All The Stars Align

Tony got off the phone with Clint who had apparently gone back home and had been there for a week, he found out that Clint was taking his family to the Compound for the weekend and asking if he would like to bring Peter along to hang out with his kids.

Tony knew he had an older son who was about eighteen or nineteen and that he had a younger daughter around Peter’s age and another son who was three or four.

“Pete?” Tony left his office and went to go find his kid who he left in the living room with his legos but now Peter wasn’t there. “Peter?”

Tony looked in the kitchen but Peter wasn’t there either which was odd since Peter wouldn’t have gone up to his bedroom or anything. “FRIDAY, where’s Peter?”

“Peter is in the living room, sir.” FRIDAY replied and Tony rubbed his eyes because he didn’t know if he was seeing things right.

“What?” Tony whispered to himself and walked closer to the living room but he heard some crunching going on behind the couch so he walked around it and found the scene hilarious. “What’s going on here?”

Peter looked up at him with guilty eyes and a mouth full of the candy that he was shoving in his mouth like there was no tomorrow. “Uh…”

Tony stood there and stared at Peter. He had specifically told Peter that he wasn’t allowed to have any of that candy today since it was eight at night. “Give me that.”

Tony grabbed the candy out of Peter’s hands and looked at the bag. “You ate half of it? Peter, it’s bedtime.”

Peter wiped his hands on the back of the couch and looked up at Tony. “I wanted them.”

“You’re sitting behind the couch and eating this candy like a gremlin. Stand up.” Tony ordered him since this was hilarious but he didn’t want Peter to know that he actually found the situation funny.

“I don’t have to go to school tomorrow so I can stay up as late as I want.” Peter told Tony as he walked passed him and went to sit on the couch while looking for the remote.

“Who told you that?” Tony asked as he grabbed the remote off the table without Peter looking at him. He put it in his back pocket and hoped that Peter wouldn’t see it.

“I told me that. Where’s the remote?”

“It’s broken and it’s time for bed so get your butt upstairs and get ready.” Tony knew it was still early but by the time Peter has his school night temper tantrum and wears off the sugar then actually gets into the shower and his pyjamas on, it’ll be at least ten or eleven, if he’s lucky.

“How’s it broken? I was using it before dinner.” Peter started lifting up the couch cushions so Tony walked over to him to stop him.

“Stop, Peter. It’s broken so forget about it. It’s time for bed.” Tony pulled him towards the stairs but Peter pulled him back. “Peter.”

“How are we supposed to watch tv on the weekend? We can’t turn the tv on!” Peter ripped his arm away from his dad and threw himself down onto the couch. “Tv!”

Tony sighed. He wasn’t getting anywhere with Peter. He sat down on the couch and patted Peter’s butt but Peter moved away from him. Tony rolled his eyes and grabbed Peter’s legs to turn him around, onto his back. “Clint called and asked if you wanna go to the Compound this weekend to hang out with his kids. Do you wanna go?”

Peter rubbed his eyes, showing Tony that he was in fact tired. “Are you going too?”

“Of course, bud.”

“Then yeah. How old are his kids?” Peter asked him and moved forward so his legs were over his dad’s lap.

“I forget. One of them is way older than you then the other one might be your age and the other one is a lot younger.” Tony answered and squeezed Peter’s ankles. “You ready to head up?”

Peter shook his head and lifted his legs up so he could do a backwards somersault on the couch. “Woah. Watch me do it again.”

Tony stood up and grabbed Peter by his arm and leg then carried him awkwardly over to the stairs to carry him up like that but Peter was wiggling and screaming too much so Tony placed him down on the stairs. “Go up the stairs.”

Peter caught his balance and made a dash for the living room again but Tony grabbed him and held him like a sack of potatoes under his arm to get Peter up. “This way, Peter. C’mon.”

“Let me go! I said I’m not going to school tomorrow!” Peter yelled all the way to Tony’s bedroom. Tony walked into the bathroom and placed Peter on his feet then shut the door and stood in front of it.

“You stayed home today so you have to go to school tomorrow.” Tony had kept Peter home all day today, without even attempting to bring Peter to school since he knew how that would turn out.

At least tomorrow was Friday.

“Dad. Please!” Peter tried to open the door but Tony held the door handle so Peter couldn’t get out. He didn’t know if he should be doing this or if it was causing more harm than good but he didn’t know what else to do anymore. He was really struggling.

Peter sank to the floor but then grabbed onto Tony’s leg. “Hey, you have the remote.”

Fuck. Tony went to grab the remote but Peter had already grabbed it out of his back pocket. “You don’t need that right now.”

“I do! Give it back.” Peter reached up for the remote and Tony was so close to snapping that thing in half. “Dad!”

Tony tossed the remote onto the bathroom counter and grabbed Peter’s wrists to drag him over to the shower. He turned the shower on and kneeled down to Peter. “Get undressed and go in the shower.”

“No!” Peter yelled at him with tears pooling in his eyes.

Tony sighed. He looked down at Peter and wanted to join him in crying. He braced his hands on Peter’s knees and just stared at him since he didn’t know what to do.

“What do you want, Peter?” Tony asked him while trying to remain patient for his kid.

“The remote!” Peter yelled and went to roll over to grab it but Tony held him in place which caused Peter to scream at him.

“You can’t have the remote.” Tony told him again.

“Why?”

“Because it’s bedtime.” Tony stood up even as Peter mumbled something about him never going to sleep. He walked towards the bathroom door and paused in front of it to turn back to Peter. “I’m going to come back in five minutes and I want you in the shower when I come back, okay?”

Peter didn’t respond so Tony hoped he would listen. He shut the bathroom door behind him and sighed. He was exhausted and desperate for some help.

He walked into the hallway and shut the door behind him so Peter couldn’t hear him. He then pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Pepper’s number.

She picked up on the third ring. “Hi. So I’m just wondering where we are with the therapist situation?”

Pepper didn’t even get a chance to say hi before Tony was asking that question. “Well, I’m flying to New York tomorrow morning for two interviews and after I decide, I’ll have you interview her then you’ll have the final pick. After you decide, if you decide because you can still say no if you don’t want her, then we’ll do all the legal documents and all that fun stuff.”

Tony smiled in relief. “Alright. Thank you. Peter’s crying on the bathroom floor and I’m struggling.” Tony sighed heavily again. “If I pick someone then I’ll have to discuss everything with them so by Monday she’ll meet Peter?”

“Yeah. We can have everything done by Monday. It’ll be okay, Tony. This will be so good for him.” Pepper reassured him and Tony heard banging coming from the other room which Tony assumed was Peter trying to get his attention.

“Yeah, I Uh… I gotta go now. I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Tony asked just to be sure. He really needed to see her.

“Of course. Bye Tony. Tell Peter I said hi.”

Tony chuckled because Peter was not in the mood right now. He said goodbye, hung up his phone and put it in his pocket.

He took a calming breath then opened the bathroom door and saw Peter still fully dressed and lying on the bathroom floor while he kicked at the wall and cried.

Tony could see that Peter was exhausted.

He walked into the bathroom and shut the shower off because that wasn’t happening tonight. He then kneeled down and held his arms out for Peter because clearly forcing him like this wasn’t going to work. It never did.

Peter immediately accepted his invitation and crawled into his arm. “You-you’re being m-mean!”

Tony rubbed Peter’s back and sighed. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to shower tonight but you still have to brush your teeth and wash your face, okay?”

Peter whimpered and nodded his head but didn’t pull away from Tony so Tony stood up and pulled Peter to his feet with him. Peter started crying harder now that Tony wasn’t holding him but Tony ignored it for now because there wasn’t anything he could do.

“Everything is here for you so I’ll be out-”

“No! Stay with me.” Peter shouted at Tony and leaned against his chest, his head resting just under his heart.

Tony stayed with Peter the whole time. He waited until he brushed his teeth and washed his face then brought Peter into the bedroom. It was still extremely early for Tony to go to bed but he knew he had to stay until Peter fell asleep so he might as well get ready for bed himself.

“I put your pyjamas on the bed so you get changed while I go into the bathroom.” Tony laid out Peter’s pyjamas again but Peter grabbed his hand and whimpered.

“No. Stay with me.”

“You want me to sleep with you right? So I have to go get ready for bed myself.” Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s head and went into the bathroom.

He was very excited for Monday to come. Just three more days.

He didn’t know how long it would take for him to start seeing positive changes in Peter. He knew it wouldn’t be within the first few days or even the first few weeks but at least things were going to get better.

They had to get better because they couldn’t be getting any worse than how things currently were.

When Tony walked out of the bathroom, Peter was sitting up in the middle of the bed and dressed in his pyjamas. “Are you tired, bud?”

Peter opened his eyes and shook his head. “I’m not.”

“Okay.” Tony didn’t understand why Peter had to deny that he was tired all the time. It was tiring to hear that. “Do you have your bear?”

Peter grabbed his bear from beside him and laid down with it against his chest. Tony shut the lamp off and laid down in his spot. He reached out to pull Peter closer to himself and kissed the top of his head.

“Dad?”

“Mm?”

“No school tomorrow.” Peter weakly begged and Tony knew that tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.

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Tony didn’t sleep at all.

