Stony One-shots

It's My Fault (Pt. 1)

⋆ ⋆—~—~—~ Info About One-shot ~—~—~—⋆ ⋆

Short Summary:  Tony finally leaves his tower upon Jarvis's request, he bumps into Steve.

Side ships: None

Trope: Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Word Count (including info abt one-shot and A/Ns): 1471

Timeline: Sometime after Civil War, where Jarvis is still Tony's AI and vision doesn't exist

Other - A/Ns: I had no idea how I was going to write this... sorry if it seems messy! Also, this is a bit of an AU where Steve is a fugitive and on-the-run or something... I have NO idea how I wrote this...

⋆ ⋆—~—~—~ Tony's POV ~—~—~—⋆ ⋆

I slumped out of my bed, eyes still half-closed and smelling like horse shit. I, again, woke up in Steve's bed. Although he was nowhere to be found, it felt like he was still there... still beside me. He had a full length mirror next to his bed, I walked up to it and didn't like what I was seeing. I had one of Steve's shirts on, as well as one of my leggings.

His shirt was colored with my tears from the night before, and the one before that one. A bottle of whiskey was on his nightstand, half-empty. I looked back at the bed I slept in for the night, a pillow— that I was embracing as I slept— was wet with tears and mucus on the place my face was resting.

I head over to the bathroom to wet my face, struggling to wake myself. My eyes squint as a walk to the empty common area where the blinds were open, "Jarvis! How many times have I told you to keep the blinds closed at all times! Did I not program you to follow my orders..." I huffed as I walked over to the bar.

Even though Jarvis was a robot who was programmed by myself, he had a mind of his own... which I didn't exactly appreciate at times.

I poured myself a drink, ignoring Jarvis's warnings. To be honest with myself, I'm either on the brink of death or I have the strongest liver in history. Could be both, but I try not to think that way since it really takes a toll on my heart.

"Sir," Jarvis said as his control over the compound closed the blinds as I ordered him to, "You should go outside, just— even for just 10 minutes, please. You haven't left the tower since Steve." I looked up from my slouching on the bar, the mere mention of him shook me to my core.

"Why would I," I snarked. "You're getting really unhealthy, eating like a bird and drinking like a whale, you haven't showered in 3 weeks. You know that maybe leaving the Tower for a few minutes would do you a lot of good." Jarvis spoke in a convincing tone, I don't even know how he does that... he's a robotic voice I created.

Of course, everything he said was true... It would be good for me to get out of the tower, see daylight on my own free will for once. I thought about it for a moment, I looked back down at my half-empty drink.

"If I do this one thing, will you shut up?" I consumed the rest of my drink, waiting for Jarvis's response. "I promise, sir," Jarvis said in his robotic voice, "I recommend that you shower first." "You can't even smell?!" I yelled, "I can estimate how bad you smell based on the number of days you haven't sh—" "Shut up!" I interrupted Jarvis, it was way too early to even begin listening to him... even though it was 11 am.

⋆ ⋆—~—~—~ 3rd Person POV ~—~—~—⋆ ⋆

After Tony had showered, he put on concealing overwear— a hoodie, jeans, and a cap that laid on top of Tony' head, right under his hood that was covering the top of his head— and left his compound through a secret tunnel that led him straight to Times Square.

He immediately felt a rush of adrenaline. Hearing the chatter of the hundred or so people in the same location as him. Feeling sweat and skin of the people around him walking, running, feeling emotions he hadn't seen nor felt in a long time.

Tony had walked, for what felt like hours, out of Times Square and found himself walking into a Starbucks. "Finally, a brand I recognize." He muttered under his breath.

He walked up to the barista. Not knowing what he would order, since he wanted to try something new. "Hello sir, welcome to Starbucks, what would you like to order?" The female barista asked. "Surprise me..." Tony looked at the female's name tag, "...Natalie" He said slowly, suddenly being reminded of Natasha. "Yes, sir." The barista responded, already making a drink.

Tony walked over to a table and sat down on one of the chairs, waiting for his drink to arrive. He didn't look up, trying to hide his face. Minutes later, the barista came over to his where he was seated and handed him the drink.

Tony's hand felt warm as he gripped the sides of the coffee cup, "Thank you," he said gratefully. The barista nodded and went back to the counter. Tony sipped on his coffee and smiled at the taste of something other than liquor.

He took his eyes off the table in front of him, still sipping on his coffee, his vision locked on a seemingly muscular man nearly dressed in the same attire as him.

They were both facing one another, just a mere two tables away from each other. Tony squinted his eyes, trying to discern the face of the man in front of him, the seemingly muscular man as sipping on what Tony thought was coffee (though it was actually hot chocolate).

The man in front of Tony looked up at him, suddenly Tony knew exactly who it was... or rather what Tony hoped it wasn't.

He detached his lips from the spout of the coffee cup, pure shock and terror washed across his already pale face. He slowly mouthed the words is confusion and fear, "Steve?" Steadily realizing Steve had also figured out who was in front of him. "Tony?" Tony quickly got up, bringing his coffee with him, and hastily left the building.

He didn't hear the door close behind him as he walked out into the street, knowing Steve was going to follow him. Tony stopped in his tracks and took a sip of his coffee, letting out a sigh. He turned around and stared at the face that met him a few yards away.

Steve was panting as he held the door of the coffee shop open, his eyes gleaming with hope and sorrow. "Tony?" He said louder, trying to get the shorter man's attention. Tony walked towards him, Steve was speechless... he couldn't think of anything to say. "Could you shut up? Do you want the whole world to know that I'm here?" Tony said, nearly whispering.

Steve closed his open mouth and bit his inner lip, trying to regain focus and not panic. "Tony... hey." He said, trying to lift the gloomy, awkward mood he felt as he stared at Tony, who was staring as well into Steve's ocean blue eyes.

"Rogers." Tony said, not breaking eye contact. Though, it didn't seem like that in the moment, but Tony was sweating... he was stressed, afraid, nervous, he felt so many emotions that counter each other.

"How..." Steve looked to the side, "How are you?" Steve finished his sentence successfully. There was silence. "How do you think I am?" Tony said, clearly angry. "I-... I'm sorry, that was a stupid question." Silence again.

"I'm sorry for what I did... I should have told you..." Steve said, trying to apologize to the male brunette. "Sorry?" Tony chuckled manically, "You think sorry just gonna make everything that happened just go away?!" Tony yelled at the blonde, he tried his best to hide the longing he had for Steve in his voice.

Steve opened his mouth but no words came out, he closed it once more. Seconds passed by, they continued looking each other's eyes. Suddenly, Steve lunged himself forward at Tony, embracing him like his life depended on it.

"I'm so, so sorry. I know that won't change anything but I just want to tell you that everything that happened was my fault. I should have told you and gave you time to process it. Will you ever forgive me?" Steve said, whispering, as he hugged Tony.

Tony's heart was racing a million miles, thinking of all the possible outcomes to this situation. Steve waited patiently, as he hugged him, to embrace him back. Awkward is an understatement.

There were people staring at them, but they didn't care. Tony briefly hugged back, "We should go." Tony said softly, the eagerness to get back to his tower in his voice. "Yeah, that would probably be for the best." Steve chuckled.

⋆ ⋆—~—~—~ To be continued ~—~—~—⋆ ⋆