Eleanora woke up to an empty bed.
The memories of the previous night and the smell of pancakes hit her at the same time, and she pulled herself out of bed, resisting the urge to pretend to still be asleep while she wallowed in the ache. Tony just wasn't there yet and it sucked, but it was okay.
As she walked into the kitchen, Tony smiled at her, and walked over from his position at the stove to kiss her softly. "Morning, miele..."
Eleanora hugged him tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck, and he secured his arms around her. "I thought... last night, when I came out of the shower, I thought you'd gone off somewhere and needed space or something, but then I started to get worried and I was scared that something happened to you, so I came out and saw you on the jetty and..."
"I'm okay."
Tony pulled away, and frowned at her. "Lenny, I'm s-"
"Don't say you're sorry," she quickly cut him off, grabbing his hand in hers. "Don't... you shouldn't be. I don't want you to say... it back unless you mean it and you're ready to. And I don't want you to feel pressured to or think you need to just to protect my feelings. I... love you and I just need you to know that. You said it yourself, you can't control who you love and you shouldn't feel like you're meant to love someone. It's perfectly fine to not be there yet, I just... wanted you to know."
There was an obvious frustration behind his eyes as he tugged at his hair. While his touch was comforting, it also felt a little bit overwhelming in the moment and she needed to be alone for a bit to ease the tightness in her chest.
"I'm gonna go shower."
"Lenny..." he started, expression pained.
"I'm okay, Tony. I promise."
Even Eleanora wasn't sure if she was telling the truth.
Things were a bit awkward between the couple for the next few days, but it didn't take long for them to ease back into their usual dynamic. Tony tried to apologise a couple more times, but she was very adamant that he had no reason to be. The ache dulled down as Eleanora realised that, while it hurt that Tony couldn't say 'I love you' yet, she felt loved in the way he touched her, in the pet names he called her, in his sweet little gestures, and god, she felt it when he looked at her.
"What have you got on next weekend?" Tony asked her the following week, taking a seat across from her as she worked through some homework.
"I suspect you're about to tell me."
"Dad's holding some gala for Stark Industries and I thought I could give it a pass but he's making me speak at it, so I have to go and I was hoping you might want to come with me to make it tolerable."
"Wow, you're really selling it."
"C'mon, tesoro, please? You can meet my mum, make fun of snobby assholes... we can sneak off at some point to make out..."
"Okay, sold," she said with a laugh. "I'm guessing I have to wear something... classy, though. Most of my 'going-out' outfits are on the, uh, skanky side, rather than swanky."
"I mean, the dress code is black tie, but if you wanna wear something skanky, I certainly don't mind."
"Well, in that case, I'll definitely be getting something a little nicer," she rolled her eyes.
"It'd shock a bunch of posh old people..."
"As appealing as that is, if I'm meeting your mum for the first time, I want to make a good impression."
YOU ARE READING
Obsessions ⇢ Tony Stark
Fanfiction"I thought you didn't like me." "I never said that." "You didn't need to." "I just said you were arrogant." "Forgive me for the confusion, then." Making friends wasn't exactly something that was a high priority at college for Eleanora Myers, so i...
