Note: this is my very first Marvel story. I am a HUGE fan of Iron man/Tony Stark (who isn't right?) I have some ideas for a list of Iron Man stories, but I am starting with this one. I hope you like it and please leave a comment below. English is not my first language, so I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors.
Disclaim: I do not own the characters.
Tony follows Pepper into the press conference where all the cameras start shutting photos of them. Pepper starts the press conference in an orderly manner as she usually does in her professional CEO style of the Stark industries. Tonys sits on a chair on the side. He has the ring in his hand. He keeps fingering with it. He starts to feel a little nervous. He has never been worried about a press conference before in his life. He notices one time he looks up at Pepper that she is looking over at him. Once their eyes meet Pepper loses focus and then quickly turn her focus back to the press and ignore Tony. She tries to recover her attention and continues her improvised speech about the company's plans for investment. Once Pepper is done talking about the status of stark industries and introduces Tony, Tony stands up and decides to stuff the ring in his pocket and walks over to the microphones. He looks over at Pepper who has stepped to the side and then he starts talking about the new development of his latest technology regarding his iron man suit and Rodney's war machine suit. Once Tony is done with his speech, Tony looks over at Pepper for her to finish the press conference as she always does. She looks a bit surprised once he let her take over again without any surprise statements about engagement or any sign of reaching for his pocket containing the ring. Pepper look confused and wondering at Tony. All the reporters seem confused. Pepper steps up to the microphones and finishes up the press conference with the final statement of: "that was all for today. No questions." Pepper steps down, and all the reporters are trying to get the last comment, but Pepper followed by Tony hurry out of the door. Happy is still standing the same spot as he did the moment they went into the press conference. Happy looks excited and are waiting for the big news. He is trying to snap a glance at Peppers hands as she hurries by him.
"happy, could you get me a ride to the office?" Pepper asks as she is already down the hall. Happy look confused back at Tony.
"honey? Tony calls after her.
Pepper turns around to look at him.
"I thought we should go out for dinner, or maybe home and open a bottle of champagne?"
"I have paperwork to do. I'll see you tonight." Pepper calls back after him as she walks down the hallway.
Happy and Tony finally catch up to Pepper once they get to the car. Happy unlocks the car and Tony elegantly opens the door for her, and she gets in. He is trying to sneak in a quick kiss, but she gets into the back seat in a professional business manner like she was back to being his PA again. Tony is confused. He closes the door and gets to the other side and get into the car. Pepper is reading through some papers. Tony reaches over and tries to take her hand, but she moves her hand to check her phone. Not a single moment does she look over at him. She sends a text to her assistant and focuses back on her papers.
"pep," Tony says and takes her papers out of her hands to force her to focus on her. For the first time since the press conference does she look at him.
"sorry, I have a meeting in an hour. I need to be prepared."
She leans over and gives him a swift peck on the lips before she takes her papers from him and gets back into business mode. The kiss was not at all what he was hoping. He had hoped for a long wet passionate kiss with tongue-fight that would last the entire ride back to the office and the best scenario for him right now would be that the kiss could almost end in a long, heated, passionate make-out session that would completely blow Pepper's mind right before her meeting.
However, that does not happen. The Playboy in him is very disappointed. He leans back against the door and watches her looking over her papers. However, he also notices she seem a bit distracted. Maybe his plan about distracting her and getting into her head did work a little bit. Several times along the ride, Tony notices Happy looking a bit too long in the rearview mirror to watch his passengers.
Tony is getting a little frustrated about the distance between him and Pepper. He moves closer to her and rests his hand on her knee, in an attempt to get some more intimate contact with her. Pepper does not seem to be affected by it. That makes Happy look in the rearview mirror. "Happy stop watching us," Pepper says without looking up from her papers. That snaps Happy back to focus on the traffic.
Once they pull up in front of Stark Industries, Pepper gathers her papers and opens the door. Tony grabs her hand to focus on him one last time.
"come home to me after your meeting, okay?" Tony asks.
"sure." Is all pepper says before she gives him another quick peck on the lips and heads out the car in a hurry and closes the door?
"what happened at that press conference?" Happy finally asks the burning question he has been meaning to asks since they came out form the press conference.
"nothing. Nothing happened." Tony says and finally reaches for the ring inside his pocket.
"you didn't propose?" Happy asks almost disappointed in his boss.
"no, I didn't," Tony says and stuffs the ring back in his pocket. "could you drive me home, please."
"you were just home, why did you get in the car?"
"just drive me home please," Tony says without answering Happy's confusion.
Tony leans back in his seat and puts on his black sunglasses and closes his eyes.
Tonys apartment in the Avengers base
Peppers meeting lasted longer then she had expected. Happy had come to pick her up and drive her to Tony's home in the Avengers base. Once she enters Tony's apartment, she sees an ice bucket with a champagne bottle and 2 glasses on the glass table. Some sweet romantic music is playing in the background. The light is lowered to a romantic level. She takes off her shoes and walks barefoot further into the room. She looks around, but Tony is nowhere to be found. She decides to go change first, but the moment she turns around to head to the guestroom she sometimes used to sleep in to change, she hears Tony's voice from the kitchen.
"Hey, Pep." He says. She turns around and looks at the direction his voice is coming from. He is standing with two plates with food.
"where are you going?" Tony asks almost disappointed that it seemed like she was about to leave.
"Sorry, Tony, I am tired. It was a long meeting." Tony walks over and places the two plates on the table before he walks over to Pepper. He gives her a kiss. The most extended and passionate kiss he got all day. Even though it is not overly intense. It is more like their usually hey-I-am-happy-to-see-you-kind-a-kiss.
"hey… I'm sorry about screwing up at the press conference, but Mr. Parker made a really great choice. I could not let him not do that… you wouldn't let him do that." He takes her hand, and they walk over to the glass table with the food and the champagne. They both sit down on the floor. Tony opens the champagne bottle while he is talking. "I am sorry I know about today. I know you hate unexpected events." He is looking at her with his sweet brown puppy dog eyes, that she can't really resist.
"it is okay. The press conference went okay, I think." She says and takes zip from the glass of champagne Tony just handed her. Tony can hear on her voice there is something she is not telling him. Like she doesn't really mean it when she says the press conference went well.
"about the press conferences…" Tony starts, but Pepper cuts him off.
"can we just eat… I'm starving." She clearly doesn't want to talk about it.
Tony nods and they start eating, but Tony is looking at her throughout the entire dinner and trying to figure out what he did wrong was why she seems to withdraw from him. That usually indicates he did something wrong and it also usually means he has absolutely no clue to what he did wrong. After their dinner Pepper takes the last sip of her champagne and notices Tony is staring at her.
"what?" she asks and smiles at him. "why are you watching me like that?" she asks.
"because you are so beautiful, and…" his voice changes to a less romantic tone and more serious. "I am trying to figure out why you are mad at me."
Pepper puts the glass down and looks up at Tony.
"I am not mad at you." She says in a more serious tone.
"what did I do?" he asks in his usual innocent tone of voice that almost makes him sound like a little boy who has disappointed his mom.
"nothing," Pepper says. Their romantic moment is broken, and Pepper gets up and pick up the empty plates and walks to the kitchen. Tony quickly follows.
"I did something. I just don't know what it is." He says once he reaches the kitchen. He is standing in the door while Pepper is rinsing down the plates.
"what makes you think you did something wrong?" Pepper stops rinsing the plates and looks at him while she wipes her hands.
"you are withdrawing from me. In the car… we usually enjoy some privacy in the vehicle you didn't even look at me.
"I kissed you." She defends her self, even though she knows he is right. She was withdrawing from him.
"pfff.. you call that a kiss. I could barely feel you."
"I was busy... I had to prepare for a meeting, Tony. I am the CEO of Your company, Tony."
"you have been a CEO of Stark industries for years riding in the back seat with me right before a meeting haven't seemed to be a problem before." He is referring to the many very heated moments they have shared in the back seat on the way to a board meeting.
"I know…" pepper knows he is right. "but it was an important meeting today, Tony. And I was distracted after what happened with the press conference. I couldn't handle any more distraction." She looks down at the ground. She hates to call Tony a distraction.
"so I am a distraction now?"
He asks a little too loud.
"you know what… I am going to bed." Pepper says. She knows she can't win this conversation and she just managed to upset him even more. She throws the towel she's been holding in her hands since she wiped her hands on the kitchen table and walks past Tony. Tony follows her into the living room again.
"why can't you just tell me what the problem is? Is it because Happy told you that I brought the ring already back in 2008?"
Tonny looks at him. She is a bit hurt that he hasn't figured it out yet. But at the same time, she knows it isn't fair of her to expect him to understand what she is thinking without telling him. But that is how their relationship has always been. She has never been really good at expressing her feelings.
"no."
"you know I brought for you back then," Tony explains. He is hoping it is not due to his playboy image from back then that might be why she is upset. He doesn't want her to think that he brought the ring for one of his many one nights stands back then.
"We weren't even together back in 2008, Tony," Pepper says, and she takes the 2 empty champagne glasses and walks to the kitchen with them.
"that doesn't mean I didn't love you back then. Just because I was a complete idiot and couldn't work up the nerves to tell you didn't mean I didn't feel it."
Pepper comes back into the living room. His confession that he loved her long before they were together and that he calls himself an idiot always makes her smile.
"Tony." She stops in front of him and places her hands on his face and leans in and kisses him more heated and passionate. It cuts him entirely by surprise. After a long fiery tongue fight, they finally break the kiss for much-needed air. He has that big grin on his face that he only makes for her when there are only the two of them.
"I am going to bed." She says and gives him one last quick peck on the lips and walks away.
"you want me to join honey." He asks and starts to walk towards her.
"I am sleeping in the guestroom tonight, Tony."
The big smile of hope and expectations fades away in a slip second. He is just standing there looking at her like a disappointed little boy.
"why?"
"I need to get up early. I have a meeting tomorrow morning. Good night Tony." She says and walks the stairs to the guestroom to go to bed alone.
Tony is left alone downstairs in the living room. He is more confused right now then he has been in years. She kisses him so his mind almost short circuit and then she blows him off like that and wants to sleep alone. He walks over to his suit jacket that has been hanging on a chair since he got home and started to prepare the food. He takes out the ring that is still in his pocket. He takes it out and looks at it. Maybe telling Pepper about the ring and by that hinting that he has always wanted to marry her was what scared her, he thinks, before he makes a decision.