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Tony took a breath while he closed his eyes, replaying the last twenty four hours of events that happened. He thought things were going good, things were worse than he thought. He wanted to do right by everyone but things have been slipping away for a while. It took a lot for him to open up and start a relationship. But since Steve brought it up, he guessed that it hadn’t been working for a while. They were just far too different and it was never going to work.
“But I thought we were working out fine.” Tony sighed.
“Tony, we’ve been trying for months. I don’t know if I can keep going like this. It’s not like there’s someone else. This just isn’t working.” Steve put his head in his hands.
“Fine, then we’re done.” Tony turned away to hide the tears forming in his eyes. He didn’t need to let Steve see him cry now.
“Fine.”
With that Tony peeked back to see that Steve was gone. He was left alone with his thoughts for the night. But that didn’t mean life could stop.
“Mr. Stark.”
There it was, pulling him from his thoughts he looked to his side to see a young woman with a headset on her head.
“We’re ready, it’s your turn.”
“Thanks.” Tony took a breath, shaking off the feeling. He followed her through the halls and to his destination. He was at MIT, ready to make his presentation for their September foundation. He could do this, he could keep up with his busy schedule. He peeked at his phone, still no calls, texts, not even so much as an email.
“I present to you, Owner and CEO of Stark Industries, Tony Stark.”
Tony plastered a soft smile on his face and went out to face the crowd. He could avoid the ache in his chest for this speech. He could handle his shit and he could do this with a broken heart.
* * *
Tony went straight to his room to pack up for his next trip. He needed to get back to Malibu to start the presentations for the Stark Expo. All of this was pre-planned and couldn’t change just because he had his heart broken.
“Jay, drop my needle.” Tony muttered.
“Of course, boss.” Jarvis answered.
The sound of his usual AC/DC filled the penthouse, he needed to fill the quiet void with something. So he went ahead to start packing. Going to his closet pulling some shirts when he pulled out a dark blue button up. This wasn’t his, this was Steve’s from the last time he left it here. The tears burned his eyes as he thought back to the memories of them waking up together. He pulled the shirt to his face, giving it a smell, it still smelled like him. His aftershave that he wore daily.
He shook his head from the memories and tossed the shirt aside, he didn’t have time to worry about it. It was over and he couldn’t dwell on it. He finished packing, heading over to the kitchen. He had Jarvis shut off his music and turn on the news while he made himself a cup of coffee to go.
“Captain America has come in yet again to another save. Taking down another hidden Hydra base.”
The news report caught Tony’s attention and he turned to see footage of Steve and Natasha talking with the local authorities. Another successful mission that just brought back more memories.
Tony knocked on the door after a botched mission and went to immediately check on Steve after seeing the report. The door opened and there was Steve, dirt covering his face, mixed with the blood from the scrapes on his face. His hair damp and sweaty, he was in need of a shower.
“What happened?” Tony looked him over.
“It’s fine, you should see the other guy.” Steve chuckled, before letting out a groan.
“Come here, let’s get you cleaned up.” Tony frowned. He brought Steve to the bathroom, helping him get in the shower while he got the first aid kit. He sat Steve at the kitchen table while he tended to his scrapes and bruises.
“Jay shut it off. I’m heading to the airport.” Tony instructed.
“Right away boss.” Jarvis answered.
“Make sure dum-e is cleaning up the messes.” Tony smirked. He took his bag heading to the elevator to avoid running into Steve. Malibu could be good to get away, just keeping busy, that was all that was holding him together.
“Hey, Tony.” Bruce was waiting for him when the elevator door opened.
“Can’t talk, heading to Malibu.” Tony walked around him.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing. I heard about you and Steve.” Bruce rushed after him.
“Yeah, we’re done. What about it?” Tony asked.
“Are you okay?” Bruce asked.
“Peachy, but in a rush. Gotta go.” Tony forced a smile.
“Airport?” Happy held open the door.
“Yup.” Tony got into the car.
The flight was longer than he remembered and he didn’t feel like talking to anyone, which made it longer. So he listened to Pepper and Happy discussing work stuff. They kept asking if he was alright and he hated that question, everyone seemed to be asking it since they broke up. But this was what he did, he was the playboy. No relationship is supposed to last with him, it never did. No one would understand him.
He sends Happy and Pepper off to do their own things while he gets settled in the Malibu mansion. The quiet is getting to him again so he goes down to his lab. Bickering with dum-e was always fun. Working on a new suit he had started the plan back in New York. Now all he needed to do was build it.
This was his real happy place, tinkering away in his lab. Keeping his mind and his hands busy was what kept him from hitting the bottle again. He was no alcoholic, not that he would admit, but Steve would always encourage him to slow down on the drinking. He just didn’t see the point anymore. But it wasn’t like his inventions turned out great when he was half cut anyway.
The Stark Expo was booming by the time he got there, he had to make an entrance and had it all planned. He’d make a grand entrance and he was. Flying in with the latest suit, of course while keeping his tuxedo pristine underneath. He couldn’t show up looking any less than beautiful, it wasn’t his style.
So he flew in, landing on the stage, hitting his mark. This was what he could do. Keep busy. The suit opened and he threw on that smile. The crowd was cheering and applauding him on his entrance. He was Tony Stark afterall, would they ever expect anything less?
His speech went great, just as planned, or as planned as he could expect. He always tended to be spontaneous and go off script. This usually stressed out Pepper, but he had to do what he wanted. There was no other way to handle it.
* * *
Meeting, event, meeting. It was an endless cycle of having to run a business. But adding in his Iron Man duties he needed to keep up with. Every part of his day was filled, leaving any spare time for his lab tinkering or heading to the gym. He didn’t need to rush home anymore to Steve. He didn’t have a boyfriend waiting for him or that he needed to update. He could do things on his own.
“You okay?”
He turned to see Rhodey walking in to interrupt his training day. He had to stay in shape to run the Iron Man suit.
“Why does everyone ask me that?” Tony asked as he put the weights down.
“You and Steve broke up. What else am I going to do but check up on you?” Rhodes shrugged.
“So what? Not my first break up. Probably not my last.” Tony shrugged, taking a drink from his water bottle.
“You can’t just avoid this.” Rhodes sighed.
“Who’s avoiding? I gotta go get ready for my next meeting.” Tony went to leave.
“You, you’re avoiding this. Tony, you are going to break down and it’s better for it to happen now before you really start to spiral.” Rhodes got firm with him.
“What does it matter? They always leave!” Tony cried. “That’s me right? I don’t make relationships work. I’m the playboy, right?”
“That wasn’t you anymore. You had something with Steve. You proved to the whole world that you had a heart.”
“Maybe that was my mistake. Letting someone in. Thinking I could handle all this.” Tony rolled his eyes.
“You can’t keep hiding from it.” Rhodes warned.
“I’m not. I’m busy. I got a meeting.” Tony went to leave when Rhodes grabbed his arm.
“You don’t have to put on a fake smile. Not for me.” Rhodes shook his head. With that Tony couldn’t hold back the tears.
“I miss him.” Tony sobbed.
“I know.” Rhodes pulled him into a hug. “I know it hurts.”
Tony couldn’t do it anymore. He broke down crying, this was the longest he’d gone without speaking to Steve. It was the longest they’d gone without seeing each other. He hated it, but Steve was right when he brought up that they were too different. They’d been doing nothing but getting into arguments and it wasn’t good for either of them. The relationship wasn’t good for either of them. But that didn’t make saying goodbye any less hard.
Tony took a breath and wiped his tears before letting Rhodes go and told him he was off to his meeting. He was a big boy and could handle his shit. You gotta fake it ‘till you make it, or at least that’s what he heard. He could do this, he could keep up with his busy schedule. It’s what will get him through this. That’s all he needed to do was heal his broken heart. He could do it with a broken heart.