Chapter Text
Peter knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up because he was too aware of his toes under his sheets. Nothing felt worse than being hyperaware of his feet, and the material draped over them. He turned over with a groan, hoping the feeling would fade, but the movement only made it worse. Disgusted, he kicked off the blankets and reached out to stop his alarm moments before it rang.
Then, he made his way to the kitchen before he got ready for school and stuck two slices of bread into the toaster. While he waited, he scrolled through his phone, slumped over the kitchen table. May wouldn't be up for another hour, he knew. He usually woke up fifteen minutes before he was supposed to actually leave, but the impending horror of the day had been enough to get him up and out of bed.
The toaster dinged and he turned to pick his breakfast out gingerly. It was burnt, because the universe couldn't let him have anything good ever. Peter breathed in through his nose. This is fine, he told himself, I've had a building fall on top of me, this is nothing in comparison.
So he settled for lucky charms with lukewarm milk because May was tired after a late shift and hadn't put another carton into the fridge after she finished the first one. Which was fine. He was totally fine and the rising agitation that spread like a rash up his skin definitely wasn't there. He rinsed his bowl and took a shower- cold, because obviously the hot water wasn't working, and he got soap in his eye which made him jerk back, slip and knock his head into the tiles with a crack.
Yeah, his day was going terribly.
May was in the kitchen when he emerged with a metaphorical bruise on his shin and a throbbing head. "Good morning, Peter! Is that your toast in the bin?"
"Yup," he said glumly and plopped himself back into his seat at the table. "Dunno why the settings were so high."
His aunt rubbed a palm over the back of her neck sheepishly. "That might have been me."
"May," he complained, "we've talked about this. I started replacing the toilet paper, you have to turn the dial down. What could you possibly be doing with the highest setting anyway?"
"I was cooking a steak." May moved around, frying her eggs and singing a song she must have heard on the radio.
"A steak."
"Mhm. I like them well done and I didn't feel like getting a whole pan out," she explained and emptied her eggs onto a plate.
Peter took a really really deep breath then, because he had a lot of things he wanted to say but none of them were very nice, and May was trying her best just like he was, and he didn't want to be mean. It wasn't her fault that he was having a shitty morning.
He made himself another bowl of cereal and he and May fell into a comfortable silence while they ate. She scratched her way through a cross word in yesterdays paper and asked him for a few words through a full mouth of food, and Peter responded in kind.
When she was washing the dishes, May turned over her shoulder and said, "by the way, my shift ends a little later than normal, so are you good to stay with Stark?"
"Yep, I'll be home after that though." Peter pulled on a hoodie and picked his backpack up. He had ten minutes to get to the bus stop, and that was assuming it wasn't late.
"Perfect, love you, have a great day." His aunt kissed him on the head and headed to the bathroom, voice raising in a way that scritched uncomfortably at his advanced eardrums. Sometimes advanced hearing was more of a superdowner than a superpower.
Maybe the day wouldn't be too bad after all.
"Famous last words," Peter grouched when the rain started coming down on him, soaking through his clothes. It was the middle of April, for God's sake, he shouldn't have needed to worry about rain. And then, to make matters worse, the bus didn't arrive, leaving him to walk to school.
When he finally stepped through the doors of Midtown School of Science and Technology, the cold air hit him like a freight train- and he knew what that felt like, so he could say it- and he started shivering.
"Holy shit, what happened to you?" Ned asked when Peter finally plopped into his seat in homeroom. "You look... terrible."
"Thanks," he said through chattering teeth. "That- that's just what I- I needed to- to hear."
There was a hoot of laughter from behind him and Flash called out, "well look what the cat dragged in- or more like the river! HA!"
"Well that was lame," MJ muttered from beside him. Flash definitely found himself funnier than he actually was.
"Yo, Penis! I have another one," Flash hollered, "you look like you got into a fight with a raincloud... and lost."
There was a bout of forced laughter and Peter sighed deeply, sinking further back into his seat with a wet squelch. He just needed to get though the day without any more events, and then Tony would probably let him take a much needed nap after he got to the tower.
His teacher eyed him curiously during roll call but didn't say anything, and then Peter was off to the rest of his classes. He had forgotten his Chemistry book, which was just perfect because his first lesson happened to be- drum roll please: chemistry. He'd received a disapproving look and Flash had snickered and asked whether he was slacking because his "fake internship was keeping him up."
Then, his locker had fallen over. Literally. He was walking up to it between classes when it just fell flat, his books spreading out over the hallway floor. Luckily no one was hurt, but Peter had to go down to the office and get someone to come and pick it up. He would have done it himself, but, well, secret identities and all that. Flash had walked past and said that he was bad luck, and that even the locker didn't want to look at him. Peter ignored him and waited for his locker to be righted.
When he thought the day definitely couldn't get worse, the cafeteria had a leak and the mac and cheese (aka the only edible thing there) ended up turning into a watery brown mess. He'd had to settle for an apple and a tuna sandwich that was definitely past its expiry date. He was still hungry by the end of lunch.
During his last lesson, the sun had come out and he was seated next to the window, so his clothes had turned from sopping wet to uncomfortably damp. The ACs being set to full blast weren't helping though, and he was still shivering. Mr. Harrington grunted disapprovingly when he asked to turn it down and then turned it up to a higher setting Peter didn't know existed. What a dick.
"Now, everyone," Mr Harrington said before the bell could go, motioning for everyone who stood to sit back down. "I wanted to let you guys know that we have a fun and educational field trip coming up-" there were a series of groans because those usually meant that the 'fun' included writing lab reports and doing copious amounts of research- "to Stark Industries, and we need your permission slips in by tomorrow because if they don't book us in, the slots will be filled by other schools."
The mood immediately brightened, except Peter's droll corner which darkened even further. This could not be happening. He took it back, he took it all back. The worst thing about this day, was the fact that his class would be parading around his place of work and part-time residence soon.
"Dude, this is going to be awesome," Ned said, leaning over his desk to say to Peter. "I can't wait. Do you think we'll get to meet Mr. Stark?"
"You've met him, like, four times already," Peter said, and then tried to fake an enthusiastic smile because it wasn't Ned's fault that the universe hated him. "But sure, maybe. He lives for the drama, you know?"
"Are you gonna come?"
"Not if I can help it," Peter muttered just as a permission slip was placed on his table.
If he just kept the paper out of May's sight, he would be saved from that hellish day. Maybe he could even stay home and play that new Spider-Man game he found. It was flattering, the fact that they made a whole video game about him, but some of the physics in game threw him off and he found himself yelling "that's not how that works!" and "that would've killed me so hard!" at the TV. They could've just asked him, if they really wanted to know and he briefly considered getting in touch with them via Tony.
But then he also figured Tony was the type to buy the company and give it to him as a birthday gift. He shuddered when he remembered that one time he told Tony he liked a fast food chain, and his mentor had tried buying and signing it over to him for Christmas. May and Pepper had to set a maximum gift budget after that.
"Is not going an option?" Peter asked Mr. Harrington when the class cleared out, hanging back and packing his things slowly.
"Well, yes," his teacher said, and Peter sighed out his relief too quickly. "But those who do go will be given 20% extra credit."
His eyes nearly bugged out. 20% was the difference between getting into MIT and not getting into MIT. "Twenty?"
"Yes, twenty, Mr. Parker. Is there a problem with that?"
Mr. Harrington looked like he wanted to chuck Peter and his damp clothes into a washing machine and laugh maniacally while the teenager got thrown around. It was a truly evil look, so Peter gulped nervously and shook his head.
"Not at all, Mr. Harrington," he said and grabbed his backpack.
Peter joined Ned and MJ outside, purposefully standing in the sun while he scanned the parking lot for Happy's car. If he was still dripping water, Happy would probably make him walk. Or worse, call Mr. Stark.
"Hey," MJ jabbed her elbow into his stomach. It didn't hurt but he flinched back regardless and gave her his attention. "Why aren't you going on the trip?"
"It's weird," he mumbled, "I practically live there every other weekend, and I work there, and it'll just be another excuse for Flash to make fun of me."
"But 20% extra credit?" Ned whistled. "You should totally think about it."
"Yeah, we'll see. May might not sign it, so," he shrugged.
MJ sighed and shoved Peter's shoulder. "Isn't Mr. Stark your secondary contact? Just have him sign it and stop being a wimp about the whole thing."
Peter felt himself flush and shook his head, suddenly feeling cold and very aware of the breeze that had kicked up. Before he could explain in graphic detail with well thought out bullet points and a cause and effect style argument on why him going on the field trip was a terrible idea, Happy pulled up and laid on the horn.
