It was now the next morning. Peter and Ajax had studied and started typing up their report and he walked her home as usual. She fell asleep with the largest smile on her face, nothing else mattering. But, the smile was gone now, her phone nuzzled between her shoulder and her ear as she talked to Asshat.

"I need a note for gym."

"What for?" He asks.

"Let's not do this. You said call if I need something and I need a note for gym." Ajax says as she locates her shoes.

"Is something going on?" He asks.

"No." Ajax answers.

"Did you do something?"

"No."

"It's like talking to a brick wall." He mumbles. "Why do you need the note?"

Ajax groans as she stands from her bed and slides her backpack onto her shoulders. "Okay, yeah I did something but it's not what you think and I just need a note, alright? I'm asking for help and you said yourself that's the first step. I could hang up and say fuck it."

"I can't write you a note unless you tell me why."

"You always wanna butt in and help and now that I'm asking, you don't want to?" Ajax retorts as she heads to her kitchen.

"Listen," His voice grows stern with the demanding word. "I'm not just going to write you notes-"

"Oh my god." Ajax cuts him off with a groan. "I burned myself and Peter saw it and it's gonna look real fucking weird if I show up to gym today and it looks a hundred times better than it should, right? So unless you wanna start explaining to him why I go from blistering to-"

"How the hell did you burn yourself?"

"Art." She answers shortly, grabbing the large container of goldfish and a plastic baggie.

"Art? Seriously?" His voice laces with accusations.

"Yeah, but not like you'd give a shit about it. Look it up. You use gunpowder or smoke."

He sighs on the other end of the phone, fingers squeezing the bridge of his nose. "Alright, I'll pick you up."

"Uh, no? People are gonna see. I don't need them knowing I know you, alright? Bad enough to teachers and office know." Ajax rolls her eyes as she finishes pouring the goldfish into the bag.

"Why are you so difficult?" The question was rhetorical but Ajax had to answer.

"I'm a teenager. It's what I do. It's basically in my job description. And you're not exactly the easiest person to get along with either. So," She grabs her keys from her pocket and heads for the door. "what's your excuse?"

"I'll get it dropped off at the office."

"Thanks." She responds before hanging the phone up and exiting her home, locking the door behind her.

Ajax's original plan was ditch out on gym one day and then dress the rest of the week. She knew her arm would heal far quicker than it should and it wouldn't draw hardly any attention but, then she just had to take off her hoodie. Peter would be watching, making sure she was okay. Barely knowing him, Ajax already knew he was hoverer. For once, she was grateful to have Asshat.

Ajax gets to school and follows her routine. She goes to her locker, ditches a few of her things and then makes her way to the hall for english. On her way, she spots Ned, Gwen, and Peter by Ned's locker just as they were the day before. They notice her and smile, allowing Ajax to feel welcomed to talk to them before getting to class.

"Hey." Ned greets while Gwen sends a kind smile.

"Hey." Ajax smiles. "Hey, Peter."

"Uh, hey." Peter gives her a timid smile with soft eyes.

"What's up?" She asks.

"Not wanting to deal with Mr. Right's rants." Ned jokes.

"Honestly." Ajax rolls her eyes. "Think we'll get lucky and have a sub?"

"Doubtful."

"He isn't that bad." Peter says.

Ajax and Ned quirk their brows before nodding.

"Dude, he's horrible." Ned scoffs. "But, I should probably head that way." Ned looks to Peter, the softest smirk resting on his face. "See you there," Ned's smirk turns to a kind smile as he shuts his locker. "C'mon, Gwen." Ned gestures for Gwen to follow and the hesitation is evident in the wrinkles across her forehead but she follows anyway, leaving Peter and Ajax to themselves.

"What's that about?" Ajax asks, pointing her thumb over her shoulder to Gwen and Ned.

"No idea." Peter shakes his head.

Silence consumes Ajax and Peter. They were fine the night before but it felt a bit awkward. There was a sense that he had a million questions, and he did, but he didn't know how to ask a single one. He feared of overstepping and it was becoming evident in the growing silence. Ajax, on the other hand, knew the answer to the main question she wanted to ask but that wasn't something she was going to deal with at school.

