If I Got Everything That I Wanted (Book 2 of Love, Monsters and Magic)

Chapter 4

It didn't take long to find a pilot willing to take me to New York and within ten minutes we had taken to the sky in the direction of Stark Towers. I sat quietly for the first time in my life, sinking back into the chair in the cockpit, allowing the seat to mould around my body. My mind was trailing off to thoughts Pepper. How was she going to react to my unannounced arrival? Maybe I should call ahead? Should I take her out to dinner or eat in? Would she like the ring? Would she even say yes? Of course she was going to say yes. No, this was stupid. I'm Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Looking back at a endless string of one night stands, I'm not exactly known for making a commitment. I mean, the only commitment I've actually made is the one the unspoken love between me and my scotch collection, well, maybe on a few drunken nights I might have blurted something out about loving my scotch bottle but that was completely irrelevant. Am I really ready to take this step? Well, let's think. I love her with all of my alcohol indulged heart. With a little bit of work I guess I could wake up happily beside her everyday for the rest of my life. Virginia Stark. I played with the name on my tongue. It had a nice ring to it, I like it. Let us just hope she liked it as much a I did.

The plane landed briefly on a landing pad I had installed on to the top of the revamped version of Stark Towers and I slipped from the cock pit with my bag in hand. The jet left just as quickly as it had arrived, creating a whirl of air around me as I sauntered into the building like I owned the place. Oh, wait.

“It is good to have you back, sir.” JARVIS greeted me with the best sarcastic tone a computer could conjure up. JARVIS would be more fun if he was more like me, sarcastic and witty. I'll need to fix that.

“JARVIS, flattery doesn't work with me. Is Pepps in?” I asked my AI.

“Ah, of course. Yes, sir. Miss Potts is currently in the lounge on level six. Would you like me to inform her of your arrival?”

“Nah, don't bother. Let's make it a surprise.” I smirked. “Remind me to play about with your settings, you're getting boring again.”

“Very well, sir, I shall. Will that be all?” JARVIS asked.

“Yeah, that's everything.” Ditching my bag in the top R&D floor, I began to make my way down to the lounge to find Pepper. I allowed my fingers to snake around the little black box that was nestled comfortably in my pocket to reassure myself that this was going to be fine. It would go smoothly. It had to. I walked into the lounge and found Pepper sitting solemnly on one of the black leather couches in the middle of the room, sipping coffee and speaking at an alarming pace into a cell phone tucked between her ear and shoulder. She sounded stressed, more to the point, she looked stressed. There was a mass of papers scattered across the table in front of her, and she was rummaging around looking for something but to no avail. She threw her arms up in defeat and the cell phone that was nestled in the crook of her neck fell to the floor. This is one of those rare times when I have ever heard Pepper swear. She mutters something through the phone before hanging up and collapsing back into the couch with an audible sigh.

“Rough day?” I asked from my position at the other side of the room.

“Rough week not that you-” she mumbled before snapping around to glare at me. “Tony, what the hell are you doing here?” She spat. I was a little taken aback by her tone but I let it side.

“I'm home,” I cheered, but she didn't seem nearly as thrilled as I was.

“I take it you have to head back in the morning,” she grumbled, sinking back into the chair.

“Nope, there is no need for me just now. I'm home until further notice.” I grinned widely at her. I walked over to her and fell into place beside her, wrapping my arms around her and letting her lean into me. Her fingers traced lightly over the almost invisible bruise on my forearm and there was a slight hitch in her breathing.

“You should have told me. That isn't something I want to hear from Natasha.” She muttered in a slightly annoyed tone.

“I know,” I sighed. “You worry to much about me.” I pointed out. She huffed and pushed against me, propping herself up on her arms.

“I worry too much? Do you have any idea how worried I get, sitting here, wondering if you are actually going to come home to me in one piece? Do you have any idea how I feel being left in the dark while you are out saving the world?” She rambled on frantically. “I love you, Tony, but God. That suit is going to be the death of you. S.H.I.E.L.D is going to be the death of you. All the while I'm left here, keeping this business a float, which, might I say is incredibly hard work to do it by myself.”

“Well, you no longer need to do it by yourself.”

“Don't, Tony. Don't make promises you are just going to go back on in a week. You won't take over this company again, we both know-”

“I'm not talking about me,” I cut in. “I'm talking about Natasha. She's coming back to Stark Industries and she will be working along side you, if you'll have her of course.”

“I- Of course, I'll be happy to have her. That's- This is wonderful!” She chimed.

“I'm glad you approve.” I said with a soft smile. I pulled her back down against my chest and for a few long moments, we sat in total silence, well, there was the sound of our breaths coming out in synchronised rhythm and the gentle whirr of the arc reactor. It took a lot of determination to speak up but I eventually managed it. “In a very hypothetical situation, if someone were to propose to his girlfriend, how would said hypothetical person go about doing it?” I asked. Pepper took a long sigh before she replied, oblivious really to what I had just said.

“Anyway he saw fit, I guess. If he was the type of guy, something romantic or maybe just a quiet night alone together- Wait, hypothetically?” She repeated with a slightly alarmed tone.

“Ah, yeah, hypothetically.” I bluffed.

“Tony,” she said as if it were a warning.

“What? I was just asking.”

“Don't. That isn't fair.”

“What isn't fair? The fact that I'm useless at this kind of thing?” I asked with a raised eye brow.

“What are you getting at here?” Propped up again on her arm and leaning against my stomach, she glared into my eyes with great curiosity.

“Marry me, Pepper.” At that, her eyes went wide and for a moment Pepper Potts was actually speechless.

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Hey guys, I am so sorry this chapter took so long to get up. My internet has been down so getting on this has been a little bit of a hassle, I've been swamped with study for my highers and I've been in and out of the doctors over the last few days, so actually getting time to myself to write this has been difficult. But thank you all so much for being patient with me! I would like to say that the first book, A Shot Through The Heart, has reached over 4000 reads so thank you all so much! I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can and again, thank you all for being so patient with me. Comment and vote and let me know if I could be doing something better. Thanks guys! ~Louise <3