Dear Readers,
This has been a very hard chapter to write. I don't want to wreck the storyline or the tenderness of this story. So…it's been real tough to write this. Excuse any mistakes, grammatical or otherwise.
….
CHAPTER 11
"Tony, I'm ugly," Pepper wept.
"No…" Tony whispered. "I'm the ugly one. I've messed everything up I've ever done in my life. You deserve better then me."
Pepper stopped crying for an instant. Then she drew back and slapped Tony.
Wait…she had slapped him?
"What…was…?" Tony wasn't sure if he had deserved that, and on the other side, it stung, and on the…er…other side, he welcomed the pain.
"Stop saying that, Tony. You need to move past -"
"Move past, what, Pep? Letting you get hurt every time we're together? I say something or do something and…I don't deserve to be your boyfriend. I don't deserve to be Iron Man."
Pepper wretched herself from his grasp and softly walked across the room and sat on the edge of the bed.
"I'm not going to listen to you talk like that," she whispered.
"But what if it's true?"
"It's not, Tony. I know I'm always yelling and telling you everything you do wrong, and…I'm sorry. It's all my fault you can't respect yourself."
"Pepper. That's total crap," Tony stood up and balled his fists by his side angrily. He took a deep breath and sat next to Pepper. "Maybe we just need to leave all of this behind us and start over."
"You think?" Pepper gnawed on her lip timidly.
"Yes," Tony replied. "So…will you be my girlfriend?"
"No, I'm sorry, I have a previous engagement," Pepper smiled. Tony took the bait at first.
"But you…?" he stopped himself.
"Yeah, you see, I have this superhero boyfriend. I was the first one to know his true identity, and see, I'm not sure if our relationship can work, which makes me wildly conflicted, which only makes me more crazy in love with him,"
Tony nearly cried.
"You're some girl, Pep," he said, and kissed her tenderly. When he pulled away, her blood was on his face. "We need to get something on that scratch."
"Yes, I totally agree," Pepper replied. Tony stood up and went into bathroom and brought hydrogen peroxide, cotton swabs and ointment back into the room. There was no way to bandage her face, unfortunately, unless he wanted to wrap her like a mummy. He was no doctor.
Pepper was laying down in the bed, eyes closed and breathing softly. Tony gently sat down next to her, at first, just watching her sleep. Then he almost barely ran the swab with the peroxide over her cut and dabbed some ointment on her cut.
The only sound in the room was the wind gently blowing in the broken window and Pepper's breathing. Tony went downstairs, brought a large sheet of wood and propped it against the window. He couldn't nail it, that would wake Pepper up.
"JARVIS," Tony whispered.
"Yes, sir," JARVIS was extremely hushed as well.
"Call a guard from our security business and have him watch this window, just so no one gets in. And get started on the protection issues I told you about,"
"Computing immediately, sir," JARVIS replied.
Slowly, Tony walked back to the bed. Sliding his arms under her knees and under her arms, he scooped her up, blanket and all, and carried her upstairs to his own bed. He could stand the couch for one night.
Laying her down gently, Tony ran his hand over her cheek and kissed it gently. Just as he was turning around, he heard Pepper say groggily,
"Tony?"
"Yes?" Tony turned around again.
"Don't leave me," she whispered.
Tony rubbed his eyes to conceal any tears and retraced his steps. He lowered himself to the other side of the bed and folded his hands over his stomach. In no time at all, Pepper was asleep.
It was the first time Tony had slept with a woman with his clothes on.
He wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry.
Probably both.
