Wherever I go
It was the day of aunt Mays funeral.
The day Peter had to say goodbye to someone who took him in because he didn’t have anyone else after his parents died. The person who loved and cared for Peter after uncle Ben died. The person who he’d stay up late at night with to make forts in the living room because Peter was too scared to sleep. The person that Peter would never see again.
Peter didn’t sleep at all last night. He tried to fall asleep but he kept thinking about aunt May and if she was watching him, if she was proud of him, and if she still loved him wherever she was.
Peter rolled to the side of his bed and felt the tears fall down his face. He felt every emotion yet no emotion at all.
He lied there for a bit then he heard a knock at the door.
“C-come in” Peter said while choking on a sob.
Mr. Stark walked in the room wearing a suit and holding a suit on his arm.
“Hey buddy. You ready?” Mr. Stark put a hand on Peters shaking body and Peter turned to look at him.
“I- I don’t wanna- wanna go, Mr. Stark” Peter said sadly then reached out to Tony.
Tony grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I know buddy, but you have to. And I’ll be with you the whole time”
“Do-Do you promise Mr. Stark?” Peter looked up at Tony with hopeful eyes.
“Yes kid, I promise. I’m not leaving you” That seemed to get Peter to stop crying because he wiped his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Okay, how about you start getting ready because we have to leave in one hour” Peter nodded his head but made no move to get up.
“Do you need any help getting ready?” Tony asked him as he stood up and handed the suit for Peter to grab.
“I just-I don’t know” Peter started to cry again so Tony sat back down and put his arm around him. Peter leaned into him and started to sob into his suit.
“I know Peter. I know it’s hard but it’ll be over with and then you’ll start to feel better buddy, I promise” Tony kept rubbing Peters arm up and down.
“I just, I don’t wanna say b-bye” Peter said and Tony’s heart broke because shit, this was hard. Tony remembered having to say bye to his parents at age 21 and it was hard on him. Peter was a child, practically a baby according to Pepper. Peter does not deserve this.
“I know you don’t Pete, but May will always be with you in memories” Peter held Tony tighter when he said Mays name.
“How about I help you get ready?” Tony asked Peter making a move to get up.
“O-okay” Peter spoke then got up with Tony and went into the bathroom.
Tony turned on the shower and turned back to Peter who was just standing there with a dead look on his face. Tony motioned his hand for Peter to get in the shower and Peter started to take off his shirt and then Tony went under the sink to get Peter a towel then put it on the closed toilet seat. He turned around and Peter was starting to take off his pants not even caring that Tony was in the room so Tony turned and left.
After about fifteen minutes Peter walked out of the bathroom still dripping wet and the towel barely covering him so Tony walked over to him and grabbed the edge of the towel before it could fall off. He sat Peter on the edge of the bed and then held out the suit for him.
“This is your suit, I didn’t have you sized so I just guessed it. It might be a little big”
“Thank you Mr. Stark” Peter looked up at Tony then down at the suit.
“Umm, okay so do you need any help with this or are you fine.?” Tony asked Peter.
“I need help”
Tony walked over to Peters box of clothes that were still in the middle of his room and not yet put away. But he couldn’t really blame the kid for not wanting to clean his room at a time like this.
Tony dug in the box until he pulled out a pair of Peters underwear that was the hulk underwear’s and Tony would have teased him if it wasn’t under the certain circumstances. He pulled out the underwear and found a plain white top.
“Put these on under your suit” Tony told Peter and handed him his clothes. Peter grabbed them with a mumbled ‘thanks’ and when Tony realizes he wasn’t going into the bathroom to change he turned around to give Peter some privacy. After Peter was changed Tony turned around to help Peter finish getting ready. He grabbed the towel that Peter once had and started to dry his hair with it as Peter sat on the bed.
Tony bent down to grab Peters suit pants and helped peter put them on. “Left your leg up Pete,” Tony said kinda frustrated because the kid was literally making him dress him and was not making any move to help. Peter barely lifted his leg off the ground then he lifted his other leg up and Tony pulled the pants up so Peter lifted off the bed so he could pull then up his waist. Tony finished helping (doing it all himself) peter get dressed then he quickly styled Peters hair and they were making their way down to the garage.
