take a chance on me

chapter sixteen

tw: mentions of sexual assault and abuse (but it's not tony..?)

~NO POV~

Tony learned how to drive very quickly. Considering he was a genius, it wasn't hard for him to pass the theory test, and doing the actual driving test wasn't hard either. He'd driven before, in Rhodey's car, so it was easy. And considering he was always being driven around, he made sure to figure out how to drive by watching other people drive.

So, the point was, he got his driver's license very quickly.

Within the short time it took for him to acquire his license, he didn't tell anyone. He chose to keep it a secret so that he could surprise his friends. And once he had his license, he picked out a gorgeous black Audi R8 with an inconspicuous license plate of STARK 1, and he decided he'd buy more when he was older and keep it up, maybe a silver one, and a white one, with STARK 2, 3, 4 and so on.

He politely asked his dad for help with the car insurance and tax, all the legal things with owning a car, and Howard had simply dismissed Tony and told him he'd sort it out himself. Either Howard wanted to be helpful, or he didn't trust that Tony could sort it out, so he took up the job alone.

Before he'd bought his car, he asked Howard if he could use one of the cars in the garage, afraid that Howard would take back his card and shout at Tony for suggesting he could buy his own car. But instead, Howard was nice.

"Don't you want your own car?" 

"I do, but-"

"Then buy one."

"If I get my own car, can- can I still drive one of your cars?" Tony asked timidly. "That's selfish- sorry, I'll just- I'll drive my own-"

"You can. But if you get a single scratch on one of my cars, I'll-" Howard stopped himself. The threats were looming on the tip of his tongue, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to say them. He felt.. guilt? "You're repairing it yourself, understood?"

"Understood. Thank you."

"Go buy your car." 

And then, sometime in March, Tony got into his gorgeous Audi and drove to Steve's house, before school. It was around the time he knew Steve would just be heading out, so when Steve left the house and made his way to his car, he was surprised to see Tony there, in a car of his own.

"You have a car?" Was his initial response. "And- you can drive it?"

"No, actually, I had someone drive me here in the car so I could sit outside of your house and pretend like I could drive." Tony said plainly. "Yes, I can drive now. Surprise!" 

"This is a gorgeous car, Tony." 

"I know right?" Tony grinned. "Get in, Eighteen, I'm taking us to school today."

Steve was hesitant, but ultimately got into the car. "When- when did you start learning how to drive?" 

"I've been able to drive for ages. I just never had a license." Tony began. "Rhodey used to always let me drive in his car, but I used to speed all the time, so he stopped letting me because he didn't want either of us to end up dead because of my driving. Anyways, after we went on a shopping spree last month, my dad told me I could learn to drive."

Steve's hand flew to the door handle. "I am not letting you drive me if you're gonna speed and kill us both."

"No, no, relax." Tony leaned over and pulled Steve's hand away from the handle. "I only ever used to speed because it was my only opportunity to drive. I'm gonna be responsible now that I can drive unlimitedly."