After School News.
Peter smiled as the bell rang signalling the end of school for the summer, and pushed his way through the rush at the door.
He fell into step beside his best friends, Ned and MJ.
“Hey Peter, you gonna go to Lizzie’s party tomorrow night?” MJ asked.
Peter shrugged, “Yeah, I’ll have to ask Dad and Papa though.”
They exited the building and headed to the bus stop.
“What’re you gonna do if they say no?” Ned asked.
“That’s unlikely, we are seniors, it’s normal to go to parties. If they do say no, I’ll watch The Mandalorian, need to catch up on season two, and they’ve been rather distant from each other so it’ll be good to have some family bonding.” Peter said as they boarded the bus.
Peter and Ned talked about various topics while MJ read her book. As the bus was pulling up at its second last stop Ned asked MJ when her girlfriend would be arriving in America.
“Shuri’s actually arriving tomorrow, we’re going to the party together. Anyway this is my stop, see you nerds later.” MJ said as she stood and left the bus, flipping them off with a toothy grin as she left the bus.
4 minutes later Peter land Ned said their goodbyes and went home.
“Dad, Papa! I’m home!” Peter said as Jarvis ran over to him. He smiled and hugged the dog, picking him up and giggling as his face was licked.
He headed down to that lab and was surprised to see both his fathers waiting for him. He tensed, sensing the tension in the air.
“Hey, papa, hi dad. I’ve got a question, can I go to a party tomorrow evening? MJ and Ned will both be there and so will MJ’s girlfriend, it’ll be really…” Peter trailed off. His parents were staring at him.
Steve opened his mouth, “Peter, we need to talk. Before we say anything we want you to know that we both love you very much.”
Peter looked between them, suddenly very worried, they never addressed him by his actual name unless it was serious. He glanced down and saw that they weren’t wearing their rings.
He opened his mouth but Tony cut him off.
“After much discussion, Steve and I have agreed that we are going to get a divorce.”
Peter gaped at them, opening and closing his mouth in shock, trying to process this turn in events. “But, but, you guys love each other! You’ve never fought and we have all our meals together and you sleep in the same bed for god sake!”
Tony and Steve glanced at each other. “We understand how you’re feeling, but we think this decision is for the best.”
Peter just stood there, dumbfounded.
His parents continued speaking. “We understand that this is very sudden for you, and we know that this can have a big effect upon your mental health. We want you to know that this is not your fault. We can organise therapy for you if you-“
Peter turned and left the room, ‘therapy??? They haven’t even consulted or thought about me of bloody course they’re gonna want me to have therapy!’ Peter thought as he collapsed onto his bed.
He lay there, tears running down his face when there was a knock on the door.
Tony opened it, “Hey underoos, Steve made beef Wellington if you’d like to come down and talk to us.”
Peter didn’t say anything. Tony sat down on the end of his bed, and put his head in his hands. “Listen, I’m really sorry about this, we wanted to wait til halfway through the break before we started but things are complicated. We deserve it if you hate us.”
Peter sniffed and whispered in an attempt at comedy in the hopes it would lighten the situation. “I’m not mad just disappointed.”
Tony let out a wet chuckle. “Your Papa and I have agreed to let you go to this party tomorrow, it’ll be good to get some normalcy into your life. But on Sunday we’ve got to talk about living arrangements.”
Tony stood and kissed his hair before leaving the room.
’living arrangements’
The words bounced around Peters head, causing a fresh wave of tears to slide down his cheeks. His phone buzzed.
Ned 👍:
-hey Pete!
-did your dads say yes to the party?
Pete 🕷:
-yeah...
-can I come over to yours for the day tomorrow?
Ned 👍:
-yeah
-whats wrong? Isn't this exciting?
Pete 🕷:
-I'll tell you tmr.
Peter dropped his phone and turned onto his side. Closing his eyes and falling into an uneasy sleep.