Summary: You’re spending Christmas at the Holland’s.
Word Count: 858
Warnings: none
A/N: This is a gift for @efi-the-artist , Merry Chrismas! (Secret Holland Santas)
Tom opened his eyes to meet your sleeping ones. It was still dark outside and the only light source was red and green Christmas lights outside his room's window. He was woken up by a light knock on his door and he was happy that you were still asleep cause you hadn’t slept this long in a while. Paddy slowly opened the door and saw you still asleep in Tom’s arms.
“Merry Christmas Tommy, the breakfast is ready,” he whispered.
“We will come down in a sec.”
You nuzzled closer to tom, still asleep. Paddy nodded and closed the door, making the room peaceful again, silent and warm. Tom brushed some hair that had fallen onto our face to behind your ear. His eyes were glistening with all the love he felt for you and how happy it made him feel that you were spending your Christmas here with him. He lowered his lips to your forehead, giving you a long tender kiss. You took a deep breath as you woke up.
“You smell so good.” Were your first words to him this morning. Tom chuckled and pulled you to his chest.
“Good morning to you also, darling.”
“Good morning, Thomas,” you said, giving him a nose kiss afterwards.
“The breakfast is ready downstairs but I thought we’d have a shower beforehand.” His hands fondling your sides and back.
“I like your way of thinking,” you hummed.
You both crawled out under the covers and headed to the bathroom hand-in-hand. You stripped out of your clothes and stepped under the shower head. Tom turned on the shower and the water was cold at first but quickly turned almost burning hot. You leaned back against Tom’s chest while taking some shampoo on to your hands.
“Turn around,” you told tom. You put your hands to his hair and started to massage his scalp with your fingers. You knew Tom liked it as he let small soft moans escape his lips. Your showers were rarely sexual, mostly just comforting and soft, filled with tender touches and silence. When you were done, you rinse Tom’s hair from the shampoo. Then you turn your back to him as he returns the favour. Tom took great pride in his hair washing skills, your hair hadn’t looked so soft since Tom first washed your hair. He also enjoyed it cause he got to make you feel so relaxed. When he was done with washing and rinsing your hair, you took your body washes off the shelf. You gave Tom his and started to wash your body with yours. After you both had washed, Tom stepped outside to fetch your towels. He wraps one around yours and one around his torso.
When you had dressed, you two walked downstairs. Tessa ran to meet you and Tom at the bottom of the stairs and Tom crouched to pet her. You could hear chattering and laughter coming from the kitchen. You had decided to sleep here rather than Tom’s apartment so you could spend the whole day here and then at night go back to Tom’s.
“Tea or coffee, sweetie?” Nikki asked you.
“Coffee, please,” you smiled.
Tom poured himself a cup of tea and sat beside you at the table.
After breakfast, Tom, Harry, Sam and you went to take Tess for a walk. There wasn’t much snow in London but it was enough to make everything so Christmassy. As you walked in the park, there were families playing in the snow and couples walking around. Tom had taken your hand in his while having Tessa’s leash in other. Harry and Sam were walking in front of you and throwing snowballs for Tessa to catch. It was peaceful - just walking there, smiling at Tessa and the twins.
“Are you happy?” Tom asked.
“More than happy, I am in bliss,” you chuckled.
“Me too, thank you for being here with me.”
“Of course, my love.”
You two stopped walking as tom wrapped his hands around you and nuzzled his cold nose to your neck. You tried to escape his emprise but you had no chance. Your laughter filled the air as Tom’s kissed your neck. He kissed his way up to your lips.
“Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
“I think you’re about to show me,” you giggled as Tom lowered his lips to yours. As you were kissing, you suddenly felt something hit you.
“Stop with the kissing or I’ll throw another one!” Harry yelled, Sam laughing beside him.
“I’ll shove both of your heads to the snow if you do that!” Tom yelled while also laughing.
He ran towards his brothers who now were throwing snowballs at him. They started a snowball fight what you watch from afar. Tessa came sitting next to your leg.
When the boys had tired themselves enough, you all went back to Tom’s family house. While walking back Tom gloated about how he defended your honour, sounding exactly like Thor in your opinion so you laughed at him for the whole walk back. This was one of the best Christmases you had ever had.
Tag list: @the-crime-fighting-spider @papi-chulo-bucky @beautifullybarnes
A Princess for Christmas (Tom Holland X Reader Royalty! AU)
Hi guys! Merry Christmas Eve! This is my Secret Santa present for @spiderboytotherescue ! I hope that you like this! I gave Tom the same title that Prince William has. (I was going to make this similar to the Hallmark movie, but I just thought, ‘Screw this!’)
MASTERLIST
Summary: [Name] meets Tom in a coffee shop in London. Little does she know that he’s the crown prince.
Warnings: A lot of fluff
Words: 2.1k
It was [Name]’s first time visiting London. She wanted to go visit everything that the city, England, and Europe as a whole had to offer!
While she was in London, she had to try English Breakfast Tea. The concept of putting milk in her tea was such a foreign concept and she wanted to try to understand it.
Once she ordered her drink, she sat down at one of the booths in the coffee shop and pulled out her favorite book. She flipped to where she left off in the book and began to read again.
After receiving her drink, the bell on the door sounded, alerting the girl that someone had just opened the door. Normally, she wouldn’t look up if she was in the States, but since she was in a foreign country, she decided to take a quick glance. Man, [Name] was not disappointed in her quick decision.
A young man with soft, brown curls had just walked into the small coffee shop. He had a confident aura to him; his walk was sure and strong. He wore simple clothes: a black t-shirt under an unzipped leather jacket, a pair of blue jeans, and black Chuck Taylors.
Needless to say, at a first glance, [Name] was captured by his appearance.
He walked up to the barista, smiling. “Hey.”
