It was far from a normal day. Pepper was the first to wake up to the rain pounding against the windows. She ran her hand through her hair and looked outside the window with a confused look. Over ten hours ago, the sun was shining in all of its glory. It was a beautiful day yesterday, yet the rain continued to clash against the glass that kept Tony and her dry.
She felt the body next to her stir awake after a few seconds of gazing outside the window that showcased a huge storm.
Pepper glanced behind her and saw him slowly get up. He sat there, next to her, and joined her gaze. He held a solemn look for a few minutes before he dragged his feet out of bed. His head hung low, wishing that the weather didn't portray his feelings.
A couple showers and a few awkward moments later, Tony had dragged himself downstairs to see what he could salvage from whatever was inside the fridge. He thought Pepper had already left for work but was highly mistaken when he met her gaze in the kitchen.
He wore a pair of jeans and a black cotton t-shirt. His eyes drifted to her casual business suit attire and tried not to make his feelings any more obvious than they already were. He wasn't sure of their stance in their relationship. Sure, he was crushed that she said 'no' to moving in with him, but he didn't want to give her the complete and ultimate silent treatment.
"Hey." He breathed, and proceeded to walk into the kitchen.
She watched his movements and greeted him back. "Hi."
Pepper poured coffee into two mugs and gingerly handed him on. He looked down at the cup, wondering what he should say to her. His thoughts ran wild, but before his mind could complete a sentence, his eyes were already locked with her gaze.
"Thanks." He softly pressed his lips together, feeling the cup land gently in his hand.
She didn't call him out on his unusual and totally acceptable behavior, nor did she ring answers out of him. Pepper simply said 'you're welcome' and continued on with her kitchen objective. She turned her back to him and quietly fixed herself something to eat, as well as her future lunch.
He made a quick glance at her, trying to read her body language, but instead, felt like retreating to his workshop. He couldn't find the courage to talk to her, or the words to say to her. So, he quickly kissed her cheek and walked past her, towards his workshop, with his cup of coffee in his good arm's hand.
Pepper watched him silently walk down the stairs. She held back every urge that told her to find out why he was acting like a child that was giving his mother the silent treatment. She knew why he was quiet, but how could he expect her to just say 'yes' after he landed the 'semi' big question.
She could've gone down there and asked him why he was acting like he just got rejected to prom. She could've told JARVIS to block him from his workshop so that he had no choice but to talk to her. She could've scolded him for acting like a baby.
She could've done so many things to avoid any future awkward and abrupt conversations, just like the one that happened a few seconds ago, but she was late for work. She knew Tony's beginner status in the relationship, so she reminded herself dozens of times about it, and decided to talk to him after she got back from the office.
Pepper poured the rest of her coffee cup's contents into a small travel mug, and picked up her purse that sat at the corner of the counter. She slowly walked out the door, into the pouring rain, that constantly reminded her about last night's conversation. She had no choice but to shove those thoughts out. Pepper Potts was dedicated to her work – to her job. But, she knew she would later retreat to those aching thoughts and feelings that would endlessly continue to plague her mind.
There was a remedy to this predicament. Both of them knew that much.
"She flat out said 'no'." Tony sat at his desk, in front of three monitors; one of those three showcased Rhodey's face and little of his upper body.
Rhodey furrowed his eyebrows in response. "Are you sure it was a flat 'no'?" He folded his arms across his chest, expecting Tony to elaborate.
"She built up to it, but all arrows pointed to this huge lit up, neon blue sign, that said, in big letters, 'NO'." He exaggerated, leaning his forehead against the palm of his hand. He ran his hand down his face and heavily sighed. "This morning wasn't any better."
"Yeah." Rhodey nodded, acting a bit surprised. "This rain came out of nowhere."
"Do you think Mother Nature could be any more furious?" Tony stared down at his metal table. His ears rung when Dummy's robotic cry rolled towards him. He glanced by the table and saw a tissue in his mechanical arm. He rolled his eyes at the robot. "I'm fine Dummy. You don't have to—" Dummy released the tissue on top of his desk and watched him with curiosity.
