The day before, Peter was resting in his bedroom. He slept peacefully with a few bed sheets keeping him warm. If he were to wake up, he would say that he definitely needed this rest. His efforts in the tech store bombing the day before and long search for jobs before that had caused him to lose sleep. On most nights, he would normally think of his options to find the best way to make his aunt proud. Now being in the state he was in, it allowed him to settle down and relieve any stress he had.

May often checked in every four hours or so, making sure that he hadn't left or if he needed anything. She was glad to know that Peter had survived the event and was proud that he was able to help those who weren't so lucky.

When he came home after the bombing, they immediately went to work tending to his injured ribs. May luckily had a back wrap and gauze wrapping in their apartment from when Ben had a few back problems. They applied an ice pack against his back and held it with the back wrap to ease the pain. They wrapped Peter's torso with the gauze from the bottom of his chest to his waist line to keep his body from moving too much.

She thought that rest would be the best treatment from that point, so she helped him into his bed. She asked if he wanted her to fix something up for him, and he gratefully accepted, saying anything would do. May smiled and left the room to buy some pints of ice cream to share and some take out Thai. When she returned, she found him innocently snoozing with his back against the mattress. She smiled, humming a little "aww" as she walked toward the bed. She sat down next to her nephew's sleeping body and left a kiss on his forehead before stating, "sleep well sweetheart," and leaving the room.

23 hours later, Peter flutters his eyes as his body starts to awaken. He rolls onto his left side instinctively to loosen his muscles. He let out a loud moan from the stiffness of being motionless for so long, followed by an exhausted yawn that might have lasted ten seconds. He lifted the sheets off his body, revealing the wrapping around to his torso. In his sleep, he had forgotten that he was in the process of healing.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and reached his hand up to the railings of the top bunk of his bed to lift him up. As he stood, the pain in his ribs was still present, but had less of an effect on him. He walked forward and made his way to the kitchen to grab a drink and a snack. He didn't find May anywhere as he treaded through the apartment, but saw that the time was 4:47 PM, meaning she wouldn't be home for another half-an-hour or so. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water, searched for a granola bar and a bag of Doritos, and went back to his room.

He threw his snacks on his bed and took a sip of his water as he sat back down on his bed. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted his mask dangling over his desk chair. It reminded him of what went down the previous day and how many questions still needed to be answered. He set his water glass on the floor and reached for the mask, slipping in over his head as he laid back down.

GOOD AFTERNOOON PETER, HOW ARE YOU FEELING

"Uh, good Karen. Listen, did you by chance see who pulled me out of the fire?"

SORRY PETER, BUT I DIDN'T

"Great...," he huffed in disappointment, "well, how about the guy that messed up my ribs? Anything on him?"

I DO ACTUALLY, LONNIE THOMPSON LINCOLN, AGE 21, LITTLE TO NONE POLICE RECORD, BUT HAS AN EXTENSIVE FOSTER HOME RECORD AFTER HIS PARENTS' DEATH 5 YEARS AGO.

"Wow, another skilled thief with absent parents, I'm batting a thousand this week" he said to himself.

LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE CAUSE OF DEATH, Karen cut in, BUT IT IS PRESUMED TO HAVE HAPPENED DURING THE BATTLE OF NEW YORK WITH THE AVENGERS

Peter watched as morgue reports, foster home papers, and countless records of Lincoln flashed before his eyes. How could a kid live with so much against him, he thought, observing his head shot. He read his basic information and was confused when he read one of his aliases. "He has Tombstone as a nickname?"

THAT'S WHAT THE PEOPLE IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD CALL HIM. Peter thought about it for a while and agreed, "the name fits. The guy is strong, like super strong. He's sure to have that big guy in Harlem running for his money" Lonnie's strength was unlike anything he's ever seen, especially at his age. It was almost like fighting an ox, his punched felt like pure rock smashing against his bones. He could only imagine with the type of conditioning he's gone through, it was enough to live through the destruction. "How many casualties?" Peter asked as he remembered the civilians.

