3rd Person POV
The next morning, Peter woke to the sound of his alarm. He turned it off, but instead of climbing out of bed, he turned around and resolved to stare at the ceiling. Ugh another day.
He promised himself to just take things one day at a time before he clamored out of bed and into the shower.
Once he was ready for the day, Peter made his way to the kitchen, only to come face to face with Pepper and Tony, smiling and cooking breakfast together.
Ugh. He mumbled, rolling his eyes "good morning" before sitting at the island in the middle of the room.
Tony looked up and smiled "Morning, kid."
Pepper sweetly replied "Good morning, honey. How did you sleep?"
Peter simply shrugged "Okay."
Tony tried to continue on. "You ready for school?" Another shrug.
Pepper placed a plate of food in front of him and asked "What's been going on at school? How are your friends?"
Peter adopted a nonchalant look and said "It's fine. They're fine."
Pepper was about to stay something else when a chime came from his phone "Happy's here. Gotta go!"
He didn't wait for any acknowledgment and just dashed into the elevator as it was opening to reveal the shocked and confused driver.
When the doors closed again, Peter let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Kid, you alright?" Peter turned to look at the man next to him and said "It's fine. I'm just not in the mood today."
Happy looked confused but said "Well I'm sure once you see your friends, you'll feel better."
Yeah, his friends might be able to lift his mood a little. This brightened him up a little. Happy easily drove Peter to Midtown High before driving off.
Peter stood outside the building, not making a move to go in. Soon enough, Ned and MJ approached him, standing besides him in silence.
After a while though, Ned asked "You okay Peter?"
He knew he was in a bad way when he didn't even notice Flash walk up to them and ask "Why not?"
Peter shrugged and looked over the city distractedly "Everything is just so effed up right now. It's too much."
He went on to explain the events of the previous night. "And now they're just acting like everything is normal and they're ignoring how obviously unhappy I am. Pepper is just choosing to live in ignorance. I'm pretty sure she sees the problem as clearly as I do. I just feel like I'm suffocating!"
Flash blew out a breath "I didn't know that's how you ended up with him Peter. I'm sorry it's all so....messed up."
Peter appreciated what Flash was doing, but nothing could be done at this point. They had to wait it out.
MJ must've been reading his mind because she said "You guys wanna get out of here?"
Peter's eyes widened desperately "More than anything! I'm so sick of him dictating my life and telling me what to do. But where can we go?"
The teens kinda just dawdled around as the other students went into the building when the bell rang.
Ned said "Pete. I think I have an idea, but you may not like it...."
Peter looked at him curiously. "What is it, Ned?"
"Well, you remember that one summer we joked about getting matching tattoos?" Ned replied cautiously.
Flash chimed on "Oh my god, that's perfect! What's more rebellious than a tattoo?"
MJ turned to Flash and quirked an eyebrow "You want a matching tattoo with these dorks?"
Flash scoffed and said "No. I want all FOUR of us to get matching tattoos."
MJ couldn't stop the small smirk that danced on her lips when the three boys were shouting in agreement.
But then Peter said "Wait guys, I'm not so sure about this. I mean, a tattoo? It's weird. That feels so out of character for me."
The teens stood silent for a few more moments until Ned spoke quietly "You're right Peter, it is out of character. But, no offense, what even is your character right now? Your life's been turned upside down and things are changing really fast. I think this would be a good opportunity to kinda reinvent yourself and become the person you want to be. I'm not gonna try to convince you to do this, but I also thing it might be good to do something wild and crazy to get you out of this funk."
Peter crossed his arms and smiled "Let's do it."
Ned and MJ weren't too sure about permanently altering their bodies, but this was for Peter, so they would do it.
Flash was just there for the ride. None of them minded.
As the quad sat on the e train, Peter barely glanced down at his wrist and cursed softly.
MJ asked "What's wrong, dork"
Peter held his his arms and pointed at the sleek black watch. "The watch! I forgot he can track me anytime he wants to. I can't take it off. Is he chooses to look at it today, I'm dead."
He groaned and hunched over. What is his life??
For the first time, Flash spoke up "Let me at it."
Peter apprehensively held out his wrist and Flash pulled out his laptop and a few cables.
10 minutes later, Flash somehow managed to turn off the tracker that even Ned was unable to hack.
The three stared at him in wonder and Flash just shrugged at them. "I have a crazy dad, too."
Peter sent him a big smile and said "Thanks, Flash."
Flash sent him back an awkward smile and rubbed the back of his neck shyly "It's whatever."
Soon enough, they stepped off the train and walked the few blocks to the Piercing/Tattoo shop. They did research on the train and this was one of the more reputable shops in NYC.
When they stepped in, an employee walked up to them "You guys look a little young to be here. Do you have a parent or guardian's permission?"
Peter took a deep breath and decided now was the time to flaunt his status. "Yeah, my dad Tony Stark said it's cool"
He pulled out his ID that clearly said "Peter Anthony Stark" and the employee widened his eyes a little "Uh right this way, guys."
Peter made eye contact with the other three "You guys sure about this?"
Ned spoke up "Are YOU sure, Pete? We'll do whatever you do."
Peter thought of how pissed Tony would be and nodded his assent.
The four were led to the back of the shop where four tattoo artists were waiting. With one last look, Peter checked to make sure his friends wanted to do this.
