Tags: none that I can think of. Lemme know if you guys think I should tag anything specific from this chappie.

When Tony had adopted Peter after May died, he'd sat down with the teen and they spoke and came to a mutual agreement on what rules and boundaries needed to be followed.

There weren't many rules but the ones they did have were mostly built on trusting and/or communicating with each other.

If, for whatever reason, Tony had denied him access somewhere, Peter was allowed to ask either Tony or FRIDAY for the reason why, if he respected Tony's authority to do so.

So far it had only happened twice. Once when the Rouges were in the middle of being pardoned and Tony restricted Peter's access to the floor while the meetings were in process. As well as a time that Tony and Peter had gotten into their first serious argument and Tony restricted access to the lab so that he could cool down before speaking to Peter, which was another one of the rules.

If they were ever angry with one another, they were allowed to say that they wanted to keep some distance and calm down before interacting with one another.

The rule in play at the moment branched from that rule. If Peter wanted to skip school or have a day to recharge by himself, then all he had to do was say so and Tony wouldn't pressure him to find out why on the condition that Peter didn't abuse it or fall behind with school or patrols.

So when Peter asked to skip school, Tony didn't question it, as much as he wanted to.

Peter had become increasingly withdrawn over the last week. He cut his patrol time practically in half, seemed to drift off into his head during movie night, and even made a mistake on a web formula that he'd perfected and could practically make in his sleep.

To say that Tony was concerned was an understatement, but he knew he couldn't confront Peter about it yet. He knew that his kid needed to sort things out in his mind before he could talk to Tony. After all, it was the same way Tony had been for most of his life.

When Peter swung out of the tower, Tony squashed down his instinct to interrogate him on where he was going or if he was okay. He settled with asking FRIDAY to pull up the vitals from Peter's suit so he could at least calm his mind by knowing that his kid was at least physically alright.

He was able to distract himself from the need to see if Peter was alright until an hour or two later when FRIDAY informed him that Peter had been at the same location for the last hour. He finally gave in and called his suit. He had a spider child to find.

Peter didn't move from his place on a swing when Tong landed just behind him. His head tilted towards the billionaire slightly but he showed no other outward signs of having heard Tony's arrival.

The man took a seat on the swing next to Peter, never breaking the silence.

He looked at the teen and noticed that he didn't look like he was dissociating or in a depressive state of mind, he just looked tired and sad.

He looked around at the slightly run-down park that they were in and it clicked. It was the park that Peter's parents used to take him to, and later the one that Ben and May took him to.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, but must have only been minutes, Peter spoke. "It's been 11 years since my parents died," he mused, seemingly gazing at nothing, "And I don't remember them. I was with them for six years but all I have is fragments triggered by something Ben or May told me."

Tony kept silent, knowing Peter needed to get it out.

Peter opened his mouth as if to carry on speaking but closed it again with a sigh. "I know more about Ben and May, I even know more about you and Pepper than I ever remembered of my own parents." He hesitated, "I miss Ben ad May more than I miss them. And I feel guilty because I don't know if I missthemor just the idea of them."

The boy looked at Tony for the first time and the man saw the turmoil and hurt swirling in his eyes.

"I don't know why I'm thinking all of this, but ithurts,dad. And I don't know what to do." His voice cracked at the end.

Tony didn't know what to say to him. How do you comfort someone who has been dealt so manyunfortunate,devastating, and heartbreaking losses and situations in life? How do you tell them that it's okay to not miss someone as much as you do another, simply because you don't have the same capacity of emotional attachment?

How do you tell your child that what they're feeling is okay or normal, when to the rest of the world it isn't?

He didn't. He just tried the best with what he could do.

"Peter," Tony said, "I'm not going to tell you how to act or feel about any of this because I wouldn't know how to in the first place. I'm not going to give you wisdom on how to deal with this because you need to grieve in a way that is right to you." He gave a sad smile as he got off the swing and knelt in front of his child. "The only thing I can do is offer you my love and support. I'm here for you for whatever and whenever you need me.

If you want a hug or to cry, then my arms are right here.

If you want to go home, watch a movie and eat unhealthy oily take out, that's what we'll do.

If you want to forget about this conversation – which I definitely advise against. You can't just keep this all inside or you'll make yourself sick – then it'll be considered forgotten.

If you want to talk more and work through it another time then I'm all Wars for when you're ready. And if you don't want to talk to me then we can get your old therapist in."

Peter looked at Tony, relief, gratitude, and love shining in his eyes. "Thank you." He didn't have to say anything else because he knew Tony would understand everything he tried to say in that one word.

Thank you for being here for me.

Thank you for not pitying me like others.

Thank you for supporting me.

Thank you for loving me.

His infamous 'Parker Luck' had dealt him an unfortunate hand in life, but he knew that he could come out on the other end stronger than before.