Archive of Our Own

Peter bit his lip as he stared at the chat in front of his face. All it said was a single 'Hey!', but the boy knew that something more would come if he would respond. His stomach was in knots and his head felt like it was spinning.

Just a few weeks prior, May had gotten a letter in the mail notifying her that the rent had gone up for the lease renewal. They were already tight on money beforehand and it seemed like this was just the thing to burn his aunt out. She picked up extra shifts at work just to make sure there was food on the table for them every night and even got an additional two part time jobs when she couldn't work overtime.

It was getting too hard for her, she would only come home to sleep for four hours before she spent the remaining twenty working back to back shifts.

Peter knew he had to help out somehow; that's how he came across this escort app. He saw on social media that this was the new way to make money. It was an escort service that was advertised as 'nothing you weren't comfortable with.' All he had to do was be a stranger's arm candy for the night and call it a day.

He was a pretty social person, it didn't seem like it was a particularly hard job. Sure, there was danger involved, but Peter was Spider-Man. If anything were to happen, he was positive he could handle it.

The only thing he wasn't sure about was that he planned on not telling anyone about his soon-to-be side hustle. Ned and MJ would disagree immediately, preaching about the dangers of rich old men seeking out barely legal teenagers (or underage in this case). May would flip her shit, she could barely handle hearing about Spider-Man.

And Tony...well, he didn't even want to think about the amount of trouble he would be in if his mentor turned pseudo-father found out.

Feeling even more nervous than before, Peter swallowed and mustered the courage to reply back.

Ben: hey! :)

It definitely wasn't the most creative response, but it would work for now. Not even two minutes passed before he got another message.

Eric: Your profile is definitely interesting. You like sci-fi movies?

Ben: yeah! star wars is my favorite haha

Eric: Me too. You should come over so we can watch a movie together.

Peter once again stared at the screen, wondering if this was really worth it. But then he remembered May's exhausted face when she got home the day before, and he realized what he had to do.

Ben: that sounds like a lot of fun :) when?

Eric: You're a good sport. Tomorrow night? I can pick you up. $150 an hour?

Ben: sounds like a plan!

After confirming a time and date with his first match, Peter ran through his profile again. Of course, all of his pictures were actually of himself. The only thing he lied about was his age and his name.

He had to be eighteen to download the app, but being only a couple months away from that age, Peter didn't feel too bad about lying. And obviously he wasn't going to use his real name.

The anxiety about someone finding him on this dating app would eat him alive. He settled on his late Uncle's name, silently issuing an apology to the man.

After making sure his profile was perfectly inconspicuous, he shoved his phone in his pocket and waited for Happy to pull up in front of his school. It was Friday, which meant lab time with Tony and a weekend at the Tower.

He bit his lip once again when he remembered he had a date tomorrow night. Peter would have to think of an excuse to leave the Tower without Tony suspecting anything.

The boy tapped his foot and waited a few more minutes before a familiar sleek, black Audi appeared. Peter immediately jumped up and grabbed his backpack, not wasting any time to get into the car.

It was boiling outside and Peter's outer shirt was starting to feel a little toasty.

"Hey, kid. How was school?" Happy said, adjusting the rear view mirror to get a good look at him.

Peter smiled and shrugged, "Eh, it was school. Nothing really happened today with finals being over and summer vacation starting up."

"I take it that's good news?"

"Maybe for you. You don't have to pick me up for a whole three months!" He quipped as he buckled in his seatbelt.

Happy rolled his eyes, "Peter, I pick you up on Fridays. That's only twelve days."

"Well...I'm sure you appreciate those twelve days off," The teenager said, pulling out his phone again to see if he had another potential match. Luckily for him, there was a big animation across the screen to let him know that him and 'Andrew' matched.

Andrew was good looking enough...for a forty-one year old man. Peter tried hard to not cringe when he thought about the age gap, but he swallowed it down when he remembered who he was doing this for. Besides, he was still being safe, right? It wasn't real.

Andrew sent a message not long after.

Andrew: Hey beautiful 

Ben: hi! how are you?

Peter's hands were shaking out of nervousness. As he waited for a reply, he looked through the man's profile again. It seemed like Andrew was loaded, with him going to boarding school in his high school years, moving on to becoming a NYU graduate, and then becoming a lawyer with his own firm.

His pictures showcased all the countries he's visited, along with some pretty high end looking city views of New York. 

Andrew: Good. Could be better if you could do me a favor and come over

Peter tapped his foot against the car flooring, wondering if this man had innocent intentions or not. There was only one way to find out.

Ben: what are you thinking of?

Andrew: Sit on my couch and pose with some wine? I've got perfect lighting 

Ben: oh, i'm not old enough to drink :(

Andrew: It's NYC sweetheart who cares

Peter looked out the window, contemplating if he should take this guy or not. He could always agree now, then when he got there he could refuse. After all, it was easier to coerce someone online rather than in person.

Andrew: $800 an hour

"Holy shit," Peter whispered to himself, disbelief painting his features. Unfortunately, Happy's voice pulled him out of his trance.

"Hey, no cursing."

"Sorry," Peter mumbled, uncaring as he stared into the screen of his phone. He began furiously typing.

Ben: when?

Andrew: Tonight

Tonight was cutting it close, but he also didn't want to lose this deal. Luckily for him, he had an extremely fast metabolism, so drinking alcohol virtually had no effect on him.

Ben: i can't tonight, but will sunday night work? i'll even have some of that wine you were talking about 

Andrew: Perfect. I'll send you the address then

Ben: can't wait :)

Peter closed the app and leaned back in his seat, thankful that his surroundings looked familiar. They were near the Tower.

"What's got you talking like that in the backseat, huh? I know you love Tony, but there are some things that only he should say," Happy nodded his head at Peter.

"Oh! Uh...I just saw my final grades is all."

"They put them in that fast?" The man raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah...seems like they can't wait for summer vacation to start either," Peter chuckled awkwardly. From the corner of his eye, he could see Happy staring suspiciously at him; almost like he didn't believe him entirely. To avoid the thought simmering in his head, Peter sat up straight and cleared his throat.

"So uh, what has Mr. Stark been doing today?"

Happy narrowed his eyes as they pulled into the parking garage, "He's been in meetings all day. Probably going to ditch the rest of them when he hears of your arrival."

Peter smiled at the thought and unbuckled his seatbelt when they parked, "Thanks for the ride! See ya later Happy!"

"Bye, kid."

The teen bolted towards the elevator and bounced on the balls of his feet, "FRIDAY? Penthouse please."

"Of course. Welcome home, Peter."

A vibration from his pocket had Peter pulling his phone up again. A new match! This was better than he was expecting; honestly he thought people weren't going to be interested in him. For one, he was a boy. He didn't think old men were particularly fond of a male companion.

For two, he didn't really consider himself incredibly good looking. Sure, Aunt May and Tony would compliment him from time to time, but parents were supposed to say that kind of stuff.

And three, his profile was kind of nerdy. It was full of pop culture references and Star Wars jokes. It didn't really seem like it would appeal to the older generation.

Well...it seemed to be working in his favor now. All he needed was a few more people to reserve him for the night and he would have enough money to help May out for at least three months. Possibly even more if other people were as generous as Andrew.

Another animation flashed across the screen, this time with a man named Steven. He was closer to the younger side, better than the previous two he matched with. This man was twenty-nine and he seemed to be a pretty well-off CEO of a new tech startup.

Peter bit his lip and typed out a greeting before pocketing his phone again. He would rather not have his phone out in the open around Tony. If he found out what he was doing, let's just say it would be nothing short of terrifying.

The elevator doors opened and revealed the living room, Peter immediately making a beeline to his bedroom. He threw his backpack on the floor and toed off his shoes before collapsing on his bed, pulling out his phone again.

He didn't get any new replies or matches, so Peter set his phone down and stared at the ceiling. There was a brief moment where Peter asked himself if he was doing the right thing, but the more he thought about May's stress, the more he tried to convince himself that he was doing nothing wrong.

A knock at his door made him flinch before seeing Tony standing in the doorway. The teen immediately sat up and smiled, "Mr. Stark! Happy said you were supposed to be in meetings all day."

"I cleared the rest of them off my schedule. I haven't seen my kid for a whole week," Tony said before pulling Peter up into a hug. Peter melted into it, nuzzling his face into the man's shoulder.

When they pulled away, Tony flicked his forehead, "Happy told me you were cursing in the car. What's got you so worked up?"

Peter's eyes darted briefly to the phone on his bed, "Uh, n-nothing. Just waiting for my final grades and stuff."

Shit. Didn't he tell Happy earlier that he already got sent his grades?

"Hm," Tony said, a look of suspicion flashing over his features before he let it go, "How about we go in the lab before we order dinner?"

"Sure!" Peter perked up, grabbing his phone and following the man out the door.

A couple of hours passed and Peter was starting to get antsy. He continuously felt the vibrations coming from his back pocket, no doubt from the men he made plans with. The only thing was that he wasn't able to check them with Tony being so close to him.

After Peter made some more web fluid, he stood up and pointed to the restroom, "I need to pee."

Tony knitted his eyebrows in confusion without looking up from his workbench, "Then go pee, kid. You don't need permission."

Peter nodded and scrambled his way over to the restroom, closing the door softly and finally feeling like he could breathe. He didn't waste any time opening up his phone, and true to his suspicions, there were multiple messages from Andrew and Eric.

Andrew: If I buy you something pretty do you think you could wear it for me? I'll add an extra $100 an hour

Andrew: It would be a surprise but it will make me a very happy man

Andrew: Hello?

Peter nervously drummed his fingers on the sink countertop, wondering what this man meant by 'something pretty'. The app made it explicitly clear that no sexual activity was involved to both parties if not consented to, so Peter assumed it couldn't be as bad as he was imagining.

Ben: sorry i was busy for the past 2 hours!

Ben: i would be happy to wear something pretty :)

Andrew: Busy with someone else?

Peter rolled his eyes,

Ben: just my dad lol

Andrew: Oh I see

Andrew: I'll have your outfit ready when you arrive on Sunday. I can't wait to see you in it. You're doing me a huge favor

Peter's stomach churned at those words but he ultimately shook it off to reply to Eric's messages.

Eric: How does 7pm sound?

Ben: perfect! i'll be there :)

Eric: Cool. And where should I pick you up?

Ben: columbus circle. i'll lyk what i'm wearing tomorrow so you can spot me!

Eric: Sounds good. Can't wait to see you, Ben. Tomorrow is really special 

Peter pocketed his phone and breathed heavily. Suddenly this was all starting to feel very very real. After he calmed down, Peter made sure to flush the toilet to make his lie believable before running the sink water as well.

After pretending to dry his hands, he left the bathroom and saw Tony starting to shut the lab down.

"Are you done already?" Peter asked, going to his workbench to swipe his web fluid and shove it in his pockets.

"Yeah, I'm starving and my back is starting to hurt," Tony replied, putting his hands on his hips and leaning back to crack his bones.

Peter grimaced and started to make his way back upstairs, "I'm gonna put the web fluid in my room. Can we get pizza tonight?"

