Tony really didn't care about the car apparently. He acted like nothing had happened when they were in the lab, and even said something about how when he was Peter's age he was much worse and it had only been an accident.
"You got mad at me that time I got drunk though and you did worse things than that too," Peter said. He could still remember how horrible he felt that day after the night or rather the day after. He really thought Tony wouldn't want anything to do with him anymore.
"You purposely got drunk and I felt bad for being so hard on you then too," Tony said, shrugging. "And I doubt you're going to become addicted to getting into car wrecks. Never heard of a support group for people addicted to car wrecks."
"I'm still—"
"Sorry. I know. Now let's move on."
And so the rest of the day, Peter did his best not to talk about it, even though he wanted to apologize again and again, despite that Tony didn't seem angry.
The rest of the evening was uneventful and fun when Peter could stop worrying about the wreck. They worked in his lab and even did some changes to some of Peter's Spider-Man suits.
"So in a couple Fridays we're going to have the press conference and then a party to celebrate my grand return. You need to be there. Parties used to be my thing." A party? Peter had heard all about the ones Tony used to have. "I know what you're thinking, and it's not like those crazy parties from my youth. You can bring your friends too. MJ and Fred. Not Speedo though."
"Speedo isn't my friend," Peter said. "Not that his name is Speedo. And you know Ned's name."
Tony grinned and shrugged. "Bring MJ and Ned."
"Okay, I'll see if they want to go." Ned would be excited for it and MJ wouldn't admit it but she'd probably want to go too. She thought Pepper was amazing.
"You can bring May too but not Eddie because I decided I don't like him," Tony said as if it was nothing. "Well unless you want him to come."
He definitely didn't.
It was pretty late when Peter finally went home. Eddie glared at him when he got there but he didn't say anything. Maybe May had told him Peter should be allowed to be out as long as he wanted as long as he was at Tony's, or maybe Eddie was still processing the whole Tony Stark thing.
Either way it was fine with him.
Especially when Eddie ended up ignoring him pretty much all the next week. Yes, sometimes he would talk to him, and a few times was even nice and asked about how Peter's school was going, but something was clearly off. He never said anything about Tony and how he had met him either. It was as if it had never happened.
MJ and Ned had both agreed to go to the party. Ned had more like screamed he would go and then kept talking about all the Avengers who might show up. MJ had been much cooler about it.
"Tony really wants to meet the two of you," Peter said during lunch on Wednesday. He especially wanted to meet MJ. "I'm scared he's going to make up some horrible embarrassing stories."
"Now it sounds even better," MJ said, grinning.
Peter just rubbed the back of his neck and his cheeks warmed up. At least Tony didn't seem to know that story about him in Germany.
"Tony said he'd introduce you to Pepper too," Peter said to MJ.
"Are you going to introduce me to Thor?" Ned asked.
"I don't know Thor." That wasn't completely true but he had only really seen him during the battle and at the funeral.
Even though Tony was alive now. It still hurt to think about the funeral.
"Dude! That's… he's still going to be there."
Peter shrugged. "If he is then I'll have Tony introduce you."
He wanted to talk more with Thor too, but he was worried he'd look too much like a fanboy. He was a fanboy but not like he used to be. Plus, he wanted the other Avengers to think he was cool.
"Dude, you're the best." Ned grinned. "Can I bring Betty?"
"But the two of you will probably be broken up again by the conference," MJ said without any emotion.
Ned sighed and shook his head.
"I don't know," Peter said. There would be people there who didn't know he was Spider-Man but there would also be a lot who did know. "Probably not a good idea this time."
"Fine, but I want to bring her eventually, dude."
Peter nodded, but he wasn't sure when there would be another party like this. It wasn't going to be exactly how Ned probably thought it would be too. Tony said it wasn't going to be like one of those wild parties that he used to have.
"Okay. I doubt we'll get to do much anyway, besides just talk to people and watch Morgan."
"Morgan is adorable," Ned said. He had a big extended family so he was good with kids.
MJ wasn't as big of a fan of kids but she also nodded though she hesitated.
"But it'll be fun. I can give you a tour of the Tower," Peter said. "It's amazing."
The Compound had been better, but that was long gone after the battle with Thanos.
"Awesome, dude," Ned said.
Maybe Peter should ask Tony if Betty could come. Peter wanted to show MJ to the roof. It had an amazing view and was romantic. He wanted to show her that.
But he didn't want to abandon Ned either.
The next couple weeks went by slowly. Mostly because of his time at home and how awkward it was. At least May was happy. Sometimes when Peter was in his room, he could hear the two of them laughing, especially Eddie.