"Uh, I should probably head that way with Ned." Ajax glances to her feet and back to Peter.

Peter shakes his head, "Uh, is, is your arm okay?"

"Yeah." Ajax nods, glancing to her left arm and back to Peter's caramel eyes.

"I, yeah, I just wanted to make sure." Peter gives a timid smile.

"Thanks, Peter." Ajax blushes and pushes a strand of hair behind her ear.

Peter watches the movement and realizes she always does it whenever he says something nice or thanks him or does something kind. This is what she meant by paying attention. Looking at people's mannerisms and figuring them out that way, that's how she knows about the quizzes. It's so much more than just a tell. But, what Ajax doesn't know, is that Peter knew how to do it already. He's not some socialite that talks to people and gets to know them. He watches, observes, mental notes them to figure them out. Peter was just always too focused on Spider-Man or someone else to actually be worrying about teachers..

He shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. "You don't have to thank me."

"Yeah," She takes in a deep breath as she bites her bottom lip. "I do." She squints her eyes as the corner of her mouth tugs up. "I do have to, uh, ya know, go or I'll be late." She chuckles softly.

"Right, right, sorry. I was just checking." Peter nods and allows Ajax to head off, but not before a few seconds of silence between the two, this time, comfortable.

Once Ajax was seated in her normal seat in English, Ned flashed her a cheerful smile. She couldn't help but wonder how he seemed so happy this early in the morning. Even Peter looked completely exhausted and Ajax was ready to pass out right then and there.

"Hey." Ned greets.

"Hey." Ajax smiled. "Can I ask you something?" Ajax asks bluntly.

"Sure." Ned shrugs, turning to face Ajax as the bell rings.

"Peter has an internship with Tony Stark?"

Ned furrows his brows. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, he's had it awhile now. Why?" Ned's eyes squint with the counter.

"Gwen mentioned it. Seems weird is all." Ajax shrugs as she passes her homework to the front.

"What do you mean?"

"He's twitchy and stuttery and kind of seems like a nervous wreck. He comes to school covered in bruises half the time. Not saying he's lying, just think it's weird and now, he can study with me after school but he can't make time for Gwen? Like, am I missing something?"

Ajax has been observing him from afar but he never seemed this bad. And, if she were honest, if Peter were an intern for the Tony Stark, there's no way he could be a nervous wreck all the time. That meant he was lying or it was her. Unless, of course, she was missing a bigger piece of the puzzle. Nonetheless, she was going to figure it out.

Ned chews on his lip. "Nope. That's just Peter." He shrugs with a rough sigh. "He's got stuff going on; the internship makes him a bit weird is all."

"What? Stark putting him through some shit or something?" Ajax quipped.

"Actually," Ned starts. "Kind of, yeah."

Ajax stares Ned over, furrowed brows and confused eyes. "Sorry," She shakes her head. "Not trying to give you the third degree. I just don't want to come in the middle of a friendship or whatever is going on between them."

Ned chuckles with the apology. "You're not and they're friends. I would know." Ned scoffs.

"Okay." Ajax chuckles before turning her attention to the front of the class.

The class went by, this time their teacher mostly focused on A Tale Of Two Cities, the book they were actually supposed to be reading. Ajax hated the book personally but she was happy that she was at least learning something.

Gym rolled around and Ajax found herself being brought to the office in the locker room. The note had been dropped off and it excused her the entire week. All the note said was that it was a personal issue and the school just accepted it because of Asshat. Ajax was off to the library the second her teacher stopped talking.

However, that left Peter. While in the gymnasium, Peter scanned students and noticed Ajax was again not there. He sighed and knew it was because of her burn. Ned, on the other hand, didn't know and decided to question on if Peter knew why she was suddenly bailing on gym, even him knowing it was out of character.

"Why do you think I would know?" Peter asks as he tosses basketballs into the hoop.

"You talk to her, don't you?" Ned rolls his eyes, missing his shot.

"Yeah, but, but why does that mean I'd know?"

"I was just asking." Ned shrugs, turned off by Peter's defensive tone.

"She probably just has a lot of schoolwork or something and is using gym to catch up." Peter suggests, bringing his tone back down as he makes a basket.

"She had a note." Gwen states as she walks up to the boys, standing behind the basket to catch the balls.

"Really?" Peter asks.

"Uh, yeah?" Gwen shrugs. "Why're you surprised?"

"N-no reason." Peter brushes it off, Ned rolling his eyes.

"Maybe you're right then, dude. Maybe Ajax has school work and she got her parents to write her a note."

Peter's mouth went dry with the mention of her parents. He left out that detail when talking about her to Ned. He felt as though it wasn't his place to share. Ajax didn't say anything besides that about her home and while they talked for hours, she never mentioned anything about her uncle. Peter was sometimes dense and absolutely horrendous at taking hints but even he knew it wouldn't be the best idea to bring up any of her personal life; even with his best friends that wouldn't tell a soul.

"Yeah, yeah, probably." Peter tosses a basketball and it goes into the hoop, Gwen stepping forward and tossing it back to him.

Gym came to an end and Peter, Ned, and Gwen were making their way to the lunchroom together as they did every other day. The three of them stood in line and got their lunches before taking their usual seats. That's when Peter saw Ajax again.

She was just as pretty as she was before first hour. She looked cheery, happy, basically like the sun might as well had been revolving around her instead of her revolving around it. Extraordinary, truly, her getting Peter to block out everything around him by just walking into a room and not even realizing it.

She reached the table, sitting right beside Gwen as she pulled out her usual bag of goldfish with a water.

"Hey." She greets the table, but only really looks at Peter, the gold specks being extra prominent today; only making her heart skip a beat.

"Ho-how was class?" Peter asks.

"Good, finished up my drawing so hey." Ajax shrugs.

"Is that what you were doing during gym?" Ned questions.

"Yeah, working on some stuff for colleges already so I got my uncle to write me a note saying I hurt my ankle or whatever." Ajax lies once more but her voice holds steady and everyone takes her word, besides Peter but he stays quiet for obvious reasons.

"Were you working on the skyline?" Gwen questions, her brows knitted together.

"Oh, no." Ajax shakes her head. "That can wait for class when I'm forced into doing it." The girls laugh simultaneously.

"What were you drawing?" Peter now takes his turn to ask the question.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Ajax muses as she pulls out her sketchbook.

Ajax happily shows off her work but only when it's finished. Normally, she's not nervous because she knows it's good. She can draw her ass off and she knows it but showing Peter even her finished work was found to be a bit nerve-wracking. Peter didn't know art, he knew computers but to Ajax, he could still judge and hate it.

Art, it speaks for itself but it always speaks more about the artist themselves than anyone else. Everyone interrupts art differently but the artist, it's their vision, the most important one, sometimes even a sacred one and Ajax was more than aware of it. So, what if Peter saw the same thing she did?

She opened her sketchbook to reveal a black and grey Níðhöggr of Scandinavia. Peter looked it over as Ned leaned over to take a look for himself. The dragon had its teeth showing, ready to start coming after anything that came near. The World Tree sat in the background, almost completely overshadowed by the detailed work in the dragon.

"Badass." Ned says, a large smile covering his face as he nods to Ajax with approval.

Ajax nods, giving him a sincere smile but moving her stare right back to Peter, waiting for him to say anything. Does he get it? Was he even paying attention that day when they learned about Norse mythology? Part of Ajax wanted to punch herself for even showing him. Of course, he got it and she hated that. But, then again, what if he did get it? What if he gets it and he'll be her open ear? Endless possibilities all behind a dragon and a tree.

"Thi-this is really cool." Peter says, his eyes just barely glancing at Ajax before his stare goes back to the artwork, his fingers wanting to brush over the lines. "I-I mean you're, you're really talented."

