Chapter 7

Clint flashed me a warm smile when I entered the kitchen for lunch. "Hi, baby girl, how was school?"

"Good. And the best part is, I'm done for the day."

"What do you mean? It's only noon."

"Tony has a meeting so the rest of the school day is canceled."

"Oh, really? He had to cancel one day last week, too, right?"

"Yeah. He said it should only be a few hours then I will go home with him tonight to make up for the crappy start of the weekend."

"Oh, ok," Clint remarked, perturbed with Tony's lack of commitment to school but decided to move on. "So, what do you want to do on your afternoon off?"

"Can we shoot?"

Clint grinned, "Absolutely!"

After gathering up all of our gear, Clint and I headed outside to the shooting range. The weather was perfect for a fall day—sun shining on the fall foliage and still warm enough to wear short sleeves.

Clint finished his quiver first then watched me shoot. "You really are getting good at this. Maybe we should start to train you with moving targets."

"Sounds good. What time is it?"

"Uh, it's four o'clock. Why?"

"No reason. Can we go in now?"

"Jamie, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Dad, really. I just want to go back inside."

"Jamie, is this about Tony?"

"Dad," I glared at Clint with a sideways look. "I'm fine."

"I mentioned learning to shoot with moving targets and you barely noticed I was even talking. So, I don't believe you when you say that you're fine."

"Argh, Dad."

"Ok, we can go back inside now. I should be heading home anyway. Are you sure you don't want to just come home with me?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Tony promised me some special time with him."

"Alright baby girl. Call me if you need anything or if you change your mind."

"I will but I won't."

I'm supposed to go to Tony's again tonight but his meeting ended up taking even longer than he expected. Steve was busy making dinner while I moped at the table. Feeling a hint of rejection while I waited for Tony, I asked, "Poppa, can we talk?"

"Absolutely, baby girl. What's up?"

"Well…I…," I sighed heavily unsure of how to continue. "Forget it."

Steve turned off the stove then joined me at the table. "Jamie, I want you to continue, it sounds important." Steve tipped my chin toward him with his finger, "Ok?"

I sighed again then nod. "I don't like bouncing around between different houses. I love being with Clint and Laura and I love being with Tony and I'm starting to feel better around Pepper. Tony makes me feel special and I know he loves me but sometimes his…motives, seem off. I trust Tony, but well, more like cautiously trust him. I know he won't hurt me but sometimes I'm not sure why he does some of the nice things. Am I making sense?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"I don't want to stop being around him or even stop going to his house but I'm nervous sometimes about going."

"Is this about the weekend when Peter was there?"

"Partially, I guess. But also, he's more affectionate when Pepper is around so I wonder if sometimes he's doing those things to impress her. Not that he won't do those things if Pepper isn't around," I let out another heavy sigh. "Forget it, I don't really know what I'm trying to say. I'm probably just being a stupid baby."

"Hmm… Well, I do know that Tony loves you very much. Maybe he wants Pepper to see how much he loves you but it doesn't mean that he doesn't actually love you."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Do you feel safe there?"

"Um, yeah, I feel safe."

"You don't sound convinced."

"I don't think Tony will hurt me or anyone else but I don't know if my feelings are safe."

Steve nodded, he understood what I meant even though I didn't know how to say it.

"Do you want to stop going to Tony's?"

"I don't know…maybe...no," I growled in frustration. "I want things to go back to the way they were."

"I think we should all talk about it."

"No! I don't want Tony to know about this."

"In order for things to get better, you need to tell us about things like this. What about Clint, can you talk to him?"

"No. Clint won't let me go to Tony's anymore if he knows that something's bothering me. You should have seen his face when he picked me up from the tower. I've never seen him so angry. I don't want everyone to start fighting about this."

Steve sighed, "How about I talk to everyone about setting up a better schedule? You're hardly ever here at night, maybe you can stay here for awhile to get a break from it. Nat and Bruce were just talking about missing you."

"Yeah, ok. It would be nice to stay here."

"Ok, baby girl. I'll call Tony to let him know that you're just going to stay here tonight."

I nodded only allowing my tears to fall once Steve rounded the corner to call Tony.

A few minutes later, Steve was back, done with the call, "I talked to Tony, he said he's going to be stuck for a while so he's glad you just made other plans."

"Ok, great," I deadpanned, still upset from being stood up.

"Well, kiddo, what would you like to do tonight?"

"I don't know, whatever."

"Maybe a movie and snuggles?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm going to my room, let me know when dinner's ready."

"Jamie."

"What?" I responded irritably.

"Is going to your room going to help or make you feel worse?"

"It will help," I spat then quickly made my way to my room. I heard Steve sigh but he didn't follow.


The next morning, Tony apologized profusely for ruining our plans for a special night together. "I promise, this weekend will be different. It'll just be you and me doing whatever you want to do. I don't have any meetings or anything planned and Pepper is out-of-town for work."

I'm thrilled with the news but remained cautious, not letting myself get to excited like yesterday. All goes well throughout the week. I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night at Clint's. At the end of the school day on Friday, Tony and I headed back to the tower together.

A/N: Thanks for the comments!