Peter's screams woke the household up at 3 a.m. because he was yelling for Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
"Wake up, Peter." Tony ordered calmly. He rubbed Pete's shoulder, but Peter continued calling out and writhing. He had tears running down his face.
"Come on, Peter. It's okay, bud. Wake up."
Finally, Peter woke up, gasping for air. Tony caught him as he shot up in the bed, trying to catch his breath. When he managed to do so, he rubbed his hands against his face. He was so annoyed and tired of the unrelenting nightmares.
"S-sorry, Mr. Stark."
"You don't have to apologize Peter."
"Mr. Stark, c-can I go see them?"
Tony confused for a moment, but then realized what Peter meant. "Yeah of course you can bud. We can go in a few hours."
"Thank you. Can I have Ned be with me?"
"Yes bud. Go back to sleep."
At 11 a.m., the three boys went to the cemetery. Tony had flowers sent to the tower for Peter to take over to the grave site.
"Pete, would you like some privacy?" Tony asked before getting out of the car.
"I want Ned with me for right now."
Tony was not at all offended and explained that to Peter when he tried to explain and apologize.
As Ned and Peter sat down on the ground, Ned spoke, "You had an amazing aunt and uncle, Peter."
"I know, Ned. They were amazing. I really miss them."
"I know you do, man. But they would be so happy that you have Mr. Stark looking after you."
"Think so?"
"Yeah of course. They want you to be happy, dude."
Peter nodded, wiping away a tear that had sneaked out. Ned wrapped his arm around Peter for a few minutes. Peter got lost in his thoughts looking up at the blue sky. Tony got out of the car. They had been there for a half hour.
He didn't want to rush Peter, but he wanted to check on him. "You boys doing okay?"
Peter didn't look up. He didn't want Mr. Stark to see his tears.
Ned looked up at Mr. Stark with sad eyes. "We are okay, Mr. Stark."
"Pete, need more time?"
Peter nodded a yes. He felt bad for wasting all of Tony's time. After a few more minutes, the two boys made their way back to the car. Peter sat up front with Tony this time and made an effort to not make eye contact with his guardian. Tony noticed that both boys had been crying. Peter's eyes were red and puffy, so were Neds. Tony reached out and squeezed Pete's shoulder and nodded as in he understood, and it was okay. Peter smiled at him a bit. When they pulled up to Ned's house, Peter got out, hugging Ned tightly for a few moments, before both boys wiped a few stray tears away. It was a really emotional day for both of them.
When Peter got back in the car, he didn't say a word. "Pete, are you okay?" Tony asked.
Peter just nodded. He wanted to just break down, but he didn't want to with Mr. Stark around.
Deciding that a distraction was in order, Tony asked, "How about some ice cream?"
Peter almost cracked a smile but didn't. Instead, he shook his head. Tony scoffed a little jokingly, "I never in a million years thought that I would hear you turning down ice cream." He tried to make the tension lighter.
"M'sorry. Mr. Stark. Just not hungry." Peter said.
Tony squeezed his shoulder, "That's okay bud. Let's go home and let you rest." Peter nodded.
When they got in the living room, Peter collapsed on the couch. He laid down on his stomach, covering his eyes with his hands and then burying his face in the pillow. Tony came over with a bottle of water and had Peter drink some. He noticed Peter wipe at his face a little before taking the bottle and avoiding looking at him. When he finished taking a sip, Peter laid back down and covered his eyes with hands. Tony put the bottle on the coffee table and rubbed Pete's back. "Get some rest now, bud." A few moments later, Tony could hear light snoring from across the room. Peter had been asleep for about two hours when Tony decided to wake Pete up with the smell of coffee. While Peter had been asleep, Tony ordered pizza that had just arrived. With the aroma of coffee in the air, Tony noticed the teen stirring on the couch. When Peter woke up, he realized that Morgan was sitting next to Pepper in a chair, coloring. They had already eaten some pizza and were being quiet so Peter could rest. Peter made his way to the kitchen, grabbing a plate and 6 slices of pizza.
"Hungry, are we?" Tony chided.
He was so relieved to hear an actual laugh followed by sarcasm come out of the teen, who had been so depressed. Tony was working on finding a counselor for Peter. Although, a part of him really hoped Pete would just come to him. Peter finished all six slices and Tony made some more jokes about money and pizza.
Later that afternoon, Morgan came up to Peter, "Will you play with me?" She held out a bin of play-doh.
Peter smiled and nodded. They created all kinds of different things and even had a little war with some dragon looking creatures. Tony couldn't help but laugh at how dramatic the battle was. The ball of dough that hit him on the head was a complete surprise. When Morgan giggled, he picked her up dramatically, tickling her until she could hardly breath. She was laughing so hard. Tony then made his way over to Peter when he was laughing. Peter got up quickly, in an attempt to run from the tickle punishment that was coming his way. The two boys wrestled for a moment. Tony won in his mind because he had gotten Peter to laugh like he used to. The boy used to be endless chatter and laughs that Tony would make him do extra runs in the office just to get him to calm down, especially when he couldn't get him to stop laughing. That night, Morgan had insisted that Peter help her get ready for bed.
After an over dramatic production of a bed-time story, Peter kissed Morgan on the head. "Night, Morhuna. Go to bed or I'll sell all of your toys." Peter said. Morgan giggled, realizing he had stolen that comment from her dad. (okay, I used an Endgame reference-couldn't help it)
When things had quieted down, Peter sat on the couch doing some history reading and questions.