As they got into the garage Happy was leaning against the drivers side. “Nice to see you Peter” Happy said then opened the back door for Tony and Peter to get in.
Peter tried to smile to Happy but it came out as a weird half sad smile thing. Peter got in and sat down then Tony had to push him over a bit so he could fit. Once both in the car Happy shut the door and walked over to the drivers side got in and started the car.
Tony leaned over Peter who was sitting in the middle seat and put his seat belt on for him. Then he put his own seat belt on. Peter leaned against his arm and cried.
“I’m s-scared” Peter spoke silently looking up at Tony through wet eyelashes.
“It’s okay to be scared Peter, but as long as you’re doing what scares you then whatever happens it’s gonna be fine. And I’m gonna be here the whole time”
Peters hold tighten around Tony harder “Thank you Mr. Stark”
Tony just held Peter tighter as a response.
.
.
.
When they got to the funeral it was cold and grey outside. Tony stepped out of the car and helped Peter out. They walked over to where everyone else was and they walked to the front. Tony sat down and Peter sat down next to him then grabbed his arm.
The whole funeral didn’t take too long and Peter tried not to cry for the first half but Tony kept telling him not to hold it in and that it was okay to cry then eventually Peter started to cry silently with his face in Tony’s arm as he held him.
It started to rain as Mays coffin was lowered into the ground and Peter shoved his whole body into Tony and sobbed. Tony held him tight and whispered reassurances to him as he tried not to cry himself.
The funeral ended and few people came up to Peter to say their condolences and then Tony and Peter were back in the car on their way back to the compound.
Peter cried himself to sleep in the car and once they arrived back at the compound Tony picked him up bridle carry and carried him up to his private floor.
When he walked out of the elevator he was not alone.
Rhodey was sitting on the couch and when he saw Tony carrying Peter he looked at him questionably but didn’t say anything.
Tony tightened his hold on Peter and then walked to Peters room with Rhodey trailing behind him.
Tony gently placed Peter on the bed and moved to take off his shoes then he grabbed a blanket from the chair beside his bed and put it over Peter. Even though it was still early he would let Peter sleep since he knows Peter isn’t getting much of it recently.
Rhodey was watching the whole thing from the door and then Tony walked out of Peters room mentally preparing himself to explain everything to Rhodey.
“Alright. Why do you have a kid? And is this why you’ve been so distant?” Rhodey asked once they got to the living room and sat down.
“His name is Peter Parker” Tony took a deep breath getting ready for all the questions.
“Okay, why is he here?”
“His aunt died on Friday” Tony said then got up to grab a coffee.
“That’s sad and all but then why isn’t he with his family” Rhodey got up to follow him.
“His family is all dead. He doesn’t have anyone else”
“So... he’s Spider-Man then, right?” Rhodey has never actually seen Peter before, only as Spider-Man and after Germany Rhodey started to bombarden Tony with questions on who Spider-Man was, he knew he was young before Tony even told him but he didn’t know how young he was and when Tony told him he was 13 at the time he practically lost it on Tony but ended up supporting him and understanding him. Rhodey just placed the pieces together that the young child Tony was carrying was Spider-Man.
“Yes. He is” Tony grabbed his coffee and took a huge sip.
“He looks so much younger than thirteen” Rhodey sounded sad.
“Well, he’s actually fourteen“
“That doesn’t make it any better. So... what’re you gonna do with him?”
Tony looked at him confused “what do you mean?”
“I mean are you gonna adopt him, or put him into foster care?”
Tony looked like he just got slapped in the face “I’m not putting him in the system”
“So then you’ll adopt him?”
“What!” Tony looked as if he’s never thought about this before “No, I don’t know. I just-“
“Hey relax Tones, I’m just wondering” he put his hand on Tony’s knee and squeezed. “Clearly you haven’t thought about this before so it’s okay”
“No! I have thought about it before. It’s all I’ve been thinking about because I want to keep him, I want to keep him so badly but I don’t know if I can do it and the kid keeps pushing me away and I feel like I’m already failing and it hasn’t been a week yet” Tony started to hyperventilate.