He was worrying about Peter all night because he knew his mind was all over the place and Tony felt like a failure for not helping his son the way he needs to be helped.

He was also scared that the therapist was going to be judgemental towards him and Peter. He wanted to be able to tell the woman everything without feeling judged but he knew that a lot of what he was doing was giving in to Peter’s separation anxiety and that wasn’t good.

All Tony had to do was wait until Pepper flies to New York and calls him to let him know what she thinks about the therapist and then it’s his turn to interview her. He was nervous but all he could do was to wait.

It was time to get Peter up for school which Tony knew was going to be hell.

Tony walked into his bedroom after being up for hours. Peter was sleeping sideways on the bed with the blankets wrapped around his head like always. The sight would have been adorable if Tony didn’t have to wake him up and ruin it.

He sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook Peter awake. “Wake up, bud.”

Peter didn’t move or show any sign of waking up so Tony started to try and untangle him from all the blankets. It worried him a bit that Peter wrapped himself up in the blankets because it was dangerous but it always happened and he was there either way if Peter started to smother.

“Open your eyes, Pete. It’s time for school.” Tony moved all the blankets onto the floor and shook Peter awake a little bit more.

Peter groaned and rolled over onto his stomach, tucking his legs up under him. “Go ‘way.”

Tony pushed Peter onto his side and pulled his legs down. “No more sleeping. It’s time for school.”

“No. Go ‘way.” Peter opened his eyes a bit and shut them right after.

“Am I carrying you to your bedroom or are you walking?” Tony asked him and when Peter didn’t respond, Tony grabbed a hold of Peter and lifted him into his arms so that he was holding him with one arm under his butt.

Peter tried to get more comfortable on him but the walk wasn’t far so Tony was placing Peter on his own bed.

“Just one more day and then the weekend.” Tony told him then moved to Peter’s dresser to pull clothes out for the day. “Do you want jeans or track pants?”

Peter didn’t answer and Tony turned around and saw Peter trying to wrap himself in the blankets again. “This is what you get for staying up so late last night and refusing to sleep. Now you’re really tired.”

Peter let out a loud whine. “No. I don’t wanna go to school.”

Tony just sighed and grabbed a pair of track pants along with a sweater. “You have one more day left and then it’s the weekend.”

Peter let out a loud scream and Tony cringed at the sound. “Because then it’s all next week and the week after and I don’t want to go!”

“It’ll be okay, Peter. Just take it one day at a time.” Tony grabbed Peter’s underwear and socks and walked over to the bed that Peter was sitting up on.

“No. No school.” Peter went to bang his head against the bed pillows but he accidentally hit his head on the wall, full force.

“Peter.” Tony said alarmed and reached out for him.

“Ow!” Peter cried out and held a hand to his head. He started whimpering and looked over at Tony for reassurance.

“Why did you do that?” Tony asked him, having no idea why Peter would smash his head into the wall.

Peter let out a sob and held his arms out for Tony so Tony sat on the bed and pulled Peter onto his lap. “You’re okay.” Tony moved his head back to check for a bump but he didn’t see anything there. “There’s not even a mark. You’re okay.”

Peter whimpered into his chest and shifted on his lap so he was lying sideways. “I can’t go to school now.”

Tony rubbed his side awkwardly because of the way Peter was lying on him. “Yes you can. Just one more day.”

Peter shook his head and started to cry once again but Tony knew it was a bit forced. He tossed Peter off to the side and placed his clothes on the bed. “Get dressed. It’s gonna be okay, Peter. Wipe your tears and take a calming breath.”

“I can’t!”

Tony was really considering not sending Peter to school today but he wanted to try this one last time. Part of him wanted Peter to stay in school because he will make so many memories that will stick with him for a lifetime but due to events that had happened in Peter's life and that didn’t happen to other children his age, Peter won’t be making any nice memories at school and it was complete torture for him.

It hurt Tony to have to send his baby to school but it was Friday and possibly Peter’s last day of school forever. Tony didn’t know yet but he had a pretty good idea.

He sat down on the bed and pulled Peter up so he was leaning against his side. “I want you to try. I will drop you off and wait thirty minutes. If you still don’t want to be there after that then I’ll come and pick you up.”

Peter shook his head against his dad. “No. I don’t want to go after that. You always say try but I can’t!”

Tony felt his eyes burn because his kid was hurting the way no child his age should ever have to hurt.

“I’m sorry, baby. I need you to try one last time. For me.” Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s head and hugged him tighter. He needed Peter to go to school so that Tony would know for sure if he was making the right decision as to whether or not he should pull Peter out of school.

