"Peter!" You yell, running to him like the Flash is chasing you. He stumbles back with how forcefully you hug him, but you know he doesn't care. Neither of you do, really. You're both just happy that the other is safe and alive. "Oh my god, are you okay?" You ask while examining the scars and bruises that decorate his whole body, even his face. He hisses when your fingers run over a certain bruise, and you pull back immediately. "It's okay- I'm okay, I'm just.. tired, I guess?" You giggle a little at his tone. "I'd bet," You reply. You watch as a smile crawls onto his lips, which makes you smile as well. "C'mon, let's go home. I'm sure May's worried sick about you and she'll probably force you to live in the hospital for a week," You joke, nudging his shoulder. He grumbles, knowing you are absolutely right and that there isn't any way for him to convince May that he's fine, especially after taking down someone who caused mass destruction with illusions from drones. You put your arm over his shoulder and you look at him, waiting for him to start swinging. He stares right back at you, confused as ever. "So.. are you gonna start swinging?" You ask. He shows you that he's out of webs and you roll your eyes. "You know, for someone who was able to create their own suit in a jet a few minutes ago, you're kinda stupid," You joke, pulling a few web cartridges out of your bag and handing them to Peter.
"Ouch," he says before putting them into his web shooters. He fiddles with them for a little before you finally speak up. "Peter Benjamin Parker, if I am not swinging in the air within the next 5 seconds, I will be-" He cuts you off before he hears whatever threat you have stuffed up your sleeve. "Okay! Okay, I'm swinging now," he then starts swinging through London as you hang onto him and take in the view of the city below you.
Skip to a month or two later, Peter is an absolute mess. The sadder part is that's the nicest way you can describe him right now. You've caught him skipping in the bathrooms, sitting alone on the roof thinking about who knows what, but on top of all that, every single day you see him on top of a small Starbucks with Iron Man graffiti on the building next to it. When he's up there, you know exactly what he's thinking about, and it breaks your heart.
At first, you didn't think much of it, since you know he took a hard hit from his fight with Mysterio. But eventually it escalated to a point where you worried so bad you called May. She said that she's been constantly doing overtime at work and that she hasn't talked to Peter all week. She also asks you to look after Peter at their apartment. You laugh a little, realizing that you're being asked to babysit Spider-Man. However, you quickly agree without a second thought and make your way to their apartment.
It's only a brisk 5-minute walk from your house, so it doesn't take you too long to get there. You brought a bag with you, which has a blanket, your laptop, your phone and charger, headphones, and another phone just in case. You can't be too careful being Spider-Man's girlfriend, after all.
You arrive and ring the doorbell. Nothing. You ring it twice more. Still nothing. You spam the doorbell until you hear a grumble and a 'coming!' from the other side. The door opens, and the first thing you notice aside from Peter is that the apartment is extremely messy. There are books and other things scattered everywhere. Peter realizes what you're looking at, and tries to quickly close the door. However, you know him like the back of your hand, and you jam your foot in the door before it closes.
"If you lock me out of this apartment I'm calling May!" You yell, prying the door open as best you can considering he has the strength of a spider. That threat gets him to open the door right away, backing away from the door to let you come in. You set your bag down on the only clean spot on the floor as you let out a heavy sigh, thinking carefully about what you're going to say next.
"Does your room look like this too?" You ask with the same tone May has when she scolds him about anything school related. He looks down at the floor, not daring to look at your eyes that are threatening to burn holes into him. You realize your tone and quickly rephrase what you just said. "I'll help you clean this all up," You start, picking up a pillow on the floor and fixing up the couch. "But why.. How did this even happen? Your apartment looks like someone trashed it." You fold up a blanket on the floor and smell it. Bad decision. You find an empty blanket and throw the blanket in there, setting the basket aside and making a mental note to yourself to do Peter's laundry later.
