Of course Tony loved Pepper. She was his best friend. It wouldn't be fair to call their eventual marriage one of convenience, because that was leaving out important details. But it wasn't exactly wrong, either. They were wrapped up in each other, because they'd been there at the beginning -- and who could possibly have been able to deal with the shit that they had? Tony, unwisely, had assumed no one at all.
Steve wasn't the only one who couldn't get his head out of his ass. Although after Siberia, it hadn't seemed stupid to drop his pipe-dream and move on with his life.
Morgan was still a point of contention for him. The thought of her made him genuinely sad almost as much as it made him happy. He'd framed that picture that had shown up for Steve -- had it sitting front and center on his desk in his workshop and every time he looked at it, it made his chest hurt. He wouldn't ever really be able to get over that. But he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that some version of him got that, and maybe that was enough. He got the knowledge. So Tony only smiled and took the comfort as it was given. Maybe it was so -- Tony would never really be Howard. But he had left early, and that wasn't going to change.
"I have a family here," he said softly, pulling back a little too until their eyes met. It felt important. "You and Gwen. Nebula. Tell me it looks good on me here." Not because he wanted compliments, but because he wanted Steve to focus on the present.