Stephen stopped, his fingers pausing in their act of flipping the pages idly. Pulling the book closer to himself, he struggled to focus his sleep-deprived eyes on the illustrations that seemed to resemble... Zodiac symbols?

Interest suddenly piqued, he read on carefully. Apparently, all the bullshit about zodiac compatibility, characteristics, et cetera were true. Even the weekly predictions in the newspapers were accurate to an extent, if done correctly.

Scorpio: Resourceful, passionate, stubborn, jealous... This was interesting.

"Okay, it's a fun read," he conceded to Wong later. "But what's the point of it? I mean, why would anyone need to know what someone's zodiac sign is, or what the corresponding characteristics are?"

"Not everything needs to have a specific reason, Strange," the long-suffering librarian answered.

"Uh, yes, it does," he enunciated.

Wong glared at him.

Stephen sighed. "Yeah, I know, forget everything I think I know," he repeated the mantra he'd been hearing over the last several months.

"Just memorize the charts," Wong snapped.

Stephen did exactly that.

"Say, Mr Stark, isn't your birthday coming up?" Peter asked.

Stephen looked up in interest. "I'd completely forgotten about that. When is it again?"

Tony looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "You're my boyfriend. How do you not know when my birthday is?" He asked incredulously. "No, scratch that. You have an eidetic memory and you don't know when my birthday is?"

"Says the person who can name the person who discovered blood groups without a second thought, but can't be bothered to remember what his own blood group is," Stephen retorted. "Besides, eidetic memory means I remember everything I see."

Tony clicked his tongue. "Excuses, excuses. It's May 23rd. So one whole month to go, boys." He ruffled Peter's hair as he spoke and Stephen suppressed a smile at the domesticity of the scene.

"Gemini," he murmured absently to himself. Affectionate, adaptable, quick learner, he thought, the charts he'd learned so long ago in Kamar-Taj running through his mind. Greatest compatibility with Sagittarius and Aquarius. Not compatible with-

Stephen's thoughts ground to a screeching halt, along with his whole world. Not compatible with Scorpio.

"Stephen?" Tony was staring at him in concern. "You look pale, honey. Are you feeling sick?"

He started to reach forward with a hand and Stephen jerked away on instinct. He hated the flash of hurt that crossed Tony's face, almost immediately taken over by the worry.

"Stephen?" His voice was weak and Peter was watching with an air of apprehension.

"I... I have to go," Stephen choked. "There's something I forgot to do. At the Sanctum. I'll... I'll see you later."

He was on his feet and making a portal before Tony could process. In the comfort of the Sanctuary, Stephen collapsed into the chair in the study and buried his head in his hands.

Of course. Of course, Tony wasn't meant to be with him. Stephen should have known that he could never be happy. Christine had once warned him that his selfishness and arrogant nature would definitely return to bite him in the ass. And then Mordo too had promised that the bill would come due. Yeah. He should have seen this coming, dammit.

Was this it then? Stephen wondered bitterly. Was this his punishment? Falling in love with a man- a beautiful, brilliant, unfailingly breath-taking man- who, by the decree of the very stars themselves, could never be truly happy with him?

It had to be. This had to be the punishment, because Stephen was suddenly overcome with pain permeating every inch of his soul, his heart protesting loud and clear at the idea of leaving Tony behind.

But he had to. He had to. He couldn't keep Tony in a relationship that he knew would end up in flames. No matter how much it hurt now, it'd be worse if he let them continue.

No, he had to end this.

He found Tony in the bedroom they shared, papers and a metal box scattered around him on the bed. He looked up at Stephen with a smile, though there was still a hint of wariness the edges.

"Hey," he greeted casually. "You took off pretty abruptly yesterday. Is everything okay?"

He looked almost scared of the answer. Stephen stayed silent, shrugging non-committedly, as he drank in the sight of his lover. He was dressed in simple jeans and an over-sized hoodie, legs crossed and looking- there was no other word for it- soft.

Stephen decided that this would be the image he'll carry in his mind: Tony, looking happy and in love.

Moments before he ruined it.

"I need a break," he whispered. His voice shook as he spoke and of course Tony misunderstood it.

"Sure thing." He nodded. "Where do you want to go? I'd recommend Maldives, but I think you once mentioned you wanted to see Florence?"

Heart leaping up to his throat, Stephen shook his head in jerky movements. Tony's attention was fixed on the papers and he wished with everything he had that there was a better way to do this.

"Tony... Tony, I..." I'm breaking up with you. "We can't..." We can't be together. "I, uh, I'm..." I'm so in love with you, but I shouldn't be.

Tony looked up at him now. Stephen could see the fear begin to cloud his eyes and he hated that he'd been the one to put it there.

"Stephen?" His voice trembled. "Is everything okay?" He reached out, maybe to cup his face, or hold his hand, but Stephen flinched away again, knowing full well he'd lean in to the warm, calloused touch.

Tony froze at the movement. Slowly, with obvious difficulty, he turned back to his work. He was going to let Stephen come out with it on his own.

"I just thought I'd clear out some of these old documents," he mumbled, like he needed to fill the silence until Stephen spoke. "Pepper's been nagging me about it."

Stephen stayed quiet, trying to muster up the courage to say what he needed to and then get the fuck out of there. It didn't help that literally every molecule in his body was fighting against him.

"I haven't seen this in a long time!" Tony's voice seemed to have gotten higher with nervousness as he held up a set of what looked like adoption papers to the light. "Interesting. Should probably get it digitalised."

"Tony!" Stephen finally spoke. A little too loudly, but hey, he was breaking up with the love of his life, cut him some slack. "Tony, I'm saying, that I think-" Everything stopped for a few seconds. Adoption papers.

Ignoring the fearful, but determined gaze fixed on him, Stephen stared at the adoption papers in Tony's hands. How had he forgotten...? The birthday read April 27th.

Taurus, Stephen told himself. Practical, responsible, stubborn. Greatest compatibility with Scorpio.

"Oh," he breathed out, a single sound full of realization, happiness and bone-crushing relief. "You're birthday isn't May 23rd," he said, dumbly..

Tony looked whiplashed at the sudden change of pace. "Uh yeah, it is. That's the day I was adopted, that's the day Jarvis, mama, Aunt Peggy and I always celebrated. I was born on April 27th, but May 23rd is my birthday." He shifted, looking uncomfortable and confused. "Stephen, look, if there's-"

Stephen didn't let him finish. He kissed him, out of the blue, using a hand to sweep all the documents off the bed and then pushing him back down on the mattress.

Tony melted into it, fingers threading in his hair and tugging sharply. "What's going on?" He managed to ask, when Stephen finally let him breathe.

He just shook his head, burying his nose in the coffee-scented hoodie. "I've just had the worst 24 hours of my life," he said, voice tight and shaky.

Tony stiffened. "What?! What happened, is something wrong?!"

He shook his head. "Just put a few things into perspective. Like how important you are to me. How much I need you."

Tony relaxed beneath him, lifting Stephen's head to meet his eyes. "You scared me," he murmured.

He nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I love you."

Tony smiled sweetly, leaning up to kiss him again in lieu of a reply.

Maybe one day, Stephen would tell him about the zodiacs, about how close he'd come to making such a stupid mistake. For now, he revelled under Tony's attention and acknowledged a brand new respect for the term star-crossed lovers.