Begging

Chapter 10 ~ I Love You Too

Peter's POV

24 hours. It's been a full 24 hours since Mr. Stark came and rescued me. Since we got back to the tower, I still haven't said a word. I've barely moved at all. Whenever someone wants me to do something, I do it immediately. I really wish everything would just go back to normal, but after so long with Douglas, I wasn't sure if I would ever go back to normal.

Another thing that was annoying, was that everyone seemed like they were walking on eggshells when they were around me. Like they were scared they would accidentally trigger me, or make me break down or something. I hated it. Although, it was understandable. Everyone had no doubt noticed my change in behavior since returning, and I knew that they were just trying to make sure they didn't accidentally do something wrong. Deep down, I knew that I would be in worse condition if they hadn't been doing this, but it was still annoying.

I had seen the pictures of my back a few hours ago, and I was still horrified. I knew Mr. Stark was probably drowning in guilt from his name being carved on my chest, to the Ironman picture on my back, to an image of his arc reactor burned into my bare chest, even taking so long to find me. I didn't blame him, which I was honestly surprised about, but if I was being honest, I was home. Even if I had been with Douglas for a while, I was home now. No one could take that away.

I already knew that May was dead, but it didn't make it hurt any less when Bruce confirmed it. I had seen her dead body at the apartment, but I had kind of pushed that to the back of my mind because of my circumstances.

People had already started planning the funeral, and they told me that I didn't have to go since I was still "recovering". That was crap. I was going to go to my last living relative's funeral. After the funeral, we would have some stuff with CPS to deal with, and then that was it.

Mr. Stark and I haven't talked since he found me. He had been in his room the entire time. I was still in the hospital room I woke up in. I was kind of glad that we hadn't seen each other yet. I'm certain he needed a few hours to recover from seeing what Douglas had done to me. If I had been in his position, I would've too.

"It seems boss is coming to see you Mr. Parker." FRIDAY said.

"Thanks Fri. And just call me Peter."

"Alright Peter."

A couple seconds later, there was a soft knock on the door, followed by my quiet voice giving a soft "come in".

Mr. Stark walked in, looking exhausted, but also relieved.

"Hey Pete. How you holding up?"

"Better." I said quietly. I still wasn't comfortable with talking, so I stuck with a one word answer.

Mr. Stark nodded, and walked over to one of the chair next to my bed. He sat down slowly, and buried his face in his hands.

"Gosh Pete. I'm so sorry." He whispered quietly.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm sorry it took us so long to find you. We should've- I should've found you sooner. There were so many clues. We recognized some of the guys, we had a note, heck we even found the building they were keeping you at for a while.

"Mr. Stark I don't blame you." I said. I was still confused why he thought it was his fault for not completing a nearly impossible task, but I felt bad that he felt bad.

"Kid you're too good for this world." He said smiling. His eyes darted down to my bandaged wrist. "What happened to your arm?"

"Oh um..." I started. I carefully began unwrapping the gauze. What had happened was that Douglas thought it would be good to carve his rules into lower arm, so that I would remember them. Of course, he had also included the punishments. "He had some uh... Rules I guess." I finished, showing my arm to Mr Stark.

He audibly gasped, seeing the words carved into my skin.

No speaking unless asked a question or instructed otherwise. - Words spoken carved 10 times into skin

No eye contact. - Whip

No resistance of any kind. - Burns or electricity

No moving unless instructed, or alone in your cell. - Drowning

No escape. - EVERYTHING

"Pete... You know you don't have to follow those rules anymore right? None of us would ever hurt you..." I nodded slowly. "Is this why you haven't been talking?" He asked. I looked down, and nodded again. I immediately saw Mr. Stark's eyes fill with sadness.

"Uh... Pete?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"How long uh... How long do you think you were gone?" A long silence followed that sentence. 

"I don't know. How long was it?" The tension in the air was inevitable, but I could tell Mr. Stark was still going to answer, even with the long pause.

"6 weeks." He said. I opened my mouth in shock, but closed it quickly. I was gone for 6 weeks? That was like, a month and a half. Wow.

We sat in silence for a long time. At least, it seemed like a long time. It could've been minutes, it could've been hours. This time it was me who broke the silence.

"When you uh... found me, you uh... You called me your kid." I paused. "Did you really mean that?" I asked.

Mr. Stark looked at me, and sucked in a deep breath before speaking. "Yeah. Yeah I did. Peter, you're like a son to me. I- I see you as a son, and I love you like one too." 

I paused a second, before launching myself into his arms.

"I love you too dad." I said.

A/N

Word Count: 997

Soooooooorry. I know this chapter is kinda short, but I think it's pretty good quality, so I'm calling it done.

Anyways... There isn't really anything to update you on since I wrote these last four chapters in less than 2 days, but I DID accidentally delete my other story. So now, I'm rewriting it! I have all 13 chapters planned and outlined, so I should be able to actually write it in maybe 1 or 2 weeks.

Question:

What is the most annoying thing anyone has ever done?

Anyways... That's it for now!

Bye!

-26joshaw