Chapter Text
Peter woke up to an empty bed, disappointed that Tony had left him but embarrassed about the fact that he needed Tony to help him after a nightmare. He peeled back the sheets, slowly pulling himself out of the warm cocoon. His clothes were still slightly damp, and his skin felt sticky. He showered again, letting the familiar scent of his soap cleanse him of his embarrassment. He changed into a pair of cuffed jeans and a short-sleeved button-up before walking out into the hall.
Instantly, he was met with the smell of pancakes, eggs and bacon, burnt toast, and freshly brewed coffee. He found Tony in the kitchen, where he was waving a towel furiously above the toaster.
Tony whipped around and got startled when he saw Peter, “Stop sneaking up on me, kid. My little old heart can’t take it.”
“S-Sorry. What are you doing?”
“I’m making breakfast! I know how hungry you get when you first wake up. May tells me you could a year’s worth of food in half an hour.”
“You talk to May about my eating habits?”
“I talk to May about all the important stuff,” he slid a giant stack of pancakes towards Peter, followed by a plateful of eggs and slightly burnt bacon, “you know, like grades, you almost dying, your guilt complex, girlfriends. I like to keep informed.”
“Me and my guilt complex are doing just fine, thank you.”
“I have no doubt.”
Peter finished his breakfast quickly, eating much more than he would have if he were at the apartment. He got up to wash his dishes but was pushed away by a strong arm once he reached the sink.
“I can do that. It takes like two seconds to load the dishwasher. We’re going out today, so you need to get ready anyway. As soon as I get dressed, we’ll be leaving.” Tony said with a slightly stern look.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Am I going to get a haircut?”
Tony looked Peter dead in the eye, “If you cut your hair, I will disown you as my favourite kid.”
“I’m your only kid!”
“Exactly.”
***
Peter hurriedly brushed his hair and teeth. He didn’t bother putting any gel in it, knowing that Tony likes it best when it was curly and fluffy. Peter tied his black Converse in record time, beating Tony to the elevator.
“I’m letting Happy have the day off, so I’m driving,” Tony said while approaching Peter, who was almost bouncing with excitement.
“Will you tell me where we’re going now?”
“No, Peter. Take us down, Fri. I like how your hair looks, by the way. You shouldn’t put so much product in it.”
Peter smiled knowingly as the elevator reached the bottom floor.
The parking garage was filled with cars of many shapes, sizes and colours, all very expensive. Tony led Peter to an SUV similar to the one Happy usually picked him up with, but red. Peter hopped into the front passenger seat, confused by the car choice.
“Why are we riding in this? It doesn’t seem like something you would drive.”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
***
When Tony pulled up to a furniture store, Peter was even more confused than before.
“Tony, what the h-e double heck are we doing at a Lowe’s?”
“Surprise! We’re redecorating your bedroom!”
“Why?”
“Because your bedroom looks like every other spare room at the tower, with some added teenager junk. I want to help you make the room your own.”
“Can I paint it yellow?” Peter questioned with a soft, but slightly scared look that melted away with Tony’s eager response.
“Yes!”
***
They spent about an hour at the store, and surprisingly, no paparazzi showed. After shopping for paint, new bedsheets, a desk and other decorations for Peter’s room, they picked up a pizza from one of Tony and Peter’s favourite places.
“When we get back to the tower, you have to clean out your room. We can do the painting tonight, then you can sleep in the living room, and we’ll decorate tomorrow!”
“Okay, sounds good. Thank you for doing this by the way.”
“Petey, it’s my pleasure.”
They made it back to the tower soon after they got the pizza and once Peter was finished eating, he started putting his spare things into a box and folding all his bedding.
“Tony? Do want me to take the bed out too?”
Tony started talking before he walked into the room, “I don’t want you to overexe-,” he saw Peter already beginning to lift up the bed like it weighed the same as his backpack. “Do you want help with that?”
“Nope! I got it.” Peter smirked, “Your historic back couldn’t handle it anyway.”
“Who taught you to talk back like that?”
“You, probably.”
***
Peter was able to get all the furniture out of his room, and the plastic sheets were put down to protect the floors. Tony brought all the sunshine yellow paint into the room, and he and Peter each grabbed a roller.
“FRIDAY? Shuffle ‘Spider-Baby and Iron Dad Playlist’.” Tony said while dipping to the paint tray.
“That’s what that’s called? I just assumed it was a pre-made playlist.”
“I had it made for our lab nights when you first started coming over more regularly.”
“I like it.”
Peter bobbed his head to the music and audibly gasped when We Don’t Believe What’s On TV by Twenty One Pilots came on.
“I love this song!” he exclaimed.
“Wow, I couldn’t tell by the fact that you are always playing it.”
“Shut up! Let me listen!”
Peter sang along to all the lyrics in between dramatic dance moves that got paint all over. He walked over to Tony, who was also humming along to some of the words and drew a smiley face in the wet paint. Tony laughed and copied Peter. They each bounced back when the “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!” played, giggling like idiots.
“What if I stood on the ceiling to paint the top?” Peter asked.
“We aren’t even close to being ready to do the top, and we can both reach just fine from the ground.”
“You’re such a fun sponge!”
“A fun sponge?”
“Have you never seen Judy Moody and the Not-So-Bummer Summer?!”
“Do I look like someone who’s seen that? Tell me, what about me screams ‘childish?’”
“Maybe it’s the fact that you always pick Disney movies when we aren’t watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine. A fun sponge is someone who sucks the fun out of everything.”
Tony had a mischievous glint in his eyes, “Does a fun sponge do this?” he said before using his roller to paint a yellow stripe down Peter’s front.
Peter’s jaw dropped and he looked down at the pigment covering the front part of his body, “Not fair! You caught me off-guard!”
“I guess that spider-sense can’t help you with everything!”
***
They barely got any painting done; they were too busy jumping around and dancing, listening to all their favourite songs and having mini paint wars. The ceiling was splattered with yellow, but Peter made Tony leave it.
“Now I can look up and always be reminded of this day.”
Peter smiled fondly while looking at Tony, who was somehow bobbing his whole body to the beat of I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by the Proclaimers and painting lopsided strands of paint down the wall next to the bathroom. He also looked at the splattered ceiling and smiley faces smeared on the wall, happy about the memories that would always be ingrained in this room.
Now I know everything will be okay.