Chapter Text
It’s the first time you’ve ever seen Tony Stark in your coffee shop. Well, not your coffee shop per se. Although, you think to yourself, Erin hasn’t come round in weeks so you’ve basically been running this place. You smile a little at the thought. Working at Coffee Crew for the past three years has been something that you’ve really enjoyed. The people, the atmosphere, the freedom. It’s all been great. Maybe you’ll open your own someday, or maybe take over this place since it seems Erin can’t be bothered to do anything with it. Maybe you’ll… pay attention to the customers.
A man, Thomas, who you recognize as a regular gives a short cough. You can feel the color rising in your cheeks and give him an apologetic smile. He doesn’t seem to mind though, he’s a nice enough guy. “The usual, Tom?”
“Actually,” he says, “I was thinking of trying something new today. I’ve got a big presentation this morning and I think jazzing things up a bit could do me some good.” He emphasizes this with a smile and an enthusiastic nod. You laugh a little and point to the chalkboard menu hanging behind you.
“Sounds like a great idea to me. What looks good?” Tom takes on a more serious face as he starts perusing the menu, something that you don’t think he’s ever actually done before. You lean against the counter, looking around the shop when your eyes land on Tony Stark again. He’s stopped near the front entrance and is completely distracted with whatever he’s doing on his cellphone. His hair is that perfect kind of messy and that black t-shirt of his really does fit well. You’re still staring at him when his eyes finally leave his phone. He glances up at the front counter only to catch you staring at him ogling like a fool. Your eyes meet for a brief second before you catch yourself. Shaking your head, you turn your attention back to Tom.
“So,” you say a little too loudly, “anything catching your eye?” You definitely don’t notice Tony walking over to stand in line.
“I think I’ll have, uh, the Red Tux. A 16 ounce Red Tux.” He looks a little nervous so you can’t help but laugh. A Red Tux is nothing to be afraid of.
“Sure thing, Tom.” You ring him up and set to work making the drink, being as careful as you can to get it just right. Your attention drifts over to a certain Tony Stark who is now standing in line.
After Tom leaves, Tony absently steps up to the counter. He’s once again completely transfixed by his phone, fingers tapping wildly at gods only knows what. You wait for him to finish but it doesn’t seem like he’s going to stop any time soon.
“Can I help you?” You ask, hoping to get his attention. He makes a small grunting noise but doesn’t look up from his phone.
“Just give me the largest most caffeinated drink you’ve got, sweetheart.” He reaches into his pocket and hands you a card, eyes never leaving the screen. Rude. Rude Rude. Your brain is screaming at you to say something snarky but you’re nothing if not great at customer service. You take a deep breath and grab the card.
“Fine,” your voice sounds a little clipped but it’s not like he’s actually going to notice, “A 32 ounce Red Eye it is.” He makes a grunting noise as though it’s a proper form of agreement. “Name?” He pauses for a second and finally looks at you. He seems mildly surprised as you stand there with the cup, pen ready in hand. You raise an eyebrow as if to goad him because you’ll be dammed if you don’t at least get some kind of reaction from him. He looks you up and down as though he’s sizing you up, or checking you out, to be honest you really can’t tell.
“Tony,” he says briefly before going back to his phone. Fine, so that’s how it’s going to be.
You make the drink and are putting the lid on when an idea, albeit a completely juvenile idea, crosses your mind. You pick up the pen and simply write “Toni” on the cup because what’s a little passive aggression going to hurt at this point? You smile sweetly as you set his cup on the counter, making sure the name is clearly visible when he reaches for it. He gives a slight pause when he sees the name. He raises his eyes to meet yours briefly and any feeling of bitterness you had is wiped away at the look he gives you. If you’re not mistaken he almost looks amused, if not a little impressed. You smile again and quickly turn around to help the other customers in line.
Well, then.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s been almost a week since Tony Stark first came into the coffee shop and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t been thinking about him like crazy. You didn’t really think he’d come in again but you had hoped. You had hoped that the look he had given you right before he left had meant something. Or at least it would come to mean something.
