Spideyboy OneShots

In The End of The Days

MIT is exactly as amazing as Peter had expected. It's so absolutely amazing, and yet, Peter can't seem to stop the emptiness from seeping in, can't stop the guilt from eating through him.

It's nearing midnight when Peter hears his phone ringing and he knows without even looking at it that it's Tony again. And as Peter's done with the last seven times Tony's called, he lets it ring.

He can't bring himself to answer the phone because every time he hears Tony's voice, images of him laying on the battle field as his heart stops flash behind Peter's eyes. And once that image starts, it's soon followed with Tony laying lifeless in a hospital bed, missing his left arm. So Peter doesn't answer the phone, despite it adding to the guilt already weighing him down.

Peter's exhausted, and yet he can't sleep. His fingers itch to tinker but his body feels as though it's weighed down by lead. So Peter continues to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. It's been 16 weeks since Tony got out of the hospital, and 12 weeks since Peter arrived at MIT.

The moment Peter knew that Tony was going to be ok, he tested out of Midtown and landed a full ride to MIT. Every second spent in Tony and Peppers cabin left him feeling like an intruder. And he knows he was worrying Pepper with the random moments of tears when he caught sight of something that reminded him of May.

So Peter left. He left the reminders of May and the worried eyes of Pepper. He left Morgan who was so excited to finally meet her brother. But mostly, he left Tony, who despite losing his arm and sustaining more injuries than Peter thought possible, was trying his best to be there for Peter. But Peter couldn't bring himself to accept the comfort of Tony and Pepper and even Morgan because he wasn't there for May's last days. May didn't get to have Peter there to comfort her so Peter doesn't deserve to have them. So he left.

By the time Peter registers that his phone is ringing again, it's to late to answer even if he'd have wanted to. Instead it rings out yet again, while Peter continues to lose himself in his thoughts.

Peter's not sure how much later it is  when he gets snapped back into himself by a pounding on his door. It takes a moment for Peter to work up the courage to get himself out of bed, he hadn't had class today so it's the first time he's gotten up besides going to the bathroom. The entire time Peter's slowly making his way to the door, the knocking doesn't cease, he thinks that if he could feel anything, he'd probably feel worried. But as it is now, he just feels like a blank canvas that's been dropped in the mud and stepped on a few times.

When Peter opens the door he barely even gets a chance to say, "Hello?" Before Tony Stark himself barges into his apartment. If it were anyone else, and if Peter had the capacity to, he'd probably feel offended, but seeing as Tony's the one literally paying for the thing, there's quite a big difference in standards.

"You know kid, if you don't want me around anymore, you could at the very least tell me instead of just ignoring my calls,"  Tony says, not even trying to hide his offense, as he looks around the living room.

Peter watches Tony with wide eyes, his sludgy mind trying to compute the sudden movements and words. "What?"

"Nine missed calls Peter," Tony says, finally turning to look at Peter. "Jesus kid, you look like shit,"

"I? Um... what?"

Tony just sighs, eyes softening as he looks at the boy. "When was the last time you ate?"

"Um," Peter's mind splutters to find an answer, "Breakfast yesterday?"

" Jesus, Peter," Tony let's out another sigh, bringing his hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose. "That's almost two days, kid. You can't do that. Two days for you is like four for me and that's not ok,"