Peter had only been home from the medbay hospital for a few days, but May's fussing was driving him nuts.

"Are you cold?" May asked him for the thousandth time as she sat on the edge of the couch. She had set him up in the living room so that he could entertain himself with the TV while he was home for a week-long break from chemo.

"No, May," he answered, glaring at her from underneath his plenty-warm blanket. He repressed a shiver just to prove his point. "I'll let you know if anything changes. Stop babying me."

"I'm sorry," she said, standing up and wringing her hands. "I just want to take care of you."

Peter sighed. "You are. But what you can do right now to take care of me is to stop smothering me."

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Finally," Peter whispered under his breath.

"Leilani!" May exclaimed as soon as she opened the door.

While May had been in the bathroom and the kitchen (the only times she wasn't hovering over him), Peter had been texting Ned and Leilani (who was basically another aunt to him) about how much May's mother-henning was driving him crazy. Thankfully, they had gotten the message.

"Hi May!" Leilani exclaimed, hugging her. She and Ned came in the door and it was then that Peter noticed that MJ had accompanied them.

"What are you doing here?" May asked after she had hugged her friend.

"I'm actually here to get you out of the house," Leilani said firmly, "I have a gift card for your favorite Thai place and I thought it would be nice to have some girl time."

May paused, "Leilani that's sweet, but…"

"But Peter will be fine. That's why Ned and MJ are here, to hang out with him and keep an eye on him."

"But…"

"But let the kids hang out. Peter needs this. You need this. Now go grab your coat," Leilani said without giving May any room for argument.

"Okay," May acquiesced, "But Peter you call me if anything happens."

Peter gave his aunt a little smile from where he still lay on the couch. "I will May, but I promise you that all we will be doing will be watching movies and probably me falling asleep partway through them."

"But you still call me."

"I'll call you May, if anything goes wrong," Peter placated, trying desperately not to roll his eyes before his aunt kissed him on the head.

"You two make sure he does," May said, turning towards Ned and MJ.

"Yes ma'am," Ned said, giving her a mock salute.

MJ just nodded waved goodbye to her.

A few minutes later, Leilani was out the door with a reluctant May in tow.

"Thank you!" Peter said, sinking into the cushions, "You have no idea how annoying it is to have someone constantly asking you if you feel any worse or better."

"Yeah, that sounds really annoying, having someone who cares about you," MJ dryly responded.

Because Peter had gotten to know MJ a bit better as she visited him in the medbay hospital every day after school with Ned, Peter knew she was joking in her own dry way.

"So how are you doing?" MJ asked.

Peter sighed and passed a hand over his slightly flushed face. "I'm fine."

MJ and Ned both glared at him.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm tired all the time. I barely have energy to do anything. I'm not really hungry, which worries May, but is pretty on-par for the course."

"But you need to eat, Peter, if you're going to have the energy to get better," MJ offered.

"Not you too!" Peter sighed, annoyed. "Look guys, I know that you care, but right now, I need to have normal time with my friends. I don't need more mother hens. I'll let you know if I feel worse."

"Gotcha!" Ned immediately answered cheerfully. MJ looked hesitant, but eventually nodded in agreement.

"So what do you nerds usually do when you hang out?" MJ asked.

Peter perked up a little. "We usually build Legos, or play video games, or read comic books, or watch movies."

MJ nodded. "And which of those options do you feel up to?"

"A movie," Peter answered after some hesitation. He really wanted to do anything other than lay around, as that was all he seemed to do lately, but he simply didn't have the energy to do anything else.

"I'll get the popcorn!" responded Ned, jumping off of the chair he was sitting in and heading towards the kitchen.

MJ settled into her own chair as Peter stated flipping through options on the TV. She couldn't help but steal glances at him every once in a while, just to make sure he was still okay.

—

About halfway through the movie, MJ looked at Peter and noticed that he was out cold. She shrugged it off as normal, especially since he had predicted that he probably wouldn't be able to stay awake for the whole movie.

