"Could everyone please fill out the form and pass it forward? Once I've collected them we can get started on our lesson for today." Peter's chemistry teacher said as he handed out said forms to the class.

Peter glanced at it. He recognized it as the basic information form they had to fill out every year. He'd never had to give it a second thought before, but now he found himself staring blankly at it, pen hovering over the blank space for parental contact information.

He chewed on his lip as he looked around at everyone else easily completing the form. Some of his classmates were already done and passing them forward. Peter knew it shouldn't require this much thought. He knew he should put Tony's name down. Tony was his guardian. Was his dad now. Obviously he needed to put him down as his parental contact, but for some reason he hesitated, pen still frozen in place.

Without thinking about it any further he took a deep breath and jotted down May's name and all her old contact information. As he handed the form forward, he told himself it was because no one was supposed to know Tony was his guardian and it wasn't like the school would ever need to use it anyway. Apparently he wasn't just getting better at lying to other people, he was getting better at lying to himself.


"Hey short stack. How's it going?" Clint asked as he plopped down next to him on the couch in the common room.

"Good." Peter answered distractedly as he hurried to finish the last question on his calculus homework. MJ had let them all go after only an hour of decathlon practice after school. Peter meant to use the extra time to extend his evening patrol. Going out as Spiderman was the only way he seemed to be able to clear his head these past few days.

"Busy week?" Clint asked once Peter finished the last question.

"Huh? Not too bad." Peter glanced over at him. "Why?"

"I haven't seen you around much."

"Oh. I spent the weekend at Ned's." Peter explained. In fact, he'd begged off coming home on Sunday with the excuse that he and Ned needed more time to finish their 'project'. Tony had reluctantly acquiesced and Peter had spent all night out as Spiderman instead.

"It's Thursday." Clint commented with a raised eyebrow.

Peter shrugged. Between school, decathlon practice, homework and patrolling, Peter hadn't been around much. In fact, he'd barely seen Tony this past week and he knew it wasn't because the other man was busy. Peter knew he was avoiding him on purpose, but he just couldn't seem to wrap his head around all the emotions the Ben dream had dredged up and seeing Tony and having to interact with him just made it worse.

"Where are you going?" Clint asked when Peter stood and set his homework on the coffee table.

"Time to go be Spiderman." Peter answered. "Um can you let Tony know if he's looking for me?"

Clint frowned at him.

"What?" Peter asked.

"You ok kid?"

"I—" Peter hesitated. For a brief moment, he almost caved and spilled everything that had been bothering him, but he stopped at the last second. The Avengers were a family and they had their own unspoken rules, and one of them was that they didn't keep important secrets about Peter from Tony. So he knew if he told Clint, there was no way Tony wouldn't find out. "I'm fine."

"Ok." Clint said, frown deepening. "You sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure." Peter said as he hurried to the elevator, knowing that the superspy had obviously caught the slight slip up.

"Uh-huh." Clint's made his skepticism known.

"I'll see you later." Peter called out as he escaped into the elevator.

"See ya squirt. Be safe."


Tony let out a heavy sigh as he walked into the common room, already in a bad mood because FRIDAY had informed him that Peter wasn't home. Again. So he was going to miss dinner with him. Again. Which made it seven days in a row now that he'd skipped out on dinner with Tony. Something was clearly up but he had no idea what. He'd wracked his brain to try to figure it out, but nothing came to mind. He'd been hoping it was something minor that would sort itself out but now it seemed like that wasn't going to be the case.

Tony thought he and Peter had reached the point where it'd be smooth sailing, but clearly he'd been wrong. Or deluding himself. Maybe such a point didn't even exist when it came to kids. Who knew having a teenager could cause so much stress? Tony was still struggling to get a handle on the crippling anxiety that overtook him every time Peter went out as Spiderman. And now he had this new worry that was equally taxing in a different way.

Tony sighed and pulled his tie loose as he walked toward the couches where Steve, Clint, Bruce, Nat, Rhodey, and Sam sat scattered around. Scott was absent visiting his kid for the week, and Vision and Wanda were off gallivanting somewhere in Eastern Europe together.

"Hey guys." Tony greeted as sat heavily on the couch between Steve and Nat.

