CHAPTER 16 -

"I feel like I haven't seen you in so long," Liam interrupted the quietness. I looked up from my laptop and instead looked at him as he lied across my bed.

"Well, I've been busy," I excused with a shrug as I turned back to my computer. My feet were comfortably placed on my dresser, and my computer on my stretched out legs. My back where steadily leaning against the back of my desk chair.

"Planning the party?" he asked curiously.

"Didn't know you knew about that," I admitted, pretending to focus on something on my computer screen, but still noticing Liam shrug in the corner of my eye.

"I think everyone has. It's a pretty big deal," he continued.

"It's a birthday," I pointed out.

"It's your birthday," Liam corrected me while scribbling something down in his notebook; "Plus, I'm pretty sure the invite had your name on it."

"Do you know if you're coming?" I asked instead of admitting I didn't realise he was invited.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he promised before sending me a trust engaging smile. I sent him a small smile before turning back to my computer and logging onto wattpad.

"So, is it like, fancy, or fancy?" Liam continued. I smiled at his question as I typed in the search bar.

"Fancy. You're gonna want to wear a proper suit," I advised before clicking enter.

"I guess this is the first time I'm gonna meet your dad," Liam mentioned.

"Guess so," I said carelessly as I looked through the stories.

Iron Girl!

I'm Tony Stark's daughter

Life as Veronica

I read through the small blurbs - I get a suit like my dads and become a superhero, several stories just telling fictional stories about my life, before I hit a new kind. I clicked on the picture of me when my hair was shoulderlength with the title - Love Song - written on it.

"Well, meeting your dad, that's kind of a big deal," Liam mentioned.

"Not really," I replied as I read the blurb.

Veronica Stark doesn't have the sweet life everyone expects. With a superhero father, she gets left alone in the...

"Kind of is," Liam went on; "I mean, it's your dad, he's your parent."

"Yes? And you're my friend? If you don't wanna meet him just don't go," I advised, my eyes fixated on my screen.

With a superhero father, she gets left alone in the tower a lot.

That is, until Pietro and Wanda Maximoff appears. On their first mission, Pietro...

"No, that's not it. I just... Don't you think it's a big deal?" he asked me, looking up from his notebook.

"It'll be fine," I decided; "Unless you go with a brown belt and black shoes - that really gets him going."

"I'll make sure to remember that," Liam mumbled.

On their first mission, Pietro gets injured, and while the team fights, he has to stay home.

And without anyone else around, Veronica is forced to take care of him - even though she doesn't want to.

But during this time, sparks fly, and...

"I don't even think I have a black belt," Liam errupted. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you have a proper suit?" I asked, closing my laptop on my lap to pay attention to the issue at hand.

"A suit? Yes. A proper one?" Liam grimaced; "Not so much."

"I'm sure you can borrow one of Pietro." I looked up and down Liam; "You're about the same size."

"Are you sure he's okay with that?"

"Yes. JARVIS?" I asked in the air.

"Yes, miss Stark?"

"Could you please guide Liam to Pietro's room?" I asked, trying to not sound bothered.

"Of course, miss. Mister Thompson, right through the door and to the right."

"I guess... I'll just see you later, then?" he asked me, standing in front of the door.

"Course. I'll see you at the party if not before, right?" I replied calmly.

As soon as Liam left, I opened up my laptop and let curiosity get the best of me.

Read.

As it knocked on the door, Pietro quickly found a bookmark, closed the book he was reading, and went to open the door - all within a second.

"Who are you?" was the first words over his lips as he suspiciously eyed the boy in front of him.

"Liam, I'm Liam," the guy replied, setting a spark to Pietro's memory. The boy, Liam, politely held his hand up. Pietro looked thinkingly at him before grabbing it and slowly shaking it.

"Veronica's friend," Pietro stated.

"Her... Friend, yeah," Liam slowly agreed; "Anyway, Veronica said I could maybe borrow a suit from you?" Pietro raised his eyebrows.

"Did she?"

"Yeah. I don't really have one for her birthday."

"You're invited," Pietro noted. Liam nodded.

"I don't have one," he then lied, making Liam raise his eyebrows.

"Aren't you going?" he asked curiously.

"Of course I am. Veronica invited me," he quickly replied.

"Yeah? Me too."

