~The Next Morning ~ Stark Mansion~

Melissa woke up later than normal, which was unusual for her. She started to panic, thinking that she missed the bus, but Jarvis reminded her that it was Saturday.

Looking up at the ceiling, Melissa thought about everything that’s happened over the past few weeks. She flew all the way to New York City, found out she had a twin sister, found out her father was Tony Stark, switched places with her twin sister, and was now living as her sister in Stark Mansion in Manhattan… If anyone had told Melissa a month ago that this would be her life in a month, she would have thought they were crazy. 

Sighing, Melissa got out of bed and took a shower, thinking about everything she had to do today. She needed to talk to her father more about what happened, she didn’t know if Andi had gotten any information from their mother, but she needed to find out what happened from their father in case their mom didn’t tell Andi anything. 

She got out of the shower and got dressed into a pair of comfy dark blue shorts and a black tank top. After brushing her hair and pulling on a random pair of socks, that were mix matched, since her feet were cold, she went downstairs. She froze when she heard talking in the kitchen. She recognized Tony’s voice, but none of the others. It wasn’t Peter or Harley since the other people were adults, it seemed like there were multiple people… She didn’t know how many, but the one thing she knew for sure was that one of them was definitely a woman. 

She crept over to the kitchen door, trying to peek through the door. She couldn’t really tell what they were saying, nor could she really see any of their faces. 

The one woman suddenly looked over at the door and smiled at her. “Hey Andi! What’s up?”

Nervous, Melissa walked into the kitchen. She racked her brain, trying to figure out if Andi told her who these people were, but she couldn’t remember. “Hey…” She rubbed her eyes, trying to play off her awkwardness by making it seem like she was tired. 

“You hungry kid? There’s food” Tony said, motioning over to the island where there was a bunch of food.

Peter was sitting at the island with Harley and Peter noticed that Melissa had no idea who they were and was nervous. “Miss Natasha made it, and you know she makes amazing food”

The realization hit Melissa and she smiled. “Sure, I’ve missed Zia Nat’s food” Andi had mentioned to her before she left that she hadn’t seen Nat in a while, so Melissa knew that her saying that wouldn’t give anything away.

Natasha raised an eyebrow but then smiled. “Well then go get some” She motioned towards the food. 

Melissa went and sat down next to Peter, grabbing a few pancakes from one of the plates and the syrup jar. Peter gave her a reassuring smile, easing her anxiety slightly. Now that Melissa had a better view of everyone, she could tell that they were the Avengers. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, and James Rhodes were sitting around the kitchen eating breakfast.

Melissa couldn’t believe that she was surrounded by most of the Avengers, she never thought she would even get close enough to meet them, and yet here they were sitting around eating breakfast, not in their suits, talking about random shit. It was hard for her to wrap her head around the fact that this was Andi’s normal life. It wasn’t weird for Andi for the Avengers to be coming over for breakfast or dinner, or for them to be sitting in the living room in their pjs, or spending holidays with them. This was so normal for Andi, she wouldn’t have batted an eye when walking into the kitchen and seeing them there. For Melissa, this was so weird. She grew up hearing about the Avengers and their missions, but she never thought she would ever meet them. 

They finished breakfast and Peter and Melissa went upstairs to talk while Peter got dressed before they went out. “You know, a warning would have been nice before I walked into Avenger central” Melissa said, laying on Peter’s bed. 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know they were going to be here, it was just as much of a surprise to me as it was to you. I would have told you if I knew” He said, going over to his closet. He went through it for a few minutes before sighing heavily. “Fucking Harley. Stealing my shit”

“Wow I didn’t think you could swear” Melissa joked. 

Peter sighed again. “I normally don’t but I’m tired of Harley stealing my stuff. Both him and Andi steal my clothes. Well Harley just mainly steals my hoodies cause he likes to irritate me” He rolled his eyes. 

“You don’t have a problem with Andi stealing your stuff?” She asked, smirking.

Peter looked down, smiling slightly and shrugged. “Well it’s not like I can stop her from doing it” He went back to looking in his closet. “Can you go ask Harley for the hoodie he stole from me?”

