POISON WEBS ↴ PETER PARKER

⇢ 13 | FAMILY MEETING

PETER 🕷

_

APART FROM WHAT YOU MIGHT THINK, the Avengers suck at giving advice.

After my incident at Delmars (where for some reason my Spidey-Senses didn't work, and I ran straight into a Hershey's chocolate bar stand) I bolted over to Stark Tower with the mission to fix my life problems and fix the mess I'm in.

But it wasn't really working out.

"Tony did what?" Natasha quipped, reclining into her seat.

I blinked. "Funded her experiment."

We were all sitting in the living room at the highest floor of the tower, spread out amongst the couch cushions and floor like teens at a sleepover. As soon as I made it here, I told Happy to call an emergency 'Family Meeting', and soon Mr. Stark, Bucky, Steve, Nat, Mr. Hulk, Thor, and Hawkeye were staring at me in anticipation.

"Since when did you start playing matchmaker, Tony?" Nat added, staring at the man to her right.

The man cleared his throat cleared his throat. "I'm not 'playing' anything."

"Yes, you are."

"I just don't understand why you had to involve yourself," Steve cut in. He was sitting on the couch next to Bucky, arms crossed in front of his chest as he stared across the room. "This is the kid's love life, not a game."

I grinned sheepishly. "It would be a pretty sucky game."

"Not the time, Parker," Mr. Stark said, "I'm trying to defend myself here."

From across the room, Thor slammed down his coffee mug, nearly shattering it into pieces. It rolled off to the side instead, nearly spilling it's remaining contents on Bruce's shoes. The scientist just sunk into his chair—he never liked these family meetings.

"I think it's great!" Thor bellowed, "the Youngling has found his soulmate!"

"She doesn't know it's him," Nat sighed.

"Then tell her!"

"It's not that easy."

"No, Thor has a point," Steve cut in, "just be confident and tell her the truth."

At those words, it was like all Hell broke loose in the tower. Hawkeye scrambled off into the kitchen, Bruce melted into the cushions in embarrassment, Natasha looked disappointed, and Mr. Stark looked pissed.

"Confidence?" Tony said snarkily, "Says the guy that still hasn't married Barnes."

Steve's face immediately flushed. "That's different."

"It's been over eighty years!"

"In our defense, he thought I was dead for half of them," Bucky mumbled from the couch, "so romantic, Stark."

See?

I came here for advice, but I was nearly about to start another Civil War over this nonsense. Giving The Billionaire, Bucky, and the Beefy soldier another minute to bicker, I stood up from my bean-bag and began to pace.

"With all due respect, Cap," I pitched in, "but I can't just admit the truth to her."

The three men stopped arguing.

"See? The kid's smarter than you," Tony snapped.

"Quiet, Stark."

"You be quiet."

"Guys, seriously," I exhaled, "I'm trying to explain something here."

Seeing the anxiety written on my face, the living room space suddenly calmed, and everyone turned their attention to me. I stopped pacing, trying to resume a more proper standing to make myself look confident in what I was going to say (I'm not).