[A/N Ah, listening to AC/DC while writing. Hearing the clanks of Tony fighting some drones through the song.. Can it get any better? Nu-uh, don't think so]

Part 7.

This certainly did not resolve any of the previous awkwardness. You see, there were a couple of possible outcomes to this, but I had narrowed them down to the two most likely ones. One, the outcome I preferred in which Steve and I realized our mutual love and started making out like crazy, possibly ending up in the bedroom. Or the second option, which it unfortunately came down to, where Steve was not blinded by his passion for me and where he abruptly pushed me away.

"What the hell, man?" He whisper-shouted.

"I don't know." I rubbed my hand over my face, taking a deep sigh. Why do I have such bad repulse control. Why did I do that? For all I knew I just stole this man's first kiss. That thought actually made me kind of happy, but I didn't think it was true. The easiest thing to do right now would be just taking off with one of my overly expensive cars and return 5 days later when everyone had forgotten about it. Normally, I'd do such a thing. But this was Steve, and after all the time Steve managed to spend not running away from me, he deserves a bit of an explanation. Even if I didn't have said explanation myself, yet.

"Tony, you can't just…do that!"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Well, be sure it doesn't happen again, because next time a man kisses me, I won't take it kindly." Steve sneered. His words cut me like a razor blade. Sharp, painful and the wounds would take long to heal. To make sure the wound won't get infected though, alcohol is needed. Turning a metaphor into an excuse to drink was a new low, but I could really use some now just to forget all of this and be as OK as I can be the next morning. Steve took off like that, and I could tell by the way he hung his head that he already regretted what he'd said. But he didn't turn back to see if I was OK, so I walked to the kitchen to get myself something strong enough to erase all the bad memories.

I woke up knowing something was wrong, but my brain couldn't quite wrap around it yet. I was probably shit-faced yesterday and said or did something stupid. I rolled out of bed, got told by my loyal AI that it was way too hot for this time of year due to global warming, shoved my legs into jogging pants and grabbed a random tank top from the floor.

I stumbled into the kitchen/dining area where people were already seated around the table. Heads seemed to be almost rolling off and eyeballs were directed at either the floor or unfinished meals. Thor seemed quite cheerful, the rest was just sort of sitting there like a bunch of zombies. Steve was missing.

"OK, I did something stupid last night. What did I do." I said as a way to declare I was in the room. On my way to the coffee machine I pulled my tank top on, trying to get my arc reactor in place through the hole in the t-shirt. To my horror, everyone was sitting on their appointed chairs. I made a point of sitting in Steve's chair instead of my 'own' (which was ridiculous because the house was mine, and everywhere was my rightful place).

"I know one stupid thing you did, and that was allowing us to touch your alcohol stock." Clint murmured.

"What can I say, I was pretty wasted myself, turns out."

"No, I'm quite certain you weren't, metal man." Thor said, munching on a spoonful of cereal. I thought we were past the 'metal man' greetings, but whatever. "I might have fallen asleep, but I can quite clearly remember you being pretty much sober. I cannot imagine you drinking while all of your friends were passed out in your kitchen."

"I think you're giving me way too much credit there, Thor. I don't remember anything."

"Then how do you even know you did something stupid?" Natasha asked, raising her head from where it was laying on her arms.

"Had a feeling." I shrugged, stealing something to eat from Thor's plate. "Oh, and the face Rogers is giving me right now." I said as Steve walked in, looking quite hostile. I held up my hands. "OK, man whatever I did yesterday I apologize profusely and blame it all on the alcohol." I said quickly, backing away as he strode towards me, but it turned out he was only walking towards me to down next to me. I breathed out a puff of air in relieve, and slapped him on the shoulder. "Good, I'm glad we sorted that out."

"We didn't." He muttered, "We need to talk."

"Well, what's there to talk about?" I asked, and noticed everyone's curious, still sleepy but clearly intrigued eyes were on us.

"I don't think you want them to know." He answered, gesturing to the rest of our friends with his piece of toast.

"I really don't think I will mind if they hear." I said confidently.

"I really think you will."

"Certainly won't." I smirked at him and Steve sighed, massaging his face with his unoccupied hand. Since when had Steve stopped with playful bickering?

"Alright. Fine. Whatever. Yesterday, everybody was passed out on the floor, you and I were the only ones still able to stand on our own feet. You saw this as the opportunity to rape my mouth." No. Natasha's head flew up from her arms again and Bruce's eyes opened. Thor seemed amused for some reason, and Clint thought it was the appropriate time for a whistle.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"If only it were." Steve mumbled, head red as a beet. This couldn't be possibly true. It was bad enough that I'd kissed this man whom I was desperately trying to befriend against his will. But the one thought that kept me busy was that our first kiss had been while I was drunk, and that I remembered nothing from it. Not even the texture of his lips, or the way he tasted, or if he was any good at it. I groaned.

"I'm sorry, it must have been the alcohol."

"Will you stop blaming everything you do on something you do to yourself? god damned it." Steve slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "It's exactly as Thor says, Tony. You weren't drunk. I don't know if you thought it'd be funny, or if you wanted to prove a point or what. But it was distasteful, and if you ever touch me again I'd rather go back to the prison cell Fury has ready for me, than stay here and risk being raped by a guy." He said angrily. I held my hands up again in surrender.

"OK, man, fine. Have it your own homophobic way. I don't remember anything from last night, and I doubt they do." I gestured with my raised hands to the rest, who were all politely having a different conversation and who were trying their best to not look at us. "So for all I know you are making it all up." I shrugged my shoulders. "Whatever, seriously." I walked back and sat with the rest of the team, who stopped their conversation immediately and looked up at me. "Who feels like taking a ride to New York in a Stark jet, some shopping, watching a movie and going out and flying back before midnight? All on me!" I shouted, grinning at them. They all dropped the subject and agreed cheerfully, ready for some fresh air to hit their lungs while dealing with their horrendous hangover.

[A/N hope you likey.]