OK, first of all, I didn't write this story. I am posting these stories for a friend who is actually a published author, but for some reason I can't fathom, doesn't want people to know she writes fanfiction. When she has writer's block, she writes Iron Man fanfiction. Needless to say, she's suffered quite the writer's block at the moment. She's got something like 6 stories to post. It's a good thing her publisher doesn't know this is how she's spending her time, rather than finishing her book she's supposed to be working on.

Rated R for adult themes, at least later on in the story

00000000000000

AUTHOR'S NOTE: As a professional author, I do sort of hate to do this to another author, but I'm borrowing a title and story plot for this fanfic. Years ago, I read a Harlequin novel called "My Best Friend's Baby" by Lisa Plumley. Honestly, the book isn't very well written (sorry Lisa!) but the story DID stick in my mind for fanfiction possibilities for the genres I was into at the time. And it *is* a sort of humorous book, it doesn't pretend to be good, it's mind candy and knows it. Knowing I could probably write the story a little better myself for different characters was one of the many points that led me to actually becoming an author myself. So I owe Lisa one for that. That and I'm not making any money off this, (don't sue me!) and I am going to plug the novel anyway and encourage everyone to go read it if you can.

Having said that, I am also going to ask everyone to suspend your disbelief for this story. For storytelling purposes, and because we all know that not only would Pepper not go to these lengths, being as pragmatic as she is, and Tony would probably get a clue pretty early on, being the genius he is, we all know this probably wouldn't play out the way I've written it. My other story "And the Party Continues" is meant to be the prequel to this story, but it's not exactly necessary that you've read it. As I said in that story, this sort of takes place in an alternate universe, so thanks in advance for cutting me a little slack. Hope you enjoy! This is going to be a multi-chapter story. It isn't finished yet.

My Best Friend's Baby

Tony came to consciousness slowly, feeling positive that his head was about to explode. The sunlight was streaming through the window obnoxiously, making it feel as if he was inside the Liberty bell. And it was ringing. Against is skull. Tony had had many hangovers in his life, but he honestly could not recall one this bad. Not only was his head ringing like a gong, but he could barely remember the night before. Everything was a blur, with mishmash images of faces he didn't recognize and those he did. He remembered pounding music and a lot of alcohol. He remembered snippets of conversation, but everything had a dream-like quality to it. He tried shaking his head to clear it, but that only caused him more pain.

So he groaned and lay back against his pillows. His stomach was turning flip-flops and he figured he should probably try to get to the bathroom. Weakly, he pulled the sheet back and saw that he was naked. He stared down at himself in surprise. He usually slept in his boxer shorts, so if he was naked then it meant one thing. He had been with somebody last night.

He was a little surprised at himself because he did remember sort of not being in the mood. In fact, he did remember not really wanting to be at the party in the first place. Then, suddenly, he remembered it was his birthday. He had not really wanted the party, but Pepper had insisted, claiming that it was a good business opportunity for making contacts with some of the guests. Tony had not really argued too hard. Pepper usually knew what she was doing anyway. But he didn't recall enjoying himself too much. He tried to draw up the face of the woman who he had been with last night. It wasn't uncommon to forget their faces the next morning, to say nothing of their names. But for the life of him, he could not remember much at all past 6 o'clock last night. That was when he had started consuming Jaeger bombs like candy. It wasn't often that alcohol through him for a loop like this anymore, but apparently it could still happen. The female faces he could recall were the nameless bimbo variety that usually frequented these parties. Fake blonde hair, high heels and tube tops, but nothing else. He had a brief flash of Pepper's image in his mind, working the party and mingling amongst the guests, but occasionally turning to smile at him. He wasn't sure if it was a memory from last night or one of the memories he had of her from previous events like these. Then he had a strange vision of her leaning in to him, almost as if she was going to kiss him. No, that couldn't be right. Pepper wouldn't do that. If he had tried to kiss her, he'd still have the black eye. He wondered if she was here now, supervising what had to be a huge clean-up downstairs. His birthday parties usually required hazard pay on the part of the clean-up crew that had to come clean up the next morning.

Sure enough, Pepper's head poked into the bedroom around the door. JARVIS must have informed her that he was awake, Tony realized. She walked over to the bed and looked down at him. She was dressed pretty casually, all things considered. It wasn't customary for Tony to see her in yoga pants and a workout shirt with a thin shirt thrown on over that and sneakers. She was usually pretty prim and proper in business suits, even on Saturdays cleaning up after his parties. It must be pretty bad downstairs if she needed that outfit to supervise.

"Morning sunshine," she said with a smile.

Tony whimpered in real pain and grabbed his head and rolled to the side.

"Oh god, my head," he said. "Please, I beg you, put me out of my misery."

"Oh come on," she laughed, "it can't be that bad. On the other hand you put away enough alcohol to kill a small horse last night, so maybe it is."

"I swear, I'm never drinking again," he said.

She didn't answer. She had heard that one before, and it only lasted until the next party. On the other hand, he had not been partying that much since we got back from Afghanistan, and he had not really wanted this one, so maybe he could make good on that promise.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"11:30 am," she replied.

