Chapter 9

Tony's POV

The next day...

 Pepper and I are sitting in my office at work with the blinds and door closed for privacy. We're discussing getting an annulment rather than a divorce. We both managed to agreed that an annulment would be best for us given how we're such public figures. We're currently researching lawyers who would be willing to help us with this. Money isn't a worry for us but why should we have to pay anymore for a lawyer than we have to, especially since we're splitting the cost evenly. 

    Pepper has extremely dark bags under her eyes, which makes me feel incredibly guilty. Despite being saddened that I'm hurting Pepper with this annulment, my heart is skipping in joy of being able to explore  both my sexuality further and have a chance to develop something with Peter. Peter's going to be my first ever boyfriend, well hopefully he'll be my first ever boyfriend. I'm getting a little ahead of myself out of excitement. I grab a hold of Pepper's hands and squeeze them gently. "Everything is going to be okay. I'm so incredibly sorry for all of the hurt that I'm causing you. It's truly eating me alive. That being said, you deserve better. You deserve to be with someone who is so sure about being with you. You don't deserve to be strung along, to have someone who is only half invested and not completely all in."

     She squeezes my hands back gently. "You're discovering an important part of who you are. It's new, invigorating, exciting, and terrifying all at once. I can't even imagine what you're going through when it comes to discovering your sexuality as a Bisexual man. I've always supported the LGBTQA+ community but never have been a part of it sexuality wise. I'm only attracted to men which kind of sucks because a lot of them are assholes." I snort. "Like me?" She laughs. "Yeah but you're one of the more tolerable assholes." I wiggle my eyebrows playfully. "Why thank you." She rolls her eyes at me. "Classic Tony Stark move." A moment of silence passes before I break it. "Pep, you know I love you right?" 

      She nods. "I know you do. I love you too. Nothing will ever change that. If I ever go out with another guy in the future, he'll have to accept that you're going to play an active role in my life. If he can't, then to hell with that guy." I envelop her into a loving hug. "You've been so understanding about all of this Pep. Most women would be a basket case over this. I don't deserve this much kindness from you. I'm not worthy of it." "Yes Tony, you are. Thanks to you, we created the most amazing little human to walk this Earth. We did that together. She is both equally you and me. We managed to do that, what a freaking miracle." I smile softly. "Morgan is a miracle indeed."

         After a couple of hours of research, we settle on a female lawyer here in the city. Her name is Megan Merden and she'll come by my office tomorrow afternoon as will Pep. The three of us will get the ball rolling of finalizing the annulment. We also agreed to pay the lawyer a little extra (a peaceful bribe of sorts) not to mention this to the media. The media will figure it out eventually. In the meantime, we prefer to keep this private. I'll have to come out eventually to the public both as a Bisexual man and as Peter's boyfriend. I'd of course ask Peter for approval before doing so. His input is so important to me. I would never put him in the limelight like that if it made him uncomfortable, especially given that he doesn't have as much experience with dealing with the media as I do. 

I hope that you guys liked this chapter! :) -Mary