Peter always dreaded when Monday rolled around after a fantastic weekend because Monday meant school, and school meant having to deal with Flash.
Lately Flash had increased his methods for picking on Peter as the school year was coming to an end and Flash would be graduating in just a few short weeks. Instead of just the casual "Penis Parker!" he'd yell in the hallway, he recently started to physically push Peter around and push his buttons more than he did before. He especially pushed his buttons about the so called "Stark Internship".
Just last week the media caught sight of Tony and Peter out for dessert at a local ice cream shop not far from Peter's apartment. The two thought they'd be safe from any reporters desperate for a story since they ventured out from Stark Tower-technically Avengers tower, but seeing as the only avenger currently residing in the tower is Tony Stark, the old name still fits.
The next morning a picture of them together was on every single newspaper in the city, and on every single news station with the title: Tony Stark, Secret Father?
Of course, anyone close to Peter and Tony dismissed the story as false, but that didn't mean the kids at his school did. Particularly Flash.
Today he felt the need to bring a copy of the article along with a stack of fake money, and throw it at Peter in the hallway. "Hey, Penis," Flash hissed as Peter started brushing the fake bills off his head and shoulders. "How much did you pay Tony Stark to take you out for ice cream?"
Peter's brows furrowed and he clenched his fists at his side. Opening his mouth to respond to the bully, he was shocked when Flash continued to speak.
"Is that even the real Tony Stark, or is it just a look alike?" he pulled the paper up to his face to glance at the picture before continuing. "It's hard to tell by this picture. Maybe next time you should shell out the big bucks so people actually know it's him."
At this point, Peter was furious, though he knew he should just let it go and walk away. Giving into Flash's comments only edged him on more. "Leave me alone, Flash," he finally spat out as he adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, preparing to leave.
He wasn't surprised when Flash stepped in front of him, preventing his exit. "Why didn't you just have your aunt take you for ice cream? Or did you just miss having a daddy? With what happened to your uncle and all, doesn't it eat you up inside knowing you replaced him with Tony Stark?" Flash smirked at the almost immediate response that showed on Peter's face.
Peter had never been this angry at someone in his life. No one talked about his uncle that way. No one had the right to talk about his family like that. And no one had the right to place the fault on himself-except for himself. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up," Peter snapped after what felt like hours of attempting to push away the urge to beat the shit out of Flash. Instead he opted for a simple shove. Nothing too hard, but not too soft that Flash would make an easy comeback. Reaching his hands out and placing them on Flash's shoulders, he shoved the slightly shorter boy out of his way and into the nearest row of lockers.
Flash's back connected with the lockers with a sickening crash. All eyes were on Peter as he threw his hood over his head and continued on his way towards the main exit.
Once Peter was out the main doors and descending down the steps, he only lifted his head slightly to look for Happy's car.
That was their routine now. After everything that happened with the Vulture fiasco at the beginning of the school year, Tony instructed Happy to pick Peter up from school every day. A few days of the week Peter would spend at the Tower, and the other day's he simply went home to work on his homework, or go on patrol.
Today was supposed to be a Tower day, but after what happened, correction, what was just said to him, he just wanted to go home and not come out for a few hours.
Slipping into the backseat of the signature Audi a8 that Happy drives, he didn't say a word to the man in the front seat who was definitely staring at him. Peter couldn't bear the silence anymore so he finally spoke up without looking up. "Um, hey, Happy. Look, I know today is a Tower day, but-"
"What did they say to you this time?" Happy interrupted, having enough knowledge on the kids that bullied Peter pretty much every day.
Peter looked up slowly before attempting to dismiss all accusations. "What? Nothing. I just don't feel good and would rather just go home than get Mr. Stark sick," he tried to lie and he knew it was a bad attempt when he felt his cheeks start to burn, so he directed his attention back to a small thread hanging off the end of his sleeve.
"Peter, I'm not blind. I know there's a group of kids who bully you everyday, but you refuse to tell Tony," Happy informed the sulking teenager in his backseat. When Peter had yet to look up from the seemingly interesting string, Happy had no choice but to say what he should've said a long time ago. "Kid, if you don't tell Tony what's going on, I will."
And just like that Peter's head shot up and he was pleading with Happy. "Please don't, Happy. Please. I'm fine, really. I can handle a dumb high school bully. I'm Spider-Man after all," he forced a slight smile to please his chauffeur.
For a second Peter thought Happy was actually going to give in and let him handle his own problems. That changed the second Happy turned around and put the car into drive. "Sorry, kid. If Tony found out about this and the fact that I hid it from him, I would be out of a job," he apologised over his shoulder without looking back, afraid he'd regret his decision if he caught sight of the puppy dog eyes.
The drive from Peter's school to the Tower was a relatively short drive, but today it felt like hours. His mind raced back and forth with different excuses he could make, different lies he could tell, or different ways to change the subject.
There was no way he was going to make it to Tony's private floor and not have the subject brought up. He wouldn't be surprised if Happy already sent Tony a heads up.
Stepping out of the car, Peter mumbled a goodbye to Happy as he grabbed his bag and stomped towards the elevator. This was so not fair. He was Spider-Man. He shouldn't have to resort to dumping his problems on Tony Stark. If he'd even care.
He pushed the up button to the elevator and stepped inside once the doors opened. He rolled his eyes when the voice of F.R.I.D.A.Y. filled the small elevator. "Good afternoon, Mr. Parker. Tony is waiting for you in his Lounge," she informed him before sending the elevator to the desired floor.
"Yeah, 'course he is," Peter grumbled under his breath.
The elevator didn't take more than a minute to reach Mr. Stark's private floor which caused Peter to let out another grumble about taking the stairs next time as he walked into the… empty living room? That's not right. F.R.I.D.A.Y. specifically said Mr. Stark would be waiting for him, so where exactly was he?
