Hey. Thanks for the two reviews. They really made me happy 3
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Rhodes Mansion
"… and then we kissed." Tony finished his story about the evening with Pepper. He didn't know what he did wrong, but Pepper was avoiding the kiss every time he tried to mention it. Was he a bad kisser? Who was he kidding he was awesome at kissing. It was a natural talent. All he wanted to know was, if she regretted it and it was hard not to believe she didn't. Cause why would she avoid him that much? Rhodey was probably not the best to talk about it since he was definitely not a woman, but he had no one else to talk to. And Rhodey really tried hard. He listened to Tony and tried to solve his problems. It wasn't easy for both of them. Women trouble was the worse you could get. Women were hard to understand. One day they were happy, the other day they were sad. He drank his beer. It was late evening and he had nothing better to do at this moment. Just drinking some beer with his mate.
Rhodey has some problems too. He didn't want to bother Tony with them, since his best friend was about to fall for his assistant and she might not feel the same. His own problems were not important right now. Tony was going to freak out sooner or later and he wasn't one to miss that. Not that he didn't like his friend, but it was rare that Tony Stark didn't get what he wanted. And Tony wanted Pepper so badly even he could feel it hurt. Tony wouldn't listen to him anyway. He was in his own world right now where no one else counted. It was okay with Rhodey he knew Tony for so long and knew he didn't mean to be rude. He was used to be the center of attention. They sat there in silence for a few minutes. It was okay to not talk. Sometimes silence could help. "So what shall I do?" Tony asked him and he honestly didn't have a clue what to tell his friend. Pepper was a mysterious woman. "You shouldn't give up on her." he simply stated. It was the best advice he could give. Tony nodded slowly. He wasn't one to give up. He had kissed her once, he would kiss her again.
He loved her lips. He fantasized about her body. That soft skin of hers. He wanted to touch it, feel it. To him Pepper was perfection. Her hair, her smile, her body. She was everything a woman should have. He was not that into redheads, but she was different. She was special and he wanted her to know it. He wanted her to know how he felt. But everytime he talked to her he started to flirt and being his cocky self. There was no wonder she thought he was a playboy. All those women he took to his bed. All the sex and lots of alcohol. Man, he lost some weeks of his life to it. Weeks he just couldn't remember at all. It was luck he hadn't a whole bunch of child till now. Of course she loved Sebastian, but fact was he hadn't been planned at all. It happened and he was grateful for his son, but he never wanted to be a father. He was not good at this whole father-thing.
His thoughts were interrupted when Emma stepped into the scene. One moment he already forgot she lived here as well. It was what Pepper did to him. She confused his mind. Emma was not looking good. She looked a little stressed. "Hey Tony." She greeted him, but she didn't greet Rhodey. Trouble in the happy family? He grinned wide. "Hey Emma-boo." He smiled and she smiled back. At least this woman liked him. But she would always like him he supposed. She was looking up to him. For her he was a hero. It felt good to be a hero for someone he was close to. Pepper always disliked his missions. She disliked the whole Iron Man thing. But he wanted to protect the world. He wanted to be the good guy and not the bad. She saw the bad things and not the good. Emma was the opposite. She saw all the great things he did in life. She was a good girl. "Don't you say hi to your dad Emma?" Rhodey asked her now, but she walked by. "EMMA!" Rhodey called her name. She turned around to face him. She looked very angry.
"It's not my business whom you have sex with, but that doesn't mean I like it when that woman is around here, working in the kitchen like it is the most normal thing on earth." She yelled now and Rhodey grabbed her arm.
"Emma, look…" he tried to calm her down, but she was not about to give in. She was furious. She wanted to express her feelings. She wanted to break something, she wanted to scream. She wanted that woman to never come back here. Her dad didn't understand her. He didn't even try to. She kind of hated him for this. Tony watched the scene without saying a word. That could be very interesting.
"No, you look. She hangs out here, like this house belongs to her. But it doesn't. It's OUR house dad. Yours, mine and mums house. Not hers. She has no right to play happy housewife here." Emma tried to get out of her dads grip, but he wouldn't let her go. He was angry with her. Couldn't she understand he was lonely? Couldn't she see how happy this woman made him? Didn't he deserve to be happy after all these years of loneliness?
"I won't discuss my love life with you Emma. I understand you don't like other women to be around here, but this time is different. She stays here from time to time, because I wanted her to stay." He tried to be calmly again. It was a hard thing for him, because she was pushing his buttons so well.
"Does she live here now or what?" she asked and Rhodey knew this wasn't going to stop. Emma didn't want another woman in her life. She didn't want his dad to have a girlfriend. She didn't want this girlfriend to stay here.
"Of course not sweetheart. But maybe some day she will and I want you to welcome her with open arms. I don't want you to hate her. You don't even know her. What's wrong with you? You're always fair to everybody, but you hate her without having talk to her for once?" He hoped she would understand. He hoped she'll give Kate that was her name, a chance to make it up to her. Kate was a good woman. She didn't deserve to be treated so badly from some jealous teenage girl. It was obvious Emma was jealous.
