On Our Way To Nowhere

Getting home was an adjustment. 

It was harder than Tony thought. 

Of course he knew he couldn’t jump back into work and Peter couldn’t jump back into school but they couldn’t do anything they used to. 

Sleeping was too hard. Or well, too soft. Tony hated the mattresses that he used to love and miss on the island but now he found himself missing the beds on the island, even the beach was more comfortable. 

Peter was finding it the most difficult though. Last night at dinner was hard enough and now it was lunch the next day and Peter refused to eat anything, hence why he skipped breakfast although Tony didn’t blame him. 

He walked into the kitchen and found Peter sitting on the kitchen counter wearing nothing but his underwear. Tony knew he allowed Peter to do that on the island but they were home now. 

Tony walked by and lifted Peter off the counter. “We have chairs for a reason. Use it.” 

“No.” Peter climbed back onto the counter but Tony couldn’t stop him so he sighed and looked in the fridge for something to eat but nothing looked appealing to him. 

Pepper grabbed two mangos to start cutting them up. “Peter said he wanted the fruits from the island so him and I ordered a bunch.” 

Tony nodded. He looked towards his coffee machine and grabbed a cup, making his first cup in almost half a year. 

Pepper handed the chopped up mango to Peter on a plate but Peter dumped it off the plate and started eating it. Once he tasted it, he spit it out. “Yuck! This isn’t mango! It’s imposter mango! I want the ones from the island.” 

“You told me you had mangos on the island. These are mangos.” Pepper insisted, even taking a bite of it herself to taste it. 

Peter crossed his arms over his chest then slid off the counter. “This is stupid. I hate it here.” He walked towards the living room, not liking the distance between the two but he needed to go pee and looked around, suddenly forgetting where he was or how to go. He often went in the jungle since he and his dad were always outside and even after they lived in the yellow house, he still preferred to go pee outside and his dad let him. 

He just let it go, not knowing where else to go. Peter looked down at his legs, watching his pee drip down his legs. Once he was done, he turned to face Pepper. “Uh oh. I went pee.” 

Pepper stopped cleaning the counter and looked over to see a puddle on the floor as well as Peter’s soaked underwear. “Oh no. It’s okay, Peter.” She grabbed a paper towel and walked over to him. “Tony, can you help Peter? He just went pee.” 

Tony wasn’t paying attention, he was leaning against the counter and drinking his coffee, speaking to himself. “Kinda a weird taste to it now. Like the first time I had it. Hmm.” 

“Tony? Didn’t you hear me?” Pepper called to him again so he turned around and saw that Peter peed himself. 

“Oh, what happened, buddy?” Tony walked over and grabbed the paper towel roll to clean it up. 

Peter shrugged as he let Pepper wipe his feet. “I don’t know. I forgot where to go.” 

“Can you help him change, Pep? I’m really tired.” Tony felt guilty but he wanted a break. He really wanted a break from Peter, even just for a few minutes while Pepper changed him. 

Pepper looked surprised when he asked her. “Well, yeah but can you clean this up then?” 

“Yeah.” 

Pepper took Peter’s hand to take him upstairs. She led him into his bedroom and grabbed clean underwear then brought him into his bathroom. “You told me you guys lived in a house on the island. With the others.” Pepper began speaking as she pulled off the wet underwear and tossed them into the laundry hamper that remained empty for so many months until now. “Didn’t you guys have bathrooms in there?” 

Peter flinched at the cold wipe briefly. “Yeah. I just forgot. I don’t like how big here is now. It was so like cozy there.” 

That made Pepper chuckle. “Really? Tell me more. What did you guys do all day?” 

Peter thought about it. “Well… went on walks in the jungle lots. Like, all the time. We also picked lots of fruit for everyone and sometimes I baked cookies with May.” 

“Oh? Who’s May?” Asked Pepper, a bit jealous at the mention of the strange woman. 

“She’s like, someone who lives there. Before when they took me away from daddy, she was nice to me and I stayed with her. Then sometimes she would watch me if daddy had to go somewhere.” 

“Did your daddy and her get along?” Pepper wanted to know. She wouldn’t really blame Tony if he slept with someone else since they most likely spent a lot of time together and she knew Tony probably often thought they weren’t ever coming home. 

Peter shrugged. “No. I don’t think he liked her but he didn’t say it. She was nice though.” Peter pushed the clean underwear out of Pepper’s hands, content how he was. “I don’t want those.” He ran out of the bathroom and down the stairs to find his dad. 

Tony cleaned up the mess and was digging through the boxes of fruit, finding it strange that there were stickers on them. He didn’t understand why, they were perfectly fine without ridiculous stickers. He looked over at Peter, not even phased at how he was since he was used to it. “This mango is disgusting.” 

Peter climbed back on the counter. “I know. That’s what I said.” 

