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“Are telling me you’ve never had coffee before?!” “No, Ned, the smell of it alone is gross. why would I want to drink it? I get that it helps people stay awake, but at what cost?” Peter sighed and shook his head. He looked back down at his history homework and started writing down the effects of the great depression. They’d learned about it today and the teacher said there was going to be a pop quiz next week. He supposed he could ask Mr. Rogers about it when he went to Stark Tower on Thursday, but figured it was probably insensitive and not something he wanted to relive by telling it. It was a shitty time to live in after all.
Peter looked up when he realized that Ned was still looking at him. He took in the sight of Ned’s disbelief, eyes wide and brows furrowed. “Dude, stop looking at me like I said Kylo Ren is a good guy. What’s the big deal?” Peter said. “What’s the big deal? Wow. You sometime go on patrol to like 2 am and show up to school okay the next day, how are you even surviving without coffee?” Ned shook his head incredulously. “Taste some of mine and you’ll see why people drink this instead of the iced tea you got there.” Peter sighed but took the beverage from Ned’s hand. Peter took a sip and grimaced. Ned scoffed. “what? That was like a single drop. Come on, try to have an open mind here.” Peter had actually taken a decent sip of the unsurprisingly gross drink but didn’t argue as he took another big sip. “Ugh, disgusting. I hope you’re happy now.” Peter said and chugged the last of his iced tea to wash away the lingering taste of the coffee. Ned muttered “Unbelievable” under his breath but didn’t said anything else.
Peter had just finished writing down all the points the teacher made earlier that day when he noticed his hand trembling. He frowned and flexed it in an attempt to still it. It did nothing to help, not that he really expected anything else, but it was still a bummer. Peter was about to start writing down the causes for the great depression, when he noticed his messy handwriting. It was close to illegible, nothing like his normal neat scrawls. He shook his hands, trying to get rid of the jittery feeling building up in his arms, and continued with his homework.
His mind drifted constantly, and he had only written down two sentences in the last ten minutes. He sighed and pushed back his chair to get a glass of water. Ned looked up and pulled out an earbud. “What’s up?” “I thought coffee was supposed to make you more focused, but I can’t concentrate, and I feel weird.” Peter sighed still flexing his hands to get some feeling back into them. “I’m gonna go get some water. You want some?” Ned shook his head, and turned back to his homework, he looked back up when Peter stayed seated for another minute. “Are you okay? You don’t look too good…” He looked pale and confused. “I can’t get up.” Peter whispered and looked around frantically before looking back at Ned. His eyes were wild, and his breathing was quickening. “Ned, I can’t get up.”
Peter was starting to hyperventilate, and the tremors going through his body didn’t stop, they seemed to be growing stronger. Peter couldn’t focus on anything for more than a couple seconds at the time. His mind was running wild. He was reciting the decimals of Pi in his head. His mind was also playing Macarena repeatedly. He was drawn back to the memory of him and May eating dinner last night. They had eaten Indian, Peter’s favorite, it had become sort of a tradition they had at the start of June every year. Ben loved Indian food and had insisted on having it every June to celebrate the month he spent travelling in India. May wasn’t about to let that tradition die even if Ben had. That wasn’t important at the moment, but Peter couldn’t focus. Aaaand Ned was saying something. “--you listening to me?” Peter’s head snapped to look at Ned. He blinked a couple times to keep his eyes on Ned.
“Wha—shit. I think I—” Peter trailed off again, his eyes looking around the room but not really taking anything in. He should probably get some help, this was probably not normal. Ned had had much more coffee than two sips and he seemed perfectly fine. Oh God. Maybe he was allergic to caffeine, it’s not like he would know, he had never had it before. Wait, there’s caffeine in coke, right? He used to drink that when he was a kid. Well, he hadn’t in a long time. May and Ben had changed up their diet after a mandatory course they took at the hospital explaining the effects of-- “Peter!” Ned’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts again. Ned was crouching next to him now. He hadn’t even noticed him getting up and going around the booth. He could hear Karen speak up from his phone, but it seemed so far in the background as he stared at his trembling hand.
Ned watched as Peter smacked his hand against his forehead and lowered it, stared and chuckled. Ned watched his friend who was obviously out of it. He was having a reaction against something, he seemed almost drugged. Ned could see that Peter’s pupils were dilated. That’s what they talked about in movies? Right? Shit, Ned didn’t know what to do. He snatched up Peter’s phone and said: “Karen, can you contact Mr. Stark. Please.” Karen’s voice had spoken up a minute earlier, telling Ned about Peter’s rapid pulse and quickening breath. Not that Ned needed the reminder, he could see it clearly for himself. “Calling Mr. Stark.” Karen’s voice rang out again.
“What’s up squirt? Couldn’t wait until Thurs—”Mr. Stark’s greeting was interrupted by Ned. “Mr. Stark, thank God. I need help. Peter’s acting weird, something’s happening, and I don’t know how to help. God, I don’t know what to do. Tell me what to do.” “Hey, slow down. Ned, right? I’m on my way, don’t worry. What happened? Is he hurt?” Mr. Stark’s lax tone was replaced by something more serious and stressed. “I don’t know what happened, we were just doing homework. He said he couldn’t concentrate and then he couldn’t get up and now it’s like he’s not even here. He’s just blankly looking around not really focusing on anything. It’s so scary please hurry.” Ned rambled. “He’s hyperventilating. Karen said his pulse is really fast and his whole body is trembling.” “Ned, I’ve tracked your location, I’m two minutes out. Just stay there with him. Friday, ready the med bay.”