Stupid. You spray the counters with disinfectant. Really, really stupid. You angrily wipe the liquid away, tossing the paper towels in the general direction of the garbage can.
“Nice aim you got there, sweetheart.” Your head shoots up embarrassingly fast to stare at goddamn Tony Stark. So many things are running through your head right now and he isn’t even looking at you. This time it’s a tablet. You just watch him for a second as his fingers tap away, producing small noises in their wake. You wonder briefly what he’s doing but for the most part you just feel annoyed. “Same as last time, thanks.”
Tony continues clicking away at the tablet while you start making his drink. He moves over to the other side of the counter to let other customers order. You put the lid on the drink and are about to pick up the pen when you get the feeling like someone is watching you. You raise your eyes only to find that Tony is, in fact, watching you. He glances down at the pen now in your hand as though he’s waiting to see what you’ll do. Narrowing your eyes at him you write “Ton-ey” on the cup before placing it on the counter. He smiles a genuinely amused smile before opening his mouth to say something.
“Y/N!” The other on-duty barista calls your name and hands you three cups that need filling. You grab the cups from your impatient looking coworker and glance back up to try and find Tony, but he’s already gone.
Right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You’re completely surprised to see Tony in the next night. It’s a few minutes before closing and you’re the only one on-duty. Normally you’d be super annoyed but you can’t help feeling happy to see him again so soon.
He comes up to the counter and you just kind of stare at each other. His eyes are such a warm brown and may the gods help you but you could look into them forever; and there’s that perfect hair again. Is he sporting more stubble than usual? Wait, when did there become a usual? You need to stop this right now, just say something! You blink a few times before you start to say your usual greeting line… at the same time Tony starts to place an order.
“How may-“
“Same as-“
You both stop talking and you can feel your cheeks heat up. A nervous laugh escapes your throat before you can stop it, but he’s smiling so it’s okay.
“I’ll take my usual,” he says. No sweetheart today, then.
It’s not until you’re halfway through making his drink that Tony actually pulls out his phone. He only taps on it for a few seconds before slipping it back into his pocket. You make a small, appreciative noise without realizing it. Tony definitely notices.
“I’m not always doing that,” he says. It sounds like he’s trying to defend himself but you’re not really sure why. You nod anyway as you put the lid on his drink.
“I find that hard to believe but you don’t have to justify anything to me,” you say in response. You look up to find that he’s watching you again. “What?”
“You think it’s rude,” he says. You raise an eyebrow.
“It is rude.” You stare at each other briefly before you look back down at the cup and the pen, contemplating whether or not you should just spell his name correctly. Neither of you say anything for a moment.
“You’re right, of course, I know that.” You look back up again and his eyes are soft. “I don’t really notice how often I do it,” he confides, “I just do it when I feel the itch. Itches need to be scratched.” He shrugs his shoulders and looks around the empty shop. You feel yourself smile slowly. Did you just get an apology from Tony Stark? I think so.
You write “Tonie” on the cup and set it on the counter. “I accept your apology, by the way.” He looks surprised at that.
“Did I apologize? I don’t think I did. I would definitely remember if I ever did something like that.” He’s trying to sound dubious but his smile is giving him away. You start laughing and point to the door.
“Go on and get out now, we’re closed you know?” He grins again like he wants to say something else but walks towards the door instead. His fingers are around the handle when he pauses.
“See you tomorrow, sweetheart.”
The door closes behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s now been a month since Tony started visiting Coffee Crew. A month of extravagant spelling and bad puns. A month of unrequited pining, you think dryly. One day you had thrown in a “man, black shirt” just to mix things up, and it had earned you a full bodied laugh that could fuel fantasies for years. Steve Rogers had even come in one night, claiming to have been sent by Tony to get him something because he was too busy to stop by. You had thoroughly enjoyed Steve’s company and still couldn’t believe the stories he had told you about Tony; and it may have just been wishful thinking, but it sounded like Steve was trying to talk him up. A girl can dream right?
You’re sweeping the floor, lost in thoughts of warm brown eyes and messy hair when you hear the door open. It’s Steve. He smiles and gives a wave as he walks towards the front counter.
“You’re not closed yet, are you?” He asks and you shake your head. You prop the broom up against a table and head over to the register, wiping your hands off on your apron in the process.
“Nah, what can I get you?” He orders drinks for both himself and Tony. The two of you make friendly small talk as you prepare the drinks. When you’re finished you grab the pen and pause, trying to come up with a new spelling for Tony. Just when you think you’ve finally exhausted all options, you look at Steve and an idea pops into your head. You quickly write “Steve” and “Not Steve” on the two cups. It might not be the best but at least it’s something.
Steve smiles as you hand him the cups. “That’s a good one,” he says. You nod hopefully and watch as he walks out the door, wondering when you’ll get to see Tony again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two weeks. It’s now been two weeks since you wrote “Steve” and “Not Steve” on those cups. Two weeks and still no Tony. Steve hasn’t even been by. At first you thought it was just a work thing, after all the world needs saving quite a bit these days; but you’ve been keeping a close eye on the news and nothing major has happened in the past two weeks. All you’ve been able to do is worry about what went wrong. You’ve never been more distracted.
Customers filter in and out all day but you couldn’t have cared less. None of them were Tony Stark.
It’s almost closing time now and you honestly can’t remember a single concrete detail about the day, it’s all blur. All you want to do is go home and polish off the rest of your ice cream, maybe watch a sappy romantic movie. God, it feels like you’re in high school again, pining after someone you clearly never had a chance with.
You feel a sudden hardness in your throat and try to push it back, crying is not the answer, you tell yourself. Instead, you decide to clean the counters one last time before closing.
You’re struggling to open a new package of wipes when the bell above the door jingles. You sigh wearily and set the unopened package back on the counter.
“We’re almost closed,” you say, staring at the fluorescent yellow packaging in front of you.
“What did you mean by it?” A familiar voice asks, and it feels like ice has suddenly filled your veins. Your eyes start to sting and you have to will yourself to just keep it together. After a moment of silence you finally turn around to meet Tony’s gaze. His hair is a mess, a real proper mess though, not the adorable bedhead that he seems to wear so frequently; and somehow that makes you sad.
“What?” you ask. Your throat feels tight again. Tony clenches his jaw and moves towards you slowly, almost as if he’s unsure of his movements.
“When you wrote “Steve” and “Not Steve” on the cups,” he points at the stack of cups by the espresso machine, “what did you mean by that?” He stops a few feet away from you. Your eyes are wide, you can feel it, and now you’re not quite sure what’s going on.
“I just thought it’d be funny,” you say dumbly. “Steve was here and you weren’t. Do you know how hard it is to come up with different ways to spell your name? It’s only four letters, Tony, I had to get pretty creative after a while.”
“Then why’d you keep doing it?” He asks. Now he’s looking directly at you, eyes unwavering and displaying something you never thought you’d see from Tony Stark. Pleading, you think. You take a deep breath, it’s now or never.
“Because I kept hoping you’d come back,” you say. It feels like your heart is racing a million miles a minute.
Something changes in his expression though and the beginnings of a smile form on his lips. “Why’s that?” He asks, sounding more hopeful than he had when he came in. All you can do for a moment is just stare at him, unable to find words. He moves closer until he’s standing right in front of you. “Why?” He asks again, and his eyes are so soft now all you want to do is kiss him. You can’t help but lean forward the slightest bit, wanting to be closer to him. You glance down at his lips for only a second but it’s enough.
It’s hard to say who makes the first move but it doesn’t matter, Tony’s lips are on yours and you’re finally kissing. His lips are firm on yours and he knows exactly what he’s doing. You card a hand through his hair, tugging slightly in your excitement. Tony lets out a grunt and grips you more firmly, pulling you closer to him until your bodies are flush together. You let out a breathy laugh and nip lightly at his bottom lip as you pull away. Tony makes a small noise in protest but still holds you tight against him. He leans his forehead against yours.
“Because I like you.”