Work Text:
Tony put down his newspaper with a sigh. That was the fifth time this morning Peter had glanced over at him while fidgeting with his spoon before looking away again with a sigh.
“Hey Petey-Pie” Tony said in a sing-song voice.
Peter looked up at him with wide eyes. “Uhh… yeah?”
“Is there something you would like to ask me?”
“What? No,” Peter said, looking back down at his bowl and pushing the cereal around with his spoon. “Why do you ask?”
“Because you seem like you have something to say,” Tony said, taking a sip from his coffee cup.
“Uh, no. Nope,” Peter smiled with entirely too many teeth to be comfortable. “I’m good.”
Tony looked at him appraisingly for a moment before nodding and picking his paper up again.
“Actually, now that you mention it--”
Tony rolled his eyes with a huff, but put the paper down again, looking at Peter with a raised eyebrow.
“I know you’re going out of town for that meeting thing this weekend,” Peter started nervously, flicking his spoon back and forth between his fingers, “but I was hoping I could have a few people over on Saturday? Now, before you say anything, I--”
“How many is a few?” Tony interrupted with a frown.
“--oh. Uh… the decathlon team?”
Tony hummed noncommittally.
“I just figured since you said you didn’t want me going on patrol while you were gone and May is going to visit her friend, I wanted something to do this weekend. And it’s not like we’d be doing anything, we’re just gonna study and watch movies or--”
“Okay.”
Peter blinked. “Wait, what?”
“I said ‘okay’,” Tony said with a smile, folding up his paper and draining the last of his coffee. “You’re a good kid. If you want to have some friends over, I don’t mind. I trust you.”
“Really?” Peter said, a giant grin lighting up his face.
“Really,” Tony said as he stood. “But just a few, okay? Nothing crazy.”
“Oh, yeah, yeah, totally,” Peter reassured him, getting up and putting his bowl in the sink.
“Though, if you’re inviting the whole decathlon team…” Tony started, giving him a look.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Peter said, waving him off, “I’ll keep an eye on Flash. Or… Michelle will.”
“Yeah, that girl is… terrifying,” Tony mumbled. He shuddered dramatically before grabbing his suitcase and the car keys. “Alright, let’s go. I gotta drop you off before my meeting.”
Tony had barely turned towards the elevator before he suddenly had a teenager attached to his chest.
“Thanks, Tony,” Peter said as he hugged him.
“You’re welcome,” Tony said with a laugh. He put his arm on the boy's shoulders for a moment, squeezing lightly, before pulling him back and pushing him towards the elevator. “Now, let’s go. At this rate we’ll both be late.”
Peter nodded with a smile and ran off to grab his backpack.
~~
“No way,” Ned whispered, eyes wide as saucers.
It was lunchtime and Peter decided to tell Ned about the decathlon get together at his house before announcing it at the decathlon meeting after school that day.
“Yes way,” Peter said with a laugh. “Ned, you’ve been to the tower before. You had dinner with me and Tony last week .”
“Yeah, but-- but I haven’t been with other people around! Now they’re gonna have to believe that you really do know Mr. Stark! They’ll finally stop making fun of you behind your back!“
“People are making fun of me behind my back?” Peter asked with a frown.
“That’s not the point,” Ned waved him off dismissively, “the point is, now they won’t !”
“Well, don’t get too excited,’ Peter said, rolling his eyes and taking a bite from his apple, “If I invite the whole decathlon team, that means--”
“Oh,” Ned grimaced, “ Flash.”
“Yeah,” Peter frowned. “But Tony won’t be there, so he can’t completely embarrass us. Maybe it won’t be too bad! I think between Michelle and FRIDAY we’ll be able to keep him in line.”
“Still,” Ned said, gaining enthusiasm again, “This is going to be so cool! Party at Peter’s house!”
“You throwing a party, Parker?”
Peter jumped, not having noticed Flash walking up behind him. Flash was looking at him expectantly, arms folded.
“W-well, not a party ,” Peter stammered, suddenly flustered. “I was just going to suggest having a little get together at my place for the Decathlon team on Satur--”
“At your place,” Flash scoffed, staring at Peter with amusement, “you mean Stark Tower .”
“T-that… that is where I live sometimes, yes.”
“Of course. Because Tony Stark just decided to adopt you.”
“Well, technically he has joint custody but—“
“Right,” Flash said with a smirk, rolling his eyes, “and the Black Widow is my mom.”
“They talked about this in the news for weeks , why do you still not-“
“Well, I guess we’ll find out if that’s true at your party tomorrow.”
“It-- it’s not a party ,” Peter tried to insist one more time, “I--”
“I bet next you’re going to tell us Tony Stark himself will be there--”
“Actually, Mr. Stark is going out of tow— ow !” Ned cut off with a grunt when Peter elbowed his side.
“Throwing a party while the parents are out of town,” Flash said, actually sounding impressed. “That’s ballsy, Parker.”
“Okay, first, he’s not- he’s not my parent , and second, I mean, he knows I’m having a few people over but just the decath—”
“Stark is letting you throw a party while he’s out of town?” Flash laughed. “Damn, I wish my parents were that cool. Perks of Tony Stark being your dad I guess. We all know what he was like.”
“ It’s not a-- ”
But Flash was no longer paying attention, instead turning to address the cafeteria and raising his arms to get everybody’s attention.
“Ladies, gentlemen, and nerds! You heard it here first,” Flash shouted to the cafeteria at large, smirking at Peter. “Party at Parker’s place, Stark Tower, Saturday night! Be there to finally find out if Parker is full of shit or not!”
As Flash walked away, the whole cafeteria lit up with noise. Everyone was talking excitedly amongst themselves and pulling out their phones to text and call their friends. Peter had no doubt the whole school would be buzzing about his “party” by the end of the day. There was no way Peter was going to be able to refute what Flash had said without making a fool of himself to everyone.
“Dude, what am I gonna do,” Peter whispered urgently to Ned as he turned back around. “Tony said I could have the decathlon team over this weekend, not the entire school . I’m so dead!”
“Yes, this looks bad, but look at the bright side—“
“ Bright side? ” Peter exclaimed incredulously, “Ned, there is no bright side. I need to call Tony and—“
“Woah, woah, woah, let’s not get too hasty. Calm down and think of the positives here,” Ned said, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Did Tony ever say that you… couldn’t have a ‘party’ this weekend? Did those words ever leave his mouth?”
Peter glared at Ned before crossing his arms on the table and dropping his head onto them.
“I’m just saying,” Ned said diplomatically. “Tony said you could have a few people over this weekend, but he never specified how many a few meant.”
“Ned, that is the weakest argument ever,” Peter mumbled into his arms.
“Maybe,” Ned shrugged, “but it should work to keep FRIDAY quiet, right?”
Peter lifted his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Maybe? It seems like a stretch.”
“We’ll try it,” Ned said, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “If it doesn’t work, the worst she does is tell Tony before it even happens. If it does… ” Ned held his hands up and shrugged.
“Yeah… maybe...” Peter hedged, still a little unsure. He could feel his resolve slowly breaking.
“Besides, the party would be Saturday night, right? And you said Tony wouldn’t be back until Sunday night. We just have to keep FRIDAY quiet and make sure we clean everything up after and Tony will never be the wiser.”
“I don’t know about this, Ned.”
“Oh, come on!” Ned exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “This could be huge for us, Peter. We’ve always been the losers of this school because of Flash and his bullshit. If we could pull this off, we’d be kings of the school! And Flash would never be able to give you shit about knowing Tony Stark ever again.”
“I guess….”
“Come on, Peter,” Ned begged, “pleeeeease?”
Peter bit his nail as he thought about it a little longer. He knew it was a bad idea. He knew it. But the longer he looked at Ned with his wide, infectious smile and his begging puppy dog eyes, the more he could feel himself crack.
“Okay,” Peter said, and Ned cheered. “ Okay , we’ll give this a try. It probably won’t be too bad, right?”
~
“This,” Peter shouted over the noise, staring at the penthouse in horror, “is bad.”
There were people everywhere . Peter hadn’t even realized this many people went to their school. There were lights flashing everywhere and music blasting so loudly the bass was making the chandelier shake. Twice he’d already had to stop people from touching things they shouldn’t. There were cups and trash everywhere. He could barely think over how loud the music was.
“Are you kidding?” Ned shouted back. “This is fantastic! We’ll be super popular!”
“Ned, I don’t care about being popular!” Peter said, looking at Ned incredulously. “If Tony finds out about this he’s going to kill me! There are so many people here I’m pretty sure most of them don’t even go to school with us! I saw kids drinking in the kitchen, and I swear I saw someone smoking on the balcony.”
“Oh,” Ned said, looking around again, still unconcerned. “Yeah, that’s not good.”
“Parker!”
Peter turned just in time to catch an armful of Flash as he stumbled over to them, red solo cup in hand, eyes slightly red and glossy.
“Nice Peter, party,” Flash slurred. He stopped and scrunched up his face in confusion before turning to Peter again. “I mean, nice party, Peter.”
“Are you high ?” Peter asked, his arms going to steady Flash as he listed to the side.
“Maaaaaaaybe a little,” Flash said with a low giggle. “I gotta say, Parker, I didn’t think you had it in you. But here we are! Stark Tower! Guess I was wrong.”
“Thanks,” Peter said dryly, wishing he could stop freaking out long enough to enjoy Flash sucking up to him.
“No problem,” Flash said, hand coming up to pat the top of Peter’s head but missing by a long shot. He ended up mostly just slapping at Peter’s nose with his fingers. Peter shoved him off, and he moved on to stumble onto the couch.
“Okay,” Ned said, looking at Flash uncertainty, “Maybe this is bad.”
“Really?” Peter asked sarcastically. “You don’t say?”
Something crashed and shattered behind him and Peter closed his eyes and dropped his head into his hands with a pitiful groan.
“I am so dead.”
~
“Did Tony give a reason why he wanted to meet with us tonight instead of Monday?”
”Nope,” Clint said, playing with a band-aid on his arm. “I have long since given up trying to understand the inner mechanisms of Tony Stark’s mind. It’s too complicated.”
