Chapter Text
You were always so cool, Peter thought to himself. New to the whole university, city, and courses thing, you took a general education as one of our classes that semester, and Peter, who put off his GE credits until this semester, you two met on the first day of class. You were waving off other friends as you walked into class, finding a spare spot next to Peter. You quickly introduced yourself, with not an ounce of hesitation in social interactions, unlike Peter whose hands sweated for 20 minutes until he asked for your number.
Whenever you spoke, with your head was always full of ideas and theories, anyone just being around you started feeling like there was something so so special going on between the you two. Your smile, your animated gestures and hands, it made you so beautiful.
After hitting it off during your first semester and hanging out multiple times during winter break, to the point Tony was teasing Peter probably being out with a girl. Who has you twisted like this, huh, kid? You two decided to take another course for semester two as well, planning it so you enrolled in another GE requirement together. You were his friend, his one close friend.
But you were too cool for Peter.
(Perhaps not Spider-Man, he thought a few times, if he could sweep you off your feet under the mask and get you to finally pay attention to him. You had a thing for superheroes, he knows you do, since he saw that edit of spider-man and iron man that you liked on tiktok. Really, he think you two could have a shot, if he doesn’t completely embarrass himself asking for your notes for this week…)
“You completely ghosted me for two weeks, and now you want my notes?” You asked, rolling your eyes, shoving him to the side while holding a hefty textbook and binder to your chest, “Peter, for the record, not cool.”
He prattled off apologies, biting his lip in worry as he following you into your dorm building, trying to crowd you but all you did was walk him like a dog. “I’m so so sorry, really, I just— I’ve been having this new thing at work and it’s been dragging all my hours in a really weird way—”
It must have been like 9 at night, but he had just gotten a reminder that there was a test the next day, and he missed all the lectures this week because of spidermanning. There was a new villain he arrested just today so he had been out and around all week long, working with law enforcement and detectives to find and apprehend the violent guy. Never did he think he would end up accidentally ghosting you!
“Oh yeah?” You asked, a hand on your hip as you tilted your head at him, full of attitude and sass. Usually, it wasn’t directed at Peter. “I didn’t even know you worked somewhere. What do you even do?”
You finally stopped at the elevator, hitting the up button and glancing at the sign that said 8th floor. Then, you promptly rolled your eyes while tapping your foot impatiently, and then finally making up your mind to finally face him with a raised eyebrow.
Oh wow, you were gorgeous. Even when you were mad at him. You had on this butter yellow tanktop and low-waist jeans on, making the tanktop stick to your skin and show the outline of your bellybutton underneath, sweeping Peter’s breath away. Holy, he was never like this with anyone else, but after your friendship blooming over the course of the semester, he started to become so infatuated with you…
“I get it,” You said suddenly, turning away again and adjusting your grip on your textbook. “I’m like not even in your year, you think I’m annoying, and you don’t owe me anything. But guess what, asshat, I don’t owe you anything either. Get notes from someone else.”
“No, no, it’s not like that at all!” He tried to explain, watching as people passed and gave him a puzzled look. It’s been a while since he looked like a freshmen, not since he started to gain more muscle and height after Tony started feeding him the proper amount of mutants when he took Peter in. “I don’t think you annoying at all, hell, I’m more worried you think I’m annoying! Look, please, It was work, I swear on my life, I would never ever in a million years hurt you, c’mon, I’m not that kind of person!”
You glanced at him. “Go kick rocks, Peter.”
Peter’s face dropped, his mouth turning into a devastating frown. He looked so heartbroken and pitiful at your anger at him, and just his luck, the elevator doorbell rang, so you were about to step inside.
“Stark Industries!” Peter blurted out, putting his hand through the elevator door and climbing in with you, watching as you turned to him with a puzzled look.
“It’s…” He cringed, squeezing his eyes shut in embarrassment. “You asked where I work. I work at Stark Industries. But it’s super confidential, like, I with the Avengers Unit, making weapons and stuff. No one knows.”
Then he frowned. “Please, this is digging me alive, I’ll never do this again, I promise.”
