(Peter Parker x reader) Romeo and Juliet

68: That's Why

The next morning, I found Steve standing outside. So I went outside.

Don't ask why. Steve was out there, and that's reason enough for me.

I stood beside him, copying his stance. Folded arms, stern expression. "What are you up to, Rogers?" I asked, scanning the grassy property ahead of us.

He sighed, shaking his head. He was about to reply when blasting music, and a car on the gravel road leading to the compound, cut him off.

I raised my eyebrows with a smirk, realising it was Tony's car. The car pulled all the way into the driveway, and stopped right in front of me and Steve.

I looked at my reflection in the shiny surface of the sleek black car, realising I was a mess. But a cute mess.

Tony rolled down the window, taking one look at Steve and mini Steve(Me). Then he turned the car off, climbing out. "First off, I never want to see Y/N standing next to you looking like a mini you ever again. I prefer she looks like a mini me."

"Really?" I asked, my Stern Steve Look fading.

Tony nodded, giving me a tiny smile. "Second, what is with the long faces?" Tony stood right in front of Steve, squinting. "Let me guess. He turned into a baby."

Steve sighed, looking at me with an irritated expression. "What are you doing here?" He asked, not unkindly.

"That's the EPR paradox," Tony went on, ignoring Steve. "Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody could've cautioned you against it."

"You did," I said, not very helpfully. I was, to be completely honest, still admiring the car. It reminded me of the time Peter and I had our first kiss...sitting in his brand new Audi from Stark. That Audi sat in the garage of the compound, under a tarp. I refused to go anywhere near it. 

"Oh did I?" Tony said in response to what I replied with. "Thank god, I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it." He walked around to the trunk of his car. I followed. "A fully functioning time space GPS." He sighed. "Turns out, resentment is corrosive. And I hate it."

"Me too," Steve chimed in.

"We got a shot at bringing these stones back, but I gotta tell you my priority is to bring back what we lost," Tony said, this time in a warning voice.

I nodded softly. God, yes please. I wanted the same thing...bring back what we lost.

"I hope, yes. Keep what I found? I have to. At all costs." Tony was being serious. There was no hint of sarcasm. Which I got, he couldn't loose Morgan or Pepper. But hey, we all wanted someone back so here we were. 

Steve lost it all. And he didn't find anything new. Tasha lost it all, and didn't find anything. Tony did...Tony got lucky. I lost it all, and I didn't move on.

"And maybe not die trying will be nice," Tony continued, placing his hand under the trunk. "Sounds like a deal." He opened up the trunk, and lifted Steve's shield out.

"Tony, I don't know," Steve paused.

"Why? He made it for you," Tony said, sighing. "Plus, honestly I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."

Steve took the shield from Tony, looking at it.

I smiled softly at Tony, who rolled his eyes. "Will you keep that a little quietly? I didn't bring one for the whole team," he finished, cringing.

Steve nodded, turning away, heading for the doors.

Tony stood by his trunk, looking into it.

"Are you okay?" I asked carefully.

He took a deep breath, tapping his fingers on the trunk. "Oh yeah. I just..I'm going to give you something. But I want you to do me a favor, don't uh...don't cry over it?"

I scoffed, not quite getting it. "Okay, I promise?"

Tony gave me a long look, then pulled something out of the trunk, handing it to me. "Okay kiddo. This is the last belonging of Parker's I have. And, I probably shouldn't've kept it. But I wanted to. Now I think you need it."

I stared at it in my shaking hands. Peter had told me, during that phone call before we went to the bus for the field trip, he was making something for me. In my hands was a small bracelet, one made of all sorts of tiny, pretty metal pieces of red and gold. On the flattest piece in the middle was the word 'sweetie.' On the back, his initials, and mine, separated by a small heart. Everything looked hand carved, in Peter's messy script.

I closed my fist around the metal, trying to keep my promise.

"He made that in my lab one day while he was hanging out with me. He just used pieces that flew off my suit when I, well, hit the walls," Tony said to the trunk of his car, not looking at me. "I don't know," he said, looking up at me, "why I kept it."

I looked up at Tony, glassy-eyed. "I know why. You wanted something to hold on to. Remember sitting with him in the lab when he made it?"

Tony's eyelids fluttered as the memory came to the back of his eyes.

"That's why," I whispered. "That's why."