Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Chapter 10

The tile was warm on Peter's feet and he hummed in contentment. In-floor heat was a luxury he'd never thought about, but was no-less falling in love with. Shedding his clothes, he stepped into the shower and turned the faucet on. The sound of rushing water filled the room and steam rose, fogging up the glass door. Warm water pelted Peter's back and he sighed in relief, letting the knots in his muscles relax. It had been a long month, that was for sure, but he was fine now.

The CAT scan had come back clear, which meant Peter was physically fine. He wasn't in the clear quite yet though. Most of his vitamin levels were low and his powers hadn't come back yet. There was no way to know for sure if they would. It made sense that they would, so Peter had hope, but for now all he could do was take it easy and wait and see.

Stephen had discharged Peter soon after the scan results came in and Tony had walked him to his room. When Tony had lingered in the doorway Peter had to assure the man that he was fine to be left alone. The man's face had twisted like he was hesitant, but he eventually sighed and nodded.

"If anything feels off, I'll let FRIDAY know. I promise, Mr. Stark."

"You better." He'd pointed a finger at Peter.

Peter had smiled a little. "Go to bed Mr. Stark. You look like you're about to pass out."

Tony had rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. "I'll be-"

"In the room next door, I know. I'm okay, Mr. Stark. I'm all good now. Now it's your turn to get better."

Tony's jaw had ticked and he'd rubbed it. "I hate it when you have a good point."

"Thank you?"

He'd rolled his eyes again. "Alright. I'm going, I'm going. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Night! Or- uh... 'afternoon."

The corner of Tony's lip had twitched. He'd stood in Peter's doorway for a moment longer, expression soft and eyes crinkling a little. It was a look of pure fondness. It made Peter's heart hurt just a little, but in a good way.

"'Afternoon, kid." With that, he'd left, leaving Peter alone. But for the first time in over a year, he hadn't felt lonely.

He'd taken a moment to look around at his messy desk and scattered papers. He'd missed a handful of classes at that point and was going to have to focus hard to get caught up. Peter had smiled to himself. He'd never have thought late schoolwork would bring him relief, but what could he say? It was nice to have normal problems again.

A few minutes later, Peter's phone had come to life, vibrating on the desk and playing a familiar tune. The Yodeler's Dance. Peter quickly grabbed it.

"Hey Ned!"

"PETER!" Ned's voice had blasted through the speaker and Peter jerked it away from his ear. "YOU WEREN'T ANSWERING YOUR TEXTS FOR, like, a bajillion years! ARE YOU OK?!"

Peter peered at his phone, sure enough there were over a dozen texts from Ned along with 4 missed calls from MJ.

"Yeah, where the hell were you?" MJ's voice was next. "You can't just go AWOL like that."

"Oh, uh, yeah, about that, I fell into a coma."

"WHAT?!" They'd both cried at once.

"Uh, yeah, I'm alright now, though. They found a cure."

"THEY DID?? THANK GOD PETER YOU'RE GONNA BE ALRIGHT! OH GOD I WAS SO WORRIED, PETER!! I've been so stressed and worried you were gonna, but, like, I didn't want you to, obviously! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OK!"