Tangled Up With A Cold (M, Amazing Spiderman)- Secret Santa for Sneesee!

[Dusty15]

A little gift for Sneesee's Secret Santa! It's been a while since I've seen this film, so I hope I did it some justice! This is a fic for "The Amazing Spiderman" (the reboot starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone). It's not terribly long or 'deep', but I hope you enjoy it, Sneesee and that you have had a great holidays!

----

The thing about Gwen Stacy was that she was incredibly smart, so nothing got past her. Peter loved having her as his girlfriend, but there was very little he could keep hidden from her. Granted, she already knew his biggest secret of all, so keeping that under wraps wasn't a concern, but there were some occasions when he had things he'd rather keep to himself. Like being sick, for example.

His mutated genes kept him from getting too physically injured, but a few months after he'd acquired his new gifts and endured a string of emotionally taxing events, he woke up feeling a little off. Rolling over in bed, he scrubbed a hand across his face and pushed up his nose, sniffling. He felt a little congested, but not bad enough to stay in bed.

Stumbling about his room, he shrugged into an oversized hoodie and his jeans, getting ready for school. While brushing his teeth, he paused to open his mouth wide towards the mirror to try to get a glimpse at his throat, which ached slightly. Frowning, he opened the medicine cabinet and surveyed his options before closing it again. He didn't want to risk some strange interaction of medicine with his spider senses.

Instead, he grabbed a wad of toilet paper and stuck it in his backpack (typical teenage boy- if he'd looked under the sink he'd've found some proper Kleenex instead) and went downstairs.

“Morning,” Aunt May said as she set out a bowl of cereal for him.

“Morning,” he croaked, grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl. “Not hungry. Gotta go.”

“Are you okay Peter? You sound stuffed up.”

“Something caught in my throat,” Peter explained as he rushed out the door. “See you later.”

Hands shoved in the front pocket of his hoodie, he hurried to school, slumping into his desk as soon as he arrived in first period. Gwen strolled in a moment later and took the spot behind him.

“Morning,” she said, giving his arm a squeeze.

“Hi,” he replied, grateful to see their teacher entering and beginning the lesson so he could avoid further conversation with Gwen. The short distance to school had seemingly done the trick in convincing him he was getting a cold and he'd used up all the toilet paper wiping a steady drip from his nose on the way. A chilly sweat was spread across his face and he was now solidly blocked with congestion in one nostril. With a thick sniffle, he grabbed his pencil and tried to focus on the lesson.

It was nearly impossible. His sinuses ached with a dull pressure that made his whole face feel heavy. Leaning heavily on one hand, he scratched out his notes in sloppy handwriting as his teacher began the lesson.

“Mister Parker?”

Peter looked up at the board, confused. His teacher was staring back at him expectantly.

“Can you tell us?”

“Sorry, what?” he replied. Several of his classmates snickered.

“I asked if you can give us an example of the passive tense?”

“Err....um...'I have been to school',” Peter replied, punctuating the end of the answer with a wet sniffle.

“Thank you, Peter,” his teacher replied. “Please try to pay better attention.”

Peter looked down at his notebook with a nod. He really wanted to just put his head down on his desk and sleep, but that wasn't an option, especially with his teacher keeping a close watch on him.

As the class dragged on, he pressed his slender fingers to his sinuses, massaging them with a wince. The pressure in his nose shifted, building into a tickle and he pinched his nostrils tightly, bending forward into a stifled sneeze.

N'ghxtt!!

The force of the explosion sent his nose into a downward spiral, triggering further sneezes. He couldn't keep his fingers pinched and instead shielded his nose with his arm.

Ehh-heh'ghxtt! T'shhh-gsghhtt!

“Bless you!” Gwen exclaimed quietly behind him.

Peter nodded a thanks and sniffled thickly, rubbing his nose back and forth with the side of his hand.

He sniffed again. And again. And again. And again. A few eyes in the classroom narrowed in his direction, obviously irritated by his frequent sniveling. He glared back, imagining shooting webs at the faces of his classmates and tying them all up. They wouldn't stare at him with some spiderweb blindfolds over their eyes...

His nose dripped steadily, streaming down his lip as he fought a sniffling battle against it. Finally, exasperated and seeing that class was nearly over, he raised his hand for permission to use the restroom and hurried out when it was granted.

The boy's bathroom was thankfully vacant and he took his time blowing his nose throughly on the rough paper towels. When he finished, he surveyed his image in the mirror, dismayed at the sight of his red, irritated nostrils.

The bell rang and a rush of students poured into the bathroom as the crossing period began. Peter shoved his way past and out to his locker to fetch his books for science. Gwen was waiting there when he arrived.

“Hi again,” she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. “What's up with you today? You look awful.”

She put a slender hand around the back of his neck, rubbing the soft hair at the nape.

“You're warm,” she added. “Got a cold?”

“No,” Peter said, shaking his head and scoffing. “C'mon, we'll be late for science.”

“You are a terrible liar, Peter Parker,” Gwen scolded. “And a terrible scientist. It doesn't take a genius to see that you're sick. Get your coat.”

“For what?”

“You'll see. We're cutting science.”

Peter gave a mocking gasp that quickly turned to a cough. Gwen patted him on the back and grabbed his coat from his locker.