“It’s because it’s full of chemicals. Garbage. All of this. I think we need some organic stuff ordered, don’t you?” Tony asked Peter, raising his eyes at him for an answer. 

Peter looked at all the boxes laid out. “I guess. But we have so much fruit already. It can’t all be bad.” 

Pepper walked down the stairs with thin pyjama shorts and a top in her hand. “Peter, you can’t run around naked. Please get dressed.” 

Peter looked at her. “I’m not running.” 

Tony waved her off. “Let him. No one else is here anyways. He did it on the island.” Tony then thought of something. “Where’s your chocolate stash, Pep.” 

Pepper sighed. “It’s where it always is. I still think you should at least put some pants on.” 

Peter shook his head. 

“Which was where? I can’t remember.” Tony asked her again, desperately wanting chocolate. 

Peter clapped his hands. “Yeah! Chocolate chocolate!” He waited so long for the taste of chocolate. 

Pepper grabbed a box of chocolate kisses. “Put some pants on and I’ll give it to you.” She told Peter. 

Tony lifted Peter off the counter and set him on his hip, grabbing the pyjama pants and chocolate out of Pepper’s hands. “Aye aye captain. Let’s go, Pete.” He carried Peter over to the living room, well aware of Pepper burning a hole at the back of his head. He turned around to face her. “We had a different life on that island. Clothes were optional for Peter.” 

Pepper walked closer to them. “I know, Tony. I’m sorry. I just… I missed you guys a lot.” 

“Then come eat chocolate with us.” Peter cheered. 

Tony sat down, easily sliding Peter’s pyjama shorts on him and opening up the bag, holding it out for Peter. Peter couldn’t wait. He dug his hand in and pulled one out, plopping it into his mouth. 

“Yum! Mmmm! It’s so good.” 

Peter handed one to Tony, half of it melted in his hand. “Here. I wanna give you this one.” 

Tony looked at it then ate another one. “It’s all melted in your hand, kid.” 

Pepper grabbed a tissue and wiped Peter’s hand for him, laughing at his silliness. The smile quickly fell from her face as she watched the two. She missed them so much, she hadn’t seen or heard from them in months and was positive that they had died, everyone was telling her they died. She didn’t want to believe it even though it was hard. 

Tony had talked to her and told her everything that happened while they were gone. How they crashed and landed on two different sides of the island and how they found the boat and sailed out to sea only for Peter to be taken from him, then how Tony found out they weren’t alone on the island and how he found out kids die there, it was hard for Pepper to hear, to listen to and picture the hell her boys had to go through. It was difficult for her to hear but she was grateful they were home now, even though it didn’t seem like they were fully back. 

That was going to take some time to get used to. 

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Peter laid on his bedroom floor and stared up at the ceiling. It was their second night home but it didn’t feel like it. He kept falling asleep then startling himself awake, thinking he’s back on the island. 

The worst part was, he wanted to go back there. 

Tony was having trouble sleeping in the other room as well. He couldn’t get used to the bed and Peter not sleeping with him. So he got out of bed and peaked his head in his son's bedroom door, not entirely surprised to see Peter lying on the floor. 

“What are you doing there, Pete?” He whispered and walked in, kneeling down beside Peter. 

Peter looked over at him with tired, sad eyes. “I can’t sleep. I wanna go back. I wanna go back, daddy.” 

Tony sighed. “Baby, we’re never going back. We’re home now. We couldn’t stay there.” 

Peter whimpered. “But-but I want to. You were always with me… and I miss the island and our yellow house.” 

Tony stood up and lifted Peter off the floor then sat on his bed, holding Peter safely in his lap. “We’re home now and I know it doesn’t really feel like that yet but we can take all the time we need to get back into our old routine. Or we can make a new routine too.” 

Peter missed a lot of school. What was supposed to be a week trip to Malibu turned into a five month long trip to a deserted island so Tony didn’t know what they were going to do about school yet. Maybe he would homeschool Peter this year or he would just have a late start. Maybe they both needed therapy. Tony was actually sure of it. 

“Yeah… I just miss sleeping with you.” Peter admitted quietly. 

“I know. How about I sleep with you tonight and tomorrow night you can sleep with me and Pepper then you can go back to your bed.” Suggested Tony. He would actually prefer Peter to sleep with him every night like on the island but he didn’t want to start any bad habits. “Sound like a plan?” 

“Yeah,” Peter agreed and smiled, laying his head on his dad’s shoulder with a content sigh. “My bed is too soft though. Can we sleep on the floor?” 

Tony laughed. He was thinking the same thing. “Let’s try to fall asleep on the bed. The floor is too hard.” 

“Okay, daddy.” Peter cuddled more against his dad and laid down. “I love you.” 

“I love you more.” Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead. 

He didn’t know how long it was going to take to get used to being back at home but he was just glad they were off the island and were together.