Ned looked back at his trembling friend, Peter was staring around the room muttering incoherently. “You’re gonna be okay, Peter. Mr. Stark is coming.” Ned said, tears welling up in his eyes, and put his arm on Peter’s shoulder. Peter jumped and tilted his head to look at Ned. He frowned, then turned back to mumbling, his focus already somewhere else. Ned chocked back a sob as he watched Peter look around in confusion. He watched his friend intently until Mr. Stark's voice rang out: “Ned, where are you?” Ned shot up from his crouching position, ignoring the ache in his legs he called out: “Here, we’re down here.”
The few people in the café had looked up at the voice of Tony Stark, but Tony couldn’t care less. The kid was hurt, PR could deal with it. He hurried down to the booth and took in the sight of his spider-kid. Peter looked pale and was trembling. His breath quick and irregular and he looked confused. He looked so lost. No sign of the normal cheerful Peter. No, he was looking around frantically, then he would stop tilt his head and just gaze and mumble and then repeat. Tony swallowed thickly and crouched down next to Peter. “Hey, Peter. Can you hear me?” He said with a gentle tone, Peter blinked a couple of times and frowned. “Mr. Stark?” he mumbled. Tony watched as Peter’s eyes unfocused and went back to gazing around the room. “Shit.” Tony mumbled. “Ned, help me get him outside. I’m going to have the suit fly him to the med bay.” Ned nodded vigorously and grabbed a hold of one of Peter’s trembling arms and Tony the other. Peter’s legs buckled when they pulled him to his feet and they half-carried him outside. The armor waiting outside capsuled itself around Peter as soon as they stepped out and flew towards the tower and the med bay. Tony pulled on his glasses and steered the suit. “Friday, I’m going to need two more suits here.” He said while stepping back inside. He raked his brain trying to find the reason for Peter’s episode, before turning to Ned. “Did you eat anything?” Ned shook his head. “He had some weird iced tea, but he’s had it before.” Ned frowned and trailed off. “What?” Tony questioned. “My coffee! He said he’d never had coffee before. I made Peter try my coffee.” Ned rambled and Tony made his way back to the booth, grabbed the two cups and marched over to the counter.
“What’s in the coffee? Ingredients, write it down.” The barista widened her eyes but nodded her head. “It’s just normal coffee. Two shots espresso, skimmed milk and a cinnamon drizzle.” She scrawled it down anyways and handed Tony the note. He grabbed the note and steered Ned outside.
Two suits were waiting for them and soon they were off too. Ned would have been ecstatic any other day to meet the Tony Stark and fly in an Iron Man suit. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little giddy about being inside a suit made by Mr. Stark. It was a weird sensation, to be both excited about flying and terrified for his friend. “Wow. This is seriously cool.” He mumbled. “Not the time, kid. Friday tell the med team that Peter’s reaction might be from caffeine.” “Already done, boss. Dr. Cho is administering a treatment as we speak” Mr. Stark and a female voice rang out from inside Ned's suit.
They most have been waiting in the hallway for an hour. Tony had paced back and forth, while making several phone calls. A short one to Pepper to cancel all his plans for the day. A longer one to May, Ned could see the tension in Mr. Stark’s shoulder’s as he explained the situation. He could have sworn he saw some tears in his eyes as Mr. Stark tried to reassure May. “Peter is being cared for by the best doctors, he’s going to be alright. I’ll call you once I know more.” The conversation had lasted a little while longer, but Ned tuned it out. He was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands when the doors opened. He stood up immediately when the doctor stepped out and Mr. Stark turned to her expectantly.
“Peter had an atypical reaction to the caffeine in the coffee. We’ve managed to flush it out of his system and he’s recovering now. We had a few scares, as his heartbeat and breathing were irregular, but he’s returning to a more stable and normal condition now. He’s going to be fine but should stay away from caffeine from now.” Dr. Cho explained. “He’ll be sleeping for an hour or two as his body recovers but he should be back to normal as he wakes up.”
Ned leaned back against the wall and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Can we see him?” He asked. The doctor nodded and lead the way to the hospital bed where Ned could see Peter sleeping. Ned sat down next to the bed and grabbed Peter’s hand to make sure he was there and safe. Nothing was going to happen to Peter while he was recovering, Ned was going to make sure of that. Tony smiled a tense smile and called May again to tell her about the update.
Peter was waking up. He couldn’t remember when he went to bed, he must have been really tired. He still felt tired and his whole body ached. He opened his eyes and he groaned as the bright lights assaulted his senses. “Peter?” Ned’s trembling voice made him open his eyes again. He took in the room he was in. Recognition flashing in his eyes after a few seconds. The Med bay. “Friday, lights please.” He rasped, his voice groggy for not being used in a while. The lights lowered and Peter looked over to his friend who was looking at him worriedly. “what happened?” Peter said, looking around confused. The last thing he remembered was being in the café with Ned doing homework. “Turns out that you’re kind of allergic to caffeine.” Ned made a weak attempt at a smile, but the unshed tears in his eyes ruined it. “Really?” “Yeah” Peter huffed and leaned back into the pillow. “I’m sorry.” Peter turned back to Ned and asked “What are you sorry for? I’m fine, you did nothing wrong.” “I shouldn’t have made you try my coffee. This is all my fault. You were totally out of it. And it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry.” Ned rambled as tears started falling down his cheek. “woah, Ned no. This is not your fault. You had no way of knowing I was allergic to caffeine. You can’t blame yourself for this. It would have happened eventually anyways, but with you there I’m safe.” Peter grabbed a hold of Ned’s hand and looked into his eyes and said “It’s because of you that I am here and that I am okay. You saved me, okay?” Ned looked like he wanted to protest but Peter squeezed his hand again and repeated “Okay?” Ned nodded and whispered “okay.”
“It would be cool if you did my homework though” Peter smirked. Ned laughed and punched his arm. Yeah, they were going to be just fine.