Received: Peter 8:45 pm.

I think someone's onto us.

Tony had been under one of his cars, his back aching from working all day when he heard his phone ping. He ignored it for a couple minutes, working instead on his newest car. It wasn't in as bad of shape as the first one he and Peter had fixed up, but he still wanted to ask the kid for help.

He'd been a little distant from Peter in the past few days, regretting his actions a bit over the phone. That was real evidence of what they were doing, and he was extremely worried that someone would see the messages.

Finally sliding out from under the car, Tony grabbed his phone and turned it on, scanning the message from Peter.

He felt his stomach drop.

No. He thought to himself, trying to flat out deny what could be happening. It was inevitable of course that they would be found out, they couldn't live in a fairy tale romance forever, not even for the year Tony was no longer his teacher.

Tony would go to jail, Peter would be ostracized and deemed as a 'risk' for colleges. Both of their lives would be completely ruined.

Sent: Peter 9:01 pm.

What? Peter, call me right now.

He hoped that he conveyed a sense of urgency to Peter, but the kid didn't respond, which left Tony even more on edge.

He sucked his lips into his mouth, covered in grease, wondering if he should duck back under the car again or go drink until he forgot about how fucking stupid he was, Tony opted for the latter.

On his way out of the garage his phone pinged again, and once again he opted not to check it for a moment. And then there was another ping, two unread messages. Tony really didn't want to deal with this right now.

His kitchen cabinets were empty except for a bottle of whiskey, which he pulled down and poured into a glass, unprofessionally full, and downed it quickly.

Received: Nat 9:12 pm.

Hey, you seemed off yesterday. Everything alright? Wanna come over and we can order a pizza or something?

Received: Bruce 9:15 pm.

Working on some stuff for our project. Want me to bring you the notes?

Tony could immediately tell that both of them wanted to check on his well-being, it was just that Bruce was being a lot more covert about it. Tony was not going to take them up on those offers, so he grabbed the bottle and his laptop before heading upstairs.

His room was a mess, clothing littering the ground, empty bottles on the ground, Tony kicked one on his way to bed. He'd been doing good recently, only having one stiff drink a night, but this was a weird night. And weird nights called for lots of drinking.

To top it all off, he had some things he was supposed to get in to Pepper by the end of the night, and it was rapidly coming to a close.

Sent: Nat 9:30 pm.

I'm gonna hit the sack. Next time.

Sent: Bruce 9:31 pm.

I'll check them out on Monday! Thanks Bruce.

He set his phone aside, not bothering to charge it or set an alarm, he would undoubtedly wake up within four hours of falling asleep anyway.

He opened his lap top and leaned against the pillows on his bed, realizing that he was still wearing his dirty jeans and t-shirt, but not having the energy to care. He had two new emails from Pepper.

Sent: Virginia Potts

Recipient: Tony Stark

1/11/18

Subject: Schedule.

Am I still expecting you in New York for the week of March 4th? You have a press conference on the 6th at noon in the Stark building. On the 7th you're expected to take a tour of the new labs you just bought upstate, as we talked about near Christmas.

Best,

Pepper.

Sent: Virginia Potts

Recipient: Tony Stark

1/11/18

Subject: Investors.

We have a new investor from an undisclosed branch of the Government, Nick Fury. I explained that you are no longer manufacturing weapons, but he still seems interested and wants to meet with you while you are in New York.

Best,

Pepper.

Tony mused over the emails for a moment, he needed to respond to them. He'd never even met Pepper in real life, but he'd already established that she was near neurotic about getting things finished.

He set the bottle, near half empty to the side table and started his response.

Sent: Tony Stark

Recipient: Virginia Potts

1/11/18

Subject: Answers.

I'll be there, no worries. I will be flying in near three in the morning on the 5th, my arrival requires the utmost discretion as I may be bringing someone with me, and under no circumstances can we be photographed together.

I know Nick, take him on as an investor but make sure he doesn't have too much of the company.

-Tony.

She would have more questions in the morning, but Tony could leave those for the morning.

He would have to leave a lot of things for the morning, since Peter still hadn't contacted him.

They had a teachers meeting at three in the afternoon on a Sunday, which was simply tedious.

Natasha went over the semester exam schedule, explaining that she needed to review their tests, whatever, whatever, Tony wasn't really paying attention. Teaching for him was just something to do during the day, he didn't particularly care about how well he did it.

"Hey Tony, let's talk for a minute." She said as everyone else trickled out of the room.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and went to stand in front of her, feeling very much like a student who was in trouble. "What's up Nat?"

