Guest Review Responses
Thank you for the follows/favorites: IMMA-L0V3R and Vir Jequis.
Kaitrin: Amazing ! I love your writing it's just so perfectly put together and this chapter was so exciting and mysterious update soon xxx – Thank you very much! I hope you like this chapter too :D
Danika: Why won't you update ? I need another chapter – LOL! I'm kinda scared that, as I am about to update, I get your review asking why I haven't updated. Are you stalking me?! :P Just kidding! I usually have time to update only during the weekends, so here's the update for this week.
A/N: Speaking of updates, I am sorry to say that I actually don't know when I will be updating this story again. This weekly update of three stories is taking a toll on me (and my professional career, too). There are some very important projects I need to do at work starting next week and all throughout the summer, and I don't anticipate having much time to update the so many stories I have pending. I kinda backed myself into a corner, I know that. But in the interest of giving you GOOD updates rather than just AN update, I'll go back to working on TLC only, whenever I can, and then once that's finally done, I can turn my attention back to the other pending stories. Sorry about that :( But hopefully, you understand that sometimes life just sucks the glory out of everything!
Chapter 6
She tiptoed her way out of the restroom, textbooks in her arms, and then pressed her back against the wall. She narrowed her eyes, looked left and right, and then briefly lifted her sunglasses from her nose. The pair of shades was so dark that it made it difficult to move around without a hitch, and multiple times she had already slammed into someone's back while trying to keep her presence from being noticed by those she was trying to avoid. So far, her plan and actions were working wonders. But once Science class came around…
Don't think about it, Pepper told herself with determination. Tony won't notice you sitting somewhere else.
Yeah. Right.
She returned the sunglasses to the bridge of her nose and then began sliding her way towards the corner of the hall, her back and right arm pressed firmly against the line of lockers, her left arm holding onto her books. She took slow, overly cautious steps, stopping only when she reached the end of the wall. Once there, she barely peeked her head around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. She repeated the motion two more times before she finally walked around the corner, stopped for a moment to lift the sunglasses and get a better look at her surroundings, and as she was about to return the shades to her face, a call for her name made her throw her arms in the air instead.
"Hey, Pepper!"
"AAAHHH!"
Her thick textbooks flew out of her left arm; one landing above the locker to her right, the other ending up opened face-down by her feet. Her sunglasses ended up askew on her face, and she landed on her knees on the floor.
"What the heck, Rhodey?! Would you stop doing that?"
"Saying hi to you?"
"Sneaking up on me, you doofus!"
"Looked in a mirror, lately?" Rhodey replied with a snort, his right hand gesturing towards her awkward position on the floor, before he then reached over the locker where her book had landed and collected it for her.
"Hey! It's Funny's cousin: Not Funny," Pepper replied with dripping sarcasm as she stood up from the floor, her other textbook already in her hand.
"Hey! It's Princess Inconspicuous' cousin: Totally-failing-at-hiding."
"Give me that!" the ginger growled as she snatched her second textbook from Rhodey's hand.
"Seriously, Pepper," Rhodey leaned his hip against the lockers to the right, "Why are you acting all weird… -er than usual? You in trouble?"
"No. I'm fine. I just… I… I…"
"Tony was looking for you this morning. He waited for you by your locker until he was almost late for class. Where were you?"
"Uhm," she gulped.
Rhodey narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you hiding from Tony again?"
"No," her eyes shifted left and right and she gnawed on her bottom lip.
"Is this because you lost the bet?"
Instead of replying, Pepper's head snapped up, her eyes wide behind her sunglasses, her mouth hung. Before she could look away or control herself, her face became a beacon of embarrassment, making Rhodey's head recoil in response.
"How-how do you know-know about that?!"
"About the bet? He told me. He was all smug about it this morning. How much money did you lose?"
"W-what?"
"Money. How much did you guys bet?"
"Uhm…" Pepper pulled on her collar when she felt her entire head heat up even more. "I-I… I…"
Rhodey arched a single brow, tilted his head to the left, and then leaned closer to the redhead's face.
"Pepper: you guys didn't bet any money, did you?"
"Uhm…"
"Huh," Rhodey smirked and pulled away. "What was it?"
"Nothing."
"Right. Then why are you all uncomfortable and flustered?"
"I AM NOT!"
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are! You even hid from Tony!"
"No, I didn't!"
"Oh, really?"
"Really?"
"Oh, OK," Rhodey said with a shrug, looked over Pepper's head, and then waved his right hand. "Hey, T! What's up?"
