Chapter 10
Peter knew he would have to meet with Tony again eventually. He couldn’t keep pushing him off forever, Tony probably would just show up to take him somewhere if he kept making excuses to not see him. He knew he had to meet him soon, so Peter had asked John that morning if he could go to the tower that night. He knew John didn’t like last minute plans, but Peter knew Tony was going away for New Years and he would want to see Peter before then. John had said yes and spoke in a tone that expressed he didn’t care at all. Peter was so relieved he almost fell over from the feeling.
Peter steps into the apartment and sees John already sitting on the couch. “Hey, I’m gonna get ready to go,” Peter calls out to him.
“Go where?” John asks in confusion.
“To the tower,” Peter replies, equally confused.
“Why didn’t you ask me first? You can’t just go wherever you want whenever you want Peter.”
“I did ask you. You said I could go.”
“Why are you lying? I never said that,” John’s voice raises to a yell, Peter’s ears hurt.
“I’m not lying, you said I could go this morning,” Peter replies, his voice stronger than it normally is when he responds to John. John stands from his seat and walks over to Peter.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on in your head Peter, but you can’t just lie straight to my face and expect me to be okay with it.”
“I’m not-”
“I can’t believe you. Are you really going to try to keep up with this? I know you’re lying Peter. It’s over. Don’t try to trick me and manipulate me with your mind games. I never said that you could go see Tony and I can’t believe that you would even try to lie to me like this. I don’t want to have to wait up for you so I can let you in when you decide to come home.”
Peter had lost his key last week and John said they would get a replacement one later, but they still haven’t gone to get a copy.
“You wouldn’t even have to wait for me, May will be home and she doesn’t mind having to let me in,” Peter feels helpless. He knows John said he could go, and he doesn’t know why John is trying to convince Peter he didn’t. Why does John care so much? Why can’t one thing in Peter’s life be simple?
“How disrespectful can you get Peter? I thought that you couldn’t get any worse, but now you talk to me like this? I am not going to let you in if you decide to go out and I will make sure May knows how you’ve acted and I’ll make sure she won’t let you in. You can’t go out. If you do you’ll have no way back home.”
Peter starts crying, but John doesn’t care, he just strides down the hall into his and May’s bedroom and slams the door behind him. Peter stands in the hallway for a moment before he goes into his room and flops onto his bed. He cries into his pillow and just feels so helpless. There’s nothing he can do.
He told Tony he would meet him at the tower so he could get a chance to swing there and said he would come over right after school. He had to stop at his apartment first because he forgot to put the suit in his backpack after patrolling last night, but he wishes he didn’t come back at all now. Tony will probably start wondering where he is soon if he hasn’t already. Peter cries for twenty minutes before he slowly sits up. The tears stop flowing but his face is red and blotchy. He just sits and thinks for a moment. He still wants to see Tony, even though he knows John won’t let him. It only takes about a minute before he decides to go anyway. He opens his door and goes to the front door. He doesn’t think he can swing now, he just feels tired. He stands in front of the front door and pauses, staring at the paint. He doesn’t want to make John even angrier when he comes out Peter is just gone. But Peter wants to go. He stands there for a few minutes, debating on whether or not to just walk there when he hears a door open. John steps out into the hallway and sees Peter standing at the door.
“You can go Peter. I’ll open the door for you when you get back,” John says softly to Peter’s back. Peter isn’t expecting that and turns around to face him. As he turns he sees his face in the hallway mirror and cringes. He can’t show up at Tony’s looking like this.
“Okay,” Peter replies. He’s angry at John still, but doesn’t have enough energy to say more. He’s just tired.
“What time do you think you’ll be home?” Peter wants to stay as late as possible, wants to spend as much time with Tony while he has the opportunity, but doesn’t want to push it.
“I was thinking around 7? Cause it takes time to travel there and back and that gives a good amount of time…” Peter trails off as John’s mouth forms a thin line.
“I want you home for dinner okay? I don’t want you out all day, you should spend some time with me and May.”
“Okay, I’ll be home by 5:30,” Peter doesn’t say that he hasn’t gone anywhere in weeks, has been home every second except for school, so he should get to stay out a little longer since he never leaves the apartment, but he keeps his mouth shut. Why does John want him home early the one time he goes out? John nods and goes into the living room. Peter goes into the kitchen to grab an ice pack from the freezer. He needs his face to not be so red. He presses it firmly against his eyes and cheeks for about 10 minutes. He checks in the mirror and sees that the redness has gone down almost completely, and will probably be fully gone by the time he reaches the tower. He wipes the wetness from the ice pack off on his shirt and goes out the door, not saying anything to John and John not saying anything to him.
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When he arrives at the tower Tony looks him over. “What took you so long? I thought you would be here like an hour ago.” Tony looks concerned, “I tried calling you and your phone just went to voicemail.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I always keep it on do not disturb while I’m at school and I usually forget to turn it off. And sorry I’m so late, in gym today we did these crazy arm workouts and I was too tired to swing over so I just took the subway,” Peter responds. He’s banking on Tony knowing nothing about how long it takes to go somewhere on the subway, he always drives himself or gets Happy to drive him anywhere.
“No worries Pete, but next time let me know, I was starting to think you had died or something,” Tony chuckles, but Peter can see in his eyes that he really was worried. “And how many times do I have to tell you, I can have Happy pick you up no problem, he doesn’t mind.”
“I know, I know,” Peter responds. They fall into a conversation about their days and Peter never stops feeling worried. He keeps looking at the clock to make sure he isn’t going to be late. He wishes Tony didn’t stop questioning him. He wishes Tony kept asking questions and Peter told the truth. He knows it’s stupid because he can’t expect Tony to be a mind reader and he knows if he wants Tony to know something’s wrong he should just tell him, but he can’t help but feel let down. He feels stupid for even thinking like this because there isn’t even really anything wrong in his life. John isn’t some monster and things aren’t even that bad. What would Tony even do? It’s not like John hits him or anything. He just yells. It’s literally nothing to complain about. Peter never gets hurt, and John never does anything. There isn’t even anything for Peter to tell Tony. He knows all this, but he still wants Tony to know. Maybe he shouldn’t have put the ice pack on his eyes. Maybe he should have let Tony see that he was bawling his eyes out not even half an hour before. But maybe he still would have come up with a lie and Tony still would have believed it. Maybe he should have told him that he was late because John said he wasn’t going to let him back into the apartment if he left. But John won’t do that. John is going to let him in, and Peter keeps his mouth closed.
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He knocks on the door at 5:14 and John lets him in. He only spent an hour with Tony.