Hey, everyone, thanks for all of your review and comments! I did the math concerning the year date and found that it would be completely off. Say that Howard was born two years from now. He'd only be eleven when 2028 hits! So I had to change it. Even if he were to be born in 2015, he'd only be thirteen by the time 2028 were to roll around, and way too young to be going through all the drama that I'm about to display.

Crimescenecriminal: Thank-you, I tried to be funny; I like making people laugh.

Guest: I tried to give the link to where the original story was, but the internet wouldn't let me. I'm sure if you scoured the internet long enough you would find it. If you typed in "son runs away and leaves funny note for dad to find" I'm sure you'll find it. Then you'll know what I mean that I couldn't do it justice.

Liam: I'll have to think about it some more, but it could take me a little while. I have a couple of ideas, but they're very loose. Like I said, I'll have to think about it.

May 30th 2034

Howard Loses It

Howard Stark II was in deep. So deep, that he feared that he would never escape the prison that no Stark (in his mind) should ever have to be committed to.

The friend-zone was suffocating, stifling, agonizing, and it had many forms of torture.

Like the time she came crying to him the year before when a guy had played her and played her good. He had fooled everybody except Steve Rogers who had warned her about him. Jamie and Howard met on his rooftop where she poured out her sorrows about how she had caught him with another girl-and they weren't just kissing either.

Howard was burning with anger. How dare he do something like that to Jamie! He held her while she cried and stroked her long blonde hair. She had looked up at him.

"I've been such an idiot, Howard; my dad was right about him."

Howard had shook his head.

"You weren't entirely an idiot, Jame; you just wanted to see the best in him like you do with everybody."

Jamie had shaken her head in response.

"No, looking back, I should've seen the signs, but I ignored them. What is it about love that blinds a person so much, that they're willing to go through everything that the other person throws at them?"

Jamie was a deep thinker like her mother, and sometimes, Howard didn't have an answer to all of these deep questions, but he did to this one.

"I guess it wouldn't be love if the person wasn't."

Jamie smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She hugged him tighter and rested her head on his chest.

"I love you. Not in a lover sort of way, but I do love you."

That. Had been. The worst. Thing that Howard had ever heard in his entire life. He had cringed but Jamie didn't notice. She never noticed what she did to him or what kind of affect she had on him. That had been the worst comment that Jamie had made to him concerning where he stood in her life. But there were other comments that slowly killed him.

Such as:

"You're one of my best friends, Howard."

"You're such a true friend."

"You're like a brother-friend to me."

Friend, friend, friend, friend, friend, friend, FRIEND!

How is it that he could have any girl he wanted except for the one he actually wanted? It was like some unspoken Murphy law that should be illegal.

He had loved Jamie Rogers since the fifth grade. Maybe even before that. He had shared his toys with her when he was five years old and he never shared his toys with anyone before that point so maybe he loved her before he even knew what love was.

But, as the years passed, it had become clear to him that she only saw him as a friend, or, worse yet, as a second brother to her. Sure, she confided her darkest secrets and fears to him, but it was probably no different than if James, Steve, and Wanda knew. Jamie was pretty transparent with those she loved and trusted. In turn, he confided his own darkest secrets and fears to her, things that he never told anyone. And, of course, Jamie being Jamie safeguarded those fears and secrets with her life. She had inherited a double douse of loyalty from both of her parents.

He had endured the suffering of being only one of her best friends for so long, that he felt like he was going to snap at any moment. He was at that age that he could have any other girl he wanted, any other girls. Heck, he had always been "at that age".

But those other girls weren't Jamie. In fact, most of the girls at the private school that he attended were petty and shallow, a lot of them mean girls. Howard never liked mean girls. Thank goodness Tonya had never allowed herself to be influenced by them. He remembered by the time sixth grade hit, he was begging his father to go to the same school that "Jamie-er-James attended."

His father had raised an eyebrow at him and Howard knew in that instant, that his father had peered into his very soul about how he felt about Jamie though he never said anything. Tony had simply reasoned that he couldn't allow him to go to public school because #1: the system and curriculum was "crappy" and #2: people never gave one thought to who Howard was at the private school, whereas he probably wouldn't get a break at the public school. Howard then knew that the subject matter was closed and not open for discussion. So, he continued to forebear the kids that were even snobbier than he was, and the girls that only wanted to date him because he was handsome and Howard Stark.

When he had confided this to Jamie on his house rooftop, she had put her hand over his and looked at him confidently with those large blue eye and said,

"Don't worry; you'll find a girl someday whom you can connect with."

Howard at that moment had wanted to jump off the rooftop.

Hello, that girl is you?

But of course, he didn't and he hadn't said anything. He just faked a smile so she wouldn't see what he was going through with her.

At this point, he could do one out of three things.

#1: Tell her and get it all out in the open then let whatever could happen, happen.

#2: Do something drastic to get her attention, or

#3: Leave things the way there were at that moment and allow himself a slow and painful death.

He was tired of the latter, and was leaning toward option #1, but he could risk losing his friendship with her. Something that was very valuable to him. And, if their friendship did last beyond the confession, it could be a very strained and awkward and never the same as it once was. That left him with only option #2: Do something drastic to get her attention. But what?

He could get himself into a situation during battle where he could be inches away from death but could cheat it like only a Stark could do, but that would risk him actually dying. Then what good would that plan have accomplished? Nothing except his family and friends' pain. Not to mention a whole nation in mourning of Iron Man jr.. No, he would find some way to grab her attention without any life risking moments. But what?

As more time passed, he began to get desperate. And there was nothing more dangerous than a desperate kid genius.

One Saturday, Howard was bored and was going through some old YouTube videos and came across one titled "The Friend Zone and How to Escape It. Rhett and Link's Golden Advice For Single Men." (A/N Check it out, it's a real video!)

Since it was something relevant to his situation, he decided to watch it.

And as he watched it, a plan began to form in his bored, desperate mind. He just needed someone to help him accomplish it…

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"No."

"Oh, come on, Barton!" Howard threw his hands up in the air, "Tell me you haven't thought of doing something similar."

Nathanial Pietro Barton, AKA, "Nate" screwed an arrow head onto one of the sticks wondering if his friend had completely lost his mind.

"You really want me to answer that honestly?"

Howard nodded.

"Alright: no. And I'm not going to help you fake your own death!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Please don't keep saying that," Nate put the last of his arrows in his quiver, "You're not thinking straight."

"Do people often think straight when they're in love?"

Nate sighed wondering why he put up with Howard at times. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sometimes no," he answered Howard, "but more times than not, if they're the right person, they'll help each other think even more straight than they already are. Just look at my parents! Your parents. Raja's parents. And need I even say Jamie's parents. And, from the looks of it, you're going to need one level headed girl because of what you're planning. I mean, I like Raja, but I'm not about to fake my own death just to grab her attention and put her through pain. Especially with the losses she's already been through Do you want to make Jamie feel the pain of losing someone unnecessarily? That's pretty heartless. Jamie?" He hopped off the bail of hay he had been sitting on and slung his full quiver over one of his shoulders. Relief filled him when he saw that he had gotten his point across to Howard. Howard leaned his back against the closed barn door.

"You're right." he wiped his hand down his face suddenly looking more like a worn out 27 year old man instead of a 17 year old kid. Nate felt bad for him. Never had he seen a situation as friend zoned as Howard and Jamie's, though it may not be as hopeless as it seemed. He had a feeling that maybe Jamie loved Howard back but just didn't know it yet. He just didn't tell Howard because it would probably give him false hope, and even Nate with all of his pranks and smart-Alec attitude (that tended to come with the youngest child of the family) didn't want to do that to him. Even if he was Howard.

Howard suddenly looked up at him as if he just realized something.

"Wait," he took one of his hands out of his leather jacket pockets and pointed at Nate, "you have a thing for Raja Banner?"

Nate blinked. Did he just admit that? To Howard Stark? He blushed and looked away.

Howard smiled and clapped his hands once laughing and walked over to him.

"You do!" he placed one of his hands on one of Nate's shoulders, "Why don't you ask her out? I mean, I'm sure she'll say yes."

Nate looked up at him looking quizzed.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she'll say yes. Or have you not noticed the way she's been looking at you in the last year or so?"

Nate thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I've noticed her looking at me differently; I just didn't know what it meant."

"Well, rest assured, they've been admiring glances that clearly indicating she's been crushing on you. What's holding you back?"

"Well, for one, she's still a minor. Think about it, Stark. I'll be 19 soon and she won't turn 17 for about 5 months."

"Ok, so you're an old man. Look at Raja's parent. I don't think she'll have a problem with it. Can't think of any other reasons, can you?"

"Oh, I can think of a couple," Nate sounded a little deadpanned, "One big hulking green one. And one red headed one. She still calls me a traitor for not being girl."

A moment of silence passed between them. Then Howard spoke.

"Ok, so her dad's a protective guy with a major personality disorder. He likes you though. At least the Bruce Banner part. He's always liked you. And as for Natasha, despite that your nickname is 'traitor' from time to time, she thinks of you like she would her own son. You know that."

"Well, yeah, but I doubt they know that I'm head-over-heels for their one and only daughter. Once that cat's out of the bag, there's no guarantees that 'the other guy' can be contained, and I'll still be a son to Natasha."

"There's no guarantees for anything, Nate. The question is, is she worth the risk?"

Nate tilted his head in agreement.

"You're sounding 100% smarter than when you first walked in here." his smile disappeared. "But seriously, just tell Jamie. You're clearly going out of your mind because you've kept it bottled so long."

Howard shook her head.

"I'll probably lose my friendship with her if I do. I'm not sure if it's worth it."

"I guess that's for you to decide. I just know I'm not helping you fake your own death. As if that could not have an affect on the grapevine of the Avengers family. Want to go in the house? My mom made white chocolate and Macadamia nut cookies."

"Ooo. As much as that sounds tempting, I have to head back. My dad wants me home at a certain time so we can work on some new suit he's been dying to have built."

Nate laughed.

"Alright. See you later, Stark." he left the barn.

"See you, Barton." he left the barn and went to start his red sports car that looked so out of place on the Barton farm.

As he was driving home, he suddenly had to pull over. He felt a blank but stunned expression cross his face.

What had he been thinking?

Alright, so that had taken a entirely different direction than what I had originally expected. I had planned that Howard and Nate actually go through with it but then knew that it couldn't stay isolated because, after all, he's Howard Stark! That couldn't stay within the few people. Not to mention that Jamie would hate Howard the rest of their lives because of what he had done, and she could never trust him again, and rightly so.

Anyway, I knew this was a really serious one, but I guess that it had to come up sometime. I might do a separate drabble of what would happen if they had gone through with it, but I'm not entirely sure. Besides, I think Howard should've been brought to his senses sometime, don't you? On a side note, Howard calling Jamie "Jame" wasn't a typo. That's the nickname that he'll call her sometimes.