Superfamily One Shots

Going Back

**Peter's missed quite a bit of school and now everyone will find out why. I came up with this one while reading some past works, haha! Enjoy!**

After weeks- no, months, Peter was going back to Midtown. It was supposed to be exciting, but the teen didn't feel much but anxiety. He knew the first question everyone would ask would be why he had been gone, and he had no good excuse.

"Peter," FRIDAY said, coming over the speakers in Peter's room. "Boss asked me to tell you breakfast was ready."

"Thanks." The teen flattened his hair, a fruitless attempt to tame some of his curls. Taking a deep breath, he decided he was as ready as he would ever be and headed out to the kitchen.

"Hey, everyone," Peter said, not looking up from the ground. When all he got was a short 'good morning' from Tony, he looked up. The kitchen was entirely empty besides Tony and Bucky.

"Oh. Where is everyone?"

"Wanted to give you some space this morning."

The teen smiled. Leave it to the Avengers to know exactly how he was feeling. Tony set a plate of eggs and toast on the counter, and Peter took a seat. "What should I say when people ask me where I've been?"

Tony shot Bucky a look.

"Whatever you want, Pete." The ex-assassin looked over at the teen sitting to his right. "You get to control your story, just like I control mine. You don't want them to think any differently of you? Lie. Say you went out of town. Want to prove that good people overcome bad things? Tell them the truth."

Peter nodded. "Ned already knows. He was pretty shaken up by the whole thing, but I think he... He was fine with it. He believes I can get past it."

"That's 'cause he knows how strong you are, Underoos," Tony chuckled, the smile in his eyes making Peter smile, too.

"Sir, it's 7:30. Peter must leave now if he wants to get there on time." FRIDAY's voice rang through the kitchen, and Peter blushed faintly.

"Time to go," the curly haired boy said, grabbing his bag off the table and rushing to the elevator.

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Peter faced the front doors of Midtown High, his hands only shaking slightly. He could do this. He could do this.

One foot in front of the other, he thought to himself, taking deep, even breaths.

He had barely made it through the front doors when Ned came shooting out of the crowd to envelop his friend in a hug. "You're here today!"

Peter chuckled. "Yeah, we decided it would be good for me to get back to some normalcy."

Ned nodded, his eyes darting around. He held his arms up, not sure if he was stepping over the line or if Peter was ready for physical touch.

"Come here." The two gave each other a quick hug, Ned beaming as he pulled away.

"Is everything healing up okay?"

Peter nodded, running a hand over his arm subconsciously. "For whatever reason, the scarring is real bad this time, though. Bruce and Helen said it's because the wounds were reopened so many times, but I don't know. They feel weird."

"Do you notice them a lot?"

Peter shrugged. "Sometimes. I don't, like, feel them when I'm laying on my back or anything like that, but I notice them in the mirror or when I take showers. It's kinda weird, I hate the way they look and there's nothing I can do about it. I already know MJ will find them as ugly as I do, so I've been avoiding her a little."