Hey! I just got this idea while watching a music video…don't know what kind of a story to put it into so it might just be a one shot! Teeheeeee (X

Pepper paced her room frantically. It was an easy question, so why couldn't she answer it easily? Do I like him or do I not like him? She asked herself. She thought of past times they shared together. She thought of all the good times they had. Was it really just a laughter that two friends shared, or was it going deeper? Were they just friends, or was it getting deeper still? It had started out as an 'you're higher class than I am and you're rich, but now that I have the chance I really want to meet you' thing, but once she'd met him for real, it became more of a 'we're really good friends, but I deny the fact that deep down we're something more' thing. But now….now it's a 'we've been friends for a while now, and I'm starting to ponder the idea of becoming something more, and I can't make up my mind; it could ruin our friendship' type thing.

"No, no. No way will I take that step! Who am I kidding? I don't like him, I don't. I mean, I'm so not ready for this!" Pepper told herself; out loud.

"But, then again….let's say I do like him. Then I'd say….i've never felt this way before…" Pepper trailed off, her voice fading as she read the words to herself. The words that seemed so distant, yet so close to her mind. I do love him. What if she admitted it? What if she really does? What would happen? Bad things, or good things? Pepper felt a pang wash over her heart. The way she felt right now, the words to explain it, were missing; there wasn't a way to describe how she felt right now. Then it all registered in her head. All the time she spent with him, all those distant sneaking a peak of him, all those feelings she got when she got just a little too close….it all meant one thing. A thing she was so very blind to all this time, but was just realizing right now. All the things she hadn't seen before, they were all there. She just hadn't bothered to walk into her heart until now to see her heart beating crazily for him. It was like she had a craving for him. It's finally all clear now….

"I've got a crush on my best friend!" Pepper exclaimed to herself. It all made sense now. The way his soft touch felt on her skin, and the way she got chills down her spine when his sparkly, ice blue eyes could twinkle into hers, diving deeper and deeper by the second; diving their way into hear heart. She knew he made all the girls swoon for him in a weird and creepy fan-girl way, but the way he made her feel was much, much different than that. It felt more like he was the kind of person she was looking for all along, and they were, in a way, meant to be.

Pepper collapsed on her bed and groaned.

"Unnh…..this is wonderful and terrible at the same time. I like him, but….i've never felt this way before! What if I tell him and…and it goes bad? What if he laughs at me? What if….what if he doesn't feel the same?" Pepper asked herself. She could imagine the worst case-scenario as she drifted to sleep in her bed…..

Pepper nervously approached Tony at his locker, clutching her books. He waved at her, and she swallowed nervously.

"Hey Tony! I have, uhh….s-something to t-tell you…" She started.

"What is it?" He asked innocently.

"I…sorta, umm…like you." She explained. Tony was silent for a minute, but then broke out in laughter.

"Hah! You….liking…me…haha!" He said, in between laughter. Pepper's shoulders dropped and she looked down to her feet, blushing. The whole school joined in Tony's laughter and pointed fingers at the poor redhead. Pepper's eyes filled with tears as Tony looked up and said he'd never, ever feel the same way about her; ever. Pepper pushed past the crowd of laughing kids and ran far from the scene.

"Pepper! Dinner!" Pepper's dad called from downstairs. Pepper jumped up in her bed, awoken from her dad's voice from the scariest dream she'd ever had.

"Gahh!" She yelled as she sat up on her bed. Her face fell.

"That's it…I'm keeping it to myself." Pepper finalized as she walked out of her room and downstairs for dinner.

Pepper's dad noticed his daughter wasn't blabbing about who knows what, like she usually did. Something was definitely wrong if she wasn't talking; and barely eating, at that.

"Pepper, sweetie what's wrong?" He asked his forlorn daughter. She sighed.

"Oh, nothing…just some boy troubles." Pepper explained. Pepper's dad pondered the reason for a moment and decided to try himself.

"Go ahead, try me. What's wrong?" He asked. Pepper put down her fork and looked up.

"Well, I have a close guy friend that I have a teensy little crush on, and i'm afraid he'd laugh at me if I told him how I feel." Pepper explained.

"A crush, huh?"

"Dad! I said it was a teensy little one!" Pepper defended. He raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, fine, it's a big one." Pepper admitted.

"Well, Pepper, you should just tell this boy how you feel." Pepper was impressed at her father's choice of advice. That was more the thing she'd hear from an aunt, or even her mom.

"Really?" Pepper asked. Her father nodded.

"I don't know…"

"Hey, hey, that's ok. I'm not making you do anything; it's all your choice." Pepper's dad raised his hands in the air, in defense. Pepper smiled.

"Thanks dad." Pepper said, getting up from her chair and racing back to her room. She sat on her computer desk chair, staring at her phone; debating whether to text him or not. She shook her head and, just when she was about to put her phone away, it started vibrating. Someone was calling her. She looked at her caller I.D. to see it was Rhodey.

"Hello?" She picked up.

"Pepper, it's Rhodey. There's a major Iron Man emergency right now and we need you here!" Rhodey explained.

"Ok, I'll be right there!" Pepper exclaimed, hanging up her cell and putting it in her bag. She ran out of her room and down the stairs, and past her father; who was still eating his dinner.

"Meeting with friends, gotta go see you later dad!" Pepper shouted into her house as she slammed the front door shut. She ran into the streets of NYC, passing daily commuting businesspeople and others commuting to and from restaurants, plays and night clubs. She ignored all the people around her start to suddenly panic and scream, running for their lives. Then she heard loud crashes and voices.

"Will you just stay still so I can hit you with my mind control beam!?" The villain exclaimed, annoyed.

"You wish!" Iron Man said, shooting the villain with a laser (A/N: Thing…still don't know what it's called. Cuz I'm pretty sure they're not called repulsors, but then again, not sure.), which sent the villain flying back a few feet. The non-threatened villain then shot out a mysterious yellow beam at Iron Man's head. Iron Man fell to the ground, motionless, as his helmet and his human head were suddenly surrounded by a yellow glow.

Pepper stopped in her tracks.

"Oh no. This is bad." She whispered to herself.

Tony, fighting off a sudden overbearing power in his mind, looked over to his right to see a teenage girl, who looked vaguely familiar to him, stand watching him in terror. Then he realized who the girl was. Pepper. He had to warn her to run, but he couldn't move. Then his eyes turned a menacing red, and Iron Man was fully under the control of this new threat—calling himself the Dark Shadow.

Well, I guess it's not going to be a one-shot then. Maybe just a two shot. We'll see! Review!