I'll Stand by You

Tony sighs at Steve sadly. The man was wrapped up in their bed, his back to him, the blankets pulled high over his shoulders nearly covering his face.

"Steve... Sweetheart" he says, walking over to the bed and sitting down. "C'mon"

He reaches out and lays his hand on Steve's shoulder, which the man immediately shrugs off.

"You are being ridiculous and you know it, Steven" Tony says with a frown. "There is no good reason for us not to go out to dinner tonight."

"Yeah there is." Steve grounds out.

"Well, if there is you haven't given me it" Tony says, putting his hand back on Steve's shoulder, rubbing the shoulder in slow soothing circles when he isn't shrugged off this time. "It's our anniversary, why shouldn't we go out and celebrate?"

But Steve doesn't answer him.

Tony's hand stills. "Steve?" he prompts, frowning.

Steve flips over, his face flushed with anger. "I'm a VAMPIRE, TONY!" the man shouts.

"Okay, so... maybe might pose a slight challenge, but we can still go out" Tony says.

"Not really" Steve says.

"Why is that?" Tony asks, rubbing Steve's side comfortingly.

Steve grumbles something into the pillow, drawing the blankets tighter around himself.

Tony sighs. "What's that, darling?" he asks.

"Probably don't want to advertise that Captain America now wants his meat so raw it's still alive" Steve grumbles out.

Tony's heart sicks to his feet. It hurt to hear Steve talk about himself like this. No one should to about Steve like this, ever, especially Steve.

He lowers himself onto the bed beside Steve and wraps his arms around the man, drawing the man's head under his chin.

"Tony... Don't" Steve says, pushing him away lightly, Tony lets him. "I don't want to bite you"

Tony plants a kiss on Steve's forehead. "You won't. I know you won't, Sweetheart"

"How are you so sure?" Steve whispers, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Because I know you, Steve." Tony whispers back, pulling Steve back against him. "You are the most in control person I know." Steve falls into his arms willingly this time around. "You're been like this for a week and a half. If you were to bite me, you would have done it already."

Steve doesn't respond, instead he presses himself tighter against Tony.

"We don't have to go out if you don't want to, Steve" Tony says. "We can order in."

"I'm so sorry, Tony" Steve chokes out into Tony's chest. "I'm sorry. This was meant to be our night.

"Hey, none of that" Tony says, gently whipping away Steve's tears. "I'm happy to spend time with you, however we go about it. Okay?"

"It's our anniversary, Tony." Steve says, his voice weak and watery.

"Okay. How about we order in." Tony says, gently caressing Steve's face. "We'll set up a table on the landing deck, have dinner under the stars. Light some candles, play some nice music and everything. Go the whole nine yards. How does that sound"

Steve gives Tony the first smile he's seen from him all day. Maybe all week. "Okay. Okay, that sounds good."

"Okay." Tony says. He leans in, kissing Steve softly. "Wonderful. I go set up, you order the food... or get JARVIS to order the food. Whichever. Sounds like a plan?"

Steve laughs, whipping away his tears with his shirt sleeve. "Sounds like a plan."

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THE END

Written for the Avengers Assemble Anniversary 2020