Pietro started at the kid in front of him, who provocatively faced his stare.

"How old are you?" he broke the silence.

"16," Liam replied.

"You're younger than her," Pietro pointed out, a hint of a smile appearing on his lips.

"We're the same age," Liam corrected, making Pietro visiously shake his head.

"No no, she'll be seventeen in under a month."

"If you don't have a suit I'm just gonna go," Liam decided awkwardly.

"Maybe you should," Pietro agreed.

"Okay then... Bye, I guess."

Pietro closed the door in annoyance as he looked through his room. The suit he'd gotten hung upon the closet door, visible from the door.

"Hey, kid, what are you doing here?"

Liam froze in his spot as he turned to see none other than Tony Stark.

"Oh, sir, I'm, hello, I'm Veronica's friend, I'm, hi, I'm, it's nice to meet you. My name's Liam, did I say that?"

Tony looked at the unsure guy attempting to greet him. He swallowed his eyeroll and instead replied; "Liam. I'm Tony Stark."

"I know, sir. I'm a friend of your daughters," Liam repeated.

"If you're a friend of hers, then why are you out here?" Tony looked around them in the hallway.

"Oh, I was just seeing mr Maximoff to see if I could borrow a suit for Veronica's birthday," he explained himself, gesturing behind him as to say 'Here! That's where I came from."

"You don't have a suit?" Liam shook his head slowly, making Tony sigh.

"I probably have an old one you can have," he decided; "Come along."

"This is great. Thank you, mr Stark," Liam repeated.

"No worries, kid. So, you're pretty close with my daughter, aren't you?" Tony asked and leaned against the door. Liam nodded.

"I haven't gotten her gift yet. I'm not sure what she want. You wouldn't happen to know, would you?" he asked with a small smile before noticing Liam's face; "What?"

"I didn't think about getting her a gift," he admitted; "Shit." Tony looked unimpressed at him.

"I mean, I'm going to, of course!" he continued; "I just.. Haven't yet. I still have, like, three weeks. What should I get her?" Tony pinched the bridge of his nose before deciding to help the kid out.

"What were you considering?" he asked.

"I don't know... I mean, I really like her," Liam admitted. Tony did his best to hide his disgusted face as he replied; "Go with jewellery, then."

"I can't... Jewellery is kind of expensive," Liam admitted; "Maybe a CD? What music does she like?" This time Tony couldn't help the eyeroll.

"Get her something nice," he mumbled as he pulled out his wallet and pulled out a few hundreds; "Here."

"Oh, thank you so much, Mr Stark!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure she's happy," Tony advised as he practically pushed the kid out the door and shut it behind him. He took a deep breath.

Good choice, kid, he complimented his daughter sarcastically.  

"I want to go see her," Pietro stated suddenly, not seeing his sister roll her eyes, as she was turned to a book.

"Then go," she adviced.

"I can't," Pietro sighed and once again shifted in his feet. Wanda sighed and, knowing she wouldn't get out of this, closed her book an turned to him.

"Why not?"

"She is in love with Liam," Pietro mocked; "And, it is late. She should be sleeping."

"Yes. As should you, yet you are still here," Wanda pointed out; "And you do not know if she is in love with Liam." Pietro looked up, realisation hitting him like a train.

"You are right," he realised; "Will you see for me?"

"What?"

"Go into her mind. See if she likes me?" Pietro explained as he stood up from his seat on his sisters bed and neared her.

"No! Pietro, of course I won't! That is an invasion of her privacy and counts as interfference, which I do not want to do!" Wanda explained angrily.

"Please, sister, I need to know!" Wanda looked at her brother as he crouched down besides her. She'd never seen him quite like that, and sighed deeply.

"I will see if she is awake. No more!" she quickly added, making Pietro nod thankfully as he looked intensely at his sister, who took a deep breath before closing her eyes.

Pietro kept looking closely at her, eyeing her as he first saw her relax before tensing up. She quickly opened her eyes and looked at her hands.

"She is asleep," she stated quietly. Pietro sighed as he stood up.

"But... You might want to go see her," she continued, making Pietro look at her with both eyebrows raised. Wanda considered her words carefully.

"She is... Dreaming," she decided.

"So?"

"It is not a good dream," Wanda mentioned, still trying to shake the image out of her head. Without needing to hear more, Pietro stormed out, leaving the door open and his sister baffled.