He received distracted hellos from everyone.

"Where's Peter?" Steve asked curiously.

"Not home." Tony said making no effort to hide his frustration. "Again."

"He went out as Spiderman about an hour ago." Clint offered. "He told me to let you know."

Tony puffed out a breath and rubbed a hand down his face.

"So what's up with him?" Clint asked. "Because something obviously is."

"Hell if I know." Tony admitted. "I think he's avoiding me but I have no idea why."

"I don't think it's just you. I haven't seen him all week." Nat shrugged.

"Me neither." Bruce frowned.

"Well maybe it's not just me." Tony mused even as his worry ratcheted up.

"Do you think maybe he's having trouble at school?" Rhodey asked. "Happy told me about that asshole kid that pushed him around a couple weeks ago."

"Peter's getting bullied?" Clint asked incredulously.

"No I don't think he's getting bullied." Tony denied. He'd already considered the possibility earlier in the week and dismissed it. "Something else is wrong, but I have no idea what."

"Well I got nothing." Sam offered with a shrug.

The rest of the team just shook their heads or shrugged.

"What about you Cap? Thoughts?" Tony asked.

"I don't know." Steve patted his shoulder. "I guess you'll just have to talk to him."

"I want to but he keeps disappearing on me." Tony sighed.

"You know what they say. If the mountain won't come to Muhammad…" Bruce advised.

"Well I'm heading out to Malibu tomorrow night for business this weekend." Tony said.

"I don't see how that's going to help." Steve frowned.

"You want us to interrogate the kid while you're gone?" Clint joked.

"No. I'm bringing Peter with me." Tony smirked. "Let's see him try to evade me on the jet. We'll have hours of uninterrupted one on one time."

Grins and chuckles broke out.

"Sounds like you've already got it all figured out. What do you need us for?" Sam asked.

"You know Wilson, I ask myself that all the time." Tony joked. He managed to get both his hands up before he was hit by a mass of throw pillows.


"Hey kiddo." Tony said from his spot on the couch as Peter walked into the penthouse in his Spiderman suit with mask off and in hand. Peter looked surprised to see him there. Tony hadn't waited up the last few nights, and he wondered now if that'd been a mistake.

"Um I'm not late am I?" Peter asked with a frown as he glanced over at the clock in the kitchen.

"No. I just wanted to talk to you for a second." Tony explained.

"Oh. Well, I'm really tired. I think I'm going to head to bed."

"That's ok. This will be quick." Tony said with a smile before Peter had the chance to blow him off.

"What?" Peter asked as he hesitantly walked over to him.

"I have to go to Malibu this weekend for SI business."

"Oh. Ok. That's fine. I was planning on spending the weekend with Ned again anyway." Peter tried to smile at him but it ended up twisting funny on his face.

Tony eyed him. "You're coming with me."

"What? But I—"

"It's not up for discussion." Tony said with finality. "I'm picking you up right after school tomorrow so pack a bag in the morning, and don't forget your swim trunks."

Peter gaped at him.

"Now go get ready for bed." Tony nudged his head in the direction of Peter's bedroom. "Good night kiddo."

"Good night Tony." Peter sounded resigned and Tony watched him trudge down the hallway to his bedroom. Something about that interaction had seemed off but he couldn't put his finger on what.

Half an hour later as he finished his paperwork, it hit him. He couldn't remember the last time Peter had called him dad. If Tony hadn't been sure something was wrong before, he definitely was now.


'May.' She looked as beautiful as ever as she stood staring out the living room window of their apartment. The light behind her shone like a halo in her hair.

'Peter.' She turned and smiled so brightly at him that Peter felt like everything was finally right again in the world. He leapt forward to hug her and cried when she automatically reciprocated. Peter clung to her like a lifeline, basking in the feeling of rightness and safety that encompassed him.

'I love you.' He spoke the three words like a sacred promise.

'I love you too honey.' She said right back and for a few moments they just held each other.

'I just wish you hadn't forgotten me.' May murmured into his hair and suddenly all his happiness slipped away.

'I haven't. I haven't forgotten you.' Peter denied and hugged her tighter, inhaling her familiar scent. 'I could never forget you May. Never. I miss you so much.'

