<Sorry I have been so inactive life has been absolutely insane, but now school has been suspended temporarily/moved to online classes thanks to the Coronavirus so now life is crazy for other reasons. At least I have time to do stuff I enjoy now, so I'll try to post a few fics during this break. This ones inspired by the tumblr account sickficideas prompt #44 and also by stuff that's actually happened in my musical cast when one of the leads, who never shows any emotion to anyone, came to me freaking out about musical. He also came to musical sick on several occasions so this is partially based on him being an idiot. 😂. Btw, this is divergent from my normal pattern of staying as close to canon as possible, I really wanted to write an Ironstrange fic, plus I had an OC idea, so we're just gonna pretend Pepper, Morgan, MJ, and Aunt May don't exist for this one (even tho I also love all of them). As usual, love you all, thanks for the reads and the support, and everyone stay safe during this time of crazy uncertainty.❤️❤️>

After everything that had happened on Titan, all Peter wanted was to live a normal life. He had worked with Sam Wilson a lot to try to help the PTSD and anxiety that had resulted from that adventure into space. He had cut down his patrolling some, preferring to focus more on his senior year of high school. A lot had changed, but at least some of it had been good. For example, Tony had finally admitted his feelings for Stephen, and now Peter had two dads, who admittedly were way to overprotective but still it was nice.And he had decided to join the school musical, because why not? It sounded like fun.

~~~

Peter rolled his neck in a slow circle as the director called out stretches to the cast. Something felt off today. His brain was all foggy, and he was congested, but oh well. If Alan Swann could do movies while hungover, he could sing a few songs with a little cold. As long as it cleared up by the end of next week, he'd be fine. He had decided to try out for his school's spring musical, and he was really excited to be playing a Sailor in Anything Goes.

"Everybody set up for the final number of Act 1!" Their director called out. Barely even thinking, Peter moved to his place for "Anything Goes," the show-stopping title number of the show. As a sailor, he was also required to be a featured dancer, but that was fine. Dance had always come very naturally to him, and he had had plenty of training. He would normally be fine, but his head hurt so bad today, and he knew there was one part of the dance he always messed up, and of course it happened to be the one moment when he and his dance partner danced alone.

The choreographer started going over some of the tap dance steps with the ensemble. His dance partner, Sierra walked over to him. Sierra was small and blonde, and she always seemed to notice things about people that no one else did. She looked at him. "Pete, are you okay?" She reached a hand out to him like she might feel his forehead, but he moved away.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think I might be getting a cold or something."

She looked at him. "Pete, you're not okay. And I don't mean just the fact that you look like crap, what else is going on?"

"I can't do this." The words were out before he even realized he had said them. "Everyone's watching me, and there's so much pressure and it feels like no one cares or understands."

"I care. I might not understand completely, but I'm always here for you. I believe in you even if no one else does. You can tell me all the stuff that's going on if you want, but even if you don't I'm here."

He was quiet for a second. He hadn't realized how much he needed those words, how much he was keeping inside, what with school and patrol and avengers stuff and all the other crazy crap that made up his life. "Thanks, Sierra."

"Anytime." She hugged him, and even though she was so small that her head was laying on his chest, it felt like he was the one being held. "Also, you're definitely sick, you probably shouldn't be here getting the rest of us sick." She punched him playfully.

He grinned at her, and was about to make a comment when the director called out that it was time to run the number from the top. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Okay."
She walked away from him and joined the line of "angels." The music started and Peter did his best to put the shuffles in the right spot, to land the tap steps on time and to spin when he was supposed to, but he knew it definitely wasn't his best night. He stumbled over another fláppe, and accidentally went into a grapevine where a jazz square was supposed to go. Oh shit! No wait! That's not rift either! He tried to get back in time, and suddenly Sierra was there. Wait, he was supposed to lift her now? Uh...clumsily he reached for her waist to spin her, but as he did, he felt something pull in his shoulder. He almost dropped Sierra, but then grabbed her hand to keep her from hitting the stage. As he did that, he felt his shoulder tear even more. He couldn't keep the grimace off his face. He could see Sierra was looking at him worriedly, but he kept dancing. He gritted his teeth and pushed through, all the way up until the final spin. They were all supposed to end the number triumphantly with their arms held high, but he could barely reach halfway. Holy heck, this hurt. The number ended and the director called for a break. Peter immediately rushed out of the room and ran outside the auditorium, breathing heavily. He pulled out his phone to call Tony when Sierra found him. "Peter, what happened?"

He grimaced. "It's my shoulder, I'm fine though. I'm just going to call my dad and he'll come pick me up."

"Lemme let the director know and then I'll stay with you."

"You really don't have to. I'm fine, really."

"Peter, I know you're not fine, I want to be there for you. Besides, musical is a family, and that means we face everything together."

"Thanks." They sat in silence for a few minutes. The director came out. "Peter, are you alright?"

"Yeah I think I just hurt my shoulder a bit, my dads coming to pick me up, if that's ok?"

"Yeah that's fine, take care of yourself, okay? And Sierra, you take care of him too." She patted his arm and disappeared back inside. Peter laid his head against his knees, and Sierra gently ran her hand through his curls. A few minutes later, a shiny silver Audi screeched into the school parking lot.

"Oh, I should warn you, my family's a little crazy, my dad especially, he's—"

"Tony freaking Stark? Peter, wait that's your dad?!" Sierra shrieked in a loud whisper.

"Yeah, shhh. He's kinda overprotective, so please tell them it feels worse than it really is."

"Peter? Are you alright? What happened?" Tony had run across the parking lot and was now crouching beside him. "Did something attack you?" He was breathing heavily.

"Dad, calm down. It's just my shoulder, I think I dislocated it when I tired to do one of the spins with her." He tried to stay calm, but his voice cracked, betraying the pain he was in.

"We'll deal with that later. For now, Stephen is coming to check your shoulder and... Peter why do you feel so warm?"

"Uh I was dancing a lot."

"He was feverish before we started dancing too."

Tony looked up, seeing Sierra for the first time. "Well, um, I think you're going to have to sign a confidentiality agreement or something, people aren't supposed to know I'm his dad."

Suddenly a portal opened and a dude in a business suit stepped onto the grass.

"What the hell?" Sierra gasped.

"Sierra, this is my other dad, Stephen, or Doctor Strange as most people know him."

Strange frowned at him. "Peter, you can't go telling people we're your dads. People might judge, and besides, we have identities to protect, your identity in fact."

He started to move his hands, but Peter stopped him. "No don't. She's my friend, in fact she's more than that. She's family. Don't wipe her memory."

"What has this whole musical thing done to you?"

"I think it's made me realize a lot of stuff."

"Musical's a family. And that means we're there for each other through the pain,whether it's physical or mental." Sierra added.

"You're a wise girl," Strange replied. "Well I'm going to take Peter back to the compound, are you coming?"

"Of course!" Sierra said. "I would never miss a chance to see the Avengers Compound!"

"He's lucky to have a friend like you."

"Yeah, I am," Peter said. He took Sierra's hand in his.

Doctor Strange opened a portal and took them back to the compound. He popped Peters shoulder back into place and gave him some meds to take the fever down.  Sierra stayed with him the whole time, and if she noticed anything weird, like the Spiderman suit hanging out of his closet, she didn't say anything. After all, she was a theatre kid, and they did weirder things every day. 

Tony and Stephen left them alone after a few minutes, but not before exchanging a pointed look. They were so thankful for their kid, who brought joy into everyone's life. But they also knew he needed people to bring joy to his life. If it took him being part of a crazy musical, showing up sick and dislocating his arm for that to happen, well they would take it.

"Pete, I'll be back in a few hours to give you more meds and to make sure your arm set properly," Strange called out. But Peter didn't hear him. He was safe for the first time in a long time, thanks to his friend and his dads who were always there for him.