Warning: Mentions of slurs and lgbtqia+ sensitive
Most of your Sunday was spent sleeping and just taking care of yourself and Ollie. You hadn't heard from Natasha since she left that night and a part of you wished she never stopped by to thank you because now you'd feel so much worse if something were to happen.
You had tried to subtly push her out in the evening, feeling guilty for taking up her time – something she might've been low on, but she insisted hanging out with you was where she wanted to be. You figured she must not have had many friends or family, but you saw how much Tony and even Happy cared about her, so it was hard to imagine. And spending time with her, it was also difficult to imagine her not having plenty of loved ones to spend her possibly two last days with.
Right after your shift on Monday, you were about to call Happy since he gave you his number and you didn't want to get a voicemail on the one Natasha gave you, something that would just drive you even more crazy, you decided to stop by the tower.
Something you never thought you'd consider.
But thankfully, Natasha took the initiative and called you up instead, saving you the trip.
"Well, I'm glad it worked," You told her with a smile she couldn't see, leaning your hip against the kitchen counter and picking at the corner, "Thanks for calling me."
"I didn't call you just to talk about that," Her voice was low, and you felt your heartrate pick up the pace, intrigued by her words before she added, "I wanted to let you know the park is being worked on as we speak."
"Oh," You blurted in disappointment and she chuckled before you shook yourself out of it, "I mean, oh, that's so great!"
"Yeah," She agreed and then sighed in frustration the same time you heard someone's muffled voice on her side, her tone more formal now, "I'm being called for another mission, but-"
"Already?" You cut her off in surprise, "Do you ever catch a break?"
"Doesn't feel like it," She smirked, her tone lighter, "But I'll talk to you soon, Y/n."
"Oh, yeah, or whatever," You pushed away from the counter, crossing your arm to hold your other side, "Happy you're not dead, Natasha."
"See you soon, feathers." You could feel her smiling through her words and then she hung up before you could sputter out a response.
Feathers?
"What the fuck?" You muttered to yourself, staring at your phone with a scrunched-up face.
Keeping busy all week with the shelter didn't keep your mind off the redhead or the stupid nickname, but by the time Friday rolled around, there was something you needed out in the open.
"No Tony again this weekend?" You mused lightly, playing your part, "Haven't heard from him in almost two weeks."
"Crazy." Cory mumbled unconvincingly and Valerie just plastered on the fakest, widest smile you've ever seen.
"Got a crush on him or something, Y/n?" She teased and Cory shot her a look, "Come on, what movie are we seeing?"
The three of you were strolling down the block towards the theater and what made you roll your eyes was not only the fact that Valerie knew what movie, because she picked it out, but more the way they were so very clearly hiding something from you.
Piling into the theater, Cory kept brushing you off, refusing to sit by you and not even considering movie theater snacks. That was what had you practically stalking them into the bathroom when they excused themselves and you couldn't take it anymore because they were the type to sneak in fast food for Pete's sake.
"What're you doing?" They asked gruffly when you just stood there, waiting impatiently for them to fess up to whatever it was they needed to fess up to.
"Cut the bullshit," You snapped, "What happened to Anthony?"
"I don't know why he's ignoring you," They sighed exasperatedly, "But he's not a friend of mine anymore."
"Why? What happened?" Your voice was softer now, seeing the pained look on their face in the reflection of the theater's bathroom mirror as they washed their hands.
"He's a dick, he's always been a dick," They rolled their eyes with a tight frown, "But a few weeks ago...Valerie agreed he didn't need to come around us anymore."
"Did you..." You trailed off, quickly checking under the stalls for company, but coming up empty, and you faced them again, whispering, "Kill him?"
"What?" They shouted in surprise and you let out a deep breath of relief, "How could you think that? Are you insane?"
"Hey, if you needed help burying a body-"
"I wouldn't have called Val, I'd have called you," They agreed with a small laugh, but then frowned again with furrowed eyebrows at the memory of what really happened, "He just...he's..."
"Hey, hey," You cooed, going over to your friend and putting a hand on their shoulder while your other one rubbed up and down comfortingly along their other arm, "You can tell me anything, I promise the most I'll do is give you a hug and kick his ass."
"Not really your style, L/n." They teased with a short laugh, sniffling a bit when tears welled in their eyes.
"When it comes to my family, there's not a damn thing I wouldn't do." You told them seriously.
"Family?" They asked, sounding so small and peering into your eyes with their own hopeful, sad ones.
"I'm pissed at myself that you'd even have to question that, Cors."
"Tony, he um," They glanced away, not being able to look you in the eyes when they rushed out, "He's been teasing me for a while now, just not in front of you or Val and I um, it didn't bother me too much because usually we were all together," They wiped a few stray tears and your chest rose and fell as your breathing picked up, trying to remain calm as anger threatened to take over, "But then the wrong pronoun slipped in front of Val and she confronted him about it, but he just argued with her, calling me some slurs."
You couldn't believe what you were hearing.
You, Val, and Tony had all agreed when Cory shared with you guys about being nonbinary and asexual that you'd always create a safe space for them in a world that could be cruel at times. It wasn't even unspoken, especially when their sister kicked them out of their shared apartment and Valerie took them in as her new roommate. Cory was heartbroken and shattered to the very core, but the three of you got them back on their feet, quickly becoming a small, makeshift family and the fact that Tony had the-
"I'm gonna kill him." You growled out, completely serious, and Corey looked almost frightened, shaking their head, grabbing your arms.
"No."
"I'm gonna fucking kill him and of course there's gonna be torture first, but it'll end with his death."
"No, come on," They pulled you back with a soothing tone when you went to leave and held their arms out, "Just give me a hug and finish watching that terrible movie – who the hell let Val have a say in what movie we saw tonight anyway?"
"She really does have terrible taste." You agreed with a chuckle, going to hug your friend.
"Awful." They smiled with a nod, holding you tight.
"I love you, Cory, and I'm so sorry." You squeezed them three times to say it silently too like you had since you guys were in high school.
"I love you more, L/n."
