"Have fun at school, Peter!" Tony says, pressing a kiss to the kid's temple before ushering him onto the waiting school bus.

"Bye, Daddy!" Peter shouts, giggling loudly as he skips up the steps of the bus.

"I can't remember a day when I was happy about going to school," Carol laughs when Tony re-enters the house.

Peter's been going to school for about three months and it's been easy between the family. Tony's still working at the grocery store, fixing cars, and starting his new business. Carol has been promoted up a floor in her government building but is still a secretary. Rhodey has enlisted for the military but probably won't hear back for another couple months.

"I still can't believe he's already so old," Tony says. There's a hint of melancholy behind his voice despite the teasing tone. "He's going to be graduating before we know it."

"Graduating kindergarten, yeah, but he's never leaving high school if I have any say about it. He's going to stay little forever," Rhodey says, walking down the steps.

"I wish," Tony sighs. He knows that the older Peter gets, the more expensive it'll get. New clothes and hobbies and more food. But they'll have better incomes then and it'll be okay. At least he hopes so.

"What are your plans for today?" Carol asks, heading into the kitchen to finish eating her breakfast.

"I've got work all day. I'm heading out in a few minutes," Rhodey replies, checking his watch quickly. It's a shitty knock-off watch that he's had since he started University. Tony's had to fix it at least a dozen times since then, but he refuses to buy a new one.

"Same here," she says, shrugging as she checks the clock over her shoulder. They only have one car to share between the three of them, normally saved for Saturday Groceries and picking up Peter because gas is expensive. "My ride's going to be here any minute."

Carol always carpools to work with a nearby co-worker. She doesn't have to pay her friend anything if she brings coffee occasionally with her. Rhodey takes the city bus out.

"I've got a short shift at the grocery and then a car to fix this afternoon before picking up Peter. I'm having an appointment with the bank tomorrow after work, so could one of you pick the kid up at two?" Tony says.

"We're both working, Tones," Carol says with a sigh. "I can get off early, though and get him."

"You're the best," the mechanic says, kissing her on the cheek before following Rhodey out the door to the bus station.

*

Tony's almost finished his four-hour shift at the grocery store, mostly spent restocking shelves and helping cashier's when they need it. Cash spots are better, but they're reserved mostly for students so Tony doesn't mind restocking instead.

"Um, excuse me?" Tony turns to find the source of the voice and his jaw almost drops. Before him stands a tall man with short blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a kind smile.

"Yes?" Tony forces himself to say, schooling his expression into one of nonchalance like he wasn't just internally drooling over the customer.

"Could you help me find your soup? I'm looking for chicken noodle, but I couldn't find any with the rest of your soup," the man says, running his fingers through his hair nervously.

He easily stands half a foot above Tony, making him feel smaller than he normally does, so he flashes a confident smile.

"We have a display right now in the produce section for it. Come on," he says, waving his hand in a gesture to follow as he leads the way into the produce.

"Oh, thanks. I can't believe I didn't see it," the blond says with a childish smile. "Thanks for helping me..."

"Tony. I'm Tony."

"Steve Rogers," he says, reaching a hand out. Tony shakes it without hesitation, just like how Howard taught him.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Steve," Tony replies, turning to walk away.

"Wait!" Steve calls, face flushing darkly. "When do you get off your shift? You look like you could use a coffee?"

Tony can't help the smile that crosses his face. He and Cat are on good terms, not quite friends but somewhere close to that. She still felt bad for asking him out and then getting back with her ex, but Tony understood. He doesn't see why this could be a bad thing.

"I get off in about twenty minutes."

Steve's face lights up like a child's on Christmas. "Perfect! I'll just hang around until you're done!"

Tony never had those teenage days of being excited about first dates, so he feels like he deserves the rush of exhilaration through his veins as he heads back to continue restocking his shelves.

The next twenty minutes feel like the longest of Tony's life, but soon enough he's signing out and heading to the front of the store.

Steve's waiting, just as promised, leaning back against the wall with a serene smile, a bag hanging from his hand.

"Soup," Steve explains half-heartedly as he lifts the bag. There's a little bit of clanging as the cans knock against each other.

Tony can't help the laughter that bursts from him at that, rolling his eyes jokingly at Steve.

"C'mon," Steve says, shaking his head as Tony catches his breath. "My car's out front. We'll go to that café on third street."

"Sounds perfect. It's been like five hours since I've had coffee and I'm dying," Tony groans, accepting the hand that Steve outstretches to him.

Steve laces their fingers together and leads him out to the parking lot. It's not too busy for midday on a Thursday, but there's still a handful of people milling about in the autumn weather.

They arrive to an old truck. It's dark red and rusty around the edges, pretty obviously used and old.

"It's not the most beautiful but it gets me from Point A to Point B," Steve says with a laugh. He lets go of Tony's hand to go around to driver's side and get into the truck, Tony following suit.

The truck is relatively clean, only a few old wrappers in the cup holders and a dancing flower on the dashboard.

It takes a few tries for Steve to get the truck going, but soon they're driving down the street towards the café. They could've walked, but Tony's tired after his shift of work.

"I could fix it," Tony says, laying a hand flat on the dashboard to feel the rumbling of the car. "Your truck, I mean. I'm a mechanic. I could fix it for you."

"Oh, um, you don't need to. I don't really need it-"

"If you buy me coffee, I'll fix your truck," Tony wagers. He would've felt awful if Steve bought him the coffee without anything in return anyway. This is something he's good at.

Steve glances over at him in surprise, a small smile touching his lips. "That- That sounds nice. Thank you."

Tony doesn't respond, turning his head to look out the window on the passing houses.

"How old are you? What do you do?" Steve asks, starting up a new conversation with ease.

"I'm twenty-one. I work at that grocery store part-time, freelance mechanic, and I'm starting my own business," Tony answers honestly. He realizes a moment later that he hasn't mentioned Peter. And when his stomach twists, he realizes he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to potentially ruin this fun date by telling Steve he's a single dad who had a kid when he was seventeen. It doesn't seem like something you tell someone when you meet.

"That's cool. I'm a personal trainer." No surprise there, Tony thinks, glancing down at Steve's arm muscles, practically bursting at the seams of his shirt. "And I have a part-time job at a pet store."

"Really?" Tony gasps, jaw-dropping at that.

Steve laughs loudly, glancing over at Tony again as he pulls into a parking lot. "I get that a lot. The personal trainer thing is a little obvious, but I get a lot of surprise for that one. Pets are cute, okay?"

"Dogs or cats?" Tony asks, biting his bottom lip.

"Dogs, obviously. There's only one right answer. If you say cats, I'm not buying you that coffee," the blond jokes. His smile is wide and full, blue eyes sparkling like the sun bouncing off the ocean.

Tony feels like he's falling in love.

"Obviously, dogs!" he exclaims, pushing open his car door. "Who would even pick cats?"

"Right? My roommate liked cats better and I never understood it," Steve says, opening his own door as well. Steve walks around the truck, meeting Tony on the other side and looping their arms together as they walk into the café.

"How do you like your coffee?" Steve says as Tony basks in the warmth of the building.

"Black," Tony answers. "I'll find us a table."

Steve heads to the counter and arrives back to the table within a few minutes, setting a cup in front of Tony and holding onto one for himself.

"I don't know how you can drink black coffee," Steve says, wrinkling his nose.

"What did you get? Double-Double?" Tony guesses, taking a content sip from his coffee. It burns his taste buds but brings a wonderful warmth to his throat and stomach.

"Hot chocolate." A blush dances across his skin at that, cradling his cup carefully against his chest.

"What's your biggest regret?" Tony asks. His eyes have narrowed a little as he watches Steve. There has to be something wrong about the wonderful man sitting across from him. There has to be some deep dark secret that'll prove he's a terrible person. There's no way Steve is actually real.

Steve bursts into his loud laughter, covering his mouth with one of his hands as he rocks forward with his laughs.

"It's not funny," Tony says, pouting half-heartedly. There's no way Steve is really here, sitting with him. There's no way Steve- laughs at everything, loves dogs, drinks hot chocolate instead of coffee, works at a pet store, personal trainer, kinder than anyone- Rogers is really sitting with Tony.

"Fine. I'm sorry," Steve says, rolling his eyes teasingly as he gets his laughter under control. His face is flushed, a mixture of the warm drink and the laughing, and it makes his eyes stand out more. "My biggest regret is letting people bring me down. Believe it or not, I was a scrawny kid when I was in middle school and everyone picked on me. I let it get to me more than I should've and it took a long time for me to realize that they were just stupid kids. I shouldn't have let them tear me down as I did. I spent way too many hours of my childhood wishing I were someone else. I think my biggest regret is not forgiving them. They were just kids that I spent too much time hating because they hated me."

Fuck. Now, it's Steve- laughs at everything, loves dogs, drinks hot chocolate instead of coffee, works at a pet store, personal trainer, kinder than anyone, biggest regret is hating his bullies for making him self-conscious- Rogers. Tony is screwed.

"Now you go," Steve says, the smile never leaving his face. Tony doesn't think he's seen him frown yet.