"Because I trashed it," Peter blurts out. Your head immediately whips his way, and he changes his facial expression to look as if you've just caught him committing a crime. "What do you mean you trashed it?" You ask in the calmest voice you can muster, which doesn't work because you sound like you're about to beat the life out of your boyfriend.
"I— nevermind, I'll just help you clean," You desperately want an answer, but you let it slide and give Peter some time to get his thoughts together. If you don't get an answer out of him tonight, you'll get one tomorrow.
An hour flies by, and the living room looks brand new. You're finishing up dusting behind the TV when you hear your phone go off. It's the Spider-Man theme song, which gives Peter a little giggle. You go to answer it, and you see May's picture pop up. "Pete, it's May." Before Peter can stop you, you answer and put your phone on speaker.
"Hi May!" you say with the most over-exaggerated enthusiasm ever. "Hi Y/N, how are you guys? How's Peter, is he asleep? I hope his Peter-tingle didn't wake him up when I called you." You giggle, watching Peter hide his face in embarrassment. "He's fine, he's helping me cook dinner. Say hi, Pete!" You snicker while handing the phone to Peter. You can already tell by the look on his face that he's going to get you back for this. "H-Hi May!" Peter stutters. You find it adorable, but you quickly wipe that thought from your mind.
Peter hands the phone right back to you, grumbling in embarrassment. Suddenly, May asks you to take your phone off speaker and get far away from Peter so he can't hear you. You and Peter look up at each other in confusion, and so you mute yourself, pretending to find someplace away from Peter. You do it because 1) you know that if you actually did what May told you to and hid what she said from Peter, he'd nag you 24/7, and 2) you really just don't have the guts to lie to Peter.
"I know I haven't been home much, but I've still been keeping an eye on Peter. Happy put cameras in our apartment and he's- he's just a mess, Y/N." Ouch. Well, it didn't hurt you, but you know damn well it hurt Peter. "I'm really worried about him. I keep getting calls from your school about him skipping classes and I've been telling them he has a habit of running home when he feels sick. You and I know that lie isn't going to last forever. Please take care of him Y/N, Stark's death hit him hard and.. we're the only ones he has right now." You see tears gathering in your boyfriend's eyes, and you immediately know that you have to end this conversation now.
"Of course May, I'll take care of him any day. I'll try to put in a good word with Principal Morita as well," You tell May before hanging up and throwing your phone across your room to catch Peter as he falls.
"Hey, Pete, look at me. Peter, look at me. Please." You rub his arms to calm him as you hear his breathing speed up. Not now, not today, please not today, you almost say out loud. It was pretty obvious that Stark's death gave Peter trauma and self-doubt; more baggage that he shouldn't be forced to carry. That was why you hated Mysterio. Not only did he destroy beautiful places in Europe, but he forced Peter on a terrifying journey through his trauma with illusions from drones. Fucking drones!
In the time that you lose yourself in your thoughts about how much you hate Mysterio and how much weight Peter has on his shoulders, the said boy himself is trying to pry himself out of his head. If you were good enough, maybe Tony would still be alive. Quentin's voice repeats over and over and over until he can't take it anymore, until his ears start ringing. When he finally opens his eyes, he forgets where he is or what he's doing. He forgets you're there, and he's thinking so fast about so much that he gasps for air before stumbling into his room.
"Peter!" You yell, but it only sounds like a muffled voice to him. You watch as he puts on the glasses Stark gave him and falls to his knees, gripping onto the bed sheets just to keep himself on his feet. "EDITH, what's wrong with me? What's- what's happening? I don't- why am I-" You can only watch as your heart shatters for the boy you love. You slowly approach him from behind, pulling him up to stand and putting his arm around your shoulders.
"You had a severe anxiety attack, Peter. It appears your PTSD has begun to kick in lately. Shall I set an appointment for you to see a therapist?"
"No! No, just- just tell May about my.. issues."
You snatch the glasses off of Peter's face despite knowing he absolutely does not want to meet someone new, let alone a therapist, and you set the appointment for him. "EDITH," You start, giving the AI time to recognize you. "Hello, Y/N. What can I do for you?" You set Peter down on the bed and throw a blanket over his shoulders before sitting next to him. He leans on your shoulder, burying his face in the crook of your neck as he tries his best not to cry. "Set an appointment for Peter to see a therapist for December 19th, at the earliest time available." Peter looks at you like you've just stabbed him in the back (you kinda have) as you watch EDITH set up his appointment. "All done, Y/N. Will that be all?"
"Yes, thanks EDITH. Oh! Please order two chicken shawarmas from the place across the street," You say before you forget. After that you set down the glasses carefully on the nightstand, and turn to see Peter's face. You actually can't see his face because he's now crying into your shoulder. Right away, you think it's because you've set a therapy session for him against his wishes. For the moment, you choose not to say anything, simply pulling him closer and holding him until someone rings the doorbell.
You stand up to get it, but you tumble back with how hard Peter is holding onto you. "Don't," He mumbles, this time looking straight at you like a puppy you found on the street. "But it might be our food," You say with a gentle tone. "It's just May," he says, rubbing his eyes. You shrug and sit back down next to him, letting him lean into your touch. He buries his face back into your neck, and you can't help but stare at him with admiration. Everyone else sees Spider-Man as a strong superhero who will always save the day. You think of him that way too, but to you he's just Peter Parker. In your arms, he's just a teenager in love who has been through so much that he doesn't deserve. A teenager who is pressured to live up to someone no one can or ever will. A teenager expected to be the next Tony Stark, the next genius billionaire who'll fly into a wormhole and save New York again.
Right when that last thought comes through, May walks into the room. You see her open her mouth to say something, and you quickly lift a finger up to your mouth, telling her to shush. She snaps a picture of you two and you smile before shooing her away.
The next morning, you wake up before anyone else, and that was definitely the best sleep you've had in years. You had time to tidy up Peter's room, leaving him a little note on his nightstand so he doesn't panic when he wakes up. You even went to the store to restock their fridge and get a few ingredients to make them breakfast. Right when you flipped the last pancake, May walked into the kitchen. You could tell right away that she was speechless. When you finished setting up the table, she thanked you for taking care of Peter and fixing up their apartment, giving you a big tight hug. She quickly ate her breakfast and decided to go run some errands even though today was her day off. You tried convincing her to stay home, but she said that you and Peter deserved some alone time. You couldn't really argue with that. You'd never pass up on some time alone with Peter.
When Peter wakes up two hours later, you're sitting at the foot of his bed, getting some of your homework done and taking some notes for Peter so he can get his done as well. He sits up and engulfs you in a backhug, sleeping like that for half an hour before you nudge him awake.
"Morning, Pete," You kiss his forehead and smile at his sun kissed face. You take a minute to pick and choose what you're going to say next, since you know he's not really awake yet. "I made breakfast, but I think it's frozen by now," you giggle. He leaps out of bed and changes into more comfortable clothes before pecking your forehead and whispering "Iloveyousomuch" in your ear. He runs off to the kitchen, and you can't help but wonder what you did to deserve such a sweet boyfriend.
The rest of the day flies by pretty fast. Peter is all over you, peppering kisses on your face every five minutes. You let it slide, even teasing that you'd make breakfast every morning just to get this kind of affection.
The therapy session that you scheduled happened two weeks later, and it actually went really well. The therapist happened to be a counselor from one of Peter's old schools. Apparently they were so good at their job that they got a promotion from underpaid Middle School counselor to professional mental health therapist. The therapist was super nice about everything, even letting you stay in the room with them, much to Peter's wishes. After the session, Peter promised you he'd get better, and he did.
After that, Stark's legacy was no longer a burden to Peter. It was more like something that reminded him of what he could do, and everything he could accomplish with just you and your love by his side.