𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 ~ {𝐏. 𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫} ~ 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐰𝐨

Ch. 12: Bed Time Stories

Key: мой маленький стабилизатор настроения = my little mood stabilizer

~~~

I wake up screaming, a sweat rolling down every part of my body. I start grabbing at anything and everything. My hair, clothes, arms, legs, anything. I quickly realize that I'm not in my own bed when I feel the hard floor beneath me. I don't even know what's going on, I can't remember what happened. I know I had a nightmare, but I don't know what it was about this time. Whatever it was, it was enough to force me awake, screaming.

"FireFly! FireFly, hey, hey, hey. Y/n. Y/n! I need you to look at me, sweetheart. It wasn't real, okay? It wasn't real. Take my hands." It was as soon as the door to my hut burst open, that I heard Tony's voice on the other side of my hysteria. Catching the deep brown of Tony's eyes while he kneels in front of me, I can feel myself reeling back into a sense of security in Tony's company. As I take his hands, just like he's asked me to, I start doing what we've been practicing as a temporary fix to my anxiety and terror. I grip his hands tight, close my eyes and take five deep breaths in, five deep breaths out. I focus my mind on happy memories. Pietro, Xander and Abella. Tony, Pepper and Morgan. Steve, Nat, Wanda, Clint. I pull at memories I have with everybody, slowly starting to feel my body temperature go down as my mind is being put to ease.

Once I open my eyes I take in and let out my final breaths. Making eye contact with Tony, he and I both know that I feel much better than I did before.

"The sun's gone down?" Tony's Hulk reference makes me laugh, putting a real smile on my face.

"The sun's gone down." I respond with a rather quiet and serene tone. Tony nods his head, releasing my hands from his. He stands up to make a short walk into my kitchen, grabbing a hand towel and dampening it in my sink. As he comes back to me with the few seconds it takes, I stand up, already reaching for the towel to start dabbing the sweat off my forehead and neck.

"Take a shower, get changed. I'll heat you up what we had for dinner."

"Nooo. I missed dinner?" it was a dumb question to begin with, because I already knew the answer, but I feel bad. Tony is quick to wave me off, telling me to be quiet and that it wasn't a big deal.

"Pep and I figured that you needed a little, you time, after seeing Rogers and Romanoff today. If I would have known this was what you were going to do in your free time, I would've come and gotten you for dinner." Tony tries to lighten the mood, but at the mention of my shared last name with my father, I'm quick to remember our little conversation before he left. Not wanting to alarm Tony any further, I let out a chuckle, telling him that I will be okay and that I will meet him up at the house.

Once Tony is gone, I do what he's told me to do. Hopping into my bathroom for a quick and refreshing shower, I wash myself of the sweat that was stuck to my body. I make sure to keep it brief, not wanting to keep Tony waiting long. When I hop out, I change into some sweats, a tank top and a cardigan, putting on my shoes and begin walking up to the house. During my short walk, I try to keep my mind distracted on other things in the moment, like what I would paint next.

On my small journey up to the main house, I can see Tony through the window above the sink. It looks like he's rinsing off any dishes he had put off in order to tend to my high maintenance needs. The amount of respect I have for this man, and how grateful I am to have him in my life is undoubtedly large. Tony was there for me when nobody else was. I will forever be in debt to him.

As I open the sliding door, I step into the kitchen. Tony stands at the sink, back leaned against the counter with his right side facing me. He hasn't exactly noticed me yet, and it's not hard to tell why. The picture frame in Tony's hand is so distinctive to me, I knew exactly which photo was in it. Peter Parker. The kid, as Tony liked to call him. Peter had received his certificate for the Stark Industries internship. He and Tony stood side by side, photo bombing each other with bunny ears as they held Peters framed certificate upside down.