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Tony rubbed his eyes wearily as he stumbled through the halls of the Avenger Tower. The day’s mission had left him physically wiped and emotionally drained. All he wanted to do was collapse in a pile of soft blankets and Egyptian cotton sheets and forget about the troubles of the day.
Except…
He didn’t want to be alone.
Instead of making his way to his luxurious room, he found his feet following an invisible, magnetic path to yours. Despite being Tony Stark’s significant other for almost a year, you weren’t quite ready to move in with him.
Without even thinking, Tony carefully turned the doorknob and tiptoed inside. The lights were off except for the faint glow of the TV screen. Tony grinned as a trashy reality show played a lullabye for your sleeping form.
He slipped off his shoes and shirt and sank onto the bed. You stirred, opening your eyes at the intrusion. A sleepy smile overtook your face as you realized who had woken you up.
“Hey baby,” you hummed, your voice taking on a gravely quality. “M’glad you came back safe.” You held up the blankets behind you, inviting Tony to take his usual spot as the big spoon.
Tony tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He wanted to be comforted tonight, not be the comforter, but he didn’t know how to ask.
“Actually…I, uh…” he stuttered. His eyes darted nervously around the room, and he could feel his throat closing up.
You quickly sat up, and cupped his face in your hands. “I love you,” you whispered, touching his nose with yours.
Tony sighed into your embrace, relishing in the warmth of your breath against his skin. “Love you too.”
You scooted back and pulled Tony down in front of you, wrapping one arm around his waist. Tony quickly nestled into your embrace, tucking his body under the plush blanket. The tension in his body visibly melted as you peppered soft kisses against his shoulder blades. You could feel his heartbeat slow as his breathing evened out. Smiling against his skin, you felt your own eyes close as you both drifted off to sleep.
——–
You probably would have slept until noon had your phone not woken you up. A barrage of dinging caused you to groan as notification after notification kept pouring in.
Tony mumbled under his breath as he opened his eyes. You both giggled as you unwrapped yourself from each other’s arms.
“That was the best sleep I’ve had in ages,” Tony sighed contentedly. He pulled you on top of him for a kiss as another notification dinged on your phone.
You glared at the offending object on the end table as you broke away from Tony’s kiss. “I’m going to shoot whoever is texting me,” you promised. Tony smirked as you grabbed your phone and unlocked it.
Your jaw dropped open as you finally saw what all the commotion was about. “Uhhh, Tony?” You held the phone up to his face.
On Twitter, the hashtag “IronCuddles” was trending, along with a picture of you and Tony snuggled together in bed.
“What the-?” Tony asked. “Who?”
“Take one guess,” you prompted. Tony looked back up at the original tweeter and scoffed.
“Geez, I wonder who BlackWidow4ever could be,” he groaned.
You both stared at your slightly open door and shouted,
“NATASHA!”