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After the events of the snap, Peter gave long consideration to college. Not whether or not he’d go, but rather the benefits of a gap year before he threw himself into another four years of school and hero business on top of it.
When he mentioned the brief break to rediscover himself to Tony and May, they each had agreed it was a good idea. In fact, Tony agreed so strongly that he insisted Peter spend his gap year working an actual internship with Stark Industries- working a little closer to owner and boss himself, of course.
Only a month went by before Tony had asked him to move in. May was resettling into her own life again, and navigating more independence as Peter grew closer to being an adult. She and Happy were exploring, whatever it was they were to each other, Peter couldn’t quite understand their rambling.
May thought it’d be good for Peter to have some strong male company around, and so he’d made the move, the first time he’d been away from May since he was a kid, and it took some getting used to. He found himself making his way home during patrols some nights, just to check up on May. She looked happy as she set up an art studio, she looked relaxed with Happy’s company, and that was what really made it all okay for Peter.
It was the middle of the night on a Thursday when two in the tower became three. Harley Keener was a name Peter had heard before, had seen atop research papers and equations. He’d actually helped develop Peter’s current web fluid, despite the two having never met.
Peter had woken to the buzz of Tony’s phone ringing a few rooms over, so tired (but ready to throw on his suit at a moments notice) that he didn’t recognise that the murmur of Stephen Strange’s voice did not belong there at that time of night. Peter tried to eavesdrop, but Tony and his damn perfect technology left him with only half of the conversation.
Tony was alert, but not over a mission. Curiosity sent Peter out into the hall as he heard Tony get up. He wanted to ask, but Tony was locked away in the elevators before Peter could catch him, and suddenly he was stood in the middle of the living room with Dr. Strange.
“Go back to bed, Pete.”
Peter probably would’ve fought Stephen, but the man had run a hand down the back of the Spider-Man’s head, and Peter knew if Stephen was being soft with him, then something bad was happening. He pushed his curiosities aside and followed his orders. He felt a little better knowing Stephen too had gone home.
For a half hour, there’d been muffled voices and footsteps down the hall, and then the tower fell into silence, and Peter fell back to sleep.
The next morning, Peter met Harley Keener in person for the first time, and his whole life changed in that moment, though he didn’t know it at the time. He hadn’t expected they’d become inseparable just a week later, when Harley felt up to socialising. They went everywhere and did everything together. Harley brought him out of his shell, and Peter grounded the other teen.
Peter was sure Tony had set this all up somehow, had planned for Harley and Peter to meet even if it meant buying their way to roommates at MIT.
The boys had been so caught up in their newfound companionship that they’d almost missed how often Tony had found an excuse to visit the wizard down at Bleeker Street.
They watched a few days in silence as Tony prettied himself up before he flew down to the sanctum, changed his shirt three times and still wasn’t happy. They practically bullied him into asking the other man out on a date, paying off Wong to encourage Stephen to forget his responsibilities for just a few hours for a date.
Of course, it went perfectly.
Living in the sanctum had never been a possibility when they’d first discussed everything. It started with Tony spending the night every now and then, which turned into most nights, and even though Peter and Harley were eighteen now, they tended to tag along wherever Tony went like children.
At some point, the words in Stephen’s mouth changed from ‘the guest room,’ to ‘your room.’ It was a nice space, and Peter and Harley didn’t mind living on top of each other anyway. It was organised chaos, and mostly for Peter, someone to hug when the nightmares became too much. Harley wasn’t much of a hugger, but they’d make do.
When the holiday season came, Peter was super excited. The sanctum was huge, and they could decorate it like those Christmas castles in the movies. Levi could help reach the top corners, and Tony’s bots could take all the decorations down afterwards- until Stephen spoiled all his plans.
“We’re not doing Christmas,” Stephen declared dismissively,
“What?” Peter shrieked, “Why?”
“Because we’re not trashing the sanctum with tacky decorations that have nothing to do with the actual purpose of the holiday,”
“Fine,” Peter gave up, knowing he wouldn’t win this fight, “can we do something else to celebrate that doesn’t involve trees, red, green or gold?”
“Like?”
Peter brainstormed, but Harley beat him to it, “A haunted house,”
“What’s wrong with the one we live in?”
“What?” Peter paled,
“Don’t do that!” Tony pleaded from across the room,
“What do you mean it’s haunted?” Peter pushed, heart suddenly thudding a million miles an hour,
“Cool!” Harley hollered.
Peter’s eyes shifted from Stephen to Tony when he got no response. He swore he’d never seen Tony so disappointed in the sorcerer, and the look on his face just confirmed it all to be true.
The sanctum, was in fact, haunted.
Peter was tough, he was Spider-Man, he was scared of nothing- except clowns and ghosts, he drew the line at ghosts, and it was written all over his face.
“It’s, uh,” Stephen cleared his throat, and Peter waited eagerly for his explanation, “the sanctum has been here for thousands of years. We have relics, like the Cloak, and we also have spirits,”
“That’s so cool! Can we talk to them?” Harley asked, all excited.
Stephen went on some explanation about how, no, they couldn’t, but Peter had long stopped listening. His ears were ringing in fact.
The appealing part of a haunted house, was that it was just a concept. You get scared, then go home safe and sound to your own home, where the only thing that goes bump in the night is one of your parents hitting the other with a pillow because they were snoring. It was one thing to visit a haunted house, but to live in one…
Peter felt a hand on his shoulder, and quickly swirled around to find Tony standing close enough for his body heat to be noticeable. His thumb rubbed circles against the back of Peter’s shoulders, a failed attempt at comfort.
“You know you’re entirely safe here, right?” Tony assured him, “I never would’ve let you and Harley even visit if there was any chance at all something here might hurt you.”
Peter trusted Tony. It made sense. Tony had never put Peter in harms way before, and Peter had lived in the sanctum for months with no incidents, so it mustn’t be that bad. He was on autopilot still as he nodded back to Tony, needing a little more to pull him out of his funk.
“Peter,” the boy focused back on the sorcerer, “their presence is purely for magical purposes. They don’t interfere. We can draw power when we need to perform big spells, but they’re not present. I don’t know who they are, I’ve never seen one, nor been bothered by one. It’s a spiritual thing, they don’t float around like Harry Potter,” Stephen tried to crack a joke.
Well, Peter had always figured Stephen could draw power from the ancestors, this was just a little extra detail on that theory. He could totally handle this. He’d forget about this conversation in a couple days and go on residing there like the secret had never been spilled.
“Hey, guys. How was your day?” Wong greeted as he returned through a portal, giant snow coat almost swallowing him,
“Stephen just told us the sanctum’s haunted,” Harley filled him in, “and we’re not allowed to decorate for Christmas,”
“What a monster,” Wong seemed genuinely disappointed,
“No!” Stephen said sternly, “we’re not doing Christmas,”
“Fine, I’ll just go to Kamar-Taj,” Wong muttered as he made his way past them up the stairs, “Grinch,”
Stephen sent a glare at Wong over his shoulder, though didn’t argue back.
The room was silent until Wong was long gone, and Tony suggested they keep brainstorming other idea’s for the non-Christmas Christmas celebration. Harley started throwing suggestions he knew Stephen would hate, and the two of them went back and forth for a while until Tony put an end to it.
Peter tried to forget about the ghost thing as night fell, and Tony and Stephen did their best to help him. Still, every time he finally managed to move on, the memory triggered again and he was going through the terror all over again.
It sent his senses haywire. After a failed afternoon of board games, time back at Stark Industries lab, and a fly through New York with Tony and Stephen, while Harley harassed Wong in the library, Peter was still unable to settle. It became obvious they couldn’t take back the information that had been spilled, so instead, their tactics changed to grounding him.
Peter was given control of the television for the night, whatever movies he wanted to watch would receive no complaints. He was tucked up under Tony’s arm, pressed into his side, while Harley used Peter as a pillow, laid back against his chest to keep him still. The weight against him helped Peter feel shielded, and Tony at his side was like the counter to that, his presence made Peter feel like he had a companion with him to face any fight.
