[DISCONTINUED] Dance With Me // Peggy Carter x Reader

Do You Hate Me Or Love Me?

The next two weeks was spent planning and preparing everything for Peggy's birthday, at least in Y/N's case. This, however, meant that they also put some distance between the two of them to make sure that she wouldn't find out what they were up to. The distance Y/N kept didn't go unnoticed. But who wouldn't wonder why your friend suddenly started to ignore you? Who wouldn't be affected by it? Peggy definitely noticed. She thought the two of them were getting close but she felt as if she was proven wrong by the sudden shift in attitude.

The difference was noticed by more than just the couple it affected, but also by the people around them. Howard Stark was often seen as an egotistical man but he did notice when his friends weren't acting like themselves. Even though he noticed, he didn't know what to do. So, he turned to another friend for help.

"I just need you to help me talk to her, we both know this isn't my thing," Howard pleaded to his butler.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Jarvis asked. He wasn't against helping but he wasn't sure how to.

"I don't know, but I hope you can figure something out fast," Howard said, much to the confusion of his butler. The inventor turned towards the door and shouted, "Peggy!" to catch the attention of the agent walking past the room. She stopped short and looked inside the room at the two men, a confused look on her face.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Here, come, take a seat," the inventor said with a little too much enthusiasm as to not come off suspicious. Nevertheless, she listened and hesitantly walked into the room. She took a seat next to Jarvis, whose smile felt less than genuine. Howard gave him a short nod to indicate that he can start speaking.

"Miss Carter," he started carefully, "we've noticed that you've been a little..." he paused, searching for the right word, "down, lately."

"We just wanted to make sure you're okay," Howard added.

"Oh, I can assure you, I'm fine," Peggy said, growing slightly defensive and annoyed at the situation as a whole. "If that's all," she said, standing up from her chair, prepared to leave the room and conversation behind.

"Come on, Peg," Howard's voice stopped her from taking a step, she stopped to listen. "What's up?"

She sat back down and looked at him. "Your sibling," she said, a short and direct answer that caused confusion in both Howard and Jarvis.

"What did Y/N do now?" their brother asked, leaning back in his chair. The confusion had melted away and had left an annoyance in its place.

"They haven't talked to me in ages," she admitted. "We used to speak everyday, and I thought we were good friends and maybe..." she caught herself.

"What?" Jarvis asked, pressing for more.

"I was starting to like them, a bit," she said, staring down at her lap. She didn't want to see how Howard might react, or maybe he wouldn't react at all. He had remained quiet while Jarvis placed a supportive hand on her back as she continued to speak. "They're practically ignoring me now and I dont know why. Do you think I did something wrong?" she asked, turning to Jarvis.

"Miss Carter," he said with sympathy in his voice, "I'm sure you haven't."

Howard was the next to stand up from his chair, the sound of it scraping against the wood floor made Peggy turn to face him. "I'll talk to them, find out what's going on." He walked around the table and headed towards the door. "You got nothing to worry about, Peg."

He left the two of them alone in the room as he headed up the stairs, each step heavy with the thought of how Y/N might react to the upcoming conversation, though it might be more of an accusation than anything. Howard approached their down and raised his hand to knock but decided against it, it was his house so why knock? He pushed the door open and stepped over the threshold. Y/N was sitting on the large bed with a book in their lap, they were aware of the second person in the room but didn't lift their gaze for a moment. They sat waiting for Howard to say or do something.

After two minutes of silence they gave in and looked up at him. "Hi?" they said. He didn't respond, but he did do something this time. He moved across the room and sat down on the bed next to his sibling who at this point was growing more suspicious by the visit by the second. "Please tell me you're not here for another 'big brother talk'."

"Do you like Peggy?" Howard asked, breaking the silence he had kept up since he had entered the room.

Y/N was almost offended at this, the other's love life had never been the topic of any of the few conversations shared between them. "I'm not talking about my love life with you," Y/N said, closing the book and putting it down beside them. "Why do you even care?"

"Well, you've been ignoring her and now she's sad," he said very matter-of-factly. "That's on you."

They could feel the anger that had been pushed down and hidden begin to bubble up to the surface. They were getting mad. "This is none of your business," Y/N said through gritted teeth.

"As your brother-" Howard began speaking but was quickly cut off by Y/N. All the anger and resentment towards him was escaping from that locked chest inside of them.

"As my brother?" They asked, raising their voice at the statement. A scoff escaped them before they continued. "You don't get to pull that card and say that I'm a bad person for not talking to Peggy and making her feel bad when that is all you have ever done to me! Have you ever considered that you're not the only one that's interested in tech and inventing things?"

"Y/N, I-" Howard tried to speak for a second time but again, was cut off. Y/N wasn't done.

"But it doesn't matter," Y/N said, letting their voice drop slowly. "Because no matter what I do, I will always be in your shadow. The great Howard Stark," there was a pause," and his little sibling. That's all I'll ever be." At this point their voice was barely more than a whisper. "Barely even that."

"Y/N..." Howard spoke, uninterrupted for once as the information sunk in. He had never known how they'd felt, he had always been so wrapped up in his fame and fun life that he paid little to no attention to them.

"Get out," Y/N said with their head tilted downwards, staring at their lap. Their voice was back to its normal level now, sure of what they were saying. Howard remained quiet as he looked at them, waiting for more. Waiting for them to raise their voice again, but it didn't happen. They kept their cool as they spoke a second time. "I want you to leave. Now. We have nothing more to talk about."

The weight on the bed shifts as Howard stands up. Y/N doesn't look up, only relaxing once they've heard the footsteps and the sound of the door opening and closing. A single tear escaped their eyes as they lay down in their bed, trying to get control over all the feelings swirling around inside of them.

Howard closed the door behind him with a loud bang just as Jarvis planted his feet on the top of the staircase, his hand resting on the banister. The butler searched the face of his master for any form of indication as to how the conversation had gone, even though there wasn't much to learn from his expression, the slamming of the door told a story on its own.

"Mr. Stark?" he asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it, Jarvis," Howard said, coldly. He didn't wait for a response before walking past the proper man down the staircase without another word.

Jarvis took a couple of careful steps into the hallway, eyes resting on the door of Y/N's room. It had become obvious at this point that things had not gone over well. The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. He didn't move for several minutes as he considered knocking on the door. He doubted they would want another visit at this point in time. Maybe it was for the best to let things rest for now.