Isolated in the room where the bed rises
Honestly, Skip wasn’t even a bad person, MJ and Ned were just over protective. I mean seriously, Peter thought, it’s normal for parents to hit their kids. Not that Peter saw Skip as anything close to a parent, but he was Peter’s guardian, foster parent, it wasn’t a big deal.
Peter chewed on his lip as he headed home from school to Skip’s apartment, fear bubbling up in his gut. Huffing in frustration, he chided himself. He shouldn’t be scared of Skip. Skip was a good person! Who else would want to foster a teenager with superpowers? Sure, he had to wear a power suppressor that he absolutely despised, but after what happened with Uncle Ben he couldn’t find himself disagreeing with it.
His hands began to shake minutely at the thought of his Uncle. Something slammed nearby and he tensed, the echo of a gunshot echoing in his memory.
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
If he couldn’t even save his uncle; he didn’t deserve his powers. This was okay. He was okay.
MJ and Ned had just seen the bruises on his skin and immediately jumped to conclusions, but Peter was fine. If anything he deserved it.
So why was he filled with so much dread at the thought of going home to Skip?
Really, Skip wasn’t even bad most of the time. Sure, he got angry and pushed Peter around a lot, but it was never undeserved. Peter was always the one making mistakes or talking too much, Skip was helping him be a better person.
And besides, Skip was so nice sometimes. He cared about Peter, he said so himself. Peter helped him be a better person.
Guilt twisted in his gut as he remembered that conversation, Peter had gotten scared and threatened to call his social worker, and Skip had broken down. Begged him, told him how important he was. “Peter, if you leave me, I’ll kill myself. You don’t want that on your hands do you? Would you really let another one of your guardians die? Are you that selfish?”
Peter took a shaky breath. Skip needed him, loved him. He couldn’t just let him down, no matter what Ned and MJ said about the matter.
They didn’t even know half of the bad stuff, they just saw a few bruises and got defensive. It was an unfair judgement really, the two had never even met Skip. And as much as Peter wanted to break down and spill everything some days, he knew they wouldn’t see it the same way as him. He loved his friends, but he couldn’t risk them trying to help him. He couldn’t risk that blood on his hands.
And so, here he was, walking up the stairs of his apartment, hoping that it was one of Skip’s good days. Hoping he wasn’t drunk or horny or just, whatever new emotion it was that made him scary to be around.
Taking out his keys from his pocket, he unlocked the door and stepped into the small apartment, calling out quietly.
“Skip? I’m back from school!”
Closing the door behind him with a click, he took in the quiet apartment around him. The lights were off for the most part; maybe Skip was still at work. He didn’t work often, but when he did it was usually late into the night. He wasn’t totally sure what he did for a living, something under Stark industries he was pretty sure, but Peter couldn’t find the energy to care all that much. Had it been even a year earlier, Peter would be jumping at the opportunity to hear from someone who worked there, peppering them with questions. He knew better now though than to annoy people, especially Skip. No one wanted to hear him talk, he was just wasting people’s time.
Finally processing that he’d be alone tonight, something loosened in Peter’s chest as he sighed in relief, and then immediately tensed again in guilt. He shouldn’t be feeling relieved at Skip’s absence. That was messed up. Skip was a good person, it wasn’t his fault that Peter was so horrible.
But still… he couldn’t bring himself to feel quite safe here anymore. Not since Skip realized he wasn’t gonna snitch, not since Skip got braver with him, touchier.
Peter shuddered, phantom hands touching his body at the thought. It’d only been a few times, really. And Skip had always apologized, but still.. that was.. that wasn’t okay, right?
He could feel his face heating up at the thought, shakily trying to convince himself it wasn’t rape if the person regretted it and apologized after. Besides, Skip said it himself that it was Peter’s fault. Peter had led him on, Peter hadn’t fought as hard as he could have. “Don’t lie to me, we both know you want this.”
