Author's Rant: Yes, I know this is usually an "Author's Note" but I've been noticing something that happens regularly in our little community and it really bothers me:

Whitney bashing. Seriously. I cringe every time I see it.

I'm not saying anyone has to like her. What I am sick and tired of seeing is all the Whitney hatred because of the possibility of her being a love interest for Tony. This has been going on since Season One and the only real reason given is "We hate her!" Now with her and Tony semi-dating the vitriol has revved up to new heights. Guys, I know most of you are fans of Pepperony and that's fine. But don't hate Whitney. Sure, she initially comes off as a cold snob but she has some serious problems and I found her to be very sympathetic. She's also a real action girl who saved Tony at least twice. Unlike Pepper, who is in constant need of Rescue. So please. Stop the Whitney bashing. She's not some femme fatale who stole Tony away from Pepper. Tony did that all by himself and then tried to use the date to make Pepper jealous. So she in turn started dating Happy to make Tony jealous. And it seems to be working. Happy isn't Tony but he has his virtues. He's kind and friendly and I wanted to show logical reasons besides just jealousy that would make Pepper want to date him. Also in the official comic time line, Pepper and Happy WERE married. So stop hating Whitney. Remember one important point; these characters are all teenagers. As teenagers we don't always know what really want out of life, much less in a relationship. Give it time. And give HappyPep a chance. Yes, that's my official name for this pairing.

...

Sheesh. I bet you all start hating me now for this title alone. Relax, I'm being tongue in cheek and you're welcome not to like it. I'm a big girl. I can take it. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Flames for the sake of flaming will be giggled over.

Hold the Pepperoni

"Yo! Pepper! Over here!"

The boy in green waved his arms over his head with wild enthusiasm. He was eager to catch her attention, as if she could miss him. Even seated in the dimly lit red pleather booth, he was a full head and shoulders above anyone else in the restaurant.

The petite redhead (well, who wouldn't be compared to Happy?) winced, smiling nervously as people stared and whispered as she passed. The student athlete really had no concept of an inside voice.

Happy stood up when she approached and smiled down at her. "Please, have a seat. I'd offer to pull out a chair for you but...the host said there was a twenty minute wait for a table. But this booth was ready right away. You uh...look really nice by the way."

In honor of their third date Pepper decided to dress up a bit in a lavender striped oxford shirt and khaki Capri pants. He was being so polite, so gallant. It was kind of cute and the girl was ashamed of herself for underestimating him in the past. She looked down at her attire, pleased that he'd noticed her appearance. That was a refreshing change from Tony and Rhodey. She had the distinct impression she could tap dance in front of them in a bikini and their only comment would be for her to get down before she hurt herself. Well, no. Rhodey would say that. Tony would stare, blush...and then hurriedly go away to do something else.

"Thank you," she said demurely and slipped into the booth, Happy regaining his seat in front of her. "I wasn't sure what kind of pizza you wanted but I went ahead and ordered us some bread sticks. How do you feel about pepperoni?"

"Ugh. Pass." Pepper looked disgusted. "Meat makes the pizza too greasy. I'll have bell peppers and roma tomatoes, please." Her date's expression went from excited to sorrowful and Pepper felt like she'd just kicked a puppy. "But that's just for my half. You can put whatever you want on yours!"

Happy perked up immediately. "Cool! Thanks! Then I'll get the pepperoni, Italian sausage and chicken! Coach says protein builds muscle and I gotta build all I can if we're gonna win state this year," he informed her proudly.

She laughed. He was rather adorable when he was enthusiastic. It surprised her she never took the time to notice before; probably too busy chasing Tony or mooning over Gene. It was rather pathetic in retrospect. Gene betrayed them and Tony...well, Tony seemed to be a lost cause.

With difficulty she put thoughts of those other two boys aside. Tonight was all about her and Happy. Happy was a nice guy who listened to her when she talked and didn't make fun when she ate two half-pound burgers in one sitting.

"You need to eat vegetables and fruits to stay healthy too, you know."

"Well, duh. But that's what the salad is for!"

Turning in his seat the boy called out, "Um...waiter dude!" Looking slightly offended at being addressed that way, their server approached the table. With some impatience he asked, "Are you ready to order, sir?"

"Yeah! I mean, yes, please. One extra large pan pizza. Half roma tomatoes and bell peppers for the lady and half pepperoni, Italian sausage and chicken for me. Oh! And two house salads. Dressing on the side," he added and Pepper nodded approvingly, "and two flavored waters. Raspberry for me and peach for my lovely companion." Happy sounded a little awkward delivering such a flowery compliment but even if it wasn't original it was sincere and Pepper couldn't help but smile that he was making an effort on her behalf.

