Requested by _soeen: Peter and Y/N "hate" each other. It's the reader's birthday but MJ and her other friends forget. Peter then secretly gives Y/N a cake and confesses his real feelings through a note, but he doesn't put his name on the note. Y/N investigates who her mystery admirer is, and she finds out when she sees Peter's writing.

I walked into school, a smile on my face as I walked in. Today was my eighteen birthday, AKA my last birthday to be spent in high school, and so I was looking forward to it more than most. I'd put on my nicest outfit and had done all of my makeup so that I'd be ready if MJ or Betty whisked me away somewhere after school. I headed to my locker and smiled at MJ as she stood at her locker next to mine.

"Morning, MJ." I smiled at her.

"Hey, girl. You look nice, what's the occasion?" She asked. My eyes widened slightly, my heart dropping.

"You don't know what today is?" I gulped, double-checking before I let myself get upset over nothing.

"No? Is it a special day or something?" She questioned. I bit my lip and desperately tried to hold back tears. My best friend in the whole world had forgotten my birthday. My eighteen birthday as well. It was a big one, and MJ had absolutely no idea.

"Um...no, it's not, I-I just felt like dressing up today." I lied.

"Oh, cool. Well, you look cute." She smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." I mumbled before walking away and heading into class. I kept my head down, not fancying letting my classmates see me cry as I walked in. I sat down and gulped harshly as I got my stuff out. I looked up timidly and looked around to make sure that no one was paying attention to me. What a fucking bad idea that was. I looked behind me, my eyes wavering as someone was staring at me. Peter fucking Parker. Brilliant. Peter and I hated each other, I wasn't exactly sure why, but we'd just never gotten along. Well, he'd never gotten along with me. I secretly had a major crush on the boy, one that it seemed easier to control by pretending that I hated him like he hated me. The way that he carried himself, the way that he was just nice to everyone made me very attracted to him. Even the way that he hated me just presented itself in ignoring me instead of being a dick or something like that. Not to mention the looks. Fuck, that boy was attractive. His hazel curls were always shaped perfectly, and when they were messy, he looked even better. His eyes were a gorgeous chocolate colour, and don't get me started on his body. Whenever he wore just a t-shirt, I'd secretly hope for him to cross his arms over his chest so that his biceps would flex, because he was in amazing shape and I loved it. But every single time that I saw him, I had to remind myself of the fact that I "hated" him. Which is what made it far from ideal: the fact that he was the sole person in my class who had noticed my upset. Perfect. He looked at me sadly, making me gulp and look down as I tried to ignore his gaze on me. A confrontation with him was the last thing that I needed today.

I sat against the locker in the empty hallway, tears still running down my cheeks as I stared at my hands. My sixth period class was meant to be with MJ and Betty, so considering that both had forgotten about my birthday, I had decided to skip class. I looked up as I heard someone jogging along the hallway, my eyes wavering as it was Peter. His eyebrows furrowed as he saw me, making me sigh as he looked down the deserted hallway before looking back at me.

"Um...hey, Y/N...you okay?" he asked slowly.

"Why do you care? You hate me, remember?" I scoffed. He sighed and clenched his jaw, his eyes wavering as he walked towards me.

"Us not being friends doesn't impede my ability to be a good listener. And you're clearly upset, so I want to know why." he shrugged as he sat down next to me on the floor. My eyebrows furrowed and I looked at him.

"Again, Peter, why?" I asked, my brain in utter confusion as I tried to work him out. I wasn't sure about him, but I wasn't about lending the people that I hated a shoulder to cry on. So, why was he doing it for me?

"Talk." he returned simply. I sighed, his gaze staying on me as I looked down.

"Today is my eighteenth birthday. But MJ and Betty, my best friends in the world, both forgot." I mumbled quietly. Peter's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh, shit...I'm sorry, Y/N. Is that why you're all dressed up today?" he asked. My eyebrows furrowed and I looked up at him.

"You noticed that I dressed up?" I asked. His eyes widened further, his cheeks turning a deep red colour as he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"I-I mean...y-yeah. You usually just wear jeans and shit, so I noticed when you came in with full makeup on and a dress." he nodded. I sighed and bit my lip.

