"Tony." Steve said, frozen by the door with his jacket in his hands and the keys in the other.
Tony took a while to respond, I mean, how could he even respond to being caught staring at a picture of himself. His curiosity not only led to him discovering something like this, but also to invading Steve's privacy. And the kicker, Steve was probably going to blame himself for drawing Tony without his permission.
"Steve… why didn't you tell me?" Tony asked as he juggled back and forth between looking at himself and looking at Steve.
Steve was silent and still by the door, he hadn't taken a step forward or back since the entire unveiling occurred.
"Were you afraid of how I would react? Am I that unpredictable?" Tony asked both Steve and himself.
"I didn't want you to think that I wanted anything more from this day or this friendship. We should remain friends, for our safety. You said it yourself, you're not one of us." Steve said. The more he said it, the more he believed it, and the harder his heart broke.
Tony returned the cover on the painting and walked slowly towards Steve. Steve's heart was hammering hard in his chest as he looked directly into Tony's eyes to see if they revealed anything there. But Tony was dead silent in all aspects of emotion, he stood incredibly close to Steve, and placed one of his hands on Steve's bicep.
"Is this how they do it in those movies of yours?" Tony asked and before letting Steve reply, he leaned up to kiss him softly, barely a touch of the lips.
"I am one of us." Tony said leaning his forehead against Steve's chest. "I am, and I was scared to say it. My entire life flashed before my eyes when you kissed me that night. I was so scared, scared that you were playing some form of cruel joke for what I had done. I didn't want you to think that there was a chance I enjoyed it. It's the reason the first time we met I was such an asshole. You had this effect on me I'd only ever felt in small amounts across my life." Tony said, his hands clinging to Steve's shirt as if to never let go.
"I was so sure that I could keep up the act, but tonight… I can't anymore. If you've reduced me to this in such a small amount of time, I'd hate to think what you could do for the rest of our lives." Tony continued, finishing his confession and hoping that it was enough to convince Steve that he was absolutely serious.
"I wish you would have said something sooner." Steve said as he caressed Tony's cheek with his left hand.
"And what, risk going to jail?" Tony said, looking up into his baby blues.
"But what about after, after you knew?" Steve asked, the corner of his lips ascending slightly.
"And make a fool of myself after my outburst. I don't think so." Tony said, placing his hand on top of Steve's.
"So what changed your mind so suddenly?" Steve asked quietly.
"I'm selfish I guess, I've never had anyone pour so much attention into me before… and maybe tonight was a bit more magical than I expected." Tony hated using that word, it made it seem like their life was a constant fantasy. He may have lied (slightly) about the attention however, what he really meant to say is pure, innocent attention. This has happened before… but it didn't end as pleasantly as this.
"I did my job well then." Steve joked and chuckled when Tony rolled his eyes.
"So what do we do now?" Steve asked a couples of second later, they still hadn't separated from their previous embrace.
"Take me home, Clint and I have shopping to do tomorrow, and if you're not doing anything…" Tony said an impish smile occupying his face.
"I could help you guys with your groceries, I may have to do some myself now that I think about it. And as for your offer… we'll have to see." Steve replied, playfully poking Tony on his chest.
They separated then and made their way to the car, both seemed to have a weight lifted off their shoulders and a spring accompanied with each step.
Tony looked outside to the bright night of mid-September as they passed the many businesses and night-clubs on their way to Tony's house.
The silence, as they drove, was a calm one, nothing of the previous awkwardness could be felt. They arrived to Tony's apartment ultimately too fast and Tony sighed at the blandness of the brick building. He'd never been one to care for such luxuries as privacy, but now—after experiencing it, he found it to be harder to not want it.
"Here we are." Steve said looking up to the tall building.
"Would you be surprised if I said I didn't want to go?" Tony asked, looking at Steve with a sort of regret reserved for occasions just like this.
"Well I don't want you to leave, so no, I don't find it that surprising." Steve replied, sighing sadly and hoping that the midnight would last forever.
"Goodnight Steve, I'll see you tomorrow I hope." Tony sighed out as he exited the car.
"Of course." Steve replied, waving goodbye to Tony's retreating back. He didn't leave until he was sure Tony was secured inside of the building.
The brunette climbed the stairs two at a time and entered the apartment he shared with Clint.
"Tony, is that you?" Clint shouted from the bedroom. There were bunches of clothing sprawled out all over the place, some obviously women and some men.
"Yeah, hey, what the hell is going on in here?!" Tony shouted back, kicking the clothing out of the way, carving a path towards their bedroom.
"Hey, don't come in here we're… indecent." Clint warned.
"We?" Tony breathed. There were some slight murmurs and whole bunch of shuffling around. Soon, a nappy-headed Clint emerged from the bedroom, hastily dressed to provide some illusion of modesty.
"What are you doing here so early?" Clint asked, pulling his pants up so they wouldn't fall from his waist.
"What are you doing? Period." Tony asked, one hand on his hip the other gesturing to all the clothing on the floor.
"Um. I mean, weren't you supposed to, you know, be with Steve." Clint said, whispering conspiratorially.
"I was, he just dropped me off." Tony said, then catching wind of what Clint tried to say, huffed and shook his head. "Not like that you dumbass, we simply watched a movie. You still haven't answered my previous question." Tony said, his patience wearing thin.
"Well I, picked up a couple of people from the bar and now we are, uh, engaging in what some adults do in their spare time. I would have warned you but I thought you would be engaging for the entire night." Clint admitted, his entire face turning red.
"In my bedroom!" Tony exclaimed then immediately calmed down, it was too late to start screaming.
"Uh, it's our bedroom, but I made sure not to touch anything on your side." Clint replied.
"First, couple of people? Second, in our bedroom? Third, in this apartment? Clint, why didn't you do this somewhere else?" Tony asked, a bit flabbergasted, had he known these were the plans that Clint had, he would have stayed with Steve.
"Well-
But before Clint could reply, there was a knock on the door.
"Are you expecting anyone else?" Tony asked, Clint shook his head. The brunette made his way to the door and asked who was there.
"Uh, Tony, I know we said our goodbyes but—Tony swung the door open, surprised to find the blonde outside holding the candy bars Tony had absentmindedly left behind—you left these in my car…" Steve said, trailing off when he saw the state Tony's house was in.
"Steve! Come in, come in, and please excuse the mess. I was having a-a get together." Clint said, gesturing for the blonde to come in.
Steve stepped in tentatively, placing the candy bars on the table, and then standing awkwardly.
"I should be-
"How was your evening with Tony, you treated my brother well right?" Clint asked, interrupting Steve.
"Barton, I don't think now is the time for your stupid questions." Tony snapped, taking a deep breath and leading Steve to the door.
"I'm giving you thirty minutes to finish whatever you were doing. So please, hurry." Tony said, exiting the building with Steve in tow.
"Thirty minutes, don't you think you were being a little generous?" Steve asked as they sat down into the backseat of the car. Steve had suggested it since they would be more comfortable there.
"He had a couple of people in there. I think that gives him plenty of time to finish. He's normally very careful with keeping his personal life out of the apartment, or at least, do it when I'm not there. But tonight he thought that you and I would be together." Tony replied, emboldened by their budding relationship he laced their fingers.
"Oh." Steve said, realizing what Tony's words meant.
"He's so hell-bent on making sure we end up a couple. Should I break the news to him slowly or quickly, like ripping off a Band-Aid?" Tony asked, leaning his head on Steve's shoulder. He inhaled deeply; it was slight, but Steve did use some cologne. It smelled wonderful on him.
"You can do it however you want, or not at all. It's up to you." Steve said leaning his head on top of Tony's.
"You admit it then, that there's something going on?" Tony asked, tentatively.
"Yeah, there is." Steve said, placing a small kiss on Tony's forehead. A loud knock one the window separated their bodies faster than a lightning bolt.
"Okay, we're done." That was the voice of Clint shouting into the car.
"Good." Tony said exiting the car for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening.
"Enjoy yourself Clint?" Steve asked, as he also left the backseat, only to reenter on the driver's side.
