It didn't matter how long it took him. Tony was going to get to the bottom of Pepper's strange behavior or die trying. He couldn't put a finger on when it had actually started but he did vividly remember sneaking into Pepper's office a few days ago with the idea of surprising her by taking her out to lunch at her favorite restaurant only to be taken completely by surprise himself.

When she noticed she was no longer the room's only occupant, she yelped, actually yelped like a startled dog, leaping out of her chair before slamming the laptop in front of her closed with much more force than necessary. Her blue eyes were wide in shock as she took in his obviously unwanted presence. Her breath came in fast gasps as she asked him what he was doing there. From where he stood, he could feel the guilt radiating off her in waves. What had she been doing before he walked in?

Was she cheating on him? No. Pepper wouldn't do that. She would never do that. But then, what the hell was making her act so weird? He could tell he had caught her doing something she must have felt like she shouldn't have been doing because she wouldn't even look him in the eyes. She refused his invitation, claiming she was behind on work and had already eaten, practically shoving him out the door. Since that day, things had been exceedingly awkward between them, and Tony did not like that. He did not like that at all.

That's why he was currently sitting in his workshop tinkering with something that did not need the slightest bit of tinkering at all. He had already fixed the problem hours ago but he just couldn't bring himself to stop messing with it. He had to keep himself busy. He had to stay busy because if he wasn't working with his machines then his mind started wandering off to other things that he really did not want to think about right now.

"Sir, you are currently going on seventy-two hours without sleep. I highly recommend you rest."

Tony barely heard Jarvis over the loudly blaring AC/DC music that helped him center his thoughts. Although on this particular today he was using the deafening rock and roll to try and stop himself from thinking about the fact that Pepper was hiding something from him. Something big. Something that made her so uncomfortable she felt like she couldn't talk to him about it. Something that made her refuse lunch at her favorite restaurant, which never had happened before. Even before they were officially together she had never said no to eating there. Never. Oh God. What was going on? Why was she acting so weird? What made women act weird? Was she pregnant? Oh fuck. She was pregnant wasn't she? That would explain the strange behavior. Maybe she was researching pregnancy related stuff on the internet when he asked her to lunch. Oh shit. Oh shit, shit, shit. A baby? Oh my God.

"Sir!"

Jarvis' voice finally broke through the haze he was in. And it pissed him off. "What? What do you want? Can't you tell I want to be left alone?" Tony growled, annoyed that his AI had not picked up on the fact he did not want to be bothered. Snarl visible on his lips, he spun away from his work on the suit, screwdriver still firmly clutched in his right hand. When he found that he was no longer alone in his workshop, his eyes went wide and his lip dropped. Pepper was standing in front of him.

Still fully dressed in her usual business attire, heels and all, Pepper must have just gotten home from the office. That's right. She told him she had an important meeting today and that she would be later than usual. Fuck. What time was it? Her shoulders were hunched over, making her seem much smaller than she was. Her gaze was focused somewhere just over his shoulder. This wasn't the Virginia Potts he knew and loved. Something was bothering her. "Clearly you are busy. I'll leave you alone."

Hearing the hurt in her voice, Tony felt his stomach drop out. Oh shit. She thought he was yelling at her. Damn you, Jarvis. Damn you to hell. "No, no, Pep, wait! I wasn't talking about you. You aren't bothering me." But she didn't wait. She was back through the glass door and on her way up the stairs before he finished speaking. God was that woman surprisingly fast in heels. Angry with how things were going, he threw the tool in his hand across the room. "Shit."

"As you can see, I was merely trying to make you aware of Miss Potts presence. Might I suggest you talk to her, sir?"

Tony sighed loudly, all of his anger draining out of him as he threw himself onto the couch and allowed the cushions to consume him. Maybe the couch would swallow him up whole so he wouldn't have to deal with whatever was going on with Pepper. Nah. He could never be that lucky. His life was a constant reminder of that. "Trying to give me relationship advice, Jarv?"

"I've just noticed that you've been...a bit off the last few days, sir, and I assume it has to do with Miss Potts. Am I correct?"

"Yeah, you could say that," he mumbled into the sofa, grabbing a pillow to hide his head.

"Would you like to talk about it, sir?"

He was currently curled into the fetal position on an old couch with a pillow over his head like a child. He most definitely was not in the mood to talk. "Are you a therapist now too?" He couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"I don't claim to be a therapist but when both you and Miss Potts are acting out-of-character especially on date night, it isn't hard to realize something is not quite right."

At the realization of what day it was, Tony shot up straight in his seat, smacking himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand. How in the hell could he have forgotten about date night? "Oh shit. Oh shit." He was in so much trouble. He launched himself off the couch, beginning to pace the floor in an almost manic manner. Due to the fact he had personally canceled their last date night he had promised, promised Pepper that the next date night would trump all over date nights before it and then he had gone and forgotten all about it.

"I assume you forgot what day it was?" Jarvis' voice almost sounded sympathetic. "The day isn't over, you can still try and salvage things, sir.

"J, can you tell me what Pepper is doing now?"

"She is in bed on her laptop."

That made him stop pacing. She was on her laptop. Likely the same laptop she was doing something on when she was depicting her suspicious behavior back at the office. "Give me video," Tony said as he directed his full attention to the screens in front of him. Sure enough, Pepper was sitting with her legs crossed in the middle of their California king size bed. She was still in her suit but she had removed her shoes and let down her hair. "Zoom in on the laptop screen."

"Doing a bit of spying are we, sir? Why don't you just go up there and talk to her?"

"Zoom in on her screen, Jarvis." Even as the AI followed his command, Tony knew if Jarvis could have sighed and rolled his eyes he would have. "What are you up to, Potts?" Tony cocked his head to the side, squinting as he tried to read what was on the small screen in front of Pepper. "What is she doing?"

"Looks to be doing a bit of writing, sir."

Tony scowled. Okay, now Jarvis was laying the sarcasm on thick as tar. Maybe Tony was rubbing off on him a bit too much. "Thanks, Captain Obvious. But what is she writing?"

On the view feed as if she had heard him talking about her, Pepper clicked the laptop closed, sliding it under her pillow before she rose from the bed and began to strip off her clothes. At the site of her pale naked skin, Tony's heart began to race. He licked his lips as arousal curled low in his belly. God, when was the last time they made love? It felt like forever ago. It had at least been a few days before the strange encounter in her office. He wanted her. He wanted her badly. He needed her. Now. "Jarvis, mute until morning or unless I tell you otherwise." He was through the workshop door and up the stairs almost as fast as Pepper. He raced up the stairs to their bedroom and made a beeline for the master bath. Naked. She was naked behind that door. Naked and wet.

Driven by desire, Tony reached for the knob and turned, running face first into the door like a complete idiot when it didn't immediately open. His hand flew to his now throbbing nose as the curse words flew out of his mouth. She had locked him out of the bathroom. That was a first. She had never locked the bathroom before. Oh man. When it came to women, he may be clueless about somethings but he knew what that meant. He had fucked up. He had fucked up big time. He pushed the pain of his aching nose aside, leaning forward to rest his forehead against the door as he gave a few gentle raps with his knuckles. "Pep?" He waited a few seconds for a reply, when he didn't receive one, he knocked a little harder. "Pep?" The water was no longer on. There was still no response even though he knew she had to have heard him. How bad had he fucked this up? "Pepper, I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry I forgot about date night. Earlier in the workshop, I didn't know you were there. I would never talk to you like that. Never. I was upset and I was taking it out on Jarvis. I've been out of sorts lately and I apologize. There is no excuse for me forgetting date night. I'm a shitty boyfriend."

The door opened and Pepper stood there, wearing only a pair of panties and one of his old band t-shirts. Since she was wearing his shirt, maybe she wasn't so mad at him after all. Her hair was still damp, dripping rivulets of water down her front. The wet material made her pink nipples stand out from underneath the cotton. Tony swallowed thickly trying his hardest to push his desire back down. He was pretty sure she wouldn't want him to jump her right now. Not since he had forgotten date night. "It's okay, Tony. I'm feeling tired anyway. I think I'll just go to bed."

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "You are going to bed? Now? It's only eight o clock. I..." He was interrupted by Pepper pressing a quick kiss to his lips. He almost whimpered when she pulled away much too quickly for his liking. He wasn't done with her. He was so far from being done.

"Goodnight, Tony." Giving him a sweet smile, she brushed past him to the bed where she pulled the covers back and settled herself into her usual spot. "Lights off, Jarvis."

Tony was now standing in a dark room. The only light was that from his arc reactor, which was dimmed down by his shirt. He couldn't just leave now. It didn't feel right. He hadn't gotten a real chance to talk to her. "Pep?"

"Hmmmm?"

Tony closed his eyes and forced out his next question even as his brain screamed at him to keep it to himself. "Are we okay?"

That clearly got her attention because she turned toward him, propping herself up on her elbows. "What do you mean?"

Tony slowly padded over to where she lay. He leaned down to pull up the comforter and tuck it in around her slender form before sitting down next to her on the edge of the bed. "I mean, are we okay? Is our relationship okay? Is there something I did to upset you? I just feel like something is wrong, and it honestly wouldn't surprise me if I did something and didn't realize that I made you mad until it was too late. I'm sorry I'm such an ass..." His words were stopped as Pepper grabbed him by the front of his grease-stained t-shirt and yanked him forward, pressing her lips against his. He shuddered as her arms wrapped around the back of his neck, pulling him against her. Her tongue demanded entrance to his mouth and he gave it to her. She kissed the ever-living shit out of him, leaving him panting and wanting much more when she finally pulled away.

"I love you, Tony Stark. Please don't ever doubt that. I'm just tired. I promise."

Tony tried to give her his signature puppy dog eyes to try and get his way but realized it was too dark for them to work their magic. "But Pep, you practically threw me out of your office when I came to surprise you."

"I-I did. I just wasn't expecting you, and I was busy. I had a lot on my plate." At the mention of what happened between them that day, she immediately grew flustered. In the dim light cast by the reactor, he watched as her eyes darted to where her laptop was hidden under her pillow and then back to meet his stare. There was that look on her face again. Guilt.

"Pep," Tony started, reaching out to her but she turned away, lowering herself onto her pillow. He honestly didn't realize just how much he had been missing her until he was in her physical presence. He had been in his own little world lately, focused on his latest projects. But now that he was sitting here next to her and it felt like she honestly didn't want him anymore, it hurt. It hurt as much as shrapnel in his chest. "Pepper, please talk to me."

"Tony, I'm tired. Please. Can this wait?"

He was going to touch her again but at the last moment, he withdrew his hand. No. No. It couldn't wait. He wasn't going to be able to sleep until he found out what was bothering her but even with that being the case, he lied through his teeth. For her. "Yes. Yes, it can. Goodnight, Pep." He gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead before rising from the bed, glancing one final time over his shoulder before he left the room. He had one thing on his mind.

He was so getting his hands on that laptop.