Spider-Son & Iron Dad one shots

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

When Tony walked into his office, there were two things he saw that he definitely didn't expect.

#1: Peter, sitting on the couch looking at a paper.

#2: Peter, looking at the paper with distress and tears in his eyes.

He looked as if he was on the brink of losing it, and Tony wasn't for that at all.

"Peter? What's wrong?" He asks with concern.

Peter looks up and laughs, tears threatening to spill. "Nothing, Mr. Stark. It's just that I have a paper I forgot to do and it's due to tomorrow and I'm kind of freaking out-" he says in a wavering voice, looking up to stop tears from falling. He takes a few deep breaths.

"Hey, it's okay. You're all caught up on everything else. You have time, don't worry. Breathe." Tony says, cautious on approaching Peter.

Peter nods and continues taking deep breaths. "I know, it's just I forgot and I should have gotten in done earlier. I only have the rest of the day to do it and it's nine at night."

Tony sighs. "I know. Do you need help, kid? I could try to help if you'd like. English isn't my strong suit, but I'm sure I could help you pull something together."

He shakes his head. "No, it's okay Mr. Stark. Thank you, though. I should go. Sorry for bothering you."

And before Tony could say anything, Peter leaves, closing the door a little too quietly behind him.

Tony sits in his chair, thinking. It was weird of Peter to freak out over something so small, wasn't it? He's always been an straight-A student, why was he worried over one small paper?

He decided to wait for more weird incidents to happen before confronting Peter about it. He also hoped it didn't happen again.

Unfortunately, there were more incidents.

For example, one time Peter came in to the lab after school and sat down with some very visible emotion in his face.

"Peter, you okay?" Tony asked, who watched his movements carefully.

Peter shook his head in response. Tony raised an eyebrow, forcing him to elaborate. 

"My teacher is stressing me out, that's all." He says simply.

"What are they doing?" Tony asked.

"She didn't update me on my grade until a day before the trimester ended and the grade was final. Apparently I have an F in her class and she didn't update me until today. I thought it was an A. I also have a test tomorrow that i didn't know existed, so yeah. My teacher is stressing me out." Peter explains, his voice shaking.

Tony blinks. "That's awful, I'm sorry, Peter. Maybe I can talk to the school, get her fired-"

"No, Mr. Stark. It's probably my fault." Peter interrupts.

"How would it be your fault?" Tony asks incredulously.

Peter falters. "Um, I don't know, but-"

"It's not your fault Peter, it's hers. Stop blaming yourself."

"I'm sorry." He says quietly.

"Get in here," Tony speaks softly, opening his arms for Peter to hug him. He doesn't decline. He can feel Peter trying not to cry by the way he's holding his breath. "Peter, it's alright to cry." 

"...okay."

And so he cried. Tony would play with his hair and comfort him. He also needed to find some sort of way to help his son in this new found anxiety he has about schoolwork.

The next day, he comes to the lab again.

"How did your test go?" Tony asks him, excited.

"Fine. I worked all day for it and she changed my grade to an A." Peter says lamely.

"That's fantastic!" Tony exclaims.

"I guess," Peter shrugs.

"You guess?"

"I don't know. It's not a big deal, Mr. Stark." Peter says. And the heartbreaking thing is that he sounds truthful in his own way. Tony blinks.

"Not a big deal? Peter, you sounded so stressed out last night!" Tony points out.

Peter looks called out and shys away. "I just don't feel accomplished, I don't know."

Tony stays silent for a long time.

Eventually, Tony knew he needed to confront him about it. However, he didn't know exactly how to do it properly. The first time he saw Peter, he blurted out his observations.

This was when he was walking in the halls of the compound.

"Peter, do you have anxiety?"

Peter spun around to meet his gaze. "W-what?!" He splutters.

People turned to look. Tony then realized that wasn't the best way of addressing the situation. Peter smiled awkwardly at the people who stared, and his hands started shaking ever so slightly.

Tony pulled him into his office and Peter calmed down, glad to not be the center of attention.

"Peter, do you have anxiety?" He asked again.

It was quiet as Peter stared at the empty coffee cup on Tony's desk. He mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"Maybe," Peter says honestly. "I don't know."

"What do you think of therapy, Peter?"

Peter blinks, a little shocked. "There's nothing wrong with me, Mr. Stark." He sounds a little unsure of himself. "Right?"

Tony rolls his eyes at the accusation. "People go to therapy for a lot of things, Peter. You don't need 'something wrong with you'." 

"But-"

"I go to therapy. Is there something wrong with me?" Tony asks, shutting him up.

"N-no! Of course not!" Peter says, panicked.

It's silent for a minute.

"I guess I can try therapy." Peter says quietly.

"Okay, I'll sign you up." Tony says, pleased with his parenting skills. Peter gets up and walks toward the door. "And Peter?" He turns around to face Tony. "I love you, kid."

Peter smiles and leaves the room. When he's out of the room walking down the hall, he says "I love you" back.

Months of therapy later, and Peter is in a much happier mindset. He's still a straight-A student, but when he misses a paper, he doesn't get as stressed out. He talks to the teacher, he makes up the paper or does some extra credit work and everything's fixed.

And the only person he can thank is Tony Stark. His dad-but not really- that he loves very much.

A/N:  me?? Portraying myself as Peter Parker? No.... 

If you have these thoughts or feelings then please go see a therapist or talk to a counselor. Somebody, at least. It doesn't make you weak. It makes you strong for getting the help you need.

*yes the things peter is going through in this chapter actually happened with me, and my reactions were the same. but I'm getting therapy and things are getting better. love y'all!*