Let my lips paint for you all the pictures that my clumsy heart cannot.
• • •
"Evelyn, just-"
"No!" She protested quickly, pushing her crying friend behind her, "I will not let you hurt her anymore than you already have."
Madison's tears were soaking her cheeks as she stared at her father, and glaring step-mother.
Robert Greene stared up at his daughter's best friend with a pleading look on his face.
"What is this nonsense?!" Katherine growled, unsatisfied by her husband's pleading actions, almost as if it was embarrassing her.
"Watch your tone, Miss Greene." Evelyn warned.
They had no right.
They both had no right to step into Madison's apartment, demanding her presence and attention.
Madison cowered away behind her friend, feeling undoubtedly the weakest she had ever felt.
"Robert? Are you going to let her speak to me that way?" Katherine stared at her miserable husband, who was busy making eye contact with his daughter, grief and sadness written all over him.
When he ignored his wife, she tried again, only with a much more menacing tone.
"Aren't you at least going to question the trash your daughter associates herself with?" Katherine tapped her foot repeatedly on the floor, showing off her extravagant heels.
"If you think I'm trash, then I really do wonder what kind of women you associate yourself with, sir." Evelyn addressed Robert, completely ignoring the heinous beast right next to him.
"Just move away, Evelyn." He shook his head, begging her to allow him to have a civil conversation with his daughter.
"It's entirely up to Madison. If she chooses to allow herself to speak to you then so be it, other than that you can be damn well sure that I ain't moving." She stood her ground, ready to kick them out the minute Madi says so.
"It's...It's alright, Eve. I'll speak to him." Madison pulled back on her friend's shoulder, who gave her a reassuring nod, convincing her that it was the right thing.
Katherine had a smirk on her face as if showing Evelyn that she had one, but that look didn't go missed by Madison.
"Alone."
And with that, Evelyn grabbed her purse, bidding a quiet good bye to her friend, before she walked out of the apartment, hearing Katherine's protests to go out with her.
***
"You alright?" Steve frowned, keeping an eye on the billionaire as he refused to lose eye contact with the unmoving elevator.
Shaking his head in frustration, Tony looked over to Cap, who was still evidently confused.
"Yeah, fine. What time is it?" Tony raised an eyebrow, he already knew what time it was, but he was just trying to be certain.
"It's almost 7." Steve responded, after checking the time.
With a scowl on his face, Tony leaned back on the couch, his left foot never stopped tapping against the floor in anger and annoyance.
By now, he had attracted the attention of most of the member's of the team, who were eyeing him as if he had grown a third head.
He was acting too weird for their liking.
Having never showed any signs of aggression before, he got them all confused.
Not that it was the first time today.
He had stunned Clint and Nat in the morning when they walked in the kitchen, and found him watching a culinary video, preparing lasagna.
Cap and Thor were next when he had walked inside the living room, offering them different types of wine to taste and try out.
The glint of sadness behind his aggression didn't go unnoticed by his teammates, and they all wondered what he was so worked up about.
Resisting the urge to scoff, he stood up slowly, eyeing the elevator for the last time before turning on his heel, running his hand through his now messy hair and strolling out.
He was about to raid his bar before he heard her all too familiar smooth voice.
"Tony."
He tried not to appear too excited that she hadn't stood him up, and actually came, but he was sure that he failed at that because before he knew it, a small smile creeped its way on his face.
"Sorry I'm late. I had a-" she interrupted her self not sure how to label it, "situation at home. I'm here now though, where's my lasagna?"
She raised an eyebrow, a teasing smirk on her face.
Looking around, he noticed all his teammates coughing awkwardly, looking at the both of them.
"Guys..." he started, looking around at all of them, before locking his gaze on her, "this is Evelyn."
***
Dinner wasn't by any means boring, if anything she couldn't remember when was the last time she laughed this much.
She was aware that Clint was married, and that 'Natalie' goes by Natasha now, and she's a Russian spy, Captain America, who she has been obsessed with as a kid, was Steve Rogers, a very polite man.
She may have spent the entire dinner ignoring her lasagna, believe it or not, and drooling at Thor.
Tony, of course noticed, but never intervened or said anything about it much to her shock.
As for Bruce Banner, he never spoke much, and when he did, he would be too shy to do so.
Tony had pulled her aside after dinner to an unfamiliar room that had a beautiful red dress laying untouched on the bed, waiting to be worn.
"Do you like it?" Tony whispered, unconsciously tracing his finger all the way down her spine, and back up again, fucking with her mind.
"It's beautiful." She breathed out.
She wasn't sure why she couldn't find her voice, maybe it was because of the very fact that he was touching her now, and she wasn't protesting.
"Yeah, Cap bought it for you this afternoon. You should wear it, it's his favourite colour, so..." he trailed off, rubbing his neck rapidly.
She slowly turned around, and to his surprise, wrapped both her arms around his neck with a humorous smile.
"What?"
"Red is Cap's favourite colour?" She raised an eyebrow, and Tony gulped while nodding.
Leaning up towards his ear, she rested her hand deep in his hair, and pulled on it slowly, inching his ear towards her lips, where she breathed heavily.
"You're lying."
"Am I now?" He panted.
"It's yours." She chuckled, biting his earlobe, feeling him shudder and tense all at the same time from her mere touch.
"Well that was fast. I thought maybe you forgot." He shrugged, hesitantly placing both his hands on her waist.
"Evelyn?"
"Hmm?"
"I managed to salvage some of your stuff from our...my...our mansion." He barely even spoke the words before moving away from her sadly, and heading towards a wardrobe in the corner of the room.
"And I managed to get this too."
And when he did open the wardrobe, a small gasp left her.
A small pained sob, left her along with it too.
She eyed the white fabric in grief.
They could have been married right now, they could have been married.
And she tried to not think of the reason why they weren't.
Her wedding dress laid inches away from her, and yet she didn't want to go and touch it.
She didn't want the familiar feeling of nostalgia creeping in on her.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save it. I'm sorry I couldn't save our home, Vee." His words weren't very audible, but she was sure his lips were moving, indicating that he indeed was speaking.
"I saw it. I saw it on the news that same day. I saw that you were presumed dead, but I knew better. Not that I didn't worry about you, but I knew that you were alive. I just did. I don't know how, but I felt you. I knew you were still there, Tony."
"I'm sorry I kissed her. I'm sorry I brought her to our home. I'm sorry I lead you to believe that I slept with her. I'm sorry for breaking your heart, but most of all, I'm sorry for thinking that I'd ever be okay without you."
And with that, he stalked towards her quickly, grabbing her face, and harshly planting his lips on hers.