The next morning, Peter slowly rose out of bed and made his way to the kitchen.

He was exhausted after his nightmare, which he could vaguely remember.

"Hey, Pete," A voice came from behind him, making Peter flinch.

"H-hey..." Peter stuttered out, turning around to face Tony. Peter could feel a blush of embarrassment forming.

Tony cracked a small smile, walking forward to wrap his arm around Peter. "It's 6:48 in the morning, kid. Go back to sleep."

Peter let out a quiet sigh, he didn't want to go back to sleep. "I'm fine, Mr. Sta—."

"Tony. We are way past the 'Mr. Stark' shenanigans." Tony objected, "And you got about 2 hours of sleep, kid."

"I'm fine, I can survive at least 72 hours without sleep." Peter informed Tony, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"That's... that's not healthy. Uh... go back to sleep." Tony tried again, before adding, "Please."

Peter was very, very close to rolling his eyes. The truth is, he didn't want to go back to sleep due to the nightmares that would haunt him.

"I don't want to... I can't, M— Tony," Peter spoke in a quiet voice.

Tony let out a quiet sigh, directing Peter to the kitchen. "Alright."

"Thank you," Peter smiled, the gratitude clear in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah. No problem."

—

As the duo ate breakfast in silence, Tony couldn't take it anymore.

"Pete," He spoke slowly, "You're worrying me, you look really tired..."

Just as Peter was about to answer, Pepper walked into the kitchen. "Sorry, Peter. I need to talk to Tony super quick."

Tony purses his lip, and nods curtly. "Sorry, kid. I'll be back."

Tony rose from his sit, and reluctantly walked away from his kid.

When Pepper and Tony arrived in the hallway, Pepper started talking, "I heard what you said to Peter... about being worried. I know about his nightmare, too."

"Oh-."

"I don't think you should put Peter on the spot like that, especially after a night like that." Pepper continued, "Wait for him to open up to you. Drop hints that he can talk to you or me, don't force it."

"I'm just worried about him, Pep.." Tony whispered, "He's only 15... He shouldn't be going through this kind of stuff."

Pepper rested her hand on Tony's shoulder, taking a step closer, "No one should. Give him time, he has to adjust to the new life style."

"I guess you're right, Pepper." Tony smiled, letting out a quiet laugh.

—

What the pair didn't know was that Peter heard the whole thing.

a short chapter AND a bad chapter?? oof, sorry everyone for my hiatus. i'll try to update again soon wiTH a longer chapter haha