Sometimes the Night is the Hardest Part of the Day
After New York it takes about two weeks before Tony gives up the pretense that he can live and work in the broken Tower and they head back to Malibu.
A week after that Pepper moves into the Malibu mansion. Tony doesn't exactly ask her to move in. Not in so many words at least. It just sort of happens. Frankly, Pepper's glad that she didn't come home one day to find her apartment empty and all her things moved into the mansion. Which, to be honest, is always how she assumed it would go.
Pepper keeps the apartment in Malibu and the one in New York. The New York flat is nothing more than a place to sleep; a studio apartment on the Upper East side with a view that has nothing on the one from the Tower. The one in Malibu feels more like a betrayal; it was her home for nine out of the ten years she worked as Tony's assistant and then the added years when she worked as CEO of Stark Industries. It's a shining beacon of the simple fact that she's not sure that this can last.
Don't get her wrong, she wants to spend the rest of her life with Tony. But New York proved to her once and for all just how short Tony's life expectancy is. That's not all, of course. Tony is-- Tony. The idea of him ever settling down with just one woman (or person) is laughable. He's a genius, his brain works on a completely different level from everyone else's. He's going to get bored with her. Or maybe she'll get sick of his intimacy issues or inability to act like a normal boyfriend once in a while.
After New York everything is different. Tony is different. It's like when he came back from Afghanistan, but just a little worse. Far too often she catches him staring off in the distance, a sort of blank look in his eyes. The Tony Stark she used to know never came back from Afghanistan, but the Tony Stark who came back was a little bit better. Scarred, yes. But, a better man. After New York-- He is still the same good man, but broken. They both pretend that he's not, of course. But sharing a bed with him every night, it becomes increasingly hard to ignore.
Like this night when something wakes her up and she lies staring at the ceiling, holding her breath as she tries to figure out what woke her. In her chest, her heart thunders away as if it's trying to escape and her throat constricts. She's afraid, and she doesn't know why. Then the faint sound comes again and there's a bitter taste of copper on the back of her tongue as she identifies it; Tony is whimpering. Tony isn't supposed to whimper. He's supposed to swagger and flirt and be the smartest guy in the room. The sheets whisper against her body as she twists around in the bed, a light tremble going through her body.
"Tony?" she says, voice thick with sleep. When he doesn't reply, she nudges his shoulder lightly with her knuckles. "Hey, Tony! Come on, wake up."
A week after that Pepper moves into the Malibu mansion. Tony doesn't exactly ask her to move in. Not in so many words at least. It just sort of happens. Frankly, Pepper's glad that she didn't come home one day to find her apartment empty and all her things moved into the mansion. Which, to be honest, is always how she assumed it would go.
Pepper keeps the apartment in Malibu and the one in New York. The New York flat is nothing more than a place to sleep; a studio apartment on the Upper East side with a view that has nothing on the one from the Tower. The one in Malibu feels more like a betrayal; it was her home for nine out of the ten years she worked as Tony's assistant and then the added years when she worked as CEO of Stark Industries. It's a shining beacon of the simple fact that she's not sure that this can last.
Don't get her wrong, she wants to spend the rest of her life with Tony. But New York proved to her once and for all just how short Tony's life expectancy is. That's not all, of course. Tony is-- Tony. The idea of him ever settling down with just one woman (or person) is laughable. He's a genius, his brain works on a completely different level from everyone else's. He's going to get bored with her. Or maybe she'll get sick of his intimacy issues or inability to act like a normal boyfriend once in a while.
After New York everything is different. Tony is different. It's like when he came back from Afghanistan, but just a little worse. Far too often she catches him staring off in the distance, a sort of blank look in his eyes. The Tony Stark she used to know never came back from Afghanistan, but the Tony Stark who came back was a little bit better. Scarred, yes. But, a better man. After New York-- He is still the same good man, but broken. They both pretend that he's not, of course. But sharing a bed with him every night, it becomes increasingly hard to ignore.
Like this night when something wakes her up and she lies staring at the ceiling, holding her breath as she tries to figure out what woke her. In her chest, her heart thunders away as if it's trying to escape and her throat constricts. She's afraid, and she doesn't know why. Then the faint sound comes again and there's a bitter taste of copper on the back of her tongue as she identifies it; Tony is whimpering. Tony isn't supposed to whimper. He's supposed to swagger and flirt and be the smartest guy in the room. The sheets whisper against her body as she twists around in the bed, a light tremble going through her body.
"Tony?" she says, voice thick with sleep. When he doesn't reply, she nudges his shoulder lightly with her knuckles. "Hey, Tony! Come on, wake up."