Throwing Caution to the Wind

Chapter 28

"Kid, kid, wake up" said a voice.

He felt hands around his torso shaking him awake.

He opened his eyes, blinking against the harsh sunlight.

He was confused, why was he outside.

When he was finally able to keep his eyes opened for more than a few seconds, he turned his attention to the person above him. It was Mr Stark.

"Wh- why am I outside?" he asked sitting up.

"That's a great question, I was actually about to ask that," Mr Stark asked dryly.

It took Peter a second to detect the sarcasm in his voice.

"Uhhhhhhh" was the incredibly smart thing he decided to go with.

He racked his brain trying to figure out why he was out here when it hit him.

But it wasn't exactly something he could tell Mr Stark.

"I just needed some fresh air I guess" he said shrugging.

"At 2 in the morning" Mr Stark said raising an eyebrow at him.

"I guess so" he said looked down at his lap.

"I know we don't know eachother that well, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, whatever you need" Mr Stark said placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"It's nothing. I can handle it. I've been handling it" Peter said standing up abruptly.

"Kid, your 14, you can reach out. Someone will always be there. I get it, you might not be comfortable with me, talk to your aunt, a teacher, heck even your friends would be better than nothing. But your friends are only really a starting point. They're only starting to figure out life too" he said looking him right in the eye.

Peter could tell that he meant what he said. But he didn't want to talk to anyone, it was his problem, not theirs.

"I'll talk to someone" Peter said averting his eyes. He didn't actually plan on doing that. He didn't need to bother anyone.

"Will you actually" Mr Stark asked him gently grabbing his chin forcing Peter to look him in the eyes.

"Yeah..." Peter said trailing off.

"Alright, here's what's gonna happen" Mr Stark said clapping his hands with a determined look on his face.

"You are gonna go to your room and take a warm shower. When you get out I'll have left some cloths on the bed I want you to wear. Then we're gonna spend the day doing something which you'll see soon, ok"

"Ok" Peter said confused.

He went down to his room and got ready for a shower. He was about to walk into the ensuite bathroom when he hears a knock at the door.

"Can I come in" came Mr Stark's voice from the other side.

"Give me a sec" he said quickly walking into the ensuite and grabbing the fluffy white robe from the hook on the door.

After putting it on and making sure he was decent he opened the door.

When he opened it he saw that Mr Stark had a weird machine in his hands. The machine was a wide flat cone with the tip open and hollow.

"This will be really quick kid, give me a sec" he said rushing in the bathroom.

Peter walked in behind him and watched him put something in it. He heard a small beep indicating that Mr Stark had turned it on.