Work Text:
The world is full of opposites. Yin and yang. Cats and dogs. Day and night. Past and future. Hot chocolate and eggnog. Steve and Tony. Good apart, better together, but not always perfect. Today is another of many days that seem to begin and end with some form of arguing. You’ve learned to tune it out since it’s usually minor. You roll over in the huge bed to see them trading snide remarks across the room at each other, as they get ready for bed. After a moment, you actually focus on what they’re say, expecting the same fight over something Avengers related, so you’re shocked to hear Tony say, “She sleeps closer to me. I’m her favorite.” You can tell Steve is prepared to reply when you stand up, quickly becoming furious but trying to remain calm. Steve stops when he notices you getting up. “Where you going, doll?”
Before you can even reply, Tony scoffs. “Come on, Steve, 21st century pet names at least.” Instead of saying anything, you just shake your head and grab your phone, walking toward the door. When a hand catches your elbow, you stop short of the door, and you turn around to meet Steve’s worried eyes then Tony’s. Anger flashes in your eyes at the innocent looks in each of their eyes. Steve drops his hand, as you take a shaky breath. “How dare you,” you start. Steve starts stammering, trying to fix whatever he broke, but you don’t let him instead a fire lights in your eyes. “How dare either one of you. How dare you fight over me, like I’m your property. How dare you try to claim me. This relationship doesn’t work like that. You are better than this, both of you are,” you meet their eyes and continue, “Now, I’m leaving. I’ll be sleeping on my own until you two grow up and stop this bullshit. Understood?”
Without waiting for an answer, you turn on your heel and slam the door behind you. You make your way to your old room, cooling down. By the time you get to the room, you’re calm. This room is cold and foreign. The sheets don’t smell like the loves of your life, but you refuse to return to your shared room, not tonight at least. You go to sleep alone for the first time in a long time and you don’t sleep well to say the least.
The next morning, you make your way to the kitchen after tossing and turning for most of the night. A scowl is set deep in your face as you pour a cup of coffee. “Well, you look like shit,” Clint comments, pulling his own mug down from the cabinet and earning a glare. He just smirks and pours his own cup, as he says, “Tough night? No sleep? Too much fun with our dear captain and resident genius?” Sending another glare at Clint, you refill your now empty mug and return to your old bedroom. The ache for Steve and Tony grows as you pull out one of your shirts from your closet and pull it over your head. Despite how mad you are at them, you still miss them, and having to wear your own clothes instead of one of their shirts emphasizes the feeling.
You make it through most of the morning fine, working with Natasha in the training room until lunch then hanging out with Wanda in the common room for a couple of hours until Vision asks her to join him for something. Once alone on the huge couch, you release an exasperated sigh and lay back against the pillows. The difficult night is starting to catch up to you as you hug a pillow to your chest and turn onto your side. You relax into the couch and let your eyes close before you hear a commotion behind you in the kitchen. “Honeybear, what’s wrong?” You hear Tony say behind you. Rhodes responds, “Shut up and sit.”
A chair scrapes the floor and the room is quiet again until two more voices join. “Sit your star spangled ass down, Steve.” Sam’s voice rings out. Both of your boyfriends are now sitting in silence behind you with their clearly upset best friends. The urge to get up and see what’s happening is strong but the need to see where this is going is stronger. You hold your breath as Sam starts speaking again. “Look I don’t care what the fuck you two did, but you fucked up big time. Rogers you’ve been grumpy all day-“ Rhodes interrupts, “Tony, you’ve been more unbearable than usual.”
“And Clint says Y/N is just as miserable,” Sam continues, “FRIDAY says Y/N slept in her old room last night so clearly it was something you did. Now you are going to find your fucking girlfriend and fucking apologize and hope she forgives you. Because if this continues, you’re going to need to find new best friends. Got it?” As Sam ends his rant, you can hear two sets of feet leaving as the room falls into shocked silence. After a moment, the silence is broken as Steve says, “We messed up. Let’s fix this.”
You hear them moving around the kitchen for a moment and sit up from your position on the couch. Leaning against the arm rest, you watch them making three drinks. Eggnog, hot chocolate, and apple cider. Your favorites. After each of the cups is filled, Tony calls out to FRIDAY. “FRI where’s Y/N?” FRIDAY responds immediately, and you watch as they tense when she says, “She is behind you on the couch, sir.”
They turn in unison and see you smiling from the couch. “How long have you been there?” Tony asks. “A while,” you respond as they collect the cups and move toward you. “We’re sorry. We shouldn’t have been fighting over you,” Tony apologizes as he sits near your feet. Steve lifts you from the couch easily and sits beside Tony, apologizing as well. “It was stupid and I’m sorry, Y/N. Please forgive us?” He places you across both of their laps, as you respond, “Yes it was. I love you both equally. I could never love one of you more than the other,” you sigh and lean against Steve’s chest before saying, “But I forgive you. You’ve suffered enough.”
You reach for the apple cider and sigh as you take a drink of the warm liquid. “I didn’t get any sleep last night,” you mumble leaning your head against Steve’s shoulder as Tony begins rubbing soothing circles into your calves. “Neither did we,” Tony admits, “Missed you.” You smile and press a kiss to Steve’s shoulder. “I wanna take a nap,” you mumble, already falling asleep in their arms. The half empty cup is pulled from your hands and once again you’re lifted into the air. You barely register the feeling of the bed as Steve lays you down. You’re greeted by the scent of the three of you that you’d been missing last night. The feeling of their warm enveloping you pulls you into unconsciousness with a smile on your face. Before you drift off, a thought crosses your mind. Tony and Steve are like eggnog and hot chocolate, and you are their apple cider.