sunday 26th of june 2016

MASON PURNELL WOKE UP TO THE SMELL OF SOMETHING BURNING.

He threw back his covers and jumped out of bed, his feet only just missing his (J.D's) bunny slippers. He ran out of his room, expecting to see flames everywhere, but it was just two charcoal black pieces of toast still sitting in the machine. He heard the patter of Belle's feet behind him, and he smiled down at her before looking around the apartment.

"Herb?" Mason called out, and jumped when his Uncle burst out the bathroom, swearing and running towards the kitchen.

"Shit!" He yelled. "Where's your sister? She usually takes care of the toast."

"She's still at Michelle's." Mason lied, and Herb groaned.

"We're gonna need a damn change of address card for that kid." He grumbled. "I won't be seeing her till two weeks Thursday anyway."

"Oh yeah." Mason groaned, hanging his head. "I forgot you were going to D.C."

"She's the one that usually remembers that as well." Herb pointed out. "Then you help pack, but we both forgot because she's probably on crack somewhere in Manhattan."

Mason laughed aloud, ignoring the aching pain in his chest. He bent down and picked up his puppy, pressing a kiss to her head. It had been a few days and he was comforted every time she was in the room. Dogs do that to you.

"Well, I guess I'll have to grab a bite on the way to the airport." The middle-aged man sighed, grabbing his coffee flask and glasses case. "Can you bin that toast for me?"

"Yeah, sure." Mason said, watching in amusement as his uncle ran around. "Got everything?"

"I think so." Herb muttered, standing in the centre of the living room and scratching his chin. He counted off things on his fingers and then sighed, walking up to Mason. Pulling the teenager into a hug, he chuckled. "You sure you're gonna be able to hold down the fort?"

"Yeah, Belle'll protect me." Mason joked, and Herb scoffed, patting the dog's head and grabbing his suitcase handle, his coffee in his other hand. "See ya on Thursday."

"See ya, Mase. Get J.D to call me when she gets home. I texted her this morning but she hasn't replied yet." Herb called as he walked towards the already open door. "I'll be back around nine in a couple weeks, okay?"

"Okay." Mason responded, and watched as his Uncle retreated. The door shut, and Mason sighed. "Love you."

Belle yapped, and Mason glanced down at her with a soft smile. "How bout we get you some food and visit J.D?"

+++

THE FIRST THING J.D FELT WAS WARMTH.

It was all over her face, her neck and her arms. She stirred slightly and her lips parted a bit as she released a breath. Her head nodded a little to the side as she struggled to push her eyelids open. She groaned as she finally managed to open her eyes and squinted from the blinding light streaming in through the window.

A faint whining made her look to her other side when her vision cleared. At first she thought she was seeing things, that there wasn't a golden puppy on her lap. Her fingers twitched as she tried to move, wanting to touch it and see if it was really there.

When she gained more feeling in her upper half, she reached out towards it and touched its head softly. The puppy jumped, and J.D smiled as it sniffed her fingers and licked her hand. "Hi there."

When she spoke it felt like her throat was on fire. Her voice was raw and hoarse, and brought tears to her eyes from the instant pain. She closed her mouth again and stroked the puppy, who happily wagged its tail.

The puppy stood up and climbed onto her chest, sitting on her ribcage. J.D ignored the scorching pain in her upper half and ran her fingers through the dog's fur, smiling slightly. There wasn't anyone else in the room....wait...where was she?

She looked over at the gazillion machines she was plugged into and scoffed. She was at Stark's place.

Sighing, she released one hand from the puppy and pressed the red button next to her bed, waiting patiently for someone to arrive. She didn't actually know what was going on, all she knew was that she had awoken in a strange place in a lot of pain and there was a puppy on her lap who seemed quite friendly.

The door suddenly burst open and she pursed her lips when a doctor and two nurses entered, followed by Tony Stark, Peter and Mason. She felt her heart fall when the puppy was taken from her arms and handed to her brother, and sighed softly as she was violently interrogated.

"Are you feeling drowsy? Are you in pain? Do you feel feverish?" The nurse questioned, and J.D didn't reply, she just lay back and swallowed, before grimacing in pain.

"Can you talk?" Mason asked from behind the nurse's shoulder, his head poking through. J.D shook her head softly, and her twin cleared his throat. "Why don't you guys interrogate my sister when she can actually reply?"

J.D let out a pained whine when the doctor prodded her legs. He noticed the reaction and tried moving the entire leg, and she screamed in agony, tears rushing down her cheeks.

"Stop it!" She heard Peter yell.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tony muttered, waving the doctor away. He looked down at J.D with a frown. "Sorry bout that, kid. They're just doing their job."

J.D squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the searing pain shooting from her legs to her fingers. "Ouch."

