Far From You

Venice Pt. I

Your dad had always trained you on how to beat jet lag, and over the course of Peter's "internship" with Tony Stark, your curly-headed best friend had also learned the tricks of the trade. The correct foods, the time to take naps, and the amount of water to inhale like you were dying of dehydration.

So it didn't come as a shock to you when the plane landed and majority of your classmates were walking like slugs through the airport in Rome, while you and Peter had a bit of a pep to your step.

"Do you remember when your dad took us to Rome and didn't tell us why," Peter spoke quietly, the only two students close to you both being Ned and MJ, who would know of your escapades already.

You smiled, "And when we got there he just threw our suits at us and left on the jet."

"Our first mission," Peter chuckled, "And your suit malfunctioned and you almost tore me in half."

He was laughing now, but at the time it was terrifying, and the Italian mafia ring that had - in the words of your dad been "hardly any competition" - almost gotten away with it when they'd proved to be a far larger threat.

"Jesus," you shook your head, "That was our sophomore year."

Peter shrugged, "That was before Thor told me I actually needed to work out."

"You could lift school buses but hardly had any muscles," you noted, pinching his forearm. "And you pulled your groin muscle getting back on the jet. You were hobbling around for a week!"

The two of you were laughing now quite obnoxiously, considering everyone else was quite exhausted and just wanted a quiet subway ride to the train station. But, just like old times, you and Peter were relentless.

"Care to share with the class?" Harry asked, sliding his sunglasses onto his face as you all followed Mr. Harrington towards the train station.

"Just reminiscing about the time Peter sprained his balls," you smirked, watching as Peter rolled his eyes and slung his arm around your shoulders lazily, leaving you to stagger slightly under his weight.

The scrawny boy had bulked up a bit since ... since the initial event ... and as he pulled his phone from his pocket and seemed to be distracted by the screen, you observed his profile closely.

"Stop staring," Peter mumbled.

"You just look a bit different," you shrugged, leaning slightly into his arm as he stopped texted May of his whereabouts and slid his phone into his back pocket once more.

"Yeah? Maybe I look the same, you just haven't seen me in a while."

The statement was innocent. It was a fact that you'd been taking your summer vacation to yourself, and had opted to finish out the end of your junior year with online courses. So yes, you'd physically been apart.

But emotionally, you and Peter hadn't connected in quite some time, and that was something new for the both of you, but only the fault of one of you.

"Yeah well ..." you slinked out from under Peter's arm, clearing your throat and adjusting your backpack, "Some of us process things differently."

You tried to pretend you didn't see the slight pain in Peter's eyes when you pulled yourself away from him. Just the momentary and innocent touch of his arm around your shoulders made you feel more at ease - even in a train station in Rome - than you had in months.

But comfort led to complacency, and you felt the need to be more alert and aware.

"Alright well, what fancy hotel am I going to be crashing in for the next week?" Flash called towards Mr. Harrington, who seemed to be completely preoccupied by every map around him that he obviously couldn't read.