"There's something wrong. Tony if this new boyfriend of yours is getting you all torn up like this then... I don't know, but it's not cool." She scolded, Tony knew that she had his best interests in mind, but she was still kind of treating him like a child.

"No it's not about him, it's about the new company. I'll try to be in a better mood, you're already being understanding enough with everything that's gonna happen in the spring." He assured and she pointed him with a stern look, but neither of them were good at talking about feelings unless they were drunk and tired, so the conversation ended at that, Tony just turning to awkwardly walk out of the room.

He ran his hand through his hair and leaned against the wall for a minute. Natasha knew that he had a boyfriend, most of his 'friends' did. They just had no idea who his boyfriend was.

Peter Parker, the current source of all stress in his life, but at the same time the only joy he was getting. Over Christmas break his mind had been made-up that Peter was exactly who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He just wasn't sure if Peter felt the same. Pete was just a kid, and dating Tony was a risk, he worried that that was the only reason Peter was still interested in him.

He also worried that the cons of this relationship were outweighing the pros.

Tony decided to head out, go grab a coffee and maybe work on his car some more. He would have to call Peter at some point in the day if the kid didn't contact him first. He supposed he could just go find Pete in the dorms next door and make up something about homework, but if someone really was onto them, that would probably be a horrible idea.

So he walked towards the far exit of the school, planning on dialing Pete's number as soon as he got out. At least since it was Sunday Peter could meet him somewhere so they could talk.

When he walked past the infirmary, Strange was sitting at his desk in the main room, not his office, and their eyes met. Tony haltered in his walking and Strange stood up.

"Tony, exactly who I wanted to see, can we talk in my office?" He walked closer to Tony and Tony took a step back before squaring his shoulders and nodding. He didn't really want to talk with Strange right now, he wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on with Peter, not shoot the fucking breeze with Strange.

"Yeah sure." He agreed lacklusterly and followed Strange into his office, feeling weirdly like he was in trouble or something. He took a seat across from Strange, making sure to keep his posture casual, not seeming like he was trying to get out of there or anything.

Strange didn't speak for a moment, just studied Tony's face, which made him all the more uncomfortable. "Peter Parker sprained his wrist last night."

Tony could't help the brief look of worry that crossed his face, but he tried to school it immediately. "Oh, he's in my classes, is he alright?" He tried to cover for his momentary lapse.

There was another pause and Tony began to shrink back in the chair, but bolstered himself and refused to feel small next to Strange, so he sat upright again, crossing one leg over the other. "He's fine, very interested in your personal life though. Almost felt like he was trying to get me to tell him your secrets. Now as I see it there's only two possibilities for this. Either he's mad at you and trying to seek revenge, or, and this is the more likely possibility, there's something not entirely legal going on between you two."

Tony was instantly trying to cover for them. "What you're implying is absolutely disgusting Steven, sure Parker and I have spoken some times outside of school hours, but that doesn't mean by any sense of the word that we're doing illicit activities."

"Oh see, but Peter told me that you spent winter break with him." Strange let the side of his mouth curl up in a half grin. It was like Strange was a cat, and Tony was a pinned mouse.

Tony didn't believe that Peter would have told him that, there was no way he would have given up something as incriminating as that. "A blatant lie."

"But it wasn't a lie. He accidentally let it slip and then tried to cover for himself. Now, am I supposed to believe that you two were just, I don't know, fixing another car together?" Strange asked incredulously and Tony leaned back in his seat, running a hang through his hair.

"No, no, I'm not going to treat you like you're dumb Steven, so I'm just going to ask you outright: what do you want from me? What can I do to make you forget about all of this?" There was no point in denying it, Strange obviously already knew basically everything.

Strange sat back in his chair for a moment, thinking. As if this wasn't exactly where he wanted the conversation to go.

"A job, in your new company." He finally said.

Tony mused over this for a moment, but Strange butted in again before he could say anything else.

"And not something shitty, I can't be a neurosurgeon again, but I'm still a doctor."

Tony nodded minutely, and then once again in agreement. "Yes, that's fine. I could put you up in our new lab, you'd be making at least double what you make here. You could start as six months. But is that really all you want?" Tony was kind of baffled, Strange really wasn't asking for a lot, he may have even considered hiring the man without it being blackmail.

"That's all. Really Tony you think I care about what you and Peter are getting up to? If it doesn't involve me I wouldn't usually make myself involved." Strange scoffed at Tony's apparent idiocy.

"Ah, so glad your ego wasn't hurt in the car crash." Tony said with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "Hey what exactly did you say to Pete?" He questioned, standing up and preparing to leave.

