The T.V. flashed bright hues of red as the speakers rumbled with the sounds of blasters. Peter and Ned's controllers were being absolutely annihilated by how vigorously they were playing. Peter's character was crouching behind a fallen ship and a blue sharp shooter zoomed in on the opposing team. With a flick of Peter's index finger, a red laser flew across the screen and blasted into another character. Ned's half of the screen went bright red and Ned leaned back his head to sulk.
"Ohhh pew pew bitch!" Peter jumped onto his feet and twirled around in a victory dance. Ned thought it was adorable, but he would never admit that to Peter. "This is your first time winning in like a week." Ned teased while grabbing the controller to get the round started. Peter scoffed, "You're just a sore loser". Ned forced back giggles at the hypocrisy coming out of Peter's mouth.
"Really this is coming from the guy who didn't talk to me for hours after beating you in Battlefront." Ned raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips while staring down Peter.
"Yeah well you cheated anyway." Peter muttered before leaning back into the plush couch. Ned rolled his eyes and smiled. "Oh I'm sorry what was that, I couldn't hear you from bottom of the scoreboard." Ned curled his lips into a smirk and Peter scrunched his eyebrows together in a pout. "Well then, next winner has the title of best player and gets the premium blasters." Peter held out his hand to seal the deal at hand. Ned clicked his tongue and hesitated before reaching his hand out towards Peter's. Little tingles went up both of their arms and if it wasn't for their determination to win, they would have been blushing from the small contact.
"You better be ready to send over those blasters." Ned shot out with a large grin. Peter acted annoyed but secretly loved the back and forth banter. Ned saddly had to redirect his eyes from Peter's face to the T.V.
Little clicks of the controllers filled the room as Ned got everything ready to start the game. Then they both heard tiny stomps rushing into the living room. A blob of yellow rushed in front of them holding a red paper. Morgan pushed away the thick strands of brown hair covering her small face.
"Oh hey Mo, how was your day at-"
"This is an emergency, I need help Petey." Morgan stumbled trying to say emergency but it was pretty decent for a five year old. She slid a red paper across the coffee table and sighed. Peter lifted up the thin paper and quickly read through the information.
"It's just a parent teacher conference, nothing to worry about." Peter gave a reassuring smile, however, Morgan didn't seem to be any less calm.
"Look at the bottom." Morgan's stubby finger pointed to a underlined time on the paper. It had the date and the time of the conference. "That's today Morgan, that's in an hour!" Peter yelped in a frantic manner.
"Exactly!" Morgan added before swaying nervously.
"Mr. Stark and Mrs. Potts are in Japan for a tech trade event, the parents have to sign up for a time so why would they schedule it when they were going to be out of town." Ned questioned before staring over at Morgan with a raised eyebrow. Morgan shifted under the glares and stuttered over the words she was trying to let out.
"Morgan what did you do?" Peter asked in a calm tone. Morgan's shoulders fell while she let out a defeated sigh.
"I signed up for a time so that they couldn't come to the conference." Morgan lowered her head in shame. Ned furrowed his eyebrows and ganced at Peter with a sympathetic frown.
"Morgan, can I ask you why?" Ned said softly. Morgan fiddled with her hands before staring up at Ned with glossy eyes. Peter felt a little pain in his heart when he saw her on the verge of tears.
"Is it because of grades or something you did?" Peter held Morgan's shoulder and she collapsed into his arms. She balled her fists around his jacket and let out soft tears. Peter held her tight while giving a heartbreaking look to Ned.
"Morgan whatever happened, they won't be mad." Ned reassured while gently rubbing her back. Morgan shook her head back and forth in disagreement. "I, ugh I just, these boys keep calling me names and telling everyone lies about me and I just ugh." Little tears rolled down her red cheeks just as Peter's cheeks turned red with anger. Peter gave Ned a look that screamed "I'm about to punch some five year olds" but Ned shut down that thought with a death glare.
"Mom and Dad would just homeschool me if they found out and I really like school but these boys are so mean." Morgan hiccuped from the sobs and Peter pulled her hair out of her tear covered face. Ned moved closer to Peter and lifted Morgan's chin up. He dragged a finger across her cheeks wiping away the tears. "Morgan I understand, I do, but you can't lie like this." Ned pleaded with Morgan as she turned away in embarrassment.
"I'm not mad, we aren't mad," Ned pointed at Peter and then back at himself. "When I was in elementary I would get picked on and kicked around like no bodies business." Ned chuckled watching Morgan's face twist and turn in confusion.
"Why you are so cool!" Morgan squeaked. "I know right, even Peter got picked on." Ned added and Morgan giggled.
"Well that makes sense." Morgan sassed and Ned slapped his hand over his mouth in shock. Loud giggles bursted from Morgan and Ned while Peter rolled his eyes.
"Wow now you guys are picking on me."
"We are aloud to pick on you, it's the law." Morgan stuck her finger in Peter's face and smilied.
"Yeah Peter the law." Ned smirked and Peter mouthed a small "I hate you". Ned playfully rolled his eyes and flicked Peter's ear. He lowered his eyes back down to meet Morgan's puffy ones.
"Those kids terrorized us and everyone said to just ignore it," Ned shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "But I'm done with the whole being pushed around, I'm done with being the better person because we,"
Ned grabbed Peter's shoulder and pulled him close. "We are gonna go to the conference and get this handled the Peter and Ned way."
Morgan's eyes lit up and she held her chin up high.
"What's the Peter and Ned way?" She asked in a high pitched squeak. Peter raised one eyebrow and looked at Ned with a confused stare.
"Yeah what is the Peter and Ned way?" Peter whispered quickly so Morgan wouldn't worry about the plan.
"The most idiotic way possible." Ned beamed, his smile spreading from ear to ear. Peter felt his cheeks heat up but he immediately shook the thought away. Ned grabbed the red paper filled with information about the conference. He scanned through it quickly before his face lit up in thought.
"Okay," Ned turned to face Peter and Morgan, he took in a large breath to prepare himself for the plan ahead.
"The conference requires the parents to be there but that obviously isn't happening, however my brother used to dress up as my dad for my conferences and it worked every time." Ned grinned at Peter, waiting for him to understand the potential plan.
"Are you picking up what I'm putting down?" Ned elbowed Peter a little bit which earned a nervous chuckle from the residential spider child.
"No, No, No, I'm not dressing up like Mr. Stark." Peter waved his hands around defensively.
"I was thinking you'd be Pepper but-" Ned stared over at Morgan to give her a smirk and she broke into a fit of giggles. Peter pursed his lips and crossed his arms.
"Hardy har har, but no way will that work. Everyone and their mom knows what Tony Stark looks like, I'm not gonna be able to pass as him."
Ned rubbed his hand across his face trying to rethink a plan.
"Everyone knows Tony Stark, so they also know how busy he is..right?" Ned bit his bottom lip trying to concentrate, a habbit Peter tried so desperately not to notice in risk of blushing to death.
"So the school would understand if he wouldn't be able to attend but the school might also let him get away with his "interns" bringing in Morgan." Ned put finger quotes around interns and smiled brightly at Peter. The brunette rubbed his eyes and sighed.
"Ned I'm impressed with the idea but if Mr. Stark finds out I lied on this kind of level, then I'm going to delete your minecraft world." Peter threatened with a fake serious stare. Ned clicked his tongue and shook his head tossing his dark hair around.
"You wouldn't dare," Ned moved a little closer to Peter still wearing a smug grin.
"Oh really, I would," Peter twisted his lips to hold back laughter, he was never good at being serious even if it was the fake kind.
"You love me too much to do something that evil." Ned said smoothly as his eyes trailed down Peter's face, stopping at his lips. Peter felt his face heat up again just as his heart was beginning to pound. Ned was so close, Peter could feel Ned's breath on his own lips. Everything in Peter was screaming to lunge forward and kiss Ned.
"Could you guys stop making googly eyes at eachother, the conference is in thirty minutes." Morgan sassed with her hands on her hips. Peter's eyes almost jumped out of his head as he jumped back from Ned. Peter cleared his throat and nervously shifted in his seat. Ned sat stunned with a beat red face.
"We weren't, I wasn't, it wasn't googly eyes or anything just um." Peter stumbled over every word that fell out of his mouth. Ned shook his head in agreement and tried to control his nerves.
