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Just as Tony pulled the covers over his shoulders and curled up on his side in bed, his phone rang. Frowning, he stuck one hand out to grab it off his nightstand and saw Steve’s contact photo staring up at him. A quick glance at the time confirmed to Tony that is was in fact 12:36 in the morning, which means that it is 3:36 in the morning in New York, a time that Steve always made sure to be fast asleep well before. He’s all about ‘healthy habits’ like ‘good sleeping schedules’ and ‘hydration.’
Tony blinked back into himself and quickly answered the phone, dread piling in his chest. “Hello?”
“Hey, Sweetheart,” Steve’s warm voice answered him.
“What happened? Is everything alright?” Tony asked, pushing up on his elbow in bed, as if he could suddenly run across the country from Malibu to New York if Steve needed him. A self-deprecating pang went through him at the thought that he couldn’t. If it were possible, he would have done that a hundred times already.
“What? Everything’s fine, I just wanted to say hi,” Steve immediately replied, confusion evident even through the tinny speaker.
“It’s 3:30 in the morning by you,” Tony reminded him.
“Oh.” Steve was silent for a moment. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
“Are you okay?” Tony asked again, his voice a little softer this time.
“I’m fine, Tony, I already said that.”
“Okay, it’s just that you’re usually asleep by nine with all the other grandparents in the world. Did you call for a lecture on healthy sleeping habits? I have at least two of yours memorized.”
“Har har,” Tony could feel Steve’s eye roll through the phone, and the familiar tone made him smile. He put his head back down on his pillow, keeping the phone held up to his other ear, and let Steve’s familiar voice wash over him. He had talked to him that morning - or, yesterday morning rather - but it always felt like an eternity between calls when he wasn’t able to physically hold him. “Can’t I just call my boyfriend because I missed him?”
“Steve,” Tony said again, more serious this time. Something felt off, like Steve’s mind wasn’t in a place it was usually was. He’s listened to Steve talk after he’s had a bad day or failed a test, or when he was raging mad after fights with his boss or coworkers who don’t treat him well, or when he’s scared the night before one of his art showcases, or even after a showcase went extraordinarily well and he’s hopped on adrenaline at one in the morning, but this conversation was a different kind of energy. It almost felt like Steve was hiding something, and Tony wasn’t used to that. He thought they were beyond that in their relationship, especially since Tony moved away to follow Stark Industries, leaving Steve behind at school, and their relationship consisted more of talking than anything else.
Steve sighed at the other end of the line. “I just -- I couldn’t sleep is all. I thought you might still be up.”
“Of course I’m still up, it’s me,” Tony scoffed. “I like to maintain a healthy amount of sleep deprivation at all times.”
“You were laying down in bed right at this moment,” Steve deadpanned with scary accuracy, as usual.
“You’re changing the subject,” Tony countered, and he could hear Steve’s low chuckle at the other end of the phone. “Why can’t you sleep, Darling?”
“I don’t know,” Steve sighed again. “I just -- I think I miss you a lot is all. It’s awful cold in New York.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Tony agreed quietly, his heart hurting. “I miss you too. A lot. I didn’t think it would be this hard to be so far away from you.”
“Yeah you did,” Steve replied reasonably. “I think the decision tore you apart more than actually being away does.”
“That’s not true,” Tony argued immediately, scowling despite the fact that Steve couldn’t see him.
“You weren’t going to go at first,” Steve accused.
“Not until you threatened to break up with me,” Tony reminded him with a huff.
“I didn’t threaten, I—“ Steve let out a harsh sigh, “I didn’t want to be the reason you gave up the opportunity to do what you always wanted to. I didn’t want to hold you back.”
“You’d never hold me back Steve—“ Tony started to groan in annoyance, rolling onto his back and throwing an arm over his face. “Why are we rehashing this again?” His voice came out a little muffled from his sweater.
“Because I missed you.” Steve reminded him. “And I decided to bother you in the middle of the night about it.”
Tony huffed out a laugh. “That’s fair. Christmas isn’t the same without you anyway.”
“You hate Christmas.”
“Yeah, but you don’t, and I miss you being all in the spirit and shit.”
“I’ll make sure to remind you that as soon as you get sick of it,” Steve laughed.
“Well it won’t be this year, will it,” Tony muttered miserably to the crook of his elbow.
“You...might be surprised.”
“Huh?” Tony replied again, taking his arm off his face.
“You want to come get the door, Sweetheart? I know Malibu’s a lot warmer than New York, but your neighbor’s starting to give me weird looks,”
Tony blinked for a moment, still trying to comprehend the situation that was apparently happening, before bolting out of bed and nearly ripping the door off of its hinges. Sure enough, there stood Steve at the other end of the door, a duffle bag and backpack both slung on his shoulders, his phone pressed to his ear, and a tired, hopeful smile on his face. Tony felt his phone drop someone on the carpet before he flung himself into his boyfriend’s chest, disregarding the heavy bags he was still holding. Steve fumbled for a second trying not to drop everything, but Tony ultimately ended safely nestled against Steve’s chest, his arms tightly wrapped around his neck, face nuzzled into his shoulder, and his feet not touching the ground.
“What the hell are you doing here,” Tony murmured, but didn’t let Steve answer as he rapidly pulled back and pressed his lips to his. He felt Steve smile against his face, making the kiss a little loose and messy, but it was the best thing Tony had felt in the months since he last saw Steve.
“I got some time off work,” Steve whispered once Tony ran out of breath and pulled back. “I have some things I need to work on, but I can do it here. I’m all yours for the week.” Tony let out a sob he hasn’t realized was bubbling up in his chest. Steve lowered him carefully to the ground so he could free one hand and wipe the tears off of Tony’s cheeks. “Shh, Sweetheart,” He leaned forward to press his lips gently over Tony’s face, on his cheeks, his forehead, and finally his lips again.
Tony pulled back this time, lifting his eyes up to meet Steve’s warm blue ones. “How did you—“
Steve shrugged in reply, a huge grin still taking up most of his face. “A Christmas miracle,”
“That is so —“
“Come on, Tony,” Steve teaser, “get in the spirit and shit.”
“I can’t believe you got me to admit that,” Tony said, going for an exasperated tone but falling short somewhere around immense relief and adoration.
“Yes, that was the point of this whole trip. Can’t take it back now.”
There was an appropriately snarky and hilarious remark stuck somewhere in Tony’s throat, he knew there was, but it stopped half-way up when Tony saw Steve’s lips turn into that cocky smirk Tony saw so rarely. His blue eyes glimmered in the way they only did when he pulled off one of his missions that he set his mind to, but Tony saw the exhaustion behind them too. He had put work into this, clearly. To get the time off, bribe their friends into not spilling the beans, pack, pay for a plane ticket, and fly into Malibu in the middle of the night to spend as much time with Tony as he could.
Tony cupped Steve’s cheek with one hand, scratching lightly at his jaw. “Come on, get in here. Are you hungry? I have some leftovers I can heat up.” He pulled Steve fully into his room and shut the door behind him, blocking the chill of the night.
“I’m okay, just can’t wait to climb into bed with you,” Steve replied with a smile, which then turned a bit sheepish as he brought his nose quickly to the fabric on his shoulder. “After maybe a shower? I didn’t have time to after work before I had to get to the airport.”
Tony chuckled, basking in the light that Steve seemed to bring everywhere with him. Everything Steve did for him seemed to glow, filling a part of Tony’s chest with warmth that he hadn’t even realized had been empty while he was gone.
“Yeah Babe, I think we can make it happen.”