"That's so sweet, Happy. But you don't have to flatter me, you know. I mean, I'm already going out with you." She joked.

"But you are pretty, Pep. Not to mention one of the coolest girls I know. You deserve to be told when you look good. And you do. Look good I mean," Happy finished clumsily and seemed embarrassed to be wearing his usual basketball jersey.

Impulsively she grabbed his hand. "You look good too. And you don't have to dress up for me. I just dressed up because...sometimes girls just like to dress up. Really. I don't expect you to dress up for me unless we're going out somewhere really fancy. Like say...when we go to Masa to celebrate when you get signed to the Knicks. Or prom. Or a dance."

Happy's whole face brightened at the word "dance". "You know, Homecoming is coming up in a month. There's a dance. You wanna go?"

Pepper clasped her hands in her lap and looked up at him shyly. There was a gorgeous lilac dress on sale at Macy's and she wanted to buy it before Whitney spotted it. But she was sure the blonde was more a Saks kind of girl. "Maybe," she answered evasively. "Are you asking me?"

The boy rubbed his shoulder, suddenly self-conscious. "Yeah. If you'd like to go with me. I mean, I'm not a good dancer, but I'll try not to step on your toes."

The redhead squeaked happily, unwittingly drawing attention from nearby diners. She would have hugged him if could have reached him where he sat. "Yes! We can always practice dancing before we go. This is so cool!"

The server arrived with their beverages and bread sticks. The restaurant was smart enough to send two large baskets to their table and Pepper attacked hers with great enthusiasm until she noticed her companion wasn't eating quite so heartily.

Happy slowly chewed on a single bread stick, his expression thoughtful. When he noticed her stare he put it down and spoke. "Pepper? Are you sure you want to go with me? Or are you just agreeing to go because you can't go with Stark?"

Food was forgotten as the girl gaped openly at her date. It wasn't often that the volatile redhead was struck dumb. Someone should really mark the date.

The boy's face was unusually serious. "I'm not as quick on the uptake as Stark or even Rhodey but I notice stuff. Like you were jealous of Whitney. Or you used to like Gene." He smiled sadly at the surprised look on her face. "I play basketball, remember? I know about rebound."

Guilt caused her stomach to churn. True, she might have asked him out initially out of blind panic and a wish to make Tony jealous, but after that...

After getting to know him...

Carefully, she reached out and held his hand, the huge fist made her hand look even tinier. "You mean Gene? You think I'm rebounding from him? Or that I'm with you just because I can't be with Tony?"

He shrugged. "Kinda," he replied softly.

She shook her head. "Gene was a mistake. He never really liked me, he just used me like he used Tony and Rhodey. The creep was like that and once he was done he left." Pepper hated how admitting all this aloud made her voice tremble with remembered sadness. She felt the annoying sting of tears but held them back.

"Did he hurt you?" Happy's face softened in concern. She could almost see his thought process as he took in her stricken impression and came to the wrong conclusion. He leaned and and whispered angrily. "Did he try to-"

"No! No, not physically." Pepper was careful to keep her voice low. "It hurt me, here," she said with her hand on her heart, "because we all trusted him when he was nothing but a conniving backstabbing scum sucker. But..he did beat up Tony and Rhodey. Tony was out for a few hours..."

Happy snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh, now there's a shocker."

She leaned in and got in his face. "Watch it. Sure, he's a dipstick sometimes but Tony's still my friend." She leaned back and looked away but kept her grip on his hand.

"Maybe it was my fault for seeing more than there was to our relationship. I mean, yeah. I was one of the first friends Tony made when he came to the Tomorrow Academy and we spent a lot of time together. Tony's gone through some intense stuff after his dad...disappeared and all and I guess he needed good friends to lean on. And I guess...he just sees me as a friend. One of the guys. Not datable."

Pepper sighed and continued when Happy didn't respond. "Then he and Whitney went to that concert and she was making fun of me for not having a date so I asked you out."

Happy groaned and tried to withdraw his hand, her words confirming what he already suspected. The girl refused to let him and latched onto his other hand as well.

"But that isn't why I asked you out again. You're a great guy, Happy. Okay, you're not super smart like Tony. But being a genius isn't all it's cracked up to be. You have some pretty cool things about you too, you know."

Her smile was sincere and it warmed him all over until he didn't want to look away. "You're sweet, and you're kind. Okay, you're a little blunt and oblivious but hey, who's perfect? Not me!" She sucked on her bottom lip and thought carefully about what she wanted to say. She knew quite a bit about being blunt and oblivious. Just ask her dad.

"You're fun. Really really fun. You make me laugh and forget about all the stupid stuff that goes on at school or at home when I'm with you. I feel...like I can be myself with you. It's okay if I say something goofy or eat a twenty ounce steak because you don't judge me. You don't make me feel stupid when I talk too much. Tony and Rhodey always just smile and give me this look that says; 'I wish you'd shut up but I'm indulging you because your my friend, despite being a weirdo.' "

The usually confident boy found himself blushing as his date leaned in and looked deeply into his eyes. "I also know I can trust you. With anything. My secrets, well, the ones I can tell anyway. Maybe one day...my heart. And you won't tell a soul. I can tell when you look at me you're seeing me. Not another girl you'd rather be with. And it's time I started looking at you the same way."

Happy just grinned. He might not have comprehended all the heavy emotional things Pepper was saying but he understood she wanted to be with him. Just him. Not Stark or anyone else. One of the coolest girls he'd ever met liked him for himself. And that was fantastic.

"Aw, Pep," he said finally, "I'm not always good at...you know...conversation so you can talk as much as you want. I don't mind, as long as it's not about shoes and clothes and hair because that stuff is pretty boring. Plus, you're into cool things, like backyard wrestling and sports. Girls don't usually like the kind of things Ilike, which is pretty awesome. And...you're fun to be with. There's no pressure. You don't want to date me to be a cheerleader or anything. It's nice."

Pepper felt a softening in her heart. She was stupid to pursue a couple of self-involved idiots when there was such a wonderfully nice guy right in front of her. She could just kick herself for not looking past the "dumb jock" persona to the kind, warm, funny person inside. How superficial could she be?

The conversation died, but neither them noticed, wrapped up in each others' attention. From the glint in his eye Pepper could tell Happy wanted to kiss her and she wondered for a moment if she was ready for that step in their relationship.

The dilemma was solved by the deus ex machina of the server's arrival with their order. Really, Pepper couldn't help but wonder how long the person had been watching them before setting the pizza in front of them. She couldn't help but feel she had been granted a temporary reprieve to decide if she was ready for the kissing phase. Romance could wait. It was time to eat.

She smiled warmly at her date and Happy couldn't help but think how lucky he was and Stark was a moron. "Forget about it, Happy." Pepper raised her glass in toast. "To a great guy I'm lucky to be with and the heck with the rest of them!"

"Cheers!" He agreed with his usually vigor and clinked his glass with hers, being careful to control his strength. A bit of his water still sloshed on the pizza and the couple looked at each other and laughed, too busy having fun to notice anyone's disapproval. Or envy.

"You know, those red bell peppers remind me of your hair."

"Quiet you," his date tried to reply sternly and ruined it by giggling.

An hour later, the taxi pulled up at Pepper's house. Happy gave the driver some money, then asked him to wait while he walked his date to the door.

"I had a blast, Pepper! How do you feel about paintball?"

"Awesome! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Let's double with Tony and Whitney and spend the whole evening shooting at them!"

"That's my girl! You've got a real killer instinct, Pep."

"Grrr!"

They laughed heartily for several minutes, imagining the other pair running for their lives as pellet after pellet rained down on them. Pepper seriously hoped both of them walked away with a few welts. Finally the laughter died away and once again she had the strange sensation Happy wanted to kiss her. She inched a bit closer to him as he leaned down and...

...grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it like a true gentleman.

Happy grinned at her shock. "Fooled ya!"

"Hey!" Pepper was filled with righteous indignation and hammered at his chest. "Not funny, Happy!"

"Oh, from where I'm standing it's hilarious!" Wincing a bit when a punch landed on his sternum, he leaned in and whispered. "I don't think you're quite ready for our first kiss. Actually I'm kinda nervous myself. But when I am, it'll because there will be no guy in your heart but me." He gallantly opened her front door for her. "Good night. Um...'til be morrow. And stuff. I'll be home in half an hour. Text me!"

"Bye!"

Pepper shut the door behind her and sighed, leaning against it. "What a nice guy." Still smiling, she hummed her way to her bedroom for a shower before their nightly texting before bed.

At the restaurant their "server" bid goodnight to the other restaurant workers and ducked into a nearby alley to shed the pizza establishment's attire in favor of a chauffeur's uniform. Pulling off her latex mask the young woman uploaded the footage taken with her phone to a rather anxious receiver.

Half a world away a young man bolted out of his luxurious first class seat on a private jet, shocking his unwilling "traveling companion".

"She's dating HAPPY?"