“Tones. Take a deep breath and relax” Tony did as he was told. “There’s nothing to be worried about because if you decide to take this on and you decide you want to keep him then I know that you can do it. I’ve always known you’d make a great father some day no matter what anyone else saids. And if you decide you can’t do it then you can send him into foster care and he’ll go to a nice family that’ll care for him-“
“No! No! No, he’s not- he’s not going into foster care! No way.” Tony stood up and started to pace back and forth.
Rhodey stood up and placed his hands on Tony’s arms to stop him from moving. “Okay, so what are you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna-I’m gonna adopt him” Tony said and a smile formed on his lips.
“Okay. If that’s what you wanna do I’ll support you no matter what. I know you can do it” Rhodey lightly slapped his arm then sat back down in the couch. “Can I meet him? You know, when he’s not sleeping”
“Yeah, But- But not today. I don’t want the day he had his aunts funeral to be the day he also meets you”
“Makes sense. I have to leave for DC tonight and I’ll be gone until Friday so after that I’m free whenever” Rhodey stood up and left to go to the elevator.
“Alright that sounds good, I’ll let you know”
After Rhodey left Tony went down to the lab to make a call.
He got to the lab and sat on the stool. “FRIDAY call the social worker”
“Yes Boss”
The phone answered three rings later.
“Mr. Stark” the lady spoke into the phone. “I’ve been waiting for your call. How can I help you?”
“I want to adopt Peter” Tony blerted out.
The lady didn’t speak for a few seconds probably not expecting Tony to want to adopt the kid. “Okay, well then. I can send over the adoption papers to your lawyers this afternoon so you should be hearing from them soon after that. The adoption process can take a long time and don’t forget house visits as well. It’s not just all about the paperwork, we have to make sure that the house Peter will be living in is child friendly and that Peter will have access to everything that he needs”
“Okay yes, how does that work exactly?” Tony had no idea what the process consists of.
“Well Mr. Strak, first I will send over papers that need to be signed by you and your lawyers, since at the moment you have temporarily guardianship it will have to be changed so that you are legally Peters parent. While that processes, it is not finalized yet until the house visits happen. At first the house visits will be scheduled then after they will be random so you’re not expecting it. After that if you pass you’ll be Peters father”
Peters father. I’m gonna be a dad. I’m gonna be Peters dad. Tony thought and a smile formed on his lips at the thought.
“Alright thank you” Tony hung up the phone and couldn’t stop smiling. He was really scared but also really excited. He decided that he wasn’t gonna tell Peter anything until the papers went through, he’ll tell him before the house visits.
Tony made his way to Peters room to wake him up so he would actually sleep tonight. He opened the door then sat on the bed and put his fingers in Peters hair.
“Hey kid, wake up”
Peter shifted in bed and stretched his legs out then turned to face Tony.
“I’m tired” Peter rubbed his eyes with his fist and Tony smiled down at him.
“Are you hungry?” Tony rubbed his hand on Peters arm.
“No” Peter thought for a bit then decided that yes, he was hungry. “Yeah”
Tony laughed then stood up. “Come on, ill make you grilled cheese”
Peter stood up then looked down at his clothes, he was still in his nasty suit.
“I want to change”
“Okay I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done” Tony walked out of the bedroom then went into the kitchen.
After Tony left Peter sat up and went to go get some clothes to put on. He was actually really hungry and he wanted to eat which was the first time since aunt May died. Maybe he was getting better, no, he still felt dead on the inside, he still felt like his heart got slit in two. He still felt alone, but he didn’t feel alone when Tony was with him, he felt almost better, he felt like everything was gonna be okay. Well, that would soon go away once Tony sent him into the system he thought.
Peter made his way to the kitchen and sat down on a stool. Tony turned around to look at him. He had on a oversized grey sweater, although Tony thought that everything Peter wears is gonna be oversized because he’s so tiny. He had on grey sweatpants that had blue strips on the side and his hair was all messed up with red rosy cheeks.
“You look comfy” Tony said as Peter sat down and rested his head on his hand.
“I’m hungry” Peter said then Tony laughed because Peter looked really cute. Wait, when he he start describing stuff as cute.
