Chiquitita
He was late, again , why couldn’t Peter just be normal and be able to get everywhere early? Because life hates him, that’s why. His day had actually started surprisingly well, he’d woken up before his alarm, he’d gotten his grades back and they were great and he’d actually had breakfast for once, it was good, maybe too good. After his miraculous morning, he’d been called to the principal’s office, who went on to tell him that he’d be giving the graduation speech for his peers and he’d tried to refuse, keyword tried because the principal was adamant.
Apparently the guy who was originally supposed to give the speech had ditched the whole thing and decided it wasn’t worth his time, so now Peter had to give a big speech to all of his classmates who probably didn’t even know of his existence or didn’t like him, people in this school were elitist pricks, they treated him like even looking at him would make them somehow dirty or impure, the scandal! And now he was supposed to give a speech to those people, he was nothing but dirt in their shoes to them and he was going to represent them in a speech?
There was no way Peter would be giving that speech to those people, he didn’t even like them (except for Steph and maybe the Waynes haven’t been terrible) and they didn’t like him, it’s that simple! He’d probably be laughed out of the stage or someone would do something stupid like pull a Carrie on him, he’s probably overthinking but rich people don’t have morals! He doesn’t know what they’re capable of doing to a street rat like him!
The principal wouldn’t shut up though, because, apparently Peter is the next in line for the speech because he was the original candidate for the speech. It was meant to be a valedictorian speech, the valedictorian being Peter, until somehow for some reason some of the faculty decided that maybe they should go for the class president who, well, was actually voted class president and was actually liked among their peers, unlike Peter who was more of a nuisance or a pest, if you will, among most of the other students in his grade.
The principal went on to defend their previous choice by stating that they were thinking of Peter when making that decision, that they were concerned for the public’s reaction to Peter being the representative for their class, he was right about that and Peter wasn’t really arguing but it seemed as though the principal really needs Peter for that speech now because it turns out Mr. Class president isn’t very reliable (whaaat?) and he’s really trying to appease Peter and lure him into agreeing to give the speech.
By the time Peter just gave up and let himself be convinced and committed to giving the speech (what can he say? he loves academic validation), leaving the principal’s office with his head hanging low, he now had an even busier day ahead of him. He had to go find a suit to wear tomorrow, start a draft of his super inspiring speech, meet possible dad number one- wait a minute, meet possible dad number one? The realization hit him, he’d been in that office for a good while, he pulled out his beat-up phone to check the time and- yeah- he was late, is late and now he was already a disappointment to his (unaware) possible dad number one.
He tried not to beat himself up too much, it wasn’t even his fault, he was a victim here! And he even let himself be convinced/forced to make the speech, maybe he could fake sick or something, he probably will get sick from anxiety the day of the speech so it wasn’t even worth the arguing with the principle anyway, therefore it was his fault he was late, he realized while he was rushing through the busy sidewalk to get to the coffee shop as soon as humanly (or not so humanly) possible.
When he got to the coffee shop, it was bustling with people waiting for their take out and all the tables were busy with groups of workers, students and one lonely table with a singular man sitting at the table in the corner with a steaming cup in front of him, he was blond-ish and so was his short beard. Upon seeing him, Peter gripped onto the strap of his messenger bag as he was reminded of the images that popped up on google when he searched Oliver Queen, it was the same man, except that Getty images and the paparazzi pictures didn’t do him any justice. The man was looking around, searching people’s faces, his eyes drifted to Peter they glinted with recognition, did the man recognize him from somewhere? Had he met the Other Peter somehow?
Peter approached the man’s table with trepidation, taking short, slow steps to the table as the man watched him, now, this is awkward, the true walk of shame, walking towards your possible father who doesn’t know he’s your possible father while he looks at you, waiting for you to get to the seemingly impossibly far away table in the corner of a busy coffee shop. There should be self-help books for this, it’s a little niche but the demographic is there and it would help Peter so much right now, because this is extremely awkward.
When he finally got to the small three seat table and sat down across from the older man, Oliver looked at him and said “Peter, right? You look just like your mom did at that age” he looked a little surprised as he said it, Peter was stunned.