You bite your lip, trying not to give in. You know Peter is honest, too honest for anyone else to be quite frank but you found that relieving in your friendship with other guys. Honestly, chivalry, kindness, and humor. And Peter, most of all, had all of them. It made him enjoyable to be around, but in hell, if he turned out to be one of those shy nerds that were real toxic once you got closer to them, you’d drop him in a heartbeat.
But you really think he’s being honest about this whole thing. The guy looks like he might cry if you get more mad at him, and a part of you does just want to forgive him and get over it. “Alright, fine, I’ll give you my notes. But you better keep that promise on not ghosting me like that again.”
“Yes, yes, anything, anything at all.”
For you, went unsaid, but Peter was already looking like he might get on his knees and grovel, so did it really matter?
You stuck out your textbooks and binder, and instinctually, Peter took them from your hands just as you dropped them in his arms. He likes doing that for you, carrying around heavy stuff, holding open doors and holding your umbrella together.
“Just this week?” You asked, unlocking the door key to your dorm. You collapsed into your desk chair, ruffling through your backpack and papers to see where you stored your notes. “And Stark Industries? Out of all lies you could have come up with to grab my attention, Stark Industries? That’s a new low, you know that’s my dream job.”
Peter bit his lip, “It’s…not really a lie…”
You froze in the middle of your searching, glancing back up at him. “Oh my god. You’re not lying.”
Peter squeezed his eyes shut again, shaking his head. “I’m not lying”
“Dude!” You exclaimed, jumping up from your seat. “You’ve been at SI this entire fucking time? Holy fuck!”
“Shhhh!” Peter exclaimed, looking out your open door. “It’s secret! I have like all this clearance and stuff, I can’t really uhm, talk about it!”
You shoved a paper into his chest. “In return for this, I want you to write my recc for my internship application at SI this summer. Got it?”
Peter nodded, watching as you still reveled over the fact he was at SI. It was like you were never mad at him to begin with. “Yes! I’ll do it. For you, yes, send me your application, I’ll send in my letter along with it. You’ll get that role.”
Then you laughed at him, your eyes finally crinkling up in amusement rather than anger that day. Peter thinks he could love that laugh. He thinks he could love those eyes.
__
pretty girl: Peter where are you ??
peter: Around the corner!
Peter put his phone into his pocket, balancing two coffee cups in a tray holder and quickened his pace. For the sake of today (and probably the rest of your internship), he had to pretend like he worked at Stark Industries. After he asked Tony if he could give an internship to a close friend and Tony said sure, go ask Pepper, he started planning all the other bits.
For one, he had to dress up in corporate formal everyday, so he finally bought a collection of fine shirts and dress slacks. Then, he had to set himself up with a worker employee card, despite having the face-scan feature to let him up through the private elevator into the penthouse floor. Then, acclimating himself with the building, lunch times, etc, he let you know that you got the internship.
To say you were ecstatic was an understatement, you jumped into his arms and hugged him, and he, like he always will, caught you midair and returned you hug, laughing into your ear while you rambled excitedly about how this was the opportunity of your lifetime, oh thank you thank you thank you, Peter.
He tried his best to escape the Penthouse without being seen by Tony that morning, who most definitely would interrogate about why Peter looked like he was attending a seminar. Peter, dressed in a blue button up that was a little tight around his arms and black brand-new slacks, would definitely raise questions, but luckily, Tony was out that morning.
Peter even brought a bag, holding his laptop, wallet, some fake-avengers papers to look official. Fuck, this was all getting to him.
But it would be worth it. You asked if he could drop you off on your first day, scared of embarrassments like your card not working, you name not being on the list, etc etc. So, if Peter was there with you, perhaps he could vouch that you were in the right place, right?
Of course Peter agreed to you, if not for the way your eyebrows furrowed in and looked so so scared for a moment, then for the way your face relaxed in relief. Then drop me off went to, can we have lunch together? If it overlaps? went to, When do you get off? Let’s get take out for dinner?
