Irondad Oneshots

5 Times Peter Got Help and One Time He Didn't - Part One

TW

1

Sometimes he gets sad.

Sometimes he gets numb.

Sometimes he gets angry.

Sometimes he gets isolated.

Sometimes he gets anxious.

All he knows is that it's not a fun experience. Ever.

He gets empty and confused and lost and his mind becomes a thicket of thoughts that he can't seem to grasp and none of the really make any sense to him anyways. He gets scared and lonely even if there's people all around him. He feels like he's not good enough. Like nobody cares no matter how many times he's asked if he's okay. He always lies and says he is anyways.

Today's a 7 on his scale of sadness. Normally, he wavers somewhere between a 4 and a 5. A 1 on his scale basically means that he has no bad thoughts lingering on his mind, enough so that he can smile and be happy without any mental repercussions. A 10 is basically seriously suicidal. A 7 is a little bit too high on his scale to be pretend to be normal. It's a little bit too high to just brush off as a regular day.

So, when he asks May if he can stay home while she goes to work, she stares at him for a few seconds with worry.

"Should I be worried? A 6?" she asks, checking over his body for potential worries in case it isn't a mental thing.

"...7, but no. Not a worry thing. I'm okay, just don't think I can go to school today. Sorry," he says, forcing a small smile to grace his lips.

May frowns again, checking the younger boy over for any signs of danger or self-inflicted harm. There was a bad experience where Peter had purposefully gotten himself in trouble as Spider-Man and got stabbed because he was feeling closer to a 9 on the scale. He hadn't tried to patch himself up or anything and cried when he woke up, perfectly fine.

"I'm okay, May. I promise. I'm just going to hang out in the living room. Watch movies, eat some snacks. I'll even call Mister Stark and see if I can go over early if I'm feeling better later?" he suggests, trying to ease his aunt's worry about her sad teenager.

"If you're sure... I love you, sweetie. Don't forget that. And if it gets anywhere above a 7, you call me, okay? Or Tony if that would make you feel better. Just don't do this by yourself. You don't have to," she says, pulling her nephew into a tight hug.

Peter leans into his aunt's warmth, inhaling the homey scent of perfume and laundry detergent from her wearing her nurse outfit. It's not as though she's really going to smell like homemade baked goods or anything with her cooking skills.

"I love you too, May. I'll either see you when you get home or you can call me if I'm with Mister Stark. I know the drill," he replies, feeling a bit of the heaviness lighten at joking around with his family.

She smiles tiredly and ruffles his curls. "Remind me to get your hair cut sooner or later. It's getting long. Be safe, honey. I love you."

"We already went through this. Go before you're late," he says, giving her a gentle push towards the door.

She nods, still looking a little bit flustered. She's had nightmares about getting home and finding her nephew after a bad 10. Finding him cold and gone on the bathroom tiles. He doesn't even know how she'd react to something like that, she's lost enough.