*just a reminder that anything in italics during Eddie's POV is venom in his mind*

*also panic attack trigger warning*
[included brackets]

__Peter__

Ned and MJ had left around an hour ago, it's a school night so I guess that makes sense. It was dinner time, so we ordered out from this cool Italian restaurant in Manhattan. It smells amazing, but I don't think I'll eat any.

We were in our usual spots at the table, laughing and eating the night away. Eddie, however, isn't eating anything. It makes sense, since he has a limited menu, but I still worry. He probably feels very left out. So, I don't eat anything for Eddie's sake. You know, to help him feel less alone.

We're still laughing about the stuff we pulled on Flash. "And, and then—" Scott wipes a tear from his eye, "Then the kid fell over the couch, and then the donuts—" We're all at the point of laughter where no sound comes out, only a slight wheeze (ya'll know this kind of laugh 😂).

"I still can't get over it." Tony heaves as he goes for another forkful of salad.

"Me neither." I snicker. A few of the Avengers politely chose not to indulge in the prancing of one young Flash Thompson, and those Avengers are currently extremely confused.

The distant Avengers came to stay, too. Tony said they'd had some meeting about the accords and they all had to come, so they're staying for the next week until everything is settled.

distant avengers include: Ant-Man, ! Pietro ! , Sam, Rhodey, and Thor isn't distant, but he comes and goes :) sorry if i missed any, there are sooooo many lmao

"Hey, Pete," Tony starts after swallowing a mouthful of pasta. Man, we eat a lot of pasta. "You gonna eat?"

I look down at my empty plate and shrug, "Probably not." I laugh in an attempt to ease his tense demeanor. I don't want Tony to be worried about me, I just don't want Eddie to feel alone.

"Eat." He orders with a fork pointed at my face, almost like a weapon. I shoot him a small glare, with which he returns 10x as ferocious.

Eddie notices our little spat and he raises an eyebrow at me. I raise my eyebrows in return and realization dawns on him, "Peter, eat the food." He sighs.

"No." I squint at Eddie. He's caught onto my plan.

"Peter, I swear to—" Eddie starts as he runs a hand over his face exhaustedly.

"Fine!" I throw my hands up into the air and plop some fettuccine onto my plate. Giving Eddie a small, caring smirk, I dig into my pasta happily. Not gonna lie, I was definitely starving.

"So, boys," Tony starts as he takes a deep breath in. He shares an uneasy look with the rest of the Avengers, "I was planning on having a banquet this Friday."

"Yeah?" I hum without look up from my plate.

"Aaannnddddd," He dips his head forwards as he tries to prolong this as much as possible. I raise an eyebrow as I make confused eye contact with Eddie. "I was hoping it'd be okay if I announced you two then. You know, to the public."

[panic attack trigger warning]

My stomach plummets. My breathing reduces to short, quick breaths as I struggle to regain my senses. Conversation booms around me, but every sound seems to dull to the same unified ringing and I notice everything in the room starts pulsing brighter.

"What about Arsenic?" I hear Eddie ask.

Just hearing the name makes me want to hit the floor.

The sound of bullets echoing in that vent system rattles around in my head, taking me back to that day. I try my best not to think about it, and I've been doing pretty well to get myself over it—until now.

Each sound of each bullet snaps me back and forth among images of everyone I know and love dying from the hands of a murderer—

All the lives I couldn't save from a mugger, robber, anyone with a gun.

Ben.

May.

Amy.

Me

Someday Peter Parker isn't gonna get back up, no matter how many times he does today. Someday even Spider-Man's gonna die. Just the mere thought of it terrifies me and plunges me further into the depths of my subconscious terror.

Voices bounce around in my head, unidentifiable as any one person. Hands grab at my shoulders, my arms, and I do everything I can to shove them off. Everything—every sound, feeling, sight—becomes one messy blur.

"Everyone back up!"

"Give him some space."

"Peter? Breathe, kid, breathe!"

"Calm down, Pete."

"What's wrong?"

"Stop!" I scream out. It takes me a couple seconds to notice the sobs quaking throughout my body. How long have I been crying? "Please, just stop..." I whimper. God, I sound so pathetic, but I don't care. Arsenic is gonna find me and all he's gonna do is hurt me again. It's mortifying to even think about.

"Come on, Pete." I hear Eddie's calm voice blanket over the white noise in my mind; a sliver of water cutting through the heavy, unbudging rocks of my thoughts. Someone's gentle arms guide me somewhere, I can't process where. Next thing I know, I'm sitting on the floor, a mess of tears and overflowing emotions. "Peter?" I finally look up, seeing Eddie in double vision.

"He's gonna find me, Eddie." I whisper as quietly as possible, as if Arsenic himself could hear me if I spoke too loud. "If Tony goes out and tells everyone where we are, he's gonna find me again and kill me." Phantom pain from my healed leg pulses right where my femur snapped in half. It feels like it happened just seconds ago.