Tony shut his eyes again. Well that wasn't too terrible considering how he felt.

"So what time did you send her home?" asked Tony.

"What do you mean?" asked Pepper in confusion.

"The girl I ended up with," said Tony. "I don't have a stitch on, so obviously I ended up with someone. I just wondered if she had been sent home already."

"Tony you... what are you talking about?" asked Pepper. She looked confused.

Now Tony was confused. "Well," he said, "I'm lying in bed with a hangover and nothing on under this sheet. I'd show you, but you'd probably punch me. So I figured I found someone at the party last night. You sent her home, right?"

"You don't remember?" asked Pepper, with an odd tone in her voice.

Tony shrugged. "Not really," he said. "I know I was wasted, you don't need to give me that look. I was stupid. I had a lot to drink. Why? Should I remember something?"

Pepper's expression was unreadable. "Tony, how can you not remember?" she asked.

"Well I don't, Pep, I'm sorry," he groaned as he rolled back onto his side. "And I have a splitting headache, do we have to keep talking?"

"You forgot what happened last night?" she asked quietly.

Tony opened his eyes again. "Why?" he asked, with some consternation. "Did something happen? What did I do? Did I sleep with Senator Stern's wife or something? Am I in trouble?"

"No," she said. "Nothing like that. You..." She trailed off.

"I what?" Tony asked.

"You didn't sleep with Stern's wife or anything like that. Can you remember anything?" she asked, giving him that strange look again.

Tony was getting irritated. His headache was killing him, and he had no memory of his own birthday party, and Pepper wasn't helping. "I'm sure it'll come to me when the hangover wears off," he said with a grumble. "The last thing I remember clearly is yelling at the DJ for playing a remix of a Barbara Streisand song. I think that was around seven. Then everything gets fuzzy. Like my vision right now."

Pepper shook her head. "Well the party didn't get any more exciting after that. We don't have to fish the piano out of the pool again, thankfully. Clean-up crew is working downstairs, so you better shower and put some clothes on. I'll make you a BLT sandwich or something. It should help with the hangover."

She turned to leave.

"Hey Pepper?" he asked. She turned around.

"The girl I ended up with, you took care of her, or is she still downstairs?" His eyes were still closed, so he didn't see the flicker in Pepper's eyes.

"Everything's been taken care of, like always," she said. "Go on and take a shower."

"Anyone I need to know about?" he asked.

"I guess no one important if you can't remember," she quipped.

Tony didn't open his eyes. "No I guess not," he said a little sadly.

He opened his eyes expecting to see Pepper still standing there, asking if that would be all. But he was surprised to see her back disappearing around the door heading out into the hall. That was odd. There must be a hell of a mess downstairs if she had to run off back to supervise the cleaning crew.

Groaning, he dragged himself out of bed to the bathroom to gulp down four aspirins and stumble into the shower. By the time he got out, he felt a little better, in that his headache was subsiding. But his head still felt fuzzy and odd, as if he were dreaming and not quite awake yet. And he had the weirdest sensation, like he had forgotten to do something, something important.

Pepper tore blindly down the hallway, all the way to the other end of the house to the guest room she thought of as "hers," since it was the one farthest from Tony's and thus the one she slept in on the rare occasions she stayed over at his house. She was grateful the cleaning crew had taken care of the upstairs first, with careful instructions to leave Tony's room alone. JARVIS had softly woken her a half hour before they had arrived and she had slipped out of bed for a quick shower so she would be able to supervise. Since the upstairs was dealt with, it meant she should not be disturbed for a while.

She threw herself through the door and slammed it shut, knowing no one would hear. She leaned her back against the door and felt her knees go weak. Unable to support her weight, she sank to the floor as hot tears spilled down over her cheeks. She dropped her head to her hands as she dropped to the floor sobbing.

He didn't remember. He had forgotten.

Granted he was pretty smashed last night. Three Jaeger Bombs and several shots of whiskey would send an ordinary man to the hospital. But he had seemed fine, and even a little lucid after all the guests had left. She had been slightly inebriated herself, having had an extra martini more than she was used to.

It was the only explanation as to why she had agreed, once they were alone at 1am with the last guest gone from the party, to give him the birthday kiss he had asked for. She felt she had owed him one, after all she had made him go through with the party when he had really just wanted to cancel it, for business purposes, and he had asked for just a kiss rather than his customary invitation for sex. In fact, he really hadn't done much philandering once he had come home from captivity, and she had noticed the change in him. It had made her wonder if his tomcat days were over, if he was ready for a serious relationship. Maybe even with her. Prior to that, she had always known his playboy ways would break her heart if she gave in to him, so she shot him down and kept him at arm's length.

But something about last night was different. She had intended to just give him a quick kiss and be done with it. It had turned into a ten minute make out fest on his couch, leading to her ending up under him with her leg around his hip and his erection pressing against her urgently. The kiss had lit them both on fire and burst through the walls she had carefully constructed to keep him out. He had begged her for a chance to prove himself.

She didn't know if she could trust him. Ten years of seeing him be cavalier with other women made her distrustful of his intentions. But she had wanted to believe. And she had wanted him as badly as he wanted her. And she was slightly drunk herself. So, for the first time since she had known Tony Stark, she had ignored the warning voices screaming in her head that she would be nothing more to him than just another conquest, and had told him yes. She surrendered to him.

