Thank you to everybody who read or left kudos for the last conversation. You are the best. I truly enjoy your feedback. I realize we haven't heard from Ned in the story so far, and we're up to conversation 35. For those of you who skipped over text messages from the Edge of high school, Ned passed out at the Fitzsimmons wedding, and his mom blames Tony. He's banned from hanging out with Peter and Afia on the weeks he lives with his mom. His father thinks his ex-wife is overreacting, but the custody arrangement is complicated—divorce sucks.

Conversation 35: Insert Foot into Mouth

BFF Ned: I really hate the fact that my mom hates Mr. Stark so much. It's been a year since the wedding incident. She should just get over it, but now she's just as controlling as ever.

BFF Ned: I just found out as I was packing to leave to go to my father's apartment that I was invited to the upstate New York Wakanda compound to hang out with the princess. She said no. She didn't even bother to consult me; she just said no like she always does. My parents are fighting about it on speakerphone for some reason. I can hear it from my room. My dad thinks it's good for me to hang out with genius royalty because he's pragmatic. He is also the only reason I'm still able to take the scholarship from the Jarvis foundation.

BFF Ned: Divorce sucks.

BFF Ned: Why is the princess even in the US? Is this related to the Thor sightings on Twitter Friday?

BFF Ned: Was Thor actually here? Did you get to meet him? Are the muscles real or just like an optical illusion?

BFF Ned: Was that actually his brother? He's the one that killed Ms. May's fiancé the first time, right?

BFF Ned: Actually, was it all an optical illusion? He was supposedly in New York Friday, but there are rumors of the hammer being in Norway right now.

BFF Ned: Are you still hanging out with the princess? Or are you on some secret mission? Should I be sending these text messages to the other number?

Peter: You should definitely be using the other phone. I am going to send you a message on the other line. This is MJ, by the way.

BFF Ned: Wait, why are you texting me on Peter's phone? Did he finally make a move?

Xxxxx

The New Consultant: No

The New Consultant: After a long conversation with my friend, we concluded that I will be the one making a move because he's an idiot. He is adorable but an idiot. If I want anything to happen before the end of the world, it's on me.

BITC: He was planning to tell you when we are in Europe. He was saving up to get you a black Dalia necklace.

The New Consultant: I know. Although I didn't hear about the necklace part.

BITC: He told you?

The New Consultant: Thompson did. He was the friend I consulted with.

BITC: I still can't believe you're friends with Flash. He's an asshole.

BITC: I can't believe Benji is friends with him to the point that he will actually tell Flash that. Which is obviously a mistake if he told you. He's probably sabotaging you on purpose.

The New Consultant: The asshole thing is a mask he wears.

The new consultant: You know you don't have to be jealous of Thompson. He isn't going to take your place as Benji's friend. You're still BFF [redacted] in his address book.

BITC: Then what else does he want from Benji?

Xxxxx

"When do I get to tell Ned that you're gay and want to climb Peter like a tree?" MJ whispered as she showed her phone to Flash.

They were currently sitting on one of the couches in the guest suite in the embassy. It was a lot nicer than the Shield rooms on the other floors. Around 3 AM, when Dr. Leopold showed up with his husband, Hunter pushed them all to sleep. They were only successful in getting her and Flash to leave. They opted to just sleep in the same room together. Which was a great decision because sometime around 9 AM, Peter just crawled into bed with them. Afia texted her pictures. She wished she could just send them to Ned, but Peter and Flash would kill her.

"Unless I actually start dating Parker, never." Flash is definitely not ready for that.

"You have to come out sometime. What if you end up with like a boy band member?"

"I have better taste than the ones that are currently in my age bracket. Thank you very much. I'm out to the people that matter." Flash retorted.

"The only person that matters to you right now is Peter."

"Shush. Don't wake up Parker." Flash admonished.

"He's wearing his super noise-canceling headphones so he could sleep in the middle of the day. Which was the only reason why we were able to get dressed without waking him up."

"Why didn't he wear those Friday night?" Flash asked.

"He didn't need it curled up in your arms, either time. Look, he's wrapping himself around the pillow, probably thinking that it's you. I have pictures of Peter wrapped around you like that from yesterday, actually." She pulled one up that showed Peter essentially groping Flash in his sleep.

"Sometimes, I really hate you."

"You adore me. Go cuddle with Parker, and I'll go deal with Ned in the kitchen. I will bring food."

"Do you think we have any pizza left?"

"I think we finished that around 1 AM, but before he collapsed into the bed, Peter said that Hunter brought breakfast and left us some stuff in the fridge. If you behave, I'll bring you a bacon cheese sandwich."

