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Steve knew, logically, that he was the one that will take Tony home. Now and always. Well, as soon as he proposed, it will be officially always .
Still.
It didn’t make it any easier for him to watch Tony catching all kinds of stares as the brunet was being the star of the stage with Janet Van Dyne by his side while Steve was behind the bar pouring drink after drink for the cabaret’s guests, trying to pretend that he wasn’t hyper-aware of his amazing boyfriend being the charming and talented singer and dancer that he was.
Steve couldn’t complain, though. Those qualities had been what drove Steve to Tony in the first place. The immensely dexterity in which Tony moved; the way he owned the stage; the friendly competition that he had going on with Janett for the brightest star each night they performed, both fake-fighting for female and male attention alike; the amazing body in which he worked so hard on; the designer clothes that were sowed specially for him; the passion in which he showed how much he loved to be the centre of attention, and how he couldn’t help in every performance to look directly at Steve every once in a while, just for a few seconds to make sure he was watching.
Steve liked to encourage himself pretending that everything that Tony did up there was to catch the bartender’s attention and to entice him to make a move already. To take Tony as his own and make sure that everyone knew who he really belonged to.
As sure Steve was of how the felt for each other and he would not doubt Tony in a million years, there was no avoidance to the ugly, green monster that would sometimes come alive and kick uncomfortably at Steve’s gut as he pulled his sight away from Tony and turned it towards the unblinking audience; all wanting a piece of what was already Steve’s. He could see them staring at every move of Tony and Janett’s hips, listening heartily at every tune that they sang in those tight and sexy outfits and wishing they could touch and take .
Steve decided to snap out of it and return his focus on serving the Tequila Sunrise that he was supposedly preparing to try and stop that trail of thought.
Jealousy always made Steve feel lacking.
He loved what Tony did for a living, Steve reminded himself. And, more importantly, Tony loved what he did for a living, so Steve needed to get a grip and reassure himself of what Tony and Steve had.
Maybe he should do so by making their relationship a public, official thing. Say, a civilized approach to get Tony out of the market for the unknowing individuals. For instance, proposing to the man already .
If he could only gather the courage to pop the question, thank-you-very-much.
He poured two dry whiskies at Clint’s behest as it was Natasha’s turn to dazzle the audience with her bittersweet voice as he sang a song about loss and love, no-one daring to interrupt the deadly beauty as she maxed her number.
“Steve, are you okay?” asked Bucky, his best friend and fellow bartender as he poured five tequila shots for an enthralled table that clearly had come to party.
“Yeah, just thinking about the proposal,” Steve reassured him honestly. There was no use in hiding what he was thinking to Bucky; he was going by obnoxiously annoy the hell out of Steve until he told him what was bothering him, or he already knew what he was thinking and was trying to be polite about it, honestly. If that would not work, Bucky could simply ask his girlfriend, and they all knew that Natasha just knew things, like, everything, no questions asked.
What a terrifying couple.
“What’s there to think about?” Bucky asked as if confused about his friend’s idiocy, “You’ve been going out for years and you have been living together for just as long. He’s not going to wait on you forever, you know. What are you waiting for? Another situation in which you save the day, hero?”
And with that, of course, Bucky meant the time when Tony had had no-one to help him out. When Steve met him, Tony had been looking to lay low without a penny to his name nor roof over his head. Strangely enough, the brunet had thought of Steve after only knowing him for a week. He had appeared outside of Steve’s apartment with a scared, paranoid look on his face as he had told Steve that he had been tracked down to his crappy apartment, the only thing he had been able to afford at the time, by the people that he had very intentionally left behind before he got the job at the cabaret club and needed a place to stay for the night.
Steve understood intimately the embarrassment and the refusal to owe anything to anyone.
Steve, good Samaritan that he was, received him with open arms and hot coffee under his roof, immediately reassuring him that he could stay until he could afford to get under his feet. Tony refused such offer by insisting that it was only for the one night, but Steve had none of it. The blond man had gone as far as to physically carrying Tony back inside to the apartment when he was being stubborn about it. Really, both had known then that Tony had been bound to come back later that day and that he had been just trying to salve some of his hurt pride.
They had been living together ever since.
