Chapter 26: Me and Tennessee
Hello everyone!
Thank you all so much for your really nice reviews. I am overwhelmed. I never imagined this Story getting 100 reviews, let alone more than 500! I am so humbled by your support and kindness, I cant say anything.
I really hope to at least cater to your needs a little bit with this chapter and that you like this one.
It was a lot of work and I am not entirely happy how it turned out in some parts and I am pretty happy with how it turned out in other parts. So this might be a wild ride :D
As the next chapter is already mostly written out, yet needs major editing, I'll try to put it out within the next two weeks.
Disclaimer: There are probably a lot of mistakes in here. I reread and re-edited this chapter so much, I basically went blind at one point. But you know the drill, cause I said it before: If you find a mistake congratulations, you may keep it. ;-)
But enough talking on my part, lets go.
Song: Me and Tennessee by Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw
Me and Tennessee
"You owe me two more minutes." Yes it was cheating, yes she hated it, but she had done it twice this night already, so what more could it hurt.
This time neither was kissing the other, cause they met half way. Their mouthes moved in sync, while his hands moved to their new favorite places on earth, her hair and her waist. Their make out session was interrupted by the first beams of sunlight hitting them in the face and they broke apart, but Tony leaned his forehead against hers once more, gazing down at her lovingly with a stupid smile on his face, while Pepper peered up at him through her lashes.
"Was that an answer?" Tony asked somewhat out of breath, the stupid grin still on his face.
"Not yet." Pepper answered with a grin playing her own features, still catching her breath herself. She licked her lips and found she could still taste him, she liked that very much.
"What was it then?" He asked, pulling back a little to look at her properly, but not willing to let completely go just yet.
"An argument." Pepper told him, the knowing grin still on her face and stepped out of his embrace. She started heading back towards the house and after a few steps the reality of it all came crashing down on her. She was not sure where to go from here. She had cheated on Alex and she knew she needed to brake things off with him, if she wanted to have a shot with Tony at all. Yet there still was that tiny part of her that wasn't entirely sure if breaking up with Alex really was the right decision and that feared she would get hurt by Tony in the long run.
But at the moment every part of her body was screaming at her to just screw it -literally speaking- and get it on with Tony. She was on such an endorphin high and couldn't think straight at the moment. Her thoughts were all over the place, running back and forth in her head.
Maybe for the first time Tony was actually right. She needed time to think this over. Get her feelings straight and in a row and figure out what she wanted, what she truly wanted. It had been a long and eventful day and night and an emotional rollercoaster, going from confused and frustrated to losing it all, to being extremely happy, back to being confused and hurt, through blissful happiness again, to hating herself for what she did, to needing to talk to Tony, over being shocked and in awe at the same time, back to happily kissing each other for the third friggin time in one night and all the way around to the start to being confused. All of that required some sort of comprehension and time to sink in.
Pepper felt like she needed guidance in this whole dilemma, someone to talk to and help her untie the knot that was in her head.
When she reentered the house, it was just quarter past five, which meant it was already quarter past six in New York, where Lisa currently was for her law firm. Knowing her, she was up already, always rising at six, to get some sports in before work.
After Pepper snuck her phone and headset from their room, she went back downstairs and sat down on one of the deckchairs on the porch. She dialed Lisa's number and hit call.
Two toots in Lisa picked up, sounding out of breath.
"This is Lisa speaking?"
"Good morning, Lisa." Pepper greeted warmly and smiled, realizing how much she missed her best friend. "Doing cardio?"
"Pep! I haven't heard from you in forever. Why are you up? It's like five in Texas…" She said her panting accelerating.
"Yeah, I know I'm a bad friend… I couldn't sleep." She sighed down the line and heard something whirring on the other end. "What are you doing? Indoor cycling?"
"Cross Trainer." Came Lisas curt reply. "Give me one minute, I only have point two miles left…" The whirring on her side got even louder and faster.
Pepper waited patiently and observed Tony in the distance with his arms leaning on the fence of the paddock, facing the other direction, apparently deep in thought. She had been daydreaming, feeling the sleepless night starting to get to her and flinched when Lisa suddenly spoke again. "Whew. Sorry, but now I'm done. So what's up? Why couldn't you sleep?"
"Uhm…" Pepper needed a moment to refocus. So much had happened that night and she didn't know where to start. "I was at Mimi's and Bo's yesterday, actually we all were and she said something about me and Alex and it made me think…"
"I hope you offered my greetings! Ok, what did she say?" Lisa asked and Pepper heard the hiss of a bottle being opened.
"Mimi told me to say hi." Pepper answered her first question happily and then got more serious. "We talked about my relationship and she said that I looked like I was missing something, seeing Tony and Emily together. I told her how much I love Alex and how much I enjoy being with him, but she just kept rambling about Tony."
"Okay…" Lisa mumbled sounding a little distant.
"I don't know, it just got to me." She confessed. "Honestly don't know what happened or why it happened, but I just couldn't sleep and I went outside to clear my head, you know?" Pepper rambled on, not really giving Lisa a chance to say something. "And he must have seen me leave, because he followed me and was suddenly behind me. I… uhm… I don't know…" Pepper hesitated, not sure how her oldest friend would react to her cheating.
"Uhu… Go on." Came from the other end of the line.
"Well, something… snapped." Pepper concluded.
"What do you mean snapped?" Lisa asked from the other side. "Did you guys fight?" She asked worried.
"Well," She huffed. "not exactly." Pepper breathed out and went quiet again.
Lisa squealed directly into the phone, and Pepper could have sworn, she was now partly deaf. "Oh my god! He asked you to marry him!"
"What?" Pepper hadn't expected this reaction. "No. Why would he ask me to marry him?"
"Because he's head over heels in love with you! And you are, too." The last part was spoken very softly and Pepper felt a shiver rund down her spine when she thought back to Tony telling her he was in love with her.
"Yes, I am." She finally confessed to her and warmth spread through her whole body. It felt so damn good finally admitting it and saying it out loud.
"Ok, so he didn't ask you to marry him." Her voice sounded actually a bit disappointed. "What happened then? What do you mean with snapped?" She asked urgently.
"We… kissed." Pepper stated and couldn't suppress the smile forming on her face. At the same time though the guilt started blossoming inside her chest again.
"Aha…" Lisa sounded rather underwhelmed.
"And then we just sat together the whole night on the porch of my treehouse and talked. Just talked like that." Her min drifted back to the whee hours of the morning and the dark blue sky splattered with stars about their heads. The way he had been looking at her while they talked made her melt all over again. "Like we were the only two humans in the world. It was like there was no time anymore. Everything was so clear, and lay there right in our hands. Finally there weren't any complications anymore. I don't know why, but it was the most intense and intimate night of my life. He finally showed me who he really is…"
"Aww that sounds really romantic." Lisa cooed over the phone. "What did he say?" Now genuine interest peaked in her voice again. Pepper heard a phone ring somewhere in Lisas background. "Ah damn it, Pepper. I have to hurry, but please tell me quickly what did he say!"
"He told me he loves me. And that he wants to be with me. For real!" Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, as though it would become untrue if she spoke it out loud.
"Aww Pep, that's so romantic… I hope you said it back?!" Lisa demanded.
"Not exactly. But I think I want the same thing. Be with him, I mean. Gosh, this is all so nerve wrecking." She chuckled. "And new. I need to come to terms with it first."
"You need to tell me everything when you're back! But I am so sorry, I really have to go now. We'll catch up when I get back from New York, I'll be in litigation all day for the next few days. See ya, sweety." The line went dead when Lisa hung up, without waiting for her response.
Pepper let the phone fall from her hands down to her lap and reclined into the chair, fiddling with her phone absentmindedly when she was settled.
Tony had long since vanished into the abyss of the woods in the backyard, but Pepper still found her eyes searching for him between the trees.
Tony… Hearing his version about his fight against death had made it all the clearer how close Pepper had come to losing him. Everything had come back up again and it put things into perspective. Had Tony died, she wouldn't have been able to live with herself. She would have regretted never telling him how she felt about him, that she wanted to be with him, that of course she was always thinking about that night. Pepper bit her lip in thought, absentmindedly looking for traces of his taste lingering on her lips, aching to reminisce the feeling of his kiss. Tony was a good kisser, but she knew that before, yet know, that she was actually more than willing to reciprocate his kisses were out of this world. She could only Imagine what actually being with him must be like. The feel of his hands and lips mapping out her whole body, the of his muscles and skin beneath her hands, free to explore every inch of skin, the feel of his -
"Hey B." Came a sleep rumbled voice from behind her and Pepper flinched, not even having heard Alex approach her.
She felt heat rising in her face. She had basically been day dreaming about sleeping with Tony, while her still-boyfriend stood behind her.