"Mr. Stark?" Peter called out, glancing around the living area combined with the kitchen. "Mr. Stark? I'm here to work on my suit."
Peter couldn't help the involuntary jump when Mr. Stark spoke up behind him. "Ah, Peter. Sorry about that, F.R.I.D.A.Y. was supposed to let me know when you arrived. Which she failed to do." Peter raised an eyebrow when he watched as Mr. Stark looked up towards the ceiling and glared.
Dropping his backpack to the floor, Peter knew this would be his only attempt at an escape. "If you don't mind, Mr. Stark, I'm gonna use the restroom before we start working on my suit," he hesitated before trying to slip past Mr. Stark.
Tony rolled his eyes which wouldn't have been picked up by Peter as he was wearing his usual tinted glasses. He simply reached a hand out and grabbed Peter by the shoulder, ruining his feeble attempt to flee. "Not so fast, kid. I do believe we have something to talk about."
With a small huff, Peter stopped putting up a fight and allowed himself to be led to a couch in the living room. "Look, Mr. Stark. Whatever Happy told you isn't true. He likes to blow things out of proportion and assume I can't take care of myself," he stammered.
An eyebrow shot up above Tony's tinted lense and he sure was interested in where this conversation was heading. The only thing Happy told him lately was when Peter gushed about his grades. In particular, when Peter went on and on and on about getting the highest grade in his robotics class for their semester project of building a fully functional robot to be sent off to compete against schools from around the country. That was what this conversation was originally going to be about. A small celebration of sorts, but now Tony was much more interested in whatever Happy was "lying" about. "Well then. Tell me your side of the story. What happened?"
Peter sighed. Of course he was going to have to go over this. Might as well skip anything unimportant. Oh wait. That's everything. "Nothing, Mr. Stark. Really. It's just a kid at my school who thinks it's okay to talk bad to people." At the sight of Mr. Stark preparing to argue with him over a bully being nothing, Peter continued. "I can handle it, Mr. Stark. Besides, he uses the same insult every time. It's starting to get boring," he lied. He hoped Mr. Stark wasn't able to see the anger that flashed in his eyes at the thought of what Flash told him today.
"A school bully isn't nothing, Peter," Tony started and put a hand up when the young boy wanted to disagree. "I don't care if you think you can handle it. It's not okay for you to put up with it so he thinks it's okay."
At that comment Peter turned his head and looked away from Tony. He started fiddling with the small string again, at least the string couldn't tell him how to live his life.
"What's that?" Tony questioned, and Peter wasn't sure how to answer without looking up from the string and having to make eye contact. What Peter wasn't expecting, though, was for his hood to be shoved off his head and a hand digging into the hood.
"Hey! What are you-" Peter faltered at the sight of what Tony was now holding. What he had dug out of his hood. A fake $100 bill. He went silent as Tony inspected the piece of paper as if it could blow up at any second. And almost as if a switch was flipped in his head, Flash's words were playing on repeat.
Why didn't you just have your aunt take you for ice cream? Or did you just miss having a daddy? With what happened to your uncle and all, doesn't it eat you up inside knowing you replaced him with Tony Stark?
Peter couldn't help the sniffles that followed. He didn't replace Ben. He could never replace the man who raised him. Not even Tony Stark could fill the aching hole that's been in his heart since the day he died.
Without realizing it, suddenly Peter was sobbing. Tears began to roll down his cheeks and he couldn't stop them. He raised a shaky hand to his face, ready to wipe away the tears and man up in front of Tony Stark.
Instead, Tony grabbed Peter by the shoulders and pulled him in close. "Kid, it's okay. I'm right here. Just let it out," he comforted the crying boy as he ran his fingers through his hair gently to calm him down.
"Th-They.. They think I-I.. that I pay you.. that I pay you to.. to hang out with me," Peter told Tony in between his sobs as he tried to catch his breath.
Tony looked down at the teenager who was currently having a breakdown in his arms. It hurt him to know that there were kids out there tormenting Peter on a daily basis just because he hung out with him. "Let them think whatever the hell they want. They're not going to get anywhere in life belittling you for having the coolest job in the goddamn world."
The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes after that. Peter was trying to control his breathing and stop his sobs all together, and Tony was thinking of a way to stick it to the kids that were putting Peter through hell everyday.
Finally Peter felt in control of his emotions enough to pull away from his resting position on Tony's chest and wipe at his runny nose. He glanced up to thank him for the comfort before his eyes drifted over Tony's shirt that was now soaking wet and covered in snot. "Mr. Stark, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to break down like that. Really, I didn't."
Tony looked down to where Peter was currently staring. It wasn't a big deal though. "Don't worry about it, Pete. It's just a shirt. It can be washed," he assured the kid so he would stay calm. Of course, this shirt was actually ruined, but he would just buy another one instead of upsetting him even more.
Peter suddenly jumped up from the couch and was scrubbing at his face with his sleeve. "I should go, Mr. Stark. I'm sorry for being such a bother. I'll just let myself out," he rambled as he started to grab all his stuff.
"What? Are you kidding?" Tony questioned without it actually being a question and reached for Peter's arm. "We haven't even gotten to the real reason I called you here today."
Peter froze. Real reason? Was there something he missed on his way up the elevator? "What.. what do you mean?"
A smirk grew across Tony's face and he knew the kid would be embarrassed now. "I wanted to congratulate you on winning your robotics competition. This was supposed to be a celebration, not an interrogation."
He was gonna kill him. Plain and simple. Peter was gonna kill Happy for making an ass out of himself.
But he figured that could wait. For now he wanted to spend some quality time with his mentor and hero Tony Stark.