Never Again

Ch. 8

Peter's POV

Mr. Stark almost flew on top of the man sitting in front of him when the subway started up. He stumbled forward, cursing under his breath while I laughed. He glared at me then righted himself. He braced himself the entire ride until we arrived in the station where we would be getting off. He relaxed, only to stumble again when the subway came to a stop. He stumbled after me, cursing the subway as we walked out of the station and up into Queens.

I waited for Mr. Stark to recover outside of the station. He pulled out his sunglasses and slid them on his face. The sun was out, but not enough to warrant sunglasses, so I figured they were more to keep him from being recognized.

"Alright, kid," he said, looking around. "Where are we headed?" I grinned and pointed across the street to Mr. Delmar's sandwich shop.

"Best sandwiches in all of Queens," I told him. He smiled and shook his head, but motioned for me to lead the way. I happily did so, breathing in deeply when I entered the shop. Mr. Delmar looked up when he heard the overhead bell jingle and grinned. He must have seen Mr. Stark behind me because his eyes widened and he nodded slightly.

"So this is who you spend weekends with, then?" he asked in Spanish. I glanced back at Mr. Stark who didn't seem to be paying attention. I was pretty sure he knew Spanish, though.

"Yeah, someone has to make sure he doesn't drink himself sick," I replied. Mr. Delmar grinned, turning to begin making my sandwich before Mr. Stark cut in.

"Yes, I'm the one that needs babysitting," he said. Mr. Delmar laughed and I felt my face get red. I glared at Mr. Stark who just laughed and glanced up at the menu. "What's good here, Pete?" He motioned to the menu and I shrugged.

"I usually just get the same thing every time," I told him. "I've heard the number 2 is pretty good, though." Mr. Stark nodded and read the description. He gave Mr. Delmar his order as Mr. Delmar handed me my sandwich. Mr. Stark's order was ready a couple minutes later, so Mr. Delmar rang us up then we walked out of the shop.

"What's next?" Mr. Stark asked. He took a bite of his sandwich and seemed surprised at how good it tasted. "God, this is amazing." I grinned and opened my sandwich bag as well, taking a bite before taking Mr. Stark to the next place on my agenda.

* * *

By the end of the day, I was too exhausted to remind Mr. Stark not to stand on the subway. It didn't matter, though, since he claimed a seat as soon as the doors opened and we were allowed on. I sat down next to him, not wanting to stand even if it wasn't that long of a ride back to the tower. The thought of walking from the subway station to the tower was not a happy one, though, and I decided not to think on it.

"Did you have a good day, kid?" Mr. Stark asked. He reached for a handle as the subway shot forward and I couldn't help the sleepy smile from appearing on my face. I nodded, covering my mouth with my hand as I yawned.

"Best day in a long time," I replied. Mr. Stark smiled and we sat in silence for the rest of the ride back.

I followed Mr. Stark out of the subway station and down the street. We walked slowly, enjoying New York in the dark. When we finally got to the tower, I was stumbling along behind Mr. Stark into the elevator. I slumped against the wall and almost fell asleep before we reached our floor.

"Alright, off to bed with you," Mr. Stark said as the elevator doors opened. He guided me out of the elevator and into my bedroom. "We have a big day tomorrow, Pete." I suddenly remembered why I was still with Mr. Stark and all the enjoyment from the day left me. Mr. Stark must have noticed the change in my attitude because he sighed and leaned against the door. "It'll be alright, kid. Tomorrow's gonna suck, but it will get better after that," he promised. I just nodded, pulling my pajama pants out of my dresser.

"Thanks for today, Mr. Stark," I said. He grunted. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he replied. He left my room, shutting the door behind him, and I quickly changed out of my normal clothes and into my pajamas. I almost didn't brush my teeth, but I could hear May's voice in my head telling me my teeth would rot if I didn't. I groaned and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth before falling down onto my bed. Mr. Stark was right about at least one thing: tomorrow was definitely going to suck.