TW: mentions of mental health issues, mentions of death, mentions of drug use.

I stood in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables for mine and Peter's dinner as I waited for him to get home from the gym. As if on cue, I heard the front door open, making me look up as Peter walked in.

"I'm home!" he yelled as he shut the door.

"I can tell." I smiled, making him chuckle and shake his head as he walked into my line of vision. My smile dipped, my eyes skimming up and down his sweaty body as his muscle top clung tightly to his now healthy body.

"Like what you see?" he smirked.

"You already know the answer, Pete, don't make me say it." I teased. His smirk widened, making me smile as he kissed my head.

"I've been thinking." He stated as he curled his arms around my waist from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Oh, yeah?" I mumbled, admittedly only half paying attention to what my boyfriend was saying as I continued to chop up the food.

"Yeah. And I think that I'm ready to see May again." My eyes widened at Peter's words. I looked at him, making him give me a small smile. I put the knife down and quickly turned around in his arms, his hands moving to still cup my waist as I faced him properly.

"You mean that?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah. It's been half a year now, my body is built back up, all of my track marks have healed and are basically invisible now. I miss her so much, and so I'm ready to see her again." He nodded.

"Oh, Peter." I choked as I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He returned it, burying his face into my hair as he held my body close to his.

"I'm so glad that you're finally ready. And I'm sure that May will be too." I nodded.

"Can you contact her for me? Tell her that I'm ready to meet?" he asked hopefully. I nodded again as I moved my hands to place them flat against his chest.

"Of course I will, Peter. Fuck, I'm so proud of you." I smiled and shook my head.

"I wouldn't be here without you." He mumbled quietly, a small smile on his lips as his gaze flicked over my face. I let mine widen and bit my lip as I leant up and gently kissed the boy. He returned the kiss and smiled against my lips, his hands soothingly rubbing my waist as my hands stayed against his chest. I broke the kiss and looked at him, biting my lip again as he pressed our foreheads together.

"God, I love you." He whispered and shook his head.

"I love you too." I responded equally as quietly. He gave me one last smile before leaning down and kissing me again.

I sat at my dressing table, looking into my mirror as I did my makeup in preparation for dinner with Peter and May. It had been several months since I had seen the kind woman, even longer since Peter had seen her, and so the pair of us had agreed to make an effort for Peter's former caregiver.

"Babe." I looked up and raised my eyebrows as Peter rushed in, the facial expression acting as a hint for him to continue.

"Which tie do I wear?" he gulped as he held up a maroon tie with crosses on it as well as a plain navy tie.

"Maroon tie." I nodded.

"Are you sure? Because the navy tie was my uncle Ben's tie." He sighed.

"Pete, if you were just going to go with the navy tie anyway, why did you bother asking me?" I chuckled, looking back into the mirror as I put earrings in.

"Because your opinion matters to me." He groaned. I looked at him and sighed as I stood up.

"You're spiralling." I stated.

"Just a bit." He sighed. I returned it before walking to him and placing my hands against his chest, his arms raising to curl around my waist.

"You're overthinking this, Pete. Your aunt hasn't seen you in years, she's not going to be bothered about what tie you're wearing. All she cares about is seeing you." I reassured. He sighed and looked at me.

"I know, I just...I want to be able to completely remove the old me from her memory. I want her to see me as how I am now, not the scrawny and drug-addicted guy that she lost me to five years ago." He mumbled.

"I know that you do, Pete. And it's so sweet that you're wanting to make an effort, but your choice of tie doesn't matter." I chuckled and shook my head. He returned the chuckle and looked at me as he bit his lip.

"Thank you." He nodded. I returned it and smiled as I leant up and gently pressed our lips together. He returned the kiss, his hands gently gripping my hips as I held his chest. I broke the kiss and looked at him.

"Go with no tie. You look better with just a slightly open shirt and no tie." I nodded.

"Alrighty, then, the lady has spoken." He chuckled, making me smile as I continued to get ready.

"Pete, come on, we're going to be late." I sighed, standing by the open front door as I waited for Peter to finish getting ready.

"We're not going to be late, she lives ten seconds down the hallway." He chuckled as he walked to me and fastened up his cuff-links as he did. I bit my lip, my eyes raking up and down the well-made-up boy who was clad in a slightly unbuttoned dress-shirt, a black dress jacket and black trousers.

"You look hot." I stated, making him laugh and nod as he walked to me.

"Thank you, babe." He chuckled, though his smile quickly dipped as he looked down.

"What's up, Pete?" I asked. He looked back up at me and gave me a forced smile.

