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Tony had a worried feeling in his stomach from the moment Peter arrived at the lake house. The boy had dark circles under his eyes, he looked pale...overall, he looked absolutely shit. There was no sugarcoating it.
He knew that Peter was trying to put on a happy face for Tony and his family, but the man knew that as soon as he was alone with him, he'd get him to talk. The moment came when Pepper went to put Morgan to bed. Peter was in the kitchen, offering to wash up. Tony tried to tell him he didn't have to, but the kid insisted. It only made Tony worry more. He was overworking himself.
"Hey, Pete. Wanna take a break? I already told you that you don't need to do all that." Tony offered, pointing to the dishes. Peter didn't even look at Tony as he answered him.
"No, it's all good. I don't mind."
Tony sighed. "Peter, come take a break." It sounded more like an order this time, so Peter actually listened. He reluctantly put his cloth down and followed his Dad into the living room. They both sat on the couch, falling into silence for a while.
"Are you going to tell me what's up, or am I gonna have to force it out of you?" Tony asked, only half joking.
"I don't...I don't know what you mean." Peter lied.
"Kid, you look like death." Tony deadpanned. Peter scoffed.
"Thanks."
"I'm only telling you because I care about you." The man shrugged, waiting for an explanation.
Peter groaned, knowing that he wasn't going to get out of this. "It's just...I've got a lot going on. With MIT, Stark Industries, Spider-Man. It's a lot to balance and...I can't sleep, so that's not helping."
Tony furrowed his eyebrows. "You can't sleep?"
Peter shrugged. "Not really. It's just stress, I guess."
Tony sighed in sympathy. "Well, to help one of your problems, you can take as many breaks as you want when it comes to SI. You're not head of the company yet, you've still got a few years to go, so they're not relying on you to be there all the time. Besides, you can always dump some of your work on an intern or an assistant."
"I feel bad whenever I do that." Peter replied, looking at his lap.
"It will help you in the long run, Peter. Trust me. And with MIT, I know how much of a pain in the ass they can be, but you gotta push through, kid. You'll be out before you know it. I'm so proud of you for what you've done so far, too."
Peter smiled at the praise, and Tony felt relief.
"Just don't overwork yourself. It only makes things worse."
Peter stayed silent for a few seconds. "Thank you."
Tony smiled. "No problem. You wanna go get a little shut eye? We can watch a movie afterwards?"
Peter shrugged. "I think I might go patrol. It always helps me." Peter tried to stand up, but Tony stopped him.
"Um, absolutely not. You can't go patrolling in the state you're in." Tony warned. Peter rolled his eyes in response.
"Why not? That's exactly what I've been doing for the past week!"
The man suddenly felt a flush of anger, but pushed it down. "You shouldn't be doing that, Peter. You may think it helps, but it doesn't. Now go and get some sleep."
Peter grit his teeth but didn't argue. He stood up and stomped his way to his room. Tony sighed, that wasn't exactly how he wanted that conversation to go.
Peter knew Tony would be angry at him, but he didn't really care in that moment. He jumped out his bedroom window and swung his way through the woods. He's almost eighteen, Tony can't tell him what to do.
"Hey, Karen. Got anything for me?"
It wasn't long until he was stopping bike thefts and muggers. It was getting kinda boring actually. He wanted something exciting...something that would distract him from everything.
He spoke too soon.
Unfortunately, Tony was right, even though Peter didn't want to admit it. His punches and attacks were uncoordinated and lethargic. He got beat up and hurt much more than he normally would, and he was pretty sure he was going to pass out soon. That was probably why his spidey senses weren't working well, and why he wasn't able to avoid the knife being pushed through his hand.
He yelled in pain, the mugger taking it to his advantage and running away. Peter bit his lip to stop the screaming as he yanked the knife from out of his hand. He considered swinging back to the lake house to fix his wound, but he knew Tony would scream at him for patrolling when he told him not to. Besides, he was sure he wouldn't even be able to swing with a hole through his hand.
He climbed, one handed, up a tall building and sat on the rooftop, waiting for his wound to heal. He tried to ignore how lightheaded he felt and the sting of tears in his eyes. Why did the universe seem to hate him so much?
Tony felt bad for being stern with Peter. He wanted to help him, not order him around.
That regret instantly vanished once he saw the kid's empty room and the open window, though. The man refrained from yelling in anger and demanded FRIDAY to pull up Peter's location.
He left the house as soon as he got it, sending a quick message to Pepper.
He didn't understand why Peter was being so unbelievably stupid. He's old enough to know when he shouldn't be doing things like patrolling when he's tired and stressed. Tony didn't even try to push down his anger this time. He flew through the city with his Iron Man suit, which he kept spare in case of emergencies.
He flew until he saw a red and blue figure, sitting on a rooftop. He grit his teeth and landed behind them, making the boy jump. He flung himself around a visibly deflated when he saw it was Tony. He whipped his mask off, but stared at the ground. Tony retracted his suit, and they were both sat in silence for a good twenty seconds before Tony spoke up.
"What the hell did I tell you?" He growled. Peter remained silent, which only added to Tony's rage. "That wasn't a fucking rhetorical question, Peter. What did I tell you?!"