He could feel tears welling up in his eyes and shook his head to clear them. It was selfish of him to be upset after everything Skip had done for him. He owed Skip his life, he could put up this. He’d be fine.
But god, he was tired of being scared.
He’d give anything to just break down and tell his two friends everything, to have them help. To be comforted. He knew they would help him too, that they wouldn’t blame him. But he couldn’t do that to Skip. He couldn’t.
He’d just have to deal.
Besides, today was just a bad day, he was getting worked up over nothing. His thoughts didn’t usually linger on these things so much, usually he could push it down. Why won’t my hands stop shaking?
Sighing, he pushed the door to his room open and sat his backpack down, pulling out his Chemistry textbook. If Skip wasn’t home to need him, he could at least catch up on his homework. He knew his grades were slipping, but he hadn’t been able to get much sleep in the past few months and was beginning to find it hard to bring himself to care. He had bigger things to worry about right now than homework. It’s not like he was smart enough to have a bright future anyways, might as well focus on the now.
But still, he sat himself down on his bed and started work on his homework, determined to get something done tonight. He couldn’t let his grades slip any more than they already had, if he lost his scholarship to Midtown he’d lose Ned and MJ too. He couldn’t risk that.
•••
Peter flinched as he heard the front door to their apartment swing open, suddenly startled out of his thoughts. He’d been doing homework for hours and was beginning to nod off when the door had opened.
“Peter? You home?” A familiar voice called, causing his breath to quicken for a moment before he forced himself to calm down.
“Yeah, I’m in my room!” He called back, hoping that Skip would be too tired to want anything from him. He suppressed a flinch as he heard the older man’s footsteps approaching his room, before the door swung open. He turned and made eye contact with his foster parent standing in the doorway, trying to school his face into a happy expression.
Skip was tall, his nearly white-blond hair gelled to the side, looking at Peter with something indiscernible in his pale blue eyes.
Really, he almost looked like a knock-off Captain America. Peter huffed in amusement at the mental image, before belatedly realizing Skip had said something.
Blinking quickly, his mind scrambled to recall what had been said, wincing, he spoke up hesitantly, “I’m sorry-what’d you say?”
Something dark and annoyed flashed in the older man’s eyes for a moment, causing Peter to freeze before it passed a second later. Leaving Peter unsure if he’d even truly seen it. His face settled into a kind smile, “I asked what you’ve been doing at home all day by yourself? You getting lonely without me?” He asked, tone just edged enough to be outside the bounds of casual.
Peter blinked, unsure, “of course I’ve missed you!” He quickly reassured him, “I’ve just been catching up on homework, how was work?”
To his relief Skip seemed satisfied with this answer and went into a tangent about his work day, and this one particularly annoying coworker. Peter listened politely and nodded along before Skip changed the subject suddenly, “hey, you wanna watch a movie? It’s a Friday night, you don’t gotta worry about waking up early for school tomorrow.” He offered, looking at Peter in a way that implied it wasn’t really a choice.
But still, Peter did want to spend time with him. He seemed to be in a good mood today, and Peter wasn’t about to pass it up. Perking up, he agreed and began putting up his schoolwork, a smile tugging at his lips. Ned and MJ were wrong, Skip wasn’t cruel, not in the least. Peter was lucky.
“Great, I’ll meet you in the living room,” the man replied easily, turning and heading back the way he came. The fear that had taken residency in Peter’s heart was all but forgotten for the moment, eager for something domestic. His doubts had been stupid, Skip loved him, wanted to spend time with him. A few mistakes didn’t erase that, they were fine.
That’s what Peter repeated in his head the rest of the night as Skip got touchier and harsher. They were fine.
When Skip held his wrists so tight they bruised. They were fine.
When Skip began taking off their clothes. They were fine.
And into the next morning, when Peter was throwing up into the toilet and spending the next hour scrubbing his skin raw in the shower. They were fine.