Chapter Twenty-Three
Peter's cheeks were still flushed bright pink and his face felt hot as he dragged Tony outside near the basketball courts. Peter didn't realize how hard he was pulling into Tony complained. "Super strength! Super strength, kid-"
"Sorry," Peter finally let go once they were outside. Thankfully, it was empty so Peter could yell at him in peace. Peter stared at him with annoyance. He remembered the fear in Flash's face and the curious and shocked faces of his classmates. "What the hell did you do in there?"
"This is the first time I've heard you swear," Tony rubbed his wrist in where Peter had pulled. Peter hadn't noticed, but he had pulled hard enough to cause Tony's wrist to turn red. "Maybe Steve was right and I shouldn't swear in front of you."
When Tony noticed that Peter looked pissed off, he sighed. Apparently, joking around with him wasn't going to get him anywhere. Sure, he might have overreacted, but he was rightfully pissed. Even through the cheap makeup he could still very clearly see the outcome of his bruises. "Listen kid, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, but when I saw those bruises I thought-" he trailed off. "Look, I know that Flash treats you like his personal punching bag, Happy told me. I've wanted to get involved before, but Pepper said that I would just embarrass you."
"Well that's what you did, you embarrassed me today!" Peter snapped at him. He didn't know why he was so angry since Tony had made a simple mistake. Maybe he was angry because he had been embarrassed. Maybe he was angry because Scott has made the bruises so damn obvious this time. Maybe he was angry because he was so tired of keeping secrets. "Flash didn't cause these bruises, being a friendly neighborhood Spiderman caused these bruises."
"I created a million-dollar suit for you." Tony spat obviously not digging his lie. "And I can see every time you wear the suit and FYI you haven't been paroling for weeks. Tell me the truth Peter, how did you get these bruises and don't lie to me again, please. I hate being lied to."
"I don't. . .I don't always use it." Peter said dryly, surprised of how the lie had so cleverly escaped his lips. "I don't always have it on me you know and sometimes when people need help, well Peter Parker has to help them."
Tony sucked in his breath as he studied Peter. He had never been a good liar. He usually fidgeted, over talked, and kept looking at his converse sneakers. But it seemed that Peter had managed to control his nervous habits because he was staring openly at him. Unfortunately for Peter that was no longer good enough, because even through his bravado Tony could see that he was lying. "I can see that you're lying which is disappointing Mr. Parker."
"You're-you're crazy. I'm telling you the truth!"
"No, you're not because I know that you would never be stupid enough to perform non-human abilities without the suit. I also know that any bruises you get, get healed in a matter of hours. Those bruises seem fresh so I will ask again, what really happened? So, if it wasn't Flash that caused these bruises then who did? I won't leave until I receive an answer, Peter."
Peter was sweating, he hadn't expected Tony to see though his bullshit. Why couldn't he just accept his lame excuses like everyone else? Maybe you should just tell him, Karen's little voice seemed to pop in his head. Tony raised an eyebrow and tapped his finger. "I'm waiting, Peter."
"I already told you, if you don't believe me that's your deal." Peter said coldly as he attempted to leave, but Tony gripped his wrist and refused to let him go.
"Peter, Peter wait what's with the attitude all of a sudden?"
"It's not all of a sudden," Peter said as he pulled away. "You come here and embarrass me in front of my classmates and then you accuse me of being a liar. How am I supposed to feel? Have a good day, Mr. Stark."
Peter knew that he was pushing it with Tony by acting like a complete brat, but Tony was just getting too closed for comfort. Not to mention that Peter had every right to be angry for how Tony had made some assumptions about Flash. Flash had avoided Peter for the rest of the day and Ned and MJ had giggled about it, but he didn't think it was funny.
Peter's stomach growled and it reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything in hours. He had still been slightly annoyed after school, so he had decided to take a detour and go on patrol for the first time in weeks. He needed to cool off some steam. The last thing he wanted was for May to ask what was wrong.
The bruises on his face had diminish slightly, but Peter had still piled on the makeup. With any luck they would be gone by tomorrow.
Peter felt his heart rate lower as he swung back home, he heard a few kids call out his name, but he ignored them. He heard Karen's sweet voice say, "Peter, I have Happy on the phone for you-"
"Ignore."
"It might be important."
"Just ignore, Karen."
Karen did as she was told and Happy left a voicemail. He sounded agitated on the message. "Kid, I don't like playing hide and seek. Pick up the phone every once in a while. Tony wanted me to check up on you. What did you do to him? He looks a little bummed out. I told you that you should have told him about the Flash kid earlier. Now he's all over the news stations, Pepper is pissed. Anyway, kid I'm sorry if Tony embarrassed you, but he just wanted to look out for you. Call me back so that I can tell him you're not about to throw yourself off the Empire State Building. This will blow over. Call me kid, and for the love of God don't text."
Peter felt his stomach flip. Maybe he had been a little harsh on Tony. Maybe he should apologize after dinner. He finally reached his apartment building. May and Scott were going to a movie, so they wouldn't be home and Peter could crawl through the window.
He opened the window slightly and sighed, eager to be home. Peter sighed as he removed his mask. Peter felt a chill go down his spine. Someone was in the room, he turned around and saw Scott standing in the corner of his room with a smirk on his face.
"Well, well Peter it seems that you are pretty good at keeping secrets. Or should I say, Spiderman? Either way you're a pretty damn good liar."
-End of Chapter Twenty-Three-
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