Comfortember Day Twenty-Seven: Confidence

"I can do this, I can do this."

"There you go, that's the spirit."

Peter finished up his school project he was going to have to present in front of his whole science class. Now he was just trying to amp himself up, trying to tell himself that speaking about his project was going to be easy. He could do it. He and Tony have been working on this together since it started. Aunt May was also going to be at the presentation.

After a moment, Peter deflated. Tony rested a hand on his shoulder before giving him a comforting squeeze.

"How do you manage to do presentations in front of so many important people?" Peter asked.

"Practice. I've had to do this for a long time," Tony replied. "You get used to it."

"But do you still get nervous?"

"There are times where I get nervous, yes," Tony admitted. "It's normal. It's especially normal if you're just a kid."

Peter pouted. He wondered if this would be different if other parents weren't going to be there. But that was the whole point of the project. Make something great and find a way to 'sell it'. The parents were supposed to act as encouragement and an audience that might end up as a potential 'buyer'. That's what his teacher said.

It was nerve wracking. That's why he was currently saying mantras to himself with Tony. He supposed part of it was working. Probably because he felt comfortable in Tony's presence, and knowing that Tony took the whole day off just to go to his fifteen or so minute presentation made him feel warm inside.

"You're going to be amazing, kid," Tony reassured. "You have me and Aunt May and Ned. MJ would probably support you too if she was in the class."

"I know."

"You'll be okay. I have full faith in you."

Peter smiled. "I know."

Tony ruffled Peter's hair. "Let's go upstairs and relax for a bit. Then you head off home to May and get a good night's sleep."

"Sounds good."

XXX

Today was the big day and Peter had felt calm for a while. But when he arrived in the classroom where the presentation was to take place. His nerves spiked again. Aunt May placed her hands on his shoulders and helped him move along to where Ned and his mother were waiting. Peter and Ned did their special handshake.

"Hey, man, how're you doing?" Ned asked, seeming excited.

"I'm alright," Peter said, playing with his sleeves. Ned gave him a look. "Okay, a little nervous. But I have you and Aunt May and Mister Stark."

"Where is Mister Stark anyway?" Ned asked, looking around. "I thought he was driving you."

Peter shook his head. "He called and said he couldn't, so May did. He'll be here. He promised."

"It's a good thing you're near the end. You have time to prepare yourself," Ned said, switching the subject. "I'm near the middle."

Peter winced. "Good luck, man."

They continued conversing and switched topics as to what they were going to do when school was over. All the while, Peter looked around and wondered where Tony was and what was taking him so long.

Before long, it was time for everyone to be seated and students were starting to get called for their presentations.

Tony still wasn't there.

Peter felt more hurt than nervous.

XXX

Tony tapped his foot impatiently, his anxiety rising the longer it took to get to Peter's school. He should've been there by now, he promised he'd be there by now. And he doubted the school was going to wait for him to arrive. Besides, no one knew he was coming aside from the kid and his aunt and his friend.

He knew if he didn't get there soon or get there in time for Peter's presentation, May would give him an earful of how horrible he was to get Peter's hopes up that he'd come. Tony would also feel horrible himself. He didn't want to hurt the kid. He made a promise and he wanted to keep it and he knew how nervous Peter was and that his presence would help.

"Happy, can't you floor it?" Tony said, impatiently.

"I'm going as fast as I can in this shitty traffic, boss," Happy grouched.

"I know but...Can't you take a shortcut somewhere?"

"How am I supposed to do that when we're boxed in?"

Tony groaned and rubbed his temples. At this rate, he wasn't going to make it.

"Happy, pull over."

"What?"

"Just pull over, I'm getting out," Tony snapped. He didn't mean to be so rough with Happy, he knew the man was doing his best. "I'll use my suit to get me there."

He probably should've done that in the first place but how was he supposed to know traffic would pick up so quickly? It was fine one minute, the next minute there were cars everywhere and Tony and Happy were hardly moving.

Thankfully, Happy managed to squeeze his way near a sidewalk. Tony wasted no time in jumping out of the car and tapping the Arc Reactor on his chest. His nano suit formed around him and he took off for Peter's school.

"FRIDAY, gimme some extra juice."

"Yes, Boss."

Tony couldn't bring himself to look at the clock ticking in the corner of his HUD. He just prayed that he wasn't late and the presentations weren't over. May was going to be scary but seeing the hurt in Peter's eyes was going to be much worse.

Tony managed to get to the school in five minutes and he landed rather unceremoniously on the stairs, deactivating his suit and rushing inside. He whipped his glasses on and made his way to the room Peter said he was going to be in.

He snuck in as quietly as possible, ignoring the quiet gasps he received when he walked in. He looked around until he found May sitting at what he assumed was Peter's desk with an empty seat next to him. Tony sighed and sat next to her and was immediately confronted.

"What took you so long?" May hissed.

"Traffic," Tony whispered back, ignoring the current kid who was presenting. "Where's Pete? Please tell me I didn't miss his presentation."

"The teacher has the students wait behind the curtain until it's time for their presentation," May answered. She glared at him. "You're lucky you made it, Stark."

"Yeah, I am. I wanna see the boy own it, I know he can."

With that Tony tried to relax in his seat and wait for Peter's turn. He half-heartedly clapped when other students finished their turn. Honestly, he just wanted to get to Peter already and show him that he did not blow him off.

When Peter's turn finally came Tony took his glasses off and put them in his breast pocket. He watched as Peter's eyes roamed around the classroom searching for him and Tony didn't miss the way his eyes lit up when he saw Tony sitting next to May.

Tony smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He mouthed a 'you got this'.

Peter took a deep breath. He put his project on the teacher's desk and puffed his chest out. He cleared his throat.

"My name is Peter Parker," he started. "And this is my project…"

XXX

To say Peter was elated when he saw Tony sitting next to May was an understatement. He really thought Tony either forgot or he lied that he was coming to make him feel better. And although he was still a little nervous while presenting, he felt much more confident seeing Tony there with May.

When his turn was over and the rest of the class was done, Peter went rushing to Tony and May. He gripped Tony's arms and looked up at him.

"I thought you weren't going to show up!"

Tony rubbed the back of his neck, nervously. "Sorry, kiddo. Traffic was terrible."

Peter nodded and put his hands down. May wrapped him up into a big hug.

"You did so good, baby," she said sweetly.

Peter smiled and gave her a squeeze. "Thanks, Aunt May. Larb you."

May kissed his cheek.

Tony smiled and wasted no time ruffling Peter's hair, making him squawk in protest. He spent five minutes making his hair look good. He pouted at Tony.

"May's right, kid. You did a great job," Tony said, ignoring the pout. "I'm proud of you."

"Well, I was still kinda nervous but when I saw you there, I remembered the things we talked about. It's a lot easier to feel confident knowing there are people out there supporting you."

Tony gave him a thumbs up. "Exactly."

"For your good work, we'll go out and have Thai for dinner. How is that?"

Peter's smile grew. "That sounds great!"

Tony cleared his throat awkwardly. "That includes me right? Even though I was late?"

May lightly bopped Tony's shoulder. "Yes, you too, Tony."

"Good. Dinner is on me then to make up for my tardiness."

Peter gave Tony a quick hug. "Thank you, Mister Stark."

Author's Note: Hmmm, I'm torn on this one. I like it but it's not my best work. I just went back and forth between ideas and just settled on this one.

I am, however, looking forward to sharing tomorrows prompt. That one was fun for me to write.

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

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki