Peter Parker Imagines

42. Revelations - Part One

A/N: you likely already saw a sneak peek of this on my last update, and some of my followers on tumblr did too and seemed excited so I figured I'd post it a bit earlier than planned! this is part one of a series, I don't know how long it will be yet (probably as long as excuse my french alskdjak) and I was going to wait until I finished all the parts to post the first chapter, but I wanted to give you guys something since I haven't posted in a while! I hope you like it :D personally I'm a sucker for soulmate au's sooo I have high hopes for this

Warnings: language, small small amount of angst ( for now ;) )

Peter hated the idea of soulmates.

And why shouldn't he? He saw his aunt and uncle so happy together as he grew up. He watched how their love never faded no matter what, how the tattoos on their wrists stayed vibrant and strong as the day they were born with them.

He also watched when his uncle was ripped from their lives. It was unfair, it was horrible, he was new to this powers thing and that was just another burden he wasn't ready to carry.

He watched his aunt lose the love of her life, her soulmate, and watched how it broke her. May was a tough woman, there was no denying that at all, but watching her go through losing her other half was something Peter never wanted to experience himself.

His life was dangerous. Every time he looked at the tattoo that was conveniently in the middle of his back, where luckily no one would see it but him, he got a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn't want a soulmate. He didn't want to go through what May did if something happened to them. And he didn't want his soulmate to go through it, if when he was out being Spider-Man, something happened to him.

So he decided then and there to never have his tattoo out in the open – it was easy to hide, since it was on his back, but he was still always careful about changing in gym class and making sure no one saw it. He wasn't sure what he would do if he met his soulmate – he was pretty sure no one ever rejected their other half, but it was something he knew he would have to do if he met them. It was cruel, but he didn't want them to get hurt because of him.

He hated the idea of soulmates, because he knew he would never be able to happily be with his.

You, on the other hand, were so excited about the idea of having the perfect match out there somewhere, that it always made Peter's head hurt when you talked about it.

You had only been friends with Peter and Ned for about a year or so since you moved to Queens, but you three got along rather well. Peter wasn't Spider-Man yet when he met you, his uncle was still alive. He hadn't been afraid of soulmates yet.

He used to love how you would make offhand comments about meeting your soulmate. Every once in a while you'd tell him about some silly scenario you made up in your head of when and where you'd meet them, or say something like "Pete, what if they're in this room right now and I don't even know it?"

It would make him giddy to think that there might be a small, tiny chance that maybe, just maybe, you were his soulmate. He didn't get his hopes up - he liked you, sure, but that didn't equate to being soulmates. Plus, he didn't even know where your tattoo was - all he knew was that it wasn't visible, kind of like his (which gave him more reason to hope, even though he tried not to).

Then Spider-Man happened. His uncle's death happened. He watched some of the light in May's eyes die out, and it was never quite the same. Her tattoo didn't look so vibrant anymore - faded and dull, rather, like how their lives felt after Ben was gone.