ᴘᴇᴛᴇʀᴍᴀɴ (ᴏɴᴇꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ)

"Are you happy?"

" sometimes I look in the mirror and try to sorta lie to myself, I guess? — He bit his tongue biting back a sigh as he met his mentors gaze — "okay maybe those weren't my best choices of words, but you get The gist, right ?"

The billionaire just looked at the teen in confusion, "what?" He asked. Peter shrank into his chair under the extreme stare of his so called Father-Figure.

'Way to go Parker! Now he's gonna get worried.' He thought.

The boy took a moment before he responded again, deciding to choose his words wisely this time. "Well you asked me why I'm so optimistic all the time, so I told you my trick." He spun his chair just a little bit showcasing his nervousness.

"Is this your way of asking for help, kid ? Because if you need a therapist or something I've got you covered."

"What? No no no! I don't- I don't need a therapist, Mr Stark!"

Tony shifted his chair so that they were directly in front of each other, "You sure, Bambi ?" He asked as he ran a hand through Peter's unruly mess of curls. "Cause saying you lie to yourself in the morning is definitely supposed to set off some red alarms in any parental figures head according to every article I've ever read"

"Did you just admit you're a parental figure?" -

"Nah uh, not important right now."

Explain—

The instruction wasn't said, but by the stare he was being given Peter knew it was there. He groaned in annoyance and gave in.

"I don't know, sometimes I just wake up, look in the mirror and say 'today is gonna be amazing' but It never is. But I mean- it works. I'm not depressed or anything"—

"I'm sensing a but somewhere"

—"but, the thing is I don't- I don't know how long I can keep doing it. It's really getting to me."

Tony's facial expression wasn't nearly as unfazed as he would like it to be, it was concerned and scared. He silently placed his hands on Peter's shoulders to steady both himself and his Spiderson.

"That's the confession I didn't want, but needed to hear. Y'know?" The genius waved his hand in dismissal "I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong. But you've done me the favor of the century, kid. So now I can help"

"Wha- Mr Stark... I don't need help."

"But you want it?" Tony's hand moved to cup the boys face, and unwillingly Peter leaned into the touch. "I don't know...I guess I kind of want help? It's a weird subject, Mr Stark"

"Peter, are you happy?"

Caught off guard, Peter jumped a bit staring up at his mentor. "What?"

"Are you happy?"

Tony's eyes narrowed at the spiderling, the question continuing to linger in the air for minutes on end. Peter backed away from tony and watched as more and more fear clouded his father's eyes with each second he remained silent.

"No"

"No-no I'm not happy. Gosh, Mr Stark- I haven't been happy since I started high school, since Ben was alive, since since-" every emotion came tumbling out of his mouth like lava from a volcano. His stuttering worsened the more he spoke, each word beginning to feel like venom on his tongue.

He half expected Tony to get up and leave. (after all he runs a successful business, why would he care about a random 15 year old?) But he knows better than that, Tony won't leave. Not after what happened last time.

It's almost comical how quickly he's up and out of his seat, taking staggering steps towards the door of the lab. It's a frantic movement, he knocks books, papers, and metal pieces onto the ground in the process. But Tony doesn't care.

"Peter-"

Memories rush through his head, and he nearly collapses with the weight of it all. "No- gosh no Mr Stark! Its all fake, Tony. I play the part of the optimist I was back before my life went to - to hell! Gosh! I've never been happy. Not since Ben died, and definitely not since homecoming" Peter Rambled.

Tony pulls Peter into a protective hug, holding the boy tight to his chest. "You don't have to be happy all the time, Bambino. It's not healthy."

The genius sighs, ruffling Peter's hair with one hand and using the other to pull him closer. "You see, today was a product of you bottling things in. I asked you how you stay optimistic, right? And because it's been hidden for so long the first chance to even drop a tiny hint at your lack of joy you took it." Pulling Peter back so he could look at his face, Tony genuinely smiled at him.

"I don't care if you try to be happy as possible around others Peter, but you don't - and shouldn't- ever have to fake it. Especially not with me. You hear me, kid?" They stood hugging for all of a minute when it begins.

It starts off as sniffles, and slowly progresses into soft cries. It's like death to Tony's ears hearing his son cry. The soft cries turn into sobs as the boy places his head on Tony's chest.  "I can't- I can't do it anymore, Mr Stark!" He nearly yells in frustration, he grips onto Tony's shirt for dear life as he looks up at the clearly taller (but not by much) man. Tony nods his head in understanding.

                   "I got you kid, I've got you"
                                       
_________________________________________

   They stood like that for nearly 30 minutes, neither bothering to say anything. Peter eventually calmed down, feeling the weight of the built up emotions finally disappearing. His mind committed Tony's words to memory, giving him a reassurance he hadn't known he'd ever needed. Pulling away from his mentor he cocked his head to the side and grinned goofily. "Thank you Mr Stark." He said, but Tony shook his head.

        "Like I said, Bambino. I've got you."