Then he rounded the corner to your meeting spot and caught you in his eyes. Ohmygod. It was like a love song started playing in his mind. Your wore a button up that stuck to your chest and curved with your hips. Your slacks fell straight down in a line, and your heels gave you a couple inches that you usually tended to lack. You were picking your finger nails, painted black the night before while checking your phone ever two seconds.
“Over here!” He beckoned you over, watching as your entire demeanor changed— your shoulders dropping and relaxing as you rushed over to where he was by the subway entrance. “I was only grabbing your drink. You can relax, you know, you’re gonna do fine.”
“Right? You asked, breathing heavy. “I’ll be fine. Fine. I just— do I look ridiculous? I feel like the sleeves are ridiculous.”
“No,” Peter shook his head, handing you your drink as you two rushed down the subway stairs, him following behind you. “You look fine. More than fine. You’re gonna sweep them off their feet.” “Hurry, Peter, I can’t be late for my first day!” you exclaimed, quickly grabbing your drink and then clicking and clacking your heels down to the the card-swipe. You took a desperate sip of your coffee in one hand and swiped your card in the other. “Oh my god. I’m totally getting fired on my first day.”
“No, no, you’re not,” Peter said quickly, his voice hardening in a way. They wouldn’t, he wouldn’t let them. They’d get an anonymous message from upper command, and email you a million apologies before he let that happen.
“I’m just so worried!” You exclaimed, walking into the train-car while animating your worry, casually moving your side-bag so it was stuck to your chest and better protected. The action made Peter’s heart twinge— the idea of you being mugged, hurt, or being paranoid for your safety settled uneasily into his heart. “’ve never been more paranoid in my life, I mean, I heard Tony Stark does the opening speech!”
Peter nearly choked on his cup of coffee, sitting next to you on the car seats. “Oh well, he’s not even that uhm… well, yeah, he’s Tony Stark, but he’s just another guy at the end of the day.”
“Yeah, but he’s the guy I’m photographing today!” You exclaimed, picking up your small camera bag in emphasis. It was part of a side-gig of your internship job— being with media and photography.
This went back and forth for a while, until Peter was dropping you off at the internship floor and waving you off, giving a couple last words of encouragement. Even then, you made some comment about tripping over someone important and spilling your coffee, an idea that brought so much terror into your eyes that you finished it off right there in front of Peter, pushing the empty cup into a trashcan.
Then, finally, with a good luck hug that Peter tugged you into, you were off into the large speaker-room at the center of Stark Towers. Today, it was filled to the brim with summer interns, department heads, speakers, and SI partners.
You slid into through the doors, flashing your photographer lanyard and camera at the guards, who let you slid past the attendee crowd to the sidelines. Triple-checking the settings on your camera to make sure the flash didn’t accidentally turn on during the internship orientation, you started getting your way through the crowd. There were so many people bumping into you that you nearly tripped in your heels on the way to the front of the room, stumbling with one hand to make sure the camera was safe.
Then, finally getting closer to the big stage, you ran into an unusually steady table, grunting under your breath. “Ouch!”
It was definitely going to leave a bruise on your hip tomorrow morning, you’ll protest in the pain as you slid on your heels again. Then you looked up from where your waist hit the table, and realized why it had been so stable the entire time. Promptly, all the blood decided to drain from your face.
Oh fuck, you just ran into the table that the boss of your boss up up five chains of command had been leaning on.
He had been watching you, a raised eyebrow since you did just ram the table into him as well— and you quickly gathered your wits and cleared your throat.
C’mon, girl, like you practiced. You can handle the pressure. You don’t have to look at him with those heart eyes when he looks… so fine, oh wow… you didn’t know they made men like this.
“I-I’m sorry about that, I’m guessing I should have practiced more before I got here. Guess I thought it would be like learning ride a bike, but these are uh, more like quantum mechanics— their center of balance seems to change every time I start thinking I got it.”
And to you absolute relief, the man laughed behind his designer sunglasses instead of firing you on the spot. He tilted his handsome face at you, glancing up and down. “Write a wave-equation for me on it next time, and I’ll determine if this collision was really that unavoidable.”
Then he winked at you, and you think your knees nearly buckled for a reason completely separate from running into the table.
