A/N: hellooo

this week went by so damn fAST probably cause school started for me and ive somehow been knee-deep in shit to do already. good news is that im actually on top of my work, like i promised myself i would be. i was really nervous with classes being online and everything that i would fall behind but i have really good professors this semester so it's going pretty well

ALSO THE CRAZIEST THING HAPPENED

so i have to take this honors class for my program and i chose the one where we studied hollywood in the 60s-70s. and get this. my professor showed us pictures of him working as an actor and HE WAS IN FORREST GUMP. not only that, but he also met dustin hoffman before AND HES INTERVIEWED QUENTIN TARANTINO BEFORE AUHSAIDJSKSKXJ

HOW?? COOL?? IS?? THAT??

his class is easily my favorite :,)

anyway, onto the chapter! is this 104? 105? not really sure.

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"I send you to a dance and you end

up in a hospital with a cast on your leg?"
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Tony was asleep beside her bed when Adelaide woke up in the middle of the night.

His head was lying on his crossed arms as he sat in the chair. It couldn't be comfortable to lean forward on the bed instead of lying down. Adelaide sat there for a moment, admiring his sleeping face. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Knowing him as well as she did, he probably hadn't. Whenever he was stressed, the first thing to go out the door was sleep. It was a bad habit of his that she had tried to fix, but never could. She didn't even want to think about how little sleep he must have gotten in the past few months.

Adelaide had so much she wanted to say to him, but she didn't want to wake him up. So she lied there, studying his peaceful face with a soft smile and a happy little skip in her heart. Who knew that someone you didn't even know a few years ago could suddenly become the most important person in your life? She had been kidding herself these past four months. As if she really ever could live without Tony.

No matter how it had happened, she was just glad she had gotten her Tony back.

And with those happy thoughts, Adelaide fell back asleep.

—————

"I can't believe this," someone said.

Adelaide cracked her eyes open slowly. The pain throughout her body had subsided to a dull ache that she couldn't pinpoint to one area. It had only been a little over one day since she had been in the hospital.

"I send you to a dance and you end up in a hospital with a cast on your leg? Honestly, what is the matter with you?"

The ache behind her eyes had lessened only slightly. The sharp pain still jolted through her skull if she moved her head too fast. She wished the bright fluorescent lights above her could be dimmed or turned off completely.

"I get that you're teenagers. Being reckless is your birthright, but this is too much," the voice of the woman continued. She sounded shaky. Adelaide slowly turned her head to see two blurry figures sitting on the sofa, by the door.

When her vision cleared, the teenager realized it was May and Peter.

"May?" Adelaide croaked.

There was a pause.

"Adelaide," the woman breathed in relief, rushing over to her bedside. She kissed the teenager's forehead, pushing her hair away from her eyes and running her eyes over her face to assess for injuries. "Christ, you had me so worried."

Adelaide smiled at the woman's concerns.

"I'm okay now," she said quietly. May pulled up a chair and sat herself down beside her bed.

"I came over as soon as I heard the news," May smiled. Her voice had dramatically changed from earlier when she had been arguing. "I brought you some soup if you want. oh, and this neck pillow, too. Figured you'd need it." She reached into a beach bag on the floor and pulled out a neck pillow, gently placing it underneath the teenager's head.

"Thanks May," Adelaide smiled, "That feels much better."

"Good," she said, her hands adjusting the blanket around the teenager even though it was perfectly fine. Adelaide let her, knowing that it was more for her comfort anyway. He gaze drifted to Peter who was standing on his crutches with a sheepish look on his face that seemed to say See? She's angry, but I took most of the blow for you. He clumsily hobbled his way over to the other side of her bed and sat himself down in a chair.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with the two of you," May sighed, "I can't leave you alone for one damn night."

"Sorry," Adelaide said, failing to hide a sheepish grin herself.

"No, sorry is for when you fail a test. Sorry doesn't cut it if you end up in the hospital and don't answer your phone even after I call you a million times. Do you have any idea how worried I was? I was imaging the wor—"

Adelaide wrapped her hand around the woman's and she stopped talking. May looked down at the teenager's cold hand around her warm, shaky one and sighed, dropping her head. She glanced back up at Adelaide.

