Chapter 15
Peter didn’t expect Tony to come inside. But then again, he should have. It’s you Peter’s talking about. Tony ignores the stares and whispers of The Tony Stark being at a college party, his eyes only looking for you. When he sees you, sitting on the raggedy couch, Peter crouched in front of you, coaxing more soda into you, his heart drops more. “Pete, what’s her number?”
“Got her sitting at fifty five, but it’s taken like four sodas in the past forty minutes. I think she’s had six total since she started dropping and Kyle still says she’s trending downward.”
“Can she walk?”
“Daddy?” You finally notice your dad with surprise. “You came to party?”
“I came to get you. We’re going to go to a better party.”
“Can Betty and Astrid and Peter come?”
“Just Peter.” Astrid and Betty are drunk enough that they haven’t even realized that Tony is there. “Ready to go?” You think about it for a second before standing up and throwing your hand out pointing towards the door.
“Adventure is out there! Allons-y!” You quote both a movie and a tv show before trying to take a few steps. However you then say, “I think I need a nap,” and start to fall towards the floor.
However you are scooped up into warm arms before you can hit the floor. “I got you babe.” Tony smiles at Peter. Peter had only had one beer, and with his metabolism, he had already burned through it, so he is sober at this point. So while you are drunk off your ass, Peter is completely able to take care of you. “Where are we headed Tony?”
“The tower. I’m having Dr. Cho meet us at the Medbay there. She can give her an IV of glucose and some fluids to combat the dehydration. Y/N can spend the night in the medbay.” At the words spend the night, Peter realizes he needs to let Astrid know that he and you left the party and won’t be spending the night.
“Our stuff is at Astrid’s.”
“We can get it in the morning once she’s stable.”
“She’s totally grounded isn’t she?” Peter asks as he sets you in the front seat.
“For going to a college party at fifteen and getting wasted? Oh one hundred percent.” Tony says glancing over at the wasted fifteen year old in the front seat. The drive to the tower is relatively quiet, until Tony speaks again. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
“Always will.” Peter says without having to think about it.
“And you made the right decision by calling me.”
“Where’s the party?” You interrupt, your head laying against the window.
“We’re almost there.” Tony replies, turning towards the tower's parking garage. You notice where you are and look around confused.
“There’s a party at the Tower?” You’re slurring less than you were at the party, which calms both Peter and Tony.
“There’s a special one, just for you.” Tony pulls into a parking spot and Peter hops out to help you out of the car.
“Babe do you think the Avengers are throwing me a party?” You ask, leaning into his arms.
“I… I don’t know.” Peter lies, not wanting you to freak out. Following Tony into the elevator, Tony tells FRIDAY to take you all to the Medbay which somehow doesn’t register with you. So the three of you ride up in silence to the Medbay.
When you arrive on the floor, you look around in confusion. “Why are we having a party here?”
“Because Dr. Cho wants to see you.” Tony says as if this was a no brainer.
“But the Medbay isn’t a fun party local?” You say, leaning into Peter’s arms. If he had to guess, you were still really low if you were having a hard time balancing.
“It’ll be fun.” Tony says as if they aren’t going to be putting needles into her arm.
“Hi Y/N.” Dr. Cho’s voice comes from one of the rooms as she exits it.
“Hi Dr. Cho.” Tony had explained what was going on over the phone as he drove into the city. And he did mean what he said to Peter about you being grounded, but for right now the focus is getting your blood sugar higher. So he’ll follow you and Peter into the room where Helen is waiting.
“Can you take a seat?” You hop up on the bed that your dad had been on back a few months ago. “I hear you had a bit to drink.” Helen says to you. But you hold a finger up to your lips and whisper a shush.
“Don’t tell my dad.” You say as if he doesn’t already know.
“Ok, I won’t. But right now I’m more worried about your blood sugar. What’s your blood sugar?” You shrug. Peter, still holding your phone, is about to open your Dexcom app but Tony beats him to the punch.
“FRI what’s her blood sugar?”
“40 Boss.”
“She’s still dropping.” Peter says, noting that you’ve dropped from fifty five to forty just from the drive.
“We’ll hook her up to an IV with glucose and fluids. She should hopefully start coming up. But it’s going to take some time.” Tony and Peter both settle in to be here for a while.
“When is the party going to start?” You ask.
“It’s already starting bambina.” Your dad answers.
“But there’s no music.”
“We can fix that. Which playlist do you want? Tony Stark Can Rot or I Hate My Life?” The names finally click with Peter. It’s your playlists that Tony’s always listening to. That would also explain the random Taylor Swift songs that come on that he skips over.
