Tony Stark paced back and forth in his lab, trying to calm his racing heart while hiding from the guests who were still mingling happily down stairs in the annual Stark Christmas party. He couldn't get what had just happened out of his mind. Why would Rogers do that? And in a room full of important people, friends, acquaintances, and, most importantly, reporters, no less. Granted, Tony had kind of been asking for it, what with the mistletoe hanging in every doorway, archway, and any other way you can think of. He'd put it up as a joke, mostly, and had though that, if he caught anyone, that someone would be Pepper. He'd never thought of being caught. And by Steve, of all people. His mind flashed back to a few minutes ago.

–

"You enjoying the party?" Tony asked, moving away from the crowds to stand next to Steve, who was hiding in a doorway at the edge of the room.

Steve glanced at him for a second before returning to his people watching, sending the billionaire a half smile. "It's a very nice party, Tony," he replied politely.

"That's not what I asked," Tony said, looking at his friends face. "I know it's a nice party, it's a Stark party, of course it's nice. Why aren't you out there having a good time like everyone else?"

"I don't know many people," Steve offered as explanation, shrugging and watching Clint as he dragged Natasha onto the dance floor.

Tony rolled his eyes. "So go meet people," he suggested. "We need to get you a girlfriend, Cap," he added, shaking his head with a sigh, looking back to the crowd as Clint tried to convince Natasha to help him start a conga line.

"I don't need a girlfriend, Tony," Steve said chidingly, looking over at him. "And, if I did, I wouldn't need you to find me one."

Tony turned back to Steve to tell him that he need all the help he could get in the girlfriend department, seeing as he'd never had one, but the look on Steve's face stopped him. The man out of time wasn't looking at Tony, but directly above his head. Tony looked up to see what he was looking at, but Steve blocked whatever it was from sight as his lips pressed against Tony's. It only lasted about a second, but, to Tony, it felt like an eternity. Not much more than a peck on the lips, but something about it promised more, if Tony wanted it.

After Steve pulled away, Tony stared at him for a second before asking "Did you just kiss me?"

Steve chuckled, barely concealing his grin as he said "Well, yeah. That's what you do under mistletoe, right?"

Tony's eyes flickered upwards to see that they were, indeed, standing under a sprig of mistletoe, before his eyes returned to Steve. When he caught himself staring at Steve's lips, he looked away quickly, scanning the crowds to see if he could find Pepper. When he finally spotted her, she was standing with her back to him, chatting with Maria Hill. Tony let out the breath he'd been unintentionally holding. She hadn't seen, then. In fact, it didn't seem like anyone had seen, which was a relief to Tony.

"I- Um-" Tony took a deep breath, "I've got to go- Left something running in the lab- Sorry." He hurried off through the crowd and didn't see the smile slide from Steve's face as he did so.

–

And so, Tony found himself pacing back and forth in his lab, trying to decide just how he felt about Steve Rogers. He couldn't deny the way his heart had lept at the contact, couldn't deny how good it had felt, how right. But then he'd think of Pepper. He couldn't do that to her, she was so good to him, she'd put up with so much and he couldn't just leave her, he'd been dating her for years. And one other thing: Tony Stark wasn't gay. He's slept with a lot of people, but never with a man. Okay, fine, maybe once, but he'd been extremely drunk at the time, so that didn't really count.

He let out another sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. Why was he stressing about this so much? It doesn't make sense, Rogers was obviously just- Just playing around. Yeah, he was just joking, definitely. Absolutely, one hundred percent kidding. So why didn't it feel like that?

"I'm sorry, Tony." Tony jumped as Steve's voice came from the open doorway into the lab, his eyes flickering over to where the other man stood before going to the floor. "I didn't mean-"

"Don't apologize," Tony interrupted, not looking Steve in the eye. He'd stopped at one of the desks that lined the walls and leaned against it, arms crossed against his chest, staring at the floor with his head tucked into his chest, trying to find something else to say.

"Really, though, I am-" Steve started again, but, once more, Tony cut him off.

"Don't say it," he warned, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Don't say it, Steve. You have nothing to apologize for."

"I think I do, though," Steve said quietly, moving to lean against the counter next to Tony, who'd closed his eyes as soon as Steve had started moving. If it had been anyone else, Tony would have thought they were too close, but, since it was Steve, Tony almost didn't notice the distance. Except he did. He was overly aware of just how close Steve was to him, how he could feel the heat of the super soldier's body, hear the quiet breathing, smell the scent that was so distinctly Steve. And yet, he wasn't uncomfortable with the fact. It just made his heart beat a little faster.

"I really am sorry, Tony," Steve continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "I shouldn't have sprung it on you like that, it was ridiculous of me to think-"

"To think I'd want the same thing?" Tony cut in once more, opening his eyes to look at Steve, who blinked at Tony's interruption, but nodded numbly.