"Shit, I gotta go or he'll do that for the next twenty minutes. I promise I'll think about it, okay?" He shuffled away from them with a hasty wave back before he covered his ears and ran to the car. "Bye, see you guys tomorrow!"
"Bye, Peter."
"See you, loser."
Happy only stopped when he was about a foot from the car, and Peter got into the back. One time, he got into the passenger seat and Happy had refused to move the car until he crawled back there. He'd claimed the kid took him out of the zone when he was driving, but Pepper told him that Happy was just worried about his safety. Tony said Happy was just a grouch who didn't let anyone sit up front with him, and Peter didn't know who to believe because both of those things sounded true.
He shoved his backpack on the seat next to him and buckled in. Happy also wouldn't move until he heard the seatbelt click into place.
"You know the seatbelt doesn't do anything, right?" Peter asked after the car pulled away. "I have super strength and advanced healing and-"
"Yeah, yeah," Happy waved dismissively, "I've read the file, kid. I have a better question for you. Why the hell are you dripping water on my seats?"
"It rained this morning and I'm not dripping."
"You ever heard of an umbrella?"
"It's the middle of summer."
"Better to be prepared," Happy muttered and Peter shrugged, falling silent.
When they got to the tower, Peter said hi to Gavin the security guard on duty and then Martha at the front desk. There were three giant pizzas laid out to the side of her. She asked about his day and he told her it was fine even though it had been anything but. She told him that her pizza place had sent her the wrong toppings earlier and had refunded her in full and sent three more pizzas. She encouraged Peter to have a couple slices, which he did because of his ruined lunch.
Then, he waved to Martha, pulled his badge from the front pocket of his bag, and scanned himself in. FRIDAY's automated "welcome back, Mr. Parker" sounded and he went up to the penthouse in the residential elevator.
"Mr. Parker, you have sauce on your chin," FRIDAY told him and Peter mumbled his acknowledgement around a big bite of pizza.
He headed straight for his bed the second he was inside, dropping his bag next to the kitchen counter and wiping a sleeve over his mouth to get rid of the sauce on the side of his chin.
He dropped onto his bed and fell asleep within moments.
~~
FWD: Stark Industries Field Trip
from: May Parker
to: Tony Stark
date: 12 August 2025, 16:04
subject: Fwd: Stark Industries Field Trip
mailed by: gmail.com
hey tony can you sign this for pete and let him know hes staying over at yours? Thanks!
xx
May Parker
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Roger Harrington
Date: Tuesday, 12 August 2025 at 15:00
Subject: Class A Field Trip to Stark Industries
To: [email protected]
mailed-by: msst.com
Signed by: midtownschoolofscienceandtechnology.onmicrosoft.com
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are pleased to inform you that Class A has been given the opportunity to embark on an educational field trip to Stark Industries on Wednesday the 20th August 2025 (20/08/2025). This field trip with not only nurture their young minds, but also give them valuable real-world insight into the Science and Technological Industries. We hope that this trip will both encourage them to have fun and learn something new. The trip will also afford students 20% extra credit and this will be counted towards their final grade.
There will be a tour of the facility followed by lunch at Stark Industries' cafeteria, so please send either a packed lunch or lunch money with your child, should they attend. Lunch will be followed by a workshop hosted by the company where your child will receive instruction and assistance by qualified professionals in the field.
We have sent out permission slips with the students today, and kindly request that the slips are returned tomorrow afternoon at the latest with your signature and contact details filled out.
Sincerely,
Mr. Roger Harrington
Midtown School of Science and Technology
Head of Science
~~
Tony was not proud to admit that he snooped through Peter's bag, but when May had sent him the email, he'd gotten curious. Since he was no longer CEO of Stark Industries, he was no longer the one approving or disapproving the tours and workshops (not that he did it in the first place, that was all Pepper.)
Then there was the fact that FRIDAY had told him Peter headed straight to bed the moment he got to the tower instead of going down to the lab. Unusual for the little spider, but Tony figured he was just tired. It was one hour later and Peter was no closer to waking than the dead.
So yeah, he snooped and found the permission slip shoved at the bottom of his mentee's school bag, obviously not meant to see the light of day. Tony made a copy of the slip and then filled out his details and expressed his permission for Peter to attend the field trip. May was going to be so proud of his underhanded parenting. Pepper less so.
Peter wandered into the lab at 8:25pm on the dot looking dishevelled. His hair was mussed and his clothes looked like they had gone through hell, but that wasn't even the weirdest thing- the weirdest thing was that Peter Parker was scowling.
