Author's Note: Hello, hello, readers! Welcome back to Raise Me Up! We are back with CHAPTER 6! Peter breaks the sad news to Ned, and Tony decides to get Peter out of the tower for the day! I hope you all like this one, but before we get to the chapter…REVIEW REPLIES!
Nerdywriter07: OMG! WOW! Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm so glad you really enjoyed this so far! Believe me, I was always hesitant to touch on something as serious as this but I decided to try it out, and it's in a way part of life. We all experience the loss of a loved one. I really appreciate your kind review, and I really, really hope you like what comes next! There's still a lot more to go!
Konoewpl: Thank you so much! While it is common to feel angry, you're right. Peter is a very humble person and he would be appreciative of someone who knew him taking him in, but he would also feel that there is a possibility they will get sick of him. And yes, I believe that about Tony too! Hope you like what's next!
xSapphirexRosesxFanx: Yeah, he definitely will be! I always had the impression Ned was closer to May and Peter. Hope you like it!
SilverWolf227:Hmmm…that's not a bad idea!
Peacockgirl: Thank you so much! Yes, that's what I wanted to portray! Peter is a very mature kid, and yes, of course, he might not know much about raising a kid. But he will get there!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Chapter 6
Peter closed the door behind him leaving it open ajar not wanting Tony to think that he didn't trust him. He grabbed his phone and looked for Ned's number, and as soon as he saw it, he tapped it and brought it to his ear listening to it ring.
"Hey, man, what's up?" Ned finally said after two rings.
"Uhh…I got to talk to you, you got a sec?" Peter asked worried that he might've interrupted something or woken him up.
"Of course, don't forget: I'm your guy in the chair," Ned replied.
Peter chuckled. Between Tony's comfort and consolation and Ned's humor, he could face a sense of grounding in the tragedy, and he welcomed it with open arms. "Uhh…well…Ned…" he finally tried to say. Tears began to form again as he took a shaky breath.
Ned must've sensed it. "Peter, are you okay? What's wrong?"
"Umm…" Peter took a deep breath trying to find the words. How was he supposed to tell his best friend that his aunt was dead? "S-Something…something happened last night…M-May and I…we…went to the movies last night…" He took a deep breath as tears streamed down his face, and Ned didn't say anything giving him a chance to continue. However, Peter could tell that he was getting anxious. "We…uhh…we got in an accident last night…s-some guy rammed into us from the side…"
"Shit…are you…are you guys okay? W-Where are you now? Are…are you and May at the hospital? W-What-?"
"Ned…Ned…slow down…" Peter quickly said. "I…I'm okay, b-but…May…" He couldn't bring himself to say it, but he knew he had to. "Ned…May didn't make it."
"Holy shit…aw, Peter…dude…" Ned replied. "I…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." There was a moment of silence as Ned sighed. "W-Wait, where are you right now? Are you at the hospital? D-Do you need my mom to pick you up?"
"Uhh…" Peter said trying his hardest to not break down sobbing, "actually, I'm at the Avengers Tower. I was at the hospital last night, and a social worker tried to take me. But I didn't want to leave her, and she let me call someone. I called Mr. Stark, and he picked me up."
"Wait…are you serious?" Ned asked. "You're with Tony Stark?"
Peter chuckled again. "Yeah…"
"Dude, that's…that's—I mean I want to say it's awesome," Ned replied, "but given what happened…you know what I mean!"
Peter laughed yet again through his tears and sniffed. "Don't worry, man," he replied. "I-I know what you meant, but…uhh…that's not all. Mr. Stark and I were just talking, and…he told me that he's my legal guardian now."
"Double holy shit…" Ned said quickly. "Iron Man took you in?!"
"Yeah…uh…he told me that May named him as my guardian in her will…in case…you know…"
"Well, that's…great! I mean you know…not…great, but you don't have to go…you know…into the system. That's amazing he took you in."
Yeah, it…it is, don't get me wrong."
Ned, being the best friend and guy in the chair he was, sensed the sadness and nervousness in his voice. "What's wrong, Peter?" He knew exactly what it was, but he wanted to hear Peter say it…to not hide it.
"I-I'm glad Mr. Stark took me in, Ned, and he said that this is what both he and May wanted. It's just…I don't want Mr. Stark…to feel like he has to do this, you know, or…regret it…you know?"
Ned sighed. "Peter," he began, "look, you and Mr. Stark have been buddy-buddy for a while now. If he didn't want to take you in, he wouldn't have. Hell, he wouldn't have agreed to be your guardian. He probably would've told May to forget it, and there's no way she could do it without him knowing about it."
Peter quickly realized that Ned had a point. A will was a legal document, and May wouldn't have made Tony his guardian without him agreeing to it. It sounded like it didn't work that way. Not only that but Tony had said so himself. If he didn't want Peter, he wouldn't have gone through with this. "I guess you're right," he finally said.
"Of course, I am," Ned said, "and trust me, May had to have known what she was doing when she picked him."
Peter smiled sadly at the mention of his aunt. "Yeah, that's true…" he finally said. "She always knew what to do."