“It’ll be ready soon kid” Tony turned around and continued to make Peters food then placed it in front of him. Tony waited for Peter to run back to his room because he seemed to do that every time he ate. But he didn’t he stay seated and ate all of his grilled cheese, but the crust.
“Can I have another one?” Peter asked Tony who was seated next to him. Tony looked up at him and Peter had his finger in his mouth again. Tony didn’t say anything about that though.
“You must be really hungry” Tony walked over to make Peter another one and then placed it in front of Peter when he was done.
“So,” Tony began. “Rhodey came over today”
Peters eyes lit up as he looked over at Tony.
“He really wants to meet you but I said not today. So you might be meeting him on Friday.”
Peter looked really excited but what he said didn’t sounds as excited.
“Oh great Mr. Stark” Peter finished his food then walked back to his bedroom.
“Where’re you going kid” Tony asked as he watched Peter walk away from him and towards his bedroom.
“I’m going to my room” Peter said then kept walking back to his room.
Tony cleaned up the kitchen then went to Peters room. The door was opened so he walked in.
“What’s up kid?” He asked as he sat on the bed.
Peter was sitting on the floor looking through his box of clothes.
“N-nothing” Peter brought a hand up to wipe at his eyes.
Tony saw that so he walked over to Peter and sat in front of him. Peter moved away from Tony and turned his back to him as he brought his legs up so hug.
I can’t let him see me cry or else he’ll get rid of me even faster. Peter thought as he tried to stop himself from crying.
“Kid, please look at me” Tony spoke out and placed his hand on Peters shoulder. Peter flinched But Tony didn’t move his hand.
“N-no, I-“ Peter began to cry even harder.
Tony reached over and picked up Peter by the underarms then dragged him so that Peter was on his lap. He expected Peter to try and get away but Peter didn’t, he just cuddled into Tony more and grabbed his shirt with his fist.
“Shh shh, it’s okay Peter. It’s okay” Tony moved his hand to Peters hair and began to rub at it until Peter calmed down a little bit more.
They stayed like that until Peters eyes started to shut so Tony tried to stand.
“Are you ready to get up?” Tony asked as he looked down at Peter.
“Oh, uhh, yeah” Peter moved to stand up “I’m sorry Mr. Stark”
Peter stood awkwardly next to his bed playing with his sweater strings. Tony stood up and stretched.
“Don’t say sorry kid, and call me Tony. That’s my name” Peters eyes went wide as he looked up at Tony.
“What? Did you not know that was my name or something?” Tony said jokingly.
“No-no, I, But you’re Mr. Stark” Tony laughed and ruffled Peters hair.
“Not anymore kid, times have changed” Tony said then sat back down on the bed. Peter didn’t say anything as he sat down next to him.
“What do you wanna do?” Tony asked Peter.
“Ummm” Peter thought a bit “Can we- can we watch a movie?”
“Perfect! What movie do you wanna watch?”
They made their way into the living room and upon Peters request they put on StarWars. Peter fell asleep against Tony’s arm half way through the movie and Tony carried peter to bed once again. He made his way to his own room and he fell asleep himself.
.
.
.
Peter woke up from a nightmare but it wasn’t that bad so FRIDAY didn’t wake Tony up.
Peter checked the time on his nightstand table and saw that it was 9:18 in the morning so he decided to get up and shower.
Once he was done showering he sat down n his bed and started to think about things. He thought about how it was almost a week since May died. It still really hurt to think her name but he didn’t cry at the thought of her. Progress, Peter thought. He thought about Tony and how their relationship had been since last Friday and how much it’s changed, in a good way. He thought about his room in the compound then he started thinking about school. He’s already missed almost an entire week. People would be wondering where he was. Oh no! Ned. Ned was probably so worried about Peter. He had to text him. But where was his phone.
Peter stood up and began to walk around his room trying to find his phone.
He heard a knock at the door so he looked up to see Mr. Stark.
Mr. Stark walked in and looked at him like he was crazy.
“Lose something?”
“I can’t find my phone” Peter said then hit the floor with his hand when it wasn’t under the bed.
