Author's Note: Just a quick explanation. This is a soulmate-AU where one person can have multiple soulmates, and the relationships can be either platonic or romantic. People are born with the words tattoed on them. They are not the first word(s) their soulmate(s) will say them, okay? The words represent a special moment between them and can be spoken at any given moment. Also, they'll burn when the bond is 'sealed,' let's say. They turn silver if the bond is platonic and golden if it's romantic.

It shouldn't have been a surprise.

It is a surprise, but it shouldn't have been, 'cause Peter feels the connection from the start — a spark, a curiosity, the need to be seen, heard, watched as he did what he does. It's strange — Peter almost wants to be looked after, in a certain way. None of that is normal for him.

It's not normal that he wants to be near all the time, that he wants to reach out and maybe touch the man's skin if that's made available for him, even though he doesn't — of course he doesn't. But he wants to. So badly, that it hurts. Peter — awkward, distant, social pariah Peter — who shies away from others, from anything that might allude to a deeper form of connection, really, feels an almost constant need to touch Tony. (And in the privacy of his mind, Peter allows himself the indulgence to pretend that he's someone who has earned the right to call him by anything other than the very formal Mr Stark.)

Peter has only felt something similar with Ned, and that should've been his biggest clue because Ned is not just a friend, he's his goddamn soulmate, but Peter's an idiot and he doesn't dare hope that they could—

But they could. They are.

Only it's the worst possible time for it to happen, because Peter had just fucked up an entire FBI operation, and the bad guys got away, and he almost got hundreds of people killed in his recklessness to be better, to be independent, to do it all by himself — thinking that maybe then he would impress Tony with his powers, his abilities, his honest desire to help as many people as he can.

His wishes were granted in the most fucked up way possible, and now that fucking empty suit is right there, relaying Tony's message, spewing shit, and Peter's tired, exhausted, and he's done with not being heard and seen by the person he wishes the most would only treat him as anything other than a misbehaving puppy.

"None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me," Peter says, waving his hands and coming closer to the suit, because it doesn't matter that it's only a suit, it still has the power to draw him, like a moth to a flame, intriguing and dangerous. He pauses, his chest constricting with the lack of oxygen or the excess of something else flowing through his veins. "If you even cared, you'd actually be here."

And it aches — the truth. It burns as it spills from his mouth, and as a result, it sounds breathy and resigned.

However, Peter has just the barest of seconds to process the pain, the wrecking — another open wound — 'cause in the next, the suit opens up, and Mr Stark is there — stepping out, taking off his sunglasses, meeting Peter's eyes.

"I did listen, kid," Tony mutters — like a promise, a whisper, a law, a decree, and this time the burn comes from a different place.

Peter's ribs on his left side are on fire, the words feeling as though they are being branded onto his body with iron and flames, and Peter wants it, needs it, feels the air rushing out of his body all at once. It's too much.

Tony feels it too; it's clear. His dark eyes shine with some unclear emotion, and he seems equally as out of breath. It's glorious. The moment stretches for a private eternity, where they both hold the other's eyes captive, refusing to shatter the tension building and building.

And it will, Peter thinks. It will keep on building, and there's a reason for that. It feels obvious, inevitable. Even though he had spent all his life wondering, considering, hoping, trying to come to terms with the strange connection he feels to Iron Man, to Tony Stark, to this man right in front of him… Nothing had prepared Peter for this moment.

Peter knows, without having to look at his words, that this is it.

This is why.

Tony Stark is his soulmate.

Headcanons I have for this universe:

-Peter has three soulmates: Ned, Tony, and Natasha. None of them are romantic.

-Tony only has one soulmate: Peter.

-Natasha thinks Peter is an adorable little spider and teaches him how to survive. (AKA: How to put the fear of God into people).

-Living with the Avengers is insane because they have dozens of bonds among them, both platonic and romantic.

-One of Thor's soulmates is the Hulk. Not Banner - Hulk.