My breath catches in my throat as he walks into the room. Breath, I remind myself. Prying my eyes away from him, I search the room for someone. Anyone familiar would do right now. In the far corner of the room a blonde sits alone. She seems familiar enough to be his distraction for the night. Casually I glance back at Tony as he makes his way down the long stairs leading into the ballroom. It only takes a glance to memorize what he's wearing. It's a red suit, a blue button up shirt, and a white tie. It brings a smile to my face. He's wearing my colors. Why doesn't matter. They look good on him. Another thing catches my eye though. Pepper wasn't with him. Pepper's always with him. That's troubling. The blonde lady seems to have noticed me coming over here. She's checking her hair and dress to make sure she looks perfect. I flash a smile.
"May I sit with you?" Her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink as she nods. Moving around the table I sit to where I have a view of the room and have the blonde lady on my left. She's fidgeting with a silver ring with a swirl pattern on her hand. "That's a gorgeous ring. I'm Steve Rogers, by the way."
"I'm Penelope Waters. Thank you. My father gave it to me when I turned 17." I looked into the crowd of large people. Tony had disappeared when I turned away. My eyes raked the crowds for his hair, his eyes while my ears listened for his lovely voice, or maybe, if I was lucky, someone would make him laugh. Penelope tapped my arm. She leaned in to tell me something, so I leaned over. Discretely she pointed in a direction off to our left.
"Look, Tony Stark is here!" True to her word, she had found Tony. He was talking with someone, but his eyes were searching the room for someone else. Probably Pepper. The brief thought of him looking for me in the crowd came to mind, but left quickly. We had fought last time we spoke. He disobeyed orders again without telling us, nearly getting Natasha killed. Thank goodness she was a super spy and Clint was with her. "I wonder who he's looking for." She mumbled. Right then Tony looked in our direction. He frowned for a split second before excusing himself from his conversation. As he made his way over to us, his eyes nearly never left mine.
"Oh my gosh. He's coming over here. What do we do?" She said frantically. It was obvious that she was new to these things. Where had I seen her before though? She gripped my arm tight before letting go to play with her ring again. Noticing that we were still leaning towards each other, I quickly sat straight up. Embarrassment flew through me. It was dumb to feel embarrassed though. Tony should be happy that I'm talking with a girl. It's just about all he talks about sometimes.
"Hello," Tony said with a confidence only he had. He stood casually across from me. Now that I could see him better I knew something was wrong. Tony's eyes were brown, but a trace of red was around them. It looked almost as though he had been crying. The way his hands constantly wrung, played with his tie, or moved in and out of his pockets was also a sure sign something was wrong. "I know you two must be having a lovely time, but may I borrow Steve?" The shock must have shown on my face. Tony bit his lip and looked away for a second before smiling. "It will just be for a moment." He added. Penelope looked just as shocked as I felt. I nodded and excused myself from her. Tony lead me over to the patio. Once outside he didn't stop. I looked out into the darkness. A large wall of hedge blocked our path.
"Tony, where are we going?" I asked. He mumbled something and turned off to the right. He walked into the opening in the hedge. A maze. This was a hedge maze. "Are you sure you want to go in there? Maybe we could ta-"
"Come on Steve." Tony called back. He hadn't stopped walking. In silence he led his way through the maze until we were in, what I guessed was the center. Tony walked into the simple gazebo with vines crawling up its sides. "I come here during these parties. To get away." He sat on one of the benches. "Pepper usually comes with me." He stared at the floor. What was wrong with Tony? I sat next to him. He would tell me if he wanted me to know. He took a large breath.
"Pepper is leaving me. For Rhodey." He paused. "She says that I'm in love with someone else. Have been since I met the person." He let out a bitter laugh. I nearly flinched. This wasn't Tony. This was depressed and confused Tony. "I don't know who she's talking about. I fought with Rhodey and Pepper before I came. I hate these parties." He placed his head on my shoulder. I don't think he knew he was doing that. Suddenly my heart sped up. I know I like Tony, but could Tony like me back? Am I the person Pepper's talking about? Taking a leap of faith Steve turned towards Tony. Tony sat back up at the sudden movement.
"Steve?" Tony questioned. I looked right into his eyes. The gorgeous brown stared back at me with confusion. Leaning one hand on the side of the bench, I leaned forward and kissed Tony. Nothing long or passionate, just a simple kiss. Tony didn't move. I moved back embarrassed that he didn't kiss back. Looking off into the hedges I scorned myself. Why would I do that? Now he wont ever talk to me again.
"Look, just forget about that." I mumbled, standing up. Before I got a step away Tony grabbed my hand. He stood up and practically pressed himself against me. I looked down at him. One of his arms kept my hand while the other snaked around my middle.
"Do that again."