Steve was sitting on the guest floor when Tony found him, legs crossed and knees just about pressing at the large windows that took up the entire wall. New York was shining in his eyes, grasping his attention as his hands fell to rest in his lap. Between sparkling lights, cars gliding across the streets and helicopters buzzing loudly through the skies, the soldier was too wrapped into the scenery to even notice the man coming up behind him.
The older of the two cleared his throat once, a test that failed to gain the attention as he let out a sigh and fell to sit next to the man on the ground. Steve let out a small flinch, turning and only locking eyes for a second before turning back toward his view.
Mirroring the others form, Tony brushed his left knee against the others right, hands also sitting across his thighs as he let out a heavy breath and began to speak.
“You aren’t sleeping.”
There was no response, leading him to reach over and gently tug the ruffled blond streaks to rest on his shoulder. When the body fell limp he layered it with his own, hearing the gentle breaths puffing away underneath him.
“I think we need to call Sam.”
The empty space was no more concerning than the welted knuckles, punching bags destroyed just floors below after a panic attack took up his entire afternoon. He meant to talk to the man about it, but it just didn’t seem like it was the time. But now, he needed to hear words.
“Can you tell me about earlier?”
The larger body shifted just for a second, hands tightening in his lap as an arm wrapped around his waist, the other coming to gently run up and down his neck.
“I need you to tell me what happened.”
“Tony..”
His voice was so tired, heavy and slow as he shook his head in refusal.
“Listen, I love you, but if you can’t help me out here I will take deeper measures that you aren’t gonna like.”
“I’m not going.”
“You will.”
He heard a small sniffle, already aware of the trembling shoulders as his fingers left the man’s neck to thumb the skin at his temple.
“You mean everything to me, Steven. And it’s because of that, that I will do whatever it takes to get you healthy. You hear me? Let me call Sam, he can come down and we can find you someone to talk to. Do that and the facility won’t come back up until necessary.”
“You can’t send me away, Tony.”
“I wouldn’t. I would visit everyday, I’ve told you this. I would be there with you every step of the way, but if it kept you from hurting yourself it would be worth it to try.”
“I just want everything to stop.”
As he ran his thumb down a little farther he felt the first tear, his own heart skipping a beat as he felt an ache growing just under his lungs.
“I know, sweetheart.”
He was able to get him to bed about half an hour later, walking away from the window as colors began forming in the sky. Having his hand in his grip he held on tightly, using his other to wipe away the rest of the tears that had streamed down his husbands face. He hurt for him, his heart began to splinter and he knew he needed to be strong, but seeing someone he loved in so much in pain was enough to break him.