“I guess,” Steve sighed, watching the numbers in the elevator go up as they approached the penthouse.
“But hey, this way we get to embarrass Peter in front of his friends until Tony gets here,” Clint smirked.
“True,” Steve inclined his head. “I wonder if he told Peter he was coming back early. He didn’t say.”
“Dunno,” Clint shrugged, “but those kids are in for the shock of their lives when Hawkeye, Captain America, and Iron Man crash their nerd get together.”
The elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal the entryway to the penthouse. As the doors opened they heard a loud, reverberating thumping along with the muffled sound of a large group of people talking and making noise.
Steve and Clint glanced at each other before walking forward to open the door to the penthouse. As soon as the door opened their senses were assaulted. Loud music blared from speakers all over the penthouse, the bass loud enough Steve could feel it vibrating in his chest. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds of people in the apartment, all either jumping and dancing around to the music or standing around trying to shout at each other over the deafening noise.
“If I quit your BM, I still ride Mercedes, funk
If I quit this season, I still be the greatest, funk”
“My left stroke just went viral!” The crowd of people all shouted along with the song.
“What,” Steve said, looking at the crowd with wide eyes.
“Oh, Stark ,” Clint said, shaking his head slowly, a smirk creeping across his face, “Parenting 101: never leave the teenager home alone unsupervised for the weekend.”
“ Peter did this?!” Steve asked incredulously. “I thought Tony said his decathlon team was staying the night?”
“Obviously, Parker lied,” Clint said with a laugh, stepping into the penthouse. “Or stretched the truth quite a bit.”
Clint took a step back to avoid the green faced teenager that ran past them, hand pressed tight over his mouth and eyes wide in panic.
“Doesn’t this seem a little out of character for Peter, to you?” Steve asked, looking around the room dubiously.
“Oh, definitely,” Clint said confidently, maneuvering his way through bumping and grinding teenagers in search of one, particular brown haired teen. “But peer pressure can be one hell of a thing, Steve, let me tell you. Parker is probably in a tizzy by now.”
They searched through the large crowd for a few minutes trying to find Peter before finally giving up and stopping another kid to ask for help.
“Woah, you’re Hawkeye!” The kid exclaimed, stumbling in a way that made it clear he was drunk. “And you’re Captain ‘Merica! This is... so cool!”
“That’s one word for it,” Clint said dryly, looking the kid over with narrowed eyes. “We’re looking for Peter Parker. You seen him lately?”
“Oh, yeah, Peter!” The kid slurred, looking around the room and scratching his head. “Uh… last I saw he was in the kitchen trying to clean up Justin’s puke, hah.”
“Great,” Clint sighed, sharing another look with Steve. “Thanks, kid.”
“No problem!” The kid yelled, tilting to the side slightly before catching himself on the wall.
“Where did they even get alcohol,” Steve hissed in Clint’s ear as they shoved their way to the kitchen. “I thought Tony went clean months ago.”
“BYOB, probably,” Clint shrugged, “‘bring-your-own-beer.’ It wasn’t uncommon for this type of party back in my day.”
“’ Back in my day ,’” Steve murmured under his breath with a snort.
They slowly made their way closer to the kitchen area until they bumped into someone as they were walking out.
“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t—“ Peter cut himself off as he glanced up and realized who he ran into. His eyes widened and the color quickly drained from his face.
“Oh, god,” Peter gasped, eyes flickering back and forth between the two men in front of him. “Clint! S-Steve! What are you doing here?”
“That’s a good question,” Steve said, eyebrows drawing together as he looked down at Peter with a frown. “I think a better question is, what are you doing here?”
“Oh, you know,” Peter said, waving a hand in an attempt to appear nonchalant and failing. “Uh… I invited a few friends over. Things got a little crazy, you know how it is. But! But I have everything under control. It’s-- it’s fine.”
Something shattered down the hall to a chorus of groans and laughter. Peter tried and failed not to flinch. Clint tilted his head and Steve crossed his arms over his chest with a frown.
“Please don’t tell Tony,” Peter begged finally, eyes looking defeated.
Steve raised an eyebrow. Peter gulped and tried not to wilt under Steve’s disapproving stare.
“Don’t worry, Pete,” Clint smiled, stepping forward and clapping Peter on the shoulder. “We’re not gonna tell Tony.”
“Oh, thank god,” Peter sighed, shoulders slumping in relief. “Thank you so--”
“We don’t need to. Because he’s standing right behind you,” Clint smirked, gaze shifting over Peter’s shoulder.
Peter felt dread fill his stomach and he clenched his eyes shut. Slowly, cautiously, he turned around. When he opened his eyes he was standing face to face with a visibly angry Tony Stark.
His arms were crossed, and his jaw was clenched shut, lips pursed together in a thin line.
Peter gulped. “Oh, shit.”
“Yeah,” Tony said, narrowing his eyes at the boy in front of him, “‘ oh shit.’ ”
Peter felt his face and neck heat up in humiliation, caught between Clint’s amused smirk and Steve and Tony’s visible Stare of Disappointment. Huh. Didn’t know Steve taught Tony that one.
Tony looked around the room as the party carried on around them, unaware of the explosion that was about to occur. He turned back to give Peter a once over before walking over to the dining table and climbing on top.
“FRIDAY, cut the music and bring up the lights to 100%.”
Confusion was evident across the room as the bumping bass of the music stopped suddenly, and groans followed as the lights were brought up to full brightness. Many people had to duck and cover their eyes.
“Hey!” Tony yelled over the murmuring and confusion. Everyone turned to look at him and froze when they realized who it was.
“I’m going to count down from five,” Tony said, brow furrowed, his voice tight, “and if anyone is left in this house when I get to zero, it is not going to be pretty.”
Nobody moved.
Tony bared his teeth. “ Five.”
Everyone jumped and turned as one, pushing and shoving to get out the door that led to the entryway with the elevator and the staircase. Faster than Peter even thought physically possible, the entire room was cleared out of people. Tony hadn’t even made it to two yet.
Once the room was sufficiently clear, Tony hopped off the table and made his way back over to Peter. Peter tried not to shuffle around under Tony’s glare, and desperately tried to ignore the two Avengers watching the two of them from behind Peter.
“Explain,” Tony grit out through clenched teeth.
Peter fidgeted with his sleeve for a moment, glancing around the room to avoid meeting Tony’s eye.
“Well, you-- you said I could have a few people over so I--”
“A few,” Tony said with a humorless laugh, turning away and rubbing a hand over his brow. “I said a few people, Peter. That usually implies less than ten, not two hundred! ”
Peter heard Clint and Steve shift around behind him.
“Well I-- I just--”
“Do you understand how dangerous this is?” Tony yelled, gesturing around the room with his hand. “Do you not realize how compromising it is to have a fuck ton of random unapproved strangers in the penthouse? Someone could have hurt themselves or gotten their hands on something they shouldn’t have! You compromised FRIDAY! Not to mention there were minors drinking and—“
“Is that weed ?”
Everyone froze and turned to look down at the coffee table Clint was standing next to. In his hand was a baggie of what was most definitely pot.
“Peter Benjamin Parker—“
“That is not mine!” Peter shouted, holding his hands out in front of him placatingly. “I swear, I’ll do a drug test right now, I did not smoke that—“
“I mean, with your metabolism it’d probably be out of your system by now anywa--”
Clint cut off with a groan as Steve elbowed him in the side.
“Tony, please ,” Peter begged, ignoring the commotion behind him, “I swear, I didn’t plan for this to happen, okay? The whole thing just got out of hand, none of this is my fault!”
“Dude, there’s literally marijuana on your coffee table, that’s pretty incriminating—“
“ That is not mine—“
“ Enough!” Tony shouted over top of their bickering. “Both of you stop talking or else you’re both grounded!”
“You can’t ground me,” Clint scoffed, glancing over at Steve.
Steve quickly shook his hand, holding his hands up and stepping back in an ‘I’m-not touching-this-one’ gesture.
“Grounded?!” Peter exclaimed, turning back to Tony with wide eyes.
“Yes, grounded--”
“But—“
“ Ah, zip it !” Tony yelled, face flushed. “You lost the right to argue when you threw a giant party without permission—“
“ But I didn’t—“
“No computer unless it’s for homework, no cellphone except to text and call me, May, or Happy, no Avengers, no video games, no lab time—“
“Oh, come on —“
“—and no patrolling for at least a month!”
Peter gaped at him. “A month? Are you serious? ”
“You wanna make it two?” Tony yelled, “Go ahead and say something else, see where that gets you!”
Peter, wisely, said nothing further. His hands clenched into fists and he glared at Tony, but otherwise didn’t speak.
Tony glared at Peter a moment longer before sighing deeply, his shoulders dropping. He looked away and closed his eyes, taking two deep, measured breaths before turning back to Peter.
“We shouldn’t do this right now,” Tony huffed, running his hands over his face and through his hair. “We both need to cool off. Go to your room, I’ll come talk to you in a bit.”
Peter didn’t move, simply continued to stare at Tony with fire in his eyes. Tony raised an eyebrow.
“Do I need to count ? Are we going there?” Tony asked incredulously.
Peter continued to stare.
Tony kept his face carefully blank as he turned to point down the hall toward Peter’s room.
“ One,” Tony grout out, “ two--”
Peter huffed and rolled his eyes, but stomped off in the direction of his room obediently. Tony closed his eyes and jerked back when he heard the bedroom door slam shut so hard they could hear it crack from the living room.
Tony breathed in deeply and ran his hands over his face and through his hair, pulling it a little at the ends.
“Right,” Clint clapped, causing both Steve and Tony to look over at him. “I’m getting the feeling it’s probably best to put a pin in our meeting for now, so Steve and I will just go back to the compound. We’ll let you deal with… this, ” Clint gestured vaguely, “and we’ll leave! What do you say, Steve?”
“I agree,” Steve said quickly, nodding vigorously.
“Cool,” Clint smiled, voice painfully cheerful. “So we’re just gonna… yeah.”
He quickly turned and pushed on Steve’s shoulder, trying to get him to move as well.