"Mhm, well we need to drive to the school." Morgan rolled her eyes at the two and grabbed Peter's lanyard with his keys. She shook them around to get the boys to stop the nervous banter and get to the car.
The car ride would practically be silent if Morgan wasn't humming along to some cartoon theme song. The tension between Peter and Ned could be cut with a knife, well you'd probably need a chainsaw at this point. Ned couldn't even look at Peter, his eyes were fixated on the other cars they were passing. "I wasn't making googly eyes, we were just messing around." Ned was racking his brain trying to convince himself that Morgan was just joking around and not making an observation.
The school was definitely one of the nicest in the New York area. It had long rows of gorgeous spring flowers and rock statues. You could smell the money dripping off everyone walking in. Parents dressed in fur coats and diamonds. There wasn't a person there without an expensive wrist watch. Ned and Peter felt way out of their element, simply wearing worn jeans and lose hoodies. Peter's old beat up Honda looked like a stain among the shiny luxury cars.
They all stood in front of the school stunned with the environment around them. Ned subconsciously moved closer to Peter, it was the only thing that felt familiar and safe.
"I bet everyone here plays golf." Ned eyed each person walking by with a fearfull gaze. Peter let out a sharp breath, "I bet they all go to country clubs and day drink while their kids scream at the staff." Peter snickered when he saw a few families stare back at him with death glares. Morgan moved herself behind Peter and Ned, hiding from a group of boys walking by. Ned closely watched the group taking note of the three grubby trolls.
"That's them." Morgan whispered as she pointed to the group of boys wearing bright colored polos. Peter bent down on his knees and pulled up Morgan's hair. "Hey we are gonna handle this, okay." Peter's voice was soft and his eyes wore a even softer look, Morgan look a deep breath and shook her head up and down. "I'm ready!"
Peter and Ned thought the parking lot was bad but walking through the hallways was practically hell. No one said a word to them but Peter knew exactly what they were all thinking. The judgment in their eyes was enough to make Ned puke. Even Morgan who often deals with this crowd, seemed uncomfortable. They reached the classroom and all huddled closely together while they waited for the conference. Peter and Ned stood shoulder to shoulder, Ned could hear Peter's heart beating at a rapid pace. Little sweat beads dripped down his flushed cheeks and his hands were shaking.
Peter never did well with crowds but this crowd was making every part of him want to curl in a ball and hide. He felt like a coward, a baby. Morgan looked up at Peter with a small frown. Her small hand reached up to grab Ned's hand, he jumped at the sudden contact but soon held her hand tighter. "Here Peter, this will help," She pulled Ned's hand and wrapped it around Peter's, forcing their fingers to intertwine.
Ned almost choked on air and Peter's hand practically went numb, they once again stood stunned. "See your hand isn't shaking anymore!" Morgan giggled as she wrapped her hand around Peter and Ned's clasped ones. Peter rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and nervously chuckled. Ned squeezed Peter's hand and smiled, "oh that's just the affect I have on people, I'm just so charming I stopped Peter from turning into a chiwawa." Ned made a hair filp motion and Peter giggled through his attempts to look annoyed.
"I can't stand you,"
"Why? I'm lovely"
Ned and Peter bursted into laughter forgetting about the snobby people around them.
"Oh god we are starting to sound like Bucky and Sam!" Peter yelled out through his giggles, Ned held himself up on Peter's shoulder and held back Thor level loudness.
"I don't see why that's a bad thing, those guys are badass!" Ned beamed and Morgan giggled at Ned cussing.
"Yeah and hopelessly in love with eachother."
"I wouldn't mind us turning into sam and bucky then." Ned whispered under his breath, a sentence he thought was just said in his head but the dumbstruck look on Peter's face said otherwise. Before both of their blushes and stuttered explanations could start, a young woman in white walked into the hallway.
"Morgan and....." She looked Peter and Ned up and down with her eyebrows furrowed. "Family?" It was more of a question than a call back to the room. They follwed the young woman back into the spacious classroom. The walls were plastered with bright posters and artwork. Rows of small desks lead the way to a large more modern looking setup. There were five plush chairs in front of a large desk covered in papers.
