Tony had been watching the clock all afternoon. He was anxious, nervous, and he desperately wanted the time to flash forward to when he knew Pepper would be home. JARVIS had even detected his antsy-ness. "Might I suggest taking a mild sedative, Sir," the AI quipped. "Your inability to focus is disconcerting."

As soon as the clock read 7pm, Tonyhad grabbed his jacket, his keys and wallet, his phone, and hit the road. He wasn't about to go through another night of being stone-walled. He and Pepper had to talk about what was going on, and he had to know if there was a future for them. That was the worst part- the not-knowing. Being hamstrung by Pepper's past was threatening to cause irreversible damage to his heart, and he wasn't about to let that happen without a fight.

Now, Tony stood at her front door. He took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," he muttered. He knocked quietly and listened for a moment, swearing he could hear footsteps on the other side. He waited, the silence of the hallway ringing in his ears. He knocked again. And listened again. "Pepper?" he spoke softly. "You there?"

At that point, he decided just to spill it. If it was meant to be, she would hear every word he was there to say. "Look," he said. "I know you said we needed some space, and you needed to figure some stuff out, but..." he struggled. "Dammit, Pepper, I don't need space. I need you." He fell silent and listened for any response."Look," he said softly, bracing his arms on the door jamb and leaning closer to the door. "I admit I was hasty with the whole 'moving in' thing. But I was only trying to tell you how much I want you around. How much I need you. You're all I can think about. Pepper," Tony said. He sighed. "You know I love you. And hopefully, you still love me. You said you did, so..." he trailed off.

He furrowed his brow and shook his head. "You don't have to move in if you don't want to. Hell, we don't even have to go on any more dates if you don't want to. But, honey? I..." he said. "I feel like I'm serving someone else's prison sentence, here. And, if you ask me? That doesn't seem fair."

He stopped for a moment to see if he could detect any other sounds of her presence from behind the door before he continued. There was only silence. "Jesus, what did he do to you?" he murmured. "The other guy, I mean. The one that made you want to leave home and move here? I just wanna know. I have to know, Pep."

Tony listened again. Nothing further indicated that Pepper was behind the door. He frowned and sighed. He shook his head and chuckled sadly. "You know what? You're the one thing, the one person, I've always been able to count on. You've never let me down, Pep. Never," he said, leaning the side of his head on the door. "So, I just hope, that because you know I trust you so much? You can find it in your heart to throw a little of that trust back my way, you know? Just a little," he said. He stood leaning on the door for just one second longer, listening. It was silent. "Nothin', huh?" he said, dejectedly. "Ok, then. Sorry for wasting your time. Goodbye, Pepper," he said sadly. He slowly stood back up, frowned, and then turned to go.

"Don't go," he suddenly heard from the other side, stopping him in his tracks. He heard the deadbolt turn. He took a small step back and watched the doorknob turn. Pepper slowly appeared in the doorway. He didn't see any lights on behind her, just what looked like light from the open curtains in the living room window that looked out over L.A. He could tell she'd been crying. She was dressed in a cornflower blue tank top, which made her crystal blue eyes even more spectacular, he thought, and black yoga pants, with a long white sweater. He suddenly hated himself for being so hasty and scaring her away. He tried to choke out some words. "Pep, I'm..."

"I know, Tony," she said, as she walked to him, throwing her arms around his neck and embracing him tightly, "I know, and me too." Her lips met his, softly at first, and then more eagerly like she was trying to prove to him how much she understood through her kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her slightly off the ground. He slowly made his way through the doorway, and pushed the door softly closed with his foot as he continued to kiss her. Carefully, he set her back on the ground, and she broke the kiss to look into his eyes.

"God, I missed you," he groaned, resting his forehead on hers. His hands caressed her back up and down as her fingers ran through his hair. Pepper inhaled his scent and her insides turned to jelly, just reaffirming that she knew she wasn't willing to give even that little bit of him up. They relished the embrace for a moment before Tony spoke again. "I'm sorry. I never want to lose you again. Please. I'll do whatever I have to do, I promise," he babbled. Pepper kissed him gently again on the lips before returning his gaze.

