"Where will you be tonight?" Tony looked up at Esté as he tied his shoelaces.

Her face was flushed and her eyes wide, yet soft. She had what seemed like a permanent smile on her lips as she watched him, something different in the air between them, something that felt like a change.

Their second kiss had been interrupted by JARVIS letting Tony know that his driver was waiting downstairs, the announcement pulling them apart and keeping that distance there in case Steve or Katy happened to call into the room to see what was taking so long.

"Home."

Tony stood up and smoothed out his suit, looking Estélla up and down once with a nod. She felt tense under his gaze, a sensation she'd never recalled feeling when he'd looked at her like that before. Perhaps it was because now she could take a guess at what was crossing his mind as his eyes devoured her in an innocent few seconds, purely because she was having the same exact thoughts in her own head.

"I'll come over after the premiere, we can talk. If you want to, that is?"

His voice was soft and Esté could sense the nerves chipping away at both of them, his eyes not being able to hold her gaze for too long before he looked away.

"Yeah, sure."

They walked side by side down the hallway, fingertips brushing against one another with each step, though their hands remained untouched.

"Where the hell have you two been? We're going to be late." Katy jumped to her feet when Esté and Tony finally walked into the room, grabbing her clutch bag from the coffee table while Steve watched her with a smile.

"He had a wardrobe crisis, I had to step in and give him some help." Esté said.

"Oh," Katy tilted her head as she looked at Tony, eyes scanning his outfit head to toe before she nodded in approval, "Well he looks great. Nice work, Esté."

"Credit where credit is due," Estélla raised her brows and Tony just scoffed, "He doesn't scrub up half bad. In fact, none of you do. Try to have fun without me, alright?"

"Impossible," Katy said as she hugged Esté, "But we'll try. See you in a couple of days?"

"We'll do brunch like we talked about, I'll call you," Esté nodded with a grin, "See you later Steve. Bye, Tony."

"Goodnight, Esté," Steve smiled and waved as he put an arm around Katy's waist on their way out of the door.

Tony walked after them, turning on his heels to glance over his shoulder at Esté, hands in his pockets as he winked at her with a smile tugging on the corner of his lips, "Later, Stella."

The fire that had been lit inside the pit of her stomach when Tony shot her that wink had burned strong for the remainder of the night. Estélla had been able to think of nothing but him on her walk back home, as she took a shower and changed into her pyjamas, or as she sat down on her couch with a glass of wine to watch the live red carpet feed from the premiere on her television.

She smiled when she watched Katy and Steve take the carpet first, heart-warmed at how happy their smiles were and how she noticed Steve's knuckles were white with the strength of his grip around Katy's small fingers, nerves clearly eating him alive at their first appearance as a couple.

They looked good together, Esté thought, but nobody looked quite as good as Tony did when he stepped out of the car onto the red carpet. He raised a hand as the cameras flashed, his name being called from every direction but he kept his cool like he always did, smiling small behind the lenses of his sunglasses at sunset.

Esté's attention didn't falter for as long as Tony was on the screen, barely feeling herself breathe as she watched him pose and smile, nod and shout thanks to photographers and journalists as he made his way down the red carpet. She was enthralled by him, feeling a flurry of butterflies in her stomach as she looked at his face, something she could only recall feeling when she'd been a teenager and had seen him in a suit for the first time.

Estélla was still looking at her best friend, but she saw something more, she felt something more. The universe had tilted when they'd kissed earlier that evening, and Esté feared it might never go back to the way it was before, wondering if she would always crave Tony's presence around her the same way she was craving it that night.

She spent the rest of her evening drinking white wine and watching Friends, scrolling on Instagram and seeing an endless feed of photos posted from the premiere, though being careful who she handed out likes to, knowing just how much drama a little red heart could stir up in the press.

Exhaustion was catching up with her after a busy month working across Europe, though despite how much Esté was desperate to crawl into bed and close her eyes, the thought of Tony kept her wide awake.

Time ticked on and the later it got, the more Estélla began to think that perhaps Tony had been dragged to an after party or simply forgotten that he'd mentioned going round to her place, finally deciding to call it a night at just gone twelve.

She didn't mind, unable to help but feel a little disheartened, but equally thankful for the gift of a little more time to think about what exactly she might be getting herself into. Esté was confused about her feelings to say the least, and while a lot of that might've been pinned on denial, one thing she couldn't deny was that she would've given anything to kiss Tony one more time.

She turned off the TV and blew out her candles in the living room, sitting on top of her kitchen counter while she finished her glass of wine with the intention of heading up the stairs to bed, only for a heavy knock on the front door to make her freeze.

There was no questioning who the late night visitor would be, but the way Esté felt her entire body tense up was as if the knock had been unexpected, as if she hadn't spent all evening thinking about when that sound would come.

It was more that fact that she didn't know what would happen next that scared Estélla. She didn't know in her own gut and she certainly had no idea how Tony felt, but she forced her feet to carry her to the front door anyway, swallowing once before unlocking it.

"Sorry I'm so late, you know how drawn out those things are."

Esté's face broke out into a breathless smile as she stepped aside and let Tony into her home, quickly closing the door behind him. He had his blazer thrown over his shoulder and a huge pizza box resting on one hand, kicking off his shoes and following Esté into her kitchen.

"How was it?" She said, reaching into the cupboard and grabbing a second wine glass.

"Terrible. You didn't miss much." Tony said, throwing his blazer down onto a barstool and biting into a slice of pizza.

Esté just scoffed, "I'll tell Tom you said that."

"Good," Tony said with a mouthful of food, "Maybe his next movie will be better if you do."

Rolling her eyes, Esté shook her head and laughed quietly to herself, back turned to him as she poured the remainder of her bottle of wine into the two glasses.

She walked over to the table and placed them down, Tony being quick to dust off his hands and place his palms down on the surface either side of Esté's waist, trapping her beneath him with a smile.

"Might've been more enjoyable if you were there," he said in a whisper, tilting his head as his eyes crawled across her bare face.

"W-what are you doing?" She said, looking up at him with a nervous flash in her eyes that made him smirk.

"You really gonna ask me that again?"

He watched as she bit down on the inside of her lip, a tension in her face making it clear something was holding her back. Her lack of resistance in their closeness and the way her eyes held his gaze, however, told Tony that she wasn't completely against his intentions, in fact, her gentle breaths told him she wanted it more than she was letting herself feel.

"Listen, Esté," Tony spoke quietly, "I've never kissed a woman that I care about. And I'm aware of how much of an asshole that makes me sound and quite rightly so. I'll be the first to admit that I've been awful to a lot of girls, that one night stands are a throwaway thing to me, but this isn't like that. I've cared about you my entire life, and I care about you even more right now. It's a new feeling for me, a new experience, and I don't understand it all, but all I know is that I don't want to let it go. Judging by the way you kissed me earlier, I don't think you want to let it go either. Unless there's something else on your mind?"

Esté's mind was spinning, Tony could see that. She stayed stood where he kept her, looking up at him with a face bare of any makeup and her hair tamed by straighteners, dressed in pink satin pyjamas shorts and a matching camisole with a silver pendant hanging around her neck.

"I don't want to be known as one of your hook-ups, Tony. You don't do dating, you told me that yourself."

"That was before I kissed you," he countered, seriousness stilling his face, "This is different. I care about you, Esté, and I can't get you out of my head. I don't want to get you out of my head."

She let out a sigh and her eyes fluttered closed, feeling her walls being broken down by his smooth words and enticing dark eyes. There was something so intimate about the way he looked at her when they were so close, how he made her feel trapped by his arms in the most powerful way and how his voice was low and rough, almost whispering his admissions in her ear as she fought hard to keep her head level.

Ultimately, Esté never really stood a chance.

"Look at me."

The feeling of Tony's thumb and forefinger gracing her face and tilting up her head pulled open Esté's eyes. The sensation of him touching her was enough to stop her heart, furrowing her brows as she looked at him without having a single word to say.

Her silence was his green light, a smirk spreading across his face before he smashed his lips against hers, confidence growing as he heard her moan softly at the shock, though not shying away from it.

He kissed her softer than he had done before, dragging his lips away from hers to kiss down her jaw and her neck, clenching his fists as he listened to her quiet gasps at the pleasure his lips pulsed through her body.

Tony didn't touch her while they kissed, enjoying the way her back would arch ever so slightly and her body would brush against his while his arms kept her pinned between him and the table, a neediness growing hot when they finally pulled apart, looking at each other with chests rising and falling faster and starry eyes.

"This could end badly, Tony, for both of us."

Her posture relaxed and she leant back against the table, Tony drawing his hands closer to her body and letting his thumbs brush against her hips.

He held back a smirk, eyes narrowed with a spark of mischief, "It could, but we won't let it. I'd never break your heart."

His flirtatious tone settled the nerves that Estélla had been drowning in, knowing that deep down she was been fighting a losing battle and had been ever since she'd first kissed him.

His words almost made her laugh, her comment leaning towards their reputations being tarnished more so than a broken heart, being amused at the fact he assumed he had that much power over her.

"No? But I could break yours."

Tony smirked then, watching the torment behind her eyes disappear and leave behind a glimmer of tease as she kept her eyes on his, lips pouted just enough to catch his attention.

"You're a good girl," he whispered, "You couldn't break my heart even if you wanted to."

an;;
If Tony Stark called me a good girl I would simply pass away idk about you but it would be game OVER
Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm still loving writing this so stick around for more updates soon, I can't wait to progress their story!! <3