I'm sorry to make you wait so much for this update. Thank you everyone that send me your review and decided to follow it. special thanks to "the-writer1988" my Beta.
I hope you all like it.
Tony felt nervous and was trying to hide it from Pepper but she knew him too well. He was more agitated and rambling more than usual during their ride.
As he stopped his Audi R8 in front of the simple but comfortable two floor house in a New York suburb, he turned his engine off as Pepper held his hand making him look at her as he quietly stopped with his monologue.
"Hey, it's fine!" she assured him.
"I know." He tried to smile at her but she recognized his uncomfortable smile.
"You don't need to be nervous," she said calmly and smiled at him.
"I'm not nervous," he replied, making her stare at him with her famous 'I-know-you-better-than-that' look. "Maybe a little" he added. "I- I've never done this Pep, and it's you, and-"
"I thought you said you wanted to meet them!"
"I do! But-"
She took his hand between hers. "Tony. As long as I'm happy they will be happy." They stared at each other for a while.
"Are you? Happy, I mean?" he asked, breaking eye contact for a moment before looking at her again.
Her smile grew at his reaction. With her, he was so different from the man he was in public, and she loved that fact.
"Yes," she answered honestly. "Very much."
She wanted to tell him that she loved him, and confess how important he was to her, but they hadn't exchanged those three little words yet and she didn't want to scare him; he was already nervous.
He looked at her with so much emotion in his eyes, so intensely that she was sure it could make her legs weak. Thank the gods they weren't standing! It was the kind of look that he started to give her after they became a couple, but especially after they spent the night together.
Before he could say anything, the front door of the house opened and a blonde man stepped out of the house with a smile on his face.
"Hey! Baby girl!" said the man, making Tony grin as Pepper stepped out of the car to hug him.
"Hi dad!" They exchanged a few smiles before the man looked at Tony.
"Mr. Tony Stark." He offered the billionaire his hand and Tony took it without hesitation. "We finally meet."
"Yeah! Better late than never," answered the genius in a confident way, looking teasingly at his girlfriend which made her eyes roll and smile back at her father.
"Exactly! Nice ride!" he replied, looking at the car behind the couple.
"Dad!"
"What? I can't appreciate a beautiful machine like this?"
Pepper rolled her eyes and murmured something about men that neither was able to hear.
"Tony, this is my dad, William Potts."
"Come on," suggested Mr. Potts. "Let's go inside, your mom is waiting for you."
As they started to walk to the house Tony held Pepper by her waist and whispered in her ear, making sure her father wasn't listening: "Baby girl?"
She rolled her eyes knowing he wouldn't let it go before whispering back. "It's my dad… I'm the youngest… let it go."
"As you wish… baby girl," he teased.
She gave him a mortal glare making Tony laugh a little.
-o-
The house was a regular middle class home. There was a porch with a comfortable living room next to the kitchen that had a view into the yard. From where they were, Tony could see the stairs for the second floor. The house was filled with pictures of Pepper and her sister and also a little girl that Tony had never seen before.
A blond woman came to see them a few minutes later.
"Ginny!" the two women shared a hug before the older one turned her attention to Tony. She frowned a little but smiled anyway before speaking to him. "You must be Mr. Stark."
"Tony, it's fine," he replied politely. He shook her hand.
"I'm Danna Potts."
"Nice to meet you," answered the billionaire.
"Likewise." She looked at her daughter. "You two must be exhausted. The room upstairs is ready for you. Your sister will be here tomorrow."
"We will get the things out of the car," said Pepper, signaling to Tony to follow her.
Once outside Tony smiled. "So I survived the first contact."
The red-haired smiled lovingly at him. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"
"Could have been worse," he admitted.
"With you? Always," she teased him, making him smile.
They took their things to Pepper's former bedroom which had now turned into a guest room.
"This is a nice house," mentioned the genius as he lay on the bed, letting his head fall so he could see upside down.
"Yeah, I grew up here," she said, watching as her boyfriend looked around the room, studying it in his own way. "Come here". He obeyed and followed her to the window. "See that green house at the end of the street?" she pointed.
"Yeah?"
"When I was a kid that was an empty lot. Me, my sister and a few friends used to play hide and seek there at night."
"At night? It wasn't dangerous?"
"We didn't think of it like that. It was harder to see and easy to hide so…"
Tony was silent for a moment, still watching the house that she had pointed out. She hugged him and rested her head on the nape of his neck, breathing in his cologne.
"What's it like?" he questioned quietly.
"What?"
"To grow up like this?" A second later he added: "How was your routine?"
"It was normal."
He looked at her, not satisfied with her answer. "Honey, normal, for me, is to spend the day on the school campus and when it is over you would have to go to your dorm to start it all over the next day."
She had forgotten that he had spent his childhood in a boarding school, basically alone, since he was way too young for the teenagers to want him around. For a brief moment, she wondered what those kids were doing today, if they regretted not giving Tony a chance back then.
"Well… I would leave school and come home at 3pm. My mom would only let us play outside if our homework was done, so we did our best to finish as fast as we could. The rest of the day we didn't have much to do, we would stay home doing nothing, or out in the street with our friends, playing, until our moms called us back." She laughed at the memory, making Tony smile too.
"Sounds nice." The way he said it broke her heart for the child that he once was who had never had the chance to have a childhood like hers.
"Yeah, it was," she admitted.
-o-
After the couple left the room, Danna asked for Pepper's help in the kitchen as her father took Tony out to the yard.
Pepper didn't know exactly how much time had passed while she was helping her mother with the dinner table when, at some point, she looked through the window and saw her dad and her boyfriend sitting at the porch. From time to time, her father would laugh and Tony smiled, making her relax and releasing some of the stress and fear that she didn't know had built up inside her.
"They seem to get along well," said her mother at her side.
Pepper had no idea that she was also there, with her, watching the men outside. "Yeah. I'm surprised. Especially with you," she replied casually getting back in to setting the table.
"Me?" asked the woman, confused.
"Mom, you are not exactly his number one fan."
"No, I'm not. Far from it," she said rashly.
Pepper stopped to look at the woman now. Was she going to give her a disapproving speech now and ruin this night for her?
"I told you before Ginny, he is not the man that I envisioned for you." Before Pepper could say anything she added: "But you are happy and he likes you, it's visible in the way he looks at you." Pepper watched her mother speak quietly. "That's what a parent wants."
"He's been wonderful," she answered.
"Good! He better be," she said, speaking her in firm voice, walking away to call the boys for dinner.
During dinner they made small conversation. Pepper had warned her parents that the "Iron Man" topic was off the table, at least for now. They could question him later.
"Very nice that building that you are making," praised William, speaking to Tony.
"Thanks. But that's not on me…" He looked at Pepper. "It's on her. Her baby so…"
"Really?!" gasped Danna. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Well… It's a prototype," she explained, feeling a little shy of the attention, even if it was her parents and boyfriend. "We still don't know if it will work."
"It will," added Tony. "I made the design myself." He said this with such confidence, never taking his eyes from his girlfriend before looking at her parents. Her father seemed impressed but she couldn't read her mother's look.
"It's almost ready isn't?" asked William. "I read it somewhere."
"Yeah. Just a few more weeks to go before the big opening," said Tony, happily excited.
"We won't have a big opening-"
"We wont?" pouted the billionaire innocently.
"No." She did her best to ignore the puppy dog eyes that he was now giving her at that moment. They'd had that discussion many times, and they had decided that a few selected press, scientist, politicians and investors would be the best way to introduce the arc technology. Tony, obviously, wanted something big. Like Stark Expo big.
"The one who will be pleased to hear that it is your project will be your uncle Morgan," smiled her mother.
"Hahaha, tell me about it!" laughed her dad. "When he heard about it, he started to thank the sun's gods for it and another few more gods that gave you wisdom!" He laughed harder, making her mother frown at him.
Tony looked suspicious at them then at Pepper who decided not to give much importance to his reaction.
"It's my uncle. You'll get to meet him tomorrow."
After dinner they chatted for a while about the previous world and family events. Pepper was pleased to see her mother was making the effort to include Tony in everything, whether it was making sure he was okay, well refreshed or if he wanted to join them as they drank and ate, chatting together.
