Obsessions ⇢ Tony Stark

13 | Put A Ring On It

Naturally, Tony was very confused when he woke up Sunday morning. Not to mention, hung over. Details of the night were a little fuzzy but Eleanora filled him in on what she could, including his request to take off her fake eyelashes. 

He apologised for the impromptu and uninvited sleepover, but she hadn't cared all that much. It meant she hadn't had to worry about his ability to actually walk back to his own place, which she had very much been doubting at the time. However, she did tell him he had to get out soon, since he desperately needed a shower. 

Not before making him eggs, though. 

"Wait, what are you eating?" he asked when she put it all on one plate and pushed it towards him. 

"I already ate," she shrugged. "You can sleep through quite a bit of noise." 

Katie returned to the apartment not long later with her forearm in a cast while he was still eating, and froze when her eyes landed on him. She looked at Eleanora with a raised eyebrow. 

"Well, this is a surprise." 

Tony choked on his food at her assumption and Eleanora just sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, Katie. He just crashed on the sofa because he was too drunk to walk back to his own place, so if it smells like beer it's his fault." 

"Oh. That's less exciting then." 

• • • 

A few weeks later on Wednesday morning, Tucker and Eleanora had made plans for breakfast since her classes didn't start until later, but when the time came, Eleanora found herself trying to come up with various excuses to not go. And look, she wasn't proud of it, but she really just wasn't feeling it. 

Or maybe she just didn't want to admit that since the time he had bruised her arm, she honestly wasn't all that comfortable around him. She knew it would pass and she knew it was a bit ridiculous considering how long it had already been, but every time he had touched her since, she found herself fighting the slight urge to pull away or shudder. It filled her with guilt because she knew he hadn't meant to and he felt extremely guilty about the incident and if he knew how she still felt after all this time, he would be deeply hurt. 

So when she walked into their usual cafe again, she decided she would make a point to touch him a lot and to let him touch her, hoping to numb whatever it was inside her that was convinced her he was a threat. Tucker would never hurt her. 

He wasn't there when she sat down in their booth, and it wasn't rare for him to be a minute or two late, but when it reached twelve minutes past their agreed meeting time she began to grow nervous. 

Just as she was about to call him, he rushed in, hair slightly messy. 

"Sorry," Tucker apologised as she stood up to greet him with a kiss. "Traffic was... chaotic." 

"It's okay," she assured him, ignoring the feeling that something was off. "How was your morning?" 

"Huh? Oh, uh... yeah, it was alright, I guess. Just a- a normal morning. I can't actually stay long today, I've got an appointment at nine-thirty." 

"What kind of appointment?" she asked, mainly because she couldn't really think of what to talk about. 

"Dentist." 

"You only went last week, did they find a cavity or something?" 

"I'm seeing the hygienist... got a build-up of plaque."