Peter woke up to the annoying beeping of his alarm. He picked up his phone, hit off, and then blinked a few times to focus on the messages sent to him overnight.
From: Ned
If that biology quiz is tomorrow, I'm screwed
From: May
Hey sweetie, came in from work late. Have to go in early tomorrow, too, so I won't see you. I love you. Have a good day at school, and tonight we'll go get some Thai and bring it home to watch a movie on Netflix. ♡
And finally-
From: ____
hey, Pete - they're letting me go to school today. i'd appreciate ur help bc i can't get around easily.
He sat up in bed. Too fast, too - all of the blood rushed to his head and his vision went spotted for a second. He typed back to May: I love you too. That sounds great. And to Ned: Yeah. You're screwed. And finally, to you: Aw, great! It'll be so good to have you back in classes again. I'll be there of course. See you in twenty.
He got ready, grabbed his bag, and made a bowl of Cheerios all in record time. He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and slipped it in the front pocket of his backpack before heading out the door, locking it behind him.
He was smiling like an idiot the entire way to school. He stood on the bus, clutching the pole in his hands. A few people gave him and his grin dirty looks.
Still, he got off the bus and hurried to the front of the school. He looked at the parking lot and his heart sank a little when he realized that he was looking for a little pink car.
"Pete! Over here!"
He turned and saw your dad helping you out of the back of the car. He jogged over to you and then slowed down, seeing you for the first time in almost a week.
He had been with you every day in the hospital but hadn't seen you after you had been released and went home. When you left, he had helped you into the car. Your bruises had turned a light purple.
But now there were yellow splotches all over your visible skin, plus a few shades of purple. You inched towards him with a slight limp and reached your arms out to wrap around his waist. He pulled you close, whispering, "Hi." His hands were shaking.
"It's been a while, Pete," your dad said, handing him your backpack. "How are you?"
"I'm, uh, good," he said. He looked down at you and pulled away. "It's good to see you out."
"Good to be out," you said. You smiled. "It was rough being stuck inside all day. Isn't it weird that I was missing school?" You laughed.
He laughed, too.
"Well, I'll let you go," your dad said.
"Bye, Dad."
He leaned in and kissed your head. "Bye, sweetheart. I'll pick you up later. Call me if you need to come home."
"I'll be fine," you said. You smiled at Peter. "Peter's gonna be with me all day."
He nodded and then your dad got into the car. Peter kept your bag and helped you up onto the curb and walked side-by-side with you into the school. He couldn't stop thinking about the bruises.
"So Ned brought me my history homework yesterday, but I'm pretty lost," you said. "Can you help me later?"
"Sure," he said. "I'll help you tonight, after - a-after Spidey duties." He choked in the middle as a wave of deja vu crashed into him. He suddenly pictured you leaving, waving, and then seeing you hurt in the car. He remembered how he pulled your still body out of the car and put you on the ground. How you had died there, and he had pumped life back into you.
"Peter? Are you... are you okay?" you asked. You grabbed his hand. "You look like you're about to have a panic attack."
"I am fine," he said, but he sounded strained and not fine at all.
"Peter," you said softly, "you know that I'm okay, don't you? I lived. I lived because of you. Please don't start killing yourself out of regret."
He looked at you, biting his lip. "But your arm," he said.
You had a brace on your wrist. Every inch was bruised. "These bruises? They're nothing. I lived and that is all that matters." You turned towards him all of the way and took his hands. "Peter, please."
"I almost lost you," he whispered. He had tears in his eyes and he shook his head. "That... sucks."
"But you didn't," you reminded him. "I'm here. You're here. So don't act like I died, okay?"
He nodded and you wrapped your arms around him. His cheek touched your hair and he shut his eyes.
"You have no idea," you whispered, "no idea how grateful I am to you, Peter Parker."
He held you for a second more and then pulled away. You smiled at him and he smiled back. You stepped away to go to your locker.
Flash Thompson walked up to Peter. "Hey, she's back," he said. "That's good. I heard about the accident. Scary stuff."
"Yeah," he said.
"I saw you two hugging," Flash noted. "Are you two, like, dating or something?"
"No, we're-" he said, and then he paused. Because while you were friends, you were more than that now. You had a stronger relationship with him now than ever before. "We're just friends," he said finally, because just saying that was easier than saying that he cared about you in the same way he cared about May, where you were a priority and he hated to see you hurt or sick or sad.
"Huh," he said. "Well, she's cute. Maybe you should date her, Parker." He smacked his hand on his shoulder. "Or I will."
He walked off. Peter smiled to himself, seeing you turn your head towards him. Your lips pulled upward and you raised your hand and waved him forward.
And Peter came to you.
He always would.