𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒 [𝖙•𝖘] [𝖎𝖒 - 𝖊𝖓𝖌]

²⁷. 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑠 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰ ───

ONLY a few days after all the ruckus with Aldrich Killian, (Y/N) would say her life took a turn for the better. Even though she had no present place where to reside — and neither did Tony — she focused more on the positive stuff instead of the negative, which was a very unusual for her.

Since the Stark mansion had been blown to pieces by the Mandarin, (Y/N) stayed in a classy hotel room that Tony offered to pay full expenses of. It was spacious enough to let them both have privacy, but small enough to be a hotel room. She knew this couldn't be a permanent thing and tried to find another place to reside in, since she felt like a dead weight on Tony's shoulders and that was the last thing she wanted.

(Y/N) would never admit it out loud, but she would lie if she didn't like to spend all this time with Tony. From his help in restoring her old memories, to providing her a sense of home and stability in her messy life, she valued everything he did. She treasured how willing he was to put his life on the line for her, and she never doubted she'd do the same for him. Hell, she already had. But she didn't have the courage to tell him that, unfortunately, especially not with words.

Which was why (Y/N) did her best in finding Tony a Christmas present in the past few days; to show him how much she appreciated his help and his presence in her life. She had to say it was a difficult task, because what do you gift a man who is a literal billionaire? All matters aside, (Y/N) was proud with her gift choice and could not wait to give it to him once he woke up.

(Y/N) was sat on the couch near her bed, the morning rays of sunlight breaking through the curtains and into the room. She had woken up early in the Christmas morning because she still couldn't sleep peacefully, so she decided to give up and stay up. Silence filled the air and this nearly lured her into a comfortable bliss, but that was easily disturbed by a loud voice that belonged to no other than the man she shared the hotel room with.

"Why are you awake so early?" Tony asked as he rounded the couch to sit on the edge of it. "It's Christmas. Nobody wakes up early on Christmas. Except for the annoying energy balls called kids, but you know what I mean."

(Y/N) didn't want to say anything about her nightmares and just offered a smile. "Maybe I'm an annoying energy ball too."

Tony noticed that she was hiding something behind her back and this perked his interest. "What's that?"

"Oh, this?" (Y/N) raised a wrapped box in her hands, tilting her head to the side in fake curiosity. "Nothing. Just an old present for somebody."

"That somebody wouldn't be me, would it?" Tony was now fully interested, his eyebrows raised in expectation as if he wanted (Y/N) to hand him the present just like that. "Did you follow the list of gifts I sent you?"

"You did not send me any list."

"Oh, silly me."

"Thanks a lot, by the way," (Y/N) told him sarcastically, moving the box from hand to hand. "It made finding you a gift even harder."

"You're welcome," Tony replied with the same amount of sarcasm, reaching out for the box like an impatient child. "Now give it to me."

(Y/N) handed it to him and Tony proceeded on removing the beautifully decorated wrapping paper, not caring if it ripped the design on it. (Y/N) was biting down her lip, nerves filling her stomach since she wasn't sure what his reaction would be like. What if he didn't like it? What if—

The sound of ripping paper stopped, and (Y/N) feared the worst. She looked at him and saw how his hands were frozen in the spot, taking in the gift in his lap. Tony's eyes were set on the glass box, then trailing into the content inside it. His original arc reactor was inside, with the words 'Proof that Tony Stark has a heart' emblemed around the edge of it.

"Oh," was all he breathed out, since he didn't know what else to say.

She felt her heart drop to her stomach. "'Oh' you mean you don't like it? I knew it was a stupid idea maybe — "

The glass box was thrown to the couch as Tony did a sudden movement toward (Y/N), not giving her enough time to process what was happening before he pressed his lips against hers in a kiss. It felt rushed, desperate, but she could read the devotion he was pouring into it. She didn't push him away, instead, she closed her eyes and deepened it, not sure how this would end.

As fast as the kiss started, Tony pulled away to stare at her with the softest, genuine smile he could muster, making (Y/N) feel flustered.

"I — I liked it," he cleared his throat and (Y/N) couldn't resist the laugh that escaped her lips. She had made the Tony Stark stutter. "Thank you."

(Y/N) avoided his gaze but still smiled at his gratitude. "I'm glad you did. Nearly had me scared for a second."

Tony's confident posture returned in a seconds flash, giving her a lopsided smile and raised his eyebrows in a teasing manner. "That's my specialty."

(Y/N) scoffed in a playful way to say she agreed, but her mind was elsewhere. She still hadn't processed the kiss, and she wasn't sure how to bring it up. She liked the feeling of it. . .the excitement that filled her veins at that moment. . .but she was scared. Scared of what it could mean, terrified if it didn't go well. Especially considering their past history together.

"So," Tony knocked her out of her thoughts, and she couldn't understand why wasn't he fazed. Why wasn't he acting all awkward after causing her to lose all focus and put it all on him. "I already had given you your Christmas present, but that didn't last very long. Now, my next proposition is. . .anything you want, anything you name, I'll get it for you. Just say the magic word."

(Y/N) couldn't phrase anything out loud. "I can't ask you to do that, Tony."

"Yes, I can. I'm Tony Stark," he shrugged her off. "Now, name it."

(Y/N) opened her mouth again, but no sound came out. She wasn't used to feeling this certain way about someone, and he didn't make it easy. Tony made her feel like putty and now he was acting like it was a natural occurrence, and it frustrated her completely.

(Y/N) was in deep in whatever spell Tony Stark had her on, and she wasn't sure if she wanted out or not.