There are no spoilers for Avenger: Endgame in this fic! If you haven't seen the movie, you do not have to worry here :) This is set sometime after Spider-Man: Homecoming, but before Avengers: Infinity War.

This fic focuses on the family relationship between Tony and Peter. Their bond is one of my favourite parts of the MCU, and I really enjoyed writing this father/son duo!

I hope you enjoy!

In All but Blood

"You really don't need to do this, Mr. Stark," Peter said, pulling at the collar of his dress shirt. He decided that whoever made these things specifically made them to dig into his neck. Why couldn't everything fit like his Spidey Suit?

Tony walked back into the room, his facial expression guarded. He was taking this way too seriously, which made Peter want to both snicker and fade away into the shadows. He scowled when he seen what was in his arms; several ties of various shades.

In reality, he might have been trying to suppress a grin. Ever since losing people he loved – his parents, Uncle Ben – he missed having this. He loved May, he really did, but she couldn't do everything. She was amazing and he wouldn't wish for a life different than the one she gave him, but being with Tony – with another adult that cared about him – gave him something he'd been craving for a long time.

It was as close to having a father since Ben. While Tony was, well, Tony, they had a bond that went beyond mentor and mentee. They were family.

Tony lifted a tie up to Peter's neck and examined it, his eyes narrowed into slits. Not satisfied with that one, he tossed it to the ground.

"I never need to do anything," he muttered under his breath, already lifting the next tie up. He paused in his assessment and caught Peter's eye. "I want do help, kid." A shit-eating grin lifted his lips. "It's not every day Spider-Man has his first date."

Peter puffed out his cheeks and looked towards the ceiling. He hoped his cheeks weren't as red as he thought they were.

His voice was small when he answered him. "Come on, man. Not my first date."

Tony tried to hide his wide grin by angling a tie between their faces. "Sure." Peter scowled and Tony bit his lip to prevent a smile from breaking free. Somehow, he couldn't imagine how a smile would help this situation. "No, I'm serious. I believe you, Pete." Before he could respond, he was lifting up a new tie. "What about blue? You like blue?"

He must've decided to drop the subject, which Peter was grateful for.

"Uh. Sure, I guess. Whatever you think." He glanced at the ties hanging from Tony's arms. There must've been a dozen there. "I'm really not used to having so many options."

He let out a sound of acknowledgement, but continued lifting up ties and holding them to Peter's neck. He shifted awkwardly, feeling strange to be the centre of attention. He was used to hanging in the shadows, especially when there wasn't a red mask covering his face.

"Where are you going again?" he asked. Tony held up a red tie and his eyebrows lifted in approval. He might have found a winner.

"We're just headed back to the school for the dance," he told him. "Really, not a big deal."

Tony dropped the remaining ties to the ground and stepped forward, the chosen red tie in his hands. He kept his eyes locked on the material in his hands as he slid it around the back of Peter's neck.

Oh god. Tony Stark was tying his tie.

Peter went stiff at this realization. This seemed entirely too domestic. Sure, he'd seen Tony bleed, and he'd seen him cry, and he'd stood beside him during battles, and they worked alongside each other in the lab – but this was different.

This seemed… parental, in a way. He got the distinct impression that this was what it would feel like between a father and a son. It was an emotion that was foreign to him, after losing both his dad and Ben so young, but this felt like it should be it. Dads tied their son's ties for them, didn't they?

Yeah. Yeah, it was a staple of being a father. Tying their ties, teaching them how to shave, all that jazz.

Which was why it freaked him out.

He loved Tony and he knew there was a part (a large part) of him that viewed him as a father, but having this normalcy with him – with anyone – was different. It was something he never thought he'd find again, especially not after Ben.

It was something he loved, but also something that shocked him. It terrified him, too. Tony never really singed up for this – he just needed some backup in Germany – and Peter was terrified he was growing too familiar and too attached.

Tony had an expression crossed between amusement and something more – something close to the look that May gives him every time she's proud of him.

He quickly squashes that thought. Tony Stark was not like Aunt May. He was his mentor and a friend. Nothing more. Definitely not family.

(What is so bad if you consider him family? Peter asked himself. He isn't going to hate you for it.)

(Maybe he will.)

(Maybe that's why I'm so afraid.)

He tried to ignore those thoughts. It was weird, wasn't it, that when he looked at Tony Stark, he saw a father figure? It sure felt weird – like it shouldn't be his real life. He didn't want to put Tony in an uncomfortable position and god how awkward would it be when he had to sit him down and explain he didn't view him as a son?

"Done," Tony said after a moment, flipping his collar down. Peter was thankful for him for breaking his thoughts. He took a step back and gave Peter a once over. "If I wasn't so humble, I'd congratulate myself on a job well done."

"You aren't humble," Peter pointed out jokingly.

Tony's smile was cocky. "Oh, that's right. Good catch, kid." He stepped back again and smirked. "I did a good job."

"Didn't know I needed so much TLC," he pointed out, his eyebrow lifting accusingly. They both knew they were joking – this was just friendly banter they'd slipped into over the last few months.

"Mhm, yeah, you were a disaster." The affection was clear in his voice and it made a laugh bubble from his lips. Tony crossed his arms, the joking expression falling from his face. "Okay. So. Dancing?"

"Dancing."

"You know the whole shebang?" He shrugged, unsure of what he was hinting at. "Open her car door, pull out her chair, don't order anything with onions – that shebang."