"Nothing, I'm good. Let's go." He nodded. I returned it slowly, still not fully convinced as we headed out of the apartment and Peter shut the door behind us. I headed along to May's apartment door, and suddenly clocked that Peter wasn't behind me. I looked back and sighed. The boy was still standing at my apartment door, his eyes filled with terror as he stared at May's door. I knew that he'd been beyond petrified for this. It was no wonder, he hadn't seen his aunt in almost six years, and he hadn't been much more than a skeleton when she had last seen him.

"Pete." I spoke gently, making his eyes flick to me. He gulped and looked at me, making me walk back to him and gently take his hand into mine.

"You're ready to see her." I reassured gently. He sighed and nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing as he let me pull him to May's door. I looked at him.

"You ready?" I checked one last time.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He gulped again and nodded. I returned the nod before raising my fist and gently knocking it against the door. Immediately, we heard shuffling from behind the structure, telling us that May had most likely been waiting for us. The door swung open, making Peter suck in a breath as it opened to reveal May. Her eyes wavered as they landed on her nephew.

"Peter." She choked.

"May." He returned as he stepped forward and leant down to hug the woman tightly. She returned the hug, his face buried into her shoulder as they held onto each other. I bit my lip and tried to stop myself from crying at the reunion of the pair of them.

"I'm so sorry, May, I'm so sorry. I missed you so much." Peter cried into her shoulder. She shook her head and pulled back, though only enough to take the boy's face into her hands as she made him look at her.

"None of that matters now, honey. All that matters is that you're back, and my goodness, you look so well." She smiled and shook her head, making him laugh and nod.

"I couldn't have done it without Y/N." he stated as he looked at me. I bit my lip again as May also landed her gaze on me.

"Thank you, Y/N. I can never thank you enough for bringing my Peter back to me." She choked and shook her head as she gently took my hands into hers.

"He saved me too, May. He saved me too." I admitted. She smiled and nodded, biting her lip as we moved into her apartment and she shut the door.

The three of us sat at May's kitchen table, laughing and eating as we caught May up on the last five years.

"It's not been easy, but most people thought that the house was abandoned, so I've only had to scare off maybe a few people in the five years that I was there." Peter nodded.

"I'm still not happy about the fact that you were there at all. You always had a home here, you know that, don't you, Peter?" May asked as she gently took his hand.

"I know, May. It wasn't your fault, I just needed to get out. You understand?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm not happy about it, but I do." She nodded. Peter returned it, making me give him a small smile as we continued to eat the meatballs and pasta that May had prepared.

"So, have you found a job or anything yet?" she asked.

"Nah, not yet. I've been looking, but unsurprisingly, no one wants to hire a completely unqualified kid who suddenly showed up alive after having been assumed dead five years ago." He sighed and shook his head.

"I actually might have a solution for you." May spoke innocently. Peter and I both looked at her.

"Go on." I chuckled. May looked at me, making my eyebrows furrow and my heart jump as I got the feeling that Peter wouldn't like her suggestion. Her gaze flicked back to him.

"Tony Stark." she nodded. My eyes widened, Peter's wavering as he put down his cutlery.

"May, I don't know if I can go back there." he gulped and shook his head.

"Of course you can, Pete, you loved working for him." she insisted.

"I also disappeared off of the face of the Earth and left Mr Stark and the other Avengers to just fight off any threat without me." he scoffed.

"Come on, you need to at least consider him as an option. I love you but you're right, who else is going to hire you?" she shook his head.

"May, I don't know if I can go back there." he insisted.

"Peter, you listen to me." May nodded as she took his hand. He sighed and looked at her, my heart breaking as tears pricked his stunning chocolate eyes.

"Like Y/N and I, that man would do anything for you. He loves you like a son, honey, and he's going to be just as happy to see you as we were. So, what's stopping you from going back and getting your old job back?" she scoffed and shook her head. He gulped and looked down, a tear leaving his eye as he did.

"Because now, he's just another person that I let down." he choked. My face softened, my heart breaking at his words.

"Oh, Pete." I sighed as I stood up and went to his side of the table, his arm curling around my waist as he rested his head against me and I wrapped my arms around him in a hug.

"You didn't let anyone down, honey. Especially not Tony. I can guarantee you that that man will welcome you back with open arms if you went back to him and asked him to take you on again. I guarantee it." she encouraged.

"I have to agree, Pete. From what you've told me about him, you meant the world to him. I honestly think that it's worth a shot to call him and get an appointment." I backed May up. He sighed and nodded, his eyes red and puffy as he looked back up at us.

