They'd ended up at Tony's again, Michelle had driven as Tony's leg still hurt. She'd kept her eyes as much on him as on the road. It hurt her so much to see him this messed up.

She hadn't remembered that this wasn't her apartment, hadn't waited for him to invite her in. She'd followed him inside and he'd closed the door before she remembered. Awkwardness overcame her, and she hovered at the door, unsure of what she should do.

Trapped in his thoughts, Tony had wandered into the living room before he noticed that her fingers were no longer entwined with his. Looking back, he saw her and wondered what the matter was. It looked like she wanted to leave. Not that he blamed her, she shouldn't have had to deal with that. "Its ok, you can leave, I'll be fine." He wouldn't be, he needed her with him, but as far as he could tell, she was repulsed by him.

"No… Tony." Her tone was almost begging. He wanted her to leave? There was no way she was leaving him here alone, not the way he was. She locked her eyes with his, and very slowly moved herself towards him, putting herself in his arms.

He traced his thumb across her face, noting the tiredness and pain in her eyes along with the detemination. She wanted to be here with him, she wanted to help him, she didn't hate him. He felt a tear trickle down his face as he pulled her towards him, burying his head in her hair. The warmth that she passed to him finally pushed everything away, the pain in his head, the images of everybody who died, everything.
For a moment, she was content to let him hold her. Eventually, she pulled her head back so she could look at him. "You know none of it was your fault. You know that, don't you?"

He looked at her. Somewhere, he knew her words were true, but all he could see was how much of a hard time he'd given Mason and how it had been him that had sent Paula up to work in the office.

She could see in his eyes that she didn't believe him. As he opened his mouth to reply, she shook her head slightly. She drew his mouth down to hers and kissed him so very softly. "It wasn't. I promise you, it wasn't your fault."

Seeing that he had caused tears to start forming in the corners of her eyes, he held her tight once again, only pulling away to sit himself down and pull her onto his lap.
Her fingers instinctively slid under his top, needing to feel the warmth of his skin.
Tony felt everything melt away at her touch. She was right, it wasn't his fault. Kissing her hair, he whispered, "You hungry?"

She glanced up at him, his words causing her to realise just how hungry she was. Not wanting him to have to get up, and hardly about to volunteer her services as a cook, she suggested, "Lets get pizza."

Tony smiled at this, the closest he'd let himself get to her was sharing a pizza on nights when they'd both been forced to work late. He reached for the phone, and feeling particularly greedy, ordered them several pizzas.

He settled himself back down, pulling off her shoes and slipping off his jacket. Not content at this, her fingers pulled at his shirt until it lay on the floor and she could brush her lips across his chest.

"You shouldn't be allowed to wear tops," she giggled, one of her hands sinking into his hair.

Smiling, Tony took one of her hands and brought it to his lips. "Thank you for doing this."

Ignoring that as being entirely too ridiculous to comment on, she shifted her weight slightly so that she could curl her feet up, resting her head against his.

He slid the clip out of her hair, twirling her curls about his fingers. "I mean it."
She rolled her eyes at him, of course she was there for him.

"Michelle," he laughed, pushing her back slightly and kissing her. As the moment deepened, the kiss became less playful, Tony's hands undoing the buttons on her shirt.
Without breaking the kiss, Michelle laid herself down, pulling him on top of her.
That of course was when the doorbell interrupted them. "Pizza," Michelle groaned, pushing him up. Then, in a teasing tone, whispered, "Stay here."

Glancing back at him and fiddling with the buttons on her shirt, she made her way to the door. A second later, she called his name.

'Money,' he thought, laughing to himself. Grabbing his wallet, he forced himself up. Counting out the money, he slung one arm about Michelle, intending to draw her into him. He knew from her reaction that something was wrong, she sidestepped him. He glanced up just in time to see Jack's laughing smile.