I make the mistake of looking up for a moment. I see outer sitting in front of me. His eyes flash recognition and fear.

I put my head back down as fast as I can. Mj, ned, and wade keep asking why I was so late. I think Peter was the only one who saw.

"I gotta use the bathroom." I say, getting up, still hiding my face. I walk silently to the bathroom and sit in one of the stalls and just start crying.

I hear someone walk in and try my best to stop. "aria?" Its betty. "Peter told me to give this to you. He told me not to read it." She slides a not under the door. "thanks."

When she leaves I pick up the note and read it.

Hey. I saw the bruises and the blood. I won't tell them but you need to talk to someone. If you ever need someone to talk to I'm always here, or you could talk to ms.ramanoff. she cares about you a lot. Please, tell someone.

-peter

I realize that I'm smiling, and that I can play off the bruises as being from patrol to everyone else.

I walk back into the lunch room, still hiding my face. I sit down and this tome I don't put my head down.

Ned just stares. Mj looks worried. Wade looks like he understands. "so you wanna tell us what happened?" Peter asks, poking at his food.

"when I was on patrol I got in a bad fight with some people. I'm fine." I say, knowing it's a lie. Peter gives me a sad look.

I go through the rest my day hiding my face. Luckily no one noticed, not even the teachers.

After school, I walk to the subway station with mj, ned, wade, and Peter. Mj, ned, and wade get on the subway and I go with Peter to stark tower.

I walk in and everyone at security stares at me. We get on the elevator and I start to get nervous. What are they going to think?

I just don't want them to think I'm weak. I'm not weak. I could have beat my dad, but he would've gotten really hurt. I don't want their pity.

"was he drunk?" Peter asks, flatly. "what?" I ask. "your dad. Was he drunk?" Peter says. I don't say anything and just nod. I lean into the corner of the elevator and hid my face.

When the elevator opens, I walk out, trying my best to hide my face. Ms.romanoff walks over to me. "hey aria! Glad to see you back!" She says, happily.

I can't bear to look up at her and let her see me like this. She picks up on this because she grabs my shoulders and says "aria? Are you ok? Look at me."

I look up at her and see fear and rage flash across her face before settling on worry. For a few moments she just stares at me.

She pulls me into a hug and I can't hold the tears anymore. I start to cry and realize that I can't stop. I melt into her arms and sob.

It takes a lot of my focus to not let venom emerge. She lets me out of the hug but still holds my shoulders.

"who did this to you?" She asks, looking serious. "I got attacked outside of my house this morning." I lie. "tell me the truth." She says. I try to speak but I just start crying.

Ms.romanoff leads me over to living room. I sit down on one of the couches and notice how the world seemed to fade and muffle.

"aria? Try ... focus... voice" ms.romanoff's voice is muffeled and quiet. I try my best to focus on her, but I still have to make sure venom doesn't come out.

I focus on my breathing and calm down enough for the world to return. Ms.romanoff is sitting in front of me on the floor. The other avengers are just looking on from the couches.

"who did this to you?" She asks again. I feel myself start to cry again, so I take a deep breath. "my d-" I have to breath again so I don't cry.

"my dad." I say. Everyone falls silent and she looks kinda mad. "but its ok! He was drunk! He didn't mean it! He's not like this usually!" I say, trying to explain.

Mr.rogers gets up from his seat and walks over. He puts a hand on ms.romanoff's shoulder and she backs up. He meals down in front of me where ms.romanoff was.

"does your dad get drunk often?" He asks. "n-no. Well yeah but he's usually passed out." I say. "is he violent when he's drunk?" He asks, looking more serious.

"no. He usually is overly polite and clumbsy. But every once and a while he gets mad." I say. "and he doesn't hit me but this time he just. I came home late and he got mad. It was my fault anyway, he doesn't hit me for no reason."

"does he hit you a lot?" He asks. "no, when he does its because I did something stupid or made him angry or don't listen to him." I say. "sorry I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. K said to much."

Mr.rogers gets up and walks out of the room. Mr.barnes gets up and follows him. I stayed at the tower for about 3 hours.

I went home, cleaned up the beer bottles, put a blanket over my dad, and went out to the roof. As soon as I was on the roof, I started to cry.

I could feel venom wrap itself around me, like a hug. I'm not sure if it's helping or hurting, but it feels safe. After I cried for a while, I went on patrol.

When I tried to sleep that night, I couldn't. When I closed my eyes, all I saw was my dad, dealing to hit me. I didn't sleep that night.