Permanent

chapter eighteen

Believe it or not, this is the last chapter! I hope you've all enjoyed this story, and make sure to stay until the end!

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The rest of the day went by normally. He'd woken up from the nap after falling asleep during the movie only to find all the Avengers in the living room watching a new movie.

Steve had made dinner for them and they all hung out the rest of the night before Peter went to bed.

When he woke up the next day, he didn't move. Didn't even try to get up and ready to go to school. He just laid there, wishing he could sleep the day away.

Today was the day he'd been dreading; one year exactly since May had died and four years since Ben had.

He wanted nothing more than to visit their graves but he couldn't. They were all the way back in Michigan and he was stuck here. If he asked, he knew Tony would probably fly them there in his private jet, but Peter didn't want to go to the trouble.

Going on patrol would be nice. It would distract him and he knew they'd both be proud of him for helping people. Not to mention he hadn't gone out in days. His suit was still stuck at the orphanage though.

For hours, all Peter did was lay in bed, trying to hold onto sleep and push away any unwanted thoughts. Eventually though, Tony came to check on him and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Peter mumbled, not moving from his position lying on his bed.

The door swung open and Tony walked in. Upon seeing Peter lying there, he went over and sat on the bed next to him.

"Hey, kid. You okay?"

Peter sighed and started talking. Although he only meant to remind Tony what today was, he ended up not being able to stop himself from venting.

"It's their death anniversaries today; my Uncle Ben's and my Aunt May's. Ben died four years ago and May died one year ago. I miss them so much. May, she... she killed herself because she found out she got cancer and she missed Ben. She left me all alone and I was sent to that orphanage and I miss her.

"Even before, it was hard dealing with Ben's death but I had May. Now, she left me by myself to deal with both of their deaths."

Tony thought for a moment, letting the information sink in. He sighed and moved his hand to rub soothing circles on the boy's back.

"I'm sorry, Pete. Trust me, I know losing family sucks."

Shaking a little, Peter nodded. He sniffed and took a deep breath to stop himself from crying before changing the subject and asking, "do you think we could go get my stuff from the orphanage? I wanted to go on patrol."

"Are you sure, kid? I don't think it's safe for you to go back there." His eyebrows were knit together in an unfamiliar look of worry.

"Please? You can come with me if you want. I just... I feel like they would've been proud of me being Spider-Man." He looked up at Tony with pleading eyes.

For a minute, Tony stared back, conflicted emotions shining in his eyes, before he looked down and sighed. "Okay. Yeah, you can go get your stuff, but I'm coming with you.

"Breakfast will be ready in about twenty minutes. I know you're not feeling great, but you still have to eat, okay?" Peter reluctantly nodded and Tony stood up and left the room.

Silently, Peter stretched and rolled out of bed, slowly moving to get ready. He found some clothes Tony had left him on the dresser and took those into the bathroom as he showered.