Charming Possibilities – Part twenty-nine
A/N: Oh, wow. Has it been really that much since my last update? Sorry, guys. I promise I will finish this story for you.
Part twenty-nine
It was half past twelve in the morning and Tony had had enough. Three months had passed since the accident and much to his growing frustration, Pepper was still, well – Pepper. She hadn't remembered one thing about their relationship and that made him lose his sanity with each passing day.
Not to mention, she was looking out for an apartment to rent it since she thought it would be rudeto take advantage of Mr.Starkand his hospitality.Fuck that. What? Did she really think he would let her leave so easily?
There was no way Tony would ever let her out of his sight again.
Sighing deeply, Tony pushed away from his workstation half-heartedly and made his way upstairs. The kitchen was calling to him as his stomach growled hungrily. He reached out to open the fridge and as he did so, he heard a small shuffling noise behind him. Turning around in the darkness, he noticed a half-asleep Pepper making her way towards the fridge as well. He put on a fake smile and turned towards her.
"Are you hungry, Pepper?" He asked politely, but inside he was literally itching to make some sort of contact with her.
The redhead rubbed at her right eye and leaned against the island, nodding through a small yawn. Tony's heart grew bitter and he wished he could do something to help her get her memory back. The regular visits to the doctor didn't really help as his answer would always be the same – shestillneedstime.
But how much time? His world was slowly but securely falling apart as the days passed without seeing her smile at him. Her current situation was tearing him and his heart apart and he had no solution to fix it, whatever it was. Pretty ironic, huh? Being a genius, but not being able to fix something as simple as the human brain can be.
Yeah, ironic…
He fixed her a peanut-butter sandwich and handed it to her as he began to chew on his. Setting his plate down, Tony pulled out a chair and sat down, trying hard not to look over at her and see her go back to her room. Pepper noticed the tension in his movements and pulled out a chair as well, still looking at him, observing how it affected him.
"Can I join you?" She asked softly and her heart skipped a beat when she saw his beaming smile.
"Yeah. Yes, sure. I'd love that." Tony replied as he looked at her, still smiling.
Pepper began eating her own sandwich as Tony finished his own, though she couldn't help but notice that he hadn't sat up and left like she supposed he would. Instead, he simply stood there and watched her as she ate in silence.
After a while, the almost-deafening silence had Pepper clear her throat as she stood up, noticing how his eyes had widened. She placed her plate in the sink and turned to him, still a little sleepy.
"Thank you for the midnight snack, Mr. Stark." She said and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Tony to gather the small bits of his heart from the floor. Mr.Stark… Really,Pepper?Really?Howcanyoudothistome?
Tony closed his eyes and sighed shakily, pressing his forehead into the crook of his arm as he rested against the table, trying to hold on onto the memory of their lost love.
In the morning, Tony woke up in his bed and scrunched his nose at the smell radiating off his clothes. Cursing under his breath, he stood up and began undressing on his way towards his bathroom. The warmth of the water as it splashed over him helped warming him up, if only just for a few brief minutes. He took some time to shave off his stubble and to brush his teeth. After finishing his ritual, he looked at himself in the mirror and passed a hand through his damp hair. He looked tired.
He felt tired and most of all, he felt worthless.
Pepper wasn't going to remember their love ever again. Letting his eyes fall downcast, he succumbed to helpless sobs. Tightening his hand around the towel, he wiped the bitter tears that rolled down his clean cheeks and closed his eyes.
Later that evening, Tony was sitting on the couch in the living room, trying to watch a lame documentary about extinct birds. The lights were dimmed and the only sounds in the house were the sounds coming from the home cinema and the fireplace.
Suddenly, Tony's eyes caught Pepper's frame descending the stairs with her laptop. He sat up a little and relaxed back against the back of the couch as he watched her walk over to him.
"I've been meaning to show you something for a while." Pepper said as she walked around the table to sit next to him with her laptop on her lap.
The website was showing some thumbnails of some sort of an apartment and as Tony finally registered the fact that, yes, she was indeed very keen on moving out, his heart froze and he felt tears start to form at the corners of his eyes. He couldn't speak because he was afraid that if he did so, his voice would break.
But Pepper didn't notice his mood as she started to click on various pictures.
"This is a nice apartment I've found last week. It's in Downtown."
Tony simply swallowed and tightened his jaw.
"I thought I had made it pretty clear that you're welcomed to stay here for as long as you want." He finally said after a few minutes.
Pepper turned a little and looked at him, noticing his anger boil deep beneath his skin, but she kept her tone casual.
"This is your house, Tony, and as much as I enjoy staying here, I need my own personal space."
Tony closed his eyes and sighed.
"Pepper, you had an accident and you're still recovering. What if, by the time you've moved in, you get back your memory? Huh?"
"And what if I don't?" She countered quickly, standing up and taking her laptop with her.
"Then I won't keep you from doing whatever you need to be happy." Tony whispered and sat up, turning off the TV.
Pepper looked at him and nodded, leaving him alone with his own thoughts. Unfortunately for both of them, those thoughts were aimed towards a bottle of whiskey.
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