pairings: peter parker x reader, mentions of ned, betty, mj, and brad
warnings: unrequited love (kind of?? implied), lotsss of pining and fluff, a little long
about: ! (DF4) "you fell asleep, i couldn't move." + (DF31) "maybe if you stop staring at her and actually talk to her, you might have a chance."
a/n: been wanting to write a peter parker friends to lovers for a while, so thank you so so much for requesting this. i swear i don't usually take this long?? i got carried away and it got way longer than i expected, i hope you enjoy! thank you for requesting!

peter thinks it's hopeless. the cliche he's stuck in seems cruel- no matter what the movies you (and, fine, yes, him sometimes) make him watch say. nothing that happens in them ever transpires to real life; beautiful girls don't fall in love with their nerdy best friends and guys like peter parker don't get the girl.

it's fun to fantasize, though. and especially fun to look at you, particularly when you're laying on his bed, oblivious to him standing in the doorway, observing as you twist your neck to get a good look at the polaroids he hung up on his wall. a familiar smile grows on your face when your eyes scan them, flickering to the polaroid camera you got him for christmas years ago.

you move to try to get a better look at them without standing up, glancing down when you feel a sharp edge poke at your skin. he watches as your eyebrows furrow in possibly the prettiest way possible and you pull out a polaroid from under you. and oh, peter is just now realizing exactly what that photo is and why it's on his bed instead of hanging off the empty miniature clothespin that comes from the pack you thrust at his chest when you noticed the increasing pile of pictures on his desk.

he's moving on autopilot towards you, the foot already halfway through the door used as a stepping stone to go to your side faster. he's with you in less than three steps, tugging on your ankle and then tackling you as sensibly as possible, laying his whole body on yours. you oof, dropping the picture, having seen it for too little to really question it, and laugh breathlessly.

"pete!" you wheeze, curling your arms around his back, one of your hands absentmindedly drawing figures through his hoodie and your other one inching up to his hair, already beginning to thread through the chocolate curls.

"yes?" he hums innocently, furtively grabbing the polaroid you dropped and shoving it in the pocket of his hoodie before his arms wrap around your thighs.

"i told you if you keep doing that, one day you're gonna get hurt," you scold, looking attentively as peter leans his head against your chest.

"me?" he questions, feeling you nod under his cheek.

"uh huh, you. you'll hit your head or something. for a spider-"

"spiderman. superhero," peter corrects.

you ignore him, "you are really clumsy." peter huffs in dissent, letting a comfortable silence blanket over the both of you for a minute before he looks up at you. "what?" you ask, a smile brimming at the edges of your words.

you're so pretty, peter wants to say, but instead, he goes with a more best-friend-friendly question, "d'you wanna watch a movie?"

you nod at him, pulling your hands away from his head to play with the strings of his hoodie, "sure, what do we want to watch today?" peter's eyes immediately light up, and you realize you never actually needed to ask.

"fine," you agree, trying not to grin too hard at the way his face brightens. "which one?" you request, watching his freckled cheeks flush pink in excitement.

"sixth one. the best one, of course."

you smirk, shrugging, "right, don't know why i asked, i basically know the movie word for word now." peter can't help but give you heart eyes at the knowledge of your knowing the script of his favorite movie. god, you really were the dream girl.

"'kay, go make some popcorn and get everything ready while i go to the bathroom," you request, tapping peter's shoulder as a way to tell peter to let you out from under his body weight. he does the complete opposite of what you imply, however, nuzzling further into your chest and inhaling deeply. "peter," you laugh, poking his shoulder again.

"'m comfy," he mumbles, eyes closed.

"pete, c'mon, i gotta pee and you're lying on my bladder," you whine, "also, don't you wanna watch episode six of star wars while i eat popcorn and play with your hair?" you singsong.

he's suddenly moving his body off of yours to let you go, although not before pressing a sloppy- friendly- kiss to your arm, "hurry up."

you giggle as you stand, stretching out your limbs and walking to the bathroom while peter watches you walk away. once he hears the bathroom door shut, he digs his hands into his pockets, fingers tugging on the polaroid he had shoved inside. a smile grows on his face without his permission when he holds it at his stomach, the light reflecting off of the smile that was printed on the picture.

he traces a nail over your face, bright and open in the way that makes you gleam. it's his favorite picture ever, the only one that managed to catch you so in your element, your natural halo of glow apparent in your outline. peter had scrawled the words best girl in red marker on the white space at the bottom- something he thought he could explain away easily if he had to.

the picture had its own designated space on his wall, right in the middle so the importance was clear, but it was rarely actually up there, instead always next to him for inspiration when he was doing homework and on his dresser for when he couldn't sleep.

his lips quirk one last time at the photograph before walking to the wall where all the rest of them reside. he hangs it up, glancing at it once more until he turns to walk out of his room.

the movie is ready to play when you walk into the living room, and peter is in the kitchen making your popcorn. "it smells good," you say in a greeting, sniffing the air and exhaling in satisfaction.

peter laughs, "you do that every time we have a movie night."

you tilt your head at him."do what?"

he motions to you, "that. the whole smelling thing and letting me know how good it smells, it's cute."

your face heats when it slips out of his lips, pausing to absorb the words he doesn't seem to have noticed he said. his back is to you, dumping the popcorn into a bowl for you. you can't see it, but he's freaking out, trying to think of an excuse if you decide it was too weird. you don't do anything to imply that, though, just blink until the words dissolve in the air.

