|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 86• You're A Mean One

"Fine, Pete, Fine." She sighed and threw her hands up in the air. Peter reached out to hold her hand but she refused and pulled away. "I will apologize but I am going home after that. You can stay here. I can have the car pick you up again and drop you off anywhere you like." Peter's lips turned into a pout. He didn't want her to leave. And if she was leaving, he felt an urge to go with her. But he wanted to stay with his friends as well. "Peter, don't give me that face." Y/n walked past him and back inside. Ned was talking to MJ in the same place she'd left them. MJ's eyebrows raised – she almost looked offended – when Y/n stepped back into the shop. Peter stood behind her with a guilty look on his face. He felt a bit embarrassed that the girls made a scene like that in front of everyone. That would go all over social media and race across all news or talk shows. Everyone would be bashing Y/n. And MJ's boss was right there. She could be fired. "Back already?" MJ spat, "After your little dramatic exit?"
"Well, I was actually coming to apologize to you for lashing out the way I did." MJ glared at her. Ned stood in between them and pressed his lips together. He was standing right within the awkward tension. "Doesn't sound like you mean or want it, though." Y/n's jaw clenched a bit. "It's not. Because you called me a spoiled brat for no reason. But I snapped first, I guess. So, I'm sorry. I hope you three have a lovely time." Peter groaned as Y/n walked past him again toward the exit. He grabbed her hand and stopped her. "Baby, don't."
"Peter, no. It's okay. You have fun. I'm not really wanted here. I guess I'll go back to my work. Since, you know, I'm always busy with that and pick it over spending time with you and our friends." Y/n freed himself and left. Peter did not go after her. He couldn't web her to the counter and make her stay. He sighed sadly and walked back to his friends.

"She did apologize." Ned broke the silence. His intentions were good. But MJ did not see it that way. She shook her head disapprovingly. "She didn't mean it. And if she really was sorry, then she wouldn't have said those things in the first place." Now, it was Peter's turn to glare. Both girls stepped out of lines, sure, but Y/n was kind of right. MJ did start by assuming that Y/n did not have enough time to spend time with her friends. That all she cared about was the money and the fame that came with it. MJ has said it before, and so has Peter, but that wasn't the case. Y/n tried her best, especially after the incident in Prague. She made time for their friends tonight, and one of them started to bash her for no reason. "It wasn't exactly fair from your side either, was it?" The look she gave him was pure judgment. Unnecessary judgment. He did not know this side of MJ and he certainly didn't like it. Not just because of Y/n. This was not a good look on MJ. She never acted like this. "Of course, you would say that, Peter. She's your girlfriend, we get it."
"It has nothing to do with that." Ned stepped in before Peter could. For the first time – probably ever – Ned seemed angry and irritated. "I wasn't sure if she would show up either but I didn't snap at her like some jealous child." He told her. She folded her arms over each other. "Oh, so now I'm a child? And the guilty one?" She asked them. "No, but don't blame this all on Y/n, MJ."

Y/n stormed into her home. She didn't feel like going back to the facility for now. Although, that might have been a better idea. Her heart was beating fast. Her chest goes up and down rapidly. Her breathing was unsteady and quick. She needed to break something, shoot at something, let that anger out. How could MJ be like that? Weren't they friends? Even jealous friends wouldn't say things like that. Y/n tried to apologize, did she not? And she didn't lie about it not being genuine, because it wasn't. And MJ should know it. Y/n marched to her bedroom. She jumped when she spotted Morgan sitting on her bed. "Maguna, why aren't you in bed?" The little girl giggled and jumped in her seat. "I waited for you."
"Maguna, you need to go to bed, okay?" Y/n picked up her little sister, and her stuffed animal, and carried her on her hip to Morgan's bedroom. The little girl whined. "Morgan, I am not in the mood for this tonight, okay? I can't afford to have Mom and Dad blame me if you're grumpy tomorrow morning." Y/n tried her best to put her sister to bed, but Morgan kept struggling against her. "I won't be grumpy!" She whined and tried to put Y/n's hands away. "You're always grumpy when you haven't had enough sleep. Now get into bed and stay there, Morgan. Don't make me tell you again." She was really trying not to yell. Morgan did nothing wrong. But things like these always happened when Y/n was not in the mood. And she was starting to sound like her parents. "You're mean," Morgan said to her sister. She was already up way too late and it was noticeable. But Y/n was not in for any of this. She's not her mother. She shouldn't be doing any of this. "No, I am pissed off! Okay?!" Morgan looked at her sister angry. Y/n sighed after realizing she snapped at her little sister who did nothing wrong. "Not at you, Morgan. Okay? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped." She tried to apologize but Morgan started wriggling against her again. "You're mean!" Y/n messed up. "Morgan I'm sorry. Morgan-"
"Mommy! Daddy!" Y/n plopped down on her sister's bed – defeated and tired – after her sister ran out of the room toward their parents.

