Author's Note: It has been too long since I updated this story. Sorry for the long wait! Thanks for all the kind reviews and favorites and follows! I'm blown away by how many people are reading this. Please enjoy this chapter!
"We are a noisy and blessed little family."
—Nancy E. Turner
There were many things that Tony Stark could do.
Making milkshakes was apparently not one of them. By the time Steve and Peter arrived in the kitchen, the whole counter was littered with clumps of vanilla ice cream and milk. With a little wave, Tony smirked as the duo entered the kitchen.
"Oh, hey," Tony greeted. "Want a milkshake?" He didn't wait for a response before he pressed the lid down on the machine and then hit the button.
"Wait, you have to—!" Peter began to warn, but it was too late. The lid went flying away since the genius inventor had forgotten to hold onto it and soon the milkshakes were soon covering Tony's face and the ceiling. Without missing a beat, Tony wiped his eyes and Peter sprung into action. Webbing the lever, he turned the machine off.
"Thanks," The billionaire replied. "But I had that covered."
"Sure, you did," Steve replied, chuckling slightly. "Just like you had it covered the last time?"
"Hey, I modified this machine so it should—"
"Blow up in a more spectacular fashion?" A feminine voice inquired and Peter turned around to see Pepper Potts standing behind him. She sighed as she met Tony's gaze and then smiled softly upon seeing Peter. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Pepper Potts." She offered her hand and Peter shook it.
"Peter Parker."
"I hope you'll forgive Tony's general stupidity—" She spoke wearily and the teenager wondered just how many times Pepper had walked in on this and seen something like this.
"Hey!" Her boyfriend interjected with a huff of indignation. "This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."
"No," She allowed, a small grin alighting her face. "Just make sure you clean up after yourself." With a small nod of her head, she excused herself from the kitchen, her high heels clicking in the hallway. Tony grinned and Peter huffed out a laugh. Despite his reputation as a ladies' man, the former playboy clearly had found his match in Pepper Potts. Then, as if he hadn't realized he let the walls down, he met Peter's gaze.
"Hey, Parker?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't suppose you want to help me, do you?"
Peter just laughed.
"How are you feeling?" Gwen asked the next day at school, concern gracing her features. She had already given him a once over and Peter had given in, understanding the fear that came with not knowing if your loved one was okay and needing to see how bad the damage was for yourself. Hell, he still worried about Aunt May's condition, even though Tony received phone calls from the hospital on a daily basis to get an update on how she was doing.
"I'm alright." He told her with a grin, snagging her hand and pulling her towards him. She pushed herself closer to him and he easily slung an arm around her shoulder. Together, they walked into school and into a bit of a surprise. The hallway was decorated with screenshots of the fight from yesterday. All of the photos had been edited so that Peter was no longer in them or was obscured, but Flash was clearly visible in each and every one of them.
"What the hell?" Gwen murmured and Peter nodded his head in agreement. He stepped closer to inspect one of the photos. It looked like a prank, but the young superhero knew better. The fight had taken place outside of school hours, so the cameras had to have been shut off. Someone had hacked in, pulled up the images, printed them, and posted them—all without alerting school authorities. That sounded like something the Avengers would do—
But no, he had just joined. They wouldn't do something like that! They barely knew him and vice versa. This is had to be something else—
"Parker!" Flash bellowed and the angry basketball star came barreling towards the teenager. Instinctively, Peter pushed Gwen back, but she wouldn't stand for it and she intercepted him. Meeting his gaze, she glared at him.
"How does it feel to know that everyone finally understands who you truly are, Flash?" Her voice was venomous and Peter smiled softly, oddly proud at how Gwen had the confidence to stand up to someone that could ruin her reputation at the school if he so desired.
"Get out of my way, Gwen." Flash hissed, eyes darting from her face to Peter's and then back again.
"Make me." She growled.
The bell rung, cutting off all conversation and Flash stormed off, ripping some of the posters off the lockers as he did so. Peter grinned and kissed the top of Gwen's head.
Hand in hand, they walked to class.
It was in the middle of AP Chemistry—a class that he really didn't need to pay attention to anyways—that he got the text. After a few minutes of fiddling with his new phone, he managed to open the message and saw it was from Tony.
Hope you liked our welcome gift. If you need anything else, let us know.
Peter grinned and pocketed the phone.
He had never been a part of something like this—no one, besides Gwen, had ever really gone out of their way to help him before. He was unsure of how to express his gratitude. Uncle Ben would know what to do and with a pang of sadness, Peter sighed. With each day that passed, the grief became less sharp, but the pain still flared up.
He wondered if it would ever go away.
"Mr. Parker?" Mr. Hanson shot him a confused look from the whiteboard and Peter instantly sat up, more alert. "You alright?"
"Yes," He replied quickly. "I'm good."
And for the first time since Ben's death, he felt like he really was.
"So, this Lady Gwen—" Thor began.
"Her name is just Gwen." Peter shot back, slightly exasperated as he finished up the last bit of his homework. The God of Thunder had been asking him questions for the past 20 minutes and while the teenager liked to think he was a patient person, his temper was starting to get the best of him. Not that he could fault Thor though—the guy was new to this planet and would, of course, have a lot of questions—but he had things to do and he wanted to call Aunt May tonight before visiting hours ended.
"She knows of your true identity?"
"Yeah." He quickly jotted down a "2" to balance his last equation. Pleased, he grinned.
"And you fear not for her safety?" The pencil fell from his hand. The question startled him because he hadn't really thought about it. Yes, he had broken up to keep Gwen safe, but in truth, he believed that her knowing would help her in the long run. She would be more informed of the threats and she would have a better chance to stay out of trouble. Yes, there was the nagging fear that some bad guy would find her, steal her and use her to get to him, but he wasn't strong enough to be without her.
She was what he fought to protect.
"Gwen can take care of herself," He muttered dryly, chuckling as the image of her going up against Flash filled his mind. "She's pretty brave."
"As is Jane," Thor replied quietly and Peter met his gaze, head tilted to the side in confusion. "She is . . . well, she is a scientist and she is beautiful, but smart as well!"
"Where is she then?" Thor's face darkened slightly.
"I have . . . I have not visited her yet."
"Well, why not?" The question seemed to take Thor off-guard.
"I fear for her safety." The teenager nodded his head. He had heard from Tony about Thor's first adventure here—about how he had to break the bridge that allowed travel from Asgard to other worlds—but he had never heard about the woman that the God of Thunder had fallen for.
Then again, talking about love seemed to be taboo here, almost like just speaking about it could cause it to fall apart.
"Dude, believe me," Peter informed the God. "If you don't see her, she's going to be pissed. You better see her soon. The longer you wait, the angrier she'll be."
"But I don't wish—" The young hero tucked his homework into his folder and then placed that into his backpack.
"Just see her Thor, okay?" The God of Thunder beamed and with a hearty laugh, smacked Peter on the back. The teen almost fell over from the force of it.
"I thank you, young Parker," He informed Peter. "This has been most helpful. I shall make arrangements to see her soon then."
"Good."
With that, Thor practically flew out the door and Peter just chuckled.
"My life is weird." With a shake of his head, he headed towards his room, ready to call his aunt.
Author's Note: So, there you go! Updates from now on will be more frequent. Next chapter, the team invites Gwen over for dinner and nothing goes according to plan. Please review if you have a second!