Hey! Sorry it's been so long, my computer got a virus…boohoo D: but it should be working fine now, cuz we caught the virus in the nick of time. OH, btw, sorry for last chapter being so short. I thought it'd be longer than that…my bad! Now, let's see what happens!

"Well, this is it I guess. Last time I'll ever see you, until summer!" Tess sighed as she plopped her suitcase on the floor by her feet. She couldn't believe how fast that week had gone by; she'd certainly made the most of it yesterday, too.

"Yeah, it stinks. Especially since you just found out that huge secret yesterday…" Pepper said.

"Oh, that reminds me! I have to go say goodbye to Tony!" Tess said. Pepper sighed. She just had to say goodbye to him, didn't she?

"Well he's most likely in his lab now. We still have time." Pepper sighed. She really didn't want to have to do this, but if it was going to make Tess happy then she had no choice. They headed out the door.

"Dad, we're going to go over to Tony's so Tess can say goodbye to him. Be back in like, 10 or 20 minutes." Pepper yelled into the house as she shut the door.

"I still can't believe you're even friends with him! I mean, what are the chances of him ever meeting you? Apparently good chances, because you guys totally like each other!" Pepper stopped in her tracks.

"What?" Pepper asked. Tess stopped and turned.

"You know you like him, Pattie. And I know he likes you too." Tess smiled. Pepper stopped in her tracks.

"What?" She asked.

"Come on, isn't it obvious? He so likes you! And you flirt with him almost all the time!" Tess explained.

"I do not!" Pepper defended.

"Do too times infinity, I win!" Tess said. Pepper sighed.

"That's something little kids do, Tess." Pepper rolled her eyes and they continued walking.

"So what? I'm still a kid inside. Get over it." Tess said. Pepper laughed.

"Oh, you sure are." Pepper smiled.

A little bit later, they came to the armory door and Pepper punched in the four-number code to open it. They waited a moment for it to slide open, and when it did, they walked inside.

"Tony, Tess is leaving today and wanted to come by and say hello." Pepper snarled, but just enough of it in her voice for it to be hard to detect.

"Oh, cool." Tony put down his welding torch beside the leg of the arctic armor and walked over to Tess. He smiled nicely. Pepper looked down at her shoes, crossed her arms and sneered. She hated how nice he was being to her. Almost too much nicer than was necessary.

"I hope you and your mom had a good time in New York. It was nice to meet you." Tony held out his hand. She took it, and as was intended, shook it. (A/N: from earlier, Pattie is supposed to be Pepper. For now, haha that rhymes!)

"Nice meeting you too, Tony! I mean, really, meeting a celeb? Awesome!" Tess squealed. Tony chuckled.

"I don't know if I'd consider myself a celebrity, but still, it was a nice thought." Tony said. Pepper frowned. This needed to end. She pulled out her phone quickly to check the time. It was close enough to noon to make an excuse to leave.

"Oh, look at the time…it's almost 12:30, Tess we'd better go! Alright, bye Tony, Tony says goodbye to Tess, we're all good, let's go!" Pepper started to push Tess towards the door. Tess looked back at Tony and waved.

"Uhh, okay, bye then?" Tony went back to his work. As Pepper walked Tess out the door, she heard Tony pssstt to her attention. She turned her head to see him waving her over. Pepper stopped walking.

"One sec. You can start heading out, I'll be right there." Pepper walked over to Tony. Tess shrugged and pretended to walk out, but instead hid so she could eavesdrop on their conversation. She was overly curious.

"What?" Pepper asked.

"What's with your weird behavior this week? You don't normally act this way. Is something wrong?" Tony asked, confused and curious.

"Weird? No, I'm not acting weird this week. I'm perfectly fine, no problems at all." Pepper lied.

"No, really. What's wrong?" Tony asked. Pepper sighed.

"You really want to know?" Pepper asked. Tony nodded.

"NO, you really don't. So we're all good here, I can go now, ok see you later Tony bye!" Pepper turned away, but before she could walk away Tony grabbed her arm and turned her back to him.

"Really, what's up?" Tony asked.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you," Pepper rubbed her arm shyly.

"The truth is…I…was bothered with the noise that was going on in the apartment next door to mine, its been going on, like, all week now!" Pepper lied. Tony gave her a 'no, really' glare. Pepper sighed.

"Alright, alright! I was annoyed that you were being overly nice to Tess and she was flirting right back at you." Pepper admitted.

"Overly nice?" Tony laughed softly. "No, I was just trying to make a good impression because she's your best friend. If she's important to you, she's important to me. And I hadn't noticed she was flirting…" Tony explained. Pepper rolled her eyes. She knew he never noticed when a girl was flirting with him. Not even with Witch-ney, as Pepper called her. Pepper smiled.

"That's so sweet, Tony!" Pepper smiled.

"Yeah. But why would that annoy you?" Tony asked. Pepper blushed madly.

"No reason…" hey, it wasn't a complete lie. Just a white lie.

"No, really, just tell me." Tony said.

"No!" Pepper refused. Tony put his hands on his hips.

"Do I have to tickle it out of you?" Tony asked. He knew all her ticklish spots quite well. Pepper crossed her arms and didn't say anything. Tony smiled and raised his arms towards her tummy. Pepper dropped her arms to her side and backed away slowly. She knew he was going to. She shook her head in refusal.

"Don't you dare, Anthony Edward Stark, tickle me!" Pepper warned.

"Whacha gonna do? Tell me and I won't tickle you. That's all it takes." Tony smiled deviously.

"I'm not telling you!" Pepper smirked. Tony lunged at her and rapidly tickled her sides. They fell to the floor, Pepper rolling over in laughter.

"I'll-haha, never…crack!" Pepper said in between laughing. Tony's smile widened.

"I know you will eventually!" He said as he tickled her more. Tess smiled from her hiding spot.

"Stop, tickling, me!" Pepper demanded.

"Tell me why!" Tony said.

"No!" Tony increased his tickling. Pepper was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe.

"OK, it's-because-I-kinda-like-you-!" Tony immediately stopped tickling her. Pepper lay on the floor as Tony still kneeled over her. It grew quiet fast. Tony stared at her deeply. Pepper heavily breathed to catch her breath.

"You do?" Tony asked, finally. Pepper nodded. The silence continued for a while.

"Well, I kinda like you too…" Tony finally spoke. Pepper smiled.

"Really?" She almost whispered. Tony nodded. He backed away from Pepper, stood, and held out his hand to her. She took it and stood. They stared into each other's eyes in silence. Finally, Tony leaned in and kissed her. Tess, still hiding in the corner, smiled widely. She knew it was inevitable. They stood for a long while, then finally Pepper spoke up.

"Well, I should really get going, Tess has to go. She's probably halfway home by now." Pepper said. Tony looked around and spotted a shadow in the far corner.

"Or in that corner over there." Tony said. Tess cursed her terrible hiding spots under her breath and waved.

"Tess!" Pepper rolled her eyes. "Alright, see you later Tony." Pepper let go of Tony's hand and walked out with Tess.

Well, that's all for now. Epilogue in the near future, so chill cuz that wasn't the end. Tee heee it was so cute! Anyways, review!