Brown Eyes

Chapter 12

"Thank you for letting us do that."

Tony turns at the sound of your voice as you enter the lab. Bruce had a last-minute meeting with someone across town, leaving Tony alone to his thoughts in the lab.

"I didn't let you do anything. You commandeered my ballroom for your own nefarious purposes," he states with a grin. You roll your eyes, but walk over to his bench, sitting down across from him, picking up a piece of the Ironman suit he had been tinkering with before your all-nighter, and turning it your hands, before meeting his eyes.

"You and I both know that if you wanted to, you could have stopped us." He nods in agreement but waits a moment to reply.

"After last night I figured you could use a little cheering up." You give him a small smile and go back to fidgeting with the piece in your hands. A few days ago, he probably would have made another snarky comment. It reassures you that he notices the difference in your relationship as well. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I didn't know Tony Stark asked permission to do... Well.. anything," you state. He grins at that and nods.

"True, true. But there is a first for everything, or so I am told." You snort, but nod for him to ask. "I saw the panic in your eyes when Natasha asked you about why your band broke up." You drop your gaze to your hands again.

"That's not a question."

"Would you tell me the truth if I asked? I like to think that you will, but I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything." You finally look up at him and let yourself take him in for a moment before a small smile appears on your face.

"We certainly have come a long way, haven't we Mr. Stark." A small smile to match yours appears on his face at your worlds.

"Yeah, we have," he almost whispers. You watch him closely for a moment, the twitch of the corner of his mouth, his eyes searching yours, the relaxed posture of his shoulders.

"She really was the leader of my fan club," you laugh. "She was so excited when Peter and I told her our plan. She was starting to notice she was sick when we started. We didn't play many shows. We were 15, so... I mean... not surprising, but she came to everyone that she could when we did book one. She got us these shirts made for Christmas that year. Peter and I didn't take them off for days. Peter didn't technically lie. We did have more important things to worry about. Mom got sicker. She couldn't come to shows anymore and Peter and I didn't want to play if she couldn't be there. Would rather spend the time with her. So we broke up the band. She was devastated, but I know she understood. It wasn't much longer after that that she... uhh... yeah...," you trail off, looking out the lab window instead of at Tony. He doesn't say anything, so after a moment you try to lighten the mood. "The drummer was a pig though. Wouldn't stop staring at my ass." It didn't work, Tony just continued to watch you. After another moment of silence, he turns and walks over to another table, grabbing something and twirling it in his hands, avoiding your gaze, and says, "Let's take a trip."

"W-What?" you stutter, confused.

"Let's take a trip." He looks up at you now. "First annual trip of the 'Orphaned Too Young Club.'" You wince at the name. He notices. "Okay some work needs to be done on the name, but think about it. You haven't taken a road trip like the ones with your Mom in years. We could drive down to Malibu. All this mom talk has gotten me thinking, and there is some of my mom's old stuff down there that I want to go through. A trip down memory lane. Plus they have awesome beaches down there." You are watching him with a blank stare, completely mind-boggled at how he even came up with this idea, but at the same time, you think you are going crazy because your initial reaction is to say yes. He takes in your blank poker face and falters. "We don't have to. It was just an idea. Figured we could both use some time away from the lab. Forget it. Dumb idea. I overstepped some boundaries. Forget I said anything." He turns away.