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chapter three parts one & two are available now

pics and gifs are not mine

the disregarded

Peter Parker (now Peter Stark) meets Julia Cornwall, the daughter of his adoptive father's business associate, at a STEM summer program. This is their story.

warnings: angst, language, implied/referenced child neglect

edit: gifs/photos are not mine

The car was quiet, as usual. Peter’s life since Doctor Strange wiped his memory off the face of the multiverse had been relatively quiet anyway. After losing May and his friends, Peter had gone to the only person he could imagine would be able to help him. That person was Mr. Stark.

To put it mildly, Tony was confused when the boy he couldn’t remember in his framed family photos suddenly showed up battered and blue after losing everyone he’d ever loved in the battle of his life. If it weren’t for the photos of Peter in his family home and all of Friday’s backup files on the kid, he would’ve had him taken away. Because of this, their relationship wasn’t like it used to be. Despite how close they’d become before the snap, Tony wasn’t all that thrilled to have Peter back.

Peter wasn’t like Tony’s son, which he legally was now. Legally, he was now Peter Anthony Stark and enrolled to begin studying at Columbia University in the fall. Just in the few months that he’d been with the Starks, Peter knew no one in the home could wait for the time that he left much longer. Pepper still acted like a stranger around him, and he could not fault her so he tried not to. Because of this, Tony often gave him the cold shoulder as well. No more lab time or hanging out watching movies, and definitely no more late-night heart-to-hearts. Given she was only seven, it made sense that Morgan treated Peter as entirely influenced by how her parents did. She adamantly refused to be left alone with him and hated being forced to interact or share her parents’ attention with him. It was almost as if Peter were invisible most days. If not for Friday’s monitoring and constant reminders, he’s not sure he’d even be fed or supervised regularly.

It was obvious that Peter wasn’t someone or something that occupied much, if any, of Tony and Pepper’s minds at any given moment. Pretty much all of their attention was dedicated to Morgan, their actual child. Peter almost couldn’t blame them. To them, he was just a random teenager who showed up at their door and begged to be let into their family. It was only fair that he felt separated from them, he supposed.

They ate meals together but Peter wasn’t encouraged to speak up and engage with the family. In fact, he was quite discouraged every day by their empty replies or all the times they just flat-out ignored him. Despite being a teenager, Peter needed a lot of maintenance when it came to his mental health and well-being. Tony used to be a big part of his everyday wellness, but now he’s a stranger. Pepper had passively offered to take him to a therapist one evening after dinner when he’d felt too anxious to eat after a long day riddled with panic attacks. He’d thought about accepting her offer, but he knew it was just to get him off her plate of responsibilities for the time being.

Like today, Tony was taking him to a STEM day program at Stark Industries held in the city. It was the summer between high school and college and instead of trying to bond with their newly adopted child, the Starks needed him occupied and out of the house as much as possible. Morgan was also home for the summer and required a lot of their time and attention, so they opted to send their more independent child away for the majority of the summer. Luckily, he’d be coming home every night and even got most weekends off. All he wanted to do these days was sleep, anyway.

Peter sighed and put away his phone and headphones once the Audi pulled to a stop. Tony had mentioned that a friend had a daughter who’d also been snapped and was Peter’s age. She apparently had been living with her mother since the snap’s reversal, but had to move in with her dad recently and would be at the program with him. It wasn’t like Peter had particularly cared about this girl or her life story, he was mildly annoyed that his supposed father cared more about her than him. His lip was curled in a scowl momentarily as Tony led him from the car to the building.

“Her name’s Jessica or something,” Tony said without looking at him, as usual, “She got into Columbia but chose NYU for whatever reason. Her dad isn’t a zillionaire or anything, but the kid’s gotta have a trust fund. Why pass up a spot at a private college?”

“Maybe NYU was better for another reason,” Peter shrugged, half-listening as he followed his adoptive father, “Maybe her extracurriculars had something to do with it.” “Whatever,” Tony scoffed, making Peter shrink onto his shoulders, “Her father is on the board, though. So we, as Starks, have to do right by them. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Peter nodded, paying no mind to the way his father nearly flinched at his hollow reply considering the elder Stark just sniffed and looked away again.

He knew Tony used to worry about being like Howard around him, but now he had no attachment and thus, no care. Neither of them said anything as Tony escorted Peter into a conference room where two people sat silently. Peter’s eyes only flicked over them briefly before he started to focus on the pattern of the carpet beneath their feet. Tony immediately grabbed the attention of the two. One of them was an older male, probably Tony’s age. He was grossly pale and balding severely, his ill-fitting suit failing to hide his potbelly.

“Tony,” the man greeted as he stood, sticking a hand out, “Nice to see you again. How’s the family?” “Walter,” Tony smiled, shaking the man’s hand as the young girl accompanying him scrambled to her feet and straightened out her heather grey skirt, “The girls are great. Morgan’s growing like a weed and Pepper keeps me in check. They get more beautiful by the day.”

“Wonderful,” Walter chuckled loudly, “My son Jackson is about Morgan’s age, I reckon. He’s seven. That boy and his Ma are the best thing to ever happen to me.”

Peter’s eye caught the girl’s, and they instantly locked eyes in surprise. It was as if neither teenager expected their fathers to be so blatant about their preference for their youngest children and their dismissal of their eldest, especially not in front of them. After a moment of consolation knowing he wasn’t alone in feeling their comments were a little cold, he was floored by how cute this girl was. Her strawberry blonde hair fell over her shy wide eyes which were magnified by her thick-framed glasses and her pretty pink lips curled into a nervous grin. His own eyes widened at the sight of her and he held his hand out as his ears registered the sound of his adoptive father’s voice and felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

“This is Pete,” Tony said as he gestured to the teen, “Pete, this is the lovely Julia. She’s Mr. Cornwall’s daughter.”

“H-Hi, I-I-I’m Peter,” Peter stammered out as he took Julia’s soft hand in his calloused one, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Julia,” the redhead nodded shortly before taking her hand back, her voice small, “You too.”

“Peter’s going to Columbia, Julia,” Walter said haughtily with his hands on his hips, “If you had chosen the better school, you would’ve already had a friend there.”

Peter wanted to say something when Julia shrunk back into herself, her lips now curled into a small frown. He’d known firsthand how it felt, not stacking up to your parent’s hopes and expectations for you. How disappointing that was.

“NYU’s a good school,” he blurted out, “And if you’re good enough for Columbia, then you’ll do great at NYU.”

The eye roll from Walter was worth the shy and grateful smile Julia sent his way, making his heart flutter. Peter wanted to be upset that he was attracted to this girl whom he was forced to befriend, he felt like he was betraying Michelle somehow. He had already gone back on his promise to her and had to continue to stay away from her for her safety… So maybe it didn’t matter.

“Something tells me you two will get along just fine,” Tony said with a forced smile, clearly aching to leave, “Pete’s a nice guy who can help Julie out of her shell.”

“My name is Julia,” Julia corrected under her breath, only loud enough for Peter to bother to acknowledge.

“C’mon, Julia,” Peter said with a nod toward the door, “We have a few minutes before we have to show up. We can walk up together.”

“O-Okay,” Julia nodded, tightening her grip on the black kitty cat-themed backpack on her shoulders before turning to the two older men, “Goodbye, Mr. Stark. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“You as well, little red,” Tony replied with his signature press smile, “Try and keep this one out of trouble, will ya?”

“He better stay out of trouble around my daughter,” Walter piped up with a glare, “Your boy better be more reasonably behaved than you were at that age, Stark.”

“I can assure you, he is,” Tony returned with a dismissive wave, “Peter’s the most responsible and respectful teenage boy alive. Jules is in safe hands.”

“Those hands better be kept to themselves,” Walter reiterated, staring daggers at Peter who nodded with a nervous smile.

“You have my word, Mr. Cornwall,” he promised.

