Heal me
Peter took another sip of his juice and waited for Ned to text him back.
He felt bad. It had been an extremely long time since he’s spoken to Ned. His dad had talked to his friend even more than he did. It wasn’t his fault, he was going through a lot and texting Ned just wasn’t on his mind.
That still made him feel really bad.
His phone vibrated with another text so Peter picked it up and read it.
Ned: I’m not doing anything today so my mom says we can hang out
Peter looked up at his dad. Tony was washing the dishes with his back to him, unable to see Peter’s face.
It wasn’t like Peter didn’t want to see Ned, he did but maybe just on a quick FaceTime call. He was also fine with texting Ned to catch up. He groaned. He was a horrible friend.
Tony turned his head to look at Peter. “What?”
“Nothing.” Peter laid his head on his arm and groaned again, louder this time.
Tony dried his hands and walked around the kitchen island to find out what’s wrong with Peter. He saw his phone on the table and quickly read the text message from Ned but he pretended he didn’t. “What’s wrong?”
Peter turned his head away from him. “I dunno.”
“Well… I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.” Tony sat down on the stool next to Peter and rubbed his back.
Peter frowned. “Ned wants to hang out with me but I don’t want to. I don’t wanna miss you.”
“Petey, you should hang out with him. He hasn’t seen you since you left school and a lot has happened since then. I’m sure he really misses you.” Tony knew Ned did. He often got texts from the boy asking about Peter so Tony texted him back to reassure him that Peter was okay.
“I know but… I don’t want to be away from you.” Peter lifted his head up. “Can you play with us?”
Tony scratched the back of Peter’s head. “No… you need to play with Ned alone. You guys haven’t seen each other in a long time.” He picked up Peter’s phone and handed it to him. “Text him back.”
Peter hesitated. He didn’t want to hang out with Ned and leave his dad but he did really feel bad for ignoring his friend after all this time. “Fine.” He texted him back.
Peter: What did you wanna do
Ned responded immediately and it made Peter feel even more bad.
Ned: Are you allowed to come over to my house? I started on a lego project but I want you to help me finish it
Peter thought about it. He looked over at his dad who went back to washing the dishes. “Can I go to Ned’s house?”
Tony thought about it. He thought Ned was going to come hang out at the tower for a few hours, possibly stay for dinner but he didn’t want Peter to go over to somebody’s house who he didn’t even know all that well. “Who’s home?”
“Ummmm… I think just his mom and his dad and his sisters.”
Tony gestured towards the phone in Peter’s hand. “Can you ask him who’s there for sure?”
Peter texted Ned even as he asked. “Why?”
Peter: My dad wants to know who’s at ur house??
“Because,” Tony turned to continue the washing. “I need to know who’s there so I know who’s there.”
Peter looked at the back of his dad’s head and scrunched his face up in confusion. He didn’t even understand that. He rolled his eyes before reading the text.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me.” Tony warned him, turning around to point his finger at Peter.
“What? How did you even know? Your back is to me.” Peter said, lifting one arm up in a shrug. He didn’t know how Tony even saw him. It was like he had magic dad powers or something. In fact, Peter knew he did.
“I just know.”
Peter read the text out loud. “Ned said his mom and younger sister is gonna be home. His other sisters aren’t home and his dads at work right now.”
Tony thought about it. He would still prefer if Ned came to the tower but he was the one who was trying to convince Peter to hang out with his friend to begin with. “Alright. You can go over for a few hours. What time do you want me to pick you up at?”
“Ummm…” Peter checked the time now. “Maybe seven?”
“Seven?” Tony wanted to argue that. It was late considering that he still had to drive Peter all the way home and tell him to get ready for bed but he didn’t want to be that parent that tells their child they could hang out with friends and then when they ask, tell them no. “That’s fine. If you need me to come earlier, just call me.”
Peter nodded and texted Ned back.
Peter: My dad says yes so I can stay till 7
Ned: Yaaaayyyy!! That’s awesome dude text me when ur here
Peter: Okk
He put his phone down and slid off the stool to change into a different outfit that wasn’t his pyjamas pants and his dad’s T-shirt. “I’ll be back. I’m just gonna go change quickly then we’ll go?”
