Shadow // Peter Parker (Book 1)

Part 10

Song: 'Sunflower' by Swae Lee and Post Malone
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Peter POV

I can't believe THE Tony Stark is here in my apartment right now. "What are you doing......uh....hey uh....I'm Peter" I stutter.

"Tony" he says motioning towards himself.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him. This is the most surreal thing ever.

"It's about time we've met. You've been getting my emails right?" He says, winking behind Aunt May.

"Uh...y..yeah. Regarding the......" I say, trying really hard to hide my confusion.

"You didn't tell me about the grant" May says.

"The September foundation. Remember when you applied?" Tony says.

"Uh.......yeah?" I reply.

"Well I approved! So now we're in business" he says, sipping what looks like tea.

Tony Stark, a billionaire, sitting on my couch, drinking tea. I'm sorry but, what?!

"You didn't tell me! Are you hiding secrets from me now?" May asks me.

"Well I just know how much you love surprises and......anyway what did I apply fo-" I begin but Tony cuts me off.

"That's why I'm here, to hash it out" he says. I nod slowly. What the hell is he talking about?! "Can I have five minutes with him?" Tony asks May.

"Sure" May says brightly.

I walk into my room and Tony follows me, closing the door behind him. "Look Sir, I didn't apply for your gra-" I say but Tony interrupts me.

"Ah, me first. Quick question" he says as he holds up a hologram of......oh no......Spider-Man. "That's you right?" He says.

"Uh.....no......I...." I stammer.

"Look at you go" he says as plays one of the videos from YouTube, "Nice catch, 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour, that's not easy. You've got mad skills" he says walking towards me.

"That's from YouTube right? Cos you know that's all fake, it's all done on a computer and-" I ramble on but I stop when Tony knocks on the opening to the attic and my suit falls down. I quickly throw it into the closet and sigh.

"So you're the spiderling? Crime-fighting spider? Spider-Boy?" He says. It feels like his dark eyes are staring into my soul, and it's a little intimidating.

"I'm.......Spider-Man" I mutter.

"Not in that onesie you're not" he says.

"It's not a onesie" I retort.

"Who else knows? Anybody?" He asks me. I shake my head. "Not even your unusually attractive aunt?" He says, nodding towards the door.

"No! If she finds out she'll freak out! And when she freaks out, I freak out and-" I exclaim but he interrupts me again.

"You know what's cool? This webbing. Tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured it?" He asks as the throws it to me. I catch it and throw it into the closet.

"I did" I say quietly.

"Well even so, you're in dire need of an upgrade. That's why I'm here. Anyway why are you doing this? What gets you out of that twin bed in the morning?" He asks, and he looks genuinely interested.

"Well, because I've been me my whole life, and I've had these powers for six months, I mean, I read books, build computers, and I'd love to play football, but I couldn't then so I shouldn't now. Cos I'm different, but I can't tell anyone that, so I'm not. Look.....when you can do the things I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen, they happen cos of you" I say quietly, looking at the ground.