Peter tapped on Harley’s door gently, unable to stop himself. The door opened automatically. Harley was sprawled on his bed with the covers strewn about. Peter just stared for a moment.
“Pete, come on.” Harley groaned. He lifted one arm, gesturing to Peter. Peter immediately crawled up the bed, snuggling into Harley.
“Thank you,” Peter murmured.
“Anything for you doll. How was Pepper?” Harley asked.
“I accidentally called her mom.” Peter said.
“You call her mom all the time.” Harley chuckled.
“No, like for real. It wasn’t a joke. And I’m heavily conflicted and yeah.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Peter just shook his head.
“No, I have a therapy appointment tomorrow. But, I really want to thank you for offering. I also want to make sure that I'm not moving to fast for you okay? I’m really just running on instinct right now, so tell me if I’m about to cross a line okay?” Peter’s voice was incredibly soft and vulnerable.
“Don’t worry darlin’, I’ll let you know. Go to sleep Peter. You’ll need all the rest you can to face school tomorrow.” Harley chuckled. Peter groaned, but did as he was told, letting his eyes drift.
“Peter, it is time to wake up for school.” FRIDAY’s voice cut through Peter’s sleep. Peter groaned and tried to snuggle deeper into Harley.
“Sweetheart. I fully appreciate you sleeping, but you have to go to school.” Peter groaned at the sound of Harley’s thick accent.
“You’re terrible. Fine. I’m going. FRI what time is it?” Peter rolled out of the bed.
“6:30.” Peter gently pressed his lips to Harley’s temple before leaving the room. When he got to his own room, he threw on whatever clean clothes he could find. He’d have to do laundry soon. He slapped his watch on and grabbed his phone.
Pepper was drinking coffee and reading emails on her StarkPad. Steve and Bucky were also drinking coffee, but they were also munching on waffles. Pepper grinned when he walked into the room. She lifts her arm and he gives her a gentle hug.
“Morning, did you sleep well, honey?” She asked. Peter poured himself a cup of coffee (decaf for the caffeine) and nodded.
“Pete, there's waffles in the oven.” Steve said. Peter bounced happily and opened the oven. He loaded a plate with hot waffles and slipped into a stool next to Pepper.
“Okay, so there are going to be some ground rules.” Pepper said, putting her mug down. Peter immediately flushed with embarrassment.
“Oh my god, Pep.” He squealed.
“I’m just saying. Peter, I wholly appreciate you sleeping through the night. More than anything, but I will be talking to Dr. Avery. We will be having some protocols in place.”
“Mom!” Peter dropped his head on the counter. Pepper smiled softly. Steve and Bucky were just watching the interaction fondly. “Okay. I have an appointment after school today. I will talk to Dr. Avery. But, can we please, for the love of god, make Nat the protocol handler.” Peter gripped his hair. Pepper eyed him cautiously.
“I think I'll agree to that. I know Nat will look out for what’s best, while also watching out for your feelings.” Peter sighed in relief. “Are you coming right home after your appointment?” Peter shook his head.
“I’m going to patrol, then stop by the apartment. I’m running out of clothes. Wanda is going to meet me there so we can go shopping.” Peter explained.
“Leather pants?” Bucky asked.
“For her. I don’t know about me yet.” Bucky just nodded.
“Okay, finish your breakfast. You’re going to be late for school.” Pepper scolded. Peter started shoving the waffles into his mouth. “Happy is going to meet you at the building entrance.” Peter put his dish in the dishwasher before giving Pepper a kiss on the cheek.
“Bye mom,” he waved to Steve and Bucky before sprinting to his room.
“So, mom?” Bucky asked when Peter had left.
“I finally talked May into it.” Pepper winked. “Don’t say anything though. He doesn’t know.” Bucky just smiled at her.
Peter sprinted through the lobby. The usual people stepped out of his way with ease. They all smiled as he passed. The Starks sunshine child was late again, and boy, Happy looked annoyed. Peter launched himself into the car.
“Sorry Happy! I got caught talking with Mo- Pep.” He corrected himself quickly. Happy raised an eyebrow.
“It’s… fine. Let’s just make sure you get to school on time.” Happy listened to Peter ramble about the weekend.
“And then Harley gave MJ 100 bucks for the bet.” Peter was saying as they pulled up.
“So the field trip went alright? I did get a security call for violence, but Tony said he had it handled.” Happy turned around to stare at Peter, who shrugged.
