Rollercoaster - Peter Parker

26. Everything is Falling Apart

"Hey, Peter," Tony greeted him, taking off his sunglasses before sitting in Peter's chair. "May's told me about how you've been depressed these last few weeks."

Peter gulped, scratching the back of his neck anxiously. Out of all the things Tony could've said, he wasn't prepared to be the direct concern so early on in the conversation. He sat down uncomfortably on his bed, fiddling with his hands as he avoided the man's eyes.

"I mean, yeah... I guess I've been feeling pretty bad about, well, everything."

The man in front of Peter put his glasses in his front jacket pocket, leaning his elbows to his knees while holding his head up. "Do you have anything you want to talk about? It might help you to just rant before we get into the Flash stuff." His face was visibly soft, making Peter shrug.

"I guess that's all where it starts really," Peter said, an edge to his voice.

He continued on to tell Tony the events of meeting. With Flash and his friends, getting off the phone with him, and finding Caden in his room where a war broke out. Peter went on to explain that he was going to tell Caden about him being Spider-Man but was interrupted, he had never meant to manipulate Caden or his friends in a way, and how the break up went down. Finishing up his rant about the almost kiss and having no idea where to even start with the Flash situation, Peter was appreciative at how intently Tony was listening throughout the whole thing.

Peter tilted his head to the side afterwards, expectantly awaiting a reaction from the man instead of a blank stare. Tony cleared his throat, rubbing his hands together, and Peter watched his every movement, his eyes moving as the man sat up straight, cracking his knuckles.

"I'm not going to comment on the things that are troubling you because that's just not my place," Tony started, and Peter felt a little deflated and disappointed at his words. "I will say that if I had a mental breakdown every time I went through something difficult - physically, emotionally, or mentally - I wouldn't be here right now. Take a page out of my book, Peter, and try to relax."

"I can't!" Peter exploded, throwing his hands up in the air. He didn't want to hear how he should relax at that point. He had too many things to go through that relaxing would seem incredibly pointless. He could relax after he found a way to get everything done, and so far, Tony wasn't much of an aid in that.

Tony sighed, a sympathetic look in his face as he saw how distressed this situation made Peter. "You've gotta, kid, it's not up to us. You have to ease your mind before we're able to devise a plan to outthink these kids. Now, I have a few ideas in mind, but you have to chill out first."

Peter slowly nodded his head, covering his face with his hands. He breathed in and out, wiping his sweaty hands on the toughness of his overly baggy jeans - willing to be a shapeless mess for a week to feel as though his clothes weren't clinging to his ghost of a figure.

When Peter looked up, he nodded again. He managed to give Tony a fake smile before they delved into a strategy to take down Flash and his crew.

Soon enough, the two had created charts and lists and everything in between on several pages of Peter's notebook. They listed all of the boys and their powers that were known, going through what seemed like every course of action Peter could take upon meeting them for a final time.

Tony left when the sun had already set, the time approaching the usual dinner time for the Parkers. With Peter's suit shoved into his briefcase, Tony excused himself from the apartment, saying goodbye to Peter and May.

"I hope you feel better after Mr. Stark's visit," May told Peter softly, kissing him on the cheek. She ruffled his hair, smiling up at him before turning back to the kitchen with a shake of her head. "I'm thinking... pizza for dinner?"