Tony breathed in and out deeply through his nose, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples with his fingers.
“Actually,” Clint said, stopping by the coffee table with the baggie on it, “I’m going to confiscate this, because I am not only a government agent, but I am also a responsible adu—“
Steve quickly smacked the hand holding the incriminating baggie and Clint hissed and dropped the bag back into the table.
“Watch the super strength, dude,” Clint mumbled and Steve pushed him out of the penthouse and into the elevator foyer.
Tony ignored them and looked around the room at the trashed and destroyed state of his home. His shoulders slumped as the fury fled him, leaving an old, bone tiredness in its wake.
He walked over and collapsed onto the couch. He dropped his head into his hands and put pressure on his eyes to try and alleviate the headache he could feel forming across his eyes, forehead, and temples.
This was certainly not how he expected his day to end.
~
Peter sat fuming on his bed for a while, resisting the urge to punch his pillow, unwilling to destroy more of his stuff after he accidentally cracked the door.
Grounded. Grounded. For a month! He couldn’t go patrolling for a whole month! Did Tony not realize how much could happen in that time? How many people could get hurt, how much harm Peter could prevent as Spider-Man that was going to happen because he was being treated like a misbehaving puppy.
You did misbehave, a traitorous part of his mind whispered. You threw a huge party and you knew it was wrong but you did it anyway.
But it wasn’t even his fault. Stupid Flash and his stupid big mouth were the ones to blame.
You could have stopped it, the voice said, sounding suspiciously like MJ. But you didn’t. Flash didn’t make you do that. Peter buried his face in the pillow and yelled.
He knew the party was dumb. He knew he should have gone to Tony or Happy or any of the Avengers or even just stood up to Flash himself. He knew that.
But he was just… so tired. He was so tired of being the school laughing stock. Of being made fun of. Of being the loser.
And it was so stupid, too. He knew, logically, that what his fellow students thought about him, what they said about him at that moment, was not going to matter once high school was over. He knew that their opinions shouldn’t matter. He knew he should just ignore them, live his life and be happy with what he has. Because he was happy. He was happy with his friends and his grades and his place on the decathlon team, he was happy with his family, with May and Tony and the other Avengers. And he was happy and proud knowing that he was using his power to the best of his ability to help other people. He knew this.
But it was still hard. It was hard to hear the whispers in the halls and know they are about you. It was hard not to flinch away, to pull back, to feel hurt and upset that other people may think so badly of you for no reason.
Peter didn’t think having one party at the tower would solve the problem. Especially since the adoption went public. But he had hoped, at the very least, that it would lessen it. That maybe people wouldn’t whisper as much. They wouldn’t laugh at him as much. That maybe Flash, at the very least, would cool off and stop teasing as much.
(MJ would argue that he wouldn’t because Flash was just using bullying as a way to hide his jealousy but why the hell would Flash of all people be jealous of Peter? As far as he knew, Peter was just some poor orphan kid with good grades. Why would Flash want that? )
Peter rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling.
It was stupid. Peter knew it was stupid. He shouldn’t have done it.
But grounded for a month? No Spider-Man for a month ? So much could happen in a month and if Peter isn’t there to stop it--
His thoughts were derailed when his stomach cramped and he heard a growl.
“Friday, what time is it?”
“It is currently 1:28 AM, Mini Boss.”
Peter groaned, rubbing his face with his hands.
He hadn’t eaten all night. He was so nervous he could barely eat before everyone started showing up, and afterward, when it was clear that the party was going to be much worse than he’d realized, he didn’t have time to eat. Between stopping nosy teenagers from exploring the Tower, to hiding away Stark tech, to corralling drunk and high party goers, he hadn’t even thought to stop and eat something.
He needed to eat. With his metabolism, he would regret it in the morning if he didn’t.
But, shit, what if Tony was still out there? He’d told Peter to go to his room. But Tony also always said to make sure Peter didn’t go too long without food.
He laid in bed, chewing his lip before mentally shrugging and getting up. Maybe Tony already went to bed. He’d been working all weekend and his flight clearly got in late. Or maybe he went down to his workshop to try and cool off.
The light was still on in the living room when he walked down the hall and he cursed under his breath. He should probably go back and just wait for Tony. He was already pretty angry earlier and Peter really didn’t want to risk being grounded even longer-
His stomach growled loudly and he sighed. He didn’t know how much longer Tony would take and if he didn’t eat something soon he was going to regret it.
Maybe if he crawled across the room on the ceiling Tony wouldn’t see him--
Peter stopped at the end of the hall when he heard two voices coming from the living room.
“Damn Tones, I never took you for the killjoy type of dad.”
“Oh, fuck off.”
Peter stuck his head around the corner. Tony had taken his suit jacket and tie off, his collar unbuttoned and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had a gallon sized trash bag in his hand, and he was walking around the living room picking up red solo cups, empty bottles, and trash. Rhodey’s upper body was projected from the hologram screen on the bar.
“I’m just saying, maybe you were a little too harsh on him?”
