Chapter Text
Peter watched the elevator numbers move up as he waited. He had texted Tony he was coming home this weekend to spend time with him. He hadn’t told Tony why. He hadn’t told Tony that he had to tell himself something—Something that Peter had avoided for a very long time. He was so worried about losing people, but he also wanted to be able to be his true authentic self.
The elevator opened and Peter stepped out and made a beeline for his father figure’s office pausing only to waive at his secretary who smiled brightly at him. Peter knocked a couple of times before opening the door.
Tony was on the phone but waved him inside, “Okay. Sounds like a good game plan, but I’ve got to let you go. My kid is home from school and I need to catch up on everything with him.”
Tony gave a few more responses to the person on the other end and finally gave Peter his full attention, “Pete! You’re home!”
“I told you I was coming.” Peter laughed nervously.
Tony frowned. He knew that laugh. He also noticed the way Peter was avoiding his gaze and the way he was picking at his nails, “What did you do?”
“What? That’s an unfair assumption.” Peter looked Tony in the eye for the first time since walking in, “Also I’m not a child anymore.”
“Then what’s the nervous stuff over?” Tony move around the desk to sit next to Peter on the other side, “Because you may not be a child but I’ve known you since you were one. I know what you do when you’re anxious to tell me something.”
Peter cleared his throat. He wasn’t planning to do this here. He figured he might as well though. It would give Tony the chance to kick him to the curb without having to physically kick him out of his home, “So I do have something to tell you.”
Tony nodded and encouraged him to keep talking.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you and May but I just didn’t know how to bring it up.” Peter felt his phone vibrate but he ignored it. He knew who it was and he knew what they were asking.
“This isn’t sounding good, Pete.” Tony teased.
“It’s not that bad.” Peter shrugged before spitting out, “I’ve been dating someone.”
Tony grinned, “That’s great!”
“And he’s cute.” Peter rushed out never meeting Tony’s gaze.
He felt a hand cover his own in support and glanced up at Tony who was still smiling, “You’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad?” Tony asked, “I’m happy for you.”
“I’m not gay.” Peter said, “But I’m not straight either.”
“Fair enough. We don’t need labels.”
“Will you help me tell May?” Peter asked softly.
“Of course, but you don’t need to feel anxious.” Tony reassured, “She loves you.”
~
“You’re dating a guy?” May clarified after he had uttered the term “bisexual.”
“I am.” Peter confirmed, “He’s great! You’d love him!”
Tony studied May’s face. He never would have guessed this, but he saw it in her eyes—She wasn’t okay with this. In fact based on her body language she was really struggling with this news.
“So I don’t want you to take this the wrong way so I’ll make sure to be clear on this topic—I love you—But I’m not okay with you dating a guy either. I’ll pray for you though.”
“Pray for me or pray it out of me?” Peter felt his defenses rise up,
“Because if you’re trying to pray it out of me save your breath.”
“Like I said I love you—“
“—You love him but don’t accept him? Those things don’t go together, May.” Tony said softly.
“Don’t do that.” May warned, “I do love him. This wasn’t a big deal until recently though. It makes me wonder who at school convinced you that you were gay.”
“I’m actually not gay or straight. I’m bisexual. I’m both? I suppose it doesn’t matter. We don’t need labels.” Peter explained even though he knew it fell on deaf ears.
“Can we just agree to disagree on this subject?” May asked clearly upset, “It’s late.”
“Agree to disagree about who I am and who I love?” Peter stood up, “No we can’t.”
“Let’s go, Peter.” Tony stood up grabbing his keys from his pocket.
“I’ll come pack up my stuff before I go back to school.” Peter walked out the front door without waiting for a response.
“Tony—“ May stood up, “Please make him see reason. I never said he had to leave.”
“—Stop. I love that kid with everything inside of me. Gay, straight, transgender, bisexual, pansexual, or anything else that makes him the wonderful human being he is. I love him! If I were to deny this part of him then I deny him ultimately. So you didn’t ask him to leave but you also didn’t really give him a choice.”
~
Peter sat next to Rhodey at breakfast the next morning but he was just pushing around eggs on his plate, “Thanks for coming to help.”
“None of that. You don’t have to thank me for this.” Rhodey shook his head, “We love you, Peter. I’m sorry she’s letting this ruin your relationship. She might get it some day, but if she doesn’t then you’ve got us.”
Peter blinked back tears as he hugged his uncle, “Love you too.”
“Ready to go?” Tony asked.
Peter put his plate he hadn’t really eaten from in the sink, “Super excited.”
Tony ignored the sarcasm.
~
Rhodey sat in the SUV grinning afterward, “In the words of Taylor Swift, I did something bad.”
“What did you do?” Peter asked.
“I took all of the batteries from everything I could get my hands on.” Rhodey burst into laughter, “And I took all of the toilet paper except the roll that was basically empty.”
Peter’s mouth twitched, “This isn’t funny.”
“Then stop smiling.” Rhodey teased.
“You’re horrible.”
“You pronounced handsome wrong.”
Peter rolled his eyes.
~
“Bisexual? I mean as long as you’re happy!” Ned said when he called him later that night, “Did you tell MJ?”
“Not yet. I’ll call her sometime this week, but you’re my longest standing friend and I thought I’d start by telling you.”
“Hmm. Well it’s fine. I do have to go though. I’ve got a lot going on right now.”
Peter frowned. They would normally catch up for hours on the weekend, “Umm. Sure, okay.”
The phone beeped signaling the end of the call.
“Everything go okay?” Tony asked at the doorway.
“He said all of the right things.” Peter couldn’t shake the feeling that the words weren’t genuine.
“—But?” Tony prompted.
“It felt all wrong.” Peter admitted.
“Give him some time to adjust.” Tony encouraged.
“Yeah, but Tony? I’m going to take a break from telling people. It’s brutal out there.” Peter shrugged.
Tony saw that he was trying to downplay his feelings. But he saw past that. He knew that May had wrecked him and he knew if he said Ned was weird or off than he was probably correct. He knew his best friend better than anyone. He was confident his gut was spot on, but he was trying not to worry him, “Yeah. It is, Bub.”
“GUYS! I MADE COOKIES! THEY ARE BLACK ISH! BUT I ATTEMPTED COMFORT FOOD!” Rhodey yelled.
“Ope.” Peter laughed, “Guess we better get to that.”
“Or we could pretend we didn’t hear.” Tony suggested quietly.
“Lab?”
“Lab.” Tony smiled.