Tony watched Peter run off upstairs, completely stunned. Peter never did that. He smiled at the sight of what he just saw. Was Peter actually getting better? Was Rose actually helping them?
He didn’t know where it came from, before, he didn’t know before what but Peter would never have willingly gone upstairs to change without him, especially if Peter had to leave him. It just wouldn’t happen so Tony was surprised. In a good way.
He was proud of Peter. He would be proud of Peter no matter what.
When Peter ran back downstairs, Tony looked over his outfit, silently deciding with himself if it was decent. “You ready? Go put your jacket and boots on.” Tony instructed, walking into the mud room to get ready to go out himself.
Peter stepped into his boots and grabbed his winter jacket. “What are you going to do while I’m gone?”
Tony didn’t know what he was going to do with his free time. He never got free time so he didn’t know. “Maybe I’ll sleep.” He joked as he ushered Peter into the elevator. “Since I can’t do that with you flipping around all night.”
Peter hit him. “Hey. I don’t do that.”
“Oh really?” Tony raised his eyebrows at Peter. “I had to move you to the other side of the bed so many times last night and each time you came right back. And you stuck your butt in my face.”
Peter laughed at that. He didn’t remember but it definitely sounded a lot like him. “It’s cause I love you and I just wanna be close all the time.”
Tony ruffled his hair. “I know, buddy. Let’s get going so you can spend as much time with Ned as you can.”
In the car, Peter was feeling a mixture of emotions.
He really wanted to see Ned and hang out with him for a few hours after having not seen him for over a month and barely talking to him during that time but he was reluctant to leave his dad. Plus his head was hurting a bit, not like a headache but more of a head cold starting up so he really hoped he wasn’t going to get sick. He didn’t know if he had the energy for that right now.
He mainly tried to calm his building anxiety at leaving his dad soon so once they arrived in front of Ned’s house, Peter convinced himself that he was okay but he wasn’t. The goodbyes were always the hardest parts.
Tony pulled up to the front of Peter’s friend's house. He had never been there before. He remembered he was supposed to pick Peter up one Friday evening after school to take Peter for the weekend but then Peter ended up ditching his friend and going out on patrol.
He looked over at Peter and could tell he was nervous about it. He didn’t blame him, the protective dad side of Tony wanted to keep Peter at home with him where he knew what he was up to and so he could keep him safe but he wasn’t going to prevent Peter from living a childhood that he himself never got.
He also remembered what Rose had said to him about saying goodbye and how he can’t prolong it because then it shows Peter that it’s a big deal when it’s really not. He was still going to struggle with it though.
“Bye, I love you and I’ll pick you up here at seven. Call me if you need me.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Peter’s temple then pulled away, trying not to prolong it but it was hard since Peter was the one that had to actually leave.
Peter hesitated. He didn’t like it when his dad said bye. He whimpered and looked over at him but he didn’t want to cry. “Okay. I love you. I’ll see you at seven. And you’ll pick me up, right? At seven? Here?”
Tony smiled. “Of course. Seven sharp.”
Peter opened the car door and left, bouncing up to the steps.
Tony waited until the door opened and he walked in. He felt a mixture of bipolar emotions. Part of him didn’t like this independent side of Peter because he wanted Peter to be with him at all times and selfishly wanted Peter to depend on him for things but he was also so unbelievably proud of Peter and the progress he’s made.
He loved that after one meeting with Rose and actually accomplishing something is making Peter feel like he’s ready enough to actually willingly ask to go over to his friends house and leave him for a few hours.
It was huge progress and Tony was so proud of his boy.
Peter rang the doorbell and waited until the door opened. He was greeted by Ned’s mother almost immediately then was pulled in by her. “Hi Peter. Oh, look at you, you’re looking cuter than ever. How are you? Gosh, it’s been how long since I’ve seen you?”
Peter felt his cheeks blush red. “Hi, Mrs. Leeds. Uh, yeah, it’s been a long time.”
Ned came running down the stairs and pulled Peter in for a hug. “Hi, dude. Let’s go upstairs to my room.”
“Wait, Ned, Peter must be hungry.” Ned’s mother grabbed onto Peter and led him into the kitchen. “Eat something. What do you want? I’ll make you anything.”
