HELLOOO! Here's chapter 29, the second to last! Waah! ;( but anyway, I'm starting a new fanfic soon after this one is finished, and it'll be called Hunted Hero. (Name courtesy of the WICKEDLY AWESEOME CindyLou30!) (I may have mentioned this before, if I have, I'm sorry! I have a TERRIBLE memory!) Anyway, I'm leaving on Friday to go and do a service trip up in Wisconsin, at a place called Camp Grow, where I'll be gone 'till Sunday, and I SHOULD have the final chapter uploaded by then! (I also may not go, as I seem to be developing Bronchitis. )
Thanks to:
CindyLou30 (Nooo! You died and it's all my fault! :d Jk, thanks so much!)
UltraRed55 (hehehe…possibly BOTH! :D I hope you like it, and I MUST get to read your story Amnesia! I'm sorry I haven't, I've been soo busy since mom's making me do Math over the summer, but I WILL!)
Alice. Dreamer 15 (Thanks!)
Finny-Kun Goddess (Thank you!)
And SilverPedals1402 (Glad you liked it, and read on to find out! :) )
Well, let's get going! I don't own IMAA or anything. If I did, Whitney wouldn't exist. XD
Chapter 29, "On the Rooftop."
"Wow, the stars are so bright tonight!" Pepper exclaimed, looking up at the navy blue sky. There were no clouds at all, and all the streetlights had turned off, for some reason. Tony smiled at her and looked up as well. They stood there for a few minutes, transfixed by the sheer number and brightness of the stars and moon. Tony took a deep breath of the night's fresh, crisp, clean air. It was so peaceful up on the roof! He could hear very faint music and voices coming from the gym below, but the crickets drowned it out with their chattering melodies. Not even the cars seemed loud, it was just him and Pepper.
Her fiery red hair, waving slightly in the breeze, had taken a gleaming iridescence from the bright moon. Her soft, kind brown eyes were wide open with sheer happiness, and the many stars of the rich blue sky were reflected in her eyes like small galaxies.
Tony had never seen her more beautiful in all of his life.
She looked over and saw him staring, openmouthed, and laughed.
"Tony, you look like somebody just told you that Technology was illegal!" He smiled self-consciously, hardly able to tear his eyes away from hers.
"Hey, um, Pepper, there's something I forgot to give you." Tony admitted, reaching into his pocket and puling out a silky-blue box. He pressed it onto her hands, and she said,
"Oh-I have one for you too!" She exclaimed, and (from nowhere that Tony could see), she handed him a leather-brown box, the same size as hers. They both opened their boxes, knowing what was inside, and with happy grins on their faces, each pulled out an identical corsage. Pepper's was the bracelet type, and a bright gold color with several smaller petals blossoming from underneath the large flower.
Tony's was a simple boutonniere, cherry-red with spikier petals furled underneath the larger prominent one.
Tony suddenly laughed. Pepper looked up. "What's so funny? Do you not like it?" She asked frantically. In between laughs, Tony remarked,
"Red and gold-those are the Iron Man colors!" Pepper laughed too, seeing the joke, and once more, Tony thought of how beautiful she looked when she was happy.
Once more they were gazing happily at the stars. "Pepper, there's something else I meant to give you…something I think you've earned" He said thoughtfully. She looked up at him, a smile slowly breaking out on her face. He pulled out his Pod phone and spoke a word into it. It beeped once. He grinned and put it away. "Your gift is on its way." He told her, blue eyes twinkling.
Tony took the corsage bracelet from Pepper's hand and gently slid it around her wrist. Pepper did likewise, pinning the crimson flower on his chest. He caught her hand in his, and for one heartbeat, they gazed into each other's eyes. Bright, intelligent electric blue met warm, cheerful, and soft brown. Tony's heartbeat sped up tenfold as they both leaned in a little closer.
(Do it already! Just kiss him!) Pepper's mind screamed. They were an inch away from each other, but Pepper just couldn't do it. For all her enthusiasm and hyper activeness, she suddenly felt shy. She hesitated, backing away, and as she closed her eyes, she felt Tony's hand gently brush her cheek, and he leaned forward and kissed her.
The crickets paused in their chirping, as if to give the two a little peace. Even the stars in the sky shone brighter and the moon flickered a bit.
After several moments they broke up and just stood there holding each other, aghast. Tony's heart was thumping as if it would burst, and he felt overjoyed, as if he could run a thousand miles without tiring.
Just then, there was a humming noise and they pulled away from each other, looking towards the source of the noise. Tony smiled slyly as a purple-and-red-streaked suit of armor flew up and landed beside him.
"Pepper, meet your new armor!" He announced. Pepper's jaw dropped at the sight of it. It was perfectly built for her figure, short and thin, and the reactor in the center of its chest was glowing a soft shade of pink. The eyes were slightly larger, more circular-shaped, and curved up at the ends in a pretty and feminine way. The combat-styled boots were larger, and almost clunky-looking, but Pepper loved it. Instead of the blocky color scheme of Iron Man, its body, from the neck down, was streaked vertically with purple and red, and judging by the slight fins on its arms, legs and back, highly aerodynamic.
Tony walked over and put an arm around her shoulders, grinning at her stricken expression.
"I take it you like the armor? I haven't named it yet, but I guess that the people of New York will name you once they see you in action." He commented. Pepper suddenly spun around and crushed him in a Pepper-hug. Tony gasped for air as he laughed and tried to breathe as she choked him, murmuring "thank you, THANK YOU!" over and over into his chest. After a few minutes of this she released him, practically jumping up and down with glee. Tony laughed once more.
"Hold on, Pepper, you can't use it until the dance is over." He reminded her.
"Oh, that's right! The dance!" she exclaimed. She and Tony started back down, and the armor flew back to the Armory at Tony's phone signal. She looked back once again as it sped off across the sky, and sighed with happiness. She leaned her head on Tony's shoulder as they descended.
"I love you, Tony."
Wow…cheesy, right? I'm sorry that the ending was kinda rushed; I wanted to get this done quickly! Don't worry, there's one more chapter coming up!
PEPPERONY! :D
