•••••••

    Maddie turns to her left, a short girl dressed in a bumblebee costume with bouncing antennas lifts her small mask from her face—revealing a smile and green eyes.

"Oh my gosh, Betty!" Madeline almost squeals, now ecstatic that she's finally talking to her best friend.

The two girls talk awfully fast to each other as they hug, making Peter feel overwhelmed. Betty and Madeline pull away and speak rapidly, not noticing the boy with brows raised and eyes darting between them both.
Are they speaking some sort of foreign language?

Madeline stops her talking suddenly when she realizes her boyfriend is staring at them with a wide expression.

"Oh, sorry," she apologizes quickly with a small laugh before continuing, "Betty, you've talked to Pete a couple times right?"

"Is that who's under the mask? Geez, I almost didn't recognize you with the whole old-fashioned twenties look," Betty Brant looks Peter over, her springy antennas bounce up and down as she nods in satisfaction.

"Gotta admit though, you two look cute! Talk about a power couple."

"Aw, well, I-I don't know about that- -" he starts to say, but is interrupted when he hears someone familiar call his name.

"- -Peter!" Ned Leeds—dressed in an all black Batman suit and mask—walks up to Peter with Michelle, Cindy, and Abraham—dressed up in costumes as well.

"Hey, I thought the whole point in masquerade parties was to hide your identity—how did you know it was me?" Peter asks, still lounging against the wall with his girlfriend, and lifts his black mask off, setting it on his forehead.

Ned shrugs and lifts his Batman mask off as well, "It was the hair. It's not that hard to miss a head glazed over in pounds of concrete."

This joke makes the girl next to Peter erupt in laughter. So in result, Peter playfully hits his best friend in the arm, causing Ned to flinch back and surrender with his hands up, "—Ow! Alright, alright, sorry!"

Peter scoffs with an eye roll and looks over at his other friends. To what he could tell in the dark lighting, Cindy came as a masked assassin while Michelle had on her regular clothes and a mask handmade out of a paper bag.

"Don't ask," is what Michelle says when she sees Peter look at her funny.
"Yeah—I wasn't gonna."

Abraham takes his black-rimmed mask off and beams to Peter, who actually looks a bit surprised when he sees his Wakandan friend in a red and blue costume with a black spider imbedded in the chest.

"Abe! Are you Spider-Man?!" Peter exclaims, a bit too excited to see his friend in a Spider-man costume. It didn't look homemade like everyone else's—this one was definitely bought at a store.

"Ah—yes! A store started selling it along with their Avengers line so I thought why not?"
"That's so cool," the happy fifteen year old gushes in awe.
Spider-Man, me, as a costume for Halloween?! Along with the rest of the Avengers?!
"So, he's gotta be your favorite superhero right?"

"Yeah! Where I am from, my people would call him, 'phezulu ezimbiesile'."

Peter is taken aback as he hears the fluent Xhosa language come out of Abraham's mouth. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Abe lets out a chuckle when he sees Peter's eyebrows raise in confusion, "it means 'super badass'."

The boy nods his head understandably, "Oh, in that case—yes, definitely."

"Please, I'd like to see him take down. . Batman," Ned announces in the deepest voice he could reach, gesturing to himself in his all black cape and costume.

"He could," Abraham lifts up his wrists and points them at Ned. A sudden stream of white silly string comes out of a toy-like webshooters that Abe wears. Peter's eyes widen as he sees Ned get sprayed with the messy substance and curses out loud. The friend group, even Betty, burst out laughing when they see Ned try to deflect the spray with his cape.

"Dude! Really?!" Ned complains, trying to pick out silly string from the ears on his mask.
Abraham only shrugs, looking oh-so innocent.

"Aw, it's okay Ned," Madeline's giggles loom still as she tries to comfort the fifteen year old from Peter's side, "I think Batman could win against Spider-Man."

The boy snaps his head over to his girlfriend with a surprised expression, "You do? I-I mean, why do you think?"
"Well, obviously Batman is a genius and he could probably figure out his weaknesses easily," Madeline says simply and shrugs in his arms.

He could not believe what he was hearing. It was funny to talk about Spider-Man with his friends and coming up with theories on who the web-slinging hero is, but now his girlfriend was totally siding away from his hidden superhero identity. He didn't know what to think.

"What if he doesn't have any weaknesses? What would Batman do then?" Peter gestures to his friend in the Spider-Man costume in front of him, who is busy joking around with Ned and pretend fighting him.
Madeline only rolls her gorgeous blue orbs when she shakes her head, almost laughing when she sees how protective her boyfriend is over which superhero would win in a fight. She adds onto her side with, "Everyone has weaknesses, Pete."

Her words were simple but wise, enough for Peter to think twice about what he said just a few seconds ago.

Madeline turns her attention towards the two friends and laughs when Ned gets sprayed with silly string. So he ends up throwing a plastic batarang at Abraham. The fake Spidey yelps in pain as the plastic weapon hits his exposed eye and knocks off the rest of his mask. This was pure entertainment at its best.

