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Tony Stark. Billionaire, Philanthropist, Avenger. Also, your father.
Your mother walked out on the two of you when you were pretty young. You don’t really even remember a lot about her. It’s just been you and your dad. That being said, it wasn’t that bad. He tried his best to give you a good life, and in your opinion, you wouldn’t have anyone else as a father.
Most people could see the resemblance between you and your father. Being a Stark, you were brilliant. You were smart in every sense of the word. One of the things that made you different from Tony was your shyness. You were not nearly as outgoing as him. You can be social and such, but you usually needed to escape frequently. The only time you could really be social and comfortable for long periods of time was when you were around a select group of people.
One of these said people was Peter Parker. He was one year older than you, but in the same school year. The two of you actually met in your junior year of high school, but never really got to know one another until he started working with Tony. Since then, you two have been the best of friends.
You and Peter were the type of friends that were so close, it made people wonder if you were dating or not. Neither one of you had really asked about those types of feelings towards one another, but you would be lying if you said you didn’t have those types of feelings for Peter. You just didn’t want to ruin what you two had. You didn’t have that many people that you were this close with. So you just kept your relationship where it was: very close friends.
You two survived senior year of high school together and ended up going to the same college. The first semester of your collegiate careers was finally over and you had about 4 weeks off for winter break. You spent a lot of time with your dad. While you loved spending time with your father, you weren’t too big of a fan of his parties. You very naturally introverted, so being in a space designed by an extrovert like Tony took its toll on you.
It had only been two days since you came home from university and Tony was preparing for a party. You had procrastinated unpacking your suitcase, so you had no idea where your dresses were or how wrinkled they were. You didn’t like to wear expensive things, so a majority of your clothes were casual and comfortable as opposed to high price tag pieces. Even though Tony knew this, he wanted you to look nice tonight. So being who he is, he got your measurements from Friday and found a dress for you. You couldn’t say no.
The party was mainly for the Avengers to get some more good publicity and networking. The team was like your family. You have trained with the team before and could very well be a part of the Avengers, but you wanted to have a semi-normal life and go to college before you made any choices like that. But you went to the party to try and help as much as you could. You knew you had a couple of people around (like Peter) to fall on if things got too much for you.
It had been an hour into the party and you were already exhausted. You had been able to be by Tony for a majority of that hour, but he had to go talk to someone else and left you with a very professional and important looking man. You honestly forgot his name, and you thought about excusing yourself, but then he started another conversation.
“Where is it you go to school, (Y/N)?” He had a large drink in his hand and seemed to ask you the question with a level of certainty. Like he knew where he wanted the conversation to go.
“NYU. Not too far away from home, but enough so I have a bit of freedom to–”
“And what are you majoring in?” The man interrupted. He definitely wanted the conversation to go where he intended. You paused and took a deep breath in in order to not look so annoyed.
“Well, right now, I am an engineering major. But I might–” You didn’t get much further.
“Oh that sounds very wonderful. I guess that path runs in the family.” The now very annoying man interrupted again. You had a feeling you knew where this conversation was going, and your feeling was confirmed as the man kept talking. “So I imagine that you will be following in your father’s footsteps? Becoming a major advancement in the field? Because you know, that would really be something. Father and daughter…”
You kind of zoned out. You had heard this before. How you should be like your dad and end up working side by side with him and the Avengers. In all honesty, you had no idea what you really wanted to do with your life after college. You had given it some thought, but hadn’t talked it out with anyone yet.
“Miss Stark?” You snapped out of your daze.
“Yes? I’m sorry. My mind was running off. Could you repeat your question?”
“I was wondering if you had plans after college. Are you going to work as an engineer for your father? Or are you going to join the team and be another crime fighting hero?”
“Well… I uh… I’m not exactly sure. I want to keep my options open for the moment until I find out what I really like doing.”
The man went back to talking about all the “wonderful opportunities” that would come if you worked with Tony and the Avengers. As if he really knew.
An unwelcomed feeling came over you. Your chest began to get a bit tight and you felt very uncomfortable. You needed some space or to be around someone you trusted. Looking around the room, you were trying to find Tony and have him save you. But he was still chatting with another very important man. There seemed like no way out.
Being in this mindset, you nearly jumped out of your skin when you felt a familiar hand on the small of your back and heard that voice that had calmed you down so many times before. You turned to see Peter standing close to you. He was in a suit that looked perfect on him. Most likely a gift from Tony.
“Excuse me. I need to take Miss Stark for a bit.” The man just nodded and said his goodbyes.
Peter then led you through the crowd and to the balcony. As soon as you stepped out, he followed behind, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around your shoulders. You smiled at him and took a deep breath as you leaned against him. He put an arm loosely around you and kissed the side of your head, something he has done plenty of times before since you two were so close.
He hadn’t really been able to take in your appearance until now. The dress that Tony bought you fit in all the right places and made you look like you fit in with the formal crowd. Something not everyone can pull off. And the simple necklace you had on was delicate and added a pop of color that highlighted how you did your makeup.