May pulled back from him and her smile weakened as she caressed his cheek softly. 'No you don't.'

'I do.' Peter pleaded.

'You have Tony now. Your very own dad.' The glassiness in May's eyes as she held his face in her hands broke his heart. 'You finally have everything you ever wanted.'

'No. No. I never wanted this.' Peter denied as his own tears spilled from his eyes.

'When are you going to stop lying to yourself Peter?' May leaned forward to kiss his cheek and whispered. 'This is exactly what you wanted.'

Peter's eyes snapped open. He immediately scrunched them closed again and rubbed a hand roughly over them. A dream. It was just a dream. May wasn't here. She was gone. She hadn't actually said those things. It was all in his head. Even so, his heart ached terribly. First Ben and now May. Why was this happening?

"FRIDAY what time is it?" He asked hoarsely, not wanting to move his hand from his face to check the clock.

"It is currently 5:45am." FRIDAY answered.

Great. He sat up blearily. Might as well face the day. There was no way he'd be able to get back to sleep now anyway. Besides, he still had to pack for Malibu. Tony had sprung that on him last night and he'd been too exhausted to think about it much before falling into bed. Now that he did have the time, he still didn't want to think about it.

He got up and used the extra time to pack for the weekend and to get even farther ahead on schoolwork. At the last minute, he showered and dressed so he didn't have to spend any more time than necessary with Tony. He already didn't know how he was going to get through a whole weekend with just the two of them. His only was hope was that Tony would be too busy with SI stuff to bother with him, but somehow he doubted that would happen. Usually he'd be over the moon about that, but not now. Shit.

Luckily, Tony had an early meeting that morning so he was already gone by the time Peter emerged from his room. Happy drove him to school and the day passed remarkably quickly. Probably because Peter was dreading the end of the day. That was how time worked after all. Too fast when you wanted it to go slow and too slow when you wanted it to go fast. The final bell of the day rang and he begged off decathlon practice. MJ wasn't super happy about it since they had their first meet in four days but she begrudgingly let him go.

Peter walked a few blocks down the street before he spotted Tony in his favorite car, the Audi R8. Meeting away from school was the solution they'd come up with for when Tony picked him up so no one would notice. Peter checked over his shoulder to ensure none of his classmates were in sight before he opened the door and climbed in.

"Hey Tony." He greeted as he settled into the front seat. He planned to get through the weekend by acting like nothing was bothering him.

"Hey kid." Tony smiled and glanced at him over the rim of his sunglasses. "Ready for a weekend of fun in the sun?"

"Um yeah." Peter said back. See? He could totally pretend like everything was fine.

"Great. Let's get this show on the road." Tony laid on the accelerator and they peeled away.

"How was school?"

"Good." Peter shrugged.

"Good."

For some reason, Tony seemed fine with the silence that settled between them as they listened to the radio on the way to the airport. Peter pulled out his homework and tried to finish the little bit he had left for the weekend, not paying any attention to his surroundings. When Tony stopped the car on a flat blacktop, he frowned. This wasn't the airport parking lot.

"We're here." Tony announced as he unbuckled and hopped out of the car.

Huh? Peter frowned but followed Tony's lead and got out. As soon as he stepped outside and looked around, he recognized his surroundings. They were on a tarmac with a Stark Industries jet waiting nearby. The same place Happy had taken Peter to board the jet when he'd gone to Germany. Holy shit. Of course they'd fly on Tony's private plane. Now that he thought about it, he wondered if Tony ever flew anything but private. Probably not. Peter's mind whirled as Tony chatted with Happy who'd suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

He watched as the two men walked toward the trunk and Happy opened it and grabbed Peter's duffel and Tony's suitcase out of it. Tony grabbed the Ironman suitcase armor to carry himself.

Tony glanced over at Peter who still stood awkwardly by his door and waved him over. "Let's go."

Peter followed in somewhat of a daze. Before he'd met Tony, he'd never even been on an airplane and now he was destined to fly private as Tony Stark's son. What if he went his whole life without ever flying on a normal airplane? Wasn't that weird?

"Pick a seat." Tony told him as soon as they boarded the plane. Peter headed over to one in the middle of the plane and watched while Happy and Tony put their stuff away and said their good-byes.

