Hold Me Together

Eight

Tony hangs up the phone with a shaky sigh and it was a good five minutes before Stephen spoke.

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"You're serious right?"

Tony takes another breath. "Yeah.Yeah I think so."

Another stretch of silence and then

"Tony?"

"Yes Stephen?"

"You kissed me."

Tony looks over. "Yeah." He smiles. "I did."

"Are we gonna talk about it?"

"Not.....now. Can we just watch the movie and go to bed?"

"Yeah. Yeah we can do that." Stephen says, drawing one of his knees up to his chest.

Tony, noticing himself being stared at, turned his head,. "What?"

"Nothing. I just looked at you."

"What? Entranced by my beauty Doc?" Tony teases. "If you think this is nice you should see my face all healed."

Stephen throws his head back and laughs. "You said that exact thing when we first met."

"Well it still holds." Tony snarked.

"I'm not arguing with you."

"Because you know it's right!"

"Of course Tony." Stephen clicks his tongue and shakes his head with a laugh.

"Hey Stephen?" Tony asked softly.

"Yes Tony?"

"Thank you."

"What for?"

"For...Nothing. Never mind."

"Tony you can tell me anything."

"I think I know that by now. You've put me back together more times than I can count." Tony murmurs. He stared at his hands in the dark and sighs a little. "I want to go to bed now."

"Do you want me to lay with you?"

Tony looks up. "Please?" He asked softly. "I do need to shower first though. Is that okay?"

"Of course. You don't have to ask."

"I'll be quick."

"I'll be here waiting." Stephen smiles.

Tony makes his way to the bathroom and leans on the door before he realized that he didn't have any other clothes. He opens the bathroom to find the soft grey shirt and a pair of sweatpants folded neatly in front of the door. Smiling softly, Tony picks up the clothes and closed the door. Sitting them on the sink, Tony strips down and musses his hair for a moment before turning on the shower. He steps under the hot water and closes his eyes with a sigh. The weight of the last few days finally caught up with him and it was almost to much to bear. Branching one hand against the wall, Tony rubs the other down his face and then through his hair. After a few minutes, Tony pulls himself to stand up straight. He reaches for the soap and pours it on his hand before washing his hair. He exhales slowly as he tilts his face up towards the showerhead. He smiles softly. He smelled like Stephen now; of Head and Shoulders, the tea tree oil and mint surrounding him. It gave him a giddy feeling in his chest. Stepping out, Tony looks around for a towel. There wasn't one so Tony settles on drip drying. There was no way he was going to go out and ask Stephen for a towel. He leans over the sink and stares into the mirror. The circles under his eyes were getting lighter and that was a good thing he supposed. Then he sees his reflection start to ripple. Blinking hard, he leans closer. Instead of dark brown eyes staring back at him, he sees bright baby blues. His face in the mirror wavered until it was no longer his.