“Oh my god, his voice,” [Name] thought, her book being slowly forgotten as she stared at the mysterious man. Her chin began to lean into her hand, allowing her to get a bit of a closer look at him.
After he got his order, he turned on his heels with the intent to leave, but his eyes were caught on the beautiful woman staring at him. He stopped mid-turn before heading over to her booth.
When [Name] finally realized that the man she was staring at was walking toward her, her elbow slid off of the table and she quickly tried to compose herself.
“Hello, darling. Is it okay if I sit here?” he questioned her, gesturing to the seat in front of her.
[Name] was speechless at first and began looking for the words. “Uh huh,” she muttered while nodding furiously. She mentally face-palmed herself at her inability to say the word ‘sure’ in that moment.
He smiled and sat down, placing his drink on the table. “What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.”
“I’m [Name],” she said as she finally gained her composure. She held her hand out for him to shake. “I’m from the States, just visiting. Yours?”
He took her hand, giving her a brief shake. “Tom. Well, welcome to London, [Name]! I hope you enjoy it,” his face lit up at the mention of the city.
They broke the handshake. “I do so far! The only thing that kind of sucks is that almost all of the days I’ve been here, it’s been so gloomy.”
“That’s London in a sentence, darling.” Both shared a small giggle to Tom’s comment. “Is there a reason that you’re in London? If you don’t mind me asking, love.” A red hue tinted his cheeks after asking such a question only moments after meeting this beautiful girl from the States.
“Well, I wanted to see everything that Europe has to offer. The next place that I’m going to visit is Buckingham Palace.”
“Well, coincidentally, I’m heading there myself. Can I join you, love?
She almost spat out her coffee. “Uh, I’d love that.” She completely forgot about her book.
Tom quickly sent out a text message to the head of the Royal Guard, alerting him that he was coming back and to alert the Guard to not greet him upon his arrival back at the palace. He didn’t want [Name] to know who he was yet.
They walked to the palace, engaging in light conversation, learning basic things about the other. What’s your favorite color? Favorite book? Hobbies? Basic questions.
They went on a tour of the castle, and Tom had to bite his tongue to not correct the tour guide about basic facts. It sucked that his best friend, Harrison, was purposefully messing up facts to elicit a reaction from the prince. He made a note to take Harrison off of tour guide duty for the next year.
“I had a lot of fun today! Thank you for showing me around London, Tom! London has definitely been the best city I’ve visited in Europe!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Also, I had the best tour guide,” she said softly as her cheeks began to warm.
Tom’s cheeks turned bright red. “Well, I enjoyed spending time with you, love. Would you mind if I took you on a date? Maybe tomorrow?” he asked, more confidently than he truly was.
“Yeah, that sounds like fun! I’m looking forward to it,” she smiled brightly as she took a pen out of her purse and grabbed his arm. On the back of his hand, [Name] wrote her number down.
Tom’s cheeks reddened to an even darker shade at the contact.
[Name] smiled and waved at him as she walked inside of her hotel.
Tom grinned as he called Harrison to arrange him a ride back to the palace.
Thankfully, [Name] had packed a nice outfit when she was leaving. She didn’t think that on her trips that she’d ever met someone who made butterflies fly all around in her stomach. She smiled as she thought about Tom. She wondered what Tom would take her to do (since she wasn’t really familiar with the city yet).
Tom: Hey, be ready by six?
[Name]: You know it.
Tom had sent her cute texts throughout the day, making her smile grow and more eager to see Tom again.
Tom held the largest bouquet of flowers that he was able to get his hands on as he knocked on [Name]’s hotel room door. He wore a plain, designer, white button-up, black slacks, and black dress shoes.
When [Name] opened the door, his breath hitched. In the outfit she was wearing, she looked gorgeous. “Darling, you look absolutely stunning,” he spoke, handing her the flowers.
“These are my favorites! Thank you so much, Tom!” She walked out of the room to briefly hug him. She disappeared back into her hotel room, presumably to put the flowers away.
She quickly came back to the door. “Ready, love?”
[Name] had one of the best nights of her life with Tom. He took her to the next sight in London she wanted to see: the London Eye. They took a ride on it (unbeknownst to her, Tom had bought their tickets in advance so that they wouldn’t have to wait in the obnoxiously long line to buy the tickets) and looked at the city from a different perspective.
After riding the Eye, they went for a walk in Hyde Park. It was gorgeous.
And as a surprise, they went to one of the fanciest restaurants in the city: The Ledbury. The food was phenomenal. (“Tom, how did you get us in here? This place was literally made for people who are made of money.” “I know the owner, love.”)
He had walked her back to her hotel room and at the door, he placed his lips upon hers, leaving a soft, sweet kiss between them.
It really was a magical night.
[Name] ended up going on three more dates with Tom before Tom had asked if she wanted to be his girlfriend and obviously, she said yes. She left to go see the rest of Europe soon after, but she promised she’d be back soon.
She texted and FaceTimed Tom every day over the next two months. She on the most recent FaceTime call, she told him that she was coming back to London for a few months because she was ‘extending’ her trip. Tom laughed and told her that he was so excited.
When [Name] arrived at the London City Airport, she was surprised to see so many people gathered around one person.
‘I wonder if it’s someone famous,’ [Name] thought before she saw the sign that the person surrounded by many people and what it read.
WELCOME BACK, [NAME]! it read in all caps. She saw Tom with four bodyguards and in his royal attire.
(This is Tom’s royal attire.)
“Oh. My. God.” [Name] almost fainted from the surprise of it all. She was dating the crown prince of England, Prince Thomas Stanley Holland, Duke of Cambridge.
Now it all made sense. How they were able to get to exclusive places… Do things in only five minutes where they would normally have to stand in a line for hours…
“I’m dating a prince,” she whispered.
“[Name], love! Tom waved as he broke away from all of the people surrounding him. “I told you I was going to pick you up.”