Tony came and sat next to him. "Homework?"
"Yeah. I am just trying to get caught up."
"Remember what I said about taking your time with and don't stress."
"I know, Mr. Stark." Peter smiled.
A couple of hours later, Tony came back over where Peter was. Peter was writing answers to some questions. Tony grabbed the pen once he stopped writing. "Enough of that, mister. Time for bed."
Peter sighed. He really wasn't tired. "I have four more questions. Can I finish those?"
Tony raised an eyebrow. He admired the kid's work ethic, but he knew the kid needed sleep. "Bedtime, Pete. You need your rest."
Peter rolled his eyes. He was a little frustrated and it showed. "I'm not tired."
Tony could see that he was indeed tired. He hadn't meant to make him frustrated. He was a bit surprised to see the kid getting worked up over homework.
"Peter." Tony said firmly. "I know you said you aren't tired, but you are bud. I want you to rest now. You don't have to sleep yet, just rest."
Peter let out an exaggerated groan of frustration, wanting to keep working. Tony knew this was going to go from bad to worse, if he didn't stop it. "Peter, I am not going to ask again. Come on bud. Put your homework away." Tony said.
He was trying to be calm about the whole thing. He gently took the book and papers from Peter, setting them aside. Peter had had enough of Tony bothering him. He threw his books down on the ground and threw the pen across the room, that had been sitting on the table. Getting up off the couch, Peter headed for his room.
Tony grabbed his arm. "Peter, take a breath. You are all worked up. Breathe. You are just tired." Peter glared at him. He knew he was over-reacting, but he didn't really care at the moment. Tony attempted to pull Peter in for a soothing hug to calm him down but was surprised when Pete resisted. "Peter, come on. Don't be mad."
"I am not a baby! I don't need you telling me what to do!" Peter said, raising his voice a little.
Tony was surprised at Peter as once again a string of curses came out of the teen's mouth. "Peter, don't talk like that." Tony said firmly. Yeah, it was definitely time for Peter to get some help.
Tony was hoping the kid would snap out of his little tantrum, but he didn't. He kept going. Finally, Tony spoke up when Peter was breathing hard after spouting off. "Okay bud. I think you need sleep. You know better than to talk like that. I am sorry you feel the way you do, but you need to calm down. Understand?"
Peter blushed in embarrassment but said nothing. Tony knew the kid was tired. He led Pete to his room, who was still feeling really frustrated. Tony managed to get the teen to sit next to him on his bed. "Peter, are you ready to have a conversation now?"
Peter was still a little bratty and he knew he was acting like a four-year-old. He shook his head no and grunted out a frustrated "Nuh-uh".
"Okay then why don't you get ready for bed and then we will try having our conversation again, yeah?" Tony asked, not sure if that would help the situation or if it would just make things worse. Oh well, he was learning how to parent a teen. It was still a new concept. A few minutes later, Peter came out and sat next to Tony. "You ready to be nice now, bud?"
"Uh- huh. S-sorry, Mr. Stark." Peter said meekly.
"We care about you Pete. I know you are exhausted, and you are acting out due to it. I want to help fix whatever is going on in that head of yours. Talk to me."
Peter stared down at the floor and said, "I-I am just tired of being treated like a little kid. I am 13!"
"I understand that, but you have been through so much lately. I don't want you stressing out. Okay?"
"Yeah. M'sorry." Peter said.
"Okay bud. I forgive you." Tony gently put his arm around Peter and managed to get a real hug. Tony stood up, giving him a kiss on the head, and ruffled his hair.
"Goodnight bud."
Pete didn't move and just sat on the edge of the bed.
Tony came back over, "Everything okay, Pete?"
Without looking up, he said, "I am sorry for being rude. You have flipped your life upside down for me. I shouldn't be acting the way I did."
Tony smiled at Peter. He was a really good kid. "It's okay, Peter. You have had a rough day." Tony ruffled his hair one last time and closed the bedroom door.
The next day, Tony went to check on Peter and was surprised to see that the teen wasn't in his room asleep. He asked FRIDAY where he was. Peter had reported downstairs for his internship at exactly 8 A.M. Tony figured it was just Peter's way of apologizing. He went down to the little office that was Peters. He quietly knocked on the door.
Peter was busily replying to a few emails and looking at a Stark Industries I-pad. "Hello, Mr. Stark."
Tony closed the door, "Hey, Pete. You're up early."
"I just wanted to get ahead on everything today."
"Okay bud. Why don't you come on up to my office and we can pick up the girls for lunch?"
"Okay." Peter said cheerfully.
" So, I found a counselor and we have an appointment with her next week. You going to be alright with that, because we can wait?"
Peter nodded but didn't say anything.
Okay. I will let you get back to it." Tony smiled softly.
The phone rang as Tony closed Peter's door again. The kid had run all over the place, doing everything he could get hands on. He was like that for almost an entire week. Non-stop.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading Chapter 6! I didn't much time at all this past week to work on this chapter. Thankfully, I had most of it already written but I did add some stuff. Sorry for the chapter being shorter! Also, I figured having Peter do things for SI is his way of keeping himself busy and distracted, until he goes back to school. Happy Thanksgiving!