The man waved him off, "Whatever you want, Pete. Pick a movie while you're at it, I need to finish cleaning up here."

Peter nodded and ran back up to the first floor and basically ran into his room. He shoved the web fluid into his drawer with all his Spider-Man stuff and pulled out his phone again.

He was pleased to see that Steven had messaged him back, along with another match. His eyebrows raised when he realized it was a woman this time. She was gorgeous and a bit on the older side; he wondered briefly why she would want anything to do with a nerdy teenage boy.

Saving her for later, Peter opened up the message from Steven.

Steven: Hi, Ben. Or should I say what's up? Which one do you kids respond better to these days?

Peter stifled a laugh. Did this man seriously think he was that much older than himself? The profile said twenty-nine, not sixty.

Ben: depends. but i usually respond better to a simple hello

Steven: Got it. How are you?

Peter began conversing with Steven back and forth for a few minutes, the man was very quick with his responses now. He found out that Steven needed him for a private business event as a plus one. He offered $200 an hour, plus it counted for any time it took him to get ready and arrive at the venue.

Ben: okay! i'll see you next week then :)

Steven: See you.

What a bland response. He moved onto the older woman named Madeline and sent her a polite message.

Ben: hey madeline! i saw that we matched, what's the occasion?

The reply was almost instant, but he heard Tony coming back using his advanced hearing and quickly tossed his phone onto his bed. He barely had enough time to make it seem like he was changing into his pajamas before Tony knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Peter yelled, getting his pajama shirt through the last hole right as Tony walked in.

Tony side eyed his room before looking at Peter, "Pizza should be here in about a half hour. Did you pick a movie?"

Peter shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, "Uh, not yet?"

Tony made a face.

"I-I was changing into something more comfortable!" He supplied, gesturing to his mismatched shorts and t-shirt combo.

"It takes you five minutes to get changed?" The man asked, but Peter just shrugged again. Tony stared for a few lingering seconds before sighing and letting it go.

He opened the door to the bedroom and stepped back, "Come on," Tony said, nodding his head in the direction of the hallway. Peter made a move to turn around to grab his phone, but his mentor beat him to it.

"You don't need that right now."

"But I need—"

"Pete," Tony said sternly. Peter threw his head back and groaned dramatically before shuffling out of the room and making his way into the hallway. He knew in the back of his mind that Tony was beginning to get suspicious of his behavior.

"Why are you so attached to that thing lately anyway? I usually never see you on it," Tony said as he followed the younger into the living room.

Peter quickly thought of an excuse, "There's this new game I got, it helps with the urge to do something. Especially since I'm really hungry and we aren't doing any lab work," He finished the lie as he plopped on the couch.

Tony snapped his fingers before grabbing something from under the entertainment center. When he came back, he set it next to the coffee table.

"There. Problem solved, kid."

Peter looked at the box of his unopened LEGO sets.

"Oh. Thanks," The teen slid off the couch and sat on the floor while Tony stepped behind him and made himself comfortable on the recliner.

"Any requests?" Tony asked.

Peter hummed as he dumped the pieces onto the coffee table and began organizing them by color, "Hm, maybe something funny? Ned showed me a clip of that one new movie that just came out."

"You heard the kid, FRI."

The movie began and Peter let out a few laughs in the time that they were waiting for their dinner. After he chowed down on his pizza, he was speeding through his LEGO set and he was nearly finished when the movie ended.

He fake yawned and stretched before putting everything back under the entertainment center.

"I'm really tired, Mr. Stark. This last week of school really kicked my butt," He said, selling the act by shuffling slowly towards the couch.

Tony pulled him to his side and gave him a kiss on the forehead, "Alright, Underoos. I'll see in the morning, I love you."

Peter hugged the man back, "I love you too, good night."

"Night."

Peter sleepily shuffled into the hallway, and when he was out of sight, he basically sprinted back into his room and plopped on his bed.

He could hear the TV playing in the other room, so Tony must be catching up on his latest show or something. Either way, it gave him enough time to check up on his app.

Three new messages. 

Jackpot.

Peter shuffled nervously on the sidewalk, constantly adjusting his posture and hands as he waited for his first real customer. Eric was the more laidback one he had been speaking to for the past couple of days, but it still didn't help the nerves that were running through his whole body.

He closed his eyes and remembered May's face whenever she came home, completely exhausted. As much as she tried to hide it, Peter also didn't miss hearing his aunt crying when it got too overwhelming for her. He clenched his hands at his sides.

He had to do this for Aunt May. Besides, this was his only option at this point. The most obvious possibility had already run through his head more times than he could count, but realistically he knew he could never ask Tony to help them out with rent in their own apartment. Aunt May was too prideful and kind—Tony wasn't responsible for her responsibilities.

Peter could also never bring himself to ask. Tony had probably been used for his wallet more than he could imagine. He didn't want to look like he had made this relationship they had built inauthentic because he was secretly after his sponsorship.

It didn't matter in the end either, Peter had this covered. It was just a couple hours out of his day and then everything would be fine. He would pay the landlord without May ever knowing, making her think the rent went back down and she would be able to quit the two other part-time jobs she had gotten.

A vibration from his pocket startled him out of his thoughts. His stomach churned at the thought of it being his client, but the phone screen had flashed with the photo of him and Mr. Stark during his fake internship. Admittedly, this wasn't more reassuring, but his calmed himself down quickly enough to answer.

"Hey, Mr. Stark!" Peter squeaked out nervously, rocking back and forth on the heels of his shoes.

"Don't 'Hey, Mr. Stark' me. Where are you?"

