A Slice Of Life, Death And Everything In-Between

A Dash Of Panic, A Flash Of Fear

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the lovely @evelyn_may_bates on Instagram, who requested a beat-up Peter fanfic with lots of protective Tony for my 800+ follower celebration. I hope you enjoy this little fic hon and thank you so much for the wonderful prompt, it was such a blast to write! 💖🥰

To the rest of ya'll, I hope that you enjoy as well and thank you so much for the support, it really means a lot! ❤️

Disclaimer: I do not own Spider-Man or any related materials.

__________

Of course, Flash just had to punch him on a Friday.

Grimacing, Peter hikes his hood further up, attempting to hide the black eye and busted lip that his bully had so graciously given him in the last 10 minutes of their school day. Blinking, the teenager shifts on his feet as the Stark Tower's elevator finally comes to a gentle stop along the penthouse floor.

"Thanks for the lift, Fri." Peter says, wishing for half-a-second that he could ask the A.I to take him back down. "Can you tell me where, uh, where Tony's at, please?"

"Boss is currently in the living room attempting to create what he calls a 'blanket fort.' Would you like me to inform him of your arrival?"

"No, no, that's okay." Peter says with a sharp shake of his head, wincing as his black eye throbs. He reaches up, pressing at his busted lip, the rusty taste of dried blood causing his nose to crinkle. "I'll just surprise him."

What Peter really hopes to do, however, is sneak past Tony before the billionaire catches sight of Peter's face.

He really could've gone back to his apartment and gotten cleaned up.

It wasn't like it was seriously that far away. But by the time Flash had punched him, Happy had already been waiting and between the throbbing headache, the gymnastics of making sure the driver didn't see his face and the anxiety of keeping this from Tony, Peter hadn't been able to think of a great excuse in time.

He couldn't risk May seeing his face too. How he'd explain it to May and Tony, Peter really doesn't know.

That didn't matter anyways, it's Friday and that means lab night and Peter's weekly father-son weekend with Tony at the tower. If he were to cancel at the last minute, that would surely gather much more attention from his father-figure than Peter keeping his jacket hood up for a little while.

Sighing, the 15-year-old finally forces himself to step out of the elevator, keeping his head down.

"Hi, bub." Tony says from the direction of the living room, the sound of the man getting up from the couch and his footsteps approaching causing Peter to swallow, his anxiety churning his stomach. "Did you have a good day at school -- what's with the hoodie? It's not raining, right?"

Peter shrugs, watching as Tony's feet slowly come into view in-front of him, forcing himself to not look up and make eye contact with the older superhero. He feels Tony gently reach out, his fingers barely grazing against Peter's hood and the spiderling takes a quick step back.

"I, uh, I--" Shifting on his feet, Peter frantically thinks of an excuse. "I really gotta go to the bathroom, I'll-I'll be right back."

"Peter --?"

Turning on his heel, Peter quickly makes a beeline toward his bathroom, ignoring Tony's sound of confusion. Finally, the teen makes it down the hall and he closes the door with a harsh sigh, taking a second to press his forehead against the wood.

He's a fucking idiot.

Stumbling backwards, Peter shuffles, turning around until he's leaning against the bathroom sink. Flipping his hood from his face, the teen glances up at his bruised cheek and red eyes for a second before he turns on the tap, gently washing away the dried blood from his lip.