I shifted in my seat in the limo. It wasn't like I hadn't done an interview before, my last name made sure of that. But today was different. I didn't want to tell the world this, but Parker and I screwed up. He was supposed to announce his identity this month, join the Avengers, but because of me, he was stuck talking about this instead.
Now I am good at hiding from the press, don't get me wrong. I mean, I'm Katelyn Stark for crying out loud. Everything I do is a big deal. My first grade less than a 100 in class became thirty articles and three interviews. This time, though, I was careful. We made sure to not publicize our relationship, and we only kissed in my lab, since the footage could only be access by Mom, Dad, and me. Yes, Spidey and I are dating. It's a long story, but basically, when he died in Infinity War I learned how much he meant to me, and we mutually decided to start dating. Dad was fine with it because Peter is the only boy in the whole world he deems worthy of me. He treats him like an actual son, so the idea of him becoming his son-in-law is just too great. Plus, dating Spidey is pretty safe. His identity is secret, and he has super strength.
I first met Peter during our freshman year. Dad transferred me to Queens because Midtown is the best school nearby, and the decathlon team promised to keep my last name a secret. Kind of. Most people knew, and I'm hit on all the time, but no one outside the school bothers me too much about it. And the press rarely comes, really. Just the life of a Stark, right?
The thing that made me most nervous today, however, was seeing the world's reaction. I was every middle-school boy's heartthrob, and this was my first ever relationship, public or not. The one time we kissed outside the tower! We doubled checked, honestly. Just our luck that a reporter lived in the apartment by the alley we kissed in. How was I supposed to know?
"Kate, hey, Kate. We're here," Happy lightly said. He understood. He'd been there since my first press conference (which was when I was six, by the way). I swallowed.
"Let's do this. Where's Peter?" I replied, grabbing my handbag and smoothing out my dress. To answer my own question, I tracked Karen in my electronic contact lenses. I had all the newest tech. Anything to keep me safe, Dad always said. I knew to watch Pete disappear hurt him, so I let him be quite the helicopter dad. I had my own nanotech suit, only for emergencies, and I agreed not to fight crime since it would stress him out. My contacts were built in case my suit ever malfunctioned or someone like the Mandarin kidnapped me since the heat wouldn't affect them. But mainly, I used them to find Peter and Dad when they were out. Karen showed up about a mile away. "Did he really go patrolling today? If he's hurt, I'm going to kill him," I muttered. Suddenly Karen's signaled disconnected, and someone sprinted past me. I would never be used to his super speed.
"Hello, love," he whispered, leaning into me. I pushed him off.
"You're late," I grumbled. "Let's just get this over with."
"Agreed."
We held hands since we were now public and confidently walked inside. Really, I was very overdressed. It wasn't a gala or party, just an interview at Vanity Fair. I think Dad chose them just to spite that one reporter. And the limo was definitely overkill. We were at an office building, for crying out loud! Why was my dad so weird? Any normal star would have just ridden in a Mercedes or something, but no, Katelyn had to ride in a limo, because I'm special. My dress wasn't floor length, at least, just a blue dress (to complement my blue eyes) with long lace sleeves. It went down to around my knees and poofed out like a princess dress after the mid-drift seam. My curly brown hair was left down and allowed to curl, at my own request. I can't stand straightening my hair. My handheld wallet was a simple silver to match my hoop earrings.
A young intern lead us upstairs. She looked about as nervous as I felt. She obviously needed some practice. No one should look so nervous. It's a sign of weakness. Mom taught me how to look just as intimidating as any man could and made sure I interviewed well. I was the heir to the biggest company in the world, so it was kind of important. But today, I tried to look happier. If I was going to have a boyfriend, he was going to have to be strong for me today. I was going for more of a starstruck look, not too serious. I wanted the relationship to look healthy and awesome. Not that it wasn't, but Parker and I were more sarcastic and funnier than a picture-perfect couple, and we both knew the press wouldn't like that. He worked part-time as a photographer, and even though he specialized in Spider-man, he knew what we had to look like today.
"Here we are; have a seat. Can I get you anything?" The intern rambled, much too quickly. I silenced my nerves and forced myself to look at ease.
"A water would be nice," I replied with a small smile. As nervous as I was, Peter looked worse. He was normally behind the camera, not in front of it. I decided to answer for him as well. "Two, actually. Right, baby?" I asked, praying I used the right name. Darling and honey seemed too old, but baby was a bit informal.
"Oh, yes, thank you," he grinned, pulling himself together. "Sweetie, why don't we sit," he said with a warning glare. Peter obviously was thinking exactly what I was. Sweetie was a much better word than baby; I had gone too casual.
A few minutes later, the interviewer came in with the waters. "Hello," she smiled politely, handing them to us. The company obviously chose a woman since it was a relationship interview. Men always seem too competitive to listen to other's love life. "You must be Peter," she offered her hand to him.
"Pleasure to meet you," Peter said, his adorable accent cutting off the 'It's a'. He relaxed, forgetting the camera altogether. "And you are?" he inquired.
"Oh! How rude of me. I'm Katherine," the reporter replied, a little too warmly for comfort.