"We're really sorry, May," Adelaide said gently. she understood what May was feeling. Mainly because of the woman's nephew and how he had put her in a similar position multiple times. The teenager glanced at Peter, urging him to say something. He got the message and sat up straight in his seat.

"Y-Yeah, we're super sorry Aunt May. It won't happen again, we promise," he said.

May sighed.

"I'm not mad," she chuckled, "God, I stopped being mad ages ago. You two make it so hard to be mad at you, you know that? I just— I want you both to be safe, okay? I'm not telling you to be saints, but don't get yourself killed. That's the bare minimum. Very low bar. Stay alive. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," Peter said. Adelaide nodded.

May smiled, satisfied.

"So I know you're not supposed to have any outside food," Peter said after a moment, holding up a brown box with an orange ribbon, "But I know you really like chocolates so I got you some from the shop across the street...but they don't have coconut on them!" he hurriedly added the last part as an afterthought, remembering the last time he had bought her chocolates. Adelaide chuckled.

"Thanks, Pete," she grinned, taking the box. 

Peter smiled to himself. So they were back to Pete again, then.

Progress.

Adelaide peeked inside the box. She took a whiff, closing her eyes, "I can't wait to eat these."

Aunt May reached into her beach bag again.

"Okay, so I wasn't sure what kind of soup you liked so I brought vegetable. Figured I couldn't go wrong with that, right?" May said, pulling out a soup thermos and a plastic spoon. Adelaide took in a deep breath at the aroma of the hot soup. It smelled heavenly. Especially after constantly having to smell that strange hospital smell for so long. It was like having bleach up her nose constantly. She was beginning to get sick of it.

"So right," Adelaide said, "It's my favorite."

May grinned, putting the thermos on the bedside table to help the teenager sit up properly. Adelaide winced as she moved from a sleeping position to a sitting one. Her head was throbbing and the sudden change in movement caused sharp pain behind her eyes.

"Honey, are you okay?" May asked worriedly. Adelaide squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip as she waited for the pain to dissipate. It took its time, but it slowly faded away to the dull ache that it had been before.

"I'm fine," she said after a moment, blinking, "It's just my head."

"Should I call the doctor?" Peter asked, worried.

"No, no, it's fine," she said, "I'm fine. It's already gone. I just sat up too fast, that's all."

"Are you sure?" May asked, not entirely convinced.

"Definitely," Adelaide said, giving her a small smile, "Now, about that soup." A beat later, May sighed and grabbed the thermos off of the table, opening it up. Even more of the savory smell of the soup drifted throughout the room and Adelaide suddenly felt warm and absolutely starved.

"How come there's none for me?" Peter frowned.

"It's because she loves me more," Adelaide grinned, childishly sticking her tongue out at him. Peter pouted, offended.

"May," he complained. The woman rolled her eyes.

"I was in a rush," she said, reaching into her bag again, "Here, I brought extra spoons."

She handed another spoon to Peter. Adelaide was grinning at him and he rolled his eyes. May gave her the thermos and Adelaide took it almost greedily. It was so hot and looked delicious. She dug in immediately, letting out a happy sigh when it hit her taste buds. She felt the hot liquid as it traveled down her throat, grateful for the warmth. Adelaide had already taken two bites before Peter even had the chance to take one. But once he had some for himself, all thoughts of complaint were out the window.

"I can't believe you made this, May," Peter mumbled with his mouth full.

He had moved himself out of his chair to sit beside Adelaide on the bed with his legs stretched out in front of him so he could acess the soup a little better. Adelaide had hardly even noticed, she was so invested in the soup.

"If you count opening the can and pouring it out as cooking, then thank you," May grinned.

"Compliments to the chef," Adelaide mumbled as she wolfed down even more. They were already halfway finished with it.

There was a knock on the door.

When it opened, Pepper poked her head inside and smiled.

"You've got company," she said softly and fully opened the door, stepping aside herself. Adelaide spotted Ned and Vivian standing there, holding flowers. She grinned brightly at the sight of them.

"Hi," Vivian smiled.

"Hey Adelaide," Ned grinned.