"Fuck it, you guys are right. Of course he'll take me back. And he definitely won't if I don't even call him." he joked, making us chuckle and nod.

"See? There's the Peter that we know and love." I smiled, making him return it as he leant up and gently pecked my lips before letting me go so that I could sit back down.

"Fucking hell, that was so much food, I'm going to throw up." Peter groaned, making me chuckle and shake my head as we wandered back into our apartment and I locked the door behind us.

"I know, right? I know that it's debatable whether or not your aunt can cook, but fuck can she still make enough food for an army." I scoffed and shook my head. Peter laughed and nodded as he kicked off his shoes, the boy sitting down on the sofa as he undid his cuff-links.

"I don't even have the energy to get undressed, I'm just going to pass out." He chuckled and shook his head. I looked at him, my smile dipping and my heart leaping in my chest as I got an idea. I just wasn't sure how he would take it.

"Peter, how...how about you join me in my bed, from now on?" I suggested with a gulp, my heart starting to race with anxiety as the idea slipped my lips. Peter immediately looked up at me.

"What? A-are you sure?" He asked. I nodded and bit my lip as I tried not to show how fucking nervous I was. After all, I'd never really shared a bed with anyone before, I'd only had a couple of boyfriends and girlfriends before dropping out of college and none of those relationships had lasted long enough for me to spend the night with them. So, to suggest to my life-long best friend and crush turned boyfriend that we could start sleeping together was a big step. One that I hoped wouldn't scare him off.

"Y-yeah, I mean, why not? You've been living here for six months, we've been dating for three, I-it makes sense, right? I know that you think that the sofa is so comfortable but, all I'm saying is that if you were comfortable sleeping in my bed with me-if you were okay to make that change, I, um, I-I would be okay with it too." I nodded, though I was mentally beating the shit out of myself for how much stuttering I had done throughout. Peter looked at me, the boy's beautifully innocent doe eyes looking over my face as he slowly started to nod.

"Sure, o-okay, you're right. I mean, if we were a normal couple, we'd have started sleeping together within a couple of weeks, so, sure, yeah." He nodded as he stood up. I breathed a sigh of relief, a smile curling onto my lips at his answer.

"Awesome, okay. Well, in that case, let's go to bed." I smiled, making him return it and nod as his hand found my waist and we headed into my room. We both lay down, neither of us bothering to get undressed out of our dinner clothes as we lay down facing each other. Our eyes pierced through the dark to find each other's faces, Peter's arm curling over my waist to pull me closer as we lay on our sides and just stared at each other in the black of the room.

"So...how did you find tonight? I know that it was a massive step for you, seeing her again." I whispered as I raised my hand to gently start stroking his face. He sighed, his eyes flicking over my features as he gave me a small smile.

"It was...something. Fuck, it was nice, it was amazing. May raised me for most of my life alone. I know that I had my parents until I was four and I had my Uncle Ben for another ten years but, she was the only constant throughout it all. She's basically my mom at this point, a-and it just felt really good to see her. I know that I waited so long because I felt like I let her down, and some part of me still believes that, but...it just felt good, babe. It felt good to know that after all of this time, she still sees me as me. Not the boy who accidentally killed his girlfriend trying to save her, not the depressed drug addict who took over because of that. But as me. She still sees me as her Peter. I'll always be her Pete, and I guess that I just didn't see that until tonight." He choked. I nodded and bit my lip, tears pricking my eyes as I could feel his own tears against my hand as they fell down his cheek.

"I never want you to forget again how much you mean to all of us, Pete. I know that it was easy to forget when you were in that place, but you've never been unloved or uncared for. I love you, May loves you, Tony will welcome you back with open arms. You're doing so fucking well, and tonight, you were amazing." I reassured.

"Thank you, baby. Thank you." He whispered before leaning in and gently kissing me. I returned it, my eyes fluttering shut and my hand continuing to hold his face as his arm curled around my waist to pull me closer. I broke the kiss and touched our foreheads, the pair of us just enjoying each other's company as we lay there.

"I love you, Peter. So fucking much." I choked.

"I love you too, Y/N. And I'll never stop." He returned, making me smile and bite my lip as I pecked his lips again. I turned around in his arms so that we were spooning, the tiredness starting to creep in as I moved my body back into his.

"Goodnight, baby." Peter mumbled as the boy nuzzled his face into my hair.

"Goodnight, Pete." I whispered, my body sinking further into his arms as my eyes fluttered shut and my body got taken by the gentle grasp of sleep.