Eric Hastings was an aspiring journalist that would do anything for a good picture and a first-page deserving article. Peter Parker disguised as Spiderman was desperate to bring attention to the growing violence and weapon trafficking in the dark st...
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Peter felt the warm sunlight hitting his face, it wasn't a horrible way to wake up. But the fact that the boy was able to sleep the whole night without nightmares was even better. The boy opened his eyes slowly and found himself sleeping on a pillow in Eric's lap.
"Morning' Pete" Eric said with a smile.
Eric was still seated and his face looked sleepy, but the boy had his cellphone in his hand and was typing on it "Good Morning Eric, did you sleep like that?" Peter asked getting up.
"Yeah... but no worries I'm fine" Eric said also getting up, a loud crack echoed from the boy's back and Peter looked at him with a funny look on his face.
"Thank you for staying with me, I sleep really well" Peter said shily. Eric blushed in response and kept typing on his phone.
"Is everything okay over there? May only types like that when something really bad happened at work" Peter said.
"Oh yeah, I'm just finishing an email to my boss" Eric said typing the last few words and sending it, Peter kept quiet and didn't say a thing, he was wondering if the email had anything to do with the information he had gathered about the strange guns.
The duo finished getting ready and headed downstairs for breakfast. Mr. Harrigton was waiting for everyone at the main lobby, their small trip to the shopping was authorized but it wasn't mandatory so people could decide if they wanted to go or not.
~X~
Eric used all of his abilities to convince Peter to stay, little did he know Parker decided to stay as soon as Eric said he was staying in the hotel, there was no need for convincing. Eric waited until the yellow bus got completely out of his sight and got up.
"Let's go, we've got a whole city to explore or at least the main touristic spots before 3 PM" Eric says getting up, Peter looks at the other boy with a whole question mark on his face.
"We are not supposed to leave the hotel" Peter says unsurely.
"Oh c'mon Peter! I've never been to DC and my idea of an adventure is not staying inside some lame shopping mall" Eric complains "Camille and Mj are joining us"
"What could go wrong? I mean you are the best one in the Decathlon team, Mr. HArrignton cannot remove you from the team" Eric says and Peter agrees with a big smile.
In less than five minutes Liz and Camille join the duo in the main lobby and they head out to a bus stop, Eric already had the whole itinerary in his head, the other three teenagers followed him blindly until they get to the Smithsonian, none of them knew hoe Eric was so good in navigating google maps and those confusing bus lines but they managed to get there.
"Oh we really did it, never doubted you buddy" MJ said looking up at the museum.
Eric and Camille stopped in front of the museum and snapped a few pictures, the girl had a huge picture collection from all of her favorite moments and that one was definitely one of them, they also joined Mj and Peter for a few more pictures. The ticket booths were still closed, Camille and Eric went for a small stroll around the place while MJ and Peter stayed behind to buy the tickets as soon as the place opens.
MJ spotted Peter starring at Eric at the other side of the plaza "So... what's going on?" The girl asked getting Peter's attention "Nothing is going on, what are you talking about?"
"I just noticed you guys are really close, like you and Ned are really close but the way Eric and you act around each other is different" MJ explained looking at her nails "I'm... I'm not gay, he is not gay"
"Oh please, he IS gay and why do you have to labels yourself? Have you ever kissed or touched another boy? How are you going to know that you like it if you never tried it out?" MJ added with a kind smile "I'm not trying to force you into doing something you don't want, I just want you to be happy Peter, you deserve some happiness" MJ finalized getting up "I'm going to buy the tickets" She said and left Peter behind with a billion questions on his head.
Peter enjoyed the warm sunlight on his skin for a while longer, a few heavy clouds could be seen on the horizon meaning that the sunny day would turn into a gray day in no time. Parker got up and cleaned his hands on his jeans, the boy waved to Camille and Eric on the other side of the Plaza and the duo walked back to the museum.
MJ handed each one of them their tickets and they entered the place together, the place was empty so they had all of the exhibits for themselves. Eric was dazzled inside the museum, everything was extremely interesting and new to the boy, so he didn't realize when Camille and MJ disappeared giving Peter a lame excuse.
Eric was looking up to a giant turbine hanging from the ceiling, the boy knew nothing about engineering but any kind of exhibits were fun for him, everything different was fun for him. Peter approached Eric with MJ's words still echoing in his head.
"That engine is from a SHIELD Hellicarier, it is the same model used in the New York battle" Peter explains getting closer to the other boy Eric brought down his eyes and looked at Peter, he enjoyed the sight for a few seconds and then walked to another engine.
"What about this one?" Eric asked.
"That's a turbine for smaller jets, like the Quinjet" And that's how the boys spent almost an hour, Eric wasn't really interested in the mechanical topic, but when Peter was the one talking about it the subject became a thousand times more interesting.
"Come here" Eric shouted from a corner of the big room, Peter walked towards the boy and found him next to a perfect model of the Avengers Quinjet and a small stand for pictures. Eric handed his phone to a woman that gladly accepted to take a few pictures.
"Up here Pete, we need a photo together" Eric spoke, Peter positioned himself next to Eric but not touching his friend. Eric pulled Peter in and hugged the boy with one of his arms, it looked like Eric was trying to fit a lot of people inside the same picture, there was no necessity for him to press them together like that, but he still did it.
The lady handed Eric back his phone and he checked the pictures "Can I ost them? They look really nice" Eric said showing the two smiling teenagers in the picture, Peter nodded yes and also asked for the picture.
After that, they headed to a room with many animal skeletons, Liz and Camille were there taking a good look and a giant T-Rex skeleton "Oh hey guys!" Camille spoke up noticing the duo approach.
"Hi, Cami" Eric answered.
"I'm really hungry, can we go get something to eat?" MJ asked.
"Yeah I'm really thirsty" Peter said.
"I made him talk about engines and turbines for the last hour, I guess he really is thirsty," Eric said. The group walked together to the cafeteria and started to make their orders.
~X~
Hey guys! Thanks so much for 1K!!! I'm really happy we reached this mark!
