There he was again, feeling as he always did when night time rolled around. He wasn't exactly sure what it was; but it was a fear that ran deep within his soul. A fear of... being alone, perhaps? A fear of sitting in his bed wide awake with no one next to him, no one to share his life with.
Or maybe it was his constant worry; the fear of having fear.
It had been years now... he couldn't even remember how long. But everything became so natural to him, so routine by now, that his mind and body became accustomed to all that fear.
He wished it would go away. He wished he could escape his body, or get a new one.
But he had tried that already. It wasn't like he didn't have the guts to end it, he honestly just... couldn't.
He sat up from his bed, touching his chest and feeling his heart race.
The brunette turned his body and placed his feet on the ground, sighing as he held his head in his hands.
He ran his fingers through his wavy hair, standing up and opening his desk drawer, taking out his watch and wrapping it around his wrist.
That's... odd. The numbers were below normal, nothing heightened at all.
With a discouraged sigh, he walked out of his room, grabbing his royal blue robe on the way out.
The tiled waxed floors in the hallway were cold, causing him to shiver as he tightly wrapped his robe around him.
Cold always seemed to help...
He walked quickly down the hall, stepping into the elevator, folding his arms across his chest.
Hopefully Tony was awake. If not, he may have to wake the man up.
The doors opened, and Bruce stepped quietly out into Tony's room. There he was, asleep in his king sized bed. His body was only taking up half of the bed, laying on his side, with his arm underneath his head.
Bruce smiled to himself. The poor guy must have gotten used to Pepper sleeping next to him. Maybe saving her room had become a habit.
He walked closer to Tony, whispering, "...Tony... Tony..."
The man didn't budge.
Bruce bit his lip and took off his robe, letting it fall to the ground. He lifted the covers on the empty side of the bed and layed down next to him, looking at Tony from behind him.
He wanted to wake the man up and talk to him... but maybe this was enough. Maybe the company of knowing someone was there was good enough for him to relax and finally get some rest.
The doctor sighed in contentment, closing his eyes and began steadying his breathing.
-000-
He opened his eyes, seeing Tony's face very close to his. The man was still asleep, thank goodness.
Bruce sat still for a moment, not daring to move.
He noticed that the sun was shining through the giant window on Tony's wall. How long were they sleeping? What time was it? He didn't even remember falling asleep.
He sat up very slowly, looking past Tony to the alarm clock on the side of the bed. It was 3:28 in the afternoon.
Oh, goodness, how did he let himself sleep that late?
Bruce began to move the comforters off of him and turned to get out of the bed.
"...What are you doing?" a mumbled voice came from behind him.
The doctor turned around, looking at Tony who was still in his former position. "I-I'm getting up. It's 3 in the afternoon, you know."
Tony moved his head around a little, mushing his face into the bed, "No, don't worry about it. It's Saturday. Get some sleep."
Bruce shrugged, and sat himself back down in the bed, closing his eyes.
After a minute or two of silence, Tony sprang up from the bed, his arms holding him up, "Woah, Bruce, you're in my bed."
"...Yeah...?"
" Why? When did you get here?"
"Sorry?"
"I asked-"
"No," Bruce explained, as he turned to get out of the bed. "I meant I'm sorry for being in your bed."
Tony pushed himself up and sat on his knees, leaning over to touch Bruce's arm, stopping him. He sat on his knees, bare legs in front of him. "Apology accepted. But why are you here in the first place?"
"I couldn't sleep."
Tony furrowed his brow, "That's normal for you, but you've never gotten in my bed before."
"I know, I know," Bruce said looking away, "I needed the company..."
"What, you were too lonely to sleep?"
"No. Well, kind of," Bruce replied rubbing his neck.
"Kind of?' It's a yes or a no, Banner." Tony said raising his voice a little. He had no time for this bullshit. He just wanted to know why he woke up with a man in his bed.
Bruce opened his mouth to reply.
"Did we sleep together?" Tony asked, eyes wide.
"...What?" Bruce asked, feeling embarrassed.