"Thank you for having us today, Katherine," I interrupted, breaking her eye contact with MY Pete. Yes, I was a bit protective of him. I mean, that was warranted, considering he had already died since I met him. "Now, I hate to be brash," I talked slowly to seem politer. "But we have many things to do today. May we get started?" I asked, throwing in the 'we' for good measure. Peter, the amazing boy that he is, understood my hidden meaning and scooted a tad closer to me, putting my hand in his on his thigh. Man, I could have kissed him right then and there!
The interview went relatively quickly. They really only asked the basics. 'How long have you known each other?', blah blah, etcetera. The only question that came as a surprise was "Now you two are both on the decathlon team that recently competed at D.C. Peter, you were missing for part of this competition. Where were you, and were you two dating at the time?" Peter looked confused, but I knew exactly what they wanted. They thought my Spidey cheated on me! I chose to answer this one, in a huff of anger.
"Peter and I had not dated at that point since Liz and he were together. She moved away, however, and they had a mutual break-up in 2015, about two years before Peter and me ever even toyed with the idea of dating. We've only been together for a year now. And as for why Peter was missing, he later told us his cousin's wife's sister lived in D.C. and had been diagnosed with incurable cancer. It had spread too far before it was found, so he saw her right before she died. He had to race there, which is why we didn't know in advance." I made a mental note to bribe a hospital in D.C. for some false records while Alex, my kind A.I., knew I had lied and texted Dad to fix the problem. Within a few minutes, I received a confirmation and death certificate. Man, my dad was the best. After that, the interview went without a hitch and we headed down to the lobby.
We left and met Happy downstairs. "Would you like to ride back to the tower with us for dinner, Peter?" I asked not breaking character. Of course, Peter ate dinner with us most nights, but he caught onto the formalities and replied.
"I would love that, darling," he said, wrapping one arm around me protectively. I swooned under his hand. Claiming me and calling me darling? He couldn't have done a better job today. I pecked him on the cheek to show my gratitude.
After we were in the car, I immediately started relaxing. The windows were one-way glass, so I took off my jewelry and heels. Finally, I turned toward my Spidey. "You are the best, babe," I giggled at him.
"Woah! There wasn't anything in that water, right?" he asked, confused by my stupid state.
"She's always like this after an interview. She says talking to idiots takes all her energy." Happy grunted, replying for me.
"I'm a mess!" I laughed, throwing my hands in the air fake-dramatically. Peter laughed too, which only made me smile more. He really was the greatest. I snuggled into him, putting my head on his chest. He let me because he knew how much physical touch meant to me, and he lay his hand on my shoulder. I was like Tony in that way, loving physical contact. Except I was much less awkward about it. I wasn't afraid of the power of a hug. I had always wanted a relationship where I could cuddle, and I had openly told Parker this. It's been a year, I thought cuddling wasn't beyond us at this point. We pulled into the tower's lot and drove into the underground garage. I couldn't walk through the parking lot looking like this, so Happy had us take the private elevator straight to the levels that were Alpha clearance only. Specifically, the levels with Dad's and my labs and the family's sleeping wing.
Peter carried me bridal style to my king-sized bed (such is the life of a Stark), then went to the kitchen to get us a few snacks. But before he could come back, my dad was standing in the doorway, concern pulling at the corners of his eyes. I sat up.
"Are you alright? How did it go?" He asked, trying to imitate Steve with his calming technique.
"I'm fine. Don't give me a Rogers look, Dad, I can't stand it. I know you mean well, but it just reminds me of how he hurt you," I said, my carefree attitude gone.
"Sorry, sorry. You just have that post-interview look again," he laughed, but the smile didn't reach his eyes or ears. "It went okay, then?"
"Yeah, because you haven't seen all the footage already, Dad," I teased. "Whatever, I'll play. It went pretty well. The interviewer flirted with Pete a bit, but I played the protective card."
"Oh, did she?" Dad replied sarcastically, obviously having already known about the whole affair. "Personally, I could have done a much better interview, but I think you did alright."
"Daaaadddddd!" I groaned.
"I'm just playing," he joked. "You did great, pumpkin."
Just then, Peter came back in with the snacks. "Oh, hey Mr. Stark!" Peter grinned.
"Tony, kid, call me Tony. We've been over this." Dad shook his head. They looked at each other lovingly, like the father-son duo I knew they were.
"Alright, you two lovebirds. Break it up, I'm hungry over here." I said, catching their attention. It didn't have the effect I was hoping for, though.
"Is she always like this?" Peter asked, sticking his tongue out at me.
"I'm stuck with her, but I'm still trying to figure out why you stay with her," Tony replied, then proceeded to come over and mess up my hair.
"Hey!" I started, then gave up and fell into his hand massaging my scalp. They both laughed. Peter came and sat next to me, placing the snacks in front of me. He'd brought Oreos, Goldfish, and Peanut Butter M&M's. "Man, you are going to get me so fat," I said, already ripping open the M&M's. Of course, Peter would bring my favorite sweets. He was always doing thoughtful things like that. Honestly, he was an amazing boyfriend. Once I had broken into them, he held his mouth wide open, waiting. I tossed one in the air, and he caught it with his perfect spidey-reflexes. I grinned. I loved our dysfunctional family.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first time publishing, so I hope you like it! Also, the pilot chapter is a bit long; the next few will be shorter. I will try to update once a week, and this story will probably have ten or so chapters. This is my take on Tony and Pepper as parents, but I will take ideas and recommendations. Thanks! -kk