Hold Me Together

Thirteen

Tony rolls over as Stephen's alarm went off. He cracks his eyes open as Stephen shuts it off but doesn't move to get up. Tony sits up a little.

"Stephen?" He asked sleepily. "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything is fine." Came the soft reply. "'M just not going to work today."

"What?" Tony sits up fully, wide awake. "Why not?"

"Because," Stephen sits up beside him. "I am going to be there for you today. I love my job but you are more important."

Tony feels Stephen reach for him through the darkness and take his hands. Tony finds himself leaning into the touch. Stephen doesn't say anything for a moment.

"I want to be there for you throughout this process. Because that's what we do."

Tony doesn't answer. He sits and stares at a point in the dark for a minute. "Thank you." He whispers.

"Hey, here we protect our own." Stephen says, flipping on the bedside lamp. Tony squints in the sudden flood of light. Stephen's hair stuck up all over the place and Tony couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips. He reaches over and brushes it out of the doctor's face.

"Your hair seems to have a mind of its own."

"Yes. It's almost magical."

Tony chuckles. "Are you a wizard Dr. Strange?"

"Maybe in another life. Now the only magic I have is in the OR." Stephen shrugs.

"You're a doctor and I'm pretty smart. We're like Sherlock and Watson."

"I'm Sherlock." Stephen retorts.

"What? No! Why would you be Sherlock?"

"Because you're to short."

"You're only a few inches taller than me!"

"I'm still taller."

"That argument doesn't even make sense!" Tony protests.

Stephen just laughs and gets out of the bed. "I'm going to make coffee. Are you coming?"

Tony huffs and crosses his arms but nods. "Yeah, I'm coming." He detangles himself from the blanket and follows Stephen to the kitchen. Stephen had replaced the red comforter with a blue one, as Tony still couldn't stand to look at that shade of red.

"I'm not short." He grumbles as he sits at the table. "You're just a beanstalk."

"Well according to what I've heard, angels aren't supposed to be short dearheart." Stephen looks over his shoulder with a playful smirk.

"I'm not going to live that down, am I?"

"Not anytime soon. No."

Tony groans and puts his head down. "You suck."

Stephen opens his mouth to retort but decided to not. Instead he sets a mug in front of Tony. "Here. The magic that my friends refer to as Bitch Be Gone Juice."

Tony looks up with a skeptical look. "You are kinda grumpy when you wake up."

"I'm not that bad!"

"Stephen, I've been living here for six months. I think I know by now how you act when you're tired."

"Yeah well you snore. And talk in your sleep." Stephen shot back.

Tony blushes a little. "Anything interesting?"

Stephen shrugs. "I don't know. Most of it isn't in English." What Stephen didn't mention was that he started to learn Italian after the first time. He figured if Tony wanted him to know what he was dreaming about, he'd say.