Far From Normal (Peter Parker x Stark!OC)

IV

9/17/18

"You're early," Happy commented as Julia hopped into the backseat of the town car, ten minutes before she needed to. She took a deep breath.

"We're picking up Peter," she said. Happy usually looked at Julia for conversations through the rearview mirror, but that didn't cut it for this. He turned around, facing the teenager.

"Parker?" he asked her, and she just rolled her eyes, which was pretty much what he was expecting.

"Do you know of another Peter that I might be asking you to drive to school? The school we both go to?"

"Okay, smart-ass, cut the attitude," Happy turned back around in his seat, and it made Julia giggle just slightly. Happy put the car in drive, maybe a little annoyed to be breaking the routine he'd been following for four years. Sure, he was head of security, but that security included Julia. And he was the only one Tony really trusted to get her to and from school safely. As much as she thought he didn't care, things like this sometimes made up for it.

"I told him we'd give him a ride," she shrugged, buckling up as he got on the road. "You need the address?"

"No, no, I got it." He answered quickly, but stopped himself. Did Julia know what he knew about Peter? Maybe he shouldn't have answered so confidently, but he told himself there were tons of reasons he could know the boy's address, hoping Julia thought the same. But it had piqued her interest. Had Happy been to Peter's house before? Had he been there often? She chalked it up to it being in her dad's database which did make her think maybe she should've taken a look into that before this whole plan. No, that would be an invasion of privacy. Anything she needed to know about Peter, he'd tell her.

Happy however, quickly got more concerned with why they were picking up Peter Parker. They didn't even carpool with Julia's best friend, who lived maybe 30 blocks north of them. Julia could see Happy's skepticism and just smiled innocently, letting go of her own, leaning back in her seat as he drove. He couldn't help but keep eyeing the girl as they continued in the direction of her school, today with a slight detour. He glanced at her as she pulled her favorite red lipstick out of her bag. It accompanied the black and white outfit she was wearing. Over the years Julia had tended to stop caring when she was overdressed, especially since she modeled for a handful of companies and her reputation with them was usually on the line. So she took it upon herself to always look good. But the red lip... that put the outfit over the edge. "You look nice."

Happy's tone was suspicious, and Julia's eyebrows rose as she did her top lip. Did he somehow know what she was up to? He was probably the only one who did, considering he'd caught them together, and hadn't said anything to her about it since.

"I always look nice."

"I know that, but you look particularly nice this morning... maybe for a certain–"

"Don't say it," Julia closed the lipstick tube and her eyes subsequently. Happy just shrugged.

"A certain forbidden boy, might I remind you," he said, making Julia sigh, putting her lipstick back in her backpack.

"If I tell you something can you swear not to tell my dad?"

She could see Happy's eyes narrow in the mirror, waiting for an answer. She had to tell someone about this plan, and she felt awful lying to Happy, who had known her since she was in diapers.

"Kid," he began, and she braced herself for the scolding she was about to get. But it never came. "I keep secrets for a living," he said, noticing the small smile starting to form on her face. "As long as you're not in trouble, secret's safe with me," he said.