Hey all, it's me again. Here's a new one-shot for you, much less fluff than my other stories but I hope you like it! Story is set after the first movie so the events of the second are basically irrelevant and the plot is essentially a figment of my imagination.

A million thanks to my incredible beta, thepersonwhoisthatperson, who graciously put up with me re-writing this about 20 times. I am eternally grateful to you for all of your help :)

AN: I don't read the comics so if I'm ever off on the details, my apologies.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it.

"Packing up early, are we Potts?" he asked as he wandered by her office late one afternoon.

"It's 5 o'clock, Mr. Stark. And I have plans."

"Plans? As in date type plans?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," she replied flatly as she finished packing up her things.

"But you're not allowed to have plans…" he said softly under his breath, more serious than his tone implied.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, Mr. Stark, because it's really none of your business. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date."

He watched her storm out. "Urgh!" he groaned loudly, pounding his fist against her desk.

So maybe he hadn't handled that correctly, but he had never been one to explain his feelings exceptionally well. Since he had returned from Afghanistan a few months before, he'd realized that there was so much more to life than money and power. He wanted his life to mean something. Hell, he was 37 years old...and what did he have to show for it? Iron Man was a start, but there had to be something more. He needed something to live for. Pepper. God, stepping off that plane, seeing her face- he'd realized he was in love with her. Well, not necessarily the love bit at first, but he knew something was different, and yet he'd messed it up royally with his asinine "yeah, well vacation's over" comment. He really hadn't meant to sound so cavalier about it, but there were so many people around and so many thoughts running through his mind that he couldn't say what he wanted to. The truth of it was he had no idea what he'd even wanted to say. She was all he had left anymore, and it had taken nine years and three months in a cave in Afghanistan to realize that he would never truly be home unless he was with her. She was everything, but he still had no idea how to tell her that, let alone understand what it all meant.

He'd even bought a ring, for God sakes. Sure it scared the hell out of him and he was never one for the conventional but he figured it was the only logical step forward. Ten years. He'd known her for ten years. If seeing her when he got off that plane had made his heart jump and everything else melt away, well that had to mean something so he had gone and bought a ring the week after he got back. At first he thought he had gone completely crazy- Tony Stark married? The idea of such a long-term commitment was terrifying, mostly because he'd never really succeeded at committing to anything before. But, when he realized it would mean spending the rest of his life with Pepper, well, it didn't sound so ridiculous to him any more.

Pepper left confused and angry. What was he playing at? Since he'd gotten back, he'd become almost an entirely different person. While the added responsibility was a welcome change, it was also unnerving to her, never knowing what to expect from him anymore.

He also flirted more now. Still nothing serious, but there seemed to be an edge to it that she couldn't explain. He'd make some remark, she'd dismiss him, and, surprisingly, he wouldn't push it, opting instead for leaving her with a nod and a mysterious smile she didn't recognize. Was he actually serious? Aside from that one night and the press conference, he'd never really given her any indication of truly wanting to be with her. Still, as she drove home to change, she couldn't help but think about how empty his bedroom had been the last several months.

He left work and drove for a few hours to clear his head. Finally he went home, changed, and though he knew it was yet another invasion of her property, he had JARVIS track her car to a bar across town. His goal- win her back. Well, win her, since he'd never really had her. Yet.

"What exactly is your plan, sir?" Jarvis asked as he was about to leave.

He paused at his AI's comment, running a hand through his hair nervously. "I'd let you know if I had one, Jarvis. I'm about to break up the date she's on so there's a high probability that whatever I end up doing won't end up going well."

"Noted, Mr. Stark. Will you be giving Miss Potts the item you purchased several weeks ago?"

Tony got in the Audi and started it. "We'll see." He patted his pocket where the item in question resided. "I never thought I'd see the day when I actually wanted to," he answered softly with a shrug.

"Good luck, sir," was JARVIS's reply, and Tony pulled out of the garage without another word.

After arriving at the club, he spotted her up at the DJ's booth. As she turned around, she didn't even notice him and walked towards the dance floor. For a moment, he lost her in the crowd. A familiar song started playing and he spotted her across the dance floor, dancing with some guy. Tony didn't actually know who Pepper's date was, but frankly he didn't care.

Cuz if you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it

He stood there frozen, just staring at the two of them. The lyrics of the song rang out like a slap to the face.

