Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel and its characters used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. I do not make any profits from it.

Tony was seated on the sofa in his living room, his legs crossed and his hand tapping away at the nearest pillow. His foot bobbed up and down. He hadn't bothered to turn on the lights in the living room. He was too busy worrying about Pepper.

His Girl Friday was out for the night. Ever since that boyfriend Nick of hers got back from the business trip he sent him to Italy (to get him out of Pepper's way), they've been out every night.

Since when did Pepper having a boyfriend ever bother you? he suddenly thought.

Tony's countenance darkened. It started to bother him when Pepper's work year turned 4. He's known her long enough to know that that boyfriend is not good for her. He calls her at night when she's supposed to be asleep! He takes her out on dates when she's supposed to eat lunch with Tony! Nick. Doesn't he know that Pepper doesn't have time to kiss him and bat her eyelashes? She has papers to file and contracts to force Tony to sign!

Tony grumbled. He looked down to his phone. Pepper still hadn't replied if she was coming home tonight.

Tony made her live with him now. He told himself it was because he needed her around for spontaneous errands.

"Sir, I believe that Miss Potts is on her way home," came the AI's crisp English voice.

That got Tony's attention.

He suddenly didn't know what to do. If Pepper found him waiting up, she'd ask questions. And Tony himself didn't even know why he was waiting up for her.

He could pretend to sleep. But that wouldn't do because then he couldn't "wake up" and interrogate Pepper on where she's been all night.

He saw a car entering the driveway.

Tony stood up and hissing at Jarvis, he asked, "What do I do? Give me a pose!"

If the AI had eyes he would be rolling them at his maker. "How about appear that you are going up to bed from the workshop, sir?"

"Genius! That's genius!" praised Tony as he walked down to his workshop. Pepper wouldn't ask why he was still awake. She'd assume he was working on a project. Heck she had to force him to get some sleep sometimes due to his attention to projects.

Down at the landing, he heard the door open. Tony was about to walk up when he heard Pepper sniffle.

"Good evening, Miss Potts."

"Hey, Jarvis." Her voice shook. It sounded like she was crying!

"You are crying, Miss Potts."

"No shit, Jarvis." Tony said under his breath.

"Yeah." Pepper glanced at the direction of the workshop. "Is Tony still up? Would you tell him that I'm home and that um, I'd like to spend some time alone?"

"Certainly, Miss Potts."

As Pepper got closer to the staircase, Tony finally went out of his hiding place.

He had the whole "Oh! Hey, Pepper! I didn't know you got home" thing planned but the minute he saw her face, the plan flew out of the window.

"Pepper, what's wrong?" Tony immediately put a hand on her arm and drew her closer. He put both hands on each side of her face. She was red from crying. Her eyes were swollen, no doubt from her efforts to rub the tears away. He felt a sudden urge to hide her in his house and keep her locked away from men such as Nick.

Pepper tried in vain to turn her face away from her boss. His hold was firm.

She decided to just look down to the ground and not at Tony.

"Pepper, what's wrong?" Tony repeated, "Was it that Nick guy? Did he hurt you?"

Pepper shook her head. "It's nothing. It's stupid."

"You? Stupid? I don't think so. There's got to be a reason. You're not one to be irrational."

More tears trickled down to Tony's hands.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But Pepper, if he did something bad to you I need to know."

Tony frowned. Pepper still refused to look at him. Well, if she didn't want to talk about it he wouldn't force her. He racked his brain for some other way to comfort her without making her do something she didn't want to.

"You want a drink?"

Tony figured that a drink wouldn't hurt. Alcohol tended to make him forget most of the time. Maybe it'd work for this morose girl in front of him.

Pepper finally looked at him. He couldn't help but notice how empty her eyes suddenly seemed.

She nodded and let him lead her to the mini bar in the dining room.

She sat silently at a nearby chair as she waited for her boss to hand her a glass. When he did, she downed it in one gulp.

"Whoa, slow down a bit," said Tony.

Pepper ignored him, grabbing the bottle from his hands and pouring herself another.

Tony found himself smirking at the sight of his usually prim, proper and sober PA. He itched to give her the speech she usually gave him on drinking too much. Given the situation however, it wouldn't be too nice.

By the fifth glass, Pepper's resolve was breaking. But she wasn't aware of that with the alcohol in her system.

She glanced up at her boss - the boss who patiently stood by her the whole night - and suddenly threw her arms around him and sobbed over his shoulder.

Tony was taken aback. Usually women who threw their arms around him weren't crying. Does he pat her back? He decided it wouldn't hurt to do so.

"I thought he was going to propose!"

Tony's hand stilled. Well, a proposal did not cross his mind.

Pepper continued to half-sob, half-cry out "We've been together for 5 years and he's been hinting that he had something big for me tonight. So I got my hopes up and I thought- I thought-"

"He didn't propose," Tony concluded for her.

She pulled back a bit to look at him and asked, "I mean, am I that undesirable for a wife? I'm already 27 and I still work for somebody. I just..." She went on to talk about how her life was. She grew angrier as she went on.