On the day of the press conference, Peter woke up early, much earlier than he normally would have. For about thirty minutes, he tried to go back to sleep, but no matter how much he tossed and turned it didn't make a difference.
Then he decided he could go patrolling. He didn't usually go this early, but it would be different. New experience. He would have to be extra careful when he came back since it would be light out, but Eddie would be at work so at least he didn't have to worry about that.
So he decided to do that. It was fun and different, but not eventful at all at first. At least not until he went near one of the train stations and had to save a little girl from almost getting hit by it.
Normally it would have been easy but now… it just reminded Peter of what it had been like when he was in Europe and had gotten hit by that train. The pain and the crushing bones.
He had barely gotten on the train. Barely saved himself from death.
It was hard to breathe. He had to tell himself to keep taking deep breaths and to concentrate on being Spider-Man. He was going to be okay. He wasn't in Europe. Things were going to be fine.
"Thank you so much," the girl's older sister said.
"You're welcome. It's not a problem," Peter said but he was digging his nails into his skin. He wanted this interaction to be over. No, he needed it to be. "Just be careful next time."
She nodded and the little girl hugged him. He returned her hug but then hurried away. It was hard to breathe. That girl… if he hadn't been there then she would have been hit.
She would have been hit and she would have died.
She would have felt the same pain he had. The crushing bones. Death nearing. The world trying to fade away. Peter closed his eyes and he could feel it again. Crushing. The metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
He couldn't take it.
He used his webs to get on a roof. He needed to breathe. He needed to get away. It was so loud in the city. Why was it suddenly so loud?
Karen tried to talk to him, but he told her to stop. No, that wasn't right.
"Just stop it! Stop it!" he yelled hard enough to hurt his throat.
He didn't want to hear anything now. He wanted silence. She actually listened. Even now he hoped that she wouldn't tell Tony.
But right now… right now he couldn't think too much about that. He had to concentrate on breathing. In and out.
He laid on the roof for… he didn't know how long. Just staring at the clouds. That train incident… was this going to be just like with the building?
No… he already knew that it would be. He had nightmares about that too.
But mostly about seeing Tony's grave and him snapping. In the dreams, Tony didn't come back to life.
He died.
He tried to steady his breathing, but he couldn't. He just…
Someone tried to talk to him through his Spider-Man outfit, but he pulled off his mask and tossed it to the side. No, right now, just no.
He closed his eyes again.
And then his cell phone rang. And rang again. And again. Again.
Peter groaned and answered it.
"Hmmm?"
"Underoos, what's going on? Karen says your heart rate increased and—"
"I'm fine," Peter said, sitting up. "I'm good."
"Somehow I doubt that, and you're supposed to be at school right now. Not patrolling—"
"Be at school?" Peter looked at his phone and saw school had started over an hour ago. "Shit, you're right."
"Kid, I'm—"
"I'm sorry. I'll go now." Peter was such an idiot. He couldn't always be freaked out by trains. He was a superhero. He shouldn't be scared of something that was so normal.
"I don't care about that. You're—"
Peter frowned and grabbed his mask. "I'm fine. I'm going to home grab my stuff and get to school." There was a long silence. "Seriously, I'm okay."
"I can come there and pick you up. Or I can send Happy to come get you," Tony said.
It was almost tempting but Peter shook his head. "No, I'm fine, really."
"Happy should come get you."
"But I—"
"Nope, besides I think Happy misses you."
Peter rolled his eyes. "Great. Can't you just have him pick me up at my place instead? It won't take me long to get home."
There was a long pause.
"I'm seriously fine, Tony. It was just…" he could tell him what happened, but then he'd have to explain the train thing. "You can have Happy pick me up at home and he can drop me off at school."
"Sounds good," Tony said.
Luckily, he didn't say anything else.
Peter groaned and headed home. His head was pounding now but he ignored it. The train… how could it shake him up so much?
When he got to the alley near his house, he changed into his regular clothes, since he didn't want his whole apartment building to know he was Spider-Man.
He just needed to grab his backpack upstairs. It wouldn't take that long for Happy to get here.
Peter opened the door to his apartment. It was silent. Not surprising since May would be at work. Eddie would be too.
But then he heard a creek in the other room. Like someone walking. He wouldn't have heard it if not for his spidey sense. He froze.
Damn it.
"May?" Peter asked hopefully.
But, of course, Parker luck didn't allow that. Eddie walked into the room. Peter clenched his fists together.
"What are you doing here?" Eddie asked, glaring at him. "You're supposed to be in school."
Peter could lie and say he was sick, but he was planning to go there. He had a big test. Even if he didn't, the thought of staying here with Eddie caused his skin to crawl.
