Chapter Text
The yellow envelope sat heavy in Peter’s hands. Inside, it determined the next four years of his life. He had grinded for years in order to even just apply to MIT. Working countless shifts at the local coffee place, volunteering at food banks and homeless shelters, pushing himself in any way possible in hopes that MIT would glance at his application, and now here it was, and it was finally time to see if all of his work had actually paid off.
The boy took a deep breath and steadied his trembling hands. He carefully took off the seal from the letter and pulled out MIT’s verdict. He turned over the paper and quickly glanced over it.
“Dear Mr. Parker,
On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT class of 2031….”
Peter couldn’t believe it. He reread the letter over and over again. Had MIT really just accepted him? No, that possibly couldn’t be true; this is something that only happens in dreams and in movies about miracles. Things like this don’t happen to Peter Parker. Parker Luck always made sure of that. But Peter may have just found a way to beat it.
The brunette placed the letter down on his coffee table. Tears sparked into his eyes. This was his dream. His dream that he had spent the couple of years on and, of course, all of his actual high school years on. So why was he sad about it? This wasn’t a sad moment in the slightest. In fact, it was eerily positive. However, the paper stared at Peter from its position on the table. It reminded Peter that although this was his dream, it was a dream that he wouldn’t fully be able to achieve for one simple reason. May Parker was not there, and neither was Tony Stark.
MIT was a dream that May and Tony had crafted with him. As soon as Peter was accepted to Midtown, May helped him make a path that was sure to help him in college. She helped him with figuring out what classes to sign up for, what clubs to join, and what teachers he may want to be extra nice to to get a letter of recommendation down the line. The summer before his junior year, when Peter expressed interest in MIT, May was right by his side, cheering him on and spending hours researching scholarships he might be eligible for and even helping him study for the SAT.
Tony was no different. MIT, being the alma mater of his mentor, of course, helped cement the idea into Peter’s brain that MIT was the school for him. Tony was always willing to answer the Spider boy’s endless questions about what the university was like. He answered everything from what campus life was like to how hard the coursework was. Of course, it had been a very long time since the man had ever really walked onto the campus, but Peter was nevertheless eager for information.
But those years were over. Now the dream that once belonged to three people only now belongs to one. Peter wiped his eyes and stared back at the paper. He swallowed his grief and finally allowed himself a small smile and took a moment to take it all in. He had finally done it.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed, interrupting his minute of gratitude. It was a message from nobody other than the devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
Matt
Did the letter finally come in? I know today it was supposed to.
4:46 pm
Peter smiled. Of course, Matt was there to ask. As soon as Peter told Matt that he was applying to MIT, his dream school, Matt had been nothing but supportive. He had seen how hard Peter had been working the past few years, and he admired the boy's determination to persevere even though he had lost almost everything.
So Peter typed out a quick reply and grabbed the paper off the table, and hurried to his closet to slip on his suit. He really needs to give Matt the news that he had been wanting to tell him as soon as he read that letter.
Yeah, it came in. I’m heading over to your apartment right now, if that's okay.
Read 4:48
As soon as the suit slipped over the boy’s head and Peter fumbled to put his mask on, his phone buzzed once again. Peter bit down on his mask to hold it and opened it to the message.
Matt
Great! Let us know what they said! And yes, it is absolutely okay for you to come over.
4:50 pm
Peter read the message and hurriedly shoved his phone into his pocket. He removed the mask from his mouth and slid it over his face. He rolled up the letter, storing it safely inside his suit. Now he was finally ready to go.
Peter opened the window and let the warm, late spring air flood his apartment. He climbed onto his fire escape and shot a web. He closed the window and then grabbed firmly onto the webbing he had just shot out and began to swing.
The brunette’s swing was bouncier and more carefree than normal. He had felt as if a weight had been pushed off his chest. To be fair, the main thing that had been lingering over him for the past few months had been that admission letter, but now it no longer had to weigh on his mind. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Peter was free from all stress, and obviously that acceptance letter also brought new worries such as housing, paying for school, and most importantly, being Spider-Man. Peter silently noted all of these worries to talk about them with Matt when he arrived.
Before Peter knew it, he was at the front door of the Murdock apartment. Peter knocked, and he heard a group of whispers and soft steps halt. How many people were here? Better yet, why were they here? Peter questioned, but he was interrupted as he was greeted with the kind face that belonged to the one and only, Foggy Nelson.
