Peter

"Mind if I talk to you alone for a sec, kid?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Stark."

After Alexandra and Ned left the lab, leaving Peter alone with Tony. Even though they had known each other for several months now, Peter still found himself growing nervous and in awe whenever he was in the room with the famous Tony Stark. Iron Man. He was standing in the same room as Iron Man!

Play it cool, Parker.

Peter looked at Tony with a certain sparkle in his eyes. "What did you wanna talk to me about, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked.

Tony held a hand up. "First of all, kid, you can call me Tony. All this 'Mr. Stark' business is too formal. Just call me Tony, okay?" Peter's eyes widened in surprised and he nodded. "Okay, good. Next, I fixed your suit, so you can have it back now. Should be good to go for patrols."

"Thanks, Mr. Stark."

"Tony."

"Right—sorry—"

"No problem, kid," Mr. Stark replied. There was a moment of silence before he clapped his hands together. "Well, I guess that's it then," He said. "I'll keep in touch with you, kid. If Octavius shows up again, don't take him on unless you're sure you can handle it."

"I won't, don't worry," Peter told him.

Mr. Stark nodded, and then there was a silence. He then turned to Peter and said, "So, that Alex girl. She your girlfriend?"

Peter immediately turned a bright shade of red. He shook his head quickly. "What? No!" He exclaimed. "Nononono, Alex and I are just friends! She's been my best friend since we were like—seven!"

The billionaire looked at Peter and smirked a little bit. This didn't make Peter feel any less embarrassed. "All right, whatever you say." Mr. Stark shrugged. "But just so you know, I can spot romantic tension a mile away and that right there—"

"There isn't any romantic tension, oh my God!" Peter hid his face in his hands. This was the worst conversation he'd ever had with Mr. Stark—and he'd had to call him to ask for help after being stabbed before.

"Right, right, sure—Hey, does she like Star Wars, too?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Peter asked.

"She's the Princess Cinnabon Lady to your—Space Pilot Guy." Tony grinned.

Peter stared at him for a moment. "Did you—did you just try to make a reference to Princess Leia and Han Solo and call them Princess Cinnabon Lady and Space Pilot Guy?" He asked, honestly feeling somewhat offended.

Mr. Stark shrugged. "I don't know Star Wars. But you can't tell me there's not something going on there."

"Mr. Stark!" Peter whined.

"Tony." He chuckled, shaking his head and raising his hands in surrender. "Okay, I'm done. See ya around, kid. I'll be in contact soon."

Peter, relieved that that was finally over, nodded and turned around to leave the room when a thought occurred to him. "Hey—Mr. Stark?" He turned back to the billionaire superhero.

"The Tony thing isn't happening, is it?" Peter blushed. "Okay—what's up?"

"Uh—so, a few weeks ago I was talking to my aunt," Peter began. "And she was asking about what we were doing in the lab at my 'internship,' even though she knows about Spider-Man. Don't you think it's kinda weird that she was acting like I was just gonna come work with you in your lab even though she knows my secret?"

Tony, who had been fiddling with something at his desk, visibly tensed when Peter brought this up. The teen superhero furrowed his eyebrows and took a step closer to his idol. "Is everything okay?" Peter asked.

"Uh—yep," Tony replied immediately. "I wouldn't worry too much about that, kid, I bet she's just trying to act like it's an regular internship so that she doesn't let it slip accidentally in a public conversation."

"I guess," Peter replied. "But—now that I think about it, May hasn't said a word to me about being Spider-Man since you spoke to her and convinced her to let me continue doing it—" He looked at Mr. Stark, who was shifting uncomfortably on his feet. Peter could tell that he was lying—what about, he wasn't sure. "Is there something I should know about?"

Mr. Stark thought about this for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope, don't think so. I'll see you later, kid." He quickly ushered Peter out of his lab and into the next room, where Alexandra and Ned were waiting for Peter. Mr. Stark hit the down button on the elevator just as Vision came floating back into the room.

"Your friends are leaving, Stark?" Vision asked, sounding slightly confused. "I was under the impression that you wanted me to—"

"We'll talk later, Vision," Mr. Stark replied. Peter opened his mouth to ask what Vision was talking about, but Mr. Stark never gave him the chance. "Okay, see you guys around. Peter, be careful. Don't let them out of your sight at school, got it? I'll be around. Be careful." The elevator doors closed and Peter was left staring at the silver elevator doors, confused.

Peter sighed and then leaned against the wall of the elevator, gripping his suit in his hands. "Er—Peter?" Ned asked. "Shouldn't you put the suit up before we get off the elevator?"

"Right, yeah, sorry." Peter nodded and then quickly stuffed his Spider-Man suit into the backpack Ned had brought along. Ned zipped the backpack up and slung it on his back.

Peter could feel Alexandra looking at him and when he glanced over, he sighed. "Yeah?" He asked her.

"Are you okay?" Alexandra asked as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded and the three of them stepped off of the elevator. They walked out of the apartment building together, heading towards the subway.

Alexandra tucked her hands into her jacket pockets and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why don't I believe you?" She asked.

For once in his life, Peter would like to be able to lie to Alexandra and get away with it. Just once. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll tell you later," He replied.

He saw Alexandra and Ned exchange a look and then shrug. The friends continued on in silence. Peter couldn't shake the feeling that Mr. Stark was hiding something from him, and honestly? The thought scared him. He knew Mr. Stark kept things from him—but only seriously confidential things that didn't really involve him, like things to do with the other Avengers—not things that clearly involved his aunt.

Peter had too much going on at the moment, he didn't need anything else to worry about, and yet Mr. Stark had given him one more thing to stress over. Great, so he had to worry about high school, Doc Ock, and now whatever it was Mr. Stark was hiding from him.

Just fantastic.

🕷

They had been hanging out all day, and Ned was ready to go home, but Peter wasn't so sure that he was ready to let his friend go off on his own. He was still worried that something would happen to his friend if he was to go anywhere without Peter, even though he knew that Mr. Stark was having both Ned and Alexandra being followed by a security detail at all times.

"Dude, I'll be fine!" Ned told Peter. "Mr. Stark's security is gonna be around 24/7, I'll be fine."

"I dunno..." Peter trailed off.

Alexandra stepped in, placing a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Peter, he'll be fine," She said. "Besides, Doc Ock might not even go after him at all. We don't know what he'll do."

"Exactly!" Peter exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "We don't know what he'll do, so we should be extra vigilant! Ned, maybe your mom will let you spend the night if you ask—" Peter went to pull his cell phone out of his pocket, but Ned stopped him.

"Dude, you know my mom hates last minute plans," Ned said. "Besides, she's already got dinner planned for tonight, I've gotta be home for that." He sighed. "Look, if you're really that worried, you can walk me to the subway if you want, but I'll be fine."

"Yeah, and while you do that—" Alexandra pointed towards the window of Peter's bedroom. "I think I'm gonna go back to my room and work on homework. We still have that, you know? School is still a thing that we have to worry about."

"Unfortunately." Ned nodded.

Peter sighed and nodded. He would have to take Ned home at some point, and Mr. Stark had said that his security details would be watching his friends at all times just in case. As suspicious as Peter was of Mr. Stark at that moment, he knew that the billionaire would never put his friends' lives in danger. "All right, I'll walk you to the subway," Peter replied. "But you've gotta text me the second you get home, okay?"

"Got it. Jeez, you're acting like my mom," Ned said with a slight chuckle.

Peter would have laughed, but he was too nervous with everything that was going on. He only nodded, told Alexandra to get to her room and stay put, and then he and Ned headed out of his bedroom. They passed May on the way out. "Are you on your way home, Ned?" She asked him.

Ned nodded in response. "Yeah, thanks for having me, May." Ned smiled. "Your snacks are always the best."

She laughed and smiled. "Thank you, Ned," She replied. "Peter, where are you off to?" She asked.

"I'm gonna walk Ned to the subway—people can be crazy in New York."

"Hm. All right, be home soon."

Peter then ushered Ned from the apartment and down to the street. The two friends walked in silence for a moment before Ned spoke up. "What was that about?" Ned asked him.

"What do you mean?" Peter replied, glancing over at him.

"You were acting really weird around May back there," Ned replied. "Dude, you do realize she isn't one of Ock's henchmen—henchwomen? Does he even have hench people?" Ned realized he had gotten off topic when Peter began to grin and shake his head. "Anyway—what's going on with you?"

Peter sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He shrugged. "I'm not sure. it's just—okay, so when Mr. Stark asked to talk to me alone, we talked and then I asked him about May, because she's been acting weird for someone who knows that their nephew is Spider-Man—and the second I asked him about her, he kicked me out. He wouldn't answer my question."

Ned nodded thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. They were nearing the subway station. "That is pretty weird—okay, here's what you gotta do—ask to talk to Mr. Stark, and then when you meet up with him, ask him right away. He won't be able to ask you to leave and pretend he's got plans because you just got there and he already said he wouldn't be busy."

"That's—actually a good idea." Peter nodded. "Thanks, Ned."

"The guy in the chair knows all!" Ned replied. They had finally arrived at the subway station and Ned was about to go off on his own. He laughed a little bit. "Okay, dude, I'll see you later."

"Why don't you come over tomorrow?" Peter suggested. "Y'know, so we can work on—homework—"

Ned grinned at him knowingly. "Yeah, 'homework,' and it has nothing to do with Doc Ock possibly being after me and Alex, right?" Peter blushed slightly and shrugged. "Yeah, I'll be over around noon tomorrow. Maybe you can call Mr. Stark and ask to talk to him then." Ned began to walk up the stairs that led to the subway platform, he turned and waved to Peter once last time before disappearing.

