A/n: I started this series back in like 2019 I think, published 2 chapters, and put it on hiatus so here I am revamping it and finishing it lol A few things: NWH is mostly canon, Endgame is not canon

With the slam of a neighboring door, Peter's eyes shoot open. He's laid in his bed and only a few seconds pass before a sense of panic floods through him. In a swift motion, he reaches for his phone, ripping it from the charger, and sees he was supposed to be awake nearly twenty minutes ago.

He overslept. Again.

Peter shoots out of bed, annoyance consuming him as he frantically tries to get out of bed, tripping from the tangled blanket. His face nearly smacks the wood floor before he catches himself but there's no time for a sigh as relief so he's back to his feet in seconds, grabbing clean clothes and getting changed.

This has become somewhat of a normal experience. In high school, the whole balancing Spider-Man and school weren't too difficult. High school was much easier but after entering college, he's been slipping a little. More late nights as Spider-Man, patrolling and fighting crime, balancing late nights with friends, and late nights studying. His grades have been perfectly fine but his sleep schedule is an utter wreck and now he's left constantly oversleeping and hoping he just manages to make it to class without being late.

As soon as Peter gets his shoes on, he's running out of the door. On the way through the dorm hallway, he pumps into a few people, quick apologies spurring from his lips without slowing pace. His feet patter against the pavement and the lingering summer sun hits his arms. Peter's heart pounds inside his chest as he enters the building off the quad. More apologies spurred from his lips as he bumped into a few people. The classroom comes into view and to his relieved disbelief, it's still open. Barely.

The professor starts closing it just as Peter closes in. He quickly speeds up and comes into view. With heaving breaths, Peter reaches the door and barely stops it from closing. Peter offers an apologetic expression as the professor looks him over. The professor shakes his head, a few loose grey hairs shake with him, but a very faint and gentle smile is written across his lips.

"Mr. Parker, cutting it close." The professor says, he's serious but it's said with a light-hearted tone.

"I'm sorry." Peter mutters while the door closes.

Peter doesn't spend time looking for a seat. He goes to the first open seat he spots, his cheeks tinting while a few people stare at him. He never did like it when people looked at him for being late. A breath falls from his lips as he sits behind a girl with pink hair. His heart rate starts to go back to normal as the professor takes the front of the class and gets ready for the lecture. Peter digs through his bag and pulls out a tablet with a holographic keyboard, a late graduation present from Tony.

The lecture proceeds and Peter is less than attentive, his mind focusing on the night before. A massive fire ripped through a seven-floor apartment. Peter didn't even think before going inside. It was reckless, thoughtless, and stupid. He's Spider-Man, not a firefighter. Of course, he did save a few people who likely would have perished if it weren't for him but Peter's suit isn't designed to withstand temperatures that hot. A bit of flaw the more he thinks about it. The fire was out of control and too hot. It was burning everything in its path within seconds. He's lucky he didn't die or get burned.

As the class goes on, Peter starts to focus more. His fingers tap against the opaque blue with the notes he knows he'll need. He might be tired from the night before but he needs to shove it aside if he wants to pass any of his classes. If he wants to do anything in any career, he needs to keep his head on straight and focus. In the ESU classrooms, he's Peter Parker, not Spider-Man. A student, not a hero. And he'd very much like to keep it that way, especially after everything that happened just a few years prior.

Everyone found out he was Spider-Man because of Mysterio and they thought he was the villain. After everything Spider-Man did, everyone was so quick to turn on him and not even bother to hear him out. Some guy in a fishbowl changed everyone's minds so quickly and maybe it shows that everyone just wants to find the villain in everyone. It doesn't matter how much good someone can do, if someone else paints them to be a villain, that's what they'll be. It was soul-crushing and it only got worse.

MJ and Ned got mixed into and were denied from their college choices as well, just being associated with him. He went to Dr. Strange and that opened the multiverse. Not only did everyone know Peter Parker was Spider-Man but then there were other villains from other Peter Parkers. He made the choice to let everyone forget he existed. Peter was not erased from existence, exactly, but no one remembered him. So, while MJ and Ned got their ESU acceptance letters, so did Peter because he was still a person who did in fact exist. So, for the whole first year, he tried his best to go back to balancing Spider-Man and being Peter Parker while also trying to get back in with MJ and Ned.

That was not easy.

But he did it. He became friends with them again and somehow, they seemed to break the spell Dr. Strange had cast and they remembered him. Memories are a powerful thing. Some wash away like sand on the coast but others are just embedded like scars. They fade over time but they never really go away and that's what happened. After being friends with them a few months, he felt he could confide in them because he always could before and sure enough, it worked.

When he told them he was Spider-Man, their memories came flooding back like a hurricane. Every memory they ever had of Peter came back. Things didn't really go back to normal-normal after that because they were so surprised and a bit hurt by it all. But, they're friends now, and things are good between the three of them. It took time but it worked. And knowing that, Peter worked with Dr. Strange to get a few more people to remember him like the other heroes. The only people who never forgot Peter was May and Dr. Strange, probably something about motherly love and Dr. Strange being the one that cast the spell. May's memory was a little spotty with some things about Peter but she knew him and she knew he was her nephew.

