By Sunlight (P.P + M.J)

36. In The Heart of The Hudson

Lunch was pretty boring without MJ. Ned was tapping away on his phone and Jack was half-asleep with his chin on his hand, probably mooning over when he accidentally collided with Gwen when she was running for the bus, sending them into a tumbling mess on the floor.

"Move it, you mammoth," she snapped at Jack as she scrambled to get off him, him staring wide-eyed at her.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled in reply as she tried to get around him. "Would've thought you to be more aware."

It was the wrong thing to say, and Peter didn't even have time to warn his friend when Gwen whirled on the lycan and grabbed his shirt collar, pulling his face close to hers. She wore a mean glare and Jack looked more mystified than scared.

"The hell did you say?" Gwen growled.

And as if he had an actual death wish, he smirked, saying, "What're you gonna do? Lose it?"

He said the words with such familiarity that Gwen's eyes widened a bit. Peter could only stare as she let go of him with a shove and backed off. She glared at him for a moment longer before turning and running around the nearest corner.

Peter hadn't asked him why she reacted that way, and Jack didn't seem to be keen on telling. The two had never interacted in school so it was weird to see that kind of tense exchange. He hoped that the werewolf wasn't forgetting himself and leaving hints about who he was to her, about his fluffy alter-ego, but he could be unpredictable at times.

The only other exciting thing that happened was when Peter had given Ned his new headset at the start of lunch, and he had gone ballistic from excitement.

"Tony Stark made this?!" Ned had questioned with a huge smile.

"United we stan," Jack had said with a reverent hand over his heart.

Ned had probably inspected it for minutes, looking at the microphone and testing the sound quality with his phone. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to get something so cool, personally handmade by Tony Stark himself. Peter would have to make sure to write Mr.Stark a thank-you note sometime soon. But Ned only put the headset away when Harry joined them.

The brown-haired boy was looking positively dreary today, and Peter kept noticing that he kept glancing over at Jack. There was something in his eye that didn't show any friendliness toward the lycan, and Peter couldn't understand why. Maybe he was intimidated by Jack, because Peter could actually understand that. The redhead was a towering, broad-shoulder figure that looked like he  bullied kids as a hobby, when in reality he was the literal definition of a gentle giant. How could anyone not love that big happy oaf?

"Okay, so check this; Nedo Calrissian," Jack suddenly said from out of the blue, spreading his hands in front of him as he showcased the invisible name. Ned looked up from his phone and frowned. "I'm thinking you could be a kind of fighter pilot or something."

"Are you talking about that weird fanfic you told me about last night?" Ned asked, and when Jack nodded, he shook his head, "And why not make me a hacker or something, like the guy from Last Jedi?"

"Or a Darth Vader fanboy like Kylo Ron, or is that too on the nose?"

"It's Ren."

"That's what I said."

"It doesn't matter, but seriously, just so we're clear, it's Ren."

"Okay, noted. I'll make you a cool Jedi who fights Kylo Hen-."

"It's Ren."

"That's what I said!"

"I refuse to be goaded into this argument again-!"