PETER PARKER
Present traveling to the past

I woke up to the sound of ruffling sheets, "What are you doing Quentin?" I moaned to him, disturbed from my sleep. And it was the best I'd slept in a long time with Quentin's arms holding me close while my face was nuzzled into his neck, falling asleep to the rhythm of his steady heartbeat.

I rubbed the sleep eyes from my eyes to glare at him but I was confused to find him sound asleep. I was only able to admire how handsome he looked for a mere three seconds before I was grabbed by the ankles and thrown so hard that I crashed into the wall with a loud thud.

My heart was pounding in my chest and my hands moved down to try and cover my manhood since I was still very much naked. My entire body was shaking in fright from being so startled by Shadow- at least I thought it was Shadow.

"Mr Stark?" I gasped in relief, "What are you doing?" My face burned red as I reached out to grab my boxers but I was interrupted with a kick to the gut. My back banged against the wall once again and I was filled with bewilderment, letting out a groan.

"Peter?" Quentin mumbled with a sleep ridden face, "What's going on?"

Mr Stark lifted me up by the throat and I gripped his hands and desperately tried to pull them off, "M-Mr Stark?" I choked and frantically looked at Quentin for help. He ran over to us and grabbed Tony's hair and yanked him away from me.

"Are you ok?" He cupped my face and inspected me for wounds but all I could do was focus on Mr Stark and the pure hatred in his eyes.

"Stay behind me." He hissed and shielded my body from Tony while I grabbed my underwear and pulled it on, mortified that he had seen me naked.

I wrapped my hand around one of Quentin's biceps as him and Mr Stark glowered at each other, "What in the fuck do you think you're doing?" He growled and I shivered at the tone.

"He has to pay." Mr Stark answered with heavy breathing and a clouded, evil look in his eyes.

I have to pay? Pay for what?

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Quentin shouted at him and my grasp on his arm tightened. Normally I wouldn't be so scared in a situation like this. I felt pathetic for freezing up but this was an exception because Mr Stark just tried to kill me.

"He has to pay." He seethed and advanced toward us slowly, "He has to pay, he has to pay." He chanted and Quentin turned to me.

"Get out of here, use your webs and go out using the balcony." He ordered but I frowned.

"I'm not leaving you here alone." I murmured, "And my web shooters are over there." I pointed to the other side of the room and Quentin huffed, going to protest but I felt the hair on my arms rise up, my spidey senses tingling. I moved to see Tony inches away from punching Quentin. It moved in slow motion for me and I pushed him out of the way which resulted in the blow hitting the wall above me because of my height difference with Quin.

Quentin yanked Mr Stark onto the ground by his throat and held him there while he struggled to breathe. Without the Ironman suit all Tony had was his brain but in a situation like this it didn't matter. Quentin was ripped even without superhero powers so he had him pinned down with ease.

"He has to pay." Tony choked and tried to pry the hands off of his throat but to no avail.

I felt my eyes water at the sight of Mr Stark in pain and rested my hand on Quentin's shoulder, "Stop." I whispered. He didn't let go but turned around to face me and gave me a questioning look.

"He literally just tried to kill you." He reasoned but it was in a soft voice rather than one laced with irritation.

My eyes averted to Mr Stark who stopped even attempting to fight back with his arms limp and resting by his sides, "Just... stop."

I couldn't bear go see him in pain no matter what he just did to me. Whatever just happened- it wasn't Mr Stark.

It can't be.

"Fine." Quentin groaned and reluctantly let go, obliging to my request, "But if he even dares to lay a hand on you again then I'll kill him." He promised with dark eyes. I believed him.

"That wasn't Mr Stark." I murmured and ran my hands down Quentin's shoulders, stopping at his hands that he held in my own.

He glanced at Tony who was heaving on the floor with fingernail indents littered on the side of his neck with the guarantee of harsh bruising the next day, "Looks like him to me." He muttered.

"Well no shit." I laughed under my breath despite the serious situation. I always used humor to cope in the wrong moments and it made everything awkward but it was a bad habit that I couldn't help.

"This is serious." He tried to scowl but the edge of his lips quirked up at the sight of my grin.

"You have to admit that was kind of funny." I laughed even louder and Quentin lightly whacked the side of my head.

"How was that funny?" He mused, ruffling my hair with his fingers, "God, you're so pretty." He huffed under his breath and I turned my head to the side so he couldn't see my red face. I knew he saw it anyway.

"Mr Stark just tried to kill me." I wheezed and clutched my stomach, "Shit, I'm sorry." I apologized but couldn't contain myself, "Just... what the hell? What the actual hell?"

Quentin chuckled and pressed our foreheads together, "You're psychotic." He whispered and I giggled in return, shoving him away.

"Put on some clothes." I ordered and went to look at Mr Stark but he was gone, "Goddamnit."

The two of us just gazed at each other worriedly in silence because we had no idea what to say, "Um," Quentin cleared his throat, "Should we just go back to sleep? We learned that we can easily take him so I'm not too concerned." He pointed out and I shrugged, muttering out an agreement.

