Mix Up's

Chapter 16

When Peter arrived outside the tower, he bites on his cheek and stares at the doors before him. His head is swimming with ideas about what could happen in there, and all of them ending badly.

He then feels Nathaniel moving on his hip, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looks over at him to see the boy looking at him with a curious expression on his face. "Why aren't we going in?" the boy asks, his head tilting which made him all the more adorable.

"We are now," Peter replies, booping his nose again, causing the three year old to giggle and wiggle his nose. Peter chuckles before walking through the glass doors, into the reception of the building.

The teen walks up to the desk, who had a brunette receptionist working on a computer. Peter being the kind person he is, waited for the lady to finish her work and to spot them. However, after about twenty minutes of waiting and a a child getting gradually annoyed on his hip, he made a small cough to gain her attention.

The lady sighs and looks up from her work. She looks them over before asking, with a rather monotone voice, "What can I help you with?"

"Um, well this is Nate," Peter says, which makes Nate smile and wave at the receptionist, which she doesn't return, much to Nate's disappointment. "His dad works here, so I brought him here after he got lost. Would you be able to like, call him down or something so he can come collect him?"

The women sighs again, before asking them, "And his father's name is...?"

"Oh, right," Peter replies, shocked he had forgotten to even find out who his father was himself. He turns to Nathaniel and asks, "Can you tell the lady your dad's name?"

The boy grins at the brunet and then tells the lady, "His name's Clint! But Friday call him Mister Barton." Nate giggles at the end, remembering a time the AI had used that name to annoy his dad (which had happened on many occasions since).

The receptionist rolls her eyes and says, "Ha ha, very funny." She then goes back to her work as she adds, "Mister Barton doesn't have time for fans mucking around trying to get his attention, so scram, kids."

Startled, Peter replies, "You're really dismissing us so quickly? Shouldn't you at least check to see if Mister Barton is missing his son?"

The women looks up at him, giving him a glare, as she hisses, "Fine, go sit down and I'll check."

Nate whimpers at the tone of her voice and hides his face in the teen's neck. Peter sighs and nods giving a small 'thank you' to the lady, which only earns him a huff in response.

Peter walks towards a bench and sits down, placing the boy- who still had his arms around his neck- on his lap. He smooths Nate's hair as he whispers reassurances to him, telling him 'the scary lady'- as Nate had described her- wasn't going to yell at him or hurt him.

After a few minutes of coaxing, Nate was sat facing forwards with Peter's arms around his waist, as the boy tells him about school and stories of his father.

~~~~

It was nearly dark outside and Nate was playing on Peter's phone, playing an educational game the brunet teenager had downloaded on his destroyed phone. Peter was starting to wonder why nobody had come down to get Nate yet, as it had been the whole afternoon and nobody had even glanced in their direction.

Peter sighs and shakes his head, annoyed at the situation Nathaniel was in. He then feels said boy shuffle in his lap, and looks down at him. The boy had turned the phone off and was looking at Peter with tired eyes, rubbing one with his free hand.

"Petey, 'm tired," Nate mumbles, using his nickname for the spiderling.

Peter smiles softly and brushes a strand of hair away from the younger's face, before he quietly asks, "Is it usually when you go to bed now?" Nate nods in response as Peter takes the phone out of his hands and pockets it. "Would you prefer to lie down or cuddle up to me?" he softly questions the boy.