WARNING: Eating Disorder (Sort Of)
"There's our favorite non-Avenger!" Tony cried as Peter exited the elevator. He was greeted by a swarm of greetings from the other present Avengers. Every Friday, Peter would come to the compound to work in the lab with Tony for his "internship". Once a month, he would stay for the weekend.
After he had refused to become a member of the team, Tony was disappointed. They didn't talk much until Peter found himself trying to stop a large, dangerous street gang. He had successfully gotten enough information to find the headquarters, but when he was caught spying, he got shot. He escaped and made it to the tower, where Bruce patched them up. At the sight of Peter's injury, Tony came to realize that he was just a kid and respected his decision to stay in neighborhood crime until he was a bit older. He insisted that Peter get training at the tower and use the lab to keep his suit updated though. Unknowingly, Tony started filling a parental role for Peter. He loved spending time with the kid and was awed by how smart and kind he was.
Although Peter's superhero persona was initially hidden, it didn't take very long for a group of spies to figure it out. The fact that Peter was terrible at secret keeping, especially first thing in the morning, made it much easier.
So being greeted by Clint, Bruce, and Bucky as well as Tony after school wasn't unusual. He beamed at his heroes. "Mr. Stark I just had an idea for Bucky's arm! What if it..." Peter's excited chatter filled the room for a long time. Bucky looked conflicted: he was really trying to understand because it was about him, but the language was too technical. Clint had given up. He just stared at the ketchup getting smeared across his plate by his fork. Bruce and Tony were listening intently. They nodded and smiled before moving toward the lab.
All three men were huddled together, adding their inputs to the wires and metal beneath them. "It's time to come upstairs guys," Pepper entered the room and wrinkled her nose. "It's been seven hours and you smell." "Shit, Peter are you hungry," Tony asked. He knew the spider bite affected the teenager's already huge appetite and tried to make sure he made active snack breaks. Peter's stomach growled in response and Pepper laughed. He blushed but walked toward the door.
Tony and Pepper were talking about company business as they ate the chicken, Pepper occasionally forcing a green vegetable in Tony's mouth. Bruce chatted for a bit, but rushed off to a prior engagement within the hour. Peter inhaled his food. He gave a longing glance at the other full plates on the table before cleaning his plate and putting it in the rack. "I thought you'd be hungrier than that," Tony chuckled, "From my experience with Steve and Bucky, super strength equals super hungry all the time." Peter gave a weak smile. "I have a project due on Monday and May's going to be mad if..."
Tony waved him off, "Tell your aunt I said hi." Peter gave the mocking glare he always did when Tony brought up his aunt, but at least Pepper was there to prevent the inappropriate remarks.
Peter snatched his backpack and climbed into the car waiting for him. Truthfully, he was still hungry. Really hungry. May's hours had recently been cut and Peter could see the added stress it was causing her. He knew they didn't have money. He overheard her talking to a friend about scraping together enough for rent. So he was determined to do his part to help. He'd been searching for a job, without telling May, and being extremely careful about breaking his things. He also stopped eating as much. He tried to keep his portions to normal teenage boy level. Occasionally, he would have to eat a lot more, but most days, he just thought about his concerned aunt and refused a second helping. She asked him about it, but he would just tease her by saying Mr. Stark's private chef made better after school snacks than her. She found it reassuring.
He was losing weight fast. He could clearly see his ribs through his chest. His cheeks were hollowed. His hair was thinner. His eyes weren't as bright. Since fall was quickly fading to winter, he hid his skinny features with baggy layers. When the team teased him about keeping his large sweaters on inside, he shrugged and explained that spiders couldn't thermoregulate. Of course, anytime he jokingly insulted one of them, they would make the obligatory "cold-blooded" comment. Tony made sure to keep the heater on and lots of warm blankets in convenient places. Peter still kept the clothes on.
Thor had finally come back to the tower to spend some bonding time with his teammates before disappearing with his girlfriend for a week. No one blamed him - they knew he was busy with the kingly negations. Trying to convince Odin to let Loki take over because he was more qualified in diplomatic matters was difficult. Thor just wanted the freedom to travel among the realms with his love. He'd rather fight battles than listen to the council or sign decrees. He and Steve finished a particularly energetic sparring session, Steve loved practicing with someone he would use his strength on, and were headed toward the communal showers.
Apparently, the sound of running water wasn't enough to alert Thor to the prescene of someone else in the stall so he pushed on the door, which was accidentally left unlocked. "Sorry, Man of Spiders, I was just coming too..." In true Thor fashion, he wasn't phased by nakedness so he stayed for a moment to apologize, but trailed off because something seemed wrong. "Are you sick? You are tiny? Is there a villain nearby?" Peter frantically tried to cover himself, but Steve was now at the door as well. Despite his respect for privacy, the fear that his teammate was sick was a much stronger motivator. "Peter!" He exclaimed shocked. "What happened?"
Peter was mortified. He had two men with the bodies of gods staring down at his pathetic frame. He had been desperately trying to avoid a situation like this. Why couldn't he remember to lock the door? Steve threw him a towel and grabbed some clothes, ones that couldn't cover Peter as much as he'd been in. "If you're really cold, I'll get you a blanket or turn up the heater." He dragged the kid to the kitchen where Sam was making stir fry. "Eat."
"But that's for Sam."
"Yeah, I don't remember inviting you." Sam quipped at Steve even though he clearly made enough for multiple people. Multiple super soliders in fact because they always stole his food. He spun around in a good mood. The twinkle disappeared from his eyes when he saw Peter. He was speechless. He was tiny. He silently scooped a mountain of food on a plate and handed it to the teen.
Peter put his hands in front of him. "No, I'm sorry we weren't invited. I don't want to take your meal." Sam shook his head, "I was kidding. I made enough for everyone. If not, there are always leftovers, right? Plus, it's on Stark's tab." He forced a playful tone as he insisted Peter take the food. He watched as he took the first bite and gave Sam a genuine compliment.
Then Sam saw a flash of guilt cross Peter's face. The counselor in him came out. "Peter, are you feeling bad about your body?" Steve took that as his hint to leave and snuck out of the kitchen to talk with Tony. Peter vigorously shook his head. "Ever since the spider bit me I've had a much nicer body. I mean, I would like to be stronger. More muscular, you know? But who doesn't? I've got the best facility in the world to train." He was surprised by the question.
Then it struck him. He remembered the chapter on eating disorders from his textbook. "I'm not anorexic." He mumbled.
"I trust you Peter, and I'll believe your words, but I need you to know there's no shame in admitting you need help."
"No, it's not that. I just...."
"Peter?" Sam was starting to suspect there was something else at play so he gently coaxed Peter to continue. "Is something wrong?"
"Food is too expensive." Peter was practically whispering at this point.
"What?"
"I'm not going to let May worry about meals because I can't stop eating."
"Peter, eating isn't a vice. It's something you need to do. Enhanced superheroes especially have to fuel their bodies often because they expend so much energy constantly."
"I know I need to eat. I aced biology. I just don't need as much. I could literally eat us out of house and home. May works so hard to raise me and she's never happy anymore. I've seen her, late at night, crouched over the kitchen table with all the bills. She looks like she's in pain. I did that. I just..."
Sam leans over to hug the kid as the tears leak down his cheeks. He tries to process what Peter just admitted. He hadn't been told much about Peter's home life, and he hadn't realized that they weren't living comfortably. His first impression of Peter was a brilliant student in a suit, that Tony put him in, for an internship at Stark Industries. "Tony isn't exactly short on cash though. Why don't you eat more when you're at the tower?"
Peter tilted his head up at Sam, giving him a full view of his red eyes and gaunt face. Sam immediately felt awful for not noticing the changes before. Even if he hid his body, his face was visible all the time. How had they missed the signs? "I'm not an Avenger. I don't deserve to eat a lot of Mr. Stark's food."
Sam was shocked and just let the kid lean against his shoulder. Being this close to him made the bony features and small frame painfully obvious. Then he heard a noise and twisted to see Tony by the door. From the horrified look on his face, it seemed as though he had heard and seen most of the conversation.
"Kid..." Tony turned on his heels and rushed out of the room.
The next day, everyone had been informed of Peter's condition. They knew they couldn't just stuff him full of food because he'd get sick, but they were good about encouraging regular snack breaks. Finally, Tony made an appearance.
"Get your coat on: we're going out." Peter looked confused, but would never turn down an outing with his idol. They climbed in the car and rode in silence. Eventually the car stopped. "You're going grocery shopping? Don't you have people for that?"
"I've got people who know what I like and what the other Avengers like, but they don't know what you like." Tony had to refrain himself from calling the other Avengers leeches like he usually would. It was a term of endearment and he enjoyed feeding everyone, but he didn't want to scare Peter off.
"You don't need to buy anything for me Mr. Stark."
Tony sighed "I obviously do."
"Well, I'll just eat a bit of whatever you normally buy."
"I've been looking to try new things. Can't get too stuck in my ways. I need you to help me choose."
Peter was suspicious, but he followed Tony into the store. They looked at all kinds of foods. Tony always asked for his input. It was difficult because May always bought healthy, cheap stuff which wasn't in this high end grocery store. He wanted to suggest the cheapest version of each one, but he also remembered that Mr. Stark was going to eat them. He tried to give opinions about ones he recognized. Soon they had a full cart. Then multiple full carts.
He'd never seen so much food on a grocery store conveyor belt in his life. The employees rushed the bags to Tony's car. Then they got back to driving. Peter nodded off until he heard the car stop. Where were they? Then he saw May rushing out of the house. Of course Tony had told her. He grumbled a bit, but was grateful for the warm embrace when he stepped out of the car.
Tony motioned at Happy and they grabbed a few bags and headed into the house.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"Well, I realized I made a mistake. The tower just got fully stocked yesterday with food. I can't possibly keep this. You better not let it go bad kid." He smiled and left Peter with his aunt who was desperately reassuring him that he wasn't a burden and that she wanted him to eat.
For the next few months, there were often random grocery deliveries. An "anonymous donor" had paid for the rest of the year's rent.
Peter constantly tried to tell Tony that it wasn't necessary, but Tony would always brush it off. Finally, when they were in the lab one day, Tony talked to him in a serious tone.
"You know I love you Peter. I want you to grow up happy and healthy. I'm glad you aren't an Avenger so you get a chance at youth. I like buying you things. It makes me feel good to use the money I made through immoral means helping others. Especially when 'others' are as good of people as you are. Do you understand that?"
Peter nodded, sure if he spoke he would cry. From there on, he came to Tony with his problems and gladly accepted his help.