"Peter, where the FUCK are you?!" MJ exclaimed over the phone. It was off that statement alone that I knew that Ned told MJ about what happened. I also realized that the whole incident probably made the airwaves. A part of me wanted to turn on the 50 inch HDTV in the living room to see what the news was saying, but placating MJ so she doesn't kick my ass for worrying her took priority. Before I could say anything, however, Kitty spoke up.

"He's with us, MJ," she replied.

"Kitty? Is that you?"

"Indeed it is."

"…Wow, Peter. So you ditched us to hang out with your hero friends? I mean, I know Kitty is hot and all, but – "

"No, it's not that!" I said suddenly, not even taking a moment to realize that she was messing with me.

"So I'm not hot?" Kitty looked at me with a slight glare.

"No, it's not that either, it's just…"

"Kitty, MJ, stop screwing with the poor boy before he loses his mind," Craig cut in. I was happy he said something, even though he himself was holding back a smirk. Scott, himself, looked on in amusement as Kitty chuckled. "Nah, but for real, he's at our place because this idiot messed around and got shot trying to pull someone out of harm's way." Impressed by how quickly he came up with that lie, I gave him a thumbs-up.

There was a pause on the line. I knew what was coming. "Okay… before I get totally mad at you Peter… I have to ask. Are you okay?"

"I am," I said. I looked over at Kitty, pointed at her, then at my shoulder. She nodded. After mouthing my thanks to her, I spoke again. "Kitty patched me up good. The bullet was a ricochet, so it didn't even go in completely."

"That's good to hear. Just know that the next time you do something that stupid, and you don't end up in the ER, I'll personally send you there myself." I gulped. "Seriously, Peter, you can't be doing stuff like that! I understand you want to help someone who was in danger. I respect that. But you're not a superhero. Leave that kind of thing to Craig and Kitty, okay?"

"Okay," I said sheepishly. "…I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'm just happy you're okay." She paused for a moment. "And so are Ned and Betty. Soooo… I'm guessing you can't come by tonight."

"No, he can't," Kitty answered. "I don't know what you all have planned, but I think it would be best for Peter if he stays here so we can keep an eye on him, just to be safe."

"Now hold on," I said.

"This isn't up for debate, Peter. I understand you want to have fun with your friends, but I'd feel horrible if we let you go and your condition takes a turn for the worse."

I opened my mouth in protest. But I realized she was right. I didn't know what was in that dart, and that was the first time something had taken me down like that. I felt fine now, but that could change at any moment. So, I sighed in defeat before I looked down at my phone.

"I'm sorry MJ," I said in earnest. "But I guess I'm stuck here for now."

"Just take it easy for the time being. And try not to get shot again, okay?"

"I'll try my best not to, but… it is New York."

At that, MJ scoffed. "Of course."

Craig leaned forward. "You know, if you guys really want to hang out, y'all can come over here," he offered. He then looked over at Scott for confirmation. Scott looked off to the side in thought, then nodded. "Y'all can hang out here, and we can keep an eye on Peter at the same time. That is, if it's okay with y'all, of course."

"…Give me a sec," MJ said. The line went quiet for a bit. During this, Kitty patted me consolingly on my shoulder.

"I didn't want to ruin your plans, Peter," Kitty whispered. "But, you got darted, and we don't know what is in it. We just want to make sure you're okay. Okay?"

I then nodded. "Thanks," I whispered back Kitty nodded in response.

After a few moments, MJ spoke again. "We're down," she said.

"Cool, we'll have Peter text you over the address."

"See you guys, soon, MJ."

"See you, loser."

After that, the call ended. I leaned back in my seat. I then looked over at Scott, who looked at me with a knowing smirk. "What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said in a near whisper. "Actually… you just reminded me of a few years ago." After that, he stood up. "Well, I have to get ready to head out. Craig, Kitty, please be gracious hosts to Peter and his friends and make sure they understand the house rules, okay?"

"You know we will," Kitty said with a nod. "Speaking of which, Peter, please eat."

"Oh, right, sorry."

A few hours later, there was a knock on the door. By that time, Scott was well gone. During this, Kitty, Craig, and I were watching some random movie on Netflix. My webshooters were put away in the spare room that they prepared for me.

"I got it," Craig said as he stood up. After taking a moment to stretch, he walked over to the door and opened it. "Hey guys – welcome to our humble abode. Please leave your shoes by the door."

