Chapter 1
It’s only been a little over a week since Tony and Pepper adopted Peter. It was also the beginning of September so it was Peter’s first week back at school. His last first week now that he’s a senior. The next time he’ll have a first week back will be in a different school…college!
The morning of, Peter was a little shaky but excited to see his friends again and get the school year started. He still got the normal first day jitters even though he’s been going to the same school for years, but first days are always tough. His parents tried to help him settle his nerves in the morning and before he left Tony made him take an anti-anxiety pill so he could get through the day without any panic attacks – just in case and he didn’t protest.
As the day went on, it was getting easier for him and by the end of the day he was more relaxed and felt like he’d never left. Having Ned and MJ around of course helped with his nerves and thankfully they were in a lot of the same classes, even gym and lunch period!
He and MJ were taking it slow since neither of them had that much past relationship experiences and they were glad that they had that in common. They talked everyday after the adoption party and texted all the time and even went on a couple dates to dinner and a movie. They decided not to show any physical affection with each other during school because they felt uncomfortable since it was still so new to them both and didn’t need to be gawked at or talked about. When they were in school, they didn’t even hold hands or tell anyone but it was obvious they liked each other. Plus, as MJ put it, ‘it’s nobody’s business but their own.’
This year’s schedule was full of AP classes like they normally are but these were going to be more challenging because they taught them on a college level - with actually earning some college credits. He knew he had to keep his grade point average up in order to earn those precious credits he’ll need. It was going to be a tough year but hopefully worth it by graduation. Tony always told him he’d be proud of him no matter what as long as he was always trying his hardest but he still wanted to prove to him that he could get good grades and keep it up. He even secretly was hoping to be top of the class by the end of the year because he knows how happy that would make his parents.
Peter had high hopes this year that it was going to be his best year yet. He was more mentally stable than he’s been in a long time thanks to treatment and therapy. He has a family now, which will never replace May or Ben but he loves them just as much and he knows they love him. And he’s been patrolling again! Taking it slow at first, per Tony’s request but he was glad to be swinging around the city helping people again. It really gave him that extra self confidence that he needed and he missed it. It seemed like the city missed him as well from all the cheers he got whenever he was spotted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~xXx~~~~~~~~~~~~~
However, it didn’t take long for his life to turn upside down in a blink of an eye. He honestly couldn’t catch a break! It was only his fourth day back in school when everything turned to shit. He was standing at his locker before lunch gathering his books for the rest of the day and felt his Spidey sense go off but it only tingled a tiny bit which meant only one thing, Flash was near. He had somehow picked up a certain Spidey sense whenever he was close by. He didn’t think anything of it since he usually ignores him even when he’s being picked on but this time his senses were dialed up a bit warning him to duck. He managed to dodge Flash trying to grab a hold of him but then when he turned to face him, Flash took him by the shirt and dragged him into the nearest empty classroom and locked the door. And because he was only Peter and not Spider-Man right now, he had to let him.
“What the hell, Flash! What was that for?” Peter practically screamed at him after he got his balance back from being shoved hard. His senses were still warning him but he didn’t feel like he was in danger but something was definitely going on.
Flash just squinted his eyes at him and walked closer to him. “We need to have a little chat, Parker.” He said smugly poking his chest hard.
“Why in here if you just want to talk?” Peter asked fixing his wrinkled shirt from where Flash grabbed it.
He walked a bit closer to him which was making Peter uncomfortable. He had this look in his eye that spelled trouble. “Let’s just say I’m doing you a little favor by making sure nobody overhears our conversation.”
“What do you need to talk to me about that’s so private?” At this point, Peter was dumbfounded. He had no clue what this could be about at all. Now he was more curious than nervous. What business does Flash have to do with him where he doesn’t want a crowd’s attention like he usually does when he’s bullying him. He lives for that shit.
Flash crossed his arms over his chest and leaned up against the teacher’s desk, still with that smug look on his face. “Let’s just say I know a certain secret of yours that you don’t want anyone else to know.”
