He still couldn't believe it. He still thought it was all fake, that his parents would come through the front door and give him a hug. They would apologise for scaring him, and then they would all go back home like the happy family they were.

Except, of course, the reality of the situation was that his parents were dead, and they would never be coming back. He wouldn't be seeing them again, he'd never gain another hug, he'd never celebrate another birthday with them.

Life was unfair.

He was stuck now with Aunt May and Uncle Ben, both of whom he was certain didn't want to have to deal with him.

They wouldn't show it, no, they thought he was too young to see their concerned looks over the bills, the way the cupboards had little food, but Peter could see. Peter knew that with him in the house, they were struggling even more than they were previously.

He had wanted to offer for help, but seeing Uncle Ben hiding the many bills in a drawer once he'd entered the room, he knew that he wasn't supposed to know.

So he never mentioned it.

He didn't point at things he wanted when shopping with Uncle Ben, and he didn't stare at certain toys with longing when with Aunt May. He didn't want to make them feel any worse than they already did.

He still offered to help with chores, and beamed with pride when May smiled at him, her worn out expression lessening ever so slightly. Uncle Ben just ruffled his hair, and helped him out when stuff was too high for him to reach.

Peter still felt it wasn't enough, but would anything he did ever be enough?

~~~

"I'll help you, Aunt May," Peter said, his grammar and language skills having developed even more after his parents' passing. "That's a lot of shopping for you to take in by yourself."

Aunt May smiled at him gratefully as Peter grabbed two bags from her, taking them into the kitchen.

This boy had been forced to grow up - and he was mature enough as it was, what with the obsession with science and learning how the world worked. He had gotten that from his father, Uncle Ben had said.

"Thank you, Peter," she said, "could you lay out the table for dinner, please?"

Peter nodded eagerly, this being the first time May had asked for his services, rather than him just offering at any moment.

Now, he was truly doing the best he could for their makeshift family.

~~~

Peter wiped the tears from his grimy face, picking himself up off the ground after Flash had chased him out of the school.

He's always hated bullies, always tried to get their attention off of the other students, but funnily enough, he appeared to be a prime target.

"Nerdy, god, can't you stop talking about science for one minute?" Flash had spat at him. It was then Peter had decided he needed to make himself seem even more vulnerable - with Flash directing everything towards him, it meant the other bullies were having more fun watching him than going after their own victims.

Peter preferred that.

He hadn't complained when Ben had noticed him squinting and made him get his eyes tested, although he hadn't been happy when Ben had paid for glasses. It would do good to look even more 'nerdy', as Flash called it, in the long run.

Although now, looking at his broken glasses, he didn't like it all that much.

He wished that he had some friends to go to so he could fix himself up before he went back to Aunt May's and Uncle Ben's; he didn't want to worry them.

He had no choice but to go to them now, anyways. He'd already attempted to clear himself up, but he'd done the most he could have.

He slowly trudged his way to Uncle Ben's house (because as loving as his aunt and uncle tried to make it, it wasn't his home, not yet), luckily being only a short distance away.

He knocked on the door, relieved when Aunt May opened it immediately but guilty as concern instantly appeared on her face.

"Ben!" she cried, hustling Peter into the house, grabbing the first aid kit. "Ben, come here now."

Uncle Ben immediately appeared, worry evident as he rushed over to Peter and checked him over.

"What happened, Pete?" he asked, crouching down to Peter's level and carefully applying some sort of salve to the bruises on Peter's face.

"I - um - I -" he stuttered, his dad's old nickname for him causing him to wince and lose his train of thought. "It - it's just, um, bullies."

The rage that filled Uncle Ben at those words scared Peter, to the point where he physically flinched away. Ben's eyes filled with sadness and he slowly moved away.

"You need to take better care of yourself, Peter," he said instead, not bringing up the awkward conversation just yet. "Normally I don't condone violence, but if they're doing this to you... At least give 'em a black eye back, yeah?"

The joke made Peter laugh, sheepish though it was.

"I can't," he said, not elaborating more. He didn't feel he needed to.

Ben didn't push.

~~~

"Happy birthday, Peter!" Aunt May and Uncle Ben chorused, waking Peter up.

"The big six!" Uncle Ben crowed. "Dang, Pete, you're getting older and older every day."

Peter gave a small giggle, not putting his heart into it.

He wished he was five again.

"I'm like I'm seven years old cause I'm very grown up," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Six years old is also very grown up," May added, a sweet smile on her face as she watched Peter slowly become more excited. "What do you want to do for your birthday? We can do whatever you want."

Peter hesitated.

"Do you wanna - wanna have a Disney marathon?" he offered up softly, not wanting to do anything strenuous or something that reminded him awfully of his parents.

"Of course," Ben said, grinning at him. "Peter Pan first?"

Peter nodded, running out of his room to ready the popcorn and sweets that May and Ben would have bought in advance.

May and Ben shared a sad smile.

~~~

Welp, here's some sweet stuff mixed with angst. Just background tings of May and Ben.

They were very sweet to Peter haha.

I would like to say that most of this prequel will not have much plot, this is just pure occasional fluff and angst. The proper stuff will come in after Aunt May and Uncle Ben's death.

Of course, you guys know a lot of stuff about this, you know how Ned and Peter met, you know how Peter and Harry met, you know how Peter got adopted by Tony, this is just it in more detail.

I just like trilogies aha.

I have come to the conclusion that I am not ready for this series to be over XD I've gained so much support with the other books, and despite this only being the second chapter, I'm getting into the feels now.

Anyways, this chapter was also written before we got the puppy :)

(His name is Monty and I'm in love.)

~ Hunter

08.02.21

^ still British ^