🕷 

When Peter got back to the apartment, he crawled out the window of his fire escape and walked over to Alexandra's bedroom window. He knocked on the window and waited for her to let him in, which she did only seconds later. "Hey," He greeted as he crawled inside. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

"You mean did Doc Ock attack and try to kidnap me?" Alexandra replied. "Nope, it's been quiet."

"Well, actually, I was talking about your homework, but—" Peter laughed as Alexandra whacked him with one of her pillows and then plopped back down onto her bed. He sat next to her and then pulled his phone out, waiting for a text from Ned that would let him know that he got home safely.

He didn't notice Alexandra pulling out her camera and snapping a photo of him until he heard the click of the camera's shutter. He looked up and groaned. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"Ms. Holiman wants us to document this semester with our friends for a final project." Alexandra shrugged. "This one is going to be titled, 'Peter Parker stares at his phone while impatiently waiting for his boyfriend's text.'" She grinned and laughed at her own joke, while Peter just rolled his eyes.

"I'm just worried!" Peter exclaimed. "Besides, boyfriend might not be the right word to describe Ned."

"I know that, I'm messing with you." Alexandra laughed. "No, you're too in love with Liz Allen for Ned to be your boyfriend."

Peter found himself blushing, and he wanted to blurt out that he wasn't in love with Liz Allen. But, he kept himself in check. Instead, he calmly stated it. "I'm—I'm not in love with Liz Allen."

He could have sworn he saw something in Alexandra's eyes soften a bit and her shoulders seemed to relax. She shrugged and held her camera up again and snapped another photo of him, Peter groaned. "Stooooooop," He complained.

"But you're so photogenic!" Alexandra insisted. She glanced down at her camera. "See, look! I took this one on the first day of school, look how good you look!" She scooted closer to Peter on her bed and held the camera up.

Peter looked at the camera and threw his head back with a groan. "You know I hate having my picture taken!" He exclaimed. Alexandra only laughed. "I look stupid in this."

"No you don't, you look cute! Your hair's all fluffy and curly!" Alexandra replied. "And you can't look bad anyway, because if you did, that would mean that you think I'm a bad photographer. Do you think I'm a bad photographer, Peter?"

He knew she was just messing with him, but Peter couldn't help but go overboard. "No! Of course I don't!" He exclaimed. "You're the best photographer that I know—I mean, without you, the yearbook and newspaper would suck."

"Dude, I was joking." Alexandra laughed.

"Y-yeah, I know—"

Peter looked at her and she looked at him. They stared at each other for a moment before Alexandra cleared her throat and then looked back down at her camera. She began to scroll through the pictures again. "Ah, see, here's one of you and Ned during Decathlon practice," She said. "This one's good, see?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it is a good one—" Peter found himself looking at her again, and she must've noticed this, because she looked at him, too.

Had Mr. Stark been right about there being some sort of tension between them? It certainly felt that way to Peter in that moment. Why was Mr. Stark always right? It was annoying.

The two of them stared at each other, Peter found himself leaning closer to her as she did the same. He closed his eyes as she did, and just as their lips were about to connect, Ned's text tone went off, prompting both of them to stop and lean away from each other. Peter cleared his throat, his ears were red and his cheeks were burning. Had that really almost just happened? Alexandra was his best friend, that could have ruined their friendship!

Peter looked down at his phone.

guy in the chair: Made him home. No trouble with Doc Ock. :)
5:38 PM

He sighed in relief and looked at Alexandra with a small smile. "Ned made it home okay," He told her.

"That's good." Alexandra nodded. "Told you he'd be fine."

"Yeah, I know," Peter said.

"He told you, too."

"Yeah, he did." Peter laughed a bit. "So—anyway, I should probably get going—patrol and stuff." Peter got up from Alexandra's bed and backed towards the window. "I'll—see you tomorrow—" He opened the window.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to talk about?" Alexandra asked him. Peter paused a moment, thinking she was talking about the near-kiss, but then realized she meant talking about Mr. Stark and his aunt.

Peter shook his head and waved his hands in the air. "Nah, it can wait," He replied. "I'll—see ya—" He tried to think of something to say, but when he couldn't find the words, he just slipped out the window and headed back to his own bedroom to retrieve his suit.

🕷

Peter sat on the roof of a building that overlooked the city, keeping an eye out for any strange activity. He thought that Doc Ock might show himself, but the villain didn't seem to be appearing that evening. Peter couldn't stop thinking about what had almost occurred between him and Alexandra earlier that evening.

He had almost kissed his best friend—he had tried to kiss his best friend. Why the hell had he done that?

Well—because he had wanted to, honestly. There was no other way to explain it. Peter wanted to kiss Alexandra.

The thing that really got him was that she had seemed to want to kiss him, too.

🕷

Whoa!!! 900+ reads?!? That's insane!! Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope you all are enjoying reading this story as much as I am writing it! :D