#pepperstark

It reminded her of Tony.

He has always been protective of his family. Ever since terrorists captured his fiancée Pepper (who ironically had the same name as his kid, though she was born from another mother), it tore him apart to see chemicals hurt and cling to the one thing he held dear. He's always been scared of the possibility that some monster of a villain would capture his only source of happiness and take it away.

It nearly happened with his wife, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let it happen with his daughter.

He knew his answer, and inevitably, Pepper refrained from asking because she was pretty sure she knew the answer too.

The alarms continued to screech as Tony Stark walked briskly down the hallway towards the Compound hangar. He tried his best to remain calm as yet another threat loomed over the city, attempting to refrain from running and making it even more real, putting his stress on a higher level - until he saw some peculiar looking mix of red and blue stalk behind a corner.

It was moving hastily and in the same direction as Tony.

He immediately knew who it was and if this damn kid didn't stop being so goddamn obvious he didn't know what he was going to do. Tony halted his speed-walking with a small groan.

"Peter!" He yelled as he cupped his hands over his mouth, eyes narrowing. Agitation coursed through his veins and it took nearly all of his willpower not to say something rude or off-putting to the poorly disguised teen. "Get over here!"

The coloured spandex hiding not-so-subtly behind a large piece of machinery sucked in a loud, sharp breath.

"Uhm - nothing to see here, Mr. Stark!" the voice quivered in response, sounding extremely high-pitched, as if just caught in the middle of an unspeakable crime. "Just... uh..."

Peter Parker slinked out of his hiding spot and into Tony's line of vision, taking off his mask and playing with it in his hands, brown curls a mess, smiling nervously and bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet.

"I'm - I'm uh, I was just planning on going to the jet to help you guys out."

Peter threw his hands in the air as if the remark was a grand gesture, still smiling nervously - but Tony's stern glare shut that act right down.

"Kid," Tony sighed, rubbing at his temple, "Do you not hear these alarms going? This is urgent stuff, use your... your brain, or something."

Peter's heart began to pound.

"I - I do hear them Mr. Stark," Peter assured quickly, brown eyes widening, "That's why I wanted to help—"

"Well, you're not," Tony interrupted, walking towards him and gripping him firmly on the shoulder. "The team has to go. Like, right now."

He stood in front of the boy with a raised eyebrow and an authoritative look, waiting patiently for his statement of defeat.

Anyone related to Tony, or anyone close to him, knew his assertiveness was not to be taken under advisement - it was to be taken seriously; in the moment; right now. And if you didn't comply or agree, there would be hell to pay after.

Everyone knew this. Both Stark girls knew this.

Peter knew this.

Which is why he ended up sighing and hanging his head, biting his lip as he shifted on the soles of his feet, regretting his attempts because they ended up being so terribly short lived.

"Okay, okay. You guys go," he mumbled dejectedly. "I'll stay here."

He paused a moment before adding: "Alone."

"C'mon kid, don't be so dramatic," Tony said with the ghost of a smile, finding Peter's behaviour awfully amusing. He began to pick up the brisk walking pace that he started off with. "Anyways," he said loudly as he rounded a corner, "You won't be alone because Pepper is staying too."

There was the hint of a smirk on his face before he disappeared from sight - leaving Peter stock-still on the third floor and looking like a mix of confused and stricken all at the same time.

He just shook his head, as taking note of the ear-splitting alarms that shrieked in his ears as he walked back to his room, he figured it was some small joke on Tony's side.

But maybe, he thought as he bit his lip, clenching his hands together in nervousness as he opened the door to his room, He knows.

-

A few hours passed and the Avengers were yet to come back.

Neither of the teenagers residing in the Compound were particularly worried though, because they were definitely used to it.

Pepper was hitting bags into next week in the training centre, her favourite past-time; punching and kicking and slamming into the sand-filled sacks with all of her might.

Peter was cooped up in his bedroom doing chemistry homework as Bon Iver played softly through his speakers, accompanied by the soft sound of jagged graphite writing against rough lined paper.