“You also told me you had a surprise. Well, color me surprised,” she whispered, barely able to think, much less form sentences.
“I had to tell you at some point. I thought that now would be a great time!” he pointed out, running his hands up and down her arms, trying to calm her.
“I’m in love with a prince…”
“Love you too, darling.” He chuckled, leaving a small kiss on the corner of her cheek.
[Name] eventually got over the shock that Tom was a prince. Had he not done the whole ‘Airport Operation,’ she would’ve never guessed it.
There was no doubt that the couple was meant to be. They loved each other deeply.
After about six months of dating, Tom introduced [Name] to the royal family (the entire royal family was almost more in love with [Name] than Tom was). [Name] had never been more nervous to meet a group of people though.
At the seven-month mark of dating, [Name] decided that she needed to go back home. Of course, Tom was extremely supportive, but he didn’t want to be separated again. He asked if he could go with her back to her hometown.
“What a stupid question. You know that I’d say yes,” she joked, a smirk on her face.
It was Christmas time. [Name] and Tom had been living together in her apartment for almost a whole year. Even though Tom had to go back home regularly to go do ‘prince-y things’ as [Name] called them, they were together twenty-four-seven.
The became a tame couple, going on dates every week, sending cute texts messages, and this season, decorating the apartment.
“Love, I’ve never had to put up a tree. How do you do this?”
[Name] had one of the fake Christmas trees that was in about a hundred individual pieces and Tom was so confused.
“Here, I’ll show you.”
It took an hour to put up the tree. The couple ended up having a sword fight with the tree branches and became really distracted.
They both became extremely tired and laid on the floor, [Name]’s head resting on Tom’s stomach, his fingers running through her hair.
“Tom?”
“Love?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, darling.”
Christmas finally came. The couple decided to stay in [Name]’s apartment for the holiday since her parents live in a different state. They were sitting right next to each other on the couch.
As they were exchanging gifts, Tom’s face changed from happiness to nervousness.
“Tom? Are you okay?” she asked, looking up at him concerned.
“Yes, love. I’m just… thinking…” he justified, suspiciously.
“You—you’re not breaking up with me, right?” she said, lightly joking (but entirely serious at the same time).
“I would never! I love you so much, [Name]!” he began. He took both of her hands in his and rubbed soft circles onto the backs of them.
He shifted a bit on the couch so he could get a better look at her. “I’ve never loved someone as much as I love you, [Name]. You are perfect for me, you complete me. I love being with you, hearing about how much you hate English tea, which by the way, is the best tea, love!” he laughed, then continued, “I could go on forever about how much I love you, how brilliant you are, and how much I love what you do, darling, but I’d rather show you. [First Name] [Middle Name] [Last Name],” he said as he got off of the couch and onto one knee, “will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?” he asked her as held out a black velvet ring box, containing the most gorgeous engagement ring ever created.
[Name]'s eyes were filled with tears. “Of course, Tom! Yes, my prince!” she cried as she pulled him into a hug. “I love you so much,” she cried into his shoulder, giving his hair a soft kiss.
“I love you too, darling.”
She looked back up at him as he put the ring on the fourth finger on her left hand. “I guess this makes me a Princess,” she giggled, a large smile littering her face.
You say you don't want the responsibility? Guess what? People like us...we don't get a choice.
Original and Christmas Spidey! Click on the image for better quality!! Secret Santa gift for @augurydemon I hope you like it! Special thanks to @quackmom and @tbholland for organizing this. Hope everyone has a good holiday :D
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Summary: You are in a mall, trying to get all the presents for your family and friends, when you find a Spiderman toy and consider buying it because you are Spiderman trash and suddenly you see Tom in the same section.
Pairings: Tom Holland x Reader [submit your name: How it works]
Y/N your Name
Word Count: 1000+
Warnings: none
A/N: Secret Santa for @enjoy-tracking-this-lamp
I had wayyy to many ideas but I decided to write down this one. :) I hope you like it!
It was a cold and foggy Saturday afternoon as you made your way into the huge shopping mall in your town. You still needed to get some presents for the upcoming holidays, since you hadn't had time earlier to do it.
Now you stood there, in the middle of the mall which was crowded by hundreds of people. ‘Should not have decided to go on a Saturday to the mall’, you thought a little annoyed as you tried to find a store that would have most of the stuff you were looking for.
People moved and shuffled around you and at some point you decided to go to the toy store, that was on your right hand side.
Shuffling through the people, you made it inside and breathed out in relief, as it seemed that this store was not as full as you thought it might be.
You walked through the aisles, looking at all the different things they had to offer and then you found your own little fangirl heaven. Of course, every other adult might’ve thought that you're too old for the toys, but you didn't care at all. If it came to Marvel, the Avengers and especially Spiderman, you were big time trash for it. And you didn't care.
With a smile across your face you looked through all the superhero toys. Action Figures, Costume replicas, puzzles and many more different things were on the shelves and you looked at everything you saw. You just got hold of a Spiderman Web Shooter as you heard people walk into the aisle and laugh. You felt as if they were laughing about you so you looked over to see who was standing next to you.
Out of a sudden, you dropped the Web-Shooter and it landed with a loud thud on the floor. Both of the guys looked over at you when they heard the drop of the toy.
You felt your face heat up immediately, especially your ears got hot and you bowed down to grab the toy and put it back. You didn't know if you should say something or just ignore them and leave but apparently one of the guys decided what to do next. “Pretty cool web shooter you got there. Fancy buying it for someone?”
You stood there, dumbfounded and not able to say a word. Your mouth formed an ‘O’ and you saw the smirks on the guy’s faces. “Are you okay?”, the other guy asked. He must've been his best friend, since you've seen him on numerous pictures and videos on instagram before too. The sidekick, as he called himself.
