Happy birthday, Ali! I wish you the best day and the best year. Thanks for always being there for me even when my anxiety gets the better of me.

And now, on with the story!

...

"Thanks for letting me stay with you for spring break," Peter said as he put his suitcase in the back of Tony's Audi, "I know May really appreciates it."

"Anything to appease her so she can focus on her honeymoon," Tony gently squeezed Peter's shoulder, "you've got everything?"

"Well, I've got stuff at the cabin, so I didn't need to bring much, but yes."

Tony nodded as he closed the trunk and got into the driver's seat, pulling the seatbelt on and pulling away from the MIT building with Peter in the passenger seat, only speaking when they arrived at the highway, "alright, we've got a four hour drive ahead of us and May said you've been running yourself ragged with school. Between that and Morgan awaiting your arrival, I recommend getting some rest."

Usually, this would have been the point where Peter would protest against that, but this time, he just nodded and curled up in the passenger seat, his eyes fluttering shut almost immediately.

'May wasn't kidding.' He realized as he leaned forward and flipped on the radio and let the soft volume fill the car along with Peter's slight snoring, 'just three hours and fifty five minutes to go.'

…

Peter slept for the entire drive; for most, they wouldn't even bat an eye at the fact that a nineteen year old college student with two months to go had slept for four hours.

Tony, however, wasn't most people and he couldn't help but be concerned; after all, he had seen Peter pull multiple all-nighters for multiple different reasons ranging from nightmares to building new web shooters, so college shouldn't have been this tiring.

But before he could gently shake the kid awake, he watched as Peter rubbed his eyes and sat up before mumbling, "oh, we're here."

"Yeah, kiddo," Tony affirmed, taking in that Peter was a little paler than normal, "hope your nap was good, cause Morgan's gonna want to play with you till dinner and last time you were here, you promised her a tea party."

"I remember." Peter nodded as they got out of the car and he grabbed his suitcase in before the two of them walked inside only for Peter to immediately get engulfed in a hug by Morgan, her arms tightly around his waist.

Peter's wincing was poorly hidden from Tony, but it was quickly replaced by a smile and he chalked it up to a poor diet making his stomach hurt.

'Because why else would he wince from a hug?'

Before he could bring it up to the teen, however, Morgan was already leading him by the hand and rambling about the elaborate set up for their tea party and Tony brushed it off as he went to go help Pepper with dinner.

'What's the worst that can happen?'

…

"Would you like a biscuit?" Morgan's voice was so cheery and excited as she held out the plate of double stuffed oreos to Peter that Peter felt bad for turning them down.

Normally, he could have eaten the whole plate without even thinking about ruining his appetite, but he had woken up that morning to not just an overwhelming feeling of nausea, but also the kind of fatigue he could feel in his bones, similar to how he had felt after the battle against Thanos except it had not been caused by nightmares this time.

So, he settled for a "no, thank you" and continued to sip at the ginger ale in her tea cups. Despite his thirst that had also lingered since that morning, the soda settled uncomfortably in his stomach.

"So, how's school?" He asked, trying to ignore the rising nausea he could feel because he drew the line at ruining Morgan's tea party.

"It's fine, I guess. But Kyle likes to make gross noises with his hands during math."

"I'm sorry, Morg." Peter offered, hoping that his sympathy would end any chance that she would continue talking about the habits of her classmates.

"Plus Timmy eats the glue and-"

Peter didn't hear the end of her sentence as he made a run for it and made it to the toilet before his stomach rebelled and the ginger ale came up in strong, forceful waves; his eyes continued to water and his body shook as he continued to retch but despite that, he heard Morgan's panicked shout followed closely by rapid footsteps until the bathroom door opened.

"Geez, Pete," Tony's voice was soft as the cool metal of the prosthetic was pressed gently against his neck and another hand went to his back, "Morgan, can you go get the thermometer?"

Morgan's quick footsteps were gone before another wave of painful vomiting hit Peter, his shoulders so tense that they hurt despite the gentle circles being massaged against them.

Peter managed to stop vomiting and lean against the wall, his eyes now burning as they lulled close with his head against the tile; he could have honestly fallen asleep after the toilet had been flushed until a hand, a human hand, gently tapped the side of his face and he had to focus on Tony's face with the metal thermometer in his hand.

"Are you gonna puke again if you hold this under your tongue?"

Peter shook his head and allowed Tony to slide the thermometer into his mouth, wincing at the cold and the metallically taste, before letting his head rest against the wall; he could hear Morgan anxiously tapping her fingers against her wrist and he winced internally at the thought of causing her to be so worried.

But before he could focus any more on the matter, the thermometer beeped and it was taken out of his mouth followed by a hiss through Tony's teeth. "Morgan, go get mom, now."

As soon as Morgan's footsteps had faded, he felt another tap on his cheek and he opened his eyes again, not even realizing he had shut them.

