Peter doesn't know why Tony is asking, he knows it's more than okay.
It's needed actually, something he craves when they are miles apart and the only comfort Peter has is the few shirts, jackets and ties he steals so that he can sleep at night. After Titan, sleep was practically non-existent for Peter, only knocking out in Tony's presence.
Only a couple of self-measured experiments later did Peter realize that it was Tony's scent that lulled him to sleep--which didn't help in making their boundaries even smaller than before.
At this point if they were caught, he doesn't think either of them could explain their way out.
"You know." Peter speaks up, pressing his body against the warm presence in front of him, "When I came back...I kept thinking about what happened."
Tony hums, a sign for him to keep going.
"When I was disappearing so many thoughts were running through my head." he whispers, "I thought about Aunt May and MJ, about Ned...hell I thought about Flash."
They both laugh as if it had been just a simple bad day.
"Yet the moment my fingers began to disappear and I started feeling worse."
Peter closes his eyes and latches onto the lapels of Tony's suit.
"I kept thinking about how I wanted you to hold me just like this."
He feels Tony's grip tighten. It wasn't a good subject to talk about. Peter knows his mentor most likely isn't over what had happened and bringing it up so casually wasn't helping whatever healing process the therapists kept insinuating was happening. That's when Peter realizes just how selfish he's become, because he doesn't want to stop--he wants to get it out.
"Is it bad to say I wanted you to cradle me? Hold me even closer? I wanted you to grab to whatever was leaving and try to push it back--" the words tumble out and Peter tries to bury his face in Tony's chest so they would stop, "That whatever was left of me would cling to you so you wouldn't forget me."
Peter didn't have any proof of this, but he thinks that he must have come back wrong after Titan. The him from before would rather die than admit this. Even now he feels anxiety pull and tug at him at Tony's silence.
He's probably going to let go, isn't he?
Two arms wrap around his shoulders and bring him closer, tucking Peter even more into Tony's embrace. It was no longer a hug, more like a man trying and failing to make a cocoon with his whole body so that nobody would touch what was inside. Butterflies rush up Peter's throat and they all come out as a soft sigh, a pleased one, as Tony buries himself in Peter's shoulder.
"You think I would forget you?"
He nods, not wanting to ruin the moment.
Tony chuckles in response, "If we're confessing then--I guess I should say that the time traveling discovery wasn't a completely altruistic action."
His hands link together on Peter's back.
"I wanted to get everyone back--but if the outcome didn't have you in it then I would have gone back to the drawing table as many times as I needed."
Peter closes his eyes and focuses on Tony's whisper.
"I would have used the glove if need be."
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