Shards

Its only a failure if it explodes

--that night–

"Hey," Harley greets, taking a step out of his room, his hand on the doorframe at his shoulder height.

I turn to face him, stopping my steps. I smile, "Hey."

He returns the smile, looking at his feet for a second before looking back up, "you going to bed?"

"Yeah. I'm a bit drained." I admit.

His hand shifts, lifting off the door frame before resting back on it, "Care for a goodnight hug?"

"Always," my heart warms slightly at his question. I take a few steps towards him when he opens his arms. I wrap my arms around his torso, and he wraps his around my shoulders. I rest my chin on his shoulder, tilting the side of my head to touch his. 

He rubs my back slowly, his head tilted down. "Sleep good," he murmurs.

"It's 'sleep well'," I mutter, a smile tugging at my lips.

"You ruined it," he laughs, but doesn't pull away. "i poured my heart into my 'sleep good'"

"A for effort, I guess" I sigh. "Very sentimental"

He moves his arms, and I lean away just a bit, thinking he's gonna pull away. But I stop when his hands gently cup my jaw, his touch light to let me pull away if I wanted. I look up at him, my heart speeding up. He leans forward to press a soft kiss to my forehead, "Goodnight, Harper... Sleep well" He pulls away, stepping back after letting his hands drop. He turns to his room and goes in, shutting the door with a quiet click. 

I turn, walking to my room slowly. I go into my room, shutting the door behind me. My hand drops from the handle. He kissed me. My forehead. That wasn't a friend kiss, right? Peter never did that before he started dating MJ. I go to my closet, grabbing pajamas. He didn't have a crush on me. I wasn't pretty. I pull off my shirt, pulling my sleep shirt over my head. Did I even like him? I step out of my pants. I care for him. A lot. But we only knew each other for a couple months. I pull on shorts. But recently we almost spend the whole day together. I fix my blankets. Most people get together after like a week. Harley is my best friend, though. What if Tony limits our time hanging out? What if I like him, but my feelings fade? What if I hurt him?

I push my hair away from my face. I close my eyes. My heart stutters when I remember his light touch on my face. I lay down, "God help me," I mutter, pulling the blanket over me.

—---

Dec 3

"Jarvis, where's Tony?" I ask, walking down the hallway.

"mr. Stark is in lab 4" Jarvis answers

"Which floor is that?" I ask, stepping into the elevator. He tells me which floor, and I click the button.

When I get down there, I only take one step out of the elevator. "Tony?"

"Over here, Skippy!" He raises a gloved hand, lifting his welding visor.

"Hey," I walk over.

"What's up?" He sets down the welding tool after shutting it off.

"I decided... for the adoption." I tell him.

"Okay," he slides off his gloves, "who?"

"Steve," I fiddle with my hoodie sleeve. "And Nat."

Tony nods, "Alright. You tell them yet?"

"no, um, I was thinking I could surprise them with the papers to sign." I explain.

He smiles, "Alright. We can do that. I'll call my lawyer and tell him you made your decision."