Tony did not talk much about it, but, from what Steve had gathered from this past two years, Tony had come from a wealthy family that had done nothing but to try and push Tony to become something that he was not, resulting in Tony running away and his family hiring goons to find him and forcefully bring him back. Luckily, they had yet to track the brunet down to the cabaret or to their apartment.
Damn. Their apartment, huh?
It was all unfortunate and made Tony lose everything he had had but, after a few months of Tony crashing on his sofa, the performer had finally made a move on Steve and had kissed him after a fun night spent together at a friend’s party, only to had fallen into bed and into the most amazing sex that Steve had had in his life. Or at least that’s how Steve remembered it because he also remembered vividly how sexually frustrated he had been for all those months of watching Tony walk about in only his towel while Steve kept thinking that the brunet could not possibly be interested in the lowly bartender for more than a safe shelter. And, of course, if Steve had made a move, he would have felt that he was taking advantage of the situation.
Those months had been tough for Bucky. His friend had been forced to hear all of Steve’s frustrated whining. Now they were incredibly happy together and the sex only got better as they learned more and more about each other. They discovered each other, improved as individuals, and built something together .
“No, I’m just waiting for the right time.” Steve said unsurely. In response, Bucky looked at him incredulously in a way that always made Steve feel instant annoyance. “Shut up, Bucky.”
The command would not have normally worked on Bucky, but at that moment, Bruce came to his childhood friend with a new drink order and forced him to give the waiter attention instead.
Steve seized the distraction to look at Tony again. He was in the stage once again and half-carrying Janett during a complicated twist as she made a surprised mock expression to entertain the guests. A general laugh from the audience was the response to their antics.
He understood why Tony loved what he did, and Steve had no reason to be jealous only because his boyfriend had some outsiders’ gawking attention while he aced it. Really, this was a new development for Steve as this never used to bother him to this extent before.
However, he noticed the root-reason of his newfound jealousy entering the cabaret club and the frown was on his face once again with full force. By that time, Bucky had finished pouring Bruce’s drink order and suddenly was at his side eyeing distrustfully at the same person Steve was silently cursing at.
“What is he doing here so soon?” Bucky asked seriously, not taking away his eyes from the newcomer as he cleaned the bar distractedly. No matter how much his best friend and his boyfriend fought like cats and dogs, Bucky liked Tony and it was begrudgingly mutual, no matter how much they tried to deny it. Bucky was definitely not happy with the newcomer, either.
Before Steve could answer, Clint was back at the bar and also looking annoyed at the new guest’s arrival.
“I would ask if you saw who just came in but, judging by your pissed off faces, it seems you saw him coming in way before I did,” Clint said, putting his tray down on the bar and pointing discreetly with his head at the table in which said newcomer was taking a seat and waving Wanda over. Clint then looked at Tony, too distracted performing to notice anything anew, and then at Steve who was now openly glaring at said table and the one who occupied it.
“You want me to kick him out?” the blond waiter offered Steve, looking devilish. It wouldn’t be anything new for them. The waiters and waitresses were well known at the cabaret club to double as bouncers when the need arose.
Steve really wanted to take him up on that. He really did. However, Tony had asked him more than once to keep out of it, and Steve trusted him to handle it.
It didn’t make it any easier, though.
“No, it’s fine.” Steve let the words out painfully as the lie weighted the air around them. God, he really wanted to hit that bastard’s cocky face. At Clint’s and Bucky’s look , Steve corrected himself, “Okay, it’s not fine , but Fury is going to kill us all if we cause a scene with his number one spender. We need to trust Tony on this one.”
“Trust in Tony? I have,” Bucky declared surprisingly, or maybe just confident that Tony was not there to listen to his admission, “Trust in that guy, however? I say we teach him a lesson that he won’t forget so he doesn’t come back.”
“Agreed.” Clint stated easily.
Steve stopped trying to shoot through his eyes at the man now waving at Bruce over to place another flamboyant order no doubt, just as Wanda was making his way to Pietro, the third bartender.
Steve sighed at the obnoxious attitude and decided to look at Tony instead. He was backing away from the scenario so the next number would commence while blowing kisses at the clapping and laughing audience. This time, it was Thor, Rhodey and Luke’s turn to dazzle the spectators.
“Believe me, I do too,” Steve agreed easily, but they were packed tonight, and they were all supposed to be busy. What was Tiberius Stone going to do with all the rush and people going all around? Steve had to be patient and let that stalker run out of interest for his boyfriend, “But, for now, let’s just keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble, okay?”.