The next morning I walked out of the room holding Quentin's hand. I had my suit on under my clothes in case of an emergency that was bound to happen. Probably even multiple of them based off of everything that's been going on.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked him while we walked toward the kitchen. We really had no plan at this point because of how many surprises there have been, surprises that weren't expected at all.

"Beats me." He replied and munched on an apple, "This shit is crazy. I say we kill Shadow and just get out of here."

"What about Mr Stark? I doubt he's just going to stop there." I fumbled with my hands. I was still ridden with guilt for letting him get hurt even if he had it coming. I was just so utterly lost and confused.

Quentin noticed my distress and pulled me into a comforting hug, "Like I said, we can take him down easily if he tries anything." He kissed the top of my head and I dug my face into the crook of his neck in contentment, "I won't let him hurt you again."

"I told you not to worry about me." I mumbled into his warm skin, "Make sure you, Aunt May, Ned, MJ and Happy are safe first... and now the list includes Mr Stark."

Quentin pulled away suddenly and I pouted, "I wish you would care about yourself at least a little bit. I wish you'd see the things I see in you." He tossed his unfinished apple into the trash can.

"I just keep making mistakes and I don't want everyone else to pay the price for my stupidity. If I really do end up being good enough then everyone will be alright, including myself." I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him but he dodged it by turning his face to the side. My lips parted, hurt by his rejection and I pulled away from him completely.

Here I go messing something else up!

My throat felt tight and my palms were sweaty while I waited for some kind of response from him but he just kept his head turned in the same direction.

"I-I'm sorry." I apologized even though I wasn't exactly sure what I was apologizing for.

"Peter," He spoke in a voice so soft I could barely hear it, "I c-can't live without you." I saw him flinch when he stuttered, "I can't do this when you have a death wish. I know that life hasn't been going so well recently and that you feel guilty, but you're hurting everyone else in a way that's so more painful than a punch by doing this. When you disappeared for a month everyone was so worried about you and especially your Aunt May. If you would die for someone, then there's a good chance that they'd die for you too."

I wrapped my arms around my stomach protectively and considered his words. They were true and we both knew it.

"I-I think there's something wrong with m-me." I squeezed my eyes shut so that I wouldn't cry, "It's like no matter how much someone tells me that I'm good enough I just never believe it. And even the kindest words and the tightest hug and the sincere hope a person offers me just won't sink in. I want to believe it so badly, I want to be able to nod and thank them and prove them all right. Yet I just can't convince myself and I don't know why." Hot tears came rolling down my cheeks and when Quentin took a step toward me I took one back.

"I don't want you to have to be with someone that has a death wish either." I forced myself to admit. Not only to him, but to myself, "I can't drag you down with me when I'm spiraling into some dark hole of depression that I can't climb out of- that I didn't even know I have."

He stalked toward me but I dodged him like he dodged my lips, "Quin," I whispered and tried to look him in the eyes, "After this is all over, after Shadow is dead and everyone is safe. After you're safe... I think we should break up."

Quentin's gaze hardened, "Peter, you don't know what you're saying right now, we can talk about this." He reasoned but I shook my head.

"I do know what I'm saying. I'm sorry if it hurts right now but I'm preventing more pain in the future that I'll cause you." I wiped my wet face with the sleeves of my shirt and fiddled with my hands anxiously.

"You're wrong." He deadpanned, voice escalating in anger, "If you think that I'd be better off without you then you're an idiot!" He shouted and I flinched back. He slammed his fists onto the kitchen counter, "You're the best fucking thing that's ever happened to me, Peter, and I don't care if you don't believe that right now because I'll be here to remind you of it every single day!"

More tears leaked out of my eyes and I covered my face with my hands, "Quentin, stop." I mumbled but either he didn't hear me or he didn't listen.

"I love every single goddamn thing about you. I can't resist you when you make that annoyingly cute face whenever you want something. I'm not going to live my life without ever kissing you or holding you in my arms again. I can't stand how happy I feel inside when you geek out about things from legos to the multiverse." He seethed and gripped onto the kitchen counter so hard that a chunk of it broke off, "I hate how much I love you, Peter Parker."

"Stop it!" I sobbed, "Stop, please stop!" I begged him desperately even though I was so confused why. I felt so overwhelmed with my swarming emotions and I didn't know what to do. I just wanted it to stop.

"I wish I could." His voice dropped so much that it was almost inaudible, "But I'll never be able to stop loving you."

He shoved me against the wall and I pushed his chest, pleading him to stop but he interrupted me with his lips clashing against mine. I couldn't help but melt into his arms no matter how much I wanted to get away in that moment.

His tongue slipped into my mouth and droplets of tears rolled down my face because it felt so good.

Because it just felt so right.

"If you would die for someone, then there's a good chance that they'd die for you too." Quentin repeated the same words as he did earlier, "And I devote my entire life to making sure you stay alive."

I collapsed against him and squeezed him so tightly that I could barely breathe. I was so overwhelmed and my thoughts were scattered everywhere and my brain stopped functioning.

"I can't live without you either." I choked and he took my face in his hands and pressed a long kiss onto my forehead.

"Then I guess we both just have to stay alive."