Peter was silent for a few seconds with just the sound of Peter sadly hiccuping before he spoke. “O-okay. I’ll try again for you but I’m gonna be sad.”

Tony forced a smile. “I know and that’s okay to feel that way. I’m just a text message away.”

Peter nodded his head and rubbed his eyes.

Tony stayed with Peter until he got ready then they headed down for breakfast and jumped into the car.

The day was dark, cold and miserable out.

Tony looked over at Peter when they pulled up to a red light and saw the sadness in his eyes. He hated seeing his kid this way. He thought back to when Peter was a happy, carefree child who loved life and now Peter’s separation anxiety and constant fear of going to school and being away from his father was starting to eat him alive.

It would take baby steps but maybe a necessary step to get his happy kid back was taking Peter out of school and considering something else.

When they pulled up to the front of the school, Tony put the car in park and looked over at Peter who was looking out of his window and at the school.

“I’m g-”

Peter turned to Tony with his face scrunched up and shaking his head. “I don’t want to go, dad. Please. I can’t. I-I can’t!”

Tony held his arms out for his kid so Peter took his seat belt off and leaned over the centre console to hug his dad. “Shh. Remember I just want you to try. I can come pick you up in thirty minutes if you think you can’t stay.”

Peter nodded his head but let out a sob at the same time. “My chest hurts me.”

Tony pulled Peter away from him because he didn’t like the sound of that. “Does it feel tight?”

Peter nodded his head then shook it. “Like-like when I miss you too much. And I just want to be with you.”

“I’m sorry, baby. It will get better. Everything will get better, okay? I promise you that.” Peter nodded his head and sat down on his seat so he could leave the car. He just wanted to get this day over with.

“I love you. I’ll see you so soon.” Tony told Peter and kissed him one last time.

Peter took a shaky breath and grabbed his backpack then opened his car door. “I love you. I’ll text you and-and I’ll see you soon.”

With that, Peter got out of the warm car and shut the door. He couldn’t really see inside the car since the windows were tinted but maybe that was a good thing because if he saw his dad’s face then he might break down again.

He blinked away the tears that were forming in his eyes but the cold air made them fall down his cheeks so he gave up and turned to walk towards the school with everything in his body screaming at him to run back to his dad’s car and beg the man to let him stay.

Peter opened up the door and walked in. He pulled his phone out of his pocket since he actually had no idea what time it was and where he had to go.

It was 9:56am so he had to go to his locker and get his books for second period which was over in a little under an hour but he already wanted to cry. He wanted his dad so badly it hurt so much.

On his way to second period, a teacher came up to him, one that he saw around but he hadn’t had before.

“Hello Peter. How are you?” The woman asked and Peter wiped his face before nodding his head.

“Good.”

“I heard on the news that Pepper is pregnant. Congratulations to your father and her. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” The teacher asked him but Peter was still trying to process what she just said. Huh.

“Um… I don’t know. Uh,” Peter rubbed at his eyes some more because he still felt like he wanted to cry.

“Oh. That’s okay. You were probably told not to tell anyone.” She said and pretended to zip her lips shut. Peter looked up at her, confused. “Do you prefer to have a little brother or sister?”

Peter thought about it. If he had to pick he would definitely want a little brother. “A little brother.”

Peter liked being the youngest though. Well, technically he was the youngest, oldest and middle child all at the same time because he was an only child and he wanted it to stay that way. He couldn’t imagine having to share his dad’s attention with an ugly baby who just cried and pooped all the time.

Maybe that sounded a bit too much like what he did since he liked to announce his poops to his dad but oh well. He still didn’t want a baby sibling.

“Well let’s hope it’s a boy. I’ll see you later, honey.” The teacher walked away from him before Peter had the chance to say that his dad wasn’t having a baby.

He scrunched his nose up in confusion and continued to walk to his locker to grab his stuff. He walked to his biochemistry class and walked up to his reach so he saw that he was in fact there.

“Welcome back, Peter. Did you sleep the day away yesterday?” Mr. Paul asked him, jokingly but Peter shook his head seriously.

“No. I didn’t. I woke up and stayed home with my dad.” Peter told his teacher who just stared at him then pointed to his desk to sit down.

“We’re doing some silent work right now so please take your seat.”

Peter went to go sit down at his desk and smiled at Allison when she looked up at him. “Hi Peter. How was your trip? Liam and Lucas said that they were in your group.”

Peter sat down and took off his jacket and backpack. “Yeah. So was Henry. It was fun.”

“No talking please.” Their teacher told them so Peter shut his mouth and put his books onto his desk.

He was completely lost and had absolutely no idea what was going on in this class. Just like the rest of his classes. He hadn’t gone to his first or last period in possibly months.

He wished he wasn’t here.

Peter didn’t even want to go to his first period class but he knew he would have to eventually. The thought of going back to school next week and the week after that had his tears burning his eyes again so he tried to stop thinking about it.

To take his mind off of things, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted his dad.

Peter: Hi I miss you

Tony’s reply came back immediately.

Tony: I miss you too. Are you in class?

Peter: Yea I miss you

Tony: I’ll see you after school my baby

Peter smiled at the text. His dad always made him feel better but he didn’t think he could stay that long.

Peter continued texting his dad throughout the rest of the class and when the bell rang, he hadn't even realized that class was over so quickly.

Part of him was proud of himself for a few seconds and realized that he could do this. He could go to school only if he texted his dad the whole time. But then Peter realized that that made absolutely no sense because how was he supposed to learn or do his work when he was texting his dad non stop.

He opened up his locker more aggressively than he intended to and swung his backpack off his shoulders.

“Hey.”

Peter looked over to see Ned standing next to him. “Oh. Hi. How did you know I was here?”

“Uh, well, a lot of people were saying that Tony Stark’s son is here today so yeah. You’re kinda famous.” Ned smiled but dropped his smile once he saw Peter’s face. “Are you okay? Are you going home?”

Peter shook his head. “No. I’m staying. Uh, dad said I should try to stay so I’m Uh, trying.”

“Okay. Can we eat lunch together? We haven’t done that in so long.” Ned looked sad about that and Peter felt bad but he couldn’t do anything about that.

“Yeah. If you want to.” Peter shut his locker after grabbing his books for his next class and then him and Ned started walking down to the cafeteria.

“How was the trip the other day? I heard that Mr. Stark went.”

Peter smiled at the mention of his dad and started talking about the trip and how him and his dad had so much fun together. He spoke about his dad for most of lunch besides when Ned tried to talk to him about this new girl he was crushing on but Peter couldn’t care less.

No one caught his eye in high school. Maybe it was because he was barely in school or maybe his mind was too focused but he didn’t have a crush on anyone and didn’t really feel like talking about girls. He missed his dad.

All too soon, the first bell was ringing so Peter and Ned went in opposite directions.

Peter walked into his math class and didn’t recognize the teacher. He hated when he had supply teachers because he didn’t know them and he liked to feel comfortable around the adults in the room.

He sat down in his seat and buried his face in his phone.

Tony: I’m thinking we could make pizza for dinner together?

Peter smiled at the text. He wished he was with his dad right now making pizza dough and eating all the cheese.

Peter: Yeaaaa I miss you

Tony: I miss you too, bud. I’ll see you soon tho

Peter continued to text his dad even as the second bell rang and all the students sat down. The supply teacher was an older lady who was extremely big and tall. She reminded Peter of the evil principal from Matilda and a shiver ran up his spine.

“Phones away. Eyes on me.” The teacher ordered so Peter put his phone between his legs and looked up at the teacher. “I know you little grade nine’s think it’s funny to not listen to the supply teacher and that you can get away with everything because you’re the babies of the school well not in my class. You will listen to me. Understood?”

Everyone was nodding their heads and sitting up straighter, not used to having a teacher like this before.

“Everyone take out your math textbooks and turn the page to 51. You will complete the questions I put down on the board here. There will be zero talking and zero phones out.” The teacher slammed a bunch of books onto the desk which had Peter jumping from the loud sound and him grabbing between his legs tighter because he felt some pee escape and go into his underwear from the sudden noise.

He cringed and looked down because he really needed to go to the bathroom but he was too scared to ask.

Instead, Peter grabbed his books from his bag and moved over a bit so that the person in front of him blocked his view a bit so he could text his dad.

Peter: My supply teacher is mean

Peter: She yelled and I got scared

Tony: Aw bud. You probably won’t ever see her again after class

Peter: I need to go pee but I’m scared to ask her

Tomy: Ask her. Don’t hold it in. She can’t say no to you and if she does tell her to F off

Peter: I can’t say that

Tony: Go pee, Bud

Peter put his phone into his pocket and mentally psyched himself up to ask to go pee. After a lot longer than he would have liked, he raised his hand up and waited for the teacher to look at him.

“Yes?” The teacher asked and narrowed her eyes at him.

“Um… can I please go to the bathroom?” Peter asked nervously.

“I don’t know, can you?” The teacher, who’s name Peter still didn’t know, asked him.

Peter hesitated but nodded his head. “Y-yeah.”

“What’s your name?”

“Um, Peter.” Peter looked away from her and down at his lap.

“Are you sure that’s your name?” The teacher asked and got up to walk over to him. “Because you don’t sound sure.” She walked closer to him and crossed her arms, looking down at him. “I know you. You’re Stark’s kid.”

Peter nodded his head even though it wasn’t a question. She looked at his work and shook her head. “You can’t leave until you finish this page.”

“But… I really need to go, sir. Ma’am. I mean ma’am.” Peter set his jaw and stared straight ahead. He was going to get sent down to the office now or sent into the hallway.

“How old are you, Peter?” The teacher asked and Peter hesitated again.

“I’m Uh, fourteen.” Peter answered her.

“So then you can hold it. You’re old enough.” The teacher then turned and walked back to the desk and Peter looked down at his desk and his empty page. He didn’t know how to do any of the questions and he was only in class for ten minutes. There was no way he could hold his pee for that long.

He looked up at his teacher who was looking down at some papers on her desk so Peter pulled his phone out from between his legs and texted his dad back.

Peter: She said no and I said I have to pee bad

Tony: Peter, she can’t say no. Just walk out of the class. That’s not good for your body, buddy

Peter: No because I’m gonna get trouble

Tony: You can’t get in trouble for going to the bathroom so just go

Peter was about to type back when he heard a loud bang so he looked up and saw the teacher walking towards him. “I said absolutely no phones. Give me that.”

Before Peter could argue, his phone was pulled from his hands. “No. I’ll put it away. I will!”

“Sit down and do your work. You are not getting this back until the end of class.” The teacher said and tossed his phone into a drawer then slammed it.

Peter put his arms on his desk and put his head in them. He tried not to cry but he couldn’t stop himself from crying. His chest was hurting and now he was minutes away from completely soaking his seat because his bladder was throbbing.

Peter thought about his phone sitting in the teachers desk with the closest thing he had to his dad right now. He lifted his head up and whimpered because he needed to talk to his dad and now he couldn’t because he wasn’t allowed.

He thought back to his dad’s texts but he couldn’t just stand up and grab his phone. Could he?

Before Peter could even think about it, he was standing up and walking to his teachers desk. He sucked in a breath of air and looked at her. “Can I have my phone back?”

She looked up at him, not even concerned about the fact that he was obviously crying. “Sit back down. You will not get your phone back until the end of class.”

Peter thought about how his dad would handle this situation. No one would even dare to take Tony Stark’s phone.

“Give me my phone back.” Peter didn’t sound as intimidating as he thought he would. “I-I need to text my dad. Please.”

Peter started crying so he wiped aggressively at the tears and held his shaky hand out. “I need my phone.”

Peter was going to drop to the floor and start full on screaming bloody murder if the teacher didn’t give him his phone in the next ten seconds.

She looked at him up and down before shaking her head and opening the drawer to hand Peter his phone.

Peter saw five missed texts from his dad and walked back to his seat to grab his stuff then he left. He heard the teacher yelling at him to come back but he didn’t care.

He unlocked his phone and went onto his dad’s contact so he could call him to come and get him. He just wanted his dad to hold him in his arms and not do anything else.

The phone picked up on the second ring and Peter sobbed into the phone. “Dad. I want you to come pick me up.”

“Okay. I’m already on my way but what’s wrong, Peter? What happened?” Tony asked him and Peter could hear the fear in his voice.

“I… I wanted my phone cause she took it and-and then I got in trouble and I didn’t know how to do my math.” Peter sobbed out and struggled to put his jacket on which caused him to drop his phone down the stairs. He raced to the bottom of the stairs and picked it up with a sob. “I dropped my phone all the way down the stairs.”

“That’s okay. I’ll be there in ten minutes, buddy.” Tony reassured him and pressed on the gas a little bit harder.

Peter made his way outside of his school and walked down the steps while he stayed on the phone with his dad and listened to his reassurance that he so desperately needed to hear.

He saw Tony’s car pull up and Tony told him on the phone that he was there so Peter made his way over to his dad’s car and climbed into the seat after ripping open the door.

“Oh buddy.” Tony checked the front of Peter’s pants because he didn’t know if Peter had made it to the bathroom or not but it looked like he did. “It’s okay. I’m here now.”

Peter cried against his dad and wanted to sit himself down on his lap which was his favourite place in the world since he always felt so safe and loved but he couldn’t right now.

“I told you I didn’t want to go to school.” Peter cried out.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Tony didn’t regret sending Peter since he now knew what he needed to know.

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Tony was waiting for a call from Pepper while he sat on the couch with Peter and watched Craig of the Creek.

He didn’t understand the show but Peter liked it and it was actually pretty relaxing. Tony ran his fingers through Peter’s hair since his head was resting in his lap.

The show ended and Peter shifted on Tony’s lap so he was looking up at his dad. “I’m tired.”

“You can go to bed early tonight, Pete.” Tony told him and brushed some bangs off of Peter’s face.

“I wanna sleep now.” Peter stuck out his bottom lip and looked up at Tony with his puppy dog eyes.

“Look at the time, Pete. It’s too late to take a nap.” Tony didn’t want Peter sleeping past a certain time because then he wouldn’t go to bed at night and that’s the last thing Tony wanted right now.

“But… I can sleep for a little bit.” Peter said and went to get comfortable with his head in Tony’s lap but Tony turned him back over.

“No, Pete. How about you watch some more kids in the creek?” Tony asked him. He wished Peter begged to go to sleep at night time instead of begging for the remote. It was the opposite.

“Please. I’m so tired.” Peter rubbed at his eyes and let out a whimper.

“Fine. You can sleep for one hour and then I’m waking you up.” Tony hated that he was a pushover when it came to Peter but he was always so scared because he didn’t want Peter to start freaking out.

“Yeah. And I want to go sleep in your bed.” Peter sat up a bit to wait for Tony to follow him. “Are you coming?”

“You don’t want to sleep on the couch?” Tony asked him because he knew if Peter went to go sleep in his room then he would be sleeping longer than one hour.

“No, in your room.” Peter got up from the couch and grabbed the blanket that he brought down with him before. “And you have to tuck me in.”

Tony stood up, despite him not actually wanting to put Peter to sleep. The two of them went upstairs and Peter jumped on the bed then kicked his pants off and wrapped himself in the blanket.

“Just one hour, Pete. No longer than that.” Tony warned him one last time as he picked up the pants that Peter threw and put it in the dirty laundry basket.

“Yeah but unless I’m still tired then I get to sleep for longer.” Tony eyed Peter because he knew he shouldn’t be letting Peter get away with this.

“Sleep good and don’t let the bedbugs bite.” Peter laughed at that and shut his eyes.

Tony walked out of his bedroom, confused. It made no sense how Peter begged and cried for agony to sleep with him at bedtime but now, he was willingly going to sleep by himself. It made no sense.

Tony didn’t worry about that right now. He knew that Pepper was going to arrive any minute and talk to him about the interview she had with the two potential therapists.

He walked downstairs and arrived just in time for the elevator to open up. A smile appeared across his face as he walked over to Pepper and pulled her in for a hug. “Hey. I was going to respond to your texts but I was busy.”

Pepper pulled away from him and pressed a kiss to Tony’s cheek. Tony felt his stomach tingle. “It’s okay. Guess what?”

“What?”

“I interviewed both therapists and I really really like one of them. It’s up to you so I told her that you would call her and meet up with her for an interview some time today.” Pepper told him excitedly and walked past him to go into the kitchen and opened the fridge up.

“Did she seem… judgemental?” Tony asked and was a bit nervous for the answer.

“Not at all. She’s such a lovely lady so I really hope you like her.” Pepper grabbed a cup from the cabinet and turned back around. “I can watch Peter for an hour while you go interview her? Where is he?”

“Sleeping in my room.” Tony told her and started making his coffee.

“It’s two in the afternoon.”

Tony shrugged. “Yeah well… if I didn’t let him then he would have cried until he fell asleep so I need this therapist, Pepper.”

“I know. If you like her then we can have her talking to Peter by Monday.” She said and put her purse onto the counter then pulled out a file.

“What’s this?” Tony took it, confused.

“Her file. Some notes I made during the interview. You go. I’ll watch Peter. You’ll only be an hour anyways so let’s get moving forward with this.” Pepper walked past him and headed to the stairs.

Tony chugged the rest of his coffee and followed her. “Okay, well I have to shower and change first. And you have to wake Peter up in forty minutes otherwise he won’t sleep tonight. He didn’t want lunch so make him something to eat because he’ll probably be hungry.”

When they got to the top of the stairs, Pepper turned around and put her hand on Tony’s chest. “He’s fourteen. You’re acting like he’s a newborn baby, Tony. I will wake him up and feed him but he can tell me if he’s hungry or not.”

“Right. Yeah, I just… feel like I’m the dad of a baby sometimes so yeah.” Tony smiled weakly because Pepper was right, he needed to calm down a little bit.

They walked into Tony’s bedroom and both approached the bed. Peter was sleeping upside down with his legs bent up on the headboard in a butterfly stretch with one of his arms above his head and the other arm weakly holding his teddy bear against his side.

Pepper cooed at the sight and sat down. “He’s adorable. I feel like pinching his cheeks.”

Tony smiled as he grabbed his clothes from the closet. “Do it. He probably won’t wake up and it’s fine if he does. I’ll be quick in the bathroom.”

