"Honestly, I might as well just put Darwin's bed in your room," May says to Peter during breakfast on Sunday morning, "It's clear he doesn't want to be with me." She mock-glares at Darwin before turning up her nose huffily.

Peter snorts, "Yeah, best to bring his bed over to my room before he starts thinking my bed is his. A twin is definitely not big enough to fit me and a giant dog."

May smiles and sips her coffee. After a moment, she says nonchalantly, "He does seem to comfort you, though. You look more rested than I've seen you in a while."

Peter's lip twitches and he shrugs. "Yeah, well… he's… calming, I guess."

"And snuggly." May gives a cheeky grin.

Peter rolls his eyes. "And snuggly."

After breakfast, Peter grabs his backpack and starts putting some of Darwin's toys in it. He also grabs a water bottle and a small plastic bowl. Then, after quickly texting Ned that he's on his way, he puts on Darwin's leash and follows his aunt out of the apartment.

They let Darwin do his business outside, but don't go on a full walk with him since he's about to go to the park. The car ride to Ned's apartment is pretty short and soon they stop in front of a large building with a boy around Peter's age standing in front of it.

Peter steps out to greet his friend, bringing Darwin with him so they can get acquainted.

"Hey, man," Peter says, walking over with his dog's leash in hand.

Ned's eyes widen comically. "Wow, he's even bigger in person. I feel like you could ride him into battle or something."

Peter laughs while Darwin steps forward politely and sniffs Ned. The teenager looks nervous for a second and tentatively pats his head. The Wolfhound, remembering to be extra nice, licks his hand, making him laugh.

"Wow, he's really friendly," Ned says, scratching behind Darwin's ears.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool," Peter agrees and Darwin feels a hint of pride coming from him. He turns back to the car. "I brought a bunch of toys with us so we can play fetch or something."

"Nice."

They come across a bit of a problem when they get in the car. Peter is in the front passenger seat, leaving Ned to go in the back with Darwin. However, the dog's long forelegs end up having to go over the boy's lap. Peter offers to switch seats with him but Ned insists that it's fine and instead starts petting Darwin's head.

'Heh, win-win,' Darwin thinks as his ears get scratched.

Ned and Peter chat throughout the entire ride. To the dog's delight, Peter is clearly genuinely excited and happy to be hanging out with his friend. They both talk a mile a minute, chatting about school, Legos, Star Wars, and other geeky stuff. Darwin can hardly keep up with the conversation, so he zones out, instead watching the city go by through the window.

As promised, May drops Peter and Ned off at the park before going off to "run errands". It's a very obvious excuse, but Darwin doesn't pay any mind to it since he's busy taking in the dog park.

He's passed by many dog parks during his time as a stray, but this time he's actually going in one, and not as a stray but as a pet. He's a bit daunted, actually. He knows he shouldn't care about what the other dogs think about him, but at the same time he wants to be a good pet for Peter. But he's never done this before, how is he supposed to be a good pet?

Thankfully, Peter takes the lead. He enters the gated dog park and, once the gate is closed behind them, takes Darwin's leash off.

"Okay, go on, boy!" Peter says, making a shooing motion with his hands.

Darwin glances at the dogs running around and then back at the boy.

Ned laughs, "He looks kinda clueless. He's like, 'uh, now what?'"

Peter takes off his backpack and opens it. "Maybe he just wants to play a bit first?" He takes out a frisbee and throws it. "Fetch!"

Now, this Darwin can do. He's always wanted to try playing fetch after seeing so many pets do it with their owners. He instantly races after the flying disk, his long legs carrying him over the frosty ground easily. Peter has a good arm, apparently, because Darwin nearly runs through half the park before catching the frisbee. Panting, he turns around and runs back over to Peter and Ned.

"He's really fast!" Ned exclaims as he approaches, "Also, good throw man. Can I try?"

"Sure," Peter says, taking the frisbee from Darwin and giving it to Ned.

Ned's throw is shorter, but Darwin races after it with the same fervor. 'Wow, I finally understand why pets like doing this so much,' he thinks as he leaps into the air to catch the frisbee, 'This is fun!'