"Not to be a jinx, but she could add in a few thunder storms, a hurricane, and a tornado." Rhodey turned around to look outside of his window and noticed the sudden increase in rain.
"I barely said a sentence to Pepper this morning." Tony heavily sighed.
"You shouldn't really take it this personally, Tony." Rhodey tried to explain to him.
Feeling a bit worked up, Tony snapped back at him. "How can I not take this personally? Five times out of seven, Pepper stays over night. She practically lives here—"
"But have you actually talked to her about it?" Rhodey raised an eyebrow at him. He watched him linger in front of his desk for a few moments.
"No." Tony angrily grumbled.
"Put it this way: asking someone to move in is-is like asking someone to marry you. It's a huge step. It basically says that you're really serious about the relationship."
"But I am serious." Tony tried to tell him.
"If you look at it through Pepper's end, you have endless years of experiencing a non-serious Tony; a play boy, millionaire, lazy—"
"—Hey, watch it." Tony narrowed his eyes at him through the monitor.
"What I'm trying to say is that Pepper might not be that convinced about how serious you are about the relationship." Rhodey pressed his lips together and casually glanced down at his watch. "Look, I need to get back to work. I'm on War Machine duty."
"War Machine duty?" Tony furrowed his eyebrows up at him.
"The Senator stopped his nagging, yes, but the military disapproved of keeping the suit at my house, so it stays here at the base. I told the Senator that there needs to be constant surveillance around the suit at all times." Rhodey began to tamper with the buttons on his screen.
"Before you go—" Tony tried to stop him, but ended up getting cut off.
"It doesn't hurt to just talk to her." Rhodey rolled his eyes at him and abruptly cut off their call. Both ends went dark, making Rhodey go back to his work, and Tony go back to moping.
Tony sat there in silence for a few moments before feeling something brush up against his arm. He looked to his side and saw Dummy trying to hand him another tissue.
"What am I going to do with you?" He looked down at his faithful sidekick, grinning slightly.
"Sir, there are a few interior parts of the suit that you wanted me to remind you to look over." JARVIS suddenly announced.
"Thanks for reminding me." Tony glanced up at the ceiling. With a heavy sigh, he got up from his seat and drifted over to his Iron Man suit. He inspected the exterior with his finger and carefully looked inside. Most of the parts were on the table next to him where they craved his attention.
"Would you like me to prepare the specs of each part?" The AI asked him.
"Yes, thank you." He paused for a moment, and furrowed his eyebrows. "JARVIS, what do you think of Pepper and I, and our little predicament?"
"You haven't installed the program into my servers yet. I cannot properly assess the problem yet." JARVIS quickly told him.
"For obvious reasons, of course not." Tony smirked. "Forget it. What I need is a nice refreshing cup of coffee, and some work." He glanced down at the parts and gently moved his right arm that was still in its blue sling. "If only my damn arm…" He started to yank on the strap.
"I have strict orders from Pepper to inform her of any activity that include the removal of your sling."
"What?" Tony practically shouted. "Since when did you take orders from Pepper?"
"Since you gave her the administration access codes."
Tony was baffled. He couldn't even remember when he had given her any kind of administration access codes. Maybe when I was drunk… or out of my mind… "I don't even remember when—"
"I believe you stated, just before you granted her the codes, that she was the only person you could trust with your possessions." JARVIS responded.
"Well…" Tony pressed his lips together. "…That's true. Traitor." He angrily grumbled before walking across the workshop. He dragged a rolling stool over to the metal table and sat down in front of the many fragments that formed his suit. Alas, he still couldn't stop thinking about Pepper. "Why does everything have to be so damn complicated?"
"The suit is not as complicated as it seems. You have done this a hundred times, Sir." JARVIS blatantly said, making Tony look up at the ceiling in annoyance.