"No—" Eddie reassures me as he sits on the floor in front of my shivering form. His hands clasp gently around my neck in order to aim my tear-filled face to look him in the eyes. "No, Peter, SHIELD has him contained. Everything's okay, Pete."

"Contained?" I stutter as I wipe at my nose.

"Yeah, they got him. Tony didn't tell you because he didn't think you'd want to hear that bastards name any time soon, but they got him when Arsenic 'kidnapped' you." My eyes dart around his face, searching for any doubt whatsoever. Eddie wouldn't lie to me, but it's hard to believe they contained Arsenic that easily. "He can't get to you."

For some reason, unbeknownst to even me, this fact makes me cry even heavier. Maybe it was the fact that I was safe from him, maybe it was the fact that I knew I wasn't, no matter who contained him.

Or maybe it was the fact that instead of immediately jumping to detain the threat back at that old warehouse, Tony made sure to find me first. I never even processed that until right now. Tony put my safety before the safety of all of New York City.

Tony loves me.

Eddie loves me.

Are they gonna die?

"Breathe with me, Peter." Eddie tries to guide me through deeper breaths to calm myself down, to bring myself back to some sort of emotional homeostasis. "Everything's gonna be okay, bud."

[panic attack trigger warning over]

After around what I assume is 5 minutes of this, I'm finally calmed down. My muscles ache, they feel like I just ran 20 marathons. All my senses still feel wildly out of wack. "I'm tired, Eddie." I look up at him with exhausted eyes.

I feel bad for ruining dinner. Way to make a good first impression, am I right? No one is probably going to eat now. This reminds me of the hunger I felt right before freaking out. It's still there, but I don't care about it now. I can't eat. I'll puke. I know I will.

"Let's get you to bed, then." Eddie gives me a forced, doleful smile, then picks me up bridal style and sets me down in my bed. When did we get in my bedroom?

Eddie tucks the blankets over my continuously shaking form, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You gonna be okay?"

I look up at him through the dim light of my room. Am I gonna be okay? That's a loaded question. "What if I told you no?"

Eddie pauses. I don't think he expected that answer. "Then I'd sit right there—" Eddie points to the space right beside me on the bed. "Until you fell asleep."

My eyebrows furrow in the slightest. "Then no." I smile at him over my sheets, giggling through my drying tears.

Eddie gives me an amused smirk before crawling over my messy sheets and plopping himself down on the bed. "No, V." Eddie sighs heavily as soon as he's comfortable. "Later." He murmurs.

I rarely ever hear him talk to Venom. Does he try to hide the fact that he's there? "Can I see Venom?" I ask as I look over to Eddie curiously.

"You've already seem him." Eddie chuckles stressfully. I think he hates the Venom part of him.

"Well, can I see him again?" I ask as I snuggle a pillow close to my tight chest. I just wanna sleep off all of these shakes I still feel after my emotional breakdown.

"Sure." Eddie sighs and closes his eyes momentarily. Venom's black mass slithers out from Eddies arm, his face stretched into a toothy smile.

"Hello." Venom hisses kindly at me. Eddie rolls his eyes.

"Quit acting like you're human, dude, you're not." Eddie scolds the creature. I laugh at their bantering, and Venom shoots me a curious look.

I don't think Venom has ever encountered laughter before—especially considering his next question, "Is he dying?" I laugh even harder, curling up on myself in amusement. "He's choking, Eddie." Venom replies with a deadpan look. I wonder how their perspective works; Does Venom see everything Eddie does?

"He's laughing, Venom. Come on, you know what that is." Eddie chuckles at the symbiote's oddness.

Venom pauses, and I follow his white eyes as they wander about my smiling face. "I've never been the cause of it before." He murmurs in parasitic thought.

Venom, Eddie, and I sit there, as if we were all a trio of normal people. I poke Venom's black flesh, intrigued by the shiny texture. It's weird, it's like the dark mass attached to my finger momentarily before we both pulled away.

Odd.

"Eddie, I know I'm, like, 16 years old but—" I stutter out before Eddie interrupts me with a laugh. I'm way too old for a bedtime story, but I figured, why not ask?

"So, there was this kid." Eddie starts with a light chuckle. Venom pulls back into Eddie's arm so I can lean against him, closing my eyes as I start to lull right away into sleep. "He lived with this couple, right? They were chillin, having a wild time, until one day, this kid didn't come home from school. See, this kid had bullies. And they weren't very nice to him. So, they took him out to the back alley and bopped him upside the head." We both laugh at this. "Then this, like, gross black monster crawled out of the garbage right next—ow." Eddie holds a hand to his forehead as he winces. "No, Venom, you're not a monster, I'm just trying to make the story cooler." Eddie sighs exhaustedly as he stares up at the ceiling. "Thank you." Eddie huffs sarcastically. I chuckle at their sarcastic banter. "So, this thing crawls..."

My mind spills right into sleep, my aching muscles and tired mind welcoming it with open arms.

