Sunday rolled around faster than Peter expected as he finally found himself standing in front of the bathroom mirror straightening a tie.

Aunt May was the one who taught how to fix a tie for the homecoming dance that he and Liz went to.

Peter took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. You can do this Peter.

He knew it was his duty to attend May's funeral, being the only close relative she had, aside from distant cousins, but he couldn't shake off the feelings of nervousness. There was a lump in his throat and his mouth was dry, his skin was pale and clammy, but he had to push through it. He had to be there for May.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the bedroom door. Peter exited the bathroom and made his way across the room. He opened the door to see solemn-looking Tony Stark staring back at him.

"Ready to go, kid?"

Peter didn't say anything; he just nodded to give an acknowledgement.

"Alright, Happy's meeting us downstairs." Tony stated while turning down the hall. Peter followed close behind.

The walk outside was excruciatingly awkward as neither one said a word to one another. Peter was simply not in the mood to talk, while Tony was unsure of what to say at a time like this. The poor kid was going through hell and Tony couldn't think of anything to say that would make him feel better.

Happy was waiting outside as promised. Tony slid into the back seat while Peter followed suit.

The ride to the funeral home didn't take long. It was fancy, much nicer than something Peter could've afforded, but given that Tony was covering the expenses- Peter wasn't surprised at the extravagancy.

Happy had already exited the vehicle, making his way around the car to open the door for Peter, only he didn't budge.

Tony frowned. "Hey, Peter. We're here."

Peter didn't seem to hear Tony's words and just stared into space.

Tony looked up at a worried-looking Happy. "Can you give us a minute?"

Happy nodded and shut the door, leaving the two to talk.

"Peter? Can you look at me?"

The teen's head slowly turned and looked up at the older man.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Mr. Stark. Everything's fine."

"Are you sure?"

Peter nodded and for the first time Tony noticed how pale the kid looked. His hands were visibly shaking.

"Peter, we can wait. You don't have to go in there right now if you're not ready."

Peter quickly shook his head. "No, Mr. Stark. I'm fine… Let's just get this over with?"

Tony's brown furrowed as Peter jumped out of the car before Happy could even get the door for him.

He definitely wasn't okay.

Peter had dived out of sight, into the building leaving Tony and Happy alone.

"What was that about?" Happy asked.

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. He just spaced out for a second. It's a hard day for him, I told him he didn't have to go but hut he got all anxious and just bolted."

"Well, guess we should go pay our respects too."

Tony nodded and they made their way into the building.

***
The service was quick, but still nice. Peter was surprised at the amount of people who had actually shown up. Not that May wasn't well-liked, in fact she had several friends, but Peter never really got to meet any of them as she was always home ensuring Peter's needs were met. It made him feel guilty, actually. She always put her social life on hold to take care of him. She and Uncle Ben changed their entire life around when his parents died and they took him in. They had to buy a bigger apartment; May had to get a second job…

I was such a burden.

People were leaving since the funeral had ended, but Peter just stood there at the front of the room staring down at the urn in front of him. She had been cremated, which Peter wished for since she didn't have an official will. She had been too young to be thinking about death, and yet the unexpected had occurred. He thought that having her cremated would be easier for him, emotionally. He didn't think he could see her lifeless body lying in a casket. It would bring back too many haunting memories of the day of the accident, when he found her sprawled out on the road.

Somehow though, seeing the urn made him feel worse. He almost wished he could've seen her one more time, instead of just staring down at a silver vase filled with ashes of the woman that raised him. There was nothing left of her except for this urn that was going to be put into the ground later that day. She was gone.

Aunt May was gone.

She wasn't coming back.

Peter was an orphan… again.

The thoughts were flooding his head and Peter barely registered the fact that he was hyperventilating. He felt himself tugging at the collar of the suit he was wearing, trying to get some air.

He also didn't notice that another pair of hands were prying his own away and pulling him towards a chair, forcing him to sit down.

He tried to grasp what was happening, but he couldn't. He didn't know what was happening and this made him panic even more. He was so dizzy and nauseous and he could feel his entire body trembling.

He barely felt the hand rubbing comforting circles on his back and the voice that was speaking beside him.

"Peter, put your head between your legs."

The words sounded gibberish, but he managed to understand them and did as he was told. The dizziness subsided within seconds.

"I need you to take deep breaths with me now, okay? In… one two three, and out… one two three."

Peter felt himself breathing in sync with whoever was beside him. The exaggerated breaths seemed to be helping him and after a couple of minutes, he began to feel normal again. His head rose up and he saw Tony sitting beside him, with Happy standing only a few feet away.

"Are you with me now?" Tony asked.

Peter nodded.

"Good. You scared me for a minute."

Peter's face turned red as he realized what must've happened. I just lost my shit in front of Tony Stark.

"I'm sorry." Peter said, looking down at his hands.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, why do you always say that? That was a completely normal reaction to a stressful situation… Trust me; I know all about panic attacks."

Peter's eyes shot a glance at the man. "Panic attack?"

"Yeah kid, that's what that was. I recognized the signs right away. I'm guessing you've never had one before?"

Peter shook his head. "No, never."

"Pretty scary then, the whole 'feeling like you're going to die' thing."

Peter looked up again and noticed the urn sitting at the front of the room.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Can we go now?"

"Sure."

Peter stood up on shaky legs and the three men drove back to the compound. He hadn't planned on going to the burial, and he was glad he didn't after what had happened inside the funeral home.

Goodbyes were hard, and Peter had to say enough of them in his life to know how emotionally draining they were.

***
Peter went to bed early that evening leaving Tony alone in the kitchen as he sipped away at his second, but definitely not last beer of the night.

Seeing the kid freak out like that was enough to cause Tony to have a strong craving for a drink or two to numb the emotions that were building up inside him.

He'd only met May a couple times, but she had quickly grown on him. She was so friendly, beautiful, kind and loving and cared for nothing more than the safety of her nephew.

Tony noticed another presence in the room and turned around to see Bruce making his way over. The other man helped himself to a beer from the fridge and sat down next to Tony.

"How was the funeral?" He asked.

"It was a nice service; the funeral home did a good job."

"And how's Peter holding up?"

"I think he's okay. I mean, better at least. He went to bed pretty early I didn't really get a chance to talk to him… But he seemed fine."

Bruce took a sip of his beer before speaking. "Are you sure he's going to be alright? I mean, this is a big adjustment for him. First he loses his only living relative and then all of a sudden he's living with the Avengers in a huge house… It's a big chance and some people just don't cope well with change."

Tony frowned. "What are you saying?"

"I just think that you should keep an eye on him…For any signs of depression. You know, sleeping too much or not eating… Just watch out for him, okay? And if you notice anything send him to me."

Tony nodded before he was reminded of the events at the funeral home earlier that morning. He quickly turned to face Bruce. "Actually, there was something I needed to ask you."

"Of course, Tony. What is it?"

Tony sighed. "I was feeling a little bit concerned for Peter. I didn't want to tell anyone and embarrass him, but I just think you should know. Today, at the funeral Peter sort of had a panic attack. Like a major one. He said he never had one before… so yeah, I'm worried."

Bruce nodded in acknowledgement. "Thanks for telling me. The attack was probably from the built up stress he's had over this past week. I can talk to him-"

Tony cut the doctor off. "No, let me talk to him. I think he'd be more open with me and I can also relate to the panic attacks."

The two men sat in silence, slowly sipping away at their beers when a voice suddenly filled the room.

"Sir, there's been an incident in Mr. Parker's room; I believe he's in some form of distress."

The two men were already out of their chairs and running towards the teen's room before the AI could finish her sentence.

Tony didn't even bother to knock and instead threw the door open only to see a very startled Peter staring at him from the bathroom.

"Mr. Stark! W-what's going on?" He stammered out.

"I should be asking you that! What's wrong? Why is FRIDAY telling me you're in distress? Is everything okay? Are you hurt?" Tony was speaking a mile a minute when Bruce cut him off, pointing at the bottle of Tylenol PM Peter held in his hand.

"Peter. What are you doing with those?"

Peter looked down. "I-I was just going to take some."

"Mr. Parker has already taken more than the recommended dosage." FRIDAY informed.

Tony quickly walked up to the boy and grabbed the bottle from his hands. "What the hell, Peter!? What are you doing? Were you trying to hurt yourself?"

Bruce walked over and put a hand on Tony's shoulder, signaling for him to stop talking. "Peter, I need you to be honest with us."

Peter shook his head wildly. "No! You don't understand! I'm not- I wasn't trying to kill myself!"

"Then what Peter!? Why did you take so many pills? And why was FRIDAY telling us you're in emotional distress?"

Bruce interrupted him. "Tony- Let him speak for a second."

Peter's face was red with embarrassment. "I'm not trying to hurt myself… Yes, I was a bit upset earlier so I wanted to sleep it off… So I thought the pills would help, but my powers include me having an increased metabolism, so the normal dosage wasn't enough for me…"

Tony rubbed his hand through his hair. "I forgot about your metabolism thing…"

Peter nodded. "Yeah… I'm sorry for scaring you."

Tony walked forward and pulled Peter into a hug. "Jesus kid, you just scared the hell out of me. Promise me you won't give me a near-heart attack like that again, okay?"

Bruce stepped forward as well. "Peter, just a reminder… I know this was a bit of a misunderstanding, but I know you're going through a hard time, and if you need anyone to talk to- I'm here, and so is Tony."

Peter smiled at the two. "Thanks, but I'm okay."

Tony frowned. "I know you're not okay, Peter. Don't lie. I want you to be open with me for as long as you're staying here, okay? I care about you, kid."

Peter looked down and Tony could've sworn he saw tears in the teenager's eyes.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark."

Tony smiled. "Oh yeah, and one more thing. Can you stop with the 'Mr. Stark' stuff and just call me Tony?"

Peter smiled back. "Sure thing, Tony."