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Something Peter thinks the superhero community doesn't talk enough about is the severe adrenaline crash that comes after a particularly risky mission. Which, for most of them, is just another Tuesday. One second they're flying through the air, throwing punches and taking blows that would send a baseline human to the ICU, the next they're awkwardly saying their goodbyes and scattering away back to whatever homebase is.
Some days that means very quiet swings back to his apartment as Peter's body crashes from the drop. Other days it means going deeper into the city and finding all the trouble he can until every last bit of energy in him is burned out. Last night, the unfortunate decision making that came out of his post-battle crash was sleeping with Johnny Storm.
Not his best move.
They'd gone back to Johnny's apartment in a hurried tangle of limbs, webs, and flames. They hold off on actually kissing until they get inside, but they both know exactly what they're there for. Some unspoken boundary has been breached already and they don't need to make it any weirder.
The lights are off. They're both covered in scrapes and soot from the fight. Peter's mask stays on, pushed up to his nose so he can still get up to all the fun stuff. Spidey's webs make a few appearances. It's a little freaky. And still, Peter suspects, not Johnny's first rodeo.
***
Needless to say, Peter was long gone from Johnny's apartment by the time Johnny woke up. This was a freak accident, the result of getting hit in the head one too many times. They can both pretend it never happened and go back to normal. Rebuild all those unspoken boundaries.
***
It happens again two weeks later.
***
Four days later.
***
Twice in one night.
***
Peter doesn't get any more lenient about keeping his mask at least partially on, but he doesn't sneak out the window after their latest bout. Even he can admit it was starting to get ridiculous. Johnny seems so pleased with himself, Peter almost rethinks his decision. But it's late enough that there won't be much activity on the street, and Johnny's mattress is ten times more comfortable than Peter's ancient one back home. A few hours won't hurt.
"I'm going to start thinking you have a crush on me, Spider-Man." Johnny grins.
"Me?" Peter scoffs. "You made the first move! If anything, you have a crush on me. A big, flaming crush the size of your head."
"No way!" Johnny looks appalled. "You made the first move, not me."
"We'll have to agree to disagree," Peter decides.
"Just like we disagree about your mask kink."
"It's not a kink, it's a secret identity!"
"Save it for the judge, buddy."
Peter doesn't get a chance to say anything else, because Johnny's tugged him into another kiss and it's hard to think of much with a lap full of Johnny Storm. This is a helpful reminder of how he got into this mess in the first place. Johnny might be sort of insufferable with his Casanova attitude, but Peter can't say he doesn't deliver.
He thinks they're about to get into their third round of the night, but Johnny eventually pulls away. He runs his thumb along the edge of Peter's jaw, up and up until it reaches the bunched up edges of where he's rolled up his mask. Peter has it stuck to his face in much the same way he sticks to walls, so he's not worried about it accidentally coming off, but it's still unnerving. Nothing good has ever come from letting his identity slip and it would do him good to remember that.
Even with A-list celebrity superheroes sitting on top of him.
"Are you, like, horribly disfigured under here?" Johnny asks. "Because it's okay if you are! Just so you know."
"There's actually no top half of my face. Only a void that'll suck you and the rest of Earth up. I keep covered for the sake of the planet," Peter responds, deadly serious.
"I deal with planet eaters all the time." Johnny shrugs. "I'm sure I could handle it."
Peter laughs. How could he forget? While he's chasing down muggers and stolen cars, Johnny's in the far corners of the galaxy. "Fine, you caught me in a lie. I'm a perfectly normal specimen of man. But what part of secret identity don't you understand?"
"The part where you throw a fit over four inches of your head, but let me see every inch of the rest of you."
Peter's ears flush in embarrassment. He's almost forgotten they were naked. And yeah, he does feel pretty foolish wearing nothing but a scrunched up Spidey mask. But that's just life as a vigilante. "It's an important four inches, man. That's the moneymaker up there."
"You're blushing!" Johnny exclaims. He leans in closer and runs his fingers along the bottom of Peter's neck, where sure enough, he's started to redden. "Aww, Webs, no need to go all blushing virgin on me. I promise I'll be gentle."
