Stacked with: MoM; VV; FF; Ship
Individual Challenge(s): Dancing Queen; Red Wave [Y]; Happy Birthday [Y]; Gryffindor MC; Zed Era; New Fandom Smell; Old Shoes [Y]; Comics; Short Jog;
Representation(s): Angst genre; boundaries being violated
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenge(s): Hot Stuff
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenge(s): n/a
Word Count: 1101
"Can I have this dance?" Hermione looked up to the source of the familiar voice: Tony Stark. She thought about it for one second, two, then nodded only a little tersely.
Taking his hand to stand felt wrong and she could feel Scott's eyes on her back. They'd been playfully flirting, probably what brought Tony over in the first place. For all that he pretended to be confident at all times, he'd always been the jealous type.
It was part of what fueled their breakup, after all. He got jealous when she spent time with certain members of the team ā those who played on his insecurities the most, probably ā but he was allowed to spend as much time as he wanted with the beautiful women on the team despite her own insecurities. The lack of trust between them made any relationship unsustainable.
But here she was on his arm, approaching the dance floor with more than just Scott's eyes on them. The explosive nature of their breakup, the running back to Kamar-Taj until Ultron threatened the world, everyone knew more than she'd have liked about how things happened.
Before she knew it she was swaying with a reasonable amount of space between them to some Michael Buble song. He was one of her favorite American artists and Hermione briefly wondered if Tony had paid off the DJ to play him. It was an Avengers charity gala and it wasn't as if it was below him to use money to get his way.
"Your favorite," he said, the smell of whiskey strong on his breath, and she knew then that he'd done just that.
She ignored it to focus on something else. "Are you drunk?" she asked in disgust.
"Yeah," he admitted freely. "You think I could ask you to dance sober?"
"I hoped so," she said with a pout before pursing her lips. She needed to stop talking. She willed the tension to leave her body so she could just enjoy being in his arms again even if just for the three minutes or so of the song.
"You and Scott were killing me," he said after the first chorus finished.
He twirled her before trying to close the distance between them. With Hermione's reticence, he only managed to gain a little ground. "I'm not yours to guard," she pointed out. "You've got to let go."
"I don't want to." As obvious as it was, it still did something to her stomach to hear him say it out loud. "I miss you, Hermione. I'm so in love with you." The words were sweet, but they left a sour taste in her mouth.
"You have a funny way of showing it," she practically hissed. She kept her expression schooled as best she could, trying not to air dirty laundry in public but finding it unavoidable when she was around him. "How many of the groupies in your corner have you run through?"
Tony's eyes were honest as he said, "Not a single one."
She bit her lip. "That's good. Healthy," she added. He twirled her again, and this time she let him pull her slightly closer. "Tony, Iā" She cut herself off and just gave a small cough.
His eyes widened with an innocence she'd only rarely seen in them before. "What?"
I wish things didn't happen the way they did, she thought. I wish things didn't have to fall apart. "Nothing," she said, though.
"You miss me," Tony insisted, and the worst part was that he was right. Being held by him felt right, the familiar lines of his body comforting in all the wrong ways. "I⦠really regret things went down the way they did."
She sighed. She let her gaze meet his and again saw only honesty. She could let herself get lost in those eyes like she had so many times before, but she fought it. "I do miss you." She didn't want to admit it but he had a way of drawing these things out of her. "I wish we could've worked out, but we didn't, and that's that."
Another song came on, but she didn't pull away. It wasn't the right thing to do. The drinks bring back all the memories, and the memories bring back memories, bring back you. Maybe that's why she was being so receptive. She let her cheek meet his shoulder and felt her resolve breaking.
"Remember when you finally let me try Firewhiskey?"
Of course she did. It was the first time he told her he loved her and emboldened by the fiery liquor, she let him fuck her against the penthouse window. "Yeah," she said coolly. "Remember when you had me try that bourbon?"
He'd had her try a lot of bourbon over the year they were together, but she knew by the way his smile fell a little that he knew the day she was talking about. She'd brought up taking up archery after Clint mentioned it and he'd gotten so upset with her that they both ended up in angry tears. They had not fucked that night. Slammed doors and a frustrated, drunk Hermione storming to her own room downstairs. "We start Tuesday," she'd told Clint when she passed through the common area. Tuesday had been a vindicating day, and they'd broken up not long after. When I felt all of the hatred was too powerful to stop.
"I want to be better," he told her earnestly. "I'll be better."
"I don't think I can be better," she admitted.
"We'll learn together," he tried with a hint of a tone of desperation. He said the words hotly, and if the scent of liquor hadn't been so strong she might've kissed him.
"I don't think this was a good idea," said Hermione. She didn't walk away, instead swaying in his arms a little closer than before. "Tony, I can't handle it if this doesn't work out. I'll be done." Done with the Avengers, done with him, done with love.
His gaze softened. He could clearly sense the incoming victory. "Then we'll make it work out."
They were partway through a new song, she realized, one with a faster tempo. He twirled her one more time and she ended up gently pressed against his chest. Afraid that she'd kiss him, she let her cheek fall to his shoulder. "Promise me."
"I promise," he murmured, and she let herself believe him.
She lifted her head to meet his gaze. "Okay."
He swallowed thickly. "Okay."
They danced the rest of the night, and although they went their separate ways after the gala, he was in her dreams.
Maybe they'd work out. Maybe they wouldn't. But she was along for the ride.
