Chapter Six


"Wait… sorry, what was that? Tony has a daughter… with Pepper?" I look at Steve, wishing that I heard the man wrong. How can Tony not tell me that he has another kid? How does the news not even know of this kid, and how is it not plastered everywhere I read about Tony?

"He didn't tell you?" Steve makes eye contact, and I can see the regret in his eyes. Clearly, he didn't want to be the one telling me. That makes two of us. "Oh, um… I'll just-"

"Steve? Is that you?" A voice came from the house and we both turn to have a look who it was. Though it wasn't hard to guess that it was Pepper.

"Hey Pepper," Steve lifts a hand in greeting with a smile on his face.

"Tony didn't tell me you were coming by," I can tell that her eyebrow was raised as she came closer to us, her lips raised in a smile, despite the raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I just came to drop off Ashlee, then I was going to head back to the tower," he shrugs, glancing at me then back at Pepper. Something was telling me that Pepper didn't know who I was. Like Tony had yet to tell his own wife about his other child.

"Ashlee?" Her smile fades as she looks from Steve to me.

"Hi, I'm Ashlee," I try to smile as I hold out my hand for her to shake which she takes. Her grip wasn't as tight as Steve's, but it wasn't a comfortable shake either. The tension was all in the air.

"Pepper," she nods as she releases my hand then looks back at Steve, "so what's going on?"

"I am… going to let Tony or Ashlee explain that one to you," Steve grins innocently before turning and heading back to his car. Coward. Then again, I guess I would do the same thing if I was in his position. It's not really his family, is it?

"Explain what?" Pepper turns her eyes back onto me and I swallow hard. What if this didn't go well? What if she accuses me of making everything up just to get to Tony and his money?

With a deep exhale, I adjust my backpack on my shoulder and look down at the ground, "Tony didn't tell you that he has a nineteen-year-old daughter?"

As the car was brought to life, the air was filled with laughter. Frowning, I look up to see Pepper laughing as if she couldn't breathe anymore. As if this was better than being accused of.

"Right. Okay, if you were Tony's daughter," ah here we go. See. Knew it, "he would have told me. Tony doesn't keep secrets from me. So if you don't mind, Tony's real daughter is waiting inside for me to get back to her. I can however call you a taxi."

"No, don't. I'll be fine. I'll get home some other way," I sigh and turn on my heel, walking back down the driveway. I don't see the point of trying to convince Pepper. If Tony hadn't told her, then there's something wrong with him, and I don't understand how he can possibly just allow Steve to take me to his place and expect me to be welcomed with open arms if he hadn't told Pepper about me.

"I cannot believe Tony hasn't told Pepper about me," I mumble to myself as I exit the driveway and walk down the street. Great. Tony living in the middle of nowhere is helpful. God knows how long it'll take me now to get me somewhere. It just wasn't fair. How can Tony just not tell Pepper about me? Especially if Steve was taking me to his place. Surely, somebody would have told Pepper about me and not just leave her in the dark?

A few minutes later, I reach a busy street. Well, at least I can try to get a taxi to someplace else to spend the night. Ugh, why did I ever leave the hotel room? If I had stayed there, I wouldn't be in this dilemma now, and I certainly wouldn't have to be looking for a way to get to the nearest hotel. Just have to hope that Tony doesn't find me this time round. (If they're not near a larger city, she'd have to call a taxi company, instead of hail one)

A taxi ride and $150 later, I'm in yet again another hotel room. This one is just off the border of New York City. I didn't feel like paying too much for the taxi and the hotel room. I mean, I still have to buy a plane ticket to get back to California.

Sighing, I drop my backpack on the ground and collapse onto the couch. I'm exhausted from being pushed around only to be rejected. There's just no point in me sticking around and trying to mend my relationship with Tony. If he had wanted me in his life, then I'm sure he would've told Pepper about me, wouldn't he? Ugh. Why are men so hard to understand? I grab my phone and check the time: 6:35p.m. Alright, just a few more minutes and then I can go get some food and then settle in for the night.

Another hour later, I'm lying in the bed of the hotel room I've booked for just tonight, thinking about my plans for tomorrow. The first thing I should do is try to get back to California. It'll be interesting to see if my bank account even allows a plane ticket. Surely I'm nearly all out of money now with all the taxi rides and the hotels, but what do I do after that? Maybe I should try and get access to Mom's account. If I can get into her account, I'll have enough money to rent an apartment for a while and I can get a job. It's not an ideal plan, but it's something, right?