"Well, thanks for noticing, I guess. MJ noticed but she didn't put two and two together and figure out why I was dressed up. I don't know, it's just not nice having none of my friends remember my birthday." I mumbled.

"I get that. I'm sorry that I didn't remember either." He spoke. I looked at him.

"Peter, we're not friends, why would you have remembered?" I scoffed. His eyes wavered and he gulped before looking down.

"Um...I don't know, forget that I said anything." He muttered. I sighed and looked at him.

"I better go. But thank you for checking up on me. I appreciate it." I nodded.

"Yeah, it's okay. No one should be crying on their birthday." He shook his head. I gave him a small smile as I stood up and grabbed my bag.

"I'll see you around, Peter." I nodded.

"Yeah, see you around." He returned. I gave him a small smile as I headed down the corridor, feeling Peter's eyes glued to my back as I left the school.

~The next day~

I walked into school, my eyes tired from crying as I walked in. I slumped to my locker, glad that I hadn't bumped into MJ or Betty yet. I opened my locker and gasped. My eyes widened as a cake sat in my locker, the beautiful icing spelling out "Happy birthday!" On it. I gulped and looked around, seeing if anyone was looking suspicious before looking back at the cake. My eyebrows furrowed further as I saw an envelope leaning against the side of it. I grabbed it and opened the envelope. I bit my lip, a small smile tugging onto my lips as I opened the birthday card and read the message:

I know that this is a day late, but happy birthday. Someone as beautiful and kind as you deserves to have the best day, hence the cake. I'm sorry that I can't tell you this in person, but as it stands right now, I'm too scared to. You're too amazing and beautiful, and I'm too in love with you to have the guts, so I decided to write it instead.

I hope you had a good birthday.

Love from - ? xxx

My eyes widened as I read the signature. When I had started to read the card, I had assumed that it was from MJ, until it started to get into all of the "I'm too scared to talk to you" stuff. Who was this person? I turned the card over, my eyes scanning it for any other hint of who it could be. I didn't find anything.

"Hey, loser." I looked up at MJ as she walked towards me.

"Hey." I mumbled before looking back at the card. Her gaze followed mine, her eyebrows furrowing.

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's a birthday card." I nodded. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, shit...for your birthday yesterday, fuck, I'm sorry." she groaned. I sighed and looked up at her.

"I won't lie, MJ, I'm upset, but let's not focus on that right now. Whoever left this and the cake didn't sign their name." I shook my head.

"They left a cake too?" she scoffed. I nodded and pointed to the baked treat still sitting in my locker, making her look at it.

"Shit. Whoever gave you this stuff must really like you." she chuckled.

"Okay, but that's the problem. They didn't sign it, MJ, look." I spoke as I handed her the card. Her eyebrows furrowed as she read it.

"Huh...I recognise the handwriting, but I can't figure out where from. Did you tell anyone yesterday that it was your birthday?" she asked.

"I don't remember telling anyone, no." I shook my head.

"Well, we need to figure out who it is, because they just admitted some serious feelings for you. You could end up with a boyfriend or girlfriend if we can figure this out." she smirked, making me chuckle and shake my head as she wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"MJ, imagine if this was Peter. Maybe we could finally drop this stupid "hate" thing and actually make it work. That is, if it is him." I teased.

"A girl can dream." MJ returned. I smirked and shook my head, MJ wrapping her arm around mine as we walked to class.

I sat in science class with MJ, all of us waiting for Mr Harrington to pair us up for the experiment that we were meant to be doing today.

"Alright, we're going to shake it up a bit today. MJ, you're with Ned, Betty and Flash together please, Y/N and...Y/N, let's put you with Peter." Mr Harrington nodded. I sighed and briefly closed my eyes in exacerbation before standing up. Peter ironically was probably the best person to be paired with since he was so smart, but I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing him given our conversation yesterday. He had seen me at my weakest, and whilst he wasn't actively a dick to me, part of me still wondered if he used my weaknesses against me behind my back. I gave Peter a small smile, him returning it as I sat next to him.

