The Never-Ending War

Chapter 2

"Peter listen to me. You can't let him get into your head like he did to me. You need to keep that head of yours clear, and finish this fight, strong. I also need you to know that you've been like a son to me, and I love you."
"I love you too, Tony." Peter said tears rolling down his face as he heard Tony take his last breath before dyeing. He started screaming.
"Ahhhhhh" he screamed waking up. May rushed in and quickly took Peter into her arms as she rocked him back and forth telling him that he's okay, but not even believing it herself.

MJ woke up to the sound of screaming coming from next door. It was Peter. After a couple minutes she went and knocked on the door. May answered, "Hey Michelle. What's going on?"
"Nothing. I just heard Peter screaming, and wanted to make sure he was okay."
"He's Okay. He just had a nightmare."
"Look I know he recently lost Tony Stark and his uncle, and I've just been worried about him."
"Yeah you and me both." Aunt May said letting her guard down a little. A few tears rolled down her face, and she quickly wiped them off. "He's just been having a hard time recently, and I can't get him to speak to me. Do you think you could try?"
"I can try. It probably won't work though. He thinks I'm a total weirdo."
"No he don't. Trust me he thinks so highly of you." Aunt May says smiling a bit. MJ was taken aback completely. She has never had anyone compliment her.
"Thanks. I should get going. I got to get ready for school. See you later." MJ said going back to her apartment. She made a plan in her head to talk to Peter. She liked planning things out ahead of time. She was going to talk to Ned first which meant she had to hurry. She quickly got dressed and ready, and ran out the door.
When she got to school, she ran up to Ned who was in his usual spot at the library. "Hey Ned, I need to talk to you." She said urgently. He followed her to a private place to talk.
"What's this about?" Ned asked confused.
"Peter had a nightmare this morning. I heard him screaming awake from it."
"Okay. That's concerning." Ned said completely worried about Peter.
"Look, I know he's Spiderman."
"What? How?"
"Well first of all I'm very observant. Second of all it doesn't take much time to figure out where he disappears off to. Third of all, Spiderman shows up when he disappears. Like in DC, and at Homecoming."
"Wow."
"Anyways, it's more than just three father figures dying. It's the war he fought with the Avengers."
"Yeah. It changed him. It's like he never came back."
"It's called PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It occurs mainly in soldiers, but an 18 year old hero who witnessed a lot of death definitely has PTSD. I'm going to talk to him sometime today. Just make sure you're with him at all cost today. Two friends is better than one."
"Okay. I hope he'll open up."
"He won't today. He'll tell us he's fine, and we'll tell him to stop lying, and tell him we're always here for him."
"Okay. It's better than nothing. I guess."

Throughout the morning, Peter kept quiet while Ned talked about random stuff. He tried talking about things that Peter liked to at least get a smile, but it didn't work. At lunch, MJ pulled Ned and Peter to the corner of the cafeteria. "Peter, I know what you've been through is absolutely terrible, and I know you're hurting, and I just want to say that me and Ned are here for you." MJ said not knowing what else to say. Peter looked mad like he was offended or something.
"Are you kidding me? Ned you knew about this didn't you? That's why you've been acting weird all day." Peter said surprising MJ and Ned.
"I did, but that's not why I'm acting weird. I'm acting wired because I'm worried about you." Ned said trying to stay calm.
"I'm fine!" Peter yelled making the whole cafeteria go quiet, and start watching the commotion.
"Okay quiet down." Mj said not liking all the attention they were getting.
"No! I will be as loud as I want!"
"Fine." MJ started. "Well I guess you don't mind everyone hearing then. Peter what you've been through was something traumatic. Your Aunt is worried about you, I'm worried about you, Ned's worried about you, and a lot of other people are worried about you. We all understand why you wouldn't be fine."
"You don't understand anything! You wouldn't know what it's like to go through what I've went through. Not at all! Yeah what I went through was awful, but I AM FINE!" Peter yelled, screaming the last three words. Then he walked away, and left school. Flash ran up to Ned and MJ actually looking concerned.
"What was that about?" He asked sounding so concerned. It didn't make sense why he was worried about Peter, he hated Peter at least that's what everyone thought. Ned and MJ didn't answer his question. They didn't know how to explain things without giving away his secret. There was a silence before Ned started talking.
"He was there when Iron Man died. Where he has, or had, the Stark Internship. When Iron Man, Tony Stark, was dying they brought him to the building Peter was working at. He told Peter that he was like his son. It screwed Peter up pretty bad I guess. He has lost three fathers in one lifetime. That's hard on him, and he's suffering, and he's just worrying everyone." Ned said telling only half the truth. Flash looked down. He never realized how bad Peter had it. He hated Peter his whole life. When Peter had that panic attack the other day, he started to worry, but now with what Ned just told him, he was speechless. After that, everyone went back to eating.
"Did that really happen? Tony telling Peter he was like a son?"
"Yeah, but he told Peter that as he died on the street during the war."
"When did he tell you that?"
"He didn't, he told Aunt May, who told me."