Without knocking he entered both the Starks private floor as well as Veronica's room, where he stopped in the doorway.

Was he really going to go in?

Veronica looked peaceful enough, lying in her queen size bed beneath the comfortable looking dark blue cover.

He thought back to his sisters words as well as her worried look as Veronica turned in her sleep.

He sighed of himself, realising what he was doing, and took a step back in order to close the door.

Veronica whimpered ever so slightly in her sleep, and Pietro couldn't help himself as he rushed to her, crouching down next to the bed as he grabbed her hand and gently placed his hand on her warm cheek.

"Veronica," he whispered as he ran his fingers over her soft skin.

"Veronica," he repeated, this time loud enough for her to open her eyes.

"You were dreaming, draga mea," he mumbled to her. A single tear ran from Veronica's eye as she slowly sat up.

"I..." she moved her hand to her forehead, not noticing how she left Pietros hand on the white sheet. She breathed out, clearly trying to relax herself.

"It happens every time I sleep," she admitted quietly, almost as if she were talking to herself.

"What, my dear?"

"The dreams," she responded quickly, facing his worried eyes; "The dreams. They won't stop. I haven't slept properly since... God, I'm a mess." She fell back and landed heavily on the bed, both her hands covering her face.

"Have you spoken to anyone about this?" Pietro asked gently as he carefully sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Who should I have told? I don't really have a lot of friends, and definitely not anyone close enough for that," she pointed out.

"You could have spoken to me," Pietro mentioned, mostly assuring himself; "Or Liam."

Veronica shook her head; "You've been avoiding me. And Liam I'm not all that close with."

"Yes, I have," Pietro admitted; "But it was selfish. And it will not happen again," He promised.

"Did I do something?" she asked, looking unsurely at Pietro.

"No. Trust me when I say, you have been and are perfect."

"Then why have you been avoiding me?" she asked, hurt flashing in her eyes.

"I... It is not important. I am here now," Pietro decided before changing the subject to the matter at hand; "Do you want to tell me about the dreams?"

Veronica sat up and leaned her back against the bedframe before pulling the duvet closer around her.

"The dreams shift, but they're mostly about either James or my powers," she explained, drying her cheek with the back of her hand.

"Your powers? How so?"

Pietro moved a good ten centimetres further in on the bed to get comfortable as he watched Veronica shrug.

"It's a pretty long story," she excused.

"We have all night."

"Yeah. I guess we do," Veronica slowly agreed; "So, you know how I can kind of see the future or the past? When I do it I kind of have to step into time, and it's like, at once, everything is going both faster and slower and I feel... Stuck."

She tasted the words on her tongue as she continued; "The dreams is about that. The area in between times. It's practically... Nothing, you know? It's just a big non existing spot of nothing, and I keep getting caught there, and I don't know how to get out once the timelines close and..."

The steady stream of words flowing from her mouth stopped.

"I'm scared I can't control them, Pietro," she admitted quietly.

"I will train with you," he promised her; "we can start as soon as tomorrow. But as for now, you need to sleep." Veronica looked at the big window where the curtains hid the stars.

"Actually, I'd really like some fresh air," she admitted.

"You cannot go out now, Veronica. It is night, the streets are dangerous." She sighed, too tired to argue.

"How about the roof?" she suggested instead.

They had spent hours sitting on the floor, leaning against the railing. Pietro had gotten his hoodie, and Veronica had put on a pair of Armani sweatpants as well as an oversized sweater she'd pulled down over her hands.

The stars had been beautiful. But even though, Pietro could feel himself longing to look at Veronica as she sat besides him, her head leaning against his shoulder.

A sky full of stars... And he was looking at her.

As Veronica fell asleep, Pietro felt himself enjoying the moment, more than he had anything for years. A deep calmness had settled in his chest as he observed Veronica's heavy breathing.

After several hours, he knew he had to get Veronica to bed, even if he did not want to. He gently picked her up and carried her slowly to her room to avoid waking her. He placed her carefully on the soft mattress, covered her with the duvet before kissing her temple, brushing the hair away from her face, and going back to the roof to watch the sunset.

As the warm red colours appear on the sky, spreading like a pallet, he couldn't help but with he was watching it with Veronica.

And that was when he realised that he didn't just like her. He was way past that.