17 INJURED, 1 DEAD. THE CASHIER OF THE TECH SHOP WAS THE CLOSEST TO THE EXPOLSION

Peter should have known someone would bite the dust. An explosion like that was bound to kill anyone, but he was thankful that it was only one person and the rest were only injured. He remembered looking down at the street after the event and observing the victims with sadness and relief, and soon remembered one of the victims. "How's Michelle's dad?" he asked with interest.

WHO'S MICHELLE? AND WHO'S HER DAD?

Peter smiled a little, "Uh, Michelle is just a friend from school. And her dad is the man that helped me save the little girl in the fire."

DO YOU MEAN HER? Karen displayed an image of Michelle from when they were at the Washington Monument and another image of her at the site of the explosion. Peter couldn't help but look at the photo from Washington, and how the sunlight radiated off her white shirt and glowing face, making her stand out from anything else in frame.

"Um, y-yeah. That's ah... that's her," he muttered.

SHE'S PRETTY, ARE YOU GOING TO ASK HER OUT

"What, no-no, why would you ask that," he said feeling embarrassed, "her dad is in the hospital, is he alright?"

ACCORDING TO HOSPITAL FILES, HE IS RECOVERING AND IS EXPECTED TO BE SENT HOME TOMORROW.

"Well that's good."

"What's good?" Peter heard a different female voice coming from the door and saw May standing in the door frame.

"Hey May," he said totally taken by surprise and bouncing off his bed to sit up, "uh n-nothing, nothing it's just that I'm feeling a lot better today."

"Well that's good," she said taking a few steps forward, "I don't see why that's nothing."

"It's alright May, everything is good, I swear."

"OK," was her reply, "so I was thinking that we have a movie night."

"What for? What's the occasion?" Peter asked.

May shrugged with a smile, "No occasion, it's just we haven't had one in a while and thought now would be a good time to bring it back."

"Oh um, ok yeah sure, why not"

"Great, I have a couple of movies laid out on the coffee table. Your choice tonight" she said as she left the room to prepare snacks. Peter was slow to follow as he tried to dress himself and take his mask off. Before he did, he asked Karen to keep an update on everything.

By the time he reached the living room, May had already gathered the pints of ice cream she had bought the previous night and a few soda cans. Peter rounded the couch and observed the four Blu-Ray cases that were laid out: A romantic comedy "Only You," a coming of age comedy "The Edge of Seventeen," a drama "Good Will Hunting," and a Sci-Fi Horror "Super 8." Peter wasn't quite sure which one to pick, he hadn't seen or even heard of some these movies. The first choice was obviously something May would want to watch, but he wasn't up for any kind of romantic movie. Ultimately, he went with Good Will Hunting just because the title sounded hopeful and because he saw Robin Williams on the cover, hoping that it would be a comedy. May was fascinated with his choice and told him that he was in for good one.

The film started and about 10-15 minutes in, Peter was already intrigued with the concept of the story and the characters. He related to the title character, Will Hunting. He was a genius kid that worked as a construction worker and janitor at Harvard. Peter compared the situation to how Mr. Stark had offered him a spot on the Avengers but turned it down for a more honorable cause. It really resonated with him, but what really sparked his interest was when the film's female lead, Skyler, entered the story. She challenged Will's ideologies about attachment and love, and how it would be nearly impossible to bring his life into hers without someone's heart being broken.

It was in the scenes with her that Peter thought about Michelle, and how he felt so small and helpless around her. He had previously felt like this before, but that was when he knew her as the girl that was always silent but would make rude comments out of nowhere. Now, the feeling was different. He was glad she was being open with him and friendly, but the thought of her wanting to be more-friendly made him curious. It was a strange thing to do for the Michelle he had known, but he liked the change. It made him smile, the kind of smile that you can only have when you think about something truly special, and May noticed it.

"Crushin' on her are ya" she joked as she stuffed a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. Peter's eyes widened as he snapped back into reality.

"What, no I'm not" he exaggerated without thought. "Wait... what were we talking about?"

"Skyler, and how you have a crush on her." Peter gave out a sigh that turned into a chuckle. He was saved for the moment, allowing the movie to save him from what he was really thinking. "Unless it's not her, and it's someone she reminds you of" she inquired.

"No no, it's nothing May."

"You said it was nothing before, it's gotta be something Peter." May sensed that he was keeping some information from her and hoped that he would talk about it, but Peter just kept his gaze upon the TV screen. He didn't want to talk to May about it, because in his mind, there wasn't much to talk about. Michelle was just a friend that he had been seeing more of and had talked about hanging out at some point. What more was there to talk about?

"May it's nothing, really," he argued, "I've just been seeing a friend around a lot. That's all."

May was intrigued by who this friend could be, as she asked him, "who?" Peter groaned in annoyance but decided to tell May everything that had happened between him and Michelle. May listened carefully to what Peter had to say, while keeping an eye on the movie. As Peter talked about Michelle, his tone went from agitated to uncertain, as if he didn't know what to do. "She's a good friend," he concluded, "it's just weird to be around her this way, you know."

"I can understand that," May replied, "making stronger friendships is a lot of work, but I think you should do it. It'll help take your mind off Ned being gone." The thought of Peter having another friend made May happy, especially if it was a girl. She felt that having a girl as a close friend would help build his confidence. She was glad that they were able to have this talk, especially as they were watching Good Will Hunting.

From what May could tell, Peter was denying to himself that he had feelings for Michelle, or at least those feelings were starting to blossom. She knew that Peter wouldn't listen to any further advice from her, that would make him feel awkward. Luckily, she had seen the movie enough times to know there was a scene that could help his thought process...

https://youtu.be/xvvx-0G7XHc

.......

The rest of the night went quite as you would expect, they finished the movie, May fell asleep on the couch toward the end, and Peter's mind went busy. He really found the movie really mind-opening and thought about every detailed lesson the film brought up. Robin Williams' speech about human imperfections really struck a chord with him, and how it made him think about Michelle. The way her hair naturally fell over the side of her face, her inability to keep a comment to herself, and how a glowing smile could find its way through her dry, inquisitive nature.

Peter cleaned up the coffee table and helped May into her bed. He made sure she had enough sheets to keep her warm and planted a kiss on her forehead before retreating to his room to sleep. He sat down on the side of his bed, reached for his mask and held it in his hands with the eyes facing him. "Should I even hang out with Michelle," he said to the mask hoping to avoid any weird conversation with Karen. "I know she said she'd be up for it, but what if I make things weird between us. What if we can't stand each other afterwards? And if things do work out, what will she think if she found out about you? Will I have scared her away? Will she expose me? I just want a friend right now, is that too much to ask?"

Peter crumpled his mask into a ball and walked over to his closet. He shoved the mask into a special compartment where the rest of his suit was hidden and sighed. He went to slide the door shut but found that something on the floor was blocking it from closing completely. He looked down to find that it was his school yearbook wedged between the side of the door and the doorframe. Peter reached down started flipping through the pages like an animator. He came to the back end of the book and found something written in the lower right-hand corner. Below the scripture was a little sketch. Not like a lazy doodle or a master sketch, but a simple sketch with little details that made the image fly off the page. A boy who looked like Peter was smiling at a girl in a ponytail and loose bangs over her face giving a friendly wave as she walked away. Peter sat down and read the note, only to fall asleep soon after with a small smile on his face.

Peter, I hope I was able to make you feel better today. I'm not used to making people feel better about themselves. I hope everything goes well for you. It's been a crazy year with you dork. Maybe with Ned gone for most of the summer, we could get to know each other. Cause remember loser, you owe me. OK, you don't owe me, but I could use a friend too. Have a good summer! Michelle.

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A/N-  Hey guys, back at ya with another chapter. This was supposed to be the second part of the previous chapter, so I decided to expand it a little. Hope you all like it. 

I really like when characters go into self-reflection or self-thought mode, and I think that was the purpose of these two chapters, to allow our two leads to find out what they want for themselves with each other. 

IMPORTANT: Unfortunately, I'm going to be missing out on an update next weekend due to an uneasy death in my family. I'm doing the best I can under the circumstances, but its hard at times to move forward. I hope you can all respect my decision to miss out next week, and I'll get a new chapter out as soon as I can.

Leave a vote if you liked the chapter, and let me know your thoughts in the comments. Your feedback (positive or negative) is always appreciated.

Until next time, BYE!!!