__Eddie__

Before I know it, Peter's asleep. I didn't know any other story to tell him. Maria and David used to tell me a few, but I would always fall asleep before I reached the end and I didn't know how fast Peter was gonna fall asleep. "Night, Peter." I smile down at my little brother as his delicate breathing becomes the only sound in the darkened room. I notice now that Friday had been slowly dimming the lights as Peter fell asleep. As smoothly as I can, I slip out from underneath Peter and lay him down on his pillow.

"Humans are interesting." Venom notes as I lay Peter's Ironman themed blanket over his sleeping form.

"You got that right." I whisper quietly as I flick the light off entirely and close the door behind me as quietly as I can manage. After taking a deep breath, I march my way down the hall and back to the dinner table.

"How's he doing?" Tony asks the second I enter the dining room. He looks unbelievably stressed—his hair is a mess, he's taken his jacket off and rolled up his white sleeves, and his eyes look very, very tired.

"He's gonna be okay. Just spooked." I reply as I run my hands through my hair and throw myself onto the couch.

Everyone in the room seems to relax with a relieved sigh. "I feel so bad. What did I do?" Tony asks as he bunches his eyebrows at me.

Everything.

"It wasn't you, really. Peter is terrified of Arsenic." Honestly, I haven't seen Peter like that before, and not gonna lie, it scared me a little.

"Oh." Nat hums from her spot at the table. She's brought both her legs up onto the chair, so now she's hugging her right leg (you all know what I mean).

"I told him Arsenic's locked up." I reassure them as I lean my head back against the couch cushions, staring at the ceiling.

Tony freezes in his spot, eyes wide. "Why would you tell him that?"

Excuse me?

It's my turn to panic. "Because it's true?" Tony told me they contained Arsenic...?

Did Tony lie to me?

Did I just lie to Peter?

"Everyone out." Tony's eyes remain wide as he stares at me in shock. All the Avengers immediately dart out of the room at any exit, frantic to avoid the oncoming argument.

"Tony, Arsenic's locked up, right?" I sit up from my casual position and turn around on the couch, facing Tony with a face full of fury.

If Peter is harmed because of this, we are eating the tin man.

"Yes!" Tony places his palms up in the air in surrender. "He is! But we weren't supposed to tell him yet! Arsenic's still being transported, so he's not entirely in the slammer yet. I didn't want to tell Peter yet so he kept his guard up."

"Then do you really think it's smart to announce us as your kids this Friday?" I shout in his face as I climb off the couch to confront the man.

"You called?" Friday hums politely.

"NOT NOW." Tony seethes at the AI. "I need to announce you two." He tries to take a few breaths to reduce his anger, "People are asking questions, Eddie. I don't know if you know a lot about the media, but—"

"I don't." I reply defensively and cross my arms. "I'm not tech-savvy like you, Tony. I grew up in an actual real house that isn't stuffed full with wires and talking computers."

You tell him, Eddie. Venom eggs me on.

"Okay!" Tony throws his palms up in surrender. "People assume things, Eddie, and I just..." He takes a heavy breath. I see his eyes dart around the room, recognizing the vulnerability he's about to submit himself to, "My wife left me 6 months ago."

My eyes widen in surprise. Well, that's not what I expected him to say.

"I struggle with things too." Tony whispers lightly. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's on the verge of tears. "The media is screaming at me, Eddie. I know my wife is seeing all of it, too. I just—" Tony looks down at his shaking hands, "I need this to be okay."

"Out of all the fucked up parts of all 3 of ours lives, our family is something that can be okay." Tony almost seems to laugh at his reasoning, at his longing for just wanting something stable in his life.

I get it now—Tony has nothing to ground him. His wife is gone, he doesn't have kids, his home is overrun by adult cosplayers. He has the Avengers, but they're probably just a distant, weird friend-family to him. I know that Tony struggles with anxiety and PTSD a lot. After all his Ironmanning, it's justifiable that he struggles. Having this small family might help him.

"Okay." I finalize as I take a deep breath in. The aura in the room changes, freshens like a new day. "As long as Peter's safe, we should do it."

Tony takes a few deep breaths and calms himself down. "Sounds like a plan." He chuckles. I walk up to him, shoving my face into his chest as I wrap my arms around him in a hug.

I don't hug people very often.

But this...

This is nice.

It is.

Tony seems amazed for a moment before he embraces me in return. The cold metal of his arc reactor chills against my cheek. I can hear the device buzz with power as my head lies against it. "I love you, Ed." Tony hums quietly as he clutches onto me for dear life.

"Love you too, Tony." I smile into the air. I was never really a 'kid ', what with dead parents, an orphanage, and a parasitic symbiote living inside of me. But right now, I just feel like a little kid again, embracing the love of his dad.

___

WHOLESOME OVERLOAD

Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I don't really haveeee an update plan but I kind of just update as quick as possible. Tomorrow's my moms birthday :D so may or may not update, we shall see ;)

also, which mcu movie should I watch tonight??

-chicken tacos