After, what felt like an eternity, you pulled yourself together and nodded to answer the question from the second one. “Are you Tom? Tom Holland?”, you asked in a half whisper, not wanting to get any extra attention. The guys giggled and looked at the toys, while the Actor answered: “Yeah, thats me. Sorry that I startled you, didn't mean to do it.”
You couldn't believe, that he was actually standing next to you, with Harrison and apparently about to buy some toys. “What brings you here?” you asked out of curiousity as you watched the guys fill the trolley with some Spiderman toys.
“About to buy some gifts for the Children's Hospital”, Tom smiled and grabbed one of the Web shooters and threw it into the pile of toys. You nodded acknowledgedly as you watched them. You wanted to ask for a picture or autograph but you felt so bad for asking since they must've been quite in the hurry. They were quickly filling up the trolley and it didn't take them long to have the whole thing filled up.
“Well, uhm… I gotta go”, you said after a few moments of standing there, being unsure what to do next.
“No, wait a second. Dont leave yet”, Tom said as he put the last Toy on the pile and Harrison took the cart to bring it to the cashiers. Your face felt hot again and you didn't know what to say so you just followed Tom, who walked next to his best friend. What was his plan?
Once the boys have paid for the toys they bought, their driver showed up and took the trolley outside, to fill all the bags in the trunk. The boys didn't follow him though, but stood there next to you. Tom had a bag in his hand from the store you’ve just been in. “Wanna have a coffee? Or tea?” He asked you and with wide eyes you nodded, a huge grin forming on your lips.
“Okay, let's grab something quickly. We still have some time left.” You followed them to Starbucks, got a hot chocolate and sat down for a few more minutes.
“This is for you, I figured you might have fun with it”, Tom said and gave you the bag he was holding after you guys got your beverages. As you looked inside, he and Harrison both said “Merry Christmas” in unison. You laughed and pulled out the Web Shooter you were holding earlier in the store. “Thank you guys, that's so nice”, you said smiling. “Wanna take a picture, too?” the Actor asked and you gave him your phone, grinning widely while Harrison took the picture of you two. Of course, you asked for one with the best friend too, so Tom took it for you. “Thanks guys. You just made my Christmas so much better.” you said. “Don't mention it. We figured that you might need some stress relief and we’re happy that we could make you feel better”, Tom explained as he put his hand on your shoulder.
“We have to go now, but thank you for your company! Happy Holidays and maybe we’ll see each other again.”
“Thank you Tom. Thank you too, Harrison. Have a safe Christmas and yeah, hopefully we can hang out again some time”, you said and hugged the boys before they left, waving hands goodbye leaving the mall.
Well, that was a Christmas gift you didn't expect to happen at all. With a wide smile, you checked out the Web Shooter once again and saw a message written on the packaging with a Sharpie.
‘Merry Christmas Y/N. Here’s my personal gift for you :)’ and a number written down neatly underneath the message. With wide eyes and a fast beating heart you stopped your Christmas shopping. That was too much information in one day to take in.
Pairing: Peter Parker x Ash @midtownsciences
Word Count: 4,936
Warnings: Some swearing, Ash is Irish you know.
Summary: Ned and Harry are determined to help Peter seal the deal with the new girl on campus with a little rigged Secret Santa game and maybe some mistletoe.
A/N: I’m so sorry this isn’t the story I was planning to write. I got sick 1/3 way through this and had to make some changes. I’m so sorry babe. I hope you like it. Also how ironic is it that I got MY Tumblr BFF for Secret Santa?!
Technically there aren’t assigned seats in college. Technically. But it’s an unspoken rule that where you sit on the first day is your spot for the rest of the semester. After much trial and error in his freshman year of college, Peter determined that sitting on the very end seat in the 4-7 row was best in case he needed to make a hasty exit for Spider-Man business. (Technically there weren’t assigned seats in college so he wasn’t doing anything wrong by switching seats so often… technically.)
Provided that the unspoken rule regarding seats in college wasn’t broken, this seat was also good for if he happened to be running late. Last year it seemed like Peter was running late for everything: dinner with May, study group with MJ and Ned, tutoring with Harry, meetings with Mr. Stark and, most disappointingly for everyone in his life, his classes.
Peter is determined to do better for his sophomore year. So far he’s been ten minutes early for two of his lectures which allowed him to snag his preferred seat and gave him time to review the syllabus for the semester beforehand. It seems like the universe might be rewarding him for his new attitude when the girl with the red hair claims the seat one row down and one to the left of where he’s sitting for his third lecture. He’s drawn to her the moment she steps inside of the lecture hall--there’s something about the way she looks around the room, like she’s a little lost, that intrigues him.
It’s hard not to stare outright as she carefully walks up the steps. He debates with himself on whether he should invite her to sit with him when she starts moving into the empty row in front of him. She sets her bag on the seat directly in front of his and Peter is relieved that he chickened out of talking to her. She must have been looking for her friends and is clearly saving a seat for someone (he really hopes it isn’t for a guy).
He barely acknowledges Ned when he settles into the seat beside him. MJ bypasses them completely to sit in the row behind them with Harry falling into the seat next to her almost immediately after. Peter hardly glances at them, even when Harry reaches down to ruffle his hair in greeting. He’s too focused on the way the fluorescent lights brings out the different variations of red in the girl’s hair. Not even the professor’s impassioned lecture on chemical products and processes can get him to tear his eyes away from her.
“Hey Parker, what’s with the smirk?” Harry teases in a less than quiet whisper. Peter turns to his friend abruptly with wide eyes, making wild shushing motions with his hands--the first time he really takes his gaze away from the girl. Peter is ashamed to say that he doesn’t retain a single thing from the lecture. What he does remember, with horrifying clarity, is when the lecture ended and Ned turns around to talk to MJ and Harry.
