Shadowplay | Tony Stark

FIFTY TWO - HOLD ON

Despite waking up at the crack of dawn the following day, Tony had slept through the night without interruption for the first time since leaving Mila.

He would've liked to think it was a good sign from some higher power that everything was changing, that things were going to go back to the way they were, though Tony knew underneath it all that the Jäegermeister and several bottles of beer had something to do with how easily he'd fallen asleep.

Joss was also awake early that Saturday morning and the two men enjoyed a cup of coffee together on the couch while they watched the sports news on TV.

As much as it pained both of them in different ways, they had become incredibly fond of one another. The night before at the bar had further proved to Joss that Tony wasn't a narcissistic, selfish billionaire, but that he did have a heart, and one that desperately belonged to his best friend at that. It also proved to Tony that Joss wasn't trying to sleep with the woman he loved, but that he simply cared for his childhood friend and understood her and her life perhaps more than Tony ever could. Above all, he wanted them to be happy together.

Tony thanked Joss for his hospitality and kind words before leaving him with a handshake and a smile, jumping in his car and heading out of the town centre over the hill to Mila's home.

For some reason, Tony's nerves had subsided while he'd been spending time with Joss, having a little bit of normality that numbed the thought of all the things that were wrong for a temporary moment. That soon changed, however, a strong feeling of his stomach sinking hitting him as he parked his car in front of Mila's garage.

He noticed tyre marks on the driveway that weren't from her car and that one of the lights on the porch that had come loose had been fixed.

"Hey," Mila breathed with a small smile, pulling the door open and stepping aside, "Come in."

Tony nodded with a slight pull of his lips and wiped his shoes on the mat before kicking them off, "Finally fixed that light on the porch, huh?"

"Chris did it last night, actually," she cleared her throat and looked down at her hands for a moment, "Tea? Coffee?"

"Whatever you're having, thanks."

Mila disappeared into the kitchen and Tony inhaled deeply as he stood still by the door. He stuck his hands in his pockets and slowly started to wander around the living room, staring at all the walls and floors to try and see if anything else had changed.

Tristan's toys were all neatly packed away and his bookshelf was tidy, nothing seeming out of place. His birthday cards were gone from the windowsill and there was no trace of anything left from the party a few weeks ago, though Tony allowed himself to briefly smile once he saw a picture he'd helped Tristan paint still pinned to the side of a cabinet.

Mila returned a few minutes later, placing the two mugs down on coasters on the dining table. She pulled out a chair at the head of the table and sat down, Tony taking a seat adjacent to her and thanking her with a smile for the coffee.

He felt tense as he sat down, and not because of the weight of the impending conversation, but because he couldn't get over the fact that another man had been sat at that table just a handful of hours earlier.

Tony found himself glancing at all the seats around him, unable to stop wondering if he was sat in the same chair Chris had been in, if he'd laughed and smiled at Mila the same way he'd done in the exact same place.

And although Tony knew in the back of his mind that Chris and Mila had a platonic relationship, a friendship one parent has with another, a friendship two parents in a small town that look out for one another have, the jealousy still made him bite down on his tongue.