There was quite a difference between the two, in terms of personality.

Pepper Stark was a girl who narrowly avoided arrogance - if not perfection.

She was extremely intelligent, an avid seventies and nineties music listener, a gifted fighter, and just about as charming and charismatic and witty as it gets; exactly like her father. Her assertiveness and quick wits made her desirable by nearly everyone if her good looks hadn't locked them in yet.

Her high cheekbones and narrow jawline, stunning hazel eyes and small splatter of freckles, defined nose and full lips, fit physique and dark brown hair... it was bewitching.

She looked like her father when he was younger though it was more in a frightening resemblance.

As for Peter, wild eyebrow and naturally curly hair and all, he preferred to study instead of train. Because hell - he got enough of a core workout by swinging around the city every day - he didn't want to work out when he didn't have to, because frankly, he didn't exactly like it.

His six-pack is the only thing he's gotten for free in his life, and he definitely accepts that lucky counterpart to his spiderbite.

Around others Peter is seen as awkward and twitchy, but around Pepper, he's seen as sarcastic and witty and funny. He feels a sense of security around her and he loves the prescence she brings. She doesn't care when he stutters or says something accidentally offensive, she's just there for him to talk to and be. She's his rock.

Nevertheless, Peter guesses opposites really do attract, because the pair cancel each other out in more ways than one.

He was wrapped up in his thoughts instead of doing his chemistry homework, just writing down blank words in ignorant bliss, and Pepper was just finishing up her rigorous training session.

Her limbs were tired and her hands quivered as she grabbed a white towel off of a nearby stand. With a shaky breath and adrenaline spiking through her small body (causing her to shake a little), she wiped the sweat and stray hairs away from her flushed freckled face.

She let out a relieved sigh as she finished up, taking a quick sip from her water bottle and tossing her damp towel into a basket before leaving the training room.

Her tight-fitting shorts she kept from her junior year of volleyball seemed tighter than ever around her legs, and because of the fair amount of sweat she shed, all her workout clothes felt tight and the only thing on her mind was the need for a shower.

Feeling slightly gross but also relaxed and light, she was in the mood for a small nap, until her thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of somebody humming.

It echoed through the hallway, and she stopped and listened for a moment. Her well-shaped brows furrowed in confusion, until she realized it was coming from the room on the far left of the fourth floor  - Peter's guestroom for when he stayed at the Compound - and she couldn't help it when her upper lip twitched into a half-smile.

Pepper smirked before jogging up towards the door, deciding she would pay her friend a little visit. She knocked on the door.

"Hey, can I come in?" She asked, pushing the door open a bit and poking her head through.

Pepper could see Peter's head whirl around at the sound of her voice, and he looked like he was about to run at her, not knowing the intruder - senses on full alert.

He accidentally flung his homework onto the floor in his certain-there's-an-intruder-like stupor, but his eyes softened and his face erupted into a sheepish grin as soon as he saw Pepper's snickering form in the doorway.

"You scared me, Pep," Peter mumbled, lip twitching into an embarrassed smile as a pink tint crawled up his cheeks, causing her to laugh.

He chuckled feebly, his words sounding as if his heart had just recovered pounding at an inhuman rate. They were breathy.

Peter beckoned her in with a little nod of his head as he awkwardly picked up his notebook. He put it beside him as he laid down on his side.

"Well, that was eventful."

Pepper hummed, green eyes gleaming, covering her grinning mouth with the back of her hand as she tried not snort any louder than it allowed.

"Who knew you were so jumpy, Parker?" She teased lowly, raising an eyebrow and leaning up against the doorframe, "You're full of surprises, huh."

Peter rolled his eyes and scoffed, reaching for his mechanical pencil that rolled under the bed.

"I think you'd know all my 'surprises' by now," he snorted, voice strained as he reached his arm further under the bed, arm stretching for his pencil. "You're so -" he grabbed onto it with a grunt and sat up on his bed, smiling goofily. "-Damn clingy."

