|•| Black & Blue |•|

<|• Four •|>

In the afternoon Peter was feeling a lot better. His healing factor had kicked in and it had already cleared up his concussion. Gwen and Miles had come by and checked him out, they diagnosed him the best they could. Venom had given him two broken ribs and the bruises were clear to everyone. Nothing else was wrong.

Harry had left him a few voicemails but Peter didn't have the heart to call him back. He couldn't listen to Harry gripe about Spiderman, not after what he went through today. Aunt May had given him her famous best stew and then sent him back up to his room for bed rest. He was going to protest but figured it would be best if he didn't.

Once he got to his bed he sits with his back propped up against the wall and a blanket wrapped around him. Grabbing his phone, he sees all the worried messages from Harry and the encouraging hopes of return from his friends. Clicking on Harry's contact he brings the phone up to his ear and listens to the monotone ringing before Harry's voice picks up on the other end.

"Oh my God, Pete, you had me worried! You weren't answering my calls or texts." Harry begins to say frantically into the phone, "I thought maybe you got hurt or something in that fight downtown this morning."

Acting oblivious to keep his identity a secret he says, "There was a fight? What do you mean?"

"It was all over the news. How could you have not seen?" Harry asks he thought this was a little odd for his friend. He loved Spiderman. Or that's how he made it seem.

Peter let's out a small sigh before replying, "Sorry, I've been on bed rest all day Aunt Mays' orders. I wasn't feeling well this morning."

"Oh, " Harry replied somewhat shocked, "I hope you get to feeling better. You just really scared me."

"I'm alright, Harry." Peter replies. He couldn't help but say this next part even though it was eating him up inside. He hated lying to him, "I haven't left the house all morning."

"Okay, well I'll let you sleep." He replies in a soft tone that made goosebumps form on Peter's skin. "Goodnight Peter."

Peter said his farewell and the two hung up. Harry didn't want to worry Peter about his internal struggle about whether or not Spiderman could be trusted or not. Just by talking to him on the phone Harry could tell Peter needed his rest.

In the morning Peter was feeling a heck of a lot better than he did yesterday. He was pretty sure his ribs were almost all the way healed, but his bruises were going to need to take a few days depending on how much rest he got. After getting dressed he threw his book bag over his head and traveled downstairs. Aunt May was waiting for him in the kitchen, she knew he'd end up going to school today.

"I'm just going to say this. I really hope you take it easy today." Aunt May tells him while handing him his lunch.

Walking out the door he pulls out his phone and shoots Harry a text asking him if he wanted to meet up for breakfast. As he entered the bustling part if New York his phone went off. Harry had texted him back, "Sorry, can't make it. Needed at the lab."

Harry's text was short and Peter thought that was weird. He quickly dismissed it and continued walking to their favorite place to eat, Cup O Joe. He got his usual breakfast order to go and decided he would eat it at his lab. Walking to Horizon was a quick walk, especially from his and Harry's favorite spot. Heading up to his lab, he sat in his spinning chair and casually ate as he worked on his class work.

When he finished eating it was time for class, he picked up trash and threw it in the bin. He grabbed his bag and raced down the hallway, not wanting to be late for class. Walking through the door he sees Miles, Gwen, and Anna sitting in their respective seats and when they see him their eyes go wide in shock. But that shock melted away, this was Peter they were talking about.

He takes his seat next to Miles and in a hushed whisper Miles asks, "Uh...Pete, what are you doing here?"

"Going to class. What does it look like?" Peter replies with a small amount of sarcasm in his voice. He couldn't miss any more classes even though his absence was explained. He just didn't like missing class, it was just money and information flying out the window.

He got out his notebook and started to take notes ignoring all of the constant annoyance of his friends. They all wanted him to go home and rest.

When class ended Peters' friends ended up dragging the boy into his lab, "Peter show us."

"Show you what?" Peter asks trying to play dumb. Hoping that would be enough to get them to drop the subject. He wasn't in the mood for this.

He set his book bag on the desk and slowly sat down in the chair, "Come on, Peter. You know what we're talking about."

Gwen moves from her leaning position on the wall and grabbed his arm causing the boy to yelp out in pain. Ripping his arm away, Ana says, "Peter we're just trying to help you."

"I know that." Peter says frustratedly as he gets up from his chair and moves towards the window. "I know that..I just..I'm fine. Okay. I'm fine...now if you'll excuse me I've got some homework to finish."

But everyone in the room knew that was a full blown lie. They could see Peter cracking. Cracking from what? Now that was the question. What was going on with their friendly neighborhood web-slinger?

They left Peter's lab that day with many questions. They'd soon realize that they should have paid more attention to the boy before it was too late.

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Edited.

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