~Irondad And Spiderson Oneshots~

a single word

//TW self-harm

Peter had seen on many places that cutting was a form of relaxation but to him, it was a punishment. Every time he said something dumb he'd cut, every time he was late to school he'd cut, every person he couldn't save. He'd cut.

He hated it but couldn't seem to stop himself. And after May was shot by a burglar cutting became a regular thing. 'I mean it was just a regular burglar Peter. Not even a professional! An amateur!'

Peter's brain was corrupted with insults that wouldn't leave until he cut. Only to result in intense numbness until the cycle reset. He was cold and emotionless on the inside but towards others, he was the happy and giggly 15 year old they always knew. And Peter planned on keeping it that way. That was until he slipped up.

---

Peter was getting out of bed when he heard a knocking on the door.

'Shit,' he thought. He'd just cut himself and was planning on washing up. So he quickly put on a hoodie that was laying on the side of his bed as Tony walked in. He'd been living with him since May had died and adopted him shortly after. Tony saw Peter as a son. Peter saw Tony as someone that pitied him. He loved him of course, like a father, but his head told him Tony only saw him as a charity case.

And when Tony revealed that Peter was his son to the press that only fueled his brain with more evidence that Tony only took him in for public cred.

Tony on the other hand thought of it as a way to show Peter that he love him and wanted the world to know that he was his son and was loved intensely.

Tony sat on Peter's bed and looked at him. "Pete, how's school going?"

"Umm good why?" Peter noticed his razor still on the bed and nonchalantly tried to push it under the pillow.

"Oh well you know, I just exposed you as my son and assumed that school might be a little harder now..." Tony's cheeks blush thinking it was dumb of him to assume there would be a change in his school life.

Peter noticed, of course, and immediately regretted saying that. He'd have to punish himself for that later. "Oh yeah well everyone tries to talk to me and teachers put an A in my grade before they even assign it so... yeah... some things have changed..."

"Well, I'm sorry son." Peter thought about it for a second but assume he was just using it as a pet name not literally. Though he wished he did.

"Uh, Peter?" Tony suddenly looked frightened and grabbed Peter's hand, "why are you bleeding?"

He immediately pulled his arm back and held it to his chest defensively. He hadn't noticed that the blood had soaked through the hoodie. "OH! It's nothing really just a cut from patrol!" Peter tried his best to look sheepishly away trying to hide the deep emotionless lump he really was.

"Let me bandage it for you." Tony reached for his arm again. 

Peter needed to think of an excuse quickly. So he tried his best to not sound nervous, smiled, and said, "It's okay. I really need to start doing myself."

"Okay, but be more careful next time." He stood up and walked to the door, "Night love."

Peter sat there staring at the closed door. Did he just call me love? 

He thought about it for hours completely forgetting about 'punishing' himself. And that's when Peter stopped cutting himself because Tony wouldn't call a charity case love. Tony wouldn't have checked up on him every day after school if he was a charity case. Tony wouldn't have stopped drinking for him if he was just a charity case and It would have never clicked if Tony Stark, his father, hadn't said that 

Single word.