Shadowplay | Tony Stark

FIFTY FIVE - LONELY

"Jesus Christ, did you walk home or something?"

Tony jumped to his feet when Mila finally walked through the door that following Friday evening. It had been raining constantly all day and he'd almost lost his mind trying to entertain Tristan who had developed a rather sour attitude after Tony told him they weren't going to play outside that day.

The house was warm compared to the bitter gales hammering outside and Tony had lit the fire around five o'clock in the afternoon. Peter had come downstairs a little earlier once he'd finished up his online classes for the week and was happy to take over looking after Tristan, giving Tony a welcomed break.

The break wasn't exactly putting his feet up or heading out to play a round of golf like he'd once done, however. Instead, Tony tackled the laundry and cleaned the bathrooms, vacuuming the entire house and ending up with what felt like a broken back once he'd finished.

"I had to work late at the salon, did you not get my texts?"

Mila wiped her boots on the mat by the front door and shrugged off her jacket, shaking off the water outside before closing the front door and hanging the coat over the back of a dining chair to dry off.

Tony disappeared into the laundry room for a moment before returning with a warm towel in his hand, holding it out to her as she wiped rain from her face.

"Yeah, I got your texts. The boys have had dinner and they're having a sleepover in Peter's room," he said, "I was more asking because you're soaked through to the bone. Did you fall in the lake on your way back or what?"

Mila laughed quietly and shook her head, scrunching the ends of her hair in the towel to soak it dry before wrapping it around her shoulders and standing over in front of the fireplace, Tony following her a few paces behind.

"I didn't think I'd be this late, I'm sorry. I called by the cemetery after finishing up at work that's all, it's my dad's birthday today. Or...would've been, anyway."

Tony watched as Mila's eyes flickered up to a photograph framed on the lefthand side of the mantle piece. It was a picture taken on what looked like Mila's first day of school, the little girl standing proudly on the front porch with her father behind her, his hands on her shoulders and two matching smiles.

"Oh," Tony said quietly, "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I would've come with you."

She looked up at him for a brief moment and gave him a small smile before looking back down at the fire, pulling the towel tighter around her shoulders as she shivered in the contrasting heat of the flames.

"It's alright. I called my Mom while I was there and we spoke for a while. He always liked to celebrate so there were a ton of cards and flowers left at his grave, I was reading all the messages to her."

"You don't have to explain, it's alright. How is she, your mom?"

Tony's voice was quiet and gentle, smoother than it usually was. Things between them hadn't changed much over the first week of being back living together, though Mila had found it almost impossible to avoid spending time with Tony in the same way she'd used to, craving some company in the evenings after the boys went to bed.

They often sat and shared a bottle of wine in front of the TV and spoke about much of nothing, the same way they'd done in the lake house. Although they sat on separate sides of the couch and their hands stayed untouched, it felt like they'd taken another step closer to being back to how they were before, a step closer to falling in love again the same way they'd done the first time around.

Tony didn't mind. Although he saw stars sparkle in her eyes and the sun shine in her cheeks whenever he looked at her, he was happy to relive how he'd fallen for Mila at the lake house, almost feeling lucky that he got to sense that excitement of hands brushing together and stolen glances in the hallway all over again.