Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Requested by Vanessa Masters

This is currently unbeta'd, so all mistakes are my own.

It wasn't as if Peter ever denied having a crush on Luke Cage. He just didn't exactly voice it. His parents knew of course, but that was only because he had turned to them for advice, which had turned out to be a waste of time. Steve suddenly became all frowny and overprotective, and Tony thought it was the cutest thing ever and instead of offering any help, he'd just cooed and teased, and that hadn't really stopped since.

He'd decided he wouldn't speak to his parents about any romantic issues ever again after that.

Honestly, Peter didn't understand why this crush was suddenly having such an effect on him. He and Luke were teammates. They saw each other everyday at school, and it had never been a problem before. But, he guessed, the more time they spent together, the stronger any feelings got until it was just…well, he had nearly swung into a wall on their last mission. It was hardly his fault though – who decided that superheroes needed to wear spandex? It was an unfair distraction!

Although, Luke didn't need to be in costume to be distracting. More often than not, Peter found himself watching Luke out of the corner of his eye during class, and he always made sure he sat across him at lunch, so he'd have an excuse. He liked to think he was being subtle about it, but given the looks that MJ, Danny and Ava seemed to give him every once and a while, maybe not.

It was on one of those days, where his mind went off onto a Luke-centric tangent, when they were given their partners for the Science Fair. Peter jerked at his name and blinked up in surprise. Uncle Phil – or Principal Coulson, as he was supposed to call him during school times – gave him an unimpressed look.

"Mr Parker," he said slowly, and Peter got the impression that he was repeating himself, "You and Mr Cage will work together for this project."

Peter wasn't sure whether he should laugh or cry.

"So partner," Luke grinned, as he caught up to him after class, "Where'd you want to meet?"

"Meet?" he had repeated slowly.

Luke arched an eyebrow. "To prepare for the Science Fair?"

Peter wasn't entirely sure what possessed him to say this, but the words "how about my house? We can use my dad's lab – he won't mind" escaped him without much thought. He couldn't even correct himself because Luke smiled and agreed to meet him at his house after school, before disappearing down the hall.

Peter head butted his locker in self punishment.

Luke showed up at the Avengers Mansion about half an hour after Peter got home, the time which Peter had spent fretting and panicking and scolding himself for overthinking everything. When he answered the door, Peter was a little flushed and breathing a little heavy for when he sprinted towards the door.

"Did I pull you away from something?" Luke questioned, amused, as he entered.

Peter laughed it off awkwardly. "What? No, I wasn't doing anything. Just, ah…" he paused, biting his bottom lip, "No ones home – meeting at SHIELD, I think, so we don't have to worry about parentals."

He had no idea why he wanted to make sure that was known.

"Not completely alone, Master Peter," JARVIS reminded him dryly.

Luke looked confused, turning slowly in search of the voice. "Uh, who was that?"

"My dad's AI," Peter supplied, "He's…everywhere. Built into the walls." He waved his hand around him.

"Uh-huh," was all Luke said, and he wasn't exactly sure what that meant.

Peter loved his dad's lab. He spent a lot of time down there when he was younger, just watching the great Tony Stark at work, and jumping to help whenever he was asked. It was one of the things that he and his dad shared, and he almost felt sorry for his papa, who had taken it upon himself to bring them food and water and drag them to bed when they were too lost in their experiments. He didn't think he'd been happier when his dad gave him his own passkey for the lab on his fourteenth birthday.

The alarm system beeped, allowing his access and he felt the tension loosen from his shoulders, because this was his element. You can't feel nervous in your own sanctuary, can you?

Apparently, you can, because as soon as the door slid closed behind them, sealing him and Luke inside the vicinity, and the other man closed the distance between them, his stomach began to churn uncomfortably.

"So, uh, where do you want to start?" Peter found himself asking, just to fill the silence.

He reached towards some of the test tubes and beakers, already set up, probably by Bruce who was the chemist in the lab. He was both curious and desperate to do something with his hands that would distract him just a little by how alone he and Luke were in the mansion. His hands shook slightly, as he lifted the tube to sniff the clear liquid inside.

It was sweet and tiggled his nose, making it almost itchy and he twitched his nose in an attempt to clear it. Peter turned slightly to face Luke, when he noticed the other man hadn't actually responded, and jerked, startled, at just how close Luke was to him, practically hovering over his shoulder. The test tube tilted as he let go, and the fluid soaked into his shirt before the glass smashed on the floor.

Peter cursed loudly, almost certain that he was going to get in trouble for this and thinking that maybe he should have asked permission before entering the lab. A low groan seemed to echo the room, making Peter pause and glance up a little concerned at his guest.

Luke was standing ramrod stiff, shoulders tensed and hands clenched into fists. His head was tilted upward slightly, his lips parted with his heavy breathing and his eyes, god, his eyes were blown wide, pupils dilated and Peter wondered what the hell had just happened.

"I…" Luke started to speak, his voice raspy, before deciding against it, and next thing Peter knew, he was being pressed back against the work bench, lips demanding against his own.

The sharp edge of the bench dug into the small of his bag, an uncomfortable pain, but Peter couldn't bring himself to care because Luke Cage was kissing him. Actually kissing him. And he wasn't dreaming or anything. Luke moaned into his mouth, and his arms tightened around his waist, their hips aligning and Peter was more than aware of the bulge pushing urgently against him.