“It went okay. I’m pretty nervous about how today is going to go, but we’ll see.” They sat in silence for a minute. “Thank you for the drive Happy. Hopefully I can convince Pepper to let me come to school on my own soon. Wanda is picking me up today, too.” Peter hopped out of the car.
“Peter,” Happy called. Peter stuck his head back in. “It’s no problem. Have a good day at school, kid.” Peter smiled and shut the door. When he turned, he took a deep breath and headed for the school. MJ was sitting on the steps with her nose in a book. Peter saw Sally and Betty staring at him from the other side of the courtyard, but he resolutely ignored them. When he reached MJ, he plopped down next to her with ease.
“Hey loser,” she greeted. Peter nudged her side.
“Whats up?”
“I’m glad to see the black bits under your eyes are kind of grey.” MJ smirked. Peter chuckled.
“Yeah me too.”
“Harley?”
“Yeah. I don’t know why. I’m going to ask Dr.Avery about it. But he just calms me down. My super senses relax.” Peter smiled at his clasped hands.
“Really? Are you going to run tests? That sounds like a freaky science thing.” MJ said. Peter mulled it over.
“Nah, I think I'll just be happy with it for now.”
“Ready for the chaos?” MJ smirked.
“Not even a little bit, but with my CFO, I can do anything.” Peter jumped up as MJ swiped at him.
“Well, maybe if my CEO wasn’t such a monumental disaster, I wouldn't have to clean up your mess.” MJ swaggered into the building, Peter right next to her, a big grin on his face. “But, I know I’ll have Ned to help wrangle you two idiots at least.” Peter glared at her in mock hurt.
“Well, our head of Research and Development will always choose my side. Obviously.” MJ shook her head. “Also, that hasn’t been decided. I could easily be COO.” MJ just stared at him.
“I met Harley twice. You’re the CEO. He’s your COO. And we can ask Ned when we see him. Speaking of. How is the country love?” Peter launched into the story of Tony walking in on them making out. MJ sat next to him in homeroom, continuing to listen. Peter stuttered over his words when he realized no one else was talking. They both looked up to find the class staring at them.
“Is there a problem?” MJ raised a menacing eyebrow. No one said anything, but they turned away from them. “Continue. You were at the part where Tony was screaming.” Peter blinked and launched back into his story. Ned sat down in front of them just as Peter was saying that Nat and Wanda had won the bet. MJ smirked at him.
“See Ned. Everyone bet on them.” Ned just chuckled.
“Hey, i was just looking out for Pete!”
“This is why Neds my favorite. And proof that he’ll always be on my side.” Peter smiled at his best friend. Ned grinned. Betty and Sally sat at the table to their left.
“Ned, as head of research and development, you have to listen to the CFO over the CEO. I am in charge of all your funds.” MJ stated. Ned’s jaw dropped.
“Oh my god, did you guys just offer me a career?” Peter rolled his eyes.
“Dude, did you really believe we wouldn’t make you work for us? Let alone Tony? He already has you flagged in the system, after you did that one thing.” Peter’s eyes flicked around, noting who was eavesdropping. Ned blanched in surprise. He didn’t know that Mr. Stark knew about that. He shook his head and smiled, focusing on their previous conversation.
“Okay, so Mr. Stark found out?” Ned asked.
“Yeah, it was bad. Hilarious, but yikes. I don’t even want to know what Tony and Harley talked about in the lab.” Peter grinned. Ned shook his head.
“How is this your life dude?” Peter shrugged.
“This morning Pep and I had a discussion where we have to create boundaries. As is like parental rules for me and Harles.” Peter shook his head as MJ smirked.
“Baby Monitor protocol 2.0.” Ned said. Peter groaned. They both looked up when they noticed someone standing next to their table. Flash had his arms crossed and was shuffling awkwardly. Peter’s eyes flicked around, noticing that everyone was subtly watching them.
“What do you want Flash?” MJ scowled.
“I wanted to… apologize.” Flash reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. Peter stood up from his seat. Flash stumbled back a step.
“You want to apologize?” Peter crossed his arms and leaned against the table. “For?” Flash’s eyes flicked from Peter, MJ, Ned, and back to Peter.
“For being a jerk. It wasn’t cool and I’m sorry.” Flash mumbled. Peter raised an eyebrow.
“Are you just apologizing because I call Natasha Romanov mom?” Flash’s eyes bugged. Sally and Betty whipped around to stare at each other.
“Oh my god, that’s what you called her?” Flash squeaked. Peter nodded slowly. “No, that’s not why I'm apologizing. Although, holy crap. It was a shitty thing to call you names and spread those rumors. So, yeah.” Peter gave him an appraising eye before nodding.
