The Summer Frost
Chapter 1
It had been eight months since Tony first met Phoenix and to say the least, a lot had changed. Phoenix had been home schooled for about three months to catch her up on the few things she seemed to have missed out on, but now, she was attending the university of New York. Also, the Malibu mansion had become more of a weekend and holiday house, as Tony seemed to be predominantly working out of New York. That is however one of the great things about private jets - travelling from place to place never seemed to be an issue. For Phoenix, having a loving family to come home to everyday was a completely foreign concept and she wasn't sure how long it would take her to get used to it. I mean, it had been eight months and she still wasn't used to it.
Another foreign concept Phoenix was newly discovering; boys. One of the biomedical engineering professors, Ms. Blake, had invited her fifteen-year-old son, Will, to accompany her to a weekend course. Whether it was fate or good fortune, they were almost inseparable. The only problem was, Phoenix didn't know how she was supposed to tell her dad. Pepper was informed almost instantly but not Tony (he was far too unpredictable). So yeah, things had changed a lot and the only thing that hadn't really changed was Phoenix and Tony seemed to still be at each other's throats the majority of the time.
Phoenix and Will had being going out for nearly a month and they both seemed really happy although they were completely different. Will, like Phoenix had brown hair, was extremely clever, loved sports and never really had a father figure until recently. But Will seemed so calm at situations that would have Phoenix screaming, he always seemed to know the right thing to say and he exerted a rare confidence and charm. Will was not just a handsome face he had true heart, which Phoenix couldn't help but admire. The only problem with him was he wasn't great at communication. Talking about feelings, memories or anything like that, really.
University was also challenging. No one there was Phoenix's age. Isolation and the overwhelming fact that phoenix was very different was having a major impact on her. She started to realize how much she craved friendship. I guess that was one reason why Will and her had gotten so close so quickly. The grounds, the teachers and the students offered a false sense of beauty. So was Phoenix enjoying University? No. She didn't complain, though. Things at school sometimes seemed hard but she knew she had never had it so easy.
Will was still in high school and he seemed to be happy enough. He'd told Phoenix that he didn't have an overabundance of friends but a reasonable and acceptable amount. That was fair enough considering he was in his last year of school three years young. He said he hadn't had to worry about his Mum for a while because of the new guy in her life. In fact, Will had described the impact Steve had had on their lives as positively… inexpressible. Apart from that, Will didn't speak much about Steve. He spoke even less about his biological father, though. The only thing he had said was that he never really knew him and his parents had divorced when he was really little.
After almost a week without seeing Will, Phoenix and him decided it was time to go out. So, naturally, Phoenix had told Tony she had to go to a late lecture and she'd call Happy when she needed to be picked up. It was a typical teenage date - popcorn, a movie and the usual awkward handholding. Will was not a forward boyfriend and seemed to enjoy being a laidback gentleman. She felt so lucky to have him.
By the time the movie had finished, Phoenix worked out she probably had about half and hour before Tony started calling S.H.I.E.L.D. That was definitely enough time to go for ice cream on forty-fourth. Will noticed that the lights were still counting down and so the pair ran across the street. And that is when it all started.
It was too late by the time they saw the headlights. The last thing phoenix remembered before she sat up on the asphalt was that Will had pushed her out of the way of the oncoming car. Sirens followed the headlight and screaming from terrified pedestrians and passers by filled the warm night air. But when Phoenix realized she couldn't see or hear her boyfriend, that's when she really started to worry.
"Will? Will!" She screamed.
The only response she got was from the paramedics who soon arrived by her side. "Can you hear me? What's your name?"
After doing the only logical thing she could think of, she allowed the lights to dim.