Chapter 4:

"That was wreck less Peter. You're lucky you got out of that alive." replied Tony to Peter once Aunt May had left to get some water for her and Peter. "I don't want any word of Spider Man doing patrols until you healed."

"I didn't know what else to do." replied Peter. "There didn't seem like another way out."

Tony gave a sigh, knowing Peter was right and not knowing what to say about it.

"At least you're safe." replied Tony.

Tony usually expected Peter to make a joke about his injury to lighten the mood. Today, however, he was silent. He almost seemed to be thinking on something too.

"Is everything alright kid?" Tony asked.

"Yeah Mr. Stark." replied Peter.

"Is that a lie?" asked Tony, giving Peter a hard 'I know when you're lying so don't even start' look.

Peter sighed.

If the princess of Wakanda can be open to a total stranger, than I can be open to someone I've known for years.

"I- guess not." replied Peter. "Things haven't been great since homecoming."

And Peter spent the next ten minutes telling Tony everything. The bullying, the ignoring, the arguments, the cold shoulders, the guilt- everything that had happened for the past five months.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Tony.

"I didn't want to bother you." replied Peter. "I figured you had better things to do... and that you wouldn't understand."

"Better things?" asked Tony. "Peter, you are one of my best things. If you're having a problem, you come to me, got it?"

Peter nodded.

"And I wasn't a very popular kid in school either." replied Tony.

Pepper cleared her throat.

"Okay, I was pretty popular in school." replied Tony. "And even though I had it easy for a while... I've had my dark points. I've ruined relationships. Probably in even worse ways than you did."

Pepper made a cough that sounded like "2010" before walking to her office.

"I'm going to regret that." replied Tony. "Back to the point, the best thing you can do is to genuinely show you're sorry. Apologize. And if they forgive you- then they're good friends."

"What about Aunt May?" asked Peter.

"Aunt May cares about you as much as you care about your friends." replied Tony. "You got into the argument with Ned because you don't want him getting hurt. Aunt May probably felt the same thing about you. You're her last living family member whom she's raised practically since you where a baby. She doesn't want to lose you. And even though she's mad at you... she cares."

Peter felt guilty. He was mad at Aunt May- for doing the exact same thing he had done to her friends.

"As for the other kids, just brush it off." replied Tony. "We all have to deal with jerks. They'll forget about it by the time you come back. And trust me, it's always the ones who never dated anyone in high school that come out on top as the wealthy inventors who get twice as many girls in the future."

Peter looked confused.

"Okay, point is, you're going to be alright." replied Tony. "And come to talk to me the next time you have a problem. I don't want this to eat away at you again."

Peter nodded and gave Tony a sudden hug.

"Thank you." he responded.

Tony, caught off guard, hugged Peter back as gently as he could without accidentally touching where his wounds were healing.

"What did you do in 2010 Mr. Stark?" asked Peter.

"I'll tell you when you're older." replied Tony.

Aunt May came back in with some water bottles as Peter and Tony broke from their hug. Peter looked at Aunt May.

"May- I'm so sorry." replied Peter.

Aunt May looked at Peter, took a deep breath, and sat next to him.

"Peter, I have raised you ever since you were practically a newborn." replied May. "You're not my nephew. You're my son. And when I found out you were the Spider Man risking your life every other day, I thought of all the times you could have died. And I wouldn't know because I wasn't there."

She paused as a few tears filled her eyes.

"If being a superhero is what you want to do... then I won't stop you." replied May. "My mother tried to do that to me, and that's the last thing I want to do to you. So long as you come home safe, that's enough for me."

Peter hugged his aunt, trying to hold back tears.

"Hey, Peter!"

Peter looked over to see Ned walking up to him.

"Are you okay? I saw what happened on the news-" replied Ned. Then he realized something. "It looks like Spider Man got really hurt."

"Yeah. He probably just got a couple stiches and broke a rib. I bet he's fine." replied Peter.

There was an awkward silence.

"What happened at the meeting is why I didn't want you involved." replied Peter.

"You mean you totally defeating that villain and saving the princess of Wakanda from an elevator crash?" asked Ned.

"To some extent." replied Peter. "It's not about that part- it's about this part."

Ned looked at where some of the bandages where covering Peter's shoulder.

"You keep getting hurt because of this." replied Peter. "Sure, for now it's juts emotional. What if it escalates?"

"So? I can handle some bullying." replied Ned. "And do you think I had ladies begging to ask me out before this?"

"I mean you could get hurt physically." replied Peter, getting steadily more infuriated. "I mean you could be kidnapped, killed, hurt, tortured, or worse!"

"Do you think I care?" asked Ned.

"You should!" Peter responded. "You think I want my best friend to die because of me?"

At this point, several lingering students where staring at Peter.

"Um- it's a play." replied Ned. "We're rehearsing for a play."

The students gave them weird looks as they walked to class.

"What I meant was that I'm helping you do some good in the world." replied Ned. "And not only that, I'm helping my best friend. What could be better than that? I'm ready to get hurt. You think I'm going to ditch you because of fear of getting hurt?"

Peter sighed.

"What if I took some defense classes?" asked Ned. "If I could defend myself, would that make you feel better?"

Peter thought back on what May said.

"No." replied Peter. "But if you want to work with me on this, then I'm not going to stop you. I'm also sorry for what I said."

"I was being stubborn too." replied Ned.

Peter held out his hand.

"Friends again?" asked Peter.

"You bet." replied Ned.

Michelle and her friend Gwen looked on.

"I'm glad they made up." replied Gwen, walking away.

Michelle smirked.

"Good work Spider Man."

Over 1,000 words. Longest chapter so far, written in a few hours in one sitting.

It's been a while, huh? Haven't worked on this since Christmas.

I figured that before the meme buddies begins, I'd include some filler on what happened. Next chapter will focus on Shuri, and then we'll get into the friendship and memes.

I'm hoping to wrap in the movie verse (IW, Endgame, and Far From Home will be included), but also have my own ideas involved.

I also want to give a thanks to the readers. I've never had a story blow up this fast. Three chapters, over 800 reads, 23 favorites, 31 followers. One of my most popular stories to date. Thank you for all your support, encouragement, and patience!