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Thanks for the favorite/follow: xXPhoenix14Xx.

Allie: Loved the chapter your stories are what I live for! ;) I hope everything calms down at your work place ! I understand it can get hectic:/ but nevertheless you don't disappoint ! Awaome chapter as always xxx – Yes! These last three days at work have been normal, finally! The person who gave me hell is in DEEP trouble. Which means I can dedicate my weekends to updating my fics again! YAY! I think this chapter will probably be everyone's favorite for a while.

apps: OMG...poor pepperony!...can't imagine...lots of hugs – APPS! YOU LIVE! WHERE YOU BEEN?! IT'S BEEN TOO LONG! HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGSSSS!

Lilylol: When is the next chapter coming up ? – NOW! :D

Chapter 15

It did not take long for him to find her current location – she was already nearby, where he had hoped she would be, given the special occasion. She had not told him that she was waiting for him – because he knew that she had not, as she had had no expectations of seeing him again until the next day, or maybe until Monday at school. But he had still found her in the same place where they had celebrated their previous three dating anniversaries without fail: the roof of Stark International, sitting by the edge of the building, watching the traffic and lights on the streets.

He approached her silently and with caution to keep from startling her right off the ledge. The last thing he needed was for his girlfriend to plummet to her death during their anniversary, on his account nonetheless.

Or ever, for any reason, actually.

He was almost right behind her, his arm outstretched towards her left shoulder, before her voice made him stop in his tracks.

"Did you have fun?"

He opened his mouth to retort, an automatic affirmative response burning at the tip of his tongue. But when he remembered that this answer would only make things worse for them, he cleared his throat instead.

"Don't lie to me, Tony. I know you had fun. It was science after all. Nothing is more interesting to you than science."

"Why didn't you stop me?" Tony furrowed his brow. "Why did you let me go?"

Pepper scoffed, turned around in place, and then stood up from the edge of the building, her eyes everywhere but on his.

"You wanted to go. Plus, you and I… we've never been into asking each other permission to do what we want, right? We've never operated like that. We aren't about to start now, are we?"

Tony's shoulders deflated at realizing that she was right. He hated to admit it at the moment, but she was absolutely right. This was one of the things he loved most about being with her: he never felt chained to her or limited on what he was "allowed" to do on his own (as long as it was not too dangerous). He never felt forced to get her approval to be his own person. And he did the same for her. He never tried to stifle who she was for the sake of their relationship. Pepper was not the nagging girlfriend that demanded he spent all of his time with her. And even if it ever crossed her mind, Tony knew she did not have to resort to it: he could spend the rest of his life with her without a second thought.

"Pep… I… I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I… I-I forgot."

"I know," she shrugged, waved her right hand at him in a dismissive manner, and began walking towards her armor backpack. "It's OK. It's over. Nothing that can be done about it now. I'll see you Monday."

"Monday? What do you mean – No, Pepper! Please, wait. I just… wait a minute: did you say it's over? What's over?" his panicked voice did not stop her from putting the backpack on, but his hands on her upper arms did halt her move.

"The day," she replied, her eyes staring at his chest. "Saturday's gone."

"But we're here now," he searched her eyes with his but she refused to face him. "Stay. Let's have a do-over. Stay with me tonight."

Any other day, the billionaire asking her to spend the night with him would have floored her; it would have made her feel butterflies in her stomach, and it would have also made her blush. Tonight, however, it only left her feeling emptier than ever. Conversations she had had with her sister about how Tony was just looking for someone to grope returned to her; the confidence she had had in her relationship with Tony, just days ago, was all but gone.

"Good night, Tony," she grabbed his hands and removed them from her arms, but he quickly turned the gesture around by tightening his grip on her hands.

"I'm sorry, Pepper. Please don't go. Let me make it up to you."

"I told you it's OK."

"It's not. It's NOT OK. I know that. I know I messed up."

"Forget about it."

"No. I can't. I let you down. I need to fix this."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. Just tell me what you want, Pep. Anything."

"I don't want anything."

"No, you do. Do you want to hit me? You can."

"I don't want to hit you."

