It's Not Over Yet

Ch. 9

It had taken three days to find out where May had been buried. When they finally found the location, Peter bought seven bouquets of flowers and laid them all at her grave. Tony stayed with him all day at the cemetery. He stayed back near the car while Peter sat in front of her grave and cried. He told her about what had happened in space and how he was sorry for leaving. He apologised for not being able to give her a proper funeral and for being reckless and getting himself killed. He promised to make Pepper properly punish him so May wouldn't feel like he would get away with it. After he had told her everything, he slowly got to his feet and returned to Tony.

"We can go now," he mumbled. Tony pocketed his phone and nodded. "Sorry I kept you out here for so long."

"It's alright, Peter," Tony assured him. "I didn't mind. I'm more than willing to let you have quality time with your aunt." Peter didn't respond. He stared out the window on his way back to the Tower. Unfortunately, May's grave was too far to take the subway or walk, so whenever Peter visited, he would have to have Tony, Pepper, or Happy drive him. He felt bad about making them spend so long out there just so he could talk to his aunt, but they all promised they didn't mind and were more than willing to take him.

When they arrived at the Tower, Tony told Peter he would be up in a minute. Peter nodded and got out of the car while Tony quickly texted someone. Peter trudge towards the elevator and numbly rode upstairs to the penthouse. He kicked off his shoes and stumbled into the living room. It took him a couple seconds before he processed who sat in front of him. They had both stopped talking when they saw Peter enter, but Peter didn't immediately notice them. His face lit up when he recognised the two people in front of him.

"Ned! MJ!" Peter exclaimed. They jumped up from the couch and Peter hugged them both at the same time. He struggled to put an arm around each one, but they just laughed and hugged him back. Ned was sobbing grossly when he pulled away and Peter had to release Michelle so he could properly hug Ned. The only reason he wasn't crying was because he had just spent all his tears on May. Ned didn't seem to mind that Peter wasn't crying, though. He was mainly just glad to see his best friend was alive and unharmed.

"I've missed you, man," Ned said, wiping his tears away as Peter pulled away.

"I missed you too," he said. He was about to hug Ned again, but Michelle pushed her way forward and hugged Peter. Even she was teary eyed as she threw her arms around Peter. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and let out a laugh that sounded more like a sob.

"You're so stupid," she told him. Peter bit his lip as his body decided he was no longer out of tears. He buried his face in her hair and gripped her tighter.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. Michelle trembled as she hugged Peter. She was the first to pull away, but she only pulled back far enough she could see his face. Peter removed one arm from her waist so he could wipe her cheeks and she laughed softly. She grabbed his face and kissed him. Peter was shocked, but immediately kissed back. They only pulled away when Ned cleared his throat awkwardly.

"You didn't tell me you were gonna kiss him," Ned told Michelle. She glared at him and Peter smiled. He glanced back at the elevator as it dinged to see Tony walked out. He winked at Peter and walked down the hall to his bedroom, giving Peter and his friends some space while they were reunited. It had taken Tony a couple of days to find them, but once he did, he had immediately invited them to the Tower to see Peter.

"How have you guys been?" Peter asked. He stilled had one arm around Michelle who kept her arms loosely draped around his neck.

"Gonna be honest, these past two years sucked," Ned said. When Peter asked how, he shrugged. "Thanos made my mom disappear so I had to move in with my dad who lives in Brooklyn." Peter nodded. He knew Ned's parents were divorced and Ned didn't necessarily take his dad's side in the divorce. "But mom's back now, so that's nice."

"What about you?" Peter asked Michelle. She scoffed.

"It's been hell," she answered. "My dad was killed by the Dark Order or whatever they call themselves and my mom disappeared as well. I was left to take care of my younger siblings. Thankfully, Ned's dad gave us a place to live."

"Sounds like it sucked," Peter said. Michelle and Ned both nodded.

"What about you, superhero?" Michelle asked. Peter didn't even want to start thinking about that again. Instead, he removed himself from Michelle's arms and walked into the kitchen.

"Do you guys want food?" he asked. He opened the fridge and pulled out a container full of the leftover strawberries. "Mr. Stark cut up a lot of strawberries for breakfast this morning and we have a ton of leftovers. We also have pancakes and eggs from breakfast." Michelle and Ned exchanged looks, very aware of what Peter was trying to do but neither wanting to force him to talk.

"Do you have cheese and bread?" Michelle asked, walking into the kitchen. Peter nodded. "Good. I could really go for a grilled cheese. Haven't had one of those in a while." Peter grinned and pulled out the bread, cheese, and butter. Ned joined them in the kitchen, sitting on a stool at the counter while Peter started up the stove so the frying pan could heat up. Michelle buttered the bread and Peter put the sandwiches together then fried them. All the while, Ned and Michelle informed him what happened with the schools (they had pretty much stopped once Thanos attacked) and what all had happened in New York. Peter was mostly distressed about the school thing, wondering what that meant for college.

"Oh please," Ned said. "Colleges are just giving basic tests. You do have to be 18, though, and they do look at your previous records if they can find them."

"Most colleges aren't running yet, though," Michelle said. She grabbed three small plates and Peter put a sandwich on each one. "The ones that are aren't very good. I think I'm just gonna wait to apply until they have good colleges back up and the education is actually good."

"She's waiting for Harvard," Ned whispered loudly. Michelle rolled her eyes and Peter chuckled.

"Well, now that Thanos is gone, things are going to be getting back to normal, right?" Peter asked. He took a bite of his sandwich as Ned nodded.

"They should, anyway," Ned said.