So, a bit of context: set pretty much right after Homecoming, maybe a week or so. Peter wasn't at school the next day after the Vulture incident, then was back. And Liz didn't move. Buuuuuut the decathlon team is a tiiiny bit (a lot) mad. and May is, or should I say was working two jobs.

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Peter struggled to comprehend what may had just told him. "You lost a job?"

May nodded, trying to keep the tears at bay. "And it was the good paying one too."

The teenager sighed and sat down next to his aunt, rubbing her back soothingly. "So what does that mean?"

May sniffled. "We'll have to move. There's a boarding house down in Forrest Hills that has a good price. But..." she sighed. "We can't afford here. We'll probably have to sell the furniture..."

Peter stared blankly at his hands as she trailed off. "We'll figure it out." 

"You always do."

A week prior...

Liz glared at the mountain of boxes surrounding her. She hated moving. But after what happened with her dad, her mother had insisted that they sell the house and move to a smaller one. "it's too big for two people," she had said.

So here Liz found herself, in a two-story cottage in Forest Hills. her mother planned on putting the second, smaller story up for rent as a boarding house. Liz hoped the new tenants would be nice.

The girl sighed and ripped open the box labelled 'school' and pulled out the textbooks for the day. Unpacking would have to wait. She packed her bag and gave her mum (I don't know whether to use the Australian spelling or the American spelling help) a quick farewell before leaping onto the bus. School would be interesting, to say the least.

Back to the Present...

Peter strapped the last of the boxes shut, the packing tape yielding to his strength. He capped the marker after writing his name across the side and took one last glance around his old room. The once bright walls were dull, bare and drained of life. The old bunk bed stooped against the wall, stripped of its bedsheets. The city of Queens moved below the small window, oblivious to the gloomy atmosphere draped in the air. The teen pulled himself off the floor and trudged to the kitchen. Despite having a day off school, he was still drained. 

May looked up from where she had been packing the plates and smiled bleakly. "Finished?"

Peter nodded tiredly and moved instinctively to help.

"I'm so sorry Peter."

"It's not your fault."

She pulled him into a hug, trying desperately to hold back tears. Her small angel wrapped his arms around her and buried his face under her neck, rubbing her back soothingly.

"We'll get by. We always do."

"Are you sure you don't want me to take the study?"

"May, you take the bedroom. You deserve it." Peter gave her a mischievous smile despite his exhaustion. "End of story, this is my room." He dumped one of his few boxes on the wooden floor, masking a yawn. he hadn't slept well for days. Not with the nightmares he'd been having.

May watched lovingly as her nephew helped her move her boxes in. She felt guilty that he would have to sleep on the thin mattress, but there was only one bed and Peter refused to take it. Instead he had willingly insisted that he take the small, cold study and the thin mattress while she took the bedroom and the bed. Though she wouldn't let it show, May was worried for Peter. He had taken on so much stress ever since Ben's passing and it was obviously wearing him down. And not to mention the Spider-manning duties... may shook her head. Peter was getting sleep that night if she had anything to say about it.

"Hey." Doris Allan poked her head in, a plate of watermelon in her hands. "Just wondering if you guys could use a hand. And I brought watermelon if you were hungry."

May gave Peter a glance. "He's always hungry," she said, pointing at him.

"Way to throw me under the bus," he chuckled as he reached for a slice. "Thanks ma'am."

"Just call me Doris."

Peter nodded, nibbling on the pink flesh as sweet juice threatened to run down his forearms. 

"So, how's moving going?"

"Fast." Peter replied

"A lot more work than I thought," May said at the same time.

Doris looked between them, slightly confused.

"He's moved before." May ruffled Peter's hair despite his protests.

"I'm gonna go finish up in my room."

May nodded and Peter snuck away, closing the door till there was only a fraction of space between the door and its frame. A wave of exhastion rolled over him and he exhaled heavily, sinking down next to a box. With the last remains of his energy, he straightened out the sheets on his makeshift bed and pulled open the last box. He really didn't have much to move. 

The first thing his eyes caught was the framed photograph of him, May and Ben. Ice-cream dribbled down the cone in his seven year old hands, a huge smile plastered on his face. He and May looked so young. Time and events had aged the two of them.

Peter's hand dropped to his lap and he rested his head on the box. Eyelids drooped as his mind wandered, barely registering the conversation outside his door.

"So what relation is he to you? I don't mean to be rude."

"It's alright. He's  my nephew. His parents passed when he was 4."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for the poor lamb."

"He's had a rough life. Especially the past few weeks. Months, even."

"You're a wonderful aunt."

