#wtf i legit almost started to cry reading the caption

[kunishirou]

Fandom: Marvel (Marvel Cinematic Universe/Iron Man/Captain America/The Avengers) Rating: Teen for cursing words Ship: Steve Rogers x Tony Stark Word count: 3k Other Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - No Power, Alternate Universe - Modern, Meet Cute Author’s Note: self-indulging fic since I’m still recovering from Infinity War, non-betaed so all mistakes are mine

Steve was okay with rejection.

Mostly.

Living most of his school and college life as a small, scrawny boy, people wouldn’t even look at him the second time and he was fully aware that he didn’t stand a chance for romance. A man with a skinny body like him wasn’t exactly...boyfriend material, no matter how much Bucky told him that people didn’t deserve him if they couldn’t see beyond his physical body. “If they couldn’t see your big heart and great personality, then they miss out so much, Steve,” he cheered him up one day after a ruined date. Then again, Bucky was his best friend, of course he would be biased.

And the slow growth spurt finally did a thing to Steve. He didn’t grow that extremely big or something, but he put on some weight and couldn’t exactly small or scrawny anymore. After working out together with Bucky (since his best friend insisted), people started to notice him and tried talking to him. As time went by, he was aware how people wanted to know him now because of his proper look now. To be honest, it was hurting him more than it already had, because he was sure that people began to notice because of his look now. He got a few more best friends like Bucky he could count on, sure, but not people who wanted to be a serious relationship with him.

So far, he didn’t have any luck finding someone who was interested not in his body, but to who he truly was. Until now.

Despite Bucky’s warning a few times, meeting Morgan on a dating site (he was desperate, alright?) was one of the best things ever happened to him. Steve deliberately didn’t put any of his pics on the sites, to see if Morgan was interested in his personality alone, not his body. And after a few chats and calls, maybe some pics trading as well, he decided that Morgan liked him alright, just the way he was. And he was happy, he really was.

Until, they decided to meet for the first time on a date, and he got a message from Natalie.

[ txt: Natalie R. ] is this the morgan guy you’re talking about? [ txt: Natalie R. ] you’re not gonna like it, but [ Natalie R. sent you a photo ] [ txt: S. Rogers ] what the fuck Nat? [ txt: Natalie R. ] Morgan. I’ve checked him to make sure he’s legit a person. Yes, he’s real, but he’s a douchebag as well. A playboy or sort, already got himself a few victims. Here’s a few links to Facebook you can look up to see what he’s doing. He doesn’t even bother to lock them up from public access or made it a secret. [ txt: S. Rogers ] wtf Nat why are you doing this?? I didn’t need you to spy on him like this! [ txt: S. Rogers ] you saying this guy, who wanted to go on a date with me the first time, is actually two-timing me with someone’s else right now? Is he actually lying to me? [ txt: S. Rogers ] talk about bad timing, Nat. can’t you wait until my date is over? [ txt: Natalie R. ] and let him play with your heart and break it into pieces afterward? I don’t think so

She got a point, though.

But he reassured himself that this was a misunderstanding and checked the Facebook, out of curiosity. Yet Natalie was right. A few minutes ago, Morgan posted some pictures of himself alongside a woman he never knew. After giving a few scroll, despite his brain telling him to stop torturing himself like this, Steve kept going, to the picture where they kissed like a lover, with some hashtags on the caption like #dating #girlfriend #bestgirl and a few sort of those varians. He would be lying if this didn’t already break his heart almost instantly.

[ txt: Natalie R. ] I’m sorry, Steve. I know I’m being a jerk right now. But I can’t let that guy ruined my best friend like that. [ txt: S. Rogers ] doesn’t matter. He already late for our date anyway and he looked happy enough with his girlfriend. Good for him. [ txt: Natalie R. ] how long have u been waiting now? [ txt: S. Rogers ] 3 hours at supposed to be our meeting point, I think. He didn’t read my messages or pick up the calls I made anyway. I’m gonna cancel the reservation now and go back home and moping, maybe [ txt: Natalie R. ] damn it. I will kill him for you if you wish for it, Rogers [ txt: Natalie R. ] I’m so sorry. Should I call Bucky to pick you up? I’ll call Sam to come over tonight too [ txt: S. Rogers ] no, don’t. I just want to be alone tonight [ txt: Natalie R. ] tomorrow, then. And no buts. We’ll come tomorrow to get you [ txt: S. Rogers ] ok [ txt: Natalie R. ] I’m sorry Steve, I knew you’ve been looking forward to this [ txt: S. Rogers ] it’s ok. I’ll live

There were a few more messages from his friends, but Steve didn’t bother to read them. He did send another message to Morgan, ‘lose this number’, before blocking him for good. He put his phone into silent mode and put it back into his pocket, groaning as he rested his eyes on top of his fists. Biting his lower lip so hard to prevent himself from becoming a sobbing mess in public because currently, he was in the little park near the main streets, waiting for someone who would never come.

He wasn’t going to cry this time, dammit. He knew he was out of luck with relationship and romance after all this time. Mainly because of his look before, no one even bothered to look at him when he was still scrawny. And now? People didn’t even care to get to know him at all and only after his body. And when he thought he finally could get a chance to be happy, somehow it would be ruined itself in the end before Steve ever tasted it first. For some reasons, the universe decided to give him all the assholes for his simple wish of love interest.

He didn’t want to blame his friends about this because they already warned it beforehand, but….

Steve worked so hard on this date, alright? He booked the restaurant with a front payment that cost a lot more than his few weeks overtime salary, he bought some new proper clothes to look as clean as possible, he even bothered to style his hair with Bucky’s gel that he still thought it stunk so bad. Heck, he even brought some flowers, no matter how cheesy and stupid it sounded like. He worked so hard to make the best impression, and Morgan didn’t even get a chance to see it. At all.

He was upset. He was allowed to be so upset about this.

Steve let out a shaky breath, a few tears already rolled out from his eyes and he angrily wiped them with his sleeves, but there were still coming and he hated himself for being so weak about this. He should be able to handle this kind of thing, he had been used to rejection or any other variations his whole life. But he was absolutely upset right now and he allowed himself to not care. Public attention would be damned.

He was so getting those Ben & Jerry’s big tubes once he calmed down.

* * *

That man was still there by the time the late board meeting finally finished and he blinked. Confused.

Tony had been looking—no, I’m not spying him, Jesus Christ, Pep—at the man who sat on the bench on that little park near his building. Since the meeting was on the second floor and the windows faced the said park, it was so easy to spot the blond from this room immediately.

It wasn’t his habit to observe people, to be precise, but he couldn’t help but look at the big blond down there. The man looked so nice and gorgeous with those suit, with hair neatly combed and styled, and there was a flowers bouquet sat next to the man. All the hints seemed obvious enough to him now.

Ah, waiting for a date, he thought. And whoever this man’s date was, they must be so lucky to have him.

Tony? Well, he didn’t have time or room for romance and shit, to be honest. His company needed him that much, that he didn’t bother looking for a loving partner, despite he was almost in his 40 sometime next year. He tried, a few times before, though sadly it didn’t come out as he expected.

Apparently, when you were working in the Stark Enterprise as the CEO, people would be (1) expecting you to be like what’s the media had told them about, or (2) looking many ways to get juicy gossips or his money. Been there, done that, and Tony had enough with people not looking the real him, but always licking his ego and maybe his feet sometimes to get his money and got the power they wanted inside the Stark Enterprise. And Tony wanted none of those bullshits in his beloved company he worked so hard for years.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t lonely, though. Hell, he actually craved for a committed relationship. Seeing how nervous yet genuinely happy that blond was, even though it was hard to tell since Tony was high up inside the building and his eyes weren’t as good as they were now, became a reminder that Tony probably needed that sort of thing as well.

Dating, God...he never thought about that for years now. Too busy working himself for the sake of the company. Even Rhodey said to him that he should get laid sometimes, to lighten up his boring life. But he couldn’t, not after what people usually saw him as a sort of celebrity who needed to be praised all the time in order to be on Tony’s good side.  No, he didn’t need that kind of relationship, at all.

“Mr. Stark, are you listening to me?”

“YES. Yes, I am, still listening alright. You may continue,” Tony sighed, didn’t realize that he was staring from behind the windows that long. The directors gave him the look, but decided to let it go and continued where they left. Right, meeting. Tony should focus more on this one rather than being a creep and staring at the cute blond at the park. Whoever he was, Tony wished him to have a good date, maybe a stable relationship too eventually.

Apparently, the man was still there after the meeting was over. And Tony was utterly confused. It had been, like...what? A little 2 or 3 hours since the last time he saw the blond, shouldn’t he be with his date and went somewhere else instead of sitting on that same bench? He furrowed his brows, looking from the windows to see what exactly happened properly, now that the meeting was over and people already left the room.

It was still hard to make it from here, and it was getting dark to see the blond properly. But all Tony could make it was the man seemed furiously typed with his phone for a few minutes, before he finally made some sort of motions and gestures that Tony translated mentally as...things didn’t go smoothly for him.

Hell, Tony was sure the man was actually crying right now, with those wiping motion with his sleeves. And it would be a lie that it didn’t make Tony felt bad for him.

The blond was probably looking forward to this whatever date he planned. And maybe the date stood him up? How dare. The man was fine, absolutely gorgeous to Tony’s book. Anyone who stood him up should be ashamed of their doing. Tony might just know him for a few minutes, an hour top since the last time he was being a creep and observed the man, but he was pretty sure that this blond was doing his best for the first impression. Even the flowers, man, it was so cute and didn’t think anyone would still do that these days.

So Tony didn’t understand why this man was getting stood up in the first place, and he felt sorry for him. So much that he thought of doing something so stupid just to make the man felt better. Or smile, that would be a lot better.

Sorry, Pepper, for giving you yet many paperwork and PR later on, he thought, and made a dash to outside of the building, going to the park to meet the man face to face.

* * *

He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting on the bench, while quietly sobbing like a little kid. But his eyes were getting hurt as he wiped them again roughly. Maybe he should’ve gone with the handkerchief to wipe them, and now his suit was partially wrinkled and his sleeves were wet because of his doing. Steve winced at the mess he made, but again, he could care less about that. It still didn’t make him feel any better, though, but at least he wasn’t crying anymore now.

Sighing loudly, wiping down his cheeks for good measure, Steve looked at the pathetic little flowers bouquet he brought with him and let out yet another sigh. They were all beautiful and would be such a waste if he threw them into the trash can. His late Ma would scold him for it, but it was too painful to look at the flowers now.

He picked them up and was going to throw them into the nearby trash, but stopped when a man approached him.

“Hey, darling. I’m so sorry I’m late!” the man said, looking a bit exhausted due to...what? Running? Something else? But that didn’t really matter, because Steve was too confused to begin with.

“I’m sorry, what—”

“Ooooh, you brought me flowers? Aww, you really shouldn’t have, thank you, sweetheart,” the man actually took the bouquet from Steve and carried it lovingly. Still, on the brink of confusion, Steve narrowed his eyes and the man just winked at him, mouthing something like ‘play along’.

Well, then, two could play the game.

“How could I not? You deserve all the beautiful things in the world, honey.”

The man looked like he wanted to laugh but suppressed it well. Instead, he was grinning at Steve. “Well, aren’t you such a keeper. Very smooth, darling, I already like you even more now.”

And honest to God, he just saw and met this man right now, but he sure could make Steve blushed so hard. “What can I say? I’m pretty likable,” he said sheepishly, trying to keep up with the game, and the man simply laughed.

“Aww, sure. You’re pretty, I’ll give you that. Now, come along, we already late for our dinner together,” the man said, casually taking Steve’s arm and led him away from the park and too many people around there. Just when they entered a quiet street, Steve finally spoke again.

“So, I knew that you’re not supposed to be my date for tonight. But who are you exactly and why are you doing this? Is this some kind of prank?“

The man flinched and released Steve’s arm, but kept walking on his side slowly. “No, of course not. It was just—would you be angry if I said that I couldn’t bear to see you sad like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Right, maybe I should start from the beginning,” the man turned around to face Steve now. “Hi. My name is Tony, and apparently, I can see you from the meeting room inside my building a couple of hours ago and I got curious. Judging from your clothes and the flowers, I assumed you were supposed to be going on a date with someone, but that certain someone was somehow...did not appear in the end. And you looked so sad about that, and people looked at you funny when you were crying—hey, no, that’s okay. I didn’t mean to judge you. I, too, will cry if I were you, you know. We have our moments. But anyway, I can’t handle to see you looking so sad like that, and maybe I sort of didn’t want to make you looked embarrassing, so I guess why the heck not doing anything to cheer you up?”

Steve raised his eyebrow, “You mean, you saw me when I was waiting for my douchebag date from wherever you were before and decided to jump in and play the non-existence date for me so I wouldn’t be so embarrassed and looked sorry about my failed date?”

“...when you said it that way, somehow it sounded like a stupid idea. That wasn’t my intention—”

Called him exhausted both physically or mentally, but Steve shouldn’t be laughing this hard. What was even his life anymore? A guy somehow took a pity on him and actually played as his very late date to make him feel better about him? That was absurd. Steve knew he should feel offended by this situation, but he didn’t. And the man—Tony—sounded genuinely worried about him too, despite they just met a few minutes before.

“Okay, wow. You freaked me out now, darling. You sure you okay there?”

“No, no I’m not,” he said between his laughter, tears began to form again but at least this wasn’t because he was sad. Again, he wiped his eyes and huffed, regaining his compose. “God, this is really weird. I was planning to just come home after buying a big tub of ice cream, eating the whole thing while watching bad movies at home, but this—this was actually something that I didn’t expect at all.”

“A good kind of weird, I hope? If not, I’m really sorry for overstepping the boundaries. I know we’ve just met and we didn’t know each other, but uh...you can tell me to scram if you—”

“Tony,” Steve spoke, effectively shutting the man up and he simply smiled. “Hi, my name is Steve. And I know this is such a weird situation you apparently initiated—no, don’t try to deny it—but thank you for your...I don't know, help, I guess? I was so upset about it but now I don’t because of you. And you said something about dinner?”

Tony blinked, stayed quiet for a while before smiling widely.

“Yes, I did. How’s cheeseburgers sounded to you, Steve darling? I could eat some cheeseburgers right now. And, you know, maybe getting to know to each other, all that jazz? How’s that?”

Steve laughed, feeling more at ease as he talked to Tony.

“Sure, why not? Lead the way, honey.”

And here’s hoping this could be a start of something more beautiful for both of them.