"I could ask you the same." Clint retorted, wiggling his eyebrows with a cheeky smile.
"Goodnight Steve, this time for sure." Tony said, dragging his annoying friend away (sometimes Clint was a friend, other times he was a brother. It all relied on what mood Tony was in.)
"Goodnight." Steve replied, reviving the engine and leaving the vicinity.
"I hope you left the window open when you were doing, whatever you were doing." Tony said as they made their way upstairs.
"You must not know me Mr. Stark, the bedroom is cleaner than a whistle." Clint reassured.
Tony sighed, but was too tired to argue. He entered his room, kicked off his shoes and slept until the next morning.
ooOOoo
Tony hadn't slept that well in a long time, he was surprised to find it was already eleven o'clock. He jumped out of his bed when he realized it was way too late, he and Clint were supposed to go to the store with Steve… Steve! Dear God, he must have been waiting so long! What if he already left?
He needed to shower and get dressed immediately.
Tony bolted right out of his room and through the living room into the bathroom… wait…
"Mornin'!" Clint and Steve greeted the startled Tony as he backtracked to make sure he was seeing things correctly. The two were casually sipping tea and it seemed as if they had been talking for quite some time.
"Uh…" Tony didn't know what to say, he tried to fix his messy hair and wrinkled clothes but gave up. "I'm… I'm gonna go take a shower." Tony said, going back into his bedroom to grab his toiletries and clothing for the day then made his way, again, to the bathroom. What a weird day this was already!
ooOOoo
"Okay, I'm presentable now." Tony said as a form of greeting to the other two men at the table.
"Great, I bought breakfast, I didn't know what was customary so I brought some croissants, bread, muffins, and jam." Steve said, almost standing up to allow Tony to sit at the table. However, the brunette dragged a chair from the living area and pulled it towards the table and sat in between Steve and Clint.
"Thanks for the food, we don't normally have anything fancy so this will do." Tony said, taking a huge bite out of the delicious blueberry muffin. "How long have you been here?" Tony asked as he swallowed the treat and took a sip out of Clint's tea, as he normally would.
"I was only here for about two hours. I, too, woke up late today—well, later than normal." Steve replied.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I rarely put an alarm on my days off." Tony apologized while taking a bite out of the croissant.
"No worries, Clint and I were able to get to know each other better as a consequence." Steve said taking a sip of his chilled tea.
"I hope he didn't annoy you, the man has a tendency to be more bothersome than lice in an orphan's hair." Tony said, eliciting some complaints from his brother.
"No, he was quite friendly." Steve replied with a small chuckle.
"That's because he was trying to retrieve information from you. If he weren't so dumb, he could be a detective." Tony said as a matter of fact.
"Tony, I really don't appreciate you talking about me as if weren't sitting right next to you." Clint complained taking another blueberry muffin.
"Oh poor you, leave the room if it bothers you so much." Tony said, rolling his eyes and finishing his breakfast, or brunch really.
"Are we ready then, to get groceries?" Steve asked, getting up to grab his keys.
"Yes." Clint and Tony said in unison, grabbing their coats and exiting the building.
You wouldn't think that something as mundane as shopping for food to sustain the human body would foster any sort of relationship between the trio, but amongst debating which brand of apple was the sweetest over which type of oat was the thickest, their relationship became a bit tighter. Clint made Steve feel welcome, and Tony subconsciously appreciated that effort. He knew that Clint knew that he didn't have many friends (none to be exact) and that Steve—in the short time that he's been introduced—means a lot to Tony already.
"Hey, I heard there was a carnival in town, they don't normally open on Sundays, but today would be an early showing. How about we go there after we pack away the groceries. Steve, you can keep your lot in our cooler until you need them." Clint suggested from the back seat.
"If you're up for it…" Steve said turning to look at Tony for approval.
"It's your car Steve. But if you're asking if I wanna go, well I have nothing else doing so sure." Tony replied shrugging his shoulders.
Clint exclaimed like an excited child getting a brand-new toy.