"I could leave!" Peter reminds him. "I don't know what I like so much about you. You're a dick."
"So you admit it. You do like me." Johnny's grin goes from big to bigger. It'll go supernova any second.
"Let's go with tolerate instead."
"Too late. You like me!"
Peter eyes the window, wondering if it might be time to make a quick escape before he can put his foot in his mouth any worse than he already has. But Johnny rolls them over so he's on top now and even if Peter is stronger and could easily shove Johnny off, it's hard to want to when they're in this position.
He expects Johnny to initiate things, maybe they'll get their third round yet. But Johnny just looks down at him, that same goofy grin stuck on his face. It's starting to make Peter squirm. He knows his mask is still on and his identity is safe. If Johnny was going to figure it out from seeing the rest of him, he would have done it already. They're not even making eye contact. Not really. But it's still unnerving.
"Did you finally short circuit, flame brain?" Peter asks. "Just gonna stare at me blankly the rest of the night?"
Of all the things Peter expects, bottom of the list is for Johnny to blurt out, "Wanna go out sometime?"
Peter stops. Blinks. Decides not to panic immediately and clarifies, "Like out patrolling or something?"
"No, dummy, like out on a date."
Peter stares at Johnny. Johnny stares back. Peter waits until Johnny inevitably starts to laugh, because this, of course, has to be some joke. No way is Johnny actually asking him out on a date. Not even him. Johnny is asking Spider-Man out on a date. If it wasn't so absurd, Peter would give himself a pat on the back. His skills in bed must be absolutely phenomenal if it has Johnny asking him out without having ever seen his full face or without a clue of what Spider-Man's like outside the suit.
Johnny never laughs. He just keeps sitting and staring down at Peter. It's the most patient Peter's ever seen him, he's got to give Johnny that one.
"Johnny, I still have a secret identity," Peter finally says, since Johnny obviously needs the obvious written out for him.
"I know that!" Johnny rolls his eyes. "We've literally fucked without you telling me who you really are, but you think going on a date is a step too far?"
"I don't know about you, but walks through Central Park or dinner dates in full spandex don't sound all that romantic to me."
"So we won't do that! Easy. We can meet on rooftops or hang out here. Get dinner after kicking ass, when it's so late that a couple of guys in spandex are the least interesting thing around."
"So basically what we already do when we hang out together?"
"I figured with maybe a little more kissing or holding hands, but," Johnny shrugs, "yeah, pretty much."
Peter frowns. He'd be a liar if he said it doesn't sound kind of nice. He and Johnny have had tension together for years and ever since they'd made their friendship physical, Peter's grown ever fonder. But dating is hard enough as Peter Parker. Doing it as Spider-Man? With one of the few people that knows both versions of him. It's a recipe for disaster. He finally says, "I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Don't overthink it, Spidey," Johnny insists. He lays down again, on his side and with his hands still resting on Peter's waist. It's warmer than a human touch, nearing discomfort, but Peter's come to enjoy the sting of their extended contact. "Like you said, we basically do it already. We don't have to worry about titles or making things FaceBook official, or whatever. We can just hangout."
Peter knows he's going to regret it. In fact, a part of him already regrets it. But what else can he do? He nods, slowly, and agrees, "I guess we can give it a try."
***
Johnny's right. There's very little that changes between them. They see each other more often, they touch more, and yeah, there's a lot more kissing when they see each other. But for the most part, it's just like every other time they've hung out. Peter likes how easy it is between them. He never feels like he has to be someone else around Johnny.
Other than, of course, that one big secret. Very big secret.
It's a weird place to be. Sure, he can never take his mask off when he and Johnny hang out, but also, he never feels as free as when they're together. What is anyone meant to do with that?
In the long term, Peter's going to have to figure out answers for all of that. They'll never last more than a few months if Peter doesn't come up with some sort of plan to balance out his two lives. And maybe Johnny already means for this to just be some fling, over by the end of summer. That's something else Peter would rather not think about for the time being.
For now, he's happy to just cuddle up to Johnny on his couch, munch on some popcorn, and pretend to pay attention to whichever Fast and Furious is playing on the TV. Allegedly, they're Johnny's favorite movies, though Peter thinks it might just be an elaborate bit.
"Hey, Spidey?" Johnny says, still looking at the TV, as though these movies really require such rapt attention to follow along.
"Finally ready to switch over to Jurassic Park?" Peter asks.
"What? No, these movies are really good, man, just give them a chance." Even as he says that, Johnny reaches for the remote and pauses it. He turns to face Peter and those baby blue eyes of his are so vulnerable, Peter knows he's a goner. "I really like you, Spidey. Like really like you. I know we said we wouldn't stress out about making things official or anything like that, and if it's going to make things worse for you, don't even worry about it, but, I was thinking, maybe we could be, like, boyfriends or something?"
"Johnny... I still can't tell you what my secret identity is," Peter reiterates. Even if he does feel worse about that argument with every time he uses it.
"I know. And I know that might be an issue someday. I mean, it almost definitely will be. But I don't want to worry about that right now," Johnny says.
"You don't even know me!"
"Are you kidding? Of course I know you! I might not know your real name, but I know all the things that matter. You're funny. You're brave. You're sort of stupid, but only in the interest of serving others. You care so much about this city, you probably would be out there even without powers. You've got the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met. You root for the Mets. I mean, you're kind of perfect, dude. I know the secret identity thing is important to you and I know it'll cause issues. I know we can't exactly go out and date like normal boyfriends. But I do know you, Spidey. And for a chance to be with you? This is more than enough."
Peter wishes his mask were pulled a little lower. At least enough to hide the blush creeping up his neck. It's not that he needs compliments to get by or that he doesn't have plenty of people that love and care for him as Peter Parker. But hearing someone speak so plainly about the work he does as Spider-Man is a rare treat. Especially coming from Johnny, who had been just like everyone else in seeing him as a no good vigilante when they'd first met.
It feels good to be wanted like this. It feels almost unspeakably genuine to be wanted even with all the baggage and caveats he brings along. Peter should be more focused on coming up with all the worst case scenarios and all the ways this could blow up in his face, but his heart lingers elsewhere. He'd be inclined to agree that, yes, Johnny really does know him on a deeper level, even with the mask.
"It won't be easy. It might not even be fun," Peter warns.
"Pfft, we're superheroes. When have we ever wanted things to be easy?"
"Okay." Peter hides a grin by pulling Johnny down into a kiss. "Boyfriends."
***
Peter knows better than to trust Wade. They're friends and Peter will swear to anyone who'll listen that Wade's got a good heart, but that doesn't translate to being able to trust him. Peter is keenly aware of this. Unfortunately, Peter also has too big a heart and has a hard time saying no to his friends. Why else would he agree to try out Wade's new homemade booze?
Fool Peter once, shame on Wade. Fool him two three four times... Shame on Peter.
It had seemed like a good idea. Wade's moonshine had been sitting on his counter for weeks, looking more suspicious with every passing day. Any longer and Peter would only end up throwing it out. And somehow, Wade would know. He wouldn't hear the end of it for months. Better to just try it and get it over with.
MJ all but dragging him to some stuffy work party is the perfect opportunity to try it out. Peter pours some out into a pocket flask - another gift from Wade he'd been too polite to get rid of - and meets MJ at the front stoop of his apartment. He's never had much more than a buzz with his Spidey metabolism. Peter's sure it'll be fine.
***
Obviously, it is not fine. The party is rowdier than what Peter would have expected from a bunch of reporters and after MJ's goading, he ends up chugging the whole flask in one go. He'd done way worse during their college parties and not felt a thing.
Of course, those college beers hadn't been hand made by one of the rowdiest people Peter had ever had the (dis)pleasure of knowing. It takes about ten minutes, but it all hits him at once and he slumps rather dramatically on MJ's side.
"Oh my god." MJ's face lights up as she looks at him. The coworkers she was talking to are quickly forgotten. She helps him stand up straight again and takes a good, long look at his face. His red cheeks. His blurry eyes. "Are you drunk ?"
