Snowed In - Steve/Tony 1/?
I think this is a no-powers AU? I dunno, we'll see where it goes.
Tags: Break-up fic, hurt-comfort, happy ending eventually, two dudes being dumbasses No major warnings apply
Part 1
Tony was sitting on the bed when Steve arrived.
He was dressed casually – jeans and a long-sleeved red t-shirt, barefoot and disheveled. His skin was a shade paler than normal and his cheeks a little more hollow. He didn’t look like he’d been sleeping well and Steve wanted to walk over there and ease him down onto the bed, cover him with the duvet and stroke his hair until he finally gave in enough to sleep for a few hours. He didn’t, because that wasn’t his place anymore.
"You’re going to do this, then." Tony didn’t look up, gaze focused on the phone in his hand. Work, probably. It was always work, even when it wasn’t.
"Yeah." Steve set the stack of cardboard boxes he’d picked up from the grocery store down and shrugged off the backpack that held several rolls of packing tape and two thick black sharpies. "I said I was. We talked about this, Tony."
"Funny. I don’t recall that I was allowed to do much talking about it at all." Tony met his gaze briefly, mouth twisted in an unhappy frown, angry-looking dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were dull and tired and Steve fought back the urge to wince. He’d never wanted to hurt Tony, that had never been the plan, but they’d been together for three years and things could only be so painless after that much time.
"Tony…"
His boyfriend, lover, the man he’d entertained some wistful thoughts of spending the rest of his life with until just a week or so ago, waved him off the same way he’d wave off further questions from a reporter. "Nevermind. We both know how this works. You know where I’ll be if you actually need me."
That stung a little, but Steve pressed his lips shut and held back the biting words that formed at the tip of his tongue. "Thank you for letting me use the car."
"Jesus, Steve." Tony paused in the doorway, one hand on the frame as if he were holding himself upright. "That’s the least of what I’d have given you." And then he left, back straight and fists clenched, disappearing down the hall toward the stairs.
Steve stood there for a moment, eyes burning a little more than he wanted to admit, chest aching, and tried not to think too much about the fact that those were probably the last words they’d ever say to each other.
Then he took a deep breath and started putting some boxes together.
****