Glimmer •Peter Parker x Reader•
Characters/Pairings: Ned, MJ, Liz, Flash is mentioned, Peter Parker x Reader
Synopsis: You and Peter have been best friends since Elementary School, but in middle school, you started to develop feelings for him. You always had a little glimmer of hope that he might feel the same. With homecoming around the corner and Peter’s crush on Liz, insecurities start to rise, which may cause that glimmer to go out. This is kind of long, but you probably didn’t read it anyways.
Warnings: insecurities, reader is a major tomboy, but I don’t know if that counts, a few curse words
A/N: This is probably a load of crap, but I tried. There will be a part 2 to this. Also, I made the reader like me because I’m a major tomboy as well, and I deal with some insecurity because of it.
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You stood in the girl’s locker room, your left foot propped up on the bench. You quickly tied your shoe laces before jogging out of the locker room, into the gym. You quickly found Peter and Ned because they always stood off to the side, away from everyone else.
“Sup, losers,” you said, walking up to the dynamic duo.
“Hey,” Ned replied with a cheeky grin.
“Hey,” Peter mumbled, staring at Liz who was talking to her friends.
“My goodness, Pete,” you chuckled. “You should really stop staring. It makes you seem like a stalker.”
You typically kept your mouth shut, but you started to grow jealous. You had a very big crush on Peter and have since middle school, but you were too afraid to admit it. However, it got worse when he started to obsess over Liz. Liz was kind, smart, and really pretty; she was the definition of perfect which made you insecure.
You felt inadequate because she wasn’t nerdy and weird like you. She didn’t have a room full of comic books, Pop! bobbleheads, and posters of movies. She didn’t geek out over Star Wars or Harry Potter. Liz was pretty, and you thought you just looked “approachable.” She knew how to dress in clothes that fit her properly and not clothes that were a size too big. She had well put together hair, not a frizzy mess that made her look like she was from the 80s. She wore makeup where as you didn’t know there was such a thing called an eyelash curler.
“Earth to (Y/N),” Ned chirped up, waving his hand in front of your face.
“We have to run laps,” he groaned, beginning to trudge towards the blue outlines of the basketball court.
You pulled the hair tie off your wrist, attempting to pull your hair up. As soon as you got it around twice, the band snapped, hurting your finger. Your day was just getting worse.
You sat down at the lunch table that you, Peter, and Ned usually sit at. You noticed MJ sitting at the end of the table. You scooted down the bench, closer to where the odd girl was sitting, but you honestly couldn’t say anything because you were the same way.
“Hey,” you greeted before taking a bite out of the sandwich that sat on your tray.
“How long?” she questioned, closing the book she was holding.
“How long have you been in love with Peter?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you replied, shoving a big chunk of the sandwich into your mouth.
“As you know, I’m quite observant, and the way you look at him says it all.”
“You don’t get it. He doesn’t feel the same. He can’t,” you retorted, your mouth still full of food.
“He looks at you the same way when you’re not looking.”
“You should take tips from Harry Potter. You mustn’t tell lies.”
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. She took a bite of her sandwich as well, kind of ending the conversation. You looked down at the other end of the table, seeing Peter looking at you. You waved gently, giving him a closed mouth smile due to your mouth being full of the sandwich. You turned away, not wanting to get your hopes up.
Homecoming was approaching, and you didn’t have a date. You didn’t really expect to have one, anyways with your confidence not being the best. Although you didn’t even plan on going to the dance, your mom bought a dress and insisted on you going.
In fact, you were forced to try it on now. You were standing in your bedroom with your mom zipping up the dress you had yet to see.
“Alright, have a look,” she piped up, patting your bare shoulders.
You went into the hall bathroom where there was a full length mirror. To say you were in shock when you saw your reflection was an understatement. You had a beautiful green dress on that suited your body perfectly. You actually forgot that your body could even remotely look like this. Now all you had to do was wait for homecoming. You would ask Peter, but the last thing you wanted was to be rejected.
Here it was. The day of homecoming. Peter had ended up asking Liz, and she said yes, which she’d be insane not to because Peter was perfect. He was gorgeous and had a toned body which was pretty cool (his upper half because he hadn’t thought anything of it), but the cherry on top was his personality. However, you were weary that Liz only said yes because of the former, but she was the lucky girl that he asked.
You just had a glimmer of hope because he’d never seen you in something like this before. The most dressy thing he’s ever seen you wear was a pair of ripped blue jeans. You were just praying, to whomever was listening, that Peter would notice you.
“Hey, (Y/N)!” Ned cheered, greeting you with a big grin. Peter came jogging up behind him, that lovestruck look in his eyes that he’s had since he asked Liz. “You going to homecoming?”
“Yeah,” you answered, with a nonchalant shrug.
“I’m shocked,” Peter retorted with a light chuckle.
“Because you have to dress up, and you always dress in men’s clothing. I didn’t think you even owned a dress,” Peter replied, thinking he was being funny, but your cheeks tinted red out of embarrassment and anger.
“What the heck, dude?” Ned said, punching his shoulder.
“To be quite honest, Peter, I didn’t before yesterday. I may not dress ‘like a lady’ every day, but I’m allowed to wear a dress whenever I fucking want,” you snapped, ignoring what Ned said.
“I was just joking,” Peter mumbled, looking at his shoes.
“You should really just stick to the science jokes,” you said, rolling your eyes.
That glimmer just went out.
You stood on the steps of Midtown High, wearing the dress your mother had gotten you yesterday. Your hair was the same as usual, a large frizzy mess, but you had mascara and some lipstick your mom let you use. Even though it wasn’t really a drastic change, you felt different.
You entered the school, going into the gym where it was being held. The colorful lights flew around the gym as music was being blasted through the speakers. You’d definitely have to request a song later.
You looked a little lost, not really knowing what to do while you’re here. You looked down at your shoes as you stood off to the side. You didn’t really want to dance alone, and it was only going to get worse when there was a slow song.
Your luck began to turn when you heard Ned’s voice, and when you looked up, you saw him scanning the dance floor. You dusted off the skirt of your dress and began to walk over to Ned.
“Hey, Ned,” you said, gaining his attention. When he turned, he had a look of shock on his face, making me a little self-conscious. “What? Do I look okay? Is it the hair? It’s probably the hair. I tried to straighten it, bu-”
“You look beautiful, (Y/N),” Ned replied, cutting you off mid-ramble.
“Really? Thank you,” you beamed, becoming a little more confident. “Where’s Pete?”
“Right there,” he answered, pointing at Peter as he walked in with Liz.
Peter was all dressed up in a nice tux, but what really set it off was the beautiful smile that adorned his lips. Liz, of course, looked gorgeous as she usually did. Once you realized how beautiful she looked, your insecurities came flooding back. She did proper makeup where as you had to borrow your mom’s because you didn’t have any. Her hair perfectly framed her face, but yours was a frizzy mess.
“Hey, (Y/N). You look pretty,” Liz said, interrupting your thoughts.
“Um, oh, thank you. You do too,” you stuttered, looking at a stunned Peter. “Hey Peter. You look handsome.”
“You look beautiful,” he replied, not breaking the eye contact.
“Come on, Pete. Let’s dance,” Liz said, as the four of us just kind of stood in the entry way.
Liz and Peter went off into the center of the dance floor, leaving you and Ned. You two looked at each other, shrugged, and linked arms, following the two out to the dance floor. You noticed how Ned looked at you and then flickering to Peter.
“What?” You asked, growing worried.
“Where did you get that idea?”
“Besides, he can’t love me back. Guys like that don’t like girls like me. I hardly dress like one, and it shouldn’t shock you if I wear a dress and a bit of makeup.”
Ned just stood there, not really knowing how to reply. You started to feel guilty for snapping at one of your best friends. “I’m sorry, Ned. How about we just stop talking about this and just dance?” You suggested, seeing him relax.
You started to awkwardly dance with Ned, the both of you lacking the skill of dancing, but that’s what made it fun. You quickly glanced over at Peter and Liz, and it seemed that Liz was the only one dancing. Pete was acting odd. He looked detached.
It was going smoothly until he said something to her, and he took off, leaving the gym. Then, without a word, Ned followed him, leaving you alone as well. You and Liz looked at each other, the two of you equally confused. You slowly made your way to her because even though you were jealous of her, she was a sweet girl.
“Wanna hangout with me for the night? I mean, I know I’m not really the kind of girl you’d typically hang out with, but no one should have to dance alone.”
“Sure,” she shrugged, with a small smile.
You stood at your locker, grabbing your binder and book for AP European History. You were taken out of your thoughts when you felt someone shake your shoulder. You put your books in your arm, closing your locker. You turned, finding a frantic looking Ned.
“Hey, Ned. What’s wrong? Is Flash being a dickhead again?” You said, leaning against the lockers behind you.
“You’ll probably hate me after I tell you this, but” he paused, looking like he was trying to gain courage to say something. You were growing impatient from just standing there, so you started to make a hand motion, trying to get him to say it already. “I told Peter.”
“That you’re in love with him,” he answered, scared to look into your eyes.
“You what?!” You shouted, anger running through your veins.
That’s when you saw a nervous Peter walking in your direction, moving his lips as if he was practicing what he was going to say. You couldn’t handle rejection right now, so you just walked in the other direction, feeling tears build up in your eyes.
If that glimmer hadn’t gone out before, it sure as hell just did.