"Not much, I just had a hunch so I asked him if you spent winter break with him, his mouth reacted before his mind did and voila, a confession." Strange stood up as well, seemingly to see Tony to the door.

The walked through the empty infirmary in silence but when the reached the door to the hallway, Strange put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "Tony, my currently avowed silence on the matter does not mean I'll protect you if the law comes into play." Strange warned.

"Yeah, got it." Was the last thing Tony said.

"Neither does it mean I condone what you're doing." Strange added and Tony had a feeling that even though Tony was about to walk away, their conversation was far from over.

"You think I'm doing anything Peter doesn't want? I'm not coercing him, if that's what you think." Tony made sure to say. Tony had made sure that this was true throughout their entire relationship. Peter was young, yes, but if that kid ever said 'no,' then Tony would respect that.

"He's seventeen Tony. Just think about it." And then Strange closed the door to the infirmary, just barely missing Tony's nose with it.

He took a step back with an indignant huff and turned down the hallway, heading outside.

Pulling out his phone, Tony shot off a quick text to Peter.

Sent: Peter 4:00 pm.

Call me.

Tony didn't receive a response, but he didn't really expect to either.

Out in the parking lot, Tony was preparing to head home, unlocking his car and getting all the way in before there was a banging on his window, and the frowning face of Scott Lang staring down at him.

Tony tried to compose himself, pushed his sunglasses back up through his hair.

"What's up Scott?" He asked, keeping things calm, casual. He couldn't really be sure what Scott needed, they only had one class together, and the kid was doing just fine.

"You know, it's funny. Pete mentioned this new guy he was seeing that wore stupid sunglasses all the time, didn't know they were your stupid sunglasses. Well, he didn't call them stupid, but they still are." He said, rather impetuously, and Tony got out of the car, forcing Scott to take a step back.

"What?" Is all Tony asked, pushing the car door closed behind him and blinking his eyes a few times, almost making sure that what was happening was real.

"I overheard you and Doctor Strange talking. I know what's up between you and Pete." Scott said, a little more coherently this time. Scott looked mad though, his fists were clenched and his jaw was tight. This wasn't Scott's usual demeanor.

"Let's go talk about this somewhere else." Tony tried to urge them out of the parking lot, where anyone else could stumble by. Apparently exactly that had happened in the school just moments ago.

"Naw, I'm good right here. Just, why? Why could you possibly want to date Pete?" Scott demanded, Tony was almost tempted to take a step back, but the car was behind him.

"I have no reason to explain that to you if you're just going to tell everyone anyway." There was no reason for Scott to keep this a secret, if he was this mad about the prospect of him and Peter being together, then he would probably have no qualms about breaking them up and sending Tony to prison.

"I'm not gonna tell everyone man, I mean Pete's seemed kinda happier recently, especially when we're talking about his 'new boyfriend.' But something happened, did you fucking do something to piss him off? Because he's off the fucking wall right now." Scott explained, it was still volatile and slightly hostile but he seemed to be loosing some of his gusto as they spoke.

"No, I don't think so. He texted me something weird last night and then hasn't been returning any of my texts. What do you mean he's 'off the wall?'" Tony questioned, but he doubted Scott would give him straight answers.

"What did he text you? How weird was it? Was it about Erik?" Scott deflated some more, realizing that Tony might not actually be the source of all Peter's problems.

"He just said that someone might be onto us. No explanation. And no, it wasn't about Erik. What's going on Scott?" Tony was determined to get answers at this point. Peter acting weird and Erik were never a good combination.

"He stormed in last night after visiting Strange in the infirmary, yelled at the team, then yelled at Quill, and all day today he's just been moping around in his room. But then TC told us all that he and Erik talked last night, or something. I don't really know since Peter won't talk to anyone." Scott finally gave him an explanation that was starting to lead somewhere.

Tony was going to say something, but then Scott started speaking again. "Can you just, I don't know, go in there and check on him or something?"

"Uh, no Scott I can't. I really wish I could go check on him, but basically if he isn't responding to my messages, that's as far as I can get." Tony saw realization dawning on Scott's face.

"Yeah, that's fair. Do you think Doctor Strange was the one that was onto you guys? That he texted you about?" Scott asked and Tony sighed again.

"I don't know Scott, I seem to know less than you at the moment. Listen, do you think Peter is seriously in a crisis?" Tony wouldn't beat around the bush, if Peter needed help then he would pull some strings and get something figured out.

