WEB OF LIES [TRANS PETER PARKER]

fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Peter's POV

I thought I was having a panic attack. I had taken off my binder, but that wasn't making breathing any easier. It had been less than fifteen minutes since I'd arrived, and already I didn't think I could bear going back out there. I was going to somehow manage to mess everything up, and all of the Avengers were going to hate me. I squeezed my eyes shut, overwhelmed by my impending doom.

"Hey Peter?" a knock came on the door. Before I even had a chance to reply, the door slowly crept open, a certain tall blonde appearing from behind it. I hated people who did that.

Immediately, I crossed my arms over my chest, where the only other thing stopping my secret from coming out was a thin black t-shirt. "Steve, uh, hey man, what's up?" I said nervously, biting my lip as I tried to act as casual as I could.

"Tony wanted me to tell you that dinner is ready, so you can come join us as soon as you're ready," the blonde man said with a winning smile.

I nodded quickly in reply, adding, "Yeah, I'll be out in a minute."

He turned to leave and I let out the breath I had been holding in, but he stopped before he got all the way out and looked back at me. I anxiously raised my eyebrows at him, wanting him to just leave.

"Don't let the big shots out there intimidate you," he said, motioning to the hallway. "You deserve to be here just as much as the rest of us, and I think you're gonna do just fine."

I wrapped my arms tighter around myself. "Thank you, Captain, really. It means a lot." My voice wavered slightly as though it were stuck in my chest.

"No problem, kid," he nodded and finally left, shutting the door behind him.

I stood up and made sure to face away from the door as I pulled off my t shirt and struggled into my binder, just in case someone happened to come in and check on me again at that very moment. Then, I shrugged on my t shirt again, as well as a long sleeved-shirt over that. Finally, I pulled on a zip-up hoodie and a denim jacket, and checked in the mirror to make sure that I truly did look flat. I didn't let myself stare for too long, however, because then any sense of security I had built around myself would surely begin to unravel.

Instead, I hunched my shoulders forward slightly and left to go find the dining room, following the sounds of laughter.

-

At dinner, I sat at the edge of one side, with Tony at the head of the table next to me. Steve was across from me, and Natasha sat next to me on the other side. Everyone else sat further down at the table, including Bruce, Thor, and Wanda.

It wasn't as terribly awkward as I had feared it would be, and though I hardly touched my plate I was beginning to feel a bit more welcomed. Nobody asked questions about the fact that my transportation of choice was spider webs, or that I cling to the ceiling with ease. Instead, they egged into my personal life. They asked me what I liked to do for fun, and what classes I was taking at school, and how my Aunt May was doing. It almost felt like a family dinner instead of some sort of interrogation.

Unfortunately for me, the interrogation would come later, away from Thor's bone crushing hugs and Steve's sympathetic smiles.

After everyone finished eating, Tony beckoned for me to follow him down a flight of stairs and into what I assumed was his main workshop. Countless work benches were covered in various tools and half-finished projects. To my surprise, one of the many robots whirred to life as soon as we entered.