Peter just ate but he knew how much Ned’s mom liked to feed him. Or anyone that enters the house for that matter. “Um, can I have a peanut butter sandwich please?” He climbed up onto the stool, having done so a million times before.
It brought back so many memories being at Ned’s house again after over half a year. He hadn’t realized it’s been so long.
“Mom,” Ned whined. “Peter’s only staying until seven and I haven’t seen him in so long.”
“Hush, Ned.” She said, putting a plate in front of Peter with a juice box. “I remember you love these. Here you go, darling.”
Peter smiled shyly. “Thank you.”
“Okay. I’m gonna let you boys go play but I’ll be up soon to check on you two.”
Ned pulled Peter by the arm and grabbed his plate for him. “Let’s go.” He pulled Peter up the stairs and into his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. “Sorry. My mom loves you and missed you.”
Peter took a seat on Ned’s comfy chair that had been there since they were seven. “It’s fine. I missed her too. You not so much.” He teased and took another bite of his sandwich.
Ned gasped. “Wow, Peter, I’m hurt. You wounded me.”
Peter grinned and slid off the chair and onto the floor. “Let’s build your new lego set? Can I see it?”
Ned pulled out the box. “Sure. How’s school going? Are you liking online school?”
“Uh,” Peter was suddenly feeling guilty. He didn’t even know why. “I actually didn’t start yet. I’m Uh, I’m not ready yet. Maybe soon but… like not yet.”
Ned took a seat across from Peter. “Oh. What are you doing at home all day then? You consider the Avengers tower your home right?”
Peter rolled his eyes. Of course he did, he didn’t know why Ned was even asking that. “Obviously. And I don’t know. Just sleep in late then wake up and hang out with dad all day.”
“That’s still so cool. I can’t believe Tony Stark is your dad. Like remember when we used to watch him do speeches on YouTube and now he’s your dad. That’s so cool, dude. I wish he was my dad.”
Peter frowned. It wasn’t like that. “Why? You have a dad already. And a mom. And siblings and cousins and stuff. I literally have no one but dad.” And the Avengers but Peter left them out. He also had Pepper too but he didn’t think of her as a mom or an Aunt, he didn’t actually know what she was to him other than his dad’s friend. Maybe best friend after Rhodey.
Ned looked at Peter briefly but Peter wasn’t looking at him. “Oh, I just meant that you know, it’s Tony Stark. That’s the coolest thing ever.”
“Maybe in the beginning but not anymore. He’s just dad to me, Ned, it’d kinda be weird to still think of him like that.” Peter thought back to all the questionable things he does in front of his dad. That’d definitely be weird. And embarrassing.
“True. Sorry, man. It’s just different for me because well… obviously he’s not my dad.”
Peter wanted to say good. He didn’t want to share his dad with anyone. If he had to, he would probably hate the person he had to share his dad with and most likely steal the attention for himself all the time.
They built in silence for a few minutes, concentrating on what they were doing then Peter spoke up. “How’s school for you?”
“Oh, it’s actually pretty good. We’re off next week so I’m excited about that but I’ve got so much homework and so many assignments I have to catch up on so I’ll be doing that the whole time I think.” Ned explained. Peter didn’t miss that. The only thing he had time for was school and homework before. He hoped his online school wasn’t like that.
“So you know Betty?” Peter tried to remember but he couldn’t. “The really pretty one with blonde hair?”
Peter still didn’t know. He didn’t think anyone was pretty at his school, well, his old school. “I don’t know who that is, Ned.”
“Oh. Maybe because I started hanging out with her more after you left,” Ned pulled out his phone and showed Peter a picture of the two. They were at some lake and were holding hands in the picture. “So she’s my girlfriend now.”
Peter didn’t know what to say to that. “Oh. What’s she like?”
“Uh, she’s really pretty. She’s nice. She’s smart too of course. Oh! She likes chocolate mint ice cream.” Ned placed another lego piece on.
“She sounds cool.” Peter didn’t really care. He wasn’t into all that stuff so he couldn’t even relate to Ned. “Do you guys hang out a lot?”
Ned smiled big. “Yeah. We try to have lunch together everyday and we even hang out after school everyday.”
