Chapter 27

It seemed like Peter's grounding lasted forever, but it kind of did. Tony had kept Peter under lock and key for almost 4 months. It was extensive and harsh, but Tony hoped it would get his point across.

At the start of August, Peter decided he really wanted to go back to his school. He hadn't been back since May had passed. He wasn't sure Tony would let him go back, but he had been doing better.

Peter found Tony in the lab on Friday evening, "Dad, can I talk to you?"

Tony looked up and smiled, "Sure, kiddo. Let's sit over here."

Peter made his way to one of the empty worktables.

"What's on your mind, Pete?"

"I want to go back to school."

Tony sighed. He knew Pete wanted to go back, but he still wasn't sure if Peter was ready.

"Pete, I am not sure that's a good idea."

"Why?" Peter asked, annoyed that he didn't say yes right away.

"I just don't know if being back in that atmosphere is good for you."

"Can't I just try? You don't know if it's good or bad for me. Please!"

Tony put his hand up, "Spider, let me think about it."

Peter groaned. He was so frustrated. "That means no." He got up to walk away but was stopped when Tony put his hands around him to bring him back over. Tony stood Peter between his knees and rubbed his arm gently. Peter's muscles were tight and he was tense. Tony hoped that rubbing his arm would help calm Peter down.

"You know I would do anything to make you happy, right?"

Peter shrugged and didn't say anything.

"Pete, I know you want to go back. It's been several months and you're starting your junior year. I just… I want to make sure your anger is under control."

"It is." Peter whined.

"Okay, okay. I will call the school Monday and see if we can set an appointment up. Sound good?" Tony said gently.

Peter nodded.

"Now, how about we go find the girls and watch a movie?"

The following Monday, Tony and Peter went to the school to talk with the principal and the school's counselor. Tony noticed that Peter kept bouncing his knee nervously.

"Nervous, Pete?" Tony whispered.

"A little."

A moment later, the principal stepped out, "Mr. Stark, Mr. Parker, come on in."

Tony sat next to Peter and put a hand on his knee, Tony whispered in Peter's ear quickly, "Shh, Pete. It's okay."

"So, Peter." The principal began, "I can't even begin to tell you how sorry we are about what has happened to you the last few months. I am happy though that you wish to return."

Peter nodded.

"Your teachers have been sending you work through email the last few months. Since you are starting your junior year, it would definitely help to try to actually come in. As you know, we do evaluations on each student, so they have those evaluations to give to colleges. Peter, I would happy to get you going here again. To be honest, this is your decision to make."

Tony smiled and looked over to see if Peter would say yes.

"I want to come back but…" Peter trailed off.

The counselor spoke up, "Peter, if there is something, we can do to help you with this transition, please tell us now."

Peter swallowed not exactly sure how to bring up Flash.

"It's nothing. I am fine." Peter chickened out.

Tony narrowed his eyes for a second at Peter. He knew the kid was lying. He wasn't fine.

The principal pulled out Peter's file, "Pete, if you're sure you want to come back. I will give you a new locker combo and you can meet with the counselor to make your class schedule. Since you missed registration, we will go ahead and put you in whatever classes you want. You can hand your teachers the permission note on the first day."

Peter nodded. They proceeded to register for classes and Peter's mood seemed to improve as the day went on. It was near lunch time when they had finished.

"Ready to go? Let's go get some food." Tony asked, just as the lunch bell rang.

"A-actually, could I see if I can find Ned at his locker really quick?"

Tony nodded, "You will come back?"

Peter rolled his eyes, "At the risk of you following through with your threat, yes."

Tony laughed, "Go on then, Smalls."

A few minutes later, Peter had an even bigger smile on his face as he met back up with Tony.

"You seem happy."

"I am starving!" Peter said.

"Well, let's get out of here and find some grub." Tony said, as he put a loose arm around Peter's shoulders.

Tony and Peter both decided to eat at a buffet, of course it was a fancy and expensive buffet. Peter filled four plates full of food. Tony shook his head fondly, as the kid was finishing off the fourth plate.

"My goodness, we were hungry." Tony teased.

" 'S so good!"

"Are you full or you going back for more?"

"More." Peter said questioningly.

"Go on then. Eat up." Tony said, as he made a shooing motion with his hands.

Peter came back with a fifth plate of food. Granted, it wasn't as much as the first four plates, but it still had quite a bit of food. By the time, he had gotten full, he thought he was going to pass out from all the food. Tony was not surprised when Peter had fallen asleep in the car. The kid had been going all day and it was two p.m. Peter had gotten into a habit of taking a nap during the day. Naps wouldn't work well though if Peter were in school.

(a week later)

Peter had a really good first full week. At first, the schedule change was hard. He was kind of grumpy when he had gotten home, but Tony understood. Peter was even more surprised at how nice everyone was being. Maybe too nice in some cases. He got the feeling they were all just trying to coddle him. The first day back was overwhelming because everyone was telling him sorry about his aunt. It had been a year already! Gees.

Peter felt like everything was getting back to normal, or as normal as it could be. He really wanted to go out on patrol! Tony had said no because it was a school night and Peter was just getting back into the swing of things. (no pun intended)

"The answer's no, Peter."

"Oh, come on!"

"Pete, this is a transition time. Give it a few more days. You can go out on Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon."

"I just want to go out on patrol, like I always did!"

Tony sighed in frustration. Why did teenagers have to disagree all the time?

"No, Peter. That's final. Why don't we watch a movie or go to the lab?" Tony offered to try to get patrol off the kid's mind.

Peter groaned dramatically and went to his room. He was so frustrated, and he really wanted to go out on patrol. But with Tony's threat looming in his mind, he decided just to go to sleep. Forget the world.

Author's Note: We are so close to being done with this story! Thank you guys for the support! I plan to have the next chapter out by Friday!