Peter spent the next five minutes digging through his bedroom, trying to see if he could figure out what was sending his spider sense through the roof. He knew something wasn't right, but he didn't know what was out of place. His racing heartbeat echoed in his ears as he dug through his dresser drawers, pushing aside clothes as if he would find some sort of explosive underneath it all. When the dresser proved to be fine, Peter moved to his nightstand and opened the drawer, but it was empty.
That didn't use to be empty, Peter's stomach dropped. What the hell used to be in there?
"Peter?"
This time Peter did give in to the temptation and jumped onto the ceiling as a result of being shocked.
"Whoa!" Ned exclaimed in surprise.
Peter's shoulders heaved as he glanced down and saw the familiar face of his best friend. "Oh my god."
"Dude, Alex is still in the common room," Ned whispered to him urgently.
Peter cursed under his breath and lowered himself back down to the floor. He still felt tense, the fight or flight instinct intense enough to make his sixth sense want to split his brain in two.
Ned came up to him and grabbed his bicep in a firm grip. His eyes flickered over Peter, concern etched into every inch of his face. "Peter, you gotta tell me what's going on."
Peter's fists clenched, nails digging into his skin. Oddly enough, the slight pain was grounding. "Get Alex out of here."
Ned studied him for one more moment before he backed out of the room. Another minute later and the apartment door clicked open before being closed softly. The sound of two heartbeats became one and Peter knew that he and Ned were alone. Sitting down on his bed, Peter buried his face in his hands and tried to will his overwhelmed senses to calm down. He faintly heard footsteps approach him before someone came to sit down on the floor in front of him.
"Peter," Ned's voice echoed in his ears.
"The window was open when I got home," Peter stuttered out. "Alex said he couldn't remember if he had opened it or not, but I could just feel like something was off.
"Maybe he did just open it and forgot about it. I do that all the time and it drives my mom crazy."
"No, you don't get it, Ned. All of my senses were pointing to that specific window and then I walk into my room and I just get this sense that something's missing."
Ned let out a surprised noise from the confession. "That's never happened before. How can you even..."
"I don't know," Peter cut him off, shaking his head furiously. "My nightstand's empty, but I don't think it always was?"
"You think someone broke in and took something?" Fear flashed across Ned's face. "Peter, you need to tell someone."
"I don't even know if someone did," Peter exclaimed in exasperation. "Who would I call? The police? I can't tell them it's based off a hunch, they would never believe me."
"Then what about Tony?" Ned offered.
"No, not Tony," Peter disagreed. "He'll make us move to a safe house and I just can't handle anymore change right now."
"But if someone broke in, they could do it again," Ned insisted.
"I'll tell him," Peter conceded, "But not until I figure this out."
Ned paused for a moment, clearly digesting what had just happened. Then he said, "Okay, well, count me in."
"I don't even know where to begin," Peter admitted.
"You said you were able to feel something was off, right?"
Peter looked up at Ned, "Yeah."
"Then let's start there," Ned proposed.
Peter took in a deep breath and closed his eyes and honed in on the tingling sensation in his brain. However, now that he had calmed down the sensation had faded back to its lingering annoyance and Peter shook his head. "It's gone now."
"What do you mean it's gone?" Ned was confused.
"The feeling... It's not there." Peter sighed. "Whatever happened, or whoever might've done this, they're gone."
"So we really have no leads then," Ned also looked disheartened.
"I could've been making it up," Peter shrugged. "My senses have been feeding off of my paranoia recently."
Ned frowned, "You say that like it hasn't been like that in the past." Then pure excitement appeared on his face. "Are you saying you got another new ability? What is it? Like super paranoia?"
Peter rolled his eyes fondly at the questions, "No, Ned, I don't have another power."
"Come on, please tell me," Ned pleaded.
Peter gave in easily at the puppy dog eyes his friend was giving him. "It's nothing special, okay? My senses have just been more sensitive ever since I came back."
Ned's eyes widened in awe. "What kind of sensitivity? Do you finally have X-Ray vision? Can you see in the dark? What about hibernation?"
Peter grimaced at the word hibernation. "Why is it that you always want me to have the weirdest powers?"
"Dude you just found out that you can make organic webs from your wrists," Ned pointed out. "I don't think it's that far of a stretch to assume you have some other weird ass powers."
"What kind of superpower is hibernation? That's far from a super power, it's a super weakness."
"Are you saying you do hibernate?" Ned asked.
"No, I don't hibernate," Peter told him.
"Excuse me for thinking it's possible considering you lost the ability to thermoregulate."
"Which hasn't been an issue yet and I refuse to let it be one," Peter pointed out.
Ned's eyes sparked mischievously. "Feeling better now?"
