You can trust now, Peter darling

19

"Y'know, I'm kinda glad that there's a new kid here because I have no friends. I know that sounds totally lame and I should be ashamed, but I don't really care who knows at this point. Besides, we're kinda friends now...right?" Ned said to Peter. They were now sat in the library since their Spanish class was over. Peter silently laughed before answering the boy.

"Right." He nodded.

"Right. You're pretty quiet, which is totally cool. I get it. Once you get more comfortable here, you'll talk more." Ned said. He had a tendency to never shut up when he spoke, but Peter didn't mind. He actually liked it. There was silence for a few minutes before Ned gasped, making Peter jump.

"You should join the Decathlon team! I'm already on it, and it's really fun! We're training to go to Washington DC soon and perform in the nationals."

"What do you do?"

"To cut a long story short, we basically just answer science questions. Whatever team gets the most answers correct, wins!" Ned explains enthusiastically. Peter thought about it, and it did seem like something he would enjoy doing.

"Okay...yeah, I'll think about it." Peter nodded.

"Awesome. It's really fun, trust me. And I do actually have a few friends there."

"I thought you had no friends?"

"Not ones that I talk to on a daily basis. I mean, there is Michelle. But that's all really." Ned shrugged.

"Michelle?" Peter asked as he adjusted in his seat.

"Yeah. Michelle Jones-Watson. Everyone calls her MJ though. She's a total badass and...kinda scary. But she's cool. I'm sure you'll meet her soon." Ned replied. Before Peter could answer with anything, his phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Tony's contact pop up on the screen.

"Sorry, Ned. I'll be right back." He excused himself and stood up, walking to an isolated part of the library before answering the call.

"You're already checking up on me?" He said through the phone before Tony could say anything.

"Well, sorry for caring." He answered dramatically, making Peter laugh. "But seriously, how's it going?"

"It's...okay. I met this kid called Ned. He seems really nice but he is a bit of a chatterbox."

"Hey, don't start getting hypocritical. Now that you've started talking, you don't stop." Tony said. Peter rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Don't roll your eyes at me."

"Wha- how did you?- you know what? Never mind. The point is, I might've made a friend."

"Well, that's great kid. Keep me updated, okay? Tell me if anything goes down." Tony reminded the boy.

"Yes, yes, I know. Bye, love you!"

"Love you too, Pete." He replied before the call ended. Peter sighed and headed back over to Ned. As he sat down, Ned started talking again.

"Hey, I've been wondering this all day. One of your last names, Stark, what's that about?" Ned asked Peter. He didn't know how to respond and it took him a good few seconds to.

"What do you mean?"

"Y'know...Stark. That's a pretty uncommon last name and it so happens to be the last name of one of the most famous guys on earth!" Ned exclaimed. "Billionaire? Genius? One of earth's greatest defenders? Tony freaking Stark!"

Peter let out a chuckle and decided whether he should break the news to Ned.

"Actually...yeah, he's my dad." He chose to tell him. He waited for Ned's reaction, but the boy seemed to freeze. That was before he finally snapped out of it and processed what Peter said.

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah! I mean...not biologically. I'm adopted." Peter said, smiling at Ned's reaction.

"Holy shit! You got adopted by Tony Stark?! That's insane! I didn't even know that Tony Stark adopted anyone...if hasn't been on the news or anything! How did that even happen? Does anyone else know? Man, I have a lot of questions." The excited boy rambled. Peter decided to interrupt him before he ran out of breath and passed out.

"No one knows. Apart from the Avengers. So try to keep it that way...please?" Peter answered.

"Yeah, yeah...totally! I won't tell anyone...well, I'll try not to tell anyone. This is huge! You know the freaking Avengers! You're Iron Man's son!" Ned whisper-shouted. Peter only laughed in response.

"How did it even happen? Did he just fly down into your orphanage? Was he with any other Avengers are the time? What about Pepper Potts? I mean, I know her and Tony have been split up for a while but does she know?" Ned bombarded the poor boy with questions again.

Peter's mood changed instantly. He was quickly reminded of 2 months ago. How scared he was. How he never thought he would get out of that horrible place that tortured him, that tried to change him.

"I-It's a long story." Peter swallowed the lump in his throat and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.

--------------------------------------

Peter nervously tapped his finger on his knee as he waited on a bench outside his new school. He didn't know who exactly was going to pick him up because Tony said a lot of names, so all he could do was wait.

"How big is your bedroom?" Ned asked from next to him. His new friend had been asking him questions all day and Peter was growing annoyed, but he was too nice to say something about it. Besides, Ned had been kind enough to wait with Peter.

"Uh...pretty big?" Peter said, unsure on how to answer the question.

"Do you have a bathroom in it?"

"Yeah. And a walk-in closet."

"Wicked." Ned whispered. "Is Captain America cool, or is he like a mean old grandpa?"

"Uh...he's cool. He's taken me out on his motorbike a couple of times. Tony doesn't like that though."

"What does Hulk smell like?"

"That's an odd question-"

"Do Avengers have to pay taxes?"

Peter let out a sigh of relief as he saw a black car pull up in front of them. He couldn't stand Ned's questions being thrown at him at a rapid speed. He looked to see who was in the car, and to his surprise, it was both Steve and Nat.

"This is my ride. Thanks for hanging out with me today Ned, you're a good friend." Peter said as he stood up, pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

"And remember, don't tell anyone." Peter reminded Ned as he started walking backwards, towards the car.

"My lips are sealed. See you tomorrow!" Ned waved at his friend as he stood up himself and started walking off.

Peter jumped into the backseat of the car and chucked his bag down on the floor before plugging in his seatbelt.

"Hey, kid. How was school?" Steve asked from the passenger seat.

"It was pretty good actually." Peter replied with a smile.

"Glad to hear."

"Who was that kid you were with?" Nat asked as she started driving to the compound.

"Oh, that's Ned. He's cool. He's my new friend!" Peter said and leant back on his seat.

"That's great, Pete!" Nat said with a smile. "Tony is in a meeting right now so he asked us to come pick you up, but he should be finished by the time we get back."

"Okay, thank you."