So, even though Peter has managed to come out of that mess on the other side, he would much prefer if that didn't happen again so he's been extra careful the last few years to not let anyone else know he's Spider-Man.

Before Peter knows it, the lecture is wrapped and everyone is dismissed. He grabs his belongings, putting the tablet in his bag as he gets to his feet. Peter shrugs his backpack onto his shoulders. He follows a few people out and checks his phone to see no new notifications, slight disappointment coming to him.

Everything outside seems peaceful. A few people are now scattered about the lawn either studying or chatting with a friend. Peter would like to be sitting on the lawn with friends but Ned and MJ have lectures all day, so today it's just him until his next class starts.

Peter walks to the library, figuring that would be a better location to get some studying done instead of being outside by himself. He takes his usual seat, the one closest to the door, ya know, in case there's any type of emergency be a call for the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He digs out his tablet and a textbook with an unopened bag of gummy worms. Gummy worms aren't an ideal breakfast but if he's being honest, he's not exactly hungry so any other food would just be a waste. Gummy worms are easy and they're better than nothing. Plus, they are tasty.

Only a few minutes pass before Peter feels someone sit in front of him but two seats to the right. He looks up and is met by Lily., She has rust colored-hair tied in a loose fishtail braid that falls over her right shoulder, ESU sweater dons her torso, and a Canon Eos dangles from her neck. Peter's seen her around campus a few times, she's usually with the very popular and well-liked Harry Osborn and his friends or some other guy Peter couldn't even begin to think of a name for.

Lily offers him an apologetic smile as she feels him staring at her, likely from pulling his thoughts away from studying. Peter's cheeks flush with her smile, but he looks back to his book while she pulls out an outdated laptop from her bag.

Lily's seen him around, too. He's always in a rush to go somewhere, presumably off-campus or he's with two of his friends, maybe the girlfriend if Lily had to take a guess, MJ. She has a class with MJ and she's always been nice to her, a little snarky which Lily finds funny but nice to her nonetheless. She hasn't got a clue who the other guy is that normally is with Peter but they seem close, based on the times she's seen them together.

While Peter went back to his own work, Lily went to her own laptop, trying to turn it on. Not ten minutes later, Lily is rapidly pressing the keys, a little aggressively from the sounds of it. Lily lets out a frustrated sigh, gaining Peter's attention again. He could hear the quiver in her sigh. And when he looks to her, he sees the look of disappointed that reads with clear transparency: laptop is out of commission.

"I-is everything...okay?" Peter asks in a hushed tone.

Lily looks over, her cheeks tinting knowing her frustration pulled him from what he was doing. "Uh, my laptop crashed and I kind of need it." Lily says with embarrassment, dodging eye contact.

"I can help? Maybe?" Peter offers. "I'm good with computers." He shrugs softly.

"You don't have to." Lily says gently, not one for troubling other people with needing their help.

"I don't mind." Peter sets his tablet to rest and marks the page in his textbook while Lily slides her laptop over.

"I just need my files from Lightroom." Lily explains. "Guess I should have just downloaded the app."

"Can you, uh, sync your stuff through the app?" Peter asks, glancing over the laptop as he starts working on the laptop, pressing a few keys.

"Yeah..." Lily lets out an embarrassed laugh. "It's just a big app, lots of data on it so it takes up like 4gb of space."

"That's pretty big for an app on your phone." Peter says.

"That's what I'm saying." Lily chuckles.

Lily is not happy about this whole laptop situation. This is a hand-me-down times three. It's old and bulky, it's actually a miracle it's lasted this long. But laptops are expensive. That said though, while she's seen Peter around campus and even attended some of the same parties, she has been wanting to try to talk to him. She knows MJ, kind of, and she's friends (or more?) with him. Lily doesn't really know because she'd never try to overstep anyone's relationship and she doesn't really wanna ask and sounds weird for noticing them together. But she's just kind of thought Peter was cute so while this was not the plan to talk to him, this gives her an opportunity.

"What's your name?" She asks, also making her realize she finds this boy cute and doesn't even know his name. Knows nothing about him actually.

"Peter." Peter looks up to her with a nervous smile. "Parker, Peter Parker." Peter spurs out and Lily thinks it's a bit endearing.

"Lily Magruder." Lily introduces herself with a sweet side smile. "Nice to meet you, Peter Parker."

Peter's brows furrow as he catches a glimpse of the device in her ear he's come to see quite often. He almost says something but then opts out figuring maybe that isn't the best form of a conversation and maybe it's a little rude. Not everyone is as open as Clint is. Plus, what was he gonna say? "Oh yeah, one of the AvengersI know because I'm Spider-Man has a hearing aid." That would be ugly and probably the worst possible thing he could say at the moment.

"Nice to meet you." Peter smiles sheepishly, looking back at the laptop. Peter's fingers work swiftly across the keyboard before a small but proud smile comes to his face. "Here, uh, y-you should probably save everything but it's, uh, it's working now." Peter slides it back to Lily while she smiles gratefully.

"You just saved my butt." She lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Peter."

Peter blushes again and he wants to talk to her. He should study but talking to her sounds like more fun right now. Peter's busy between classes and Spider-Man but he could use another friend so he might as well try now. Lily always seemed a bit intimidating around Harry, but Peter thinks it's just because it's Harry Osborn, he's always been a bit intimidating. Not in the scary villain kind of way but in the "who the hell is that charismatic" kind of way.

"Gummy worms?" Peter slides the bag towards her.

"Thank you." Lily grabs a few before sliding the bag back to him.

"Uh, so, what's your major?" Peter asks and Lily giggles softly, her finding him adorable.

"Wildlife biology, you?" She asks, Lily constantly glancing between him and her laptop.

"That sounds interesting." Peter's smile is gentle. "Uh, biochemistry." Peter states.

"Yeah, it's....interesting." Lily laughs softly. "My friend, Harry is majoring in biochemistry so that's cool." Lily's face lights up with Harry's name and it just rolls off her tongue.

Lily and Harry met her first year at ESU. They had a class together and happened to sit by each other. Harry took a quick liking to her, nothing really in particular. He just started talking one day, ranting about a girl who wasn't speaking to him anymore, and Lily just listened to him and then said she thought he was being stupid and he's too arrogant. That was the start of their friendship, Lily calling him stupid and arrogant. Harry laughed and followed it by saying he liked her. They've been friends ever since.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Peter nods quickly, pretending to ignore how she lit up with Harry's name. She said friend but is he really?. "Osborn, right? He's in one of my classes." Peter says quickly.

Lily nods quickly. "Yeah, he's got the name for himself, huh?" She scrunches her nose. "Do you not like him much?" Lily asks and Peter's brows raise with confusion. "You made a face." She lets out a half-laugh half-scoff quietly. "Usually it's a face people make when they don't like someone."

Peter shakes his head quickly. "No, no, uh, never really talked to him, I guess."

Peter didn't dislike Harry Osborn. He knew a few things about him besides him being the son of super successful Norman Osborn. Peter knew that Harry had a fling with more than a hand full of other girls, always threw the best parties, still maintains his grades. And everyone really likes him, Peter's never heard a bad word about the guy. He just doesn't know him well enough to have a well-thought out opinion.

"Yeah..." Lily looks down and back to Peter. "He's a lot of a person but he's not so bad, really. He's actually really nice and a good friend. You should try to talk to him, ya know, same major and all." Lily offers and she doesn't know why she does because she doesn't know Peter and maybe they'd hate each other. But it kind of seemed like the right thing to say.

Peter chuckles quietly. "Yeah, maybe." Peter grabs a gummy worm and opts to drop the Harry Osborn conversation. "Uh, why wildlife biology?"

"Oh, well my dad is a zookeeper." Lily explains with a beaming smile tht could light up the darkest corridor on the darkest day.

Peter beams in response. "What's, uh, what's that like?"

"Pretty cool, he's had to nurse a few animals back to health, not a lot or anything. He works with large carnivores so it's not like common or anything. But he's brought home a few babies in my life to do feedings."

"That's pretty cool." Peter says with honesty.

"Yeah, so I guess I got the whole love for animals thing from him."

"Do you wanna be a zookeeper like him?"

Lily shakes her head. "I don't think so." Her brows scrunch together. "I have an older brother who followed in those footsteps. Kind of wanna make my own name, ya know? Think I'd like to just research animals, help with conservation efforts, photograph them, stuff like that." Lily explains and Peter hangs onto every word but then they're interrupted.

Peter hears a scream in the distance, something no one else in the library can hear. It's outside but he heard it clear as day. The hairs on his arm start to stand and his heart picks up in his chest. Peter immediately starts packing up his things, making Lily confused. She thought they were having a good conversation but suddenly he's just leaving. Did she say too much? He did ask. But her attention is pulled away from him before she can ask. A text from J. Jonah Jameson lights up her screen telling her to get to the Brooklyn Bridge.

"I-I'm sorry, I gotta go." Peter rushes his words but Lily's quick to shake her head, packing up her things just as fast.

"No, it's okay, I have to go, too." Lily says quickly, stuffing her things into an orange backpack.

A very short feeling of relief comes to Peter, happy he wasn't letting Lily down which is a bit odd given they've just had one conversation but a conversation he didn't want to end. On the other hand, why does she have to suddenly leave? No one else could have heard that scream and no one else is packing up. Phones aren't exploding as if something major happened. Weird.

"I'll, uh, see you around?" Peter makes it a question, hoping she'd want to pick up the conversation the next time they saw each other.

"Yeah, around." Lily gives Peter a charming smile.

"Okay, cool, awesome." Peter shrugs his bag on. "Bye." He says it so fast, Lily barely catches it and in seconds, Peter was running for the exit.

Lily isn't far behind though. With any form of accident, Spider-Man is sure to be around and Lily is now on the hunt for him.