Chapter Fifty-One

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A/N: FIVE MORE WEEKS

Ya'll. College hasn't even started and it's already hard. Do you know how complicated it is to apply for college? There's soooooo many little details they give you a headache. I might just drop out of college and become a stripper or some crap lmaoo.

Anyway, you are like really gonna hate me after this. Sorry not sorry.

But there's one of my favorite pictures of my husband to make up for it ;)

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"If you don't take out the trash,

I'll sell your phone while you sleep."
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Peter didn't come to school for that whole week and, by Friday, Adelaide was beginning to get worried.

"Miss Rivers, may I speak with you for a moment?" Mr. Hans asked after her algebra class had ended. It was too early in the morning for another one of his get-your-act-together-young-lady-or-you're-going-to-fail lectures. She could already feel a headache making a debut behind her eyes.

"Sure," she sighed, gathering her books and telling Ned to wait outside for her. Mr. Hans was sitting behind his desk in a manner that would make a queen proud. He smiled politely as she approached him, but Adelaide knew that nothing good came from Mr. Hans smiling.

"Your grades, Miss Rivers. They're - oh how do I put this nicely...they're horrible," he said blatantly. It wasn't anything Adelaide hadn't already heard before. "You would imagine that with the end of the year coming up, they would have improved. However, they have seemingly gotten worse. Is there any particular reason for this...drop in grades?"

Yes.

"No," she said, fidgeting with the books in her hand and then she added, "Sir."

"I am afraid that I am going to have to give you an ultimatum, Miss Rivers. Either you raise your grades or you will fail this class."

"Fine," she mumbled, wishing the conversation would end just so she could get out of here. The smiling calculator poster behind his desk seemed to be mocking her and it was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable.

"And since I care about my students personally," he started and Adelaide knew she wasn't going to like the rest of his sentence but she refrained from making a beeline for the door, "I have signed you up for mathematics tutoring in the library every Monday after school in hopes that perhaps a tutor can help you improve your grades."

"I don't need tutoring," she mumbled, trying not to roll her eyes, "Sir."

"The lack of a particular vowel in your report card seems to think otherwise, Miss Rivers," he said.

"Fine," she groaned, "I'll do the freaking tutoring."

"Good," he smiled, "You are dismissed."

Adelaide made sure to slam the door on her way out.

-----

A knock on her bedroom door made her look up from her math homework. For a moment, she had forgotten that Pepper was gone so it was a bit surprising to find the billionaire standing there.

"Hey," he greeted, walking in and taking a seat on her bed. She bit her tongue from scolding him when he kicked his shoes up on the covers. He was wearing a Black Sabbath shirt which he had been wearing for three days now and was in dire need of a good wash.

"Do you need something?" she said, not sure what he was doing in her room,

"The question is," he said, "do you?"

"What?"

Instead of answering, he walked over to where she was working, pulling an ottoman with him, and sat down beside her. His eyes lingered on the hoverboard which was hovering beside the teenager's desk. It was holding up a cold pizza and a can of coke. He raised an eyebrow

"I was lazy," she shrugged, offering him a slice of pizza. Rolling his eyes, he took the slice and bit into it

"Pepper got a call from your math teacher," he said, his mouth full of pizza.

"And she told you about it?" Adelaide asked, trying not to get her hopes up about the two of them getting back together.

"We're not a couple of kids giving each other the cold shoulder," he rolled his eyes, "We still do adulting. Like taking care of you."

"I think that I take care of you more than you take care of me," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Tony and adulting in the same sentence? Yeah, right.

"That is a negative attitude, young lady. Grounded. For two weeks," he said.

"Are you serious?" Adelaide asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Talking back to an adult? Three weeks," he said and Adelaide saw the smile he was trying to hold back but she played along nonetheless.

"You're terrible at parenting," she said, rolling her eyes.

"And that wasn't even my best parenting," he teased and Adelaide's heart did a little jump, "If you don't take out the trash, I'll sell your phone while you sleep."

"Lucky for me, I don't sleep," she said, trying to hide a smile of her own. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yeah, well I'm Tony Stark," he argued and Adelaide began laughing.

"That's your comeback?" she laughed.

"It's worked before," he shrugged, swallowing, "Anyway, forget that. I am here because your grades suck and lucky for you, I am a genius."

"Genius, billionaire, Iron Man, philanthropist...how do you ever find the time for a mundane teenager like me, Mr. Stark?" she teased.

"It's all in the genes," he grinned, tapping his head and she laughed again.

"You are never going to let that go," she said, shaking her head.

"Never," he promised.

Oddly enough, Adelaide found it comforting. Maybe they were never going to be related by blood, but he was still the most important person in her life – he always would be.

"Oh and you need babysitting for next Thursday," he said, glancing at his phone before pocketing it.

"Where are you going?" she asked, sipping her coke.

"To the compound. Impromptu Avengers meeting. Something about the UN having a power complex. Anyway, since I'm awesome at parenting, you get to choose your babysitter: Happy or Pepper," he said and Adelaide rolled her eyes.