Peter didn’t know why that made him a bit jealous. He didn’t want Ned to like someone more than him. He felt his eyes water and he wanted to change the subject. “So what other legos have you built? Dad got me this really cool one with a boat but I accidentally may have eaten one of the pieces so he took it away from me.”
“That’s funny.” Ned laughed and soon they were back to being themselves again and talking as if no time had passed between them.
They started building in comfortable silence, much like all the other times they built legos together until Ned spoke up. “So… at school, you wanna know something funny actually?”
Peter briefly glanced at Ned. “What?”
“Well…” Ned began but he hesitated which made Peter even more curious so he stopped building to look at his friend. “Since like, people at our school, well… my school now, since they know you’re my friend and Tony Stark is your dad, everyone always comes up to me and asks me questions about you.”
Peter didn’t like that. He frowned. It wasn’t fair to Ned and his own privacy. Everyone always said that he’s lucky to have Tony Stark as his dad because he’s rich and he’s Iron Man but Peter didn’t look at him that way anymore.
He stopped looking at Tony that way almost immediately after May died.
Peter wasn’t lucky. Him and his dad were always supposed to end up together and although Peter would have liked not to lose two sets of parents, he knew he wouldn’t be Tony’s son if that never happened so he wouldn’t change that for anything, as hard as it was.
He didn’t care.
That was also part of the reason why he left school. A small part of the reason. If he didn’t have such bad separation anxiety from his dad then he probably would have stayed and just put up with all that.
He was glad he didn’t have to though.
“What do they say to you? Or… ask you?” Peter was curious but an angry curious. He didn’t think it was fair. Why did everyone have to know everything about his life as if they were allowed to know certain things.
Why was it okay for people to ask Ned about his life when Peter most likely didn’t even know that person and likely didn’t know the same question about them.
It wasn’t fair.
Ned thought about it. “Like… this girl, I think she’s a senior, she asked if I could ask Mr. Stark if she could watch you for a few hours.”
Peter felt his face turn red. “What? Like… babysit me?”
Ned shrugged. “Probably. I don’t know exactly.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I think I just told her that the Avengers babysit you. They do right?”
Peter suddenly felt extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable. He narrowed his eyes at Ned. “No. I’m fourteen. Not four. I don’t need to be babysat.” Peter thought back to all those times he did something irresponsible when left by himself. He didn’t mention that to Ned though. There definitely was no need to.
He didn’t want Ned to think of him as irresponsible even though he knew everyone knew he was. Peter didn’t think he knew one kid his age that was responsible.
“Oh.” Ned went back to building. “Either way, your life is awesome.”
Peter was so tired of telling Ned to stop saying that. Peter didn’t take it as a compliment or as awesome. His life was actually kinda hard at the moment, he thought so anyways.
So he simply agreed. “Yeah.”
Peter was surprised when he saw the time read 6:30pm because he made it the whole time and didn’t need to call or text his dad once. He was so proud of himself but now that he was thinking about it, he wanted to go home and cuddle with his dad.
Especially since his head was hurting him a little more and his stomach was feeling a bit questionable.
“How are you boys getting on in here?” Ned’s mom asked, knocking on the door.
“Good.” Answered Peter but then Ned’s mom was sitting on Ned’s bed and staring at Peter.
“How’s your dad, Peter?” She asked.
Peter was really missing him at this point. “Good.”
“That’s good. Does he have to work a lot? I can imagine running a company like that requires a lot of time away.”
“Uh, actually he doesn’t work.” Peter rarely saw his dad work but he wasn’t complaining about it. He liked his dad around him at all times.
Ned’s mom nodded. “I see. That’s good, more one on one time, right?”
“Uh huh.” Peter looked over at his best friend's mom. She looked a lot older from the last time he saw her now that he was really looking at her. She had more wrinkles and grey hair and looked so much more tired.
“Well, I’m gonna leave you boys to it. Have fun.” She left after that but Peter had to go soon too and they were only halfway done.
Peter sat up on his knees and stretched. “I’m gonna bring this downstairs and go pee.” He picked up the plate and left to go downstairs, leaving the plate on the counter then walking towards the front door to use the bathroom.
Tony just so happened to pull up at that time.