"I think I might be." The way Peter slurs it out is answer enough.
"Oh, this is great." MJ laughs with more glee than Peter's ever heard. She turns back to her work friends. "Sorry, ladies, Peter is one of those gym bros that treats his body like a really, really boring temple. This is a rare treat. If you'll excuse us, I'm going to get him some water and maybe gather some blackmail material."
Peter follows her away from the group, over to the back of the room where there's a table of refreshments set up. The room spins around him as he walks and it takes most of his concentration to walk in a straight line. Based off how MJ laughs whenever she glances at him, he's probably not doing too good of a job.
Peter had snuck a few beers with Harry their freshman summer, but he'd been bitten by that spider too young to have ever experienced any real drinking. He's been poisoned one or two times and it's sort of like that, but with better music in the background. Peter has yet to decide if being drunk is the best or worst feeling he's ever had.
He gratefully accepts some water from MJ and gulps it down, despite her insistence that he sip. "This is nuts. You feel like this all the time?"
"All the time? You think I'm an alcoholic?" MJ looks around to make sure no one is within earshot and leans in closer. "Is this serious or is it a joke? I thought you couldn't get drunk with your powers."
"I thought so, too." Peter shrugs. He pulls the now empty flask out and stares at the opening, like it might start talking and answer all their questions. "I got this from Wade. He said he made it. I dunno what was in it. I probably don't want to know."
"No, you probably don't," MJ agrees. "Are you going to be okay? Not going to fall into spider hibernation or something?"
Peter laughs, though he does it too suddenly and the world starts to spin again. He grabs onto the wall to steady himself. "I'll be okay, MJ. You can go back to your friends if you want. I might just stare at a wall until this cools off a little."
"Just as long as you don't start climbing it."
MJ bids him farewell with a kiss on the cheek and goes back to her friends. Just about everyone at this party is either a stranger or should be a stranger. The purpose of the gathering - other than a convenient excuse to pretend it's ten years ago and they're still living their college frat party days - is to celebrate one of MJ's coworkers who'd gone ultraviral with some fluffy thinkpiece on the modern American hero. Personally, Peter thought the article had been a whole lot of nothing, but most of middle America had disagreed.
As a result, there's a few supers in attendance. Mostly newer or lower level ones who Peter has barely interacted with. MJ had promised him it would be a Spider-Man-free event before he'd agreed to come. Peter is happy to ignore them and be ignored in return. He sips on water to try to sober up and just sticks to the wall, bobbing along to the music. (To be clear, he does not literally stick to the wall. He easily could, of course, but even drunk like this, Peter knows that would be a Very Bad idea.) Peter even gets to the point where he thinks he might be starting to feel normal again.
But then in walks Johnny Storm and Peter's whole world goes spinning again.
Johnny's in jeans and a jean jacket, a look that should have died a long time ago, but that of course he pulls off. Johnny could pull off a paper bag. When they'd slept together the first time, Peter had thought it might work to scratch an itch and let the tension between them finally die off. Unfortunately, all it did was make it ten times worse. Peter knows what he's missing and wants nothing more than to get back into Johnny's bed.
Johnny scans the room and eventually spots him. He waves, probably just trying to be polite to one of the only familiar faces in the room. Peter waves back and beckons him over. Johnny is understandably confused - they've never had as close a rapport as just Johnny and Peter - but he makes his way over.
Peter doesn't even know what his goal is with calling Johnny over like this. All he knows is that in his current state, he feels like he might die if he doesn't have Johnny by his side as soon as possible.
"Long time no see, Parker," Johnny says as he approaches.
Peter has a hard time focusing on his words, too distracted by how delightfully blue Johnny's eyes are. He typically only sees them through his mask, dulled. That's life changing enough, but like this? Peter could stare forever. If Johnny's like a sun, Peter's just happy to be in his orbit.
His complete lack of response is, of course, noticed. Johnny looks him over, spots how Peter sways unsteadily, and laughs. "I didn't realize I was walking into a rager here. Is MJ on babysitting duty?"
