanced toward Danny before looking back down to his feet. “Oh, you’re... y’know. Not... straight.” He winced at his awkward delivery.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Danny grow tense. “Yeah, I’m not,” he said warily. “Is that a problem?”

“No! No, definitely not,” Peter was quick to reassure, though he refused to look up. “No, because, like... same? I. Uh. Yeah, I’m the same.” Okay, so that might not have been true since there was a chance that Danny wasn’t specifically bisexual like Peter, but still.

He saw Danny relax in his peripheral, and that in turn made Peter relax, the tension he had been carrying in his shoulders all morning finally falling away. “Oh. Cool,” was all Danny said before they lapsed into a long stretch of silence, neither sure where to take the conversation after such revelations.

Surprisingly enough, though, it wasn’t an awkward silence. Peter was perfectly content to stand there for a moment and take the information in, turning it over and over again in his mind as he tried to make sense of what it meant for them.

“Okay, can I ask you another question?” Danny asked after a moment, breaking the silence. Peter turned his way and was surprised to find that Danny had put down his mug and was leaning in much closer than he had been before. Peter swallowed, his face growing warm, as he nodded (and if he leaned in a little closer, well, Danny didn’t seem to mind). “Okay, so... do you-” He stopped as he gasped, a puff of blue mist escaping his mouth.

“GOOD MORNING, SLEEPYHEADS! Guess whose powers are back!”

Ellie’s loud shout caused them both to jump, and Peter didn’t have time to react to his spider-sense before their foreheads smashed together. They both groaned, and Peter screwed his eyes shut as he clutched at his forehead.

“Am I interrupting something?” Ellie asked from where she was floating near the ceiling, laughter echoing in her voice.

“No,” Danny grumbled beside him, which just made Ellie cackle.

Later, after Danny had gathered up his things and he and Ellie left to head back home, Peter spent a long time simply sitting on his bed, thinking the morning over.

There was an actual chance that Danny liked him.

Peter groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“What am I going to do?” he mumbled.

“Well, you seem down,” Ned pointed out as Peter joined him and MJ around Betty’s desk. Betty and MJ nodded in agreement.

“Something wrong, tiger?” MJ asked as he nudged Peter with his shoulder.

Peter sighed and nodded, though he did not elaborate further, unsure how to even vocalize his problem without sounding juvenile. It was like he was in high school all over again, but back then things had been easier because Gwen had been the one who instigated everything. Things had also been so much simpler back then, without superpowers and all the baggage he had acquired over the years.

Betty tilted her head. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Is it your aunt?”

Peter shook his head.

MJ’s eyes narrowed. “Is it Danny?”

Peter hesitated.

Ned jumped on that, leaning in close to Peter’s face. “Did you two have a fight?” he asked.

“What? No!” Peter exclaimed as he leaned back to regain some personal space.

Ned leaned back as well and shared a puzzled glance with Betty. “What is it, then?”

Peter closed his eyes and planted his hands on Betty’s desk, bringing his head down so he could hunch his shoulders. “I… like him.”

There was a pause.

“Please don’t tell me this is news for you,” MJ said flatly.

Peter lifted his head just enough to send a glare MJ’s way. “No, it’s not,” he said, slightly annoyed at the reminder that he was the last to know about his own feelings. “No, I just… realized that he might like me back-”

“Peter, honey,” Betty cut in, leaning forward as she cupped her chin in her hands, “there’s no ‘might’ about it.”

“Yeah, he was totally checking you out at the bowling alley,” Ned added. “Like the entire time after you got us kicked out, even while he was calling his friend, his eyes were on you.”

Peter blushed, and he quickly ducked his head back downwards to hide it. “Yeah, well… either way, I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Ask him out?” MJ suggested, sounding slightly befuddled.

Peter shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”

“Uh… it really is,” MJ countered. “You’re the only one making it complicated.”

Peter pushed himself off the desk in a huff and crossed his arms. “I haven’t been on a date in years,” he explained. “How do I even ask? What would we even do?”

“Not bowling,” Betty teased. “Pretty sure you’re banned from ever bowling again.”

“New Year's Eve is later this week,” Ned pointed out while Peter sent Betty a weak glare. “Just ask him to go watch some fireworks with you.”

“Yeah, there are plenty of places in the city where you can sit out and watch them without paying,” MJ added with a significant look. Peter gave him a subtle nod; right, he could use Spider-Man’s ability to access just about anywhere in the city to his advantage.

Betty nodded eagerly as she sat up in her seat. “If you confess before midnight, then you two could even share a New Year’s kiss! And wouldn’t that be romantic?”

