Smart Ned

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Have you ever gotten shot? If you have, you'll know that it hurts. A lot. And not just when it goes in, either. Yes, that's when the pain is the sharpest, the most tangible, but it's perhaps afterwards, when the wound is still raw and throbbing as your life blood leaks out of you, when it hurts the worst.

Not that Peter would know, because "No, Mr Stark, I'm perfectly fine. Shot? No, of course not. I'm just gonna- yep. Sorry. Bye." He hung up. Almost immediately after, he had a short dizzy spell and ended up crashing into a building. He slid slowly down the window, earning some weird looks from people inside, then he fell backwards and started to free fall. He shot a web at the top of the building, hoping to pull himself up, but he only managed to slow himself down enough to hopefully make the fall non-lethal. Then he hit the pavement, and everything went black.

/X\(◣_◢)/X\

Peter woke suddenly to a sharp pain in his side. He groaned and flinched away from the pressure, but the movement only caused more pain. His blurry eyesight sharpened as he adjusted to the light, and his realised to his relief that his mask was still on. He turned his head quickly to the side, gritting his teeth to stifle a yelp, and was faced with a guilty looking Ned.

Oops, Peter thought. He had meant to tell Ned as soon as he had worked out what was happening but it just... Never happened.

"Sorry," Ned said. Why was he apologising? It was Peter who should be apologising. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Peter grimaced. "What happened?" Ned winced.

"Um, I was kinda just walking along and then you fell at my feet. I couldn't just leave you there."

Huh, Peter thought. For once, his Parker luck landed him with something good. Then he remembered his wounds, and realised that good didn't really apply to the situation.

"How bad is it?"

"Um. You see, I don't really... I didn't want to take off your mask, or damage the suit."

Peter debated whether or not he should tell Ned now, or after. If he told him now, he would probably freak out, and be too emotionally attached to do what had to be done. Later it was, then. Peter looked down at himself. He was lying on Ned's bed in his room, with the door closed and the blinds drawn. Smart Ned.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure I've broken my leg and a couple of ribs. The ribs should mend themselves, but you're going to have to set my leg in place. Just pull it, and keep pulling until it clicks, okay? Don't stop for anything."

"Alright," Ned got himself into position, "If you don't mind me asking, why did you fall?"

"Oh, erm, I kinda got shot and I blacked out mid swin- AAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!"

"Sorry." Once again, Smart Ned had prevailed. He had kept Spiderman talking to distract him whilst he prepared to reset his leg.

"No problem, man. Thanks. If you don't mind me asking, why are you helping me?"

"It's no problem. I mean, you save countless people very day. I'm not just gonna let you bleed out on the sidewalk. Besides, other people were just walking past. It made me feel sick, and I'd be a hypocrite to not take you. Also, I HAVE SPIDERMAN IN MY BEDROOM!"

Peter gave a chuckle, his faith in humanity restored.

"I'm just sorry I'm bleeding all over your sheets," Peter and Ned both looked at the growing puddle of blood on the sheets. "Actually, I should probably get that bandaged."

"Yeah, but you'll have to take off your suit. Uh, do you want me to go? I mean, will you manage? Like, I could stay, but that would be a bit weird and I don't want to make things awkward and-"

"Ned."

"Yeah? Wait, how do you know my name? I didn't tell you my name! Did I? Wait, wha-"

"Ned! Ned, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while." Peter took a deep breath, and pulled off his mask. "I'm Spiderman."

Ned did nothing for a moment, squinting to see past the caked blood and dirt on the guy's face. Then his eyes widened in realisation, and he let out a disbelieving, "PETER?!?!"

Peter smiled weakly, the action of pulling off his mask making him feel lightheaded. "That's me."

Then he blacked out.

/X\($O$)/X\

When he awoke, Peter's mask was off and he was lying in fresh bedding in his own bed. He looked down to see his chest had been neatly bandaged and cleaned of blood underneath his pyjama shirt. May was sat beside the bed, and she looked up when he moved. Oh no. May. Had Ned told her? What did he do?

"Peter honey, you're awake! Do you remember what happened?"

Peter shook his head slowly.

"That's alright. The doctors said you had a slight concussion, but the memories should come back soon." Doctors? What doctors?! "It's okay, honey. Calm down." She wouldn't be this calm if she knew he was Spiderman, right? Would she? His breathing started to slow down. "That's it. You were in a pretty nasty car accident, honey. Ned found you and took you to the hospital. You have a broken leg and ankle, three broken ribs, a concussion and a shrapnel wound that's scarily similar to a bullet wound! Luckily, none of it's as bad as they first thought, and you should be okay to be back in school next week. I'm just so grateful that Ned found you, God bless his heart."

God bless Ned, indeed. Peter owed his best friend BIG TIME. He would buy him every single new star wars lego set as it came out until his dying day, even if he had to sell a kidney to afford it.

|
/X\(::::)/X\

As soon as Peter was back on his feet, May insisted that he go back to school. He was dreading it- seeing Flash, but mainly how Ned would act around him now that he had exposed himself. Sure, he had kept his secret, and sorted everything out with May and the doctors, but maybe that was just a parting gift? He limped towards his locker, where he could see his best friend stood with his back to Peter, chatting to MJ, who pointed to Peter. Ned turned slowly around, his face losing its usual cheery grin. Peter's step faltered. This didn't look good.

Ned waited until they were face to face before he opened his mouth. Peter cringed, but all Ned said was,

"You and I need to have a serious talk about keeping secrets."

Ned broke into a grin and hugged his best friend, and Peter hugged back just as hard, ignoring his protesting wounds.

MJ being MJ, she just rolled her eyes and muttered "Losers."
































































"Also, you could have beaten up Flash anytime."

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