“Dad,” Julia groaned with a roll of her enchanting blue eyes, “Lay off, I’ll be fine. Peter seems cool.”

“Cool,” Walter scoffed, “Yeah, whatever.”

“Alright… Bye!” Peter called out suddenly with a wave, scampering out of the conference room with Julia following quickly behind.

The two snickered once the door slammed shut, leaving their dads behind.

“I hope I didn’t come off as weird in there,” Peter blurted out, rubbing his hands together nervously, “It was just kind of awkward…”

“You’re telling me,” Julia blew out a breath, brushing some warm honey hair out of her eyes, “I hardly talk to my dad, let alone his business associates. Plus, your dad is kind of intimidating.”

“I know what you mean,” he smiled sadly, “He’s kind of the most famous person in the universe, people worship him on some planets.”

“Really?” Julia asked, dumbfounded as she stopped in her tracks and pulled Peter to a stop.

He floundered for a second before nervously chuckling.

“I-I don’t know,” he shrugged, “I don’t know what I’m saying, I’m just being stupid.”

“Oh,” she frowned, looking away and continuing their walk toward the meeting room for the STEM program, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Peter shook his head and rubbed his sweating palms against his shorts, “Uh, my- my dad said you just moved here?”

“Oh, yeah,” Julia nodded, her arms crossed over her chest, “I lived with my mom in California, but she, uh, she got sick so I’m staying with my dad and his family now.”

“His family?”

“Y-Yeah,” she continued, “They got divorced when I was little. He left for someone half his age and now they have a little boy together. He was born right after I got dusted.”

“Oh,” Peter looked on with bright eyes, “My little sister was born while I was dusted. Although, I wasn’t a Stark yet so… I’m not sure it’s the same.”

“Oh yeah?” Julia asked, turning to him, “What’s your story, then?”

“Adopted,” Peter shrugged, “I was an orphan when I met Mr. Stark and now I have no living family, so he took me in. Made me a Stark, changed my name and everything.”

“Who were you before?”

“What do you mean?” he paled, stopping in his tracks.

“Your name,” Julia giggled, making his heart race, “Before it was Stark… What was it?”

“Parker,” he exhaled with a smile, “I was the last living Parker.”

“You still are,” she pouted, poking his chest, “You’re still standing, dude. Blood in, blood out. You’re a Parker for life.”

“You make it sound like a gang,” Peter chuckled and she giggled again, “But, yeah. I suppose you’re right.”

“All the Parkers are alive through you,” Julia said with a smile, “Your parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, if you had ‘em.”

“I did,” he nodded with a fond smile, “I grew up with my aunt and uncle, they were the best.”

“I can’t even imagine,” she exhaled, “I miss my mom so much it hurts and she’s still alive. I don’t even want to think about-”

“Then don’t,” Peter suggested with a kind smile despite the knot in his throat, “Just be happy you have her while you do.”

“I am,” she nodded with a small smile, “I keep a piece of her with me all the time, I just wish I could see her.”

“I know what you mean,” he replied.

“What’s having a little sister like?” Julia asked in an attempt to change the subject, which he was grateful for, “I’ve always wanted one.”

“Oh,” Peter looked at her for a moment before looking down at his brand new sneakers, he was still getting used to having access to Tony’s wealth, “She-She’s cool, I guess. She’s almost seven and definitely hates me so we don’t really interact much.”

“Hates you?” she frowned before her face morphed into a sad and understanding smile, “I think I know what you mean. Jax is seven and getting him to acknowledge I even exist is like pulling teeth.”

“Exactly,” Peter exhaled, feeling a wave of relief the more he learned about Julia, knowing someone felt the way he did, “She’s great, she just… doesn’t care that I’m her brother now. I’m like a stranger to her.”

“Don’t you hate that?” Julia mused with a half-scowl, “Being treated like a stranger in your own home.”

“You have no idea,” he chuckled.

