Hello friends, I'm back with a new chapter. I'm bringing in a new character; I know you've been waiting for him :) I hope you'll like this chapter, because well, the previous one seemed less popular than I expected. Anyway, enjoy this one now, it's fluff all over again.
As always, thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites.
Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Peter asks for the hundredth time while he's pacing up and down in the living room, his hands fidgeting. "Maybe I really should have gone to Ned's instead of inviting him here."
While anxiety is radiating off him, Mr. Stark remains annoyingly calm as he pours yet another coffee for himself in the kitchen. "Kid, I thought we were over this. You can't lie. I'm here to back up your cover story in case you freeze. Let's face it, that's a possible scenario. And it's not like I could sit by your side in Ned's room. That would be weird. But here I can linger around without looking creepy. It's my place after all."
"It's just… he'll freak out here."
"He'll freak out anyway when you tell him the story," Mr. Stark shrugs, settling on the couch and propping up his legs on the coffee table.
"You're so not helping," Peter says, narrowing his eyes.
"Kid, you could tell him the truth. He's your best friend, he would understand."
"That I was lying to him all the time? I'm not so sure about that."
"Wouldn't you forgive him if you were in his place?"
Peter thinks about it. Of course, he would forgive him. And Ned is one of the nicest people he knows, so yes, he would surely forgive Peter. He would understand why Peter did it. But he would be disappointed that Peter thought he couldn't come to him with his problems. And Peter doesn't want to make his friend feel bad. So lying it is.
Wow, how proud Aunt May would be now.
No, there's no time for that. Ned will be here soon.
"Are you sure this story will work?" Peter asks Mr. Stark to change the subject.
They came up with a relatively believable cover story last night, after Peter had finally got rid of his casts. Thank God, he didn't go into details about his injuries when he told Ned about the fake car accident. He could never explain how his broken bones healed in a few days.
And now that Dr. Banner cleared Peter, he can go back to school. Which he is looking forward to, much to Mr. Stark's annoyance. Not that the man wouldn't want him to go to school but he can't stop teasing the boy what a nerd he is. But Peter doesn't care. He knows that deep down Mr. Stark is a nerd, too. Just a way cooler one than he is.
Peter has decided to talk to Ned first, before going back to school. It only seems fair. If he can say it's fair at all. Telling more lies to his best friend.
And Mr. Stark has a meeting with the principal and a social worker, so that he can present them the documents about the guardianship. Peter suspects they might not like it, but they can't really do anything about it, it's a done deal now. And Peter has no doubts that Mr. Stark has a few tricks up his sleeve to convince them not to ask questions about why Peter has become his responsibility. Yeah, Mr. Stark has many tricks. From his famous, charming smile to some serious threats disguised as polite wishes. If Mr. Stark wants something, he'll get it. And Peter really hopes that Mr. Stark wants him to stay. At least for a while.
Mr. Stark shrugs. "Well, if the social worker or anyone at your school asks too many questions, I can always tell them it's their fault that they let you slip out of the system. They were fucking negligent, so they have absolutely no right to stop me from taking you in."
Peter's blood runs cold.
He knows Mr. Stark is really, really upset and blames the people who Peter tricked with his story about Aunt Julia. The man told Peter that he didn't blame him; it was absolutely understandable that he didn't want to go into the system, no sane person would ever want that. But he was really mad at the people who let themselves fooled by Peter and decided not to ask the questions they should have. And honestly, Peter is really, really happy that Mr. Stark feels so mad on his behalf. That he hates the people who should have helped Peter but didn't. For the first time in a while, the boy finally knows there's someone who protects him and looks out for him.
But it doesn't mean he wants Mr. Stark to confront those people.
"Sir, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't bring that up!" he protests. "I'm telling the story to Ned and you're telling it to-"
"To the adults?" Mr. Stark rolls his eyes. "I still don't understand why you want to protect those assholes that couldn't do their damned jobs, but I respect your choice. I don't agree with it, though."
"Yeah, you made it pretty clear last night when you called them ignorant fuckers."
"Language, kid, language!" Mr. Stark staggers back in mock annoyance. "Those words are not allowed to leave your mouth until you're 18. Or 21. I don't know, I'll have Friday to see what the law says."
Peter snorts. "Let's just stick to the story, please?"