"You already know what I'm going to say," she told him and he looked up at her.

"That I'm awesome at parenting?"

"Not even close. I'm coming with you," she said and Tony grinned.

"Because I'm awesome at parenting and you want to spend every waking minute with me," he said and she rolled her eyes.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," she said.

And sitting there, in her room as the billionaire tried to explain math to her, Adelaide realized that not all relationships were created by blood – there were some that ran deeper.

And she was lucky to have that kind with Tony.

-----

Without Peter there, the pep rally hadn't been as fun. Especially since the Decathlon team (which she still couldn't believe she had signed up to be a part of next year) had won the banner contest and they earned a cash prize for their club and a surprise pizza party.

Although, it had been slightly entertaining when Mr. Harrington had slipped on a banana peel that Flash had thrown on the floor. Mr. Harrington fell onto the clarinet player in the band and she fell on the oboe and so on until the entire Midtown High band was on the gym floor because Flash didn't take the time to find a trash can for his banana peel. The video was viral on youtube by now. People were calling the Midtown High band the 'Domino Band.'

Since Peter hadn't been answering his phone all week long, Adelaide had called May to make sure that he was okay which was how she had learned that he was running a fever and which was why she was going to his house with a bowl full of hot soup and a copy of Die Hard to spend the evening.

After Happy had dropped her off at Peter's apartment complex, she was about to head up the stairs when she heard someone call her name from the parking lot. She spotted May waving at her from her Civic. Adelaide waved back, turning around and heading towards her.

"Hey, May," she greeted, leaning against the open passenger side window.

"Hey, are you going up to see Peter?" she asked with a vibrant smile. She had been doing a lot better lately. Adelaide didn't know what had changed, but May wasn't her jumpy self anymore. It was nice to see that she was moving on.

"Yup," she replied, holding up her bag, "And I come bearing gifts."

"I'm sure Peter would be glad to have some company. I didn't want to leave him alone but duty called," she frowned.

"Don't worry about him, I'll make sure he's fine," Adelaide reassured, standing straight up again.

"Thank you so much Adelaide," May smiled, "See you!"

She rolled up the window and pulled out of the parking lot. Once she was gone, Adelaide headed back upstairs and stopped in front of the Parker residence. She knocked twice.

Peter opened the door a moment later. He wasn't wearing a shirt, was the first thing that she noticed. Her eyes ran over his abs and she swallowed. Hard. Holy shit. He looked...It took her a moment to realize that his hair was disheveled and his eyes looked bloodshot and tired. She knew this look very, very well. She saw this in the mirror almost every day. She had practically invented that look.

"Hey," she greeted brightly, holding up her package, "May told me you were sick so I brought you some soup and a movie."

"Don't want it," he monotoned and went to shut the door. She stopped it with her hand, her smile faltering.

"Aren't you going to ask me to come inside?" she asked, slightly thrown off by his odd behavior. She shrugged it off as part of his fever.

"No," he said and went to shut the door again and she wasn't fast enough to stop him. Adelaide blinked at the white door in front of her. Had sweet and polite Peter just shut a door on her face? Maybe he was running a really, really high fever. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, she knocked again.

"What?" he hissed, opening the door.

"I..." she started, taken aback by his behavior, "I just want to make sure that you're okay."

To her surprise, he laughed.

"As if you care," he said. She narrowed her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. She hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, she had been trying to reach him all week because she had been worried about him. And now that she finally had gotten ahold of him, he was acting like an asshole.

"Nothing," he said and went to shut the door again. Adelaide stopped him just in time this time, feeling slightly angry with him.

"Pete, what's going on?" she asked, "Why are you so angry?"

"Why am I angry?" he laughed, "That's a good one, Adelaide."

For some reason, hearing him call her by her full name felt like she had just been slapped in the face and she took a step back, suddenly seeing him in a different light.

"What's wrong with you?" she said quietly, shaking her head as if this was just another one of her nightmares, "You disappear for a week right after I forgive you and I come here to make sure that you're okay but now you're acting like this...this...asshole when I did nothing wrong."

He stepped outside, closing the door behind himself.

"Did nothing wrong?" he asked, practically shaking in anger, "You did everything wrong, damn it!"

"Tell me then!" she said, on the verge of shouting, "What the hell did I do?"

"You-" Peter started, but he choked on the words, realizing that if he told her why he was angry then he would also be telling her another one of his secrets. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"What is it?" she asked angrily. She could see him clearly struggling between deciding to tell her or not tell her.

"You-You're sick, you know that?" he sputtered in anger and Adelaide felt her face losing color. She had no idea what he was talking about but she was terrified. It was as if she was living her nightmares, but, this time, there was no waking up.

"If you would just tell me-" she tried again, trying to keep her voice calm.

"You let him get away!" he shouted, making her flinch at the volume of his voice, "I had him and you let him walk away! That's what you did!"

