The Bet (Avenger's High School AU)

♡ Chapter Nine ♡

Peter barely has the energy to stand let alone to exercise with Thor of all people.

He hasn't eaten in at least twenty-four hours, barely slept the night before, and worked a six-hour shift yesterday. So yeah. Maybe he's a little bit low in the energy department. What's new?

But he'd agree to go to the gym with Thor, so he finds himself changing into a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt, his own clothing for once, not stolen from Tony's closet.

Turns out, you can't just give someone a car as rent. Tony picked it up the morning after he gave it to Peter's landlord. He tried to give Mister Novack more cash, but Peter had shoved him out of the building before he could pull out his wallet.

But since Tony's been buying him most of food recently and he's convinced the nurses to give him another extension, all of his paycheques have been going towards his rent. He managed to get most of it in to Mister Novack on time, which surprised him to no end. Turns out, he did have a tiny bit of back-ups to his emergency back-ups hidden away underneath a floorboard in his bedroom. It had been from when he first moved from his old apartment into this one, he kept all the extra cash he had made for the absolute direst of situations. Considering he had been hours away from being evicted, he counted it as a dire situation.

Tony still feels awful. He's been buying Peter extra pops at lunch for Peter to store away in his cardboard box in his bathroom- Tony doesn't know that. He thinks the sodas are being drank with Peter's non-existent dinners. He keeps offering more cash, but Peter can't take it. He can't owe someone that- Tony's told him it would be a gift, not a loan, but Peter doesn't believe it. More than once, Peter's found random bills in his pockets.

Thor's already in the midst of lifting a giant weight when Peter walks in.

"Hey!" he exclaims, setting down his weight and turning to Peter with a huge grin. "I'm glad you could make it!"

"Me too," Peter says, sipping carefully at his water bottle already. He knows he has an endless supply of water from the school fountains and from May's room, even the gym has a bunch of water fountains around but drinking the water he has still makes him antsy. "What do you want to do? I haven't actually been to the gym in years."

The last time he went was with Ben, but he pushes the thought away quickly.

"Wanna start on the treadmill? I just finished my arm workout," Thor says, already leading the way towards the row of treadmills.

They're all facing a window which reveals a wonderful view of the city's landscape. Skyscrapers and towers and smoke rising from chimneys. The sun dangles in the sky like it's the treat the people are running to catch, right in front of them, but never close enough to reach.

Peter starts his clumsily on a light jog. He knows this is going to wreck his only pair of shoes, a pair of old- super old, like at least six years old, used to be Ben's, probably bought from a thrift store- black sneakers. They're torn and dirty and worn, but they're the only shoes that were acceptable for his job, so he got rid of all his others for some cash.

"How has your week been?" Thor asks, already moving a lot faster than Peter, but barely breaking a sweat. "I saw you a few times at school, but you always look like you're in a rush."

"You're always welcome to talk to me at school," Peter replies with a little smile. He ignores the black spots dancing across his vision and takes another sip of his water. He regrets not accepting the food Tony tried to make him eat at the end of the day. "I've been alright. Could be better, you know, but it is what it is."

"Why?" To Peter's surprise, Thor looks genuinely intrigued by Peter's week.

"Just been busy," Peter replies, running a hand through his hair. He's surprised he's not sweating buckets yet... He's probably too dehydrated to sweat at this point. "Between working and school. Been a little stressed."