He almost crashes into another dog when he lands and stammers an apology. The dog hardly minds him, completely focused on catching the ball his owner threw.

Peter and Ned take turns throwing the frisbee for about half an hour. They chat while they do and Darwin is happy to see the constant smile on Peter's face.

'I think he just needed to get out of the house,' Darwin thinks as he trots back to the boys, 'Judging from May's reaction, he must've been spending his days holed away in his room after Ben died. He needs distractions, and I am happy to be one.'

Thanks to his increased stamina, he could keep doing this for hours, but he doesn't want Peter to become suspicious. So, he drops the frisbee at Peter's feet and then sits down on the ground to show that he's tired. Peter pats his flank heartily.

"Good boy, Darwin," he says before glancing at Ned, "I think he's tired."

"Finally," Ned says, stretching his arm.

A voice suddenly calls out, "Look out!"

The three turn to see a ball bouncing their way, followed by a pack of five dogs chasing it. Peter dodges the ball, but the dogs swarm past them and nearly knock him over. Jumping to his paws, Darwin lets out a volley of barks at the passing dogs, but by the time he does they're already gone.

"Woah," Peter says, regaining his balance, "That was close!"

"Did you hear Darwin's bark?" Ned exclaims, "It was so deep and loud, like 'BOOF'!"

Peter snorts, "Yeah, only big dogs go boof."

"I'm glad he didn't do anything more, though," Ned says, "I was worried for a sec, he looked seriously ticked off when that one dog nearly knocked you over."

"Apparently I have a guard dog now."

Peter puts the frisbee away and pours some water in the bowl for Darwin. Ned smiles and sighs, "Man, that would be really cool. Like, if you could make him like an official guard dog or service dog, you could bring him to school and stuff. Flash would take one look at him and never bother you again!"

"I'm pretty sure it would be suspicious if I suddenly needed a service dog," Peter says, "I think I come off as able-bodied. Besides, Aunt May would never allow me to lie like that."

Ned ponders for a moment, then suggests, "What about an emotional support dog, then? Those are becoming more of a thing nowadays. Didn't you say he comforts you?"

"An emotional support dog would just give Flash all the more reason to tease me," Peter points out. Ned hums and agrees.

Darwin narrows his eyes. 'Who is Flash and why is he teasing my boy?' He makes a mental note to resolve that problem later.

The park is a good size, so walking around it takes about half an hour. They occasionally greet dogs that come over to sniff either Darwin or the two teenagers, but for the most part Ned and Peter just talk.

"Dude, you could totally have Darwin cosplay as Chewbacca," Ned says when they talk about Comic-Con.

Peter's eyes widen and he grins. "Oh my God, I totally could. I could be Han Solo and he could be my Chewbacca!"

The boys laugh and Darwin rolls his eyes. 'I do not look like that hairy beast,' he thinks indignantly. Even though he hasn't watched any movies before, it's impossible for him to have not heard of Star Wars, even as a stray. He's seen his fair share of cosplayers and merchandise to get the picture. Still, he'd be willing to indulge for Peter.

He has to stop walking abruptly when a Husky runs over and catches a ball mid-air in front of him. The dog glances at him and wags his tail, coming over to sniff him.

"Hey, w'nna pway?" He asks, his voice muffled by the ball in his mouth.

Darwin shakes his head. "No thanks, I'm already tired out."

The Husky glances at Peter and drops the ball. He gives Darwin a knowing look and wags his tail. "I totally get it. I remember when my owner was a teenage boy." He nods at a young man a few feet away. "They never run out of energy when they're that age. I'm LandShark, by the way."

"LandShark?" Darwin blinks at the odd name. "I'm Darwin. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Be sure to give your boy lots of exercise. I suggest stealing his socks and running around the house with them. Never gets old." The dog gives a friendly wag of his tail before picking up the ball again and running off.

"You making friends, Darwin?" Peter says, walking up to the Wolfhound.

Darwin glances at his socks contemplatively before looking away, continuing to walk.

After a few minutes, Peter tells Ned, "Aunt May is asking if we want to get lunch."

Ned shrugs. "Sure. We've been here for like an hour anyway. Darwin seems to have had enough fun."

"Okay, Aunt May's gonna pick us up soon, then."

"Sweet."

Aunt May is very excited when she picks them up soon after. She gets out of the car as the trio approach and holds out something metal.

"Look what I got while you guys were at the park!"

Peter takes the piece of metal from her and peers at it along with his friend. It's shaped like a bone and reads: Darwin Parker. If lost, call the number below.

"Nice!" Peter says, grinning at May. His aunt beams, but her eyes widen when she looks at Darwin and the dog feels a jolt of surprise come from her.

"Why isn't his leash on?" She asks.

Peter blinks and looks at Darwin. It seems both he and Ned forgot to put it back on before they left the park.

"Oh my God, I totally forgot!" Peter exclaims, quickly hooking it to Darwin's collar, "He was just walking around with us for a while that I didn't even realize…" He pauses and then hooks the dog tag to Darwin's collar as well.

May doesn't look very upset. She just shrugs and shakes her head with a small smile on her lips. "Well, he doesn't seem like the type of dog to run off anyway. We should keep him leashed while we walk him for the first couple of weeks, but to be honest I think he'd stay by your side without it."

"That'd be cool," Ned says, "Whenever I see someone walking their dog without a leash I'm just like 'man, what a loyal dog'. My old dog would always pull at her leash on walks as if she was trying to escape me."

The three laugh before getting into the car. Peter tells his aunt about the park and playing fetch with Darwin. They drive around for a bit until they park in front of a restaurant. As soon as the car door opens, Darwin's nose twitches at the delicious scent coming from the place.

'Mmm,' he thinks as his mouth waters, 'Burgers.'

Peter and Ned get a table outside and wait with Darwin while May goes inside to order food. It doesn't take very long for her to return with a tray full of burgers and fries. They start eating in front of Darwin, biting into their burgers and making noises of appreciation.

Darwin simply stares at them. Since he's big, his head is above the table and directly in their line of view.

May makes the mistake of glancing at him and nearly chokes. "Oh my God, Darwin, don't give me that look," she protests, "Burgers aren't good for you!"

"They aren't good for us, either," Peter mumbles as he starts on his second burger. Ned snorts.

Darwin whines in response.

May curses under her breath and turns away from him, determined not to look at him for the rest of her meal. Darwin turns to Peter, knowing he'll have an easier time getting food from the boy.

Sure enough, he double checks that May isn't looking before giving him a couple of fries. Darwin devours them gratefully. For the next ten minutes Peter and Ned take turns sneaking Darwin french fries until they're all done with their meal.

Once they're back in the car, Darwin rests his head on Ned's lap and licks the salt off of his furry snout.

'I like teenagers.'

Peter has to go to bed early since tomorrow is a school day. When he says goodnight to his aunt, Darwin gets up as well. Instead of following the boy to his room, however, he walks into May's room and grabs his large pillow of a bed. It's a bit difficult to drag it to Peter's room without knocking into anything, but he manages. It's worth the laugh he gets from Peter when he sees him walking backwards into his room, dragging the bed behind him.

"He's abandoning you, Aunt May!" Peter calls out.

May peeks into his room and pretends to scoff. She pats Darwin before kissing her nephew's forehead. "Good night, sweetheart."

After Peter goes to bed and the lights are off, Darwin almost thinks Peter won't actually need him tonight. The boy doesn't cry himself to sleep and actually falls asleep quickly. Letting himself relax, Darwin closes his eyes and soon slips into unconsciousness.

When he wakes up, Peter's alarm clock reads 3AM. He wonders what woke him and glances at Peter. The teenagers eyes are wet and glistening in the dark, but he's not making any noise. Instead, his arm is dangling over the side of his bed, his fingers reaching towards the dog.

Immediately, Darwin crawls closer and lets them curl into his fur. Peter pets him gently for a few minutes before his breathing evens out once more, his hand remaining on his dog's side.