Spider-Man Imagines I

Pumpkin Spice | Flash Thompson [TR]

It was the first chilly day of the year. You had gone all out, dressed in an oversized sweater and leggings, dark brown boots laced up the to the knee, hair down and messy because of the breeze. It had felt like summer was never going to end, and now that it was October, your days of shorts and t-shirts were finally over.

In your arms you juggled a couple of books you were reading and a cardboard tray of hot coffee. The crowded hallways and impatient students didn't make it any easier to balance the coffees. Twice you almost dropped them.

You huffed and stopped by the staircase, looking up at the flight of stairs that would definitely be a struggle to get up. But before you started to venture up there on your own, a hand touched your waist and you turned, coming face to face with your boyfriend, Flash.

"Hey, babe," he said.

"Hi," you said. "I'm so glad you're here. Can you help me?"

"Oh. Yeah," he said. He took the tray of coffee. "Why didn't you call me? I could have driven you to school so you wouldn't have to take the bus with all this."

"Oh, I didn't," you replied, shifting your books to your chest and rubbing your sore wrists. "I walked."

"Babe," he scolded, "you know how I feel about you walking places by yourself-"

"It's daylight, Flash, and besides," you paused, picking one of the coffees out of the tray, "I got one of those for you!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mhm. Pumpkin spice! You're welcome," you said. You popped the lid off of your coffee and sniffed it. "It smells so good. I'm so excited. Here-" You held the cup under his nose.

Flash looked down at the light brown, foamy coffee and tried not to grimace. He hated pumpkin anything - pie, bread, candy, and his least favorite pumpkin thing was coffee.

He was about to tell you that even the smell of it was enough to turn his stomach, but the look on your face told him you'd been waiting for this day for a long time. How often did you bring him espressos during finals weeks or iced teas on particularly hot days? And you loved fall - looked forward to it all year.

"Yeah," he said, forcing a smile, "smells good."

"Doesn't it?" You steadily made your way up the stairs, Flash behind you. "I've been looking at all of these pumpkin recipes and seeing all of these advertisements for these coffees-"

"I'm not sure they're worth possibly getting mugged for," he said, trying to balance his voice between stern and lightness. "Just, babe, if you're gonna go out to get a coffee, call me. I'll take you."

You turned towards him as you reached the top of the stairs, Flash only a step behind. "But I wanted to surprise you," you said, pinching his cheek playfully. You smiled and kissed him there. "I promise I'll let you pick me up from now on."

"Good," he said, smiling down fondly at you.

"Now try your coffee!" you urged.

He frowned. "Babe, I need to get to class-"

"Class doesn't start for another four minutes," you said matter-of-factly. You sipped your coffee. "C'mon, I want to know how much you like it. It was six bucks, you know."

"Six bucks?" he repeated. "You spent twelve dollars on coffee?"

"It's a special day," you said, trying to justify it.

Flash looked down at the Styrofoam cup in his hand, grimacing at the thought of bitter coffee, cinnamon, frothy milk, and pumpkin all mixed up. How could anyone think a mix of that would taste good?