These Little Moments / Ironstrange

13~ Love

   4am. The dim rays of morning sun passed through one of the many widows, playing across the floor in fragmented patterns. Tony was still against me, his arms trapping me on the couch. Nuzzling my face into his wild locks, I chuckled and breathed in his scent. He smelled like pine trees and rain, hints of rose and soap mingling with his cologne. Breathing out, I placed a kiss on the crown of his head.

   He let out a contented sigh and hugged me closer in his sleep. I took it as encouragement, peppering kisses all over his head and down to his ear before he let out a gentle laugh and squeezed me.

"Are you awake, Sleeping Beauty?" I whispered, placing one more kiss to his ear before pulling away.

"Now I am," he chuckled, glancing up at me. I smiled and placed a finger under his chin, tilting his face up to mine. My breath caught in my throat as I looked at him: The golden sun reflected off his eyes, illuminating the irises and making them a milk chocolate rather than dark like they usually were; His ebony locks, untainted with gel, were crazy and free. I almost preferred it to his normal hair; He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

I was experiencing something akin to a heart attack, though it wasn't scary or painful. It was like a warm hand squeezing my heart, cutting off my circulation, making my furthest extremities go numb. My hands slid to his cheeks, the contact sending sparks through my veins, worsening the effect on my ventricles. Suddenly, I realized what was happening.

"Steph? Are you okay?" Tony looked at me, fear in his eyes. We made eye contact and I inhaled sharply. "Hey, hey what's going on?"

"I'm in love with you," I breathed.

"What?"

"I'm undoubtedly ridiculously helplessly in love with you, Tony Stark."

He recoiled, pushing my hands away. "No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"No you aren't," he insisted. "No one loves me."

"Tony where is this coming from?" I felt tears prick my eyes, but held them back.

"I'm just good for a quick fuck and then they drop me," he hissed, sitting up and facing away from me. "Don't lie to me. Don't give me hope."

"You know I'm not like that Tony," I sat up and took Tony's hands. "I really do love you."

"That's what they all say," he yanked his hands from mine.

"Who's 'they'?"

"Everyone that's ever dated me. They use me and then discard me, like trash," he put his head between his knees. "That's why I haven't dated anyone in a long time."

"Tony," I stood and knelt in front of him. "There's one thing I know and it's that I love you more than anything in this universe. Do you know why?"

"Why?" He spat.

"Because you are the one thing I don't understand," I answered and he looked up. "I've read every book, every tome, every article, and yet you give me something I just can't understand. Whenever I see you, my brain short-circuits. When you kiss me, I go into cardiac arrest. When I hold you, I feel like nothing can hurt me. You give me peace and comfort that I've never experienced. You give me love."

I heard a breathy chuckle from above me and looked up to see a teary eyed Tony. "You're the most amazing man I've ever met and somehow you really do love me?"

"How could I not love you?" He opened his mouth, my hand shooting out to cover it before he could speak. "Don't answer that." I felt something warm and wet contact my hand and I pulled back. "Ew Tony! You're such a child!" He laughed and fell forward into my arms.

"I know."