“Really?!” he said with a hopeful tone and a smile on his face.
“Yeah, you have the same look about you, she was always the smartest in the room, especially if I was around” he looked down, reminiscing.
“Yeah, I went through some of her stuff, I could tell she cared about you” he looked solemnly at the man across from him who also had that solemn look about him , thinking about the woman he once thought of as the love of his life. Now Oliver looked unsure, like he didn’t know how to continue the conversation.
“Is she..” he started, no quite having the courage to finish the phrase.
“She passed a little over two years ago” he said, figuring he might as well get it over with instead of dragging it out for the both of them.
Of course she’d be dead and gone and buried by the time he finally got his act together and wanted to make amends, to reconnect or whatever he had in mind when he first heard from Peter.
“I’m so sorry, losing a parent is awful and at your age I can’t begin to imagine how you feel” he mustered out compassionately despite his own feelings.
“It’s okay, I just feel like I didn’t really know her for her, that’s why I contacted you, I wanna know who she really was outside of being my mother, y’know?” Peter said in a soft-spoken voice, Oliver could barely hear him from across the table.
“I know the feeling” He said with a knowing tone, Peter looked at him oddly at the answer. At the look on the kid’s face, Oliver realized that normally people would elaborate after saying something like that with no context.
“My mom passed away a few years ago now, around five or six years, I think. After she died, my sister and I found out that she was involved in a lot of not completely legal business practices and dubious elitist organizations. So we had to fix all the harm she caused people and I know that she did all of that because she was afraid for us, but still, she was a bit of a stranger to us after all of it” When Oliver finished talking he looked to Peter, who had a compassionate, understanding look on his face and he truly looked like a spitting image of a 17 year old Mary Parker listening to Oliver complain about his family’s plans for his own future.
“I guess what I am trying to say is that I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear about your mom if it helps you” Oliver said after finally snapping out of his daze.
“Thanks, I really appreciate you doing this and I’m sorry about being so late, I was stuck in the principal's office. He decided that for some reason I should be the one to give the student graduation speech and he kept me there for almost an hour before I caved” said Peter, smiling apologetically.
“No worries, I like people watching in coffee shops looking a little creepy, it feels edgy and I used to wear eyeliner, so I know edgy” Oliver was a very nonchalant person, Peter realized as he looked at how the man just waved his tardiness and awkwardness off, not even Doctor Strange was this zen, like ever , which in Peter’s eyes meant that this man was Buddah reincarnated. And with that, Peter asked away about his mother, for a good hour and over a much needed hot chocolate that Oliver bought him, they went back and forth talking about his mom and all of her best moments and sharing laughs.
Oliver had just finished recounting a story of the time Mary decided to hit all the Big Belly Burgers in Starling city and threw up all over Oliver, they were both laughing, Oliver at the somehow fond memory and Peter at the mental image of the man across from him love struck and covered in puke on some sidewalk when Peter asked the question™.
“If you loved her this much, then why did you leave her to get married to some other girl?” To be fair, he had been driving himself insane thinking about the whole thing, so the question just came out of his mouth before he knew it. And now he had probably hurt Oliver, the man who had been so nice to him and bought him hot chocolate and talked to him about his mom, and now he’d ruined everything and Oliver will leave him and-
“Because….. I was afraid” he admitted, stating it like it was a deep, deep secret, which, it kind of was, he’d never really told anyone about Mary and his feelings about her. “I had never felt that way before, I was so in love with her but my mother kept talking about more convenient marriages and stuff like that so, when I realized I loved her, I chickened out and took the easy route” Finished the archer, looking at the teen across him with a slightly tearful, maybe regretful, look in his eyes.
There was a pregnant silence between the two, the tension at their table getting more tense by the second, people in the tables around them even started looking their way, side-eyeing them as if they could feel the tension just as much as Peter was.
How was he supposed to reply to that? Especially after he was just so rude to him about it, the guy had been nothing but helpful and nice, and Peter just treated him like he was some random asshole who liked to hurt people or something, he didn’t mean to just blurt it out like that! but the way his mom had written about Oliver and the way he ended things made it apparent that the experience really hurt Mary. And yet, it wasn’t really any of Peter’s business, this woman was just another version of his own mom! So why is he so invested in the whole thing?
Although, she’s still his mother, and this guy might be his father so it kind of is his business and no one should tell him what his business is, not even himself and his anxiety- he is starting to spiral now, he should stop, he probably looks like he’s on another planet right now, and it’s weird and he should just shoot himself now because this isn’t getting anywhere and this is all so stupid oh my god-
“I…” Peter was interrupted by Oliver breaking their now painful silence. “I did try to go back to her but, I was stupid enough to think she’d wait for me and by the time I found her, I was told that she was off with some other guy so I backed off and it was probably one of the biggest regrets in my life because now she’s gone forever and I’ll always wonder what could’ve been”
“I wonder too” said Peter, the same sad smile as Oliver on his face. “I actually wanted to show you this letter I found, it has your name on it and it was never opened, so I guess she couldn’t bring herself to send it out” he said as he took out an envelope from his messenger bag and handed it to the man across from him. Oliver scanned the blue envelope, remembering the past blue envelopes he’d gotten years ago, back when he and Mary were happy and in love. The envelope was dated January 19th, just about a couple of months since they’d had that dreaded conversation.
“Is it okay if I just hold on to it? I don’t think I’m up for reading it right now, it’s a little too much for right now” said Oliver, worried for what the contents of the letter will bring.
“Yeah, it’s no problem, it literally has your name on it” It was starting to get dark outside, the bright gray of the Gotham sky turning dark gray, it’s probably like supper time or something by now, maybe 5 or 6? Which does remind the younger boy that he had something to do around this time- His tux! His eyes widened as he tried to look at his watch to check the hour, just to realize- he doesn’t own a clock. Oliver seems to have noticed Peter’s silent panic,
“Are you really okay with it? I could just give it back to you and come back for it whenever you're ready”
“No! no , it’s fine, really. I just- What time is it? I was supposed to go get a tux for the graduation and I definitely won’t be able to get it tomorrow, I won’t have the time and all of the better ones will be rented out already and I’ll have to pay extra and I also have to go meet-” he rambled at an impressive speed before being interrupted by Oliver.
“Slow down a little, if you need a tux I can help you get one, I’ll even buy it for you. There’s no need for you to worry” Peter looked unsure and was already opening his mouth to refuse the offer. “I have a friend who can probably get you a great tux that I’ll buy for you as a graduation gift, the money isn’t a problem for me and I’d be happy to help”
Peter was tempted to just run away and hide, no one has ever really offered to buy him anything over 2 dollars that wasn’t food since he had parents, but, could he really just take Oliver’s money? He is rich, but still, his guilt complex is yelling at him to not be a bother to Oliver anymore than he already had been.
“This must be funny to you, huh?” Peter said, looking at the calm man in front of him, who gave him a questioning look “money, I mean. I’ve always thought that it must be funny to rich men seeing people scrambling for it. I haven’t really relied on anyone else for money since I last had a parent, I’m sorry, it kinda weirds me out”.
“That’s okay, you don’t have to accept, I just want to help you. Besides, I barely ever know what to do with my money anyway” Oliver replied with a shrug. "But if it makes you feel better, think of it as a graduation gift from a friend who wants to see you succeed and be there for you on this important day." Peter hesitated for a moment, his mind racing with conflicting thoughts and emotions. Finally, Peter made a decision and replied, "Thank you, Mr. Oliver. You have no idea what this means to me."
The gesture of kindness from Oliver touched Peter deeply, filling him with gratitude and a sense of being taken care of that he hadn't felt in a long time. As Peter stood there, he realized that in this strange universe, this potential father may not be his biological dad, but he was showing him a kind of paternal love and support that he had been longing for ever since he lost Ben.
“Please, just Oliver is fine” he was laughing at Peter’s politeness “at this point you know more about me than most people”
“Sorry, it’s kind of a habit”
“It’s okay, c’mon, finish your drink and let’s go get you dressed up”
He thinks he could get used to this feeling, and it scared him to death.
–🕸️–
"Money, Money, Money
Must be funny
In the rich man’s world"