Agh! Okay! So I finally got the next chapter up! Here it is! Chapter 9! This one's in Pepper's P.O.V. :) Some fluffyness....I hope you guys enjoy Pepperony as much as I do! :D THANK YOU guys again soooooo sooooo much for the reviews!! :) Enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own Tony or Pepper...or their akward relationship....
Pepper's P.O.V.
Just seeing Tony and Nicki together, you could tell they were brother and sister. But it wasn't just that they physically looked like each other or that they had the same personality. The two had only known each other one day and they were inseparable.
It was amazing and astounding to watch. By the time the three of us had finished shopping , it was 8 at night. We decided it would be a good idea to stop and get take out somewhere on our way back to the Stark Mansion.
"What's closest to home, Peps?" Tony asked me in the car.
"Umm…well I personally don't have a preference." I thought of all the food places that I knew that Tony loved. "There's that Chinese food place, I guess."
"Awesome!" Nicki said from the back seat. "I'm good with that! I love Chinese! It's my favorite!"
"Ditto!" Tony grinned from the driver's seat. "Chinese food is the greatest. Are you good with that Pepper?" He smiled at me, his chocolate eyes lit up. I felt myself subconsciously smile back, my heart raced.
"Of course!" I looked down at my Blackberry to keep myself from staring at him. It lit up as I touched one of its buttons, revealing that I had three unheard messages.
"Chinese it is then!" Tony turned the car down a street that was a short cut to the restaurant.
Back at the Stark Mansion after picking up food at the Chinese restaurant, the three of us sat at the kitchen table to eat. Tony had turned on the news to see if anyone would say anything about the press conference or about Nicki.
"Well they're bound to say something." Nicki commented between bites of food. She was totally her brother…no doubt.
"True." Tony replied. "Hey. How's your food?"
"Mines good!" Nicki laughed. "Yours?"
"It's awesome!" Tony replied. The two of them had gotten the exact same meal.
"Whoa." Tony glanced at his watch. "Hey, Pepper? You want to stay here for tonight in the guest bedroom again? It's pretty late to be driving home."
"Sure Tony." I felt like I lived at his house anyways. I had almost always stayed the night and barely went back to my apartment. "As long as you don't keep me up again with heavy metal from the workshop."
"Touché." Tony smirked cunningly as if he had something planned. Probably shouldn't have said that. Suddenly, something on the t.v. caught Tony's eye. "Hold on. Jarvis, turn that up." Tony's eyes were glued to the screen. The volume went from being background noise to comprehensible. I turned around to see a clip from the mall earlier on the screen.
This evening, Tony Stark was seen at the local mall with his personal assistant, Pepper Potts and a teenage girl who he claims to be his little sister. The girl's name is Nicki Stanley…or Nicki Stark. There is little information known…
"Well." Tony leaned back in his chair. "Looks like everyone knows who you are now, Nicki." Nicki was smiling. I smiled also, she seemed so happy now.
"Yep." She laughed. "But how do you know, exactly? Shouldn't we get blood tested or something?" Nicki turned her chair around to face Tony.
"Put it this way. Dad left a letter giving me your full name and address. Now, you know that your name is in fact…or was in fact Nicolette Stanley. Dad tracked you down since you were adopted and kept a record of the Stanley comings and goings. Plus you look exactly like me in female form and have my I.Q. and self absorption. How in the hell could there be a mistake?" Tony pointed at his sister. "If you doubt this..you're mentally unstable."
"Still, Tony you never know!" She pushed Tony, who not expecting this, fell off the chair. Tony got up from the ground and ran to catch Nicki who was trying to escape him. Tony put her in a headlock. "Oh yeah. Really, Nicki? How about this?" He gave her a noogie and tackled her to the ground. The two were laughing. I have never seen two people become so close so fast. The two were the Stark siblings, no doubt about it.
After eating, the three of us got ready for bed, showering, putting on pajamas, brushing our teeth etc.. We then all decided to watch t.v. together on the couch in the living room.
Quickly, Nicki had fallen asleep, her head resting against the arm of the couch. Tony and I stayed up for a while talking about tomorrow's schedule at Stark Industries and somehow got on the subject of innuendos, thanks mostly to Tony.
"Well…Pepper. I have many more where those came from. Here's another. Well…okay. So it's not technically an innuendo, but it's good." He grinned, wide eyed, like the immature kid he really was mentally. "Okay ready? Dick's Sporting Goods." He added extra annunciation to the 'sporting' part.
"Tony! That's disgusting!"
"Aha. But Peps, you're smiling." Tony chuckled, looking at me. I looked back…immediately held there by his eyes. The two of us stared at each other for only a few seconds…but it felt like a lifetime. Those big chocolate brown eyes…that dark chestnut almost black unkempt hair…I was completely obsessed with him…but I would never admit it outloud. I saw him leaning closer into me…I moved towards him. I can't do this again. I have to pull away. It was something I didn't want to do, but something that I knew was right.
"Umm…we'd better get Nicki up to bed." I pulled away from the one thing that I wanted the most in the world, but would never have. "She has school tomorrow." I looked down, away from temptation, away from those soulful eyes.
"…Right." Tony also slowly pulled away. He lifted his little sister into his arms, careful not to wake her. He walked up the stairs in the darkness. It was pitch black except for the light coming from his arc reactor. Nicki didn't wake up from it shining in her face, she remained motionless, only breathing in and out. The light wasn't a strong, blinding ray, but a soft comforting, blue glow. Tony was an angel, guiding me, and now Nicki as well, through the darkness. Yes, sometimes he could be a jerk and an egotistical playboy, but that was his mask. I was one of the only ones who knew the real Tony Stark, one that cared more about the ones around him more than he lets to be seen.
"Can you open the door for me, Pepper?" Tony whispered, grunting from his current load, as we reached Nicki's new room. I opened it slowly so the door wouldn't creek. I pulled the covers of the double bed back and Tony gently lowered his sister down into the bed, pulling the covers over her.
"Goodnight, Little Starky." Tony whispered before the two of us tiptoed back to the door. Tony slowly closed it behind him.
"Little Starky?" I asked, still whispering.
"I dunno." Tony shrugged, also whispering. "Fitting nickname, I guess?"
"Right." I laughed softly. "Well. Goodnight Mr. Stark." I made my way towards the dark staircase to go to the guest bedroom. "No flying around tonight. You have a very important meeting tomorrow."
"Like that's ever stopped me before. Goodnight, Ms. Potts." He smiled his amazing smile and walked toward his bedroom door. I would never know…
