Peter sits across from May at the Thai restaurant, picking at his food. With Ned finding out about Spider-Man, just being Spider-Man on a day-to-day basis, and his reconnection with Grace — which is a good thing, but also presents the question of how does he talk to her without sounding like an idiot — he's got a lot on his mind.

May notices. "What's the matter?" she asks. "I thought you loved larb. It's too larby? Not larby enough? How many times do I have to say 'larb' before you talk to me?" She laughs a little. "You know I larb you."

Peter sighs. "I'm just stressed. I got the internship, and I'm tired. It's a lot of work."

"The Stark internship," May says. "I have to tell you, not a fan of that Tony Stark. You're distracted all the time... He's got you in your head."

Peter shrugs. "He's not so bad." May takes another bite of food, probably not wanting to reply to that. The topic, naturally, brings him back to Grace. Peter looks up from his food, deciding that he should tell her — not ask for advice, just... let her know. "I, uh... Grace and I are talking again, though."

To his surprise, May frowns. "When were you not talking? Did you guys get in a fight or something?" When he got home from Berlin, May asked him about the whole trip, and he told her that he and Grace had kinda become good friends — which wasn't exactly a lie.

Peter shakes his head at her question. "No, we just... we were both just busy, I guess. But she texted me today, and I'm pretty sure we're gonna... keep talking." A smile starts to grow on his face at the thought, his nervousness being overshadowed for a moment.

May smiles a knowing smile. "Do you larb her?"

Peter blushes deeply. "W-Well, I-I-"

But the TV behind May is playing the news, and the new anchor's report distracts him. "The beloved Queens' institution, Delmar's Sandwiches, was destroyed in an explosion-" May turns to see what Peter's looking at "-earlier tonight after an ATM robbery was thwarted by Queens' own colorful local crime-stopper, Spider-Man. As he attempted to foil their heist, a powerful blast was set off, slicing through the bodega across the street. Miraculously, no one was harmed."

When he first said Spider-Man, a picture of him — which may or may not be Peter — stepping out of a porta-potty pulling toilet paper off his foot popped up. But, then, it switched to security footage of the fight from the bank.

May looks back at Peter. "If you spot something like that happening, you turn, and you run the other way."

Peter swallows, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course."

May shakes her head in disbelief. "Six blocks away from us."

Peter sighs, remembering something else he needs to tell her. "I, uh, I need a new backpack, by the way..."

May cups her ear, pretending that she didn't hear him correctly. "What?"

"I need a new backpack," Peter repeats.

"That's five."

Thankfully, a waiter walks over and sets a plate in front of May. He doesn't even glance at Peter. "Sticky rice pudding."

May is surprised. "Oh, we didn't order that."

"It's on the house." He winks at her.

May smiles as he walks away. "Oh! Thanks." She looks at Peter. "That's nice of him."

Peter smiles a little, amused. "I think he larbs you."

May's mouth opens and she shakes her head. "Oh, no, I don't think so."

Peter shrugs, laughing. "I don't know, it really seemed like it."

