You got me stumbling around
Tony didn’t know if it would be a good idea but he wanted to try. It was for all the right reasons.
Him and Pepper hadn’t had one on one time in over a month and it was very much needed.
Peter was in a good mood and Harley was offering so Tony and Pepper were going to take the opportunity to have a date night. Tony had no idea how it was going to go but him and Pepper needed some adult time alone together.
Peter ran into his parents room and jumped on the bed. “Dad? Dad? Why do you have to go? I-I want you and mom to stay here?”
Tony fixed his hair in the mirror quickly then went over to the bed to to press a ton of kisses to Peter’s face. He had to make up for all the hours he was going to be without his baby boy. “Because your mom and I are going to spend some alone time together.”
Peter laughed and playfully pushed his dad’s face away from him. “But what are you guys gonna do?”
Tony shrugged. “Uhh, fun stuff. You are going to have fun here too, you, Harley and Morgan will have so much fun.” Him and Pepper wrote out a list of activities for Harley to do with his siblings while they were gone and it was important for the siblings to spend some time together too. Tony was just a little worried about leaving Peter.
“I wanna do fun stuff with you and mom!” Peter exclaimed, having no idea what Tony actually meant.
Tony pressed a kiss to his cheek just as Pepper walked out. He turned to her and his jaw dropped. She was wearing a tight short dress that was dark green and made her hair stand out. It showed her figure and a lot of cleavage that Tony loved to see. “Woah. You look… stunning.”
She smiled and walked over to press a kiss to Tony’s lips. “Thank you.”
“Doesn’t mom look beautiful, Pete?” Tony asked Peter who could care less right now.
“Yeah, why’s your boobies out?” Peter asked, reaching up to point.
They both laughed at Peter’s comment and Pepper looked down at her chest. “They aren’t out. Don’t be silly. Give me a kiss because we have to go now.” She leaned down to kiss Peter, tickling his sides while she did so.
Peter kicked his legs up, trying to get away so Pepper kissed him one last time before standing up and straightening out her dress. Tony pulled his ankles and lifted him up. “I’m gonna see you soon. Can you be good for your older brother? He’s too young to have grey hairs.”
Peter giggled and kicked his legs to be put down. Tony hoped he stayed in this good mood for the whole time. He was way too paranoid. He even planned the dinner to be easy foods so Peter didn’t get over excited and choke. Tony was way too paranoid. Maybe he needed to talk with the therapist because it wasn’t normal. Although their life wasn’t normal.
The parents said their final goodbyes at the front door. Tony wanted to leave before he changed his mind. “Harley, call us if you need us. It doesn’t matter if it’s ten minutes from now or ten minutes before we come home, call us. Remember don’t open the door for anyone. I have a key when we come home.”
Harley swung Peter around when his younger brother grabbed onto his hands. “I know, dad. Go. Wait, you’ll be back before their bedtimes, right? I can put Morgan to bed but not Peter.”
“Yes, don’t worry. All you have to do is dinner and we’ll do showers and bedtimes.” Tony kneeled down and held his arms out. “Give me kisses.”
Both Peter and Morgan threw themselves into his arms. He was going to miss them even though it wasn’t even going to be three hours most likely. “Be good angles. See you later.”
He pulled away and stood back up. This was harder than he thought.
Pepper pulled his arm, knowing he was having a harder time leaving their kids than she was.
Once the door was closed, Peter turned to start running but Harley grabbed him. “I got you first. Are you guys hungry for dinner now or later?”
“Later! I wanna wrestle!” Peter kicked Harley in the balls on purpose so his brother could put him down. He took that as leverage to run away.
Morgan chased after him and went into the living room but Peter was kicking her in the shin and smacking her in the face with a pillow. Morgan was used to it so she recovered quickly and grabbed Peter’s arm, pulling him then kicking him in the legs to make them give out so he fell onto the floor.
She jumped on top of him but Peter grabbed her by the neck and pulled her off, wiggling out from under her.
Harley recovered from the intense pain and made his way into the living room to start play fighting with his siblings. They used to do this all the time, outside, in the bedrooms, even in the car and Harley used to love it so much because all their family problems and struggles disappeared and all that there was was to win or lose the fight.
Now, he was too scared to hurt Peter or go too hard on him and Peter seemed to notice that too.
“Why aren’t you hitting me hard enough?” Peter kicked Harley in the leg, daring him to try and kick back.
Harley couldn’t bring himself to hurt Peter. He grabbed him to pin him onto the floor while he kicked Morgan’s legs, tripping her and causing her to land on her face.
Peter saw that and it upset him. He wiggled his way out of Harley’s arms and crawled off the living room carpet. “I’m hungry. Can we eat now?”
“Yeah.” Harley wiped the sweat off his forehead and stood up, pulling Morgan to her feet. “Mom and dad already have everything ready, I just have to heat it up so go wash your hands.”
Peter grabbed Morgan’s hand and raced into the bathroom in the hallway. He pulled her in and shut the door, locking it. “Harley’s being rude to me.”
“Why? What did he do?” Morgan asked, turning on the tap to wash her hands since she wanted to hurry up and eat.
“He wasn’t punching or kicking me. It made me feel… really bad.” Peter crossed his arms over his chest. He hated feeling that way but he didn’t know how to fully describe how he felt.
Morgan shrugged. “Tell him not to then. I’m gonna go eat. I’m hungry.”
Peter quickly washed his hands and went into the kitchen to sit on the island chair. He waited for his plate but when he got it, he pushed it away. “Mmmm no. I don’t want this.”
Harley sighed. He didn’t know how to get Peter to eat. “Why not? Morgan’s eating it.”
Peter looked at Morgan then at his plate and pushed it away further. “It’s yuckie.” Peter didn’t want to eat it. It was bow tie pasta with meat sauce and meatballs but Tony already took the meatballs out, knowing Peter hated it. There were mashed potato fries with peas, carrots and pickles on the side.
Harley took a bite of the food he heated up for himself, knowing no one else liked it but him and his parents.
Peter pointed to his bowl. “What’re you eating? I want some.”
“You always ask dad to give you a bite and you always spit it out. It’s spicy rice, peppers and chicken.” Harley explained and held a spoon full to Peter’s awaiting mouth anyways.
Peter scrunched his face up and spit the food out, the food going down his chin and all over the front of his top. “My mouth is burning. I need milk.” Harley stood up to grab a glass of milk for him but Peter crawled onto the counter. “No. In-in my water bottle.”
Harley didn’t know what his parents’ rules were about water bottles and milk with Peter so he picked up two and held them out to Peter. “What one?”
“Green.”
Harley pulled out his phone and held the water bottle up in front of Peter to send a picture to his mom asking her if Peter could have it with milk.
“Why aren’t you pouring it?” Peter asked, getting impatient.
“I’m waiting for mom to reply.”
Peter stood up on the counter and shook his butt in Morgan’s face. His parents weren’t there to scold him so he could. “Na na na.”
“Hey! Stop, Petey.” Morgan hit his butt so Peter sat on his knees and slowly pulled Morgan’s plate away from her to get her angry but Harley grabbed the back of his pants and pulled him across the counter.
“Mom texted. You can have it.” Harley announced and went to pour milk into it.
“Yay! Gimmy gimmy!” Peter drank it, feeling the burn immediately go away from Harley’s food. He spun around on the counter as he drank, not wanting to eat the food.
Morgan slid off the chair. “I’m done, Harley. Is there dessert?”
Harley could barely eat his own food with these two. He really didn’t know how his parents did it every day. “You can have a cookie if you want.” He got up to get that for Morgan but Peter was holding his hand out for one too. “You have to eat your food, Peter.”
“No. No. Nooo!” Peter tested Harley to see what he would do. He grabbed his pickle off his plate and ate that but he didn’t want anymore so he slid off the counter and ran to the basement door. “Can we do paintings, Harley? Please.”
“Yeah! I wanna paint!” Morgan cheered, waiting by the basement door for Harley to unlock it.
Peter and Morgan were too clever so Tony had to install different locks to keep the troublemakers out of the basement when they weren’t supposed to be down there.
Harley didn’t know how to get Petet to eat so he put his plate back in the fridge. “Can you guys grab the paints and stuff by yourselves? I have to clean up.”
“Yeah!” Peter waited until the door was unlocked then raced down the stairs with Morgan. He walked into their playroom and turned the light on. “I wanna do body painting.” He said, grabbing the paint brushes. “You grab the paints, Mo.”
Morgan picked up the paint basket. “It’s heavy. Carry it with me.”
Peter put the paint brushes under his arm to help Morgan carry it up the stairs and into the dining room. He ignored the stack of papers that Harley put out for them and poured the paint out into one of the bowls. “I dare you to stick your whole hand in there.” He told Morgan.