With a groan, I turn onto my side, looking out of the window that was nicely planned beside the bed. Everything is going to be much harder now.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"What the?" I raise an eyebrow, looking towards the door. "I didn't order any room service," I mumble to myself as I cautiously get up from the bed and make my way to the door.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* (maybe change this to a line about getting a knock on the door. Writing out the sounds comes across as less polished imo)

Okay. Do I really want to answer the door now? I stop short of the door, looking at it. Room service isn't exactly impatient, they'd only knock the door once?

"Ashlee, it's me. C'mon open up. I know you're in there."

You have got to be kidding me?! How the hell did Tony find me?!

"Um, how about no?" I answer him, keeping my distance from the door. I can't believe he found me. How is this even possible? I didn't even use my real name to book the room! I had to make sure I left no clue for him if he was to set out to find me. That is how sick I am of his issues.

"Ash, c'mon. Please. I'm sorry I didn't tell Pepper," his voice sounds sorrow through the door, but there was no way I was going with him anymore.

"No, Tony. You screwed up. You had your chance to tell Pepper and you didn't, which left me looking like an idiot on her doorstep! Go away!" I yell at the door, turning on my heels and facing away from the door with my hands folded across my chest, as if he could see me.

"Ashlee, it's partially my fault. I should've stayed and helped explain the situation to Pepper," another voice sounds from behind the barrier. This one I recognise as Steve's. Tony must be that desperate to keep me in his life if he brought Steve with him?

"Just go away. I don't want to talk to you," I sigh and walk away from the door. I didn't want to speak to either of them. I'm just fed up of all these circles and I just want to do me without having to worry about people knowing about me or not.

"Ashlee, if you don't let us in, I will make Steve break down this door," I scoff at Tony's words, hearing Steve mumble to him that he won't break down the door.

Looks like I'm safe from the Super Soldier. Shaking my head, I walk to the couch and pick up my backpack from where I left it last night. Tony can break in if he wants to, but there's no way I'm staying here.

An hour later, I find myself at the ticket counter at the airport. It was hard getting past Tony and Steve, but I yelled at them and Steve held Tony back while I stormed off in search for a taxi. I kind of feel sorry for Steve though. He has to put up with whatever whining Tony was doing, but I just don't understand the sudden interest in me from Tony. It makes no sense. First, he didn't even know I existed, well, he forgot I existed, and now he doesn't want me to leave? It's confusing to me. I suppose that's why I've got to go home. To get some space. To clear my mind. To think straight.

With a small sigh, I take my ticket from the lady and thank her before taking off towards the terminal. That was also the last of my money. I now have no more money to spend on taxis and hotels.

It's been a fun ride though here in New York. I don't know if I'll ever come back. If I'll ever have the –

All of a sudden, my phone starts going off, breaking my train of thought and making me jump. Hopefully nobody saw that. I pull my phone out and look at the caller ID, sighing in relief when it doesn't come up with Tony's name, but Lily's instead.

"Hey, what's up?" I say into the phone, stopping short of the terminal and looking around at all the rushing people around me.

"Hey, Ashlee, I just wanted you to know that I've dropped out of college. I'm coming back to you and we can live together!" her voice seems happy and –

"What?!" I reply in shock, quickly looking away from the people who are now looking at me with frowns on their faces.

"Yep. College wasn't fun anyway. There were only guys to worry about. The classes were boring. It's more fun if I'm at college with you, which I'm not, so I made up my mind. I'll join you on your gap year," Lily giggles and I can hear her grinning through the phone.

"Lily... I'm not so sure that's a good idea," I sigh, running my free hand through my hair. It really wasn't a good idea.

"C'mon Ash. Your mom just died. Lemme come live with you for a while. We can have fun every day, get jobs and whatnot. It'll be fun!"

Okay, so maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. That does sound like fun. I mean, who gets to live with their best friend and party whenever the hell the want? Lily would probably also help me get over this terrible mistake that I made in coming to New York, and maybe one day I'll even laugh about how ridiculous I was.

"Yeah, sure. Okay," I say after a while, a small smile creeping onto my face. This couldn't go wrong, could it? "I'm currently at JFK so I'll be back in a few hours."

"Yay! I've already got a place set up for us, so I'll text you the address and then you can just come straight to our new place once you land!" The excitement was clear in her voice and I held back a laugh, worried about more weird looks from passer-byers.

"Alright. I'll see you soon then, okay?"

"Bye, Ash! Love you!" I can picture her smiling like an idiot when the line goes dead. Her smile can be contagious at times, even in horrible situations.

With a smile, I pocket my phone and make my way to the terminal again. This whole Tony Stark chapter of my life has closed, and I'm opening a new book with new possibilities with Lily back where I belong.