Comfortember Day Thirteen: Confession

Peter sighed as he plopped down on the couch. He wanted to burn his school report card and pretend it never existed. He didn't want to show Aunt May. He definitely didn't want to show it to Tony. That'd be embarrassing. Too embarrassing. Hell, he had a hard time showing it to Ned and Ned was his best friend.

He could probably hide this from Tony but not May. She knew the report card was coming in and was expecting to see it. Tony didn't, so he could hide it from him. After he got it before the end of the school day, he'd been trying to mentally prepare himself. It really didn't make it easier.

Peter supposed he shouldn't be embarrassed. He couldn't help but feel that way. Especially after all the time he's been spending with Tony Stark.

Peter was in his room sulking when he heard the front door open. He sighed and made his way to the living room to see May. He smiled. She didn't look frazzled today. It must've been an easier day. Lucky her.

"Hey, honey!" May greeted. She leaned up and gave Peter a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Hi, Aunt May," Peter said back.

"How was school today?" May asked, heading into the kitchen.

Peter frowned. Most kids hated that question almost all the time. Whether it was because of bullies or a boring day or, in Peter's case, coming home with a report card he was not proud of.

"It was fine." Peter shrugged.

"Just fine?" May asked.

Peter nodded.

"Is there something you need to talk about?" May asked, coming back to him and holding his hands.

"Well, you know my report card came in today."

May smiled. "I remember. How is it?"

"Not very good," Peter mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, I don't believe that for a second," May said, confidently.

Peter stepped back. "It's true. It's not very good."

May sighed. "I'll be the judge of that."

Peter went to his backpack and pulled out the piece of paper he should've burned. He handed it to May and stared at the floor, crossing his arms over his chest. May was silent the whole time she checked his report card. He expected to see a disappointed look when she was done.

"What's wrong with this?" May sounded genuinely confused.

Peter frowned at the response. He looked up and saw that she looked as confused as she sounded. How could she not see the issue?

"I got two Cs," Peter said.

"And?"

Peter's frown deepened. "What do you mean 'and'?"

"I don't see what's wrong with that." She still sounded confused. She looked at the report card over again. "You have As for the other classes."

"But I have two Cs," Peter repeated.

"I still don't understand."

"I shouldn't have Cs!" Peter exclaimed, throwing his hands up. May stepped back, surprised. "I should have all As! Or at least a B for the lowest. Not Cs!"

May sighed and put the report card on the table. Peter had a hard time not going back to his room, donning his Spider-Man suit and going off to patrol and get his mind off things. He knew he couldn't run away from this forever, though.

"There is nothing wrong with having a C or two, Peter," May said, firmly. "You didn't fail a single class. It's actually amazing you can keep your school work up while being Spider-Man. Don't you see how incredible this is?"

Peter shrugged.

"Your life is so full and busy but you still manage good grades. You didn't get a single F. I'm very proud of you."

Peter looked up. His nerves slowly started to die down when May gave him a comforting smile. Her tone and words were so genuine. Maybe he was worried for no reason. Maybe a C or two wasn't that bad when the rest of his report card had As. But then he remembered Tony. May might not be ashamed and think he did good, but what about Tony?

"Do you think Mister Stark will be proud?" Peter mumbled.

May paused. She sighed, frustrated. "Is that what you're worried about? Is that man putting pressure on you?"

"What? No! No, no!" Peter said frantically, waving his arms. "No. It's just that he's a genius and he's been helping me with my homework so...He's probably expecting me to get all As."

May shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Peter, you're creating so many scenarios in your head you're stressing yourself out. Did he ever tell you he expects nothing but As?"

"Well, no…"

"See?" May gave him a quick reassuring hug. "Go talk to him. It'll make you feel better."

Peter nodded. "Okay. Wish me luck."

XXX

The anxiety was back when Peter confronted Tony in the Tower's living room. He did his breathing exercises, tried to tell himself that he was overreacting and that May was right. He tried to keep her encouraging smile and hug in his mind. For some reason, it didn't help. He didn't trust his voice so he just handed Tony his report card.

Tony looked confused at first, his brows furrowed and his lip in a thin line. He glanced up at Peter and waved the card.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Report card," Peter mumbled. He played with his sleeves. "You know, what the sch-"

"I know what a report card is," Tony interrupted indignantly. "I'm not a dinosaur."

Peter flashed a quick smile before his face fell again. Tony frowned and looked back at the card. While Tony looked it over, Peter started pacing back and forth, staring at his feet. He hated the silence. Peter flinched when Tony whistled.

"Well done, kiddo."

Peter paused and turned to face Tony. His mentor was smiling just like May had been. It was a genuine smile too, not one of Tony's fake Press Smiles.

"You think so? I- I mean, you're not upset about the Cs?"

He looked just as confused as May. "No? Why would I be?"

Peter stared at his feet again. May was right. He had been making up scenarios in his head. Tony cleared his throat and Peter looked up at him again. He took a deep breath and tried to explain.

"You're a genius. And you've been helping me with my homework," Peter started. Tony nodded for Peter to continue. "So I thought I should be getting all As."

"And you thought I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Tony finished.

"Yeah…"

Tony put the report card on the coffee table and stood up. It was hard for Peter to keep eye contact, even though Tony didn't look upset or disappointed. If anything, he almost looked apologetic.

"You're wrong, first and foremost. I'm not disappointed about some Cs. This just means you need to practice a little more in these areas, that's all," Tony said. He placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "And I apologize if I made you feel like you had to get all As to impress me. You don't have to."

"You really mean that?"

"I really do. All that matters is that you try your hardest. You can't succeed all the time." Tony smiled and ruffled Peter's hair. "I had times where I got lower than an A."

"No way," Peter scoffed. "I don't believe that. You're a genius!"

"So are you." Tony shrugged. "It just shows you can't win them all. Everyone fails once in a while."

Peter deflated as his anxiety started to drift away again. Fessing up to Tony and actually hearing him say it was okay made him feel much better. Tony was also right. Peter needed to practice a little more, that's all. He shouldn't have believed Tony would be upset with him about a report card.

"Thanks, Mister Stark. I really needed to hear that."

Tony wrapped his arm around Peter's shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. "I'll support you all the way, Webs."

"I know."

Author's Note: Okay so...this was not the original plan for this prompt lmao.

What I was going to do was Peter lying to Tony about going off to stop Wilson Fisk from his upcoming crime that he and Ned figured out by hacking into Fisk's computer. Then at the end Peter was going to confess to Tony that he lied and Tony was like: "Yeah I know" and...Well, if I went with the Fisk thing it would've turned out soooo long to get to the confession and it was more angsty than "comforting", so I went with something simpler instead lmao.

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki