His Joy {Peter Parker X Stark's Daughter}

{Josie meets Aunt May}

Present Day

"Thanks so much for having me, May.", Josie smiles at the woman.

"It's nothing, really. You look frozen. Here, have a blanket.", May hands her a knitted blanket.

"Thank you.", Josie wraps it around herself.

"I'll leave you kids to talk about it... Privately...", she winks at Peter, then walks out.

Peter turns as red as a tomato, "Sorry about that.", he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"She's sweet. You're lucky.", she tells him.

"So, you want to talk about why you were wandering the streets, alone and crying at midnight?", he asks.

"I got in a fight with my dad. A bad one.", she says, "It was petty to start with. I was just arguing about how I wanted to go on that field trip. Then we both got worked up, and it got really personal. I said some stuff I shouldn't have said, he said some stuff he shouldn't have said. I'm not great at apologies and I know he's not going to say sorry first."

"Then he kicked you out?"

"What? No! The exact opposite actually. He treats me like I'm a three-year-old. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'll be immediately sniped if I'm not within a hundred feet of him. I know that he's just trying to protect me, but it pisses me off.", she rants, "Sorry."

"What for?"

"Unloading all my issues on me. You've only known me for two days. Now you have to listen to fifteen years of emotional trauma.", she laughs slightly.

"I don't mind.", he walks into the kitchen, "Want hot cocoa? Rhetorical question, by the way, you're getting one, regardless."

"Thank you, Pea Pod.", she tosses her head backwards and looks at him, upside down.

"So, if your dad didn't want you leaving, how the hell are you here?", he asks.

"Maybe I snuck out, maybe I didn't. You'll never know.", she grins.

"I'm sure sneaking out is really going to improve the situation between you and your dad.", Peter says, sarcastically. He sits on the sofa next to her and hands her a mug.

"I know. I know. I'm just digging myself into a deeper hole. This happens all the time, we argue and scream at each other. Then, I go off and cry, he goes off and gets drunk of his ass. A day or two later, he'll buy me a Ferrari, or a new handbag and we act like everything is okay.", she sips her cocoa and Peter gives her a weird look. She realises what she's just said, "Not an actual Ferrari, a, uh, it's a brand of dress.", she lies, "That's irrelevant anyway. Point is, I'm not going to let him buy me off this time. I'm just going to blank him until he's forced to apologise. So, maybe for the next seven years. Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen him apologise to anyone. Ever. He's such a stubborn bastard. So am I, to be fair. I'm exactly like him. Not sure that's always a good thing."

"What about your mom?", he asks.

"She- Uh- She left when I was a baby. Broke my dad's heart, he never talks about her.", she explains.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's not like it was your fault she left. I hope it wasn't.", she laughs a little, "I never knew her, it's not like I miss her. There are people going through way worse. I still have my dad, his girlfriend and the rest of my family."

"Tell me about them. Your family.", he says.

"Really? There's a lot of them, I'm not sure you want to know.", she giggles.

"No, I want to know. I want to get to know you, Josie Smith."

"Joselyn.", she says.

"What?"

"My full name. It's Joselyn. Nobody outside of my family knows that. Oh yeah, my family. That's what you wanted to hear about. Well, there's my, uh, grandpa, Stephan, he's pretty spry for an older fellow and he's really... patriotic. His best friend is called James Barney, he's a bunch of fun, but he has a prosthetic arm, so that's nice.  My dad's girlfriend, Penny, is really nice, she practically raised me and he'd be even more of a mess without her. I have like five uncles, Samuel, Scotty, Rodney, Cli... Clive and Bruno, they're a bunch of fun. Oh, there's also Thomas, he speaks Shakespearian and never really knows what's going on. I don't really know what he is. I have two auntie/older sister types, Natalie and Walda, they're awesome, total bad-asses. Can't forget about Victor, he's weird, has no boundaries, he's nice though. I think that's all of them, I probably missed a few. Thomas' brother, Lochlan, everybody hates him, he's funny though- causes a lot of drama. Yeah, got them all, I hope.". Too much information. It's so obvious that you were just talking about the Avengers, but with a few name changes.

"Wow. You weren't kidding when you said there were a lot of them.", Peter laughs.

"Sorry, I'm talking too much.", she giggles.

"No, I like hearing about your seemingly-insane life. So, has your dad not noticed that you're, you know, not at home?"

"He never notices anything I do. I swear nothing I do is ever good enough. He's so fantastic at literally everything. If I told you everything he's done, you'd laugh in my face. You know he graduated college when he was seventeen? Seriously. I'm two years off seventeen and I only started school on Monday. He loves me, I know he does, but I feel like he's never proud of me. His dad was... harsh on him. He tries to not be like that with me, but he's just so stubborn. I'm just as stubborn though. Whenever we argue, it ends in him blanking me for a couple of days. You know nobody outside of the family knows he has a kid. I get why, but I can't help but feel like he's ashamed of me or something. I don't know. I'm just being dramatic. There's so much pressure on me, being a Sta- Smith. Being a Smith. All I want is to make him proud of me. Jesus, now I'm crying. I'm sorry."

"Hey, stop apologizing for crying. It's a very normal thing.", he places a hand on her back.

"Not in my family.", she rests her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sure your dad is really proud of you. I mean seriously, you're amazing. You dance, you're smart, you're nice, you're funny, you're beautiful, you're...", he realizes what he just said, "I- Uh-"

They're interrupted, as Josie's phone begins to ring, "Shit. Sorry, let me take this.", she picks it up, "Hey, dude.", she tries to act calm, as she walks into the kitchen.

"Miss Stark, why aren't you in your bedroom?", Vision asks, down the phone.

"Boundaries, Vis! Boundaries! You haven't told my dad yet, have you?"

"No, not yet.", he says.

"Please don't tell him I'm not home. I'm fine, I'm okay. I promise. Did he send you to check on me?", she asks.

"No, actually. He hasn't left his workshop since your fight. The rest of us were worrying.", he explains.

"Wow. Really, just wow. Well, thanks to the rest of you for caring about me and my welfare.", she says sarcastically.

"Miss Stark, he does care. He's just upset."

"I've heard it a thousand times over the past fifteen years. I'll come home now if everyone is so worried. Well, everyone except my only biological relative. I should be back in about an hour."

"I'll come pick you up. Where are you?", he asks.

"Let me text you the address, you really don't have to pick me up though. I'm fine.", she assures him.

"I insist, I think your father would rather you didn't have to travel back from wherever you are by yourself at one AM."

"Alright, I'm sending you my location right now."

She quickly sends her location, "I'll be there in about five minutes, okay?"

"Thanks, Vis."