lucky
Ever since it was announced, Peter had practically been bouncing in his seat.
It was his last class of the day and he was completely zoned in, focused on the task at hand, when his phone buzzed with a breaking news alert; ‘Tony Stark to be presented with prestigious Person of the Year award’. He could hardly believe what he was reading. Finally, after everything that had happened with the Sakovia Accords and the battle in Berlin and not to mention Siberia (which Tony refused to discuss no matter how many times Peter asked him), Tony would at last be offered the kind of appreciation that he truly deserved. Peter’s excitement for this long awaited moment knew no bounds, threatening to burst out of him at any given moment. This was a well-deserved breath of fresh air to ward away the last few… difficult months.
Tony had been struggling since the Accords were signed. He did his very best to disguise that fact from Peter, but he was more intuitive than he was given credit for. While he may not have known what exactly had transpired in Siberia, it had clearly had a huge impact on Tony and Peter did his very best to provide a sense of comfort from that. He could understand why Mr Stark didn’t want him to know. It was like having an escape, someone totally unrelated to the reason he was suffering; Peter was more than happy to be that for him. That didn’t mean though, that he didn’t notice Tony’s long silences, his shaking hands, his periods of absence that were even more distant from Peter than he had typically been. Not knowing how to help him was admittedly difficult, even more so when he figured that Tony didn’t really want to be helped anyway, but Peter had faith that the world would reward him soon enough. Tony deserved a break and at long last, he was getting it.
So that was why, the second that the bell sounded signalling the end of the school day, Peter was shoving textbooks into his backpack and making a mad dash for the doors. He didn’t stop to say goodbye to Ned or Michelle, feeling a hint of guilt in the back of his mind but there were more important things at hand right now and he could make it up to them later. Rushing through the school halls, first one through the gates and then straight to his most reliable changing spot, Peter shuffled manically into his Spider-Man suit in record time before swinging his way through the city with one goal in mind. It was a strange feeling not to prolong his time as Spider-Man as much as possible like usual but right now, Peter was on his way to something that might make him even happier than his patrols.
Tony had probably won countless awards, but something about this one felt special to Peter. He could only hope that the feeling was shared. This was a long time coming after all, a way for the world to finally say ‘thank you’ to Mr Stark when he really needed it; no matter how hard he tried to pretend that he didn’t.
Finally arriving at the new Avengers Facility where Tony had taken up residence after the Accords and everything that followed, Peter was surprised to be allowed entry with no hassle at all. He was preparing for a battle of words that would doubtlessly only be over if he could convince Tony to come down and advise the security that he was permitted here. Peter had never been great with words. He guessed the Spidey suit must have been a friendly and well-recognised staple by now, directly associated with Stark. The thought made him glow with happiness. Peter Parker trusted and unsupervised in the Avengers Facility? Today just got better and better.
“Hey- hey! Who let you in here?” A familiar voice grumbled from behind him, just as Peter reached the upper levels where Tony’s quarters were located. He had thought he was in the clear, but Happy looked less than pleased to see him as he pulled off his mask, knowing it was safe to do so up here. Peter could only think to offer him a somewhat nervous grin.
“I came to see Mr Stark,” he said, dodging the question completely but it was still a response. No way was Peter being turned away now, this close to dishing out all the congratulations he had in him. Happy was carrying a fresh bottle of water that he pointed at Peter with as his expression turned undeniably serious.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he insisted. “Now really isn’t a good time, so go on, get going.” Happy was turning Peter around then, poking the water bottle into his back to push him back down the hall the way he came.
“But—“ Peter began to protest. He was digging his heels into the ground, looking over his shoulder with a lame pout as Happy shuffled him along. Peter just about caught sight of Tony’s door opening when his eyes lit up with glee.
“Kid?” Tony said, confused as he stepped out into the hallway and stared. It was then that Happy ceased his insistent pushing to get Peter out of here and bowed his head, letting out a long and frustrated sigh as his eyes closed slowly. He wouldn’t even turn to look at Tony. Peter couldn’t understand why until he turned to face his mentor for himself.
Bundled up in an off-white bath robe that looked about three sizes too big, nursing a half empty bottle of beer and sporting bags under his eyes that could have been building up for days, weeks or months, Tony looked more dishevelled and exhausted right now than Peter had ever seen him before. His cheeks were hued bright red and when he went to take a step towards them, Tony leaned and stumbled heavily into the wall, using it for support to stay standing. “Are you-“ he started to question, but cut himself off with a hiccup. Giving an angry shake of his head as though he could knock his mind back into working correctly, he started again. “What are you doing here? Need something?”
Peter was left absolutely dumb-founded by the sight of Tony for a moment, before he realised he had been asked a question that he could hardly remember the answer to anymore. “I, uh—the award. I came to… celebrate with you. I guess.”
Tony nodded then. He smiled, or maybe his mouth just twitched. Peter honestly couldn’t tell, because there was absolutely nothing in his eyes but a solemn kind of disappointment. Maybe guilt. “Of course you did,” Tony mumbled, so quietly it was almost said to himself. The words were fond and familiar. They could almost restore the squashed excitement Peter had harboured all the way here. “Well I’m sorry I started without you,” he raised his bottle and gave a little laugh. That actually did make Peter smile a bit. Tony was affording himself the luxury of a celebration and he couldn’t help but be glad for that. After having been plagued by nothing but misfortune for too long now, it made sense he might go a little overboard now that his good karma was finally starting to catch up with him again. Surely Tony deserved to indulge a little.
