Peter was nervous as he fiddled with the velvet box in his pocket, waiting for his girlfriend of three years to open the door.

He met her halfway through college, she had been in his engineering class and they sat next to each other. They began talking and a few weeks later ha gathered the courage to ask her out on a date.

He never had much money, so instead of some fancy restaurant he took her to the room of his nearby apartment for a rooftop dinner he made himself.

That was three years ago to the day and he never forgot a second of it. The way her blue eyes lit up with excitement, the way her blonde hair bounced as she hopped with excitement.

Peter smiled softly at the memory. He knocked on the door once more and heard some groans. He laughed quietly to himself at her antics. She opened the door, her blue eyes filled with annoyance. Her blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun and she was wearing only a long green T-shirt. Her lips were swollen and the too-big shirt fell over her shoulder enough to reveal several hickeys.

"Peter?" She asked, eyes suddenly widening. She pulled the shirt to cover her hockey's but t was too late. His eye was trained on her neck where the biggest had been. "What are you doing here?"

"Today's our three year anniversary. We were going to go to my rooftop again like we did on our first date." His eyes hadn't left the spot and his voice was had a sharp edge to it. She gave a slight shudder.

"Gwen? Come back to bed." Came a masculine voice from behind the door. "I wasn't finished with you." He was practically purring and growling at the same time.

"I'll be back in a minute Miles." She called over her shoulder. Peter's eyes began to well with tears. She wasn't even going to try and cover it. He wanted it to not be real because it could be be real, it couldn't be real, it couldn't be real.

"Well, it appears you're a little busy. I guess instead of the romantic speech and date I had prepared I'll say this. We're over because I'm not going to be with someone who treats me like this. I was intending on giving you this tonight, but I guess plans change." Peter opens the velvet box to reveal a silver engagement ring. Her jaw dropped and she covered her mouth with her hands. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

"Take it. I have no use for it now." His anger far surpassed his sadness and he threw the box over her shoulder. His enhanced strength sent it hurtling at the wall, leaving a dent.

"Gwen, are you alright?" Came the voice now known as Miles. He sounded concerned for her genuinely so Peter couldn't help but assume it wasn't a one night stand, but a relationship of a kind time.

"How long?" Peter's voice was strained as his eyes bore right into her soul. She mumbled something that he only caught with his enhanced hearing "Two months!" He screeched and she flinched. Tears were now openly streaming down her face.

"Peter please don't leave me." She whispered. "I don't have anything without you. You're the only thing I have left. You kept me together for so long I can't be without you again. Not after last time."

There had been a few weeks when she felt that she and Peter had been together for so long she forgot who she was without him. She came to him later and admitted she hadn't wanted that. She just felt trapped but she had realized how much she needed him.

She grabbed Peter's arms and tried to wrap them around her in a hug but he kept himself stiff. "If you can't be without me, then you shouldn't be with him. If you need me, then you shouldn't have needed him. If you have nothing without me, then why do you have him?" Peter's voice cracked as he began to let the hot tears fall out of his eyes. He yanked his arm away from her and turned on his heel. He ran down the stairs, ignoring her shouts after him. He ran, ran, ran, and ran until he found himself in one of he few places he felt that he was safe.

His eyes went up and down over the building, his eyes still blurry with tears. He pulled he door open and walked straight to the private elevator. "Welcome back, Peter. Boss has been alerted of your presence. You are being taken to his current flier due to your increased heart rate. Is everything alright?"

"Not exactly." Peter said softly, fiddling with the edges of his suit jacket. His phone rang as soon as he said it and Peter retrieved it from his pocket.

The screen was lit up. The bottom held a green button with answer and a red for ignore. There was a picture of Gwen, early in the morning wearing an MIT shirt. She was crossing her eyes and had a lock of her long blonde hair over her lips like a mustache. There was a plate of pancakes in front of her. 𝒢𝓌ℯ𝓃 was written eloquently at the top. He shoved his thumb down on the ignore button.

The elevator chimes and the doors opened to reveal Tony and Bruce leaning over the lab desk scribbling on papers. The Iron Man suit lay in top of the desk as well. "Hey Pete, what's up." Tony looked up and saw Peter dressed in a nice suit with tear tracks on his face and dropped his pen. "Bruce I'm out." Tony said immediately.

