Chapter Text
Peter picked up on the change in May's behavior pretty quickly. She was more happy and energetic than usual, which was great, but she was also...more absent. There were many days where Peter would come home to find a sticky note on the counter saying, 'Gone out, there's leftover Thai in the fridge. Larb you :)'. Or the amount of times he's been sent to the compound to stay with Tony because May was going away for the weekend. The thing that worried Peter the most, though, was that May was on her phone for the majority of their movie nights. She would always make sure her phone was switched off so she could spend the night with her nephew. But now it was different.
It was getting strange, and Peter was starting to worry.
His worrying was soon put to rest one day, when Peter came home from school.
"Hey, Pete. How was school?" May asked as Peter walked through the door. He smiled, about to reply, when he looked up and saw that May was on her phone again. It was like she wasn't even there.
"Um...yeah, it was good." Peter replied. May didn't respond. She just continued to smile at whatever was on her phone. Peter sighed and began to head to his room in a sulk when May stopped him.
"Oh, honey, I actually want to talk to you about something."
Peter smiled, glad that his Aunt was actually initiating a conversation with him. He made his way over to the couch and sat down.
"What's up?"
Peter raised his eyebrows in surprise when May switched her phone off and looked Peter in the eyes.
"Before I tell you...I just want to let you know that I'm really happy, but I also want you to be happy too. That's my top priority."
Peter nodded slowly, starting to get a little anxious. "Okay.."
May took a deep breath. "So...a few weeks ago, I was doing charity at the homeless shelter."
Peter nodded. "Yeah, I remember."
"Okay, well, there was a few other volunteers there, and I became quite friendly with one of them. His name is William Brooks, and uh...we've been talking for a while. One thing lead to the other and, uh...we've actually started dating." May finished, nervously. Peter opened and closed his mouth like a fish, trying to figure out what to say. Yes, he was shocked. But he wanted May to be happy. She deserved it, after everything she's been through.
"That's...great, May. I'm really happy for you." Peter smiled, pulling May into a hug.
"Really? Are you sure you're okay with it? I know how much you loved your Uncle Ben, and I loved him too. I still do. But...he's not here anymore a-and-"
"You don't have to explain it to me, May. I understand, and I'm totally okay with it. You deserve to be with someone." Peter reassured. Well, he wasn't totally okay with it. He didn't feel thrilled about there being another male in the family who wasn't Ben. But that was unreasonable and selfish. Ben is gone, and May deserves to be happy.
"Thank you, Peter. I just want you to be happy, too." May smiled as they pulled away.
"So, am I going to meet him any time soon?"
"Yeah, I was thinking Saturday? I know Saturday's are your lab days with Tony, but I was hoping this could be a one off?"
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll just tell Mr. Stark I won't be able to make it this week."
May smiled and hugged Peter again. "Thank you, honey."
"It's okay. I'm really happy for you, May."
Soon, Saturday morning rolled around. Peter did as he said he would, and called Tony.
"Hey, kid." Tony answered.
"Hey, Mr. Stark. I'm just calling to say that I won't be able to make it today, I'm sorry."
"Oh? Is everything alright?" The man asked.
"Yeah! Yeah...yeah, everything's fine." Peter mentally face palmed.
"Mhm...you said 'yeah' one too many times. What's up?"
Peter groaned. "It's nothing...it's stupid."
"Try me."
"It's just...May has a...man friend." Peter mumbled. Tony barked out a laugh.
"You mean Aunt Hottie has a boyfriend? Wow, big step."
"Yeah and she wants me to meet him today 'n stuff..."
Tony could sense something in Peter's voice. "How are you feeling about it?"
Peter sighed. "I dunno...it's just a little weird, I guess. May hasn't dated anyone since Ben...and I know it's stupid for me to be feeling like this because it's been years since he died 'n stuff...and I really want May to be happy, y'know?"
"Pete, it's totally normal for you to feel like that. Are you sure you're okay? If not, I can call May and tell her I need you today and pull you out of it?"
"No, no. It's okay. I'm fine."
"Only if you're sure. Call me afterwards, okay? I want to know how it goes and what he's like."
Peter nodded to himself. "I will. Bye, Mr. Stark."
"Bye, kid."
"Peter, this is William. Will, this is my nephew, Peter." May introduced them once the man had arrived at the apartment. Peter could tell that she was extremely nervous, so he made sure to make an effort in getting to know Will to make her happy.
"It's nice to meet you, William." Peter said, shaking his hand.
"Call me Will, kid. It's nice to meet you too."
Peter smiled. He seemed...alright. He was tall with blonde hair and brown eyes, with a little bit of stubble.
