Peter slowly awoke, everything was blurry for a second so he decided to lie on the floor. As he lay there solemnly, he started to feel guilty - he knew cutting was bad and he shouldn't do it, yet here he was lying in a pool of blood. The realization set in that yes, he'd been through some bad stuff and his life so far hadn't been perfect but this wasn't the way to let it all out, he couldn't cut himself or commit more self-harm every time something doesn't go his way. That was just childish and stupid.

He didn't want to get up but he knew that either Tony or Steve would most likely come in and ask him what he wanted for dinner and he couldn't risk them seeing him in this state. Sure, he'd grown towards Steve and Tony, however he wouldn't put it past them to lock him up again and he definitely didn't want to be in that musky little training room, whatever the circumstance. He knew he was probably being hyperbolic after everything that had happened but that was enough motivation for him to get up and strip off his bloody clothes. He swiftly dumped them under his bed and made a mental note to clean them once Steve and Tony had gone to bed. He sighed as he pulled out a beige towel from his cupboard and began to clean up the blood with it, this was especially hard as a lot of the blood has dried over the time he was idiotically passed out on the floor.

"Look at the messes you get yourself into Pete." He muttered to himself under his breath as he scrubbed the unforgiving floor.

He shook his head as he scraped dried blood with his fingernails and tried not to think about everything that had occurred. Bruno was really out of order and Peter knew that but somehow he felt bad about the whole incident - was he taking things too fast by getting a girlfriend? Peter genuinely liked MJ but he couldn't picture a life with her or having kids with her. Or was that just too forward of him?

"Just shut up Pete, you're only 12, you don't know what you're on about." He scolded himself, finishing cleaning the floor. He chucked the bloody towel under his bed with everything else and washed the faint pinkish colour off his hands; he was a very careful person.

Luckily, Tony and Steve didn't notice anything different with Peter as they sat and ate in an awkward silence. None of them really knew what to say and Peter wasn't really hungry so he pushed his food around his plate. Steve's vein twitched and Tony could tell he was already in a bad mood - probably something about Bucky.

"Peter, can you stop that, god, I have a headache." Steve said, rubbing his forehead, his vein twitching a considerable amount now. Peter shrugged and carried on pushing his food around his plate like a defiant little child. He couldn't be bothered to deal with Steve tonight as he was already exhausted from the day's events. He pulled his hood up which really annoyed Steve.

"I'm not kidding. And pull your damn hood down." Steve said, sighing. Tony watched apprehensively.

Peter glared at Steve. Tony sensed danger and quickly pulled Peter's hood down, making Peter growl.

"Jesus, just leave me alone." Peter muttered darkly, pulling his hood back up. This is when Steve finally snapped. He threw his fork down, leaned over and yanked Peter's hood down.

"If I tell you to do something, you better do it!" Steve shouted, making Peter jump up. Peter grabbed his plate and threw it at Steve, making it's contents spill all down Steve and onto his nice blue shirt. Peter turned and headed for his room, slamming the door behind him. He had finally had enough of being this 'good kid' and he decided to go out swinging. He reached in his closet and picked out his backup suit. His face glowed at the sight of his much beloved suit - this was all he had to keep him going for at least a year and the sight of it made him want to erupt in smiles. This suit was his comfort blanket and he felt so safe as he stepped into it. He was ready to go.

He locked his door and reminded himself to be careful. He didn't want to be caught. Not tonight. He clambered onto his bed and slowly climbed out onto the window ledge, making sure not to make too much noise. He looked at the beautiful city circulating below him and leaped into the night, admiring and savouring the rush of adrenaline surging through his body. All of the stress he had felt earlier disappeared into the night as he swung through the hustle and bustle of Manhattan on a Friday evening. He laughed aloud and waved to the locals below him. He was on cloud nine.

He swung around the city for ages, stopping to help an old lady find 22nd street who gave him a churro in repayment. As he sat on a building, munching on his churro, his mind wandered to his parents. What the hell had happened to them? He remembered the night his uncle had come in and sat down on his little racing car bed in their apartment. His face had been solemn, morose even. His uncle bowed his head and explained to a very young Peter that his parents weren't going to come home. He had sighed when the curious young Peter had dared to ask why.