"Alright see you later. You too Peter." Bruce said, not looking up. Peter understood, they weren't all that close. They worked together occasionally but nothing major. Tony grabbed Peter's arm and walked out the door to the living room.

"Friday, play Peter's favorite." He put Peter on the couch and went to the kitchen. The movie played and Peter sat on the couch motionless. He was still processing. A few minutes later, Tony returned with a bucket of popcorn and two hot cocoas. Peter took his cup silently and took a sip. His anger was long gone, leaving only sadness in its wake.

Tony didn't prod him or ask for answers. He only dipped his cocoa and let Peter snuggle into him. After a few minutes more, Peter's phone rang again. He pulled his phone out to reveal it was another call from Gwen. Peter's eyes welled up again and he pressed the ignore button once more. He placed his phone on the table and took another fistfuls if popcorn. It happened multiple times.

Tony was getting worried at the repeated rejection of Gwen's calls, as she was one of the people he knew Peter loved most in the world. But pushing Peter wouldn't do him any good and he knew that.

After to movie ended, Peter's breathing was even on Tony's shoulder. "Friday? What happened?" He pet Peter's hair slowly. "Actually, never mind. Peter will tell me when he wants too."

They stayed like that for a while. Tony was just about to fall asleep when Friday announced to visitor. "Miss Stacy is here and wishes to see Peter." Tony didn't know what happened, and didn't know where they stood, but knew Peter didn't want to talk to her. Tony shook Peter slightly, causing him to open his eyes groggily.

"Pete? Gwen's here." Peter sat up, eyes wide. "I know you don't want to talk to her so I'll deal with her. But for me to do that I needed my shoulder. I'm sorry, kid. Just go back to sleep."

Peter ran a hand through his curls and nodded. Tony turned to leave but Peter made him freeze. "She cheated on me." Tony's eyes bulged out of his head and he turned on his heel to face Peter.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go kick a cheater the hell out of my tower. Then we'll talk." Tony said, deadly calm. He walked into the elevator and waited for it to hit the ground floor. When it did, he walked over to Gwen and grabbed her sleeve. He dragged her out of the tower and three blocks away to an alleyway. He knew exactly how far Peter's gearing reached and wanted to be sure to stay out of that range.

"Why. On. EARTH. Did you think that it was okay for you to show up to the tower?! I want to know your thought process, go through it for me." Tony motioned for the girl to talk. She had tear tracks going down her face, similar to the ones Peter had when he arrived. This earned her no sympathy with Tony.

"I need him." Her voice was broken. Her eyes looked hollow and she was visibly distraught. Tony was emotionless. No one hurts his kid. Not on his watch.

"You should've fucking thought of that before you cheated on him!" Tony was screaming and was attracting attention to the small alley they were in. He rubbed his temples and calmed down slightly. "You don't get to cheat on him and then expect him to take you back in a heartbeat. You don't get to deserve him. You don't get to expect everything to be normal with a bat of your eyelashes. You. Don't. Get. Peter. Not anymore, not after this, not as long as I live. Now leave. Leave and don't even dream of trying to talk to him again because I will know and I will make you pay."

He stormed away, leaving the blonde in the alleyway. He stomped back into the tower and right back up to the penthouse floor to see Peter curled into a ball on the couch. "Thank you. I just can't deal with her right now. Maybe tomorrow we'll talk it out." Peter said quietly.

"Nope. You two are done. She doesn't deserve you and you deserve way better. Find your Pepper. Your soulmate. Don't just go back to her because you've been together for so long. Quality over quantity. So, let's put on another movie and we'll talk about this tomorrow if you're feeling up to it, or we'll work in the labs if that's what you'd prefer. But no more Gwen. In fact, Fri, if Gwen is sighted within the tower have her removed. Revoke her access unless I personally say otherwise." Peter smiled at Tony.

Peter laid down on Tony's lap as another movie began playing. "Thanks dad." He said sleepily as his eyes shut.

Tony's heart swelled with pride. He placed a kiss on Peter's curls. "Anything for you, kid."