-o-
The day of the Anniversary came. Tony and Pepper spent the morning helping Pepper's parents with the last moment preparations. Tony was being very helpful and on his best behavior and she had no complaints about him. He was always there to do something for her parents.
It was almost lunch time when Betty, Pepper's aunt came. She was surprised to meet Tony and spent a few minutes staring at him which made Pepper feel a little uncomfortable but Tony seemed okay with it. He was used to being the center of attention.
Not much time after that Pepper left her parents and aunt in the back yard to search for Tony inside the house. He had been gone for a while and she was starting to wonder where he was. She found him in front of the window looked out upon the front yard, staring firmly.
"What's up? You've been gone for a while," she said, walking closer.
"That man is odd." He pointed out the window where there was a man wearing a flower shirt and shorts. He was holding some of his necklace as he murmured a mantra. "I'm not sure if I should kick him out there or film him and put it on YouTube."
"Yeah… That's uncle Morgan," revealed Pepper.
Tony looked at her surprised and she continued: "He is…" She struggled to find the right word to describe him.
"Weird?" suggested Tony, looking back at the man.
"I was going for eccentric."
"It's the same thing," he said as turned to look at her.
"No it's not. You are weird and you call yourself eccentric," she pointed out.
"That's because I'm rich," he grinned. "Rich people are allowed to call themselves eccentric… With ordinary people the term is 'weird'."
She rolled her eyes. "So if I take all your money," she began, watching him.
"You wouldn't do that," he smiled.
"You don't know that-"
"I do!"
"You had to call yourself 'weird' right?"
"You are trustworthy! Let's agree with weird/eccentric uncle?"
"Then trust me that I can do this," she continued, still speaking about the money.
"Okay. Eccentric it is. What the hell is he doing?" He looked back to see the man was now walking for the house.
"He does that sometimes when he goes to visit someone. He has his own beliefs. By doing that he believes it brings them protection and happiness," she explained as her uncle rang the doorbell.
"I don't know how to respond to that," frowned Tony as Pepper opened the door.
"Virginia!" She heard the man say before he hugged her tight.
"Hi Uncle!"
When he let go of her he turned his big green eyes to the billionaire next to her and let out a huge smile.
"Uncle, this is Tony Stark, my boyfriend."
The man was surprised for a moment. "Tony Stark. THE Tony Stark?" he asked.
"Yep. In the flesh," answered the genius with confidence, making the older man's smile grow, and before Tony could react Morgan was already hugging him.
"It's so good how things turned out for you young man," he said as he held the genius tight. "I was rooting for you!"
Tony looked at Pepper and saw how she was trying – and failing – to suppress her laughter.
"Uhn.. thanks…" murmured the playboy uncomfortably.
After a few more seconds Morgan let him go and announced. "Now… where is William and my little sis, Danna?" he said happily as he left the couple to walk for the back yard.
"He is a hugger," she whispered to Tony.
"And you tell me this now?" he complained. The two of them walked towards the back yard to just in time to see Morgan hugging Danna and William.
"Wonderful! So wonderful to see you again!" they heard him say.
Not long after that Pepper's sister, Sarah, her husband and her 4 year old daughter, Hailie, arrived.
After the kid recognized Tony as Iron Man, she never left his side. Always searching for him, either to tell him something she had found interesting, or to question him on complex things – or at least as complex as it can be for a 4 year old kid – or to question him on things like: "why you didn't save the kiddy of my neighbor last week?"
It was cute to watch Tony interact with her niece. He was good with kids, but Pepper already knew that. Tony maintained many orphanages around the world and from time to time he visited them. He had kept this fact secret for as long as he could, until she, as his assistant, had figured it out. But seeing him here, interacting with her niece was different. A different kind of feeling spread to her heart.
And here I thought it would be impossible to love him even more, she thought, smiling as she watched the two of them in their very important conversation of something about the movie "Finding Nemo".
"He is nice!" said Sarah, taking her by surprise. "He is not as terrible as you pictured for all these years."
"Believe me, give him a few more hours," she joked, making her older sister laugh.
"She was already an Iron Man fan, now Hailie probably won't shut up about him."
"Yeah, the two of them are interacting very well."
"He is good with kids," mused Sarah, looking at Pepper.
