Chapter 36

The first thing she saw after opening her eyes were a pair of electric blue orbs, full of concern, staring back at her. She blinked away some of the drowsiness she felt, and then flinched at a disgusting taste that formed at the back of her throat. The sudden attack on her taste buds made her stick out her tongue before trying to loudly clear her throat to make it go away, which only resulted in a short coughing fit.

"Hey, easy! Here," Tony said before rushing to hand her a glass of water. Pepper downed it in seconds, her parched mouth feeling instant relief with the move. Laying at a weird angle on the bed, however, caused a small droplet of water to escape via the edge of her lips. The inventor quickly leaned towards her to gently wipe it off with his index finger. The gesture was then followed by him placing his entire right palm against her left cheek and running his thumb against the skin.

"Tony?"

The inventor sighed in relief. "I was getting worried that you'd never wake up," his tone was soothing to her ears as the side of her head hit the pillow below her once more. "Or that you would wake up and not know who I am."

"Why wouldn't I know who you are?"

"You hit your head. Hard."

"I hit my head?" the redhead asked as she carefully ran her right hand down her skull, only to feel a bandage pressed against her forehead. She had been awake for almost half a minute now, but she felt as if her body and mind were having a hard time aligning on what was what.

The young woman repeated Tony's words in her head and then lightly snickered. "So, what? You thought I'd lose my memory or something? That only happens in movies, Tony."

"Or in poorly-written stories," he continued her obvious joke with a small smile before sobering up the next second, his hand never leaving her face. "How do you feel, babe? Can I get you anything?"

"I don't know. That question seems hard to answer right now for some reason."

"Probably the pain killers. You hurt your arm. But the doctors said you'll be all right. They said you might act weird for a few weeks, but I told them we won't even notice a difference."

She knew she was supposed to be insulted by the insinuation, but his boyish smirk made it hard for her to truly get upset. Instead, Pepper gasped in mock indignation and playfully poked Tony's chest with her non-bandaged arm. "Tony! How rude!"

The billionaire chuckled lightly at her act. He then slid his hand down and away from her cheek so that he could hold the hand that had just poked him. He surrounded it with his own to bring it towards his lips for a chaste kiss to her knuckles. He then followed the gesture by resting the inside of her wrist against the left side of his face, inhaling from it the scent he knew to be hers. He refused to lose the physical connection with her just yet, especially not after how scared he had been when Rhodey had called him to tell him what had happened at Prom.

He had been frantic, his entire body shaking as he had put on his suit and flown to the scene. He had then called Virgil to tell him what he knew and had then followed the ambulances to the hospital. The FBI agent and the inventor had been taking turns going from one room to the other, both not believing the doctor's positive prognosis for the Potts sisters until they saw it play out themselves.

Samantha had woken up about half an hour ago. Tony had left the brunette in the care of her father so that they could have an overdue and sincere talk about the events that had led to last night's accident. Since then, Tony had been here, in Pepper's room, watching her sleep and recover from what could have been a tragic fall from the roof of the Academy. He had also been passing the time stewing in his own guilt at not staying behind with the arguing sisters, while at the same time hoping to get a chance to tell the ginger how much he missed her, how much he loved her, and how much he wanted to have her back in his life, if she allowed it.

It had taken him a few days to finally see it, but he now knew that he had gone about trying to help her in the wrong way. He also knew that he could not undo any of it, but he would count himself lucky if Pepper forgave him at least a tenth of the way. Even if it would hurt him for the rest of his life, he hoped that she would at least want to be friends again. He would not expect or demand more than she was willing to offer, but he would ask for the opportunity, nevertheless.

"So, what happened to me? Mission went south?"

Tony slightly narrowed his eyes at her. "Mission? No, uhm… Don't you… I mean: what is the last thing you remember? And don't panic about it if you do remember it. Everyone is OK."

"Everyone is OK? Who is everyone? I…" Pepper closed her eyes. "I can't remember. I'm confused."

"Pep," he squeezed her hand a bit tighter and then closed the distance between their faces so he could whisper softly to her. "You and Sam got into an argument on the roof of the Academy, during Prom night. She tripped and fell off the roof and you tried to help her. You both went down. A tree slowed you down but you both still hit an emergency staircase landing on the edge of the building. Sam–"

"Fell on top of me," the redhead finished, her eyes now wide as she recalled the incident as if it were happening before her eyes again. "She tripped on her dress. I tried to stop her. I tried to grab her arm and hold onto a tree branch," Pepper trailed off as she stared at her bandaged arm.

"You dislocated your arm in the process and still fell," Tony continued. "And I guess you tried cushioning your sister's fall because she didn't hit the metal landing full force – you did. She fell on you."

"But she's OK?"

"She's OK. She's talking to your dad right now."

"OK, that's good," Pepper nodded. "Prom… when was Prom?"

"Last night. It's noon."

"Prom," Pepper absentmindedly repeated as she sat up while other less pleasant memories came rushing back to her. "We… we didn't go to Prom together because… we… I…"

Tony sighed.

"Because we both acted like idiots," he offered. "Well, mostly me, but still. I-I'm so sorry, Pep. I should've listened to you. Trusted you. I… if you never want to be with me again, I get it but, please... and I know you just woke up and I have no right to ask this, and now I'm rambling, but I have to try. I gotta tell you. I just… please just talk to me again. Let me be in your life again. I need you. I love you. So much. So, so much."

Instead of responding, Pepper shook her head from side to side, closed her eyes, and then sobbed, causing the inventor's heart to break into a million pieces then and there. He had known that a rejection could be in the cards, but he had not anticipated how hasty it would be and how much it would hurt to be at the receiving end of it.

Rather than lashing out at his bad luck, he opted for relishing in the small moment of reprieve the redhead granted him by resting his forehead on hers, hoping to engrain this moment in his mind forever while he could.

"OK. OK, Pep. You don't have to say it. I get it. I messed up. I… you can't forgive me. I get it."

"No, Tony," Pepper began as she clasped the front of his shirt so he would not continue pulling away from her. "You don't get it. I'm just saying that it's not all on you. I should've told you about what I did. I should've told you more about my life. You've told me everything and more. I should've done the same. We're even. We're even, Tony."

The genius took a moment to process her words, fearful that if he did not repeat them in his mind, slowly, he would have this new hope crushed. He locked eyes with her, saw the smallest hint of a smile growing, and it was not until then that he allowed himself to smile back.

"We-we are? I mean, are we? Do you… Should I ask again if you–"

Instead of replying to him, and before he could finish his question, Pepper pulled Tony the rest of the way towards her and kissed him proper. Hard. As if she needed it to do so to breathe.

He seemed to be needing the same from her.

Once they finally broke apart, Pepper was the first to speak again.

"There's more about my life that you don't know yet. And I want to tell you. I will tell you. But later. I promise. Later."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I can wait. I can wait until we are so old and decrepit that we can blame mental decline for not remembering anything we never said to each other."

Pepper's laughter was a balm to his soul. "Old and decrepit? You plan to be around then?"

"I do. As long as you let me, I will."

"I believe you. And I love you, Tony."

"I love you, too, Pep."

"Jesus, get married already. Or get a room. With a lock."

The sudden female voice in the room made the couple jump out of their skin. The duo, however, made no effort to look towards the entrance of the room. They did not have to do so to know who was standing by the door.

"But, before you do that," Samantha continued. "Can I speak with my sister, alone?"

"Sure," Tony said as he got up from the chair he had been sitting on. "I don't see any ledges you can drag her with you from, so I guess you can."

"I said I was sorry!"

"And I said you'd need to do better than that."

"I'm trying, all right?"

"Believe it when I see it," Tony spat back, his words towards the younger sister hinting at an unfinished conversation between them. Before he walked towards the door, however, the blue-eyed boy leaned down one last time to kiss his girlfriend.

Girlfriend. Boy, he had missed the use of that word!

"I'll be right outside, babe. If she tries to hurt you again, we can make it look like an accident."

"Tony!"

Tony lifted his arms to either side of his face. "Just putting that out there."

Pepper narrowed her eyes at him, but they both knew it was just for show. What was not going to be for show, however, was what was coming next.

Samantha Potts waited for Tony to leave the room and close the door behind him before she approached her sister's bed. Other than some scratches and some bruises, Sam looked better than Pepper did. Then again, that was not unexpected since Pepper had tried saving her sister from harm all the way to the end. A bitter end that would have turned tragic if the emergency ladder's landing had not been there to stop their fall; an undeniable fact that Samantha Potts was aware of, even as the events unfolded in real time.

"May I sit?" the brunette asked in a meek tone that surprised the redhead as she waved in the general area of the bed.

"Sure. Go ahead."

Pepper had expected Sam to sit on the chair that Tony had just vacated. Instead, she sat on the edge of the bed, her gaze aiming towards the floor. She took in a deep breath to order her thoughts, and she then spoke in the most submissive voice Pepper had ever heard coming from her.

"I-I… I'm sorry I almost killed you."

"Uhm. That's OK, I guess? I mean: thank you for not killing me, of course. But, it didn't happen, so don't dwell on it."

"I'm serious, Pepper. I… I could have gotten both of us killed. All because I was being an idiot."

"Well, yes. But also, I kinda pushed you to it. I… well, we both know what I did back then."

Samantha shook her head. "Nope. Nothing you did made you deserve what I did to you. I was just being a brat. I was just being like Mom, through and through. Maybe even worse."

