𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚋𝚘𝚢//𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴

the blip (part two)

you woke up to the sun streaming in on your groggy face, brushing against your figure as you slowly sat upright and yawned. your eyes traveled around the room, taking in bits and pieces of the semi familiar bedroom. three days ago, you accompanied a broken peter as he was welcomed to rest up at the starks lakehouse. pepper had made the invitation personally, recognizing his face in all of tony's old photos that littered his office. you remembered the hug they shared when peter walked through the house for the first time, pepper trailing behind him in quiet sniffles. pepper had given you and peter the guest bedroom as well as welcoming and grieving hugs.

you were surprised with how strong pepper seemed to be holding up. throughout the stay with peter, you had only seen her cry once, and that was when you walked downstairs late at night to get yourself some water and she was on the couch, clutching one of her late husbands t shirt that she got mixed up in morgan's laundry. you had sat up with her that night, sharing stories and laughing through hoarse voices. other than that, she was a strong and careful mother around morgan and never wavered in showing a smile.

but peter was much different. he became quiet and closed off, tears always streaming down his face and eyes always red and blotchy. you found yourself breaking along with him, your heart to fragile to see him weep beneath your embraces. but recently, his tears subsided and were replaced with a low croaky voice and messy hair. it reminded you of when he was sick, but this time a smile wasn't able to shine through.

you looked over to your right side and saw peter hunched up asleep, sheets pulled up to his bare chest that rose and fell steadily. he had dark circles underneath his eyes, and you assumed it was from his late night call with may. after he had contacted her and assured her he was safe, he explained the situation in its entirety, and you were able to hear her comforting and sympathetic sighs through the phone.

you nestled yourself closer to peters sleeping body, your head resting on his chest while your arm carefully draped itself over his torso. with these movements, you felt peter stir gently before he wrapped an arm around you and took a deep breath.

"what time is it?" he mumbled, sleep dragging his words.

"early." you replied. "you can sleep, pete."

"i cant sleep in too late." he said as he moved his head on top of yours, resting comfortably. "i have to pack and meet may at noon."

you nodded your head and closed your eyes. "how are you doing?" you asked softly, words laced with knitted worry and comfort. he let out a sigh before bringing a hand up to his face.

"the same." he said. you felt your heart twinge. "but i'll be okay eventually. i'll be your happy dork again soon."

you smiled before raising your head up to him, looking into his squinting eyes as they blinked against the sunlight. he pulled some hair behind your ear, gently stroking it back so it wasn't in front of your face. he gave a weak smile, but his eyes didn't waver from their darkened gaze.

"i don't expect you to be happy all the time, you know that right?" you asked. "it's perfectly okay for you to be in mourning."

peter scrunched his eyebrows at the word "mourning", before slowly rising so he was sitting up. you followed, sitting with your legs crossed underneath you and hands folded into peters. you sat between his legs, facing him.

"what if i'm never okay?" he asked worriedly, eyes starting to twinkle with tears. you took his hands and brought them up to your lips, grazing them in a gentle kiss. you felt his body rid itself of tension when you did this, so you held his hands beneath your mouth for a few more seconds.

"you will be, spiderboy." you smiled. he smiled back genuinely, eyes lighting up like they always used to. you took peters hands from your lips and placed them on either side of face, and he reacted by pulling your forward to meet you in a long kiss. it wasn't like any previous ones you shared in a bed, it was healing and slow and delicate. something that seemed to outweigh the rest of the world and bring you both in on a peaceful note.

beneath your hands that rested on his cheeks, you felt warm tears trickle down his face. you gently pulled away from the kiss, but watched peters eyes intently as they squinted with emotion. he gave a nervous laugh before wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, clearing them of the salty cascade of sadness.

"you okay?" you asked. he nodded.

"this is just the first time in what seems like a long time that i feel something besides grief." he said with a weak smile. you returned the action before pulling him into a hug, tightly cradling him as he shuffled his nose into the crook of your neck.

despite the fact that downstairs, tony's child and wife sat without a father and husband, peter finally felt peace wrap around him with as much intent as your own arms. he knew that the road to acceptance would be messy, but if he could live his life in this moment with the promise of you beside him, well...

he could make tony proud.