Not fully happy with this chapter. I rewrote it close to three times before I realized it's probably the best I can do at this moment. I just want to push the story further, so I apologize if the quality of this one is slacking. I'm halfway through the next chapter and I can promise you that one is back to the standard quality writing I produce.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy it still!

The next morning, Peter found himself walking into the halls of Midtown High all by himself. Alex had gone in early to meet with the football coach before school began, so Peter was left to face the journey to school alone. It was not something that was entirely new to him, but Peter had just gotten used to the constant company over the past few months. He'd be lying to himself if he said that he didn't miss the ramblings of the older boy. Alex had this talent of keeping Peter out of his negative thoughts, and soothing Peter's anxiety when the older boy sensed that Peter's mind had begun to wander down a rocky path.

This morning, however, Peter was on a mission of his own, and that said mission involved confronting Ned once and for all. That being said, Peter was nervous as hell, the mere thought of the tension between the two of them enough to make his stomach twist itself into a knot.

Peter wasn't entirely sure as to why he was so nervous because Ned was essentially the prime definition of a teddy bear. However, it wasn't the thought of Ned himself that made Peter uneasy, it was the entire situation that they had found themselves in. Peter wasn't one to forgive and forget, he's been betrayed enough in the past to realize that he couldn't emotionally afford to trust people that have broken his trust in the past. Ned was different, though, and Peter couldn't just ignore that. He might've not been at the stage to fully forgive the younger boy for what had occurred, but he wasn't angry at Ned. He wasn't angry that Ned reconciled with MJ because Ned was her friend too and Peter couldn't ignore that without being a colossal jerk. However, Ned had blatantly lied about something that he knew would hurt Peter, digging that knife deeper into his stomach. Ned might've not wanted to keep it from him, but he shouldn't have put himself directly into a situation that resulted in him keeping it a secret.

But Peter didn't want to just throw away a friendship that could easily come once in a lifetime. Ned had proved time and time again that he had Peter's back, not just as Peter Parker, but as Spider-Man too. Peter might not want to forgive Net just yet, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try to mend what's been broken.

When Peter spotted Ned, the boy was at his own locker, swapping his post-lunch books out with his books for the classes he had before lunch. The sight of his friend brought a strange ache to Peter's heart, and their conversation from last night flashed in Peter's mind.

"Hello?" Ned's timid voice answered the phone.

Peter's stomach knotted at the hesitant voice. "Hey, Ned."

"Hey, Peter," Ned replied awkwardly.

There was an awkward silence between the two of them before Ned began, "I know I've been saying this a lot, but I'm really..."

Peter closed his eyes as he cut Ned off, "Don't say that you're sorry. I know you are."

"I never wanted to keep it from you," Ned insisted. "I just..."

"Ned, can we just not, right now?" Peter requested, his voice strained.

"Yeah..." He heard Ned audibly gulp. "Yeah."

Another extended silence. "Meet up tomorrow?" Peter offered.

"Wait seriously?" An excited spark ignited in Ned's voice.

A small smile tugged at Peter's lip. Ned sounded like a kid who realized an ice cream truck was coming around the corner. "Yeah."

Ned paused for a moment before he said, "It's really good to hear from you, dude."

Oddly enough, Peter felt the same. "Same here."

Walking over to Ned, Peter leaned against the locker beside him. "Hey."

Ned, who had his head in his locker, jumped and smacked his head against the top shelf. He let out a surprised yelp before he retracted his head and rubbed the sore spot.

Peter blinked in surprise at the reaction before he laughed sheepishly. "Oh my god, Ned, I'm so sorry..."

"I feel like I deserved that one," Ned admitted, still rubbing his head.

"I mean maybe, but I would never wish for that to happen," Peter looked at him in amusement, but a spark of concern was still present in his tone of voice. "You okay?"

Ned looked at him and took his hand away from his head. "I feel like I should be the one asking you that."

Peter felt his shoulders tense at the question.

Ned, who noticed the difference right away, just shook his head. "Right."

Peter sighed, "Ned..."

"No, I get it," Ned closed his locker. "Not like I don't deserve it anyway."