He parked his car and got out, walking up to the front door. He was about to ring the doorbell when he spotted Peter’s butt in the bathroom and laughed, taping his knuckles on the door. “Hey, naked bum. How bout you close the door next time.”
Peter snapped his head to look at the door, spotting his dad there. “Dad!”
Tony waited until Peter was done, not liking how Peter chose to go to the bathroom with the whole door open at a friends house. It could have been anyone at the door.
Peter turned around and slid his feet across the floor to unlock the door and Tony couldn’t hold in his laughter. “Pull up your pants first, bud, you’re gonna flash the whole neighborhood.”
“Come in.” Peter told Tony as he bent down to get his underwear and pants on but Ned’s mom was happily rushing to the door to open it for Tony.
“Mr. Stark, come on in.” She opened the door and let Tony in, “ How are you?”
“Excellent. Thank you but call me Tony. How are you?” He asked but his attention was all on Peter, waiting for him to finish with his pants so he could hug him.
“Good good.”
Peter threw himself into his dad’s arms. “Dad! I missed you.”
“I missed you too, buddy. Did you have fun?” Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s head, holding him tightly.
“Uh huh.”
“Tony, are you hungry? Let me make you something.” Ned’s mom walked into the kitchen, gesturing for Tony to follow her so he let Peter pull him into the kitchen but he didn’t want to stay. He didn’t like eating other peoples food and especially didn’t like going to other people's houses.
“We’re going to go home now and I’m gonna cook some dinner but thank you anyways.” Tony looked down at Peter, hoping he was going to ask him to leave.
Ned’s mother still insisted. “Oh please, sit down.”
Peter leaned against his dad and rubbed at his eyes, stepping on his feet. “I’m tired. I wanna go home.”
“Okay, buddy. We’re going home.” He ran his fingers through the back of Peter’s hair. “Thank you so much for having Peter over. Say thank you, Peter.”
“Thank you.” Peter said, not even bothering to look at Ned’s mom. He was too tired to do anything else now and just wanted to get home.
“Oh, of course. You’re always welcome here, Peter. Perhaps we should plan for you to sleep over some time soon.” She suggested and Peter buried his face in his dad's stomach.
Tony knew Peter was getting tired. They’d be relaxing at home and getting ready for bed around this time. “He’s tired, sorry, he didn’t sleep very well last night.”
Ned walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, getting starstruck as he looked up at Tony. “Mr. Stark! Uh, hi. Oh my god, Tony Stark is in my house.” He squealed excitedly.
Tony forced a smile, wanting to leave now. “Hi Ned. Thanks for having Peter over. He’ll see you soon but we gotta go now.”
“Okay. Bye Peter.” Ned walked over to Peter and gave him a half hug before Peter was pulling away.
“Bye.” He said, waving a bit to them then walked over to his shoes to sit down and get them on. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes. “How long until we’re home?”
“Like twenty minutes. Are you tired?” Tony knew seven was late for Peter to be at his friends house but he didn’t want to say no although now he wished they made the time six instead.
“Yeah.” Peter told Tony, standing up and grabbing onto his hand. “I don’t want to eat dinner tonight. Just go to bed.”
Tony opened the front door and walked out, pulling Peter along. He could see it on Peter’s face and in his movements that he was so exhausted. “You have to eat. I’ll make something quick so you can eat and go to bed. You just need something in your body for dinner.”
They got into the car and Tony drove away, heading back to Manhattan. He was happy to be going home. Finally. He was so bored without Peter, it was crazy how much every minute of his life revolved around Peter.
“So, tell me, how was it? You hadn’t seen him for a long time.” Tony said. “I’m sure you guys had a lot to talk about.”
Peter shrugged. He guessed so. “Yeah. We built legos. He said that people at school ask him questions about me though.”
That alarmed Tony a bit but he didn’t show it. “Oh yeah? Like what kinda questions?”
Peter shrugged again. “I don’t know. Questions.”
Tony rolled his eyes at the attitude but he didn’t comment on it. “That’s very specific. I totally understand now.”
Peter lifted his head up to give his dad a dirty look. “Stop.”
“Why won’t you just tell me then?” Tony felt a bit hurt, he tried to be so open with Peter and he thought he was doing a good job so he didn’t understand why Peter didn’t want to tell him.
“Cause I forget.”