“Jokes aside, I’m all good. You alright?”
Then he gestured vaguely to her holding her waist where she ran into the table.
Wow he was really hot. I mean, that’s not the line of thought anyone should have right off the bat about their boss, of course, but his smile was really charming to look at— the kind that movie stars used to make entire generations to swoon with.
You thinks you might have accidentally given him your heart-doe-admirer eyes for a moment because his eyes seemed to squint a little at you playfully, like he was trying to read something that piqued his interest.
“Nothing that I can’t take.” Holy fuck why did you phrase it like that. “All my friends are athletes, so I’m not new to random throws at me. Are you ok, sir? I did just uh, slam that into you, too.”
You could feel your heart beat speeding up every second you were in this conversation. Maybe it was just cause his attention felt like a lot at the moment, I mean, the man was your boss, as well as being really damn cute. You think your face might have blushed cause it felt really hot all of a sudden. Fuck, could he stop looking at you? You think it might be better if he stopped looking at you for a moment.
“I’ve been tossed around worse, kid, this is nothing,” He shrugged.
You paused, unsure how to continue the conversation as he was still looking at you like a puzzle. What was he expecting? Fuck, you really should have watched until the end of the ‘how to have professional conversations’ video. Fuck!
“Wait, uhm, sir, do you think I could take a picture of you before I go?” You asked, lifting up the camera around your neck as if to prove you could take pictures.
Tony laughed at you again, you really shouldn’t have gotten butterflies from that, shrugging. “I don’t see why not. How do you want me to pose?”
You looked around real quick, eyes turning into machines trying to gage at what kind of framing you wanted to use. Quickly, you decided that you should use the banner behind them to your advantage, and that the lighting would be too hard if he stood this way, so— “Hmm, I think I want you facing the other way, that side, so the crowd is behind you. You can lean on the table, look off into the distance, pretend to read notes. Any pose is good.”
Then You walked past him, almost brushing to his chest. You think he might have taken a breath in at that exact moment, and you thanked god that you used your good perfume that day. He stared at you as you turned to face him again, hands on your camera lens to take it off and bring your vision into light.
Tony leaned on the table, picking up the microphone and holding it aloofly while looking onto the stage. Behind him, there were the first row seats beginning to fill up and so there was already a crowd looking up at him him. Once you lined up the SI banner in the back correctly…
Snap snap snap!
You set the camera down from your face, checking the photo and then flashing Tony a smile. “This is perfect! Thank you so much, Mr. Stark.”
“Let me see, kid.”
You think you would have blushed again if your face wasn’t in a perpetual state of blushing already. Quickly, you turned the camera towards him, showing the final outlook and watching as his face turned into approving and impressed, nodding at you. “Not bad, sweetheart.”
“Thank you, Mr. Stark!” You exclaimed, and then mentally slapped yourself for getting so excited for a small bit of praise. Tony didn’t seem to mind, the same easy grin on his face only spreading a little when you thanked him.
“Just Tony is fine. What department are you interning for?” He asked, tilting his head.
“R&D, sir,” You nodded honestly. “I’m uh, shadowing and running their socials. Lot of emails.”
Tony nodded quietly, glancing at your nametag. “Unfortunately, there’s no equation for that one yet.”
__
“I met your friend this week.” Peter choked on his burger, having to set it down and wipe his face. Tony chuckled at the reaction, reaching over the kitchen island to hand Peter a glass of water. It took Peter a while to clear out his throat, coughing and trying to get back to breathing properly until he gulped down the water and washed out the rest of it stuck in his throat. Then he looked up at Tony with nervous eyes and asked, “Wh-what uhm, what uh friend?”
Tony raised an eyebrow. “Oh you know. The one that you used your standing as my son to hire.”
Peter frowned pathetically, “Please, she really wanted the job, and she works very hard and she’s so smart, it’s not like she’s not capable—”
“Oh, so now you know exactly who I’m talking about?”
Peter cringed, pausing to take another nervous gulp of his water. Fuck, he played right into that one.