It took the youngest a few moments to understand the meaning behind her sister's words. "No. Don't even think about this!"
"Why not?" questioned Sarah.
"Because this is new," answered Pepper, like it was the most obvious thing.
"You two are great together. And he is crazy in love with you!"
"You think so?" She looked back at Tony. For a brief moment their eyes met and he sent her a loving smile before turning his attention back to Hailie and Morgan.
"Are you kidding me? I wish my husband looked at me the way Stark looks at you. Don't get me wrong, I know that he loves me, but Stark, he worships you, it's so clear!"
Pepper watched him for a while, thinking about her sister's words before deciding to save her boyfriend from her eccentric/crazy uncle.
That night after the party and everyone was gone Pepper and Tony went early to bed as the next morning they had to hit the road back to LA.
He was playing with the nape of her neck, making her shiver with desire as she lay there, feeling the warm of his body and replaying the events of the day. How good he was with her family, and how welcome they received him.
"Hum… Tony?" she said lazily.
"Yeah?" he murmured, kissing her neck, causing her to feel goosebumps.
"I…" But she didn't have the courage to tell him. I love you, she thought. Maybe he wasn't ready. If this was new to her, for him, who had never had a relationship before, it was even more!
"What?" he questioned, moving his body to look at her.
She saw curiosity in his eyes but didn't have the courage to tell him what she wanted. Instead she decided to talk to him about something that was bothering her.
"I think it's time that we go public."
He looked at her for a while.
"Why this now?"
"Things are good with us. I think we are working. Don't you?"
"Of course I do!" He sat there in silence once again. Publicity for him was something normal, but he understood that with her this was different. He was being cautious. "Are you sure about this?" he questioned her.
"We need to go public, Tony," she explained to him. Seeing that this wasn't enough, she added: "Eventually it will happen. People will find out about us. It would be better if it's our doing than being discovered by paparazzi when we decide to go out to have a nice dinner," she said, remembering how crazy it was for them avoid being seen together.
She watched as he sat there in silence with a distant look: it was the kind of look that he gives to a complicated equation.
"Okay, but…" he finally replied, "I have an idea that may take us away from the spotlight, just a bit."
His idea was simple and could improve his image just as well as Stark Industries and Pepper's project.
He thought about an interview. An open interview with topics that he avoided over the years in his public life, such as: his relationship with his father, the night that his parents died, his kidnapping, the idea of the Iron Man… and after all that info and so much material for the media to explore he would reveal his relationship with Pepper.
"I can't ask you to do that," she told him when he told her of his plan.
"I want to. In fact I feel like I need to. It's not just for you, you know…"
She understood that he had his reasons to talk about that, especially about his father and let it go. They agreed that even if it didn't work as he planned, it would still be good for their image; the fact that the two of them were going public in a controlled environment, well as much as they could control it.
After that conversation the two of them decided to go to sleep. They would make the arrangements for the interview once they returned to LA.
A few hours later Pepper work up eventually and looked at the clock. It was only 11pm. She turned to check on her boyfriend beside her but found him missing from the bed. The bathroom lights were off too.
Where is he? she thought, but was too tired to get out of bed. He probably went to the kitchen She tried to get back to sleep but couldn't take her mind off Tony, the day they spent with her family and his missing body right now.
A few moments passed by. It was almost midnight and she had made up her mind to get up and go search for him when the door of her old room opened and her boyfriend came in carefully.
"Hey." She sat up in bed and watch as he came closer. "Where were you?"
"Downstairs," he answered as he laid down. The room was dark. The only light was the reactor in his chest that was covered by his black pajamas shirt. "I went down to get a glass of water. I met your mother there."
Pepper felt her body become tense. Tony and her mother were alone there all this time. God knew what she had said to him. He already had a lot of issues; her mother didn't need to increase his insecurities.
"And..?" she asked wanting to know details.
"Nothing," he answered honestly while getting himself comfortable for sleep.
"You took your sweet time there. Don't tell me nothing happened."
"We chatted."
"Chatted?"
"Yeah. You know what two people normally do, as words came out of their mouths from time to time," he teased her but she wasn't satisfied.
"You two or she gave you her monologue?" she asked suspiciously and that made him smile.
"No, honey. We sat there and we talked for a while."
"About what?"
"Everything. You, me, our work, our relationship, your childhood. She told me some funny stories." He smiled at her look and kissed her reassuring her. He knew her mother had had a few troubles with him and that's why Pepper was being so protective. "It was nothing bad. I promise." He held her close and shut his eyes to get some sleep and Pepper decided to let it go. He seemed all right enough.
In the morning William, Danna, Pepper and Tony had breakfast together and talked about the party yesterday. William shared some funny stories about his brother in law, Morgan, making Tony laugh and Danna roll her eyes.
After that, Tony put their bags in the car whilst Pepper said her goodbyes to her parents.
"Hey," said her father. "Don't work yourself too much." He held her close for a few seconds.
"I know, dad,"
"And visit more often!"
"I'll try." She kissed him goodbye and turned to her mother who smiled at her.
"He's all right you know," said the older woman.
"What?"
"Tony Stark... He is not how I pictured him."
That made Pepper smile and she let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.
"Bring him for Thanksgiving," her mother suggested.
"Thank you, mom," said Pepper, holding her mother close. She didn't know she had wanted her approval of Tony so bad until she got it from her mother.
When the two of them broke apart, Tony had come back inside to say goodbye to her parents.
"Tony," said Danna, walking closer to the billionaire. "I'm telling Ginny here that you should come and spend Thanksgiving with us this year."
"Ahn.. yeah that sounds nice," he agreed to Pepper's surprise.
"Good. Now you take care of her for me."
Pepper watched in awe as her mother hugged her boyfriend tight.
"Will do, Mrs Potts"
"It's Danna. Have a safe trip you two."
Inside the car, Pepper watched as her parent's house became further away as her boyfriend began to drive them to the airport.
"How did you manage that?" she broke the silence.
"What?"
"My mom. How did you manage to make her be so friendly with you?"
She saw as he tried to hold his side smile that she found 'not' sexy at all.
"I thought you knew it by now Potts..." he answered as he stopped the car at the red sign and took that moment to look at her. He had a cocky look on his face and that damn sexy smirk was still there. "Women can't resist me..."
"What?" she asked, trying to sound annoyed.
"I'm irresistible" he simple added, letting his smile grow. "You are proof of that!"
"Oh please. Get over yourself!" she replied as he pressed his hand against her knee playfully before driving away again.
-o-
Once in LA they decided to put their plans in practice for going out public. For that they chose Oprah's show. She was always open-minded, polite, and treated Pepper with respect every time they were there in the past.
They also used that interview to talk about the Arc Reactor and Stark Tower.
Of course, after that the tabloids went crazy for their new relationship. But magazines and some tv shows and materials talked about Tony for the rest of the year! They explored everything that he had said in the interview, especially focusing upon the news he wasn't a bachelor anymore.
Tony Stark was officially off the market and taken.
-o-
As the weeks went by, Pepper had to get used to the new fact that her relationship with Tony was in the public eye now. It was the right call. She had her family and friends support, as well as the staff of Stark Industries who were happy for them – at least the majority of them were. And, of course, Tony was thrilled that he didn't have to hold himself back when he was in public with her anymore.
But that did not stop some persistent paparazzi from chasing them when they were together or apart, trying to find out every little detail and making up crazy stories. For example, when they began to gossip about Tony's incapacity to "keep it in his pants" when he was seen in a car with a mysterious woman.
The mysterious woman was Karol, Pepper's life-long friend, and he was dropping her at home after the three of them had spent the day together in his house.
Amongst all this happening, she was surprised to see an invitation from her former School sitting on her desk.
Her university wanted to honor her for her career and the projects that she was developing at Stark Industries. It took her by surprise due to the fact that she had only been CEO for a matter of months.
As she looked around her old campus, after the ceremony, Pepper had a nostalgic feeling. So many things had happened since her days at university. And look where she was now: CEO of Stark Industries. Further than any wild dream she ever had when she first started her studying here.
"Congratulations," said a voice behind her.
Pepper turned to look at the owner of the voice. To her surprise, standing there next to her was someone she hadn't seen in years but she easily recognized him. Standing there next to her was her former fiancé, Richard Miller
"Richard?!"
He gave her a small smile.
"My God! It's been years!" she said, still surprised.
"Yeah! Almost ten years. I heard that you were the one being honored here. I couldn't miss it."
"Thank you. It's so good to see you!" She was about to say something else when someone approached them.
"Miss Potts," interrupted a short bald man. "The university Dean would like to speak with you."
"Sure." She smiles politely at the man before turning to look at her former boyfriend. "I'm sorry, but…".
"Don't be. You are the star of the night today!"
"Thank you."
"Can we talk..? Later?"
She was taken by surprise by his request but still decided that it wouldn't hurt. He was her former fiancé and for a long time in the past she felt bad for the way things had ended between them.
"Sure! Karol and I will have a few drinks in our hotel after this if you want…"
"I'll be there."
She smiled and said her goodbyes to him before turning her back to meet with the university dean and many other teachers as well as some politicians.
When the event was over, Pepper and Karol went back to the hotel. The red-haired woman was dying to take a shower and put something a little more comfortable on, whilst Karol went straight to the bar.
They had a reserved table. Karol and Richard were already there drinking and talking when Pepper arrived.
"Sorry to keep you guys waiting," she apologized as she sat next to her best friend.
"It's okay," replied Richard. "You deserved a relaxing bath. Lord knows that those people didn't leave you alone there!"
Karol laugh in agreement.
The CEO smiled at him before answering. "Yeah… well, it's Tony that has arrived."
"Tony is here?" asked Karol with a malicious smile.
"Yeah, he will be here at any moment. He was on the phone when I came in."
"I will get you your drink," said Karol getting up from the table and leaving Pepper and Richard alone.
"You look beautiful," he said, making her smile a little.
"Thank you."
"I wasn't sure if I should come," he continued honestly.
"Why not?"
"We didn't exactly end with the best of terms, Ginny," he answered quietly.
"True." She remembered that night very well. So much had happened since then. "But that was years ago!"
He let out a small smile. "Still… when I heard that you were being honored I wanted to see you. First, to give you congratulations for becoming CEO of Stark Industries."
She smiled at him, remembering how in their past he hadn't liked her working there, but still she could see that he was being honest with his wishes for her today.
"Now," he kept talking, "this project that you are developing its… amazing!"
She smiled shyly before speaking: "Well, I can't take all the credit. Tony is the one who made it possible-".
"But you are deciding how to use it."
She smiled, not knowing how to respond to that.
"I'm very sorry for how we ended," he added as he made a move to hold her hand on top of the table.
"Richard," she warned him, taking her hand off of his.
"Sorry," he added fast. "It wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable," he apologized honestly. "I heard about you and Tony Stark. Is it true?"
"Yes," she responded proudly.
"Then he is a very lucky man."
"I think I'm the luckiest."
He gave her a confused look.
"Tony is not the way people picture him. He has the kindest heart. I've never met someone like him. Things are still very new. We were friends and boss and employee for so long, but we are making it work."
He nodded when she stopped talking. "I didn't mean to offend you. It's just… It's you, after a very long time… And I have a lot of regrets… but… I need to ask: do you think we could have made it work"? He looked at her hesitantly.
Pepper thought for a moment. "Honestly?!"
He nodded.
"I think our break up came for the best. Looking back now, I realize we wanted different things in the relationship." She looked at him and saw that he agreed with her. "But I do think I could have done things different with you."
"Yeah me too..." he answered, looking down for a few seconds. "I'm sorry."
The CEO smiled a little. "I'm sorry too. I'm glad that you came though."
"Me too. Let's put that behind us now," he said relived, and she smiled, content that they'd had this conversation. "Can we still have the night to talk and catch up?"
"Sure," she replied.
They chatted for a few more minutes about his life after they had broken up; how he moved from LA and lived for a few years in a foreign country in America Latina due to work. They were still talking about that when Pepper looked up and saw Karol returning with her drink with Tony next to her. The moment the playboy's eyes focused on her table, she saw him frown a little.
Is it my impression or he started to walk a little faster?
"Hi," spoke the billionaire, looking at her former fiancé. "Tony Stark," he introduced himself.
She knew that posture. Tony was trying to intimidate Richard. It was an act that worked with almost everyone, including some people with power.
"Hi Mr. Stark, Richard Miller," he introduced himself but Tony was already moving closer to Pepper.
"Sorry Honey." Tony sat closer to the CEO. "The eye patch was giving me a hard time… I will probably ask to deliver some Rum to ease his pain or maybe a parrot to keep him company-"
"He is not a pirate," she replied, trying to suppress her smile as the image of the Director of SHIELD as a pirate formed in her head.
"You don't know that," continued the playboy. "It's secret information."
Pepper rolled her eyes, already used to him joking about the secret agency. Unconsciously, she moved her body closer to his.
"Ginny, Tony and I were laughing about that article that came out this week," said Karol.
It took some seconds for Pepper to figure it out what she was talking about, but after she had she started to laugh.
"What article?" questioned Richard.
"The Sun, the other day, said that I was pregnant and the secret father had run away. That's why we were in this relationship so Tony could raise my fatherless child!" Pepper laughed and so did Karol. "But there are more crazy articles like that out there too."
"I don't know how you guys manage to do this," said Karol after controlling her laugh.
"I'm used to it," added Tony with a confident tone making Pepper smile at him and scoot her body closer to his. He welcomed her before his phone started to ring again.
She looked at the ID. It was SHIELD again.
"You are not going to answer that?" asked Pepper.
"Not now. I'm off duty. Celebrating your accomplishment, they can speak with JARVIS."
She smiled at him.
As the time went by they finished their drink and were involved in the conversation when this time, JARVIS was the one calling Tony non-stop. The playboy was trying to ignore it as much as he could to be there a few more minutes. She suspected that his insistence to stay there was due to the fact of Richard being seated at their table. Tony could be a little insecure and very jealous of her. Which, sometimes, she thought it was adorable, and sometimes it drove her nuts!
She knew that Tony had to answer it eventually. Also, the fatigue of the day was coming to her, so as Tony left the table to answer his phone she excused herself and said her goodbye to Richard, leaving her friend and former fiancé at the table chatting.
She followed Tony to their room and kept listen as he spoke something that she barely understood, falling asleep with the sound of his voice.
-o-
It happened out of the blue.
They were both lying in bed waiting for the sleep to come after an intense love making session. She had her head next to his chest, listening to his heart and the arc reactor, thinking about the big day tomorrow. The debut of their tower! Everything was ready. Tomorrow, Tony would install the reactor and light up the tower, showing the world that they now had a great source of clean energy. She was thinking about all the work they had carried out and that it will all finish with tomorrow's actions when all the sudden she heard:
"I love you."
Her breathing stopped for a moment, before she slowly turned her head to look at him.
He was watching her with those beautiful chocolate pools of his. She didn't know how long it passed until a smirk came to his lips.
"What?" he questioned. "You didn't know that?"
"I…" But she didn't know how to respond.
"I thought I told you already."
"No you didn't," she confirmed.
"Yes I did… At my birthday party. When I was drunk and you were trying to make me stop acting stupid. Come to think of it, this last part basically has been us for all these years."
She laughed but tried to force her memory back to the events of months ago, when Tony was being reckless and irresponsible because he was dying in silence, until she remembered:
The house was full of people and bimbos trying to bed him. He was there, next to the DJ, wearing the Iron Man suit and blowing things up until she took the mic off his hands.
"Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?" she questioned, holding the mic and making the audience go crazy! At that moment, Tony put an arm around her back to get closer to her.
"I love you," he slurred, highly drunk. "I think I love you."
"You were talking to me?" she questioned him.
"Who else?"
"I thought you were talking with the audience!"
"Why would I tell them that? I didn't even know half of them!"
He had a point. She was quiet. All these months and Tony had already revealed his love for her, basically in front of everyone!
She was unable to hold back the huge smile on her face before she kissed him with all the passion and love she had for him.
When she broke the kiss he still had his eyes closed.
"I love you too, you know," she whispered, making him open his eyes. There was a new intensity to them that she had never seen in them before.
"You do?"
"Of course I do. I love you," she told him again, kissing him gently on the lips.
Sleep after that had to wait another hour.