Peter wanted to say something to dissolve the awkward tension between the two of them, but before he could do anything about it, the bell rang to signal the start of the school day.

Ned closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before saying, "See you in 2nd?"

Peter just nodded, "Yeah."

Ned's lips curled up into a small bittersweet smile, "See you, Pete."

Peter watched as Ned walked away, and it made him realize that he couldn't remember the last time his friend seemed so far out of reach.

Peter's first-period class was going by a snail's pace, and if he had to listen to one more minute of Shakespeare's Macbeth, he was going to lose his mind. Usually, that kind of stuff didn't bother him, but he just wanted his next class to start. He wanted a do-over from this morning, and Ned shared Peter's second class of the day. He knew that things were bound to be awkward between them, but their interaction this morning was like stepping through a shower of ice-cold water. He hated it, and he craved for a second chance to knock the healing process back on the right path. Peter knew it wasn't going to be perfect at first, but he hoped it would improve given the time.

When the bell dismissed the first-period class, Peter immediately bolted out of the room without a second thought and made his way towards his calculus class. He'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't nervous because there were evident butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. Peter really wanted to try to make things work between him and Ned, but he was terrified that everything they had would slip through his fingers, even if he tried everything he could to stop it.

Don't think like that, Peter, He chided himself. You know Ned. There's a good chance you'll be able to work it out. Just try and be yourself.

Once upon a time, it wasn't hard to be himself around Ned, they got into too many stupid shenanigans over the years and therefore couldn't judge one another on their craziness. The day that Ned had got him into Star Wars had been the best day of his life. He had been able to travel to a galaxy far far away... far away from the troubles that he found in his life... far away from the bullying and the feelings of loss and hopelessness. Peter liked to think that was the first time that Ned saw who the true Peter Parker was, and they had been close ever since.

Walking into the classroom, Peter saw that he beat the younger boy there and Peter sat down in his usual seat next to Ned in the middle of the classroom. Far enough away to not get scrutinized for talking, but close enough to see the whiteboard without squinting. Not that Peter had trouble with squinting since the spider bite, but it had definitely been an issue in the past. Deciding to pass time in the best way he knew how, Peter pulled out his textbook and notebook and began to look at that day's lesson. He was so absorbed in his work that he didn't notice Ned had sat down in his seat until a lego Luke Skywalker magically appeared on the corner of Peter's desk.

Peter glanced at the action figure before he looked over at Ned curiously.

All the hesitancy from this morning was gone and Ned had a large smile on his face. "You'll never believe what came in the mail this morning!"

Peter felt a spark of curiosity wash over him. "What?"

"You know that giant R2-D2 lego set that's been on my wishlist for years?" Ned asked.

Peter's eyes widened, "Wait, do you mean..."

"The 5000 piece life-size R2-D2? Yes!" Ned exclaimed giddily. "My mom found it on this online thrift store and she helped me pay for it!"

"No way!" Peter beamed at that. "Dude, that's amazing!"

"We've only been planning this for three years!" Ned looked like a little kid who just got the best Christmas present. "You gotta come over this weekend dude, we can start it!"

Peter's face fell at that, "Can we do next weekend? I already promised Tony I'd..."

Ned's brushed it off nonchalantly, his excitement enough to overpower the disappointment. "Consider it planned. I'm holding you to that promise you made me years ago, Pete."

Peter nodded, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

A moment later, the bell rang to begin class and the conversation between the two of them fell into a more comfortable pace, and for that Peter was grateful. The first half of class consisted of their teacher lecturing the material and the last half of the class gave them time to work on that day's homework. Ned and Peter worked efficiently together and finished their homework with ten minutes to spare. They fell into comfortable small talk with Peter telling Ned about him going to the lake house that weekend for the first time since he came back. Overall, Peter was relatively surprised with how easy it was to fall back into their usual bantering, but the tension still lingered between the two of them. Peter still hasn't forgotten what Ned had done, and Ned seemed to be walking on eggshells as he monitored what he said to Peter. Peter knew they were inevitably going to have to sit down and have a conversation about everything, but for now, Peter was perfectly content to soak in the normalcy that he desperately craved.

By the time lunch had rolled around, Peter thought the day was going by relatively more positive than it had been in the past few weeks. Harry had been strangely absent that day, but Peter knew how much his friend was hurting with the memory of his father, and Peter couldn't blame him for taking a few days to get his head straight around everything. He had been there himself more than he should have to be at his age, after all.

After their second-period class, Peter had been working up the courage to tell Ned about the Goblin attacks. He wasn't sure why he kept it a secret from everyone else, but he felt this strange urge to tell Ned. The younger boy was his 'guy in the chair' after all, but Peter had a feeling it was because Ned was the only person who knew about his sixth sense acting up. He knew Ned would make the connection sooner or later, his friend was quite perceptive when he wanted to be.

Spotting Ned at his new corner table, Peter walked over to him before he could second guess what he was doing.

"Can I sit with you?" Peter wondered quietly when he got to the table.

Ned looked up from his phone, his eyes failing to hide his surprise. He quickly nodded, "Yeah, of course! You don't have to ask, dude."

Peter sat down across from the shorter boy, "I have a confession to make."

Ned, who was biting into an apple, paused for a moment before biting into it. "Should I be worried as to what said confession is?"

"I might have done something stupid last Friday," Peter admitted.

Ned sighed as he put his apple down. "If it has to do with you playing firefighter, yeah I got that."

"In my defense, it didn't seem like that big of a deal at first," Peter quickly interjected.

Ned shot him a look that said he didn't believe Peter.

"Besides, it wasn't exactly the fire that messed me up," Peter fiddled with the food on his lunch tray.

Ned frowned at the implication. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember what I said to you after the rooftop incident?" Peter wondered.

"How you mentioned that you thought it might've been foul play?" Ned still looked confused, but as soon as he said those words aloud his face paled. "Wait, are you saying..."

"I wasn't alone in that fire," Peter confessed.

Ned's face grew alarmed. "Was it the same guy?"

"It definitely wasn't a dream," Peter's stomach rolled at the thought of the monster.

"What did he look like?" Ned inquired. "What happened?"

"He looked like a goblin, Ned, pointy ears, sharp teeth, piercing yellow eyes," Peter told him truthfully.

Ned shuddered at the image, "That's like something out of a nightmare."

"This Green Goblin... Ned, he was speaking to me as if he knew who I was," Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Ned frowned, "What do you mean by that? You think he knows your identity?"

Peter shook his head, "It's not that, but he's after me. He made that abundantly clear when he threw a pumpkin-shaped bomb that blew up in my face."

"Wait you got blown up?" Ned demanded urgently. "Peter, what the hell?"

"I know, I know," Peter held his hands up in a calming manner. "I mean I was fine, but..."

"But he tried to kill you," Ned finished for him. "That's twice now, dude. He threw you off a rooftop!"

"Yeah, it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence either."

"Have you told anyone else about this? Preferably an Avenger?"

Peter shook his head.

Ned looked at him in complete bewilderment. "What? Why not?"

"Because I'm not even sure what the hell is going on. Besides, everyone already worries about me too much, I don't need them to worry about this too."

"Peter, there is someone out there trying to deliberately kill you," Ned told him seriously. "This is not something you can just deal with alone."

"I'll tell them, Ned, eventually," Peter conceded. "If I can just find out who this person is first... I don't even know what I did to get his wrath thrown at me like this."

"Dude, considering what I'm hearing, this so-called 'Green Goblin' is clearly a psychopath. Those kinds of people don't usually have a reason behind what they do, except that they just do whatever the hell they want when they want," Ned said. "Do you think this is why your sense has you so on edge?"

Peter shrugged, "I can't say the thought hasn't crossed my mind."

Ned shook his head in exasperation. "At least let me help you? If we can do some digging and find out who this Goblin guy is... You have to promise me you won't do this alone."

Peter looked at the genuine worry in Ned's eyes and he nodded readily, "Yeah, Ned, I promise."

Ned sighed in relief, but his shoulders were still tensed. "I have a confession of my own if we're trading tales."

Peter frowned at that, "What did you do?"

