If you were here beside me, instead of in New York. If the curve of you was curved on me.
~New York, by Snow Patrol
Steve sat, alone on his bed. No, their bed. He looked at the floor, and shook his head, biting his bottom lip. Sighing, he pulled out the phone Tony had given to him, and pressed a few buttons, waiting with his head in one hand for the person on the other end to pick up.
"Hello?" Steve shook his head again, and hung up, dropping his phone on the floor. No. He couldn't. He couldn't do it.
The soldier lay back on the bed, and closed his eyes. The phone rang, but he didn't care. He couldn't bring himself to get up and pick it up off the floor, let alone talk to him.
They had fought, but that was nothing new. Tony had stormed out, but that wasn't exactly unexpected. Steve regretted every word he'd said, but it wasn't like that hadn't happened before.
But now Tony was gone. Steve had walked around the house for hours, searching in a futile attempt to find the angry billionaire. About six hours after Tony had left, he received a text from Pepper.
"He took a plane to NYC. I'm sorry. -PP"
Tony had left. Really left this time, not just gone out in the suit to blow off steam, and it ate at Steve from the inside like nothing else. This had never happened before. Tony had always told him it never would, had told him he would always come back, in those calm moments right after a fight, Tony would explain that leaving for a while was his way of coping.
But this was different. This was New York. This was Tony leaving, and going to the tower, and not coming back, and Steve couldn't handle that, he couldn't.
He curled up on the bed, pulling one of the pillows to his chest as he did so, and burying his face in it. Tony was gone. What was he even supposed to do? Hot tears began to well up in his eyes, but he didn't move to wipe them away. Just blinked them shut, and pressed his face deeper into the soft down pillows that Tony had bought them when they first moved into the same room.
For hours he alternated between silent sobs, which racked his body, shaking him to his very core, and short bursts of sleep. The phone rang again, several times actually, but Steve didn't care. If Tony were here with him, instead of in New York, he would be fine. Tony would wrap him up in his arms, and hold him close. They would whisper their apologies and their soft declarations of love, and then Tony would kiss away all of his tears, and tell him it would all be okay.
But instead, all Steve had was the cold room, and the empty bed that he and Tony were supposed to share.
Hours went by. Days, maybe, even. Steve didn't know. Didn't care. The phone rang again, and again, but he didn't move. Couldn't move. It was as though a weight was crushing down on him, keeping his body from moving, or lifting, or doing anything but lie alone and miserable.
JARVIS spoke at him, told him about how many missed calls he had and that he should probably get up, and that Mister Stark would probably be back sometime soon anyway, but Steve didn't listen. It didn't matter.
After what felt like days, Steve heard the click of the door opening. His chest swelled with hope and fear, hope that it was really him, that he had really come, fear that it was just Pepper, or Happy, checking in on him.
And then there was a warm body behind him. There was an arm sliding around his waist, and a hand tangling in his hair. A smaller body was curling itself around his, and a pair of soft lips were pressing against the back of his neck.
"I love you." A voice breathed, ragged, and clogged with tears, and it sounded so wonderful, and so perfect. Steve rolled over, and wrapped his arms tightly around Tony's waist, burying his face in his chest. "I'm sorry." Tony whispered, curling his fingers into Steve's blonde hair, kissing the top of his head. "I'm so sorry."
Steve shook his head, and kissed Tony's chest, his collarbone, his chin, up to his lips, capturing them and silencing him as he did. Their mouths slid against one another, each wet with their own tears, and Steve had never felt anything so wonderful in his life.
"I know." He whispered. "It's okay."
"I love you so much."
"I love you, too."
~O~
Author's Note:
Hi guys! I know I usually only post Stanner/Science Boyfriends, but I gotta ship what I gotta ship! So yeah. Reviews are love, but flames burn, and I don't want to get burned.
Lots of love? I guess?
-NPSD