Chapter 3
At first， Ned’s eyebrows drawn together. His eyes filled with confusion and dissatisfaction, because he think it is an April joke.
But when Spider-Man starts say something that more private about Ned, Ned's body has changed from sitting on the floor and being leaning toward Peter, and his brows frowned even more.
"…This is really crazy, man."
After listening to Peter's explanation, Ned hugs his head.
"From your description of the matter, and the things that can be regarded as my personal privacy, I can only think that what you are saying is the truth." He took a deep breath and slowly held Peter's hand.
Today is not April Fool's Day, and Spider-Man probably not be able to read minds or spy on other people's memories.
And most importantly, the boy in front of him looked like he is about to cry.
There is a faint sense of namelessness in Ned's chest. He doesn’t know if it is sadness or pity, but they turn into a tight hug for Spider-Man, no, Peter Parker.
"Welcome back, buddy."
He doesn't expect that Peter's body would begin to tremble, and Spider-Man would cry.
What he can do is hug the close friend he was forced to forget harder, and say some comforting words.
"After we leave from the damaged Statue of Liberty, I did feel empty and uncomfortable in my heart, you know, it was like something churning it from inside. They entangled me for a long time , even some strange dreams. I guess MJ has same situation ."
Under the bright light, Ned Leeds looked at Peter seriously.
"You should be early, no, you should come to us as soon as it's over, Peter."
"I tried, but I was afraid that I would put you in danger, so,"
"So you didn't tell us the truth? You promised you will come to us!”
"Sorry.truly."
The boy lowered his head.
Ned guess that he should be angry.
If things really do as Spider-Man said, and his best friend didn't come back to find him after experiencing so many things, he would be very angry.
But he doesn’t .
"Then how did you spend the past two years?"
"..."
Peter is silent.
Ned rememberers he saw the GED textbook in Peter's bag, the scars on his face and the shooting reported in the news.
Spider-Man is not so easy to be, he thought.
"Who is your backup?"
"I do not have."
Silent.
"What?!!!" Ned's eyes widened in disbelief. "You, you, then how do you deal with the wound?"
"I have a strong self-healing ability."
"So you only rely on this?! All alone?! been alone all these years?! Why did you do this?! Didn't you say you couldn't do it alone?!"
The voice of Ned's granny comes from outside the bedroom door. Peter could guess from the angry tone that it meant "It's late, speak quietly!"
"Sorry!" Ned replied in a low voice, then turns his head back and stare at Peter.
"Ned, uh, you are too close..."
Ned realized that he was clutching the other's collar.
"Ah, oh! Sorry! Sorry, man, I may be too excited."
Ned let go and stands up from Peter.
"But why don't you go find a backup?"
"I don't want others to get hurt because of me."
"Wh-if it was me at still remember you ,well, Now I'm starting to regret let you go, Peter Parker." Ned sighed and sits back on his bed. "MJ and I should have tied you up at the time and put a label with "This man is Peter Parker, our most important friend"!"
"I'm not angry at you, P-Peter, I'm just a little upset. Two years! In two years you didn't tell us what happened! In two years you didn't come to me to play Lego together! Our death star!"
“ If you really treat us as friends，”
Lego, he noticed that when he talked about Lego there is a flash of joy in Peter's eyes. Now Ned petty sure those dreams not just dreams
"We should play Lego together." He changes his mind ,decides not to say those sharp words.
"Of course , I will definitely come, Ned." Peter wipes the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"By the way, due," Ned takes Peter's outstretched hand. "You should call MJ."