❛ Watch your mouth ❜

"Anthony Edward Stark, what the flying fuck have you done?" Andy snapped the evening she woke up. She had checked her phone after her much-needed nap and immediately saw 'I can't wait!' from none other than Peter Parker. The girl was confused, but when she checked her messages and saw a reply from herself when she was sleeping, she knew Tony had responded for her and now she was going on a date with her classmate. This was why she didn't like to go to sleep. So now, she was standing in the kitchen with her teammates while very angrily trying to get an explanation from Tony Stark for what he had done.

"Melisande Aiza Dubois, watch your mouth!" Steve reprimanded her from where he sat at the counter, watching the girl glare at her feet as she spoke to Tony. The girl snapped her head up to stare angrily at Steve and raised her hand up to halt him from saying anything else. His eyes widened at the teenager before him and he looked at Natasha and Wanda as if he were questioning if they just saw what the girl did. Wanda smirked and flipped the next page of the book she was reading while Natasha just rolled her eyes at Steve. Sam, however, was enjoying his bowl of popcorn with a grin. Rhodes and Vision, well, they were kind of just wandering around.

"Flying fuck? That's new," Tony snorted from the other end of the phone. Andy could practically hear his smirk and that angered her even more than the text message did. "Don't try to change the subject on me," she seethed, her hand squeezing her cell phone so tight that Wanda thought it was going to snap in half. "You texted Peter Parker that I would go on a date with him. In what world did you think that would be okay?"

Tony rolled his eyes as he walked around his tower. He flicked his hand up at Happy Hogan and shooed him out of the room so he could toss his phone onto his desk while Andy's voice shouted through the speaker phone. "Just go along with it," he told the girl, carelessly leaning back in his chair as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Go along with it? Are you insane? Are you actually insane?"

"You're a kid, you're supposed to be living!" he told her, throwing his hands up to his side. He remembered when he was a kid. There was a certain thrill that came with going on dates and making out in the backseat of your car. "You need a love life."

Andy narrowed her eyes at the phone screen that she was now holding out in front of her and it took all her power not to slam her cell on the ground. "I am fourteen years old."

"I stand firm in my previous statement."

Steve sighed and looked over at Natasha who was toying with a knife in her hands. He shook his head at the girl before standing up and walking over to the sink where Andy was standing. "She doesn't need a love life, Tony. Don't encourage her."

"You're just saying that because you never got to ask a girl on a date back where you had to court the chick," Tony said with his infamous eye roll. Steve was ready to snap back a response when Nat interrupted without even looking up from her dagger, "You walked right into that one."

Andy narrowed her eyes at her team and growled, hinting that they needed to not jump into her heated argument. Sam pointed to Steve and he raised his hands in surrender following. "Tony, I swear to Thor -- "

"I love you," he blurted out, shocking Andy to the point that she froze and stared at Natasha as if she needed her to tell her what to say next. It wasn't that it was strange, it's just that it was from Tony. And Tony didn't show affection much, aside from the kisses her gave her on the forehead when he visited or the hugs that assured her everything was going to be okay. 

Natasha only stared blankly at the girl and the silence was broken by Sam who lowly chuckled, "Oh, man, this is getting so good," he said while stuffing another handful of popcorn into his mouth. 

Anna took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Tony -- "

"You have to say it back or I can't hang up," he told her. "Tony!"

"Say it," he drained on, his voice not getting any easier to listen to as he pestered her for a reply. Andy paused and dropped her head back in exasperation, a loud and annoyed sigh leaving her mouth. 

"I love you, too," she mumbled to him. "I can't hear you, what was that?"

"I love you, too!" she shouted a little louder, Steve smiling softly to himself as he grabbed a water from the fridge and sat back down at the counter. Andy could have sworn she saw Wanda cheer to herself but the girl had quickly gone back to reading that she had no proof. But Sam only continued to stuff his face with the salty snack and Natasha looked at the reflection in her knife. "Thank you. Now, I'll see you after your date. Goodbye."

Andy screamed Tony's name one more time into the phone only to be met with silence. She stared angrily at the blank screen and narrowed her eyes before throwing the phone across the room. It made contact with the couch, luckily, and bounced off the cushion. "Nice aim," Natasha said with an impressed nod. Andy whipped around and stared at her, hatred filling the room as it radiated off Andy.

Tony Stark had done messed up.

•••

By the time lunch had come the next day, Andy was completely and totally nervous for her date that night with Peter. She had never gone on date - no, she had never even had a crush on anyone. It didn't help that Steve was trying to do everything in his power to keep her from going on the date and keeping her as his 'Little Melly.' And none of the rest of her team was any help. Vision was practically useless in the romance department, Natasha kept telling Andy to fight him and see if he was worth it, Rhodes just told her to be calm and act normal, and Sam and Wanda were trying to help but ended up freaking her out even more.

She had been able to subtly avoid Peter all morning, but now it was lunch and as she sat across from Michelle, she looked to her left and noticed Peter laughing as Ned told some joke. Andy's heart felt like it was melting and she sighed, stabbing her fork into the questionable meat sitting in front of her. Michelle poked her head above her book and eyed the girl before her, and with a sigh, she set the book down and tilted her head, "Okay, what's wrong?"

Andy looked up and cringed, "Is it that obvious?"

Michelle rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, her fingers drumming the hard cover of her book. "You look like your contemplating life or death," she replied. Andy shrugged and narrowed her eyes at the teenager, "Have you ever been on a date?"

Michelle stared at her with the blankest expression on her face, "Ask me that again," she directed, watching Andy's frown morph into a smile as she laughed. After her chuckles died down, she grew serious, "I've never," she said in return.

"Where did this come from?"

Andy pursed her lips and glanced over at Peter, a small smile tugging at her lips as she watched him argue with Ned over which Star Wars movie was the best. "Peter and I are going on a date tonight."

Her reply was not what Michelle was expecting and she nearly flipped out of her chair, the legs of it scraping against the tiled floor as she tried to stabilise herself again. "Seriously? Peter Parker has the balls to ask you on a date? This is going down in the history books," she remarked. Andy grinned and picked at the muffin on her tray. "I'm excited, but mostly nervous. What do I wear?"

"I don't even own a hairbrush, And," she snorted, picking her book back up and flipping to the page that the corner was folded down on. Andy bit her lower lip and looked up, trying to create a mental image of what she had in her closet. "Oh, well, uh, maybe jeans and a nice shirt?"

There was no response from Michelle who just stared at the girl as she tried to plan an outfit. Finally, becoming frustrated with herself, Andy threw her head back and groaned, "You know what? I'll just ask Pappy. He'll tell me what to do."

 Now Michelle smirked and she tried to contain her laugh. "I love that man. He told Flash that puberty hits people late sometimes and that he shouldn't worry when he'll get his chance," she reminisced. Andy choked on the water she was sipping and Michelle let out a happy sigh, "Pappy Joe is a fucking icon," she finished.