Peter blushed at the thought. It did have its appeal, but…

“What if he’s got plans on New Year’s?” he asked.

MJ rolled his eyes. “Then ask him out to the movies or something!” he suggested, lightly smacking the back of Peter’s head. “Jesus, tiger, nobody overthinks things like you do.”

Well… Peter couldn’t exactly argue that point.

Peter pulled out his phone as soon as he entered his apartment and made the call. “Do you have plans for New Year’s Eve?” Peter asked as soon as Danny picked up the phone.

“Uhh…” Danny said ineloquently, and Peter would’ve snickered at the sound if his guts weren’t tying themselves into knots. “I mean… I was gonna get together with my friends and shoot some fireworks. Why?”

Peter let out a long, low breath as he fell into his desk chair, disappointment weighing him down. “Oh. I was… well, I was hoping you’d be able to come over here and watch the fireworks with me,” he explained, his voice subdued.

“Oh!” Danny exclaimed, and Peter winced at how loud it was through the speaker. “Well, you guys are an hour ahead, right?” he asked.

Peter perked up, his heart skipping a beat as he felt a spark of hope. “Yeah!” he answered, sounding far more eager than he had intended.

Danny didn’t seem to notice, at least. “Well, who’s to say I can’t do both?”

“So, you’ll come?” Peter asked, just to be sure.

“Yeah!” Danny answered with a laugh. “Just give me a time and a place and I’ll meet you there!”

Peter grinned. “Oh, sure! Just… give me a moment.” He scrambled to pull out his laptop and bring up a map of the city so they could settle on where to meet, his heart hammering all the while.

He didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the night.

“Okay,” Peter muttered to himself as he paced his room, dressed in the Spider-Man suit sans the mask. “So, here’s the plan: meet Danny, watch some fireworks, tell him you love him, and, hopefully, he’ll say it back and not just say, ‘thank you.’” He winced at the memory, although he didn’t blame the other Peters for not saying it back; they had only known each other for a few hours, so it was understandable that they didn’t quite view him as the brother he viewed them. The situation with Danny was completely different, on multiple levels, so hopefully…

Although, if Danny did say, “Thank you,” instead of “I love you, too,” well… Peter would live, but he would not be able to brush it off quite as easily.

“Simple,” he muttered as he slipped his mask on. “Nothing can go wrong.” He grabbed his jacket, scarf, and wool beanie to help fight against the cold, knowing his suit would not be enough. Once they were on, he took a deep, steadying breath, opened his window, and swung over to the designated meeting place.

The building he had settled on was one with a good view of the fireworks that went off over the Hudson. It did not typically allow roof access, which meant that he and Danny would be alone. Peter had watched the fireworks from there several times over the years, so he knew it was a good spot.

Hopefully, Danny would agree.

Peter arrived, perhaps earlier than necessary (a full half-hour before the time they had agreed), sat down at the edge of the building, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Fireworks were already going off throughout the city; nothing massive, as the clock had not yet struck midnight, simply preludes for the show to come. Peter let out a weary sigh as he rested his head in his hands, his heart sinking more and more as the crowds in the distance grew louder and louder. 

Where was Danny? Did something happen to him? Was he in trouble? Was he hurt?

Did he ditch Peter?

Peter let out a low groan at the thought, his throat constricting tightly. Well, if that was the case, Peter would just… go back home and spend the first day of the new year wallowing in bed. Not the ideal, but also not the first time Peter had celebrated the holiday in such a way (though it was the first time he did it for something as relatively mundane as rejection).

He sighed again as he stood and stretched. He did not have a watch on him, so he did not know how close it was to midnight, but he figured it was close enough to determine that Danny wasn’t going to come.

Of course, it was right as he moved to leave that Danny finally arrived, swooping in out of nowhere and landing with a soft thud by Peter’s side. “Sorry I’m late!” he huffed out, his chest heaving.

Peter stared at him for a long moment, his mouth hanging open.

Danny’s eyes darted back and forth between Peter and the fireworks going off in the distance. “I didn’t miss it, did I?” he asked hesitantly, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

Peter’s mouth snapped shut. “No, no, we’ve still got time. I just… I thought you weren’t coming?”

Danny frowned and tilted his head. “Didn’t think… Did you not get my text?” he asked. “There was a ghost emergency back home.”

“Oh,” Peter muttered, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. “No, I don’t… take my phone with me when I go out as Spider-Man.”

That made Danny’s frown deepen. “Why?”

Peter gave him a weak shrug. “They break too easily?” The excuse had always seemed like a good one when he said it to May, but for some reason saying it to Danny made it sound rather… flimsy.

