Hush Little Baby (Discontinued)

Ch. 22

Tony sat awkwardly on the side of Peter's bed, hands fidgeting at the blanket, eyes looking anywhere but Peter. "So how long, exactly, have you been moonlighting as a spider themed vigilante?"

The reply was hesitant, sounding like the teenager was scared of answering. "Since... almost a year ago."

"Didn't think to tell me, though. May I ask why?"

Peter flinched at the sharp question, eyes flitting to his hands, twisted in his lap. "Didn't wanna worry you."

Tony blew air out. "And you didn't stop to think that maybe I would like to know, before finding my kid bleeding out on the floor in the middle of the night?"

The teen flinched again, arms coming up to wrap around himself. "May had enough on her plate after Ben. Then I just got used to keeping it a secret. I didn't want to hurt anyone else."

"Yeah, I'm a superhero too, kid. You telling me wouldn't have hurt anything."

"I didn't want you to flip out, like you're doing now," Peter said angrily. "Why can't you understand that I know how to take care of myself?"

"You obviously can't," Tony replied swiftly. "Because I found you bleeding out on my living room floor!"

"If I had known you'd act like this, I would've just gone to Ned's." He grumbled. "Speaking of which,  I should go."

Tony sighed, relenting, and giving in to the urge to brush his fingers over Peter's cheek. "No, you're not going anywhere. I'm not really mad at you, okay? I'm just worried. Terrified. You- I only really got to know you starting a couple of months ago, and I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. Okay? So promise me. Nothing too big, nothing too dangerous. You call me for help if you need it, alright? I'll always answer for you."

Tears brightened Peter's eyes, and he leaned forward as much as the stiff bandages allowed, and Tony met him halfway, cradling the teen as gently as he had all those years ago. "Shh. It's okay. You're okay."

"I'm sorry," Peter whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Tony rested his chin on top of Peter's curls, exhaling slowly. "Stop apologizing."

The stifled silence was broken periodically with quiet sniffs as Peter tried to stop crying.

"Although if you do anything like this again we will have words. No life changing secrets like this staying hidden again, got it?"

"Yeah. I promise."

Okay, maybe he lied.

Sorry the update is so short!

I'm just really busy with school, and getting up at 4 every morning, so I'm trying to actually update all my books😔