NEW CHAPTER! Hope you all like it!

Coffee makes everything better. Coffee makes every situation (hopefully) less awkward. Yeah right, Stark, don't lie to yourself. This is going to be as awkward as it gets, coffee or no.

To say the least, Tony was panicking.

Why did this all have to be so complicated? Tony liked complicated things, but this… this was just one thing too complicated for him. But yet, he would have to figure this whole thing out somehow, because if he didn't he would A) lose a bet he made with Pepper (the only one he ever told all his problems to) and he would B) probably be overly depressed for the rest of his living existence. Tony had been in (what he had considered at the time) love before, but this…? This was something wholly different. Yes, he had loved all those other girls (and occasionally, guys) he had ever dated, but this new feeling was as different as the sky is from the earth. This feeling was more of a "need" than a "want;" it was such a need that it almost felt painful. Almost.

Remembering the coffee he was supposed to be getting, he walked over to the mechanism that would make it for him. Of course, Tony being Tony, he liked his coffee a very, very specific way. He had the precise formula figured out in his lab once, down to the chemical makeup of every ingredient, which had immediately been programed into JARVIS, so it wasn't forgotten. Good thing Tony always took JARVIS with him everywhere, literally.

Tony raised his right wrist and pressed the "watch" on it to the machine. "JARVIS, override the coffee machine with file "Coffee 24" please. Oh, and," this time Tony whispered into the watch, "record all you hear from this point until I tell you to stop. Audiovisual."

The almost invisible headset in his ear responded in the AI's familiar, polite tone. "Yes, sir."

Tony stepped back from the machine to admire his handiwork, only to realize that he was being watched. "What, Capsicle?"

Steve looked mildly confused. "Who were you talking to just now?"

"Ohhhhhh…" Tony looked amused. "I don't know if you'll get it, but in my watch is a computer. An artificially intelligent one. His name is JARVIS and he does whatever I tell him to do. For example," Tony raised his hand again, "JARVIS, override the security cameras for this room only, please, and when you respond use the speakers in the watch, hmm?"

"Yes, sir."

Steve stared at Tony's watch. "So this room is now… not being watched? Like, the security cameras can't see us?"

"Not for long, though. SHEILD will probably notice that there are no feeds coming from here and all that shit."

I don't have long, then, Steve thought to himself. Fantastic.

Oh hell, thought Tony, this whole situation will be just like a fucking bomb set up on a timer. A hellishly short timer that's twenty fucking minutes ahead. I'm swearing more now. I must be nervous. DAMNIT!

Luckily, they were both shaken out of their thoughts by JARVIS alerting Tony to the fact that his coffee was done. Tony went back to the machine, popped the money in, and waited a few seconds for the styrofoam cup to fill. When it was done, he grabbed it, savoring the warmth of the object that calmed his shaking hands. He drank a little; it was perfection on earth. Well, not really, more like pure awesomeness, because perfection on earth was currently sitting on a couch behind Tony wondering why he had gotten himself into this whole mess.

Anyway…

Tony sat on the comfy chair (haha) opposite that of where Steve currently was sitting. There was a coffee table between them where Tony sat down his cup. However, as soon as Tony sat, he realized what a bad decision sitting in that chair was. Now he was forced to look at who he was sitting across from, and for Steve, vice versa. The silence between them was very, very tense, and extremely awkward. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Nobody broke the eye contact unless it was for blinking.

Finally, Steve couldn't take it anymore. Going into Leader Mode, he addressed his fellow Avenger, and crush (to be quite honest.)

"Tony," he said, playing the first-name-game, "let's cut to the reason why we're both here. Why are you here, why am I here, why did I ever invite you, the one Avenger I seem to not get along with, to here?"

Tony sat motionless. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Wrong answer, Tony. You know why you're here, but whether you know why I'm here might still be a mystery to you." And to be quite honest, to Tony, it was. To all appearances this looked like just a simple coffee break so that two allies could get to know each other a little better, and Tony's motives for being here might not match that of the outward appearances, but from what Steve seemed to be implying, that's not what it was, and Tony was pretty sure that Steve had not a clue what Tony's motives were for being there. So what was it then? A sneaking suspicion entered Tony's mind, but he thought it impossible and so pushed it away.

