( MARIA STARK FOUNDATION CHARITY GALA )

THE NEXT AFTERNOON, CHERRY'S DAY ENDED WHEN PEPPER CAME DOWN TO HER DESK, TONY TRAILING BEHIND, TO TELL HER THAT SHE HAD THE REST OF THE DAY OFF. It was just after Renee got off of her lunch break, so Cherry really could afford to, but she still felt bad at leaving the other woman on her own. She simply waved Cherry off and told her to go, which earned a dazzling smile from Tony. He pointed at her, turned to Pepper, and said, "This woman deserves a raise, make sure she gets one." 

They walked out of Stark Industries together, Cherry giving her thanks to Renee too many times to count. Happy was waiting outside for them, the three of them climbing into the backseat. Cherry was squished into the middle, not that she minded being pressed against Tony and Pepper. She was about to give Happy her address, but was cut off by Pepper telling them to get to Tony's mansion as quickly as possible. 

"I didn't bring a lunch today," Cherry spoke up. She had assumed that because it was the day of the Gala, one of the two people sitting beside her would have gotten her some type of food. "I'm feeling pizza today, I'll order and pay, I just need the address." 

"Pizza sounds great." Tony agreed, Cherry turning to smile at him. He didn't notice it, however, his eyes concentrated on his phone, fingers tapping on the keys. Cherry guessed he had something to do with work. So, she didn't nudge hi or anything, knowing her relationship wasn't good enough with him to do such a thing. Instead, she shifted her weight and leaned against Pepper, resting her head on the red head's shoulder. She closed her eyes, feeling Pepper rest her cheek against her hair in a way that made Cherry smile. 

A throat cleared beside them, making Cherry open her eyes and glance at Tony, "Do Happy and I need to stop and get out so you two can have your moment?"

"That'd be nice, yeah," Pepper mumbled, Cherry giggling before she switched her position so she was now leaning against Tony's side. Pepper gave an over-dramatic frown at that. "Tony, your jealousy took away my comfort." 

"Sorry, Honey, you wanna lean over here too? We'll make it a pile," Tony told her, smirking as she moved an arm to around Cherry's shoulders. The girl laughed, making grabbing hands toward Pepper, who scoffed and rolled her eyes at them. Which only made the two of them laugh. 

Since their impromptu lunch yesterday, Tony had stopped at Cherry's desk a total of ten times to have small conversations or ask about how the clients were. Something that he could have easily asked Pepper, but his excuse had been I need a person who has had first hand accounts. Cherry now understood what Pepper meant when she talked about Tony getting slightly clingy towards his friends. Which made Cherry's heart swell because she was a friend. 

Happy chuckled from the front seat. Which broke the damn of silence between the four of them, all of them chatting and laughing and smiling with each other. The ride went by faster than anticipated, the three of them being let out of the backseat when Happy pulled up to the front of the house. When Cherry was out of the vehicle, she stopped and stared at the beautiful house. Cherry was sure her mouth was hanging open, a little wide-eyed because she had never seen real estate like this. 

"You shouldn't leave your jaw on the pavement, it's too pretty for that," Happy said, smiling as he nudged Cherry with his elbow. Her mouth snapped shut and she turned to him with a playful glare. After shoving him lightly away, she made her way into the house after Tony and Pepper. 

Cherry was still looking around the house in awe, following after Pepper and Tony, blinking at the decor and furniture and all the beautiful things that were in sight of the small amount of space she has seen. Though, Pepper was able to steer her to a bathroom, shoving two fluffy white towels into her arms and saying that there was everything for a great shower in there. 

Cherry took one look at the controls for the shower and shouted, "Pepper! How do I work this?!"

"Turn the handle to the right, Miss," Cherry screamed at the British voice that filtered through the bathroom, turning around and around, trying to find where it was coming from. When she didn't spot a person, she tried to look for a camera or something. She didn't think Tony would do something like that, but how would a British person know she was struggling with the shower. "I'm Mr. Stark's personal A.I., Miss. My name is Jarvis." 

