I'm (Not) Okay, I Promise

“Peter, you’re crying,” she commented, her voice softening as she stepped to his side, “You’re upset. This isn’t like you at all. Please tell me what’s wrong.”Peter opened his mouth to form words, but his voice stubbornly refused to work, trapped in his throat by his emotions. Instead of any coherent words or phrases, he let out a choked hiccup and she, without hesitation, wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head into her shoulder. The dam he had been trying to keep together finally broke and tears rolled down his face as violent sobs wracked his lean form. Her warm hand rubbing up and down his back was his only tether to planet Earth. Otherwise, he was suspended somewhere between time and space, spinning his mental wheels uselessly in an effort to understand how the universe could be so cruel. How could the universe hate a person like Tony Stark, who gave up his very existence to save everyone else’s? It just wasn’t fair! Not to Pepper or Morgan or any of the other Avengers who had been close with Tony. Or me, he thought selfishly, clutching his aunt’s shirt in his fists, I need him now more than ever, and he’s gone…