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“Hey Ned?” His friend looked up from his phone at the mention of his name. “Can I copy your Spanish homework? I didn't finish mine.”
“What!? You didn't do your homework again? Dude, that's the third time this week! Do you want to get detention?”
“What? No. Of course not. I was just busy.”
“Doing what?”
“You know…” He stepped closer to his friend. “The ‘Stark internship’.”
“Ah, got it. Yeah, you can copy my homework, but make it quick. I don't wanna get caught.”
“You're the best, Ned!”
The rest of the school day went by in a daze for Peter. Before he knew it the final bell rang. He walked outside only to be met with the loud honking of a black audi. “Shit” he thought to himself. It was friday which meant that he would work in the lab with Tony, something he would be absolutely thrilled about any other day, but today he simply didn't have the time or energy to do so. He still needed to learn for his Spanish test on monday, write an essay due on tuesday, and practice for academic decathlon. Besides all of that, he was planning to patrol for a few hours after school.
He was pulled from his train of thought by Happy honking once more. He couldn't skip lab day, Mr. Stark was counting on him. Defeated, he walked to the car. When he opened the door he gave a quick hello to the driver before diving into his backpack and grabbing his homework. The ride to the compound was about an hour, so he might as well get some work done. The only problem was that he couldn't focus for dear life. He had been staring at the same sentence for what seemed like hours, trying to understand it, but he just couldn't, so he put away his homework and decided to close his eyes instead. Just for a minute.
-
Peter was rudely awakened by someone shaking his shoulder. “Kid, kid! You with me?” Happy asked, voice laced with concern. “I've been trying to wake you up for almost five minutes. Are you okay?”
Peter looked at his surroundings. They were in the compound's parking lot. Has it been an hour already?
“Sorry, Happy. Guess I needed the rest.”
“No shit kid, you were dead to the world for almost the entire ride over. Now come on, Tony is waiting for you.”
-
When Peter approached the lab, he was met with AC/DC blasting over the speakers. He scanned his hand and FRIDAY let him in.
“Hey Mr. Stark!”
“Hey kid, good to see you. How was school?”
Peter wasn't about to tell his mentor that he didn't remember most of the day so instead he lied.
“It was alright, boring like usual.”
“That's because the classes aren't challenging enough for you, Pete. I mean it, you're incredibly smart, maybe even more so than me at your age.”
Peter couldn't help but smile at the compliment. He loved working with Mr. Stark, however, today felt different. He felt on edge. Kind of like his spider-sense was constantly going off. He tried to ignore it and walked to his own work station.
Peter tried his best to concentrate on repairing his web shooter, but his spider-sense kept going off again and again which caused his hands to shake. Frustrated, he put the screwdriver down. He couldn't work like this.
“Kid? Everything alright?”
“I'm fine, just gonna go to the bathroom real quick.” Tony hummed in acknowledgment.
Once in the bathroom Peter bent over the sink and splashed some water in his face. He tried to regulate his breathing which had become somewhat erratic. He looked at himself in the mirror. He was pale and he had dark bags under his eyes. No wonder everyone at school gave him concerned glances. He looked like death.
He stepped out of the bathroom and was immediately called over by Mr. Stark.
“Kid, could you hold this for me so I can screw it together?”
Peter obliged, but quickly regretted doing so. His spider-sense went off again making him drop the part he was holding.
“Mr. Stark, I'm so sorry! Did I break it?
“Calm down Pete, it's alright. but are you?”
“Am I what?” he asked, voice trembling.
“Are you okay? You're shaking kiddo. Besides, you've been acting weird all afternoon. What gives?”
Peter wanted to answer but couldn't get the words out. He felt his breath picking up again.
“I-I don't-”
“Pete, buddy, I'm going to need you to slow your breathing before You start to hyperventilate.
Peter wasn't listening. All he could think about was everything he still needed to do and how he was a failure for not being able to do it all. Tears were prickling in his eyes. He felt like he couldn't breathe, his throat was closing up. He could hear Tony talking to him, but nothing felt real. He felt as if he were under water. Tony grabbed his hand and put it against his own chest.
“Here Pete, can you feel my breathing. Copy it. In… and out… in… and out.”
Peter used the steady rhythm of Tony's breath to ground himself. Slowly he could feel himself calm down.
“That's it bambino, you're doing great, keep going.”
So that's what Peter did. He kept going until he felt calm enough.
“You back with me bud?” Peter nodded.
“You just had one hell of a panic attack. Wanna tell me what's going on?”
Tears started streaming down his face. “I- I don't know. It's just too much, everything is too much and I don't know what to do anymore.”
Tony enveloped Peter in a tight hug. “It's okay bambino, we'll figure it out together, I promise.” He pulled away from the hug and used his sleeve to wipe away tears from Peter’s cheeks.
“How about we go upstairs and watch a movie? I'll let you pick.”
Peter looked up at his mentor's face. “Even Star Wars?”
“Even Star Wars.”