"Holy crap," Cherry exclaimed, awed. "That's brilliant. Did he build- make- program you?"

Jarvis gave her the explanation before helping her with the shower, Cherry making sure to thank him before taking off her clothes and stepping into the spray. The water may have been a little bit too hot for her to begin with, making her shout a loud fuck! before she was adjusting it and waiting for it to cool down. Cherry cautiously put her wrist under the spray after a moment, sighed when it seemed to be the right temperature, before she was stepping back under it and letting it soak her body. 

She showered as quickly as she let herself in the fancy shower, taking more time than she usually did because of the luxury. When she was finished washing and conditioning her hair, had rinsed off all the body wash, and thought about how glad she was that she had shaved her legs the previous night, Cherry stood under the marvelous shower pressure and relaxed. That was, until someone banged on the door and Pepper's voice yelled at her to hurry up.  So, that ended the best shower Cherry had ever had early and made her grumble some not exactly nice words as she stepped out of the hot water into the cool air. 

After drying off and putting on the robe Pepper had instructed her to, her hair wrapped up in a towel knot, Cherry made her way out of the bathroom. She turned around maybe twice in the hallway before Jarvis was helping her by leading her to the kitchen, which had pizza sitting on the kitchen island. Cherry smiled and made her way over to the box, flipping it open and grabbing a slice before closing it again. She then changed her mind, grabbed another slice, then went to go find where everyone else was.

She came across them in the living room/den area, where a long, white leather couch sat by a fire place. Cherry noticed the spiral staircase on the other side of the room, in awe at the decoration in the middle of it. It was one of those glass panes that had water sliding down it, going to go knows where. The whole room was fabulous, and Cherry felt like she was too poor to even be standing in it. 

To keep her mouth from spitting out that she couldn't do this, Cherry shoved as much of a slice of pizza that she could into her mouth, dropping down onto the couch beside Pepper. Tony gave her an amused look as she shoved more pizza in her mouth, but didn't say anything. Cherry noticed the look, stuck her tongue out at him, before she was stuffing her face with more food. 

Maybe thirty minutes, and the rest of the pizza shared among them, Pepper stood up and pointed at Tony, "You, shower, go. I want you out here in forty smelling like a new car. Don't worry about shaving, your team will take care of it."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Tony said, saluting as he stood up and made his way out of the room. Before he was completely out, he snapped and turned around. "You know, as an after thought, next time Cherry and I should just shower together. That way, we save water." 

Cherry sputtered and choked on the water she had decided was a good thing to have a drink of in that moment. Pepper gave a long suffering side, a roll of her eyes, before saying, "Wow, Tony, such a visionary. I'll make sure to remember that in case you get a sexual harassment lawsuit." 

"I don't think you would want to shower with me anyway, Tony," Cherry said once she got her voice back. "I like to have dance parties in the shower, and there would have been a dance off that would have ended with a broken tailbone from one of us." 

 "Shouldn't have said that," Tony called as he started to leave again. "Now I'm looking forward to that shower together. Better practice your routine, Armstrong!'

Pepper turned to her, amused smile on her face, "I know you have a crush on him, but now you know you're gonna be picturing him in the shower, and you just put yourself through hell, you know that, right?"

Cherry blinked at Pepper, before cursing. She was already picturing dirty things now that Tony had brought up showering together, which made the girl whine and drop her head into her hands. If there was an award for being an idiot, Cherry's pretty sure she won it this time around. Pepper only giggled as she patted the blonde's back, making the girl groan into her hands, exclaiming, "I'm such an idiot!" 

Cherry spent the next thirty minutes trying not to think about Tony, naked, in the shower. Pepper helped distract her by telling her what was most-likely going to happen to her when the beauty team got her. At the thirty minute mark, the doorbell rang, and next thing Cherry knew, she was swept into make up brushes and curling irons and bobby pins. 

The last time Cherry had ever been poked and prodded this much with any of the tools that had been used was when she was in dance as a teenager. And, as much as she missed dance, she didn't miss the too tight buns and too much make up on her face. 