“Study group?” He asks pointing to each of them in turn. The girl is finishing up writing some notes in a spiral bound book, possibly from the lecture (maybe he could ask to borrow them since he zoned out the whole class. He could try one of Harry’s lines: “Since I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you all class I think it’s only fair that you let me read over your notes when we go out for dinner tonight. Maybe you could tutor me when we head back to my place.”) “Peter?”
With great difficulty, Peter pulls his gaze from the girl in front of him and turns to face his friends with wide, panicked eyes as if only realizing now that his friends had been witness to his growing infatuation.
“Yeah, yeah sounds great.” Hs voice comes out louder than he means it to and his eyes begin to strain towards the girl again. Harry picks up his printed syllabus and gives a low whistle..
“This workload looks absolutely insane. We should think about adding a fifth or even a sixth person to our group if we want to keep up with this and our other four insane classes.” The girl has packed up her bag, is standing from her seat and pulling the strap onto her shoulder. Peter acts without thinking and reaches over to tap her on the shoulder, fingers brushing against hers in the process.
Of course his mind goes blank when she turns to look up at him, her blue eyes wide with surprise and nervousness. She’s beautiful, he thinks to himself in awe. His eyes move rapidly to observe each of her facial features: they start at the subtle arch of her eyebrows, trail down the bridge of her nose and pause on the flush rising on her cheeks. The sight of her cheeks reddening causes his own cheeks to heat up, and his eyes drop suddenly to her lips and he finds his mouth suddenly dry. He finally understands what books mean by a cupid’s bow because that’s the only way to describe the shape of her upper lip. Her lower lip is full and the colouring she has chosen for that day--he can’t think of any word to describe it except delicious.
Oh god, he thinks to himself desperately, she’s so beautiful. He realizes his mouth is open, is horrified that he doesn’t know how long it’s been open for.
“I-uh-study group!” He blurts out quickly, his own eyes widening in horror.
“Sorry about that,” Harry interjects quickly, leaning over to offer his hand to the girl. “Harry Osborn.” The girl stares at the hand with wide eyes, her hands tightening on the strap of her bag. Just when Peter thinks that she’s going to turn around and leave, she surprises him by taking Harry’s hand and giving it a firm shake. Peter notes that she isn’t quite capable of meeting Harry’s eye and that she’s quick to drop his hand.
“Ash.” She states bluntly with a slight lilt that sounds familiar to Peter. Harry leaps gracefully over the seat in front of him to settle in next to Ned, throwing an arm casually over the back the chair.
“Oh wow, you’re a little far from home aren’t you lass? What my friend here is trying to say is that we’re looking to add someone to our study group. Would you be interested? Despite his less than stellar invitation,” Harry extends his arm a little to slap Peter’s back, “Peter here is actually pretty smart. Smart enough to score an internship with Stark Industries when he was fifteen. My father’s been trying to convince him to work at Oscorp for the last year.”
Harry grips Peter’s shoulder, shaking him roughly with a boisterous laugh and a bright, teasing grin. He lets go of Peter’s shoulder to point his thumb behind him in MJ’s general direction.
“This is Michelle. She was valedictorian for Midtown School of Science and this guy right here is Ned. He brings his unending optimism to the group which is a vital asset for when the stress of midterms and finals have you down. And I’m rich so I usually just bring the coffee and the snacks to benefit from their collective intelligence.”
Ash purses her lips to hide a smile, but not before Peter sees it starting to form. She clears her throat and nods slightly. Harry moves his arm from the back of Ned’s chair and leans forward in his seat.
“I can tell that you’re a little nervous. So how about,” he reaches behind Ned and slides MJ’s notebook off of her desk, pulling a sharpie from the front pocket of his jeans, “you give Michelle your email or cell number. She’ll tell you when and where we’re meeting and you can decide whether or not you wanna come. We’d love to have you but understand if you’d rather work through the syllabus on your own.”
She eyes the notebook and sharpie for a beat before accepting them. She crouches down low in the aisle and uses her knee as a table to write on a blank page. When Ash stands, Harry reaches out for the notebook, but she bypasses him in favour of taking the extra steps to bring the notebook directly to MJ. Ash doesn’t look back as she leaves the lecture hall. Harry lets out another low whistle as he stands from his seat.
“Jesus Parker, that was awful. How someone as incredibly awkward as you managed to date so much in high school baffles me, just absolutely baffles me. Hey, MJ, you went out with Peter. What’s the appeal?”
MJ, who is already halfway down the steps flips Harry off as she continues to walk.
“So what's everyone doing for the holidays?” Harry asks conversationally as their study session winds down for the evening. Given the inclement weather New York has been experiencing, the group had opted to meet at Starbucks instead of its usual table at the library. It gave the session a more relaxed, informal feel and was only moderately less productive.
“I'm going to visit family out of state.” Ned volunteers with his usual grin, the only one to easily engage in Harry’s small talk. Peter doesn’t need to look at MJ to know that she is reluctant to share any kind of personal details about her holiday plans. It comes off of her in waves and he’d bet that she’s purposefully looking down at her notes to avoid eye contact with them. Peter, as usual, finds that his gaze is drawn elsewhere--to the other reluctant party at their table.
Peter thought that he’d spend the first study group of the semester waiting to see if Ash would show up, but when he and Ned arrived (ten minutes early) Ash and MJ were already sitting quietly together in the library each focused on their own books. Peter was quick to sit next to Ash that first day and so the seat next to Ash in study group was unofficially his.
At first Peter found it difficult to talk to her during study group. She has a wall built up high around her and while Spider-Man would have scaled it in a heartbeat, Peter Parker had to think of other ways to tackle the brick and mortar defenses of a beautiful stranger. She has this way of talking to people that can come across as blunt and sarcastic, little barbs of wit that can wound when she’s not careful. It reminded Peter of MJ and got him twisted up in the best ways. There are times where Ash says something and he can see her wishing that the words could come back, be erased somehow, because they weren’t gentle enough. She doesn’t understand yet that everyone there had thick skin--years of conditioning from MJ’s own barbed tongue.
