Tony was in his lab, sitting at one of the many workbenches and working on a small project of his that he intended to be part of a present for his now seventeen-year-old. At least Tony was trying to work on it. Happy stood near him prattling off questioning calendar dates that Tony had zero interest in paying attention to.

"I don't know why you're bothering me with these details anyway," Tony said offhandedly as he tinkered with a pair of sleek tech-integrated goggles. "This kind of stuff is Pepper's department. So you know, maybe go bug Pepper?"

"Well, I did talk to Pepper, but she said..." Happy trailed off at the sound of the lab door being opened.

Andrew bounded inside in a pair of board shorts, a sleeveless shirt, and sandals. These days the teen's hair was a lot shorter, but it still always looked like he just rolled out of bed no matter what the time of day.

"Hey, Happy," Andrew greeted the man with smile and a nod.

"Drew," Happy smiled back and the two proceeded with a fist bump that ended in mimed hand explosions.

Tony rolled his eyes at the pair's ritual, but in truth it always amused him.

"Hey dad, so does Happy need to drive me, or can I finally take the car on my own?"

Tony blinked in confusion. "Wait, where do you think you're headed to anyway, mister?"

"Jesse's house? I already asked you about it yesterday. You said it was fine."

"Yeah Tony, you did say it was fine." Happy chimed in with a hint of smarmy matter-of-fact-ness.

Tony shot the man a pointed looked. If he didn't know any better Tony would swear that Happy only got along with the boy and stuck up for Andrew so much as he did just to have little smug moments like this. But Tony vaguely remembered the plans now: Andrew hanging out at one of his little friend's from his homeschoolers group. Tony was pretty sure now that Drew asked him while he was busy with a call; he probably never got many details to begin with.

"Happy can drive you. Trust me, he has nothing better to do." Tony sent the trusted bodyguard a smirk before continuing on with his son. "So what was it again? This a whole gang get together or just the two of you?"

"Just me going over."

"Which one's Jesse?" Tony scratched at the back of his head with a screwdriver in thought. Jesse was either the short girl with her hair dyed purple or the tall blonde boy with the braces. Tony was suddenly struck with the realization that with teenagers also came the crazed horny hormones. Over Tony's dead body was he letting Andrew go if this was alone time with little Miss Punk Rock. "Nevermind, don't care. Just tell me, boy or a girl?"

"What?"

"Is Jesse a boy or a girl?" Tony asked casually, his focus back down on the goggles.

"Why does that matter?" Andrew asked with a touch of indignance.

"It matters." Tony answered flatly, not looking up.

Andrew sighed. "A girl."

"Ha!" Tony sat up straight and spun his chair to face the boy again. "Nope, you're staying home."

"What? Come on! That's not fair! I'm not going over there to have sex with her if that's what you think."

"Ah ah ah ah," Tony tisked, "a little lest 'S' word in my house, please and thank you."

"This is bullshit," Andrew muttered. "Okay, apparently I'm gonna hafta do this right now." Andrew took a resolute breath, "I'm gay."

"I don't believe you for a second." Tony deadpanned.

Andrew groaned loudly in frustration. "Ah! I'm not gonna have sex with her! Even if I wanted to, I'm too terrified to have sex with anyone! Like I'll hurt 'em by accident. I mean, I still can't even jerk off without going blue. So how-"

"Gah! Just go!" Tony covered his ears. "Just sweet Jiminy Cricket, don't mention jerking off to me EVER again."

Andrew grinned, and clapped his hand appreciatively on Tony's shoulder. "Thanks, you're the best. But seriously, I like dudes." He threw a nod to Happy, "I'm just gonna grab my bag and I'll be down in the car."

Andrew practically sprinted out of the lab, and Tony rubbed his hands down his face and groaned. Happy chuckled at his boss's expense from where he stood.

"Guys, girls, or whatever; this just rang alarm bells. All I thought I was in store for was occasional teenage moody drama," Tony admitted as he slouched down in his chair in his unsettled state. "I didn't even think about the sex stuff, and lord knows I was all about the sex stuff at his age. Hm," Tony stroked at his goatee, "I also smoked a lot of pot. He's probably doing that too, isn't he? Making him do this homeschoolers group is going to end up biting me in the ass."

"I'll leave all the worrying about that to you;" Happy spoke, stuffing his Stark Pad into his satchel as he readied to leave, "he's your son."

"Yeah," Tony's eyes drifted to the doorway where Andrew disappeared, and a soft smile easily pulled at his features. "Yeah, he is."

~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: The sequel to come soon! Be on the look out for "Sparks"!