"Morgan needs to go to bed at 8 you can read her one of these books, You can heat up some mac and cheese she already had a cookie today so no dessert do you have any questions?" Lila shook her head smiling
"Don't worry Miss. Potts, Morgan, and I will be just fine."
Pepper let out a sigh "Thank you, Lila, when she's asleep feel free to watch tv I'll try not to be home late." She turned to her daughter who was giddy to spend time with Clint's daughter "Bye Momo I love you." Morgan squirmed at her Mother's kiss
"Bye Mommy I love you too." Pepper stood back up smiling as Morgan pulled Lila to go play in her room. A horn honked from outside starting Pepper. Natasha grinned from the front seat
"Come on Potts! Time to party!" Pepper let out a laugh at her friend. Climbing into the passenger's seat.
"Where's Steve?" Pepper asked as Natasha began to drive away.
"He went early with Bucky and Sam to help Tony set up." Pepper nodded letting a comfortable silence fell over the pair before chuckling at the music that was playing.
"I didn't take you as someone who listened to the Beatles." Natasha's face turned beet red
"Steve left it playing." Pepper smiled fondly at her friend
"How are you two doing?" Natasha's face broke out into a grin
"Good." Pepper felt an odd tingle of deja vu at the sight of Natasha and Steve together.
"Is Yelena coming tonight?" Pepper asked switching the subject to Natasha's younger sister. Natasha shook her head
"She and Kate are out partying in New York." Pepper chuckled
"Wow the two of them really do get around." Natasha laughed lightly turning the car into Tony's ridiculously large driveway. That's when Pepper's heart seized. Tony's house. Her old house. The house she'd lived in for years upon years.
"Pep." Natasha said lightly "You okay?"
The first time Pepper went to Tony's house she was 11. They were science partners for the science fair. She'd squirmed the whole ride there ignoring her Mother's complaints about how long the drive was. The house was huge. It was much too big for just the Starks. She had knocked on the door nervously biting her bright pink nails. Her strawberry blonde hair was in two braids she wore a navy jumper just like she did to school each day. She was greeted by a man wearing a suit.
"Ah, Miss. Potts please come in," he spoke in a British accent. Pepper wanted to giggle
"You can just call me Pepper." She responded letting him take her fluffy pink coat.
"Tony your friend is here!" Pepper winced at that word. Tony Stark was NOT her friend. She wanted to be partners with Maria but Tony had for some reason decided to choose her over any of his friends. Why she had no idea. Tony came bounding down the stairs looking as messy as usual. His hair stood unbrushed and he wore plaid pajama pants and an ac dc shirt that must've been at least three sizes too big for him.
"Hi Pep!" He said tugging at one of her braids. Pepper scowled at his grin moving to sit next to him at the kitchen counter. When he wasn't constantly teasing her he actually wasn't that bad of a person. He offered her some soda and helped her with what she didn't know about the homework.
"Who's this Tony?" A high-pitched voice rang through the kitchen. Tony groaned as the woman gave him a peck on the cheek. She was gorgeous. She looked young. She couldn't have been any older than 30.
"This is Pepper, my science partner." He grumbled not taking his eyes off of the contraption that he was currently working on.
"I'm Tony's Mom nice to meet you, sweetie."
"Nice to meet you too Mrs. Stark." Pepper politely responded. Mrs. Stark smiled with a knowing look on her face
"Call me Maria honey."
"Maria!!! God Damn it!!!" A loud voice shouted startling Pepper. "You had to mess everything up didn't you Tony!!!" The smiles were wiped off all their faces.
"Howard we have a guest," Maria responded a nervous smile coating her features. Howard stormed into the kitchen with a look of fury on his face
"You ruin everything, Tony! Why did I have to have a son like you why can't you be more like Steve!"
"That is enough!" Maria said angrily pulling her husband out of the room. Silence came over the pair.
"I'm sorry," Pepper said quietly her eyes on him.
"It's okay," Tony responded his eyes glistening with tears.
"No, it's not." Pepper said, "It's never okay to treat anyone like that." Tony met her gaze slightly comforted by her words. "You can come over to my house tomorrow if you want," Pepper said to which he grinned
"Really?" Pepper nodded returning his smile. His lips pecked her cheek quickly making her blush a deep red.
...
Maria and Howard Stark had just passed. A freak car accident it'd been described as. Pepper was there when Tony had found out. It had all happened in slow motion. A knock sounded on third block history's door in 8th grade.
"Come in." The teacher had responded.
"Can I talk to you for a moment Tony?" Jarvis his butler had said his eyes filled with obvious tears. Tony rolled his eyes but he returned to the classroom eyes filled with tears a sight that had never been seen by most of them.
"Tony-" Bruce went to say but Tony merely shook his head grabbing his backpack and bolting out of the door. The teacher had explained to the distraught class a few minutes later that Howard and Maria had died that morning. A few days later Pepper had knocked on the Starks door brownies in hand. Jarvis opened the door with eyes heavy-looking uncharacteristically disheveled
"Ah, Miss. Potts, how can I help you?"
"Can I see Tony?" Pepper asked. Jarvis nodded opening the door for her to come in.
"He's in his room," Jarvis said pointing to the shut door on the second floor. Pepper knocked several times before a voice spoke
"I'm not hungry." Tony spat
"It's Pepper." She said receiving silence before the door swung open.
"What are you doing here?" He grumbled.
"I thought you could use some company." She said smiling softly holding out the brownies. Two hours later the two were fast asleep on Tony's bed Pepper leaned up against Tony.
...
"Tony this house is huge for just the two of us!" Pepper argued after Tony had proposed the idea for her to move in.
"Come on Pep!" He had whined for days upon days until she had finally relented. For years Pepper refused to view the house as her home. Until one day she had phoned Tony up while she was at work.
"Tony I'll be home a little later tonight I ha-" Tony had quickly cut her off
"YOU FINALLY CALLED IT HOME!!!!"
....
"Pepper???" Pepper snapped out of her trance at Natasha's voice.
"Fine." Pepper responded forcing a smile "I'm fine."
YOU ARE READING
Learn to Love Again
FanfictionPepperony AU. It had been a year. A year since Pepper finally caved. Since she'd left with Morgan. Since Tony had gotten himself so deep into alcohol he'd completely changed. The man Pepper once loved more than anything in this world was gone. He wa...
