It was Wednesday and Pepper still wasn't at school, taking a few days at home to rest and take a break from the overload of work she had. She was still doing all of her class work and focusing on assignments, feeling guilty about being at home instead of attending school. As much as he tried not to, Tony noticed Pepper's absence and couldn't help fixating on it. It would have been different if it wasn't the first week back after the horrible party he had thrown, but since it was, it seemed as if she was avoiding school because of what happened.
''Tony, you coming to chemistry?'' Rhodey asked as he slung his bag over his back.
''Nah,'' he shook his head. ''I've got other plans,''
''Like what?''
''Nothing you'd be interested in Rhodes,'' Tony stood up. ''I'll meet up with you later,''
Rhodey watched as his friend hurried away from the crowd of students walking into the building, rushing down to the parking lot. He had no idea where Tony was going, but he was beginning to get a little concerned about how he was acting. Tony was never fond of school or many things in general, but he was acting differently latey, like his mind was on something else entirely and he couldn't focus on anything else properly.
As Tony was walking past all the other students, he saw Liv not too far away and he turned in her direction.
''Hey, Liv,'' he called out.
Liv turned to see Tony walking over, immediately wondering what it was that he wanted. They weren't exactly friends, they barely ever spoke except for a few times at his parties. She stared at him, confused, as he came closer.
''Tony?'' she looked around her. ''What's up?''
''I need Pepper's number,''
''Oh, right,'' she nodded.
All of the memories from his latest party came flashing back to her. She tried to block most of it out, she hated remembering that it was her fault Pepper was verbally abused in front of everyone. Liv had trouble defending herself, but she didn't expect Pepper to step in to do it for her. Now everyone in school thought Pepper had a major thing for Tony.
''I'm not sure if she'd want me to give it to you...'' Liv hesitated, holding her phone close. ''Things are a bit weird now, aren't they?''
Tony looked at her with panic, wondering if Pepper had told her about their kiss.
''Uh...''
''Your girlfriend completely humiliated her-''
''Ex-girlfriend,'' Tony cut in, feeling the need to correct him. ''And uh...that's why I want her number. I want to, you know, apologize and stuff,''
Liv looked at him with a worried expression for a moment. She didn't know if Pepper would be mad at her for passing on her number, but it was just her cell, and Tony had said he wanted to apologize.
''Please,'' he encouraged. ''I won't tell her it was you who gave it to me, I just need it, please,''
''Fine,'' Liv sighed, calling out the number for Tony to put into his phone. ''But if I find out you're hassling her or something-''
''I won't,''
''You better not,'' Liv eyed him seriously.
''Thank you,'' Tony smiled before walking away, running off to his car before a teacher found him leaving the school grounds.
As soon as he got into his car, Tony stared at Pepper's number in his phone. He wanted to text her, casually ask where she was or if something was wrong, but he hadn't done this before. He had never been the one to begin the conversation like this, to initiate the texting between him and another girl, it was difficult.
Hey Pepper it's Tony,
He stared at his phone, wondering what to write next.
...I'm sorry about the other night
Tony couldn't word what he wanted to say. He didn't want to apologize through a text message, but this was his only option. He wanted to know if she was avoiding him, but he didn't know how to go about it. He threw his phone onto the passengers seat and groaned loudly as he turned on his car, speeding out of the parking lot. He couldn't believe how needy he sounded, like a desperate kid trying to get his crush's attention. Tony had never been that guy, he didn't know what he was supposed to do.
Before he knew it, Tony had driven into Pepper's street, stopping right out the front of her house. He couldn't be the guy who texted her acting like that, he wanted to talk to her. He didn't care right now if he seemed weird showing up at her house, but he was never one to do things normally.
Tony didn't hesitate to walk to the front door, knocking a few times before he heard footsteps coming closer.
''Tony?''
Pepper stood in front of him wearing a tank top and shorts as if she'd just gotten out of bed, and he noticed her moving awkwardly behind the door as she stared at him in surprise.
''I uh...sorry,'' he shook his head, running his hand over the back of his head. ''I was just...you haven't been at school, so...''
Pepper stared back at him and realized he was checking up on her. He couldn't even say the words, but she knew.
''I'm fine,'' she nodded, a soft smile on her lips. ''I got my cast off, my dad made me take a few days,''
''Oh...'' he nodded, relieved she wasn't avoiding school because of him. ''I just didn't know if...you know,''
''If what?'' she asked, looking at him curiously.
''It's...well, you just haven't been at school since...and I didn't know if it was because of, you know,'' he pointed between the two of them.
Pepper saw his awkward expression, how uncomfortable he was, and she couldn't help laughing. He was such a child sometimes.
''No, it's not because of you,'' she shook her head. ''Or anything that happened that night, I promise,''
''That's good then,'' he smiled. ''Because you know, I'd...that'd suck,''
Pepper smiled and opened the door more, still hiding behind it.
''Wanna come in?'' Tony nodded with a smile, walking inside. ''Just uh, hold on I'm gonna go change,''
Tony watched her run up the stairs, her hands covering most of the area where her short pants revealed at the back, hurrying away to put on something more acceptable. She wasn't expecting company, but Tony honestly didn't mind what she chose to wear.