He stepped aside, allowing MJ, Ned, and Betty to walk in. As Craig closed the door, they all took a moment to take their shoes off. I noticed the bags that were in Betty's and Ned's arms. Ned himself had an insulated bag hanging from his elbow. Ned and Betty took a moment to gander at the home while MJ walked straight towards me. I stood up and smiled at her.

"Hey MJ," I said with a smile. She stopped right in front of me and glared.

"You know, I should be mad at you right now," she said. She then smiled slightly before she stepped forward and hugged me tight. I froze for a moment. MJ never hugged me before – at least, not since The Spell. "But I'm glad you're okay. You are okay, right?"

"Yeah, yeah I am," I replied quickly. Ignoring the blush I felt on my face, I put my arms around her and returned the hug, matching the tightness of her embrace. "Thanks to these two, I was able to make it out okay."

"I just hope that person was grateful." MJ pulled away. "Where did the bullet hit you?" I pulled the collar down and to the right, showing where Kitty patched me up. "Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore," I replied. "I was told I heal fast."

"Nice place you guys have here," Betty commented as she continued to look around. "Rent must be pretty high."

"Thanks," Kitty replied as she stood up. "Fortunately for the three of us, the jobs we work pay enough for us to live here comfortably."

"Oh? You have a roommate?" Betty looked at Kitty. "And what do you guys do?"

"Yes, we do. Our roommate is a GED teacher and an on-again-off-again mechanic. I do online customer service for different companies, as well as work at Grand Central Library doing IT stuff and helping a lawyer in Hell's Kitchen with some unlicensed P.I. work. And Craig… does a whole bunch of different stuff."

"Yup," Craig said in agreement as he walked over to the fridge. He opened it and looked inside of it. "I do deliveries for Uber Eats, Grub Hub, and DoorDash, I work the register and stock the shelves at a CVS, I'm a runner for DJ Veras when she runs her late night music and talk radio show on Audacy every Saturday night, and, every now and again, I rob drug dealers." MJ, Ned, Betty, and I looked straight at him. He looked back at us. "Y'all want anything to drink?"

"…I'm sorry, did you expect us to skip over that last part?" MJ quipped.

"I guess not." Craig grabbed a bottle of water. "Certain people have to be dealt with a certain way. A lot of times, whenever I'm dealing with people pushing hard drugs – cocaine, crack, pills, etcetera – I go after their plug. But if I can't find them, I go after their cash and leave them unable to restock. Then I keep the cash for us."

"Why not turn in the cash to the police?" Betty asked. "Not to judge or anything, it's just…"

"I've had some bad experiences with the boys in blue. And let's keep it that." Craig closed the fridge door and looked at us. "Anyway, as I said, welcome to our home. As long as y'all call ahead to make sure we're here or at least nearby, y'all can come kick it. There's just some ground rules. Rule number one, use some common sense and don't do anything you wouldn't do at each other's place. Basically, act like your folks raised you proper."

"Rule number two, always take your shoes off and leave it by the door," Kitty chimed in. "You're all in compliance, fortunately."

"Rule number three, anything in the fridge or pantry that isn't labeled with a name or something to the effect of 'for so and so' is up for grabs. But if you use the last of it, let us know."

"And rule number four, anything we discuss that's even remotely 'superhero' related stays within these four walls. Everybody understand?"

"Yeah," the Ned, Betty, MJ, and I said in unison.

"Good," Craig said with a smile. "With that said, we'll be out your way and – "

"Actually, we were hoping you can hang out with us, too," Ned said. "…Since we are going to be using your kitchen and stuff and place and…"

"Oh." Craig smiled. "Okay."

All of us were in the kitchen a few minutes later. While Craig, Kitty, and Betty helped Ned prepare what he was cooking – Adobo Chicken with Kamote Cue, both of them his Lola's recipe – MJ and I were each preparing our own little dishes to help.

"So what are you making?" I asked as I looked over at the counter in front of her. She had a glass bowl with ground pork in it as she chopped up some garlic.

"I'm making Pot Stickers," MJ said.

I smiled. "I didn't know you could cook like that." This time, this was something I really didn't know about her. But I didn't know what surprised me more – the fact that she could cook, or that fact that I was a bit… joyed… by the fact that she could still surprise me even after The Spell.

"It's something my neighbor taught me." She looked over at me. "She's friends with my mom and often stopped by to check up on me when my mom was out. So, one time, she taught me how to make these. I don't see her as often nowadays, though."