Tony must have seen the distress on his face, cause he eased up after that, shaking his head. “Relax, kid. She’s not half bad. Witty, quick on her feet. Is that the one you carried as spiderman to her dorm after a party she got roofied at?”
Peter’s eyes went wide, “H-How did you—?”
“Kid, your heart rate hit 170. I was just checking on you with EV, I was worried about you.”
Immediately, Peter’s shoulders sunk, biting his lip and nodding. Despite getting near 25, Tony always made him feel like he still had miles to learn. It was good, it kept him growing. And Tony was kind about it, always, guiding Peter and helping him learn where he lacked. “Y-yeah. She’s uhm… my friend from uni. She found out I uhm ‘worked’ at SI, and she’s been wanting to work here ever since…”
“The one you kept meeting during winter break?”
Peter’s face went red this time, nodding again. Tony took a sip of his milkshake, shrugging and barely bothered at the boy’s reaction.
“I think she likes me, kid.” Tony said, watching as he caught Peter’s attention in a different way. “The entire week, kept following me around like a duckling when I visited R&D. Did the coffee errands every time so she could deliver coffee to me. Personally reporting all the team developments to me, and stumbling on her words when I look at her for too long. She really likes hearing she did a good job, you know that?”
Peter was getting kind of hot and bothered. You didn’t mention this part of your day to him. But— well you did mention you liked someone in the office, but you would never make a move since co-workers or whatever… but his dad?! “Oh.”
“She’s adorable kid.” Tony said, then chuckling under his breath as if in reminiscence about something. “A little shy, but I think she’s good.”
“She does get shy a lot…” Peter said, imagining you in every scenario. He still remembers the first time he was instinctually chivalrous for you. It made you smile a little, your cheeks going red even though you kept giving him sass on whatever playful conversation you two were in at the time. “But she’s sassy, once she uhm, gets comfortable. Really, really funny. And smart, on her feet. She’s always uh, thinking about the purpose of everything.”
“That so?” Tony asked, taking a bite of his burger. He chewed it slowly, swallowing and letting the silence linger before he responded. “Oh, I think I remember this one time. I told her I liked my coffee black and she said ‘is that for cool points, or just so it’s easier for interns to remember?’ ”
“You don’t even—!”
“—Like black coffee? Ah, I have creamer and sugar in my lab. Just easier to do it myself than someone else mess it up. But I told her and she gave me this ‘is it up to your standards?’ For my next coffee.” Tony chuckled again, remembering the moment.
“She is serious about her coffee,” Peter nodded, remembering how you drank her entire cup on the first day, unnecessarily worrying you would spill it over someone.
“No good for her,” Tony shook his head instead of sharing the sentiment with Peter. “Caffiene will only make her more nervous. It’ll wreck her nervous system.”
Quickly, Peter turned puzzled, turning to face Tony with a light laugh on his face. “You let me drink coffee, though?”
“That’s because you’re a mutant, Peter, and I have a heart that’ll run for a hundred years, give or take,” Tony shrugged, gesturing for Peter to pass over the fries. It seemed like it was just Tony still eating. Peter had paused ever since Tony brought you up. “Girl like her? She’ll just burn through it and end up with nothing but anxiety in the evening. No good.”
All of a sudden, Peter was feeling terrible about all the coffees he’s brought to you, watching your face light up in appreciation and gratefulness. “Oh my god, I’ve been giving her coffee this entire year for every lecture.”
“Oh Peter,” Tony frowned, finally setting down his burger as well, tilting his head sympathetically at him. In the low kitchen island-lights, Peter could even more clearly see the disappointment written all over Tony’s furrowed eyebrows and down-turned lips.
“And no wonder she’s always stressing in the evenings and anxious at night, oh no…” Peter’s own lips turned downwards, and he felt like maybe he was one word away from his lip quivering. He hated it when you were sad, worrying about the future or your grades or your social standing. It made him want to take you far away from all of this and take your mind off of it.
“Tell you what, Pete, next time, give her a smoothie or decaf, and see if she can tell the difference,” Tony said, handing back the fries as an offering to Peter. “And check on her mood in the evening. See if there’s a difference. That should help her out a little, no?”
