Parker XI: Ned Leeds in the Big Apple

After that first date, things between them didn't change all that much. They'd already been close friends, and pretty much the only difference was they now held hands sometimes. Maybe every other week or so they went on a date, but half of those were study dates for math exams or Quizbowl. Still, Parker was happier than he remembered being in a long time.

His parents adored MJ, and she reciprocated that respect. She even let Dad teach her the basics of sewing. Parker sat in for that lesson too, and it quickly became evident that he was a whiz with a needle and thread. MJ was jokingly mad at him for being better at it than her. And all of Parker's Gravesen friends were jokingly mad at him for scoring a girlfriend before they did.

"I don't believe you've never dated anyone," he told Tony. "How can you not be the most coveted boy in your entire school?"

"I used to be a bit of a self-centered asshole who preferred to wallow in his loneliness over trying to fix it," Tony explained. "Although there was this kid who probably wished he was my boyfriend. Certainly stared at me with goo-goo eyes all the time."

"There's a boy who has a crush on you?"

"I don't even know what it is. He's very clingy for someone who's never had any of his advances reciprocated."

"Is it bad that I find that mildly hilarious?"

"Maybe. I used to find it endlessly irritating, but now it's both funny and kinda sad. Although he has started hanging out with this other kid, so at least he made a friend."

"Good for him. And you're not a self-centered asshole anymore, not that I actually believe you used to be that."

"Believe it. Anyway, you can probably guess what the problem is now. A VAD isn't exactly notorious for its sex appeal."

"The right person won't mind it."

"Yeah, well, then I've never met one. But it's okay. I don't necessarily want to start dating anybody from my high school right before going away to college. That's not a good strategy."

"That's fair. Maybe you'll meet someone there."

"Maybe. I like to keep my options open. But I'm glad you and MJ get along so well. You're really lucky."

"No kidding."

~0~

Parker knew it was only a matter of time before MJ wanted to bring him home to "meet" her parents, but he was still reluctant to accept. He had no idea what to expect from that interaction. But he couldn't put it off forever. After their last Quizbowl tournament of the year—which they won, by the way—MJ invited him over for dinner. Standing on the front porch of that house reminded of the time he stood here with the first Mr. Harrington, completely alone in the world and about to be dumped with a family he'd never met. He glanced behind him at the tree in the front yard he'd fallen out of and almost laughed.

MJ answered the door and let him take his time walking in. Memories good and bad alike flooded back to him. Snowball fights, board games, LEGOs, everything the three of them had done together as a family. His breath hitched looking at the kitchen table, remembering how agonized he'd felt every time he sat down there and pretended to eat while terrified that he'd get caught. "Parker's here!" MJ announced. Mr. and Mrs. Jones descended from upstairs, and Parker's heart soared. They would always be his third family, despite the abrupt termination of the relationship.

"Oh my goodness," Mrs. Jones exclaimed. She hugged Parker so tightly that he could barely breathe, but he let it happen. "You've grown so much!" He could tell she meant he looked healthier in addition to having grown taller. Parker smiled; this was the first time he'd encountered someone who knew him before since his release from Gravesen. They hadn't watched his return to healthy weight gradually, so it must've been far more obvious to them.

"It's nice to see you looking so well," Mr. Jones remarked. He and Parker shook hands.

"Thank you, Mr. Jones."

"When Michelle told us she ran into you at school, we almost didn't believe her," Mrs. Jones said. "And we really didn't believe her when she said you'd asked her out." She laughed.

"I didn't believe it either," Parker chuckled. They spent the next half an hour discussing everything from school to Quizbowl to the New York Giants—well, that part mostly consisted of Parker telling Mr. Jones that he still hadn't gotten interested in football. Parker almost cried and laughed simultaneously when he smelled homemade rolls and Mrs. Jones pulled them out of the oven. They were the same one's he'd requested for Thanksgiving. She also made the same roasted vegetables that he'd managed to eat. So clearly they had noticed which foods were his favorites.

Of course, the heavy topics came up eventually at the dinner table. Mrs. Jones sighed and looked at Parker with tears brimming in her eyes. "Parker, we wanted to apologize for not noticing. Having foster children is an important responsibility, and clearly we were not paying close enough attention."

"It's alright," Parker assured them. "At the time I was trying my hardest to make sure you didn't notice anything was wrong. I was afraid you'd give me up if there was a problem. I don't hold it against you."

"Oh, you're too kind. Will you at least accept the apology? For my peace of mind?"

"Of course. I accept your apology. You two did your best, and everything turned out okay in the end."

"Thank goodness it did."

"Clearly I didn't do everything right if this kid still doesn't like football," Mr. Jones joked. The entire table burst out laughing, and Parker was overcome with gratitude that he'd found his way back into this family, if only a little differently than before.

~0~

"I hate Arizona summers," Ned groaned. In the background stood two fans blasting at full power, and those were just the ones Parker could see.

"It's not that cool in the city during summer," Parker reminded him. Ever since school let out, he'd dreaded going out because of the omnipresent heat. All his and MJ's dates took place indoors nowadays. It hadn't been much cooler during the trip to Malibu with the Starks, but he'd been too distracted by being at the beach to worry much about the heat then. Here, the air was like a blanket soaked in hot water smothering everyone under it.