“Peter! You’re here! Matt was just telling us about how that letter came in today,” Foggy exclaimed. The man's positivity worries Peter. Did they think he didn’t get in? Peter shrugged it off as he walked into the apartment. “Yeah, and Foggy, who is ‘us’, who is all here?” the boy asked nervously. The blonde smiled and chuckled nervously. “Just the usual people, y’know. Me, Matt, obviously. Karen! Yeah, Karens here too.” Suddenly, the older man’s speech got quieter and picked up in pace. “And also Frank and Wade,” the man stated.
Peter felt his chest grow tight. He wasn’t nervous to see them all, per se; it was just a lot to take in. He took a breath. “Wait, why is Wade here? I thought he was down in Florida on a mission- something about dogs, or maybe it was kidnappers?” he asked. Abruptly, a familiar voice that belonged to Deadpool himself boomed from across the room, grabbing Peter’s attention. “Well, yes, I was, of course, gone, having the time of my life, tanning, swimming, killing creeps, y’know the usual, but Blind boy over here called me a few days ago saying that Petey Pie applied to MIT and is getting his admission letter soon! I didn’t even know you applied there! Like, I know you have brains, but MIT? That's a big one. So, I quickly wrapped that mission up, called a few friends, and I knew that this was a moment to celebrate, and here I am!” The mercenary exclaimed. Peter just furrowed his brows and nodded, desensitized to the man’s energy. “Well, it's nice to see you, Wade. If it’s okay, guys, I’m just gonna go change in the bathroom, and then I can tell you what MIT said.” Peter heard a chorus of ‘sounds good’ and ‘alrights’ from the living room as he made his journey to Matt’s bathroom.
Peter entered the bathroom and shut the door hastily behind him. He flicked on the light and grabbed the counter in front, steadying himself. He looked down into the sink, turned on the water, and splashed some onto his face. The cold droplets ground him. Finally cooled down and collected, he slid off his suit and took out both his phone and letter. He looked at himself in the mirror, took a deep breath, opened the door, and left, ready to give his friends the news he had been hoping to give them.
The spiderling entered the living room, where he was greeted by all of his friends talking quietly amongst themselves. Well, everyone was quiet except for Wade, of course. Peter strolled into the center of the room and unrolled the letter from his pocket, which immediately grabbed everybody's attention. Peter smiled as he reread the words that he had just read an hour earlier.
Anticipation filled the room as Peter parted his lips to speak, “Dear Mr. Parker, that's me.” “We know that Spider-Boy just told us if you got in or not,” Frank grunted from the couch, and he received a slap on the thigh and a disappointed glare from Karen. Peter let out a soft chuckle and began to read again, “On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT class of 2031.” Peter announced the room erupted in cheers. Wade, obviously, the loudest of them all. Foggy, upon hearing the news, immediately got up to hug Peter.
“I knew you were going to get in; there was not a doubt in my mind,” Matt stated, which earned a grin from Peter. The brunette was released from the embrace of Foggy and went over to the couch to hug Matt. The two vigilantes embraced, and they stayed like that for a moment before Matt backed away to allow the others to congratulate the new student of MIT.
After about 30 minutes, the excitement died down to a soft murmur. Peter felt exhausted from all of the buzz and commotion, sitting down on the couch with a soft sigh and tossing his head back. However, his moment of peace was broken as he heard Matt sit in a chair across from him. As the man began to speak, Peter tossed his head back up to listen.
“Peter, we were just talking, and we’re wondering if maybe you want to go out to celebrate. Can we go to that Mexican restaurant you like? Or if you’re feeling fancier, we can go somewhere else. Whatever you want,” Matt suggested.
The boy thought for a moment. Dinner did sound nice, but he wasn’t about to drop a bunch of money on food, and he wasn’t about to drain his friends' pockets. “It’s fine, we don’t have to go out. I think that just having you guys all here is enough,” Peter replied.
However, Matt did not like the response and decided to counter it. “Peter, you just got into MIT! MIT of all places. I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked not only to get into this school but to get through day-to-day life. And how you kept pushing yourself even when it got hard. You deserve to be celebrated, kid,” the blind man insisted.
