close_to_the_ground | For Beverly

For Beverly

This is a third date, Peter thinks.

Kind of?

Date number one had a bunch of adult chaperones and date number two was mostly just Beverly watching him nearly drown and then dropping a huge secret on her but this is definitely, definitely a date. So, date number three. He'd said something about that to Mr. Stark but Peter had gotten a muttered response about third dates that he'd ignored because he knows Tony wasn't serious. Because Tony Stark is very aware Peter still hasn't even managed to kiss a girl.

But yeah, date three and Peter is pretty sure he won't have to fight any of her family members and she knows about the Spider-Man so he's not lying about anything and he still thinks she's pretty and smart and funny and brave and swims in quarries so, yeah. He's got this.

He trots up to the orphanage, firing off a text as he resettles the heavy backpack. There's a lot of stuff in here and the packing took a weird amount of arguing with Tony to get done. In the end there are sandwiches on fancy bread with fancy ham and cheese, pears because Tony insisted for some reason, two bottles of pink lemonade because shut up Mr. Stark, and a little tupperware full of brownies because no, no Peter did not want to pack a brulee.

Most importantly, he's got his web shooters on his wrists and his mask stuffed into the pocket of his jeans. Okay, he's got this. He's Spider-Man.

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Beverly really is not used to this. That's been the case since Peter first asked her out, really, and there would be no sense in trying to pretend otherwise, but she's pretty sure it's even truer now. She doesn't mind the idea of it, dating someone with actual superpowers or something like that. It's just nothing she could ever have expected and a hell of a lot to try to wrap her head around. Still, she's no more or less jittery than has already been the case as she gets ready to go out, dressed as she often is in a sundress over bike shorts with her boots, figuring that's a safe bet for a picnic. At least the weather seems to be in their favor, too.

When her phone buzzes with a text, she sends off a quick response before heading down to the lobby, signing out, then heading outside, grinning when she sees Peter. "Hey," she says. "You ready?"

"Yeah, yeah hey," Peter breathes, buckling the chest strap on his backpack. He reaches out and squeezes her hand, wanting to touch her but not quite sure what's right.

"There's this rooftop nearby with a cool garden on top. I thought we could eat up there if you want. But, uh, I'd have to swing us up," he says, holding out his wrists to show what looks like twin, plastic black straps. "But only if that's okay."

"Seriously?" Beverly grins at the thought of that, just a little nervous, but kind of thrilled by the thought of it, too. If dating is new for her, then dating someone with what she can only guess would be best described as superpowers seems even more so, even if it's really about the same. He gave her a chance to walk away from that when he first told her about it, though, and if she'd wanted to, she would have.

She would much rather actually get to experience it.

"That sounds awesome. Both the swinging part and the rooftop part."

"Okay, awesome," he breathes, pulling the mask out of his pocket. "Gotta mask up just until we get there or Mr. Stark will kill me."

He tugs the mask on, only pulling it halfway down, just enough to obscure his features before he fires off a web to the nearest rooftop and steps a little closer.

"So, uh, I won't drop you, I promise but I've got to --" he trails off, wrapping his free arm around Bev's waist. Yeah, okay, this is definitely the closest he's gotten. Wow.

Being Spider-man is awesome.

"Hold tight," he says, just before they jump.

He tells her to hold tight, so Beverly does, which is at least preoccupying enough that she doesn't get too fixated on how close he is like this. It's necessary, and safer, probably, and it's hard to be anything but taken by the idea of this in the first place. Later, she can stop to be flustered by his proximity. For now, it's enough to try to swallow her nerves as he swings them up, a high-pitched noise in her throat, probably not quite drowned out by the rush of air around them.

"Holy shit!" she says, a little terrified but mostly delighted. Hearing about this is a far cry from actually experiencing it, but she trusts him. Besides, she doesn't really think he would suggest something like this if he were likely to drop her. That would be a pretty terrible end to a date.

"I know, right?" Peter laughs as they swing from building to building. He keeps it much more steady and less acrobatic than he normally would, not wanting Bev to be scared of it or God forbid, him.

He launches them a little higher to clear the roof of their destination and lands without of his normal flips, as softly as he can in the middle of a private roof garden.

As soon as he's let go of the web he yanks the mask back off and lets go of her waist, giving her a little room. A little bit. The close thing is kind of nice.

"So, uh, yeah. That was part of it. The spider thing. Is it still okay?"

