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

Chapter 11

 Everyone had been informed about the social dinner date I had arranged for Morgan; I had JARVIS inform Morgan of the time and asked him to direct her to the common area. There was only one person I hadn't managed to find and that was Pepper. After JARVIS helpfully informed her about the delicate state of the toaster, she stormed off. What even was that? I mean, it wasn't the most retarded thing I have ever done when I was a bottle and a half of whiskey down, Pepper knew that. Plus, it was only the toaster for crying out loud. Ends weren't quite meeting, she seemed off. Maybe the whole proposal thing was proving too much for her but, then again, she was the infamous Pepper Potts and she was my P.A. for like eight years. Surely it wasn't like she couldn't handle the stress or anything. Maybe she was just on her period.

I had spent round about an hour trying to find her on my own, refusing help from JARVIS on a number of occasions until eventually I gave up and called out for his help. He replied with an answer, not even missing a beat, with in a second of the question passing my lips. He informed me that she was in the common area with Bruce and Rogers. So with that lead, I made my way down there. I was hoping Steve would have told Banner and Pep about dinner, but either way I still had to see Pepper; things definitely needed to be smoothed over and I needed a new toaster.

Raised voices were coming from the living area, Cap's raise particularly. Pepper's voice was there too, needy, pleading almost. What the hell?

“-at the best of times but that doesn't mean I'd keep something like this to myself. I expected better.” Cap said, bitter disappointment clear in his voice. It wasn't often the good Captain raised his voice so this, whatever this was, really must have riled him up.

Pepper pleaded,“Steve-”

“Miss Potts. Do something about this before I do.” I took this as my queue, sauntering in with my hands dug deep into my jeans pockets and a loose smirk strung across my face.

“Who pissed in your cornflakes, Cap?” Steve's back was towards me as I walked in but on hearing my voice, his head snapped around. His stance was defensive and his eyes wild with anger and disappointment. Pepper and Bruce stood in front of him; Pepper appeared on the verge of tears and Bruce shifted uncomfortably on his feet looking like a kid who had just been caught stealing cookies from the jar.

Pepper's eyes went wide and her jaw slack at the intrusion. “T-tony,” she stumbled. I waved a dismissive hand.

“Get to see me, yeah, yeah, I know. What's going on in here any way? You know me not one for gossip and all but curiosity got the better of me.” Bruce seemed to crumble in on himself, becoming very unattached; Steve looked shocked; and Pepper closed her eyes tightly, rubbing her temples.

“Tony, you heard that?” Steve asked, his voice low and... sympathetic?

“Some of it, enough. Jeez, the whole bloody tower must have heard you lot.” Steve went rigid.

He turned back to Bruce and Pepper and muttered sternly, “if you two don't tell him, then I will.” Then he stalked off out of the room leaving a heavy ambiance behind that now even the Hulk could tear through.

“Maybe I missed the punch line.” I muttered. “Strange guy,” I commented more boldly, jamming my thumb behind me in the general direction of the door.

Bruce shifted again, muttering something to Pepper to low for me to pick up before exiting the room throwing a careless, “see you later, guys,” over his shoulder, leaving me and Pepper standing alone in the lounge. What was going on with people today? What was I even down here for? It had almost slipped my mind.

“Oh, the reason I came down here,” I rubbed my forehead and snapped my fingers. “Oh, yeah, that was it. Dinner tonight, here in the tower with the whole team. We have that new chick. She's pretty-”

“Tony, if you say hot I swear I'll slap a harassment lawsuit on you so fast you aren't going to know what hit you.” She snapped.

“What the hell, Pep? I was going to say fucking clever. She has four PhDs for crying out loud. What is with you today? I know Banner and I shouldn't have screwed with the toaster but in all fairness, we were pretty wasted. You know I have done worse, so why are you so touchy over a toaster, you don't even eat toast so what? Was there some sort of attachment you had with the toaster? An unspoken attraction because if there was that is okay. No, wait, that isn't right-” I babbled on.

“Tony? Shut up, will you.” She walked up to me and planted a kiss on my lips, nothing fancy, just a simple kiss before pulling back abruptly. Her eyes were wide and she shook her head. This wasn't going to be good.

“Pepper? What is Steve talking about?” She shook her head.

“Nothing, Tony, it's nothing.”

“Is it me? Because if it is I'll change, I'll-” My mind was reeling. What was going on? It was merely days before I'd asked her to marry me and now something was happening, something was about to blow up in my face.

“It's not you. Tony,” she sighed.

“Are we in trouble, Pep?” The moments between the question and the reply seemed like forever and I'm sure I saw a flicker of the arc reactor. I was anticipating the worse here.

“I don't know, Tony.”

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Oh my gosh, I'm sorry I took so long with this and jeez I'm sorry this chapter is so crap. I'll have a better one up tomorrow and I'll fix this one because it was so rubblish and oh my gosh. This chapter is a crime against humanity. ._.