For the rest of the weekend, Tony couldn't help thinking of anything else other than what had happened between him and Pepper. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal, it was just a simple kiss, they were both tired and had been drinking, but it was so much more to Tony than just a little kiss. He never shared something like that with anyone else before, because with Pepper it meant something, and with every other girl he had been with, it meant nothing to him. Although he couldn't help reliving Pepper pushing him away. He knew she said it wasn't the right time, but he wasn't used to rejection, and he couldn't help that it made him feel as though she didn't like him that way, that she didn't feel anything for him like he did for her.
Pepper also couldn't escape the same thoughts. After Tony had left the next morning before her dad got home from work, she had spent the whole weekend wondering if what happened between them meant anything at all. She had never considered Tony to be someone she connected with, she had spent so much time trying to ignore him and disliking him to even consider having anything in common with him. He was so different to how she thought he was, he was nothing like that guy at school. But Pepper couldn't let herself get caught up in feelings, she knew what would come along with being involved in any way at all with Tony, it was endless drama.
''Pepper, you ready?''
''Oh, yeah dad,'' she looked up, breaking her thoughts.
''Bet you're ready to get that thing off,'' Mark joked about her ankle cast as they walked to the car. ''How about I take you out to lunch afterwards, spend the day together,''
Pepper smiled at her father. He had taken the whole Sunday off work to take her to the doctors and get her cast off after he had felt so guilty about not being able to take her to the hospital when it happened. She appreciated the effort he was putting in to spend some time with her, it was nice.
''Yeah, that sounds nice,'' she nodded as they got into the car.
''And maybe you can tell me what you want for your birthday now since I haven't had the chance to ask,''
''Dad my birthday's ages away, don't worry about it,'' she shrugged.
''It's three weeks away Pep, it's not ages,'' he shook his head. ''Come on, you know I'm not good at picking out gifts, you have to give me some ideas. At least think about it, okay?''
''Okay,'' she nodded. ''I'll think about it,''
To say Tony's house was trashed was an understatement. When he returned home Saturday morning, Rhodey was passed out on the couch and there were a few other people sleeping in various seats around the house. Everything was a mess and there was broken glass everywhere. It had taken a whole day of Tony and Rhodey cleaning to make the house look just messy and not like a bomb had just exploded inside.
''Where did you get to last night anyway?'' Rhodey asked with a yawn as he mopped the floor of spilled alcohol.
''Went for a walk,'' Tony told him casually. ''Keep cleaning,''
''Don't give me that crap,''
''What? You're responsible for this mess too,''
''You know what I'm talking about man,'' Rhodey stopped, standing up and looking at his friend. ''You disappear at the same time that Pepper chick does and you both don't show up for the rest of the night,''
Tony continued gathering cups and throwing them into the plastic garbage bag in his hands, trying to ignore his friends words. He told Rhodey everything, but since he met Pepper, they hadn't talked about personal issues at all, because Tony didn't know what to say.
''She has a broken ankle, I had to make sure she got home okay,'' he told Rhodey with a shrug of his shoulders.
''Man, I don't know what's going on with you lately, but if there's something going on with you and this girl-''
''Pepper,'' Tony corrected, disliking his friend referring to her as just another girl.
''You gotta sort things out, 'cause Christine's going out of her mind and everyone else is having to deal with it,'' Rhodey told him as he continued cleaning. ''And ever since she called you guys out in front of the whole crowd, everyone knows,''
''What, so you're believing Christine's drunk speech now?'' Tony looked up.
''Well I got nothing else to go on man, you don't tell me anything,''
''Pepper doesn't want to get with me, she doesn't like me and she doesn't want to be with me okay it's the other way around!" Tony finally told him, throwing the bag of rubbish on the ground. ''What Christine said about Pepper, that's not how it is, she's not interested,''
Rhodey took a moment to realize he had pushed his friend into telling him the truth and that for the first time in the many years they had known each other, he saw that Tony was somewhat heartbroken over a girl. He never knew Tony would be like that considering he usually wasn't interested in relationships or anything more than a week with one girl, but for the first time, Tony was on the other side of that.
''I'm sorry man,''
''It's no big deal,'' Tony shook his head, trying to clean up more of the mess.
''But...but why were you with her last night if she's not interested?''
''I wasn't with her, I walked her home and fell asleep, but I uh, I kissed her,'' he ran his hands through his hair. ''But nothing else is gonna happen, it's pretty clear,''
Rhodey sighed.
''I'm sorry man, I didn't know,''
''Like I said, no big deal,'' Tony shrugged.
''Well, what's gonna happen to you and Christine?''
''There is no Christine and me, never was. I'll clear that up with her,'' Tony told him. ''I'm better off alone anyway,''
Rhodey watched as Tony walked out of the room, pretending he was okay, but he knew his friend better than anyone else in the world, and he knew he was hurting. Christine was never the girl for him, it was all about reputation, and Tony never cared until Pepper came into his life, and Rhodey knew that now.
Pepper held her cell phone in her hand as she sat at the table in the restaurant, waiting for her food. Liv had been texting her for the past two days apologizing for what happened at the party, but Pepper had already forgiven her. Everyone had been upset, Pepper just chose to leave, she didn't want them to feel bad about it.
''So how are all your friends?'' Mark asked as they patiently waited.
''Good,'' Pepper nodded. ''I think I'm gonna go to Liv's tomorrow after school, since I can drive again,''
''Yeah no problem sweetie, I'll most likely be working late so you and Liv can go get dinner somewhere on me,'' he offered.
Pepper sighed. ''When won't you be working late?''
''I know it's getting frustrating, but I'm getting a lot of clients and I could end up with a promotion here Pepper, I can't give it up,'' he looked over to her sadly. ''I agreed to the hours because I thought you'd be mature enough to understand, and I know we don't see eye to eye often, but I'm trying, and I'll try harder. Once a week I'll make sure we have dinner together and be home all night, and we can make breakfast and go places, I promise,''
Pepper knew her dad was trying, but she was tired of being alone. Their house was so big that when she was the only one in it, it became unbelievably depressing.
''Okay,'' she nodded. ''Sounds good,''
''So how's your ankle feel?''
''Good,'' Pepper moved her leg. ''Still a bit weird to stand on, but it doesn't hurt too much,''
''Well the doctor said to stay off it as much as possible for a few days, so I guess you won't be going to school,''
''What? I can go to school dad,''
''You can afford to have a few days off Pep, come on, just to be safe,'' Mark told her. ''Liv can come over, order a pizza or something, just relax, you've been off in another world the past few days, I think you need to take it easy on the school work,''
Pepper couldn't help feel guilty that her dad thought she was stressing over schoolwork the whole weekend when it was actually a whole other thing entirely on her mind. She couldn't help running over and over what had happened between her and Tony, it was the only thing on her mind, which made her think a few days off school would be a good break from it all.
''Yeah, you're probably right,'' she smiled. ''I'll take a break,''
Monday morning, Tony showed up late to school as usual, except this time it was on purpose. He didn't want to deal with Christine this early in the morning, and so he skipped the class he had with her and took the back ways to every other class. Rhodey helped him avoid her as much as possible now he knew what was going on, but it was impossible to guarantee they wouldn't run into each other, and that's exactly what happened at lunch break.
''Tony?'' Christine walked up to him, her hands on her hips. ''You've got some serious explaining to do,''
''Funny, I don't think I do,'' he smiled, turning back to his friends who tried to ignore what was going on.
''You left me at the party and have ignored me all weekend, I think you do,''
''There's nothing to explain. You and me, we're done, okay?'' Tony looked up at her. ''It was a pleasure, bye now,''
Rhodey could tell Tony was angry, but at himself. He was angry that he finally felt something and it wasn't reciprocated, that he was experiencing what it was like to be rejected, even though he hadn't seen Pepper or spoke about what happened. Rhodey had seen him do this many times when he was upset about something. He'd push everyone away until he isolated himself, but he didn't know what was going to happen this time.
''You're kidding right?'' Christine laughed. ''You can't just do that,''
''I just did,''
''We're in a relationship-''
''Actually, no we're not,'' Tony turned to her. ''I never agreed to that. It was one night and we hung out for a few days and then you forced this onto me, I never wanted it and I don't want it now,''
Christine glared at him angrily as she folded her arms.
''This is because of Pepper, isn't it?'' she shook her head. ''I knew she liked you Tony, she's manipulating you, breaking us up!''
Rhodey looked over to Tony and saw his expression as Christine spoke about Pepper. He wanted to tell her what happened, to tell her she had Pepper all wrong and that she wasn't like that, but he remained silent.
''I knew it, well you know what, Pepper needs to keep her hands to herself-''
''Would you just shut up!'' Rhodey stood up, surprising everyone. ''It's over, okay Christine? Over, done, that's it. So how about you just leave,''
Christine looked at Rhodey with wide eyes, but she soon nodded her head, arms still folded. Rhodey watched as she walked away without another word said, and he sat down again and looked over to his friend.
''You okay man?''
''I'm fine,'' Tony shrugged. ''Never been better,''