“Are you alright?” Peter asked with a real grin now.
“Peachy,” Tony hiccupped, and they both laughed. “’M a little tired, kid. You should go do your Spider thing. Give ‘em one from me.” It was a polite dismissal, but a dismissal nonetheless. Peter couldn’t bring himself to be too upset by that though, since there probably wouldn’t be much fun in him sticking around anyway while Tony was in this drunken state. It was odd and… a little uncomfortable to see him like that, but Peter made himself feel glad for it. He deserved a break, after all, and Peter had always stood by that. Despite all of that though, and even in this state, Tony still noticed that very slight hint of disappointment as it crossed Peter’s eyes. The man frowned, seemingly digging around in his foggy brain for something he could offer Peter as an apology. “You should come tomorrow. To the ceremony, I mean. Yeah.” And Peter could barely believe what he was hearing.
“Okay, lets’ go,” Happy cut in abruptly, moving over to Tony’s side and practically carrying him back into the room with how sluggish Tony’s attempts at walking were. Honestly, Peter had to find the funny side in all of this; here was his childhood hero so high on his celebrations he could barely even stand on his own.
It hardly mattered right now because had Tony really just offered Peter a place at his side while he accepted his award? Would he truly be present to witness such a moment? The next time that Peter remembered how to open his mouth and form words though, Happy was firmly closing the door behind himself and Tony, meaningfully locking Peter out.
That didn’t change what Mr Stark had said, though.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr Stark!” He yelled despite the door between the two of them, and Peter was sure he heard Happy sigh.
While it certainly wasn’t the way that Peter had expected his visit to the Avengers Facility to go, he could hardly complain. Mr Stark was enjoying himself, celebrating his own great achievement and Peter simply couldn’t be disappointed with that. It was what he had always wanted. Not only that, Peter had actually managed to win himself an invite to attend the award ceremony. It would be the opportunity of a lifetime to witness, in the flesh, Tony receiving the award that he deserved more than anyone else in the world. Attending any event alongside Tony Stark, who Peter had idolised and admired for so long now, was bound to be an experience like no other. Though he wouldn’t admit it, Peter was pretty glad to see that Tony was getting his celebrations done now too. Hopefully that meant he wouldn’t allow the drink to go to his head too much tomorrow night.
He made his way back home without allowing himself to think more deeply than that into the situation, worried what his brain might conjure up and not ready to think about the implications of it.
---
When Peter opened the front door, he was greeted by an absolutely glorious smell coming from the kitchen. It was rare that May’s cooking experiments actually worked out in her favour, and even rarer these days that she was ever home from work early enough for Peter to see her, so today must have been an incredibly lucky one. After changing into some pyjamas in his bedroom, Peter sock-slid into the kitchen and was pulled into a tight hug immediately. He laughed, wrapping his arms excitedly around May in return.
“Guess what,” the two of them exclaimed in unison.
“You first,” Peter insisted.
With dramatic pause, May nodded. She made her way over to the oven, pulled on her bright yellow oven gloves and opened it up. From inside, she pulled a tray that carried a huge and perfectly risen pie which she beamed at with absolute glee. Sure it was a little messy around the edges, but it wasn’t completely blackened and that was an entire success on its own worth celebrating for. “Home-made, unburnt chicken pot pie!” May set the tray down on the counter and threw the oven gloves aside as Peter cheered her. She flicked her hair over her should and took an over the top bow. “I’d like to thank my nephew,” she began. “For coming home in time to share this achievement with me.”
Peter laughed at her performance, leaning over the counter to get a closer look at his aunt’s culinary skills. “Funny you should mention achievements,” he mumbled, to which May gave a little laugh and whacked him playfully with a tea towel.
“Your ‘big news’ better not be that Tony won an award,” she teasingly chastised him. “I want to hear something about you, mister.”
“This is something about me,” Peter insisted. “I went to see Mr Stark and he invited me to the awards ceremony tomorrow night.”
May clapped her hand to her face in delighted surprise. “You’re serious?!” She squealed and Peter nodded, mirroring her beaming grin. “Well, we need to find you a suit and a tie, “ she started to ramble excitedly, heading for the bedroom to dig through the closets, presumably for some of Ben’s old clothes in the hopes something might fit Peter by now.
“May!” He called after her, laughing as she turned to face him. “Dinner?”
---
“You got off lucky.”
Tony sure as hell didn’t feel lucky. Happy’s voice echoed in an abhorrently loud manner, reverberating off of the bathroom walls and attacking Tony’s dulled senses. It was completely unnecessary for him to loom over Tony in the doorway like that, but it was like Happy insisted on being here whenever he was at his absolute lowest point and would frankly much rather be alone. Right now, that meant collapsed on the bathroom floor, leaning against the wall beside the toilet with his body practically folded in half. Tony had completely emptied his guts by now but moving was not an option. The room spun out of control any time he so much as twitched his head. This was his chosen bed for the night and Happy would let him sleep in it, god damn it.
“You thought of a good enough cover up this time, Tony, but the next time the kid sees you like that what are you gonna say then? Can’t carry on like this…” he was angry, but above all us, Happy’s tone was wracked with a deep and genuine concern. It was hard to care about that right now though.
“Please,” Tony said, voice thick and too loud in his own head. “Please stop talking.”
Happy frowned. “When’s it gonna stop, Tony?”
There he went again, asking questions without answers. By then though, Tony had already blacked out for the night.