Bus Rides and Sweet Times
Pairing: Sam Alexander x Parker!Reader
Anon asked: Can you do a Sam Alexander x Reader, but you're Peter Parker's sister??
A/N: Totally staying with the tradition of badmouthing Peter at the end of my oneshots and I’m proud of it. Sorry it’s so late btw, I was on a hiatus when you had requested it
On your first day of Advanced Biology you had been sweating buckets. You were attending a biology class ahead of your grade through the Accolades programme and were considering faking temporary illness to skip the day.
It was nerve wracking to have to go into a class where everybody was older than you and could bully you. Last thing you wanted was people to shove you in lockers like your older brother, Peter.
Well that was before he became friends with the school’s toughest football player but still. You didn’t really want to go through the embarrassment of being shoved in a locker for 5 years before finally making an unlikely friendship and then have a last good year of high school.
But when you stepped through the door, you were immediately relieved to see a familiar face.
Sam Alexander wasn’t a friend of yours, he was one to your brother and they weren’t even that close, but even then, seeing recognition on his face made you oddly relieved.
“Sit wherever, Miss Parker.” Said the teacher before returning to the board.
For a second you wondered about sitting next to Sam but then realized it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. So, you just moved to the back of the class and tried to blend in with the walls.
It was no secret that you were insecure about being the youngest person in the class. You never answered, never asked questions and always tried not to participate. That’s why the teacher was always surprised whenever you got the highest grades.
She always made sure to praise you in front of the entire class which made you embarrassed but still proud.
And that’s when she got the idea of you tutoring one of her students after school. And you being the innocent girl who just didn’t know how to say no to a teacher, agreed.
That’s when you started to spend more time with none other than Sam Alexander.
You should be annoyed but really you were relieved that it wasn’t any stranger.
Yet another time that Sam saved your sanity by just having a recognizable face.
“Hey do you mind keeping this whole tutoring thing a secret?”
A part in you was half expecting him to say something like he didn’t want people to know he was hanging out with a geeky younger girl even though you knew he wasn’t the type to be so rude, regardless of what Peter said about him.
“Well, your brother and my friends are really smart. If they found out I was getting tutored by a girl who was a grade below me...”
He scratched his cheek nervously and you melted. He was just as insecure and unsure as you were and while your intellect sometimes made you feel out of place, he felt the same way about his.
So, you nodded and set a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring nod.
“I promise I won’t say anything.”
“Your brother won’t be curious?”
“I’ll think of something.”
Unfortunately, you wouldn’t have too long to come up with a suitable excuse.
You quickly got to work and explained the concepts and making sure he understood everything you were telling him, even drawing diagrams and things like that because you figured he was a visual learner more than textual.
After nearly an hour spent in the library together, you noticed your brother come in with Harry and MJ, probably wanting to get some lab manuals for chemistry. Once he saw you with his sort of friend, he immediately made his way over to the pair of you.
Sam immediately shot you a betrayed look but you didn’t even blink, turning back to your notes.
Just as you knew he would, your brother laughed and pointed at a slightly embarrassed Sam which made you irritated on the inside but you covered it with a plain expression.
“You’re getting tutored by my little sister?”
“Actually, he’s the one tutoring me.”
The two boys turned to you with shocked faces and you folded your arms over each other, raising a brow at Peter.
“Yeah, I keep missing class because I’m the lab assistant and I end up running late so Sam here promised to keep me in the loop.”
It wasn’t a lie, you were the lab assistant during Chemistry and as a result always had to clean up after your classmates after the period was over, but Peter didn’t need to know that you still managed to reach class on time because the teacher would spend the first 5 minutes reviewing the previous lesson.
Just as you knew he would, Peter bought the excuse, returning to his friends and telling you that he’d pick you up from your part-time job today, trying to be a good brother. But you knew it was because he found your co-worker cute.
“Thanks for that.” Sam spoke gently and you waved him off, leaning towards him again and pointing to the diagram of an operator.
“No problem, now back to Lac Operon.”
The next few weeks are spent the same way. Sam slowly brought his grades up in class tests and progress quizzes but the teacher still wanted you to continue with the tutoring sessions as your midterms were coming up.
That’s how you end up meeting and spending hours of your time with Sam, but it never really goes beyond tutoring and you never see each other outside of the library.
That is until one day you’re going straight home instead of going to your job like you usually do. You end up taking the same bus as Sam and sit beside him because it was the only seat open that wasn’t beside some older guy or a child.
Sitting next to you, he plans to do the same but when he glances at you, you’re slowly drifting off to sleep, letting your head lol to the side in an uncomfortable position.
So, he gently rests your head on his shoulder, his heart skipping a beat when you cuddled closer to him. He watched you on the ride home, just wondering when was the last time you got some rest.
You were beautiful, yes, but he wondered about the dark circles underneath your eyes and the tired frown on your face as you leaned against him, silently realizing how haggard you looked for such a young girl.
You were trying to take all advanced classes but wasn’t naturally intelligent like your older brother so you ended up working till all hours trying to keep your grades up. He always knew that you worked hard but it was obvious that it was taking a toll on you.
So why hadn’t you ever said anything?
He wanted to tell you that you were perfect just the way you were and that you should take it easy but he knew you liked working hard and he found that really admirable.
The rest of the bus ride was just spent with him making sure you weren’t stirring or getting uncomfortable. Silently thinking you were beautiful. At the time it felt like you were the only 2 on the planet.
