they're broken, but better together

9)I don't even need your love But you treat me like a stranger

He leaves out in the early morning while she's asleep to get her a gift for her birthday.
Entering the Starbucks down the street from his apartment he sees her. The woman who cheated and left him when he was broken.
Pepper...?, a broken whisper.

He's scared. She's the reason he's afraid now to be in a relationship but he knows that Tasha isn't like her. Tasha, his girl and keeper of his heart. She's soft but strong, a fighter, a survivor just like him.

The woman comes over, "Hello Anthony."...

He can't look at her without remembering the hurt and pain she caused him. Leaving him alone to deal with his demons. Cast out like a stray dog on the street, scared and fearful of everyone.

"Hello.", his reply, " I didn't think I would see you here." He's trying to keep his voice neutral when he really wants to run back to the safety of Tasha's embrace.

"Obviously you never payed attention or you would have known that I'm always here Tony." Her tone is patronizing almost and it hurts him.

"Oh, well,...uh.", he says as he reaches for his order and turning to leave before she could patronize him anymore, "well I guess I'll see you around. I gotta go duty calls."

"Goodbye Anthony.", comes her Kurt reply.

He walks back to his apartment and only just managed to close and lock the door when he breaks. He cries for his lost family, the pain from when he walked in on her cheating, the hurt from when his teammates left him alone to go with Steve. He cries from the weight of it all.

She hears his muffled crying when she's in the hall. He's trying to not make a sound and it hurts her. As she walks in and sees him her heart breaks. It breaks for the boy who learned to cry without making a sound. He's collapsed on the floor curled into a ball hiding his face from her, from everyone. She goes over to him and curls up against him, it's the best she can do till he stops crying and can talk again.

It takes almost an hour for him to quiet down and when he does she grasps both his hands letting him know that it's ok and that she had him.

He knows he can trust her since she came back even though she went with Steve at first on the run and helped put him back together.

She doesn't know why he and Pepper broke up but he knows that he needs to tell her, so he does. He tells her about how he had a weird feeling for about a month before they broke up.

(Flashback 5 months ago)
~He came home to the tower one night after a meeting him the R&D department over his green energy project when he heard muffled growls and giggles coming from the bedroom they shared. He opened the door and saw her with Rhodey. They were in his bed and he caught them in the act. As she noticed him his face crumpled, he packed his bag and grabbed his few belongings; wallet, his dog tags, a bracelet he got from a child in a children's hospital, and a picture of him with his family as a child and left the tower forever leaving behind the only home and family he had~
(End Flashback)

He tells her about it all and how he saw her today when he was getting coffee and breakfast.

She now knows why he was curled so tightly into a ball crying when she found him earlier. He tells her that he was really going to find her a gift for her birthday.

She's shocked that he would get her a gift. She hasn't had a gift given to her since when she first came to SHIELD when Clint decided to disobey his order to kill her and gave her a second chance.

He knows that she's wondering what he got her but truthfully he didn't get anything since after seeing her and the memory being triggered he didn't remember to get her a gift. He just remembers running back to the apartment and collapsing in on himself.

Suddenly he remembers his dog tags he got from a friend in the military who died a few years ago. He could give her that.

Standing up he walked over to the safe hidden behind the tv and put the code in. When it unlocks, he grabs the tags and locks the safe. Walking back over to Tasha he motions for her to stand up and turn so that her back was to him. After she did this he put the tags around her neck.

As she feels the solid weight of his tags she remembers what one of her friends told her about dog tags.

(Flashback 2 years ago)
Sitting in the S.H.I.E.L.D cafe with her friend Jazzy talking about guys giving their SO their dog tags.  "When I guy gives you his tags," Jazzy started before taking a sip of her water, "it's a symbol of him confessing that he trusts you and that he loves you." Natasha doesn't believe in love but Jazzy believes in true love, soul mates and that someone will sweep Natasha clean off her feet.
(End Flashback)

As she recalls this she smiles. While Tony may not always be good with words and expressing them, he has a heart of gold and is loyal to the one he loves.

Slowly she turns back around with her fingers twiddling the tags around her neck he leans in to kiss her softly almost timidly, as though he was afraid to be rejected. She wraps her fingers around the base of his neck and pours everything that she feels into the kiss.

He takes his time exploring her mouth, still a little timid but slowly becoming more confidant. He eases the kiss when it becomes hard to breathe and rests his head against hers. He looks into her eyes and sees the love she has for him shining.

He decides to take a risk and see where it gets him. "Tasha," he starts,"I love you."

He's said the 3 words she thought she would never hear, much less ever feel. She replies with the emotion showing in her eyes "Tony I love you more than you'll every know.

They walk to the bedroom, kick off their shoes and climb under the warm blanket. It's been a long morning so they take a nap and she's curled within his strong embrace.

Somebody I Used to Know- Goyte