Morgan grinned and then did it, causing Peter to gasp and cover his hands over his mouth. “It feels funny. You try.”
Peter stuck his hand in it and giggled. He rubbed it all over his arm and some on his face. “Do I look like a warrior?”
“Yeah. Do me too.”
Peter walked around the table to paint Morgan’s face with his fingers. “You look so cool. Can you put it in my hair so it sticks up like a Mohawk?”
“Yeah, what colour do you want?”
“Ummmm… do one half blue and one half red.” Peter couldn’t contain his excitement. He waited for Morgan to finish rubbing it in his hair and then ran over to the mirror to see. “It looks more purple. Can you add more red?” He walked back over so Morgan could pour all the paint into his hair as Harley walked in.
“What the hell?! What are you guys doing? I literally left for like two minutes. What the hell.” Harley looked at the mess in terror. Peter was covered in paint and Morgan’s face and arms were.
“We’re body painting, Harls.” Peter explained, showing Harley his hands.
Harley walked over to Peter. “Mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me. Lift your arms up.” He took off Peter’s shirt, trying not to get anymore paint on it but it was hard.
Peter slapped his hand on his chest, leaving a rainbow coloured handprint. He laughed at it then turned around and lifted Morgan’s shirt up to slap a handprint on her belly too.
Harley couldn’t help but break out laughing.
“Look, Petey. I’m gonna paint your back.” Morgan dipped her hands in the paint and started finger painting on Peter’s back but it was so ticklish for Peter.
Harley rolled his eyes at them. “Just don’t get it on the furniture or the floors or I’m using you guys to clean it up.” He wanted to help his parents out while they were gone so he went upstairs to do some laundry, in hindsight, he knew better than to leave his siblings alone.
They paid him no mind as he left and continued to paint Peter’s chest and back but then they ran out of skin so Peter took off his pants and kicked them under the table. “I’m gonna paint my toes.”
Morgan squatted down to finger paint Peter’s legs. He tried to do his toes but gave up to let Morgan finish painting him. It was funny and the two of them couldn’t stop laughing.
Peter then got an idea. “We should bring the big paint cans up to pour it in the bath so we can take a bath in it.”
Morgan gasped and jumped up. “Yes! We have to bring the paint up first.”
The two of them ran back down to the basement, grateful that Harley hadn’t closed the door on them yet. Peter only found one can and it was red so it was going to be a messy bath, not that any other bath was going to be any less messy.
“You grab one side so we can carry it up.” Peter instructed but it was heavy even with the both of them carrying it up together. “It’s slippery.”
“Yeah.” Morgan strained out. They made it upstairs to the main level so all they had to do was go upstairs now but Peter tripped over his feet and caused them to drop the paint bucket onto the floor. The lid opened up and the red paint spilt out onto the hallway floor, over their feet and all down the hallway.
“Oopsie.” Peter looked at Morgan. They were gonna get in so much trouble. “Oh no. It’s a big mess, we have to clean it up.” Peter got onto his hands and knees in the paint to try and scoop it back into the paint bucket but it was making it worse.
Morgan tried to as well just as Harley ran down the stairs to see what the loud bang was. “Oh my god. Peter, Morgan. What the hell?!” Harley raced down the stairs, trying not to step in the red paint that was everywhere.
Peter snapped his head up to look at his older brother. “Uh oh.”
“Yeah, Uh oh, look at this! Moms gonna kill me.” Harley had no idea how to clean up the mess and his parents were going to be home very soon and it looked like someone was murdered and blood was everywhere. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to text his dad.
Harley: Everything’s ok! Peter and Morgan just spilled some red paint on the floor and it looks like blood but it’s not! See u soon!
He put his phone into his pocket and tried to decide how to do this. He stepped into the paint to stop Peter from flipping around because he was making too much of a mess. “You’re getting it on the walls. Careful.”
Peter couldn’t help it. “It feels funny. Like a slimy bath.” Asier walked over and Peter tried to grab his paw to bring him in. “Come, Asier.”
“Peter, no.” Harley went to pick Peter up but the front door was opening and they all stopped to wait for their parents' reaction.
Tony and Pepper walked in expecting to find one of the small paint bottles on the floor and not a whole freaking paint can. They all stared at each other for a few seconds, everyone waiting for someone to react.
“It’s a paint bath.” Peter spoke first, lifting his arms up so the paint dripped off him.
Tony shut the front door and locked it. He didn’t even know where to start. “You guys were busy.”
