The Bet (Avenger's High School AU)

♡ Chapter Two ♡

Peter knows he'll have to ask for help at some point. 

Financially, it's getting worse and worse. 

His electricity is totally out, no more heating or AC options, no more phone plan, no more food in his cupboards or fridge. He barely has enough for bus fares, let alone for his rent bill that's coming up in a week and definitely not enough for when tomorrow when he's meant to give the hospital a bunch of money for May's treatment. 

The life he's built himself since Ben died is falling apart before his very eyes. 

And he has options. He knows there's a simple way to fix the problem. Ask Tony for money. 

It's not like Tony hasn't offered, he has, countless times. But Peter keeps refusing. He keeps telling his friend that he doesn't need or want any money from Tony despite his crumbling financial situation. 

He can't go into debt. He can't end up needing to pay Tony back thousands of dollars just because he can't pay it by himself. He doesn't want to rely on anyone but himself. 

So he picks up graveyard shifts at the 24-hour McDonald's. He'll have enough to pay the money to the doctors on Saturday night if he can work all night on Friday and all day on Saturday. 

But that'll be everything he has. Everything he's been saving for the just in case, everything he's made over the past month. Everything he'll make tomorrow. It'll be everything. He won't have enough for rent or for electricity or for water. Nothing. 

The only thing that convinces him to do it is that May is dying in a hospital bed. May will always come before Peter. 

*

"Hey. What's up?" Peter attempts to sound perky and cheerful as he sits against the brick wall outside of McDonald's. It's nearing midnight and he's been working since two pm. He's exhausted, but he's working until six am. He'll go home, take a nap, and then he's back to work at eleven until five pm. 

The only reason his boss is allowing this is because he doesn't really care about any of his coworkers and because he understands that Peter needs the money. Peter even signed a contract saying he can't sue the store for giving him more hours. 

There's an old phone booth outside of the McDonald's. It was just Peter's luck that there was a couple of quarters scattered on the pavement, enough for him to make a call. 

"You sound like shit," Tony says. The attempt at humour poorly masks his concern, voice crackling over the old phone. "Did you get a new number? I haven't been able to reach you all night."

 "I'm at a payphone right now. I just haven't renewed my phone plan yet, sorry. I should've let you know at school," Peter replies half-heartedly trying to slip into the ease of conversing with Tony. 

"Oh... I was really worried for a second there. I thought you were just..." He trails off, not wanting to admit to the self-conscious worrying. "Why are you calling me on a payphone?"

"Working," Peter admits. "It's my break now. Why are you up anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep."

Peter can understand that, but his reason for not sleeping is very different from Tony's. Peter can't sleep because his apartment is too cold and he only has a thin sheet that's more holes than fabric at this point. It doesn't help that he's constantly cold because he never eats enough. Tony would never relate to any of that. 

"My next is break is at three. If you're still up, maybe you could stop by," Peter says jokingly. He knows he looks just as shitty as he feels, but he doesn't mind the idea of revealing that vulnerability to his new best friend.