Oh my god, did he know Peter was Spider-man? Peter felt the color drain from his face and he started to panic a little but tried to play it cool by laughing it off with a nervous chuckle. “Secret? What secret? What are you even talking about?”
“Give it up Parker, I KNOW.” Flash threatened.
“Know what exactly? You need to be more specific because I have a lot of secrets.” Peter said trying to make him confused.
“I don’t know how you pulled it off. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around it since I found out but it still doesn’t make any sense to me. You? Of all people?” he said looking Peter up and down and shaking his head at him. “I don’t get it.”
“Flash, will you just tell me what you’re freaking talking about for crying out loud!” Peter shouted. He was starting to sweat and his insides were buzzing. There’s no way, how did he find out? He’s always so careful!
“Give up the act. I know Tony Stark adopted you. I don’t know how you know him or why he did it but I know and I also know that it’s a secret. I’m going to have a lot of fun with this!” Flash said rubbing his hands together.
Peter’s panic stayed the same but instead of panicking that he knew he was Spider-man, which was a relief he didn’t know, now he was freaking out because he knew Tony adopted him! But how on earth did he know that?
Peter tried to be flippant about it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re crazy and just making stuff up!” Peter protested and started walking towards the door until Flash grabbed him and pulled him back.
“Not so fast, Peter Parker Stark!” He said laughing an evil laugh. “You can’t deny it, I know and I’ve seen the records myself. I want to know how you pulled it off. How on earth did you get Tony Stark to adopt an orphan like you?” he said with disgust.
Peter sighed and gave in knowing he can’t deny it anymore but he was pissed that he somehow found out when the records were sealed. “I told you years ago that I was his intern and it’s not my fault you never believed me. That’s how I know him.” Which wasn’t a lie.
“Yea, I remember you wouldn’t shut up about it but I’m still trying to process why you though? What’s so special about you and why the hell would he adopt you? Didn’t you stop interning for him like sophomore year or something?” Flash still has that disgusted look on his face which is usually reserved for Peter.
“Look, while I was interning for him, we got to know each other and became friends and always stayed in touch. When he found out my aunt died, he made sure I had a place to stay and then he wanted to adopt me. Are you satisfied now? How the hell did you find out anyways, it’s a closed adoption!” Peter didn’t even want to tell him that much but he thought he had to give him something. He just wanted to get the hell away from him.
Flash looked at him and that same smug look on his face was back. “Let’s just say I know and leave it at that. It has to be some kind of charity case or publicity stunt, though. There’s no way Tony Stark, genius billionaire would want a scrappy pathetic loser like you. So, what aren’t you telling me? Why you?”
Wow, after all these years Flash was still jealous of him and this was eating him alive. Peter was kind of enjoying it though. “Flash, are you even listening to yourself? You’re contradicting everything you say. If I was a charity case or a PR stunt, wouldn’t he hold a press conference and announce that he adopted me?” He watched Flash’s face change from smug to seeing a light bulb go off. He knew Flash didn’t think about it that way and now felt a little stupid which only pissed him off.
Flash being Flash always had to be hurtful. “Then the only thing that makes sense is that he pitied you. There’s no way he did it because he wanted to or even likes you. He must have felt sorry for you, like really sorry.”
Peter wanted to shout back that Tony loved him but all he could do was shake his head. He hated it but now he was wondering the same thing, dammit! It was so easy for his negative voices to find their way back. Why did Tony and Pepper demand it be kept a secret? Were they ashamed of him? He was going to drive himself nuts with this and tried to shake those thoughts out of his head. “If you think you know Tony so well then you should also know he doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. Why do you care so much anyways if you hate me so much?”
Flash stood up and got in his face again. “I got you by the balls! You’re mine for the rest of the year!” he threatened.
Peter took a step back. “What are you talking about, I’m yours?” He wasn’t making sense but the look on his face gave him a chill down his spine.