"No, no it's not that serious. I just don't know what wrong with him and I figured that now that I know you're his fancy boyfriend or whatever, you might know something." Scott had released the tension in his neck now, his fist were slack against his sides. He'd obviously lost his energy.

"Alright, I assume that Strange was the one Peter was worried about then. Can you just, I don't know, go tell him that everything's going to be okay? Tell him that Strange and I figured it out. And then tell him to call me." Tony didn't want to shock Peter by him finding out that both Strange and Scott knew, but he also didn't want Peter to suffer by not knowing.

"Yeah, I can do that. Just, Mr. Stark, one more thing. Don't hurt Peter or whatever. He's got the whole soccer team to kill you if you do. Your relationships already a bit fucked up ya know but-"

Tony cut him off. "Just quit while you're ahead Scott."

Scott nodded, "sounds good, I'll talk to Peter, see ya." He said before walking away back towards the school, and Tony finally slipped into his car to drive away.

Sent: Natasha 8:48 pm.

help, new boyfriend isn't responding to my texts and he's been acting weird for a little while.

Tony didn't actually want to ask Natasha for advice, but she was the only 'girl' that he knew. Barton and Banner couldn't give relationship advice, talking to Coulson about it would just be weird, and Strange was out for obvious reasons. So that left his only female friend.

Received: Natasha 8:55 pm.

Have you tried fucking him? Isn't that how you solve all relationship problems?

Sent: Natasha 8:56 pm.

Ha ha, very funny. For real though, I don't know how to deal with emotions like this.

Tony rolled his eyes and set the phone down for a moment for he could try and focus on work. He had about a million new emails from Pepper that he tried to respond to all in one huge response. He also had to deal with some Japanese businessman, Fujikawa, already trying to form a merger between their two companies. Tony would let that ferment for a few years before he gave a definitive answer.

Received: Natasha 9:01 pm.

Well, how's he acting 'weird'?

Sent: Natasha 9:03 pm.

Not sure to be honest, one of his friends told me that he was weird. I haven't seen him in a few days.

Tony hadn't received a phone call from Peter, and he wasn't really sure how to take that. It didn't necessarily mean that Scott had failed in his quest, but on the other hand that might mean that Peter was mad at him for some reason.

Received: Natasha 9:08 pm.

this is all really vague tony. idk, make some time to see him and talk to him. Do something spontaneous. Maybe he's just getting bored?

Sent: Natasha 9:10 pm.

Thanks tash, goodnight.

Received: Natasha 9:12 pm.

I don't really think I helped you, but you're welcome. Night.

She was right, she hadn't helped him a ton, but she gave him the idea to make Peter talk to him in person if he couldn't get him over message. He could always ask Peter to talk to him after class, it would seem weird if he denied a teacher that.

Tony wondered if he was too worried about all of this, and maybe Peter was just being a moody hormonal teenager. Part of him wanted to believe that all of this would blow over, but another part reminded him that Peter was mature, that was one of the reasons they were together, and he wouldn't just fly solo like this unless there was a good reason. Maybe Tony himself was the reason, he couldn't really tell.

He decided to send one last text to Peter before he went to bed.

Sent: Peter 9:20 pm.

Goodnight Petey. You're my favorite.

He left it at that, wanting to reaffirm Peter of the relationship and not try and get answers out of him at the moment. Maybe this had all just been some crazy fling and Peter was trying to think of a way to break off their relationship. He couldn't say he would blame the kid, Tony was old and not really all that exciting to be around. He could offer Peter financial stability, but Pete didn't even seem all that interested in it. Tony could just be some passing fad to be forgotten about.

But Tony wouldn't wholeheartedly believe that until Peter had said it to his face. They'd shared too many raw moments together, too many insightful conversations for it to all be some weird one off. Peter obviously wasn't in it just to get money from Tony, or to get a better grade in his class. In fact, Peter didn't seem to want anything from Tony except for his company, and he didn't even have that at the moment.

They'd dodged some major bullets today, and Tony would understand if Peter wanted to cool things off or take a bit of a break. Tony had even suggested that they deleted their texts, which had been hard for him since they had so many memories stored in there. However, for now it seemed like things were going to table again, like maybe everything would be smooth again. They could get through the next few months, have a relaxing spring break, and then Peter could graduate and things could become more real between them.

Tony imagined taking Peter all over the world, working on projects together, solving things. He didn't just want Peter for his body or anything superficial like that. Even if Peter never wanted to touch him again, Tony could still imagine a life with him.

Finally, right before Tony was about to fall asleep, he got a response.

Received: Peter 9:50 pm.

Goodnight Tony. See you tomorrow.

And it didn't make Tony feel any better.