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It didn't occur to Tony until that very moment, that something was off. He placed the tool he had been using on the table and looked around the lab. Everything seemed to be in place. The music was still playing rather loudly, the Iron Man suits were displayed perfectly behind their thick, plexiglass cases, and his glass of bourbon was still next to him, barely touched.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y., stop the music." Tony said, barely able to hear his own thoughts over the pounding music. The music immediately came to a stop. But Tony still didn't know what was wrong. He glanced down at the watch on his wrist. 12:30 a.m. He had been working far later than he intended to. He had promised you early that day that he would come to bed early.
That's when it hit him like a ton of bricks. He hadn't seen you at all today. Normally, on nights when he was working late, you would come by and help him with whatever project he was working on. But, the more Tony thought about it, the more he slowly began to realize that he hadn't seen you in three days. It had been three days since Tony had seen your face or heard your voice.
Tony felt terrible. He never meant to get so wrapped up in his work and was trying really hard to prioritize work and personal life, but there were still moments when he slipped up. You were understanding of that, knowing that this wasn't something that would instantly change overnight, but it was starting to take its toll on your relationship with the billionaire playboy.
Over the past few months, there was a distance that was slowly starting to creep into your and Tony's life. A distance that hadn't been placed there on purpose, but nonetheless it was still there. And it was continuing to grow daily. Tony would be in meetings or in his lab for hours on end, forgetting all about the dates you had planned or the galas that the both of you were supposed to attend. When Tony came home at odd hours of the night, he was too tired to do anything. You were tired of coming up with excuses as to why Mr. Stark was unavailable.
Tony let out a deep, broken sigh and headed to your shared bedroom, knowing good and well that he had messed up. He didn't purposefully mean to, but he knew that was no excuse for continually placing you on the back burner. Tony loved you very much. You had helped him through so much and kept him grounded whenever he felt like he was losing control.
When he finally made it to the suite that the two of you shared, he immediately noticed how immaculately clean it was. It looked as if no one lived there. That was the first red flag that Tony noticed. Whenever you were upset or depressed, you deep cleaned everything you could get your hands on. It was your way and trying to erase all of your unwanted feelings away.
The second red flag was no TV playing softly in the background. You always fell asleep with the TV on whenever Tony wasn't there with you. On the nights where Tony was working late or would come back from a mission in the middle of the night, he would always find you under the covers with the TV on. It never ceased to bring a smile to his face.
But the third red flag, the one that broke Tony's heart the most, was the sound of you crying. You weren't one to really cry, but when you did, it meant that you had had enough. It meant that you couldn't hold in all your feelings anymore and that you were finished. He had seen this a few times in your relationship and it broke him every time. The last time you had felt like this was during a mission when a Hydra agent, pinned you up against the wall, and placed a gun between your eyes. Your sadness immediately turned to rage and you beat the man with an inch of his life. Tony and Steve both had to pry you off of the dying man.
"Honey, are you okay?" Tony asked, mentally cursing himself, knowing that you were anything but okay right now.
"What are you doing here?" You questioned, still curled up on the bed, not wanting to look at him.
"Um, I live here...with you." Tony responded, sitting down on the bed.
"Really? I wouldn't have known that, considering I haven't even seen you in three days!" You replied, colder than you intended. "All you care about are those stupid suits."
"Y/n, that's not-"
"Yes it is." You snapped. "I don't mean anything to you anymore. I'm just a pretty little face, taking up space in your tower. I'm just your live in maid and secretary."
"What? No you're-"
"Yes I am. All I ever do is cook, clean, answer your phone calls, do your interviews, explain to the press where you are and what you're doing, because no one ever sees you anymore!" You didn't realize how much anger you had been holding in, until you started yelling at Tony. "I'm sick and tired of making up excuses as to where you are or what you're doing, Tony! The world doesn't know what you're doing. I don't even know what you're doing! I'm sick of always being in the background and not a priority." You said as more tears clouded your vision. "For at least a month now, maybe longer, I don't know, I've been pushed to the side. Other things, more important things, have taken my place. I don't want this anymore." You said, breaking Tony's heart. "I'm tired of it..." You cried.
Tony closed the distance between you and held you as tightly as possible, knowing that every word you said was on point. You had every right to feel the way that you did. Tony was failing at his job of keeping you safe and making you feel loved.
"I know it won't change anything, but I really am sorry, beautiful..." Tony replied broken-hearted. "I didn't mean to, I really didn't. But, please don't go...please don't leave me. Please..." Tony pleaded as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"I don't want to leave you, Tony. I don't want what we have to ever come to an end, but I need to feel like I'm something more than just a maid...just a little play thing."
"First of all, you are not a live in maid and you are definitely not a play thing, nor will you ever be." Tony answered, lifting your head so that he could look deep into your eyes. "I don't know who told you that or where you heard that from, but it's a lie, Y/n. You are the love my life. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and I do not want to lose you. You mean the world to me, sweet girl. And I swear to you, that from this very moment on, I will do better."
You wrapped your arms around Tony's neck and hugged him as tightly as you could, gradually feeling the broken pieces begin to come back together. Things wouldn't immediately become perfect again, but you knew that it would one day get there.
"I love you, Tony. I really do. These three days have been hard..."
"I love you too, beautiful." Tony smiled, wiping some tears from your face. "Why didn't you come find me and drag me out of my office?" Tony asked, making you laugh just a little bit.
"I figured you were busy with something important and I didn't want to bother you."
"Nothing is more important than you, my love." Tony said, as his lips brushed against yours. It wasn't until your lips met that he realized just how much he had missed this. How much he had missed you.
The kiss was filled with fire and passion, something that both of you had desperately missed. You dug your fingers into Tony's hair, needing to feel every inch of him. You went to remove his shirt, whenever his hands stopped you from moving further.
"Not tonight, love. Tonight is all about you, baby." Tony replied, laying you back into the bed, before placing soft kisses all along your body.