But Tony had stopped listening as a part of him was mad that Nick had the nerve to disappoint Pepper. Who the hell does he think he is, getting a girl's hopes up like that? Another part of Tony wanted to punch Nick right through a wall. Just a part, though. Most of the things Tony felt were relief and amusement. He was relieved that Pepper was not engaged although he had no idea why. He was also amused at the problem. Nick just let this amazing girl go? Well, that just shows how much he doesn't deserve Pepper.

Tony held Pepper tighter as she continued to rant about her ex-boyfriend. Wait? Ex-boyfriend?

He turned his attention back to her.

"Did you say ex-boyfriend?"

Pepper's flushed face looked at Tony, annoyed at being interrupted. "Weren't you listening?! Yes, I broke up with him!"

So, Pepper was a mad drunk. Hmm. A mad sober Pepper wasn't scary, but a drunk mad Pepper...well, he had no experience with that seeing as he never saw her drunk.

Tony let out a slow "whyyyyy" in order to gauge her reaction and see if he asked the right question or not. When it didn't seem to provoke her, he continued, "Why? Not that I don't want you to break up with him. But why?"

Pepper didn't lash out but she was still a bit miffed. "Well, clearly he had no intention of making something more out of our relationship! Whereas I wanted more, you know. I want to be a wife!" She beat his chest with her small hand, "To have a purpose in life other than haranguing you to sign papers! I just- I want more, Tony! How hard is it to ask a question?! To commit?!"

Tony winced as she hit him again. He slowly moved away from her.

"I thought that he could give it to me, you know! I could always count on him! Turns out I was wrong."

The moment Pepper had said that, wheels started turning in Tony's head. It took less than minute before the genius could reply.

"I could give it to you."

Pepper's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at her boss. "Give me what?"

Tony shrugged. "I could, you know, give it to you. More."

"I'm not as smart as you Tony," Pepper growled, her patience thinning. "You're going to have to explain-"

"Marriage. More. A husband," he stated.

Tony didn't know whether or not he was doing the right thing. But it felt right. He wanted to be with Pepper. He couldn't stand another person being with her. Did he love her? No! Tony doesn't even know what love even is. What he knows is that he wants Pepper all to himself. She was like rare scotch to him and he didn't want anybody else having her. And seeing as Pepper is sad about being single, proposing is the perfect solution. Although, he made a mental note to keep the scotch away from her. He didn't like drunk mad Pepper. Drunk mad Pepper was scary. And abusive.

Tony took her hands in his. When she didn't punch him for touching her without permission, he said "Let's get married. I could take care of you. Or you could take care of me seeing as that's the way it already is. I can give you more, Pep! Anything you could want. A house. Money. Power. And I'd be your husband."

Pepper remained silent and it encouraged him to say more. "Nick is a jerk. He's an ass for not knowing what he had. I am willing to give up everything for you if it means I can make you happy. My status as a playboy. All the girls. I'd only have you and I'd be okay with it. Hell, that's how things already are between us!"

Pepper let out an amused chuckle. Then, she hit him again. "Are you crazy? I'm not going to accept your pity proposal!"

"Ow! It's not out of pity!" Tony backed away.

She gave her boss a look. "Are you saying you're proposing to me right now because you love me?"

"No. I'm proposing right now because it's what you want. I'm being selfless here! Okay, maybe not completely selfless because I want you too."

"Tony, we don't love each other! Nick and I did and that's what made it okay to think of marriage with him. But to you... marriage is a big thing. You're not ready for that. It's more than what you could possibly handle even with me around doing most of the dirty work." In her pain and drunken state, Pepper failed to notice how her words stung the person who comforted her just minutes earlier.

"Does it have to be for love? Why can't it be for mutual stability? We care for each other, don't we?" Tony had unconsciously raised his voice, battling against what Pepper was insinuating - that he wouldn't make a good husband, couldn't make a good husband.

"Yes!"

"Then, what's the problem?!"

Pepper remained quiet. Even she didn't know why she didn't want to accept Tony's proposal. He was offering her what she wanted, wasn't he?

Tony on the other hand was red at the face because of the refusal. Here he was offering this girl the world and she refused it? He suddenly felt warm at the embarrassment.

"You know, Pep, maybe you want to marry for the wrong reasons too," he said quietly.

Pepper winced.

"You want to have a purpose other than being my PA. You want to be able to say that you had actually done something worth it and you thought getting married was it. Marriage, love. It isn't like that though, is it? Using a person so that you can feel better about yourself."

Pepper looked away. Even if she wasn't sober she recognized the truth in Tony's words and it was a bitter pill to swallow.

"Maybe you're right. I'm not ready for marriage. But at least I acknowledge that. Do you?"

Tony spun around and headed back to his workshop. He needed to take his mind off the sting of Pepper's refusal.

A/N: Heavier than the first chapter. But I wanted to establish growth in the two characters before having them get together. We know that it took a lot of time for Tony to realize he really loves Pepper in the true love kind of sense. So far, Tony's been proposing for very stupid reasons. And then this is the first one that could actually be called "serious". Well, serious for Tony. He doesn't understand that his "love" for Pepper is based on wanting what he can't have, rather than wanting or loving her for being her. And Pepper, well, I gave her her own issues for the sake of this story. :) Hope you guys liked it! Tell me what you think!