Tony's voice clipped through the phone. Peter knew the man long enough to know that he clearly was upset about something.

"I'm about to meet Ned and hang out. I told you this morning during breakfast," Peter lied, feeling slightly guilty about being dishonest to someone that trusted him. He had to do this.

"Funny, I don't remember you telling me this at all. And into my second point, you can't just leave without letting me know. Look, I'm not trying to be an overbearing shithead, but it's already seven and the team is coming over—" Tony started on his usual rambling he did when he didn't quite know how to communicate something.

It tugged at Peter's heartstrings a little, so he did the man a favor and interrupted him.

"I'll be home in time to save you from the team," Peter reassured, "Ned and I are just going to hang out until nine and then I'll swing right over. I'm not even going to patrol tonight."

There was a suspiciously long silence on the other end of the phone until he heard an irritated sigh.

"Sure, that's fine. Just be careful, kid."

Peter didn't even get to say anything before the line disconnected and he was left staring at the home screen of his phone. Peter groaned in frustration before he pocketed the device.

Tony was either starting to get suspicious of him already or Peter had really hurt his feelings about blowing him off for almost two days in a row now. He told himself it would just be for the rest of the week and he could go back to being normal for at least the next three months.

A honk pulled his out of his thoughts as a nice black car pulled up to the curb. The window rolled down and the face of the man from the app appeared with a pleased smile, "Ben! I'm Eric."

Peter swallowed nervously and put on his best smile before hastily going into the car before traffic piled up behind them. His spidey-sense wasn't going off at all, so he allowed himself to relax in the stranger's car.

"Hey, Eric. I-It's nice to meet you," Peter stuttered out nervously, mentally slapping himself for sounding so meek. Just because he didn't sense anything right now didn't mean that his demeanor wouldn't lure in unwanted attention.

"Wow, you look so much younger in person ," Eric commented as he continued to drive towards upper Manhattan, "What's someone like you doing on an app like this?"

Peter chuckled shyly, "Well, everyone has their own story. I could ask you the same thing. Based off your profile, you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself."

The older man gave him a look and smiled, "Okay, Ben. Touché, nice to know you like playing games."

"Let's just agree to keep the personal questions to a minimum," Peter mumbled before looking out the window. He could see Eric smile out of the corner of his eye and nod before he went further into introducing himself.

Peter must've really hit the jackpot because Eric was doing all the talking for him. When they got to the older man's apartment, Peter had barely said a word which was fine by him.

As they entered, Peter followed the man and toed his shoes off. Out of nowhere, his spidey-sense went off for a fraction of a second before he felt something big jump on him, causing him to tumble to the floor. The teen got startled for a second before he looked down and realized an elderly golden retriever was looking up at him and wagging her tail.

"Ah, this is Ginger," Eric laughed before pulling the dog off of the teen. Peter just nervously chuckled as his picked himself up off of the floor.

"She's really sweet, sorry about that. I think she thought you were my son for a moment," Eric explained before cooing at the dog and sending her off down the hallway.

"Your son?" Peter questioned as he dusted himself off.

Eric chuckled, "What happened to no personal questions?"

Peter smiled a little and shrugged, "How about we each get three?"

The older man showed an amused smirk and gestured the boy to follow him deeper into the apartment. Peter followed him and saw that Ginger had still been wagging her tail in the living room, now sporting a toy in her mouth. Picture frames littered the walls of the nice apartment and instantly Peter could tell that this man was harmless.

"My son was about your age when he left for college," Eric explained as he looked at the pictures, "He was going to start his first year at an exchange program in Beijing. Unfortunately, I was caught up with a work trip at the time and couldn't help him move in immediately, but his mother went with him and..."

Peter tilted his head in sympathy, "You don't have to—"

"No! I...I want to. That's why you're here. I..." Eric trailed off.

Peter glanced at the wall and noticed a memorial collage that was dated to this very day, ten years prior. All of the gears instantly clicked in Peter's head. More pictures revealed the family at Disney World decked out in Star Wars merchandise and candid photos of movie nights.

"Forgive me if you came here expecting something else. You just really remind me of my son and I wanted to just pretend for one night that he never left in the beginning of the summer for the exchange program. I know it's weird." Eric explained, running a hand through his greying hair.

Peter was silent for a moment before he smiled, "It's not weird at all. In fact, I never joined the app because I wanted dates. Truthfully," The teen sat on the couch and hugged his knees, "I need to pay rent. I heard about this app on some stupid social media post and this is my last ditch attempt to make some sort of pocket change. I didn't think anyone would even be interested in me."

Eric sat next to him and Ginger climbed onto the other side with her toy.

"Look, Ben. I really appreciate you being open-minded about this. How much is your rent for this month? I'll pay it off."

Peter snapped his head up, "What?! No way, we agreed on $300 for the night."

Eric just laughed again, "Please, I'm lucky you didn't run out of here the second I said I wanted you to pretend to be my dead son. This is more healing for me than it is for you."

The teen didn't know whether to laugh or grimace. Oh good lord, Tony would have his head if he knew what he was doing right now. Sitting in an older man's apartment as he spilled out his trauma about wanting to spend time with his son's lookalike on the anniversary of his death while also offering to pay his rent to make himself feel better.

Crazy as it sounds, Peter looked at Eric and felt incredibly sympathetic towards him. He wondered momentarily if he died, would Tony find any mean odds to grieve in his own way like this? It was only for a little bit, right?

Peter nodded, "Okay."

The rest of the night went surprisingly well. By the time the movie had ended, the two of them had been laughing and talking like they had known each other for years. Eric had continued to tell stories about his son who Peter now knew as Gavin.

They exchanged perspectives as both son and father and Peter felt this sense of self that he thought he would never find outside of the suit. As he left with over $1,000 in his pocket, he realized that he had saved someone as just himself. Just Peter Parker.

Peter smiled to himself as he did a little skip and ducked himself into a nearby alleyway. He pulled on the Spider-Man mask and quickly webbed himself back to the Tower before Tony had his head for staying out too late.

He found his usual open window in his bedroom before crawling inside, making a quick beeline towards his backpack and shoving the fat stack of money towards the bottom. Peter pulled off the mask and threw it in the corner before sighing with a sad smile.

He hoped Eric would be okay. Peter told him they wouldn't see each other again, but the man was fine with that. He said that he got what he needed, thanked him, and sent him on his way.

Peter gave himself a minute to just relax knowing that his aunt wouldn't have to work herself like a dog. The second he got back to Queens he would make sure that May quit her part-time jobs immediately.

FRIDAY’s voice made him jump.

"Mr. Stark is waiting for you in the living room. You're 1 hour and 36 minutes past your curfew."

Peter cursed to himself and scrambled out of his bedroom. He glanced at the time on his phone and realized it really was 10:36 PM, he didn't even realize he went a few extra minutes past the time he said he was going to leave his client's apartment.

The teen nervously stepped in the room, immediately noticing that the Avengers were nowhere to be seen. All that was left was a few plates and cups that made evidence of their presence known, but clearly Peter hadn't kept his promise.

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Stark! The movie was longer than that I thought—"

Tony just sighed and threw the plastic cups in the trash bin, "I'm not in the mood for excuses, kid. Go brush your teeth and get ready for bed, please."

"Mr. Stark..."

"Pete," Tony said exhaustively as he ran an irritated hand down his face, "Bed. Now."

Peter sadly turned around and did as he was told, not before sneaking another glance at his mentor before he did. He caught Tony leaning against the table with his head buried in his hands and heard him mumbling things to himself, but the teen looked away before he could start tearing up.

He was doing this for Aunt May, then they could go back to spending time together like they had always did. As Peter walked back to his room, he let the guilt settle. He knew Tony wasn't particularly happy to be around the Avengers anymore, not unless Peter was there.

They had long made up since the whole Sokovia Accords incident, but Peter knew that Tony still held resentment towards Steve and Bucky for what happened between the three of them. Peter also knew that Tony suffered with PTSD and anxiety, but he tried to make himself feel better knowing that Tony was a grown man and Peter missing one event wasn't going to be the end of the world.

Peter closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Just a few more clients and this would be over.

Peter slowly peeled his mandarin orange at the table as he watched Tony pace at the floor to ceiling windows in the living room. He was on the phone with Pepper, but the teen could tell that whatever they were discussing was mildly irritating to the older man.

As soon as he hung up the phone, Peter spoke up.

"What was that all about?" He questioned around a mouthful of mandarin orange.

Tony waved his hand in annoyance, "Just typical CEO bullshit that Pepper relays to me. The annual education charity ball is coming up this week and I have to make an appearance."

"Oh, well it's only for a couple hours right? I can't imagine you would have the stay the whole time and mingle, that's Ms. Potts' job," Peter shrugged.

Tony came around the table to ruffle the boy's hair.

"Yeah, and you're coming with me. I only need to steal you for a couple hours. Oh, that reminds me as well," Tony mumbled as he scrolled through his messages, "Your aunt texted me and let me know that you're staying here for another week. She's working back to back shifts and...jeez am I reading this right?"

Peter squinted his eyes before he opened them in realization, "Wait a whole 'nother week?!"

Tony rolled his eyes, "Don't look so happy, kid."

He waved his hands in protest, "No no no, that's not what I meant. It's just—I made a few plans this week with Ned and MJ that I already told May about. I know you've been..." Peter made a sheepish face at him that basically finished the sentence.

"Pete, I don't care if you go out with your friends. I care when you lie to me about where you are and when you're coming back. Like last night? Absolutely not, we're doing no repeats of that," Tony clicked his tongue, "So lay it on me."

"Uh...well tonight I made plans with MJ. I'll actually be back at nine tonight though, I promise. Monday, I'm going with Ned to his cousin's wedding and should be back around eleven, and finally I'll be out Tuesday for a sleepover at Ned's," Peter lied, nodding to himself for making up such clever excuses.

Tony made a face, "Wait, hold on. Tuesday? That's the charity gala."

Peter put on his best puppy dog eyes and pouted, "Please, Mr. Stark? I already promised Ned."

"Ugh, I hate it when you try to act cute," Tony grimaced like he hated it, but Peter could see the wavering in the man's expression. Peter hugged his arm and tried his best to look up through his lashes like he knew Mr. Stark liked.

"Fine."

"Yes!" Peter yelled, running laps excitedly around the man. Tony walked off and rubbed his head in exasperation. He could hear him mumbling under his breath.

"Stupid Bambi eyes."

The next couple of days were incredibly lucrative as much as they were eye-opening. Peter thought that Eric was a one-off chance, but with each new client Peter was taking, they were surprising him in ways he didn't know were possible.

For instance, Andrew. For the few days that Peter was left lingering with his texts, he thought for sure this was the one client who would try to make a move on him. Everything was adding up too weirdly—Andrew kept trying to make him drink even though he was well under the legal age, he wanted him to put on something pretty, and he kept calling him all these pet names. Not to mention he was giving him $900 for the entire hour!

But Peter found himself standing in the middle of this man's penthouse dressed up like a kid who walked straight out of the Hamptons.