Peter nodded, absent mindedly taking the fries but not bothering to eat any.
“You keep her safe, Peter?”
“Huh?” Peter blinked out of his spiral, turning his head back to Tony. “What was that?”
“You keep her safe, right, Peter?” Tony asked, emphasizing every word slowly. “I can’t be the only one who knows by now that Spiderman has a soft-spot for this one college girl, right? You keep an eye out for her, for her safety?”
Peter thinks he’s lost all appetite, but Tony must have noticed it first, rounding the kitchen island to pull Peter into a hug before he cries, rubbing his back. “Ok, ok, kid, no need to worry about it, I’m sure she’s fine right now…”
“I-I don’t want her to be in danger, dad, I-I don’t know what I’d do if she ever- If—” Peter’s voice was breaking already, and he was trying so so hard to stop him from crying. He swallowed back his tears, bitting his lip as he dug his head closer to Tony, getting his shirt wet but Tony never minded. “I-I’m gonna start being more careful about her now.”
“That’s good, Peter,” Tony nodded. “She’s your closest friend, hm?”
And then the thought that he might lose her got too much for Peter, his eyes watering up and turning red, his hands shaking as he clutched Tony harder.
“My only friend.” Peter cried helplessly.
Tony rubbed his back in steady circles, shushing his son. “Ok, ok, Peter, you’re ok, she’s perfectly fine right now. JARVIS? Do a mass surveillance check for her. Is she at her apartment yet?”
“D-Dorm,” Peter corrected between cries, waiting for JARVIS to finish his scan. “Sh-She doesn’t— have an apartment yet, j-just a dorm.”
There was a hot moment where Peter hiccuped while JARVIS processed, taking a minute until he reported, “The young miss has been in her dorm since Peter dropped her off today at 6:13 PM.”
Peter sighed in relief, feeling the air finally rush back into his lungs. “Dad, you- you really think others know ab-about her?”
“I don’t know, kid, how many other parties are you planning to save her from?”
“Th-That wasn’t her fault, she- she just got a little influenced, everyone cool was attending, and she got invited, she just— she panicked and dialed me when she realized s-something was wrong, and I- I was patrolling so—”
“Ok, calm down, buddy, deep breaths,” Tony said, peeling off of Peter from the hug to let his breaths settle in more so Peter could get rid of his hiccups. “It’s not just other villains I’m worried about, buddy. She’s living alone, in New York, right? There are already so many stories of girls going missing, turning up dead, getting shot or raped…and that’s with all the vigilantes on the streets. The crime just seems to never end, no matter how much I keep donating to NYPD—”
“Dad, stop, please, I can’t—” Peter wheezed between his next sob, eyes going blurry as he desperately wiped away the never ending tears. “Stop stop stop, I can’t- even think- think about that right now—
“Shit, I’m sorry, sorry, fuck, kid, I didn’t mean anything, I just—” Tony cut himself off, frowning as ran a hand comfortingly through Peter’s hair. “I didn’t mean to freak you out like this, Peter, breath.”
It worked, Peter’s cries sobering up as he leaned subconsciously into Tony’s hand in his hair.
“I-I know, dad,” Peter whimpered. Despite all his muscle and his strength, he always felt like Tony’s son, adopted or not. His shoulders tended to shrug inwards, wanting to feel like he was 15 and Tony Stark could protect him from the entire world again.
“I have an idea,” Tony said, ruffling Peter’s hair to get his attention. “Let’s… let’s get her a tracker. Something small, so she won’t notice it. But it’ll keep her safe, so you can keep an eye on her and make sure she’s safe. How ‘bout that?”
Then Peter looked up at Tony with these big wet eyes, like he was discovering Tony was a genius all over again. It was perfect, it was a solution, and with it, Peter could finally start protecting you better again.
On his back, Peter could feel two weird points of pressure begin to start aching. It felt like every time he thought of you in danger, the same points begins to ache, the same time his upper forearms did. But he wasn’t keeping track, not when he was too busy worrying his head off about your safety.
In a couple months, Peter will be wishing he kept better attention to that detail.