Peter paused at that and realized that his sixth sense had faded to a dull thud, the closest he's been back to normal in a long time. It was still present, but it was barely noticeable. In addition, his heart was no longer in danger of jumping out of his chest and his breathing was coming in and out evenly with no issue.
"You did that on purpose," Peter looked at Ned gratefully.
Ned shrugged nonchalantly. "Distracting people is my specialty."
Peter held up his hand, "Thank you, Ned, seriously."
They did their handshake, "Anytime, Pete, you know that."
If Peter had to be completely honest with himself, he genuinely did not like watching football. He just didn't see the pleasure of watching two teams battle each other to the death. All of the concussions and other injuries due to fouls or just plain tackling was enough where he cringed every time it happens. Also, Peter didn't want to say anything, but he could see the crunch of people's bones whenever something happened and their agonized screams were like nails on a chalkboard. He began to wonder why he agreed to come to Alex's game on Friday, but now that he was here with George, there was no turning back.
This is for Alex, Peter reminded himself. It made him really happy that you decided to come tonight.
The first half of the game went by smoothly with Midtown taking the lead by ten points, and George had taken a huge interest in the event, cheering with the crowd and complaining against the bad calls. Peter had never seen George so full of energy like he was at that moment and it genuinely made him happy that the older man was having a good time. George had been on double shifts twice this week, and he had been working himself into the ground. If Peter hadn't known how much George loved his job, he would've thought that he would've quit a long time ago.
"It's not about the hours or the hardships," George had told him one night. "Just the fact that I can help people without having any superpowers is enough for me. It shows that you don't have to have super strength or a metal suit in order to make a difference in the world."
May had wanted to come, but she picked up an extra shift that night to fill in for a coworker who apparently had a family emergency. She had been devastated, but Alex had given her the reassurance that it was alright and he had understood. Peter knew Alex was putting on a brave face for his aunt, and as much as he appreciated that, his heart bleed in sympathy for the elder boy.
"I'm taking it that football isn't your thing?" George sat back down on their bench so he could knock his shoulder against Peter's in a friendly manner.
"I never really was, but tonight's different and I didn't want to say no." Peter admitted sheepishly.
"Well, I know it means a lot to Alex that you came for him," George said. "It also means a lot to me too."
"I may not like the game itself, but I wouldn't miss it for the world," Peter stated, shocked by the assertiveness in his voice. Then again, as soon as the words were out Peter knew that he meant every word.
"Gotta say, this week's kept me away from the apartment more than I'd like," George began. "How are you feeling? I heard you've had it rough the last couple of days."
Peter felt his lips quirk up in a small knowing smile. "Alex or May?"
"Little bit of both if I'm being completely honest. But I've seen it too," George added. "You look like you've been sleeping better."
Peter grimaced at the reminder.
"I know you don't like talking about it," George noted. "May always said you wore your heart on your sleeve, but the one thing you hated more than anything was to admit that something was wrong. Now that I get to see that for myself, I can see what she means."
"Seems like all I do nowadays is make people worried."
George sighed. "Well I guess I kinda ruined the fun, huh?"
"We're here for Alex, right?" Peter looked at him. "Sometimes a brave face is all we can do to make sure we're there for others."
George smiled at that, but Peter knew the older man didn't like the heaviness that Peter carried with those words. He was a lot like May that way, they both hated seeing someone so young sound like they had the wisdom of an elder who's been through too much in their lifetime. "I'm so glad you two bonded the way you did."
"He's amazing," Peter agreed, it was hard not to. Alex had been there for him since he came back. He didn't have to do that for a complete stranger, but he did it for Peter with no hesitation. "You have every right to be proud."
"You're something to be proud of too, don't sell yourself short," George added before standing up. "That's it Alex! What a pass!" He cheered as the crowd went wild at the touchdown pass.
Peter couldn't help but chuckle at the enthusiasm that always seemed to George radiate. It was hard to be sad whenever you were around him. It was like he radiated positive energy, warding off any negative thoughts and other abnormalities.
He does have a superpower, Peter decided light-heartedly. He makes you see the light even in the darkest of tunnels.
There was still two minutes of the second quarter, but Peter's stomach was growling in the demand for food.
"Where do we meet Alex at half time?" Peter asked.
"He said he'd meet us by the concessions," George answered. "Oh come on, that was a clean interception!"
Peter stood up, "I'm going to head down to the concessions and beat the food crowd."
"Can you grab me a hot dog?" George asked, fishing for his wallet and handing him a ten dollar bill.
Peter hesitated, "George, you don't have to pay for mine."
George just gave him a gentle look and said, "Don't be the tough guy, Pete, this is on me."
Peter felt his heart warm at that statement and accepted the money. Making his way to the concessions was interesting, it was like fighting against a mob of people jumping up and down in the stands. How he didn't get caught in the stampede was beyond him. When he did finally emerge on solid ground, he welcomed the wave of fresh air.
