Summary: Tony and Pepper are finally dating. Team Iron Man is on top of the world. Graduation is a couple of months away. And she is finally old enough to be on her own. What could possibly go wrong in Pepper's life? Oh, yeah: HER.

Timeframe for this story: post Makluan invasion.

Standard disclaimer for all my stories: My stories are graphic, angsty, frustrating, filled with cliffhangers, drama and foul language. Read at your own risk – medical issues and subsequent bills are not covered by yours truly ;) If you don't like, please don't read. I appreciate reviews and constructive feedback but if you cannot stand the plot, save yourself and me some time and walk away. You don't have to love all IMAA stories :) I don't own IMAA. My stories are better viewed by using the "half screen" option of FFNET

Oh, Yeah: Her

Prologue

She was not sure what to do with her hands in these situations, so she opted to simply doing again what she had done in the past: placing them behind herself, trapped between her back and the wall she was being pressed against. It was not as if anyone had just handed her a manual for what to do when your boyfriend was making out with you, so she doubted that her lack of knowledge regarding what the expected protocol was for her hands to follow when kissing her boy genius was of any high concern.

Besides, even if she had read a damn manual that spelled out how to behave at the moment, she knew that the instant his lips had touched hers, she would have forgotten every single word ever read.

Who could blame her for it, though, when Tony Stark had her like this?

His left forearm leaned against the wall she was resting on. His right hand held her by the waist. His upper body and head were titled at a weird angle so that he could bend down enough to make the kiss work. And his "Oh, sweet Lord, have mercy!" lips were tenderly massaging hers, exploring them as carefully as she had seen him analyze the blueprints of his many inventions.

And to think they had begun kissing just a month ago! He was not called a genius for no reason, it would seem!

Why had it taken three long months of dating to start doing this at all? The amount of off periods they had already forgone making out was enough for her to consider herself to be clinically insane!

Then again, she knew that part of the reason why they had just started sneaking out of the public view whenever they could to engage in lip push-ups was because their friendship had been rather strong – and because all this was new to them. It was not as if their friendship had decayed or anything – it had simply made it difficult for them to alter their mindsets to what they now were: friends who really liked each other, who had then recently started dating, and were just now getting comfortable with physical displays of affection that went beyond a hug or holding of hands.

Nothing more. Nothing less. Just that.

Steep learning curve. Experiential knowledge. Trial and error. Yeah, it was all that.

She still remembered the first time they had kissed, just thirty days ago. It had been a quick peck on the lips, initiated by him, rushed by the bell on his way to class. The next time, she had returned the favor on her way to the bus, leaving him with a departing gift that had kept him in Cloud 9 for the rest of the day. Their third kiss had been mutually instigated, and had been a little longer; taking place in the lab after a mission had kept them up later than usual.

The fourth kiss had happened in school again, but it had been during lunch. It had been longer than their third, but it had been shorter than their fifth since, after Rhodey's yelp of surprise (and who had not expected to walk up to the roof to find the couple kissing there) had startled them enough to stop. Then, as if mentally agreeing on the next step, their almost-daily make out sessions during their shared off period had begun.

They did not even go out to the rooftop for them, opting to staying at the top of the staircase that preceded the door to the roof; a decision that had been made to avoid some paparazzi catching them in the act. Ever since Pepper had turned eighteen, the hero couple had been in the midst of some awkward acts of invasion of privacy. It did not matter that they were still in high school – they were now legal adults. And as such, it was the constitutionally-granted liberty of the free press to stalk them from time to time.

Sometimes, even going out to the movies together turned into a mission itself.

But up here, in the small room that led to the roof, they were safe from prying eyes or hidden cameras. It was common knowledge among the student body that the twosome liked to spend their free period on the roof – even before they had become a couple. As such, the silver lining of being a senior in high school, who also happened to own a suit of high-tech ammunition, was that no one bothered you when you were too engrossed in debating when you would have enough balls to attempt French-kissing your girlfriend.

Today did not appear to be the lucky day for that… but it did feel like a lucky day for him to guide her left hand to rest on his right shoulder.

Pepper smirked when his kissing became just a tad more forceful once she slid her left hand closer to his neck to rest her palm there.

Success! She now knew what to do with her damn left hand!

A/N: Should I be adding yet another story for me to update? Probably not. Am I gonna anyway? Probably so. Unless, of course, no one wants me to… ;)