"Hey, kiddo," Tony said. "You okay?"
His mentee dropped into a chair on the other side of Tony's workbench. "No. I stubbed my toe on the way down and FRIDAY told me my hair looks like a nest and I bumped into Bruce and he told me there was sauce down the side of my hoodie."
Tony craned his neck and yep, sure enough, there was a long line of red sauce down the side of Peter's hoodie. It must have been one of his favourite hoodies to be eliciting this kind of reaction, but then to Tony, all Peter's hoodies looked the same.
"That sounds... bad?"
"Worse than bad," Peter groaned and put his head in his hands. "The universe hates me. I woke up and I could feel my toes, Mr Stark. My toes! Do you understand how icky it feels?" Tony did not understand but he nodded sympathetically anyway. "And then, it rained out of nowhere and the bus didn't show, so I had to walk to school and I was all wet-"
"Wait you walked in the rain?"
"Yeah."
"You could've called Happy," Tony said and came around the workbench to place the back of his hand on Peter's forehead. "You know you can't thermoregulate, no wonder you've been shivering since you came in here. Come on, up you get, you need to change out of these clothes."
Peter protested all the way to the door, but when Tony threatened to deduct lab time, he agreed and went upstairs to take a shower and change into something warmer. Peter came back a few minutes later and they got to work on upgrading his suit. He complained about his terrible day the entire time and Tony just listened because it wasn't every day that Peter was upset.
Sure, he had bad days and good days like everyone else, but it seemed like one thing after another had just soured his mood until Peter felt like the day couldn't get better. Tony wanted him to be able to come to him with things like this, no matter how small it felt, so that when the big things happened, Peter wouldn't bottle it all up again. Homecoming was a one and done type of thing.
"By the way, your aunt wanted me to tell you she had to pick up a double shift tonight," Tony said. He watched Peter's shoulders tense then relax and the kid let out a little relieved breath. Probably because he thought that meant no more field trip. Ha. "So you're staying over and Happy will drop you off at school tomorrow."
"Sure, okay."
"Anything interesting happen at school today?"
"Uhh..." Peter thought long and hard (for about two minutes) about whether he wanted Tony to know about the field trip. "Nope. Not a single thing except for the terrible horrible day I just had."
"Right, okay. You sure there's nothing you want to tell me?"
"My lockers fell over today. Like, totally out of the blue, they just tipped over and fell and no one knows why."
Tony sighed. He wouldn't be getting anything out of the Spiderling any time soon.
~~
Peter filled out the form before he went to bed, ticking 'no, I do not consent to my child attending this field trip' and then forging May's signature at the bottom. He'd done it so many times that he sometimes signed her name instead of his own out of instinct.
He folded the paper in half once and then stuck it in his bag and went to sleep.
~~
In the morning, his bag was sitting on the kitchen counter while he rummaged through the cupboard for something to eat. Pepper was on some kind of kale and broccoli health kick and he'd finished the last of the lucky charms the last time he stayed over.
"Good morning, Underoos."
"Morning Mr. Stark." Peter didn't turn around. He was elbow deep in the corner cupboard where Pepper usually hid the good stuff. "Hey, did Ms. Potts get rid of those toaster waffles?"
Tony, grateful for the boy's distraction, opened and shuffled through his school bag, pulling out Peter's forged permission slip and replacing it with the one he'd filled out the day before. Then, he crumpled up Peter's slip and dropped it in the trash.
"I think there was something about microplastics that she saw on Facebook and she threw out anything inorganic."
"I told her to stay off those forums," Peter said and turned around, grabbing his school bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "You know she tried throwing out the Spider-Man suit because some Facebook group told her red dyes were harmful?"
Tony eyed Peter's backpack. "I... did not."
"Yeah, well, she did," Peter grumbled. "Please tell her to stay off Facebook and not to fall for another scam. Okay, gotta go, Happy is waiting bye!"
Tony chased after his pseudo-son, watching the elevator close before he could ask the most important question: "Wait, what do you mean another scam?"
Oh well. He meandered back into the kitchen and sent May a text:
Tony: perm slip on the way ... peter doesnt know i signed it lol .. dont think he wanted to go
May: its okay its 20% extra credit
May: hes gonna thank us one day
Tony: absolutely 👍 talk soon .. have to destroy the evidence