Deciding to play dumb, Tony nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and looked dead on at the super soldier. "I know why I'm here. To talk before the big alien invasion of Earth with one of the guys I'll be fighting with. No biggie."

Steve chuckled like he always did. "Wow, Tony. You are so clueless. So amazingly clueless."

Amazing. That word, amazing, seemed to be popping up lately when Steve talked about Tony.

Suddenly, Tony figured he had enough. He liked knowing things, and there was one thing he desperately needed to know before this little chat was up. He sat up in his chair, looked Captain America dead in the eye, and took control of the situation, because he was Tony Stark, damnit, and nobody, not anybody, messed with Tony Stark. Ever.

"Alright, if I don't know why you're here and I'm so clueless, fill me in. What don't I know? Y'know, I think there's a lot you don't know either, and I don't just mean about modern day shit. I mean about why I'm here. You might think you know, but you probably don't. And if you do, the only way you could would be if you had a spy on your side like Nata-" Tony froze in mid-sentence. Steve was looking at him and grinning broadly, the kind of grin one gets when they've just pulled off a trick or a prank and the victim just realized what's happening. Which, interestingly enough, was pretty much exactly what was going on.

"-… sha. That bitch. She knew all along… She knew… so you know… oh hell." Tony dropped his face into his hands. "Hell… hell… fuck my life… hell… damnit… shit shit shit!"

Steve looked concerned. "What is it, Tony?"

The billionaire's hands flew up in the air. "You! You're it! You have always been it! All my father ever talked about was you, you, you, he never cared for me, and then with you being found in your block of ice all I've been hearing about is you, you, you, in the news, on the street, from Fury, from everyone! And now I meet you and suddenly all I can think about too is you, you, you! Don't you get it, Steve? It's you! You're the reason behind my recent snappiness and attitude, the reason behind my bickering with you, because I want to hate you so bad for taking up all my father's attention but I just can't! Because damnit, Steve… Damnit, I'm pretty sure, no very sure, actually I've never been so sure of anything in my life outside of this, I am positive that I am in love with you, you insufferable, uptight, solider boy."

Even though he knew and expected this to happen, Steve was still at a loss for words.

Tony looked at Steve grimly. "See? There. Truth's out. Now before you go judging, I want to know why you're here. Why you invited me for a coffee break. Why Natasha was spying on me."

"Okay, fine. But only under one… uh… condition." Uh oh. The stuttering has returned.

A look of irritation fell on Tony's face, but it was quickly eradicated by curiosity. "Okay… what's that?"

"Come over here and sit next to me. I can't stand talking to anyone sitting so far away from me, it makes the whole situation seem so formal."

Cue the famous Stark scoff. "Right, and you are just the poster child for informality." Steve reddened.

"Oh come on, Tony. That's not funny."

With a sigh, Tony moved himself to the couch to sit next to the man he had just confessed his love for. Curiously, Steve didn't look all that surprised. Tony thought that the whole "loving another guy" situation would be a problem for Steve, being from the forties where guys were killed for that. But then again, if Natasha had been helping Steve with all this, then he probably had it pounded into his head by now that it was okay now, and not a sin (unless you were one of those crazy people that still believed that… Idiots.)

"Okay, Tony. You want to know what I feel about this whole thing?"

"Get on with it, Steve."

And much to the surprise of Anthony Edward Stark, billionaire extraordinaire, scientist and general mischief maker, his idol, his partner in crime-fighting, his fellow Avenger Captain America, Steve Rogers, was kissing him.

So? What'cha all think? Please click the lonely review button and tell me! I appreciate EVERYONE's reviews, every single one of you, I am mentally giving a batch of cookies to EACH AND EVERY ONE of you guys. Without your support, this story would be dead before its first chapter. This is my longest and most popular story to date. Ever. THANK YOU! And please review :3