"Hey, um...how are you today?" he gulped as he looked at me.

"Pete, if it's okay, let's just not talk about what happened yesterday. Ever. You caught me in a very emotional and vulnerable state, one that I'm not exactly proud of." I sighed and looked at him. He looked at me with slightly wide eyes.

"I-I mean, sure, but you don't ever have to apologise for your feelings. You were upset, you had a right to be and that's okay. You should never have to apologise for being vulnerable." he shook his head. I bit my lip, tears pricking my eyes at his kind words.

"Thanks, Peter. I appreciate that." I nodded. He returned it and gave me a small smile.

"So, um...what chemicals are we mixing together first?" I asked. He nodded and sat back up straight.

"Right, the experiment. Um, well, bicarbonate of soda and hydrochloric acid wouldn't work together-." my eyes flicked down to his notes as he spoke, my eyes widening. My breath hitched in my throat, my heart starting to pound in my chest as I saw his writing. The writing that was identical to the writing on the note. Oh, fuck.

"Y/N." I snapped back and looked at Peter, swallowing thickly as he looked at me.

"You okay?" he chuckled. I just stared at him, my mouth hanging open as I desperately tried to work out what to say.

"You...y-you're the one who left the cake and the note..." I mumbled. His eyes widened, his cheeks flushing immediately telling me my answer.

"W-what? I don't know what you're talking about-."

"Your reaction tells me everything, Peter. What the fuck?" I gulped.

"I'm not doing this here. Meet me at my locker after sixth period, I'll explain everything." he nodded. I sighed and returned it, keeping my eyes on Peter for a moment longer as he looked down at his notes. I had been joking when I had said to MJ that it could have been Peter. But apparently I'd struck the nail on the head.

The bell marking the end of the day rang throughout the school, making my eyes widen as I shoved all of my stuff into my bag. I rushed out of the class and joined the stream of bustling students. I gulped, my heart starting to pound more harshly in my chest as I saw Peter leaning against his locker as he waited for me.

"This is it, Y/N. There's no going back now." I mumbled as I walked towards him. He spotted me, his eyes widening slightly and his Adam's apple bobbing in a gulp as he stood up straight.

"Hey." he chuckled nervously.

"Hey. So, um...how do we do this?" I gulped. He returned it and timidly watched the flow of students as it thinned, soon leaving just the two of us alone in the hallway. He looked back at me and took a deep breath.

"You're right, Y/N. I was the one who left the note and cake. At first, it was just because I saw how upset you were yesterday, and no one should feel like that. But then...I don't know. I saw it as an opportunity to finally end this whole hate thing and tell you how I really feel. I can't bear the fact that you think that I hate you, and that you hate me too. Because the truth is that I really fucking like you, but I'm awful at being truthful about my feelings, so just ignoring you felt like the easiest way to figure that out. But then somehow, that turned into us hating each other." he sighed. I returned it and bit my lip, my mind racing as it tried to comprehend everything that he'd just admitted.

"First of all, Pete, thank you. What you did was insanely sweet. As was the cake." I teased in an attempt to ease the tension. It worked as he chuckled and shook his head before looking down.

"And, well, I feel the same way. I really like you too, and it's beyond me how we got to the point of pretending to hate each other, especially since we actually like each other." I admitted. He looked at me.

"Wait, you...you like me back?" he gulped.

"Yeah, Pete. I do." I nodded. He breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes, making me laugh as he held his hand to his chest and leant his body and head back against the lockers.

"Thank god, I've been shitting myself over that all day." he chuckled and shook his head, making me smile and bite my lip.

"So, where do we go from here?" I shrugged. He looked at me and stood up properly.

"How about I take you out right now? To make up for yesterday, and the last few years of making you think that I hated you." he chuckled and nodded.

"I'd love that, Pete." I smiled. He returned it and bit his lip before extending his hand to me. I chuckled and shook my head, making his smile widen as I placed my hand into his. The boy gently intertwined our fingers, making my heart practically explode out of happiness as we headed out of the school, and to our first date.