heeeeeey guysss XD don't worry, this is the last chapter. It's a Valentine's Day present to you all. :D
As the loud gym echoed the music playing from the speakers, the dancegoers smiled, laughed and danced together as the night went on. Suddenly, to their dismay, the music was paused so the principal could make an announcement. The students groaned and complained in dislike.
"Calm down, students, silence," he tried to soothe everyone and they seemed to calm down, "The police has just recently informed me that there is a disturbance in the city and it's moving towards the school. They've instructed me to move everyone to a safer location." Principal Nara explained. Everyone was suddenly frightened. Pepper, however, was thinking differently.
"I'll be right back, Keith," Pepper left Keith's arm and walked up to the stage from the back of the crowd.
"Principal Nara, how would you define 'disturbance'?" She asked, sounding annoyed and curious. Nara looked nervous.
"Let's just say, it involves Iron Man at the scene." He explained. Pepper crossed her arms and grunted.
"That's what I thought." She said under her breath. She walked back to Keith.
"We will all be moving to the basement, and continuing our festivities there. But no one is to leave the area, and everyone wandering the halls at the moment will be found and moved to the rest of the crowd. If you are unhappy with it, feel free to go home." The principal explained. Everyone groaned and started filing their way to the cafeteria downstairs. A lot of people would rather have left, because the cafeteria wasn't as big as it should be (which is why some students preferred eating their lunch on the roof).
Pepper, having a good estimate of what was going down on the other end of the situation, was just aggravated.
"I'll be right back; I have to make a phone call." Pepper excused herself.
"Hurry back inside." Keith warned. Pepper waved it off and dialed Rhodey's number. The phone rang a few times before Rhodey's slightly panicky voice answered.
"Rhodey, what the heck is going on? I'm trying to have a good time on my date here." Pepper, sounding highly irked, demanded.
"All Tony said was that there's an unknown disturbance downtown. Now I have no idea what's happening, and this guy isn't telling Tony anything." Rhodey explained. Pepper sighed.
"Well can't he at least move it away from the school?" Pepper crossed her free arm.
"Not really under his control." Rhodey answered.
"Well it should be." Pepper huffed. Suddenly, a dance chaperone opened the door behind her and warned her to go to the cafeteria. She hung up quickly and went inside. Tonight was not turning out how she had planned; if Tony had just asked her to the dance in the first place, they most likely wouldn't be in this predicament. Or, at least, she wouldn't be sitting on a cafeteria table with a guy that had blown her off for his friends, observing Pepper's miserable attitude. It wasn't the greatest date moment there ever was, but she didn't feel much like being on a date anymore. She felt like going up to whatever his problem was right now-Iron Man wise- and slap him to New Jersey. That'd take care of the 'problem'. Then she could go back to having a good time; or, what was left of a good time.
Pepper stood from the tabletop and walked over to Keith. She tapped him on the shoulder, and with an amused smile on his face, turned to face her.
"I think I'm gonna go home, okay?" She said.
"Aww, you sure?" He asked teasingly. He had obviously been roused up by his friends.
"Positive." She spat back.
"Well I'll call you later, okay?" He offered. Pepper nodded and walked off. He may have blown her off for his friends, but he had good intentions. It's not like she was super-mad at him; just a bit ticked off.
Once she got outside, she felt the cold February air whip against her skin. She'd forgotten to bring a jacket on the way there; she'd just work Keith's. Now it was cold and she was walking home alone, at night, in New York City, alone. That sounded so safe.
Suddenly, as she was walking down the street, she felt a gust of wind pass her and stopped walking to investigate. Iron Man and his rival were right in front of her, which mean danger for her. She took a step back as they slowly inched toward her, Tony punching some super villain to the wall near her, then eying her.
"Pepper? Move!" He demanded. She ran to a safe place where she could watch. In the spur of the moment, Pepper felt her neck contract under the pressure of a hand. She felt her breath shorten and started to panic. She felt a tear roll down her cheek.
"Leave her alone!" Tony demanded. It seemed the evildoer wasn't listening, forcing Tony to take action. With a swift punch to the gut, the bad guy fell to the ground, releasing his tight grip on Pepper's neck. The police came in to take him away, and Tony tended to Pepper.
"Are you okay?" He asked, concern heavy in his eyes and his tone.
"I'm," she gasped large breaths of air, "fine."
"Try not to be at the scene of the crime, Pepper; you should be at the dance. What went wrong?" He asked out of curiosity.
"Gee, I don't know, the principal moved the dance to the cafeteria because 'the police said it was getting too dangerous outside'." Pepper rested her hands on her hips. Tony picked her up and started the slow fly home, leaving his face mask open for her to see his lovely face through.
"But really, Tony, what the heck was that all about?"
"What?" Tony asked innocently.
"Everything was going so well until you ruined it by informing the school!" Pepper fumed. Tony felt mad
"Well? If it was going so 'well', then why did you look miserable? Why were you walking home? Obviously it wasn't such a good time if you were leaving." Pepper, having listened to Tony's ranting, was both flattered that it half sounded like he cared but was also ticked off.
"Tony, what is with you lately? You've been acting ridiculous! I'm flattered about your concern, Tony, but this behavior is not like you." Pepper complained.
"With me? Nothing is with me, I'm perfectly fine. I'm just concerned for your happiness is all," Tony stuttered.
"My happiness? Tony, what the heck is with all this concern about my love life? You've never cared before." Pepper crossed her arms.
"You look cold, do you want a jacket? Or go inside?" Tony asked.
"Tony, stop trying to change the subject. What's with you lately?" She asked, annoyed.
"Nothing's up with me. I'm just perfectly fine." Tony tried to hide the sarcasm.
"No, Tony, tell me the truth. What's up with you?" Pepper asked once more.
"Nothing, Pepper, I promise." Tony said sternly.
"Tony, tell me." Pepper prompted.
"Alright! It's because I maybe, sort of, kind of, a little, a teeny bit, maybe, did I mention kind of?" Tony tried to sidetrack himself.
"Tony, get to the point," Pepper said, laughing as she pushed his shoulder lightly as not to loosen an important grip, thus making her fall to her doom; which she didn't favor.
"…Care about you." Tony finished. Pepper was silent. She rested her hand on Tony's cheek.
"Then why didn't you do something about it before?" Pepper asked sweetly.
"B-because I didn't really realize anything until Rhodey kept teasing me about it. But what he said about what I said about you was true…" Tony said shyly, trying to hide his blush by looking into the sky all serious-like, trying to comprehend what she had told him. Pepper laughed as she noticed the dumbstruck look on her friend's face.
Suddenly, Tony stopped mid-air and kissed her. In what was roughly a minute of kissing, held a lifetime of embracing and togetherness. One moment felt like forever, and it seemed the world around them had ceased to exist, and they had ceased to care for it in that moment; time just stopped completely for them. Tony let go and took a step back as he cleared his throat. He stood a moment then stuck out his bent arm for her to hook her arm into; Pepper doing so, they flew the rest of the way to the lab, disappearing in the horizon of the nighttime sky.
OOOOO-kkeeeyyy, that was short. Sorry. I didn't have much more to add, that's pretty much all I wanted to post for this last chapter. Come tomorrow and the rest of the week, I really do promise I'll start working on other stories. I just have to finish one other one-shot tomorrow and it'll be onto the other stories that have already been posted. (NO lies this time! I promiseee.) Review!