Tony Stark wasn't having the best of days, or months really.

It all started about four months after the invasion when he woke up to an empty bed for the first time since he began dating Pepper Potts. The abnormally cold bed had sent a slight shiver down his spine. The wrinkled note she left on her side almost went unnoticed. Once Tony read it, his heart was crushed.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry." it said.

He was dumped.

Tony called her shortly afterwards, wanting an explanation. Pepper answered only a week later, simply saying, "I can't deal with the constant danger, and besides, I'm in love with someone else. Sorry."

Stark turned back to the drinking, partying, and staying locked in his lab. It hurt, it really did. He wasn't sure what else to do. Fortunately Pepper was still his CEO so his company wasn't in shambles. She did come by every now and then to make sure he was still alive, but nothing more.

Now, four months later, Tony wasn't exactly doing the best...'up in the attic' wise.

The (fake) busty blonde he was currently escorting upstairs to his tower penthouse was too chatty and a little too drunk for his likes. Every other second, she was shrieking then pushing him against the nearest wall just to attack his face with whatever her definition of kissing was. It was so damn annoying and it was a wonder he made it that far. Honestly, he wouldn't have been surprised if she made out with the cab they had ridden.

"Ah! Ah! Tony, it's rather nice in here!" she cooed once the elevator finally reached the penthouse.

"That's not the only thing," Stark began, leaning down to kiss her when, suddenly, she jumped up and flailed her arms about. The iron man let out a heavy sigh in disgust and simply moved away. He needed more to drink.

"JARVIS, make sure she doesn't break anything."

"Yes sir."

Tony made his way to his bar and with an expert motion, grabbed a scotch, and guzzled it down straight from the bottle. It burned his throat the whole way down and he reveled in the feeling. It felt much better than interacting with the blonde. Perhaps he should just sleep with the bottle. It'd be better than a night with-

Something tackled him to the ground and his bottle shattered right on his feet and hands. The blonde hugging him from behind squawked and Tony decided that was it.

He roughly escorted her back to the elevator with the glass still in his skin and blood seeping out. "JARVIS, take her down, get a cab, and make sure she gets home. Also record her into the list of girls never coming back."

"Sir, would you-"

"Now JARVIS!"

He turned away with a huff to clean himself off.

Things didn't get any better for him. Being somewhat drunk, he stumbled over to his bathroom where he sat down and prayed that he wouldn't cause the glass to pierce his skin any deeper.

After removing what he thought was all the shards (he was at a point where he didn't care about the tiny shards anymore), he jumped right into the shower. The poor thing slipped and fell a couple of times, not helping the searing pain in his feet and hands.

Muttering many curses, he eventually ended his shower, applied bandages to his wounds, and made his way to his closet. He slipped on a pair of jeans, a band t-shirt that was perhaps one size too small, and made his way to his lab. It would hurt as hell to tinker after all he's been through, and most people would have just gone to bed. Tony Stark wasn't most people, okay?

"JARVIS, get the lab ready for me?"

"Sir, what would you like to hear today?" His AI responded, polite as ever.

"Anything, I don't give a damn at the moment." he said, entering his workspace. He gave a sigh of relief before opening up his latest project.

"Right away sir." JARVIS responded and promptly put on a rather upbeat, teeny-bopper tune.

I just need somebody to looooooveeee, I I don't need to much, just somebody to lo-

"JARVIS, TURN THAT SHIT OFF!" Tony yelled.

He collapsed onto the floor, completely done. He just couldn't take it anymore, really. Almost all his days seemed to turn out the same way and there was no escaping it. Tony wanted to cry, but he didn't. He wasn't sure why, but he just refused to let it out.

Instead though, he found a paperclip laying a little distance away, neglected just like him. Just like him, it was left on the floor, forgotten. Dusty. Lonely. He grabbed it, and held it close to his chest. Yes, he understood it. Him and the paperclip were just the same. "Poor thing," Tony said, cuddling it. "I'll be here for you."

He fell silent and stared around at his lab for long moments, not sure what to do now. But then, it seemed like he didn't need to figure it out for himself as something decided to come crashing through his roof at that precise moment.

A/N: Hey there! Sorry if anyone seems out of character. This is my first real fanfiction! Thank you for reading and I'll update soon. (: