It's been a long day...
"Yo Penis!"
Peter sighs. "Go away Flash." Flash walks up to him with a smirk on his face.
"Where are you going Penis? To the Tower? To do your "Internship"?" Flash asks with a sneer.
"Yup. It's Friday and that's what I do on Fridays. Leave me alone." Peter says walking past him and out the doors.
Flash runs in front of Peter and shoves him.
"I don't believe it for a second. You're full of crap. Tony Stark would never care about a worthless piece of lying shit like you." Flash says, shoving Peter again.
Peter stumbles back and glares. "I don't give a shit about what you think, Flash. Get out of my way."
"What the hell did you say to me?" Flash asks incredulously.
"I said, Get. Out. Of. My. Way." Peter enunciates slowly. He was not in the mood to deal with Flash right now.
"You piece of shit. You'll regret that." Flash growls as he rears his fist back as far as he can.
Peter sees the fist coming, almost in slow-motion. He lets it come. Old Peter couldn't dodge Flash so that means Peter can't do it now. Peter is blown backward and tumbles down the concrete stairs, cracking his head on the sidewalk. Peter tries to get up but collapses back down. He reaches up to touch his forehead, to find a deep gash where he cracked it against the concrete. Ouch. That hurts.
"Oh Geez. Pete?" someone says, running over to him. Peter faintly sees someone in front of him but he can't tell who it is.
Peter feels hands on his shoulders for a moment before the figure rises up again.
"What the hell did you do to my kid?"
"Hey FRI? When does Pete's school end again?" Tony asks his AI.
"Midtown High closes at 2:50 PM boss."
"Can you text Happy that I'll pick up the kid today? I feel like going for a drive."
"Sure boss."
To be honest, Tony just wanted to see the kid earlier. He has been having a crappy day, full of boring meetings and stupid clients. The kid always made Tony feel better and Tony loves their Friday lab days. The man loved Peter, though he would never admit it to the kid.
Tony grabs the keys to his favorite Audi and hits the road.
Tony stops in front of the school. He sees Pete talking with another boy near the stairs. Tony smiles and looks down at his phone to text the kid to turn around. Suddenly, he sees a flash of movement. The next thing Tony knows, Peter is on the ground at the bottom of the stairs with the other boy laughing above him. Tony throws open his car door and slams it shut, racing toward Peter.
"Oh Geez. Pete?" he asks, kneeling at the kid's side. Peter just looks at him with glazed eyes. Tony stands up abruptly.
"What the hell did you do to my kid?" Tony growls.
"Umm s-sorry s-sir. I-It was an a-accident." Flash stutters, looking at Tony like a deer in headlights.
"Accident my ass. What's your name?"
"F-Flash Thompson s-sir."
"You're lucky you're a kid and I can't beat the shit out of you. If you ever touch him again I will personally make sure there isn't a college worth it's shit that will take you. You understand?." Tony glares. Flash nods quickly.
"Get the hell out of here." Tony growls. Flash bolts off into the parking lot as Tony kneels down next to Peter.
"Pete? Can you hear me?"
"Yeah. Sorry." Peter says, getting up and putting a hand on his forehead.
"You alright kid? That's a nasty cut you've got there." Tony says, his voice anxious.
"I'm fine. W-what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to pick you up. Low and behold, I find you bleeding out on the sidewalk. Who the hell was that punk kid?" Tony asks, handing his kid his handkerchief to stench the blood.
"It's not a big deal. Just an annoying bully. I'll be fine." Peter tells him.
"We'll fix you up in the MedBay. But we are not done talking about this mister." Tony says, glancing at the teen.
"I'm fine! Honest!"
"Sure kid. Whatever you need to tell yourself."
"There is no brain trauma. The cut will heal in an hour or two." Helen says, patting Peter's shoulder.
"Great. Thanks, Helen." Tony says with a smile. Helen nods and walks out of the room.
"Want to go up to the lab kid?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
"Ok. You want to tell me what's up?" Tony asks.
"No."
"It wasn't a choice kid."
"It's fine Mr. Stark. It's not a big deal." Peter says, getting frustrated.
"How long has he been bothering you? Were you lying to me all those times when you told me you fell?"
"I'm sorry ok? It's really not a big deal." Peter says with a huff. Tony sighs.
"Why didn't you tell me kid?" Tony asks, his tone sharp. Finally, Peter exploded.
"Because I didn't want you to think I'm weak! I'm Spiderman! I can handle a stupid bully!" Peter yells.
"I know you can. But that doesn't explain why you didn't tell me!" Tony says, raising his voice. Did the kid know he cared? Did Peter not trust him?
"Despite what you might think, I don't need you!" Peter yells.
Silence.
Peter freezes. He screwed up.
I don't need you.
Tony looks at his...the kid with wide eyes. Peter is looking at Tony with the same expression. Tony feels stabbed in the gut. This was worse than flying that nuke into the wormhole. It was worse than his friend leaving his shield in the middle of Tony's chest. He didn't matter to one of the 3 people he would do anything for. He would die for.
Tony clears his throat and looks down.
"That's fair." he says, his voice low.
Fix this Peter. Fix this right now.
"That's fair."
His mentor's quiet voice fills the room.
Fix this Peter. Fix this, you idiot.
Tony turns back to his project not giving Peter a glance. Peter sees his hands shaking. It's blatantly obvious because the genius's hands never shake. Never, not once. But they were shaking now.
Peter gathers up his courage and tries to speak. It comes out as a sob.
"Mr. Stark." Peter croaks.
Tony looks up, his eyes empty of emotion.
"I-I'm," Peter can't contain it anymore. Big, fat tears roll down his cheeks. Tony sighs and stands up. His kid needs him. So he will be there. Whether he means anything to Peter or not, Tony will always be there for the kid.
Tony hauls his sobbing kid up and leads him to the couch. Tony sits down first and hesitates for a moment. Then, holds out his arms inviting Peter in. Peter curls into Tony's side and just cries.
"Kiddo…" Tony trails off.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Mr. Stark."
"It's ok Peter. I'm not mad. It's fine."
"It-It's not ok. I'm a horrible p-person." Peter sniffles.
"Peter. Look at me." Tony says, voice kind. Peter looks up with red, puffy eyes. It makes Tony's heart shatter into dust.
"You are not a horrible person." Tony says, placing a hand on Peter's head.
"I-I hurt you. You are everything to me a-and I hurt y-you." Peter sobs.
Tony's heart leaps.
"Pete. You're everything to me too. I'm not going to hate you because you had a bad day kid."
"You were just trying to help a-and I yelled at you a-and said that. I-I'm so, so sorry." Peter whispers.
"Everyone has bad days kid. It's a fact of life. You just have to trust me enough to tell me about them so this doesn't happen." Tony pauses.
New tears spring to Peter's eyes.
"Well. I'm going to pull out the big guns now kiddo. I love you, Pete. And you need to know that I care about you. Whatever you need to tell me, whether it's girls, or bullies, or heck you didn't like the school's lunch and you need me to sue them, I'm all ears. You got that kiddo?" Tony says gently.
Peter closes his eyes, nods, and curls more into Tony's side.
"I love you too dad." Peter mumbles. Tony was glad that Peter had his eyes closed. He would never live it down if Peter saw the huge, shiny grin on his face.
Peter starts to snore softly.
"God. You're going to be the death of me, kiddo." Tony says, fondly pressing a kiss on Peter's forehead.