#15--April 28, 2019
Don’t Go
“C'mon, Pete, get up,” Tony says, setting down his wrench and looking at the very clearly exhausted Peter Parker. Peter just hums and buries his head further in his arms, making Tony roll his eyes. “Kid, get up, I know it’s the weekend but you can’t stay up this late.”
“No,” Peter says, obviously half asleep as he grabs a screwdriver and attempts to tighten a screw on his science fair project. “I’m-I’m fine, Mr. Sta-“ Peter’s sentence is cut off with a yawn and Tony once again rolls his eyes fondly. This kid is too much like me, he thinks to himself.
"Kid, you’re more than half asleep,” Tony says, standing up and stretching. “Let’s go. You can finish your project tomorrow." Tony ignores the kid’s whines as he walks over to him, pulling the screwdriver out of his grasp. Tony fondly notices that it’s the screwdriver that he pulled out of the remains of his old home in Malibu. "Kid, if you’re not standing in the next ten seconds, I’m carrying you.”
“What-? No, no you don’t have to do that,” Peter says, barely able to lift his head up from his arms. “I’m fine…" Peter’s mumbled speech trails off as soft breaths begin to escape him. Tony just smiles softly at the kid, pulling him off of his workbench and into his arms. The man’s once again struck at how small and light Peter is. How much of a kid the kid still is.
Tony knows that the light weight thing is due to his spider genes because Peter can’t do all of the flips and stuff he does if he weighs the same as a normal seventeen-year-old, but it still makes his heart ache because Peter also happens to forget to eat just like he does and the kid actually needs the food because of his stupid metabolism.
"Let’s go to bed, kiddo,” Tony says softly as he steps into the elevator. Once again, they’re at the Compound, and instead of being just the two of them with the occasional visit from Rhodey and when Pepper has the time to come over like it was before Thanos, the other Avengers are there. Tony mentally groans because he can already hear Wilson’s and Barton’s dad jokes and jeering. I swear to God if any of them wake up my kid, I’m breaking their stuff the next time they need a tune-up.
Tony walks through the living room, ignoring the eyes of everyone who happens to be watching a movie at midnight. He breathes a sigh of relief as he makes it into the hall that leads to his personal section of the Compound. While Tony had originally planned on putting Peter next to Vision, the kid’s like his son and he’d rather have him close. Not to mention the nightmares, of course.
Tony toes Peter’s door open, light revealing a room of legos, Star Wars and Star Trek posters, a messy desk with another new backpack on it, and Peter’s neatly made be because of course the kid has manners and also happens to make his bed in the morning.
It takes a little maneuvering but Tony manages to peel back the Iron Man comforter to place the kid down. And then he’s stick with the next problem–literally. Peter won’t let go because his stupid sticky spider hands won’t let up.
“Kid,” whispers Tony, nudging Peter a little, “you gotta let go." Peter just hums, and with his stupid spider strength, pulls the man into the bed with him.
"No,” Peter mutters, burying his head into the man’s chest as Tony attempts to pull away and leave. “Don’t go." Tony’s heart melts and aches at the same time because he was just like him once when he was a boy, wanting his father’s attention and comfort.
"Never,” Tony mutters, sighing as he shifts around, making himself comfortable. Just until he’s completely asleep, Tony tells himself, throwing the blanket over both of them. Friday closes the door for them because he’s made it so that she can control whether or not Peter’s door can open, close, and lock due to the kid’s occasional sensory overload.
And if Pepper happens to check on them and takes a picture to send to May, well, nobody needs to know.
*Sorry that it’s late!*