"Your bag, madame," Peter joked as he brought my suitcase into me and MJ's hotel room.

"Put it up on the bed for me?" I asked. Peter hoisted it up for me to have easier access.

"Thanks," I said, rummaging through for my medication and a fresh set of bandages.

"This place is lame," MJ said as she entered the room, pushing past Peter who was exiting and looked at the dull painting on the hotel wall. "Hey uh, how's your thing?"

I knew what she meant. "Gotta change the bandages now," I said, picking up my shirt to see the wrap around the wound was beginning to get red spots.

"Can I look?" MJ asked.

I shrugged. "I don't care, as long as you can stomach it," I said as I pulled off the medical tape and tossed it in the trash.

"Damn," MJ mumbled at the sight of the stitches as I cleaned them. "That's pretty cool though."

"Yeah, I guess," I laughed.

"So like, did you die?"

I knew MJ meant it as a joke as she smirked at me from the bed. Still I said, "Twice. Once on the way from Cairo to New York, and once in the operating room."

"You serious?" MJ said, her playful demeanor dropping.

"Yep," I said, taping on the new bandages. "Heart totally stopped. Just for a couple seconds, though."

"Did you, you know, see anything on the other side?" she asked.

"Nope, not a thing," I said, after taking my medication.

"I knew it . . ." MJ mumbled, pulling out a book she'd brought along.

I laughed. I was glad I had picked to room with her.

A few hours had passed and MJ and I had settled in for the night when a knock came from our door. MJ got up and answered it.

It was Liz. "Hey we're gonna go sneak down and jump in the pool," she said, looking around the hall to make sure she was alone.

"Oh, I don't know," MJ said, looking to me resting on the bed.

"C'mon," Liz pressed with a smile. "Besides, a rebellious group activity the day before a competition is good for morale . . . Eve, Peter will be there."

I laughed shortly. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Liz asked.

"He has a fat crush on you," MJ confirmed.

I shrugged, feeling my cheeks grow red. "I did actually bring a swim suit."

"That's the spirit!" Liz said. "Meet you down there."

I changed into my black bikini, looking down at my bandaged torso in disappointment. I didn't think swimming would be the best idea but I could at least be around my team and dip my feet in.

MJ stayed in her regular clothes, bringing the book she was engrossed in down with her.

When the two of us got to the hotel pool, the team was already playing a game of water-basketball.

"Hey, MJ, Eve!" someone called.

The game of basketball briefly stopped as it seemed everyone was staring at my bandages. Not to mention, the clean white scars Cas had healed after the Battle of New York scattered here and there.

"Don't stress about it," MJ mumbled to me. "You look cool as f—"

"Hey, Eve!" Ned yelled, flagging me down. Peter stood next to him in the pool looking rather good in just his swim trunks.

"Hi, Eve," Peter said, smiling awkwardly.

"Told you so," MJ mumbled.

"Hey guys," I said as casually as I could, lowering myself down to the floor slowly, to sit on the edge of the pool.

"You gonna come in?" Ned asked excitedly.

"Can't," I frowned. "Stitches, remember?"

"Right," Ned said, his eyes flitting to my wrapped torso.

"Go on, you guys can have fun without me," I said, shooing Ned over to the game of basketball.

"You sure?" Peter asked, looking rather like a lost puppy.

"Yeah," I laughed. "You're not gonna hurt my feelings."

Liz sat down next to me as the boys moved away. "Didn't I tell you?" she smiled. "He is head over heels."

"Now that you've pointed it out," I mumbled sheepishly. "You know, while I was in my little coma after my operation," I began, "it was his voice that pulled me out."

"Really?" Liz asked.

"Honestly," I answered.

"That's some Romeo and Juliet stuff, right there," MJ piped in from the pool-side lounge chair.

"I'm just nervous about tomorrow," I said, kicking my foot in the water.

"Don't be," Liz answered. "You're like crazy smart."

"It's not that," I started. "It's the stitches. I'm worried about flare-ups preventing me from competing or sight-seeing. It was only just a month ago."

"Does it hurt a lot?" Liz asked.

"Not as much as it did," I said, pulling out my phone. "You wanna see what they pulled out of me?"

"Um, I'll pass," Liz mumbled.

"I want to!" MJ said, getting up to look at my phone. "Dude, that's sick. Do you still have it?"

"Uh, of course," I answered with a smile.

"With you?" MJ pressed.

"No, it's at my apartment," I laughed. "Come over sometime, I'll show you."

MJ smiled. "Bet." She put her nose back in her book.

"Well, if you and Peter do end up going to Homecoming together," Liz began, "You're welcome to come over to my house for a dinner with a few other people."

I shrugged. "Well, I might have to ask him out," I said with a smirk. "I think he's a little scared of me."