May takes a bite of the pudding. "Well, either way, this is good pudding." She pushes the plate forward, and she and Peter split it, Peter already feeling better about everything.

~~~~

The next morning, after getting dressed, Peter sits down for breakfast — cereal — and scrolls through his phone. Ned texts him a thinly coded message about Spider-Man. Peter answers him and goes back to his list of conversations. And, of course, he sees the one with Grace.

He's going to call her today, after his Spider-duties — that they agreed upon. But that doesn't mean he can't text her right now, does it? Because, if he's honest with himself, he's not sure he can wait that long.

He bites his lip, deciding on what he should do. Then, finally, heart pounding, he types out a mostly harmless text.

'Good morning :)'

He hits send, then begins his anxious wait for her response. And it turns out to be a long one; he's still waiting when he meets up with Ned on the street corner for their walk to school. Peter is carrying his books, as he's still backpack-less, and he just told Ned the story of how he became Spider-Man.

"You got bit by a spider?" Ned asks. "Can it bite me? Well, it probably would've hurt, right? You know what? Whatever. Even if it did hurt, I'd let it bite me — maybe. How much did it hurt?"

"The spider's dead, Ned," Peter replies simply.

They turn the corner, forgetting the sight that awaits them across the street — Delmar's, destroyed, government officials and police officers milling around the wreckage. It's been taped off. "Whoa," Ned says. "You were here?"

Peter nods, not taking his eyes off the scene. "Yeah."

"You could've died," Ned says, his words hanging in the air between them for a few moments as the reality of them sets in. Finally, Ned asks, "Do you lay eggs?"

"What?" Peter laughs. "No."

They continue walking, the tension dissipating as they continue down the street. Peter walks quickly, leaving little room for conversation. In the back of his mind, he waits for an answer to his text, occasionally checking his phone.

When they walk into the school, Ned neglects to ask questions due to the crowd of students around them. Instead, he waits until the middle of the first period — Chemistry.

"Can you spit venom?" he whispers.

"No," Peter replies.

"Can you summon an army of spiders?"

"No, Ned."

The teacher starts talking again, so Ned goes quiet, instead waiting until their next class together — History — to ask something else.

"How far can you shoot your webs?" Ned asks.

"I don't know," Peter replies, trying to take notes.

"If I were you, I would stand on the edge of a building and just shoot it as far as I could-"

"Ned," Peter says, quieting him.

After History, they have Shop Class, during which they're too busy to talk that day. Then, finally, it's lunch. Ned can't say much about Spider-Man as MJ is sitting near them, but, finally, at least to some extent, they can talk about Grace.

Especially seeing as Peter now has two texts from her.

'Good afternoon, Parker :)'

'I would've texted you earlier but I kinda overslept. Like, a lot.' She sends a laughing emoji with the second one.

Peter smiles at his phone, showing Ned the texts. "What should I say now?"

Ned shrugs. "I dunno. You're better with girls than me."

Peter sighs. "I mean, no, not really. I have no idea what I'm doing right now."

"Well, neither does she," Ned replies. "I mean, you're probably, like, the first guy she's ever talked to. You know, 'cause she's a secret or whatever. She can never actually meet guys."

Peter thinks for a moment. Ned could be right. That isn't going to make him worry less, as he still wants to impress her or at least not sound stupid. In fact, it makes him worry more.

If he's the first guy she's ever talked to, he's gotta meet preconceived expectations, right? She's read a lot of books. She's watched a lot of movies and stuff. If she's based her expectations for a guy off of those things — sort of like what Peter's previously done, just with girls (and Grace is better than all his expectations, even the ones she doesn't meet) — then he has some big shoes to fill. Right?

Or he's just overthinking again.

"Dude, are you gonna reply or what?"

Peter jumps, having been lost in thought. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna reply."

He thinks for a moment, then types, 'Well, I guess you can afford to do that since you have online classes.' Pretty normal, safe response.

She starts typing almost immediately. 'Yeah, waking up early in the morning is pretty much the only downside of public school that I can think of.'

'Trust me, that is not the only downside,' Peter replies.

'Either way, I still have to do work :(,' she says. Then, 'I'm gonna go eat "breakfast." Talk later?'

Peter grins. 'Definitely.'

~~~~

Later, in gym, everyone is sitting on the bleachers, watching a video their teacher — Coach Wilson — has playing on the TV. It's one of those Rappin With Cap videos the students have seen a hundred times.

"Hi," Cap says, decked out in his full outfit. "I'm Captain America. Whether you're in the classroom or on the battlefield..."

Ned leans over to Peter. "Do you know him too?"

"Yeah, we met," Peter replies. "I stole his shield."

Ned's mouth opens in amazed shock. "Wow."

They turn their attention back to the video. Cap gestures to one side of the screen — opposite of the side that Coach Wilson is standing on. "Today, my good friend, your gym teacher," Cap says as Wilson waves, "will be conducting the Captain America Fitness Challenge."

Cap salutes, and then the screen reads, 'Station One: Sit-Ups,' then proceeds to go through every station after that. Then, finally, it's over.

"Thank you, Captain," Wilson says. "I'm pretty sure this guy's a war criminal now, but whatever. I have to show these videos; it's required by the state. Let's do it." He blows his whistle, and everyone partners up and chooses a station to start at. Peter and Ned decide on sit-ups. Peter goes first, Ned holding his feet.

"Do Avengers have to pay taxes?" Ned asks.

"Shh!" Peter says, looking around to make sure no one heard.

"What does Hulk smell like?"

"Shh!"

"I bet he smells nice."

"You have to shut up."

"Is Captain America cool, or is he like a mean, old grandpa?"

"Ned, just, shh, okay?" Peter says. Not only are there people around, but he's starting to get tired of Ned's questions.

Ned, however, continues asking them. "Hey, can I be your guy in the chair?"

Peter's brows furrow. "What?"

"You know how there's a guy with a headset telling the other guy where to go?" Ned says. "Like-Like if you're stuck in a burning building, I could tell you where to go. Because there'd be screens around me, and I could, you know, swivel around, and- cause I could be your guy in the chair."