“Okay. Apology accepted.” Peter turned away and slipped back into his seat next to MJ. Flash just gaped at them. “Did you need something else?”
“Why do you call the Black Widow mom?” Flash half whispered.
“That is none of your business.” Peter said sternly. Flash sputtered but turned away to go to his seat.
“Peter Parker.” MJ said, putting her book down fully. Peter’s eyes flicked to Ned in fear. “I’m proud of what just happened.” Peter’s face lit up.
“Oh MJ.” He nudged her side.
“Holy crap dude!” Ned was vibrating with energy.
“Class, let’s begin.” Mr.Dell called.
The rest of the school day went by quickly. Peter kept his senses sharp, waiting for Flash to go back on his apology, but he never did. In his last class of the day, he knew the tension was coming to a head. This was the class that had gone on the field trip. Mr.Harrington tried not to openly stare at him as he took his seat. There was still a couple minutes left until class started when MJ stormed in. Betty and Sally right on her heels. Peter groaned.
“MJ, we just want to know how you came into contact with SI. I mean you aren’t even out of high school and you’re going to be named CFO?” Sally asked. “What kind of opportunities did you find that i couldn’t. Was there an internship I missed?” MJ slammed her bag on the table next to Peter. Mr.Harrington jumped up.
“Sally, if MJ does not want to talk about it, I suggest you leave her alone.” He called. MJ whipped around to glare at him.
“What, Tony Stark scare a backbone into you?” MJ half growled. She turned back to Sally. “The internship was making sure that Peter Parker didn’t accidentally fucking kill himself because he fell down the fucking stairs. It’s being able to do the job, and be trusted by the people that the Starks want to leave their company to. It involved being Peter Parker’s friend with no ulterior motive. That was the fucking opportunity.” MJ slammed herself down in her chair. Peter templed his fingers.
“Michelle Jones. I’m proud of what just happened.” MJ glared at him, but rolled her eyes fondly.
“Shut up, loser.” She kept on an angry air, but Peter saw her lips twitch.
“Okay, so, yesterday, we had a bit of a crazy field trip. However, we will be moving on from it. Peter, please let me know if anyone bothers you.” Mr. Harrington said. Peter sighed and stood up. He pulled himself onto his desk and stared around the room. Ned walked into the room and paused. The class was staring at Peter with anticipation, even MJ looked curious.
“Ned, could you close the door. It seems that everyone is here.” Peter said.
“Peter,” Mr.Harrington started. Peter held up a hand and waited for Ned to close the door.
“Okay, so I know the past few days were very confusing, so I will answer questions you guys have. Provided I’m comfortable with them.” Sally’s hand shot up. “However! After this, I won’t be answering any more, so use your time wisely.” Peter grinned wickedly. He gestured to Sally.
“Why do you call Ms. Romanov mom?” She half yelled. Peter laughed.
“Okay, so the first time I met Natasha I was incredibly nervous, as you can imagine. It was at some gala or party that Mr.Stark threw, so i was wearing a suit that cost more than my life, and I was completely out of my element. Mr.Stark and Pepper were making small talk with some business person, so I was on my own, until Nat came up to me. I knew who she was obviously, and I absolutely panicked. I called her Ms. Natalia Widow Romanov. She knew who I was, because she’s Black Widow, and for the rest of the night, we hung out.” Peter shrugged. “She asked me to call her mamma spider, in Russian of course, and it stuck.” The class was gaping.
“You just, hung out with Natasha Romanov?” Sally squeaked. “Wait, Natalia?” Peter nodded.
“That’s her given name.” He held up a finger. “Not a word about that. We had fun, though. We ended up sneaking away to see a movie. Gave Mr.Stark a freaking heart attack.” Peter snorted. Seymour raised his hand.
“Why do you call him Mr.Stark? You guys have a father son relationship going on.”
“Okay, he’s been trying to get me to call him Tony from the minute I met him, and I'm totally cool with it now. I mean, you guys heard the story yesterday. When you walk in on your mentor hanging from a chandelier, the pedestal kind of crumbles. However, based on the type of relationship we do have, every time I call him ‘Mr.Stark’ a little vein in his forehead pops.” Peter snickered. MJ snorted.
“Really? That's why?” She asked. Peter shrugged.
“How did you learn so many languages?” Betty asked.
“I’ve been trilingual for years.” Peter shrugged. “May and I spoke Italian at home since I was a kid, and Tony speaks it too. I’ve been taking Spanish since middle school. You know who taught me Russian. Clint is deaf, so we all learned ASL, and Steve doesn’t like being left out, so he’s been teaching me Gaelic, which is his first language.”
