𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 ~ 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤

Part Twenty One

That same night, during dinner in a restaurant, you could notice how Tony looked grumpy, his eyebrows furrowed as he was deep in thought, and he would only talk when you asked him something.

After he ignored your question, not hearing it because of the thoughts that circled around his mind, you decided to ask him what was the cause of his behaviour tonight.

"Tony." You said, which made him look up at you from where he was looking at the food in his plate. "Is something wrong?"

A soft smile made its way on his face and he shook his head. "It's nothing. Sorry. I'm being an ass."

"You know you can talk to me?" You asked him.

"Of course." He smiled, looking around the restaurant. An old couple, clearly in love, was what caught his gaze. The wedding rings were shining on their hands. The woman was talking about something, while the man was listening to her, love evident in his eyes. "Look at them."

You followed his gaze to the table and smiled when you saw what he was looking at. "Adorable." You commented before taking a sip of your wine.

Tony quickly realized the restaurant was filled with married couples and he smiled to himself. "Isn't that what you'd want?" He asked, being too talkative about his thoughts compared to a few minutes ago."Being married, having someone to spend your life with? Can you see yourself like that?"

You swallowed your wine, a fake smile on your face as you looked at Tony. Your heart was racing in your chest as you saw how his eyes started to shine and he looked happy as he, probably, imagined himself in a happy marriage. You decided to lie for his sake. "Yes."

His eyes got an even brighter shine as he heard you say that. His hand was placed over yours on the table and he grinned. "Really?" He asked in surprise. "Me too. It's probably because I had a much different lifestyle before I met you. I guess it comes with age, and don't you dare call me old now, but I want to settle down."

You smiled at him, hiding the pain behind your smile, knowing you couldn't give him what he wanted.

"Excuse me." You were interrupted by a child and a woman approaching your table. "I'm sorry to interrupt you. But, my son wanted to get a picture with Iron Man. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course, pal." Tony grinned, as the child moved close to him and the mother pulled out her phone to take the picture. The grin on the child's face matched Tony's, it was like they both got something they wanted for a long time.

When the picture was taken, Tony took the time to talk to the boy, asking about his name and age. The smile disappeared off your face when you noticed the woman giving you a nasty glare.

Tony looked at you, and noticed something was off. He said goodbye to the boy and turned to you when they were gone. "Angel? Is something wrong?"

"Did you see how she looked at me?"You asked Tony, who licked over his lower lip. "I bet she read those articles."

Tony nodded. "That's why I spent the whole night being distant." He finally admit, which made you look at him, encouraging him to go on. "I've had a call today. My team is still trying to find who took the pics and who even wrote that damn thing. I don't want people to blame you for everything. Which is why I asked if it was a good idea to come clean in public about what Steve had done to you. They refused, said it would ruin his image as the 'good guy'. "

You nodded. "I knew that would happen."

"Please tell me you don't think that and we should still do it."

You shrugged and looked back at Tony."Maybe that's not a good idea, Tony-"

"What?" He interrupted you. "This guy was abusing you, and you still want people to think it's you who's guilty for the break up?"

"Of course not, Tony. How do you think I felt when I read the stuff they wrote about me?"You asked him."But all I'm saying is, that's not a good idea. What are the chances people would even believe me? Captain America is a symbol of pure good. And then I would show up out of nowhere saying he abused me, beat me up and cheated on me? People would never believe me. No matter what, I'd be the bad guy here."

"I know that, but... "

"And you still want to do it?" You asked him. "It's not you who cheated, at the end of the day. It's me. No matter what Steve had done to me, I still cheated on him. And even the team doesn't know the full story. To everybody except to you and Wanda, I'm the girl who was in a relationship with Steve one day, then went to Vegas and returned with you the other. Even Natasha doesn't know the whole story, and she slept with him."

Tony put down his fork, leaning back against his chair, letting out a deep breath as he looked out the window, then back at you. "You're protecting him."

"What?"

"You heard me, Y/N. You're protecting Rogers here. He did all of that to you, but you still love him."

"Love him? Tony, what are you talking about?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about. God, I can't believe this. What did that guy do to you for you to protect him this much?"

By now, people were looking your way so you decided not to say anything and end the discussion there. "We'll discuss this back in the hotel." You told him quietly.

"We have nothing to discuss anymore." Tony replied quickly. "I know what I needed to know."

Your jaw clenched in anger, but you didn't say anything. It was silent between the two of you for a few moments and you noticed his gaze was back on the old couple. "I lied."You blurted out, which made Tony look at you again. You couldn't help it, it just came out of you. You remembered the way Steve talked about his plans for your and his future and it was almost that. Almost the same thing Tony wanted. You two would be happily married, he'd buy you a house somewhere outside the town, you'd have a few kids and he would still go on missions with the team.

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked you.

You finally gathered enough strength to look at his eyes. "I lied about wanting the same thing as you. I don't want to be married." You said, your throat being dry all of a sudden. Tony's face looked surprised, and you knew he wasn't expecting you to say that. So, with the remaining strength, you looked at him once more with teary eyes. "I understand if you don't want to be with me. I won't blame you."

His lips parted when he saw you pushing your chair back and you took the small purse in your hands before getting up. He wanted to stop you and talk to you about everything, but it was too late. By the time he registered your words and everything that was happening, you were already gone.