"My biggest regret..." Tony's head swims with the hundreds of reasons he has to hate himself. The hundreds of things he wishes he did differently. The hundreds of things he regrets. "My biggest regret is letting my father control my life. My biggest regret is trying so hard to get his approval even though it didn't matter. It never mattered. I should've lived how I wanted to, now how he wanted me to."

Steve's smile somehow gets brighter and he lifts his hot chocolate in Tony's direction.

Tony picks up his coffee and taps the edge of his cup against Steve's.

"To not caring what other people think," he says.

"To being who we want to be," Tony agrees.

*
Tony ends up cutting the date short, knowing he needs to go pick Peter up from school. Steve offers him a ride home, but Tony doesn't want him to know about Peter just yet. He wants some part of his life that Peter doesn't need to know about and that Steve doesn't need to know about Peter.

When Peter gets home, he immediately heads up for a nap, claiming to be really tired after a long day at school. Tony doesn't question it because his phone is ringing and his stomach twists when he recognizes the number.

"What do you want?" Tony demands, beginning to pace the living room.

"Did you think I just wouldn't find out about this?" Howard says, voice low and gravely with his anger. Tony wouldn't be surprised if he was drunk too. "You thought you could get away with this?"

Tony and Howard haven't spoken since that time in University when Peter had gotten sick. Tony never called and he never got any calls. The closest thing they got to contacting was through Tony's mother, but even that was a rarity.

"Find out what?" Tony asks, genuinely confused.

"Stark Industries? That's what you're calling it?" Howards says, voice raising quickly.

Tony's footsteps falter. "How'd you find out?"

"My financial assistant told me that you got a bank loan. Believe it or not, I still keep tabs on you, son." The word is spit with as much venom and loathing as possible.

"Why? It's not like you care about me," Tony says, rolling his eyes despite knowing Howard can't see him.

"You're still my son. Biologically, at least. And your bad publicity will cause me bad publicity. I don't want to have to go fixing your mistakes anymore." Howard sounds tired despite having never lifted a finger. He just has to throw money at people and they'll do his bidding.

"Good thing it's not a mistake, then. Stark Industries will focus on environmentally-friendly energy systems and biochemical engineering and curing diseases! I don't know, but it'll sure as hell be better than whatever the fuck you're doing," Tony hisses, free hand clenching into a fist at his side.

"I'm making money, that's what I'm doing."

"You're killing people! You're making weapons that kill people, that start wars!" Tony says, pausing to take a few deep breaths. He doesn't want to wake Peter with his arguing. "You can't stop me from doing this."

"I'm not worried about you becoming better than me. I'm not jealous. I don't want you to waste the little money you have by creating these projects when it'll inevitably fail," Howard sneers.

"Well fuck you. This isn't going to fail and I'll prove it to you when I win. When I become the one known as Stark and you'll be forgotten. When I'm refusing you the money to pay your rent. So, fuck you and fuck off."

"How's that going, huh? How's rent? How's your kid's health? Have you given up yet?"

"Believe it or not, I'm doing fantastic, father," Tony spits. He wants to rub it in Howard's face even if it's still tough sometimes. "I've got a four-bedroom house with two of my friends from Uni. I've graduated. I have jobs and paychecks and more than enough money for rent. So, guess what? I don't need you. I never needed you. I didn't need your pity money or your help. I could do it all on my own."

Howard's silent for a few moments and Tony's chest swells with pride.

Finally, "I'll sue you for copying my ideas."

"They're not your ideas. I'm not touching anything military. No weapons. You can't prove that any of it is your ideas," Tony says, unable to help the smirk that curls his lips. He's finally won.

"It's my name. You can't call it Stark Industries."

"It's my name too, Howard. Or did you forget? I am your son. Biologically, at least. Stark's my last name too. You have nothing on me. You can't stop me from doing what I want."

"Don't bother calling," Howard hisses.

"Wasn't planning on it. Don't bother calling me either."

Tony hands up and tosses his phone onto the couch, watching it bounce harmlessly against the cushion with a triumphant smile. He won. His dad will never stop him from doing what he wants. His dad will never ruin his life again.

Howard was never his family.

He has his family right here. Carol, a smartass who rivals his sarcasm and buys cheap wine for them to celebrate the little things. Rhodey, the strongest shoulder to cry on and support them and who always takes care of them when they can't. And Peter who loves dinosaurs and math and is already being considered for the Gifted Program of the school and who lights up every room he walks into.

His family and he wouldn't trade it for the world. 

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Proof-reading?? I don't know her?? WHooPS

Lyss