He doesn’t know how to tell her that it’s okay. That they’re her friends now and she can’t say anything that will make them turn away. The closest thing he can think of is to tell her that he just wants to talk to her all the damn time. Learning something new about her sends an indescribable thrill through Peter. It started off small: all pizza is good pizza (but pepperoni is her weakness), she taught guitar classes to seven year old kids in Ireland and always has a “for pleasure” book in her bag. Then came the more intimate stuff: she traveled around Ireland to play music competitively, she keeps an emergency “for pleasure” book in her car back home, and she loves to rock climb (Peter nearly jumped the gun and asked her on a date to go rock climbing then and there) (sometimes he lays awake at night and wonders if by some miracle she might have said yes).
So he finds himself to be a little too invested in her answer regarding her holiday plans, wonders what new details of her life that she might unveil today. He can’t help it, he pushes her a little, leaning over to speak directly to her because he can’t resist stealing these little moments of closeness whenever he can.
“Are you going home for the holidays?” Ash’s eyes flick to him briefly and she pushes her hair further over her left shoulder before answering.
“I can’t really afford to fly back and forth all the time. I’ll probably just stay in New York until I graduate.” Peter frowns.
“Do you have any plans at all?” He asks with concern. Ash half smiles and gives one, mirthless chuckle and finally, finally looks up at Peter (his abdomen clenches pleasantly when their eyes meet--he should be used to this by now, but it always catches him off guard, like missing a step going down the stairs).
“I’m going to catch up on all of the sleep I lost this semester. I might not even leave my bed on Christmas except to go to the bathroom and to heat up a pizza.” Peter knows that he’s staring and that the silence is dragging, but he can’t quite get over how nice she looks today in particular. She’s got her hair parted dramatically over the left side, exposing much of her neck to him. He clears his throat and speaks to the table, bringing them back into the conversation.
“Well, Aunt May will try to make a traditional Christmas dinner and we’ll end up eating leftover Chinese food. Either on Christmas Eve or Christmas day we’ll go put some flowers on Ben’s grave.” He tries to make the words sound casual, but the last four get stuck in his throat on the way out. He swallows thickly and avoids eye contact out of embarrassment. Bringing up Ben weakens MJ’s resolve and she shares her holiday plans with a roll of her eyes (“I’m volunteering at a homeless shelter.”).
“Well, as I’m sure you’ve all guessed, I’ll be leaving the country. Haven’t decided if I’m going somewhere warm or somewhere to ski yet. I’ll keep you all posted.” Peter feels a sudden shift in the air, his eyes immediately darting to Ned who has a wide grin on his face. His excitement is palpable, makes Peter squirm in his seat.
“We should do a Secret Santa before we break for holiday!” Harry immediately perks up at the idea, MJ slouches in her seat and Ash’s body goes tense beside a slack jawed Peter.
“Yes! We’re doing it.” Harry rips out a page of his notebook and uncaps his pen, writing his own name. “What’s the budget?” He asks while his pen continues to move down the page, etching each of their names in permanent ink.
“Minimum $20, maximum $50?” Ned asks the table.
“We should just cap it at $20, Ned.” Ash answers. Under Peter’s gaze she feels compelled to continue: “What if you get someone a $20 gift and someone else gets you a $50 gift? We’re broke as fuck college kids, let’s be realistic.” She turns her gaze onto Harry, her cheeks flushed a pleasant pink and then she smirks. “Sorry Harry. Gotta learn to shop on a budget.”
The last part, Peter knows, is supposed to be a joke but it falls a little flat. (Does it? Or is he just jealous that her smirk was for Harry, that her cheeks are flushed under his gaze and not Peter’s?)
“Noted,” Harry replies, pulling his beanie from where it was drying on the back of his chair. Ned, Peter sees, has begun to rip and fold each name, tossing them into Harry’s beanie. When all the names have been thrown in, Harry offers his hat to MJ. “Ladies first.”
MJ raises an eyebrow, but reaches for a piece of paper without comment. Harry shakes the hat in front of Ash and then darts it quickly to Ned and then takes a name for himself before teasing Peter with the last name.
“What happens if you get your own name?” Ned asks with a sheepish smile. Harry grins.
“You trade! Here you go man.” Harry and Ned quickly exchange slips of paper and Peter carefully unfolds his to see her name. Peter begins to suspect that his friends had been planning this for a lot longer than they were letting on.
“We’ll exchange gifts at our last study group, agreed?” Harry asks, being the first to stand up and begin putting on his jacket. Everyone agrees quickly enough and begins to pack up their things.
“Hey,” MJ says quietly, putting a hand on Ash’s shoulder. “I got a text from work. I’m picking up an extra shift. You good to get back on your own?”
“I’ll walk with you.” Peter offers, dropping his overstuffed backpack on his chair. Ash smiles up at him and he waits for her to politely decline--is used to her shyness by now.
“Actually that sounds perfect.”
“Yeah, yeah, great! I’m just gonna grab a coffee for the road and then we can go. Did-did you want anything?” Peter says while walking backwards toward the counter. He trips on someone’s bag, catching himself quickly and blushing madly when he looks back up at Ash.
“I’m fine, thank you.” She says, voice shaking with repressed laughter. MJ laughs openly at the situation (Peter will consider this her Christmas gift for the year).
Harry joins Peter at the counter while he waits for his order.
“Hey Pete. What d’ya think about doing Secret Santa?” Peter smirks and rolls his eyes.
“Alright Osborn, fess up. How long did you and Ned plan this for?” Harry doesn’t bother to hide his grin.
“Just a couple of days. Come on, Pete, it’s about time that something happened between you two. We’re just trying to help it along. Find her the perfect present to show her how you feel and then ask her out already. Listen Parker, if I have to go another semester with you giving her moony eyes when she’s not looking, I’m going to have to dropout of school. Could you imagine my father’s disappointment?”
