Tony's parties were just about the worst thing that you could think to do with your free time. You loathed the attention you received as his girlfriend; random women staring at you as you passed by, whether you were on his arm or not, the occasional overheard comment that they thought was whispered quietly enough, and the realization that not everyone was happy for you. When you agreed to go on that very first date with your teammate, you knew full well that if the two of you grew into a relationship together, that these things would come with the territory. What you didn't realize was how much it would actually affect you.

You preferred to spend time with Tony in ways that perhaps lent a little more privacy, or that would allow you both to be more of yourselves than these stuffy events did. You enjoyed a movie night, a quiet dinner, and walks around Central Park as much as he enjoyed a dinner at the top of the highest skyscraper or black tie events at the Met. The two of you couldn't be more different in styles, but in every other way you were a perfect match. Not that it should have mattered, but not everyone saw it the same way.

"I hate you," you whispered in Tony's ear through a false, tight smile as the cameras flashed around you. With one hand draped over his arm, and the other waving to the crowds that had gathered outside of the tower, you could only count down the seconds until he was ready to finally go inside.

"You love me."

"Don't be so sure."

"This is a part of the job, you know that," he smirked, leaning in to kiss your cheek, inciting a rapid flash of lights from the cameras again. "Alright, we can go."

"Thank god," you groaned, this time giving the photographers a genuine smile only because you were about to get away from them once and for all. "Thank you, everyone, goodnight," you waved, turning with him to go into the tower. Once inside, you moved to a corner away from the windows and leaned against the wall to catch your breath and to calm your nerves before your next task of facing his partygoers. Tony approached slowly with his hands up, cautiously reaching out to take your hand with a press of his lips gently against it.

"I'm sorry. I know you hate this stuff, I swear, I do."

"But yet here we are."

"Tell you what," he smiled coyly, taking your other hand as well, "as soon as this shindig is done, we order some cheap Chinese, get into sweats, I'll let you wear my old Sabbath t-shirt that you like so much, and we spend the night in bed watching shitty movies. Does that sound better?"

"That sounds amazing. Can we just skip to that?"

Tony's smile had always somehow convinced you to go along with even his worst plans, and this one was no exception. His stupid smile and mischievous sparkle in his eyes was definitely hard to deny. "Give me two hours, sweetheart. Two hours, and we're out."

"Hey, JARVIS?"

"Yes, miss?"

"Count it down."

Tony's mouth hung open and he clutched his chest, feigning hurt and shock, "wow. You know, this lack of trust really doesn't bode well for longevity in our relationship, (Y/N). That hurts me. Right here."

You reached up and took his face in your hands, giving him a small kiss before taking his hand again and leading him to the elevator with a renewed vigor in your step. You were practically skipping and he was more than happy to follow closely behind. Two hours didn't seem so bad, and the promise of time alone was all you would need to make it through.

~~~

"This is some party, (Y/N). Tony sure knows how to show off his toys." The random woman that you didn't know smiled at you condescendingly, tipping her ridiculously expensive champagne flute to her lips as she watched for your reaction. All you were trying to do was play the gracious hostess against your will, and you had no idea who she was, but you knew exactly what she was trying to say.

"Sure, I suppose he does," you replied politely. "But when a man saves the world as much as Tony has, he's allowed to show off here and there."

"Of course," she cooed, with a nauseating tone, "but there comes a time for a man to take his life seriously, and come out of the playpen." Her eyes travelled up and down your form, not attempting to hide her distaste for you, and you felt yourself tense at the attention. "Realize that stability and loyalty aren't something you let slip through your fingers just because a new toy comes onto the market. But, if you've got the money, right?"

"Right...um, excuse me...I need to...to check on something," you stammered quietly and turned away quickly, fleeing from the vile woman without trying to look too eager, but all you wanted to do was run as fast as you could. Your eyes scanned over the crowd quickly, looking for Tony but he was nowhere to be found; you made your way to Natasha instead, desperate to just leave.

"Nat, would you tell Tony that I'm going upstairs?" you panted anxiously, resting a hand on her shoulder to steady yourself as you pulled off the shoes that were pinching your feet and slowing you down. "I can't be here anymore, tell him I'm sorry."

"What do you mean, it's just getting started?"

"I just..." you paused, making the mistake of glancing over your shoulder at the nasty woman still standing at the bar, "I'm just tired. I have to go." You released her and forgot your shoes on the floor, making your way to the elevator without stopping for her calls out after you. She picked up your shoes and climbed up on one of the small tables, searching the crowd for your missing boyfriend.

"Stark!" she hollered out over the loud music that filled the room, but didn't get a reply. "Anthony Edward Stark get your ass over here now!"

From the far side of the room, Tony startled and turned to see her, climbing up on one of the tables just as she had with a confused look back. "What the hell, Red?" he yelled just loud enough for her to hear.

Natasha held up your shoes with a shrug, swinging them on the tips of her fingers and pointing towards the floors above. His face dropped from curiosity to worry, furrowing his brow as he ran everything through his mind as to why you might have left when you had agreed to stay. He hopped down from his perch and crossed the room to her quickly, taking your shoes and staring at them as he spoke. "Did she say anything?"

"She said she was tired, and that she was sorry," she replied quietly, "but she was lying."

"Something must have happened."

Natasha turned towards the bar, seeing the target of your glance laughing with her friend and still drinking far too much of Tony's expensive alcohol. She immediately recognized her from a past get-together as one of Pepper's friends, and remembered that she didn't like the woman very much last time either. Natasha smiled to herself and tapped his arm gently, pointing him towards the bar and making it her immediate mission to get answers.

"I have an idea."

Tony casually walked around the far side of the room to join her and to grab a new drink, but he remained far enough away so that it wouldn't be thought that they were together; he wanted to hear exactly what she was up to. He also wanted to be sure not to miss a second of her retaliation if she was right.

"Hey, girls," she smiled brightly, stepping up next to the offensive woman, "I haven't seen you since our party before Sokovia! But you know," she paused, glancing around the room, "I thought Pepper would be here? I know that Tony invited her."

"Oh, she sends her regrets. Couldn't fit it into her calendar, I'm afraid."

"Oh, shoot, that's too bad!"

Tony tried to hold back a chuckle at the thick attempt at niceties that Natasha was spewing, nearly choking on his drink and spilling a few drops down the lapel of his suit. He looked away and swatted his hand over the drips quickly, trying to divert the attention away from himself and back to Nat.

"Well, it's probably best," Nat continued, "with (Y/N) being here and all. Wouldn't want it to be awkward, right?"

"Right!" the woman replied eagerly, fully taking the bait. "I can't believe it, can you? Tony letting Pepper go and moving on to her? Turning away from someone who had committed her life to him just to take up with someone who clearly only wants the limelight and extravagance that comes with him. I don't know what he sees in her, honestly. She's just a rebound."

Tony spun on his heel towards her, now enraged and ready to throw this woman out on her ass without a second thought, but Nat saw him in her periphery and held up a hand with a small smile at the corner of her mouth. She took a step closer and slid her foot under the low rail, twisting it quickly to catch the woman's heel and dropping her face-first onto the bar top.

"Oh, no. I'm so sorry," she said flatly. "That should have looked more like an accident."

"Holy shit," Tony coughed in to his hand, his eyes wide as he watched.

"Here, let me see." Natasha grabbed the back of the woman's head and lifted her up, turning her to see the gap in her mouth where her tooth should have been. "Oh, you're okay. There really wasn't a way to make you any uglier anyway."

~~~

You had to have been standing in your bathroom for over an hour, staring at your reflection once all of the makeup and flashy jewelry was gone, wondering to yourself why Tony would want to be with you. Maybe she was right, you were just another toy that he'd eventually grow out of. You knew that you didn't care about his money, and you actually couldn't stand the publicity of it, but somehow that wasn't what anyone else believed. Tony dealt with this kind of stuff everyday, but it was foreign to you and you hadn't grown your thick skin yet; not letting things like this get to you was a skill that you had yet to master.

"Can I show you something?"

Tony's voice jolted you back to reality, but you didn't turn to face him; you didn't want him to see the doubt in your expression, and you didn't want to hurt him with the way you were thinking. "The party can't be done yet. What are you doing up here?"

"You left."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't stay there. I'm just tired."

"So you're going to lie to me now? Is that how we're doing this?"

"Tony..."

"Look," he pressed forward, holding his phone in your line of sight, "Nat got you a present."

The screen came to life with an image of your new nemesis, her tooth in hand and looking completely embarrassed. A loud laugh escaped your lips but you stifled it quickly with a hand over your mouth, but the look in Tony's eyes made it impossible to stop.

"She didn't..."

"She most definitely did," he chuckled, sliding his thumb over the screen to darken it before pushing it back into his pocket. As your laughter calmed, he stood steady and watched you, not letting you get away with your fib. "You could have just told me, you know? I'm not about to stand by and let people treat you like that, (Y/N). They can say whatever they want about me, but not you. Never you."

You could feel your emotions start to build and a lump in your throat as tears threatened to spill at the gentleness in his voice, but he caught on and turned you to him, pulling you in tightly with a kiss against your hair. "Now listen, before you get all mushy, we had a deal here, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," you sniffled against him.

"Okay, good, because I'm the only one who cries on shitty movie night."