You think about it for a few moments, like it’s the hardest decision that you have to come up with. “Tony Stark.” You say after pondering it.
“You got it kiddo. FRIDAY?”
“On it boss.” Change by Taylor Swift starts playing and you start nodding your head along with the beat.
“Fan of classic rock and Taylor Swift, who would have guessed.” Tony teases, only loud enough for Peter to hear. Helen comes back in to start your IV, hanging the bags of fluids and glucose behind you. Tony’s phone goes off a few times, Pepper trying to suss out the situation if Peter had to guess.
“Is that Mrs. Stark?” Peter asks, the fourth time Tony’s phone goes off.
“That is Mama Stark. She’s trying to figure out what is going on with our kiddo.”
“If you need to step out and call her, I’ll stay here with our patient. We have time to wait anyway.”
“She’s trying to decide if she should just pack Morgan into the car and bring her to sleep in the tower for the night so she can be close by. She doesn’t like being all the way at the cabin when Y/N is here having a medical emergency.”
“If she feels more comfortable doing that, then…” Peter trails off, not wanting to make a decision for your parents. Tony walks over to where you have the IV in your right arm and fluids finally dripping in.
“I’m going to go invite Mom to our party, ok? I’ll be in the hall if you need anything. Pete will be here still ok?” You simply nod as Sweet Child of Mine by Guns ‘N Rose starts to play. Tony places a kiss on your forehead before walking out into the hallway to call Pepper, who picks up on the first ring.
“How is she? Tell me everything.”
“She’s still fairly drunk. Her blood sugar keeps tanking. Pep, she drank six full sugar sodas according to Peter when I got there and was sitting at fifty five.”
“God.”
“I know. So Helen has her hooked up to an IV with fluids and glucose to hopefully bring her up.”
“Why not give her a glucagon?”
“It won’t work if she’s had alcohol. Peter was the one that remembered it but the alcohol clears out the back up sugars stored in your liver. So giving the glucagon will do nothing. That’s why I brought her to Helen.”
“And if Helen hadn’t been at the tower?”
“I would have taken her to the hospital.” Tony admits. Helen was only at the Tower since the Compound is still under construction from Thanos’ destruction.
“I’m bringing Morgan and coming there. I don’t want to be away from her.”
“Ok. There’s still rooms in the apartment upstairs. If Mama Stark needs to be here, she needs to be here. Can you bring a change of clothes for Y/N though? Apparently all her stuff is at Astrid’s apartment.”
“Sure.”
“I told Peter that we can go get it tomorrow, but I figure if you’re coming…”
“I can bring some for her anyway. And she’s totally grounded.”
“I was already on that same line of thought.” Tony admits to his wife. Pepper hears one of your favorite Taylor Swift songs playing in the background, Miss America and The Heartbreak Prince if she’s remembering the name correctly.
“Do you have music playing?”
“We had to tell Miss Drunky that she was going to another party to get her here and then once she was in the bed in the Medbay, she said it wasn’t a party without music. Hence I put her playlist on.”
“You hate Taylor Swift though?”
“I’ll listen to it if it keeps her from pulling the IV out of her arm.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised. Enjoy your Taylor Swift. I’ll be there soon.” Pepper hangs up as Tony makes his way back in to where you are jamming out to Taylor Swift. Peter is laughing in the corner, almost silently. It’s going to be a long night.
When you blink awake in the morning, you’re surprised to see the Medbay around you. Peter is passed out in a chair across from you and your dad is sitting in another one on your other side, working on something on his datapad. Your head is pounding and you could really go for some water. You bring a hand up to rub the sleep from your eyes and are only slightly surprised to see an IV taped to the back of your hand.
Your movements pull your dad from his work and he sees you’re awake. “How you feeling kiddo?”
“Not the hottest I’ve ever felt.”
“Yeah a hangover will do that to you.” He sets his datapad on the table next to him. “So first college party, ends up in the medbay…” He trails off.
“What happened? It’s all kind of blurry and I don’t really remember leaving the party.”
“You dropped really low. And when you drink we can’t give you a glucagon because alcohol clears out the backup sugars stored in your liver, something that Peter remembered and so he called me.” Your head drops from holding his eyesight. For the first time in years, you hadn’t taken care of your diabetes and you could have died if not for Peter. If Peter hadn’t known about your glucagon not working, he could have given you one and thought nothing of it. Shrugged it off and you could have died. Fuck. Peter saved your life. All because you wanted to drink like your friends last night. “Did some research after you fell asleep and it’s not uncommon for diabetics to also be super lightweights when it comes to drinking too, which from what Peter was saying sounds very true too. Especially when it comes to drinking games.” You force your eyes to meet your dad’s eyes again, even though you don’t want to. He comes to sit on the edge of your bed.