"Come on, Pep. Hit me. Yell at me. Tell me what you want. I'll do anything."

"Tony–"

"Anything, Pep. I mean it. Just tell me what it is that I need to do to make it up to you."

"Let me go home."

"But that," he shook his head. "Not that."

"You said anything."

"But that. Anything but that."

"Then don't tell me you'll do anything I want if you're not planning on keeping your word."

"Because I know that's not what you want. You want the same thing I want: you. Us. Time for ourselves."

"No," Pepper shook her head. "What you really want is someone who loves Science as much you do."

"This again?" he groaned. "That's not true, Pepper. I've told you before. This has nothing to do with Science."

"It has EVERYTHING to do with it."

"No. It doesn't. This is just me being stupid and forgetting the anniversary of the start of one of the best things that has ever happened to me."

"And you forgot it because your first love, Science, invited you out on a date."

"No. I forgot it because that's just who I am," he rubbed her hands. "You know this, Pep. You've known me for a long time. You know how forgetful I can be at times. But… but that doesn't mean my first love… it doesn't mean Science is more important than… than-than my new… love. Nothing is more important than my real love."

Pepper's jaw dropped and her hands went limp in his. Her heart began beating too fast for her lungs to be able to catch up. Her eyes finally locked with his for the first time tonight. He was staring right back at her, clearly nervous at what his words had all but tactfully implied. He had said the magic word – had expressed that he felt the same way she did… but without hearing the actual three-word phrase she longed to hear coming from his lips, she refused to get her hopes up.

"T-Tony… what… what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that nothing – absolutely nothing, Pepper, is more important to me than you. I'm saying… I-I-I'm saying that I… that I lo–"

"Incoming call from: Samantha Potts."

And just like that, another perfect opportunity had been lost.

Did the universe really hate him this much?

"Look on your nightstand," Pepper said with finality as Tony's phone continued to ring while he desperately tried to silence it. "See you Monday."

"Pepper, wait!"

Before he could try to physically stop her, Rescue was gone.

xxxXXXxxx

She did not want to admit it, but she was terrified.

The moment she had received the 911 from Tony, her face had paled. He rarely used Team Iron Man's emergency code nowadays, even when out on missions on his own, which could only mean that he was severely injured and alone at the armory… or worse.

Their argument of the night before was still fresh in her mind, but it seemed so petty at the moment. She knew that she should have just told him what to do to make it up to her and get it over with, but she had been too hurt and disappointed to say the words. Besides, she knew that she had not been wrong when she had said that it was not in their nature to be like those couples that asked permission of the other to do something with other friends. Their relationship was more carefree than that. They were devoted to one another, but they were still their own person in their own right. Tony had no authority over what she chose to do with her time, and ultimately she owed him nothing. However, she also had to respect that she had no authority over what he chose to do with his time, and that he also owed her nothing.

The whole two-way street business sounded good in theory, but in practice, sometimes it really bit.

She was definitely feeling the chew right now.

"Tony?" she landed inside the armory with a thud, her faceplate having retracted the moment her body had swept inside via the exit chute. The armory was completely dark, and all the computers were off, sending the redhead into a total panic mode.

"Tony! Tony, where are you? TONY!"

She rounded the corner, headed in the direction of where the chamber that doubled as a living area was, and her heart almost stopped at what she saw.

It was all still dark, save for some very faint sources of light; one of which was currently being ignited by the inventor himself.

"Hey," the blue-eyed genius said, a small smile on his face, as he finished firing up the last candle that needed to be lit to finish his task, and then shook the match in his hand to put it out.

"Hey?" Pepper furrowed her brow, her eyes slowly taking in the scene. "Hey? What the… what… uhm… huh?"

"You like it?" he gestured towards the work that had taken him the rest of the night to make it happen. The table for two had dinner ready and served (even though it was early in the morning). The tablecloths were high-end, as were the silverware and dining ware. There were what appeared to be fireflies all around the room (but were actually modified E-Bugs), providing just a little bit more light than the candles on the table offered. Even the genius himself was dressed to match the occasion: with his best formal suit on.

"I… I-I… Tony… the emergency… the 911… I thought you were… that you were… you… UGH!"

She dropped her armor backpack on the floor and then stomped her way to him.

"How dare you, Tony Stark!" she repeatedly poked him on the chest. "How DARE you scare me like that?! Do you know how alarmed I was? I thought I was gonna find you… find you… all over, and… and… I… I…"

"I know," his smile faded, seeing how upset she was, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. "And I'm sorry. I know it was terrible of me… to lie to you. But I didn't think you'd come otherwise."

"Tony," she closed her eyes, sniffled, and then inhaled in short breaths when she felt his arms surrounding her lower back.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. She then felt his breath near her lips before he placed a chaste kiss on her cheekbone. "I'm sorry. For yesterday. For today."

"You," she gulped, her eyes still closed. "You didn't have to do this. Any of this."

"And you don't have to stay, if you don't want to. But I hope that you do. All of this… it's for you."

She slowly opened her eyes and then looked up to stare at his. Even though his face appeared to be serene and his posture was somewhat relaxed, she could easily tell that he was feeling uncertain and anxious. She knew him too well to ignore the telltale signs that he was afraid that she would leave him again. And she cared for him too much to do so once more.

She sighed in defeat and acceptance. She was not about to be ungrateful to him for all the trouble he had gone through for her.

"I… I'm not dressed for the occasion."

"Not that I care if you aren't," he shrugged, his hopes rising at seeing her go along with his little plan, "But if you do, there's a formal dress waiting for you inside the bathroom."

"Really?" her head recoiled. "You got me a dress?"

"Yes," he nodded. "And I think you'll really like it."

"I… I'm not into dresses, you know that."

"I know," he smiled. "But a dress is typically what contestants in Breakdancing with Celebrities tend to wear."

"W-w-w-what?"

Instead of replying right away, Tony led the confused ginger to the bathroom and turned the light on. He heard her gasp loudly in surprise before she ran towards the dress, her eyes as wide as he had ever seen them on her. He watched her hands tremble while they glided over the fine red silk of the outfit, which matched the color and pattern of the tie he was currently wearing.

"Tony, this is… I mean… this must've cost you a–"

"Pocket change," he smirked. "What do you think?"

"I… I love it…" she beamed. "But… but why? I… I don't understand."

"Yesterday," he walked up to her as he spoke, "I spent the entire day doing what I like: Science, when I should've been spending the day with you. In a month, to make it up to you, you'll have the chance to do what you like to do: dance. On national television. In Breakdancing with Celebrities and… and I'd like the chance to be there with you."

"Huh?"

"Pepper," he held her face in his hands. "I owe you for yesterday. Big time. And for whatever other times in the future I know I'll mess up. I feel like dirt about it. I really, really do. About forgetting our anniversary. About spending the day with someone else. About being a bad boyfriend… And I need to make it better for you. Please let me make it up to you."

"And you… you-you want… you got us… you got us a spot on Breakdancing for it? To make it up for yesterday?"

"To show you I meant it, Pep: YOU are the most important person in my life. I need you to know that. I need you to really get that."

"I…" she swallowed hard, got on her tiptoes, and breathed her response near his lips. "I get it now. I do, Tony. You… you're so sweet."

"Only with you," he smiled, pressed his lips against hers for a minute, and then picked her up in his arms; loving the way her arms swung around his shoulders for purchase, and relished the little giggles she made all the way back to the location of their date. He slowly returned her feet to the ground, pulled the chair out for her, and once he was sitting across from her, she realized there were two wrapped boxes in the middle of the table.

One of them, she recognized: it was the gift she had been saving up for months to get him and had planned on giving him yesterday, but had instead left on his nightstand when their anniversary had been botched. It appeared that he was yet to open it, which made her feel extremely nervous about it all over again. She was not sure how he would react to it; she knew it would be a big deal, but it was too late to take it back now.

The second, she had no clue what it was. Yet, given the circumstances, it was probably his gift to her for their anniversary – as if the dress, their romantic dinner, and the spot in Breakdancing with Celebrities were not already enough.

"What do you say, Pep? Food first, gifts next?" the boy asked, a fork full of meat already making its way to his mouth.

"Sounds like a plan."