Tony Stark, also known as Iron-Man, the self proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, but most of all right now, a selfless idiot, or at least that's what Steve Rogers, Captain America, thought. Steve Rogers, the man from WW2 who was frozen in ice for 70 years. Tony had been in his coma for 6 months now, and the team always visited him, to check on him and see if he was better, of course, but nobody spent as much time with him as Steve, not even Pepper. Steve stayed with Tony every moment of the day, besides training, missions, and sleeping, of course. They, or rather, Steve, had conversations with Tony about life, how the team was doing, what happened that day, and how much they all missed him.
"Well.. it's getting late Tony. I'll be back tomorrow, okay? We all miss you, please wake up.." Steve lingered for longer than he should. He looked at Tony's sleeping figure, his emotions so confusing, but what he did know is that he really wanted Tony to wake up. He grabbed Tony's hand, contemplating his next move. Right then, he planted a kiss on the back of Tony's hand.
"I love you, please wake up." Steve whispered before leaving the room where Tony had rested. "Finally out, hm?" Natasha. The highly trained super spy also known as Black Widow. If there was a secret, she could figure it out in 10 minutes or less. "Yeah, it's getting late so I decided to go to sleep." Steve replied. "Steve! Why not stay for a bit?" Clint asked, "You're always with Tony these days." "Thanks for the invitation bu-" Steve started before JARVIS, "Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Stark has woken..." Right when Steve heard that, he ran down, not even giving JARVIS the chance to finish "...Shall I alert the others?" JARVIS continued as Steve ran to open the door. "Uhm, yeah..." Natasha replied, eyeing Steve suspectingly.
"Tony? Tony!" Steve said, bursting into the room where Tony had laid for the past few months "C-cap?" Tony said weakly, trying to get up but not being able to. Steve ran to Tony and put a hand on his chest, making him lay back down. At this point, Steve was crying tears of joy uncontrollably. "Tony, just lay down, okay? The others are on their way." Right then, the others burst into the room, Pepper being the first of them "Oh my god, Tony! Don't EVER scare me like that ever again!!" Steve moved, allowing Pepper to run over and kiss Tony passionately. Pepper was wailing hysterically as she pulled Tony in. Steve felt so disgusting and wrong, because even though Pepper and Tony were together, Steve couldn't help but wish he was in Pepper's place, even if it was only for one or two seconds. He knew it was wrong and it would never happen and it was really tearing him apart. Natasha, who was half staring at Tony and half at Steve, pulled her phone out of her pocket and started typing. Right then, Steve felt a beep in his pocket. The notification read:
Nat
we have to talk. outside, later though.
Everyone gradually poured into the room: Clint, Pietro, Bruce, and Wanda. "How long was I even out for? A week? Two? I feel like a bus just rammed into me.." Asked Tony. Everyone exchanged concerned glances, which led to Tony raising an eyebrow. Finally, Bruce spoke up "Tony, you've been out for 6 months." he said gently, not wanting to send Tony into shock. Tony's eyes widened. He expected 2 weeks or maybe even a month but SIX?! "Six months? Very funny, Bruce. Now be honest." When Tony saw nobody's demeanor change, his face went pale. "Tony, are you alright?" Steve asked, worry etched in his face as he sat Tony back on the bed. When Steve looked into Tony's eyes he saw anger. "Do I look like I'm fine?! I missed SIX months of my life cause I was in this stupid ass coma!" Tony snapped, which made Steve stumble back as if he took a physical blow. Immediately after snapping, Tony's expression softened seeing how he hurt his friend. "I'm sorry, Steve. I'm just frustrated, you know?" Suddenly Tony's stomach rumbled loudly. Tony just remembered that he hadn't eaten real food in months. "I'll go get you some food." Pepper said, but Steve went over and stopped her "You should stay with Tony, Pepper. Catch up, you know?" Steve said, offering to go for her. Plus he needed some alone time to clear his mind anyways. Pepper looked really thankful, and it only hurt him more to see her smile at him because he was in love with the love of her life. "Thank you, Steve, you're really a great friend you know? And I think I speak for all of us." Pepper said, to which everybody nodded in agreement, and that only hurt him more but he smiled anyways because he didn't want to tell them, he couldn't.
As Steve left the room and walked towards the kitchen he felt a hand on his shoulder, it was soft, smaller than his, but firm at the same time. "Steve." It was Natasha Romanoff, better known as the super-spy Black Widow. "Woah! Natasha, you scared me." Steve said, grabbing a loaf of bread from next to the fruit basket, and grabbing cheese and butter from the fridge. He was gonna make Tony a grilled cheese because he knew that it was Tony's favorite. "Steve, I know that you're in love with Tony." Steve froze. How did she know? Where was she going with this? Was she gonna scold him? Would she encourage him? He finally spoke up "You have it wrong, we're just friends." His heart ached at the words, but they were true, he would always be a friend to Tony and nothing more. Steve grabbed seasonings and started melting butter onto a pan as Natasha's brows furrowed in worry. "Look, I'm not gonna reprimand you, I'm your friend, but I also won't encourage it either, okay? I see how you look at Pepper and Tony, like you wish you were Pepper." Steve grilled the insides of the bread as he spoke to Natasha, choosing his words carefully. "Okay, fine, maybe I am in love with Tony Stark. So what? It's not like I'm gonna act on my feelings, why am I the only person who isn't allowed to love someone kind, loyal, selfless, funny, and handsome?" Steve could hear the cracks in his voice mixing with the sizzling on the pan, hoping Natasha wouldn't notice. Natasha let out a strained sigh "Look, I'm here to tell you that you have to tell him bec-" "I can't." Steve said, interrupting her. The 2 pieces of bread were both toasted on 1 side. Steve sprinkled cheese and seasoning generously on the bread. "You have to, Steve. It isn't good for you to keep these feelings bottled up." "No, Natasha, Tony and Pepper would hate me." Steve replied while he flipped the sandwich on the pan. Natasha stayed quiet as Steve finished cooking for Tony and placed the sandwich onto a plate paired with a glass of water and ice. Steve placed the food onto the tray and brought it to Tony's coma bed.