It didn't start as a conscious act. If anything, it started by accident. He never meant to skip breakfast; he just didn't have the time. He was going to be late for school which just wouldn't do.

He never meant to skip breakfast that time at least but when a harmless comment about how peter had put on a little weight was said. Well, then breakfast was a choice, not a necessity. He knew that Ned hadn't meant the comment in a bad way. Peter had put on weight; it happens when you gain muscle after fighting villains every day. Still, the comment stuck with Peter for some reason, unlike breakfast.

After that Peter began to pay more attention to what he eats, it wouldn't do to make spiderman fat, would it? Whilst watching what he eats he noticed a peculiar thing with his aunt May. She was slowly running out of money. They never had had much money growing up but they always had enough. It was then that Peter made a decision. If breakfast was an option, then so was dinner. He was given free school meals anyway so at least he would get food. To avoid suspicion Peter started asking Aunt May to make him smaller portions, claiming he wanted to be healthier. Aunt May stared at him, confused for a moment but did what he asked, he was out the house most nights 'studying' anyway.

So yes, Peter began running on one meal a day, just enough to keep him going but not enough to keep him healthy. That combined which the excessive exercise meant he was losing muscle and weight, fast. It was all okay though, he had it under control.

That was until Thanos decided to mess around with the universe. It was until Peter Parker held a dying Tony Stark in his arms. It was until the Avengers either went their separate ways or died. It was then Peter knew he had a problem; it was then he realised why he was skipping meals. It was then Peter realised he craved control.

As such he began skipping lunch and surviving on cereal bars and mints. It was intoxicating, his own little form of control. It was amazing how this little secret was kept from everyone, even Aunt May and Ned... Then he began dating MJ and MJ was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for. She noticed the little tremors in Peter's hands. She noticed his restlessness and how he would play around with food to make it look like he had eaten when not a crumb of food had touched his lips. She noticed the bags under his eyes and how he never asked to stay for food and made some half-assed excuse to leave.

In fact, she was about to confront him about it when his identity was revealed to the world and he disappeared. She fought with Ned for weeks to find his location and when she was finally let into the Barton residence, she felt her smile fall. She didn't know what she expected but Peter looked ill. He was pale, his eyes looked like they had stared into the deepest parts of hell, which Mj realised they probably had. Without a thought Mj pulled Peter into a hug, flinching at how bony he was.

Mj stayed with them for a whole 48 hours before she was pulling Clint Barton away for a private chat.
"You need to help him" she insisted. Clint raised an eyebrow
"Why do you think he is here?" he asked. Mj sighed
"Not for that, you can't tell me you don't see how ill he is! Let me ask you something have you ever seen Peter eat? Like actually eat?" she asked. Clint froze and pondered her question before shrugging
"So? The kids off his food, can you blame him?"
"Mr Barton, he's been off his food for months! The last time I saw him eat was when Mr Stark was alive! He needs help!" she pestered. Clint frowned but fixed Mj with a hard glare
"The kid chose this life; he'll be fine but if it stops you fussing, I'll ask Dr Banner to look at him." he offered. Mj breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you."

Not a day later Bruce Banner flew to the country home to assess the youngest avenger. Not an hour after that he called an emergency meeting with Peters family and closest friends to discuss treatment options. He had informed them that whilst he wasn't a phycologist and couldn't actually diagnose peter, he was sure Peter had some form of an eating disorder. At this May broke, how could she not have noticed her nephews decline. Then she cried again when she realised, she couldn't possibly afford a phycologist, Bruce placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Fear not Mrs Parker. The avengers will cover the cost. It's the least we could do." Mj watched as the tension melted before she left the room in search of her nephew only to find said nephew gone.

A hunt started for the youngest Parker but Mj was smarter than everyone there for she knew. She knew that when everything went to shit Peter liked to hide up high so she looked for the highest point, which just so happened to be the roof.