"Pete, do you still have your appendix?" Peter couldn't help but fear forming words, so he nodded and listened to Tony sigh, "okay, you might want to start making your final goodbyes because this is concerning. Terrifying, actually. When Pepper gets here, we're gonna help you to your feet and we'll make the drive to the compound."

Peter nodded again and when Pepper and Morgan appeared in the doorway, he tried his best to shoot the younger girl a reassuring smile. "I'm gonna be okay, Morgan."

"Morgan, go wait for your mom in your room, okay?"

Any chance of a protest was obviously not going to happen and as soon as she was gone from his sight, he felt tight hands around his arms and he managed to brace himself for the pain in his stomach as he was pulled to his feet before he leaned on Tony, the metal prosthetic wrapped tightly around his shoulders; Peter took the mixing bowl lined with paper towels that Pepper handed him and together, he and Tony managed to make their way to the car.

Peter pulled his seatbelt on, despite the fact that it made his stomach hurt more, before gripping tightly onto the mixing bowl and taking in a breath of relief at the cold air against his face, despite how shaky he felt.

"Okay, before we get there, I need to know if you've been injured recently so I don't just tell Helen or Bruce, whoever's there, to go ahead and rip out your appendix."

Peter tried to think; after all, he went out as Spider-Man nearly every night so it was hard to differentiate what bruises were from when, even with his enhanced healing; but he could remember a stabbing that had happened two days ago.

"Y-yeah, some guy got me with a knife a couple days ago, but it healed. I watched it heal. And I cleaned it, flushed it out, stitched it, everything. I even used gloves."

"Well, sometimes these things just happen," Tony explained, although Peter had trouble letting himself be reassured by the calm demeanor when he was nearly bending the steering wheel, "it happens to the best of us. Let's just hope, for now, that it is just an infection and not your appendix."

Peter nodded before his stomach twisted and he retched into the mixing bowl, his body aching every time it seized up.

Luckily for him, they managed to get to the compound quickly and as soon as the vomiting stopped again, he was lowered into a wheelchair and taken to the medical wing; by the time he was in one of the beds, his eyes were shutting from the sheer fatigue in his bones.

"Just try and stay awake for a little bit longer, Pete," Tony insisted as the grip on his hand got him to open his eyes, "do you want me to call your aunt?"

"She's on her honeymoon. Don't do that to her."

"That's not what I asked. Do you want me to call her?"

Peter knew he had to make a decision fast as he saw one of the nurses get ready to do a blood draw and his stomach dropped; there was nothing more that he wanted then for May to be there and take care of him like she always did, but this had also been his fault somehow and he should take accountability for that.

"No," he finally managed as he felt the tourniquet tighten around his arm, "I've got you, she can stay in Barcelona."

Tony nodded and squeezed his hand a little tighter, but before Peter could ask why, he felt the needle slide in and couldn't stop himself from hissing through his teeth from the sting; luckily, it was over quickly and he relaxed against the pillows as the nurse left.

"Hey, Peter," Helen's voice was soft and sympathetic as she approached him, her hair wrapped into a tight bun, "rough night?"

Peter nodded as he tried to swallow down his anxiety while Tony gave a summed up version of events; now that he was actively being taken care of, the fatigue was overtaken by his unease and he started to try and pretend he was anywhere else than the sterile med wing.

"-so I was thinking it was his appendix, but on the drive he told me he had been stabbed a couple nights ago, so now I'm thinking it's an infection."

"Well, I can say this," she started as she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his bicep and started to squeeze, "bringing him in was definitely the right move. His vitals are pretty concerning, even with his anxiety playing a factor," and as soon as the cuff deflated, she turned to him, "where did you get stabbed, Peter?"

"My right side, but I took care of it."

"I have no doubt that you did," she insisted as the bed was lowered flat, "but sometimes, even the best of us miss internal injuries or get infections regardless of prevention methods; and with your healing factor, your wounds can close before you even get a chance to stop the infection."

Tony helped him move his t-shirt out of the way, his metal hand still in Peter's grip, as Cho's cool, gloved hands touched his abdomen; it wasn't until they got near his right side that his body seized up while a white flash of pain spread throughout his body.

"Stop, stop please." He begged, his eyes still squeezed shut as his voice came out breathlessly, "please."

Her hands moved on and he took a breath of relief as the pain ebbed away slowly, his forehead still thinly coated in cool sweat.

"Okay, we're gonna need to do a few more tests, but based on that, I don't think it's appendicitis," Cho insisted before turning to a nurse, "get Victoria, tell her that we need an ultrasound and a peritoneal fluid analysis."

"What is it then?" Tony demanded as his hand went to his undeniably sweat curls while his prosthetic still gripped tightly onto Peter's hand, "is he gonna be okay, Cho?"

"Have you ever heard of peritonitis, Peter?" She asked, but all Peter could do was shake his head since the physical exam had made his nausea return, "it's where your abdominal membrane gets inflamed; usually, it's caused by severe liver or kidney disease, but another cause is that an organ gets punctured, sometimes it's the stomach or colon, but usually, it's the appendix."

"So what's the plan?"

"If I'm correct, we're gonna need to get him on antibiotics and get him through a full course before I take him in for surgery to flush out his abdomen, remove the infected tissue and remove his appendix since the flushing process will most likely inflame his appendix."

Despite how strong his anxiety was at this point, Peter still turned to Tony and managed to speak even though opening his mouth seemed impossible at this point due to the nausea, "don't call May."

"I need to let her know, Pete. But I'll tell her that Helen's got it under control and that you'll call her, deal?"

Peter nodded and reluctantly let go of Tony's prosthetic as he left to go make the call, leaving him with Dr. Cho and the ultrasound tech who was coming in with the machine and a medical table all with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Alright, Peter," her voice was thick with an Australian accent as she spoke and started to boot up the machine, "I'm gonna do a quick ultrasound and get some images for Dr. Cho. I'm gonna have to press down pretty firmly to get the images and I know your abdomen is pretty tender right now, so I'm gonna wait for a few minutes so your pain meds have a chance to kick in."

Peter hadn't even noticed that an IV had been slid into his arm and realized that it may have been the reason Dr. Cho had still been standing by his bedside; but his nerves were still shaken, so he gripped onto the plastic railing of the bed, wishing that Tony was still there.

He could feel the pain dissipate a bit before he felt a freezing gel against the right side of his stomach and he looked up to see Victoria hold the wand where he could see it, telling him to take a deep breath before pressing it firmly against his sore abdomen.

The pain wasn't blinding any more, but it still felt like someone was pressing against a bruise harshly which still hurt way too much for Peter and he heard the pitiful sob make its way out of his throat before he could stop it.

"I'm almost done," Despite how calm Victoria sounded, Peter wasn't assured until the wand was moved off of his abdomen and he heard the click of the ultrasound being turned off, "okay, I'm gonna give you a second. I know Dr. Cho mentioned you dislike needles, but I'll make this fast."

"Does anyone like needles?" Peter's voice was shaky as he attempted to joke even though the laughter made his tense muscles hurt more.

"No, I suppose not," Victoria offered him another obviously fake smile as she changed her gloves and pulled out an alcohol pad which made his nose burn as she wiped it across his belly, "This should only take a few seconds, but it is going to hurt quite a bit."

Peter gripped tightly onto the plastic railings again and closed his eyes when he saw the not small needle attached to a small syringe and tried not to puke on her when she was obviously just doing her job.

"Alright, small sting," Her reassuring voice was quickly lost to the sharp, stinging pain in his abdomen and his spidey sense protesting at the foreign object; all he did was hiss through his teeth and gripped tightly to the railing as the pain came and went, "there, all done."

After putting a bandage over the small wound, she left just as Tony came back and handed him his phone.

"Is she okay?"

"Not freaked out, not threatening to come back. As long as you call her, we're good to go."

"Good," Peter sighed as he turned on his phone and got ready to make the call before turning to Tony, "by the way, don't get a needle shoved into your stomach. Ten out of ten do not recommend it."

"Duly noted."

And with that, Peter pressed the call button and waited for May to pick up; her voice responded after the second ring and it was obviously laced with worry as she asked, "any updates, Tony?"

"It's me, May."

"Right. How are you feeling, baby?"

"Sore, tired, wanting this to be over," he shifted slightly, trying to diminish the ache in his side, "how's Barcelona?"

"Peter, do you need me to come home?"

"No, I need you to stay on your honeymoon. Mr. Stark is watching me and Morgan and I will watch Frozen. I'll be fine, May. I promise."

She was silent for a few moments, and then she heard hushed whispers between her and Happy, but before he could even try and decipher it, her voice returned to its normal volume.

"Okay, sweetheart. But you let me or Tony know if you change your mind and we'll be on the first flight home."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too, baby."

And with that, he hung up and set the phone on the nightstand before letting his eyes flutter shut despite the anxiety building in his chest. He knew he should stay awake until Dr. Cho came back, but he was just so tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep for just a little bit.

He felt a warm blanket being tucked around him which was a relief to his shaking body before a soft kiss was pressed against the side of his head as Tony whispered, "get some rest, Underoos."

…

The tests took an hour to come back, an hour too long for Tony's patience, but when they did come back, they all had the same words at the top.

'Peritonitis; Positive'

"After we run the antibiotics course," Helen explained while hanging the bag with the medication in it on the pole above Peter's head, "I'll go in and flush out his abdomen as well as remove the appendix. It should only be a three hour surgery, give or take. Any questions?"

"You've covered it, thanks."

"You're welcome. Let me know if Peter has questions when he wakes up from his nap." But before he could respond, Helen had retreated into the hall, most likely to get back to work on some sort of medical miracle in her office.

'She deserves a raise.'

However, FRIDAY spoke first, seemingly knowing that her name was on his lips. "Boss, Mrs. Stark and Morgan are here. Should I send them to you?"

"Yeah, use the blue lights, Morgan gets a kick out of them," Tony insisted as he saw the floor light up in the hallway from the chair he was sitting in, "and remind me to give Helen a raise or a vacation. God knows she deserves it."

"Right away, boss."

Pepper and Morgan seemed to be there instantly and while Tony was greeted by Pepper with a swift kiss, his six year old daughter had firmly planted herself in the corner with her arms crossed and her eyes rimmed red from most likely exhaustion and tears.

"Morgan," he stood up from his chair slowly before walking to her and kneeling beside her, his real hand on her shoulder, "hey, Peter's gonna be okay. Dr. Cho is gonna make sure of it."

Her sniffles were quiet and fresh tears were welling up in her eyes as she spoke, her voice barely a whisper.

"She's the doctor who saved you?"

"Yeah," Tony smiled as a flash of his early recovery played in his mind with Morgan curled up to Pepper as they stood vigil over his bedside, "yeah, she's the one who saved me. And she's saved Peter loads of times," he stopped to brush her stringy brown hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ears before pulling her into a hug, "so, he's gonna be okay this time, and when he's feeling better, I believe he still owes you a tea party."

Morgan nodded against his shoulder and Tony took the incentive to put her on the spare cot that he knew Helen had intended for him to sleep in before tucking the thin blanket around her shoulders, "get some sleep, Morguna," he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, "love you."

She was out before she could even tell him goodnight and Tony sat back down in the chair next to Peter's bed, his back already starting to ache.

"Is your back acting up again?" Pepper asked softly and the exhaustion that was creeping up on Tony made it nearly impossible to argue with her, "okay, I'll go get the ibuprofen and another cot. You shouldn't sleep in that chair."

"Peter did."

"Peter was also seventeen," Pepper's comeback was sharp on her tongue and Tony realized that she also was sleep deprived, "the kids are resting, we need to do the same," and with that, she had walked out of his sight.

He couldn't keep himself awake long enough and drifted off in the chair.

…

The rest of the night and the next day passed Peter by in a drug fueled haze; a flash of Helen telling him that the surgery went well, a flash of Victoria doing another ultrasound and insisting that she wouldn't be pressing another needle into his abdomen, and a flash of Tony and Pepper talking in hushed voices with Morgan's warmth pressed against his left side, her shoulder under his hand.

By the time he was fully conscious and the blissful numbness of the anesthesia and pain killers had now returned as a mild, dull ache unless he tried to get up or move suddenly; which for everyone's sake considering how antsy he got on bed rest, was a good thing since he wasn't supposed to really go anywhere without assistance.

"Do I have to get up again?" Peter asked as Tony helped him sit up while he held a pillow against his abdomen to try and lessen the pain, "it's not helping the pain."

"That's not why you're supposed to get up every two to four hours and you know it," Tony insisted as he supported his lower back to help him stand, "alright, big sting."

Peter bit his lip while pushing himself up onto his feet, feeling the sharp sting in his abdomen from the movement, "thought the pillow was supposed to help," he mumbled, still hunched over and trying to keep the tears in his eyes.

"Yeah, but it's not an instant pain killer." Tony explained as the sting slowly ebbed away and Peter managed to stand up mostly straight, pillow still pressed against his abdomen.

"Maybe Dr. Cho can knock me out again, that was nice." Peter suggested as he hobbled slowly towards the chair that was once next to his bedside but had been moved across the room for the purposes of making him walk, hearing the wheel of his IV pole behind him as Tony moved it.

"You were also talking out of your ass about Thor and pop-tarts."

"I was?"

"Yep," Tony nodded, popping the "p" and Peter felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment, "and when that technician did a second ultrasound to make sure you weren't leaking fluid into your stomach or something, you freaked out and begged her not to poke you with another needle."

"That needle was huge, Mr. Stark." Peter mumbled before slowly lowering himself into the chair, the sting sharp against his stitches until his back was against the fabric, grateful that Tony had insisted on recliners for the med bay.

"Uh huh," Tony nodded as he adjusted the IV pole and pulled the blanket off the bed before putting it over his legs before grabbing a box with several plastic necklaces in it, "Morgan's gonna be here in half an hour for her make-up tea party; does purple or pink go better with your hospital gown?"

"I'm not sure either one goes with this shade of beige."

"Spoken like a true fashionista," Tony nodded as he handed him the yellow beads.