A/N: Hello, my Faithful Readers! I have good news and bad news for you. The good news: you get two chapters in one weekend, yay! The bad news: I won't be posting anything for at least two weeks. Why? Because it's going be very busy for me for the next couple of weeks with the closing of some major projects at work, so yeah… I hope you all return for the next installment :) I always like hearing from you, even if I don't respond to all reviews ^_^

Chapter 16

Despite her plea and denials with her father, Pepper had ended up taking Marsha out to the mall. Virgil had insisted that they needed to bond, and Pepper had insisted it was not needed. When Virgil had offered to let her borrow the car so she could practice for her driving lessons, Pepper had groaned, called her father manipulative, grabbed the keys from him and driven the brunette to the shopping center.

Throughout the entire time, the woman had tried to make small talk with the redhead but she had only spoken in one or two sentence answers. She tried to pay attention to the road and use such as an excuse for her demeanor, but she knew she was lying through her teeth; Pepper had already learned how to drive a car with Rhodey and Tony's help. The driving school course was just a formality to make the process easier for her.

After walking around the shopping center for an hour, and now sitting at the food court at the mall, Pepper remained silent and pensive. She was sitting in a chair at the same table as Marsha, but there had been very little conversation happening between them. Pepper's side of her face rested on her upturned left hand, and she chewed on the straw of her now empty drink.

Her mind was working on overdrive trying to find answers to the many problems she was currently facing. She had been on edge at night thinking about Gene, who was yet to show his horrible face again. She was also constantly monitoring her dad to make sure he did not fall ill on her. During the day she was hard at work upgrading Tony's software and randomly designing algorithms that could potentially help her prove that Tony had not caused the accident downtown, and in between all of this she was attending driving school, filling out college applications, studying for the GED and avoiding Marsha as much as possible.

This had been potentially the longest week for the redhead, ever.

"I can see why Tony likes you so much," Marsha said before taking a sip of her hot tea. Pepper stared at her for an instant before her eyes looked at anything else other than the brunette.

"I'm usually not this quiet around him, if that's what you mean. He can attest that I never shut up."

Marsha chuckled softly and shook her head at the girl. "I didn't mean that. I meant that I can tell how smart you are. It must be a turn on for him."

Pepper raised a single eyebrow and stopped chewing on her straw for a moment before she rolled her eyes at the woman. "For Tony to consider anyone smart you need to have found the cure for cancer or something like that. Compared to him, only a handful of people in the world are smart, and I'm not in that little exclusive club of super-brained people."

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Marsha began. "Your dad has told me some of the very impressive things you've done so far; some of which I couldn't do myself until I got my graduate degree."

Pepper shrugged and began tapping the fingers on her right hand on the table. "Tony's a good mentor. Anything that I did that impressed you was probably overseen by him."

"He may be a good mentor, but people like him don't waste their time teaching their knowledge to people who won't appreciate or won't be able to understand them in the first place. He saw the same potential in you that I see, and it wouldn't surprise me if he found it to be rather intriguing that a girl your age was not deterred or intimidated by his brilliant mind."

"I think you're reading too much into it," Pepper argued. "He was just surprised that a girl his age wasn't throwing herself at him."

"Maybe," Marsha agreed. "Why didn't you throw yourself at him? Didn't you go to the same school, every day, for a long time? Virgil told me that you and he used to hang around before and after school all the time."

"His money and fame don't impress me. I don't care for that," she answered truthfully. Despite the teasing she always gave to Tony regarding his limousine and other items that she compared to Gene's and Justin Hammer's, Pepper truly did not care if he owned expensive or glamorous items or not.

"Then why did you stick around? Surely it was not only for his intelligence or looks."

Pepper stared at Marsha with an unreadable face as if gauging the true intentions of the conversation. Tshe look the woman was receiving from the girl was slowly becoming uncomfortable, and when Marsha thought Pepper was not going to answer her question and she would get yelled at instead, the redhead surprised her with a calm response.

"He was lonely, and I know what it feels like to be alone. He needed a friend – an honest friend – someone who didn't judge him by what everyone thought of him. His dad had just died, and he had no mom. I lost my mom, so I knew what it was to lose a parent, and he had lost both. He needed a brutally honest and supportive friend, not a crazy fan."

Marsha nodded and took another sip of her drink. Right when she was about to speak again, thinking that Pepper was done, the girl surprised her yet again with an afterthought.

"Besides," Pepper began with a smile playing on her lips. "The gorgeous blue eyes don't seem to hurt."

Marsha giggled at this. "Wait until he uses them to stare at you to tell you he loves you," Marsha joked but when Pepper's face became red, the woman's chuckle turned into a loud laugh. "Oh, I see you already know a little about it, then."

Pepper looked away, trying to contain her laughter, but the more she tried the more difficult it became. She finally resigned to shake her head and join the brunette, who was still laughing hysterically at Pepper's response. Once they recovered their wits, Pepper felt a little bit better about having to hang around the woman; maybe she was as nice as her dad kept telling her.

"Hey, so, you worked with Dr. Richards, right?"

"Yup, I did. Do you know him?"

"Not really," Pepper admitted. "How cool are you with him?"

"As a popsicle. Why?"

Pepper smiled and leaned forward to whisper to Marsha. "Do you think he might be interested in going out on a date?"

xxxXXXxxx

Tony arrived at the Potts' residence Friday afternoon to be surprised with the fact that his girlfriend was not home. She and Marsha were yet to return from the mall, and Tony went into panic mode. However, a simple text message from Pepper eased his worries and later on the redhead and the brunette walked inside the living room to see Tony and Virgil watching television together; this time without alcohol and with coasters for their sodas.

"Pepper!" Tony said when the door opened to reveal his freckled girl, and the teenager smiled widely back at him. Marsha nudged Pepper with her elbow to remind her of a certain conversation they had just finished having regarding the young couple's activities and Pepper chuckled.

Marsha then walked toward the couch to sit next to the FBI man and gave him a kiss. Tony reached Pepper at the door, kissed her cheek and rested his hands on her waist. "Did you have fun? Everything OK?"

"Peachy," Pepper said with honesty. "I saw a little festival in a park on our way here. Do you want to go?"

Tony was visibly surprised by the sudden invitation but nodded nonetheless. "Right now?"

"Yes, unless you have something better to do."

"Not really; I already installed the infrared. Walk or drive?"

"Walk," she responded. "It's only, like, five blocks from here."

"OK, will your dad…"

"Just go already," Virgil interrupted Tony's question with a wave of his hand. "I'll leave the door unlocked," Virgil joked as he adjusted his position on the couch to place his arm around Marsha and the brunette settled in his embrace.

"We'll be back later, Dad, Marsha" Pepper said and waved goodbye at both adults before dragging Tony out the door. The genius was suspicious of her actions but decided not to think much of it, especially when he saw how relaxed and happy she appeared to be. Pepper then held Tony's right hand in hers and they took their time walking to the festival Pepper had mentioned.

"I heard you spent all day with Marsha today. How did it go?"

"At first it sucked," the redhead confessed, earning a sympathetic look from the boy. "But, by the end of it I actually had fun."

"Really?" Tony was taken aback. "What did you do? Try to kill her and almost succeed?"

Pepper lightly smacked Tony's shoulder with her left hand and the scientist pretended to be in pain because of it. "Well, I couldn't very well do it at the house since you installed a private HAL 9000; too many witnesses."

"His name is Jarvis, not HAL. And he's nothing like that crazy AI."

Pepper shrugged and tipped her head to the side. "The accent is rather sexy, I must say."

"You don't say, love?" Tony began in a perfect British accent, causing Pepper to stop in her tracks to stare at the smiling boy. "I didn't know a fit bird like you fancied the British chaps."

"Fit bird? I hope that means something better than what it sounds like. And, I didn't know you could do a British accent."

"Why do you think I gave it to Jarvis?" His accent continued.

"OK, stop it, Tony." Pepper said with a light blush. She really, really liked the accent.

"Stop what?" Tony insisted with a sly smile.

"You know what! Stop talking like that!" Pepper spat as she took a step back and tried to pull her hand away from his but he tightened up his grip on her and pulled her even closer to him.

"But, I thought you liked it?" Tony whispered to her, refusing to give up the accent. "Say, I've been around you for about ten minutes and you're still to give me a snog. Why is that? I thought I was your bloke?"

"Tony! That's enough."

"Enough waiting, you mean? I'll say! It's been a whole bloody week!"

"You're going to pay for this," Pepper narrowed her eyes at him. "You're going to pay BIG time, Stark."

"Worth every second, love," Tony said before finally kissing Pepper at least four times.

He always liked the number four.

The number four was good to him; it was the number of stores he had gone to in order to find the present he was hiding in his jeans' back pocket.

xxxXXXxxx

The small festival only had half an hour to go before ending by the time the two teens arrived, but Pepper and Tony remained in the park after everyone else had already packed up and gone. Neither of them was worried about the time or how late it was, and since Pepper was yet to receive an angry call or text from her dad, she figured they were not in trouble at all.

For a while, Tony had lightly pushed Pepper in one of the swings, his hands on hers and hers around the chains that held the contraption together. Pepper had told him the details of her outing with Marsha, and how it turned out that she was not as bad as she had initially thought her to be. Tony had just listened to her talk about one topic or another, patiently waiting for the moment to strike.

Finally, after Pepper became bored of the swings, the couple walked down the path toward the exit of the park until something caught Pepper's eyes. She pulled the scientist with her to a tree nearby to examine a carving of a heart with two names inside. Pepper chuckled and shook her head, silently admiring the silly use of the bark. "I didn't know people still do this," Pepper traced the carving with her free hand. "It's so old school."

