Chapter Text
“Darling, are you sure?” Flash asks, his voice shaking as he runs a hand over Peter’s suit-covered arm.
Peter fidgets under his gaze and the material of his suit, feeling both at home and like he’s wearing a costume. It’s his first time in the suit since the incident, he took it from his lab today after Tony confirmed that he was healthy enough to go for a swing.
Flash’s eyes are wide and searching, like he’s begging Peter not to put the mask on. Like he thinks Peter will disappear when the mask covers his face once more. Peter can’t help but wonder the same thing.
“I’m sure, Flash,” Peter says softly but firmly. “We’re just going for a swing, and I’ll have you with me the whole time. C’mon, you can’t tell me you never fantasized about Spider-Man swinging you through the city,” Peter teases.
Flash blushes a bit, still embarrassed about his hero-crush from well before he know Peter’s identity. “I… okay, fine. Let’s do this,” Flash says.
Peter smiles, kissing Flash quickly before he pulls his mask down. He takes a deep breath, re-adjusting to the tech of the suit. It ripples softly around him, fitting into place like a second skin. Instead of the strangling sensation he used to get, like his skin had come off and was being shrink-wrapped around him, this time the suit feels like a hug.
“Let’s go!” Peter shouts happily, wrapping one arm around Flash tightly before sticking his other arm out of the open window and shooting a web into the dark night.
Flash wraps both arms tightly around Peter’s neck, tanging his legs around Peter’s waist frantically as the two swing off into the cool air. It whips around their bodies, Flash warm against Peter’s front, and he can’t help but laugh loudly. He feels free.
“This is fucking awesome!” Flash yells, laughter creeping into his voice as well. “I love you!” he cries, and it takes everything in Peter not to shout it back.
Not yet, he has to wait. Just a few more minutes.
Peter swings them gently from roof to roof, gaining momentum and confidence each time Flash whoops delightedly. He isn’t scared, he doesn’t think Peter is a freak. Flash is enjoying himself, laughing happily and smiling hugely against Peter’s chest. Peter feels strong, holding up both himself and his boyfriend easily. He’s holding them up, he’s propelling them forward, he’s the one that Flash is clinging to instead of the other way around. The power of it all surges through him like a current, his chest bursting with pride as he realizes just how much Flash trusts him.
They finally land on a building Peter is all-too-familiar with, feet hitting the concrete heavily as he gently lowers Flash to the ground. He’s a bit breathless, his arms more than a bit sore from the exercise, but he feels invigorated.
“Baby, that was incredible,” Flash says a bit too loudly, his voice cutting through the silent night easily. His cheeks are flushed a rosy red and his hair is wild, and Peter thinks he has never looked more beautiful.
“I’m glad you thought so,” Peter says giddily, reaching a hand up to pull off his mask.
Flash’s hand stops him, covering his hand before slowly pushing it down. He brings his own hand up to the bottom of Peter’s mask instead. “I’ve always wanted to do this,” he mumbles before pulling the mask up to Peter’s nose. Flash leans in, kisses him fiercely, the hand he used to pull up Peter’s mask migrating to the back of his head to cradle it. His other hand locks around Peter’s shoulders, feeling the elastic smoothness of the suit beneath his hand.
He breaks away after a minute, smiling deliriously, and pulls the mask all the way off of Peter’s head. “I kissed Spider-Man,” he giggles, and Peter swats at him with his mask.
“You’ve kissed Spider-Man many, many times, idiot,” Peter teases. He’s blushing too, though, amused and more than a little enamoured by his boyfriend’s dorky hero-crush.
“Yeah, but this time, I got to do the mask thing,” Flash says, and Peter pulls him in for another kiss. “So freaking cool,” Flash mumbles against his lips, and their teeth bump together from where they’re both smiling.
Flash pulls away and stares at Peter for a second, Peter growing mildly self-conscious under it, before he turns away to admire the view. Peter keeps his eyes locked on Flash.
“This is…. Wow, baby,” Flash marvels, walking over to the side of the roof to look down at the city below.
“Yeah, it’s pretty great,” Peter says. He’s getting nervous, now, the adrenaline of the journey here starting to wear off. He took them up here for a reason, but now he isn’t sure if he’ll be able to follow through. What if this is all too much? What if he’s about to ruin a perfectly good night?
Peter is so tangled up in his head that he barely notices Flash meandering slowly toward the edge of the building, talking animatedly about the view. Suddenly, Flash’s foot slips and he teeters on the edge of the roof, arms windmilling in the cool night air. Peter bolts over to him, thanking the universe for his powers for the first time in years, before he manages to wrap an arm around Flash’s waist like a seatbelt and tug him backward. They land in a heap on the roof, hard concrete likely digging into Flash’s back as he lies with Peter on top of him.
“You fucking asshole!” Peter shrieks, his heart racing in his chest, anger nudging fear out of the way as it builds and builds. “You fucking moron, what were you doing?”
