Spider-Man Whumptober - 2023

Overworked/Insomnia/Exhaustion

(AN: This one's a little short, sorry. But it'll do. *Shrugs* Nobody knows Peter is Spider-Man except Ned, so yeah. Enjoy!)

The week felt like it would never end.

Between studying frantically for final exams, interning for Mr. Stark, and going out by night as Spider-Man, Peter had been getting a scarily small amount of sleep.

But he couldn't just quit. He had to take and do well on his exams, and if he stopped showing up to his internship, not only would he no longer get to work with the Tony Stark, but Mr. Stark might become suspicious of his alter-ego. So he tried his best to suck it up and work through the ever-increasing drowsiness.

"Peter!"

Peter's head snapped up as he focused on the conversation going on around him. The chemistry class had apparently been split into group to study and practice together, and now Michelle was staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You good, loser?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" Peter stammered, sitting up straight and grabbing his notebook. "What were we talking about?"

Ned frowned and leaned closer. "Dude, you need to start getting some more sleep."

"Seriously, I'm fine," Peter insisted, despite how much his body yearned to take Ned's advice.

"No, you're not," Michelle deadpanned. "You look awful. Whatever poor excuse for a sleep schedule you've been following lately is clearly not working very well."

"Is it that obvious?" Peter asked softly, grimacing.

MJ rolled her eyes. "No, we were just guessing. We couldn't tell you were tired, especially after you definitely didn't just fall asleep in class," she said sarcastically.

"Okay, okay," Peter conceded as Ned snickered at Michelle's sass, "I'll get a good sleep tonight. But can we please just do chemistry right now?"

~~~

Peter sat perched on the side of the building with his mask in his hands. After his internship, he'd run into a nearby alleyway and decided to swing home. He had just prevented someone from getting mugged after using an ATM, and now he was trying to catch his breath.

He was exhausted.

But if he hadn't been out Spider-Manning, people would have gotten hurt tonight.

He managed to make it home without much more fuss, and by the time he crept through his window it was almost midnight.

He softly shut the window and stepped out of his suit before changing into his pajamas. Even though he wanted to study for his exams, he intended to keep his promise to MJ.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed down the hallway towards his room. In a panic, Peter snatched his suit up off the floor and jumped into his bed, yanking up the blankets and pretending he was asleep. The door opened mere moments later, and May peeked into the room.

"Peter?" she hissed. He stayed still and controlled his breathing until she walked towards him and gently shook his shoulder. He sucked in a breath as though she'd woken him up, and shifted to look at her through squinted eyelids.

"May?"

"I'm sorry Peter, but I've just gotten a call from the hospital. They need more people there--there's been a terrible accident. I probably won't be home until late tomorrow."

"Oh... Okay," Peter said sullenly.

"I'm sorry, hun. I wish my hours were more reliable. Have a good day at school tomorrow," she said with a small smile as she backed away and then left the room, softly shutting the door behind her.

Peter fell backwards onto his pillow in relief. That had been a scarily close call. He closed his eyes again, intending to get some sleep like Michelle had insisted, but he was jittery with adrenaline.

What if May had seen his suit?

What if she'd figured out his secret?

What about his exam coming up? He still needed to study for it.

After about an hour of the same thoughts frantically running through his mind, Peter acknowledged his defeat and climbed out of bed. Despite his weariness, he couldn't sleep.

He turned on his lamp and pulled out his notes. If he couldn't sleep, he might as well do something worth-while.

After about three hours, his flash cards started to bleed together. Peter couldn't keep his eyes open, and without realizing it, he slowly drooped until he was lying face down on his desk.

His alarm went off in the morning, but Peter barely stirred other than reaching over and mindlessly slapping at the clock until he hit the right button to shut the blaring noise off. If he hadn't been so exhausted, the straight-A student in him would have been appalled at the fact that he was missing school.

When Peter finally woke up, it was to May shaking his shoulder.

"Peter? Are you getting sick?"

"Wha?"

"How long have you been sleeping?"

Peter studied the clock for several seconds, his brow furrowing in concentration. "Uh, a few hours?"

"Is your nap the reason I got a call from the school today about your unexplained absence?"

"Oh..." Peter said slowly as he realized how long he'd really been out. "I slept through school?"

May looked at him with a bewildered expression on her face before she started to laugh. "How about you lay down in your bed, Pete," she said, smiling.

She lifted his arm and guided him to his mattress, ignoring his weak protests as she pushed him onto his bed and turned of the lamp. "Get some rest, Peter," she said as she stood in the door. "You clearly need it."

This time, when she shut the door, Peter only hesitated for a moment before eyeing his pillow and then succumbing once more to sleep.