“I-I don’t give her moony eyes.” Peter denies feebly. Harry laughs and ruffles Peter’s hair before calling out a goodbye to Ash, the only person left at the table. Peter quickly doctors his coffee and meets up with Ash at the table.
“Ready to go?” Ash smiles tightly and nods. Peter holds open the door for her and they walk side by side in silence for half a block.
“Peter, can you keep a secret?” Ash asks quietly as they wait to cross the street. Peter shoots her a grin.
“Oh yeah. Big time.”
“I got Harry for Secret Santa and I don’t really know him that well. See, if I’d gotten Ned I’d know to get him some sort of Star Wars thing or maybe like a Lego thing? And if I’d gotten MJ… well, she’s the easiest person in the world to shop for. It’s just a matter of finding her a good book, isn’t it? But what the fuck do you get the rich boy who has everything?”
“Okay, you have to promise you won’t tell Harry I told you this.” Peter warns as they cross the street.
“Okay. I promise not to tell Harry.” Ash vows with exaggerated solemnity.
“He has a soft spot for handmade gifts.” Peter admits. “Things like baked goods are good. He likes mixed CDs, oh! You could record covers of his favourite songs and make a mixed CD of those.”
“I don’t know Peter… isn’t that a little too intimate? I don’t want to make him think that I’m into him or something.” Ash says uncomfortably.
“Baked goods, then.” Peter suggests trying to keep the glee from his voice. She’s not into Harry, she’s not into Harry, she’s not into Harry.
“I don’t really have access to an oven in the dorms.” Once again Ash is presenting Peter with an opportunity--one he is going to seize.
“You should use my aunt’s kitchen.”
“Peter, I couldn’t.” Ash says emphatically.
“Why not?” Peter asks in confusion.
“It’s too much! That’s your home. I couldn’t invade your personal space like that.” Peter turns his abrupt laughter into a fake cough.
“It’s no big deal. The kitchen could do with a successful baking experience. Get its confidence up a bit.” Ash’s eyes become crescent moons as she laughs.
“Your aunt doesn’t bake?”
“Oh no, she bakes. Just not very well. You’d be doing the oven a favour, honestly.”
“Okay, you win Peter Parker. I will use your aunt’s kitchen to bake my Secret Santa gift for Harry.”
“Peter, we’ve been looking for hours.” Aunt May says gently. “Isn’t your gift exchange tomorrow?”
Peter groans, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, it is.”
“Honey, are you sure we can’t get her the scarf and the chocolates? You can’t go wrong with chocolates.”
“I don’t know, May. It just doesn’t seem right.” Aunt May frowns and reaches up to put her arm around her nephew.
“It might help if you could tell me what you’re looking for.”
The problem is that Peter doesn’t know what he’s looking for. Despite his best efforts, maybe he just doesn’t know Ash well enough to get her the perfect gift. Truthfully, he’d been out shopping three days in a row before he even asked his aunt for help. He’d made list after list of potential gift ideas ranging from perfume (what if she’s allergic) to a stuffed animal (what is she, five?). He even considered custom guitar picks with her name on them, but none of these ideas felt right.
“I don’t know what I’m looking for!” Peter groans. “I think I’ll know it when I see it.”
“You really like this girl, huh?”
“She’s amazing May, and she just doesn’t see it. How can someone so beautiful not see that they’re beautiful? How can someone so smart not realize how smart they are?” Peter asks desperately.
“Well Peter, it’s hard for girls to see those things about themselves when the world is constantly pushing this idea of universal beauty on them. And it’s only recently that the world has begun to embrace and celebrate intelligent women.”
“That’s terrible. I just… want her to be able to see herself the way I see her.” Aunt May squeezes her nephew’s shoulder.
“Aw Pete,” Aunt May coos. “Guess we better get back to looking. It’s already 1:30 and you’ve gotta go pick her up at 4:00 don’t you?”
‘Yeah, yeah you’re right.” After another hour of searching, Peter settles on a gift. He’s not sure if it’s perfect, but something about it just felt right. He gets the store to gift wrap it for him and Aunt May takes it home while Peter catches the train to Ash’s dorm.
She’s got her hair tied back with little wisps framing her face. Her smile is small and timid, and her cheeks are developing a soft pink tint. Peter grins broadly at her in return. Ash is uncharacteristically cheeky on their journey to the grocery store, trying to get Peter to slip up and spill who he got for Secret Santa.
He can’t stop smiling.
“It’s me, isn’t it? You got me?” She asks as they wait in the checkout line at the store. This is not the first time she has asked, but this is the first time that Peter has responded.
“Why do you wanna know so bad?” Ash smiles at her feet and takes a deep breath before looking back at him--her flush has deepened to a rosy pink.
“My family does Secret Santa every year and I always figure out who everyone gets. It’s like a puzzle that I need to solve, you know? I already got Ned to tell me who he got.” Of course she did.
“Well you only have to wait one more day.” Peter says while reaching for her grocery bags. Ash tries to argue that she should carry them, but Peter just ignores her. He didn’t think that having Ash come to his apartment would make him so nervous, but the closer they got the more he started to worry.
It’s not like she’s coming to hang out. She’s coming to use your kitchen. It doesn’t matter if your room is messy, she probably won’t even see your room. Still, he needs to take a deep steadying breath when he unlocks the door.
“Aunt May, we’re here!” He calls, turning to the kitchen. His aunt doesn’t reply, because as per the note on the fridge, she has gone to do some Christmas shopping of her own and will pick up dinner on the way home (text me with what you guys want).
“So my aunt is out shopping, but she’s gonna bring back dinner for us. I’m thinking pizza. Pepperoni’s your favourite, right?” Peter doesn’t know why he asks, he knows that’s her favourite.
“I knew it!” Ash says loudly, her voice infused with an excitement that Peter has never heard before. Peter looks up from Aunt May’s note and finds Ash standing over their small kitchen table.
“Knew what?” He asks dumbly. Ash turns around and Peter spots the box in her hand--red, with a white ribbon. Her gift, left out in the open.
“You, Peter Parker, are my Secret Santa!” Ash’s smile is so cheeky and endearing that Peter can’t find it in himself to be upset that he’s been found out. “Can I open it?”
“You can’t wait one day?” He asks her with false exasperation.
“Oh, come on Peter! I’ll rewrap it for tomorrow and I can act surprised. Please?” Peter’s mouth goes dry. On the one hand, he’d like to say yes to her because he wants her to be happy. On the other hand, he’s a little scared of what he reaction might be. He didn’t realize how much he was counting on having his friends around tomorrow to filter out her response.
“Yeah, yeah, why not?” He says, his voice sounding distant. He moves to stand next to Ash, his hands nervously gripping one of the table chairs while he waits. She pulls at the ribbon with the excitement of a child, pulling at the paper and tape eagerly to reveal a plain white box. Her nails slip under the tape and she carefully pulls open the lid.
“Oh my god,” she whispers, pulling the gift out. Peter bites his lip, carefully watching her face. Her lips are slightly parted and her eyes are glistening.
Oh god, she’s about to cry, he realizes with dread. She hates it. Ashe is carefully cradling a snow globe of the New York City skyline in her hands. She looks up at Peter, her eyes swimming in unshed tears, and clears her throat.
“Did I… did I tell you that I collect snow globes?” She asks him quietly. Peter shakes his head slowly.
“No, you didn’t.” Her lower lip trembles slightly as she nods.
“I uh, have a collection back home. You know that I compete in music competitions right? I try to get a new snow globe from each place we play.” Peter clears his throat nervously.
“There’s an engraving on the bottom.” He tells her in a gentle whisper. Ash immediately turns the globe over, her watery eyes moving carefully over each letter. Peter can’t breathe while she reads the words that he and May carefully crafted together earlier this day: NEW YORK CITY HAS NEVER BEEN MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN WHEN YOU’RE HERE. When she looks up at Peter, the tears slip past her barriers and she gasps his name.
“I’m sorry,” he says quickly, reaching up to wipe her tears. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“Don’t be sorry, Peter. It’s so nice. You’re so nice. You’re the nicest boy I’ve ever met.” Ash brings her arms around Peter’s waist in a tight hug. He wraps his arms around her shoulders, pressing his face into her hair. He sighs into her hair, and starts rocking them from side to side in an attempt to elicit a laugh from Ash--he’s successful.
She pulls back, but does not let go of Peter, to present him with a watery smile.
“Are you sure you didn’t know about the snow globes?” She asks him teasingly.
“No, it just… seemed right.” Ash’s smile becomes more sincere under his gaze, the atmosphere becoming charged with an unnamed something more.
“It does.” She agrees, pressing her cheek to his chest in a second hug.
The next day, she and Peter walk hand in hand into the library for their last study group of the semester. When Harry holds the mistletoe over them, Peter doesn’t hesitate to kiss his girlfriend in front of their friends, even though he knows Ash’s face will be beet red for the rest of the day because of it.
Harry, as Peter assured Ash, did love her homemade cookies.
“Careful there Pete, now that I know she can bake I might try and steal her away from you.” He teases. Ash’s flush deepens and Peter thrills when she chooses to hide her face in his chest.
“I don’t think that’ll be possible Osborn,” Peter teases back. “I’m stronger than I look and I don’t see myself letting go of her any time soon.”
“Oh my god, you two need to stop!” Ash groans, voice muffled by Peter’s Christmas sweater.
They do stop their teasing… for about five minutes.
Tag List: @spiderllandtrash @rileywrites-parker @acastleintheair @ju-gg @forevanssake (just thought you guys would like to see this shit storm)
Time to reveal that my Secret Santa is…… @peterplanet!
The general vibe is that Sam is in France skiing for Christmas and you’re at home (wherever in the world that is) with your family. So here is a moodboard and a lil (shit) blurb creating that xx
Thank you @tbholland and @quackmom for organising this!
after an exhausting day of skiing, hanging out with friends and an hour and a half long phone conversation with his family, sam could think of nothing better than relaxing by facetiming his grace. over the last few weeks he had been missing her terribly, so when she answered his call, it was the highlight of the day seeing her smiling face. after the general conversation about how each other’s day was, sam says, ‘grace, baby, i miss you so fucking much. all i wanna do is cuddle on the couch with you and watch stupid romance films like love actually.’ grace giggles at this and says, ‘i know, sammy, but we’ll definitely see each other at new year’s and then we can watch all the cheesy romance movies in the world.’ sam smiles at her ever-glowing positivity. ‘i guess,’ he whines, ‘but i just want you here with me right now.’ grace hums a soft agreement. ‘i would, baby, but you know its way too cold there for me.’ sam chuckles to himself before singing the line “baby, its cold outside,” grace laughs and internally thanks the universe for being blessed with this beautiful boy. ‘merry christmas, sweet girl, you know i love you billions.’ sam whispers softly. ‘merry christmas, sammy boy, you’ll forever be my one and only.’
Secret Holland Santa Present for @dannylart - Telekinesis Moodboard
Merry Christmas Danny!!! This is a moodboard of what I imagine your aesthetic as a superhero would be. I was that “mysterious anon” that asked you the questions about what superpower you’d have, and what your favorite color was. (s u R p R i s E ! lol) So yeah, this is you as a telekinetic superhero, I really hope you like it!! Merry Christmas love! You deserve the world and m o r e.
Thank you @tbholland and @quackmom for coming up with this amazing idea!