Not for the first time, he felt grateful to have such supportive friends.
The quad decided on this:
MJ got the heart because she was all about tough love.
Ned got the clover because he is lucky to have Peter and vice versa.
Peter got the spade because of his intelligence and his friends thought highly of him.
Flash got the diamond because he is considered a diamond in the rough. He's actively working to be a better person though, and the others have noticed.
After a couple hours, they all walked out their respective rooms and met each other in the middle. A new bond was forged today and they looked at each other in appreciation. Even Flash, because he has really proved himself to the trio. They would welcome him into their circle.
Peter quickly hugged his friends and them jumped out the room to pay for all four tattoos. The other argued, but Peter pulled out the black amex card Tony gave him and said "It's on Tony"
When they exited the shop, Peter pulled his friends into a hug "Thanks for today guys."
They slowly made their way to a small diner for lunch before making their way back to Midtown.
But before they could even get to the train station, the group was caught by a ton of Paparazzi itching to get a photo of Peter.
"Baby Stark! Look here!"
"Peter! What are you doing here?!"
"Baby Stark! did you just have lunch? Why aren't you in school?"
"Does Tony Stark let you skip school?"
The quad ran into the train station and barely got into a train before the doors closed. Effectively shutting out the Paps.
Peter rubbed his hands over his face and said "That was crazy. Oh my god."
The other agreed, but then they slumped back and relaxed. They had a long ride.
When they finally make it back to Midtown, school would be let out in an hour. They couldn't go back in after missing all their classes, so they opted for going to the school's roof to wait the time out.
They just relaxed after Peter thanked them profusely. They rolled their sleeves up and held their arms out in a circle (photo above). The four smirked. This was the most rebellious thing any of them have done.
Soon enough, Happy arrived, and when school was dismissed, he calmly made his way to the car.
The dour man drove him back to the tour with little words exchanged.
Peter steeled himself when they arrived, but when he walked into the Penthouse, surprisingly no one was there.
Hmm. Weird.
But he didn't care, instead he kicked his shoes off in the middle on the living room and propped his feet up on the coffee table. He tossed his bag somewhere on the floor as well.
If Tony wouldn't show regard for him, then Peter wouldn't show any back.
He got up and rummaged though the cupboards for snacks, effectively making a mess in the kitchen, before resuming his original position.
Peter stayed like that for an hour before he heard the elevator ding. Two people got off. He heard Tony and Pepper chatting. The last thing he heard before seeing the actual man was "I'm gonna have a talk with him."
When the two walked into the main room and saw its condition, they stopped dead in their tracks.
"What on earth happened here?" Tony all but shouted.
Peter lazily looked in their direction before returning his attention to the TV. "What?"
Tony almost stumbled on the boy's bag and then actually tripped on his sneakers before barely managing to grab the kitchen stool to steady himself, which happened to be covered with the boy's sweater.
"Look at this place! What happened?!" Tony was stood firmly with his arms crossed over his chest, obviously upset.
Pepper said "Peter! What on earth is this mess, young man?!"
Peter shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly before mumbling "What mess?"
Tony had enough "Friday, turn off the television."
When his turned off, Peter angrily turned to Tony "What the hell?! I was watching that!"
Tony waved his arms emphatically "Look at this place! It's a pig sty! And get your feet off the table mister!"
Peter rolled his eyes "You should get a maid then, Tony."
Pepper stopped him from moving forward by holding her hand out "Peter. What has gotten into you? You know better than to leave behind such a mess! Now I am going to change and all this place better be spotless when I get back, got me?"
Pepper had to grab Tony with her so he wouldn't kill the boy when she was gone.
When they got back 15 minutes later, the boy was gone, but the mess wasn't.
Tony bellowed "Peter Anthony Stark! Get your butt here right now!"
Said boy lazily made his way to them from his room. He leaned against the door frame "What, now?"
Tony leveled him with a glare and angrily said "We will deal with your attitude and this mess later. Why did I get a call from you school saying you were absent? Happy confirmed that he dropped you off and picked you up on time."
Peter internally steeled himself. This was it. Peter calmly replied "I didn't feel like going, so I didn't"
Tony honestly felt like he was about to have an attack. He tried to level his voice when he said "Peter, you can't just not go to school when you don't feel like going. School is your job, so there will be no more of this skipping. This is the second time this month! Do you understand me, young man?"
Peter was slightly panicking at this moment, but he refused to let it show. He smoothly walked over to the man and stood right in front of him "Or what?"
Tony clenched and unclenched his fist, trying to control his anger.
"Or else you will be grounded to your room for two weeks."
Peter rolled his eyes and asked "And how's that different from my life right now?! And who cares if I don't go to class. It's not like you care anyways!!"
This time Pepper held up her hand "Alright enough you two. Tony I think you need to calm down. You're angry. Peter, you need to cool down this attitude. You are in the wrong so I'm not sure why you're being so defensive."
When both her boys cooled down slightly she continued "Where did you go today Peter."
Nothing could've stopped the smirk that adorned the boy's face when he pulled his sleeve up to shove the tattoo in their faces.
(Un)luckily, this caused Pepper to pass out, so she didn't see (and couldn't stop it) when Tony lunged forward and landed one almighty slap across Peter's face.
He held his face in pain and couldn't stop the tears from free falling down his face "I hate you!"