Chapter Text
It’s one of those days again.
Mr. Stark is unexpectedly late to class. Peter walks in and it takes his eyes a second to adjust to the dark room. The blinds are closed and a projector is plopped on an unoccupied desk in the front. Peter sits down in his usual seat by the door and takes out a notebook.
Most days, Mr. Stark is a bundle of energy. He jumps from one topic to the next excitedly and gestures wildly with his hands. Physics is a pain in the ass class and difficult to pass but Mr. Stark manages to make it entertaining. Even Peter, who is advanced in nearly every class, can admit that he hasn’t learned as much from a teacher as he has from Mr. Stark.
But some days, days like this, Mr. Stark has a cloud over his head. Instead of hands-on projects or demonstrations he just puts on a video and sits with his head down at his desk. These days are quiet. The kids know by now that the best way to go about it is to just let Mr. Stark deal with it. Sooner or later he pops out of his funk and is back to the fun teacher that all the students love.
Everyone has tried asking what it’s about but nobody has ever gotten much out of him. Except for Peter. Somehow, someway, Peter has managed to wiggle his way into Mr. Stark’s heart. As the only sophomore in a class full of juniors he sticks out like a sore thumb. Mr. Stark took to him immediately.
Sometimes on the bad days, the really bad days- the days Mr. Stark won’t even speak at all- Peter stays after class.
He noticed that Mr. Stark is more willing to talk if you don’t ask him questions directly. So, Peter has taken to spilling little bits of his own past in hopes that Mr. Stark will get something off his chest in return. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t.
There’s only one thing in the entire world that takes effect immediately and gets Mr. Stark out of a mood.
Comics.
Little doodles that are awfully cheesy and too personal to come from a student. They always consist of two characters drawn in pencil at the center of the page. And in every panel, some way or another, one figure shows their love to the other. There’s a new one that gets delivered to the school every month or so. When they arrive Mr. Stark smiles from ear to ear and hangs it up on the cork board above his desk. Currently, there have to be around 15 hanging up on the wall. Some have bold lines that look freshly done while others look faded and worn.
Peter’s favorite comic is of the two characters scuba diving when one says to the other, “You’re my favorite fish in the sea!” It’s one of the more faded ones but it’s sickeningly sweet.
Every student has asked Mr. Stark who gives them to him but he always just smiles and shrugs instead of responding. When students eat lunch in his room- and a lot of kids do since Mr. Stark is almost everyone’s favorite teacher- they all gather around his desk and read the comics. Mr. Stark pretends to ignore them but he smiles every time someone coos at the cheesy captions.
Deep down, Mr. Stark is a huge softie. He claims he hates all the kids equally when they ask who his favorite is but everyone knows he doesn’t mean it.
And the comic maker isn’t even the only big secret that he keeps from the kids. It drives the teens crazy. He wears dog tags but won’t show or tell anyone what they say or who they belong to. He wears rings on half of his fingers but won’t comment on whether the one on his left ring finger is a wedding band or for fashion. And most importantly, he won’t tell anyone what makes him so damn sad.
And that drives the kids more crazy than anything else.
Peter got something out of him once but he chose to keep it to himself because it seemed really personal.
It was one of the first days Peter stayed after class. He had said, “I wanna get something off of my mind. If you wanna get something off of yours, then I won’t tell anyone. Scouts honor.” Mr. Stark had shook his head fondly knowing that Peter had never been a boy scout a day in his life.
Peter talked to him about his parents dying in a home invasion when he was a baby and how he had to live with his aunt and uncle. He even talked about how his uncle passed last year and his aunt took her own life from the grief. Mr. Stark had been startled at the confession but Peter assured him that being an emancipated teen wasn’t so bad with the help of his friends and the local shelter.
There had been a couple second pause before Mr. Stark swept Peter into a bone crushing hug. Peter couldn’t even help himself when he had started crying into Mr. Stark’s nice suit.
When Mr. Stark pulled away he still held onto Peter’s shoulders. He looked away and said in a quiet voice, “I miss someone very dear to me and its hard going day by day wishing they weren’t so far.”
He conceded to not ask about it and instead wait for Mr. Stark to offer up information if he needed to.
Peter’s pulled out of his thoughts when Mr. Stark rushes in ten minutes after the bell and quickly turns on the projector. What plays is an older looking video about the three-body problem, something they discussed in class well over two weeks ago. It’s 45 minutes long and would only take up half the class. Peter pulls his zip up out of his bag and pools it on the desk. He bunches it into the crook of his arm to create a makeshift pillow and snuggles in.
When he wakes the video is over and Mr. Stark is flicking on the lights. He stalks over to a set of cabinets and pulls out a stack of workbooks and sets them on a lab table.
