Open Up The Ocean

Chapter Six

Maybe it was just from the fact he'd had no sleep and nearly drowned, but the way the sunlight bounced off the water around her and the small curls that framed her face made his heart beat faster. It must just be the recent trauma making him delusional, he hoped it was.

The fact that MJ was worried enough about him to get angry made him woozy. Maybe that was just the lack of recent oxygen, that must be it. Peter pressed his palm to his forehead and took a deep breath, drowning was surprisingly hard work.

It took him a while to gather up his guts and be able to move, Ned had a hand on his lower back, guiding Peter out of the water. But of course, Peter being Peter and Ned being Ned, he still slipped on the bottom of the lake as he tried to get out, falling flat onto the bank, which wasn't a soft pillow of grass.

Peter groaned and Ned apologised profusely. Gwen gasped and covered her mouth while MJ snickered a little bit stopped herself.

Peter pushed himself up onto his hands and looked down at his chest to see a plethora of small cuts and scrapes decorating his upper-half. He sighed, but shook his head, not making a big deal out of it because he knew they'd heal soon.

"Dude, you need to rinse all the stones and dirt and stuff out of that," Ned pointed out, his hand still on Peter's lower back even though thus just discovered it did nothing.

"Where?"

"In the lake."

"Nope," Peter shook his head, gathering up the rest of his strength and pulling himself out of the water. "Absolutely not, I didn't even want to get in without any cuts that are susceptible to infection."

"I thought you couldn't get infections?" MJ asked, furrowing her brow.

"Well--" Peter went to argue. "Whatever, I'm not rinsing it in the lake."

"If you don't, your body will heal over with that shit inside," Ned said, his eyes wide with fear.

"Good point. I'll go back to camp now and clean myself up with the first aid kit May gave me." Peter said as he stood up, having to put his arms out and balance himself for a few seconds.

"Aw," Gwen pouted. "I feel like we just got in!"

Ned looked between his best friend and girlfriend, conflict clear in his eyes. He was fighting a battle and Peter was pretty sure he knew what side Ned was going to take so he didn't understand why he was having such an internal debate.

"Look," Michelle got out of the water gracefully, Peter was jealous. "I'll go back with him, make sure he doesn't pass out on the way, you two can stay here. Sound good?"

Gwen beamed and nodded while Ned confirmed that it sounded good, giving Peter a sorry look, one Peter knew all too well at this point. He watched as Michelle grabbed both his and her belongings, bundling them up in her arms.

Peter waved at them before turning around and walking, Michelle finding her place next to him. He looked down at his chest again and winced, his pouting lip jutting out in a pout. He began to try and dust some of the debris off but MJ slapped his hand away.

"Don't, that's nasty."

He shrugged, looking up ahead where he was going and trying not to fall over. Peter scrunched his face up in the bright sun every time there was a gap into the overhead trees. The light gave him a headache, or rather, made his current headache worse.

Michelle noticed his wobbly steps and looked him up and down, her eyes stuck on the constant grimace etched on his features.

"Do you want me to hold your hand so you don't fall, or are you ok?" There was a sarcastic tone to her voice but Peter could tell she actually meant it. She would hold his hand in a heartbeat if it meant keeping him upright.