Soooo, I seem to have loads of Pepperony fic ideas in my head at the minute, so here, I present thee with another! Enjoy
Which anniversary was it? 18th? 20 something? He couldn't remember his head was swimming with scotch; he could barely read the label on the bottle in his hand never mind remember how long it had been since his parents had been killed in the car crash. Tony had locked himself away in his workshop, music playing at a ridiculous volume and drowning his emotions in alcohol.
This was the first year he hadn't distracted himself in the company of high-end models and pretty journalists. But this was New Tony, the Tony Stark who had eyes for one woman only, even if she hadn't spoken to him for three days since Vanko's death and that awkward as hell kiss on the rooftop.
The sound of the door opening was hidden beneath the heavy guitar solo reverberating through the workshop and Pepper winced from both the volume of the music and the sight of Tony bringing the bottle to his lips again. She took a deep breath and turned the music down, walking over to Tony and prising the bottle from his hand, dumping it in the nearby bin.
Tony groaned and looked up at her, "Oh, hey Potts, come to tell me off for drinking?" He asked, getting up off of the sofa he was currently sprawled across and walking over to his desk where another bottle of scotch was hidden in the top drawer.
Rolling her eyes at him Pepper followed him, catching him by his shoulders when he stumbled a little, "Don't bother, I got rid of it," she said, gesturing to the drawer he was trying to get open.
He sighed dramatically and leant back against the desk for support, "Why've you come down here?" He asked, voice a little slurred and his eyes only half open as he watched her.
"You need to go to bed; its past midnight and you've been down here all day."
"Can't make me do anything," he grumbled, looking down at the floor.
She could have slapped him right then, "Tony do you realise how childish you sound? You're supposed to be able to look after yourself, I'm not supposed to do all of this; taking alcohol off of you and forcing you to get rest!" She was close to full on shouting at him.
"But no-one cares Pepper!" Tony responded, "Nobody gives a damn! I could die right now and the world would just keep on spinning, no-one would be bothered."
"You're wrong Tony. Happy cares, Rhodey cares," her voice went quiet, "I care, but you don't seem to see that," she straightened up and pulled her hands away from him and took a few steps back.
Tony laughed mirthlessly, "If you 'cared' why've you been avoiding me? We kissed Pepper," he stood up properly and walked over to her, surprisingly steady despite the fuzziness in his head, "I thought that was supposed to mean something."
"I do care and it did mean something!" she shouted, a little taken aback by the force in her own voice, "I've been too scared to be near you because I love you so much I wouldn't be able to handle it if you felt differently!"
Tony did a double take and stared at her, shocked into semi-sobriety both by the fact that Pepper had shouted at him and by exactly what she had shouted at him, "Wha-what did you just say?"
Shaking her head, Pepper turned away and started walking back to the door, "Doesn't matter, I'll go now."
"No you won't," he grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him and lifting her head when she looked down, "Pepper Potts I love you so much I think this thing might short out every time I see you," he confessed, tapping the arc reactor where it showed through the hole he'd cut in his t-shirt.
Pepper finally lifted her gaze, shining blue meeting deep brown. She opened her mouth to speak but found she couldn't say anything, instead opting for wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hiding her face against his neck.
He placed a soft kiss on her head before pulling back a little so he could look at her, "Now I do believe you were trying to get me into bed Miss Potts?" He grinned suggestively.
She unwrapped her arms from around him and gently punched his arm, "Not in that way I'm afraid Mr Stark," she smirked.
"Worth a try," he pouted, taking her hand in his as he led her out of the workshop and up the stairs.
She let go of his hand when Tony stumbled at the top of the stairs, wrapping her arm around his waist as she helped him get to his bedroom, where he collapsed onto the bed, face buried in a pillow. He kicked off his shoes and rolled onto his back, holding his arms out to Pepper in a silent invitation. She shook her head,
"I can't Tony, I'm fully dressed in my work clothes and we need to work out where we go from here," she gestured between the two of them.
"I love you, isn't that enough to go on?" Tony frowned, sitting up and shuffling closer to her, "Pepper, I'm not asking you to sleep with me, I'm just asking you to sleep with me… that made no sense, look the point is, I just want to fall asleep and wake up knowing that what just happened between us was definitely real." If he was honest, he wouldn't really be surprised if he woke up right now back on the sofa in the workshop, empty scotch bottles on the floor and the whole idea of telling Pepper he loved her and hearing that she felt then same being a hazy dream. He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on, "Pep, I just want your face to be the last I see before I fall asleep and the first I see when I open my eyes."
Hearing him say that, and knowing that it wasn't something he would say to just anyone, Pepper felt her heart beat a little harder in her chest, "I'll, um, see if I have any spare clothes in the guest room," she told him, getting up heading out of his bedroom and down the corridor to the guest room that she sometimes used when she pulled an all-nighter at the mansion.
As soon as Pepper had left, Tony dragged himself off of his bed, cursing under his breath when he stubbed his toe against the door to the en-suite. Once in there he got undressed and had one of his famous 60 second showers, which were usually reserved for when he only had 10 minutes to get ready for a meeting. Getting out of the shower he pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, drying his hair with a towel before returning to his bedroom and flopping down on the bed.
After rooting through the dresser for a minute or two, Pepper found an old pair of legging s and an over-sized t-shirt and she changed into them quickly, leaving her work clothes in a neat pile on the end of the bed before returning to Tony's room. The events of the past half hour were a bit of a blur, had she really gone from practically screaming at Tony to grow up to telling him she loved him? When she walked into his room she sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed, not quite sure where to go from there.
Tony smiled at her and pulled her down next to him, his arm wrapped around her waist. He nuzzled his nose into her hair smelling whatever shampoo it was she used and adding it to his mental list of things he loved about her. Also on that list was the colour of her hair, her freckles, her smile and her eyes, among a million other things he was still realising he loved.
"What are you thinking about?" Pepper asked, looking at him inquisitively as she rolled onto her side and rested her head against his shoulder.
"Just thinking about how perfect you are," he said simply, smiling at her. His smile grew when she blushed, 'Another thing added to the list,' he thought as he watched her cheeks darken in colour.
She hid her face, "You must have me confused with someone else," she mumbled.
"Nope. Don't think so."
Pepper looked back at him seriously, "Tony, I really want this to work out. Us I mean. I don't want us to mess it up."
He understood completely what she was saying, he wanted them to work as well and he was going to do everything in his power to do so, "To be honest Pepper, if either of us are gonna balls this up it'll be me not you. I don't want to mess it up, and I'm going to try my hardest not to," he promised, gently kissing her forehead. Since Afghanistan he had tried to change, after Yinsen had made him realise that he did have something, he had Pepper, he'd been doing anything he could to make her see he could be different.
In all honesty, it hadn't quite worked out how he'd planned it. When he got back he had gone straight into refining his ideas for the suit, then Obadiah had almost killed him. After that it was the whole palladium poisoning thing and even though he'd tried to tell Pepper he still hadn't, and then he'd gone back to how he was before his capture and held that stupid party for his birthday, then crashed the Expo and almost been killed by Vanko. And if he hadn't got to Pepper when he did, she'd have been blown to kingdom come as well.
Pepper looked down at the new reactor glowing through the material of his shirt. She still wasn't quite over the fact that the other one had been freaking killing him, but she'd been assured over and over that this one wouldn't poison him. She gently traced the outline of the triangle in the middle with her finger, watching as he tensed a little and looking up to find him looking at her with a strange look in his eyes. "Tony…" she breathed.
And before she could say anything else, before she could say everything was a mistake and she didn't want to be with him, Tony put his hand against her cheek and tilted his head to kiss her softly, his grip around her waist tightening ever so slightly to hold her closer. Pepper's heart fluttered in her chest and she put a hand at the back of his neck, toying with the hair there. This kiss was very different to the one they had shared three days previously; it was more relaxed, more poignant. Before they had both been high on adrenaline, Tony from all the fighting and exploding robots and Pepper from being literally swept off her feet and flown God knows how many stories up onto the roof, so now they could properly appreciate each other.
After a minute or so, Pepper pulled back, resting her forehead against his, her eyes still closed. Tony opened his eyes and smiled, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear and kissing her nose, "I love you Pepper, I should have said so sooner."
She opened her eyes and smiled at him, "I love you too Tony," she whispered, and at that moment, she felt like she was on cloud nine. Shifting to rest her head on the pillow, she pulled the covers over them, "Now get some rest, we can talk more in the morning."
"Okay," he yawned, suddenly feeling exhausted at the mention of getting sleep and he got Jarvis to kill the lights, only the soft glow of the arc reactor illuminating the dim room a fraction. The pair were soon asleep, both their heads filled with hazy thoughts of a future where they were more than just boss and employee.
Did you like it? I really hope you did, please leave a review, good or bad, constructive critisim helps me with my writing :)