"You know it." She returned the smile with one of her own, one that made Peter weak at the knees and make him feel as if his arms were numb. He didn't realize he was staring at her  hair that was stringy with sweat and her slim figure until she coughed.

She raised an eyebrow and felt her lips involuntarily twitch into a half-smirk. "You good?"

"What? Wh- yes."

Peter recovered easily thanks to the many habits he caught on from Pepper. If this was him talking two years ago, god... painful.

"Anyways, what's up?" He asked curiously.

"Eh, nothing really," Pepper said casually as she shrugged her slim shoulders, turning their playful banter into actual conversation. She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest. "I just wanted to say hi."

Peter's lips quirked into a small smile before he pulled himself up the bed and rested his head against the headboard.

"Oh, okay," he said. "Nice."

He grimaced a little at his awkwardness, though secretly, his heart did a backflip with relief because he knew that Pepper didn't care nor notice.

"Yeah," Pepper smiled, swaying back and forth absentmindedly. "I mean, I just finished up with training and figured I'd catch up. Y'know."

"Yeah, definitely," Peter said with a vigorous nod of his head. "S'good to hear what's going on in that crazy Stark head of yours."

The ghost of a smirk painted Peter's lips as he propped up his hands behind his head.

Pepper smiled and sauntered over to his bed, sitting down on the side and bouncing up and down slightly at the springs. She brought her legs up underneath her and curled up into a little ball, leaning her head onto Peter's shoulder.

"There's really nothing new," she explained, "It's just annoying that... God I sound thirteen," she added with a small smirk, "My dad won't let me do anything fun the team and it feels... weird. You know?"

Peter nodded.

"I feel you, Pep. He's that way with me too."

"Yeah?" Pepper asked inquisitively, genuinely curious about her dad's behaviour towards her friend. She quirked her head to the side. "Is he protective... with you?"

Peter shrugged, taking his hands out from behind his head and adjusting his position to sit up beside Pepper. He gave her a small closed-mouth smile.

"Er - kind of," he said, glancing down at his thumbs as he picked at the skin around his nails. "It's a little..." he paused as he pondered the thought. "Overbearing," he said finally. "Sometimes."

"Yeah," Pepper agreed, giving Peter an understanding side glance as she sighed, moving a little and resting her head more comfortably, feeling as if she was sinking into a nice warm bath, drowning in his naturally blazing skin, falling deeper into Peter and his warmth.

She nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck and intertwined their hands, letting out a content sigh. She rubbed her thumbs gently over his bruised and healing knuckles.

"Overbearing is like, the perfect word for it," she said quietly.

"I'm sure he doesn't mean anything bad, Pep," Peter said softly, smiling down at their hands on his lap. "He just... he just doesn't want to see you get hurt, s'all."

"I know, Peter."

Pepper furrowed her eyebrows and absentmindedly swung their hands back and forth, biting her lip.

"I... I feel like I have no capability around him."

Peter frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked as his eyebrows furrowed, tilting his head to the side to get a better look at her. "You're probably the most capable person I have ever met."

He said it so definitively, as if it was the only thing that rang true in the world, and Pepper couldn't help the small blush that rose up on her freckled cheeks.

"Thanks," she smiled, laughing a little awkwardly as she felt the rising colour on her face. She brushed a stray piece of dark blonde hair behind her ear and gave Peter a smile. "It means a lot, Pete."

She looked at him appreciatively, and Peter could see the golden flakes in her hazel eyes glow when the orange sun shone through the window and skylight just right. It illuminated all of her defined features and made her look older, yet wiser, and more.... experienced.

He gave her a small smile and turned his head to press a small kiss to the side of her temple.

"No problem, Salt," Peter chuckled, leaning his head against hers. "Only the best flattery for my favourite person."

"Oh shut up," Pepper laughed, "Everyone knows you like MJ the best. And not gonna lie," she leaned closer towards him, lips brushing against the shell of his ear and causing goosebumps to erupt on his skin. "We all have a bet on who's gonna ask who out first."

Peter's heart began to pound in his chest and the sound of Pepper's laughter seemed to fade away in a hazy fog.

Embarrassment and guilt suddenly flooded his veins because really, really, he didn't like MJ like that. He might've been hanging out with her a bit more than usual to divert his attention away from the beautiful girl sitting right in front of him.

He felt bad, but MJ knew what Peter was doing. She even got him to admit it. But no one else knew that MJ was a scapegoat for Peter's lingering emotions, except for her, of course.

Peter laughed, though Pepper noticed a bright red blush creep up onto his cheeks.

"You guys do not," he said, mouth gaping and eyes widening at the incredulity, though at the same time he scoffed, corners of his lips twitching up into an amused smile.  "I can't believe you."

"I mean, I'm surprised you haven't noticed yet...?" She trailed off, looking at the blushing boy curiously, before noticing the certain way his eyes crinkled and how his face turned that specific shade of pink. His eyes looked glassy and distant, and underneath that mask of a smile, Pepper could see all of the characteristics that made up Peter - the ones that indicated his truthfulness - and though she throughly believed her best friend was telling the truth, he was just a very gifted liar.

She gasped.

"Awe, look who's getting all bashful!" Pepper remarked, giggling at Peter's pink face as amused snorts left her lips. "You like MJ, I called it!"

"Do not!"

"Uh, yes you do, Spidey."

"I don't, Pepper. I really don't—"

"Be quiet and just admit it," she giggled, pressing her hands to Peter's cheeks and squeezing them. "We all know you like Michelle—"

"Okay, Pep. I like Michelle."

Peter rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air, attempting to make his false statement more believable. But the smile still stayed on his face at Pepper's insistence, and at how happy she looked while urging.

"See? It wasn't that hard," she said calmly, smiling, "I know you, Pete. Not that big of a deal."

Clearly you really don't—

"I know, I know."

A small pressure in his chest seemed present as soon as the words left his mouth.

He offered Pepper a small closed-mouth smile, hoping it didn't look to forced, as the realization of the lie suddenly dawned on him.

He did lie, after all - and now his feelings for the Stark girl might now go completely undisclosed - how could he be so stupid? He really was a smart kid in the science and math department, but social skills and confessions? Definitely needed some work.

"You okay?" Peter suddenly heard, tearing him away from his thoughts. "You looked like you zoned out there for a minute."

He shot up quickly and shook his head, looking at Pepper with wide eyes, knowing that his eyes probably looked vacant or glossy.

"N-no, I'm fine," he said quickly, "I'm just... just thinking."

Pepper's green eyes glittered. "About MJ?"

Peter gaped at her for a moment before sighing and resting his head in his hands, turning his head to face her as he let out a bleary laugh.

"You're never gonna let me live that one down, aren't you Pep."

"Nope," she said, popping the "p." She pat his arm in fair-game as a small smirk twisted her lips. "I know you've liked her for awhile now."

"S-shut up-"

She suddenly furrowed her eyebrows, and at the look that came over her face, it immediately stopped Peter from his pitiful stuttering. It was a look Peter knew all too well by now. Her intense gaze and far away eyes, thinking with all of her brain power as the cogs behind her brain twisted and turned, nearly giving out, smoking and fuming - Peter knew that face. Pepper's (embarrassingly) signature analyzing and thinking face.

Peter unconsciously mirrored the Stark girl's body language by furrowing his eyebrows too, and he opened his mouth to say something before Pepper's sweet and toned and plausibly nutty voice (if that even made sense) tore through his statement with a smooth cut.

"But... but now I'm not so sure."

She still didn't look at him, and her gaze was a confused and glassy gaze. She was still thinking.... though with a small bleary chuckle her eyes were torn from her reverie. They came back to where she was, beside Peter, still leaning against his shoulder. She glanced at him and sighed, raising an unceremonious brow, rubbing her green eyes as she let out another tired chuckle.

"You don't like MJ, don't you, Pete."

Peter's heart stuttered in his chest. He was sure he felt it stop, at least for a second. His mouth fell open in surreal-ness of  it all, smooth brown eyes formed into the very definition of confusion... though he still nodded slowly for the softly gazing girl to go on.

"Well, for one, Pete," she began slowly, sucking in a breath. "You... you never stutter. At least not around me."

Pepper didn't want Peter to see her as sad or upset about their current situation, she just couldn't help the random emotion-vomit that poured like a thrashing river from her pores. She guessed that she didn't want to startle Peter with her oddly accurate guesses of one of the most closely-guarded things in his life.

Peter's mouth gaped open again, in awe and in adoration at the brilliant girl sitting beside him. He considered asking her if she ever wanted to pursue a career in psychology but found it unnecessary.

"Damn..." he trailed off, corner of his mouth twitching into an awe-filled smile. "Your people skills are impeccable, Pep." Peter said it quietly, almost embarrassingly, rubbing his face as a blush crawled up his freckled cheeks. "You notice... everything."

"The family trait," Pepper sighed, planting her elbow onto the top of her thigh and holding her head in her palm. "I thought you would know that by now."

She turned her head to face Peter, and instead of the melancholy facial expression he expected due to the lack of energy in her voice, he was instead met by a beaming girl who looked like she was just given a million dollars.

"So that means... you've actually been productive instead of pining over the same girl for three months!" Pepper squealed, suddenly jumping up onto the bed and wrapping her arms around Peter's waist.

He recoiled a little at the sudden touch, in surprise, but not even a second later, his lips erupted into a large grin. Laughs spilled out of his mouth like a smoothly flowing river that had the perfect amount of wave; like a sink with the perfectly flowing amount of water pressure.

"What's up with you?" He laughed, throwing his hands up in the air and patting Pepper's wild hair down as she hugged him tighter, continuing on her happy mumbling and profusely smiling cheeks. "You're being weird."

Pepper just laughed, pulling away from him though keeping her arms still wrapped around his middle, not even paying attention or realizing how close their faces were. Their noses were barely brushing. She didn't mean to, but she moved closer and accidentally nudged Peter's nose with her own - sending a beeline of goosebumps down her freckled arms at the small touch.

She knew it was minuscule, and she might've even scolded herself in her head for getting a reaction as large as that over something so small... but in that moment, she had the opportunity to look at Peter for a fleeting second. She did not realize how his erratic breaths had slowed down, too, and how his heart was pounding loudly in his chest.

The close proximity did things.

And in that fleeting gaze she managed to grasp, she never knew just how much she loved him (in the most platonic-way possible, so to speak... though she knew something... lingered).

Sweet brown eyes and lopsided smile, messy brown curls and toned biceps, endearing hugs and snorts and quick witty comebacks, defined nose and jawline and all - he was her Peter, her best friend.

Pepper's.

And in that moment, teeth biting lips and nerves flooding through her veins, she felt an uncanny sense of happiness she was sure she would never feel again. It was more powerful than the hardest drug, cancelling out the high of marijuana or acid or even the most dangerous, like ketamine - how she had experienced these aforementioned poisons is a tale she'll never tell - but she was convinced, absolutely and wholeheartedly and no-doubtedly convinced, that this feeling she was administering in her small, strong body was only the beginning of a spark.

One she would happily ignite.

And in that devouring flame she could see herself sharing soft and loving gazes with a pair of brown eyes. Green eyes. A sense of love that could never be altered. Toned muscles tensing with every fleeting touch, eyes crinkling and mouths gaping, hair messy and torn-about with only the most gentle of touches... sleepy presses of lips to hot skin and lustful quivers of swollen lips against creamy necks.

Pepper smiled and swore she could see tears swimming in her vision. The crinkles that met her eyes, only appearing in the happiest of times, managed to squeeze over her waterline with the next laugh she let out.

"W-what?" Peter spluttered from in front of her, mouth gaping open in confusion though his smile still stayed on, extending his arms to hold onto her sides to keep her steady. "What just happened?"

Pepper's lips only quivered, eyes swimming in salty tears, though she refused to let them fall. Her jaw was trembling and she should've felt at least a small twinge of embarrassment; but she didn't. She didn't.

"Nothing happened," she whispered with a breathy chuckle, reaching her trembling hands around Peter's back, pulling him close, leaning forward and putting her forehead on his. "Just had an epiphany, s'all."

"Alright, I'm not going to question... that," he said, only the mere echo of a chuckle, before realizing the seriousness of the situation at hand; and then quietly, words barely meeting his lips due to the close proximity, he knew if he spoke too loud, he would drown out the moment - hell, even the background music was perfect - and he didn't want that. His many slip-ups have resulted in many things going to shit, but he wasn't going to fuck up this one. No way.

"What is this 'epiphany?'" Peter asked softly, closing his eyes and leaning against the small girl in front of him. "If you mind me asking, at least —"

"You."

"What—?"

"You," Pepper responded quietly, simply, willingly; biting her lip so harshly she wasn't surprised when her tongue was met with the taste of blood. She sucked in a shaky breath. "You."

Though Pepper's green eyes were closed and her breathing was short, she could tell that Peter furrowed his eyebrows, because he just had to... in typical fashion.

"What do you mean?"

Pepper's eyes fluttered open, and she was met with the sight of Peter looking like absolute serenity, nervousness, and unease rolled into one gigantic headspace of unsure. She couldn't help the chuckle that left her lips.

She gently placed her fingertips on Peter's eyelids, drawing them open. In the moonlight seeping through the window, the golden-orange glow of the sunset now retired into another dark night, Peter's brown eyes looked even more ethereal. Planets offering beautiful things... shades of silver and dirt. A comforting mud after a rainstorm.

Pepper smiled.

Her soft green eyes, dull and filled with flecks of hazel and brown, a new forest - a near oxymoron compared to Peter's rugged warm ones - met with a burst of colour in each their own names.

Pepper brought up a hand to hold the side of Peter's jaw.

The moment was sleepy. A warm lavender bath filled with splashes of vanilla, notes of redwood. Sinking deeper... deeper... deeper into the milky cleanse, hazy yet sweet, dreary and exhausting yet loved.

"I don't know what I mean," Pepper whispered, gaze softening as Peter sunk his head into the palm of her hand, looking at her as if she was the only thing in the world, eyes focused on her and only her. He grabbed the hand holding his head and placed a small kiss to the pad of her thumb, wordlessly urging her to continue.

"I... Peter," she said quietly, a near whine, feeling her stomach house a million butterflies when he leaned away from her hand, now having his own cup her cheek. "I need... don't..."

"Please, for once, be quiet Pep," Peter whispered, leaning closer, biting his lip, scoping out for her reaction or her institence to say no. Her face was calm with an undertone of nerves, but Peter knew, if she didn't like what he was doing, she wouldn't put a stop to it a while ago; a very abrupt stop.

He moved closer and Pepper could feel his lips ghosting over her own, his breath, how it smelled like mint and chocolate, courtesy of his favourite gum... she wondered guiltily what it would feel like to taste it. He smelled like his shampoo, the one that Pepper would use when he wasn't around at the Compound, because she missed him and the sweet smell of cedar wood and pine and peppermint made her think of him... home.

She sucked in a shaky breath and gripped tightly onto his shirt, a loose-fitting Queen tee that held an ungodly amount of muscle underneath. She looked unsure and Peter could tell, but she still managed to look like his Pepper.

The moon illuminated her and as Peter moved closer, he felt her breath against his lips, her eyelashes; the warmth permeating from her cheeks. Everything.

And with a swift close to the remaining feelings, that were previously left out in the open, unreciprocated, were now filled, and not just by the lust building up between two teenagers, young adults, but by the bodies quivering and shaking and trembling and panting, tongues meeting and tasting in the most primal form of love, declaration.

It was happening and it was accepted.

And as their hearts pounded like racehorses, a day off to the races, pleasured moans and arched backs and fullness, a new feeling settled over them.

The feeling of them singing to their own song, administered by the smoothest and softest of touches, horses whinnying away as they fell into brilliant natural routine.

It was no one else's, but theirs.