Time Stops Between Us

Night to Day

The rest of the day was fun. Ava loved the new environment she was in and felt like she could be herself with her newly-made friends unlike how she was at home. For dinner, Tony ordered Chinese for everyone and it was some of the best food she's ever eaten.

"Here," Tony says and hands Ava something after they cleaned up the Chinese mess. She takes it and tilts her head at him in confusion. "It's a credit card," He tells her.

"I know what a credit card is, but why are you giving it to me?" She asks.

"Everyone gets one around here. Especially the kids. Spend as much as you like and if you need anything, just ask Jarvis."

"Wow, thank you, Mr. Stark," She says and then hugs him. He awkwardly hugs her back.

"Not much of a hugger," He says. "And you can just call me Tony."

"Okay, Tony," It felt weird for her to say his actual name after calling him Mr. Stark for the last week and a half.

"Head back up to your floor. We have an early day tomorrow," He says. She scrunches her face up, but nods, walking toward the elevator.

"Hey, kid," Tony says. She turns back around, waiting for him to talk. He opens his mouth to talk and then shuts it, simply muttering, "Night."

She smiles and waves a little. "G'night." She makes her way into the elevator and lets out a breath, feeling at home with everyone. She did miss her dad, but Tony was like a father figure to her so far. She makes a mental note to text her dad before she goes to bed. Knowing him, he's probably watching TV, and getting ready for bed because of work.

Once the elevator dings, she was bombarded by hugs from all her new friends. Yelena didn't join the hug as she awkwardly avoids looking over at the group. She felt a little left out, frowning slightly, but she didn't like a lot of affection due to the way she grew up.

"You took forever. We were about to start playing Fortnite without you," Peter says, making his way back onto the couch to play, and then laughs at Ava's reaction. She let out an offended gasp at what he said. Everyone had sat back down. Wanda was on the floor in front of the couch, leaning her head back to look at Ava, admiring her. The girl was leaning against the back of the couch with a faux-offended expression

"You wouldn't dare," Ava says, narrowing her eyes at the boy. He shrugs, making a face as he does. He hands her a controller, offering her to go first. She shakes her head, handing it back.

"I have to do something first, but I want next game, okay?" She tells them. Wanda watches her as she leaves the room, entering her own. Kate nudges her with a smirk.

"Wanda has a crush," She says lowly and Wanda's eyes go wide, a blush forming on her face. She shakes her head no repeatedly

"I do not," She defends, glaring at the older girl.

"No, you definitely do, сестра (sister)," Pietro says, agreeing with Kate. "It's pretty obvious. In the little time that we've known her, you've been obsessing over her. I've noticed the little glances and the not-so-subtle ones," He says, amused. The brunette was sitting there with an unreadable expression. She gets up and goes to her room, trying to calm her nerves down so she doesn't have an episode.

Meanwhile, Ava was in her room trying to stop herself from crying. As much as she loved it here, she missed home. She missed her dogs and her family. Mainly her dad and sister though. She wasn't as close with her mom as she used to be. She did love her brothers from her mom, but she was always with her dad and sister. They were her best friends.

She shakenly takes her phone out, dialing her dad's number. He picks up a couple of seconds after.

"What's up, Av? I was about to go to sleep," He says and she puts her phone on speaker, tossing it beside her on the bed.