As Steve watched Tony's face, he saw the indecision in his eyes, which weren't quite meeting Steve's, rather staring at his lips again. He saw the hard swallow, the dart of Tony's tongue as he wet his lips, heard the ragged breathing, and wanted desperately to close the space between them. But, seeing how that had gone the first time, Steve held back. Tony moved around so he was facing Steve, planting his arms on either side of him as if he'd try to escape. Steve leaned forward and rested his forehead on Tony's, taking a deep breath through his nose. To him, right now, Tony smelled like eggnog and mint, but underneath that was the ever lingering smells of oil, lab disinfectant, scotch, and the distinct scent of Pepper's favored perfume. Steve bit his tongue as the smell hit him, and he closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about Pepper, not right now.

"Jarvis," Tony spoke, his voice rough. Steve opened his eyes, confused, as Tony continued, "Could you give us a little privacy?"

"Of course, sir," Jarvis' prim, British voice floated down from a speaker somewhere above their heads. The light in the room dimmed slightly as the windows to the outside where covered, and a door Steve hadn't known to exist lowered from the ceiling to close off the entry.

"Impressive," Steve breathed, taking his eyes away from the new features in the room to stare into Tony's eyes.

"I don't always want people to see what I'm doing," Tony whispered back, matching Steve's gaze, and Steve watched as the indecision that had been in Tony's eyes seconds before vanished.

Then, Tony was kissing him. For the second time that night, their lips touched and Tony felt electrified. He could taste traces of the pigs-in-a-blanket that he'd insisted on serving at the party as his tongue met Steve's. Somewhere along the way, Steve's hands had found there way to Tony's hips and his fingers had slipped up underneath the hem of Tony's shirt, rubbing circles into his lower back. Tony leaned into the touch, his own hands gripping the counter behind Steve as if it was the only thing keeping him on this planet. He sent a quick thank you prayer to whomever had taught Steve to kiss, because the man was amazing. He knew just what to do, just the right amount of pressure, the right way to use that tongue of his. It made Tony more than a little excited to see just what else he could do with that tongue.

When they broke apart, both of them were breathing hard. Steve let out a grin that threatened to split his face in two, but Tony only got out a small smile before Steve flipped them around and began kissing him again. Not just on his lips this time, Steve kissed his jaw, nose, neck, even nibbling on his ear once or twice before Tony pushed him off, laughing. The fake pouting look on Steve's face did little to disguise the fear in his eyes that he'd over stepped again.

"It's fine," Tony assured him, bringing his hands up to rest on Steve's shoulders, smiling. "It's just that people might start wondering where we are if we hide in here for too long."

Steve touched his nose to Tony's. "They can wait a few more minutes, can't they?" he asked in a whisper, his breath hot against Tony's skin.

Tony breathed in sharply as Steve gently nibbled at his upper lip, his eyes closing automatically. He leaned back, feeling the edge of the counter digging uncomfortably into his back. Steve moved to kissing along his jawline, loving the feeling of the scruff Tony hadn't found the time to shave off before the party under his lips.

"Steve," Tony gasped out. Steve ignored him, continuing his wet trail of kisses, moving down Tony's neck.

"Steve," Tony tried again, a little more forcefully this time. Steve stopped just above Tony's collarbone, raising his head to look him in the eye.

"What?" Steve asked, not sounding unlike an annoyed teenager who was being distracted from something(or someone) they loved, yet at the same time sounding oh so innocent.

Tony's head fell back and he struggled for words as Steve's fingers resumed rubbing circles into his hips. He raised his head, glaring as Steve's lips quirked into a smile, his eyes twinkling.

"Stop it," Tony ground out, attempting to wriggle out of Steve's grasp. "People will notice if we don't get back out there."

Sighing, Steve let go of Tony's hips and straightened out his shirt. "Lets go, then," Steve replied with a small smile.

While Tony walked towards the door to punch in the code to turn the Jarvis' privacy mode off, Steve ran a hand over his face, taking a deep breath. Straightening out his own clothes and relaxing his shoulders, he prepared himself to rejoin the party without it being too obvious what he'd been doing.

Just as he finished typing in the code, Tony looked over his shoulder at where Steve was regaining control of his breathing. "Steve?" he asked, catching the other man's attention. "You're staying the night tonight, right?" Steve's brow furrowed, but he nodded. Tony grinned. "Good."

He headed back out to the party, leaving Steve standing alone in the lab, a blush staining his checks at Tony's implication. With a slight shake of his head and a smile, he followed Tony back out into the party. Spotting Clint and Natasha by the bar, he walked over and ordered a beer.

Leaning against the bar, Clint shot him a slightly concerned look. "You okay, Cap?" he asked. "You look a little flushed."

Steve just smiled, glancing over to where Tony was talking to someone he didn't recognize. "I'm fine, Clint," he replied, picking up his bottle of beer and taking a sip. "Never better."

Fin.