Stephen had crashed much like Harley, draped over Tony, held close by Tony’s legs tucked tight around his sides. The billionaire ran his spare hand through Stephen’s greying hair, occasionally dropping a kiss to the sorcerer’s head. Peter probably watched the two of them more than he did whatever was on the television, easily able to admit he found much more comfort in them.
He was happy they were happy.
Though Tony always tried his best to hide it, Peter had seen the man heart broken many times. It had also been obvious, to Peter, that Stephen used to have a deep loneliness besides his companionship with Wong. He still wondered just how Tony and Stephen ended up here, with their social skills, but he was glad they had. They both deserved a little happiness after everything they’d been through.
Pete was falling asleep when they all called it a night. Harley was yawning as he stretched, Peter’s body reawakening after being smothered by the other teen, sat too still for too long. He felt better by the time he crawled in bed, but the moment the lights were out, Peter was wide awake, brain whirling.
There was always odd sounds in the sanctum at night, between astral projections, magic, the general creak of an old building, Wong arranging the library. The night before, they’d been just that, sounds, but now that Peter knew the sanctum was haunted, every little sound was that much more menacing.
“You’re spiralling really loudly,” Harley mumbled from the other side of the bed,
“If it wasn’t something bad, why did Tony act like the sanctum being haunted was a secret?”
Harley sighed, and turned over to face him, “because he didn’t want to worry you over nothing… look, you know Stephen is a lot of things, but a liar is certainly not one of them. He wouldn’t say ‘it’s fine’ if it wasn’t,”
Peter thought on that for a moment, “…you’re right,”
“Come on…” Harley opened his arms, “I’ll keep you safe from the nonexistent bad guys.”
Peter smiled and wriggled closer, until the boys had their arms wrapped around each other, Pete’s nose hurried in Harley’s neck. The Tennessee boy wasn’t much for affection, so Peter appreciated every second of moments like these, when Harley stepped outside of himself for Peter’s comfort.
Harley had this way of being so secure. He may not be very experienced with affection, but he was good at making Peter feel protected, right at home. Usually, Harley’s presence was enough to calm Peter, to hold his attention and distract him, but all he could think was about the ghosts that were probably roaming the halls just outside their door, and every time Peter’s eyes started to droop, he jumped awake.
The hairs on the back of his neck were raised, a result of his own imagination rewriting the reality around them. He flinched at every little sound, pulling tighter at Harley. For an hour, he couldn’t shake the feeling of someone watching him, touching him, waiting for a jump scare right at him.
A utensil moved in the kitchen sink.
Peter’s head shot up, “did you hear that?”
“No!” Harley groaned, “seriously, Peter, go to sleep,”
“Something moved.”
Harley let go of him and rolled over, back turned to Peter. The boy crossed his arms over his chest, and buried his face in his pillow, over-tired and no longer thinking Peter’s little fear to be cute. Peter knew Harley was exhausted, but he just couldn’t let this new information go.
“I’m sorry. It’s just gotten in my head,” Peter wrapped an arm around Harley’s waist, spooning in close behind him as he laid back into the pillow,
“I know, Darlin’,” Harley reached a hand back to tangle in Peter’s fringe, “but I need you to sleep,”
Peter leant into the touch and nodded, “I’ll try.”
It would be easier if he was human, Peter reasoned. Harley just had adequate hearing, where as Peter was cursed with advanced hearing. A gust of wind against creaky floorboards was noticeable to him, even from out the front doors of the building. The tiny little murmurs, creaks and croaks lost to Harley’s ears, but deafening in Peter’s.
He gave up on sleep, and rather than continue to ruin Harley’s chances of some rest, Peter decided to leave him to it and go in search of Tony and Stephen. Maybe the sorcerer could magically put him to sleep, or help him forget what he’d been told.
“Where are you going?” Harley asked, fed up, yet still concerned,
“Go to sleep… I’m going to go to the Dads’ room.”
Peter made his way out of the shared room, and ran barefoot through the carpeted corridor until he met with Tony and Stephen’s door, wasting no time with knocking. He burst through the door with little regard for quietness, though was careful as he shut the door behind him.
It already felt safer there. Tony and Stephen would keep him safe, would never let anything hurt him, not even a thousand year old ghost.
