"You know, you really wouldn't be able to tell your father is one of the richest bankers in the world. You are God awful at this game, you've gone bankrupt twice now."

Esté glared at Tony who just gave her an antagonising raise of his brow. He wasn't lying, she was shockingly bad at Monopoly but her constant desire to win at everything meant that his teasing words only frustrated her more.

"Would you shut up? I'm trying to concentrate."

Tony scoffed, "I've been trying to let you win for the past hour because I know how competitive you are and it's literally impossible. Just throw in the towel at this point, wave your white flag and surrender."

To her pleasant surprise, Esté's Christmas Day had been perfect. She and Tony had stayed out a little later than they probably should have the night before and so it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon by the time Esté dragged herself out of her hotel suite and made her way across town to Tony's place.

The Tower was lit from top to bottom both inside and out, red and green festive lights and decorations decked out every corner of the building, a sprig of mistletoe hanging in the elevator and above every doorway. He had a plethora of Christmas trees scattered around his home, but Esté was truly breath-taken by the one in his living room.

It must've been almost sixteen feet tall, though the high ceilings would've allowed for double the height. Golden lights were strung around in the most delicate pattern and red and yellow ornaments hung daintily from the branches, a single star on the top of the tree glittered when the sun shone through the windows.

Esté felt bad turning up empty handed but as she stepped foot in her friend's home for the first time, it became clear that there probably wasn't anything in the world Tony Stark needed that he didn't already have right at his fingertips.

He dismissed his staff that day and together, Tony and Esté spent three hours preparing a traditional Christmas Dinner. With it came a lot of arguing and loss of patience, but by the time five o'clock in the evening rolled around and they were both collapsed on the couch not saying a word to each other because they'd eaten so much, they knew the hassle had been worth it.

They relaxed and watched The Polar Express for a while before Tony grabbed an aged bottle of Port and found a stack of board games in a closet, leading to both of them sitting down on the floor by the Christmas tree with tired eyes and a slow loss of interest in a game they'd started over an hour ago.

"You've not been playing properly? Do you know how pissed off that makes me?" Esté groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Look, this game isn't for everyone. Maybe we could find something a little more on your level, snakes and ladders or-"

Esté picked up one of the little plastic houses from the board game and threw it at Tony's face, covering her mouth with her hand as she laughed at her unintentionally perfect aim when it hit him right on the eye.

"Did you seriously just throw that at my face?" He pulled his head back in bewilderment and Esté just laughed, shaking her head as she tried to calm herself down.

"I didn't mean to hit your eye," she said between giggles, "I'm sorry, I-"

"Yeah you better be."

Tony scrambled across the floor and Esté shuffled backwards before hauling herself to her feet, laughing wildly as she sprinted across the room away from Tony who was a few paces behind her. She darted around the tree, narrowly escaping catching her hair on the branches as he was hot on her heels, both of them shouting obscenities at each other like children.

Esté ran around one side of the kitchen island, staring straight across the marble countertop at Tony who was glaring at her from the other side, breathless grins on their faces.

"Give it up, you've got nowhere to run." He said, tilting his head with a menacing smirk.

Esté's eyes flashed over to the pile of dirty dishes on the side, though Tony was quick to follow her gaze and clock onto exactly what she was thinking.

"Ah!" He shouted, pointing a finger at her from across the island, "No weapons allowed. Don't you dare touch that spatula."

She bit down on her lip with a racing heart and mischievous eyes that sparkled, turning her head to look back over at the cutlery and taking one small step towards it.

"And never take your eye off your opponent." He said.

Tony wasted no time in sprinting around the other side of the kitchen and running into Esté at full pace, grabbing her by the hips and throwing her over his shoulder while she screamed with laughter, kicking her feet as he carried her back through the living room.

"Put me down!" She shouted, still giggling to herself while she tried to catch her breath.

"Apologise again, then I'll put you down." He said, spinning around in a circle with his arms wrapped around her legs.

"Okay, alright, I'm so- oh look! It's snowing!"

Tony paused and took a deep breath in once the dizziness faded, walking over to the window and gently setting Estélla down on the ground in front of him. Sure enough, she had been right. The sky had been clear all day but after the sun had set, thick clouds had settled across the city and were now scattering a perfect white storm across the skyline.

"What, do they not have snow in Milan or something?" Tony chuckled, standing with his hands in his pockets while Esté placed her fingertips on the glass, staring out of the window with eyes tinted with wonder.

"Of course it snows in Milan," she said rather matter-of-fact, "It's just been so long since I've seen New York in the snow. I forgot how pretty it is."

Tony took a lot of things for granted. The things he'd done in his life and places he'd been meant he often forgot to cherish parts of his every day life, big or small. The wonders of space and the galaxy had surely been some of the most beautifully fascinating sights he'd ever seen, but as he noticed the way Esté fell quiet and a smile settled onto her lips as she watched the snow fall, he began to appreciate the sight too.

"It is beautiful, you're not wrong," he said, nodding in agreement before picking up their glasses of Port from the floor and handing one to her, "You heard from your folks today? Any of your friends?"

Esté sighed and wandered over to the couch, making herself comfortable in the corner with her legs trailing beside her and a blanket draped across them, Tony doing the same in the opposite corner.

"Yeah they called me basically in the middle of the night so I was pretty delirious and probably still drunk, but I've talked to them. Gio text me this morning too."

"Gio?" Tony frowned, "As in the guy you broke up with like a million years ago?"