I could care less what you think
I need no permission, did I mention
Don't pay him any attention
Cuz you had your turn
But now you gonna learn
What it really feels like to miss me

He saw him grinding up on her, his hands on her, and it made his stomach sick. Before he knew it, he was walking towards her, tapping the guy on the shoulder. "I'm cutting in," was all he said, and before the guy could respond, he was pulling Pepper away towards him. The guy stood gaping for a second, but Tony just stared back menacingly and eventually he walked away.

She looked at him incredulously. "Mr. Stark! What do you think you're doing here?"

"I followed you. And I get it, ok? Message received. I...Pepper, I need you."

"What? You selfish asshole," was her furious response and she started to walk away but he held onto her arm.

"Pepper, stop. I get what you were trying to do. You with that guy, the song- it was killing me. I can't handle it!"

She laughed dryly. "Whatever, Tony, I didn't request that song. I didn't even know you were here."

"Oh," he mumbled. "Well, still." Suddenly, he thought of a song he had heard on the radio recently. "I'll be right back."

She couldn't respond, still too in shock to move. She watched him walk over to the DJ, presumably to request a song. As he walked back over to her, she heard a song starting that she didn't recognize.

Listen up cause I love you, lady
We go back like 1980
Lord knows you're the one to change me
You love me cause I'm so crazy
You'll see, it'll be, you and me
Always, always

He made his way back over to her, whispering, "dance with me."

It wasn't really a question, but she nodded anyways and surprised herself as she wrapped an arm around his neck and started moving with him in time to the music.

As she listened to the lyrics, she realized these were his words to her, more or less.

I know I'm still crazy
But I've changed a lot
I've cleaned up a little
And you're still hot
But if I ain't the one
I hope you find true love
And if not I'm here when push comes to shove
Just know if you walk down that aisle
With another dude to take those vows
How I'll react there's no telling
Might bust in the back of the church and start yelling

She couldn't help but laugh because she knew it was true. Honestly, she'd feel the same way if the situation were reversed. As the song ended, she took a step back from him, reality setting back in. He cocked his head slightly and shot her a questioning look.

She straightened up a bit. "Mr. Stark, I was 3 years old in 1980 and I don't believe I've ever admitted to loving you," she said as she straightened her skirt, noticeably pissed off.

His smile vanished and suddenly his face was unreadable.

Something had changed and she was in no mood to try and figure out what had come over him in the past fifteen minutes. She sighed, exasperated, and shook her head slightly, turning to walk away. "Ok, well, I'm going to call it a night-"

He grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving. "Hey wait, Pepper. I'm serious. Forget the song. I thought it fit but whatever." He tried to think of something else to say. A million thoughts ran through his head, very few of them making any sense. He was jealous, that part he understood. He needed to tell her that he wanted her, but it was all more than likely coming off as him being a self-centered asshole and she had told him as much. As his thoughts raced, trying to figure out how to salvage this night from being a complete and utter disaster, he remembered the small item in his pocket. Pepper needed to know he was serious, and what was more serious than the lifetime commitment of marriage? She'd probably laugh in his face, but he had to try.

"Just…here," and he pulled a small platinum band adorned with a brilliant diamond out of his pocket, chiding himself internally at his utter cop out of a proposal.

Her eyes went wide and she stared at him, her look bordering on one of horror. "Why do you have that ring, Tony?"

He shuffled his feet uneasily. "Well, you know I've had it for a while but uh..."

Suddenly it made sense to her- jealousy was a good look on Tony Stark. "Oh, Tony." She raised a hand to cup his face.

"You're kinda leaving me hanging here. A simple 'yes' would do me a world of good right now."

"No, Tony," she said softly with a slight chuckle, not actually believing he was serious.

His eyes widened. "Are you serious?" He was shocked. "Damn, I did not expect that," he said under his breath, shaking his head.

She reached out and pulled his chin up with her finger. Throwing caution to the wind, she realized that she might want him too, but it was all moving incredibly fast and marriage was simply not an option…yet? "I'm saying no to now, Tony, not ever. You might mean it now, but just think about it, ok?"

"Wow, you're the one afraid of commitment?" he shot back sharply. He was overreacting and saying all the wrong things and he knew it, but he couldn't stop to care because his irrational emotional side had taken over and he didn't know what else to do.

"What? Stop being such an ass!" she snapped. She took a deep breath and tried to regain some of her composure. "You know that's not it. You can't just expect me to be completely fine with this, being your assistant one second and your…your fiancée the next!"

"Pepper, you've never been just my assistant," he said quietly.

She dipped her head. "I know," she said quietly. "But it's too big of a leap, we need time to…to date I guess…and-"

But he cut her off placing a finger on her lips. "Pepper, we've been pretty much dating for years." He didn't say it, but dating had never even crossed his mind. Well, it had, but he had quickly dismissed it. The way he figured, it left too many possibilities to chance. The world would never know it, but Tony Stark had never really been as confident as the persona he put out and the possibility that things would go wrong and she would leave him lingered in the back of his mind. After all that he'd been through in his life and all of the recent changes, he had begun to crave something permanent, something constant. Dating...well, it could end. He wanted permanence, and while it scared the hell out of him, he wanted to make a commitment to her. He needed her in his life, forever.

He shook his head and sighed. "I think you're afraid." He looked at her with a tender expression on his face she'd never seen there before. "Pepper Potts, I will never, ever hurt you, or leave you, or take you for granted. I swear on my parents' graves," he said solemnly.

She stared at him intensely, knowing that a statement like that coming from him was serious. He didn't take his parents lightly, and evidently, her either, though on some level she had always known that.

"I will always love you, Pepper. Whether we get married now, next year, 5 years from now, whatever. But I really think wasting any more time is pointless."

"You love me?" she gaped at him.

"I suppose I should have lead with that," he said softly, somewhat chastising himself. "Yeah, for the last couple years at least. Though to be fair, I only really became aware of it a few months ago."

She honestly had no response to that.

"Please, Pepper," he all but begged. Then his expression fell and he looked at her seriously. "Wait...no."

"I knew you couldn't be serious," she said under her breath, shaking her head.

"That hurts, Pepper," he said with a glint of pain in his eyes. "Just come with me."

"Fine," she huffed. It was all getting a bit ridiculous and she just wanted to go home.

He led her out to his car and as they left she hesitantly asked where they were going.

"Just trust me," he said quietly, and she did.

A few minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of a quaint park. As she slowly took in her surroundings, she realized she knew where they were. It was a park not far from SI that she went to eat lunch at sometimes when she needed a break from Tony. "How do you know about this place?" she asked slowly as she got out of the car and moved to sit on a nearby bench.

He followed her and sat down beside her. "I know where you are at all times, Pepper, even when you go somewhere to escape me. Ok, wow, that sounded incredibly creepy. I mean, I don't stalk you or anything, I swear, I just need to know you're always safe…ugh nevermind. Forget I said anything."

She laughed a little and smiled at him. "But why are we here, Tony?"

"Just sit here for a second while I say this, ok? I need to do this right." And then he went down on one knee with the ring still in his hand. "You probably still don't think I'm serious, but I need you to believe me. I need you in my life, and more than just professionally. Since I was captured, you have become my reason for living. You make me want to be a better person, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. So, Pepper Potts, will you please marry me?"

"No," she said softly, shaking her head. It wasn't like she didn't want to. Honestly she'd been in love with him for years, but there were far too many "ifs" for her brain to process. What if he changed his mind? What if he really hurt himself while off trying to save the world? There were far too many unanswered questions.

He stood up quickly, anger swelling in his chest. "Dammit, why not? I don't get you, Pepper. I know you care about me and I thought you'd want this!"

"Is that why you're asking? Because you think it's what I want? No thanks, Tony. That's not how this works," she said as she stood and started to walk back to the car.

Immediately, he reached for her arm to stop her. "No! That's not it at all! I love you and I want to be with you and I thought you wanted that too," he said desperately, rubbing his forehead and wondering how it all had gotten so convoluted.

She sighed. "I will concede to the possibility of dating you, but marriage is a no, at least for the time being."

"Why?" he all but yelled, though it came off more as whining.

His insistence had begun to infuriate her. "To start with, you have no idea what I want! You assume! And while you may not necessarily be wrong, that isn't how this works and you know it. It's you being impulsive and I can't function like that! Everything is different, Tony. I need some time to adjust."

He let go of her arm and stood there gaping at her speech, starting to understand her hesitance. Impulsiveness worked for him, but he wasn't the one with as much to lose. He realized that the idea of marriage wasn't the only thing she was talking about needing time to adjust to. He'd all but flipped her world upside down since becoming Iron Man, probably even more so since he was taken in the first place. He understood that it would take time to adjust to a new normal, but a new normal is what it would certainly be and he hoped that she realized that.