They were able to get there before it opened and get tickets at a discounted price. The place soon filled as the night approached and the lights began to showcase the carnival's true splendor.
There was a particular game where you had to throw a ball through a hole ten times in a row in order to get the price. Somewhere along the way Clint found a temporary sweetheart and was showing off his marksmen skills. Soon it became a competition between Steve and Clint to see who could get the most shots into the bullseye. Ultimately Clint won, with a grand total of a hundred and eighty points (each bullseye was worth ten points). He would have kept going but he was starting to get bored. For his excellent effort, Clint received the largest plush of the lot and then gave it to his temporary sweetheart. Because Steve technically passed the requirements, he too obtained the largest plush: a giant penguin. He gave it to Tony in the same way Clint gave it to the other girl.
"You sure? You won it after all." Tony said, reluctant to take the giant thing.
"I'm sure, what else am I gonna do with it?" Steve asked, happy when Tony acquiesced and grabbed the damn thing. The man behind the counter raised his eyebrow, but said nothing about the strange occurrence.
The next challenge was that of strength. Now Steve use to be pretty strong when he was able to functionally wield both arms, but it's been a while since he tested his strength and wanted to see just how good he could be.
Clint, as per custom, went first. He was shy a couple of points but wasn't able to hit the bell all three tries.
Steve tried second, testing the weight of the hammer.
"Come on Steve, you don't think you can do better than 95 points, right?" Clint teased, bringing his sweetheart and the giant pig plush closer.
Steve rolled his eyes and hit the hammer on the plate. The metal ball rose shy of 99, but didn't quite make it to 100. Steve sighed and tried again—again the ball met the ninety-nine mark but didn't quite reach a hundred… was it because he was doing it single-handedly?
"You don't have to beat the machine Steve, you already beat Clint." Tony said, Clint huffed incredulously but didn't take the comment to heart. It was the only boost Steve needed, though, to reach that one-hundred mark. The satisfying ring of the bell was all he needed to hear, and the sudden cheer that erupted from Tony (and the small crowd that had formed), was a plus. The gruff man next to the plushies, congratulated him on his accomplishments and handed him another giant plush, this time in the shape of a bear.
"I didn't know you were that strong Steve." Clint said, half in awe and half in childish jealousy.
"Eh, it came with the training." Steve said massaging his right arm.
"We should go on the Ferris Wheel to end the night on a high note." Tony said, excitedly.
"Did you just make a pun?" Clint asked skeptically.
"Not intentionally." Tony replied, giggling suddenly from the unexpected joke.
Tony, Steve, and the two plushies entered one carriage, Clint, his temporary sweetheart, and their plushy entered another.
"I had fun today, more these two days actually than I've had my entire life." Tony admitted as they rose slowly.
"I'm glad, and I had fun with you as well." Steve said, half-smothered by the giant plush.
As they rose to the top, Tony marveled at how high up they were, exclaiming that he could make out his apartment from there.
"Tony… I've been meaning to ask if-
But Steve couldn't finish his sentence properly as his mouth was overpowered with Tony's tongue, which tasted of cotton-candy and the caramel-corn they had had earlier.
"I do hope that's what you were going to ask, because I can't stand being away from you for more than a couple of hours… oh God that was probably the most romantically filthy thing I've ever said." Tony said, embarrassed by his own brash emotions.
"No, no, that's… that's really sweet. Know the sentiment is fully reciprocated." Steve said almost out of breath.
"Good… thanks for plush by the way." Tony said.
"They're both yours." Steve reminded.
"No, keep one, to remind you of today. Tomorrow we go back to mundane work, so it's nice to keep a souvenir of the weekend." Tony said, hating the slow decent of the carriage, he didn't want this night to end. Not yet anyways.
"Okay, we'll have to do something different for next Sunday." Steve said, already planning the next two weeks.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, let's see what tomorrow brings first." Tony cautioned.
"Aye, aye Captain." Steve said.
It was an overall eventful night, and as the three left (Clint reluctantly) with their plushies in tow, they all differently wondered, what tomorrow would bring.
A/N: Oooh hu-hu, the calm before the storm. I like it.