Title: Crashing Through Your Door
Ship: IronHusbands
Rating: Teen
Major Tags: Pre-Iron Man 1, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining
Card Number:
5023 (Tony Stark Bingo)
3002 (IronHusbands Bingo
Square:
R4 - Mutual Pining (Tony Stark Bingo)
B4 - Fake Dating (IronHusbands Bingo)
Link: AO3
Summary:
To give himself a break, Tonyâs been using a made-up boyfriend to get out of meetings. He gets to stay home and tinker, the board things heâs settling down, itâs a win-win situation. Right up until Obie decides he wants to meet this boyfriend thatâs taking up so much of his time.Â
But what kind of best friend would Rhodey be if he didnât step up to be Tonyâs fake boyfriend? Tonyâs nothing short of relieved and so Rhodey dresses up to be his date to the gala-of-the-week except wow, pretending theyâve secretly been in love for the past year is way easier than it should beâŠ
Word Count: 9237
Rhodey jogged down the stairs of Tonyâs shiny new Malibu âbeach houseâ (the thing was ridiculously large if you asked him, but Tony hadnât) and let himself into the workshop. âHoney, Iâm home!â he called out, blinking when he was met with a dark room. âTones? JARVIS said you were down here.âÂ
There was a faint groaning noise from the far corner, and when Rhodey turned the lights on, he found Tony sitting in a chair, slumped over his desk with his face buried in his arms.Â
âOh no,â Rhodey deadpanned, picking his way through bits of machinery to kick Tonyâs foot. âWhat did you do now?âÂ
âI fucked up,â Tony moaned, the words muffled by his position. He lifted his head to peer at Rhodey, looking bleary in the face of sudden brightness. âYour concern for me is overwhelming, by the way. Really feeling the love here, Rhodes.âÂ
Rhodey shrugged, unperturbed. âYour world is ending like every other week, and I was promised pizza and beer â which I even brought because Iâm an amazing friend â so⊠If youâre gonna have a breakdown can we at least do it where thereâs food?â He gave Tony a broad grin and a wink, and Tony rolled his eyes, trying to hide his own fond smile as he pushed back from the table.Â
âYeah, alright, letâs go.âÂ
When they were upstairs and he could get a better look at him, Rhodey had to admit that Tony was looking a little more frazzled than usual. His hair was extra fluffy, like heâd run his hands through it about fifty times, and his fingers were tapping out a constant jittery rhythm against his thigh. Rhodey waited until they were settled in front of some action movie, but when Tony wasnât forthcoming with any information, Rhodey nudged his side. âHey. You gonna tell me whatâs bugging you?â
Tony groaned again, burying his face in his hands. âYouâre gonna make fun of me,â he whined.
Rhodey smiled, even if Tony couldnât see it. âProbably,â he agreed easily. âTell me anyway?âÂ
Tony huffed and pouted and squirmed but eventually he relented, shifting to sit sideways on the couch and face Rhodes. âOkay, so.â He sighed heavily. âYou know, Iâm head of SI now.â
âReally?â Rhodey drawled. âI hadnât heard.âÂ
Tony elbowed him hard in the side. âSo thereâs all this⊠Stuff that goes along with that. Like I wasnât looking forward to the board meetings, but at least I expected those? But thereâs all these other meetings, like fifty a day were nothing actually gets done, and there are the charity events, and the gladhanding, and the âcome meet a friend of a friend of a friend of mine,â and I have to be on all the time and â Obie wanted me to learn squash, Rhodey. Squash.âÂ
âAww, come on. Bet youâd be cute in those little white shorts.âÂ
âI hate you.â Tony told him. âAnyway, itâs a lot, and sometimes I just want to take a break and go hang out in the lab and build stuff, you know?âÂ
âDo I know that youâd rather be a reclusive little lab gremlin? Yeah, Iâd noticed that once or twice,â Rhodey teased.Â
âWhatever.â Tony squirmed again, clearly embarrassed, and Rhodey waited. âSo, you know, to get out of doing stuff when I just really, really wasnât feeling it, I, uh⊠I maybe told Obie that I was seeing someone?âÂ
Rhodey blinked at him. âOh no.â
Tony sighed heavily. âOh yes.âÂ