"I'm Ms. Park, you all can have a seat." Ms. Park pointed to the chairs and fixed the collar of her blazer before sitting. She watched intently for a few moments as they all sat down. Her dark eyes flicked between Ned and Peter's intertwined fingers and Morgan's fidgeting ones.
"I assume Mr. Stark and Mrs. Potts couldn't attend this meeting?" She asked with an understanding smile. Peter just shook his head, his throat being to dry to even speak. Ned held out his hand and Ms. Park shook it quickly before pulling out a few files.
"Yes we're sorry for not letting you know sooner, it was an unexpected work trip." Ned felt his stomach twist, it wasn't necessarily a lie. Ms. Park mouthed a small "ah of course" before typing a few notes on her computer.
"So you two must be Morgan's-" Her eyes darted back to Peter and Ned's hands, her eyebrows scrunched together and her lips parted with a pop. "Guardians?" She said slowly with uncertainty lacing the word. Peter's face went completely red and he realized he was still holding Ned's hand. He pulled his hand away and held it front of his body, waving them widely.
"Ha No, we're um Stark interns. Ms. Potts sent us to make sure everything was working out with Morgan and the school." Peter stumbled over every word, his voice was high pitched and wrecked. Ned shook his head along to everything Peter said and tried to hold his heart from jumping out of his chest. Ms. Park blinked a few times before giving Morgan a nervous smile.
"Okay then, well usually I only call in parents or in this case interns, when there is an issue but Morgan has great grades and is an amazing student." Ms. Park passed Peter and Ned a report card and Morgan had all A's in every subject. Ms. Park's bright smile then fell,
"However, there has been an issue with other students and bullying. A group of boys has been picking on her and this issue was handled until Morgan," She picked up a nurse file and began to read, "kicked the back of his knees forcing him the floor before stomping on his hand causing two fingers to break." She set down the file and rubbed her eyes. Peter and Ned head's both turned quickly to see Morgan who was swinging her legs back and forth. Peter sat in shock and jumped when he heard the door slam open. Ned jerked his body around to see a man standing with a child.
He was dressed in a dark blue suit that suction cupped his body. His hair had so much gel that it was probably waterproof. To top off the look, he wore small policemen style sunglasses and a large gold watch. He could have just worn a sign that said "I'm an a-hole" instead of dressing like it. His son wore a light yellow polo and khakis along with very expensive boat shoes. Yet, the neon green medical tape around his index and middle finger was much more interesting.
"No I said next week, David I swear if the shipment comes in today! Look I gotta go." He grumbled under his breath and shoved his phone back into his pocket.
"Mr. Walker please take a seat." Ms. Park said politely and pulled out another file. Mr. Walker dropped himself into the seat without any care and pulled his son close to him. He turned to Peter and Ned flipping his glasses into his hair.
"You're damn lucky I don't press charges or for that matter sue Stark for his little gremlin of a daughter." His voice was cold and his eyes were fixated on Peter's. Ned adjusted his jaw and rolled his eyes. The little boy sat with a smug smile and mockingly waved at Morgan.
"Thank you all for coming in, I was just informing Stark's interns of the situation since Stark was unable to attend today." Ms. Park explained in a calm manner. Mr. Walker gave the teens a death glare and chuckled.
"Yeah I'm not talking to whatever the hell these two are, I want Stark here to go over what his daughter did to my son." He was getting ready to stand up before Ms. Park held up her hand.
"I can assure you that Mr. Stark would leave his daughter with very capable interns. We can continue the conference normally with them instead of Mr. Stark and Mrs. Potts." Ms. Park held her hands out to keep Walker at bay. He dramatically sighed before sitting back in his seat. Morgan moved closer to Ned and held onto his shoulder. He looked down to see that she was more than nervous, she looked on the verge of tears. Ned leaned down and whispered something Peter couldn't make out. But whatever Ned said, Peter saw that Morgan instantly relaxed.
"Let's start with why Morgan felt the need to retaliate against Justin." Ms. Park looked over at Morgan with a frown. Morgan sniffled before leaning on the edge of her seat.
"He kept calling me names, saying that I was stupid and ugly." Morgan whispered, her voice was shakey and had lost its usually vibrant tone. Peter flared his nostrils and grimaced at the boy.