"Oh, that one," Peter said, as if there were many other possibilities to what Tony was talking about. "Yeah, of course. I wasn't born yesterday."

"Sure you weren't, Spider-Baby." Tony reached forward and ruffled Peter's hair. He ducked out of the way, his hands flying up to cover his head.

"Mr. Stark," he whined. "Do you know how long it took me to fix it?"

"Fix it? Oh, bud, I just did all the hard work for you." His teasing smile was back. "Ladies like a little wild. I'd know."

"Gross, Mr. Stark." Peter pushed a few strands of his hair back in place, shooting him a withering look. "I really don't want to know about your dating life."

Tony let out a bark of laughter and turned around, making himself busy by picking up a few of the discarded ties. As he quickly gathered the material, Peter turned to his own reflection in the mirror.

He had to admit, Tony did do a good job getting him ready for his date. And, yeah, maybe he was lying just a tad when he insisted this wasn't his first date. Other than Liz, he didn't have much (any) experience with dating.

Peter reached up and gingerly touched the knot of his tie, feeling an overwhelming flood of affection and joy fill him. Tony had gone out of his way tonight to help him get ready and to calm his nerves – nerves that he kept insisting weren't there. He'd pulled from his own personal wardrobe to find the perfect tie (Peter didn't want to imagine how expensive this simple slip of material really was).

He wouldn't put this much work in for anybody – he knew that. Peter felt something inside him shift. It'd been a long time since he'd had a parental bond with someone other than May. And maybe – just maybe – this wasn't just all in his head. Maybe Tony thought of him as a kid – his kid – too.

"Tony?" Peter asked tentatively. He could feel the man still at the use of his first name. It was something he didn't do often, even after he insisted on first-name basis. "Uh. Thank you. A lot. I… I really appreciate it."

Tony blew out a long breath of air and straightened up. He tossed the ties onto the chair off to the side and walked up behind Peter, glancing at his reflection in the body length mirror.

"No thanks are necessary," he promised him. "I'd do this and more for you, kid." Tony clapped him on the shoulder, a warm smile lifting his lips. "Anything for you."

Anything for you. He was hit with an overwhelmed feeling in that moment. It had been building for the better part of the hour (and, really, if he was being honest, a lot longer than that), but it was hitting him full force now.

Tony was the father figure that he desperately wanted in his life. He had been there to help pick up his pieces, he'd guided him to do better, he supported him though everything, and he continuously sacrificed things important to him – like his time – for him.

"You're really great," Peter said, his voice no longer small. Their eyes locked in the mirror. "I just… I never thought…" He was floundering for the right words. Tony could sense it, but he stayed silent. It was obviously something Peter wanted to get out, otherwise he would've brushed it off already. "I never thought that after everything with Ben, and… and everything else that…" His hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

Tony stepped in. "Hey." His voice was softer than before. "I know. You don't have to say it."

Peter's lips curled upwards in a smirk. "I don't have to do anything. I want to." His words were nearly a perfect reflection from what Tony said only minutes ago. He let out a chuckle from the irony. "You're kinda the best, Mr. Stark. And everything you've done for me…"

"Peter, you're my kid in all but blood. I don't need thank yous for what I do. You do a lot for me too." Tony's hand squeezed his shoulder briefly before dropping.

The air was knocked out of Peter's lungs. Kid?

Oh my god. Mr. Stark thinks of me as his kid. Peter felt like the room was spinning. All of his fears of him only viewing him as a superhero-in-training, or only thinking of him as a responsibility vanished.

They were family; not in blood, but in everything else that mattered.

This admission seemingly wasn't a big deal for Tony. He was already moving a few step back, his eyes doing a sweep of Peter' suit one more time. To Tony, these words were unspoken, but always there.

"You know it's never to early to think about college" meant "I care about you, I care about your future, I want to help you achieve everything you want."

"What were you thinking?" meant "I care about you, I worry about you, and now you're turning my hair grey."

"And I wanted you to be better" meant "please don't make the same mistakes I did. You're the best of us – I know this, even if you don't. You will grow to be better than anyone could imagine."

Somehow, between all the chaos, this kid had become his kid – his son. Saying those words out loud didn't change anything for him because they'd always been true.

"Tony," Peter said, once again catching him off guard. "You're… You're someone I look up to… kind of like a father figure."

His expression was one he'd never seen before. His smile was so wide that it crinkled his eyes. It was filled with so much unspoken fatherly love, but Peter knew.

The silence wasn't heavy like Peter imagined it would be. It was normal and right.

"Alright, kid," Tony said, breaking the silence. His grin was still clearly evident. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "My work here is done. You need a ride?"

Peter's eyebrows flew up. "A ride?"

Tony looked amused. "Yeah, you know. Where you get into a car, and the car drives to your location? Less walking, less shoulder brushing with strangers on the subway, less chance of sweating through your deodorant." Peter scowled. "Okay, fine. I get the picture. You want to walk all those blocks to-"

"I never said that," he pointed out. Tony grinned. "Thanks, Mr. Stark."

"Don't mention it. Let's go, kid."

Suddenly, that nickname held a deeper meaning to him.

They were family in all but blood.

If you're interested in any other fics where Tony and Peter's father-son relationship is a focus, check out my series "To Infinity and Beyond" (you can find this by clicking on my profile). Warning: it contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.

Comments and kudos are appreciated.