Peter spent the rest of the day fidgeting quietly as he waited for school to end.

Finally.

The bell rang.

Peter got up from his seat, following the rest of the class as they exited through the door.

"Peter!"

Dang it.

He turned around.

"Didn't you want to hear about what we were doing yesterday?" Alya asked, and Michelle quickened her pace to walk beside her. "School's over, 'ya know? We can all go to the library and we'll show you the 'summary of our findings'."

"Oh, uh, don't worry about it- uh I have to leave uh- quickly because I'm meeting someone- I'm meeting someone because I need to give them something and so you can show me tomorrow or- or you guys can go to the library and I'll join you guys later or- yeah, actually, just uh- go ahead and I'll join you guys later, yeah, uh-"

"Who are you meeting?" Michelle interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, well I'm not exactly sure if he's going to actually be here in person since he doesn't always-"

"Peter."Alya mused.

"Huh?"

"Tell us."

"Okay, uh- I need to talk to Mr Stark and I need to give him somethi-" Peter mumbled.

"We can't hear you."

"Mr Stark." Why do I feel embarrassed?

"Stark?" Alya echoed, "as in Tony Stark?"

"So you weren't lying about that then?" Michelle asked, furrowing her brows.

"About what?"

"Last year. The 'Stark Internship' and all that."

"Uh, no, I mean, yeah, I wasn't lying." I was. "Did you think I was lying?" She probably did. Why else would she remember?

"No. But other people thought you were lying-"

"Are you still telling us that lie?" Peter jumped as he heard a loud voice behind him.

"-Flash included." Michelle finished.

"You know, unless you give us some actual proof, no one is going to believe you." Flash taunted, choosing to speak in English.

"You know what?" Peter responded, turning around. "Fine. I'll give you proof. Come and meet him." Peter pulled his phone out of his pocket. What time was he coming? "He'll probably be here soon."

"Oh really?" Flash sneered. "Is this like your Spider-Man pal? Like how he was gonna show up at Liz's party?"

Peter flinched.

"Oh, I'm right, aren't I?" Flash pushed Peter aside, "He's lying. Don't listen to him. He's probably just making excuses for why he doesn't want to hang out with you guys."

Opening his mouth to reply, he saw the looks on his friend's faces darken. They believed him over me? Only Michelle remained unconvinced, her stern expression not changing. She probably knew not to listen to Flash.

But there's no point arguing. Peter thought, turning around quietly to walk away. I'll find them some proof later.

"Oh look! He's just running away since he can't-" Flash hesitated, probably forgetting the word for what he was trying to say. "That's proof he's lying! He can't even argue anymore!"

Peter kept walking. He didn't look back.

/*\*/*\

Peter had been waiting outside the school for an hour.

He'd been timing it, too.

When it get's to an hour I'll call Mr Stark. He'd thought, after fifteen minutes had passed.

An hour had passed.

Did I imagine calling him? When did I call him? Was it this morning, or was it yesterday? Did I even call him? Thoughts clouded his mind as he called Tony Stark on his phone.

He picked up almost immediately.

"Hey kid! I'm really sorry, I got stuck in a meeting, and it only just finished. I'm bringing your suit over now."

"It's okay Mr Stark," Peter replied, "I understand, it's alright."

"If you want I'll drop it off at that hotel you're staying at, so you can head home. Just wait outside there." He sounded slightly distracted.

"Alright, thanks Mr Stark."

He hung up the phone and heard a voice behind him.

"He didn't turn up, eh?"

Peter turned around, "He wasn't able to come, he's coming later to Chloe's place." He said defensively, before realising it was Marinette.

Her face was unreadable, "It's not good to lie about-"

"What a surprise. Stark didn't turn up huh? Does he even know you exist?" Why was Flash hanging out with them?

Peter glared at him in reply, "I'm actually heading back to Chloe's place. He was in a meeting so he was unable to come until now."

"Oh. So just now he's gonna fly all the way from America?" Flash sneered.

"No. He said he's in Germany right now for some reason." Peter responded.

"How convenient."

"Google it." Peter replied, almost spitting. "There's probably some news article saying he was spotted there or something. I'm not lying."

At the mention of proof via Google, Marinette snorted and turned her gaze to Alya who pulled her phone out with a shrug. Why did she get angry about that?

"He's not lying, Flash. Stark is in Germany." Alya said, passing her phone to Flash, who just snorted in reply. Michelle stood with narrowed eyes while Nino had his brows furrowed thoughtfully.

"He probably searched it up himself this morning. That's how he knew there would be an article."

I can't argue with this.

Peter turned away and paid no attention to what else Flash said. It was something about being pathetic.

/*\*/*\

Peter sat outside on the balcony waiting for Mr Stark. He'd hardly been sitting down for five minutes before he heard the Iron Man suit flying towards him. He heard it before he saw it but Iron Man flew over and landed expertly on the balcony.

"Hey Mr Stark."

"Hey Kid." The Iron Man suit waved.

"Thanks for coming out here to bring me a suit even though you probably didn't want me to bring my suit in the first place." Peter said quickly.

"I'm not actually here," Iron Man tapped his helmet, "Sorry kid."

"Oh," Peter probably sounded audibly disappointed, "It's alright, I understand."

He heard a laugh from the suit and it opened up, Tony Stark walking out with a grin on his face. "Just joking kid. Wanted to see your reaction, but it seems you definitely did want me here."

Peter shook his head, unable to stop the grin spreading across his face.

"And don't worry 'bout it kid. I can't stop you from being Spider-Man. You are Spider-Man." Tony put the bag he was carrying down on a table and took the suit out. It was familiar and yet- different.

"What? You want me to say 'I am Spider-Man'? Like how you said 'I am Iron Man'?" Peter joked, taking the iron suit out of his own bag and giving it to Mr Stark.

Tony shook his head with a smile and pointed to the 'new' suit.

"I've made a few changes to the suit-"

"A few?" Peter laughed, "It seems you've made a completely new one as the colours are-"

"Don't interrupt me. I was talking." He narrowed his eyes jokingly. "As I was saying. This suit is not an 'iron' suit, but is more durable than your old uh- 'fabric' suit, and also less easily hacked by teenagers."

Peter shrugged with a smile, and Stark shook his head.

"Anyway. I need to head off now." Tony Stark said, obviously unsure of what to say. "I'll see you soon- or not. Who knows."

"Bye Mr Stark!" Peter waved as Tony picked up the Iron Spider suit and climbed back into his own suit, the eyes in the helmet flashing to life.

Peter looked down at the 'new' suit, excitement buzzing through him. He knew exactly where he was going to head.

/*\*/*\

Hello!

Apologies again for slow updates

the only excuses i have are

- school

- holidays

- procrastination

- work

haha

i haven't abandoned this story, don't worry!

do keep commenting/favouriting/etc, I enjoy reading comments as they make my day :

Hope you had a good Christmas and a happy New Year to you all!

I was going to say something else but i forgot and I'll edit this if i remember oops