“No you don’t. Tell me.” Tony looked over at Peter as they pulled up to a red light, the light in front of them lighting up Peter’s face and making his frown visible.
Peter threw his head back. “He just said that some girl came up to him and asked if she could babysit me. Like, what the heck. That’s so stupid. It just bugs me that it’s not weird for people to ask Ned weird questions about me but it would be to anyone else.”
Tony was used to it. He got asked the strangest questions. He was once asked what kind of toilet paper he used. That was weird. He felt bad for Ned but mostly Peter with this new information.
“It sucks but it’s part of being a Stark, kid. I wish I could tell you something better.” Tony pulled onto the highway, pausing before continuing again. “People think that just because our name is famous that they can ask us anything they want.”
Peter crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s annoying. People are annoying. I don’t like people.”
Tony laughed. “Me neither, Pete. Me neither.”
The ride home was spent in silence after that, much like the ride over.
Peter laid his head on the cold window and watched the cars pass by. He shut his eyes to try and fall asleep even for a few minutes until they got home but Tony was shaking him awake.
“Don’t sleep yet. I want you to eat first.” Tony checked the time. It was just past seven so he didn’t know why Peter was this tired.
He didn’t have the best sleep last night but it wasn’t awful. Tony sighed. He hoped Peter wasn’t getting sick. “Do you feel okay, baby? Do you feel sick at all?”
Peter thought about it. He thought he was getting sick a few hours ago but then he felt fine but now that he was safely back with his dad and felt safe enough to feel what he was feeling, he did feel sick. He responded by whimpering.
“Just… just wanna go home and sleep.”
Tony nodded and got home as quickly as he could. Peter looked over at him with puppy dog eyes and Tony already knew what he wanted. “I’m not carrying you. Let’s go up.”
“Mm!” Peter crossed his arms. “Then I’m not getting up.”
“Your decision. I’m gonna get into my comfortable pyjamas and crawl into bed.” Tony slammed his car door and walked into the elevator, already hearing Peter screaming. When he turned around, Peter was chasing him and had tears pouring down his cheeks.
Tony never knew how quickly Peter could have tears pouring down his cheeks. “Pick me up! I’m tired!”
Tony didn’t respond to him. He lifted Peter up and pitched his leg. “Stop crying.”
“Mm!” Peter tried to stop crying and wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck but he was already worked up so he couldn’t stop. “Help me!”
“Help you what?” Tony looked at Peter, feeling bad but also not liking how Peter demanded everything from him. He put all of his energy into Peter and it was hard.
“I don’t wanna cry!” Peter said, even while crying. He threw his head back and wailed as the elevator doors opened and Tony walked out, tried depositing Peter onto the couch but Peter refused to let him go. “No! No, sit with me.”
“I don’t know why you’re crying, Peter, what do you want me to do?” Tony sat down next to Peter and lifted him onto his lap once again, patting his bum. “I think you’re hungry and tired? Right?”
“Yeah.” Peter said sadly, nuzzling into Tony’s neck.
“Then let’s get some food into you and then we’ll go up to bed.”
Getting Peter to eat wasn’t as hard as Tony thought it would be, it turned out he was hungrier than he thought but the hard part was getting Peter ready for bed.
“You have to brush your teeth. You’re gonna get rotten teeth and they’ll all fall out if you don’t.” Tony explained, pinning Peter against the counter to brush his teeth.
Peter was miserable. His head was killing him and his body felt so weak and tired and on top of everything, Tony was forcing him to brush his teeth and he just wanted to sleep.
“No. Nooo. Please.” Peter pushed the toothbrush away from his face but Tony held his jaw open to get his teeth brushed quickly.
“Almost done. I know, I know,” Tony brushed as quickly as he could, feeling awful as Peter cried and tried to turn his head away. “All done. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
He got a loud cry in response but at least that part was over.
Peter spit and rinsed his mouth out then ran into the bedroom to grab his water bottle. “Can- can you lie down now?”
“I’m guessing you don’t wanna shower so let’s just take off these clothes and put your pyjamas on. Can you do that?” Tony held up a pair of pyjamas for Peter but apparently that was too much to even ask for the way Peter tried to hide from him under the blankets. “Okay, do you want me to help you then?”