It was true. Peter genuinely liked the art piece. It was blatantly obvious Ajax put a lot of time and effort into it, she put herself into it and it was in every single stroke of the pencil. However, this was the second piece of art she'd shown him and the first was a fire tornado and now a dark dragon. She had a thing for things that cause disasters, why? That wasn't a question he was going to ask, however, not yet.

"I really like it." Peter gives Ajax a cornered smile before sliding her sketchbook to Gwen.

A wave of relief floods over Ajax. "Thanks." She blushes as she looks to the table.

"Damn," Gwen says. "It's like it's gonna jump off the page. This is for college?" Gwen pulls her eyes from the drawing to look to Ajax.

"Yeah," Ajax nods, not really sure why she's even sending in stuff for college already.

"So, you want to be an artist?" Gwen asks before Peter could.

Ajax licks her lips, looking to Peter before turning her attention back to Gwen. "Nah, network and security is kinda my thing."

"Any school in mind?" Ned asks, dipping his chicken strip in his mashed potatoes.

Ajax is silent for a few seconds, locking eyes with Peter. Another lie. "MIT. Always been the dream school. The artwork is just for backups." Despite her distaste for talking about herself, Ajax knew it'd look weird if she completely dodged their questions all the time; it was simply easier to lie.

With that, the rest of lunch passed by with ease and the group found themselves falling back into their daily routine. In history, they weren't to work in partners yet again, both Ajax and Peter finding themselves disappointed they'd have to pay attention in class instead of spending the class period with each other. But, before either of them knew it, they were sitting in mythology and the bell was ringing for the end of the day.

Peter met Ajax at the steps and this time, she allowed him to pick what they listened to but Peter turned on Ajax's recently played, not wanting to mess with their routine of listening to her music. This time, May ordered Thai food for everyone and Ajax still enjoyed her meal. It was better than the usual microwavable soups and pastas, not to mention she'd never had Thai before.

After dinner, as the new normal, Peter walked Ajax home, his spidey suit covered by his clothing. The walk consisted of their normal conversation and music humming just above the rumble of car engines that would occasionally pass. Before they could say their goodbyes, however, Ajax took this as her chance to ask about Tony, assuming she wouldn't be cut off this time.

"Hey, so, you know Tony Stark?" Ajax quirks a brow as her hands are dug deep into her pockets.

"Uh, what makes you think that?" Peter questions, his heart picking up and him shifting his gaze to her apartment complex behind her.

"Gwen and Ned." Ajax narrows her eyes, confused why working alongside Tony would be something he wouldn't be too open to talking about. Most people, teenagers at Midtown, love the idea of Tony. They'd kill for an internship but Peter is standing in front of Ajax less than enthused.

"Oh, well, yeah." Peter shrugs one shoulder. "I've got an internship."

"What do you do?" Ajax watches Peter shift in his shoes, a clear tell he was thinking of anything to either drop the conversation or avoid the actual question.

"Ya know, intern stuff. Run errands."

"Doesn't he have people to do that for him?"

Peter chews his bottom lip, hating that he had to lie. "Yeah, but I do it, too. There's multiple people. Why?"

"Just weird. He's a billionaire. Why is he having a teenager intern?" Ajax crosses her arms, not buying a word that comes from Peter's mouth. She knew better but Peter had no idea. "It's not that I don't think you're not smart enough or capable or anything, it just seems a bit weird."

"I don't know." Peter shrugs, looking to the ground as his voice goes a little deeper. "He tells me to do stuff for him and I do it."

"You know," Ajax sighs. "If there's something going on, you can tell me. I mean." She scoffs. "Who am I gonna tell?"

"There's nothing to tell." Peter raises his eyebrows with the soft shake of his head.

"Okay," Ajax nods, her face softening. "Well," She gives him a kind smile, dropping the questions. "I've gotta head inside. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Peter nods, smiling.

"Bye, Peter." Ajax takes a few steps off the sidewalk. "Peter Parker." She smirks before looking both ways and crossing the street leaving Peter half confused and half paranoid.

