Chapter 4
It was Friday night already which came up way too fast for Peter’s liking. He was in his room working on some of Flash’s homework to get a head start for the weekend. He was hoping to get some extra time to patrol since he barely goes out anymore and it’s been forever since he last went and was itching to go, even if it was just swinging around which he enjoyed. He couldn’t remember the last time he actually had fun or enjoyed anything.
It was hard to concentrate because he really didn’t want to go to this party but knew he had no choice. He felt the impending doom. It was either listen to Flash and go or have him post the adoption papers and have his entire life and (most likely his friends’ private lives) made public. It was on his mind 24/7 and always bringing him down.
A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Tony standing against the door frame with his arms crossed with that same worried look on his face – which he knows it was because of him. “Hey, Pete. You know, it’s a Friday night, why don’t you put the books away and take a break,” Tony told him.
Peter just shrugged. “I was just getting a head start, Dad. You know I’m going to that party later so I’ll be having fun the rest of the night,” he said with a fake smile. “I was thinking maybe if I get more done now, I can squeeze in a patrol sometime this weekend.”
Tony looked surprised to hear that. “Wow, I haven’t heard you mention patrolling in a long time. I think it would be good for you to go out and do your thing. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I’d prefer you do that instead of having your nose in those books every spare minute. Me and Pepper are worried about you which I know you hate when we worry, but can’t help it kid, it’s part of the job description. I know you keep saying you’re fine, but this is me Pete, and I know you. You can talk to me. What’s been up lately? What’s been going on?”
Peter sat back and was on the cusp of spilling his guts but he couldn’t. Instead, he looked at his dad’s worried brown eyes staring at his and continued to smile. “Honestly, I’m ok, Dad. I don’t mean to make you guys worry. I’m just trying to keep my grades up and not fall behind, they give us so much work.”
Tony’s face changed into a very skeptical look and he noticed he crossed his arms tighter. He knew that look and it’s when he doesn’t believe him. What Peter didn’t know was that Tony called the school already and knew something fishy was going on. It’s the same look he gave him the very first time he met him years ago when he was trying to convince him he wasn’t Spider-man but then found his outfit. It’s as if his dad was about to tell him something important but Friday announced that Ned had arrived, startling them both out of the staring contest. Peter sighed with relief knowing he was saved by the bell.
Ned was meeting him at the tower so Happy could drive and drop them off at the party which was in the suburbs. Peter just smiled at him and walked past him and then Tony followed close behind. Before they left to meet Happy downstairs, who was patiently waiting, Tony gave them the usual lecture. No drinking, no drugs and no hanky panky which made both their faces go bright red and made Tony laugh because he just loves embarrassing his kid, and two kids is even better!
Peter was a nervous wreck sitting in the back seat. He had a feeling something bad was going to happen. He couldn’t stop fidgeting and bouncing his knee up and down. Flash wouldn’t just invite him to a party for no reason so he had to be ready for anything. He was so nervous that he started making Ned regret his decision on going too but was thankful he was by his side. He couldn’t imagine going alone.
Even Happy noticed how off he was as they drove out of the city. “You ok back there, Peter? You don’t look so hot,” he said looking in the review mirror.
Peter put on another fake smile. “Yea, I’m fine Happy. Just a little nervous, you know, because we don’t really do parties,” he said looking at Ned.
Happy nodded in understanding. “I get it. You two don’t seem like social butterflies but I’m glad you decided to go and have some fun.” Peter nodded and just smiled at him through the mirror.
When Happy dropped them off, they walked up to the big house and heard the music blaring before they even got to the front steps. His senses were going to go crazy tonight with the loud music on top of being around Flash, but he knew that was the least of his worries.
When they walked in, people stared at them like they didn’t belong – which they didn’t because it was a jock party with popular people and they stuck out like a sore thumb. There were a lot of kids there that didn’t go to his school either. They felt uncomfortable right away and took a seat on the sofa that was thankfully unoccupied while everyone else was standing around drinking and talking in their little cliques.
