"Listen here, you little trickass, rich kid. Calm down and accept that you're head over heels, deadass in love with this dumb blond"
"How many insults were there in that one sentence? 22?"
"It's called tough love. The only love you'll take seriously...
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Two days later, Tony sits in his room. Drenched in guilt. At the gala, when Rhodey had accompanied Tony to the restroom, Rhodey found out about the situation with the arc reactor. He was pissed that Tony would keep such a thing from not only him but everybody else as well, he thought Tony didn't think they deserved to know. Tony had to insist it was because he didn't want to bother them with such a heavy weight. He already saw what it did to Steve and his parents to find out the truth.
"A burden? Tony, a BURDEN?! You're my best friend for fuck's sake! I— you're not a fucking burden, Tony!" Rhodey had exclaimed, grabbing ahold of Tony's shoulders and lightly shaking him. Tony remained silent for a while.
"It would be more of a burden if we found out AFTER you died, if that were to happen." He continued. Tony sighed and rubbed his face.
"It's going to happen, Rhodes. This isn't a matter of 'if' but 'when' cause it will happen. I will die, Rhodey. And I'm sorry for not being brave enough to tell you but just... please," Tony pleaded. "Don't tell the others. Let me do it, whenever I want to. Alright?" Rhodey shrugged in defeat, his face falling into a frown.
"So you're gonna wait to tell your friends about this once you're on the death bed? Is that your plan?" Rhodey asked.
"I already am."
Him and Rhodey hadn't talked since the gala. Two days doesn't seem that long, but for best friends it could be an eternity. Rhodey was still processing the information and still trying to find it in his heart to forgive Tony, he wished he could understand Tony's motive to not tell him. But he couldn't. Not yet. He'd need more time. Time that Tony didn't have. Though the lithium dioxide is halting the symptoms, the poisoning is still present. He's still dying.
And since the day with Steve, in the relax room, the palladium levels in his blood had increased from 39% to 44%. Slower than if he didn't have the lithium dioxide, but still very much present. The day before this one he had broken down. He kept seeing Rhodey's face in front of him, the look on his face as he realized. Tony couldn't stop crying, it kept coming and coming and coming. And he didn't know where to turn. He had sat alone in the dark in his room, stifling loud sobs. He curled up in a corner, his legs pressed protectively against his chest and his arms hugging his legs. He didn't want to sit in the light, he figured everyone would be able to see him. He didn't want to sit in the dark either, he thought he was dying faster. But nonetheless, he stayed in the later and took the bait the ghosts of his anxieties put out.
Until he heard it. Ding. He had a special notification sound for all the people in his contacts he cared about, but this particular one he had forgotten to change. So he knew immediately who it was from.