She was onto him. He knew it but didn't know how. Gwen didn't know he was Spider-Man and he knew Ned would never tell anyone. Based on how secretive Ajax was about her home life, she wouldn't badger anyone if they told her to drop it. She was persistent but not a bother and Ned isn't someone who just budges. Not to mention, if Ajax mentioned anything, Ned would have told Peter. And yet, Peter knew Ajax was onto his internship. He just didn't understand how.

Peter followed his usual 'friendly neighborhood Spider-Man' routine before making his way back towards Ajax's building, just as he did every other day to retrieve his discarded clothing. This time was a little different, however.

He kneeled on the roof of the building, taking notice in the light shining from ajax's room, her curtains tugged open. Who Peter presumed to be her uncle, was hovering over her, yelling with a red face, Ajax glaring with closed fists as if she were ready to swing.

"Peter, it's not right to spy." Karen says in Peter's ear.

"I'm not spying." Peter insists. "I'm just checking on her."

"Shouldn't you call her to tell her?" Karen offers.

"No, no," Peter squints to get a better look inside of Ajax's room. "She's busy."

"Peter, maybe you should go home."

"I can't just leave." Peter defends, watching the argument unfold but not hearing a bit of it.

"May is going to be worried if you stay, Peter."

"She'll understand." Peter shrugs and just as he does, Ajax moves to her window, her face full of rage and touches of fear before she rips the curtains closed. Peter sighs as he drops his head. "Fine." He says before removing his mask.

He slides his clothes over his suit and stuffs his mask in his pocket before climbing down from the building and heading home, Ajax on his mind the entire way as usual but this time his heart falling worried. Of course, he didn't know the context of the argument and everyone argues. He gets along well with May but they still argue now and again but something didn't sit right with Peter over what he saw. Maybe it was the look Ajax held or maybe it was the look her uncle had, his face contorted with disgust and his eyes bloodshot. He looked a mess where Ajax looked...she looked a bit hopeless behind the fury. Of everything, Peter wouldn't expect to see that one emotion. So, he did what a friend does. He got home, said his goodnight to May, and laid his bed, the phone pressed to his ear.

"Hello?" Ajax's voice rings through Peter's ears.

"He-hey." Peter says.

"Is everything okay?" She asks, her voice holding concern.

"Oh, yeah yeah." Peter says quickly. "Uh," He stutters, realizing he didn't have a reason to call.

He couldn't tell her he saw her fighting with her uncle. First of all, he would sound like a stalker and second, that would lead to him either having to lie about Spider-Man or telling her, both of which he didn't want to do so, he said the first thing that came to his head. "Just, I, uh, had a question."

"Okay," Ajax chuckles as she found herself leaning against the wall to her fire escape, an open bottle of green apple Smirnoff sitting beside her.

"Uh, why-why do you draw disastrous things?" Peter asks hesitantly before immediately not letting her answer. "I-I mean, the tornado and dragon and stuff. Was that wrong to ask?"

Ajax sighs but gives him a soft laugh, her closing her eyes. "It's okay." She looks below her where a car speeds by and she questions why it would matter if she told Peter that one thing.

"I'm sorry." Peter says.

"Do you ever feel like you're surrounded by disaster? Like, maybe not literally but metaphorically?" Ajax takes a sip from the bottle with the question.

"Sometimes, yeah." Peter finds himself resting an arm behind his head as he tries to get comfortable to fully listen to what Ajax was going to say.

"You do?" She questions, her voice louder than usual.

"Uh, well, yeah," Peter shrugs.

"Do," Ajax pauses, biting her lip but finding herself desperate to have someone to listen. "Do you ever think it's your fault even if you know it's not?"

"Yeah," Peter furrows his brows feeling a pang in his heart.

He was Spider-Man, of course he was surrounded by disaster, metaphorically and literally. They were his fault sometimes even and the stuff he couldn't stop for one reason or another, he found himself blaming himself for. But, what the hell could Ajax feel guilty about?

"Really?" Ajax voices lifts with hope, someone gets it.

