Tony & Pepper own my heart

But that fear (not that it’s actually that) isn’t enough to keep Tony from wishing that things could be different, especially during a moment like this one when Pepper is tearing into him about yet another board meeting he’s missed and he wants nothing more than to shut her up. 

It would be so easy. Tony can imagine it in his head perfectly. He would reach for her, wrap his fingers around her slender wrist and she would stop talking in an instant to stare at him in shock.  

More would happen after that, at least according to his fantasy. They’d kiss and stumble out of the messy workshop to continue what they had started upstairs in his bedroom. His real bedroom, the one only he gets to see. Well, and Pepper of course when she interrupts his peaceful sleep with her nagging—

“Tony!”

He blinks out of his daydream, realizing that he’s been staring at a bland wall for the last minute. The woman he’s been ignoring is looking everything but amused and not even the charming grin he shoots her way can calm her down.

“Yes, dear?” 

“Have you listened to anything I just said?” 

“...something about a board meeting that is scheduled for today?” 

“Was,” Pepper corrects, sighing deeply. “It was scheduled for today, Tony. 3 hours ago. I told you about it this morning.”

“Oops.”

“Oops?!” He gets up from his chair but she’s close on his heels even as he moves further into the large space of his workshop. “That’s all you have to say after I spent the past thirty minutes cleaning up your mess?” 

It must have been something important for Pepper to be this angry at him. He must have missed at least four other meetings this week alone and she’s barely done so much as lecture him about those. 

Tony whirls around with his hands up, “Woah, easy now. It’s not that big of a deal, right?” His grin is all teeth as Pepper’s nostrils flare. “Okay, that was the wrong thing to say. Let me try again. I’m really sorry. I forgot.” 

She crosses her arms and huffs but she isn’t yelling anymore. 

“Let me make it up to you,” he continues with a smile, “How about dinner? Just the two of us and some fancy food.” 

And just like that, he’s back to square one The fire in Pepper’s eyes is back, brighter and more deadly than before. Tony can’t believe that he’s said the wrong thing again. 

“Dinner? Are you serious?” She throws her arms up, looking both annoyed and exhausted, which makes Tony feel like he’s getting scolded by a teacher. “Thanks to your little stunt, I’ll most likely be dealing with this all night. I won’t have time to indulge any of your antics.” 

“Pep.”

“If you are so desperate for a nice dinner, how about you show up for the one you have scheduled for tomorrow evening?” 

“Pepper.” 

“Because, and I swear to god, Tony, if you miss anything else this week, I’ll—”

“Potts!” 

Tony barks at least, too tired to continue this argument any longer. He absentmindedly reaches for her, settling one of his hands on her forearm before he can think twice about it. 

It takes less than a heartbeat for Pepper to react. She goes silent, not because he told her to but because he’s literally holding onto her, which has never happened before. 

Her skin is all smooth and soft, such a strong contrast to his own. Tony wants to slap himself for only finding out now when he could have been touching her for all those years. 

But then Pepper’s eyes go wide and she jerks back like he’s burnt her. Tony lets go without comment, although the five steps she takes back aren’t necessary. He won’t jump her. They are friends, aren’t they? Friends touch each other casually. 

“Come on, Pep. I promise that I’m not infectious.” He does his best to grin as he shows her the palms of his rough hands. “And no oil or grease stains either. See?”

She doesn’t look down. In fact, it doesn’t seem like she’s looking at him at all but rather straight through him. Tony frowns, a little concerned and very much confused. His gaze drops down to where Pepper is clutching her arm and his eyebrows almost shoot into his hairline when he sees what her small hands are trying to cover up. 

Tony takes a step towards her, waiting for her to take one back and keep them apart. She doesn’t. Pepper only snaps out of her frozen like state when he’s already close enough to pull her arm out of the way. 

There, covering a good part of her forearm is a crimson handprint. Not any handprint but Tony’s. He puts his hand right on top of it to check, to make sure that it hasn’t been there before even though he already knows so. 

His hand fits perfectly on top of it. His eyes snap back up to Pepper’s face when she fails to respond to… well, anything. Frankly, the woman looks like she’s seen a ghost. Any other time, Tony would have been insulted but given the current circumstances, he kind of understands. 

“Are you going to say something?” “Mr. Stark, I—” 

Mr. Stark. She’s just found out that he’s her soulmate and she’s trying to go with formal titles? Hell no. That’s not how they are going to play. 

Tony cuts her off for the second time that day but instead of snapping, he kisses her. It’s not his proudest moment and he’ll blame his poor impulse control for it later. Pepper lets out a surprised squeak that’s muffled by his mouth pressing against hers but otherwise makes no move to stop him. 

It will happen eventually, Tony is absolutely sure of it - but until that happens, he’s going to take full advantage of her hesitation. Kissing Pepper has been his number one fantasy for so long and now that the knowledge of him being her soulmate hangs above them, the fire inside him has only grown hotter. 

Her hand comes in contact with his body just like he’s expected but not to push him away but to fist her hand into the fabric of his tank top and pull him closer. Tony realizes with a start that he’s kissing back. 

Pepper is kissing him. With quite a lot of enthusiasm, he might add. 

Tony doesn’t know how long the kiss lasts or at what point Pepper’s free hand has moved to his neck. He does notice the sudden and unnatural warmth that spreads over his skin where she’s touching him. It’s much warmer than the heat radiating from her hand should be, so much that he breaks the kiss with a startled yelp. 

