+1: The One With The Words

"Many a time did I fall victim to the trap that you have, my friend," came Thor's surprisingly quiet yet cryptic voice; the larger man startled Tony, who had been sitting at the kitchen island with his hand curled around a cup of coffee and his eyes fixed on his StarkPad, trying desperately to come up with a way to resolve his and Clint's situation.

"Thor! You scared me; usually, I can hear you walking down the hall," he stated, Thor was not one for subtlety or quiet footsteps, so either Tony had been so lost in his mind or the god had been walking like Natasha, "and trap? What do you mean?"

"I have lived a very long life compared to you mortals, my friend, and in that time, I have fallen in and out of love on many occasions and in almost all of them, I pushed my partner away from me by being overly generous."

"…I didn't mean to push him away," Tony mumbled and Thor smiled, reaching over to clasp his friend's hand,

"I was not accusing you, merely telling you. It wasn't until the lovely Lady Jane that I understood why my previous romances had failed; it seems that when we are raised under such heavy titles, we grow up expecting people to want from us. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. She explained to me after one too many times I brought her treasure that she didn't want or need my gifts; that whilst my intentions were good, it made her feel small and insignificant. Of course, that was not my intention, but I understood after a while that romantic gestures were the best way to go instead of expensive and priceless gifts."

"So… what did you do for Dr Foster?"

"I presented her with a lovely dinner at her home, the kind Lady Darcy helped me prepare. Thus to say Lady Jane very much enjoyed the dinner -if her response was anything to go by in the bedroom." Thor added wiggling his eyebrows cheekily causing Tony to chuckle,

"Thank you, Thor. I think I've got a decent idea."

"Anytime, my friend, I am glad to have helped. I wish you luck and hope you receive a similar response that I did," Tony choked on the coffee he had just taken a sip of at the god's departing words.

—LINE BREAK—

He was on his floor and in the kitchen. Various items littered the countertops as Tony spoke into the phone; he was quick and straightforward as he spoke before hanging up.

The small two-person table that was usually left in storage had been brought up; Tony had moved the furniture about in the joining living room to create space for the small table without making the room look odd; he gently placed two plates down with napkins but no cutlery. Next, the wine glasses were placed down with a bottle of crimson wine in the middle; candles decorated the table adding the last necessary detail for the romantic evening that Tony was hoping to achieve. He retrieved the pizza boxes from the young delivery man and placed them on the kitchen counter. He looked at the room as he waited somewhat impatiently, Clint should be on his way up. His eyes focused on the table and his brows furrowed. It was wrong. It wasn't them.

"JARVIS, is Clint on his way up?"

"He is just about to step into the elevator, sir."

"Can you stall it for five minutes?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you."

With those five minutes, Tony rushed about. He cleared the table and began to pull out the other furniture, which had been pushed to the side. Quickly, the living room was back to its original look; two open pizza boxes sat on the coffee table with two wine glasses, an unopened bottle, two lit candles and two plates. He had his AI throw on their playlist.

With a ding, Tony heard the elevator doors sliding open and seconds late, Clint was walking in. His usual confident swagger had been reduced to a nervous -or was it an ashamed?- shuffle as he looked anywhere but at Tony. In his hand, a bouquet of red and yellow roses, undoubtedly meant to represent his Iron Man suit. Slowly, their eyes met and they shared hesitant and apologetic smiles.

—LINE BREAK—

Tony led them to the couch after putting the flowers in a vase; they settled down, music playing quietly in the background as they grabbed a slice of pizza each and placed it on their plates. The genius reached over and began to pour crimson wine into their glasses; neither spoke as they subconsciously clinked their glasses together, both lost in their thoughts as they drank and ate, wondering how to start the conversation.

In the end, it was Clint who spoke up first. He placed his half-eaten pizza slice back on the plate and turned to his uncharacteristically quiet partner of sorts.

"I grew up with no money. My brother and I lived at a circus and that didn't pay well; when he left me, I was homeless and begging in the street. I grew accustomed to having no money and it's something I've always known. I've had to make ends meet, wear clothing until they're non-existent, wear shoes until the sole is gone and then when I joined SHIELD, I had money. I had a steady income and it was perfectly fine with me. Then… you came along and as much as I'm sure you meant nothing by it, all I could see was you throwing money at me as though I was charity. The clothes… I mean that was basically you telling me you were ashamed to be seen with me in public." Clint murmured and it was strange to see the usually closed book so open, "I should've explained this to you before and I realise that by shouting at you and not explaining anything, I am more at fault and I am sorry, Tony. I really am."

"When I was growing up, Howard drilled it into my head that people only wanted me to use me; that no one would be loyal unless there was something in it for them. Rhodey… he was the first person to see me as Tony, not Tony Stark and admittedly, it took a while for the message to sink in. But even so, the few times I was in actual relationships, they all turned out to be in it for the money. I guess it's sort of still in my head that to keep people, I need to buy them stuff."

"You say that, but I also think you do it because you are selfless,"

"That's a lie."

"No, Tones, you're kinder and gentler than you care to admit, you've done so much for the team without wanting anything, you are more selfless than you are selfish."

"Getting back on track, I'm sorry too for not seeking out an explanation and making things worse."

"And I'm sorry for not explaining and being angry at you." They shared gentle smiles before they continued eating.

—LINE BREAK—

When they were done, stomachs full of pizza and drinks in hand as they snuggled on the couch watching a movie, Tony looked up at Clint from where his head rested on the archer's chest.

"I do have one more gift of sorts," Clint merely raised an eyebrow before Tony's lips met his; it was gentle and sweet, transmitting soft and heartwarming feelings. When Tony moved back ever so slightly and stared into Clint's eyes, his voice nothing more than a whisper, "I love you."

The archer stared in shock and surprise for several seconds before his face relaxed into a kind smile, "I love you too."

—LINE BREAK—

Later that night, they laid in bed together on their sides, hands held together as they stared at each other.

"Tony, will you become my official boyfriend slash partner?"

"Hmm…" Tony pretended to ponder and chuckled at Clint's dramatised gasp, "of course, it's about time we labelled this."

"And Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"I realise that we will always make mistakes and fight-" Tony cut him off before he could finish,

"I know. It's how we resolve them that matters." Clint could only nod before he pulled Tony on top of him, rolling them both as the archer stole the genius' lips in a kiss.

Here's my Tumblr if you're interested, it also has the story collages: anxious- - -soul (no spaces between the dashes, this site sucks and wouldn't allow them without spaces).

Anyway,
Thank you for reading,
Hope you enjoyed this,
Please review,
No hate -don't like, don't read

Bye~