Author's notes at the end of the page.

His hand tightened its grip on the rough fabric handle of his suitcase as he turned around to give the place he had been so happy in a long once-over. A quiet sigh was heaved through parted lips as the vivid memories floated into his mind; the laughs, the jokes- him. It wouldn't surprise the doctor if Tony was still down in the shop, probably rummaging through his drawers looking to find a bottle of his poison. With a slight shake of his head and one more look at the lounge, he brought his hand to the silver panel next to elevator doors and pressed the lit up button. As soon as the large metal doors opened, he entered the elevator, his eyes darting around the small room to avoid looking at the lounge as the doors slowly closed.

It had been another of the many fights they had, but things were said that were never meant to be said. Things were done that were never meant to be done. It just wasn't a brief argument of how Bruce needed to learn to live with the other guy, and it just wasn't another stern talk about how Tony needed to learn some self-preservation. No. It had been all of that and more. And it had all started with Tony hitting the vino as per usual, and being the ass he was such an expert at being.

Tony had arrived and turned up the music loudly, a wide grin on his face as the alcohol coursed through his veins. As soon as he saw Bruce, he threw his arms around his neck, a few slurred words escaping him as he leaned in to kiss Bruce. Bruce felt his stomach churn slightly as Tony's arms wrapped around him, not wanting to deal with more drinking and more stupidity and more memories of watching his mother deal with knuckles and broken bottles and the bruising imprint of her own husband's wedding ring on her cheekbone. On her son's cheekbone.

"Tony-" Bruce murmured, closing his eyes and shaking his head, his arms hanging at his sides. "Just, get off me. Please."

The feeling of Tony's lips on his neck didn't faze him like it usually did, and Bruce tilted his face away from the engineer's, feeling the tart fumes of alcohol fanning across his neck and making his nose crinkle.

"Tony, please. I'm not in the mood. Now get off." Bruce repeated his words, hands now lifting to gently press at Tony's chest, separating them slightly with the billionaire's arms around his neck.

"C'mon, I just need some lovin'." He said, slightly stepping back as he felt the doctor's hand on his chest, pushing back. Was he really pushing him away or was it his imagination? The alcohol always decided to mess with him in the worst ways, but honestly that's all he wanted. To just be with Bruce for a while.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you. Didn't you miss me a bit?" He asks with a mocking expression of offence. Even drunk he was a sarcastic ass. And talking about asses- being the hard headed ass that he was he leaned in before smashing his lips against Bruce's in a messy kiss, hands gripping his arms.

"To-" Their lips met and Bruce felt his defenses kick in, he tore one of his arms away from Tony's grasp and gave the other man a moderate shove against his chest, putting about a half-foot between them. Letting out a short cough, Bruce wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, staring Tony down with a stern look.

"I said," He started, holding a hand out. "Get. Off. And stay off. I'm not doing this tonight."

Bruce said, gesturing a hand between them. The playboy stumbled backwards at the harder shove he had received from Bruce. He wasn't expecting Bruce to react like that, not in that manner. And honestly, he had no idea why he was acting this way, because even as drunk as he was he noticed the bite in Bruce's voice.

"What the hell is your problem?" Tony asked, looking at Bruce though he slightly swayed from all the alcohol in his system. The more time passed the harder it was becoming to stay balanced.

"What my problem is you- coming home like this? I've told you many times before I hate when you drink."

"Oh come on- it was just a few martinis-" Bruce held his hand up, stopping the billionaire from talking. He let out a dry laugh and shook his head, "A few martinis? Really? I highly doubt it Tony."

"Why does it bug you that I drink so much, huh? I can do whatever the hell I want." Tony said, moving to lean against the shop wall.

"Because I can't watch someone I love slowly kill themselves and lose their dignity bit by bit. Tony, you have a problem- and you don't notice it but it affects you and everyone around you." Bruce replied, keeping his distance from the inebriated billionaire, his arms crossed over his chest firmly.

"I've heard it all before, Bruce. 'Oh, Tony, you can't build an arc reactor for your liver'…"

"Then that just proves my point more. It just proves I'm not the first person to notice it and be affected by it, and I most definitely won't be the last."

"Do you really care about the whole 'self-preservation' shit? Because honestly, I see that as you being a total hypocrite."

"A hypocrite?" Bruce asked with raised eyebrows- eyes behind glasses, looking at Tony with a bit of surprise.

"Yeah. A total hypocrite. What was it I caught you doing last time? Oh yeah- an experiment to 'restrain' the other guy."

"Tony, that's completely different. You and I both know it's far better that way."

Tony snorted loudly and shook his head. "I know nothing. And I had JARVIS open the files to me… I saw the side effects and the possible irreversible ones. Coma, brain damage- if anyone here is hurting themselves, it's you- not me."

"Listen, Stark, I'm not going to talk about this when you are completely hammered." His voice hid a bit of a bite and under his skin he could feel the other guy waking up- and it wouldn't surprise him if his eyes had turned a shade of green.

Tony noticed the greenish in his eyes and he sneered, "Let him out- I bet he's more reasonable than you. Besides, I'm fine- just a few drinks. I told you before. Whatever, Banner- you're just overreacting."

The way Tony's voice showed no sign of caring of how Bruce felt made the blood in his veins boil with anger. Anger of how he thought Tony cared about him but it didn't show, anger of how he couldn't stop someone he loved from slowly destroying themselves, anger because it reminded him of his past.

"You want to see overreacting?" Bruce said moving closer to Tony, anger vibrating in his voice as he grabbed Tony by the collar of his shirt.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Tony said, moving his hands to Bruce's wrists, trying to pry his hands off him.

"I'm overreacting- what does it look like? Do you want to know why I hate when you drink so much? My da- no. That beast that was with my mom used to beat her drunk- used to beat me." His voice was shaking with anger now, eyes turning a brighter shade of green with every word. The doctor's hands tightened their grip before he pushed Tony against the wall- the other guy scratching under his skin, bubbling with readiness to get out. "You think the other guy is some hero because he saved your life? You're wrong! He's killed innocent people-"

"I don't believe you! Come on, let him out. Let him out!" Tony taunted, getting really close to Bruce's face until he could feel the other's hot breath on him.

"Let him out." Tony's hand let go of Bruce's wrists and moved them to Bruce's shirt too, starting to shake him. "Come on- do it."

By this time Bruce's breath was heavy and his heart rate was increasing with every syllable of Tony's words, threatening to get higher than 170. He could feel it. The other guy was so close.

"No."

His voice was low as he let go of Tony's shirt and pulled away from him. His shoulders rose and fell with every long breath he took- trying to calm down, trying to prevent the other guy from making an appearance. Before Tony could move or say anything else, Bruce headed up the stairs, leaving Tony alone in the shop.

Author's notes: Okay so this is another fic based on a song. This will be multiple chapters and I just really hope you enjoy it. The song it's based on is If you ever came back from The script. Obviously it won't be exactly like the song- I guess it's more of an inspiration of this fic. Anyways I will most likely update every two days. Please leave your comments and whatnot. :D Thank you for reading!