Although Tony would never admit it, he enjoyed company. He liked people being near because their presence soothed him, constantly reminding him he wasn't alone. Ever since his time in Afghanistan, when this whole ordeal started, he would have nightmares. Nightmares that detailed the worst case scenarios times ten. When he would wake up in the middle of the night from some god-awful dream, knowing Rhodey, Vision or Natasha was nearby gave him a sense of security.

Right now, Tony was sitting in their beloved lounge, staring silently at the screen of his iPad. Secretary of Defense, Everett K. Ross, had sent him yet another email detailing all this legal stuff that Tony thought was unnecessary. Knowing that this was for the good of the world was the only thing that kept Tony going along with this. Natasha sat next to him, mindlessly playing Temple Run 2 on her phone, while Vision was scanning a copy of Pride and Prejudice, probably thinking of Wanda. Tony sighed at the thought of that. The android that he partially created was into a girl and by how it looked before the whole Civil War went down, it appeared as if she was—dare he say it—into him too? That just seemed really shady to him . . .

Rhodey sat across from him, his feet propped up on an ottoman. Next to Rhodey sat Peter, who was scrolling through something on his lap-top. He quite honestly didn't care what he was doing, as long as he was sitting quietly and not talking.

Tony tried to convince himself that Peter was the problem, when in reality it was the other way around. He knew he was way too hard on the kid, but he felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulder. Before the events of the Civil War, he and Steve Rodgers had co-run the Avengers, and there was no legal work. Also, knowing that his parent's murder was alive and possibly well made him sick.

He told Rhodey about what went down with Bucky and Steve. Rhodey just shook his head, anger crossing his face. Tony was his best friend, and if you messed with Tony, you messed with him.

Rhodey suddenly snickered, making Tony glance up. Across the room, Rhodey was glancing over Peter's shoulder, reading whatever he was looking at. A large smile spread across Rhodey's face. By this time, Natasha had also perked up and was staring at Rhodey and Peter. Peter, however, seemed oblivious to the fact that everyone was staring at him.

"How's Pride and Prejudice, Vision?" Peter mumbled, scrolling down on whatever he was looking at.

Vision set down the book, and stared at him steadily. Peter was still scrolling.

"Uh, Peter," Rhodey said "Is Pride and Prejudice Mary Jane's favorite book?"

Peter's head shot up and he slammed his computer shut.

"You were reading over my shoulder!" he exclaimed, a look of hurt developing on his face.

"If you didn't want me to see that, you shouldn't have been sitting here, scrolling through her Facebook,"

"Oh my god, I have to see this!" Natasha exclaimed, getting up and crossing the room.

Vision rolled his robotic eyes, walked through the wall and out of the room, clutching Pride and Prejudice in his arms. By this time, Natasha had grabbed Peter's laptop and was scrolling through Facebook.

"Aww she's cute!" she exclaimed.

Peter look as if he wanted to sink into the floor. Tony chuckled at his expression. God, that kid made funny faces.

"I love her hair! You have good taste, Peter!" Natasha continued.

"You're only saying you love her hair because it's the same color as yours," Rhodey replied, saucily.

"MJ's hair and Natasha's hair is nothing alike!" Peter retorted, trying to take his laptop back.

"Look at this picture," Rhodey said, pointing to the screen.

"'Going to see In the Heart of the Sea with this beautiful boy!' Look at the picture underneath. Oh no, is she dating that guy?"

"That's Harry Olsen," Peter mumbled "They've been dating on and off."

"Look at the post she posted afterwards! 'omfg that little cabin boy from the movie was like the cutest thing ever. anyone know the actors name?'"

"It's Tom Holland." Tony called from across the room "We watched that movie a few days ago, Rhodey and-"

"You know, Peter. You kind of look like him," Rhodey said, interrupting Tony.

Natasha, still chuckling, handed the laptop back to Peter and stood up.

"I'm gonna hit the gym. You boys interested in coming?"

After all three of them shook their heads, she snorted, and left. Rhodey started laughing again.

"Peter, does "MJ" like Meghan Trainor?"

"Oh my god, Rhodey!"

"Is that why you were listening to that song about the bass in the gym yesterday?"

"The song is called All About That Bass and yes, I was."

Silence.

"I don't ever see her anymore, not that I really ever talked to her or—y'know—anything like that. I don't know. I—I guess it just makes me feel closer than we actually are."

Rhodey frowned sympathetically, while Peter closed his laptop slowly. He sighed, and stood up. Tony's eyes followed the young boy as he walked over to the kitchen area and filled a glass up with water. He seemed sad and lonely for a split second, After Peter finished drinking, he set the glass in the sink, and left, laptop tucked under his arm.

"God, Tony. He doesn't seem so good."

"He was the one who wanted to come here. If he's lonely, that's his own fault, Rhodey."

"Still, he's a kid!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who told everyone who his crush was!"

Rhodey sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Tony, the point is that this whole crush thing might help you relate to him."

"Are you seriously comparing his high school crush to Pepper?"

"No, not just Pepper. Pretty much everything. Tony, you've lost a lot these past few weeks . . . half of the team, Pepper, and, in a way, you lost your parents all over again."

"Thanks for the reminder, dumbass."

"Peter losing MJ might not be a huge thing, but it still hurts him. Reach out to him, try to relate to him through this whole MJ thing, and maybe things will get better between the two of you."

"But—"

"Tony, you know that you've been cruel. He's confused! You were treating him like royalty when you first met him, and now you're treating him like dirt. Dammit Tony. He's kind of lost you too."

Tony set down his iPad and glared at his friend. How could he accuse him of being cruel? He, the man who gave up everything for the sake of the Avengers. He had been beaten up by his friend, reminded of his parent's untimely death, and the fact that Pepper was gone made everything worse. Excuse him if he wasn't ready to become Peter's best friend! After all, Peter had Rhodey, who sat up late into the night talking to him. He had Vision and Natasha too!

Tony was inwardly fuming, his temper about to boil over. He felt like he had a time bomb in him, just a few ticks away from exploding and sending everyone into a dark oblivion.

"I can't walk, Tony. At least not very well. For a while, we might be short an Avenger. If you keep this up, Peter might leave."

Silence.

"Do it for the sake of the Avengers, Tony."

"Fine! I'll try to get some father-son time in with him."

"Atta boy!"

Tony managed a weak smile, and after he helped Rhodey back to his room, he shook his head and groaned.

"Damn, Peter really does look like Tom Holland."