"thanks," you finally reply, as nonchalant as you can make it while you grab his m&ms.

he hums in response, turning around to head to the couch, "star wars time," he winks, making you grin.

you follow him as he heads to the couch, settling down next to him once he puts on the movie. the star wars theme starts, the tune fringed by peter's humming. cute, you think, snuggling deeper into the crook of his arm and shoving popcorn into your mouth.

"hmm, good," you compliment, watching the scenes you'd seen so many times pass on the screens. you mouth along when you recognize the lines until your eyes feel heavy and they shut completely.

-

quiet thwips wake you up hours later, when the black of the night has bled the sky blue and the stars have littered over the clouds, the moon replacing the sun. you see that the movie is long over when you blink yourself awake, beginning to cuddle deeper into your pillow when you realize it's too warm and hard to be a pillow.

you are met with the vision of your best friend, lip tugged in between his teeth as he concentrates on something behind you. he doesn't seem to notice that you're awake, trying to remain as still as possibly while the thwip noises continue.

he mutters a curse, scrunching his nose adorably before flicking his eyes to you. they widen when he notices you're awake, dropping his hand.

"what're you doing?" you yawn, sitting up and away from the warmth of peter's embrace.

"uh- i just- the movie ended and you didn't wake up, so i tried to get the remote, then i got hungry..." he scratches the back of his head awkwardly, scanning the room and you turn to observe, stunned to see the mess of webs and dropped items you weren't sure how you didn't hear.

"oh my god, what the- did you try to get everything with your webs?" you ask in bewilderment, eyeing a bag of gummy worms open and on the floor, you snap your neck towards him to observe his burning cheeks.

"um. yes," he confesses, blushing harder.

"why didn't you just get up?" you question, looking back at the ruined living room, exhaling in surprise as you notice the remote on the ground.

"you... you fell asleep on me. i couldn't move."

you pause, tilting your head slightly to look at peter, "pete, god, that's so sweet. but you really don't need to..." you motion to the dropped items, "do all that," you laugh. peter shrugs, and you notice the tips of his ears are red, too.

"i didn't want to wake you up. i know how much of a light sleeper you are."

you feel like you're melting, every single muscle in your body drooping in the loveliness that was peter parker. you weren't sure how the boy was real. you suddenly drop yourself on him again, wrapping your arms around his burning neck, "thank you, peter," you say into his skin.

like a reflex, his own arms go around your waist, holding you securely so you won't fall, "'f course."

a moment of quiet follows until peter's stomach rumbles suddenly, making you laugh, "i think i've starved you long enough. you pick today. also, when did you get so ripped? your arms are so big-"

peter cuts you off with a groan, dropping his head on your shoulder, "you had to ruin the moment-"

-

peter doesn't know what it is with you (actually, he does) that makes you so distracting. you're just waiting in line for lunch, standing next to mj and laughing occasionally when she says something. all you're doing is standing, and maybe it's peter's boy-hormones combined with his spider-hormones that magnify every single perfect feature of yours, but he can't take his eyes off of you. you're so pretty. the curve of the smiles that pulls into your cheeks, the twinkle that remains permanent in the color of your eyes, the way you look in that skirt-

"maybe if you stop staring at her and actually talk to her, you might have a chance," a voice points out from next to him. peter scoffs, ripping his sight away from you to turn to ned.

"i talk to her all the time. she's my best friend."

ned shakes his head and sighs, "you talk to her about star wars, you talk to me about star wars, how is that supposed to help you have a chance-"

"i have a chance," peter mumbles, trying to believe it himself, "she knows that she and you stand at different levels of best friends-"

ned looks offended, "different levels? what is that supposed to mean-"

peter stares exasperatedly at his best friend, "it means i want to date her and i don't want to date you-"

"that's a little rude-"

"hey you guys," you greet, sitting down on the seat in front of peter's and patting the seat next to you for mj. she stares at you silently, and you frown, patting the seat harder, "sit." you instruct. she sighs and does what she's told. "what were you guys talking about?" you ask, picking up your small plate of cherry pie to replace the bowl of orange slices that you took from peter's plate.

"thank you," peter mumbles, digging his fork into the pie the moment you set it down. you hum, stealing a cherry tomato from his salad.

"oh, you know. the usual, your friendship with peter," the latter shoots him a look and you raise an eyebrow.