"Their plane was faulty." Was all he said before he left the room to comfort his sobbing wife. Peter stayed up all night crying under his bedsheets and listened to his new caregiver's conversation from the living room.

"It is his fault. They were there so they could get rid of him because he is such a little shit!" May had said, causing Ben to rub her back soothingly. He shushed her.

"It's okay May. Karma will take it's toll." Ben said, wiping a tear from his cheek. May sighed.

"What if it doesn't, what if he stays a little shit forever. It would be really easy Ben, no one would ever know - we could say he was on the plane with them." May said, her face brightening a little.

Ben sighed again. "We can't risk it May. Don't worry, everything will sort itself out." May folded her arms.

That was the day May and Ben started hating Peter. That was when everything went to shit.

Once Peter had finished his churro, he continued to swing through the city. He was much quieter after thinking about May and Ben, they had left a hole in his heart that he just couldn't fill.

Peter shook his head. "This is what fucking trauma feels like" He shouted to himself, trying to laugh it off. He felt deeply uncomfortable.

He had no rhyme or reason to where he swung but Peter knew there was a reason he was sat outside Bruno's window. Maybe it was curiosity or maybe it was guilt but all Peter knew was that something bad was going on with Bruno. As Peter sat and watched sadly, Bruno sobbed on his little bed in his tiny room. Peter almost fell off the window ledge he was crouched on when Bruno's step dad (Joe) stormed into the room. Bruno cowered in the corner of his bed as Joe got closer with a menacing look on his face. Peter couldn't hear anything but he could tell Joe was shouting and Bruno was petrified. He gasped when Joe reached up and slapped Bruno across the face, leaving a big red mark. Peter desperately wanted to go in and help Bruno but he knew he couldn't. That would risk everything. Joe hit Bruno twice more and when he reached up to hit Bruno a third time, Peter noticed something metal in his hand, which slashed across Bruno's eye, making blood leak out of the sobbing boy and onto the bed. That was when Peter screamed and swung through the city so fast that everything was a blur. He couldn't take it anymore.

He had no clue how he managed to get back to the tower, take off the suit, put his bloody clothes in the wash silently and get into bed but Peter somehow found himself staring at the ceiling in his dark room. He was horrified by what he saw but even more horrified by the fact he hadn't helped Bruno. He was such a terrible person. A tear slipped down his cheek which turned into a fountain. He couldn't breathe properly but he managed to calm himself down enough to drop into a dark and dreamless sleep.

When he woke up, he refused to let his brain think about what he had seen the previous evening. He tried to convince himself it was just a dream and he was being a baby but deep down, he knew it was real. He wandered into the kitchen and refused to make eye contact with Steve. They were both still angry with each other.

"Tony, can you drop me off at the library this morning please." Peter asked, eating a pop tart.

"Sure, you'll text me when you're done, right?" Tony questioned, sitting at the table with his crossword and morning cup of coffee.

"Right." Peter said, going and grabbing his books and waiting for Tony by the door. At least if he was studying, he wouldn't be thinking about Bruno.

For the first part of the journey, him and Tony stayed silent. Tony stared at the road ahead of him and Peter bit his nails.

"Tony, can you give Steve this note for me while I'm at the library please." Peter said, handing Tony a piece of paper that was folded up and said Steve on the top. Tony opened it up and smiled as he read it.

"You're a great kid, you know that Pete." Tony said as they pulled up at the library. Peter grinned.

"Yeah, I know." Peter said as he clambered out of the car. Tony laughed.

Peter sat and studied for a few hours, doing odd bits of history and maths when a boy who looked about 16 wandered over to Peter. He had nice blonde hair that was short at the sides and floppy at the top. Peter thought he was pretty good looking, you usually don't get guys like that in libraries. He stood above Peter and smiled a perfect smile with his pearly white teeth, he smelled really great as well, Peter was smiling.

"Hey, you study a lot." The boy said, still smiling, not much unlike a big and brave lion.

"I guess so." Peter replied shyly.

"Well I'm Skip. Skip Westcott."

Just FYI, if you don't know who Skip Westcott is (an original in the comics) then I would recommend googling him for a bit of background history. Thanks for reading c: