Trapped in the Shadows

Chapter 8 - The Public Sucks

Peter's POV:
I stayed up all night with (Y/N) after she passed out, terrified that she was going to stop breathing or something. She came to early in the morning, only awake for a few minutes before she started getting sick. I stayed by her side, making sure that her hair didn't get in the way and encouraging her to drink some water. Eventually, she was able to get some sleep, but I continued on my watch to make sure that she wasn't going to get sick again.

It was still pretty early when the heavy knocks resounded throughout the apartment and I knew immediately that it was Mr. Stark. May went to answer the door as I stayed with (Y/N) and began to fear for my life. As he came into the apartment he demanded to know where (Y/N) was, so May led him into my room.

"Mr. Stark," I began, leaping up from my seat next to (Y/N), hoping that I could calm him down enough to let her continue sleeping. "I am so sorry for what happened last night, I tried to convince her not to go to the party, but she wouldn't listen. I figured the best I could do was go with her and make sure that she wasn't doing anything that she would regret later. She just wanted to be a normal teenager for one night, I'm sorry I couldn't stop her."

"How many drinks did she have?!" He demanded as he pushed passed me and into my room.

"I am not quite sure, she snuck away from me for a while to do shots, but she said something about having ten cups or so of beer, although she was pretty out of it by then, so I don't know if that number is entirely accurate."

"Thanks for taking care of her, Pete. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go reprimand my daughter," he spoke, shocking me with the fact that he did not seem to blame me for what happened.

"She's sleeping right now, maybe you should wait for her to wake up? She's had a pretty rough night."

Tony ignored me and shook (Y/N) awake causing her to groan and roll over on her side, swatting his hand away. He sighed and walked over to my light switch so that he could turn my light on, causing her to groan again and try to shield her eyes from the bright light now shining on her.

"(Y/N), get up," he demanded, shaking her again and sitting down next to her.

"Dad?" She questioned, opening her eyes slowly in an attempt to orient herself. "Wh-What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?! How the hell could you be so idiotic?! Do you realize what could have happened last night?! You really lucked out that nothing terrible occurred and that was all because Peter was there to protect you!" He started yelling at her, making me wonder if I should leave the room and give them privacy. However, I couldn't find the strength to move, afraid that if I turned towards the door, Tony would end up taking out his anger on me.

"Dad, can you keep it down a little," she moaned, half-heartedly covering her ears.

"No, no I will not keep it down, you did this to yourself and will suffer the consequences! Now tell me what the hell you were thinking!"

She clearly realized that she was not getting out of the lecture because she sat up a little in my bed, turning to face her father. "What was I thinking? I wanted to have fun, dad. I wanted to have the experience of a normal high school student before high school was over."

"So you go and get drunk?! Tell me, (Y/N), do you remember anything from last night?!"

She shook her head in response, "not much, I remember getting to the party, dancing a bit, killing everyone at beer pong, and then going down to the basement for shots. I remember the first couple, but after that it gets a little fuzzy."

"How could you have had fun if you barely remember the night?!" (Y/N) bit her lip in response, choosing to remain silent. "(Y/N), I know what it is like more than anyone to drink a party away. It may seem fun in the moment, but you regret it when you wake up. You have to be careful, (Y/N), you shouldn't risk your safety to have fun. And if you do have an inclination to do that, you should tell me. You're in the public eye now, you can't just go around doing whatever you want without expecting consequences."

"Dad, it was just one night."

"Yeah, and that 'just one night' ended up trending on every social media website," Tony revealed and I had to suppress a gasp myself. "You should see the number of articles that I have read through this morning about you going wild. It doesn't matter what you did last night, you cannot take back any rumors that people have spread about you. Peter took care of your personal safety, but he couldn't take away everyone's phones and keep them from posting about the party. Apparently you are just like your old man, a raging alcoholic. Here, you can read all about it."

He projected what felt like hundreds of articles about (Y/N) throughout the room. There were pictures of her at every point of the night, from her first sip of alcohol until the time I helped her leave the house. The titles revealed that the public believed her to be irresponsible and indecorous. They created their own versions of the night, claiming that she had done far more than she actually had.

I could see realization flash over (Y/N)'s face, realization that every thing that she did would be spun out of proportion. She fought to maintain a brave face, but I could tell that she wanted nothing more than to lock herself in a room and never show her face to the world again. I moved over to my bed and took her hand in mine, squeezing it reassuringly.

"This is why you cannot keep things from me, (Y/N). I may not have been able to prevent all this from happening, but I could have warned you before you chose to attend a party. And I could have had you throw your own party at the compound. You would not have been able to invite as many people as I am sure were at the one last night, but you could have drunk and played beer pong and danced, whatever you wanted. All I want is for you to be safe, if that means letting you drink I'm happy to do so knowing that the environment is safe. Please, don't every do something like this again, do you understand?"

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(A/N): And this why I never want to be famous lol 😂I really hope that you all enjoyed this chapter although not too much happened! I promise the action will pick up soon!