So Mj walked up to the only room with a skylight and pulled herself through the skylight up onto the slated roof. She looked around the dark space to find Peter sat on the edge with his legs dangling. Slowly she edged forward as not to spook him
"You know you wouldn't kill yourself from this height, shatter every bone in your body sure but you heal fast so it wouldn't matter." She stated matter of factly, Peter scoffed and patted the space next to him. Mj slowly crept over, trying not to fall before finally sitting next to him.
"They're looking for you" Mj stated. Peter shrugged
"Then they can look harder" Peter replied. Mj didn't reply as they both stared out at the night. It was a beautiful contrast to the misery on Peter's face. The sky was alight with stars and the trees that sat underneath them were beginning to change for autumn. Nature truly was beautiful.
"I... I never meant to let it get this far but I don't think I want to stop Mj" he admitted. Mj felt her heart constrict, in all her years of knowing Peter Parker, she had never viewed him as weak. He had always been the strongest of them but now his walls were crumbling.
"You'll die Peter"
"But I like it Mj... I like having control over something" Mj placed her arms around Peter and pulled him into a hug.
"Control is overrated" she whispered. She could feel Peter chuckle under her arms
"Mj?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you only love me because I was spiderman?" he asked quietly. Mj stiffened.
"No, I love you despite Spiderman." Peter nodded and pulled away.
"You can walk away you know? Nobody should want to date someone that's so fucked in the head." Mj shook her head
"And nobody should want to date a sarcastic, closed-off girl but here we are Parker" Peter smiled at her and for the first time, Mj felt her chest lighten slightly. It had been months since she had seen Peter truly smile. Slowly Peter stood up and offered her a hand and together the pair walked inside.

The next day Mj was sent home whilst Peter was sent to a phycologist who diagnosed him with Anorexia Nervosa. Two weeks after that, despite how much Peter protested, he was put on a drip. It turned out that Peter was so malnourished his organs were eating themselves. It was a drastic solution and was an absolute last resort but Peter literally couldn't eat. Food made him projectile vomit.

Two months after that Mj was allowed to see Peter again, she found him in the visitor's ward of Avengers tower and told him about the world around him. It turns out that Mysterio was proven to be a god damn lunatic. JJ Jonason was wrapped in so many lawsuits over exposing a minor that he took the story off-air and publicly apologised. Stating that the smear campaign against Peter was based on false information and that Mysterio wanted to degrade Tony Stark one last time. By making his protegee a murderer. Mj supposed it helped to have Pepper Potts personally take vengeance on the news reporter.

Peter had laughed and told Mj that Pepper had kept in contact with him, often visiting with Morgan. He said it helped to see other people that had been through similar losses to him. Mj had smiled, Peeter looked better. He didn't look any bigger but his skin was less pale and more vibrant. Like he had been injected with water or something.

After chatting for a while Peter took her around the tower whilst ignoring the avenger making remarks about 'peters girl'. Mj took it in her stride after all it wasn't every day you had the hulk, Hawkeye, Bucky Barnes and The Falcon feeling comfortable enough to take the piss out of you.

When they had finished Mj went to leave but quickly kissed Peter on the lips then ran away, leaving the poor boy stunned.

The next two years were an uphill battle with Mj usually sitting beside Peter as he raged and cried because once again, he had lost control and ended up in a hospital bed. It consisted of silent relief anytime Peter eat, anger when he once again let himself fall and utter heartache when he didn't want to continue. It consisted of online learning for Peter and constant questions for Mj. It consisted of arguments when it was all too much and making up when they realised that they loved each other far more than they should do.

It consisted of weekly, monthly then yearly appointments with Doctor Banner to assess his physical state and phycologists to access his mental state. It was two years of Aunt May holding her boys' hand, praying she didn't lose him too. Of guilt for all those around Peter because they had missed so many signs and he had given them so many chances to prove they understood but they had failed.

It meant that they had to realise that whilst Peter was better, he would always have a battle to face, one that they couldn't possibly understand.

However, the two years also meant something good because it meant that Peter was still alive, that despite the screaming, fighting and arguing. That despite the sheer terror that one day he would lose that Peter still chose to fight.

Because despite his demons, despite the fact his brain lies. He still chooses to fight it every day and that made him stronger. Stronger than anything he has had to face before.