Pepper cut out of work a bit early to pick up her cousin at the bus station. She hadn't told Tony what she was up to because she would really like to keep Tony and her past separate. She told Tony that she had to run an errand and that she would talk to him later but he clearly wasn't getting the message. He was calling her and texting her a lot. He needed a project since for the moment the world was safe and The Avengers were not needed. And it seemed Pepper was his new project. He missed her a lot now that she was running the company and he got to stay home. She promised him that she was his from Friday night to Monday morning. She agreed to sleep over Sunday as well as long as he gave no arguments about her leaving for the office in the morning. This way she could deal with Dawn and hopefully she would be gone before Tony even had a chance to text her.
She pulled up to the bus station five minutes early and waited and then she saw her cousin get off the bus with two small bags.
"Hi Ginny or is it Pepper now? You're famous. I'm surprised you still have time for the only family you have left,"
"I'm only Pepper at work. My friends and family still call me Ginny," she said really wishing her cousin would go away.
"I have dinner in the crock pot. Is there anything you need or anywhere we need to stop before we go to my place?" Pepper asked, trying to be polite.
"No I'm good," she said.
Pepper pulled her car into the lot and she saw the familiar silver Audi and she pulled into a space and stopped.
"Look my boyfriend is here and he's not supposed to be so please I don't want to talk about anything from the past ok. Just the bare minimum. We're cousins, and we lived together for a bit after my parents died and then I went to college," Pepper said.
"What's the matter? Don't want to divulge the family secrets?" Dawn said.
"I mean it," Pepper said.
"Relax your dirty secrets are safe with me," she said with a laugh.
Pepper pulled the car into her space and Tony was waiting by his car. She got out and he ran to her immediately with a dozen roses.
"I know you told me you were running an errand but I missed you and I wanted to surprise you," he said handing her the roses and then he noticed Dawn.
"Oh another old friend?"he asked.
"Actually I'm Pepper's beloved cousin Dawn. I'm shocked she hasn't mentioned me. We were so close," she said.
"Dawn, this is Tony, my boyfriend," Pepper said.
"I like the sound of that," he said as he put his arm around Pepper.
"Wait how long have you guys been together?" Dawn asked.
"It's been a long time coming but we made it official on Saturday," Tony said.
"I have dinner in the crockpot. Let's go inside," Pepper said.
The three of them entered the apartment and Dawn gave herself a tour. She looked in all the rooms and found the guest room in which she placed her bags. Tony put her flowers in a vase and offered to help Pepper and she told him where to find the plates and silverware to set the table. Pepper shut the crockpot off and served the pot roast. The three of them sat for dinner and Tony was first to break the ice.
"So how long are you staying?"he asked.
"You mean in L.A. or with Pepper?"she asked as she pinched a piece of pot roast with her fork.
"Both?" Pepper asked as she caught Dawn's eye.
"Well I was hoping to come back to L.A. permanently but that depends on Pepper. I was kind of hoping I could stay with her until I got on my feet. I'm kind of homeless at the moment," she said, not looking at Pepper.
"Sure. I can help you find a job," Pepper said, giving her a sinister smile.
Dawn failed to mention the real reason she came back to L.A.
"Yeah I was thinking of getting a bartender job for now to have my days open for interviews," she said.
Tony could feel some sort of tension in the room and it made him very uncomfortable. He didn't know what to say so he didn't speak.
"There's a ton of places hiring," Pepper said.
"Yeah I do remember you stayed with me for awhile for free when your parents died and your payouts from the band weren't a whole lot. You left right before your big tour. Why did you leave again?"her cousin said.
Tony looked at Pepper as she kicked Dawn's shin hard under the table.
"I was having a really hard time after my parents died," Pepper explained.
"But you left right before a big performance," she pushed.
"I don't remember," Pepper said with a hint of that venom that Tony knew all too well in his voice.
Pepper was panicking because she couldn't even remember the night of her last show or anything from the rest of that year.
"It's funny. No one seems to know what happened. You just dropped off the grid and then got a job in finance. You swore you'd never have a desk job," she continued.
"How about you? How long have you been off the pole? There's places around here hiring for that as well," Pepper suggested.
Tony was looking at Pepper trying to let her know he was here if she wanted to talk. But he wasn't going to push. They were only in a relationship for four days and he didn't want to screw up.
"I'm just trying to get a job and get a fresh start," her cousin said.
"I lost my appetite," Pepper said as she got up to clear away her dishes.
"Hey honey I can clean all this up. Why don't you go relax on the couch?"Tony said as he got up to help.
She smiled at Tony and kissed him softly.
"Thanks. I think I will," she said.
Tony knew something was definitely wrong. Pepper knew he never cleaned a dish in his life. And that the robots did all the dishes at the mansion and she didn't make one comment about him not knowing how to do the dishes or anything. Pepper's cousin went out on the terrace and Tony finished up and joined Pepper on the couch.
"Are you Ok?" he asked as he took her hand gently.
"It's fine. It's just a hard time for me. I was so broken when my parents died," Pepper explained.
"I understand the pain. And you were younger than me when you lost yours," he said as he pulled her in for a hug.
"My dad was the biggest fan of the band. He went to nearly every show," Pepper said as her eyes were getting misty.
"I still want to get a chance to hear them. Any chance of a one night only reunion show?" Tony joked as he hugged her tighter and brushed her tears away.
"None of us have a life where we could just drop everything and play a gig. Plus it's been years we need to rehearse," she said.
"Pepper I was joking. Just relax. You don't need to worry about that. What's your cousin's deal anyway?"he asked.
"We were never close and she never let me hear the end of it but if she didn't take me in I would have been homeless. I have no other family and I owe her as unpleasant as this is," Pepper said.
"If you want I can pay for her to stay in a hotel for as long as she needs if it gives you some peace," Tony offered.
"That's very sweet but I think it'll be ok once she gets a job," Pepper explained.
"If you change your mind just let me know," he reassured her.
"You are so sweet," Pepper said, kissing him.
He kissed her back and he was contemplating his next move. He wanted to spend the night with her but he didn't want to push. And then it was as if she read his mind.
"I know we said we'd have the weekend and we will but can you stay? I'm in a much better mood with you here," she said taking his hand.
"I want to be with you night and day, everyday. You never have to ask," he said.
Pepper smiled at him and kissed him again.
"I think you should change into some sexy pj's and let me rub your feet and then we can continue the festivities in the bedroom," he said with an eyebrow wiggle.
"I'll take the foot rub but the rest is still up for debate," Pepper said as she got up and headed into the bedroom to change.
Tony got up and followed her.
"Ok so let me make a case for why you should let me go down on you later," he said.
"Oh I can't wait to hear this," Pepper said as she pulled her pajamas out of the drawer.
"Ok reason number one I love doing it. Reason two I think I'm very good at it. Reason three you love when I do it. Reason four you have the most beautiful lady parts I have ever seen. Reason five you'll be so relaxed. That's the top five. I think I'm knocking it out of the park honestly," Tony said as he watched her change.
"You're very convincing Mr. Stark," she said, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her lips to his.
"I'm going to take a shower and go to bed," Dawn said as she stopped in the doorway of Pepper's room.
"We're gonna turn in too. Do you need any extra blankets or pillows?" Pepper asked.
"No I'm ok. Thanks," her cousin said as she walked away.
"Quick hurry let me go down on you while she's in the shower," Tony said pulling her pants down.
"Foot rub first," she said as she flopped back on the bed.
"But if we do the foot rub first and I go down on you after she will hear you," Tony said.
"Fine. You win," she said as she lifted the covers for him.
Tony took the Invitation and crawled into bed with her and after some foreplay and a foot rub they both fell fast asleep.