"Some people are old school, Pep." Tony said as he let go of her hand, hugged her waist from behind, and rested his chin on her right shoulder. "Those people in that chick flick you made me watch were old school."

"It wasn't a chick flick, Tony," Pepper said as she continued to stare at the tree. "It was a romantic comedy."

"A.K.A. chick flick." Tony argued. "I didn't even think you liked those, Potts."

"I do; some of them, at least. Any girl likes at least one."

"They're pretty silly, if you ask me."

Pepper turned around on her spot so that she was now facing Tony, and the genius slowly pressed her back against the large tree trunk.

"Why are they silly?" She asked.

"Because they set high expectations of us that no normal guy can ever meet."

"Are you saying chivalry is dead?"

"No. But singing a song during a school football practice is so not the norm with us guys."

"But faking a British accent is the norm?"

"If the girl likes it," Tony said with an accent and Pepper pouted. "Don't kill me, that was all of it for now," the genius continued in a regular accent.

"Well, I don't expect you to sing to me anywhere, Tony, if that's what you're worried about."

"Good, I can cross that off my list of things I hope I never have to do," Tony joked and Pepper giggled. "But," the boy continued. "I did pick up an idea from all those corny movies you tortured me with."

"What is it?"

"Well, this," Tony began as he took his left hand to his back pocket and took out a handkerchief. He then pulled away from Pepper and with his other hand unfolded the fabric to reveal a simple but stunning silver ring. "I think they called it a promise ring, right?"

Pepper's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped as Tony took her right hand and placed the piece of jewelry on her ring finger. "The sales lady told me that since I'm not asking you to marry me within two years that you should wear it on the right hand. She also said to ask for it back if we break up, but I guess we don't have to worry about that, huh?"

Pepper was still unable to say anything, her eyes glued to the ring. Tony smiled at her and pulled her right hand up to his lips, kissing it lightly over the ring. "What if we just leave it as me taking the ring back if this doesn't work out, without me having to say the phrase 'break up'? It sounds awful, doesn't it?"

The redhead swallowed hard and finally found her voice. "Tony, are…are you sure about this?"

"Do you really have to ask? What does it take to make you believe me?"

Pepper shook her head. "Nothing, I…I believe you, it's just…well, it's not every day Tony Stark gives a girl a ring."

"Jeez! If this is how you're reacting to a promise ring, what in the world will I have to do for you to accept an engagement one?"

Pepper could feel her face heating up again, so she looked away.

"Do you like it?" Tony asked, forcing her to face him by lifting her chin with his hand. "It looks good on you."

Pepper gave him a smile and a nod, and when she remembered the conversation she and Marsha had had earlier today, her shy face turned into a prowling one. Tony immediately noticed the change and was taken aback, confused by the sudden change of demeanor, especially when Pepper grabbed him by the shirt, turned him around and practically slammed him against the tree.

The girl scanned their surroundings for possible bystanders, but when she was certain they were all by themselves, Pepper pressed her body against Tony's, making sure that she rubbed it up and down. Tony's shocked face satisfied the redhead, and she proceeded to lean toward his left ear and began to nibble on the lobe.

"Pe-Pe-pper…" Tony stuttered. "What…" he exhaled hard. "What are you d-doing?"

"Giving you my thanks," she whispered to him before running her tongue behind Tony's ear. The gesture caused the boy to practically purr and moan at the same time, and his hands flew to her waist to try to push her off him.

"Pepper, stop."

"Stop?" She repeated as she left a trail of kisses down Tony's neck, making the inventor shiver and bite down on his bottom lip to prevent another moan from escaping his mouth. Pepper then caressed his neckline with her nose, making certain that she released small puffs of air from her mouth. She felt Tony's hands on her waist tense up, and he threw back his head against the tree. "Do you really want me to stop?" she purred.

"No…yes…I mean, no…Pepper…dammit…"

She repeated the same motion with his other ear and the other side of his neck, and this time Tony shut his eyes. His breathing was becoming ragged. The way she was eyeing him and touching him was causing his nerves to be extremely sensitive, making him exceptionally aware that the girl had him at her mercy.

"I think you like it, Tony," Pepper said before pressing her lips on his for an instant and then tracing them with the tip of her tongue. "I think you like it very much."

"Pepper…" Tony clenched his jaw as he waited for Pepper's next move, but when the cold breeze hit him squarely on the face, Tony opened his eyes to see Pepper smiling devilishly five steps away from him.

"And that's what you get for teasing me, Stark," Pepper said before she turned on her heels and skipped her way back to the trail. "Hurry up; it's almost midnight."

Tony was still pretty much in shock after the caresses, but when it dawned on him what had just happened, he groaned and narrowed his eyes. "That was low, Potts. Low and mean."

"Low and mean?" Pepper asked as she extended her hand toward him and he reluctantly took it. "Low and mean come later, Stark."

The girl laughed aloud at his face, and she silently thanked Marsha for her advice.

A/N: I hope I got the British words/slang correct. Please let me know if I didn't!