Tony grumbled under his breath and heavily sighed. He tool one of his tools from the edge of the table and got to work on the armor piece in front of him. He had no intentions of giving Pepper the silent treatment for more than two days. There was no way he could ever ignore her for forty-eight hours. It was unbearable and frustrating. Of all the people in the world, how could something so simple turn into something so complicated?
It took twenty minutes for Pepper to drive home. The traffic was horrendous. Upon being stuck in traffic, she ran her conversation over with Tony in her head a few times. There were other alternatives than just talking it out – god knows Tony has thought of them plenty of times – but she wanted to be simple. Sure, think of a simple relationship with Tony. Nearly impossible.
She opened the front door and expected the whole house to be pitch black, expect for Tony's workshop. The kitchen light was on and so was the living room light. Tony sat there, on the couch, and was quietly thumbing through the channels on the television. He could tell when she entered his place. It wasn't the obvious noise of the door clicking open and slamming shut. It was her scent that filled the room within seconds. It could all just be in his head…
"Hey." She greeted him, dropping her purse on top of the kitchen counter.
He glanced behind him and saw her flash a small smile. "Hi." He calmly and solemnly greeted back. He turned his attention back to the television and changed the channel more than twice.
"What did you do today?" She asked, feeling his silence fill the room with ease.
"Worked on the…" He paused to change the channel. "…suit." He pressed his lips together and changed the channels again. He wanted to talk to her about it, but he couldn't quite put his thumb on how to start it.
Pepper couldn't take it anymore. He was acting like a complete baby. He was making it very noticeable about how upset he was. She didn't blame him for the way he acted that morning, but to continue throughout the whole entire evening?
She calmly walked out of the kitchen and towards the couch. With every step, she laid her gaze on him, making sure that he didn't give her any excuse to leave. When she passed the arm rest, Tony carefully looked up at her and watched her every move.
Shit! Tony cursed to himself. She looks pissed. He pressed his lips together again and focused on the television once more. Before he could bring himself to even stare her in the eyes, he panicked and stood up from his seat.
"I feel like having some Chinese take-out. Don't you?" He abruptly announced.
Before he could jog towards the kitchen, Pepper stopped him. "Tony, sit down." She breathed, and watched him slowly take his seat again. She sat down next to him and turned towards him, tucking one of her legs underneath herself. "We need to talk about this…"
"Pepper, I'm fine, okay?" He still didn't look at her; he only looked away.
His denial only made her that much more antsy. She hated it when Tony denied his feelings, how he felt, or the plain obvious. "Tony, you're not fine. We need to talk about this."
He still didn't look her in the eyes. His thoughts drifted off, thus making him sit there in silence. He didn't know what to say to her. A part of him wanted to just kiss her until she forgot why they were fighting – or better yet, what she was doing here. But, Tony was a changed man. I wouldn't be here, with Pepper, if I hadn't changed, he thought to himself. No more running. No more hiding. This was his opportunity; here and now.
Pepper scooted closer to him and stared at his cheek, hoping he'd turn his head to face her. "Did you really think I would say yes?"
Tony sighed, and slowly turned his head. He ended up looking down at her hands that were right next to him. "Yes." He grumbled. "I mean, most of your stuff is here. Your whole closet is practically in my room… I don't see what the big deal is. You spend more time here than you do at your condo."
"Tony…" She sighed. "…Sometimes… I just need to retreat somewhere – somewhere where I'm comfortable."
"You seem quite comfortable here." He pressed his lips together, finally looking down at her. For the millionth time, he saw her look of disappointment aimed right at him. She wasn't pissed off. She wasn't miserable. She was disappointed about how he acted.
"Why are you acting like this?" She finally asked him, still trying to get a read on his thoughts.
"B-Because I don't know what you want from me." He breathed, unable to control his thoughts. "We're cuddling on the couch one minute, and the next minute, you're completely rejecting the idea of moving into my place."
