Tony POV
I stepped out of the car, I was wearing a tailored black suit that clung to my waist. As always, I arrived fashionably late to the charity Gala.
Pepper berates me again as soon as she spots me in the door way, for being "unprepared". I wave her off as I start to mingle through the crowd (capturing the attention of almost everyone in my presence). I spot Rhodey talking with some rich guy, definitely making a deal. I look to my right and see Nat, Pepper and oh god.. Steve sitting at the bar, I turn the other way, making my way to a group of millionaires to chat with. The evening seems to be going off without any hitches so far.
Conversations and silent business deals happening all around me. Pepper is making her way around the room like a fox; swiftly and quietly, but using her charm to get donations. She does her best.
I got the sudden feeling of being watched, like a gaze burning into my skull. I look around the room, my eyes catching on a figure in the corner. He's wearing a deep brown suit that hugs his waist just right, it leaves little to no imagination. And he's smiling at me.. and those eyes, piercing blue.
They're gorgeous, I start to walk closer, he follows. We meet in the middle. "Hey handsome." I grin at him. "Hello, darling." Oh god.. he's British??! Even better! "May I?" I ask, my voice sultry as I offer him my arm, he nods and takes it. I lead us towards a corner, not far from the bar. I take a glass of champagne from a waiter that walks in front of us; he follows my movement.
"So, what your name?" I ask him, "Henry, my name is Henry." I quirk a eyebrow, "Like the prince? Prince Henry?" He straight on laughs.. uh rude! my joke wasn't even funny! "No, but I wish!" He wheezes out, I crack a small forced smile. "Worth a try." He smiles and says, "Indeed it was, and as I recall, your Tony Stark, right?" I grin, shifting on my feet to feel more comfortable. "Indeed I am, nice to meet ya Henry." I hold out my hand and he takes it.
He holds my hand a fraction of a second long then he should've. We both smile at each other as our hands disconnect. "So, Henry, what brings you to this fine establishment?" I say as I wave my hand to emphasize. "Well, I'm obviously here just to meet the gorgeous man they call Tony Stark." He tilted his head in a way that made his smile look brighter and his shoulders broader.
I chuckle, slapping his arm playfully. "Yeah yeah, why are you really here? fundraiser? or just to pick up a hot date?" I take a sip out of my champagne, keeping my eyes on him the whole time. He chuckles, his eyes filled with amusement. "Okay fine, I'm here to donate some money to the charity, since I have extra."
Wow.. that's noble, my eyes widen in surprise, "That's great to hear actually, many millionaires just come here to flaunter money or to pick up some girl or guy and take them home.. your, special." I smiled, real and genuine, it's always nice to see someone at these events actually looking forward to donating.
"Why thank you, Tony. You're quite special yourself, I mean look at what you've accomplished!" I blush at the words, no one has ever said such nice things to me; let alone to my face.
He looks down and sees my blush, grins, and leans forward towards my ear. "But I'd rather see what you've accomplished up and personal, like maybe a private tour in your lab? or perhaps the bedroom-" He gets cut off mid sentence as Rhodey taps him on the shoulder, "Hey, bud, can I borrow Tony for a sec?" Henrys mouth leaves my ear, as he faces Rhodey. "Yeah, sure just make sure to give him back." He smiles, Rhodey smiles and leads me away from him.
"What's wrong Rhodey?" I frown at him as he leads me towards the bar. "Can't I just take a moment to hang out with my best friend?" He asks innocently, a fond smile on his face.
I slowly nod, "Well of course, but I was in a conversation with a fine man, which you just unshamfully interrupted." I shook my head, my gaze darting back to Henry, who I found already starting at me, I give him a small smile. "Yeah, and I don't care, I needed to tell you something." I nod and motion for him to go on.
"That guy your talking to? He's an asshole; he sued an orphanage because a kid asked him for a dollar, that 'orphanage' had to go bankrupt for a lawyer! and they still lost! why are you talking with him?!" My jaw drops, I can't believe it.. who would even do such a thing? to children nonetheless! I furrow my brows, "That's fucking messed up, I-i can't believe he made me believe he was here to actually donate to the fundraiser!"
Rhodey give me a look of pity.. god I feel so dumb, so manipulated. I turn to look for him again, he's still standing where I left him and is now what looks like 3 cups of champagne in. "I'm.. gonna go back to him, see if I can gather any more of his stupid fucking lies." I grit my teeth as I nod to Rhodey, standing up. I make my way towards him. He looks my way and smiles. I force a tight-knit smile, as I continue to chat him up; gathering information.
Steves POV
As soon as Pepper sighs beside me, I know he arrived. I follow Peppers movement toward Tony with my eyes, I see her looks disappointed and Tony just wave her off. I smile and shake my head, as soon as I notice him looking around, I swiftly turn my chair around; facing the bar.
Nat bumps my shoulder and I turn my head to her, "You gonna keep sulking or are we gonna party?!" She smiled at me, she's definitely drunk. I chuckle and shake my head, fondly. "No thanks Nat, I think I'll just drink water for now; you know.. since I can't get drunk?" I hope I sound convincing, truth is, I just want to go find Tony. " Aha! nice try lover boy, you're forced to drink with us!" I heard a voice come from behind me, I turn around and find Pepper excitedly jumping up and down.
I sigh, and take another shot of whiskey, it burns going down but I suppress it and turn to the girls. They explode in a variety of "Woos" and "Yay" I chuckle to myself as they order another round. I keep taking shots, one, then another, and another. I'm not even feeling the tiniest bit of tipsy, perks of the serum I guess.
