Just so Hungry

It's Okay

I was only out for two seconds. I woke up when my back slammed into metal.

Iron Man. Mr. Stark.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Kid, you have a lot of explaining to do, but I'm gonna set you down first," he said, his voice a little distorted behind the mask.

It took me a moment to realize we were heading to Stark Tower. When he landed, he set me down gently on a couch then stepped out of his suit.

"Alright kid. Talk to me. What's wrong?"

I turned red and looked down at my toes.

God, why did I have to look so pitiful? I guess I felt like that. I felt weak and vulnerable and I hated it. I hated it when Flash pushed me around and made me feel worthless, I hated that Mr. Stark had to come save me like I was a weak puppy, I hated that I couldn't seem to do the one thing that made me feel strong. I hated it even more when my stomach growled and my eyes started to burn again.

"Can... Can I have some food? Please?" I asked, finally voicing what my stomach had been asking all day long.

"Oh kid, is that all? You're hungry?"

I ducked my head lower and cursed quietly as tears started falling into my lap.

"Peter? Woah hey, what's wrong?"

"Peter hasn't eaten in almost twenty-four hours, sir," came Karen's voice through the room, making me jump. "His bloodsugar is dangerously low, he needs to eat immediately."

"You what--oh kid, okay, it's going to be okay, just wait there, I'll get you something to eat," he said, hurrying to another room.

"Thank you," I whispered as he left.

There was a moment of silence before Karen spoke again.

"I told Tony to come get you as soon as you ran out of the building," she said, only this time she spoke into my earpiece instead of to the room. Her voice was gentle and soft.

"Thanks," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize right now, all you need to do is eat."

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "Okay."

Mr. Stark came back holding something in his hand. A protein bar.

Normally I wouldn't be very excited, as protein bars tended to taste like cardboard, but at this point just about anything looked delicious, and I had to close my mouth to keep from drooling.

"Eat," he said, putting the bar in my hand.

My hands shook as I tried to unwrap it, the wrapping slipping in my fingers as I got increasingly more frustrated. I started to hyperventilate as more tears spilled down my face and the wrapper still wouldn't open and my stomach hurt so much and suddenly I was sobbing, sobbing like a baby, right in front of Mr. Stark.

"It's okay kid, it's okay," Mr. Stark said, taking the bar from me and unwrapping it easily. He handed it back and I started to devour it, chewing it once, twice, and swallowing it down only to tear off another large bite. I think it was chocolate flavored, but I don't really know.

"I'll be right back kiddo, I'm going to go get you more food, something that'll fill you up better than that, yeah?"

I only nodded, my mouth full of the protein bar and my chest too tight to speak. I couldn't seem to stop crying. I didn't understand why I wasn't starting to feel better. The bar felt like a rock in my stomach; even though I could feel the food, I felt no relief, I still felt shaky and sick and tired.