(  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN !  )

( AWKWARD ENCOUNTERS AND PLOT TWISTS )

°

He was nervous. Why was he nervous?

Colin hung out with Peter all the time, he even spent time with Spider-Man, this was no different. Yet he had spent more than five seconds looking at the mirror to fix his hair. Fix his hair, damn it, he was a teenage boy and he did not fix his hair, ever.

"Stop checking yourself in the mirror," Liz whispered, making Colin blush.

"Yeah, who ever you want to look good for, you will," Gwen added, winking at the end. He regretted telling her about his crush, just a little.

The three of them were squeezed in Liz's father's car and at that moment, Colin was regretting sitting in the middle of the two since he could not handle their teasing for the night.

"What are you whispering about?" Sam said, looking at them from the rear view mirror with a frown on his face.

"Don't exclude us, we want to hear the gossip too," Adrian Toomes said with a smile on, making Sam chuckle.

"Nothing. Just how dashing we think Colin looks tonight with his button up," Liz said, ruffling his hair. She liked treating him like a kid which was slightly endaring but he was never going to admit to that.

"Oh, yeah? What about me?" Sam teased and Adrian was listening with a smile on.

"You can't pull it of," Liz stated.

"Okay, I guess," Gwen mumbled.

The four of them got off the car once they were at the school, thanking Mr. Thoomes politely for dropping them of. He wished them a good night and left with promising to pick them up once the school play was over.

They were all mostly there for Flash and Colin was kind of curious to see Aura on the stage as well.

Colin tried to smooth the lines on his shirt with his hands, he was not used to wearing (slighlty) formal clothing but they had all decided to dress a bit more elegantly to show their respect. And honestly, Flash was a sucker for these kind or gestures, it wouldn't hurt to make him happy. Colin wondered what Peter would think about the baby blue button up shirt-

"What are you doing here?" He heard Gwen exclaim, which pulled Colin back from his daydreaming.

Flash was rushing towards him with his costume and make up on, he looked ridiculous without the stage lights on him. He launched himself at Colin since he was the closest and started gushing in between his hugs. "You came! And oh my God, you managed Colin to wear something that does not look like it belongs to his grandma! And ladies, oh la la, so beautiful! Sam, you even suck less-"

Flash's rambling and happiness were a bit contagious, all of them grinned and rolled their eyes as he hugged them all.

"Why aren't you on back stage?" Sam asked.

That made Flash's grin waver but he pulled himself back together. "I was looking for my parents but they didn't made it," he stated with a shrug.

All of them knew Flash was in all those clubs just to impress his parents and Colin felt furious about the selfishness of his parents but did not comment on it.

At last Flash was gone for back stage and the four of them took their seats in the small theatre of the school. Colin was absentmindly looking around (searching for Peter) and he was not able to focus properly until finally, he saw Aamir, therefore he found Ned and Peter since the three were glued to each other.

Aamir was the first one to  wave with a big grin on which Colin returned the gesture (barely) and he smiled once he saw Peter waving rather awkwardly. He ignored Sam who made some snarky comments about Colin's friendship with Peter and he ignored Gwen as she nudged him with her feet. At least Liz was being mature.

The play was... less sucky than Colin was anticipating for. Flash was okay, nothing spectacular but he was not acting in a cringy way and Aura was the star despite not being the starring. All in all, it was a good time and it was also funny to watch Flash on the stage, there were a lot of material for future teasing there.

When it was over the curtain was closed, Colin was feeling sleepy and he kind of wanted to search for Peter since they hadn't have the chance to talk after the night with the scary karate lady.

That night had been scary on its own and maybe the part where Peter carried him around in the city was the scariest. Colin was not good with heights and he was not able to properly watch the scene but Peter was so strong (more than he had imagined) and Colin trusted him  fully so it was also kind of fun. It had also been nice to be that close to him and-

Damn it. His crush was getting out of hand.

As if Gwen knew the thoughs that were running in her mind (and maybe the fact that his eyes immediately searched for Peter was a dead giveaway) she said, "We're gonna use the bathroom, meet you in the parking lot?"

Without waiting for Colin's response, Gwen grabbed Liz and Sam, dragging them away from him. Colin had to thank her the next time.

People were rushing towards the exit and it was like a rushing stream, Colin joined into the tide. Once he was outside, he was glad to be out of that small theatre and inhaled deeply, his eyes searching for a familiar face. He found one, not the one he was looking for but still, a smile appeared on his face.

"I didn't know you were into theatre," Colin stated, making Michelle glare at him.

"I'm not. I am responsible for the lightning," she said. "I've grown to like it a little though."

She was a bit quiter than usual and Colin sensed that there was something to unfold there but that had to wait since Peter was coming towards him, leaving his friends behind.

Colin bid a brief goodbye to the girl and met Peter in the middle, smiling softly.

"Hi."

"Hey."

"So. It was a nice play," Colin said and tried not to cringe. He had a crush and now he had forgetten how to speak with intelligance, brilliant.

Peter didn't seem to mind it, he was wearing a plain white shirt and a jacket which was fancier then his usual shirts with texts or hoodies. His curls looked a little less wild as well, though, Colin liked his messy curls.

"Better than I imagened," Peter said, staring at Colin for a moment, he added. "You look... nice. I mean the blue looks good, with your eyes and all. Ugh- just. You  look fine."

For a moment, Colin just glared as he was focused on not blushing or anything like that but he couldn't contain his smile. "Thank you. I-"

He was interrupted by Aamir and Aura coming towards them. Aura was changed into her normal clothes yet still had the make up from the play on and Aamir had his usual smile on. The boy gave them an odd look as his eyes travelled between Peter and Colin with his smile widening. Suddenly, Colin was filled with a sense that Aamir knew, knew about his crush and all. He tried to shake of that feeling, surely he was not that obvious?

Colin cleared his throat and said, "You were really good, Aura. I mean, might be the best as well."

Aura raised a brow and she looked suspicious but gave him a little smile. That was a first.

"We are waiting for our parents," Aamir chimed in. "Oh, in fact my mom is here. Mom, over here!"

Colin returned to see the woman, she was a bit younger than he imagined a mom with fifteen years old kids- right. Adoption was a thing, so he pushed that thought out of his mind. The woman smiled gently at the sight of her children and came towards their way.

"Mom, you know of Peter," Aamir said. "And this is Colin, he transfered a few months into this year."

The woman shook Peter's hand first and Peter had a tight smile on- Colin could relate, he was never good with parents. Then she turned to Colin and for a brief second she hesitated.

"Its nice to meet you Ms. Geller," Colin said and the woman smiled and shook his hand.

"Right back at you," she said, she had a sporty yet elegant style and for some reason, Colin wanted to respect the woman. She also looked a little familiar as well.

Aamir talked even more than usual for a few minutes and Peter was unusually silent. The Gellers left, once more leaving Peter and Colin by themselves.

"Its her."

"What?"

"Ms. Geller is the kickass lady that kicked my ass! Oh my god, I think she recognized you!"

Colin's heart started to beat faster yet he tried to stay calm, his phone was ringing and he sent the unknown number to messages with shaky hands. He got even more panicky as he spotted his friends, Gwen Liz and Sam were coming towards their way and he felt like trowing up.

"Your place, tomorrow morning. We'll talk," Colin held Peter's hand and squeezed, Peter nodding rapidly.

Colin tried to pull away but Peter held on to him. "Be careful."

.

Colin only slept for a few hours, he looked horrible the next morning, it was almost scary. The amount of sleepless nights he had been having was seriously bad for his health, like, he was not so tall and if he kept on doing shit like this, he was sure that it would affect his teenage hormones or something.

Still, he left the house before his dad was awake, left a note for Cory stating that he would hit the gym and he hopped on to his bike. The ride to Peter was blurry since his mind was racing faster than the bike, thinking about all the encounter he had with the Gellers.

Did Aamir and Aura know that their mother was excellent at fist fights? Or possibly, that she was a theif, a professional one too? Oh god, were they in it? Well, that seemed impossible with Aamir's sunny smile and the general pureness he was radiating but Aura had always been a little scary.