"Oh come on that is that kid stuff, if Morgan broke my sons fingers for that then we have a bigger problem." Mr. Walker was almost full on laughing from his own twisted joke. Peter and Ned did not find it amusing and there faces told that story.
"That isn't why I hurt him, that stuff didn't bother me. I know I'm smart and beautiful but then he started saying things about you guys." Morgan caught Peter's eyes and held back little tears. Mr. Walker dropped his smile and almost looked afraid for what Morgan might say.
"He said you guys were disgusting and that my dad shouldn't let people like you be around me. That you both were a stain on my dad and the company. That my mom wasn't good enough to run Stark industries and she was nothing but a dumb B-word. He called you guys a bunch of words I can't say and a couple I didn't even know" The words hit Peter a thousand miles a second, Morgan sat fuming even hearing the words come from her mouth. Ms. Park's hand slapped over her mouth and her eyes were wide with shock.
"That's definitely not the opinion of a five year old." Ned spat out, seconds away from punching Mr. Walker in the face.
"How dare you speak about us like that! How dare you speak our names period. You should really reconsider what you talk about in front of your child because the world sure as hell doesn't need two Mr. Walker's roaming around spatting off bullshit." Peter yelled as his hands motioned around in a crazed manner.
"Sir please could you relax." Ms. Park stood up and held her hands between Mr. Walker and Peter.
"Ms. Park with all due respect, No." He halfheartedly smiled at her and went back to glare down Mr. Walker.
"Morgan had every single right to feel the need to put Justin in his place because I currently want to put you in yours." Peter stuck his finger into Mr. Walker's face and let out a sharp breath. He turned around and smiled at Morgan.
"You definitely went too far, pulled a Natasha on us and we will talk about that later, okay Mo." Peter waved at Morgan before turning his focus back on Walker. Ned held back a giggle at how quickly Peter changed from sweet to angry. Mr. Walker took the opportunity to open his pretentious mouth.
"No what she did was unacceptable, the exact behavior I expect from her, seeing that she is practically raised by the street trash that you are. Stark really is running a charity at this point." Mr. Walked harshly pointed his finger into Peter's chest making Peter stumble back slightly. Peter took in a deep breath and clicked his tongue.
"Mr. Walker I'm going to do one of two things. One, I can shake your hand and we can forget this ever happened, with the exception of your son being transferred to a different class. Or two, I can leak to the public and your CEO the exact words you used to describe the Stark family. You're a businessman, I'm sure you know what the right decision is." Peter stood with a wide grin and a outreached hand.
Mr. Walker painstakingly shook Peter's hand. He quickly grabbed his son by the wrist and dragged him out of the classroom mumbling curse words under his breath. Peter's shoulders fell and a long sigh escaped his lips.
"Oh my god that was the most badass thing I've ever done." Peter giggled and rubbed the back of his neck. Ned pulled Peter and Morgan into a large hug. Peter grabbed Morgan and sandwiched her in between them. They all let out a breath they didn't know they were holding in.
"How about we talk over ice cream?"
___________________________________
"Great idea Ned, this really cooled me down" Peter blinked at Ned for a few moments to make sure he understood the pun that he slipped in. Ned rolled his eyes and took a bite of his sundae.
"Oh come on it was funny." Peter pouted. Morgan smiled while watching Peter and Ned share jokes and giggle.
"Okay so serious talk, Morgan I'm very proud of you for standing up for yourself but next time don't break someone's fingers." Ned gave Morgan a dad stare and Peter held back laughter. Morgan shook her head and continued to eat her icecream.
"I'm sorry." She said softly with her large brown eyes looking up at Peter. God was he a sucker for those sad eyes, he would do anything for her.
"It's okay Mo." Peter whispered. Ned and Peter finally got to sit and just enjoy the silence. Soft smiles shared between the three were only adding to the warmth they all felt. Morgan then sat down her icecream and sat her face in between her hands. A small smirk plastered against her chubby cheeks.
"Okay so serious talk, why did Ned say he wouldn't mind ending up like Bucky and Sam?"
A/N: Oh I've missed writing, I'm so sorry about the infrequent updates...it's been a whole month.
Thank you so much for over 26k reads and the amazing comments on my stories. :)