home ; peter parker

chapter twenty-five

Saturday

     Peter woke up with a smile on his face. His friends had slept over on Thursday and went home Friday, and he'd spent the entire day with Tony in his lab. It was great to get things off his mind and his hands on something. He enjoyed working on projects with his mentor, and enjoyed the bonding that came with it.
     He left his room with a hum, crutching his way to the breakfast bar. Natasha was sitting, sipping her coffee and scrolling through her phone.
     "Hi, Nat!" He smiled.
     "You'll call her by her first name but not me?" Steve huffed, entering the room.
     "Sorry, Mr Rogers," Peter said, though his smile was anything but apologetic. "She threatened me so I have to call her Nat."
     "Ah," Steve waved his hand in the air, dismissing it. He pulled a chair out for Peter, who thanked him, and sat down. "What can I make you for breakfast?"
     "You can cook?" Peter asked, surprised.
     "Of course!" Steve said. "Everyone should know how to cook."
     "Well, I just thought... Y'know, people were pretty sexist when you were growing up..."
     "True. But I'm certainly not," Steve said, spinning around and grabbing things out of the cupboards. "Pancakes?"
     "Yes please!" Peter replied eagerly.
     Natasha looked up from her phone to look at Peter. "маленький паук, you've had pancakes or waffles almost every day you've been here."
     "Hmm," Steve stopped a moment, looking over his shoulder. "Then... French toast?"
     "What a great compromise!" Peter clasped his hands together. Natasha just smiled and shook her head at the two.
     "Same category, but I'll let it slide."

     Peter ate breakfast, talking comfortably with the two. All was well with until Tony came in with a smile on his face.
     "Pete!" Peter turned towards the voice, smiling up at Iron Man. Though, he couldn't reply because his mouth was stuffed with food. "Guess who's coming to visit the compound today?"
Peter swallowed. "Who?" He asked curiously, the anticipation in his fingertips, which he began to tap excitedly.
"Your aunt!"
Peter's instinct was to frown, but he could not do so without stirring suspicion, so he opened his mouth in surprise.
"Really?" He asked, his smile not reaching his eyes.
"Yep!"
"Cool," he said in feign eagerness and returned back to eating. He missed the look Natasha and Tony shared.

In contrast to his facade, the excitement in his gut turned to anxiety, churning maliciously and making his stomach hurt. After he finished breakfast and excused himself to his room, he sat on his bed and grabbed his phone, unplugging the charging cord. He turned on his phone and, as expected, had a text from May.

'I'll be coming to the compound. I hope you're alright ;(.'

He inhaled sharply, closing his eyes and setting down his phone.
"Peter, are you okay? You look upset," came FRIDAY's gentle voice.
"I'm... I'm fine," he said, trying to convince both the AI and himself. "Hey... FRI. Back when, uh, I had a panic attack and, y'know, woke up in the medbay, it seemed like the Avengers were keeping something from me. What are they hiding?"
"Unfortunately, I am not permitted to-"
"Is it about me?"
"... Yes," came the hesitant answer. Peter sighed in response, laying his head on his pillow. "Is it about the assassins?"
"I am not authorized to answer that, my apologies."
Peter chewed his lip. "Kay. When is May coming?"
"Your aunt is on her way. She is expected to arrive in less than 10 minutes."
"Already?" Peter jerked up, sliding off his bed and grabbing his crutches. His heart began to pound faster. "Okay, okay, calm down," he told himself. "Deep breaths."
He scolded himself for getting used to life with the Avengers so quickly. For all he knew, May was on her way to fight for him to return. He hoped not, but it was highly likely... He really didn't want to go back to May after he'd seen what the Avengers were like. The thought made him guilty, but he felt more at home with them than he did with May. 'May is just really harsh,' he told himself. 'But you love her, so if she wants you to come back, you should.' Although she instilled fear in him with every text, he accepted the twisted relationship between them as love. 'I suppose returning to May early would be fine, I need to be taken back to reality,' he sighed aloud, exiting his room.

When he walked out, he crashed into Steve Rogers. Luckily, the man had grabbed his arms so he didn't fall.
"Sorry," Steve smiled. "I was just about to knock! May's here."
"Oh, now?" Peter raised his eyebrows, and suddenly a panicked voice inside him was screaming 'I'm not ready!' He swallowed and put on his best smile, walking along with the super-soldier. He wondered how his ten minutes of freedom he'd had slipped away so quickly.
"Are you excited to see her? You haven't seen her in so long!" Steve said, though his friendly conversation made the anxiety in Peter's stomach twist.
"Yeah. I text her a lot, though," he replied, hoping to offer an explanation so it wasn't suspicious when he wasn't excited later.
"That's nice," Steve smiled.
They made their way to the kitchen, where May was making cheerful conversation with Tony, Bucky, and Sam, while Natasha and Wanda sat watching. Natasha was seated on a stool, while Wanda was sitting cross legged on the kitchen island. Wanda was smiling and would occasionally slip in comments, but Natasha was stone faced and silent. Clint was also in the room, though he was turned away from the group and sitting slumped on the island next to Wanda, waiting for his coffee to finish brewing. Bruce was nowhere to be found, likely working on a scientific project of some sort. That or reading.
      "Peter!" May exclaimed, rushing toward him and grabbing his shoulders. She looked him up and down with a worried expression. "Ah, look at you! I missed you so much, I'm glad you're okay." She kissed the top of his head and frowned, looking down at his casted knee. "Oh, that'll be expensive..." The look she was giving Peter was clear to him, but subtle. Her glare was brief, and the anger flashed in her eyes for only a moment. It was obvious to him that she was hiding her expression from the group.
     "Oh, don't worry about that," Tony said, waving his hand. "You don't have to pay for anything."
     A smirk, quickly replaced by feigned gratefulness. "Oh, I can not even begin to thank you!" She turned, placing a hand on her chest to sell her sincerity.

The car ride back was awkward.
     "So... Are you okay?" May asked him, glancing in the rear view mirror because he'd sat in the back seat. Her eyebrow was raised, and her voice wasn't warm.
     "Yeah... Sorry for causing you trouble."
     "You're lucky they paid or I'd have your head," she scoffed. "Though it's no wonder they did," she chuckled and looked back out onto the road. "You're like a pet to them," she entertained, "a scrappy little dog".
     "Yeah," Peter said, looking out the window uncomfortably. It'd been a while since he'd been alone with May.
"Did you enjoy your stay?" She glanced over.
"Yes," he replied, staring at his hands in his lap.
"You didn't... Say anything about me, did you?"
"Uh," Peter's eyebrows furrowed, wondering what she meant. "Well, o-of course I talked about you! You're my family." It wasn't exactly a lie, but Peter was never the one who brought her up. May just hummed in response.

     The conversation died, thankfully, and the ride back was filled with some radio station humming as they drove through the city.

     They promptly returned to their respective rooms, and Peter became appreciative that May decided to lay off him. He guessed she didn't want to make any of his wounds even worse.

So, fortunately, there were no additional May-induced injuries that night.

author's note;

hi sorry for the slow updates please be patient with me as i am in fact ✨mentally ill✨ and it takes a lot of energy for me to write these <3
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