Our Lives In A Song

The Second Line

Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own any of them. *sighs* Thank you for reminding me. *sighs again* Robert Downey Jr. is still not sitting next to me on my couch.

Author's note: Sorry for any mistakes.

It had become a rare occasion when the time allowed you and Pepper to enjoy each others company in peace. Today you were determined to make time, if only to lounge contentedly with her by your side.

You tried to persuade Pepper to part from her laptop long enough to enjoy the summer day that waited for you both outside the mansion walls. She had protested at first, but who could really resist a sun-bathed Tony Stark with his arms draped around her? Fortunately Pepper Potts was not impervious to your charm or your kisses.

You walked hand in hand down to your private shoreline where she set a soft blanket down for the two of you to rest on. You sat down and adjusted your position first and watched Pepper discretely through your sunglasses. She sprayed sun block on the skin not covered by her brown and teal bikini.

She was beautiful and you had fallen for her hard. It had become evident to you that Pepper's weakness for your charms could match your weakness for her. You fully embraced the fact that she was as irresistible to you as you were to her, and you gladly accepted any bouts of weakness that involved Pepper.

Your heart paced rapidly as she bent forward slightly to spray her long slender legs.

You smiled behind your aviator shades. She was unaware of your visual exploration of her toned figure. Or so you had thought. 'She's so beautiful', you mentally talked to yourself. 'And she's…staring at me. Wait…oops. Slick move, Stark'. You locked eyes as she caught you off guard with a spray of the cold mist against your warmer upper leg.

"Hey! That's cold!" You flinched but never looked away from her.

"Mmm hmm. Stop staring. Are you drooling?" She sat herself next to you as you smiled again. She proceeded to spray your legs, your arms, and your torso. You complained every single second of it. Mostly because you wished she had lotion to apply with her warm delicate hands and not just some spray can mist.

"I don't need that crap, Pep. I tan evenly. Besides, I'm Iron Man I can deal with a little sun burn." You grinned.

"Uh huh. Which is why you burned like a lobster in Naples and cried the entire flight back. Until I slathered you with aloe from head to toe of course."

"That was intentional. I'll have you know that the plan was to get you to rub me down with whatever was readily available. I sacrificed myself for you." You pretended to be hurt by her statement.

"I'm sure you did all of that for me and not for your convenience at all." She smiled at you as she settled her body next to yours on the blanket.

Your arm naturally went around her shoulders. She automatically placed her right palm protectively over the arc reactor. Her left arm nestled between the two of you.

"Don't forget your shades. Don't want that to happen again." She smiled against the skin of your shoulder.

You cleared your throat as you reached up to remove your glasses. "Again…that was intentional."

"Yup." She giggled, remembering how you looked after a four hour nap under the sun by a pool in Australia. You had left your Lennon-style shades on only to wake up looking like a two-toned-Monopoly-Guy who couldn't take off his bifocals.

You allowed yourself to relax without worries of intruders. Your private shoreline permitted peace of mind. Pepper quickly succumbed to the combination of the warmth that radiated off our body and the natural sun rays. You sighed and dozed off shortly thereafter.

Nothing could have ruined the moment. Correction…almost nothing.

You both lay comfortably entangled for hours until somebody with an awfully familiar voice awoke the two of you.

"Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. How fitting." Pepper exhaled in frustration, but never uncovered the reactor. You cautiously and regretfully opened one eye to look up at the horrible image that stood over you.

"Good god! What a terrible mirage." You quickly closed your eye and pulled your hand out from behind your head to cover Pepper's over your chest.

"Yeah." Christine Everhart retorted smugly. "So this is a new duty to add to the list of P.A. tasks, huh Pepper." Ouch. Pepper hadn't deserved that.

You tightened your arm around her shoulders as she chuckled angrily into your chest. You noticed how much she held back her remarks.

"Kirsten…don't you have a date with your convict of a boyfriend Hammeroid any time soon?" You hadn't held back.

"Christine." She bit back. "And no. I'm not seeing him."

"Or anyone else for that matter." Pepper shot out. You grinned.

"Definitely nobody that compares to Mr. Playboy here." Ouch…again. You deserved that one for sure, though.

"Listen Kristie…this has been a lovely…um…chat, but you're kind of blocking my sun. Do you mind?" You opened both eyes for the first time and found her glaring at you. She turned to look at Pepper with an evil grin.

"So tell me Pepper…who's going to take out his trash after this?"

Pepper lifted her head off your chest to return her grin. "Goodbye, Christine. You can walk yourself off of our beach. Unless you definitely need someone to take you out forcefully. That can be arranged."

Pepper turned to face you and landed a soft kiss on your cheek as you smiled proudly back at her. She had delivered the final dagger. Christine stalked off angrily in the direction she came from. What a relief it was to see the back of her head and not the front of her face.

"I'm turned on right now." You smiled widely at Pepper. She playfully smacked your arm. "You owned her. Did you see the look on her face?" You kissed the top of her head. "Nicely done. Classy."

"She deserved it." She made herself comfortable against you once again.

"Every bit. She's a monster." You cringed. You turned and lifted her face up with your finger under her chin. "Serious note…I'm sorry she said all of that. You didn't deserve it. I, on the hand, did. I still do." Pepper smiled sweetly at you.

"No you don't. You're a different man."

You nod in agreement. "Are you ok, though? Her words stung a bit. I know that you're a strong woman and you can hold your own, but-" She cut you off with a kiss to your lips.

"She's not the first, she won't be the last. I can take insults from ignorant people. It came with the territory of being your assistant for so many years."

You smiled sadly. The days where you would parade around with women whose bust sizes were bigger than their I.Q.s were far behind you. True, but you recognized that plenty of damage had been done to Pepper in the process. You didn't have many regrets in life, but hurting Pepper was indeed one of them.

"Tell me?" You moved both of your bodies so you could face her.

"Tell you what?" She looked at your confused.

"What did people say to you?" Masochist. You were. It was your way of bestowing some punishment upon yourself for all of the years of frustration Pepper had suffered through.

"No." She stroked your cheek and smiled against the summer breeze. "No use in putting you through that."

You held her hand to your cheek before you brought it down to your lips. "Please."

You lay on the blanket on the sand for hours after. You listed attentively to Pepper and the countless tales of horror she recalled. Your heart ached for her. She told you bad things…bad things that you wished you could change in the lazy summer. You kissed her firmly after every story, and you promised her aloud that you would never put her through any of that ever again. You promised yourself that you would spend every day of your lives making it up to her. Because she deserved it.

Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for the next line!