They sat there for a while chit chatting with each other and just watched as people drank, made out and played drinking games. Peter’s head was pounding because of the music but he tried to ignore it. When Flash finally noticed they were there, he came over with his two friends, Kevin and Jason and offered them a drink which they declined. “No thanks, we’re good.” Ned said waving his hand.
Flash just smirked and shook his head. Peter could already smell the gross alcohol on his breath thanks to his enhanced senses. “I can’t take no for an answer guys. It’s a party, loosen up. Here you go,” he said as he handed them two red solo cups with horrible smelling alcohol. Peter knew he could get drunk and didn’t want to drink. The one and only time he did drink he thought he wouldn’t be able to get drunk but did and he ended up on the Time Square’s New Year’s Eve Ball and got into major trouble! He sighed but took the cup knowing he would only pretend to drink and knew Ned would do the same. Flash seemed satisfied and walked away.
They left them alone for about a half hour until Flash came back more trashed than before. “Hey Penis, we need a fourth to play beer pong, come outside for a game.”
Peter never played beer pong but has seen it before. He knew it was a drinking game and couldn’t get away with pretending to drink either. “No, I’m good. I don’t feel like playing a game right now.” he tried to bargain with him.
“You seem to forget, I wasn’t asking.” Flash threatened glaring at him. Peter’s anxiety was through the roof. He didn’t want to go but got up off the couch with Ned getting up too. “Hold up, Ned. Just Parker. You can man the snack table and stay there.” Flash said rudely.
Peter was fuming. He hates when Ned gets picked on even more than himself. And the fact that he couldn’t go with him made him that much more anxious to go. His Spidey senses were going off like crazy being around Flash which was giving him this low buzz running through his body.
“Come on, Penis. It’s just a game, let’s go. I bet you’ll even have fun.” Flash said laughing trying to coax him outside, even wrapping an arm around him which made Peter flinch and feel uncomfortable and he shrugged it off immediately.
Ned looked at Peter with a frown, “Just go, I’ll be ok. I’ll see you in a little while and be careful.” He said whispering the last part.
“Sorry. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Peter told him frowning back and then left with Flash through the sliding glass door to the back yard leaving Ned by himself. He felt so guilty for leaving Ned. It was a cool night so he got a chill since he wasn’t wearing a jacket. When he got outside, he noticed there weren’t many people. There was a small group of kids hanging out smoking pot and there was a beer pong table but it was already occupied with people in the middle of a game. He continued to follow Flash through the backyard away from everyone even though it felt like a trap.
“Hey, I thought we were playing a game?” He asked nervously pointing to the beer pong table but then he noticed his two jock friends walking towards them and felt threatened and had his guard up.
“Oh, we’re playing a game alright. But not beer pong. See, we made a bet.” Flash said laughing when his friends joined him.
Oh god, this didn’t sound great at all and his stomach sank. “Um, what kind of bet?” Peter’s heart was racing. Shit, what did he get himself into?
Kevin, the bigger football player said, “We’ve come up with a new game. You have to balance this empty beer bottle on your head and we’re going to try to knock it off. Whoever knocks it off first, wins.”
“Wins what exactly and what are you going to try to knock it off with?” Peter asked trying to keep his voice steady and then he heard the other guy laughing along with Flash.
Flash tried to stop laughing long enough to talk. Peter could tell he was wasted and he was slurring his words. “We have a pool going and there’s money involved so don’t fuck it up for me, Penis. I want to win. Now, stand right there and don’t move,” he told him. Flash took a step forward and showed Peter a harmless ping pong ball. “And we’re just using this so stop worrying. We’ll just keep tossing it until one of us knocks it off. But, if the bottle falls off because of you, then we get to throw a punch.”
Peter gasped. “Come on Flash, that’s taking it too far! I’m not going to stand here and let you punch me!” He yelled and turned to leave but Flash stopped him.
Flash yelled out, “Balls Parker, remember?” Of course he remembered that Flash had him by the balls, his life was ruled by that now. He was trying so hard not to cry because he just wanted to leave but images of him with his friends on the internet going viral were swirling in his head so he turned back. He would do it for Ned and MJ because he didn’t want to risk ruining their lives just because they knew him.
When Peter turned around, they were all laughing at him. “Holy Christ, you’re right Flash. He’ll let us do anything to him! This is going to be fun!” Kevin said when Peter obliged.
He stood in place while one of the guys balanced the beer bottle on his head and they took a few steps back. He felt so humiliated and ashamed of himself for letting him do this to him he wanted to disappear. What they didn’t know was that he was Spider-Man and one of his powers was balance so he knew he could stand there all day balancing it until they got bored. Hopefully it wouldn’t last too long.
Flash was the first one to throw the ping pong ball and it bounced off his chest which wasn’t even close. Not that Peter thought he would get a good shot since he was so drunk.
Jason threw his next and chucked it purposefully at his face, not even aiming for the bottle. It hit him in the eye but he was able to see it coming and closed his eye at the last second thanks to his powers. He didn’t flinch and the bottle stayed on his head and he noticed they were getting frustrated that he wasn’t even moving.
Next was Kevin. He had his hand behind his back before he threw it like he was winding up for a pitch and before he knew it a baseball came flying at his head! Wanting to avoid being hit by a freaking baseball, he dodged it on pure instinct, dropping the bottle off his head at the same time. Peter bent over to pick it up and Kevin came right up and punched him hard in the gut which had him doubling over in pain. He stayed on the ground trying to catch his breath because he got the wind knocked out of him not expecting it. The guy bent over and grabbed his arm to stand him up. “Stay on your feet or that will be another punch, loser,” he said laughing at him.
Peter was stuck in a nightmare. He wanted nothing more to punch all these assholes and go home but it was escalating quicker than he thought and knew he couldn’t do anything about it. Since ping pong balls were light as air and weren’t effective as they’d hoped, they started throwing other objects at him. So it was either get hit with the thrown object or duck and have the bottle fall off and have them punch the living day lights out of him. Either way he was screwed.
The next object was a stone the size of a grape and it hit his face cutting his cheekbone since he didn’t duck. He couldn’t help it and brought his hand up to his face to see if it was bleeding, which it was but it made the bottle fall off again because he wasn’t paying attention being distracted. Before he knew it, Jason came up and punched him in the gut again but this time he stood his ground which seemed to make him angry. He was Spider-Man after all and could take a hit, now that he knew they were coming, but it was getting harder because his senses were going haywire at this point especially with Flash being there with shit thrown at him including punches!
They decided to stick with throwing stones at him and after a while he realized they were doing it just to hit him and were not even aiming at the bottle anymore. Thankfully, they missed a lot since they were so drunk. He was sure he had cuts on his face by now since they’ve been at it for quite a while. He could feel trickles of blood here and there running down his face. The cuts stung a bit but he’s had worse, way worse so he could take it, hoping to God that they were getting bored and walk away.
The next throw was Kevin’s again and he had a bad feeling about it since he was mad that he took the punch before and was keeping the bottle on his head while the others were throwing stones. Since it was dark outside, especially away from the backyard lights hidden in the corner, he couldn’t see what he had in his hand until it came barreling towards him at high speed until it was too late. It was a rock the size of his palm! Before he could even react, it hit him square in the forehead and as soon as it hit, he saw stars, fell backwards and he was out like a light with blood gushing down his face!
xXx
“What the fuck Kevin! We’re not supposed to kill him! That rock was huge!” Flash screamed running over to Peter who wasn’t moving on the ground. For being Flash, he sounded nervous. He shoved Peter with his foot to see if he’d get up. “Hey Parker,” he yelled, “come on, get up!” but he wasn’t moving.
Kevin came over and looked down at Peter. “Holy shit that’s a lot of blood!” And then he kicked him in the ribs to see if that would wake him up but he didn’t budge.
Suddenly Flash started freaking out, pacing and pulling at his hair. “Oh my god, oh my god, fuck! We are so dead! You have no idea who his father is!” he shouted at his friends.
“Wait, I thought you said he was an orphan?” Jason asked still laughing a bit.
Flash knew even in his drunken state he couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t say that his father was freaking Iron Man! “Shit, we are so dead!” he screamed again.
Jason and Kevin both looked at each other and couldn’t figure out why Flash was freaking out so bad so Jason offered a solution. “Hey, calm down. I know what we can do! It will solve everything!” He said.
Flash just shook his head. “No, you have no idea what will happen when he wakes up and tells on us, Jason. Nothing can solve this!” Flash said visibly shaken, pointing to Peter on the ground. Even he knew he couldn’t get away with this, even with blackmail.
Jason smirked and took a very small zip lock bag out of his letterman’s jacket and held it up to them. “I’m pretty sure these will do the trick!” he said confidently.
Flash took the bag and poured some of the contents into his palm. “What are these?” Flash asked.
“Roofies.” Kevin answered. “We had other plans for them tonight but we’ll sacrifice a few since you’re losing your shit over nothing.”
Flash ran his other hand through his hair and sighed. Even though he was an asshole he didn’t really want to drug Peter – or anyone for that matter but he felt it was the only solution for the situation he got himself in. He didn’t want Peter to tell his father they were messing with him so if they give him those drugs, he wouldn’t remember what happened. They can make up some other story that wouldn’t involve them. “Fuck it, let’s do it. How do we give it to him if he’s unconscious though?” Flash asked.
Jason still smirked. “This isn’t my first rodeo guys, it’s easy. We’ll dissolve some in a little bit of beer and then sit him up and pour it in his mouth. Easy as pie,” he said which gave Flash chills. He knew Jason was a scumbag but he had no idea how disturbing he was. “Kevin, go over to the beer pong table and grab a cup.”
Kevin shook his head. “No, I don’t want any part of this. If you’re going to drug him, you’re doing it on your own,” he said holding his hands up and backing up a little.
“You’re the one who threw the fucking rock at him! Jesus, you guys are seriously acting like goody two shoes right now. Fine. I’ll get it,” and Jason walked over and grabbed a cup off the table without even asking to the cries of the other kids yelling at him to give it back which he ignored and disappeared into the dark corner again. He poured half the beer out and plopped a few pills in there swirling it around and waited for them to dissolve.
“How many did you put in there?” asked Flash since he couldn’t see.
“I think four.” Jason responded like it was no big deal with a shrug.
“Four? Isn’t that too many?” Flash asked because he honestly had no clue. He wasn’t into the drug scene at all.
“Two would probably work but some extra should definitely work so he won’t remember a thing about tonight. That’s what you want, isn’t it? So quit worrying and help me sit him up,” he said looking between both of the other boys. Kevin still didn’t move but Flash bent down and helped sit Peter up since he knew who his father was and didn’t want to get into trouble. When they sat him halfway up, Jason opened Peter’s mouth and poured the beer slowly into his mouth to make sure he didn’t choke until the cup was empty. “See! Easy as pie like I said! Let’s hide him before someone sees us with him!”
“Where?” Kevin asked and Flash looked around the backyard.
“There, that shed over there. We’ll drag him in there.” They grabbed Peter by the arms and legs and picked him up and basically threw him in the dark shed and closed the door. Peter didn’t even stir the entire time. “Come on, let’s go in the house and pretend we don’t know anything.” Flash said sounding scared. He knew he was in deep shit and hoped to God Peter doesn’t remember and rat him out! He wasn’t afraid of Peter but he was definitely afraid of Iron Man!