Pepper looked at Tony’s son’s sleeping form and reached a hand out to gently pull on one of his curls that was hanging in his face.

Tony came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, fully dressed in his suit and had his hair done. It amazed Pepper how quickly Tony could get ready to look so impeccable.

“I’ll see you both soon.” Tony walked over to the bed and leaned down to press a kiss to Peter’s forehead.

“We’ll see you later.” After Tony left, Pepper pulled out her phone to check the time and then grabbed the tv remote to try and pass the boring time until Peter woke up.

Peter started whining and shifted so he was lying on his stomach now with his legs tucked under him. Pepper rubbed his back and then Peter rolled onto his side. “Hi Peter. It’s time to wake up.”

Peter quickly pushed himself up and looked at Pepper then rubbed at his eyes and looked around the room. “Dad?”

Pepper smiled and rubbed Peter’s back again. “Your dad had to go to a last minute meeting but he’ll be back soon.”

Peter groaned and threw his head onto the bed. “When did he leave?”

“About fifteen minutes ago. Are you hungry?”

Peter lifted his head up again and rolled over so he could grab the remote from Pepper’s hands. “The other remote is the one from downstairs but dad brought it up last night.”

“Why did he bring it up?” Pepper asked him and turned off the tv with the other one.

“Because he said it was broken but he lied.” Peter told her and grabbed the other one from her so he could open the back up. “Let’s go bring it back downstairs.”

“Do you want to eat something after?” Pepper asked him and followed him off the bed.

“Yeah but dad said he’s gonna make pizza with me so I have to wait until he comes back. Is he gonna be back soon?” Peter asked and jumped down the last steps.

“He should be back in an hour.”

Peter stopped and turned to look up at her. “But when will he come back?”

Pepper didn’t understand what he meant. “He should be back in an hour, Peter.”

Peter didn’t understand why she was saying ‘should’. If his dad said an hour then he would be back in an hour. “Is he going anywhere else?”

“No. He’ll come back up in one hour.” Pepper told him again, a bit confused now.

“Okay.”

“Do you want to get started on the pizza so we can finish it when he comes back?” She asked him after he placed the remote onto the couch.

“Yeah!”

A little less than an hour later, that is what Tony came home to.

Peter was sitting on top of the kitchen island with his back to him while Pepper was rolling something out in front of Peter that Tony couldn’t see from his angle.

“What’s going on in here?” Tony asked them both of his favourite people ever turned to him at the same time. Tony wished he could come home to this every single day.

“Dad! You’re back!” Peter turned around and Tony saw the red sauce running down the front of his shirt and even on the front of his underwear, seeing that Peter didn’t bother to put any pants on after waking up. “Me and Pepper are making pizza. Come help us.”

Tony walked over to the two of them and gave Peter a side hug so the sauce didn’t get on him. “Mmm. Looks like you got more on your shirt than on the actual pizza.”

Pepper laughed and placed the bowl in front of Peter. “That’s because we didn’t put it on the pizza yet.”

“I’m gonna go change and come back down to help you guys.” Tony said and then pinched Peter’s cheek and went upstairs.

“Where’d you put the cheese?” Peter asked and looked around the kitchen island for the cheese.

“You keep eating so I put it in the fridge.” Pepper looked at Peter who was now trying to hold in his giggles. “Do you want me to take it out?”

Peter nodded his head. “Yes please. And grab the black olives. I need those too.”

“Ew. You’re just like your dad. Always eating strange toppings on pizza.” Pepper commented but grabbed the olives anyways and placed them in front of Peter.

Peter grinned. He liked it when people compared him to his dad. “Yeah and we both like extra pickles on our sandwiches.”

“And smooshed down real flat.” Tony finished for him as he walked over to the kitchen and pulled Peter across the table to hug him. “Hmm, what do we have here?” Tony plucked an olive from the jar and put it in his mouth then tried to take Peter off the kitchen table.

“No.” Peter struggled to grab onto the table. “I want to stay on.”

“Fine. Did Pepper say you could?” Tony asked Peter but looked over at Pepper because she was teaching his son bad habits.

“Well she didn’t say I couldn’t.” Peter grabbed another olive and popped it into his mouth.

Tony turned back to Pepper and raised his eyebrows at her. “Do you want marble or cheddar cheese?” She asked him.

Tony rolled his eyes playfully and then they got to work on their pizza building. It was his favourite thing to have both Peter and Pepper together because he loved watching them bond but he didn’t exactly know where he stood with Pepper.

He wanted to date her again and try to make it work but he knew that he couldn’t balance his life with Peter and add a relationship into the mix. It just wouldn’t work out since all of his time and attention was always on Peter.