"How come?"

"She became a detective, and her life got busy. She still says hi every now and again, though." She looked down at my bowls. "What are you making?"

"Wheat cakes," I said. I looked back down at my bowls. "It's my favorite breakfast. My aunt used to make it for me. She said it'd help me grow. Apparently height wasn't accounted for." MJ chuckled as she returned to her cutting.

"So… I'm guessing you and your aunt were cool?"

"Yeah, more than cool. She was like a mother to me and she was someone I could tell everything to. She was one of the people helped me keep it together whenever things got rough."

"Do you guys still stay in touch?"

I paused for a moment. I then sighed. "No… she… she's no longer… you know."

MJ stopped cutting the garlic and laid down the knife. She then looked at me with a look of compassion. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be," I replied. I turned and looked at her. "…For what it's worth, I think she would have liked you… and Ned and Betty."

At that, she scoffed. "I doubt she'd like me. People think I'm mean and they think it's weird that I like things of the more… dark nature."

"I think she would peg those things as part of your charm." I said. "…I know I do." I blushed before I turned my attention back to preparing my food for the meal.

"You really are a dork," MJ replied before she went back to cutting up the garlic. "…Thanks, Peter."

"You're welcome, Em," I said.

It took a few hours to get everything ready. Once we were done, we set up the table. After a quick prayer from Craig, we all dug in. We mostly ate in silence, just enjoying the food. Ned's Adobo Chicken was awesome, as usual. He cooked it for me quite a few times before The Spell. But having it now made me realize how much I missed it. MJ's Pot Stickers were awesome as well. As I tried it, I could see her from the corner of my eye, looking at me with that subtle look of anticipation. As I chewed one, I looked at her, smiled, and nodded. She blushed a bit, but returned the smile nonetheless. Most of the food was gone by the time we were done. The rest was put in Tupperware by Kitty for Scott to have later on. Once the leftovers were in the fridge, Kitty returned with a six pack of Ironbeer. She handed each of us a bottle before taking one of her own.

"Now that meal… that was the best meal I had in the longest," Craig said as he twisted the cap off of his bottle and took a sip.

"When was the last time we at this good?" Kitty asked.

"I want to say when we were in Salem and Remy was still around."

"I think he'd enjoy this too." Kitty looked at Ned. "Thank you for including us."

"I'm happy you enjoyed it," Ned replied. "I could never do it as well as my Lola, but knowing you guys love it makes me glad."

"Now sweetie, it wasn't all you," Betty pointed out. She looked over at MJ and me. "Those two brought something to the table, too. And they were great as well. The Pot Stickers were a great side and I never thought I'd enjoy wheat cakes for dessert." She then smirked. "You know what that makes you guys?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Spouse material."

"…Why are we friends again?" MJ asked with a glare. For my part, I grabbed my bottle and twisted off the cap. I then took a long sip of the soda. It was a rather unique taste – a mix of fruity and spicy. It was also enough to distract me from the warmness in my face. I thought the subject of romantic things was going to end there.

I was wrong.

"Speaking of spouse material… the Valentine's Day dance at our school is coming up," Ned said. "I think it would be cool if all of us went."

Craig sighed. "…Yeah… Um… I'm gonna have to pass on that," he said. "…I got some bad memories that I haven't quite come to terms with yet."

"I think we should go," Kitty urged as she gave Craig a pleading look. "It's been a while since we had fun with people our age. Plus, it'll help us keep your mind off of… you know."

"…I doubt it… but I'll think about it." Craig raised his eyebrows briefly. "No promises, though."

"How about you, dork?" MJ asked, looking towards me. "Are you going to come?"

"Isn't this something I'll need a date for?" I responded.

"The social expectation for one to have a date for a high school Valentine's Day dance is absolute bullshit." I smirked. That response was so MJ that she could have used it as a yearbook quote. "However, I would very much appreciate it if I wasn't the third wheel – or fifth wheel, depending on if these two come." She beckoned towards Craig and Kitty.

I almost scoffed. I was being asked out by Michelle Jones-Watson, a girl who didn't realize that she still had my heart in her hands. After a few moments, I nodded.

"Yes," I said. "I'd be delighted to be your fourth or six wheel."

"Yes!" Ned exclaimed, pumping his fist. "The four of us is going to kill it in February!"

"Or six," Kitty added slyly.

"Yeah, okay," Craig deadpanned. "Anyway, what're we doing for the rest of the night?"