Tony had never been so nervous and flustered in his life as he sat in front of Pepper's desk. She was beyond pissed at him. He was hoping she would cool off in the time between then and the birthday party, but no such luck. She glared at him with her eyes narrowed, making him want to shrink back into his chair. She made a pretty intimidating CEO.
He had tried to tell her what he's been trying to tell her for years now... he loved her more than he had ever loved anything else in the world. She gave him a reason to be who he was today, not the playboy drunk narcissist part, but basically everything else like being Iron Man and at least trying to redeem his past life of parties every night and waking up to a new girl every morning. He tried to tell her, but it was harder than he thought. He never faltered with his words or let alone his charm yet here he was sitting in front of her desk looking down while Natalie intruded into the room. Tony didn't pay attention to what she said. He was completely lost in what just happened.
He'd messed up. He knew this and he knew that Pepper had every right to be mad. He was finally working up the courage to say something though, just to be shot down pretty hard. He'd never felt this kind of pain in his chest. What if she didn't love him? He could never tell. Sometimes she'd be close to throwing herself off of a cliff with how crazy Tony drove her, and other times he could see the way she looked at him and recognize how he looked at her in that very same way. But now... he ruined it. He couldn't even get the words out. He supposed only the person who caused him so much happiness had the ability to hurt him just as much.
"Will that be all, boss?" Happy's voice came from the door way. Tony turned and began to say,
"Yeah, that'll..." , but Pepper interrupted him.
"Yes, that'll be all Happy." she said. Happy nodded and looked awkwardly between Tony and Pepper. Tony raised his eyebrows and sat back into his chair.
"Well, looks like I lost both kids in the divorce." he joked, trying to lighten the mood. He chuckled but then faltered when he saw Happy glaring at him.
"No?" he muttered to Happy who shook his head. He tried to cover up the fact that he was hurting, and he had always been pretty good at that. He tried to even push the feeling of Pepper not feeling the same for him down, but he couldn't. God, he loved her so much and he wished that it wouldn't be so hard to tell her. He couldn't imagine life without her, she was basically the reason he breathed. Tony sighed and drummed his fingers on his knee. He would fix himself then tell her... he had too. He just simply couldn't live without Pepper Potts.
A/N: probably going to start up on the new Pepperony story soon, I'm taking a slight criminal minds break thanks to my boyfriend who got me hooked! Everything Pepperony is dedicated to him