THE DARKEST HOUR » tony stark ¹

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|_ this chapter is about how tony and elle first met, the few years of dating, extra cute stuff and hiccups they've been through. just a sort of insight for you as you continue to read the trilogy :D _| 

[  𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑡. ]

Elle couldn't remember the last time she had gone to a house party. Probably her graduation night where she had taken one too many drinks with her girls around her, a petite and only pub in the village where she knew everyone around her. There were jukeboxes with old English jives, pinball machines, a pool table, and the songs! The music back home was comprised of strummy fiddles, soft accordions, and banjos - the chords which made her nerves shake like beans in a tin. In any other situation, she would have been on her feet and dancing the night away but then, she had felt like a stranger to the rug on the floor. 

The people were too wild and free, the music sounded like a drug that made her skin buzz and electricity evident in the air. The lights were dim, lights that swirled above barely sufficed and she had shuffled past the floor to the very edge where the room was brightest. She had quickly made a beeline to the open bar, thirsty amid the chaotic party she was invited to. The drinks were on free flow, the bartender doing tricks with dainty glasses which made her eyes widen. He had done one for even, with a special wink to top it all off. 

But Elle didn't feel like having company. She had not felt this out of place in so long, a lengthy sigh leaving her lips as she whirled her half-pint in tedium. A few strangers had come up to her before her boredom had set in, hoping to quench their desires but she could only politely brush them off. One had become her companion, a colonel of the United States Army and she had never been more flattered. And intimidated. But he was a gentleman, here to befriend and not offend as he had put it. She felt herself smile into the rim of the glass when she relived the moment. 

Just as she was about to call quits on the whole party situation, she felt a brief questioning voice call out to her. 

'Miss! Over here.'

Elle didn't know whether to turn or ignore as if it wasn't meant for her. She took her chances with a roll of her eyes, spinning around to meet the stranger. Except it wasn't just any stranger, it was what every murmur in the room was about. The man of the hour and he was easy to spot in the room, a brownish blur between a sea of leggy females. For a second she felt detached from her synapses, her mouth running dry with hesitation and her breaths dipping to a nothing. Good, she thought, it would be a felony to exhale in case this ends.