They had gone upstairs to his room, shed their clothes, and what followed was an experience in ecstasy Pepper didn't know was even possible. She had always suspected Tony had the reputation he did due to some serious sexual skill. She had not been disappointed. He had driven her to be vocal in approval from pleasurable whimpers to actually crying out loudly as orgasm after orgasm hit her. She had never done that before, and was even slightly embarrassed by how thoroughly she had lost control. She had never felt that before, at least not to that extreme. It had been earth shattering as she expected, and he had exceeded her expectations. But he had been even more attentive. He had softly kissed her and caressed her, eased into her slowly, like he was astounded this was really happening and he was in awe of her or something, that perhaps she might vanish if he made one wrong move. She knew they had strong feelings for each other, but she had felt the first stirrings of really being in love with him.

She really had expected that the next morning he would wake up next to her, thrilled at what they had done, maybe even ready to discuss having a romantic relationship. Instead, he had forgotten. Even with a hangover, how could he have forgotten the one thing she knew he had longed for, for years? Her. Was she that forgettable?

What an idiot she had been. Her rational voice that had kept her away from him for years, and had been so thoroughly gagged last night as she gave in, now cane back in full force, even mocking herself.

Well what did you expect? How many times have you seem this happen to other women? Did you really think you'd be any different, that he would actually care?

(yes)

Then you're a damn fool, Virginia Potts. You deserve to be hurt like this if you're that big of a doofus.

(No I don't. I don't deserve it. I believed in him. There are worse things)

You know he doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anyone, not even himself. Why did you think you'd be different? Every girl thought that about him until the next morning. How many have you had to escort out crying? You swore you'd never be one of them. Now look.

(So I'm a fool for trusting my friend. So sue me. It means I still have a heart. And he's hungover. He'll probably remember any minute now. I should go back right now and tell him about last night)

Why? And give him a chance to laugh at you? To say 'well that's why I can't remember, it was just you' or something equally hurtful?

(He wouldn't say that)

And he wouldn't just make you another notch in his bedpost either? Well guess what, honey, he just did. He's going to go on about his day like he would I'd he had had a cheap slut instead of you. It won't make any difference to him.

(That's not fair, he should have the chance to have all the information. He

doesn't remember. I'm going to go tell him)

Go ahead, you must be a masochist. You think anything will change? You really think he's changed? He hasn't. Besides, if he gets so wasted drunk he forgets getting the sex he's wanted from you for years, he deserves it. He deserves to forget getting the one thing he's wanted for years. There's no point in debating this. He's a playboy, even if he's slowed down a bit, he won't change, and now you're one of his forgettable conquests. You can either leave him like everyone else after sleeping with the boss. Or you can pretend this never happened. No one will ever know, you can keep your reputation intact and have a nice memory of your one night stand with Tony Stark that even he don't remember and brag about. Just pretend it never happened.

(What if he remembers and brings it up?)

Jump off that bridge when you come to it. But for now, this is the best option. Otherwise, the years you spent at the office proving to everyone you weren't sleeping with him, and actually have your job because you're competent in it, not just as a trophy for Tony, will all be gone.

(I love him. This isn't right)

It's the best you can do. And love him all you want, but when you let it rule you like this, you get hurt. He's a playboy. He's a narcissist. He might have some affection for you, but he doesn't love. He says whatever he has to in order to get what he wants. He said exactly what you needed to hear last night. Don't make the same mistake twice.

(I guess.)

She had been crying heavily the entire time she had been having the mental argument with herself, but her tears were slowing, as she was wondering vaguely when her deceased mother's voice suddenly lodged itself in her subconscious, for this is the kind of conversation they might have had when Pepper was a teenager experiencing her first heartbreak from the jerk on the football team. She wasn't sure she shouldn't just get up, go back down the hall and just tell him what happened last night. Better yet, get JARVIS to show him the footage from the security tape.

JARVIS.

"JARVIS?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes Ms Potts? Are you OK?" came the disembodied voice of the AI running the house.

"I need a favour," she said.

A little later, Tony came downstairs to the kitchen and found a BLT sandwich, a cup of coffee and a banana on the counter. His gifts from last night were sorted into piles, stuff to keep and stuff to give to charity. The gifts from people like Happy, Rhodey, his secretary and other "close" people were in one pile, and gifts from people who were practically strangers in another, to be donated to charity or something. He was surprised to see Pepper's wrapped gift in the donate pile. It must have gotten put there by accident. He moved it to the "keep" pile.

Grabbing his sandwich, he wandered into the living room, looking for Pepper, feeling an odd need to be in her presence. The clean-up crew was nearly done, and the house looked almost pristine again. Pepper was finalizing the last bit with the crew. She gave him an odd smile when he walked in, which she quickly controlled and her demeanour became normal once more.

"Hey, Pep," he said, not sure why he was feeling like something wasn't quite right with her. "Everything ok?"

"Sure," she said without hesitation. "Everything's fine."

Then, she turned and walked off.

TBC