In The Meantime... (Various x Reader)

keeping to tradition ? peter parker

They made it to the end of the line and Peter scanned his ID to pay for her lunch. It seemed like everyone went back to what they were doing before the mishap and didn't even bother looking twice at Peter and (Y/N).

"Could I eat lunch with you?" (Y/N) asked. "I don't have any friends, yet, so I don't have anywhere to go."

Peter would've thought a girl like her would've been invited to eat with a number of different people. She would fit right in with Liz and her friends, even though--by the looks of her ID, anyway--she was two grades below them. Even Flash took a liking to her, and he was one of the most popular people in school.

That being said, Peter wasn't going to miss the chance to have a pretty girl eat lunch with him. Besides, he wanted to get to know her, and he wouldn't be able to do that if she joined any other group of people, so who was he to say no?

"Yeah," He nodded. "My friend Ned and I eat over here."

He led the way to their lunch table. Ned was already there with his tray, but he wasn't touching his food. He'd brought part of the Death Star to lunch so he could work on it. And as cool as Peter thought it was, that was not what he wanted (Y/N)'s first impression of them to be. Especially when she had other, much cooler people to be with.

Ned looked up to greet Peter, and upon seeing the girl trailing behind him, a look of regret passed along his features. He tried to tuck everything away, but (Y/N)'d already seen it.

"No way, is that the Death Star?" She rushed past Peter and slammed her tray on the table, trying hard to catch a glimpse of the Legos Ned was hiding.

Ned looked at Peter, thoroughly confused, and then back at (Y/N). "...Yes?"

"That's awesome! How did you get that?"

And from that moment on, Peter knew he'd just met the love of his life.

***

Over the Winter break, (Y/N)'d invited Peter and Ned over for a Christmas party she was having. Peter wasn't ever really big on parties, mostly because he'd never been invited to one before. If anyone else was having it, he might not have gone, especially since Ned couldn't go because of a family trip. But (Y/N) became one of his best friends over the past few months since he met her and he figured he wouldn't mind a party hosted by her.

From the other side of her apartment door, he could hear music playing inside, along with muffled voices he couldn't recognize. He knew (Y/N) had other friends besides himself and Ned, but he began to wonder just how many other friends she had.

A note was taped to the door that read "Let yourself in :)" in (Y/N)'s familiar handwriting. Peter hesitantly twisted the knob and stepped inside. Inside were a bunch of people he'd never talked to before. It was enough to make him want to turn around and go back home, but the possibility of seeing (Y/N) kept him there.

He didn't go in search of her. Peter took refuge in her kitchen with all of the snacks. A man, much older than Peter, stood by a bowl of chips, scarfing them down. From where he stood he could see his classmates talking amongst themselves in the living room. Flash Thompson was one of them, and Peter could have sworn he saw Liz and a friend of hers sitting on the couch. Suddenly, he felt like he was in a place he wasn't meant to be.

"You Peter?"

He jumped at the sound of his own name. It was the man who was in the kitchen with him. He looked at Peter over his shoulder, still occupied with the food in front of him to give him his full attention.

"Um, yes," Peter said, hesitantly adding a "Sir,"

"(Y/N) talks a lot about you, kid." He said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "She was looking for you earlier, but now you'll never get ahold of her. Should've arrived on time."

Peter tried to keep himself from blushing. He didn't think (Y/N) would talk about him a lot, especially seeing all the other, cooler people she was friends with. He wondered if she talked about him as often as he talked about her to Aunt May.

"I'm Eddie, by the way." The man held out a hand to Peter. "I'm (Y/N)'s older brother."

"Oh," Peter didn't expect to meet her brother, but in hindsight, he should've seen it coming. He reached out to shake Eddie's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Hey, listen, between you and me," Eddie went closer to Peter, dropping his voice low. "(Y/N) and I are really close. Which means I will do anything to make sure she stays happy. And if she's ever unhappy, then m--"

"Peter!" (Y/N) came into the kitchen with an empty mug. "You made it."

Eddie pulled away and went back to his bowl of chips, staring Peter down as he began eating again. (Y/N) noticed how alarmed Peter looked and turned to her brother with a knowing scowl.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Take your parasite and go to your room," She groaned.

Eddie grabbed his bowl of chips and started off. "You know he doesn't like that."

"I don't like you scaring my friends!"

Once he was out of sight, (Y/N) turned to Peter with a sigh. "I'm sorry about him. He's always weird to my guy friends." She placed her mug in the sink. "He didn't do anything too weird right?"

From the edge in her voice, Peter could tell she was worried Eddie had done something a bit more unorthodox than scare off a boy. "No," Peter said. He found a bit of courage in himself. "But he did say you talked about me a lot."

(Y/N) was quiet for a few moments and Peter immediately worried he'd crossed some sort of line. He was just about to apologize when (Y/N) said, "Did he? That's...weird,"

Peter smiled. He could always tell when (Y/N) was trying to hide something. She was a terrible liar.

She sighed upon seeing his expression, knowing it was no use. "Okay, fine, I do. That's so embarrassing, I just think it's cool we like so many of the same things!"

"Me, too. Aunt May says she hasn't--"

"Oh! So you talk about me, too, huh?" (Y/N) grinned as Peter felt his face heat up. As it turned out, Peter wasn't the best liar, either. "At least we're on the same page."

Peter felt the need to change the subject immediately, to spare himself from any further embarrassment. "Y-Your kitchen is nice. Very festive,"

(Y/N) laughed following his gaze to the small Christmas tree on the counter. "Thank you. Eddie and I decorated it last night."

Peter only said her kitchen looked nice because he needed a way out, but hadn't actually gotten a good look around. A box of store-bought cookies sat opened on the counter, along with a bowl of popcorn and an empty bag of chips. Apart from the tree, in terms of decorations, there was a string of lights around the ceiling. From there Peter noticed mistletoe hanging from the ceiling.

"Did you put that there, too?" He questioned, pointing up at the plant.

(Y/N) looked up and her face went red. "That was Venom's idea."

"Whose?"

She offered no answer and instead softly pressed her lips against his. Peter found her lips tasted like hot cocoa and peppermint. All those months ago, when he first met (Y/N) and immediately developed feelings for her, and when he would spend hours telling Ned how he wished she felt the same, he never imagined he'd be kissing her in her kitchen.

(Y/N) pulled away, her face as red as Peter's felt.

"Sorry," She said. "I've always been a stickler for tradition."

- - -

I can honestly see myself writing a whole story about this setup, I just might have to do it to em

requested by NerdyPhantomLady I hope you liked it (: