note: I got a lot of great comments on my first Iron man story (all the time we need) so I thought I would post this. this is a work in progress. and it will be a while before I continue it because I am on non-tech summer vacation for 2.5 months. (my brain working on ideas is not on a break. is I will be loaded with new ideas when I get back. until then I hope you enjoy this. please leave a comment on what you think.

Happy Hogan, Tony Starks personal driver who is also a lot more than just a driver, walks into Tonys big Malibu mansion. He comes into the big Livingroom where he sees Tony walking around, listening to some romantic music. He is wearing his usual black sweatpants and black body fitting t-shirt with the characteristic blue light in his chest. Happy notice that Tony is setting the table for Two people. Tony never serves breakfast for his many one-night stands. He usually always sneaks out on them in the morning. And also, Tony seems very happy… happier than usual when he has slept with another blonde reporter.

"good morning, Tony." Happy finally says after he has been watching Tony dancing and singing while he was setting the table.

"Oh, morning, Hap. Did you bring what I asked you?" Tony asks and turns of the music and walks over to Happy.

"yes." Happy hands Tony a bag with bread he picked up on the way as Tony asked him to do.

"Tony, I thought you were going to stop doing this." Happy says a little disappointed in his friend and boss.

"doing what? Eating breakfast? It is the most important meal of the day:" Tony jokes with a smile as he walks over to the table and arranges the bread on the table.

"Tony…" Happy says in a serious tone. "I thought you were going to stop being a playboy."

"how is making breakfast being a playboy?" Tony asks, confused.

Happy walks over to Tony, who is standing next to the dining table.

"I thought you had feelings for Pepper?" Happy starts.

"I do." Tony cuts him off. Tony clearly has no idea where Happy is going with this.

"Miss Potts is a professional businesswoman…" yeah why do you think I made her my CEO of Stark Industries." Tony cuts him off and walks to the kitchen to check on the coffeemaking that Jarvis is doing. Happy signs slowly before he follows Tony to the kitchen.

"Tony, Miss Potts is not going to be interested in you as long as you keep this playboy style with a new reporter in your bed all the time." "she is not a reporter." Tony cuts him off quickly and walks by Happy into the living room with 2 cups of freshly made coffee. Happy follows him.

"Tony…" Happy says to try and get his boss to stop moving around and start to pay attention even though he knows getting Tony to pay attention to a conversation he doesn't want to have is next to impossible.

"What?" Tony says. Looking right past Happy even though Happy is standing right in front of him. It is one of Tony's character trades when he doesn't really want to listen to the person in front of him.

"you told me a month ago that you have feelings for Pepper." Happy states. Tony doesn't like to talk about his feelings.

"so…" Tony says, trying to brush it off.

"if you are really serious about having feelings for Pepper, you need to stop this playboy style. She is never going to see you as a man for her if you keep this lifestyle up. You need to stop sleeping around with all of these women." Happy says, referring to his clearly romantic settings for breakfast. Now he has Tony's attention.

"this is actually for me and Miss Potts," Tony says, trying to get away from the conversation.

In the meantime, Pepper, who was asleep upstairs in the guestroom, has awoken and is walking down the stairs to the living room when she hears Tony and Happy talking in the living room. She stops on the stairs to listen.

"Tony for how many years have miss Potts been working for you now? 8 years?" Tony nods as a confirmation for that approximate number of years. Tony has his arms crossed over his chest. He clearly doesn't like where this conversation is going. "you have been flirting with her since the very moment you hired her as your PA, and she has been brushing you off every time. What makes you think that a romantic breakfast is going to change anything?" Happy gives Tony time to answer, but he doesn't say anything so Happy continues.

"the only thing that will make Pepper see you as anything other than a billionaire playboy womanizer is if you give up the playboy lifestyle. You haven't exactly shown an effort to do that lately." Happy points out. That last comment makes Tony upset.

"I have been dying these past few weeks. My arc reactor has been poisoning me." Tony says a little too loud. Happy is shocked.

"I am better now, and I am trying to make things right with Pepper. I am crazy about her, and I am going to spend every day of the rest of my life, making sure I am going to be a guy worthy of her love." Tony says in an angry tone. Happy look really shocked at him. Happy has never heard Tony speak so honest about his feelings and never seen Tony getting so upset about anyone criticizing his playboy lifestyle. Pepper has been standing on the staircase and heard the whole thing. She has never heard Tony or anyone ever speak about her like that before and if she ever had any thought about the events of last night and Tony's intentions with her… they definitely just went out the window. Pepper never thought of Tony as a very romantic guy, but what he just said… or more accurately blurted out in Happy's face. Definitely showed that Tony was somewhat able to be romantic. Tonys voice in the livingroom snapped Pepper back to reality.

"would you please leave now, Hap."

Happy look at Tony disappointed.

"Tony…"

"leave now. I am trying to make this right, and you aren't exactly helping my mood." Tony says with his arms still crossed over his chest. He looks angry at Happy.

"What are you planning to do? Walk up to her and kiss her the second, she walks through the door?" Happy asks. Tony raises an eyebrow to hint a "maybe."

"she is going to smack you in the face if you do that."

That comment makes both Tony and Pepper smile. Until last night on the roof, she would definitely have done that. Happy starts walking towards the door, but before he reaches the door, he turns around with one last comment.

"whatever you do… just don't screw it up, in your usual Tony Stark way."

"that is my specialty," Tony says with his typical cocky smile, and that brings out a nervous smile on Happy before he walks out the door. It also makes Pepper smile. She is starting to get could standing on the staircase, but she doesn't want to walk into the living room right this second, because then she will bust her self and show Tony that she has been listening in on their conversation.

"Hey, Jarvis…" Tony says.

"yes, sir." The loyal British AI answers.

"is miss Potts awake yet?" Tony asks.

On the staircase Pepper is preying the AI won't give her hiding spot away.

"yes, boss. Miss Potts is on the staircase."
Inside her head, Pepper is cursing the AI. She isn't sure how Tony is going to react to the fact that she just overheard him poured his heard out about her, which apparently isn't the first time he has done that, but she has never heard him doing that before about her… or anyone.

When Pepper woke up and saw Tony was gone, she had feared that he had snuck out on her like he always does to his one night stands. But still, she had had a pretty good feeling about this. She had spent her first night with Tony. Even though they hadn't had sex but just snuggled together and fallen asleep in each other's arms, which was totally out of character for Playboy Tony Stark. She still had a really good feeling about it. But now… that she had secretly overheard Tony pouring his heard out about her to Happy. She wasn't so sure how he would react.