The two teens continued to chat throughout the day, immediately being drawn to the feeling of belonging. Peter thought it was adorable how much Julia struggled to maintain eye contact despite how often he caught her looking at him, making them both look away blushing. He was pumped to have so much in common with such a cute girl, like their feeling of isolation at home, their lack of friends, and their love for science fiction. They were luckily allowed to talk amongst one another throughout the entirety of the day program, given Peter was the son of the owner of the building they were operating in. Julia was sweet, even once she was out of her shell a bit. She wasn’t brash or cutting, just soft and pleasant. Peter could tell there was more on her mind that she wanted to say at times, and he was excited to get to know her better.

It was at the end of the day program and the two waited for Tony to pick them up in front of the private entrance where they’d been dropped off. Peter watched on as Julia doodled away in a notebook she kept in her bag, only half-interested in the phone screen that he lazily scrolled through. Mr. Cornwall had organized for Mrs. Cornwall to pick Julia up from the day program, but the latter suddenly had a hair appointment that could not be missed. So, Tony offered to pick Julia up and take her home on his way back to the lake house. She lived in the city but it wasn’t out of the way by any means, so Mr. Cornwall took the offer immediately. Peter felt bad for Julia, he just couldn’t place why. What he knew for sure was that he was mesmerized by how the late afternoon sun illuminated her hair.

“Is your dad normally late?” Julia asked without looking up from where she was cross-hatching a sketch of a cat in her notes, “Or should you be worried?”

“No, it’s normal,” Peter sighed, putting his phone in his pocket, “Sorry, he probably got distracted. My sister takes up a lot of his attention.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Julia shrugged, still sketching, “My dad’s the same, I just like to worry.”

“You don’t have to be home by a certain time, do you?”

“Definitely not,” she scoffed, “I don’t even think they’d notice if I never came home.”

“I’m sure someone would,” Peter pacified, knocking his shoulder against hers, “They take you for granted now, but they’d miss you if anything happened.”

“How do you know?” she asked skeptically as she looked up at him, pushing her glasses in.

“I know I would,” he shrugged before looking up at the sound of a car pulling up. He didn’t notice Julia’s eyes lingering on him when his father rolled the window down.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” He barked out angrily, “I told you to wait inside, Peter. It’s not safe out here.”

“We’re fine,” Peter shook his head, standing up from where they sat on the staircase, and held a hand out to Julia to help her, “C’mon, let’s go before he has a heart attack.”

Julia smiled and took his hand, allowing him to hoist her up, trying desperately to smother the feeling of electricity when they touched. Her smile only widened when he opened the back door for her and gestured for her to get in despite the stinging coolness that came from him dropping her hand. She knew he was being respectful, she just ached for his touch. It had been considered that maybe she just ached for touch in general, but only briefly.

Peter slid into the back seat after her, slamming the door and buckling up. Julia was grateful for the subtle thought of not leaving her alone in the back, her smile still wide. She set her backpack down by her feet and buckled her seat belt as well. Tony looked at the two in the rearview mirror before giving his adopted son a curious look. The younger Stark just glared despite the blush dusting his cheeks, to which Tony winked.

“How was the first day, kiddos?” Tony asked with a knowing smile.

“Fine,” The two murmured at the same time, eliciting a giggle out of Julia and making her hand cover her mouth.

”It was cool, Mr. Stark,” Peter shrugged, “They talked about some of the projects we’ll be doing this summer, it all sounded interesting.”

“That’s great,” Tony nodded as he pulled out of the parking lot, “And it seems the two of you have been getting along well?”

“Yeah, Julia’s pretty cool,” Peter said, looking out the window with his chin resting in his palm, “And she has a brother Morgan’s age, they should be friends.”

“Boys have cooties,” Tony glared a moment before looking back to the road, “But, maybe the Cornwalls would be interested in coming to the lake house sometime this summer? We’re fantastic hosts.”

“You guys have a lake house?” Julia asked with eyes wide with excitement, “Do you swim in it?”

“Yeah, the water is beautiful this time of year,” Tony boasted, “You think that’s something you can get your old man on board with?”

“I don’t know if I could,” Julia shrugged, suddenly self-conscious as she looked at her lap, “Jackson definitely could, though. He loves to swim.”

“Then we’ll have to talk to him,” Tony suggested simply, “We’d love to have you over, Julie.”

“Her name’s Julia, Mr. Stark,” Peter corrected, returning the small smile Julia sent him.

“Right,” Tony replied lamely, “Julia, of course.”

The ride to Julia’s apartment building was short and the two passed the time as Tony drove in silence by having a thumb war, stifling their giggles as Peter pretended to struggle to pin her thumb down. Something about Julia made him feel like a kid again, unabashedly content. Peter tried to not blush at the way her small delicate hand felt in his, he was officially smitten.

“No fair,” Julia whispered with a pout, making him snicker, “You have much bigger hands.”

“Not that much bigger,” he defended and held his open hand out to her to compare with.

Julia fought a grin as she held her hand flat against his, also fighting a blush at how his hand dwarfed hers in comparison. Peter’s goofy grin made her giggle and the two were too busy hiding their blushes from one another to notice Tony watching them in the rearview mirror. Luckily, they arrived before he felt the need to say anything.

“I can walk her up, Mr. Stark,” Peter offered, already unbuckling his seatbelt with a hand on his door handle.

“We’ll both go up, Pete,” Tony replied as he parked, “It’s the responsible thing to do.”

“Right,” Peter nodded with a tight smile before exiting the car and taking his head start advantage, given Julia was scrambling to put her sketchbook and pens back into her bag, to open her door for her.

Julia smiled and squeaked out a small thanks before exiting the car. Peter’s eyes caught his father’s and he cleared his throat nervously, shutting the door and following behind Julia. The two teens walked side-by-side, mindlessly chatting about some of the people they’d seen at the day program. They’d stuck to each other like glue the entire day, almost refusing to interact with anyone but the other. However, being the quiet ones that they were, the two made plenty of observations in their time there. Tony wasn’t listening, he was preoccupied with answering Pepper’s wall of text messages as he followed.

“You should ask your dad about coming over to the lake house,” Peter suggested after a lull in conversation with his hands in his pockets as they stepped into the elevator, “Morgan loves having company… and swimming.”

“I’ll see if I can get his attention,” Julia replied with a huff despite her small grin, “Like I said, we might have to get my brother on board first.”

“Well, maybe my dad can say something,” he shrugged before looking toward his adoptive father, “Right?”

“Sure, kid,” Tony replied without looking up from his phone, “I’m on it.”

“Right,” the younger male sighed, looking back at Julia with an apologetic grin, “Either way, it’d be cool to hang out. Other than at SI, at least.”

“Yeah,” Julia agreed with a nod, crossing her arms over her chest as she wrapped them around herself comfortingly, “M-Maybe.”

Peter watched her for a moment, trying to figure her out. There was something different about Julia… He just couldn’t place it. All he knew was that he was drawn to her like he’d never felt before. It was like a magnetic force enticing him to get closer and closer to his new friend. He at least hoped they were friends.

“If not,” Peter blew out a breath, “That’s fine too. I just thought we could be friends.”

“No,” Julia shook her head with wide eyes, suddenly tense, “No, I mean, yes. Yes, we can be friends. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just-”

“I’m just messing with you,” he soothed with a hand on her elbow, cutting off her panic, “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable either. I was just kidding, I promise.”

“You don’t make me uncomfortable,” she promised with a deliberative face as her eyes met his, “Not at all.”

“Good,” Peter cleared his throat after a beat of silence, “I’m hap-happy to hear that.”

All Peter could do was curse under his breath at how lame he was being in front of such a cute girl just as the elevator rolled to a stop and dinged. The doors slid open and Julia led both Starks to her apartment, rummaging through her backpack for her keys. He really hoped Mr. Cornwall wasn’t home, he wasn’t sure he could handle him right now. Peter was already getting more and more discouraged and he really didn't want to strike out with Julia on the first day of what would be the longest summer of his life.

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