"Still okay," Beverly says, shooting him a lopsided smile as she tries to catch her breath. It's a little easier said than done when they've only just landed, but she means her response. It may be weird as hell and nothing like she ever imagined a person could actually do, but his getting her up here safely says a lot as it is. Besides, it's more than a little badass. She doesn't see any reason to pretend otherwise.

"Definitely one of the craziest things I've ever done, but good crazy."

"Good crazy is kind of my entire life lately so I'm gonna take it," Peter laughs, squeezing her hand before walking over to the bizarrely soft patch of grass to unload his backpack.

"Mr. Stark and I found this place after a patrol one night," he says as he pulls out sandwiches, fruit, bottled drinks and the cookies. He does not mention it was after Tony carried him like a sack of potatoes away from the burning building.

"He made me bring pears. I have no idea why. I kinda realized when I was putting all this together that I don't really know what you like. Then I was like, I really want to know like, everything. Whatever you like. Pretty much anything about you, I guess. I think that's a good sign."

"You've been carrying around pears in there?" Beverly asks, wrinkling her nose a little as she follows Peter over to take a seat, though more in surprise than displeasure. "That seems like a lot." It's not like she objects to pears, though. She probably would have been fine with just about anything he brought, the idea of all of this alone more than enough for her. It's gorgeous up here, none of this anything she would have expected from a date before, well, now.

"I mean, I don't know why he would think you need to bring pears, either, but I do like pears."

"It's easier not to argue sometimes," Peter says with a huff of laughter. He knocks his knee against hers lightly and grins as he opens up a drinks and hands it over.

"So, uh, it's pretty amazing none of this freaks you out. But, I guess the sewer monster thing is a lot worse," he babbles, a little distracted by the way Bev's hair looks in the late afternoon light.

"So I don't, uh, I feel like I've been talking a lot about myself with the spider thing and all. But I want to know whatever you want me to know about you. Anything."

"Yeah, it's kind of... hard to be freaked out by much after that," Beverly says, nose wrinkling a little as she smiles, the expression a touch self-deprecating. "I mean, it's totally crazy, but it's pretty cool, too? Plus, you didn't drop me, so, you know, that helps." She wouldn't have expected otherwise, of course, wouldn't have agreed to let him take her swinging through the air if there seemed to be any chance of that. Still, it's hard to resist the temptation to tease him about it a little.

Leaning back on one palm, she considers that for a moment, then shrugs. "I don't mind you talking about it. Aside from the sewer monster, my stories aren't all that interesting. Home... kind of sucked."

"Just you and your dad, right?" Peter says, shuffling around a little so he's facing her, legs drawn up so he can sit close. He's already told her his basic story: dead parents, dead Uncle, alive Aunt so he hopes it's not too weird to ask so directly.

"Was he not, was he not a good dad? Or, I don't know. I don't know if it's okay to ask that. People asked me so much weird shit about my situation back home that I forget what's okay and what's not. Sorry."

"No, no, it's okay," Beverly says with a quick shake of her head, bending her own legs off to her side. It buys her a moment's time to try to figure out how to answer, at least. On one hand, with everything he's told her, it wouldn't seem entirely right to dodge this subject now. He might not be demanding any information, but if anything, the lack of expectation makes her feel all the more like she could be honest with him. On the other, it's a weighty thing, and she doesn't want to scare him off when they've barely dated. Maybe it wouldn't matter, or maybe it would.

She settles for what she thinks might be a reasonable middle ground, at least for now. "He wasn't. A good dad. At all. That's kind of been one of the best things about being here, actually."

Peter takes a careful, slow breath, not wanting to have a bad reaction in case she feels like he's upset with her or something.

But just that tiny bit of information makes him want to punch something.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs, thumb lightly tracing a cluster of freckles on her knee. God, he's so fucking lucky. He's had four great parents and now a millionaire is going to adopt him and build him a room in his penthouse. Beverly is thankful for the shitty Children's Home.

"I don't wanna like, force you to talk about him, you know? But if you want to, at any time, you can. To me. About any of it. It's kind of amazing, though. You're so smart and nice and brave and you kind of had every right to be an asshole after a sewer monster and a shitty dad."

Fuck. Smooth, Parker.

Beverly doesn't bother trying to hide the way her smile turns up slightly at the corners when he touches her knee. He's never made her feel weird, never looked at her in a way that made her uncomfortable or seemed like was going to push or expect anything of her. That's nice, and new, and a feeling worth holding onto, especially with a subject like this at hand. There are things she's never going to be comfortable talking about, but maybe they're better off not being buried. He told her something huge, something potentially game-changing.