“I’m in big trouble aren’t I?”
“Yes.” He answers honestly. “Going to a college party at fifteen and getting wasted, that is definitely worth getting grounded I think. However, I said this to Peter last night and I want to say it to you too- calling me was the right decision.”
“Really?”
“Really. You were in a situation that may not have been the most ideal situation. But I never want you to feel like you can’t call me when things go to shit. Which is why if you ever end up in a situation where you feel like things are going downhill fast and you call me, you won’t be in trouble. You making a decision that will potentially save your life, I will never punish you for that. And I will always be there for you. However you’re in trouble this time because you-”
“Because I drank until I literally ended up in the medbay.” You say. “I get that I made bad decisions. I’m just…” You trail off, not knowing if you should voice the thought that’s running in your head.
“You’re just…?”
“I’m just so used to having to be responsible all the time. Having to make decisions that most people never have to think about. I just wanted to be like everybody else for one night. But I think I went just a little too far. If Peter hadn’t been there, I could have died.” The last sentence is a whisper, but you know it’s true.
“He did say he wanted to keep the little guy safe. Didn’t know my daughter was the little guy I needed him to be keeping an eye on.” Tony teases before returning to his more serious tone. “You’re probably in for another lecture.”
“Mom’s here?”
“Upstairs. With Morgan. On the plus side, she did bring you a change of clothes though. You smell like booze and hospital. New clothes will be a good change.”
“How bad is her talk going to be?”
“Can’t say. You freaked both of us out pretty badly.”
“How long am I grounded for?”
“We’ll let you know as soon as we’ve decided. Probably a good chunk of time though.”
“Yeah, I deserve that.” You look over to where Peter is still asleep. “Has he been here all night?” Your dad nods.
“He didn’t want to be that far from you. He was pretty worried about the whole situation. Wanted to make sure that he was close by in case you needed him.” Your dad looks over at the boy who loves you. Peter only fell asleep a few hours ago, after the second in range blood sugar check. So letting him stay asleep was probably for the best. “I’m going to go upstairs. Check on Morgan. Let Mom know you’re awake.” Tony places a kiss on your forehead. You watch your dad walk out the door before reaching for your phone that is sitting on the table next to your bed. Last night is really fuzzy, so you want to see if you did anything, well, regrettable. Unsurprisingly, you have texts waiting from Betty and Astrid in your group chat. But besides that, there’s not much out of the norm. There are a few photos of you and Peter, where you definitely look out of it. But nothing besides that.
B: Ok, we just woke up, are you ok?
A: Yeah, I’m getting a bunch of texts asking why Tony Stark showed up at the party. When did he show up and why do I not remember this?
You scroll up further in the chat to see that Peter had texted them last night.
Y: Hey, this is Peter. Y/N and I won’t be staying at your apartment tonight Astrid. Y/N’s blood sugar tanked really badly. We’re at the tower so that she could get put on a glucose IV. Something about how her body processes alcohol and stuff, but she should be fine as soon as she gets enough glucose in her. We’ll come by tomorrow to get our stuff.
So he didn’t think to explain that he called your dad, you shake your head as you glance back at your boyfriend. Taking a breath, you turn back to your phone.
Y: I’m fine. Have a bit of a hangover, and will definitely be grounded until kingdom come. Basically Peter had to call my dad because I tanked really hard. I think I vaguely remember him saying something about me drinking six sodas at one point and still being low. But I don’t remember my dad coming into the part, I don’t think, but knowing him he probably did. Anyway I’m at the tower for now, but I’ll have either my mom or dad bring us by to pick up our stuff. You can see that I’m fine.
After hitting send you add a second text.
Y: On second thought, maybe I’ll have my mom drive us. Dad will probably flip that you took two fifteen year olds and a sixteen year old to a college party lol
“How bad is the headache?” Your mom’s voice comes from the doorway.
“Not as bad as it could be?” You say with a shrug.
“That’s probably from all the IV fluids you’ve had pumping into you all night.” Your mom sits on the end of your bed and offers you a green juice. “From your dad.” You wrinkle your nose, but take it. “Not the most ideal hangover food, but he said that you need to combat some sodas you had last night.”