“Im about two minutes I’m gonna be finishing today’s lesson on the board. You can grab one of these if you want more information or practice questions.” He sighs and walks back over to his desk, sitting down heavily and rubbing at his temples. He picks up a coffee mug and downs the entire thing in one gulp before cracking his back and standing.
Peter gets out of his desk to grab a workbook as Mr. Stark picks up a purple marker and starts writing on the board.
There’s a knock on the door as Peter is heading back to his desk. Mr. Stark turns and tells Peter to go open it.
Peter quickly sets his workbook down and goes to open the door.
“Mr. Stark?”
He turns and Peter opens the door fully.
Standing there is an unfamiliar man wearing an army uniform. He has bright blue eyes and blond hair. He’s absolutely jacked and should definitely consider being a model with that face.
Mr. Stark’s breath catches and his eyes fill up with tears.
Wait. What?
They all watch with bated breath as Mr. Stark caps his marker and sets down the eraser. He takes a deep breath and looks the man in the eye without saying anything.
The blond man smiles. “Hey, Shellhead.”
Mr. Starks starts crying as he sprints towards him, completely forgetting about his class. Peter steps to the side as Mr. Stark collides with the man.
“You aren’t-“
“I know.” He wraps an arm around Mr. Stark’s back while the other cradles his head. He plants a wet smack of a kiss into his hair and Mr. Stark laughs. The class is gaping at the exchange.
Mr. Stark picks his head up and untangles from the man. “I still have a class to teach. Take my chair. And don’t be distracting.”
Steve sits down at Mr. Stark’s desk with a shit-eating grin and puts his hands behind his head, clearly showing off his arms. “How could I ever?”
Mr. Stark laughs and wipes his eyes. He reaches down and fixes his crumpled suit. “Sorry about that class. This is…“ he pauses as he looks at their shocked faces. “This is my husband, Steve.”
The class erupts into chatter and questions while Mr. Stark laughs. “Guys! If you let me speed through this lesson we can have a Q&A before the bell!”
While he’s doing that, Steve starts looking around the room. He spots the comics by his head and smiles. “My drawings! This is where you keep them?” The class collectively lose their minds.
A couple kids in the front are asking Steve questions while Tony’s finishes up writing on the board. Steve isn’t paying them any mind though. He’s looking directly at Peter.
Mr. Stark turns and smiles at the two. He stands next to Steve as he points to every kid and tells him their names. He ends at Peter and Steve smiles knowingly.
“So this is the Peter Parker.” He stands and looms over Peter’s desk at an intimidating height. He sticks out a hand. “It’s an honor. I’m Captain Rogers.”
Peter sits there dumbfounded for a couple seconds before he registers that he has to return this handshake. A couple kids laugh behind him as his cheeks and ears burn under the captain’s attention.
Steve then walks around to every kids’ desk and offers them a handshake. Mr. Stark shakes his head at Steve’s over-the-top politeness. He answers their questions kindly, only having Mr. Stark stop the kids twice for inappropriate questions.
The bell rings and the teens begrudgingly pack up their belongings, saying goodbye to Steve and Mr. Stark individually. A couple kids try to flirt with Steve and Mr. Stark barks out a laugh at their shamelessness.
Eventually, the last kid remaining is Peter. Who has been rocking from foot to foot as the classroom emptied. Mr. Stark sends him a questioning look when Peter still doesn’t make his leave.
Peter clears his throat. “It was nice to meet you Mr. Captain Rogers.”
Steve laughs. “Just Steve is fine, kiddo.”
Peter nods and rounds on Mr. Stark. “I think it’s safe to say that your wish came true.”
“My wish?”
“You said that it was hard going day by day wishing he wasn’t so far. Your wish came true. He’s here.” Peter smiles somberly and leaves before Mr. Stark can stop him.
Steve watches Peter disappear from the doorway before turning to Tony. “Something I’m missing?”
Tony sighs. “Long story. I just wish I could do something to help.”
Steve nods and walks over to Tony, pulling him close. “If you think of anything, let me know. But for now, I wanna get home with my husband and see my little angel.”
“You don’t mean the abomination you made me get that is entirely too high maintenance?”
“Don’t say that about my angel. She can do no wrong.”
“I never would’ve gotten you a naked cat if I knew how much you’d coddle it.”
“Shut up. You love her.”
Tony shakes his head and sighs fondly. Steve gathers Tony’s bags as he looks for his keys. Steve flicks the lights off as they leave.
“We have a perfect little family and its a damn shame you won’t admit it.” Steve teases, giving Tony a disappointed look.
“Language,” Tony throws back, grabbing Steve’s hand as they walk down the hall.
When they get to the parking lot Steve opens the car door for him and Tony slides in. Steve gets into the drivers seat and starts the car, excited to be behind the wheel for the first time in months.
We have a perfect little family and its a damn shame you won’t admit it.
Family.
“Maybe there is something I could do.”