May gently combed her hand through Peter's hair. He was resting his head on her shoulder, tired from everything that happened earlier. He'd told his aunt every detail and she wasn't sure what to say or think of it. And though she hated to admit it, it was kind of nice to have her nephew be this cuddly again and turning to her for comfort. He's growing up and sometimes that was hard to accept. He still looks for her when he needs help or advice. "I don't want to pick, not between my friendship with MJ or my relationship with Y/n. I can't force them to talk to each other. I can't make them apologize." May nodded along as she listened to him. Y/n and MJ both had good intentions. Both of them cared about Peter. "I think MJ just went a little overboard. She cares about you, Peter." Peter sighed. He knew his aunt was right. MJ was out of line. But he had a nasty feeling about what she said. "She's scared that Y/n will get too deep into her work again, and I can't blame her for that. Sometimes, I'm scared of that too. No matter how much I love that girl, she works hard, and sometimes too hard. She can get a little obsessive with little projects. But I know Y/n. She loves you way too much for that." May assured him. She rested her head against his and let out a deep breath. "They'll come around. They're girls. This is what happens. You fight, you make up, and so it goes on and on. It will be okay, Pete." Peter found that a little hard to believe. He trusted May and she was right about this. "So she just left?"
"Yeah, she didn't want to stay. I'm not sure where she went." He didn't have to worry about her getting home safely. It's Y/n Stark. The car Y/n sent to pick up Peter brought Ned and MJ home as well. "Maybe she just needed some time to cool off. Probably didn't want to say things she'd regret later." Peter nodded. He reached into his pocket for his phone. "I'll send her a goodnight text. Then I'm going to bed. Is that okay?" May kissed the boy's head. "Of course it is."

"Agh!" As soon as Y/n entered the facility, she started smashing things and punching walls. Pepper was angry with her for barking at Morgan. She was acting like she said the most horrible thing ever to her sister. Y/n explained to Pepper what happened. Of course, Morgan left out some major details. Now, Pepper thought that Y/n went into Morgan's room late at night only to yell at the child. She'd lost count of how many times her mother asked if she was drunk. "Y/n come back. Y/n!" Tony called after her. He wanted to listen but it was too late. Y/n had jumped into her car yet again and drove off into the middle of the night. She would never do this to her sister. Why was she the bad guy in everyone's eyes all of a sudden? She's not the bad guy! She saw Peter texted her, but she shut off her phone completely. Y/n couldn't remember the last time she felt this amount of rage.
"Miss Stark, I need you to calm down." Friday consulted her from the speakers. This only angered Y/n more. She stormed off to the weapon room. She should not keep it there. She doesn't even remember why her father had it in storage, it's just a copy. Loki's staff – without the infinity stone, though. She grabbed it and used it to smash the windows of the room. Y/n moved on to the laboratory where the drones stood. "Miss Stark, you need to calm yourself." In one swift motion, Y/n reached underneath her shirt and pulled the arc reactor off her chest. She was done with all of this. "Friday mute." She ordered. The AI system no longer responded. Y/n moved to the monitors first. She used the fake staff to smash the screens and keyboards. Then the desk. Cracking and shattering sounds filled the room. She kicked with all the force she had in her body. Her gaze landed on the drones. They were all lined up so neatly. Without thinking, she raised the staff above her head and started to break everything she could lay eyes on.

Drones' pieces flew through the air, shattered glass covered the floor, and splinters of the desk were everywhere. Everything smashed to smithereens. Y/n moved to the second row, then the third, then the last. She stopped for a moment – the staff raised above her head again – thinking about Harley. His reaction. Did that even matter? They can rebuild. "Fuck it." Her screams were so loud her throat was already hurting badly. Drops of sweat were in her neck as she repeated the same movements over and over again, smashing everything she saw. The Arc Reactor. She'd put it on the floor where she stood moments before. How much she hated that thing. A small grunt left her lips before she marched toward it. The end of the staff was right above it. Just one little move and she would break it, just like she wanted. It needed to break into pieces. "You need that."
"I don't care." Y/n kept staring down at the little device but she couldn't bring herself to force the end of the staff into it. "Well, I care." That stinging in her chest made her groan. The Arc Reactor was picked up from the floor. Y/n let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her breathing somehow became even more unsteady. Tears also formed in her eyes. Her mind felt like it was going to explode. It was too much. Y/n collapsed and dropped to her knees. Loki's staff clattered on the floor beside her. A warm hand rested on her back, another handed her the device that would keep her heart beating. "Put it back on. I'm not doing it for you."