Peter crawled over to him but Pepper stopped him. “No. Don’t move. You’ll make a bigger mess.”
“I don’t know how it can get any bigger than this.” Tony observed and looked at Harley. “How did this happen?”
Harley ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to help you guys by doing some laundry and I didn’t know they were going to bring up the big paint bucket.” Harley felt like a complete failure. He wanted to do something nice for his parents and he completely messed up.
Tony wasn’t mad. He was a bit… concerned about how they were going to clean up the mess but he wasn’t mad. As awful as the mess was, the kids were alive and happy and they were definitely going to have one hell of a memory to laugh about when they’re older and looking back on their lives.
“It’s fine, Harley. I told you it’s not easy. It’s okay, we can’t go back and change it now so how about you help clean it up while I carry them upstairs for showers.” Tony had to start there. There was no point in the younger ones to stay down here while they clean because it wouldn’t get any cleaner.
“I’ll carry Peter up first.” Tony told Pepper. “Harley, in the basement there’s a carpet steam cleaner, can you get that set up while your mom and I wash them?”
“Yeah.”
Tony didn’t want to step in the paint so he held his arms out for Peter. “Come here. I’m gonna carry you up and don’t touch anything.” Peter crawled over to his dad so he didn’t slip then lifted his arms up. Tony picked him up, holding him at arm's length but it was harder since Peter wasn’t ten years old anymore. “Don’t touch anything.”
He went upstairs, cringing at the drip marks left by Peter. “Morgan painted my body and made my hair a Mohawk.”
Tony cringed. He tried to get to his bathroom as fast as he could. “Wow.”
Peter reached out to touch his face. “Can I paint you?”
“No- too late.” Tony knew he was going to get a lot messier. He placed Peter on the shower floor and sighed. “Okay. I’m gonna carry your sister up so stay right here and do not touch anything. This isn’t washable paint, this is wall paint.”
Peter gasped but touched the glass shower wall. “Oh no. But is Morgan gonna shower with me?”
“No.” Tony walked out of the bathroom to bring up his other kid. Morgan wasn’t as messy as Peter. She had some paint on her face, arms and feet but that was it. Peter was completely covered. “Come, Morg.” Tony held his arms out for her, knowing he didn’t have to tell her not to touch anything.
Pepper followed them up to help Morgan wash up and Tony couldn’t help but laugh when he put Morgan in her shower.
“What?” Pepper asked.
Tony held his paint covered hands up. “Peter’s gonna be red for the next week. I didn’t see one bit of skin on him.”
He didn’t even know where he was going to start.
When he walked into the bathroom, Peter was outside the shower and digging in the cabinet, spreading paint everywhere. “Hey, what happened to staying put and not touching anything?”
Peter fell onto his butt from his squatting position, making an even bigger mess. Tony picked Peter up and cringed but he didn’t say anything else. He walked into the shower, grateful for its large size and placed Peter in it then shut the shower door behind them and sat down on the built- in shower bench. “You look like a red smurf.”
“Yeah.” Peter chuckled.
Tony couldn’t believe how this was even possible. “Let’s hope this comes out. I don’t see any skin, baby.” Tony pulled back Peter’s underwear and cringed once again. “Even your bum is red.”
Peter laughed and took them off, tossing them at the shower wall and leaving a red splat.
Tony grabbed the shower handle and aimed it away from Peter to get the right temperature then sprayed him down. “We’re just gonna work our way down.”
It was going to be an excruciating long process that Tony was not ready for.
Tony was just finishing with getting the paint out of Peter’s hair and face when Pepper knocked on the glass. “How’s it going in here?”
“All the water is red.” Peter told her and bent down to try and push the red water into the drain faster.
Tony grabbed the underwear and handed it to her. “Can you throw these in the garbage? The paint isn’t gonna come out and I’m not even gonna try. How’s Morg?”
“All clean and paint free. I’m gonna clean up here then go help Harley.” Pepper told him as she threw the underwear out and grabbed a sponge and towel to clean the bathroom.
“Thanks. I could’ve done that after. Pete just had trouble listening, right, Pete?” Tony asked, spraying Peter in the face with the water to be funny.
“Hey,” Peter laughed. “I do listen.”
Tony playfully pinched his arm. “Silly boy. Uh, we’re gonna be awhile in here, Pep. We’re halfway done.”
Peter looked down at himself. “I’m half a red smurf.”
“That’s fine. I’m gonna put Morgan to bed soon. I just want to get everything cleaned up. Oh, and supposedly they got into the dining room as well.”
