One Month Later

When Steve starts to wake up, he feels as happy as he's ever been. Tony is still wrapped in his arms, and the memory of go-carts and laser tag is still fresh in his mind. He's prepared to snuggle back down to sleep, but his phone starts to beep from the bedside table.

Then, he's fully awake. He reaches over to disable the alarm, leaning over the cool, empty place next to him, realizing that just like the past two weeks, Tony isn't there. It had started slowly; Tony would wake up a little earlier each day, until he wouldn't go to sleep at all. He'd started showering after sex and would then head down to his lab, leaving Steve alone.

It's seven a.m., and Steve just curls back up, not sure why this is happening. Everything was going so well after Tony's birthday. Their relationship had grown deeper, Tony had started to let down his walls bit by bit. But now? Now it feels like they're moving backwards; quickly, for that matter.

They're still together, it seems to Steve. On nights they don't have sex, they both still suffer from their insomnia, for instance, so Steve still sits with Tony in the workshop. Now, however, they generally keep to themselves with their own work, and any intimate conversation has turned to idle chatter.

Steve is unsure if he'd rather stay in bed, moping to himself, or get up and go on with his day like Tony seems to. He's almost wishing for some kind of attack on the city; at least he'd have something to do and think about. Or maybe he wishes he had the gut to just talk to Tony about this, and find out why the man seems to have stopped caring.

But maybe, Tony isn't doing this on purpose. What if this is just how he is in relationships? Maybe after the so-called "honeymoon phase," he goes back to his old ways; up at all hours, closed off and guarded. Steve thinks maybe he should talk to Pepper, but he's not sure that that's a great idea. It might help, but Steve knows it could hurt her feelings, especially if Tony hadn't told her yet.

After lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, Steve decides it's the best idea he's come up with so far, and after a few minutes of trying to figure out his phone, he shoots Pepper a text about meeting for coffee. She replies back instantly, making the soldier-out-of-time feel a little embarrassed by his "old man skills," as Tony calls them. After a few more texts back and forth, they agree on meeting at eight-thirty at the coffee shop on the ground-floor at Stark Industries.

Steve, being how he is, is early. After a quick shower, he had slipped on a pair of jeans that Tony had bought for him that were far more modern than he was used to, with a nice button down shirt. He had shrugged on a nice pea coat, which Tony had also insisted on getting him, and his shoes and walked the short distance to Tony's office building.

He sits down with his coffee, black, and waits for Pepper to arrive; hardly able to drink because of his nerves. When he sees her, he gives a little wave, and she acknowledges him with a small nod, getting in line to place her order. Finally, she sits. Observing the tired, anxious expression on the normally cool, calm, and collected Captain's face, she herself adopts a worried countenance.

"I'm obviously assuming this is about Tony," Pepper starts, hoping to break the ice.

"Yes, yeah, I just," Steve stammers, "I need help. And I know this is going to be weird. It has to be. I can't see it not being uncomfortable for you. I might as well just say it, as I don't know how much Tony has told you, but-"

"Steve, slow down, and take a breath," the redhead says, hoping to calm his nerves. "Tony hasn't said anything, explicitly at least. But he really doesn't have to." Steve sees her start to work on her phone, wondering what she could be looking at, before she slides it his way.

"What is this?" He asks, overwhelmed by the colors and images all over the webpage.

"It's a website devoted to celebrity gossip and 'news,' which Tony is no stranger to. However, this is probably your first appearance. This is just here on this site, but there are dozens of other websites, and magazines, like this one, that have all run the same story."

Upon closer inspection, Steve recognizes the picture. He hasn't seen it, but he sees that it's from Tony's birthday at that fun park. It's a picture of them kissing, while Tony is holding the birthday bear. All of a sudden, the anxiety he's feeling turns into embarrassment, and his stomach is in knots.

"So this, this 'story' is something that other people find interesting? It's common knowledge?" Steve asks, unsure if he's processing this all correctly.

"To be blunt, Steve, yes. The general public seems to be interested not only in your relationship, but any celebrity's. I'm sure anyone who turned over photos of that day made a little extra cash. As for your second question, yes. It's common knowledge that the two of you are in a relationship."

"I had no idea. I don't really use the internet… But, I mean, is that why Tony is acting weird? Because now we're public? We talked about it that day! He said he didn't care who knew! He wanted to just l-live his life!" Steve doesn't realize he's raising his voice with his increasing frustration.

"I'm going to guess how Tony is acting. Just nod if I'm on the right track, okay?" Steve nods in response, waiting for Pepper to continue. "I'm guessing everything was going really well. Tony was around more, he was sleeping better, eating better." Steve finds himself nodding along emphatically. "And then, slowly, that started to change. He started to revert to his old ways. He started to disappear after sex, stopped sleeping in bed with you," at this, Steve blushes, not used to discussing his sex life with anyone.

"Steve," the concerned woman in front of him places her hand on Steve's, "Tony doesn't hate you. He hasn't changed his mind, or his feelings. He's starting to panic. You may have learned this already, but Tony has emotional issues, abandonment issues, and a plethora of other things wrong with him," Steve starts to object, but Pepper stops him. "Let me finish. Tony loves you, is in love with you. That's why he's acting this way. He sees that you clearly reciprocate the feelings, and the whole world can see it. He also knows that if you change your mind, the world will see that, too. And based on his track record with loved ones, he's pretty much ready for that. Even I didn't help him, there. So instead of letting you hurt him, he's trying to distance himself; he wants the upper hand, if you will."

"But he's wrong," Steve is almost frantic now. "I won't leave him. He's the most important thing in the world to me. I need him," he begins to whisper, realizing what he's about to say. "I won't stop loving him. I can't stop loving him."

"Then all you really need to do," Pepper advises, "is prove that to him. But it won't be easy. Just don't let him push you away too much. Stick around, make him open up."

With that, she stands, without even the slightest wobble on her heels, and leans down to give Steve a kiss on the cheek. He promptly stands, pulling her into a hug.

"Thank you, Pepper," he thanks, meaning it so much more than she could know.

"It's no problem," she affirms before walking away, adding "Just make sure he doesn't get hurt."

"I won't," Steve says quietly to himself. "I can't."

A/N: I'll be gone for the next few days, at least from a computer, but I will try to update as soon as possible.

Also, the next chapter will probably be in Tony's POV, so we can see better into his mind about why he's scared, which has already been touched on in previous chapters.