Chapter 2
Walking to school the next morning, newly charged phone burning a whole through his back pocket, Peter was understandably terrified.
Not even a step out of his apartment building and Ned was at his side.
"Dude! Did you see my messages?"
"Yeah.." Peter sighed.
"Then what are you doing coming in today? It's Friday, just ditch!"
"If you thought I'd do that then you wouldn't be here right now."
Sheepish, Ned turned away, almost walking into a fruit stand if Peter hadn't pulled him aside. They walked in awkward silence for a long time, getting close to the school.
"How's your Mom? You said she was freaking out?" Peter broke the silence, looking at his shoes.
"Yeah she was. I got so many lectures on how to recognise a sexual predator, I dreamed about pedophiles."
Peter raised an eyebrow.
"NOT LIKE THAT!!" Ned shouted, blushing hard and waving his hands around.
"Technically, anyone preying on you would be classed as an ephebophile."
"I don't even want to know how you know that."
Peter shrugged, changing the subject, "How was your dad?"
"Oh he thought it was hilarious. Told me to tell you 'good job'. Said I couldn't pull Tony Stark because I was too fat and 'obviously' Tony Stark likes twinks."
Peter scoffed, offended on his friends behalf. "What?! Dude you'd totally be a good sugar baby, you give the best hugs!"
"That's what I said!"
A throat cleared, bringing Peter's attention back to the real world. MJ was stood sentry at the school doors.
"I don't even want to know what that's about." She drawled, as deadpan as usual. Her calm demeanour was broken by an awkward foot shuffle and she sighed. "You're gonna want to take a look at your locker.."
WHORE
Written in large, red ink remaining resolute under Peter's fingers as he tried to wipe it away. Pictures fluttered to the ground by his feet, knocked off from their place by his rigorous scrubbing. Pictures of him and Tony, hand in hand, the kiss to the temple, Tony's hand on his hip. Headlines cut from tabloid magazines littered the metal door and Peter had to swallow back a lump forming thick in his throat.
Taking a deep breath Peter decided on a, probably stupid, course of action. He picked up the picture of Tony staring at his lips and turned to the gathering crowd behind him, "Who brought this one?" He called, "I haven't seen this one before, I look good." He forced a giggle, "Can't wait to show Tony tonight." He called, louder than necessary, beginning to sound slightly hysterical as he moved through the crowd, turning circles to make awkward eye contact with as many as possible. "He always likes it when people watch."
With that closing statement he marched off down the hallway, head high and several of the incriminating pictures falling from his grip as he went.
He could faintly hear Ned and MJ following after him, but he never slowed his stride, desperate to reach homeroom.
"Mr Parker." Principle Morita blocked his path.
So close.
Peter sighed, "Sir."
"Come with me please."
With one last disparing look shot to his friends, Peter trailed behind his Principle to his office.
"I'm sure you know what this is about." Mr Morita began, sitting behind his desk.
Peter himself took a seat, aware he'd be there for a while. "I can make a guess." He drawled.
Morita cleared his throat, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else at that moment in time. "While you may be aware that you are seventeen, and therefore at the age of consent here in New York, there is a certain duty of care we here at Midtown High have to our students, especially where an imbalance of power like yours and Mr Stark's is involved."
"Kill me now." Peter muttered.
Mr Morita grunted through a cough that Peter swore sounded like "Me too".
"What you might not be aware of," the principle continued, "is that, due to your and Mr Stark's long term business relationship, Mr Stark is coming under suspicion of relations with a minor and is being questioned by the police as we speak."
Peter wheezed, surprised, "What?!"
"Now it's nothing serious, but it's our duty to make sure you're safe in all aspects of your life, at least until you leave these walls." Morita sighed, folding his hands together and resting them on the desk, "Now, I trust you Peter. You're a smart young man and I know you wouldn't get caught up in more than you can handle. But you must understand our concern?"
Bowing his head Peter agreed, "Honestly sir, it's not what you think. Tony's just a massive idiot and -"
Whatever Peter was going to say next was cut off by the office door slamming open.
Stood in all his stupid, smug glory was Tony Stark. "I'm here!" He called. Moving to step into the room.
Slam
A body shoved into the back of Tony, taking them both to the ground.
Surprised, both Peter and his Principal leapt to their feet.
"What is going on?" Morita called.
"I'd very much like to know that too." Tony added, face smushed against the floor.
-_-_-_-_-_-
"Is this really necessary?" Tony complained, tugging at the handcuff attaching him to the plastic office chair.
The police officer huffed, "You evaided the police once, not gonna let you do it again."
"We talked about this!" Tony whined, "I was already in my car when you came to talk to me!"
"That doesn't mean you can just drive off!" The officer huffed once more, looking offended at the memory.
Peter had had enough. It'd been a long day already and it hadn't even hit noon yet. He'd been messed around enough for one day. "Could you guys please shut the hell up?"
Three pairs of eyes turned to him.
"I appreciate the concern," Peter started, sharp. "but I'd like to formally introduce you to Tony Stark.... My dad."
The room was silent.
All it took was Morita to call out "Ha! Warren owes me thirty bucks!" For chaos to rain down.
Everyone started talking all at once.
"I was totally 'dad' over 'daddy' anyway."
"Awe Pete, that's the first time you've called me that."
"Legally? Is he legally your dad? What am I even doing here then?
"It's really just a big missunderstanfing- "
"Peter's already missed so much class -"
"I've gotta call off the backup -"
"Backup?"
BANG!
The office door flung open.
"Sorry I'm late, I had to bribe Phill to cover my shift."
May Parker strutted into the room, casually nocking the door closed behind her with her foot as she dug around in her bag.
"You said you wanted to see me?" She looked at Morita, not even sparing the others in the room a second glance.
"Uh.." Morita froze, throwing enough glances towards Tony that May had no choice but to acknowledge him.
"It's about the sugar baby thing isn't it?"
Everyone nodded.
May pouted, "I should have never let you adopt him."
"Hey! I'm a great dad!"
"Oh yeah? Could have fooled me! For a moment I honestly thought you were" she looked around, as if nervous someone would hear, "sleeping with him!"
"It's not my fault you have such low expectations of me!"
"Kinda sounds like it's your fault!"
"Why did you even sign the papers if you thought I was such a bad guy, huh?"
That stopped May in her tracks. She slumped into a seat and took a few breaths, "Honestly, I never thought you were anything but good to Peter, but I'm never there. I work all the time and Peter, I trust him but I - I don't trust myself. After Ben I had to work double at the hospital and I just don't know anymore, whether I'm making the right choice at any time and I can't bear the thought that Peter may suffer because of that." Her eyes became teary, she sniffled, making all the men in the room extremely uncomfortable.
Surprisingly, it was Tony who moved first, stretching a hand out to her with a small smile. "I understand. If it was the other way around I'd be concerned too. I'm an idiot. And pulling this stunt with the pap just proves it."
"No" May sniffed, "you're a good man, Tony. I signed those papers because I knew that. And I know that when I can't be there, or if anything happens to me, Peter will be more than well looked after, and it has nothing to do with you being a billionaire."
"Not even a little bit?" Tony teased. It had the intended effect, and May let out a soft laugh.
"Okay, maybe a little."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Now free from his handcuffs, Tony decided the first thing in order was to embarrass Peter as much as possible.
"Can't you leave?" Peter complained, walking back to class.
Tony followed along behind him happily, cooing and making faces.
"I sent Happy to take May home, so you're stuck with me till he gets back."
Peter thought he seemed a little too pleased about that.
Huffing, Peter opened the door to his chem class, stopping the lecture in its track. He'd assumed Tony would have left him be after he entered the room. He shouldn't have been so naive.
"Petey-Pie what about me? You gonna abandon me." The man-child cried, following Peter into the room to hug him dramatically from behind.
"You're a billionaire, you can call an Uber."
"What if I don't want to?"
"Then you can wait in the reception for Happy like a normal person. Leave me alone."
Gasping like scandalised Victorian lady, Tony drew his hands to his face. "My own son! The betrayal!"
Peter rolled his eyes and turned back to the class to take his seat. A sea of bemused faces stared back, and that's when it clicked. Tony was acting boisterous and loudly declaring him his son to his peers.
Peter blushed, his locker is right by the school entrance; in order to get to Morita's office, Tony would have had to walk past it. He would have seen what they did to it.
Peter had never felt so greatful for Mr Stark's drama queen nature. So he played along, "Go home dad, you're interupting my class."
Smiling softly, Tony whispered "Okay" before pulling him in close and pressing a long kiss to his temple, exactly like he did at the museum, yet with a completely different context behind it.
Peter felt lucky then, for everyone in his life. Ned, MJ, May, and especially his weird dad-not-actually-his-dad-but-sort-of-his-dad mentor.
"Damnit!" Miss Warren called out, breaking the calm quiet that had coated the room. "I owe Morita thirty bucks!"
-_-_-_-_-_-