The silent drive back to Jons home had given Steve some time to come to terms with the fact that the others in the car knew who he was. Not nearly as much time as he would have liked, but at least enough to get over the initial shock. The most baffling thing was how nice they were about it. Zoes mocking use of “ got your panties in a twist” had evoked a sigh from Athena as she told her younger friend “Don’t be a bully.” and that had been that. Steve wasn’t sure how to feel about the implication that he was someone who got bullied now, but honestly after the day he just had he was taking what he could get.
But how much did he want to trust them? Because now that he had a bit of time to think about it, Steve realized Jon and the others didn’t know just how much hinged on them keeping Steves secret. “Does anybody else know about my secret?” was one of the few things Steve said during the entire drive, and he could feel himself breathing easier when Jon and -a moment later- the duo in the back shook their heads. But should Steve downplay the reason for the secrecy? They would be less tempted to blackmail him if they thought it was just about embarrassment instead of his very identity being at stake. Or was that precisely the reason why he should tell them? Because they would take it more serious if they knew his identity was at stake? How much did he trust these three!?
As the car turned into the driveway, Steve surprised the others and himself by pulling out the letter and slapping it on the dashboard “Don’t fuck me on this!” before slipping out of the rolling car and hurrying towards the front door. He hadn’t planned on doing it like this ( if at all! ) but once that letter had hit the dashboard the one thing Steve was certain of, was that he’d make a complete fool out of himself if he stayed.
There was one mortifying moment where Steve stood before an unfamiliar front door, and had a very vivid vision of having to stand there until the others caught up. Then he remembered that Steve might not have a key to Jons home, but Abigails keyring certainly had and almost laughed with relief.
Dinner was …awkward. Zoe and Athena did most of the talking when it came to the whole detention thing. At any other time Steve might have felt obligated to come to Sarahs rescue as the goths painted her as the devil in a cheerleader uniform, but he was just to tired. And it wasn’t like he had any illusions about Sarah being nice, there was a reason he had never gone after her: the main reason was that only a fool would actually want to takes Biffs place at Sarahs leash.
Things got a little quieter when the phone rang half an hour after they had returned, and it turned out nobody had told Athenas parents that their daughter was staying at the Gibbsons after getting out of detention. Unsurprisingly Athena had to leave after that.
Jons parents seemed pretty nice all in all, but Steve found himself resenting them slightly for being forced to keep up the act while they were around. At the same time the idea of being alone with Jon or Zoe felt equally awkward. So when Jons mother suggested watching a movie together in the living room Steve found himself agreeing. Afterwards Steve couldn’t have said what the movie had been about if his life had depended on it. Jons parents- perhaps sensing the atmosphere between the kids- had excused themselves sometime in the latter half of the movie and gone to bed. Not knowing what to do, Steve had just continued to sit there pretending to watch the movie. Zoe had gone upstairs when the credits started rolling, while Steve just continued to stare at the screen while his thoughts circled around the question “What the hell am I supposed to do in this situation??”
Jon seemed to be in the same boat. Steve had noticed Jon staring at him more than once during the evening, only to hastily avert his eyes when Steve looked his way. Thankfully he didn’t think Jon had been ogling him or anything. At least not much. There had been that one time, shortly after Zoe had left, where Steve had realised to late that the way he had hunched forward, elbows resting on his knees, he was giving Jon a generous view down his shirt. That incident had finally gotten Steve out of his paralyzing indecisiveness and out of the armchair he was sitting in.
Getting ready for bed had been more of the same awkwardness. Navigating who got the bath first. Staring at the girl in the mirror as he brushed his teeth. Jon hovering nearby, caught somewhere between being there if Steve wanted to talk and giving the transformed guy his space. Undressing for bed. Lying under the covers with nothing to distract him from the sensations of his new body.
Steve was jogging down a roof under a moon that was bigger than Steve had ever seen. This, he mused, was just what he needed. For him being a sportsman came right after bring a ladiesman. Feeling his legs pump beneath him and the wind on his face, was what it was all about. Even when the face was framed by hair that was a lot longer than he was used to, and each step of his legs made him jiggle in places he didn’t want to think about.
Coming to the edge of the roof, he jumped, smoothly rolling to his feet on the lawn below. He could feel the cool grass through his thin soles as he continued on, a marked difference to the shingles before. He reached the edge of the property flanking over the fence in one smooth motion, danced around a few lawnchairs someone had left strewn on the garden behind and jumped up on a bench standing against the wall of the house. From there he went to using the armrest as a steppingstone to jump and catch the edge of the roof, his feet finding purchase on the smallest footholds as he basically ran up the wall and onto the roof. From there a small burst of speed and a jump saw him sailing through the air towards the roof of the neighbouring house.