Bucky, Clint and now Bruce looked at him unconvinced. Miraculously, though, it seemed that they decided to go along with his request for now and resumed rushing around to wait on the tables and pouring drinks, respectively.
However, before getting out of hearing-distance Steve heard Clint tease around with Bucky: “ And that is why Steve manages this place; patience of a saint ”, to what Bucky replied “ I still rather be able to punch my way around. So much more satisfying .”
…Steve agreed with Bucky. Responsibility sucked big time when someone was getting in your nerves and you grew up learning how to fix problems with skinny fists and an attitude.
Tiberius Stone had come to the cabaret club a month ago, parading inside with two beautiful women in small, tight dresses as escorts and acting as if he owned the place. Nothing out of the ordinary in their line of work, but as soon as he sat down in the VIP area, Tony’s solo act was up and Tiberius had been mesmerized by the brunet.
He had thrown an astounding amount of money around and then had demanded a pass backstage to personally profess his admiration for Tony’s talent and to invite him to go with him and his two escorts to an afterparty somewhere fancy.
Tony had had to drag him away from peering eyes to reject his advances. Or that was what hesitatingly Natasha had told Steve, and that was concerning because, again, she usually knew everything. Like, every-single-detail. The fact that she and Tony had refused to largely explain to Steve what exactly had happened back there was what started to gnaw at him in the first place.
From there, it got worse.
Tiberius was so enamoured by Tony that he had come every night that Tony had been at stage, mostly alone now, and had kept sending him gifts and showering him with unwelcome attentions. Each time, Tony had rejected him and assured Steve that he had it handled; that Tiberius’ flame for him would burn out soon and that he would back off.
So far, no such fucking luck.
God, how Steve hated that guy and the feeling that revolved in his stomach every time he saw Tiberius gazing at his boyfriend with desire in his eyes or sending him gifts that Steve could never afford.
With a scoff, he angrily put the beer and the vodka mix that Clint was asking for on his tray with a little more force than necessary and sent him on his way. Clint was wise enough to say nothing, but stupid enough to send him a knowing grin. Steve would get back at him later.
However, when Steve looked at Tiberius’ usual table, he was gone. Those few seconds of distraction were enough for Tiberius to slip through his radar. The smug bastard had left his coat and his expensive bottle of scotch that Wanda had just served him, obviously intending to come back sooner or later.
That left Steve with two options: he either really wanted to go the toilet, or…
“… Cover for me,” Steve ordered his best friend without looking at him as he made his way towards the backstage. He barely heard Bucky’s reply of “hell, yeah, punch his teeth out!” when Steve was already going past Hank and Pepper as they were rushing Darcy and Jane to the stage to join the guys for the end of their number.
Strangely enough, the rush of the backstage has always been something that Steve found soothing as he liked to admire the craziness and hard work that performers had to put into to give their all on stage. Now, though, it was annoying to Steve how many people almost run him over as Steve looked for Tony through the river of costumes, makeup and glitter.
Steve was a tall fella, so when he didn’t find Tony at first sight (his boyfriend being as recognizable to him as a dinosaur skipping through Times Square would to other people), he looked around for the second-best thing. In a few seconds, he located the redhead he was looking for and, before he could call out to Natasha to be heard over the ruckus around him, she turned around from her dressing table and looked straight at him, as if she knew where and when exactly he was going to show and what for Steve was looking her for.
Natasha only gave him what Steve had come to name as a pinched look at the situation, then she arched an eyebrow purposely and pointed her head towards the employee’s back exit. She then turned again to look at her reflection and resume her efforts to make her hair the way she needed for her closing act.
Steve waited for no further encouragement and continued to sail through the people rushing around in the pointed direction.
Steve got close to the door to the back alley of the cabaret club. When he was close enough, he could hear Tony and Tiberius talking loudly. Maybe it was only loud to Steve because he was concentrating so hard on their voices before he could reach the door.
“You know I can tell on you whenever I want.” Threatened Tiberius’ voice.
“What’s the point, Ty?!” Tony’s voice replied angrily. “We don’t even love each other! I am not going to marry you even if I were to come back willingly!”
“Who cares about love?! You are mine since the day you were born and you will obey !”
Good thing that Steve finally got to the godforsaken door. He was not going to wait to hear Tony’s response.
