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𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑅𝑇𝑌 𝐹𝑂𝑈𝑅
𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟

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Eddy had teleported back and landed on the bed before Peter had even gotten out of the shower. His face was flushed slightly and all thoughts of Tony Stark was pushed from his head when Peter finally entered his bedroom, dumping his dirty clothes into a basket in the corner of his room before he sat beside him on the bed.

"Aunt May is flat out on the sofa so we'll have to watch the film in here, but I brought the DVD box for my laptop," he said, pulling the large, fabric holder onto his back.

"The old buzz box finally die on you?"

Peter nodded and nudged his head in the direction of the ancient-looking TV that lay crumpled under his desk. "I mean, I did find it in the dumpster so I'm not entirely surprised," he said with a shrug.

"You can choose the film. I don't have good taste."

"You like Star Wars. I call that good taste," Peter said.

After a few moments of looking, he sighed and pulled a disk out. He reached for his laptop and inserted the film, the shuffled back against the railing of the bed, laying the device on top of their legs.

"What's this?"

"The Hobbit."

"Oh, I know this one!" Eddy exclaimed as the title screen showed.

He'd read the book only a year prior- a year in his own time, at least. It must have been close to seventy years prior, in actual time, and when Eddy truly thought of anything except his sister and his friends, he could barely remember a thing. It was as if each day spent in the future, the blurrier his past became.

Though he remembered reading it, he could remember nothing of the book. The film was lost on him too, with Peter laying so close. The bags under his eyes were vague, but still there. His soap smelled of rosewood and eucalyptus, a scent so strong that Eddy inhaled it with each laboured breath. Peter's chest rose steadily, he noticed, as his head drooped slightly toward his shoulder. This was the second time he'd fallen asleep during a film.

Eddy couldn't quite blame him. Losing the internship had taken a lot out of him. He felt as if his eyes could close too and easily join him in resting, but they stayed trained don his face, on the fluttering of his eyelashes when heaved in a deeper breath or the random twitching of his nose.

He woke suddenly, head lifting from Eddy's shoulder and looking around, dazed for a moment. Peter looked down at the laptop, which had become skewed during his sleep and blushed.

"Can you see?" He asked, motioning to the film.

Eddy smiled. "The view is fine."

From then on, many such days were spent similarly, thanks to Peter's lack of internship and Eddy's lack of a crime-fighting partner. Ned almost always joined them, and it was almost always with his lego. They finished the death star in the old music room and Ned carried it all the way home the very same day, somehow keeping it all in tact. Films were watched and critiqued, many of which were just variations of Peter's favourite Star Wars films, or even very old films from when Eddy was younger. 

For that period of time, they were content as they could be. 

But as at ease as Eddy felt with Peter- and Ned, of course- he still found himself thinking of Spiderman. There was no way to find him, now that he was without the suit. Not a way that would conserve his identity, at least, and Spidey had always been sensitive about that. It was at the worst times, that he thought about him too. Peter reminded him of the boy in the red mask sometimes, though the reasons were always random. They too would spend our talking, though perched on the edge of a tall building looking over Queens with the sound of cars as a soundtrack, rather than a small bedroom with a TV playing in the background. 

Sometimes, Eddy considered asking Tony about him, but the two hadn't spoken since he confronted him about Peter's internship, and Eddy didn't feel like explaining himself, because he knew he needed to. Tony, against all expectations, had done so much for him, and it was more than he felt he deserved.

Homecoming was quickly approaching too, not that Eddy knew exactly what they were celebrating by attending it. Ned often talked about it with a smile, and in the odd time that MJ would join them, she would roll her eyes and bring a book up to her face, blocking thoughts of the dance. Peter didn't join in with the enthusiasm.

"You don't seem very excited," Eddy said as he placed down beside Peter.

Ned and MJ were arguing about some random fact about Homecoming, and for once Peter had not joined in their debate. The music room that they'd claimed as a new lunch spot, away from Flash and the rest of his group, was empty and the sound of off-tune trumpets in the room over made it hard to hear the other pair. 

"School dances have never really been my thing," he said, shaking his head. "They require a suit and partners to dance with. And no one likes seeing Flash with either."

Eddy paused for a moment before he blurted the words out, quick enough that he had no time to regret it. "Well, show me how this whole homecoming thing works, will you?" Eddy said, watching as Peter's head turned to look at him in surprise. "You may not be experienced but I want to be able to say I've been to at least one of these things in my life."

"Yeah," Peter said quickly, stuttering over his words. "I mean sure. Yeah"

They weren't going to homecoming in the sense of going together. Not really. But either way, Eddy looked forward to it. This was the type of 'getting out there' that Tony had expected. For this, his suit would stay tightly concealed in the band around his wrist. Maybe, at last, his life truly was becoming normal. 

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The hologram map flickered as Vision floated into the lab room. Eddy glanced his way, momentarily surprised by his appearance.

"I didn't think you'd still be helping, after the other day," he said. 

Vision considered him for a moment. "Yours and Mr Stark's business has nothing to do with me."

Eddy nodded thankfully and moved closer to the projections, using his hands to slide over the documents and place maps. They were so close now- far closer than he had been when working alone. Wanda would be ahppy to see them both, or at least he hoped, but it was Steve he worried about. Nothing mattered to him more than protecting those he loved, and in finding them the two could have lead those that hunted them straight to the group. But Vision had often reassured him, and if there was anyone to believe it was the synthezoid. 

"What do we do when we find them?" Eddy asked as Vision closed his eyes, running through the image in fron tof them both. 

"Well, we go to them," he said slowly. 

"Won't we lead the people they're hiding from straight to them?"

"No, I very much doubt that. I don't believe Mr Stark would let that happen," said Vision. 

"No. You're right," Eddy shaking his head. "He wouldn't."

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Just a quick one since the last update was two days ago. I hope you're all still enjoying this book! I know it's a little slow but I have so much to write about that I don't want to rush it x