Epilogue

Six months had passed since her father's wedding, and she still remembered that night as if it had been yesterday. Everything had been fun and games, and Tony and she had gone off to sleep that night, promising to have an important conversation about his decision the next time they met. She had been hopeful and nervous, waiting for the commitment she needed from him. However, she had woken up to an empty bed, and that had been the last time she had seen or heard from him.

Well, she had heard from him when she tried texting him and he had responded that he was too busy to talk, and she had seen him when she had recently surprised him at his dorm in MIT one weekend when she had been left no homework from Stanford's tough pre-Law degree program. That had been a month ago, and he had walked in on him… with her…

She was beautiful, tall, slender and blonde…practically perfect. She reminded her of Whitney…and she had been hugging his bare chest. That was all Pepper had to see before she turned around and teleported back home. For once, she was grateful for having the Mandarin's rings.

Tony did not even try to contact her after that.

Needless to say, everything had gone downhill for her since then. She had buried herself in her studies, even gotten an internship with a much sought out law firm, and she could not wait to start her summer slaving in it. The only thing she had left of what she and Tony had had was the stupid promise ring she was too idiotic and too much in love with to return.

She stared up from said ring to the waves washing ashore near her, making sure she engrained their beauty in her memory. She had come here, to her favorite beach, to feel better about her situation, but the knowledge of the future status of her safe haven location had only made her feel worse than she already felt: the public beach had been bought, and tomorrow it would become the private estate of some greedy jerk.

Her heart caught in her throat when she felt him land behind her. He shed his suit as he walked to the bench she sat on and he sat next to her, but not close enough to have any physical contact with her. Neither of them dared to say a word for a while until Pepper cleared her throat. "I heard you're graduating early…next weekend."

"Yeah. Piece of cake," he nodded. "Never did want to spend that much time in school, anyway."

"I'm happy for you. I really am."

Another awkward silence befell them, and it was now Tony's turn to break it. "I guess you want an explanation. You deserve it, I should say."

"What I saw was very explicit, Tony. No explanation needed."

"I…" he sighed. "I guess it was."

"What are you here for, then?"

Tony rubbed the back of his neck, sighing nervously before he spoke again. "The ring…I kinda need it back."

Should've seen that coming. Pepper felt her heart being ripped out of her chest but she did not change her stance. Her left hand slid off the ring from her right hand and she returned it to him without sparing him a glance. He grabbed the ring and stared at it for a second before he dug inside his pants pocket and stood up from the bench.

The ginger stood up as well and gave her back to him, staring up at the construction workers at the top of the nearby cliff as they pretended they were not paying attention to the only couple in the beach.

"I guess that's that, then. I'll see you around," the redhead said, tears streaming down her cheeks now that her face was away from his.

"I guess so," he agreed and put his hands in his pockets as he saw Pepper begin to walk away.

The redhead called upon the rings to take her away from him as fast as they could, but his voice calling out to her again made her stop in her tracks, and the rings reverted to her body.

"There's one more thing, Pepper. Before you leave…"

The ginger took in a deep breath, wiped her tears with the back of her hands and turned around in place to see Tony down on one knee, just a few feet away from her, holding a diamond ring in a box in his hands. "Marry me."

It took all of Pepper's self-control not to unleash the mother of all Makluan attacks on him, but that did not stop her mouth from screaming at him. "WHAT?"

"Marry me," he repeated, and it was then that Pepper noticed how his hands and lips were trembling. His eyes were starting to shine brightly with unshed nervous tears, and he held on to the tiny box as if it was the only thing that kept him from falling apart.

"Are you insane?" She began. "You expect me to…believe…to accept…this is not a game, Tony.'

"No, it's not," he agreed. "What you saw, Pepper…it's not what you think…"

"You mean she's not…"

"He…he's not…"

Pepper shook her head as if she was expecting something to come out of her ears that was keeping her from listening properly. "He?"

"Lorna…formerly Lewis…"

"Lewis? Your roommate, Lewis? That was Lewis?" The redhead asked as she remembered that Tony's roommate did have some transsexual tendencies in him.

"Yes, he…she…whatever…got the surgery to be…all girl…I guess. You walked in on him telling me about it."

"But…you didn't…and you haven't…what?"

Pepper half expected Tony to just give up and stand up from his position on the sand, but he did not move an inch. "That was Lewis. It's the truth. I promise. I've been very busy, Pepper. But I've stayed busy not to stay away from you, but because I was taking 12 classes so that I could finish early so that I could graduate and leave that life behind…so that I could move here with you…so that I could ask you to marry me."

Pepper's hands covered her mouth in an attempt to hold back a sob. When she finally removed them from her face, she spoke again. "But…you asked for the ring back…and you didn't bother to clear this up…the Lewis issue…"

"I know. I wanted to, but he suggested that I let you think the lie so that when I asked you, you'd be surprised. I guess it wasn't that bright of an idea, huh?" he shook his head at his own disappointment with himself. "I swear, Pepper, I've been planning to do this for a long time. Your dad has known for three months – he helped me pick out the ring."

Pepper covered her face with her hands and began to sob. Tony crawled his way closer to her, hugged her by the waist and buried his face on her stomach. "Please say 'yes,' Pepper," he whispered to her.

He felt her hands brush his unruly hair and she then slid down to kneel in front of him. She stared at him with expectant eyes and he understood the cue. He chuckled nervously, grabbed her left hand and slid the ring where it belonged. The inventor then took her left hand to his lips, and as he had done so before when he had given her the promise ring, he kissed her left ring finger. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she responded before she kissed him. It had been so long since they had been together so it felt as if it was the first time all over again. Tony whispered apologies to her in between kisses, and he promised her not to listen to a transsexual's advice on love ever again. Pepper laughed and accepted his apologies, and that night the two of them returned to Pepper's home to be received by their families, all ready to celebrate the couple's engagement.

Later on, on their wedding day, Tony would announce during the reception that he had a present for his bride, and it would turn out that the greedy jerk that had bought her favorite beach had been her greedy jerk, and that the construction workers she had seen that day he had proposed were working for him. And that was how Mr. and Mrs. Stark ended up living in Malibu Point, in a high-tech house on a cliff.

THE END

A/N: Wow! My fingers are on FIRE! Well, this is done, and that leaves my Spanish IMAA fanfic to complete. I hear retirement bells…but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy writing for you. I hope you loved this fic, and that the end was to your satisfaction.

Nearly got you again, didn't I? Thank you all for reading, favoring, following and reviewing.

Peace out.