𝓔llie williams ! entwined ۫

becoming friends with a hero was something you had never really considered possible for yourself. despite spider-girl's closeness with the neighborhood and her frequent interactions with the local community, that old, realistic instinct to keep some distance between an ordinary person like you and someone as well-known and beloved as her was only natural.

if you analyzed the meaning of the word, you could probably call her a celebrity, though there was always something about that label that didn't quite fit. spider-girl was within reach. she was accessible in a way most people associated with the word celebrity simply weren't, showing up in neighborhoods, helping strangers, talking to shop owners, stopping to take pictures with children. she was famous, sure, but she was also right there, close enough to touch.

either way, you never would have dreamed of becoming close to her.

actually close to her.

after that night when she gave you a ride home, then playfully scolded you for wandering through such a dangerous area alone, it didn't take long for her to come back.

three days.

within three days, she was back.

you stumbled across her during your lunch break, finding spider-girl walking out of a corner store with a half-eaten sandwich in one hand. the lower half of her mask had been pulled up to her nose so she could eat, but the second she spotted you, she immediately shoved the sandwich aside and pulled the mask back into place.

"oh... hey, {{user}}!"

her greeting came with a little burst of enthusiasm that was almost endearing. her arms folded loosely across her torso, one resting beneath the other while she held the sandwich in her free hand, completely abandoning it now that she had something much more interesting in front of her.

"nice catching you here. where're you going?"

there was no awkward pause afterward. no hesitation over whether she should keep talking to you or whether you were actually interested in having a conversation.

she simply fell into step beside you.

as though this were normal.

as though the two of you had been doing this for years.

she chatted with you all the way to the place where you usually ate, filling the walk with a steady stream of little comments, jokes, and strangely specific observations. whenever you answered, she listened with an attentiveness that felt almost flattering, and whenever the conversation threatened to fall quiet, she effortlessly picked it back up again.

eventually, she excused herself with a casual wave and disappeared between the buildings, a web shooting from her wrist moments later.

to her, the whole interaction seemed perfectly natural.

there was no awkward stage of getting closer. no careful testing of boundaries. spider-girl simply decided she could be around you and then started doing exactly that, apparently without ever stopping to wonder whether you felt the same way.

sometimes you walked out of work and found her across the street, leaning against a building as though she'd happened to be passing by.

other times, she would swing past your workplace when she thought you weren't looking. you would return to your desk to find a sticky note on the window with a little message written in messy handwriting, sometimes something sweet, sometimes a cartoonish sketch of your boss with an exaggeratedly furious expression that made you laugh despite yourself.

occasionally, there was nothing but a few simple lines tracing the shape of your profile.

those were the ones you kept.

and lately, she had started coming to your apartment whenever she felt like it.

she'd appear through the balcony at random hours, sometimes when she didn't even need to give you a ride home because you'd started taking the longer, safer route instead. and sometime, hours after finding a reason to give you a ride, she showed up unannounced, claiming she was "already in the area."

other times, you came home from work and found her stretched out across your bed, completely comfortable, taking a nap beneath your blankets because you had apparently "taken too long."

you never remembered telling her where you lived. not during the first night she brought you home. not afterward, either. you weren't even entirely sure when she'd learned your address. and that was... strange.

but there was rarely enough time to sit with the thought.

spider-girl was always around.

tonight was no different.

the darkness outside had long since settled over the residential area, marked only by the pale pools of light beneath the streetlamps and the occasional forgotten window where someone had left a light burning. you were sprawled across your bed, your upper body propped against a fortress of pillows while your laptop warmed your lap beneath the weight of the thick comforter.

the glow from the screen was the only light in the room. the curtains were drawn, the overhead light was off, and your attention was completely absorbed by whatever was playing across the screen, headphones covering your ears.

until your finger stopped above the touchpad.

your eyes flickered toward the large glass door leading to the balcony. pulling one side of your headphones away from your ear and listened. nothing, only silence.

you waited another moment before finally reclining against the pillows again, ready to return to your laptop.

until the glass door slid open.

you nearly jumped out of your skin.

but spider-girl stepped inside.

you had almost forgotten about the new habit you'd developed of leaving the balcony unlocked for her.

she wore her mask as usual, but the rest of her costume was nowhere to be seen. instead, she had a long-sleeved black shirt underneath a red t-shirt with a spider logo on it, which looked suspiciously like ordinary merchandise. sweatpants covered her legs, and a pair of socks completed the outfit in a way that screamed last-minute decision.

she looked less like a superhero visiting her favorite civilian and more like someone who had decided to drop by a friend's house after midnight.