As much as she doesn't want to scare him off, she doesn't want him to feel lied to later, either. If it's going to make a difference, that would probably be the case no matter when she tells him.

"I guess I spent so much time around assholes that I didn't want to be one, too," she says, sheepish but a little pleased. "Between the kids at school, and then everything at home..." Glancing at the ground — or, rather, the roof under them — she bites her lip. "It's probably not great date conversation. Kind of a mood killer."

"Honestly, I don't even know what date conversation is so I think we can talk about whatever you want to talk about," Peter admits with a shrug. He scoots a little closer, his knee pressed against hers and he summons all his courage to reach out and take one of her hands in his, threading their fingers together.

God, he hopes his hand doesn't get sweaty.

"I've been on exactly one date and it barely even counted so I don't really know what to expect. And I like you more than I've ever liked anyone and you're the only girl who's ever known about the Spider-Man thing so seriously, any topic."

"Yeah, I don't really know what date conversation is, either," Beverly says, her nose wrinkling a little. For all the guys she was supposed to have been with back home — and, fuck, maybe she should tell him about that, too, even though it isn't like it was true and it hasn't followed her here — none of them ever expressed any actual interest in her. Just Bill, at the end, and Ben before that, and sometimes she can barely remember what they looked like. Nothing ever came of it, anyway; she never did anything like this with them, even something as simple as sitting here holding hands seeming significant under the circumstances.

"Or date... anything? I've never actually dated anyone before this. But, you know, this is — this is fun, and I don't want to make it not fun."

"Uh, well, I don't mind if you want to tell me not fun things. Seriously, anytime. You're not gonna freak me out. I'm a dumbass sometimes and you know, a boy but I'm not an asshole," Peter promises, running a thumb over her knuckles. Her hands are like, so small, but a little calloused and he doesn't really know why he likes that so much.

"But hey, you want fun? I can show you more stuff. Wanna see how I stick to walls?"

"I definitely want to see how you stick to walls," Beverly says with a grin. She'll tell him, she decides, just not right now. She wants to enjoy this first, and if she talks about home, about her dad, she's not sure there will be any coming back from that tonight. It's hard enough to think about something like that while out on a date anyway. She wouldn't want to just tell him and then leave, but she'll give it a little time, at least. "Any of the cool stuff you can do, I want to see. And then maybe... maybe after that, we can talk about it."

Peter nods, biting his lip before darting forward and kissing her cheek. May had talked and talked and talked and then talked more about never pressuring a girl but never actually explained how to tell when she wanted to be kissed.

He figures going too slow is probably better than going too fast.

"Talk to me tonight if you want to, for sure. But if you don't, I kind of hope there are lots more dates. And just like, hanging out. Letting me show off so you think I'm cool."

It's barely a moment when he leans in to kiss her cheek, but there's an accompanying feeling of warmth that she's felt only once before, a memory that feels hazy and far away and doesn't really matter now anyway. This does, and it's nice, the way he doesn't attempt anything more but takes that initiative in the first place. Hell, she can still hardly believe that someone like him could like her anyway. She's not used to that sort of positive attention in the slightest.

"I would definitely like that," she says, biting back a wider smile and trying to ignore the slight flush that she knows must be rising to her cheeks. "All of it."

"Awesome, awesome," Peter breathes, grinning as he hops up and walks backwards towards the brick wall of the rooftop storage shed.

"So as far as we can tell, all my senses work in overdrive all the time and my hands and feet can stick to stuff when I want it," he says before hurling himself into a backflip and sticking his feet to the wall before pulling himself upright, hands behind him at his waist.

"Plus I can flip around and stuff pretty easily."

"Oh, my God," Beverly says, shaking her head a little as she grins. Even looking at him, it's hard not to think that what he's doing should be downright impossible. Her idea of what should or shouldn't be possible changed some time ago, though, and anyway, it's hard to doubt what's right in front of her. If he could swing her between buildings up to the roof, why not this, too?

"That is so cool."

"Yeah?" he says, a little breathless with relief that she looks happy instead of grossed out or something.

He gestures for her to come close, holding out a hand.

"Before this I was kind of a spazz. I mean I still am but like, I had glasses and I tripped over myself a lot. It was nice to be able to do something cool."

"It's definitely that," Beverly says with a grin, moving over to him when he beckons for her to, taking his outstretched hand. "As far as I can tell. I might not be the best judge, I have never been cool." At least she can joke about that here with him, knowing that he isn't likely to be put off by that. Here, no one seems to have deemed her too painfully uncool, which she's all the more grateful for now.