But what he didn’t know was that everybody on the bus were fangirling about how cute the two of you looked cuddled up on the bus seat. An older man was musing something about young love but Sam just thought he was remembering the good old days.
When the bus pulls up to your street, Sam gently wakes you up and tells you that your home. He even gets off at your stop to walk your drowsy self to the door where he meets Aunt May for the first time.
You were so tired you barely remembered Sam’s arm wrapped around you as he pulled you to the door. You thought your eyes were open but they were definitely closed and so he rang the doorbell for you because you were not awake enough to fish for your keys in your bag.
Ever since that day, Sam began to pay more attention to you. He always looked out for you in a silent way, never trying to bring to your attention that he was thinking of you.
“Hey check it out! The vending machine gave me two strawberry milks! Do you want one?”
“I got this pack of nuts but it has peanuts in it and I’m allergic so you can have it.”
“I’ll do a practice test and you can check it after I’m done. In the mean time you can take a nap.”
He took the bus home with you every day since then, saying that he came to your work when you were getting off for a smoothie even though there were a hundred places in New York that didn’t need him to come so far out
But you never said that to him because you liked going home with him, sometimes falling asleep together and sometimes listening to music, sharing earphones or even just quietly talking.
In the beginning he was afraid that you’d sleep and end up missing your bus or that you’d end up with a crick in your neck because of the position you fell asleep in but he liked taking the bus home with you, playing with your fingers gently while you napped peacefully beside him.
Once after Sam dropped you off at your house, you said your goodbyes to him and went inside, telling him you’d see him tomorrow. He politely declined Aunt May’s invites for dinner, saying that he had to get home because he had chores to do (training).
Around 10 minutes later, you left home again, going to pick up some rolls for dinner when you notice someone walking ahead of you but it’s only when the person walks underneath the lamppost do you recognize him.
“Sam?” You call out, wondering where he’s heading late in the night when his house was in the opposite direction.
Sam freezes in his steps, silently contemplating whether he should just run for it or actually turn around to face you. You call his name again and wonder if you actually got it wrong and he was just some random kid in your neighbourhood.
But then he turns around and it’s him, blushing bright red that you could see it even in the dark and his heart began beating quickly, seeing you make your way over to him.
“What are you doing here? I thought your house was down the block?”
He tried to think of something but his mouth got really dry before he figured he should just give up.
“Well, about that, it.... isn’t.” He explained, rubbing the back of his neck nervously and trying to avoid making direct eye contact with you.
“I live close to the school actually.”
“But you’ve been taking the bus home with me every day for like 2 weeks now.”
“Yeah, it’s just because I like taking the bus....and sitting next to you. Taking the bus was my excuse to spend more time with you.”
You could’ve sworn you swooned.
It was the first time you noticed just how crazy for you Sam was and it was exhilarating. To see this older boy standing in front of you and being vulnerable enough to be sweet and thoughtful.
It was kind of that little girl fantasy that you dreamt about back when you thought Cinderella and Rapunzel had been real. So, you can’t stop yourself from smiling when you notice how awkward Sam is beginning to get underneath your stare.
Sure, he wasn’t exactly prince charming but to be honest, to you, he was much better.
Prince Charming forgot what Cinderella looked like.
“You could’ve just asked me out on a date.”
“Well I wasn’t sure that you’d say yes.”
Dating Sam was everything you’d expect it to be. He was sweet and thoughtful, always taking you out and loving to spend time with you. Your tradition of him picking you up after work and taking the bus home turned into you greeting him after getting off with a kiss and then inviting him inside for dinner.
Even though you knew he didn’t live close here, he still wanted to drop you home. He said he was being considerate and loved spending time with you, which was true, but it was also because he was afraid you’d fall asleep on some other boy’s shoulder and fall in love with him.
Which was ridiculously specific but you still indulged him.
Peter didn’t find out initially because he always managed to miss Sam right when he got home because he was out crime fighting.
And you didn’t feel the need to bring it to his attention.
You knew he would find out one day though and the opportunity presented itself when he brought his friends home to live in the house because a fire had destroyed their dorms.
And with him came your boyfriend, outright grinning at the sight of you and you had to hide your laughter because you knew Sam was excited about having alone time with you at home without seeming suspicious.
But something was telling you with so many people in the house, you wouldn’t be getting any solitude for a long while.
May being kind of strict between the two of you, saying that you can’t close the doors was not surprising even though you knew she loved Sam. To Peter however, it was kind of startling.
The two of you manage to spend time without drawing suspicion. Going on grocery store runs quickly became your favourite kind of date because it was just the two of you roaming around the store with Sam pushing you in the shopping cart.
Peter one day sat the two of you down with a seriousness that made you want to laugh in his face because you could see how awkward it was, demanding to know exactly what was going on between the two of you.
What he wasn’t expecting was you to admit that you had been dating for nearly 4 months now.
Apparently neither were his teammates.
The rest of the night was like an interrogation while the two of you just curled up on the couch and ignored the rest of them until Aunt May came home and told them to stop bothering you.
At which point they all just shut up and decided to watch a movie.
Your boyfriend held you close to him underneath the blankets, holding your hand in his, clutched to his heart and you used your free hand to feed the two of you pizza without even looking away from the screen.
Half-way through the movie, just as you were beginning to drift off, Peter scared the shit out of you by jumping up and shouting.
“Oh my god! I left the two of you at home alone so many times because I didn’t think you liked each other!”
Your face burned and you just hid underneath the blankets, trying to avoid the teasing faces of the others and try not to combust.
“Oh, just can it Parker!”
“I meant the other Parker and you know it!”