"EEEP!" Pepper immediately turned around in place, more than just a little bit not ready to speak to Tony, but she was then surprised to find that there was no one behind her.
"Oh, nuts!" Rhodey's laughs made Pepper groan in anger. "This is priceless!"
"Shut up, Rhodey! That's not funny!"
"It is from where I'm standing! Besides, you can't avoid him all day. We have class together. What are you planning to do then? Use your sunglasses to throw him off?"
"I HAVE A WIG!"
"Oh," Rhodey nodded a few times. "Pardon me: you have a wig. That solves it all."
"Yes. It does. It really does!"
"Sure. Sure," Rhodey rubbed his chin with his left hand. "But tell me, Pepper. What are you gonna do when Professor Klein takes roll?"
"Aw, man!"
Great.
Now she really had to find a place to hide.
xxxXXXxxx
Rhodey had brought up a good point: disguises were not going to work if she had to let her teachers know she was present during class. Going to detention again was not an option she wanted to pursue, either, lest her father got called about her having to stay after school twice in a row. Then again, her father knew that she was having a very difficult time adjusting to Samantha's presence and with the idea of her living with them for who-knew-how-long – perhaps forever. It was somewhat possible that he would maybe understand her unusual misbehaving at school.
But what about prom? What if I get grounded and can't go?
Senior Prom happened only once in a lifetime. She could not risk not attending it simply because her sister was in town… even if she had nothing to do with her current predicament, or with the reason why she was trying to hide.
Pepper looked left, right, and then whistled loudly as her hand slowly landed on the handle of her favorite closet. She continued to stand there for a moment, pretending to innocently look at the ceiling and then at the floor, before she finally pulled the door opened and rushed inside. It was as dark and cramped as she remembered it to be the day before, and while she now knew the small storage room did not lock from the outside, this was the only place she could think of being at the moment – at least until she could order her thoughts.
Why did I agree to that stupid bet? Why? WHY?!
Then again, just as yesterday, she was not sure why she was even asking herself this; she actually knew why she had said yes to his suggestion: a) she had not been thinking straight; and, b) she did actually want to do what Tony had proposed. It was a huge leap for them, of that much she was sure. But she would be lying to herself if she were to deny that the idea had not already crossed her mind, at least once. How would it not be anticipated, anyway? They were both legal adults, but also still teenagers, who happened to be dating and were in love. The execution of Tony's idea was to be expected of them at some point in time.
Wait, what? Her eyes opened wide and she covered her mouth with her right palm. Did I just say that we're in love? Tony doesn't feel that way about me, yet… right?
"Hey there, Pep!"
"AAAAHHH!"
This time, more than just books were scattered all over the place, and a few of the cleaning items fell from their shelves to fall on the twosome's heads.
"UGH!" they said in unison.
"WHAT THE HECK?!" Pepper snapped after removing a bucket from her head, unable to see anything in the darkness of the storage room, but not needing any lights whatsoever to know who was standing behind her.
"Whoa! It's just me, Pep. Relax."
"I KNOW IT'S YOU!" the redhead swatted the air around her, managing to hit Tony in the face while searching for his exact location.
"Ouch, Pepper!" the genius grabbed her hand in his to stop her prodding. "That was my eye!"
"What are you doing here?"
"What do you think?" Tony managed to find her other hand and held them both in his, his thumbs rubbing her knuckles to bring some comfort to the startled girl. "Rhodey texted me that you were trying to hide from me again. I figured you'd land here eventually."
"AND YOU DIDN'T FIGURE I WANTED TO BE LEFT ALONE?!"
Instead of immediately responding, Tony slowly pulled his hands away from hers, leaving the redhead feeling full of guilt and regret. The blue-eyed boy then swallowed hard, awkwardly scratched the back of his neck with his left hand, and then cleared his throat.
"I… I-I thought I'd help, Pep. I… our bet. This is about the bet, isn't?"
"I…" she sighed and her head hung; an uncomfortable silence being the only sound between them until Tony spoke once more.
"Pepper, I don't… if you… you-you can say: no."
Now that she had been in the dark for a while, Pepper's eyes had had an opportunity to adjust. She lifted her head, stared into whatever she could see of Tony's features, and saw a mix of hurt, disappointment and fear on his face.
"Tony," her right palm landed on his left upper arm. "I-I don't mind. Really. I'm just… I'm just…"
"Scared," they both said, at the same time.
"I…" Tony exhaled deeply. "I am too. I… honestly, Pep, I was just trying to get a rise out of you when I said it. But then, you-you said yes and I… a part of me is curious, you know? I wonder if it would be different. I guess… I guess part of me thought I was joking around. But another part of me wouldn't mind doing that… with you."
"Tony, I… it shouldn't be a big deal. I know that. Because… because we already do… that… kinda… but…"
"We would be alone."
"At night," she added.
"In my room."
"And I've never been to your room…"
"Alone," he finished her sentence for her.
"And at night," they both said.
Another moment of silence followed their unison response; one that was once again broken by the genius boy.
"I mean it, Pepper. It was meant to be a joke. And it can stay a joke, if you want."
Rather than replying with words, Pepper opted to circle Tony's waist with her arms and pressed the left side of her head against his chest. She closed her eyes, tightened her hold on him, and then felt the inventor reciprocate the act. He closed his eyes as well while they remained in each other's arms and in silence, sighing in contentment at being able to somewhat settle things with her without so much as a hitch. Throughout the months he and Pepper had been dating, there had been only a couple of minor misunderstandings between them; most of their romantic relationship had been smooth sailing. Nevertheless, in the nearly two days that Samantha Potts had been in their lives, he and his girlfriend had been having more issues back to back than they had ever had in the entire time they had known each other.
Tony was not so much concerned about the issues themselves – he knew all couples fought every once in a while. What worried him, however, was the influence that Samantha's presence had on the ginger's everyday life. There was only so much that he could do for her, he knew; and it irritated him that there was nothing he could do for his girlfriend other than listening to her worries, physically comforting her whenever possible, and providing verbal advice on a topic he knew nothing about – that there was absolutely nothing that his looks, riches, and know-how could do to keep Pepper from being affected by the consequences of having an estranged sister suddenly pop up in her life.
Then again, as Rhodey had pointed out to him this morning when Tony had shared with his friend that he thought Pepper was unfoundedly concerned that Samantha spoke science and she did not, showing to Pepper that she was still the only girl the he wanted to be with was the best thing the genius could do to ease his girlfriend's fears.
"But it's dumb, Rhodey," Tony rolled his eyes. "It should be obvious that science talk is not enough to catch my attention. If that were the case, then I'd be in love with Professor Klein or Dr. Richards. Why would she even worry about that?"
"What would you say if Pepper met someone who loves Rescue, S.H.I.E.L.D., the FBI, and Breakdancing with Celebrities as much as she does?"
"Cool? Good for her? It's nice for her to have another girl to share this with?" Tony shrugged.
"What if this person was a guy?"
"A guy? Why does it have to be a guy?"
"And what if this guy came to school here?"
"Why would he go to school here?"
"And what if she could share with him all the things that you just won't ever understand?"
"Why would he… why would she… uhm… but I… uh… huh… oh."
"Yeah. Oh."
"I'll think about it, Tony," her sudden statement did not make much sense to him.
"What?"
"The bet," she rested her chin on his chest. "I'll think about it."
"Really?" his eyes opened wide as he looked down at her.
"Yeah," she smiled. "Really."
"I… I'd like that, Pep," he returned the smile. "I'd like that very much."
"I'm sorry about hiding from you."
"You shouldn't be sorry for what you weren't able to do," he teased her and she scoffed, his face then turning serious once again. "But, really, Pep. When it comes to us… to anything about us, just… let me know, alright? Be upfront to me about it. I care about it. I care about us. A lot."
"I care about us a lot, too."
"Good," he smiled. "Does that mean we'll go up to the roof during our off period?"
"You bet you will."
"I surely do! What do you want to bet?"
"Huh?" Pepper furrowed her brow for the quick moment it took her for her to realize what Tony had meant. "Ugh! Stop it!"
"Sorry," he chuckled. "Couldn't resist."
"I bet you didn't," she rolled her eyes before she flinched. "Dang it!"
"Hahaha!" Tony threw his head back in laugher. "You're killing me, babe!"
"I, uhm, a-w-what?"
"I said: you're killing me."
"Babe?"
"Huh?" his head recoiled and his eyes narrowed in confusion, just seconds before he realized what the girl was talking about. "Uhm… I… I-I'm sorry… I–"
"It's OK," she smiled, placed her right palm on his cheek, and then stood on her tiptoes to whisper near his face. "I like it."
"I…" he swallowed hard when a strange yet somewhat familiar feeling forming at the pit of his stomach made his heartbeat increase at feeling her so close to him. "I-I-I like it, too."
"Good," Pepper replied before she pressed her lips against his, leaving him in so much awe that he nearly, but just nearly, missed the ring of the warning bell.
Oh, darn it all! It was going to be the longest morning ever for him, waiting to be alone with her once more.