"That's so insane," Peter breathes, scooting down the wall so they're eye to eye. He squeezes her hand and taking a hitching, fortifying breath. "You're so cool it's ridiculous."

He leans in, just slowly enough that he thinks he's giving her the time to run away or scream or whatever it is May always tried to warn him girls might do and tips his chin up for a kiss. Finally. His first, real kiss.

Beverly is pretty sure that she has never been cool, and she's about to say as much when she sees the way he starts to lean just slightly towards her, her pulse ratcheting up slightly in response. She's been in a position like this just once before, but that's the last thing she wants to be thinking about right now. That memory is all faded anyway; she remembers the warm September sunlight but not the look on Bill's face when she turned to walk away.

This is vivid and present and real, and it's something she wants to hold onto. Barely suppressing the impulse to smile, she leans in to meet him halfway and kiss him, still a little unsure of herself but certain that she wants this.

Oh thank God.

She didn't pull away. Or slap him. Or yell. Or gag. Or grimace.

He drops his feet down, hands coming up to carefully cradle her face in his hands as he grins and kisses her again. This feels like swinging between buildings, maybe even better. Definitely better, actually, he thinks as he presses close.

Holy shit.

The strange thing — the nice thing — is how safe she feels. Beverly isn't really used to that, though she thinks she'd like to be. There's so much that she's never gotten a chance to have before. No dates, just nasty rumors; no one who was actually interested in her, just guys who wanted to use her name as a conquest, and, of course, her father. That's the last thing she wants to be thinking about now, though, when she feels both wonderfully normal and like she's floating in midair or something stupid like that.

"Wow," she says, flushed and a little breathless and smiling uncontrollably, even as she knows she must sound stupid. "That, that was really nice."

"Thank God," Peter breathes, laughing a little as he leans his forehead against hers. "I mean, I have no idea what I'm doing. At all. I mean I haven't, you know. Anything. So."

Awesome, Parker. Smooth, as always.

"Do you, uh, do you think it'd be okay if I called you my girlfriend?" he blurts out.

"I really don't either," Beverly says, huffing out a quick laugh in turn. Aside from that game of spin the bottle a few months back, during which nothing particularly noteworthy happened on her end, she's had only one real kiss to speak of before now. (She's not sure a third grade play counts.) "So at least, you know. We're on the same page there."

She grins, though, her cheeks still warm. "Definitely okay. Yeah."

"Uh, okay. Wow. Awesome," Peter laughs, reaching out to wrap Bev in his arms, easily lifting her a few inches off the ground.

"I'm your boyfriend. Okay, you got my birthday, you know about my parents and you know about the Spider-Man thing. Uh, favorite color is blue and I hate mango. That's probably everything, right?" he teases, leaning in for a soft kiss.

"The important things, yeah," Beverly says, smiling as she leans in to meet him halfway. There's still a lot that she hasn't told him, which seems unfair for a fleeting moment, but it isn't as if she plans to keep it all a secret. He knows some of it, anyway — knows about It, and that she wasn't happy at home, and that seems like maybe it's a good start.

Maybe if she keeps it lighthearted, it will be a little easier to handle. With that in mind, she exhales a quiet laugh. "Shit, does that mean it's trivia time on my end?"

"I mean yeah, that is clearly how this works those are the rules that I know about because I have so much experience," he says, putting her down on her feet but staying close.

This is, this is really different. He's never been this close to someone who wasn't family or like, Ned.

"Hit me. Trivia time."

"Okay," Beverly says with a grin. It might be a little nerve-wracking, the idea of letting herself be known, something she hasn't done very much of for a reason, but it will be worth it, too. Nothing that's happened so far would have if he hadn't wanted it to. Maybe he doesn't really have any idea of the kind of baggage she comes with yet, but she can start small, work up to more.

"Uh, I play keyboard a little, but I don't have one here," she says. "I like sneaking out of the Home just to know I can. And... I cut my own hair."

"We should both sneak out sometime," he murmurs, leaning in to steal another kiss. "And, and I want to watch you play. And seriously anything else you're interested in. I want to know it all."

He laughs, ducking his head because he knows he sounds ridiculous but he just, he's so gone for her.

"If I ever do get one, you can definitely watch me play," Beverly says, laughing just a little in turn at the thought of it. "Or we could like... find a music store or something." It's not like she's great or anything, but it's at least a hobby, and something that she could share with him. "And we should totally both sneak out sometime. It'll be fun."

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