"Don't wreck my car." Tony joked and tossed the keys to the Audi to Happy who caught them deftly.

"Don't have too much fun this weekend." Happy joked back.

"Oh we will."

"See you on Sunday boss. Bye kid."

"Bye Happy." Peter gave him a half wave and then Happy disappeared back down the jet stairway. Tony tapped in a numerical code on a keypad and the door closed.

A moment later, Tony plopped down right across from Peter. He couldn't help but think of his previous plane ride with Happy and how the man hadn't wanted to sit by him. He wondered if he and Happy flew together now if that'd still be the case. He didn't think so since the man actually seemed to enjoy his company now.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Tony asked curiously.

Peter blinked and refocused on Tony. He hadn't realized he'd been staring blankly into space. At some point Tony had taken his sunglasses off so Peter could see the slight concern in his eyes.

"Just thinking." He answered.

"Yeah I got that. What about?" Tony didn't let him deflect.

"When I flew to Germany with Happy." Peter admitted with a small smile. "He didn't want to sit by me."

"Well I want to sit by you." Tony said, obviously figuring out where Peter's train of thought had come from. "I feel like I've barely seen you this past week."

"Yeah I had kind of a busy week." Peter shrugged and turned to stare out the window as the plane taxied to the runway.

"School going ok?"

"Yeah."

"No kids are giving you any trouble?"

Peter frowned and glanced over at Tony. "No."

The conversation paused as the plane took off and Peter went back to staring out the window.

"Did you run into any problems as Spiderman this week?" Tony asked.

"No." Peter figured out then that Tony was fishing.

"So everything's all good with you?"

"Yep. All good. No complaints." Uh-huh. Sure. If he didn't count the current emotional crisis he seemed to be going through.

Tony didn't respond and Peter didn't have to look at him to know he was being scrutinized. Peter purposely continued to stare out the window, knowing Tony would easily read the lie on his face.

"You haven't been your typical hyper talkative self." Tony observed lightly.

"Long day today." Peter tried for an excuse.

"I don't just mean today."

"Long week."

"Hmm."

Tony nudged his leg with a foot.

"What's going on Peter?" Tony straight up asked once Peter turned his attention to him. Apparently Tony was done with being subtle. Not that he did subtle that well anyway.

"Nothing." Peter hated the way his voice sometimes went up an octave when he lied.

"You know you can talk to me about anything."

"I know." He did.

"If something's bothering you…"

"I—" Peter fully intended to complete the sentence as 'I'm fine' but the words got stuck in his throat.

"Peter?"

Peter shook his head. He couldn't tell Tony now when they were trapped together for hours. Besides, he had no idea how he would even begin.

"It's nothing." Peter hoped it wasn't obvious he was lying.

"Girl trouble?"

Peter let out a surprised laugh. Yeah if only it were that easy.

"Yeah right. Like I have time for girl trouble." Peter joked.

"Why not?"

"Yeah I'll be sure to pencil in time for dating in between school, Spiderman, and decathlon."

"Spiderman can't take the backseat for a date once in awhile?"

"No. Are you kidding? Going out as Spiderman is way more important than any stupid girl. Plus it didn't exactly work out so well for my last date. I put her dad in jail and then she ended up having to move across the country, remember?"

"Yeah but you need to live your life kiddo."

Peter rolled his eyes.

"I mean it." Tony said earnestly.

"Uh-huh and how's your love life?" Peter threw the scrutiny right back at him.

"Oh I see what you did there, but it's not going to work." Tony smirked.

"Pepper seems great. Whatever happened with that?" Peter tried a different angle.

"Ha ha. All right that's enough. My appallingly bleak love life is none of your concern." Tony leaned forward and ruffled his hair.

Peter laughed as he hurried to straighten the mess of his hair out, and just like that he and Tony were talking. The conversation for the rest of the flight flowed effortlessly even as Peter tried to ignore the building guilt in the back of his mind. He'd missed Tony this past week, and Tony seemed relieved now that they were talking. Maybe he could just let himself enjoy this one weekend with him. He could go back to agonizing over everything when he got back to New York.


A/N: Sorry this took so long to update! I kept re-writing it and I'm still not exactly happy with it but I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer since you've all been so great!