"Oh!" Pepper looked up in the general direction of the ceiling, where they always seemed to look for JARVIS, although he was everywhere. "Yes, please! I'll..." Remembering what she needed to do once she saw him again, she was suddenly in less of a hurry to get there to meet him. "I'll... tell him I'll be right there, JARVIS."
Sighing, Pepper went to find Tony. For the first time, she knew it wasn't going to be a problem getting off work early to go see Phil, because he knew just as well as she did what was coming. Appreciating the look of stolid support and blithe reassurance he tossed at her glibly as if they didn't matter, Pepper smiled and inhaled before grabbing her things and heading home.
And panicking. Grateful for the traffic separating her from her own building only blocks away from Tony's, it took her the entire drive to calm down again. She didn't know if she could do this, or even if she wanted to. Phil was wonderful; the kindest, most tolerant man she'd ever met. Why did she want to give that up when she could just try harder?
Knowing her door would be unlocked, Pepper went through it slowly, the knot in her stomach making her nauseous. She couldn't do this.
He was there waiting for her, and the first moment she saw him, Pepper was in a full blown flashback. She was watching her brother take his last breath after two long years of fighting. She was standing on a runway watching Tony step off a plane, three months after she'd forced him onto one. It was this enormous release from continuous fear and stress, and Pepper remembered why she'd decided their relationship wasn't working for her.
Slowly letting her bags fall to the floor, Pepper went to Phil and hugged him tightly, her tears wetting his jacket. "I'm so glad you're home," she told him. "I'm glad you're safe. I was... "