My head shot up as I saw everyone coming towards us, looking like an odd mix of concerned and pissed.
I wiped my face, just then realizing that I was crying. Peter let go and turned around to see who was calling me.
"Who's this?" Tony asked, evaluating the grungy homeless man I'd just been hanging onto.
Searching for a proper way to describe him, I just said, "He's an old friend of mine."
Tony didn't really say anything, his eyes just danced between me and Peter.
Peter stood there, looking confused and kind of scared. He was taller than Tony, but in the way that a young twiggy tree is taller than a bulldog.
Surprisingly the person to break the silence was Lorne, who stepped past Tony and put a heavy hand on Peter's shoulder.
"How about you come take a shower at our place?"
Peter looked at me and I nodded.
"We just need to load everything back up in the cars and then we'll go." He said, then looked at me, "Jeez Boa, give him his jacket back."
Feeling even more uncomfortable I shrugged it off and handed it back to Peter.
We all walked back towards the coffee place. Tony wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me firmly to his side. I squirmed, but it didn't faze him.
I'd never seen him act this way. He'd always been goofy Tony who never took anything seriously. But now he was pulling a possessive boyfriend move, which royally pissed me off.
Lorne unlocked his car and let Peter sit inside while we got everything ready to leave.
We all went inside as began packing everything up. Tony only released me once there was a closed door between me and Peter.
Lorne leaned in and asked, "So he's not going to kill me if I let him in my house, right?"
I laughed a little, "He's harmless."
And as I said it I believed it, until I remembered the last time I saw him. What he'd done, the thing I thought I'd never get an answer to, burned in the back of my mind.
When we were done and ready to go I said, "I'm going to ride with Lorne."
"Why?" Tony asked, flexing his jaw.
"I want to," I eyed him, but leaned over to kiss him, hoping that would tamp out some of his bitterness, "I'll see you there."
He sighed, "I have to train really early tomorrow, so I think I'm just going to hit the sack."
I felt a pang of guilt for how relieved I was. Peter being back was enough for my brain to handle on its own without Tony there getting jealous.
"Okay," I hugged him, and he reluctantly hugged back, "I'll see you tomorrow okay?"
"Yeah." He kissed me on the cheek and then got in his car and sped off.
I climbed into Lorne's passenger side seat and peered into the back.
Peter was looking in his lap, pulling at a loose thread. I wanted to leap back there and hug him again, just to make sure he was real. And then I wanted to attack him with questions. But that would come.
We all drove quietly to Lorne's house.
He let Peter use the bathroom off of his room while he watched TV downstairs. I sat on his bed, leaning my head back against the headboard, listening to the shower run while I tried to distract myself with my phone.
But I was still tempted to barge in there and demand answers. I knew I had to wait though, it must have been months since he'd taken a shower.
Eventually the water turned off and I waited anxiously as he rustled around before emerging in a cloud of steam wearing pair of Lorne's sweatpants. I tried to keep my eyes down so that he wouldn't think I was gawking at him.
He sat down on the end of the bed and wiped his face with the towel. Droplets of water dripped down the rolling hills of his ribs, which poked prominently out of his back.
I got to my knees and crawled slowly to the end of the bed.
"Feeling better?"
He chuckled, "You have no idea."
He already looked a lot more like the Peter I remembered. But without a shirt I could see a large stretch of scarring that marred most of his chest.
"What happened to you?" I gasped.
He looked down at his chest as if he'd forgotten it was there, "I got burned."
"I thought you couldn't scar."
"Some fire is hotter than others."