"Sam, the only way to be worse than mom is to torture puppies or something like that."

Samantha's head snapped to stare at her sister, a mix of anger and sadness apparent on her face. "Why are you giving me a pass? Stop joking around! I'm serious!"

Pepper opened her mouth to joke again, however, she immediately snapped it closed again. It was clear to her now that Samantha was genuinely wanting to talk about things seriously. This opportunity to set things straight could be their only chance at making things better for both. Neither of them could let it pass.

Sensing how important this was for Samantha, Pepper sat up on the bed, minding her injuries as she did so, and then continued the conversation they both knew they should have had years ago.

"I know this means nothing now, but I AM very sorry that I didn't say anything sooner. I'm so sorry that I didn't try to make it right, right away, even after I became old enough to understand what I'd done. The longer it went on, the harder it became to say anything. And then you started to get on my nerves every time we saw each other, so I just got selfish and decided to leave it alone. I'm not saying that I had an excuse or that I was right. I'm just honestly telling you how it looked to me."

"I get it. I kinda did the same thing. I got so caught up on playing victim, just so that I felt justified in making you miserable whenever I could, that I never really tried to make it better for myself. I could've called 911 for help. I could've told my teachers at school. I could've called Dad and told him. I mean, I could've told you, too. I know that now. I mean: I kinda knew it then, too, but I never did it. I just… I just wanted a reason to hurt you like I was hurting every day."

"Well, you did steal my boyfriend, so I think you did hurt me, if that counts for anything," Pepper said with an obvious joking tone.

"As if," Samantha rolled her eyes. "Someone would have to pry his dead body from your life. Anyone with eyes can see that. That guy loves you more than anything."

Pepper felt a bit of heat reaching her cheeks, but she cleared her throat to distract herself from the thoughts that popped up at hearing Samantha's words.

"All jokes aside, Sam, you know you don't have to go back to her, right? You can stay here with us. You can keep going to the Academy and then to whatever college you want. She doesn't have to be in our lives anymore."

Samantha nodded. "I know. It's still hard to believe, but I know I can stay with you and Dad. I just wish… I wish it would've always been that way. I feel like I wasted so much time away from Dad. From you. From having real friends. Mom never let me have any."

Pepper shrugged. "I don't have a way to fix that but, all I can say, is that you can look forward to doing what you wanted to do. Being who you wanted to be. It'll never make up for the crappy childhood, but at least it's better than spending your whole life like that, right?"

"I guess."

"There's no guessing. I know you can. Just look at me! After all those years, I didn't think I'd be able to make friends or be happy. But I did, and I am. And, in hindsight, if it wasn't for Mom being how she was, I'd probably never have ended up living here. I would've never met Rhodey or Tony. Probably would've never thought about going to college either. So, it can't be that bad. There must be a reason we went through all that, right? It can only go up from here. It has to."

"I hope so. And I… I'm sorry about all the things I did to you. I can't take them back either, but I hope you can forgive me for them?" Samantha paused before adding with a wink, "Seems you got Tony back, already."

Pepper chuckled. "Yeah. We're good now. And the other stuff, well – it'll go away. We only have one week left at the Academy, and then we're gonna be too busy with college to care about the news and paparazzi."

"Until you get engaged."

"Engaged?"

"Yeah. Or get married!"

"Married?"

"Or have kids!"

"K-Kids?" This time, Pepper was unable to keep the embarrassment from showing on her face.

"Oh, this is fun. I can get used to this," Samantha laughed, but she then became serious once more. "Anyway. Are we… can we start over, Pepper? Please?"

The redhead's response did not come right away, but it was not due to having doubts about making up with her sister. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Her mind took her through a reel of every moment she had spent with Samantha since she had opened that door to her home to see her sitting there, almost two months ago. In hindsight, and after a near-death experience, their arguments did not seem so tragic anymore. The negative words exchanged had lost their impact. The challenges and differences that had once seemed insurmountable now felt like mosquitoes buzzing around her ear – easily dealt with.

Everything said and done had led them here; to a moment where they could finally let bygones be bygones and start anew.

Their mother would never again be able to set them against one another.

That woman would no longer play a part in their lives.

Their future was theirs and theirs alone.

Before replying, Pepper held her sister's hand in hers, and she then gave the young girl the brightest smile Samantha had seen directed at her.

"Yeah. I'd like that."

A/N: LOL! Yes, my Faithful Readers: I took a jab at myself with that 'poorly-written stories' line that Tony said (Last Chronicles, anyone?) :P Anyway. I posted this chapter and the last one (the epilogue) at the same time, so this story is officially done! Don't want to make any promises as to what comes next, but I know I definitely need to take a new approach to writing to ensure timely updates. I wish you the safest Thanksgiving (or whatever you celebrate or don't celebrate) break you can get, and hope that you find this ending satisfying!