if you could tell me i'm the only one that you love
Ever since Harley Keener was small, she had always admired the soulmate system.
She was never one to enjoy cheesy rom coms, kisses on the beach under a magnificent sunset or males being 'chivalrous' (read: males thinking females were incapable of doing things on their own, because they were apparently 'damsels in distress', or 'inferior', as they tended to say). She liked keeping things simple, yet effective.
Nevertheless, she enjoyed hearing the story of her parent's first meeting every now and again.
Meaning, every single day.
She couldn't have been happier. At five years old, she had finally gotten a sister, after months of begging, sobbing and puppy dog eyes. The next three years were undoubtedly some of the happiest ones of her life. She was so blinded by happiness she couldn't see the signs, the clues.
Until one day, they ran her over, leaving her completely fucked up.
That was none other than the day her dad left her.
At eight years old, she had not fully understood what was happening. She came home from school one day, hopping her way onto the front porch, faltering when she saw the door swing open and stopping dead in her tracks when she saw her father leave, suitcase in hand. Reluctantly, she had entered her home to see her mother, collapsed in the kitchen, sobbing and holding her little sister.
That day, Harley lost faith in the soulmates system. Because if there was a possibility your soulmate would still break your heart, even after the heavens themselves created them to be your perfect match, what was the point?
Her parents were happy at first. They really were. She was there, she saw it. How her dad would wake her mom up with gentle kisses, how he would often bring her breakfast in bed, how they would spend every holiday as a happy family, living in the moment, not knowing what the future was reserving for them. It just shows that even fate can make mistakes.
Harley became cold. Distant. She kept on smiling and laughing, although people where unaware when her eyes lost their usual twinkle, or when her smile wouldn't reach her eyes. She changed, slowly but surely. She built an impenetrable fortress around her, that not even the strongest human could break.
And then Tony Stark broke into her garage.
It was another simple day for the 12 year old girl. Tinkering with her potato gun, trying to improve it. She loved mechanics, always had. Her father and her always used to buy old, used cars and try to make them work again. Ever since her father left, it became some sort of stress relief, an escape from the outside world. Which is why she was a little pissed when she heard a loud bang coming from the garage. Thinking it was just some thugs coming to steal her equipment. So, she waited until they left.
They never did. She hid patiently, until she heard a strangled cry of help coming from outside. (A/N. Ya'll are going to have to forgive me, it's been a while since i've seen Iron Man 3 and my youtube is glitching so I can't exactly re-watch the scenes. Love that :)! ) Carefully, she stepped over the discarded metal, rusting machine parts and dirty cloths, and what she found was definitely not what she had expected.
She didn't know what exactly she was expecting, but a bloodied, bruised and battered Tony Stark was not it, chief. Immediately, she had rushed to his help. Nursed him back to life, helped him get back home. After he had left, she kept in contact with him. They called each other almost every week, he kept sending materials over to her home. Overall, she had grown quite close tp the man.
Which is why, at fifteen years old, Harley Keener was not very happy when she first heard about Penny Parker.
She tried not to show it, of course, when he first told her about her. How he had found her, starving, dying of hypothermia in an abandoned warehouse, how he had taken her in, given her a home with all the avengers, Pepper and himself. He started calling her less now that he hung out with Penny, and besides, even when they did talk, all he basically talked about was how 'Penny is a genius, Harls', or how 'You two girls would get along beautifully, you're so alike!'.
All in all, Harley loathed Penny Parker with a deep, fiery passion.
Ok, fine. Maybe Tony didn't talk about Penny that much. But it was clear as day that she held a special place in his heart, a deeper place than Harley's.
She became bitter. Harley was always gorgeous, with long, silky dirty blond hair, full pouty lips, clear skin and sky blue eyes. She just never showed it off.
She started sleeping around, like Tony had, with boys and girls alike. It didn't give her much pleasure, but it gave her some sick sort of satisfaction, knowing that she was wanted, somewhere in the world. Even if it was a little bit, for a little while.
A small, selfish part of her wished that Tony would notice the change in her smile, her appearance and comment on it. But he never did.
He still loved her, in a weird best friend slash daughter-father kind of way. She knew that and he made sure she knew. She was loved by her sister, Abby. By her Mother.
But she just needed more. She craved human affection.
Two years later, on her seventeenth birthday, she had almost managed to forget everything about the soulmate system. That is, until she reached for a bottle of ink, and spilled it on her hand, making id disappear.
At first, she freaked out. She thought she had been poisoned. Until she told her mom.
Laughing gently, her mom told Harley that it meant she had finally found her soulmate indicator.
She had done her research. Apparently, what she had was pretty uncommon. Once a soulmate turned seventeen, they were able to draw something on their skin which would appear on the other soulmate's skin.
She didn't know wether to feel relieved or angry. Relieved, because up until now, she had though she was a freak of nature, the only one without a soulmate. Angry, because the soulmate system had already failed her once. Who was to say history wouldn't repeat itself?
Since she didn't know what to do, she decided to have some fun.
And what better way was there to do that than by drawing the male genitalia all over herself?