"Ned, I don't need a guy in the chair."

Wilson walks by and says, "Looking good, Parker." Peter stops, only just then realizing how fast he was doing his sit-ups. Faster than someone — especially him — should be doing sit-ups.

He slows, and Ned quiets, allowing them both to hear the conversation of the students sitting on the bleachers behind them.

"Now, see, for me, it would be kiss Thor, marry Iron Man, and kill Hulk," Betty Brant says. Liz is sitting next to her, with Charles on her other side. Ben is sitting behind Liz.

"Well, what about Spider-Man?" Charles asks.

Betty scoffs a little. "It's just Spider-Man."

Peter and Ned stop, listening more intently.

"Did you guys see the bank security cam on YouTube?" Liz says. "He fought off four guys."

Betty laughs. "Someone's crushing on Spider-Man."

Charles laughs too. "No way."

Liz just shrugs. "Sort of?"

"Ugh, gross," Betty says. "He's probably, like, thirty."

"You don't even know what he looks like," Charles points out. "Like, what if he's, like, seriously burned?"

"I wouldn't care," Liz says. "I would still love him for the person he is on the inside."

Ned sees an opportunity. "Peter knows Spider-Man!"

Peter turns to Ned, eyes wide, as the entire gym goes silent. Peter gets up and hurriedly walks over to the group on the bleachers. "No, I don't. No. I-I mean-"

He's cut off by the sight of Flash walking over. Ned comes to stand beside Peter. "They're friends," he says.

"Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends," Flash replies.

Well, there's no going back now. "I-I've met him," Peter explains. "A couple times. But it's, um... through the Stark internship." Peter turns to Ned, in muted anger. "I'm not really supposed to talk about it."

"Well, that's awesome," Flash sarcastically replies. "Hey, you know what? Maybe you should invite him to Liz's party." He looks at Liz. "Right?"

"Yeah, um, I'm having people over tomorrow night. You're both more than welcome to come," Liz says, looking at Ned too.

"Having a party?" Ned asks, still looking at Liz.

"Yeah, it's gonna be dope." Flash looks at Peter. "You should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man."

"Um..." Peter starts. On the one hand, he's never been invited to a party before — save lame birthday parties. On the other, they're gonna expect Spider-Man to come.

"It's okay," Liz says. "I know Peter's way too busy for parties anyway." She looks at Ned. "You can still come... if you want."

"Ye-Yeah," Ned says.

Flash walks over to Peter, clapping him on the shoulder roughly. "Come on. Peter'll be there. Right, Parker?"

"Uh..." Peter trails off.

"You can bring your buddy Spider-Man. Oh, and while you're at it, since you're so tight with Tony Stark, you can bring his daughter too, right?" Flash laughs.

And Peter's face goes red, his anger rising,  ow directed at Flash. He had no reason to bring Grace into this. "Shut up," Peter says, fighting not to just flat out deck Flash in the face.

Then, Charles butts in. "He could literally bring any random girl that doesn't go here to the party, and we wouldn't be able to say it wasn't her."

Flash starts to agree, but then stops. "Actually, wait, no — there's that picture of her from a couple years ago. We could use that to compare."

"That was taken when she was, like, eleven," Peter says, though he doesn't know why or what he's trying to defend. The picture came up in conversation at the hotel in Berlin — Grace told him the story.

Flash raises his brows at Peter. "Geez, Parker, what are you, a stalker?"

"No!" Peter says. "N-No. I'm not."

"Oh, sure-"

"Quit it, Flash," Liz says, seeing how upset Peter is. She may not entirely believe him, but Flash is this close to stepping over the line.

Flash holds his hands up in mock-surrender. "Alright, alright." He looks at Peter. "At least try to get Spider-Man, huh?" The bell rings, and he laughs, walking away.

Peter turns to Ned when the others are gone too. "What are you doing?"

"Did you not hear Liz?" Ned says. "She has a crush on Spider-Man. And if she knows that we know Spider-Man, she's gonna think we're cool. She's a senior; we need all the help we can get."

Peter shakes his head. "Ned, you know I don't like her like that-"

"I know," Ned says. "You've got Grace. I just want a shot with Liz, okay? I... Peter, I really like her."

Peter sighs. He knows what Ned is feeling right now; he feels the same way about Grace. "Alright. Okay. We'll go to the party, and I'll see if Spider-Man can swing by."

Ned grins. "Yes! Thanks, Peter."