"I don't need a babysitter." Peter shakes his head, but does admit, "I might have overdone it accidentally."
"We've all been there, man. Keep drinking that water and maybe have some Tylenol handy in the morning."
Johnny starts to walk away, but Peter can't stand the thought of him leaving so soon. Without thinking, he reaches forward and grasps Johnny's hand. "Wait! Stick around a while longer."
Johnny frowns down at their hands. "Uh, do you need me to go get MJ for you?"
The rest of the party has long since faded away. It blurs in the background, unimportant in the presence of Johnny. Johnny who shouldn't look so good in denim on denim, whose hair is perfectly sculpted and ready for Peter's fingers to run through, who has eyes Peter can't look away from, who really is shining as brightly as the sun, impossible to ignore. Peter decides to just do what every cell in his body is screaming at him to do.
He tugs Johnny closer, closes the gap between them, and kisses him. And for one brief moment, Peter is finally content. It's just him and Johnny, like they have been the last few weeks. Like they should have been for a long time before then. It's perfect.
Or it would have been perfect, had Johnny not immediately reeled back. He drops Peter's hand like it might hurt him and puts a few steps between them.
"You are very drunk, Peter," he says. "So I'm going to be write it off to that and next time we see each other, we can pretend this never happened. If I were you, I'd have MJ take you home."
With that, Johnny turns and walks away. All the way out of the party again, gone as quickly as he'd come. Watching him leave, Peter has a rude return to reality. Peter Parker wasn't the one meant to be kissing Johnny Storm. Spider-Man was. With his head buzzing and Johnny's presence pulling him in, it was all too easy to forget that Johnny and Peter were nothing more than occasional acquaintances.
Someone who shone as brightly as Johnny deserved someone just as big, just as flashy, just as cool. Someone more like Spider-Man, not his nerdy, perpetually down on his luck alter ego.
Peter leans against the wall to support himself. Everything hits him at once all over again. His face is flushed, his hands are clammy, his stomach is in knots. If he's not careful, he suspects he might end up puking in a corner somewhere.
MJ appears at his side out of nowhere, guardian angel that she is. "Did I just see you kissing Johnny Storm?"
And yeah, okay, Peter supposes they can talk about this instead of the fact that he might keel over and die at any minute. Maybe it really was poison in Wade's homemade liquor. He leans his head back and closes his eyes. Maybe that will settle things around him. "I have to tell you something. Me and Johnny miiiight have been hooking up these last few weeks."
" What?!"
"As Spider-Man."
"Oh my god. Peter."
Peter opens one weary eye to squint at her. "Please don't. I know."
"It's honestly impressive the way you always one up yourself. Come on, lover boy. Let's get you home."
***
By the grace of God, Peter's heightened metabolism has done its job by morning. He'd gone to bed with the room spinning around him, but he feels fine when he wakes up. Not a hint of those nasty hangovers he hears so much about.
Instead, all he has to grapple with is the pit of shame in his stomach.
He'd been an absolute idiot. Peter understood now why he'd heard so many of his friends swear off drinking on many a morning after. That had most certainly not been his best self; Though, in Peter's defense, could he really be blamed for not being able to resist Johnny's pull? Most people couldn't.
Peter hoped he could just shake this whole thing off and pretend it had never happened. He doubted he'd see Johnny as Peter Parker again any time soon.
Of course, right on cue, Peter's burner phone for Spidey business dings with a notification.
{sms from Johnny} Scale of one to ten, what are the chances I see you this morning?
{sms from Spidey} Be there in twenty.
Much like the night before, Peter knows this might not be in his best interest, but it's hard to say no to Johnny. Besides, Johnny's awkward moment had been with Peter, not Spider-Man. If Peter jumps right back into being Spidey with him, then maybe he can just shake the whole night off and go back to normal.
As tempting as wallowing in his embarrassment is, Peter suits up and swings his way to Johnny's apartment. He doesn't usually go this time of day and he's sure someone will post pictures later, but he'll just swear until his dying day that they were meeting for official superhero business.
