Tangled (Irondad Spiderson)

16: Identity

Peter's POV

Recently, things have been more than okay. Things have been amazing. Great. Spectacular. I am so grateful for MJ. She has made my world light up ever since we were friends but now that we're dating, everything is...perfect.

But I know that when there's lots of good, there's a chance for a lot more bad.
I arrived at school and yet again waited for MJ by the bathrooms. Suddenly I hear a "psst" and look around.

MJ is on my right in the janitors closet, waving at me. I look around and no one is here yet, so I follow her and shut the door. She turns on the light above us and gives me a smile.

"Good morning handsome."
We share our good morning kiss.

"Good morning beautiful. May I ask why we are in this lovely confinement known as the janitors closet?"
She chuckles.

"Because I wanted to ask you about a spider thing! I didn't want to blow your cover."

"Oooh okay. What's up?"

"Could we go on another spider date please? Like last time, where you took me to the top of a building with a picnic?"
She smiles at me and holds my hands. We get closer.

"Why I think spiderman could do that for you m'lady." I bow and she bursts out laughing.

"Shhh!! Shh! MJ, sh!"
She quiets down.

"But yes we may. We can get whatever food you like."

"Yay! I'll actually pack us something, I've been learning to cook!"
We kiss again and hear the bell ring. We quickly exit the closet before we are seen and go to class after sharing a goodbye kiss.

I arrive at my desk and plop down in my seat, not ready to start another day. The morning announcements start to play as the two extremely awkward teens talk about random upcoming events.

But then there was something extra.

"We now have an unexpected message from our fellow student, Flash!"

It cuts to a scene where flash is stressfully holding a microphone. He looks dead into the camera and says.

"PETER PARKER IS SPIDERMAN!"
I froze. I must not have hear that right.

"IT'S TRUE! I HEARD HIM SAY IT IN THE JANITORS CLOSET WITH SOME CHICK!! TH-THATS WHY HE'S ALWAYS GONE AND DIPPING OUT ON SHIT!! PETER. PARKER. IS. SPIDERMAN-"

It cuts back to the two teens. They look at each other in awe, then they go to say something but are cut off again by flash.

"I-I HAVE PROOF, LISTEN!!"
He plays something from his phone. It was audio from MJ and I in the janitors closet.
My eyes start to water as one by one, students slowly turned to look at me.
I look around, struggling to breathe.

"I-It's not true!"

"How do we know that? He had a recording!"
Said one student.

"Uh- I-I um.. I gotta go."
I burst out of my class, sprinting down the hallway, looking for an exit. I found it and left, calling happy. I was crying so hard I felt lightheaded.

"This is Happy."
He said.

"Hey H-Happy, this is an emergency. My whole school f-found out th-that I'm spiderman a-and I-"
I only spoke in choked sobs.

"Woah woah, slow down kid. How did this happen."
I was trying to catch my breath and my heart just kept pounding and pounding.

"I-I was talking t-to MJ a-and F-Flash overheard us. H-he got on announcements and t-told the whole school."
I break down and fall to my knees, scraping them on the sidewalk.

"Shit kid. I've got your location, I'm coming to get you right now. Stay there."
He hangs up and MJ texts me.

--

MJ: babe where are you

Peter: i left school

MJ: are you okay?

Peter: everything is ruined. Absolutely everything.

MJ: i'm so sorry, i'm gonna kick flash's ass lol

Peter: no you don't understand, this is serious stuff mj

--

Happy's car pulls in front of me and I get in. We ride in silence for a while. As the radio plays. I turn back to my phone.

--

MJ: i know, but is it so bad that they know now? At least flash will stop giving you a hard time

Peter: i dont know that! they could get pushy with questions and would pretend to be my friend or something. besides that was my escape, there one time where i could be someone way better and cooler and no one would even know it was me

MJ: but you ARE just as cool as your spider side!

Peter: yeah, tell that to the whole school

--

I shut off my phone and cry quietly, looking out the window.

"You okay back there kiddo?"
I hear someone say. Slowly the window in wall in front of me rolls down and I see Tony sitting up front. He turns around and looks at me, pushing down his sunglassess.

"Hi kiddo. You alright?"
I look at him and just broke down, not even able to fake that I'm okay.

"Happy, pull over."

The car pulls over and Tony gets out. Then he gets into the seat next to me, shuts the door, and tells Happy to continue. He holds me in his arms, and in that moment I felt smaller than I ever had before.

"It's okay, you're okay."
He says. I cry harder.

"No it's not dad. It's not okay, and I'm not okay. That was MY thing. I wasn't ready for them to know, and now Flash gets the satisfaction of being the one who ruined my life."
He rubs my shoulder and hugs me.

"Your life isn't ruined, your life could improve!"

"But you don't know the kind of bad luck I get."

"You're overreacting!"
He says, annoyed.

"I'm overreacting? Fuck you."
I snap at him. He pauses for a moment.

"I think the real reason why you're so- just- you know what? I'm not gonna say it."
He crosses his arms.

"Say it."
I look at him. The car comes to a stop as we arrive at the tower.

"No-"

"SAY. IT. TONY."

"FINE! I think the REAL reason you don't like everyone knowing you're spiderman is because Aunt May isn't here to react to it. So now you're going to be forever haunted with the reminder that the whole world found out about your true identity before she did."
There was silence. I was waiting for a look of regret. But Tony is stubborn, even when he fucks up.

I just storm out of the car and into the tower, hiding my face so that no one sees my tears. I go into my room and shut the door. I check my phone and see a lot of notifications and some texts from MJ. I was tagged in posts made by Flash where he revealed the audio. The whole world will soon know who I am.

Tony was right. It will haunt me knowing that I never told her. It will haunts me knowing that she isn't here to witness such a big change in my life.
I stopped crying. I just stared off into space, exhausted and drained. I felt nothing. It was like there was an internal buzz of emptiness. I needed to feel something. That familiar feeling. I walked over to the window, hoodie up. I swung around and found a nearby store.

We all know exactly what I purchased there.