Peter's Godfather

Ch8

That afternoon, Peter hops off the subway and begins the walk across the city. He puts his earbuds in, and for a few moments, all he can hear is the shuffle of his jeans and the peppy hum of The Beatles. That is, until he has to start waving away random ambushers with pens and paper.

He's feeling shy and terse today, so Peter just repeats the phrase, "it's rumors, guys, I don't have anything to say right now" until they finally shoo.

Twenty minutes later, Peter keys into his apartment, lets his backpack drop to the floor by the door, and faceplants into the couch cushions. He groans aloud into the pillow.

This is getting ridiculous.

Peter turns on the tv, expecting an onslaught of his weary face with conspiracy theories to pair.

He's pleasantly surprised, though, when it's Tony Stark's demeanor glowing on the screen.

Peter lets himself sink softly into the past. Lets himself believe he doesn't know this man at all. Just Tony Stark- genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. He's always on the news. It's just another typical day.

A brunette reads the report: "this Sunday is one of Tony Stark's annual galas, everybody, proceeding as per usual. Below is the invite list, and here we've got some decor sneak-peeks from the Stark Tower..."

Gala. Peter is struck with inspiration.

The tv drones on behind him as he races to the kitchen desk. He can't get ahold of his school papers real easily, so hospital files it is. Check-in forms...

Gotcha.

For a genius, Mr. Stark isn't all that smart.

There, in scrawled blue ink, sitting on a paper right in front of the teen, is Tony's personal number. It feels to easy.

Peter could dial right now if he wanted to.

Why not?

He paces the room in his socked feet, anxious, and types the eleven numbers into his cell.

It rings four times before Mr. Stark answers. 

"Hello?"

Peter has minor flashbacks to the last time Tony picked up the phone for him, in the school office, but he manages to say, "Hi. It's Peter. Parker."

If Tony is at all surprised to be receiving this particular call, he doesn't show it in his voice. 

"Hey. What can I do for you?"

Be confident. "I saw your gala on the news."

"Oh? What do you think? I'm online-ordering pretzels and chips in bulk as we speak."

"I have no idea if you're joking or not. My thinking is, though, Mr. Stark, that maybe, we might as well be what everyone thinks. I'm tired of all the weirdness in my life right now. I want to just lean in to it. What if...I went to this gala thing, like...as your godson?"

Peter freezes in fear as the silence stretches across the phone. Then, Tony says, "...well, okay...sounds good to me. You sure you want that kid?" It sounds like it's supposed to be sarcastic, but falls short to a level of sincerity.

"A godfather?"

"Um, I guess."

"Yes."

"So you're inviting yourself to my party?"

"...Yes."

Tony laughs. "I like that. I suppose I'll see you then. Black tie, kiddo. I'll pick you up, text me the address."

Okay, so Peter just did that. "Who should I expect, Mr. Stark?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, driving the car."

"Um, me? Hey, I got to go, but I'll see you this weekend, Pete. Thanks."

"Thank you. Bye."

"Bye."

So now, Peter has to dress up for one of the Tony Stark's parties, and be his kid-ish for a night. And Tony'll be picking him up. Not just some random chauffeur. 

Okay, so Peter just did that.

Chapter nine in a few days  :)

Thank you so much for reading! If you have any ideas of what else you'd like me to write, or if you just wanna talk about how your day is going, feel free to reach out! Have a great day/night!

Bye :)