The incredulous look Danny gave him might have had something to do with it. “Really?” Peter gave him a small nod. Danny hummed and crossed his arms. “Well, Tucker made the ones me and my friends use. Have yet to have one break while fighting ghosts. Maybe I can get you one.”

“Oh, you don’t have to!” Peter protested, but Danny merely shook his head.

“Just think of it as a late Christmas gift,” he said. Peter was almost halfway tempted to tell him that he didn’t celebrate Christmas (and he had to wonder if Danny did either since that was the first time he had brought it up despite the holiday just passing), but then the cheering in the distance grew louder. “Sounds like we’re getting close,” Danny said as he turned to look at the river, an excited smile stretching across his face.

Peter followed suit, though he found it hard to focus as he became filled with a nervous energy. The night had not gone at all as he had planned, and it was now too late for him to confess his feelings before the stroke of midnight, but… the night wasn’t a total loss. He would just wait until the fireworks were mostly finished and then quickly confess before Danny went back home to celebrate the new year with his friends. Simple. Easy. He could do that.

Shouts of people counting down could be heard in the distance, though it was too muffled for Peter to make out the exact words. Soon, the countdown became incomprehensible cheers, the fireworks above the river began to go off in earnest, and Peter let out a low breath as he entered the new year.

“Wow,” Danny breathed out beside him, drawing Peter’s attention.

Peter looked his way, and his breath caught in his throat as he saw the amazed look on Danny’s face. His eyes were wide, glowing brightly enough to rival the fireworks, and he was smiling that small little smile that made Peter’s heart melt. The lights from the fireworks plus his natural glow gave Danny an almost ethereal look and Peter…

Well… they couldn’t do a full-blown New Year’s kiss, but maybe… a kiss on the cheek? That should be fine, right? A good way to confess? Especially if Danny did truly like him as everyone insisted.

Peter took a steadying breath and slowly shuffled closer to Danny, their arms almost brushing together. He ignored the way he shivered at the cold that radiated off Danny, which was somehow just as cold as the snowy air around him. Instead, Peter leaned in, his eyes slipping closed as he moved to press his lips against Danny’s cheek.

He froze when, instead of feeling Danny’s cool skin pressed against his lips, he felt the warm fabric of his mask.

“What are you doing?”

Peter instantly jerked back at Danny’s question. “Nothing!” he answered as he opened his eyes and quickly took several steps away from Danny, refusing to look at him all the while.

“Did… did you just try to kiss me?” Danny asked, though Peter almost missed it over the sound of his heart pounding.

“No!” he yelped. “No! That was… that was an affectionate headbutt!”

“You tried to kiss me!” Danny exclaimed, laughter in his voice, and Peter’s stomach dropped.

He was laughing at him.

“I… uh… I gotta go,” he muttered before jumping off the building and quickly swinging away. Peter had no particular destination in mind, but he knew he had to get out of there as quickly as he could. He swung faster than he had ever swung before without his life being in immediate danger, his face burning while his eyes stung with tears and his ears rang. “Damn it, damn it, damn it,” he chanted under his breath as he moved, ignoring the way his lungs burned as he heaved in the cold air.

Suddenly, Danny was flying beside him. “Yeah, see, you forget that I can fly faster than you can swing,” he said, sounding annoyed.

Peter yelped and the next web he shot missed its target, making him fall. Luckily, he was close enough to a skyscraper that he was able to catch himself, his hands and feet attaching to the glass wall. Unfortunately, he had caught himself in a rather awkward position, his back towards the wall and his head pointed towards the ground, and he felt a stab of sadness as the hat he was wearing slipped off his head.

Danny floated down in front of him, his arms crossed and his face set in a stern stare. Peter gulped and flinched under the scrutiny of it. “Peter,” Danny said, his voice firm, “did you try to kiss me back there?”

“Listen, I’m sorry,” Peter gasped out. “I had the night all planned out, but then you were late, and the fireworks were going off, and you looked amazing, and I just- I should’ve asked first, or I should’ve made sure-”

“Peter!” Danny called out, not quite a shout but loud enough to bring Peter’s ramble to an abrupt halt. Peter let out a small squeak but otherwise snapped his mouth shut. Danny closed his eyes and sighed before hitting Peter with the same stern stare again. “Just… yes or no: did you try to kiss me?”

Peter’s throat constricted tightly, to the point where it was difficult to breathe, but he somehow managed to wheeze out, “Yes.”