"Hi," Adelaide said, her smiling stretching across her entire face. It felt like it had been so long since she had seen them. Maybe it was just because so much had happened since then.

They both walked in, glancing at each other. Ned looked to Peter, who smiled at him. He noticed his best friend was looking much better than that night when Adelaide had...

"These are for you," Vivian said softly, holding out the flowers for her. Adelaide looked from the flowers to her and suddenly, her usually harsh gaze softened.

Maybe it was because she had flatlined for a minute one day ago. Or maybe it was because her life was slowly falling back to the way it used to be. Or maybe it was just the heavenly soup. But in that moment, Adelaide had felt something shifting in the way she viewed Vivian. The usual despise she felt towards her was nonexistent. She suddenly did see her as a friend.

And so she smiled brightly back.

"Thank you," she said earnestly, gently taking the flowers. They were sunflowers. And they looked beautiful.

"We'll leave you kids alone," May said, standing up. Adelaide smiled at the woman.

"Thank you for the soup, May. And the pillow."

"If you need anything at all, just give me a call, alright?" she said, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. Adelaide nodded. With one last smile, May and Pepper stepped out of the room, leaving the four teenagers alone.

"How are you feeling?" Ned asked.

"Better. Still have a bit of an ache," she said, wiggling her toes underneath her blanket.

"Mr. Happy told us there was a chance you could have lost your memory," he said. Adelaide nodded.

"I didn't, though," she smiled, "I remember everyone."

"We were really worried," Vivian said, "We're lucky you survived. Are you safe to go home?"

"As soon as they discharge me," Adelaide answered, "I just want things to go back to the way the used to be." She looked at Ned when she said that and he smiled, pretending that it wasn't tears that were stinging his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Ned said and Adelaide frowned.

"For what?" she asked.

"We sort of pushed you away," he mumbled, "We're your best friends. We should have done something. And when the worst thing that could have happened, happened, I felt awful."

There was a bit of a heavy silence in the room.

Vivian seemed to notice it and took it as a cue to give the three of them some space. She cleared her throat quietly.

"I'm going to go use the restroom," she said and Adelaide met her eyes, giving her a small, grateful nod. Vivian smiled lightly in return before leaving the room and gently closing the door behind herself.

Adelaide realized this was the first time it had been just the three of them in a very long time. It felt nice. Nicer than she'd like to admit.

"Ned, I'm sorry," Adelaide said, reaching out to touch his hand. He looked up at her, surprised. "I acted like a total bitch. It wasn't fair to you. you were just trying to be there and I pushed you away. In fact, I pushed everyone away."

"Yeah...I'm sorry, too, Ned. We were fighting and didn't realize you got caught up in it too," Peter apologized.

Ned smiled, looking between the two of them.

"I'm just happy you're both alive," Ned chuckled.

"She's too stubborn to die," Peter joked and Adelaide hit his arm, glaring at him. He rolled his eyes and tried to take another spoonful of soup, but Adelaide pulled it away from his reach. He frowned. "Hey, that's not fair. Ada—"

"May brought this for me," Adelaide argued, keeping it just out of his reach as he tried to grab it.

"She told you to share."

"I'm sicker, I should get to eat the rest," she argued.

"I have more stitches than you," he frowned. Adelaide racked her brain, trying to come up with a comeback.

"Well...Well...I died," she said.

"Dude, she totally wins," Ned said and Peter let out a huff, falling back and giving up. She really was stubborn.

"Okay, you can only use the death card once," Peter grumbled. Adelaide shrugged, taking more spoonfuls of the soup.

"I can use it as much as I want," she said and Peter knew her well enough to know that she would. Still, when there were a few spoonfuls of soup left in the thermos, she handed it to him. He took it gratefully and gulfed it down.

There was a beat of silence in the room and Adelaide realized that the three of them really were finally back together. Things might have been a little different this time, but they would make it work. They were best friends. They had all made a few mistakes, but it was time to put that in the past and move on because that's what best friends did, right?

"So you and Vivian, huh?" Adelaide grinned, poking Ned's arm. The boy felt his face getting hot and Adelaide chuckled. "Are you two dating now or what?"

