It was 11 PM, and the party was at its absolute peak.

At least, that’s what everyone else seemed to think.

Peter wasn’t so sure.

He’d been dragged here, against his better judgment, against his schedule, against every responsible decision he’d planned for the night, and somehow… he still said yes. He wasn’t entirely sure why.

It might’ve been the “please” or the “there’ll be food”.

Yeah. Probably the food.

Because he was now sitting on the edge of the pool, fully clothed, balancing a paper plate on his knee and absolutely destroying a burger that had no business existing. Probably the best meal he had in weeks. It's not like he had the time to cook.

It was… not the best quality, he took another bite anyway. Because hey, he was nobody to judge.

He should’ve been home, studying, working on his “Origin of Life” model that was due Monday, being responsible.

Instead, he was here.

Listening to you.

And somehow, that had become the most interesting part of his night.

You were talking about people, about things that happened, about who said what and why it mattered, and Peter, who usually struggled to keep up with anything that wasn’t physics or chemistry, was completely locked in.

Now he knows:

1. What Stacy wore to Traci’s party.
2. What Jeff thought about Jennifer.
3. Why did that matter.
4. How it connected to something else.

It was… a lot.

“Wait, what did he say?” Peter asked, blinking up at you, his voice slightly muffled by the very complicated situation happening in his mouth.

He didn’t even try to play it cool. Didn’t pretend he wasn’t invested.

Because the truth was…

He wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.

Not studying. Not sleeping. Not even swinging through the city.

Just… here. Sitting by a pool at a party he didn’t want to go to. Listening to you talk like it was the most important thing in the world.