“Woah calm down there kid. No need to take it out on the floor” Peter stood up and glared at him. “I have it”
“What really! Can I have it, I need to text Ned. He’s probably worried about me” Peter walked over to Tony and held his hands out in front of him.
“I don’t have it on me. It’s in my room” Peter began to walk out to go to Tony’s room to get his phone but stopped when he realized Tony wasn’t following him.
“Are you coming?” Peter asked confused.
“Yeah But first I want to talk. Sit down” Tony motioned for Peter to sit on the bed with him.
“Can’t we talk later I really need to text Ned”
“Ted can wait a few more minutes. Sit down”
“Am I-am I in trouble?” Peter asked sadly as he made his way over to sit next to Tony.
Tony’s heart ached for Peter. “No kid. I just wanna talk”
Oh no! Peter thought. No! He’s gonna tell me I have to go. I cry too much and he doesn’t want to deal with me. He’s gonna kick me out now. Peter thought as his eyes started to tear up.
“Did you have a nightmare last night?” Tony asked like he already knew the answer.
What? Peter thought confused. Nightmare, so he wasn’t kicking him out yet.
“N-no Mr. Stark” Peter said, damn he was a horrible liar.
“Peter, don’t lie to me” Tony said looking right at Peter but Peter couldn’t look at him.
“I didn’t! I just-it wasn’t bad. I just-I promise. I could handle it”
“I don’t care if you can handle it or not. I want you to come and get me, or ask FRIDAY to get me if you’re having a nightmare.” Tony reached out and touched Peters face to move Peters head so he was looking at him. “Come and get me next time bud”
“O-Okay, I will Mr. Stark”
“Tony” Tony corrected.
“Oh right. Can I have my phone now” Peter asked standing up and moving towards the door.
“Alright” Tony sighed as he stood up to go to his room to get Peters phone.
Once they got there Tony handed Peter his phone and Peter hurried to his room to charge it.
After Peter got his phone charged and it turned on her went through all the text messages that Ned left him.
Ned: hey man where were you at lunch today?
Ned: do you want to come over after school today and we can build some legos??
Ned: why are you ignoring me? Not cool dude:/
Ned: Peter seriously... I’m getting scared answer your texts and pick up ur phone man
Ned: dude did something happen are you dead bro
Ned: Peter plzzzzz
Peter looked through his texts messages from Ned and listened to his voice mails from Ned as well. He texted him back.
Peter: hey Ned
Peter: sorry for worrying u
Ned: DUDEEEE
Ned: I thought you were dead man
Ned: what happened are you okkkk??¿
Peter: I’m fine Ned
Ned: well then where were u?
Peter: aunt may died
Damn. That really hurt to type out and see it written down. Peter felt tears in his eyes and wanted to stop texting Ned.
Ned: omg peter I’m so sorry man
Peter: it’s ok
Ned: well....... who are you staying with
Ned: have you been in the apartment by yourself the whole time?
Peter: I’ve been staying with Tony for awhile
Ned: SHITTT DUDE
Ned: tony as in tony stark!!!! As in iron man
Peter: yes Ned
Ned: dude that’s so cool. So like are you gonna live with him now?
Peter thought about this for a second. He honestly had no idea what was gonna happen. He didn’t really want to ask Mr. Stark because he already knew what the answer was gonna be, Peter would have to leave eventually.
Peter: I don’t know. I think he’s just letting me stay with him for a bit, until I have to leave
Ned: where r u gonna go?
Peter: I don’t know. But I have to go so I’ll talk to you later
Peter put down his phone and flipped it over. He really didn’t want to deal with any of this right now. He just wanted to stay with Mr. Strak. He didn’t want to go live with anyone else but Peter knew it wasn’t up to him and he knew that he’d have to leave eventually so Peter got out of bed and went onto his computer in the corner of his room and looked up the closet hotel he could stay at after Mr. Stark kicked him out.
Peters eyes started to water and tears fell down his cheeks. He pressed his fist to his eye to stop himself from crying.
But Peter needed to leave. He needed to get out of there before Mr. Stark kicked him out himself because Peter didn’t want that, he’d rather leave himself instead of getting rejected by Mr. Stark.
So Peter made his way over to the window so he could leave.