Esté scoffed, "It was only May, but yes. Safe to say he didn't get a response."

"Why? I thought you said there was no bad blood?"

She turned to look at him with a raised brow and mocking smile, "You really believed that whole PR approved spiel? I found out he was screwing the housekeeper and kicked him to the curb. But of course I didn't go around telling people that because I'm a nice person. He'll get what's coming to him whether I tell the story or not, so I chose to go with grace."

Tony was speechless. He stared at her with wide eyes and a still expression, no hint of a smile or a joke on the end of his tongue, just silence. He knew all too well that men were dirt, being self-aware enough to understand that he was part of the problem sometimes, but he couldn't believe that any man would do anything to jeopardise a relationship with Estélla.

He couldn't speak from experience since Tony had never had a relationship that lasted more than one night, but it made no sense to him to hear that someone would even think about being unfaithful to one of the most beautiful women in the world.

"I-I'm sorry that happened, I just can't..."

Esté waved her hand and shrugged, "It's fine. I'm over it now, I'm not exactly short of attention from guys either."

She laughed with a roll of her eyes and Tony smiled. Esté had always been a strong-willed girl and Tony had witnessed her wrath first hand, not being excluded from being held accountable for his wrongdoings by his best friend, even if all he'd done was turn up to her house twenty minutes late or forget to bring an extra controller to play their favourite video game together.

To hear that Esté had let such an awful thing go with such peace amazed him. He was sure she wanted to rain hell fire on the man for what he'd done to her and God Tony knew she wouldn't have held back after being on the receiving end of her sharp tongue many a time, but her maturity and calmness was more than admirable.

"Dated any other losers?" He asked.

"Couple musicians before Giovanni, an actor, too. Last date I went on was with a Formula 1 driver in October."

"Really?" Tony raised his brows, clearly impressed and equally intrigued, "Who was it? Maybe I'll know him, I went to Vegas and Miami last season."

"And that is exactly why I'm not telling you who he is," Esté replied, "How about you, any weird dating history?"

Tony just scoffed, "I don't date. I might take a girl out on a date and then sleep with her afterward, but I don't actually date, you know?"

Esté wasn't surprised. She'd been unable to escape the tabloids reporting on the long list of women with some association to Tony Stark, however brief of an encounter it might've been. She was no stranger to his reputation clearly, but knowing how he was as a child made her wonder how a boy that would've gone to the ends of the earth to see her smile had such disregard for a real relationship as an adult.

"How come? It's pretty nice you know, always having someone in your corner, a hand to hold, someone to sleep beside, confide in. Guess you could always hold the hand of that weird iron suit instead."

"How dare you? It's not weird, you'll be walking down the runway in it one day," he mused, "I just don't crave that kind of connection. I like being alone but I also like having sex, which is why I do what I do."

Esté couldn't fault his logic, regardless of how flawed it might've seemed against her morals. She'd had her fair share of hookups before her relationship with Giovanni and wasn't opposed to them afterward either, so long as they stayed out of the press.

She'd slept with men that had more fame and money than Tony and herself combined, but she was careful in who she dated and who she spent the night with, seemingly being drawn to guys who also had a top level reputation to uphold in the media, her list not being long but the names having the power to drop jaws if only the world knew.

"That's fair I guess, though I'm sure it wouldn't kill you to be a little nicer to some of these women."

"Actually, it probably would," Tony kissed his teeth before pushing the blanket from his body and standing up, "Think that apple pie is cool enough to eat by now?"

Esté followed him over to the kitchen, stretching her arms above her head with a yawn, "Considering we basically cremated it, I'm not sure I want a slice."

Tony laughed and grabbed a knife before cutting into their pie, wincing with the amount of pressure he had to use to slice through the dark crust and lattice that had been daintily decorated with a dusting of cinnamon and some other random sprinkles, though now resembled something that had been destroyed in a fire.

After great difficulty, Tony cut through the pie and pulled a slice onto a plate, "Here, try a bite, come on."

"No," Esté shook her head and placed her glass of Port down on the counter, "It looks awful."

"Don't be so ungrateful on Christmas, what would Jesus think? Here," Tony held out a forkful of the dessert, holding back a laugh as Esté hesitantly took a small bite.

She paused for a moment as she chewed, a polite hand covering her mouth as her eyes widened in surprise followed by delightful and approving nod.

"That's actually good! Try some," she prompted Tony, to which he did as he was told and took a bite for himself.

He swallowed and placed the fork down, wiping his face clean of crumbs with the back of his hand before turning to Esté, "That was the best damn apple pie I've ever had, good work team."

Holding up his hand, Esté laughed as she gave him a weak high five, their fingers linking together while they laughed and squeezed each others hand before Tony pulled her into his chest, hugging her tightly with a happy sigh as he rest his head on top of hers.

Esté's reaction was instant, wrapping her arms around his torso and closing her eyes as he embraced her, both of them finding a nostalgic comfort in the simple interaction. They stood still for a moment, no sound but their breathing and Christmas music playing from the television while snow continued to paint the city white.

"I missed you, Estélla." Tony whispered.

A smile spread across her lips as she stayed clinging to him, being stuck in a long daydream of memories where a hug from her best friend had solved all of her problems as a child. She still had a lot of problems at thirty-two, even though it might've seemed to the rest of the world like all she had to worry about was staying thin and looking beautiful, but she struggled to think of a single thing as Tony gave her waist a squeeze.

"I missed you too, Tony. I'm glad I decided to stay."