Enough was enough.
He yanked the door open and took one look at Tiberius towering over Tony, one hand grabbing forcefully on his arm to keep the brunet close, and immediately shoved the blond man harshly to put distance between them. He put himself in front of Tony and took a harsh breath to try to dissipate the red haze that was trying to overtake him.
“Back off or I’ll make you.” Steve growled at his boyfriend’s attacker, wishing for Tiberius to try to attack Steve so that he could return the favour.
The only reason he had not yet punched the man is that Tony had asked Steve to let him handle it.
“Steve!” Tony exclaimed in surprise at his back. He was obviously not expecting Steve to come to his rescue.
Steve was always going to come to Tony’s rescue.
“Who the fuck are you?!” Tiberius asked furiously, quickly recovering from the shove but not trying to retaliate just yet.
What a shame for Steve.
“I am Tony’s boyfriend and I want you to leave and never come back.” Steve said clearly.
“You can’t order me around!” Tiberius refused offended. “You are just a fucking boy-toy, I am Tony’s fiancé!”
Okay, that hurt Steve more than an actual fist to the face.
“No!” Tony denied immediately, holding onto Steve’s arm to get his attention. The red haze had dissipated enough that Steve could spare a quick look, but when he saw Tony’s eyes, he stopped there.
Tony looked terrified.
“He was my betrothed years ago, our parents arranged our marriage since we were barely speaking, but he is one of the reasons I decided to leave that life!” Tony rushed to explain.
“Steve, you have to believe me!” Tony begged; Steve had never seen Tony beg for anything before and he did not want it to happen again. Never like this. Steve understood right then that it was not the moment to demand explanations.
“Hey, hey,” Steve called soothingly, gentling his voice. He cupped Tony’s cheek softly and did no motion to remove the brunet’s tight grip from his arm. “I believe you. We can talk about this later.”
“There will be no later .” Tiberius spat at the word.
Only when Steve saw and felt Tony’s breathing start to calm down did he break eye contact with his boyfriend and refocused to the seething man.
“Anthony Edward Stark,” Tiberius called angrily. “Enough playing around with the servants . We are going back right this second and you will ask Obadiah for forgiveness. Get your fucking little blond distraction out of my sight!”
“I told you already, Ty,” Tony replied with more strength in his voice. He never let go of Steve’s arm, though, and Steve preferred it that way. “I am not going back ever. I would rather live a hard worker’s life for a second than be a miserable puppet for life. You should try it; it is highly rewarding.”
“You ungrateful whore!” Tiberius replied in fury.
“You fucking-!” Steve had all the intention to punch him for that one, but Tony held him back quickly, clearly not wanting to escalate this matter as much as possible.
“We gave you everything and you are just a useless leech!” Tiberius yelled, trying to ignore Steve’s threatening aura. “Even if that’s the case, I was willing to offer you the world and you want to stay here in this dump with your fuck-boy?! He has nothing to give to you and you can’t give him anything either as you are! You mean nothing to him! It is just a matter of time when he gets tired of your whining and abandons you. I will not forgive you then when you come crawling back!”
Steve could see that, even in a small level, the words did hurt Tony.
“I will try to survive the disappointment.” Tony replied flatly, obviously being his usual sarcastic self. “Now fuck off and never come back or I will punch your teeth out!”
Tiberius obviously wanted to keep yelling profanities at the two of them, but seeing that he was outnumbered, he took a step back.
“This is not the last you will see of me.” Tiberius threatened them. He then went back into the door, presumably to pick up his things and leave. Steve made sure to stay between his boyfriend and the asshole every second.
“We’ll be waiting.” Steve replied, showing his teeth.
For a few seconds, everything seemed to become a time-still with Tony still clinging to Steve’s arm and Steve still looking at the door; both waiting for their heartrates to go down until Tony was the one that broke the silence.
“Steve, I am so sorr-”
He couldn’t finish his sentence. Steve turned him around until he could properly hold him with both arms and kissed him passionately. Tony seemed confused by the turn of events but was not complaining.
After they were out of breath for an entirely different situation, Steve finally let him go just enough to grab his left hand. He fell on one knee.
“Marry me.” He said simply.
Steve realized then that it has always been that simple.
Who would have guessed? Maybe Steve was waiting to save the day to propose.
Shut up, Bucky.