Imagine If You Assembled The Avengers: Volume 3

Loner (Parker x reader)

Sequel to Group Work (In this book)

Peter had been watching you for at least a week before he had worked up the courage to talk to you; or rather, when he had to talk to you. You were in four of his classes, along with Anthony Stark Jr., your recent boyfriend and the son of his new and unexpected mentor. Pete's interest in you wasn't romantic, but rather an intellectual one, wanting to get to know you better; he had never once believed that the work that you had done with Anthony in projects together was carried by the junior Stark, and that if anything, you had probably carried him. That Stark guy didn't deserve you, that much he knew for certain, and he had been waiting for you to see it too.

"Mr. Parker? Are you still with us?"

"Hmm?" he popped up, sitting straighter in fear at the sound of his instructor's voice. "Um, yeah...yes...y-yes, I'm here."

"Wonderful, so then you have no objections?"

"No, of...of course not."

"Great," she smiled, turning away to move back to her desk despite the low chuckles of the class around him, "we'll all be waiting anxiously to see what miracle of science that you and (Y/N) come up with for next week's project. With Anthony out of town, it will be very refreshing to see what kind of genius you two can flaunt in our faces in his absence."

"Wait, I'm working with (Y/N)? She's...s-she's working with me?"

"Problem?"

Peter's head snapped to the side, looking to where you were sitting with an equally shocked expression looking back. Ned slapped his arm a few times, but he may as well have been slapping at the wall for all of the reaction that Pete was giving him. He couldn't figure out why you were so shocked, and what it could be that you were thinking as he stared back, and he knew pretty quickly that he was putting out the wrong impression of himself. "No, ma'am. No problem."

~~~

Your teacher may have thought that she had hit her own level of genius with putting you and Peter Parker together, but she was so completely wrong. You had seen him outside of class only once before, and it just happened to be at the Avengers tower. He was trying to keep a low profile, hoping that you wouldn't realize that he was there. He knew that you were dating Tony's son, because who didn't by now, so for him to have seen you there wouldn't have been a shock, but you had no reason to know he hung around too until he accidentally gave himself away. When he asked you about using the resources there it came out of left field and was unexpected, given that he had the same access that you did, if not more.

"(Y/N), come on, we should use the library at the tower while we still can," he argued. He had been all but chasing you through the school halls, trying to not give away how easily he could catch you with a single web if he wanted to. He had underestimated how fast you could move when you wanted solitude, making the urge harder to fight. "You know that Mr. Stark sold it and we're not gonna be able to travel upstate just to get our project done. This is our last chance, and what they have there is so much better than what we have at school. FRIDAY can find anything in the world."

"Sure, and so can Karen."

"Well, yeah, she can, but...woah, hold on...how do you know..." he stammered, halting cold and taking a stumbling step back, "I mean, um...who's Karen?"

"Pete, you can stop the crap. I know who you are. I hung out with the Avengers, remember? I've seen you creeping around and your name has come up a few times at the dinner table."

"It has?" Now his mind was racing so fast that the thoughts and possibilities were unable to be read. His eyes darted around as if he were looking into his own brain and trying to catch one of them, with spectacular failure that was unmistakable. "So, like...good or bad?"

"Oh, it was all good. Until you turned down Mr. Stark when he offered you a spot on the team. That went over like a lead balloon and it was all we heard about for a month. Anthony got so pissed-" you stopped, not anticipating the stab in your chest that his name would bring. You didn't anticipate that after such a short time together, that stupid name would sting your eyes with tears that you could barely wipe away before your feet could cooperate enough to turn you away from the stare he was giving you.

"(Y/N)? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine," you sniffled harshly and then turned back with a refreshed indignation. "Look, I'll go to the tower on one condition. I need you to ask Tony to make sure that his son is nowhere in sight."

"I can do that. But, why?"

"Anthony and I broke up. About a week ago."

"Oh, okay! That's why you've been looking so down lately. Now it makes total sense."

"It makes sense? Why would you have noticed?"

Peter's face flushed almost immediately, a giveaway that he could never get under control; his cheeks were a brilliant red, the color spreading down his jaw and towards his neck, under a heat that pushed out from his chest to feel like he was aflame. He hated how easy it was for you to see, and how hard it was to back out of. "I didn't...I-I mean, I didn't notice, exactly...more like I happened...I saw you...h-he hasn't been around much lately..."

"Tony sent him to study abroad for the next month."

"Really? Which broad?"

"Jesus, Pete, are you serious right now?" you huffed, turning on your heel to leave, but his quick reflexes had him scurrying to block your path. "Honestly, I think you're hanging around Papa Stark too much."

"Come on, (Y/N), I was joking. I was," he begged. In the moment of his panic, he reached out and held your arms so that you wouldn't try to leave again, his gaze earnest and determined, staring at you so that you would believe him. Pete knew that he sucked at moments like this, trying to play off something so emotional with a poorly-chosen joke, but it was all that he knew to do. He did agree, however, that hanging out so much with Tony Stark wasn't helping with his timing or delivery of those crappy jokes.

"Let's just drop it, okay? We have work to do, right?"

"Right," he nodded, dropping his shoulders and his hands back to his sides in relief. "But, hey, do you want me to kick his ass? I'm pretty sure that if I catch him alone, to be sure that FRIDAY can't call in his dad, I think I could take him. I mean, I have webs and he doesn't, and I'm obviously way smarter than he is."

"How do you figure?"

"Okay, ouch," he whimpered, clutching his chest, "you're just mean."

"Sorry, but you're talking about Tony Stark Jr., Pete. He hit the genetic jackpot when it comes to intelligence. And arrogance," you added with a gentle smirk, "and narcissism. Maybe petulance, too."

"That kid's not smart at all, (Y/N). If he broke up with you, he's the biggest idiot on the planet."

It was odd to feel how quickly your anger melted away at the words he had just said, the tone of his voice so warm and welcoming. You weren't looking at him as a prospect, having just barely come out of a relationship only days ago, but you were absolutely starting to look at him differently than as just the awkward kid you saw hiding in the back row of all of your classes. "You think so?"

"Well, yeah, of course," he shrugged, but his demeanor quickly shifted as he realized how his message could be taken. "But hey, let's not start scribbling my name all over your notebook, alright? I like you, and I don't want to see you upset."

"Thanks, Pete, that's really sweet."

"I know, that's me," he smiled. "Besides, I don't think that I can carry this project on my own, so I need you at the top of your game. I'm not against beating up a Stark to get an A, (Y/N)."