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“Where the hell are you guys? I’ve been trying to call Steve for an hour!”
Tony paced the small living room of the apartment he owned in Geneva. The one Steve and Bucky were supposed to be at for another day. And where they clearly weren’t.
“Steve’s phone died on the flight, we just parked, be up in 5,” Bucky answered in one breath.
“What do you mean flight? BARNES,” Tony yelled to try and get the man’s attention before he hung up, but he missed his chance. He called again, and a laughing Bucky answered.
“Jeez, can’t wait 5 minutes to see your man, really?” he teased.
“No, I’m just fucking confused. What do you mean flight? Where are you parked? Where are you?!” Tony asked, running a hand through his hair.
He heard Bucky talk but it was too muffled for him to hear the words and then Steve was on the line.
“Hey, hun,” Steve’s voice came on the line and Tony couldn’t contain a smile. “What’s going on?”
“Where are you guys?” Tony asked again, hoping he’d finally get an answer.
He heard an elevator ding on the line before Steve answered. “I’m home! Was going to surprise you, but Bucky said you sounded weird so I should talk to you. Are you in the workshop, I’ll go see you there.”
Tony let out a frustrated laugh as he let himself fall on the couch. “I was surprising you ! You’re supposed to be here .”
“Here? You’re not- I’m not following you right now.”
“Babe, I’m in Geneva. I was going to surprise you with a date night cause I missed you so much. I even had a hotel room booked for Buckster so we could be alone,” Tony whined.
“No. No, no, NO!” Steve pleaded. “We got an earlier flight so I could come home cause I just couldn’t deal with being away from you anymore. Shit .”
Tony laughed as he heard Steve explain what had happened to Bucky .
“We’re a couple of idiots, huh?” Tony finally added.
“The biggest ones.” Steve sighed loudly. “I miss you. When can you come home?”
“I’ll call and see if I can get back today. You’ll be the first to know when I figure this out. I miss you too. Just, stay put this time.”
“I can’t believe we just did that,” Steve chuckled.
“I can,” Tony heard Bucky shout in the background, no doubt while raiding their cupboards.
“I think Barnes knows us a little too well. I’m surprised we haven’t done something like this sooner, if I’m being completely honest.”
They hung up after Tony promised once more he’d try and get a new flight back to New York as soon as possible. The thought of sitting on a plane for another half day was less than tempting, but he missed Steve desperately. They’d been apart for various reasons over the past few years since they started dating – missions and work taking precedent over their life all too often. For some reason, this one had felt different. It had been almost a month of Steve being away, first a mission had taken him overseas, and then some UN meetings “since Cap is already there anyways,” Fury had said.
One week had turned to two, then three and Tony had been done. He’d finally had time away from the newest SI product launch and he’d told Pepper he needed to go. She hadn’t tried to stop him.
And now, they were as far apart as they had been when they’d both left for airports that morning.
A thought kept tugging at the back of his brain and his heart equally. It didn’t really have a correlation with the events that had just transpired - not directly anyways - and it wouldn’t change anything until they both agreed to fully retire from their jobs. And yet, Tony couldn’t let it go.
Tony called for a car to pick him up as he texted his travel coordinator to get him on a plane ASAP. While he let Theresa do what she did best, he grabbed his bag and headed downstairs where a car would be waiting for him soon enough. He had a stop to make before he got back home.
~~~~~
One of the greatest advantages of flying first class was that he could be out of the plane as quickly as humanly possible, especially if he flirted with the hostesses enough. And, since he had only one thing to declare to the fine staff in customs, it was a fairly painless process to get through the international arrivals maze. Which was a good thing because Tony was bouncing out of his skin.
An added 15 hours away from Steve had done nothing good for how much he missed his boyfriend. Even the lovely young lady who’d assisted him at the customs desk had noticed just how nervous and excited he seemed, but had quickly understood once Tony had explained the reason for his very short visit overseas and what he planned to do as soon as he had his beloved back in his arms.
Bless those millennials who grew up on cheesy rom-coms, he thought.
Once he passed the final checkpoint, he made a beeline for the spot Steve always picked him up at, on the rare occasions he had to take commercial flights. The airport was busier than usual, but Tony easily spotted Steve. No matter how hard he tried to blend in, Captain America wasn’t fooling anyone in his baseball cap, Ray-Bans, and street clothes.
Tony made his way through the crowd and waved when Steve finally spotted him. No matter how many times Steve smiled at him the way he did, it still knocked the breath out of Tony’s body. Tony picked up the pace, aching to hold Steve in his arms now and finally ask what had been playing on repeat in his mind for the whole ride across the Atlantic Ocean. When they were almost within arms reach of one another, Steve dropped to one knee and pulled out a small box, and positively beamed at Tony who stopped in his tracks.
“Noooo,” Tony whined before he could think. The flash of genuine hurt that passed over Steve’s features reminded Tony of the implication of what he’d just said. “Shit, no, not no . Not even close to no, no,” Tony blurted as Steve stood.
“I’m really confused again,” Steve mumbled as people around them tried not to stare, but had obviously clued in to what was happening.
“Time out. Rewind,” Tony laughed as Steve frowned. “First of all, hi. I missed you.” Tony dropped his bag at his feet and wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck and pulled him into a kiss, forcing himself to keep it short since he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop kissing him if he didn’t keep it short. “Second, the answer is yes. A big, giant fuck yeah even. You just- you kinda stole my line.”
Tony pulled out the ring box from his pocket, one hand still behind Steve’s neck. Steve looked down at the box and ring, realization slowly dawning on him. He locked eyes with Tony again who just nodded, knowing what Steve was about to ask him. Tony pulled him in another kiss, more clashing teeth than anything else for how wide they were both smiling.
“Do you need me to answer or,” Steve asked.
“Well, I did just spend half a day worrying you’d say no, so confirmation would be nice,” Tony chuckled.
“Not to copy you or anything, but fuck yeah ,” Steve whispered against his ear, making Tony burst out laughing.
The crowd applauded – and snapped a few hundred pictures – as they slid the rings on each other’s fingers and kissed once again. Steve finally picked up Tony’s bag and they made a quick escape out of the airport, their cellphone already pinging with notifications. News travelled fast when two superheroes proposed in a public place.
“I can’t believe we did this twice in the span of thirty-some hours,” Steve shook his head as he opened the door for Tony.
“Clearly it was meant to be, fiancé,” Tony answered simply before getting in the car.