"Ben, you look beautiful, honey. Go ahead and pose right there on the couch. This needs to sell as soon as possible," Andrew said as he fiddled with the camera.

"What exactly do you need me for?" Peter questioned as he held the glass of wine as instructed. Andrew took a quick picture, momentarily blinding Peter with the flash before answering.

"I'm trying to get rid of this couch, it's definitely haunted. Ever since I bought it all sorts of weird things keep happening in here," Andrew said frantically, "My buyer is a mutual friend and she has a knack for pretty boys. I needed a last minute model that checked all the boxes, so I wasn't lying when I said you were doing me a huge favor. Uh, let's try one with you taking a sip of the wine."

Peter did as told and as soon as the flash went off he asked another question. "How much are you selling it for?"

"Three million," Andrew said offhandedly before taking another photo. Peter almost spit out the wine in the glass before he choked on it.

Andrew squeaked in fear, "Hey, honey, let's try not to spill the wine on the three million dollar haunted couch I'm trying to sell."

"Sure, sorry," Peter coughed before they continued taking a few more photos. Andrew came over to show him the pictures before they heard a glass shatter in the kitchen, making the poor man tremble in fear.

"See?! I told you! I'm not crazy, glasses always keep falling in the kitchen. I think we have enough photos, I'm not trying to stay here for any longer."

Peter tried not to giggle, he knew the glasses kept falling because the AC unit would turn on and vibrate the cabinets underneath it, causing a glass to fall if it was perfectly placed. Unfortunately, he didn't have the heart to tell the erratic man. As he was changing in the bathroom, he heard Andrew laughing and cheering for joy after his buyer had wired him the money.

When Peter came back out, Andrew enveloped him in a huge hug and spun him around a few times before handing him an envelope with the cash. Peter said his goodbyes and came back $900 richer and feeling that same high that he got after leaving Eric's house.

Like he was doing something good without having to be Spider-Man. Peter was starting to look forward to these little odd dates as Monday night came around. The older woman named Madeline.

When Peter lied to Tony about needing to go to a wedding, it wasn't entirely a lie. Madeline's escort request was for a wedding in upstate New York. The hour car ride that they spent together, the older woman explained to him that she had blown off the wedding invite because she had taken in a foreign exchange student from London.

The couple had extended their invitation to the foreign exchange student who didn't exist, so that's where Peter came in. They giggled the whole car ride there about how ridiculous the whole situation was and Peter even practiced his English accent with the woman.

She was incredibly hilarious, a free spirited type of woman who was crazy enough to try and find a young adult on an escort app to play this ridiculous part. Madeline was paying a hefty price of $400 an hour thanks to her late husband's fortune.

Peter spent the rest of the night dancing his worries away and eating incredible catered food. He also admitted that he cried a little bit during the ceremony, but at the end of the day, he went home with $2,800 in cash.

Madeline thanked him for his spontaneous nature and even offered to help him if he ever needed a favor. Peter hugged the older woman and wished her the best.

That night, Peter laid in bed with a content smile on his face. 

Just one more to go.

"FRIDAY? Did Mr. Stark leave yet?" Peter questioned as he got ready for his very last escort client. He stood in the mirror and adjusted his tie as he waited for the AI's response.

"Yes. Boss departed approximately 27 minutes ago with Pepper Potts."

"Perfect," Peter said with a smile as he quickly adjusted his gelled hair before he grabbed his phone and webshooters. He shoved his phone in his pocket before sneaking out of the window and launching the webshooters in the direction of his destination.

His very last client was named Steven Westcott, someone who needed a plus one for a private business event. That's all the information Peter got, so he webbed his way over to the address he gave him. A few blocks away, Peter landed in an alley before he shoved his webshooters in his other pocket and relied on gps.

As Peter walked up, he could see ropes and media set up around the building which made him think that this business event wasn't so private after all.

He sent a quick message to Steven through the app.

Ben: hey, i'm outside across the street! where should i go?

Steven: I'm pulling up now. We'll go in together.

Peter let out a sigh of relief and smiled to himself, wondering what funny predicament led this man to request his services. So far he's had a death anniversary, a haunted couch, and a fake exchange student from London. All of which led him to rack up approximately $4,700 in the span of three days. This really was a pretty lucrative business.

He didn't have to wait long because a black tinted car pulled up next to him with the window rolled down.

"Ben? Hop on in, we're going through the private entrance," The man, Steven he was assuming, flashed him a bright smile.

Peter didn't hesitate to follow the instructions and climbed in the car. The boy looked up at Steven and knew this was by far the youngest client he had gotten. Given, twenty-nine is nowhere near his age, but it was kind of refreshing after being around graying hair for the past few days.

"Hey," Steven greeted, his eyes washing over Peter's body which made the hairs on his arms stick up. Weird, that hasn't happened before so far.

"Hello, I'm Ben. It's nice to meet you, Steven," Peter said, holding out his hand for the man to shake. Steven flashed him another smile and shook his hand enthusiastically.

"Likewise. I knew you were young, but you look incredible. Not a day over sixteen," He whispered under his breath. Peter just chuckled awkwardly, knowing that the man wasn't that far off the mark.

Peter rubbed his sweaty hands on his knees as the car pulled around to the private entrance, "So, what's this event for? Anything I should know about before I go in or anything you would like me to do?"

Steven waved his hand, "Eh, this is just some business event that's required of everyone working under the company umbrella. It's a great networking event as well, even if it's just for raising money. I just need you to sit there and look pretty for me, but you're already doing a good job of that."

Peter's eyes widened in surprise at the compliment, his belly churning a little at the change in atmosphere. Steven hadn't been raising any red flags as of yet, but he couldn't help but think the car was getting somewhat uncomfortable.

