A/N: So this is my first time ever writing something for this ship and I really hope it's not horrible. In fact, this wasn't even going to be a fic, just a playlist! But then I thought I'd write a short drabble for it, which made my muse laugh and the next thing I know I've got a full blown fic on my hands. Anyways... I apologize in advance for any and all mistakes as this is unbeta'd. The list of songs used as inspiration are listed in the author's note at the end. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: If I'd owned it, Darcy Lewis would have been in the Avengers.
Darcy and Bruce have been together for almost a year now, and while Darcy loves and adores Bruce and she knows that Bruce loves her, she occasionally gets this feeling that he is still trying to find an excuse to break things off. Not because he doesn't love her, but because Bruce still thinks he's to dangerous for her. Darcy rolls her eyes at him every time he brings this up, and if Tony happens to be around when Bruce voices this concern, he calls him an idiot.
After an accidental Hulk-out in the lab were the only reason Darcy wasn't hurt was because she was out getting coffee, Bruce decides to break it off with her (by email - the coward). Then proceeds to lock himself away either in his lab or his room, filled with what Darcy can only assume is his own personal brand of angst filled guilt.
If Darcy wasn't as stubborn as she was, she'd have gone back to her place with some Ben & Jerry's, a bottle of wine, had a good cry, all while bemoaning how all men are idiots. But she was Darcy Lewis and there was no way in the Nine Realms that she was going to let her angst filled scientist get away with this bullshit.
Three weeks later and Bruce was still refusing to have any contact with her (he'd been ignoring all her calls, texts, emails, and was even using JARVIS to make sure he avoided her in the common areas of the tower), so Darcy asked Tony to talk to him. She figured he might actually listen to his science bro as well as a guy who also thinks he's not good enough for his girlfriend (Darcy and Tony may have had a handful of alcohol fueled heart-to-hearts).
Not really surprised the Bruce also ignored Tony, she decided it was time to break out the song lyrics. Since both she and Bruce have always had a hard time expressing their feelings to each other, they would occasionally communicate them to each other via music (Pepper and Jane thought it was adorable and romantic, while Tony was always making fun of them for it). So Darcy pulled up her music library on her computer and after a few moments, sent a song off to Bruce via JARVIS with instructions to play the song in what ever room he was in (she knew if she had emailed it, he would have ignored it), and waited.
Fifteen minutes later, JARVIS was telling her that Dr. Banner had replied with his own song choice and would Darcy like to hear it? As soon as the song started playing, Darcy smiled and shook her head. He was so predictable sometimes when it came to his music choices. She waited about twenty minutes before she had JARVIS send him the next song. This time, it was almost an hour before he sent her another song and the song he had sent actually made her cry, the bastard.
It went on like this the rest of the day, the two of them sending each other songs that said what neither of them could say to the other one themselves. What Darcy didn't know was that Bruce was in the lab with Tony, so Tony was getting a front row seat to all of this. He knew Darcy and Bruce were meant for each other (hey, he had a romantic side, okay?), and he was getting tired of their angst. So he decided to take things into his own hands, because he knew if he didn't, those two would do the whole song thing for days.
Bruce had just sent off another song to Darcy, so Tony knew he had at least fifteen minutes before she'd reply. He pulled up his music library on his phone, and after picking out a song, sent a text command to JARVIS to send the song to both Darcy and Bruce in ten minutes time. Tony smiled smugly to himself before getting back to work. And Pepper said he wasn't romantic.
Darcy was just getting ready to have JARVIS send Bruce another song when JARVIS informed her that Dr. Banner had sent her a second song. Bruce had sent her two songs? She asked JARVIS to please play it as she wondered what song he sent this time. As soon as she heard it, Darcy started crying. Again. Damn that man and his choice in music today.
Bruce was still in the lab when JARIVS told him that Darcy had sent him another song (Tony was doing his absolute best to not look guilty, thankfully Bruce was to distracted to notice that Tony was failing miserably), Bruce instructed JARVIS to play the song. As he sat there listening to the song, he finally realized he really was being a complete idiot. He cleared his throat and quietly asked JARVIS where Darcy was and when JARVIS informed him Darcy was hanging out in the shared living room, Bruce quickly left to go find her, hoping against hope that he really hadn't screwed things up.
As Bruce practically ran out of the lab, Tony gave a celebratory fist pump and then told JARVIS to pull up the security camera for the living room. He wasn't about to miss this show.
Darcy was sitting on the couch, debating on whether or not she should go find Bruce to finally talk to him face to face, when she heard someone walk into the room. She looked up to see who it was and was more than a little surprised to see Bruce standing there in front of her, looking every bit the rumbled, tired, guilt filled scientist she knew he'd been over the last few weeks. And then Darcy surprised herself.
She had thought that the next time she saw Bruce, she'd give him one of the verbal lashings she was known for around the tower and SHIELD (Darcy, a SHIELD agent of just a year, has made several senior agents cry. A fact that greatly humors Director Fury). Instead all she did was stand up and all but throw herself into Bruce's arms. Bruce, who had been expecting said verbal lashing, was a bit shocked at her reaction himself. But he didn't really care because she was in his arms and not running away from him screaming. He started to attempt an apology, but Darcy just told him to shut up. She then told him that yes, she knows he was being an idiot and that yes, she knows he's sorry and that they can have an adult conversation about it later but all she really wanted right now was for him to kiss her. So Bruce kissed her.