"…I'm…" She sighed, and crooked the side of her mouth. "I'm just not ready."
Before he could even think it through, "Well, then maybe we both aren't ready."
It took her all of two seconds to figure out what he just said. She furrowed her eyebrows, looked up at him, and paused. "What?"
"I… I just don't know…." He looked away and pressed his lips together in frustration. "I want you—"
"What?" She immediately gasped, eyeing him carefully.
"—Here. I want you here." He repeated, finally able to look into her eyes. "And last night… it felt like you didn't want to be here – with me." Tony's eyes were a much softer brown. He was feeling more miserable than hurt.
"You know how much I care about you. I'm just not ready to permanently move in here." She lifted her hand up to her face to rub the bridge of her nose. Work had exhausted her to an extent, and dealing with Tony's troubles was a whole other chore. "I just want to be able to retreat back to my condo apartment, and be able to feed my fish, and read a book while bathing in a bubble bath."
"You can do that here." He quickly stated, trying not to sound like a needy jerk.
"The tabloids would certainly be suspicious to see me constantly walking in and out of your house, and never setting foot near my apartment." She flashed a small smile up at him, waiting for his response.
He looked in the distance and thought about it for a second. "Okay…good point."
"I'm just not ready, Tony – and you kind of laid the question on me out of the blue. I mean, maybe if you hinted at it—" She slightly shrugged, trying to make him feel a little better.
"So, if I hinted at it, you would've said yes?" He furrowed his eyebrows, looking down at her.
"No." She drew her answer out, trying not to smirk at his attempts of re-evaluating his plan. "What I mean, is that I just need some time to process everything."
"So… time." He nodded to himself before shaking his head. "Time is not something I have."
"But it's something you'll have to get used to." She scooted closer to him and gently laid her head against his arm. "In time I could move in and in time we could have… you know." She glanced up at him with a small smile, hoping he got the gist of what she meant.
"And… maybe, in time, you can sleep over… and by in time, I mean now." He kissed the top of her head and grinned down at her.
She nudged him in the ribs and smirked at his attempts to get her to stay. "I actually wanted to go home tonight. My fish need feeding."
"Wait, you actually have fish?"
"Yup." She nodded, sitting up in her spot.
"Do you have any other pets I should know about – you know, for future use. I might need to fish-proof the house… and maybe the workshop." He crooked the side of his mouth in thought.
She widened her grin, trying not to laugh at his crazy and adorable antics. "I do have a cat."
"How irresponsible, Miss Potts." He abruptly, and jokingly, said. "You're spending the night with me, and at the same time, starving your cat. I'm sure that's a pretty good reason to move in with me."
"Funny, Tony." She giggled to herself. "My neighbor feeds him when I'm not home."
"Oh, it's a boy? What's his name?" He asked her with a hint of curiosity in his tone.
Pepper stood up and began to walk over to the counter. "I originally named him Jasper, but seeing as how he constantly gets into trouble, can't feed himself, and always wants to sleep with me, I might as well name him Tony."
"Funny." He watched her, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "He's a lucky cat if he gets to sleep with you every time."
Tony Stark was always known for his charming good looks and his wonderful ability to draw women to his bedside. The only woman that seemed to be immune to his charm was none other than Pepper Potts. She always threw his flirtatious acts aside and got right down to company business. For the first time, Pepper felt the walls that protected her from his charm slowly crumble. She had every urge to push him down on the couch and kiss him until he couldn't breathe. You could call it murder, or you could call it the flaws of a woman. In any case, she immediately waved good-bye to him before her hormones could take over.
A/N: Funny story: my friends got me a Robert Downey Jr body pillow for my birthday (sounds creepy, huh? Lol). It recently scared the jeepers out of my dad because the pillow was lying next to me, near the edge of the bed. When he walked into my room to talk to me (I was half asleep), he thought the body pillow was some guy that was sleeping in my bed. Haha, he looked like he was about to yell at me. It was funny. So very funny. My poor dad, lol.