Her Candy

There was no point in denying that she was upset. The sight of Nick Fury's face; complete with a hand drawn pirate hat and a Tony-ized captioned that read 'Cap'n Fury', on Tony's cell phone was all it took for her to realize the weekend she had been hoping for was utterly ruined. Not that she was surprised in any way; Pepper swore Fury did things like this on purpose. Calling Tony away at the last possible minute and almost always when she wanted to spend time with him the most. Fury's own form of twisted payback for all those god awful eye-patch jokes. Yet despite her feelings, she refused to give in and let Tony see exactly how awful she felt. She decided to deal with her situation the best she could and keep her mind focused on his return. Of course things didn't quite go that way. She still had a slight pout on her usual calm and collected face and was doing everything in her power to delay his departure.

"I really need you to look this over before you go," Pepper sighed, dropping a thick manila envelope on top of his workshop desk.

"Look at what Pep?" Tony dully replied while tugging on his neoprene suit. "I'm sure it can wait a few days, whatever it is."

"Well R and D would appreciate it, and I would appreciate it if they would stop haranguing me about it. So please, if you would," pressing her lips into a tight smile she waved over the envelope, placing her other hand on her hip.

"And what exactly is it?" He asked approaching the desk, his finger tips tapping the top of the package.

Pepper didn't hear him ask, she was too busy being distracted by the tight fitting suit that accentuated his best Stark features; even more so to his perfect and hopelessly delicious backside. She unknowingly started to chew on her bottom lip and if she hadn't known better; she could have sworn she heard her self make a slight noise resembling a whimper.

"Uh Pepper?" Tony tried to get her attention again with a light smirk and a sideways grin.

Her gaze slowly made its way back up his body until they reached his own warm mahogany eyes that could only be described as pure sex.

"I do believe, that it is not polite to ogle, Ms. Potts," Tony said, cocking his head to the side.

Pepper quickly shook her head. "Just look over the plans."

"Not that I blame you," he went on. "Seriously Pep, I think it's safe to say I'm a nice piece of man candy."

"Just do it please!" She argued. "I'm really tired of those guys barking up my tree, so if you could-"

"You're stalling." Tony said matter-of-factly, stepping forward and invading her personal space; not that she minded.

"What?" she asked in disbelief. Taking a few steps backward, only causing him to move with her. Closer and closer with each step until she was backed up against the glass door.

"Stalling, Potts. I just so happened to take a peek in your little envelope earlier. Nothing but design plans and suggestions that I already approved the day before yesterday."

Pepper's mouth opened in a small 'o'.

"I doubt you forgot that you had previously given them to me. So that means your stalling." Tony rested his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. "Again, not that I blame you." He briefly touched his forehead to hers before pressing a sweet, slow kiss to her pale pink lips.

"I really should go," he smiled softly. "I've already ignored two of Fury's calls and lord knows I don't want to upset the Cap'n any further."

"Just hurry home Tony. Preferably in one piece," Pepper sighed; regretfully watching as he stepped onto the platform.

"This doesn't have anything to do with the fact Friday is Valentines Day does it?" He asked right before his helmet snapped shut.

"Absolutely not." She replied turning her back. "I hate Valentines Day."

"Sure you do," his altered, yet recognizable voice replied.

Pepper tightly closed her eyes and listened as he exited the workshop. She didn't lie per se; she really did hate the so called day of love. After all, for over ten years of her life it just meant dragging out more trash than usual at the Stark household. Her life then was spent revolving around his every need; often leading her to feel harsh anger, the deep stab of jealously, and trying to keep him from seeing her eyes fill to the brim with tears.

That was before things turned around. There were no more girls and there was hardly ever a drunken night to be seen; just Tony. Her Tony. The one who spent all day locked in the workshop and all night curled up against her back. For once she did have something to look forward to on Cupid's cursed day; but Nick Fury took that away with a single telephone call.

The box of fine chocolates she found hidden under her pillow only made things worse. She spent the rest of that night and the next day sitting in bed. Dressed clad in his MIT shirt, stuffing her face full of chocolate and ice cream; she just sat there watching the Lifetime Movie channel. By the time Friday rolled around things had only gotten worse. She had single handedly polished off two quarts of Cherry Garcia, and began to pelt the T.V. with what little of the chocolates remained.

"You idiot! Waiting until she's dying to tell her you love her!" Pepper groaned at the screen, ignoring the piece of candy that bounced off and landed somewhere on the floor. Picking up the remote she firmly pushed the power button and fell back into the pillows.

"What the hell am I doing?" she asked herself, blowing her copper hair out of her face. "Being ridiculous, that's what. It's only been a few days for crying out loud." Pepper took a few moments to regain her composure and dragged herself from the bed and into a somewhat relaxing hot shower. Making sure she put on his t-shirt afterwards. She picked up the stray chocolates from the floor and reminded herself to call someone to have the carpet cleaned in the morning; why on earth he picked white carpet she would never know.

She glanced at the phone console beside the bed and for a moment thought of calling Tony. With the exception of a brief call from the day before she hadn't spoken to him since he left. He had told her everything was all right, albeit a little hectic, and he would try to be home as soon as he could. She just wanted to hear his voice; as selfish as it may have seemed. But she knew he'd call her again whenever he got the chance; and with a sad smile toward the bed stand she crawled back under the covers.

Pepper couldn't help but feel a little foolish. It wasn't as if he would be gone for weeks of months and she knew that more than likely he would return to her with out any major damage. It was Fury who brought on her foul mood. That and the fact that she just down right missed the gentleness and warmth of Tony's touch. She craved his company and day by day was growing less willing to give it up.

The sound of a sweet piano tune pulled her from sleep and continued on playing well after she sat up and glanced around the room. A beam of light spilled through the crack under the door and she couldn't stop the smile of the fine trail of tears that trekked down her snowy cheeks. Pulling on a pair of shorts, Pepper quickly made her way down the stairs to see a sight she had spent the last few days longing for. Already freshly showered and slowed and stopped, Tony turned around on the bench to face her.

"Happy Valentines Day Pepper," he said with a nod to the wall clock and a heart melting grin. "I made it back with still fifteen minutes to spare."

Pepper wasted no time wrapping her arms around his neck and situating herself on his lap. Even through the shampoo and soap she could still smell the welcoming ever present faint scent of grease that she would always register as defining Tony.

He placed a warm open mouthed kiss on the inside of her neck. "Miss me?" he whispered.

"You have no idea," she murmured against his skin. "I realized something," Pepper said pulling back and letting her fingers play with his hair.

"What's that?"

"Call me selfish, but even though I probably could live my life without you," she paused and lightly shook her head with a smile. "But I don't want too."

"I realized that a long time ago," he said, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, softly claiming her lips with his own.

"So do you really hate Valentine's Day?" Tony asked once they were settled into the comfort of their bed.

"Not anymore," she replied, curling into his side, letting her hand rest on his chest piece. The warmth and slight vibration causing her heart to swell. "It brought me you, and that's more than I could ask for."