Johnny's usually in some state of undress when Peter makes it to his apartment, but today, he's busy making breakfast. It's delightfully domestic and as soon as he's climbed through the window, Peter can feel his shoulders relax. The two of them are still okay. Peter just needs to remember to separate the two people he is. No biggie.
He pushes his mask up enough to give Johnny a good morning kiss and then busies himself pouring a coffee. His little show yesterday must have burned a whole lot of calories because he's absolutely starving. By the time Peter's had his first sip of caffeine to really get the day started, Johnny's already put a plate of french toast and scrambled eggs down for him. It doesn't get any better than this. What was he even so worried about?
"So, I wanted to tell you about something that happened last night," Johnny starts.
Right. That's why he was worried.
"You won't even let me enjoy this beautiful breakfast before we get down to business?" Peter tries to make it sound like a joke, but even can he hear the strain in his voice.
"It's not a big deal," Johnny insists, though he also sounds unsure of himself. "Or I don't want to make it a big deal. It doesn't have to be. Peter Parker kissed me at a party last night. I don't know how much you two talk outside of pictures, but I wanted you to hear it from me."
"Oh. Okay."
Unfortunately, Johnny takes Peter's attempt at nonchalance as hurt. He scrambles quickly to add, "It didn't go on for long! He kissed me and I pulled away the second it happened. I might have kissed him back a second or two. I was just caught so off guard. But as soon as I realized, I stopped."
"Okay," Peter says again. "That's fine."
Johnny frowns. "You're not upset?"
"Nope."
"Not even a little."
"Nope."
"Spidey, I'm not saying I want you to be the jealous type, but you don't care even a teeny tiny bit that some other guy tried kissing me yesterday?"
"Nah, I'm chill."
Johnny stares at him. Peter stares back. He stuffs his face full of french toast and coffee, hoping that might save him from having to keep on with this conversation. Maybe Johnny will get bored of the topic and move on. Or he'll end up choking on something, die, and not have to worry about this anyway. Whatever works.
Johnny is the first to break. He leans back against his kitchen counter, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. "You're more than welcome to feel that way, of course, but in that case, I don't know if this is going to work out."
Wait. This is definitely not where Peter hoped the conversation would go. "Because I'm not going to freak out on you over one little kiss? C'mon, Johnny."
"I'm not saying I want you to freak out! I just want you to care. If you're looking for the sort of thing where we can go around kissing other people and it's not a big deal, it's fine, it's just really not what I'm looking for," Johnny explains.
Trust Peter to get himself in a situation like this. He's about to get broken up with for not reacting big enough to Johnny kissing him. Johnny doesn't know that, of course, but come on. He's faced plenty of absurd situations because of the mask, but this could easily take the prize.
Peter doesn't want to lose what he has with Johnny. Peter also doesn't want to just let go of a secret he's worked so hard and sacrificed so much to keep over the years. Peter can't have both of these things at the same time. It's startlingly obvious now.
He doesn't have very many options. The options he does have all seem equally frightening. He decides to just do what he does in battle when things aren't going his way and he needs to pull an impossible win out of thin air. He acts without thinking, going off pure hope and luck.
"Johnny, I genuinely, really, truly am not upset about that kiss last night." Peter pulls his mask the rest of the way off. "And I don't think you should be either."
Johnny's jaw drops. The temperature in the room fluctuates ten degrees either way in the span of a few seconds, a sure sign that Johnny's been hopelessly thrown off. He glances at the still open window, as if to remind himself that yes, Peter had swung here like usual and this couldn't just be some elaborate prank.
Other than his face, Peter is still covered head to toe in spandex, but he's never felt so naked. His hair's probably a mess after being squished under his mask and while he waits for Johnny to say something - anything! - he reaches up to fix it as best he can. Better to worry over something he can fix than to open the flood gates of every other fear bubbling in his chest.
They stand there in silence for another minute, the longest sixty seconds of Peter's life. Johnny finally steps forward, still wide eyed and disbelieving. He reaches between them to touch Peter's face. His hands are hot enough to sting, but Peter forces himself to sit still. If this goes badly and Johnny never touches him again, he'll spend the rest of his life chasing after that burn.