"Ok," he said softly.

"Ok?" she replied, trying to calm herself down.

"But you only get a month, tops," he said calmly.

"For what?"she asked confused.

"This dating you're insisting on. Four weeks, then you move in, we get married and live happily ever after, the end." He knew it wasn't at all that simple, but he was trying to make a point.

"Tony!" she exclaimed with a laugh, assuming he was joking.

His face went serious, confused by her laughter. "I'm not kidding, Pepper. I want to move on with my life and I want you with me."

"And what is this month of dating supposed to prove?"

"You're the one with the aversion to marriage so that's for you to decide, Pepper. If you need some time to realize that I'm committed to you and that I'm not going anywhere, fine. But 30 days is my limit. I'm tired of playing games."

"You expect to do all of that in 30 days?"

He shook his head, frustrated. "Babe, I thought I already had. You're the one who's out dating other people."

She shot him an incredulous look at his recent addition to their argument. "You never said anything!"

"That's not true and you know it," he spat back at her, anger flashing across his face.

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. He was right and she knew it.

"There hasn't been anyone else and there never will be," he said slowly. "You know it's true and I think that's what scares you. You still don't want to trust me and I can't figure out why."

Hot tears started to stream down her face. "Because that's not even what this is about!" she yelled. "It's the fact that if you get hurt or worse and you…you…" she trailed off, succumbing to her tears.

"Die," he said solemnly, finishing her sentence for her. Finally, he understood. "This isn't about trust at all," he whispered. He shook his head and pulled her to him. "Pepper, you really think wasting time avoiding getting close to me is better than the unlikely event of you losing me if you did?" he asked warmly as he pulled her back to him, his chin resting on the top of her head as she leaned into him. "I think it would hurt just as much either way. You pretending not to care about me is just eating you up inside and you and I both know it."

The few tears grazing her cheeks turned into sobs and she struggled to pull away from him. "Yes, ok! I swore I'd quit after you started Iron Man but you wouldn't let me and then I couldn't bring myself to leave you! You just have to go be an idiot and try and save the world and you're going to kill yourself and that will kill me," she said as her fists connected with his chest.

"Stop, Pepper. Please," he said quietly as he grabbed her arms and tried to hold her as she fell apart. "I can't win this argument logically and I know it. I understand what you're saying but we have to do this because the regret will only kill us both faster."

"I can't…" she said abjectly.

"You can, Pepper," he said insistently, then sighed deeply. "Come on, let me take you home. I'll have Happy take you to your car in the morning."

She paused and gazed at him for a moment confused, wondering if he had decided the conversation was over. The look in his eyes told her it wasn't, but he led her back to the car without another word and drove back to her house. The twenty minute drive to her condo was silent, marked by nothing other than the simple gesture of his right hand holding her left, his fingertips running over her bare ring finger absently. When they got to her house, he walked her to her front door, her hand still firmly in his. As they reached the top of the steps, he took her other hand into his own as well, pressing the ring into it.

"If you need a night to process all of this that's fine, but I think we both know your answer isn't going to be no."

"How?" she asked softly.

"How what? Do I know that you won't say no?"

"How are you so sure about everything?" she exclaimed, removing her hands from his and wringing them nervously at her sides.

"I'm not, Pepper. I'm not sure about anything except for the fact that when I almost died, you were the only thing I thought about. Being with you, it's a reason to live."

"Our lives are too complicated and everything is such a mess right now. It won't work, Tony."

"Yes it will. Sure it'll be difficult, but not in the ways you think. You and me, it's always been easy, Pep. We may disagree and you may discourage my frequent tendencies towards avoiding anything work related, but personally we get along amazing. I know I was an ass before but I've never been anything less than respectful to you personally, Pepper. Now you know I'm in love with you and it scares you to get that close to me. I get that but you need to get over it. I'm not going anywhere willingly and you know that. It would be hard going public, but we can delay that as long as you want. The world doesn't need to know you're mine as long as I know." His heart ached and he sighed deeply. "The rest...the rest we'll figure out as we go, Pepper. We could make it work, I know we could."

The look on her face was completely torn. "How do you know? I know I love you, Tony. Truly I do. And I have no doubt that you love me. But this Iron Man thing, I can't do this. I think...I'm going to have to quit or transfer or something," she blurted out quickly. "I have to get away from you because watching you destroy yourself will kill me faster than it'll kill you," she choked as the tears kept falling steadily.