Peter made his way over to the king bed, crawling his way up the slither of a gap between the two men’s bodies. Stephen had already woken, and reached out to nudge the Iron Man awake as he lit the room with a gentle light.
Tony was notorious for taking up four fifths of the bed, they heard about it every morning at breakfast, and Peter now sympathised with the doctor, evidence that Stephen was only awarded the edge of the bed by the wall. Tony didn’t necessarily cuddle the man while they slept, but he clearly liked to be close.
Tony startled awake, and when Pete caught his eye, he sighed. Wordlessly, he wiggled back to only the centre of the bed, giving Peter just enough room for his slender body, holding up the edge of the blanket for the kid to crawl in.
“See, this is why we didn’t tell him,” Tony mumbled, crashing back to his pillow as Peter got comfortable under the warmth of the duvet,
“He’s fought aliens in space, I didn’t think a ghost would freak him out,” Stephen defended,
“Well, it did.”
Stephen didn’t argue back at Tony, instead his arm wrapped around Peter and pulled him closer. Stephen’s chest was warm and wide against Peter’s back, as were the two arms that came to wrap around him. The sorcerer had encased him in his hold, trapped him tightly in a hug that felt more like armour, not that Peter minded.
“You okay?” Stephen asked as he held him,
Peter nodded,
“You know we’d never let anything hurt you... Stephen has like a dozen protection spells on your bedroom, nothing and no one is getting past that,” Tony’s fingers ran through Peter’s hair,
“Is that true?” Peter asked of the sorcerer,
“Of course it is,” Stephen answered, a little nervousness evident, “I’d never put you in danger. There’s nothing here that could hurt you. I’d destroy it without a second thought.”
It reassured Peter enough to make the task of closing his eyes a little easier than it had been before. He focused on the warmth of Stephen’s arms around him, on the steady beat of his heart against the back of Pete’s shoulder. Tony’s hand never stopped combing through his hair, and before he even knew it, he’d fallen asleep.
~~~
Sometime later, what he’d learned the next morning would only be twenty minutes after, Peter awoke in the middle of a conversation around him. He blinked his eyes open, to find Harley settling himself behind Tony, wrapping an arm over the man’s waist.
Harley wasn’t like Peter, he wouldn’t seek affection in the same way, but seeing him join them, even from the outside was a good start, Peter thought. This was what Harley deserved, a happy home and a family, someone there to hold him in moments like these.
“Do you need anything?” Tony asked,
“No,” Harley mumbled,
“You don’t want to come closer?”
Harley shook his head, and none of them were surprised, nor offended,
“Okay… You good?” Tony asked when the teen stilled,
Peter saw the shadow of Harley’s nod against the back of Tony’s shirt,
“Okay…” Tony’s arm laid over top of the teens, “get some sleep, Harls.”
Briefly, one of Stephen’s arms loosened around Peter, and he reached out to rub his thumb across Harley’s wrist comfortingly. Peter was undecided on what shocked him most, the rare tenderness from the sorcerer, or Harley accepting the affection.
His eyes flickered up to meet Tony’s, and he smiled back when the engineer grinned at him. Tony looked dead tired, which wasn’t unusual, but Peter was glad they were all together again. Tony’s mind couldn’t possibly be anywhere but here, and he should sleep much more soundly not having to stress about the safety of the two teens down the hall. The security of the sanctum wasn’t even enough to let Tony relax when it came to Peter and Harley.
Tony lulled him asleep again, a hand back in Peter’s fringe. He tried to hold on to consciousness, to focus on the soft words exchanged between the engineer and the sorcerer, but he was overtired by that point, and there was no better environment for him to completely let go in.
With his mind blank again, the reason he’d joined Stephen and Tony in the first place gone, Peter fell asleep.
~~~
The next time Peter woke, it was morning.
The sun didn’t hit this side of the sanctum until after lunch, but there was enough light behind the curtains for Peter to not need his enhanced senses as he took in the sight of his family.
They were mix-matched across the sheets. Stephen behind him, Tony in front of him, and Harley on the other side of that. The grown couple were both asleep on their backs, Harley snuggled up tight in Tony’s side, head on his chest. They all snored, just a little, and Peter didn’t know which direction he wanted to move to crave more warmth.