When Cherry was finally let out of the makeshift make-up chair, she was able to look at herself in the mirror. Her make up was done to look natural, but her face had never looked so good (with make up on). The eye shadow was light, the eye liner minimal, with only a coat or two of mascara. Her lips were a glossy pink, her blush barely there. Her hair was done in a low bun on the back of her head, with a couple of strands hanging lose to frame her face. Cherry found herself blinking at herself in the mirror, before she was turning to the people who had done her make-up and was thanking them profusely. They had done an amazing job. 

Pepper walked into the room, carrying the bag that must have held her dress. The stylist team was ushered out then, Pepper setting down some strappy silver heels that Cherry hadn't noticed she was carrying as well, before hanging up the dress on a hook in the room they had commandeered. Cherry watched as Pepper unzipped the bag, pulling out the silky looking white fabric that was in it so the dress was on full display. The blonde found her eyes widening as she gazed at the fabric, looking at the plunging neckline. 

Pepper smiled at her, "I'll leave you to get dressed. If you need any help, asked Jarvis to call for me."

Cherry could only nod, speechless on how beautiful the dress was. Pepper left the room, closing the door behind her with a smile still on her face. Cherry found herself taking a deep breath, before she was slipping off the robe and letting it fall to the floor. Her eyes caught the scar that ran from a little bit above her left hipbone to the middle of her thigh, before she was shaking the memories from her head that made her not look at the mark. 

Stepping forward, she carefully took the dress down, stepping into it and pulling it on as much as she could before she kindly asked Jarvis to grab Pepper. The red head was there in no time, helping her pull on the dress the rest of the way and made sure the criss-crossing straps on the back fell into place. Pepper also helped her remove her bra, because that was not something she was going to wear with how plunging the neckline was. 

The heels were put on with care, before Cherry and Pepper were making their way out of the room. Cherry had to take in the dress, noticing that either side of it had a thigh slit, and that she was actually okay with how exposed she was. She felt beautiful in the dress. 

Once in the foyer, Tony waiting by one of the stylists, chatting with her, smirk on his face, Cherry was surprised when his attention turned to her and stayed there. She felt her face turn red, making her way over to him with Pepper following behind. Pepper, who Cherry just noticed, was dressed for the Gala in a beautiful black gown that she must've changed into while Cherry was struggling with her dress. She looked absolutely stunning in it, which made Cherry rethink if she could ever look as good as the woman. However, she shook the thoughts from her head. 

Tony stepped forward, smiling as he placed a hand on the small of her back. His callused hand was warm on the skin there, making Cherry shiver from the touch as well as the cold. "Well, looks like I'm going to be the luckiest guy at the Gala."

She felt her face light up in a blush, before she was clearing her throat and smiling at him. Pepper declared that it was time to go, so the four of them (Happy, Pepper, Tony, and Cherry) made their way outside of the mansion and into the car to make their way to the event. Cherry made sure she wasn't dragging the white satin fabric of the dress on the ground, using the slits to pick up the skirt a little. Tony allowed her and Pepper into the backseat first, then climbed in after, telling Happy to hit the road and turn on some music. Cherry's eyebrows raised when AC/DC came on, though if there was a type of music that totally embodied who Tony was as a person, it was rock'n'roll. 

The drive to the Gala was filled with the rock music, Cherry looking out the window and taking out the sight that was Malibu. She wondered how Scottie was, hoping that her neighbor had checked in on him like she asked him to. She's sure Scottie would give her quite the earful when she came back, knowing he hated when she stayed her usual time it took her to complete a day of work unless she told him she was going somewhere and let him watch her get ready. He was a weird cat. 

Once they pulled up to the building that the Gala was, a valet helping Pepper and Cherry out of the car before stepping out of the way for Tony. Pepper immediately started to make her way over the red carpet, smiling at people but ignoring the photographers and such calling to her to get a quick picture of her. Cherry gulped, looking at some of the women in front of her and felt suddenly self conscious in her plunging neckline and no back. The fact that she didn't have a bra on also didn't help with the fact, and she had the urge to cross her arms over her chest in case her nipples were erect and and showing through the dress. 