"Thank you."

"Mom! I'm home!" Liz shut the door behind her, glancing around the house.

"I'm upstairs with the new tenants!"

"Okay!" Liz dumped her stuff in her room and pulled herself up the stairs to help.

"May, this is my daughter, Liz."

"Hey." Liz gave a small wave and sat down next to her mother. "How is the moving going?"

May smiled and shrugged. "It's a lot more work than I thought."

"Hey Liz, May has a nephew about your age moving in as well. You might like to help him."

Liz nodded, her brain not computing what it had just heard. She knocked on the slightly open door, then pushed it open. She had not been expecting what she saw.

There sat a fast asleep Peter Parker, half turned towards the door, his head resting on the moving box next to him. Usually combed locks curled and flopped over his forehead, cradled by his arm. A frame rested in his lap, his grip loose as he slept.

It clicked in her brain. May Parker was Peter's aunt. That explained why Peter had been away for the past two days.

Liz moved to close the door but hesitated, glancing around the room. A thin mattress lay on the wooden floor, covered by fading bedsheets. The provided desk and shelves were mostly bare, the only objects being an old laptop, books and a few personal belongings. A couple of boxes were pushed up against the wall providing a small wardrobe and a tub of Lego, of course. Apart from that, there wasn't much in the room.

She hadn't realized just how little Peter owned.

Liz shut the door carefully and slipped out to the other women. "He's asleep."

May sighed, relived. "Finally. He never sleeps when he's stressed."

"Neither does this one. The amount of times I've caught her reading before exams and competitions."

"Hey! It calms me." Liz flopped onto the couch, picking up a piece of watermelon on the coffee table. She ate quietly, listening into the conversation next to her, absorbing information. She didn't realise how long she had been sitting there until the study door opened. Peter stumbled out, looking like a half asleep seven year old. 

"Morning sleepyhead," May greeted as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. 

Peter mumbled a response and blinked. "Hello... ma'am."

Liz waved awkwardly as her mother told Peter yet again that he should call her Doris.

"And this is Liz. I think you go to school together."

"Mom, he was my Homecoming date."

"Oh- OH." May and Doris shared a look of realization. "You look... a lot older than I remember you looking." Peter scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Liz couldn't help but agree. Though he was young on the surface, something seemed to radiate from him that made him seem a lot older than he really was.

"Hey Liz."

"Hey."

May looked at her nephew, quirking an eyebrow. "Did you finish or did you fall asleep? Not that I blame you, you really needed it."

Peter pulled his hands behind his back, hiding the small frame. "I kinda... yeah."

May chuckled and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Go finish and then I'll think about dinner."

"May, last time you tried to cook, you nearly burnt the place down. I'll cook." He turned to his room.

"I'll help you Peter." Before Liz knew what she was doing, she was off the couch and following a shocked Peter to his new room.

They moved in silence, Liz unpacking the box while Peter put the belongings away. She notice him pause on the photo frame before placing it on the desk gently, his fingers lingering on the faces for a split second.

"Hey Liz?"

She looked up.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened. I sorta panicked and... yeah. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. You were stressed." Liz turned back to the box, missing his small smile of relief. "What's this?" She pulled out a small, leather-bound book and inspected it curiously.

"Oh that's just a little... photo album of me. As a baby."

Liz gave him a sly smile as she opened it. "Awwwwwwwww you were so cuuuuuuuuute! Your hair was so curly!"

"It still is," he said, pushing the hazelnut curls out of his face. "I just comb it for school. Oh boy-"

Liz laughed, throwing her head back as she paused on a small photograph of a tiny Peter with ice-cream all over his face. "How was there even that much ice-cream? And how did it get on your forehead?"

"I honestly have no idea."

Liz wheezed slightly as she handed him the book and reached in the box. "A tiny pair of Ironman gauntlets and a matching mask. Amazing."

"Hey, I made those myself for the Stark Expo. When I was seven. See they even shoot out light." He demonstrated, illuminating the room with a soft blue glow.

"I swear you get crazier as you get older."

"Sounds about right."

They finished up, they study now a slightly cramped, makeshift bedroom.

"Guess I'd better head down now."

Peter nodded. "Hey, uh Liz?"

She stopped. "Yeah?"

"Could you maybe like, not tell anyone I'm staying here?"

She smiled. "Of course. Get some sleep. Apparently you're stressed."

"MAY!"

Liz laughed as she jumped down the stairs. She had forgotten what it was like to have Peter for a friend.

It was nice.

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There will be a chapter two

plez give my dead, non-existant brain ideas

also who is your favourite avenger and why

bye