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As Peter walked into the school he was met by the enthusiastic presence of his best friend. "Where's your jacket?" Ned asked him before they could get through their elaborate handshake.
Peter scrunched up his face in confusion and looked down at the hoodie he'd thrown on before leaving that morning. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why his friend had asked him that. "Huh?"
"Not that jacket," Ned replied with a shake of his head. "Your decathlon jacket. We have a meet after school, remember?" he asked, looking just as bewildered as his friend.
With a pathetic whine of frustration, Peter dropped his head against his locker with an audible clank. "I totally forgot that was today."
"How do you forget that?", Ned asked. "Mr. Herrington just reminded us about it yesterday afternoon. That was less than twenty-four hours ago."
With a quick glance to both sides, Peter gave his friend a pleading look. "I've been, you know- busy," he hissed, knowing that the other boy would understand the underlying message.
Ned sighed and placed a hand on his friend's defeated shoulders. "Well, you have to wear it to complete. Can May bring it to you? It's still early," he asked with hope. The last thing anyone wanted was for Flash to step in as the alternate because of a stupid lack of a jacket.
"No," Peter sighed out, only to be met with the inevitable 'why?'that he really didn't want to answer. However, when Ned continued to look at him expectantly he sighed again. "-Because it's not at the apartment. It's in my room at Mr. Stark's," he explained causing his friend's jaw to drop.
"Couldn't, uh, couldn't' he maybe bring it to you?" Ned no so casually asked once he'd gotten his composure back.
As much as Peter really, really didn't want to ask Tony to bring it to him, he also really didn't want to miss out on the competition. Mostly because MJ would kill him but also because he'd been sort of looking forward to it. It was the last one before Nationals. "I'll see what I can do," he grumbled before ducking into an empty classroom to dial the man's number.
Having not expected Tony to answer his phone at all, Peter was surprised when his mentor picked up on the first ring. "What's up, underoos? Shouldn't you be in class?" the man jubilantly inquired.
"Um, yeah," Peter replied, as his brain continued to stutter. He'd been fully prepared to leave a message. Having to answer questions was nowhere on his radar at the moment. "I just needed to, um, to ask you something."
"Oh yeah?" Tony asked, sounding far too pleased about being asked for a favor. "What can do for you, kiddo?"
"Well," Peter hesitantly began, "I left my decathlon jacket's in my room at the tower and I'm gonna need it right after school. Could you maybe ask Happy to drop it off for me?"
"No need to ask Happy. I'll bring it to you," Tony replied with ease.
"You don't have to do that, Mr. Stark!" Peter practically squeaked before forcing his voice to go back down a few octaves. "I mean, I know you're super busy," he added, trying to sound calmer than he actually felt.
Tony chuckled into the receiver, though it did nothing for Peter's nerves. Especially when the man went on to say, "I'm not too busy to bring you a jacket, kid. Then I can hang around and watch the competition."
Peter cringed. That was exactly what he'd been trying to avoid. He'd always managed to 'forget' to tell the man the date or time of his various events but there was no getting around it this time.
"Don't you have, like, meetings and stuff? Ms. Potts probably has a ton of stuff for you to do. You don't have to sit through my stupid decathlon meet. I just need the jacket and-" he tried but his mentor was quick to cut him off with a huffed laugh.
"-Mr. Parker," Tony teasingly spoke. "Are you trying to tell me that you don't want me there? Do I embarrass you? Is that it? I, Tony Stark embarrass you?" he asked with absolute glee.
"I didn't say that, Mr. Stark! I just know how busy you are," Peter lamely defended but the man wasn't wrong. He was embarrassed and nothing had even happened yet. He just knew there was no way that Tony would sit surreptitiously in the back of the room. It was as if his mentor lived to see his ears turn red. It was almost as if it were a game to see how far he could go before his head exploded.
"Uh-huh, and I'm telling you that I'm not," Tony rapidly replied. "I'll be there. End of discussion. See you later, kid," he said, then hanging up without warning.
That left Peter to spend the rest of the day dreading his mentor's arrival. At one point, Ned had tried to convince him that it would all be fine. Yet, as they entered the cafeteria just before the meet was to begin, the other boy finally understood.
There, seated in the middle of the very front row sat Tony Stark wearing a Midtown t-shirt under his blazer while holding Peter's jacket in one hand and a professionally made, 'Go, Peter!' sign in the other. Then, as if that wasn't enough, the man had an airhorn in his back pocket. Though that was thankfully confiscated before the meet ever began. Peter was both grateful and mortified.
However, on the plus side, Flash could no longer say that Peter had never been in the same room as Tony Stark. Or that he didn't really have a Stark internship. In fact, from that day forward the entire school was convinced that Tony was Peter's dad.
-and Peter? He Didn't even bother trying to deny it.