Peter was always a fan of everything about you, but tonight he was awestruck.
“You look really pretty, (Y/N/N). Like…. Wow!” You blush a bit as you laugh and hide your face with your hands.
He took your hands from your face and them in his as he took a step back. Peter spun you around and whistled. You couldn’t help but laugh and try to fight of the ever growing blush that was creeping on your cheeks. You were happy to forget what was on your mind for a minute or so.
Peter saw your smile fall a little bit. You were still smiling, but it wasn’t the big and true one he had seen earlier.
“You okay, (Y/N)? You look like something big is on your mind.” He always knew how you were feeling. If only he knew how you felt about him.
“I… Yeah. You can’t tell Tony. I haven’t really talked this out with anyone yet.” Peter just held out his pinky and had you link yours with his. You two had so many pinky promises. You took another breath before speaking.
“How much would my dad kill me if I majored in something artistic?” You half joked. Peter took a second to think before responding.
“Depends on a couple of things I think.”
“Like…?”
“What major did you have in mind?” You turned to face Peter. You wanted to see his reactions to wherever this conversation led to.
“Photography and Imaging.”
“Would you be dropping your engineering major?”
“I was actually thinking of dual majoring. Staying in engineering and just adding on the photography part. I know I can handle the workload. I’ve already thought about the classes I’ll have to take and such in order to graduate without completely frying myself to a crisp.”
Peter laughed at your joke. But then he gathered himself and looked at you with a more serious expression.
“Would it make you happy?” You honestly didn’t have to think too hard about that. You grew up loving photography. You imagined how amazing it would be to be a professional photographer. This was your chance to make that happen.
“Yes. Very.” He took a second or two to think before smiling. Peter’s face showed nothing but support.
“Then I think Mr.Stark will support your choice as much as I do.” A huge smile grows on your face. You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him into a big hug. His arms wrap around your waist and hold you tight.
“Thank you, Pete! I know I can always come to you to help me with anything.” You both pull away but keep your hands where they are.
Peter looks at you with a look in his eyes that you weren’t 100% what it was.
“Can I do something with you, (Y/N)?” He paused and had a look on his face of embarrassment. “Wait, that sounded wrong. I mean, I have been thinking about us and how close we are. And I really like you. Like, more than friends. But I don’t know how you feel about that or if this is super awkward. If it is, please stop me. I just think that we would be amazing–”
Even though it was adorable to see Peter so flustered, you had to shut him up. Your heart rate increased incredibly high and your mind was spinning. He actually likes me! Like, really likes me! And before you could think anymore, you pulled him down and kissed him. It took him by surprise, but then gladly kissed back. It was a shorter kiss, but it had so much emotion behind it.
The both of you pulled away and just smiled at each other. After a second short and sweet kiss, you turned to look at the city lights. Peter moved his arm around your waist as you scooted closer to him. The two of you talked for a bit longer before a thought popped into his head.
“(Y/N)?” You could hear that something was different. As if Peter was nervous. He turned you so that you were facing him again. The nervousness was visible in his eyes.
“Yeah, Pete?” You put your hand on his upper arm to try to calm him down a bit.
“I know we just kissed and all, but I just want to ask this for clarity: Will you be my girlfriend?” You laughed and looked into his eyes again.
“As long as you are mine, yes. I will gladly be yours.” The two of you had never smiled as big as you were at this moment. Peter leaned down and gave you another soft kiss. Then he pulled away and had that look of fear in his eyes again.
“I just thought of something.”
“What?”
“How are we going to tell your dad about us?” You just laughed.
“Let me take care of that. It seems like I have to talk to him about a lot anyways.”
~~~~~~~~
Little did you know, Tony had seen the whole encounter. Well, almost all of it. He looked around to see where you were. He didn’t see your face in the crowd of people, so he made his way to the balcony. Through the window, he saw you and Peter together. Not wanting to be too close and be awkward, he went and sat at the bar, where he could relax but still keep an eye on you.
He saw spidey look at you with admiration in his eyes. When he spun you around, Tony saw how happy the two of you were. And when you fell a bit, Peter was there to help. You two really were good for eachother.
Tony had thankfully been pulled into a short conversation when you and Peter kissed. If he had seen that, he might have exploded. When he did come out of his conversation, Peter’s arm was wrapped around your waist and you were very close to him. He had apparently said something funny because your head fell backwards as you laughed. Tony hadn’t seen you this comfortable and happy around anyone other than himself and maybe two of the other Avengers.
Bruce came up next to him, patted his shoulder, and sat next to him.
“It’s about time the two of them got together. They’re perfect for each other. Plus I had a bet going with Steve about how long it would take them. Looks like Cap owes me.” Tony kept watching the two of you interacting. It wasn’t until Peter kissed your forehead that it really clicked for Tony.
“Yeah. I’ll have to have a chat with the little punk later.” Then Tony realized what Bruce had said a minute earlier. “Wait– You guys bet on my daughter?!”