Peter's face turned into a scowl. "What did I tell you?" He argued. "I told you patrolling helps me!"
"And did I not tell you that you're out of your damn mind if you think it does?! You're not fit to be swinging around, Peter, I've already told you this!"
"You don't get to decide that for me." Peter spat as he stood up, his head rushing from blood loss. "I know my limits, Mr. Stark. I'm mature enough-"
"-you clearly aren't mature, Peter! Otherwise you wouldn't have jumped out your bedroom window when you look like you're on death's fucking door!"
Peter went to open his mouth to argue, but Tony wasn't done. "God, you're so reckless! I'm trying to help you, and you're only making things worse! Do you know how sick and tired I am of chasing after you because of how irresponsible you are when you're Spider-Man?! I've had enough of FRIDAY telling me that you've stayed out too long on patrol, or that you're not in your room when you're supposed to be, or that you're bleeding out in an alley because you decided to fight some guy who's twice your size!"
A look of hurt flashed in Peter's eyes before he grimaced with anger. "Well, I'm sorry that my existence is such an inconvenience to you, Tony."
Tony's anger almost vanished completely at Peter's words. He fucked up. He didn't mean to be so harsh, he was just so worried about the kid all the time.
"Look, kid, I-" He tried to reason with Peter before he was interrupted.
"Believe me, if I could go back in time and make sure that I don't get bit by that spider, I would." That statement made Tony hurt inside. Wouldn't that mean he would never had met Peter? Is that what the kid wants? "I told you, the day I fucking met you, that I can't have these powers and do nothing with them. Especially because of what happened to Ben." Peter continued, holding back tears. Jesus, Tony felt like an asshole.
"I've never asked you to come rescue me. I've never asked you to give me a curfew, or worry about me. Because you don't have to, or even need to. If you're so 'sick and tired' of me being who I am, then just stay out of my life!"
Tony felt like his heart had been stomped on. He fucked up bad. His anger was completely gone, and all he wanted was to apologize and take the kid home.
"Peter, I...fuck. I...I-I don't know what to say." He mumbled, rubbing a hand down his face.
"You don't need to say anything. I've heard enough." Peter growled, moving to swing off the building when he let out a yell. The man instantly looked at him and rushed over.
"What is it? Are you okay?" He asked frantically.
"Nothing." Peter tried to shove Tony away, but was unsuccessful. The man took hold of Peter's hand to lead him away from the ledge of the building when Peter let out another yell of pain, along with a choked sob.
Tony looked at the hand he was holding and his stomach dropped. His whole hand was covered in blood, not to mention the stab wound in the fabric.
"Shit...Peter, why didn't you tell me you were hurt?! Fuck, come on, let me take you home. Let me help you."
"I thought you hate helping me when I'm bleeding out." Peter grumbled. Tony winced.
"Please, Peter. We can talk when you're fixed up, okay?"
He didn't wait for Peter's reply before his nanotech suit engulfed him and he took Peter in his arms.
Peter stared at his bandaged up hand in annoyance. He hated how Tony was always right. But he also hated Tony for other reasons. His eyes stung with tears, remembering Tony's words. He would never forget him saying that he hates that Peter is Spider-Man...or that he's 'sick and tired' of helping Peter when he's in distress. It crushed all hope of their relationship.
"Hey...you feeling better?" A voice said from the doorway. Peter stayed facing away from the door, not bothering to look at Tony. He curled into himself, wrapping his duvet around his body for comfort.
He heard Tony sigh and listened to his footsteps getting closer to his bed. The man sat down and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder.
"Peter...I'm really sorry. Please forgive me. I only said those things because...I'm so worried about you. I only meant that...I hate when you are hurt because I just want you to be happy...and healthy. I just really wished you listened to me, that's all." Tony explained. A tear dropped onto the pillow Peter was leaning on, and he wiped at his wet eyes.
"Do you understand what I'm saying, kid?"
When Peter still didn't reply, Tony continued. "Please talk to me. Tell me what you're feeling. I love you so much, Pete. I just want to help you."
"You said you were 'sick and tired' of helping me." Peter finally spoke bluntly. Tony winced and tried to refrain from having a breakdown. He carefully turned Peter around so he was looking at him.
"I meant that I'm sick and tired of you getting hurt when you don't listen to me. I promise you, Peter, I will always want to help you when you need it."
Peter let a few more tears slip out before finally breaking. "I-I'm sorry...you were right. I got hurt because I-I was too tired to focus. I was stupid and irresponsible and then I yelled at you and told you I wanted you out of my life." He sobbed. Tony immediately wrapped his arms around the kid, who buried his head in Tony's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"Shh, It's okay. I'm just glad you're alright now." Tony soothed him. "Peter...can...can you forgive me for what I said?"
Peter sniffed and nodded his head. "Y-Yeah."
Tony smiled and hugged Peter tighter. "Let's just forget about all of it, okay? Let's just go downstairs and watch a movie, how does that sound?"
Peter pulled away with a smile and wiped at his face again. "That sounds good."
Peter ended up falling asleep half way through The Greatest Showman, but Tony didn't mind. It seemed like all the kid needed was some love and a heart to heart to get him his well deserved beauty sleep.