And if Darcy noticed that he maybe held her a little tighter and closer than he normally did when he kissed her, he didn't really care and neither did she. Because while they had their issues and at times felt like they were falling apart, when they were together, they felt whole. And neither one wanted to loose that.
When they finally came up for air, JARVIS politely informed them that he had a message for them from Mr. Stark. Tony's voice then came from the ceiling, telling them both that he was highly disappointed in the lack of fireworks, but that's okay because they clearly liked the song he sent to both of them, and that he's glad Bruce finally decided to stop being an idiot because a sad and mopey science bro is no fun to play with. Also, they now have reservations at their favorite restaurant, but they are free to cancel them if they wanted to (Darcy rolled her eyes at the eye brow waggle she could hear in Tony's voice, Bruce just blushed). He then told JARVIS to play one more song before leaving them alone.
Darcy laughed as soon as the song started playing, and started singing and dancing around the living room, pulling Bruce after her. Bruce just sighed in resignation, but smiled as he danced with Darcy, knowing full well Tony was most likely still watching them and recording this to make fun of him later. But Bruce didn't care, because he finally realized he'd found someone who truly and unconditionally loved him (ALL of him) and wasn't afraid to fight for him even when he thought he didn't deserve it. What more could a guy like him ask for?
A/N: Playlist for Give Your Heart a Break. Songs are listed in the order that Darcy and Bruce sent them to each other. Tony sends the last two songs.
Give Your Heart a Break by Demi Lovato
Now here we are, so close
Yet so far, haven't I passed the test?
When will you realize
Baby, I'm not like the rest
Don't wanna break your heart
I wanna give your heart a break
I know you're scared it's wrong
Like you might make a mistake
There's just one life to live
And there's no time to wait, to waste
So let me give your heart a break
Too Close by Alex Clare
You gave me more that I can return
Yet there's so much that you deserve
Nothing to say, nothing to do,
I've nothing to give
I must leave without you
4 Real by Avril Lavigne
'Cause I'm for real
Are you for real?
I can't help myself
It's the way I feel
When you look me in the eyes like you did last night
I can't stand to hear you say goodbye
But it feels so right
'Cause it feels so right just to have you standing by my side
So don't let me go
Cause you have my soul
And I just wanted you to know
I don't wanna look back
Cause I know that we have
Something the past could never change.
And I'm stuck in the moment
And my heart is open
Tell me that you feel the same
Hard to Love by Lee Brice
I am a short fuse, I am a wrecking ball
Crashing into your heart like I do
You're like a Sunday morning full of grace and full of Jesus
I wish that I could be more like you.
I'm hard to love, hard to love,
I don't make it easy,
I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood,
I'm hard to love, hard to love,
You say that you need me,
I don't deserve it but I love that you love me.
My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson
I know that I've got issues
But you're pretty messed up too
Either way I found out
I'm nothing without you
'Cause we belong together now
Forever united here somehow
Yeah you got a piece of me
And honestly
My life would suck without you
Wanted by Hunter Hayes
You know I'd fall apart without you
I don't know how you do what you do
'Cause everything that don't make sense about me
Makes sense when I'm with you
Like everything that's green, girl I need you
But it's more than one and one makes two
Put aside the math and the logic of it
You gotta know you're wanted too
My Baby Love Me by Martina McBride
Don't need no copy of Vogue magazine
Don't need to dress like no beauty queen
High heels or sneakers he don't give a damn
My baby loves me just the way that I am
My baby loves me just the way that I am
He never tells me I'm not good enough
Just give me unconditional love
He loves me tender and he loves me mad
He loves me silly and he loves me sad
He thinks I'm pretty, he thinks I'm smart
He likes my nerve and he loves my heart
He's always sayin' he's my biggest fan
My baby loves me just the way that I am
My baby loves me just the way that I am
Marching On by OneRepublic
For those days we felt like a mistake,
Those times when loves what you hate,
Somehow,
We keep marching on.
For those nights when I couldn't be there,
I've made it harder to know that you know,
That somehow,
We'll keep moving on.
There's so many wars we fought,
There's so many things were not,
But with what we have,
I promise you that,
We're marching on,
[…]
We'll have the days we break,
And we'll have the scars to prove it,
We'll have the bonds that we save,
But we'll have the heart not to lose it.
For all of the times we've stopped,
For all of the things I'm not.
We put one foot in front of the other,
We move like we ain't got no other,
We go when we go,
We're marching on.
I Run To You by Lady Antebellum
This world keeps spinning faster
Into a new disaster so I run to you
I run to you baby
And when it all starts coming undone
Baby you're the only one I run to
I run to you
Happy Boys & Girls by Aqua
I've got a feeling you could use a little smile,
Hoping you could stay there for just a little while
Making a lot of noise up there, throw your hands up in the air