Title: Won’t Fall For It
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe (Iron Man)
Rating: PG
Length: 605 words
Content notes: No serious warnings
Author notes: For cheating prompt.
Summary: Tony surprises Pepper with a special dinner for their one year anniversary together, but she feels something is off.


On the night of their first year together as a couple, Pepper got a text from Tony to look forward to a surprise when she gets home. That amazed her as she didn't think he would remember exactly when they got together. If Tony did, he would have teased about the surprise a few days beforehand. Either way, she was curious as to what his plans were.

When she got home to their mansion, Pepper was greeted by a round table in the middle of the large living room and the smell of roast beef. The flames on the candles lit brightly like stars and there were rose petals that spread out all over the tablecloth. A wine bottle and two glassed had been set aside also. Somewhere there was classical music playing in the background.

"You like it?" Pepper turned to the direction of Tony's voice, watching him go down the stairs.

"This is certainly one of your more tame arrangements," she said when Tony got close to her. He wrapped one arm around Pepper's waist and kissed her cheek.

"Well, a huge house party is out of the question." As Tony's hands squeezed hers, he said, "Happy anniversary, honey."

As much as Pepper liked this romantic gesture, she couldn't help but feel something was off. It wasn't that she couldn't imagine him doing this type of setup, just that he could easily forget some things when he was busy with one of his projects or being Iron Man. She then figured out what the problem was.

"You cheated, didn't you?"

His eyes widened in confusion, he stuttered, "Wait, what? If you think that I'm seeing someone--"

"No no, not that," she interrupted. Pepper forced herself to not roll her eyes. "You forgot our anniversary and asked someone to remind you that."

Tony first let out a faint, "Oh." He then laughed and said, "Come on, Pepper, give me some credit here!"

"Who did you ask? Was it Jarvis? Rhodey? Dr. Banner?"

"No one!"

“Tony.” Giving him a hard stare, Pepper wasn't going to buy that one bit. She shouldn’t make a big deal out of this, but it did upset her someone else remembered when they got together and not him.

After a short silence between them, Tony sighed and said, "Rhodey. He asked a few days ago what I have planned for our anniversary and I admitted to him that I forgot. All of this is my idea, though, I swear!"

Seeing Tony's defeated look made Pepper feel bad for her reaction to him. He did go through all this trouble to have this surprise dinner for them, so this had to count for something.

"I know," she said and offered him a small kiss on the lips. "I'm sorry for being hard on you just now."

"No, I'm at fault here. I should've known you won't fall for this."

"And you’re right on that." A slight smile pulled on the corner of Pepper's mouth. He may be a fool sometimes, but his heart was always in the right place. As another silence lingered on, she focused on the strong cologne he wore and his ragged but steady breathing. She felt comfortable with their bodies close like this and the reassurance that he was still alive, with her.

"So, we're still on for this date?" he asked, smirking.

"Of course," she said and their lips pressed together for a deeper kiss, her arms around Tony's neck while his hand caressed her back. Even if he managed to forget their next anniversary, she looked forward to see if he could top this one.