“Uh huh.” Peter came back out from under the blankets and sat at the edge of the bed, rubbing at his eyes.
Tony tried to make a fun game out of it to brighten up the mood in the bedroom but Peter was miserable and definitely over exhausted. He grabbed his ankles and pulled his pants off, accidentally throwing Peter back onto the bed which was the end of the world in Peter’s mind.
He sank off the bed and onto the floor, crying against the bed frame. “Oh, enough, Peter, what is this?”
Peter wiped at his eyes. “I don’t know! I feel… bad.”
“Why do you feel bad? Did you do something?” Tony asked, kneeling down so he could be closer to Peter and hopefully get something out of him. He didn’t know what was going on but he had an idea.
Peter shook his head aggressively. “Nooo. Not that kinda bad. I feel… my stomach feels weird. And so does my chest.” He explained the best he could and sat up a bit so he could lean over the bed.
Tony stood up as well. “Well, do you want to try sitting on the toilet? Maybe you need to poop.” Tony grabbed the pyjama top and pants off the bed he had previously put there. He was desperate for Peter to speak with him instead of throwing a crying fit that really didn’t help anyone.
Peter screamed with his face pressed into the bed so his voice was muffled. He kicked his leg back out towards his dad, missing him the first time so he did it again a second time and kicked him in the thigh. “Don’t say that!”
“Say what?” Tony was lost. He didn’t know what he did wrong.
“What you said.” Peter replied. He rolled onto his back and stared up at his dad, still trying to kick a leg out at him. He didn’t know why he was doing that, he felt really bad, his stomach felt weird and so did his chest and head. It was like he was underwater after being spun around a dozen times.
Tony picked Peter up, holding him in his arms and hoping that Peter took to the comfort and calmed down, even though he was in an awful mood. “Just relax now. Do you want to pick out your own pyjamas?”
With a sigh, Peter laid his head on Tony’s shoulder and tried to move up higher on him, not wanting to be put down.
Tony shifted Peter onto his hip so he could have a free arm to grab stuff with. He walked into his closet and turned the light on, spotting him holding Peter in the full length mirror and his heart melted just a bit. He sometimes got so overwhelmed with being a dad that he forgot to take in these precious moments so he held Peter a little bit longer, knowing that sooner or later, he was going to put Peter down for the last time because Peter wouldn’t want to get picked up anymore.
He tried to enjoy this moment in time, wishing he could freeze it even just for a few extra minutes.
Peter lifted his head up and looked at him briefly then closed his eyes and laid his head back down. He wanted to be close to his dad and the comfort he was currently giving. He knew if he was placed back down then he would be miserable so he planned on not going anywhere.
Tony grabbed one of his sweaters off a hanger and walked back into the bedroom, showing it to Peter. “Do you want to wear this? Instead of your pyjamas? It’s comfy.”
Peter lifted up his head to examine the sweater. It did feel comfortable so he nodded his head, hurting him so he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping the pain would go away soon but he knew it wouldn’t. He just hoped he could fall asleep soon. He didn’t want to be so uncomfortable in the pain he was currently feeling.
He nuzzled into his dad’s neck but felt Tony’s grip loosen on his bottom so he let out a whimper, trying to tell Tony he didn’t want to be put down.
“Wait, I’m just gonna sit you down to put this on and then I’ll pick you back up.” Tony waited until Peter processed it then he sat him on the bed and made quick work of putting the sweater on him before picking him back up. “Do you feel better?”
Peter sighed. He wasn’t feeling better. His head was spinning along with his stomach. He laid his head back on Tony’s shoulder with a whine. “I wanna sleep.”
“I know. Okay,” Tony pulled back the blankets on the bed. “Lie down. I’m gonna turn the lights off first.” When Tony went to lie Peter down, Peter clung onto him.
“Take me with you.” Peter spoke quietly. Tony wouldn’t have been able to hear him if Peter’s mouth wasn’t right next to his ear.
Tony carried him over to the light switch just to turn it off and go lie down. He should have known Peter wasn’t going to make it any easier for him.
Peter was whining and rolling all over him but Tony tried to ignore it and hoped that he fell asleep soon. He was never that lucky when it came to Peter sleeping and it wasn’t even just because Tony had a strong feeling that Peter was going to get sick, it was all the time.