"At least there's humidity sometimes. Here, when I go outside, I feel like I'm going to cook."

"I'm sorry. At least there's only a few more months to go."

"Actually, about that…" Ned said cryptically.

"What? Are they extending summer and they didn't tell me?"

"The opposite actually. I'll be out of this oven before summer's out."

"Why?"

"We're moving."

This was news to Parker. "What? Where?"

"Take a guess."

"Alaska?"

"No, thank goodness."

"Florida?"

"No."

"Tell me!"

"Queens."

Parker almost dropped his phone. "No way."

"Yes. My dad got a new job and we're moving in a few weeks. I've been waiting to tell you this, but I, uh…I got into Midtown."

"Ned, this is literally the greatest thing that's ever happened to me."

"I know, right? We can do our handshake again!"

"I can't wait. You can hang out with me and MJ, even join Quizbowl if you want."

"That sounds awesome. I would love to. But I don't want to third wheel or anything."

"You wouldn't be third wheeling when the three of us hang out together When MJ and I actually go on dates, we just won't invite you."

"Great."

"I still can't believe this is really happening."

"Me neither. When they told me, I thought it was either a prank or a dream."

"I'm half convinced that I'm dreaming right now."

"Nope, this is real. If I was dreaming, it would not be this hot."

"You'd better never complain about being cold when you're here."

~0~

Parker still could not believe Ned was really moving into the city. He hadn't seen his former brother in person in nearly two years, and now that the prospect of his return loomed so near in the future Parker realized just how much he missed him. It would be amazing to have another friend at school. MJ was great, of course, but she also liked her fair share of alone time. The kids on the Quizbowl team were also all nice, but Parker didn't spend time with them outside of practice and competition. And his Gravesen friends were all older. Having Ned there would make school ten thousand times more fun. Parker couldn't wait.

"Ned's moving to Queens in a few weeks," Parker told his dads, barely able to get the words out through his excitement.

"He is? That's fantastic," Dad said. "Do you know where he's going to school?"

"That's the best part: Midtown."

"You'll have to formally introduce us when he gets here. And I'd love to meet the couple that adopted him," Daddell added.

"Sure."

"We should bake them housewarming cookies or something," Dad suggested. "Closer to moving day, of course. Or we could offer to have them over here so they don't have to unpack their whole kitchen on the first day."

"That's a great idea."

Parker asked Ned when his move-in day was, and started counting down the days on a pad of sticky notes. He told everyone he knew, including the Quizbowl group chat—because he knew he could convince Ned to join and wanted them to know about their future teammate—his Gravesen friends, and even the LEGO figurines sitting on the Death Star.

He flopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Man, what a year this had been. Within the span of three hundred sixty five days, he'd gotten discharged from the hospital, adopted by the most incredible parents he could ever imagine, gotten into an awesome tech school, won a Quizbowl tournament, started dating, and now he was even getting his best friend back. It seemed too good to be true, but it was all real. "It's about time," he whispered to nobody in particular. For so long, he'd lived his life just waiting for the next tragedy to strike—and they'd just kept coming, one after another until he felt completely scooped out of everything that made his life matter.

Before he left Gravesen, he'd asked Dr. Wilson if he would ever stop expecting things to end tragically. Of course the possibility remained, as it always would, but in the past months Parker had found himself thinking about it less and less. Nowadays he looked forward to the excitement and joy that the next day might bring, instead of dreading all the possible losses. It was a pretty good way to live life.

~0~

"It's not up for debate. We're meeting you at the airport," Parker insisted.

"Okay, fine. But I won't be able to do anything fun until we at least half unpack."

"That's fine. I just want to see you. It's been almost two years."

"I want to see you too."

"Only twenty four hours to go." Parker doubted he'd even sleep that night, too eager to sit still long enough to doze off. But he read from one of Dad's psychology textbooks until his eyelids started to droop, and that did the trick.

Of course, just his luck, their flight got delayed. Only by half an hour, but it might as well have been an eternity. Dad took away his phone so he'd stop obsessively checking the time. It actually went by faster when he wasn't watching every minute pass in real time.

When Ned and his parents finally showed up, Parker wasn't sure whose smile was bigger—his or Ned's. "Hello former foster brother!" Ned greeted. Parker was too overjoyed to even form words. They attempted their handshake, but both gave up and switched to a bear hug when it became clear they were so jazzed that their coordination was shot.

"Adoption looks good on you," Ned remarked.

"You too." He didn't look perpetually wary like he used to when they first met. In the background, Parker's parents introduced themselves to the Leeds. Ned pulled back from the hug and looked Parker up and down as if he still didn't believe he was real—more likely he was just taking in Parker's no-longer-emaciated form.

"You know what's not miserably hot, Peter?" he asked.

Parker reminded himself to inform Ned of his name change at some point in the near future. "What?"

"Airplanes and airports."

"Wait 'til you step outside again."

"Oh I'm looking forward to it. Ned Leeds is back in the Big Apple!"

"Please don't refer to yourself in the third person again."

"You're right. It sounded way cooler in my head."

"Did it?" Parker asked sarcastically.

"No, no not really."

They stared at each other in silence for a full five seconds before erupting into laughter. Only now that Ned was back did Parker realize just how much he'd missed having him around.

I just couldn't keep this golden trio separate any longer :)