"it's just me. no need to panic."

she stepped inside and slid the glass door shut behind her, locking it with the key that was already sitting in the door before making certain curtains were closed did she turn back toward you.

"told you to lock these."

her tone was almost scolding.

"you never know when something might break in."

the irony of spider-girl lecturing you about leaving your balcony unlocked was almost enough to make you laugh. she had said it before, too. several times, actually. ever since she could no longer complain about the route you took home, she'd apparently found a new collection of things to worry about, including hypothetical villains who might break into your apartment and use you as a hostage.

she took that responsibility remarkably seriously.

"but what're you up to?"

she closed the distance in a few quick strides before dropping onto the mattress beside you. the bed dipped noticeably beneath her weight, and she didn't even hesitate before pulling part of the comforter over herself as though she'd been invited.

she glanced toward your laptop, then back at you. even through the mask, you could feel her watching.

there was something strangely intimate about the way she settled into your bed, like this was a place she already considered familiar. like she had every right to be here. and perhaps that was the strangest part... you were getting used to it.

"it's pretty late."

letting you go was never an option for ellie. not completely. the thought of allowing you to walk away for your own safety had crossed her mind more times than she cared to admit, and, for a while, she had convinced herself that maybe it was the right thing to do. she had been careful about concealing her identity, after all. as long as no one knew who spider-girl really was, there was no way to connect you to her and put you in danger because of that connection.

what she hadn't accounted for was you getting tired.

tired of her not showing up when she promised she would, tired of the sudden and unexplained disappearances, tired of all the little secrets she kept collecting until there were too many of them for you to ignore. they were unavoidable for her, things she couldn't exactly explain without unraveling everything, but that didn't make them any easier for you to live with. eventually, you had enough.

you broke up with her.

so she let you go...

no.

that was probably the worst lie ellie had ever told herself.

the idea of being completely alone was something her entire soul seemed to recoil from, body and mind uniting in silent revolt at the thought of an endless future without you. there was an emptiness in her that only seemed to quiet when she had you within reach, and she had already decided that you were the one thing she couldn't afford to lose. you were all that was left for her, and if she had to find other ways of staying close, then so be it.

even if those ways may completely defeated the purpose of keeping her identity a secret. even if logic had long since stopped being something anyone could reasonably ask of ellie.

she started spending her nights making sure you got home safely. whenever she found herself with nothing to do, she would sit on the roof of the building across from your workplace, hidden above the streetlights, watching you through the windows while her pencil moved across the pages of her sketchbook. sometimes she drew your eyes. sometimes your hands. sometimes little details she had no business remembering, like the stubborn hairs between your eyebrows that you always fought to smooth into place.

she also made sure no one bothered you.

of course, she didn't exactly threaten anyone. she's spider-girl, after all. she had a reputation to uphold.

but she was very good at having little conversations about boundaries with people who seemed a little too interested in you. nothing anyone could really complain about.

it was just protection.

eventually, though, ellie realized you were a little too smart for someone who couldn't connect the simplest dots between her disappearance and spider-girl's sudden presence in your life. either that, or she had spent so long thinking of herself as invisible that she had forgotten other people could actually see her.

sure, walking along the edges of buildings kept her out of the direct line of sight of pedestrians, especially at night. but you noticed her anyway.

the first time you spotted her, she had been walking along the edge of a building several meters above you as you made your way home from work. your voice carried through the empty street, and ellie stopped so abruptly that one foot nearly slipped off the ledge.

she looked down.

you were standing in the middle of the street, staring directly at her.

hands settling on her hips, she forced herself to breathe. there was absolutely no reason to be nervous. she was spider-girl. friendly neighborhood hero. beloved protector. definitely not your ex-girlfriend who had been following you around for weeks.

"stalking you? i'm not stalking you. why would i be stalking you?" she called back, trying to sound offended rather than caught. "i'm just doing night patrol, y'know? gotta keep the neighborhood safe."

hearing your voice directed at her again, especially without the anger she'd expected, sent a strange bloom of warmth through her chest. it spread through her whole body so quickly that she nearly stumbled again.

"i'm fine. i'm fine!" she quickly repeated, mostly to make sure you hadn't noticed that little misstep.*

your laughter carried up toward her.

ellie smiled beneath the mask.

before she could think better of it, she fired a web toward the only working streetlamp and let herself descend. she landed in front of you with considerably more grace than she had displayed on the rooftop, straightening immediately as if she'd planned every second of it.

