Laughter was all Autumn could hear through the tinted limousine windows as she glared at the shiny lights surrounding the large casino. She pulled back when the door swung open and looked up at Happy, taking the offered hand and stepping out of the limo, straightening out her dress slightly.
"Thank you." was her faded reply, keeping her head down as people turned to look at her.
She walked with Happy to the door and she gave him a nod as she walked through, taking a quick look around the interior.
A sixteen year old didn't really fit in at a casino but no one was going to say anything to the billionaire playboy, Tony Stark's, daughter. She honestly looked exactly like her father, black hair, blue eyes, same nose, but she had her mother's face shape and figure.
Her blue eyes scanned the room, searching for the theatre where they'd be presenting the award. Once she located it, she walked towards it quickly, slipping in the door's and finding her name card on the table, seated between her father and her "uncle" Obadiah. She sat down, flattening out her short black dress, and let out a soft sigh.
"Autumn. Is something bothering you?" Obadiah asked, disregarding the conversation with another man to look at Autumn, a concerned look crossing his features for a second. She shook her head quickly at the question and gave him a soft smile.
"No. I'm alright Uncle Obi. Just a bit tired." she replied, her hand moving to swipe her long bangs from her eyes, letting out another sigh when they fell back over her right eye, only allowing her to see out of her left. Obadiah let out a small laugh before turning back to the man, apologizing for the interruption.
The awards felt like they had dragged on forever. Autumn had almost fallen asleep at the beginning but her mood perked slightly when she saw her Uncle Rhodey on stage.
"-He is my friend, and he is my great mentor. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honour to present this year's Apogee award to Mr. Tony Stark." Rhodey finished off, a bright smile lighting up his face. Autumn shook her head with a sigh when Rhodey looked over to her and the empty seat. Obadiah jabbed her lightly with his elbow and she got up, making her way up to the stage, taking Rhodey's hand when he offered it. She heard the clapping die down as he handed her the award and she turned, staring out at the audience.
"Well, I'm not my dad," she started, getting small laughs from everyone. "But I'm sure if he was here right now, he would be honoured to have this beautiful award in his hands. Well, you know my dad, always working." she said through clenched teeth, the lie getting caught in her throat. She nodded and hummed softly as she stepped off the stage and back into the clapping crowd. She snuck out of the room and started making her way towards the sound of cheering in the casino.
She found her father surrounded by women and Rhodey, telling him off for missing the ceremony.
"-But they told me if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honoured," Rhodey stated, shaking his head at Tony.
"Of course I'd be deeply honoured, and it's you, great, so, when do we do it?" Tony asked, looking around quickly.
"Already done. Speech done by me." Autumn spoke up, pushing past the woman and shoving the award at Tony. He took it with a small dumbfounded expression before handing it off to the woman. "Alright, we're gonna let it ride!" he exclaimed, pushing all of his chips forward. Autumn watched with a frown as he took the dice and hovered his knuckle at the woman's mouth to blow on it before turning to Rhodey.
Rhodey smacked his hand away and the dice flew, landing on two ones. Autumn let out a short laugh, causing Rhodey to smile at her.
Tony had then started walking, wrapping his arm around Autumn's shoulders, leading her to the exit. Autumn huffed, waving goodbye to Rhodey as she was walked out the door and to the limo, Happy opening the door for her. She got in, watching out the window as her dad did a short interview with a blonde woman. She watched with narrowed eyes as her father led the woman to the limo and got in, sitting on the opposite side of Autumn, locking lips.
Autumn quickly got out of the back and opened the passenger door, looking over at Happy.
"I'd prefer the front seat tonight." she said quietly, looking down at her lap as Happy drove back to the mansion.
Autumn slept terribly that night, between the laughing a few doors down and forgetting to take her pills, she might have gotten only an hour and a half of sleep. She got up around 7 o'clock and walked downstairs quietly, opening the medicine cabinet to look for her medication. She spotted it on the top shelf and reached for it, finding herself too short. She went to climb up onto the counter but felt a hand on her arm, pulling her back down.
She looked over, stunned, at Pepper Potts, purely in surprise from the woman arriving so early. "Jarvis told me about your sleep schedule so I came to check up on you." Pepper stated, reaching up and grabbing the bottle, handing it to Autumn and reaching behind her to grab the already filled glass of water. She handed it to Autumn and watched silently as she downed the medicine, dumping the remains of water down the sink.
"You doing alright?" Pepper asked, feeling Autumn's forehead with the back of her hand. "You're not running a fever." she said quietly, removing her hand from Autumn's forehead and looking at her. "What's wrong, sweetie?"
Autumn stared at Pepper for a moment before sighing and hopping up to sit on the counter. "It's nothing, really. I just forgot to take my pills last night." she replied, shrugging her shoulders and staring out the window as the sun started to rise behind her.
"What's this about forgetting to take pills?" Autumn heard Tony's voice ask as he rounded the corner and looked at the two women, an eyebrow raised in question. Autumn avoided answering while Pepper cleared her throat. "Alright, no one tell me then." he said quietly, moving around as he prepared a small breakfast.
"You haven't cared about my health for the past sixteen years, why do you care now?" Autumn asked, practically snapping at her father. The spoon he was holding clattered to the counter and Autumn hopped down onto the floor, narrowing her eyes at him.
He turned towards her, walking over and resting his hands on her shoulders. "I have always cared Autumn. I just have a funny way of showing it." he said quietly, causing Autumn to scoff.
"Oh, whatever. Just go work on your stupid cars." she said quietly, grabbing a poptart and ducking out from under his hands, walking to her room and slamming the door behind her.