A/N Here is the final (probably) chapter. I'm not sure I like the way it ends though. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks to Danyene for answering my question at the end of the last chapter. Sorry it took a bit to update, I was waiting for CrazyTrombonist251 to read it and let me know what he thought, but he hasn't yet and I got tired of waiting.
CH.3
Clint walked up behind Natasha where she was standing in the kitchen. He'd just gotten back from the indoor archery range in the back of their house. She could tell because he was sweaty and his left arm was clenched, like it did after prolonged shooting.
He reached around her to give her a hug and pressed a kiss into her fiery hair. "Why do you smell like a third-rate bar?"
"Because I just came from one," she turned back to chopping vegetables, "Stark asked me to meet him so he could explain." She put the knife down and turned to look at him again, her eyes troubled, "Clint, I believe him. I really do."
"So, tell Pepper."
"I can't. If I tell her the truth then she trusts me, not Tony. The seed of doubt will still be there. If she makes the decision for herself, it means she really trusts him, and knows him well enough to be able to tell if he is lying." She picked up the knife and raised her voice to be heard over the chop-chop of the veggies, "Also, if I help Stark, he will come to me every time they argue. I'm not a patient person."
"Trust me, I've noticed," he picked up a carrot and popped it in his mouth, "And what so you know about trust in a relationship, anyway?"
"You mean besides ours?" she said dryly. "I may not be a love expert, but I understand people and their motives, Clint. Even Tony knows that."
Clint nabbed another carrot, choosing not to rise to her bait, "How much longer 'til you're done cooking, Nat? I hope you can make stir-fry better than you make steak," he teased as he walked into the living room and stretched on the couch.
"That was only one time!" She called to him. After a minute she heard the TV come on. Moving to the doorway, she asked, "Hey, where's Pepper? Is she eating with us?"
"Uh, she went home."
"Why?"
Clint picked up something dangerous in Tasha's voice. He looked over at where she stood leaning against the doorframe, still holding the vegetable knife. "Um, to pick up clothes . . . ?"
Nat sighed. Looked like it was out of her hands. Rolling her eyes at Clint, she turned back to the kitchen, twirling the knife.
~o0o~
Pepper turned the car off in her driveway. She almost turned the key again and drove away. She wasn't sure she could face Tony. She was afraid she would give in to him, and he would keep hurting and lying to her. She didn't want to think badly of him, but what was she supposed to think? Should she have even believed him when he said he'd changed?
Deciding she was not going to let Tony beat her, she determinedly got out of the car and opened the front door without knocking. It was her house after all.
Tony had turned the couch to face the door and has camped out there with a book. He jumped to his feet when Pepper came in, "Pep-"
"Don't, Tony. Just don't," she interrupted, "I love you, but don't think that's enough to keep me here when you're-" She couldn't finish the thought, but he answered as if she had.
"I wouldn't expect you to. But please let me tell you what happened. Or-" he added quickly when he saw how unlikely that was, "just get what you came for and remember that I have things I still need to say, when you are ready. Also, you can definitely have the house, JARVIS, everything."
"Tony," she sighed. "It was your house before you even met me."
"So? You took over the company; you married me, against everyone's advice; you put up with me even before . . . You deserve your own house."
"Is this a bribe, Tony? And, do you think I can live here without you? Do you think I can wake up in our bed without you? Knowing what you did?"
"But you won't let me tell you what I did!" he couldn't put into words his elation at her words 'our bed' and 'without you.'
"Fine," she snapped, "You get one chance. Don't waste it." She sat down on a chair across from the couch where he resettled himself.
He told her his story the same way he'd told it to Natasha (Pepper interrupted less) and when he finished he couldn't even look at her. He may not have been sleeping with his exes, but he still didn't deserve someone like Pepper. She was going to finally come to her senses and leave him for good.
He'd taken the ring out of his pocket and he now held it out to her half-heartedly. Pepper didn't even look at the ring. She just threw her arms around his neck and tried to hold back tears. How could she have thought all those things of him?
"Pep . . . Pepper?" he said into her neck.
She sniffed, "I'm sorry I didn't trust you, Tony. I should have let you explain."
"You needed time. The evidence was pretty overwhelming against me. Did Nat say anything to you?"
"What? No . . ." she said slowly, waiting for an explanation.
"I might've practiced my story on her this morning. She believed me, too, but I think she knew that you needed to hear it from me," he grabbed her hand and kissed her palm and, after shooting her a questioning look, he slid the ring on her finger, "I love you."
She didn't respond, she just kissed him, feeling that that was enough to express her love. She still felt bad about not listening to her husband, a fact she confessed to Natasha when she called her a few hours later to spill what happened. The assassin just commented that it wasn't surprising, Pepper's belief of Tony's guilt, given Tony's track record. Natasha knew that Pepper would have to get over it herself in her own way. And she did, with some help from Tony, who she managed to keep in bed with her that night and most to come.
A/N So what do you think? I'm not sure how I feel 'bout the argument between Pepper and Tony. I rewrote it like three times. In one of them, Pepper was willing to listen right off the bat, but I wasn't sure if that's how she would really react. She seems more stubborn/argumentative. Please let me know if you think it could be better, I love reviews!