His eyes went wide, full of fear and hurt. "Don't leave, Pepper. Please. I'm not saying life will be perfect because I can't promise that, but I need someone to have my back, Pepper. I need someone who will stand beside me through thick and thin. Don't you trust me?" he asked quietly, his voice thick with emotion.

"Tony, this isn't about trusting you, I already told you that! Do I trust you to be faithful? Of course I do, you've never lied to me and the person you've become since...well, you're different now. But do I trust that you won't get yourself blown up? Absolutely not. And if you die, Tony, I won't survive it!"

"Then live with me now!"

She doubled over, wracked by her sobs. "I wish it were that simple."

He caught her before she fell and he pulled her up to face him, his hands on her shoulders. "Pepper, don't think, just answer. Do you love me?"

"Yes," she choked out.

"Do you want to marry me?"

"Yes," she answered quickly, surprising even herself. But just as quickly as she had answered, her rational side kicked in and she backtracked. "Maybe. I don't know! Tony, I...ugh. Why are you being so pushy?" she stammered, shoving him back a bit.

He looked away, sadness and doubt shining in his eyes. Given his strength as Iron Man and his public persona of infallibility, it was sometimes hard to remember how truly broken he was on the inside, emotionally fragile and complicated. "I'm sorry, Pepper. I swear I'm not trying to be. I want to be with you and I know you want to be with me. You're afraid about me getting hurt and I get that but you want me to make promises I can't make and that's not fair. I am Iron Man and that's not going to change. But, I'd be willing to make a few concessions."

"Such as?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"No more than three missions a month, unless it's an absolute emergency. And I'll let JARVIS give you updates whenever you want when I'm gone and I'll never leave without telling you."

They were simple things really, but they would do wonders for putting her mind at ease. Her eyes went wide. "You promise?"

"Pepper, I'd do anything for you."

She opened her mouth to respond but no words came. She looked deep into his eyes for a few moments, finally starting to see his reasoning. He wanted permanence, something constant in his ever-changing and fast paced life. It puzzled her at first, because he knew she'd always be there for him, at least professionally. But something had changed since she had threatened to quit, his often ill-concealed fear of people leaving him beginning to surface. That part she understood, but marriage? It seemed like a rash decision, and very uncharacteristic of Tony, which made her question his intentions and motivations for asking in the first place. Truthfully, she wouldn't mind being married to him, she just wasn't sure it would work. Since the advent of Iron Man, their lives were utterly chaotic and probably would remain so, at least for the time being. Still, some sort of personal relationship with Tony...it could be good. God, she loved him, faults and all, and if he was serious about this, well maybe it could work.

He closed the gap between them, wrapping his arms around her as she collapsed into him, emotionally and physically exhausted.

"Pepper, I'm sorry for being such a jerk. We don't have to get married or anything you don't want to do, I just...I need you." He sighed deeply. "I always will, Pepper."

She shook her head against his shoulder. "Tony, you don't have to apologize, I understand. You may not be the most tactful person in the world, but your heart is always in the right place." She pulled back slightly in order to face him. "I do love you, Tony," she whispered.

He nodded, "I know. I'm not saying it'll be easy, Pepper, but I do know that we'll be happy. I love you, you love me and that's it. Finally no more games."

She cocked her head, looking at him for a moment as she organized her thoughts. Brushing a stray piece of hair behind his ear, she sighed. "It's not that simple, Tony. I think I understand why you want this, but I still don't think we should get married. "

He sighed deeply as he tried to take everything in. A few weeks ago he had been looking through old photo albums of his parents, remembering the love and commitment that they had for each other...he wanted that. Still, maybe it was ok if they didn't get married. If she agreed to stay by his side, what difference was there if they got married or not anyway?

"If you want, forget I ever proposed. Just...please promise me you'll never leave me," he said hesitantly.

"Promise me you'll never leave me," she echoed in reply.

"Willingly? Never. It'll all work out, Pepper. We just have to take it one day at a time."

"One day at a time," she repeated with a nod and a shy grin as she intertwined her hands with his and led him inside. They had so much more to discuss, but that could wait for another day.

I've put a lot of work into this one and it's probably my favorite of all the stories I've written so far so I hope you enjoyed it!

Don't forget to review, I absolutely love hearing from all of you!

Lyrics from Beyonce's Single Ladies and Rehab's 1980.