Set between Homecoming and Infinity War. No spoilers to worry about, just giving context.


Peter's phone rang.

"Hey kid . . ." Tony began. "Are, uh . . . are you alright?"

"Yeah Mr. Stark, why? Oh no, is something happening? Do I need to suit up?"

"No, Peter, it's—I saw that thing you posted, on Facebook, that—What do they call them, mee-mays?—with the frog guy sitting on his bed holding the book that says 'Reasons to Live' and the page is blank—Look, do you need someone to talk to? It doesn't have to be me, I could set you up with a therapist, or—"

Peter had been struggling not to laugh since "mee-mays" and finally erupted into uncontrollable giggling.

"Oh God, Mr. Stark I'm so sorry—"

"Peter, you have nothing to apologize for. You can't blame yourself in these situations—"

"No," Peter said, trying and failing to stifle his laughter, "Mr. Stark, it-it's not like that, I swear. I'm okay, I swear to God." He forced himself to stop laughing and reiterated, as seriously as he could: "I'm okay."

A moment passed, with Tony's breathing the only sound in Peter's ear.

"Were you laughing? That whole time?"

"Yes."

"What the fuck, man?—Pardon my language, don't tell May I said that—But seriously, what's funny about this?"

"A lot, I don't even know where to start honestly."

"I mean is this some sorta sick joke?"

"Kind of? I guess? But not on you, I swear, or at anyone's expense. It's just . . . my generation's humor? I dunno, I just thought it was funny and I shared it. Wait, am I the only teenager on your friends list?"

"Kid, you're the only person under 35 on there."

"You know that actually makes all the sense in the world, I don't know why I asked. But look, I appreciate you reaching out like that, I really do. I didn't mean to worry you."

"Well . . . I've put people through a lot worse so I can't really judge."


Credit where credit is due: I pretty shamelessly took the premise of this from a post I saw on Facebook (or maybe it was a screenshot of a Tweet that I saw on Facebook, hard to remember for sure at this point). I couldn't tell you the name of the person who made the original post, after all this time, but if you're her and you've stumbled onto this story, by all means let me know and I'll credit you. Though I'm assuming your post has already been seen by far more people than this drabble ever will.