No Lie

Bring Your Kid to Work Day

Tony was a little nervous, to be honest. Despite the fact that he and Peter had gotten pretty close in the two years they had known each other, there was no real way to determine how Peter would react to what Tony had in mind.

Pepper thought he was being ridiculous. The kid was finally calling him Tony and although he swore it wasn't true, Pepper insisted Peter had called him Dad once or twice. Nevertheless, he was still nervous to ask the kid if he wanted to come to Stark Industries with him for "bring your kid to work" day.

After a short conversation with May, he had full permission to take Peter out of school for the day. Heck, May had even volunteered to talk to the principal herself with an excuse as to why Peter was missing school. She had even promised Peter could stay the night as long as Tony ensured Peter wouldn't be late to school the next day. Even Happy had chimed in and while hearing Happy's voice on May's phone was a bit unsettling, Tony decided to just do it.

And that's how Tony found himself fidgeting irritatedly in the Midtown High parking lot as he waited for Peter to come out.

As soon as the kid stepped out of the doors, he spotted Tony's car and grinned. Tony hastily put away his phone and tried to stop fidgeting as Peter raced across the parking lot and nearly ripped the door handle off in his excitement.

"Whoa, I didn't know you were picking me up, Tony!" Peter said happily, sliding into the passenger seat. "It's Tuesday. Happy gets me on Tuesdays."

Fortunately for Tony's already fried nerves, he knew Peter well enough to know he wasn't disappointed in the change.

"Yeah, well I was free and figured I'd get you."

It was only a partial lie, but Peter wouldn't notice.

"How about we spend our afternoon in the lab?" Tony suggested, pulling out of the school parking lot. He glanced at Peter who was grinning and nodding energetically.

"Sounds awesome!"

Tony smiled and the car fell silent for a few minutes, a rare occasion with Peter around.

"Hey, kid," Tony said hesitantly, "I have a question for you."

"Yeah?" Peter asked, looking at Tony curiously.

Tony tapped the steering wheel with his fingers, something Peter immediately recognised as a nervous habit.

"Thursday is a day," Tony began awkwardly. Tony rolled his eyes when Peter confirmed that yes, it was a day.

"What about it?"

"I'm getting there," Tony answered, tapping on the steering wheel again.

"Okay." Peter nodded. "So Thursday? What's important about Thursday?"

Tony's nerves returned with a vengeance and his stomach twisted.

Before he could chicken out, he blurted out, "It's bring-your-kid-to-work-day and I wanted to bring you."

He glanced at Peter, trying to gauge his reaction. When the kid didn't immediately react, Tony began to panic.

"I already talked to May and she said she'll cover for you. She also said you could spend the night, so it's down to you."

Peter still didn't respond, his face blank as he stared out the window and Tony began to backtrack.

"If you don't want to, that's fine, I understand. It's just—if you're gonna take over SI, I figured it would be a good day for you to come and check things out more than usual. If you're not comfortable with it though, I get—"