"It's going to be okay, Peter," Ned said. "Umm…is it okay if I tell my mom? She's going to want to know all the…details."
"Uhh…y-yeah, yeah," Peter replied. "I'll let you know what the plan is. Mr. Stark is going to take care of all that."
"Okay, keep me posted," Ned said. "Do you want me to tell MJ?"
"No, that's okay," Peter replied. "I can call her later today."
"Hey, Pete!" Tony called from the kitchen. "Food's ready!"
"Coming!" Peter called back. "I gotta go. I'll text you later."
"Yeah, definitely," Ned replied. "Call me if you need anything."
"Thanks, man," Peter said smiling a little. "Talk to you later."
"Okay, bye," Ned said.
"Bye," Peter then hung up the phone before walking out to join Tony for breakfast. As he came back into the living room, he saw Tony in the kitchen on the phone himself as he placed two plates of food on the counter.
"Yeah, I'm going to see if he's up to it," he heard Tony say on the phone. "I haven't heard anything from the hospital yet, but as soon as I know something, we can make the arrangements." He paused as Peter walked over following the scent. "Yeah, I'll keep you posted. Okay, love you too. Bye."
"Pepper?" Peter asked as he sat down in front of a plate of pancakes, bacon, and hash browns.
"Yeah," Tony said pouring some juice into two glasses for him and Peter, "she just wanted to check in and see how things were going and how you were doing. She said that she'd be back later today to check on you."
Peter nodded as he sat down and began to dig into the pancakes and took the juice. "She's okay with me staying here, right?"
Tony furrowed his eyebrows together as he sat down next to Peter. "Of course, she is," he replied. "You know her, and she loves you."
"I know, but that was when I just came over to stay for a weekend or to work in the lab or to go out to eat. Not to stay here, you know?"
"Kid, I promise you, it's no trouble at all," Tony replied with a hand on the teen's shoulder. "I want you here, and Pepper wants you here. She's completely onboard with this, and even if she wasn't, I would still do it…for your aunt…and for you."
Peter smiled as his confidence increased within. Between Tony's reassuring words and Ned's own heartfelt speech, he could easily see that there was truth behind this…that Tony really did want to take him in and to give him a place to stay and to help him through this tragedy.
"Thanks, Mr. Stark," he finally said. "Really."
"You're welcome, kiddo," Tony replied. "Did you have a chance to talk to Ned?"
"Yeah," Peter said after swallowing more of his food, "I told him what was going on. His mom is going to want to know the details, so I said I would keep him posted."
"Don't worry. Pepper and I will take care of all that. All you would need to do is make sure you tell the people you would want to know, but we're not worrying about that today."
"Why's that?"
"Because you and I are going to go on a field trip today."
"What? Where?"
"Upstate."
"Upstate? Like…upstate upstate?" There was only one place Peter could think of that was upstate and why Tony would want to go there. He had been there once before when Tony asked him to join the Avengers.
"The only upstate there is, kid," Tony replied leaning back in the chair smiling at Peter's excitement.
Peter rolled his eyes in response. "But seriously, you really want me to come?" he asked. "I won't be in the way of anything?"
"Peter, you're never in the way," Tony replied gently, "and besides, I'm just going to visit Rhodey and Vision. I need to check on Rhodey, and I would also like Dr. Cho to check on your head just to be on the safe side and to modify your pain meds." Tony wouldn't admit it out loud, but it ached that Bruce had gone missing after the battle with Ultron. He immediately knew that the doctor would've loved Peter, and Peter would've been so excited to meet Dr. Banner himself. Hopefully, one day, Bruce would come back and bring back a little more normalcy…if normalcy were to ever return given the Accords debacle.
Peter brought his hand to the gauze wrapped around his head. He had honestly forgotten about the injury on his head from the accident. "Okay," he replied.
"Good," Tony replied, "so as soon as we're done eating, you can get dressed, and then we'll head out."
"Sounds good, Mr. Stark," Peter said giving the billionaire a thumbs-up.
"And that's something we got to work on," Tony quickly added.
"Huh?" Peter asked with a mouthful of pancakes.
"I've been trying to get you to call me Tony for a few months now," Tony replied, "but now that you're living here, I'm making it mandatory. Call me Tony."
Peter chuckled and rolled his eyes. The veteran superhero wasn't lying about that one fact; he had been trying to get Peter to call him by his first name for the past few months. The rookie superhero had tried to call his mentor 'Tony," but he gave up after the first few tries because it felt way too weird. So, he always stuck with "Mr. Stark."
"I can try, Mr. Sta—"
"Ah-ah!"
"Fine…I can try, Mr. Sta—Tony," it didn't feel so weird right then, "but I can't make any promises."
Tony smiled back in pride hearing Peter use his first name. "That's all I ask," he said.
As soon as Tony and Peter finished breakfast, cleaned up, and Peter got dressed, the billionaire took his protégé down to the garage littered with Tony's Audis. He led Peter to his orange one, and they both hopped in with Tony in the driver's seat. Happy had offered to drive them, but Pepper and Tony insisted that it would be best for Peter if it were just the two of them. Plus, Pepper and Happy would be able to go back to Peter and May's apartment to grab more of Peter's things.