Oh god, what if it was a dream? Peter had definitely had dreams like this. Quite frequently actually. Luke bit down harshly on his bottom lip before drawing it in to soothe with a gentle suck, and Peter's breath shuddered. The sting was definitely a sight that he was fully conscious.

It was that discovery that had him holding on tighter, fingernails digging into broad shoulders, and kissing back with just as much need. His tongue flicked the back of Luke's teeth, and panted heavily. Teeth scrapped, tongues licked and lips bruised. Peter's head spun with lust and disbelieve that it was actually happening, and one voice wondered exactly what had caused the sudden desire filled attack.

The truth was, he wasn't sure that he cared.

Because Luke was kissing him.

Really kissing him.

Kissing him as if there was nothing else in the world but him.

This is the best day ever, Peter mused.

"What the hell is going on here!?"

Or maybe Peter spoke too soon.

He pulled away harshly, glancing over his shoulder, hoping more than anything that this was a dream.

But nope, no such luck.

His dads stood by the entrance to the lab. Steve had his arms folded across his chest, eyes narrowed in annoyance, and his eyes hovered in judgement over Luke's arms that were slowly slipping away from his waist. Tony, on the other hand, looked like he couldn't decide whether to be amused or frustrated by the whole discovery.

"Uh," Peter licked his lips, suddenly aware of exactly how swollen they were, "hi dad, papa…" he waved awkwardly.

"Care to explain to me what's going on here Peter," Steve requested, definitely not a question.

"Um, no, I don't think I…" he was cut off by his papa's no nonsense look, and he sighed heavily. He glanced back at Luke, who had taken a step back to put some distance between them and was looking anywhere but at him. It made his stomach drop. "…I don't actually know..."

Tony sniffed the air pointedly. He glanced over the work bench. "Did you knock something over?"

"I…maybe," Peter offered hesitantly, "why?"

"Your Uncle Bruce is working with pheromones," Tony stated lowly, giving him a sad look. It took a moment for Peter to fully understand that exactly, and god, it hurt.

"P-pheromones…" he repeated quietly, nodding slightly. His head dipped to stare at the wet patch on his shirt. Yeah, of course, that explained it. Because Luke would never...not unless something was forcing him too.

Peter pushed himself off the work bench, and straightened himself out. He tried to school his expression, but he wasn't exactly sure how successful it was. For a moment, he thought he could feel Luke's eyes on him, but the thought of actually meeting them, of having to see the reject or maybe disgust in his eyes, made him feel sick and he couldn't do it.

"I need to…" he started, but didn't bother to finish as he rushed from the lab, disappearing up the stairs and retiring to his room. It was only then, when he'd shut his bedroom door firmly behind him, clicking the lock into place, and collapsed on his bed that he realised that tears of disappointment, heartache, sorrow were burning the back of his eyes.

Luke found him the next day.

Peter had tried to avoid him, not really wanting to have to face him yet – or ever, he had thought – but he had been pulled into the locker room unexpectedly and there was really nothing he could do once Luke had locked him in.

"We need to talk," the man stated.

Peter stayed stubbornly silent.

Luke continued, "You left in a hurry yesterday."

"Well, what did you expect me to do? My parents…and you…the ki…" he trailed off, ducking his head into his hands. He really didn't want to talk about this.

"You didn't give me the chance to speak," Luke pointed out.

"I didn't want to hear what you had to say all right?" Peter snapped.

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Because…" it was as if a dam had burst and suddenly, Peter couldn't stop talking, no matter how hard he tried, "…because I like you, okay? I like you a lot. A stupid amount actually, and that kiss – god, it was amazing. I've wanted it for so long, but I didn't think it was going to happen, and then it did – and I find out it was just the pheromones. I already know you didn't want it, so I don't need to hear you say it, okay? I don't…let's just pre-"

"It wasn't the pheromones," Luke interrupted loudly, the statement seeming to cut through Peter's speech, leaving him a little lost and confused.

"W-what?" he blinked slowly.

Luke looked a little embarrassed, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, the pheromones probably did something, but it didn't make me do that. I wanted to...the chemicals just pushed it along faster than I planned it to."

It took a moment for Peter to take in the words, and even longer for him to work out what they meant. Perhaps he was in shock? That had to be the reason behind it. Because he was a genius, and he didn't exactly look like it when he was gapping in disbelief. Luke arched an eyebrow.

"So, wait, you mean…"

"How about this Saturday?" Luke asked suddenly.

"For what?"

"Our date. This Saturday…"

"Uh…"

"I was thinking we could catch a movie, grab a pizza, keep it simple you know," Luke paused, "I mean, if you want, of course."

"Want? Yes!" Peter flushed a little at his eagerness, "Ah, I mean, yes, of course, Saturday, pizza, movie, perfect."

Luke grinned. "Good then, Saturday," he repeated slowly.

There was a moment of awkward staring and goofy grins, before Peter finally worked up the courage to speak again. "So, uh, is it appropriate to kiss before the first date?"

"I think we can work something out," Luke gave a half shrug and reached out to pull the science nerd closer to him.

And, yes, Peter approved immensely of this idea.