Last one before I go to London for the week! Somehow the inspiration for this hit me while I was watching Shrek The Fourth today.


Red

Her eyes were red. Again. And this time they weren't tears of joy, they were just your regular, run of the mill, 'my-boyfriend-is-an-insensitive-selfish-jackass-who-only-ever-thinks-about-himself' tears.

She'd reminded him constantly of their anniversary, asked him if he wanted to go out, asked him if they were doing presents, which they were, and even wrote it in big fucking red letters on every calendar in the house and the one in his office at SI. He'd still forgotten. He'd even gone on a mission on the night and Jarvis was informing her now, two days later, that he was returning. And despite all that, here she stood, First Aid kit in hand, ready to patch him up when he landed. Or rather, crashed.

He picked up on it straight away.

As soon as the armour was off and he got a proper look at her, he knew something was wrong. Sure, he'd seen her bleary eyed once or twice when he came back in less than perfect condition, but this was not one of those times. Apart from a graze on his left shin and a couple bruises along his ribs, he was perfectly fine. Tired as hell, but physically fine. He watched her as she applied an alcohol free wipe to his cut and place a plaster around it, and then she sniffed and stood up. She hadn't looked at him the entire time he'd been back.

"Are you ok?" he asked softly. She nodded and hummed the affirmative as she packed away the rest of the kit, still not looking at him. "You sure?"

"I'm fine." She said, in a tone that blatantly indicated she wasn't. She stood up and put the kit back where it lived, taking slightly more time than usual.

"Pepper, I can tell something's up, just tell me." Tony was beginning to get slightly annoyed now. She was usually totally open with him about everything. "What's wrong?"

Pepper turned to him, the tear sliding down her cheek sending a chill down his spine. "You forgot our anniversary." She said quietly.

Tony relaxed visibly, breathing a sigh of relief. "That it? Jesus, I was thinking all kinds of horrible things Pep."

He realised roughly two seconds later that this wasn't the right thing to say, around the same time that Pepper applied her 'You Did Not Just Say That' face.

"Is that it?" she quoted back to him. "Is that it? Tony, I've been reminding you for weeks about this. Five years is a long time, or don't you care?"

Tony looked at her disbelievingly. "Uh, in case you hadn't noticed, I've been a little busy over the past few days, you know, saving people's live and stuff?" he wafted a hand at the suit.

"Which you left for on the night of our anniversary!" Pepper's voice was raising now, as was the colour in her cheeks. "I don't mind that you had to go, I don't even mind that the dinner I made went to waste because of it or that you didn't get me anything. That I can deal with, but the fact that you forgot it entirely speaks volumes about this relationship."

"What the hell?" Tony stood as quickly as he could with the pain in his chest. "Pepper, it's a date on a calendar. God I didn't even realise you cared so much."

"That's just it Tony." She spat. "I remembered. I remember your birthday, I remember each of your parent's birthdays, their wedding and death anniversaries. I remember Rhodey's on your behalf, and you don't realise I care." She laughed darkly. "Sometimes you make me wonder what the hell we're doing, you don't even know me." She turned to leave and Tony jumped forward and grabbed her upper arm.

"You think I don't know you?" he asked through gritted teeth. "You think I don't know that you hate the bed covers wrapped around your feet? Or that you hate to go out when it's rained the night before because there might be snails around? You think I don't see the little jaw locking thing you do if you see a snail so you don't scream? How about the fact that you used to dress one of your pillows with my shirt before you moved in, or that your lip starts twitching right before you sneeze?" he was still looking at her with inexplicable anger. "You think I don't know that the first thing you do when I leave in the suit is tidy the workshop so you don't have to think about it? Or that you cry like a baby when you watch Disney films on your own but never with other people?"

Tony sighed and looked away from her for a second, as if trying to find the words to say next. Pepper took the time to wipe the steady stream of tears from her face.

"Pepper, I'm forgetful. You know this about me when you met me. You knew this while you were still my assistant." He stepped closer to her. "I love you. I know you better than I know myself. I may forget dates, but I swear I remember everything important to me, and all of those things involve you." He framed her face with his hands and wiped her eyes with his thumbs. "And I'll try harder to remember the other stuff too, ok?"

Pepper sniffed and nodded slowly before wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him. He placed a kiss to her neck and buried his nose in her hair.

"I don't like fighting with you." She mumbled.

"Me either." Tony whispered. "Let's not do it again."

Fin.