Peter Parker has always been a shy, quiet kid.
That's what his friends like about him. He's smart, he has a good head on his shoulders, and he always does the right thing.
And then the whole thing with Flash happened last year during the end-of-year class party, and everything changed. Ned tried calling for a month after, but Peter didn't answer. He messaged May to make sure his friend was alive, and May told Ned that Peter wasn't getting out of bed. She hadn't seen him in weeks, he wouldn't speak to her. He locked the door when she tried to come in. There was once, briefly, that she had managed to open it before he asked her to go away.
His room smelled...funky. Unpleasant. There were mounds of dirty clothes across the floor. He'd never been the best at keeping his room tidy, but this was new. There were dirty dishes and cups stacked on every surface, garbage spilling over his trash can and piling on the floor. His carpet was nowhere to be found and had been lost to the mess. May tried to ask if she could straighten up for him, it would make him feel better to be in a clean space, but he had snapped at her with so much heat behind it that she had simply closed his door with silent tears welling up in her eyes.
MJ and Ned went to the apartment, but Peter wouldn't see them. May told them he was just having a rough time after what happened. She had offered to pull him out of school at Midtown and let him do his final year online. Peter was still "thinking about it", she said, but it was July now. Ned and MJ agreed it might be best if she just kept him home for the first semester, but May would leave the final decision up to Peter himself.
The two stood outside his door and knocked. Ned asked to come in, quietly, darting worried glances to MJ. Peter said no. Ned bit back his tears of concern.
MJ asked through the door if Peter was just going to stay in his bed for the next two months until school started. No answer. They didn't hear him speak again.
May thanked them for coming to check on him and trying to get him to see them. She asked for their patience, but she didn't need to. They were best friends, MJ told her. There's nothing that can keep them from being there when he's ready. Ned noted to himself that this was the least monotoned-sounding that he'd ever heard MJ speak. He assumed it was from her giant, unsaid crush on Peter Parker.
July passed without a word from Peter. MJ and Ned tried once a week from the other side of the door. Peter eventually stopped answering with no's and just locked his door when he heard them greeting May.
May tried her best to coax him out of his room, but he refused. She knew he had no clean clothes. He hadn't showered in God knows how long, unless he did it while she was working, which she doubted after seeing completely full bottles of soap and shampoo. She didn't see Peter eat, but she made him plates to keep in the microwave and fridge for when he emerged at night for a new jug of water and to scavenge for food.
The apartment was eerily quiet with Ben gone and Peter haunting his bedroom. It was like living with a ghost-occasionally, she'd hear a faint noise and strain her ears to see if he was maybe, finally coming out, hoping maybe he was ready to talk about what happened. Or even just rejoin society. Anything more than laying in bed was a step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, every time she hoped, she was wrong. The room would fall silent again. The once constant stream of chatter had died and been replaced with May only-a one-way avenue of her saying good morning, reminding him to eat and brush his teeth, telling him she loved him, going to work. When she returned, she told him she was home, what she was making for dinner if he wanted to join, and she hoped he was feeling better today. At night, she'd tell him goodnight, she loved him, his plate was in the fridge.
And that was it.
May didn't know what to do, and neither did anyone else.
She was considering putting him in the car and forcing him to see a counselor when, on August 1st, Peter opened his door at 6 PM and asked May if they could eat dinner together.
Yes, she said. Absolutely. They had a lot to catch up on.
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72 Friends
Fanfiction"Hello? Creepy billionaire stalker? Can I do something to get you out of my car?" "Oh my god, relax," Stark groans. "You are very uptight for a friendly neighborhood Spiderman." "I'm not Spiderman anymore." _______ After last year, Peter decides he'...