Nodding, Melissa got up and went over to Harley’s room and she heard loud music coming from inside. She knocked and waited for an answer but there was nothing. Figuring that he couldn’t hear her over the music, she opened the door and took a few steps inside. “Harley?” She shouted over the music. 

Harley walked out of his bathroom, in nothing but a towel, unaware of Melissa standing there. Melissa’s eyes widened and she froze. Harley was fucking ripped, Melissa thought he was attractive before but she didn’t realize he was so muscular, not to mention she could see his v-line, which itself was hot.

Harley realized she was there and looked at her confused. “Andi?”

Melissa snapped out of her thoughts. “Oh hey, what’s up?”

“I was gonna ask you that same question…” He looked even more confused. “Why are you acting so weird?”

Melissa shook her head. “I’m not, I’m just tired. Uh Peter wants the hoodie you stole from him back”

Chuckling, Harley went over to his closet and pulled out the hoodie. “I was wondering how long it would take him to realize.” He tossed it to her. “Tell him it’s clean”

Nodding, Melissa went back to Peter’s room, trying not to think about Harley. 

“You okay?” Peter asked as she walked in. 

Melissa nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m good” She handed him the hoodie.

Peter looked at her confused but took the hoodie from her. "Uh thanks…" He tossed the hoodie onto his bed and without thinking he pulled off his shirt.

Melissa's eyes widened again and she looked away. "I'm uh, I'll wait in the other room…"

Peter's eyes widened and he looked up at her. "Shit, I forgot you were you and not Andi, I usually don't care if Andi is in here when I change…" He pulled on his shirt.

"So you and Andi change in front of each other huh?" Melissa asked, smirking. 

Peter rolled his eyes. "We've known each other since we were in kindergarten, we're just friends."

Still smirking, Melissa shrugged. "If you say so" She left Peter's room, nearly walking into Natasha.

Nat smiled at her. "Hey Andi" She put a lot of emphasis on Andi's name. "How have you been? It's been a while since I last saw you"

Melissa's eyes widened slightly. "Uh hey Zia Nat. I've been good. You?"

Natasha smirked. "I'm good. And you-" She tilted her head to the side. "Aren't Andi, are you?"

Melissa felt like her heart stopped. How did she know… She barely said anything to her… Unless she was messing with her? "Of course I'm Andi…" Melissa reached behind her and knocked repeatedly on Peter's door. "Uh Pete, can we go now?"

Peter opened the door. "Can you chill for a sec M-" He noticed Nat and his eyes widened. "Andi" He saved himself before he said Melissa.

Rolling her eyes, Natasha pushed the two teens into Peter's room. "You guys can't fool me. I know you're not Andi." She smiled. "You're Melissa aren't you?"

Melissa's eyes widened. "You- What…?"

Peter and Melissa shared a look and Peter sighed. "How did you know?" Melissa smacked him in the stomach with the back of her hand and he shrugged. "We can trust her…"

Nat smirked. "I knew immediately. Once she walked into the kitchen, not because she looked surprised to see us but because Andi always hugs me when she sees me. What confirmed it for me was when she called me Zia Nat and not Zia Tasha. Andi almost always calls me Zia Tasha, especially in my presence" Nat went over and hugged Melissa. "It's good to see you kid. I haven't seen you since you were a baby…"

Melissa hesitantly hugged her back. "You know who I am…?"

Nat nodded, pulling away. "Of course I do. Who do you think came up with your middle name? Does your mother know you're here?"

"Why don't we sit down and explain," Peter said. 

They all went over to sit on Peter's bed and she and Peter told her everything about how she and Andi met and Andi's plan. 

"So Andi is in Malibu right now and Tony has no idea?" She asked after they finished explaining.

The two teens nodded. "As far as he knows I'm Andi and Andi and I still have no idea about the others existence" Melissa said. "Can I ask you a question Nat?"

"Zia Nat" She corrected, smiling. "And of course"

"How come my parents never told Andi and I about each other? Why did they separate us in the first place?" She looked down at her lap.

Natasha sighed. "Your parents thought it would be better if you didn't know about each other, so that you didn't go looking for the other. They were going to co-parent the two of you but it wasn't going to work out. So instead of one parent having both of you and the other never seeing either of you, they thought it was better for one of them to have one twin… I tried to talk them out of it but it obviously didn't work"

"It's a dumb situation…" Melissa rolled her eyes. "Why did they break up? I asked Dad but he won't tell me"

"It's not my place to say, I'm sorry" She looked at her sympathetically. "Your father does love you though. As Melissa, not as Andi"

Sighing, Melissa looked down. "It doesn't feel like it… If he loved me he wouldn't have agreed to separate Andi and I… How did they even decide which twin would be with which parent? Did they flip a coin?" She rolled her eyes. 

Peter and Natasha couldn't help but laugh. "They didn't flip a coin. I honestly don't know how they decided…" Natasha said. “But it’s really fucking dumb, and I really hope your plan works”

“Me too,” Melissa sighed. “I’m scared it’s not going to work though and my mom will forbid me from ever seeing Dad and Andi ever again…”

Nat put her hand on Melissa’s arm. “I know your mother and I know that she wouldn’t do that. Yes she kept you from them, but now that you know about them there’s no way for her to keep you guys apart. And now that you’re sixteen, you can fly back and forth by yourself and she won’t have to see your dad.”

Melissa sighed. “That’s not the same as having my parents together though…”

“I know…” She gave her a side hug. “If this plan doesn’t work I’ll talk to your mother”

Melissa looked up at her. “Are you still in contact with my mom?”

Natasha nodded. “Yeah. Your mother and I were friends for years and I didn’t want to just drop contact with her. Your father doesn’t know we still talk though. May is also still in contact with her” She said the last part to Peter. 

“May? Like my May? How come she didn’t tell me?” He asked. 

Natasha shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don’t think you should bring it up to her until after we see if the plan works out. We don’t want to mess anything up”

Peter nodded. “Right”

Natasha smiled at them and got off the bed. “I’ll let you two get to whatever you were going to do today. And don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret. As long as you act just like Andi, I don’t think anyone else will pick up on anything, except maybe Bruce. But he’ll also keep the secret so you don’t need to worry about him. If you need help, I’m always here for you” She ruffled both kids' hair. “See ya guys” 

They said bye and Natasha left. “It’s a relief that someone else knows about this, especially Nat,” Peter said, putting his shoes on and grabbing his hoodie. 

Melissa nodded. “Yeah, though I was really hoping she would shed some light on why my parents split up…” She whispered the last part to him as they left his room and went downstairs. 

Peter nodded. “I know… I was hoping she would too. Hopefully Andi had luck with your mom”

“Hopefully” Melissa sighed.

They left the house and headed down to the local diner for coffee. They were sitting in one of the booths with their coffees, talking about how they could get Tony to talk when Melissa’s phone went off. “It’s Andi,” She said, answering it. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Hey Drea” Peter said when Melissa put the phone on speaker. 

“Hey…” 

Melissa and Peter looked at each other confused. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Melissa asked. 

“I found out why Mom and Dad broke up…”

Melissa’s eyes widened. “Well don’t leave us in suspense! What happened?!”

Andi was quiet and Peter and Melissa looked at each other worriedly.

“Apparently, Dad cheated on Mom…”

Melissa felt like her heart stopped for the second time that day… Her father cheated on her mother… Is that why her mother never wanted to talk about him…? Because he broke her heart…? “He… He cheated on her…? With who? When? Why?”

Andi sighed. “I don’t know. She didn’t say anything else other than that we were around six months old and he was drunk and they tried to work past it for us but they couldn’t. But I know my dad, even drunk, he wouldn't have cheated on mom. He loved her way too much, he still loves her, I know, I can see it when he talks about her…”

Melissa sighed. “That explains why it looked like he was physically pained when I asked why they broke up… And why he got upset when I wouldn’t stop pestering him for an answer… Are you sure he wouldn’t drunk cheat on her…? He doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to things like that…”

“Absolutely positive. There is no way in hell that he would cheat on Mom. Not drunk, not high, not anything. He loves her way too much. I know he has a bad track record but he changed when he and mom got together, he tried to be better for her. He changed even more when he became Iron Man and then when we were born. He would never cheat on Mom. It doesn’t matter the situation.” Andi sighed. “But we have another problem…”

“What…?”

“Mom wants me to meet John tomorrow…”