"that's the usual? a little strange, don't you think?"

ned shrugs, "did you know that you and i stand at 'different levels' as peter's best friends?" peter nearly chokes on his pie, glaring at ned. you cock your head at peter, thinking as you steal another tomato.

"i... guess i thought so? i've known peter since, like, preschool, and we tell each other everything."

"everything, huh?" ned wonders, a sound of pain falling from his lips when peter kicks him under the table. "peter." he hisses.

mj narrows her eyes at the two boys, "what is going on with you guys today? you're acting weirder than normal." peter's face screws up in confusion, looking to you for help.

you shrug, "she's right."

"i usually am," mj mutters.

"so what is it?" you query, popping an orange slice as peter cringes at the mere thought of the taste.

"peter has a crush," ned informs helpfully, oblivious to peter's dismay.

"i- i don't-"

you blink, feeling mj's elbow shove into your ribs as her own way to make sure you're okay. you ignore her, and it tells her everything she needs to know. "it's liz, right?" you guess, trying to mask the hurt on your face with a teasing smile, "i saw you looking at her the other day. she's pretty."

"no! it's not- i mean, yes, liz is pretty, but i don't like her or anything- ned doesn't know what he's talking about," peter rambles.

"pete, you don't have to be embarrassed, i'm just upset you didn't tell me," you lie.

peter's eyebrows furrow, "you're just upset that... i didn't tell you?" he repeats. you nod, biting into another orange slice. "just that?" he asks meekly. you cock your head at him.

"i just- never mind. it's not liz," he says, poking at his pie.

"so you admit you have a crush?" you start with a fake smirk, jabbing at your best friend with your fork, "just not on liz?"

"i didn't... i didn't say that-" peter stutters.

your eyes narrow at him, lip tugged between your teeth, "i'm gonna find out who it is by the end of the day."

peter is unfortunately sure you will. he's not subtle as is, but you're never deliberately looking for the signs, which makes it a lot easier to hide his embarrassingly large crush on you. but now, you'll be paying attention to his every move, and knowing you, he knows you won't stop until you find out what you want, unless he tells you to back off. but, does he want you to back off?

he pushes his tray away, suddenly not feeling so hungry.

-

you stay true to your promise, hanging off his arm for the rest of the day, observing the way he acts around some of your classmates, but somehow not noticing the way he blatantly refuses to look at you- which proves humiliatingly difficult; peter never realized exactly how much he turned to look if you laughed at the joke too, or to catch one of your smiles when you hear something funny or peter whispers a joke into the shell of your ear.

by the end of the day when you're walking to the train station together, you're groaning at him, putting your full weight on his arm as you tug at him. "who is it? is it betty? oh my god, is it mj? is that why you kept looking at her?" you ask excitedly. peter wants to tell you the truth: he wasn't looking at mj, he was looking at you, because as much as he tried, he couldn't pry his attention off of you, who just so happened to sit next to mj.

"not mj. not betty," he replies, pulling you inside the subway and scanning for free seats. you trail behind him when he finds a spot, letting you take it as he stands in front of you.

"not them... it has to be liz, right?" you pry, sighing when he shakes his head. "brad- it's brad, right?" you grin, whining when he denies it again. "can you just tell me if i got them already? i've practically said everyone in the school," you complain, "they do go to school with us, right?"

at peter's nod, you drop your head against his abdomen, "and you have not said their name yet."

"peter," you drag out, reaching out for his hand to pull it, "just tell me! i can probably set you up with them!"

"y/n, just drop it," he sighs, and you sigh too, mumbling a fine before noticing an older lady standing at the door. you wave her over, standing next to peter and letting her take your seat. peter feels like his heart will pop out of his chest.

the bumps of the subway push you close enough to him to feel the thundering of his heart, and your eyebrows knit together in worry, "are you okay? your heart's beating, like, really fast-"

yeah and your hand on my chest is not helping- "'m fine."

"is it because of the crush thing?" yes, "because i'm sorry about annoying you about it so much, if you don't want to talk about it, i won't bother you with it. just know that if they don't like you back, they're insane, because you, peter parker, are a ca-"

it was like a rubber band snapping, and peter suddenly couldn't help it anymore, pushing his lips against yours, effectively cutting you off and catching you so off-guard, you freeze for a second before reacting, pulling his jaw closer. you almost tug him back when he pulls away, before you remember you're still standing on a crowded, moving subway, and while kissing your best friend had been all you wanted for way too long, you were absolutely going to miss your stop if you didn't stop.

"i- i'm sorry, i just-" peter stammered, stepping back.

"no! so, please don't apologize, seriously, it's fine, it's, like, better than fine."

a beat of awkward silence passed before the tube halted to the stop right before yours. "it's you. in case that didn't... come clear. you're the person i like," peter informs quietly.

"really?" you ask, cheeks already pulling in a shy smile.

"really," peter assures.

this time, you don't really care if you miss your stop, and neither does peter, now that he knows that, sometimes, peter parker does get the girl.