Pepper was surprised that even though her cousin was rather unpleasant she was helpful around the house. She did the laundry and made dinner. She was willing to help with chores and most importantly she was good to her cat Copper. Copper didn't take a liking to many strangers but Dawn was an exception. Pepper got home from work Tony was already calling her.
"Tony I need to pack some things and I'll be over soon," she said and she hung up quickly and went into her bedroom. She grabbed her bag and her cousin Dawn appeared in her doorway.
"I had my mail forwarded here and this letter came for you. Someone must have thought you were still living with me," Dawn said handing her a letter.
Pepper looked at it.
"Burbank, California," she said aloud as she looked at the address.
She was about to open the letter when her phone rang and it was Tony again. She tossed the letter in her bag and answered her phone.
"What is it?" Pepper asked.
She tossed her toiletries and some sexy lingerie in the bag along with a couple of outfits and some other things and she got into the car and she put Tony on hold for a second.
"I'm going to spend the weekend with Tony. I'll be home Monday night. We're low on groceries but I left some cash if you wanna order some food," Pepper said on her way out.
"No I'm good. Thanks,"
Pepper picked her phone back up to tell Tony she was on her way and she hung up with him and blasted her radio the whole way to Tony's. She couldn't wait to see him and kiss him. Weekdays were hard for them and they were missing each other. She let herself in and Tony was waiting for her with a glass of wine. She dropped her bag and pulled him in for a kiss.
"I'm so happy to see you," Tony said as he lifted her up.
"You sure are," she said as she could feel how hard he was pressed against her.
"I missed you. Why can't you just stay here everyday?" he said as he was placing kisses down her neck.
"I'm starving what's for dinner?"she asked.
"I ordered Italian," Tony said, revealing the dining room table which he already had set with the food and some candles.
"Tony, how did you know you had candles?"she said, admiring his work.
"I asked JARVIS," he admitted.
"This is so sweet and wonderful," Pepper said, giving him another kiss as they sat down to eat.
"You deserve it," Tony said as he sipped his wine.
"I think I want to take a nice bath later. I love the tub in your bathroom," Pepper said.
"I would love to have a nice bath with you," Tony said as he smiled at her.
Tony really had things he wanted to get off his chest but he was afraid of scaring Pepper away. He was going to at least wait until after they had their bath and made love.
They finished eating and Tony wanted to impress her and cleaned the table and packed away what they didn't finish eating.
"JARVIS start the tub to the temperature of Miss Potts preference," he said.
They went upstairs and as soon as they hit the bathroom Tony began kissing her against the wall.
"Am I going to be able to trust you in the bath? Are you going to behave?"she asked as she untucked her button down and pulled down her pencil skirt revealing those thigh high stockings Tony loved so much. She began to unbutton the buttons slowly to torture him knowing he was watching. He was too engrossed in watching her to actually undress himself.
"If you're going to join me you better get out of those clothes," she said rubbing her hands over his muscular torso.
"Why don't you come over here and undress me?"he said.
"Mmm ok," she said as she pulled Tony's t-shirt up over his head. Then she placed a kiss on his left nipple.
"Oh my," he said as he pulled her against him and kissed down her neck. He slid her button down off while she undid his jeans and let them drop to the floor.
Pepper kept eye contact with him while she slid her stockings off one at a time. Then she unsnapped her bra and gave him a sexy look while she did so and she slid her panties off. She propped herself on the edge of the tub and waited for him. He followed suit and took off his socks and boxer briefs and he was ready to join her.
They slid into the tub with Tony against the side and Pepper with her back against his chest. He grabbed the washcloth and the soap began to wash Pepper's back and neck slowly and gently. She leaned all the way back on him so he could wash her breasts and stomach and arms. He brushed the wash rag over her gently and he placed small kisses on her neck.
"Should I turn the jets on?"he asked.
"Ok," she said as she moved to the side so he could turn on the jets.
After he did she began to wash him everywhere above the waist like he did to her. And she couldn't help her herself and she wrapped her legs around him and pressed her lips to his.
"I want you Tony Stark," she said.
"Then we should hurry up and finish this bath," he said as he grabbed the wash rag and washed between Pepper's legs and her legs and feet as well. She took the rag and returned the favor and they got out and put on fluffy robes.
Tony waited all of three seconds before he pulled Pepper's robe off and gently pushed her on the bed. He nibbled on her neck slowly and he pulled his robe off as well. He pressed himself into her and she was hungry for it. She didn't care about foreplay at the moment. They had the entire weekend and she just wanted him to ravage her. He began to thrust and Pepper was losing her mind. She began to moan and they were both feeling sex starved and they were going zero to sixty too quickly and they exploded. They went about two rounds and an hour later they were cuddling in bed.
"I need this Pep. I miss you like crazy when you're not here. I want to be with you every day," Tony said, grabbing her fingers and lacing them between his.
"I miss you too but we will figure this out," she said.
"Or you could move in with me" Tony suggested.
"What?" Pepper asked as she sat up.
"You could just move in," he said again like it wasn't a big deal.
"Tony we've only been a couple for 7 days. I'm not moving in with you," Pepper said.
"I had to try," he said.
"I'm cold. I'm going to put my pajamas on," Pepper said as she got up to get her pajamas out of her bag and she found that letter from Burbank. She completely forgot about it.
"What's that?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. It's a letter Dawn got that was for me. She had her mail forwarded here," she said as she finished getting dressed and she opened it.
Hello my name is Tiffany Anderson. I have spent many years trying to find out the truth about my birth parents and that has led me to you. I'm the daughter you gave up for adoption. We're both in California and I would love to meet and maybe ask if you have any information about my father. This is my number 555-4372. I hope to hear from you soon.
Pepper felt the panic rising inside her. Tears began to pour out of her eyes and she nearly collapsed but the dresser broke her fall. She put her hand to her chest and she could hardly breathe. The year that she forgot came back to her piece by devastating piece. It was the night of their show and she was in the dressing room and she didn't realize that the door didn't close all the way. And the next thing she knew a strange man grabbed her and pushed her against the wall. He held her mouth closed while he pulled her panties off and he raped her and sodomized her and left her there shaking and crying. Pepper tried to get herself together. She felt pain in places she could never imagine. She was no longer a virgin. She looked at her watch and it was fifteen minutes before showtime. She got herself dressed and looked in the mirror and her mascara was all over her face and her hair was a wreck. When she saw what she looked like it made her start crying all over again. She was trying to put herself together and act normal. She wanted to act like she wasn't just brutally raped. She grabbed a tissue and wiped at her face and she went into her makeup bag and tried to make it right. There was a knock on the door and it was her bandmates.
"Ginny are you ready? We go on in five minutes," Julia said.
Suddenly the realization of what just happened to her hit her and she opened the door to face her band. They were so alarmed by the sight of her.
"I can't do this. I have to go. I'm sorry. Amanda knows the songs she can sing them," Pepper said as she ran. She put her guitar in its case and just took off.
"Ginny, wait. What happened?" Amanda called after her.
And that was the last time she saw them until recently. Then came the news of her pregnancy and she didn't have the heart to have an abortion. She was living with Dawn who was hanging out with the wrong crowd and people were always coming in and out doing drugs and she knew she had to give the baby up. She wanted to finish college. She wanted to run from this experience and become someone else. The worst part was the home birth in the bathtub and getting stitched up by a friend of Dawn's that was a nurse. She was in labor for nineteen hours and had no drugs. She experienced severe tearing and the pain was unbearable. Dawn held her hand throughout most and a baby girl was born and she held for only a moment. After that she wanted the baby taken away before it became too painful and she asked for the records to be sealed. She didn't want updates on her child or pictures. She wanted to forget the whole year and that's exactly what she did.
"What is it Pep? What's the matter?"he said his eyes full of concern.
He bent down and put his hand on her back to comfort her and she recoiled.
"Don't touch me. You can't touch me," Pepper said as she tried to stand.
She began to grab her things and throw them blindly into her bag.
"Ok but what happened? What's in the letter? Are you OK?"he asked.
"I need to go," she said trying to stop crying.
"Where are you going to go this time of night? You shouldn't be driving in this condition?" Tony said, sounding alarmed.
He was very concerned about Pepper's behavior.
"I need to go and I need you to leave me alone," she said trying to fight oncoming tears as she headed downstairs.
Tony followed her.
"Pepper wait please. Talk to me," he said.
"I can't do this. I need space," she said with tears in her eyes and a shaky voice as she got to the front door.
"Are you breaking up with me?"he asked.
Pepper nodded.
"Why? What did I do? It's only been a week. We haven't even given this a chance. Pepper I love you," he said trying to be strong.
"I know you do and I'm sorry. But this has to end," she said as she walked out the door.
Her mind just kept replaying the horror of that missing year and she couldn't deal with the pain she was feeling inside. It was so strong that she wanted to vomit. She found the nearest hotel and checked in. She spent the night emptying the mini bar into her stomach and curling up into a ball. She couldn't handle the trauma this brought up and she curled into a ball to numb the feeling until tomorrow.