"Well, thank you. Let's go in?" Peter said, gesturing to the door.

Steven opened the door for both of them, leading the teen into the conference building. He flashed the security his event badge, and Peter only saw a glimpse, but it felt like it looked incredibly familiar. The feeling went away as quickly as it came because Steven didn't hesitate to wrap a hand around his waist as soon as they stepped foot into the building.

The whole ride in the elevator felt like hours to Peter. It was just a hand around the waist, it wasn't anything too weird. He was just disappointed that Steven didn't have one of those entertaining stories that his previous clients did and that he was really here for what the app had intended for.

Peter shuffled his feet...he felt a little dirty. Like he was actually doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. He was with an older man who, to the outside world, thought that they were together romantically. He was lying to his father about where he was and he was lying to this man about his age. It was starting to feel a bit overwhelming.

Peter turned to tell Steven that he had to go, but the elevator doors opened and the man leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Showtime."

Peter just ended up dumbly nodding and following the man's lead without saying a word. For $200 an hour, this job was about as easy as it was boring. Steven walked him around like a dog pretty much for the better half of the night, showing him off to much older men that looked at him in approval.

Peter didn't say a word and Steven hadn't said much to the teen other than the typical words of praise for putting on a good show.

Nearing the third hour, Steven pulled him even closer, "Ben, the super important people are about to come out right now. Just follow my lead, alright?"

"Sure," Peter yawned.

Just as Steven had predicted, everyone's attention had turned to the front where they started off the auction.  Bids were going like crazy and Peter didn't really care, opting to look down at the floor while item after item was put out. Thankfully the actual auction didn't take any longer than a half hour and they had already exceeded their goal.

"Why did you need someone for this event?" Peter ended up asking as mingling time resumed after the big sponsors showed up.

Steven led him around the floor, but didn't bother looking at him as he replied, "Well, Stark Industries famously hands out bonuses to minorities to boost their public image. Obviously, I don't have a boyfriend so this was—"

Peter stopped in his tracks, "Wait, this was a charity event for Stark Industries?"

Steven ignored him, "Look, there he is. Come here, Ben."

Peter didn't even have any time to react before Steven pulled him in front of the very last man he wanted to see tonight.

"Mr. Stark! It's so nice to meet you again, we spoke briefly at Columbia's bicentennial," Steven said, shaking Tony's hand, "This is my boyfriend, Ben.”

Peter immediately cowered when Tony's eyes shifted to his and he did a double take. He could practically see the older man seething within seconds, but Steven pulled them both out of their shock. The blond pulled Peter close and kissed him, grabbing him by the waist and very clearly putting on a desperate show for the bonus.

Peter made a noise of discomfort and made a move to shove Steven off, but a loud slap and a gasp around the room did the job for him. In the blink of an eye, Steven was off of Peter and on the ground, clutching the side of his cheek and looking at Tony with disbelief.

"He's seventeen, you fucking pervert," Tony said through clenched teeth. His unwavering gaze towards Steven didn't let up until the cowering man pointed an accusing finger towards Peter.

"He told me he was eighteen! It's not my fault!"

Peter flinched as Tony turned around with anger swirling in his eyes, "You. Come with me, now."

Peter stood there in shock, the whole room quiet and watching the interaction with piqued interests and their cellphones out.

"Now, Peter!"

His mentor’s booming voice forced him out of shock as he followed Tony out of the room, his blood draining from all of his veins. His hands turned clammy and his limbs started shaking. Shit. Shit. Shit.

This was never supposed to happen.

Tony led them to the rooftop and immediately started suiting up into the Iron Man armor.

"You have about two seconds to explain before I seriously blow my shit. And this time, I'm not messing around, Peter."

Peter swallowed the bile that threatened to come up and try as he might, he couldn't even get a sound out. He knew that he was doing something wrong, there wasn't an excuse he could come up with other than the truth, but the adrenaline and fear was still seizing up his body.

Even though Tony's face was now covered by the Iron Man faceplate, he could practically still see the anger swimming in his mentor's eyes.

"The silent game? I can work around that," Tony shrugged in the suit, "FRIDAY, look up everything on Peter's phone using the name Ben. Send me a file and have it ready at the tower by the time we arrive."

Tony grabbed Peter by the arm, holding him in place while he reached into his pockets for his webshooters. In the blink of an eye, his mentor threw them on the ground and aimed the gauntlet at them before they turned into nothing but ash.

"No Spider-Man for the foreseeable future. Get your ass over here," Tony gritted out before throwing the teen over his shoulder and not hesitating to take off towards the tower.

By now, Peter was still trembling, but was able to do nothing but cry. His face was wet in a swirl of emotions. He felt scared, embarrassed, humiliated, dirty, and angry all at once. All that was running through his mind was what Tony was thinking of him at this moment.

Peter sobbed all the way to the tower which took no longer than a couple minutes. Tony harshly set the boy down on the floor in the living room and removed the nanites. Now Peter could really see how disappointed his mentor was.

"FRIDAY? What do you have for me?" Tony said impatiently as he stalked over to the bar and poured himself a generous helping of whiskey.

"W-Wait, Mr. Stark! Let me explain before—" Peter cried from his spot on the ground where Tony had dropped him.

"I gave you a chance and you wanted to play games with me," Tony said through clenched teeth, "FRIDAY?"

"Yes, Boss. Here's everything I gathered from Peter's phone, including all messages from a third party app. He was using the alias Ben Parker for an app called Esc-perience, an eighteen plus platform for escort services."

"Escort services?! Are you out of your mind, Peter?!" Tony raged, completely downing his glass before stalking back over to the humiliated boy.

"That's not all, Boss. Peter had accepted four clients in total over the span of the past seven days. Eric Fintch, a sixty-two year old male located in the Upper East Side who paid $150 an hour on Saturday night. Andrew Harding, a forty-one year old male located in West Village who paid $900 in total for Peter's services on Sunday night. Madeline Bianchi, a fifty-four year old female located in Chelsea who paid $400 an hour on Monday evening. Finally, Steven Westcott, a twenty-nine year old male located in Lincoln Square who offered $200 an hour for Peter's services. All four adults were under the impression that Peter was of legal age," FRIDAY finished.

Peter's eyebrows knitted together pleadingly, "Please, it wasn't like that. These people needed something from me—not in the way that you think, I swear. Aunt May is really struggling with rent and her jobs, I needed—"

"No," Tony basically growled, pulling Peter up by the armpits and sitting him down on the couch, "What you needed to do was stay at home and be a fucking kid! I don't want to hear all this bullshit about Aunt May, either. Your guy's rent is fully paid until the lease expires."

"B-But—" Peter tried to explain, now adding confusion to everything else he was experiencing.

"May sent that text, remember? About how you had to stay here for an additional week because she was working shifts back to back? That was taken care of, immediately."

Peter shook his head, "I didn't know..."

"How could you have, when you were selling yourself like a cheap whore just because you felt like you owed these grown adults any ounce of sympathy—"

"That's so unfair and cruel for you to say to me, Mr. Stark!" Peter yelled, standing up from the couch and pushing the older man away, "You have no idea what it's like to see your only living relative cry herself to sleep because she doesn't know how else to support us! I thought I was doing the right thing by trying to help out Aunt May! And I was being safe!"

Tony just laughed in his face as he pulled up a holographic screen of everything FRIDAY collected. "Really? Really? 'You should come over so we can watch a movie together, sit on my couch and pose with some wine, wear something pretty for me?' You can't sit here and think for a second that these people didn't have any ulterior motives. You're smarter than that Peter!"

"I was willing to take that risk," Peter held his ground.

Tony grabbed both sides of his face, "You listen to me, kid, and you listen good. You could've been hurt—drugged, raped, or murdered all over some chump change that I could've given to you in seconds. Set your pride aside for one second and just admit that you were wrong."

Peter tried to move out of his mentor's grip, "Fine! I was wrong, but I'm not a cheap whore."

Tony immediately let go and Peter sobbed, feeling the guilt and humiliation crawl up his body like vines.

"I-I didn't want to ask you because I didn't want to make you feel like I got close to you for your money. I promise, every time I blew you off I swore to myself that this was the only week that I would allow this to happen and things would go back to normal. I admit I was wrong for lying to you, and sneaking around behind your back, and putting myself in danger, but none of those people were awful. I promise," Peter said through his sobs.

Tony sighed and ran a hand down his face, "Kid, I'm sorry for shouting at you. It's just...you did something really bad. Like, extremely bad. You not only put yourself in extreme danger, but you also took advantage of these people by lying about your age. I'm still new at this whole," he waved his arms around, "parenting thing, but I think any sane adult would reasonably react like this."

"You called me a whore."

"I—" Tony clenched his jaw, "I'm sorry, Peter."

They stood in awkward silence for a few minutes before Tony collapsed on the couch and massaged his temples, "So, if you weren't selling yourself, then what kind of escort service were you providing them?" He asked tiredly.

Peter tentatively sat down next to him, stiff and uncomfortable, "Uh, well the first guy, Eric. It was his son's ten year death anniversary and he just wanted to spend time with someone who reminded him of Gavin. That was his son's name."

The fingers over Tony's eyes parted to look at Peter through them, giving the kid a silent green light to keep going. Peter scooted closer to Tony and nestled himself on his side, fitting his head underneath the man's chin.

"And...the second guy Andrew was a bit erratic. He needed me to wear something pretty so he could sell this couch to a friend of a friend. He was convinced it was haunted, but his HVAC system was just fucked and it caused the cabinets to vibrate and occasionally send a glass off the edge."

Tony snorted.

Peter smiled and continued, "Anyways, he was really funny. His buyer ended up closing the deal and he was really grateful to get rid of his haunted couch. Though, he might run into the same problem soon. Madeline was someone out of a movie. She was this free-spirited older woman who had made up a lie about getting an exchange student from London to get out of a wedding, but the bride and groom found a loophole for her to show up anyway. I had to put on a fake Londoner accent for seven hours straight, but I had the time of my life. I'd never been to a wedding before. Then there was Steven."

Tony hand put his free arm about the boy, "Yeah, you can stop there. He was the very client I was afraid you would encounter, as fun and wholesome as the other ones were."

Peter sighed, wiping his tears on Tony's suit jacket, "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I really didn't think you would want to help us out. I mean, you're not responsible for me or Aunt May."

"Are you kidding? How would I see you as my son and not think you're my responsibility? Or not care about the wellbeing of your aunt?" Tony asked, sitting up in disbelief with the boy still in his arms.

Peter shrugged, "I don't know. You've never actually said it out loud before. I always kind of figured it was one-sided."

"Well, I said it now. Whenever you need anything, always ask me first. I'm serious, Peter."

Peter smiled softly, "Alright, Mr. Stark. Thank you...for paying our rent and stuff."

"Please don't mention it again. Let's just put all of this behind us and start our week together over," Tony groaned before turning on the TV, "Pick a movie. Something that's not Star Wars, please."

The boy shrugged off his own suit jacket and tie while he hummed in thought, "What about The Escort?"

"You're really testing my patience here, kid."