His mind was going to explode.

He ran the staires of Peter's house and almost banged on the door, thankfully Aunt May was out with friends for a sunday breakfast according to Peter's text.

Time was indeed relative, Colin was expreriencing it to its fullest once more. Of course he knew that the theorem had more to the with science and physics and all but he liked to think that the relativity came with the way we percieved time. It all made sense when you internalized the fact that time seemed to go faster when you were having a good time. And it stretched and streched, seconds felt life minutes, even a small eternity when things seemed to go down hill- it was a part of humans survival mood, he guessed. As he waited for Peter the open the door, countless thoughts rushed to his mind and most of them included imagining Peter laying in a dark allyway because he was out doing something heroic.

Time went slower, because Colin was scared, even terrified.

He launched himself on Peter when he opened the door, hugging him tighter than he ever did and the other boy embraced him without hesitation.

Colin always knew that this Spider-Man stuff was dangerous, just last week he had treated Peter's cuts. However, he was also treating this as a fairytale where he was friends with the hero or you know, he wished to be the love interest. It was a bigger story than him though, and his feelings, this was his and Peter's life at stake.

Peter seemed to get it since he didn't say anything as he let him inside, Colin dropped his bag on the ground and threw his coat on the couch.

"I barerly slept," Colin stated as he slumped on the nearest couch, yawning a little. He was exhausted.

Peter on the other hand, was all jitttery and he couldn't sit down, he kept pacing the living room. "Well, I didn't sleep. At all. I drank lots of lots of lots of coffee though."

Huh, that explained a lot of things.

"I think she recognized me," Colin said, there was no need the sugarcoat the situation, they were going to tackle this head on. "She didn't seem murderous though. Maybe we can give her stuff back and-"

"No, of course not. We can't give the bad guy their guns back. The bad woman. Ugh, she cannot be alone since the robbiers were a team work. Oh god, is one of my best friends a criminal?!"

Colin pinched his nose like an old lady with a headache. "Don't be silly, Aamir is as harmless as a puppy."

"Fair point," Peter mumbled. "Do you think they know? Why was their own bakery was robbed? Maybe Ms. Geller staged it but for what? Mabye she is fighting with her criminal friends-"

"Peter, slow down," Colin grabbed him by Peter's wrist to stop him from pacing, pulling him down next to him on the ground. "We can think this through together, okay? So, the other day she pretended to rob a bank but she was just trying to get you there because she knows we have her guns and hardrive-"

Peter was still fidgety but as they talked to form a plan, both of them seemed more relaxed.They had the bag, which was the leverage, she was not going to kill them in their sleeps at least.

They were going at it for over an hour when the doorbell rang, Peter got up tp welcome May as Colin sat with worries in his mind but he was more at ease.

"What..." He heard Peter exclaim and his head snapped into the door's direction, ready to jump to his feet.

Yet, Peter was not in danger, he was actually hugging someone with full force. A boy who was taller then Peter and he had a smile on as he hugged Peter back, burying his head into his neck at some point.

Um, what?

"Harry! You didn't even tell me you're back!"

Oh. As they pulled apart, Colin continued to stare. He wanted to sink into the couch and disappear as he took in Harry's fancy clothes, styled hair and devilishly handsome smile. "Its called a surprise and what is a better surprise than Harry Osborn in the flesh?"

Oh.

As if Colin didn't have a lot on his plate already.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

this chapter was so fun to write and harry is here and the bad lady is aamir's and aura's mom??!?! haha, i think i'm clever sometimes.

i've been trying to hint at it from the begining but i was very subtle about it so its normal that no one guessed it :) what will happen next, we'll see!

btw i've been hinting at a couple for a very long time now, again, very subtle. i hinted at two different couples in this chapter as well. i would like to write about them when i finish this book (um, spin-offs y'all)

ANYWAYS. i hope you liked this one. we are near to the end of part 2 and part 3 is homecoming :)

let me know what you feel with a comment!