So, this was just gonna be one long fic, but I decided to fill it out a bit after this part, and so this became chapter one. Enjoy!
Chapter One
"Tony! Oh my God, is that you?"
It had been nearly ten years since he'd heard that voice, but he remembered it like it was yesterday. Pepper Potts. They'd been high school sweethearts, and everyone, including themselves, thought they'd be together forever. But when Tony got accepted to MIT and she stayed behind in Cleveland, they just couldn't stay together, and agreed to part ways. As much as it hurt both of them, it was for the best, and over time the wounds healed, but they remained out of contact. It wouldn't be until years later, in some random coffee shop in LA, when he'd hear her voice again.
He span around when he heard his name called, a smile lighting up his face as soon as he saw who'd done it. She still looked as gorgeous as ever, hair like a sunset, that toothy grin he'd always loved, looking stunning in skinny jeans and a tank top. "Pepper? Oh man! Hi!" he stood up from the booth he was sitting in and grinned as she approached, pulling her into a bear hug and holding her at arm's length with his hands on her shoulders. "It's so good to see you! Sit down, how are you?"
Pepper did as he asked, sliding into the booth and putting the take out cup on the table next to his, crossing her arms on the surface. "I'm great! Look at you, all grown up and still handsome as ever." She said with a grin, and she wasn't wrong. The boyish fuzz that had been on his chin the last time she'd seen him had grown into a full goatee, his lean muscles had bumped up and filled out his tailored suit quite nicely. "What about you? What are you doing in LA?"
"I live here now." He replied, sipping his coffee to hide the blush that had formed at her words. "My…uh my fiancé wanted to come back to live nearer her folks."
Pepper nearly did a spit take, eyes widening at the news. "Fiancé?!" she asked, smiling broadly. "Wow, you really are all grown up, huh? Who is she? When's the wedding? What's she like?" All these questions came out in a rush, but although she was smiling, something inside her was struck a little. Tony, however, laughed at her quick-fire questions, leaning back in his seat.
"Uh, her name is Lisa, wedding is in…six months give or take, and she's great! She was my assistant for a few years, and then…something clicked, you know?" his eyes widened slightly and he laughed shyly. "Well, I guess you do know." He fiddled awkwardly with his cup and cleared his throat. "What about you? What has the last ten years had in store for Virginia Potts?"
Pepper glared at Tony, but softened it with a smile. "It might have been ten years, but I remember what I told you I'd do if you ever called me Virginia." She huffed. "But I've been good, I graduated summa cum laude, like a certain someone else if their mother is to be believed." She winked at him. "Yeah, I stayed back home for a while after school, got a job out here just before…before your parents passed." She paused for a moment before reaching across the table and covering one of his hands with her own. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to the funeral, Tony, I can't imagine how hard it must have been."
"Thanks." Tony mumbled back, squeezing her fingers. "It was tough, yeah. It took me a long time to get over it. Your Mom helped a lot though. I stayed home for a couple of months after the funeral, she brought me home cooked food, did my laundry…yeah your Mom's seen my underwear, is that weird?"
Pepper snorted with laughter at this, covering her mouth as she laughed. "Oh God, well it can't be any worse than the time she almost walked in on us."
Tony groaned at this and brought his hands up to his face, laughing too. "Damn it, Potts, don't bring stuff like that up!" he looked back at her, eyes shining. "I yanked up my zipper so quick I nearly cut off my junk." He shook his head and sighed. "I missed you, you know. I missed this. I wish we could have stayed in contact more."
"I know what you mean." Pepper said softly. "Kinda felt like I lost a limb for a while there. But I think we did well out of it. And hey! You've met your Disney Princess, so it's not so bad." She gave him a wink and then caught a look at the watch on her wrist. "Damn, I gotta go, work stuff." She pulled a face and stood up. "But hey, if it's not too awkward, maybe we could do lunch or something? I wanna meet the woman that's taking away my fall-back option."
"That sounds great!" Tony agreed, standing up as well. "I'll talk it over with Lisa. Give me your number and we'll arrange a date and time."
After they'd exchanged contact information and another Tony Stark Bear Hug, Pepper was on her way back to the office, and Tony finished his coffee and made his way home. Neither would admit that they fell asleep thinking about the other.
The weeks flew by, and for Tony and Pepper it was like the last ten years hadn't happened. They were like peas in a pod once again, and luckily Lisa was absolutely fine with their friendship blossoming once again, and had even invited Pepper to the wedding, knowing that as close as they'd been, they didn't want to lose one another again. They all hung out together, Pepper bringing the occasional date along, but nothing that lasted. Part of Tony felt sorry for her, a little guilty that he was flaunting his happiness around her, but a smaller, more selfish part was glad that she wasn't about to get married any time soon, which he admitted was ridiculous…but he couldn't help it. You never forget your first love, especially if you meet up again with them ten years later and are desperately trying to hide…no, he wasn't going to go there. He was about to be a happily married man, he'd planned a future for himself and Lisa, nothing was going to distract him from that. Besides, whatever he was feeling was one sided. And didn't exist. Obviously.
As the wedding drew ever closer, Lisa spent a lot of time travelling back and forth to the location they'd arranged, making sure all the plans were going smoothly, and on one such occasion she was going to be gone for a full week, and Tony had arranged to spend an afternoon with Pepper going through a box of her old high school stuff, some of which included him. He'd called to say he was on his way, but she wasn't answering. This didn't faze him though, he knew she liked to listen to loud music when she was cleaning so he assumed that's what she was doing. But he was wrong.
He made his way up to Pepper's apartment, jogging up the steps from the parking lot and as had been their customer over the last few months, he let himself in…and immediately wished that he hadn't because Pepper was on her hands and knees on the couch, with a man right behind her, having sex quite loudly. Tony froze, stared for a second until Pepper caught sight of him, and then he promptly turned around and closed the door again, a panicked expression on his face. It was one of those 'you can't unsee it' things and Tony wished he could burn out his retinas. He hovered outside of the front door for a few minutes before it opened again and a surly man walked out, clearly put out that he'd been interrupted, followed by a red-faced Pepper who was shooting Tony an apologetic look, tying the sash on her robe.
"I am so sorry." She whined and she dragged Tony back through the door. "I completely forgot we were supposed to hang out."
"S'fine." Tony mumbled, looking over his shoulder at the man walking away. "Wait, was that…was that Kyle Willis?!" he asked. "It was! I fucking hated that guy, are you kidding?" he turned back to Pepper who was now laughing, Tony quickly joining her. "He was an ass in high school."
"He grew up." Pepper defended before rolling her eyes. "Okay, maybe he didn't grow up mentally, but he's a great lay-"
"Okay, way too much information." Tony said, wincing and holding his hands up. "I've already seen the show, I don't need the commentary."
Pepper laughed again at this and led him into the lounge, allowing him to take the armchair while she took the couch after getting them both a glass of wine. "Alright, so glossing over the whole Kyle Willis thing…memories!" she pulled a shoebox from underneath the coffee table and placed it on top, taking the lid off and pushing it towards him. "I had a look through some stuff this morning, that's the 'Box of Us'" she smirked at him and pulled her legs up under her as he reached forward and took the box.
"Ho-ly crap." Tony chuckled, putting his glass down and routing through the box, picking up bits and pieces before gasping excitedly and holding up a cassette tape like it was the Holy Grail. "The Tony Stark Tape of Love." He mumbled. "I can't believe that you kept this crap."
"It's not crap!" Pepper scoffed, snatching the tape off him and standing up. "This was probably the most romantic thing you ever gave me. And yes, before you ask, hickeys are not romantic. Nothing is romantic when you have to explain it to your mother." She smirked at him and bent slightly to open a cupboard below the TV unit, revealing an old style stereo system that still had a cassette player in it. "I knew keeping this thing would come in useful…oh yeah, the smooth sounds of Phil Collins." She pressed play and 'Groovy Kind of Love' started strumming through the speakers. Tony was holding his head in his hands in embarrassment which made Pepper laugh and haul him up to his feet. "Come on, dance with me, Show me those old Stark dance moves."
Tony begrudgingly got up and sighed heavily, smirking as he took her hand and they started dancing slowly around the coffee table. "I was such a loser. What did you ever see in me?" he asked with a laugh.
Pepper tilted her head to one side and thought for a moment before shrugging. "You were a good lay."
"Oh yeah?" Tony barked out another laugh. "What, was that it?" he paused for a second before asking his next question. "Better than Willis?"
Pepper's mouth dropped open and she shook her head in amusement. "He's…he gets the job done." She said, slapping Tony's arm when he wouldn't stop smirking. "I'm not answering that question!"
"I'm gonna take that one as a yes." He said smugly. "I still can't believe you're fucking Kyle Willis."
Pepper laughed out loud. "What, are you jealous?" she teased, raising an eyebrow at him. "High school was a long time ago, he's different now." He wasn't really, but she wasn't going to give Tony the satisfaction of knowing that.
"Of course not." Tony snorted, twirling Pepper around and bringing her back to his chest. "But I mean…why go from steak to hamburger?" he laughed with Pepper before clearing his throat. "How often does he come round anyway?"
She raised an eyebrow at his question. "Once a week, maybe. Sometimes more if the need arises." She said nonchalantly.
Tony nodded and twirled her again as the song changed to 'Is This Love'. "And do you guys date, or is it just the boning?"
Pepper snorted and shook her head. "It's just this. I'm not really the relationship type anymore."
Raising an eyebrow, Tony nodded and they were silent for a moment before he asked his next question. "Is his dick bigger than mine? From what I saw, didn't look like he was hitting the same spots I could."
Pepper's mouth went dry and she swallowed, shaking her head slowly as they nearly stopped dancing, merely swaying from side to side. "No, to both." She mumbled.
Tony's heart was pounding hard in his chest and he took a deep breath, his senses quickly surrounded by her. "Does he make you come as hard as I did?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Pepper's fingers tightened on Tony's shoulder and she squeezed his hand, swallowing hard. She shook her head, cheeks flushed as she gazed up at him.
They stopped dancing, just looking into each other's eyes as the music kept playing. Pepper let go of Tony and looked away first, clearing her throat and turning with the intention of turning off the stereo, but Tony grabbed her arm, tugged her towards him and claimed her lips in a fierce kiss. Pepper squeaked initially but quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back. It was wrong, they both knew it, he was getting married! But it felt too good to stop. Tony's hands slid down Pepper's hips to her ass, tugging her closer and eventually lifting her up against him, stepping forwards and pressing her against the closed TV unit. Pepper circled her legs around his waist automatically, groaning softly and tangling her fingers in his hair as she kissed him. It felt like they were eighteen again, exploring each other for the first time. They both started hastily undressing each other as much as was needed, Pepper slipping Tony's belt from the loops while he practically ripped her robe open and slid his hands along her naked body. Once Tony's jeans where undone and his boxers pushed down, he slid his aching arousal against her centre and slid home in one thrust, rocking against her before starting to thrust. Pepper couldn't help but gasp and moan loudly as he slid deep inside her, filling her and stretching her more than anyone ever had. How could she have thought she was satisfied with Kyle or anyone else? She arched against him with a hard rock of her hips in return, groaning his name. Tony moaned with relief as he slid home, moving with slow, hard thrusts and moving his lips down to her neck, kissing and sucking at the skin there and panting.
"Oh, fuck…" Pepper groaned quietly, trying to get as close as possible to him, already on the edge of release seeing as Tony had interrupted before. Tony grunted and slammed his hips into her, feeling her tighten around him. He bit down on her neck hard and sucked, leaving a hickey and grinding against her. Pepper moaned louder, panting and curling her fingers into his back as he slammed into her, making the unit rock loudly against the wall. "God, yes, fuck me. Don't stop, Tony."
Tony was racing towards release fast and he brought his head up to kiss her hard, at the same time sliding his hand down to brush against her clit, moaning her name into her mouth. He immediately felt her tighten around him as she shuddered with release, and he was gone seconds after her, huffing out breaths and leaning heavily against her. He closed his eyes, rocking his hips as he wound down and the panic set in. He'd cheated on his fiancé. He'd fucked his ex. He clenched his jaw in anguish and pulled away slightly, slipping free from her and quickly pulling up his jeans.
Pepper found her feet, leaning against the unit as she tied her robe again, breathing heavily and watching Tony panic. She stepped towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder which he shrugged off quickly. "Tony." She softly called his name but he was already stepping towards the front door, slamming it behind him. Pepper groaned and slumped down onto the couch, covering her face with her hands. She was an idiot, how could she have let this happen?