Always Been You | Tony Stark

Captiolo (49) Quarantanove ~ New Beginnings

"God, Tony, what if he says no?" I panic for the millionth time, my anxiety seeming to work overtime as my mind overthought every little thing.

"Then we'll continue to take care of him and let him stay for as long as he wants. Nothing will really change, no matter what some piece of paper says." Tony shrugged, his eyes fixated on an Iron Man suit leg.

"Shouldn't he be home by now? His school ends at 3:00, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but he's one of the last stops on the bus route, plus he has the ride up the property." He patiently said, turning to me and lightly squeezing my thigh in reassurance. "Take a breath, Peg. Don't need you fainting before we can even ask him."

"Ask me what?" A voice asked, making us quickly turn our heads to see Harley standing in the doorway of Tony's lab.

"Kid! When did you get here?" I asked, quickly standing from my seat.

"Just a few minutes ago. Friday told me you wanted to ask me something when I walked in, so I came to find you." He shrugged his backpack off, leaning it against the wall beside him.

"That traitor," I muttered, sending a glair towards the ceiling.

"Come and sit, kid." Tony jerked his head to the side.

"Alright..." Harley glanced at the two of us, hesitantly walking over to the seat opposite Tony's at his worktable. "What's going on?"

"Well, Avery got a call from your mom a while ago-"

"What did she say? Did she ask for me to come back?" Harley rushed out, and his facial expression gave nothing away about whether he thought that would be good or bad.

"Not exactly..." Tony said, glancing up at me.

"Harley, she asked if we could adopt you." I slowly told him, watching him to see if there was any change in his expression.

There wasn't.

"Your mom said she wanted a better life for you and your sister, but that she couldn't give you two what you deserve. I tried to offer to help her out, but she wouldn't take it. Said she wanted to get out of debt herself. And-and she also said she already talked to the O'Donald's, and they've agreed to adopt Lily." I spewed, barely taking a breath between each sentence.

"What did-" Harley cleared his throat. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her I would have to talk to Tony and you," I said as Tony grabbed my hand in support.

"So, what do you think?" I asked when Harley remained silent.

"I- I don't..." Harley shook his head, making Tony and I sadly glance at each other.

"Listen, kid. You don't have to give us an answer right now. Take some time. Think on it. Get back to us."

We watched as Harley hesitantly nodded, stood up, and grabbed his backpack on his way out the door.

~~

The party Tony threw later that night was pretty amazing, ignoring the fact that he invited a bunch of people I didn't even know.

I think in terms of inviting guests, he just took the list from the last party and skimmed threw it. Natasha and Olivia actually ended up kicking a bunch of people out, seeing as a large majority of them kept asking one of the many heroes for pictures and autografts.

"Avery, come to bed already." Tony groaned, his drunk ass laying on top of the covers, still fully clothed.

"I'll join you once you get ready for bed," I smirked as I walked into the closet and changed into some sleep shorts and one of Tony's t-shirts.