2. A Love, a Father, and a Legacy (Peter Parker)

Chapter 5

The screech of tires drew my attention from the pavement under my shoes. Peter looked up too, his body instantly tensed, our conversation about our new photography project forgotten.

Tony stuck his head out of his silver Audi. "Hurry up kid, I don't feel like waiting all day."

I ran over to the car, Peter in step beside me. "Tony, what the hell are you doing here? I told you Peter was going to walk me home." I looked around at everyone in the schoolyard. It seemed as if all eyes were on us and the billionaire we were talking to.

"Change of plans. Now you're coming with me. Hope you had a great day Peter. The next time I see you better not be in Sam's room."

"Okay, you seriously need to calm down about that." I turned to Peter and smiled sadly at him. "Sorry but my mom's going to yell at me if I don't go."

"It's okay," Peter said before leaning in and whispering close to my ear. "I'll come over later and we can train." He kissed my cheek.

"Bye! I love you!" I waved at him as he jogged backward smiling. He stumbled slightly before catching himself. I heard him utter a laugh before he turned around and walked away.

"Love you too!"

I smiled and watched him run off out of sight before turning back to deal with Tony.

"Someone really needs to teach that kid how to whisper. Also I'm going to ban both you and Peter from the training room if I find out anything besides training is happening down there."

I rolled my eyes and swung open the door, climbing into the car. "Why exactly did you feel the need to come down to my school and make a scene? Did you really have to ruin a perfectly good afternoon?"

"Your snarky teenage comments need to stop."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay grandpa whatever you say. You're starting to sound like Cap."

"That is exactly what I'm talking about! That eye roll also has to stop."

"What are you gonna do? Your not my father, you can't ground me!"

I glared at him but stopped when I realized it wasn't really him I was angry at. Instead, I stared out the window, avoiding his eyes.

"You're right. I'm not." When I didn't say anything Tony started up the car and pulled into the street. After a couple minutes of sitting in traffic, I tried to start the conversation up again.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't fair of me to say." I looked out the window again, not really expecting an answer.

"You're right, I'm not your father." Tony looked straightforward as if taking his eyes off the road was as dangerous as cutting the wrong wire on a bomb.

We kept driving toward the tower so I assumed Tony had decided to bring us back home. When he missed the last turn I glanced at him.

"Where are we going?" I had never been in this part of the city. It was obviously not a very affluent part of the city. The buildings looked like they had been erected decades ago and had been forgotten about. Homeless people were distributed on the stoops of the buildings. I watched one, an innocent-looking old man who stared back at me. He smiled a genuine smile and I smiled back.

Tony didn't bother sharing any information with me, so I kept my queries about what adventure he was planning to take me on to myself.

* * *

After about another half hour of driving, most of which involved sitting in traffic, we stopped in front of a cafe. The sign above the doors claimed it was founded in 1967.