Long Days

Epilogue

I'm taking a break from this story to work on something else, so I still haven't decided if I'm going to write any sort of sequel to this. Regardless, I wanted a cuter ending because I didn't like the last chapter. So here's the epilogue. Thank you to everyone who read and followed <3

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"Here, don't forget your jacket! It's cold outside!"

"Thanks, Miss Potts." Peter slipped on his jacket before grabbing his schoolbag. His new schoolbag. He had already laced his new sneakers, too. On the first day back to school after winter break, Peter was going to look like a brand new man.

"C'mon, kid, there's traffic to beat," Tony urged. Not for the first time, he wondered if they had made a good decision not to transfer the teen to a closer high school.

Soon, the two boys said good-bye to Pepper and strapped themselves into one of Tony's more modest cars.

Peter was unusually quiet. "Nervous to go back?" Tony ventured.

Peter shrugged.

"You can talk to me, you know," Tony reminded him. Tony and Pepper had already talked about encouraging the kid to see a therapist in the near future. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find a therapist that they could trust with Spider-Man's identity.

"It's just..." Peter stopped short and sighed. "I have to see Mister Castine again. It's going to be weird."

Right, Tony thought. The guy who reported the Parkers after Peter snapped. Honestly, Tony was glad that the teacher did his job. If he hadn't, then Peter might not have ever called Tony. Things could have been a lot worse by now. "Don't talk to him if you don't want to," Tony advised. "See how this week goes. If it's too bad, you can drop the class and get a homeschool teacher for calculus."

"Get homeschooled in a single subject?" Peter asked doubtfully.

"Sure, why not? Lots of people know calculus. Hell, I could do it, no problem," Tony shrugged. He had seen the kid's notebooks: they weren't even learning linear algebra yet.

The thought of billionaire Tony Stark dressed in a sweater-vest and bowtie, teaching a single teenager from a blackboard made Peter laugh. He asked, "Would you do it for Ned, too?"

"Why not?" Tony asked, chuckling.

It wasn't long after that they pulled up to the front of the school. "Good luck, kiddo," Tony said. "Text me if you need me. You got your phone, right?"

Peter pulled his sleek, new phone out of his pocket. "Yeah, thanks again for that."

"Don't sweat it. Now get out there and show 'em what you're made of." Tony watched Peter climb out of the car. The other students who stopped to gawk at the shiny sports car made Peter blush and put his head down. Tony watched the kid bolt up the steps without looking back.

He grinned as he merged back into traffic. It wasn't just any kid now. Peter was his kid.