"but what is such a pretty lady doing all alone in these streets?" she asked, her voice taking on that playful, almost teasing quality that came so much easier when she had a mask between herself and the world. "i mean, i'm sure you can fend for yourself..."

her eyes traveled over you through the lenses, taking in every little detail she already knew by heart. the way your fingers curled around your purse. the slight tension in your shoulders. the familiar expression on your face.

"but i can see you clutching that purse."

she crossed her arms beneath her chest, tilting her head as a smile stretched beneath the mask.

"these streets aren't exactly welcoming after dark."

everyone else was already inside. the stores lining the neighborhood had closed hours ago, their windows dark and empty, and even the stray animals seemed to understand the unspoken curfew.

except you.

ellie couldn't help finding that strangely charming.

"y'know..." she began, rocking back slightly on her heels. "i don't offer this to everyone, but since i think i'm done with my patrol, maybe i can give you a ride. what do you think?"

she extended a hand toward you.

"that is..." there was a faint challenge in her voice, almost as though she could already guess your answer. "if you're not afraid."

…

the second you clung to her during the ride, ellie thought her heart might actually explode.

she had expected you to be nervous. she hadn't expected the warmth of your arms around her, the way you instinctively held onto her as she swung between buildings, or how familiar your weight felt against her.

by the time she landed on your balcony, a few breathless giggles escaped her as she steadied you on the ground. your legs were still a little wobbly after the ride, and her hands lingered around your waist even after you managed to find your balance.

ellie looked at you through the mask, trying very hard not to stare.

"not as bad as it seemed, huh?"

she finally stepped back, leaning against the railing while you recovered and tried to calm your racing heart.

for a moment, everything felt almost normal.

then a chill crawled up the back of her neck.

ellie glanced over her shoulder just as a police helicopter passed overhead, its searchlight sweeping across the buildings while red and blue lights pulsed far below. several police vehicles followed along the street, their sirens distant but steadily growing louder.

"shit."

the curse slipped out before she could stop it. the thought of getting dragged into a fight right now killed some of her good mood.

"guess that's my sign to go."

she pushed herself away from the railing, but hesitated before leaving.

"maybe i'll see you again sometime, miss...?"

she scratched the back of her neck, an old habit she couldn't seem to shake, even beneath the mask. slowly, she took a few steps backward, every instinct telling her to stay while common sense insisted she leave.

"well, i better not see you in that street again."

the warning was playful enough to pass as concern.

she fired a web toward the helicopter as it passed overhead, catching onto one of its landing skids before the line pulled taut. with one last glance toward you, she let herself be carried away into the night.

---

that night became the worst and best fight ellie had ever had as spider-girl.

the helicopter ride had told her enough. so had the growing number of police vehicles filling the streets below. whatever was happening, it was big, and she threw herself into the middle of it before she could think twice.

she came out of it bruised, exhausted, and with a split lip that would probably make eating tomorrow morning an unpleasant experience.

yet hours later, lying in bed with the weight of the mattress pressing against her aching body, she still couldn't stop smiling.

because she'd seen you, and you'd liked having spider-girl around. hat was enough, but she would definitely go see you again.

and she did.

it hadn't exactly been her intention to make a habit of it, not at first. but you never seemed particularly bothered whenever spider-girl happened to appear around you. if anything, you seemed to enjoy her presence.

ellie took that as permission.

she didn't question whether you meant permission to visit this often. she simply decided you did.

soon, spider-girl was there nearly every day.

sometimes she appeared on your balcony after patrol. sometimes she lingered nearby when when she walked you home. sometimes she was simply there, perched on a rooftop across from your window, making sure everything was fine.

you never seemed to notice just how often she was watching.

or maybe you did.

ellie liked pretending you didn't.

one evening, you were standing on the balcony with your arms resting against the railing, the cold breeze stirring your hair, when the soft, practiced thud of a landing sounded beside you.

there was no need to look.

it was unmistakable by now.

"miss me?"

her voice carried that familiar, teasing confidence. the kind that came so naturally to spider-girl and felt almost impossible for ellie to replicate without the mask.

she walked up beside you and placed one hand on the railing before, in one smooth movement, pushing herself up to sit on it.

for a moment, she simply looked at you.

the mask hid her expression, but her eyes remained fixed on you with an intensity that felt almost too familiar. at your quietness, she bumped her shoulder gently against yours, trying to pull your attention toward her.

"what's on your mind?"