The Hamptons' House

2015: Part 4

You and Tony had been lying in the hammock by the pool for a while now. Rhodey had left and the cleaners had come and started to clean and pack the house up for its next long stint of being vacant. He probably should have left already and because he was your ride, you probably should have left too.

He was reluctant to get moving. That was so often the case after these weeks together, but the last two times it had begun to change. Shit, last time he'd been positively excited to get back to being Iron Man and sleeping in his own bed with his girlfriend.

Now all he had to go back to was an empty condo and no job. He could maybe head upstate and join the Avengers again, but if he did that, then he would definitely have to say goodbye to Pepper forever.

He needed to find something productive to occupy his time. Maybe up the philanthropy and create some scholarships. He knew he needed therapy - especially if he was going to make things work with Pepper, but he hated opening up to strangers. Maybe he could create some tech that might act as therapy and kill two birds with one stone.

What he knew for sure was that right here, right now, he didn't feel directionless, confused, or unloved. He was relaxed and comfortable with what he was doing. Of course, it wouldn't last even if he could force it. This only worked because it was a single week. Any longer and he'd get as restless as he always was put in the real world. Yet, with every second that ticked by, he dreaded leaving even more.

"We've never had sex on the beach," you said, breaking him out of his destructive trance. "How has that never happened? We've been coming here for decades, I've fucked you on every conceivable surface except the sand."

Tony chuckled and began trailing the back of his fingers up and down your back. "Is that what you want? Sand in all of your bits?" he teased. "Besides it's not a private beach and that would be one hell of a way to expose our relationship to the tabloids."

You broke down into laughter and nuzzled into his neck. "I guess you're right."

"Mmm... I usually am," he said and kissed you gently.

The two of you fell into what could be called a comfortable silence except that the longer it lasted the deeper into his spiraling thought process he fell. Just as he began cataloging all the ways he'd failed Pepper you pulled him out again.

"Hey, Tony," you said.

"Mmm..." he hummed.

"Do you not want to go home?" you asked. "Because I think we missed our opportunity to have any more sex here."

"I'm sure I can find a place," he said and gave your ass a playful spank.

"If you want, you can come to stay with me at my mom's place. Dad died a couple of years ago, and it's just her in that big house. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"You didn't tell me about your dad," he said, looking down at you.

"Well he was 79," you replied. "It was hard but... He had a good run. It was his time."

"Still," Tony said. "I didn't even like my dad and that shattered me."

You smiled sadly at him and leaned up and kissed him deeply. He relaxed into the tenderness of the kiss, his lips slowly moving with yours. When you pulled back you looked deep into his eyes.

"What do you say? Spend a week or two with us in Jersey? You can commute into SI a few days a week. Ease back into it."

Tony chuckled. "Me in Jersey. Could you imagine?" he teased. "I better not. I really need to try and fix things and find a way I don't feel personally in charge of ... Well - everything I guess." He frowned and patted your ass absentmindedly. "Maybe we can catch up though? I could take you all to dinner? Get you good tickets to a show?"