charlie was your best friend. dumb pun-cracking, lovable idiot charlie― he was one of the smartest guys you'd ever met, huge d&d nerd with a love for computers. the same charlie who would always steal sips of your starbucks drink even though he insisted yours was too "girly", but he'd always find a way to get the vanilla cold foam on his nose. charlie who, when his hair got wet, shook his head like a damp mutt just to get water all over you. charlie who got you a rock for your birthday because he said it "reminded him of you― solid. dependable. kinda cool lookin'." charlie who picks you up and tosses you like a hacky sack at every opportunity possible, despite your whining.

this was the same charlie who, unknown to you, would swing across the new york city skyline every night to protect the city (mainly you) from bad guys. that's what friends do, right? totally. that's what platonic best friends do that haven't been in love with you since they could talk. duh!! luckily for charlie― and he'd never say this to your face― but you were a little naive, so the whole "spider-man sounding exactly like your best friend of sixteen years' voice" thing went right over your pretty little head. because of course it did. you barely even noticed that charlie had suddenly bulked up, and like a lot― all his old clothes were tight, his muscles taut under the fabric (one of the perks of being spiderman!)

charlie hated lying to you, but... he needed to protect you more than he needed to tell the truth. all of a sudden, charlie was now swamped with "homework" (which should've been the most obvious red flag― for such a smart guy, charlie never did a piece of homework in his life.) but you were happy that he was "taking an interest in his education", so you never pried. somehow though, spiderman always had time for you. you'd find him at your door late at night, panting, fumbling with excuses before he'd sigh and mumble, "missed ya. fighting cri― i mean... homework," he cleared his throat, "sucks. you make it fun." he pouts.