"Well, I don't like her. It's me or her." With that she got free and walked into her room, slammed the door very loudly. She didn't care what the adults very thinking about it. She was mad. It wasn't all about the woman. She has been mad before she even entered her house. Something happened. Something bad happened. Instead of talking about it she focused on another problem. That woman was a problem. With a woman in this house, there was women-talks and bullshit like that. She knew this woman was about to replace her mother. That's what stepmoms did. She has seen it before. All her friends' parents were divorced and they all got step dads or stepmoms whom they hated.
In the living room Tony looked at Rhodey and smiled. "You have a girlfriend? Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. He wasn't angry. Rhodey would have told him sooner and later. He wanted to know the woman his friend fell in love with, but he could wait. He would get to know her someday. He was sure of it. "Did you think Emma is going to be okay?" he then asked Rhodey. His friend sighed. "I hope so man. She can be so stubborn. She got that from her mum." He hoped Emma was going to be okay. Tony knew it was his time to say good night. Rhodey wanted to talk to Emma and he needed to get hold of Pepper.
Stark Mansion
Back home JARVIS opened the door for him. It was great to have an A.I. It was a good thing he built it. He wanted to go straight to his workshop when he saw Sebastian sitting on the couch. Normally he would greet him and go his way, but today it was different. He walked to the couch and sat down. Sebastian looked at him with surprise. "Something wrong dad?" he asked and started to watch TV again. Tony took a deep breath. Maybe he was going to regret it. "No, but is there something wrong with you? Usually you would be up in your room with some girl you don't know." He said and looked at him. Sebastian didn't get it. What was wrong with his dad? He never cared before. And Sebastian didn't need him to care. It was great the way it was. "I wasn't in the mood." He simply said, but Tony didn't believe him. Sebastian was always in the mood for sex and probably drugs as well. "Something happened?" he asked and Sebastian looked at him.
"Why do you even care? It's not like you did before. No nothing happened. I wasn't in the mood to screw some dumb blonde. That's all. Can I watch TV now?" Sebastian was a little pissed right now. He wanted to watch this show and his dad was starting to get on his nerves. He knew why he was so happy he had a dad like Tony. He didn't like to be taken care of. He didn't like others to ask him if he was okay again and again. Tony didn't know what to say. Sebastian was right. He never asked before.
"If something happened you could tell me, you know? I just want you to know. I do care. I really do." Tony tried once more, but Sebastian didn't even bother to look at him. He looked straight at the TV. Conversation was over. Tony knew it. Sebastian was not one to have great talks with. He hardly talked at all. Tony had to respect that.
He walked down into his workshops. Kids these days. Complicated like hell. No one really understood them and Tony thought they didn't want anyone to understand them. Otherwise they couldn't complain about how mean and unfair the world was. He was a little amused about it. Now he had work to do. He worked in silence for about 2 hours. It was a good thing no one interrupted him.
"Hey Tony." Someone said. He knew this voice like it was his own. It was Pepper. Pepper was here? What was she doing here?
"What are you doing here?" Oh boy, did he say this out loud? Idiot. He was an idiot! He was happy she was here. "I mean. Hi…" he knew he ruined the mood. Pepper would be mad now. But surprisingly, she was not. She gave him a smile and held a bottle of wine in her hand.
"I thought, since you have to decide about a new PA some wine would help you with it. Than I thought, you would be very drunk after a bottle of wine. So I decided we should have a glass or two." She babbled and blushed lightly. She looked stunning. She always did. God, how much did he miss her here?
"Well, let's go upstairs then. Is Sebastian still there?" he asked and led her out of the workshop as if she didn't know the way. It was a great feeling to touch her. Though it was only her back. It didn't matter.
"No, he's now there." She said and walked towards the couch. She sat down and he got two wine glasses. He opened the bottle and filled the glasses. She was just smiling all the time. She was she smiling like that? "I have to admit, I'm not here because of the PA's. Truth is…" she started, but stopped when he sat next to her and handed her a glass.
"Truth is?" he asked softly and took one glass himself. They clink glasses and she still hadn't finished her sentence. Not that it really matters. They were simply looking into each others eyes. Tony could get lost in her eyes. They were endless. Before he could say anything she kissed him. SHE kissed HIM. Not the other way around. He couldn't believe it. Pepper Potts kissed him, because she obviously wanted to kiss him. He enjoyed this kiss, the soft of her lips. He didn't want this kiss to end. He pulled her closer to him and let the kiss get more passionate. He wanted to feel every inch of her body. He needed to.
They stopped when the both needed some air. They both smiled and Peppers hair was starting to get a little messy. She didn't care at all. Now was not the moment to have a perfect hairstyle. "I can't get you out of my head." She whispered and he felt like he was in heaven. She liked him. She liked him the way he liked her. It was the best damn thing ever happened to him. She liked him. He thought he was dreaming, but he wasn't. This was real. And it was really good. More then good. Brilliant. "That's a good thing, huh?" he asked and she smacked him playfully. He knew it was a good thing for both of them. They found love and love was the best thing. He never knew before, but he knew now. Now that she loved him.