“He had a giant rager in the house while I was out of town, Rhodey,” Tony said, reaching down to grab another red solo cup and wave it in Rhodey’s direction. “There was underage drinking . And drugs! Of the illegal variety , honeybear!”
“Believe me, the irony of the situation is not lost on me,” Rhodey said flatly, “in fact, I think you’re being a little hypocritical right now.”
Tony barked a loud, humorless laugh.
“Oh, please— “
“I’m just saying! I highly doubt he asked you to have friends over with the intention of going behind your back. And even if he did, you and I got up to a lot worse when we were his age,” Rhodey gave him a pointed look.
“Oh god,” Tony said, stopping his cleaning to look at Rhodey with wide-eyed horror, “is this how Jarvis felt? Rhodey, he’s getting revenge from beyond the grave!”
“Yes, I’m sure that is what this is,” Rhodey said dryly, rolling his eyes. His face held amusement nonetheless.
“J, I’m so sorry -“
“See what I mean though? Compared to the stuff we used to do, this was pretty tame.”
“Yeah, except the stakes aren’t the same here,” Tony said, anger back in his tone. He threw the trash bag to the ground in frustration. “Even without being Spider-Man, he’s not just a regular teenager. Do you know how dangerous it was to have that many teenagers in Avengers Tower without adult supervision? Let alone drunk teenagers! What if someone had gotten into something they shouldn’t have, gotten their hands on something dangerous? Avengers level weaponry is kept in this tower, Rhodes. People could’ve gotten hurt. And—and what if someone decided to attack the tower while I was gone? Peter knows how to handle himself in a situation like that, and I have faith in his ability to keep himself safe until backup could arrive, but with 200 extra people? Civilians? What would he have done then?”
Peter closed his eyes and let his head thunk back gently against the wall. He hadn’t even thought of that - how much trouble everyone would’ve been in if something had happened. A lot of people could’ve been hurt.
“Yeah, I see your point.”
“Look, I don’t think this is his fault. Frankly, I don’t think he has it in him to do something this dumb on purpose,” Tony sighed, resting his hands on his hips and tipping his head back to look at the ceiling. “I just can’t stop thinking about why he didn’t just tell me when things got out of hand. If he had been honest with me from the moment things went wrong I wouldn’t have been mad. I thought he was smarter than this.”
“Spider-Man or no, he’s still just a teenager, Tones,” Rhodey said softly. “As amazing as Peter is, he was bound to make a mistake eventually. I think we forget sometimes that underneath all the responsibility and spandex, he’s still just a kid.”
Tony grimaced. “Yeah… yeah, trust me, I know.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I think what he did was stupid,” Rhodey reassured him, “but maybe don’t be too harsh on him? Like I said, I highly doubt this was entirely his fault.”
“Ok,” Tony sighed, collapsing into the couch and rubbing his hands over his face, “Yeah. You’re right.”
“Of course I am,” Rhodey smirked, before turning serious. “Honestly though, the fact that this happened could be a good sign.”
Tony let out a surprised laugh. “Oh yeah? How’s that?”
“It means he’s getting comfortable enough in you guys’ relationship to try and push your boundaries a little bit. He’s starting to test and see what he can and can’t get away with around you,” Rhodey said with a smile. “He recognizes you as the authority figure now.”
Tony looked thoughtful at Rhodey’s words, but didn’t respond.
“Alright, well. It’s late, I’m gonna head out. Go deal with your son.”
“He’s not my-“
“You literally adopted him, Stark,” Rhodey waved him off, “I’ll see you Monday. Let me know how it goes.”
Rhodey hung up and the hologram above the bar disappeared, leaving the room suddenly darker. Tony heaved a sigh as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, head cradled in his hands.
He looked so tired, Peter thought with a pang of guilt in his stomach.
He turned around, deciding to go back to his room and suffer waiting to eat until morning-
“I know you’re back there, Pete. You can come out.”
He stopped in the hallway and debated ignoring Tony, pretending he hadn’t heard him and just going to bed. But he turned and walked into the living room obediently, finding it best to go ahead and get the disappointed speeches over with.
“How did you know I was here?” Peter asked as he walked slowly to the living room, hands wrapped around his arms, hugging himself.
“I saw you poke your head around the corner,” Tony said with a wry grin. “For someone with sneaky spider powers, you’re not very stealthy.”
Peter didn’t know how to respond, and instead just stood there awkwardly, avoiding Tony’s eye and waiting for the yelling to start.
To his surprise, Tony just sighed and leaned back more comfortably onto the couch.
“Pop a squat, kid,” he said, patting the seat next to him. “Tell me exactly what happened tonight, because I know this was not your idea.”
Peter hesitated before walking over slowly, head hung to avoid meeting Tony’s eyes. His mind suddenly flashed back to the last time Tony had yelled at him the way he had tonight, so long ago after the Ferry incident. He sat down stiffly on the couch, leaving a respectable gap between himself and the other man.
They sat in awkward silence for a long moment before Tony huffed. Suddenly there was an arm around Peter’s shoulders and he was being pulled backwards on the couch. He let himself be guided back and tucked against Tony’s side until his head was resting against Tony’s chest by his shoulder. When Peter still didn’t uncurl, Tony lifted his hand and ran his fingers through Peter’s hair. Against his will, he felt himself start to relax slowly.