“Wait, Captain America’s first language isn’t English?” Flash asked. “Why the hell don’t people know that?” He cried. Peter rolled his eyes.
“Because the media sucks. Steve Rogers is a raging bisexual whose mom was an Irish immigrant. If you ask the media, the Avengers are a white heterosexual team that is extremely conservative.” Peter’s eyes had narrowed in anger, surprising the class. “We’ve been trying to make our own media reports, but with idiotic papers, like the Daily Bugle, it’s ridiculously hard. The Avengers would be so much more loved by the world is you guys actually knew them.”
“Steve Rogers is bi?” Seymour asked, a hopeful smile on his face. Peter grinned.
“So is Natasha and Spider-Man. Thor is pan, and Tony is too! His playboy days were not only women. Bucky is gay. Shuri is a lesbian. Loki is genderfluid! Steve and Bucky have been in a god damn relationship since they were teenagers for gods sake!” Peter had jumped off the table and was pacing now. “And that’s just their sexualities and genders! I mean, Clint’s deaf. Bucky doesn’t have an arm. They all suffer from-” Peter stops, making a small ‘oh’ noise. “Oh I just had a wonderful idea.”
“Peter.” Ned whispered. Peter whipped back around and faced the class.
“Sorry, I got a bit carried away.” He grinned sheepishly.
“I think you mean protective.” MJ snorted. Peter slid back onto the desk. The class, including Mr.Harrington, were hanging off his every word.
“Who’s next?” Cindy raised her hand.
“You and the other intern, Harley right?” Peter nodded. “You guys coded an entire AI in two hours. How? I mean, like Peter, that’s absolutely genius. How are you still in class with us? You should be at MIT or Harvard by now.” Peter ducked his head. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Oh well, I’ve coded an AI before, with Tony’s help, so I had the understanding of what I needed to do. Harley, is a genius,” Peter blushed. The class made cooing noises. “So, between the two of us, we totally had it down. And we work well together. Plus we had amazing incentive!” Peter grinned. The class nodded in agreement.
“What are you guys going to do with the suits?” Abe asked. Peter smirked.
“I have some ideas, and I know for a fact that Harley does too. But I can’t say anything more than that.”
“Are you guys dating?” Betty asked with a grin. Peter blushed.
“Yes.” Ned made cooing noises. Peter gave his best friend a soft smile.
“When did you meet?” Cindy asked.
“Monday.” Jaws dropped.
“Oh, don’t judge me.” Peter smirked.
“Especially because they’re living together.” MJ smirked as the class muttered to each other. Peter glared at her.
“Next question.”
“Who, besides Mr.Stark and Natasha, are you closest too?” Flash asked quietly. Peter mulled the question over.
“I mean, I’m close to all of them. Of the Avengers? Wanda. She’s like my sister at this point. We have a shopping date after school today, which will be fun. Of the entire bunch, Pepper of course. She’s my mom.” Peter smiled to himself.
“Can, uh, can I ask about Ms. Maximoff’s powers?” Mr.Harrington raised his hand slowly. “It’s very fascinating.” Peter shook his head.
“That’s. That’s not something we really talk about.” Peter said. Mr.Harrington shrank back. “Anyone else?” Silence. “Speak now or forever hold your piece.”
“Why do you guys have ‘family’ day?” Betty asked.
“Well, after Nat and I clicked, she started training me in self defense. After Wanda got there, we pulled her into our little group. She was lost, like us. Then Bucky showed up. He and Nat were close back in the day, so it was easy for him to slot into our little family. Plus we all spoke Russian by then. We all train together at least once a week.”
“So, you guys are lost?” Betty asked.
“Not anymore, but yes. We all lost the most important people in our lives, and we found comfort in building our own little support system.” Peter shrugged. He ignored the looks of pity. He turned to Mr.Harrington.
“That, and they’re all willing to stab a bitch if necessary.” MJ snorted. Peter glared at her, but Ned nodded in agreement.
“Can I ask another question?” Mr.Harrington asked meekly. Peter nodded. “Is is true that Mr.Stark is working on nanotechnology?”
“Oh yeah, it’s fascinating! We’ve been trying to integrate it into the clean energy initiative that SI has been doing. Tony and I are looking at nano arc reactors, but we haven’t made that much progress yet.” Peter grinned.
“Wow.” Mr.Harrington gasped. Peter nodded.
“Alright, since we’re done, can we start class?” Mr.Harrington jumped up and looked at the clock. There were only twenty minutes left of class. Peter slid back into his seat.
“What genius idea did your brain land on?” MJ asked quietly.
“Captain America PSA videos.” Peter grinned. “But with facts and the heroes talking about their personal issues.” MJ smiled. She fully smiled. “I’m thinking about trying to convince Pep to let me start an SI intern YouTube channel and use it to build good PR.”
For the remaining twenty minutes of class, Peter wrote an entire page of notes and ideas for the vlog. MJ and Ned interjected occasionally, only partially paying attention to the lesson that Mr.Harrington was trying, and failing, to teach. When the bell rang Peter jumped in surprise.
“Crap, I have to run.” He muttered to himself. He hugged Ned and gave MJ a thumbs up before sprinting out of the room. He ignored the stares of his peers. They’d either get used to it or not, there’s no way for him to take it back now.
“I just want everyone to know,” MJ said before anyone else could leave. “That everything Peter just told you, is covered in the NDAs you and your parents signed. He only told you because he likes you guys.” The class nodded, noting the fierceness of her gaze.
Peter sprinted to Dr.Avery’s office in record time, making it just in time for his appointment.
“Welcome Peter, Dr.Avery will be with you in just a minute.” The receptionist said. Peter thanked him and slumped in a chair.
“Peter,” Dr. Melanie Avery stuck her head out the door with a grin. “Come on.” Peter followed her into the room and once again slumped in a chair.
“How are you today?” He asked.
“I’m good, had that Italian place you recommend for lunch. It was amazing.” She grinned. “But, how did the field trip go?” Peter groaned and launched into the story. Melanie smirked at the mention of Harley.
“So, you’re okay with your class knowing all of these things?” Melanie asked. Peter nodded. “Okay, good. That's already so much progress. However let’s talk about Harley.”
“I mean, we’re dating now. We literally just met two days ago. Isn’t that too fast? Should I have not said yes to this?”
“Peter, it’s only too fast if you think it's too fast. Now i’m not saying run away together and get married in Vegas, but feeling that instant spark of connection with someone isn’t that uncommon.” Melanie said. “Do you feel overwhelmed and unsure?”
“Actually no. I feel incredibly stable in this decision. You know my sense are, crazy at best. But when we’re together everything just focuses on him. The past two nights, I slept for like eight hours. It’s like whenever he wraps an arm around me, my senses automatically focus on his heartbeat and just relax.” Peter threw his hands up in the air. Melanie smiled.
“I don’t think that your relationship is bad Peter. You two have a lot in common, and seem to understand each other. Does it make you happy to be with him?” Peter nodded. “Then there isn’t a problem. Right now its new and uncharted territory for you both. Your happiness is just as important as his happiness, and don't you forget that, okay? But Pepper is right about ground rules. You two are young and it never hurts to have someone that is looking out for both of your interests to keep an eye out.” Peter launched into the protocols that Pepper wanted him to talk about, which brought him here.
“May doesn’t want me anymore.” He said.
“Peter, did she tell you this?” She asked. Peter shook his head.
“No, but, how else would Pepper convince May to let me move into the tower? May realized i’m not actually blood related to her and found someone who would be stuck with me instead of her.”
“Peter!” Melanie stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “May raised you. She loves you. You are her nephew, and you always will be her nephew. I think that before you jump to anymore untrue conclusions, you should talk to her about it. I think you’ll find that she loves you more than anything in this world.” Peter nodded.
“Okay, I can talk to her after this.” Melanie smiled.
“Anything else you want to talk about?” Peter contemplated for a minute.
“Pepper Potts is my mom, and I’m going to be the CEO of Stark industries one day. I’m still mulling that one over, so I’ll get back to you on that. So unless you want to hear me wax poetics on Harley’s accent, I think we’re good.” Melanie was choking on air.
“That’s some pretty heavy stuff Peter, are you sure?” Peter nodded.
“Oddly enough, I kind of have a peace with it. Like i handled the situation with Flash with ‘grace and power’ apparently. I’m obviously not going to take over the company tomorrow, but I think that one day I would be able to do it. But I also know that I’ll have MJ, and Ned, and Harley, and even without them, I’ll always have Pepper to back me up.” Peter made a humming sound. “I guess I did need to talk about that. It was nice to just air it out.”
“I know.” Peter glared at her sad attempt for a Star Wars reference. “Alright, go talk to your aunt. I’ll email the protocols we talked about to Pepper okay?” Peter nodded and got up to hug her.
“Have a good week Dr.Avery!” He bounced out of the office with a big grin on his face.