Tony's hand returning to the small of her back shook Cherry from her thoughts, "Relax, you're too tense right now." She gave Tony a deadpanned look, making sure it conveyed the fact that she was probably going to be plastered on every trash gossip magazine there was for being his date and that was why she was tense. "Look, you're gorgeous, everyone is going to be jealous of you. Just embrace your fifteen minutes of fame and think about the friendship we're going to have from it." 

"I don't want to use you for fame," Cherry told him quietly, smiling tightly as she was being lead down the red carpet by Tony. "In fact, I'd rather stay out of it." 

"Little too late for that, sugar," Tony said, his thumb starting to rub soothing circles on the exposed skin of her back. Cherry would lie till the day she died that as soon as she felt the motion of the callused digit all the nerves left her and she was able so smile freely. "As soon as you agreed to be my date, you agreed to having every gossip monger conspire about who you are to me." 

They stopped for a picture, Tony raising his hand and pointing at the middle of the photographers. The flashes started up intensely, Cherry was so sure she blinked for most of the pictures. Tony helped to maneuver them in poses that got both of their best angles apparently, one of them being with Cherry's back facing the group of photographers and looking over her shoulder as Tony held her close, his head visible over the opposite. After that, Tony led them further. 

"I hope you do know that I didn't do this for the fame, Tony," Cherry mumbled as they stopped again, smiling as her and Tony stood wit their arms wrapped around each other's back. "And I definitely don't want your money. I did this because you gave Pepper two days and I know for a fact that Mr. Stane favors my person. This is so he wouldn't bitch about the model date that we both know you're taking home tonight." 

"I could take you home tonight," Tony said, before she was pulling Cherry closer and dipping her, making her gasp and grip at the lapels of his expensive suit jacket. They looked at each other, Cherry searching Tony's face for some kind of tell that he was joking or not. There was a small amount of amusement in the quirk of his lips and the shine in his eyes. 

"I don't think so," Cherry whispered as Tony brought her back up to standing. "I'm not your type." 

"How do you know my type?" Tony asked, hand returning to her back and leading her further onto the carpet. They were almost at the entrance of the building the Gala was in. Cherry wasn't sure what was going to happen when they finally got in there. Was Tony going to stick by her side, or was he going to leave her to find Pepper and take one of the calendar models everyone knew he was trying to go 12/12 for. 

Cherry let out a bark of laughter, "Tony, everyone knows your type. Busty and beautiful and a cover girl, three things which I am not." 

Tony just gave her a strange look before he was leading her inside the Gala. They stayed together for a while, actually, Tony making his rounds with Cherry on his arm. Cherry tried to ignore the looks she got; the women's envy, the men's lust or indifference. Obadiah's eyes had wondered down her form appreciatively, something that Cherry had only seemed to notice, so she excused herself for a drink and then went and tried to find Pepper. She found her by the bar, thank God, sipping at a martini with extra olives. Cherry got a coke, fixed her dressed, and stared across the Gala at Tony, who was now surrounded by girls of every sort. Business woman, models, some of the wait-staff even hung around in case he needed a refill (which Cherry noticed was his fifth since they got in and he was starting to get drunk, she knew). 

A man saddled up next to Cherry, the girl turning towards him to see who it was. This man was dressed in an expensive suit, lighter than Tony's, his hair styled professionally and had a pair of thick framed glasses on his nose. He was holding a glass of scotch and had a smirk on his face. Cherry felt herself take a subtle step away from him, "Hello?"

"Hi," His smile widened, before he was holding out the hand without the drink in it, "Justin Hammer." 

Cherry took his hand, wasn't surprised when he brought it up to kiss her knuckles. "Cheryl Armstrong." 

"What's a dime like you doing here all alone?" Justin said, smiling at her. She knew him. Knew he was a competitor with Stark Industries, knew that he was trying to steal Tony's contract his company had with the army. She also read some of the articles about him, how he wasn't exactly the brightest light bulb in the batch, and right now he was coming off as a little too forward for her. Not that she would say anything. 