He was in for a long night.
.
.
.
Peter woke up in a good mood surprisingly.
Tony was hoping that it would last but it must have been the calm before the storm because the next minute, Peter was miserable and demanding.
Tony barely managed to get himself ready in the bathroom before Peter was whining and banging weakly on the bathroom door. He opened it up, causing Peter to accidentally slam his face against the floor and that’s when the crying started.
He picked Peter up, wiping his tears away and to check if he was okay. “You’re fine, maybe you shouldn’t have been leaning against the door like that.”
Peter stopped crying once he was in his dad's arms and Tony looked at him, wondering how Peter could start and stop crying so easily. It was literally like a switch that got turned on and could just as easily be turned off. Peter looked at him.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“I’m just wondering how you cry so easily.” Tony told him, hoping Peter didn’t start crying from that comment. Tony never cried and never had been a cryer. He could probably count the amount of times he’s cried in his life, half those times being because of Peter. Being a parent really changed him. All for the better of course.
“Don’t be mean to me.” Peter mumbled and wiggled out of Tony’s arms. “I need to pee.”
Tony turned back to walk into his bathroom. “Okay. Go then. Thanks for telling me and not just going on me.” He wouldn’t be surprised if that happened, he had a strong feeling it would happen again at some point.
Peter sat on the toilet and pulled up the long sweater, looking down at himself. His stomach still felt weird but not like last night. It was like it was stronger but not so painful at the same time. He didn’t know how to describe it so he didn’t say anything.
Once he was done, he stood up and flushed the toilet then walked past Tony to head downstairs. He turned around to make sure the man was still following him but he was too tired to talk.
Tony knew Peter wasn’t feeling well because of how tired he looked and the fact that he was silent. It was mostly because he was silent since Tony knew Peter was still a chatterbox even when he was tired.
“What do you want for breakfast?” He asked, walking in front of Peter once they got downstairs. He walked into the kitchen, cringing at the mess from last night that he was way too lazy to clean up now.
Peter climbed on the stool and sat on his knees. The cold counter felt nice so he laid his cheek against it. “Can I have a hug? A long one?”
Tony cooed. He walked over and pulled Peter into his arms, kissing him even though he knew Peter was most likely sick. He didn’t mind, it was worth it.
Peter felt so content in Tony’s arms. He let his legs hang on his sides then rested his head on his shoulder. “My tummy hurts.” He mumbled.
“Like you need to go poop hurt or you’re gonna throw up hurt?” Tony asked, not believing he would ever ask someone that question but it didn’t even phase him at this point, knowing he was going to be cleaning up both messes if he wasn’t prepared.
Peter sighed. “I don’t know.”
Tony didn’t want to take any chances. He walked into the living room and grabbed a pull-up out of the box that he couldn’t seem to get rid of but it did come in handy still. He set Peter on his feet and opened it up, bending down to secure it between Peter’s legs and on his waist. “Just in case, okay? Feel good? Not too tight?”
Peter didn’t care. He was too tired to care. He nodded. “It’s good. Lift me.”
Tony lifted Peter back up and he wasn’t going to lie, he felt a lot better that his forearm wasn’t going to get spray painted a shade of poop.
He made a simple breakfast, not even knowing if Peter was going to eat it. He didn’t blame him if he didn’t since he was sick and Tony knew how awful it was to eat when you’re sick but he also didn’t want Peter to not eat and get even worse.
Peter already felt so weak and hot. He was definitely sick.
Tony grabbed a thermometer out of the cabinet and walked into the living room, sitting Peter on his lap and pulling the sweater up but Peter immediately swatted his hands away, whimpering.
“I know. I know.” He felt so bad. “But I have to, it’ll be quick.” Tony ignored Peter’s whimpering and placed the thermometer in his armpit and put his arm down.
Peter whimpered even louder at the movement and cold touch to his sensitive body. He wiggled, feeling uncomfortable for the three minutes it took for it to be over.
When it beeped, Tony pulled it out and winced. “Yikes, baby. 103.1.” He moved Peter again so he could comfortably rest against him to eat at least something.
“Mmm!” Peter whined.
Tony sighed. This was going to be hard.