The New Boy One Door Down

7

Peter

"Perfect." Mr. Stark says as he turns away from me and rounds the corner to meet Harley.

"So how is this going to work exactly?" Harley asks from the wall he is leaning on. "Like are we both dropping out of school for this or are we going to be home schooled or... what's going to happen?"

"I already talked to your mom, she says you can decide whether you home school or go to Midtown with Peter in his school as long as you are still going to school." Harley thought for a minute before answering.

"Home school. Defiantly home school." Thank god. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to go to school with him.

"So starting tomorrow we'll start training. During the week you'll do what you normally do, but on Friday afternoons and all weekends you'll work on becoming a team."

"Then what do we do until tomorrow?" Harley asked, obviously getting inpatient.

"Well, I've got a meeting to get to right now so why don't you go set up your room. All your things have already been bought over from the hotel. Peter will show you where it is." My head snapped to Mr. Stark.

"What do you mean I can show him? I barely even know where my room is!"

"Then it's a good thing you too live right next door to each other." He said as he began walking down the hall, probably to get to his 'meeting'. I wanted to roll my eyes at his excuse; Mr. Stark never had meetings this late in the day. He said it cut into his time with Morgan. But soon enough he was gone, leaving me with Harley.

"So, where are we going?" His annoying voice asked. I really hated this kid. This couldn't have been the same kid I saved yesterday.

"Follow me." I say as I being walking down the hall. I think he was following me but I'm not sure. After I started walking I didn't bother turning around to make sure he was behind me. I just hoped he was paying attention because I wasn't going to keep showing him around.

When we finally got to our hallway I pointed to the door beside mine and turned to Harley.

"That's your room I guess. Have fun." I had every intention of stopping our conversation and interaction for the day by going in my room and closing the door but that didn't happen. Instead Harley decided right now that it would be a good time to ask questions.

"What do you normally do for fun around here?" He asked as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Don't know. I don't really have time for much fun between homework, the internship, and getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep." Harley frowns at my answer as I go to turn away and go to my room but his voice stops me again.

"Well do you know any good places to get some food? I'm not really feeling cafeteria food." Without turning around and being halfway through my door, I answer.

"There's a really good sub shop in Queens. Best sandwiches in the city. Tell him I sent you for a small discount." Not giving him enough time to ask any more questions I quickly walk to my room and close the door behind me.

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Harley's POV

I shake my head with a sigh as I walk down the very confusing halls of the Avengers Facility alone.

I don't know what I did to make Peter hate me as much as he does but I can practically feel the daggers dig into the side of my head when he looks at me.

I knew I was going to have a long walk ahead of me if I planned on going to a sub shop in Queens but maybe it would be worth it. Maybe Peter will be calm by the time I get back. This whole team thing isn't going to work out if keeps ignoring and being a jerk to me.

When I finally found the exit I couldn't help but smile to myself. Happy was standing there with Mr. Stark, who I thought had to go to a meeting. I quickly ran to them, hoping Happy could give me a ride so I wouldn't have to walk all the way to Queens and back with sandwiches.

"Hey Happy, can you help me out for a second?" I ask with an innocent smile on my face.

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Peter's POV

Homework sucked. It totally, 100% sucked.

I had been doing homework for an hour and I was still nowhere near done.

I was about one problem away from saying fuck this and dropping out of high school when there was a light tap on the door. I arched an eyebrow in confusion.

The only people visiting me would be Ned, who didn't know how to get here, Mr. Stark who wouldn't have waited for me to open the door, and Happy, who would just yell at me to get up and meet him somewhere.

With a slight groan I move slowly to the door. I really didn't want to get out of the bed until tomorrow and this ruins that.

Just as I'm about to open the door the smell of Mr. Delmar's sandwiches hits my nose, making me smile a bit as I open the door.

I expected to see Happy holding the sandwich I always get. Imagine my surprise when I open the door and see Harley Keener standing in my door way with two bags from Mr. Delmar's deli.

A small was on his face as he took a step into the room, not waiting for me open it further. He almost ran into me as he walked past me to get to my bed, where he laid the bags down.

"Sure," I began. "I don't mind if you come in. Just lay those bags on the bed." I didn't bother hiding the annoyance in my tone.

"Okay, thanks. I will. Your room is really bare by the way. If you need help decorating I can help." I had to bite back the eye roll. Unlike him I didn't really have time to unpack yet, I was too busy saving his ass last night.

"I'm good." I say in a kind tone. He hadn't done anything too wrong yet so I might as well be a little nice. "What are you doing here?" I say as I close the door and walk closer to him.

"I brought you food!" He said while shoving one of the bags towards me.

Not going to lie, my eyes widened at that. I was surprised he actually brought me something after I had been a jerk to him all day today.

I couldn't help but smile just a bit as I walked over to him and took the bag. I quickly looked in the bag and took out the sandwich while flopping onto the bed.

"Thanks dude. You have no idea how long I've been craving this." I say while biting down on the now unwrapped sandwich.

"It's not a big deal. After I mentioned you the shop owner said he would go ahead and make you one." He said while standing by my bed awkwardly. After a few seconds of slightly awkward silence Harley picked up the other bag and began walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked as I reached out and grabbed his hand, almost falling off the bed and dropping my food in the process.

His hand was warmer than I thought they would be. They weren't soft like I thought either. Instead a think layer of callouses covered his skin making them rough. His hand was bigger than mine too which I didn't really expect even though he was taller than me.

I could see the surprise in his eyes as he turned around.

"I was going to head back to my room. You know, let you eat in peace."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. No one likes eating alone anyway, right?" I was still holding onto his hand, which was getting warmer for some reason.

I didn't miss his not so small involuntary smile that popped onto his face as he tried to turn away from me and sit on the bed next to me. His cheeks were slightly pink as he fixed himself on the bed; his legs crossed with his food in his lap.

Maybe this kid wasn't so bad.