"N-No, not dating," Ned said, feeling a blush creeping up his face. He said the word so quietly as if Vivian would hear it from wherever she was in the hospital. "We haven't...you know...made it official yet."

"You should ask her out before Flash tries to because you know he will," Peter said and Adelaide nodded, fully in agreement. Ned sighed.

"I really don't know how," he admitted, "Adel—"

"Oh no, no, no," she said, shaking her head, "Not again. I told you, I don't know anything about this stuff!"

"But you're the only girl I'm friends with!" Ned argued, "Who else am I supposed to ask?"

He had a point. But if there was anyone on this planet with a deficiency in all things romance, it was her. She had never even held hands with a boy. She was clearly the worst person to ask for romantic advice. Also considering that the boy she liked was sitting right beside her and she barely had a clue about how to tell him. Now she was supposed to give advice for someone else's relationship? Adelaide sighed.

"Fine. Um just...just take her someplace nice, you know? It doesn't have to be expensive. Just somewhere romantic, I guess. Maybe take a walk in park one evening or a rooftop. Give her your jacket. Buy her flowers. Girls love that...I think. And chocolates. We all love chocolates. Maybe you tell her that she looks really pretty and then...just ask her to be your girlfriend."

"But what if she says no?" Ned asked immediately.

"Vivian would rather say yes just to be polite than say no," Adelaide said, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks, Adelaide," Ned deadpanned, "That doesn't make me more nervous at all."

"Come on, man. What's the worst thing that could happen?" Peter asked. Ned gave him a look.

"I could die," he said.

"If you die from asking Vivian out, I give you complete permission to haunt me for the rest of my life," Adelaide said.

"Fine," Ned grumbled, "I'll ask her out."

"She's going to say yes," Adelaide said.

"I hope so," he sighed, standing up, "I have to go, but I'll come back tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," Adelaide smiled.

Ned awkwardly stepped forward. He glanced down at her hesitantly and then leaned over to peck her forehead. Adelaide couldn't stop the ridiculously large smile from covering her face. Ned smiled too.

"I'm really, really glad you're okay," he said quietly before standing up straight again. 

She could feel a huge weight being lifted off of her shoulders now that they were okay. She was so relieved that things were finally going back to the way they were. She hadn't realized how stressed she had been before until now, now that she wasn't anymore.

As Ned was walking out the door, he bumped into someone who was about to walk in.

"Woah there, tiger," Tony said, steadying Ned by the shoulders. When he saw the teenager's face, he frowned, as if trying to place him in his mind. "I know you, don't I? Wait, don't tell me. It's Neil, isn't it? No, no hold on I know this. Nixon. Nathan? Nehemiah!"

"A-Actually, Sir, it's uh—"

"Neddie!" Tony said confidently, snapping his fingers, "It's Neddie, isn't it? Of course it is. Your name's Neddie."

Ned sighed.

There was no use in correcting the billionaire.

"Yes," he sighed, "My name is...Neddie."

Adelaide stifled a laugh at Ned's expression. Peter was frowning, slightly confused. Tony patted Neddie on his back, quite proud of himself.

"Good to see you again, Neddie," Tony grinned. Ned turned around to glance at Adelaide who only shrugged with an amused look on her face. He shook his head, but couldn't fight the smile at his lips as he left the room. The billionaire closed the door behind himself.

"I dont get it," Peter frowned, "How does Mr. Stark know Ned?"

"Ned...actually found out about me almost a year ago," Adelaide admitted quietly, "He walked in on me when I was the Blue Phantom and..."

She decided not to tell him about the files or HYDRA just yet. She wanted things to be a bit more stable between them before she told him everything. She didn't think the key rebuilding their relationship was telling him how she used to be a trained assassin for HYDRA.

Peter didn't say anything. And then he shrugged like it didn't bother him that Ned had found out first. Because it didn't. Not at all. He wasn't thinking about calling Ned and demanding him to telling him about how it had happened and why he hadn't told him. definitely not. Because that would mean he was jealous.

And he most definitely was not jealous.

"I mean, it's not like it's a competition or anything," he shrugged. Adelaide studied his face for a moment.

"...Right," she said curiously.

"So how