Tony stopped what he was doing to look at Peter. “No. Did it get on the furniture?”
“I don’t know. Harley said it was the washable paints. I’m gonna go clean it up now. I put some cream on the counter for his skin after the shower. Have fun in here.”
“Thank you. You too.”
Peter put his hand on his head. “Morgan gave me a red and blue Mohawk.”
“Is that so?”
“But it turned purple.”
Tony couldn’t be mad at Peter. He was too darn cute and every time Tony yelled at him or needed to, he always thought about when Peter was kidnapped and then all his anger went away. Tony knew it wasn’t good, he should be mad at Peter right now but he couldn’t bring himself to be angry with him.
He would talk to Peter and Morgan about it later.
After his shower, Peter raced down the stairs and immediately seeked out his mom. “Look! I’m not red!”
Pepper looked at him and gasped. She pulled him in for a hug. “Hmmm, you smell so good.”
Peter bounced on his toes. “Yeah, dad put cream on me. Mom, I’m hungry.”
Pepper was waiting for that. Harley told her everything that Peter did. “That’s because you refused dinner. Can you tell me why?” She took Peter’s hand and led him into the kitchen.
Peter opened the cabinets. “Uh, cause it’s nasty. Give me that.”
“Don’t say give me, that’s not nice.” Pepper shut the cabinet. “You ate the same thing before. If you’re hungry, you’ll eat it because I’m not making anything else.”
Peter frowned. He wanted something else.
Tony walked down the stairs and was surprised to see that the mess was almost all gone. “Wow. Amazing job, Harls.”
“Mom did it all mostly. I’m just finishing it because Pete’s hungry.”
“How was he?” Tony was curious. Harley babysat a lot but not since Peter’s been kidnapped for the second time and most likely not again anytime soon. At least they weren’t going to leave Harley to watch Peter.
“Uh, good. He refused to eat dinner though. He didn’t even take one bite. And he shoved his butt in Morgan’s face but other than that, oh, and other than the whole paint thing. But he didn’t cry like I thought he would.”
Tony was surprised Peter didn’t cry either. “Thanks. You’re an amazing older brother, buddy.” He patted him on the back then walked into the kitchen to see Peter pushing the plate away. Tony grabbed Peter’s wrist firmly and stuck his pointer finger in Peter’s face so he listened. “Enough. Eat your dinner or I will put you to bed right now.”
“Mmm!” Peter leaned forward to bite him but Tony grabbed his jaw.
“Okay. Say goodnight to everyone because you’re going to bed.” Tony lifted Peter off the chair and grabbed him by the arms, practically dragging him upstairs. He felt awful and he wasn’t mad but Peter had to listen.
“Nooo! Nooooo!” He screamed and tried to stop his dad from bringing him upstairs but it didn’t work.
Tony lifted Peter up and placed him on his and Peppers bed that was also now Peter’s bed. He pulled the blankets over him and pushed his head into the pillow. “Goodnight. If you aren’t going to listen, you will go to bed.”
Peter cried harder and tried to sit up.
“Nope. You will sleep early.”
When Peter stopped trying to sit up, Tony took his hand off his chest. “Are you ready to listen now?”
“Yeah!” Peter cried out, nodding his head.
“You have to eat the food we put in front of you. If you try it and you don’t like it, just say mom dad I don’t like it can I have something else. It’s inappropriate behaviour to push your plate away and cry over it.” Tony simply explained as he caressed Peter’s face to get him to calm down. He knew he had to go about this gently. “Do you understand?”
“Yeah.” Peter stressed out and reached his arms up for nothing in particular. “Can-can I sit up?”
“Are you going to come down and try your food? If you don’t like it after you try a little, just tell us nicely and we will make you something else that’s healthy.”
“Yeah.”
“Then sit up. Let’s try this again.” Tony walked down with Peter again. Pepper didn’t say anything as Tony heated the food back up and placed it in front of Peter.
Peter took his fork and took a small bite. He then went for a bigger one and continued to eat it. Tony and Pepper both knew not to say anything. If they said something like, ‘see I told you so’ then Peter would stop eating, his way of rebelling against them so he didn’t prove them right and himself wrong.
Tony handed him a cup of juice and sat next to him. “Good job. I’m so proud of you.”
The smile was back on Peter’s face and it amazed Tony how quickly Peter could bounce back from his moods.
It was a rather late dinner so after Peter finished, Pepper took him upstairs while Tony stayed down to clean up a bit. He walked up behind Harley and patted his back. “Thanks for today. I know it’s not easy but you did a good job.”
Harley gestured to the floor where the paint was all cleaned up now. “How? They both made a mess.”
“And it’ll happen again. And again and again after that too. It’s what kids do, Harley. As long as you guys are safe and happy, that’s all that matters and you guys are so you did a good job.” Tony gestured to the bottle under his arm and the cup of milk. “Parenting never stops. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t stay up too late.”
He walked upstairs and was surprised to see Peter facing away from the door. He wasn’t eagerly awaiting his bottle like usual. “Are you tired, Petey?”
“Uh huh.” Peter turned to face him. “My bottle.”
Tony handed it to him and got into bed, placing the glass of milk on the side table. Peter took a few sip but tossed it. “Where’s the milk?” Tony reached over for it. “Can you pour it in there?”
“No. You can drink it in the cup or no milk.” Tony expected tears but there was none.
Peter pushed the cup out of his face and picked up the bottle to chew on the spout. “Today-today Harley made me feel bad feelings.”
Tony wasn’t expecting Peter to talk with them tonight. He laid down and rubbed Peter’s stomach. “How did he do that, buddy?”
Peter chewed some more. “Um… me and Morgan and Harley were play fighting and Harley wasn’t fighting me. He just fighting with Morgan and it made me feel like not happy. I just didn’t like it.”
“I know he didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” Said Pepper. “Would you like to ask him why tomorrow?”
“I wanna go ask him now. Can you hold this?” Peter handed his bottle to Tony and sat up but Tony didn’t want him getting out of bed.
“I’ll go get him. You guys stay here.” Tony knew it was silly for Peter to be upset over that but to Peter, it was rational. Tony knocked on Harley’s bedroom door and walked in after he got permission. “So, I know it’s silly but supposedly you Morgan and Peter were play fighting today and you didn’t fight Peter as hard. He’s a bit upset because of that.”
Harley put his pyjama shirt on. “Okay… I don’t know why.”
Tony didn’t know either. “He wants to talk to you about it.”
“I’ll tell him why if he tells me why he needs a bottle and milk every single goddamn second of every goddamn day.”
“Harley.” Tony warned. He knew how Harley felt about Peter’s habit. “Don’t say anything to him. He needs to stop because of him, not because you made him feel bad about needing a bottle.”
Harley rolled his eyes. “Whatever. If I were you and mom, I’d throw his bottle in the garbage right in front of him.”
Tony grabbed his arm as Harley tried to pass him. “Don’t mention anything about the bottle. He’s trying his best.”
“I won’t.”
They walked into the bedroom and Peter lifted his head off of Pepper’s chest. Harley took a seat at the edge of the bed. “What’s up?”
“Um… today I didn’t like it when you made me feel bad.”
Harley played dumb. “When was that?”
“Um… um, it was when we were play fighting. And-and you weren’t fighting me like before.” Peter squeezed the spout on his bottle, needing something to comfort him at the moment.
Harley looked at his mom, he didn’t know if he should admit why but he owed it to Peter. “Because… when you got kidnapped again… I was really sad because I missed you so much and I guess, even though you’re back, I just didn’t want to hurt you.”
Peter looked at Harley. He thought so. “Well… well next time don’t. Because I don’t want it to be different. Just pretend I never went a-away.”
Harley nodded and reached over to pull Peter in for a quick hug. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
Tony could tell Peter was holding back tears. Harley left and Peter picked his bottle back up and took a few sips then threw it across the room with a scream. “I hate it. I hate everything!”
Pepper and Tony looked at each other before consoling Peter. It was good that Peter was getting angry in a way because it meant he was healing. Over the past few days, Tony was a tiny bit worried that Peter was too okay and was trying to rush into getting back to normal too quickly.
But this was a good thing.
“Why do you hate everything, Peter?” Tony patiently asked.
Peter broke out into tears. “Everything! Everything I did is all messed up now. I did so much work and-and now everything is broken.” Peter sobbed out. “I wanna go back to the beginning.”
That broke the parents hearts to hear. Pepper wiped the silent tears that were falling down her face while Tony rubbed at Peter’s back. “I know. I understand your frustration, Peter-”
“It’s not- it’s not frustration.” Peter didn’t know what it was. All he knew was that he was angry at Steve. He collapsed onto the bed.
Tony looked at Pepper. They needed to get Peter to see his therapist.