“Let's go,” she said, grabbing his hand. She led him through the crowded hallways and down a corridor to an unused staircase. The bell rang and students filed into nearby classrooms as the two slipped into the stairwell. Peter looked up at the five flights of service stairs rising above them.

“Are you well enough to pull us up?” Gwen asked.

“Sure,” Peter said, extending his wrist and slinging a web up to the uppermost railing. With Gwen in his arms, he began retracting the web, carrying them upwards.

“Don't lean so close,” Peter said as they rose, craning his face away from Gwen.

“I thought you weren't sick,” Gwen teased.

They reached the landing and climbed over the railing.

“What's this?” Peter asked.

“Roof access,” Gwen explained, pushing open the door. They stepped out onto the sunny rooftop. The bright sun made Peter blink and the tickle in his nose returned ten-fold. Pausing in the doorway, he raised a hand to his face and sneeze thickly.

Huhrr'tsghtt!

“Bless you!” Gwen said with a laugh, putting her hand reassuringly on the small of his back. “Coat on, you! And this way!”

Peter shrugged on his jacket and followed her across the rooftop to a nook in the far corner with a spectacular city view and a stone wall that made a perfect seat. Gwen sat down and pulled Peter to her side, reclining him in her arms and stroking his hair gently.

“Isn't this better than sniffling through science class?” she asked.

“I wasn't sure I'd get colds, you know, after the whole...err, the whole spider thing,” Peter said hoarsely, relaxing into Gwen's touch. “I guess I'm glad I'm not sneezing out webs.”

“I would not be cuddling you if that were the case,” Gwen said with a laugh.

“With my luck, it might still progress to that,” Peter said, groaning dramatically.

“I think you have a normal cold and you're being a normal whiney man about it,” Gwen said. “My dad was the absolute biggest baby when he had a cold.”

She smiled sadly, remembering him. Peter gave her hand a light squeeze.

“I promise I'll try not to whine too much,” he said with a wet sniffle.

“If you do, I'll push you off the roof, and you better hope those webs sling fast enough,” Gwen said, kissing the top of his head.

“You better hope they don't grab you and take you down with me,” Peter retorted with a laugh. In Gwen's gentle care, he'd be better in no time.

[Spoo]

Ahhhhh! Oh my gosh, Dusty. This was super cute! I loved how everything flowed and also how you managed to do so much by keeping things simple (does that even make sense? LOL). Great story!

[happybunny]

nice! i love how simple and sweet it was!

[alias]

This is so lovely! Thank you for writing this brilliant piece, and thank you a billion times over for making it SPIDER-MAN! I adored it. I'm so glad you shared it with all of us.

“I wasn't sure I'd get colds, you know, after the whole...err, the whole spider thing,” Peter said hoarsely, relaxing into Gwen's touch. “I guess I'm glad I'm not sneezing out webs.”

^^This made me giggle.

[a-tissue]

Aaaaaaw! Precious bbys!

[VividBubbles!]

Adorable! I'm so happy we finally have something for this movie. Andrew Garfield is just and we definitely need stuff for him/Peter. I hope you plan on writing more for this fandom, Dusty; you're such an amazing writer.

BYE!

[Me4ever]

Omg I loved this! would you be willing to continue it?? Pwease? Lol. Cute

[Parksborn]

Oh wow. This is great!

As the class dragged on, he pressed his slender fingers to his sinuses, massaging them with a wince. The pressure in his nose shifted, building into a tickle and he pinched his nostrils tightly, bending forward into a stifled sneeze.

N'ghxtt!!

The force of the explosion sent his nose into a downward spiral, triggering further sneezes. He couldn't keep his fingers pinched and instead shielded his nose with his arm.

Ehh-heh'ghxtt! T'shhh-gsghhtt!

Ahhh this was my favorite part!

Let me love you?

Also just because I finally get to use this:

[macrotwentytwo]

This is really, really good.... I hope you keep writing this!!! I loved how the other kids were irritated at his sniffling.... I like when people in stories get a little embarrassed that they can't control their nose but then they have a significant other that is there to care about them, too. I almost hope that they stay up there for at least a whole class or two and maybe they forgot tissues....

[Sneesee]

***SQUEEEEEEE!!!!*** I love this! You did a fantastic job, as you always do! Totally just adore the two of them and this is just the perfect scenario! I also enjoyed the part about the other kids acting annoyed at him, ha ha ha.

Thank you so much! I absolutely love your writing, Dusty!! This was the perfect present!

[Dusty15]

I'm glad you liked it, Sneesee!!

To the rest of you- I may consider adding more but probably not any time soon! I've got a few other fics on my plate and a pretty busy life these days, but I'll see what I can do

[Corinne]

This was adorable! I just wanted Gwen to tuck poor Peter up into bed but skipping class was a great alternative! I love it

“Don't lean so close,” Peter said as they rose, craning his face away from Gwen.

“I thought you weren't sick,” Gwen teased.

^ I especially loved that bit (I hope that quotes correctly )

But no, thank you for writing this

[Always-a-Ginger]

Well done. Love it.

[Meala]

This is just ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh im craving for mooooooore >w< i just love this fic!

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

Love love love it. Spider-Man great fanfic continue