Comfortember Day Sixteen: Journal/Diary [Platonic Soulmates AU]

Peter had been waiting a long, long time for something exciting to happen in his journal. Everyone he knew had messages being written to them by other people. These were soulmates. It usually took quite some time for people to locate their soulmates, even after their messages were written and they wrote to each other back and forth.

This happened to everyone. Everyone but Peter Parker. He found it hard not to check his journal every five seconds. It wasn't unheard of that it took a long time for people to get messages from their soulmates. Apparently it took his parents over a year or so to find each other. It'd make sense if it took as long if not longer for teenagers.

Still, Peter was feeling left out. Everyone had someone except for him. Part of him wished that MJ would end up as his soulmate but she had someone Peter didn't know. He didn't know if it was platonic or romantic though, so perhaps he had a chance to be with her in the future. After all, it wasn't unheard of for soulmates to also be friends, not solely lovers.

It was a sunny afternoon when Peter got home from school that he finally got something. He took out his Soulmate Journal (like always) alongside his normal notebooks and textbooks. And like usual, he checked his Soulmate Journal first and was absolutely ecstatic.

"Write in a journal". What am I even supposed to write?

Peter didn't know what that meant but he was too excited about the mystery message to care. Finally, he had someone! Hopefully it was someone in school so they'd be easy to find.

Hi there! I've been waiting for this for a long time.

Okay, that was a bit straightforward. And awkward. Peter probably should've started off with something more casual. Or maybe give his soulmate an idea as to what to write. Either way, he eagerly waited for a response.

And was immediately confused.

Oh no.

What's wrong?

Oh HELL no. I'm NOT doing this.

You're not doing what?

There was a moment of 'silence' and then:

I am never writing in a journal again.

Wait! What does that mean?! We just met!

Peter waited for a couple seconds before trying again.

Please come back! Please. I've waited for so long!

Peter sighed in disappointment when he still got no response back. Maybe his awkwardness was too much. He should've been calmer. Not that it was always easy to tell through writing.

Peter did feel minute comfort in the fact that he had a soulmate at least. Maybe they just needed time. And so, like he'd been doing since he knew about soulmates, he'd wait.

XXX

It was after the spider bite that Peter wrote in his journal again and hoped his soulmate was going to at least read it. They didn't have to respond. Peter wanted them to but he knew there was a high chance they wouldn't. Still, there was no harm in trying. Especially when he was feeling like shit, and wanted to crawl in a hole and die after what happened to Uncle Ben.

Who was he kidding? That was the real reason why he wanted to write in his journal again. He didn't want to bother Aunt May and he didn't want to be miserable in front of his friends. So, he relied on his Soulmate Journal to help him. He wasn't going to tell them everything. Peter just needed to get his thoughts out and soon.

Been a while. I know you probably don't care about me but right now I don't care. I just…

Peter rubbed his eyes to stop tears from falling. He didn't want to ruin his Soulmate Journal. He cleared his throat and continued writing, not even realizing his handwriting was getting sloppy.

My Uncle Ben...he was killed. It's my fault. All my fault. I should have been able to save him...Now he's dead. And it's because of me.

Peter put his pen down and took a deep breath. He had to keep composed. If Aunt May heard him crying, she'd come in to try and console him and then she'd probably cry because she was also in pain and just so caring and...It just wasn't fair.

It should've been me.

Peter waited. He really didn't know what he was expecting. When he came to the conclusion that his soulmate didn't give a shit about him, anger mixed with his sorrow and he found himself shoving his Soulmate Journal off his desk with a loud curse.

Not bothering to pick anything up that he knocked off his desk, Peter crawled into bed and pulled the covers over his body. He did his best to muffle his sobbing. This just wasn't fair.

When Peter got up the next morning completely disheveled and not caring, he lazily picked up the things he knocked off his desk and put them back in its place. His plan was to tear out the page he wrote his thoughts in in the Soulmate Journal but he stopped before his fingers reached the edge of the page.

I'm sorry.

XXX

It had been a couple months when Peter and his soulmate got into a routine of talking most days. The interactions were fairly short but it was better than silence. It was a shame that it took a death for them to come together. At least his soulmate was giving him a chance. Peter felt he deserved to give them another chance as well, since they were polite enough to apologize and not ignore him.

There's lots I wanna tell you about my life that makes me super busy.

But obviously he couldn't. He didn't want to tell anyone he was Spider-Man.

But my days aren't as boring as you might think.

They're more interesting than my meeting the other day. That's a lot considering all you talk about is school and Lego...And your aunt.

When do you think we'll meet? Why can't you give me your address or phone number?

Kid. We've been through this. You've tried sending me that information already and it just gets crossed out to the point it's unreadable. The same happens with the phone number.

It was true. Peter had tried a couple times to tell his soulmate where he lived. Every time he tried, the message immediately scratched itself out, as if there was someone else interrupting him. There were some things they learned about each other though.

Peter was able to share his first name, age (fourteen), that he lived with his aunt and he was in an apartment building. He was unable to say which one. He couldn't even give which school he went to.

What Peter learned about his soulmate was: He was male, an adult, a mechanic and he lived somewhere fancy.

They were allowed to share first names, so Peter didn't know why his soulmate didn't give him his. Instead, he told Peter to just call him 'Mechanic'. Peter decided to ask about it again, though he had a feeling he knew what the answer was.

Why not give me your first name and we can start from there?

And how many times have we talked about THIS? I am not giving you my name.

But why not? :( It really helps narrow things down!

Did you really put an angry face in a journal? Isn't that what phones are for?

Way to avoid the question.

Is there a 'sigh' emoji?

What?

Ugh, never mind. Just imagine me sighing. It's better if you just learn who I am when we meet. You'll know me when you see me.

Will I? I just...Mister Mechanic, I've been waiting so long. I really don't get it.

You'll understand why when we meet. I'll give you a hint. I don't want to put you in danger.

Peter frowned. How would learning Mechanic's name put him in danger? Peter told him his name. That surely would've been more dangerous than Peter knowing his. Maybe this was some weird diversion tactic. Either way, Peter did not like it.

Stop asking. If you come looking for me, you'll get wrapped up in something too big for a child to handle.

Oh how Peter wished he could tell him he was Spider-Man. That would prove to Mechanic that he was capable of handling things, child or not. The reason he didn't was because who knew where Mechanic had his journal? It might be out in the open for all he knew and if someone looked inside, people would search for him!

Well...I hope we meet soon…

Yeah. We will eventually.

Peter sighed.

'Eventually' wasn't soon enough.

XXX

'Eventually' happened a lot faster than Peter thought and he was scared shitless when he got the message. The writing was sloppy and hard to read.

Okay kid. Tony. Iron Man. Kidnapped. Bleeding out.

Peter's heart skipped a beat. Either his soulmate was screwing with him or Tony Stark, freaking Iron Man, was his soulmate. And wherever he was, he was bleeding and dying and holy shit!

Peter wasted no time in getting into his Spider-Man suit. He grabbed his Soulmate Journal and pen and wrote as fast as possible.

Where?!

Warehouse outside NY. No suit, no trackers, phone, nothing.

Oh, god. Oh, GOD. Peter didn't fail to notice that the more Tony wrote the slower his writing was getting. He was either losing consciousness or had a hard time holding onto his pen. Peter headed for the window and wrote one last message.

I'm coming as fast as possible, Mister Stark! Please, hang on! Please please plea-

He tossed his journal and pen to the side, jumped out the window and swung as fast as possible.

XXX

It took Peter twenty minutes to get to the area Tony said he was at. The whole time he was trying to reassure himself that Tony was going to be okay and not end up like Uncle Ben. It had only been a couple months since the incident but Peter had gotten more skilled in that amount of time. He had a better idea of what he was doing.

Peter found himself crashing through the window of an old wooden warehouse. It was empty. Peter's Spidey-sense didn't go off. Tony's kidnappers must've got what they wanted and left. Peter's heart wouldn't stop hammering in his chest. It felt like it was going to blow up.

"Mister Stark!" Peter shouted. "Mister Stark, it's Peter!"

Peter's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of coughing coming from the back room. His Spidey-sense still didn't trigger as he burst his way through the door.

Tony Stark was lying on his side at the furthest end of the room. There were scratches and cuts all over him and his clothes were torn in various places. Most of the blood seemed to be seeping from Tony's midsection. A bloody notebook and pen were near his hands. His brown eyes were glassy.

Peter dashed over and knelt down, not caring that his knees were getting soaked with blood. His hands hovered over Tony's body, unsure of what to do.

"What the hell-" Tony broke out into another coughing fit. "Spider-boy?"

Peter was too stressed to correct him on his hero title and instead said, "No, it's Peter! I'm your soulmate, the kid you've been writing to and holy shit! What do I do? Mister Stark, how can I-"

Tony placed his bloody hand on Peter's shoulder. It was hard to tell if he was grimacing or trying to give him some poor excuse of a reassuring smile.

"'Kay, just calm down," Tony started. His voice was so weak and quiet that if Peter didn't have enhanced hearing, he would not have heard him. "Got any webs left?"

Peter nodded.

"'Kay, think you can wrap up my stomach?" Tony pointed to his midsection weakly.

"Ye-yeah! Yeah, I can do that! I...And then what?"

Tony sighed and Peter could tell that his adrenaline was coming to an end and he was going to be out like a light soon.

"Get me out the way you came in."

Peter knew how hard that must've been for Tony Stark, Iron Man, to say. It might've been different if he was talking to War Machine or an actual adult. But Peter was just a child. This wasn't just a lot to ask of him but the fact he was putting that pressure on Peter must've been tough. Even embarrassing.

Right now, Peter didn't care. He wasn't going to let his soulmate die.

XXX

Peter sat outside the hospital room Tony was in after he dropped him off as Spider-Man and went back home to become Peter Parker again. Pepper Potts and James Rhodes were called and were currently in the room with Tony. Peter didn't know what to say to them, so he let them have their time with Tony and waited for his turn.

Meanwhile, the whole time May was thinking he was at Ned's house doing homework. It sounded believable in Peter's opinion. Though, May did have a bullshit meter. She probably knew he was out doing something else. He hoped she wouldn't figure out it was the hospital.

"Peter."

Peter's head snapped up at the sound of Pepper's voice. Rhodey was next to her, a comforting hand on her shoulder. They were both smiling at him.

"Hello," Peter greeted, awkwardly. "How- how is Mister Stark?"

"Awake and pouting," Rhodey said with an amused smirk.

"Pouting? Because he has to stay in the hospital for a couple days?"

"No, because we handed his ass to him for putting so much pressure on a child," Rhodey said.

Peter shrugged. "It's okay. It was really scary but I'm glad he's going to be okay."

"Yes, he's going to be okay," Pepper reassured. "Thank you so much for your help. Can we take you home?"

Peter sat up straighter. "I, uhm, I was hoping I could see Mister Stark for a bit…"

"Of course you can, Peter. We'll be out here." Pepper opened the door and gently ushered Peter in.

"Thank you," he called as Pepper closed the door.

Peter stayed near the door and eyed Tony. Despite bleeding out a couple hours ago, he looked much better now. He was still pale and it seemed like he wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer. Peter wanted to take this to his advantage, so he hurried to the chair next to the bed and sat.

"Hey," Tony said, hoarsely.

"Hi."

"So. You're the Spider...ling."

Oh god.

"Crime fighting spider...You're Spider-boy?"

Peter blushed and crossed his arms. "Sp-Spider-Man…"

Tony chuckled. "You'll need something better than a onesie, kid."

"It's not a onesie," Peter mumbled.

Tony shrugged. "You need a serious upgrade."

Peter sighed and finally looked back at Tony. "Mister Stark…"

"I know. I put a lot of pressure on you. I'm sorry, kid. I know it wasn't fair."

"I was really worried. I thought you were going to die out like...You know."

"I do," Tony sighed. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

Peter smiled weakly. "You don't have to. I just...I just want you to live. Please."

Tony smiled. He reached over and ruffled Peter's hair. Peter leaned into his touch. It was nice to actually be in the presence of the soulmate he's been waiting for for so long. It was terrible they had to physically meet in such a horrid way but Peter was still grateful to finally be with Tony.

"Sorry I ignored you for so long. I was scared of this soulmate stuff."

"I get it...Sorta."

"Now that we actually met in person...I think it's time we start working on an actual relationship."

Peter perked up and smiled brightly. "You're willing to give me a chance? Even though I'm a kid?"

"Why not? You're my soulmate."

"I'd really like that, Mister Stark. But…"

"But?"

"Can you not tell anyone I'm Spider-Man? Please."

"Alright, Spider-Man. It'll be our secret."

"Thank you."

In the end, Tony Stark gave Peter Parker an internship with May Parker's permission. They kept Spider-Man a secret and Tony gave him a brand new suit. They had lab days every Monday and Friday.

Before long, Peter was staying over at the Stark Tower every other weekend and May agreed to co-parenting.

It was perfect.

Author's Note: Told you this one would be much longer than the last one. Last two actually.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun writing this one. I was originally gonna do random diary entries from Peter that Tony would accidentally come across, but then I saw the word 'soulmate' and I come up with this. I like how it turned out.

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki