Chapter Summary: The comfort of a friend.

What of galaxies peeling through infinity?

Are we specks of nothingness or pillars of importance?

Does the sweat forming on our brows come from Venus or Andromeda?

(The closer you get, the more I break down)

The weekend moved passed slowly as if time had purposefully slowed itself down for him to trudge through its sluggish passing. Skip was set to stay with them for a month as he settled down to find a place of his own near his job. The only issue with that was that most of the apartments in the area near his work had waiting lists that were unpredictable.

Peter didn't know what he would do if the month of Skip living at his home turned into two.

The largest issue was that Skip remained a family friend. Peter did not doubt that even moved away, Skip would still play a part in their lives. He supposed Skip coming to family dinners would happen no matter how long Skip had to stay before moving into his apartment, so he still hoped that Skip was able to find one soon.

He was honestly astonished at how well he was able to avoid Skip that weekend, though. He stayed in his room most of the time, but still. Skip made no attempts to enter his room and, although his spider-sense screamed at him constantly, no spikes occurred that suggested an imminent face down with the threat.

It felt more like a trap than a relief. In a weird sort of way, he wished that something had happened rather than waiting on the edge of his seat, unknowing of what would happen next and constantly catastrophizing in his head. His brain snowballed through worst-case scenarios and he found himself so on edge he was hardly able to sleep.

(He was Spider-Man now and he wanted so badly to get a chance to prove he could stand up to Skip. Maybe he did want something to happen so he could finally get a chance to fight back.

He wanted to know if he was stronger.)

When Monday came it felt like all the tension in his body decreased rapidly, like a balloon letting out all of its air at once. He was so relieved about going to school he thought he could cry. He woke up with a grin and an actual appetite and ran out of his apartment with a full belly for the first time in days.

Skip wasn't even awake when Peter had left which had him practically skipping to the subway. It was strange that he could be so happy just because he was temporarily removing himself from the threat. After all, he had to go back eventually.

But, he had a full day ahead of him and not even Flash could bring him down.

Ned noticed, of course he did. Ned always noticed.

Ned saw right through him as he flinched away from his handshake and his eyes narrowed in concern.

"You alright?" he asked, voice earnest and worried as he lowered his voice to whisper, "bad patrol?"

Peter paused, wondering why everything in him wanted to say 'no' and tell Ned the real reason, but saying, "Yeah," instead.

"What happened?" he started before waving his hand when Peter seemed uncertain to answer, misinterpreting it as reluctance rather than unsureness.

"I mean, you don't have to say. It's cool if you don't wanna talk about it, but guess what?" he said, elbowing Peter in the ribs and leaning in conspiratorially as he tried to lift Peter's spirits, "I was on Spider-Watch last night for you and a girl posted a picture of Spider-Man helping her home on Friday. It got like 23,000 likes, bro! It's just so cool that Spider-Man helps everyone all the time. That's what makes him better than the Avengers to me! In fact, that's what makes him my favorite."

He finished with a supportive nod and a bright smile at Peter who couldn't help but smile back appreciatively at his friend. Even though he was dealing with more than just bad patrols, Ned could always cheer him up.

Ned always knew what he needed and he had gotten much better at keeping the details of the, ahem, 'internship' more secret. Peter leaned into his side, wishing desperately for a hug but not knowing how he'd react if he'd got one.

Skip hadn't even done anything and Peter had reverted back to old tics. It frustrated him how little control he had over himself. Peter felt like his life had never been in his control, though that was to be expected considering no one could control everything. But, for Peter, he had never had much control over anything at all.

Peter had never once felt in control of his life.

That was a morbid thought so he shook it away. Today was supposed to be a break; a chance to be away from Skip and his suffocating presence, if only for a little while. It was a chance to hang out with his friends and feel normal again.

Who knew it would only take one weekend for Peter to feel like he was back to being a 9-year-old kid?

Ned gripped his arm supportively and Peter could feel the grin tugging at his cheeks as Ned guided him through the hall. He could think about bad stuff later. Right then, he had a chemistry test to take. He was vaguely aware of Flash calling out an insult but it filtered out of his ears like water running through cupped fingers – Ned's presence a buffer between the cruelty of the world and Peter's own fragile soul.

Today would be a great day.

(It was.)

And if he came home with an extra chocolate bar from Ned after he noticed Peter's hands trembling in chemistry, then that made it even better.

(When Peter was sixteen he was friends with an angel.)