"Let's go out, Peter."
Peter looked up from his physics textbook in confusion. Pepper was standing there at his doorway in a long, summer dress, hands on her hips looking utterly fed-up.
He nodded slowly. "Um, sure. Okay. Where do you wanna go?"
"There's this place in Manhattan I used to go to, with all-you-can-eat ice-cream. I rang ahead and they're still operating."
"You want to go all the way to Manhattan for ice-cream?"
She gave him a withering look. "Humor me, Peter. Besides, ice cream's more fun with a buddy."
Peter couldn't imagine anything fun about going into the city when all he will do is ache to be swinging between each skyscraper. Pepper knew this, too. She knew it hurt for both of them to return to the place that was home after everything was so changed and foreign.
But they wanted things to be normal, or their version of normal. So they'd pretend, for the day.
The thing about Pepper was, she was the most kind, collected, yet incredibly brazen and feisty person Peter had ever met. Peter was also pretty sure she was one of the best people he knew. Even after only limited conversations together before, Peter had no qualms moving to the cabin with her.
If Peter was a tree, Tony was the rain, providing nourishment and growth, and Pepper was his roots. She kept him grounded.
So he decided to go along with it, despite the pang in his chest.
And ice-cream sounded really good.
"Tony's gonna be pissed." He was at the compound for the day, to organise some work for the Stark Relief Foundation with Steve, who insisted to be involved. Tony had taken to dramatically dreading it the week beforehand, verbally and through subtle child-like behaviour. Neither had given into his antics.
She shrugged her shoulders, seemingly unmoved. "He gets to hang out with you in the garage all the time. Tony needs to learn how to share."
That earned a rare laugh from Peter.
So they were off, leaving the cabin in the dust whilst they raced down the highway, with guilty-pleasure musical theatre songs blaring and decidedly ignoring the fact they were travelling for two hours just to get ice-cream.
Pepper was fun. She was freeing. You could be whoever you wanted around her and she'd adapt, she was just that kind of person. Peter loved it. And he knew Tony would never let him play this kind of music in the garage when they were working, so there was that, too.
As the final notes of Words Fail played out, Peter noticed a tear trail down Pepper's cheek, her eyes conveying little emotion. It was as if this tear made it's journey with a certain indifference, betraying its very nature.
Or maybe he was just reading into it too far.
He reached over to turn the volume down.
"Okay, I can't tell if that song has emotionally traumatised you, or if you're sad. Either way, my bad, admittedly not the best choice."
She let out a laugh, a teary one, the kind one does when they're forcing down some pain crawling up their throat. "S'not your fault, Peter. It's not so bad, to cry sometimes."
Peter could admit that she didn't look exactly devastated. Just a kind of overcast sad. Cloudy.
"Anyway, I think, there's a part of me that's always going to be a little sad. Even in the happy songs."
"That's depressing."
"That's life, kid."
He considered that. "Truer words have never been said."
Pepper chuckled with light amusement. "Now that's depressing."
"Do you wanna play twenty questions?" Peter didn't know where that came from. He was kind of awkward. In a fun way.
Pepper smiled, her eyes lighting up softly. "Sure, you go first."
Peter paused for a moment.
"Favourite colour?"
"Orange. Like the sunset."
Peter ran his hand through his curls. "Makes sense. Your turn."
"Favourite fictional character?"
"Alexander Hamilton."
That got a laugh. "Please tell me you know he was not a fictional character, Peter."
"I meant from the musical, Pepper. When you think about it, Lin-Manuel Miranda's iteration of the character wasn't truly reflective of the Hamilton we read about from history books. He's a work of fiction," He said, deadpan, completely serious.
She nodded at that, a smirk growing on her lips. "Of course. Alexander Hamilton never rapped."
He nodded. "Exactly. You get it."
"Favourite song?"
Pepper answered without hesitation. "River, Joni Mitchell."
"Never heard it."
She mock-gasped. "Play it."
It took only a moment for Peter to search the song up and hit play. The first few notes were kind of jarring. Peter was not expecting a Christmas song.
"Pep, it's a Christmas jingle. Your favourite song is an old Christmas jingle. That has to be like, illegal or something." Peter had never called Pepper 'Pep' before. The nickname just kind of slipped out. It didn't seem to phase her, except for a brief, almost invisible smile.
"No it's not, just listen," She admonished, a wistful look in her eyes that was difficult for Peter to swallow.
I wish I had a river, I could skate away on.
I wish I had a river so long, I could teach my feet to fly.
Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on.
I made my baby say goodbye.
It's coming on Christmas, they're cutting down trees.
Putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace,
Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on.
Pepper's voice softly followed along with the melody and each note wrapped around her vocal cords with comforting familiarity. She sang of comfort, of a time before. She greeted this song like an old friend.
Peter was utterly heartbroken by the end of the song.
"Why would you do that to me?" He was only half-joking.
"I thought our souls needed a little more torturing, don't you agree?"
"You suck."
Pepper chuckled. "I know."
"It's a good song," Peter admitted.
"I know." She said, once again.
"It's your turn."
She hummed, "Well now I have to ask what your favourite song is."
He shrugged, knowing the answer instantly. "Well, we're both already depressed. Why not add to it?"
"That's the spirit."
Peter moved to turn the volume up again as his finger pressed play.
Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy
Grab my glasses, I'm out the door; I'm gonna hit this city
Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack
'Cause when I leave for the night, I ain't coming back
The subsequent, resounding burst of unexpected laughter from Pepper was exactly what he needed. And suddenly they were both wheezing, her fingers holding the wheel tightly as the sound echoed like bells in the cabin of the car. Peter was bent over, face red and hysterical. They knew it wasn't his favourite. Of course, it wasn't his favourite.
But it was okay.
The music was dialled down.
"Alright, a more serious one."
"Hit me," She responded.
"Why did you take me in?"
Peter didn't know where the question came from. Pepper answered without hesitation.
"I might not have known you well, but I knew you well enough to know that you were bright and funny and that Tony would have done anything for you."
She chuckled, shaking her head slightly, "God, the stories he would tell about you two over dinner."
Pepper glanced at him. "I saw this kid, utterly alone and destroyed, and yet there was this fire inside of you. You're a good one, Peter."
"Plus, it would have been ethically questionable not to take you in. I mean, what would people think?"
"How can you possibly be enjoying that?"
Pepper just grinned and continued to lick her ice cream.
"I mean, rum and raisin? That's like, the mascot ice cream of balding men over sixty."
Peter wiped at his lips before starting on his next scoop.
"Well, at least I can commit, Mr-I'm-too-overwhelmed-just-get-them-all."
"I have enhanced metabolism. I need to eat at least seven flavours or I'll perish. Less than that and all I'll be is skin and bone."
Pepper chuckled. "Sure, kid."
A buzzing sensation interrupted the moment. Pepper's phone lit up with the caller ID 'Tony Stark'.
"He's figured out we abandoned him, finally."
Peter cringed slightly, "I don't know if you should answer that."
Pepper smirked. "Please, if anyone can deal with an irritated Tony Stark, it's me."
She deftly swiped across the screen and answered the call.
"Hey honey, you're on speaker."
There was a moment of silence.
"How dare you."
Peter had to clamp his mouth shut to avoid laughing.
"Whatever are you talking about, Tony?"
Tony took in a long, loud breath.
"Imagine my surprise, when I left the compound after five painful hours of making negotiations with Steve and opened my phone to see that not only is my family out but out having fun, eating ice cream, without me."
Pepper and Peter met eyes, both clearly amused.
"I took him fair and square."
Tony replied, equally as serious. "Peter, I thought we had something special."
Peter giggled quietly. "Oh, we did, but then Pepper bought me seven scoops, and I just couldn't turn her down."
Tony sucked in a sharp, sarcastic breath, "Betrayal."
Pepper leaned over the phone. "Want to meet up?"
"Where are you?"
"Marino's Ice Creamery."
"I'll take a suit and be there in fifteen."
Tony ate his pistachio ice cream contentedly, but not before insisting everyone else had another scoop so he wouldn't feel left out, to the amusement of both Peter and Pepper.
It was deafeningly quiet. There was barely anyone around, so unlike New York. The man at the counter, a young man in his twenties, looked drained, almost faded. He barely noticed he was serving Tony Stark, which was another thing in itself.
"It was horrible flying into the city. Abandoned cars everywhere, crash sites, people on the side of the road, homeless, the whole nine yards. I just hope that this foundation can start clearing everything up."
Tony's voice was dejected, but the kind that had made peace with itself, if that was possible.
"I miss it. Even if it is different."
"Me too," Peter echoed.
"Do you miss school? Or being closer to MJ?" Pepper queried.
"Well, yeah, of course. Sometimes I think it might have been easier to stay in the city, but then, we all love the cabin so much. I wouldn't be able to choose."
The truth was, Peter found home-schooling mind-numbingly boring. Without his friends and even his teachers, the fun had been sucked out. The only parts Peter enjoyed were the practical demonstrations with Tony. As much as it hurt to think of going to school without Ned, the idea wasn't entirely horrible. He'd have MJ. Maybe he'd enjoy another class with Mr Harrington. MJ said he put more effort into his lessons now, probably as a distraction from his home life. MJ liked to use those classes to draw in her crisis journal. There was a lot of raw material to work from.
"I hate driving so far to get to anything, I mean, two hours for ice cream sucks. I think my pregnancy cravings are starting to get the best of me," Pepper laughed.
"We could always move back part-time," Tony suggested. "Then we'd be closer to the compound."
Peter nodded non-committedly, "I could start patrolling again. Train at the compound. And enrol back at Midtown."
Within a few minutes, it was as if they'd already decided, without saying it out loud.
"We could do weekends at the cabin. Weekdays in the city," Pepper said.
They all nodded along absentmindedly until Peter realised what they were really saying.
"Wait, did we just decide to move back to the city?"
Tony let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, I guess we did."
"Jesus, now we have to design two nurseries? And have a wedding? And a baby?" Peter exclaimed, looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"Pipe down, young buck, you aren't the adult here, you got less to worry about than we do. And I'm not even the one who has to push that little monster out," Tony chuckled, gesturing toward Pepper's stomach.
"The wedding's in three weeks, almost everything is sorted. I'll start looking for apartments after then and hopefully, we'll get settled before Morgan comes," Pepper said, already formulating a plan.
Peter smiled a real, true smile. He couldn't wait to tell MJ.
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