Stephen was a light sleeper, Peter had learnt that a while back, and the moment he flinched, Stephen was at least some degree of awake. His arm sought Peter out once more, checking the boy was still safe and there, before the mumbled, barely understandable words followed.
“You okay?”
“Mhmm,” Peter nodded.
Peter meant it, but there must’ve been something more Stephen picked up, because he rolled over closer, and sandwiched the kid between himself and Tony. Peter mirrored Harley for comfort, hiding himself away in Tony’s other side, and he just barely remained uncrushed as Stephen too settled in almost on the side of too close. The man’s lean chest pressed to Peter’s back, radiating warmth right through the teen.
“Stephen-“
“More sleep,” Stephen instructed,
“But I’m not tired,”
“Sleep,”
“No,” Peter grumbled.
He’d never bickered with the sorcerer like this, and he wasn’t exactly sure how Stephen would take it. Peter wasn’t usually the bratty, argumentative child, but he felt very at home in that moment. He felt comfortable enough to push back.
“Don’t argue with me, Pete,” Stephen practically begged, exhaustion evident in his voice, “go back to sleep,”
“I can’t,”
“You didn’t even try,”
“I’m not tired,”
“Then count sheep,” Stephen sighed,
“That’s boring,”
“Then lay there and take the cuddles while you’ve got them. Christ knows these two will be on the move the second they wake up.”
That was true. It was hard to pin either Harley or Tony down for longer than a minute, and while fleeting hugs were nice, this was definitely nicer. Peter was content with the thought for a moment, and he stared at Harley’s soft eyelashes, gentle on his cheeks. Felt the even rise and fall of Tony’s chest beneath him, the lack of usual tension in his body.
It occupied him for a while, until it hit Peter that Stephen hadn’t mentioned himself. He was just as difficult to corner in such a vulnerable state. He was always on the move, back in danger before any of them could celebrate his safety. Peter had always craved closeness with the sorcerer too, equally as much as he did the other two men asleep to his left.
Peter rolled over, rather uncoordinated, and he was thankful Tony was such a deep sleeper. He came almost nose to nose with Stephen, mere millimetres between them as his eyes tracked over the man’s sharp face.
“What are you doing?” Stephen had given up, not bothering to open his eyes as he asked the question,
“Go back to sleep,” Peter whispered back softly, far from his previous determination.
He manoeuvred an arm out from between them, and laid it on top of Stephen’s, hand in the curls at the back of the sorcerer’s head, the ones Peter had rarely ever seen. Stephen tensed at first, then relaxed under the touch. Peter could tell he barely clung to consciousness anymore, and the teen took it upon himself to make it his mission to knock Stephen out again.
“You okay?” Stephen repeated his earlier question, a little more worry in his tone now,
“Yes,” Peter whispered back confidently, “just enjoying the cuddles while I’ve got them… Christ knows you’ll be on the move the second you wake up,” Peter threw the Doctor’s earlier words back at him.
Peter felt the exact moment they hit him, too. The moment Stephen realised he was a part of this, that Peter wanted him here as much as he wanted Tony and Harley. Their connection wasn’t one sided, it wasn’t just Stephen caring for him, Peter cared right back too. He liked being in the sanctum, being guided and taught by Tony and Stephen equally.
Stephen shuddered, and tightened his hold on the kid, moving in closer to his family. Because that was exactly what they were. Tony, Harley, Stephen and Peter. Four complicated messes, who somehow managed to understand each other in a way no one else ever could.
The tips of their noses touched now, and it tickled just a little bit, enough for Peter to giggle under the newness of the sensation. His fingers continued to play in Stephen’s hair, amusing him for a while.
“Stephen?”
“Hmm,” Peter wasn’t sure the man was actually awake,
“Can we put up some Christmas decorations… please?”
“Only a few,” he gave in, words slurred.
Peter smiled, and pressed an excited kiss to Stephen’s cheek before he thought better of it. He felt himself blush right after, and squeezed his eyes shut so he didn’t have to come face to face with Stephen. The sorcerer said nothing, but so close, Peter did feel him smile, and it both eased and raised his embarrassment.
