#sadish

Eddie sat on his bed, his algebra homework in front of him. Four months into high school and he's only passing with B's. He wanted all A's. It was late into the night, the sun had gone down a long time ago. The birds stopped singing, owls replacing their calls. His mother went to bed ages ago after finishing her game show. Yawning, Eddie rubbed his eyes, growing tired and his mind becoming blurry. It was hard to think, but he had to get his work done before tomorrow. 

Stretching his arms in the arm and rolling his shoulders, Eddie tried to sit up straight when a pebble hit his bedroom window. Pausing, waiting in the silence, Eddie listened. He couldn't hear anything but the wind and chirping crickets. Then came another pebble, then another. Eddie sighed and got up from his bed, heading to his window. Opening his window, Eddie peered down below. There, Richie stood, giving a wave and smile, fixing his thick-rimmed glasses. 

"Oh, Edpunzel, Edpunzel, let down your hair!" Richie yelled from down below, using a terrible British accent.

Eddie quickled shushed him, bringing a finger to his lips in haste. 

"Shut up, idiot! My mom is sleeping! You'll wake her up." He whisper-yelled down at him, only for Richie to laugh.

Eddie waited as Richie climbed his way up the trilles on the side of the house, kicking one leg over the window ledge and then the other. Shutting the window, Eddie turned around to Richie and glared, crossing his arms. 

"You almost woke up the whole neighborhood with your yelling." Eddie reprimanded, Richie just brushing it off.

"You're fine, Eds. No one woke up." He spoke, flopping on Eddie's bed and picking up his algebra book.

Eddie walked over and grumply snatched the book out of Richie's hands. "You would have woken my mom, and then we both would've been in huge trouble." He scolded him, sitting down beside him.

"So, you've been up doing homework this whole time?" Richie completely changing the subject.

Edie nodded, "I want to bring my grade up." 

To that, Richie gave a small laugh, wrapping his arm around to give Eddie a noogie. "You're such a nerd, Eds. You're already passing. I know, I copied you in Science." Richie spoke, as Eddie pushed his arms away.

"I want to make sure I can get into a good college. What about you, like you said, you copy me. We only have two shared classes. You must be failing the others." Eddie remarked, as Richie turned to him in mock offense. 

"I'll have you know, Ed, I have Cs. That is still passing." 

Eddie shook his head with a small smile, as the two went into a short silence, though it felt like it dragged on for hours. 

"What are we going to do?" Eddie whispered, voice cracking.

Richie sighed, bringing his arm around Eddie's shoulder, bringing the shorter boy closer to him. Eddie sighed and snuggled in closer to his side. 

"We just go with it. I'll try and keep in contact, and I know you will. You just can't get enough of me." Richie spoke, trying to be serious.

Eddie smiled, but it faded quickly, "You're going to leave, aren't you?" He asked, as Richie nodded, Eddie's heart racing.

"Yeah, I am."

Even though he had said he was going to leave before, Eddie couldn't process it. Now, Eddie could. Richie was going to leave. Just like he was. They were going to go their separate ways. He would leave and live his life in Beverly Hills as a comedian or something. Eddie's smile slowly graced his face as he thought of that. Richie continued to hold Eddie close, as he thought where Eddie would go. Looking at the algebra book in front of them, Richie smiled, Eddie would probably become an accountant or something. Looking all cute wearing a suit, working in an office cubicle everyday. He would come home after a long work day as Richie would be working on writing his next sketch. Perfectly domestic. 

Eddie looked up, noticing Richie's smile. "What's got you smiling like that?" 

Richie's smile widened, eyes looking off with a content look in his eyes. "Your mom."

“Ugh, I hate you.”

“Oh, you love me.”

There’s three pregnancy tests sitting on the counter that Tony hadn’t seen in his haste to get to Peter. All three of them are positive, and Tony swallows down everything he had planned in order to comfort Peter. 

Peter doesn’t stop crying, and Tony carefully picks him up and brings him to bed, curling up under the covers with him. He lets Peter cling to him and cry into his shirt, soaking the material around his face, but Tony doesn’t mind a bit. His hands are rubbing Peter’s back absentmindedly, as the alpha thinks about what this will mean for them. 

It’s clear that Peter doesn’t want to be pregnant, and Tony’s also positive that the alpha who kidnapped him is the father. He’s still on the loose, something that haunts Tony every day, and the fact that he can’t reassure Peter that this would never happen again makes him feel like a shitty cop. But the alpha has just disappeared and dropped off the face of the earth. 

Peter cries himself to sleep, and Tony doesn’t stop holding him or touching him even when he’s no longer conscious.

The next day, Tony brings Peter to the doctor for a check up, and the doctor checks out his broken wrist, his more intimate areas, and his ribs. Tony isn’t there for the examination, but he waits outside, his leg bouncing anxiously. The two of them have had such a nice two months together that it’s hard for Tony to fathom that this baby might tear them apart. After all, it’s not Tony’s baby, so why would Peter want to stay with him? Why does Tony want him to stay, baby and all? 