"Did we do stuff? Because I was pretty drunk last night, and the last time I woke up in shock was when I got drunk at a party and slept with a chick who I could have sworn was the girl I wanted to sleep with, but it turned out to be her best friend."
Banner blinked, unsure what to even say.
But Tony continued on rambling, "And not to mention, you said you were lonely. So don't go looking at me like that when I ask if that was a possibility."
"I didn't say I was lonely."
"That's right, you said 'kind of.' So I just... you know... assumed. Not to mention," he continued, "you have this terrible habit of not saying anything when something's on your mind. It's really irritating at times."
Bruce sighed through his nose, looking down at his hands.
"See? You're doing it right now."
Bruce knew the man was right, but how could he ever explain to him how he actually felt? How could he explain that he was missing Bettey, and was feeling lonely? Instead, he took the defensive approach. "Well, you have this annoying habit of rambling on nonsense when something's bothering you. You talk too much!"
Tony was taken aback, "Well... that might be true, but it's too early to be discussing this right now," he said as he slumped back onto the bed.
"It's three o'clock in the afternoon!" Bruce exclaimed.
Tony covered his ears, "Yes. And that's too early. Now either shut up, or go away." He burrowed his face into his pillow.
Bruce was about to walk away, taking his robe in hand with him. But he was too concerned about Tony. "...Why did you drink last night?"
"Is there a reason not to drink?" Tony replied in his smartass tone, his voice muffled by the pillow.
Bruce sat down on the bed again, "Well, I know you drink a little every day. A-And that's fine, I'm not telling you to stop. But..." he began, rubbing the nape of his neck, "You usually don't wake up hungover. What's wrong?"
After a few moments of silence, Tony turned over on his back and sighed. "I just feel like I'm losing Pepper. She's always away, and we always get into arguments whenever she is here... I dunno." He looked up at Bruce, brown eyes wide and worried.
Bruce nodded and pursed his lips. "I'm sorry..." he knew a little of what Tony was going through. He had missed Betty for a long time. He knew that with the Hulk around, there was no hope for him to ever find anyone again; sexually or romantically.
At least that's what he thought. And if they did, they were crazy.
"There's nothing to apologize for," Tony said, his hands on his chest, eyes on the ceiling, "Unless of course, you did something wrong."
"N-No, I didn't."
"Have you been talking to Pepper behind my back?"
"What? No."
"Have you been doing other things with Pepper behind my back?"
Bruce was offended by Tony's question. "No, as a matter of fact, I haven't. Would you like me to?"
Tony sat up from the bed, his weight on his shoulder, "That's not even funny, Bruce."
"Neither is accusing me of having relations with your girlfriend." Bruce answered stern, and honestly, as always. "Do you really think that low of me?"
Tony layed back down on his bed, tracing circles along his arc reactor. "...No."
Bruce stood up from the bed, "I'm going to give you an hour or so to rest and calm down. We can talk about this later."
The doctor was almost out of the room when Tony stopped him, "Wait!"
Bruce stepped back quietly. "...Yes?"
Tony bit his lip, ashamed of what he wanted to say.
Bruce chuckled, stepping further into the room, "Don't tell me, Tony Stark doesn't know what to say?" he teased, "Where's a camera when you need one?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Tony pushed the comment aside. "I won't tell you now that you've said that."
Bruce furrowed his brow. "What? No. I want to know what you were going to say."
Tony looked to the side, "Nope. Not sayin'."
Bruce frowned and began walking away, but Tony stopped him, yet again. "Come on, Banner, I tease you all the time. I was beginning to wonder if you had the balls to say something back to me."
The doctor nodded and turned back around. If Tony wasn't going to tell him what was wrong this time, he was leaving for sure.
Tony looked down at the comforters, and fiddled with the sheets, looking ashamed, "Could you... stay here until I feel better? Just for... company?"
The curly haired male smiled and sat back down on the bed. He was about to tuck himself in the comforters again when Tony spoke, "Oh.. and could you get me some water and aspirin? And none of that sink water, get it from downstairs. Thanks."
Bruce rolled his eyes as he stood up, shaking his head as he walked out of the room, smiling all the way to the kitchen.