"Let who get away?" she whispered, her eyes following every expression on his face.

"Who, Peter?" she pressed, stepping forward when he didn't answer. They were standing so close now. Looking up into his eyes, she could see the red lines of fatigue in them. Hear his short breaths. He was breathing heavily, livid. Adelaide didn't think that this was the Peter that she knew. She was afraid of him, in all honesty.

"His killer," he said, his voice a deadly whisper and she wouldn't have heard him if they weren't standing so close. It was all spilling out of him now. He was so angry, he wasn't thinking straight. So when he heard himself saying these next words, he knew it was too late to take them back.

"Uncle Ben's killer, you let him get away," he whispered, looking down at her. 

A whole minute passed by in absolute silence as Adelaide repeated his words in her head over and over and over.

"I had him," Peter hissed, interrupting the silence, "I had him at gunpoint. I was about to kill him and I don't know what trick you pulled, but then he was gone. You let him run away when I was this close to killing him! God, I have never–I have never been so fucking mad!"

Adelaide's mind still hadn't caught up with what was happening. She was hearing him speak, but the words weren't registering in her mind. She stumbled backwards, almost losing her balance.

"I could have gotten Uncle Ben his justice, but you took that away from me! You didn't have the right! Because of you, I'm out every night looking for that goddamn criminal! Because of you, he might have killed other innocent people! Do you have any idea what you did! You don't get to decide what I can and can't do! Damn it, you just – argh! I can't even look at you!" he growled, pulling at his hair.

Adelaide couldn't move. She still wasn't sure if she was having a nightmare or if this really was reality. Peter would never yell at her like that. But he just had.

"Just get out – get out of my life!" he shouted, shaking with anger, "I don't ever want to see you again!"

And with that, he marched into his apartment and slammed the door.

-----

Adelaide wasn't sure where she was or how long she had been out when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket.

"Hello?" she answered without reading the Caller ID. Her voice sounded like sandpaper, but that was the least of her problems.

"Adie?" came Tony's voice. He sounded panicked and it took her a moment to realize why. She hadn't been home in hours and it was dark outside. "Where are you? Do you realize how many times Pepper and I called you? You've been gone for hours, where are you!"

Adelaide looked around, but it was hard to make anything out in the dark. She wasn't alone, though. There were a dozen of people walking about, but none of them seemed like they were from the good crowd. Somehow, fear wasn't what she was feeling at the moment. It was a mixture of guilt and sadness and shock.

"I don't know," she answered quietly and she heard the billionaire let out a breath to calm himself down.

"I'll find you, okay? Just stay put," he said and hung up, leaving her alone with her thoughts again. She found an empty bench on the sidewalk and took a seat, staring at the pavement.

It had been God knew how many hours since she had walked away from his apartment. She couldn't remember where she had lost the soup and movie, but she didn't care. She had just aimlessly walked around the city for hours, trying to put her brain together as if it had too many pieces of information to remember.

Even though it had been hours, Adelaide still wasn't sure what exactly had happened.

There had been Peter. And he had been mad. And then he told her something that only one person knew. And she wasn't sure if she should believe what her heart was telling her to believe. It couldn't be true...could it? All this time...Was he...? It just didn't make any sense.

It felt like hours had passed when a black car pulled into her vision and Tony stumbled out, running towards her. She was vaguely aware that he had pulled her into his arms.

"Thank God you're okay," he breathed in relief, tightening his grip, "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

He pulled away to look at her face when she didn't answer. He held her face in his hands, beginning to look worried.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, brushing her hair back and checking for injuries, "Are you okay?"

"I messed up, Tony," she whispered shakily, feeling her face heat up, "I messed up."

"What happened?" he asked softly, wiping the tear that had just fallen from her eye with his thumb.

She broke down for the second time that week, sobbing into his jacket as he wrapped his arms around her again, holding her close.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, soothing her hair as she broke down in his arms, "I'm so sorry."

She didn't know why he was apologizing but she couldn't stop crying long enough to ask. The teenager was vaguely aware of the billionaire leading her back to the car and she slid into the backseat with him, never letting go of her hold on his arm.

"Tell Pepper I've got her and she's safe," she heard him say as he rubbed his hand up and down her back and the car began moving ahead.

-----

A/N: Welp. Looks like Peter's and Adie's ship just won't sail. Sucks to be them. BTW, what's their ship name? Padelaide? Padie? Pada? Petelaide? Rarker? Pivers? Nothing seems to work lmao. RIP.

I know you guys hate me after this chapter and I'm probably supposed to say some reassuring crap but tbh it only gets worse from here.

Fun fact. I have the next 6 chapters written and I had to pretty much rewrite all of them today because I changed one little scene. Stupid impulse scene writing. Smh at myself.

Question: Now that the roles are reversed, do you think that Peter's anger is justified?

EDIT: I don't know if everyone is missing it or what but Adie knows Peter is Spider-Man now haha. Spider-Man was the only one she told about Uncle Ben's killer and she put two and two together...

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