Danny’s shoulders went slack as his arms fell to his side. “Oh, thank god,” he said under his breath. He then smiled at Peter, that same small one from before, and Peter felt like his head was spinning, not quite understanding what was happening. “Okay, then let’s rectify this,” Danny said as he flipped his body upside down and floated in closer.

“Wha-?” Peter gasped out as Danny came to a stop once they were nose-to-nose. Danny shushed him as he reached over and rolled up his mask, pushing it up until it was just past Peter’s mouth. He opened his mouth to question Danny again, but the words died in his throat when Danny cupped his cheeks and brought their lips together.

It was like Peter’s brain short-circuited, as he was unable to truly process anything that was happening to him. The kiss, as a result, was rather one-sided and short. He felt Danny frown before he began to pull away, and that acted as the trigger to push Peter into action, chasing after Danny and pressing his lips more firmly against Danny’s.

It was, altogether, a rather chaste kiss, but one that left Peter’s heart pounding and feeling rather lightheaded (although that, in part, was likely due to him also being upside down). Peter was smiling widely as Danny finally pulled away, a giddy giggle bubbling up in his chest. Danny, meanwhile, was smiling just as widely, his green eyes glowing brightly and a dusting of green coloring his cheeks.

“You have no idea how long I wanted to do that,” Danny said with a laugh, which drew the giggle out of Peter’s throat.

“If it was anywhere near as long as I’ve wanted to do it, then we should’ve done it much sooner,” Peter said around his laughter.

Danny’s grin widened. “Did I hear you right earlier when you said you had planned this?”

Peter blushed as he nodded, his smile shrinking into a more bashful one. “Yeah… I had planned to… talk to you before the New Year and maybe… do the kiss at midnight?”

Danny raised a brow, his cheeks becoming a brighter green. “Talk to me? About what?”

Peter turned away, his face absolutely burning. “About how I feel about you,” he answered. “I, uh… I really like you.”

“You like me?”

“Yeah, y’know… like…” He sighed and leaned his head back, thumping it lightly against the side of the building. “I… love you?”

“Really?” The way Danny had said that word, so quiet and… mystified, Peter couldn’t help but look at him despite his nerves. He was not prepared for the awestruck wonder he was met with. “Holy shit.”

“Is that okay-?” Peter began to ask, only to be cut off when Danny kissed him again.

“I love you too,” he muttered against his lips, and Peter’s whole body went limp at those words.

He slipped off the building.

Luckily, he did not fall far, Danny quickly maneuvering to swoop him up in his arms. He rightened them both in the sky, and Peter could not help the relieved sigh as the blood that had been rushing to his head finally went back down. They stared at each other for a moment before bursting into a fit of giggles.

“God,” Danny wheezed out as he lowered them down to a nearby rooftop, tears trickling down his cheeks. “This might be the best New Year’s I’ve had yet.” Peter hummed in agreement as he hopped out of Danny’s arms, though he kept his firmly wrapped around Danny’s shoulders. “It’s a shame we weren’t able to do the kiss thing, though.”

“Well,” Peter began, a sly grin stretching across his lips, “Amity Park is an hour behind, isn’t it?”

Danny's eyes widened as he gave Peter a swift nod, though he then quickly frowned. “But we’d have to go through the Ghost Zone,” he warned, “and that messes with your powers.”

Peter shrugged. “I’ll be fine,” he reassured. “It’ll be worth it.”

Danny stared at him for a moment before giving him a determined nod.

The trip through the Ghost Zone was as awful as it had been before, but Peter couldn’t really complain, using it as an excuse to push himself as close to Danny as possible. Danny flew through it faster than he had before due to the time limit they had given themselves, and he did not stop flying once they reached the portal to his basement, instead keeping at the high speed until they reached Sam’s and Paulina’s home where all his friends were gathered.

They made it just in time for the countdown, Danny’s friends barely having time to even wave at them before they started the chant. Danny dropped Peter onto the grass and switched to his human form while Peter tore his mask off. They barely paid attention to the world around them, smiling giddily at each other as they waited for the countdown to reach zero. As soon as it did, Peter pulled Danny into a kiss, one that was far more eager and frantic than the ones they shared before, their noses awkwardly smooshing together as their teeth clanked against each other. The cheers around them quickly devolved into whoops and wolf whistles, which just made Peter laugh into the kiss and caused Danny to pull away sooner than he would’ve liked.

But as he looked up at Danny, blue eyes bright and practically glowing despite being in his human form, face flushed pink, his hair mused, and his smile wide and dazzling, Peter found he didn’t really mind. All he could do was smile back, feeling lighter than he had in years, as something deep inside him clicked into place.