"I'm sorry, Pep."

Thankfully, the doctors let Pepper go home the day after. She wasn't generally a restless person, but she could only take sitting in a hospital bed for so long before she started to go a little insane, mostly because she was just fine and had too much work to do and really, her shoulder would heal on its own.

But of course she had to go and get mildly concussed, so she was still on bed rest for a couple days anyway. At least it wasn't in that hard and scratchy hospital bed and there wasn't such a thing as visiting hours, so she supposed she could deal with it. The sling her left arm was stuck in wouldn't exactly help her work, either.

Then Tony had come by, and suddenly none of that really mattered.

"I'm really sorry."

He was standing in the doorway when Pepper looked up at him, most of his expression blank except for the guilt and apology she could see in those big, inky eyes of his. It was a rare look on Tony, or maybe just for people who couldn't read him like a book like Pepper could.

"Honestly, Pep. It was so, so stupid of me – I know I do stupid stuff a lot, you know I do, but this one just… this one tops it. I don't know how I can make this up to you. Or if I even can. I don't know. Your choice."

Pepper always acted like she was annoyed by Tony's rambling, but truthfully, it always assured her that he meant what he was saying. Tony was a man of many words, and it was both a blessing and a curse for everybody involved.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

Pepper didn't really know why she wasn't saying anything. There were certainly plenty of things to say, some better than others – she could comfort him, tell him it wasn't his fault and that she forgave him; she could scold him for being so irresponsible (sadly, that's probably the one he was expecting); she could concede and admit that no, the whole thing was actually her fault and he had nothing to be sorry for, or hell, she could just kiss him like she was absolutely dying to right now. But he was too far away across the room, and she couldn't get much out of her mouth apart from a question he probably didn't want to answer.

"Why didn't you stay at the hospital with me?"

Tony blinked and looked away, successfully hiding whatever kind of shame had slipped into his dark eyes. "Because I couldn't stand to look at what I did to you."

Oh.

That stung.

"Tony." She said his name gently and nonthreateningly, just to let him know that she wasn't angry with him. By all means she probably should have been, it had been a stupid move on both of their parts, but the traces of the expression she could see on Tony's face brought out that soft and sympathetic side of her that she'd worked for years to keep hidden underneath a mask of pure professionalism. "Come sit with me, please?"

For a few seconds, Tony actually looked like he was about to leave. He just stayed standing in the doorway, almost seeming like he was afraid to touch her, like he would just break her more if he did. That wasn't a look she wanted to see on him – not now, not ever. Eventually, though, he walked towards the bed and sat on the edge next to Pepper, and she hoped that meant he realized that she wasn't broken, and even if she had been, it wasn't because of him.

Pepper stayed seated comfortably on the mattress while she waited for Tony to get settled beside her. He was still keeping his distance, something that was definitely unusual for him, and Pepper wanted to close it but she figured that maybe it wasn't a great idea right now. Instead she reached out her hand that wasn't stuck in a sling and rested her palm on Tony's knee, trying to show him without words that it was okay.

"You know, Pep, back when you were my PA I used to wonder how you dealt with me every day without losing it," Tony started, the corner of his mouth actually quirking into a little smile. "That's probably easy compared to this, huh?"

Pepper just shrugged a little in reply and squeezed his knee. "There isn't much of a difference," she replied easily, "all that's changed is that now we just make out a lot more," she joked weakly.

"And sleep together."

"That, too."

"And Bruce."

"Yes, and Bruce."

Tony turned his gaze back onto her at that comment, his shoulders slumped, but not in that normal, deliberate way that for some reason he always thought made him look looser. "I'm sorry I'm such an ass, Pepper."

With Tony, getting him to apologize was usually like pulling teeth. He either didn't want to admit he'd been wrong or he was just too stubborn to get the words out because he thought it made him look vulnerable or something like that, but the words this time slipped off his tongue without a fight. To say the least, Pepper was a little surprised, but the look on Tony's face and in his eyes erased the feeling almost immediately.

"Thank you for apologizing," Pepper said gently, rubbing her hand lightly along his upper leg, "but not for being an ass."

"Then what am I supposed to apologize for?" Tony asked, almost sounding frustrated since he seemed to think that she hadn't or wasn't going to forgive him. "What am I supposed to do, Pepper? How do you want me to make this up to you?"

Pepper sighed softly, lifting her hand from his knee to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. Well, there was that typical exterior of his that had taken years and years for her to even begin to crack. "You don't need to make it up to me, Tony," she said, giving him a pointed glance to tell him to let her finish. "I don't want you to. I just want you to stop blaming yourself, because you don't need to. Okay?" She could tell that Tony probably didn't believe her, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary. He was a tough man to convince.

Pepper decided to scoot a little closer to Tony when he didn't seem to be responding. She wanted nothing more than to just put her arms around him and hold him tight until he believed her, but she really only had access to her right arm so she figured that would do. She folded her legs beneath her and pressed against his side, draping her arm over his front and setting her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder. For a few moments he didn't move and it was just Pepper hanging onto him, holding him like she'd never let go if she didn't have to, until she felt Tony's arms finally slide around her and anchor around her back.

"I never wanted to hurt you," Tony murmured, and even though the sentiment was unnecessary, it was still appreciated. "If there's anything I could undo, it would be every time I've hurt you."

Pepper felt herself break inside just a little more at Tony's words. She kept her head tucked against his shoulder and slid her hand up a bit to comb her fingers through the back of his hair, tangling in the soft strands. "I don't," she replied quietly, gently rubbing the back of his neck. "Things happen, Tony. We're all going to hurt each other at some point. You, me, Bruce. All of us. It's nobody's fault, and we're going to forgive each other, because that's the only way this is ever going to work. This is progress, right?" She lifted her head to meet his gaze, but had to nudge his face towards hers to even get him to look remotely in her direction.

"I guess," he muttered, still sounding unsure, "but that's not going to stop me from still feeling like an -"

"Tony." Pepper cut him off abruptly, a little firmer than she has before, since she knew exactly where he was going with that. "Don't. Please. I can't control what you think about yourself, but please, don't. This could have been so much worse than it actually was, you don't have any reason to keep beating yourself up for it. Maybe, yes, I wish you hadn't been drinking as much, but it's over, and I forgive you. I forgive you."

Before Tony could protest and try to find a way to make Pepper regret her forgiveness, she turned his head towards hers again and closed the distance between their lips, kissing him long and hard like she'd been aching to for days. He didn't push her away or break the embrace, so Pepper took that as him telling her that he wanted it too, and that just maybe he'd realized that he deserved to be forgiven.

After a few moments they had to break apart, both staying close enough that they were breathing in each other's air. Tony's hands were warm at Pepper's waist and her hand was still tangled in his hair, a small grin on her lips that looked almost stupid with pleasure. "Have I ever told you," Tony started, his voice just barely above a murmur, "that I'm really, really glad you're not my PA anymore?"

Pepper actually laughed a little bit at that. Yeah, she was really glad too, maybe a little too much. "I love you, Mr. Stark," she replied, leaning forward to press her forehead against his.

"I love you too, Miss Potts," Tony returned effortlessly, just before he did his very best to kiss her breathless.