#14--April 27, 2019
Bullying
Peter rushes through the living room, head down, hoping that no one will stop him or see the bruise forming around his eyes. "Hey, Pete!" Tony says, making Peter freeze in his tracks. "Where are you going, kid?" Slowly, Peter turns around, keeping his head down as he toes the carpeted floor.
"I'm just going to my room to do my homework," Peter mutters, spinning around on his toes and walking down the hallway. He walks a little faster when he hears Tony jump off the barstool from where he was sitting and makes his way towards him.
"Peter, what--?" Tony's voice halts when he grabs the kid by the arm, spinning him around and spotting the bruise on his cheekbone and eye. "Whoa, what's this?" Tony grabs Peter's jaw softly, turning his head this way and that as he examines his face. "Who've you been fighting kid? Are you okay?"
Peter flinches out of his hold. "It's-It's nothing, Mr. Stark. I'm fine," Peter stutters out, facing down again. He tenses when Tony places his hands on his shoulders.
"Peter, look at me," Tony says softly. Peter swallows and looks up at his mentor-slash-father-figure. Tony's heart drops at his kid's expression. His lip is wobbling and his eyes are shining in unreleased tears. Immediately, Tony pulls the kid into a hug, holding him tightly as the kid lets out a shuddering breath. "Oh, kid..."
Tony's throat is tightening up and he clenches his jaw as he runs his fingers through his mentee's curls. He presses his lips to Peter's forehead as the kid begins to sob into his chest. All he can do is hold his kid as he cries, reigning in his curiosity and the anger at who did this to his kid because yes, Peter is his kid.
All he can say is It's okay, kid, everything's going to be alright, just let it out. Eventually, Peter's cries soften until he's shaking a little. "C'mon, buddy," Tony says, wrapping his arm around his kid's shoulder. Tony leads Peter into the empty living room, sitting the kid on the couch in front of the television. He hands Peter the remote before rushing to the kitchen, grabbing two mugs and two packets of hot chocolate mix.
It's not long until he returns with two steaming cups of hot chocolate. "Here, kid," Tony says, sitting next to Peter and wrapping his arm around him. Peter cuddles into the man's side, grabbing the mug out of the man's grasp and drinking nearly half of it in the first swallow.
They're silent for a while as they watch the people moving on the screen. Peter rests his head on Tony's shoulder and Tony rests his head on Peter's head. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Tony asks after a few minutes of watching the movie.
Peter stays silent before, "I just had a really bad day, Mr. Stark." Tony hums and squeezes Peter's shoulders as encouragement. "Pretty sure I bombed my Spanish test and I've been cold all day," Peter says quietly, snuggling into Tony's side a little more. "My senses have been bothering me all day, too. And when Flash--"
"Is Flash the one who gave you that shiner?" Tony asks. Peter tenses before he deflates again, nodding. "How long has this been going on, kiddo. C'mon, you can tell me, Pete." Peter mutters something and Tony sits up a little. "Didn't hear that, kid."
"Since middle school," Peter mutters, looking into his hot chocolate. "You know, usually I can ignore it. I can just ignore everything he says, but then he brought up you and I couldn't just ignore him. I said something and then, well..."
Tony just nods, "He got angry." Peter just nods. "You're gonna be okay, kiddo. You're gonna be okay,"
"Thanks, Mr. Stark," Peter says, setting down his hot chocolate and leaning into Tony's side. Tony just hugs Peter. Everything's gonna be okay, kid.