AN: I wanted to say thank you to Taylor for being my Beta and reading over this, my first chapter is dedicated to her. Please note this story might have a slow start.
The sun is perhaps the worst thing in the world, Tony thought to himself as he lay in the clean crisp bed trying to squeeze his eyes shut even tighter. The maid had been shuffling about and pulled the blinds open to wake him up, that was an hour ago and Tony still hadn't moved from his spot in the middle of the bed. It wasn't that he couldn't move he just didn't want to. In all honesty he would rather be in bed all day bored out of his mind than sit through some boring meeting about science and money and things he didn't care about. Okay no that was a lie, Tony cared about money.
Letting out a noise that was a cross between a sigh and a groan the young dark haired male pulled himself up letting out a huff. His room was large if you compared it to others; he had plenty of room to roll on the floor if he wanted to. It was still small though, compared to the rest of the house. That was Tony however, always getting the smallest portion of everything. Glancing to the clock on the table next to the bed Tony made a face, it was well past 1 in the afternoon and he could just hear his father yelling at him about how lazy he was, and he rolled his eyes every time. He was an 18 year old male that happened to be the son of a wealthy scientist and inventor, and it was a Sunday. Tony didn't really know what else to do but sleep. He briefly wondered what other people did on a Sunday but shook his head when he imagined their boring poor lives. Flipping the covers Tony slid out of bed and padded around the room in nothing, but his boxers. He was out of bed at least, so his father couldn't yell at him about sleeping his life away. Didn't the man know how many hours' people spent sleeping? He made a note to bring it up with his father the next time he decides to speak to him.
Their relationship was complicated to say the least. Tony was the only son of Howard Stark and as far as his father was concerned he would take over Stark Industries one day, Tony never had the heart to tell him otherwise. Though it had become obvious in later years that Tony was only really good at spending money and sleeping around, it was better than getting in his father's way. There were days however when he missed his mother. He would send her short text messages asking her how her day was and if she wanted to meet up. Her personal assistant would usually end up sending him a message back saying that his mother was very busy and that she loved him and that she was sorry. Sometimes Tony wished she had left before he could have memories of her.
However he was 18 now and soon he would have to pick between the dozens of colleges his father would pay for because 'every Stark goes to college' and being the only one to carry on the name meant extra pressure. The problem was that Tony was not particularly smart. Sure he got a few good grades, but he was no genius like his father. Tony's real passion, well he didn't really if he had one. There was a period when he was 12 when he thought that maybe cars would be a good passion and he actually had some real bonding time with his father, but he quickly discovered it was too much work and his father only smiled like he already knew. That's the thing though, Tony may hate his father and the way he bosses him around like he's another servant, but he does actually care. Tony just has to remind himself and Howard sometimes.
Like the time when he was 16 and he brought a girl home. Tony was proud to have such a beautiful girl on his arm. Tony was still in his awkward teenage stage at this point. However, Howard had quickly told him that the girl was up to no good and he would end up with a child before he was 20 and if that happened Howard would disown him. Two weeks later Howard had brought around a 'family friend' who just happened to bring around his daughter, Pepper.
They've been best friends ever since.
Walking to the bathroom that was joined to his room, Tony stood in front of the mirror with his hands placed firmly on the sink. There was a part of him wanted to get in the shower, wash away the smell of cheap girls and alcohol then go downstairs and actually act like a civil human for once. The other part wanted to crawl back in the bed and sleep the day away. He wasn't tired, really he wasn't it was just that it was a Sunday and the thought of going to school made him not only want to run and hide but feel sick. Tomorrow would be the anniversary of his parents' marriage and divorce. His father would be drinking more and he had no clue what his mother would be doing, but he suspected it was 20 years younger than her and didn't speak a word of English.
He used to be a happy child, he used to love his parents and he used to have dreams. Then his father began drinking and his mother wanted more money and before he knew it he was standing in the door way with a present in his arms watching as his mother threw various things at his father and his father cursed like he had never done before. To this day Tony still flinches when something flies near his head.
Without a second thought Tony tripped what little he had on and entered the large shower, scrubbing until he was too hot and too sore to move. He might not be looking forwards to tomorrow, but he had to act okay for his father. While Tony may not like him and sometimes despise him, Howard was his father after all and his greatest hero.