"I did some digging on Harry's past," Ned admitted quietly enough where Peter only heard it because of his enhanced senses.

Peter felt his blood run cold, "You did what?"

"Before you get mad, I had a perfectly good reason..." Ned began but Peter cut him off.

"And what reason was that?" Peter demanded, feeling a mix of offensiveness and protectiveness.

"You don't understand, Pete, he's gotten really weird ever since he's been here," Ned's voice was strained. "Haven't you noticed that he's not in school today?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Peter crossed his arms.

"He's barely in school at all, and he's been absent a majority of the days that you've been gone due to your alter ego," Ned's voice was a whisper.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Peter's blood was beginning to boil. Weren't we doing good?

"I know that sounds crazy, and I'm not trying to say he's guilty of anything, but I swear Pete, I get so uneasy around him."

"Are you sure it's because you aren't jealous?" Peter accused.

"He keeps pestering me about questions about your Stark Internship ever since I let it slip, but they're not normal questions..."

Peter held up his hand, not wanting to hear this. "You had no right to do that, Ned, that was a huge violation of his privacy."

"Peter, come on, please, he was the one who..." Ned tried to interject.

"That's enough, Ned," Peter told him sternly. "Harry hasn't done anything to hurt me, which is a saying a lot considering the person I'm talking to right now."

Ned sharply recoiled at the revelation and Peter almost found himself apologizing right after, but he was so angry at the other boy, more on Harry's account than Peter's own.

"You are talking about a person who came back to a world where his father is dead. He came back an orphan." Peter told him coldly. "You're talking about someone was has been nothing but friendly to you, and this is what you do to him? Gotta say, dude, your loyalty complex has really been slacking recently."

"Peter..." Ned protested.

Peter stood up, his food left uneaten on his tray. "Look, Ned, I want to move past this, I really do."

"I do, too!" Ned insisted.

"If that is true, then you need to drop the jealousy act. Harry didn't do anything to deserve how you're treating him," Peter stated. "You owe him one hell of an apology. Maybe while you're at it, you can find one for me too."

"Peter, wait..." Ned pleaded but Peter was already walking away before Ned could finish that sentence.

As soon as the dismissal bell rang to signify the start of the weekend, Peter had bolted out of the school without looking back. He had lasted three blocks before he ducked into the shadows of an alleyway to change into his Spider-Man suit before he hit the skies. Part of him was actually looking forward to the hour-long journey that he had in front of him in order to get to the lakehouse, the fresh air was something that he desperately needed at that moment. Happy had offered to drive him, but Peter had politely declined the offer, even if he felt guilty for doing so. He told Happy it was because he wanted to test out his new suit more, but the truth was that Peter didn't want to feel caged. He still felt completely on edge from everything that had happened with Ned and the revelation that someone in a green costume was essentially out there trying to kill him. He was afraid that if he went with Happy it would increase the feeling of being caged like an animal on display. Either way, just because Peter welcomed the fresh air, that didn't mean that he wasn't dreading what he would find at his expected destination.

When Peter promised Tony that he would come to the lakehouse that weekend, he did it more out of guilt than anything else. He was never the kind of person to openly avoid a person that he never met because Ben had always told him to never judge a person until you get to meet them for yourself. It wasn't that he was scared of meeting Morgan for the first time, he was more scared at the possibility of feeling out of place in the family environment that Pepper, Tony, and Morgan had created. He wasn't sure if he could emotionally handle the awkwardness of the inside jokes he wouldn't understand or the open affection that Peter had always wished to have with someone who he grew to see as a father figure. But he saw the hurt in Tony's eyes whenever it seemed like Peter didn't want to go to the lakehouse, or when he tried making excuses to get out of such a situation. He had put Tony through too much in the past couple of weeks, and Peter felt like this was the least that he could do.

All in all, Peter felt nauseous just thinking about the entire ordeal and he hated it.

It didn't help that he was still in a sour mood from his conversation with Ned two days prior. Peter just couldn't understand why Ned was being so harsh on someone who had proven time and time again that he wasn't a threat in the slightest. Harry and him had more things in common than Ned would ever know, and for that reason, Ned would never understand what Harry was going through. For the longest time, Peter had thought that Ned had gotten over his jealousy, but looking back at it, he wasn't sure if that had just been another act that Ned had put on. It seemed like the younger boy had been pretty good at that nowadays.

"That doesn't sound like Ned," Peter recalled Alex's words from the conversation they had on the subway ride home from school Wednesday afternoon.

"I should've seen it coming," Peter shook his head. "He's been off about Harry from the moment he met him."

"I still don't think it's jealousy," Alex tried to interject.

"What else am I supposed to think?" Peter exclaimed and held his arms out to the sides for emphasis. "He dug into his background, Alex, that's not only illegal but it's a huge violation of privacy."

"Ned cares about you, Pete," Alex told him genuinely. "Also this is Ned, he could never hurt a fly. He must've had some good reason as to why he did what he did. Maybe he knows something you don't?"

The way Alex said that made Peter freeze. "What do you mean by that?"

"Did you give him a chance to explain himself?"

"Why are you acting like you know something?" Peter crossed his arms.

"I'm not trying to, because I don't," Alex said honestly. "Just don't let that anger cloud your judgment. Take it from someone who knows that from experience."

Peter didn't want to admit it, but Alex had been right. He hadn't let Ned explain himself, but Peter just didn't have the energy to listen to it. He also just didn't know what to think of the younger boy anymore. Ned had tried to soothe the pain, but he did it in a majorly wrong way and it just pushed the knife in deeper.

When the roads became surrounded by trees, Peter welcomed the challenge of dodging the obstacles in his path because it kept his mind grounded in the present rather than letting his thoughts wander into the constant spiral that his brain was in nowadays. He knew he was getting close, and if he slowed down by a small fraction, well... He'd never admit it.

By the time the trees slowly faded away to reveal the lakehouse, Peter's stomach was essentially in his throat. The temptation to run was overwhelming, but Peter forced the feeling down and instead just pushed forward. Just as he landed at the bottom of the stairs, a strawberry blonde figure emerged from the front door.

Pepper jumped slightly when she looked back from closing the door. "Oh! You must be Peter!"

Peter just waved lamely, "Hey. I mean, yes!" He pulled off his mask to reveal his face. "That's me... Peter."

Pepper chuckled at him stuttering. "It's good to finally meet you in person."

"It's good to meet you too," Peter returned kindly. "I've heard a lot about you."

"I could say the same."

Peter smiled sheepishly, "Good things?"

Pepper had a mischievous glint in her amused eyes, "For the most part. Tony's just inside in his office if you wanted to join him. I'm off to pick Morgan up from school."

Peter just nodded eagerly, awkwardly adjusting the strap of his backpack. When Pepper walked down the stairs, she paused to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Take a deep breath, Peter. This is your home too."

Pepper's kind words made his shoulders relax. Her nurturing and genuine nature was enough to chase away some of the butterflies that were fluttering in his stomach. "Thank you, Mrs. Potts... er I mean Mrs. Stark?"

Pepper laughed at that, "Just call me Pepper."

Peter nodded appreciatively, "Thank you, Pepper."

"Go make sure he doesn't blow something up?" Pepper requested, stepping away to head towards her car.

That got a genuine smile out of him. "You got it."

Pepper, who opened the car door, gave him one last wave before she got into the car and drove off. Peter watched as the car disappeared into the heart of the forest before he turned back towards the stairs. He knew he was being childish and he shouldn't feel so nervous about stepping into a beautiful lakeside cabin. One of which belonged to a billionaire who had invited him over from the kindness of their heart.

Come on, Pete, better to just rip off the bandage, Peter gave himself a pep talk, taking in a few deep breaths to chase away the lingering sense of dread. You got this.

Walking into the cabin, Peter paused at the decorative interior and the beauty of the house took his breath away. In front of him was a set of wooden stairs that ascended to the second floor of the cabin. To his right was the living area of the cabin that branched off to the kitchen. In the middle of the wall rested a fireplace that was surrounded by a brick border. To his left was a hallway that led to an open office and Peter could hear Tony talking to FRIDAY, his heartbeat rushing over him like a security blanket.

Making his way down the hallway, he saw that Tony was standing over a hologram workbench with his back to him, files scattered haphazardly in front of him. He knocked on the open doorframe to alert Tony of his presence.

Tony's head snapped around and his eyes brightened when they landed on him. "About time, kid, I was wondering if I was going to have to send Happy on a rescue mission."

Peter rolled his eyes at the jest. "Good to see you too."

"How was school?" Tony wondered.

Peter just raised an eyebrow at him at the question. "That's awfully domestic."

Tony gave him a look that said 'Try me'.

"I had a Physics test today," Peter caved. "Aced it, no question."

Tony chuckled fondly at that, "Should I be surprised?"

Peter returned the smile, "No, I guess not. What are you looking at?" He walked over to see the files that Tony had been looking at. When he saw the contents within the files, Peter completely froze as a wave of unease washed over him. "Tony, what is this?"

Tony sighed as he crossed his arms. "Remember that android attack a few weeks ago?"

"The one where Sam's suit got bugged?"

"That's the one," Tony nodded. "Something wasn't right, and it just wasn't sitting well with all of us. There were dozens of the same android, but they were far too sophisticated to be just a spur of the moment thing."

"You said you didn't know who was behind it," Peter recalled.

"They were running on some form of a fusion-based energy system, which isn't something that's exactly readily available," Tony told him truthfully.

That caught Peter off guard, "But that's still widely unknown."

"That's where this comes into play," Tony pointed at the files. "Oscorp Industries, the ghost company."

Peter's eyes flickered over the files once more, the words 'Norman Osborn' showing up several times. There were early news articles about an emerging research industry that was operated by Mr. Osborn, and then there were articles about its controversy until the company unexpectedly became abandoned shortly after the Snap.

"What does Oscorp have to do with the androids? It says the company's been abandoned for years," Peter wondered curiously. Also, why didn't Harry tell me?

"That's the part that's a mystery, kid," Tony revealed. "Norman Osborn abandoned his project after he reported to have lost his son to..." He trailed off before clearing his throat. "Then out of nowhere, five years later, his 'brother' Bill Osborn picked up the company once more, but there's been zero publicity with it."

The way that Tony said the word "brother" caused a spark of confusion in Peter. "Why are you saying 'brother' as if you don't believe it?"

"Because according to every database I have looked through, Bill Osborn doesn't exist."

"So you're saying it's an alias?"

"Could be, or he did something that put a lot of targets on his back and had to drop under the radar," Tony shrugged.

Peter shook his head, "But that makes no sense. I mean, if Oscorp is developing some sort of fusion-based energy system, then why not go public? That's a groundbreaking scientific discovery."

"None of this makes sense. But don't worry about it, kid, we're on it alright?"

"Is there anything that I can do to help?" Peter asked.

"Right now? No," Tony admitted. "We've hit a dead end on this case a while ago."

A spark of understanding washed over Peter. "But you still can't let it go."

"Consider it a hunch or consider it paranoia," Tony ran a tired hand down his face. "FRIDAY, collapse the files, will you?"

"Tony," Peter studied him cautiously. "What's going on?"

Tony frowned, "I told you, didn't I?"

"And you're lying to someone who can sense your bullshit from a mile away."

"Look, let's just not worry about it for now, okay?" Tony requested a small hint of desperation in his voice. "This is supposed to be a fun weekend away from work."

"Tony..." Peter protested.

"Peter," Tony cut him off. "I'm not saying to forget about it, but we just don't need to worry about it right now, okay?"

Peter looked at Tony in the eyes, and the pleading spark in the billionaire's eyes made him cave. "Okay."

Was it good? Was it bad? Feel free to let me know!

P.S. Here's a fun fact: I actually sat down and reread this story for myself for the first time since I began writing it back in August 2021. I realized two things:

One: This story truly has grown into something massive and I'm genuinely blown away to see that it had taken on a mind of its own.

Two: There are minor inconsistencies in these later chapters, so to all of you newer folk: haha sorry! Once this story is wrapped up I plan on going back and doing an editing rehaul of this story to get rid of the inconsistencies and maybe extend on a few things that stand out to me now.