Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man at the moment. No infringement on any corporate, business, or individual's rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit, just for enjoyment.
Author's Note: This ficlit is based off the Nickelback song of the same title in response to a challenge to write another Pepperony songfic. Thanks for the challenge. I hope you all enjoy this short story.
Don't Ever Let It End
It had been almost ten years since she had first set foot in this neighborhood park near Shea Stadium (Citi Field). Pepper slowly walked down the sidewalk which bordered the park and looked around expectantly for the man who had called her this morning and had cajoled and begged her into agreeing to this 'secret' rendezvous. The park was now filled to the brim with families, children all running at full speed as if trying their best to wring as much fun as they could from the day before the evening's shadows signaled dinner time and a return to their homes. She was dressed very casually in jeans and a t-shirt adorned with baseball bats and gloves, her ginger hair tucked neatly under a NY Mets baseball cap. As she looked down at her worn Nike running shoes, she had to admit that her appearance would never give away the fact that she was the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company.
She thought about the last time she was at this park. It was hard to believe that it was almost ten years ago. It was an evening very similar to this one. They had also gone to a Mets game incognito, and had enjoyed hot dogs, peanuts, cotton candy, and a few beers. She didn't even remember which team had won. Just the enjoyment of being out with each other and away from the office seemed more important than the game's final score at the time. They had agreed beforehand that that night was to be a 'friends' night out with no strings attached. After the game, they had stopped and gotten coffee at a nearby coffee shop and watched a local band, which had been surprisingly good, playing lots of '80's and '90's cover songs that they had both liked. After leaving the coffee shop, they had walked to this park and she remembered that he had held her hand teasing her about being afraid of the dark, even though he knew that she wasn't at all afraid of the dark. She also remembered pretending not to notice the goose bumps that traveled up her arm from where their hands were joined as they slowly walked down the sidewalk towards the playground. She remembered sitting with him on the swings here under the full moon that night, talking about random things for hours…just two people hanging out and enjoying each other's company. When they decided to return to their hotel, he had told her in a moment of rare sincerity, that he didn't want the 'this', meaning that evening in her mind, to end. Of course after all, they were just friends. At the time however, she had actually felt the same way about not wanting the evening to end, but she had kept her feelings from him, and said nothing to him in reply, concerned about how this exchange could possibly affect their friendship as well as their professional relationship. She really wasn't sure of his motives at the time either because his previous track record with women was not that good…in fact his record was actually pretty bad. It was almost 5:00 AM when the cab finally showed up to take them back to their hotel in order to get ready for a SI Board Meeting later that same morning.
So here they were ten years later. A lot of things had happened to them both during those ten years; some good and some not so good. The trust between them had been strained almost to point of breaking recently, but they had managed to mend it like always. She liked to think that they had both matured a lot during their years together. But the reality of it for her was that he could still fill her stomach with butterflies with just one look from those bourbon eyes of his, just like he had done ten years ago. She no longer worked for him now, so she had at least gotten past her professional barricades that had kept her emotions with regard to him at bay for so long. And, of course, that rooftop kiss after the disastrous Hammeroid attack at the Expo had her seriously rethinking their friendship as well as the potential for it evolving into something more. But she knew that change, especially on this scale and magnitude, was both difficult and scary for them both. So they had tentatively agreed to keep their relationship on a friendship level for the time being.
A ball suddenly rolled past her bringing her once again into the here and now. She slowly turned, watching the ball as it continued rolling, finally coming to a stop near two picnic tables when she noticed him approaching her slowly from between the two tables. He was dressed casually: old worn jeans, scuffed work boots, a faded NYFD t-shirt, and a NY Mets baseball cap matching hers exactly, but pulled down in an effort to hide his face. Much to her surprise, he had shaved off his goatee, making him look closer to his actual age, as well as helping to conceal his identity. She quickly recalled that the last time she had seen him without the goatee was after the 'Last Great Workshop Fire', which they had mutually agreed would never be spoken of again. As he slowly approached her, only his eyes, still partially hidden under his cap, betrayed his happiness at seeing her.
He silently held out a hand to her and she smiled at him as she held out her hand to him in return. They walked slowly hand-in-hand to the stadium where they sat unnoticed in the cheap seats amongst a noisy, but entertaining crowd and enjoyed the same food and drink as they had done ten years ago. They didn't care about who won the game as much as just relaxing and having fun, again just like they had ten years ago.
After the game, they walked over to the very same coffee shop, both of them amazed and thankful that it was still in business after all the time that had passed. The jazz band playing there that night was good, and they stayed there enjoying both the music and each other's company as they slow danced together until the Shop closed at 2:00 AM. As they walked back to the park, he took her hand in his squeezing it gently, once again teasing her about being afraid of the dark. As luck would have it, the full moon had risen above the treetops, casting moon shadows all around them as they sat down on the swings in the playground. Pepper had noticed that he had become unusually quiet since they had entered the park. But after such a busy, but fun-filled evening, she too felt the need for silence as they sat there, enjoying the cool summer breeze and basking in the glow of the moonlight. After a few minutes, he stood up, moving over to stand in front of her, the moonlight casting shadows upon his clean shaven face.
"I'm tired of pretending, Pepper." He said quietly taking his baseball cap off, letting it drop to the ground as he looked deeply into her eyes. "I don't want to just be friends anymore. I want something more. And I hope you feel the same way about me." He slowly lowered himself onto one knee directly in front of her, heaving a great sigh as he did so. He then reached out and took her left hand in his right hand as he continued to lock eyes with her. "I love you, Pepper. I have for years." He stated quietly, as she quickly sucked in a shallow breath in surprise, tentatively holding it as she waited for him to continue. "I've just been too scared to tell you because I didn't want our friendship to end if you didn't love me too." He then squeezed her hand tenderly as if gathering strength from her touch. "Virginia Anne Potts, please don't ever let what we have between us end. Marry me."
Pepper was suddenly overwhelmed at his sweet proposal and it took a few seconds for her to respond to him. "I love you too, Tony." She replied releasing the breath she was holding as she looked deeply into his eyes, noticing that his eyes had now become almost black with emotion. "I don't want this to ever end either. And yes, I will marry you."
He breathed out a long sigh of relief at her reply, and his face slowly lit up into a brilliant smile. She loved that smile because she knew that that smile was the one he reserved for her and her only. He slowly took his left hand out of his pocket and moved it to her left hand as he placed an engagement ring on her left ring finger.
Then without warning or provocation, he dramatically pinched his right arm with his left hand, his face comically contorting into an exaggerated wince as he did so.
"What was that for?" she asked as she giggled at him, a huge smile now plastered on her own face.
"That was just to make sure that I'm not dreaming." He replied pulling her up from the swing and planting a quick kiss on her lips. "So how about we blow this joint and get hitched?"
She laughed out loud, managing to shake her head in agreement as he grabbed her hand and hurriedly led her down the sidewalk on their way out of the park. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was quite serious in his question, but she really had absolutely no idea what wedding idea had just popped into that spontaneous head of his. But then again, all those years of working together had never quite given her the ability to read his mind 100% of the time anyway, and she was quite certain that she never wanted that part of their relationship to ever end either.