Lamborghini | Tony Stark

TWELVE - JOKES

It had been raining for fourteen days straight and for those fourteen days, Sasha hadn't spoken a single word to Tony Stark. She hadn't even said goodbye to him at his party, though not for lack of trying, she simply couldn't find him.

They didn't usually chat day to day but the heavy weight on her conscience of the last time they were together made the lack of his presence in her life all the more daunting.

She found herself checking her phone to see if he'd called or texted, mistaking every guy with dark hair and stubble in the store for him. She thought she heard his voice and his laugh as she walked down the street, only for her mind to be playing tricks on her.

And for each revelation that Tony wasn't around, Sasha felt a scathing amount of disappointment pull on the strings of her heart.

She missed her best friend.

She'd been without Steve for almost all of those fourteen days, too. The Avengers had been in Berlin for just over four days, Sasha only finding out through the news. She didn't hold Steve's poor communication skills against him, knowing that adapting to a situation going from zero to one hundred in a matter of moments was part of the job, but it still made her worry sick down to her bones nonetheless.

Though what made Sasha lose sleep the most was the fact that whenever her phone did buzz, she hoped to see Tony's name on her screen, not Steve's.

Of course, she was more than happy to hear from Steve. She missed him immensely and since the night on the terrace at Tony's party she'd found it almost impossible to stop thinking about him. Though the one thing that did manage to pull her thoughts away from America's golden boy was Tony.

Sasha had driven herself almost to the point of insanity replaying the last time she saw Tony in her head. She thought about the way he'd looked at her and the sparkle in his eyes, the kindness of a shy smile that she could tell he was holding back and the fact for once, the man that she knew always had something to say, was lost for words.

Tony had been different in that moment, and he'd made Sasha different, too. She wasn't typically easily influenced, being a lawyer had made her almost immune to every impulsive feeling she'd ever had, though the way Tony had looked at her made her feel almost weightless.

He had her mesmerised for a split second, withheld by something so simple as a glance. His eyes had made her soul almost leave her body, feeling nothing apart from anything that was right in the world. She'd imagined his hands on her hips and for a brief glimmer, she'd imagined something far deeper, something that had never crossed her mind when thinking about Tony before.

But just as fast as the moment had come, it vanished, leaving Sasha with a clouded mind and shaking hands, symptoms that had lasted the two weeks he'd been gone without fading.

It was a Friday night when Sasha finally crunched the bullet between her teeth and sent Tony a text. She kept it short and sweet, 'O'Shea's, 8PM?', to which he replied ten minutes later with nothing more than a thumbs up.

Leaving work at seven-fifty with a headache and an empty stomach, Sasha wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck as she shielded the rain from her body with an umbrella, keeping her head down as she made the short journey across the street.

Two beers and a plate of nachos sat on the table in front of her and although Sasha knew being polite and waiting for Tony was the right thing to do, she couldn't help but tuck into the food, her stomach growling louder and louder by the minute since she'd not found time to eat anything since breakfast that day.

"I'm sorry, so sorry I'm late. Traffic was-"

The breath was almost knocked from Tony's chest when Sasha flung her arms around him, squeezing him tightly with her head buried into the crook of his neck.