Pepper goes off to mingle with the guest some more, leaving me and Nat at the bar. Rhodey comes over and sits next to me, ordering a drink. "Steve.. have you seen Tony? I haven't seen him since he came in and I need to warn him about something." He looks worried, with his brows furrowed. I shake my head, " No, he hasn't." Rhodey grumbles out a response I couldn't quite hear.
Nat nudges me as soon as he's out of hearing distance and points me in the direction of a corner.
There, I see Tony, looking absolutely gorgeous in his suit, and a.. guy who looks like he's very much enjoying the view, standing next to him.. shoulder to shoulder. My eyes widen as I see Tony smile at him, I've never seen him smile like that.
I feel a pang of jealously running through me. I furrow my brows and frown and turn back to the bar. Nat turns around too and nudges me, "Hey so uh.. sorry I didn't mean to point that out.. I know you like him and all." My head shoots up at her words, my eyes wide as I look at her in surprise. "H-how did you know that? I've never told you.." She smiles fondly, yep definitely drunk, I tell myself. "I'm a spy, Steve, and you're not exactly subtle." She took a sip of her Champagne.
Okay fine, maybe I haven't been the most subtle. I've been claiming a seat next to him at dinner, smiling at him when he wasn't paying attention and spent all my free time hanging out with him. Either it was movie nights, bringing him food in his lab, or just hanging out in the living room.
I even have a sketch book hidden in my draw full of drawings of him, I never planned to share that with anyone. I deflate, it's not like I have a chance with him anyway.. he's amazing and I'm just, some boy from Brooklyn. Nat looks at me with sadness but determination in her eyes. "Looks Steve, whatever you're thinking, it isn't true. You're a great person and always have been; even before the serum." She runs her arm up and down my bicep, a soothing motion I once told her a couple months ago.
I shake my head, I don't believe her. "No Nat you don't get it. Tony is the best and kindest person I've ever met. He's amazing, always donating millions to charities, and he's smart as hell.. I-i can't live up to that.. I'm just, Steve, a broke kid from Brooklyn who got beat up before I got the serum, I have nothing special to give him. I'm nothing special.
I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my side, Nat hit my in my ribs while she stared daggers at me.
"Don't you ever say that about yourself again, you're the best person I know. Your kind and don't care shit about what someone thinks about you, don't ever doubt yourself again. And before you go on a rant about how Tony doesn't like you, he does! and it's so obvious in the way his eyes soften when he looks at you, or practically orbits around you. He definitely likes you Steve." My jaw dropped open, had Tony really been doing all that? was he oblivious? God I cannot believe this.
Nat turns away to buy another round. I turn around to find Tony again, my eyes instantly dart to the corner where.. oh god. The guy looks like he's whispering something in Tony's ear, I freeze, the familiar feeling of jealous creeps up on me again and my instant thought is, That should be me I see Rhodey walking up behind the guy and tap his shoulder, he moves away from a blushing Tony and I feel.. better at peace.
I watch Rhodey lead Tony away and talk to him. I study Tonys facial expressions and inquire he's upset about something, after a minute or two, he walks back to that.. man. I frown deeply. He puts on a smile, it looks too plastic to be real and goes back to chatting. I turn around an indulged myself in more alcohol, trying but failing to drown out the feelings.
Curse the serum for not letting me get drunk.. I really need it right now. After about 10 minutes I hear a door open, I turn around and see the guy leading Tony somewhere on the balcony. Secluded, which does not mean good news for his feelings. The door closes and he can't help himself but follow them out.
As soon as he gets threw the door, he hears a loud noise and a yelp. What the hell? I run towards the noise and step to a halt when I see the scene. Tony is clutching the right side of his face with both hands, his eyes filled with pure anger. The other guy, looks smug and is laughing. My body moves before I can even think, I rush forward and punch the guy straight in his face, sending him flying across the balcony, effectively knocked out.
I turn to Tony and grab his face, "Steve.." He has stray tears falling from his eyes, over his cheeks, I swipe them away with my thumb. "Geez, are you okay Tony? what the fuck did he do that for?!" I could feel my brows furrow in anger.
Tony doesn't say anything but put his arms around my middle, and hug me tight, crying into my chest. I felt a pain of hurt and started to rub his back, trying to sooth him. After what feels like an eternity he lets go and wipes his face with his sleeve. I put my hands on both sides of his face and turn his head to me.
"Tony, what happened? I- you were just fine a couple of minutes ago!" He sniffles, "H-he just asked where the bathroom was.. a-and I led him here to try and t-trick him-" He sniffled again, wiping the tears from his face. "He's really an asshole, ask Rhodey.. I-i guess he caught on and had a plan to escape, so he s-slaped me.." My brows unfurl, my face turning pitiful.
"God Tony.. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you." I breathe in a shaky breath. Tony gives me a small smile, "It's okay capsickle.. I should've just not have talked to him." His smile is so pretty.. you can't blame me for what happened next, I looked at his lips, he looked at mine, we looked at each other.
He grinned at me, and I leaned down to kiss him. it was soft and tentative, he moved his hand and put it in my hair, pulling me closer. I grin into the kiss and place my hands on his waist.
We leave the guy for Nat, he'll definitely not forget this night. We leave the gala hand in hand, smiling like idiots. We take an Uber home and set up pillows and blankets on the couch, pick a good movie and cuddle up on the couch. I wrap my arms around him and he melts in my embrace. We fall asleep like that.
I would say I woke up pretty well the next morning.