They all sat down on the couch as they waited for the food to arrive.
"Peter, you wanna tell Will about school?" May asked. Will's eyebrows raised in interest.
"Okay, uh...I go to a science school. I'm...okay at all three science's, but chemistry is my favorite." Peter said, shifting in his seat nervously.
"Peter's just being modest, he's a genius." May beamed. Peter blushed in embarrassment.
"Science, huh? That's pretty impressive. Not everyone has the brains for that." Will added.
"Thank you." Peter smiled. Maybe Will was actually an okay guy?
They spent around twenty minutes, just talking and getting to know each other. Peter found out that Will is a fireman and briefly wondered if he ever met him while being Spider-Man.
Soon, there was a knock at the door and May jumped out of her seat. "That's the food. I'll be right back." She smiled.
Peter nodded and turned back to Will, smiling awkwardly.
"So, chemistry." Will started.
Peter nodded. "Yep."
"You don't like physics or biology at all?" He asked.
"No, no, I do! Yeah, I love science in general, but I just really enjoy chemistry. I like to experiment a lot in the school labs." Peter explained. He still hadn't decided whether he wanted to tell Will that he interned for Tony Stark, and used his labs too.
Will nodded. "Still, chemistry is just a little...effeminate for a young lad like you."
Peter faltered. Effeminate?
"No offense or anything. I just pictured you to be more into physics or something like that. You do engineering?" The man asked.
Peter didn't even know what to say anymore. There was no way that May's boyfriend just called him effeminate.
"U-Uh...yeah. I-I build things too." Peter said, coughing to clear his, suddenly dry, throat.
"Ah, see. That's much more manly. What do you build?" Will asked. Peter sat there, mouth slightly agape and a look of bewilderment on his face. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Just, uh...robots, most of the time."
Will scoffed, and Peter flinched. "That's a little childish. Don't you build anything practical or useful?"
Peter began to answer when May walked back into the room, holding bags of Chinese food.
"I hope you guys are hungry."
"So, how's the new guy?" Tony asked over the phone. Peter sighed and picked at his fingers. It had always been a nervous tick of his.
"He's um...he's...okay."
"Uh oh. What happened?"
"Nothing, really. He's just a little...bold. I don't think he means any harm, he just likes to speak his mind." Peter mumbled, the man's words starting to come back to him.
"What did he say?" Peter was starting to hear concern in Tony's voice. Or was it anger?
"I- He just...it's not a big deal, Mr. Stark. I don't want to screw this up for May just because Will said a few things that came out wrong."
Peter heard Tony sigh. "Alright, fine. But tell me if anything happens. Or tell May, at least."
"Seriously, Mr. Stark, he's fine. He does volunteer work and...he makes May happy. That's all that really matters to me." Peter confessed, spinning slightly in his desk chair.
"I'm sure it is, kid, but I'm also certain that May wants you to be happy too."
"I am happy." Peter lied. He knew Tony didn't believe him, but the man didn't say anything on the matter.
"Alright, I'm going to spend some time in the lab. Can I steal you tomorrow?" Tony asked. He failed to mention that the reason why he wanted to see him was so that he didn't have to spend time with Will again. He just didn't fully trust the guy yet.
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Peter nodded to himself.
"Sweet. I'll see you tomorrow, kid. Get some rest."
Peter glanced at the clock and rolled his eyes. "Mr. Stark, it's only 8:30."
"Exactly. And Spider-Babies with metabolisms like yours need extra shut eye."
Peter scoffed, which turned into a laugh. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Stark."
The next day rolled around, and Peter was quite excited to see Tony. He hadn't seen him in a week, which was unusual since they usually saw each other four days a week at the least. But Peter had just been so busy with school work, and then there was that whole thing with Will.
"Hey, sweetie." May smiled as Peter walked out of his room. He looked up and he instantly felt uneasy as his eyes fell on Will, standing beside May.
"Hey, May." He smiled, trying to push the uneasiness down for his Aunt.
"I was thinking that all of us could go out somewhere? Maybe to the park or go out for some food?" May asked, with hopeful eyes. Peter cursed to himself. He really wanted to see Tony, but the look in May's eyes made it really hard for him to say no. He glanced at Will for half a second, and suddenly the decision wasn't so hard anymore.
"U-Uh...actually, I-I was about to go over to the compound to see Mr. Stark." Peter said as he looked back over to May. "Y'know, he wants me...uh...to do some extra intern work." He quickly covered up. He couldn't have Will knowing that he was close, close with Tony Stark.
"Woah, are you talking about Tony Stark?" Will asked, voice high with interest. May smiled with pride and answered for Peter.
"Yes, he interns for him at Stark Industries!" She gushed, proud of her nephew.
"Oh, really? Wow. Didn't know Stark was hiring teenagers." Will said. The sentence almost sounded like he was belittling Peter with the word teenager. May didn't seem to notice, but Peter did. He noticed everything about this man.
"Yep, I'm very lucky." Peter shot back, and turned back to May. "I'm really sorry, May. It's just that I promised him I would see him today and-"
"Don't worry, honey. That's completely fine. We'll just go out together another day." His Aunt smiled. "Have a good...uh...shift." She said, smiling knowingly at her nephew.
Peter smiled back and didn't even spare a single glance at Will as he left the apartment.
Peter practically collapsed on Tony's couch, sulking to himself. He just felt so stupid. Will hadn't done anything wrong, per say, so why was Peter feeling like this? Why did he feel so uncomfortable around the man?
"You doing good over there, Underoos?" Tony laughed as he walked in the room, drink in hand. Peter squinted one eye open, looked at Tony and shut his eye again.
"Yeah, just tired." Peter lied. Tony sighed as he sat down near the boy's head.
"Well, you should've listened to me when I told you to go to bed at 8:30." The man shrugged and balanced the drink on Peter's chest. "For you." He said.
Peter grabbed it before it could fall off and mumbled a 'thanks'. He lifted himself up so he was in a proper sitting position, and took a sip.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Is this apple juice?"
Tony smirked. "Of course. It's what a growing boy needs."
Peter rolled his eyes but smiled.
Tony kept smiling and making jokes for the kid the rest of the day, but he knew something was wrong with Peter. The way the kid zoned out, or his body language would tell him that fact. He didn't address it.
He should've. Maybe he could've prevented it all.
When Peter got back to his apartment at 5pm, Will was still there...and May wasn't.
Will instantly took notice of Peter's arrival and turned to look at him from the couch. He had a...stern look in his eyes. It made Peter's uneasiness increase.
"Where's May?" The boy asked, shutting the door behind him.
"She's in the bathroom." He replied, rather blunt.
"Oh...okay." Peter nodded. He didn't plan on staying and talking to Will, so he tried to make a bee line for his bedroom, but that obviously failed when the man tried to initiate a conversation with him.
"So, how was SI?" Will asked, turning back to the tv, which was playing some random action movie.
Peter sighed and turned around begrudgingly. "It was fine." He hoped that was the end of it, but nope.
"Cool. What do you do there?" Will asked. Peter furrowed his eyebrows. This conversation seemed...harmless. Maybe Will wasn't so bad. Peter looked behind him to see if May was coming, but she wasn't. So he bit the inside of his cheek, and made his way over to the couch, sitting near Will.
"Well...I intern for Tony Stark. So I usually do whatever tasks he gives me, like getting him coffee and things like that. But he does give me more interesting things to do, like, he lets me experiment in a lab from time to time." That whole entire sentence was a lie, but Peter couldn't care less.
Will nodded along, but didn't respond. Peter sighed, annoyed that he thought there was a chance that he and Will could have a proper conversation. He began to stand up when the man spoke.
"You know...May would be much happier if you actually tried to make an effort in spending time with us." He said, eyes still fixed on the crappy action movie.
Peter blinked, and the uneasiness came rushing back.
"What?"
"You were really rude this morning." He finally turned to look at Peter, his brown eyes were hard and made Peter feel like he was trapped in fog. It was thick, he couldn't breathe and he couldn't see. "May just wanted to spend time with all of us, and you shut her down. And for what? To intern on a Sunday? You could've easily gotten out of it, and you chose not to. You chose to hurt your Aunt's feelings."
Peter didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. He knew he shouldn't let Will's words get to him, but he couldn't help but think that he was right.
"I-I...no, I don't want to hurt her feelings! I...it's just-"
"Look, I don't even like kids. They're the worst. But I'm actually making an effort to make May happy, which is clearly something you don't care about." Will spat, and Peter could finally see his true colors. They were dark...messy. They were right.
"I-I do care..."
"Maybe you should stop spending so much time with your precious Mr. Stark, and focus on your Aunt instead. It's the least you could do, since she practically raised you and gave up her life for you." Will scoffed and turned back to the tv, a sign that the conversation was over.
Peter couldn't breathe. He felt like the fog was surrounding him. Suffocating him.
Because Will was right. He was right.
Peter stood himself up and rushed to his bedroom.
He tried to convince himself that none of it was true. That Will is just mean.
Will is just fog, and action movies, and messy colors.
And Peter is...
Peter is awful.