The World I Knew [Discontinued]

Findings

Peter collapsed on the seats, hands trembling as he pressed them to his eyes.

Why?

Because it was sort of a shock to find out that his mentor had files on him, complimenting him around every corner, and not telling him. That was mostly it.

And, also, because he was too young to deal with this sort of stuff. Too young to be listening to the last words he might ever hear from his mentor, too young to be dealing with the end of the world.

What would he even be doing, had the world not ended?

Ned would probably be showing Peter his new Lego set right now, or he'd be fanboying over Tony's newest invention, or literally anything else. He might even have been working up the courage to ask... someone... out... on a date...?

Peter frowned.

Who did he like?

He'd gone through phases of multiple crushes, and had been teased about them by May. He'd had crushes on Liz, a ginger named Penelope, even MJ, which was weird, because she was a little... dark, compared to what May had described as exuberant and upbeat as his own personality.

Despite all the crushes, he'd never found one person who could hold his attention for more than a month or two. It would always demote, if that was the right word, to realizing that he didn't actually like that girl, she was just a good person.

Not his good person.

And yet, Peter felt slightly different about Hope.

She felt... more... permanent, if he was being wholly honest with himself.

It was more than that, though.

He felt... connected to her, in some way.

It might've been because they were the only people under 25 years old in the entire world--well, the only people alive and under 25 years old. They'd spent more time with each other than they had with anyone else still alive, and it so happened that they were of opposite genders.

Coincidence?

Maybe.

Either way, it didn't change their situation. It didn't change that he wasn't out on a date at that moment, and it didn't change how he was still convinced that no one actually had a crush on him, despite what he said to Ana that first day. That had just been a joke.

It also didn't change how Hope had expressed--repeatedly--how much she didn't like him and his jokes.

He couldn't wait for her to get back so he could clear it up, and stop feeling guilty. Mostly because he knew how much he often let guilt eat him up, and he'd already made so many mistakes before the zombie apocalypse. Mistakes he hadn't fixed quite yet.

If Hope died out there today, and he wasn't with her, he knew he wouldn't be able to live with that.

"Is there... um... Is there anything else Mr. Stark said about me?" Peter asked, voice shaking slightly.

"There is a lot he has said about you," Sam replied.

"Good? Or--" he deflated slightly, "--bad?"

"Most are good," Paddy said.

"Most?"

"Eighty-two point eight, six, three, two, nine, nine, four, one, six, eight--"

"Okay!" Peter said, cutting Harry off, "I get it!"

The robot looked him dead in the eye, pausing for a second. "--two."