The woman in front of him pulls her hand away quickly as her eyes snap open. If Tony wasn’t so scared about what the hell was going on, he would have been smug about the dazed look on Pepper’s face and the state of her lips. She opens her mouth to say something but then her gaze drops down to his neck. Whatever she sees there is enough to keep her quiet. 

“What?! What is it? What is happening?” Pepper only stares. “Potts!” 

“I am sorry,” she says, already in the process of reaching out again before she thinks better of it and drops her arm back down to her side. “I am so sorry, Tony. I didn’t think about...”

She trails off and Tony panics. What the hell has she done to him? His skin is no longer burning but the part she’s touched is still warm. It’s a calming heat but with how nervous Pepper looks, even that is not enough to keep him from freaking out. 

He dashes across the workshop and towards the full-length mirror in one of the corners, expecting the worst. The handprint he finds on his neck is completely logical and yet baffles him. He’d been so distracted by the mark he’s left on her that he’d forgotten about this part. 

Not only is he her soulmate but she’s his soulmate as well. 

Tony turns around, the biggest grin plastered across his face as he watches Pepper approach him, “Potts.”

“This is a disaster!” His heart drops. Isn’t she happy about this? It’s everyone’s dream to find their soulmate… or maybe it’s not that she’s finally found hers but rather who it has turned out to be. 

“There is no way we can cover that up unless you’re wearing a turtleneck to every single one of your meetings from now on.” 

He frowns. “What?” “This will be a P.R nightmare.” 

“Are you seriously thinking about the stupid company right now?” Tony asks with annoyance and the slightest bit of hurt in his voice. “We’re soulmates, Pepper. You kissed me!”

“Actually, you kissed me.” “And you kissed back!” He points at the handprint on his neck and yeah, its location will make it impossible to hide. Not that Tony minds that. “Look how you claimed me. Everyone will see this and know that you did it.” The speed at which she turns red has to be some sort of record.

“I didn’t mean to! Besides, no one will know that it’s my hand.”

“Nope, at least not until I tell them. And I will.” 

“Tony!”

“I’ll tell everyone, Potts. And you better tell any schmuck that tries to flirt with you that you already found your soulmate.” She’s quiet as she observes him. Tony doubts that she’s aware of the fact that she’s biting her lip but that doesn’t stop his lizard brain from wanting to kiss her again. The mark on his neck tingles, sending a shiver down his spine. 

“We have to talk about this. We can’t just… this will get complicated.” 

“We’ll figure it out,” Tony promises as he settles his hands on her hips. “I’m a genius. You’re smart. We got this.” He leans forward, his breath ghosting over her face. “We’ll have all the time in the world to talk. Later.” 

Before Pepper has the chance to object, he kisses her. This time, it takes not nearly as long before she’s returning the kiss, both her hands buried in his hair. It feels amazing. Like it is destined to be. 

When Pepper looks up, it’s just in time to see Tony coming into view, clad in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top with the arc reactor shining through it. His hair is beyond hope, sticking out in every direction and he’s constantly rubbing his eyes like he’s seconds away from falling asleep standing. 

Before she has the chance to say anything, he has joined her on the couch without so much as a word. One moment she is alone and the next there is a 172 pounds genius pressed against her side, the only sound he makes being a soft grunt as his head comes to rest on her shoulder. 

This is one of the many things about Tony that amaze her. He can go from being locked in his own world to craving intimacy within seconds. Years of being his assistant have made Pepper aware of that but she hadn’t realized just how extreme it can get until they had started dating. 

She gently puts the book down, careful to not disturb the man beside her. He isn’t fully asleep but he’s getting there judging from the slow rise and fall of his chest. It takes some fidgeting until the blanket covers both of them but the pleased hum that comes out of Tony’s mouth makes the struggle worth it. 

Her eyes focus on the mess that is his hair and Pepper smiles. The realization that she is one of the few people who gets to see him like this, completely unfiltered and without a care about how he looks, hits her every now and then and it only makes her appreciate these quiet moments even more. 

The sight of Tony peacefully dozing is too tempting to ignore. She reaches out to run her fingers through his hair, pushing a few curls out of his face and behind his ear. The noise he makes resembles that of a purring cat and not even a second passes before Tony is trying (and somehow achieving) to shuffle even closer. 

Pepper doesn’t mind, quite the opposite in fact. She’s done enough work for the day. The evening and night should belong to them and them alone. She leans down, pressing a gentle kiss to Tony’s forehead. 

“Let’s go upstairs,” she suggests as she continues to stroke his hair affectionally.

Tony mumbles something into her shoulder that sounds a lot like, “Too far.” before throwing an arm over her and holding her close like she might try to get up otherwise. 

“Your back is going to kill you in the morning,” Pepper warns but she stops arguing after Tony dismisses that with a half-hearted grunt. If that’s what he wants, she won’t fight him on it. Besides, she’s never one pass up on an opportunity to tell him ‘I told you so’ in the morning when he does wake up with a sore back. 

“J, dim the lights please.” 

“Certainly, Miss Potts.” 

In the semi-darkness, Tony’s arc reactor is illuminating his face so beautifully that Pepper has to take a moment to gaze at the man she has the privilege to call hers. She’s never imagined herself to end up here but, for once, she doesn’t mind to have been in the wrong about something.

In her arms, Tony shifts slightly. “Pep?”

“Yes, Tony?”

“Love you.” 

Pepper smiles and kisses him one more time. “I love you too. Now go to sleep. You’ve had a busy day.”