Heavy rock began playing as Max's phone vibrated on the bedside table. She groaned lowly and buried her head further into her pillow, willing the abrasive sound to stop. She was comfortably laid out on her stomach, so it was easy for her to prop herself up slightly on her elbows to grab the phone. She read the screen and realization flooded in. She'd forgotten to call Tony and tell her that she couldn't come in that day. She prepared her best "sick" voice and answered the call.

"Hello?" she spoke up groggily, with a rough voice

"Mags, where are you?" Tony asked, awake as ever.

"I'm at home. I meant to call you."

"Geez, you sound awful. Are you alright?"

"I must've come down with something," she explained, "I just got sick, I guess."

"Well, do you want me to come over? I can bring food, meds, whatever you need."

"Thanks, Tony, but I'm fine. I just really need to rest, so I can't come in today. I already went over the schedule and it's a mercifully uneventful day."

"You sure you don't need-"

"Do not come over here," she reemphasized, "I don't need you getting sick too. I'll be back on my feet in no time."

"Well, did you at least go see a doctor?" Tony worried.

Max's response was delayed when her breath caught in her throat. She tried to focus on the call and not be distracted by the slow kisses being placed on her bare back, trailing up from the base of her spine to her neck. She also worked to ignore the hand gently tracing its way up her side. With a small bit of irony, she smirked to herself.
"Yeah, Tony," she answered into the phone, "I went to go see a doctor last night."

"Alright. Get some rest, Junior."

"Bye."

As she set the phone down, she could hear and feel Stephen chuckling against her shoulder, his beard lightly scraping against the soft skin there.

"You're very proud of yourself, aren't you?" he smirked.

"Don't act like you don't love it."

He smiled into her neck, as his breath gently brushed against her.

"I love you."

Max slowly rolled over into his arms, pulling the sheet tighter around her as she did. With a sweet smile, she raised a hand to gently brush against the side of his face. His breath stopped at the sight of her happily laying in his arms, not bothering to care about anything outside of these four walls. Her shining green eyes held more love in them than he believed he would ever deserve, but he greedily accepted it all, leaning down to capture her in a searing kiss. As if deliberately trying to ruin the mood, her phone began to ring loudly once more. Not wanting to break the kiss, Max settled for reaching behind her and swatting it off the side table. It didn't stop the ringing, but the volume seemed lower from the floor. When she did pull away from Stephen, he shifted to place another kiss on her forehead.

"You are so beautiful," he all but gasped.

"You're not so bad yourself, Sorcerer."

She smiled mischievously as she brushed his hair back into place with her fingers. He really did have the most beautiful, intelligent, and caring eyes that she'd ever seen. The incredible amount of knowledge and experience seemed to show through them, serving as a constant reminder of the amazing, impossible things that he had seen and survived. It was odd for her to think about that, looking at him now. He didn't seem like some great warrior or hero or even a famous doctor. Right now, she could just see Stephen. Her Stephen. The man that few other people really got to see. In place of what people saw as some magical, supernatural hero, she just saw a man who cared enough about her to shamelessly bare his scars and brokenness in front of her and accept her when she did the same - if she ever did the thing.

He wasn't wrong when he told her that she was involved in all of his life. She knew so much about him and what he did. He never lied to her or kept his thoughts hidden when she wanted to know what was on his mind. She knew his strengths and weaknesses better than anyone but himself. Yet, in all this, she wasn't sure she'd ever shared hers. She made a point to keep her scars hidden. She was a Stark. Hiding her weaknesses and mistakes was second nature to her. Armoring herself was all too easy. This is why it was so hard for her to realize, before now, what Stephen was trying to do. He hadn't been trying so hard in the relationship because he wanted it to be "normal" or to just work out well. He was doing all of this for her as his way or really letting her in. In exchange, she'd shut him out of nearly every area of her life, to the point of lying to people she cared about. He bared his soul to her and she let the fear of her family's approval keep her from seeing that.

As he gently placed kisses along her face and neck, she drifted into thought, silently tracing the raised web of scarring on his hand and arm. At first, she wouldn't have ever made such an intimate gesture, but, since they grew ever closer, he'd expressed that he trusted her enough to be just that close.

"What is it?" he asked, mild concern lacing his voice as he noticed how distant she was.

"Stephen..." she sighed, "I haven't been entirely honest with you."

"About what?"

"This," she explained, "I...I really meant it when I said that I didn't want to tell anyone because I was afraid it would ruin what we have."

"But that isn't the only reason?"

"I'm scared. Your life is crazy and amazing. Mine isn't. I...I know a lot of superheroes, which sounds cool, but I just spend most of my time as an overpaid secretary. I'm in this insane world, where there are capes and aliens and magic, but I'm just...me. If you were part of all of that, you'd know that it's not worth it."

"You think me being in your life is a waste of my time?"

"When you say it like that...yes."

"Open your eyes, Maggie. Your life is just a different kind of crazy. You negotiate between these modern day titans like it wasn't even a problem for you. Your brilliance and drive to help people is leading projects that change lives. You can walk through this house without a second thought, because what's impossible for some is a normal day to you."

"What do you mean?"

"It's because of your life that you are who you are. No one else would tolerate my life, much less want to be in it. I want you here, but - more than that - I want you to want to be here. It's not about what your life is like. It's about you wanting me in it."

"I really do."

"Then let me in."

"I want to. So much. But...how would I even tell my family about all this?"

"It's easy. We've decided to be together and we love each other and are happy. That should be enough for them, shouldn't it?"

"I do love you, Stephen. I just think you're underestimating the irrationality of my weird super-family."

"I've fought world-devouring, interdimensional demon entities. Believe me, I think I can handle it."

"If you're sure..." she huffed, "Then I guess we should tell them."

"Thank you."

"But...tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere today. I like where I am too much. I could get used to "sick days" like this."

"I'll make it worth your while," he smirked, pulling her closer into his arms.

Tony hung up the phone with a sigh. Max never took sick days. Unless she had a fever, she didn't miss work. Even when she did have one, she'd show up until he sent her home. Maybe there was something wrong, he figured. It could have easily been about this elusive guy that she talked about. Had they broken up or something? It would explain her rough, tired voice if she'd been upset. Regardless of what it really was, she was absent and adamantly against him going to see her. Being the occasionally illogical person that he was, Tony decided that meant it was a good time to drop by and see her anyway. Before doing that, he grabbed his phone, calling her once more. This time, she didn't answer and the phone rung through to voicemail.

"Hey, Mags," he left in the message, "I know you said you didn't want me to get sick, but I'm coming over anyway. I'll be there soon."

Both the call and the message went unnoticed as the phone vibrated on the floor by Stephen's bed.

Max burst out laughing as the two walked into the kitchen. When Stephen gave her a questioning look, so she pointed toward the kitchen clock.

"We really overslept," she laughed.

"It seems so."

"You probably had really important plans, right?" she wondered, cringing slightly at the thought of keeping him so long on short notice.

"None at all. I saved today for you," he smiled against her neck, still unwilling to completely let her go.

She giggled at the sensation of his breath tickling her neck and squirmed out of his grasp. He circled around the kitchen island slowly, making his way around to her. At the last moment, she bolted out of the kitchen in a fit of laughter, causing Stephen to slid across the kitchen island and chase her out the door. He didn't catch her until she'd reached the living room. He grabbed her easily, lifting her feet off of the ground, but her movement threw him off balance, causing the two to topple over onto the couch. Stephen was quick to turn them so that he would land under Max, not the other way around. With a huff, he caught his breath and started laughing.

"Well...that didn't work as planned. Stop running."

"I can't help it," she laughed back, "Your face is always so priceless!"

A loud, unapologetic clearing of a throat caused the two to sit up suddenly and scramble to fix their positioning and sit properly on the couch.

"Hey, Wong," Max greeted awkwardly to the man in the doorway.

"Margaret."

"Wong."
"Stephen."

The two sat on the couch awkwardly, under scrutiny.

"Keep this out of the library and kitchen."

"Yup…" Stephen and Max agreed in unison, as Wong shook his head and walked back out.

"Someone at the door," he called over his shoulder.

When he left, Max burst into snickering laughter. Stephen looked at her oddly for a moment before she explained.

"I like him," she shrugged, "You have a cool, magical roommate."

"He's not...he's barely here."

"He's always here. He cares to much about this place to leave you alone with it."

"Thank you, my dear," Stephen snarked, "For your wonderful vote of confidence."

She just smiled and shifted over closer to him. He kissed her forehead and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"To answer the door. You heard Wong."

"No one knocked or anything."

As she spoke, the knocking at the front door echoed through the house.

"Wong's always right," Stephen shrugged, "You might want to head back to the bedroom...just in case."

"Just in case it's someone I know."

"I just have a feeling."

She happily obliged, passing him into the hall and disappearing for now. Stephen headed toward the entrance, watching the doors open as he walked toward them.

"Is there something I can help you with, Stark?"