Far From Normal (Peter Parker x Stark!OC)

VII: Homecoming part 1

10/1/18

Julia felt the immediate relief when she got in the car on Monday. She threw her bag in the backseat of the town car and reached over the middle console to the driver's seat, throwing herself on the man in it.

"Oh my god, Happy," she breathed out as the man tried to figure out what was going on.

"Hey," he said, the confusion pretty evident in his voice. Nevertheless, he rested his hand over her arm, just before she pulled away and sat down in her regular seat. "That's a warm welcome, the other guy didn't live up to your favorite driver?"

Julia couldn't help the way she rolled her eyes. Not like she was rolling them because of Happy's bad jokes, but like she was really annoyed at something. Happy had known her long enough to tell the difference. "What happened?" He asked, but she shook her head, telling him she didn't want to talk about it. Happy sighed, starting the car and starting to drive.

"Nothing," she swore, pulling out her phone, waiting for her coffee to kick in. "Do we have time for a Starbucks run?"

Happy sighed, but Julia already had her phone open, and the Starbucks app. "Yeah, I guess." He just hoped that she would tell him what it was that happened while he was gone. It would bother him if his favorite girl wouldn't tell him if something had happened while he was gone. But she was too invested in her phone and texting her boyfriend.

We're grabbing Starbucks what do u want?

whatever you get

So Julia placed the order, without saying another word to Happy. She'd definitely need more coffee before she delved into the entire situation, if she did at all. Happy was impatient as he waited for her to run into the 40th and third Starbucks. He was kicking himself as he waited for her to come back. Had he made the wrong choice, going with Tony? He'd always gone with Tony, and assumed Julia would be okay, she was a bright kid, and he trusted the rest of the security team. But something about Julia's relief when she saw him and her refusal to talk to him told him he was wrong.

The latte seemed to help, she snuggled into the corner of the car, waking up a bit more. "Hey," Happy got her attention again. She looked up, a little more alert. "Did something happen with the other driver?"

"It's," Julia groaned softly, sitting up. "Not a huge deal, I don't want anyone getting fired."

"If someone should be fired, then it's a big deal," Happy said, fighting the urge to pull the car over. Julia just tilted her head back in frustration.

"It's not--" she tried to say, but replayed the issue in her head. "He just," she sighed. "What time do you get me from my games?" she asked, not because she was quizzing him, but because she was making sure she wasn't making the whole thing up.

"I mean they're usually over by five or six, but you're not done until seven, at least," he said. Julia relaxed. She wasn't overreacting. "Why, was he late?"

"He wasn't there," she muttered, and it did in fact make Happy slam on the breaks, so Julia clutched her pumpkin spice latte. "Happy, Jesus," she scolded. She watched him take a breath before he kept driving. "It's not a big deal," she said.

"It is a big deal, Julia," he corrected her, but she couldn't understand what he was so worked up about? She made it home okay, obviously. "That was your safety on the line, didn't your dad tell him to wait?"

Julia scrunched up her nose. She didn't want to admit this, because she didn't like that it was true. "I don't think he knows," she said. Despite her relationship with her dad going in a better direction these days, he still had a lot of getting to know his daughter to do.