"Uh, yeah. It's uh, yeah."

"Can I ask why?"

"Well," Peter sighs, chewing the inside of his lip. "I was out late and my uncle was, uh, he went looking for me. If I was home, he, well," Peter stammers as he shakes his head. "He would have been home but he wasn't so he was wrong place wrong time."

"I'm really sorry, Peter." Ajax's voice falls quiet, realizing not only was Peter parentless like her but he really didn't have anyone besides May. He held some of the same guilt she did.

"It's okay." Peter mumbles, not wanting to talk about his Uncle Ben. "What about you?" Peter questions.

"I don't know." Ajax furrows her brows. "I think,I think that if, maybe, if I wasn't me, my dad would still be here and if maybe my dad were still here, everything would be different and my mom would be here and, I don't know. Just, it seems like bad things happen a lot."

In that moment of vulnerability, Peter wished more than anything he had climbed up her fire escape and knocked on her window. He wished he had done something because it was clear the only reason she was talking is because her argument with her uncle sparked her thoughts. She needed someone to confide in and her uncle was not that person. Peter had May. He had Ned. Ajax, she had no one, not to her anyway and not that Peter knew of.

"Yikes," Ajax says. "That got a bit dark, sorry." ajax shakes her head with a soft cough. "I guess that's why I draw disaster, they're fascinating."

"Uh, I, I know that we haven't been friends even a week, but, you-you can talk to me...if you want."

Ajax's heart fills with gratitude. Peter was too kind and she knew it. "Thank you, Peter."

"You-"

"Don't have to thank you." Ajax laughs, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah," Peter chuckles, his cheeks turning bright red. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Ajax answers, the lingering argument held with her uncle weighing on her but her answer felt genuine. Peter helped. His voice helped and the little chuckles felt like heart throbbing guitar riffs in her favorite song so yeah, she was okay.

"Okay." Peter says, him not really wanting to end the conversation.

"Hey, Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you stay on the phone with me for a little while? I know we have school and stuff...but, uh," She shakes her head. "I like talking to you."

"You do?" Peter asks, his heart now soaring with her words.

"Yeah, you're different from other people."

"Okay." Peter answer, the largest smile splitting his face. "So," Peter thinks of something far lighter to talk about. "Are you ready to watch Harry Potter? Because you have to be ready, it's, it's like a big deal."

Ajax tosses her head back with laughter. Peter closed his eyes, only for a second, with the sound of her laugh, like a symphony being played in the Symphony Hall in Boston. God, was he falling.

"You are so lame, Peter Parker." Ajax says between laughing. "Will I be sorted into a house by the end?" Ajax muses and Peter can't help himself but play along.

"The cunning go to Slytherin. The wise to Ravenclaw. The loyal belong in Hufflepuff. The brave in Gryffindor." Peter says in a sing-song voice, Ajax finding him endlessly endearing despite her having no idea who or what he was quoting. "That's not really in the movies but yeah, you're gonna be sorted. Gwen makes everyone take the quiz."

"Which house?" Ajax laughs.

Peter thinks for a second. "Not telling you. I wanna know which one you like most first."

"I don't think that's how it works!"

"Yeah!" Peter exclaims. "Not Slytherin, not slytherin. Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that — no? Well, if you're sure — better be GRYFFINDOR!" Peter mimics the British accent flawlessly as he directly quotes the first film.

Ajax's jaw falls open and she immediately start laughing again. "Okay, you're a nerd."

"But you laughed." Peter bites his lip.

"Yeah, yeah I did." Ajax voice falls genuinely with adornment. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

With Ajax's words, Peter pulls the phone away from his head, looking at the screen with wide eyes as he hears Ajax laughing on the other end and then it hits him. "Why? Are you seducible?"

"Peter Parker, knows A Walk To Remember?"

"May's had me watch it a few times, yeah." Peter admits, so happy Ajax wasn't there to see just how red his face had grown

"You're..." Ajax starts, moving her stare to the sky where she wishes she could see the constellations decorating the sky. "You're incredible."