"Jesus, Alex." She panted and turns back around, not ready to face him just yet, not when she had been nearly caught red handed. The situation was overwhelming her, suffocating her, she felt like she still needed some alone time, but on the other hand she knew she'd never feel ready to face him after what she had done and sooner or later she had to talk to him. So she turned back around and forced a smile out. "Good morning. Did… uhm" God was she actually about to ask him if he saw her and Tony last night? Way to end thinks if he didn't. "Did you sleep well?" The question, that came out of her mouth surprised and relieved her at the same time.
"Not really," came his hoarse reply. "I woke around three o'clock and you were gone." He said, a little probingly, a little skeptical even, but Pepper managed to keep a calm demeanor on the outside and smiled sympathetically, but she felt her forehead tingling with sweat starting to rise, and her heartbeat accelerated rapidly, as adrenaline started rushing through her system with fear. "You know, I looked for you everywhere in the house, but I couldn't find you."
"Oh," Pepper began. She was a bad liar and knew it, but she wasn't ready to just break things off now. Especially when she felt like she hadn't even begun to proceed the things which had happened over the last 24 hours. "I couldn't, you know…" Think Pepper, think. You need to make it believable. "I couldn't sleep. Mimi said some stuff, brought back some memories… it got to me. And you know how I hate to lay awake, so I got up and went to the tree house. Just thinking things through…" She shrugged and tried to look nonchalant. Might as well go with the truth, Pepper, she thought, though she knew it wasn't the whole truth.
"Jeez, Pepper. You could have woken me up and told me about it." Alex said with a smile and came up closer behind her, massaging her shoulders in what he thought was a soothing manner. "You know I'm always there for you."
He didn't notice how Pepper tensed under his fingers and he missed her uncomfortable look. Physical attention from him was the last thing she wanted at the moment. He didn't repel her necessarily, but not even an hour ago she had her tongue down Tony's throat and had every intention of breaking up with the man before her. Somehow the physical attention felt like she was cheating all over again, but this time on Tony.
"Well, I didn't want to wake you." She responded after a second in low voice and a fake smile, she hoped he wouldn't see. "And I didn't want to talk…" to you. She finished her sentence in her head.
"Well, I can't even imagine how difficult it must be for you, being back at your childhood place, but… with your parents gone. You must miss them terribly." He stopped rubbing her back and Pepper was grateful for that. But it got worse, he came around and sat down in front of her grabbing her hands in his. "If you need to talk about it, just let me know. I'm here for you, beautiful." And then his lips were on hers.
Nothing. She felt nothing. Yes, his lips on hers were warm and soft and familiar and all that jazz, yet she instantly noticed the absence of the prickling sensation a goatee caused, he lacked the plumpness of Tony's lips and skill wise his kiss was a light year behind.
Not really kissing him back and not really enjoying it, yet still too unsure of how to proceed Pepper granted him the moment of comfort, though not moving a muscle herself before he pulled back and smiled at her. She awkwardly returned the smile and saw movement behind him on the lawn.
Tony had made his way back towards the house and he didn't look exactly thrilled at what he saw before him. Her eyes turned wide in guilt, dreading his reaction and what he might think. Alex turned and saw Tony stand behind him, one hand on the railing, one foot on the stairs, the other one still on the grass, dead in his tracks.
"Good morning Tony." Alex greeted happily as he noticed him and stood, not really noticing the tension, since Tony had put on his pokerface. He said he'd give Pepper time to decide, and he wouldn't ruin her ability to chose by actively taking that privilege from her, yet he felt like he was entitled to growl a little.
"Alex," He greeted. "slept well?" The snarl was evident in his voice only to Pepper and for a nano-second his eyes flickered to her, seeing the unnerved expression. "I wanted to go collect the eggs and give a few carrots to Mildred. Care to join, Pepper?" He asked her way too sweetly while sending a way too nice smile in her direction.
To prevent the situation from exploding she decided she needed to act. "Sure." She agreed and stood next to Alex. "I'll be back and make breakfast soon." She informed her still-boyfriend.
"Great, I'll go take a shower." He kissed her forehead, but Pepper had her eyes on Tony, who's hands clenched to tight fists and his stare was hard and icy, while his jaw was set.
As soon as Alex had turned and was back into the house she took Tony's arm and dragged him towards the stable. To say they were pacing there was an understatement and neither spoke a word until they were behind closed doors.
"What was that?" She demanded.
"I don't like you kissing him." He said bluntly, not even trying to sugar coat it. "Sorry, I have to be fair." He corrected himself, his face actually softening. "I don't like him kissing you and you letting him do it."
His words warmed her and she had to suppress a smile. "Tony," she said with a sigh. "You said, you'd give me a choice. And more importantly you promised to give me a little time. As of right know, he's still my boyfriend and as far as he is concerned it is his right to kiss me when he pleases." She stepped forward and put her hands on his crossed arm. "Whether you or I like it or not, that is how it is. At least at the moment."
"I still don't want to see -" In that moment it dawned on him. "Wait, are you telling me…" A grin spread on his features.
"I'm not telling you anything." Pepper said with a wicked grin.
"I think you need more arguments." He cooed and approached her like a lion his prey, while she backed away backwards, her arms now crossed. Yet her face was a bemused one when her back hit one of the stable doors.
"I don't think we should…" she started, but his hands went to her waist and she felt her walls breaking again. Gosh, this man was her undoing.
"I think, Miss Potts you obviously need more persuasion." He lowered his head down to hers and she welcomed him whole heartedly.
Tony used the door behind her to press himself even closer to her and enjoy her every curve against his body. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on the perspective, his body responded directly to her closeness and her own enthusiasm as he dug his hips into hers. Pepper gasped into his mouth in surprise and he used the opportunity to kiss her even deeper and more heatedly. When his hand wandered down her body she snapped back to reality and grabbed his hand before she pulled back.
"I'm sorry…" She started, not sure what to say or do. She'd be lying if she said her body didn't respond to his attention as well, but she wasn't ready to act on that just yet.
Tony groaned and buried his head in her shoulder, bringing some space between his lower parts and the woman between himself and the door. "Don't say anything." He groaned again, though this time in frustration. "Don't apologize. I am sorry, Pep. You don't have to apologize for anything. Its just… uhm, you kinda always had this effect on me and now that I actually get to touch… I get a little over-… uhm excited." He raised his eyes to hers and she was about to laugh, pressing her lips together desperately. "Why are you laughing?" He asked very uncomfortable.
"You're adorable, when you're rambling." She simply observed. "And you don't need to apologize either." Her features softened and she smiled warmly at him again. "I take it as a compliment. I just need a little time."
"Believe me, it is a compliment." He sighed and pushed back from her. His uncomfortable face while he tried to envision anything except the woman standing in front of him made her snicker a little. "Stop laughing. We could settle this in less than a minute if you wanted to." The comment made a belly laugh escape her.
Once Tony had calmed his little problem they gave the carrots to the horses, just enjoying each others company without saying much.
"Did my persuading work at least a little?" He asked sheepishly, the bowl with six eggs in hand before the reached the barn door.
"Honestly," she sighed and looked a little uncomfortable again. "I think you were right. I need time to think things through. And with Alex… give me a little time to break it off. He deserves an explanation and he deserves to not find out about this" she gestured between them "by accident."
"Okay." Tony said and sounded a little sad while he turned away from her.
"Tony," She started and her tone made him look at her. "That's not a no."
He smiled a little sadly back at her and remarked: "It's not a yes either."
"No, no." She looked at him, pleading with her eyes, which were filled with hurt and uncertainty. "I just think, if we want to have a chance here, a real chance, we need to make this right. I refuse to stumble into a relationship with so much still going on around it. You haven't even broken up with Emily. Officially I'm still with Alex. If we don't do it right, it will end in chaos. And -"
Tony interrupted her, before she could finish. "I know, I know they deserve better."
"No Tony, we deserve better, too. Like I told you once, I don't want to risk what we have to a hasty try of a relationship. I want us to be invincible."
The first time she had said that all those month ago, she had broken his heart. This time, though it were the same words, they had a totally different meaning to them, they had so much more value to him. She wanted them to be real and not something solely born form chaos and desperation. He found he wanted that, too.
"Why are you always right." He deadpanned, but his mouth twitched in an annoyed smile.
"I think it's time to go back to the house." Pepper opened the door for him and let him through, closing it behind her again. They walked in silence over the grass along the trees, each minding their path. As they passed the swing memories from their first day in Texas crashed back into Tony's consciousness, making him stop dead in his tracks and he couldn't suppress the moan that escaped his throat.
Peppers head snapped toward him, mustering him with a concerned look. "Are you alright?" She turned on her heel and walked back over to where he had stopped.
"How am I supposed to behave myself around you now?" Without thinking about his actions, his hand that wasn't holding onto the bowl grabbed her waist and pulled her against himself again. Luckily at least one of Pepper's brain cells was still working and she managed to pull them behind the big tree that blogged the view from the patio, before something happened again.
"Tony, I thought we agreed on stopping this until both of us are free of… baggage." She tried to sound convincing but the small whimper that escaped her as he started nibbling at her neck made it somehow impossible to really make it believable that she wanted him to stop.
"But you are sooo irresistible." Tony hummed against her skin, his beard lightly scraping her neck. The sensation made goosebumps erupt all over her skin, but at the same time brought Pepper back to earth.
"Tony, as much as I love this…" she got out in between breathes as he was performing miracles on her neck and jaw and ear. Finally she was able to shove him away and get some space and air between them. "We have to stop this now."
He noticed her face was bright red and she was trying to avoid his eyes. Her behavior made him smirk even more. "At least tell me, you're as close to ravishing me as I am to ravish you."
The cold stare she gave him gave away that he was totally right and he smirked even more.
"I'm serious here, Tony. I really don't want to get caught red handed."
"But doesn't that make it all the more exciting?"
"No." This time she looked determined and he knew the game was over. "It makes it even more wrong."
"Alright, alright." He sighed and finally let go of her waist. "But no more kissing that bloke." Her face told him he used the wrong euphemism. "Alright, no more kissing Alex." The last word he pronounced very disgruntled.
"Ok, I try to avoid it." Pepper agreed. "But same goes for Emily." She demanded and Tony smiled at her.
"Done. Anything else?"
"No I think that's it. But like I said, I just ask you to give me some time to break up with Alex gently. And I think Emily deserves the same."
"I promised to give you time, Pepper and I intend on keeping my promise. But that doesn't mean I won't try to persuade you one way or another." He smiled wickedly at her and kissed her quickly on the lips, but pulled back before she even registered what had happened and was on his way back to the house, whistling Old McDonald. He left her whole body tingling and yearning for a proper kiss. Damn you Tony Stark for being addictive like a drug. Once you started there was no stopping it again.
After a few deep, calming breathes Pepper returned to the house, but neither Tony nor one of the other occupants where somewhere to be seen. Deciding breakfast could wait a few more minutes until after she got properly dressed she headed upstairs to put on some proper clothing. Luckily for her, Alex seemed to be in the shower so she didn't need to face him just yet. It was going to be a nice day and she decided on white jeans shorts and a blue-white striped linen bottom down shirt.
On her way back down, she noticed the door to Tony's and Emily's room was open a fraction. She didn't want to snoop, but she saw Tony scrambling around the room looking for something. Not a second later she heard retching sounds for the adjourning bathroom.
"Are they fighting again?" Alex voice startled her the second time that morning and she nearly jumped a foot when he suddenly appeared behind her.
"Jeez Alex." Pepper said angrily herself now.
"Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt your snooping." He answered defensively.
"I wasn't snooping. I just heard someone being sick and wanted to make sure they're ok." Stupid. She was stupid. Spying on her love interest while her still-boyfriend was right behind her.
"Pepper are you ok? You're behaving strange since we're back from Mimi's and Bo's." He looked strangely at her, like he was suspecting something was going on.
"No, I'm good. Just… The last week was a little crazy, ok?" Without waiting for his reply she brushed past him. "I'm going to make breakfast now."
Alex cornered her again in the kitchen while she was preparing a batch of pancake batter. "Honey, you seem so stressed. What do you think about sending Tony and Emily away for today so we have the house to ourselves. Take a dip in the pond, relax." His tone was suggestively and it made Pepper go cold.
She needed to turn down his offer, but not too obviously.
"I think it's rude to ask them to leave, Alex." She answered and was happy, because he would surely understand this argument.
"I have already spoken to Emily." He informed her, sounding equally happy. "She thinks it's a great idea and that we deserve some alone time."
"Great." Pepper said. Trying to sound enthusiastically and put on a fake smile, she hoped would suffice.
"Pep, what's wrong?" Alex asked again. "A few days ago you couldn't wait to get away from Tony and Emily and be alone, but now you don't look happy."
Tony took this moment to stride into the kitchen, phone in his hand.
"Pepper, the board just called. There was a problem about the deal with JP International. Our stock points are about to drop 40 points. You as CEO need to come back immediately, maybe we can turn the deal still around."
I know, I know the ending sucks. But I had to cut it at some point…
Anyways here's your sneak:
"For the first time we were finally on the same page." Tears brimmed in her eyes and she looked down again.
Luckily Lisa was quick to pick up details and noticed it immediately: "Were?" She asked a little mortified.
Ah don't we all love a bit of drama? :D
Don't worry though, it's not for long. I promised you Pepperony all the way through the rest of the story and I am going to keep it. But without at least a little drama it would be boring, wouldn't it?
Leave a little Love (:
