Chapter Text
Peter groaned as he inevitably walked down the hall closer to the lab that the rest of his class was supposed to be in. He wasn’t exactly jumping for joy to go back and have to deal with.. whatever happened a couple hours prior.
Peter approached the glass doors of one of the labs on some floor, (he really wasn’t paying attention when the elevator was moving up) and stopped for a second.
Just a second to prepare.. Oh, and to check his phone and wander around before eventually having to actually go in and participate again!
…
Checking his phone it is!
Ned tried to be a good friend. He strived to be the supportive friend who didn’t question anything, to be the reliable friend who you could tell anything. So when he noticed that blank look on Peter’s face, he naturally asked him about it.
“Dude, are you okay?”
Peter had responded with some mumbled reply, one that Ned didn’t have the heart to figure out.
Christ, Peter was actually going to make him go into cardiac arrest from trying to guess what was wrong. Something always had to go wrong, hadn’t it?
Speaking of wrong, Peter looked..distant. His eyes weren’t really focused on anything at all, like he was lost in his thoughts.
Ned was worried.
Hopefully, this’ll go away soon, and the field trip would go well.What was he thinking? Field trips never went well for Peter.
Peter drummed his finger against his lap as he looked through messages.
Nedward: peter r u ok???
peter
peter
where r u
OMG!!!!!
wtf did u get kicked out
dude
srsly though. what happened
oh gods
you can just get like mr stark to fix tjis right
DUDE
answer pls :(
when u see this answer ok
but seriousldt im worried
dude
srry 4 not replying
also im fine u don’t need to worry
I was in security for something, I’ll tell u abt it later
I’m on my way back now :)
Peter sighed and then reluctantly switched off his phone. Whatever. He really hoped that no one saw him procrastinating outside, that would be embarrassing..
Fuck it. What’s the worst that could happen? (Actually, a lot of bad things could happen!! He got hauled to security and was probably fired for all his classmates know!) Whatever. We have to get this over with…
Peter hesitantly pushed the door, before realizing that is was actually a pull door, but not after fumbling with the door handle a couple of times. (Sheesh, what happened to the fancy sliding doors?)
When he stumbles in, he instantly picks up at the stares and whispers in the room. Even the scientists in the room are eying him! He shrinks and walks over to where Ned is sitting and the atmosphere in the room goes back to its original state. Honestly, Peter was expecting a lot more.
He scans the room for Flash, and spots him in the back corner, joking with his friends. Ned elbows Peter and asks him for details.
Peter explains, leaving some details out, especially the parts with Mr. Stark. Overall, it’s been a pretty normal field trip. Something goes wrong andPeter has a bad time. It’s basically the norm now!
The rest of the field trip goes pretty well, if Peter does say so for himself. He’s never actually been in the lower levels of SI, so seeing it is a marvel. Mr. Stark even asks him if he would like to join him in the lab!
“Hey, kid. I’ve been thinking, and i know you don’t have anything better to do at home, so what’d ya say about more lab nights? Evenings? Nights. Whatever. I could use your big brain around here, I mean, if you want to,” He’d say. “Oh, I already asked that unusually attractive aunt of yours, she said she’s fine with it. Spidey?”
And Peter would blink, unmoving, mouth slightly ajar. He’d reply with “Seriously, Mr. Stark?”
After Peter’s reply, Mr. Stark would look surprised and almost embarrassed, probably not expecting rejection. (Or so he assumed.)
And Peter would follow up with an enthusiastic “Of course! I would love to!”
And so, maybe field trips aren’t so bad.
While they were eating their takeout, Mr. Stark said, “Y’know, Pete, if you don’t want to do something, you don’t have to do it. Especially if you’re not feeling up to doing anything. I’m sure your friend Ted— What’s his name?”
“Ned, Mr. Stark.” Peter rolled his eyes and smiled.
“Yeah. Ned, Ted, same thing! Just know that we’re here for you, okay? I’m here for you. You can talk to me.” The older man replied, gently. Gentler than Peter had ever seen his mentor.
And suddenly he forgot all about the rice and teriyaki chicken in front of him. Everything just clicked, and he realized. He realized that Mr. Stark cared. That thought nearly brought him to tears.
“Mr. Stark..” He rasped.
“Peter. I’ve got you. You’re okay, okay bud?” His dad mentor shot back.
And when Peter leaned in for a hug, not really expecting anything, he was all but unfazed when Mr. Stark reciprocated. He hugged back tightly in the warm embrace, and felt the joy creep up through his veins, comforting and smelling like metal and oil. Peter breathed it in, felt it to his core, his very being encompassing him in this hug.
“Mr. Stark…” He’d repeat.
The mentioned smiles and then said, “Kid, we’ve talked about this. I’ve told you countless times. You can just call me Tony. Anything’s better than that!”
Peter chuckled wetly into Mr. Stark’s Tony’s shoulder. “Alright…Tony.”
Tony beamed, and then said, “Alright, enough hugging. The food’s getting cold. Also, we’ve got prototypes to work on. C’mon, Spider-Baby.”
Peter smiled right back, and decided, maybe today wasn’t such a bad day after all.