Maddie's laughter decreases into giggles as she leans into Peter's side. He couldn't help but smile a little when she does this. He puts an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer naturally. Everyone, including a laughing Betty Brant and a couple of other party attenders nearby, watched as the two superheroes play fight.

But Peter didn't seem to pay attention to them—his thoughts were focused on the words that Madeline said. They struck deep, he'll admit, and he couldn't seem to stop thinking about it. Peter Parker always thought that the little guy would make him invincible—whenever trouble would come, he'd just put the suit on.

"Everyone has weaknesses, Pete."

The fifteen year old looks down to the girl laughing in his arms. He marveled on how lucky he felt and how perfect he thought she was when he first saw her in Chemistry class.
Peter realized that the butterflies and lump in his throat whenever he would see her wasn't a normal thing. He was falling hard if he knew better. These feelings toward the young Osborn wasn't something that he was prepared for. And in the moment, Peter saw that he was wrong for what he claimed about Spider-Man earlier.

Maybe he does have a weakness. That being a good or bad thing? He didn't know.

What he also didn't know, was that the answering was coming to him in a black SUV, holding a 9mm pistol.

•••••••
Location: Watson household
City: Upper West Side
Time: 9:51pm

It was two hours of endless fun.
Two hours of pigging out on food and sweets.
Two hours of dancing, singing, and laughing.
And two hours of forgetting everything wrong in the world and focusing on the right.

Ned had somehow lost his Batman mask and cape in the large dancing crowd, making a big deal about it, he forced Cindy and Abraham to help find it.

Peter and Madeline sit next to each other on a couch surrounded by some of the girl's friends, including Betty. Peter didn't really speak in conversations as much as he wanted to, but he guessed it was just as good enough to be even near these people. They all talked about how rich they were, how much allowance they received the past week, what new car their parents let them test drive—it was all very out of place for Peter. He didn't feel like he'd fit in with these type of people.

But all he did, was smile, laugh with his girlfriend, and try to act like he was one of them. But every time he'd try to at least have a fun time, he would find himself dropping the smile to realize everything their talking about really wasn't funny to him. Money? Expensive clothes? These kids were his age and they had everything. And it seemed like they payed no attention to him.
He was still the school nerd no matter how hard he tried not to be.

"Hell yeah!" He hears someone yell and snap him back into reality. Peter looks over his shoulder and spots Ned waving both hands in the air from the dance floor. He holds his Batman mask and flutters his cape, "Found it!"

Thank God they crashed this party, or I'd probably be so lost right now.

Peter chuckles to himself when he sees the others cheer him on for finding his costume in the mass crowd. They all seemed to be having a good time. Even Michelle smiles, embarrassed because Ned breaks down into a weird dance move. These were his crazy and amazing friends—they've done so much for him already in the past year, and he hoped they'd all stick together.

"Dude, who's the dancing monkey?" A guy dressed in a fake Hawkeye costume asks the people around him. Peter looks to the guy who speaks about Ned, immediately put off-guard and grows defensive.

"I don't know," a girl says thoughtfully, "I think I was partnered with him in a project or something. The guy's a total weirdo."

Peter tenses, causing an aura of silent rage. Madeline, who sits next to him, also looks a bit irritated. She glances over at Peter who grips on the edge of the couch, causing his knuckles to whiten. Their shoulders touching, his eyes burn at a spot on the floor behind his mask.

"Yeah, look at his get-up," another random dude dressed up as a Roman soldier gossips, "It's homemade obviously."

"I bet his grandma made it or something," the guy in the Hawkeye costume snickers, causing everyone except Betty, Maddie, and Peter to laugh.

"Hey, that's not cool," Betty remarks with a stinging glare at the two gossipers.

"Yeah, knock it off," Madeline also raises her voice, placing a hand on Peter's gripped knuckles. Her touch eases him only a bit—but only at the slightest.

He swore, if these dudes said one more word about Ned, he'd flip. Peter now felt his webshooters around his wrists, knowing that he wanted to use them to web up these two stupid jock's mouths.

"C'mon, we're kidding."
"Yeah, but can you blame us? That big guy is clearly taking up half of the dance floor."

Oh yeah. . .That was it.

Peter goes to stand up abruptly, causing the two guys to look at him funny before he's suddenly stopped. Madeline was quick to react to Peter about to act out—pulling on his shoulder and squeezing his hand tight.

Betty Brant also takes action, standing up and blocking Peter and Madeline away from the bullies. The blonde girl takes menacing steps toward the boy in the Hawkeye costume and grips his jacket whilst ripping his annoying sunglasses off. His tiny friend dressed as the Roman yelps in surprise, backing away from the girl who gives them both daggered stares.

"Say anything like that again and I'll make sure it's the last thing you ever say before I rip your tongue out. If I hear you talking about anyone else in general, you'll piss me off. And you really don't want me pissed off, got it?"

"G-Got it. Whatever dude, chill," he shakily says and puts his hands up in surrender. Betty gives him one final glare and pushes him with enough force to make him scoot back in the chair.