Steve couldn’t help but let out a small whooping sound as he flew through the air. The feeling of freedom was exhilarating! It was just him, the moon and the endless parkour-course of suburbia. Steve was dimly aware that he had never done parkour before in his life and that he had passed the same dog in the same garden three times already despite moving in a straight line but right now he didn’t really care. He deserved this! Whatever it was. Probably just a dream.
Finally – Steve felt like he had run for hours but also as if no time at all had passed - he reached a house he instinctively knew was the end of his journey. Jons house. As he jogged across the street Steve became aware of what he was wearing for the first time, The tight exercise suit looked like something an iceskater might wear, covering her from head to toe- which Steve had to admit was better than some tiny shorts and a sportsbra – but she was still glad nobody had seen her like that.
As she had done dozens of times before that night Steve started make her way to the roof instead of using the front door, her fingers and toes never failing to find a hold on the wall. Perching on the edge of the roof to enjoy the cool night-air for a few more moments she was startled by the creak of a door opening as Jon stepped onto the balcony below her. For a moment she wondered where the balcony ad come from before dismissing it as unimportant.
Instead, following an impulse, Abigail silently slid over the edge of the roof, gripping the edge with her toes as she swung down.
“Hey there.” She whispered, grinning at the way Jons eyes widened as his head whipped around and he saw her hanging from the rafters at eyelevel like an oversized bat.
“W-Who are you?” Jon stammered, much to Abigails delight. He truly didn’t recognize her behind the mask.
“Just a friendly neighbourhood ghost.” She answered airily “You looked like you could use some company.”
“Uhhh….” Was Jons eloquent response.
“No need to get nervous. I’m really just here to keep you company. Or do I look that dangerous to you?” Abigail asked, gesturing towards herself. Hidden behind the anonymity of the mask, she didn’t stamp out the sudden impulse to maybe get a reaction out of Jon by arching her back slightly and cocking her hips to one side. I bet you’ll stare just like any other redblooded guy if you think I am actually a girl. she thought to herself. What exactly she was trying to prove here, she couldn’t have said.
Abigail was surprised when Jons quickly shook his head after letting his gaze linger just a fraction too long to say he wasn’t tempted. “No.” he said with a dorky smile “you don’t look dangerous at all.”
Without thinking about it Abigail extended a welcoming arm “Then why don’t you step a bit closer?”. What she didn’t realize was that this was part of a scenario Jon had fantasized about a fair bit the past few days. And – being based in part on that fantasy- so had Abigail in the life that had been wished up for Steve to inherit.
“I don’t see why not.” Jon murmured, his smile widening in anticipation of what he knew was coming.
As Jon stepped closer, Abigail cocked her head to the side “You know….” She said thoughtfully “..perhaps it is just the blood going to my head, but you look really nice from this angle. ” It was a strange saying it out loud but …..it was true. A shudder ran down Abigails spine at the realization. But why was it so hard to tell if it was one of excitement or revulsion?
And now that she had said it, she couldn’t deny it any longer. Jon now had a certain dorky earnest charm that a part of her really liked. Like the gentle way he was pulling down her mask: she could see how eager he was for what came after but at the same time he was so sincere about making sure she was ok with this. All day she’d had wanted someone to come up to her and tell her everything was going to be ok. She felt her chest tighten at the realization that Jon cared. He had said as much before the school! He would help! New instincts took over. Her arm reached up to pull Jons head closer, and they kissed.
Abigail felt a warm fluttery sensation in her stomach. She'd never realized Jon was such a good kisser.
Jon! He was kissing Jon!
Steve broke the kiss as the realization hit him like a bucket of cold water, clearing his head of the fuzzy relaxing flow of the dream.
"What -- what's the matter," Jon asked looking concerned.
“I- What’s the matter? ” Steve started “We were kissing!”
“Yes?” Jon nodded slowly, looking concerned “And you kissed me first so… did I do something wrong? I am kind of new at this.”
That was right. Steve had made the first move, had he? “I- I go, do a- a thing.” He stammered dropping from the rafter to land on the balconys railing without even thinking about it “Away from here.” Were Steves last words before he jumped down and ran into the night.
Jon stared after the strangely familiar mystery-girl as she disappeared into the night. Well he knew who she was of course, but in this scenario he wouldn’t. Not yet anyway. The upside down kiss had been from a fanfiction he’d recently read, based on the ‘Spectacular Wallcrawler’-cartoon. One where Peters friend Gwen got powers too and…. Well it got pretty steamy towards the end. Jon was pretty casual about comics but he now had a folder full of pictures of ‘Gwendoly: Ghost-spider’ which apparently was a thing. One day he was gona ask Jay to borrow it and see how it compared to the fanfic version.