"I have a free period," Peter said. "You know since I'm a senior. Easier year."
Total lie. His classes were just as difficult as they had been the previous year. He couldn't slack if he wanted to get into a good college.
"Really, then why is your backpack here?" Eddie threw it at Peter's face, but it was easy for him to catch it despite the force. "Free period my ass."
"I went to my first class without it," Peter said, throwing the backpack on. He had what he wanted and now he needed to get out of here. "And that's why I came back during my free period."
"I don't believe you."
Peter froze. Normally he would try and be polite. He would be nice and kind like always but right now… Eddie was weird. And he needed to understand that he wasn't Peter's father.
Tony might not technically be, but that didn't matter. Peter would never have that kind of connection with Eddie.
And that was that.
"I'm not your son and you don't have to pretend like I am. I have father like figures." He rose an eyebrow. Maybe this would get Eddie to let it go.
"Who? Tony Stark?" Eddie laughed. "There is no way that someone like him cares about you."
"You don't know anything about me," Peter spat out.
Any hopes of that making Eddie leave him alone went away. Peter clenched his fists even tighter than before.
"I know that you're not brilliant or anything like Stark seems to believe," Eddie said. "I don't know why he thinks you're so great, but I have my suspicions."
"And what are those?" Peter asked. He was digging his nails deep enough in his skin that there was warm liquid under his nails. He didn't care that he was bleeding.
His phone vibrated. He ignored it.
It was probably Happy. He was probably already here.
"Oh, I think you know."
"No, I don't. Tony likes having me around. He says I'm like a son to him." Maybe he suspected Peter was Spider-Man, but this conversation would probably be going a lot different if that was the case.
Maybe he would have left him alone if he knew the truth. Or maybe he would have told everyone who he was and ruined him. Yes, one day Peter did plan to tell the public that he was Spider-Man, but he wanted to wait until after he had graduated from college.
Right now he wanted to have as close to a normal life as possible, even if that was hard with him being Spider-Man.
"I'm sure Tony does like having you around, but it has nothing to do with you being like a son to him. I've heard about Tony Stark's wild past. Wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't put all that behind him and you're…" He shrugged. "I suppose some might think you are cute and so-"
"Shut up!" Peter almost yelled. Eddie flinched. Good. How dare he say something like that? Yes, people had before, but he hated it. It was disgusting and wrong. "We don't do anything like that. He would never do that to me. He's really just like a dad to me."
"You don't tell me to shut up."
Peter thought about telling him to fuck off. He really did. It would be amazing seeing his face. He would be shocked, and it was so different than how Peter always was.
Instead he just remained quiet.
"You're not going to go to that party Stark is throwing. You're done hanging out with him. I know May thinks he's good for you, but it's clear he's not."
Peter looked at him and then he laughed. It was obviously the wrong thing to do, but he wasn't about stop working with Tony just because something Eddie said, even if he was dating his aunt. May might eventually get tired of him.
"You need to respect me."
"I have to go to school," Peter said, and he thought that would be it. Eddie would obviously be pissed and maybe he would complain about him to May, but Peter could talk to her too.
It was just she liked being around him.
But that wasn't it for Eddie.
He punched him in the arm. It hurt. Peter stumbled back, shocked. Had he really just done that? He had taken worse hits, but still. He should have been able to stop it. His spidey sense had gone off this whole talk, but he was used to it going off with Eddie.
He thought it was nothing.
He tried to hit him again, but Peter stopped him. He grabbed his arm and lightly pushed him away.
"You… You don't do that!" Peter said. Eddie was lucky. He was lucky that Peter was who he was. He had super strength. He could make him regret it, but he wouldn't hurt him. He wasn't that kind of person. "I'm not… You can't do that to me."
Eddie's eyes widened and he was now taking a step back, looking almost more horrified than Peter felt. How could this asshole actually hit him? What would May think if she knew? There was no way she would approve this.
"You can't tell anyone about this. Not May and not Tony Stark. He's Iron Man, you know?" Eddie said. "I'm dating your aunt so you have to listen to me. You're just a stupid kid."
Peter opened his mouth to answer, but he didn't get the chance to tell him that he couldn't tell him what to do.
"He's Iron Man! He'll kill me, especially if he does think you're his son. It was a mistake. I'm not the kind of person who hurts people." Eddie put his hands in front of him. "I'm not!"
Really, because he had just done it. And he had hit him hard. It still hurt now. It was going to bruise. Eddie should be glad that Peter wasn't fighting back. He could hurt him a lot worse.
It was just… he couldn't do that. What if he messed up and hurt him too much? Eddie was a normal person and Peter wasn't. And May liked Eddie. He couldn't let her down.
"And May… I love her." Eddie said. "She's-"
"I have to go," Peter said.
"You can't tell them. If you do, then I'll make you regret it," Eddie said. "You'll wish that you kept your mouth closed if you don't. I'm not going to lose what I have."
Peter stared at him. "I won't tell Tony, so don't worry, he won't murder you." Peter didn't wait for him to answer and took a few more steps toward the door.
He wouldn't tell Tony, but May… well… he needed to talk to May, even if he didn't tell her exactly what happened. He had to make sure that Eddie wasn't hurting her.
Peter was strong and could take things like this, but May didn't have super powers. And she just deserved better.
"It's not my fault what happened. It's yours," Eddie said.
Peter tried to say that it wasn't. After all, it wasn't like he had hurt him.
"You were supposed to be in school. I was just trying to get you to be a better kid. You're spoiled rotten. You're taking advantage of—" Eddie didn't get to finish because there was a knock on the door. It echoed through the otherwise silent room. Silence once again took over and Peter could even hear Eddie's breathing and then the hum of the fridge.
Then the knock sounded again.
"Pete? Kid?" Happy called from the other side.
"I have to go," Peter said, and he quickly hurried out the apartment, almost colliding with Happy. He slammed the door behind him. Not wanting Happy to see Eddie. That whole conversation…
Eddie was already crazy enough. The last thing Peter wanted was for him to speak to someone that May had dated.
Peter could handle Eddie being angry with him, but if Eddie got mad at May… Peter couldn't let that happen.
"You okay?" Happy said, giving him a look.
"Yeah, yeah, fine." Peter just wanted to leave so he took off toward the stairs. Happy sighed behind him but followed.
Happy had parked his car in the old spot which he used to park in, which was good because Peter didn't want to look for it. He just wanted to leave. Normally he would talk to Happy and tell him everything that was going on, but right now he wanted silence and to be alone with his thoughts.
But of course, nothing could that be easy because Tony just had to be in the car too. Peter groaned, feeling guilty as he did, because he should just be grateful that he was alive.
And he was. More than anything.
"I'm sorry. I'm-!"
Tony laughed. "It's okay."
Happy got in and looked at them. "Something's up with the kid."
"Yeah, he wasn't happy to see me."
Great… "I just don't feel like talking today," Peter muttered.
Tony did a fake gasp and looked at Happy. "The world is ending."
Happy just rolled his eyes. "If the kid doesn't want to talk, then you should respect that."
Tony gave him a horrible look. "I just want to know what's happening. He's upset."
Peter looked out the window as Happy started driving. "Nothing happened," he muttered.
"Friday told me Karen informed her that your heart rate was—"
"I stopped someone from getting hit by a train," Peter said, glancing at Happy for a moment before looking out the window again.
"I'm sorry," Happy said.
"You're sorry? I don't get it. You said you succeeded." There was a long silence. Part of Peter wanted to see Tony's face, but at the same time he just… couldn't. "You two aren't telling me something. What happened? I'm missing a big part of the story of Peter Parker."
Happy stayed quiet.
"Really you two are keeping secrets from me? You didn't even used to like Peter, Happy. You were always complaining about the messages and texts he left you."
"I've always liked Peter," Happy said. "I just—"
"I got hit by a train. In Europe," Peter said, not letting Happy finish. He still didn't look at anyone and just stared at people outside the window.
"What?!" Tony asked, his voice raising.
"Beck pushed him. Basically," Happy said.
"What the fuck?! Underoos got hit by a train. He could have died!" Tony put his arm on Peter's shoulder but Peter didn't turn to face him. He couldn't. "That asshole. If he wasn't dead, I'd kill him. I'd… He should be grateful he's dead. Peter's just a kid. How dare he?!"
There was another silence.
"What happened? How did he do that to you?" Tony asked, his voice raising. Was he going to have an anxiety attack? Peter didn't want to be the reason Tony had one of those. It had been a mistake to tell him this. "What happened? I need to know exactly what happened to you."
Peter chewed his lip. "It's my fault."
"It's not your fault," Happy said. "He—"
"Happy's right. Not your fault. He hurt you. You could have been killed. I always knew that he was a horrible person. I just didn't think he would do something like this. You're innocent."
"No, it was my fault. I made a horrible mistake." Peter finally looked away from the window but still not at Happy or Tony.
"And what was that?"
The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.
"I gave him EDITH."
And there it was.
The silence went on for an eternity and yet not long enough at the same time. The rain pounded at the roof of the car and the radio hummed a song, but it didn't matter.
"What?" Tony whispered. It was hard for even Peter to hear him, and he had better hearing than normal people. "But I gave you that. To protect and help you and because…"
"I knew that I wasn't good enough," Peter muttered, and he still wasn't really. He was upset about getting hit by a train and was having trouble dealing with his aunt's boyfriend.
But he would deal with the later. He had to.
"Peter…"
Peter's eyes were burning. He swiped at them. He couldn't cry. He wouldn't. Not now.
"And he reminded me of you. He was good and so put together and not a mess. And I missed you so much and Fury was pissed at me and everyone was asking me if I was going to be the next Iron Man. I knew I couldn't do it. I'm not you. I'll never be you. I was just a random kid who got bit by a spider."
"Kid…" Tony pulled him into a hug. "You don't have to be Iron Man. I don't expect you to be. I said to the next Tony Stark. Kid, I didn't want to overwhelm you or anything. And you're more than just someone who got bit by a spider."
Peter pressed his face against his shoulder. He didn't want to cry. He was supposed to be strong. He was Spider-Man, but he couldn't help it. The tears managed to escape.
"I'm sorry," Peter muttered. "I fucked up. People died in London because of me."
Tony ran his hand through his hair for a moment. "No that's Beck's fault."
"I really thought I could trust him." Peter finally pulled away and wiped at his eyes. "I'm such an idiot."
"No, you're not."
"It's partially Fury's fault," Happy finally said. "He's—"
"A complete asshole who is uninvited to my party," Tony said.
"Good. Fury's…" Happy didn't finish his sentence.
"It's not his fault. I gave the glasses to Beck. Not Fury. I'm sorry, Tony. You gave me them and I messed up like always."
"It's okay, kid. It's really going to be okay," Tony sighed and ran a hand through his own hair. "I should have been there. I should have."
"You were in a coma," Peter said. "And I'm old enough to take care of myself."
"Kid, it doesn't matter how old you are. People always make mistakes." He sighed. "I just can't believe you got hit by a train. If Beck was alive, well… he'd regret what he did."
"I'm just sorry… I let you down. I let everyone down."
"Kid, you didn't let me down. And I'm the one who made a mistake. Maybe it would have been better if I had waited until were eighteen to have you get it."
Peter cringed.
"What?" Tony asked.
"Fury said he didn't think I was ready." So obviously he hadn't been.
He groaned. "I just meant maybe it would be less stressful for you."
Peter shrugged.
"Kid, I don't regret giving it to you," Tony said. "I've known I'd eventually give it to you since before Thanos."
"Fury's an ass," Happy said. "And I told you before Tony didn't regret trusting you at all."
"Yeah, I didn't and still don't. Don't listen to Fury," Tony said.
"I… fine," Peter said, shrugging. "Fine."
"Good," Tony said but his frown deepened. "Is there anything else wrong?"
For a moment, Peter thought about telling him what happened. It wouldn't be easy but he could do it. Then he might not never have to deal with Eddie because Happy and Tony would both freak out, especially Tony who was will Tony.
But he could handle this himself. He would talk to May.
"No, that's all."
And they even seemed to believe him.
((AN: Thank you for reading and please comment!
UntamableWyldeRaptor: Driving can be hard. It took me a long time to feel like I really mastered it and I still don't like parking in cities.
PicassoPenguin: Driving is hard lol. It seems like crashes come up every once in awhile in my fanfictions. Maybe because a lot of my original stuff doesn't have cars in it. I hope you like this new chapter.
Cheshire-sama: I'm looking forward to you reading chapter nine. It has a part where it mentions Tony telling someone he is alive. I'm not saying who but I found it funny. I hope you have a nice day as well!
I.D.'s Fantasy: Tony isn't that good at keeping it a secret in this story apparently. I will try to keep up the good work!
skydancer121: aww thank you. That's sweet, but I'm not sure I did as good as I would have liked to. Still I'm not unhappy about how it turned out. Just not as happy as I could be.
Rissy298: I'm glad you love the story. Hope you enjoy this long chapter too!
ItsBeenAwhile8: Well Eddie deserves to be put in his place. He's not that nice of a person. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.
Guest: I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Nat. Part of me thinks I should have her still be killed off, but I don't want that. I want her alive. I love her. I guess I want everyone pretty much alive, except like Thanos. He can stay dead.
Karlicm: I love writing Tony. It's so much fun, and I hope I'm doing an okay job of it.
Bunearybunny: Thank you. That means a lot to me.
Mbomba: I'm glad you like the story, and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter, especially since so much happened. Thank you again for reading!
If I missed any comments, let me know))