"I think I'll go with you and get it myself."

"Or you could go cuddle with Parker. Your boyfriend misses you." Flash rolls his eyes at her.

"You know you want to join."

"Of course, we spoke about this yesterday. I wasn't kidding when I told Ned I'm done waiting." MJ said as she walked out of the guest suite towards the kitchens. Flash followed behind her.

"If there's a good chance we're going to get snapped out of existence, you might as well go for it." Flash sounded resigned.

"We are going to do this together. I think this morning went well."

"That was planned, wasn't it?" Flash asked as he opened the fridge. There are three bags in the refrigerator with their names on them.

"Not by me, but we do have shippers."

"The Princess definitely ships us."

Xxx

The New Consultant: Benji was busy working on a project with the princess and didn't go to sleep until 9 AM. Benji is still unconscious. I didn't want your text message ring tone to wake him up. He's wearing the headphones, but you know he's a light sleeper now.

BITC: This is true. Our sleepovers aren't the same anymore. At least when we could still have them before my mom went to zero tolerance.

BITC: Although I think Benji has graduated to a new sleepover partner.

The New Consultant: Actually, he was so exhausted when he got back he crashed next to Flash.

BITC: That is exhausted.

BITC: I would never voluntarily sleep in the same room as Thompson, let alone bed. What was he working on?

The New Consultant: Inter-dimensional communications device.

BITC: Is this related to Thor showing up yesterday?

The New Consultant: Not exactly. It's complicated. I'm checking with Ana to see how much I can tell you.

BITC: I take that as a yes. This is related to Thor showing up in New York Friday? I saw pictures of your cousin with them. That is so cool. Did she tell you about it?

BITC: Did she get pictures? Did she get his autograph? Did she try lifting the hammer? I bet she could lift it.

BITC: Or, at a minimum, vibrate the thing. She's really powerful.

BITC: MJ, are you still there?

BITC: Did something happen?

Xxx

"Okay, I love it here. The oven thingy perfectly reheats a breakfast sandwich in 90 seconds. I made yours too." Flash said as he walked over to the kitchen counter to see MJ, who was now crying. MJ crying just scares the hell out of him. She's not a crier.

"Why are you crying? What happened?" Flash asked, taking the seat beside her.

"Ned asked about Daisy," MJ replied.

"Would you like for me to tell him what happened?" Ana asked.

"I'll do it. You might tell Ned too much. Even on the secure line, we have to be cautious."

"Of course, Mr. Thompson." Ana was only slightly annoyed with him. She switches to Eugene when she's really upset. If they survive this, he is definitely changing his first name. And possibly his last name as well.

"You're going to talk to Ned voluntarily?" MJ looked at him, shocked. At least she wasn't crying at the moment. He accomplished something.

"If we're going to try to convince Parker to date both of us, I should probably work on getting his best friend not to hate me."

"I believe Peter would still date you even if Ned was against it, but I think he would appreciate not having to choose between his boyfriend and his best friend."

"Being a good boyfriend means I don't put him in that position. My last boyfriend hated that I was still friends with Parker. And he didn't know about the kiss." Flash explained.

"Neither did you. Silver lining this means that you kissed him before I did." MJ joked.

"Then he gently rejected me afterward."

"Because he wanted to be your friend first before he jumped you. Then you had to get the idiot boyfriend in California. Who you should have dropped as soon as he told you who to hang out with," MJ admonished.

"Take your sandwich and go cuddle with Parker. You'll feel better after you eat and get a cuddle in. I made his sandwich too because I know the smell of food will wake him up."

"You're such a caring boyfriend already." MJ joked as she left. Flash will not acknowledge that he actually likes it when she refers to him as Peter's boyfriend. Not that it will ever happen, but it's a happy thought.

To be continued…

So this weekend, I am finally back to working on this story again. I wanted to wait until after Black widow and Loki to work on the next batch of chapters since it would be an influencer. But then it took me a few weeks to get to a spot in my Star Trek story where I could stop. Don't worry we have five more chapters in the can. However, reviews make me write faster. If I can get a decent amount of chapters built up again, I could go back to weekly updates. Or, at a minimum, I have time to do some more Loki one-shots.

Warning: Spoilers for Black Widow to follow.

So, I will reveal now that most of the events of Black Widow also happened in this timeline. The main events of the movie also occurred before the timeline split. However, the scene that took place two weeks later only occurred in one of the timelines. You'll find out which one later. Also, the Avengers were out by the time that scene took place, but Natasha didn't know. Team Coulson already helped to get them out without them knowing. That's one big difference between the two timelines in this series and the sacred timeline.