“Unfair,” Peter mumbled once he wasn’t so tense.
“Talk,” Tony said, not unkindly.
Peter sighed and dropped his arms from around his stomach to nervously fiddle with his fingers.
“I would like to state for the record that this was not my fault. Not entirely my fault,” he amended when Tony snorted. “It was only like--”
“If you say it was 12% your fault I’m going to throw you out the window.”
Peter smiled slightly. He could practically hear Tony roll his eyes.
“I really did only plan to have the decathlon team over,” he started, “I was going to ask them after practice yesterday. But then… when I was telling Ned about it at lunch… Flash overheard and--”
“ Flash, ” Tony scoffed, “of course.”
Peter grimaced.
“Yeah… he overheard me and shouted for the whole school to hear that Peter Parker was throwing a party at Avengers Tower Saturday night and everyone was invited. It all went downhill from there.”
He felt Tony nod, his hand still carding slowly through his curls and breaking up the gel that had been holding them in place.
“Okay,” Tony said slowly, “that explains why there were so many people. But that doesn’t explain why you didn’t try to contact me or Rhodey or any of the other Avengers in town, nor does it explain why you decided to do some weird logistical gymnastics on FRIDAY to keep her from telling me about it.”
Peter said nothing for a long moment, fiddling with his fingers. He was picking at the cuticles on his right hand, making them red and irritated, until Tony dropped his hand from Peter’s hair to grab a hold of his hands and pull them apart.
“Sorry,” Peter mumbled, sniffling a little.
“Pete…”
Peter sighed.
“I just… I’ve never exactly been… the coolest guy in school.” He felt his neck burn in embarrassment and ducked his head. “And I know that doesn’t matter! I know. It shouldn’t matter what other people think of me, but it… it does, you know?”
He felt Tony turn his head to press his chin against Peter’s temple.
“Ned mentioned…” he trailed off, biting his lip. “Ned mentioned that people still think I’m lying… about knowing you, or about our relationship or how we know each other…. A lot of people think I’m just some poor orphan boy or a charity case that you took on to get good PR. And the other kids at school, they… they talk about me. Behind my back. Still , even after the adoption went public. I just… I wanted to have one night where I could show everyone that I’m not a liar… I’m not stupid or attention-seeking. I just… I don’t know.”
Tony sighed and Peter felt him press a kiss to his temple.
“Peter, I know high school is… hard-” Peter snorted. “-but those kids… what they think, what they say. None of it matters.”
“I know that,” Peter stressed, turning his face further into Tony’s shirt. “I know. And normally I can ignore it, but… it starts to build up, you know? Just because it shouldn’t bother me doesn’t mean it won’t .”
Tony rubbed his hand down Peter’s arm.
“I know. Trust me, squirt, I know.”
“And I think…” Peter trailed off, unsure.
Tony hummed.
“I think a part of me just wanted to be… normal,” Peter confessed quietly, closing his eyes against the sudden burn within them. He hadn’t realized it before but saying it out loud he realized it was true. “Not some… freak or a loser or a superhero. Just a normal kid having a normal party while his parents are out of town and making stupid decisions.”
They both sat there quietly for a moment, breathing in the quiet of the room. Tony took a deep breath and shifted slightly, bringing his other hand up to Peter’s chin.
“Hey, look at me.”
Peter craned his neck up to look in Tony’s eyes. He looked so tired, but his eyes were soft.
“I know this isn’t easy for you,” Tony said softly, running his hand through Peter’s hair. “Trying to balance being a kid with being a superhero. I’m sure the adoption going public on top of all that just makes things worse. I understand wanting to feel normal.”
Tony stopped, grimacing as some unidentifiable emotion flashed through his eyes.
“But Pete… I’m sorry to say, but you’re not normal. It’s not fair that you have to deal with all of this stuff so young. But you’re never going to be normal again, kiddo. There are things that you can’t do, things you have to remember and be responsible for, even though you’re still a kid. Things you can’t afford to ignore like you did tonight.
What you did tonight was dangerous. No one knew all these kids were here. What if something happened? What if there was an attack? What if something went wrong? Everyone here would have been in danger and you would have to handle it on your own. You messed with Friday, Peter. You don’t know that she would have been able to contact me or anyone else if something went wrong.”
“I know,” Peter mumbled. “I didn’t think about it.”
Tony’s lips flickered up in a quick grin, overly fond. “I figured. You aren’t the type to willfully put people in danger.”
Peter shrugged, avoiding Tony’s eyes.
Tony poked his cheek and Peter glared up at him.
“You should have told me,” Tony said firmly, but kindly. “I’m not mad that things got out of hand. I’m mad you tried to hide it. I don’t- I don’t want you to feel like you need to sneak around behind my back. I want you to feel like you can always come to me if something goes wrong, okay? Next time something like this happens, tell me . And if you can’t tell me, tell Rhodey or Steve or Happy. Tell someone . Because this cannot happen again.”
“Yes, sir,” Peter mumbled, burying his face in Tony’s chest.