Peter straddles Flash’s hips where he lays panting on the concrete, his hands nervously running up and down Flash’s torso to check for injuries. “I’m sorry,” Flash gasps, eyes wide and clearly shaken.
“I can’t believe you fucking did that to me! You can’t scare me like that! What kind of asshole makes me love them and then almost gets himself killed by falling off a fucking roof?” Peter yells. “Up here lecturing me about being careful and then plummeting to your death, I mean--”
“I’m sorry, I’ve never been up this high, I just wanted to see--” Flash starts, hesitating as his eyes go even wider. “Wait, what did you say?”
Peter blushes. The anger has long since subsided, only a defence for how scared he was. Now that he isn’t panicking, he realizes his heart is racing for an entirely different reason. There goes his big romantic plan, his star-spangled confession. Still, the way Flash is looking at him now, like he’s almost afraid to hope that he heard Peter correctly, spurs him to speak.
“I said that I love you,” Peter whispers, forcing himself to keep his eyes on Flash’s.
The way Flash’s face lights up would be almost comical if it didn’t make Peter want to sob with joy. His mouth goes completely slack for a moment, then shifts to the dopiest, dreamiest, most blissful smile Peter has ever seen on anyone’s face. His eyes light up so intensely that Peter wouldn’t be surprised if he found out that someone flipped a light switch inside of him, turning his soul to full brightness. If Peter thought the way Flash looked at him every day was special, this look is enough to send shivers down his spine.
“Did you realize that just now, when I almost fell to my death?” Flash asks teasingly, his tone halfway between awed and amused.
“No, dickwad,” Peter says, smacking Flash’s chest lightly. “I, this morning, I almost told you. I wanted it to be special, though, I wanted to make it all romantic and memorable,” Peter whispers, blushing a bit. “I took you up here so you could see the world how I used to, and so we could be alone.”
Flash’s hand reaches up to cup Peter’s cheek, his eyes searching Peter’s face. “Say it again,” he whispers.
“I love you,” Peter replies easily, far easier than he thought it would ever be. “I’m sorry that the first time I told you was cussing you out for almost dying, but fuck, Flash. I love you with my whole heart.”
Peter definitely sees tears in Flash’s eyes, feels them in his own, too. Flash sits up beneath Peter, tugging Peter down into his lap from where he was resting basically on Flash’s stomach. Their eyes stay locked, looking and looking and seeing each other, before Flash leans in. The kiss isn’t rough, or desperate, or frantic. It’s soft and tender, deep and unwavering; just like their love. Peter doesn’t think his heart has ever felt so full. He doesn’t think full has ever felt so good.
“I love you,” Peter breathes as they separate, as natural as his heart beating.
“I love you,” Flash responds, simple and immediate like it’s the most basic of facts.
“Baby,” Flash whispers, after a few more minutes of kissing and loving and being. “Baby, why the roof? This wasn’t just a fun Spidey trip, was it?”
Peter leans back, breathless and flushing, suddenly shy even though Flash has now seen every inch of his soul.
“I, uh, I used to come up here,” Peter mumbles, “when I was still… when I patrolled.”
Flash nods, squeezing Peter’s waist here his hands rest. Peter doesn’t think it feels so bad, anymore.
“Back then, this was the only place I felt… small. I’d come up here, weighed down by everything at once, and I’d look down at all of the people and shops and animals below. They were tiny, like ants, like I wished I could be,” Peter confesses. His chest feels tight, but he pushes forward. Flash presses a kiss to the tip of his nose. “When we started talking, for real, I stopped coming up here.I blamed it on lack of energy, or something, but I stopped. Looking back, I think it’s because nearly every time I felt like I was too big, too much, too heavy, you’d text me. It’s like you had some sort of sensor for when I was upset, some kind of magic power.”
Flash smiles sadly, rubbing his hand up and down Peter’s arm as the other one stays locked around his waist.
“Before I had you, I had this. All alone, up here, with the air and the darkness and tiny ant-people that would never see me. I’d swing up here, not caring what happened to me on the way here, landing like a bag of bricks on the hard concrete,” Peter takes a deep breath. “But now, I come to you. You’re my soft place to land,” Peter whispers.
Flash’s smile steadily grows into a full grin as Peter continues, tears welling up in his shining eyes. He surges forward and kisses Peter, hard, like he’s trying to take the words right from his lips.
Peter laughs, pulling back to say, “see! That’s what it should have been if you didn’t nearly toss yourself off the damn roof!”
“Hey!” Flash exclaims, tousling Peter’s hair. “I didn’t come up here to get bullied,” he jokes, kissing Peter again just because he can. “And for your information,” he murmurs against Peter’s lips, “I think it was perfect.”
“Liar,” Peter mumbles, resting his forehead against Flash’s.
“Never,” Flash responds, voice deep and smooth.
“Thank you, my love,” Peter whispers. He doesn’t know what he’s thanking Flash for; for appreciating his shitty almost-confession, for kissing him like he’s the last breath of air. For loving him.
“Now that’s a nickname I can get used to, darling.”