She smiled gently. "Glad to hear it," she said. "But I have to be honest, Tony. If you weren't going to come here, I would've gone to you."

Tony raised his head to look at her slightly skeptically. "Really?"

She nodded earnestly. "As much as I would love to be the one who didn't cave, I can't pretend that I wouldn't have." She broke the embrace to walk to her window and look out over the city. Tony stood still and watched her silhouette in the moonlight as she spoke. "I realize now that I've been punishing you for someone else's mistakes, and I'm sorry," she began, her voice quiet and thoughtful. "I have a lot of hurt in my past, but it's time I stop letting myself be the victim. I have to move on," she said.

Tony walked to her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. He laid a gentle kiss in the crook of her neck before her rested his chin on her shoulder. "Tell me what happened," he said softly. "Tell me everything."

Pepper sighed. "Where to begin," she said. "We were in high school. His name was Clayton Thomas. He was the quarterback, I was the head cheerleader. It was a pretty stereotypical, middle-American, story," she said.

"Wait, Pep. Hold up," Tony said.

Pepper turned her head to look at him curiously.

"Your telling me that you...," he said, pointing at her. "Were a cheerleader?" he teased, his eyes wide with wonder.

Pepper giggled. "Oh no," she moaned. "Now, I've done it," she said, rolling her eyes and smirking.

"No,no, I'm fine, I'm just..." Tony said, clearing it throat. "Whew! Just trying to get used to the image of you in a short skirt waving pom poms, that's all," he teased. "Just, uh, give me a moment alone with that visual, huh?" Tony squeezed his eyes shut, and pursed his lips. Pepper laughed. He popped his eyes back open and looked at her smirking. "There, okay, yeah, I'm good. Go on. Quarterback and cheerleader. Got it," he joked.

Pepper gave him a wry smile. "Anyway, as I was saying," she continued. "We were high school sweethearts. His family had known my family for ages. It was practically written in the stars that we should be together. We were 'Ginny and Clay'."

It sounded strange to Tony to hear Pepper's actual name paired with someone else's. And he didn't like it. He frowned, feeling the stab of jealousy at hearing that Pepper had once loved someone else. But he kept quiet. "But?" Tony said.

"But," Pepper said. "Our senior year, he got injured pretty badly. It ended his football playing days, and Clay couldn't handle it. It's what he'd built his dreams on. Going to college on a scholarship. Maybe playing professionally. So, once that dream had died, he became addicted to his pain killers. He got more and more moody and difficult to be around. He tried to push me away a number of times, but what could I say? I couldn't desert him. I was in love," Pepper said, shrugging.

"So, we graduated. And summer came. I was getting ready to go to college, but Clay was going to stay back home, and work for his father on their farm. At the time, he didn't see the point of going to school if he couldn't go doing what he wanted. And soon, he settled in to life as a farm hand. We stayed together the rest of the summer, and things were good. He seemed to be getting better, and needing the pain meds less and less frequently. I really thought he showed promise. I thought he would pull out of the slump, and find happiness again."

"So, then what happened?" Tony asked.

"Well, the day before I left for college, my mom threw me a going away party. And she cooked for a week getting ready for it. Everybody was there. My family. Clay. His family. It was a lot of fun. But, unbeknownst to me, Clay had a surprise for me."

"A surprise?" Tony asked.

Pepper nodded. She turned around to face him. She smiled sadly. "There, in front of all of our friends and family, he proposed," she said softly.

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "He did?" he asked, that same stab of jealousy wrenching its way further into his gut. "What did you say?"

"I said yes," Pepper stated.

"Must have made your mom happy," Tony murmured, trying to keep the conversation going.

Pepper nodded. "It did," she replied. "She loved Clay. What wasn't there to love? He was a corn-fed, all-American farm kid. Tall. Blond with suntanned skin, and blue eyes. Smart as a whip. A dazzling smile, and a personality to match..."
"Yeah, got it, Pep," Tony said, grimacing disdain.

Pepper smiled at him bashfully. "Right. Anyway," she said,continuing. "We made plans for a June wedding. And I went to school, this time with Clay in tow. He decided he'd move in with me, and work while I went to class. So that's what we did. We found a small one bedroom apartment, and I became a full-time college student."

"An engaged full-time college student," Tony reminded her.

Pepper chuckled. "Yes," she said, nodding.

"So, what made all of that disappear?" Tony asked.

Pepper pursed her lips. "Clay began to change again. His moods got more and more erratic. He was in and out of the doctor's office, with one prescription or another for pain. Pretty soon, he quit going to work, and they fired him."

"Wow," Tony said.

Pepper nodded. "It was tough. All he wanted to do was occupy the couch all day. I couldn't stand watching him do this to himself. One night, we got into a big fight, and he left. I had no idea where he went. And I didn't hear from him for two days. Then, suddenly, I got a call from a treatment facility. He'd checked himself in. He told me that losing me wasn't worth being a junkie. So, he wanted to get clean."

"Can't say I can blame him," Tony remarked. "Did he do what he promised?"

"At that time, yes. He got clean. He went back to work. And he was a productive member of society again," Pepper said. "I finished the second semester, while my mom and I planned a wedding for when we came back home on summer break." She smiled wistfully. "It was going to be a small ceremony, just friends and family. Mama was going to do all of the cooking, and the ceremony would be outside, under the big elm tree in the yard. We were young, and broke, but in love. So, what could be better than a small, home-made, wedding ceremony?"

Someday, Pep, Tony thought. You'll get the wedding of your dreams. No more having to settle.

"Everything was looking pretty good, then, right?" he said.

"Right," Pepper said. "We had a rehearsal dinner at my mom's house. A big barbecue. Lots of music, drinks, and food. Everyone was having a great time. My rag-tag sister even managed to make an appearance," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Uh-oh," Tony murmured, sensing what was coming next.

"Yeah. Somehow, someone had managed to find what hole she was living in, and convinced her to crawl out of it long enough to at least make her presence known."

"You and she weren't talking even at this point?" Tony asked.

Pepper shook her head. "No. After I went to college, she dropped out of high school, and shacked up with whatever guy could feed her latest addiction. She had experimented with any drug she could get her hands on since she was fourteen, and had really gone off the deep end after I left. It broke my mother's heart to watch this happen. Liz was her baby. Without me to look after her, she felt like she could do whatever she wanted, and nothing could stop her."

"It must've been hard," Tony said.

"It was," Pepper replied. "But, low and behold, there she was. In the flesh."

"How did that go?" Tony asked.

"She was her usual obnoxious self. She made a complete fool of herself in front of everyone for a few hours, and then, poof," Pepper said. "She disappeared. Nobody knew where she went. We all thought she left."
"But she didn't," Tony guessed.

Pepper pursed her lips and shook her head. "Nope," she replied. "She certainly didn't."

Tony frowned. "Don't tell me," he said. "I have a hunch that suddenly Clay disappeared as well."
Pepper grimaced at his deduction. "Birds of a feather," she said, sighing.

Tony tilted his head, and looked into her eyes. "Oh my God," he said sympathetically, shaking his head. "Oh, Pep. I'm sorry," he said. "She slept with him, didn't she?" Tony asked.

Pepper nodded. "She got him high, first, then slept with him, yes," Pepper corrected. "She'd known about Clay's problem for quite sometime. So she just waited for the perfect opportunity to lure him in, and to destroy my life in the process."

"And at your rehearsal dinner, no less," Tony remarked. "You poor kid."

Pepper bit her lip. She went silent, and looked downward, avoiding Tony's gaze. She shook her head, and smiled sheepishly. "It's, um," she said, her voice giving out. "It's been a long time since I had to talk about it. You'd think I could handle it by now." Tony detected a tear rolling down her cheek, and he gently raised her chin for her to look at him, softly swiping the tear away with his thumb. They gazed at each other for a few quiet moments. Tony smiled softly, trying to comfort her.

"It isn't fair, you know? You play by the rules. You do everything you're supposed to, but it isn't enough," Pepper murmured.

"It is enough," Tony murmured back. "But wanna know what I've learned the trick is?"

Pepper smiled through her tears and nodded.

Tony smiled back. "The trick," he said, pulling her close. Pepper rested her head on his shoulder, and turned her face into the crook of his neck. Tony wrapped his arms around her, and continued. "Is to find the person that you're enough for. Flaws and all."

Pepper smiled. "Are you trying to tell me something, Tony Stark?" she cooed.

Tony smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Why? Were you listening?" he teased.

Pepper chuckled. "I was listening, and I think I hear you loud and clear," she replied.

Tony chuckled, and nodded. "Good," he said.

She raised her head to look at him, smiling. She sniffed and blinked back the rest of her tears, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry for pushing you away. After all of that happened, I closed myself off to ever giving my heart away like that again. And I've been so guarded around you for so long, it just made it that much harder to trust what was happening between us."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, for one," Tony said. "God knows I've put you through your paces. But I told you I would wait, didn't I?" he said softly. She nodded. "And I'm still willing to wait. But not having you around is torture. So, can we do with a little less space in our lives, and maybe more patience and trust instead?" Tony asked sheepishly. "Even if that means that we, uh..." Tony cleared his throat. "Wait on the...other stuff."

Pepper smiled bashfully and nodded.

Tony tenderly brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. She looked deep into his eyes as he spoke again. "I know I'm not good at this relationship stuff, so I need your help. The last thing that I want to do is to screw this up. I don't want to go too far too fast with this, Pep. Please believe me."

"I do! I do," she said. She held his face gently in her hands now and kissed his cheek. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly as he stroked her back.

"I'm sorry that I panicked," she said into his neck. "I should've talked to you, and instead I ran away, and I'm sorry."

"Again, you don't owe me an apology," Tony assured. "But all the same, you're totally forgiven," he joked. Pepper chuckled softly and Tony smiled. Breaking the embrace, he sighed. He pulled away, not wanting to over stay his welcome but he held onto her hand. "Well," Tony said, sighing. He gazed at Pepper for a moment, before slowly going in for a kiss. Pepper kissed him back, cupping his cheek in her hand.

A moment later, the kiss slowly broke, each of them reluctant to end it. Tony pecked her lips softly one more time before pulling away. "Love you," he whispered.

Pepper smiled. "I love you,too," she said, smiling.

Tony smiled and nodded. He kissed her hand, and then turned to go.

"Um, Tony?" Pepper said.

"Yeah?" he asked, slowly turning back around to face her.

Pepper bit her lip, allowing a moment to pass before she spoke. "Don't go," she whispered, still keeping his hand in hers. He looked at her intently. "Stay," she said. "Please."

Tony cocked his head and furrowed his brow. "Pep?" he said. "Are you sure? You don't have to. I mean, I get if you still need us to..."

Pepper shook her head. "No,Tony," she said. "I'm sure. I want you...," she said, biting her lip and looking into his eyes. "To stay," she whispered.

Tony smiled. For the first time since his arrival, he suddenly noticed there was very soft music playing. He pulled her close to him again. "Well, as long as there's a band in the house..."

She chuckled, "The ever-talented Miss Norah Jones, actually," she said, bashfully.

"Perfect," he replied, smirking. He slowly began to sway with her to the music. She reached up to kiss him and he kissed her tenderly back. He sank into her embrace, moaning softly. This is what he needed. This. Right here. And by asking her to move in, he was trying to secure this for himself every night. Never before had he been so in pieces over a woman. He had realized he couldn't live without her. She had become part of his life so much so that it was now impossible to go without her presence for any length of time. Together, he'd known for some time, they were whole.

"Tony?" he heard her whisper.

"Yeah? " he whispered back.

"Yes."

He stopped swaying and looked curiously at her."Yes?"

"Yes," she stated again. "Yes, I'll move in with you."

He cocked an eyebrow, and looked at her curiously. "What made you change your mind?"

"I've spent the last three days crying my eyes out, and thinking about us, and crying some more," she chuckled. "And I realized that I was too scared to admit that it's what I want," she said resolutely. "I meant it when I said you're all I have. But I also meant," she looked into his eyes sincerely. "that you're all that I want."