“Oh, don’t do that,” Tony sighed sadly, wrapping both arms around Peter’s shoulders and pulling him against his chest. “You make me sound so old.”
“You are old,” Peter joked around the wetness in his voice. Thankfully, Tony didn’t acknowledge it.”
“Oi,” Tony said, a smile clear in his voice. “You’re already grounded, let’s not push it.”
Peter groaned into Tony’s shirt and he felt Tony’s laugh rumble in his chest under his ear.
“Do I really have to be grounded for a month?”
“I’ve been told it’s a typical punishment for teenagers who get into trouble, yes.”
Peter huffed, rolling his eyes. He pulled back to look fully at the other man and Tony let him go.
“I mean do I really not get to be Spider-Man for a month?”
Tony frowned. “The world isn’t going to end if you don’t go out for three weeks, Peter.”
“Maybe not, but what if,” Peter stopped and swallowed the anxiety building in the back of his throat. He fisted his hands in his shirt. “A lot can happen in a month. I need to be out there. If I can stop people from getting hurt--”
“Peter,” Tony said, sitting forward to look Peter in the eyes. “You are not responsible for the well-being of every single person in this city.”
Peter raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, I know I am a hypocrite,” Tony said with a flicker of a smile. “But you can’t save everyone from everything all the time. We’ve talked about this.”
“I- I know.”
“You’re going to drive yourself crazy if you think like that.”
Peter shrugged, picking at a loose string on his shirt.
Tony sighed and rubbed his neck.
“You’re still grounded for a month,” Tony said finally, rubbing his eyes. “Everything else still stands. But we can talk more about the Spider-Man bit in the morning. Okay?”
Peter nodded, relief flooding his body and leaving his hands shaking. “O-okay.”
Tony smiled slightly before falling back against the couch with a groan, rubbing his hands over his face. He yawned so wide Peter’s jaw hurt in sympathy. He felt a spark of guilt in his stomach as he took in the tired slump of the other man’s shoulders. Tony probably came home with the intention of going straight to bed, but Peter and his messes had kept the man up late after he’d been working all weekend.
“Hey, Tony?”
Tony grunted.
“I’m sorry.”
Tony opened his eyes and regarded Peter from his slumped position on the couch. Peter tried not to fidget under the scrutiny and Tony smiled, his eyes soft.
“I know, Pete.”
“You should go to bed.”
“You saying I look tired?” The effect of the snark was ruined by a second jaw cracking yawn.
Peter simply raised an eyebrow at the man.
“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Tony grumbled, pushing up and slapping his hands against his thighs. “I get it. I’m an old man and it’s past my bedtime.”
“You said it, not me,” Peter smiled, ducking the hand that swatted at his hair.
“Big talk from a kid who has to clean all this shit up.”
Peter grimaced as he looked around the room, still covered in empty bottles, cups, and trash from food and snacks. His stomach grumbled loudly and he blushed when Tony squinted at him.
“Have you eaten anything tonight?”
“Uhh… it wasn’t my main concern?” Peter winced at the glare that got him.
“Eat something. Then start picking this up.”
Peter nodded, moving to the kitchen to grab a bag of chips from the counter. Tony rolled his eyes when he saw Peter’s choice of snack, but otherwise didn’t say anything.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, the quiet only broken by the rustling of the chip bag and the crunch of the chips on his teeth. Peter thought over everything that had happened that night with a frown.
“Hey, Tony?”
“Hm?”
“Why did you ask Steve and Clint to have a meeting with you at midnight on a Saturday?”
“Oh, I didn’t,” Tony smirked at him from his seat on the couch, “apparently because you somehow convinced FRIDAY not to tell me about your little shindig, she loopholed it and told Steve that I wanted to meet with whatever Avengers were around, immediately. Clint and Steve just happened to be the ones available.”
“Oh,” Peter said, frowning as he stared down at the empty chip bag in his hands. “Then why are you home so early?”
“You just had the unfortunate circumstance of the other company agreeing to the merger a lot sooner than we thought they would, so I came home a day early.”
“Oh. So I would’ve been caught either way.”
“Yup. Pretty much. But now it’s clean up time,” Tony said, clapping Peter on the shoulder. He stood and bent over to pick up the trash bag he’d been holding earlier, shoving it into Peter’s hands. Peter fumbled with it and the empty chip bag. “If Pepper sees the penthouse looking like someone just threw a rager, she’ll probably have flashbacks and yell at me. And I am afraid of her, so. Get cracking.”
“Where are you going?” Peter called as Tony walked away towards the hallway.
“I’m going to bed,” Tony said without turning around, “it’s late and I’m tired. I’ve been working all weekend.”
“You’re making me clean this up all by myself?” Peter yelled.
“Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time!” Tony yelled back from the hall, “goodnight!”
Peter stared down at the trash bag in his hands and sighed, loudly. He shoved the chip bag into the trash and stood, toeing around the room and looking at all the trash. Damn, teenagers were messy .
“Should tell Pepper he did this,” Peter muttered as he started picking up paper plates and red solo cups. “She’d probably believe it.”
“I heard that!”