Peter was pretty sure he was being followed. While he didn't tell Happy, not wanting to concern the driver, he was pretty sure the taxi behind them had been there since they left school.

When they pulled to a stop in front of the house, though, the taxi was nowhere in sight. Peter climbed out of the car, waving goodbye to Happy, then walking up to the house while Happy sped off for the airport to pick up Tony from a mission.

After Peter had convinced his parents to let him go to Midtown Tech for high school, they had bought a house in a suburb near the school to make the commute easier. Pepper was often able to stay all week long, but Tony had to go back and forth. Sometimes Pepper would be stuck at the Tower so it would just be Peter and Tony. If neither Tony nor Pepper were able to stay with him, he got to spend the night with Ned. Tonight, though, was one of the nights both parents would be home once Tony returned from his mission.

"Mama! I'm home!" Peter called, walking into the house.

As he closed the front door, he noticed the taxi parked beside the curb a few houses down. He frowned and made sure to lock the door.

"Oh good!" Pepper exclaimed from the kitchen. "You can help me make the fudge."

Peter dropped his backpack by the door and greeted Zoomie, their personal robot (not a Roomba, Tony insisted) that stayed in this house and made sure everything was clean.

"We get fudge?" Peter asked excitedly, "I love fudge!"

Pepper smiled and kissed his forehead as he walked past her. She told him to stir the fudge while she read what to do next on the recipe despite knowing it by heart.

"I know," she replied, skimming through the directions. "So does your dad which is why I'm making it."

With a grumble, Peter muttered, "How come he gets fudge but I don't?"

Pepper gave him a look and he smiled innocently. Behind them, Zoomie made a sound of distress, beeping repeatedly.

"Can you go help Zoomie?" Pepper asked, taking the spoon from him. She continued stirring and took the pot off the oven while Peter rushed over to Zoomie.

As if trying to go outside, Zoomie backed up and ran into the door again and again. Peter smiled.

"You want to see what's outside?" he teased, pulling open the door.

As Zoomie moved back to run into the door again, Peter stared in shock. Ned and Michelle stood on his front steps, both trying to pretend they had not been looking through the small door window.

"Hey, Peter," they echoed.

"Fancy seeing you here," Ned added awkwardly.

Peter blinked at them then snatched up Zoomie before he could escape.

"Ned, I live here," Peter said as if it was obvious. He set Zoomie down and he took off towards the guest suite. "What are you two doing here?"

"We wanted to see where you live," Michelle said. Realising that sounded a little creepy, she tried to correct herself. "I mean—we've never been to your house and you're always so secretive about it, so we figured you lived in a garbage bin. Turns out we were a little wrong."

"Dude, you're rich!" Ned shouted, gesturing to the house.

Peter smiled awkwardly and scratched his neck.

"Um, a little, yeah," he agreed, "But hey, maybe you guys should go—"

Ned peered around Peter and his eyes widened.

"Who's at the door, Peter?" Pepper asked, walking out of the kitchen, still stirring the pot of hot fudge.

Peter grimaced and Ned and Michelle both gasped.

At the sight of them, Pepper smiled. "Hello. You must be Ned and Michelle."

"You're Pepper Stark!" Ned wheezed, his voice much higher than normal.

Pepper nodded, glancing down at the fudge that was beginning to thicken as it slowly cooled.

"Yes, I am," she replied with a smile. "Can I help you with something?"

Ned shook his head with wide eyes.

"No, ma'am," he said breathlessly.

She smiled and returned to the kitchen to pour the fudge into a pan before it got too thick to pour, leaving Peter to face Ned and Michelle alone.

"Dude, how do you know Pepper Stark?" Michelle asked, punching Peter's arm. "Is she like the lady you work for? You clean her house or something?"

"What is Mrs. Stark even doing here?" Ned asked, confused. "How do you know her?" Turning back to Michelle, he said, "He still could live in a garbage bin if this is Mrs. Stark's house."

She nodded, looking at Peter who felt more and more awkward as the conversation continued.

"Actually, this is my house," Peter told them slowly. He glanced back to where his mom had been and sighed. "That's my mom."

Ned and Michelle's jaws dropped at the same time. In unison, the two yelled, "What?"

"And Tony Stark is sort of my dad," he told them quietly, only making their jaws drop more. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Peter said in a rush, "It's just, we didn't want the press finding out so I had to use a fake name at school."

"What about Flash?"

Peter whipped around to make sure Pepper hadn't heard that then turned back and glared at Ned.

Ned clearly didn't get the hint and said, "If he knew you were Tony Stark's son, he'd never bully you again!"

"A little louder, would you, Ned?" Peter hissed, shoving them outside so his mom couldn't hear.

Ned's eyes widened.

"They don't know?" Ned whispered loudly.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Of course not! Flash would be dead by now if they did."

"Why are you whispering?" Pepper whispered loudly from behind them.

Peter and Ned both jumped, letting out identical screams. Michelle grinned and Pepper laughed.

"Mom!" Peter whined.

Pepper smiled and turned to Ned and Michelle. "How about you two come help us make dinner?"

Since Peter's friends had found out anyway, they should at least make an effort to invite them in. Besides, Pepper wanted to learn all about Peter's friends.

"Tony will be back in about two hours," she said, "You're welcome to stay for dinner."

"Really?" Ned exclaimed.

Pepper nodded and Ned looked at Peter, struggling to contain his excitement.

"I'll tell my mom!"

As they walked inside and texted their parents, Peter shut the door behind them, grumbling about how he gave it three days before Ned spilt the news about him being a Stark to someone and the media found out. Surprisingly—and thankfully—it never happened. However, he did pass out when Tony Stark showed up for dinner.