"Let's go," Madeline says to Peter, now immensely angry at the stupid people she called 'friends'. She's almost mad at herself for suggesting Peter hang with them at all. They were just cruel people. And to think that she was just like them at one point made her want to throw up.

The three now traveled to the opposite side of the whole house. They made their way into the kitchen where not that many people are hanging around. It was a sleek and very modern looking kitchen with empty pizza boxes, spilled cups, and plates everywhere.

Peter didn't notice until he quickly glanced down at the free hand Madeline wasn't holding. His long sleeve concealed it luckily, but he felt his middle and ring finger both on the trigger for his webshooters. He immediately relaxes when he sees this, causing his shoulders to roll back and his jaw clenching to cease.

"They can't go five freaking minutes without bad mouthing someone. It honestly irritates the hell out of me," Betty says with her arms crossed as she paces slowly across the floor.

She continues ranting out loud, a habit she has whenever she got angry. Peter just leans over with both elbows rested on the island counter with Madeline trying to comfort him, a gentle hand rubbing his shoulder and her body also leaned against the counter.

"You probably don't want to answer this right now, but are you okay?" She says lowly, searching his flaming eyes for a sign of recognition. She eventually receives a melted glance from the boy, seeming like he's guilty for something.

Peter sighs through his nose and runs a hand through his hair, not caring if he messes it up.

"I'm fine," he nods, "Sorry. I-I almost lost my cool back there," he says genuinely with sad eyes and wraps the short girl in a hug. With him honestly needing one, Maddie embraces him back, resting her head on his chest.

Betty scoffs and throws her hands in the air, causing the two to turn to her. "Uh-uh. No Pete, you don't have to be sorry. It's them who need to apologize," the girl dressed as a bumblebee points a finger back in the living room.

Madeline pulls away from the hug and raises her brows, surprised on how Betty is angry this much.

She sees Maddie's expression, knocking some sense in as she tries to calm down.

"Ugh—sorry. Didn't mean to go all Mr. Hyde," Betty shakes her head, resetting her attitude, "I've been dealing with those two jerks a lot lately. All they do is gossip and talk trash behind people's backs like little girls."

Madeline hums, silently agreeing with her friend, "One of the many things I've missed over the week, huh?"
"Oh yeah, big time."

Betty heaves a frustrated sigh and puts her black and yellow polka-dotted mask back on her head, slipping it over her eyes.

"I'm going to go cool off, maybe get a drink if there's anything left. You want me to get you anything?"

Madeline shakes her head with kind smile, "I'm okay."

"'Kay. .what about you Peter—want me to get you a soda or something? Might help?"

"Ah—I'm good. Thank you though," he waves a hand and tries to put on a fake smirk to let her know he's fine.

Betty walks off with a nod of her head and heads back into the sea of teenagers, on her way to the food bar where Michelle was currently hogging the cookies.

Peter stares at the floor when she leaves the two behind, deep in thought with his brows furrowed. This face, Madeline knew well. It wasn't too long when he wore the same expression; when they were getting in the cab on the way to this party. It scared her to know that he was keeping these, probably bad, thoughts to himself. She so desperately wanted to know what was racing in his mind. However, she knew it was because of the two jerks sitting in the living room.

Madeline sighs, glancing around at the kitchen before looking to Peter with a sad stare.

"I'm sorry for that," she manages to muster up.

Peter avoids eye contact and looks away from the girl. He begins to fidget with his mask in his hands, debating on if he should say what he was thinking.

Madeline sees his sadness and continues, taking careful steps toward him.

"If I knew they were going to drag Ned like that, I definitely wouldn't have suggested you be around them."

Why did I even try to be around them in the first place?

These thoughts were pushed to the back of Peter's brain but since they were bolted up, each one just popped back. He decided he's had enough of concealing his feelings, she deserved to know what he was really thinking.

"It's fine—I was never going to fit in anyways," he says quietly, shrugging his shoulders and facing Madeline.

"I mean, they're them and I'm. . .I'm me," the boy gestures a hand to the crowd around them and then to himself, Maddie's gaze follows his hand as she could see where this was going—and it was breaking her heart.

"These. . .these people are different. They're rich, they have friends, they have everything. A-And me, I'm a science nerd, I freak when I'm nervous, I build computers out of scraps, I—I'm not one of them. And I'll probably never be someone they'd expect you to date." He breaks the eye contact and leans his back against the counter, utterly frustrated.

Peter glances down at her hand that wears the ring he gave her. He picks up that hand and traces shapes on her knuckles as he gazes at the colors.

After a moment, he gathers up the courage to say the last thing that's been bugging him, the last thing that he felt truely, "If. . .you want to find someone else better than me, then. . .I'd be okay with it."

There, you said it. You got it off your chest. She'll let go of you and find someone who will treat her better than you will.

Peter shuts his eyes, not wanting to let any tears flow. He also doesn't want to hear the answer he knows he'll hear;
'Fine, I'll find someone else.'

But all he sees is a droplet if water fall to the floor and hears a shaking inhale.

••••••

Another update in only a day, you're welcome 😉
-XOXO