Winter, 2017. Two weeks into escape.

Peter was, in truth, hiding from his watchful roommates. Their care of him in his sickness left Peter feeling uncomfortable. He wasn't sure how to act around them now and a rise of youthful insecurity made it impossible to set out from the blue room. He'd been so stupid, it amazed him. He was muscles still protested any movement from their trek outside and a lingering haze steamed through his mind. Even with the sickness and their over attentive care, the walk was worth it just to feel the wind on his face; to hear time going forward around him and with him.

His eyes kept returning to the lake, now a few weeks away from being fully iced over, outside the window as he paced his room. He watched the gap between the shore and ice. Dark water streamed up, washing onto the surfaces despite the dropping temperatures. It would be near impossible to see the vulnerable underbelly of the lake in the coming weeks. The ice would cover everything protecting and concealing the life underneath in a timeless vacuum until spring came again.

Someone knocked and Rhodey stuck his head into the room.

"Hey Peter. We're going to watch some movies if you want to join. Tony's making his… special waffles, too."

Rhodey made a face at the growl from Peter's stomach. The man knew no matter how much he protested the sugar contents of Tony's breakfast, he would be forced, and secretly enjoyed, seconds. Peter, however, had no trouble with the excessive ingredients and ate as much as he could. Sometimes he and Tony raced to see who could eat quicker.

Peter always won.

But the breakfast food would involve conversations and questions he didn't feel like answering today.

"I dunno, Rhodey. I might stay in here."

Rhodey being the more pragmatic of the two would normally give Peter his space for a while. He would leave with a disappointed smile and open invitation, and Peter found himself out of the room before an hour passed because of it. Today he changed his normal reaction. Rhodey came into the room and sat on the end of the bed gesturing for Peter to follow his lead. Rhodey folded his hands in his lap lacing his fingers together before they sat quietly. Both sets of eyes watching as the wind blew across the lake taking the snow along for a ride.

"I almost drowned once." He said. Peter's head snapped over and he gave a small chuckle under his breath while nodding out the window. "Right in that lake actually. I was young and stupid, going out when it was too warm and Tony, of course, would do anything a responsible adult would disapprove of so he was in. We had this friend who told us not to but we didn't listen."

"What happened?"

"Even though we didn't listen to him, he still came with us." He sighed and turned away from the lake to stare at Peter. "He saved me in the face of his fear. Tony calls me dramatic but he probably saved my life."

A shiver went down Peter's spine and he avoided the man's eyes to look back outside. He thought of all the times he went skating with May and Ben as a child. How fascinated he'd was of the ice. The tiny bubbles forming underneath the arctic structure, plastering to the horizontal wall and trying to escape up into the world only to disappear once the bubbles got passed the ice keeping them trapped. He remembered watching the sand settled on the bottom or be whipped into cloud of chaos with the slightest provocation. May had scolded him for pressing his face against the ice instead of skating around with them but in the end her and Ben had come over and joined him in his observations.

He wondered how old Rhodey was when this happened. Was it a childhood memory faded through time? Was he afraid of water now or the cold? Did he dream of the event? HE wanted to ask but instead he thought of the solitary figure in the story.

"What happened," He said. "To your friend? What happened to him?"

Rhodey patted the bed covers and stood up. He walked across the room and only when his hand rested on the door handle did he answer without looking back at him or the blue room.

"He's gone. You should come out. Tony's been bugging me to show you some of the old horror classics."

Peter chuckled but when he looked back Rhodey was gone. He lay back on the blue bedspread, rubbing his fingers against the fabric. He thought of the story and wondered if it was one of those lesson stories to get him to overcome a fear. Would he be the type of person to go out onto the ice if he was afraid?

He didn't know.

Maybe for May he would, but for someone else. For someone he didn't know as well, it was hard to tell. Peter mashed his palms to his cheeks and stared blankly out the window. What a selfish thought, but he'd done the saving strangers thing, the superhero gig for a time and what did he have to show for it? A broken life. That wasn't even truthful. His life had stopped the moment May was gone. From there on he'd been living on someone else's time; on borrowed time, waiting until they decided it was enough. Waiting to decide when his time was up. It was how he lived for so long he almost forgot what it was like before. The selflessness required to grow with people and some part of him hoped he hadn't lost that.

Tony barged into the room without knocking. Peter shook his head to clear his morose thoughts away and stared at the handful of DVDs stacked under a bowl of popcorn in Tony's hands. He could smell the warm butter and salt.

"I know it's winter and we should get into the Christmas spirit but I say fuck the Christmas spirit. We're about to get spooky and I won't take no for an answer."

Peter found himself on the chair beside Rhodey and Tony, engrossed in the Horror of Dracula. He cringed back in fear and laughed at the dated graphics all the while wondering if he was doing it right. If this was what having friends felt like. If when they came for him he would fight to stay or go back to the way things were?

"Shut up, Tony and get into place. You know my mom is very particular about these things."

Tony grumbled under his breath but at the mention of Rhodey's mom, Roberta, he threw the bright red sweater over his head. Peter stood at the corner of the living room, watching as Rhodey adjusted the camera tripod height. The sounds of argument lured him from his room. Rhodey looked up from the lens. He threw something and Peter caught the red item automatically. Itchy material pooled in his hand. He rubbed his fingers along the hem and tilted his head in question at the pitcher.

"You didn't think mom wouldn't want to see our mysterious new roommate?" Rhodey asked with a smile. "Tony don't move yet. I'm trying to get the frame right." He said without taking his eyes off Peter.

Peter fidgeted thinking about Rhodey said. For some reason he felt a strange tightness in his chest at the notion of Roberta hanging the picture with him in it on the refrigerator. Of Rhodey's family passing the photo, maybe dogeared and faded with time, every day on their way to grab their orange juice. People looked at it with a smile and fondness.

He found himself shaking his head without realizing it but Rhodey and Tony were already walking over. They grabbed the sweater out of his hands and shoved the itchy monstrosity over his shoulders. Peter was sitting on the chair in front of the camera before he could blink. Maybe these two did have some kind of superpower to move so fast without him knowing.

Tony threw an arm over his shoulder. "Just grin and bear it. She'll send us cookies to make up for the pain of staged photos."

Rhodey adjusted the camera down and pressed the button on the side of the camera before running to Peter's empty side. He threw an arm around Peter's shoulder and leaned in. Peter could feel heat surfacing on his cheeks and neck. He smiled at the camera with a nudge from Rhodey as Tony counted down.

For the first time in a long time the expression took no effort.

Thank you all for reading.

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