Peter Parker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
promisebreaker) wrote2012-11-09 11:03 pm
promisebreaker) wrote2012-11-09 11:03 pm
Entry tags:
[RP for globbernaughts]
[First Date]
Peter was ridiculously nervous. He was beyond nervous. Really. He was half afraid he was going to throw up before the date ever started. They’d only seen each other the once for possibly three minutes while they waited in line for coffee. He’d written his number on her coffee cup and she’d scribbled hers on his arm. She’d texted first and it had kicked off a month long texting spree in which he kept promising her they’d eventually see each other, but their lives kept getting in the way. Most of the time it’d been the Spiderman thing, but there was also her trip to England, a cold that she refused to give to him, finals week for him and a chance to photograph a last minute wedding that he couldn’t afford to turn down.
Tonight posed the greatest chance to actually see each other that they’d had in that month of near constant texting. (He’d already had nightmares about his phone bill because there was a week of constant international texting on it). Peter wasn’t used to dating. His first girlfriend had been Gwen and after she’d died, he’d sort of given up on the idea of dating. Guilt had pushed him into a kind of solitude. He’d gotten used to it a long time ago, but returning to it after Gwen had taken him a while to adapt. Meeting Bethel hadn’t been planned and if she hadn’t texted him first, he would have never pursued it. It wasn’t safe for anyone to be in a relationship with him, which was why he was currently pacing in front of the Lego store, talking himself either out of leaving or into leaving before Bethel arrived. He flip-flopped from one to the other every few seconds. He probably looked a little like a crazy person, scrubbing at his head and then running his hands down his face, leg bouncing every time he stood in one place for long, fingers moving in time to the music piped into his ears by his earbuds.
He couldn’t leave. Not now, not even knowing that Bethel would be safer without him in her life. He’d fallen in love with her early on in their text relationship. She’d defended Spiderman and she’d passionately advocated that the man in the suit was the hero. Even if she hadn’t been funny, smart, geeky and beautiful, he would have fallen a little bit in love with her for that alone. With that decided, he could relax and just wait until she got there.
He’d shown up ridiculously early.
Of course, there was always the question of whether they’d get along as well in person as they did in text messages. Maybe, in person, she’d find him entirely too awkward. Although, he’d spent a good deal of their text messages warning her that he was incredibly awkward in person. It was possible in person that he would find she was an entirely different kind of person than the one represented in the texts. He didn’t really believe that one though. She’d been too honest and he’d seen her in too many moods to think that she wasn’t who he believed she was.
There was also the possibility that she’d figured out early on about his alter ego. He’d been fairly arrogant at first and if she paid any attention to the news, there were probably some things that lined up with some of the excuses for not being able to meet up with her again. She could have figured out that he was Spiderman and she could be in this just to be famous. There had been a girl last month that’d claimed to be his girlfriend in an exclusive interview to a tabloid rag. He’d never seen the girl in his entire life.
On the flip side, if things worked out between them, the Spiderman thing could be a deal breaker. He’d have to leave in the middle of dates, even the middle of the night. He would miss holidays, anniversaries, and birthdays because of Spiderman. That was the easy part of having him for a boyfriend. The hard part was much more dangerous and led to a much shorter life span.
Crap.
He really should have ignored that text message she’d sent him. The first one. He should have deleted it. He should have never sent anything back. He should have and yet part of him was ridiculously glad he hadn’t: the part of him that managed to forget for five seconds that she could end up dead.
Next time (when exactly had he decided there would be a next time?) he would make certain he didn’t arrive early so that he wouldn’t have time to psych himself out. Next time, he would make a return to perpetual tardiness and he would try to explain to Bethel that really was the better option.
Peter was ridiculously nervous. He was beyond nervous. Really. He was half afraid he was going to throw up before the date ever started. They’d only seen each other the once for possibly three minutes while they waited in line for coffee. He’d written his number on her coffee cup and she’d scribbled hers on his arm. She’d texted first and it had kicked off a month long texting spree in which he kept promising her they’d eventually see each other, but their lives kept getting in the way. Most of the time it’d been the Spiderman thing, but there was also her trip to England, a cold that she refused to give to him, finals week for him and a chance to photograph a last minute wedding that he couldn’t afford to turn down.
Tonight posed the greatest chance to actually see each other that they’d had in that month of near constant texting. (He’d already had nightmares about his phone bill because there was a week of constant international texting on it). Peter wasn’t used to dating. His first girlfriend had been Gwen and after she’d died, he’d sort of given up on the idea of dating. Guilt had pushed him into a kind of solitude. He’d gotten used to it a long time ago, but returning to it after Gwen had taken him a while to adapt. Meeting Bethel hadn’t been planned and if she hadn’t texted him first, he would have never pursued it. It wasn’t safe for anyone to be in a relationship with him, which was why he was currently pacing in front of the Lego store, talking himself either out of leaving or into leaving before Bethel arrived. He flip-flopped from one to the other every few seconds. He probably looked a little like a crazy person, scrubbing at his head and then running his hands down his face, leg bouncing every time he stood in one place for long, fingers moving in time to the music piped into his ears by his earbuds.
He couldn’t leave. Not now, not even knowing that Bethel would be safer without him in her life. He’d fallen in love with her early on in their text relationship. She’d defended Spiderman and she’d passionately advocated that the man in the suit was the hero. Even if she hadn’t been funny, smart, geeky and beautiful, he would have fallen a little bit in love with her for that alone. With that decided, he could relax and just wait until she got there.
He’d shown up ridiculously early.
Of course, there was always the question of whether they’d get along as well in person as they did in text messages. Maybe, in person, she’d find him entirely too awkward. Although, he’d spent a good deal of their text messages warning her that he was incredibly awkward in person. It was possible in person that he would find she was an entirely different kind of person than the one represented in the texts. He didn’t really believe that one though. She’d been too honest and he’d seen her in too many moods to think that she wasn’t who he believed she was.
There was also the possibility that she’d figured out early on about his alter ego. He’d been fairly arrogant at first and if she paid any attention to the news, there were probably some things that lined up with some of the excuses for not being able to meet up with her again. She could have figured out that he was Spiderman and she could be in this just to be famous. There had been a girl last month that’d claimed to be his girlfriend in an exclusive interview to a tabloid rag. He’d never seen the girl in his entire life.
On the flip side, if things worked out between them, the Spiderman thing could be a deal breaker. He’d have to leave in the middle of dates, even the middle of the night. He would miss holidays, anniversaries, and birthdays because of Spiderman. That was the easy part of having him for a boyfriend. The hard part was much more dangerous and led to a much shorter life span.
Crap.
He really should have ignored that text message she’d sent him. The first one. He should have deleted it. He should have never sent anything back. He should have and yet part of him was ridiculously glad he hadn’t: the part of him that managed to forget for five seconds that she could end up dead.
Next time (when exactly had he decided there would be a next time?) he would make certain he didn’t arrive early so that he wouldn’t have time to psych himself out. Next time, he would make a return to perpetual tardiness and he would try to explain to Bethel that really was the better option.