Tony Stark hasn't had a good Christmas since he was very small. Since the one year that his dad came in piss-drunk and announced that his mom had died in an accident. That year the tree had been knocked down, the ornaments broken – the liquor cabinet drained, and his father's alcoholism given a kick start. Christmas was the one holiday that Tony could legitimately say he hated.
It was three days before when he said 'fuck it' and made the drive out to see his mother's grave. After that visit, he came back absolutely miserable. The only one in the tower left to deal with him being Steve.
Tony could smell what only could be cookies and pie wafting from the kitchen. "Steve – what did I say about baking?"
"What did I say about being the Grinch?" Steve says, coming to greet Tony and the kitchen entrance way. "I was thinking, it gets pretty empty here around the holidays – maybe we could invite the other Avengers to come stay."
"I don't celebrate Christmas, Steve," Tony mutters as he tries to walk away.
Steve starts following Tony up the hall. "Why not – Christmas time is only the most wonderful time of the year!"
"Fuck off," Tony huffs as they reach his room, and he slams the door in Steve's face before the soldier can get in one more word.
Steve is completely flabbergasted. Someone with as exuberant of a personality as Tony, he would think, would love Christmas parties. All of the people, the lights, and all of the gifts people would be obliged to get him. He runs down and grabs his phone, having Jarvis video-dial Bruce for him. "Happy Holidays, Banner."
"Likewise," Bruce replies slowly. "You're not saying that to Tony, are you?"
"That's kind of why I called," Steve admits, now more curious than ever. "Why does he hate Christmas?"
Bruce sighs. "It says in his file somewhere, and he talks about it when he's had too much to drink of the wrong stuff. Christmas was the day his mom died, the day his dad became an alcoholic – basically, the day when his childhood turned to shit."
Steve just stares in horror. "Do I need to…make sure of anything this time of year?"
"Since I thought you already knew, I figured you would have been the one to stop him going to visit his mother alone this year," Bruce replies hastily as he gets up and starts packing his things. "Whether he hates Christmas or not, we need to be there for him this year. You need to make sure he doesn't fall off the wagon in the meantime – he's about four years sober now, right?"
Steve nods. "Thanks, Bruce."
The call goes blank and Steve finds himself sprinting upstairs to knock at Tony's door. When there's no answer, Steve asks Jarvis to let him in and the AI does – knowing that Tony needs help more than his master will admit. Steve sees Tony already half-way through a bottle of scotch and runs to take it from him. Tony holds it tighter to himself. "What the hell do you want? Don't you want to run off and be jolly and shit like that to the world?"
"Tony, I had no idea," Steve replies as he continually tugs at the bottle in Tony's hands. "I know it's hard, but you need to reply on us – not alcohol this year. The team is flying in tonight, alright? Whether or not you want to celebrate Christmas, they might. We're all going to be here for the holiday season."
"I would've preferred it to be just you," Tony mutters under his breath.
Steve sighs, finally getting the bottle from Tony's hands and putting it gently down beside the bed, climbing under the covers with Tony and reaching out for his best friend to crawl in his arms. "Without Bruce, I wouldn't have even known anything was wrong."
"I would've told you eventually," Tony defends himself with.
"After you had already gotten alcohol poisoning and we were in the emergency room?" Steve whispers, holding a tighter grip around his friend. He waits for Tony to fall asleep before relaxing, and eventually drifting to sleep himself – only being awoken by other Avengers setting off the Stark Tower alarms.
Author's Note: Surprise twist! (More due to the fact my holidays are getting a bit hectic and my brain is a bit clogged up) A few days of Chrismas will become this story, it will be no more than three chapters/days long. I hope you keep along with me on this journey, because I promise a happy ending!