Alex, you're an awesome dude, but I really hate large crowds, Peter shuddered.
When Peter approached the concession stands, he paused mid-step and all the air left his lungs in a giant rush when someone caught his eye. Just by the curly brown hair, Peter immediately knew who it was. She was standing by the fence, sipping on a drink in a pair of black ripped skinny jeans and a long sleeve white sweater that was a little too thick for the humid September weather. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and she rocked the black converse that she had always used to wear.
Peter stood in place for a few seconds, trying to decide what to do. Part of him wanted to go over and hug her, let her know how much he missed her, but he had a feeling that wasn't his right to do so anymore. Another part of him wanted to walk away and forget he ever saw her, but Peter knew that forgetting would be impossible. Either way, if he went over to talk to her, what would he even say?
His legs made the decision for him before his brain could catch up to process what he was doing. One moment he was on the other side of the walkway, a safe distance from the person in front of him, and in the next moment he was approaching her and Peter honestly couldn't find it in himself to stop the distance that was disappearing between them.
"MJ?" Peter asked timidly as he walked up behind her.
MJ's shoulders visibly tensed up at his voice and she turned around slowly. Peter saw her face pale when she laid eyes on him. She tried being polite by giving him a small smile, but Peter could see that it was partially forced. "Hey, Peter."
Peter just found himself wildly confused. "What... What are you doing here? I mean you have every right to be here, but like you always said you hated sports and you graduated... I'm sorry that came out completely wrong."
"No, I mean it's a fair question, I guess," MJ shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. This was so different from the confident MJ that he had once known. "Um, I was just meeting up with an old friend."
Peter's heart broke and the implication. "Oh," He knew he must've had his sad puppy eyes on his face, but he tried to push it down.
"How have you been?" MJ tried to change the subject.
"I've been better," Peter admitted. "It's a lot."
Understanding flashed across her face and she said, "Yeah, I get that."
"May remarried," Peter began before he could cut himself off. He wasn't sure why the words came out with no thought to it, but then again MJ had always had that effect on him.
"I, uh, I know," MJ revealed. "I was at the wedding."
Of course you were, Peter felt like he was treading water. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on before he slipped below the surface.
"Her husband has a son, right? I'm guessing he's playing tonight because you hate football as much as I do."
"Yeah, he's the quarterback," Peter nodded. "Alex."
"Must be nice not being an only child anymore," MJ tried to cheer him up. "And you have Ned too."
"I used to just have more than Ned," Peter looked down at his feet.
"Peter..." MJ sounded pained.
"I just thought... I'm sorry for leaving you."
"That wasn't your fault, you couldn't control that."
"When I came back a lot changed, and I know it had been five years for everyone else but for me it just didn't, it felt like hours," Peter confessed. "I just thought we were close enough to be friends, but I must've misstepped my boundaries." The wording of that caused him to cringe. Way to hit the nail on the head, Peter. Better be careful or else you might actually turn into a permanent jerk.
"That's not it," MJ cut him off. "It wasn't just about you."
"Then what was it about?" Peter asked desperately.
"I lost everything," MJ said. "My parents got Snapped too. I lost you and I lost Ned... I ended up moving upstate with some distant relatives. You don't know how difficult that was, you don't know how painful that was."
Peter's heart broke at that and he felt ashamed for being so selfish. "I'm sorry." Then his head snapped up, "Wait, so it is about me too?"
A drink dropped behind him and a familiar heartbeat made him spin around and what he saw felt like a slap to the face. Ned was standing there looking like a deer in the headlights, his face tinged with a faint green as if he ventured into something that made him want to hurl. Looking between his best friend's nervous expression and his former friend's pained look, Peter made the connection and it broke his heart.
"So the old friend is Ned," Peter figured out, his mouth feeling like it was full of cotton.
"Peter..." MJ began.
"How long?" Peter asked, his voice hoarse. Don't cry, not in front of them.
"I got back in touch with Ned shortly after he came back... after everyone came back" MJ said slowly, as if she was trying to choose the right words. It felt like she was trying to inflict as little pain as possible, but she failed colossally.
Peter's eyes flickered over to Ned's, and it felt like a knife was being twisted into his gut. "You said you hadn't heard from her. Even after..."
"I didn't know what to say," Ned confessed, sounding on the verge of tears. "MJ made me swear not to tell you."
"Why?" He looked between the two of them.
"It's complicated," MJ's voice was sad and resigned.
"How was it complicated?" Peter was getting angrier the more the hurt settled into his heart.
"Dammit, Peter, I'm married now and I have a son... I just... Everything between the two of us..." MJ couldn't find the right words.
"I came back to a world that moved on without me," Peter told her. "May remarried, and now I have two complete strangers in my life that want to get to know me, but they're a painful reminder of what has happened. I needed my past friends, I needed you because you two were my anchors."
MJ's eyes were glassy, and Peter could see the rare trace of tears in them. "I was scared."
"Scared of what? Of some dumb crush I had on you back then?" Peter exclaimed. "Guess what, we all grew up, and I get that. There's a difference between support, neglect and betrayal. I didn't care that you got married, I didn't care that you're a mother now, but what I really just wanted was my damn friend back. What I wanted was someone from my past life to further ground me in this shit show. Instead you ghosted me while you had no trouble reconnecting with your other friends."
"That's not fair," MJ argued.
"How is any of this fair?" Peter demanded. "You tossed me aside like I was yesterday's trash because you couldn't gather the courage to tell me to my face."
"You were already hurting enough..."
"Exactly, I was already hurting in part due to you," Peter pointed at her. He knew he was being a complete dick, but his heart was broken and he didn't know what else to do. He looked to Ned and asked, "Why did you keep it a secret?"
"Don't you dare talk about secrets with him," MJ defended him angrily. "He's not the one who had a bug sized problem about lying to people's faces."
Peter froze at that, the knife digging deeper. "You knew." He looked at Ned, on the verge of crying. "Did you..."
Ned's eyes widened, "What? No! How could you even think that? You know I'd never do that to you."
"He didn't need to tell me," MJ crossed her arms. "I knew since DC."
"That's completely different than what's going on right now," Peter changed gears.
"How is it different? You made the choice to board that spaceship. You made the choice to leave your family behind."
"I did what I had to do," Peter clenched his fists, the lump in his throat getting bigger. "You don't get to be pissed about something that doesn't even involve you."
"Peter, you need to calm down," Ned tried to place a hand on his shoulder but Peter jumped away from him.
"Don't touch me!" Peter burst out, immediately regretting it when Ned flinched at the outburst.
He looked around to see that people were starting to notice the confrontation going on. The crowd began to thicken and Peter realized that there wasn't any players on the field, indicating half time had started. He made eye contact with a concerned Alex who was running towards him at full speed, but Peter didn't have the energy to want to stick around.
He looked between the two of them and said tearfully, "Enjoy the rest of the game."
Peter turned around and began to walk away, but he didn't miss a voice calling his name. "Peter stop!"
He just continued walking, trying to block out the sound of his friend's pleading voice.
Ned caught him by the elbow, "Come on, man, please."
Peter shrugged him off, "Don't..." He tried to take a deep breath to ease the ache of his heart shattering to a million pieces. "Just don't."
"I shouldn't have kept this from you," Ned hurriedly interjected. "You have every right to be pissed, but you can't leave."
"I'm not mad," Peter shook his head. "Not at you."
"I know I hurt you..." Ned began.
Peter just held up a hand to stop him, "I don't want to talk right now, I don't us want to say something I know we'll just regret later."
"What about Alex and George?" Ned finally asked. "You came for Alex tonight..."
"Don't you dare use that card," Peter glared at him.
"You can't leave, not when you're this hurt," Ned protested. "Please... Don't do something stupid."
"Can't really beat doing anything stupid right now," Peter walked away. "I just need some space."
Ned called his name once more, but Peter just took off at a sprint, leaving the game behind him. He got as far as the parking lot before he bent over and tried to catch his breath, a hand clutching chest as if it would miraculously open his airway.
"Peter?" A voice asked timidly.
Peter felt the tears begin to fall, "Please go away."
Alex came to stand in front of him and coaxed him to look up so that their gazes locked. Alex's sweaty hair was stuck to his forehead and he was decked out in his football gear, his helmet resting at his side. "What happened?" He asked gently.
The concern in the older boy's voice and face made Peter's stomach twist nauseatingly. He just shook his head as he tried to escape.
"Peter, come on," Alex held him steady. "You can't leave like this."
"I can't stay," Peter barely got out past the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry."
"Let me get Dad to drive you home at least," Alex protested. "I really don't think you should be alone when you're this upset."
"I'll be fine," Peter promised, but it felt empty even to him. "I just need some air."
Alex had a stern expression plastered on his face, "Come with me, we'll find Dad and he'll take you home."
Just the thought of going back into the stadium caused him to panic, "I can't go back in there, please."
"Okay, okay, no one's going to make you go back in there," Alex reassured him. "Just sit here, and I can go get him, okay?"
Peter just nodded, wanting more than anything for Alex to go away in that moment. Alex guided Peter to sit on the curb and crouched beside him. He cupped the side of his neck and said, "I'll be right back okay?"
"Okay," Peter croaked and Alex took off at a sprint.
He waited until he saw Alex enter the gate before he got to his feet and ran. He used some of his enhanced endurance to push him far enough away where he was off school property. From there, once he found a dark alley way he shot up to the safety of the rooftops.
Was it good? Was it bad? Feel free to let me know!