During a particularly loud battle towards the end of the movie, MJ glanced towards him again.

And again he was out cold; in fact, he hadn't even stirred, which MJ thought was odd, since he usually reacted strongly towards every sudden noise at school (she was observant- not obsessed with him!). But again she shrugged it off.

After the movie ended and Ned was washing their popcorn bowls in the kitchen, MJ knelt beside where Peter was laying on the couch. It was then that she noticed something truly amiss- he was burning up.

Now MJ was a researcher. She liked to stay as well-informed about everything she possibly could. So when Ned had told her that Peter had cancer, she had spent the rest of that day, regardless of the class or the teacher, researching as much as she possibly could about cancer and how to care for cancer patients. So she knew just how dangerous a fever could be for a cancer patient, especially for a cancer patient like Peter, whose immune system was beginning to deteriorate.

"Ned!"

"What?" the friend in question called back, coming around the corner with a dishcloth in one hand and a wet bowl in the other.

"Peter's burning up. He has a fever. Call Stark and May!"

Wordlessly, Ned ran back into the kitchen for his phone.

"Hold on, Peter," she said, gently stroking his sweat soaked hair. She then remembered her research and threw his blanket onto the floor. Hopefully the lack of extra layer would cool him down a little.

A few minutes later, Ned ran back into the room. "Mr. Stark's on his way. I couldn't get a hold of May or my mom, so I left them each a message to meet us at the compound once they get it."

MJ nodded, biting her lip. Every time she heard of something bad happening to Peter, she tried telling herself she didn't care as much as she did. But she was finding that she did care, and that she cared deeply. She wasn't quite sure what to do with these new feelings. The last time she had friends…she didn't want to finish that thought.

"He'll be okay," Ned said.

MJ looked to him and saw that he was worried too, and was saying that not just for her benefit, but for his own as well.

"He'll be okay," she repeated, whispering.

"I feel like we should be doing something other than waiting," Ned said, fiddling with his fingers.

MJ agreed, "We could put a cool cloth on his forehead."

Ned nodded and went to the kitchen to get some damp washcloths.

When he returned, he handed one to MJ and used the one he had to cool Peter's neck and forehead. MJ used hers on Peter's back.

Just before they were about to change the washcloths, Tony Stark burst into the room with Dr. Banner hot on his heels.

"You guys did the right thing, trying to cool him down. Ned, grab his pillow and hospital bag. MJ, you follow me," Dr. Banner instructed, immediately taking charge.

MJ wordlessly followed the doctor as he carefully lifted Peter with the help of Stark and the three of them made their way down the stairs to the street outside.

Waiting for them was an ambulance, which Dr. Banner and Stark efficiently maneuvered Peter into. As soon as Ned joined them with Peter's hospital bag, they hit the road with Stark in the driver's seat. Ned took shotgun and MJ stayed in the back with Peter.

"Is he going to be alright?" she asked nervously, watching as Dr. Banner took Peter's temperature and pulse.

"I'll do everything I can for him," was the doctor's terse answer in between checking Peter's vitals and looking for other symptoms.

Peter blinked and squinted when Dr. Banner shined a penlight into his pupils for reactivity.

"W're am I?" he murmured.

"You're in an ambulance, on your way to the Compound. You have a fever, Peter," Dr. Banner responded as he continued to check Peter over.

Peter blinked heavily. "It's hot in here," he whispered.

"That's the fever, Peter," the doctor said patiently, "We're going to keep cooling you externally until I can determine the cause of it. I don't want to give you the wrong medication."

Peter hummed in response.

"It'll be okay, Peter," MJ said from next to him.

"MJ?"

"I'm right here, loser," she responded.

Peter turned his head to her.

"How did the movie end?"

A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! Please leave a review if you feel so inclined, I love your feedback!

Just to let y'all know, I'm going to be going on a mission trip internship for the months of June and July. Because of this, I don't expect to get much writing done during those months. I'm going to try to have another chapter up before the end of May, but that might be it until August. Thank you all for your understanding!