"You're not a clone, are you? Or some evil twin?" Johnny asks.
Peter laughs. The room feels lighter already. "No. Just the one and only Peter Parker."
"Holy smokes, dude. This whole time?"
"Since I was fifteen and got bitten by a radioactive spider."
Johnny lets out a long exhale. He goes back to the living room, pulling Peter along behind him. Peter is all too happy to leave their breakfast behind. When they sit down, Johnny takes another long, slow minute to just stare at him, trying to remap all their memories in his head. Peter suspects this is the longest either of them have been quiet.
"This is pretty crazy, man," Johnny says.
"Trust me, I know. Are you upset?" he asks. "I'm kind of freaking out over here."
"I'm not upset." Johnny shakes his head. His hand settles on Peter's knee, steadying him. "It's just a lot. I figured you'd let me under the mask eventually, but I never thought I'd have already known you."
"The list of people who know is tiny," Peter assures him. "And I still wish it was smaller. So I'm sure it goes without saying that you need to be discreet about this. But I was kind of an idiot last night, so... I guess you earned yourself some secret keeping."
Johnny relaxes a little and lets himself laugh. "You were drunk! Very. You - Spidey you - told me once you couldn't even get a buzz. Did you just say that to get out of my New Year's party?"
Peter cringes at the memory. "No. I really did think that. I was drinking a gift from Deadpool."
Johnny doesn't even need him to finish. He just nods. "Enough said."
"Not my best moment." Peter shrugs, embarrassed. "I'm sorry about that, by the way. Obviously I wasn't thinking straight."
"You're never thinking straight around me," Johnny interrupts. He winks, in case his dumb joke wasn't obvious enough.
"Whatever, loser." Peter laughs. He can feel them settling back into their normal. The anxiety pooling in his chest is replaced with affection. "I didn't mean for you to find out like this."
"Don't be too harsh on yourself. I'm pretty irresistible." Johnny smirks. He pauses, then asks, "You were going to tell me eventually, though, right?"
Peter hesitates. It's hard to say. Obviously, if this kept going, it was going to come out eventually. But there was a part of Peter, the one that loves to self sabotage and disregard his own happiness and well-being, that figured things would probably fizzle out before he had to worry about it. He settles on, "I don't know. Probably? I was trying not to think about it too much. Dating's kind of hard in a situation like this."
"No shit, dude. I guess that means you're stuck with me," Johnny decides. He pulls Peter closer and settles them back against the couch. Peter's head is tucked against Johnny's collarbone. He fits perfectly there. Always has. "That way you don't have to do all of this again."
"Sounds good to me," Peter agrees. "You don't have any questions? Or, like, a million other things to say? I figured this would be more of a bombshell."
"I'm sure I will eventually. But I just found out my boyfriend's a cute little nerd. Let me relish in the win for a while." Johnny presses a kiss to the top of Peter's hair, still a mess despite his best efforts.
Peter lets himself melt against Johnny solid presence, wondering why he hadn't let himself have all of this earlier. It's far less intimidating on the other side, like so many things are. He glances up to get a good look at Johnny's face, better than it's ever been without his mask or alcohol in the way. "I don't think I've ever felt so lucky my whole life."
"Just you wait, Peter. I can actually take you on dates now! I'm about to sweep you off your feet. All eight of them," he promises.
Peter laughs. His real name and a Spider-Man joke all in the same breath. Before last night, he couldn't have even imagined that coming out of Johnny's mouth. "I can't promise I won't be a little paranoid about it for a while. But I'm looking forward to it."
Later, they'll find themselves back in Johnny's bed, taking full advantage of every inch of Peter's body. Johnny's hands will be in his hair, his lips at his ear. There'd only been a scrap of fabric between them before, but they'll feel like they're discovering each other all over again. Later yet, they'll go out to Johnny's favorite hole in the wall restaurant a few blocks away, just two normal guys on a date. No masks, no spandex, no silly code names. Just Peter Parker from Queens and Johnny Storm from Long Island.
It'll be perfect.