SUNDAY NIGHT, PETER WAS PICKING AT HIS FOOD WITH HIS FORK. The night at the Parker residence was quiet for the most part, but only because Peter was still reeling from last night's events.

It was a good kiss, a really good kiss, and Peter found himself to be partially insane to think that he could probably still feel Theo's arm wound around the back of his neck, ghosting. But the part that got him to actually spiral was the fact that Theo went in for a second, nay third, kiss. That was what had Peter up at all hours of the night against his better judgement. It wasn't entirely like it was his first kiss, but something about it may or may not have flicked on a little lightbulb in his head. He wasn't sure it was a good thing.

"Whatcha thinking about over there, Peter?" May asked, cutting into Peter's thoughts as she brought him back into their apartment dining room. Peter accidentally dropped his fork onto his plate, startling himself, as he answered, more so blurted, "IthinkIlikesomeone." It came out all jumbled, one word stacked over the other, and he wasn't sure why he said it because it wasn't even true.

"Slow down, honey," May returned after having done her best to hear Peter's answer, laughing a little at his response, "what did you say?"

Peter braced himself, and repeated, slower this time, "I think I like someone."

May's eyebrows rose at the answer. "Oh."

"Don't get any ideas, Aunt May, please. I'm not even sure if I actually like them."

May raised her hands in mock surrender. "I didn't say anything."

"You were about to. I can feel it."

"You and your creepy Peter tingle." Peter didn't even have time to register a reaction to that because May asked, "So, who is it? I always thought you had a thing for MJ, even after all of your Liz shenanigans—"

Peter let out a huff. "Aunt May, it's not MJ. I don't even think she likes me like that, anyway. You remember when Theo came over so we could work on our science project?"

"How can I forget? You can never seem to quit complaining about him," May replied nonchalantly, calmly watching Peter's cheeks turn a tint of pink. "But go on, honey."

"Okay," Peter shifted in his seat a little bit, actually starting to get nervous about what was next to come, "he kissed me." There. It was quick, painless, a safe rip-the-bandaid-off approach. Simple. "At the party. I mean, it was for a game, so it wasn't really all that real but. . ." he trailed off, not sure how to cap off his sentence.

May crossed her arms as she sat back in her chair, invested now. "Would you say that it felt real to you?"

Peter shrugged, unable to answer. May nodded at that, and left him be for the rest of the night.

Theo sat across from Zoia in a partly empty diner, cup of coffee sitting idly by (Theo didn't know why he bought it, he also knew it wouldn't give him that buzz that everyone in this city so desperately craved to keep them awake; oppositely, it actually put him to sleep). He invited her out, remembering her note about how he could come talk to her about almost anything. Guess they both needed more friends. So he took her up on that offer.

"Some party last night, huh?" Zoia asked, bringing the cup of coffee to her lips and taking a sip. Theo let out a soft laugh and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Theo shook his head, "a real rager. The foreign ginger ale was honestly the cherry on top."

"No party is ever really complete without foreign ginger ale." They both laughed at the memory before silencing themselves once more. Theo idly stirred his coffee with his spoon, shifting in his seat a little, unsure of where to take the conversation. Luckily—or unfortunately—Zoia piped up.

"So you and Peter, huh?" She raised an impish eyebrow, and that got Theo to roll his eyes.

"It's not what you think." Theo shook his head. "It was a party game."

"Sure, but I don't think I've ever seen someone come out of Seven Minutes in Heaven looking that flustered. And trust me, being Liz's friend, I've been part of plenty of rounds of Seven Minutes in Heaven."

"Oh, come on. That can't be true."

"It is! Now what do you think that says about you?"

That got Theo quiet for a moment, thinking about his answer. He's known for a long time that he hasn't felt any sort of romantic feelings due to all the rigid training he got at the C.A.M.P and the strict "No creating relationships" rule to keep him on track with his missions. And he wouldn't go out of his way to say that kissing Peter ignited any feelings he had, as that was part of his grand scheme of things, but he has thought about it. But now was not the time. So he answered nonchalantly, "Not much. Like I said, it's just a game."

What Zoia said to Theo shouldn't have been keeping him up at all hours of the night, but it was, and he didn't really want to know why. So instead of willing himself to forget about it and go back to sleep like any normal person, he decided to head for his building's roof. He would've settled for his fire escape, but it just wasn't far away enough from everything he was forced to think about. But since he was lazy and didn't want to grab his gear or his grappling hook, he had to settle for his fire escape.

Opening his bedroom window, Theo was met with the New York air. It had a subtle, calming breeze this time of night, almost feeling like it went through him instead of around. It was almost kind of consuming. Despite all the light pollution, the city was still pretty, the nightlife making its usual ruckus—cars honking and subways and trains making their way all over (if Theo listened hard enough for them). It reminded him of that one Christmas song, Silver Bells, and it made him wonder what the city would look like, given that the C.A.M.P. would've burned down to the ground by then.

But since that day was so far into the future, and Theo had a mission to accomplish, he simply left that idea to wander to the back of his mind as he sat on the steps of his fire escape. He looked up at the sky and admitted that it was partially his fault for befriending (he used the term loosely) Peter as he thought it would help him to blend into the school scene, but he felt he was almost in way over his head with the mission. He felt himself loosening up, getting sloppy, and not taking it as seriously.

Sure, he only went to one party but he went as far as to participate in the party games that took place. Spider-Man needed to be wiped out. End of story. But it was hard to do when Theo remembered who was hidden underneath the mask. They were essentially one and the same.

Hesitating to bring down the hammer meant having to realize that Peter did have an effect on Theo to some degree and that Peter had managed to worm his way under Theo's skin somehow.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
wooooo an update (finally) !! idk what it was but looking at this doc for the past few weeks made me want to gouge my eyes out which is funny bc i could edit them all the live long day but writing them ??? nothing. absolutely nothing.

ne way, definitely pulled this chapter out of the air but i'm not gonna knock it too much since i managed to get this up in the first place so yay !

comments and feedback are much appreciated <3