“Thanks.” You take a small sip and then set it on the table to your right. Somehow looking towards your mom, waiting for her to get mad at you is almost worse than waiting for your dad earlier. But Pepper takes a moment to just look at you. In the past, she had to deal with drunk Tony, which was one thing. But drunk Tony never led to nearly dead Tony. The phone call from Peter last night had really scared her and Tony. So instead of saying anything, she just reaches forward, to run her hand through your hair before placing a kiss on your forehead.
“Did you know I used to be your dad’s personal assistant before he made me CEO?” This isn’t how you expected this to go but you’ll bite.
“You were?”
“Mmmhmm. And I used to have to deal with a lot of problems he created. Led to a lot of screaming matches between him and I. Then he became Iron Man, I became his girlfriend, he became an Avenger, and then I became CEO, over the course of years mind you, but still. When it came to each other, there were always moments when we fell into patterns of yelling at each other when our fears got to be too big. However, we’ve gotten better at talking calmly, because as he likes to remind us, he has a heart condition.” She cocks an eyebrow. “I think he just likes to see how heated our discussions can get without actually screaming at each other.”
“Is this where you say I’m not him and you’re going to yell at me?” You ask hesitantly.
“No.” She smiles at you. “Because I think what he and I both learned over the years is that yelling and screaming doesn’t do anything.”
“Hmm, I guess that’s true.” You say, grateful that no yelling is coming your way, with the pounding behind your eyes.
“But, that phone call last night? It scared the crap out of your dad and I. You know why?”
“Because I wasn’t being responsible?” Pepper shakes her head as the words leave her lips.
“No, well yes. But that’s not the reason it scared the crap out of us. Yes you weren’t being responsible but you’re a teenager. It’s bound to happen sometimes. Trust me, your dad can definitely claim the record for most times being irresponsible.” A small smile graces Pepper’s lips as she thinks back on things that you can’t even imagine. “However, last night scared us, because the things we had prepared ourselves with the knowledge that it could save you wouldn’t be able to work. You were so low that six sodas couldn’t fix things. Honey, we were worried that we were going to lose you. That was terrifying. The idea of not having you in our lives after we just got you back? That scared us more than you’ll ever know.”
“Is that why Dad was down here all night?”
“Yeah. I think he needed more reassurance that you were still breathing and living than FRIDAY telling him numbers and monitoring your stats. Similar to a certain other individual.” Your mom’s head motions over to the sleeping boy across the room. “I’ve slept in one of those chairs before. Not the comfiest things. So you only sleep in them when someone you love is in this kind of bed.” She motions to where you are.
“Yeah, I figured that much.”
“Don’t do this again please.” Your mom tacks on, taking your non IV hand in hers.
“The drinking part or the medbay part?”
“Both.” She smiles at you. “When you turn twenty one if you want to drink responsibly so be it, but until then, none of this. And in case your dad forgot to mention it, you’re grounded.”
“He mentioned it.”
Dr. Cho walks into the room. “Glad to see you awake. How are we feeling this morning?”
“Not as good as I should, I think.”
“Well, that’s something. I think we can take your IV out at this point. You’ve been in range since about five.” Out of the corner of your eye, you see Peter starting to shift in his chair, waking up to the noise he’s bound to pick up with his sensitive hearing. Dr. Cho works on taking out your IV, making small talk with your mom, but your eyes are resting on Peter, watching him wake up slowly, blinking as he takes in the lights and the people of the room. He finds your eyes on him and smiles towards you.
“Morning.” You say softly as he scrubs a hand over his eyes.
“Mornin’.” He replies, his voice gravely with sleep. Dr. Cho takes the IV and the empty fluid bag away.
“As soon as you guys want to head out or head up to the apartment, you’re all good medically.” She says to Pepper. “Stay away from drinking games if it’s going to do this to your blood sugar.”
“I’m getting that.” You mumble.
“Hopefully I don’t have to see you anytime soon.” She says before heading out of the room.
Your mom pulls a canvas bag onto the bed. “Figured you might want to change. Dad is starting breakfast for us upstairs. So how about you two come join us in a little bit?” Pepper suggests.
“Thanks Mom.”
She places a kiss on your cheek before whispering in your ear, “I’ll distract your dad from coming down for a little bit,” sensing you had some things you wanted to talk about with Peter.
“We’ll be up in a bit Mom.” You add as she walks towards the door. You ignore the bag she had set on the bed and instead turn towards the side of the bed that faces Peter. Pushing off the bed, you put your toes on the icy tile floor. Peter stands from his chair and walks towards you.
“You don’t have to get up.”
“I’m going to have to get up at some point babe.” You point out. “Plus if I get up, I get to hug you.”
“Getting up or not doesn’t stop that.” He admits, pulling you towards him. He places a kiss in your hair.
“I’m sorry.” You mumble into his chest, knowing he will hear you no matter what. He pulls away ever so slightly, trying to get a look at your face.
“What?”
“I put you in a bad position last night by making you pick between me and my dad-”
“You did no such thing.”
“Yes I did. I got drunk enough that you had to take care of me. That wasn’t fair to you. I should have been more responsible.”
“Baby, you didn’t know that was going to happen. You didn’t know you were going to tank or that you would get really drunk. But when I told you that I love you, I didn’t mean only when you're sober. I mean all the time. If that means that I had to call your dad because your blood sugar was tanking and a glucagon wouldn’t work, so be it. I’m not going to abandon you, especially if you’re a little drunk or your blood sugar goes low.” His hands sit at your dip in your back. “I’ll be the Robin to your Batman if that’s what you need.”
“Aren’t you the superhero?” You question. “So shouldn’t I be the Robin to your Batman?”
“No, because you’re so much more than a sidekick.” He leans his head down to kiss you but your hand flies up to block his lips. Peter’s brown eyes show the confusion he feels.
“Morning breath.” You explain. Thinking about everything you all had eaten, or well not eaten if you’re thinking about it, but more so all the alcohol you had drunk.
“I don’t care. But if you do....” He twists to kiss your cheek. After a second’s hesitation, and the realization that Peter probably hasn’t brushed his teeth either, you turn his head towards yours and kiss him, hoping to show the feelings you feel for him helping you last night. After breaking the kiss, he breathlessly says, “I don’t know what that was for-”
“For you being you.” Your hand holding his cheek, your thumb running along his cheekbone. “You quite possibly saved my life last night. And I’ll probably owe you-”
“There’s no owing anything. I happen to like you living, remember? Will always love you living.” He holds you close to him for a moment more before pulling away. “You should probably get dressed. Otherwise your dad might come check on us.”
“You’re probably right.” You turn in his arms back towards the bed to reach for the bag your mom had left. Inside you can see an ocean blue shirt, black cut offs, a clean pair of socks, your hair brush, your toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant. Your mom brought you everything you need. It’s not until you unroll the shirt that you can’t help but smile at yourself. Your dad is going to hate it but he can’t blame you for it- you didn’t pick it.
After putting the clothes you wore yesterday in the cloth bag, putting on your converse and your jean jacket, you pull Peter’s hand into yours to make your way up towards the penthouse you used to live in. “How upset were your parents?”
“Not as upset as I thought they’d be. Like am I grounded until who knows when? Yes. Did either of them yell at me? No. Which I would say is much better than what I expected. And to be honest I expected to be grounded the moment I woke up in the medbay. So I wouldn’t expect any date nights any time soon.” You lean against his shoulder as he says this.
“All they said was you were grounded. They never said I can’t come over. So if we have to do date night in your backyard, so be it.” Peter says as the elevator doors open into the penthouse. Peter squeezes your hand as you step off the elevator.
“Y/N!” Morgan comes running from the kitchen. “I fell asleep in my bed last night and then woke up here! It was like magic.”
“That is like magic.” You scoop your little sister up.
“Petey is here too!”
“He came here last night too.”
“Daddy made breakfast. Come on!” You walk into the kitchen with Morgan in your arms, Peter trailing behind you.
“Morguna, you need to finish eating and let Peter and Y/N start.” Your dad says, looking up from the griddle where he’s making pancakes. You set Morgan down on the ground so she can climb into her seat to continue on the pancakes she must have been working on before you and Peter arrived. Your mom looks up from her tablet and smiles at the shirt you’re wearing. Your dad glances at you and Peter. “You hungry?”
“I could eat.” Peter says.
“Breakfast sounds good.” Your dad nods before noticing the shirt you’re wearing.
“I’m sorry, you only love your bed and your mama? Guess you get no pancakes.”
“I didn’t pick my shirt. I just put on what was picked for me. Plus you love me. Would you really deny me food?” You look at him with sad eyes.
“Fine fine, I’ll give you food today. But we need to get you some Dad is the best shirts too.”
“Morgan is the best shirts!” Morgan argues from the table.
“You heard her, Dad. We need Morgan is the best shirts.”
“I’ll get right on that.”