Wrote this super-quick at 1:30 in the morning for some reason and then decided to publish it because why not? If you find any typos or anything, let me know. I have now edited it, post-publishing. Hope you like it!

Valentine's Day was coming up and, against all better judgment, Pepper Potts dared to hope that Tony might actually remember. Experience with him showed that it was unlikely, as he almost always forgot things like holidays and birthdays and meetings. If the ten years she had spent being his assistant, the last two of which had been spent also dating the man, had taught her anything, it was that Tony Stark might not even know what a calendar is Last year was the first time he had even remembered her birthday, and she was fairly certain that it was because Rhodey reminded him the day before. But that was just how Tony was, and Pepper knew this and was fine with it. Honestly, she was.

The morning of February 14th she awoke to find that Tony had still not made it to bed. It wasn't an infrequent occurrence and usually meant that he had spent all night in his workshop downstairs and possibly fell asleep there. Pepper constantly vowed that she would break him of that habit, as it caused him to miss countless meetings and took up time that could have been spent together. But no matter how many times she brought it up, he never changed. She couldn't really blame him though- it was classic Tony and there wasn't much she could do to change it.

This morning, however, her annoyance with this habit of his was slightly lessened when she realized that it could mean that he spent time preparing something nice for her to wake up to. Flowers, maybe. Or breakfast. He had really improved on his omelettes. There was nothing in the bedroom, nothing in the kitchen, nothing in the living room, just... nothing. After a twenty minute search of the house, something she would never admit to having done, she gave up with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. She dressed herself quickly and left for the office, ten minutes later than she would have liked. In this area, that could mean an extra hour of driving.

But somehow, her ten minute delay didn't land her in the middle of early morning rush hour. She thanked the powers that be as she drove to the office, hoping it wouldn't be too stressful a day.

When she arrived, part of her hoped for flowers on her desk or a card, at least. Nothing was in her office though, aside from what looked like a mountain of paperwork. She sighed and got to work. It was the usual stuff: charities, auctions, patent forms, legal notices, stock reports to sift through, documents from the military, and a lot of unnecessary paperwork from SHIELD.

At about noon, she sent Tony a text asking if they could meet up for lunch, but he didn't respond. In fact, she didn't hear from Tony all day. He could thank his lucky stars he didn't have any meetings today. By the time she finished her work for the day, she had given up on Tony doing anything special for her. She found that she wasn't angry, per se. Annoyed, yes. Exasperated, maybe. More than a little frustrated, definitely. But honestly, it was a common feeling for those who dealt with Tony Stark on a regular basis. His irritating quirks were something Pepper had come to accept though and sometimes found endearing, no matter how aggravating they might have been. The good far outweighed the bad, and she loved him no matter how many times he forgot plans or said something inappropriate or refused to be handed something.

She packed her things and left at around 7:30 in the evening.

That night, she decided to return to her personal apartment, which she didn't use near as often as she used to. It had been a long day, and she had decided that a night of relaxing by herself could do her some good.

Twenty-five minutes into the drive, she finally received a phone call from Tony.

"I texted you hours ago, Tony," she said, not masking her frustration in the slightest.

"Not even a hello?" was Tony's casual reply.

Pepper sighed. "What do you want?"

"Well, I have need of your dainty hands. Another loose wire."

"Tony, I thought you fixed that."

"So did I. Now are you coming?"

She considered saying no, but a problem with his arc reactor was, well, a problem with his life. "...I'll be right there."

"Thanks Pep, you're the best."

"I know," she said before hanging up the phone and turning around to make the hour drive to Tony's 'Malibu dream house,' as it had been nicknamed in Vanity Fair. It was in an article written by one Christine Everhart, a woman Pepper had personally kicked out.

Upon arrival, she went straight to his workshop downstairs. "I swear though, if it smells anywhere near as bad as last time, Dummy is doing it for you. I don't care what-" she cut herself off and let out a small gasp when she saw the room. Where she had been expecting to see the usual plethora of machinery, robots, and, well, general junk, she saw instead a small table, set for two.

The whole set up was, admittedly, very romantic. There were roses and candles and incredibly nice china and a silk tablecloth, not to mention the fact that the workshop was actually clean for once. Tony stood next to the table, a smug grin on his face.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he said, gesturing to the table.

Pepper's jaw dropped. Had he seriously...?

"Don't tell me you thought I was serious about that wire." He laughed at her obvious confusion. "I told you, I don't even have wires in here anymore," he said, tapping his arc reactor through the tux he had somehow remembered to pick up from the dry cleaners. He had nearly decided to dress in his usual attire - tee-shirt and jeans - but realized that there wouldn't be much of a point in making such a fancy display without dressing up to match.

"You let me go the entire day thinking you had forgotten about Valentine's Day?" Pepper half-yelled.

It was Tony's turn to be confused now. "But I cleaned my lab and cooked you dinner and look, I even used my mom's good china and silverware."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm- I'm flattered, but geez, Tony, I... I don't even know what to say."

"You really thought I forgot," he said, pulling out a chair for her to sit down in.

She took a seat and put her bag down next to her. "Well, it took you nine years to remember my birthday, so I really didn't have high hopes."

Tony grimaced. "Yeah, that was before we were dating? Remember?"

"There was a year overlap," she reminded him.

"Was there?" If Tony Stark felt shame, he would have been feeling it in that moment.

"And besides, I took care of nearly everything for you. Remembering my birthday would be the least you could do."

"But I bought you such nice presents," he insisted with a smirk.

"You need a calendar."

"I'll just get JARVIS to remind me."

"Tony, just sit down so I can eat," she snapped, but the smile on her face said she wasn't angry.

He rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. "Dummy, light the candles. JARVIS, give us some mood lighting." The lights dimmed and the candles were lit, and Tony's smug smile returned.

Pepper looked down at her food and the smile she had been wearing disappeared. "Are these strawberries?"

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