When they drive home, Peter is silent. Usually the two of them can’t stop talking, but today Peter is just staring out the window, hands folded in his lap. Tony wants to reach out and take one, give it a squeeze, and reassure Peter that everything is going to be fine, but he can’t. Peter isn’t his. He doesn’t know that things will be okay, or even if Peter wants to stay with him. 

When they get home, Peter goes inside quickly and hides away in his room. The alpha in Tony is desperate to soothe Peter’s hurt, but he decides to bake instead. Three hours later the kitchen is a mess, Tony’s covered in flour somehow, and there’s burnt cookies sitting on the counter. 

The smell drags Peter out of his room for the first time, and even though his cheeks are tinged red and splotchy and his eyes are puffy from crying, he laughs until Tony joins in laughing. 

After that, things go back almost to normal, although there is less touching than before. Tony wants to drag Peter into his side again when they watch movies, but he’s scared the omega will react poorly. He tries to give Peter space even though his insides are screaming for him to hold on and never let go. 

And then Tony gets busy at work with a case involving a drug dealer that somehow always managed to slip away under the cops’ nose. Being at work helps him forget about how much he wants to mate Peter, or how badly he wishes the baby in Peter’s stomach was his. 

Until he comes home one night and finds Peter on the couch, wearing nothing but one of Tony’s old t-shirts and some lacey pink panties. He’s asleep, which Tony is grateful for when he can’t help but drool over the thin fabric covering Peter’s body. He isn’t sure when Peter had gotten them, but he’d given the omega free reign over his credit card to buy himself clothes and groceries. 

There’s a slight swell of Peter’s stomach, and Tony itches to cup it in his hands. His alpha wants to pamper Peter and keep him off his feet, babying him until he gives birth. But he’s not sure if Peter wants that from him. 

Somehow, Tony manages to get to his bedroom without being caught staring, and even though he’s hard from seeing Peter like that, he lets it be. It’s not about the sex with Peter. He just wants to love the omega. 

The next morning, Tony wakes up to the smell of something cooking, and he wanders out in his pajamas to find Peter making waffles. He’s still in the same clothes as the previous day, and Tony’s eyes wander to the bump nearly hidden under the soft shirt. It amazes him that there’s a baby in there, and he’s almost giddy with excitement at the thought of having little feet run around the house. 

But Peter’s cheery “I’ve started looking into apartments” sends ice right into his heart. He freezes, taking in the sight of Peter’s bright smile and slightly flushed cheeks. He starts talking about all the federal aid he qualifies for--enough to get his own place--and he doesn’t even notice how Tony’s heart is breaking. How he feels like someone has ripped his heart out of his chest

That morning in the shower, Tony cries, and he isn’t afraid to admit it. He doesn’t want Peter to leave. 

Peter is just so happy about everything that Tony doesn’t have the heart to ruin it for him by telling him his feelings. It would only make things harder for the omega. 

Steve disagrees but he helps comfort Tony anyway

In the evenings, Peter sits beside Tony on the couch, and instead of watching tv or talking about science, Peter shows him in detail every apartment that he’s looking at. They all look lovely, and the way Peter talks about them makes Tony’s heart ache and want to provide for him at the same time. He doesn’t know how to deal with it. 

Peter’s got one hand on the laptop, showing Tony the apartments, and the other hand is caressing his baby bump. Tony’s not listening to a word, just staring at the swell of his stomach. Peter doesn’t seem to notice, and finally, Tony can’t take it anymore. 

He interrupts Peter to tell him about how nice it was to have Peter around the house, cleaning, cooking, and keeping the alpha company. He spills about how badly he wants to protect the omega from every harm he could possibly face. He tells him about how much he’s in love with the beautiful omega he saved and how he never wants to let him go. 

Peter is quiet, his hand stilling on his stomach. Tony’s heart is in his throat and beats loudly in his ears. He can’t bear to look at Peter, and yet he can’t bear to look away, either. 

It takes a moment before Peter reacts, and when he does, all he does is excuse himself and leave to his room. Tony hears the door shut and it slices his heart in two. He’s spilled his guts, and Peter left. He didn’t feel the same. 

An ache spread in Tony’s chest as he slowly got up and made his way to the bedroom. He removes his clothes with a numbness he didn’t know existed, staring blankly at his bed. He barely feels himself crawling into the tangle of blankets, and he’s not even aware he’s in bed until his eyes focus on the ceiling. 

He gave it his best, but Peter obviously didn’t want him. 

Or so he thought until he heard the door creak open and felt a warm body slip into his bed, wrapping their arms around Tony and laying their head on his shoulder. Nothing was said as Tony settled his hands on the smooth skin of Peter’s back, a smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep.