It had been a few weeks since Steve had last seen Pepper, she once again had gone back to Tony. Now Steve knew that she still loved the man of iron, even if he wasn't pleasant to her. He was at home alone, sitting on his sofa with his head in his hands. He was like this for a few minutes until his phone vibrated on the table, he stared at it for a few minutes before picking up the phone and reading the text. It was from Pepper and she had asked him to come over to hers and Tony's house. He replied that he would love to and he started getting ready.
When he arrived at Tony and Pepper's mansion he knocked on the door lightly, after a few seconds he was greeted by Pepper.
"Hey Steve" she smiled and stepped back to let him in, he smiled back and came into the mansion.
"Hi Pepper" he looked around the mansion as Pepper closed the door.
"Dinner is almost ready if you want to come and take a seat in the dining room" she led him into a huge room with a big table and a few chairs, three places were set, one at the head of the table and two either side of the table. After a few minutes Tony came in with three plates and put one in each face before taking his place at the head of the table. Steve and Pepper sat down either side and all three of them started eating, as they were eating Steve noticed some fresh bruises on Pepper's arm.
"Hey Pepper, how did you get those bruises on your arm?" he asked her timidly.
Pepper looked at Tony and Steve caught the slightly threatening look that he gave her.
"I tripped and hit my arm on the floor" Pepper lied and looked at Steve.
"Oh, well maybe you should be more careful next time" Steve replied.
"Yeah, she should" Tony spoke for her as he finished his meal, the rest of the meal was spent in silence as Pepper and Steve finished their dinner. Pepper took all three plates and the other dishes into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. Steve had followed Pepper into the kitchen and closed the door.
"Pepper, how did you really get those bruises?" he asked her.
"I can't talk about it here" she replied not looking at him and trying to cover her arm.
"Come with me back to mine"
"I can't Steve, not today"
"Tomorrow then?" he asked stepping towards her and gently turning her around so that she was facing him. She looked into his eyes and nodded.
"Alright, I will after work"