"I'm not alone," Cherry told him, taking a sip from her coke and looking for an escape. Pepper was nowhere in sight, so Cherry guessed that she went to the bathroom. Tony was surrounded by girls and didn't seem to be paying any attention to her. Obadiah was with what looked to be investors and was talking quite animatedly with them. Obadiah would at least respect that she was obviously not interested in him. She was his employee and therefore would not be treated in such a way. Justin Hammer, however, was a man on a mission. "I'm here with Tony Stark." 

She tensed when his hand landed on her shoulder, thought Justin didn't seem to notice. "Tony? Tony and I go way back! Unfortunately, the press makes it look like we don't get along, but we're buddies in real life. He definitely will not be mad if I steal you for the rest of the night! I mean, how could I not, when you look like this!  I could honestly take a bite out of you and everyone here would be jealous!" 

Cherry felt herself shuffle uncomfortably, turning to look for someone to help her. Pepper was still nowhere in sight, but now she couldn't see Tony. A shot of panic flooded her veins and Justin gave her shoulder a squeeze, still smiling at her in a way too happy way. Just as she was opening her mouth to excuse herself to the washroom so that she could hide until it was okay for her to leave, she felt a hand on the small of her back and she looked over to see Tony. Cherry felt herself relax at the tight, fake smile Tony was giving Justin. "Excuse me, Hammer, but I was hoping to sneak a dance in with Cherry here." 

"Cherry," Justin smiled. His grin was all sharp teeth and Cherry tried to ignore it in favor of looking at Tony. "I bet she's just as delicious as one." 

"Your never going to find out," Tony shot over his shoulder as he dragged Cherry away. Once they got to the middle of the dance floor, Tony turned to her and placed his hand on her waist, holding out his hand for Cherry to take. The blonde did, resting the other hand delicately on his shoulder as the two of them start to sway to the band that was playing. 

"Thanks for that," Cherry mumbled, trying not to look at Tony. She could feel his eyes searing onto her face and promptly looked anywhere else. He was quiet for a few beats, making her turn to him and notice how incredibly close he was. it really didn't matter, though. They weren't going to kiss, even if she wanted to, and he was going to go home with the beautiful, busty brunette that was giving him a lustful stare. 

"Yeah, well, I hate that guy," Tony told her, now looking away as he twirled them around slowly. They danced in silence, the song ending and another one starting, Cherry trying not to think about the fact that Tony was warm and she could feel herself start to shiver now that it was dark outside and the temperature had dropped. It was only a matter of time before Tony noticed, looking down at her with a raised eyebrow, before he was stopping and shrugging out of his jacket. He slung it over her shoulders, Cherry not up to protesting because she was cold. 

They danced for a little longer before Pepper was approaching and asking Cherry if she would like to go home. Casting a look at Tony, she agreed, giving the man a hug and a kiss on the cheek before making her way outside with Pepper. Happy was more than happy to drive them home, Pepper saying that she would bring the bag, Cherry's clothes, and everything that was at Tony's house when she was able to when Happy had pulled in front of her apartment complex. 

She was right. When Cherry entered her apartment, Scottie was right there, giving her an earful with yowls and meows so loud, she had to pet him for twenty minutes to get him to calm down. His tail flicked as he hobbled away, probably to her bed to sleep. Cherry took off the dress, grabbing a free hangar from her closet to use to hang it off of her bathroom door. She made sure to shower and take off all of the make-up she had on, before she was dressed in her pajamas and falling asleep snuggled up with Scottie. 

In the morning, when she was in the break room, the tabloid that was on the table had a picture with Tony and the brunette from last night, bragging about how he went 13/12 for the Maxim models. He had finally taken July home. December was twins. 

Cherry didn't like the ache in her chest from realizing that. 

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welp. that happened. we all knew cherry had a crush and tony has a friendship and we know what he's like and oop. i think next chapter is gonna be written like a time skip chapter where i show their relationship develop through little tidbits.

i hope you enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying this fic so far!

also, this was cherry's dress at the gala oop