Stark And The Spider

Making It Up

(Stark's P.O.V.)

I sit on the floor for a few more minutes before hearing a soft knock on the door. Immediately I stand up, brushing myself off and making me look presentable, collected, and confident.

I walk towards the door and slowly open it, revealing my dad, looking very unkempt and not well.

I suppress my concern and try to remain a bitter teen. "Yes?"

"Can I come in?" He asks softly.

So now he's asking?

Still trying not to let on how concerned I am, I nod silently and step aside to let him in.

We walk over to my sitting area, my dad sitting on the couch, and me sitting on my reading chair.

We sit in a tense silence until my dad finally speaks, voice slightly shaky. "I wanted to apologize."

I look up at him with my eyebrows raised. "You do?"

"Yes. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. And I'm sorry."

I sit in silence, allowing him to continue speaking.

"I was just scared." He continues. "I'm scared of losing you. I've lost so many people in my life and I would never forgive myself if I were to let you become one." He keeps eyecontact with me the entire time he's speaking. "You are the smartest, bravest, most talented girl I know, and I know you will grow up to do such great things, and I'm so, so proud of you."

I feel my eyes getting slightly misty.

"I'm so proud, but I'm also terrified. I'm terrified because I know how reckless, and spontaneous you can be. I know that you sometimes act before you think. I know your intentions are always pure, but the outcome of the situation won't be every time. You never know what time could be your last." His voice was slightly more steady now. Quiet, but more steady. "I'm terrified because you are so much like me and it scares me. It really does. Because I know how reckless I am. I don't see myself as a roll model. I really don't. I want you to be better than I am. Smarter, more mature, and safer. You terrify me because you're just like me. And...and I don't want to turn into my dad. I don't want you to think that I don't care about you, and I never want to make you think that you have to do these reckless stunts just to make me notice and be proud of you. I notice you just the way you are. And I'm proud of you. I love you. I want you to stay safe."

I bite my lip. "I love you too, dad." I say, my voice breaking.

I stand up and walk over to sit beside my dad on the couch. I snuggle up against him and lean against his side. He raps his arm around me and kisses the top of my head.

"...You aren't grounded..." he mumbles into my hair.

"Thank you dad."

We sit there in comfortable, relieved silence.

He heard my conversation...

I don't really care.

We stay that way for a while, sitting together, relieved now that everything was finally out in the open.  My dad rubs my shoulder with his thumb, casually, but protectively rubbing it back and forth, and that's when I realize: I don't have to be strong all the time. I really don't. My dad can let his guard down, so can I. It's okay for someone else to look after me sometimes. Especially if it's my dad. It doesn't mean I can't stand on my own, it doesn't mean I'm not independent, it just means that I'm cared for, that I'm loved.

That I can let my guard down.

"You can go out with Peter..." My dad says eventually. "If that's what you want."

"I'll stay with you for a bit..." I mumble. "If that's okay."

"Of course."

We continue to sit in comfortable silence. I snuggle into my dad, leaning my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It's steady and I find it soothing. 

Soothing, and constant. Change happens so much around us so quickly...it's nice to have some things always stay the same.

Slowly I find my eyelids beginning to get heavy.

And heavier.

And heavier.

And suddenly, my eyes close fully and I'm transported to somewhere else.

.......................................................................................

"Daddy?" I called out into the vast dark void.

Suddenly, I'm 7 years old again. 

The lights flickered on and I saw my dad step out from his lab. He looks down at me. "Hey sweetheart. Wanna see what I've been working on?" He asked me excitedly.

I looked up at him with the biggest grin my small chubby grin could muster. "Yeah!"

He grinned too and lead me into his lab, crouching down to keep a hand on my shoulder.

I skipped around inside his lab looking around at everything in wonder.

"Over here!" My dad called, smiling even wider. He gestured to the pink bow sitting on the work desk. I ran over to it.

I tilted my head to the side in curiosity. "What does it do?"

He crouched down to my level and picked up the bow. He pressed down on the middle and a screen the size of a small tablet popped out. The word 'Dialing' appeared in pink writing on the black screen.

His digital watch began to flicker green and beep. He pressed the screen, and both screens, the bow one and his watch one, lit up. On the bow screen, it was his face smiling at me. I looked up at the real him, who is looking down at his watch.

"Hi sweetheart." He said and the screen echoed.

I grinned at him and turned to the screen. "Hi daddy."

He laughed and shut the screen off. Then he turned to me. "This way you can contact me at anytime. Like when I'm away at work...or--"

"Or when you're off saving the world." I finished for him, grinning wide. "You're a superhero!" I exclaimed, extra emphasis on the U.

He smiled softly. "Yeah. You'll be one too someday I bet." He grinned mischievously, before lifting me up by my stomach, moving me around the air as if I was flying.

"Whoo!" I laughed.

He plopped me down and held me in his arms as he walked out of the room. 

I fiddled with the pink bow in my hands. "Daddy, how can you invent such cool stuff?"

He looked at me. "You can build anything out of anything if you have the mind for it. And trust me, you do."

"I do?"

"Of course you do! You're my daughter! One day you'll invent things even better then what I invent. Trust me."

"I will?"

"Of course. You can do anything you put your mind to. I believe in you." He hugged me in his arms.

...................................................................................................

I wake up from relieving one of my favourite, and most inspiring memories, still cuddling with my dad, who had also fallen asleep. I smile as I slowly get up, searching for a blanket. Finally finding a soft enough one, I drape it across my dad, pulling it up to his shoulders. I softly adjust him so he's leaning against a pillow.

"Sweet dreams." I whisper.