Broken Pieces ━ Tony Stark

viii. Take It Easy

𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐒.
𝒗𝒊𝒊𝒊. take it easy

          𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐇𝐀𝐃 a lot of things to worry about. One being that her husband came off drunk off his ass in the dead of the night before immediately retreated to his workshop to tinker with his suit. She knew this because it was what he did lately but she felt awful. There had been a time when he would simply climb into bed beside her, lace his fingers with hers and they'd talk until the morning came up. It hadn't been that way in a while. She also knew this because despite the fact that he'd soundproofed his forgery, she heard the sound of loud rock music, Tony hammering away at metal and the occasional cursing.

          Topanga had found that, since he was abducted, she couldn't sleep all that well until he was sure that got home safely. She knew that the things that she'd said had hurt him and she knew that it had affected him. He'd looked as if he was caving in and it hurt her to know that she was responsible for it. The last thing that she ever wanted was to hurt him but he'd wanted her to tell him the truth and she'd promised herself that she wouldn't lie to him any longer. She'd never wanted to hurt him; she just wished she could turn back the hands of the clock and go back to the time that it was just the two of them against the world.

          She was just so exhausted.

          Topanga couldn't help wonder when she'd get a break. She was always working, always making sure that everybody else was okay and she wasn't completely sure that she was. She'd spent so much of her life working herself to the bone and worrying about everybody else. She truly thought that she deserved a little break.

          It was the first time in a while that she'd gotten to take a break. She laid her head against the desk, letting all of her worried take a backseat for a few minutes. She could feel herself drifting away after a spending the last night staring at the ceiling. For a moment, she'd nearly forgotten where she was when the door slid open quietly. The sound was followed by soft footsteps and Topanga blinked sleep away from her eyes as she scrambled to get up.

          "Aw, sweetie. Rest, you deserve it." Topanga glanced up to find herself staring at her best friend who looked at her with eyes full of pity and concern.

          Ignoring her words, Topanga picked up the nearest reflective surface that she could find. A steel stapler. In the small image of herself, she looked nothing like she remembered. Once, she'd considered herself pretty; beautiful even. And she supposed that that much could have been said now but she also looked exhausted. Under her eyes were dark circles and her forehead was creased with frown lines that she had not had a few years ago.

          "Everything okay?" Alex asked, her eyes trained on the woman that she'd known she was in college. She watched as Topanga's hands moved to her hair in an attempt to make herself seem more put together than she really was.

          Alex knew her better than anybody else. They'd met in college as they were roommates and in the beginning, they seemed like the most unlikely friends. Alex, rash and instinctive while Topanga was thoughtful and maternal. But they worked well together. Alex was the godmother to every single one of her children and she'd trust her with her life and more importantly, her family's life.

           Topanga hardly had to think about the question. Her response was almost involuntary. It didn't really matter whether or not she was fine. She wasn't sure that there was my other way. "Yeah," she started, her eyes moving up to meet her friend's. "I'm fine."

         Alex crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze stern on Topanga. "Topanga, you can lie to everybody else but you can't lie to me."

          Topanga couldn't think of an answer. She wasn't sure that there was anything that could say to that. She wasn't sure that she was fine. She hadn't been in such a long time that she hardly recognized when she was alright. She let her eyes wander over to the plaques on the wall of the empty room in an attempt to avoid eye contact with her best friend. "It's okay to not be fine. You're allowed to be angry or sad. And you're allowed to feel lonely, Topanga. You're human."

          Topanga scoffed to herself and when she spoke, her voice sounded alien to her. "That's a nice sentiment, Alex but I can't be sad or angry or lonely because they need me. My family needs me and I need to be strong for them." She turned her head slightly in the mirror to see that she didn't look like she'd been recently crying. "Good enough."

            Alex couldn't help but give a weak smile. She was proud of Topanga, so damn proud. She'd come a long way from the anxiety ridden woman who was terrified to love anybody because she was certain that she didn't deserve it. She couldn't bring herself to try to say anything else either because there was really nothing that she could say that would change Topanga's mind. That was the sort of person that she was. She was stubborn and strong and she had a heart that was too big for her own good.

            She reached out and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear before patting her shoulder lightly. "Just take it easy," she whispered, even though she knew very well that Topanga never did.

            Before her friend could reply, the door to the office swung open and behind it was Lizzie, the woman from the reception in the front hall who always baked sugary snickerdoodles over the weekend and always had extras left over to  share with Topanga. It was strange to see Lizzie without her bright grin on her face. Instead, her features were drawn, her breath shallow and a smear of blood was on the side of her face.

         Topanga knew instantly that something was wrong. The woman was speaking too quickly, her eyes opened too widely and her hand shaking so much that she had to clutch the edge of the door to keep herself stable. She slurred her words, struggling to breath as she spoke. Topanga could only grab bits and pieces of the words she spoke . "I'm glad you're here ... unresponsive ... I thought you should know."

           Topanga's mind often thought only of the worst possible things and in that moment, there were about a twenty different situations that she'd played over. None of them were good. The most vivid of all was an image of Tony bleeding out, struggling to breath. Her breath caught in her throat. "W-who? Who, Lizzie?"

           Lizzie took a deep breath, her expression poised to deliver the bad news. "It's your son, Topanga. He's here. There was an accident."

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𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄.

━ 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄| 𝟎𝟗.𝟎𝟑.𝟏𝟗 | I kind of want to publish the next two chapters but I don't want it to be too much