"No kidding." Mason scoffed, before he sat down in the chair on her left side. He hesitantly reached over and touched J.D's hand softly. "It's good to see you awake."

J.D's watery eyes flickered to her brother, and her bottom lip trembled as she stared at his tired face. There were giant bags underneath his eyes and his hair was a mess. "Do you hate me?"

Mason shushed her softly, smiling gently. "You're a dumbass. You are a fucking stupid idiot that runs around turning invisible and shooting force field bubbles like a superhero. You risked your life for so many people, including mine. You've been kidnapped twice, illegally experimented on, shot and probably a whole lot of other intense shit I'd rather not know. You've lied to me, hid stuff from me and you won't let me be a good brother. But I could never, ever hate you. Never."

J.D was sick of crying.

She let her brother wipe her eyes as she wept, and she studied his face carefully. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

"Stop talking." He ordered, and she rolled her eyes, but obeyed anyway. Mason sighed, holding her hand in his. "I don't know when I was gonna find out, but I'm glad I know that you're saving lives instead of doing drugs when you sneak out at night."

J.D scoffed, before averting her gaze to the dog on his lap. Mason noticed her looking and he grinned.

"This is Belle, she's my new dog." He said, and J.D's jaw dropped.

"How the fuck-" She began, but was silenced when Tony stepped forward.

"As much as I enjoy watching you two mingle and make me lose faith in your entire generation," he looked down at J.D, "we need to get you in for a CAT scan."

"Why?" Peter asked, and Tony groaned.

"I don't know if you geniuses noticed, but she's been subject to severe tissue, bone and possible nerve damage, and we don't know the how bad it is until we check." Tony grumbled, and the two teenage boys made sounds of realisation.

"I'll leave you guys to talk while I set it up, don't let her die." The billionaire called, exiting the room and searching for someone to talk to.

"I wish I could have lots of money and be a cocky but nice asshole like him." Mason mused, causing both J.D and Peter to smile. The twin brother looked between the both of them and chuckled. He slowly stood up, leaned down, pressed a kiss to J.D's head, then walked to the door. "I'll let you two confess your love to each other, see you in a minute."

The door shut and Peter looked back at the girl in the hospital bed, rocking on his heels.

J.D watched him, taking note of his actions and posture. She tilted her head and smiled softly. "Pete?"

Peter's eyes snapped to her. "Yeah?"

J.D was silent for a moment, feeling her heart hammering in her chest. This made Peter tense slightly too, as the heart monitor sped up.

"Are you okay?" He asked, stepping forward. "D-Do you need anything?"

J.D let out a shaky breath, staring at the boy in front of her. She wanted to say something to him, but she didn't know how, or how he would take it.

"J.D?" Peter rushed to the side of her bed, his hand lingering over the red button.

"I'm fine." She whispered, and stared at her fingers. "I-I just wanted to say something."

"Yeah?"

"I, uh,"

"What?"

"Um, well,"

"You can tell me anything."

"Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up for a second, please."

Peter smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, continue."

J.D's sighed deeply and looked at him from the corner of her eye. She groaned in irritation. It was now or never, right? "I love you too."

She watched Peter nervously, waiting for his reaction.

First, he was smiling, then it fell. Then, he was staring at her in shock.

Then he was grinning.

He covered his mouth with his hand and laughed. His face tinted pink and he was smiling so big his cheeks looked like Royal Gala apples. His eyes crinkled at the sides and he seemed so ecstatic it was uplifting to see. He pulled his hands from his face and revealed his huge beam. "Really?"

J.D laughed, though it hurt to do so. "Yeah."

Peter, who was still smiling, leaned forward, and J.D's heart stopped (not literally).

Just as their lips brushed, the door swung open and Peter quickly snapped back.

"Sorry to walk in on your almost make-out session." Tony quipped. "We need to get your girlfriend in for a CAT scan."

"S-She's not--" Peter began, but there were already two nurses helping J.D get comfortable to move down the hall.

J.D felt herself become lightheaded as the bed was wheeled out of the room. Lights whooshed as they rolled through the compound.

"Do you want Mason or Peter to be in there with you?" Tony asked, and she shook her head.

"I'll be okay." She muttered, and felt a weight on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the middle aged man staring down at her. She smiled slightly through the pain she felt. "Thanks for all you've done, Mr. Stark."

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but when nothing came out he patted her shoulder and stopped walking with the bed, just standing by and watching it disappear.

"She'll be okay, right?" Mason asked, holding Belle in his arms. "She had that healing thing."

"I think so." Tony replied, his arms folded. "All we can do is hope now, I guess."

oh shit hi

oh shit short chapter

oh shit feelings were confessed

oh shit jesters happenin up in here

sorry for being slack in updating this book i had highkey writers block and it suCKS

so here's a pretty ick chapter to make up for it :-)

*unedited*