hysteria || Peter Parker (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

15

Tony had a rat to catch.

He was on his merry way to one Thaddeus Ross' house.

As per usual, he was interrupted.

"Tony, you come home right now!" Was what Pepper first yelled to him when he answered the call from inside his Audi.

"Pep—"

"No!" She cut across him, voice reaching hysteria. "Please, Tony, can't you just listen to me for once in your life?"

He fell silent, staring at the screen that displayed the call with a mixture of concern and guilt. He hated hearing his fiancé worried – it killed him. And, God forbid, he'd made her so worried, especially in the last week. She didn't deserve this.

(But neither did Peter—)

"Just come home," she told him, voice softer but still with a tone of finality. "You haven't slept in ages, and I'm worried about you."

"I know," He said quietly, looking at his hands clenched around the wheel. "I'm sorry, honey, but I have things to do—"

"No, you need to come back to me, okay? I'm sick of..." she trailed off, and Tony heard her struggle for her next words, "I'm sick of this self-deprecating, distant man that you've become. I want-I need Anthony back."

Tony smiled through (not) wet eyes, patting down on the wheel a few times, not knowing how to answer. He wanted to see her again, badly, but he didn't have the time. He needed to get to the bottom of this. He didn't have all day—

Wait. He did have all day.

In fact, he had all of eternity.

And so did Peter. They were just in different places.

"Okay...okay, I'll-I'll come home, but—"

"No buts. You're coming home and you're sleeping with me, not in the sexual way." She replied shortly, and he knew this conversation was coming to an end.

"Damn, 'kay. Be there in five." He grinned, before hanging up without further ado.

And, he began the short drive back to the tower.

When he arrived, the lights were off.

He'd taken the elevator up to the penthouse, fidgeting slightly with his jacket. When the doors had opened, the apartment was just as black as the rest of the tower. It was almost eerie.

"Pep?" He called out in a soft voice, as he wandered through the open-plan living room, looking curiously at the stacks of papers on the coffee table.

He walked quietly to their bedroom, being careful not to make too much noise, just in case she was already sleeping. The door didn't creak as it was opened – as it should, because Tony had paid a dirty amount of money for the highest quality doors in America – but Pepper rolled over under the white sheets of their bed with a sigh.

"Tony?" She asked, reaching over the side of the bed so she could flick on the lamp. When the warm light cast the room into a soft glow, enough for Tony to see his fiancé's face, he smiled sadly at her.

A small "Hey," was all he managed, before he broke down.

Pepper was out of her bed in an instant, just as Tony's legs gave out from underneath him, and he crumpled to the floor. She was making hushes, sympathetic noises as she dropped to the floor next to him.

The tears were falling before he could even think to stop them, and he dissolved into a sobbing mess on their bedroom floor.

He wasn't even sure what triggered the sudden meltdown that was consuming him. Was it the sight of someone he loved in this time of absolutely-no-love? His encounter with May? His suspicious toward Ross? The screw-up at the funeral? Peter?