Flash took out his phone and scrolled through his pictures and pulled up what appeared to be documents. Shit fucking hell. He had images of the actual adoption papers on his phone and he felt the color drain from his face even more.
“How the hell did you get those!” Peter shouted trying to keep his voice steady. He wanted to grab his phone and smash it with his bare hands!
Flash shrugged. “I’m not telling you. I got them and that all that matters. Proof.” He said waving the phone in his face. “Now, let’s talk. Since I have these priceless photos that Tony Stark doesn’t want the public to know about, I’m going to give you an opportunity to help yourself. That’s all I have to do is send these to the news stations and post on social media and the entire world will find out! Doesn’t it sound so easy to ruin your life? One press of a button…”
“Everyone signed NDA’s and when I find out who told you, my father will sue and ruin their life!” Peter was seeing red and he started clenching his fists until his fingernails dug into the palms of his hands. He was so angry but panicking at the same time but had to keep it together. He gave him a glare, “What do you want from me, Flash? Money?”
That made Flash laugh out loud. “Money? Seriously? My family is filthy rich, I don’t need money. What I want from you is anything I ask you do, you have to do it. At all times. If you don’t, then I post this to social media. And you actually call him your father? Jesus, you’re so delusional.” He was still laughing when he added, “Like I said, I have you by the balls Parker. You’re mine.”
Shit. Peter’s mind was spiraling. Do what exactly? He couldn’t just do anything! What kinds of things does he want him to do?! He felt sweat dripping down the side of his face into his hair and his heart was racing. He was a mess but hopefully he wasn’t showing it as much as he thinks he is.
“So you’re blackmailing me?”
Flash shrugged. “I guess you can call it that. I just know I have the upper hand and I’m going to love every second of making you miserable…unless you want me to leak this confidential information and have the entire world find out.”
Peter felt stuck and helpless, angry and rageful and didn’t know what to do! He had to go along with it because he didn’t want Flash to post those documents which he had no doubt in his mind he would. Nobody could know and Tony made that clear as day! He sighed and felt defeated because he really did have him by the balls or at least until he can figure a way out. “So what is it that you want from me?” Peter asked deflated. He was trying so hard not to cry.
“For starters, I want you to do all my homework, book reports, projects and anything else assigned to me. All of it. I already figured out a way for this to work. I’ll give you the combo to my locker and you’ll drop it off before school starts every morning when nobody is around. And you give me yours and I’ll give you all the homework assignments for the next day. But there’s a catch to this, you have to get me good grades or I post this shit. No fucking around and handing in garbage either!”
Peter’s eyes widened and his heart sunk. He was against cheating and this was the worst kind! Not to mention if he goes along with this he’ll never have a minute to himself with doing his schoolwork on top of Flash’s. “Flash, come on, don’t you think that’s a bit much? If you get caught you get expelled, are you willing to risk that? Plus, I won’t have time! They give us hours of homework every day as it is and I can’t do mine on top of yours!”
Flash just laughed it off. “First of all, if I get caught, we get caught so we are both going down and I know you wouldn’t let that happen. And second, time is not my problem, it’s yours now. So figure out.”
Just then they heard the bell ring and made them both jump. Shit, that was the end of lunch period and now he missed eating lunch! He didn’t have any food with him because he was getting a hot lunch from the cafeteria today and he’s going to be starving soon!
Peter didn’t want to but he pleaded with him. “Please, Flash. Don’t do this to me. Why do you have to be like this? Why are you always so mean to me?”
Flash gave him a shit eating grin and simply stated, “Because I can. And if you tell anyone about this, I will post this shit and that’s a promise.” And he walked out the door into the now crowded hallway.
Peter stayed back and couldn’t move. He was in disbelief. Why is it always him? He had one week where everything felt normal and he was actually happy and with one conversation Flash took that all away. He’s going to make his life miserable and he doesn't see a way out.
Everything that was said was all sinking in and he started feeling the panic attack coming on that he’s been holding off. It was getting hard for him to breathe and his entire body was buzzing with anxiety. His dad told him that if he were to get an attack in school to go straight to the nurse because she knows about his condition and he will get a free pass if he has to miss a class without any consequences.
He really didn’t want to but he felt it coming on strong and couldn’t stop it and didn’t want to make a scene so he bolted out of the room to head down the hall. As he was walking towards the nurse’s office with his head down, Ned and MJ passed him and tried to stop him. “Hey Peter, where were you during lunch? We couldn’t find you.” Ned asked.
MJ saw his expression and knew something was off. “Are you ok, Peter? Did something happen?” she asked worried.
Peter could barely talk let alone breathe but he managed to mumble out “S-sorry, c-can’t…” and continued walking leaving his friends behind looking worried for him. The only thing on his mind was get to the nurse, get to the nurse.
MJ was about to follow him but Ned held her back because he knew Peter was having a panic attack and needed to go to the nurse. He didn’t know how much she knew about Peter’s mental illnesses so he tried to keep it casual. “He’ll be ok, MJ. He does this sometimes. He’ll talk to us a little later.” He told her.
“But what’s wrong with him? I’ve never seen him like that.” She said concerned.
Ned was getting nervous and didn’t know what to say. “Trust me, he’ll be ok. He’s just going through something right now but he’ll talk to us when he feels better.”
MJ gave him a sympathetic look. “Ok, but I don’t like it. There’s definitely something wrong with him.”
The bell ran again and they were going to be late for their next class which was only a couple doors down and Ned was thankful he could stop talking about it. Both ended up sitting in class for the rest of the day worried about Peter.
Xx
Peter walked into the nurse’s office with a panic-stricken pale face and gasping for air. The nurse took one look at him and knew what was happening so she led him to a private room with a cot. She sat him down and was helping him through it which took a while but she got him to finally breathe normal again.
When Peter began to focus again, he was proud of himself for going to nurse. Actually, he was more amazed that he was in the right frame of mind to even go! He looked at the nurse that was bending down next to him asking him if he’s feeling better. That’s all he could do is nod for now. She got up and went to get him a cup of water.
“T-thank you.” He stuttered out while taking a hold of the cup. “I’m ok now.”
The nurse gave him a sympathetic smile while studying him to make sure he seemed okay. “Well, you have a few choices. It’s almost the end of the day so you can stay here until the last bell rings, or I can call someone to pick you up or you can go back to class.”
Peter knew he didn’t want her to call anyone because he didn’t want his parents to find out about this. He didn’t want to go back to class since there was only like 20 minutes left and didn’t want to face anyone. “C-can I stay here?”
“Of course you can, sweetie. Why don’t you lie down since you got so worked up. You can take a short nap since that most likely wore you out.”
Peter was glad that she knew how to treat someone with anxiety compared to the other nurse. She was new this year and was wondering if Tony had anything to do with hiring her since she seemed to understand what he was going through. That’s something he’ll have to ask him about later but for now, she was right. He was tired as hell.
“Thank you. That would be nice. I’m going to lay down for a bit. Can you wake me up before the last bell though?”
“Will do. I’ll shut the door to keep it quiet for you and turn off the light.” She said on her way out.
“Thanks again. I appreciate it.” And he did. She handled that so much better than the last nurse would have who obviously didn’t know a thing about mental illness or how to handle students going through something. That’s all she was good for was to put a bandage on a wound. He was thinking Tony must have hired her just for him and he didn’t know if he should be thankful or feel weird about that. Tony was very adamant on him going to the nurse if he ever had an attack and now he knows why. He laid down on the cot which wasn’t too comfortable but felt great on his tired body and it didn’t take long for his eyes to close.
Little did he know that Tony was called about his anxiety attack per school protocol so when he got home he was bombarded with questions and worry. He played it off like he didn’t know why he had one which could be true but he felt bad for lying about it. There was no way in hell he was going to tell him Flash was blackmailing him.