Spiderdad

28

The day hadn't just been rough for Peter, it had been downright suffocating. He was supposed to be drinking slowly, but with classes being almost an hour long, and passing periods being the only time he was allowed to drink, he might as well have gone cold turkey for the day. Passing periods were only three minutes long and he was almost late to every class without sneaking in sips of alcohol, so he had to skip his drinking break twice, making him a shaking, feverish mess that spent class hours fidgeting and being too blurry-eyed to see the lesson.

By the end of the day, Ned was shoving Peter out of the school and towards a nearby gas station. As Peter silently stood like a rabbit quivering in a storm, Ned quickly grabbed several random alcoholic beverages then dragged his friend to the checkout counter. Peter clumsily fished his fake ID out of his pocket then showed it to the cashier as the took the beers from Ned's hands.

"Is he okay?" The cashier asked Ned.

"Uh yeah, he's just sick," Ned lied awkwardly.

"Should he be drinking when he's sick?" The stranger's tone was clouded with confusion as he scanned the barcodes.

Ned paused a moment then replied sharply, "Don't tell me how to take care of my friend."

The cashier raised an eyebrow then realized he made money off their purchase and passed the beers to the teens who quickly took them and walked away. Peter collapsed onto a curb a few feet away from the gas station and forced the first bottle open while Ned watched with concerned eyes.

"Peter, this is bad. This is so, so bad," Ned rambled as he looked away, "you are physically dependent on alcohol!"

"Yeah, yeah I know," Peter hissed in reply then started chugging down his drink; he finished in no time, "today was just too quick. I can't do that again."

"But you have to," Ned gave him a reality check, "four more days of the school week, man. You can't just ditch or hide in the bathroom whenever you need a drink."

"Then," Peter cracked open the second bottle, "I'll just stay an alcoholic, have MJ break up with me, force her to raise our kid on her own, and eventually end up drinking myself to death," sarcasm was thick in his wavering voice.

"Thats a lot of people, but it won't be you," Ned stated, "I won't allow it."

Peter smiled slightly then offered the second bottle of alcohol to his friend, "wanna try?"

"No, not really," Ned cautiously denied.

"Oh c'mon, just one time," Peter pressed.

Ned sighed, "fine."

He hesitantly took the bottle from Peter's hand the warily took a sip of the bitter liquid. Instantly overwhelmed by the burning sensation shooting down his throat, Ned immediately spat out the sour sip onto the street. Satisfied with his friend's reaction, Peter burst into laughter as Ned's expression continued to scrunch up in disgust.

"That's awful!" Ned exclaimed as he forced the bottle back into Peter's hands.

"Yep," Peter agreed then brought the bottle to his lips.

As Peter continued to drink, Ned averted his eyes and stared at the steady stream of traffic in front of them. It wasn't uncommon for Ned to find himself unable to bring himself to look at his friend, especially at times like this. It was that he was embarrassed to be Peter's friend, he just didn't want people associating him with an alcoholic... which was the same as being embarrassed by his friend. So yeah, he didn't always want to be friends with Peter, but he also couldn't bring himself to abandon him.

"Are you feeling a little better?" Ned asked as Peter tossed the last bottle of alcohol to the side.

"I think," Peter replied, he was a little tipsy but not bad, "either way, it doesn't really matter. I gotta go to the play Adrian's school is putting on."

Ned smiled slightly, "cool. I gotta head home, my mom's probably pissed that I'm not home yet."

"Alright, get outta here," Peter waved him off.

"Will you be okay on your own?"

"Ned," Peter stood up, "I'm not helpless."