After a time, Peter headed back home.  He was going to get grounded so much more now, but he didn't care.  As he reached the tower, he tried to still his still shaking hands.

Why now? He thought as he walked inside.  Why did she have to come now, when I have a group of men already tormenting me about it?

He stepped into the elevator and pressed the floor he knew his parents would be on.  He slumped against the wall and sighed, taking off his mask.

"Are you alright, sir?"  FRIDAY asked as the elevator went slowly up. "Your stress and anxiety levels have been very high recently."

"I'm fine," Peter snapped, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Stop asking, Friday."

The elevator opened and he was met by his Dad pacing around, talking to someone one the phone and his Pops sitting at the table, talking to Wanda.  Wanda looked up as Peter entered, causing Steve to look up as well.

Steve stood up.  "You enjoyed that, huh?  Swinging around town while we did all the work here?"

Peter tried to push down the lump in his throat.  "Pops, I'm sorry-"

"People are talking all about how you webbed up a citizen and boy is she using it to her advantage."

Wanda turned on the TV and the woman - Mrs. Taylor was talking to the reporter, holding the arm that had been webbed.

"He attacked me," Mrs. Taylor stated, "he shot a web that covered my entire left arm! It didn't dissolve for a long time! I'm still picking off little webs!"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Wanda," He muttered, shooting her a look.

Steve grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. "Don't talk to her like that. Do you realize what you've done?"

"Given that woman what she deserved?" He looked up at Steve, that usual light in Peter's eyes gone.

"Now, the media are attacking you even more! Saying how 'unstable,' you are."

"I just shot a web at one person!" Peter exclaimed, tears ready to spill. "She was cussing at me, telling me how much of a murderer I am, and reminding me of terrible memories! I was just supposed to sit there and take that!?"

Tony looked like he was hurrying to get the phone call over, glancing back at Peter and Steve again and again.

"You were supposed to handle it better! Use words instead of webs." Steve seemed to soften slightly. "Look, Peter. We just want what's best for you. For you to not have the media talking about how you attacked a citizen."

Peter shook his head. "No, I get it."

"You do?" Steve asked slowly.

Peter nodded. "I get that you care about our image - no, sorry, your image, more that you care about me."

Before Steve or Tony could say anything, Peter started to storm off to his room. As he reached the hallway, he felt something stopping him. He tried to move his feet but he couldn't.

"What the heck-" He looked back and saw Wanda using her 'magic' to stop him. She pulled him back into the room.

"Really? C'mon, Wanda!" He groaned. "I thought you were cool."

Wanda mouthed a sorry in response and stood up, leaving the room.

"Look, I'm sorry, I'll call you back," Peter heard Tony said quickly into the phone.

Tony finally got off his call and walked back over to them.  "Peter, that couldn't be more wrong.  We care about you so much.  More than we could ever care about publicity."

He tried to dab at his eyes quickly, not wanting the tears to spill. Come on, Pete, he thought, angry at himself for feeling like this. You're Spider-Man, you're stronger than this.  Stop crying over basically nothing.

"I'm sorry, Pete." Steve pulled him in for a hug and Peter didn't refuse. He just stood there in his Pops' arms and let it happen.

"I didn't mean to come off as so angry. We do want what's best for you and I just don't want the media to think that you are... a bad person, you know? I know you're not. We know that you're not.  We know what you've been through. They don't. They just assume."

Peter nodded slowly. He looked at the floor as Steve's arms released him.

"It's just so hard to deal with..." Peter muttered through gritted teeth. "So hard to deal with the guilt, but I managed to get it under wraps... And then she came back and threw it all away."

He couldn't tell them about the men. He wouldn't. The men definitely had helped influence his reaction at the conference.

"We understand." Tony held Peters arm gently. "You're young. You can't be expected to carry so much guilt."

"This is exactly why I skipped the reunion," he muttered. "I keep getting everything taken away. All of my hard work. And the fact that I nearly died."

"Excuse me? You did what?" Tony said almost immediately after.

Ah shi-

"Um, I-"

"You did skip?  Peter why on earth did you do that?!"

"Well, for one, I nearly drowned in the pool."

Steve raises an eyebrow.  "How did that happen?"

"I- I might or might not have used webs to get Flash stuck in the shallow end and one might have gotten to the deep end and got attached to my foot when I dove in."  He left out the part about him having flashbacks.  That would not help his dads feelings about him. 

"Peter why on earth would you do that? Not only did you put yourself in danger, you put your classmates in danger as well. You could've made other classmates drown!"

"Look, I'm sorry.  It was a joke!  And I felt bad about it afterwards!  I mean, mostly physically but..."

"If you nearly drowned, then really you shouldn't have gone and swung around.  You should have actually rested instead."

"I know, but I was so... I don't know.  I needed to get away from everything."

"Yeah, that seems to be what you do best in these situations," Steve muttered.  Tony quickly slapped his arm.

Peter felt like he had been stabbed.  He looked back up Steve, the pain from what he had just said visible. 

"Peter, he didn't mean that," Tony assured Peter quickly, but Peter didn't believe it for a second.  It was true.  He looked back at the ground, tears pricking at his eyes and his hands shaking softly.

"I'm sorry, Pete.  We're not going to change your grounded time," Steve eventually said.  "We won't make it longer.  While you should get them taken away longer now that we have this information, we understand that you've been feeling a lot of pressure and anxiety lately.  We know that you aren't a bad kid, Peter.  Don't make us wrong.  We'll keep your phone and will need your suit back for a few more days, but you won't have it taken away much longer."

Peter stayed silent. What they said barely registered. He felt that he deserved to have it taken away for a much longer He knew they cared, but they couldn't help. They had been trying for the past two years. They tried to make it subtle, but had ultimately failed. He did his best on his own. At least, that's what he told himself.

"What's been going on lately?" Steve asked him, concern coating his words. "You've been acting weird lately."

Peter looked up at them. They looked worried and he hated it. He didn't want to disappoint them. Well, disappoint them more than he already had.  That was too terrible of a feeling. He couldn't handle that now.

What a mess he had gotten himself into.  Ned was mad at him last time he checked, he had no clue how MJ felt about him, they still wouldn't answer the phone, men were keeping tabs on his life, the mother of a woman he had let die had come back to haunt him, his dads were constantly worried about him and his mental heath - anything else he was forgetting?  Not that he could think of, but he was sure he would think of them in no time.  He was being attacked from all sides.

He had gotten himself into all of this.  He would be the one who would get himself out.  He had to. 

He looked up at his dads, holding back tears as best as he could.  He clenched his fists, trying to stop the shaking. 

"Nothing."

A/N: Two minutes before 2019, I promised I would and I did!  I deserve a pat on the back if I do say so myself.  Hope you enjoyed the chapter and enjoy the new year!