He hopes Mr. Stark understands that he just doesn't want to talk about that recent chapter of his life. He didn't really have a choice and he survived, but he's not proud of what happened to him. While he was living on the streets, he didn't want anyone to know about his situation and now that he has a roof above his head, he still doesn't want people to know that he was once a homeless kid. No matter whose fault it was.
"Peter, your friend has arrived, he's in the lobby," Friday announces.
"Th-thanks, Friday," the boy stutters, unable to move his feet, hands fidgeting again.
Mr. Stark rolls his eyes again. "Friday, be a dear and ask the receptionist to send up Mr. Leeds. Peter, are you sure you're up to this?"
No, he's not. He knows he's not. But he doesn't really have a choice. He owes Ned an explanation. He owes him the truth, but as he can't offer that, the least he should do is to give some kind of explanation to him.
And it's Ned, for God's sake! His best friend, he knows him for ages, it shouldn't be this hard to talk to him. Peter might have gained a few more minutes until Ned arrives, but now he feels like a jerk because he couldn't even go down to welcome his friend in the lobby. He should have done that; Ned must feel really confused now. He was obviously shocked when Peter texted him to come to the Tower. He had tons of questions and Peter promised to give him answers later.
And he has to do that now, he can't stall any longer. He needs to get over with it. But it's hard. Maybe because he's about to feed Ned with more lies? Should he tell him the truth like Mr. Stark suggested? No, Ned would be so sad.
The elevator doors open and Ned is there. His jaw drops as he takes a look around in the penthouse. He gives Peter a tiny grin and then his eyes grow even wider when he spots Mr. Stark on the couch. The man gives him a small wave and his trademark charismatic smile.
"Hey Ned," Peter finally manages and walks to his friend.
They greet each other with their complicated, secret handshake and Mr. Stark watches them smiling.
"This is Mr. Stark," Peter says gesturing at the man. The boy knows the introduction is not necessary; literally everyone in the world knows who Tony Stark is, but that doesn't mean he should forget about his manners, right?
Ned stares at the man star struck. "Hey, Mr. Iron Man. I mean Mr. Iron Stark. Mr. Stark. Hey, Mr. Stark," he stammers.
"Hi Ned," the man nods and gives Peter an amused look that indicates he now understands why Ned is his best friend. Peter just rolls his eyes and ushers Ned into his room.
"Alright, kids, let me know if you need anything" Mr. Stark says, grabbing a tablet from the coffee table.
Once Peter closes the door behind them, Ned walks around in his room, slowly taking in every little detail. He finally stops at the window, admiring the breathtaking view to the skyscrapers around them.
"It's awesome, dude," he whispers in awe. "You live in Mr. Stark's tower. You live with Mr. Stark! With the Avengers! You're so cool, man. How did this happen?" he asks turning back to his friend.
Peter is still standing by the door, fists clenching in anxiety. He can't stop staring at the floor and according to Mr. Stark it is the number one sign that he's about to lie. Well, the man's not wrong. Hopefully, Ned won't notice anything.
Peter already told his friend that he lived at the Tower, but he didn't give any explanation. Now it's time to tell his cover story and see if it really works.
"Well, you know there was this internship," he starts, walking to his bed and sitting down. He tries to look away from the floor and he succeeds. He realizes he can actually look at other things in the room, like the walls, the desk, the couch, his backpack on the floor, his books, literally anything as long as he doesn't have to look at Ned. He might be able to pull it off after all. "I saw it on the website of Stark Industries last year. I applied but I thought I wouldn't get it, because they surely wanted smarter kids than me."
Ned snorts as if Peter told a joke and settles on the couch. "You didn't tell me about this."
"No, I didn't tell anyone because like I said I thought I wouldn't get it anyway. I thought it didn't matter. It was a long time ago, back when May was… alive. But they called and said Mr. Stark wanted to see me. And I came here to the Tower and Mr. Stark said he was working on some kind of secret stuff and-"
"With the Avengers?" Ned interjects in shock.
"Yeah, yeah," he replies like it's not a big deal. Peter hopes Ned doesn't find it weird that he's not freaked out like he is. He hopes Ned doesn't realize he is not freaked out, because this whole story is not true. "Upgrading suits and weapons, that kind of stuff', he continues. "And Mr. Stark wanted me to help, but because it was top secret, I had to sign a bunch of non-disclosure agreements. He talked to May, too, because I'm a minor, so…" God, he feels so bad that he's dragging May into this, too. But he has to. "Anyway, I started to work here, I mean in Mr. Stark's lab, a few times a month."
"Man, it's so cool!" Ned cheers. "It's even cooler than cool. You. Working with Mr. Stark. On the Avengers' gears. Geez, you're the luckiest kid in the world!"
Peter gives him a small smile. He is definitely lucky that Mr. Stark took him in, but all the stuff before that… he doesn't consider himself lucky for going through all that shit.
"So problem is," he continues. "Aunt Julia's husband got a great job offer, but it's in LA."
The smile immediately falls from Ned's face. "Wait, you're not moving to LA, right?"
Peter shakes his head and grins a little. Why would he have a room here at the Tower if he was moving to LA? But Ned must be incredibly stunned and confused now and Peter can't blame him.
"Julia and her family are moving to LA. It's an opportunity they can't pass. But I didn't want to go. I have my school here but more importantly, my friends," he explains finally looking up at Ned and smiling at him.
"And you have the coolest internship ever," Ned reminds him.
"Yeah, that too," Peter replies nonchalantly. "Anyway, I told Mr. Stark about it. I told him that I would have to leave and he needed to find a new intern. I thought I didn't have a choice, I'm still a kid, if my family is moving, I'm moving, too, right? Mr. Stark wasn't happy about it, either. He talked to Julia and she let me stay in the city. With Mr. Stark."
Peter sighs. That's the end of the story. He could tell it after all. He did exactly what Mr. Stark advised.
Short sentences, very few details, never saying more than necessary.
He did it. He can be proud of himself. He has just pulled off a huge lie. To his best friend. Yeah, he should be really proud of himself.
"Wow," Ned wonders. "It's so amazing. That Mr. Stark took you in. I mean you're just his intern and it's so big. Living here with him. It's just unbelievable what he did for you."
Peter's stomach crunches. Ned is obviously impressed but he has involuntarily pointed out the one detail in the story that Peter also finds unbelievable. Honestly, he finds the whole story unbelievable but this point? This is the farthest from the truth. Because Ned is right. Who would believe that Mr. Stark took him in? Him? Really? The invisible boy? No one will ever believe that.
Maybe it's not too late to back out. To come up with something. Julia's husband has decided not to take the job after all and they're all staying in Brooklyn. Peter can stay with them, too. And in reality, he'll go back to the warehouse and to his old life. That would be so much more believable than Mr. Stark taking him in. It was a mistake to think he could get away with this story. Such a huge mistake.
"Anyway," Ned says breaking into his thoughts. "There's only one thing that matters. I mean it's really amazing that you live here now, Flash is gonna be so jealous, dude... But are you happy, Peter? Because that's really the only important thing here."
Peter glances at his friend and swallows hard. Because there's worry written all over on Ned's face, genuine worry. He has put the fanboying aside, he obviously doesn't care where they are right now, he doesn't care there's an Avenger in the other room. All that matters to him is Peter's happiness.
And Peter has lied into his face.
What kind of friend is he? A very bad one, evidently.
But he doesn't want to be that. He has so few people in his corner, probably just Mr. Stark and Ned and he doesn't want to lose any of them. He needs them. He needs people in his life, people who care about him. For a long time, he tried to convince himself that he didn't need anyone, he could take care of himself and yes, he felt lonely but he could take it. Life's tough, but he could manage.
But it's so much easier if he has some people to lean on. To trust, to turn to, to talk to. Wouldn't it be better if he had Ned, too? If he could share his problems and more importantly, his secrets with him? If he didn't have to avoid him? If he could talk to him without worrying about blowing his cover? If he didn't need a cover at all?
And… doesn't Ned deserve the truth? His trust?
And isn't telling him the truth the right thing to do? Isn't Peter supposed to do the right thing?
So he makes a decision, a decision that he should have made a long time ago.
He tells Ned everything, he tells him the truth, starting from the day when May died.
Long sentences, plenty of details, saying more than necessary.
So yeah, we have Ned now, too. Peter needs his best friend, right? Next, I might introduce someone else. I like when it's just Tony and Peter, but other characters might show up sometimes.
Anyway, please, please, leave me a review, I need to know if you liked the chapter.
Thank you for reading!