''Shouldn't you be at school?'' Pepper asked when she walked back downstairs. ''What class are you skipping?''
Tony frowned.
''Chemistry,''
''Oh come on, Williams' isn't that bad,'' she chuckled. ''You should show up once in a while,''
''It's not Williams,'' he shook his head, following her into the living room. ''I broke up with Christine the other day,''
Pepper looked up at him and wondered if he was telling the truth, if he'd really ended things with the girl. She didn't know him that well to notice, but she figured he was being truthful. He wouldn't lie to her about that, not since what Christine had done to her.
''How'd she take that?'' Pepper asked after a long pause.
''Just how you think she would,'' he almost laughed. ''She thinks I'm going through stuff, that I'll be calling her in a week to get back together,''
''Will you?''
''No,'' he shook his head. ''I'm done with Christine,''
''But she's not done with you,''
''I guess that's her problem,'' Tony shrugged.
Pepper wanted to feel bad for Christine. Her boyfriend had ended things just a few days after she had literally claimed him in front of almost the whole school, but she didn't.
''Harsh,'' she chuckled, her hands wrapping around her knees.
''She's done worse,'' he commented, playing with the strings on his jacket.
For a while, Pepper didn't know what to say. She didn't expect his visit and she didn't have much to say, it wasn't like she had been doing anything exciting while at home. Tony didn't know what to say either, it was an impulse visit and he didn't even mean to end up at her house.
''So,'' Pepper began, dragging out the word. ''Why would you think me not going to school was because of you?''
Tony hadn't expected her to ask so easily, he had never been good with answers on the spot. She looked at him with curiosity, but she had a soft smile on her lips, not pushing his answer. He hated that it was so obvious how he lingered on that night they kissed.
''Uh...I just thought, you know you drank a lot beforehand, I didn't know if...if you-''
''I don't regret it, if that's what you're worried about,'' she cut in. ''I knew what I was doing,''
''Oh,'' Tony nodded. ''Well that's...good,''
Never had a conversation he'd had been so awkward. He didn't know what to say or how to respond. But he did hear her words loud and clear. She didn't regret kissing him, and that eased so many of his worries.
''I think we just...we just need to be friends, you know?'' she spoke, looking over to him with a smile. ''We weren't friends at all before the other night, I barely even knew you, I still don't, and you don't know me. It's up to you if you want to be friends,''
Tony knew she wasn't just asking him to be friends. She was asking him to forget about them being something else, about getting together. He wasn't desperate for a relationship, but he liked Pepper and he knew she was aware of that, but he wanted to be friends too.
''Friends it is,'' he smiled.
Pepper grinned, happy that she was finally getting to know him more.
''Well, if we're going to do this friend thing and talk, we need food,'' she stood up. ''You hungry?''
''I'm always hungry, there's no question. You need to know that if we're going to be friends,''
Pepper laughed as she walked into the kitchen, hearing Tony following behind her. She was happy they were friends, that's all she wanted right now. Their kiss was special, it meant something to her as well, but she didn't want to push things and she didn't want to be with Tony. At least not right now.
''No way!'' Pepper's mouth fell open. ''You took your dad's car? I don't believe you,''
Tony shook his head as he chewed another mouthful of M&M's, leaning back on the couch.
''It's true! The keys were in the ignition, the car was in the driveway and well, it just screamed out to me,'' he shrugged. ''But then so did my dad when he saw me taking off with it,''
''How old were you?''
''About seven,'' he grabbed some more colorful chocolates. ''I knew how to drive,''
''Seven, huh? At seven I was driving a bicycle, not a car!'' Pepper laughed.
''I guess kids don't learn to drive that young in New York,'' Tony remarked.
''No, we didn't, but we did learn how to abuse other people on the road with just hand gestures,'' she chuckled. ''And that's a skill that stays with you forever,''
''I hate New York,'' Tony rolled his eyes. ''Well, the people at least. I went there once with my parents for a work thing when I got suspended from school, hated it. Too many people in suits. How did you even handle it?''
''It wasn't so bad,'' she shrugged. ''I didn't have to deal with the people in the suits so much, I didn't live in the heart of the city, but I went there a lot so I got used to all of that. My...'' she paused, staring at nothing for a moment. ''My mom worked in the city...uh, that's how I got used to...yeah,''
''Your mom?'' Tony blurted out, without thinking.
He was aware that Pepper's mother wasn't around, but he had never asked about it and he didn't intend on bringing up any memories that could be painful for Pepper right now. He didn't mean to mention her again and when he saw the blank look on Pepper's face, he immediately changed the subject.
''Hey, wanna bet I can catch all these M&M's in my mouth?'' he held up the handful. ''I'm pretty sure I could,''
Pepper was shaken from her trance and looked over to Tony and the chocolates in his hand, nodding.
''Sure, yeah,'' she spoke mindlessly before realizing what he was doing. ''Wait, what? No way, you can't do that,''
''Bet I can, starting...now,''
Pepper watched as Tony threw different colors in the air, moving his mouth to catch them quickly one at a time. She didn't know why she struggled talking about her mom whenever she came into a conversation, the truth was simple, but she just couldn't, and she was glad Tony could see that. She just wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon talking about nothing important, making stupid bets like this and just spending time with him, her friend.