Hiding in the Shadows

Chapter 48 - The Talk

My hand flew to cover my neck, although I knew that it was too late, and I immediately tried to defend our actions, "dad, please, it's not what you think- I mean it is, but you have to understand, we both almost died yesterday, we almost lost each other forever and-"

"Was it your first time?" Tony raised an eyebrow, making me avert my gaze to my feet and shake my head slightly. He sighed, "I told him to respect you and this is what he does instead?"

"Dad, please, I-I'm usually the one who initiates it and he always waits for my verbal consent before doing anything, I promise," I tried to calm his anger a bit, but also trying to deflect it onto me so that Peter would get yelled at.

"(Y/N), I thought I raised you better than this? Y-You know firsthand what young men can be like, you've had to live with a prime example since you were little. I admit that I was the type of person I would never want you going out with, you need to be careful with all men."

I rolled my eyes, "dad, it may have escaped your notice, but Peter is not at all like you. He's gone to like one high school party, he's dated two girls throughout the course of his life, and has only slept with one of them. He would never do anything without my consent and would never take advantage of me. I love him, dad, and I wanted to be with him in every sense of the word. Peter is always extremely respectful, I can assure you of that. And we are always as safe as we can be, I promise. Please, understand that this was bound to happen at some point with how deeply we care for one another."

Tony sighed and rubbed his temples, "I think I have to retract my request to have children with Pepper, I think two is more than enough to drive me insane right now."

"Two?" I questioned, vaguely wondering if he had another secret child that he hadn't told me about.

"I'm starting to count Peter as my son as well and by the way your relationship is turning out, I wouldn't be surprised if he does become my son in the next couple of years," Tony explained, causing me to blush.

Would I want to marry Peter? I mean, I did love him and had already promised myself to him. However we were still so young and had been dating for less than a year, it seemed way too soon to consider getting married, didn't it? Perhaps if we still felt as in love with one another in a few years we could consider it again, but for now I just wanted to keep him as my boyfriend, without having any pressure to officially tie myself to him forever.

"Hey, everyone is ready to go once you two are," Peter informed us as he walked into Shuri's lab.

"You," Tony barked, pointing his finger at Peter and making me groan, knowing that he was about to reprimand Peter. "What part of respect my daughter do you not understand?"

Peter's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and fear as he began to stutter, "s-sir, I-I w- I mean w-we-"

"Dad, knock it off, I already explained everything for you, you don't need to attack Peter," I interrupted, hoping to save him from my father's wrath.

Tony's stern expression melted away into a smile, "I know, I just enjoy seeing the fear in Pete's eyes whenever I accuse him of mistreating you. I've got to make sure that he still cares about you, don't I? So Pete, what do you think about my daughter being partly the same species as Thanos?"

Peter let a small sigh of relief when he realized that Tony wasn't actually too mad at him, "I don't think it really matters, Mr. St- I mean Tony. (Y/N)'s always been part deviant, even if we didn't know it, therefore she's still the same (Y/N) that I fell in love with."

"Correct answer," Tony praised, wrapping his arm around Peter's shoulders as he began to walk him out of Shuri's lab. I stayed behind briefly to close down the DNA results and then jogged to catch up with them as they left for the two quinjets we were taking back to the compound.

...

(Peter's POV):
(Y/N) rested her head on my shoulder as we rode in the cargo hull of quinjet back to the compound. After a while she began to doze off, allowing me to watch her peaceful face as she slept and play with her hair.

"You really do love her, don't you?" Tony asked, causing me to move my gaze from my girlfriend so that I was looking at him instead.

I nodded, "I do, sir. And I know what you may be thinking, that we're only teenagers and don't know what love is, but then you would be wrong. She means the world to me and I would sooner die than live without her for one day."

"Neither of you are allowed to die, I'll make sure of that. I used to think that your relationship was nothing more than a brief high school romance, but when I see the two of you look at each other, especially when you think that the other one is not watching, I can see that there's something more than that. It is for that reason added with the fact that I do not doubt my daughter told me the truth while we were in Shuri's lab, that I am not giving you a lecture about how you've been treating my daughter."

"Tony, I can assure you that I only treat her with the utmost respect, I wouldn't dream of ever hurting her or forcing her into something that she doesn't want to do."

"I know, Pete," Tony assured me, much to my relief. "Just make sure she's not pressuring you into anything either."

I smiled slightly, thinking about the nights we had shared together, "don't worry, Tony, she's never done that either."

"Hey, wipe that smile off of your face! I don't want you thinking about my daughter in that way in front of me. It's bad enough that I have to live with the knowledge that you have had sex with her, I don't need you rubbing it in my face," Tony reprimanded, but his tone was gentler than what he normally used to yell at me.

"Sorry, sir," I replied, turning my gaze back to (Y/N)'s sleeping face resting upon my shoulder. All I could think about was how lucky I was to have such an angel loving me in return.

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(A/N): fun fact this story is almost done! I hope that you enjoy this chapter!