Peter got himself comfortable then. He let Stephen drift off back into the sleep he so desperately needed. With the hope that no inter-dimensional emergencies popped up in the next few hours, Peter started to create plans for all the decorations they needed FRIDAY to order that afternoon, and soon felt himself drifting back off alongside his favourite sorcerer.
~~~
He was the last to wake up around the mid morning, his three favourite sets of eyes all looking down on him, equally amused and fond, and Peter felt so incredibly lucky his life took this path.
His arms were tight around Stephen’s waist, and Peter let the man go and properly laid one his back, instead soaking up every little touch and murmur sent his way. He felt like a little baby being admired in its crib for the first time at the hospital.
“Mornin’ sleeping beauty,” Harley smirked at him from over Tony’s shoulder, voice unusually gentle,
“You feel better now?” The back of Stephen’s middle finger ran down his cheek, and Petter nodded under the careful touch,
“We were worried you weren’t with us for a minute then,” Tony’s thumb crossed the length of his eyebrow, “almost had FRIDAY scan your vitals to make sure you were okay,”
“So much for not tired,” Stephen scoffed,
“I was warm,” Peter defended, closing his eyes a moment,
Harley snorted, “like a baby.”
For the next few minutes, Peter slowly awoke enough to process the world around him. Harley moved from his spot- leaning over Tony’s shoulder, instead opting to crush Peter instead. He settled between the Spider-Man’s legs, rested his chin on Peter’s chest and continued to watch the boy. Harley didn’t touch like Tony and Stephen did, but he didn’t need to.
Peter spoke Harley Language. This was the teens idea of being a comfort to Peter, and he appreciated the thought and effort no matter how Harley actioned it. Still, something had shifted. He didn’t know when, and Peter really couldn’t be sure what, but it felt like a door had opened.
Harley and Stephen were both more vulnerable than Peter had ever seen them. He wondered if he’d slept through something important, but he didn’t get that vibe in the room. He decided to keep the thought for another time.
“Your staring is creepy,” Peter told Harley sometime later, a reluctant joke to break the moment,
“You’re very cute though.”
One of Harley’s fingers started to trace circles against Peter’s shirt, and finally Pete shifted the arm thrown over his eyes. He looked at the blue of the other teenagers for a moment, then to the grey and brown of Stephen and Tony’s. He saw the lingering concern there, and rather than think about why Peter was here again, he changed the topic.
“You said we could decorate the sanctum,” Peter looked in Stephen’s direction,
“Did I now?”
Peter couldn’t tell if the man remembered or not, but he wasn’t about to let it slide regardless. Stephen said it, so they’d do it,
“Funny, you didn’t mention that all morning,” Harley turned his attention to the sorcerer,
“A few decorations,” Stephen allowed, “and nothing tacky.”
Peter felt victorious, and already there was a mischievous glint in Harley’s eyes. Stephen was insistent that every decoration pass his approval, but Peter was pretty sure if they played their cards right, he could convince the sorcerer into agreeing to anything.
They talked for a while, the four of them just taking their time, until Harley had declared he was hungry. After a misplaced elbow in his hip, Peter happily shoved at the boy, telling him to go, and when Stephen offered to steal Wong’s famous pancakes, Harley was more than eager to be on the move, tugging at Stephen to join him.
Stephen kissed Peter’s cheek, followed by Harley on the other side.
Harley let Stephen fix his hair back into place as they got up, and then they were gone out the closed door, and Peter came back when another kiss was pressed to his forehead.
His eyes drifted to Tony, and he wriggled closer to the man, being pulled closer until he settled happily in Tony’s warm chest.
“I feel like I woke up in another universe,”
“Hmm,” Tony hummed in agreement, fingers combing through Pete’s hair, “I think you underestimated your Peter Powers,”
“Peter Powers?” He frowned,
“It’s imposible not to love you, you know? They were both really worried about you last night,”
“I know now it was stupid- I let it get to my head-“
“You know they’d do anything to make you happy… it might’ve taken a while, but you’ve shown them exactly what it means to love, and they’d do anything to protect you, aliens or irrational fears alike.”
Peter snuggled in closer, clutching to Tony like a lifeline. He knew all of this was because of Tony, he was the only reason they all knew each other, the reason that they were a family. Everything Peter ever wanted was right here, because of Tony.
“Thank you for taking care of me,” Peter mumbled against Tony’s shirt,
“Always… You’ll never be too old to crawl into bed when you’re scared,”
“I wish you’d always been there,”
“I am now,” Tony assured him, “Stephen, Harley and I aren’t going anywhere,”
“I know,” Peter nodded,
“Good,” Tony kissed his head.
~~~
Twenty six days later, Peter woke surrounded by the exact same warmth, the chill of the winter outside creeping into the closed up sanctum. It made it harder to wake up. Peter just wanted to drift back off and never move again, but it wasn’t just any morning, and Peter had endless more days to just lay in and enjoy.
Almost half of the evenings Harley and Peter had spent with Tony and Stephen after that night. If Stephen thought Tony had been bad, he hadn’t been at all prepared to be crushed by two and a half very clingy sleepers- Harley still slowly warming up to initiating that affection.
Stephen probably got less sleep now than he did when they were in their own room, awake at the slightest move any of them made. Tony on the other hand had less nightmares this way.
They were opposite puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together. Peter didn’t think he’d ever see the day it was Stephen who fussed over them, but he sure wasn’t mad about it. That concern in the grey of Stephen’s eyes still made Peter blush sometimes, the way it did when he first met Tony, when he first moved in with Aunt May. It was a nice thing to wake up to.
“It’s Christmas…” Peter sat up, “It’s Christmas!” Peter declared as he shook the other three men awake,
Harley groaned at his left side, burying his head back in the pillow,
“Harley!” Peter whined, nudging the boy again.
Peter reached over the other teen to hit Stephen in the shoulder, then turned around to poke at Tony’s cheek at his right.
“It’s Christmas!”
“Alright, I’m awake! I’m awake!” Tony turned away from him,
“You’re not behaving like it,”
“I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”
“Why are you all so slow!” Peter complained, “it’s Christmas!”
“Christmas sleep in,” Harley mumbled in his pillow,
“Christmas cuddles.”
Faster than Peter could move, Stephen had magicked him back under the covers, and froze the blankets tight around him so he couldn’t move. It didn’t stop Peter putting up his best struggle though.
Stephen opened his arms, and Harley instantly filled the space- probably mostly to get away from Peter’s squirming. Tony got tired off his antics too after a few seconds, rolling over and pushing Peter up tight against Harley’s back. He then trapped him there as he snuggled in close behind Peter, wrapping an arm right over them to Stephen’s waist.
“Okay, fine,” Peter gave in, “Christmas cuddles, but only because I want to,”
“Whatever it takes, Peter,” Harley slurred,
“Are you accusing me of-“
“Trying to feign giving in when truth is you’re just not strong enough to fight Dr. Dad? Yeah, I am,”
“What did you just call me?”
Both teenage boys froze then, Harley’s arms around Stephen, Peter’s arms around the both of them. Dr. Dad was their secret little nickname no one else knew about, and now it was out in the open, and they’d have to face Stephen’s opinion on it. Peter wasn’t entirely sure how Stephen would take it-
“I love you,” A hand ran through Harley’s hair, then Peter’s, and finally the words sunk in, and the voice that had said them, “Both of you…”
“You’re our boys,” Tony agreed, squeezing in tighter, “Always... I love you both so much.”
And that was where they spent Christmas morning, snuggled away from the cold, sleeping and then talking, Stephen and Tony bickering while the kids laughed at them.
Iron Dad and Dr. Dad became official, both men accepting their titles, and more than smug at Christmas lunch when May was reintroduced to Peter’s father figures. His Aunt spent the whole afternoon giving him a look, not unaware of Harley and Stephen’s newfound tactility. It’d been a month since she’d seen either of them, and it was obvious how much closer the family had grown.
May looked so happy for him, and Peter hadn’t felt happier in years. There was no better way to spend Christmas, with the three people he loved and admired so much, who raised him, and the one he’d have by his side for the rest of his life, his best friend, his companion through every lesson.
It truely was, a very Merry Christmas.