"So, listen, about Monday, I know it's your last day of school," Tony began as they left the city, "but it's entirely up to you as to whether or not you want to go. Pepper and I are probably going to have everything happen in the middle of the week, but if you would rather miss the last day and stay home, we can do that."
Peter thought about it for a moment. There was a part of him that wouldn't mind missing the last day and spending time with Tony during the day, but another part of him needed the distraction for a couple hours. Not that he didn't appreciate what Tony was doing for him, but school offered a sense of familiarity in spite of what happened in the span of less than 24 hours. Plus, it would be great to see Ned and MJ.
"I…I think I want to go to school," Peter said. "I mean…it's only for a couple hours. Plus, we'll get our yearbooks, and I'll get to see Ned and MJ if that's okay."
"Of course, it's okay," Tony said incredulously frequently diverting attention between Peter and the road. "In all honesty, I think May would want you to go to school."
Peter looked at his hands on his lap nodding. Tony was right. May wouldn't want him to miss out on his last day of school for her…unless of course it was an emergency of some sort, but in this case, she wouldn't want him to sit on a couch all day. That was what she told him when Uncle Ben died almost two years ago. The memory flashed in his mind.
"May, please don't send me to school," Peter said as he sobbed in her arms. They sat together on their living room couch. "I…I can't…I don't know if I could just go and pretend nothing happened."
It had only been two days since Ben had been shot and killed in front of Peter on that one fateful Friday night, and now it was Sunday night, which meant that Peter had to go back to school the next day.
"Baby, I know," May said hugging Peter even tighter, "but you have to. I don't want you to sit here all day. It's not good for you. You need to distract yourself."
"How can I when Uncle Ben's gone?" Peter asked.
"Because I know him," May replied running a hand through Peter's curls, "and I know your uncle would want us to live our lives and to not be sad all the time. Ben would want you to go to school tomorrow and face the day like the strong kid he knew you are…the strong kid I know you are…"
The teenager didn't dare to reply as he hugged May tighter allowing the tears to stream down his face.
"Yeah, I think so too," Peter said as the memory faded into the back of his mind.
Tony gave Peter a sad smile and reached over the console patting him on the shoulder. "But if you ever change your mind and want to stay home," Peter mentally noted that Tony referred to the penthouse as home, "just say the word, kiddo."
"Thanks, Mr. Stark," Peter replied. He mentally kicked himself for not referring to Tony by his first name, but Tony must've decided to let it slide for the moment. "Umm…speaking of school…what's…I mean…aren't you supposed to be selling the tower at some point?"
"I thought about it," Tony answered, "and Pepper and I decided not to go through with it. We liked having something in the city. Plus, you and I have been spending a lot of time in the lab recently, and we'll have more of a reason to use it now."
"Really?"
"Yeah, besides, you're not going to be able to commute to school from upstate. That's crazy."
Well, that indirectly answered Peter's question about what was going to happen in terms of him going to school. Peter smiled again. "Yeah, that's true," he said. With a sigh, he leaned back resting his head on the headrest. "It just feels so surreal, you know? Last night, I was with her, you know? She was there with me, and now…today…and now, I'm going to school without her around."
"Unfortunately, kiddo, that's what happens," Tony finally said after a moment of silence. "One minute you're here, and then in just a split second…" He couldn't finish it as he thought of the day he lost his parents…how one minute they were in their living room together, and then next thing he knew, Tony got a phone call that his parents were gone.
Peter sighed. "They said she died in surgery," he said looking out the window. "I was…talking to her as if she was just unconscious. It's so stupid…I should've realized…"
"It's not stupid, kid," Tony quickly interjected. "You were in an accident. You were knocked out. You weren't thinking clearly."
"I guess," Peter replied. He supposed that Tony was right. Even though it was just last night, it all happened so fast, which made it harder to piece things together, but he remembered waking up in the car after the fact.
"No 'I guess,'" Tony said firmly. "It's the truth, buddy." Quite frankly, he was somewhat relieved that Peter found out later that May died in the accident. The doctor mentioned to him last night that Peter could show signs of survivor's guilt as he was the only one to survive, and if he saw that his aunt was dead, that would've made things worse. He remembered the video of his parents and…his knuckles tightened on the steering wheel as he thought of Barnes…the Winter Soldier killing his father, moving his body back into the car…right in front of his mother…before ending her life as well.
Peter was about to say something else when he noticed Tony's white knuckles on the steering wheel. "Mr. Stark?" he tried. "Tony? Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, Peter," he replied. "Just…thinking about something. That's all."
Thankfully, Peter decided not to push him to talk more and simply leaned back against the seat enjoying the smooth ride.
Author's Note: Annnnnnd that's all for Chapter 6, folks! I know it's a little short, but the next one should be longer. I really hope you all enjoyed this one! Thank you so much for all the support! See you all in the next chapter! Don't forget to look for me on Tumblr!
