Most probably not the best chapter I ever wrote, and definitely not the longest, but I hope you like it anyway!

The song to this is 'Beautiful to Me' by Olly Murs.

I don't own the characters or places!

Tony

"Tony, did you even listen to a single thing I just said?" Rhodey asked, ripping me out of my thoughts.

"Of course." I looked up from my notes, only to find my best friend frowning at me. After a few moments of silence in which Rhodey looked sceptical, I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "Well, alright, maybe not."

"I said that we need more supplies. But I'm sure you knew that already." It was true, I'd already feared that I couldn't finish the reactor like this. We needed more metals and also palladium, which was hard to get at the moment. "So tell me, what's bothering you?"

"Why should anything bother me?" I threw in, but I knew that most probably, it wasn't very convincing. "Everything's fine. We're making progress, the press is running wild with speculations about the technology and -"

"It's Pepper, isn't it?" Rhodey interrupted me and I could hear the concern in his voice.

I ran a hand through my hair again and turned away from him, walking towards the big window slowly. When I didn't reply for some time, I heard his footsteps behind me. "Did you have a fight?"

"No." We didn't have a fight. At least not really. I knew that she was stressed and worked far too much. Pepper tried to handle everything by herself, something which could only go wrong. When I tried to explain it to her, she'd snapped at me, saying I shouldn't say such things, after all I didn't know a single thing about how everything worked in politics. After all, I'd just pretended to be a politician. She even told me to mind my own business, something which wasn't like her at all.

I'd known that she was just angry, but the words had hurt anyway. After ending the phone call, I threw my phone onto the next table and made my way to Malibu to look how things in the house were going. It helped me to calm down again and soon, I was rather worried than disappointed. Because obviously, Pepper wasn't alright.

I'd considered going to Washington to see her and maybe help her a little, but I also knew how proud Pepper was. Surely, she wouldn't want me to pity her. So I'd stayed in LA and not long after, I received a text from her, telling me that she was sorry for her harsh words. We didn't talk again that day, instead I wrote her that it was fine and I understood how difficult things had to be for her.

A few days had passed ever since and we didn't talk that much. Only twice, to be exact. It felt strange, not hearing from Pepper every day. But I knew that giving her space was the best thing I could do at the moment.

"So what's going on then? You've been so silent the past days, that isn't like you at all." Rhodey smiled. "You don't have to tell me, of course. It's fine."

"I think Pepper's overestimating herself." In short words, I explained about all her duties and the phone call. When I was finished, Rhodey sighed deeply.

"That sounds so much like her. But surely her team will tell her the same as you did?"

"I hope so." I shrugged. "But will she listen to them?"

"She can be quite stubborn at times." Rhodey nodded in agreement. "Like someone else I know."

I rolled my eyes. "This isn't about me."

"It troubles you. That you don't know how to help her."

"Of course it does." I sighed. "I considered going there, but I fear it will make everything worse."

"But from what you said, it doesn't seem like she's angry at you." Rhodey raised his eyebrows. "So what's stopping you?"

"I can't always run to her the first moment there are problems. Pepper is so strong, she can handle those things by herself." I noticed that I didn't sound very convincing.

"You're scared that she doesn't want you there." Of course he saw right through me! Inwardly, I cursed.

"It's not that." I tried to argue, but Rhodey was already smiling.

"It is. Tony, she's crazy about you! She would never push you away."

"You didn't hear her, Rhodey." I closed my eyes. "It was awful, hearing those things from her."

"We all say stupid things when we're angry or stressed. She apologized." He crossed his arms. "Tony -" He was about to say something more, but my phone rang, interrupting our conversation. Somehow, I was glad about it.

A look at the screen told me that it was Loki. "Hey, what's going on?" I knew that he just had a meeting with Obadiah and Hope, discussing our new public strategy.

"You won't believe what just happened." Loki announced and I could hear excitement in his voice. Without thinking about it, I put him on speaker so Rhodey could also hear him.

"Tell us. Rhodey can hear you too." From the tone of his voice, I suspected that it was something good.

"You wanted me to take Scott to the meeting, which I did. He's good at making plans, by the way." I exchanged a frown with Rhodey. Where was this going? "But he was a little distracted. Hope too, by the way. Did you know that they had a thing for each other?"

"A thing?" Rhodey asked slowly.

"Like, they're crazy about each other! They didn't stop staring the entire time. At some point, Obadiah ended the meeting, saying that it would be of no use today. We have some results, though. After we were finished, the two of them just ran off together."

After processing the words for a few moments, I started to laugh. "Those are good news, Loki!" In fact, we all had caught Scott staring at Hope more than once. "Finally, they made the first move."

"About time." Rhodey agreed. "All those lovesick stares across rooms were getting on my nerves." He smiled widely at this and I rolled my eyes once more. Of course he'd already thought the same back when I met Pepper for the first time.

"Is there anything else, Loki?" I asked and when he didn't have more news, we ended the call.

"You should really talk to Pepper." Rhodey said after a while. "It would be good for both of you." Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed his things and went to the door. "I'll get the orders for more supplies ready." Then he was gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

It was later that day when my phone rang again. I was in Malibu, looking through a few things in the lab. Surprisingly, it was one of the things which kept me calm at the moment. It was like after I'd accepted the legacy of my father, it was easier to be in the place he made for me. It even brought me peace to work in the laboratory.

I glanced at the screen and was surprised to see that Pepper was calling me. Didn't she have a meeting now? I accepted the call quickly, having the feeling that something was wrong. "Hey Pep, how are you? Everything alright?"

"Tony." Her voice was quiet, but I could hear a mixture of feelings in it. Relief. Worry. Sadness. It made me drop the screwdriver I was still holding in my other hand.

"What's wrong?" I asked quickly. "Did something happen? "

"I can't do this." She muttered and it sounded like she was crying. It made me freeze. "Everything goes wrong, no matter what it is. It's like I can't do anything right!"

"What is it, love?" I moved before I really knew what I was doing. Only moments later, I was in one of the cars and drove back towards LA. "You're doing a great job. Everyone loves you."

"They don't. It's all a disaster!" She argued quietly. "I'm not even sure how I ever thought that I could do this."

"You can. You're the strongest woman I know. I love you, Pepper. You're so amazing."

"I miss you, Tony. What I said a few days ago... I didn't mean it. I was just so angry and stressed... Today, something went incredibly wrong." In short words, she explained to me how someone ignored her instructions and that she feared the press would run wild because of this now.

"Everyone makes mistakes." I threw in. "And this doesn't seem so bad, it's just a tiny thing. No one will notice."

"They will." She sighed deeply. "I'm sorry for bothering you with all this."

"Don't apologize." I interrupted her quickly. "I want you to call me when you're upset. I'm always there for you, Pepper." While I waited in front of a traffic light, I sent a short text to Steve, telling him to get the plane ready.

"Tony..." She stopped and I could hear someone talking in the background. It sounded like Phil. "I have to go, but I'll call you back as soon as possible."

"I love you." I replied simply.

"I love you too. And Tony... thank you." With that, she ended the call.

I arrived in Washington in the middle of the night. Normally, I would have tried to avoid it, but the urge to get to Pepper was too strong. On the airport, a car was already waiting for me. To my surprise, Phil leaned on it, hands buried deep in the pockets of his coat. He smiled when he saw me, though I could see concern in his eyes.

"How is she?" I asked instead of greeting him. He didn't seem to mind. He just gestured for me to get into the car while Steve, who'd accompanied me to Washington, put our luggage in the back of the car.

"When I left, she was asleep." He explained. "But she's not well. She always denies it, but she's working too hard. She wants to deal with everything herself and that's too much for one person, even if she's the President."

"I shouldn't have left." I muttered darkly and ran a hand through my hair. After the flight, in which I kept thinking about Pepper all the time, I was tired.

"It's not your fault." Phil argued softly. "We all tried to make her understand that she wasn't alone in this, but she's too stubborn to listen."

"I can imagine." I muttered thoughtfully and looked out of the window while we drove through Washington. Normally, I loved driving through cities at night and looking at all the lights. Right now, however, it only made me nervous.

"I cleared her schedule for tomorrow." This was a surprise and I raised my eyebrows. "She needs some time to relax. And besides, it's Sunday tomorrow."

"Pepper won't like that at all." I pointed out.

"I don't think she'll mind. Not when you're around." He smiled once more. "Thank you for coming."

"I can't leave her alone in all this. I bet she'll be furious once she gets to know that I'm here, but I don't care." We'd talked again some time ago and I didn't tell her that I was on my way to Washington. Surely, it would make her feel guilty to know that I left LA for her. Which was complete nonsense, after all we couldn't continue working on the reactor anyway. And the others were there to deal with everything that came up in my absence.

"She'll calm down soon." Phil nodded in agreement. "It will be good for her to have you here."

We spent the rest of the drive in silence. When we arrived at the White House, I exchanged a look with Steve. Phil had prepared two guest rooms for us, but we both knew that I wouldn't use mine. Instead, I let myself in Pepper's rooms with the spare key she'd given me once she'd moved in. As quietly as possible, I changed into something more comfortable and made my way to the bedroom.

The curtains weren't completely closed and the room was illuminated by the light of the moon. Pepper was lying in bed, breathing quietly. When I got closer, I noticed that even in sleep, there was a troubled expression on her face. I sat down on the bed and reached out to touch her cheek carefully.

"Tony..." She whispered in her sleep and I smiled softly.

"I'm here, Pep." I whispered when I laid down next to her. "I'm here."