Peter chewed his lip and went back and forth. Part of him didn’t want to make the acceptance letter a big deal, as he didn’t want to be a waste of money. He and May didn’t really have a lot of money to spare, so dinner outings for special occasions were kept to a minimum. Besides, Peter was okay with that. He would give anything to have another movie night with May after he showed her another perfect report card. Another part of him did want to go out and make it known to everyone that he had gotten into one of the most prestigious universities. Sure, it wasn’t an ivy, but how many people can say that they’ve gotten into MIT? Peter tossed these ideas back and forth in his head and then concluded that if he just kept denying Matt’s generosity and dinner offer, this conversation would go on forever.
“Dinner sounds good. Yeah. And Mexican sounds great, thank you,” Parker said, which earned a sigh of relief from Murdock. “Great! I will go tell everyone, and we can get going then.” Matt gave a small smile and walked over to the crowd of people who were making bustling conversation in the kitchen. Peter let out a breath, got up from his place on the couch, and made his way over to the apartment’s front door to put on his shoes.
The train ride to Midtown felt extremely long. The constant stares from the other passengers made Peter feel a little uneasy. To be fair, there were 3 vigilantes and a mercenary standing right in front of them. Granted, these people didn’t know that the blind man and the younger boy were crime-fighting heroes, but the stares still hurt a little. So, meaningless to say, as soon as the train arrived in Midtown, the group was eager to get off the train and to finally satisfy their hunger.
For a Wednesday at six pm, it was shockingly not as busy as Peter had expected. Usually, the place was buzzing with people, and it could take you almost half an hour to get your food. The group was quickly seated, and their orders were taken fairly fast. Shortly, both food and drinks arrived, and the table broke into quiet chatter.
“So Peter, MIT, that’s pretty impressive.” Karen took a sip of her water. “Did they give you your dorm assignment and who your roommate is?” the blonde asked. “Uh yeah, they actually did, which kinda shocked me because I feel like I wouldn’t get that for a while, like I haven’t even picked out classes yet! So I don’t really know how I already have a roommate? Maybe they just want us to get to know each other, I’m not-” “Petey, Kid, you are just blabbering, just tell us who you’re roomin’ with! We just want details, not an entire novel!” Wade groaned, interrupting the brunette's ramble. “Right, yeah, sorry. Anyway, his name is Johnny Storm.” Peter bit his tongue as the group shared confused and amazed looks. “As in The Human Torch, Johnny Storm?” Karen asked, choking on her water. “I guess yeah. I didn’t even think he would go to a school like MIT. I mean, his brother-in-law is a genius, so I’m sure that he could learn anything from him, and I’m sure any Ivy would have accepted him.” Peter shrugged, taking a bite of his food. “Well, don’t discredit yourself; MIT is an amazing school, and just because it’s not an Ivy League doesn’t make your achievement worth any less,” Murdock expressed, placing a gentle hand on Peter’s shoulder.
The table was silent for a moment, but of course it was broken by Wade, in which he stated, “Well, that storm kid isn’t too bad looking. I’m sure you two will get to know each other very well.” Wade laughed and was slapped on the back of the head by Frank, which started a small argument between the two. Peter just blushed and let out a soft laugh. “Yeah, because The Human Torch would want to date me,” Peter laughed, taking a sip from his cup. “Besides, I’m not going to school to find the love of my life. I’m going to get my degree in biochemistry.” This earned a laugh from Frank. “You are such a nerd, Parker.” Peter just rolled his eyes and took a bite. From the plate in front of them, the delicious smell of tamales filled his nose.
The chatter went on for a bit before Matt turned to Peter to say something to the younger boy. “Listen, Peter, this is really important, so you need to pay attention,” the blind man stated. “Okay.” Peter felt a bit anxious at the change in the older man’s demeanor. “Peter, your studies are very important, no doubt. However, I don’t think it will be any surprise to you that there are probably going to be some times during the year in which you feel yourself start to get really anxious and maybe avoidant. Whatever you do, don’t fall into that. No matter what you need, you can always call any of us if you need anything. I don’t want to hear about any headlines about college kids jumping out of their windows or off of bridges. If you need anything, you can tell me. Okay?” Matt stated sternly.
“Of course.” Peter nodded and even gave a soft smile. I mean, why wouldn’t he ever ask Matt for help? They work together all the time.
Matt gave a soft smile and gave the boy a small side hug, and then the two were immersed in the table's earlier conversation.